Doctor Jones' Picnic Part 6

"No," returned the architect. "These walls are double as well as the floor, with air chambers between, and I can turn hot air into them at pleasure. The windows and doors are all double, also, and Jack Frost can never penetrate this cabin."

"What a contrast between this luxurious sail through the sky, and the buffetings upon sea and land, the hunger, cold, and oftentimes death, suffered by former Arctic explorers," said the Professor. "And, Doctor,"

he continued, "if we make a successful trip, the matter of aerial navigation will have been settled. What a power this ship would have been in the late war of the Rebellion."

"The war would have been very quickly terminated if our globe had been in existence at that time," returned Dr. Jones. "We could have sailed above the reach of their best guns and dropped bombs upon them that would have destroyed their forts, gunboats, and armies at will. But I am glad things were as they were. We fought a fair fight to the finish, and settled forever the question of human slavery in America. Had the first few battles of the war been won by the North, the South might have laid down their arms, and have been permitted to retain their inst.i.tution of slavery. When Lincoln issued his Emanc.i.p.ation Proclamation, I remember that even we soldiers in the field received the news with a sort of shock, and thought our President over-bold. We had not thought of that extreme measure as a result of the war. We were simply out to preserve the Union."

"And right well you did it, Doctor," said Denison. "I have always noticed in reading the history of that war, that in the latter part of it you fought with much greater skill and judgment than you did in the first year or two."

"That is quite true, and nothing more than what might have been expected," replied Dr. Jones. "It is marvelous what we accomplished with an absolutely empty treasury, no credit, no standing army to speak of, and our little navy scattered to the four ends of the earth. The vast, splendidly drilled armies which we brought into existence as if by magic, were the wonder of the world. We had everything to learn, both North and South, in the matter of logistics. Long lines of communications had to be kept open, and such splendid raiders as John Morgan, Forest, Mosby, etc., were not slow to break them frequently, so that I remember going to bed supperless many times after a hard day's march, because our rations had been captured and burned. Our wagon trains were something immense, while the big Bell tents were in use; but after what were called by the boys 'pup tents,' or 'dog tents,' were introduced, the wagon trains were cut down at least three-fourths. For the pup tents we carried upon our backs, and so dispensed with the great Bell tents that were hauled in wagons. Our trains had been so large and c.u.mbersome that military movements were inconceivably slow, and the war could never have been fought to a successful issue by the North on those lines."

"I suppose, Doctor, that you were in some of the great battles?" asked Fred.

"Yes, I was in the battles of Chickamauga, Missionary Ridge, through the Atlantic campaign; then under General Geo. H. Thomas we marched back into Tennessee, fought a desperate battle at Franklin, and a few weeks later annihilated the army at Nashville. While we were doing this, Sherman was making his renowned march to the sea. But I'll spin you some of my experiences before we get back home. Let's join the ladies."

"I should never tire hearing your war stories," said Fred.

"Yes; and you would be the first one to go to sleep if I should tell you of the battle of Chickamauga or Missionary Ridge."

This Fred stoutly denied. "All right," said the Doctor. "I'll test you one of these evenings."

"The sooner the better," replied Fred. "And now let's have some music."

They sang several anthems and choruses, and all retired at an early hour, except Denison, who stood watch.

CHAPTER IX.

In the Heart of Labrador.

The central room of the cabin was called the 'engine room.' It was fifteen feet square, with a hole three feet in diameter in one corner, now securely covered. It was used for lowering or hoisting objects through while the globe was at anchor. An aluminum frame or cage, attached to a windla.s.s by a chain of the same material, was used for this purpose. A powerful coil steel spring operated the windla.s.s. In each of the other corners of the room were anchors of aluminum, also attached to windla.s.ses and worked by steel springs. There was a dynamo that afforded abundance of light for the ship. This, too, was run by spring power. The rooms of the cabin were brilliantly lighted, and the spiral stairway, from the foot of the mast which stood upon the center of the floor of the engine-room, was illuminated by several lights, up to the observatory itself. At the top, or ball of the mast, was a light of thirty-two hundred candle power. Altogether, the ship must have been at night an object of terrific splendor to the observer below.

Will was the originator of the steel-springs motor idea, and he daily attended to winding them with great faithfulness and pride. And it was a most invaluable adjunct to the comfort and success of the expedition, as will be seen before the end of this history is reached.

At daylight, on the following morning, all were up and looking out upon wild Canadian forests. Here and there were small towns and settlements, but they realized that they were fast hastening beyond the pale of civilization. The wind had moved during the night into the southwest, and the Professor informed them that they were sailing at the rate of more than thirty miles an hour.

"If this wind will only continue, we shall not be long reaching our destination," said the Doctor. "While I am enjoying the trip splendidly, yet I am anxious to reach the Pole as soon as possible. After that we will start on a general sightseeing tour. But until I have planted our aluminum shaft exactly upon the north end of the earth's axis, sightseeing is but incidental and secondary."

All day they skimmed like a frigate bird across the face of Canada, at an alt.i.tude of about two thousand feet. All were delighted with the behavior of the ship. Her capacity for floating and retaining heat far exceeded their most sanguine expectations.

It was interesting to watch the fast changing appearance of the country, and they could note that the timber was rapidly growing smaller.

Clearings and settlements became more and more rare, and as the day closed they were looking upon primitive, unbroken forests, known only to hunters, both white and red.

Another night pa.s.sed without incident. The wind held all night in the same quarter. On the following morning the beautiful ship was enveloped in a dense fog. "We are in the midst of a great cloud," said Professor Gray.

"I think we will rise a few hundred feet and see if we can get out of it," replied Dr. Jones.

The temperature within the globe was raised a few degrees, and the ship rapidly rose to twenty-five hundred feet alt.i.tude. This carried them high above the clouds, and it was with new and strange sensations that our aerial navigators looked down upon the dense cloud that obscured the face of the earth from their view. The sun, meantime, was shining with what seemed to them greatly increased splendor in this super-cloud region.

"Well, girls," cried the Doctor, "I am for some exercise. Who will mount with me to the observatory?"

They each a.s.sented, and a few moments later were sitting in that elevated place, very warm and breathless from the unwonted exercise of the long climb. This was Mattie's first visit to the observatory, and her eyes dilated with terror as she looked over the rolling sides of the ma.s.sive globe.

"O, Doctor, Doctor! isn't this perfectly awful! Think of what the very slightest mistake or mishap would do. We should go flying down through those clouds, and be dashed to pieces in those uninhabited Canadian forests. And I suppose that our friends would never hear of us again.

"Tut, tut, Mattie. Cheer up, little girl," said the doctor, very soothingly, and patting her head with his steady, strong hand. "No mishap is possible. We cannot explode, collapse, burn, collide, nor capsize. No enterprise ever entered upon by man possessed so much of interest and importance, and was attended by so little of the element of danger. You were never safer in your life than you are at this moment.

Think of it! Here we are above the clouds, the world with all its care and heartaches shut out, basking in this glorious sunlight, sailing on in this clear, bracing, microbeless atmosphere. The clouds beneath our feet, the sun above our heads, and G.o.d's empyrean all about us. What can be more inspiring and grand? How does the chorus of that old hymn run?

'Let us look above the clouds, Above the clouds, above the clouds; Up above the stormy clouds To fairer worlds on high.'"

The Doctor sang this simple chorus in his great sonorous voice that rang out over the clouds like a bugle blast.

"Well, I declare Doctor, you will not let me get into a real good fright," cried Mattie, smiling through eyes filled with tears.

"No, indeed, I will not, Mattie. The only fear I have now is that we may keep breakfast waiting. Let's descend."

The forenoon pa.s.sed away very uneventfully. About the middle of the afternoon they were treated to a splendid spectacle. A terrific thunder storm raged beneath them; and as they looked below into the inky depths of the thunder clouds, pierced and riven by jagged lightnings, followed by deafening bellowings and crashings of thunder, and then cast their eyes up to the sun shining in full-orbed splendor over all, they realized as never before the presence and majesty of Omnipotence.

At four o'clock, P.M. the storm clouds cleared away, and the bleak, uninviting face of Labrador was plainly visible. The ship had settled to an alt.i.tude of fifteen hundred feet, and was moving northeasterly at the rate of thirty miles an hour.

"Isn't that a settlement I see ahead a few miles?" asked Will.

The Doctor and Professor Gray decided that it must be a fort or trading post. The ship, meantime, was lowering quite rapidly, and was but eight hundred feet above the earth.

"I have a mind to drop anchor at that fort for the night," said Dr.

Jones. "Some fresh meat, especially game and fish, would not be at all bad to take. What do you all say?"

A general desire was expressed to do so.

They could see that the inhabitants of the place were greatly excited, and were running to and fro. The globe was lowered to within three hundred feet of the earth. As they neared the spot, two of the anchors were dropped, and soon caught in the birch tree tops. The ship strained tremendously at the cables for a moment or two, and then rode easily at anchorage, three hundred feet above the buildings.

"Fort ahoy!" shouted the Doctor.

"Ahoy!" replied a hoa.r.s.e voice.

"What fort is this?"

"This is not a fort, but Constance House."

"Well, we are a party bound for the North Pole, and we wish to buy some provisions."

"All right. Come down, and we will do the best we can for you. But I think you have scared everybody on the place about to death."

The spring power was turned on, and the windla.s.ses drew the globe to within one hundred feet of the earth. Then the Doctor and Denison descended in the cage. They met a splendidly built, large man, dressed in a semi-arctic suit of woolens and furs. The two voyagers introduced themselves, explained their business, and they were received very cordially by this man, John Barton, the proprietor and owner of Constance House. He invited the whole company to descend and make themselves at home as long as they desired to remain. So two by two they descended, Sing also joining the group below. The anchors were lashed to the trunks of the trees to prevent accidents from sudden gusts of wind.

They found Constance House to be a large one-story stone building, which served for both residence and storeroom. One-half of it was devoted to the storage of provisions, clothing, and such other goods as are required by hunters and trappers. These Mr. Barton exchanged for furs with said hunters and trappers. Hunting, trapping, and fishing const.i.tuted the sole business of the simple-minded inhabitants. Here they are born, live, die contentedly, knowing little of and caring nothing about the great world which the most of us are so anxious to possess.