ere
but a few feet above them.

By diminishing the current I found that the image on the lens grew
smaller, the effect being exactly the same as that from a balloon
rising. The picture at first appeared slanting at an angle of about
thirty degrees, owing to the curvature of the Earth, but by manipulating
a small lever close at hand that operated a mirror in the radioscope,
this defect was corrected.

After searching about with the current, I at last came upon a large
steamer, evidently an ocean liner. Throwing huge billows aside in clouds
of white spray as she cut through the water, she made a beautiful sight,
and it was with difficulty that I kept her in the field of vision. As I
appeared to be looking straight down upon her decks, it was evident that
she was about in the center of the Earth's surface exposed to Mars.

I now moved the current in a westerly direction, travelling at what
would be a terrific speed on Earth, until I came to land. Not
recognizing the small coast town that first came in view, I moved up the
coast in a northerly direction, diminishing the current until I could
see a large stretch of country. Toward the northwest a large city
appeared, which I immediately recognized as Washington. Directing the
instrument to that city, I increased the current until the people on the
streets measured two or three feet on the lens of my instrument. Here I
found that the curvature of the Earth resulted in my looking down
obliquely at the objects on its surface, but not at a sufficient angle
to see the faces of those who passed across my lens.

But now I became aware of a strange condition that, owing to the motion
of the liner at sea, had escaped my notice before. Although I was
looking at the people passing before one of the large government
buildings in Washington, I had to keep regulating the instrument in
order to keep this building in view. Moreover, I discovered that I had
to regulate it as fast as I had done with the ocean liner. In fact,
obviously the liner's speed mattered but little; it was the rate at
which the Earth was revolving upon its axis and journeying around the
sun with which I had to contend. Through the telescope this was not
discernible, but now that I had come into such close visual contact with
the Earth's surface, I realized the terrific speed with which it rushed
through space. Hundreds of miles a minute was the speed my instrument
had to be regulated to, in order to keep an object