"There, Edmund," said Jack, "there's another chance to exercise your
genius for explaining mysteries. What are those things?"
Edmund watched the objects for several minutes before replying. At length
he said, with the decision characteristic of him:
"Palaces."
Jack burst out laughing.
"Castles in Spain, I reckon," he said. "But, really, Edmund, what do you
think they can be?"
"I have already told you, palaces, or castles, if you prefer."
"You are serious?" I asked.
"Perfectly so. They cannot be anything else."
Seeing our astonishment and incredulity, Edmund added:
"Since they retain their places, it is evident that they are edifices of
some kind, attached to the ground. But their great height and aerial
structure indicate that they are erected in the air--floating, I should
say, but firmly anchored at the bottom. Really, I cannot see anything
astonishing about it; it accords with everything else that we have seen.
Your minds are too hidebound to terrestrial analogies, and you do not
give your imaginations sufficient play with the new materials that are
here offered.
"This atmosphere," he continued, after a pause, "is exactly suited for
such things.
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