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About The Hesperian / (Lincoln, Neb.) 1885-1899 | View Entire Issue (Nov. 25, 1894)
HI s THE HESPERIAN. bony arm hanging in mid-air. But the whisper was speaking on cheerfully like the crackling of a pine fire, "let me present to you my friends your friends." Derrick strained his eyes to see. Where were the friends? Ah, yes, there they were aftrr all! Here was a straight, slender, dark-skinned foot; here a pair of floppy ears held together invisibly; here a piece of chalky earth held by unseen fingers; here the half defined outline ofa man's shoulder convulsed repeatedly by a wheezy, breathless cough; and every where were other dim outlines disappearing and re appearing in endless permutations. The whisper at his side was going on in a smooth, apologetic tone, "We are aware that you dislike spirits and for this reason we have tried to make ourselves visible; but as you preceive we have only partially succeeded. For this we beg your pardon and ask leave to lay before you our needs, feeling assured that you will assist us." The thought stole into Derrick's mind that this speech had been learned by heart for the occasion, but he smiled a ghastly, gracious smile and the speaker went on monotonously. "We are from the east and are come to learn of the west; we are from cf o'd and are come to learn of to-day. It has been a weary while to wait but we are here at last to kneel at your feet and learn." Derrick wondered how they could kneel without having any knees but he spoke in tending to say what words of welcome were possible. He only gasped, "the square of the hypotenuse is equal to the sum of the squares of the base and the perpendicu lar." A clapping of hands followed, sound ing muffled and swishy like churning thick cream. Dei rick felt faint and giddy. He tried to rise to his feet; but the air was thick about him and he had to push his way up. He felt things moving away from his hands sliding on each other like soap-bubbles. He shrank back and tried to sit down but he remained bouncing in air, half sitting, half standing. ".You may. begin now," the voice above the skeleton arm commanded. Derrick had no need to ask any questions. His tongue clicked against his dry palate and he felt him self repeating dizzily, " an algebraical func tion of x may be defined in the most general manner as the root of an algebraical equation of integral degree the coefficients of which are rational integral algebraical functions of x, and a rational intregal algebraical function of x may be defined as the sum of a finite num ber of terms, multiples of integral powers of x. Again the low still murium of applause. Derrick heard it as if he slept; he was talking on. He did not know what he was saying; he heard occasioinlly his own voice, but he felt that he was saying just three words over and over, "radius of gyration, radius of gyration, radius of gyration." On and on he talked with his eyes fastened now on the ears turned toward him to listen; now on the foot which was. swinging around strangely; now on a skinny neck held toward him in eager attention. Not one tangible face among them. If he could only get away. Derrick felt himself think almost connect edly as his tongue rattled on. What was to be the end of it all? It must be almost morning, The lamps was still burning but the oil was gone. He talked faster listening, for some sound from the world outside. After a time he heard a clock somewhere below him striking with queer wavering strokes, first soft, then loud, then soft again. Seven times it struck. It was morning, then, though dark yet. They were not going with the night; he must get rid of them some way. . "I I think I will stop now," he quavered. A moment's intense silence! He felt himself crowded back and forth by the indignant air. Involuntarily he began again explaining the nature of hyperbola like curves at infinity. A thrill of enthusiasm ran over the things be fore him. An inspiration flashed to his mind. "Yes," he went on craftily, persuasively, "Mathematicians long ago agreed that hyper bola like curves are tangent to straight lines, at infinity. But," Derrick half sighed, "it, has always been a matter of regret to them as it is to me that the matter cannot be tested
