Doctor Jones' Picnic - free ebook by S. E. (Samuel E.) Chapman

S.E. CHAPMAN, M.D.

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PREFACE.

I must confess that I offer this romance to the reading public with no little trepidation. I am fully aware of having transcended the ordinary rules and paths of legitimate romance, and that I have presumed to broach fearlessly the deep things of God. The scope of the work is infinitely beyond the remotest thought of the writer when he began this labor; but as it grew, deepened and broadened upon his hands from day to day, like Noah's dove he could find no rest for the sole of his foot, and foun

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CHAPTER I.

"Figures Don't Lie." The North Pole! That spot upon earth so environed with trackless fields of unbroken snow and mountains of ice; with an atmosphere so cold that none but the bravest and hardiest of mankind can breathe it and live. And yet these apparently insuperable obstacles have but stimulated men to do and dare all things, so that they might but reach that ultima thule . In vain have our utilitarians cried, "Qui bono?" God has planted within man the spirit of lordship and domination; and,

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CHAPTER II.

Two Men Resolve to Go Picnicking. One afternoon, the Doctor being at leisure, he and Denison talked long and earnestly of their never-failing theme, the aluminum globe. Denison finally said: "You know, Doctor, that I never go into anything without due consideration. I have studied this matter over carefully, and am willing to chance it with you. We have been acquainted a great many years, and I never knew you to make any bad breaks. I have nothing else to do at present, and have a few thousands

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CHAPTER III.

Mrs. Jones Offers Some Objections. But Dr. Jones met great opposition in a quarter that was not so easily disposed of. He had a wife. Mrs. Jones was a very intelligent and lovely woman, younger by some fifteen years than the Doctor. She must be consulted. He broached the subject very cautiously, now and then expatiating upon the extreme ease and comfort with which the trip to the North Pole might be made. He bought histories of the many Arctic explorations, and read them aloud to her. At first s

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CHAPTER IV.

Mrs. Jones Dictates Terms. Several months have passed since the meeting recorded in our last chapter. The enthusiasm of the three men (for Marsh was now a member of the company) increased as the days went by. A considerable amount of canvassing had been done among the moneyed men of the community, but with no success. No one could be found who was willing to risk any considerable amount of wealth in an enterprise whose outcome was so problematical. Fame is all well enough, but there is very litt

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CHAPTER V.

The Government Joins the Picnickers. Not many days later found our friends comfortably located in a hotel in the national capital. The Doctor was quite well acquainted with the representative from his congressional district, and was supplied with letters of introduction from influential parties to members of both houses. By a judicious use of these, they managed to obtain a hearing before the scientific and geographical departments of the Smithsonian Institute. So thoroughly had Dr. Jones and Mr

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CHAPTER VI.

Off on a Shoreless Sea. About the middle of April appeared the following in one of the leading papers: "Last night our citizens, and a tremendous overflow of visitors were treated to the most magnificent sight their eyes ever beheld. The great aluminum globe, about which all the world has been agog for so long, arose and stood for three hours above the city, some two hundred and fifty feet. The whole mighty sphere was ablaze with myriads of electric lights, from the ball of the tapering flagstaf

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CHAPTER VII.

A Gunpowder Tea-party. Nothing could be completer nor daintier than the cabin and its furnishings, divisions, and subdivisions. The rooms of necessity were small, but sufficiently large for convenience and comfort. A choice selection of best authors had been added by the Doctor. Mr. Will Marsh, the architect, had not forgotten a painting, sketching, and photographing outfit. Professor Fred Marsh had brought a good supply of vocal and instrumental music, and a small aluminum organ of exquisite to

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CHAPTER VIII.

Relating how the Beautiful Picnic Progressed. Shortly before six o'clock all arose. The Doctor and his wife, at her earnest solicitation, ascended to the observatory to witness the sunrise. Mattie had manifested symptoms of vertigo that morning on first looking out, and decided not to go up with them. The exertion of climbing that long flight of stairs flushed the lovely face of Mrs. Jones, and her cheeks were like twin roses when they reached the observatory. Once there, she was glad to sit and

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CHAPTER IX.

In the Heart of Labrador. The central room of the cabin was called the 'engine room.' It was fifteen feet square, with a hole three feet in diameter in one corner, now securely covered. It was used for lowering or hoisting objects through while the globe was at anchor. An aluminum frame or cage, attached to a windlass by a chain of the same material, was used for this purpose. A powerful coil steel spring operated the windlass. In each of the other corners of the room were anchors of aluminum, a

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CHAPTER X.

A Messenger from the Skies. Mrs. Jones and Mattie had found Jennie to be a lovely, intelligent, and more than ordinarily educated girl. While unused to society, yet there was an honest straightforwardness about her that was very charming. The two ladies became easily intimately acquainted with her. Her whole soul was devoted to her mother, and the hope that Dr. Jones had inspired shone from her eyes. She became quite cheerful and merry. And the effect upon the poor invalid was not less visible.

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CHAPTER XI.

Is the World Growing Better? Before daylight on the following morning they descended to breakfast. Mrs. Barton had enjoyed a comfortable night, and Dr. Jones expressed himself as delighted with her condition. "You have everything to hope for," he said to the family. "I leave you this medicine, with written directions for its use. Do not repeat the dose I have given her so long as improvement continues. When it ceases you will do as directed in my written instructions." The hour of departure had

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CHAPTER XII.

Greenland's Icy Mountains and the Russian Bear. Upon the morning of the third day from Constance House the wind shifted almost due west. Silver Cloud was in latitude 65 deg., longitude 70 deg. 13 min., and they were driving rapidly toward Greenland. "We are still two or three points north of east in our course, and will let her drive as she goes for the present," said Dr. Jones. "And you wouldn't mind seeing Greenland's icy mountains, about which you have sung so many years, would you, girls?" "

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CHAPTER XIII.

Beauty and the Beast. On the following morning all were up early, and enjoyed a long walk before breakfast in the park. They did not see the Count until breakfast time. He was in a very pleasant mood, and, after inquiring how they had rested, turning to Dr. Jones he said: "I have always made a point of rendering credit to whom credit is due. I slept eight consecutive hours last night, solidly and dreamlessly as the dead. I have had no such rest for years, and this morning, but for the stiffness

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CHAPTER XIV.

Doctor Jones Commits Treason. As they met at the breakfast table next morning, they found the Count joyous and jubilant. Feodora had spent a comparatively comfortable night. At the regular hour, 3 o'clock, A.M., the stitching pains and cough recurred, but were so much less than usual, and lasted so much shorter a time that she was radiant with joy, and thanked Dr. Jones so sweetly that the good man was obliged to hem and cough and wipe his nose and eyes, and complain of a slight cold which he ha

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CHAPTER XV.

A Model Teacher and Ideal Student. The days and weeks flew swiftly by. The fame of the great air-ship spread far and wide, and thousands of visitors came to inspect it and the wonderful voyagers. But what especially drew the people, and was talked of more than all else, was the marvelous skill of Dr. Jones as a healer. The beautiful Feodora improved from day to day, so that she daily drove with her devoted and constant companions, Mrs. Jones and Mattie. She began to eat heartily, gained flesh ra

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CHAPTER XVI.

The Count Steps Over the Line. The Silver Cloud's crew, if we may so term it, had busied themselves in various ways, according to their several dispositions and bents of mind. Dr. Jones was occupied more or less of the time with the invalids, who came to him from far and wide. The most inveterate cases of chronic diseases constituted the bulk of his practice, and the cures that he made were truly marvelous. The patience and interest of the Count never flagged a moment. He continued at his post a

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CHAPTER XVII.

Farewell to Beauty and the Beast. The royal patient slept soundly until eight o'clock the following morning, or six consecutive hours. This was so entirely new and different from anything she had experienced for a very long time, that nothing could exceed her own and the astonishment of everyone who was acquainted with the facts. Long and painful had been her nights, sleepless and full of misery, unless under the influence of a narcotic. And, as we said before, she had reached a point where her

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CHAPTER XVIII.

Woman Locates the North Pole. Silver Cloud hastened on with the favoring gale from the balmy South. By noon the coast of Franz Joseph Land could be seen. They were now near the eightieth degree of latitude. During the afternoon they crossed that land of eternal winter. Monotonous mountains, hills, and plains of everlasting snow and ice wearied the eye, and caused a sense of seasickness and vertigo if looked upon too long. The Doctor had treated these symptoms in each as they occurred, and our fr

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CHAPTER XIX.

The Planting of the Flagstaff. The whole of the party now shouted—Sing always excepted. That individual was strictly attending to his business in the kitchen during the excitement. They ran—or waddled, for they moved with difficulty, loaded as they were—to the spot where the two men and Mrs. Jones were standing. They gathered in a circle about the steel rod that marked the exact spot for which the boldest navigators and explorers have longed, and striven, and died by thousands during many decade

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CHAPTER XX.

Battle of Missionary Ridge and Lookout Mountain. Will had not neglected to take numerous photographs of Summit Island, the flag and staff; and with his kodak he had stepped outside the circle and taken a "shot" at them as they circled about the mast, protected from cruel Jack Frost by a wall of fire, as they awakened the echoes in these hyperborean regions in the lively strains of North Pole March. He exhibited this photograph to them on the following day, and all were delighted with it. "Oh, I

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CHAPTER XXI.

Things Material and Spiritual. The wind continued all night as last noted, and Silver Cloud, without a tremor or swaying motion of any kind, was scurrying across the barren wastes of the Arctics at marvelous speed. At noon upon the second day from the Pole, Professor Gray took an observation, and announced that they then were at latitude 68 deg., 20 min., longitude 120 deg. 16 min., West Greenwich. "We are about crossing the Arctic circle. We are just above the barren grounds north of Great Bear

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CHAPTER XXII.

Familiar Scenes and Faces. Silver Cloud was wafted by a gentle breeze to the center of Lower Michigan. For two or three hours after sunrise there was nearly a dead calm. Then a brisk breeze from due east arose, and they started for Lake Michigan at a great speed. "This will never do," said Dr. Jones. "We will go down and get fresh supplies and the morning papers. There lies a good-looking town a few miles west. We will anchor there. Stand by the anchor, boys." In a few moments Silver Cloud, with

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CHAPTER XXIII.

The World at the Feet of Doctor Jones. The following morning our friends were up be-times and were soon engaged in the busiest day of their lives. The wind was still unfavorable for their passage to Washington, and they abandoned themselves to the numerous duties that pressed upon them, and hospitalities of the friendly Gothamites. Messages almost innumerable and visitors by thousands poured in upon them. Mrs. Jones, Mattie, and Denison acted as secretaries for Dr. Jones, while Will and Fred per

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CHAPTER XXIV.

Ho! for the South Pole! Silver Cloud, meantime, had been returned to the place of her birth, the great iron works upon the Potomac river. Another shapely three hundred feet mast had been manufactured and erected. One morning about the middle of September, the globe arose above the glittering mast and slowly settled upon it. The fastenings were soon adjusted, the flag of aluminum nailed to the peak, and Silver Cloud was herself again, ready for another trip to the ends of the earth. Will had made

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