g in
the beauties of the morning for nearly a quarter of an hour. Approaching
steps upon the stairway broke the spell, and the Professor and Fred
stepped into the observatory. As they looked out upon the transcendent
loveliness of the scene, the Professor raised his hands above his head
and cried: "'What is man, that Thou art mindful of him, or the son of
man that Thou visitest him? Thou hast made him little lower than the
angels, and crowned him with glory and honor.' You told us yesterday
that you never felt so little as when you looked out from this
magnificent aerie; but I declare to you, Doctor, that I feel now that
God has made man a wonderful being. As we go thus sailing through these
roseate skies in this most splendid creation that ever came from the
hands of man, I feel like crying with old Elisha, 'My father! My father!
The chariot of Israel and the horsemen thereof.'"

They sat a few minutes and then descended to the cabin. Mattie, Will,
and Denison were upon the balcony, speculating as to what city they were
rapidly approaching. Dr. Jones looked at it through his glasses, and
said: "That is Columbus, the capital city of Ohio. Those great stone
buildings you see there, inclosed by high stone walls, constitute the
state prison. It contains at present, I believe, nearly three thousand
convicts."

"The poor things!" said Mattie. "Just think of the contrast between
sailing so smoothly and easily as we are doing, away above the world
with all its cares and sorrows, and being incarcerated within those
gloomy walls, many of them for life. I am sure that if they could become
'Children of the Skies,' they would all reform in a short time."

"No, no, Mattie," replied the Doctor, "God did infinitely more than that
for man. He placed him in the garden of Eden, and he transgressed the
only restrictive law laid upon him. And he became so vile that the Lord
was compelled to drown them like so many rats. Beautiful and inspiring
though our present circumstances and surroundings are, yet they could
never change the hearts of the majority of those miserable men."

Breakfast was now announced by Sing. The bracing atmosphere of this
upper region seemed to be very appetizing, for they all ate heartily.

The ship was acting splendidly, continuing at nearly the same level of
the day before, and but little fuel had been burned during the night.
The wind had shifted to the south, and they were sailing twenty miles an
hour, due n