I gazed anxiously at the
receding objects below; but my feelings underwent a change as we
approached the "Flying Cloud" herself, were pulled into her gangway,
and I found myself standing on her solid decks. A brief further period
intervened, and our anchor was loosed; the tremendous machine became
instinct with life; she began to move; and, hurrah! we were under way.
The thoughts and emotions of this bewildering moment it is impossible
to describe. Our craft moved off majestically, like some huge
water-fowl rising from the sea. Her course was westward and upward,
like the eagle with his face turned toward the palace of the sun. At
first the lights in the city of Baltimore became more numerous and
distinct, as intervening objects were surmounted and overlooked. Next
they began to fade, shrinking down into twinkling points like
fireflies, until they disappeared. Forests, hills, and mountains
followed after, as our altitude was increased, blending together like a
hazy landscape, until, on passing above the cloud region, and finding
the level of our track, the earth was wholly lost to our view, and our
course lay through the blue serene of space, without a lighthouse or a
landmark, and nothing but the constant lamps of heaven to guide us in
our passage.
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