That evening, before many thousands of people, our friends did what they could to please them. They sang as they never had done in their lives. It is unnecessary to say that their efforts were received with tremendous rounds of encores by the delighted host. The music was interspersed with appropriate speeches from the mayor and other civic dignitaries. They all spoke in unlimited terms of praise of the man who had conceived the idea of the aluminum globe, and who had had the courage of his convictions. He had added undying glory to the land that bore him, and now that land delighted to honor him by every means within her power, etc. The Doctor and Professor each spoke at some length, giving the history of the expedition and the importance of it to the scientific world. The Doctor told them of the planting of the aluminum flagstaff in terse, graphic language, and concluded by saying: "And now friends, we will conclude the evening's performance by giving you an exact representation of how we marched about the flagstaff and sang Professor Marsh's composition, 'The North Pole March.' You must imagine the thermometer sixty or more degrees below zero in order to appreciate the scene." A fair representation of the foot of the flagstaff had been improvised, and the stage was made to look like a field of snow and ice. In a circle about the pole were set vessels of burning oil. Within this circle the friends marched to the beautiful music that Fred played upon the aluminum organ (for even that instrument had been brought by Denison and Will from the globe, that the scene might lack nothing in realism.) And so real was the scene as they marched in their sealskin suits--poor Sing among them, though he could not sing--and so inspiring was the music, that the vast assemblage sat still as death, every sense strained to the highest tension, that they might not lose a movement nor note. When they finished, the shout that went up was a tremendous lungburst that was simply deafening. Men, women, and children jumped upon their feet, waved their handkerchiefs, and screamed and shouted themselves hoarse. Nor would they cease until the lights had all been turned low, and they realized that the Children of the Skies would appear no more that night. They had improved the opportunity while the multitude thus encored to make their escape in their carriages to the hotel. "I don't know, Doctor, but you will be responsible for many cases of lunacy among our people," said the mayor. "I never saw them so utterly carried away as they were with your company and the globe. All you have to do is to take to the stage and you can bankrupt the nation." After a quiet supper with a select party of notables of the city, our friends were permitted to retire for the night.