"How did she ever know it was I?" wrote the matter-
of-fact Haliburton to me.

27. "Alice wants to know if Mr. Haliburton will not
send here for some rags; says we have plenty, with little
need for clothes."

And then despatches began to be more serious again.
Brannan and Orcutt had failed in the great scheme for the
longitude, to which they had sacrificed their lives,--if,
indeed, it were a sacrifice to retire with those they
love best to a world of their own. But none the less did
they devote themselves, with the rare power of
observation they had, to the benefit of our world. Thus,
in 28:

"Your North Pole is an open ocean. It was black,
which we think means water, from August 1st to September
29th. Your South Pole is on an island bigger than New
Holland. Your Antarctic Continent is a great cluster of
islands."

29. "Your Nyanzas are only two of a large group of
African lakes. The green of Africa, where there is no
water, is wonderful at our distance."

30. "We have not the last numbers of `Foul Play.'
Tell us, in a word or two, how they got home. We can see
what we suppose their island was."