Page:C Q, or, In the Wireless House (Train, 1912).djvu/299

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XIX


In which the rat-faced purser, some others, and perhaps the reader, receive a jolt

THE great ship steamed up the channel, swung round the Battery and into the North River amid a throng of shrieking tugs and ferry-boats. The marble turrets of the lower island rose against the blue like the dream towers of Maxfield Parrish’s imagination in his picture of the "Dinky Bird."

In an ocean, ’way out yonder
(As all sapient people know),
Is the land of Wonder-Wander,
Whither children love to go.

Nearer the river the vision lost its romance, even if it retained its inspiration, and huge signs emphasizing the admirable qualities of pickles, pattern concerns, and stove polish reared their gigantic frames skyward. Across on the New

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