AN OCEAN OP AIR. 71 



north was swept and fell a clayey sediment. 

 Here eddies played and tides surged and beat. 

 Out there to the west was deeper water where 

 corals and crinoids grew in profusion and 

 helped to form the thicker layers of limestone. 

 Here was muddy murky water, out there clearer 

 depths which the silt and sand did not reach. 

 Over all the same sun shone. On all the same 

 moon and stars looked down. No man or other 

 mammal then was here, no bird or butterfly, no 

 tree or herb as now. 



An atom in eternity, here I rest. Around me 

 in great waves surges the airy envelop of a vast 

 sphere. Plants stand erect and stationary at 

 the bottom of that ocean of air. Animals of 

 many forms move .at will through its depths. 

 Over all the rays of the morning sun in glory 

 fall. We are his creatures and on us this morn 

 he smiles. Time, unmeasured by the God of Na- 

 ture, goes on and on. To him there is no now, 

 no yesterday, no to-morrow. Only eternity, one 

 vast whole, love filled, star beset, sun ruled, 

 without a beginning and without an end. 



Picking up a handful of the gray clay I sift 

 it slowly down. From its midst a minute Sta- 

 phylinid beetle takes wing; goes out freely and 

 without fear into that ocean of air, goes out 

 propelled by the God of love in search of a mate. 

 It is but one of billions moving freely through 

 that ocean on the same quest. Here, there and 



