been hovering about, moved up into line, and, with the exception of the
one which towed the car, all rose to an elevation of perhaps a thousand
feet, and moved rapidly away from a row of dark clouds which we could now
see low on the horizon behind. We found the air ship splendidly fitted
up, with everything that could contribute to the comfort of its inmates.
And what a voyage it was! "Yachting on Venus," as Jack called it. We sat
on the deck, with a pleasant breeze, produced by the swift, steady
motion, fanning our faces; the temperature was delightful; the air was
wonderfully stimulating; the light, softly and evenly diffused from the
great shell-like dome of the sky, seemed to bewitch the eyesight; and the
sea beneath us, reflecting the dome, was a marvel of refluent colors.

We had left the calendar clock in the car, but, with our watches, which
we had never ceased to wind up regularly, we were able to measure the
time. The voyage lasted about seventy-two hours, but could, perhaps, have
been performed in less time if we had not been somewhat delayed by the
towing of the car. They had on the air ship ingenious clocks, driven by
weights, and governed by pendulums, but the divisions of time were unlike
ours, and there was nothing corresponding to our days. This, of course,
arose from the fact that there was never any night, and, being unable to
see either sun or stars, they had no measure of the year. With them time
was simply endless duration, with no return in cycles.

"What interests me most," said Edmund, "is the fact that they should have
established any chronological measure at all. It would puzzle some of our
metaphysicians on the earth to account for the origin of their sense of
time. To me it seems evident that the consciousness of duration is
fundamental in all intelligent life, and does not necessarily demand
natural recurrences, like the succession of day and night, and the
passage of sun and stars across the meridian, to give it birth. Did you