How did he get that? He has never told us. But this I
can see, that all our analogies deceive us,--of views of
the sea from Mt. Washington, or of the Boston State House
from Wachusett. For in these views we look through forty
or eighty miles of dense terrestrial atmosphere. But
Orcutt was looking nearly vertically through an
atmosphere which was, most of it, rare indeed, and pure
indeed, compared with its lowest stratum.
In the record-book of my observations these
despatches are entered as 12 and 13. Of course it was
impossible for me to reply. All I could do was to
telegraph these in the morning to Skowhegan, sending them
to the care of the Moores, that they might forward them.
But the next night showed that this had not been
necessary.
Friday night George and the others went on for a
quarter of an hour. Then they would rest, saying, "two,"
"three," or whatever their next signal time would be.
Before morning I had these despatches:--
14. "Write to all hands that we are doing well.
Langdon's baby is named Io, and Leonard's is named
Phoebe."
How queer that was! What a coincidence! And they
had some humor there.
15 was: "Our atmosphere stuck to us. It weighs
three tenths of an inch--our weight."
16. "Our rain-fall is regular as the clock. We have
made a cistern of Kilpatrick."
This meant the spherical chamber of that name.
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