We shall be in the
moon before it's morning in New York, but we shall probably get a
glimpse of Europe to-morrow."
Zaidie stood gazing for nearly an hour at this marvellous vision of the
home-world which she had left so far behind her before she could tear
herself away and allow her husband to shut the slides again. The greatly
diminished weight of her body destroyed the fatigue of standing almost
entirely. In fact, on board the _Astronef_ just then it was almost as
easy to stand as it was to lie down.
There was of course very little sleep for the travellers on this first
night of their wonderful voyage, but towards the sixth hour after
leaving the earth, Zaidie, overcome as much by the emotions which had
been awakened within her as by physical fatigue, went to bed, after
making her husband promise that he would wake her in good time to see
the descent upon the moon. Two hours later she was awake and drinking
the coffee which he had prepared for her. Then she went on to the upper
deck.
To her astonishment she found, on one hand, day more brilliant than she
had ever seen it before, and on the other hand darkness blacker than the
blackest earthly night. On the right was an intensely brilliant orb,
about half as large again as the full moon seen from the earth, shining
with inconceivable brightness out of a sky black as midnight and
thronged with stars.
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