The Brick Moon, and Other StoriesHale, Edward Everett
Science
The Brick Moon, and Other Stories
Hale, Edward Everett
Short stories; United States -- Social life and customs -- 19th century -- Fiction
These were the first night's messages. I had
scarcely covered the eye-glasses and adjusted the
equatorial for the day, when the bell announced the
carriage in which Polly and the children came from the
station to relieve me in my solitary service as janitor.
I had the joy of showing her the good news. This night's
work seemed to fill our cup. For all the day before,
when I was awake, I had been haunted by the fear of
famine for them. True, I knew that they had stored away
in chambers H, I, and J the pork and flour which we had
sent up for the workmen through the summer, and the corn
and oats for the horses. But this could not last
forever.
Now, however, that it proved that in a tropical
climate they were forming their own soil, developing
their own palms, and eventually even their bread-fruit
and bananas, planting their own oats and maize, and
developing rice, wheat, and all other cereals, harvesting
these six, eight, or ten times--for aught I could see--in
one of our years,--why, then, there was no danger of
famine for them. If, as I thought, they carried up with
them heavy drifts of ice and snow in the two chambers
which were not covered in when they started, why, they
had waters in their firmament quite sufficient for all
purposes of thirst and of ablution. And what I had seen
of their exercise showed that they were in strength
sufficient for the proper development of their little
world.
Polly had the messages by heart before an hour was
over, and the little girls, of course, knew them sooner
than she.
Haliburton, meanwhile, had brought out the Shubael
refractor (Alvan Clark), and by night of Friday was in
readiness to see what he could see. Shubael of course
gave him no such luxury of detail as did my fifteen-inch
equatorial. But still he had no difficulty in making out
groves of hemlock, and the circular openings. And
although he could not make out my thirty-seven flies,
still when 10.15 came he saw distinctly the black square
crossing from hole Mary to the edge, and beginning its
Dervish dances. They were on his edge more precisely
than on mine. For Orcutt knew nothing of Tamworth, and
had thought his best chance was to display for No. 9. So
was it that, at the same moment with me, Haliburton also
was spelling out Orcutt & Co.'s joyous "Hurrah!"
"Thtephen," lisps Celia, "promith that you will look
at yon moon [old Thombush] at the inthtant I do." So was
it with me and Haliburton.
He was of course informed long before the Moores'
messenger came, that, in Orcutt's judgment, twenty feet
of length were sufficient for his signals. Orcutt's
atmosphere, of course, must be exquisitely clear.
So, on Saturday, Rob. and Haliburton pulled up all
their cambric and arranged it on the Flat again, in
letters of twenty feet, in this legend:--
RAH. AL WEL.
Haliburton said he could not waste flat or cambric on
spelling.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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