The works of Edgar Allan Poe; newly collected and edited, with a memoir, critical introductions, and notes, by Edmund Clarence Stedman and George Edward Woodberry; the illustrations by Albert Edward Sterner.

TALES OF PSEUDO-SCIENCE

to be the southern disk of the ices of the Polar sea.
My curiosity was greatly excited, for I had hopes of
passing on much farther to the north, and might
possibly, at some period, find myself placed directly
above the Pole itself. I now lamented that my great
elevation would, in this case, prevent my taking as
accurate a survey as I could wish. Much, however,
might be ascertained.
Nothing else of an extraordinary nature occurred
during the day. My apparatus all continued in good
order, and the balloon still ascended without any perceptible vacillation. The cold was intense, and obliged
me to wrap up closely in an overcoat. When darkness came over the earth, I betook myself to bed,
although it was for many hours afterwards broad daylight all around my immediate situation. The waterclock was punctual in its duty, and I slept until next
morning soundly, with the exception of the periodical
interruption.
April 4th. Arose in good health and spirits, and
was astonished at the singular change which had
taken place in the appearance of the sea. It had lost,
in a great measure, the deep tint of blue it had hitherto
worn, being now of a grayish-white, and of a lustre
dazzling to the eye. The convexity of the ocean had
become so evident that the entire mass of the distant
water seemed to be tumbling headlong over the abyss
of the horizon, and I found myself listening on tiptoe
for the echoes of the mighty cataract. The islands
were no longer visible; whether they had passed down
the horizon to the southeast, or whether my increasing
elevation had left them out of sight, it is impossible
to say. I was inclined, however, to the latter opinion.
The rim of ice to the northward was growing more
178