r, 16 years old]

One time the guards took me into a little house[53] that had four
windows. When we were seated the little house started to move along the
ground. Then the guards called my attention to some curious things they
had in their pockets. Finally they told me to look out, and when I did
so I was scared, for our little house had gone high up in the air, and
the people down in the Fair Grounds looked no larger than ants. The men
laughed at me for being scared; then they gave me a glass to look
through (I often had such glasses which I took from dead officers after
battles in Mexico and elsewhere), and I could see rivers, lakes and
mountains. But I had never been so high in the air, and I tried to look
into the sky. There were no stars, and I could not look at the sun
through this glass because the brightness hurt my eyes. Finally I put
the glass down, and as they were all laughing at me, I too, began to
laugh. Then they said, "Get out!" and when I looked we were on the
street again. After we were safe on the land I watched many of these
little houses going up and coming down, but I cannot understand how they
travel. They are very curious little houses.

One day we went into another show, and as soon as we were in, it changed
into night. It was real night, for I could feel the damp air; soon it
began to thunder, and the lightnings flashed; it was real lightning,
too, for it struck just above our heads. I dodged and wanted to run
away, but I could not tell which way to go in order to get out. The
guards motioned me to keep still, and so I stayed. In front of us were
some strange little people who came out on the platform; then I looked
up again and the clouds were all gone, and I could see the stars
shining. The little people on the platform did not seem in earnest about
anything they did; so I only laughed at them. All the people around
where we sat seemed to be laughing at me.

We went into another place and the manager took us into a little room
that was made like a cage; then everything around us seemed to be
moving; soon the air looked blue, then there were black clouds moving
with the wind. Pretty soon it was clear outside; then we saw a few thin
white clouds; then the clouds grew thicker, and it rained and hailed
with thunder and lightning. Then the thunder retreated and a rainbow
appeared in the distance; then it became dark, the moon rose and
thousands of stars came out. Soon the sun came up, and we go