d
artisans. Education in the hands of the poor would be a powerful agent
with which they would alleviate their own condition, and defend
themselves against oppression and knavery.
The prisons should be supplied with schools as well as work-rooms, where
the intellect should be trained and cultivated, and where moral idiocy,
by the stern and rigorous law of Justice to Innocence, should be forced
to deny itself posterity.
No philanthropical mind ever spread the wings of its fancy for a broader
flight.
CHAPTER XI.
Our journey was a perilous one with all our precautions. The passage
through the swiftest part of the current almost swamped our boat. The
current that opposed us was so strong, that when we increased our speed
our boat appeared to be cleaving its way through a wall of waters. Wauna
was perfectly calm, and managed the motor with the steadiest nerves. Her
courage inspired me, though many a time I despaired of ever getting out
of the rapids. When we did, and looked up at the star-gemmed canopy that
stretches above my own world, and abroad over the dark and desolate
waste of waters around us, it gave me an impression of solemn and weird
magnificence. It was such a contrast to the vivid nights of Mizora, to
which my eyes had so long been accustomed, that it came upon me like a
new scene.
The stars were a source of wonder and ceaseless delight to Wauna. "It
looks," she said, "as though a prodigal hand had strewn the top of the
atmosphere with diamonds."
The journey over fields of ice and snow was monotonous, but, owing to
the skill and knowledge of Mizora displayed in our accoutrements, it was
deprived of its severities. The wind whistled past us without any other
greeting than its melancholy sound. We looked out from our snug quarters
on the dismal hills of snow and ice without a sensation of distress. The
Aurora Borealis hung out its streamers of beauty, but they were pale
compared to what Wauna had seen in her own country. The Esquimaux she
presumed were animals.
We traveled far enough south to secure passage upon a trading-vessel
bound for civilized shores. The sun came up with his glance of fire and
his banners of light, laying his glorious touch on cloud and water, and
kissing the cheek with his warmth. He beamed upon us from the zenith,
and sank behind the western clouds with a lingering glance of beauty.
The moon came up like the ghost of the sun, casting a weird yet tender
beauty on ev
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