"
We simply listened in silence; for what could we say? The facts were more
eloquent than any words, and called for no commentary. Here we _were_,
out in the middle of space; and _there_ was the earth, hanging on
nothing, like a summer cloud. At least we knew where we were if we didn't
quite understand how we had got there.
Seeing us speechless, Edmund resumed in a different tone:
"We made a fairly good run during the night. You must be hungry by this
time, for you've slept late; suppose we have breakfast."
So saying, he opened a locker, took out a folding table, covered it
with a white cloth, turned on something resembling a little electric
range, and in a few minutes had ready as appetizing a breakfast of eggs
and as good a cup of coffee as I ever tasted. It is one of the
compensations of human nature that it is able to adjust itself to the
most unheard-of conditions provided only that the inner man is not
neglected. The smell of breakfast would almost reconcile a man to
purgatory--anyhow it reconciled us for the time being to our unparalleled
situation, and we ate and drank, and indulged in as cheerful good
comradeship as that of a fishing party in the wilderness after a big
morning's catch.
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