WINTER IN THE SAN ANTONES
THE observatory was completed and the telescope sledded to the top of
Spyglass Mountain and installed early in the month of January. Winter
had set in in earnest, and there was six feet of snow on the gentle
slopes about Stirrup Lake. But the homesteaders’ new cabins were
snug and tight; they had an abundance of fuel and provisions; so the
mountain storms that danced up in fury from the lake and shook the
structures to their scant foundations had few terrors for them.
Joshua was so successful in the building of his observatory, with its
conical, revolving metal dome, that he wrote an article, entitled “A
Home-made Observatory for $300,” and sent it to _The Universe_. He had
carefully followed instructions in the author’s article that he had
among his notes, and had improved on the plans and specifications. It
was a proud day when he rode home on Argo from Ragtown and showed Madge
his check for twenty-five dollars from _The Universe_.
He had bought a second-hand typewriter, and of evenings, while the
building of the observatory was under way, had applied himself to
authorship with that tireless energy which already had carried him so
far in his studies. And the following spring his article, “Speculations
on the Physiology and Anatomy of the Inhabitants of Mars,” which was
published in _The American Astronomer_, brought him many letters from
interested readers, and some of them were men well known in scientific
circles. Joshua received only ten dollars for this contribution, but
if his check had been for a thousand it could not have given him the
pleasure that the letters did. The editors of the magazine commented
at length upon the freshness of his work and asked to see more of it,
with the result that they accepted, before the publication of his
first paper, “Fissures or Canals?--A Study of the Surface Features of
Mars,” and “The Atmosphere of Mars.” Then the editor of _The Journal
of Astronomy_ wrote to him and asked him to submit something. After
the rejection of two of his articles, “Is Mars a Lifeless Planet?” was
accepted; and a check for fifty dollars sent him galloping to Madge on
Argo, waving the strip of blue paper like the banner of a conquering
hero, as he saw her looking out the window.
Before “Is Mars a Lifeless Planet?” was in press Joshua received a
telegram, days late because of the snowdrifts in the mountain gaps that
had retarded the mail stage, asking for a companion article of about
four thousand words telling who he was, where he had been educated,
and describing his work in telescopy. At Ragtown Joshua met California
Bill, in from one of his freighting trips, when he received the belated
message. California was the more enthusiastic of the two, for Joshua
had the true student’s reticence about blowing his own horn.
“Tell ’em all about it, Tony,” urged Bill. “Lay it on thick. Lord, I
wish I could write! I’d do it for ye, my son, an’ I’d do ’er _hi-yu
skookum_! An’ don’t forget to say that, out here, ye’re known as Cole
of Spyglass Mountain. That’s yer trade-mark. I give it to ye, an’, by
golly, ye gotta use it! Go home an’ tell ’em how th’ war broke out.”
So in a whimsical mood Joshua took his friend’s advice. He made it
quite clear that he had no degree, even explaining that he had never
been to college. He lauded to the skies his boyhood friend, Beaver
Clegg, and credited him with any success that he--Joshua--might have
achieved. He told about his life in the House of Refuge, about his
days as a tramp, about Ragtown and the new railroad, and how he had
earned the money to buy his telescope and settle on a homestead. He
hinted at the idea of the inhabitants of Mars trying to communicate
with the earth through the medium of canals laid out in the form of a
geometrical figure. He told of Spyglass Mountain and his observatory,
and his difficulties in sledding the instrument to the summit. And last
of all, to please California Bill, he mentioned that he was known in
the community as Cole of Spyglass Mountain.
He gave his brief autobiography no title, and when it appeared in
print, preceding his article “Is Mars a Lifeless Planet?” in the March
issue of _The Journal of Astronomy_, California Bill’s chest bulged out
with pride; for the editor had entitled it “Cole of Spyglass Mountain.”
_The Scientist_, a New York publication, was editorially opposed to
the theory that Mars is inhabited, and they took occasion to draw
Joshua over the live coals in their May issue. They admitted that his
speculations were interesting, and that they were set forth with grace
and power, but they laughed to scorn all of his ideas. They ridiculed
his youth and inexperience, and made no bones about throwing in his
teeth the fact that he had no reputation whatever as an astronomer and
had the stamp of no institution’s approval upon him. The writer was
vituperative and insulting, but he did Joshua more good than harm for
the reason that _The Scientific Weekly_ took up the controversy in
support of him, with the result that “Cole of Spyglass Mountain” became
a well-known name among the devotees of science.
And thus it came about that when Joshua’s great night arrived his name
was fairly well established, and the scientific world was ready to
weigh his words and give his conclusions serious thought.
By spring Ragtown was reading science. Joshua had become an object
of mild ridicule before his first article appeared. Then as the
press-agent work of California Bill began spreading the news that Cole
of Spyglass Mountain was in print, Ragtown awoke to the realization
that they had a celebrity in their midst. He was looked at in awe
as he rode in on Argo, with his silvered tapaderos flapping and his
bridle-reins a-jingle, sometimes with Shanty Madge beside him on her
black. And when winter broke Ragtown made pilgrimage to Spyglass
Mountain to see the telescope and view the heavens through its powerful
lenses.
But there were two who did not come--Lee Sweet, the cattleman, and
Felix Wolfgang, the gambler. And it was known to Joshua that his old
enemy of the House of Refuge was still at Ragtown, and that Lee Sweet
rode up often from the desert and stayed for days, carousing in The
Golden Eagle. Once Joshua came face to face with him in the post
office. Sweet glowered at him, swung about on his heel, and dragged his
spurs into the barroom.
As spring approached Joshua’s work in the observatory was kept back
by the high winds that prevailed, which caused such atmospherical
disturbances as to make his patient vigils at the eye-piece a waste of
time. To study Mars under these conditions was impossible, even though
his telescope was a Brashear and an exceptionally fine instrument to
boot. So when atmospheric conditions were at all favorable he devoted
his attention to study of the surface of the moon, and to recording the
rise and fall in the luminosity of certain variable stars whose exact
minimum and maximum periods were not yet fully established. But his
chief interest during this period of poor seeing was the search for
vegetation on the floors of certain lunar craters, which had often
been reported by well-known astronomers.
Patient vigil was also kept in the case of the marvelous craters
of Alphonsus and Eratosthenes. On the floor of Eratosthenes, eight
thousand feet below the level of the surrounding Sea of Showers, he
at last caught a glimpse of what he believed to be the long-sought
indications of vegetable growth. In the northern part of the
crater-floor a peculiar spot became noticeable soon after the sunlight
began to flood this area. Within fifty-six hours the spot had expanded
in two winglike regions, and forty-eight hours afterward it had
disappeared.
He reported these discoveries to the Milton University, to be recorded
and published for the benefit of other students.
It was during this period that Joshua took up the study of optical
physics. Beginning his studies with the few classical treaties he
had among his books, he soon was wholly absorbed in the mysteries of
lens-making, crystallography, stellar photography, the tele-microscope,
and other modern developments along similar lines of research and
experiment. So he ordered by mail copies of any works which might
have been published during the past three years by authorities on any
of these phases of his study, leaving the matter of selection to the
discretion of a well-known New York dealer in works of science. Also
he bought a number of tools and a diverse assortment of materials for
experimental purposes.
Although he had come into possession of a telescope of remarkable
defining power, owing to the superior quality of its object glass,
he realized that its light-getting power was unequal to the task of
showing fine detail on so distant a body as Mars. So, with his new
tools and material and his added knowledge to aid him, he set bravely
to work to devise some means of increasing the power of his telescope
by some kind of accessory apparatus, applied either to the object
glass or to the eye-piece. Some such instrument already had been
invented and was then in use for special research work on the stars.
Why should he not be able to work out some device of equal or even
greater efficiency for observation of the planets--especially Mars?
During the winter months, then, he acquired, with indefatigable
application, all of the information available on the subject of his
investigations. On this solid theoretical foundation he made experiment
after experiment, seeking always to discover some type, quality, or
combination of lenses, color screens, or other apparatus that would
bring him nearer his goal. Some improvement was finally effected,
but the advantage gained was not equal to his requirements. Though
somewhat discouraged by the meager results, Joshua persevered, often
going so far as to make attempts contrary to the principles laid down
in the advanced textbooks he had read. In such efforts, however, it
seemed that he always failed to advance his cause. But he realized
that ultimate success lay in breaking new ground. No mere improvements
on existing instruments could serve his purpose. He must explore new
regions, devise a new method, just as so many tenacious pioneers had
done before him.
To describe the many devices employed by him would form a tedious
narrative, comprehensible only to a thoroughgoing student of optical
physics. But before spring arrived he had succeeded in constructing an
instrument which, attached to the eye-end of the telescope, projected a
greatly enlarged image of Mars on an adjacent screen. Or by employment
of a suitable color screen laid over his object lens, a camera system
could be used, photographing the enlarged image, which then could be
studied at leisure. This was a decided advantage, for clear images of
the planet’s surface, even with the newly devised accessory instrument,
were obtainable only during brief moments of atmospheric quietude.
Consequently his hopes soared high.
And now Joshua was ready for the momentous day in June, when he hoped
to make the great discovery which would prove to the scientific world
that there was active, intelligent life on the planet Mars.
Shanty Madge had been his close companion throughout the winter months.
Often of clear nights she climbed with him to the summit of Spyglass
Mountain, where she sat by the little air-tight heater and read or
sewed while he worked at his various problems. The operations of
Montgomery and Applegate had ceased for the winter, and Jack Montgomery
was out of the mountains, so that Madge saw nothing of him at all.
Often she and Joshua rode horseback together, exploring the remote
parts of the valley and its surrounding hills and cañons. Together they
went on snowshoes to Ragtown for the mail, Joshua ahead and breaking
trail, Madge keeping the pace with the customary vigor of her splendid
youth.
Then the long winter broke, and the ice gave up its grip on the lake
with explosive lamentations. The saltgrass showed a tinge of green,
and tiny starlike flowers modestly showed their faces here and there.
Then Shanty Madge hooked up a team and began plowing and building
fence, with the keen spring wind on her Indian cheeks. And as the
winds made astronomical observations next to useless, and since he was
not required to do any work on his homestead for six months or more
to come, Cole of Spyglass Mountain decided to go East and unravel the
mystery that surrounded him. Also he wished to try and make up with his
brother Lester, whom he still loved with that rare devotion that he
was capable of. If Lester was not doing well, he hoped to persuade him
to return with him to California and throw in his lot with him on the
homestead.
But at this point Felix Wolfgang took a hand.