upon it.

Yet a fortnight after my return to Washington, public attention was
wholly distracted from this problem by another very different in
nature, but equally astonishing.

Toward the middle of that month of May the newspapers of Pennsylvania
informed their readers of some strange occurrences in different parts
of the state. On the roads which radiated from Philadelphia, the
chief city, there circulated an extraordinary vehicle, of which no
one could describe the form, or the nature, or even the size, so
rapidly did it rush past. It was an automobile; all were agreed on
that. But as to what motor drove it, only imagination could say; and
when the popular imagination is aroused, what limit is there to its
hypotheses?

At that period the most improved automobiles, whether driven by
steam, gasoline, or electricity, could not accomplish much more than
sixty miles an hour, a speed that the railroads, with their most
rapid expresses, scarce exceed on the best lines of America and
Europe. Now, this new automobile which was astonishing the world,
traveled at more than double this speed.

It is needless to add that such a rate constituted an extreme danger
on the highroads, as much so for vehicles, as for pedestrians. This
rushing mass, coming like a thunder-bolt, preceded by a formidable
rumbling, caused a whirlwind, which tore the branches from the trees
along the road, terrified the animals browsing in adjoining fields,
and scattered and killed the birds, which could not resist the
suction of the tremendous air currents engendered by its passage.