“I wonder how many of those Arabs, Turks, Algerians, Persians, Hindoos, Hottentots and others are the real thing, and how many rank fakes,” suggested Hiram.
“That’s more than anybody can tell,” laughed Rob. “It’s the easiest thing to put stain on the skin of an Irishman, dress him in the Oriental style, clap a red fez on his head, and then call him a Turk. Only he has to keep his tongue tight-locked; because his brogue would give him away. If you listen to them chattering in their own tongue you can tell which are the real thing.”
“As for me,” spoke up Andy, frankly, “I just don’t question any of them, but take it for granted they’re what they make out to be. And I want to say, fellows, it’s the biggest treat to me to be here, watching the congress of all the nations and people on the globe.”
Hiram’s lip curled and he snickered, but Andy pretended not to hear. To Hiram’s mind any one who could confess to caring for such frivolous things when there was a building not far away just jammed with the most marvelous inventions known to modern science and ingenuity—well, it bordered on silliness. But then “many men, many minds,” and perhaps it is just as well that people do not all think alike. There is a deal of truth in that old proverb to the effect that what is “one man’s food may be another’s poison.”
So they sat there for a long time while the procession of Head Hunters from Borneo, natives of the island of Ceylon, South American vaqueros in their picturesque attire, pigmies from the heart of Africa, Mexican bull-fighters, Moros from our island possessions in the Orient, Chinese, Japanese, Servians, Tyrolese mountain climbers and yodlers, and a multitude of others continued to pass, many of them coming from the villages and side shows of the great amusement park.
From time to time the amazing arm of the giant Aëroscope would project up against the heavens, the car filled with those visitors who wished to obtain a view of their surroundings.
Every time it arose, slowly but majestically, Andy would stop talking to gape and watch, as though just then the one longing in his heart was to take that skyward trip.
Rob knew it would be the very first thing Andy would want to do after they left the table; and indeed, he was not feeling at all averse to complying with such a request, for it seemed as if the extensive view to be obtained must be well worth the price charged for the trip aloft.
“Three hundred and sixty-five feet they say in the guide book,” Andy gushed; “and all for a small sum in the bargain. I wouldn’t miss that sight for ten times fifty cents. Why, only for the Rockies being in the way, with a real good glass you might get even a peep in at Hampton town, unless one of those nasty sea fogs blocked you off,” and then, of course, he had to laugh himself at the idea of any glass being able to cover a distance of something like three thousand miles.