Relating How The Beautiful Picnic Progressed

: Doctor Jones' Picnic

Shortly before six o'clock all arose. The Doctor and his wife, at her

earnest solicitation, ascended to the observatory to witness the

sunrise. Mattie had manifested symptoms of vertigo that morning on first

looking out, and decided not to go up with them. The exertion of

climbing that long flight of stairs flushed the lovely face of Mrs.

Jones, and her cheeks were like twin roses when they reached the

observatory. Onc there, she was glad to sit and rest. The Doctor opened

the windows and then sat beside her. Mrs. Jones sat quiet and dumb,

hands clasped, looking out upon the most glorious scene her eyes had

ever beheld. The sun was just peeping above the horizon. The painting of

the clouds; the variegated face of the earth; the pure, balmy

atmosphere; the great globe beneath their feet; the exquisitely graceful

shaft that pierced the vault nearly one hundred feet above their heads,

bearing our beautiful symbol of liberty; all these, combined with the

inspiration that always attends looking out upon the works of God from

great elevations, thrilled the souls of the two spectators as they had

never been before in their lives. Thus they sat in silence drinking in

the beauties of the morning for nearly a quarter of an hour. Approaching

steps upon the stairway broke the spell, and the Professor and Fred

stepped into the observatory. As they looked out upon the transcendent

loveliness of the scene, the Professor raised his hands above his head

and cried: "'What is man, that Thou art mindful of him, or the son of

man that Thou visitest him? Thou hast made him little lower than the

angels, and crowned him with glory and honor.' You told us yesterday

that you never felt so little as when you looked out from this

magnificent aerie; but I declare to you, Doctor, that I feel now that

God has made man a wonderful being. As we go thus sailing through these

roseate skies in this most splendid creation that ever came from the

hands of man, I feel like crying with old Elisha, 'My father! My father!

The chariot of Israel and the horsemen thereof.'"



They sat a few minutes and then descended to the cabin. Mattie, Will,

and Denison were upon the balcony, speculating as to what city they were

rapidly approaching. Dr. Jones looked at it through his glasses, and

said: "That is Columbus, the capital city of Ohio. Those great stone

buildings you see there, inclosed by high stone walls, constitute the

state prison. It contains at present, I believe, nearly three thousand

convicts."



"The poor things!" said Mattie. "Just think of the contrast between

sailing so smoothly and easily as we are doing, away above the world

with all its cares and sorrows, and being incarcerated within those

gloomy walls, many of them for life. I am sure that if they could become

'Children of the Skies,' they would all reform in a short time."



"No, no, Mattie," replied the Doctor, "God did infinitely more than that

for man. He placed him in the garden of Eden, and he transgressed the

only restrictive law laid upon him. And he became so vile that the Lord

was compelled to drown them like so many rats. Beautiful and inspiring

though our present circumstances and surroundings are, yet they could

never change the hearts of the majority of those miserable men."



Breakfast was now announced by Sing. The bracing atmosphere of this

upper region seemed to be very appetizing, for they all ate heartily.



The ship was acting splendidly, continuing at nearly the same level of

the day before, and but little fuel had been burned during the night.

The wind had shifted to the south, and they were sailing twenty miles an

hour, due north. The Doctor rubbed his hands gleefully. "We're getting

there now, ladies and gentlemen, we're getting there finely. Nothing

could be better."



The sweet, happy valleys of Ohio were so exceedingly beautiful; the

little towns appeared so pure and lovely to the voyagers; and the people

were out in such crowds, cheering them so lustily, that our friends

could do little else than sit through the day and watch them through

their glasses. And numerous were the dispatches they wrote and cast

from the balcony. They could see the people rushing eagerly for them, as

they reached the earth.



"I wish we had a morning paper," sighed Fred. "I do not doubt that we

receive some mention in it."



"That is about the only thing I have missed so far," said the Professor.

"But we can well afford to forego that luxury for what we are now

enjoying."



"And I really do wish we could attend church Sunday mornings," said

Mattie.



"Oh! we will have a church service," replied Denison. "I notice that the

Doctor has brought with him a book of sermons and a Bible. Then we have

an organ, and the best choir I ever heard. The Doctor or Professor can

act as parson; and, to make the thing realistic and homelike, I will

pass the contribution box."



"I will see that he uses a bell punch," cried Fred. This suggestion was

immediately rejected as unworthy of one of the Children of the Skies.



The Professor sat consulting a map. "We are heading straight for

Cleveland," he remarked.



"I am really glad of that," said Dr. Jones. "That is my old native town,

and I have not seen it for many years. The population has doubled

several times since I left it, immediately after the war."



An hour or so later, as he stood upon the balcony, the Doctor suddenly

shouted, "There's Cleveland! And that town this side of it is Berea, the

great stone quarry place. Do you see on the north side of the town those

brick and stone buildings in a campus? That is Baldwin University, where

I attended school several years. You didn't dream, dear old girl," said

he, tenderly and apostrophizingly to said institution of learning, "that

you would ever turn out such a sky traveler as I am, did you?"



All the glasses were turned upon the University. "We shall pass directly

over it," said Fred.



"They have sighted us!" cried the Doctor excitedly. "See the students

pouring out of the buildings! Let's give them some messages." This they

did in a liberal shower.



They had lowered to the five hundred foot level, so that a good view

might be taken of the beautiful metropolis of Ohio--Cleveland. They were

just about passing over it.



"What a splendid city it has grown to be," said Professor Gray.



"Yes, indeed," replied Dr. Jones. "That portion of the city," continued

he, pointing with his finger, "was formerly called Brooklyn Center. I

was born a mile or so from there. Yes!" he cried, looking earnestly

through his glass, "I am quite sure that I can see the old two-story

farmhouse where I was born. It is, sure as shooting! There is

grandfather's farm where the 'Gunpowder tea' party was held that I told

you of. And off here are the Heights, or South Cleveland. In 1862, when

I joined the army, that was Camp Cleveland. It was then covered with

rough wooden barracks, but now you see that it is densely built up with

houses. My regiment, the 124th O.V.I. was in camp there three months

before we went south."



"You must have been a very small soldier at that time," said Mattie.



"Yes," he replied, "I was but fifteen years old at that time. I didn't

do much good or harm, for I was but a snare drummer the first two years

of my soldiering, and the last year I was detailed as mounted orderly at

brigade headquarters. But just see the people! Give them some messages!

We shall be out of 'Yankee Doodle' land very soon."



So the half million (more or less) of Clevelanders were treated to a

shower of greetings.



"If I had thought sooner, I would have dropped anchor here and given my

old townies a handshake," said the Doctor.



"Too late now, Doctor. We have passed the principal portion of the city,

and will be above Lake Erie in two or three minutes."



"Yes, yes, I see," sighed the Doctor. "But we may see you again.

Good-bye, Cleveland."



The blue water of Lake Erie was now rolling beneath them. Steamers and

sail vessels thickly dotted the face of the beautiful lake; for the

traffic and travel upon these great inland seas are exceedingly large.

The Canadian shores were visible, and when Sing announced dinner, the

splendid domain of Her Majesty Victoria, Ontario, lay widespread before

them. It was hard to realize that they were not still in their own

land, so much like it did the peaceful towns, villages, and farms

appear.



After dinner, the five men, in the little smoking-room, lighted their

pipes and cigars, and entered into a general chat.



"If this wind holds, we shall be in the Arctics in two or three days,"

said Will.



"I suppose that we shall then be obliged to get out our furs," replied

Fred.



"No," returned the architect. "These walls are double as well as the

floor, with air chambers between, and I can turn hot air into them at

pleasure. The windows and doors are all double, also, and Jack Frost can

never penetrate this cabin."



"What a contrast between this luxurious sail through the sky, and the

buffetings upon sea and land, the hunger, cold, and oftentimes death,

suffered by former Arctic explorers," said the Professor. "And, Doctor,"

he continued, "if we make a successful trip, the matter of aerial

navigation will have been settled. What a power this ship would have

been in the late war of the Rebellion."



"The war would have been very quickly terminated if our globe had been

in existence at that time," returned Dr. Jones. "We could have sailed

above the reach of their best guns and dropped bombs upon them that

would have destroyed their forts, gunboats, and armies at will. But I am

glad things were as they were. We fought a fair fight to the finish, and

settled forever the question of human slavery in America. Had the first

few battles of the war been won by the North, the South might have laid

down their arms, and have been permitted to retain their institution of

slavery. When Lincoln issued his Emancipation Proclamation, I remember

that even we soldiers in the field received the news with a sort of

shock, and thought our President over-bold. We had not thought of that

extreme measure as a result of the war. We were simply out to preserve

the Union."



"And right well you did it, Doctor," said Denison. "I have always

noticed in reading the history of that war, that in the latter part of

it you fought with much greater skill and judgment than you did in the

first year or two."



"That is quite true, and nothing more than what might have been

expected," replied Dr. Jones. "It is marvelous what we accomplished with

an absolutely empty treasury, no credit, no standing army to speak of,

and our little navy scattered to the four ends of the earth. The vast,

splendidly drilled armies which we brought into existence as if by

magic, were the wonder of the world. We had everything to learn, both

North and South, in the matter of logistics. Long lines of

communications had to be kept open, and such splendid raiders as John

Morgan, Forest, Mosby, etc., were not slow to break them frequently, so

that I remember going to bed supperless many times after a hard day's

march, because our rations had been captured and burned. Our wagon

trains were something immense, while the big Bell tents were in use; but

after what were called by the boys 'pup tents,' or 'dog tents,' were

introduced, the wagon trains were cut down at least three-fourths. For

the pup tents we carried upon our backs, and so dispensed with the great

Bell tents that were hauled in wagons. Our trains had been so large and

cumbersome that military movements were inconceivably slow, and the war

could never have been fought to a successful issue by the North on those

lines."



"I suppose, Doctor, that you were in some of the great battles?" asked

Fred.



"Yes, I was in the battles of Chickamauga, Missionary Ridge, through the

Atlantic campaign; then under General Geo. H. Thomas we marched back

into Tennessee, fought a desperate battle at Franklin, and a few weeks

later annihilated the army at Nashville. While we were doing this,

Sherman was making his renowned march to the sea. But I'll spin you some

of my experiences before we get back home. Let's join the ladies."



"I should never tire hearing your war stories," said Fred.



"Yes; and you would be the first one to go to sleep if I should tell you

of the battle of Chickamauga or Missionary Ridge."



This Fred stoutly denied. "All right," said the Doctor. "I'll test you

one of these evenings."



"The sooner the better," replied Fred. "And now let's have some music."



They sang several anthems and choruses, and all retired at an early

hour, except Denison, who stood watch.