uld it be so? Why should the sight of the skeleton bring sorrow
to you? Probably the Egyptians had the right idea when they always had a
skeleton at the feast."

"Skeleton at the feast? What was that for?"

"As a reminder of death?"

"There is one thing I could never make myself understand. Why is death
necessary? Why couldn't man have been made so he could live always?" was
Harry's query.

"You have asked a very broad question. It is one which has a great many
answers. At this time I shall give only one of the reasons. The earth
would not be big enough to hold the people. I do not know the population
of the globe to-day. It is about 1,000,000,000; and if we take the age
of the earth at only 5,000 years, we should have in that time 125
generations, counting each generation as 40 years. Do you know what that
would mean in population at this time? You could not comprehend the
figures. Let us take the United States alone, as an example. Assuming
that the population is 90,000,000 at the present time, and that the
natural rate of increase is only double in each forty years. This is how
it figures out: In forty years we would have 270,000,000; in eighty
years, 810,000,000; in one hundred and twenty years, 2,430,000,000; and
in one hundred and sixty years, 7,290,000,000. At that rate New York
City would have 480,000,000 of people and its boundaries would take in
the whole of the State of New Jersey and nearly half of the entire State
of New York, as thickly settled as that city now is."

CHAPTER XII

THE DISTANT SHIP AND ITS DISAPPEARANCE

"What is that weed you have, Professor? The root looks like a parsnip."

"It may be something we can drink."

"It looks just like a weed that grows all over our farm at home."

"I have no doubt of it. This is the endive, as it is known in the
States, but it is really chicory."

"I have heard of chicory; isn't it used as a substitute for coffee?"

"Principally on account of the bitterness in it. The French make the
greatest use of it, because they claim it gives strength to coffee."

"What part of it is used?"

"The root; the bulb you see here, and they have a curious way of
preparing it. The root is dug up before the plant shoots into flower,
and is washed, sliced and dried! it is then roasted until it is of a
chocolate color. Two pounds of lard are roasted with each hundredweight;
and afterwards, when ground and exposed to the air, it becomes moist and
clammy, incre