"Bosh!" cried Jack. "He's too stupid to understand anything above the
level of his nose, and I'd like to flatten that for him!"
"No," said Edmund, "he's not stupid, but I'm afraid he's malicious. If he
were a little more stupid, it would be the better for us."
"But does Ala comprehend the difference between us and Juba--I mean in
regard to origin?" I asked.
"I think so. In fact Juba bears unmistakable signs that he is of their
world, although so different in physical appearance. His remarkable
comprehension of their method of mental communication is alone sufficient
to stamp him as ancestrally one of them. And yet," Edmund continued,
musing, "think of the vast stretch of ages that separates the inhabitants
of the two sides of this planet, the countless eons of evolution that
have brought about the differences now existing! I am delighted to
find that Ala has some understanding of all this. She has had good
teachers--do not smile--for what you have seen of their mechanical
achievements proves that science exists and is cultivated here; and from
her savants she has learned--what our astronomers have deduced--that
formerly Venus turned rapidly on her axis, and had days and nights
swiftly succeeding one another.
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