Jack started off across the fields at a swift pace, while Mark strolled
on down the road, in the direction of the old Preakness house. He was
thinking of many things, chiefly of the wonderful journey that lay
before them, and he was wondering what the moon would look like when
they got to it.

That it would be a wild, desolate place, he had no doubt, for the
evidences of the telescopes of astronomers pointed that way, and, as is
well known, the most powerful instruments can now bring the moon to
within an apparent distance of one hundred miles of the earth. This is
true of the Lick telescope, which has a magnifying power of 2,500 and
an object lens a yard across.

But, with this powerful telescope, it has been impossible to
distinguish any such objects as forests, cities, or any evidences of
life on the moon--that is, on the side that has always been turned
toward us.

Almost unconsciously, Mark went on faster than he intended, and, before
he knew it, he had arrived at the barn where he had promised to wait
for his chum. Mark looked at his watch, and found that he would still
have some time to linger before he could expect Jack to return. He sat
down on a stone beside the fence, and looked about him. The day was
warm for fall, and the last of the crickets were chirping away, while,
in distant fields, men could be seen husking corn, or drawing in loads
of yellow pumpkins.

"I wonder if we'll have pumpkin pie on the moon," thought Mark.
"Though, of course, we won't. I guess all we'll have to eat will be