_THE GREAT OVATION_
When at length we once more saw our native planet, with its
well-remembered features of land and sea, rolling beneath our eyes, the
feeling of joy that came over us transcended all powers of expression.
In order that all the nations which had united in sending out the
expedition should have visual evidence of its triumphal return, it was
decided to make the entire circuit of the earth before seeking our
starting point and disembarking. Brief accounts in all known languages,
telling the story of what we had done was accordingly prepared, and then
we dropped down through the air until again we saw the well-loved blue
dome over our heads, and found ourselves suspended directly above the
white topped cone of Fujiyama, the sacred mountain of Japan. Shifting
our position toward the northeast, we hung above the city of Tokyo and
dropped down into the crowds which had assembled to watch us, the
prepared accounts of our journey, which, the moment they had been read
and comprehended, led to such an outburst of rejoicing as it would be
quite impossible to describe.
One of the ships containing the Japanese members of the expedition,
dropped to the ground, and we left them in the midst of their rejoicing
countrymen. Before we started--and we remained but a short time
suspended above the Japanese capitol--millions had assembled to greet us
with their cheers.
We now repeated what we had done during our first examination of the
surface of Mars. We simply remained suspended in the atmosphere,
allowing the earth to turn beneath us. As Japan receded in the distance
we found China beginning to appear. Shifting our position a little
toward the south, we again came to rest over the city of Pekin, where
once more we parted with some of our companions, and where the outburst
of universal rejoicing was repeated.
From Asia, crossing the Caspian Sea, we passed over Russia, visiting in
turn Moscow and St. Petersburg.
Still the great globe rolled steadily beneath, and still we kept the sun
with us. Now Germany appeared, and now Italy, and then France, and
England, as we shifted our position, first north then south, in order to
give all the world the opportunity to see that its warriors had returned
victorious from its far conquest. And in each country as it passed
beneath our feet, we left some of the comrades who had shared our perils
and our adventures.
At length the Atlantic had rolled away under us, and we saw the spires
of the new New York.
The news of our coming had been flashed ahead from Europe and our
countrymen were prepared to welcome us. We had originally started, it
will be remembered, at midnight, and now again as we approached the new
capitol of the world the curtain of night was just beginning to be drawn
over it. But our signal lights were ablaze, and through these they were
aware of our approach.
Again the air was filled with bursting rockets and shaken with the roar
of cannon, and with volleying cheers, poured from millions of throats,
as we came to rest directly above the city.
Three days after the landing of the fleet, and when the first enthusiasm
of our reception had a little passed, I received a beautifully engraved
card inviting me to be present in Trinity Church at the wedding of Aina
and Sydney Phillips.
When I arrived at the church, which had been splendidly decorated, I
found there Mr. Edison, Lord Kelvin, and all the other members of the
crew of the flagship, and, considerably to my surprise, Colonel Smith,
appropriately attired, and with a grace for the possession of which I
had not given him credit, gave away the beautiful bride.
But Alonzo Jefferson Smith was a man and a soldier, every inch of him.
"I asked her for myself," he whispered to me after the ceremony,
swallowing a great lump in his throat, "but she has had the desire of
her heart. I am going back to the plains. I can get a command again, and
I still know how to fight."
And thus was united, for all future time, the first stem of the Aryan
race, which had been long lost, but not destroyed, with the latest
offspring of that great family, and the link which had served to bring
them together was the far-away planet of Mars.
* * * * *
_BIBLIOGRAPHY OF GARRETT PUTMAN SERVISS_