TRAVELLING STONES IN NEVADA.
The curious "travelling stones" of Australia are paralleled in Nevada. They are described as being perfectly round, about as large as a walnut, and of an ivory nature. When distributed about on the floor, table, or any smooth surface within two or three feet of each other, they immediately commence travelling toward each other, and meet at a common centre, and there lie huddled in a bunch like eggs in a nest. A single stone removed to a distance of four feet, upon being released, returns to the heap, but if taken away as much as five feet remains motionless. It is needless to say that they are largely composed of magnetic iron ore.
ON BOARD THE ARK.
BY ALBERT LEE.
CHAPTER II.
As soon as Tommy recovered his self-possession—or as much of it as he could under these trying circumstances—he opened his eyes and looked about him. He could not see much, for they were apparently racing down a dark, narrow corridor, "like a telegram in a pneumatic tube," he thought. But his eyes gradually grew accustomed to the darkness, and he could see that there were pictures on the walls—battle pictures, and scenes representing all sorts of historical events. He caught a glimpse of Washington crossing the Delaware, and of the battle of Bunker Hill; he saw the taking of the Bastille, and the great London fire. Soon he saw the Spanish Armada and the Crusades, and, later, the burning of Rome, Julius Cæsar crossing the Rubicon, the siege of Carthage, the building of the Parthenon, the destruction of Troy, the fall of Babylon, and afterwards many other things that he could not recognize. They all seemed to whiz past him in a sort of confused blur. He screwed up courage enough finally to call out to the ex-Pirate:
"Wh-wh-wh-at is th-this pl-pla-ce, and how l-long are we g-going to go l-like th-this?"
"Th-th-these are the halls of Time," the ex-Pirate shouted in reply. "We are going back through them as far as the Deluge."
This explanation was not very satisfactory to Tommy, and although up to the present moment he had not had a chance to think of getting scared, he now began to feel slightly alarmed at what had happened. He was about to question the ex-Pirate again, when suddenly there was a great burst of light, and they seemed to shoot out of the tunnel they had been travelling through. Tommy felt the grasp of Father Time's hand loosen, and the next thing he knew he was rolling head over heels on top of a big hay-stack in the middle of a broad sunny field. He pulled himself together as soon as he could, and found the ex-Pirate sitting in the hay beside him with a somewhat bewildered expression on his face.
"I don't think I like that sort of thing very much," remarked Tommy.
"I can't quite say that I do either," said the ex-Pirate, feeling to see if his pistols were still in his sash.
"Where is Father Time?" continued the little boy.
"I don't know. Perhaps he is going ahead now at his regular rate of sixty seconds to the minute."
Tommy scratched his head meditatively and looked about him. The field in which the hay-stack stood was surrounded by hills and forests, and here and there could be seen various kinds of animals travelling in pairs. Over the crests of the trees, directly in front of them, the little boy espied something that looked like the roof of an immense barn. He called the ex-Pirate's attention to it.
"That must be the Ark," said the latter, rising. "Let's go and find out."
They clambered down the hay-stack into the field, and started off in the direction of the woods. There was not any path for them to follow, and occasionally they had to wade through tall grass that reached almost up to their waists. In one of these clumps of herbage they heard voices.
"Oh dear! oh dear!" said one voice, "I am sure we shall be late. We are always late. Oh dear! oh dear! I wonder what time it is!"
Tommy and the ex-Pirate stopped and looked about them; but they could not see any one, and were about to proceed on their way, when they heard the same plaint again. They parted the tall grasses and followed the direction whence the sounds appeared to come, until they found two Turtles plodding along as fast as they could over the rough ground. It was the larger of the two Turtles that was wailing over the probability of their being late in arriving wherever they were going.
"What's the matter?" asked the ex-Pirate.
The Turtles paused and looked up.
"The matter?" exclaimed the larger Turtle. "Look at this," and he pulled a newspaper clipping out from under his shell. "I am sure we shall be late."
The ex-Pirate took the piece of paper and looked at it. It was an advertisement:
DELUGE LINE: ......................
THE ARK
(Captain Noah)
Will sail at NOON precisely.
"I am sure we shall miss the boat," continued the Turtle, nervously. "What time is it, please?"
Tommy and the ex-Pirate looked at each other. Neither one had a watch.
"I can't tell you what time it is," answered the little boy. "I'm not big enough to have a watch; and the last time I saw the clock it was going so fast, I could not tell what time it was."
"Well," said the Turtle, "you are more polite than the Cuckoos, anyway. But I am sure we shall be late."
"I guess not," said the ex-Pirate, reassuringly. "Don't get nervous about it. There is always a delay. The Ark won't sail on time. And besides, they will have to wait for the mails."
"Oh no," persisted the Turtle. "They won't have to wait for the males, because we are going aboard in pairs."
"Can't we carry the poor things?" suggested Tommy. "It would be too bad if they got left."
The Turtle looked up at the little boy with an expression of overwhelming gratitude. This was all that was needed to persuade the ex-Pirate, and so he and Tommy leaned over and each picked up a Turtle and tucked it under his arm.
"This reminds me of a conversation I overheard once," said the ex-Pirate, as they started off again. "I made a classic out of it; and as the Sheep is not here to object now, I will recite it to you:
"'It is much to be regretted,'
Said the Turtle to the Snail,
'That as rapid-transit creatures
We so signally must fail.
"'But yet we should be thankful
That Nature still allows us
To carry on our weary backs
The wherewithal to house us.'"
"Correct!" blurted out the Turtle from under the ex-Pirate's arm. "Is there any danger of these pistols going off?"
"WHY, THAT ARK IS JUST LIKE MINE!" EXCLAIMED TOMMY.
"No," replied the ex-Pirate; "they are loaded."
"That's all right, then," he said, with a sigh of relief; "I was afraid they were not loaded."
Tommy and the ex-Pirate, with the Turtles under their arms, picked their way through the trees toward the Ark. As they advanced they could hear sounds as of a vast congregation of creatures, and at last, when they came to the edge of the woods, they looked out upon a broad plain, in the centre of which rested the huge house-boat that Noah had constructed. Around it were gathered hundreds and hundreds of animals, and in the air above were flying countless birds.
"Why, that Ark is just like mine!" exclaimed Tommy, "only a million times larger." The ex-Pirate looked at him in a half-surprised way, but made no reply.
"I guess you can drop us here," then said Tommy's Turtle; "and we are ever so much obliged." As soon as the two creatures had been put down upon the ground again they scampered off in the direction of the Ark as fast as their legs would carry them.
"Now what shall we do?" said Tommy.
"I guess we had better hold a council of war. When you don't know what to do, always hold a council of war," answered the ex-Pirate, and the two sat down in the shade of a big oak to consult.