_Harry Returns to the Hotel_ — _Philip Tells of his Blunder_ —
_The Anthropological Building_ — _The Log Cabin_ — _The Alaskan
Village_ — _The old Whaling-Ship “Progress”_ — _A Sleepy
Audience_ — _Plans._
[Illustration: “A SPLENDID MEAT SUPPER FOR 25 CENTS!”]
Harry’s route to his hotel lay through the usual throng of men whose
one object in life was to make people buy “a splendid meat supper for
twenty-five cents!” His legs felt like stilts, and he walked only
because he had become so used to it that he could not stop.
As it was still an hour or two before their usual dinner-time, Harry
went up to his room, intending to lie down for a while. When he asked
at the counter for the key, the clerk told him that his friend “with
the eye-glasses” was already in their room.
Harry found Philip lying on the bed, tired but looking contented.
“Why, you’re home early,” said Harry, in surprise. “I thought you were
going to spend the whole day in the Art Gallery.”
“So I was,” said Philip, rising to make room for the later arrival. “I
started for there. Where have you been?”
“Oh, to the Government Building, the man-of-war, the convent, the
caravels—and a lot more,” said Harry, as he flung himself upon the bed,
first having made himself comfortable by removing his jacket and shoes.
“Did you like it?”
“Like it? Of course I liked it, old slowcoach! But it’s too much like
being invited to two Thanksgiving dinners—enough is better than two
feasts.”
“What did you see?” asked Philip.
“See here, Phil,” said Harry, smiling mischievously; “do you think I
am unable to take a view through a millstone with a hole in it? You
needn’t think you can put me off by asking questions. What I want to
know is why you didn’t get to the Art Building. It’s not small, you
know; you could hardly have passed it without noticing it. Come, out
with it, young fellow.”
“To tell the truth,” said Phil reluctantly, but laughing
good-naturedly, “I started out all right, for I looked up the way in
the guide-book. I found that the cheapest and quickest plan was to take
the railway on the grounds—the Intra—something; yes, the Intramural,
which means ‘within the wall.’”
[Illustration: A “LOOP” OF THE INTRAMURAL RAILWAY.]
“So it does,” answered Harry. “Great thing to know Latin. But fire
away. I can see there is more in this Fair than a whole brigade of boys
can see. Let’s hear what you did.”
“I took the railway, climbing a lot of steps, and we started. They had
signs to tell one where to go, but I couldn’t read them very well, and
so I went whizzing along without altogether understanding where I was.
The stations they called out meant nothing to me, and I had an idea it
took a good while to get across the grounds; and—to make it short—I was
looking at the view, first one side, toward the hotels, and then the
other, toward the Fair Buildings, and I didn’t wake up to my position
till the conductor said, ‘Going round again, young man?’ So I got off,
for there I was at the same station I got on at. You see, the conductor
had noticed me because I sat near where he stood.”
[Illustration: GENERAL VIEW OF THE COURT OF HONOR, LOOKING TOWARD THE
LAKE.
Electricity Building.
Manufactures and Liberal Arts Building.
Peristyle.
Agricultural Building.
Machinery Hall.]
“That’s a good one on you!”
“I know it. But I didn’t like to start over again, so I came down
the steps and walked over across the Court of Honor, along by the
Agricultural Building, till I came to the caravels and the convent.
I saw those, but so did you. I went next to the Krupp gun exhibit by
the lake. That gun was enormous! I believe all the gunners could get
inside when it rained. They had a printed label on it, and at first I
read it: ‘Please set off the gun’; but I knew that wasn’t likely, so I
went nearer, and found it said ‘keep’ instead of ‘set.’ Oh, by the way,
just before I went in there, I stopped in the doorway and saw some men
diving from a tremendous height, out in the lake,—a much higher tower
than the one they dived from on the fête night. I also saw in the Krupp
building a pretty little model of the house the great gunmaker lived in
when he began.”
“What was it like?” asked Harry.
“Oh, just a little square thatched house; but you could see the tiny
furniture through the windows. I didn’t stay long there, for they were
sprinkling the floor, and it was sloppy.
“Next I went into the Leather Exhibit Building; but there were mostly
shoes and things there, and I didn’t see very much I cared about,
except some buckskin suits labeled ‘indestructible.’ I would have liked
one of those, except that it was trimmed with silver lace.”
“A little gaudy for you,” said Harry.
“Yes, but they were fine. So, seeing signs telling people to go up into
the gallery where shoes were being made, I went up. I heard machines
making a racket, but all I saw was the backs of the other people who
got there first.”
“I know,” said Harry; “I made a sketch of one of those very exhibits.”
“Now, where did I go next? Let me see the map—it’s there by you.”
[Illustration: “DON’T FAIL TO SEE THIS EXHIBIT.”]
Harry passed over the little plan of the grounds, and Philip examined
it a moment. Then he went on:
“I see now. I meant to go into the Forestry Building, but on the way I
caught sight of some things in the Anthro—”
“—Thropo-pop-o-ological,” interrupted Harry. “It’s a nice word to say
when you’re in a hurry.”
“Yes,” Philip replied, “that was it; so I went in there. And I tell
you, you mustn’t miss that. It’s fine. It has everything in it.”
“So they all have,” said Harry, hopelessly.
“But there are gymnasium things, and African weapons, all sorts of
savage huts and costumes, Greek statues, and views, and bits of work
from the prisons and reformatories, showing how boys are drilled and
trained to work at trades. But, as usual, I didn’t think I could see
everything, and so I looked at only a few special cases. One that I
remember well showed all sorts of games and puzzles—chess, cards,
checkers, halma, pachisi, Indian sticks for throwing like dice, the
fifteen puzzle, ring puzzles, wire puzzles, all sorts. The chessmen
were splendid. There was one Chinese set there, where the pieces stood
on pedestals showing three balls carved one inside the other; and the
pieces themselves were little mandarins and things, with faces, and
beards, and all. There were enough games in the cases for a boy to
learn a new one every day as long as he lived.”
“Well?” asked Harry, as Philip paused.
“You don’t want me to tell it all, do you?” Philip asked.
“If you will,” said Harry. “My ears are the only things about me that
are not tired; and I am resting the rest of me.”
“All right,” said Philip; “I’m willing. I am so full of it, I could
talk a week. But I remember now there was one place I went before the
Anthropo Building, and that was to a real log cabin, with all the
regular old-fashioned things in it; but never mind, I won’t go back to
that, for I’ve a lot more to tell, and one thing I know you’ll like to
hear about specially.
“The next queer thing was the Cliff-dwellers’ mound, a big structure,
made to look like red rock,—sandstone, maybe,—in which these old
Indians in the Southwest used to live. I didn’t go into it, although
a lot of signs said I ought to; but I saw how the little caves were
hollowed out and made into huts, with doors and windows. While I was
looking up at it—and it is a high cliff, I tell you!—I saw some nuns
all in black climbing over it, and that was a strange sight enough. Out
in front were some gray little donkeys,—‘burros,’ used by the exploring
party that found the caves. Then I went on to an old-time distillery,
outside of which was a real ‘moonshiner’s’ still that had been captured
by the revenue officers.
[Illustration: AN ALASKAN IMAGE.]
“Then I came to some Alaskan houses. They were made of great rough
slabs, with circular doors cut through the trunks of trees in front.
There were little models of them in the Anthropo place, too. In front
of them stood those carved totem-poles that we used to see in the
physical geography book. I saw by the labels on the models that those
poles were meant to tell the history of the man in the house behind
each one, and that the more rings there were on the carved man’s high
hat, the more of a fellow the owner was. There seemed to be lots about
whales on them. I suppose capturing a whale was to them like being
elected to Congress—maybe harder.
“But, speaking of whales, the next thing I saw was the one I want to
tell you specially about. Near the shore there, in what they call the
South Pond, was an old-fashioned vessel. I walked over toward it, and
read the signs. They said it was a whaling-vessel, a regular old New
Bedford whaler. You know about those?”
“I guess I do,” said Harry. “I remember reading ‘Peter, the Whaler,’
and a lot more books like it.”
“Well, at first I wasn’t going in, for they charged a quarter, and
there didn’t seem to be many going on board. I was afraid it was not
good for anything, but at last I made up my mind to risk twenty-five
cents on it. I bought my ticket and climbed the gang-plank. There were
just two other men on board besides the sailor in charge.”
“‘Two other men’ is good,” remarked Harry.
“You know what I mean. When we got up on deck, the sailor came forward
to speak his little piece. He said if we wanted to know how they caught
whales he’d tell us. Then he went on with the whole thing, from ‘Thar
she blows!’ down to the cutting up and trying-out of blubber.
“I had often read about it, but I tell you, Harry, it was different to
see him hold up the harpoon and the lance, the gun for firing a big
harpoon and all. And then we saw the vats for boiling the oil. And he
said that out of the whale’s head they could dip up whole barrels of
clear oil; but the whalebone was the thing they were after nowadays. He
said they sometimes got thousands of dollars’ worth out of the mouth of
one whale.
“After he finished telling about whaling, he invited us below, to
see a collection of marine curiosities they had on board. It was a
regular old-style ship, with the beams coming close down to your
head. All around were cases of curious things—real sailors’ oddities:
carved teeth and shells, swords from sword-fish, idols, weapons,
tools—whatever a sailor could collect. One thing I remember was a
harpoon-head that had been bent and twisted around itself by a whale
till it looked like a scrawl in a copy-book. Then we went forward to
the forecastle, to see the queer little bunks where the men sleep.
[Illustration: THE WHALING-SHIP.]
“As I was coming away I bought a little book telling all about the old
ship; and it is interesting, I tell you. I haven’t read it all yet, but
one adventure of that ship the sailor told us about.
“She was out with a big fleet, more than thirty, and she was one of
the six that got out from an ice-pack. Then a boat came along after,
and reported the rest of the ships as wrecked. The ‘Progress’—that’s
the one I’m telling about—and the other saved vessels threw all their
valuable cargo over and took in the poor fellows from the ice. That was
what I call square. You can read all about it later. Wouldn’t you like
to?”
[Illustration: THE WINDMILLS.]
There was no answer. Philip turned to look at Harry more closely, and
found that the tired boy had fallen fast asleep.
“It’s all right for him to go to sleep,” said Philip to himself, “but I
wish he’d say so when he does it; then I’d know when to stop.”
Harry awoke in time for dinner. Mr. Douglass had mailed a number of
letters, and he and the boys went to the table together. They found
that their walks had given them the best of appetites, and they enjoyed
seeing the people at the various tables around them. Mr. Douglass spoke
of the excellent appearance made by the crowds, and of their good-humor.
“I was in the Fair Grounds for a short time this afternoon,” he said,
“and I found myself noticing the people quite as much as the curious
things around me. If one ran against another, there was never any
ill-humor or crossness. Usually both apologized politely. And yet in
many places the crowds were enormous. Again and again I would look
ahead of me, and think that I couldn’t get through the throng.”
[Illustration: THE WOODED ISLAND AT TWILIGHT.]
“I noticed that, too,” said Philip; “but the spaces are big and the
people keep moving, so somehow one always finds a place to pass.”
“I tell you what I liked,” said Harry; “and that was the little
drinking-fountains, where you drop a penny and get a glass of spring
water. I found them very welcome.”
“And the popcorn!” said Philip. “I don’t like it much, but I saw it
everywhere. Why, you could smell it in the air sometimes; and every
now and then you would hear a crackle-crackle, snap-snap, and there
would be a popper full of dancing corn over hot coals.”
“Yes, I saw them,” said Mr. Douglass. “I found it very interesting
to talk to the people. Now and then, when I wished to rest awhile, I
would sit down on a bench; and pretty soon a man would come up and drop
into a seat beside me. Then, in a minute, one of us would say: ‘It’s a
fine day,’ or something of the kind, and, without difficulty, a little
talk would begin. One man I met told me he was from Massachusetts, and
cultivated tobacco. We had a very pleasant conversation, and gave each
other advice about what to see. I think this Fair will do a great deal
to bring people together.”
“It has already,” said Harry, solemnly. “I have seen a number come
together even to-day. Where did you go this afternoon, Mr. Douglass?”
“I went to the Art Gallery part of the time,” the tutor replied. “But I
found it, like the other buildings, too overwhelming—whole rooms full
of masterpieces of painting and sculpture; something demanding at least
a glance wherever one looked. I found I could not stay long. Walking
about and looking upward and downward, and from side to side, is more
than any one can endure very long. Besides, the pictures are so good
that they make one both think and feel keenly, and that is tiring,
too. So after about two hours I surrendered, and came out. I walked
along the lake shore during part of my way back, purposely avoiding any
sights of especial interest.”
“What shall we do to-morrow?” asked Philip.
“Whatever you please,” answered the tutor. “Perhaps you might do some
photographing, Philip.”
“I’d like to, but I hardly know where to begin.”
“Suppose,” said Harry, “that we all three go to the Midway Plaisance?
It’s a splendid place to get pictures.”
“But I hear,” said Philip, “that you can’t do very much photographing
there. You can get a permit for the Fair Grounds, but the Plaisance
exhibits are outside of the Fair’s control, and you have to secure
special permissions there.”
“We might try it,” said Mr. Douglass. “You have brought your big kodak,
haven’t you?”
“Yes, with a new roll of forty-eight films in it,” said Philip. “But I
shall have to take outdoor scenes, for there’s little chance to give
time-exposures.”
“Well, suppose that we hire chairs to-morrow—the rolling-chairs, you
know. One can hire either double chairs or single ones; and then we
three will be wheeled out to the Midway Plaisance. There we will let
the chairs go, and see what we can do. How do you like it, Harry?”
[Illustration: A LAUNCH-LANDING.]
“Oh, it suits me,” said Harry. “To tell the truth, I should like to go
there soon, for there are so many really foreign scenes in the streets
and villages that it may be I can get some good little sketches. At all
events, I’d like to go to the Wild Animal show, and see it all. I met a
boy to-day, while I was at lunch, who said that it beat any circus he
ever saw.”
“There are a number of absurd cheap shows on the Midway,” said Mr.
Douglass, “at least, so the guide-books say; but we can go to the best
of them, and let the others alone. I find that the people (as I have
told you) are more interesting to me than are most of the exhibits, and
the Plaisance is always crowded.”
The party had finished dinner, and they went up to their rooms;
Philip got out his camera, and looked it over, to be sure all was in
working order. Harry laid out his sketch-book and an extra pencil. Mr.
Douglass, as he usually did, read over his guide-books, and made up his
accounts. But all three went early to bed.
[Illustration: IN FRONT OF THE TRANSPORTATION BUILDING.]
[Illustration: IN CAIRO STREET.]
[Illustration]