"There is a saying among
our people that the world be round. How can this be so?"
"Yet it is true," answered Somat, "although ye must know that it be not
round like a fruit or a pebble. No more is it flat, like this,"
indicating the lid of the stove, near which they sat. "Instead, 'tis
shaped thus"--and he took from his finger a plain gold band, like an
ordinary wedding ring--"the world is shaped like that!"
Rolla examined the ring with vast curiosity. She had never seen the like
before, and was quite as much interested in the metal as in the thing it
illustrated. Fortunately the band was so worn that both edges were
nearly sharp, thus corresponding with the knifelike ridge over which she
had crawled.
"Now," Somat went on, "ye and your people live on the inner face of the
world," indicating the surface next his skin, "while I and my kind live
on the outer face. Were it not for the difficulties of making the trip,
we should have found you out ere this."
Rolla sat for a long time with the ring in her hand, pondering the great
fact she had just learned. And meanwhile, back on the earth, four
excited citizens were discussing this latest discovery.
"An annular world!" exclaimed the doctor, his eyes sparkling
delightedly.
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