Thin, infantine, low, yet
multiplied by so many mouths to a mighty volume, it was fearful to listen
to. But it lasted only a moment; it was simply a universal ejaculation,
extorted from this virtually speechless people by such a marvel as they
had never dreamed of looking upon. But even this burst of astonishment,
as Edmund afterwards pointed out, was really a tribute to their
intelligence, since it showed that they had instantly appreciated both
the absence of all mechanical means of supporting the car and the fact
that here was something that implied a power infinitely exceeding any
that they possessed. And to have produced in a world where aerial
navigation was the common, everyday means of conveyance, such a sensation
by a performance in the _air_ was an enormous triumph for us!
No sooner had we gathered at the door of the car to step out upon the
platform than an extraordinary thing occurred. The front of the crowd
receded into the form of a semicircle, of which the point where we stood
marked the center, and in the middle of the curve, slightly in advance of
the others, stood forth the tall form of the eagle-beaked high priest
with the terrible face, flanked on one side by Ala and on the other by
the Jovelike front of the aged judge before whom our first arraignment
had taken place.
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