"John writes full of enthusiasm concerning the contract, and I shall
tell him nothing of your absurd doings until you and Winn are safely
back here. Ever lovingly your sister,----ELLEN."
CHAPTER XX.
BIM GROWLS.
During the following day, while these letters were on their way to the
little Iowa town in which the principal actors in this story were
playing at such cross-purposes, active preparations were being made on
board the _Whatnot_ for the first exhibition of its panorama. In those
days the panorama filled the place now taken by the stereopticon; and
though its crude pictures lacked the photographic truth of lantern
slides, they were by no means devoid of interest. In fact, their
gorgeousness of color, and the vagueness of detail that allowed each to
represent several scenes, according to the pleasure of the lecturer,
rendered them quite as popular, if not so instructive, as their modern
successors.
The success of a panorama, however, depended largely upon the person
who explained its pictures. If he were witty, and knew how to tell the
good story of which each one was certain to remind him, all went well,
and the fame of that panorama spread far and wide. If, on the other
hand, he was prosy, and offered only dry explanations of his pictures,
the impatient river-town audience did not hesitate to express their
dissatisfaction, and the exhibition was apt to close with a riot.
Pages:
128
129
130
131
132
133
134
135
136
137
138
139
140
141
142
143
144
145
146
147
148
149
150
151
152