Chapter 5 chapter Five

The two letters addressed to the Directors of the Pittsburgh and Cincinnati Observatories, sent by registered mail with three seals, received only notices of their receipt and the filing of the said letters.That's all the two parties asked for.Both intend to rediscover the bolide as soon as possible.They did not want to believe that the little star would disappear deep in the sky, so far out of the gravitational pull of the earth that it could no longer appear in the region between the orbits of the moon and the earth.No, they will return to the Weston skies under certain laws.They could catch it as it passed by, re-report its presence, determine its coordinates, and put it on the star chart by naming its discoverer.

But who is the discoverer?This point is extremely subtle, and even I can't help but find it difficult to judge.When the bolide reappears, both of them will claim the achievement.Had Frances Gordon and Jenny Huddleson known of the perilous situation, they would have prayed to heaven that this unlucky meteor would wait until after their marriage.And it is equally certain that Mrs. Hudson, Lulu, Mitz, and all the friends of the two families will heartily join them in this prayer. But no one knew anything of this, and although the two adversaries were becoming more and more apprehensive, and it was also observed in them, it could not be explained.None of the inhabitants of the house in Morris Road, except Dr. Huddleson, was troubled by what happened on cloud nine.There are things, and there are many things: visiting and receiving guests, greeting and complimenting each other, issuing invitations, preparing for the wedding and choosing wedding gifts, all these, according to little Lulu, are the twelve miracles that can be compared than, and I was so nervous that I couldn't waste even an hour.

"Marrying a first daughter is a big deal," she said, "and people are not used to it. Marrying a second daughter is easy: people get used to it, and there is nothing to worry about. So when I got married, it just came naturally. It's done." "What?" said Francis Gordon. "Miss Lulu has already thought of getting married? Can you let everyone know who is the blessed person..." "Just worry about marrying my sister." The little girl retorted. "This is something that takes up all your time. Don't worry about my business." Mrs. Hudson had, as she had promised, seen the Lambeth house.As for the doctor, it was wishful thinking to count on him.

"You can do nothing wrong, Mrs. Hudson, and I'll leave it to you," he replied when he was suggested to see the future abode of the newlyweds. thing." "So, Dad, aren't you going to come down from your square tower on the day of the wedding?" Lulu asked. "Come down, Lulu, come down." "And appear at St. Andrew's on the arm of your daughter?" "Show your face, Lulu, show your face." "In your black coat, white waistcoat, black trousers, and white tie?" "I will wear it, Lulu, I will wear it." "Would you agree to forget your star and listen to the passionate speech of the venerable Bishop of Augath?"

"I agree, I agree, Lulu. But we haven't reached that point yet. Since the weather is sunny today, which is quite rare, you should go on your own." So Mrs. Hudson, Jenny, Lulu, and Frances Gordon left the Doctor to work with his various telescopes, and Mr. Dean Forsyth, no doubt, was doing the same in the Round Tower on Elizabeth Road. Fiddling with his instruments.Will the tenacious efforts of these two people be rewarded, and will the meteor appear in the lens of the telescope for the second time after being spotted for the first time? On their way to Lamberth's house the four went down Morris Road and across Constitution Square, where they were greeted by the amiable Justice John Prowse.Then they walked up the Exeter Road to Lambeth Road, as Seth Stanford had been waiting for Miss Arcadia Walker a few days before.

The house was very comfortable and carefully arranged according to the requirements of modern domestic facilities.At the back, there is a studio and a dining room, both looking out onto the garden, which is only a few acres, but is pleasantly covered by beautiful beech trees and flower beds in early spring.The storage and kitchen are arranged in the basement in an Anglo-Saxon manner. The second floor was as beautiful as the first floor, and Jenny could only be thankful that her fiancé had found such a beautiful residence, a villa-style house of charming style. Mrs. Hudson agreed with her daughter, and said that no better dwelling could be found in any other part of Weston.

When they reached the top floor of the house, this flattering assessment seemed even more just.Up there, is a huge balcony surrounded by railings, from which you can see a magnificent view of the whole city, you can see the upper and lower Potomac River, and see the town of Steele on the other side of the Potomac River, Akka It was from there that Miss Dia Walker set out to meet Seth Stanford. The whole city lay before the eyes: the bell towers of the churches, the high roofs of the public buildings, the verdant tops of the trees. "This is Syntagma Square," said Jenny, looking through the spyglass that Francis had suggested everyone should bring. "That's Morris Road... I see our house, and the square tower and the flag waving in the wind!...Look! There's someone on the square tower." "That's Dad!" Lulu asserted without hesitation.

"There was no one but him," declared Mrs. Hudson, too. "It's him." The little girl said with certainty, and took the telescope over politely. "I recognize him...he's playing with the telescope...you see, he'll never think of pointing it at us! . . . Ah, if only we were on the moon!" Lulu Miss, since you can see your home, you can probably see my uncle's too, right? ' Francis interrupted her. "Of course, let me look...I can easily recognize his house from his round tower...it should be in that direction...wait a minute...well!...there it is!... …I found it."

Lulu was right.That was Dean Forsyth's house. "There's someone on the Round Tower..." she said, after a minute of watching attentively. "It must be my uncle," said Francis. "He's not alone." "That's Omicron with him." "Don't ask what they're doing," added Mrs. Hudson. "Same as my father," said Jenny, with some apprehension, for the secret rivalry between Mr. Dean Forsyth and Mr. Hudson always disturbed her a little. After a last look at the house, and Lulu's last expression of her complete satisfaction, Mrs. Hudson, her two daughters, and Frances Gordon returned to the Morris Road home.Next day they would sign the lease with the landlord, and then take care of the furniture so that it would be ready by May 15th.

In the meantime, Mr. Dean Forsyth and Mr. Hudson will not waste an hour.How much physical effort, how much energy, and how many nights and days of observation in fine weather they will go through in order to find the meteor that stubbornly no longer shows up! ... Until now, despite their diligent observations, both astronomers have been in vain.The meteor had never been caught as it passed over Weston, day or night. "Can it pass here?" sighed Dean Forsyth sometimes, after standing half a day in front of the eyepiece of his telescope. "It will pass." Omicron replied calmly, "I would even say: it is passing."

"Then why can't we see it?" "Because it can't be seen." "Isn't that a pity?" sighed Dean Forsyth. "But, at the end of the day, if we can't see it, nobody can see it...at least in Weston." "This is absolutely certain." Omicron asserted. The two masters and servants reasoned in this way, and their words were uttered by Dr. Hudson in a self-questioning manner. Since so many days of fruitlessness, the latter's degree of disappointment does not seem to be serious. inferior to the former. Both had letters back from the Pittsburgh or Cincinnati Observatories.A notification of a bolide in the northern sky over Weston on March 16 has been recorded.The letter also stated that so far, the bolide has not been found.However, as soon as they saw it, they would notify Mr. Dean Forsyth and Mr. Sidney Hudson. Of course, the two observatories replied to them separately.Little did they know that two amateur astronomers both took credit for the discovery and demanded recognition for being the first to spot the meteor. With this answer, the round tower on Elizabeth Road and the square tower on Morris Road should be spared the exhausting search.Because observatories have more powerful and precise instruments, if the meteor is not a wandering object, if it follows a closed orbit, in short, if it comes back under the same conditions that have been observed, then Pittsburgh and Cincinnati Various telescopes can catch it as it passes by.Mr. Dean Forsyth and Mr. Sidney Hudson, therefore, would have been wise to place their trust in the scholars of these two eminent observatories. But Mr. Dean Forsyth and Mr. Sidney Hudson are astronomers, not intellectuals.So they are still trying to get on with their work.They even worked harder.Although they did not share their fears with each other at all, they both had a presentiment that they were both chasing the same prey, and their fear of being preempted haunted them for a moment.Jealousy gnawed at their hearts, and the relationship between the two families was also affected by their mental state. You really should be anxious.Their doubts were forming day by day.What an embarrassing situation for two unmarried couples that Mr. Dean Forsyth and Mr. Sidney Hudson, who had been so close, were now so far apart!They still saw each other every day, however, because the door of the house in Morris Road was still open to Francis Gordon.Mrs. Hudson still expressed the same confidence and friendship to him, but he had a distinct feeling that Mr. Hudson was always uncomfortable in his presence.And it was even more different when others spoke of Mr. Dean Forsyth in front of Sidney Hudson.The doctor grew pale, then flushed again, and his eyes flashed like lightning, and were soon hidden again by the drooping eyelids.In Dean Forsyth one also finds these regrettable signs of an animosity between them. Mrs. Hudson tried in vain to understand the reason for this indifference, even antipathy, between the two former friends.Her husband simply replied: "It's useless to say, you can't understand... But I really didn't expect Forsyth to do it!" What did he do?Can't get any explanation.Not even Lulu, the pampered, responsive child, would want to know anything. She had suggested haunting Mr. Forsyth at his Round Tower, but Francis had dismissed the idea. "No, I never would have imagined that Hudson could do that to me!" was certainly the only answer Francis' uncle (like the Doctor) was willing to give. When Mitz ventured to ask Mr. Forsyth, his attitude towards her was proof. "Mind your own business!" he said harshly to her. Now that Mr. Dean Forsyth dared to speak like this to the formidable Mitz, the situation was serious indeed. As for Mitz, she was so taken aback (to use her vivid words) that she had to bite her tongue "down to the bone" in order not to respond to such a jolt.With regard to her master, her opinions are clear and not hidden.Her opinion was that Mr. Forsyth was mad, which she explained most naturally by a certain uncomfortable position he had to adopt when looking through the telescope.Especially when looking at certain parts of the zenith he had to tilt his head backwards.In this position, Mitz hypothesized, something had snapped off in Mr. Forsyth's "back of the brain." However, there is no impenetrable wall in the world.Because Omicron slipped his mouth, everyone finally knew what was going on.His master had discovered a bolide of no small importance, and he feared that Dr. Hudson would make the same discovery. Turns out that was the reason for this ridiculous feud!A bolide, a meteor, a wandering star, a rock, let it be a rock, a rock anyway, a simple pebble, but Francis and Jeanne's wedding float But it might crash on it! So Lulu had no scruples and let "those shooting stars and that whole thing in the sky go to hell." Time is ticking..., March is passing day by day, giving way to April.The day of marriage will not be long.But will anything happen before that?Until now, this sad rivalry has been based only on speculation, on assumptions.What would happen if an unforeseen event made it official and unmistakable, if a conflict pitted two rivals against each other? These well-founded concerns didn't stop the wedding preparations.Everything will be ready, including Miss Lulu's dress. The first two weeks of April passed under extremely bad weather conditions: windy and rainy, the sky was full of haze, and it was closed for days.Neither the sun (which at that season drew a rather high curve on the horizon) nor the moon (which was full at the time and should have been shining) showed nothing, let alone the invisible Bolide.Mrs. Hudson, Jenny and Frances Gordon did not want to complain about the inability to make astronomical observations.Lulu, who hates wind and rain the most, is more cheerful about such continuous bad weather than on sunny days. "May it remain so until the wedding day," she repeated, "and may the sun not be seen nor the moon nor the smallest star be seen for three weeks!" Contrary to Lulu's wishes, this weather ended, and the weather conditions changed at night from the 15th to the 16th.A gentle wind from the north dispelled all the clouds and mists, and the sky became clear and peaceful again. Mr. Dean Forsyth in his round tower, Dr. Huddleson in his square tower, began again to search the sky of Weston, from the horizon to the zenith. Did the meteor pass in front of their telescope? ... If you see their mournful faces, you will never believe this.Their same bad mood proves that they are all equally getting nothing.In fact, this idea may be right.Mr. Sidney Hudson saw nothing in the wide open sky, and Mr. Dean Forsyth was no better than he.So, were they just a wandering meteor?Has that meteor escaped Earth's gravity forever? A report in the papers of April 19 made this point clear to them. The chronicle, written by the Boston Observatory, reads: "The day before yesterday, Friday, April 17, at 9:19:9 p.m., a fireball of extraordinary size passed through the atmosphere of the western sky with dizzying speed. "Single and unique (and this did good to Weston's pride) it seems that this meteor was discovered on the same day by two of the most eminent citizens of the city of Weston. "According to the Pittsburgh Observatory, this bolide is indeed the one reported to the station by Mr. Dean Forsyth on March 24; Meteor reported to the station on the same day. Mr. Dean Forsyth and Mr. Sidney Huddleson both live in Weston and are respected citizens of the city."

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