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+The Project Gutenberg EBook of Pharaoh's Broker, by Ellsworth Douglass
+
+This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with
+almost no restrictions whatsoever.  You may copy it, give it away or
+re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included
+with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org
+
+
+Title: Pharaoh's Broker
+       Being the Very Remarkable Experiences in Another World of Isidor Werner
+
+Author: Ellsworth Douglass
+
+Release Date: May 2, 2008 [EBook #25295]
+
+Language: English
+
+Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1
+
+*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK PHARAOH'S BROKER ***
+
+
+
+
+Produced by Greg Weeks, George Snoga, Stephen Blundell and
+the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at
+http://www.pgdp.net
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+              PHARAOH'S BROKER
+
+   BEING THE VERY REMARKABLE EXPERIENCES
+            IN ANOTHER WORLD OF
+               ISIDOR WERNER
+
+            (WRITTEN BY HIMSELF)
+
+
+ EDITED, ARRANGED, AND WITH AN INTRODUCTION
+           BY ELLSWORTH DOUGLASS
+
+
+                  [Device]
+
+
+                   LONDON
+         C. ARTHUR PEARSON LIMITED
+           HENRIETTA STREET W.C.
+                    1899
+
+
+
+
+Transcriber's Note:
+
+    Minor typographical errors have been corrected without note.
+    Obsolete spellings have been retained. The oe ligature is
+    represented by [oe].
+
+
+
+
+CONTENTS
+
+
+                                                  PAGE
+ INTRODUCTION: ELUSIVE TRUTH                         7
+
+
+               BOOK I. SECRETS OF SPACE
+
+ CHAPTER
+      I. DR. HERMANN ANDERWELT                      19
+     II. THE GRAVITY PROJECTILE                     27
+    III. STRUCTURE OF THE PROJECTILE                37
+     IV. WHAT IS ON MARS?                           48
+      V. FINAL PREPARATIONS                         57
+     VI. FAREWELL TO EARTH                          67
+    VII. THE TERRORS OF LIGHT                       81
+   VIII. THE VALLEY OF THE SHADOW                   91
+     IX. TRICKS OF REFRACTION                       99
+      X. THE TWILIGHT OF SPACE                     108
+     XI. TELLING THE TIME BY GEOGRAPHY             117
+    XII. SPACE FEVER                               126
+   XIII. THE MYSTERY OF A MINUS WEIGHT             141
+
+
+               BOOK II. OTHER WORLD LIFE
+
+      I. WHY MARS GIVES A RED LIGHT                157
+     II. THE TERROR BIRDS                          170
+    III. TWO OF US AGAINST THE ARMIES OF MARS      182
+     IV. THE STRANGE BRAVERY OF MISS BLANK         192
+      V. ZAPHNATH, RULER OF THE KEMI               204
+     VI. THE IRON MEN FROM THE BLUE STAR           220
+    VII. PARALLEL PLANETARY LIFE                   240
+   VIII. A PLAGIARIST OF DREAMS                    249
+     IX. GETTING INTO THE CORNER                   260
+      X. HUMANITY ON PTAH                          275
+     XI. REVOLUTIONIST AND EAVESDROPPER            283
+    XII. THE DOCTOR DISAPPEARS                     292
+   XIII. THE REVELATION OF HOTEP                   304
+
+
+
+
+INTRODUCTION
+
+Elusive Truth
+
+
+It was the Chicago _Tribune_ of June 13th, 189-, which contained this
+paragraph under the head-line: "Big Broker Missing!"
+
+   "The friends of Isidor Werner, a young man prominent in Board of
+   Trade circles, are much concerned about him, as he has not been seen
+   for several days. He made his last appearance in the wheat pit as a
+   heavy buyer Tuesday forenoon. That afternoon he left his office at
+   Room 87 Board of Trade, and has not been seen since, nor can his
+   whereabouts be learned. He is six feet two inches high, of athletic
+   build, with black hair and moustache, a regular nose, and an
+   unpronounced Jewish appearance. His age is hardly more than
+   twenty-seven, but he has often made himself felt as a market force on
+   the Board of Trade, where he was well thought of."
+
+But it was the _Evening Post_ of the same date which prided itself on
+unearthing the real sensation. A scare-head across the top of a first
+page column read:
+
+   "A PLUNGER'S LAST PLUNGE!"
+
+   "The daring young broker who held the whole wheat market in his hands
+   a few months ago, amassing an independent fortune in three days, but
+   losing most of it gamely on subsequent changes in the market, has
+   made his last plunge. This time he has gone into the cold, kind bosom
+   of Lake Michigan. Isidor Werner evened up his trades in the wheat
+   market last Tuesday forenoon, and then applied for his balance-sheet
+   at a higher clearing house! No trace of him or clue to his
+   whereabouts was found, until the _Evening Post_, on the principle of
+   setting one mystery to solve another, sent its representative to
+   examine a strange steel rocket, discovered half-buried in the sands
+   of Lake Michigan, near Berrien Springs, two days ago. Our reporter
+   investigated this bullet-shaped contrivance and found an opening into
+   it, and within he discovered a scrap of paper on which were written
+   the words: 'Farewell to Earth for ever!' Werner's friends, when
+   interviewed by the _Evening Post_, all positively identified the
+   handwriting of this scrap as his chirography. It is supposed that he
+   took an excursion steamer to St. Joseph, Michigan, last Tuesday or
+   Wednesday afternoon, and walking down the shore toward Berrien
+   Springs, finally threw himself into the Lake. Neither Israel Werner,
+   with whom the dead man lived on Indiana Avenue, nor Patrick Flynn,
+   the chief clerk at his office, can give any reason for the suicide,
+   or explain the exact connection of the infernal machine (if such it
+   be) with the sad circumstance. But they both positively identify the
+   handwriting on the scrap of paper. We have wired our representative
+   to bring the mysterious machine to Chicago; and those who think they
+   may be able to throw any light upon the case, are invited to call at
+   the office of the _Evening Post_ and examine it."
+
+The _Inter Ocean_ developed a theory that the suicide was only a
+pretended one for the purpose of fraudulently collecting life insurance
+policies. It was cited that Isidor Werner had insured his life for more
+than $100,000, and this in spite of the fact that he had no family,
+parents, brothers or sisters to provide for; but had taken the policies
+in favour of his uncle, Israel Werner, and in case of his prior death,
+in favour of a cousin, Ruth Werner. This theory gained but little
+currency among those who knew the man best, and although the insurance
+companies prepared to resist payment of the policies to the bitter end,
+yet, as time went on, no one attempted to prove his death, nor to claim
+the handsome sum which would result from it. Moreover, Israel Werner and
+his daughter Ruth, the beneficiaries under the policies, persisted in
+believing that their relative was yet alive, though they could give no
+good reasons for so believing, nor explain his disappearance.
+
+In its issue of June 15th the _Tribune_ scouted the idea of suicide
+altogether. It had a better and more plausible theory of the case.
+Isidor Werner had a large sum of money in the Corn Exchange Bank,
+drawing interest by the year. In case of either a premeditated or a
+pretended suicide he would most certainly have withdrawn, and made some
+disposition of, this money. In fact, he had, on the day of his
+disappearance, drawn out five thousand dollars of it in gold. For this
+coin the _Tribune_ believed he had been murdered, and that they had a
+clue to the murderer. The vanished man had several times been seen in
+the company of a suspicious German, of intelligent but erratic
+appearance. This queer character lived in a hotbed of socialism on the
+West Side, and the young broker was supposed to be in his power. In
+fact, it was known for certain that the erratic German had secured a
+large sum of money from him, and that Werner had visited his rooms in
+the slums of the West Side more than once. Moreover, the two had made a
+secret railway journey together two days before the disappearance, and
+on the very day that Werner was last seen, the German had fled his
+lodgings without giving any explanation of his departure to his few
+acquaintances. When the _Tribune_ reporter called at these lodgings, the
+landlord still had in his possession a gold eagle, with which the German
+had paid his rent, and in the grate of the deserted room were the
+charred remains of burnt papers. One of these was a rather firm, crisp
+cinder, and had been a blue-print of a drawing. As nearly as could be
+judged, from its shrivelled state, it appeared to be the plan of some
+infernal machine. The name of the fugitive was Anderwelt, and he called
+himself a doctor. Further investigations were being carried on by the
+_Tribune_, which promised to prove beyond a doubt that he was the
+murderer of Isidor Werner.
+
+But the _Evening Post_ still held the palm for sensations, and I copy
+verbatim from its columns of June 15th:
+
+   "It is rare that a newspaper, dealing strictly in facts, has to
+   record anything so closely bordering on the supernatural and
+   mysterious as that which we must now relate. The following facts,
+   however, are vouched for by the entire editorial department of the
+   _Evening Post_, and many of them by several hundred witnesses. We
+   begin by apologising to the hundreds who have called at this office
+   and have been unable to see the Werner infernal machine. We gave it
+   that name in a thoughtless jest, but its subsequent actions have more
+   than justified the title. Our reporter brought it from Berrien
+   Springs, as directed, and deposited it in the court of the _Evening
+   Post_ building. As is quite generally known, this court is a central
+   well in the building, affording ventilation and light to the interior
+   offices, from every one of which can be seen what goes on in it. The
+   well is spanned by a glass roof above the eighth storey. In this
+   court, at eleven o'clock this morning, the entire editorial and a
+   large part of the business staff of this paper, repaired, to examine
+   the mysterious rocket-like thing. A little lid was opened, showing
+   the recess where the tell-tale scrap of paper, written by Werner, had
+   been found. Inside there seemed to be a pair of peculiar battery
+   cells, whose exact nature was hidden by the outer shell. Outside
+   there were several thumb-screws, which were turned both ways without
+   any apparent effect. While making this examination the machine had
+   been set up on its lower end, and when it was again laid down it
+   _refused to lie on its side_, but persisted in _standing erect of its
+   own accord_. This was the more wonderful because the lower end was
+   not flat, so that it would afford a good base, but was pointed. More
+   than a hundred people saw it stand up on this sharp tip, saw it lift
+   up light weights which were placed upon it to hold it on its side,
+   and saw it quickly right itself when it was placed vertically but
+   wrong end down.
+
+   "Thinking this queer property had been contributed to it in some way
+   by loosening the thumb-screws, they were next all set down as tightly
+   as possible, to see if this tendency to erectness would be lost.
+   Then, to the astonishment of every one in the court, and of several
+   hundred people who were by this time watching from the interior
+   windows, this infernal machine, without any explosion, burning of
+   gases, or any apparent force acting upon it, slowly _rose from the
+   ground_, and then, travelling more swiftly, _shot through the roof of
+   glass_ and vanished from sight! Nor has the most diligent search
+   enabled us to recover it. Does it possess the secret of Isidor
+   Werner's death?"
+
+But the Chicago _Herald_ had been working thoroughly and saying little
+until its issue of June 16th, when it claimed the credit of solving the
+whole mystery. Its long article lies before me as I write: There had
+been no suicide; there had been no murder; there had been no infernal
+machine. Doctor Anderwelt was a learned man, and the warm personal
+friend of Isidor Werner. Both men had shared the same fate; they might
+yet be alive, but they were certainly _at the bottom of Lake Michigan
+together_! They were imprisoned there in a sunken submarine boat, which
+was the invention of Doctor Anderwelt, and was built with funds
+furnished by the young broker. The foundryman who had constructed the
+big torpedo-shaped contrivance had been interviewed. He knew both men,
+and they were on the most friendly terms. In a moment of confidence
+Doctor Anderwelt had told him the machine was for submarine exploration;
+had explained the four-winged rudder, which would make it dive into the
+water, rise to the surface, or direct it to right or to left. Moreover,
+there were closed living compartments, around which were chambers
+containing a supply of air. He himself had pumped them full of
+compressed air, and it was so arranged that foul air could be let out
+when used and new air admitted. When all had been finished the
+foundryman had shipped the new invention, _via_ the Michigan Southern
+Railway, to the shore of the Lake near Whiting, Indiana. Next the
+_Herald_ had sought and found the conductor whose train had hauled it to
+Whiting. He remembered switching off the flat-car there, and he was
+surprised on his return trip next morning to see the heavy thing already
+unloaded and gone.
+
+Undoubtedly, the two men had made an experiment with the diving boat
+under the surface of the water; and its failure to operate as hoped had
+resulted in its sinking to the bottom, with the two men imprisoned in
+it. On no other hypothesis could its disappearance, and that of the two
+men, be so plausibly accounted for. But as they had stores of air, and
+probably of food, there was a possibility that they were still alive
+inside the thing in the bottom of the Lake! Only three days had elapsed
+since it had been launched, and the _Herald_ was willing to head a
+subscription to drag the Lake and send divers to search for and rescue
+the two unfortunate men!
+
+All this serves to illustrate the untiring energy of newspaper
+investigation, as well as the remarkable fertility of journalistic
+imagination; for none of these clever theories hit at the real truth, or
+explained the correct bearing of the astonishing facts which the
+newspapers had so industriously unearthed.
+
+And if the mystery of the disappearance of Isidor Werner was uncommonly
+deep and wonderful, the explanation and final solution of it is not less
+marvellous. After a delay of more than six years, it has just now come
+into my hands whole and perfect. It is in no less satisfactory form than
+a complete manuscript written by the very hand of Isidor Werner! I came
+strangely into possession of it, and it relates a story of interest and
+wonder, compared with which the mystery of his disappearance pales into
+insignificance. But the reader may judge for himself, for here follows
+the story exactly as he wrote it. Upon his manuscript I have bestowed
+hardly more than a proof-reader's technical revision.
+
+                                                   ELLSWORTH DOUGLASS.
+
+    BOSTON, U.S.A.,
+ _December 13th, 1898._
+
+
+
+
+BOOK I
+
+Secrets of Space
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER I
+
+Dr. Hermann Anderwelt
+
+
+I had been busy all day trying to swarm the bees and secure my honey.
+The previous day had been February 29th, a date which doesn't often
+happen, and which I had especial reason to remember, for it had been the
+most successful of my business career. I had made a long guess at the
+shaky condition of the great house of Slater, Bawker & Co., who had been
+heavy buyers of wheat. I had talked the market down, sold it down,
+hammered it down; and, true enough, what nobody else seemed to expect
+really happened. The big firm failed, the price of wheat went to smash
+in a panic of my mixing, and, as a result, I saw a profit of more than
+two hundred thousand dollars in the deal. But, in order to secure this
+snug sum, I still had to buy back the wheat I had sold at higher prices,
+and this I didn't find so easy. The crowd in the wheat pit had seen my
+hand, and were letting me play it alone against them all.
+
+After the session I hurried to my office to get my overcoat and hat,
+having an engagement to lunch at the Club.
+
+"If you please, Mr. Werner, there is a queer old gentleman in your
+private office who wishes to see you," said Flynn, my chief clerk.
+
+"Ask him to call again to-morrow; I am in a great hurry to-day," I said,
+slipping on one sleeve of my overcoat as I started out.
+
+"But he has been waiting in there since eleven o'clock, and said he very
+much wished to see you when you had plenty of time. He would not allow
+me to send on the floor for you during the session."
+
+"Since eleven o'clock! Did he have his lunch and a novel sent up? Well,
+I can hardly run away from a man who has waited three and a half hours
+to see me;" and I entered my private office with my overcoat on.
+
+Seated in my deep, leathern arm-chair was an elderly man, with rather
+long and bushy iron-grey hair, and an uneven grey beard. His head
+inclined forward, he breathed heavily, and was apparently fast asleep.
+
+"You will pardon my awaking you, but I never do business asleep!" I
+ventured rather loudly.
+
+Slowly the steel-blue eyes opened, and, without any start or
+discomposure, the old man answered,--
+
+"And I--my most successful enterprises are developed in my dreams."
+
+His features and his accent agreed in pronouncing him German. He arose
+calmly, buttoned the lowest button of his worn frock-coat, and, instead
+of extending his hand to me, he poked it inside his coat, letting it
+hang heavily on the single button. It was a lazy but characteristic
+attitude. It tended to make his coat pouch and his shoulders droop. I
+remembered having seen it somewhere before.
+
+"Mr. Werner, I have a matter of the deepest and vastest importance to
+unfold to you," he began, rather mysteriously, "for which I desire five
+hours of your unemployed time----"
+
+"Five hours!" I interrupted. "You do not know me! That much is hard to
+find without running into the middle of the night, or into the middle of
+the day--which is worse for a busy man. I have just five minutes to
+spare this afternoon, which will be quite time enough to tell me who you
+are and why you have sought me."
+
+"You do not know me because you do not expect to see me on this
+hemisphere," he continued. "Nor did I expect to find you a potent force
+in the commercial world, only three years after a literary and
+linguistic preparation for a scholarly career. Why, the _mädchens_ of
+Heidelberg have hardly had time to forget your tall, athletic figure, or
+ceased wondering if you were really a Hebrew----"
+
+"You seem to be altogether familiar with my history," I put in with a
+little heat. "Kindly enlighten me equally well as to your own."
+
+"I gave you the pleasure of an additional year of residence at the
+University of Heidelberg not long ago," he answered.
+
+"I do not know how that can be, for to my uncle I owe my entire
+education there."
+
+"Perhaps an unappreciated trifle of it you owe to your instructors and
+lecturers. Do you forget that I refused to pass your examinations in
+physics, and kept you there a year longer?"
+
+"You are not Doctor Anderwelt, then?"
+
+"Hermann Anderwelt, Ph.D., at your service, sir," he replied somewhat
+proudly.
+
+"But when and why did you leave your chair at Heidelberg?"
+
+"It is to answer this that I ask the five hours," he said slowly.
+
+"Oh, come now, doctor, you used to tell me more in a two-hour lecture
+than I could remember in a week," I answered, taking off my overcoat,
+and touching an electric button at my desk. My office boy entered.
+
+"Teddy, have I had lunch to-day?" This was my favourite question on a
+busy day, and Teddy always answered it seriously.
+
+"No, sir, you have an engagement to lunch at the Standard Club," he
+replied.
+
+"Telephone to Gus at the Club that I can't come up to-day. Also send
+over to the Grand Pacific for a good lunch for two. Have some beer in
+it--real Münchner, and in _steins_," I directed, and then I reclined on
+a long leather lounge, and motioned to the doctor to have a chair. He
+declined, however, and walked slowly back and forth before me as he
+talked, keeping his right hand inside his coat, and with the left he
+occasionally ploughed up his heavy hair, as if to ventilate his brain.
+
+"A year ago I gave up theoretical physics for applied physics; I
+resigned my chair at Heidelberg, and came to this progressive city. I
+brought with me a working model of the greatest invention of this
+inventive age. Yet it was then neither perfect in design nor complete in
+detail. But now I have hit on the plan that makes it practicable and
+certain of success. I need only a little money to build it, and the
+world will open its eyes!"
+
+"But you must pardon me if instead of opening mine I shut them," I
+interrupted, seeing the point quickly, and losing no time in dodging. "I
+have no money to invest in patent rights; but still, you must stay to
+lunch with me."
+
+Just here the doctor seemed to find it necessary to diverge from the
+orderly course of his lecture as he had prepared it, and interject a few
+impromptu observations.
+
+"Events are difficult to forecast, but the capabilities of a youth are
+harder to divine. One educates his son in all the fine arts, and he
+turns out a founder of pig iron. One's nephew is apprenticed to a
+watchmaker, and in a few years, behold, he is a great barrister. Your
+uncle educated you thoroughly in the old Hebrew and Chaldee of the
+rabbis, and, lo! you are now the _ursa major_ of the wheat market.
+
+"Just now you are in the centre of the kaleidoscope of success. Slater,
+Bawker & Co. were there a month ago, but now they are only bits of
+broken glass in the bottom of the heap! And you? you are really a
+twisted bit of coloured glass like the rest, but you chance to be thrown
+to the middle. The mirrors of public opinion multiply your importance
+half a dozen times, and behold you are reflected into the whole picture.
+But the kaleidoscope turns, and the pieces of glass are shifted. Other
+broken chips now at the bottom of the heap will soon be filling the
+centre!
+
+"Permit me to change my figure of speech. You are sweeping back the
+waves of the sea while the tide is falling, and the wide-mouthed public
+looks on, and whispers about that your broom makes all the waves obey,
+and drives them back at will. Just when you begin to believe it yourself
+the tide may turn, and neither brooms nor all the powers on earth can
+then sweep it back.
+
+"Isidor Werner, you believe yourself rich; but your wealth is like
+molasses in a sieve. If you do not dip in your finger and taste the
+sweet occasionally, you will have nothing to show for your pains in the
+end. I shall ask you for but a taste of the sweet now, so that I may
+preserve a little of it against that day which may come, when the sieve
+will be bright and clean and empty again!"
+
+There was a knock at the door.
+
+"Come in!" I shouted. "Nothing but this lunch can save me from your
+eloquence. You have already ruined me in three similes!"
+
+The waiter arranged a bountiful and tempting luncheon on a writing
+table. I commenced on it at once, but the doctor, though repeatedly
+urged, persistently refused. He took a long draught at a _stein_ of
+Munich beer, and continued:--
+
+"My invention proposes to navigate the air and the ether beyond, as well
+as the interplanetary spaces," he said impressively.
+
+"Flying machine, eh?" I sneered, between bites of planked whitefish.
+
+"Indeed no!" he growled, as if he detested this name. "My invention is
+not a machine but a projectile. It is not self-propelling, because if it
+depended upon its own propelling apparatus, it could not in thousands of
+years navigate the interplanetary spaces. It is a _gravity projectile_,
+and will travel at a rate of speed almost incalculable. It does not fly,
+but its manner of travelling is more nearly like falling."
+
+I gave the doctor a quick searching look to see if I could discover any
+signs of incipient insanity. I met a firm, steady gaze; an earnest,
+convincing look. Somehow, I felt there was something real and true and
+wonderful about to come from the great scholar before me, and that I
+must hear it and hear it all; that I must lend a serious and thoughtful
+attention. My eyes were rivetted upon the doctor's for fully a minute in
+silence.
+
+"Go on," I said at last; "I am all attention."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER II
+
+The Gravity Projectile
+
+
+Hermann Anderwelt had probably suffered many disappointments and waited
+long for a hearing. Now he seemed to feel that his opportunity had come,
+for he continued with growing enthusiasm:--
+
+"Hitherto all attempts at space travelling have been too timid or
+puerile. We have experimented at aerial navigation, as if the brief span
+of air were a step in the mighty distance which separates us from our
+sister planets. As well might steamboats have been invented to cross
+narrow streams, and never have ventured on the mighty ocean! We have
+tried to imitate the bird, the kite, and the balloon, and our
+experiments have failed, and always must, so long as we do not look
+farther and think deeper. Every Icarus who attempts to overcome the
+force of gravity, which conquers planets, and propel himself through the
+air by any sort of apparatus, will always finish the trip with a wiser
+but badly bruised head."
+
+"Still, it has been freely predicted," I ventured, "that this century
+will not close without the invention of a successful air-travelling
+machine."
+
+"And I alone have hit upon the right plan, because I have not attempted
+to _struggle against_ gravity, but have made use of it only for
+propelling my projectile!" exclaimed the doctor triumphantly.
+
+"But wait!" I interposed. "Gravity acts only in one direction, and that
+is exactly opposite to the one you propose to travel."
+
+"That brings me to the very important discovery I made in physics two
+years ago, upon which the whole success of the projectile rests. You
+will remember that, according to the text-books, very little is known
+about gravity except the laws of its action. What it is, and how it can
+be controlled or modified, have never been known. Electricity was as
+much a mystery fifty years ago, but we know all its attributes. We can
+make it, store it, control it, and use it for almost every necessity of
+life. The era of electricity is in full bloom, but the era of
+gravitational force is just budding."
+
+"Can it be that we have as much to learn from gravity as electricity has
+taught us in the last half-century?" I exclaimed, as my eyes began to
+open.
+
+"I believe it will teach us far more wonderful things, because it will
+take us to unknown worlds, while electricity has been confined to Earth.
+Its realm is the wide universe. It will show us what life there is on
+the planets. It will make us at home with the stars.
+
+"What!" he continued in a sort of ecstasy. "Do you think all great
+discoveries are over, all wonderful inventions made? As well might a
+trembling child, elated with the success of its first feeble steps
+alone, suppose it had exhausted all the possibilities of life. We are
+but spelling over the big letters on the title page of the primary book
+of knowledge. There be other pages and grander chapters further on.
+There be greater volumes, and sweeter, more expressive tongues which man
+may learn some day.
+
+"Has a reasoning Divinity created the heavens and peopled the myriad
+stars with thinking, capable beings, who must be perpetually isolated?
+Or may they not know each other some time? But shall we attempt to sail
+the vast heavens with a paper kite, or try to fly God's distances with
+the wings of fluttering birds? Nay; we must use God's engine for such a
+task. Has He tied the planets to the sun, and knitted the suns and their
+systems into one great universe obedient to a single law, with no
+possibility that we may use that law for intercommunication? With what
+wings do the planets fly around the sun, and the suns move through the
+heavens? With the wings of gravity! The same force for minute satellite
+or mighty sun. It is God's omnipotence applied to matter. Let us fly
+with that!"
+
+"But will you permit me to suggest that we are soaring before the
+projectile is built?" I put in.
+
+"Quite right. Let us come back to Earth, and return to facts. My studies
+in physics led me to believe that all natural forces--gravity,
+centrifugal force, and even capillary attraction--are, like electricity
+and magnetism, both positive and negative in their action. If they do
+not normally alternate between a positive and negative current, as
+electricity does, they can be made to do so. Gravity and capillary
+attraction, as we know them, always act positively; that is, they always
+_attract_. On the other hand, centrifugal force always acts negatively;
+that is, it always _repels_. But each of these forces, I believe, can
+temporarily be made to act opposite to its usual manner. I know this to
+be the case with gravity, for I have caused its positive and negative
+currents to alternate; that is, I have made it repel and then attract,
+and so on, at will, by changing the polarity of the body which it acts
+upon."
+
+"Now that I remember it," I added, "our original ideas of magnetism were
+that it simply attracted. We knew the lodestone drew the steel, but only
+on better acquaintance did we learn of its alternating currents,
+attractive and repellant."
+
+"I have positively demonstrated with my working model that I can reverse
+the force of gravity acting upon the model, and make it sail away into
+space. I will show you this whenever you like. It is so arranged that
+the polarizing action ceases in three minutes, after which the positive
+current controls, and the model falls to the Earth again."
+
+"But have you ever attempted a trip yet?" I inquired.
+
+"Oh, no. The model was not built to carry me, but it has demonstrated
+all the important facts, and I now need ten thousand dollars to build
+one large enough to carry several persons, and to equip it with
+everything necessary to make a trip to one of the planets. With a man
+inside to control the currents, it will be far more easily managed than
+the experimental model has been."
+
+"Suppose you had the projectile built, and everything was ready for a
+start," I said, "what would be the method of working it?"
+
+"I should enter the forward compartment," began the doctor.
+
+"But would you make the trial trip yourself?"
+
+"I certainly would not trust the secret of operating the currents to any
+one else," he remarked, with emphasis. "And will you accompany me in the
+rear compartment?"
+
+"No, indeed; unless you will promise to return in time for the following
+day's market," I replied.
+
+"Then I shall engage some adventurous fellow as assistant. First, we
+must set the rudder, which is both horizontal and vertical, so that the
+projectile can be steered up, down, or to either side. Having fixed it
+so as to be directed a little upward, I begin with the currents.
+Suppose the projectile weighs a ton, I gradually neutralize the positive
+current, which we are acquainted with as gravity. When it is exactly
+neutralized, the projectile weighs nothing, and the pressure of the air
+is enough to make it rise more rapidly than a balloon. When I have
+created a negative current, the projectile acquires a buoyancy equal to
+its previous weight. That is, it will now _fall up_ as rapidly as it
+would previously have fallen down. It will not do to put on the full
+negative current at once, for we should acquire a velocity that would
+simply burn us up by friction with the atmosphere. However, the air is
+soon passed; if in the ether beyond there is very little friction, or
+none at all, we shall go at full speed, which will be the constantly
+increasing velocity of a falling body.
+
+"Somewhere between the Earth and the nearest planet," he continued,
+"there is a place where the attraction of one is just equal to the
+attraction of the other; and if a body is stopped in that fatal spot it
+will be anchored there for ever, by the equally matched forces tugging
+in opposite directions. There is such a dead line between all the
+planets, and our principal danger lies in falling into one of these, for
+we should remain there a twinkling star throughout eternity! We must
+trust to our momentum to carry us past this point, and into space where
+the gravitational attraction of the other planet is paramount. Then we
+must promptly change our current from negative to positive, so that the
+other planet will attract us to her. Otherwise, she would repel us back
+to the dead line.
+
+"With a positive current we are now literally falling into the new
+planet. We need not land unless we wish, for as soon as we enter a
+resisting atmosphere we can steer a course lacking barely a quarter of
+being directly away from the planet, just as you can sail a boat three
+quarters against the wind."
+
+"But suppose you experiment at making a landing on this new planet?" I
+suggested.
+
+"Very well. Of course, as soon as we enter an atmosphere, it behoves us
+to travel slowly to avoid overheating. We can still safely travel
+several hundred miles an hour, however. We continue falling until rather
+near the planet; then, turning the rudder gently down, we can sail
+around and around the planet until we choose our landing place. Gently
+reversing currents, a mild negative one soon overcomes our momentum.
+Tempering our currents experimentally to the pressure of the air, we
+can, if we desire, float like a feather and be wafted with every breeze.
+Just a suspicion of a positive current brings us gently to the surface,
+and, when we have cooled, we unscrew the rear port-hole and crawl out to
+explore a new world."
+
+I had mentally made the trip, and was not only intensely interested, but
+infinitely pleased. I was lost for some time with my imagination on the
+new sphere, but presently my mind returned to the practical side of the
+question, and I inquired,--
+
+"Are you quite sure that ten thousand dollars will be sufficient to
+build and fully equip the projectile?"
+
+"Yes, quite certain," he answered with decision. "It will be ample for
+that and for the expenses of forming a corporation to own my patents and
+exploit the invention. It is easy to see the projectile will be cheap of
+construction. No machinery is necessary; no strong building to withstand
+enormous shocks or anything of that kind. The principal expenditures
+will be for stores of food and for scientific and astronomical
+instruments. Of course, I wish to show you my working model and my plans
+for the practical projectile, and to explain to you many further
+details."
+
+It was growing dark. I arose, turned on the electric light, and rang my
+bell. The office boy entered.
+
+"Teddy, tell all the boys they may go, except Flynn. Ask him to wait,
+please."
+
+I was quite used to making ten thousand dollar bargains in a few seconds
+of time and without the scratch of a pen. I had risked more money than
+that on the fact that Slater looked worried and Bawker was very cross
+when at his office, and it had won immensely. But here, what a prospect,
+what a far-reaching, all-encircling prospect it was! No time was to be
+lost; besides, there was pleasure to me in driving a good bargain and
+driving it quickly.
+
+"And if I give you the ten thousand dollars, what do I get in return?" I
+asked, mentally placing my part at fifty-five per cent. of the shares at
+the lowest, so that I might control the company.
+
+"You may organize the corporation yourself. The projectile must bear my
+name, and I must have the credit for all discoveries and inventions.
+Then you may give me such a part of the shares of the company as you
+think right," he replied.
+
+On hearing this, I mentally advanced my portion to seventy-five per
+cent. Then I said,--
+
+"When the projectile is built and proves successful, who is to manage
+the affairs of the company? Who is to finance it and raise further funds
+for exploiting its business?"
+
+"I have no capacity for business," he declared. "I have no ambition to
+be a Pullman or an Edison. I would rather see myself a Franklin or a
+Fulton. You shall manage all the business affairs."
+
+"Then I will undertake the whole matter, and give you my cheque for ten
+thousand dollars to-night, provided you allow me--ninety-five per cent.
+of the company's shares!" I said, simulating a burst of generosity.
+
+Doctor Anderwelt ploughed his hair and harrowed his beard. He knew this
+was giving too much, but to have the projectile built, to sail away, to
+make all those grand new discoveries, to write books, and have future
+generations pronounce his name reverently along with Kepler and Newton!
+I did not believe he would have the courage to say no. While he
+meditated, my bell summoned Flynn.
+
+"Please draw a cheque for ten thousand dollars to the order of Hermann
+Anderwelt," I said, watching the doctor as I spoke. There was indecision
+in his face.
+
+"Suppose I allow you, say, ninety per cent.?" he said at last.
+
+I was signing the cheque Flynn had brought me. "Done!" I cried, handing
+it over. He scanned it carefully, and after a long time said,--
+
+"Mars is nearest to the Earth on the third day of next August.
+Fortunately Chicago is a good place to do things in a hurry. The
+projectile must be ready to start early in June, but its construction
+and its first trip must be kept a profound secret."
+
+The doctor must have been hungry since noon. He began munching a chicken
+sandwich. The cold planked whitefish tasted quite as good as smoked
+herrings, perhaps, and strawberry short-cake in March was a luxury which
+he evidently appreciated.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER III
+
+Structure of the Projectile
+
+
+A few weeks later I received a letter from Dr. Anderwelt asking me to
+call at his rooms on the West Side that afternoon, as soon as the market
+had closed. He desired to exhibit and explain the drawings of the new
+projectile and talk over the preparations for the trip. I had been so
+engrossed with every sort of worry that I had thought but little of the
+doctor and his grand schemes of late. But now I was anxious to know what
+progress he was making. Sometimes I felt that I had been foolish to put
+any money into the thing; but the doctor's idea of reversing gravity was
+so simple and so elemental, that I marvelled it had never occurred to
+scientists before.
+
+After the market I hunted up the street and number the doctor had given
+me, and found a little, dingy boarding-house, lost among machine shops
+and implement factories, near the west side of the river. In a
+third-floor back room, with one small window looking out on dark, sooty
+buildings and belching chimneys, Dr. Anderwelt was thinking out all the
+incidental problems, and preparing for all the emergencies that might
+arise on a trip of some forty million miles, through unknown space, to a
+strange planet whose composition was unguessed.
+
+The walls of the room were soiled and bare, except for blue-prints of
+drawings from which the projectile was being built in neighbouring
+foundries. There were but two plain, hard chairs in the room. The doctor
+sat on one with a pillow doubled up under him for a cushion. He was
+bending over a draughting board, which was propped up on the bed during
+the day and went under it at night.
+
+Three flights of steep stairs had taken my breath, and I dropped into
+the other hard chair and exclaimed,--
+
+"I say, Doctor, why didn't you take an office in the twelfth heaven of a
+modern office building over in town, where they have elevators? I have
+really forgotten how to climb stairs. Didn't I furnish you money enough
+to do this thing right?"
+
+"Don't you think this is a good place?" he inquired in some surprise.
+"The rent is cheap, and it is convenient to the work. But speaking of
+elevators, we are going to revolutionize all that. No more hoisting or
+hydraulic lifts after we apply our ideas to the lifting of these
+elevator cages!"
+
+"I am afraid this idea of negative gravity is apt to revolutionize
+everything, and generally upset the entire universe," I replied. "I
+have been wondering what would happen if you were to apply a negative
+current to this Earth of ours and send it whirling out of its orbit, an
+ostracised Pariah, repelled by all the celestial bodies!"
+
+"Not the slightest danger of any such calamity," he answered. "The
+reversal of polarity can only be accomplished with comparatively small
+and insignificant masses. It would be impossible to impart a negative
+condition even to the smallest satellite. Our projectile will weigh but
+a few thousand pounds, compared to the millions of tons of the smallest
+celestial bodies. The Creator has looked out for the stability of the
+universe, never fear for that! And He has also given us a few hints of
+negative currents and repellant gravities in the form of meteorites and
+falling stars, which cannot be so well explained by any other theory.
+But what I want to talk to you about is the vital importance of
+providing against every possible emergency before starting on this trip
+through space. A trifling oversight in the preparations may mean death
+in the end, and things we put no value on here we might be willing to
+give a fortune for on Mars!"
+
+"Well, let's hear how this thing is built," I said, rising and facing
+the larger blue-print. "So that's the shape of it, is it? Looks like a
+cigar!"
+
+"Yes, the design resembles that of a torpedo considerably," replied the
+doctor, and referring to the sectional blue-print he began explaining
+the construction.
+
+"This outer covering is a crust of graphite or black lead, inside which
+is a two-inch layer of asbestos. Both of these resist enormous heats,
+and they will prevent our burning by friction with atmospheres, and
+protect us against extremes of cold. Also, when we are ready, they will
+enable us to visit planets about whose cooled condition we are not
+certain. We might touch safely for a short time on a molten planet with
+this covering.
+
+"Next comes the general outer framework of steel, just within which, and
+completely surrounding the living compartments, are the chambers for the
+storage of condensed air for use on the trip. These chambers are lined
+inside with another layer of asbestos. Now, air being a comparatively
+poor conductor of heat, and asbestos one of the best non-conductors we
+know of, this insures a stable temperature of the living compartments,
+regardless of the condition without, whether of extreme heat or extreme
+cold. Afterward comes the inner framework of steel, and lastly a
+wainscotting of hard wood to give the compartments a finish."
+
+"How large are these living rooms?" I inquired.
+
+"The rear one is four feet high and eight feet long. The forward one,
+designed for my own use, is longer, and must contain a good-size
+telescope and all my scientific instruments. The apparatus with which I
+produce the currents is built into the left wall, and it acts on the
+steel work of the projectile only. The rear compartment has a sideboard
+for preparing meals, which will have to be wholly of bread, biscuits,
+and various tinned vegetables and meats. We shall not attempt any
+cooking."
+
+"But are there no windows for looking out?" I queried.
+
+"Certainly, there are two of them, made of thick mica. One is directly
+in the front end, through which my telescope will look. The other is in
+the port-hole in the rear end. Each window is provided with an outer
+shutter of asbestos, which can be closed in case of great heat or cold.
+You will notice the two compartments can be separated by an air-tight
+plunger, fitting into the aperture between them. It will be necessary
+for both of us to occupy the same compartment while the air is being
+changed in the other. The foul air will be forced outside by a powerful
+pump until a partial vacuum is created. Then a certain measure of
+condensed air is emptied in, and expands until the barometer in that
+compartment indicates a proper pressure."
+
+"The air will be made to order while you wait, then?" I put in.
+
+"That is exactly what will be done in a more literal manner than you may
+suppose!" exclaimed the doctor. "This air problem is a most interesting
+one, for we must educate ourselves on the trip to use the sort of
+atmosphere we expect to find when we land. For instance, going to Mars
+we must use an atmosphere more and more rarefied each day, until
+gradually we become used to the thin air we expect to find there. Of
+course, there is an especially designed barometer and thermometer,
+capable of being read in the rear compartment, but exposed outside near
+the rudder. The barometer will give us the pressure of the earthly
+atmosphere as it becomes more and more rare with our ascent. It will
+show us what pressure there is of the ether, which may vary
+considerably, depending on our nearness to heavenly bodies. It will also
+immediately indicate to us when we are entering any new atmosphere. When
+we have arrived at Mars, we shall observe the exact pressure of the
+Martian air, and then manufacture one of the same pressure inside, and
+try breathing it before we venture out. The thermometer will give us the
+temperature of the ether, will indicate the loss of heat as we leave the
+sun, and will show us the Martian temperature before we venture into
+it."
+
+"But you have said the condensed air will be used to resist the outer
+heat. This will certainly make it so hot it will be unfit to breathe," I
+interposed.
+
+"Ah, but you forget that the quick expansion of a gaslike air produces
+cold. We shall regulate our temperature in that way. If it is becoming
+too warm inside, the new measure of condensed air will be quickly
+introduced into the partial vacuum, and its sudden expansion will
+produce great cold, and freeze ice for us if we wish it. On the other
+hand, if the compartments are already cold, we shall allow the condensed
+air to enter very gradually, and its slow expansion will produce but
+little cold. The question of heating the projectile is the most
+difficult one I have found. We cannot have any fires, for there is no
+way for the smoke to escape, and we cannot carry oxygen enough to keep
+them burning. I have decided that we must depend on the heat arising
+from outer friction and from absorption of the Sun's rays by our black
+surface. When we are in ether where friction is very little, the
+velocity will be all the greater, and I believe we shall always be warm
+enough. You must remember, we shall not have the slightest suspicion of
+a draught, and we must necessarily take along the warmest clothing for
+use on Mars. Even then we probably cannot safely visit any but his
+equatorial districts."
+
+"This is the rudder, I suppose; but haven't you put it in wrong end
+first?" I asked. "It is just the opposite of a fish's tail. You have the
+widened end near the projectile and the narrow end extending."
+
+"Yes, and with good reason. You will note that the rudder slides into
+the rear end of the projectile so that none of it extends out. This is a
+variable steering apparatus, adapted to every sort of atmosphere.
+Naturally, a rudder that would steer in the water, might not steer the
+same craft in the air. There is probably a vaster difference between air
+and ether than between water and air. It is necessary, therefore, to
+have a small rudder with but little extending surface in thick
+atmosphere; but when it becomes thinner the rudder must be pushed out,
+so that a greater surface will offer resistance. When we start, the
+smallest portion of this rudder moved but the sixteenth of an inch, up,
+down, or to either side, will quickly change our course correspondingly.
+When we have reached the ether, the full surface of the rudder pushed
+out and exposed broadside may not have much effect in changing our
+course. This is one of the things that we cannot possibly know till we
+try. However, if ether is anything at all but a name, if it is the
+thinnest, lightest conceivable gas, and we are rushing through it at a
+speed of a thousand miles a minute, our rudder certainly should have
+some effect."
+
+"But suppose you cannot steer at all in the ether, what then?" I
+interposed, hunting all the trouble possible.
+
+"Even that will not be so very dreadful, provided we have taken a true
+course for Mars while coming through the Earth's atmosphere. There is no
+other planet or star nearer to us than Mars when in opposition.
+Therefore there will be nothing to attract us out of our correct course;
+and if we can manage to come anywhere near the true course, the
+gravitational attraction of Mars will draw us to him in a straight line.
+The Moon might give us some trouble, and we shall be obliged, either to
+avoid her entirely by starting so as to cross her orbit when she is on
+the opposite side of the Earth, or else go directly to the Moon, land
+there, and make a new start. But if the ether which surrounds the Moon
+(for she has no atmosphere so far as we know) has no resisting power
+whatever, we might have rather a difficult time there. The only thing we
+could do would be to land on the side toward the Earth, then disembark
+and carry the projectile on our shoulders around the Moon to the
+opposite side, making a new start from there!"
+
+"What on earth do you mean?" I exclaimed, interrupting. "Land on a
+satellite which has no atmosphere, and carry this projectile, weighing
+over a ton, half-way around the globe?"
+
+"But the point is, it isn't on the Earth, but on the Moon! Think it over
+a little, and see how easily we could do it now. In the first place, we
+shall always carry divers' suits and helmets, to use in going ashore on
+planets having no atmosphere. Air will be furnished through tubes from
+inside the compartments. In the second place, the projectile in its
+natural state will hardly weigh two hundred pounds on the Moon, since
+the mass of that satellite is so much less than the Earth's, and weight
+therefore proportionately less. But you must remember I can make the
+projectile weigh nothing at all, so one of us could run ahead and tow
+it, as a child would play with its toy balloon."
+
+"I perceive you have already made this trip several times, and are quite
+familiar with everything. But in case the Moon's surface is not suitable
+for foot passengers, what then? I understand it to be rough, jagged,
+mountainous, and even crossed by immense, yawning, unbridged fissures."
+
+"That is most likely true, and for that reason we must carry a jointed
+punt-pole, and take turns standing on the back, landing and punting
+along through space just above the surface. Do you remember how far you
+can send a slightly shrunk toy balloon with one light blow? And how it
+finally stops with the resistance of the air? Without any resisting
+atmosphere, how far and how easily could it be sent along?"
+
+"I can quite imagine you, astride the rudder of this thing, with a
+punt-pole as long as a ship's mast and as light as a broom-straw,
+bumping and skipping along in the utter darkness on the other side of
+the Moon; scaling mountains, bridging yawning chasms, and skimming over
+sombre sea-beds!" I laughed, for it aroused my active sense of the
+ridiculous.
+
+"And the Moon may be well worth the exploration," exclaimed the always
+serious doctor. "Who knows what treasure of gold and silver, or other
+metals, rare and precious here, may not be found there? Why was the Moon
+ever created without an atmosphere, and therefore probably without the
+possibility of ever being inhabited? Is it put there only to illume our
+nights? Remember, we do the same service for her fourteen times as well;
+and if she has inhabitants they may think the Earth exists only for that
+purpose. Is it not more reasonable to suppose that some vast treasures
+are there, which the Earth will some day be in pressing need of? That it
+is a great warehouse of earthly necessities, which will be discovered
+just as they are being exhausted here? And who knows but _we_ may be the
+discoverers ourselves? If the satellite is uninhabited, it will belong
+to the first explorers. Its treasures may be ours! We shall at least
+have a monopoly on the only known method of getting there and bringing
+them away."
+
+"Ah! now you tempt me to go with you," I said, in a mild excitement.
+"Now I see myself, erect on the rudder, a new Count of Monte Cristo,
+waving the long punt-pole majestically, and exclaiming, '_The Moon is
+mine!_'"
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER IV
+
+What is on Mars?
+
+
+"I only wish you _would_ come along with me," replied the doctor. "I
+have no idea what intelligent, educated person I can persuade to
+accompany me, unless he is given an interest in the discoveries. You are
+the person most interested in the enterprise, and you should go. If it
+is money-making that detains you here, you may rest assured that we
+shall find fortunes for both of us somewhere."
+
+"I am a slave to the excitement of my business," I answered. "I could
+not possibly spend two or three months in a lonely cell, flying through
+space, without a ticker or a quotation of the market. Besides, there are
+people on the earth I should not care to leave, unless I was certain of
+getting back soon."
+
+"You may be sure of excitement enough, and of a continuously novel kind.
+Besides, of what interest are the people of this earth, who are all
+alike, and whom we have known all our lives, compared with the rapture
+of finding a new and different race, of investigating another
+civilization, and exploring an entire new world?"
+
+"I shall have to warn my friends about you and have myself watched, lest
+you persuade me and run away with me when the time comes. If your
+adventures are half as exciting and varied as your theories, I should
+hate to miss them. But tell me why you have chosen Mars for a first
+visit."
+
+"Because of all the planets he is the one which most resembles the Earth
+in all the essential conditions of life. He is the Earth's little
+brother, situated next farther out in the path from the Sun. He has the
+same seasons, day and night of the same length, and zones of about the
+same extent. He possesses air, water, and sufficient heat to make
+habitation by us quite possible. Moreover, his gravity problem will not
+put earthly visitors at a disadvantage, as it would on the very large
+planets, but rather at a distinct advantage over the Martians."
+
+"What do you expect to find on Mars?" I queried.
+
+"That is a very comprehensive question, and any answer is the merest
+guess-work, guided by a few known facts," replied the doctor. "The
+principal controlling fact is the reduced gravitational attraction of
+Mars, which will make things weigh about one-third as much as on the
+Earth. The air will be far less dense than here. In the mineral kingdom
+the dense metals will be very rare. I doubt if platinum will be found at
+all; gold and silver very little; iron, lead, and copper will be
+comparatively scarce, while aluminium may be the common and useful
+metal. Gases should abound, and doubtless many entirely new to us will
+be there. It is not unlikely that many of these will serve as foods for
+the animals and intelligent beings. It is also quite possible that the
+heavier gases may run in channels, like rivers, and be alive with winged
+fish and chameleons."
+
+"How about vegetation?" I suggested.
+
+"The vegetable kingdom will certainly not be rank and luxurious, because
+there is not enough sunlight or heat for that; nor will it be gnarled
+and tough, but more likely spongy and cactus-like. The weak gravity will
+oppose but a mild resistance to the activity and climbing propensities
+of vegetable sap, however, which is likely to result in very tall,
+slender trees. The forces that lie hidden in an acorn should be able to
+build a most grandly towering oak on Mars. Among the animals the species
+of upright, two-legged things is apt to abound. There is no reason for
+four legs when the body weighs but little. On the Earth an extremely
+strong development of the lower limbs is necessary for upright things,
+as is shown in the cases of kangaroos and men. In order that a cow might
+go comfortably on two legs, she would have to be furnished with the
+hind-legs of an elephant; but not so on Mars. Creeping things would be
+very few, and it is possible that fish may fly in the water with a short
+pair of wings. What four-legged animals there are will very likely be
+large and monstrous; for an enormous animal could exist comfortably and
+move about easily without clumsiness. For instance, an earthly elephant
+transferred to Mars would weigh only one-third as much, and so there
+might well be elephants three times as large as ours, perfectly able to
+handle themselves with ease."
+
+"By the same reasoning then, I suppose the intelligent beings, or what
+we call men, will be great giants twenty-five feet high?" I put in.
+
+"Some have thought so, but I do not at all agree with them," replied the
+doctor. "I stick to the theory of small men for small planets, and large
+men for large planets. There is no possible reason for a large man on
+Mars, where muscular development is uncalled for and useless, and where
+the inhabitable space is small. If there are men on Jupiter, they must
+of necessity be enormously strong to hold themselves up and resist
+gravitation. If they walk upright (which I think unlikely), their legs
+must be very large and as solid as iron. The Martian legs are likely to
+be small and puny, and I believe the upper limbs will be much more
+strongly developed. In fact, on Mars the Creator had His one great
+opportunity of making a _flying man_, and I do not think He has
+overlooked it. With a rather small, tightly-knit frame, and the upper
+limbs developed into wings as long as the body, flying against the weak
+Martian gravitation would be perfectly easy, and a vast advantage over
+walking."
+
+"Ah! then perhaps they will fly out to meet you!" I ejaculated.
+
+"If they do, they will be stricken with fear to see that we fly without
+wings and so much more rapidly," he answered, and continued: "If a
+flying race has been created there, we shall probably find the
+atmosphere deeper and relatively (though not actually) denser than the
+Earth's. This would serve to add buoyancy and still further diminish
+weight, thus making flying quite natural and simple. I certainly do not
+believe that the Martians are subjected to the tedium of walking. If
+they do not fly, they will at least make long, swift, graceful hops or
+jumps of some ten or fifteen feet each. This would require a more hinged
+development of the lower limbs, like a bird's. It is also possible that
+the lower limbs may have the prehensile function, and do all the
+handling and working."
+
+"But how about intelligence and intellectual development? That is the
+main thing, after all," said I.
+
+"To answer that takes one into the realm of pure speculation. There are
+but few facts to guide one's guesses. But the trip yonder is worth
+making, if only to learn that. I do not incline to the opinion that
+their civilization is vastly older and more developed than ours.
+Granting the nebular theory of the origin of the universe (which is,
+after all, only a guess), it is not even then certain that Mars was
+thrown off the central sun before the Earth. It is much smaller, and may
+have been thrown off later and travelled farther for this reason.
+Another good reason for believing in a less advanced civilization is the
+length of the Martian year and consequent sluggishness of the seasons.
+He requires 687 of our days to complete his sun revolution, making his
+years nearly twice as long as ours. I believe his whole development is
+at a correspondingly slow rate of speed."
+
+"Which do you think is the most advanced and enlightened planet, then?"
+I ventured.
+
+"That one which finds a way to visit the others first," he answered,
+with a touch of pride.
+
+"But there may be a tinge of personal conceit in that idea," I
+suggested.
+
+"Possibly a mere tinge, but the essence of it is apparent truth," he
+declared. "That planet which has learned the most, made the greatest
+discoveries and the most useful inventions, is the best and fittest
+teacher of the others, and will be the sharpest and keenest to gather
+new information and formulate new science. It is eminently fit that
+representatives of such a planet should visit the others, and eminently
+unfit that any primitive civilization engaged in base wars and striving
+for mere conquest should be allowed that privilege. An all-wise Creator
+would not permit a huge, strong, ignorant race entirely to overrun and
+extinguish one weaker but more intelligent. He might permit a strong,
+intelligent, masterful race to rule and direct a weaker and dependent
+one, as a schoolmaster rules and guides a child."
+
+"Then you think we are the wise and masterful race?"
+
+"As no other race has yet discovered us; as they have all left the Space
+Problem unsolved, and as it has been uncovered to us, that is my
+irresistible conclusion."
+
+"Still, you will not go with ideas of conquest, but to teach and to
+learn?"
+
+"We shall take with us swords, shields, and fire-arms, for defence.
+Unless I mistake the nature of their metals, our steel will resist any
+weapon they can manufacture. But what explosives or what noxious gases
+they may have, all strange to us, it is impossible to conjecture.
+Therefore, we shall go with peace in our hands."
+
+"What progress do you think they have made in inventions?" I suggested,
+as the doctor hesitated.
+
+"If they are winged men, I should say they have never felt that urgent
+need of railroads, steam boats, telegraphs and telephones, which was the
+mother of their invention here. Flying or air-travelling machines will
+no more have occurred to them than a walking machine to us. They will
+have thoroughly explored every part of their planet, and it is possible
+that their cities will have been built on high plateaus, or even on
+mountain peaks. But they will not have builded greatly, for they will
+have been able to use the great architecture of nature in a way
+impossible to us."
+
+"Have you heard the theory advanced by some humorous scientist not long
+ago, that the organs of locomotion and prehension would some day, or on
+some planet, be supplanted by machinery, and that digestive apparatus
+would give way for artificially prepared blood?" I asked.
+
+"Oh, yes, that fanciful idea is novel, but irrational. It makes man only
+a fraction of a being. On every planet, no matter what the advancement
+of civilization, we shall find _complete beings_, not dependent on
+adventitious machinery for locomotion or labour, or on artificial or
+animal blood for nutriment. Think how helpless such a creature would be
+at the loss or rusting of his machinery, and at the exhaustion of just
+the right sort of nutritive fluid. Our digestive apparatus will convert
+a thousand different foods into blood. Suppose we could live only on
+buffalo meat? We should all have been dead long ago. We might as well
+imagine men as mere fungus brains, swimming in rivers of blood; or as
+beings beyond the necessity of personal thought, and living on brain
+sandwiches, cut from the thinking heads of others. Eating is not only a
+necessity, but a pleasure----"
+
+"That is just what I was thinking," I interposed, looking at my watch,
+for it was growing late.
+
+"Well, now I have told you how I would have peopled Mars had the order
+been sent to me here to do it," said the doctor, "will you go along with
+me, and see how nearly I am right?"
+
+"I am afraid not," I replied; "my business ties forbid. However, I want
+to see you make the start and the moment you return!"
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER V
+
+Final Preparations
+
+
+On the tenth day of June, Dr. Anderwelt had written me as follows:
+
+    "Please catch the 7.25 train on the Lake Shore for Whiting this
+    evening. I will take the same train, and we will walk from Whiting
+    to a deserted railway siding two miles further on, where the
+    projectile has been shipped. We will unload it from the flat car and
+    take it into a grove of scrub oaks on the shore of Lake Michigan,
+    near by. This will be enough to demonstrate to you our control of
+    gravity. The experimental model is there also, and we will send it
+    off on a trip if you like. Everything will be ready for the start to
+    Mars to-morrow night."
+
+I dined early and caught the train specified at Twenty-Second Street.
+The doctor was looking for me from the rear platform of a car. It was a
+local train, and crept slowly out through the smoky blackness of South
+Chicago, illuminated here and there by the flaming chimneys of her great
+iron furnaces, to the little city of pungent smells, of petroleum tanks
+and oil refineries, in Northern Indiana. The doctor was explaining the
+difficulties he had experienced in getting a companion for the trip.
+
+"Men whom I could hire for mere wages are not intelligent enough to
+understand the workings of the projectile, or to comprehend the risks
+they may run. Besides, their companionship and assistance during the
+trip through space and on a new planet is worth nothing. On the other
+hand, I could not afford to go about explaining the workings of so
+important an invention miscellaneously to people capable of
+understanding it in an experimental search for a companion. I might not
+find one among twenty, and I would be tossing my secrets to the winds,
+and inviting all the daily papers to send their representatives to
+report the start. My reputation as a scientist, on the other side, is
+too dear to me to risk a public failure. If the projectile acts, as I am
+confident it must, on our return we shall take out letters patent and
+form our company to exploit the business features. But primarily, this
+is a test of the projectile and a journey of exploration and research.
+Business afterward."
+
+Naturally on this point we had disagreed. My motto had always been
+"Business first!" and I had desired to have the patents secured
+immediately. But the doctor would not consent to the filing of the
+required specifications and claims, lest his secrets should be learned
+before success was demonstrated. As a compromise, the doctor had agreed
+to leave the necessary descriptions and data in a sealed envelope with
+me, which I was to be at liberty to open and place on record at any time
+during the doctor's absence that I might deem it necessary in order to
+protect our rights.
+
+"Whom have you finally secured to go with you, then?" I asked.
+
+"I will tell you that after we have finished to-night's work," said the
+doctor, and then abruptly changed the subject.
+
+The walk from Whiting was inspiriting. It was a beautiful night. There
+was not a cloud in the sky and no Moon, which made the stars all the
+brighter. Everything was still, save the constant lapping of the great
+lake on the sandy shore, but a short way off.
+
+"Yonder is the mustard seed planted in the heavens, which shall grow
+into a whole new world for us!" exclaimed the doctor, pointing out a
+particularly bright star. "That is Mars rushing on to opposition. In six
+weeks he will be nearest to the Earth; so for that time he will be
+flying to meet us. To-morrow is our last day on Earth; to-morrow night
+the ether! And in six weeks, diminutive but mighty man will have known
+two worlds!"
+
+"There you go, soaring again!" I cried. "Let us keep on practical
+subjects. What have the foundry people who built this thing, and the
+railroad people who brought it down here, thought about its probable
+use? Have they not guessed something?"
+
+"You may trust the popular mind not to guess flying unless it sees
+wings! They have imagined this is a new sort of torpedo, sent down here
+for a private trial in the lake. In fact, the conductor of the freight
+train, who switched the car off here, asked me in a confidential way if
+he should get teams and men and help me to launch her? I have fostered
+this idea, and really had the projectile sent here to carry out that
+impression."
+
+A more fitting place for an unobserved start could not have been
+selected, however. All this part of the country is a sandy waste, with a
+sparse growth of scrub oaks and but little vegetation. There are no
+farms, and the nearest houses are at Whiting. No one could see our work,
+except, possibly, the passengers from occasional trains, which rushed by
+without stopping, and were infrequent at this time of day.
+
+As we were arriving, I stood off at some distance to observe the black
+object on the open car. It was five feet through, and twenty feet long,
+not counting the rudder, which was now entirely drawn into the rear end.
+
+"Looks exactly like a cigar," I said. "Sharp and pointed in front,
+slightly swelled in the middle, and cut squarely off behind. Only it is
+too thick for its length, of course."
+
+But the doctor already had the rear port-hole open. This was two feet in
+diameter, and permitted a rather awkward entrance to the rear
+compartment. The interior was crowded with boxes, as yet unpacked,
+containing scientific instruments, tinned foods, biscuits, meat
+extracts, condensed milk and coffee, bottled fruits, vegetables, and the
+like. Over these the doctor worked his way to the forward compartment,
+while I followed him, anxious to explore the interior.
+
+"I will unpack all these goods and put them in their places to-morrow
+forenoon," explained the doctor. "Here, in my compartment on the left, I
+have my gravity apparatus, battery cells and the like, and a small table
+for writing and other work. On the right is the bunk on which I sleep,
+and under it is the big telescope, neatly fitted and swinging up easily
+into place before the mica window."
+
+"Has the compressed air been put in yet?" I inquired.
+
+"Oh, yes, that had to be done in the city, where they have powerful air
+compressors. I would have preferred this purer air out here, but it was
+impossible. The air we put in only increased the weight of the
+projectile eighteen pounds, but it will be sufficient for two of us for
+six months. We were obliged to make the most careful and thorough tests
+for leaks in the air-chambers; for if there were any of these, our life
+would leak out with the air."
+
+"And such airless satellites as the Moon will make the most desperate
+efforts to steal your atmosphere, too!" I added.
+
+"Yes, but we will give them only our foul air as a small stock-in-trade
+with which they may begin business. But I see my batteries are
+commencing to work nicely. I think I can lift her now. You go outside
+and make a hitch with that rope you saw just forward of the middle of
+the projectile. Then, when I have neutralized her weight, you tow her
+over beyond that clump of trees you saw near the shore. That will be out
+of the view of trains."
+
+"Must I concentrate my mind or keep my thoughts fixed on anything?" I
+asked quizzically.
+
+"Rubbish! Concentrate it on this. If the projectile starts up, don't try
+to hold her with your little rope. Let go quickly, or you may get
+uncomfortable holding on!"
+
+I went outside, untied the coil of rope and threw one end over. Meantime
+the doctor had opened the forward window, so that he might give
+directions, and I said to him,--
+
+"I can't get the rope under her; she is lying flat on the car."
+
+"Wait a moment and I will lift her for you," he replied. The railroad
+ties rose a little out of the sand, and there was a slight creaking of
+the woodwork of the car as the weight came off. Presently the forward
+end of the projectile rose slowly an inch, two inches!
+
+"That's enough!" I cried, thrusting the rope under, and she settled back
+gently. Having made my knot, I went out to the other end of the rope,
+about thirty feet distant. Forgetting the doctor's injunction about not
+hanging on, I wrapped the rope around my body, worked my feet firmly
+into the sand, and finally cried out, "All ready!"
+
+There was a faint creaking of the car again, and soon the doctor said,
+"Pull away!" I threw all my force into the effort and gave a tremendous
+heave, and tumbled over backwards. Had I not done so, the projectile
+must have hit me as it glided rapidly from the car, sinking very slowly
+to the sand about fifty feet away. I scrambled to my feet, went in front
+again, and easily dragged it along on the sand to an open place just
+beyond the trees. There the doctor allowed it to settle. It sank into
+the loose sand about eight inches, remaining steady in this position.
+
+"She works beautifully!" I cried. "How I would like to see her turned
+loose for a real flight!"
+
+"That will come to-morrow night," said the doctor, crawling out of the
+port-hole. "But if you will help me remove these boxes from the
+experimental model, you shall see it lost in the sky." We uncovered and
+dragged out a small steel thing, about the same shape as the projectile,
+but less than a foot thick and four feet long. It had a lid opening into
+its batteries from the top. The doctor entered his compartment to
+secure some chemicals.
+
+"If you have no further use for this model," I suggested, "why not
+create a very strong current and let it sail off into indefinite space?"
+
+"Very well; I don't wish to leave it behind me for some one to discover,
+and I can't take it along. We will send it off for a long trip, and if
+it falls back it will be into the lake."
+
+"Wait a moment, then! Let's put a good-bye message in it;" and so saying
+I took an old envelope from my pocket and wrote on the back of it with a
+pencil in a bold hand: "Farewell to Earth for ever!" Laughing, I put
+this inside and closed the lid.
+
+Then the doctor turned down a thumb-screw upon a little wire which
+connected the poles, and stepped back quickly. Presently the forward end
+began to rise slowly, until it stood upright, but there it hesitated.
+The doctor stepped forward and gave the thumb-screw a hard turn down,
+and the model lifted immediately, rising at first gradually, but soon
+shooting off with the whizz of a rocket over the lake. We watched it as
+long as we could distinguish its dark outline.
+
+"It will go a long way," said the doctor. "I have never seen it make so
+good a start. It will lose itself in the lake far from here."
+
+We fastened up the front window and the port-hole, and started back to
+Whiting, where the doctor was to remain all night, so as to begin work
+early in the morning. Presently, as we walked along, the doctor said,--
+
+"Well, Isidor, now you have seen a practical demonstration of the
+elementary working of the projectile. You also have some idea of all
+there is to be discovered up yonder in the red planet. You are the most
+interested in making and profiting by those discoveries. I want you to
+consent to go along."
+
+"Haven't you secured a companion, then?" I inquired.
+
+"Yes, I have a friend, a countryman of mine here, who will go wherever I
+say. He appreciates neither the risks nor the opportunities of the trip,
+still he will take my word for everything. Yet if I ask him to go I take
+the responsibility of his life as well as my own. He is not a suitable
+man, however, and I have really relied on you to come," he insisted.
+
+"My dear doctor, I have every faith in you and in the projectile, and I
+prophesy a most successful trip. I should like nothing better than the
+adventure; but you must not count on me; I could not leave my business.
+There's a fever in my blood that thirsts for it!"
+
+"Your business, indeed! You will never really amount to much till you
+have left it. It's half a throw of dice and the other half a struggle of
+cut-throats!"
+
+"That is what people say who know nothing at all about it," I retorted.
+"It occupies a large and important place in the world's commerce.
+Besides, I could not well leave Ruth and my uncle."
+
+"Isn't it time you did something to make her proud of you, and to be
+worthy the education which he gave you? You have a chance now to be
+great. Isn't that worth ten chances to be rich? What would you have
+thought of Galileo if he hadn't had time to use the telescope after
+inventing it, but had devoted his time and talent to the maccaroni
+market? You are one man in ten million; you have an opportunity Columbus
+would have been proud of! Will you neglect it for mere gold-grubbing?
+Leave that to the rest of your race and to this money-mad Chicago. You
+come along with me. Let's make this work-a-day world of ours take time
+to stop and shake hands with her heavenly neighbours!"
+
+"You tempt me to do it, Doctor! Can you wait two or three days for me?"
+
+"I can, but Mars won't," he answered laconically. "Besides, you must not
+tell any one that you are going."
+
+"If there are any two things I love, it's a secret and a hurry! I will
+be here to-morrow night," I exclaimed.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VI
+
+Farewell to Earth
+
+
+The next day I quietly bought in my wheat, and told Flynn I was thinking
+of taking a little vacation. I said I was worn out fighting the contrary
+market, and told him to run the office as if it were his own until I
+returned. At home I said nothing about the vacation, for I didn't care
+to have my stories agree very perfectly. I simply packed a few
+necessities for the trip in a dress-suit case. My uncle was used to
+seeing me carry my evening clothes to the Club in this manner, and I
+casually told him I should remain the night this time.
+
+I could not leave without kissing cousin Ruth good-bye, but this excited
+no suspicion, as it was a thing I did on every pretext. Then I slipped
+out and took back streets till I was several blocks away from the house.
+Taking a closed carriage here, I was driven to the same station and took
+the same train for Whiting as on the previous evening. I found the
+doctor awaiting me with a lantern. As we walked down the tracks in the
+twilight I said to him,--
+
+"I never made so quick a preparation, nor attempted so long a trip. I
+have left my friends a lot of guessing! Now, how soon shall we be off?"
+
+"Within an hour," he answered. "Mars will not be directly overhead until
+midnight, but there is a little side trip I wish to make first, to test
+the projectile before we get too far above the Earth's surface."
+
+The sky was densely cloudy, there was no Moon, and it was already
+growing very dark. As we began to have difficulty in finding the way,
+the doctor lighted his lantern. Peering up into the darkness, I said to
+him,--
+
+"There is not a star visible. How are you to find your way in the
+heavens a night like this?"
+
+"That is all perfectly easy. We shall soon rise far above those clouds,
+and then the stars will come out. Besides, I shall show you perfect
+daylight again before midnight."
+
+"I don't see just how, but I will take your word for it, Doctor. I
+daresay you have thought it all out, and the whole trip will contain no
+surprises for you."
+
+"I have tried to think it all out and prepare for everything. But I am
+certain I have forgotten something. I have a feeling amounting to a
+dreadful presentiment that I have overlooked something important. I wish
+you would see if you can think of anything I have omitted."
+
+"The only really important thing I have remembered is half a dozen boxes
+of the best cigars," I replied.
+
+"Leave them right here in Whiting," he said with emphasis. "We are
+carrying only a limited supply of pure air, and we cannot afford to
+contaminate it with tobacco smoke. No, sir, you can't smoke on this
+trip."
+
+"Then I won't go! Imagine not smoking for two whole months! Do you think
+I have sworn off?"
+
+"No, not yet. But you must. It pollutes the air, which we must keep
+clean and fresh as long as possible."
+
+"Now, Doctor, you must let me have a good smoke once a day, just before
+pumping the air out of my compartment."
+
+"No, not even that. It is impossible to pump all the air out, and what
+is left mixes back with what is in my compartment. Once contaminated
+with tobacco smoke, we could never get it perfectly pure again."
+
+"Well, may I smoke on Mars, then? I will take them along for that. But,
+I warn you, I eat like a farm horse when I can't smoke."
+
+"I have provided plenty to eat, but I know I have forgotten something.
+Mention something now, mention everything you can think of, so that I
+may see if it is provided for."
+
+"Have you any money?" I asked. "I have changed some into gold, and have
+a fairly heavy bag here."
+
+"Oh, yes, I have some gold and silver money, besides a lot of beads,
+trinkets, and gaudy tinsel things, such as earthly savages have been
+willing to barter valuable merchandise for."
+
+"So you are going on a trading expedition, are you?" I asked.
+
+"Not exactly. I leave all that to your superior abilities. But we may
+find these things valuable to give as presents. Many of them are of tin,
+and if they do not happen to have that useful metal on Mars, they will
+be of rare value there."
+
+We had now reached the little grove where the projectile was hidden. I
+proceeded to open the rear port-hole, saying,--
+
+"Let me look inside, and when I see what you have, some other necessary
+thing may suggest itself."
+
+"Let me go in first, for I am afraid you will allow the menagerie to
+escape," he said, as he peered in by the light of the lantern. A
+diminutive fox terrier barked from the inside, and wagged his tail
+faster than a watch ticks, so glad he was to see us. The bright light
+also awakened a small white rabbit that had been asleep in the doctor's
+compartment.
+
+"You are taking these along for companions, I suppose?"
+
+"Yes, for that and for experiments. We may reach places where it will
+be necessary to determine whether living, breathing things can exist
+before we try it ourselves. Then we shall put one of these out and
+observe the effects."
+
+"You may experiment on the rabbit all you please, but this little puppy
+and I are going to be fast friends, and we shall die together; shan't
+we, Two-spot?"
+
+"Why do you call him Two-spot? There is only one spot on him, and his
+name is _Himmelshundchen_."
+
+"Rubbish! The idea of such a long, heavy name for such a little puppy! I
+shall call him Two-spot because he is the smallest thing in the pack.
+Heavenly-puppy, indeed!"
+
+The doctor had entered and lighted a small gas jet, supplied on the
+Pintsch system from compressed gas stored in one of the chambers. The
+rear compartment, which was to be mine, looked half an arsenal and half
+a pantry. On the right side a cupboard was filled with newly-cooked
+meats. I remember how plentiful the store looked at the time, but, alas!
+how soon it vanished and we were reduced to tinned and bottled foods!
+There was a cold joint of beef, a quarter of roast mutton, three boiled
+hams and four roast chickens.
+
+On the left, folding up into the concavity of the wall, like the upper
+berth of a Pullman sleeping car, was my bunk. On the walls not thus
+occupied the arms were hung. There were two repeating rifles, each
+carrying seventeen cartridges; two large calibre hammerless revolvers;
+two long and heavy swords, designed for cleaving rather than for
+stabbing; two chain shirts, to be worn under the clothing to protect
+against arrows; and finally two large shields, made of overlapping steel
+plates and almost four feet high. The doctor explained to me that the
+idea was to rest the lower edge of these on the ground and crouch behind
+them. They were rather heavy and cumbersome to be carried far, and were
+grooved in three sections, so that they slipped together into an arc
+one-third of their circumference.
+
+I examined everything closely and asked a hundred questions, but the
+doctor seemed to have provided for every necessity or contingency.
+
+"Let us waste no more time," said I. "If we have forgotten anything, we
+must get along without it. All aboard! What is our first stop?"
+
+"The planet Mars, only thirty-six million miles away, if we are
+successful in meeting him just as he comes into opposition on the third
+day of August. This is the most favourable opposition in which to meet
+him for the past quarter of a century. Back in the year 1877 he was only
+about thirty-five million miles away, and it was then that we learned
+most that we know of his physical features. But we shall not have a more
+favourable time than this for the next seventeen years."
+
+"Still it seems like nonsense to talk about travelling such an
+incomprehensible distance, doesn't it?" I ventured.
+
+"Not at all!" he replied positively. "If the Earth travels a million
+miles per day in her orbit, without any motion being apparent to her
+inhabitants, why should we not travel just as fast and just as
+unconsciously? We are driven by the same force. The same engine of the
+Creator's which drives all the universe, drives us. When we have left
+the atmosphere we shall rush through the void of space without knowing
+whether we are travelling at a thousand miles per minute or standing
+perfectly still. Our senses will have nothing to lay hold on to form a
+judgment of our rate of speed. But if we make an average of only five
+hundred miles per minute we shall accomplish the distance in about fifty
+days, and arrive soon after opposition."
+
+"But have you given up stopping on the Moon?" I asked. "I had great
+hopes of making those rich discoveries there."
+
+"We must leave all that until our return trip. I have chosen this
+starting time in the dark of the Moon in order to have the satellite on
+the other side of the Earth and out of the way. She would only impede
+our progress, as we wish to acquire a tremendous velocity just as soon
+as we leave the atmosphere. We must accelerate our speed as long as
+gravity will do it for us. When we can no longer gain speed, we shall
+at least continue to maintain our rapid pace.
+
+"But if we stopped on the Moon, we should only have her weak gravity to
+repel us towards Mars, and we could make but little speed. On our
+return, the stop on the Moon will be a natural and easy one. We shall be
+near home and can afford to loiter."
+
+While the doctor was saying this, he had been busy making tests of his
+apparatus. He now called me to see his buoyancy gauge, which was a
+half-spherical mass of steel weighing just ten pounds. It was pierced
+with a hole at right angles to its plane surface and strung upon a
+vertical copper wire. Small leaden weights, weighing from an ounce to
+four pounds each, were provided to be placed upon the plane surface of
+the steel. The doctor explained its action to me thus:--
+
+"The polarizing action of the gravity apparatus affects only steel and
+iron, and has no effect upon lead. Therefore, when the current is
+conducted through the copper wire into the soft steel ball, it will
+immediately rise up the wire, by the repulsion of negative gravity. Now,
+if the leaden weights are piled upon the steel ball one by one, until it
+is just balanced half way up the wire, our buoyancy is thus measured or
+weighed. For instance, with the first two batteries turned in we have a
+buoyancy a little exceeding one pound. That means, we should rise with
+one-tenth the velocity that we should fall. Turning in two more
+batteries, you see the buoyancy is three pounds, or our flying speed
+will be three-tenths of our falling speed. With all the batteries acting
+upon the gauge, you see it will carry up more than ten pounds of lead,
+because the pressure of the air is against weight and in favour of
+buoyancy. So long as we are in atmospheres, then, it is possible to fall
+up more rapidly than to fall down; but, on account of friction and the
+resultant heat, it is not safe to do so."
+
+"So we have been doing the hard thing, by falling all our lives, when
+flying would really have been easier!" I put in.
+
+"We have been overlooking a very simple thing for a long time, just as
+our forefathers overlooked the usefulness of steam, being perfectly well
+acquainted with its expansive qualities. But let us be off. Close your
+port-hole, and screw it in tightly and permanently for the trip. Then
+let down your bunk and prepare for a night of awkward, cramped
+positions. We shall be more uncomfortable to-night than any other of the
+trip. You see, when we start, this thing will stand up on its rear end,
+and that end will continue to be the bottom until we begin to fall into
+Mars. Then the forward end will be the bottom. But after the first night
+our weight will have so diminished that we can sleep almost as well
+standing on our heads as any other way. Within fifteen hours you will
+have lost all idea which end of you should be right side up, and we
+will be quite as likely to float in the middle of the projectile as to
+rest upon anything."
+
+My bed was hinged in the middle, and one end lifted up until it looked
+like a letter L, with the shorter part extending across the projectile
+and the longer part reaching up the side. I could sit in it in a half
+reclining posture. The doctor then pulled out a fan-like, extending
+lattice-work of steel slats, to form a sort of false floor over the
+port-hole. This was full of diamond-shaped openings between the slats,
+so that the view out of the rear window was not obstructed. Then he did
+the same to form a false floor for his compartment. Finally he said to
+me,--
+
+"Now, if you are all ready, I will stand her on end;" and by applying
+the currents to the forward end only he caused her to rise slowly until
+she stood upright. The cupboard in my compartment and the desk in his
+end were each hung upon a central bolt, and they righted themselves as
+the projectile stood up, so that nothing in them was disarranged. I was
+sitting on the lower hinge of my bed, clutching tightly and watching
+everything, when the doctor called to me to turn the little wheel which
+operated a screw and served to push out the rudder.
+
+"But the whole weight of the projectile is now on the rudder," I
+objected.
+
+"You will have to make over all your ideas of weight," he said, with
+some impatience. "Run the rudder out. The gauge shows an ounce of
+buoyancy, which is nearly enough to counteract all the dead weight we
+have. You can lift the rest with the rudder-screw."
+
+And, true enough, it was perfectly easy to whirl the little wheel around
+which made the rudder creep out. There was a steering wheel in the
+doctor's compartment and one in my own. He set it exactly amidships, and
+told me to prepare for the ascent. I turned out the gas in my
+compartment and crouched nervously over the port-hole window to watch
+the panorama of Earth fade away.
+
+"Here go two batteries!" he cried. I held on frantically, expecting that
+we would leap into the heavens in one grand bound, as I had seen the
+model do. But we began to rise very slowly, a foot and a half the first
+second, three feet the next, and so on, as the doctor told me
+afterwards. It was all so slow and quiet that I was suddenly possessed
+with a fear that after all the projectile was a failure. Had a balloon
+started so slowly, it would never have risen far. This fear held me for
+only a minute, for when I looked down again, the landscape below was
+beginning to look like a dim map or a picture, instead of the reality.
+The doctor was steering to the northward, directly over the lake. I
+could see its great purple, restful surface below me, but more plainly
+could I discern the outline where its silvery edge bathed the white
+sands of the shore. Following this outline I could see a web of
+railroads, like ropes bent around the lower end of the lake. The night
+was too dark to see it long. The hundreds of huge oil tanks of Whiting
+had now disappeared, and I could see only the flaming tops of the iron
+furnaces of South Chicago. Suddenly they went out in an instant, as if a
+thick fog had smothered them, and there was a long minute of pale mist;
+and then suddenly a bright blue sky, the twinkling stars and a veil of
+grey shutting off all view of the Earth.
+
+"We have passed through the clouds," said the doctor cheerily. "What
+does the barometer register?"
+
+I looked, and was astonished to see the mercury down to fifteen. I asked
+him if he thought the barometer might be broken.
+
+"No, that is quite right," he replied. "That is half the surface
+pressure, which shows that we are two and a half miles high. I have four
+batteries in, and we are going at a constantly increasing speed now."
+
+I could easily believe it, for the wind howled around my compartment and
+whistled over the rudder aperture in a most dismal way. Whenever the
+rudder was changed, there was a new sound to the moaning. Still, as I
+looked back at the clouds, I saw that no wind was moving them. It was
+not wind, but only the air whistling as we rushed through it.
+
+"Watch the barometer, and let me know the exact time when it registers
+seven and a half inches," said the doctor. "We shall be five miles high
+then, and we started at nine o'clock to a second."
+
+I noted the rapidly sinking mercury and opened my watch. When it was
+just at seven and a half, I looked at the watch, and it said half a
+minute after nine. Knowing that could not be correct, I held it to my
+ear and discovered it was stopped. I attempted to wind it, but found it
+almost wound up.
+
+"Something wrong with my watch, Doctor. You will have to look."
+
+"Half a minute after nine, that can't be right!" he exclaimed. Then as
+the truth flashed upon him he added,--
+
+"There is the first thing I have overlooked! Our watch springs are
+steel, and the magnetic currents affect them. It is strange I did not
+think of that, for I knew a mariner's compass would be of no use to us
+in steering on account of the currents. For that reason I have risen
+above the clouds so as to steer by the stars. I am making for the North
+Star yonder, now."
+
+"We will have to get back to the same primitive methods of measuring
+time," I put in. "Neither weight clocks nor spring clocks would have
+been of any account. And an hour glass would tell a different tale just
+as gravity varied. We will have to rely on the Moon and stars, and it
+may be rather awkward." But I did not then appreciate how awkward it
+would be when even the markings of day and night would be taken away
+from us.
+
+"We can count our pulse or go by our stomachs," said the doctor, who was
+really disappointed at having forgotten anything. But he was destined to
+get used to that. Presently he inquired,--
+
+"What is the barometer now? Perhaps we are high enough for the present."
+
+"There is scarcely two inches of mercury in the tube!" I cried out.
+
+He hesitated for a moment as if calculating, and then said,--
+
+"That makes us ten miles high. Work the rudder gradually very much
+farther out for this thinner atmosphere, and we will try falling awhile,
+with a long slant to northward."
+
+And so saying, the doctor detached all the polarizing batteries, and I
+could hear the monotonous howling of the wind die down; and the
+whistling ceased altogether as the feeble resistance of the rarefied air
+slowly but surely overcame our momentum. As we began to fall, the doctor
+turned the rudder hard down, in order to give us a long sailing slant.
+This modified the position of the projectile so that it lay almost flat
+again, with a dip of the forward end downward.
+
+"Lie down and have a nap while she is in this comfortable position," he
+said to me. "When you waken, I shall have a surprise for you."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VII
+
+The Terrors of Light
+
+
+I was weary from the trials of the day on Earth, and fell asleep easily.
+It was the red sunlight streaming in at the port-hole that awakened me.
+I thought I had slept but a very short time, but the night was evidently
+over. As soon as the doctor heard me moving, he cried out to me,--
+
+"Here is the daylight I promised you. Did you ever see it at midnight
+before?"
+
+"How do you know it is midnight? It looks more like a red sunset to me,"
+I said, for the sun was just in the horizon.
+
+"The sun has just set, and is now rising. It did not go out of sight,
+but gradually turned about and began to mount again. That is how I know
+it is midnight."
+
+"Sunset presses so closely upon sunrise that night is crowded out
+altogether. Then this must be the land of the midnight sun that I have
+read about?"
+
+"Yes, we are very near the Earth again, and this is far inside the
+arctic polar circle, where the sun never goes down during summer, but
+sets for a long night in the winter. I have kept far to the westward to
+avoid the magnetic pole, which might play havoc with my apparatus."
+
+"Then your little side-trip is----"
+
+"To the North Pole, of course!" he cried triumphantly.
+
+How simple this vexed problem had become, after all! It had worsted the
+most daring travellers of all countries for centuries. Thousands upon
+thousands spent in sending expeditions to find the Pole had only called
+for other thousands to fit out relief expeditions. Ship after ship had
+been crashed, life after life had been clutched in its icy hand! But now
+it had become an after-thought, a side-trip, a little excursion to be
+made while waiting for midnight! And it is often that such a simple
+solution of the most baffling difficulties is found at last.
+
+The doctor had been observing his quadrant, and was now busy making
+calculations. He called me up to his compartment.
+
+"Longitude, 144 degrees and 45 minutes west; Latitude, 89 degrees 59
+minutes and 30 seconds north. That is the way it figures out. We were
+half a mile from the Pole when I took my observation. We must have just
+crossed over it since then."
+
+"Go down a little nearer, so we may see what it looks like!" I said
+excitedly.
+
+"I dare not go too close to all that ice, or we may freeze the mercury
+in our thermometer and barometer. We must keep well in the sunlight, but
+I will lower a little."
+
+What mountains of crusted snow! What crags and peaks of solid ice! It
+was impossible to tell whether it was land or sea underneath. Judging by
+the general level it must have been a sea, but no water was visible in
+any direction. The great floes of ice were piled high upon each other. A
+million sharp, glittering edges formed ramparts in every direction to
+keep off the invader by land. How impotent and powerless man would be to
+scale these jagged walls or climb these towering mountains! How
+absolutely impossible to reach by land, how simple and easy to reach
+through the air! The North Pole and Aerial Navigation had been cousin
+problems that baffled man for so long, and their solution had come
+together.
+
+"Empty a biscuit tin to contain this record, and we will toss it out
+upon this world of ice, so that if any adventurer ever gets this far
+north he may find that we have already been here," said the doctor,
+bringing down a freshly-written page for me to sign. It read as
+follows:--
+
+    "Aboard Anderwelt's Gravity Projectile, 12.25 a.m., June 12th, 1892.
+    The undersigned, having left the vicinity of Chicago at nine o'clock
+    on the evening of June 11th, took bearings here, showing that they
+    passed over the North Pole soon after midnight. Then they took up
+    their course to the planet Mars.
+
+                                          "(Signed) HERMANN ANDERWELT.
+                                                    ISIDOR WERNER."
+
+This was duly enclosed in the biscuit tin, which I bent and crimped a
+little around the top so that the cover would stay on tightly. Then I
+learned how such things were conveyed outside the projectile. A
+cylindrical, hollow plunger fitting tightly into the rear wall was
+pulled as far into the projectile as it would come. A closely fitting
+lid on the top of the cylinder was lifted, and the tin deposited within.
+The lid was then fitted down again, and the plunger was pushed out and
+turned over until the weight of the lid caused it to fall open and the
+contents to drop out. The tin sailed down, struck a tall crag, bounded
+off, and fell upon a comparatively level plateau. The cylinder was then
+turned farther over, causing the lid to close, and the plunger was
+pulled in again. I remember how crisply cold was that one cubic foot of
+air that came back with the cylinder. My teeth had been chattering ever
+since I wakened, and I had been too excited to put on a heavier coat.
+
+"What is the thermometer?" asked the doctor. It was a Fahrenheit
+instrument we were carrying.
+
+"Thirty-eight degrees below zero, and still falling!" I told him.
+
+"Then we must be off at once, and at a good speed, to warm up. Now say a
+long good-bye to Earth, for it may be nothing more than a pale star to
+us hereafter."
+
+The doctor steered to westward as he rose steadily to a height of about
+ten miles. Then he fell with a long slant to the south-west. He was
+working back into the darkness of night again. We had lost the sun long
+before we started to rise again.
+
+"We are now well above the Pacific Ocean, about fifteen hundred miles
+north-west of San Francisco," said the doctor, consulting his large
+globe.
+
+"It seems to me you cross continents with remarkable ease and swiftness.
+From Chicago to San Francisco alone is almost three thousand miles," I
+ventured.
+
+"But we have been gone four hours, and if we had simply stood still
+above the Earth for four hours it would have travelled under us about
+four thousand miles, so that San Francisco would already have passed the
+place where we started."
+
+"Then one only needs to get off somewhere and remain still in order to
+make a trip around the World!" I exclaimed.
+
+"You are quite right, and travelling upon the Earth's surface is the
+most awkward method, because it is impossible to take advantage of the
+Earth's own rapid motion. Around the World in eighty days was once
+considered a remarkable feat, but if we were to travel steadily
+westward we should make the circuit in very much less than twenty-four
+hours. The motion of the Earth upon its axis is such an immense
+advantage that if we were only going from Chicago to London, the trip
+could be more easily and quickly made by going to the westward some
+twenty-one thousand miles, rather than going directly eastward less than
+four thousand miles. For going eastward we should have to travel a
+thousand miles an hour in order to keep up with the Earth. It is
+questionable whether we could make that speed tacking up and slanting
+down."
+
+"Then we shall have to follow the course of Empire, always westward!" I
+laughed.
+
+While we were talking thus, the whizzing and whistling of the wind,
+which had been at first very loud and hissing, had gradually died down.
+I looked at the barometer, and reported that there was scarcely
+three-eighths of an inch of mercury in the tube.
+
+"We are practically above the atmosphere, then," said the doctor,
+turning in all the batteries. He tried the rudder in the ether, and
+found it turned her when fully extended and turned rather hard over.
+
+"I tried to sleep this morning at Whiting to prepare for to-night's
+work," said the doctor presently; "but I find I am getting
+uncontrollably drowsy. Come up, and I will show you the course we most
+keep, and then I will lie down to get a little rest."
+
+I mounted to his compartment and gazed through the telescope at Mars,
+looking like a little, red baby-moon, floating in one side of the blue
+circle.
+
+"Keep him always in view, but in the edge of the field like that," said
+the doctor. "We must always steer a little to the right of him--that is,
+a little behind him."
+
+"But he travels around the sun in the same direction the Earth does," I
+objected. "I should think we ought to aim a little ahead of him, or to
+the left, to allow for his motion forward in his orbit."
+
+"That looks reasonable at first sight, doesn't it?" said the doctor.
+"But a little learning is a dangerous thing. I will explain to you why
+we must steer a little behind him after I have had my nap. I am too
+sleepy now;" and he finished with a yawn.
+
+He soon fell asleep, and I was left alone to think over the events of
+the day and the still more strange happenings of the night. It hurt my
+eyes to look long through the telescope, so I closed them and gave free
+rein to my thoughts.
+
+How soon will it be morning? How shall I know when it _is_ morning? That
+term "morning" applies only to the surface of revolving planets. I had
+just seen the morning come at midnight, and then the darkness of night
+fall again directly after morning. After all, what are night and
+morning? The one is a passing into the shadow of the Earth, and the
+other is simply the emerging into the light. They depend on a rotation,
+and we shall know no more of them until we land on a revolving planet
+again. But which shall we have on the trip, night or daylight? Naturally
+we would very soon emerge from the little shadow cast by the Earth. It
+had taken us but an hour or two to travel out of it into the daylight
+and then back into the darkness again. Even if we did not leave it, the
+Earth would move on and leave us.
+
+And what then? Nothing but uninterrupted, untempered, unhindered
+daylight! Eternal, dazzling, direct sunlight, unrelieved by any night,
+unstrained through any clouds! This deep blue of the starry night would
+be succeeded by the hot, white light of a scorching, gleaming Sun. And
+then (the thought chilled my bones as it fell upon me!), then how would
+we see Mars? How would we see any star, or perchance the Moon? Even the
+Earth might be drowned in that sea of everlasting, all-engulfing
+brilliancy! Nothing in all the Universe would be visible but the beaming
+Sun, and he too blindingly bright to look upon.
+
+As the truth of all this took hold of me, it filled me with a growing
+terror. At any moment we might emerge from this grateful shadow of the
+Earth, and then we would be lost, drowned, engulfed in a blinding,
+sight-suffocating light! In desperate terror I looked around toward the
+doctor, as if for assistance. He was sleeping peacefully. He had never
+thought of it! _This_ was the great thing he had overlooked! Even at
+starting he had a dreadful presentiment of it.
+
+He was a great man, and his discovery a wonderful one; but here was the
+trouble with it. He had solved the question of navigating space, but the
+sunlight! the dazzling, burning, terrible sunlight! how was he to
+navigate that? It was simply impossible! We would have to turn back
+before we emerged into it. We would have to retrace our path while we
+were still in the grateful shadow. Ah, the blessedness of night after
+all!
+
+Then slowly and cautiously, so that I might not waken him, I crept down
+to the rear window to see how far away the Earth was. We were at so
+great a distance that I could see the whole outline of it, as a great
+dull globe filling all the view behind us. And as I looked again I
+started and uttered a cry! A thin sickle of bright, white light
+glimmered over the whole eastern edge of it, like the first glimpse of
+the new Moon, but a hundred times larger! It was the sunlight! It must
+be creeping around the eastern edge, and would soon engulf us.
+
+The doctor had been aroused by my cry. Not seeing me in his compartment,
+he had gone at once to the telescope.
+
+"What is the matter?" he said. "You have lost the course a little." And
+as I peered out of my port-hole I saw that narrow sickle of light grow
+thinner and thinner, and finally go out. Had I imagined it all? No, I
+had seen it.
+
+"Ah, Doctor, I am so glad you have wakened. I am frightened, terrified,
+by the light!"
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VIII
+
+The Valley of the Shadow
+
+
+"Light! Where have you seen any light?"
+
+"I saw the Earth begin to shine like a New Moon on the eastern edge,
+but----"
+
+"Ah, that _was_ a danger signal. I am glad you awakened me. But you are
+actually pale and trembling! There is no danger if you keep the course.
+You see, that rim of light has faded and disappeared since I corrected
+the course."
+
+"Yes, but you cannot keep in this little Earthly shadow much longer; and
+what can we possibly do when we emerge into the fathomless, trackless
+effulgence of eternal sunshine? Let us turn back before we plunge into
+it," I pleaded.
+
+"So that is what terrified you! Well, you have hit upon one of the
+greatest difficulties of the trip; but it is far from insurmountable. We
+will not turn back yet, especially as we have started in the most
+opportune time. You have mentioned this 'little shadow.' It is eight
+thousand miles wide at the surface of the Earth, and gradually, very
+gradually, tapers down to nothing far out in space. Have you ever
+calculated how far it reaches?"
+
+"No," I answered. "But we moved out of it and back into it at the
+surface very easily, and besides, as the Earth moves forward in its
+orbit, the shadow will leave us."
+
+"This little shadow is eight hundred and fifty-six thousand miles long,
+and we will never leave it as long as it lasts!" exclaimed the doctor.
+"Just at this time it points like a long arrow out in the direction of
+Mars. It is moving gradually as the Earth moves and hourly correcting
+its aim. At opposition time it will point directly and unerringly at
+Mars. Therefore it is a way prepared, surveyed, and marked for us
+through the all-enveloping sunlight, which otherwise would be dreadful
+enough."
+
+"But how can we be sure of keeping in it? It is rapidly narrowing as it
+reaches farther out."
+
+"I see I should have explained that to you before I went to sleep, and
+saved you this fright. The shadow now points behind Mars, as it is many
+days yet before it overtakes that planet in opposition. That is why I
+told you to steer always a little behind the planet. But you went a
+little out of the course, and immediately something warned us. That rim
+of light on the east of the Earth was notice to us that we were not in
+the centre of the shadow, but bearing too far to the left. We must keep
+absolutely in the dark of the Earth, with no light visible on either
+side of it. If a thin rim should appear on one side, we must turn toward
+the other until it is all dark again."
+
+"Grant that this shadow is so enormously long, yet it is only scarcely
+one-fortieth of the distance to Mars," I objected. "After we emerge from
+it, what then?"
+
+"With the aid of my telescope we shall probably be able to see the Earth
+as an orb, half or quarter as large as the Moon usually appears to us,
+and to observe its phases until we are several million miles from it. We
+must continue to keep the rim of light, which will then surround it,
+equal on all sides."
+
+"Ah, but I am afraid," I interrupted, "that as soon as we pass out of
+this shadow the sunlight will be so bright that we cannot see any
+planets, not even the Earth. You know we cannot see the Moon only a
+quarter of a million miles away when the sun shines."
+
+"In that case we must move the telescope to your window, put on a
+darkened lens, and steer so as to keep the Earth as a spot in the middle
+of the Sun. It must appear to us as Venus does to the Earth when she is
+making a transit across the face of the sun. But by our continual
+shifting we prevent the Earth from making a transit, and hold it as a
+steady spot in the centre of the Sun. This we can do for many, many
+million miles, continuing until we have reached the vicinity of Mars.
+
+"And you must also remember," continued the doctor, "that the brighter
+the light the darker will be the shadow. Now, this projectile is a
+perfectly black, non-reflecting object five feet wide. It will cast a
+shadow in front of it five hundred feet long. When we are comparatively
+near Mars my telescope, situated in the miniature night cast by the
+projectile, will find the planet, and we can then steer directly for
+him. If we should chance within eighty thousand miles of him, he would
+attract us to him in a straight line. But we shall not rely upon chance.
+Moreover, when we are as near to him as that, the light and heat of the
+Sun's rays will have decreased sixty or seventy per cent. When Mars is
+farthest from the Sun, he receives only one-third as much light as the
+Earth does. But he is now almost at his nearest point to the Sun, and
+receives half as much light."
+
+"Well, you certainly have a pretty clear idea of how to steer the course
+all the way, Doctor. And I was hasty enough to think you had overlooked
+this entire phase of the subject!" I ejaculated.
+
+"Indeed, I have thought of it very much. And we should not enjoy all
+these advantages if we had not started just before opposition. At any
+other time the Earth's shadow would not point toward Mars, nor would the
+transit of the Earth over the Sun be of any use to us."
+
+"All this reassures me greatly," I replied; "but I shall keep a close
+watch from my rear window for danger lights on the Earth."
+
+"It must be time for breakfast," put in the doctor. "Will you see how
+tempting a meal you can prepare?"
+
+There was one reservoir built inside the compartments, from which we
+drew cool water, and another built next to the outer steel framework,
+from which we could draw boiling water. As this tank was connected with
+the discharge pipe of the air-pump, and thus with the exterior, I was
+disgusted to find that, although the water boiled furiously, and was
+rapidly wasting away in steam, it did not become hot enough to make good
+beef tea. The heat escaped with the steam at a comparatively low
+temperature, so that I was compelled to boil water over my gas jet for
+the meat extract, which we drank instead of coffee. I also prepared some
+sandwiches of roast beef and cold ham, and with great relish we began
+our diet of ready cooked foods, which was to continue for so long.
+
+After this meal I felt quite sleepy, for I had enjoyed but three hours'
+rest. The doctor saw my yawns and told me to turn out the gas and have a
+long doze, and I was glad enough to do so.
+
+I must have slept soundly for an hour or two, and then I remember dozing
+and rolling lazily in my bed, as I usually did at home on Sunday
+mornings. During my previous nap the bunk had seemed hard and cramped,
+and I had privately grumbled at the doctor for overlooking personal
+comforts; but now I felt that luxurious sensation of sleeping on soft
+mattresses and yielding springs, though of course I had neither. I do
+not know how soon I should have thoroughly awakened had I not lifted my
+hand to rub my eye, and unwittingly dealt myself a stinging blow in the
+face. This roused me.
+
+But what was the matter with that arm? It was as it had once been in a
+nightmare, when it felt detached from its place, and moved lightly and
+without effort, like a bough in the wind. I pinched it with my other
+hand, and it was quite sensible to the pain. In fact, the other arm was
+now acting in the same queer way. I arose in bed quickly to see what was
+the matter, and the upper part of my body bent violently over and struck
+against my knees. Then my effort to take an upright position threw me on
+my back again. Evidently my muscles were not working as they were when I
+went to bed. They must be over-excited and over-active. I immediately
+thought of my heart as the principal and controlling muscle, and in my
+eagerness to feel its beating my hand dealt me a slap in the chest.
+These blows, though rapid, did not seem to hurt as much as they ought,
+after the first stinging sensation. I found my heart was beating
+regularly enough.
+
+"Doctor!" I cried out presently, more to test my voice than for
+anything else. It sounded perfectly natural, and my vocal chords were
+not over-stimulated or abnormal.
+
+He came half way down from his compartment soon after hearing me, and
+rested his elbow against one side of the aperture between the
+compartments, leaning against the other side easily. He had a scale made
+of heavy coiled spring in his hand.
+
+"I wish to calculate our distance from the Earth," he said. "Do you mind
+weighing yourself on these scales?" and he held the spiral down toward
+me.
+
+"You can't support my weight!" I exclaimed, and springing up from the
+bed I bumped my head against the partition between the compartments,
+eight feet above my floor. I grasped the lower ring of the scale he held
+down and lifted up my feet. It seemed as if something were still
+supporting me from below, for scarcely one-tenth my weight had fallen
+upon my hands.
+
+"You weigh twenty and a half pounds," he said, and then inquired, "What
+did you weigh on Earth?"
+
+"One hundred and eighty-five pounds," I answered, just beginning to
+understand that our greatly increased distance from the Earth had much
+reduced her attraction for us.
+
+"That is disappointing," he answered, "for we are only eight thousand
+miles from home; but our velocity is still constantly increasing."
+
+"I would like to buy things here and sell them at the surface," I
+exclaimed.
+
+"You wouldn't make anything by it if you used the ordinary balance
+scales," replied the doctor.
+
+Try as hard as I would, I could not accustom my muscles to these new
+conditions. They were too gross and clumsy for the fine and delicate
+efforts which were now necessary. I was constantly hitting and slapping
+myself, though these blows scarcely hurt, and never resulted in bruises.
+I attempted a thorough re-training of my muscles, which was to all
+intents an utter failure, for weight continued diminishing much more
+rapidly than my stubborn muscles could appreciate. After another eight
+thousand miles, which were quickly made, we had but one twenty-fifth our
+usual weight, which reduced me to seven pounds. And for most of the trip
+we weighed practically nothing, suffering many inconveniences on that
+account.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER IX
+
+Tricks of Refraction
+
+
+The doctor figured out that we should be quite insensible to any weight
+when we were seventy-five thousand miles from the Earth. At fifty
+thousand miles I would still weigh a pound, and when we had finished the
+first million miles, the entire projectile, with its two occupants and
+all its dead weight, would weigh considerably less than an ounce. That
+was a mere start on the enormous trip ahead of us; but when that
+distance was reached, we could no longer count upon terrestrial gravity
+for accelerating our speed. We must travel with our accumulated
+momentum, unless by that time the Sun should have taken the place of the
+Earth, and with his vaster forces continue to repel us Marsward.
+
+As we sat talking the doctor grew weary, and soon unconsciously dropped
+asleep. I left him to enjoy his rest, and, tossing a scrap of ham bone
+to Two-spot, I went up to take my place at the telescope.
+
+Mars seemed to be exactly in the right part of the field. I surveyed the
+starry stretches ahead with a feeling a little akin to fear. I was
+queerly affected by the vast expanse of loneliness outside, and by the
+deathly quiet prevailing both without and within. There was not the
+slightest whizzing or whistling now. We might be hanging perfectly
+motionless in space for all I knew. The batteries made no sound either.
+I could hear only the low, regular breathing of the doctor as he slept,
+and the slight crunching of Two-spot on his bone. Presently I thought of
+looking for the danger lights, but I looked through the telescope
+instead, and saw the little red planet in his proper place.
+
+What a vast distance we were from any planet! If anything were to happen
+to us, no one on Earth or in the heavens would ever know of it. I had
+never been homesick, but a very little would have made me Earthsick just
+then. I did not like the upper end of the projectile because I could not
+look back at the home planet. I wondered if it was all dark back that
+way, or if those warning lights had begun to appear. That idea seemed to
+haunt me. I touched the steering wheel just a little while I kept my
+eyes on Mars. He moved slightly in the field at once. Then I turned the
+wheel back until he took his former place. It was reassuring to know how
+easily the projectile minded her great rudder, which was now fully
+extended like an enormous wing. This made me feel that we were masters
+of the situation, that all this vast space was as nothing to us, that
+any planet in the heavens must mind us, and that though Earth was
+driving us away, she must draw us back if we willed it. More than that,
+she would warn us of all dangers. Perhaps she was sending that warning
+now. I had promised to look out for it. I felt that I must go down. I
+crept softly past the doctor and stooped over the port-hole. My eyes had
+scarcely found the Earth in the darkness when I drew back quickly and
+clapped my hand over my mouth to prevent a cry escaping me. Then I
+looked again more closely. There was no small illuminated portion of the
+surface this time, but a great smear of light just outside the edge of
+the Earth. It was of a dull red colour, with rainbow tints around the
+edges, and was much the shape of a great umbrella held just above one
+quarter of her surface to westward.
+
+I gave the steering wheel in my compartment a sharp turn in the
+direction which should cause the light to disappear. Then I crouched and
+looked again, but instead of being reduced in size the light broadened
+and swelled. It was as if one edge of the umbrella were left against the
+Earth's surface, and then the umbrella was being turned gradually around
+until it faced me and formed an enormous disc, apparently a third as big
+as the Earth. Then, as it slowly moved outward, its edge seemed to
+cleave to the Earth's, as two drops of water do when about to separate.
+Finally, it detached itself entirely, and stood as a great muddy red orb
+a little to the west of and above the Earth. It filled me with dismay to
+see all this happen after I had turned the rudder in the direction which
+should have corrected our course. In desperation I gave the wheel an
+additional hard turn and looked again. At last the great red patch was
+shrinking; slowly it diminished, and finally disappeared. But just as I
+was breathing a sigh of relief, I noticed the white sickle of light on
+the east side that I had seen before; only it was increasing most
+threateningly now. Yes, it was assuming the same umbrella shape and
+detaching itself a little from the eastern edge of the Earth. There was
+still a narrow rim of bright white light on the Earth, and this dimmer
+umbrella shape was faintly separated from its edge. Its outlines were
+marked by flashes of rainbow colours, as had been the case on the other
+side. I sprang to the wheel and gave it several frantic turns back the
+other way. Then I ran up to the telescope for a hurried view, and Mars
+was nowhere to be seen! I hastened back to the wheel and gave it a
+vicious additional turn. I was determined to prevent this umbrella from
+opening at me! And true enough it ceased enlarging, and gradually shrank
+and settled back upon the surface of the Earth. Then slowly it faded and
+disappeared, as it had done before when the doctor had corrected the
+course. I eased back the wheel and went to look for Mars again, but he
+was not in the field. As I returned I brushed unconsciously against the
+doctor in my excitement. He roused himself, sat up, and watched me
+peering out of the port-hole. I was gazing at a new appearance.
+
+"There it is again!" I cried, for below the Earth and to westward a pale
+white disc came into view all at once, not gradually, as if emerging
+from behind the Earth, but springing out complete and detached.
+
+"Doctor!" I said, catching him by the arm and pulling him down to the
+port-hole, "what is that?"
+
+"That? That is the Moon, my boy. Has it excited you so much?"
+
+"Yes; I have been trying to dodge it. But you had better look to the
+wheel," I cried.
+
+He ran up to the telescope, and I heard him exclaim, "_Donnerwetter!_"
+half under his breath. But with a few careful turns of the wheel he
+found the planet again, and moved him to the right part of the field.
+Meanwhile the Full Moon shone on us with its pale glimmer. But a thin
+rim of it next to the Earth gleamed brightly with rich silver light.
+
+"I thought you said we had started in the dark of the Moon. I thought it
+was behind the Earth," I interposed.
+
+"That is the New Moon just emerging. It will probably not be seen on the
+Earth until to-morrow night, but as we are at a greater distance we see
+it first," replied the doctor.
+
+"But that is not a New Moon, it is a Full Moon, which should not be seen
+for fourteen days yet," I objected.
+
+"Pardon me, it _is_ a New Moon," he insisted. "That inner rim of
+brightness is all the sunlight she reflects. The paler glimmer is
+Earth-light, which she reflects. When she is really a Full Moon, she
+will be perfectly dark to us."
+
+Then I explained to him the first umbrella appearance, and its gradual
+swelling and final disappearance.
+
+"Rainbow colours around the edge and a gradual changing of the shape,
+you say? That means refraction. The Earth's atmosphere has been playing
+tricks on you. The umbrella of dull red light was a refracted view of
+the Moon before she really came into sight. Rays of light from the
+hidden Moon were bent around to you. Then, as she gradually moved from
+behind the Earth, her appearance was magnified by the convex lens formed
+by the atmosphere, bent over that planet. Presently it diminished and
+went out altogether, you say?"
+
+"Yes, but that was because I steered away from her," I replied.
+
+"No; you could hardly lose her so easily," he answered. "Did you ever
+try holding an object behind a water-bottle or a gold-fish jar? There is
+a place near the edge of the jar where a thing cannot be seen, though
+the glass and water are perfectly transparent. The rays of light from
+the object are bent around, through the glass and water, away from the
+eyes of the observer. It was like that with the Moon when she
+disappeared. She was really drawing out from the Earth all the time.
+Finally, when her light passed beyond the atmosphere altogether, she
+became suddenly visible in a different place and shining with another
+colour. What we see now is the real Moon in her true place. The other
+appearances were all tricks of refraction."
+
+"But when I had turned away," I explained, "there came a thin rim of
+bright light on the other side of the Earth, and a gradually appearing
+umbrella shape there too."
+
+"Ah, then you steered far enough out of your course to see part of the
+illuminated surface of the Earth. That was the real danger light. And if
+it began to assume the umbrella shape, detached from the Earth, that was
+due to atmospheric refraction of sunlight. This great shadow we are
+travelling in has an illuminated core, which we shall encounter when we
+have proceeded a little further. I tell you of it now, so it may not
+give you another shock. Have you ever noticed the small bright spot
+which illuminates the centre of the shadow cast by a glass of water?
+That is partly the same as the core of light which exists in the heart
+of this shadow. Rays from the sun, passing on all sides of the Earth,
+are refracted through the atmosphere and bent inward. You must have
+steered over into some of these rays just now, and then turned back from
+them. Somewhat farther on all these refracted rays will meet at a common
+centre, which they will illuminate, and we shall have an oasis of
+rainbow-tinged sunlight in this great desert of shadow. The sun will
+then appear to us to be an enormous circle of dull light entirely
+surrounding the Earth."
+
+"I don't fancy running into that at all," said I. "Can't we avoid it by
+steering out?"
+
+"Avoid it!" exclaimed the doctor. "We must investigate it, and
+photograph the peculiar appearance of the sun. Light seems to have more
+terrors for you than anything else just now. You must get over your
+rush-and-do tendency; you must stifle your emotions and impulses, and
+learn to think of things in a more calm and scientific manner."
+
+"But that is not so easy for me, Doctor. Whenever I am left alone, a
+feeling of dread possesses me. I am used to having many people, bustling
+noises, and confused movement all about me. The silence of Space stifles
+me, and the loneliness of the ether oppresses and overcomes me
+strangely."
+
+"I prescribe a change of air for you," answered the doctor. "You will do
+better in a rarer atmosphere. Let us send what we have been breathing
+back to Whiting, and make a new one to suit ourselves."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER X
+
+The Twilight of Space
+
+
+"Shall I come up into your compartment for the operation?" I asked.
+
+"No; for this first time we will pump out my compartment, as I wish to
+observe from the rear port-hole the action of the air which we set
+free."
+
+The bulkhead, with its bevelled edge, was therefore fitted into the
+opening between the compartments, and I took the first turn at the lever
+handle of the air-pump, while the doctor observed from the window. I had
+given the handle less than a dozen vigorous strokes when the doctor
+suddenly exclaimed,--
+
+"Stop! Wait a moment;" and he began pulling at the bulkhead, which was
+already rather tightly wedged in by the air pressure. "I have left the
+rabbit inside," he said, when he found breath to speak. And poor little
+bunny's heart was beginning to beat fast when he was rescued.
+
+Then we began again. The doctor watched the escaping air for some time,
+evidently forgetting that I was at all interested in it.
+
+"All quite as I expected," he said at last. "Only I had forgotten about
+the snow."
+
+"Nothing will ever be very new or interesting to you," I put in; "but
+pray remember I am here, and rapidly getting empty of breath and full of
+curiosity."
+
+Then he relieved me at the pump handle, and this is what I saw from the
+port-hole: The air escaping from the discharge pipe of the air-pump was
+visible, and looked like dull, grey steam. Immediately on being set free
+it swelled and expanded greatly, and sank away from us slowly. But at
+the instant of its expansion the cold thus produced froze the moisture
+of the air into a fine fleecy snow, which lasted but a second as it sank
+away from us and melted in the heat, which the thermometer showed to be
+close upon ninety-five degrees. This miniature snowstorm was seen for an
+instant only after each down motion of the pump handle.
+
+"Where is this air going?" I inquired. "The little clouds of it seem to
+drop away from us like lead; but that must be because of our speed."
+
+"It is falling back to the Earth, to join the outer layer of rare
+atmosphere there. If we had a positive current instead of a negative
+one, the air would not leave us, but we should gradually be surrounded
+by an atmosphere of our own, which we should retain until some planet,
+whose gravitational attraction is vastly stronger than ours, stole it
+from us. When we begin to fall into Mars, we shall acquire such an
+enveloping atmosphere; and we can draw upon it and re-compress it if our
+inner supply should become exhausted."
+
+"If this air is falling home to earth," said I, "we could send messages
+back in that manner."
+
+"We can drop them back at any time, regardless of the air," he answered,
+and then added suddenly, "but it will make a beautiful experiment to
+drop out a bottle now."
+
+He ceased pumping, and opening a bottle of asparagus tips, he placed
+them in a bowl, and prepared to drop out the bottle. I took my pencil
+and wrote this message to go inside,--"Behold, I have decreed a judgment
+upon the Earth; for it shall rain pickle bottles and biscuit tins for
+the period of forty days, because of the wickedness of the world, unless
+she repent!" And I pictured to myself the perplexity of the poor devil
+who should see this message come straight down from heaven!
+
+In order to make his experiment more successful, the doctor put in half
+a dozen bullets from one of the rifles, to make the weight more
+perceptible. Then he put the bottle into the discharging cylinder, and
+preparing to push it out he stooped over the port-hole. At a signal from
+him I gave the pump handle several quick, successive motions, and at the
+same instant he let drop the bottle. At once he cried out,--
+
+"Beautiful! and just as I thought."
+
+"But I didn't see it!" I protested. "What was it?"
+
+"The instant the bottle was released the discharged air was immediately
+attracted toward it, and gradually surrounded it entirely. It was like a
+little planet with an atmosphere of its own, as they fell back to the
+Earth together."
+
+"But I couldn't see it; I had to pump," I complained. "We must do it
+again."
+
+"We shall soon have our bottled things all emptied out on plates to dry
+up and spoil," he objected. So I emptied a biscuit tin this time, and
+delaying for no message, I put it in the discharging cylinder. Then I
+bent over the port-hole and gave the signal for the pumping. As I thrust
+out the tin I was astonished to see the lid pop off the first thing. The
+quick expansion of the air inside it did that. This air, as well as the
+air from the discharge pipe, seemed to flee from it instead of
+surrounding it, as the doctor had said. I continued watching so long
+that he finally said,--
+
+"Hasn't it fallen out of sight yet?"
+
+"No; it is not falling away swiftly as the air does. It is following the
+projectile! It is not gathering any air about it as you said it would.
+It does not quite keep up with us; but considering our speed, it is
+doing remarkably well!"
+
+The doctor was not inclined to believe me until he had looked for
+himself. He watched and pondered for a minute or two. Then his surprise
+ceased, and he spoke in that assured way which always irritated me.
+
+"Quite natural, after all," he said. "That biscuit can is made of thin
+sheet-iron with a surface coating of tin. The iron has become magnetized
+by induction, and the Earth repels the can just as it repels us. It will
+follow us to the dead-line, and probably on to Mars, unless the
+sheet-iron loses its polarization. If we had cast out a thing of solid
+iron, it would rush ahead of us, instead of falling a little behind, as
+this does, for it would have no dead weight to carry. But we could not
+put such a thing out of the rear end, for no force would make it fall
+that way. If we put it out of the forward port-hole, it would beat us in
+the race toward Mars."
+
+I remarked to the doctor that the air-pump seemed to be incorrectly
+built, for its action was strangely difficult in the reverse manner that
+it should have been. The down strokes went by themselves with a quick
+snap, but the up strokes were as if against pressure, and the moment the
+handle was released it flew down again. He had not tested the pump at
+the surface, as it was of a well-known make, but it certainly seemed to
+work backwards. Moreover, the more nearly we had a compartment emptied
+of air, the more difficult the pumping should become, but here again the
+reverse seemed to be the case, for the longer we worked the easier the
+up strokes became.
+
+The temperature of the projectile was still fairly comfortable, and the
+doctor allowed the condensed air to issue very slowly into the partial
+vacuum in his compartment until it produced a barometric pressure of
+twenty-seven. Then we pulled back the bulkhead, and when the new
+atmosphere had mixed with the old in my compartment, a pressure of
+twenty-eight resulted.
+
+"That is about the way the barometer stands during tempests at sea,"
+remarked the doctor. I could not notice much difference from the air we
+had previously had. Possibly it was fresher and slightly more
+exhilarating.
+
+The effort at the pump had made us both hungry again, and I prepared
+from meat extracts a warm and rather thick gravy to put over the
+asparagus tips. I attempted to pour it, but it was so light that its
+sticky consistency prevented it from running. We had a hundred such
+examples daily of the changes which lack of weight caused in the
+simplest operations. With sandwiches made of biscuits and condensed
+meat, we eked out a luncheon. This must have been about noon, for when
+it was over I remember noticing that we no longer needed the gas in the
+compartment, for there was a gradually increasing mellow light outside.
+
+"Are we already emerging from the shadow?" I inquired eagerly.
+
+"No, not yet," replied the doctor. "But we are now entering its
+illuminated core. I must prepare to photograph the strange appearance of
+the Sun that we shall see presently."
+
+I hastened to the port-hole, and did not leave until it was all over.
+What I then saw was one of the most beautiful things of the whole trip.
+The light outside was not bright, but soft and dreamy, like the first
+twilight after a rich day of summer. The great corona all around the
+outer edge of the Earth was the most magnificent appearance I have ever
+seen. It was not at all dazzling, but had the melting shades, first of a
+sunrise and then of a gorgeous sunset. We had missed the gradual
+appearance of the phenomenon, but we had a good view of its highest
+splendour. The colours were continually but slowly changing, and finally
+the darker hues gradually suffused and dyed the pinks and crimsons.
+
+The Earth was now about three times the diameter of a rising Full Moon,
+and the corona was about a quarter her width, and looked as if twenty
+shell-pink suns were set one against the other and overlapping all about
+the edge of the dark orb.
+
+"How do you know that is not really the extending edge of the Sun?" I
+asked the doctor. "Perhaps we are already far enough away to see it all
+about the Earth like that."
+
+"If that were really the Sun, the light from his extending edge would
+illuminate the surface of the Earth towards us. The planet's outline
+would be irregular and partly glowing, but you see it is quite dull and
+dark, and the outline is most plainly visible."
+
+In rapt attention I watched the delicate shell-pink change to a deeper
+hue of orange, and then our twilight waned a little and turned a sombre
+grey. Presently the corona glowed a rich maroon, gradually dying to a
+luminous purple, which slowly deepened and darkened, and finally melted
+into the general blackness. And lo! we were in the shadow again, and the
+dreamily beautiful panorama was over.
+
+"It must have lasted nearly an hour," said the doctor. "I am sorry we
+did not notice the beginning, but it must have commenced with the same
+dull shades we saw at the end, and gradually changed to brighter
+colours. I secured three negatives when the glow was most intense."
+
+"Then we have had a waxing and a waning twilight coming together in the
+middle of our night. And the corona was like a sunrise, followed
+immediately by a sunset," I exclaimed.
+
+"And why shouldn't it appear so?" said the matter-of-fact doctor.
+"Twilight is the commonest phenomenon of refraction with which we are
+acquainted, and sunrise and sunset are merely a mixture of refraction
+and reflection. There is nothing new about it."
+
+"Now, Doctor, we must remain friends, but you shall not continually
+tarnish my poetry with your accursed science! I thank my Creator that
+He made me ignorant enough to admire the beauties of nature. You are
+continually peeping behind the scenes, and pointing out the grease
+paints, the lime-lights and the sham effects. Let me enjoy the beauty of
+the tableau, no matter how it is produced. I would give all of your pat
+knowledge for that feeling of profound awe which rises in the untutored
+breast at beholding the magnificent grandeur of unfamiliar nature."
+
+"When your ecstasy has quite passed, I shall appreciate a little cold
+mutton and biscuits, and then we must pump out again," he replied.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XI
+
+Telling the Time by Geography
+
+
+After supper I went up into his compartment, and having arranged the
+bulkhead, began the tedious operation at the pump handle. It was a
+matter of pure muscular strength, as the effort had to be made to lift
+the handle, which snapped back sharply when released. I was working
+vigorously when I was suddenly struck dumb at seeing the handle break
+off just at the point of leverage, so that it was quite impossible to
+operate it. The doctor heard the handle fall, and looked around in great
+vexation.
+
+"That means asphyxiation within twenty-four hours!" he exclaimed.
+
+"Which is plenty of time to think it over," I answered.
+
+After all, why was this pumping necessary? If a way could be devised to
+open a valve, all the air would rush out of my compartment as easily as
+beer runs out of a bung-hole. In fact, it did rush out a little at a
+time, which is what made the handle go down of itself. But any such new
+valve would have to be automatically closed, as it would be manifestly
+impossible to enter and shut it. I kept on thinking, and finally began
+examining the partition between the compartments. There seemed to be
+several long screws that went quite through it.
+
+"Doctor, did you ever hear of those wise people who, after every
+freshet, shipped the surplus water down the river in boats? Well, it
+strikes me this air-pumping is just about as useless labour. Help me
+pull in the bulkhead and I will show you something."
+
+I went at once to the cylinder we used for discharging things from the
+projectile. With a pair of pliers I chipped off a small piece of the
+edge of the closing lid in two places, one near each end. This made two
+little irregular holes into the cylinder about eight inches apart. Then
+I pushed it half way out, so that one hole was outside and the other
+inside. Of course the air rushed through the inner hole into the
+cylinder, and thence through the outer hole to the exterior.
+
+"Shut that thing!" cried the doctor, when he saw what I had done. "Do
+you wish to suffocate us? That will let the air out perfectly, but how
+are you going to close it to admit the condensed air?"
+
+"People unskilled in these matters are so hasty!" I said rather
+sarcastically. "Wait until I have finished and you will see."
+
+I found he had a screw-driver, and I loosened one of the long screws
+and enlarged the half of its hole toward my compartment. Then I whittled
+a block of soft wood, so that it would slide smoothly into this half of
+the hole. Driving the screw home again, I just allowed its tip to enter
+the end of the block. Then I fastened a piece of stout twine to the
+cylinder and the other end to the block of wood, which was almost
+opposite it. Pushing the cylinder half way out, I made the twine taut,
+and hastening into the doctor's compartment, I thrust in the bulkhead.
+The air was rapidly escaping. Waiting long enough for all of it to have
+leaked out, I then unscrewed the long screw, which gradually drew in the
+block of wood and the twine, and thus pulled the cylinder into the
+projectile so that there was no connection with the exterior. Then the
+doctor let in the condensed air to a barometric pressure of twenty-six,
+and the whole operation was over in a few minutes. My compartment must
+have been almost a complete vacuum. When it was over, I cried rather
+triumphantly to the doctor,--
+
+"There, you see, one doesn't need a steam pump to make the water run
+over Niagara! At this distance from the surface, nature abhors a gas and
+prefers a vacuum!" He was inclined to be rather sulky at first, but he
+really did not like pumping any better than I did.
+
+I should say it was about five hours later that we noticed it was
+growing gradually lighter outside. Mars lost his ruddiness and grew
+pale in a grey field. Our view of the Earth was also becoming more and
+more misty.
+
+"We are emerging from the black core of the shadow into the
+semi-illuminated penumbra," said the doctor. Then he altered his course
+experimentally, and found a slightly darker path, but it soon began
+changing again to grey.
+
+"There is no use trying to keep in the umbra any longer. It is growing
+too narrow. The penumbra will last quite a long time yet, but it will
+gradually get fainter and fainter. We shall not plunge at once into the
+dreadful light you fear so much. Keep your eyes glued to the Earth. I
+can scarcely see Mars any longer. The whole field is getting blank and
+white."
+
+The rear vista was also growing a pale white, and I could distinguish
+the form of the Earth as a darker object slightly larger than a full
+moon when risen. But it was all growing dimmer and dimmer as the
+penumbra faded toward the perfect light.
+
+"Mars is completely gone now," said the doctor. "The field of the
+telescope is one pale curtain of light. I have steered to the left to go
+ahead of him now, as there is no longer any reason for going behind
+him."
+
+I heard him working at the telescope as if loosening it from its
+fastenings, but I dared not take my eyes from the Earth to see what he
+was doing. Presently he called out to me,--
+
+"Make room down there. I must bring the instrument down and observe the
+Earth now. Be careful you don't lose sight of her." But the instant he
+removed the telescope from its bearings and uncovered his forward
+window, I lost all view of the Earth. The new light now entering by his
+window, from behind me, made it impossible to see so far.
+
+"Too late!" I cried; "I have lost her! We are alone in limitless space,
+without even the company of the planets!"
+
+But while the doctor was carefully lowering the telescope, my eyes were
+still searching, and presently I perceived a thin crescent of faintly
+brighter light, growing gradually wider. It was like a new moon dimly
+seen in a clear part of the sky when the afternoon sun is cloud-hidden.
+The doctor stopped to look where I pointed it out to him, and then
+changed the wheel a little.
+
+"That is a thin slice of the illuminated part of the Earth," he said.
+"We can no longer see the dark side which has been visible to us while
+in the shadow. Fortunately our new course a little ahead of Mars will
+give us a constant view of this thin crescent."
+
+We now stood the instrument on end over the port-hole window, which
+brought the small end near the aperture between the compartments. When
+the doctor had secured a focus, he called me to look. The crescent was
+greatly magnified, but the outline of the sphere on the other side could
+not be seen, nor could anything be distinguished in the centre. Both
+the outer and inner edges of the crescent were ragged and irregular in
+places, and there were faint darker spots on its surface. I called the
+doctor's attention to the fact that the ragged appearance was always in
+the form of extending teeth on the outer side of the crescent, and in
+the form of notches eaten into its inner edge. He studied all these
+appearances carefully and finally said,--
+
+"This crescent is that part of Earth which is just coming into morning.
+It is gradually shifting from east to west with the Earth's rotation of
+course. What we see now, however, is _land_ almost from pole to pole.
+There is a small sea just above the middle, which might be the
+Mediterranean. Moreover, it must be mountainous land to cause the ragged
+edges and the shadows inside."
+
+Then he turned away to get his globe, and I took the place at the
+instrument. He was slowly turning the globe and examining it
+thoughtfully as he said to himself,--
+
+"The only continuous land from pole to pole with one interrupting sea
+must be over the two Americas or over Europe and Africa. The American
+mountain ranges run from north to south, while through Europe and Africa
+they are scarce, and almost uniformly run from east to west. Besides,
+the sand of Sahara would be sure to show as a large, bright, regular
+spot. A section from longitude 70 to 80 west would include the Green
+Mountains and the Alleghanies of North America and the Andes of South
+America, and in that case the darker spot in the centre would be the
+Caribbean Sea."
+
+"Look here!" I cried. "Toward the lower end the inner outline is growing
+darker but more regular, and faint streaks or shadows reach through the
+brighter light toward the dark greenish regular surface which looks like
+water."
+
+He observed closely and said,--
+
+"Those shadows must be cast to westward by the enormous peaks of the
+Andes, and the dark greenish surface they reach toward must be the
+Pacific Ocean."
+
+Then he consulted his globe while I looked. "The first two to come into
+view," he said, "would be the two great peaks in Bolivia, over
+twenty-one thousand feet high."
+
+"There _are_ two of them together," I said, "and now others are rapidly
+coming into view. There are five more scattered unequally, and then,
+lower down, three near together."
+
+"Then there is not the slightest doubt that we see the Lower Andes," he
+said. "These last you mention are scattered just as you say along the
+border between Chili and Argentina, and the group of three are near
+Valparaiso, the peak of Aconcagua being the tallest. But watch now for
+the group in Ecuador, about midway between the top and bottom of the
+crescent. There are four very large peaks and numerous smaller ones."
+
+"The middle all looks bright yet, like land, with no shadows or greenish
+spots. But a queer thing is happening lower down, where the shadows have
+ceased lengthening and are now fading. There are several fine points of
+light just beyond the outer edge of the crescent. They are mere bright
+specks, but gradually they join with the surface, making a rough toothed
+edge."
+
+"Ah, that phenomenon has been observed upon the Moon," said he. "That is
+the sun shining on the snow-capped peaks first, and then, when the
+diminutive outline of the mountain comes into view, it looks like a
+tooth."
+
+"The same is happening all down the coast," I reported. "Now I see it on
+the lower group of three."
+
+"Give me the instrument," demanded the doctor. "That can be nothing but
+the west coast of South America, and if that be the case, the whole
+thing will be repeated for the tall group in Ecuador, dominated by
+Chimborazo."
+
+As I surrendered the telescope to him, the whole lower part of the
+crescent was dark, but with regular edges. Only in the middle, which
+should have been about the Equator, and in the upper part, was there the
+bright lustre of land reflection. He watched for fully half an hour
+before observing anything remarkable. At last he exclaimed,--
+
+"Now they are beginning! Five streaks near together and just at the
+Equator. They are almost equidistant from each other, and the next to
+the lowest one is the longest. Now the top one begins to fade! Yes, and
+a point of light has appeared detached from the outer edge, and now
+another and another! They are growing inward toward the surface. Now
+they are all connected like five saw teeth; the bottom one is the
+shortest, and that next very high one is old Chimborazo."
+
+"Then it is morning at Quito and also at Pittsburg!" I said, tracing up
+the 80th meridian.
+
+"Yes, and we have been one complete day and about five hours more
+travelling the nine hundred thousand miles that lie between this and
+Earth," replied he.
+
+"That makes us one full meal behind time," I said; "but we have
+discovered a way to make the Andes call us for breakfast. When the
+Pacific Ocean has passed from view, Japan and Australia shall strike
+noon for us, and we will have supper and call it night when the Indian
+Ocean is gone and darkest Africa has come into view!"
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XII
+
+Space Fever
+
+
+We counted seven successive returns of the peaks of the Andes, and being
+by that time certainly six million miles from the Earth, we could
+distinguish them no longer. Then followed what I remember as a very long
+and unspeakably monotonous period, without any adequate method of
+marking the time. Our days became a full week long, for the only way we
+could guess at the time was by the quarterings of the Moon. We could
+still see her about the size of a marble in the telescope, and as her
+crescent began to wane, and finally her light entirely disappeared, we
+knew she was then just between us and the Earth, and shining upon that
+planet as a Full Moon. This was due to occur fifteen days after our
+departure. Then we watched her grow from a thin crescent to a bright
+quarter, and we knew another week had elapsed.
+
+"We shall soon be able to determine one date with absolute certainty," I
+said to the doctor, when we must have been some twenty days out. "I have
+been reading up your almanack, and I find there is a total eclipse of
+the Sun by the Moon on June 29th."
+
+"You might as well try to eclipse him with a straw-hat, as far as we are
+concerned," he replied. "The Moon will necessarily be on the further
+side of the Earth when that occurs, and the eclipse will barely reach
+the Earth. It will fall short of us by a matter of some thirty million
+miles!"
+
+It was soon after this that we gave up observing the Earth as a planet,
+put on our darkened lens, and proceeded to hold her as a spot in the Sun
+a little to the left of his centre. The Moon remained a tiny spot of
+light outside for a few days; but finally she entered the Sun also, and
+was seen as a faint spot travelling toward the Earth-spot.
+
+Although the dazzling quality of the light, into which we had emerged
+after the second day, was finally beginning to wane and pale a little,
+Mars was still invisible. In fact, no stars or planets were visible;
+only the gleaming Sun with the Earth-spot upon it. Our thermometer was
+poorly placed in the glare of the Sun at the rear; but it showed the
+heat was decreasing, and from a temperature of thirty-five degrees,
+observed at the end of the second day, it had now fallen to twelve, and
+was diminishing regularly about two degrees daily as nearly as we could
+reckon.
+
+Our appetites were steadily failing, and for two very good reasons: the
+unsuitable foods and the impossibility of getting any exercise. There
+was no such thing as getting any healthy actions of the body. Nothing
+had any weight, and such a thing as physical labour was impossible on
+the face of it. I attempted to go through regular courses of gymnastics
+at frequent intervals; but as my body and its members weighed nothing,
+my muscles found nothing whatever to expend their force upon. I thought
+myself worse than Prometheus bound upon his rock, for he could at least
+struggle with the birds of prey and pull upon his chains! I might as
+well have been utterly paralyzed, and I actually began to fear that I
+should lose all my strength, and that my muscles would forget their
+cunning.
+
+And our foods could not have been more unsuitable. The light vegetable
+diet which this lack of exercise called for was impossible. We had never
+had any fresh vegetables or fruits, and our tinned and canned supplies
+of these had been rapidly exhausted. We had plenty of solid, meaty foods
+and beef essences; but our systems did not require these, and at last
+absolutely refused to have them. I lived for days at a time upon beer
+and biscuits, and looked longingly at my cigars. I believed I could have
+existed comfortably and luxuriously upon smoke alone. My dreams were
+filled with visions of ripe, luscious fruits and fresh, crisp
+vegetables. When I awoke, I loathed the only foods we had.
+
+I believe I should finally have given up eating, had I not hit upon a
+method of exercise at last. It was a sort of rowing or pulling machine,
+which I rigged up by running a bar through one end of the doctor's
+spring scales, and fastening the other end to the foot of my bed. I
+pulled vigorously against this spring for hours at a time, and was
+delighted to find that my strength had not left me, and that I could
+easily lift as much as these scales had been made to weigh. I remember
+the returned appetite with which I enjoyed potted meat and a tinned
+pudding, after the first hour of as vigorous exercise as our rarefied
+air would permit.
+
+The Moon-spot had disappeared and gone to her eclipse behind the Earth,
+when an incident occurred to vary the monotony of our existence a
+little, and to suggest to me a diversion that had been hitherto
+forbidden. Our supply of water in the outer tank had long ago boiled
+away, and I had lighted the gas to heat water for the doctor's coffee. I
+had taken the cup up to him and remained chatting with him, when
+presently I smelled something burning from the compartment below. I
+descended quickly, and saw that my light bedclothes, which now weighed
+less than a feather, and often floated from their place, had been drawn
+into the flame by the draft of the burning gas. They were floating about
+the compartment now, all aflame and threatening to set fire to
+everything. We had not a drop of water to spare; but for once I thought
+of the right thing to do without hesitation. I pushed out the
+ventilating cylinder, hurried back to the doctor's compartment and
+thrust in the bulkhead. Within two minutes all the air had escaped from
+my room, and the fire had died for lack of oxygen. I waited a few
+minutes longer for the smoke to escape, and then we admitted condensed
+air, but only to the remarkably low pressure of eighteen. Within five
+minutes the compartment was ready again, and there was not a trace of
+smoke or smell of fire to be perceived.
+
+"I congratulate you on your quick perception and prompt action," said
+the doctor when it was over.
+
+"Quick rubbish!" I exclaimed. "I have been a dundering fool for four
+weeks by the Moon! I might just as well have been smoking ever since I
+contrived this self-ventilating arrangement. The compartment becomes a
+perfectly clean vacuum at each operation, yet I had to wait for this bed
+clothing to catch fire before I could think of so simple a thing!"
+
+It was at the meal time just preceding the next changing of air that I
+opened the last tin of canned peas, as a sort of treat for the doctor to
+offset my expected revel in fragrant tobacco. I prepared half the
+quantity for him, but left my portion in the tin until I should be
+hungrier. With the prospects of a good smoke before me, I had no
+appetite for food. I put in the bulkhead to prevent the smoke from
+entering his compartment and lighted my Havana. Then I took Two-spot on
+my lap and stretched myself for a reverie. On Earth, smoking time had
+been my period for reflection. And far back on that distant planet, what
+were they doing now? In that one busy corner that had known me, they had
+probably wondered at my disappearance for a day or two; but after the
+month that had passed I was certainly forgotten. There were few back
+there whom I cared for, and not many had much reason to remember me. My
+interests, my desires, my hopes were all ahead of me on a new planet.
+And what was waiting for me on Mars? Discovery, riches perhaps, and a
+measure of fame when I returned. Then I thought of the numberless
+problems that the next few weeks must solve for us. Would there be
+intelligent inhabitants on Mars? Would they be in the forms of men or
+beasts? Would they be civilized or savage? Would they speak a language,
+and how could we learn to communicate with them? Would they have foods
+suitable to us; indeed, would the very air they breathed be fit to
+sustain our lives? Should we find them peaceable, or, if warlike, should
+we be able to cope with them?
+
+These thoughts were interrupted by the doctor, who called feebly to me
+to come up. "Don't eat any of the peas," he said weakly. "There was a
+queer taste about them, and they have made me deathly sick."
+
+He was very wretched, and grew rapidly worse. I immediately saw that it
+was a severe case of poisoning, and I did everything I could to relieve
+him, but he groaned in agony for several hours. Finally he fell asleep,
+but his rest was disturbed by fits of delirium, in which he raved wildly
+in German mixed with English. As he slept I had time to think the matter
+over carefully. After all, it was a thing which required only simple
+remedies, and I had administered them. It was only a question of a
+little nursing and a careful diet, and he would be well again.
+
+But his fever increased and his delirium became more frequent, and I
+began to appreciate that the derangement incident to the poisoning had
+prepared the way for a more serious illness. During his ravings I caught
+a glimpse of the struggling and ambitious side of his nature, which he
+always so carefully repressed.
+
+Once I heard him mumble this to himself in German: "Kepler perceived a
+little, he saw dimly; Newton comprehended the easy half; but Anderwelt,
+Anderwelt of Heidelberg, grasped the hidden meaning!"
+
+In spite of all my attentions (I did not then understand the nature of
+Space Fever, of course), he was growing steadily worse, and I was
+becoming desperate. I could not afford to have him ill long. The
+currents would probably continue to work fairly well until it became
+necessary to reverse them, and that time was not far off. Unless they
+were reversed exactly at the right moment, we might fall into the
+neutral spot and be held there for ever. Even if I managed to stop the
+negative current, and succeeded in falling towards Mars, I could not
+regulate the positive current so as to temper our fall and make a safe
+landing. It was equally dangerous to remain fixed in space, or to fall
+headlong upon a planet and be smashed, or be buried miles deep if the
+projectile did not collapse.
+
+I had no way of telling how much time passed, but it seemed to me a very
+long period, and he grew steadily worse as we approached the neutral
+point. I tried to rouse him from his delirium. I addressed him
+jocularly, then commandingly, then beseechingly. And he answered me
+always with reflections from that other side of his nature which one
+rarely saw when he was well.
+
+"Hast thou seen red ants crawling upon a cherry? Such are the mere
+circumnavigators of a globe! What! Hath not the world forgotten a
+Columbus? How long, then, will it remember---- Hast thou no cooler
+water? This is tepid and bitter!"
+
+Ever since the last quarter of the Moon, which must have been ten days
+ago, there had not been the slightest perceptible evidence of movement.
+The standards by which we judge motion on the Earth had failed ever
+since we left the atmosphere. There was no rushing or whizzing; we
+passed nothing; all the ordinary evidences of speed were absent. When
+you lie in the state-room of a smoothly moving steamer, no forward
+motion is perceptible. If you see another ship pass near by, you get a
+sudden surprising idea of the speed. If you watch the receding water,
+you appear to be going forward slowly; and if you watch the spray at the
+bow or the wake astern, you appreciate the movement more fully. But if
+the waves or the tide happen to be running with the ship, she has
+apparently almost stopped, when really her speed has been somewhat
+accelerated. If you watch the distant stars, you can scarcely perceive
+any motion at all; and if the clouds should be moving in the same
+direction as the ship, her motion appears reversed.
+
+We had none of these things by which to judge, and we appeared to be
+hanging perfectly still in space, though the doctor had assured me we
+were travelling at least five hundred miles a minute. This was rational,
+as it agreed with the diminishing size of the Earth; but it required an
+effort of faith on my part to believe that we had been moving at all.
+
+But suppose we should gradually lose our speed and stop in a neutral
+point, how should I know it? The Earth now was, and had been for ten
+days, a mere spot on the Sun. While Mars had been visible, he had never
+increased in size in the telescope, and he was now invisible. The only
+way I could tell would be to wait until after many days had elapsed, and
+if Mars did not finally come into view, I should know something was
+wrong. But it would be too late then; there would be no winds or tides,
+no weight or buoyancy, nothing to move us out of that dreadful calm
+where even gravity does not exist. That must be avoided at every cost!
+But might we not be very near it now? Weight had been practically
+nothing for a month, within an hour it might be positively nothing,
+and----
+
+The doctor's mutterings interrupted these thoughts. "The power with
+which to travel was so simple and so vast! It all lay hidden in that
+elementary law of magnetism, like poles repel and unlike poles attract.
+But the road to travel and the problems by the way, those were the hard
+things!"
+
+He was putting them all in the past tense, as if he had already solved
+them! But what was that law of magnetism he mentioned? Perhaps he would
+reveal his secrets to me in his ravings! I must mark every word he said;
+for it was clear I must solve the problem, he would not be well in time.
+I must brush the cobwebs from my meagre science and struggle with his
+invention.
+
+"Unlike poles attract," he had said. Then Earth and matter must normally
+have unlike poles, and to make Earth repel matter it would only be
+necessary to change the polarization of the matter. Yes, he had told me
+it was all accomplished by polarizing the steel and iron of the
+projectile! When they were made the same pole as the Earth, then she
+repelled them. But if the whole thing were so simple, why had it never
+been discovered before? Ah, that is the strong shield behind which
+incredulity always takes refuge!
+
+I ventured near the gravity apparatus and examined it carefully. There
+was a small thing which looked like the switchboard of a telegraph
+office. The perforations in it were all in a row, and the ten holes were
+now filled with little brass pegs, which were suspended from above on
+small spiral springs. These were evidently the points of communication
+of the negative current to the framework of the projectile. It certainly
+would do no harm to pull out one of these pegs, as that would only
+slightly diminish the current. At least I would risk it. My fingers had
+scarcely closed upon the brass, when I was given such a violent shock as
+to be thrown powerfully across the compartment; and had my body weighed
+anything, my bones would certainly have been broken by the concussion.
+My arm and shoulder did not recover from the stinging and deadening
+sensation for some time. I noted the little peg I had pulled out hanging
+by its spiral spring just above the hole it had filled. It would be
+worth my life to remove the other nine in the same way.
+
+Besides, how would I know when the time came to remove them? My eyes
+fell upon the two large leaden balls suspended from short copper
+chains. I had seen these before, but now I thought I understood them.
+They would swing whichever way gravity attracted. They hung down toward
+my compartment now, and if we ever passed the dead line, they would hang
+forward toward Mars. But in the neutral point what would they do? When
+the gravity of planets neutralized each other, the steel of the
+projectile would repel these balls towards its centre, which would tend
+to put them both in the same spot and thus bring them together.
+Moreover, they would slightly attract each other. Yes, it was quite
+certain that these had been devised as a Gravity Indicator, and they
+would tell me when we were approaching a dead line, when we were in it,
+and when it was safely passed. But all that would do me but little good
+unless I could manage the currents.
+
+I sat thinking this over a long time, when it suddenly occurred to me
+that the doctor would recognise, even in his delirium, the importance of
+action when these two balls came together. As soon as they had
+approached each other, I must lift him up and show them to him. The
+brain that had made them would know their meaning, and know how to act
+even in illness! Perhaps I was like a drowning man clutching at a straw;
+but from the moment I thought of this I believed firmly that the
+solution of the whole problem would come in this manner. My hopes were
+ready to hang on the slightest peg. It consoled me to remember some
+instances where men temporarily insane had been brought to consciousness
+by impending danger, or by the sight of what last weighed upon their
+mind.
+
+When I glanced at the balls next, I saw that their chains lacked an inch
+of being parallel. They were already moving slowly inward toward each
+other. I noted that the chains, which ran through the balls and were
+connected with a small copper plate on the bottom of each, were just
+long enough to allow the bottom edges to touch, if they were drawn as
+far toward each other as possible.
+
+The doctor's fever was at its very worst, but that did not dampen my
+hopes. The balls were gradually drawing nearer together. I wished them
+to be quite close before I made the supreme trial which was to liberate
+us or leave us prisoners in space for ever! Presently I loosened the
+knotted sheets which held him to his bed, and lifted the feverish man,
+as I might have carried a doll, and brought him in full view of the
+approaching balls.
+
+"Doctor, listen now and look," I said firmly and commandingly.
+
+"Always stubborn and unbelieving!" he raved. "I must take it to a new
+country, to America, where they invent things themselves, and are
+willing to listen, and anxious to try!"
+
+"Doctor, don't you know me? It is I, Werner, who helped you. This is a
+crisis for us! Do you see those approaching balls? You know what they
+mean! You must save us."
+
+"Thou'rt too busy, like all the rest! Why, then, remember that to-morrow
+will despise those who are so busy with to-day! Opportunity has knocked
+and listened for thee and thou hast bade her begone!"
+
+"Listen, Doctor. I am he who heard you and gave you the pink cheque. I
+am he who refused three times to go with you and then came at last. I am
+he who was afraid of the light, who dodged the Moon, and chaffed you
+about the pump. Do you not remember it all? Come, you are no longer ill.
+There is work to do. Have you forgotten the leaden balls? See! they are
+touching each other now, and we are in the dead-line, the neutral spot,
+the one danger of the trip which you acknowledged."
+
+But it was useless. He remembered nothing, his eyes were dim and vacant,
+and the great brain that had planned all this was overthrown by fever.
+The experiment had failed and we were lost!
+
+I tied him gently back on his bed and turned in desperation to the
+apparatus, deciding to risk my life to pull out those nine pegs with my
+hands, one after another.
+
+My God! they were already out! Every one of them was hanging by its
+spiral spring, just above the hole it had filled. The switchboard had
+opened a little and released them. It was all automatic! The contact of
+the copper surface of the balls had completed a short circuit which cut
+the negative current. He had thought of it all, even to this emergency,
+and the machine could take care of itself!
+
+And in the wave of thankfulness and rejoicing which swept over me, I
+sank on my knees and kissed the forehead of the feverish old man again
+and again!
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XIII
+
+The Mystery of a Minus Weight
+
+
+It was the doctor himself who gave the name Space Fever (now so
+generally adopted) to the peculiar malady from which he suffered in that
+long period when weight was very slight or nothing at all. A little
+reflection on the physiological bearings of the conditions we were
+passing through, will serve to explain the illness.
+
+For the period of a month, owing to the impossibility of effort, there
+was scarcely any wasting of our bodily tissues, and very little need for
+oxydization of the blood. The limbs, which the heart really works
+hardest to serve, did scarcely any labour and needed very little blood.
+But the heart had its stubborn habits the same as the other muscles. It
+is a high-pressure engine, and there is no way of slowing it down
+materially. It kept up its vigorous pumping and driving just as if the
+great muscles of the limbs had wasted and needed building up, and just
+as if it had the task of forcing the blood through those parts of the
+body usually compressed by its weight or strained by the effort of
+carrying it. The result was much the same as if your heart now should
+suddenly begin to beat much too fast, the blood was heated into a state
+of fever, which naturally increased as we lost weight, culminated at the
+dead-line and began decreasing as soon as we commenced having a weight
+toward Mars. It was only my fortunate invention of a method of exercise,
+and my religious adherence to it, which saved me from a similar attack.
+
+But many things happened before the doctor recovered consciousness. The
+Moon had re-appeared on the other side of the Earth-spot, the light
+about us had grown less dazzling than sunlight on Earth, and the
+temperature had fallen to four degrees. It was perhaps two days after
+passing the dead-line that, as I was gazing carefully out of the forward
+window, I saw far to the right of us a large circular patch of faintly
+redder light in the general curtain of white. Its size quite startled
+me, for it was rather larger than a full moon, and I had expected Mars
+to re-appear as a very bright star before we could distinguish any disc
+with the naked eye. This misapprehension probably arose from the fact
+that I had thought the dead-line about half way between the two planets,
+which upon reflection I saw to be impossible, as it must be much nearer
+the smaller planet.
+
+The outline of the planet was not clearly visible yet, but I could not
+have missed seeing that red glow long before, had it been more directly
+in front of us. Evidently we were steering much ahead of the planet,
+which indicated that we were arriving before opposition. I immediately
+changed our course so as to go more nearly toward it, but yet to keep a
+little ahead. Then I hastily brought the telescope back to the forward
+compartment, which was now the bottom of the projectile. The lenses
+easily pierced the curtain of light that seemed to be hung in front of
+the new planet, and I could distinguish the outline of the greatly
+magnified orb very clearly.
+
+Judging from appearances, it could not be farther from us than twice the
+distance of the Moon from the Earth. I resorted to the scales at once,
+and found that weight was beginning slowly to return, for I weighed a
+little less than an ounce. From a rule the doctor had explained to me, I
+calculated that this indicated a distance from the planet of about four
+hundred thousand miles, if it really was Mars. But I had some doubts
+about its really being that planet; for a clear white, irregular-shaped
+spot upon it, which I had noticed as soon as the telescope was focussed,
+did not appear to move at all, as it should have done had it been upon a
+rotating planet. Upon closer observation, I detected a dull, greenish
+spot, just coming upon the lower edge. But when I looked again a bright
+white and perfectly circular spot had appeared in the same place and
+covered it up. But this new white spot travelled much more rapidly, and
+soon uncovered the greenish spot, which seemed to move in the same path,
+but much more slowly. This was something I could not understand. The
+white circle was too bright and regular to be a cloud, yet if they were
+both on the surface how could one travel faster over the same path?
+
+Very soon the white circle passed entirely across the greater orb, and
+then I was surprised to see it detach itself from the planet and remain
+for a few moments as a separate small orb in the sky! Could this be
+another freak of refraction? But before I could determine, the little
+orb disappeared behind the greater disc and was gone. The greenish spot,
+which I judged to be truly on the surface and caused by an ocean or
+great sea, was about three times as long in crossing the disc. I next
+turned my attention to the immovable and irregular white spot, and
+discovered that its edges seemed to be revolving slowly around its
+centre. Then it occurred to me that this spot must be located at one of
+the poles and be caused by polar ice and snows. The doctor had expected
+such on Mars, and I no longer doubted that this was our objective
+planet.
+
+It was like a great holiday for me when the doctor regained
+consciousness. Almost as soon as his fever abated he was well enough to
+perform his customary duties. His illness had not made him appreciably
+weak, because as yet scarcely any effort was required to move about. He
+was quite as anxious to hear all my experiences as I was eager to
+relate them. I gave him a full account of my struggle passing the
+dead-line, of my discovery of Mars, and the various spots I had noted.
+
+"From the time it took the greenish spot to cross, I should judge a
+Martian day to be about fifty hours long," I said.
+
+"Then you _must_ have been very lonely," he replied. "For a Martian day
+is just forty-one minutes longer than an Earthly day, unless a great
+number of our scientists have continually made the same mistake in
+observing him."
+
+"When we arrive, we shall be able to determine the point exactly if our
+watches commence running again," I answered. "But I think I know one
+reason why I have misjudged the time. Ever since you have been ill I
+have slept very little. I have hardly felt the need of rest since I lost
+my weight. I have been growing more and more wakeful, and I rarely sleep
+more than an hour at a time. That seems quite sufficient to refresh me."
+
+"As we regain our weight we shall feel the need of sleep again," he
+said. "But on Mars we may need but one-third as much as we had on Earth,
+unless we exert ourselves proportionately more."
+
+Then I told him about the circular spot which had seemed to slip off the
+upper edge of Mars, and asked his explanation of it.
+
+"That must have been Phobos, one of the moons of Mars," he said.
+
+"One of his moons!" I exclaimed; "I didn't know he had _any_."
+
+"You are an American, and say that!" he answered in surprise. "It is one
+of the astronomical glories of your people that they discovered the two
+moons of Mars, during the favourable opposition of 1877."
+
+"This is the first case I remember where we have left it to a foreigner
+to tell us how great we have been!" I laughed.
+
+"These two moons of Mars also furnish a most interesting example of how
+fiction may forestall and pre-figure actual scientific discovery. Dr.
+Swift made Gulliver, in his wonderful travels, discover two moons of
+Mars, revolving at a speed which he must have thought ridiculously fast.
+Many years afterward the American telescopes really found two moons, but
+actually revolving more rapidly than Dr. Swift had dared to boast! If
+your white circle was really Phobos, you have seen the freak among
+satellites. She is the smallest, swiftest moon ever discovered, and
+travels so much more swiftly than the revolution of her primary that she
+appears to go opposite to everything else in the Martian sky, rising
+where the Sun sets and crossing the heavens from west to east!"
+
+"What I saw did travel in the same direction as the rotation of the
+planet, and much more rapidly," I exclaimed.
+
+"Then it was Phobos without a doubt, and she is due to appear again in
+the west in three hours and fifty minutes after she sets in the east. We
+must watch closely, for I wish to land upon her and make a flying trip
+all around Mars with her. Do you realize what a glorious view we shall
+have of the great planet, sailing around him on this satellite in a
+period of a little over seven and a half hours, and at a distance of
+only about four thousand miles? There will be no night, for if one side
+of the little moon is heavier than the other, the heavier side will
+always be turned toward Mars. Therefore, when the Sun does not shine on
+Phobos, Mars will do so, and keep her continually illuminated, except
+for the brief period of the regular eclipse during each revolution. And
+one-fourth of the entire heavens, as seen from Phobos, will be filled
+with the glowing orb of Mars! The great planet will exhibit to us at a
+near range all the configurations of his surface, his oceans and his
+clouds. We will survey and photograph him to our hearts' content."
+
+The doctor was justly enthusiastic on this subject, and I felt that such
+a landing would, in some measure, compensate for my disappointment in
+not being able to visit the Moon.
+
+As I watched carefully, the satellite finally came into view, but very
+much more distant from Mars than before. Also, it moved very slowly now,
+and seemed to grow larger as it approached the disc. I pointed it out to
+the doctor, and remarked that it was acting quite differently. Just as
+it entered upon the orb of Mars, another moon, somewhat smaller, mounted
+hurriedly from the under side of the planet and began hastily ploughing
+her way over the ruddy disc.
+
+"That last one is the one I saw before, that is my Phobos!" I cried
+excitedly.
+
+"Then the other slow one is Deimos, the outer moon. She appears the
+larger to us now, because her greater distance from Mars makes her
+nearer to us, but she appears to the Martians as the smaller. We must
+observe closely, and we may discover some new and lesser satellites
+which Earthly telescopes have never found."
+
+"Time enough for that when we land on Mars," I answered. "If we get in
+past these two without being hit, I shall be satisfied. You dare not
+venture in front of that Phobos, and I don't see how you can ever
+overtake her if you approach from behind."
+
+"That reminds me to slacken speed, for we must be getting very near," he
+said. "Please weigh yourself every few minutes and note your increasing
+weight. You should weigh seventy-two pounds on Mars, and eight pounds at
+the distance of Phobos."
+
+He immediately reversed currents, and when I reported that I weighed
+almost a pound, it frightened him, and he turned in the full power of
+the negative currents to overcome our momentum. And it proved that the
+repelling power of Mars at the distance of 15,000 miles, which this
+indicated, was not at all strong against the great velocity we had been
+daily acquiring. I hung upon the scales every few minutes, and reported
+a steadily increasing weight up to three pounds.
+
+"That shows a distance of eight thousand miles," he figured. "Almost
+exactly in the orbit of Deimos, but she has safely passed, and will not
+return for thirty hours. We must turn the rudder hard over to the right,
+and sail around the planet in a circle until Phobos overtakes us; then,
+if we approach her travelling in the same direction at almost the same
+rate of speed, her gravitational attraction will pick us up and draw us
+safely ashore."
+
+Mars was already an enormous orb ahead of us, and many of his features,
+such as oceans, ice-caps, and continents, could easily be distinguished;
+but we paid little attention to them, being occupied with making a safe
+landing on Phobos, and expecting to make a systematic study of him from
+there.
+
+"We must not attempt a landing on the outer side of the satellite," the
+doctor reflected, "for we should have no way of getting around to the
+inner side to make our observations. We must go within her orbit, and
+then as she comes past allow her attraction to draw us gently toward
+her."
+
+We had quickly overtaken and passed Deimos, far within her orbit. I was
+keeping a close watch for Phobos out of the rear window as we circled
+about Mars at a distance which we calculated, from my weight on the
+scales, must be within the path of the satellite. We were circling in
+the same direction that the great planet was rotating, and yet we passed
+by things on his surface, which proved that we were travelling faster
+than his rotation. The doctor noticed, with his telescope, a brilliant
+snow-capped peak of a great mountain towering up from a small island.
+The contrast of the snow peak, with the darkish green waters all around
+it, was the most pronounced thing visible on the great planet, and he
+decided this must be the white spot detached from the polar ice which
+our astronomers have frequently observed at about twenty-five degrees
+south latitude, and to which they have given the name Hall's Island.
+
+"I am afraid we have not appreciated the speed at which we have been
+travelling," remarked the doctor. "Phobos is very slow in overtaking
+us;" and he was just beginning to slacken speed still more, when he
+suddenly cried out,--
+
+"Here she is ahead of us now! We have overtaken her, instead of waiting
+for her to catch us!"
+
+And, true enough, we were gradually approaching a small brownish mass,
+feebly illuminated on its outer half by the sun, and more faintly still
+on its inner half by reflected light from Mars.
+
+And how shall I describe that queer little toy-world which we were
+gradually overtaking? Imagine, if you can, a little island, less than a
+third the size of the Isle of Wight, tossed a few thousand miles into
+space, and circling there rapidly to avoid falling back upon the greater
+sphere. Imagine that flying island devoid of soil, of trees or
+vegetation, of water or air, of everything but barren, uncrumbled,
+homogeneous rock, and you have some idea of the unadorned desolation of
+Phobos, into which we were slowly sailing, or falling. There was not
+even the slightest trace of sand or scraps of rock, such as time must
+have abraded from even the hardest surfaces, but the reason for this
+soon became apparent.
+
+The doctor feared steering directly against her as we approached, lest
+we should land with a crash. We had already reached her and were
+travelling along her inner side. Although we were very near her, she
+seemed to have very little attraction for us. Then he turned very much
+closer, but as soon as the influence of the rudder was released, we
+seemed to leave her instead of falling upon her as we expected. We were
+still travelling faster than she was, and had we steered directly
+against her, we would have crashed and bumped against her protuberances.
+Still there seemed to be no other way to make a landing. In order to
+estimate the amount of such a shock, the doctor calculated, from the
+best information he had of her size and a guess at her density, that she
+would attract the projectile and its entire load with a force of only
+two pounds. That was not enough to cause any very great shock, and he
+decided to take chances at once, before we had entirely passed her. He
+turned the rudder hard over toward the satellite, and we came against
+her with scarcely any crash, but with a bumping and grating that
+continued until the rudder was eased back. Then, to our great surprise,
+we did not remain on the surface, but rose from it and sailed inward
+towards Mars.
+
+"Something wrong here!" exclaimed the doctor. "She has no attraction for
+us."
+
+"Well, how do you explain this?" I asked. "You say the whole projectile
+weighs only two pounds toward Phobos, when, just a short time ago, I
+weighed nearly eight pounds myself on the scales."
+
+"True enough!" he cried; "the gravity of Mars must be dominant." He
+began figuring rapidly, and then exclaimed: "We weigh one hundred and
+thirty pounds toward Mars, and only two pounds toward the satellite.
+Small wonder that we could not make a landing, with Mars pulling us away
+sixty-five times harder than Phobos attracted us! But this is very
+strange! I remember no mention of this in any of the astronomical
+writings, and it is as easily calculable on Earth as it is here.
+Moreover, this must cause everything that is loose upon Phobos to fall
+upon Mars. The great planet is tugging at everything the satellite has
+with a force sixty-five times stronger than her own!"
+
+"Now, I am afraid those figures won't do, Doctor," I put in. "For, if
+what you say is true, what prevents the whole satellite from tumbling
+into Mars at once?"
+
+"She would do so were it not for centrifugal force. The speed with which
+she whirls around the planet must just balance the force with which he
+attracts her, and thus she is kept in her orbit. But stones and loose
+things on this side of her centre are attracted more strongly by Mars
+than they are repelled by the whirling, so they must all have fallen to
+the planet. That is why the surface was perfectly barren. If Phobos
+always keeps the same side turned toward Mars, there may be rocks and
+soil on the outer side, and we could land there with a positive current;
+but we could not see the great planet, as I had hoped."
+
+"I have had quite enough of this moon-chasing," I said; "let us be off
+for the large game at once!" and the doctor agreeing, we turned directly
+toward Mars.
+
+
+
+
+BOOK II
+
+Other World Life
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER I
+
+Why Mars gives a Red Light
+
+
+Our telescope was now pointed exactly at Mars, and we were observing
+every feature as we approached him. Compared with the illuminated
+crescent of the Earth, which we had studied when we were observing the
+Andes, our present view was infinitely vaster and more comprehensive. We
+were approaching the illuminated side of a planet, whereas we had then
+been rapidly receding from the dark side of one partly lighted at its
+edge. In our new vista there were remarkably few clouds. There were a
+few pale mists here and there over the seas, but no such heavy, black
+masses as had frequently obscured the Earth.
+
+On Mars there were fewer large bodies of water, and a very much greater
+proportion of land. In fact, about the Equator, whither we were
+steering, there seemed to be a broad, uninterrupted zone of land, with
+occasional bays or inlets cutting into it, but never crossing it. An
+open sea of considerable proportions surrounded the great ice-cap at
+each pole, and it was apparently thus possible to travel entirely
+around the globe, either by sea or by land, as one might choose.
+
+"Behold again the infinite wisdom of the Creator!" cried the doctor.
+"Although Mars is a much smaller planet than our own, it is fitted for
+almost as large a population. The land is nearly all grouped about the
+Equator, where it is warm enough to live comfortably. On the contrary,
+on Earth there is no important civilization under the Equator, and most
+of the land is favourably located in the north temperate zone. On Earth
+the intervention of great oceans between the continents kept the
+population restricted to Asia and Egypt for centuries, and to the Old
+World for a still longer time. But here, this band of continuous land
+has made it easy and natural to explore the whole globe, and its
+inhabitants have had ample time and opportunity to distribute
+themselves."
+
+But by far the most wonderful thing that we had been observing for a
+long time, and which became more remarkable as we approached, was that
+the entire planet, seas and continents alike, gave off a reddish light.
+This tinge of red had been visible ever since we had left the Earth.
+Much further back we had observed that it seemed to extend a little
+beyond the outline of Mars, and we now saw that even the white light
+from the snow-caps had a faint tinge of red.
+
+"For centuries the ruddy light of this planet has been remarked," said
+the doctor. "His very name was given him because of his gory, warlike
+appearance. Scientists have attempted to explain it by supposing that
+his vegetation is uniformly red, instead of green like ours. Still
+others, objecting that his vegetation could not possibly be rank or
+plentiful, or continue the same colour through all seasons, have
+supposed that his soil or primæval rock is of a deep red colour. But
+neither of these suppositions explain why his seas should give off a
+reddish light mixed with their green, or why the pure white of polar
+snows should be tinged with crimson."
+
+We must have been still two hundred miles above the surface when the
+barometer began to rise feebly, indicating that we were already entering
+the Martian atmosphere; and, as we proceeded, the reddish glow spread
+all around us, and was even dimly visible behind as well as in front. We
+were still travelling too rapidly to plunge into the denser atmosphere
+or attempt a landing. Besides, we wished to explore the planet, and find
+life and civilization before choosing a landing place. And as we drew
+nearer, in a constantly narrowing circle, that red haze was all about us
+everywhere.
+
+"There can be but one explanation of it," said the doctor at last. "This
+red is a colour in the Martian atmosphere. It seems very strange and
+almost impossible to us; but we must prepare ourselves for extremely
+unusual and even apparently impossible things."
+
+But this seemed to disturb the doctor greatly, as also did the fact that
+we could no longer breathe with comfort the rare air which we had not
+found objectionable far back in space. Our returning weight made
+physical effort again necessary, and we were able to exert ourselves but
+little without panting and gasping. The rarest air we had used had shown
+a pressure of fourteen, and we were now compelled to increase this to
+eighteen in order to be comfortable.
+
+"This Martian air is sure to give us trouble," the doctor said to me
+after considerable reflection. "In the first place, its red colour makes
+me fear it is not composed of the same gases that our air is. If it
+should turn out to be a mixture of oxygen and nitrogen, like ours, there
+is the possibility that this red matter which gives it colour will be
+poisonous to us. And even if it is not harmful, I do not think the air
+will have a pressure above ten or eleven, and we seem to need eighteen
+or twenty for comfort. I shall be very sorry if we have to return at
+once; but our supply of air is limited, you know."
+
+"You keep a close watch through your telescope for those flying men you
+promised to show me," I answered. "If they can live in this air, I think
+we can manage it somehow. I will not go back while there is a breath
+left in me."
+
+But as we drew nearer and nearer to the surface we did not discover the
+slightest sign of habitation. As far as we could see there was a great
+desert, barren of all vegetation, and apparently unwatered since
+creation. Our telescope did not detect the existence even of animals or
+creeping things.
+
+"The wisdom of the Creator is probably quite as profound, but certainly
+not as apparent just here as it was somewhat farther back," I ventured.
+
+"We must search over the whole surface of the globe until we find smoke
+rising," said the doctor. "That is the sure sign of intelligent life on
+Earth. There has hardly been a tribe of the lowest savages there which
+did not know how to light a fire, and this knowledge would be far more
+essential on a cold planet like this. Wherever we find smoke we shall
+find those intellectual creatures, corresponding to men on our planet."
+
+Presently, far ahead of us, we discerned a small black cloud rapidly
+crossing our path. As we approached we examined it through the
+telescope, and soon saw that it was nothing less than an enormous flock
+of swiftly-flying small grey birds. This was our first acquaintance with
+what we afterwards found to be the predominating form of animal life on
+the planet. But the swift-winged cloud bore away from us, as if fleeing
+from the desert, and was soon lost to view.
+
+It was not long after this that we perceived a broad stripe of
+brilliant green extending down into the dull expanse of the desert. In
+the middle of this verdant zone there was a weaving silver ribbon, which
+could be nothing else than a great river, along whose banks we could
+discern hundreds of hovering or wading birds, hopping lugubriously, or
+spreading their broad wings in a low flight.
+
+As we now lowered rapidly to examine the soil more closely, we saw that
+we were approaching some great geometrical masses of hewn rock, whose
+regularity of design indicated that they were buildings of some sort. We
+at once decided to land and investigate these, even if we had to take up
+our search for intelligent life later.
+
+We remarked that none of these enormous structures were square, or with
+right-angled corners, such as we were used to. They all seemed to be a
+combination or multiplication of a single design, which was nothing more
+than a massive triangular wall, with its right angle on the ground and
+its acute angle at the top. Sometimes two were built together, with
+their perpendicular surfaces joining; again, four were joined in the
+same manner, and one very large one was composed of twelve of these,
+radiating from a common centre, which, if they had quite joined each
+other, would have formed a gigantic cone.
+
+I took another look at the tall, slender birds down the river, and
+remarked to the doctor,--
+
+"These great structures are no birds' nests! You can't make me believe
+winged men would build with stone. These look more like giants'
+playthings than anything else."
+
+"They appear to me like the gnomons of enormous sundials," remarked the
+doctor; "and, indeed, their uses must certainly be astronomical. With
+these one can not only tell the time, but the ascension and meridian of
+the sun and stars, and therefore the months and seasons."
+
+We lowered and circled about above the largest one, which had twelve of
+the triangular walls built in circular form, with their common
+perpendicular line in the centre and their acute angles at the
+circumference. On closer observation, the twelve slanting sides, which
+radiated from the common peak, had a tubular appearance, and we were
+soon able to look down through almost a hundred great cylindrical
+chambers, which ran from a common opening at the top, slanting at every
+different angle down to the surface.
+
+"These are nothing more than great, immovable masonry telescopes, for
+watching the stars in their courses!" cried the doctor. "Look, there is
+one perpendicular cylinder for observing just when a star or planet
+comes directly overhead, and these scores of other cylinders, at
+different angles, successively afford a view of a given constellation as
+it rises and then declines."
+
+"Then they have built a separate masonry telescope, pointing in almost
+every conceivable direction, instead of having one movable telescope to
+take any direction," said I.
+
+The wonderful size and massive construction of these was very striking,
+rivalling the pyramids of Egypt in their ponderous and enduring
+character. They were located on a raised plateau, whence the view in all
+directions was quite unobstructed. We came gently to land in the midst
+of them. To the rear, whence we had come, I could see the desolate waste
+of the desert. From the forward window we observed that the peaceful
+river kept a straight course from the cataract where it plunged over the
+plateau, through the green valley, between level banks, as far as we
+could see; and just at the foot of our plateau restfully nestled a city,
+whose massive and towering structures reached almost to our level. With
+the aid of the telescope we saw beings moving slowly about. Their form
+was upright and unwinged, but more than this we could not see. The
+deliberation and stately dignity of their movements comported perfectly
+with the majestic city wherein they dwelt.
+
+"At last we have arrived at the boundaries of Martian civilization,"
+exclaimed the doctor. "We will rest here and test the atmosphere; and if
+it permits us, we will then venture forth to measure our skill and
+knowledge against this race of builders. I hazard a guess that we will
+excel them in many things, for they are apparently only at the
+perfection of their Stone Age, while we finished that long ago, and have
+since passed through the Ages of Iron and of Steam, and are now at the
+dawn of the Era of Magnetism and Gravitation. Our minds are more fertile
+and elastic, for with this little movable telescope we probably obtain
+better results than they have done with their years of toiling
+calculation and patient building."
+
+"You will be sadly disappointed if they so far excel us that they eat us
+up at two mouthfuls," said I. "As they move about yonder, they impress
+me as being full of power."
+
+"They are as sluggish as elephants," he replied. "We are certainly more
+rapid in thought and action, and it is highly probable that we shall
+excel them in physical strength, as we have been built for three times
+as heavy muscular tasks as they."
+
+"Still, if we cannot make them understand that we come peaceably as
+friends, they may attempt to kill us as the quickest solution of the
+question. And they are a whole race against two of us," said I, just
+beginning to realize all the difficulties that were yet ahead of us.
+
+"Unless they are a very intelligent and magnanimous race, they will
+probably attempt to take us prisoners," he answered. "It is the mark of
+an enlightened nation to welcome strangers whose powers are unknown. A
+primitive race fears everything it does not understand, and force is
+its only argument against a superior intelligence."
+
+Thereupon I immediately began a thorough overhauling of all the arms and
+ammunition, while the doctor prepared to test the air. There was a tone
+of confident exultation in his voice when he spoke again.
+
+"This redness of the air will not trouble us a whit. Look! you can see
+no tinge of red between here and that huge wall yonder, nor anywhere
+along the ground as far as you can see. It is so slight a colouring that
+it is only noticeable in vast reaches of atmosphere, like the blue
+colour in our own air. See here, where a small cloud obscures the sky
+there is no ruddy tinge. There is no more colouring-matter in this than
+there is indigo in our own air. The amount of it is so infinitely small
+that it will never trouble us. Now, if it only contains oxygen enough,
+we are sure of life in it."
+
+"Yes, if they will leave us alive to breathe it," I added, counting out
+seventeen cartridges for each rifle.
+
+"The air outside shows a pressure of only eleven, while we have eighteen
+inside," he said. "I will bring in the discharging cylinder full of the
+outer air, and by keeping it upside down the lighter air will remain in
+it. Then, if a candle flame will burn steadily in it, the oxygen we need
+is there."
+
+Suiting the action to the word, he carefully drew in the inverted
+cylinder, and cautiously brought a lighted candle into it. To our great
+delight the flame burned for a moment with a brighter, stronger light
+than it did in the air of the compartment.
+
+"Hurrah!" cried the doctor, as happily as if he had just earned the
+right to live. "It seems to have more oxygen than our own air, which
+will make up for the lesser density."
+
+Then he put the lighted candle in the cylinder, and quickly discharged
+it outside upon the ground where we could see it. The flame had almost
+twice the brilliancy that it had had inside.
+
+"Our scientists who have sneered at the possibility of life on Mars,
+because of its rare atmosphere, have overlooked the simplicity of the
+problem. They delight in propounding posers for Omnipotence. If a
+Creator dilutes oxygen with three parts of nitrogen on one planet where
+conditions make a dense atmosphere, why should He not dilute oxygen with
+an equal part of nitrogen on a planet where the air is rare? Air is not
+a chemical compound, but a simple mixture. When a stronger, more
+life-giving atmosphere is needed, let there be less of the diluting gas.
+The nitrogen is of no known use, except to weaken the oxygen."
+
+"Let me out into it, if you say it is all right," I cried. "I am tired
+of this bird-cage."
+
+"Put on the diver's suit and helmet, and I will weaken the pressure of
+the air gradually, to prevent bleeding at the nose and ears which a
+sudden change might cause. When you are used to the low pressure, you
+can throw off the helmet and try the Martian double-oxygenated air."
+
+I hurriedly donned the queer, baggy suit and the enormous helmet with
+the bulging glass eyes, and then connected the two long rubber tubes
+which sprang from the top with the air pipes which led to the doctor's
+compartment. He put in the bulkhead, and I went to the port-hole to
+unseal it. As I glanced out the little window, I thought I saw a light
+very near the mica. Was it our candle flame that something had lifted?
+The thick glass of the helmet blinded me a little, and I approached the
+window and peered out, coming face to face with a Martian, whose nose
+was pressed against the mica! What a rounded, smooth, and expressionless
+face! But what large, deep, luminous eyes!
+
+I sprang back from the window in surprise, but not more quickly than he
+did. Just then the projectile rolled over slightly with a crunching
+noise, and I hear the thud of a heavy muffled blow on the doctor's end.
+Suddenly he pulled away the bulkhead and whispered to me excitedly:--
+
+"They are all about us outside--dozens of them! They are examining the
+projectile and trying to break it open. If they strike the windows, it
+will be too easy."
+
+The projectile tottered a little again. There was a heaving noise, and
+one end rose a little from the ground.
+
+"They are trying to carry us off, Doctor," I cried. "You must turn in
+the currents and fly away from them."
+
+The projectile was just then lifted awkwardly, and wavered a little and
+pitched, as if it were being carried by a throng struggling clumsily all
+about it. The doctor sprang to his apparatus and turned in four
+batteries at once. We shot up swiftly in a long curve, and from my
+window I could see the circle of amazed Martians, standing dumbly with
+their hands still held up in front of them, as they had been when the
+projectile left them, while they gazed open-mouthed into the sky at us.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER II
+
+The Terror Birds
+
+
+"They must have thought the projectile was another chunk fallen from
+Phobos!" I exclaimed; "and now they can't make out why it should fly
+back to the satellite again."
+
+"The more we mystify them, the more they will fear us," said the doctor.
+"I am going to make a swift downward swoop now, as if we would crash
+through the midst of them. Then perhaps they will let us alone till we
+are ready for them."
+
+He had scarcely finished speaking when we shot down in a long curve,
+like the swing of a pendulum, apparently making directly for the group
+of Martians. They were not seized by any quick panic; they were too
+phlegmatic for that. But just as the projectile threatened to smash into
+them, they seemed to realize the danger, and to grasp the idea that it
+was being operated and directed by some power and mind inside. Then they
+turned, scrambling clumsily over each other, and fled with the awkward
+precipitation of a rhinoceros in a hurry. Our pendulum motion swung us
+up a little before we would have struck them, but they had scattered and
+were scurrying to hiding-places behind the walls of the masonry
+telescopes. We continued our flight to the edge of the plateau, whence
+we could get a better view of the city and hold a more commanding
+position.
+
+"None of these who have seen our aerial evolutions are likely to trouble
+us again," remarked the doctor. "But they will quickly spread the news
+to the city, and we must be where we can watch everything that goes on
+there, and hurriedly prepare for the worst they can do to us. We will
+seek the principal approach to the plateau and defend it."
+
+His ideas had suddenly become altogether warlike. I liked the excitement
+of it so far, and hastened to agree with him. We came to land in a
+sheltered part of the main road leading to the plateau, and prepared to
+emerge and set up our telescope where it would sweep the city.
+
+"Shall we try this air on the dog before you go out?" inquired the
+doctor in all seriousness.
+
+"Try it on the rabbit if you wish, but not on Two-spot."
+
+He put Bunny into the discharging cylinder and pushed him out. The meek
+little animal seemed quite delighted at being released. He hopped about
+playfully, skipping much higher and farther at each hop than I had ever
+seen him do before.
+
+This reassured me, and I put on the helmet again, and opened the
+port-hole. As the rarer Martian air swept in, my suit swelled and puffed
+to its fullest capacity, by the expansion of the denser air within it. I
+was so blown up that I could scarcely squeeze myself out of the
+port-hole. It was like a red misty day outside, though there were no
+clouds. The sky was a perfectly cloudless dull red, and the coppery sun
+was shining almost overhead. His orb looked less than two-thirds the
+size it did from the Earth, and one could look at its duller light
+fixedly without hurting the eyes. Phobos was also faintly visible,
+steering his backward course across the ruddy sky. The thermometer
+showed a temperature just above freezing, but I was perfectly warm
+within the diver's suit and its envelope of air. The red haze and utter
+lack of breeze added a deceptive appearance of sultry heat.
+
+I was gazing back toward the Gnomons, when suddenly a group of the
+Martians we had first seen came around a turn of the road and over a
+knoll into full view of us. They were plainly surprised beyond all
+measure by my strange appearance. My puffed and corpulent figure, my
+bulging face of glass, my two long rubber tentacles extending back into
+my shell, must have made them think I was a very curious animal! Also
+they were probably surprised at seeing any living thing come out of the
+mass, which they must have thought had fallen from their moon, for she
+was always shying things at them. And I now had my first chance to
+study their appearance closely.
+
+"Doctor," I said softly, to see if he could hear me through the
+connecting tubes. As I had hoped, they proved to be very good
+speaking-trumpets, and I heard his answer noisily.
+
+"Speak lower; I hear you easily," I said. "There is a party of them
+coming down this road to descend to the city. They have stopped upon
+seeing me. They are nothing but men like ourselves. I see no wings,
+horns, tails, or other appendages that we have not. They are just fat,
+puffy, sluggish men, very white and pale in colour, and covered with a
+peculiar clothing that looks like feathers. I seem to be a far greater
+freak to them than they are to me."
+
+Had he been a million miles away, I should have known that it was the
+doctor answering, from his unsurprised and matter-of-fact tone. I
+imagined I could see the exact expression of his face as he said,--
+
+"After all, then, man is the most perfect animal the Creator could make.
+From a mechanical standpoint he needs nothing that he has not, and has
+nothing that he does not need. However you change him, you would make
+him imperfect. Physiologically he may be much the same on all the
+planets, but there is room for the widest variations on the intellectual
+and spiritual side."
+
+"Do not forget that my patriarchal ancestors record that God made man
+in His own image, upon which there could be no improvement," I put in.
+
+"Yes, but modern scientists would have us believe that your patriarchs
+would have written a different fable if they had understood the theory
+of evolution. It appears that man is really a little lower than the
+angels, by being material and ponderable and visible, but the general
+image may be the same. Perhaps upon the various planets it may be that
+the same lines of differences prevail, as between the heathen tribes and
+the civilized people on earth. There at least we are sure that
+physiologically no marked difference exists between the lowest savage
+and the wisest sage."
+
+"Except, perhaps, that the savage may have the best digestion," I added.
+"Those look as if they had but few troubles and plenty to eat. I see no
+wrinkles or hard lines. Their forms and features are gracefully rounded.
+Their eyes are larger and stronger, with a liquid depth suited to this
+soft and weaker light. None of them wear beards, and very little hair is
+visible. I must say they do not look at all warlike. If we could only
+make them understand that we are friendly, I think they would gladly bid
+us to a feast of freshly-cooked meats and good wines, and ask us,
+chuckling, for the latest after-dinner stories that are current on
+Earth."
+
+"Make friendly signs to them, and see how they behave," he suggested.
+
+I slowly waved my hand to them to approach, and extended my arm as if to
+shake hands. While talking with the doctor I had stood perfectly still,
+and they had been warily watching me all the time. When I moved and
+stretched out my arm, they took fright and fled precipitately.
+
+"I have scared them away, as if they were a lot of roe deer!" I
+exclaimed.
+
+"Then let us hasten preparations while they are gone," he replied. "If
+you can stand the pressure I have given you, it will be safe to throw
+off the helmet and suit."
+
+Upon lifting the cover from my head, I caught a draught of fresh cold
+air that was unspeakably invigorating. I drank it in deep breaths, and
+felt like skipping about for joy. Kicking off the suit that trammelled
+me, I put it and the helmet back inside and closed the port-hole. Then
+the doctor pulled away the bulkhead and breathed the mixed atmosphere,
+half-Martian from my compartment and half-Earthly from his. He suffered
+no inconvenience from the sudden half-way step toward a lower density,
+and presently he emerged into the exhilarating air with me.
+
+"This atmosphere has a stimulation in it like thin wine, and it gives me
+an appetite. I feel strong and virile enough to tip Mars topsy-turvy," I
+said. "At least, let me get some cigars to smoke while we are arming our
+stronghold."
+
+When I went in for the guns, I put a handful of Havanas in my vest
+pocket, and emerging, I laid the rifles handy and proceeded to light a
+weed. I was watching the bright flame of the match, and puffing with
+gusto at the fragrant smoke, when from another direction a second squad
+of Martians came into view very near us. They immediately halted and
+gazed at us in open-mouthed wonder, which soon changed to a look of
+horror. Remembering the pipe of peace among the American Indians, I drew
+out a cigar, and hastily striking a match upon my trousers, I held the
+weed and flame toward them. Not a man of them stayed to see any more.
+Their flight was more precipitate than the other party's had been.
+
+"It was your smoke they were afraid of," said the doctor. "Whenever you
+puffed, I saw them looking at each other blankly and dropping back a
+little. They have taken you for a fire-eater and a smoke-breather, and
+when you drew the flame from your lungs it was too much for them. But
+all this serves our purpose of frightening them. They will spread
+strange stories in the city below!"
+
+I helped him carry out the telescope, and we placed it in a commanding
+position. Then we propped up the broad shields, so that each of us could
+crouch behind one, and I laid a broadsword and rifle handy to each. Then
+we put on the linked-wire shirts under our coats, buckled the revolvers
+about us, and, as it was rather cold, we each put on a thick pair of
+gloves and a heavy topcoat.
+
+The doctor, who was carefully watching things down in the city through
+the telescope, cried out to me presently,--
+
+"There is wild commotion and great excitement down yonder by the great
+palace. The news has reached them! They are preparing to come in force
+to take us!"
+
+"I wish I knew what their sign of peace is, we might save a conflict,"
+said I. "Perhaps our fire-arms won't harm them."
+
+"More likely they will blow them all to pieces," answered the doctor.
+"But we must not fire unless it becomes absolutely necessary to defend
+ourselves, for if we kill any of them, they will then have cause to deal
+with us as dreadfully as they can. We cannot hope to overcome them all.
+It will be enough to demonstrate our supremacy, so that they will allow
+us to live among them. Therefore, let us simply defend ourselves and do
+nothing offensive, thus showing that we are peaceably disposed."
+
+"You cry peace, but look at the great army they are sending against us!"
+I exclaimed. "There are four companies of foot soldiers marching through
+the streets, and each man is armed with a very long cross-bow and wears
+a brightly-coloured bird-wing on his forehead. The streets are filling
+with people to see them pass. Now three more companies wheel out of the
+palace, but they have no cross-bows. They are whirling something around
+their heads."
+
+The doctor anxiously awaited his turn at the telescope, and as he looked
+he clutched his pistol though they were still several miles away.
+
+"Those are slings they are whirling about their heads," he said. "And
+the commander of each company rides an ambling donkey, and wears a heavy
+plaited beard and long braided hair, without head covering."
+
+"But look further back, coming out of the palace now!" I cried. "What
+are those strange, stately animals far behind the soldiers? I can see
+them with the naked eye."
+
+"_Donnerwetter!_ what towering birds!" he muttered under his breath.
+"Like ostriches in form, but as tall and graceful as a giraffe! There is
+a man riding astride the neck of each of them, yet he could scarcely
+reach half-way to their heads!"
+
+"Are those monstrous things birds?" I demanded. "Let me look. What long
+and bony legs they have! They would stride over us without touching our
+heads; but how they could kick!"
+
+"And how they could run!" put in the doctor. "See, they stride easily
+over seven or eight feet with a single step. They must be messenger
+birds, for there are only four of them, and their riders are not
+armed."
+
+"They may have hundreds more of them in reserve, and they could fight
+far more viciously than the men. See what a wicked beak and what a long
+muscular neck they have. They could crush a skull in a twinkling with
+one swift swoop of that head! I will fight the men, but I will take no
+chances with those birds!"
+
+Although these strange, small-winged creatures had started long after
+the soldiers, they had quickly passed them, and were now beginning to
+mount toward our plateau. They were making swift detours at intervals,
+as if to reconnoitre. We were hidden behind our rocks and shields, and
+the riders could not see us, and they had evidently not yet seen the
+brass barrel of our telescope. It would be folly for them to attempt to
+come up the road we were guarding, for we could easily heave boulders
+over and crush them. I had already put my shoulder to an immense rock
+near the brink, to see if it was as heavy as it looked. I found it
+porous and crumbly, and no heavier than so much chalk. Up the roadway
+the great birds climbed with wonderful ease. Their riders were evidently
+looking for us without any idea where we were.
+
+"I won't see those elephantine bipeds come any nearer to me!" I
+exclaimed, and rushing to the boulder, which was certainly four feet in
+diameter, I toppled it over the brink, and expected to see it carry
+everything down before it. It rolled slowly down the steep bank, with
+hardly a third the force and speed of the same mass on Earth. This
+discouraged me, but I watched for it to reach the foremost bird. He was
+surprised by it, but made one step sideways, and, lifting his great
+right leg, the stone rolled under him without any damage. He gave a
+queer, guttural croak, accompanied by a most violent motion of the head
+and neck. The other birds, thus warned, dodged quickly sidewise, and
+avoided the slowly rolling boulder; but all three of the riders were
+thrown by the swift lateral movement of the birds. The astonished men
+picked themselves up slowly from the bushes and approached their birds.
+But they could scarcely reach with their hands the lower part of the
+neck where they had sat.
+
+"Unless they are good jumpers, they cannot mount again without a
+ladder!" said the doctor.
+
+"Jumping is easier than standing still here," I interrupted. "I can jump
+ten feet high with no trouble."
+
+"Yes; but these Martian boobies haven't your muscles. _Aber Blitzen!_
+did you see that fellow mount his bird again?"
+
+I had seen it, and I do not remember anything more wonderful than this
+operation, which was repeated for each rider. The man went in front of
+his bird, turned his back, and stooped forward. The bird then curved his
+long neck to the ground, and put his head and neck between the legs of
+the rider, who clutched tightly with his arms and legs. With a swift,
+graceful swing, the bird lifted its head on high, carrying the rider as
+if he were nothing. When the great neck was again erect, the man slid
+carefully down it to his place, much as one might slip down a telegraph
+pole. Then two of the birds turned back to the city as swiftly as they
+could go, and the other two took separate side trails and soon
+disappeared.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER III
+
+The Armies of Mars
+
+
+As the two returning birds passed the marching soldiers, their riders
+evidently delivered some message to the captains, for the soldiers
+suddenly broke forward in a run, using their long cross-bows with great
+dexterity as jumping staves. Placing the outer end upon the ground ahead
+of them as they ran, they leaped and hung upon the cross-piece with
+their hands. The springy resistance of this tough wood imparted to them
+a forward motion with its rebound, and they scaled great distances at
+each jump. The whole company did it in concert, and they made almost as
+great speed as if they had been riding bicycles. The slingers were
+consequently left far in the rear.
+
+Less than half way up the incline the archers stopped, arranged their
+bow-thongs, and selected feathered arrows from a pouch slung over their
+shoulders.
+
+"They can never hit us from that distance!" I exclaimed; "a rifle would
+not carry so far."
+
+"You forget the weak gravity which will bend their course down very
+little, and the thin air which will barely resist their flight; this is
+a model planet for archery," he answered. "Quick! drop behind your
+shield! They have fired the first volley!"
+
+A torrent of the shafts fell all about us, and many pelted against our
+shields. Those which struck the soft earth of the bank sank into it and
+stuck there, but those which struck our steel were shivered and broken.
+
+"Sit still and let them shoot away their arrows," I whispered. "This
+will soon be over."
+
+The next volley came with a little more force, as if they had marched
+further up the hill. One or two arrows fell very near me, and I reached
+for them to examine their construction. They were made of the hollow,
+filmy stock of a rather tough reed, and were pointed with a chipped
+stone tip, which was brittle, but not harder than porous chalk.
+
+"That stuff wouldn't pierce my two coats, to say nothing of the linked
+steel shirt," I sneered. "I will show them what fools they are!" and I
+walked boldly out to the brink and faced them. They let fly a quick
+volley with a concerted shout. As I saw the arrows start, I turned my
+back and bent down my head quickly. Perhaps a dozen of the slim reeds
+pelted me, and then I stooped over and gathered up as many as I could
+find, and broke them all in my hands before their eyes.
+
+This sent a hum of excited jabbering through their ranks, and they fired
+no more. I stood watching them, and presently I grasped my two hands
+together and shook hands with myself, to try to convey to them the idea
+that we were friendly; but it must have carried no meaning to them. By
+this time the slingers had come up, and I retired behind my shield to
+await their action. The archers seemed very glad of their arrival, and
+yielded the foremost place to them. I noted their operations carefully,
+and saw them place something, which did not look like a round stone, in
+the pocket of their slings, and then they whirled it long and
+cautiously. Suddenly they discharged it with a swift movement of their
+bodies backward, which landed them on one knee.
+
+"Wide of the mark!" I cried, as the missiles sailed off far to the right
+of us. But just before landing they bent a sharp, surprising curve, and
+lacked but little of hitting us behind the shields! The things they had
+thrown were the thin, concave shells of a large nut, and the trick of
+discharging them gave them their peculiar flight.
+
+"I don't like this throwing around the corner!" exclaimed the doctor.
+"With a little truer aim they will be able to hit us behind anything."
+
+"Hurry, bring your shield over behind mine, and face it the other way,"
+said I; "then we will crouch between the two in safety."
+
+He did this just in time, for some of the next volley actually curved
+around and hit his shield, but none struck mine in front. However, the
+shells which fell near us were of light weight, and would not have
+bruised us much with heavy clothing on. Presently their pelting ceased,
+and we concluded that they were planning something new. We decided to
+let them know that we were not hurt, so we emerged; and I tried throwing
+the shells back with my hand, but I could not control their erratic
+course. When they saw this they jeered at me, and I itched to treat them
+to just one pistol shot, only to show them what child's play their
+fighting was! Presently we saw what they were waiting for. Far down the
+road the two great birds were returning harnessed together, and dragging
+behind them an enormous catapult. Tied across their backs were two stout
+darts, seemingly twelve feet long and three inches square. Each of them
+had a wicked-looking barbed tip.
+
+There was a pleased and confident jabber among the slingers and archers
+below as the birds arrived. The catapult was turned about toward us, and
+lashed tightly to stakes driven in front and behind. Then the birds were
+hitched to the cord of the immense bow, and they pulled it far back,
+until the men made it fast in a notch. The cross-piece had now become
+almost a half-circle, quite ten feet in diameter. The captain of a
+company of archers acted as gunner, and carefully adjusted the catapult,
+aiming it evidently at our shield. Upon seeing this we placed the two
+shields together, and leaned them both inward toward us, so as to make
+their angle with the upward course of the dart more obtuse, and thus
+cause a glancing blow instead of a solid impact. Crouching under the
+steel shelters, we awaited the dart.
+
+Whiz-z-z it whistled up through the thin air! Bimm-m! it struck the top
+of our outer shield, and glanced off as we had hoped. The outer steel
+rattled and banged against the inner, and both shields pressed hard over
+against us, but not the slightest damage was done.
+
+We went out to watch them load the second dart. They evidently saw the
+impotence of the glancing blow, and were noisily discussing it. A
+captain of the slingers was arguing hotly with the gunner, who was
+finally persuaded to take his aim a little lower. Then a hum of approval
+went through the throng.
+
+"They do think a little, but they are not secretive!" I sneered,
+flopping our inner shield over flat on the ground. "Come, sit on this,
+Doctor, and we will lean the outer shield over us, and snuggle in
+between them as cosy as two oysters! Let them fondly imagine they can
+shoot us through this pasty soil, and keep their own counsel better
+after this!"
+
+It was not a bad guess on my part; for the second dart struck the edge
+of the cliff, bored through the loose soil, and thumped our lower shield
+with a dull thud that lifted us from the ground. But the point and
+edges of the dart were blunted, and crumbled with the blow, and I could
+find no dent in the shield.
+
+"See, the birds are returning to the city in haste for more darts!" said
+the doctor. But I was interested in examining the first dart, which had
+fallen a few hundred feet behind us. Its shaft was of roughly-hewn,
+spongy wood, and it weighed far less than half the mass of soft pine
+would on Earth. Its tip was not metal, but chipped stone--crumbly, like
+the arrow-heads. Either they did not know the metals, or they were too
+rare to be used in their arts. And it was to be supposed that they would
+use the hardest stone they had for arrow-heads and dart-tips.
+
+I carried the shaft easily upon my shoulder forward to the edge of the
+cliff. This surprised even the doctor a little, for four Martians had
+been necessary to put it in place upon the catapult. It must have
+astonished them still more, for they were staring at me so blankly that
+I was tempted to toss the dart down their gaping throats!
+
+"Give them just one dose of their own medicine!" suggested the doctor.
+
+"Perhaps I had better teach them to keep their dangerous weapons at
+home," I said; and, balancing the dart easily above my head, I aimed it
+carefully at a dense group around the catapult. I threw my whole force
+into the thrust, and sent the shaft whizzing down at them. Then I
+staggered back, quite exhausted by the effort and gasping for breath.
+
+"Good God! You have impaled two of them upon the dart!" cried the
+doctor, "and it is causing a panic in the whole army!"
+
+And when I sprang up to look, I saw two writhing Martians, much shrunken
+in size and dying upon the dart. The terror-stricken archers and
+slingers were scattering and scurrying in every direction, regardless of
+the shouted orders of their captains. The foremost of the impaled men
+wore a beard, and was no other than the gunner of the catapult.
+
+"I am sorry for the poor devils!" I exclaimed. "I had no idea they were
+so soft and tender. They have shrunk like a pricked balloon!"
+
+"They thought they could prick us like that, and let the life ooze out,"
+said the doctor. "There is no danger that they will shoot any more at
+us. The whole army is afraid that you will throw down the other dart."
+
+Nevertheless, other companies of archers and slingers were seen leaving
+the palace, and the birds were already returning with two more darts.
+And the soldiers below were gaining courage and responding to the
+rallying cries of the captains, who were halloing and pointing toward
+the edge of the cliff, down in the direction of the cataract. I looked
+quickly that way, and instantly shouted,--
+
+"To the rifles, quick, doctor! The other two birds have ascended the
+cliff, and are racing toward us along its edge. Take careful aim at the
+head of that front one. Afterward, let drive two random bullets into his
+body!"
+
+Urged on by their riders, who with their hands swayed the long necks of
+the birds in unison with their rhythmical stride, these two-legged
+giraffes, with the wild look and sharp beak of an eagle, swept
+menacingly toward us.
+
+"Ready now!" I cried, as the foremost came within fifty feet of us.
+"Fire!"
+
+Two sharp reports almost simultaneous, with a less thunderous explosion
+than on Earth, but singing in a higher key and flaming vastly more,
+startled and terrified the Martians. Then crack! crack! bang! bang! four
+other shots in swift succession, followed by the terrific croaking of
+the wounded Terror-bird, which fell ponderously forward, kicking
+violently and beating the ground wildly with its head.
+
+Seizing my broadsword in a flash, I dealt it such a blow upon the neck
+as quite to sever the head from the body. There was a gush of red blood;
+and those who have seen the antics of a decapitated chicken, may
+correspondingly multiply the corpse and imagine the confusion that now
+ensued.
+
+"Stand ready for the second bird!" I shouted to the doctor; but on
+looking, I saw that the other animal refused to be urged forward, after
+seeing the fate of his companion. His rider was half-hearted in his
+efforts, and was watching the forward rider, who had been severely
+thrown with the bird's fall, and badly bruised by the kicking and
+threshing. He seemed to realize that he was in our power, and was
+thoroughly desperate. With a wailing cry he rushed at me with open arms,
+as if to embrace death, for I still held the sword. Dropping the weapon,
+I grappled with him, catching him about the wrists, which shrank under
+my grasp. He seemed to have scarcely the strength of a child; and
+everywhere I touched him, his flesh yielded like the flabby muscles of a
+fat baby. I bent him over backwards, then swung him around and caught
+him by the shoulders, and whirled him around my head. Finally, I tossed
+him over the edge of the cliff, where he landed among some bushes, and
+scrambled down as fast as he could, glad to have saved his life. The
+other rider had turned his bird back toward the cataract with all
+possible despatch.
+
+"The whole army below us is now thoroughly demoralized!" said the
+jubilant doctor. "Many of them fled dismayed on hearing the firing, and
+others screamed and ran away when they saw you decapitate the bird. But
+your wrestling with the rider, and flinging him about like an infant,
+was an object lesson none of them could stay to see repeated. I saw one
+trembling fool slink back to cut the thong of the catapult, so that we
+could not use it on them. They have wholly abandoned the attack!"
+
+"If this is the worst they can do, I will undertake to make myself king,
+and you prime minister here, within twenty-four hours!" I ejaculated,
+decidedly pleased with the idea. "And I will maintain supremacy with a
+standing army of a thousand Terror-birds!"
+
+"The consciousness of superior strength always brings that desire for
+conquest," answered the doctor. "We must not allow it to master us, but
+we must push our advantage. Look! the panic of the first ones reaching
+the city is spreading to the new companies marching out. They are
+trampled over by the fleeing host, they turn and mingle with the
+frightened mob in one struggling, terror-stricken mass! Come, let us be
+into the projectile and after them. With a few booming shots above their
+heads, we will make them think their Thunder-gods have come!"
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER IV
+
+The Strange Bravery of Miss Blank
+
+
+Telescope, rifles, and shields were tumbled into the projectile
+pell-mell, and without stopping to close the port-hole, we steered
+towards the city as we mounted rapidly. When the soldiers, weary of
+running, saw us start, they were stricken with a new fear, and made all
+possible haste for shelter. When they perceived that we were rising into
+the red haze, they took a little courage, but still hastened.
+
+"Perhaps they think we are mounting to the sky for more thunder and
+lightning," I suggested. "Little do they know the destruction we could
+do them with the handful of ammunition we have, if we really meant war
+as much as they at first desired it and now fear it!"
+
+By this time we were almost above the thickest crowd of the fleeing
+army, while the most energetic runners and the Terror-bird that had
+turned back had reached the heart of the city; and we could see the
+alarm spreading like wild-fire to all its inhabitants. I was busy
+loading the rifles with the cartridges which the doctor had robbed of
+their bullets for the pickle-bottle experiment soon after our start.
+
+"We will execute a little _coup_, to show them the difficulties of
+retreat when the enemy is armed with gravity projectiles," said the
+doctor. "Do you see that great gate of the city they are all making for?
+We will drop down there, just in front of them, and prevent their
+entrance. It will be better to keep the whole army outside the walls, if
+possible, for its absence and disorganization will make the rulers all
+the more tractable when we are ready to drop down into their city and
+make peace with them on our own terms."
+
+"I must say you are a good general, Doctor!" I exclaimed. "You plan the
+campaign, and I will do the fighting."
+
+The blank dismay of the soldiers when they saw us descending again, and
+their abject desperation when they perceived that we should land in
+front of them and cut off their entrance to the city, was pitiful to
+see.
+
+"Doctor, do you remember the grand display and the proud strength with
+which these soldiers marched forth? Look at the difference now!"
+
+"Oh, war! war!" he exclaimed. "The glory of its beginning! The terror of
+its prosecution! The misery of its end! Would that it could always be
+carried on by terrorizing the mind instead of by slaying the body!"
+
+As we were about to come to land in front of the straggling multitude of
+soldiers, I fired a dozen blank cartridges as rapidly as I could work
+the rifle. This was at very near range, and although the explosions
+sounded weak to me, the excessive flaming of the powder added a new
+terror. The disorganized army stopped in dread; the stragglers pushing
+up from behind, and the frightened turning of those in front, crushed
+the multitude together and increased the confusion. Throngs of people,
+whose curiosity was still stronger than their fear, were coming out from
+the city. As they saw us float down and land, and then heard the firing,
+they turned and rushed within the gates again, ready to believe far
+worse stories than they had yet heard.
+
+"We must scatter this rabble army and put it wholly to rout," insisted
+the doctor. "I will swing amongst them and over their heads, while you
+burn powder for them. If they won't scatter, use your revolver and wound
+one or two of them."
+
+"No, I will not harm another man," I answered. "They are too weak and
+defenceless a foe, and are no match for us. Hereafter I will fight only
+with the birds."
+
+We rose and sailed slantingly toward them, but they had already started
+to disperse. Those who had jumping-staves disentangled themselves from
+the crowd and scattered into the bushy wastes. I continued firing until
+my blank cartridges were gone, and then we landed just outside the
+entrance and emerged from the projectile to examine the gates and see if
+we could close and fasten them.
+
+Within the wall those who had gained entrance during our last movements
+were rapidly retreating toward the centre of the city, warning all whom
+they passed. One single stately figure showed no fear, and paid no heed
+to the exclamations of the runners. The ampler dress and flowing flaxen
+hair indicated that it was a woman, and to our surprise, though she was
+well clothed, she seemed to be demanding alms of every one as she
+approached us. No one gave her anything, and occasionally a runner
+seized her arm and tried to persuade her to return. But she caught none
+of their excitement, and composedly pursued her course.
+
+"Egad! This beautiful girl is braver than the whole Martian army!" I
+exclaimed in amazement, as she calmly approached where I was standing by
+the gate and extended her fair, plump hand. If she was asking alms, I
+had nothing to give her; but here, at least, was one pacific, composed,
+and reasonable person. Perhaps it was the queen, or a diplomatic envoy
+of the ruler!
+
+"Now is the time to demonstrate our friendliness," I exclaimed, and
+reaching forth my hand I grasped hers in a warm clasp of welcome.
+
+She looked up at me blankly. Her beautiful face carried no expression of
+satisfaction or surprise. Her transparent complexion was neither paled
+by fear nor flushed by pleasure. Her great dreamy eyes, of a deep liquid
+blue, wandered unfixedly in their languid gaze. Still holding her soft
+hand, which was far warmer than my own, I opened her fingers with my
+other hand and pointed at her pink extended palm as if to inquire what
+she wished. I watched her closely, but she made no sign, said nothing,
+looked nothing.
+
+"Since I do not know you, I can think of no more fitting name to call
+you by than Miss Blank," I said, more to express my thought in
+articulate sounds than anything else, for I had no idea she would
+understand me. From her expression I could not judge whether she had
+even heard me, to say nothing of comprehending. She was looking beyond
+me, through the gate, as if searching others from whom she might ask
+alms. Seeing none, she wheeled slowly about to return. Unwillingly I
+released her hand, and stood unspeakably puzzled by the whole matter.
+She was commanding in appearance, being taller than I by a few inches,
+not slim, but well proportioned. She had the stately serenity of a
+dreaming queen, but the blank, unresponsive soul of one who dwelt within
+herself; and though she saw, she did not realize the existence or
+meaning of anything outside.
+
+"Doctor, will all your learning solve this riddle for me!" I exclaimed.
+"Can all the Martian women be like this? She is beautiful of body and
+strangely warm and winning to the touch, but as cold of heart as the
+drifting snow that suffocates a poor lost lamb. She has had a strange
+influence over me; a puzzling, baffling attraction. A suggestion of
+something delicate and subtlely charming, which, when one seeks to seize
+and to define, retires icily behind the drawn curtain of her soul."
+
+"I hope you won't play the lost lamb to her snowdrift!" he sneered, in a
+way that I resented. "One would think she had hypnotized you on the
+spot! And she must be in a trance herself, for she had not sense enough
+to fear us."
+
+"Those who have the most sense fear us the least!" I retorted.
+
+"But fear is our sharp weapon now," he answered; "and some of the
+stragglers, looking back, saw you stand there holding her hand in a
+manner far from warlike. They will report this to the rulers unless we
+forestall them. Come, fasten the gates tightly upon the inside to keep
+the soldiers out, and I will sail over the wall to pick you up."
+
+"Doctor, we make our peace at once, and fight no more with the brothers
+of this girl," I said with decision.
+
+The massive gates were of hewn stone, turning in sockets at their outer
+corners above and below. They swung as easily as if hung upon hinges,
+and when closed a slab of stone came down to bar them. I made them
+fast, and then called out to the doctor,--
+
+"Don't come for me. I have found a jumping-staff, and I think I can leap
+to the top of the wall."
+
+It was a sheer fifteen feet of solid masonry, but my chief delight since
+landing on Martian soil was the inordinate springiness of my leg muscles
+against the feeble gravity. I ran and sprang lustily with the aid of the
+cross-bow, and I remember the doctor's surprised look when he saw me
+clear the entire wall without touching the top and land safely with a
+very mild jolt on his side.
+
+A short oblique ascent of the projectile brought us over the city, and
+revealed to us the condition of desperate panic into which the wild
+reports of the soldiers and the bird-rider had thrown the frantic
+populace. The soldiers still within the walls could not restrain the
+people, or did not try. If there was any government, it lacked a head or
+could not command attention. The stubborn instinct of self-preservation
+was king. Distracted throngs surged out at one gate, to separate and
+waver and hesitate, and finally to fight for a speedy entrance at
+another. On one side soldiers were apparently ordering people down from
+the wall, while on another the excited populace was hauling sentinel
+soldiers from the same elevation, lest our attention should be
+attracted. Within, strong men were weeping and wailing; without, nervous
+men were haranguing the vacillating multitude; but more were stolidly
+pushing with the rabble or being hustled by it.
+
+Only one sign of order and forethought was apparent. Evidently for
+better safety and for an easier defence, the women and children had been
+taken to a central park or pleasure ground, and left there with a small
+guard of soldiers. The men to whom they belonged had apparently all gone
+elsewhere.
+
+"Doctor, we must put an end to this fear and frenzy at the earliest
+possible moment. If we are not destroying those people, we are exciting
+them to destroy each other, which is equally blameworthy. We must go
+down at once, but we had best avoid the frantic men. The women seem far
+more reposeful. Let us drop quietly into that open field in the park,
+and I will make friendly signs to the women, pat the children on the
+head, and give them all to understand that we mean no harm."
+
+He evidently saw that we had quite overdone the scare, and was as much
+impressed by the terrible picture below as I was. We turned down without
+delay, and landed quietly behind a clump of trees. I took a tin of sweet
+biscuits under my arm, and the doctor following me, with a generous
+handful of his trinkets and tinsel toys, we left the projectile, and
+rounding the grove of dwarfed trees we approached the romping children
+first. I patted their flaxen curls, lightly pinched their cheeks, and
+handed each of them a sweet biscuit. Then, while the doctor distributed
+strange toys amongst them, I put on my most courtly ways and addressed
+myself to the women. Their first impulses of fear had been somewhat
+allayed by our attentions to the children, and I bowed profusely and
+made bold to kiss the hands of a few of the youngest of them. Each of
+these looked to see if I had left anything visible or harmful on her
+hand, from which I judged the custom was wholly strange to them. The
+others looked on askance and whispered excitedly among themselves.
+
+One of the soldiers who had seen us approach, but offered no resistance,
+had now started to run, as fast as his jumping-staff would carry him,
+toward the palace. I knew at once that this meant some new development,
+and I hoped it meant a report of our friendly actions and a truce all
+around. But the doctor reminded me that we must be prepared for
+surprises and treachery. Therefore we re-entered the projectile, and out
+of the sight of all the Martians I re-loaded the rifles, and then we
+waited a long time.
+
+Our patience was finally rewarded, for we saw the soldier returning,
+slowly leading a woman. In her left arm, which the soldier held, she
+carried something white which wriggled occasionally. All this we
+considered so favourable a development that we went out again, bowing to
+the women about us, petting the children, and looking as peaceable and
+amiable as the politest of Earth's people. But it may have passed for
+imbecility, or worse, on Mars.
+
+When I looked toward the soldier again, my heart began a queer thumping,
+for he was leading no other than the woman who had met us at the gate,
+and she was carrying our white rabbit, which we had released early that
+morning a long way from this spot.
+
+"By all that is wonderful!" I exclaimed to the doctor, "if we have not
+fallen upon a country which is ruled by yon dumb queen, and she brings
+to us as a peace offering the only thing that we have lost!"
+
+"Since when have potentates learned to beg, and forgotten to command and
+to exact?" he answered with half a sneer. "See, she still extends her
+hand to every one she passes."
+
+And as the soldier, trained to revere a beard, led the woman directly up
+to the doctor, she stretched forth her pretty palm again; but if he had
+presumed to take it I could have struck him! To my cordial grasp I added
+a kiss this time, and then I raised my eyes slowly to her face, fearing
+to see that blank look again. There _was_ no look in her eyes; they did
+not look, they only wandered!
+
+The soldier, who still held her other arm, waved his cross-bow toward
+the palace meaningly, and a hush fell upon the murmuring crowd. I
+ignored him and spoke to her,--
+
+"If thou art the queen, command me but by a look or sign, and I obey.
+And if thou art not the queen, then they should make thee one. Dost thou
+wish us to follow thee to yon palace?" said I; but the only mind that
+understood scoffed at my rapturous declamation.
+
+The woman merely drew her hand from my warm clasp and stretched it out
+to the people, who crowded about and paid her no attention. Then the
+soldier, as if suddenly remembering, took the rabbit from her arm and
+handed it to me. She looked about at this, as if missing the snuggling
+animal, and I stared hard at the meddling soldier to reprove him for
+interfering with his queen, and gently restored the rabbit to her arm.
+
+"The soldier wishes us to go to the palace," put in the doctor. "But we
+must not go unarmed. He may be leading us into an ambush. Let us take
+all of our arms and follow him."
+
+Accordingly, we buckled on the swords, and took the rifles on our
+shoulders. As we dragged out the heavy shields, the soldier pointed to a
+group of donkeys laden with bags of something like grain. I waved
+assent, and the muleteer unburdened one of them and loaded the shields
+upon him.
+
+"Why not take the telescope?" I suggested; "it is big and bright, and
+perhaps they may fear it too. Or we may wish to show its wondrous use."
+As I drew it out the crowd started back, but the soldier and the
+muleteer gingerly loaded it upon another donkey. Then the soldier took
+the woman's arm again, and pushed her extended palm around toward me, as
+if I would be unwilling to go unless I had it. My right hand held my
+rifle, but I was secretly glad that my left was free to clasp the
+woman's hand. The doctor walked behind to watch the muleteer, and thus
+we marched to the palace.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER V
+
+Zaphnath, Ruler of the Kemi
+
+
+Two hieroglyph-bearing columns of red sandstone, strong and broad enough
+to have supported a Tower of Babel, formed the portals of the outer gate
+of the palace. A pair of Terror-birds, whose plumage was a pearly grey,
+stood sleepily on guard. Our soldier, who could scarcely have reached to
+the backs of the birds, lifted up his cross-bow and tapped upon their
+long necks. Acting perfectly in concert, the animals each engaged with
+its beak a wooden ring suspended high in front of them, and then,
+bending down their necks, the hempen ropes, to which the rings were
+fastened, hauled up a ponderous portcullis, made of slabs of stone, and
+thus afforded us an entrance.
+
+As this stone gate rumbled slowly down again, we saw that we were shut
+into a vast courtyard, surrounded by a colonnade, whence cavernous
+passages led circuitously to the various compartments of the palace.
+Within the courtyard were drawn up in expectant readiness four companies
+of archers and three of slingers, in all, perhaps, seven hundred men,
+who gaped and stared at us.
+
+The doctor touched my elbow, and whispered: "We should have landed in
+here with the projectile, which would have given us a means of ready
+escape."
+
+"Remember the saying of General Grant," I answered. "'When you are
+frightened, don't forget that the enemy may be far more so.' These
+soldiers have heard enough to make them believe us capable of anything.
+They would tear down the very walls, if we were to open fire on them.
+Besides, I could leap that courtyard wall and drag you with me."
+
+Unsheathing our swords, as an object lesson to the soldiers, we followed
+our guide to the blind end of a long passage, which apparently gave
+entrance only to a small stone chamber. Following the soldier and
+muleteer, who were now carrying our shields and telescope, we crowded
+into this and waited. Presently the entire chamber, operated in some
+unseen manner, turned slowly half way round, so that its door now gave
+entrance directly to a vast but gloomy and tomb-like audience chamber,
+where we were evidently expected.
+
+Upon a massive throne of richly-chiselled stone a youth of scarcely more
+than five-and-twenty years (if judged by earthly standards) sat
+gorgeously arrayed in vestments of richly coloured feathers, woven
+skilfully into the meshes of coarse cloth. Longer plumes of changeable
+colours radiated from a wide collar which he wore, covering his breast
+and back, and extending over his shoulders. The peach-blow of his fair
+cheeks was partly hidden by a heavy false beard, plaited into stubby
+braids, which hung to an even line a little below the chin. His own
+soft, flaxen hair peeped meekly out from under a wig of tightly curled
+grey strands, cropped all round to a level with the beard. His feet and
+arms were bare, except for thin ribbons of downy, purple feathers, which
+circled the wrists and ankles. No crown was on his head, but among the
+stringy wig-curls the sinuous body of an asp bent in and out, and the
+curved neck and threatening head surmounted his clear brow.
+
+To his right, round an oval table of highly polished stone, sat twelve
+wrinkled men, not one of whom but had seen three times his years. They
+wore their own white beards, unplaited, and their feather clothing was
+less elaborate and of simple grey, like the plumage of the Terror-bird.
+
+Our soldier placed his right hand upon his cheek, and inclined his head
+slightly forward and to the right, as a salutation to the ruler, and,
+leaving the woman standing by me, he and the muleteer retired. She
+seemed neither surprised at, nor accustomed to, these surroundings. She
+made no salutation or obeisance to the ruler or to the old men, and they
+made none to her. Withdrawing her hand from mine, she stretched it
+toward them, as she had toward the commonest man outside. They paid her
+no attention, but the oldest of the men signalled to an attendant, who
+led her back and placed her hand in mine again. That soldiers and
+counsellors alike should consider this necessary or fitting seemed
+strange to me. The doctor jokingly suggested that they wished to keep me
+permanently hypnotized, lest I should become dangerous again.
+
+Having laid off our rifles, swords, and outer coats, I lifted my cap and
+made a low bow to the youth and to the old men, but the doctor tried the
+salute of the right hand upon the cheek, as he had seen the soldier do.
+In answer the youth simply looked toward the twelve, waving his hand
+towards us in a way which seemed to say to them, "Gentlemen, behold the
+enigma!" Then, beginning with the eldest, the twelve jabbered at us in
+turn, apparently in different tongues, some sibilant, some guttural, and
+others with the musical cadence of frequent vowel sounds. Needless to
+say, each was equally incomprehensible to us, and we did not think it
+worth while to try German or English upon them. When they had finished,
+they looked much vexed, and slowly wagged their beards. Then the youth
+spoke something to them with a confident gesture toward himself. He
+arose, and began addressing us. I suddenly stopped short in the middle
+of a sentence I was whispering to the doctor. It seemed as if the youth
+had ceased making mere sounds, and had begun to speak a coherent
+language, a tongue which has lived ages while others have languished
+into forgetfulness; a language whose words I understood, but yet the
+words carried little clear meaning to me.
+
+"Listen, Doctor! The boy is speaking Hebrew! Ancient and archaic in
+form, but yet Hebrew which I understand!" And this is what he had said:
+
+"Oh ye, who speak among yourselves, but understand only those who speak
+not at all, I, Zaphnath, revealer of God's hidden things, will address
+ye in my native tongue, which none but me in all the land of Kem hath
+any knowledge of."
+
+"There be two of us in Kem, O Zaphnath, who understand that tongue.
+Speak on!" I cried.
+
+But the boy stripped off his wig and beard, and, leaving the throne,
+hastened toward me and laid his soft right cheek against my own with
+gentle pressure.
+
+"Comest thou, then, from the land of my father, a stranger wandering
+into Kem, even as I came?" he asked.
+
+"Nay, gentle youth, we came a vastly farther way, from another world, so
+distant that thou seest it from here only as a twinkling star in the
+night. But if, indeed, thou camest a wandering stranger into Kem, art
+thou then the king?" He had resumed his wig and beard, and his proud
+seat upon the throne, and after he had translated my words for the
+twelve old men, he answered me,--
+
+"I am Zaphnath, ruler over all the land of Kem, without whom the
+Pharaoh doeth not, nor sayeth anything. These are his twelve wise men,
+who do not believe what thou hast said, for there is no other world
+large enough for the abode of two men, except the Day-Giver, whence they
+think ye have come. The Pharaoh may believe them, but I will believe
+what ye tell me. He hath given me full power to treat with you, and hath
+taken refuge with all his women in his tomb, and will not come forth
+until ye be appeased. Tell me in truth, then, are ye men, or gods? Ye
+look not half so warlike as all the soldiers have described you."
+
+I translated this to the doctor, but replied without waiting to consult
+with him,--
+
+"We know but one God, who hath made all the stars, and all who dwell
+upon them. We are men to whom it hath been given to travel the infinite
+distances which reach from one of His stars to another, and we are come
+to this one, not to make war but to find peace. We would have sought
+thee peacefully as friends, had not thine armies made war upon us on the
+plateau yonder. But our means of warfare proved far more terrible and
+dreadful here than on our proper star. Thus have we unwittingly slain
+two of thy soldiers and frightened all the army. We have with us the
+means to kill them all, but we seek a peaceable life here for a brief
+time, that we may learn your ways and test your wisdom, when we shall be
+gone again."
+
+"The Pharaoh could have better spared a thousand men than the bird
+which thy lightning hath killed. For are not his slaves as the plenteous
+grain of a rich harvest, while his birds are but as the fingers of his
+hands. If ye came but to learn, 'tis well ye know these wise men,
+though, since I came to Kem, their profession hath fallen somewhat into
+disrepute. I doubt not but they could learn far more from thee than thou
+from them, but they will not do it. Whatever they do not know is not
+true in Kem, but what they know continues true long after common men
+know better. Now, wilt thou explain to me the mysteries the soldiers
+have reported to us? But first tell us which of all the stars it is thou
+comest from."
+
+"Know then, O Zaphnath, that we call our star the Earth, and in her
+wanderings she hath now approached so near to the great Orb of Day that
+her rays are paled by his brighter light; she sets with him, and shines
+no more by night. But yet a few days now, and she shall triumph even
+over him, and, entering on his glowing disc, she shall be seen at
+mid-day, obscuring his light and travelling as a spot across his glory."
+
+The old men wagged their beards as the boy translated, but he sprang to
+his feet with no little excitement, and exclaimed,--
+
+"Meanest thou that blue star with its attendant speck of white, which
+but a little while ago shone with great brightness as a Twilight Star?"
+
+"That is the Earth, O Zaphnath, the world from whence we came," I
+exclaimed; and the youth again threw off his wig and beard, and rushing
+toward me, pressed first his right cheek and then his left cheek against
+mine, and then against the doctor's.
+
+"Then ye are most welcome to the land of Kem, and we shall be friends
+for ever. For ye should know that my mother was barren all the years of
+her life until this same Blue Star came to shine wondrously, even in the
+presence of the Day-Giver, before his setting. It was then, under the
+beneficent influence of this star, that she gave birth to me. And when
+the star paled and wandered again I tarried not in the land of my
+father, but came strangely hither, to be ruler in a great land which my
+people had never known."
+
+When he had resumed his seat again, I said, "All that I have told thee
+shalt thou see come to pass, and through this Larger Eye, which we have
+made to pierce the deep of space, thou shalt see more clearly that the
+Blue Star is indeed a great orb, where many men may dwell, and after she
+hath passed the Day-Giver, she will appear as a bright morning star
+again to announce his coming."
+
+"Why now, if this be true, then every one of these old men must die. For
+Pharaoh's laws provide that whatsoever wise man faileth to predict such
+an appearance, or predicteth one which doth not occur, must lose his
+life. These grey-beards, always jealous of me, have said that the Blue
+Star, which beareth my destiny, hath disappeared, never to be seen
+again. Now, when they are slain, Pharaoh shall appoint you to sit in
+their places. Ye shall reign jointly with Zaphnath if it pleaseth you,
+and ye may choose what seemeth good to you of everything that is in the
+land of Kem and in all the countries which pay tribute unto Pharaoh. And
+he will give you as wives all the women ye saw in Long Breath Park, and
+an equal part of all the slaves and women taken in war will he give you
+also. For hath he not bidden me treat generously with you, even to his
+tributary countries and half his women?"
+
+"We come from a star, O Zaphnath, where men desire many things and are
+never satisfied. But of all the things thou offerest us, we wish not
+one. We make no peace unless these old men be left alive. We do not know
+this country or its people, wherefore we are most unfit to rule them. We
+wish no slaves, but will pay a hire to one or two good men, who may do
+our daily tasks. And as for women, we never choose but one, and then
+only when we know her well and find her equally willing."
+
+"Then are ye come from a most strange star indeed! But I must tell thee
+that the laws of the Kemi forbid even to the Pharaoh, who hath the first
+claim upon all women, to take to wife a woman such as her whose hand
+thou clingest to so warmly. What findest thou in her whose dumb tongue
+could never tell thy praises, and if 'twere loosened, her mind would
+still be dumb and silent?"
+
+"Who is this woman, then, whom thou sentest out to meet us? She alone
+hath had no fear, and hath greeted us in a friendly and a welcome
+manner. Had it not been for her, we might still have been loosening our
+thunder among your soldiers, or flashing this lightning in thy face!" I
+said, half drawing my long sword as I spoke.
+
+"She is Thenocris, a poor, unfortunate maiden, dumb of tongue and mind,"
+he answered. "In my country we would call her mute and senseless, but
+here among the Kemi they revere such ill-starred creatures, thinking
+that because they act strangely, and look not upon the world as others
+do, their souls must be turned within to the contemplation of hidden and
+spiritual things. They think such creatures know the secrets of the
+gods, and that the gods have made them mute, or speaking only silly
+things, lest those secrets be revealed. The people, therefore, give them
+alms, and suppose that they are effectual in intercessions with the
+gods. This girl went out at noon, as was her custom, to stand by the
+gate and ask alms. A soldier saw thee seize her hand and hold it
+strangely long, and he reported this to us. Whereupon these wise men
+with one accord decided that ye must have come for women, and we set
+about preparing a peace-offering of two thousand maidens for you in the
+Park. Afterwards there came another soldier later to say that ye had
+landed in the Park, pleased with our offering of the women. Then rose
+yon grey-beard and argued most wisely thus: That ye, being such strange
+creatures, had understood best what we understand the least; that thou
+hadst learned the hidden thought of this dumb woman by long holding of
+her hand; that, as ye had been friendly to her, she might be able to
+lead you unto us; and lastly, that it would be no breach of our laws if
+thou tookest this woman to thine own land and madest her thy wife; that
+if we could thus save our city, and the lives of the people, it would be
+wisdom to give her to thee, together with all the women in the Park.
+Then another grey-beard, wishing to share the credit for a wise idea,
+arose and insisted that it would be ill in us to keep the strange white
+animal, which one of the men found upon the plateau. We knew that ye
+must have brought this, for in all our land we have no four-footed thing
+smaller than the useful burden-carrying asses ye have seen. Wherefore,
+the wisdom of the grey-beards being now complete, we sent the dumb girl
+and the white animal out with the soldier, and they have brought you
+hither."
+
+"So you have been falling in love with a queen of your own making, who
+is no more than a dumb idiot!" chuckled the doctor.
+
+"Silence!" I shouted hotly, for I was unspeakably sorry for the poor
+girl. "There are softer, kinder words than those by which to call a
+poor blank soul that's born awry. The Kemi are quite right, for this
+girl, having no sense, has yet been wiser to-day than both of us and all
+these wise men." Then turning, I addressed the ruler in Hebrew:
+
+"Thou shouldst know that in our land the seizing of the right hand is a
+salutation of friendship and welcome, much the same as the pressure of
+the cheek is here. We had vainly tried to signal to your soldiers that
+we were friendly, and when this woman stretched out her pretty hand I
+was pleased to seize it warmly. Call thou a soldier now and send her
+safely home. Let the white rabbit belong henceforth to her. She hath
+unwittingly been God's messenger in bringing us together. Mayhap she
+hath saved the lives of many of the people. Wherefore let them remember
+her, and henceforth treat her kindly. And as for those other women in
+the Park, bid them all return to their homes, and let it generally be
+known that there will be peace, and no further war. The terms of truce
+we will arrange with thee and with the Pharaoh somewhat later. We wish
+no gifts or offerings of peace. No more do we desire than that the
+Pharaoh shall entertain us for a season until we learn your ways, and
+then permit us to live quietly in this, your city, obedient to your
+laws, and pursuing such careers as our abilities may fit us for."
+
+"All this that ye desire, and more, most gladly shall be done, and a
+grand festival shall be appointed for this night to celebrate the peace.
+The Pharaoh will entertain you and his royal friends with feasting and
+with dancing, and the terms of the compact between us shall then be
+ratified."
+
+At this point a grey-beard interrupted the young ruler, and a spirited
+conversation took place between them, after which the youth asked,--
+
+"Tell me now, are there not many more such men as ye upon the Blue Star,
+who may come to wage a further war with us?"
+
+"Have no fear for that," I answered. "The vessel in which we came is the
+sole means of bridging that vast space, and no more can come, unless
+indeed we bring them. But all of them shall keep the covenant we make
+with thee."
+
+Then Zaphnath held a long consultation with the wise men, which ended by
+the summoning of three soldiers--one to take the woman home, another to
+carry the news of peace to the Park and to the people, and the third, as
+I supposed, to convey a message to the Pharaoh; but before the last was
+despatched, Zaphnath said to me,--
+
+"Our messengers reported a third curious person with you, having a much
+larger body and long moving horns. What have ye done with him? Is he
+left in charge of your travelling house?"
+
+Then I explained this circumstance to them, as well as the incident of
+my smoking, which I promised to repeat at the banquet in the evening.
+After hearing this they dispatched the third messenger.
+
+"We have heard, not only that ye breathed smoke and carried flames in
+your limbs, but that your flesh was of iron, invulnerable to arrows;
+that ye were stronger than birds, and carried the thunder and lightnings
+of the gods with which to kill; and that ye were able to walk through
+the air as well as on the ground."
+
+"'Tis true we are stronger than any birds upon our proper star, and that
+we kill with a thunder and a lightning. Our flesh is tougher and more
+solid than thine, yet 'tis not of iron. But tell me, what knowest thou
+of iron?"
+
+"'Tis a rare, precious metal which we coin for money, but I see thou
+carriest much of it. Thy thunderers are made of it."
+
+"And hast thou no metal, bright and yellow, such as this?" I asked,
+exhibiting my gold watch.
+
+"In truth, the Pharaoh alone is able to possess such riches, and in all
+the land of Kem there is no such huge lump of it as that!" he exclaimed
+in wonder, while the sleepy wise men opened their big eyes.
+
+"We have within our belts many coins of this, which we may barter with
+the Pharaoh for things more plenteous here."
+
+"Are ye travelling traders then, or what were your occupations on the
+Blue Star? Were ye warriors, rulers, wise men, or owners of the soil?"
+
+"My good friend here hath been a wise man, as thou must know from his
+grey beard," I answered, smiling at the doctor. "He hath been a teacher
+of knowledge to the people, and it was his superior wisdom which
+contrived the house in which we travelled hither."
+
+"But hath it not been a folly to teach wisdom to the people? When they
+have learned, the wise man turneth fool! Wisdom groweth ripe by being
+bottled, but whoso poureth it out for every thirsty drinker wasteth good
+wine upon gross beasts!"
+
+"In its youth our star held to these opinions, but now it teacheth
+wisdom to every child, and in this manner we have made progress into
+many things not even dreamed of here. As for my own profession, I have
+been a dealer in wheat, the bread-grain of our star. Hast thou here such
+a small grain growing at the bearded end of a tall straw?"
+
+"In truth, the land of Kem raiseth so large a store of such a grain as
+to feed all the surrounding countries! Our greatest traffic is in this
+wheat. Hast thou not seen the green fields of it lining the banks of the
+Nasr-Nil, until the sight tires following it? This season there cometh
+such a crop as Kem hath never seen before, and for six years we have
+been blest with its plenty----"
+
+Here he was interrupted by the hurried return of the third messenger,
+who addressed him in excited tones. As the Kemi use no gestures, and
+but little facial expression in their conversation, I could not guess
+the import of his message. Therefore when it was translated by the youth
+it was all the more surprising.
+
+"The soldier saith that a certain curious man of Kem, anxious to explore
+thy travelling house, ventured within it, when presently it rose and
+sailed away with him far out of the city, and was lost from sight in the
+red distance!"
+
+This was an unforeseen, stupefying development. I left the doctor to
+guard our things, and rushing out I leaped the courtyard wall and ran
+with all haste to the Park. The projectile was gone! No sign or trace of
+it was anywhere to be seen. Willingly or not, we were henceforth chained
+to Mars!
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VI
+
+The Iron Men from the Blue Star
+
+
+Returning from Long Breath, I could not but notice the entire subsidence
+of the terror, which had previously been so marked, and the general
+signs of rejoicing which were now taking its place. It was easy to see
+that I was an object of absorbing interest and busy comment. No one
+pointed the finger at me, for that rude gesture was as unknown as it was
+unnecessary. The mere turning of a great pair of eyes quickly in my
+direction was an indication, significant enough, that I was being
+denoted.
+
+I now understood the more composed behaviour of the women. They were
+accustomed to the idea of being taken in war, and never suffered
+slaughter or hardship thereby, but merely a change of masters. As they
+now left the Park they eyed me curiously, as if wondering from what sort
+of new master they had escaped. I imagined I could detect some signs of
+disappointment among them, at being cheated out of a trip to a new star
+or being dismissed from the service of a god. Occasionally one of them
+would incline her head gently to the right to meet her rising hand, in a
+dignified salutation. I approached one of the fairest of these and
+extended my hand. She seemed rather surprised, but calmly placed an iron
+coin in my palm! Evidently I must make haste to learn the Kemish
+salutation, or I would pass for a common beggar! My hand certainly did
+look hard and brown, compared with her perfectly white and transparent
+skin, through which the blood suffused the beautiful pink flush of life.
+But even if a hotter sun had scorched and tanned my hand, it did not
+look as dark and tough as the coin, although the soldiers had spread the
+report that our flesh was of iron.
+
+The chief business activity in the city seemed to be the transporting
+from the surrounding country of an endless number of fibrous bags filled
+with the bread-grain. I saw some of these bags open in the shops, and
+the grain was shaped like wheat, but as large and less solid than a
+coffee berry. Trains of asses bearing these bags were seen in every
+street and entering by every gate. Each train of fifteen or twenty asses
+was driven by a sandalled Martian, wearing the spread bird-wing which
+seemed to denote the Pharaoh's service. The animals had the lazy,
+sluggish, plodding habits which I expected, and in these respects their
+driver differed very little from them. He gave an occasional long hiss,
+followed by a jerky grunt, which sounded like "sh-h-h-h, kuhnk!" and
+was evidently intended to hurry the animals, but it served them quite as
+well as a lullaby. These drivers, who doubtless had just been hearing
+stories of me, were a little surprised at coming upon me so soon, but
+looked me over deliberately, as if calculating how much iron money I
+would make, if there were no waste in the coinage!
+
+But I hastened back to the doctor at the Palace, being obliged to leap
+the courtyard wall again, for I was not acquainted with the signal to
+command the Terror-birds. He expected no other report of the projectile
+than the one I brought.
+
+"The only hope is that the meddling Martian may have turned in but one
+battery," he said. "In time this will exhaust itself, and the projectile
+will tumble back upon Mars. If it should strike in the water, it may not
+be shattered, but of course it might be submerged. The chances that we
+will ever see it again are extremely remote. If it should be discovered
+anywhere on the planet, it would probably be coined up into money, and
+the fortune of the Pharaoh would hardly buy us iron enough to make
+another. Well, the unexpected always happens. It was a fatal mistake
+ever to have left it."
+
+"If it is gone for good," I answered, "let us hope that this planet may
+suit us better than the Earth, anyhow. We are certain of an easy
+existence here at least. One shield will coin into money enough to
+supply our wants a long time. If we had not been so dreadfully secretive
+on Earth, perhaps some one, infringing our ideas, might have built
+another projectile and sent a relief expedition!"
+
+Preparations for the banquet were rapidly being made about the Palace by
+men servants. We saw no female servants, and we learned afterward that
+they did no menial work, except the serving of the meals, which was
+rather an artistic duty.
+
+We were conducted to two large ante-chambers, adjoining the banquet
+room, where we deposited our armament and proceeded to make ourselves at
+home as well as we could. The rooms were gloomy and poorly lighted, but
+a great number of servants were busy waiting upon us, and one presently
+brought in four portable gas-burners, placing them in a circle about my
+head as I reclined on a large pillow of soft down, laid on the floor.
+These burners thus furnished both heat and light, and nearly all the
+rooms were thus lighted and heated throughout the day. They had windows
+and a very thick, coarse, translucent but not transparent glass in them.
+But as the sunlight was never strong, rooms were rarely ever light
+enough for comfort without the flames of gas.
+
+This was my first acquaintance with Martian gases, which I soon found to
+be very numerous and various in use. On the other hand, very few liquids
+existed. The atmospheric pressure was so low that what might have
+existed normally as liquids on Earth, took the form of heavy gases here.
+In every case they were heavier than the air, so that they remained in
+vessels just as a liquid would have done. The four lamps were made of
+reeds and shaped like the letter U. The right-hand side of the U was a
+large vertical reed, connecting neatly at the bottom with a very much
+smaller reed forming the other prong and terminating at the top in a tip
+of baked earth, turned downward, so that it would discharge the gas away
+from the lamp. A light stone weight was fitted to slide neatly down the
+large vertical tube in which the gas was stored, and thus force the gas
+up to the burner in the smaller tube. If a brighter light was desired, a
+heavier weight was put on, and to extinguish the light it was only
+necessary to lift the weight, which cut off the supply from the burner.
+
+While lying on the downy floor-cushion, I was strangely annoyed by the
+faint and distant howling of a dog. It seemed to come from the banquet
+room adjoining mine, or from the doctor's room on the other side. I
+called in the doctor, who said he heard nothing and had seen no dogs on
+Mars. He tried to make me believe it was a fancy of mine. But presently
+when a servant entered, he seemed to hear it instantly, for he turned
+quickly about and left, but it was fully half an hour later before the
+plaintive howling ceased.
+
+"These Kemish people have better ears than we have," I remarked to the
+doctor.
+
+"Yes, both their ears and eyes are much better suited to the conditions
+of fainter light, and higher, thinner sounds. There may be music at the
+banquet to-night which we cannot hear at all in some of its notes."
+
+"If there are no foods whose delicate flavours we fail to taste, I shall
+be able to get along quite well. I am extremely hungry, and quite ready
+for a change of fare." We had only eaten a hasty lunch when we had
+re-entered the projectile at Long Breath to await the return of the
+soldier.
+
+Zaphnath himself came to conduct us to the banquet room, and we were
+much surprised at its dark and gloomy character. The entire vast
+enclosure had but twenty-one flickering fire-brands, suspended overhead
+and in front of us, to furnish light. There were no tables or chairs, no
+flowers or decorations, no sign of anything to eat. Other guests were
+moving about through the semi-darkness to their places, seemingly
+without inconvenience. I was whispering to the doctor that I would need
+eyes of much greater candle power to enjoy the function, when we arrived
+at our places. A double row of comfortable cushions ran along the edge
+of our floor, where it seemed to sink to a lower terrace, whence we
+could hear the indistinct hum of women's voices. Zaphnath took his seat
+on a raised cushion in the middle of the row, and motioned me to the
+cushion on his right and the doctor to his left. Eighteen other guests
+now reclined upon their cushions to left and right, so that we were all
+arranged in a direct line, facing the lower terrace whence came the
+feminine buzz. Directly opposite each of us was an empty cushion, but no
+table.
+
+I was wondering at it all when the fire-brand farthest from me suddenly
+exploded a great flaming ball of fire, and we all sprang to our feet.
+From the terrace below came a grand burst of reed music, a swelling
+chorus of women's voices, and then each fire-brand in quick succession
+exploded a burst of flame, which floated down toward the dancing women,
+but expired above their heads. I soon saw that these white fire-balls,
+which continued in quick succession throughout the banquet, and afforded
+us a glorious if a somewhat appalling light, were caused by the
+successive discharges of small volumes of heavy gas from twenty-one
+reed-tanks in the comb of the roof, one above each of the fire-brands.
+When the discharged gas had floated down to the fire-brand beneath it,
+there was a quick, bright explosion, and the flame sank menacingly
+toward the women below.
+
+The burst of music, the chorus of huzzahs, and the flashing forth of
+light, proved to be a welcome to the Pharaoh, who was standing proudly
+on his great throne opposite us, across the terrace and somewhat higher,
+whence he could look down upon the dancers and singers. He wore a crown
+of thin iron, surmounted by a golden asp. His elaborately curled wig did
+not conceal his ears, from which large golden pendants hung almost to
+his shoulders. His own beard was waxed and curled, and trimmed to the
+shape of a beaver's tail. His dress is best described by calling it a
+feather velvet, edged with flaring wing and tail plumes of iridescent
+colours. In this feather cloth there was none of the rough, gaudy show
+of the savage, but a discriminating, tasteful blending of colours and
+harmony of design, imitated from the beauty of the bird itself.
+
+Grouped about him on the approaches to his throne were one-and-twenty of
+his favourite women, beautifully dressed in feather textures, with the
+curved neck and head of a bird surmounting their brows. But their
+costume was scant and simple compared with that of the dancing girls
+below us. They wore a wonderful head-dress, composed of the entire body
+of a small peacock. The head and neck were arched over the forehead, the
+back fitted tightly, like a hat over their head, the drooping wings
+covered their ears, while the fully spread tail arched above their head
+in its wonderful opalescence. Much of the snowy whiteness of their backs
+and breasts was bare, and a downy feather ribbon circled the necks,
+wrists, and ankles. A two-headed iron serpent with golden eyes clasped
+the upper arm and gartered the knee, but no jewels of any kind were to
+be seen. All the dancers carried long decorated reeds, which they
+flourished wondrously, and with which occasionally they executed the
+most surprising leaps. While there was a stateliness about their
+movements, there were also the most startling acrobatic surprises, made
+possible by the feeble gravity.
+
+The singing women, or what might be called the chorus, were in twelve
+sets, each group clad in a different colour or design of feather-silk.
+Their head-dress, while composed of the entire body of a bird of
+plumage, lacked the flamboyant tail of the peacock. The music was weird
+and whimsical, as there were neither stringed nor brass instruments. It
+was made wholly by women playing upon a vast variety of drums and reeds.
+There were all sizes of whistling reeds or flutes; several of these of
+different lengths were grouped into one instrument like the pipes of
+Pan; a series of long hollow reeds, when rapidly struck, gave forth a
+marvellous cadence; while groups of small drums, of different size and
+tensity, gave curious tones. The whole effect was weirdly eloquent,
+rather than racy or exciting.
+
+When the burst of welcome was ended, Zaphnath stretched forth his hand
+and exclaimed, first to us in Hebrew, and then in Kemish,--
+
+"O Pharaoh, whose power and wisdom from all the Pharaohs have descended,
+behold, I bring unto thee these two iron men from the Blue Star, who,
+though excelling in the arts of war, are yet pleased to come out of the
+ruddy heavens to practise peace amongst us!"
+
+And thus did Zaphnath translate the Pharaoh's response to us:--
+
+"Unto Ptah, the Centre of Things, to whom the myriad stars of the
+heavens are but ministering slaves, I, Pharaoh of Kem, do give you
+welcome. Whatever pleaseth you in the largeness of this rich land, or in
+the matchless beauty of our women, shall be unto you as if ye had owned
+it always."
+
+Whereupon the other guests turned toward us with the right hand upon the
+cheek, and we awkwardly attempted the same salutation. Then a group of
+the singing women, twenty-one in number, tripping to the weird music,
+came up the steps which led to our floor, carrying covered dishes. At
+the top they turned and saluted the Pharaoh, and then took their places,
+one upon each of the cushions opposite us. Before uncovering the dishes
+they took me a little by surprise, by bending forward and pressing their
+warm, pink cheek against the right cheek of the guest they were about to
+serve. My maiden unconsciously shivered a little, for my cheek must have
+felt cold, even though my surprised blushes did their best to warm it.
+Her dish, when opened, contained nothing but flowers, waxy white, but
+emitting a delicately sweet perfume. She held them toward my face, and
+presently breathed gently across them, as if to waft their perfume to
+me. Then scattering them about my cushion, she pressed her left cheek
+to mine, arose and tripped down the steps again. There was a modest
+self-possession about her which enchanted me, and I hoped she would soon
+return bringing something more substantial.
+
+But another group of maidens, differently clothed, had already begun to
+mount towards us with earthen goblets and reed-pitchers, which looked as
+if they might contain wine. Dropping on her knees on the cushion before
+me, this maiden saluted me as the other had done. Then sitting
+gracefully before me, she tipped her reed pitcher toward the goblet, and
+poured out apparently nothing! But, watching the others, I saw them
+carry the goblet to their lips and draw a deep breath from it, while
+tipping it as one might a glass of wine. I did the same, and inhaled a
+deep draught of stimulating, wine-flavoured gas, which, when I exhaled
+it through the nostrils, proved to be deliciously perfumed.
+
+"I have heard of some poets who could dine upon the fragrance of flowers
+and sup the sweetness of a woman's kiss, but I am hungry for grosser
+things," I whispered to the doctor.
+
+"There are ten other groups of these serving maidens to come up to us,"
+he replied. "They will certainly bring us something more tangible before
+it is over. Meantime, while we are in Kem, let us imitate the Kemish;"
+and I must say he was succeeding remarkably well.
+
+The next maiden who tripped up toward me was wonderfully beautiful and
+most becomingly dressed. I was a little disappointed that, upon taking
+her place on the cushion in front of me, she omitted the salutation the
+others had given. However, she carried a small flask in her right hand,
+which she placed near my mouth. Then opening the top of it slightly, it
+jetted forth a deliciously perfumed fine spray, which moistened my lips.
+Waiting just a moment for me to enjoy the perfume, she then pressed her
+pretty cheeks in turn against my lips, until they were soft and dry.
+This was the nearest approach to a kiss which I saw among these people,
+and I learned it was given always just before eating solid food. The
+plate she carried to me contained small morsels of fish, served upon
+neat little wheaten cakes. There was no knife, fork, chopstick, or
+anything of that kind, but each little cake was lifted with its morsel
+of fish, and they were together just a delicate mouthful. This maiden
+quite took my fancy, and I watched her evolutions and listened for her
+voice in the chorus during the rest of the banquet, for she had no more
+serving to do.
+
+After this course Zaphnath arose, and waving to the music and singing to
+cease, he thus addressed the Pharaoh:--
+
+"It doth appear, O Pharaoh, that these visitors of ours come from a
+strange, small world, where, though much is done, but little is enjoyed.
+At thy bidding I have offered unto them all the luxuries of Kem, such
+as our people strive all their lives for, and dying still desire; but
+they wish no gifts or presents. Like slaves they only wish to work, but
+at some noble, fitting occupation. This younger man, whose wondrous
+learning hath taught him to speak even the tongues of other worlds, hath
+been a great handler of grain upon his proper star, and for him the
+fitting occupation is not far to seek. Thou knowest how the gathering of
+thy bounteous harvests hath distracted my own attention from weightier
+matters; wherefore, O Pharaoh, I do entreat thee to put into his charge
+the labour of gathering, storing, and distributing all thy harvests; and
+as a fitting compensation, let him have one measure of grain for every
+twenty that he shall gather for thee."
+
+Nothing could have suited my wishes and abilities better, and my pay on
+Earth had been only one measure in five hundred. The Pharaoh's reply was
+thus translated to us,--
+
+"The gods put into thy mouth, O Zaphnath, only the ripeness of their
+wisdom, and Pharaoh granteth thy requests ere they are uttered. But what
+desireth the wise man?"
+
+To this I made answer for the doctor,--
+
+"When thou knowest his wondrous wisdom touching many things, O Pharaoh,
+thou mayest think fit to give him a place among thy wise men, where they
+may learn from him and he from them. Will it please thee to send a
+slave for the Larger Eye and have it placed by yonder window, and he
+will presently show unto thee many of the wonders of the starry heavens
+that are hidden beyond the reach of man's unaided vision."
+
+While two slaves were despatched in charge of a soldier to bring the
+telescope, we were served with a highly-sparkling, gas-charged wine,
+which further whetted my appetite. Then came another maiden with a small
+roast bird, neatly and delicately carved, and each tempting piece was
+laid upon a small lozenge of bread. I never ate anything with more
+relish.
+
+There was an excited buzz among the women, and the Pharaoh himself was
+visibly affected at the sight of the telescope, whose burnished brass
+was evidently mistaken for gold. The doctor mounted it upon the backs of
+slaves near a high window, whence there was a good view of the heavens,
+and signalled to me to explain its use.
+
+"O Zaphnath, wilt thou make known unto the Pharaoh, and these, his
+guests, that the wondrous value of this instrument lieth not in its
+bright and glistening appearance, but in the farther reach and truer
+vision of the heavenly bodies which it affordeth us. With this we
+ascertain all and far more than yon monstrous Gnomons tell thee; we
+learn the periods of the day, the seasons of the year, and vastly more
+than our common tongue hath words to tell thee of. Tell me, what
+callest thou yon risen orb, which hasteneth a rapid backward journey
+through the heavens?" I asked, indicating the full disc of Phobos.
+
+"That is the Perverse Daughter, sole disobedient Child of Night, whose
+stubborn, contrary ways are justly punished by her mother. For she must
+draw a veil across her brilliant face for a brief period during every
+hasty trip she makes."
+
+"Behold her, then, just entering upon her punishment!" I exclaimed, for
+the regular eclipse was just beginning. "Look! and tell us all thou
+seest."
+
+"I see a glorious orb, far larger than the Day-Giver and very near to
+Ptah! But it is the Perverse Daughter, grown larger and come nearer, for
+she alone knoweth how to draw the veil of night across her face like
+that. Now she hath fully hidden! It is most wonderful, O Pharaoh!"
+
+"Be not deceived by mere appearance, O Zaphnath," replied the Pharaoh.
+"All that thou seest may be contained within the thing thou gazest into.
+'Tis true, the Perverse Daughter hath drawn her veil, but be thou sure
+thou seest what is beyond and not merely what is within."
+
+As soon as this was translated to us, the doctor focussed the telescope
+upon the Gnomons, which were just visible over the edge of the plateau,
+and I said,--
+
+"Look now again, and behold all the familiar features of the landscape,
+the plateau yonder and the ponderous Gnomons, which could never be
+contained within this little enclosure."
+
+"'Tis all most true, O Pharaoh, and with this little instrument thy
+reign may be more glorious, and come to greater wisdom, than any of that
+long line of Pharaohs, whose toiling slaves have built the towering
+Gnomons. Let this grey-beard be made chief of all thy wise men; let the
+others teach him our language and make him acquainted with all our
+monuments and records; also command them to record most faithfully all
+the wonders which he is able to reveal. Mayhap he may be able to write
+thy name among the stars of night, to shine for ever, instead of upon
+the crumbling stone which telleth of thy ancestors!"
+
+"O men of Kem," replied the Pharaoh, addressing the other guests, "hear
+ye the wisdom of Zaphnath, which cometh with the swift wings of birds,
+while thy halting counsel stumbleth slowly upon the lazy legs of asses!
+What Zaphnath asketh hath already been decreed touching these two men
+from the Blue Star, provided only that they live peaceably among us
+obedient to our laws."
+
+We assured him of our obedience and our best efforts to discharge our
+new duties, whereupon the feast continued. Courses of small birds' eggs
+and of fruits and confections were each served by a separate group of
+maidens. When the feast was finally completed, I turned to Zaphnath with
+my cigars and said,--
+
+"In our travelling house I brought with me many such things as these and
+others of a smaller, milder form, which might delight the women; but now
+that the house is gone, I have but three, one of which wilt thou send to
+the Pharaoh, one keep for thyself, and the other I will smoke to show
+you the manner of it. There is naught to fear about them; your taste for
+heavy vapours will have prepared you to enjoy the warmth and fragrance
+of this peculiar weed."
+
+A servant came to carry the one to the Pharaoh, and I struck a match
+upon the stone floor and held the cigar designed for Zaphnath in the
+flame. Then I touched the flame to my own, and puffing gently, I asked
+Zaphnath to do the same. When I saw that his custom of inhaling gases
+led him to breathe in the smoke, I puffed very slowly and gently, until
+he should become accustomed to it. When Pharaoh saw that it did no harm
+to Zaphnath, he lighted his own and inhaled the smoke in long draughts
+with evident gusto.
+
+"How sayest thou, O Zaphnath," he said at last. "Is not this warm vapour
+most stimulating? It is a treat worth all the rest of the banquet.
+Continual feasting hath made the luxuries of Kem to pall upon me, but
+this hath novelty and comfort in it. If, indeed, there were many of
+these in thy travelling house, my slaves shall search all the width and
+breadth of Ptah, until it be found."
+
+The music now burst forth again in new volume, and the singing girls
+went through a new evolution, which broke up their groups and formed
+twelve new ones, containing one girl from each of the previous sets.
+Then the entire number began ascending the steps together, and I noted
+that those approaching me were the twelve maidens who had served me
+during the banquet. They came and circled around me, and presently
+stopped with their hands upon their cheeks in salute. The other groups
+did the same to the guests they had served, and each guest selected a
+maiden by saluting her upon the cheek, whereupon she left her circle and
+took her position upon the cushion opposite him. Zaphnath, seeing that
+we did not understand this ceremony, explained it to me.
+
+"It is an ancient custom with the Pharaoh to present each of his guests
+with a living reminder of the occasion and his hospitality. Wherefore he
+desireth thee to choose which of the twelve serving maidens hath pleased
+thee best, and he will give her to thee, to be always thy maidservant."
+
+I translated this to the doctor, and watched him curiously, with an
+inquiring twinkle in my eye.
+
+"Let us accept them, and bestow their liberty upon them," he said.
+
+I immediately chose the third maiden, who had pressed her pink cheeks to
+my lips, and when she came to sit opposite to me upon the cushion, I
+spoke to her through Zaphnath,--
+
+"Thy ways have pleased me, but upon my star we do not think it proper
+to own any slaves. When we know well-favoured and graceful women, such
+as thou art, we prefer to be their slaves, rather than they ours. If I
+could take thee with me to the Earth, the laws there would set thee free
+to do whatever pleased thee best. Wishest thou that I make thee free
+here?"
+
+She was evidently surprised when Zaphnath put this question to her. She
+replied in a sincere and pleading tone, but her words astonished me,--
+
+"Whatever the dark Man of Ice wisheth, I will do. I know not why he hath
+asked what I desire. He speaketh of freedom, but I beseech him not to
+send me back to that! I was born an unhappy and masterless maiden, and
+many years I struggled and laboured for a miserable existence. I drove
+asses, gleaned in the fields, and did the menial work of men. But I felt
+I was fit for better, nobler things. At last, I heard that the armies of
+the Pharaoh were coming to my land, and I took heed of my appearance,
+put on my neatest feather clothing, and went to throw myself before the
+soldiers. They were pleased with me, and brought me to this city, where
+fortune favoured me, and Pharaoh, looking over all the women whom the
+soldiers brought from the wars, chose me, with many others, to join his
+household. And here in the Palace for a few years I have been happy and
+well cared for. I pray thee do not turn me out again; do not degrade me
+to the labour and misery of freedom. Even the beasts have masters! They
+are housed, and fed, and cared for; why should I then be cast out and
+left to drudge or beg?"
+
+"Doth she mean this?" I exclaimed. "What then is the chief aim of women
+in Kem? What is the highest state to which they may aspire?"
+
+"'Tis a strange, simple question!" he answered. "There is no greater
+blessing for a woman than to belong to the household of the Pharaoh.
+Here they are delighted with constant music and dancing; their beauty is
+cultivated and heightened by rich and tasteful clothing; and their
+charms and graces may win for them a selection as one of the
+one-and-twenty favourites of the Pharaoh. What they fear most is being
+chosen and carried away by guests whose palaces and ways of life are
+less luxurious than the Pharaoh's."
+
+"Why then, as we have no palaces and wish no slaves, it were best to
+return these maidens to the Pharaoh if they will be happier and better
+cared for here than anywhere else in all the land of Kem," I said to
+Zaphnath.
+
+"This age is not ripe for the grand idea of freedom which dominates our
+own," remarked the doctor, as we returned the grateful maidens to the
+constant delights of an ornate and sensuous slavery.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VII
+
+Parallel Planetary Life
+
+
+I was sleeping soundly on my deliciously soft heap of downy pillows,
+when in the early morning I was awakened by a pounding on the door of
+the ante-chamber. As one always wakens from a sound sleep with his most
+familiar language upon his tongue, I cried out in English, "Who's
+there?" The doctor answered, wishing to be let in. I fumbled about in
+the darkness sleepily, and opened the door, and he lighted two of my
+gas-lamps with the one he carried. He looked rather tired and worn.
+
+"I am possessed by a tyrant idea, which will not let me sleep," he said.
+"I must get rid of it before morning. Come, get your senses about you,
+and listen to me," he commanded, as I yawned and rubbed my fists into my
+eyes, blinded by the sudden strong light.
+
+"If you think I can sleep with it any better than you can, out with it,"
+I answered.
+
+"How does it happen that a young Hebrew is ruler over all these people?"
+he demanded.
+
+"Do you lie awake thinking up conundrums?" I ejaculated.
+
+"On Earth, what notable Jews have been rulers over a great people not of
+their own race?" he continued.
+
+"Disraeli in England, Joseph in Egypt, and--well, that is all I can
+think of just now."
+
+"Perhaps that is enough. Egypt was the greatest grain-raising country in
+Joseph's time, wasn't it?"
+
+"Yes, of course," I answered. "And Joseph's rule began with seven years
+of most wonderful crops."
+
+"Zaphnath told us this morning that the seventh great crop, and the most
+plenteous of all, is now growing," he interrupted.
+
+"What has that to do with Joseph? We are not on Earth, but on Mars. Have
+you been dreaming? Zaphnath is---- But, by the way, Joseph's Egyptian
+name was Zaphnath-paaneah, meaning a revealer of secrets! When I heard
+that name this morning, I thought it was strangely familiar. Pharaoh
+called him that when he appointed him ruler, because he had interpreted
+his dream," I said, just realizing the very peculiar coincidence.
+
+"You are as good as a Bible!" cried the doctor. "Perhaps you can also
+remember by which of Jacob's wives Joseph was born?"
+
+"Of course I can. He was the first son of Rachel, the wife whom Jacob
+really loved, and worked fourteen years to secure."
+
+"But how could he have ten older brothers, if he was Rachel's first
+son?" he demanded, a little perplexed.
+
+"They were all the sons of her sister Leah and her handmaidens. Rachel
+was barren all her life until Joseph was born," I explained.
+
+"And Zaphnath said this morning that his mother was barren all the years
+of her life that the Blue Star wandered. He also called himself revealer
+of God's hidden things."
+
+"Yes; and it struck me as peculiar at the time that he said of '_God's_'
+not of '_the gods'_,'" I reflected. "Evidently he thinks there is but
+one God. The whole matter is altogether peculiar."
+
+"Here are the facts," replied the doctor. "Listen to them attentively.
+We have dropped down into a civilization here upon Mars which coincides
+in every important particular with that of the Ancient Egyptians on
+Earth. They are great builders, erecters of monuments, raisers of grain,
+polygamists, and they now have a young Hebrew ruler, corresponding in
+every important respect with Joseph. We chance to have arrived during
+the seventh year of plenty of Joseph's rule. Grain abounds; the soil
+brings it forth 'by handfuls.' It is, 'as the sand of the sea, very
+much,' and the Pharaoh, probably at the suggestion of his young ruler,
+is storing it up----"
+
+"By all the Patriarchs!" I interrupted. "They are running a wheat
+corner, and I didn't know it! Go on, go on!"
+
+"These are all very singular coincidences with a history which was
+enacted many thousands of years ago on Earth. Now, how can you explain
+their strange recurrence here?" he queried.
+
+"How should I know? I haven't been lying awake! How do you explain
+them?" I asked, full of interest.
+
+"I have tossed on my pillows in there for three hours evolving a theory
+for it. If it is correct, our opportunities here in Kem are simply
+enormous. Now listen, and don't interrupt me. The Creator has given all
+the habitable planets the same great problem of life to work out. Every
+one of His worlds in its time passes through the same general history.
+This runs parallel on all of them, but at a different speed on each. The
+swift ones, nearest to the sun, have hurried through it, and may be
+close upon the end. But this is a slow planet, whose year is almost
+twice as long as the Earth's, and more than three times that of Venus.
+The seasons pass sluggishly here, and history ripens slowly. This world
+has only reached that early chapter in the story equivalent to Ancient
+Egypt on Earth. We have forged far ahead of that, and on Venus they have
+worked out far more of the story than we know anything about. If Mercury
+is habitable yet, his people may have reached almost the end, but it is
+most probable that life has not started there; when it does begin, it
+will be worked out four times as rapidly as it has on Earth."
+
+"Then a seven years' famine will begin here next year, and I am in
+charge of the world's entire wheat supply!" I gasped, almost overwhelmed
+by the speculative possibilities which this unfolded.
+
+"It is not likely that there will be more than a general similarity of
+the history. But Zaphnath has told us that this is the seventh year of
+plenty. If the famine begins soon, it will be fair to suppose it will
+for about seven crops. In its later developments the entire history may
+change when the crucial period comes, and have a very different outcome.
+But we are now almost at the beginnings of civilized history. Joseph,
+the first Jew in Egypt, is a ruler here, and your entire race must
+follow him hither, and pass through a miserable captivity. Even if you
+remained here all your life, you would not last that long; but upon the
+later doings of your people and their treatment of the Martian Messiah,
+when He comes, depend the future conditions of this planet. Will it be
+different then from the Earthly story? It is an extremely interesting
+theory to follow to the end, but that would take thousands of years, and
+we are concerned with the present."
+
+"Doctor, if this theory be true, then we are nothing short of prophets
+here!" I exclaimed, still struggling with the wonderful bearings of the
+idea on our personal welfare.
+
+"In a general way we are prophets, but Zaphnath has forestalled us on
+immediate matters. Let us keep our own counsel as to any foreknowledge.
+If we disclose it, we may suddenly lose our opportunities, and, besides,
+we shall be powerless to change history here in any important respect."
+
+"I might prevent Zaphnath from bringing all Israel down into Egypt, and
+thus save them from that captivity," I exclaimed.
+
+"Then you would forestall a Moses, and prevent the miraculous
+deliverance of your people, and all the paternal care which God bestowed
+upon them during that time. You will never be able to do this. Zaphnath
+is in the way. He is headstrong and wilful. He is an active thinker and
+a hard worker among a race of idlers, who live only to enjoy the fulness
+of a rich land. He knows the greater activity and industry of his own
+people, and he will wish to make them masters of this goodly land. I
+will warrant that his head is full of plans at this very moment for
+bringing his old father and all his race down here to give them
+important places. See how readily he gave the keystone of the whole
+situation to you. It will pay you better to keep on good terms with him.
+Instead of trying to change the situation, let us make the best of it as
+we find it."
+
+"Well, I must say the present situation is attractive enough to me," I
+said, and then inquired, "How many gold coins have you, Doctor?"
+
+"I have only a hundred half eagles and a little silver coin," he
+replied; "and I wish to be very sure of the correctness of my theory
+before I undertake any speculations with that."
+
+"Nonsense! What is money for, but to double, and then to double the
+result again!" I exclaimed. "You work out this great theory, and then
+fail to grasp its commercial importance to us. You and I will embark in
+the grain business, with our entire stock of gold, the first thing in
+the morning. We have iron enough to live on."
+
+"I didn't come here to go into business," he answered. "I have a grand
+scientific career to pursue, and last night's appointment puts me in
+just the position to carry it out."
+
+"Go ahead with it then, but invest your gold coins in my enterprise. I
+will manage it all," I said, reaching for my belt under my pillow. "I
+have here three hundred eagles and one hundred double eagles,--five
+thousand dollars in all. I scarcely need your five hundred dollars, but
+I don't wish to see you left out, and buying bread of me at a dollar a
+loaf in a short time. Gold must have an enormous value here, considering
+the small amount of it used as ornaments in the Pharaoh's household, and
+the general currency of iron money. Three of these double eagles would
+make a pair of ear pendants equal to his. I wonder how he would like to
+have pure gold bracelets on all his women instead of those rough iron
+things? And wheat must be cheaper than dirt after seven enormous crops.
+I will buy all the grain he has to sell before to-morrow night! Even if
+your theory is all wrong, we can't lose much."
+
+"That is all very well, but we may as well be sure," he replied
+cautiously. "You can find out much by a few discreet questions to
+Zaphnath in the morning."
+
+"The trouble about the whole matter is, that I will be obliged to do
+business through him altogether until we learn this language. Come, you
+must contribute your share. I have furnished the Hebrew, you must learn
+the Kemish at once through those wise men. But I can't wait for that. I
+will make Zaphnath teach me the necessary shop words and stock phrases
+for carrying on the grain business to-morrow. I can't perform my new
+duties unless he does that."
+
+However, the doctor did not respond wholly to my new enthusiasm. He was
+sleepy, and retired yawning to his own room to get the rest which had
+evaded him. But I lay and tossed on the pillows, revolving a hundred
+plans, and feeling anything but sleepy. Presently I thought of a scheme,
+which would demonstrate whether there was anything in the doctor's
+theory. I knew it would just suit him, and I sprang up and knocked
+gently on his door, saying,--
+
+"I have it, Doctor. Here is the very idea!" There was no answer, so I
+knocked louder and listened. I heard him breathing heavily in deep
+slumber. After all, the morrow would do for ideas; just then he needed
+sleep.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VIII
+
+A Plagiarist of Dreams
+
+
+Being unable to sleep, I arose early to get the refreshment of a morning
+walk. I passed quietly through the next room, where the doctor was still
+sleeping soundly, out into the courtyard. I was scarcely outside when I
+heard a familiar, excited barking, and Two-spot ran across the open
+space toward me as fast as his four short legs and his very active tail
+would carry him. His frantic jumping up toward me was extremely comical,
+for he sprang with more than twice the swiftness I was accustomed to
+seeing, almost to a level with my face, but he fell very slowly to the
+ground with only one third the speed that he would have fallen on Earth.
+He could jump, with almost the agility of a flea, and yet he fell back
+deliberately like a gas ball. He was evidently enjoying his muscles as
+much as I had mine. When he made a particularly high jump, I caught him
+in my hands and patted him fondly.
+
+"So you didn't fly away with the projectile? Or, did you go with it, and
+is it safely back again, somewhere? How I wish you could speak my
+language and tell me all you know! These different tongues are a great
+bother, aren't they, Two-spot?"
+
+He answered me volubly, but apart from the fact that he quite agreed
+with me, I could not understand his message. Had I been able to, it
+might have made a very great difference to me.
+
+There was a beautiful, filmy snow on the ground, which had fallen during
+the night. It was scarcely more than a heavy hoar frost, and as the sun
+sprang up without any warning twilight, the snow melted and left the
+surface damp and fresh. As I afterwards learned, this thin snow fell
+almost every night of the year, except for the warmest month of summer
+when the grain ripened. There were hardly ever any violent storms or
+quick showers. The thin air made heavy clouds or severe atmospheric
+movements impossible. But the coolness of night, after a day of feeble
+but direct and tropical sunshine, precipitated the moisture in the form
+of those delightful feathers of darkness. I also learned that the months
+were distinguished by the time of night when this snow fell; for it was
+precipitated directly after sunset in the winter, but gradually later
+into the night as summer advanced, and finally just before daybreak. The
+month in which none fell at all was midsummer, of course. It had
+scarcely finished falling this morning when I came out into it.
+
+I sprang to the top of the wall, and was watching the quick rising of
+the Sun, and enjoying the sensation of looking fixedly at his orb
+without being dazzled, when I noticed that there was a dark notch in the
+lower left-hand part of his disc! Soon after I distinguished, somewhat
+farther in, a faint and smaller dark spot. This must be the beginning of
+the double transit of the Earth and the Moon! I experienced a sensation
+of joy in finding the home planet again. I confess it had given me a
+curious shock not to be able to see it in the heavens. It was more
+comfortable to have it back in the sky again, and at last I knew just
+where we were in the calendar. On Earth it was the third day of August,
+1892. The summer there was at its height, and all my friends were as
+busy and as deeply immersed in their own affairs as if their little spot
+had no idea of coquetting with the Sun. Possibly a dozen pairs of
+studious eyes out of the teeming hundreds of millions on Earth were
+turned Marsward. This led me to wonder what all-absorbing topics of
+sport, politics, or war may fill the minds of the possible million
+people on Venus, when the Earth is so much excited over one of the
+infrequent and picturesque transits of that planet across the Sun.
+
+But the doctor and Zaphnath must know of this! I hastened into the
+ante-chamber and called out,--
+
+"Come, get up! I have already discovered two very significant things
+this morning."
+
+"What are they?" he asked wearily between yawns.
+
+"Two-spot and the Earth!" I exclaimed. "The former crossed my path in
+the courtyard, and the latter is just now crossing the Sun. Where is the
+telescope? quick!"
+
+The doctor was not long in propping it up by the east window, and I went
+to look for a servant. By repeating the word "Zaphnath" several times, I
+made him understand that we wished the attendance of the young ruler,
+and he started for him.
+
+By this time the notch was almost a complete circle of dark shadow
+within the lower edge of the Sun. The smaller spot, one-fourth the
+diameter, was forging ahead like a herald to clear the way. Zaphnath
+soon arrived, for he lived in another part of the Palace. He quietly
+pressed his cheek to mine, but in my excitement I had seized his hand,
+and with a pressure which must have hurt his shrinking flesh, I
+exclaimed,--
+
+"This is the day of thy greatness, O Zaphnath, for, behold, the Blue
+Star is already upon the face of the Day-Giver!" I led him hastily to
+the telescope, and explained to him that the smaller forward spot was
+caused by a moon like Phobos, and that the Earth was really a round
+ball, like the Sun. He looked intently for a long time, and then turning
+about to me he said,--
+
+"It is well ye left just when ye did, for the fire of the Day-Giver hath
+by this time burned every living thing upon your star! See how she
+hastens through his hot flames."
+
+I attempted to explain that the Earth was more than twice as far from
+the Sun as she was from us; but he believed the evidence of his eyes,
+and I had to give it up in despair.
+
+"I pray thee, bring this Larger Eye to the Council Chamber. I must
+summon all the wise men at once to behold this wonder. How long will it
+continue?"
+
+The doctor told me it might last almost two hours; but I found it
+impossible to convey any idea of this period of time to Zaphnath, until
+I told him that it would continue half the time of the crossing of
+Phobos, who had just risen dimly in the west.
+
+We made a quick breakfast on fruit like grapes and a wheaten gruel, and
+hastened to the chamber where we had been received the day before.
+Zaphnath was already there, and so were eleven of the grey-beards. We
+did not wait for the twelfth, but Zaphnath led the doctor to the place
+at the centre of their oval table, which thus filled all the seats. Then
+the young ruler ascended his throne and thus addressed them:--
+
+"While ye have tossed and tumbled in an idle slumber, two things of
+grave importance have happened touching you. The Pharaoh, acting upon my
+urgent advices, hath appointed this grey-beard from the Blue Star to be
+your chief; and now the Blue Star herself hath re-appeared upon the
+very face of the Day-Giver, even as these, her people, told us yesterday
+that she must do."
+
+Just at this point the belated wise man came straggling in, a slow
+surprise growing upon him when he saw that his seat was taken. Zaphnath
+then turned, addressing him,--
+
+"Thou hast not heard, O lazy idler in the lap of morning, what I have
+just spoken to thy brothers? Then go thou to yonder Larger Eye and speak
+truthfully to these grey-beards all that thou seest."
+
+I adjusted the instrument, and placed him in the proper position to see.
+He looked long and carefully, then left the instrument and looked with
+the unaided eye. Coming back he gazed again, and finally spoke very
+slowly, as if resigning his life with the words:--
+
+"I am old, and my sight deceiveth me, O my brothers, for when I gaze
+into this mysterious instrument the Day-Giver suddenly groweth very
+large, and hath two blots of shadow upon the upper half of his
+brightness. But when I look with my proper eyes, he keeps his size, and
+there are still spots upon him, but they are upon his lower side."
+
+I explained to Zaphnath that the telescope made things look wrong side
+up, just as it made them look larger, and I focussed it upon the Gnomons
+to convince the wise man of this. Then the youth spoke to him again:--
+
+"The Pharaoh hath appointed this grey-beard from the Blue Star to be
+chief of all the wise men, and as there can be but twelve, thou art no
+longer one. Unto thee, however, is given the duty of teaching our
+language to the chief. See that thou doest it well, for the lives of all
+of you, having now been forfeited by the law, are in his hands. But so
+long as his wisdom spares you, ye shall live."
+
+As there was now a lull, I saw an opportunity for my plan which I had
+not yet found time to explain to the doctor. I translated to him as I
+proceeded, however,--
+
+"Tell me, O Zaphnath, is it the custom here to relate dreams to the wise
+men for interpretation? I had last night a most peculiar one, and I will
+give this golden coin to whomsoever is able to explain its meaning." All
+the great eyes opened wide and round at beholding the eagle I held up to
+view. So large a piece of gold must have been uncommon. The youth
+replied,--
+
+"It is, in truth, an obsolete formality to submit dreams to the wise
+men, for they have interpreted none since I came into Kem. But let us
+hear it; if they cannot make it known, mayhap I can do so."
+
+"I dreamed that I stood by the great river which runneth just without
+thy city walls, and I saw coming up out of the water, as if they had
+been fishes, seven familiar beasts, such as I have not seen since I came
+to Kem. Knowest thou here such large, useful animals, each having a long
+tail and four legs, and whose peaceful habit is to eat the grass of the
+fields, which, having digested, the female yieldeth back in a white
+fluid very fit to drink?"
+
+"It is kine thou meanest," answered Zaphnath. "In truth there are but
+few within the city, but they are well known, for in the land of my
+father my people do naught but to breed and raise them and send them
+hither for ploughing in the fields. At the season of planting thou shalt
+see many of them."
+
+"I saw seven kine, most sleek and plump of flesh, feeding in a green
+meadow by the river; but suddenly there came up out of the water in the
+same manner two lean and shrunken kine, whose withered bones rattled
+against their dry skins, they were so poor and hungry. And they stayed
+not to eat the grass of the meadow, but fell upon and devoured their
+fatter sisters----"
+
+"Saidst thou two?" interrupted Zaphnath.
+
+"Two of the lean and shrunken, but they ate the fat-fleshed, which were
+seven," I answered, watching Zaphnath and the wise men closely, for he
+was translating to them phrase by phrase as I spoke. He faltered when I
+described the eating up of the fat cattle; there were wondering and
+inquiring looks among the wise men and a constant chattering in Kemish.
+I waited patiently for some time, then waving my coin I demanded,--
+
+"Can none of the grey-beards declare the meaning to me?"
+
+There were more consultations among themselves and with Zaphnath, and
+presently he said,--
+
+"Before the wise men can declare thy dream, they demand to know whether
+the lean kine only slaughtered the sleek ones, or if they ate them
+wholly up? And were they filled and satisfied when they had eaten their
+fatter sisters?"
+
+"In truth, I forgot to say that they devoured the fat kine wholly and
+completely, yet it could not be known that they had eaten anything, they
+were still so lean and ill-favoured."
+
+This caused even a greater chattering than before, and the youth finally
+asked,--
+
+"Didst thou dream aught more, or is this all?"
+
+"Truly I had another dream, but it was different. I thought that all the
+wheat in the field grew upon one stalk in seven great kernels; then a
+shrivelled and withered stalk began to spring up; when suddenly a
+rapping on my door awakened me, and I dreamed no more."
+
+The effect which this produced was most curious. Blank surprise, hidden
+cunning, anxious debating and uneasy hesitation, succeeded each other
+among the wise men. I watched it with great interest, and perceived the
+doctor's satisfaction, but I again demanded the interpretation.
+
+"Know, then, O dreamer," answered Zaphnath, "that we understand not only
+the import of all that thou hast dreamed, but even what thou wouldst
+have dreamed hadst thou not been wakened! But, in spite of thy handsome
+offer, it doth not appear fit or proper to us that the interpretation of
+it should be made known to thee. Tell me, however, hast thou had
+conversation with any other person in Kem, save with me and with the
+wise men?"
+
+"Thou knowest well, O Zaphnath, that I speak not the Kemish tongue, and
+can understand or communicate only through thy interpretation. I have
+spoken with no one on all of Ptah except through thee, and if thou wilt
+not declare my dream I care not, for while ye have been debating among
+yourselves I have learned its meaning!"
+
+"Thou understandest it already!" he exclaimed. "Pray tell us, then, how
+thou hast learned it."
+
+"The chief wise man hath declared it to me in my own tongue!" I
+exclaimed, with a meaning look toward the doctor, who had been speaking
+to me to urge caution. "He saith that the seven sleek kine are the
+Kemish people, and the two lean and ill-favoured are we two from the
+Earth--for are not thy people larger and plumper than we!--and the seven
+denoteth their much greater number. But the dream meaneth that we two,
+poor and hungry, might eat up all your people and become their masters."
+
+There was still more delighted jabbering and excited comment. Then
+Zaphnath arose, and turning graciously to the doctor said to him,--
+
+"Thy marvellous interpretation, O chief grey-beard, is most correct and
+wise, and it hath wholly eaten ours up! We quite agree with thy superior
+wisdom, for thou only hast read the dream aright!"
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER IX
+
+Getting into the Corner
+
+
+The doctor's new official position carried with it the use of a
+spacious, rambling dwelling, situated just inside the gate where we had
+met Miss Blank. It was thus conveniently located for the doctor's duties
+at the observatories on the plateau. Another house would have been
+assigned to me, but I preferred to live with the doctor, and I desired
+to keep my eye on those enormous stone structures which our telescope
+had quickly relegated to scientific uselessness.
+
+We had established ourselves comfortably in this house, surrounded
+ourselves with a modest retinue of servants, and were rapidly becoming
+acquainted with Kemish life and manners. The doctor learned the language
+laboriously from the deposed wise man, who had no means of communicating
+with him except in the tongue he was teaching. Thus it happened that the
+doctor could teach me in a few hours in the evening what it had taken
+him all day to learn. Naturally I picked up the most common phrases used
+in receiving and handling the grain, by hearing them frequently; but I
+soon learned that I must pronounce them with exactly the same intonation
+and emphasis, or they were not understood. Knowing but one language
+themselves, they had no facility in recognising mispronounced words, or
+in guessing at the meaning of incomplete phrases on which I stumbled.
+
+The most difficult thing I encountered was their method of telling the
+time. During the day it was reckoned rationally enough by the passage of
+the Sun, which was never obscured by clouds and could always be seen.
+Every house had a small hole in the roof, at a fixed distance from the
+floor, and the daily track and varying shape of the spot of sunshine
+thus admitted gave names to the periods of the day. There seemed to be a
+settled superstition that no house was fortunate unless this spot of
+sunshine entered by the door in the morning. For this reason the
+principal door in nearly every house was built in the west, so that the
+rising Sun would cast its spot first on the porch outside and then
+gradually creep in through the door, across the floor, and up the
+opposite wall late in the afternoon. Of course there were daylight
+periods in the early morning and late afternoon when the Sun was too low
+to cast a spot, and these were known by terms which are best translated
+"before the clock" and "after the clock."
+
+No one dared to make a social call while the Sun was still outside the
+door, but friends were best welcome when the Sun was just entering it.
+Moreover, whoever slept until the Sun had entered the door was looked
+upon as an irredeemable sluggard. The track of the spot from the
+door-sill to the wall opposite was measured by linear distance from the
+centre or noon-position of the spot. As in different houses the
+apertures through which the clock-light was admitted were always the
+same distance from the floor, such expressions as "two feet before
+noon," or "a foot and a quarter after noon" (which I translate from the
+Kemish) always had a definite and exact meaning. The nearer the spot
+drew to noon the more exactly circular it became and the more slowly it
+moved. Therefore, very fine measurements were needed in the middle of
+the day, and an inch near noon represented nearly as much time as a foot
+in the morning or evening.
+
+But the daylight methods were simplicity itself compared with the night
+methods, which were calculated on an entirely different system, based on
+the combined movements of the two moons, neither of which agreed or
+coincided with the movement of the Sun in any close degree. I urged upon
+the doctor, as one of his earliest duties, the necessity of reforming
+their calendar and establishing a uniform method of denoting the time,
+to extend throughout the day and night. But on this point he failed to
+agree with me.
+
+"What are our seconds, minutes, hours, and weeks after all?" he queried.
+"They are only arbitrary and meaningless divisions of time, which we
+have found necessary because we have a very meagre heavenly clockwork;
+but here they have a very elaborate one. Our day is a rational period
+based on the Sun's revolution. Here they have seen fit to give up the
+Sun-day to simplify matters and stick to a Moon-day. Their two contrary
+moons furnish a rational, if rather intricate, method of telling the
+time at night. They are best understood by imagining them to represent
+the two hands of a clock. The smaller moon is what may be called a 'week
+hand,' completing its revolution in five and a half Sun-days; which they
+have for convenience divided into six Moon-days of twenty-two hours
+each. The larger moon makes two complete revolutions in a day, just as
+the hour hand of a clock does; and it really makes but little difference
+that it travels around the dial in an opposite direction to that of the
+'week hand,' or that they both gain two hours a day on the Sun. These
+are mere details, that one gets used to in the end."
+
+"Doctor, you argue like the old farmer I used to know, who stuck to the
+clock handed down by his grandfather, and maintained that no
+new-fangled arrangement kept as good time. It was true that the
+striking apparatus had long ago failed to agree with the hands; and the
+hands themselves, owing to the accumulated inaccuracies of years, no
+longer denoted the real time; nevertheless, whenever it struck seven he
+could always be sure that the hands were pointing to a quarter-past
+twelve, and it was then just twenty-two minutes to three. This was
+something he could depend upon with a certainty which quite compensated
+for the annoyance of incessant calculations and mental corrections."
+
+"Pray leave joking aside and consider the wonderful nightly clockwork
+here, which makes automatic time-keepers unnecessary. This accommodating
+inner moon, within the brief space of five hours, goes through the
+phases of a thin crescent, first quarter, and just as it approaches
+fulness it submits to a total eclipse, followed by a waning quarter,
+then the reverse crescent of an old moon, and finally it sets where the
+Sun must soon rise. It is a wonderful heavenly clock, which is never
+obscured by clouds, and turns its face toward every one alike."
+
+"Yes, but one must remember that this hurrying moon gains two hours a
+day on the Sun, and therefore goes through her performance that much
+earlier each night. Besides, she is capable of rising twice in the same
+night occasionally."
+
+"Those are mere details that one learns to allow for. Moreover,
+consider the convenience of being able to tell the day of the week by
+the smaller moon. If it is just risen, we know we are on the eve of the
+first day of the week; if it is high or eclipsed, it must be the second
+day; and if it is sinking in the west, it is the third day----"
+
+"But for the last half of the week it is not seen at all, and one is
+free to guess which day it is," I interrupted. "Then no two days of the
+week begin at the same hour. The first day begins with sunrise, the
+second two hours before sunrise, the third four hours before, and the
+fourth at midnight, and so on--two hours earlier each day till the week
+ends, when they throw in a whole night for good measure and begin the
+next week at sunrise again!"
+
+"Yes, that arrangement is made necessary because their Moon-day will not
+agree with their Sun-day in any other manner. But it is rather
+remarkable that the two moons agree with each other so well, the larger
+one making twelve revolutions while the smaller makes one, so that at
+the end of every week they both rise together, but on opposite sides of
+the horizon, which is the signal for that night to be disregarded in the
+count. The next week begins on the following morning, the first rising
+of the larger moon being disregarded, and her second rising being the
+one reckoned from."
+
+We were discussing this during our noon-day meal, and, when we had
+finished, I walked with the doctor out to the plateau, where I was
+supervising some important work on the Gnomons; for I had not been ten
+days in Kem until I attempted to buy, with my gold coins, a large amount
+of wheat from the Pharaoh. Through the interference and objection of
+Zaphnath, however, I failed utterly in getting any. But the gold had its
+effect just the same, and later the Pharaoh showed an evident
+willingness to part with anything in his possession in order to get a
+liberal number of the smaller coins. But I put a very high value upon
+the gold, comparing closely with the worth of diamonds upon Earth, and
+refused to part with any, until one day the wisdom of buying the Gnomons
+occurred to me. I considered the project carefully, and finally made him
+an offer of a hundred half-eagles for them. Many of the small ones had
+been built to watch the course of the birth-stars of his various
+ancestors, and these were now in a sense monuments to his dynasty. He
+reserved these and a small one, built to observe his own star of
+nativity, and finally sold me all the large important ones, upon the
+doctor's representation that they were no longer needed for astronomical
+purposes. He specified only that they must not be torn down, but that I
+might use them as I should see fit.
+
+As I have said before, the Gnomons contained numerous large, long
+chambers, and it only became necessary to put a permanent bottom in
+these to convert them into enormous warehouses. All the storage places
+inside the city were rapidly filling with grain, which poured in at
+every gate on tens of thousands of mules. The plenteous crop, already
+ripening, would have to be housed somewhere, and even if I did not
+succeed in buying a large store of grain for myself, I knew how to make
+a storehouse eat up a large portion of the value of the grain it housed.
+I had seen wheat, stored year after year, finally become the property of
+the elevator owner, by virtue of his charges.
+
+I was not only putting a bottom to the storage chambers, but converting
+the inclined slopes of the largest Gnomons into a passable mule-trail,
+by roughening and corrugating the surface to give the patient animals a
+surer foot-hold, so they might climb to the top to discharge their
+cargoes. This was a simple form of elevator, and I laughed to think what
+some of my former acquaintances would think of it! One of the smaller
+Gnomons had already been completed to receive my share of the grain
+which I earned in the Pharaoh's service, and to this I was adding such
+meagre purchases as I could make from the small farmers. These, however,
+were not numerous, for the land was mostly in the hands of the Pharaoh
+and of a few large owners, more or less bound to him. I was therefore
+not a little surprised now upon approaching to see a long line of mules
+picking their way up the inclined side of the finished Gnomon, and as
+they reached the top their drivers emptied the pair of sacks they bore
+into my storehouse. Including the drove of unladen animals at the bottom
+of the Gnomon, there must have been a hundred in all, and I was awaited
+by the chief driver, who rode one sleek mule covered with a soft blanket
+of feather texture, and had another similarly saddled by his side. After
+a slow salute of each hand upon his cheek, he said to me,--
+
+"My master, the glorious Hotep, sendeth to the keeper of the Pharaoh's
+grain a present of two hundred bags of wheat, and wisheth to know if it
+be true that thou desirest to buy a large store of grain with gold? For
+hath not Hotep the gathered harvests of two full years in his bins, and
+upon his fertile lands the largest crop in all Kem (save only that of
+the Pharaoh) is nodding and awaiting the warm, ripening breath of the
+Snowless Month! Yet Hotep hath no use for iron money, for he is weighted
+and fettered with it already; but if thou desirest to bargain with him
+for as much yellow gold as thou hast bartered to the Pharaoh, he will be
+most pleased to treat with thee, and sendeth me with this ambling mule
+to fetch thee. Will it please thee to come with me now to his palace
+within the city?"
+
+"What do you think, Doctor? This Hotep must be almost a rival to the
+Pharaoh, if he has stored so much grain and owns so many ripening
+fields. He must have seen the new gold ornaments upon the Pharaoh's
+women, which have rendered him envious. If, indeed, he has such a vast
+quantity of grain to sell, I will deck him out with gold, such as will
+turn the Pharaoh green with envy! I shall lose no time in seeing him;"
+and so saying I mounted the mule, and assured the chief driver I would
+express my thanks in person to the great Hotep.
+
+He conducted me to the opposite side of the city, and, as we crossed a
+height near its centre, he pointed out to me the long fields of his
+master lining the left bank of the river. There were miles of waving
+grain just beginning to turn from a luxuriant green to the lighter
+yellow tints of harvest. Presently we approached a large palace, which I
+had often before seen from afar against the distant wall of the city,
+but had never known. Upon entering, I observed every sign of the same
+idle luxury which marked the Pharaoh's dwelling, but none of that regal
+disdain or imperial haughtiness which separated every one but his
+favourite women from the immediate presence of the monarch.
+
+I was graciously received in a large, lighted chamber, where Hotep
+reclined lazily upon a billowy heap of downy cushions, surrounded by
+many women. He only arose from his elbow to a sitting posture when I
+saluted him. Without saying a word to him, I approached, and, loosening
+my belt from about my waist, I unbuckled its mouth and poured out upon
+a large cushion by his side my three hundred shining golden eagles. The
+effect was electrical, for they were twice the size and three times as
+many as the coins I had given the Pharaoh. It must have seemed
+impossible to him that I could possess larger coins, and more of them,
+than he had seen upon the monarch's favourites. He was simply delighted
+with the mere view, and his women crowded around or ran out in haste to
+bring in their absent sisters to behold a marvel of riches such as Kem
+had never seen. But though they wondered and gloated over the sight,
+none of them touched a coin until I spoke.
+
+"I pray thee, most gracious Hotep, examine all these coins, and pass
+them among thy women to see if they be pleased with them. Observe their
+regularity of form and beauty of design, and test the music they give
+forth when cast upon thy floor of stone. Mayhap, thou wouldst rather own
+all these than to be cumbered with so much grain."
+
+Thereupon Hotep seized a heaping handful, which he poured jingling from
+one palm to the other, and all the women delved their pretty fingers
+into the shining heap and passed the coins to their admiring sisters,
+until not one was left upon the cushion.
+
+"Thy Chief of Harvests hath made known to me, O Hotep, that thou still
+hast the full crops of two years. Wilt thou tell me how many bags of
+grain grow upon thy fields at a single crop?"
+
+"Are not the number of my mules a thousand and one, and bear they not
+two bags each? To gather a single harvest, each faithful animal must
+make five trips each day for the period of an hundred days."
+
+I had often estimated an average mule-load at five bushels, upon which
+basis each crop would aggregate two and a half million bushels. This
+seemed impossible for a single farmer, but his fields wearied the sight
+to follow down the left bank of the Nasr-Nil.
+
+"If thou wilt leave all this gold with me, I will deliver by my mules to
+thy storehouses upon the plateau all the grain of my past two crops with
+which my whole palace here is cumbered."
+
+"I fear thou holdest thy grain too dearly, and that thou knowest not the
+value of this gold. What is more plenteous in Kem than wheat? There be
+more bags of it than the stars in heaven. But this gold I bring is more
+than all the store of it upon Ptah before I came. Pray give it back
+again," I said, gathering up the few pieces which had been returned to
+the cushion, and glancing about among the women as if searching for the
+rest. They returned them slowly, but Hotep still held his handful. After
+a brief pause, I continued,--
+
+"Hast thou not a fair crop growing which thou mightest also give me, so
+that no other than Hotep shall receive any of these coins?"
+
+"In truth, I have never ridden as far as my waving fields stretch down
+the Nasr-Nil; but one cannot sell what hath not fully ripened, for who
+knoweth what it may turn out to be?"
+
+"Then I must beg thee to return my coins," I answered slowly; but,
+unbuckling the other end of my belt, I poured out upon another cushion
+the hundred magnificent double eagles which I was holding in reserve.
+Then, taking a particularly bright one of these, I continued,--
+
+"But as thou hast been generous and thoughtful enough to send me a
+present, O Hotep, I desire to return one to thee, such as no man in Kem
+ever possessed before. Will it please thee to accept this disc of gold
+as large as the lesser moon that creeps across the sky? And with it go
+my wishes that Hotep's crops may always be great and plentiful."
+
+Slowly and unwillingly the women returned the eagles to the cushion,
+while they stared in wonder at the heap of larger coins. Hotep filtered
+the handful through his fingers to the cushion, and accepted the double
+eagle with gladness. With his eyes fixed on the second heap he seemed to
+be thinking deeply and making calculations.
+
+"The people are wont to call thee Iron Man, but I believe thou art
+golden!" he ruminated, and then suddenly, "For these heaps of riches,
+large and small, what desirest thou of all my possessions? Wilt thou
+have all my grain and half my land? Shall I give to thee all my fields
+which cannot be seen from the palace here?"
+
+"Why should I wish thy land when I have no cattle to till it, nor mules
+to gather the harvest? In lieu of the land, give me only a share of what
+it should produce for a few years. Now give heed to the bargain I will
+make with thee. If thou wilt deliver to my storehouses, upon the
+plateau, all the gathered grain of thy past two crops, and all the grain
+thou shalt gather from this growing crop (save only what thou needest
+for seed), and half of each of the crops of the three succeeding
+years,--provided, however, that you assure me each year as much as thy
+thousand mules can carry in an hundred journeys;--then thou mayest keep
+all this store of gold, which is, indeed, all that both of us from the
+Blue Star possess."
+
+He seemed to be revolving these terms slowly in his mind to be sure of
+them, and then called out to his servants,--
+
+"Bring in spiced wine, and bid my Chief of Harvests enter! He shall be
+witness that Hotep agrees to this compact, and, should I die before it
+is fulfilled, he shall see that it is carried out to the last year. But
+wilt thou leave all this gold with me now, or must I wait until the
+harvests are delivered?"
+
+"What Hotep promiseth me I believe, as certainly as if it were done
+already. I will leave the gold with thee, knowing thou wilt perform the
+contract in every item; but if thou failest in any year, thou shalt
+return to me one small gold-piece for each trip that thy thousand mules
+fall short of an hundred."
+
+He agreed, and arose and recited the terms of the compact to his Chief
+of Harvests, charging him to carry it out, and to cause to be engraved a
+small stone cylinder as a permanent record of its provisions, as it was
+their custom to do in such cases. Then filling three goblets with rich
+spiced wine, he exclaimed,--
+
+"For thy sake, O most generous youth, may the Nasr-Nil fondly nurse
+every harvest, and may the gentle Snowless Month ripen them in such
+abundance as they have never shown before! And may Hotep's mules grow
+old and weary bearing the plenty to thy storehouses!"
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER X
+
+Humanity on Ptah
+
+
+The magnificent abundance of the seventh great harvest, which ripened
+late in the year of our arrival, attracted a multitude of both men and
+animals from all the out-lying countries into Kem to assist in gathering
+it, and many of them remained to spend their gains in the luxuries of
+the great city. It was an unparalleled period of prosperity and plenty;
+and though the rich wasted everything with a careless hand, the poor
+were better provided for than they had ever been.
+
+Like an endless caravan Hotep's mules trailed across the city day by
+day, and emptied their cargoes into the bottomless pits of the Gnomons.
+And Hotep's thousand cattle tramped his threshing-floors during the long
+winter, and until the later nightly snows signalled the coming of a
+tardy spring; and yet the patient mules streamed through the city, and
+wore deeper paths into the sides of the Gnomons, until one by one the
+great chambers were filled and sealed.
+
+Late in the spring the toiling cattle left the threshing-floors, and
+traversed the fields in long procession, two and two, lashed together by
+a bar across the horns instead of a yoke, and dragging heavy stone
+ploughs slowly after them to prepare the soil for a new planting. But
+while the whole left bank of the Nasr-Nil swarmed with Hotep's patient
+teams and their busy drivers, the right bank was deserted, idle, and
+lifeless. Every one wondered why the Pharaoh's planting was being
+delayed; no one knew why the Pharaoh's men and cattle were idle; and the
+old men shook their heads and muttered that the river would overflow its
+banks long before the Pharaoh's seed was in. After a while Zaphnath sent
+for me, and when I came before him he said,--
+
+"The Pharaoh is sick with the plenty of the land, weary of the sight of
+grain-laden mules and ploughing cattle, and so cumbered about with
+mountains of wheat that he desireth not to plant his fields. Thou art
+not one to see his lands lie idle. If thou hast aught with which to
+tempt him, I can persuade him to let unto thee all his land and to hire
+unto thee all his men and mules and cattle. For hath he not acquired all
+his riches in seven years' harvests? and in another seven thou mayest be
+as rich as he."
+
+"Mayhap, O Zaphnath, the coming seven years may not be as plenteous as
+the last seven have been; but, in any case, I have no more gold with
+which to tempt the Pharaoh, having parted with all of it in a bad
+bargain with Hotep, whom thou knowest, for half of his coming crops."
+
+Thereupon he bade me remain, and sent for Hotep, and said to him,--
+
+"Behold, have not the harvests of seven years made Pharaoh the richest
+man upon Ptah, so that he covets no more grain, but only things of rare
+beauty? And are not thy harvests reduced by half through thy compact
+with him from the Blue Star? Now, if thou likest to tempt the Pharaoh
+with an hundred of thy golden coins, and one-and-twenty of the
+moon-sized discs of gold such as thou wearest there, thou mayest hire
+his land for the next seven years, and all his men and animals for a
+like time, if thou wilt feed and nourish them; and then shall not both
+banks of the great river bring forth riches, and be burdened with the
+plenteous harvests of Hotep?"
+
+"Is the Pharaoh indeed weary of rich harvests, or doth he rather itch
+for my gold? Yet, had I the seed to plant all his fields, I might
+consider the undertaking thou shewest me."
+
+"Let not that delay thee," answered Zaphnath, "for I am sure he will
+gladly lend to such a man as Hotep the seed thou needest until thy next
+harvest be gathered."
+
+So the matter was thus finally concluded, and I was a witness to the
+compact.
+
+Then Hotep's Chief of Harvests worked early and late to finish planting
+before the Month of Midnight Snows, when the Nasr-Nil usually overflows
+its banks and waters the harvest. But, as if to oblige a man so
+industrious in preparing the way for it, the great river did not rise at
+its customary time, and Hotep was able to finish his seeding on both
+banks.
+
+The black loam along the shores parched and crumbled, and borrowed the
+look of the great desert; the feathers of darkness fell later and later,
+until they began to appear with the dawn, and yet the river failed to
+rise; the priests went through their perfunctory rites to placate the
+god of the Overflow, and made their impotent sacrifices to tempt him to
+bless the harvest; but Hotep saw the Snowless Month, which should have
+ripened his grain, dawn upon fields that were dried to seas of drifting
+dust and void of all vegetation. His army of men, augmented by the
+Pharaoh's thousands, and his ten thousand cattle and mules, all ate and
+waited and waited and ate, and yet there was no work for them. The
+following spring there was no need to plough the fields, and no seed to
+plant them.
+
+When Zaphnath learned that Hotep must deliver a hundred thousand
+mule-cargoes of wheat to me, or forfeit a hundred gold pieces, he sent
+for him, and sold to him for the hundred pieces enough of the Pharaoh's
+grain already on the plateau to pay me, and lent him the seed to plant
+all the land again. But aside from this, the Pharaoh sold not a bag of
+wheat, and during the first year all the small stores of grain
+throughout Kem were consumed, and the price rose to three times its
+former value. Therefore, Hotep consoled himself with the thought that he
+could make more out of one crop after a failure than he could have made
+out of two crops without it, and he happily sowed his fields anew.
+
+Before the river was due to rise the second time, the poor began to
+suffer from the famine. There was no employment for the thousands who
+had been attracted to Kem to gather the previous large harvests. Only
+those fortunate enough to be slaves enjoyed an assured living, and this
+entire class was now dependent upon Hotep, for Pharaoh supported only
+his women and his personal servants. Many people desired to deliver
+themselves into slavery, but Pharaoh would not accept any, and Hotep
+already had more than he could feed. During the Month of Midnight Snows
+the entire population of the city watched the river with apprehension,
+noting its slightest fluctuation. But day after day the people saw no
+change, and idleness fostered grumbling and discontent among them.
+Zaphnath and the Pharaoh were privately criticised because they did not
+attend or contribute to the sacrifices made to the god of Overflow;
+because they hoarded so much grain, and did nothing to alleviate the
+distress of the people. And there were many who attributed the unusual
+action of the river to the presence upon Ptah of two strangers from the
+Blue Star.
+
+When two fruitless months had passed without any rising of the waters,
+Hotep lost courage, and was obliged to proclaim that all his men and
+beasts must exist upon half-rations. It was then that public suffering
+became general. About this time I consulted with the doctor whether to
+press Hotep for the second delivery of a hundred thousand cargoes of
+wheat.
+
+"Certainly; demand it from him," he answered, greatly to my surprise,
+"especially so long as it amounts to squeezing the wheat out of the
+Pharaoh. It is certain he will furnish the wheat in exchange for Hotep's
+gold, and a few coins are really nothing to him or to you either. As
+long as the Pharaoh covets them, make him pay well for them."
+
+"But I expected you would advise leniency, as you have never sympathized
+with my wheat speculation in the least," I replied.
+
+"I do not share your idle dream of riches, but nevertheless I want to
+get as much wheat into our hands as possible, especially if it comes
+from the Pharaoh. You do not seem to appreciate the real reason, but
+blindly chase after the bauble of fortune. It was the same when I first
+saw you in Chicago, and now you are just as impulsive and thoughtless. I
+have no doubt but you have already computed a hundred times how rich
+you are in Earthly terms and figures."
+
+"The time for a big value has not quite come yet, but I confess I have
+estimated that it will run into many millions of dollars."
+
+"Rubbish! What is the use of such childish nonsense? Even if we had our
+projectile to return with, you could never take any of your riches back
+to Earth with you!"
+
+"And why not?" I demanded in astonishment.
+
+"What is your fortune? It now exists in grain at an inflated famine
+value. You couldn't transport the grain back to Earth, and if you could,
+it would shrink in value and fail to pay the freight. What can you
+exchange it for here? For lands, for women, for slaves, none of which
+have any commercial value on Earth."
+
+"But I can sell it for money!" I put in.
+
+"Yes, for iron money worth a few dollars a ton on Earth! Why, not even
+your entire fortune will buy enough iron to build a new projectile to
+enable us to return. You parted with the only valuable and portable form
+of property when you exchanged your gold. Now that is rapidly going into
+the Pharaoh's hands, to remain there, and you can never return to Earth
+as rich as you left it, though you be worth all the money and property
+in the land of Kem!"
+
+"Well, it does look a little as if I had been scheming for riches here,
+without knowing just why I want them."
+
+"Yes, you have formed that habit on Earth. Only they carry it further
+there--swindle their brothers, deceive their parents, oppress the weak,
+extort from the poor; work, toil, plot, cheat, rob, yes, even _kill!_ in
+order to lay up a store of something they can never take away with them,
+and which renders them unhappy oftener than happy while they remain to
+guard it."
+
+"I have heard that sort of talk often before, Doctor, but I never saw
+the truth of it quite so plainly as now. I have outwitted and squeezed
+Hotep, the man on whom the whole city now depends for existence."
+
+"They think they depend upon him, but you know as well as I do that he
+will be powerless; that he must see them starve by thousands, and part
+with the last bit of his cherished riches to save his own life. No,
+Isidor, your business sagacity has not been in vain, for this entire
+people depend not on Hotep, but on _you_! You alone have the food to
+preserve many of them alive through a famine and a pestilence whose
+horrors are just beginning. Pharaoh and Zaphnath will squeeze and pinch
+them, and see them die, and turn it all to their own profit; but let us
+constitute ourselves a relief committee, you and I. Let us set these
+Kemish rulers an example of humanity, as we know it on Earth."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XI
+
+Revolutionist and Eavesdropper
+
+
+In Kem, where agriculture was almost the only occupation, and where the
+ox was helpful both in planting and threshing the grain, it was quite
+natural that he should be revered, or at least respected as a partner in
+the toil, and that a strong prejudice should prevail against his being
+slaughtered for food. In fact, it was not the practice of the Kemish to
+eat any large animals, but they confined themselves to fish and small
+fowl for meats. Nevertheless, I urged upon Hotep the necessity of
+killing some of his cattle to provide food for his miserable and
+poorly-fed labourers. But he stubbornly refused to do so, saying his men
+would rather eat the flesh of mules than of cattle.
+
+Without being pressed for it, he paid me the second hundred thousand
+cargoes of wheat, which he bought from the Pharaoh with gold, as he had
+done before. But I divided this entire quantity of grain among Hotep's
+labourers, which eked out their half-rations for almost a year. I
+stipulated that none of this grain should be used for seed, for I
+firmly believed it would be wasted. But Pharaoh again lent the seed for
+planting a third crop, insisting that the discouraged Hotep should put
+it in the ground, and reminding him that the only way he could get grain
+to pay his heavy debts was to raise a crop.
+
+Thenocris had not been long in learning the location of our house near
+her favourite gate, and it was her habit to call on us every day at the
+time of the noon-day meal. She always carried and caressed her white
+rabbit, and they came to us like two dumb animals to be fed. Her tall,
+stately figure, traversing the city on her daily journey to our house,
+soon became a familiar sight; and when the people began to be oppressed
+by hunger, they gradually overcame their early fear of us, and followed
+her to our door for food. We had never turned any away, for beggary was
+rare enough in Kem, and no sane person ever resorted to it except in the
+sorest extremes of need.
+
+Zaphnath doubtless looked with an evil eye upon the crowds that daily
+thronged our door to secure food. The Pharaoh rarely left his palace,
+and bothered little about affairs outside, and Zaphnath must have been
+at the bottom of an edict which was shortly issued. Nothing that I
+remember in Kem better illustrated the absolute power of the Pharaoh and
+the unrestrained enforcement of his merest whim. The edict referred to
+the scarcity of bread and the multitude of foreigners who were flocking
+to the city to secure it, and provided (ostensibly for the good of the
+Kemish people) that no man in the city of Kem should give bread or any
+sort of food to any but the members of his own household. Moreover, no
+man should sell grain or bread at a less price than that established by
+the Pharaoh for the sale of his own.
+
+The doctor and I realized that this was aimed at no one but us. They
+were jealous of our charity, and wished to turn everybody's need to
+their own profit. We scoffed at the tyranny of such an edict, but it was
+the arbitrary sort of law to which the Kemish were accustomed. Yet if we
+gave up our undertaking, and the unfortunate multitude went unfed for a
+few days, bread riots were certain to break out, and they might result
+in the death or overthrow of the short-sighted Pharaoh, and the seizure
+of his grain. Even this would not settle the question, for the victors
+might enforce a worse monopoly of it, if that were possible.
+
+"We must continue to feed them all outside the city,--at the Gnomons,
+for instance," I suggested.
+
+"Yes, we must feed them there in a large chamber, and eat with them, so
+that they may be considered members of our household," added the doctor.
+
+Thus it happened that the paths which Hotep's mules had worn so deeply
+were now thronged by a great multitude of the city's poor in their
+daily pilgrimage to the Gnomons. In an enormous chamber which we fitted
+up for that purpose, we served to each comer one generous meal, and
+there were so many who came that this meal was going on almost all day
+long. The Pharaoh fed no one but his favourites and his soldiers, and of
+these last he discharged a large number, reducing his army to a hungry,
+ill-fed thousand men. Those who were discharged came to eat with us, and
+many of those retained would gladly have done so, had we not excluded
+every one in the Pharaoh's service.
+
+Meantime the Nasr-Nil ran lower in her banks than ever before, and gave
+no signs of rising; the nightly snows were brief and evanescent, and the
+rains, which had never been copious on Ptah, now ceased entirely. Every
+green thing gradually vanished from Kem, and Hotep's third crop rotted
+or lay sodden in the ground as the others had done. He knew that I had
+been offered the opportunity to plant the Pharaoh's fields, and that I
+had not only refused, but had hoarded grain. This may have led him to
+conclude that I knew some reason for the famine, and I was not surprised
+when he sought me one day at the Gnomons. He begged a strictly private
+interview with me, and I conducted him to a small room I had constructed
+by running two thin walls of porous stone from one Gnomon to another,
+and covering the enclosure with a flat roof.
+
+"Dost thou know that thou hast linked together with thy slender walls
+the monuments of two antagonistic dynasties?" he began. "This structure
+to the left was built by the fifth ancestor of the present Pharaoh, in
+truth the first ruler of his dynasty. The structure to the right,
+however, is vastly older, and was built by the tenth Pharaoh of the
+dynasty, from which I am directly descended. My ancestors were
+vanquished by dint of wars, and their powers usurped by the ancestors of
+this same selfish Pharaoh, who hath not so good a right to rule as I."
+
+I think I was born without a vestige of revolutionary spirit, for I have
+always felt a respect for the institutions that are, and an allegiance
+to the powers that rule. I remember the distinct shock which this
+utterance of Hotep's gave me. I said nothing, but he answered the
+surprised look on my face.
+
+"Thou knowest well that the entire labouring population of Kem is fed by
+me in my fields on one side of the city; while all the poor and
+unfortunate are fed by you here on the other side. What man of Kem
+thinks of the grand palace of the Pharaoh in the midst of the city, but
+to curse it? What subject who knows how the Pharaoh and his favourites
+gorge themselves in luxurious plenty, while he nurses his hunger, but
+would a thousand times rather pay allegiance to those who save him from
+absolute starvation? And Zaphnath, in his nightly wanderings and his
+daily errands of espionage, thinkest thou he overhears a public grumbler
+who fails to curse him and his Pharaoh, and to extol the men from the
+Blue Star, and the unfortunate farmer, who, until now, has been able to
+give the people work and sustenance?"
+
+"Doth Zaphnath spend his time in watching and spying, then?" I asked.
+
+"Aye, that he doth! I crossed his path even now, coming through the
+city, and he set at following me, but by quick turns I eluded him. He it
+is who by his loans and compacts hath snared and tricked me until now I
+am utterly ruined, unless I can claim my rightful turn at ruling. Alone
+I cannot do it; with thy help I can."
+
+"How, then, could I be of assistance to you?" I exclaimed in some
+astonishment, without stopping to think of the justice of his claims.
+
+"From what I have heard of the thunder thou commandest, and the
+lightning thou art able to carry, it doth appear that thou couldst
+overcome the Pharaoh and his thousand half-starved men, who secretly
+itch to change masters. Thou hast the means to do it; I have the right
+to do it; and the people would unanimously applaud the doing of it. Let
+us strike together, then; let us seize the Pharaoh's grain and apportion
+it among our supporters and the needy, and when I am established as
+Pharaoh, thou shalt be my ruler in the place of Zaphnath."
+
+"Thou temptest me but little, O Hotep. Once before I was offered a
+rulership in Kem which I refused. Besides, am I not bound by an
+agreement to loyalty and obedience to this Pharaoh?"
+
+"Aye! Even as I am bound to come to a sure ruin; and as every man in Kem
+is bound to sit meekly by and starve. But is a ruler no way bound? May
+he claim the life of his subjects for his profit? How long will they
+suffer such treatment? And if we are restrained by loyalty, how long
+will it be till some one else strikes the blow we stick at----?"
+
+He was interrupted by a vigorous knocking at the door, as of one who
+commands rather than entreats an opening. Who could it be? I turned to
+see, but Hotep caught me by the arm.
+
+"Before thou openest, tell me if thou wilt join me in this undertaking
+for the sake of a suffering people?"
+
+"Nay, Hotep; it is wrong, and I will not do it. I am bound to this
+Pharaoh, bad as he is, and to thy dynasty I owe nothing." The rapping
+began again and more loudly now, but Hotep still restrained me.
+
+"For half of all my fields wilt thou furnish me the grain to pay the
+Pharaoh, and thus avert my ruin?"
+
+"And if I would, how wouldst thou feed the men and mules and cattle
+through another year of famine, and another, and another?"
+
+"Thou thinkest the crops will fail yet three more years!" he exclaimed,
+half stupefied by the thought.
+
+"Aye, four! I know it for most certain," I answered, and the insistent
+knocking was vigorously renewed.
+
+"Then I am too deep in the mire for thee or any one to pull me out. Open
+to this importunate knocker."
+
+I threw open the door, and there stood the keen-eyed, angry-visaged
+Zaphnath! How long had he been listening outside there? How much had he
+stealthily overheard before he began knocking? All the Kemish had need
+to speak doubly loud to us from Earth, for our ears were not made for
+thin air and its weak sounds. Moreover, Hotep had spoken throughout with
+a fervent declamation. But what I said in my ordinary tones was always
+easily understood by Hotep's keen ears. Therefore it seemed quite
+certain that Zaphnath had heard through the thin wall all that Hotep had
+said, and probably none of what I said. So much the worse. He had
+doubtless supplied my speeches to suit himself, and made them fit into
+Hotep's plotting. At any rate there was hot anger in his face when he
+spoke to me,--
+
+"Thou servest the Pharaoh well, by contriving how to cross his wishes at
+every point! It were well thy office were withdrawn; I have brothers
+about me now who could better fill it."
+
+"Whenever it pleaseth the Pharaoh or his all-potent ruler to abrogate
+his compact with me, I am quite ready to begin where we left off when it
+was made," I retorted. I did not think till afterwards that this might
+serve wrongly to indicate to him the tenor of my answers to Hotep's
+scheming. His eyes flashed angrily at this, yet he made no reply, but
+spoke to Hotep instead.
+
+"Before the end of the clock this day, the Pharaoh requireth of thee
+full settlement of all thou owest him. Attempt nothing but a just and
+full repayment, O most precious Hotep, for thy every act is watched and
+known to us!"
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XII
+
+The Doctor Disappears
+
+
+Hotep saw that he was ruined, and he went to fall down before Pharaoh
+and beg for mercy. The monarch, not having the courage of his own
+hard-heartedness, answered him,--
+
+"I desire not to deal harshly with thee, O Hotep; for thou hast
+struggled desperately against an unwilling soil and unpropitious
+seasons. But thou knowest all my affairs are in the hands of Zaphnath,
+without whom I do nothing. Therefore go thou before him and do even as
+he telleth thee."
+
+And Hotep, having made an invoice of all his money, and slaves, and
+mules, and cattle, took it before Zaphnath, saying,--
+
+"Behold, O most merciful ruler of Kem, I have threescore-and-ten of the
+great golden discs, and seven hundredweight of the coins of Kem
+wherewith to repay the Pharaoh for the seed which the seasons have
+stolen from me. But I have neither food for all the men, and mules, and
+cattle which are the Pharaoh's, nor yet for mine own; wherefore I beg
+of thee to take back his slaves and animals, and release me from feeding
+them; and I will forfeit unto the Pharaoh all my working slaves, which
+are thirty score, and all my mules, which are a thousand and one, and
+all my cattle, which are an hundred score, and they shall be his for
+ever."
+
+"Methinks thou borrowest with a large hand and repayest like a very
+miser," answered Zaphnath. "All the money thou namest will not buy a
+thousand cargoes of grain, for behold, is not wheat worth iron money,
+weight for weight? And to reimburse the Pharaoh for feeding all his men
+and animals through the famine, which may continue, it is a rare
+kindness in thee to desire to give him also all of thine to be fed and
+nourished! What wilt thou do with all thy land when thou hast no men or
+beasts to till it? And how wilt thou maintain thy proud palace, with
+three hundred women, when thou hast no revenues left?"
+
+"'Tis true, O Zaphnath; and if the Pharaoh covet them, take them
+all--the palace, the women, the rich clothing and rare jewels, and even
+the endless fields which have cursed me! For the days of Hotep's riches
+are ended. Let him be acquit, and go from thee in peace!"
+
+"Even with them all, thou knowest he is but poorly paid; yet it is I who
+have prevailed upon him not to be harsh with thee. But if the famine
+continue, what thinkest thou of doing to gain a living?"
+
+"By my beard! Doth the Pharaoh wish to make a slave of me also?"
+
+"Nay, Hotep; not a common slave. But hast thou a mind to starve? I have
+besought him to give thee an honourable and luxuriant service, befitting
+thy tastes and habits. He will make thee chamberlain of his palace."
+
+"Is there no other thing thou canst think of or invent, O most merciful
+Zaphnath? Lands, slaves, animals, money, women, jewels, palace, and even
+my life and body for the gracious Pharaoh's service! Is that all? If so,
+I beg thee declare the bargain made and all my undertakings fully
+acquit."
+
+Hotep came to me the following day, with his beard shaven and the
+Pharaoh's bird-wing on his brow. He wore the dress of the Pharaoh's
+chamberlain, and he told me how it had all happened. He also told me
+that the Pharaoh had now thrown wide open the doors of slavery, and
+offered to feed all who surrendered themselves to his service for life.
+And Zaphnath never ceased to itch for all the lands, and cattle, and
+slaves of every one in Kem and her tributary countries, either in
+exchange for the bare needs of life, or as pledges for seed which he
+knew would only rot and ruin the borrower.
+
+I went about my affairs on the plateau that day, wondering how long I
+should continue there, or whether my threat had been effective in
+silencing the enmity of the rulers. When I returned that evening, I did
+not find the doctor at the house. My servant said that a messenger from
+the chamberlain had summoned him on important business, soon after the
+noon-day meal. I waited a little longer, and then I began to fear that
+the chamberlain had been used to decoy the doctor into some trap. If he
+was staying away of his own account, why did he not send me some word?
+Messengers were plenty. At last I sent the servant to the palace to
+inquire and search for him. After a long stay he returned, saying the
+doctor was nowhere to be found. No one had seen or heard of him there
+that day.
+
+"And the chamberlain?" I demanded.
+
+"He was not to be found in his rooms, and no one had seen him since
+noon-day."
+
+"Didst thou make inquiry for the messenger who summoned the doctor?" I
+asked.
+
+He had not thought of it; so I started to the palace myself. I had gone
+but a few steps when it occurred to me to act with a little more
+caution, and be prepared for some plot against myself. I turned back to
+the house, and had the servant remove the heap of pillows where I slept.
+Underneath was a loosened stone of the floor, and below it we kept the
+rifles, revolvers, and ammunition hidden. I carefully loaded all of
+them, and put all the remaining cartridges into our two old belts. I
+thought of strapping one of these about me, but reflected that this
+would have a hostile and treasonable appearance, so I contented myself
+with concealing one revolver in my coat, and then I carefully covered up
+all the rest, and had the servant pile the pillows over the stone slab
+again.
+
+Then I went out and walked to the palace. Leaping the wall, I questioned
+every one I saw about the doctor, the chamberlain, and his messenger. No
+one had seen anything of them. The messenger was absent from his
+lodging, as well as the chamberlain. Either they were all gone somewhere
+secretly together, or they had all suffered a common mysterious fate.
+Unable to do anything more, I returned home full of apprehension.
+
+I slept fitfully a few hours, and then I had a most realistic dream,
+which began among my old surroundings on Earth: the wheat pit, the
+closing of a turbulent session, the drive through the parks till I came
+suddenly in sight of the great spherical cactus design of the World in
+Washington Park. As I approached this, it seemed to leave its pedestal
+and move freely through space toward me. I seized one of its meridians,
+and, clinging tightly, was carried off over the park, over the lake,
+over seas of ice, through an ocean of sparkling light, faster and
+farther every moment, until presently my little globe refused to hold me
+longer, and repelled me through a long, giddy, awful fall which filled
+me with terror. But I landed in the dark chamber of a Gnomon, waist-deep
+in loose wheat. It seemed gradually to grow deeper about me, rose to my
+shoulders, to my chin; and as I looked up I saw Slater pouring in wheat
+in a steady stream. He meant to smother and choke me with it. Ah, if I
+only had a thousand, aye, ten thousand mouths to eat it, he could never
+do it. I could keep even with him. But it gradually rose past my mouth,
+past my nose; it covered my head and was smothering me. What an awful
+thing was too much food, after all! And then I wakened to find my head
+covered with pillows until I was half-choked for breath.
+
+It was all so vivid I could not rid my mind of it. It seemed really to
+have happened but a moment ago. My mind was palpitating afresh with
+those Earthly scenes which had for years been fading out of it. What
+could it all mean? Then I thought of the doctor. Perhaps they were
+smothering him in one of the Gnomons. It seemed hardly probable, but the
+idea took a strange hold on me. The chambers were all full and sealed,
+but one; it had been opened, and wheat was daily being used out of it;
+none was at hand to be poured in. It was foolish to do so, but I could
+not rest until I had gone to the Gnomons to see. Of course I would find
+nothing there, but I should not be content till I had tried. At least,
+the night air and the gently falling feathers of darkness would restore
+my calmness again.
+
+I had the precaution to take my revolver again, and after a very short
+walk I stood face to face with the great stone gate, barred and locked
+to confine all others within the city. The fact that it was fastened on
+the inside proved that the doctor's captors were not outside, or, at
+least, did not expect to return till after daylight. With a brisk jump I
+cleared the wall easily, and walked rapidly to the plateau. There was no
+sign of life there. I mounted the only unsealed Gnomon and shouted down
+into its cavernous depths. Of course there was no answer. I was now so
+wide awake it seemed to me quite silly to follow the promptings of a
+dream, so I began to return in a leisurely walk.
+
+The night scene all about me, how different it was from those to which I
+had been accustomed on Earth! Out of a pink sky flakes of frozen dew
+were gently falling, starching the arid, verdureless soil with a
+glistening coat of evanescent white. Along the river bank, tall,
+slender, lightly-rooted trees reached far up into the breathless air,
+but there was never the movement of a bough or the rustle of a leaf,
+except from the flutter of birds. Jungles of spindling reeds also
+towered from waste marshes, in testimony to the easy struggle which
+vegetable sap had been able to accomplish over a weak gravity.
+Everything was eloquent with the reminder that I was on a different
+world; but yet, when I looked up at the starry heavens, they were the
+same. All the familiar constellations, changing their positions through
+the night with the same stately dignity, were there. The Pleiades,
+Orion, the Great Bear, with his nose constantly pointed at the Pole
+Star, made me feel that, at least in the heavens, I was at home! Only
+the colour of the night, the two little moons, and the planets looked
+different. Great Jupiter, king of the Martian night, whose brilliancy,
+if not his size, outrivalled the pale moons; Saturn, with his tilted
+ring, was visible to the naked eye; and yon pearly blue star, just
+rising to announce the morning, was Earth. Earth, which I had so
+unwillingly left, would I ever see her again as anything but a
+Sun-attending star? Would I ever walk her familiar paths, and know my
+brother creatures there again?
+
+With this thought came over me an unspeakable sense of loneliness, a
+depressing home-sickness, an aching yearning for that life, tempestuous
+as it had been. And how I despised the monotony and lowness of the
+Martian life; how I loathed the spreading misery of the famine, and the
+vile and dreadful pestilences which it was begetting! How could I ever
+endure the four more slow years of it which I confidently expected to
+ensue? What would I not give to leave it all and return!
+
+I had retraced my steps, leapt the wall again, and as I approached our
+house was surprised to see, in the dim light of the coming morning, a
+figure standing guard at the doorway. He was a soldier, and on closer
+approach I saw that he wore a beard, which showed him to be a captain.
+But what surprised me far more was that he held awkwardly in his arms
+one of our loaded rifles. Here was certain treachery. Since he stood
+guard, he doubtless had soldiers within; and if they had found one
+firearm they must have found the others also. But how had they succeeded
+in finding them? A mere search never would have revealed their secret
+place. Some one who knew of their location must have disclosed it. Could
+it have been the doctor? Had they brought him back, and forced him to
+produce the arms?
+
+In that case, now was my chance to liberate him. Fortunately they did
+not know how to use the arms they had captured, and I had one revolver
+with five good loads in it. With five telling shots I ought to be able
+to create panic enough to enable the doctor to get possession of another
+gun and help me rout them.
+
+All this flashed through my mind in a twinkling, and just as I drew out
+my revolver the captain caught sight of me. He quickly shifted the rifle
+in his hands and tugged at the hammer. He knew nothing of the necessity
+of taking aim, or of the use of the trigger. It would only be by the
+merest chance if he hit me. I had half drawn the trigger, and was just
+correcting my aim, when a long flash of flame from the rifle startled
+me, and unconsciously I fired wild. By lifting the hammer of the rifle
+and letting it snap back, the captain had exploded one cartridge at
+random. But my careful aiming had now taught him a trick; I saw him
+attempting the same arm's-length aim with the rifle. He did it awkwardly
+enough, and pulled up the hammer with the other hand. It fell with a
+snap on the discharged cartridge. He could be relied on never to learn
+the trick of ejecting them and reloading with the sixteen that lay ready
+up the length of the barrel. Therefore, instead of firing again, I
+rushed at him to capture the rifle. But he was too quick for me, for
+thrusting it inside the house with a quick command, the other was handed
+out to him. I was now at such extremely close range that his awkward aim
+covered me; but I was quicker on the trigger than he was on the hammer,
+and with a cry the first Martian to suffer by gunpowder fell to the
+ground. I sprang for his rifle just as some one from inside snatched it
+away and pointed it at me again. Whoever had it, stood half behind the
+door and out of range. But I aimed at his fingers on the rifle barrel,
+and by a lucky chance I hit them, for the rifle dropped and the body
+staggered into full view. Another quick shot sent this fellow to the
+ground, but as I reached for his rifle, it was snatched away again.
+
+Now I saw the absolute necessity of possessing myself of another
+firearm, for I had but one load left in the revolver. I felt little fear
+of their awkward aim, therefore I made bold to rush inside on the chance
+of seizing the first gun I could lay my hands on. At the same time I
+would be able to see the position of the doctor. He must be gagged, for
+he had made no answer to my frequent cries to him in English. Once
+inside, I saw that the room was full of soldiers--twenty at least. They
+had a prisoner, true enough, but not the doctor. It was my servant, whom
+they had forced to disclose the location of the arms.
+
+The soldiers quickly blocked the door and began closing in on me. One
+seized me by each arm, but with a quick shake I threw them off. Then a
+third fellow clutched my left arm so tightly I could not loosen him. Had
+I taken my eyes or my revolver off the crowd in front, they would have
+been upon me in a body; yet with my left arm I was able slowly to turn
+the clinging soldier around in front of me and to bring him gradually
+within close range of my revolver. When he saw its gleaming muzzle, he
+broke from me and fled to the others.
+
+Little did they know that I could not afford to sacrifice my remaining
+load to kill a single man. I must use it to capture the other revolver,
+for rifles were of no use at such short range. I man[oe]uvred cautiously
+to keep most of the soldiers in front of me, and stealthily backed
+toward the door, where a soldier stood guard with the other weapon. I
+was reckoning on the cowardice of most of those in front of me, but I
+had failed to count on the men I had shot. As I now backed quickly
+towards the door, I suddenly felt the arms of the fallen man about my
+legs, and I stumbled backwards over him. In a twinkling the whole crowd
+was upon me, my revolver was seized, my arms were pinned to the ground,
+and the dying soldier clutched my legs in his last frenzy. I expected no
+better than to be shot immediately by a rifle held against my head, but
+their orders were evidently different. My arms were securely bound with
+rough fibrous thongs, and then they marched me to the palace just as the
+sun was rising.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XIII
+
+The Revelation of Hotep
+
+
+I was not a little surprised to see that they carried me to the same
+ante-room in the palace which I had occupied on coming to Kem. But it
+was now quite stripped of all furnishings, and over each door were hung
+large, closely-spun fabrics, which completely covered and concealed them
+from sight. There were but two little windows high above my head, and
+had I been free to leap up to them, they were too small to afford me an
+exit. Driven into a stone slab of the floor were two large bent-wood
+staples. Between these they placed several cushions, upon which they
+laid me.
+
+"May it please the strong man to rest here quietly, aye! and to slumber
+if he feel the need, until my master, the worshipful Zaphnath, be
+risen?" sneered the leader in polite irony, as the soldiers, having
+unbound my arms, proceeded to tie each hand securely to one of the
+wooden rings. Then with jeers they left me, pointing the fire-arms and
+swords at me as they went. I heard them bar the doors on the outside
+and try them with a severe shake; then their footsteps receded and all
+was still.
+
+As I lay on my back looking up at the vaulted stone roof, I had my first
+leisure to reflect on the desperate condition into which we had at last
+fallen. The arms, which had meant our supremacy, were in the hands of
+our enemies; Hotep, our only friend in the palace, had mysteriously
+disappeared; the doctor was taken, perhaps killed by this time; and I
+could hardly outlast the day, for Zaphnath would reserve but one fate
+for a conspirator who sought his place. How soon would he come, and how
+would he dispose of me? I remembered having seen the punishment for
+treason of a noble personage, with whom I had once eaten at the
+Pharaoh's table. He was confined at the bottom of a tight stone pit, and
+a heavy, poisonous gas was slowly poured into it. He could see it slowly
+fill the pit, and as it gradually rose toward his nostrils, he could
+feel his death gradually measured out to him by inches. When he had
+breathed it in a little, his face swelled a livid purple, he choked and
+strangled, staggered and fell beneath the murky surface to die out of
+sight. The terror of such a slowly creeping danger! the horror of such a
+repulsive death! I remember saying at the time that in his place I would
+have snatched a quick respite from the lingering agonies by strangling
+myself, or tearing my wrist open with my teeth. Now, as I thought of
+it, I suddenly remembered my dream of being similarly smothered in the
+Gnomons by slowly inpouring grain. A superstitious mind would have
+feared that dream foretold my fate, but I was rational enough to
+perceive that it must have been suggested to me by a vagrant memory of
+the poisoning I had seen.
+
+As I lay thinking thus, I shifted my position a little on the pillows
+for better comfort, and my eyes wandered slowly from the vaulted roof to
+the daylight at the two little high windows. I started in terror at what
+I saw, but blinked my eyes to make sure I was awake, and then looked
+more intently. There was no dreaming this time! I saw clearly, and at
+both windows, a curling, purple stream of dense, noxious gas pouring
+down into the room! It was much heavier than the air, and trickled
+slowly down like the ghost of murky waters gradually filling up a great
+well. Then I turned to look at the floor, the stones were no longer
+visible, but a coat of muddy purple covered them to a depth of several
+inches, and the noisome gas already reached almost to the tops of my
+cushions! All this had trickled in within ten minutes, and twice as much
+more would rise and cover me completely. Then an awful but silent death
+would creep into my lungs, and my only friends, the common people of
+Kem, would never know how I had perished.
+
+Did I try to strangle myself or tear open my wrist? I could not get hand
+and mouth near enough together for either of these expedients, had the
+stubborn instinct of self-preservation left them any place in my mind. I
+kicked away the cushions, which gave me a little more room to work my
+knees under me. Then by straining on my thongs I was able to lift my
+head and shoulders upright, and save my nostrils from the noxious stuff
+for many minutes longer. All the years of my life on Ptah I had been
+vain of my superior physical strength. Would it serve me now to break
+the thongs that bound me? I tugged, and pulled, and struggled until I
+cut the flesh, but they only drew tighter; yet at each effort I gained a
+little more length of thong.
+
+The purple surface, on which death floated, crept up toward me. The room
+was gas-tight; the doors were so covered that they could not leak, and
+had I succeeded in breaking loose I could not have shaken their bars. To
+save myself, I must make a breach in the floor; I must pull up a slab
+and let the gaseous poison run out below. That was my only chance. I
+worked my knees back as nearly as possible to the edge of the slab into
+which the wooden staples were fastened, and threw all my weight and
+strength into the effort. The stone did not move. Yet I got more
+thong-room, and succeeded in doubling my feet under me to give more
+force to the next heave. I felt sure I could have lifted the weight of
+the stone if it were free, but struggle as I would, I could not loosen
+it from its wedged position. The purple poison had risen to my waist by
+this time, and in my violent efforts I had stirred it into billowing
+waves which occasionally surged almost to my nostrils. I had breathed a
+little which made me faint and giddy. I feared lest I should stagger and
+fall into it. Once my head below the surface, and I was most surely and
+horribly drowned!
+
+I stood resting a second, anxiously thinking, planning in desperation
+and keeping my eyes always fixed on the rising purple. Suddenly, though
+I had given no tug, I heard the stone under me crunch at its edges, and
+felt it begin to rise a little at one side! What could have loosened it,
+when all my efforts had failed? No matter! if I could pull it away now
+and make a breach, I would at least gain a long respite. I tugged again
+and found it easy to pull the loosened stone up on one edge, till it
+tottered and fell over against me. Feverishly I watched the poison about
+me; it rose no longer; slowly it began to sink away. Thank God for so
+much!
+
+Then suddenly I heard voices calling me. They seemed to come from below.
+Yes! It was Hotep in Kemish,--and the doctor in English! Were they
+confined in the cavern below, then? And had the gas been reserved for
+them, when it had finished its dread work with me? Horrible thought! If
+so, in saving myself I was only sending the sure poison to them. Where
+were they? I could not see down through the murky stuff; but I must
+warn them.
+
+"Halloo! The gas is poisonous! Leap through, save yourselves! Climb out,
+or it will kill you!"
+
+"Bear up!" I heard the doctor's voice begin, "one minute more and
+we----" Then there was a violent coughing, a door slammed, and the voice
+was barely heard--afar off--as through a wall. Had they escaped, then,
+to another room? I had no further time to puzzle what it meant, for
+another slab of my floor rose, wavered and fell over with a crash, and
+up through the purplish gas I could see a great round black thing
+rising, stretching high up into the room until its top almost touched
+the roof.
+
+My God! _It was the projectile!_
+
+When the breach in the floor was cleared, all the gas rushed down into
+the lower chamber. The projectile eased over on its side, and out of the
+rear port-hole came Hotep with a revolver and a sword. He soon had me
+cut loose, and then he told me how it all had happened.
+
+He had been chamberlain but a single day when he discovered the
+existence of a secret subterranean chamber under the ante-room of the
+banquet hall. His curiosity led him to explore this, and in its darkest
+recess, unseen at first entrance, he found our projectile. It had been
+there ever since the day of its disappearance. During our interview
+before Zaphnath and the wise men, they had learned from us that others
+could not come from Earth without the projectile, and that we had left
+no third person in charge of it. It must have been with an order to make
+away with the projectile, and to secrete it in this chamber, that the
+third messenger had been dispatched that day. Also on my first evening
+in this very ante-room, I had heard Two-spot barking in the chamber
+below, and the servant, on hearing him too, had him hastily released,
+lest he should betray the hiding-place.
+
+As soon as Hotep had found the projectile, he had sent for us, but it
+was the doctor alone who joined him. They two had been busy all that day
+and night repairing the projectile and storing it anew. In this manner
+the doctor had escaped the soldiers who came at daybreak to capture us
+both. Beyond the projectile, Hotep had discovered a secret passage
+leading outside the palace walls, which they could use on their errands
+of repairs without being observed.
+
+All night they worked without disturbance, but early in the morning
+something happened to alarm them. They heard footsteps outside and a
+noise at the door which led to the palace. It probably meant death to be
+discovered there, but they extinguished their lights, entered the
+projectile, and closed the port-holes and lay there quite still. The
+door was opened, and soldiers bearing lights entered. But they made no
+search; they carried with them our swords, fire-arms, and the two belts
+of cartridges, which they deposited here, it being the natural place
+for their safe keeping. When they were gone, the doctor emerged and
+examined the revolvers and rifles, and finding that five cartridges had
+been discharged, he knew there had been a struggle with me in which I
+had been worsted. This caused them to hasten their efforts and make an
+escape with the projectile as soon as possible. All the supplies
+necessary to the batteries had been found intact in their places, and
+the compressing of air with the repaired pump and the further storing of
+food could be postponed till they were more free to do it.
+
+At last the projectile lifted and worked; slowly it loosened the stones
+of my floor above them; but when one stone was pushed aside they noticed
+that the daylight did not come through the breach as it ought. They had
+heard my cries, and as the gas came down on them, the doctor had slammed
+the front port-hole, which was never wide open, and had thus saved
+himself. Hotep was safely shut into the other compartment with the
+fire-arms and ammunition.
+
+The doctor now came down to the rear port-hole to speak to me.
+
+"My plan is to escape now to the Gnomons, where we will leave Hotep in
+possession with most of our fire-arms. You can give him some
+instructions how to use them, so that he may defend himself. There we
+can finish our stores of air and food." To this I assented, and said to
+Hotep,--
+
+"The Gnomons I give to thee, and all the land round about them, as a
+reward for thy most valuable assistance. Also I put into thy charge all
+my stores of wheat, to be distributed among the needy. Thou must husband
+them to last yet four years more, and for thine own thou mayest keep one
+measure in twenty. Take thou also a sword, a rifle, a revolver, and a
+belt of cartridges. Mayhap, to thy right to rule they may add the power
+to be a Pharaoh!"
+
+I was interrupted by a noise below, as of some one opening the door of
+the secret chamber. All the deadly gas lurked in that room now, and it
+was certain death to whoever opened and entered! Yet if an alarm had
+been raised it was there they would immediately go for the fire-arms. I
+listened and heard faintly a voice of command, like that of Zaphnath,
+saying, "Haste, get me the thunderers!" Then, as the door below creaked
+open, I heard it louder: "The thunderers!" Next I heard many men in
+violent fits of coughing; I heard some groan and fall; but who or how
+many died by the purplish poison intended for me, I never knew.
+
+It was but a moment later that hurried footsteps in the banquet-hall
+were heard approaching the veiled doorway. I took the revolver from
+Hotep, and motioned him inside the projectile. How cautiously they
+opened the door I could not see, for it was behind the great curtain.
+Presently, however, the captain who had bound me and bade me wait, drew
+aside the curtain, and the Pharaoh stood in the door, and behind him
+were a crowd of soldiers armed with cross-bows. In all the number I did
+not see the face of Zaphnath. They beheld me alone, and had no reason to
+suspect the presence of the others inside the projectile.
+
+"Guard both the doors!" the captain commanded, and a detachment of
+soldiers barred the other door, as if thus to prevent me from escaping
+with the projectile; for of course they had not seen it rise through the
+floor.
+
+"Seize and bind yon traitor!" cried the Pharaoh; "and he who hesitates
+shall be flayed!"
+
+"And he who attempts it, shall die ere his first step be taken!" I
+replied, levelling the revolver. The captain started for me and I shot
+him down.
+
+"If a man of you moves till I have entered this thing, I will kill the
+Pharaoh, as I have killed this dog! Ye serve him best who stand still as
+ye are!" So saying, I covered the trembling monarch with the revolver,
+and with my other hand I opened the rear port-hole; then stooping, I
+sprang inside with a quick motion. When the Pharaoh had recovered from
+his fright, I heard him cry out,--
+
+"Cast that black thing, and the traitor inside it, into yon poisonous
+hole again!"
+
+The soldiers did not fear to act this time, and the whole company seized
+the projectile and carried it toward the breach in the floor. As they
+lifted it on end to thrust into the hole, I called out to the doctor,
+who turned in two batteries, and gently we lifted out of their dumb
+hands and rose steadily till we touched the roof. There the vaulted
+stonework stopped us, and an exultant shout went up from below. Suddenly
+a score of arrows twanged against my window, but the doctor turned in
+two more batteries and then gradually we lifted the key of the great
+stone arch, broke through the roof, and the whole universe was an open
+sea before us!
+
+Crouching by me at the port-hole, Hotep watched the roof collapse and
+tumble in. "For thy sake," I said to him, "I hope a falling stone may
+have crushed him!"
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+Thus ended our other-world life. In a time of activity it would never
+have occurred to me to write down these events. It was to relieve the
+uneventful quiet of our trip back to Earth that I undertook to set down
+all our Martian experiences in their proper order. No doubt it was the
+changeless monotony of that return journey which made the record appear
+to me novel, unusual, and at times exciting. But now, six little months
+again on Earth have made the more than three Martian years (equalling
+six years of Earth) seem slow, tame, and profitless. If they were
+pregnant with adventure, they lacked the real experiences of life which
+have been crowded into the half-year since our return.
+
+The very day I reached my old home I found another wheat corner more
+wide-spread, if less complete and impregnable, and I set to work to
+break it down. Thus the maelström of modern commercial life dragged me
+into its dizzy whirl before I slept the first night on Earth, and I am
+already surfeited with it. I seem to take the Earthly life in too large
+and rapid doses. Into the half-year she has put a flattering success and
+a dismaying failure. She has given me a month of her sweetest
+experiences and another of her bitterest disappointments. As if she knew
+I would not remain long at her feast, she has served to me in quick
+succession a measure of renown, a taste of fortune, the rapture of
+wooing, the bliss of marriage, and the rare delight of loving a soul
+created to love me. Then one little drop from the cup of Death
+embittered the whole feast and turned me against it all.
+
+In the rush and turmoil of it all I should never have thought of my
+crudely written narrative again had not my cousin Ruth, who never tired
+of the story, fished it out and sent it to a literary friend in Boston.
+It was probably the instant success in the scientific world of Dr.
+Anderwelt's scholarly books on _Mars and His Life_, and the new
+direction given to modern thought by his _Theory of Parallel Planetary
+Life_, which led my literary sponsor to think the world would be
+interested in a plain, unscientific narrative of our trip Marsward and
+our doings there. In agreeing to look it over and cause it to be a "good
+delivery" in the literary world, he exacted a promise from me to make
+my recent Earthly experiences and our adventures on Venus join in
+producing another story. For before the eyes of the first reader have
+reached these words, Dr. Anderwelt and I will have departed sunwards, on
+the visit to our brilliant sister planet, where, according to his
+theory, life will have run through some 31,000 years more than Earth
+toward the perfect existence. By the first return of the projectile I
+have promised to send back a thorough account of the evolution of life
+and the advancement of civilization on Venus, so far as Earthly eyes and
+wits can see and know it.
+
+
+
+
+Butler & Tanner, The Selwood Printing Works, Frome, and London.
+
+
+
+
+
+End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Pharaoh's Broker, by Ellsworth Douglass
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+      The Project Gutenberg eBook of Pharaoh's Broker, by Ellsworth Douglass
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+The Project Gutenberg EBook of Pharaoh's Broker, by Ellsworth Douglass
+
+This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with
+almost no restrictions whatsoever.  You may copy it, give it away or
+re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included
+with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org
+
+
+Title: Pharaoh's Broker
+       Being the Very Remarkable Experiences in Another World of Isidor Werner
+
+Author: Ellsworth Douglass
+
+Release Date: May 2, 2008 [EBook #25295]
+
+Language: English
+
+Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1
+
+*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK PHARAOH'S BROKER ***
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+
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+
+Produced by Greg Weeks, George Snoga, Stephen Blundell and
+the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at
+http://www.pgdp.net
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+</pre>
+
+
+<h1><big>PHARAOH'S BROKER</big></h1>
+
+<p class="hd1">BEING THE VERY REMARKABLE EXPERIENCES<br />
+IN ANOTHER WORLD OF<br />
+ISIDOR WERNER<br />
+<small>(WRITTEN BY HIMSELF)</small></p>
+
+<p class="hd2"><b>EDITED, ARRANGED, AND WITH AN INTRODUCTION</b></p>
+<h2 class="hd3">BY ELLSWORTH DOUGLASS</h2>
+
+<div class="figcenter">
+<img src="images/001.png" width="63" height="100" alt="" title="" />
+</div>
+
+<p class="hd1"><small>LONDON</small><br />
+C. ARTHUR PEARSON LIMITED<br />
+HENRIETTA STREET W.C.<br />
+<small>1899</small></p>
+
+<hr /><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_5" id="Page_5">[5]</a></span></p>
+<h2>CONTENTS</h2>
+
+<div class='center'>
+<table border="0" cellpadding="2" cellspacing="0" summary="">
+<tr><td class="td2" colspan="3"><small>PAGE</small></td></tr>
+<tr><td class="td1" colspan="2">Introduction: Elusive Truth</td><td class="td2"><a href="#Page_7">7</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td class="td3" colspan="3">BOOK I. SECRETS OF SPACE</td></tr>
+<tr><td class="center"><small>CHAPTER</small></td><td class="td2" colspan="2"></td></tr>
+<tr><td class="td0">I.</td><td class="td1">Dr. Hermann Anderwelt</td><td class="td2"><a href="#Page_19">19</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td class="td0">II.</td><td class="td1">The Gravity Projectile</td><td class="td2"><a href="#Page_27">27</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td class="td0">III.</td><td class="td1">Structure of the Projectile</td><td class="td2"><a href="#Page_37">37</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td class="td0">IV.</td><td class="td1">What is on Mars?</td><td class="td2"><a href="#Page_48">48</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td class="td0">V.</td><td class="td1">Final Preparations</td><td class="td2"><a href="#Page_57">57</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td class="td0">VI.</td><td class="td1">Farewell to Earth</td><td class="td2"><a href="#Page_67">67</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td class="td0">VII.</td><td class="td1">The Terrors of Light</td><td class="td2"><a href="#Page_81">81</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td class="td0">VIII.</td><td class="td1">The Valley of the Shadow</td><td class="td2"><a href="#Page_91">91</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td class="td0">IX.</td><td class="td1">Tricks of Refraction</td><td class="td2"><a href="#Page_99">99</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td class="td0">X.</td><td class="td1">The Twilight of Space</td><td class="td2"><a href="#Page_108">108</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td class="td0">XI.</td><td class="td1">Telling the Time by Geography</td><td class="td2"><a href="#Page_117">117</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td class="td0">XII.</td><td class="td1">Space Fever</td><td class="td2"><a href="#Page_126">126</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td class="td0">XIII.</td><td class="td1">The Mystery of a Minus Weight</td><td class="td2"><a href="#Page_141">141</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td class="td3" colspan="3">BOOK II. OTHER WORLD LIFE<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_6" id="Page_6">[6]</a></span></td></tr>
+<tr><td class="td0">I.</td><td class="td1">Why Mars gives a Red Light</td><td class="td2"><a href="#Page_157">157</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td class="td0">II.</td><td class="td1">The Terror Birds</td><td class="td2"><a href="#Page_170">170</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td class="td0">III.</td><td class="td1">Two of us against the Armies of Mars</td><td class="td2"><a href="#Page_182">182</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td class="td0">IV.</td><td class="td1">The Strange Bravery of Miss Blank</td><td class="td2"><a href="#Page_192">192</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td class="td0">V.</td><td class="td1">Zaphnath, Ruler of the Kemi</td><td class="td2"><a href="#Page_204">204</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td class="td0">VI.</td><td class="td1">The Iron Men from the Blue Star</td><td class="td2"><a href="#Page_220">220</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td class="td0">VII.</td><td class="td1">Parallel Planetary Life</td><td class="td2"><a href="#Page_240">240</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td class="td0">VIII.</td><td class="td1">A Plagiarist of Dreams</td><td class="td2"><a href="#Page_249">249</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td class="td0">IX.</td><td class="td1">Getting into the Corner</td><td class="td2"><a href="#Page_260">260</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td class="td0">X.</td><td class="td1">Humanity on Ptah</td><td class="td2"><a href="#Page_275">275</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td class="td0">XI.</td><td class="td1">Revolutionist and Eavesdropper</td><td class="td2"><a href="#Page_283">283</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td class="td0">XII.</td><td class="td1">The Doctor Disappears</td><td class="td2"><a href="#Page_292">292</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td class="td0">XIII.</td><td class="td1">The Revelation of Hotep</td><td class="td2"><a href="#Page_304">304</a></td></tr>
+</table></div>
+
+<hr /><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_7" id="Page_7">[7]</a></span></p>
+<h2>INTRODUCTION</h2>
+
+<h3>Elusive Truth</h3>
+
+<p class="cap"><span class="dcap">It</span> was the Chicago <i>Tribune</i> of June 13th, 189-,
+which contained this paragraph under the
+head-line: "Big Broker Missing!"</p>
+
+<div class="blockquot"><p>"The friends of Isidor Werner, a young man
+prominent in Board of Trade circles, are much concerned
+about him, as he has not been seen for
+several days. He made his last appearance in the
+wheat pit as a heavy buyer Tuesday forenoon.
+That afternoon he left his office at Room 87 Board
+of Trade, and has not been seen since, nor can his
+whereabouts be learned. He is six feet two inches
+high, of athletic build, with black hair and moustache,
+a regular nose, and an unpronounced Jewish
+appearance. His age is hardly more than twenty-seven,
+but he has often made himself felt as a
+market force on the Board of Trade, where he was
+well thought of."</p></div>
+
+<p>But it was the <i>Evening Post</i> of the same date
+which prided itself on unearthing the real sensation.
+A scare-head across the top of a first page
+column read:<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_8" id="Page_8">[8]</a></span></p>
+
+<div class="blockquot"><p class="center"><span class="smcap">"A Plunger's Last Plunge!"</span></p>
+
+<p>"The daring young broker who held the whole
+wheat market in his hands a few months ago,
+amassing an independent fortune in three days,
+but losing most of it gamely on subsequent changes
+in the market, has made his last plunge. This
+time he has gone into the cold, kind bosom of
+Lake Michigan. Isidor Werner evened up his
+trades in the wheat market last Tuesday forenoon,
+and then applied for his balance-sheet at a
+higher clearing house! No trace of him or clue
+to his whereabouts was found, until the <i>Evening
+Post</i>, on the principle of setting one mystery to
+solve another, sent its representative to examine
+a strange steel rocket, discovered half-buried in the
+sands of Lake Michigan, near Berrien Springs, two
+days ago. Our reporter investigated this bullet-shaped
+contrivance and found an opening into it,
+and within he discovered a scrap of paper on which
+were written the words: 'Farewell to Earth for
+ever!' Werner's friends, when interviewed by the
+<i>Evening Post</i>, all positively identified the handwriting
+of this scrap as his chirography. It is
+supposed that he took an excursion steamer to
+St. Joseph, Michigan, last Tuesday or Wednesday
+afternoon, and walking down the shore toward
+Berrien Springs, finally threw himself into the
+Lake. Neither Israel Werner, with whom the
+dead man lived on Indiana Avenue, nor Patrick
+Flynn, the chief clerk at his office, can give any<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_9" id="Page_9">[9]</a></span>
+reason for the suicide, or explain the exact connection
+of the infernal machine (if such it be) with
+the sad circumstance. But they both positively
+identify the handwriting on the scrap of paper.
+We have wired our representative to bring the
+mysterious machine to Chicago; and those who
+think they may be able to throw any light upon
+the case, are invited to call at the office of the
+<i>Evening Post</i> and examine it."</p></div>
+
+<p>The <i>Inter Ocean</i> developed a theory that the
+suicide was only a pretended one for the purpose
+of fraudulently collecting life insurance policies.
+It was cited that Isidor Werner had insured his
+life for more than $100,000, and this in spite of
+the fact that he had no family, parents, brothers
+or sisters to provide for; but had taken the policies
+in favour of his uncle, Israel Werner, and in case
+of his prior death, in favour of a cousin, Ruth
+Werner. This theory gained but little currency
+among those who knew the man best, and although
+the insurance companies prepared to resist payment
+of the policies to the bitter end, yet, as
+time went on, no one attempted to prove his death,
+nor to claim the handsome sum which would result
+from it. Moreover, Israel Werner and his daughter
+Ruth, the beneficiaries under the policies, persisted
+in believing that their relative was yet alive,
+though they could give no good reasons for so
+believing, nor explain his disappearance.</p>
+
+<p>In its issue of June 15th the <i>Tribune</i> scouted the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_10" id="Page_10">[10]</a></span>
+idea of suicide altogether. It had a better and
+more plausible theory of the case. Isidor Werner
+had a large sum of money in the Corn Exchange
+Bank, drawing interest by the year. In case of
+either a premeditated or a pretended suicide he
+would most certainly have withdrawn, and made
+some disposition of, this money. In fact, he had,
+on the day of his disappearance, drawn out five
+thousand dollars of it in gold. For this coin the
+<i>Tribune</i> believed he had been murdered, and that
+they had a clue to the murderer. The vanished
+man had several times been seen in the company
+of a suspicious German, of intelligent but erratic
+appearance. This queer character lived in a hotbed
+of socialism on the West Side, and the young
+broker was supposed to be in his power. In fact,
+it was known for certain that the erratic German
+had secured a large sum of money from him, and
+that Werner had visited his rooms in the slums of
+the West Side more than once. Moreover, the two
+had made a secret railway journey together two
+days before the disappearance, and on the very day
+that Werner was last seen, the German had fled
+his lodgings without giving any explanation of his
+departure to his few acquaintances. When the
+<i>Tribune</i> reporter called at these lodgings, the landlord
+still had in his possession a gold eagle, with
+which the German had paid his rent, and in the
+grate of the deserted room were the charred remains
+of burnt papers. One of these was a rather<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_11" id="Page_11">[11]</a></span>
+firm, crisp cinder, and had been a blue-print of a
+drawing. As nearly as could be judged, from its
+shrivelled state, it appeared to be the plan of some
+infernal machine. The name of the fugitive was
+Anderwelt, and he called himself a doctor. Further
+investigations were being carried on by the <i>Tribune</i>,
+which promised to prove beyond a doubt that he
+was the murderer of Isidor Werner.</p>
+
+<p>But the <i>Evening Post</i> still held the palm for sensations,
+and I copy verbatim from its columns of
+June 15th:</p>
+
+<div class="blockquot"><p>"It is rare that a newspaper, dealing strictly in
+facts, has to record anything so closely bordering on
+the supernatural and mysterious as that which we
+must now relate. The following facts, however, are
+vouched for by the entire editorial department of
+the <i>Evening Post</i>, and many of them by several
+hundred witnesses. We begin by apologising to
+the hundreds who have called at this office and
+have been unable to see the Werner infernal
+machine. We gave it that name in a thoughtless
+jest, but its subsequent actions have more than
+justified the title. Our reporter brought it from
+Berrien Springs, as directed, and deposited it in the
+court of the <i>Evening Post</i> building. As is quite
+generally known, this court is a central well in
+the building, affording ventilation and light to the
+interior offices, from every one of which can be
+seen what goes on in it. The well is spanned by a
+glass roof above the eighth storey. In this court, at<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_12" id="Page_12">[12]</a></span>
+eleven o'clock this morning, the entire editorial and
+a large part of the business staff of this paper,
+repaired, to examine the mysterious rocket-like
+thing. A little lid was opened, showing the recess
+where the tell-tale scrap of paper, written by
+Werner, had been found. Inside there seemed to
+be a pair of peculiar battery cells, whose exact
+nature was hidden by the outer shell. Outside
+there were several thumb-screws, which were
+turned both ways without any apparent effect.
+While making this examination the machine had
+been set up on its lower end, and when it was
+again laid down it <i>refused to lie on its side</i>, but
+persisted in <i>standing erect of its own accord</i>. This
+was the more wonderful because the lower end was
+not flat, so that it would afford a good base, but was
+pointed. More than a hundred people saw it stand
+up on this sharp tip, saw it lift up light weights
+which were placed upon it to hold it on its side, and
+saw it quickly right itself when it was placed
+vertically but wrong end down.</p>
+
+<p>"Thinking this queer property had been contributed
+to it in some way by loosening the thumb-screws,
+they were next all set down as tightly as
+possible, to see if this tendency to erectness would
+be lost. Then, to the astonishment of every one in
+the court, and of several hundred people who were
+by this time watching from the interior windows,
+this infernal machine, without any explosion, burning
+of gases, or any apparent force acting upon it,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_13" id="Page_13">[13]</a></span>
+slowly <i>rose from the ground</i>, and then, travelling
+more swiftly, <i>shot through the roof of glass</i> and
+vanished from sight! Nor has the most diligent
+search enabled us to recover it. Does it possess
+the secret of Isidor Werner's death?"</p></div>
+
+<p>But the Chicago <i>Herald</i> had been working
+thoroughly and saying little until its issue of
+June 16th, when it claimed the credit of solving
+the whole mystery. Its long article lies before me
+as I write: There had been no suicide; there had
+been no murder; there had been no infernal
+machine. Doctor Anderwelt was a learned man,
+and the warm personal friend of Isidor Werner.
+Both men had shared the same fate; they might
+yet be alive, but they were certainly <i>at the bottom
+of Lake Michigan together</i>! They were imprisoned
+there in a sunken submarine boat, which was the
+invention of Doctor Anderwelt, and was built with
+funds furnished by the young broker. The
+foundryman who had constructed the big torpedo-shaped
+contrivance had been interviewed. He
+knew both men, and they were on the most
+friendly terms. In a moment of confidence Doctor
+Anderwelt had told him the machine was for submarine
+exploration; had explained the four-winged
+rudder, which would make it dive into the water,
+rise to the surface, or direct it to right or to left.
+Moreover, there were closed living compartments,
+around which were chambers containing a supply
+of air. He himself had pumped them full of compressed<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_14" id="Page_14">[14]</a></span>
+air, and it was so arranged that foul air
+could be let out when used and new air admitted.
+When all had been finished the foundryman had
+shipped the new invention, <i>via</i> the Michigan
+Southern Railway, to the shore of the Lake near
+Whiting, Indiana. Next the <i>Herald</i> had sought
+and found the conductor whose train had hauled it
+to Whiting. He remembered switching off the
+flat-car there, and he was surprised on his return
+trip next morning to see the heavy thing already
+unloaded and gone.</p>
+
+<p>Undoubtedly, the two men had made an experiment
+with the diving boat under the surface of the
+water; and its failure to operate as hoped had
+resulted in its sinking to the bottom, with the two
+men imprisoned in it. On no other hypothesis
+could its disappearance, and that of the two men,
+be so plausibly accounted for. But as they had
+stores of air, and probably of food, there was a
+possibility that they were still alive inside the
+thing in the bottom of the Lake! Only three
+days had elapsed since it had been launched, and
+the <i>Herald</i> was willing to head a subscription to
+drag the Lake and send divers to search for and
+rescue the two unfortunate men!</p>
+
+<p>All this serves to illustrate the untiring energy
+of newspaper investigation, as well as the remarkable
+fertility of journalistic imagination; for none
+of these clever theories hit at the real truth, or explained
+the correct bearing of the astonishing facts<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_15" id="Page_15">[15]</a></span>
+which the newspapers had so industriously unearthed.</p>
+
+<p>And if the mystery of the disappearance of
+Isidor Werner was uncommonly deep and wonderful,
+the explanation and final solution of it is not
+less marvellous. After a delay of more than six
+years, it has just now come into my hands whole
+and perfect. It is in no less satisfactory form than
+a complete manuscript written by the very hand of
+Isidor Werner! I came strangely into possession
+of it, and it relates a story of interest and wonder,
+compared with which the mystery of his disappearance
+pales into insignificance. But the reader may
+judge for himself, for here follows the story exactly
+as he wrote it. Upon his manuscript I have bestowed
+hardly more than a proof-reader's technical
+revision.</p>
+
+<p class="td0">ELLSWORTH DOUGLASS.</p>
+
+<p class="p1"><span class="smcap">Boston, U.S.A.,</span><br />
+<i>December 13th, 1898.</i></p>
+
+<hr /><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_17" id="Page_17">[17]</a></span></p>
+<h2>BOOK I</h2>
+
+<h2>Secrets of Space</h2>
+
+<hr /><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_19" id="Page_19">[19]</a></span></p>
+<h2>CHAPTER I</h2>
+
+<h3>Dr. Hermann Anderwelt</h3>
+
+<p class="cap"><span class="dcap">I had</span> been busy all day trying to swarm the
+bees and secure my honey. The previous day
+had been February 29th, a date which doesn't often
+happen, and which I had especial reason to remember,
+for it had been the most successful of my
+business career. I had made a long guess at the
+shaky condition of the great house of Slater,
+Bawker &amp; Co., who had been heavy buyers of
+wheat. I had talked the market down, sold it
+down, hammered it down; and, true enough, what
+nobody else seemed to expect really happened. The
+big firm failed, the price of wheat went to smash in
+a panic of my mixing, and, as a result, I saw a
+profit of more than two hundred thousand dollars
+in the deal. But, in order to secure this snug sum,
+I still had to buy back the wheat I had sold at
+higher prices, and this I didn't find so easy. The
+crowd in the wheat pit had seen my hand, and were
+letting me play it alone against them all.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_20" id="Page_20">[20]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>After the session I hurried to my office to get my
+overcoat and hat, having an engagement to lunch
+at the Club.</p>
+
+<p>"If you please, Mr. Werner, there is a queer old
+gentleman in your private office who wishes to see
+you," said Flynn, my chief clerk.</p>
+
+<p>"Ask him to call again to-morrow; I am in a
+great hurry to-day," I said, slipping on one sleeve
+of my overcoat as I started out.</p>
+
+<p>"But he has been waiting in there since eleven
+o'clock, and said he very much wished to see you
+when you had plenty of time. He would not allow
+me to send on the floor for you during the session."</p>
+
+<p>"Since eleven o'clock! Did he have his lunch
+and a novel sent up? Well, I can hardly run
+away from a man who has waited three and a half
+hours to see me;" and I entered my private office
+with my overcoat on.</p>
+
+<p>Seated in my deep, leathern arm-chair was an
+elderly man, with rather long and bushy iron-grey
+hair, and an uneven grey beard. His head inclined
+forward, he breathed heavily, and was apparently
+fast asleep.</p>
+
+<p>"You will pardon my awaking you, but I never
+do business asleep!" I ventured rather loudly.</p>
+
+<p>Slowly the steel-blue eyes opened, and, without
+any start or discomposure, the old man answered,&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>"And I&mdash;my most successful enterprises are
+developed in my dreams."</p>
+
+<p>His features and his accent agreed in pronouncing<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_21" id="Page_21">[21]</a></span>
+him German. He arose calmly, buttoned the
+lowest button of his worn frock-coat, and, instead
+of extending his hand to me, he poked it inside
+his coat, letting it hang heavily on the single
+button. It was a lazy but characteristic attitude.
+It tended to make his coat pouch and his shoulders
+droop. I remembered having seen it somewhere
+before.</p>
+
+<p>"Mr. Werner, I have a matter of the deepest and
+vastest importance to unfold to you," he began,
+rather mysteriously, "for which I desire five hours
+of your unemployed time&mdash;&mdash;"</p>
+
+<p>"Five hours!" I interrupted. "You do not
+know me! That much is hard to find without
+running into the middle of the night, or into the
+middle of the day&mdash;which is worse for a busy man.
+I have just five minutes to spare this afternoon,
+which will be quite time enough to tell me who
+you are and why you have sought me."</p>
+
+<p>"You do not know me because you do not expect
+to see me on this hemisphere," he continued. "Nor
+did I expect to find you a potent force in the commercial
+world, only three years after a literary and
+linguistic preparation for a scholarly career. Why,
+the <i>m&auml;dchens</i> of Heidelberg have hardly had time
+to forget your tall, athletic figure, or ceased wondering
+if you were really a Hebrew&mdash;&mdash;"</p>
+
+<p>"You seem to be altogether familiar with my
+history," I put in with a little heat. "Kindly
+enlighten me equally well as to your own."<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_22" id="Page_22">[22]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>"I gave you the pleasure of an additional year
+of residence at the University of Heidelberg not
+long ago," he answered.</p>
+
+<p>"I do not know how that can be, for to my uncle
+I owe my entire education there."</p>
+
+<p>"Perhaps an unappreciated trifle of it you owe
+to your instructors and lecturers. Do you forget
+that I refused to pass your examinations in physics,
+and kept you there a year longer?"</p>
+
+<p>"You are not Doctor Anderwelt, then?"</p>
+
+<p>"Hermann Anderwelt, Ph.D., at your service,
+sir," he replied somewhat proudly.</p>
+
+<p>"But when and why did you leave your chair at
+Heidelberg?"</p>
+
+<p>"It is to answer this that I ask the five hours,"
+he said slowly.</p>
+
+<p>"Oh, come now, doctor, you used to tell me more
+in a two-hour lecture than I could remember in a
+week," I answered, taking off my overcoat, and
+touching an electric button at my desk. My office
+boy entered.</p>
+
+<p>"Teddy, have I had lunch to-day?" This was
+my favourite question on a busy day, and Teddy
+always answered it seriously.</p>
+
+<p>"No, sir, you have an engagement to lunch at
+the Standard Club," he replied.</p>
+
+<p>"Telephone to Gus at the Club that I can't come
+up to-day. Also send over to the Grand Pacific for
+a good lunch for two. Have some beer in it&mdash;real
+M&uuml;nchner, and in <i>steins</i>," I directed, and then I<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_23" id="Page_23">[23]</a></span>
+reclined on a long leather lounge, and motioned to
+the doctor to have a chair. He declined, however,
+and walked slowly back and forth before me as he
+talked, keeping his right hand inside his coat, and
+with the left he occasionally ploughed up his heavy
+hair, as if to ventilate his brain.</p>
+
+<p>"A year ago I gave up theoretical physics for
+applied physics; I resigned my chair at Heidelberg,
+and came to this progressive city. I brought with
+me a working model of the greatest invention of
+this inventive age. Yet it was then neither perfect
+in design nor complete in detail. But now I have
+hit on the plan that makes it practicable and certain
+of success. I need only a little money to build
+it, and the world will open its eyes!"</p>
+
+<p>"But you must pardon me if instead of opening
+mine I shut them," I interrupted, seeing the point
+quickly, and losing no time in dodging. "I have
+no money to invest in patent rights; but still, you
+must stay to lunch with me."</p>
+
+<p>Just here the doctor seemed to find it necessary
+to diverge from the orderly course of his lecture as
+he had prepared it, and interject a few impromptu
+observations.</p>
+
+<p>"Events are difficult to forecast, but the capabilities
+of a youth are harder to divine. One
+educates his son in all the fine arts, and he turns
+out a founder of pig iron. One's nephew is apprenticed
+to a watchmaker, and in a few years,
+behold, he is a great barrister. Your uncle educated<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_24" id="Page_24">[24]</a></span>
+you thoroughly in the old Hebrew and
+Chaldee of the rabbis, and, lo! you are now the
+<i>ursa major</i> of the wheat market.</p>
+
+<p>"Just now you are in the centre of the kaleidoscope
+of success. Slater, Bawker &amp; Co. were there
+a month ago, but now they are only bits of broken
+glass in the bottom of the heap! And you? you
+are really a twisted bit of coloured glass like the
+rest, but you chance to be thrown to the middle.
+The mirrors of public opinion multiply your importance
+half a dozen times, and behold you are
+reflected into the whole picture. But the kaleidoscope
+turns, and the pieces of glass are shifted.
+Other broken chips now at the bottom of the heap
+will soon be filling the centre!</p>
+
+<p>"Permit me to change my figure of speech. You
+are sweeping back the waves of the sea while the
+tide is falling, and the wide-mouthed public looks
+on, and whispers about that your broom makes all
+the waves obey, and drives them back at will.
+Just when you begin to believe it yourself the
+tide may turn, and neither brooms nor all the
+powers on earth can then sweep it back.</p>
+
+<p>"Isidor Werner, you believe yourself rich; but
+your wealth is like molasses in a sieve. If you do
+not dip in your finger and taste the sweet occasionally,
+you will have nothing to show for your
+pains in the end. I shall ask you for but a taste
+of the sweet now, so that I may preserve a little
+of it against that day which may come, when<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_25" id="Page_25">[25]</a></span>
+the sieve will be bright and clean and empty
+again!"</p>
+
+<p>There was a knock at the door.</p>
+
+<p>"Come in!" I shouted. "Nothing but this
+lunch can save me from your eloquence. You
+have already ruined me in three similes!"</p>
+
+<p>The waiter arranged a bountiful and tempting
+luncheon on a writing table. I commenced on it
+at once, but the doctor, though repeatedly urged,
+persistently refused. He took a long draught at a
+<i>stein</i> of Munich beer, and continued:&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>"My invention proposes to navigate the air and
+the ether beyond, as well as the interplanetary
+spaces," he said impressively.</p>
+
+<p>"Flying machine, eh?" I sneered, between bites
+of planked whitefish.</p>
+
+<p>"Indeed no!" he growled, as if he detested this
+name. "My invention is not a machine but a
+projectile. It is not self-propelling, because if it
+depended upon its own propelling apparatus, it could
+not in thousands of years navigate the interplanetary
+spaces. It is a <i>gravity projectile</i>, and
+will travel at a rate of speed almost incalculable.
+It does not fly, but its manner of travelling is more
+nearly like falling."</p>
+
+<p>I gave the doctor a quick searching look to see if
+I could discover any signs of incipient insanity. I
+met a firm, steady gaze; an earnest, convincing
+look. Somehow, I felt there was something real
+and true and wonderful about to come from the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_26" id="Page_26">[26]</a></span>
+great scholar before me, and that I must hear it
+and hear it all; that I must lend a serious and
+thoughtful attention. My eyes were rivetted upon
+the doctor's for fully a minute in silence.</p>
+
+<p>"Go on," I said at last; "I am all attention."</p>
+
+<hr /><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_27" id="Page_27">[27]</a></span></p>
+<h2>CHAPTER II</h2>
+
+<h3>The Gravity Projectile</h3>
+
+<p class="cap"><span class="dcap">Hermann Anderwelt</span> had probably
+suffered many disappointments and waited
+long for a hearing. Now he seemed to feel that
+his opportunity had come, for he continued with
+growing enthusiasm:&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>"Hitherto all attempts at space travelling have
+been too timid or puerile. We have experimented
+at aerial navigation, as if the brief span of air were
+a step in the mighty distance which separates us
+from our sister planets. As well might steamboats
+have been invented to cross narrow streams, and
+never have ventured on the mighty ocean! We
+have tried to imitate the bird, the kite, and the
+balloon, and our experiments have failed, and always
+must, so long as we do not look farther and
+think deeper. Every Icarus who attempts to overcome
+the force of gravity, which conquers planets,
+and propel himself through the air by any sort of
+apparatus, will always finish the trip with a wiser
+but badly bruised head."</p>
+
+<p>"Still, it has been freely predicted," I ventured,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_28" id="Page_28">[28]</a></span>
+"that this century will not close without the invention
+of a successful air-travelling machine."</p>
+
+<p>"And I alone have hit upon the right plan,
+because I have not attempted to <i>struggle against</i>
+gravity, but have made use of it only for propelling
+my projectile!" exclaimed the doctor
+triumphantly.</p>
+
+<p>"But wait!" I interposed. "Gravity acts only
+in one direction, and that is exactly opposite to the
+one you propose to travel."</p>
+
+<p>"That brings me to the very important discovery
+I made in physics two years ago, upon which the
+whole success of the projectile rests. You will remember
+that, according to the text-books, very
+little is known about gravity except the laws of its
+action. What it is, and how it can be controlled or
+modified, have never been known. Electricity was
+as much a mystery fifty years ago, but we know all
+its attributes. We can make it, store it, control it,
+and use it for almost every necessity of life. The
+era of electricity is in full bloom, but the era of
+gravitational force is just budding."</p>
+
+<p>"Can it be that we have as much to learn from
+gravity as electricity has taught us in the last
+half-century?" I exclaimed, as my eyes began to
+open.</p>
+
+<p>"I believe it will teach us far more wonderful
+things, because it will take us to unknown worlds,
+while electricity has been confined to Earth. Its
+realm is the wide universe. It will show us what<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_29" id="Page_29">[29]</a></span>
+life there is on the planets. It will make us at
+home with the stars.</p>
+
+<p>"What!" he continued in a sort of ecstasy.
+"Do you think all great discoveries are over, all
+wonderful inventions made? As well might a
+trembling child, elated with the success of its first
+feeble steps alone, suppose it had exhausted all the
+possibilities of life. We are but spelling over the
+big letters on the title page of the primary book
+of knowledge. There be other pages and grander
+chapters further on. There be greater volumes,
+and sweeter, more expressive tongues which man
+may learn some day.</p>
+
+<p>"Has a reasoning Divinity created the heavens
+and peopled the myriad stars with thinking, capable
+beings, who must be perpetually isolated? Or may
+they not know each other some time? But shall
+we attempt to sail the vast heavens with a paper
+kite, or try to fly God's distances with the wings
+of fluttering birds? Nay; we must use God's
+engine for such a task. Has He tied the planets
+to the sun, and knitted the suns and their systems
+into one great universe obedient to a single law,
+with no possibility that we may use that law for
+intercommunication? With what wings do the
+planets fly around the sun, and the suns move
+through the heavens? With the wings of gravity!
+The same force for minute satellite or mighty sun.
+It is God's omnipotence applied to matter. Let
+us fly with that!"<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_30" id="Page_30">[30]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>"But will you permit me to suggest that we are
+soaring before the projectile is built?" I put in.</p>
+
+<p>"Quite right. Let us come back to Earth, and
+return to facts. My studies in physics led me to
+believe that all natural forces&mdash;gravity, centrifugal
+force, and even capillary attraction&mdash;are, like electricity
+and magnetism, both positive and negative
+in their action. If they do not normally alternate
+between a positive and negative current, as electricity
+does, they can be made to do so. Gravity and
+capillary attraction, as we know them, always act
+positively; that is, they always <i>attract</i>. On the
+other hand, centrifugal force always acts negatively;
+that is, it always <i>repels</i>. But each of these forces,
+I believe, can temporarily be made to act opposite
+to its usual manner. I know this to be the case
+with gravity, for I have caused its positive and
+negative currents to alternate; that is, I have made
+it repel and then attract, and so on, at will, by
+changing the polarity of the body which it acts
+upon."</p>
+
+<p>"Now that I remember it," I added, "our original
+ideas of magnetism were that it simply attracted.
+We knew the lodestone drew the steel, but only on
+better acquaintance did we learn of its alternating
+currents, attractive and repellant."</p>
+
+<p>"I have positively demonstrated with my working
+model that I can reverse the force of gravity
+acting upon the model, and make it sail away into
+space. I will show you this whenever you like.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_31" id="Page_31">[31]</a></span>
+It is so arranged that the polarizing action ceases
+in three minutes, after which the positive current
+controls, and the model falls to the Earth again."</p>
+
+<p>"But have you ever attempted a trip yet?"
+I inquired.</p>
+
+<p>"Oh, no. The model was not built to carry me,
+but it has demonstrated all the important facts,
+and I now need ten thousand dollars to build one
+large enough to carry several persons, and to equip
+it with everything necessary to make a trip to one
+of the planets. With a man inside to control the
+currents, it will be far more easily managed than
+the experimental model has been."</p>
+
+<p>"Suppose you had the projectile built, and everything
+was ready for a start," I said, "what would
+be the method of working it?"</p>
+
+<p>"I should enter the forward compartment,"
+began the doctor.</p>
+
+<p>"But would you make the trial trip yourself?"</p>
+
+<p>"I certainly would not trust the secret of operating
+the currents to any one else," he remarked, with
+emphasis. "And will you accompany me in the
+rear compartment?"</p>
+
+<p>"No, indeed; unless you will promise to return
+in time for the following day's market," I replied.</p>
+
+<p>"Then I shall engage some adventurous fellow
+as assistant. First, we must set the rudder, which
+is both horizontal and vertical, so that the projectile
+can be steered up, down, or to either side.
+Having fixed it so as to be directed a little upward,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_32" id="Page_32">[32]</a></span>
+I begin with the currents. Suppose the projectile
+weighs a ton, I gradually neutralize the positive
+current, which we are acquainted with as
+gravity. When it is exactly neutralized, the projectile
+weighs nothing, and the pressure of the air
+is enough to make it rise more rapidly than a
+balloon. When I have created a negative current,
+the projectile acquires a buoyancy equal to its previous
+weight. That is, it will now <i>fall up</i> as rapidly
+as it would previously have fallen down. It will
+not do to put on the full negative current at once,
+for we should acquire a velocity that would simply
+burn us up by friction with the atmosphere. However,
+the air is soon passed; if in the ether beyond
+there is very little friction, or none at all, we shall
+go at full speed, which will be the constantly increasing
+velocity of a falling body.</p>
+
+<p>"Somewhere between the Earth and the nearest
+planet," he continued, "there is a place where the
+attraction of one is just equal to the attraction of
+the other; and if a body is stopped in that fatal
+spot it will be anchored there for ever, by the
+equally matched forces tugging in opposite directions.
+There is such a dead line between all the
+planets, and our principal danger lies in falling
+into one of these, for we should remain there a
+twinkling star throughout eternity! We must
+trust to our momentum to carry us past this point,
+and into space where the gravitational attraction
+of the other planet is paramount. Then we must<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_33" id="Page_33">[33]</a></span>
+promptly change our current from negative to
+positive, so that the other planet will attract us
+to her. Otherwise, she would repel us back to the
+dead line.</p>
+
+<p>"With a positive current we are now literally
+falling into the new planet. We need not land
+unless we wish, for as soon as we enter a resisting
+atmosphere we can steer a course lacking barely
+a quarter of being directly away from the planet,
+just as you can sail a boat three quarters against
+the wind."</p>
+
+<p>"But suppose you experiment at making a landing
+on this new planet?" I suggested.</p>
+
+<p>"Very well. Of course, as soon as we enter an
+atmosphere, it behoves us to travel slowly to avoid
+overheating. We can still safely travel several
+hundred miles an hour, however. We continue
+falling until rather near the planet; then, turning
+the rudder gently down, we can sail around and
+around the planet until we choose our landing place.
+Gently reversing currents, a mild negative one
+soon overcomes our momentum. Tempering our
+currents experimentally to the pressure of the air,
+we can, if we desire, float like a feather and be
+wafted with every breeze. Just a suspicion of a
+positive current brings us gently to the surface,
+and, when we have cooled, we unscrew the rear
+port-hole and crawl out to explore a new world."</p>
+
+<p>I had mentally made the trip, and was not only
+intensely interested, but infinitely pleased. I was<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_34" id="Page_34">[34]</a></span>
+lost for some time with my imagination on the
+new sphere, but presently my mind returned to the
+practical side of the question, and I inquired,&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>"Are you quite sure that ten thousand dollars
+will be sufficient to build and fully equip the
+projectile?"</p>
+
+<p>"Yes, quite certain," he answered with decision.
+"It will be ample for that and for the expenses of
+forming a corporation to own my patents and exploit
+the invention. It is easy to see the projectile
+will be cheap of construction. No machinery is
+necessary; no strong building to withstand enormous
+shocks or anything of that kind. The principal
+expenditures will be for stores of food and for
+scientific and astronomical instruments. Of course,
+I wish to show you my working model and my
+plans for the practical projectile, and to explain to
+you many further details."</p>
+
+<p>It was growing dark. I arose, turned on the
+electric light, and rang my bell. The office boy
+entered.</p>
+
+<p>"Teddy, tell all the boys they may go, except
+Flynn. Ask him to wait, please."</p>
+
+<p>I was quite used to making ten thousand dollar
+bargains in a few seconds of time and without the
+scratch of a pen. I had risked more money than
+that on the fact that Slater looked worried and
+Bawker was very cross when at his office, and it had
+won immensely. But here, what a prospect, what
+a far-reaching, all-encircling prospect it was! No<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_35" id="Page_35">[35]</a></span>
+time was to be lost; besides, there was pleasure to
+me in driving a good bargain and driving it
+quickly.</p>
+
+<p>"And if I give you the ten thousand dollars,
+what do I get in return?" I asked, mentally placing
+my part at fifty-five per cent. of the shares at the
+lowest, so that I might control the company.</p>
+
+<p>"You may organize the corporation yourself.
+The projectile must bear my name, and I must have
+the credit for all discoveries and inventions. Then
+you may give me such a part of the shares of the
+company as you think right," he replied.</p>
+
+<p>On hearing this, I mentally advanced my portion
+to seventy-five per cent. Then I said,&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>"When the projectile is built and proves successful,
+who is to manage the affairs of the company?
+Who is to finance it and raise further funds for
+exploiting its business?"</p>
+
+<p>"I have no capacity for business," he declared.
+"I have no ambition to be a Pullman or an Edison.
+I would rather see myself a Franklin or a Fulton.
+You shall manage all the business affairs."</p>
+
+<p>"Then I will undertake the whole matter, and
+give you my cheque for ten thousand dollars to-night,
+provided you allow me&mdash;ninety-five per cent.
+of the company's shares!" I said, simulating a
+burst of generosity.</p>
+
+<p>Doctor Anderwelt ploughed his hair and harrowed
+his beard. He knew this was giving too much, but
+to have the projectile built, to sail away, to make<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_36" id="Page_36">[36]</a></span>
+all those grand new discoveries, to write books, and
+have future generations pronounce his name reverently
+along with Kepler and Newton! I did not
+believe he would have the courage to say no.
+While he meditated, my bell summoned Flynn.</p>
+
+<p>"Please draw a cheque for ten thousand dollars
+to the order of Hermann Anderwelt," I said, watching
+the doctor as I spoke. There was indecision in
+his face.</p>
+
+<p>"Suppose I allow you, say, ninety per cent.?" he
+said at last.</p>
+
+<p>I was signing the cheque Flynn had brought me.
+"Done!" I cried, handing it over. He scanned it
+carefully, and after a long time said,&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>"Mars is nearest to the Earth on the third day
+of next August. Fortunately Chicago is a good
+place to do things in a hurry. The projectile must
+be ready to start early in June, but its construction
+and its first trip must be kept a profound secret."</p>
+
+<p>The doctor must have been hungry since noon.
+He began munching a chicken sandwich. The cold
+planked whitefish tasted quite as good as smoked
+herrings, perhaps, and strawberry short-cake in
+March was a luxury which he evidently appreciated.</p>
+
+<hr /><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_37" id="Page_37">[37]</a></span></p>
+<h2>CHAPTER III</h2>
+
+<h3>Structure of the Projectile</h3>
+
+<p class="cap"><span class="dcap">A few</span> weeks later I received a letter from Dr.
+Anderwelt asking me to call at his rooms on
+the West Side that afternoon, as soon as the market
+had closed. He desired to exhibit and explain the
+drawings of the new projectile and talk over the
+preparations for the trip. I had been so engrossed
+with every sort of worry that I had thought but
+little of the doctor and his grand schemes of late.
+But now I was anxious to know what progress he
+was making. Sometimes I felt that I had been
+foolish to put any money into the thing; but the
+doctor's idea of reversing gravity was so simple and
+so elemental, that I marvelled it had never occurred
+to scientists before.</p>
+
+<p>After the market I hunted up the street and
+number the doctor had given me, and found a little,
+dingy boarding-house, lost among machine shops
+and implement factories, near the west side of
+the river. In a third-floor back room, with one
+small window looking out on dark, sooty buildings
+and belching chimneys, Dr. Anderwelt was thinking<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_38" id="Page_38">[38]</a></span>
+out all the incidental problems, and preparing
+for all the emergencies that might arise on a trip of
+some forty million miles, through unknown space,
+to a strange planet whose composition was unguessed.</p>
+
+<p>The walls of the room were soiled and bare,
+except for blue-prints of drawings from which the
+projectile was being built in neighbouring foundries.
+There were but two plain, hard chairs in
+the room. The doctor sat on one with a pillow
+doubled up under him for a cushion. He was bending
+over a draughting board, which was propped
+up on the bed during the day and went under it
+at night.</p>
+
+<p>Three flights of steep stairs had taken my
+breath, and I dropped into the other hard chair and
+exclaimed,&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>"I say, Doctor, why didn't you take an office in
+the twelfth heaven of a modern office building over
+in town, where they have elevators? I have really
+forgotten how to climb stairs. Didn't I furnish
+you money enough to do this thing right?"</p>
+
+<p>"Don't you think this is a good place?" he inquired
+in some surprise. "The rent is cheap, and
+it is convenient to the work. But speaking of
+elevators, we are going to revolutionize all that.
+No more hoisting or hydraulic lifts after we apply
+our ideas to the lifting of these elevator cages!"</p>
+
+<p>"I am afraid this idea of negative gravity is apt
+to revolutionize everything, and generally upset the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_39" id="Page_39">[39]</a></span>
+entire universe," I replied. "I have been wondering
+what would happen if you were to apply a
+negative current to this Earth of ours and send
+it whirling out of its orbit, an ostracised Pariah,
+repelled by all the celestial bodies!"</p>
+
+<p>"Not the slightest danger of any such calamity,"
+he answered. "The reversal of polarity can only
+be accomplished with comparatively small and
+insignificant masses. It would be impossible to
+impart a negative condition even to the smallest
+satellite. Our projectile will weigh but a few thousand
+pounds, compared to the millions of tons of the
+smallest celestial bodies. The Creator has looked
+out for the stability of the universe, never fear for
+that! And He has also given us a few hints of
+negative currents and repellant gravities in the
+form of meteorites and falling stars, which cannot
+be so well explained by any other theory. But
+what I want to talk to you about is the vital importance
+of providing against every possible emergency
+before starting on this trip through space.
+A trifling oversight in the preparations may mean
+death in the end, and things we put no value on
+here we might be willing to give a fortune for
+on Mars!"</p>
+
+<p>"Well, let's hear how this thing is built," I said,
+rising and facing the larger blue-print. "So that's
+the shape of it, is it? Looks like a cigar!"</p>
+
+<p>"Yes, the design resembles that of a torpedo
+considerably," replied the doctor, and referring to<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_40" id="Page_40">[40]</a></span>
+the sectional blue-print he began explaining the
+construction.</p>
+
+<p>"This outer covering is a crust of graphite or
+black lead, inside which is a two-inch layer of
+asbestos. Both of these resist enormous heats, and
+they will prevent our burning by friction with
+atmospheres, and protect us against extremes of
+cold. Also, when we are ready, they will enable us
+to visit planets about whose cooled condition we are
+not certain. We might touch safely for a short
+time on a molten planet with this covering.</p>
+
+<p>"Next comes the general outer framework of
+steel, just within which, and completely surrounding
+the living compartments, are the chambers for the
+storage of condensed air for use on the trip. These
+chambers are lined inside with another layer of
+asbestos. Now, air being a comparatively poor
+conductor of heat, and asbestos one of the best
+non-conductors we know of, this insures a stable
+temperature of the living compartments, regardless
+of the condition without, whether of extreme heat
+or extreme cold. Afterward comes the inner framework
+of steel, and lastly a wainscotting of hard
+wood to give the compartments a finish."</p>
+
+<p>"How large are these living rooms?" I inquired.</p>
+
+<p>"The rear one is four feet high and eight feet
+long. The forward one, designed for my own use,
+is longer, and must contain a good-size telescope
+and all my scientific instruments. The apparatus
+with which I produce the currents is built into the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_41" id="Page_41">[41]</a></span>
+left wall, and it acts on the steel work of the projectile
+only. The rear compartment has a sideboard
+for preparing meals, which will have to be wholly
+of bread, biscuits, and various tinned vegetables and
+meats. We shall not attempt any cooking."</p>
+
+<p>"But are there no windows for looking out?" I
+queried.</p>
+
+<p>"Certainly, there are two of them, made of thick
+mica. One is directly in the front end, through
+which my telescope will look. The other is in the
+port-hole in the rear end. Each window is provided
+with an outer shutter of asbestos, which can be
+closed in case of great heat or cold. You will
+notice the two compartments can be separated by
+an air-tight plunger, fitting into the aperture
+between them. It will be necessary for both of us
+to occupy the same compartment while the air is
+being changed in the other. The foul air will be
+forced outside by a powerful pump until a partial
+vacuum is created. Then a certain measure of condensed
+air is emptied in, and expands until the
+barometer in that compartment indicates a proper
+pressure."</p>
+
+<p>"The air will be made to order while you wait,
+then?" I put in.</p>
+
+<p>"That is exactly what will be done in a more
+literal manner than you may suppose!" exclaimed
+the doctor. "This air problem is a most interesting
+one, for we must educate ourselves on the trip to
+use the sort of atmosphere we expect to find when<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_42" id="Page_42">[42]</a></span>
+we land. For instance, going to Mars we must use
+an atmosphere more and more rarefied each day,
+until gradually we become used to the thin air
+we expect to find there. Of course, there is an
+especially designed barometer and thermometer,
+capable of being read in the rear compartment, but
+exposed outside near the rudder. The barometer
+will give us the pressure of the earthly atmosphere
+as it becomes more and more rare with our ascent.
+It will show us what pressure there is of the ether,
+which may vary considerably, depending on our
+nearness to heavenly bodies. It will also immediately
+indicate to us when we are entering any new
+atmosphere. When we have arrived at Mars, we
+shall observe the exact pressure of the Martian air,
+and then manufacture one of the same pressure
+inside, and try breathing it before we venture out.
+The thermometer will give us the temperature of
+the ether, will indicate the loss of heat as we leave
+the sun, and will show us the Martian temperature
+before we venture into it."</p>
+
+<p>"But you have said the condensed air will be
+used to resist the outer heat. This will certainly
+make it so hot it will be unfit to breathe," I
+interposed.</p>
+
+<p>"Ah, but you forget that the quick expansion of
+a gaslike air produces cold. We shall regulate our
+temperature in that way. If it is becoming too
+warm inside, the new measure of condensed air will
+be quickly introduced into the partial vacuum, and<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_43" id="Page_43">[43]</a></span>
+its sudden expansion will produce great cold, and
+freeze ice for us if we wish it. On the other hand,
+if the compartments are already cold, we shall
+allow the condensed air to enter very gradually, and
+its slow expansion will produce but little cold. The
+question of heating the projectile is the most
+difficult one I have found. We cannot have any
+fires, for there is no way for the smoke to escape,
+and we cannot carry oxygen enough to keep them
+burning. I have decided that we must depend on
+the heat arising from outer friction and from
+absorption of the Sun's rays by our black surface.
+When we are in ether where friction is very little,
+the velocity will be all the greater, and I believe
+we shall always be warm enough. You must
+remember, we shall not have the slightest suspicion
+of a draught, and we must necessarily take along
+the warmest clothing for use on Mars. Even then
+we probably cannot safely visit any but his equatorial
+districts."</p>
+
+<p>"This is the rudder, I suppose; but haven't you
+put it in wrong end first?" I asked. "It is just
+the opposite of a fish's tail. You have the widened
+end near the projectile and the narrow end extending."</p>
+
+<p>"Yes, and with good reason. You will note that
+the rudder slides into the rear end of the projectile
+so that none of it extends out. This is a variable
+steering apparatus, adapted to every sort of atmosphere.
+Naturally, a rudder that would steer in the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_44" id="Page_44">[44]</a></span>
+water, might not steer the same craft in the air.
+There is probably a vaster difference between air
+and ether than between water and air. It is necessary,
+therefore, to have a small rudder with but
+little extending surface in thick atmosphere; but
+when it becomes thinner the rudder must be pushed
+out, so that a greater surface will offer resistance.
+When we start, the smallest portion of this rudder
+moved but the sixteenth of an inch, up, down, or
+to either side, will quickly change our course correspondingly.
+When we have reached the ether, the
+full surface of the rudder pushed out and exposed
+broadside may not have much effect in changing
+our course. This is one of the things that we
+cannot possibly know till we try. However, if
+ether is anything at all but a name, if it is the
+thinnest, lightest conceivable gas, and we are
+rushing through it at a speed of a thousand
+miles a minute, our rudder certainly should have
+some effect."</p>
+
+<p>"But suppose you cannot steer at all in the
+ether, what then?" I interposed, hunting all the
+trouble possible.</p>
+
+<p>"Even that will not be so very dreadful, provided
+we have taken a true course for Mars while coming
+through the Earth's atmosphere. There is no other
+planet or star nearer to us than Mars when in
+opposition. Therefore there will be nothing to
+attract us out of our correct course; and if we can
+manage to come anywhere near the true course, the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_45" id="Page_45">[45]</a></span>
+gravitational attraction of Mars will draw us to
+him in a straight line. The Moon might give us
+some trouble, and we shall be obliged, either to
+avoid her entirely by starting so as to cross her
+orbit when she is on the opposite side of the Earth,
+or else go directly to the Moon, land there, and
+make a new start. But if the ether which surrounds
+the Moon (for she has no atmosphere so far
+as we know) has no resisting power whatever, we
+might have rather a difficult time there. The only
+thing we could do would be to land on the side
+toward the Earth, then disembark and carry the
+projectile on our shoulders around the Moon to the
+opposite side, making a new start from there!"</p>
+
+<p>"What on earth do you mean?" I exclaimed,
+interrupting. "Land on a satellite which has no
+atmosphere, and carry this projectile, weighing over
+a ton, half-way around the globe?"</p>
+
+<p>"But the point is, it isn't on the Earth, but on
+the Moon! Think it over a little, and see how
+easily we could do it now. In the first place, we
+shall always carry divers' suits and helmets, to use
+in going ashore on planets having no atmosphere.
+Air will be furnished through tubes from inside
+the compartments. In the second place, the projectile
+in its natural state will hardly weigh two
+hundred pounds on the Moon, since the mass of
+that satellite is so much less than the Earth's, and
+weight therefore proportionately less. But you
+must remember I can make the projectile weigh<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_46" id="Page_46">[46]</a></span>
+nothing at all, so one of us could run ahead and
+tow it, as a child would play with its toy balloon."</p>
+
+<p>"I perceive you have already made this trip
+several times, and are quite familiar with everything.
+But in case the Moon's surface is not
+suitable for foot passengers, what then? I understand
+it to be rough, jagged, mountainous, and
+even crossed by immense, yawning, unbridged
+fissures."</p>
+
+<p>"That is most likely true, and for that reason
+we must carry a jointed punt-pole, and take turns
+standing on the back, landing and punting along
+through space just above the surface. Do you remember
+how far you can send a slightly shrunk
+toy balloon with one light blow? And how it
+finally stops with the resistance of the air? Without
+any resisting atmosphere, how far and how
+easily could it be sent along?"</p>
+
+<p>"I can quite imagine you, astride the rudder of
+this thing, with a punt-pole as long as a ship's
+mast and as light as a broom-straw, bumping and
+skipping along in the utter darkness on the other
+side of the Moon; scaling mountains, bridging
+yawning chasms, and skimming over sombre sea-beds!"
+I laughed, for it aroused my active sense
+of the ridiculous.</p>
+
+<p>"And the Moon may be well worth the exploration,"
+exclaimed the always serious doctor.
+"Who knows what treasure of gold and silver, or<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_47" id="Page_47">[47]</a></span>
+other metals, rare and precious here, may not be
+found there? Why was the Moon ever created
+without an atmosphere, and therefore probably
+without the possibility of ever being inhabited?
+Is it put there only to illume our nights? Remember,
+we do the same service for her fourteen
+times as well; and if she has inhabitants they may
+think the Earth exists only for that purpose. Is
+it not more reasonable to suppose that some vast
+treasures are there, which the Earth will some day
+be in pressing need of? That it is a great warehouse
+of earthly necessities, which will be discovered
+just as they are being exhausted here? And who
+knows but <i>we</i> may be the discoverers ourselves?
+If the satellite is uninhabited, it will belong to the
+first explorers. Its treasures may be ours! We
+shall at least have a monopoly on the only known
+method of getting there and bringing them
+away."</p>
+
+<p>"Ah! now you tempt me to go with you,"
+I said, in a mild excitement. "Now I see myself,
+erect on the rudder, a new Count of Monte Cristo,
+waving the long punt-pole majestically, and exclaiming,
+'<i>The Moon is mine!</i>'"</p>
+
+<hr /><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_48" id="Page_48">[48]</a></span></p>
+<h2>CHAPTER IV</h2>
+
+<h3>What is on Mars?</h3>
+
+<p class="cap"><span class="dcap">"I only</span> wish you <i>would</i> come along with me,"
+replied the doctor. "I have no idea what
+intelligent, educated person I can persuade to accompany
+me, unless he is given an interest in the
+discoveries. You are the person most interested in
+the enterprise, and you should go. If it is money-making
+that detains you here, you may rest assured
+that we shall find fortunes for both of us somewhere."</p>
+
+<p>"I am a slave to the excitement of my business,"
+I answered. "I could not possibly spend two or
+three months in a lonely cell, flying through space,
+without a ticker or a quotation of the market.
+Besides, there are people on the earth I should
+not care to leave, unless I was certain of getting
+back soon."</p>
+
+<p>"You may be sure of excitement enough, and
+of a continuously novel kind. Besides, of what
+interest are the people of this earth, who are all
+alike, and whom we have known all our lives,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_49" id="Page_49">[49]</a></span>
+compared with the rapture of finding a new and
+different race, of investigating another civilization,
+and exploring an entire new world?"</p>
+
+<p>"I shall have to warn my friends about you
+and have myself watched, lest you persuade me
+and run away with me when the time comes. If
+your adventures are half as exciting and varied
+as your theories, I should hate to miss them. But
+tell me why you have chosen Mars for a first
+visit."</p>
+
+<p>"Because of all the planets he is the one which
+most resembles the Earth in all the essential conditions
+of life. He is the Earth's little brother,
+situated next farther out in the path from the Sun.
+He has the same seasons, day and night of the
+same length, and zones of about the same extent.
+He possesses air, water, and sufficient heat to make
+habitation by us quite possible. Moreover, his
+gravity problem will not put earthly visitors at
+a disadvantage, as it would on the very large
+planets, but rather at a distinct advantage over
+the Martians."</p>
+
+<p>"What do you expect to find on Mars?" I
+queried.</p>
+
+<p>"That is a very comprehensive question, and any
+answer is the merest guess-work, guided by a few
+known facts," replied the doctor. "The principal
+controlling fact is the reduced gravitational attraction
+of Mars, which will make things weigh about
+one-third as much as on the Earth. The air will<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_50" id="Page_50">[50]</a></span>
+be far less dense than here. In the mineral kingdom
+the dense metals will be very rare. I doubt
+if platinum will be found at all; gold and silver
+very little; iron, lead, and copper will be comparatively
+scarce, while aluminium may be the
+common and useful metal. Gases should abound,
+and doubtless many entirely new to us will be
+there. It is not unlikely that many of these will
+serve as foods for the animals and intelligent
+beings. It is also quite possible that the heavier
+gases may run in channels, like rivers, and be alive
+with winged fish and chameleons."</p>
+
+<p>"How about vegetation?" I suggested.</p>
+
+<p>"The vegetable kingdom will certainly not be
+rank and luxurious, because there is not enough
+sunlight or heat for that; nor will it be gnarled
+and tough, but more likely spongy and cactus-like.
+The weak gravity will oppose but a mild resistance
+to the activity and climbing propensities of vegetable
+sap, however, which is likely to result in very
+tall, slender trees. The forces that lie hidden in
+an acorn should be able to build a most grandly
+towering oak on Mars. Among the animals the
+species of upright, two-legged things is apt to
+abound. There is no reason for four legs when the
+body weighs but little. On the Earth an extremely
+strong development of the lower limbs is necessary
+for upright things, as is shown in the cases of
+kangaroos and men. In order that a cow might
+go comfortably on two legs, she would have to<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_51" id="Page_51">[51]</a></span>
+be furnished with the hind-legs of an elephant;
+but not so on Mars. Creeping things would be
+very few, and it is possible that fish may fly in
+the water with a short pair of wings. What four-legged
+animals there are will very likely be large
+and monstrous; for an enormous animal could exist
+comfortably and move about easily without clumsiness.
+For instance, an earthly elephant transferred
+to Mars would weigh only one-third as much, and
+so there might well be elephants three times as
+large as ours, perfectly able to handle themselves
+with ease."</p>
+
+<p>"By the same reasoning then, I suppose the
+intelligent beings, or what we call men, will be
+great giants twenty-five feet high?" I put in.</p>
+
+<p>"Some have thought so, but I do not at all
+agree with them," replied the doctor. "I stick to
+the theory of small men for small planets, and large
+men for large planets. There is no possible reason
+for a large man on Mars, where muscular development
+is uncalled for and useless, and where the
+inhabitable space is small. If there are men on
+Jupiter, they must of necessity be enormously
+strong to hold themselves up and resist gravitation.
+If they walk upright (which I think unlikely),
+their legs must be very large and as solid
+as iron. The Martian legs are likely to be small
+and puny, and I believe the upper limbs will be
+much more strongly developed. In fact, on Mars
+the Creator had His one great opportunity of<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_52" id="Page_52">[52]</a></span>
+making a <i>flying man</i>, and I do not think He has
+overlooked it. With a rather small, tightly-knit
+frame, and the upper limbs developed into wings
+as long as the body, flying against the weak
+Martian gravitation would be perfectly easy, and
+a vast advantage over walking."</p>
+
+<p>"Ah! then perhaps they will fly out to meet
+you!" I ejaculated.</p>
+
+<p>"If they do, they will be stricken with fear to
+see that we fly without wings and so much more
+rapidly," he answered, and continued: "If a flying
+race has been created there, we shall probably find
+the atmosphere deeper and relatively (though not
+actually) denser than the Earth's. This would serve
+to add buoyancy and still further diminish weight,
+thus making flying quite natural and simple. I
+certainly do not believe that the Martians are subjected
+to the tedium of walking. If they do not
+fly, they will at least make long, swift, graceful
+hops or jumps of some ten or fifteen feet each.
+This would require a more hinged development of
+the lower limbs, like a bird's. It is also possible
+that the lower limbs may have the prehensile
+function, and do all the handling and working."</p>
+
+<p>"But how about intelligence and intellectual
+development? That is the main thing, after all,"
+said I.</p>
+
+<p>"To answer that takes one into the realm of
+pure speculation. There are but few facts to
+guide one's guesses. But the trip yonder is worth<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_53" id="Page_53">[53]</a></span>
+making, if only to learn that. I do not incline to
+the opinion that their civilization is vastly older and
+more developed than ours. Granting the nebular
+theory of the origin of the universe (which is, after
+all, only a guess), it is not even then certain that
+Mars was thrown off the central sun before the Earth.
+It is much smaller, and may have been thrown off
+later and travelled farther for this reason. Another
+good reason for believing in a less advanced civilization
+is the length of the Martian year and consequent
+sluggishness of the seasons. He requires
+687 of our days to complete his sun revolution,
+making his years nearly twice as long as ours. I
+believe his whole development is at a correspondingly
+slow rate of speed."</p>
+
+<p>"Which do you think is the most advanced and
+enlightened planet, then?" I ventured.</p>
+
+<p>"That one which finds a way to visit the others
+first," he answered, with a touch of pride.</p>
+
+<p>"But there may be a tinge of personal conceit in
+that idea," I suggested.</p>
+
+<p>"Possibly a mere tinge, but the essence of it
+is apparent truth," he declared. "That planet
+which has learned the most, made the greatest
+discoveries and the most useful inventions, is the
+best and fittest teacher of the others, and will be
+the sharpest and keenest to gather new information
+and formulate new science. It is eminently fit
+that representatives of such a planet should visit
+the others, and eminently unfit that any primitive<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_54" id="Page_54">[54]</a></span>
+civilization engaged in base wars and striving for
+mere conquest should be allowed that privilege.
+An all-wise Creator would not permit a huge,
+strong, ignorant race entirely to overrun and extinguish
+one weaker but more intelligent. He
+might permit a strong, intelligent, masterful race
+to rule and direct a weaker and dependent one,
+as a schoolmaster rules and guides a child."</p>
+
+<p>"Then you think we are the wise and masterful
+race?"</p>
+
+<p>"As no other race has yet discovered us; as they
+have all left the Space Problem unsolved, and as it
+has been uncovered to us, that is my irresistible
+conclusion."</p>
+
+<p>"Still, you will not go with ideas of conquest,
+but to teach and to learn?"</p>
+
+<p>"We shall take with us swords, shields, and fire-arms,
+for defence. Unless I mistake the nature of
+their metals, our steel will resist any weapon they
+can manufacture. But what explosives or what
+noxious gases they may have, all strange to us, it is
+impossible to conjecture. Therefore, we shall go
+with peace in our hands."</p>
+
+<p>"What progress do you think they have made
+in inventions?" I suggested, as the doctor hesitated.</p>
+
+<p>"If they are winged men, I should say they have
+never felt that urgent need of railroads, steam boats,
+telegraphs and telephones, which was the mother of
+their invention here. Flying or air-travelling<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_55" id="Page_55">[55]</a></span>
+machines will no more have occurred to them
+than a walking machine to us. They will have
+thoroughly explored every part of their planet, and
+it is possible that their cities will have been built
+on high plateaus, or even on mountain peaks. But
+they will not have builded greatly, for they will
+have been able to use the great architecture of
+nature in a way impossible to us."</p>
+
+<p>"Have you heard the theory advanced by some
+humorous scientist not long ago, that the organs of
+locomotion and prehension would some day, or on
+some planet, be supplanted by machinery, and that
+digestive apparatus would give way for artificially
+prepared blood?" I asked.</p>
+
+<p>"Oh, yes, that fanciful idea is novel, but irrational.
+It makes man only a fraction of a being.
+On every planet, no matter what the advancement
+of civilization, we shall find <i>complete beings</i>, not
+dependent on adventitious machinery for locomotion
+or labour, or on artificial or animal blood for nutriment.
+Think how helpless such a creature would
+be at the loss or rusting of his machinery, and at
+the exhaustion of just the right sort of nutritive
+fluid. Our digestive apparatus will convert a thousand
+different foods into blood. Suppose we could
+live only on buffalo meat? We should all have
+been dead long ago. We might as well imagine
+men as mere fungus brains, swimming in rivers of
+blood; or as beings beyond the necessity of personal
+thought, and living on brain sandwiches, cut from<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_56" id="Page_56">[56]</a></span>
+the thinking heads of others. Eating is not only a
+necessity, but a pleasure&mdash;&mdash;"</p>
+
+<p>"That is just what I was thinking," I interposed,
+looking at my watch, for it was growing
+late.</p>
+
+<p>"Well, now I have told you how I would have
+peopled Mars had the order been sent to me here to
+do it," said the doctor, "will you go along with me,
+and see how nearly I am right?"</p>
+
+<p>"I am afraid not," I replied; "my business ties
+forbid. However, I want to see you make the start
+and the moment you return!"</p>
+
+<hr /><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_57" id="Page_57">[57]</a></span></p>
+<h2>CHAPTER V</h2>
+
+<h3>Final Preparations</h3>
+
+<p class="cap"><span class="dcap">On</span> the tenth day of June, Dr. Anderwelt had
+written me as follows:</p>
+
+<div class="blockquot"><p>"Please catch the 7.25 train on the Lake Shore
+for Whiting this evening. I will take the same
+train, and we will walk from Whiting to a deserted
+railway siding two miles further on, where the projectile
+has been shipped. We will unload it from
+the flat car and take it into a grove of scrub oaks on
+the shore of Lake Michigan, near by. This will be
+enough to demonstrate to you our control of gravity.
+The experimental model is there also, and we will
+send it off on a trip if you like. Everything will
+be ready for the start to Mars to-morrow night."</p></div>
+
+<p>I dined early and caught the train specified at
+Twenty-Second Street. The doctor was looking for
+me from the rear platform of a car. It was a local
+train, and crept slowly out through the smoky
+blackness of South Chicago, illuminated here and
+there by the flaming chimneys of her great iron<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_58" id="Page_58">[58]</a></span>
+furnaces, to the little city of pungent smells, of
+petroleum tanks and oil refineries, in Northern
+Indiana. The doctor was explaining the difficulties
+he had experienced in getting a companion for the
+trip.</p>
+
+<p>"Men whom I could hire for mere wages are not
+intelligent enough to understand the workings of
+the projectile, or to comprehend the risks they may
+run. Besides, their companionship and assistance
+during the trip through space and on a new planet
+is worth nothing. On the other hand, I could not
+afford to go about explaining the workings of so
+important an invention miscellaneously to people
+capable of understanding it in an experimental
+search for a companion. I might not find one among
+twenty, and I would be tossing my secrets to the
+winds, and inviting all the daily papers to send
+their representatives to report the start. My reputation
+as a scientist, on the other side, is too dear to
+me to risk a public failure. If the projectile acts,
+as I am confident it must, on our return we shall
+take out letters patent and form our company to
+exploit the business features. But primarily, this
+is a test of the projectile and a journey of exploration
+and research. Business afterward."</p>
+
+<p>Naturally on this point we had disagreed. My
+motto had always been "Business first!" and I had
+desired to have the patents secured immediately.
+But the doctor would not consent to the filing of
+the required specifications and claims, lest his<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_59" id="Page_59">[59]</a></span>
+secrets should be learned before success was demonstrated.
+As a compromise, the doctor had agreed to
+leave the necessary descriptions and data in a sealed
+envelope with me, which I was to be at liberty to
+open and place on record at any time during the
+doctor's absence that I might deem it necessary in
+order to protect our rights.</p>
+
+<p>"Whom have you finally secured to go with you,
+then?" I asked.</p>
+
+<p>"I will tell you that after we have finished to-night's
+work," said the doctor, and then abruptly
+changed the subject.</p>
+
+<p>The walk from Whiting was inspiriting. It was
+a beautiful night. There was not a cloud in the
+sky and no Moon, which made the stars all the
+brighter. Everything was still, save the constant
+lapping of the great lake on the sandy shore, but a
+short way off.</p>
+
+<p>"Yonder is the mustard seed planted in the
+heavens, which shall grow into a whole new world
+for us!" exclaimed the doctor, pointing out a particularly
+bright star. "That is Mars rushing on to
+opposition. In six weeks he will be nearest to the
+Earth; so for that time he will be flying to meet
+us. To-morrow is our last day on Earth; to-morrow
+night the ether! And in six weeks, diminutive but
+mighty man will have known two worlds!"</p>
+
+<p>"There you go, soaring again!" I cried. "Let
+us keep on practical subjects. What have the
+foundry people who built this thing, and the railroad<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_60" id="Page_60">[60]</a></span>
+people who brought it down here, thought
+about its probable use? Have they not guessed
+something?"</p>
+
+<p>"You may trust the popular mind not to guess
+flying unless it sees wings! They have imagined
+this is a new sort of torpedo, sent down here for a
+private trial in the lake. In fact, the conductor of
+the freight train, who switched the car off here,
+asked me in a confidential way if he should get
+teams and men and help me to launch her? I have
+fostered this idea, and really had the projectile sent
+here to carry out that impression."</p>
+
+<p>A more fitting place for an unobserved start could
+not have been selected, however. All this part of
+the country is a sandy waste, with a sparse growth
+of scrub oaks and but little vegetation. There are
+no farms, and the nearest houses are at Whiting.
+No one could see our work, except, possibly, the
+passengers from occasional trains, which rushed by
+without stopping, and were infrequent at this time
+of day.</p>
+
+<p>As we were arriving, I stood off at some distance
+to observe the black object on the open car. It was
+five feet through, and twenty feet long, not counting
+the rudder, which was now entirely drawn into
+the rear end.</p>
+
+<p>"Looks exactly like a cigar," I said. "Sharp
+and pointed in front, slightly swelled in the middle,
+and cut squarely off behind. Only it is too thick
+for its length, of course."<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_61" id="Page_61">[61]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>But the doctor already had the rear port-hole
+open. This was two feet in diameter, and permitted
+a rather awkward entrance to the rear compartment.
+The interior was crowded with boxes, as yet
+unpacked, containing scientific instruments, tinned
+foods, biscuits, meat extracts, condensed milk and
+coffee, bottled fruits, vegetables, and the like. Over
+these the doctor worked his way to the forward
+compartment, while I followed him, anxious to
+explore the interior.</p>
+
+<p>"I will unpack all these goods and put them in
+their places to-morrow forenoon," explained the
+doctor. "Here, in my compartment on the left, I
+have my gravity apparatus, battery cells and the
+like, and a small table for writing and other work.
+On the right is the bunk on which I sleep, and
+under it is the big telescope, neatly fitted and swinging
+up easily into place before the mica window."</p>
+
+<p>"Has the compressed air been put in yet?" I
+inquired.</p>
+
+<p>"Oh, yes, that had to be done in the city, where
+they have powerful air compressors. I would have
+preferred this purer air out here, but it was impossible.
+The air we put in only increased the weight
+of the projectile eighteen pounds, but it will be
+sufficient for two of us for six months. We were
+obliged to make the most careful and thorough tests
+for leaks in the air-chambers; for if there were
+any of these, our life would leak out with the
+air."<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_62" id="Page_62">[62]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>"And such airless satellites as the Moon will
+make the most desperate efforts to steal your
+atmosphere, too!" I added.</p>
+
+<p>"Yes, but we will give them only our foul air as
+a small stock-in-trade with which they may begin
+business. But I see my batteries are commencing
+to work nicely. I think I can lift her now. You
+go outside and make a hitch with that rope you
+saw just forward of the middle of the projectile.
+Then, when I have neutralized her weight, you tow
+her over beyond that clump of trees you saw near
+the shore. That will be out of the view of trains."</p>
+
+<p>"Must I concentrate my mind or keep my
+thoughts fixed on anything?" I asked quizzically.</p>
+
+<p>"Rubbish! Concentrate it on this. If the projectile
+starts up, don't try to hold her with your
+little rope. Let go quickly, or you may get uncomfortable
+holding on!"</p>
+
+<p>I went outside, untied the coil of rope and threw
+one end over. Meantime the doctor had opened the
+forward window, so that he might give directions,
+and I said to him,&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>"I can't get the rope under her; she is lying
+flat on the car."</p>
+
+<p>"Wait a moment and I will lift her for you,"
+he replied. The railroad ties rose a little out of
+the sand, and there was a slight creaking of the
+woodwork of the car as the weight came off. Presently
+the forward end of the projectile rose slowly
+an inch, two inches!<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_63" id="Page_63">[63]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>"That's enough!" I cried, thrusting the rope
+under, and she settled back gently. Having made
+my knot, I went out to the other end of the rope,
+about thirty feet distant. Forgetting the doctor's
+injunction about not hanging on, I wrapped the
+rope around my body, worked my feet firmly into
+the sand, and finally cried out, "All ready!"</p>
+
+<p>There was a faint creaking of the car again,
+and soon the doctor said, "Pull away!" I threw
+all my force into the effort and gave a tremendous
+heave, and tumbled over backwards. Had I not
+done so, the projectile must have hit me as it glided
+rapidly from the car, sinking very slowly to the
+sand about fifty feet away. I scrambled to my
+feet, went in front again, and easily dragged it
+along on the sand to an open place just beyond
+the trees. There the doctor allowed it to settle.
+It sank into the loose sand about eight inches,
+remaining steady in this position.</p>
+
+<p>"She works beautifully!" I cried. "How I
+would like to see her turned loose for a real
+flight!"</p>
+
+<p>"That will come to-morrow night," said the
+doctor, crawling out of the port-hole. "But if you
+will help me remove these boxes from the experimental
+model, you shall see it lost in the sky."
+We uncovered and dragged out a small steel thing,
+about the same shape as the projectile, but less
+than a foot thick and four feet long. It had a
+lid opening into its batteries from the top. The<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_64" id="Page_64">[64]</a></span>
+doctor entered his compartment to secure some
+chemicals.</p>
+
+<p>"If you have no further use for this model,"
+I suggested, "why not create a very strong current
+and let it sail off into indefinite space?"</p>
+
+<p>"Very well; I don't wish to leave it behind
+me for some one to discover, and I can't take it
+along. We will send it off for a long trip, and
+if it falls back it will be into the lake."</p>
+
+<p>"Wait a moment, then! Let's put a good-bye
+message in it;" and so saying I took an old envelope
+from my pocket and wrote on the back of
+it with a pencil in a bold hand: "Farewell to
+Earth for ever!" Laughing, I put this inside and
+closed the lid.</p>
+
+<p>Then the doctor turned down a thumb-screw
+upon a little wire which connected the poles, and
+stepped back quickly. Presently the forward end
+began to rise slowly, until it stood upright, but
+there it hesitated. The doctor stepped forward
+and gave the thumb-screw a hard turn down, and
+the model lifted immediately, rising at first gradually,
+but soon shooting off with the whizz of a
+rocket over the lake. We watched it as long as
+we could distinguish its dark outline.</p>
+
+<p>"It will go a long way," said the doctor. "I
+have never seen it make so good a start. It will
+lose itself in the lake far from here."</p>
+
+<p>We fastened up the front window and the port-hole,
+and started back to Whiting, where the doctor<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_65" id="Page_65">[65]</a></span>
+was to remain all night, so as to begin work
+early in the morning. Presently, as we walked
+along, the doctor said,&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>"Well, Isidor, now you have seen a practical
+demonstration of the elementary working of the
+projectile. You also have some idea of all there
+is to be discovered up yonder in the red planet.
+You are the most interested in making and profiting
+by those discoveries. I want you to consent
+to go along."</p>
+
+<p>"Haven't you secured a companion, then?" I
+inquired.</p>
+
+<p>"Yes, I have a friend, a countryman of mine
+here, who will go wherever I say. He appreciates
+neither the risks nor the opportunities of the trip,
+still he will take my word for everything. Yet
+if I ask him to go I take the responsibility of his
+life as well as my own. He is not a suitable
+man, however, and I have really relied on you to
+come," he insisted.</p>
+
+<p>"My dear doctor, I have every faith in you and
+in the projectile, and I prophesy a most successful
+trip. I should like nothing better than the adventure;
+but you must not count on me; I could
+not leave my business. There's a fever in my
+blood that thirsts for it!"</p>
+
+<p>"Your business, indeed! You will never really
+amount to much till you have left it. It's half
+a throw of dice and the other half a struggle of
+cut-throats!"<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_66" id="Page_66">[66]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>"That is what people say who know nothing
+at all about it," I retorted. "It occupies a large
+and important place in the world's commerce.
+Besides, I could not well leave Ruth and my
+uncle."</p>
+
+<p>"Isn't it time you did something to make her
+proud of you, and to be worthy the education
+which he gave you? You have a chance now to
+be great. Isn't that worth ten chances to be rich?
+What would you have thought of Galileo if he
+hadn't had time to use the telescope after inventing
+it, but had devoted his time and talent to
+the maccaroni market? You are one man in ten
+million; you have an opportunity Columbus would
+have been proud of! Will you neglect it for mere
+gold-grubbing? Leave that to the rest of your
+race and to this money-mad Chicago. You come
+along with me. Let's make this work-a-day world
+of ours take time to stop and shake hands with
+her heavenly neighbours!"</p>
+
+<p>"You tempt me to do it, Doctor! Can you wait
+two or three days for me?"</p>
+
+<p>"I can, but Mars won't," he answered laconically.
+"Besides, you must not tell any one that
+you are going."</p>
+
+<p>"If there are any two things I love, it's a secret
+and a hurry! I will be here to-morrow night,"
+I exclaimed.</p>
+
+<hr /><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_67" id="Page_67">[67]</a></span></p>
+<h2>CHAPTER VI</h2>
+
+<h3>Farewell to Earth</h3>
+
+<p class="cap"><span class="dcap">The</span> next day I quietly bought in my wheat,
+and told Flynn I was thinking of taking a
+little vacation. I said I was worn out fighting
+the contrary market, and told him to run the office
+as if it were his own until I returned. At home
+I said nothing about the vacation, for I didn't
+care to have my stories agree very perfectly. I
+simply packed a few necessities for the trip in a
+dress-suit case. My uncle was used to seeing me
+carry my evening clothes to the Club in this
+manner, and I casually told him I should remain
+the night this time.</p>
+
+<p>I could not leave without kissing cousin Ruth
+good-bye, but this excited no suspicion, as it was
+a thing I did on every pretext. Then I slipped
+out and took back streets till I was several blocks
+away from the house. Taking a closed carriage
+here, I was driven to the same station and took
+the same train for Whiting as on the previous
+evening. I found the doctor awaiting me with a
+lantern. As we walked down the tracks in the
+twilight I said to him,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_68" id="Page_68">[68]</a></span>&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>"I never made so quick a preparation, nor attempted
+so long a trip. I have left my friends
+a lot of guessing! Now, how soon shall we be
+off?"</p>
+
+<p>"Within an hour," he answered. "Mars will
+not be directly overhead until midnight, but there
+is a little side trip I wish to make first, to test
+the projectile before we get too far above the
+Earth's surface."</p>
+
+<p>The sky was densely cloudy, there was no Moon,
+and it was already growing very dark. As we
+began to have difficulty in finding the way, the
+doctor lighted his lantern. Peering up into the
+darkness, I said to him,&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>"There is not a star visible. How are you to
+find your way in the heavens a night like this?"</p>
+
+<p>"That is all perfectly easy. We shall soon rise
+far above those clouds, and then the stars will
+come out. Besides, I shall show you perfect daylight
+again before midnight."</p>
+
+<p>"I don't see just how, but I will take your word
+for it, Doctor. I daresay you have thought it all
+out, and the whole trip will contain no surprises
+for you."</p>
+
+<p>"I have tried to think it all out and prepare
+for everything. But I am certain I have forgotten
+something. I have a feeling amounting
+to a dreadful presentiment that I have overlooked
+something important. I wish you would see if
+you can think of anything I have omitted."<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_69" id="Page_69">[69]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>"The only really important thing I have remembered
+is half a dozen boxes of the best cigars,"
+I replied.</p>
+
+<p>"Leave them right here in Whiting," he said
+with emphasis. "We are carrying only a limited
+supply of pure air, and we cannot afford to contaminate
+it with tobacco smoke. No, sir, you
+can't smoke on this trip."</p>
+
+<p>"Then I won't go! Imagine not smoking for
+two whole months! Do you think I have sworn
+off?"</p>
+
+<p>"No, not yet. But you must. It pollutes the
+air, which we must keep clean and fresh as long
+as possible."</p>
+
+<p>"Now, Doctor, you must let me have a good
+smoke once a day, just before pumping the air
+out of my compartment."</p>
+
+<p>"No, not even that. It is impossible to pump
+all the air out, and what is left mixes back with
+what is in my compartment. Once contaminated
+with tobacco smoke, we could never get it perfectly
+pure again."</p>
+
+<p>"Well, may I smoke on Mars, then? I will
+take them along for that. But, I warn you, I
+eat like a farm horse when I can't smoke."</p>
+
+<p>"I have provided plenty to eat, but I know I
+have forgotten something. Mention something
+now, mention everything you can think of, so that
+I may see if it is provided for."</p>
+
+<p>"Have you any money?" I asked. "I have<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_70" id="Page_70">[70]</a></span>
+changed some into gold, and have a fairly heavy
+bag here."</p>
+
+<p>"Oh, yes, I have some gold and silver money,
+besides a lot of beads, trinkets, and gaudy tinsel
+things, such as earthly savages have been willing
+to barter valuable merchandise for."</p>
+
+<p>"So you are going on a trading expedition, are
+you?" I asked.</p>
+
+<p>"Not exactly. I leave all that to your superior
+abilities. But we may find these things valuable
+to give as presents. Many of them are of tin, and
+if they do not happen to have that useful metal
+on Mars, they will be of rare value there."</p>
+
+<p>We had now reached the little grove where the
+projectile was hidden. I proceeded to open the rear
+port-hole, saying,&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>"Let me look inside, and when I see what you
+have, some other necessary thing may suggest
+itself."</p>
+
+<p>"Let me go in first, for I am afraid you will
+allow the menagerie to escape," he said, as he
+peered in by the light of the lantern. A diminutive
+fox terrier barked from the inside, and wagged
+his tail faster than a watch ticks, so glad he was
+to see us. The bright light also awakened a small
+white rabbit that had been asleep in the doctor's
+compartment.</p>
+
+<p>"You are taking these along for companions,
+I suppose?"</p>
+
+<p>"Yes, for that and for experiments. We may<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_71" id="Page_71">[71]</a></span>
+reach places where it will be necessary to determine
+whether living, breathing things can exist
+before we try it ourselves. Then we shall put one
+of these out and observe the effects."</p>
+
+<p>"You may experiment on the rabbit all you
+please, but this little puppy and I are going to be
+fast friends, and we shall die together; shan't we,
+Two-spot?"</p>
+
+<p>"Why do you call him Two-spot? There is only
+one spot on him, and his name is <i>Himmelshundchen</i>."</p>
+
+<p>"Rubbish! The idea of such a long, heavy
+name for such a little puppy! I shall call him
+Two-spot because he is the smallest thing in the
+pack. Heavenly-puppy, indeed!"</p>
+
+<p>The doctor had entered and lighted a small gas
+jet, supplied on the Pintsch system from compressed
+gas stored in one of the chambers. The rear compartment,
+which was to be mine, looked half an
+arsenal and half a pantry. On the right side a
+cupboard was filled with newly-cooked meats. I
+remember how plentiful the store looked at the
+time, but, alas! how soon it vanished and we were
+reduced to tinned and bottled foods! There was a
+cold joint of beef, a quarter of roast mutton, three
+boiled hams and four roast chickens.</p>
+
+<p>On the left, folding up into the concavity of the
+wall, like the upper berth of a Pullman sleeping
+car, was my bunk. On the walls not thus occupied
+the arms were hung. There were two repeating<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_72" id="Page_72">[72]</a></span>
+rifles, each carrying seventeen cartridges; two large
+calibre hammerless revolvers; two long and heavy
+swords, designed for cleaving rather than for stabbing;
+two chain shirts, to be worn under the
+clothing to protect against arrows; and finally two
+large shields, made of overlapping steel plates and
+almost four feet high. The doctor explained to me
+that the idea was to rest the lower edge of these on
+the ground and crouch behind them. They were
+rather heavy and cumbersome to be carried far, and
+were grooved in three sections, so that they slipped
+together into an arc one-third of their circumference.</p>
+
+<p>I examined everything closely and asked a hundred
+questions, but the doctor seemed to have provided
+for every necessity or contingency.</p>
+
+<p>"Let us waste no more time," said I. "If we
+have forgotten anything, we must get along
+without it. All aboard! What is our first
+stop?"</p>
+
+<p>"The planet Mars, only thirty-six million miles
+away, if we are successful in meeting him just as
+he comes into opposition on the third day of August.
+This is the most favourable opposition in which to
+meet him for the past quarter of a century. Back
+in the year 1877 he was only about thirty-five
+million miles away, and it was then that we learned
+most that we know of his physical features. But
+we shall not have a more favourable time than this
+for the next seventeen years."<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_73" id="Page_73">[73]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>"Still it seems like nonsense to talk about travelling
+such an incomprehensible distance, doesn't it?"
+I ventured.</p>
+
+<p>"Not at all!" he replied positively. "If the
+Earth travels a million miles per day in her orbit,
+without any motion being apparent to her inhabitants,
+why should we not travel just as fast and
+just as unconsciously? We are driven by the same
+force. The same engine of the Creator's which
+drives all the universe, drives us. When we have
+left the atmosphere we shall rush through the void
+of space without knowing whether we are travelling
+at a thousand miles per minute or standing
+perfectly still. Our senses will have nothing to lay
+hold on to form a judgment of our rate of speed.
+But if we make an average of only five hundred
+miles per minute we shall accomplish the distance
+in about fifty days, and arrive soon after
+opposition."</p>
+
+<p>"But have you given up stopping on the Moon?"
+I asked. "I had great hopes of making those rich
+discoveries there."</p>
+
+<p>"We must leave all that until our return trip. I
+have chosen this starting time in the dark of the
+Moon in order to have the satellite on the other
+side of the Earth and out of the way. She would
+only impede our progress, as we wish to acquire a
+tremendous velocity just as soon as we leave the atmosphere.
+We must accelerate our speed as long as
+gravity will do it for us. When we can no longer<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_74" id="Page_74">[74]</a></span>
+gain speed, we shall at least continue to maintain
+our rapid pace.</p>
+
+<p>"But if we stopped on the Moon, we should only
+have her weak gravity to repel us towards Mars,
+and we could make but little speed. On our return,
+the stop on the Moon will be a natural and easy
+one. We shall be near home and can afford to
+loiter."</p>
+
+<p>While the doctor was saying this, he had been
+busy making tests of his apparatus. He now called
+me to see his buoyancy gauge, which was a half-spherical
+mass of steel weighing just ten pounds.
+It was pierced with a hole at right angles to its
+plane surface and strung upon a vertical copper
+wire. Small leaden weights, weighing from an
+ounce to four pounds each, were provided to be
+placed upon the plane surface of the steel. The
+doctor explained its action to me thus:&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>"The polarizing action of the gravity apparatus
+affects only steel and iron, and has no effect upon
+lead. Therefore, when the current is conducted
+through the copper wire into the soft steel ball, it
+will immediately rise up the wire, by the repulsion
+of negative gravity. Now, if the leaden weights
+are piled upon the steel ball one by one, until it is
+just balanced half way up the wire, our buoyancy
+is thus measured or weighed. For instance, with
+the first two batteries turned in we have a buoyancy
+a little exceeding one pound. That means, we
+should rise with one-tenth the velocity that we<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_75" id="Page_75">[75]</a></span>
+should fall. Turning in two more batteries, you
+see the buoyancy is three pounds, or our flying
+speed will be three-tenths of our falling speed.
+With all the batteries acting upon the gauge, you
+see it will carry up more than ten pounds of lead,
+because the pressure of the air is against weight
+and in favour of buoyancy. So long as we are in
+atmospheres, then, it is possible to fall up more
+rapidly than to fall down; but, on account of friction
+and the resultant heat, it is not safe to do so."</p>
+
+<p>"So we have been doing the hard thing, by
+falling all our lives, when flying would really
+have been easier!" I put in.</p>
+
+<p>"We have been overlooking a very simple thing
+for a long time, just as our forefathers overlooked
+the usefulness of steam, being perfectly well acquainted
+with its expansive qualities. But let us
+be off. Close your port-hole, and screw it in tightly
+and permanently for the trip. Then let down your
+bunk and prepare for a night of awkward, cramped
+positions. We shall be more uncomfortable to-night
+than any other of the trip. You see, when
+we start, this thing will stand up on its rear end,
+and that end will continue to be the bottom until
+we begin to fall into Mars. Then the forward end
+will be the bottom. But after the first night our
+weight will have so diminished that we can sleep
+almost as well standing on our heads as any other
+way. Within fifteen hours you will have lost all
+idea which end of you should be right side up, and<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_76" id="Page_76">[76]</a></span>
+we will be quite as likely to float in the middle of
+the projectile as to rest upon anything."</p>
+
+<p>My bed was hinged in the middle, and one end
+lifted up until it looked like a letter <b>L</b>, with the
+shorter part extending across the projectile and the
+longer part reaching up the side. I could sit in it
+in a half reclining posture. The doctor then
+pulled out a fan-like, extending lattice-work of
+steel slats, to form a sort of false floor over the port-hole.
+This was full of diamond-shaped openings
+between the slats, so that the view out of the rear
+window was not obstructed. Then he did the same
+to form a false floor for his compartment. Finally
+he said to me,&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>"Now, if you are all ready, I will stand her on
+end;" and by applying the currents to the forward
+end only he caused her to rise slowly until she
+stood upright. The cupboard in my compartment
+and the desk in his end were each hung upon a
+central bolt, and they righted themselves as the
+projectile stood up, so that nothing in them was
+disarranged. I was sitting on the lower hinge of
+my bed, clutching tightly and watching everything,
+when the doctor called to me to turn the
+little wheel which operated a screw and served to
+push out the rudder.</p>
+
+<p>"But the whole weight of the projectile is now
+on the rudder," I objected.</p>
+
+<p>"You will have to make over all your ideas of
+weight," he said, with some impatience. "Run<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_77" id="Page_77">[77]</a></span>
+the rudder out. The gauge shows an ounce of
+buoyancy, which is nearly enough to counteract all
+the dead weight we have. You can lift the rest
+with the rudder-screw."</p>
+
+<p>And, true enough, it was perfectly easy to whirl
+the little wheel around which made the rudder
+creep out. There was a steering wheel in the
+doctor's compartment and one in my own. He set
+it exactly amidships, and told me to prepare for the
+ascent. I turned out the gas in my compartment
+and crouched nervously over the port-hole window
+to watch the panorama of Earth fade away.</p>
+
+<p>"Here go two batteries!" he cried. I held on
+frantically, expecting that we would leap into the
+heavens in one grand bound, as I had seen the
+model do. But we began to rise very slowly, a foot
+and a half the first second, three feet the next, and so
+on, as the doctor told me afterwards. It was all so
+slow and quiet that I was suddenly possessed with
+a fear that after all the projectile was a failure.
+Had a balloon started so slowly, it would never have
+risen far. This fear held me for only a minute, for
+when I looked down again, the landscape below
+was beginning to look like a dim map or a picture,
+instead of the reality. The doctor was steering to
+the northward, directly over the lake. I could see
+its great purple, restful surface below me, but more
+plainly could I discern the outline where its silvery
+edge bathed the white sands of the shore. Following
+this outline I could see a web of railroads, like<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_78" id="Page_78">[78]</a></span>
+ropes bent around the lower end of the lake. The
+night was too dark to see it long. The hundreds of
+huge oil tanks of Whiting had now disappeared, and
+I could see only the flaming tops of the iron furnaces
+of South Chicago. Suddenly they went out
+in an instant, as if a thick fog had smothered them,
+and there was a long minute of pale mist; and then
+suddenly a bright blue sky, the twinkling stars
+and a veil of grey shutting off all view of the
+Earth.</p>
+
+<p>"We have passed through the clouds," said the
+doctor cheerily. "What does the barometer register?"</p>
+
+<p>I looked, and was astonished to see the mercury
+down to fifteen. I asked him if he thought the
+barometer might be broken.</p>
+
+<p>"No, that is quite right," he replied. "That is
+half the surface pressure, which shows that we are
+two and a half miles high. I have four batteries
+in, and we are going at a constantly increasing
+speed now."</p>
+
+<p>I could easily believe it, for the wind howled
+around my compartment and whistled over the
+rudder aperture in a most dismal way. Whenever
+the rudder was changed, there was a new sound to
+the moaning. Still, as I looked back at the clouds,
+I saw that no wind was moving them. It was not
+wind, but only the air whistling as we rushed
+through it.</p>
+
+<p>"Watch the barometer, and let me know the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_79" id="Page_79">[79]</a></span>
+exact time when it registers seven and a half
+inches," said the doctor. "We shall be five miles
+high then, and we started at nine o'clock to a
+second."</p>
+
+<p>I noted the rapidly sinking mercury and opened
+my watch. When it was just at seven and a half,
+I looked at the watch, and it said half a minute
+after nine. Knowing that could not be correct, I
+held it to my ear and discovered it was stopped.
+I attempted to wind it, but found it almost wound
+up.</p>
+
+<p>"Something wrong with my watch, Doctor.
+You will have to look."</p>
+
+<p>"Half a minute after nine, that can't be
+right!" he exclaimed. Then as the truth flashed
+upon him he added,&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>"There is the first thing I have overlooked! Our
+watch springs are steel, and the magnetic currents
+affect them. It is strange I did not think of that,
+for I knew a mariner's compass would be of no use
+to us in steering on account of the currents. For
+that reason I have risen above the clouds so as to
+steer by the stars. I am making for the North
+Star yonder, now."</p>
+
+<p>"We will have to get back to the same primitive
+methods of measuring time," I put in. "Neither
+weight clocks nor spring clocks would have been
+of any account. And an hour glass would tell a
+different tale just as gravity varied. We will have
+to rely on the Moon and stars, and it may be rather<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_80" id="Page_80">[80]</a></span>
+awkward." But I did not then appreciate how
+awkward it would be when even the markings of
+day and night would be taken away from us.</p>
+
+<p>"We can count our pulse or go by our stomachs,"
+said the doctor, who was really disappointed at
+having forgotten anything. But he was destined
+to get used to that. Presently he inquired,&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>"What is the barometer now? Perhaps we are
+high enough for the present."</p>
+
+<p>"There is scarcely two inches of mercury in the
+tube!" I cried out.</p>
+
+<p>He hesitated for a moment as if calculating, and
+then said,&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>"That makes us ten miles high. Work the
+rudder gradually very much farther out for this
+thinner atmosphere, and we will try falling awhile,
+with a long slant to northward."</p>
+
+<p>And so saying, the doctor detached all the polarizing
+batteries, and I could hear the monotonous
+howling of the wind die down; and the whistling
+ceased altogether as the feeble resistance of the
+rarefied air slowly but surely overcame our momentum.
+As we began to fall, the doctor turned the
+rudder hard down, in order to give us a long sailing
+slant. This modified the position of the projectile
+so that it lay almost flat again, with a dip of the
+forward end downward.</p>
+
+<p>"Lie down and have a nap while she is in this
+comfortable position," he said to me. "When you
+waken, I shall have a surprise for you."</p>
+
+<hr /><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_81" id="Page_81">[81]</a></span></p>
+<h2>CHAPTER VII</h2>
+
+<h3>The Terrors of Light</h3>
+
+<p class="cap"><span class="dcap">I was</span> weary from the trials of the day on Earth,
+and fell asleep easily. It was the red sunlight
+streaming in at the port-hole that awakened me. I
+thought I had slept but a very short time, but the
+night was evidently over. As soon as the doctor
+heard me moving, he cried out to me,&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>"Here is the daylight I promised you. Did you
+ever see it at midnight before?"</p>
+
+<p>"How do you know it is midnight? It looks
+more like a red sunset to me," I said, for the sun
+was just in the horizon.</p>
+
+<p>"The sun has just set, and is now rising. It
+did not go out of sight, but gradually turned about
+and began to mount again. That is how I know
+it is midnight."</p>
+
+<p>"Sunset presses so closely upon sunrise that
+night is crowded out altogether. Then this must
+be the land of the midnight sun that I have read
+about?"</p>
+
+<p>"Yes, we are very near the Earth again, and this
+is far inside the arctic polar circle, where the sun<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_82" id="Page_82">[82]</a></span>
+never goes down during summer, but sets for a long
+night in the winter. I have kept far to the westward
+to avoid the magnetic pole, which might play
+havoc with my apparatus."</p>
+
+<p>"Then your little side-trip is&mdash;&mdash;"</p>
+
+<p>"To the North Pole, of course!" he cried triumphantly.</p>
+
+<p>How simple this vexed problem had become, after
+all! It had worsted the most daring travellers of all
+countries for centuries. Thousands upon thousands
+spent in sending expeditions to find the Pole had
+only called for other thousands to fit out relief expeditions.
+Ship after ship had been crashed, life after
+life had been clutched in its icy hand! But now it
+had become an after-thought, a side-trip, a little
+excursion to be made while waiting for midnight!
+And it is often that such a simple solution of the
+most baffling difficulties is found at last.</p>
+
+<p>The doctor had been observing his quadrant, and
+was now busy making calculations. He called me
+up to his compartment.</p>
+
+<p>"Longitude, 144 degrees and 45 minutes west;
+Latitude, 89 degrees 59 minutes and 30 seconds
+north. That is the way it figures out. We were
+half a mile from the Pole when I took my observation.
+We must have just crossed over it since
+then."</p>
+
+<p>"Go down a little nearer, so we may see what it
+looks like!" I said excitedly.</p>
+
+<p>"I dare not go too close to all that ice, or we may<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_83" id="Page_83">[83]</a></span>
+freeze the mercury in our thermometer and barometer.
+We must keep well in the sunlight, but I
+will lower a little."</p>
+
+<p>What mountains of crusted snow! What crags
+and peaks of solid ice! It was impossible to tell
+whether it was land or sea underneath. Judging
+by the general level it must have been a sea, but
+no water was visible in any direction. The great
+floes of ice were piled high upon each other. A
+million sharp, glittering edges formed ramparts in
+every direction to keep off the invader by land.
+How impotent and powerless man would be to scale
+these jagged walls or climb these towering mountains!
+How absolutely impossible to reach by land,
+how simple and easy to reach through the air! The
+North Pole and Aerial Navigation had been cousin
+problems that baffled man for so long, and their
+solution had come together.</p>
+
+<p>"Empty a biscuit tin to contain this record, and
+we will toss it out upon this world of ice, so that if
+any adventurer ever gets this far north he may find
+that we have already been here," said the doctor,
+bringing down a freshly-written page for me to
+sign. It read as follows:&mdash;</p>
+
+<div class="blockquot"><p>"Aboard Anderwelt's Gravity Projectile, 12.25
+a.m., June 12th, 1892. The undersigned, having
+left the vicinity of Chicago at nine o'clock on the
+evening of June 11th, took bearings here, showing
+that they passed over the North Pole soon after<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_84" id="Page_84">[84]</a></span>
+midnight. Then they took up their course to the
+planet Mars.</p>
+
+<p class="td2">"(Signed) <span class="smcap">Hermann Anderwelt</span>.<br />
+<span class="smcapm">Isidor Werner."</span></p></div>
+
+<p>This was duly enclosed in the biscuit tin, which
+I bent and crimped a little around the top so that
+the cover would stay on tightly. Then I learned
+how such things were conveyed outside the projectile.
+A cylindrical, hollow plunger fitting tightly
+into the rear wall was pulled as far into the projectile
+as it would come. A closely fitting lid on the
+top of the cylinder was lifted, and the tin deposited
+within. The lid was then fitted down again, and
+the plunger was pushed out and turned over until
+the weight of the lid caused it to fall open and the
+contents to drop out. The tin sailed down, struck
+a tall crag, bounded off, and fell upon a comparatively
+level plateau. The cylinder was then turned
+farther over, causing the lid to close, and the plunger
+was pulled in again. I remember how crisply cold
+was that one cubic foot of air that came back with
+the cylinder. My teeth had been chattering ever
+since I wakened, and I had been too excited to put
+on a heavier coat.</p>
+
+<p>"What is the thermometer?" asked the doctor.
+It was a Fahrenheit instrument we were carrying.</p>
+
+<p>"Thirty-eight degrees below zero, and still falling!"
+I told him.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_85" id="Page_85">[85]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>"Then we must be off at once, and at a good
+speed, to warm up. Now say a long good-bye to
+Earth, for it may be nothing more than a pale star
+to us hereafter."</p>
+
+<p>The doctor steered to westward as he rose steadily
+to a height of about ten miles. Then he fell with a
+long slant to the south-west. He was working back
+into the darkness of night again. We had lost the
+sun long before we started to rise again.</p>
+
+<p>"We are now well above the Pacific Ocean,
+about fifteen hundred miles north-west of San
+Francisco," said the doctor, consulting his large
+globe.</p>
+
+<p>"It seems to me you cross continents with remarkable
+ease and swiftness. From Chicago to
+San Francisco alone is almost three thousand miles,"
+I ventured.</p>
+
+<p>"But we have been gone four hours, and if we
+had simply stood still above the Earth for four
+hours it would have travelled under us about four
+thousand miles, so that San Francisco would already
+have passed the place where we started."</p>
+
+<p>"Then one only needs to get off somewhere and
+remain still in order to make a trip around the
+World!" I exclaimed.</p>
+
+<p>"You are quite right, and travelling upon the
+Earth's surface is the most awkward method, because
+it is impossible to take advantage of the
+Earth's own rapid motion. Around the World in
+eighty days was once considered a remarkable feat,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_86" id="Page_86">[86]</a></span>
+but if we were to travel steadily westward we
+should make the circuit in very much less than
+twenty-four hours. The motion of the Earth upon
+its axis is such an immense advantage that if we
+were only going from Chicago to London, the trip
+could be more easily and quickly made by going to
+the westward some twenty-one thousand miles,
+rather than going directly eastward less than four
+thousand miles. For going eastward we should
+have to travel a thousand miles an hour in order
+to keep up with the Earth. It is questionable
+whether we could make that speed tacking up and
+slanting down."</p>
+
+<p>"Then we shall have to follow the course of
+Empire, always westward!" I laughed.</p>
+
+<p>While we were talking thus, the whizzing and
+whistling of the wind, which had been at first very
+loud and hissing, had gradually died down. I
+looked at the barometer, and reported that there
+was scarcely three-eighths of an inch of mercury in
+the tube.</p>
+
+<p>"We are practically above the atmosphere, then,"
+said the doctor, turning in all the batteries. He
+tried the rudder in the ether, and found it turned
+her when fully extended and turned rather hard
+over.</p>
+
+<p>"I tried to sleep this morning at Whiting to
+prepare for to-night's work," said the doctor presently;
+"but I find I am getting uncontrollably
+drowsy. Come up, and I will show you the course<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_87" id="Page_87">[87]</a></span>
+we most keep, and then I will lie down to get a
+little rest."</p>
+
+<p>I mounted to his compartment and gazed through
+the telescope at Mars, looking like a little, red baby-moon,
+floating in one side of the blue circle.</p>
+
+<p>"Keep him always in view, but in the edge of
+the field like that," said the doctor. "We must
+always steer a little to the right of him&mdash;that is,
+a little behind him."</p>
+
+<p>"But he travels around the sun in the same
+direction the Earth does," I objected. "I should
+think we ought to aim a little ahead of him, or to
+the left, to allow for his motion forward in his
+orbit."</p>
+
+<p>"That looks reasonable at first sight, doesn't it?"
+said the doctor. "But a little learning is a dangerous
+thing. I will explain to you why we must
+steer a little behind him after I have had my nap.
+I am too sleepy now;" and he finished with a
+yawn.</p>
+
+<p>He soon fell asleep, and I was left alone to think
+over the events of the day and the still more strange
+happenings of the night. It hurt my eyes to look
+long through the telescope, so I closed them and
+gave free rein to my thoughts.</p>
+
+<p>How soon will it be morning? How shall I
+know when it <i>is</i> morning? That term "morning"
+applies only to the surface of revolving planets. I
+had just seen the morning come at midnight, and
+then the darkness of night fall again directly after<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_88" id="Page_88">[88]</a></span>
+morning. After all, what are night and morning?
+The one is a passing into the shadow of the Earth,
+and the other is simply the emerging into the
+light. They depend on a rotation, and we shall
+know no more of them until we land on a revolving
+planet again. But which shall we have on the
+trip, night or daylight? Naturally we would very
+soon emerge from the little shadow cast by the
+Earth. It had taken us but an hour or two to
+travel out of it into the daylight and then back
+into the darkness again. Even if we did not leave
+it, the Earth would move on and leave us.</p>
+
+<p>And what then? Nothing but uninterrupted,
+untempered, unhindered daylight! Eternal, dazzling,
+direct sunlight, unrelieved by any night, unstrained
+through any clouds! This deep blue of
+the starry night would be succeeded by the hot,
+white light of a scorching, gleaming Sun. And
+then (the thought chilled my bones as it fell upon
+me!), then how would we see Mars? How would
+we see any star, or perchance the Moon? Even
+the Earth might be drowned in that sea of everlasting,
+all-engulfing brilliancy! Nothing in all
+the Universe would be visible but the beaming
+Sun, and he too blindingly bright to look upon.</p>
+
+<p>As the truth of all this took hold of me, it filled
+me with a growing terror. At any moment we
+might emerge from this grateful shadow of the
+Earth, and then we would be lost, drowned, engulfed
+in a blinding, sight-suffocating light! In<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_89" id="Page_89">[89]</a></span>
+desperate terror I looked around toward the doctor,
+as if for assistance. He was sleeping peacefully.
+He had never thought of it! <i>This</i> was the great
+thing he had overlooked! Even at starting he had
+a dreadful presentiment of it.</p>
+
+<p>He was a great man, and his discovery a wonderful
+one; but here was the trouble with it. He had
+solved the question of navigating space, but the
+sunlight! the dazzling, burning, terrible sunlight!
+how was he to navigate that? It was simply impossible!
+We would have to turn back before we
+emerged into it. We would have to retrace our
+path while we were still in the grateful shadow.
+Ah, the blessedness of night after all!</p>
+
+<p>Then slowly and cautiously, so that I might not
+waken him, I crept down to the rear window to see
+how far away the Earth was. We were at so great
+a distance that I could see the whole outline of it,
+as a great dull globe filling all the view behind us.
+And as I looked again I started and uttered a cry!
+A thin sickle of bright, white light glimmered over
+the whole eastern edge of it, like the first glimpse
+of the new Moon, but a hundred times larger! It
+was the sunlight! It must be creeping around the
+eastern edge, and would soon engulf us.</p>
+
+<p>The doctor had been aroused by my cry. Not
+seeing me in his compartment, he had gone at once
+to the telescope.</p>
+
+<p>"What is the matter?" he said. "You have
+lost the course a little." And as I peered out of my<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_90" id="Page_90">[90]</a></span>
+port-hole I saw that narrow sickle of light grow
+thinner and thinner, and finally go out. Had I
+imagined it all? No, I had seen it.</p>
+
+<p>"Ah, Doctor, I am so glad you have wakened.
+I am frightened, terrified, by the light!"</p>
+
+<hr /><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_91" id="Page_91">[91]</a></span></p>
+<h2>CHAPTER VIII</h2>
+
+<h3>The Valley of the Shadow</h3>
+
+<p class="cap">"<span class="dcap">Light</span>! Where have you seen any light?"</p>
+
+<p>"I saw the Earth begin to shine like a
+New Moon on the eastern edge, but&mdash;&mdash;"</p>
+
+<p>"Ah, that <i>was</i> a danger signal. I am glad you
+awakened me. But you are actually pale and
+trembling! There is no danger if you keep the
+course. You see, that rim of light has faded and
+disappeared since I corrected the course."</p>
+
+<p>"Yes, but you cannot keep in this little Earthly
+shadow much longer; and what can we possibly do
+when we emerge into the fathomless, trackless
+effulgence of eternal sunshine? Let us turn back
+before we plunge into it," I pleaded.</p>
+
+<p>"So that is what terrified you! Well, you have
+hit upon one of the greatest difficulties of the trip;
+but it is far from insurmountable. We will not
+turn back yet, especially as we have started in the
+most opportune time. You have mentioned this
+'little shadow.' It is eight thousand miles wide
+at the surface of the Earth, and gradually, very<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_92" id="Page_92">[92]</a></span>
+gradually, tapers down to nothing far out in space.
+Have you ever calculated how far it reaches?"</p>
+
+<p>"No," I answered. "But we moved out of it
+and back into it at the surface very easily, and
+besides, as the Earth moves forward in its orbit,
+the shadow will leave us."</p>
+
+<p>"This little shadow is eight hundred and fifty-six
+thousand miles long, and we will never leave
+it as long as it lasts!" exclaimed the doctor. "Just
+at this time it points like a long arrow out in the
+direction of Mars. It is moving gradually as the
+Earth moves and hourly correcting its aim. At
+opposition time it will point directly and unerringly
+at Mars. Therefore it is a way prepared,
+surveyed, and marked for us through the all-enveloping
+sunlight, which otherwise would be
+dreadful enough."</p>
+
+<p>"But how can we be sure of keeping in it?
+It is rapidly narrowing as it reaches farther
+out."</p>
+
+<p>"I see I should have explained that to you before
+I went to sleep, and saved you this fright. The
+shadow now points behind Mars, as it is many days
+yet before it overtakes that planet in opposition.
+That is why I told you to steer always a little
+behind the planet. But you went a little out of
+the course, and immediately something warned us.
+That rim of light on the east of the Earth was
+notice to us that we were not in the centre of the
+shadow, but bearing too far to the left. We must<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_93" id="Page_93">[93]</a></span>
+keep absolutely in the dark of the Earth, with no
+light visible on either side of it. If a thin rim
+should appear on one side, we must turn toward
+the other until it is all dark again."</p>
+
+<p>"Grant that this shadow is so enormously long,
+yet it is only scarcely one-fortieth of the distance
+to Mars," I objected. "After we emerge from it,
+what then?"</p>
+
+<p>"With the aid of my telescope we shall probably
+be able to see the Earth as an orb, half or quarter as
+large as the Moon usually appears to us, and to
+observe its phases until we are several million miles
+from it. We must continue to keep the rim of
+light, which will then surround it, equal on all
+sides."</p>
+
+<p>"Ah, but I am afraid," I interrupted, "that as
+soon as we pass out of this shadow the sunlight will
+be so bright that we cannot see any planets, not
+even the Earth. You know we cannot see the Moon
+only a quarter of a million miles away when the
+sun shines."</p>
+
+<p>"In that case we must move the telescope to
+your window, put on a darkened lens, and steer so
+as to keep the Earth as a spot in the middle of the
+Sun. It must appear to us as Venus does to the
+Earth when she is making a transit across the face
+of the sun. But by our continual shifting we
+prevent the Earth from making a transit, and hold
+it as a steady spot in the centre of the Sun. This
+we can do for many, many million miles, continuing<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_94" id="Page_94">[94]</a></span>
+until we have reached the vicinity of
+Mars.</p>
+
+<p>"And you must also remember," continued the
+doctor, "that the brighter the light the darker will
+be the shadow. Now, this projectile is a perfectly
+black, non-reflecting object five feet wide. It will
+cast a shadow in front of it five hundred feet long.
+When we are comparatively near Mars my telescope,
+situated in the miniature night cast by the
+projectile, will find the planet, and we can then
+steer directly for him. If we should chance within
+eighty thousand miles of him, he would attract us
+to him in a straight line. But we shall not rely
+upon chance. Moreover, when we are as near to
+him as that, the light and heat of the Sun's rays
+will have decreased sixty or seventy per cent.
+When Mars is farthest from the Sun, he receives
+only one-third as much light as the Earth does.
+But he is now almost at his nearest point to the
+Sun, and receives half as much light."</p>
+
+<p>"Well, you certainly have a pretty clear idea of
+how to steer the course all the way, Doctor. And I
+was hasty enough to think you had overlooked this
+entire phase of the subject!" I ejaculated.</p>
+
+<p>"Indeed, I have thought of it very much. And
+we should not enjoy all these advantages if we had
+not started just before opposition. At any other
+time the Earth's shadow would not point toward
+Mars, nor would the transit of the Earth over the
+Sun be of any use to us."<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_95" id="Page_95">[95]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>"All this reassures me greatly," I replied; "but
+I shall keep a close watch from my rear window for
+danger lights on the Earth."</p>
+
+<p>"It must be time for breakfast," put in the
+doctor. "Will you see how tempting a meal you
+can prepare?"</p>
+
+<p>There was one reservoir built inside the compartments,
+from which we drew cool water, and
+another built next to the outer steel framework,
+from which we could draw boiling water. As this
+tank was connected with the discharge pipe of the
+air-pump, and thus with the exterior, I was disgusted
+to find that, although the water boiled
+furiously, and was rapidly wasting away in steam,
+it did not become hot enough to make good beef
+tea. The heat escaped with the steam at a comparatively
+low temperature, so that I was compelled
+to boil water over my gas jet for the meat extract,
+which we drank instead of coffee. I also prepared
+some sandwiches of roast beef and cold ham, and
+with great relish we began our diet of ready cooked
+foods, which was to continue for so long.</p>
+
+<p>After this meal I felt quite sleepy, for I had enjoyed
+but three hours' rest. The doctor saw my
+yawns and told me to turn out the gas and have
+a long doze, and I was glad enough to do so.</p>
+
+<p>I must have slept soundly for an hour or two,
+and then I remember dozing and rolling lazily in
+my bed, as I usually did at home on Sunday mornings.
+During my previous nap the bunk had<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_96" id="Page_96">[96]</a></span>
+seemed hard and cramped, and I had privately
+grumbled at the doctor for overlooking personal
+comforts; but now I felt that luxurious sensation
+of sleeping on soft mattresses and yielding springs,
+though of course I had neither. I do not know
+how soon I should have thoroughly awakened had
+I not lifted my hand to rub my eye, and unwittingly
+dealt myself a stinging blow in the face.
+This roused me.</p>
+
+<p>But what was the matter with that arm? It
+was as it had once been in a nightmare, when
+it felt detached from its place, and moved lightly
+and without effort, like a bough in the wind. I
+pinched it with my other hand, and it was quite
+sensible to the pain. In fact, the other arm was
+now acting in the same queer way. I arose in bed
+quickly to see what was the matter, and the upper
+part of my body bent violently over and struck
+against my knees. Then my effort to take an
+upright position threw me on my back again.
+Evidently my muscles were not working as they
+were when I went to bed. They must be over-excited
+and over-active. I immediately thought
+of my heart as the principal and controlling muscle,
+and in my eagerness to feel its beating my hand
+dealt me a slap in the chest. These blows, though
+rapid, did not seem to hurt as much as they ought,
+after the first stinging sensation. I found my
+heart was beating regularly enough.</p>
+
+<p>"Doctor!" I cried out presently, more to test<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_97" id="Page_97">[97]</a></span>
+my voice than for anything else. It sounded
+perfectly natural, and my vocal chords were not
+over-stimulated or abnormal.</p>
+
+<p>He came half way down from his compartment
+soon after hearing me, and rested his elbow against
+one side of the aperture between the compartments,
+leaning against the other side easily. He had a
+scale made of heavy coiled spring in his hand.</p>
+
+<p>"I wish to calculate our distance from the Earth,"
+he said. "Do you mind weighing yourself on
+these scales?" and he held the spiral down toward
+me.</p>
+
+<p>"You can't support my weight!" I exclaimed,
+and springing up from the bed I bumped my head
+against the partition between the compartments,
+eight feet above my floor. I grasped the lower
+ring of the scale he held down and lifted up my
+feet. It seemed as if something were still supporting
+me from below, for scarcely one-tenth my
+weight had fallen upon my hands.</p>
+
+<p>"You weigh twenty and a half pounds," he
+said, and then inquired, "What did you weigh on
+Earth?"</p>
+
+<p>"One hundred and eighty-five pounds," I answered,
+just beginning to understand that our
+greatly increased distance from the Earth had
+much reduced her attraction for us.</p>
+
+<p>"That is disappointing," he answered, "for we
+are only eight thousand miles from home; but
+our velocity is still constantly increasing."<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_98" id="Page_98">[98]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>"I would like to buy things here and sell them
+at the surface," I exclaimed.</p>
+
+<p>"You wouldn't make anything by it if you
+used the ordinary balance scales," replied the
+doctor.</p>
+
+<p>Try as hard as I would, I could not accustom my
+muscles to these new conditions. They were too
+gross and clumsy for the fine and delicate efforts
+which were now necessary. I was constantly
+hitting and slapping myself, though these blows
+scarcely hurt, and never resulted in bruises. I
+attempted a thorough re-training of my muscles,
+which was to all intents an utter failure, for
+weight continued diminishing much more rapidly
+than my stubborn muscles could appreciate. After
+another eight thousand miles, which were quickly
+made, we had but one twenty-fifth our usual
+weight, which reduced me to seven pounds. And
+for most of the trip we weighed practically nothing,
+suffering many inconveniences on that account.</p>
+
+<hr /><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_99" id="Page_99">[99]</a></span></p>
+<h2>CHAPTER IX</h2>
+
+<h3>Tricks of Refraction</h3>
+
+<p class="cap"><span class="dcap">The</span> doctor figured out that we should be quite
+insensible to any weight when we were
+seventy-five thousand miles from the Earth. At
+fifty thousand miles I would still weigh a pound,
+and when we had finished the first million miles,
+the entire projectile, with its two occupants and
+all its dead weight, would weigh considerably less
+than an ounce. That was a mere start on the
+enormous trip ahead of us; but when that distance
+was reached, we could no longer count upon terrestrial
+gravity for accelerating our speed. We
+must travel with our accumulated momentum,
+unless by that time the Sun should have taken the
+place of the Earth, and with his vaster forces continue
+to repel us Marsward.</p>
+
+<p>As we sat talking the doctor grew weary, and
+soon unconsciously dropped asleep. I left him to
+enjoy his rest, and, tossing a scrap of ham bone
+to Two-spot, I went up to take my place at the
+telescope.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_100" id="Page_100">[100]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>Mars seemed to be exactly in the right part of
+the field. I surveyed the starry stretches ahead
+with a feeling a little akin to fear. I was queerly
+affected by the vast expanse of loneliness outside,
+and by the deathly quiet prevailing both without
+and within. There was not the slightest whizzing
+or whistling now. We might be hanging perfectly
+motionless in space for all I knew. The
+batteries made no sound either. I could hear only
+the low, regular breathing of the doctor as he slept,
+and the slight crunching of Two-spot on his bone.
+Presently I thought of looking for the danger
+lights, but I looked through the telescope instead,
+and saw the little red planet in his proper
+place.</p>
+
+<p>What a vast distance we were from any planet!
+If anything were to happen to us, no one on Earth
+or in the heavens would ever know of it. I had
+never been homesick, but a very little would have
+made me Earthsick just then. I did not like the
+upper end of the projectile because I could not look
+back at the home planet. I wondered if it was all
+dark back that way, or if those warning lights
+had begun to appear. That idea seemed to haunt
+me. I touched the steering wheel just a little
+while I kept my eyes on Mars. He moved slightly
+in the field at once. Then I turned the wheel
+back until he took his former place. It was reassuring
+to know how easily the projectile minded
+her great rudder, which was now fully extended<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_101" id="Page_101">[101]</a></span>
+like an enormous wing. This made me feel that
+we were masters of the situation, that all this vast
+space was as nothing to us, that any planet in the
+heavens must mind us, and that though Earth was
+driving us away, she must draw us back if we
+willed it. More than that, she would warn us of
+all dangers. Perhaps she was sending that warning
+now. I had promised to look out for it. I
+felt that I must go down. I crept softly past the
+doctor and stooped over the port-hole. My eyes
+had scarcely found the Earth in the darkness when
+I drew back quickly and clapped my hand over
+my mouth to prevent a cry escaping me. Then I
+looked again more closely. There was no small
+illuminated portion of the surface this time, but a
+great smear of light just outside the edge of the
+Earth. It was of a dull red colour, with rainbow
+tints around the edges, and was much the shape
+of a great umbrella held just above one quarter of
+her surface to westward.</p>
+
+<p>I gave the steering wheel in my compartment a
+sharp turn in the direction which should cause the
+light to disappear. Then I crouched and looked
+again, but instead of being reduced in size the
+light broadened and swelled. It was as if one
+edge of the umbrella were left against the Earth's
+surface, and then the umbrella was being turned
+gradually around until it faced me and formed an
+enormous disc, apparently a third as big as the
+Earth. Then, as it slowly moved outward, its edge<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_102" id="Page_102">[102]</a></span>
+seemed to cleave to the Earth's, as two drops of
+water do when about to separate. Finally, it
+detached itself entirely, and stood as a great
+muddy red orb a little to the west of and above
+the Earth. It filled me with dismay to see all
+this happen after I had turned the rudder in the
+direction which should have corrected our course.
+In desperation I gave the wheel an additional hard
+turn and looked again. At last the great red
+patch was shrinking; slowly it diminished, and
+finally disappeared. But just as I was breathing
+a sigh of relief, I noticed the white sickle of light
+on the east side that I had seen before; only it
+was increasing most threateningly now. Yes, it
+was assuming the same umbrella shape and detaching
+itself a little from the eastern edge of the
+Earth. There was still a narrow rim of bright
+white light on the Earth, and this dimmer umbrella
+shape was faintly separated from its edge. Its
+outlines were marked by flashes of rainbow colours,
+as had been the case on the other side. I sprang
+to the wheel and gave it several frantic turns back
+the other way. Then I ran up to the telescope
+for a hurried view, and Mars was nowhere to be
+seen! I hastened back to the wheel and gave it
+a vicious additional turn. I was determined to
+prevent this umbrella from opening at me! And
+true enough it ceased enlarging, and gradually
+shrank and settled back upon the surface of the
+Earth. Then slowly it faded and disappeared, as it<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_103" id="Page_103">[103]</a></span>
+had done before when the doctor had corrected the
+course. I eased back the wheel and went to look
+for Mars again, but he was not in the field. As
+I returned I brushed unconsciously against the
+doctor in my excitement. He roused himself, sat
+up, and watched me peering out of the port-hole.
+I was gazing at a new appearance.</p>
+
+<p>"There it is again!" I cried, for below the
+Earth and to westward a pale white disc came into
+view all at once, not gradually, as if emerging
+from behind the Earth, but springing out complete
+and detached.</p>
+
+<p>"Doctor!" I said, catching him by the arm and
+pulling him down to the port-hole, "what is
+that?"</p>
+
+<p>"That? That is the Moon, my boy. Has it
+excited you so much?"</p>
+
+<p>"Yes; I have been trying to dodge it. But
+you had better look to the wheel," I cried.</p>
+
+<p>He ran up to the telescope, and I heard him
+exclaim, "<i>Donnerwetter!</i>" half under his breath.
+But with a few careful turns of the wheel he found
+the planet again, and moved him to the right part
+of the field. Meanwhile the Full Moon shone on us
+with its pale glimmer. But a thin rim of it next
+to the Earth gleamed brightly with rich silver
+light.</p>
+
+<p>"I thought you said we had started in the dark
+of the Moon. I thought it was behind the Earth,"
+I interposed.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_104" id="Page_104">[104]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>"That is the New Moon just emerging. It will
+probably not be seen on the Earth until to-morrow
+night, but as we are at a greater distance we see
+it first," replied the doctor.</p>
+
+<p>"But that is not a New Moon, it is a Full Moon,
+which should not be seen for fourteen days yet,"
+I objected.</p>
+
+<p>"Pardon me, it <i>is</i> a New Moon," he insisted.
+"That inner rim of brightness is all the sunlight
+she reflects. The paler glimmer is Earth-light,
+which she reflects. When she is really a Full
+Moon, she will be perfectly dark to us."</p>
+
+<p>Then I explained to him the first umbrella appearance,
+and its gradual swelling and final disappearance.</p>
+
+<p>"Rainbow colours around the edge and a gradual
+changing of the shape, you say? That means
+refraction. The Earth's atmosphere has been playing
+tricks on you. The umbrella of dull red light
+was a refracted view of the Moon before she really
+came into sight. Rays of light from the hidden
+Moon were bent around to you. Then, as she
+gradually moved from behind the Earth, her appearance
+was magnified by the convex lens formed
+by the atmosphere, bent over that planet. Presently
+it diminished and went out altogether, you
+say?"</p>
+
+<p>"Yes, but that was because I steered away from
+her," I replied.</p>
+
+<p>"No; you could hardly lose her so easily," he<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_105" id="Page_105">[105]</a></span>
+answered. "Did you ever try holding an object
+behind a water-bottle or a gold-fish jar? There
+is a place near the edge of the jar where a thing
+cannot be seen, though the glass and water are
+perfectly transparent. The rays of light from the
+object are bent around, through the glass and
+water, away from the eyes of the observer. It was
+like that with the Moon when she disappeared.
+She was really drawing out from the Earth all the
+time. Finally, when her light passed beyond the
+atmosphere altogether, she became suddenly visible
+in a different place and shining with another
+colour. What we see now is the real Moon in her
+true place. The other appearances were all tricks
+of refraction."</p>
+
+<p>"But when I had turned away," I explained,
+"there came a thin rim of bright light on the
+other side of the Earth, and a gradually appearing
+umbrella shape there too."</p>
+
+<p>"Ah, then you steered far enough out of your
+course to see part of the illuminated surface of the
+Earth. That was the real danger light. And if
+it began to assume the umbrella shape, detached
+from the Earth, that was due to atmospheric refraction
+of sunlight. This great shadow we are
+travelling in has an illuminated core, which we
+shall encounter when we have proceeded a little
+further. I tell you of it now, so it may not give
+you another shock. Have you ever noticed the
+small bright spot which illuminates the centre of<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_106" id="Page_106">[106]</a></span>
+the shadow cast by a glass of water? That is
+partly the same as the core of light which exists
+in the heart of this shadow. Rays from the sun,
+passing on all sides of the Earth, are refracted
+through the atmosphere and bent inward. You
+must have steered over into some of these rays
+just now, and then turned back from them. Somewhat
+farther on all these refracted rays will meet
+at a common centre, which they will illuminate,
+and we shall have an oasis of rainbow-tinged
+sunlight in this great desert of shadow. The
+sun will then appear to us to be an enormous
+circle of dull light entirely surrounding the
+Earth."</p>
+
+<p>"I don't fancy running into that at all," said I.
+"Can't we avoid it by steering out?"</p>
+
+<p>"Avoid it!" exclaimed the doctor. "We must
+investigate it, and photograph the peculiar appearance
+of the sun. Light seems to have more
+terrors for you than anything else just now. You
+must get over your rush-and-do tendency; you
+must stifle your emotions and impulses, and learn
+to think of things in a more calm and scientific
+manner."</p>
+
+<p>"But that is not so easy for me, Doctor. Whenever
+I am left alone, a feeling of dread possesses me.
+I am used to having many people, bustling noises,
+and confused movement all about me. The silence
+of Space stifles me, and the loneliness of the ether
+oppresses and overcomes me strangely."<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_107" id="Page_107">[107]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>"I prescribe a change of air for you," answered
+the doctor. "You will do better in a rarer atmosphere.
+Let us send what we have been breathing
+back to Whiting, and make a new one to suit
+ourselves."</p>
+
+<hr /><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_108" id="Page_108">[108]</a></span></p>
+<h2>CHAPTER X</h2>
+
+<h3>The Twilight of Space</h3>
+
+<p class="cap">"<span class="dcap">Shall</span> I come up into your compartment for
+the operation?" I asked.</p>
+
+<p>"No; for this first time we will pump out my
+compartment, as I wish to observe from the rear
+port-hole the action of the air which we set free."</p>
+
+<p>The bulkhead, with its bevelled edge, was therefore
+fitted into the opening between the compartments,
+and I took the first turn at the lever handle
+of the air-pump, while the doctor observed from
+the window. I had given the handle less than a
+dozen vigorous strokes when the doctor suddenly
+exclaimed,&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>"Stop! Wait a moment;" and he began pulling
+at the bulkhead, which was already rather tightly
+wedged in by the air pressure. "I have left the
+rabbit inside," he said, when he found breath to
+speak. And poor little bunny's heart was beginning
+to beat fast when he was rescued.</p>
+
+<p>Then we began again. The doctor watched the
+escaping air for some time, evidently forgetting
+that I was at all interested in it.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_109" id="Page_109">[109]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>"All quite as I expected," he said at last. "Only
+I had forgotten about the snow."</p>
+
+<p>"Nothing will ever be very new or interesting
+to you," I put in; "but pray remember I am here,
+and rapidly getting empty of breath and full of
+curiosity."</p>
+
+<p>Then he relieved me at the pump handle, and
+this is what I saw from the port-hole: The air
+escaping from the discharge pipe of the air-pump
+was visible, and looked like dull, grey steam. Immediately
+on being set free it swelled and expanded
+greatly, and sank away from us slowly. But at
+the instant of its expansion the cold thus produced
+froze the moisture of the air into a fine fleecy snow,
+which lasted but a second as it sank away from us
+and melted in the heat, which the thermometer
+showed to be close upon ninety-five degrees. This
+miniature snowstorm was seen for an instant only
+after each down motion of the pump handle.</p>
+
+<p>"Where is this air going?" I inquired. "The
+little clouds of it seem to drop away from us like
+lead; but that must be because of our speed."</p>
+
+<p>"It is falling back to the Earth, to join the outer
+layer of rare atmosphere there. If we had a
+positive current instead of a negative one, the air
+would not leave us, but we should gradually be
+surrounded by an atmosphere of our own, which
+we should retain until some planet, whose gravitational
+attraction is vastly stronger than ours,
+stole it from us. When we begin to fall into Mars,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_110" id="Page_110">[110]</a></span>
+we shall acquire such an enveloping atmosphere;
+and we can draw upon it and re-compress it if our
+inner supply should become exhausted."</p>
+
+<p>"If this air is falling home to earth," said I, "we
+could send messages back in that manner."</p>
+
+<p>"We can drop them back at any time, regardless
+of the air," he answered, and then added suddenly,
+"but it will make a beautiful experiment to drop
+out a bottle now."</p>
+
+<p>He ceased pumping, and opening a bottle of
+asparagus tips, he placed them in a bowl, and prepared
+to drop out the bottle. I took my pencil and
+wrote this message to go inside,&mdash;"Behold, I have
+decreed a judgment upon the Earth; for it shall
+rain pickle bottles and biscuit tins for the period
+of forty days, because of the wickedness of the
+world, unless she repent!" And I pictured to
+myself the perplexity of the poor devil who
+should see this message come straight down from
+heaven!</p>
+
+<p>In order to make his experiment more successful,
+the doctor put in half a dozen bullets from one of
+the rifles, to make the weight more perceptible.
+Then he put the bottle into the discharging
+cylinder, and preparing to push it out he stooped
+over the port-hole. At a signal from him I gave
+the pump handle several quick, successive motions,
+and at the same instant he let drop the bottle. At
+once he cried out,&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>"Beautiful! and just as I thought."<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_111" id="Page_111">[111]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>"But I didn't see it!" I protested. "What was
+it?"</p>
+
+<p>"The instant the bottle was released the discharged
+air was immediately attracted toward it,
+and gradually surrounded it entirely. It was like
+a little planet with an atmosphere of its own, as
+they fell back to the Earth together."</p>
+
+<p>"But I couldn't see it; I had to pump," I complained.
+"We must do it again."</p>
+
+<p>"We shall soon have our bottled things all
+emptied out on plates to dry up and spoil," he
+objected. So I emptied a biscuit tin this time, and
+delaying for no message, I put it in the discharging
+cylinder. Then I bent over the port-hole and gave
+the signal for the pumping. As I thrust out the
+tin I was astonished to see the lid pop off the first
+thing. The quick expansion of the air inside it did
+that. This air, as well as the air from the discharge
+pipe, seemed to flee from it instead of surrounding
+it, as the doctor had said. I continued
+watching so long that he finally said,&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>"Hasn't it fallen out of sight yet?"</p>
+
+<p>"No; it is not falling away swiftly as the air
+does. It is following the projectile! It is not
+gathering any air about it as you said it would.
+It does not quite keep up with us; but considering
+our speed, it is doing remarkably well!"</p>
+
+<p>The doctor was not inclined to believe me until
+he had looked for himself. He watched and
+pondered for a minute or two. Then his surprise<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_112" id="Page_112">[112]</a></span>
+ceased, and he spoke in that assured way which
+always irritated me.</p>
+
+<p>"Quite natural, after all," he said. "That biscuit
+can is made of thin sheet-iron with a surface
+coating of tin. The iron has become magnetized
+by induction, and the Earth repels the can just as
+it repels us. It will follow us to the dead-line, and
+probably on to Mars, unless the sheet-iron loses its
+polarization. If we had cast out a thing of solid
+iron, it would rush ahead of us, instead of falling a
+little behind, as this does, for it would have no dead
+weight to carry. But we could not put such a
+thing out of the rear end, for no force would make
+it fall that way. If we put it out of the forward
+port-hole, it would beat us in the race toward
+Mars."</p>
+
+<p>I remarked to the doctor that the air-pump
+seemed to be incorrectly built, for its action was
+strangely difficult in the reverse manner that it
+should have been. The down strokes went by
+themselves with a quick snap, but the up strokes
+were as if against pressure, and the moment the
+handle was released it flew down again. He had
+not tested the pump at the surface, as it was of a
+well-known make, but it certainly seemed to work
+backwards. Moreover, the more nearly we had a
+compartment emptied of air, the more difficult the
+pumping should become, but here again the reverse
+seemed to be the case, for the longer we worked the
+easier the up strokes became.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_113" id="Page_113">[113]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>The temperature of the projectile was still fairly
+comfortable, and the doctor allowed the condensed
+air to issue very slowly into the partial vacuum in
+his compartment until it produced a barometric
+pressure of twenty-seven. Then we pulled back
+the bulkhead, and when the new atmosphere had
+mixed with the old in my compartment, a pressure
+of twenty-eight resulted.</p>
+
+<p>"That is about the way the barometer stands
+during tempests at sea," remarked the doctor. I
+could not notice much difference from the air we
+had previously had. Possibly it was fresher and
+slightly more exhilarating.</p>
+
+<p>The effort at the pump had made us both hungry
+again, and I prepared from meat extracts a warm
+and rather thick gravy to put over the asparagus
+tips. I attempted to pour it, but it was so light
+that its sticky consistency prevented it from running.
+We had a hundred such examples daily of
+the changes which lack of weight caused in the
+simplest operations. With sandwiches made of
+biscuits and condensed meat, we eked out a
+luncheon. This must have been about noon, for
+when it was over I remember noticing that we no
+longer needed the gas in the compartment, for
+there was a gradually increasing mellow light outside.</p>
+
+<p>"Are we already emerging from the shadow?"
+I inquired eagerly.</p>
+
+<p>"No, not yet," replied the doctor. "But we are<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_114" id="Page_114">[114]</a></span>
+now entering its illuminated core. I must prepare
+to photograph the strange appearance of the Sun
+that we shall see presently."</p>
+
+<p>I hastened to the port-hole, and did not leave
+until it was all over. What I then saw was one of
+the most beautiful things of the whole trip. The
+light outside was not bright, but soft and dreamy,
+like the first twilight after a rich day of summer.
+The great corona all around the outer edge of the
+Earth was the most magnificent appearance I have
+ever seen. It was not at all dazzling, but had the
+melting shades, first of a sunrise and then of a
+gorgeous sunset. We had missed the gradual
+appearance of the phenomenon, but we had a good
+view of its highest splendour. The colours were
+continually but slowly changing, and finally the
+darker hues gradually suffused and dyed the pinks
+and crimsons.</p>
+
+<p>The Earth was now about three times the
+diameter of a rising Full Moon, and the corona was
+about a quarter her width, and looked as if twenty
+shell-pink suns were set one against the other and
+overlapping all about the edge of the dark orb.</p>
+
+<p>"How do you know that is not really the extending
+edge of the Sun?" I asked the doctor. "Perhaps
+we are already far enough away to see it all
+about the Earth like that."</p>
+
+<p>"If that were really the Sun, the light from his
+extending edge would illuminate the surface of the
+Earth towards us. The planet's outline would be<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_115" id="Page_115">[115]</a></span>
+irregular and partly glowing, but you see it is
+quite dull and dark, and the outline is most plainly
+visible."</p>
+
+<p>In rapt attention I watched the delicate shell-pink
+change to a deeper hue of orange, and then
+our twilight waned a little and turned a sombre
+grey. Presently the corona glowed a rich maroon,
+gradually dying to a luminous purple, which slowly
+deepened and darkened, and finally melted into the
+general blackness. And lo! we were in the shadow
+again, and the dreamily beautiful panorama was
+over.</p>
+
+<p>"It must have lasted nearly an hour," said the
+doctor. "I am sorry we did not notice the beginning,
+but it must have commenced with the same
+dull shades we saw at the end, and gradually
+changed to brighter colours. I secured three negatives
+when the glow was most intense."</p>
+
+<p>"Then we have had a waxing and a waning
+twilight coming together in the middle of our
+night. And the corona was like a sunrise, followed
+immediately by a sunset," I exclaimed.</p>
+
+<p>"And why shouldn't it appear so?" said the
+matter-of-fact doctor. "Twilight is the commonest
+phenomenon of refraction with which we are
+acquainted, and sunrise and sunset are merely a
+mixture of refraction and reflection. There is nothing
+new about it."</p>
+
+<p>"Now, Doctor, we must remain friends, but you
+shall not continually tarnish my poetry with your<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_116" id="Page_116">[116]</a></span>
+accursed science! I thank my Creator that He
+made me ignorant enough to admire the beauties
+of nature. You are continually peeping behind
+the scenes, and pointing out the grease paints, the
+lime-lights and the sham effects. Let me enjoy the
+beauty of the tableau, no matter how it is produced.
+I would give all of your pat knowledge for
+that feeling of profound awe which rises in the
+untutored breast at beholding the magnificent
+grandeur of unfamiliar nature."</p>
+
+<p>"When your ecstasy has quite passed, I shall
+appreciate a little cold mutton and biscuits, and
+then we must pump out again," he replied.</p>
+
+<hr /><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_117" id="Page_117">[117]</a></span></p>
+<h2>CHAPTER XI</h2>
+
+<h3>Telling the Time by Geography</h3>
+
+<p class="cap"><span class="dcap">After</span> supper I went up into his compartment,
+and having arranged the bulkhead, began the
+tedious operation at the pump handle. It was a
+matter of pure muscular strength, as the effort had
+to be made to lift the handle, which snapped back
+sharply when released. I was working vigorously
+when I was suddenly struck dumb at seeing the
+handle break off just at the point of leverage, so
+that it was quite impossible to operate it. The
+doctor heard the handle fall, and looked around in
+great vexation.</p>
+
+<p>"That means asphyxiation within twenty-four
+hours!" he exclaimed.</p>
+
+<p>"Which is plenty of time to think it over," I
+answered.</p>
+
+<p>After all, why was this pumping necessary? If
+a way could be devised to open a valve, all the air
+would rush out of my compartment as easily as beer
+runs out of a bung-hole. In fact, it did rush out a
+little at a time, which is what made the handle go<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_118" id="Page_118">[118]</a></span>
+down of itself. But any such new valve would
+have to be automatically closed, as it would be
+manifestly impossible to enter and shut it. I kept
+on thinking, and finally began examining the partition
+between the compartments. There seemed to
+be several long screws that went quite through it.</p>
+
+<p>"Doctor, did you ever hear of those wise people
+who, after every freshet, shipped the surplus water
+down the river in boats? Well, it strikes me this
+air-pumping is just about as useless labour. Help
+me pull in the bulkhead and I will show you
+something."</p>
+
+<p>I went at once to the cylinder we used for discharging
+things from the projectile. With a pair
+of pliers I chipped off a small piece of the edge of
+the closing lid in two places, one near each end.
+This made two little irregular holes into the
+cylinder about eight inches apart. Then I pushed
+it half way out, so that one hole was outside and
+the other inside. Of course the air rushed through
+the inner hole into the cylinder, and thence through
+the outer hole to the exterior.</p>
+
+<p>"Shut that thing!" cried the doctor, when he
+saw what I had done. "Do you wish to suffocate
+us? That will let the air out perfectly, but how are
+you going to close it to admit the condensed air?"</p>
+
+<p>"People unskilled in these matters are so hasty!"
+I said rather sarcastically. "Wait until I have
+finished and you will see."</p>
+
+<p>I found he had a screw-driver, and I loosened one<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_119" id="Page_119">[119]</a></span>
+of the long screws and enlarged the half of its hole
+toward my compartment. Then I whittled a block
+of soft wood, so that it would slide smoothly into
+this half of the hole. Driving the screw home
+again, I just allowed its tip to enter the end of the
+block. Then I fastened a piece of stout twine to
+the cylinder and the other end to the block of wood,
+which was almost opposite it. Pushing the
+cylinder half way out, I made the twine taut, and
+hastening into the doctor's compartment, I thrust
+in the bulkhead. The air was rapidly escaping.
+Waiting long enough for all of it to have leaked
+out, I then unscrewed the long screw, which
+gradually drew in the block of wood and the twine,
+and thus pulled the cylinder into the projectile so
+that there was no connection with the exterior.
+Then the doctor let in the condensed air to a barometric
+pressure of twenty-six, and the whole operation
+was over in a few minutes. My compartment
+must have been almost a complete vacuum. When
+it was over, I cried rather triumphantly to the
+doctor,&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>"There, you see, one doesn't need a steam pump
+to make the water run over Niagara! At this
+distance from the surface, nature abhors a gas and
+prefers a vacuum!" He was inclined to be rather
+sulky at first, but he really did not like pumping
+any better than I did.</p>
+
+<p>I should say it was about five hours later that we
+noticed it was growing gradually lighter outside.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_120" id="Page_120">[120]</a></span>
+Mars lost his ruddiness and grew pale in a grey
+field. Our view of the Earth was also becoming
+more and more misty.</p>
+
+<p>"We are emerging from the black core of the
+shadow into the semi-illuminated penumbra," said
+the doctor. Then he altered his course experimentally,
+and found a slightly darker path, but it soon
+began changing again to grey.</p>
+
+<p>"There is no use trying to keep in the umbra
+any longer. It is growing too narrow. The penumbra
+will last quite a long time yet, but it will
+gradually get fainter and fainter. We shall not
+plunge at once into the dreadful light you fear so
+much. Keep your eyes glued to the Earth. I can
+scarcely see Mars any longer. The whole field is
+getting blank and white."</p>
+
+<p>The rear vista was also growing a pale white, and
+I could distinguish the form of the Earth as a
+darker object slightly larger than a full moon when
+risen. But it was all growing dimmer and dimmer
+as the penumbra faded toward the perfect light.</p>
+
+<p>"Mars is completely gone now," said the doctor.
+"The field of the telescope is one pale curtain of
+light. I have steered to the left to go ahead of him
+now, as there is no longer any reason for going
+behind him."</p>
+
+<p>I heard him working at the telescope as if loosening
+it from its fastenings, but I dared not take my
+eyes from the Earth to see what he was doing.
+Presently he called out to me,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_121" id="Page_121">[121]</a></span>&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>"Make room down there. I must bring the
+instrument down and observe the Earth now. Be
+careful you don't lose sight of her." But the instant
+he removed the telescope from its bearings and uncovered
+his forward window, I lost all view of the
+Earth. The new light now entering by his window,
+from behind me, made it impossible to see so far.</p>
+
+<p>"Too late!" I cried; "I have lost her! We
+are alone in limitless space, without even the company
+of the planets!"</p>
+
+<p>But while the doctor was carefully lowering the
+telescope, my eyes were still searching, and presently
+I perceived a thin crescent of faintly brighter light,
+growing gradually wider. It was like a new moon
+dimly seen in a clear part of the sky when the
+afternoon sun is cloud-hidden. The doctor stopped
+to look where I pointed it out to him, and then
+changed the wheel a little.</p>
+
+<p>"That is a thin slice of the illuminated part of
+the Earth," he said. "We can no longer see the
+dark side which has been visible to us while in the
+shadow. Fortunately our new course a little ahead
+of Mars will give us a constant view of this thin
+crescent."</p>
+
+<p>We now stood the instrument on end over the
+port-hole window, which brought the small end
+near the aperture between the compartments.
+When the doctor had secured a focus, he called me
+to look. The crescent was greatly magnified, but
+the outline of the sphere on the other side could not<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_122" id="Page_122">[122]</a></span>
+be seen, nor could anything be distinguished in the
+centre. Both the outer and inner edges of the
+crescent were ragged and irregular in places, and
+there were faint darker spots on its surface. I
+called the doctor's attention to the fact that the
+ragged appearance was always in the form of extending
+teeth on the outer side of the crescent, and
+in the form of notches eaten into its inner edge.
+He studied all these appearances carefully and
+finally said,&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>"This crescent is that part of Earth which is just
+coming into morning. It is gradually shifting
+from east to west with the Earth's rotation of
+course. What we see now, however, is <i>land</i> almost
+from pole to pole. There is a small sea just above
+the middle, which might be the Mediterranean.
+Moreover, it must be mountainous land to cause the
+ragged edges and the shadows inside."</p>
+
+<p>Then he turned away to get his globe, and I took
+the place at the instrument. He was slowly turning
+the globe and examining it thoughtfully as he
+said to himself,&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>"The only continuous land from pole to pole
+with one interrupting sea must be over the two
+Americas or over Europe and Africa. The American
+mountain ranges run from north to south,
+while through Europe and Africa they are scarce,
+and almost uniformly run from east to west.
+Besides, the sand of Sahara would be sure to show
+as a large, bright, regular spot. A section from<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_123" id="Page_123">[123]</a></span>
+longitude 70 to 80 west would include the Green
+Mountains and the Alleghanies of North America
+and the Andes of South America, and in that case
+the darker spot in the centre would be the Caribbean
+Sea."</p>
+
+<p>"Look here!" I cried. "Toward the lower end
+the inner outline is growing darker but more
+regular, and faint streaks or shadows reach through
+the brighter light toward the dark greenish regular
+surface which looks like water."</p>
+
+<p>He observed closely and said,&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>"Those shadows must be cast to westward by
+the enormous peaks of the Andes, and the dark
+greenish surface they reach toward must be the
+Pacific Ocean."</p>
+
+<p>Then he consulted his globe while I looked.
+"The first two to come into view," he said, "would
+be the two great peaks in Bolivia, over twenty-one
+thousand feet high."</p>
+
+<p>"There <i>are</i> two of them together," I said, "and
+now others are rapidly coming into view. There
+are five more scattered unequally, and then, lower
+down, three near together."</p>
+
+<p>"Then there is not the slightest doubt that we
+see the Lower Andes," he said. "These last you
+mention are scattered just as you say along the
+border between Chili and Argentina, and the group
+of three are near Valparaiso, the peak of Aconcagua
+being the tallest. But watch now for the group
+in Ecuador, about midway between the top and<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_124" id="Page_124">[124]</a></span>
+bottom of the crescent. There are four very large
+peaks and numerous smaller ones."</p>
+
+<p>"The middle all looks bright yet, like land, with
+no shadows or greenish spots. But a queer thing is
+happening lower down, where the shadows have
+ceased lengthening and are now fading. There are
+several fine points of light just beyond the outer
+edge of the crescent. They are mere bright specks,
+but gradually they join with the surface, making a
+rough toothed edge."</p>
+
+<p>"Ah, that phenomenon has been observed upon
+the Moon," said he. "That is the sun shining on
+the snow-capped peaks first, and then, when the
+diminutive outline of the mountain comes into view,
+it looks like a tooth."</p>
+
+<p>"The same is happening all down the coast," I
+reported. "Now I see it on the lower group of
+three."</p>
+
+<p>"Give me the instrument," demanded the doctor.
+"That can be nothing but the west coast of South
+America, and if that be the case, the whole thing
+will be repeated for the tall group in Ecuador,
+dominated by Chimborazo."</p>
+
+<p>As I surrendered the telescope to him, the whole
+lower part of the crescent was dark, but with
+regular edges. Only in the middle, which should
+have been about the Equator, and in the upper
+part, was there the bright lustre of land reflection.
+He watched for fully half an hour before observing
+anything remarkable. At last he exclaimed,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_125" id="Page_125">[125]</a></span>&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>"Now they are beginning! Five streaks near
+together and just at the Equator. They are almost
+equidistant from each other, and the next to the
+lowest one is the longest. Now the top one begins
+to fade! Yes, and a point of light has appeared
+detached from the outer edge, and now another and
+another! They are growing inward toward the
+surface. Now they are all connected like five saw
+teeth; the bottom one is the shortest, and that next
+very high one is old Chimborazo."</p>
+
+<p>"Then it is morning at Quito and also at
+Pittsburg!" I said, tracing up the 80th meridian.</p>
+
+<p>"Yes, and we have been one complete day and
+about five hours more travelling the nine hundred
+thousand miles that lie between this and Earth,"
+replied he.</p>
+
+<p>"That makes us one full meal behind time," I
+said; "but we have discovered a way to make
+the Andes call us for breakfast. When the Pacific
+Ocean has passed from view, Japan and Australia
+shall strike noon for us, and we will have supper
+and call it night when the Indian Ocean is gone
+and darkest Africa has come into view!"</p>
+
+<hr /><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_126" id="Page_126">[126]</a></span></p>
+<h2>CHAPTER XII</h2>
+
+<h3>Space Fever</h3>
+
+<p class="cap"><span class="dcap">We</span> counted seven successive returns of the
+peaks of the Andes, and being by that time
+certainly six million miles from the Earth, we could
+distinguish them no longer. Then followed what
+I remember as a very long and unspeakably monotonous
+period, without any adequate method of
+marking the time. Our days became a full week
+long, for the only way we could guess at the time
+was by the quarterings of the Moon. We could
+still see her about the size of a marble in the telescope,
+and as her crescent began to wane, and
+finally her light entirely disappeared, we knew
+she was then just between us and the Earth, and
+shining upon that planet as a Full Moon. This
+was due to occur fifteen days after our departure.
+Then we watched her grow from a thin crescent
+to a bright quarter, and we knew another week
+had elapsed.</p>
+
+<p>"We shall soon be able to determine one date
+with absolute certainty," I said to the doctor, when
+we must have been some twenty days out. "I
+have been reading up your almanack, and I find<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_127" id="Page_127">[127]</a></span>
+there is a total eclipse of the Sun by the Moon on
+June 29th."</p>
+
+<p>"You might as well try to eclipse him with a
+straw-hat, as far as we are concerned," he replied.
+"The Moon will necessarily be on the further side
+of the Earth when that occurs, and the eclipse will
+barely reach the Earth. It will fall short of us by
+a matter of some thirty million miles!"</p>
+
+<p>It was soon after this that we gave up observing
+the Earth as a planet, put on our darkened lens, and
+proceeded to hold her as a spot in the Sun a little
+to the left of his centre. The Moon remained a
+tiny spot of light outside for a few days; but
+finally she entered the Sun also, and was seen as a
+faint spot travelling toward the Earth-spot.</p>
+
+<p>Although the dazzling quality of the light, into
+which we had emerged after the second day, was
+finally beginning to wane and pale a little, Mars
+was still invisible. In fact, no stars or planets were
+visible; only the gleaming Sun with the Earth-spot
+upon it. Our thermometer was poorly placed in the
+glare of the Sun at the rear; but it showed the heat
+was decreasing, and from a temperature of thirty-five
+degrees, observed at the end of the second day,
+it had now fallen to twelve, and was diminishing
+regularly about two degrees daily as nearly as we
+could reckon.</p>
+
+<p>Our appetites were steadily failing, and for two
+very good reasons: the unsuitable foods and the
+impossibility of getting any exercise. There was<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_128" id="Page_128">[128]</a></span>
+no such thing as getting any healthy actions of
+the body. Nothing had any weight, and such a
+thing as physical labour was impossible on the face
+of it. I attempted to go through regular courses
+of gymnastics at frequent intervals; but as my
+body and its members weighed nothing, my
+muscles found nothing whatever to expend their
+force upon. I thought myself worse than Prometheus
+bound upon his rock, for he could at least
+struggle with the birds of prey and pull upon his
+chains! I might as well have been utterly paralyzed,
+and I actually began to fear that I should
+lose all my strength, and that my muscles would
+forget their cunning.</p>
+
+<p>And our foods could not have been more unsuitable.
+The light vegetable diet which this lack of
+exercise called for was impossible. We had never
+had any fresh vegetables or fruits, and our tinned
+and canned supplies of these had been rapidly exhausted.
+We had plenty of solid, meaty foods and
+beef essences; but our systems did not require
+these, and at last absolutely refused to have them.
+I lived for days at a time upon beer and biscuits,
+and looked longingly at my cigars. I believed I
+could have existed comfortably and luxuriously
+upon smoke alone. My dreams were filled with
+visions of ripe, luscious fruits and fresh, crisp
+vegetables. When I awoke, I loathed the only
+foods we had.</p>
+
+<p>I believe I should finally have given up eating,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_129" id="Page_129">[129]</a></span>
+had I not hit upon a method of exercise at last. It
+was a sort of rowing or pulling machine, which I
+rigged up by running a bar through one end of the
+doctor's spring scales, and fastening the other end
+to the foot of my bed. I pulled vigorously against
+this spring for hours at a time, and was delighted
+to find that my strength had not left me, and that
+I could easily lift as much as these scales had been
+made to weigh. I remember the returned appetite
+with which I enjoyed potted meat and a tinned
+pudding, after the first hour of as vigorous exercise
+as our rarefied air would permit.</p>
+
+<p>The Moon-spot had disappeared and gone to her
+eclipse behind the Earth, when an incident occurred
+to vary the monotony of our existence a little, and
+to suggest to me a diversion that had been hitherto
+forbidden. Our supply of water in the outer tank
+had long ago boiled away, and I had lighted the gas
+to heat water for the doctor's coffee. I had taken
+the cup up to him and remained chatting with
+him, when presently I smelled something burning
+from the compartment below. I descended quickly,
+and saw that my light bedclothes, which now
+weighed less than a feather, and often floated from
+their place, had been drawn into the flame by the
+draft of the burning gas. They were floating about
+the compartment now, all aflame and threatening
+to set fire to everything. We had not a drop of
+water to spare; but for once I thought of the right
+thing to do without hesitation. I pushed out the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_130" id="Page_130">[130]</a></span>
+ventilating cylinder, hurried back to the doctor's
+compartment and thrust in the bulkhead. Within
+two minutes all the air had escaped from my room,
+and the fire had died for lack of oxygen. I waited
+a few minutes longer for the smoke to escape, and
+then we admitted condensed air, but only to the
+remarkably low pressure of eighteen. Within five
+minutes the compartment was ready again, and
+there was not a trace of smoke or smell of fire to be
+perceived.</p>
+
+<p>"I congratulate you on your quick perception
+and prompt action," said the doctor when it was
+over.</p>
+
+<p>"Quick rubbish!" I exclaimed. "I have been a
+dundering fool for four weeks by the Moon! I
+might just as well have been smoking ever since
+I contrived this self-ventilating arrangement. The
+compartment becomes a perfectly clean vacuum at
+each operation, yet I had to wait for this bed
+clothing to catch fire before I could think of so
+simple a thing!"</p>
+
+<p>It was at the meal time just preceding the next
+changing of air that I opened the last tin of canned
+peas, as a sort of treat for the doctor to offset my
+expected revel in fragrant tobacco. I prepared half
+the quantity for him, but left my portion in the tin
+until I should be hungrier. With the prospects of
+a good smoke before me, I had no appetite for food.
+I put in the bulkhead to prevent the smoke from
+entering his compartment and lighted my Havana.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_131" id="Page_131">[131]</a></span>
+Then I took Two-spot on my lap and stretched
+myself for a reverie. On Earth, smoking time had
+been my period for reflection. And far back on
+that distant planet, what were they doing now?
+In that one busy corner that had known me, they
+had probably wondered at my disappearance for a
+day or two; but after the month that had passed
+I was certainly forgotten. There were few back
+there whom I cared for, and not many had much
+reason to remember me. My interests, my desires,
+my hopes were all ahead of me on a new planet.
+And what was waiting for me on Mars? Discovery,
+riches perhaps, and a measure of fame when I returned.
+Then I thought of the numberless problems
+that the next few weeks must solve for us.
+Would there be intelligent inhabitants on Mars?
+Would they be in the forms of men or beasts?
+Would they be civilized or savage? Would they
+speak a language, and how could we learn to communicate
+with them? Would they have foods
+suitable to us; indeed, would the very air they
+breathed be fit to sustain our lives? Should we
+find them peaceable, or, if warlike, should we be
+able to cope with them?</p>
+
+<p>These thoughts were interrupted by the doctor,
+who called feebly to me to come up. "Don't eat
+any of the peas," he said weakly. "There was a
+queer taste about them, and they have made me
+deathly sick."</p>
+
+<p>He was very wretched, and grew rapidly worse.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_132" id="Page_132">[132]</a></span>
+I immediately saw that it was a severe case of
+poisoning, and I did everything I could to relieve
+him, but he groaned in agony for several hours.
+Finally he fell asleep, but his rest was disturbed
+by fits of delirium, in which he raved wildly in
+German mixed with English. As he slept I had
+time to think the matter over carefully. After all,
+it was a thing which required only simple remedies,
+and I had administered them. It was only a
+question of a little nursing and a careful diet, and
+he would be well again.</p>
+
+<p>But his fever increased and his delirium became
+more frequent, and I began to appreciate that the
+derangement incident to the poisoning had prepared
+the way for a more serious illness. During
+his ravings I caught a glimpse of the struggling
+and ambitious side of his nature, which he always
+so carefully repressed.</p>
+
+<p>Once I heard him mumble this to himself in
+German: "Kepler perceived a little, he saw dimly;
+Newton comprehended the easy half; but Anderwelt,
+Anderwelt of Heidelberg, grasped the hidden
+meaning!"</p>
+
+<p>In spite of all my attentions (I did not then
+understand the nature of Space Fever, of course),
+he was growing steadily worse, and I was becoming
+desperate. I could not afford to have him ill long.
+The currents would probably continue to work
+fairly well until it became necessary to reverse
+them, and that time was not far off. Unless they<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_133" id="Page_133">[133]</a></span>
+were reversed exactly at the right moment, we
+might fall into the neutral spot and be held there
+for ever. Even if I managed to stop the negative
+current, and succeeded in falling towards Mars, I
+could not regulate the positive current so as to
+temper our fall and make a safe landing. It was
+equally dangerous to remain fixed in space, or to
+fall headlong upon a planet and be smashed, or be
+buried miles deep if the projectile did not collapse.</p>
+
+<p>I had no way of telling how much time passed,
+but it seemed to me a very long period, and he
+grew steadily worse as we approached the neutral
+point. I tried to rouse him from his delirium. I
+addressed him jocularly, then commandingly, then
+beseechingly. And he answered me always with
+reflections from that other side of his nature which
+one rarely saw when he was well.</p>
+
+<p>"Hast thou seen red ants crawling upon a
+cherry? Such are the mere circumnavigators of
+a globe! What! Hath not the world forgotten
+a Columbus? How long, then, will it remember&mdash;&mdash; Hast
+thou no cooler water? This is tepid and
+bitter!"</p>
+
+<p>Ever since the last quarter of the Moon, which
+must have been ten days ago, there had not been
+the slightest perceptible evidence of movement. The
+standards by which we judge motion on the Earth
+had failed ever since we left the atmosphere. There
+was no rushing or whizzing; we passed nothing;
+all the ordinary evidences of speed were absent.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_134" id="Page_134">[134]</a></span>
+When you lie in the state-room of a smoothly
+moving steamer, no forward motion is perceptible.
+If you see another ship pass near by, you get a
+sudden surprising idea of the speed. If you watch
+the receding water, you appear to be going forward
+slowly; and if you watch the spray at the bow or
+the wake astern, you appreciate the movement more
+fully. But if the waves or the tide happen to be
+running with the ship, she has apparently almost
+stopped, when really her speed has been somewhat
+accelerated. If you watch the distant stars, you
+can scarcely perceive any motion at all; and if the
+clouds should be moving in the same direction as
+the ship, her motion appears reversed.</p>
+
+<p>We had none of these things by which to judge,
+and we appeared to be hanging perfectly still in
+space, though the doctor had assured me we were
+travelling at least five hundred miles a minute.
+This was rational, as it agreed with the diminishing
+size of the Earth; but it required an effort of faith
+on my part to believe that we had been moving
+at all.</p>
+
+<p>But suppose we should gradually lose our speed
+and stop in a neutral point, how should I know
+it? The Earth now was, and had been for ten
+days, a mere spot on the Sun. While Mars had
+been visible, he had never increased in size in the
+telescope, and he was now invisible. The only
+way I could tell would be to wait until after
+many days had elapsed, and if Mars did not finally<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_135" id="Page_135">[135]</a></span>
+come into view, I should know something was
+wrong. But it would be too late then; there would
+be no winds or tides, no weight or buoyancy,
+nothing to move us out of that dreadful calm where
+even gravity does not exist. That must be avoided
+at every cost! But might we not be very near it
+now? Weight had been practically nothing for
+a month, within an hour it might be positively
+nothing, and&mdash;&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>The doctor's mutterings interrupted these
+thoughts. "The power with which to travel
+was so simple and so vast! It all lay hidden in
+that elementary law of magnetism, like poles repel
+and unlike poles attract. But the road to travel
+and the problems by the way, those were the hard
+things!"</p>
+
+<p>He was putting them all in the past tense, as if
+he had already solved them! But what was that
+law of magnetism he mentioned? Perhaps he
+would reveal his secrets to me in his ravings! I
+must mark every word he said; for it was clear I
+must solve the problem, he would not be well in
+time. I must brush the cobwebs from my meagre
+science and struggle with his invention.</p>
+
+<p>"Unlike poles attract," he had said. Then Earth
+and matter must normally have unlike poles, and
+to make Earth repel matter it would only be
+necessary to change the polarization of the matter.
+Yes, he had told me it was all accomplished by
+polarizing the steel and iron of the projectile!<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_136" id="Page_136">[136]</a></span>
+When they were made the same pole as the Earth,
+then she repelled them. But if the whole thing
+were so simple, why had it never been discovered
+before? Ah, that is the strong shield behind
+which incredulity always takes refuge!</p>
+
+<p>I ventured near the gravity apparatus and examined
+it carefully. There was a small thing
+which looked like the switchboard of a telegraph
+office. The perforations in it were all in a row, and
+the ten holes were now filled with little brass pegs,
+which were suspended from above on small spiral
+springs. These were evidently the points of communication
+of the negative current to the framework
+of the projectile. It certainly would do no
+harm to pull out one of these pegs, as that would
+only slightly diminish the current. At least I
+would risk it. My fingers had scarcely closed upon
+the brass, when I was given such a violent shock as
+to be thrown powerfully across the compartment;
+and had my body weighed anything, my bones
+would certainly have been broken by the concussion.
+My arm and shoulder did not recover
+from the stinging and deadening sensation for
+some time. I noted the little peg I had pulled
+out hanging by its spiral spring just above the
+hole it had filled. It would be worth my life to
+remove the other nine in the same way.</p>
+
+<p>Besides, how would I know when the time came
+to remove them? My eyes fell upon the two large
+leaden balls suspended from short copper chains.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_137" id="Page_137">[137]</a></span>
+I had seen these before, but now I thought I
+understood them. They would swing whichever
+way gravity attracted. They hung down toward
+my compartment now, and if we ever passed the
+dead line, they would hang forward toward Mars.
+But in the neutral point what would they do?
+When the gravity of planets neutralized each
+other, the steel of the projectile would repel these
+balls towards its centre, which would tend to put
+them both in the same spot and thus bring them
+together. Moreover, they would slightly attract
+each other. Yes, it was quite certain that these
+had been devised as a Gravity Indicator, and they
+would tell me when we were approaching a dead
+line, when we were in it, and when it was safely
+passed. But all that would do me but little good
+unless I could manage the currents.</p>
+
+<p>I sat thinking this over a long time, when it
+suddenly occurred to me that the doctor would
+recognise, even in his delirium, the importance of
+action when these two balls came together. As
+soon as they had approached each other, I must
+lift him up and show them to him. The brain
+that had made them would know their meaning,
+and know how to act even in illness! Perhaps I
+was like a drowning man clutching at a straw;
+but from the moment I thought of this I believed
+firmly that the solution of the whole problem
+would come in this manner. My hopes were
+ready to hang on the slightest peg. It consoled<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_138" id="Page_138">[138]</a></span>
+me to remember some instances where men temporarily
+insane had been brought to consciousness
+by impending danger, or by the sight of what last
+weighed upon their mind.</p>
+
+<p>When I glanced at the balls next, I saw that
+their chains lacked an inch of being parallel.
+They were already moving slowly inward toward
+each other. I noted that the chains, which ran
+through the balls and were connected with a small
+copper plate on the bottom of each, were just long
+enough to allow the bottom edges to touch, if
+they were drawn as far toward each other as possible.</p>
+
+<p>The doctor's fever was at its very worst, but
+that did not dampen my hopes. The balls were
+gradually drawing nearer together. I wished them
+to be quite close before I made the supreme trial
+which was to liberate us or leave us prisoners in
+space for ever! Presently I loosened the knotted
+sheets which held him to his bed, and lifted the
+feverish man, as I might have carried a doll, and
+brought him in full view of the approaching balls.</p>
+
+<p>"Doctor, listen now and look," I said firmly
+and commandingly.</p>
+
+<p>"Always stubborn and unbelieving!" he raved.
+"I must take it to a new country, to America,
+where they invent things themselves, and are
+willing to listen, and anxious to try!"</p>
+
+<p>"Doctor, don't you know me? It is I, Werner,
+who helped you. This is a crisis for us! Do you<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_139" id="Page_139">[139]</a></span>
+see those approaching balls? You know what
+they mean! You must save us."</p>
+
+<p>"Thou'rt too busy, like all the rest! Why, then,
+remember that to-morrow will despise those who
+are so busy with to-day! Opportunity has knocked
+and listened for thee and thou hast bade her
+begone!"</p>
+
+<p>"Listen, Doctor. I am he who heard you and gave
+you the pink cheque. I am he who refused three
+times to go with you and then came at last. I am
+he who was afraid of the light, who dodged the
+Moon, and chaffed you about the pump. Do you
+not remember it all? Come, you are no longer ill.
+There is work to do. Have you forgotten the
+leaden balls? See! they are touching each other
+now, and we are in the dead-line, the neutral spot,
+the one danger of the trip which you acknowledged."</p>
+
+<p>But it was useless. He remembered nothing, his
+eyes were dim and vacant, and the great brain that
+had planned all this was overthrown by fever. The
+experiment had failed and we were lost!</p>
+
+<p>I tied him gently back on his bed and turned
+in desperation to the apparatus, deciding to risk
+my life to pull out those nine pegs with my hands,
+one after another.</p>
+
+<p>My God! they were already out! Every one
+of them was hanging by its spiral spring, just
+above the hole it had filled. The switchboard
+had opened a little and released them. It was all
+automatic! The contact of the copper surface of<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_140" id="Page_140">[140]</a></span>
+the balls had completed a short circuit which cut
+the negative current. He had thought of it all,
+even to this emergency, and the machine could
+take care of itself!</p>
+
+<p>And in the wave of thankfulness and rejoicing
+which swept over me, I sank on my knees and
+kissed the forehead of the feverish old man again
+and again!</p>
+
+<hr /><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_141" id="Page_141">[141]</a></span></p>
+<h2>CHAPTER XIII</h2>
+
+<h3>The Mystery of a Minus Weight</h3>
+
+<p class="cap"><span class="dcap">It</span> was the doctor himself who gave the name
+Space Fever (now so generally adopted) to
+the peculiar malady from which he suffered in that
+long period when weight was very slight or
+nothing at all. A little reflection on the physiological
+bearings of the conditions we were passing
+through, will serve to explain the illness.</p>
+
+<p>For the period of a month, owing to the impossibility
+of effort, there was scarcely any wasting
+of our bodily tissues, and very little need for oxydization
+of the blood. The limbs, which the heart
+really works hardest to serve, did scarcely any
+labour and needed very little blood. But the heart
+had its stubborn habits the same as the other
+muscles. It is a high-pressure engine, and there is
+no way of slowing it down materially. It kept up
+its vigorous pumping and driving just as if the
+great muscles of the limbs had wasted and needed
+building up, and just as if it had the task of
+forcing the blood through those parts of the body
+usually compressed by its weight or strained by<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_142" id="Page_142">[142]</a></span>
+the effort of carrying it. The result was much
+the same as if your heart now should suddenly
+begin to beat much too fast, the blood was heated
+into a state of fever, which naturally increased
+as we lost weight, culminated at the dead-line
+and began decreasing as soon as we commenced
+having a weight toward Mars. It was only my
+fortunate invention of a method of exercise, and my
+religious adherence to it, which saved me from a
+similar attack.</p>
+
+<p>But many things happened before the doctor
+recovered consciousness. The Moon had re-appeared
+on the other side of the Earth-spot, the light about
+us had grown less dazzling than sunlight on Earth,
+and the temperature had fallen to four degrees. It
+was perhaps two days after passing the dead-line
+that, as I was gazing carefully out of the forward
+window, I saw far to the right of us a large circular
+patch of faintly redder light in the general curtain
+of white. Its size quite startled me, for it was
+rather larger than a full moon, and I had expected
+Mars to re-appear as a very bright star before we
+could distinguish any disc with the naked eye.
+This misapprehension probably arose from the fact
+that I had thought the dead-line about half way
+between the two planets, which upon reflection I
+saw to be impossible, as it must be much nearer
+the smaller planet.</p>
+
+<p>The outline of the planet was not clearly visible
+yet, but I could not have missed seeing that red<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_143" id="Page_143">[143]</a></span>
+glow long before, had it been more directly in front
+of us. Evidently we were steering much ahead of
+the planet, which indicated that we were arriving
+before opposition. I immediately changed our course
+so as to go more nearly toward it, but yet to keep
+a little ahead. Then I hastily brought the telescope
+back to the forward compartment, which was
+now the bottom of the projectile. The lenses
+easily pierced the curtain of light that seemed to
+be hung in front of the new planet, and I could
+distinguish the outline of the greatly magnified
+orb very clearly.</p>
+
+<p>Judging from appearances, it could not be farther
+from us than twice the distance of the Moon from
+the Earth. I resorted to the scales at once, and
+found that weight was beginning slowly to return,
+for I weighed a little less than an ounce. From a
+rule the doctor had explained to me, I calculated
+that this indicated a distance from the planet of
+about four hundred thousand miles, if it really was
+Mars. But I had some doubts about its really
+being that planet; for a clear white, irregular-shaped
+spot upon it, which I had noticed as soon as the
+telescope was focussed, did not appear to move at all,
+as it should have done had it been upon a rotating
+planet. Upon closer observation, I detected a dull,
+greenish spot, just coming upon the lower edge.
+But when I looked again a bright white and
+perfectly circular spot had appeared in the same
+place and covered it up. But this new white spot<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_144" id="Page_144">[144]</a></span>
+travelled much more rapidly, and soon uncovered
+the greenish spot, which seemed to move in the same
+path, but much more slowly. This was something
+I could not understand. The white circle was too
+bright and regular to be a cloud, yet if they were
+both on the surface how could one travel faster
+over the same path?</p>
+
+<p>Very soon the white circle passed entirely across
+the greater orb, and then I was surprised to see it
+detach itself from the planet and remain for a few
+moments as a separate small orb in the sky! Could
+this be another freak of refraction? But before I
+could determine, the little orb disappeared behind
+the greater disc and was gone. The greenish spot,
+which I judged to be truly on the surface and
+caused by an ocean or great sea, was about three
+times as long in crossing the disc. I next turned
+my attention to the immovable and irregular white
+spot, and discovered that its edges seemed to be
+revolving slowly around its centre. Then it occurred
+to me that this spot must be located at one
+of the poles and be caused by polar ice and snows.
+The doctor had expected such on Mars, and I no
+longer doubted that this was our objective planet.</p>
+
+<p>It was like a great holiday for me when the
+doctor regained consciousness. Almost as soon as
+his fever abated he was well enough to perform his
+customary duties. His illness had not made him
+appreciably weak, because as yet scarcely any effort
+was required to move about. He was quite as<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_145" id="Page_145">[145]</a></span>
+anxious to hear all my experiences as I was eager
+to relate them. I gave him a full account of my
+struggle passing the dead-line, of my discovery of
+Mars, and the various spots I had noted.</p>
+
+<p>"From the time it took the greenish spot to cross,
+I should judge a Martian day to be about fifty
+hours long," I said.</p>
+
+<p>"Then you <i>must</i> have been very lonely," he
+replied. "For a Martian day is just forty-one
+minutes longer than an Earthly day, unless a great
+number of our scientists have continually made the
+same mistake in observing him."</p>
+
+<p>"When we arrive, we shall be able to determine
+the point exactly if our watches commence running
+again," I answered. "But I think I know one
+reason why I have misjudged the time. Ever since
+you have been ill I have slept very little. I have
+hardly felt the need of rest since I lost my weight.
+I have been growing more and more wakeful, and
+I rarely sleep more than an hour at a time. That
+seems quite sufficient to refresh me."</p>
+
+<p>"As we regain our weight we shall feel the need
+of sleep again," he said. "But on Mars we may
+need but one-third as much as we had on Earth,
+unless we exert ourselves proportionately more."</p>
+
+<p>Then I told him about the circular spot which
+had seemed to slip off the upper edge of Mars, and
+asked his explanation of it.</p>
+
+<p>"That must have been Phobos, one of the moons
+of Mars," he said.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_146" id="Page_146">[146]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>"One of his moons!" I exclaimed; "I didn't
+know he had <i>any</i>."</p>
+
+<p>"You are an American, and say that!" he
+answered in surprise. "It is one of the astronomical
+glories of your people that they discovered the
+two moons of Mars, during the favourable opposition
+of 1877."</p>
+
+<p>"This is the first case I remember where we have
+left it to a foreigner to tell us how great we have
+been!" I laughed.</p>
+
+<p>"These two moons of Mars also furnish a most
+interesting example of how fiction may forestall
+and pre-figure actual scientific discovery. Dr.
+Swift made Gulliver, in his wonderful travels, discover
+two moons of Mars, revolving at a speed
+which he must have thought ridiculously fast.
+Many years afterward the American telescopes
+really found two moons, but actually revolving
+more rapidly than Dr. Swift had dared to boast! If
+your white circle was really Phobos, you have seen
+the freak among satellites. She is the smallest,
+swiftest moon ever discovered, and travels so much
+more swiftly than the revolution of her primary
+that she appears to go opposite to everything else in
+the Martian sky, rising where the Sun sets and
+crossing the heavens from west to east!"</p>
+
+<p>"What I saw did travel in the same direction as
+the rotation of the planet, and much more rapidly,"
+I exclaimed.</p>
+
+<p>"Then it was Phobos without a doubt, and she is<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_147" id="Page_147">[147]</a></span>
+due to appear again in the west in three hours and
+fifty minutes after she sets in the east. We must
+watch closely, for I wish to land upon her and make
+a flying trip all around Mars with her. Do you
+realize what a glorious view we shall have of the
+great planet, sailing around him on this satellite in
+a period of a little over seven and a half hours, and
+at a distance of only about four thousand miles?
+There will be no night, for if one side of the little
+moon is heavier than the other, the heavier side
+will always be turned toward Mars. Therefore,
+when the Sun does not shine on Phobos, Mars will
+do so, and keep her continually illuminated, except
+for the brief period of the regular eclipse during
+each revolution. And one-fourth of the entire
+heavens, as seen from Phobos, will be filled with the
+glowing orb of Mars! The great planet will exhibit
+to us at a near range all the configurations
+of his surface, his oceans and his clouds. We
+will survey and photograph him to our hearts'
+content."</p>
+
+<p>The doctor was justly enthusiastic on this subject,
+and I felt that such a landing would, in some
+measure, compensate for my disappointment in not
+being able to visit the Moon.</p>
+
+<p>As I watched carefully, the satellite finally came
+into view, but very much more distant from Mars
+than before. Also, it moved very slowly now, and
+seemed to grow larger as it approached the disc. I
+pointed it out to the doctor, and remarked that it<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_148" id="Page_148">[148]</a></span>
+was acting quite differently. Just as it entered
+upon the orb of Mars, another moon, somewhat
+smaller, mounted hurriedly from the under side of
+the planet and began hastily ploughing her way
+over the ruddy disc.</p>
+
+<p>"That last one is the one I saw before, that is
+my Phobos!" I cried excitedly.</p>
+
+<p>"Then the other slow one is Deimos, the outer
+moon. She appears the larger to us now, because
+her greater distance from Mars makes her nearer to
+us, but she appears to the Martians as the smaller.
+We must observe closely, and we may discover some
+new and lesser satellites which Earthly telescopes
+have never found."</p>
+
+<p>"Time enough for that when we land on Mars,"
+I answered. "If we get in past these two without
+being hit, I shall be satisfied. You dare not
+venture in front of that Phobos, and I don't see how
+you can ever overtake her if you approach from
+behind."</p>
+
+<p>"That reminds me to slacken speed, for we must
+be getting very near," he said. "Please weigh
+yourself every few minutes and note your increasing
+weight. You should weigh seventy-two pounds
+on Mars, and eight pounds at the distance of
+Phobos."</p>
+
+<p>He immediately reversed currents, and when I
+reported that I weighed almost a pound, it frightened
+him, and he turned in the full power of the negative
+currents to overcome our momentum. And it<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_149" id="Page_149">[149]</a></span>
+proved that the repelling power of Mars at the distance
+of 15,000 miles, which this indicated, was not
+at all strong against the great velocity we had been
+daily acquiring. I hung upon the scales every few
+minutes, and reported a steadily increasing weight
+up to three pounds.</p>
+
+<p>"That shows a distance of eight thousand miles,"
+he figured. "Almost exactly in the orbit of Deimos,
+but she has safely passed, and will not return for
+thirty hours. We must turn the rudder hard over
+to the right, and sail around the planet in a circle
+until Phobos overtakes us; then, if we approach her
+travelling in the same direction at almost the same
+rate of speed, her gravitational attraction will pick
+us up and draw us safely ashore."</p>
+
+<p>Mars was already an enormous orb ahead of us,
+and many of his features, such as oceans, ice-caps,
+and continents, could easily be distinguished; but
+we paid little attention to them, being occupied
+with making a safe landing on Phobos, and expecting
+to make a systematic study of him from there.</p>
+
+<p>"We must not attempt a landing on the outer
+side of the satellite," the doctor reflected, "for we
+should have no way of getting around to the inner
+side to make our observations. We must go within
+her orbit, and then as she comes past allow her
+attraction to draw us gently toward her."</p>
+
+<p>We had quickly overtaken and passed Deimos,
+far within her orbit. I was keeping a close watch
+for Phobos out of the rear window as we circled<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_150" id="Page_150">[150]</a></span>
+about Mars at a distance which we calculated, from
+my weight on the scales, must be within the path
+of the satellite. We were circling in the same
+direction that the great planet was rotating, and
+yet we passed by things on his surface, which
+proved that we were travelling faster than his
+rotation. The doctor noticed, with his telescope, a
+brilliant snow-capped peak of a great mountain
+towering up from a small island. The contrast of
+the snow peak, with the darkish green waters all
+around it, was the most pronounced thing visible on
+the great planet, and he decided this must be the
+white spot detached from the polar ice which our
+astronomers have frequently observed at about
+twenty-five degrees south latitude, and to which
+they have given the name Hall's Island.</p>
+
+<p>"I am afraid we have not appreciated the speed
+at which we have been travelling," remarked the
+doctor. "Phobos is very slow in overtaking us;"
+and he was just beginning to slacken speed still
+more, when he suddenly cried out,&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>"Here she is ahead of us now! We have overtaken
+her, instead of waiting for her to catch
+us!"</p>
+
+<p>And, true enough, we were gradually approaching
+a small brownish mass, feebly illuminated on its
+outer half by the sun, and more faintly still on its
+inner half by reflected light from Mars.</p>
+
+<p>And how shall I describe that queer little
+toy-world which we were gradually overtaking?<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_151" id="Page_151">[151]</a></span>
+Imagine, if you can, a little island, less than a third
+the size of the Isle of Wight, tossed a few thousand
+miles into space, and circling there rapidly to avoid
+falling back upon the greater sphere. Imagine that
+flying island devoid of soil, of trees or vegetation,
+of water or air, of everything but barren, uncrumbled,
+homogeneous rock, and you have some
+idea of the unadorned desolation of Phobos, into
+which we were slowly sailing, or falling. There
+was not even the slightest trace of sand or scraps of
+rock, such as time must have abraded from even the
+hardest surfaces, but the reason for this soon became
+apparent.</p>
+
+<p>The doctor feared steering directly against her as
+we approached, lest we should land with a crash.
+We had already reached her and were travelling
+along her inner side. Although we were very near
+her, she seemed to have very little attraction for us.
+Then he turned very much closer, but as soon as
+the influence of the rudder was released, we seemed
+to leave her instead of falling upon her as we expected.
+We were still travelling faster than she
+was, and had we steered directly against her, we
+would have crashed and bumped against her protuberances.
+Still there seemed to be no other way
+to make a landing. In order to estimate the
+amount of such a shock, the doctor calculated, from
+the best information he had of her size and a guess
+at her density, that she would attract the projectile
+and its entire load with a force of only two pounds.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_152" id="Page_152">[152]</a></span>
+That was not enough to cause any very great shock,
+and he decided to take chances at once, before we
+had entirely passed her. He turned the rudder
+hard over toward the satellite, and we came against
+her with scarcely any crash, but with a bumping
+and grating that continued until the rudder was
+eased back. Then, to our great surprise, we did not
+remain on the surface, but rose from it and sailed
+inward towards Mars.</p>
+
+<p>"Something wrong here!" exclaimed the
+doctor. "She has no attraction for us."</p>
+
+<p>"Well, how do you explain this?" I asked.
+"You say the whole projectile weighs only two
+pounds toward Phobos, when, just a short time
+ago, I weighed nearly eight pounds myself on the
+scales."</p>
+
+<p>"True enough!" he cried; "the gravity of Mars
+must be dominant." He began figuring rapidly,
+and then exclaimed: "We weigh one hundred and
+thirty pounds toward Mars, and only two pounds
+toward the satellite. Small wonder that we could
+not make a landing, with Mars pulling us away
+sixty-five times harder than Phobos attracted us!
+But this is very strange! I remember no mention
+of this in any of the astronomical writings, and it
+is as easily calculable on Earth as it is here. Moreover,
+this must cause everything that is loose upon
+Phobos to fall upon Mars. The great planet is
+tugging at everything the satellite has with a
+force sixty-five times stronger than her own!"<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_153" id="Page_153">[153]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>"Now, I am afraid those figures won't do,
+Doctor," I put in. "For, if what you say is true,
+what prevents the whole satellite from tumbling
+into Mars at once?"</p>
+
+<p>"She would do so were it not for centrifugal
+force. The speed with which she whirls around
+the planet must just balance the force with which
+he attracts her, and thus she is kept in her orbit.
+But stones and loose things on this side of her
+centre are attracted more strongly by Mars than
+they are repelled by the whirling, so they must all
+have fallen to the planet. That is why the surface
+was perfectly barren. If Phobos always keeps
+the same side turned toward Mars, there may be
+rocks and soil on the outer side, and we could land
+there with a positive current; but we could not
+see the great planet, as I had hoped."</p>
+
+<p>"I have had quite enough of this moon-chasing,"
+I said; "let us be off for the large game at once!"
+and the doctor agreeing, we turned directly toward
+Mars.</p>
+
+<hr /><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_155" id="Page_155">[155]</a></span></p>
+<h2>BOOK II</h2>
+
+<h2>Other World Life</h2>
+
+<hr /><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_157" id="Page_157">[157]</a></span></p>
+<h2>CHAPTER I</h2>
+
+<h3>Why Mars gives a Red Light</h3>
+
+<p class="cap"><span class="dcap">Our</span> telescope was now pointed exactly at Mars,
+and we were observing every feature as we
+approached him. Compared with the illuminated
+crescent of the Earth, which we had studied when
+we were observing the Andes, our present view
+was infinitely vaster and more comprehensive. We
+were approaching the illuminated side of a planet,
+whereas we had then been rapidly receding from
+the dark side of one partly lighted at its edge. In
+our new vista there were remarkably few clouds.
+There were a few pale mists here and there over
+the seas, but no such heavy, black masses as had
+frequently obscured the Earth.</p>
+
+<p>On Mars there were fewer large bodies of water,
+and a very much greater proportion of land. In
+fact, about the Equator, whither we were steering,
+there seemed to be a broad, uninterrupted zone of
+land, with occasional bays or inlets cutting into it,
+but never crossing it. An open sea of considerable
+proportions surrounded the great ice-cap at each<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_158" id="Page_158">[158]</a></span>
+pole, and it was apparently thus possible to travel
+entirely around the globe, either by sea or by land,
+as one might choose.</p>
+
+<p>"Behold again the infinite wisdom of the
+Creator!" cried the doctor. "Although Mars is
+a much smaller planet than our own, it is fitted
+for almost as large a population. The land is
+nearly all grouped about the Equator, where it
+is warm enough to live comfortably. On the
+contrary, on Earth there is no important civilization
+under the Equator, and most of the land is
+favourably located in the north temperate zone.
+On Earth the intervention of great oceans between
+the continents kept the population restricted to
+Asia and Egypt for centuries, and to the Old
+World for a still longer time. But here, this band
+of continuous land has made it easy and natural
+to explore the whole globe, and its inhabitants
+have had ample time and opportunity to distribute
+themselves."</p>
+
+<p>But by far the most wonderful thing that we
+had been observing for a long time, and which
+became more remarkable as we approached, was
+that the entire planet, seas and continents alike,
+gave off a reddish light. This tinge of red had
+been visible ever since we had left the Earth.
+Much further back we had observed that it seemed
+to extend a little beyond the outline of Mars, and
+we now saw that even the white light from the
+snow-caps had a faint tinge of red.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_159" id="Page_159">[159]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>"For centuries the ruddy light of this planet
+has been remarked," said the doctor. "His very
+name was given him because of his gory, warlike
+appearance. Scientists have attempted to explain
+it by supposing that his vegetation is uniformly
+red, instead of green like ours. Still others, objecting
+that his vegetation could not possibly be rank
+or plentiful, or continue the same colour through
+all seasons, have supposed that his soil or prim&aelig;val
+rock is of a deep red colour. But neither of these
+suppositions explain why his seas should give off
+a reddish light mixed with their green, or why the
+pure white of polar snows should be tinged with
+crimson."</p>
+
+<p>We must have been still two hundred miles
+above the surface when the barometer began to
+rise feebly, indicating that we were already entering
+the Martian atmosphere; and, as we proceeded,
+the reddish glow spread all around us, and was
+even dimly visible behind as well as in front. We
+were still travelling too rapidly to plunge into the
+denser atmosphere or attempt a landing. Besides,
+we wished to explore the planet, and find life and
+civilization before choosing a landing place. And
+as we drew nearer, in a constantly narrowing circle,
+that red haze was all about us everywhere.</p>
+
+<p>"There can be but one explanation of it," said
+the doctor at last. "This red is a colour in the
+Martian atmosphere. It seems very strange and
+almost impossible to us; but we must prepare<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_160" id="Page_160">[160]</a></span>
+ourselves for extremely unusual and even apparently
+impossible things."</p>
+
+<p>But this seemed to disturb the doctor greatly,
+as also did the fact that we could no longer breathe
+with comfort the rare air which we had not found
+objectionable far back in space. Our returning
+weight made physical effort again necessary, and
+we were able to exert ourselves but little without
+panting and gasping. The rarest air we had used
+had shown a pressure of fourteen, and we were
+now compelled to increase this to eighteen in
+order to be comfortable.</p>
+
+<p>"This Martian air is sure to give us trouble,"
+the doctor said to me after considerable reflection.
+"In the first place, its red colour makes me fear it
+is not composed of the same gases that our air is.
+If it should turn out to be a mixture of oxygen
+and nitrogen, like ours, there is the possibility that
+this red matter which gives it colour will be
+poisonous to us. And even if it is not harmful, I
+do not think the air will have a pressure above
+ten or eleven, and we seem to need eighteen or
+twenty for comfort. I shall be very sorry if we
+have to return at once; but our supply of air is
+limited, you know."</p>
+
+<p>"You keep a close watch through your telescope
+for those flying men you promised to show me,"
+I answered. "If they can live in this air, I think
+we can manage it somehow. I will not go back
+while there is a breath left in me."<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_161" id="Page_161">[161]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>But as we drew nearer and nearer to the surface
+we did not discover the slightest sign of
+habitation. As far as we could see there was a
+great desert, barren of all vegetation, and apparently
+unwatered since creation. Our telescope did
+not detect the existence even of animals or creeping
+things.</p>
+
+<p>"The wisdom of the Creator is probably quite
+as profound, but certainly not as apparent just
+here as it was somewhat farther back," I ventured.</p>
+
+<p>"We must search over the whole surface of the
+globe until we find smoke rising," said the doctor.
+"That is the sure sign of intelligent life on Earth.
+There has hardly been a tribe of the lowest savages
+there which did not know how to light a fire, and
+this knowledge would be far more essential on a
+cold planet like this. Wherever we find smoke we
+shall find those intellectual creatures, corresponding
+to men on our planet."</p>
+
+<p>Presently, far ahead of us, we discerned a small
+black cloud rapidly crossing our path. As we
+approached we examined it through the telescope,
+and soon saw that it was nothing less than an
+enormous flock of swiftly-flying small grey birds.
+This was our first acquaintance with what we
+afterwards found to be the predominating form of
+animal life on the planet. But the swift-winged
+cloud bore away from us, as if fleeing from the
+desert, and was soon lost to view.</p>
+
+<p>It was not long after this that we perceived a<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_162" id="Page_162">[162]</a></span>
+broad stripe of brilliant green extending down into
+the dull expanse of the desert. In the middle of
+this verdant zone there was a weaving silver
+ribbon, which could be nothing else than a great
+river, along whose banks we could discern hundreds
+of hovering or wading birds, hopping lugubriously,
+or spreading their broad wings in a low flight.</p>
+
+<p>As we now lowered rapidly to examine the soil
+more closely, we saw that we were approaching
+some great geometrical masses of hewn rock, whose
+regularity of design indicated that they were
+buildings of some sort. We at once decided to
+land and investigate these, even if we had to
+take up our search for intelligent life later.</p>
+
+<p>We remarked that none of these enormous
+structures were square, or with right-angled corners,
+such as we were used to. They all seemed to be
+a combination or multiplication of a single design,
+which was nothing more than a massive triangular
+wall, with its right angle on the ground and its
+acute angle at the top. Sometimes two were built
+together, with their perpendicular surfaces joining;
+again, four were joined in the same manner, and
+one very large one was composed of twelve of
+these, radiating from a common centre, which, if
+they had quite joined each other, would have
+formed a gigantic cone.</p>
+
+<p>I took another look at the tall, slender birds
+down the river, and remarked to the doctor,&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>"These great structures are no birds' nests!<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_163" id="Page_163">[163]</a></span>
+You can't make me believe winged men would
+build with stone. These look more like giants'
+playthings than anything else."</p>
+
+<p>"They appear to me like the gnomons of
+enormous sundials," remarked the doctor; "and,
+indeed, their uses must certainly be astronomical.
+With these one can not only tell the time, but the
+ascension and meridian of the sun and stars, and
+therefore the months and seasons."</p>
+
+<p>We lowered and circled about above the largest
+one, which had twelve of the triangular walls
+built in circular form, with their common perpendicular
+line in the centre and their acute angles
+at the circumference. On closer observation, the
+twelve slanting sides, which radiated from the
+common peak, had a tubular appearance, and we
+were soon able to look down through almost a
+hundred great cylindrical chambers, which ran
+from a common opening at the top, slanting at
+every different angle down to the surface.</p>
+
+<p>"These are nothing more than great, immovable
+masonry telescopes, for watching the stars in their
+courses!" cried the doctor. "Look, there is one
+perpendicular cylinder for observing just when a
+star or planet comes directly overhead, and these
+scores of other cylinders, at different angles,
+successively afford a view of a given constellation
+as it rises and then declines."</p>
+
+<p>"Then they have built a separate masonry
+telescope, pointing in almost every conceivable<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_164" id="Page_164">[164]</a></span>
+direction, instead of having one movable telescope
+to take any direction," said I.</p>
+
+<p>The wonderful size and massive construction of
+these was very striking, rivalling the pyramids
+of Egypt in their ponderous and enduring character.
+They were located on a raised plateau, whence the
+view in all directions was quite unobstructed. We
+came gently to land in the midst of them. To
+the rear, whence we had come, I could see the
+desolate waste of the desert. From the forward
+window we observed that the peaceful river kept a
+straight course from the cataract where it plunged
+over the plateau, through the green valley, between
+level banks, as far as we could see; and
+just at the foot of our plateau restfully nestled
+a city, whose massive and towering structures
+reached almost to our level. With the aid of the
+telescope we saw beings moving slowly about.
+Their form was upright and unwinged, but more
+than this we could not see. The deliberation and
+stately dignity of their movements comported
+perfectly with the majestic city wherein they
+dwelt.</p>
+
+<p>"At last we have arrived at the boundaries of
+Martian civilization," exclaimed the doctor. "We
+will rest here and test the atmosphere; and if it
+permits us, we will then venture forth to measure
+our skill and knowledge against this race of
+builders. I hazard a guess that we will excel
+them in many things, for they are apparently<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_165" id="Page_165">[165]</a></span>
+only at the perfection of their Stone Age, while
+we finished that long ago, and have since passed
+through the Ages of Iron and of Steam, and are now
+at the dawn of the Era of Magnetism and Gravitation.
+Our minds are more fertile and elastic, for
+with this little movable telescope we probably
+obtain better results than they have done with
+their years of toiling calculation and patient
+building."</p>
+
+<p>"You will be sadly disappointed if they so far
+excel us that they eat us up at two mouthfuls,"
+said I. "As they move about yonder, they impress
+me as being full of power."</p>
+
+<p>"They are as sluggish as elephants," he replied.
+"We are certainly more rapid in thought and
+action, and it is highly probable that we shall
+excel them in physical strength, as we have been
+built for three times as heavy muscular tasks as
+they."</p>
+
+<p>"Still, if we cannot make them understand that
+we come peaceably as friends, they may attempt to
+kill us as the quickest solution of the question.
+And they are a whole race against two of us,"
+said I, just beginning to realize all the difficulties
+that were yet ahead of us.</p>
+
+<p>"Unless they are a very intelligent and magnanimous
+race, they will probably attempt to take
+us prisoners," he answered. "It is the mark of
+an enlightened nation to welcome strangers whose
+powers are unknown. A primitive race fears<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_166" id="Page_166">[166]</a></span>
+everything it does not understand, and force is
+its only argument against a superior intelligence."</p>
+
+<p>Thereupon I immediately began a thorough overhauling
+of all the arms and ammunition, while the
+doctor prepared to test the air. There was a tone
+of confident exultation in his voice when he spoke
+again.</p>
+
+<p>"This redness of the air will not trouble us a
+whit. Look! you can see no tinge of red between
+here and that huge wall yonder, nor anywhere
+along the ground as far as you can see. It is so
+slight a colouring that it is only noticeable in vast
+reaches of atmosphere, like the blue colour in our
+own air. See here, where a small cloud obscures
+the sky there is no ruddy tinge. There is no
+more colouring-matter in this than there is indigo
+in our own air. The amount of it is so infinitely
+small that it will never trouble us. Now, if it
+only contains oxygen enough, we are sure of life
+in it."</p>
+
+<p>"Yes, if they will leave us alive to breathe it,"
+I added, counting out seventeen cartridges for each
+rifle.</p>
+
+<p>"The air outside shows a pressure of only eleven,
+while we have eighteen inside," he said. "I will
+bring in the discharging cylinder full of the outer
+air, and by keeping it upside down the lighter air
+will remain in it. Then, if a candle flame will
+burn steadily in it, the oxygen we need is there."<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_167" id="Page_167">[167]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>Suiting the action to the word, he carefully drew
+in the inverted cylinder, and cautiously brought a
+lighted candle into it. To our great delight the
+flame burned for a moment with a brighter,
+stronger light than it did in the air of the compartment.</p>
+
+<p>"Hurrah!" cried the doctor, as happily as if he
+had just earned the right to live. "It seems to
+have more oxygen than our own air, which will
+make up for the lesser density."</p>
+
+<p>Then he put the lighted candle in the cylinder,
+and quickly discharged it outside upon the ground
+where we could see it. The flame had almost twice
+the brilliancy that it had had inside.</p>
+
+<p>"Our scientists who have sneered at the possibility
+of life on Mars, because of its rare atmosphere,
+have overlooked the simplicity of the
+problem. They delight in propounding posers for
+Omnipotence. If a Creator dilutes oxygen with
+three parts of nitrogen on one planet where conditions
+make a dense atmosphere, why should He
+not dilute oxygen with an equal part of nitrogen
+on a planet where the air is rare? Air is not a
+chemical compound, but a simple mixture. When
+a stronger, more life-giving atmosphere is needed,
+let there be less of the diluting gas. The nitrogen
+is of no known use, except to weaken the oxygen."</p>
+
+<p>"Let me out into it, if you say it is all right,"
+I cried. "I am tired of this bird-cage."</p>
+
+<p>"Put on the diver's suit and helmet, and I will<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_168" id="Page_168">[168]</a></span>
+weaken the pressure of the air gradually, to prevent
+bleeding at the nose and ears which a sudden
+change might cause. When you are used to the
+low pressure, you can throw off the helmet and try
+the Martian double-oxygenated air."</p>
+
+<p>I hurriedly donned the queer, baggy suit and
+the enormous helmet with the bulging glass eyes,
+and then connected the two long rubber tubes
+which sprang from the top with the air pipes
+which led to the doctor's compartment. He put
+in the bulkhead, and I went to the port-hole to
+unseal it. As I glanced out the little window, I
+thought I saw a light very near the mica. Was
+it our candle flame that something had lifted?
+The thick glass of the helmet blinded me a little,
+and I approached the window and peered out,
+coming face to face with a Martian, whose nose
+was pressed against the mica! What a rounded,
+smooth, and expressionless face! But what large,
+deep, luminous eyes!</p>
+
+<p>I sprang back from the window in surprise, but
+not more quickly than he did. Just then the projectile
+rolled over slightly with a crunching noise,
+and I hear the thud of a heavy muffled blow on
+the doctor's end. Suddenly he pulled away the
+bulkhead and whispered to me excitedly:&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>"They are all about us outside&mdash;dozens of them!
+They are examining the projectile and trying to
+break it open. If they strike the windows, it will
+be too easy."<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_169" id="Page_169">[169]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>The projectile tottered a little again. There was
+a heaving noise, and one end rose a little from the
+ground.</p>
+
+<p>"They are trying to carry us off, Doctor," I cried.
+"You must turn in the currents and fly away from
+them."</p>
+
+<p>The projectile was just then lifted awkwardly,
+and wavered a little and pitched, as if it were
+being carried by a throng struggling clumsily all
+about it. The doctor sprang to his apparatus and
+turned in four batteries at once. We shot up
+swiftly in a long curve, and from my window I
+could see the circle of amazed Martians, standing
+dumbly with their hands still held up in front of
+them, as they had been when the projectile left
+them, while they gazed open-mouthed into the sky
+at us.</p>
+
+<hr /><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_170" id="Page_170">[170]</a></span></p>
+<h2>CHAPTER II</h2>
+
+<h3>The Terror Birds</h3>
+
+<p class="cap">"<span class="dcap">They</span> must have thought the projectile was
+another chunk fallen from Phobos!" I exclaimed;
+"and now they can't make out why it
+should fly back to the satellite again."</p>
+
+<p>"The more we mystify them, the more they will
+fear us," said the doctor. "I am going to make
+a swift downward swoop now, as if we would crash
+through the midst of them. Then perhaps they
+will let us alone till we are ready for them."</p>
+
+<p>He had scarcely finished speaking when we shot
+down in a long curve, like the swing of a pendulum,
+apparently making directly for the group of
+Martians. They were not seized by any quick
+panic; they were too phlegmatic for that. But
+just as the projectile threatened to smash into
+them, they seemed to realize the danger, and to
+grasp the idea that it was being operated and
+directed by some power and mind inside. Then
+they turned, scrambling clumsily over each other,
+and fled with the awkward precipitation of a
+rhinoceros in a hurry. Our pendulum motion<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_171" id="Page_171">[171]</a></span>
+swung us up a little before we would have struck
+them, but they had scattered and were scurrying
+to hiding-places behind the walls of the masonry
+telescopes. We continued our flight to the edge
+of the plateau, whence we could get a better view
+of the city and hold a more commanding position.</p>
+
+<p>"None of these who have seen our aerial evolutions
+are likely to trouble us again," remarked the
+doctor. "But they will quickly spread the news
+to the city, and we must be where we can watch
+everything that goes on there, and hurriedly prepare
+for the worst they can do to us. We will
+seek the principal approach to the plateau and
+defend it."</p>
+
+<p>His ideas had suddenly become altogether warlike.
+I liked the excitement of it so far, and
+hastened to agree with him. We came to land in
+a sheltered part of the main road leading to the
+plateau, and prepared to emerge and set up our
+telescope where it would sweep the city.</p>
+
+<p>"Shall we try this air on the dog before you go
+out?" inquired the doctor in all seriousness.</p>
+
+<p>"Try it on the rabbit if you wish, but not on
+Two-spot."</p>
+
+<p>He put Bunny into the discharging cylinder and
+pushed him out. The meek little animal seemed
+quite delighted at being released. He hopped
+about playfully, skipping much higher and farther
+at each hop than I had ever seen him do before.</p>
+
+<p>This reassured me, and I put on the helmet<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_172" id="Page_172">[172]</a></span>
+again, and opened the port-hole. As the rarer
+Martian air swept in, my suit swelled and puffed
+to its fullest capacity, by the expansion of the
+denser air within it. I was so blown up that I
+could scarcely squeeze myself out of the port-hole.
+It was like a red misty day outside, though there
+were no clouds. The sky was a perfectly cloudless
+dull red, and the coppery sun was shining almost
+overhead. His orb looked less than two-thirds the
+size it did from the Earth, and one could look at
+its duller light fixedly without hurting the eyes.
+Phobos was also faintly visible, steering his backward
+course across the ruddy sky. The thermometer
+showed a temperature just above freezing,
+but I was perfectly warm within the diver's suit
+and its envelope of air. The red haze and utter
+lack of breeze added a deceptive appearance of
+sultry heat.</p>
+
+<p>I was gazing back toward the Gnomons, when
+suddenly a group of the Martians we had first seen
+came around a turn of the road and over a knoll
+into full view of us. They were plainly surprised
+beyond all measure by my strange appearance.
+My puffed and corpulent figure, my bulging face
+of glass, my two long rubber tentacles extending
+back into my shell, must have made them think
+I was a very curious animal! Also they were
+probably surprised at seeing any living thing
+come out of the mass, which they must have
+thought had fallen from their moon, for she was<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_173" id="Page_173">[173]</a></span>
+always shying things at them. And I now had
+my first chance to study their appearance closely.</p>
+
+<p>"Doctor," I said softly, to see if he could hear
+me through the connecting tubes. As I had hoped,
+they proved to be very good speaking-trumpets,
+and I heard his answer noisily.</p>
+
+<p>"Speak lower; I hear you easily," I said.
+"There is a party of them coming down this road
+to descend to the city. They have stopped upon
+seeing me. They are nothing but men like ourselves.
+I see no wings, horns, tails, or other appendages
+that we have not. They are just fat,
+puffy, sluggish men, very white and pale in colour,
+and covered with a peculiar clothing that looks like
+feathers. I seem to be a far greater freak to them
+than they are to me."</p>
+
+<p>Had he been a million miles away, I should have
+known that it was the doctor answering, from his
+unsurprised and matter-of-fact tone. I imagined
+I could see the exact expression of his face as he
+said,&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>"After all, then, man is the most perfect animal
+the Creator could make. From a mechanical standpoint
+he needs nothing that he has not, and has
+nothing that he does not need. However you
+change him, you would make him imperfect.
+Physiologically he may be much the same on all
+the planets, but there is room for the widest variations
+on the intellectual and spiritual side."</p>
+
+<p>"Do not forget that my patriarchal ancestors<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_174" id="Page_174">[174]</a></span>
+record that God made man in His own image, upon
+which there could be no improvement," I put in.</p>
+
+<p>"Yes, but modern scientists would have us believe
+that your patriarchs would have written a
+different fable if they had understood the theory
+of evolution. It appears that man is really a
+little lower than the angels, by being material and
+ponderable and visible, but the general image may
+be the same. Perhaps upon the various planets
+it may be that the same lines of differences prevail,
+as between the heathen tribes and the civilized
+people on earth. There at least we are sure that
+physiologically no marked difference exists between
+the lowest savage and the wisest sage."</p>
+
+<p>"Except, perhaps, that the savage may have the
+best digestion," I added. "Those look as if they
+had but few troubles and plenty to eat. I see no
+wrinkles or hard lines. Their forms and features
+are gracefully rounded. Their eyes are larger and
+stronger, with a liquid depth suited to this soft and
+weaker light. None of them wear beards, and
+very little hair is visible. I must say they do not
+look at all warlike. If we could only make them
+understand that we are friendly, I think they
+would gladly bid us to a feast of freshly-cooked
+meats and good wines, and ask us, chuckling, for
+the latest after-dinner stories that are current on
+Earth."</p>
+
+<p>"Make friendly signs to them, and see how they
+behave," he suggested.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_175" id="Page_175">[175]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>I slowly waved my hand to them to approach,
+and extended my arm as if to shake hands. While
+talking with the doctor I had stood perfectly still,
+and they had been warily watching me all the
+time. When I moved and stretched out my arm,
+they took fright and fled precipitately.</p>
+
+<p>"I have scared them away, as if they were a lot
+of roe deer!" I exclaimed.</p>
+
+<p>"Then let us hasten preparations while they are
+gone," he replied. "If you can stand the pressure
+I have given you, it will be safe to throw off the
+helmet and suit."</p>
+
+<p>Upon lifting the cover from my head, I caught a
+draught of fresh cold air that was unspeakably invigorating.
+I drank it in deep breaths, and felt
+like skipping about for joy. Kicking off the suit
+that trammelled me, I put it and the helmet back
+inside and closed the port-hole. Then the doctor
+pulled away the bulkhead and breathed the mixed
+atmosphere, half-Martian from my compartment
+and half-Earthly from his. He suffered no inconvenience
+from the sudden half-way step toward a
+lower density, and presently he emerged into the
+exhilarating air with me.</p>
+
+<p>"This atmosphere has a stimulation in it like
+thin wine, and it gives me an appetite. I feel
+strong and virile enough to tip Mars topsy-turvy,"
+I said. "At least, let me get some cigars to smoke
+while we are arming our stronghold."</p>
+
+<p>When I went in for the guns, I put a handful of<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_176" id="Page_176">[176]</a></span>
+Havanas in my vest pocket, and emerging, I laid
+the rifles handy and proceeded to light a weed. I
+was watching the bright flame of the match, and
+puffing with gusto at the fragrant smoke, when
+from another direction a second squad of Martians
+came into view very near us. They immediately
+halted and gazed at us in open-mouthed wonder,
+which soon changed to a look of horror. Remembering
+the pipe of peace among the American
+Indians, I drew out a cigar, and hastily striking
+a match upon my trousers, I held the weed and
+flame toward them. Not a man of them stayed to
+see any more. Their flight was more precipitate
+than the other party's had been.</p>
+
+<p>"It was your smoke they were afraid of," said
+the doctor. "Whenever you puffed, I saw them
+looking at each other blankly and dropping back
+a little. They have taken you for a fire-eater and
+a smoke-breather, and when you drew the flame
+from your lungs it was too much for them. But
+all this serves our purpose of frightening them.
+They will spread strange stories in the city
+below!"</p>
+
+<p>I helped him carry out the telescope, and we
+placed it in a commanding position. Then we
+propped up the broad shields, so that each of us
+could crouch behind one, and I laid a broadsword
+and rifle handy to each. Then we put on the
+linked-wire shirts under our coats, buckled the
+revolvers about us, and, as it was rather cold, we<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_177" id="Page_177">[177]</a></span>
+each put on a thick pair of gloves and a heavy topcoat.</p>
+
+<p>The doctor, who was carefully watching things
+down in the city through the telescope, cried out
+to me presently,&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>"There is wild commotion and great excitement
+down yonder by the great palace. The news has
+reached them! They are preparing to come in
+force to take us!"</p>
+
+<p>"I wish I knew what their sign of peace is, we
+might save a conflict," said I. "Perhaps our fire-arms
+won't harm them."</p>
+
+<p>"More likely they will blow them all to pieces,"
+answered the doctor. "But we must not fire
+unless it becomes absolutely necessary to defend
+ourselves, for if we kill any of them, they will
+then have cause to deal with us as dreadfully as
+they can. We cannot hope to overcome them all.
+It will be enough to demonstrate our supremacy,
+so that they will allow us to live among them.
+Therefore, let us simply defend ourselves and do
+nothing offensive, thus showing that we are peaceably
+disposed."</p>
+
+<p>"You cry peace, but look at the great army they
+are sending against us!" I exclaimed. "There are
+four companies of foot soldiers marching through
+the streets, and each man is armed with a very
+long cross-bow and wears a brightly-coloured bird-wing
+on his forehead. The streets are filling with
+people to see them pass. Now three more companies<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_178" id="Page_178">[178]</a></span>
+wheel out of the palace, but they have no
+cross-bows. They are whirling something around
+their heads."</p>
+
+<p>The doctor anxiously awaited his turn at the
+telescope, and as he looked he clutched his pistol
+though they were still several miles away.</p>
+
+<p>"Those are slings they are whirling about their
+heads," he said. "And the commander of each
+company rides an ambling donkey, and wears a
+heavy plaited beard and long braided hair, without
+head covering."</p>
+
+<p>"But look further back, coming out of the palace
+now!" I cried. "What are those strange, stately
+animals far behind the soldiers? I can see them
+with the naked eye."</p>
+
+<p>"<i>Donnerwetter!</i> what towering birds!" he muttered
+under his breath. "Like ostriches in form,
+but as tall and graceful as a giraffe! There is a
+man riding astride the neck of each of them, yet he
+could scarcely reach half-way to their heads!"</p>
+
+<p>"Are those monstrous things birds?" I demanded.
+"Let me look. What long and bony
+legs they have! They would stride over us without
+touching our heads; but how they could
+kick!"</p>
+
+<p>"And how they could run!" put in the doctor.
+"See, they stride easily over seven or eight feet
+with a single step. They must be messenger birds,
+for there are only four of them, and their riders are
+not armed."<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_179" id="Page_179">[179]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>"They may have hundreds more of them in
+reserve, and they could fight far more viciously
+than the men. See what a wicked beak and what
+a long muscular neck they have. They could
+crush a skull in a twinkling with one swift swoop
+of that head! I will fight the men, but I will take
+no chances with those birds!"</p>
+
+<p>Although these strange, small-winged creatures
+had started long after the soldiers, they had
+quickly passed them, and were now beginning to
+mount toward our plateau. They were making
+swift detours at intervals, as if to reconnoitre.
+We were hidden behind our rocks and shields, and
+the riders could not see us, and they had evidently
+not yet seen the brass barrel of our telescope. It
+would be folly for them to attempt to come up the
+road we were guarding, for we could easily heave
+boulders over and crush them. I had already put
+my shoulder to an immense rock near the brink, to
+see if it was as heavy as it looked. I found it
+porous and crumbly, and no heavier than so much
+chalk. Up the roadway the great birds climbed
+with wonderful ease. Their riders were evidently
+looking for us without any idea where we were.</p>
+
+<p>"I won't see those elephantine bipeds come any
+nearer to me!" I exclaimed, and rushing to the
+boulder, which was certainly four feet in diameter,
+I toppled it over the brink, and expected to see it
+carry everything down before it. It rolled slowly
+down the steep bank, with hardly a third the force<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_180" id="Page_180">[180]</a></span>
+and speed of the same mass on Earth. This discouraged
+me, but I watched for it to reach the
+foremost bird. He was surprised by it, but made
+one step sideways, and, lifting his great right leg,
+the stone rolled under him without any damage.
+He gave a queer, guttural croak, accompanied by
+a most violent motion of the head and neck. The
+other birds, thus warned, dodged quickly sidewise,
+and avoided the slowly rolling boulder; but all
+three of the riders were thrown by the swift lateral
+movement of the birds. The astonished men
+picked themselves up slowly from the bushes and
+approached their birds. But they could scarcely
+reach with their hands the lower part of the neck
+where they had sat.</p>
+
+<p>"Unless they are good jumpers, they cannot
+mount again without a ladder!" said the doctor.</p>
+
+<p>"Jumping is easier than standing still here," I
+interrupted. "I can jump ten feet high with no
+trouble."</p>
+
+<p>"Yes; but these Martian boobies haven't your
+muscles. <i>Aber Blitzen!</i> did you see that fellow
+mount his bird again?"</p>
+
+<p>I had seen it, and I do not remember anything
+more wonderful than this operation, which was
+repeated for each rider. The man went in front
+of his bird, turned his back, and stooped forward.
+The bird then curved his long neck to the ground,
+and put his head and neck between the legs of the
+rider, who clutched tightly with his arms and legs.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_181" id="Page_181">[181]</a></span>
+With a swift, graceful swing, the bird lifted its
+head on high, carrying the rider as if he were
+nothing. When the great neck was again erect,
+the man slid carefully down it to his place, much
+as one might slip down a telegraph pole. Then
+two of the birds turned back to the city as swiftly
+as they could go, and the other two took separate
+side trails and soon disappeared.</p>
+
+<hr /><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_182" id="Page_182">[182]</a></span></p>
+<h2>CHAPTER III</h2>
+
+<h3>The Armies of Mars</h3>
+
+<p class="cap"><span class="dcap">As</span> the two returning birds passed the marching
+soldiers, their riders evidently delivered some
+message to the captains, for the soldiers suddenly
+broke forward in a run, using their long cross-bows
+with great dexterity as jumping staves. Placing
+the outer end upon the ground ahead of them as
+they ran, they leaped and hung upon the cross-piece
+with their hands. The springy resistance of
+this tough wood imparted to them a forward
+motion with its rebound, and they scaled great
+distances at each jump. The whole company did
+it in concert, and they made almost as great speed
+as if they had been riding bicycles. The slingers
+were consequently left far in the rear.</p>
+
+<p>Less than half way up the incline the archers
+stopped, arranged their bow-thongs, and selected
+feathered arrows from a pouch slung over their
+shoulders.</p>
+
+<p>"They can never hit us from that distance!"
+I exclaimed; "a rifle would not carry so far."</p>
+
+<p>"You forget the weak gravity which will bend<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_183" id="Page_183">[183]</a></span>
+their course down very little, and the thin air
+which will barely resist their flight; this is a
+model planet for archery," he answered. "Quick!
+drop behind your shield! They have fired the
+first volley!"</p>
+
+<p>A torrent of the shafts fell all about us, and
+many pelted against our shields. Those which
+struck the soft earth of the bank sank into it and
+stuck there, but those which struck our steel were
+shivered and broken.</p>
+
+<p>"Sit still and let them shoot away their arrows,"
+I whispered. "This will soon be over."</p>
+
+<p>The next volley came with a little more force,
+as if they had marched further up the hill. One
+or two arrows fell very near me, and I reached for
+them to examine their construction. They were
+made of the hollow, filmy stock of a rather tough
+reed, and were pointed with a chipped stone tip,
+which was brittle, but not harder than porous
+chalk.</p>
+
+<p>"That stuff wouldn't pierce my two coats, to
+say nothing of the linked steel shirt," I sneered.
+"I will show them what fools they are!" and I
+walked boldly out to the brink and faced them.
+They let fly a quick volley with a concerted shout.
+As I saw the arrows start, I turned my back and
+bent down my head quickly. Perhaps a dozen of
+the slim reeds pelted me, and then I stooped over
+and gathered up as many as I could find, and broke
+them all in my hands before their eyes.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_184" id="Page_184">[184]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>This sent a hum of excited jabbering through
+their ranks, and they fired no more. I stood
+watching them, and presently I grasped my two
+hands together and shook hands with myself, to
+try to convey to them the idea that we were
+friendly; but it must have carried no meaning to
+them. By this time the slingers had come up, and
+I retired behind my shield to await their action.
+The archers seemed very glad of their arrival, and
+yielded the foremost place to them. I noted their
+operations carefully, and saw them place something,
+which did not look like a round stone, in the
+pocket of their slings, and then they whirled it
+long and cautiously. Suddenly they discharged
+it with a swift movement of their bodies backward,
+which landed them on one knee.</p>
+
+<p>"Wide of the mark!" I cried, as the missiles
+sailed off far to the right of us. But just before
+landing they bent a sharp, surprising curve, and
+lacked but little of hitting us behind the shields!
+The things they had thrown were the thin, concave
+shells of a large nut, and the trick of discharging
+them gave them their peculiar flight.</p>
+
+<p>"I don't like this throwing around the corner!"
+exclaimed the doctor. "With a little truer aim
+they will be able to hit us behind anything."</p>
+
+<p>"Hurry, bring your shield over behind mine,
+and face it the other way," said I; "then we
+will crouch between the two in safety."</p>
+
+<p>He did this just in time, for some of the next<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_185" id="Page_185">[185]</a></span>
+volley actually curved around and hit his shield,
+but none struck mine in front. However, the
+shells which fell near us were of light weight, and
+would not have bruised us much with heavy clothing
+on. Presently their pelting ceased, and we
+concluded that they were planning something new.
+We decided to let them know that we were not
+hurt, so we emerged; and I tried throwing the
+shells back with my hand, but I could not control
+their erratic course. When they saw this they
+jeered at me, and I itched to treat them to just one
+pistol shot, only to show them what child's play
+their fighting was! Presently we saw what they
+were waiting for. Far down the road the two
+great birds were returning harnessed together, and
+dragging behind them an enormous catapult. Tied
+across their backs were two stout darts, seemingly
+twelve feet long and three inches square. Each
+of them had a wicked-looking barbed tip.</p>
+
+<p>There was a pleased and confident jabber among
+the slingers and archers below as the birds arrived.
+The catapult was turned about toward us, and
+lashed tightly to stakes driven in front and behind.
+Then the birds were hitched to the cord of the
+immense bow, and they pulled it far back, until
+the men made it fast in a notch. The cross-piece
+had now become almost a half-circle, quite ten
+feet in diameter. The captain of a company of
+archers acted as gunner, and carefully adjusted the
+catapult, aiming it evidently at our shield. Upon<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_186" id="Page_186">[186]</a></span>
+seeing this we placed the two shields together, and
+leaned them both inward toward us, so as to make
+their angle with the upward course of the dart
+more obtuse, and thus cause a glancing blow instead
+of a solid impact. Crouching under the steel
+shelters, we awaited the dart.</p>
+
+<p>Whiz-z-z it whistled up through the thin air!
+Bimm-m! it struck the top of our outer shield,
+and glanced off as we had hoped. The outer steel
+rattled and banged against the inner, and both
+shields pressed hard over against us, but not the
+slightest damage was done.</p>
+
+<p>We went out to watch them load the second
+dart. They evidently saw the impotence of the
+glancing blow, and were noisily discussing it. A
+captain of the slingers was arguing hotly with
+the gunner, who was finally persuaded to take his
+aim a little lower. Then a hum of approval went
+through the throng.</p>
+
+<p>"They do think a little, but they are not secretive!"
+I sneered, flopping our inner shield over
+flat on the ground. "Come, sit on this, Doctor,
+and we will lean the outer shield over us, and
+snuggle in between them as cosy as two oysters!
+Let them fondly imagine they can shoot us through
+this pasty soil, and keep their own counsel better
+after this!"</p>
+
+<p>It was not a bad guess on my part; for the second
+dart struck the edge of the cliff, bored through the
+loose soil, and thumped our lower shield with a<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_187" id="Page_187">[187]</a></span>
+dull thud that lifted us from the ground. But the
+point and edges of the dart were blunted, and
+crumbled with the blow, and I could find no dent
+in the shield.</p>
+
+<p>"See, the birds are returning to the city in haste
+for more darts!" said the doctor. But I was interested
+in examining the first dart, which had
+fallen a few hundred feet behind us. Its shaft was
+of roughly-hewn, spongy wood, and it weighed far
+less than half the mass of soft pine would on Earth.
+Its tip was not metal, but chipped stone&mdash;crumbly,
+like the arrow-heads. Either they did not know
+the metals, or they were too rare to be used in their
+arts. And it was to be supposed that they would
+use the hardest stone they had for arrow-heads
+and dart-tips.</p>
+
+<p>I carried the shaft easily upon my shoulder
+forward to the edge of the cliff. This surprised
+even the doctor a little, for four Martians had been
+necessary to put it in place upon the catapult. It
+must have astonished them still more, for they were
+staring at me so blankly that I was tempted to
+toss the dart down their gaping throats!</p>
+
+<p>"Give them just one dose of their own medicine!"
+suggested the doctor.</p>
+
+<p>"Perhaps I had better teach them to keep their
+dangerous weapons at home," I said; and, balancing
+the dart easily above my head, I aimed it carefully
+at a dense group around the catapult. I
+threw my whole force into the thrust, and sent the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_188" id="Page_188">[188]</a></span>
+shaft whizzing down at them. Then I staggered
+back, quite exhausted by the effort and gasping
+for breath.</p>
+
+<p>"Good God! You have impaled two of them
+upon the dart!" cried the doctor, "and it is causing
+a panic in the whole army!"</p>
+
+<p>And when I sprang up to look, I saw two writhing
+Martians, much shrunken in size and dying
+upon the dart. The terror-stricken archers and
+slingers were scattering and scurrying in every
+direction, regardless of the shouted orders of their
+captains. The foremost of the impaled men wore
+a beard, and was no other than the gunner of the
+catapult.</p>
+
+<p>"I am sorry for the poor devils!" I exclaimed.
+"I had no idea they were so soft and tender. They
+have shrunk like a pricked balloon!"</p>
+
+<p>"They thought they could prick us like that,
+and let the life ooze out," said the doctor. "There
+is no danger that they will shoot any more at us.
+The whole army is afraid that you will throw
+down the other dart."</p>
+
+<p>Nevertheless, other companies of archers and
+slingers were seen leaving the palace, and the birds
+were already returning with two more darts. And
+the soldiers below were gaining courage and
+responding to the rallying cries of the captains,
+who were halloing and pointing toward the edge
+of the cliff, down in the direction of the cataract.
+I looked quickly that way, and instantly shouted,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_189" id="Page_189">[189]</a></span>&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>"To the rifles, quick, doctor! The other two
+birds have ascended the cliff, and are racing
+toward us along its edge. Take careful aim at
+the head of that front one. Afterward, let drive
+two random bullets into his body!"</p>
+
+<p>Urged on by their riders, who with their hands
+swayed the long necks of the birds in unison with
+their rhythmical stride, these two-legged giraffes,
+with the wild look and sharp beak of an eagle,
+swept menacingly toward us.</p>
+
+<p>"Ready now!" I cried, as the foremost came
+within fifty feet of us. "Fire!"</p>
+
+<p>Two sharp reports almost simultaneous, with a
+less thunderous explosion than on Earth, but singing
+in a higher key and flaming vastly more,
+startled and terrified the Martians. Then crack!
+crack! bang! bang! four other shots in swift
+succession, followed by the terrific croaking of the
+wounded Terror-bird, which fell ponderously forward,
+kicking violently and beating the ground
+wildly with its head.</p>
+
+<p>Seizing my broadsword in a flash, I dealt it such
+a blow upon the neck as quite to sever the head
+from the body. There was a gush of red blood;
+and those who have seen the antics of a decapitated
+chicken, may correspondingly multiply the corpse
+and imagine the confusion that now ensued.</p>
+
+<p>"Stand ready for the second bird!" I shouted to
+the doctor; but on looking, I saw that the other
+animal refused to be urged forward, after seeing<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_190" id="Page_190">[190]</a></span>
+the fate of his companion. His rider was half-hearted
+in his efforts, and was watching the forward
+rider, who had been severely thrown with the
+bird's fall, and badly bruised by the kicking and
+threshing. He seemed to realize that he was in
+our power, and was thoroughly desperate. With
+a wailing cry he rushed at me with open arms, as
+if to embrace death, for I still held the sword.
+Dropping the weapon, I grappled with him, catching
+him about the wrists, which shrank under my
+grasp. He seemed to have scarcely the strength
+of a child; and everywhere I touched him, his flesh
+yielded like the flabby muscles of a fat baby. I
+bent him over backwards, then swung him around
+and caught him by the shoulders, and whirled him
+around my head. Finally, I tossed him over the
+edge of the cliff, where he landed among some
+bushes, and scrambled down as fast as he could,
+glad to have saved his life. The other rider had
+turned his bird back toward the cataract with all
+possible despatch.</p>
+
+<p>"The whole army below us is now thoroughly
+demoralized!" said the jubilant doctor. "Many
+of them fled dismayed on hearing the firing, and
+others screamed and ran away when they saw you
+decapitate the bird. But your wrestling with the
+rider, and flinging him about like an infant, was
+an object lesson none of them could stay to see
+repeated. I saw one trembling fool slink back to
+cut the thong of the catapult, so that we could not<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_191" id="Page_191">[191]</a></span>
+use it on them. They have wholly abandoned the
+attack!"</p>
+
+<p>"If this is the worst they can do, I will undertake
+to make myself king, and you prime minister
+here, within twenty-four hours!" I ejaculated,
+decidedly pleased with the idea. "And I will
+maintain supremacy with a standing army of a
+thousand Terror-birds!"</p>
+
+<p>"The consciousness of superior strength always
+brings that desire for conquest," answered the
+doctor. "We must not allow it to master us, but
+we must push our advantage. Look! the panic of
+the first ones reaching the city is spreading to the
+new companies marching out. They are trampled
+over by the fleeing host, they turn and mingle
+with the frightened mob in one struggling, terror-stricken
+mass! Come, let us be into the projectile
+and after them. With a few booming shots above
+their heads, we will make them think their
+Thunder-gods have come!"</p>
+
+<hr /><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_192" id="Page_192">[192]</a></span></p>
+<h2>CHAPTER IV</h2>
+
+<h3>The Strange Bravery of Miss Blank</h3>
+
+<p class="cap"><span class="dcap">Telescope</span>, rifles, and shields were tumbled
+into the projectile pell-mell, and without
+stopping to close the port-hole, we steered towards
+the city as we mounted rapidly. When
+the soldiers, weary of running, saw us start, they
+were stricken with a new fear, and made all possible
+haste for shelter. When they perceived that
+we were rising into the red haze, they took a little
+courage, but still hastened.</p>
+
+<p>"Perhaps they think we are mounting to the
+sky for more thunder and lightning," I suggested.
+"Little do they know the destruction we could do
+them with the handful of ammunition we have, if
+we really meant war as much as they at first desired
+it and now fear it!"</p>
+
+<p>By this time we were almost above the thickest
+crowd of the fleeing army, while the most energetic
+runners and the Terror-bird that had turned
+back had reached the heart of the city; and we
+could see the alarm spreading like wild-fire to all
+its inhabitants. I was busy loading the rifles with<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_193" id="Page_193">[193]</a></span>
+the cartridges which the doctor had robbed of their
+bullets for the pickle-bottle experiment soon after
+our start.</p>
+
+<p>"We will execute a little <i>coup</i>, to show them
+the difficulties of retreat when the enemy is armed
+with gravity projectiles," said the doctor. "Do
+you see that great gate of the city they are all
+making for? We will drop down there, just in
+front of them, and prevent their entrance. It will
+be better to keep the whole army outside the walls,
+if possible, for its absence and disorganization will
+make the rulers all the more tractable when we
+are ready to drop down into their city and make
+peace with them on our own terms."</p>
+
+<p>"I must say you are a good general, Doctor!"
+I exclaimed. "You plan the campaign, and I will
+do the fighting."</p>
+
+<p>The blank dismay of the soldiers when they saw
+us descending again, and their abject desperation
+when they perceived that we should land in front
+of them and cut off their entrance to the city, was
+pitiful to see.</p>
+
+<p>"Doctor, do you remember the grand display
+and the proud strength with which these soldiers
+marched forth? Look at the difference now!"</p>
+
+<p>"Oh, war! war!" he exclaimed. "The glory
+of its beginning! The terror of its prosecution!
+The misery of its end! Would that it could
+always be carried on by terrorizing the mind instead
+of by slaying the body!"<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_194" id="Page_194">[194]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>As we were about to come to land in front of
+the straggling multitude of soldiers, I fired a dozen
+blank cartridges as rapidly as I could work the
+rifle. This was at very near range, and although
+the explosions sounded weak to me, the excessive
+flaming of the powder added a new terror. The
+disorganized army stopped in dread; the stragglers
+pushing up from behind, and the frightened turning
+of those in front, crushed the multitude together
+and increased the confusion. Throngs of
+people, whose curiosity was still stronger than their
+fear, were coming out from the city. As they saw
+us float down and land, and then heard the firing,
+they turned and rushed within the gates again,
+ready to believe far worse stories than they had
+yet heard.</p>
+
+<p>"We must scatter this rabble army and put it
+wholly to rout," insisted the doctor. "I will swing
+amongst them and over their heads, while you
+burn powder for them. If they won't scatter, use
+your revolver and wound one or two of them."</p>
+
+<p>"No, I will not harm another man," I answered.
+"They are too weak and defenceless a foe, and are
+no match for us. Hereafter I will fight only with
+the birds."</p>
+
+<p>We rose and sailed slantingly toward them, but
+they had already started to disperse. Those who
+had jumping-staves disentangled themselves from
+the crowd and scattered into the bushy wastes. I
+continued firing until my blank cartridges were<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_195" id="Page_195">[195]</a></span>
+gone, and then we landed just outside the entrance
+and emerged from the projectile to examine the
+gates and see if we could close and fasten them.</p>
+
+<p>Within the wall those who had gained entrance
+during our last movements were rapidly retreating
+toward the centre of the city, warning all whom
+they passed. One single stately figure showed no
+fear, and paid no heed to the exclamations of the
+runners. The ampler dress and flowing flaxen
+hair indicated that it was a woman, and to our
+surprise, though she was well clothed, she seemed
+to be demanding alms of every one as she approached
+us. No one gave her anything, and
+occasionally a runner seized her arm and tried to
+persuade her to return. But she caught none of
+their excitement, and composedly pursued her
+course.</p>
+
+<p>"Egad! This beautiful girl is braver than the
+whole Martian army!" I exclaimed in amazement,
+as she calmly approached where I was standing by
+the gate and extended her fair, plump hand. If
+she was asking alms, I had nothing to give her;
+but here, at least, was one pacific, composed, and
+reasonable person. Perhaps it was the queen, or
+a diplomatic envoy of the ruler!</p>
+
+<p>"Now is the time to demonstrate our friendliness,"
+I exclaimed, and reaching forth my hand I
+grasped hers in a warm clasp of welcome.</p>
+
+<p>She looked up at me blankly. Her beautiful
+face carried no expression of satisfaction or surprise.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_196" id="Page_196">[196]</a></span>
+Her transparent complexion was neither
+paled by fear nor flushed by pleasure. Her great
+dreamy eyes, of a deep liquid blue, wandered unfixedly
+in their languid gaze. Still holding her
+soft hand, which was far warmer than my own,
+I opened her fingers with my other hand and
+pointed at her pink extended palm as if to inquire
+what she wished. I watched her closely, but she
+made no sign, said nothing, looked nothing.</p>
+
+<p>"Since I do not know you, I can think of no
+more fitting name to call you by than Miss
+Blank," I said, more to express my thought in
+articulate sounds than anything else, for I had no
+idea she would understand me. From her expression
+I could not judge whether she had even heard
+me, to say nothing of comprehending. She was
+looking beyond me, through the gate, as if searching
+others from whom she might ask alms. Seeing
+none, she wheeled slowly about to return.
+Unwillingly I released her hand, and stood unspeakably
+puzzled by the whole matter. She was
+commanding in appearance, being taller than I
+by a few inches, not slim, but well proportioned.
+She had the stately serenity of a dreaming queen,
+but the blank, unresponsive soul of one who dwelt
+within herself; and though she saw, she did not
+realize the existence or meaning of anything
+outside.</p>
+
+<p>"Doctor, will all your learning solve this riddle
+for me!" I exclaimed. "Can all the Martian<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_197" id="Page_197">[197]</a></span>
+women be like this? She is beautiful of body and
+strangely warm and winning to the touch, but as
+cold of heart as the drifting snow that suffocates
+a poor lost lamb. She has had a strange influence
+over me; a puzzling, baffling attraction. A suggestion
+of something delicate and subtlely charming,
+which, when one seeks to seize and to define,
+retires icily behind the drawn curtain of her soul."</p>
+
+<p>"I hope you won't play the lost lamb to her
+snowdrift!" he sneered, in a way that I resented.
+"One would think she had hypnotized you on the
+spot! And she must be in a trance herself, for
+she had not sense enough to fear us."</p>
+
+<p>"Those who have the most sense fear us the
+least!" I retorted.</p>
+
+<p>"But fear is our sharp weapon now," he
+answered; "and some of the stragglers, looking
+back, saw you stand there holding her hand in a
+manner far from warlike. They will report this
+to the rulers unless we forestall them. Come,
+fasten the gates tightly upon the inside to keep
+the soldiers out, and I will sail over the wall to
+pick you up."</p>
+
+<p>"Doctor, we make our peace at once, and fight
+no more with the brothers of this girl," I said with
+decision.</p>
+
+<p>The massive gates were of hewn stone, turning
+in sockets at their outer corners above and below.
+They swung as easily as if hung upon hinges, and
+when closed a slab of stone came down to bar<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_198" id="Page_198">[198]</a></span>
+them. I made them fast, and then called out to
+the doctor,&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>"Don't come for me. I have found a jumping-staff,
+and I think I can leap to the top of the
+wall."</p>
+
+<p>It was a sheer fifteen feet of solid masonry, but
+my chief delight since landing on Martian soil
+was the inordinate springiness of my leg muscles
+against the feeble gravity. I ran and sprang
+lustily with the aid of the cross-bow, and I remember
+the doctor's surprised look when he saw
+me clear the entire wall without touching the top
+and land safely with a very mild jolt on his side.</p>
+
+<p>A short oblique ascent of the projectile brought
+us over the city, and revealed to us the condition
+of desperate panic into which the wild reports of
+the soldiers and the bird-rider had thrown the
+frantic populace. The soldiers still within the
+walls could not restrain the people, or did not try.
+If there was any government, it lacked a head or
+could not command attention. The stubborn instinct
+of self-preservation was king. Distracted
+throngs surged out at one gate, to separate and
+waver and hesitate, and finally to fight for a speedy
+entrance at another. On one side soldiers were
+apparently ordering people down from the wall,
+while on another the excited populace was hauling
+sentinel soldiers from the same elevation, lest our
+attention should be attracted. Within, strong men
+were weeping and wailing; without, nervous men<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_199" id="Page_199">[199]</a></span>
+were haranguing the vacillating multitude; but
+more were stolidly pushing with the rabble or
+being hustled by it.</p>
+
+<p>Only one sign of order and forethought was
+apparent. Evidently for better safety and for an
+easier defence, the women and children had been
+taken to a central park or pleasure ground, and
+left there with a small guard of soldiers. The men
+to whom they belonged had apparently all gone
+elsewhere.</p>
+
+<p>"Doctor, we must put an end to this fear and
+frenzy at the earliest possible moment. If we are
+not destroying those people, we are exciting them
+to destroy each other, which is equally blameworthy.
+We must go down at once, but we had
+best avoid the frantic men. The women seem far
+more reposeful. Let us drop quietly into that open
+field in the park, and I will make friendly signs
+to the women, pat the children on the head, and
+give them all to understand that we mean no
+harm."</p>
+
+<p>He evidently saw that we had quite overdone
+the scare, and was as much impressed by the
+terrible picture below as I was. We turned down
+without delay, and landed quietly behind a clump
+of trees. I took a tin of sweet biscuits under my
+arm, and the doctor following me, with a generous
+handful of his trinkets and tinsel toys, we left the
+projectile, and rounding the grove of dwarfed trees
+we approached the romping children first. I patted<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_200" id="Page_200">[200]</a></span>
+their flaxen curls, lightly pinched their cheeks, and
+handed each of them a sweet biscuit. Then, while
+the doctor distributed strange toys amongst them,
+I put on my most courtly ways and addressed
+myself to the women. Their first impulses of fear
+had been somewhat allayed by our attentions to
+the children, and I bowed profusely and made bold
+to kiss the hands of a few of the youngest of them.
+Each of these looked to see if I had left anything
+visible or harmful on her hand, from which I
+judged the custom was wholly strange to them.
+The others looked on askance and whispered excitedly
+among themselves.</p>
+
+<p>One of the soldiers who had seen us approach,
+but offered no resistance, had now started to run,
+as fast as his jumping-staff would carry him, toward
+the palace. I knew at once that this meant
+some new development, and I hoped it meant a
+report of our friendly actions and a truce all
+around. But the doctor reminded me that we must
+be prepared for surprises and treachery. Therefore
+we re-entered the projectile, and out of the sight
+of all the Martians I re-loaded the rifles, and then
+we waited a long time.</p>
+
+<p>Our patience was finally rewarded, for we saw
+the soldier returning, slowly leading a woman. In
+her left arm, which the soldier held, she carried
+something white which wriggled occasionally. All
+this we considered so favourable a development
+that we went out again, bowing to the women<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_201" id="Page_201">[201]</a></span>
+about us, petting the children, and looking as
+peaceable and amiable as the politest of Earth's
+people. But it may have passed for imbecility, or
+worse, on Mars.</p>
+
+<p>When I looked toward the soldier again, my
+heart began a queer thumping, for he was leading
+no other than the woman who had met us at the
+gate, and she was carrying our white rabbit, which
+we had released early that morning a long way
+from this spot.</p>
+
+<p>"By all that is wonderful!" I exclaimed to the
+doctor, "if we have not fallen upon a country
+which is ruled by yon dumb queen, and she brings
+to us as a peace offering the only thing that we
+have lost!"</p>
+
+<p>"Since when have potentates learned to beg,
+and forgotten to command and to exact?" he
+answered with half a sneer. "See, she still extends
+her hand to every one she passes."</p>
+
+<p>And as the soldier, trained to revere a beard,
+led the woman directly up to the doctor, she
+stretched forth her pretty palm again; but if he
+had presumed to take it I could have struck him!
+To my cordial grasp I added a kiss this time, and
+then I raised my eyes slowly to her face, fearing
+to see that blank look again. There <i>was</i> no
+look in her eyes; they did not look, they only
+wandered!</p>
+
+<p>The soldier, who still held her other arm, waved
+his cross-bow toward the palace meaningly, and a<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_202" id="Page_202">[202]</a></span>
+hush fell upon the murmuring crowd. I ignored
+him and spoke to her,&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>"If thou art the queen, command me but by a
+look or sign, and I obey. And if thou art not the
+queen, then they should make thee one. Dost
+thou wish us to follow thee to yon palace?" said
+I; but the only mind that understood scoffed at
+my rapturous declamation.</p>
+
+<p>The woman merely drew her hand from my
+warm clasp and stretched it out to the people, who
+crowded about and paid her no attention. Then
+the soldier, as if suddenly remembering, took the
+rabbit from her arm and handed it to me. She
+looked about at this, as if missing the snuggling
+animal, and I stared hard at the meddling soldier to
+reprove him for interfering with his queen, and
+gently restored the rabbit to her arm.</p>
+
+<p>"The soldier wishes us to go to the palace," put
+in the doctor. "But we must not go unarmed. He
+may be leading us into an ambush. Let us take
+all of our arms and follow him."</p>
+
+<p>Accordingly, we buckled on the swords, and took
+the rifles on our shoulders. As we dragged out the
+heavy shields, the soldier pointed to a group of
+donkeys laden with bags of something like grain.
+I waved assent, and the muleteer unburdened one
+of them and loaded the shields upon him.</p>
+
+<p>"Why not take the telescope?" I suggested; "it
+is big and bright, and perhaps they may fear it
+too. Or we may wish to show its wondrous use."<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_203" id="Page_203">[203]</a></span>
+As I drew it out the crowd started back, but the
+soldier and the muleteer gingerly loaded it upon
+another donkey. Then the soldier took the woman's
+arm again, and pushed her extended palm around
+toward me, as if I would be unwilling to go unless
+I had it. My right hand held my rifle, but I was
+secretly glad that my left was free to clasp the
+woman's hand. The doctor walked behind to watch
+the muleteer, and thus we marched to the palace.</p>
+
+<hr /><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_204" id="Page_204">[204]</a></span></p>
+<h2>CHAPTER V</h2>
+
+<h3>Zaphnath, Ruler of the Kemi</h3>
+
+<p class="cap"><span class="dcap">Two</span> hieroglyph-bearing columns of red sandstone,
+strong and broad enough to have
+supported a Tower of Babel, formed the portals of
+the outer gate of the palace. A pair of Terror-birds,
+whose plumage was a pearly grey, stood sleepily on
+guard. Our soldier, who could scarcely have reached
+to the backs of the birds, lifted up his cross-bow and
+tapped upon their long necks. Acting perfectly in
+concert, the animals each engaged with its beak a
+wooden ring suspended high in front of them, and
+then, bending down their necks, the hempen ropes,
+to which the rings were fastened, hauled up a ponderous
+portcullis, made of slabs of stone, and thus
+afforded us an entrance.</p>
+
+<p>As this stone gate rumbled slowly down again,
+we saw that we were shut into a vast courtyard,
+surrounded by a colonnade, whence cavernous
+passages led circuitously to the various compartments
+of the palace. Within the courtyard were
+drawn up in expectant readiness four companies of<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_205" id="Page_205">[205]</a></span>
+archers and three of slingers, in all, perhaps, seven
+hundred men, who gaped and stared at us.</p>
+
+<p>The doctor touched my elbow, and whispered:
+"We should have landed in here with the projectile,
+which would have given us a means of
+ready escape."</p>
+
+<p>"Remember the saying of General Grant," I
+answered. "'When you are frightened, don't
+forget that the enemy may be far more so.' These
+soldiers have heard enough to make them believe
+us capable of anything. They would tear down
+the very walls, if we were to open fire on them.
+Besides, I could leap that courtyard wall and drag
+you with me."</p>
+
+<p>Unsheathing our swords, as an object lesson to
+the soldiers, we followed our guide to the blind end
+of a long passage, which apparently gave entrance
+only to a small stone chamber. Following the
+soldier and muleteer, who were now carrying our
+shields and telescope, we crowded into this and
+waited. Presently the entire chamber, operated in
+some unseen manner, turned slowly half way round,
+so that its door now gave entrance directly to a
+vast but gloomy and tomb-like audience chamber,
+where we were evidently expected.</p>
+
+<p>Upon a massive throne of richly-chiselled stone a
+youth of scarcely more than five-and-twenty years
+(if judged by earthly standards) sat gorgeously
+arrayed in vestments of richly coloured feathers,
+woven skilfully into the meshes of coarse cloth.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_206" id="Page_206">[206]</a></span>
+Longer plumes of changeable colours radiated from
+a wide collar which he wore, covering his breast
+and back, and extending over his shoulders. The
+peach-blow of his fair cheeks was partly hidden by
+a heavy false beard, plaited into stubby braids,
+which hung to an even line a little below the chin.
+His own soft, flaxen hair peeped meekly out from
+under a wig of tightly curled grey strands, cropped
+all round to a level with the beard. His feet and
+arms were bare, except for thin ribbons of downy,
+purple feathers, which circled the wrists and ankles.
+No crown was on his head, but among the stringy
+wig-curls the sinuous body of an asp bent in and
+out, and the curved neck and threatening head
+surmounted his clear brow.</p>
+
+<p>To his right, round an oval table of highly
+polished stone, sat twelve wrinkled men, not one of
+whom but had seen three times his years. They
+wore their own white beards, unplaited, and their
+feather clothing was less elaborate and of simple
+grey, like the plumage of the Terror-bird.</p>
+
+<p>Our soldier placed his right hand upon his cheek,
+and inclined his head slightly forward and to the
+right, as a salutation to the ruler, and, leaving
+the woman standing by me, he and the muleteer
+retired. She seemed neither surprised at, nor accustomed
+to, these surroundings. She made no salutation
+or obeisance to the ruler or to the old men, and
+they made none to her. Withdrawing her hand
+from mine, she stretched it toward them, as she had<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_207" id="Page_207">[207]</a></span>
+toward the commonest man outside. They paid her
+no attention, but the oldest of the men signalled to
+an attendant, who led her back and placed her hand
+in mine again. That soldiers and counsellors alike
+should consider this necessary or fitting seemed
+strange to me. The doctor jokingly suggested that
+they wished to keep me permanently hypnotized,
+lest I should become dangerous again.</p>
+
+<p>Having laid off our rifles, swords, and outer coats,
+I lifted my cap and made a low bow to the youth
+and to the old men, but the doctor tried the salute
+of the right hand upon the cheek, as he had seen
+the soldier do. In answer the youth simply looked
+toward the twelve, waving his hand towards us
+in a way which seemed to say to them, "Gentlemen,
+behold the enigma!" Then, beginning with
+the eldest, the twelve jabbered at us in turn, apparently
+in different tongues, some sibilant, some
+guttural, and others with the musical cadence of
+frequent vowel sounds. Needless to say, each was
+equally incomprehensible to us, and we did not
+think it worth while to try German or English
+upon them. When they had finished, they looked
+much vexed, and slowly wagged their beards.
+Then the youth spoke something to them with
+a confident gesture toward himself. He arose,
+and began addressing us. I suddenly stopped
+short in the middle of a sentence I was whispering
+to the doctor. It seemed as if the youth had ceased
+making mere sounds, and had begun to speak a<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_208" id="Page_208">[208]</a></span>
+coherent language, a tongue which has lived ages
+while others have languished into forgetfulness; a
+language whose words I understood, but yet the
+words carried little clear meaning to me.</p>
+
+<p>"Listen, Doctor! The boy is speaking Hebrew!
+Ancient and archaic in form, but yet Hebrew which
+I understand!" And this is what he had said:</p>
+
+<p>"Oh ye, who speak among yourselves, but understand
+only those who speak not at all, I, Zaphnath,
+revealer of God's hidden things, will address ye in
+my native tongue, which none but me in all the
+land of Kem hath any knowledge of."</p>
+
+<p>"There be two of us in Kem, O Zaphnath, who
+understand that tongue. Speak on!" I cried.</p>
+
+<p>But the boy stripped off his wig and beard, and,
+leaving the throne, hastened toward me and laid
+his soft right cheek against my own with gentle
+pressure.</p>
+
+<p>"Comest thou, then, from the land of my father,
+a stranger wandering into Kem, even as I came?"
+he asked.</p>
+
+<p>"Nay, gentle youth, we came a vastly farther
+way, from another world, so distant that thou seest
+it from here only as a twinkling star in the night.
+But if, indeed, thou camest a wandering stranger
+into Kem, art thou then the king?" He had
+resumed his wig and beard, and his proud seat
+upon the throne, and after he had translated my
+words for the twelve old men, he answered me,&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>"I am Zaphnath, ruler over all the land of Kem,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_209" id="Page_209">[209]</a></span>
+without whom the Pharaoh doeth not, nor sayeth
+anything. These are his twelve wise men, who do
+not believe what thou hast said, for there is no other
+world large enough for the abode of two men, except
+the Day-Giver, whence they think ye have come.
+The Pharaoh may believe them, but I will believe
+what ye tell me. He hath given me full power to
+treat with you, and hath taken refuge with all his
+women in his tomb, and will not come forth until
+ye be appeased. Tell me in truth, then, are ye men,
+or gods? Ye look not half so warlike as all the
+soldiers have described you."</p>
+
+<p>I translated this to the doctor, but replied without
+waiting to consult with him,&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>"We know but one God, who hath made all the
+stars, and all who dwell upon them. We are men
+to whom it hath been given to travel the infinite
+distances which reach from one of His stars to
+another, and we are come to this one, not to make
+war but to find peace. We would have sought thee
+peacefully as friends, had not thine armies made
+war upon us on the plateau yonder. But our means
+of warfare proved far more terrible and dreadful
+here than on our proper star. Thus have we unwittingly
+slain two of thy soldiers and frightened all
+the army. We have with us the means to kill
+them all, but we seek a peaceable life here for a
+brief time, that we may learn your ways and test
+your wisdom, when we shall be gone again."</p>
+
+<p>"The Pharaoh could have better spared a thousand<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_210" id="Page_210">[210]</a></span>
+men than the bird which thy lightning hath
+killed. For are not his slaves as the plenteous grain
+of a rich harvest, while his birds are but as the
+fingers of his hands. If ye came but to learn, 'tis
+well ye know these wise men, though, since I came
+to Kem, their profession hath fallen somewhat into
+disrepute. I doubt not but they could learn far
+more from thee than thou from them, but they will
+not do it. Whatever they do not know is not true
+in Kem, but what they know continues true long
+after common men know better. Now, wilt thou
+explain to me the mysteries the soldiers have
+reported to us? But first tell us which of all the
+stars it is thou comest from."</p>
+
+<p>"Know then, O Zaphnath, that we call our star
+the Earth, and in her wanderings she hath now
+approached so near to the great Orb of Day that her
+rays are paled by his brighter light; she sets with
+him, and shines no more by night. But yet a few
+days now, and she shall triumph even over him,
+and, entering on his glowing disc, she shall be seen
+at mid-day, obscuring his light and travelling as a
+spot across his glory."</p>
+
+<p>The old men wagged their beards as the boy
+translated, but he sprang to his feet with no little
+excitement, and exclaimed,&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>"Meanest thou that blue star with its attendant
+speck of white, which but a little while ago shone
+with great brightness as a Twilight Star?"</p>
+
+<p>"That is the Earth, O Zaphnath, the world from<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_211" id="Page_211">[211]</a></span>
+whence we came," I exclaimed; and the youth again
+threw off his wig and beard, and rushing toward
+me, pressed first his right cheek and then his left
+cheek against mine, and then against the doctor's.</p>
+
+<p>"Then ye are most welcome to the land of Kem,
+and we shall be friends for ever. For ye should
+know that my mother was barren all the years of
+her life until this same Blue Star came to shine
+wondrously, even in the presence of the Day-Giver,
+before his setting. It was then, under the beneficent
+influence of this star, that she gave birth to
+me. And when the star paled and wandered again
+I tarried not in the land of my father, but came
+strangely hither, to be ruler in a great land which
+my people had never known."</p>
+
+<p>When he had resumed his seat again, I said, "All
+that I have told thee shalt thou see come to pass,
+and through this Larger Eye, which we have made
+to pierce the deep of space, thou shalt see more
+clearly that the Blue Star is indeed a great orb,
+where many men may dwell, and after she hath
+passed the Day-Giver, she will appear as a bright
+morning star again to announce his coming."</p>
+
+<p>"Why now, if this be true, then every one of
+these old men must die. For Pharaoh's laws provide
+that whatsoever wise man faileth to predict
+such an appearance, or predicteth one which doth
+not occur, must lose his life. These grey-beards,
+always jealous of me, have said that the Blue Star,
+which beareth my destiny, hath disappeared, never<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_212" id="Page_212">[212]</a></span>
+to be seen again. Now, when they are slain,
+Pharaoh shall appoint you to sit in their places.
+Ye shall reign jointly with Zaphnath if it pleaseth
+you, and ye may choose what seemeth good to
+you of everything that is in the land of Kem and
+in all the countries which pay tribute unto Pharaoh.
+And he will give you as wives all the women ye
+saw in Long Breath Park, and an equal part of
+all the slaves and women taken in war will he
+give you also. For hath he not bidden me treat
+generously with you, even to his tributary countries
+and half his women?"</p>
+
+<p>"We come from a star, O Zaphnath, where men
+desire many things and are never satisfied. But
+of all the things thou offerest us, we wish not one.
+We make no peace unless these old men be left
+alive. We do not know this country or its people,
+wherefore we are most unfit to rule them. We
+wish no slaves, but will pay a hire to one or two
+good men, who may do our daily tasks. And as
+for women, we never choose but one, and then
+only when we know her well and find her equally
+willing."</p>
+
+<p>"Then are ye come from a most strange star
+indeed! But I must tell thee that the laws of the
+Kemi forbid even to the Pharaoh, who hath the
+first claim upon all women, to take to wife a
+woman such as her whose hand thou clingest to
+so warmly. What findest thou in her whose dumb
+tongue could never tell thy praises, and if 'twere<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_213" id="Page_213">[213]</a></span>
+loosened, her mind would still be dumb and
+silent?"</p>
+
+<p>"Who is this woman, then, whom thou sentest
+out to meet us? She alone hath had no fear, and
+hath greeted us in a friendly and a welcome
+manner. Had it not been for her, we might still
+have been loosening our thunder among your soldiers,
+or flashing this lightning in thy face!" I said,
+half drawing my long sword as I spoke.</p>
+
+<p>"She is Thenocris, a poor, unfortunate maiden,
+dumb of tongue and mind," he answered. "In
+my country we would call her mute and senseless,
+but here among the Kemi they revere such ill-starred
+creatures, thinking that because they act
+strangely, and look not upon the world as others
+do, their souls must be turned within to the contemplation
+of hidden and spiritual things. They
+think such creatures know the secrets of the gods,
+and that the gods have made them mute, or speaking
+only silly things, lest those secrets be revealed.
+The people, therefore, give them alms, and suppose
+that they are effectual in intercessions with the
+gods. This girl went out at noon, as was her
+custom, to stand by the gate and ask alms. A
+soldier saw thee seize her hand and hold it strangely
+long, and he reported this to us. Whereupon these
+wise men with one accord decided that ye must
+have come for women, and we set about preparing
+a peace-offering of two thousand maidens for you
+in the Park. Afterwards there came another soldier<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_214" id="Page_214">[214]</a></span>
+later to say that ye had landed in the Park,
+pleased with our offering of the women. Then rose
+yon grey-beard and argued most wisely thus: That
+ye, being such strange creatures, had understood
+best what we understand the least; that thou
+hadst learned the hidden thought of this dumb
+woman by long holding of her hand; that, as ye
+had been friendly to her, she might be able to
+lead you unto us; and lastly, that it would be no
+breach of our laws if thou tookest this woman to
+thine own land and madest her thy wife; that if
+we could thus save our city, and the lives of the
+people, it would be wisdom to give her to thee,
+together with all the women in the Park. Then
+another grey-beard, wishing to share the credit for
+a wise idea, arose and insisted that it would be ill
+in us to keep the strange white animal, which one
+of the men found upon the plateau. We knew
+that ye must have brought this, for in all our land
+we have no four-footed thing smaller than the
+useful burden-carrying asses ye have seen. Wherefore,
+the wisdom of the grey-beards being now complete,
+we sent the dumb girl and the white animal
+out with the soldier, and they have brought you
+hither."</p>
+
+<p>"So you have been falling in love with a queen
+of your own making, who is no more than a dumb
+idiot!" chuckled the doctor.</p>
+
+<p>"Silence!" I shouted hotly, for I was unspeakably
+sorry for the poor girl. "There are softer,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_215" id="Page_215">[215]</a></span>
+kinder words than those by which to call a poor
+blank soul that's born awry. The Kemi are quite
+right, for this girl, having no sense, has yet been
+wiser to-day than both of us and all these wise
+men." Then turning, I addressed the ruler in
+Hebrew:</p>
+
+<p>"Thou shouldst know that in our land the seizing
+of the right hand is a salutation of friendship and
+welcome, much the same as the pressure of the
+cheek is here. We had vainly tried to signal to
+your soldiers that we were friendly, and when this
+woman stretched out her pretty hand I was pleased
+to seize it warmly. Call thou a soldier now and
+send her safely home. Let the white rabbit belong
+henceforth to her. She hath unwittingly been
+God's messenger in bringing us together. Mayhap
+she hath saved the lives of many of the people.
+Wherefore let them remember her, and henceforth
+treat her kindly. And as for those other women
+in the Park, bid them all return to their homes,
+and let it generally be known that there will be
+peace, and no further war. The terms of truce we
+will arrange with thee and with the Pharaoh somewhat
+later. We wish no gifts or offerings of peace.
+No more do we desire than that the Pharaoh shall
+entertain us for a season until we learn your ways,
+and then permit us to live quietly in this, your
+city, obedient to your laws, and pursuing such
+careers as our abilities may fit us for."</p>
+
+<p>"All this that ye desire, and more, most gladly<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_216" id="Page_216">[216]</a></span>
+shall be done, and a grand festival shall be appointed
+for this night to celebrate the peace. The
+Pharaoh will entertain you and his royal friends
+with feasting and with dancing, and the terms of
+the compact between us shall then be ratified."</p>
+
+<p>At this point a grey-beard interrupted the young
+ruler, and a spirited conversation took place between
+them, after which the youth asked,&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>"Tell me now, are there not many more such
+men as ye upon the Blue Star, who may come to
+wage a further war with us?"</p>
+
+<p>"Have no fear for that," I answered. "The
+vessel in which we came is the sole means of
+bridging that vast space, and no more can come,
+unless indeed we bring them. But all of them shall
+keep the covenant we make with thee."</p>
+
+<p>Then Zaphnath held a long consultation with the
+wise men, which ended by the summoning of three
+soldiers&mdash;one to take the woman home, another to
+carry the news of peace to the Park and to the
+people, and the third, as I supposed, to convey a
+message to the Pharaoh; but before the last was
+despatched, Zaphnath said to me,&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>"Our messengers reported a third curious person
+with you, having a much larger body and long
+moving horns. What have ye done with him? Is
+he left in charge of your travelling house?"</p>
+
+<p>Then I explained this circumstance to them, as
+well as the incident of my smoking, which I
+promised to repeat at the banquet in the evening.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_217" id="Page_217">[217]</a></span>
+After hearing this they dispatched the third messenger.</p>
+
+<p>"We have heard, not only that ye breathed
+smoke and carried flames in your limbs, but that
+your flesh was of iron, invulnerable to arrows; that
+ye were stronger than birds, and carried the thunder
+and lightnings of the gods with which to kill;
+and that ye were able to walk through the air as
+well as on the ground."</p>
+
+<p>"'Tis true we are stronger than any birds upon
+our proper star, and that we kill with a thunder
+and a lightning. Our flesh is tougher and more
+solid than thine, yet 'tis not of iron. But tell me,
+what knowest thou of iron?"</p>
+
+<p>"'Tis a rare, precious metal which we coin for
+money, but I see thou carriest much of it. Thy
+thunderers are made of it."</p>
+
+<p>"And hast thou no metal, bright and yellow,
+such as this?" I asked, exhibiting my gold watch.</p>
+
+<p>"In truth, the Pharaoh alone is able to possess
+such riches, and in all the land of Kem there is
+no such huge lump of it as that!" he exclaimed in
+wonder, while the sleepy wise men opened their
+big eyes.</p>
+
+<p>"We have within our belts many coins of this,
+which we may barter with the Pharaoh for things
+more plenteous here."</p>
+
+<p>"Are ye travelling traders then, or what were
+your occupations on the Blue Star? Were ye
+warriors, rulers, wise men, or owners of the soil?"<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_218" id="Page_218">[218]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>"My good friend here hath been a wise man, as
+thou must know from his grey beard," I answered,
+smiling at the doctor. "He hath been a teacher
+of knowledge to the people, and it was his superior
+wisdom which contrived the house in which we
+travelled hither."</p>
+
+<p>"But hath it not been a folly to teach wisdom
+to the people? When they have learned, the
+wise man turneth fool! Wisdom groweth ripe by
+being bottled, but whoso poureth it out for every
+thirsty drinker wasteth good wine upon gross
+beasts!"</p>
+
+<p>"In its youth our star held to these opinions, but
+now it teacheth wisdom to every child, and in this
+manner we have made progress into many things
+not even dreamed of here. As for my own profession,
+I have been a dealer in wheat, the bread-grain
+of our star. Hast thou here such a small
+grain growing at the bearded end of a tall straw?"</p>
+
+<p>"In truth, the land of Kem raiseth so large a
+store of such a grain as to feed all the surrounding
+countries! Our greatest traffic is in this wheat.
+Hast thou not seen the green fields of it lining the
+banks of the Nasr-Nil, until the sight tires following
+it? This season there cometh such a crop
+as Kem hath never seen before, and for six years
+we have been blest with its plenty&mdash;&mdash;"</p>
+
+<p>Here he was interrupted by the hurried return
+of the third messenger, who addressed him in excited
+tones. As the Kemi use no gestures, and but<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_219" id="Page_219">[219]</a></span>
+little facial expression in their conversation, I could
+not guess the import of his message. Therefore
+when it was translated by the youth it was all the
+more surprising.</p>
+
+<p>"The soldier saith that a certain curious man
+of Kem, anxious to explore thy travelling house,
+ventured within it, when presently it rose and
+sailed away with him far out of the city, and was
+lost from sight in the red distance!"</p>
+
+<p>This was an unforeseen, stupefying development.
+I left the doctor to guard our things, and rushing
+out I leaped the courtyard wall and ran with all
+haste to the Park. The projectile was gone! No
+sign or trace of it was anywhere to be seen. Willingly
+or not, we were henceforth chained to Mars!</p>
+
+<hr /><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_220" id="Page_220">[220]</a></span></p>
+<h2>CHAPTER VI</h2>
+
+<h3>The Iron Men from the Blue Star</h3>
+
+<p class="cap"><span class="dcap">Returning</span> from Long Breath, I could not
+but notice the entire subsidence of the
+terror, which had previously been so marked, and
+the general signs of rejoicing which were now
+taking its place. It was easy to see that I was
+an object of absorbing interest and busy comment.
+No one pointed the finger at me, for that rude
+gesture was as unknown as it was unnecessary.
+The mere turning of a great pair of eyes quickly
+in my direction was an indication, significant
+enough, that I was being denoted.</p>
+
+<p>I now understood the more composed behaviour
+of the women. They were accustomed to the idea
+of being taken in war, and never suffered slaughter
+or hardship thereby, but merely a change of
+masters. As they now left the Park they eyed
+me curiously, as if wondering from what sort of
+new master they had escaped. I imagined I could
+detect some signs of disappointment among them,
+at being cheated out of a trip to a new star or
+being dismissed from the service of a god. Occasionally<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_221" id="Page_221">[221]</a></span>
+one of them would incline her head
+gently to the right to meet her rising hand, in a
+dignified salutation. I approached one of the
+fairest of these and extended my hand. She
+seemed rather surprised, but calmly placed an iron
+coin in my palm! Evidently I must make haste
+to learn the Kemish salutation, or I would pass
+for a common beggar! My hand certainly did
+look hard and brown, compared with her perfectly
+white and transparent skin, through which the
+blood suffused the beautiful pink flush of life. But
+even if a hotter sun had scorched and tanned my
+hand, it did not look as dark and tough as the
+coin, although the soldiers had spread the report
+that our flesh was of iron.</p>
+
+<p>The chief business activity in the city seemed
+to be the transporting from the surrounding
+country of an endless number of fibrous bags
+filled with the bread-grain. I saw some of these
+bags open in the shops, and the grain was shaped
+like wheat, but as large and less solid than a
+coffee berry. Trains of asses bearing these bags
+were seen in every street and entering by every
+gate. Each train of fifteen or twenty asses was
+driven by a sandalled Martian, wearing the spread
+bird-wing which seemed to denote the Pharaoh's
+service. The animals had the lazy, sluggish,
+plodding habits which I expected, and in these
+respects their driver differed very little from them.
+He gave an occasional long hiss, followed by<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_222" id="Page_222">[222]</a></span>
+a jerky grunt, which sounded like "sh-h-h-h,
+kuhnk!" and was evidently intended to hurry the
+animals, but it served them quite as well as a
+lullaby. These drivers, who doubtless had just
+been hearing stories of me, were a little surprised
+at coming upon me so soon, but looked me over
+deliberately, as if calculating how much iron
+money I would make, if there were no waste in
+the coinage!</p>
+
+<p>But I hastened back to the doctor at the Palace,
+being obliged to leap the courtyard wall again, for
+I was not acquainted with the signal to command
+the Terror-birds. He expected no other report of
+the projectile than the one I brought.</p>
+
+<p>"The only hope is that the meddling Martian
+may have turned in but one battery," he said.
+"In time this will exhaust itself, and the projectile
+will tumble back upon Mars. If it should
+strike in the water, it may not be shattered, but
+of course it might be submerged. The chances
+that we will ever see it again are extremely remote.
+If it should be discovered anywhere on
+the planet, it would probably be coined up into
+money, and the fortune of the Pharaoh would
+hardly buy us iron enough to make another.
+Well, the unexpected always happens. It was a
+fatal mistake ever to have left it."</p>
+
+<p>"If it is gone for good," I answered, "let us
+hope that this planet may suit us better than the
+Earth, anyhow. We are certain of an easy existence<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_223" id="Page_223">[223]</a></span>
+here at least. One shield will coin into money
+enough to supply our wants a long time. If we
+had not been so dreadfully secretive on Earth, perhaps
+some one, infringing our ideas, might have built
+another projectile and sent a relief expedition!"</p>
+
+<p>Preparations for the banquet were rapidly being
+made about the Palace by men servants. We saw
+no female servants, and we learned afterward that
+they did no menial work, except the serving of
+the meals, which was rather an artistic duty.</p>
+
+<p>We were conducted to two large ante-chambers,
+adjoining the banquet room, where we deposited
+our armament and proceeded to make ourselves at
+home as well as we could. The rooms were gloomy
+and poorly lighted, but a great number of servants
+were busy waiting upon us, and one presently
+brought in four portable gas-burners, placing them
+in a circle about my head as I reclined on a large
+pillow of soft down, laid on the floor. These
+burners thus furnished both heat and light, and
+nearly all the rooms were thus lighted and heated
+throughout the day. They had windows and a
+very thick, coarse, translucent but not transparent
+glass in them. But as the sunlight was never
+strong, rooms were rarely ever light enough for
+comfort without the flames of gas.</p>
+
+<p>This was my first acquaintance with Martian
+gases, which I soon found to be very numerous
+and various in use. On the other hand, very few
+liquids existed. The atmospheric pressure was so<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_224" id="Page_224">[224]</a></span>
+low that what might have existed normally as
+liquids on Earth, took the form of heavy gases
+here. In every case they were heavier than the
+air, so that they remained in vessels just as a
+liquid would have done. The four lamps were
+made of reeds and shaped like the letter <b>U</b>. The
+right-hand side of the <b>U</b> was a large vertical reed,
+connecting neatly at the bottom with a very much
+smaller reed forming the other prong and terminating
+at the top in a tip of baked earth, turned
+downward, so that it would discharge the gas away
+from the lamp. A light stone weight was fitted
+to slide neatly down the large vertical tube in
+which the gas was stored, and thus force the gas
+up to the burner in the smaller tube. If a brighter
+light was desired, a heavier weight was put on,
+and to extinguish the light it was only necessary
+to lift the weight, which cut off the supply from
+the burner.</p>
+
+<p>While lying on the downy floor-cushion, I was
+strangely annoyed by the faint and distant howling
+of a dog. It seemed to come from the banquet
+room adjoining mine, or from the doctor's room on
+the other side. I called in the doctor, who said he
+heard nothing and had seen no dogs on Mars. He
+tried to make me believe it was a fancy of mine.
+But presently when a servant entered, he seemed
+to hear it instantly, for he turned quickly about
+and left, but it was fully half an hour later before
+the plaintive howling ceased.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_225" id="Page_225">[225]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>"These Kemish people have better ears than we
+have," I remarked to the doctor.</p>
+
+<p>"Yes, both their ears and eyes are much better
+suited to the conditions of fainter light, and higher,
+thinner sounds. There may be music at the
+banquet to-night which we cannot hear at all in
+some of its notes."</p>
+
+<p>"If there are no foods whose delicate flavours
+we fail to taste, I shall be able to get along quite
+well. I am extremely hungry, and quite ready for
+a change of fare." We had only eaten a hasty
+lunch when we had re-entered the projectile at
+Long Breath to await the return of the soldier.</p>
+
+<p>Zaphnath himself came to conduct us to the
+banquet room, and we were much surprised at its
+dark and gloomy character. The entire vast enclosure
+had but twenty-one flickering fire-brands,
+suspended overhead and in front of us, to furnish
+light. There were no tables or chairs, no flowers
+or decorations, no sign of anything to eat. Other
+guests were moving about through the semi-darkness
+to their places, seemingly without inconvenience.
+I was whispering to the doctor that I would
+need eyes of much greater candle power to enjoy
+the function, when we arrived at our places. A
+double row of comfortable cushions ran along the
+edge of our floor, where it seemed to sink to a
+lower terrace, whence we could hear the indistinct
+hum of women's voices. Zaphnath took his seat
+on a raised cushion in the middle of the row, and<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_226" id="Page_226">[226]</a></span>
+motioned me to the cushion on his right and the
+doctor to his left. Eighteen other guests now
+reclined upon their cushions to left and right, so
+that we were all arranged in a direct line, facing
+the lower terrace whence came the feminine buzz.
+Directly opposite each of us was an empty cushion,
+but no table.</p>
+
+<p>I was wondering at it all when the fire-brand
+farthest from me suddenly exploded a great flaming
+ball of fire, and we all sprang to our feet. From
+the terrace below came a grand burst of reed music,
+a swelling chorus of women's voices, and then each
+fire-brand in quick succession exploded a burst of
+flame, which floated down toward the dancing
+women, but expired above their heads. I soon
+saw that these white fire-balls, which continued
+in quick succession throughout the banquet, and
+afforded us a glorious if a somewhat appalling
+light, were caused by the successive discharges of
+small volumes of heavy gas from twenty-one reed-tanks
+in the comb of the roof, one above each of
+the fire-brands. When the discharged gas had
+floated down to the fire-brand beneath it, there
+was a quick, bright explosion, and the flame sank
+menacingly toward the women below.</p>
+
+<p>The burst of music, the chorus of huzzahs, and
+the flashing forth of light, proved to be a welcome
+to the Pharaoh, who was standing proudly on his
+great throne opposite us, across the terrace and
+somewhat higher, whence he could look down upon<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_227" id="Page_227">[227]</a></span>
+the dancers and singers. He wore a crown of thin
+iron, surmounted by a golden asp. His elaborately
+curled wig did not conceal his ears, from which
+large golden pendants hung almost to his shoulders.
+His own beard was waxed and curled, and trimmed
+to the shape of a beaver's tail. His dress is best
+described by calling it a feather velvet, edged with
+flaring wing and tail plumes of iridescent colours.
+In this feather cloth there was none of the rough,
+gaudy show of the savage, but a discriminating,
+tasteful blending of colours and harmony of design,
+imitated from the beauty of the bird itself.</p>
+
+<p>Grouped about him on the approaches to his
+throne were one-and-twenty of his favourite
+women, beautifully dressed in feather textures, with
+the curved neck and head of a bird surmounting
+their brows. But their costume was scant and
+simple compared with that of the dancing girls
+below us. They wore a wonderful head-dress,
+composed of the entire body of a small peacock.
+The head and neck were arched over the forehead,
+the back fitted tightly, like a hat over their head,
+the drooping wings covered their ears, while the
+fully spread tail arched above their head in its
+wonderful opalescence. Much of the snowy whiteness
+of their backs and breasts was bare, and a
+downy feather ribbon circled the necks, wrists, and
+ankles. A two-headed iron serpent with golden
+eyes clasped the upper arm and gartered the knee,
+but no jewels of any kind were to be seen. All<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_228" id="Page_228">[228]</a></span>
+the dancers carried long decorated reeds, which
+they flourished wondrously, and with which occasionally
+they executed the most surprising leaps.
+While there was a stateliness about their movements,
+there were also the most startling acrobatic
+surprises, made possible by the feeble gravity.</p>
+
+<p>The singing women, or what might be called
+the chorus, were in twelve sets, each group clad
+in a different colour or design of feather-silk.
+Their head-dress, while composed of the entire
+body of a bird of plumage, lacked the flamboyant
+tail of the peacock. The music was weird and
+whimsical, as there were neither stringed nor brass
+instruments. It was made wholly by women playing
+upon a vast variety of drums and reeds. There
+were all sizes of whistling reeds or flutes; several
+of these of different lengths were grouped into
+one instrument like the pipes of Pan; a series of
+long hollow reeds, when rapidly struck, gave forth
+a marvellous cadence; while groups of small drums,
+of different size and tensity, gave curious tones.
+The whole effect was weirdly eloquent, rather than
+racy or exciting.</p>
+
+<p>When the burst of welcome was ended, Zaphnath
+stretched forth his hand and exclaimed, first to us
+in Hebrew, and then in Kemish,&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>"O Pharaoh, whose power and wisdom from all
+the Pharaohs have descended, behold, I bring unto
+thee these two iron men from the Blue Star, who,
+though excelling in the arts of war, are yet pleased<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_229" id="Page_229">[229]</a></span>
+to come out of the ruddy heavens to practise peace
+amongst us!"</p>
+
+<p>And thus did Zaphnath translate the Pharaoh's
+response to us:&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>"Unto Ptah, the Centre of Things, to whom the
+myriad stars of the heavens are but ministering
+slaves, I, Pharaoh of Kem, do give you welcome.
+Whatever pleaseth you in the largeness of this
+rich land, or in the matchless beauty of our women,
+shall be unto you as if ye had owned it always."</p>
+
+<p>Whereupon the other guests turned toward us
+with the right hand upon the cheek, and we
+awkwardly attempted the same salutation. Then
+a group of the singing women, twenty-one in
+number, tripping to the weird music, came up the
+steps which led to our floor, carrying covered
+dishes. At the top they turned and saluted the
+Pharaoh, and then took their places, one upon each
+of the cushions opposite us. Before uncovering
+the dishes they took me a little by surprise, by
+bending forward and pressing their warm, pink
+cheek against the right cheek of the guest they
+were about to serve. My maiden unconsciously
+shivered a little, for my cheek must have felt cold,
+even though my surprised blushes did their best to
+warm it. Her dish, when opened, contained nothing
+but flowers, waxy white, but emitting a delicately
+sweet perfume. She held them toward my face,
+and presently breathed gently across them, as if to
+waft their perfume to me. Then scattering them<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_230" id="Page_230">[230]</a></span>
+about my cushion, she pressed her left cheek to
+mine, arose and tripped down the steps again.
+There was a modest self-possession about her which
+enchanted me, and I hoped she would soon return
+bringing something more substantial.</p>
+
+<p>But another group of maidens, differently
+clothed, had already begun to mount towards us
+with earthen goblets and reed-pitchers, which
+looked as if they might contain wine. Dropping
+on her knees on the cushion before me, this maiden
+saluted me as the other had done. Then sitting
+gracefully before me, she tipped her reed pitcher
+toward the goblet, and poured out apparently
+nothing! But, watching the others, I saw them
+carry the goblet to their lips and draw a deep
+breath from it, while tipping it as one might a
+glass of wine. I did the same, and inhaled a deep
+draught of stimulating, wine-flavoured gas, which,
+when I exhaled it through the nostrils, proved to
+be deliciously perfumed.</p>
+
+<p>"I have heard of some poets who could dine
+upon the fragrance of flowers and sup the sweetness
+of a woman's kiss, but I am hungry for grosser
+things," I whispered to the doctor.</p>
+
+<p>"There are ten other groups of these serving
+maidens to come up to us," he replied. "They will
+certainly bring us something more tangible before
+it is over. Meantime, while we are in Kem, let us
+imitate the Kemish;" and I must say he was succeeding
+remarkably well.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_231" id="Page_231">[231]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>The next maiden who tripped up toward me
+was wonderfully beautiful and most becomingly
+dressed. I was a little disappointed that, upon
+taking her place on the cushion in front of me, she
+omitted the salutation the others had given.
+However, she carried a small flask in her right
+hand, which she placed near my mouth. Then
+opening the top of it slightly, it jetted forth a
+deliciously perfumed fine spray, which moistened
+my lips. Waiting just a moment for me to enjoy
+the perfume, she then pressed her pretty cheeks
+in turn against my lips, until they were soft and
+dry. This was the nearest approach to a kiss
+which I saw among these people, and I learned
+it was given always just before eating solid food.
+The plate she carried to me contained small morsels
+of fish, served upon neat little wheaten cakes.
+There was no knife, fork, chopstick, or anything
+of that kind, but each little cake was lifted with
+its morsel of fish, and they were together just a
+delicate mouthful. This maiden quite took my
+fancy, and I watched her evolutions and listened
+for her voice in the chorus during the rest of the
+banquet, for she had no more serving to do.</p>
+
+<p>After this course Zaphnath arose, and waving to
+the music and singing to cease, he thus addressed
+the Pharaoh:&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>"It doth appear, O Pharaoh, that these visitors
+of ours come from a strange, small world, where,
+though much is done, but little is enjoyed. At thy<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_232" id="Page_232">[232]</a></span>
+bidding I have offered unto them all the luxuries
+of Kem, such as our people strive all their lives
+for, and dying still desire; but they wish no gifts
+or presents. Like slaves they only wish to work,
+but at some noble, fitting occupation. This
+younger man, whose wondrous learning hath
+taught him to speak even the tongues of other
+worlds, hath been a great handler of grain upon
+his proper star, and for him the fitting occupation
+is not far to seek. Thou knowest how the gathering
+of thy bounteous harvests hath distracted my
+own attention from weightier matters; wherefore,
+O Pharaoh, I do entreat thee to put into his charge
+the labour of gathering, storing, and distributing
+all thy harvests; and as a fitting compensation, let
+him have one measure of grain for every twenty
+that he shall gather for thee."</p>
+
+<p>Nothing could have suited my wishes and
+abilities better, and my pay on Earth had been
+only one measure in five hundred. The Pharaoh's
+reply was thus translated to us,&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>"The gods put into thy mouth, O Zaphnath,
+only the ripeness of their wisdom, and Pharaoh
+granteth thy requests ere they are uttered. But
+what desireth the wise man?"</p>
+
+<p>To this I made answer for the doctor,&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>"When thou knowest his wondrous wisdom
+touching many things, O Pharaoh, thou mayest
+think fit to give him a place among thy wise men,
+where they may learn from him and he from them.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_233" id="Page_233">[233]</a></span>
+Will it please thee to send a slave for the Larger
+Eye and have it placed by yonder window, and
+he will presently show unto thee many of the
+wonders of the starry heavens that are hidden
+beyond the reach of man's unaided vision."</p>
+
+<p>While two slaves were despatched in charge of
+a soldier to bring the telescope, we were served
+with a highly-sparkling, gas-charged wine, which
+further whetted my appetite. Then came another
+maiden with a small roast bird, neatly and delicately
+carved, and each tempting piece was laid
+upon a small lozenge of bread. I never ate anything
+with more relish.</p>
+
+<p>There was an excited buzz among the women,
+and the Pharaoh himself was visibly affected at
+the sight of the telescope, whose burnished brass
+was evidently mistaken for gold. The doctor
+mounted it upon the backs of slaves near a high
+window, whence there was a good view of the
+heavens, and signalled to me to explain its use.</p>
+
+<p>"O Zaphnath, wilt thou make known unto the
+Pharaoh, and these, his guests, that the wondrous
+value of this instrument lieth not in its bright and
+glistening appearance, but in the farther reach
+and truer vision of the heavenly bodies which it
+affordeth us. With this we ascertain all and far
+more than yon monstrous Gnomons tell thee; we
+learn the periods of the day, the seasons of the
+year, and vastly more than our common tongue
+hath words to tell thee of. Tell me, what callest<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_234" id="Page_234">[234]</a></span>
+thou yon risen orb, which hasteneth a rapid backward
+journey through the heavens?" I asked,
+indicating the full disc of Phobos.</p>
+
+<p>"That is the Perverse Daughter, sole disobedient
+Child of Night, whose stubborn, contrary ways are
+justly punished by her mother. For she must
+draw a veil across her brilliant face for a brief
+period during every hasty trip she makes."</p>
+
+<p>"Behold her, then, just entering upon her punishment!"
+I exclaimed, for the regular eclipse was
+just beginning. "Look! and tell us all thou
+seest."</p>
+
+<p>"I see a glorious orb, far larger than the Day-Giver
+and very near to Ptah! But it is the Perverse
+Daughter, grown larger and come nearer,
+for she alone knoweth how to draw the veil of
+night across her face like that. Now she hath
+fully hidden! It is most wonderful, O Pharaoh!"</p>
+
+<p>"Be not deceived by mere appearance, O Zaphnath,"
+replied the Pharaoh. "All that thou seest
+may be contained within the thing thou gazest
+into. 'Tis true, the Perverse Daughter hath drawn
+her veil, but be thou sure thou seest what is beyond
+and not merely what is within."</p>
+
+<p>As soon as this was translated to us, the doctor
+focussed the telescope upon the Gnomons, which
+were just visible over the edge of the plateau, and
+I said,&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>"Look now again, and behold all the familiar
+features of the landscape, the plateau yonder and<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_235" id="Page_235">[235]</a></span>
+the ponderous Gnomons, which could never be contained
+within this little enclosure."</p>
+
+<p>"'Tis all most true, O Pharaoh, and with this
+little instrument thy reign may be more glorious,
+and come to greater wisdom, than any of that long
+line of Pharaohs, whose toiling slaves have built
+the towering Gnomons. Let this grey-beard be
+made chief of all thy wise men; let the others
+teach him our language and make him acquainted
+with all our monuments and records; also command
+them to record most faithfully all the wonders
+which he is able to reveal. Mayhap he may be
+able to write thy name among the stars of night,
+to shine for ever, instead of upon the crumbling
+stone which telleth of thy ancestors!"</p>
+
+<p>"O men of Kem," replied the Pharaoh, addressing
+the other guests, "hear ye the wisdom of Zaphnath,
+which cometh with the swift wings of birds,
+while thy halting counsel stumbleth slowly upon
+the lazy legs of asses! What Zaphnath asketh
+hath already been decreed touching these two men
+from the Blue Star, provided only that they live
+peaceably among us obedient to our laws."</p>
+
+<p>We assured him of our obedience and our best
+efforts to discharge our new duties, whereupon the
+feast continued. Courses of small birds' eggs and
+of fruits and confections were each served by a
+separate group of maidens. When the feast was
+finally completed, I turned to Zaphnath with my
+cigars and said,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_236" id="Page_236">[236]</a></span>&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>"In our travelling house I brought with me
+many such things as these and others of a smaller,
+milder form, which might delight the women; but
+now that the house is gone, I have but three, one
+of which wilt thou send to the Pharaoh, one keep
+for thyself, and the other I will smoke to show you
+the manner of it. There is naught to fear about
+them; your taste for heavy vapours will have
+prepared you to enjoy the warmth and fragrance of
+this peculiar weed."</p>
+
+<p>A servant came to carry the one to the Pharaoh,
+and I struck a match upon the stone floor and held
+the cigar designed for Zaphnath in the flame.
+Then I touched the flame to my own, and puffing
+gently, I asked Zaphnath to do the same. When I
+saw that his custom of inhaling gases led him to
+breathe in the smoke, I puffed very slowly and
+gently, until he should become accustomed to it.
+When Pharaoh saw that it did no harm to Zaphnath,
+he lighted his own and inhaled the smoke in
+long draughts with evident gusto.</p>
+
+<p>"How sayest thou, O Zaphnath," he said at last.
+"Is not this warm vapour most stimulating? It is
+a treat worth all the rest of the banquet. Continual
+feasting hath made the luxuries of Kem to
+pall upon me, but this hath novelty and comfort in
+it. If, indeed, there were many of these in thy
+travelling house, my slaves shall search all the
+width and breadth of Ptah, until it be found."</p>
+
+<p>The music now burst forth again in new volume,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_237" id="Page_237">[237]</a></span>
+and the singing girls went through a new evolution,
+which broke up their groups and formed
+twelve new ones, containing one girl from each of
+the previous sets. Then the entire number began
+ascending the steps together, and I noted that
+those approaching me were the twelve maidens
+who had served me during the banquet. They
+came and circled around me, and presently stopped
+with their hands upon their cheeks in salute. The
+other groups did the same to the guests they had
+served, and each guest selected a maiden by
+saluting her upon the cheek, whereupon she left
+her circle and took her position upon the cushion
+opposite him. Zaphnath, seeing that we did not
+understand this ceremony, explained it to me.</p>
+
+<p>"It is an ancient custom with the Pharaoh to
+present each of his guests with a living reminder
+of the occasion and his hospitality. Wherefore he
+desireth thee to choose which of the twelve serving
+maidens hath pleased thee best, and he will give
+her to thee, to be always thy maidservant."</p>
+
+<p>I translated this to the doctor, and watched him
+curiously, with an inquiring twinkle in my eye.</p>
+
+<p>"Let us accept them, and bestow their liberty
+upon them," he said.</p>
+
+<p>I immediately chose the third maiden, who had
+pressed her pink cheeks to my lips, and when she
+came to sit opposite to me upon the cushion, I
+spoke to her through Zaphnath,&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>"Thy ways have pleased me, but upon my star<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_238" id="Page_238">[238]</a></span>
+we do not think it proper to own any slaves.
+When we know well-favoured and graceful women,
+such as thou art, we prefer to be their slaves, rather
+than they ours. If I could take thee with me to
+the Earth, the laws there would set thee free to do
+whatever pleased thee best. Wishest thou that I
+make thee free here?"</p>
+
+<p>She was evidently surprised when Zaphnath put
+this question to her. She replied in a sincere and
+pleading tone, but her words astonished me,&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>"Whatever the dark Man of Ice wisheth, I will
+do. I know not why he hath asked what I desire.
+He speaketh of freedom, but I beseech him not to
+send me back to that! I was born an unhappy
+and masterless maiden, and many years I struggled
+and laboured for a miserable existence. I drove
+asses, gleaned in the fields, and did the menial
+work of men. But I felt I was fit for better,
+nobler things. At last, I heard that the armies of
+the Pharaoh were coming to my land, and I took
+heed of my appearance, put on my neatest feather
+clothing, and went to throw myself before the
+soldiers. They were pleased with me, and brought
+me to this city, where fortune favoured me, and
+Pharaoh, looking over all the women whom the
+soldiers brought from the wars, chose me, with
+many others, to join his household. And here in
+the Palace for a few years I have been happy and
+well cared for. I pray thee do not turn me out
+again; do not degrade me to the labour and misery<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_239" id="Page_239">[239]</a></span>
+of freedom. Even the beasts have masters! They
+are housed, and fed, and cared for; why should I
+then be cast out and left to drudge or beg?"</p>
+
+<p>"Doth she mean this?" I exclaimed. "What
+then is the chief aim of women in Kem? What is
+the highest state to which they may aspire?"</p>
+
+<p>"'Tis a strange, simple question!" he answered.
+"There is no greater blessing for a woman than
+to belong to the household of the Pharaoh. Here
+they are delighted with constant music and dancing;
+their beauty is cultivated and heightened by
+rich and tasteful clothing; and their charms and
+graces may win for them a selection as one of the
+one-and-twenty favourites of the Pharaoh. What
+they fear most is being chosen and carried away by
+guests whose palaces and ways of life are less
+luxurious than the Pharaoh's."</p>
+
+<p>"Why then, as we have no palaces and wish no
+slaves, it were best to return these maidens to the
+Pharaoh if they will be happier and better cared
+for here than anywhere else in all the land of
+Kem," I said to Zaphnath.</p>
+
+<p>"This age is not ripe for the grand idea of freedom
+which dominates our own," remarked the
+doctor, as we returned the grateful maidens to
+the constant delights of an ornate and sensuous
+slavery.</p>
+
+<hr /><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_240" id="Page_240">[240]</a></span></p>
+<h2>CHAPTER VII</h2>
+
+<h3>Parallel Planetary Life</h3>
+
+<p class="cap"><span class="dcap">I was</span> sleeping soundly on my deliciously soft
+heap of downy pillows, when in the early
+morning I was awakened by a pounding on the
+door of the ante-chamber. As one always wakens
+from a sound sleep with his most familiar language
+upon his tongue, I cried out in English, "Who's
+there?" The doctor answered, wishing to be let
+in. I fumbled about in the darkness sleepily, and
+opened the door, and he lighted two of my gas-lamps
+with the one he carried. He looked rather
+tired and worn.</p>
+
+<p>"I am possessed by a tyrant idea, which will not
+let me sleep," he said. "I must get rid of it before
+morning. Come, get your senses about you, and
+listen to me," he commanded, as I yawned and
+rubbed my fists into my eyes, blinded by the
+sudden strong light.</p>
+
+<p>"If you think I can sleep with it any better
+than you can, out with it," I answered.</p>
+
+<p>"How does it happen that a young Hebrew is
+ruler over all these people?" he demanded.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_241" id="Page_241">[241]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>"Do you lie awake thinking up conundrums?"
+I ejaculated.</p>
+
+<p>"On Earth, what notable Jews have been rulers
+over a great people not of their own race?" he
+continued.</p>
+
+<p>"Disraeli in England, Joseph in Egypt, and&mdash;well,
+that is all I can think of just now."</p>
+
+<p>"Perhaps that is enough. Egypt was the
+greatest grain-raising country in Joseph's time,
+wasn't it?"</p>
+
+<p>"Yes, of course," I answered. "And Joseph's
+rule began with seven years of most wonderful
+crops."</p>
+
+<p>"Zaphnath told us this morning that the seventh
+great crop, and the most plenteous of all, is now
+growing," he interrupted.</p>
+
+<p>"What has that to do with Joseph? We are
+not on Earth, but on Mars. Have you been dreaming?
+Zaphnath is&mdash;&mdash; But, by the way, Joseph's
+Egyptian name was Zaphnath-paaneah, meaning a
+revealer of secrets! When I heard that name
+this morning, I thought it was strangely familiar.
+Pharaoh called him that when he appointed
+him ruler, because he had interpreted his
+dream," I said, just realizing the very peculiar
+coincidence.</p>
+
+<p>"You are as good as a Bible!" cried the doctor.
+"Perhaps you can also remember by which of
+Jacob's wives Joseph was born?"</p>
+
+<p>"Of course I can. He was the first son of<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_242" id="Page_242">[242]</a></span>
+Rachel, the wife whom Jacob really loved, and
+worked fourteen years to secure."</p>
+
+<p>"But how could he have ten older brothers, if he
+was Rachel's first son?" he demanded, a little
+perplexed.</p>
+
+<p>"They were all the sons of her sister Leah and
+her handmaidens. Rachel was barren all her life
+until Joseph was born," I explained.</p>
+
+<p>"And Zaphnath said this morning that his
+mother was barren all the years of her life that
+the Blue Star wandered. He also called himself
+revealer of God's hidden things."</p>
+
+<p>"Yes; and it struck me as peculiar at the time
+that he said of '<i>God's</i>' not of '<i>the gods'</i>,'" I reflected.
+"Evidently he thinks there is but one God. The
+whole matter is altogether peculiar."</p>
+
+<p>"Here are the facts," replied the doctor. "Listen
+to them attentively. We have dropped down into
+a civilization here upon Mars which coincides in
+every important particular with that of the
+Ancient Egyptians on Earth. They are great
+builders, erecters of monuments, raisers of grain,
+polygamists, and they now have a young Hebrew
+ruler, corresponding in every important respect
+with Joseph. We chance to have arrived during
+the seventh year of plenty of Joseph's rule. Grain
+abounds; the soil brings it forth 'by handfuls.' It
+is, 'as the sand of the sea, very much,' and the
+Pharaoh, probably at the suggestion of his young
+ruler, is storing it up&mdash;&mdash;"<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_243" id="Page_243">[243]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>"By all the Patriarchs!" I interrupted. "They
+are running a wheat corner, and I didn't know it!
+Go on, go on!"</p>
+
+<p>"These are all very singular coincidences with
+a history which was enacted many thousands of
+years ago on Earth. Now, how can you explain
+their strange recurrence here?" he queried.</p>
+
+<p>"How should I know? I haven't been lying
+awake! How do you explain them?" I asked, full
+of interest.</p>
+
+<p>"I have tossed on my pillows in there for three
+hours evolving a theory for it. If it is correct, our
+opportunities here in Kem are simply enormous.
+Now listen, and don't interrupt me. The Creator
+has given all the habitable planets the same great
+problem of life to work out. Every one of His
+worlds in its time passes through the same general
+history. This runs parallel on all of them, but at
+a different speed on each. The swift ones, nearest
+to the sun, have hurried through it, and may be
+close upon the end. But this is a slow planet,
+whose year is almost twice as long as the Earth's,
+and more than three times that of Venus. The
+seasons pass sluggishly here, and history ripens
+slowly. This world has only reached that early
+chapter in the story equivalent to Ancient Egypt
+on Earth. We have forged far ahead of that, and
+on Venus they have worked out far more of the
+story than we know anything about. If Mercury
+is habitable yet, his people may have reached<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_244" id="Page_244">[244]</a></span>
+almost the end, but it is most probable that life
+has not started there; when it does begin, it will be
+worked out four times as rapidly as it has on
+Earth."</p>
+
+<p>"Then a seven years' famine will begin here
+next year, and I am in charge of the world's entire
+wheat supply!" I gasped, almost overwhelmed by
+the speculative possibilities which this unfolded.</p>
+
+<p>"It is not likely that there will be more than a
+general similarity of the history. But Zaphnath
+has told us that this is the seventh year of plenty.
+If the famine begins soon, it will be fair to suppose
+it will for about seven crops. In its later developments
+the entire history may change when the
+crucial period comes, and have a very different outcome.
+But we are now almost at the beginnings
+of civilized history. Joseph, the first Jew in
+Egypt, is a ruler here, and your entire race must
+follow him hither, and pass through a miserable
+captivity. Even if you remained here all your
+life, you would not last that long; but upon the
+later doings of your people and their treatment of
+the Martian Messiah, when He comes, depend the
+future conditions of this planet. Will it be
+different then from the Earthly story? It is an
+extremely interesting theory to follow to the end,
+but that would take thousands of years, and we
+are concerned with the present."</p>
+
+<p>"Doctor, if this theory be true, then we are
+nothing short of prophets here!" I exclaimed, still<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_245" id="Page_245">[245]</a></span>
+struggling with the wonderful bearings of the idea
+on our personal welfare.</p>
+
+<p>"In a general way we are prophets, but Zaphnath
+has forestalled us on immediate matters. Let
+us keep our own counsel as to any foreknowledge.
+If we disclose it, we may suddenly lose our opportunities,
+and, besides, we shall be powerless to
+change history here in any important respect."</p>
+
+<p>"I might prevent Zaphnath from bringing all
+Israel down into Egypt, and thus save them from
+that captivity," I exclaimed.</p>
+
+<p>"Then you would forestall a Moses, and prevent
+the miraculous deliverance of your people, and all
+the paternal care which God bestowed upon them
+during that time. You will never be able to do
+this. Zaphnath is in the way. He is headstrong
+and wilful. He is an active thinker and a hard
+worker among a race of idlers, who live only to
+enjoy the fulness of a rich land. He knows the
+greater activity and industry of his own people,
+and he will wish to make them masters of this
+goodly land. I will warrant that his head is full
+of plans at this very moment for bringing his old
+father and all his race down here to give them
+important places. See how readily he gave the
+keystone of the whole situation to you. It will
+pay you better to keep on good terms with him.
+Instead of trying to change the situation, let us
+make the best of it as we find it."</p>
+
+<p>"Well, I must say the present situation is<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_246" id="Page_246">[246]</a></span>
+attractive enough to me," I said, and then inquired,
+"How many gold coins have you, Doctor?"</p>
+
+<p>"I have only a hundred half eagles and a little
+silver coin," he replied; "and I wish to be very
+sure of the correctness of my theory before I
+undertake any speculations with that."</p>
+
+<p>"Nonsense! What is money for, but to double,
+and then to double the result again!" I exclaimed.
+"You work out this great theory, and then fail to
+grasp its commercial importance to us. You and I
+will embark in the grain business, with our entire
+stock of gold, the first thing in the morning. We
+have iron enough to live on."</p>
+
+<p>"I didn't come here to go into business," he
+answered. "I have a grand scientific career to
+pursue, and last night's appointment puts me in
+just the position to carry it out."</p>
+
+<p>"Go ahead with it then, but invest your gold
+coins in my enterprise. I will manage it all," I
+said, reaching for my belt under my pillow. "I
+have here three hundred eagles and one hundred
+double eagles,&mdash;five thousand dollars in all. I
+scarcely need your five hundred dollars, but I don't
+wish to see you left out, and buying bread of me at
+a dollar a loaf in a short time. Gold must have an
+enormous value here, considering the small amount
+of it used as ornaments in the Pharaoh's household,
+and the general currency of iron money. Three of
+these double eagles would make a pair of ear pendants
+equal to his. I wonder how he would like to<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_247" id="Page_247">[247]</a></span>
+have pure gold bracelets on all his women instead
+of those rough iron things? And wheat must be
+cheaper than dirt after seven enormous crops. I
+will buy all the grain he has to sell before to-morrow
+night! Even if your theory is all wrong,
+we can't lose much."</p>
+
+<p>"That is all very well, but we may as well be
+sure," he replied cautiously. "You can find out
+much by a few discreet questions to Zaphnath in
+the morning."</p>
+
+<p>"The trouble about the whole matter is, that I
+will be obliged to do business through him altogether
+until we learn this language. Come, you
+must contribute your share. I have furnished the
+Hebrew, you must learn the Kemish at once
+through those wise men. But I can't wait for
+that. I will make Zaphnath teach me the
+necessary shop words and stock phrases for carrying
+on the grain business to-morrow. I can't perform
+my new duties unless he does that."</p>
+
+<p>However, the doctor did not respond wholly to
+my new enthusiasm. He was sleepy, and retired
+yawning to his own room to get the rest which had
+evaded him. But I lay and tossed on the pillows,
+revolving a hundred plans, and feeling anything
+but sleepy. Presently I thought of a scheme,
+which would demonstrate whether there was anything
+in the doctor's theory. I knew it would just
+suit him, and I sprang up and knocked gently on
+his door, saying,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_248" id="Page_248">[248]</a></span>&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>"I have it, Doctor. Here is the very idea!"
+There was no answer, so I knocked louder and
+listened. I heard him breathing heavily in deep
+slumber. After all, the morrow would do for
+ideas; just then he needed sleep.</p>
+
+<hr /><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_249" id="Page_249">[249]</a></span></p>
+<h2>CHAPTER VIII</h2>
+
+<h3>A Plagiarist of Dreams</h3>
+
+<p class="cap"><span class="dcap">Being</span> unable to sleep, I arose early to get the
+refreshment of a morning walk. I passed
+quietly through the next room, where the doctor
+was still sleeping soundly, out into the courtyard.
+I was scarcely outside when I heard a familiar,
+excited barking, and Two-spot ran across the open
+space toward me as fast as his four short legs and
+his very active tail would carry him. His frantic
+jumping up toward me was extremely comical, for
+he sprang with more than twice the swiftness I
+was accustomed to seeing, almost to a level with
+my face, but he fell very slowly to the ground with
+only one third the speed that he would have fallen
+on Earth. He could jump, with almost the agility
+of a flea, and yet he fell back deliberately like a
+gas ball. He was evidently enjoying his muscles
+as much as I had mine. When he made a particularly
+high jump, I caught him in my hands and
+patted him fondly.</p>
+
+<p>"So you didn't fly away with the projectile? Or,
+did you go with it, and is it safely back again, somewhere?<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_250" id="Page_250">[250]</a></span>
+How I wish you could speak my language
+and tell me all you know! These different tongues
+are a great bother, aren't they, Two-spot?"</p>
+
+<p>He answered me volubly, but apart from the fact
+that he quite agreed with me, I could not understand
+his message. Had I been able to, it might
+have made a very great difference to me.</p>
+
+<p>There was a beautiful, filmy snow on the ground,
+which had fallen during the night. It was scarcely
+more than a heavy hoar frost, and as the sun
+sprang up without any warning twilight, the snow
+melted and left the surface damp and fresh. As I
+afterwards learned, this thin snow fell almost every
+night of the year, except for the warmest month
+of summer when the grain ripened. There were
+hardly ever any violent storms or quick showers.
+The thin air made heavy clouds or severe atmospheric
+movements impossible. But the coolness of
+night, after a day of feeble but direct and tropical
+sunshine, precipitated the moisture in the form of
+those delightful feathers of darkness. I also learned
+that the months were distinguished by the time of
+night when this snow fell; for it was precipitated
+directly after sunset in the winter, but gradually
+later into the night as summer advanced, and
+finally just before daybreak. The month in which
+none fell at all was midsummer, of course. It had
+scarcely finished falling this morning when I came
+out into it.</p>
+
+<p>I sprang to the top of the wall, and was watching<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_251" id="Page_251">[251]</a></span>
+the quick rising of the Sun, and enjoying the sensation
+of looking fixedly at his orb without being
+dazzled, when I noticed that there was a dark
+notch in the lower left-hand part of his disc! Soon
+after I distinguished, somewhat farther in, a faint
+and smaller dark spot. This must be the beginning
+of the double transit of the Earth and the Moon! I
+experienced a sensation of joy in finding the home
+planet again. I confess it had given me a curious
+shock not to be able to see it in the heavens. It
+was more comfortable to have it back in the sky
+again, and at last I knew just where we were in
+the calendar. On Earth it was the third day of
+August, 1892. The summer there was at its height,
+and all my friends were as busy and as deeply
+immersed in their own affairs as if their little spot
+had no idea of coquetting with the Sun. Possibly a
+dozen pairs of studious eyes out of the teeming
+hundreds of millions on Earth were turned Marsward.
+This led me to wonder what all-absorbing
+topics of sport, politics, or war may fill the minds of
+the possible million people on Venus, when the
+Earth is so much excited over one of the infrequent
+and picturesque transits of that planet across the
+Sun.</p>
+
+<p>But the doctor and Zaphnath must know of
+this! I hastened into the ante-chamber and called
+out,&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>"Come, get up! I have already discovered two
+very significant things this morning."<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_252" id="Page_252">[252]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>"What are they?" he asked wearily between
+yawns.</p>
+
+<p>"Two-spot and the Earth!" I exclaimed. "The
+former crossed my path in the courtyard, and the
+latter is just now crossing the Sun. Where is the
+telescope? quick!"</p>
+
+<p>The doctor was not long in propping it up by the
+east window, and I went to look for a servant. By
+repeating the word "Zaphnath" several times, I
+made him understand that we wished the attendance
+of the young ruler, and he started for him.</p>
+
+<p>By this time the notch was almost a complete
+circle of dark shadow within the lower edge of the
+Sun. The smaller spot, one-fourth the diameter,
+was forging ahead like a herald to clear the way.
+Zaphnath soon arrived, for he lived in another part
+of the Palace. He quietly pressed his cheek to
+mine, but in my excitement I had seized his hand,
+and with a pressure which must have hurt his
+shrinking flesh, I exclaimed,&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>"This is the day of thy greatness, O Zaphnath,
+for, behold, the Blue Star is already upon the face of
+the Day-Giver!" I led him hastily to the telescope,
+and explained to him that the smaller forward spot
+was caused by a moon like Phobos, and that the
+Earth was really a round ball, like the Sun. He
+looked intently for a long time, and then turning
+about to me he said,&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>"It is well ye left just when ye did, for the fire
+of the Day-Giver hath by this time burned every<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_253" id="Page_253">[253]</a></span>
+living thing upon your star! See how she hastens
+through his hot flames."</p>
+
+<p>I attempted to explain that the Earth was more
+than twice as far from the Sun as she was from us;
+but he believed the evidence of his eyes, and I had
+to give it up in despair.</p>
+
+<p>"I pray thee, bring this Larger Eye to the
+Council Chamber. I must summon all the wise
+men at once to behold this wonder. How long will
+it continue?"</p>
+
+<p>The doctor told me it might last almost two
+hours; but I found it impossible to convey any idea
+of this period of time to Zaphnath, until I told him
+that it would continue half the time of the crossing
+of Phobos, who had just risen dimly in the west.</p>
+
+<p>We made a quick breakfast on fruit like grapes
+and a wheaten gruel, and hastened to the chamber
+where we had been received the day before. Zaphnath
+was already there, and so were eleven of the
+grey-beards. We did not wait for the twelfth, but
+Zaphnath led the doctor to the place at the centre
+of their oval table, which thus filled all the seats.
+Then the young ruler ascended his throne and thus
+addressed them:&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>"While ye have tossed and tumbled in an idle
+slumber, two things of grave importance have
+happened touching you. The Pharaoh, acting
+upon my urgent advices, hath appointed this grey-beard
+from the Blue Star to be your chief; and now
+the Blue Star herself hath re-appeared upon the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_254" id="Page_254">[254]</a></span>
+very face of the Day-Giver, even as these, her
+people, told us yesterday that she must do."</p>
+
+<p>Just at this point the belated wise man came
+straggling in, a slow surprise growing upon him
+when he saw that his seat was taken. Zaphnath
+then turned, addressing him,&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>"Thou hast not heard, O lazy idler in the lap of
+morning, what I have just spoken to thy brothers?
+Then go thou to yonder Larger Eye and speak
+truthfully to these grey-beards all that thou
+seest."</p>
+
+<p>I adjusted the instrument, and placed him in the
+proper position to see. He looked long and carefully,
+then left the instrument and looked with the
+unaided eye. Coming back he gazed again, and
+finally spoke very slowly, as if resigning his life
+with the words:&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>"I am old, and my sight deceiveth me, O my
+brothers, for when I gaze into this mysterious
+instrument the Day-Giver suddenly groweth very
+large, and hath two blots of shadow upon the upper
+half of his brightness. But when I look with my
+proper eyes, he keeps his size, and there are still
+spots upon him, but they are upon his lower side."</p>
+
+<p>I explained to Zaphnath that the telescope made
+things look wrong side up, just as it made them
+look larger, and I focussed it upon the Gnomons to
+convince the wise man of this. Then the youth
+spoke to him again:&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>"The Pharaoh hath appointed this grey-beard<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_255" id="Page_255">[255]</a></span>
+from the Blue Star to be chief of all the wise men,
+and as there can be but twelve, thou art no longer
+one. Unto thee, however, is given the duty of
+teaching our language to the chief. See that thou
+doest it well, for the lives of all of you, having now
+been forfeited by the law, are in his hands. But so
+long as his wisdom spares you, ye shall live."</p>
+
+<p>As there was now a lull, I saw an opportunity for
+my plan which I had not yet found time to explain
+to the doctor. I translated to him as I proceeded,
+however,&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>"Tell me, O Zaphnath, is it the custom here to
+relate dreams to the wise men for interpretation? I
+had last night a most peculiar one, and I will give
+this golden coin to whomsoever is able to explain
+its meaning." All the great eyes opened wide and
+round at beholding the eagle I held up to view.
+So large a piece of gold must have been uncommon.
+The youth replied,&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>"It is, in truth, an obsolete formality to submit
+dreams to the wise men, for they have interpreted
+none since I came into Kem. But let us hear it; if
+they cannot make it known, mayhap I can do so."</p>
+
+<p>"I dreamed that I stood by the great river which
+runneth just without thy city walls, and I saw
+coming up out of the water, as if they had been
+fishes, seven familiar beasts, such as I have not seen
+since I came to Kem. Knowest thou here such
+large, useful animals, each having a long tail and
+four legs, and whose peaceful habit is to eat the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_256" id="Page_256">[256]</a></span>
+grass of the fields, which, having digested, the
+female yieldeth back in a white fluid very fit to
+drink?"</p>
+
+<p>"It is kine thou meanest," answered Zaphnath.
+"In truth there are but few within the city, but
+they are well known, for in the land of my father
+my people do naught but to breed and raise them
+and send them hither for ploughing in the fields.
+At the season of planting thou shalt see many of
+them."</p>
+
+<p>"I saw seven kine, most sleek and plump of
+flesh, feeding in a green meadow by the river;
+but suddenly there came up out of the water in
+the same manner two lean and shrunken kine,
+whose withered bones rattled against their dry
+skins, they were so poor and hungry. And they
+stayed not to eat the grass of the meadow, but
+fell upon and devoured their fatter sisters&mdash;&mdash;"</p>
+
+<p>"Saidst thou two?" interrupted Zaphnath.</p>
+
+<p>"Two of the lean and shrunken, but they ate
+the fat-fleshed, which were seven," I answered,
+watching Zaphnath and the wise men closely, for
+he was translating to them phrase by phrase as
+I spoke. He faltered when I described the eating
+up of the fat cattle; there were wondering and
+inquiring looks among the wise men and a constant
+chattering in Kemish. I waited patiently
+for some time, then waving my coin I demanded,&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>"Can none of the grey-beards declare the meaning
+to me?"<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_257" id="Page_257">[257]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>There were more consultations among themselves
+and with Zaphnath, and presently he said,&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>"Before the wise men can declare thy dream,
+they demand to know whether the lean kine
+only slaughtered the sleek ones, or if they ate
+them wholly up? And were they filled and satisfied
+when they had eaten their fatter sisters?"</p>
+
+<p>"In truth, I forgot to say that they devoured
+the fat kine wholly and completely, yet it could
+not be known that they had eaten anything, they
+were still so lean and ill-favoured."</p>
+
+<p>This caused even a greater chattering than before,
+and the youth finally asked,&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>"Didst thou dream aught more, or is this all?"</p>
+
+<p>"Truly I had another dream, but it was different.
+I thought that all the wheat in the field
+grew upon one stalk in seven great kernels; then
+a shrivelled and withered stalk began to spring
+up; when suddenly a rapping on my door awakened
+me, and I dreamed no more."</p>
+
+<p>The effect which this produced was most curious.
+Blank surprise, hidden cunning, anxious debating
+and uneasy hesitation, succeeded each other among
+the wise men. I watched it with great interest,
+and perceived the doctor's satisfaction, but I again
+demanded the interpretation.</p>
+
+<p>"Know, then, O dreamer," answered Zaphnath,
+"that we understand not only the import of all
+that thou hast dreamed, but even what thou
+wouldst have dreamed hadst thou not been wakened!<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_258" id="Page_258">[258]</a></span>
+But, in spite of thy handsome offer, it
+doth not appear fit or proper to us that the interpretation
+of it should be made known to thee.
+Tell me, however, hast thou had conversation
+with any other person in Kem, save with me and
+with the wise men?"</p>
+
+<p>"Thou knowest well, O Zaphnath, that I speak
+not the Kemish tongue, and can understand or
+communicate only through thy interpretation. I
+have spoken with no one on all of Ptah except
+through thee, and if thou wilt not declare my
+dream I care not, for while ye have been debating
+among yourselves I have learned its meaning!"</p>
+
+<p>"Thou understandest it already!" he exclaimed.
+"Pray tell us, then, how thou hast learned it."</p>
+
+<p>"The chief wise man hath declared it to me in
+my own tongue!" I exclaimed, with a meaning
+look toward the doctor, who had been speaking
+to me to urge caution. "He saith that the seven
+sleek kine are the Kemish people, and the two
+lean and ill-favoured are we two from the Earth&mdash;for
+are not thy people larger and plumper than
+we!&mdash;and the seven denoteth their much greater
+number. But the dream meaneth that we two,
+poor and hungry, might eat up all your people
+and become their masters."</p>
+
+<p>There was still more delighted jabbering and
+excited comment. Then Zaphnath arose, and turning
+graciously to the doctor said to him,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_259" id="Page_259">[259]</a></span>&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>"Thy marvellous interpretation, O chief grey-beard,
+is most correct and wise, and it hath
+wholly eaten ours up! We quite agree with thy
+superior wisdom, for thou only hast read the
+dream aright!"</p>
+
+<hr /><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_260" id="Page_260">[260]</a></span></p>
+<h2>CHAPTER IX</h2>
+
+<h3>Getting into the Corner</h3>
+
+<p class="cap"><span class="dcap">The</span> doctor's new official position carried with
+it the use of a spacious, rambling dwelling,
+situated just inside the gate where we had met
+Miss Blank. It was thus conveniently located for
+the doctor's duties at the observatories on the
+plateau. Another house would have been assigned
+to me, but I preferred to live with the doctor, and
+I desired to keep my eye on those enormous stone
+structures which our telescope had quickly relegated
+to scientific uselessness.</p>
+
+<p>We had established ourselves comfortably in
+this house, surrounded ourselves with a modest
+retinue of servants, and were rapidly becoming
+acquainted with Kemish life and manners. The
+doctor learned the language laboriously from the
+deposed wise man, who had no means of communicating
+with him except in the tongue he was
+teaching. Thus it happened that the doctor could
+teach me in a few hours in the evening what it<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_261" id="Page_261">[261]</a></span>
+had taken him all day to learn. Naturally I
+picked up the most common phrases used in receiving
+and handling the grain, by hearing them
+frequently; but I soon learned that I must pronounce
+them with exactly the same intonation and
+emphasis, or they were not understood. Knowing
+but one language themselves, they had no facility
+in recognising mispronounced words, or in guessing
+at the meaning of incomplete phrases on which
+I stumbled.</p>
+
+<p>The most difficult thing I encountered was their
+method of telling the time. During the day it
+was reckoned rationally enough by the passage of
+the Sun, which was never obscured by clouds and
+could always be seen. Every house had a small
+hole in the roof, at a fixed distance from the floor,
+and the daily track and varying shape of the
+spot of sunshine thus admitted gave names to the
+periods of the day. There seemed to be a settled
+superstition that no house was fortunate unless
+this spot of sunshine entered by the door in the
+morning. For this reason the principal door in
+nearly every house was built in the west, so that
+the rising Sun would cast its spot first on the
+porch outside and then gradually creep in through
+the door, across the floor, and up the opposite
+wall late in the afternoon. Of course there were
+daylight periods in the early morning and late
+afternoon when the Sun was too low to cast a
+spot, and these were known by terms which are<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_262" id="Page_262">[262]</a></span>
+best translated "before the clock" and "after the
+clock."</p>
+
+<p>No one dared to make a social call while the
+Sun was still outside the door, but friends were
+best welcome when the Sun was just entering it.
+Moreover, whoever slept until the Sun had entered
+the door was looked upon as an irredeemable sluggard.
+The track of the spot from the door-sill to
+the wall opposite was measured by linear distance
+from the centre or noon-position of the spot. As
+in different houses the apertures through which
+the clock-light was admitted were always the
+same distance from the floor, such expressions as
+"two feet before noon," or "a foot and a quarter
+after noon" (which I translate from the Kemish)
+always had a definite and exact meaning. The
+nearer the spot drew to noon the more exactly
+circular it became and the more slowly it moved.
+Therefore, very fine measurements were needed in
+the middle of the day, and an inch near noon
+represented nearly as much time as a foot in the
+morning or evening.</p>
+
+<p>But the daylight methods were simplicity itself
+compared with the night methods, which were
+calculated on an entirely different system, based
+on the combined movements of the two moons,
+neither of which agreed or coincided with the
+movement of the Sun in any close degree. I urged
+upon the doctor, as one of his earliest duties, the
+necessity of reforming their calendar and establishing<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_263" id="Page_263">[263]</a></span>
+a uniform method of denoting the time, to
+extend throughout the day and night. But on
+this point he failed to agree with me.</p>
+
+<p>"What are our seconds, minutes, hours, and
+weeks after all?" he queried. "They are only
+arbitrary and meaningless divisions of time, which
+we have found necessary because we have a very
+meagre heavenly clockwork; but here they have
+a very elaborate one. Our day is a rational period
+based on the Sun's revolution. Here they have
+seen fit to give up the Sun-day to simplify matters
+and stick to a Moon-day. Their two contrary
+moons furnish a rational, if rather intricate, method
+of telling the time at night. They are best understood
+by imagining them to represent the two
+hands of a clock. The smaller moon is what may
+be called a 'week hand,' completing its revolution
+in five and a half Sun-days; which they have for
+convenience divided into six Moon-days of twenty-two
+hours each. The larger moon makes two complete
+revolutions in a day, just as the hour hand
+of a clock does; and it really makes but little
+difference that it travels around the dial in an
+opposite direction to that of the 'week hand,' or
+that they both gain two hours a day on the Sun.
+These are mere details, that one gets used to in
+the end."</p>
+
+<p>"Doctor, you argue like the old farmer I used
+to know, who stuck to the clock handed down by
+his grandfather, and maintained that no new-fangled<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_264" id="Page_264">[264]</a></span>
+arrangement kept as good time. It was
+true that the striking apparatus had long ago
+failed to agree with the hands; and the hands
+themselves, owing to the accumulated inaccuracies
+of years, no longer denoted the real time; nevertheless,
+whenever it struck seven he could always
+be sure that the hands were pointing to a quarter-past
+twelve, and it was then just twenty-two
+minutes to three. This was something he could
+depend upon with a certainty which quite compensated
+for the annoyance of incessant calculations
+and mental corrections."</p>
+
+<p>"Pray leave joking aside and consider the
+wonderful nightly clockwork here, which makes
+automatic time-keepers unnecessary. This accommodating
+inner moon, within the brief space of five
+hours, goes through the phases of a thin crescent,
+first quarter, and just as it approaches fulness it
+submits to a total eclipse, followed by a waning
+quarter, then the reverse crescent of an old moon,
+and finally it sets where the Sun must soon rise.
+It is a wonderful heavenly clock, which is never
+obscured by clouds, and turns its face toward every
+one alike."</p>
+
+<p>"Yes, but one must remember that this hurrying
+moon gains two hours a day on the Sun, and
+therefore goes through her performance that much
+earlier each night. Besides, she is capable of rising
+twice in the same night occasionally."</p>
+
+<p>"Those are mere details that one learns to allow<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_265" id="Page_265">[265]</a></span>
+for. Moreover, consider the convenience of being
+able to tell the day of the week by the smaller
+moon. If it is just risen, we know we are on the
+eve of the first day of the week; if it is high or
+eclipsed, it must be the second day; and if it is
+sinking in the west, it is the third day&mdash;&mdash;"</p>
+
+<p>"But for the last half of the week it is not seen
+at all, and one is free to guess which day it is,"
+I interrupted. "Then no two days of the week
+begin at the same hour. The first day begins
+with sunrise, the second two hours before sunrise,
+the third four hours before, and the fourth at midnight,
+and so on&mdash;two hours earlier each day till
+the week ends, when they throw in a whole night
+for good measure and begin the next week at sunrise
+again!"</p>
+
+<p>"Yes, that arrangement is made necessary because
+their Moon-day will not agree with their
+Sun-day in any other manner. But it is rather
+remarkable that the two moons agree with each
+other so well, the larger one making twelve revolutions
+while the smaller makes one, so that at the
+end of every week they both rise together, but on
+opposite sides of the horizon, which is the signal
+for that night to be disregarded in the count.
+The next week begins on the following morning,
+the first rising of the larger moon being disregarded,
+and her second rising being the one
+reckoned from."</p>
+
+<p>We were discussing this during our noon-day<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_266" id="Page_266">[266]</a></span>
+meal, and, when we had finished, I walked with
+the doctor out to the plateau, where I was supervising
+some important work on the Gnomons;
+for I had not been ten days in Kem until I
+attempted to buy, with my gold coins, a large
+amount of wheat from the Pharaoh. Through the
+interference and objection of Zaphnath, however,
+I failed utterly in getting any. But the gold had
+its effect just the same, and later the Pharaoh
+showed an evident willingness to part with anything
+in his possession in order to get a liberal
+number of the smaller coins. But I put a very
+high value upon the gold, comparing closely with
+the worth of diamonds upon Earth, and refused
+to part with any, until one day the wisdom
+of buying the Gnomons occurred to me. I considered
+the project carefully, and finally made him
+an offer of a hundred half-eagles for them. Many
+of the small ones had been built to watch the
+course of the birth-stars of his various ancestors,
+and these were now in a sense monuments to his
+dynasty. He reserved these and a small one, built
+to observe his own star of nativity, and finally sold
+me all the large important ones, upon the doctor's
+representation that they were no longer needed
+for astronomical purposes. He specified only that
+they must not be torn down, but that I might use
+them as I should see fit.</p>
+
+<p>As I have said before, the Gnomons contained
+numerous large, long chambers, and it only became<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_267" id="Page_267">[267]</a></span>
+necessary to put a permanent bottom in these to
+convert them into enormous warehouses. All the
+storage places inside the city were rapidly filling
+with grain, which poured in at every gate on tens
+of thousands of mules. The plenteous crop, already
+ripening, would have to be housed somewhere, and
+even if I did not succeed in buying a large store
+of grain for myself, I knew how to make a storehouse
+eat up a large portion of the value of the
+grain it housed. I had seen wheat, stored year after
+year, finally become the property of the elevator
+owner, by virtue of his charges.</p>
+
+<p>I was not only putting a bottom to the storage
+chambers, but converting the inclined slopes of the
+largest Gnomons into a passable mule-trail, by
+roughening and corrugating the surface to give
+the patient animals a surer foot-hold, so they might
+climb to the top to discharge their cargoes. This
+was a simple form of elevator, and I laughed to
+think what some of my former acquaintances
+would think of it! One of the smaller Gnomons
+had already been completed to receive my share
+of the grain which I earned in the Pharaoh's service,
+and to this I was adding such meagre purchases
+as I could make from the small farmers.
+These, however, were not numerous, for the land
+was mostly in the hands of the Pharaoh and of
+a few large owners, more or less bound to him. I
+was therefore not a little surprised now upon
+approaching to see a long line of mules picking<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_268" id="Page_268">[268]</a></span>
+their way up the inclined side of the finished
+Gnomon, and as they reached the top their drivers
+emptied the pair of sacks they bore into my storehouse.
+Including the drove of unladen animals
+at the bottom of the Gnomon, there must have
+been a hundred in all, and I was awaited by the
+chief driver, who rode one sleek mule covered with
+a soft blanket of feather texture, and had another
+similarly saddled by his side. After a slow salute
+of each hand upon his cheek, he said to me,&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>"My master, the glorious Hotep, sendeth to the
+keeper of the Pharaoh's grain a present of two
+hundred bags of wheat, and wisheth to know if
+it be true that thou desirest to buy a large store
+of grain with gold? For hath not Hotep the
+gathered harvests of two full years in his bins,
+and upon his fertile lands the largest crop in all
+Kem (save only that of the Pharaoh) is nodding
+and awaiting the warm, ripening breath of the
+Snowless Month! Yet Hotep hath no use for
+iron money, for he is weighted and fettered with
+it already; but if thou desirest to bargain with
+him for as much yellow gold as thou hast bartered
+to the Pharaoh, he will be most pleased to treat
+with thee, and sendeth me with this ambling mule
+to fetch thee. Will it please thee to come with
+me now to his palace within the city?"</p>
+
+<p>"What do you think, Doctor? This Hotep must
+be almost a rival to the Pharaoh, if he has stored so
+much grain and owns so many ripening fields. He<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_269" id="Page_269">[269]</a></span>
+must have seen the new gold ornaments upon the
+Pharaoh's women, which have rendered him envious.
+If, indeed, he has such a vast quantity of grain
+to sell, I will deck him out with gold, such as will
+turn the Pharaoh green with envy! I shall lose
+no time in seeing him;" and so saying I mounted
+the mule, and assured the chief driver I would
+express my thanks in person to the great Hotep.</p>
+
+<p>He conducted me to the opposite side of the
+city, and, as we crossed a height near its centre,
+he pointed out to me the long fields of his master
+lining the left bank of the river. There were
+miles of waving grain just beginning to turn
+from a luxuriant green to the lighter yellow
+tints of harvest. Presently we approached a large
+palace, which I had often before seen from afar
+against the distant wall of the city, but had
+never known. Upon entering, I observed every
+sign of the same idle luxury which marked the
+Pharaoh's dwelling, but none of that regal disdain
+or imperial haughtiness which separated
+every one but his favourite women from the
+immediate presence of the monarch.</p>
+
+<p>I was graciously received in a large, lighted
+chamber, where Hotep reclined lazily upon a
+billowy heap of downy cushions, surrounded by
+many women. He only arose from his elbow to
+a sitting posture when I saluted him. Without
+saying a word to him, I approached, and, loosening
+my belt from about my waist, I unbuckled its<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_270" id="Page_270">[270]</a></span>
+mouth and poured out upon a large cushion by his
+side my three hundred shining golden eagles. The
+effect was electrical, for they were twice the size
+and three times as many as the coins I had given
+the Pharaoh. It must have seemed impossible to
+him that I could possess larger coins, and more of
+them, than he had seen upon the monarch's
+favourites. He was simply delighted with the
+mere view, and his women crowded around or ran
+out in haste to bring in their absent sisters to
+behold a marvel of riches such as Kem had never
+seen. But though they wondered and gloated
+over the sight, none of them touched a coin until
+I spoke.</p>
+
+<p>"I pray thee, most gracious Hotep, examine all
+these coins, and pass them among thy women to
+see if they be pleased with them. Observe their
+regularity of form and beauty of design, and test
+the music they give forth when cast upon thy
+floor of stone. Mayhap, thou wouldst rather own
+all these than to be cumbered with so much
+grain."</p>
+
+<p>Thereupon Hotep seized a heaping handful,
+which he poured jingling from one palm to the
+other, and all the women delved their pretty
+fingers into the shining heap and passed the coins
+to their admiring sisters, until not one was left
+upon the cushion.</p>
+
+<p>"Thy Chief of Harvests hath made known to
+me, O Hotep, that thou still hast the full crops<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_271" id="Page_271">[271]</a></span>
+of two years. Wilt thou tell me how many bags
+of grain grow upon thy fields at a single crop?"</p>
+
+<p>"Are not the number of my mules a thousand
+and one, and bear they not two bags each? To
+gather a single harvest, each faithful animal must
+make five trips each day for the period of an
+hundred days."</p>
+
+<p>I had often estimated an average mule-load at
+five bushels, upon which basis each crop would
+aggregate two and a half million bushels. This
+seemed impossible for a single farmer, but his fields
+wearied the sight to follow down the left bank of
+the Nasr-Nil.</p>
+
+<p>"If thou wilt leave all this gold with me, I
+will deliver by my mules to thy storehouses upon
+the plateau all the grain of my past two crops
+with which my whole palace here is cumbered."</p>
+
+<p>"I fear thou holdest thy grain too dearly, and
+that thou knowest not the value of this gold.
+What is more plenteous in Kem than wheat?
+There be more bags of it than the stars in heaven.
+But this gold I bring is more than all the store
+of it upon Ptah before I came. Pray give it back
+again," I said, gathering up the few pieces which
+had been returned to the cushion, and glancing
+about among the women as if searching for the
+rest. They returned them slowly, but Hotep still
+held his handful. After a brief pause, I continued,&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>"Hast thou not a fair crop growing which thou<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_272" id="Page_272">[272]</a></span>
+mightest also give me, so that no other than Hotep
+shall receive any of these coins?"</p>
+
+<p>"In truth, I have never ridden as far as my
+waving fields stretch down the Nasr-Nil; but one
+cannot sell what hath not fully ripened, for who
+knoweth what it may turn out to be?"</p>
+
+<p>"Then I must beg thee to return my coins," I
+answered slowly; but, unbuckling the other end
+of my belt, I poured out upon another cushion the
+hundred magnificent double eagles which I was
+holding in reserve. Then, taking a particularly
+bright one of these, I continued,&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>"But as thou hast been generous and thoughtful
+enough to send me a present, O Hotep, I desire
+to return one to thee, such as no man in Kem ever
+possessed before. Will it please thee to accept
+this disc of gold as large as the lesser moon that
+creeps across the sky? And with it go my wishes
+that Hotep's crops may always be great and
+plentiful."</p>
+
+<p>Slowly and unwillingly the women returned the
+eagles to the cushion, while they stared in wonder
+at the heap of larger coins. Hotep filtered the
+handful through his fingers to the cushion, and
+accepted the double eagle with gladness. With
+his eyes fixed on the second heap he seemed to be
+thinking deeply and making calculations.</p>
+
+<p>"The people are wont to call thee Iron Man,
+but I believe thou art golden!" he ruminated, and
+then suddenly, "For these heaps of riches, large<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_273" id="Page_273">[273]</a></span>
+and small, what desirest thou of all my possessions?
+Wilt thou have all my grain and half my land?
+Shall I give to thee all my fields which cannot
+be seen from the palace here?"</p>
+
+<p>"Why should I wish thy land when I have no
+cattle to till it, nor mules to gather the harvest?
+In lieu of the land, give me only a share of what
+it should produce for a few years. Now give heed
+to the bargain I will make with thee. If thou
+wilt deliver to my storehouses, upon the plateau,
+all the gathered grain of thy past two crops, and
+all the grain thou shalt gather from this growing
+crop (save only what thou needest for seed), and
+half of each of the crops of the three succeeding
+years,&mdash;provided, however, that you assure me each
+year as much as thy thousand mules can carry in
+an hundred journeys;&mdash;then thou mayest keep all
+this store of gold, which is, indeed, all that both
+of us from the Blue Star possess."</p>
+
+<p>He seemed to be revolving these terms slowly
+in his mind to be sure of them, and then called
+out to his servants,&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>"Bring in spiced wine, and bid my Chief
+of Harvests enter! He shall be witness that
+Hotep agrees to this compact, and, should I die
+before it is fulfilled, he shall see that it is carried
+out to the last year. But wilt thou leave all this
+gold with me now, or must I wait until the
+harvests are delivered?"</p>
+
+<p>"What Hotep promiseth me I believe, as certainly<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_274" id="Page_274">[274]</a></span>
+as if it were done already. I will leave
+the gold with thee, knowing thou wilt perform
+the contract in every item; but if thou failest in
+any year, thou shalt return to me one small gold-piece
+for each trip that thy thousand mules fall
+short of an hundred."</p>
+
+<p>He agreed, and arose and recited the terms of
+the compact to his Chief of Harvests, charging
+him to carry it out, and to cause to be engraved
+a small stone cylinder as a permanent record of
+its provisions, as it was their custom to do in
+such cases. Then filling three goblets with rich
+spiced wine, he exclaimed,&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>"For thy sake, O most generous youth, may
+the Nasr-Nil fondly nurse every harvest, and may
+the gentle Snowless Month ripen them in such
+abundance as they have never shown before! And
+may Hotep's mules grow old and weary bearing
+the plenty to thy storehouses!"</p>
+
+<hr /><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_275" id="Page_275">[275]</a></span></p>
+<h2>CHAPTER X</h2>
+
+<h3>Humanity on Ptah</h3>
+
+<p class="cap"><span class="dcap">The</span> magnificent abundance of the seventh
+great harvest, which ripened late in the
+year of our arrival, attracted a multitude of both
+men and animals from all the out-lying countries
+into Kem to assist in gathering it, and many of
+them remained to spend their gains in the luxuries
+of the great city. It was an unparalleled period of
+prosperity and plenty; and though the rich wasted
+everything with a careless hand, the poor were
+better provided for than they had ever been.</p>
+
+<p>Like an endless caravan Hotep's mules trailed
+across the city day by day, and emptied their
+cargoes into the bottomless pits of the Gnomons.
+And Hotep's thousand cattle tramped his threshing-floors
+during the long winter, and until the later
+nightly snows signalled the coming of a tardy
+spring; and yet the patient mules streamed
+through the city, and wore deeper paths into the
+sides of the Gnomons, until one by one the great
+chambers were filled and sealed.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_276" id="Page_276">[276]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>Late in the spring the toiling cattle left the
+threshing-floors, and traversed the fields in long
+procession, two and two, lashed together by a bar
+across the horns instead of a yoke, and dragging
+heavy stone ploughs slowly after them to prepare
+the soil for a new planting. But while the whole
+left bank of the Nasr-Nil swarmed with Hotep's
+patient teams and their busy drivers, the right
+bank was deserted, idle, and lifeless. Every one
+wondered why the Pharaoh's planting was being
+delayed; no one knew why the Pharaoh's men and
+cattle were idle; and the old men shook their heads
+and muttered that the river would overflow its
+banks long before the Pharaoh's seed was in.
+After a while Zaphnath sent for me, and when I
+came before him he said,&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>"The Pharaoh is sick with the plenty of the
+land, weary of the sight of grain-laden mules and
+ploughing cattle, and so cumbered about with
+mountains of wheat that he desireth not to plant
+his fields. Thou art not one to see his lands lie
+idle. If thou hast aught with which to tempt him,
+I can persuade him to let unto thee all his land and
+to hire unto thee all his men and mules and cattle.
+For hath he not acquired all his riches in seven
+years' harvests? and in another seven thou mayest
+be as rich as he."</p>
+
+<p>"Mayhap, O Zaphnath, the coming seven years
+may not be as plenteous as the last seven have
+been; but, in any case, I have no more gold with<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_277" id="Page_277">[277]</a></span>
+which to tempt the Pharaoh, having parted with
+all of it in a bad bargain with Hotep, whom thou
+knowest, for half of his coming crops."</p>
+
+<p>Thereupon he bade me remain, and sent for
+Hotep, and said to him,&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>"Behold, have not the harvests of seven years
+made Pharaoh the richest man upon Ptah, so that
+he covets no more grain, but only things of rare
+beauty? And are not thy harvests reduced by
+half through thy compact with him from the Blue
+Star? Now, if thou likest to tempt the Pharaoh
+with an hundred of thy golden coins, and one-and-twenty
+of the moon-sized discs of gold such as thou
+wearest there, thou mayest hire his land for the
+next seven years, and all his men and animals for
+a like time, if thou wilt feed and nourish them;
+and then shall not both banks of the great river
+bring forth riches, and be burdened with the plenteous
+harvests of Hotep?"</p>
+
+<p>"Is the Pharaoh indeed weary of rich harvests,
+or doth he rather itch for my gold? Yet, had I
+the seed to plant all his fields, I might consider the
+undertaking thou shewest me."</p>
+
+<p>"Let not that delay thee," answered Zaphnath,
+"for I am sure he will gladly lend to such a man
+as Hotep the seed thou needest until thy next harvest
+be gathered."</p>
+
+<p>So the matter was thus finally concluded, and I
+was a witness to the compact.</p>
+
+<p>Then Hotep's Chief of Harvests worked early and<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_278" id="Page_278">[278]</a></span>
+late to finish planting before the Month of Midnight
+Snows, when the Nasr-Nil usually overflows
+its banks and waters the harvest. But, as if to
+oblige a man so industrious in preparing the way
+for it, the great river did not rise at its customary
+time, and Hotep was able to finish his seeding on
+both banks.</p>
+
+<p>The black loam along the shores parched and
+crumbled, and borrowed the look of the great
+desert; the feathers of darkness fell later and
+later, until they began to appear with the dawn,
+and yet the river failed to rise; the priests went
+through their perfunctory rites to placate the god
+of the Overflow, and made their impotent sacrifices
+to tempt him to bless the harvest; but Hotep saw
+the Snowless Month, which should have ripened
+his grain, dawn upon fields that were dried to seas
+of drifting dust and void of all vegetation. His
+army of men, augmented by the Pharaoh's thousands,
+and his ten thousand cattle and mules, all
+ate and waited and waited and ate, and yet there
+was no work for them. The following spring there
+was no need to plough the fields, and no seed to
+plant them.</p>
+
+<p>When Zaphnath learned that Hotep must deliver
+a hundred thousand mule-cargoes of wheat to me,
+or forfeit a hundred gold pieces, he sent for him,
+and sold to him for the hundred pieces enough of
+the Pharaoh's grain already on the plateau to pay
+me, and lent him the seed to plant all the land<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_279" id="Page_279">[279]</a></span>
+again. But aside from this, the Pharaoh sold not
+a bag of wheat, and during the first year all the
+small stores of grain throughout Kem were consumed,
+and the price rose to three times its former
+value. Therefore, Hotep consoled himself with the
+thought that he could make more out of one crop
+after a failure than he could have made out of two
+crops without it, and he happily sowed his fields
+anew.</p>
+
+<p>Before the river was due to rise the second time,
+the poor began to suffer from the famine. There
+was no employment for the thousands who had
+been attracted to Kem to gather the previous large
+harvests. Only those fortunate enough to be
+slaves enjoyed an assured living, and this entire
+class was now dependent upon Hotep, for Pharaoh
+supported only his women and his personal servants.
+Many people desired to deliver themselves
+into slavery, but Pharaoh would not accept any,
+and Hotep already had more than he could feed.
+During the Month of Midnight Snows the entire
+population of the city watched the river with
+apprehension, noting its slightest fluctuation. But
+day after day the people saw no change, and idleness
+fostered grumbling and discontent among
+them. Zaphnath and the Pharaoh were privately
+criticised because they did not attend or contribute
+to the sacrifices made to the god of Overflow;
+because they hoarded so much grain, and did
+nothing to alleviate the distress of the people.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_280" id="Page_280">[280]</a></span>
+And there were many who attributed the unusual
+action of the river to the presence upon Ptah of
+two strangers from the Blue Star.</p>
+
+<p>When two fruitless months had passed without
+any rising of the waters, Hotep lost courage, and
+was obliged to proclaim that all his men and beasts
+must exist upon half-rations. It was then that
+public suffering became general. About this time
+I consulted with the doctor whether to press Hotep
+for the second delivery of a hundred thousand
+cargoes of wheat.</p>
+
+<p>"Certainly; demand it from him," he answered,
+greatly to my surprise, "especially so long as it
+amounts to squeezing the wheat out of the
+Pharaoh. It is certain he will furnish the wheat
+in exchange for Hotep's gold, and a few coins are
+really nothing to him or to you either. As long as
+the Pharaoh covets them, make him pay well for
+them."</p>
+
+<p>"But I expected you would advise leniency, as
+you have never sympathized with my wheat
+speculation in the least," I replied.</p>
+
+<p>"I do not share your idle dream of riches, but
+nevertheless I want to get as much wheat into our
+hands as possible, especially if it comes from the
+Pharaoh. You do not seem to appreciate the real
+reason, but blindly chase after the bauble of fortune.
+It was the same when I first saw you in
+Chicago, and now you are just as impulsive and
+thoughtless. I have no doubt but you have<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_281" id="Page_281">[281]</a></span>
+already computed a hundred times how rich you
+are in Earthly terms and figures."</p>
+
+<p>"The time for a big value has not quite come
+yet, but I confess I have estimated that it will run
+into many millions of dollars."</p>
+
+<p>"Rubbish! What is the use of such childish
+nonsense? Even if we had our projectile to return
+with, you could never take any of your riches back
+to Earth with you!"</p>
+
+<p>"And why not?" I demanded in astonishment.</p>
+
+<p>"What is your fortune? It now exists in grain
+at an inflated famine value. You couldn't transport
+the grain back to Earth, and if you could, it
+would shrink in value and fail to pay the freight.
+What can you exchange it for here? For lands,
+for women, for slaves, none of which have any
+commercial value on Earth."</p>
+
+<p>"But I can sell it for money!" I put in.</p>
+
+<p>"Yes, for iron money worth a few dollars a ton
+on Earth! Why, not even your entire fortune will
+buy enough iron to build a new projectile to enable
+us to return. You parted with the only valuable
+and portable form of property when you exchanged
+your gold. Now that is rapidly going into the
+Pharaoh's hands, to remain there, and you can
+never return to Earth as rich as you left it, though
+you be worth all the money and property in the
+land of Kem!"</p>
+
+<p>"Well, it does look a little as if I had been<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_282" id="Page_282">[282]</a></span>
+scheming for riches here, without knowing just
+why I want them."</p>
+
+<p>"Yes, you have formed that habit on Earth.
+Only they carry it further there&mdash;swindle their
+brothers, deceive their parents, oppress the weak,
+extort from the poor; work, toil, plot, cheat, rob,
+yes, even <i>kill!</i> in order to lay up a store of something
+they can never take away with them, and
+which renders them unhappy oftener than happy
+while they remain to guard it."</p>
+
+<p>"I have heard that sort of talk often before,
+Doctor, but I never saw the truth of it quite so
+plainly as now. I have outwitted and squeezed
+Hotep, the man on whom the whole city now
+depends for existence."</p>
+
+<p>"They think they depend upon him, but you
+know as well as I do that he will be powerless;
+that he must see them starve by thousands, and
+part with the last bit of his cherished riches to save
+his own life. No, Isidor, your business sagacity
+has not been in vain, for this entire people depend
+not on Hotep, but on <i>you</i>! You alone have the
+food to preserve many of them alive through a
+famine and a pestilence whose horrors are just
+beginning. Pharaoh and Zaphnath will squeeze
+and pinch them, and see them die, and turn it all
+to their own profit; but let us constitute ourselves
+a relief committee, you and I. Let us set these
+Kemish rulers an example of humanity, as we
+know it on Earth."</p>
+
+<hr /><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_283" id="Page_283">[283]</a></span></p>
+<h2>CHAPTER XI</h2>
+
+<h3>Revolutionist and Eavesdropper</h3>
+
+<p class="cap"><span class="dcap">In</span> Kem, where agriculture was almost the only
+occupation, and where the ox was helpful
+both in planting and threshing the grain, it was
+quite natural that he should be revered, or at least
+respected as a partner in the toil, and that a strong
+prejudice should prevail against his being slaughtered
+for food. In fact, it was not the practice of
+the Kemish to eat any large animals, but they
+confined themselves to fish and small fowl for
+meats. Nevertheless, I urged upon Hotep the
+necessity of killing some of his cattle to provide
+food for his miserable and poorly-fed labourers.
+But he stubbornly refused to do so, saying his
+men would rather eat the flesh of mules than
+of cattle.</p>
+
+<p>Without being pressed for it, he paid me the
+second hundred thousand cargoes of wheat, which
+he bought from the Pharaoh with gold, as he had
+done before. But I divided this entire quantity of
+grain among Hotep's labourers, which eked out
+their half-rations for almost a year. I stipulated<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_284" id="Page_284">[284]</a></span>
+that none of this grain should be used for seed, for
+I firmly believed it would be wasted. But Pharaoh
+again lent the seed for planting a third crop,
+insisting that the discouraged Hotep should put
+it in the ground, and reminding him that the only
+way he could get grain to pay his heavy debts was
+to raise a crop.</p>
+
+<p>Thenocris had not been long in learning the
+location of our house near her favourite gate, and
+it was her habit to call on us every day at the
+time of the noon-day meal. She always carried
+and caressed her white rabbit, and they came to us
+like two dumb animals to be fed. Her tall, stately
+figure, traversing the city on her daily journey to
+our house, soon became a familiar sight; and when
+the people began to be oppressed by hunger, they
+gradually overcame their early fear of us, and
+followed her to our door for food. We had never
+turned any away, for beggary was rare enough in
+Kem, and no sane person ever resorted to it except
+in the sorest extremes of need.</p>
+
+<p>Zaphnath doubtless looked with an evil eye
+upon the crowds that daily thronged our door to
+secure food. The Pharaoh rarely left his palace,
+and bothered little about affairs outside, and
+Zaphnath must have been at the bottom of an
+edict which was shortly issued. Nothing that I
+remember in Kem better illustrated the absolute
+power of the Pharaoh and the unrestrained enforcement
+of his merest whim. The edict referred to<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_285" id="Page_285">[285]</a></span>
+the scarcity of bread and the multitude of
+foreigners who were flocking to the city to secure
+it, and provided (ostensibly for the good of the
+Kemish people) that no man in the city of Kem
+should give bread or any sort of food to any but
+the members of his own household. Moreover, no
+man should sell grain or bread at a less price than
+that established by the Pharaoh for the sale of
+his own.</p>
+
+<p>The doctor and I realized that this was aimed at
+no one but us. They were jealous of our charity,
+and wished to turn everybody's need to their own
+profit. We scoffed at the tyranny of such an edict,
+but it was the arbitrary sort of law to which the
+Kemish were accustomed. Yet if we gave up our
+undertaking, and the unfortunate multitude went
+unfed for a few days, bread riots were certain to
+break out, and they might result in the death or
+overthrow of the short-sighted Pharaoh, and the
+seizure of his grain. Even this would not settle
+the question, for the victors might enforce a worse
+monopoly of it, if that were possible.</p>
+
+<p>"We must continue to feed them all outside the
+city,&mdash;at the Gnomons, for instance," I suggested.</p>
+
+<p>"Yes, we must feed them there in a large
+chamber, and eat with them, so that they may be
+considered members of our household," added the
+doctor.</p>
+
+<p>Thus it happened that the paths which Hotep's
+mules had worn so deeply were now thronged by<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_286" id="Page_286">[286]</a></span>
+a great multitude of the city's poor in their daily
+pilgrimage to the Gnomons. In an enormous
+chamber which we fitted up for that purpose, we
+served to each comer one generous meal, and there
+were so many who came that this meal was going
+on almost all day long. The Pharaoh fed no one
+but his favourites and his soldiers, and of these last
+he discharged a large number, reducing his army to
+a hungry, ill-fed thousand men. Those who were
+discharged came to eat with us, and many of those
+retained would gladly have done so, had we not
+excluded every one in the Pharaoh's service.</p>
+
+<p>Meantime the Nasr-Nil ran lower in her banks
+than ever before, and gave no signs of rising; the
+nightly snows were brief and evanescent, and the
+rains, which had never been copious on Ptah, now
+ceased entirely. Every green thing gradually
+vanished from Kem, and Hotep's third crop rotted
+or lay sodden in the ground as the others had done.
+He knew that I had been offered the opportunity
+to plant the Pharaoh's fields, and that I had not
+only refused, but had hoarded grain. This may
+have led him to conclude that I knew some reason
+for the famine, and I was not surprised when he
+sought me one day at the Gnomons. He begged a
+strictly private interview with me, and I conducted
+him to a small room I had constructed by running
+two thin walls of porous stone from one Gnomon to
+another, and covering the enclosure with a flat
+roof.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_287" id="Page_287">[287]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>"Dost thou know that thou hast linked together
+with thy slender walls the monuments of two
+antagonistic dynasties?" he began. "This structure
+to the left was built by the fifth ancestor of
+the present Pharaoh, in truth the first ruler of his
+dynasty. The structure to the right, however,
+is vastly older, and was built by the tenth Pharaoh
+of the dynasty, from which I am directly descended.
+My ancestors were vanquished by dint of wars, and
+their powers usurped by the ancestors of this same
+selfish Pharaoh, who hath not so good a right to
+rule as I."</p>
+
+<p>I think I was born without a vestige of revolutionary
+spirit, for I have always felt a respect for
+the institutions that are, and an allegiance to the
+powers that rule. I remember the distinct shock
+which this utterance of Hotep's gave me. I said
+nothing, but he answered the surprised look on my
+face.</p>
+
+<p>"Thou knowest well that the entire labouring
+population of Kem is fed by me in my fields on
+one side of the city; while all the poor and unfortunate
+are fed by you here on the other side.
+What man of Kem thinks of the grand palace of
+the Pharaoh in the midst of the city, but to curse
+it? What subject who knows how the Pharaoh
+and his favourites gorge themselves in luxurious
+plenty, while he nurses his hunger, but would a
+thousand times rather pay allegiance to those who
+save him from absolute starvation? And Zaphnath,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_288" id="Page_288">[288]</a></span>
+in his nightly wanderings and his daily errands of
+espionage, thinkest thou he overhears a public
+grumbler who fails to curse him and his Pharaoh,
+and to extol the men from the Blue Star, and the
+unfortunate farmer, who, until now, has been able
+to give the people work and sustenance?"</p>
+
+<p>"Doth Zaphnath spend his time in watching
+and spying, then?" I asked.</p>
+
+<p>"Aye, that he doth! I crossed his path even
+now, coming through the city, and he set at following
+me, but by quick turns I eluded him. He it is
+who by his loans and compacts hath snared and
+tricked me until now I am utterly ruined, unless
+I can claim my rightful turn at ruling. Alone I
+cannot do it; with thy help I can."</p>
+
+<p>"How, then, could I be of assistance to you?" I
+exclaimed in some astonishment, without stopping
+to think of the justice of his claims.</p>
+
+<p>"From what I have heard of the thunder thou
+commandest, and the lightning thou art able to
+carry, it doth appear that thou couldst overcome
+the Pharaoh and his thousand half-starved men,
+who secretly itch to change masters. Thou hast
+the means to do it; I have the right to do it; and
+the people would unanimously applaud the doing
+of it. Let us strike together, then; let us seize the
+Pharaoh's grain and apportion it among our supporters
+and the needy, and when I am established
+as Pharaoh, thou shalt be my ruler in the place of
+Zaphnath."<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_289" id="Page_289">[289]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>"Thou temptest me but little, O Hotep. Once
+before I was offered a rulership in Kem which I
+refused. Besides, am I not bound by an agreement
+to loyalty and obedience to this Pharaoh?"</p>
+
+<p>"Aye! Even as I am bound to come to a sure
+ruin; and as every man in Kem is bound to sit
+meekly by and starve. But is a ruler no way
+bound? May he claim the life of his subjects for
+his profit? How long will they suffer such treatment?
+And if we are restrained by loyalty, how
+long will it be till some one else strikes the blow
+we stick at&mdash;&mdash;?"</p>
+
+<p>He was interrupted by a vigorous knocking at
+the door, as of one who commands rather than
+entreats an opening. Who could it be? I turned
+to see, but Hotep caught me by the arm.</p>
+
+<p>"Before thou openest, tell me if thou wilt join
+me in this undertaking for the sake of a suffering
+people?"</p>
+
+<p>"Nay, Hotep; it is wrong, and I will not do it.
+I am bound to this Pharaoh, bad as he is, and to
+thy dynasty I owe nothing." The rapping began
+again and more loudly now, but Hotep still restrained
+me.</p>
+
+<p>"For half of all my fields wilt thou furnish me
+the grain to pay the Pharaoh, and thus avert my
+ruin?"</p>
+
+<p>"And if I would, how wouldst thou feed the men
+and mules and cattle through another year of
+famine, and another, and another?"<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_290" id="Page_290">[290]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>"Thou thinkest the crops will fail yet three
+more years!" he exclaimed, half stupefied by
+the thought.</p>
+
+<p>"Aye, four! I know it for most certain," I
+answered, and the insistent knocking was vigorously
+renewed.</p>
+
+<p>"Then I am too deep in the mire for thee or
+any one to pull me out. Open to this importunate
+knocker."</p>
+
+<p>I threw open the door, and there stood the keen-eyed,
+angry-visaged Zaphnath! How long had he
+been listening outside there? How much had he
+stealthily overheard before he began knocking?
+All the Kemish had need to speak doubly loud to
+us from Earth, for our ears were not made for thin
+air and its weak sounds. Moreover, Hotep had
+spoken throughout with a fervent declamation.
+But what I said in my ordinary tones was always
+easily understood by Hotep's keen ears. Therefore
+it seemed quite certain that Zaphnath had heard
+through the thin wall all that Hotep had said, and
+probably none of what I said. So much the worse.
+He had doubtless supplied my speeches to suit himself,
+and made them fit into Hotep's plotting. At
+any rate there was hot anger in his face when he
+spoke to me,&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>"Thou servest the Pharaoh well, by contriving
+how to cross his wishes at every point! It were
+well thy office were withdrawn; I have brothers
+about me now who could better fill it."<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_291" id="Page_291">[291]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>"Whenever it pleaseth the Pharaoh or his all-potent
+ruler to abrogate his compact with me, I am
+quite ready to begin where we left off when it was
+made," I retorted. I did not think till afterwards
+that this might serve wrongly to indicate to him
+the tenor of my answers to Hotep's scheming. His
+eyes flashed angrily at this, yet he made no reply,
+but spoke to Hotep instead.</p>
+
+<p>"Before the end of the clock this day, the
+Pharaoh requireth of thee full settlement of all
+thou owest him. Attempt nothing but a just and
+full repayment, O most precious Hotep, for thy
+every act is watched and known to us!"</p>
+
+<hr /><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_292" id="Page_292">[292]</a></span></p>
+<h2>CHAPTER XII</h2>
+
+<h3>The Doctor Disappears</h3>
+
+<p class="cap"><span class="dcap">Hotep</span> saw that he was ruined, and he went
+to fall down before Pharaoh and beg for
+mercy. The monarch, not having the courage of
+his own hard-heartedness, answered him,&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>"I desire not to deal harshly with thee, O Hotep;
+for thou hast struggled desperately against an
+unwilling soil and unpropitious seasons. But thou
+knowest all my affairs are in the hands of Zaphnath,
+without whom I do nothing. Therefore go
+thou before him and do even as he telleth thee."</p>
+
+<p>And Hotep, having made an invoice of all his
+money, and slaves, and mules, and cattle, took it
+before Zaphnath, saying,&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>"Behold, O most merciful ruler of Kem, I have
+threescore-and-ten of the great golden discs, and
+seven hundredweight of the coins of Kem wherewith
+to repay the Pharaoh for the seed which the
+seasons have stolen from me. But I have neither
+food for all the men, and mules, and cattle which
+are the Pharaoh's, nor yet for mine own; wherefore<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_293" id="Page_293">[293]</a></span>
+I beg of thee to take back his slaves and animals,
+and release me from feeding them; and I will forfeit
+unto the Pharaoh all my working slaves, which
+are thirty score, and all my mules, which are a
+thousand and one, and all my cattle, which are an
+hundred score, and they shall be his for ever."</p>
+
+<p>"Methinks thou borrowest with a large hand and
+repayest like a very miser," answered Zaphnath.
+"All the money thou namest will not buy a thousand
+cargoes of grain, for behold, is not wheat worth
+iron money, weight for weight? And to reimburse
+the Pharaoh for feeding all his men and animals
+through the famine, which may continue, it is a
+rare kindness in thee to desire to give him also
+all of thine to be fed and nourished! What wilt
+thou do with all thy land when thou hast no men
+or beasts to till it? And how wilt thou maintain
+thy proud palace, with three hundred women, when
+thou hast no revenues left?"</p>
+
+<p>"'Tis true, O Zaphnath; and if the Pharaoh
+covet them, take them all&mdash;the palace, the women,
+the rich clothing and rare jewels, and even the
+endless fields which have cursed me! For the days
+of Hotep's riches are ended. Let him be acquit,
+and go from thee in peace!"</p>
+
+<p>"Even with them all, thou knowest he is but
+poorly paid; yet it is I who have prevailed upon
+him not to be harsh with thee. But if the famine
+continue, what thinkest thou of doing to gain
+a living?"<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_294" id="Page_294">[294]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>"By my beard! Doth the Pharaoh wish to make
+a slave of me also?"</p>
+
+<p>"Nay, Hotep; not a common slave. But hast
+thou a mind to starve? I have besought him to
+give thee an honourable and luxuriant service,
+befitting thy tastes and habits. He will make
+thee chamberlain of his palace."</p>
+
+<p>"Is there no other thing thou canst think of
+or invent, O most merciful Zaphnath? Lands,
+slaves, animals, money, women, jewels, palace, and
+even my life and body for the gracious Pharaoh's
+service! Is that all? If so, I beg thee declare
+the bargain made and all my undertakings fully
+acquit."</p>
+
+<p>Hotep came to me the following day, with his
+beard shaven and the Pharaoh's bird-wing on his
+brow. He wore the dress of the Pharaoh's chamberlain,
+and he told me how it had all happened.
+He also told me that the Pharaoh had now thrown
+wide open the doors of slavery, and offered to feed
+all who surrendered themselves to his service for
+life. And Zaphnath never ceased to itch for all
+the lands, and cattle, and slaves of every one in
+Kem and her tributary countries, either in exchange
+for the bare needs of life, or as pledges
+for seed which he knew would only rot and ruin
+the borrower.</p>
+
+<p>I went about my affairs on the plateau that day,
+wondering how long I should continue there, or
+whether my threat had been effective in silencing<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_295" id="Page_295">[295]</a></span>
+the enmity of the rulers. When I returned that
+evening, I did not find the doctor at the house.
+My servant said that a messenger from the chamberlain
+had summoned him on important business,
+soon after the noon-day meal. I waited a little
+longer, and then I began to fear that the chamberlain
+had been used to decoy the doctor into some
+trap. If he was staying away of his own account,
+why did he not send me some word? Messengers
+were plenty. At last I sent the servant to the
+palace to inquire and search for him. After a long
+stay he returned, saying the doctor was nowhere
+to be found. No one had seen or heard of him
+there that day.</p>
+
+<p>"And the chamberlain?" I demanded.</p>
+
+<p>"He was not to be found in his rooms, and no
+one had seen him since noon-day."</p>
+
+<p>"Didst thou make inquiry for the messenger
+who summoned the doctor?" I asked.</p>
+
+<p>He had not thought of it; so I started to the
+palace myself. I had gone but a few steps when
+it occurred to me to act with a little more caution,
+and be prepared for some plot against myself. I
+turned back to the house, and had the servant
+remove the heap of pillows where I slept. Underneath
+was a loosened stone of the floor, and below
+it we kept the rifles, revolvers, and ammunition
+hidden. I carefully loaded all of them, and put all
+the remaining cartridges into our two old belts.
+I thought of strapping one of these about me, but<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_296" id="Page_296">[296]</a></span>
+reflected that this would have a hostile and treasonable
+appearance, so I contented myself with concealing
+one revolver in my coat, and then I carefully
+covered up all the rest, and had the servant pile the
+pillows over the stone slab again.</p>
+
+<p>Then I went out and walked to the palace.
+Leaping the wall, I questioned every one I saw
+about the doctor, the chamberlain, and his messenger.
+No one had seen anything of them. The
+messenger was absent from his lodging, as well as
+the chamberlain. Either they were all gone somewhere
+secretly together, or they had all suffered
+a common mysterious fate. Unable to do anything
+more, I returned home full of apprehension.</p>
+
+<p>I slept fitfully a few hours, and then I had a
+most realistic dream, which began among my old
+surroundings on Earth: the wheat pit, the closing
+of a turbulent session, the drive through the parks
+till I came suddenly in sight of the great spherical
+cactus design of the World in Washington Park.
+As I approached this, it seemed to leave its pedestal
+and move freely through space toward me. I
+seized one of its meridians, and, clinging tightly,
+was carried off over the park, over the lake, over
+seas of ice, through an ocean of sparkling light,
+faster and farther every moment, until presently my
+little globe refused to hold me longer, and repelled
+me through a long, giddy, awful fall which filled
+me with terror. But I landed in the dark chamber
+of a Gnomon, waist-deep in loose wheat. It seemed<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_297" id="Page_297">[297]</a></span>
+gradually to grow deeper about me, rose to my
+shoulders, to my chin; and as I looked up I saw
+Slater pouring in wheat in a steady stream. He
+meant to smother and choke me with it. Ah, if
+I only had a thousand, aye, ten thousand mouths to
+eat it, he could never do it. I could keep even with
+him. But it gradually rose past my mouth, past
+my nose; it covered my head and was smothering
+me. What an awful thing was too much food, after
+all! And then I wakened to find my head covered
+with pillows until I was half-choked for breath.</p>
+
+<p>It was all so vivid I could not rid my mind of
+it. It seemed really to have happened but a moment
+ago. My mind was palpitating afresh with
+those Earthly scenes which had for years been
+fading out of it. What could it all mean? Then
+I thought of the doctor. Perhaps they were smothering
+him in one of the Gnomons. It seemed hardly
+probable, but the idea took a strange hold on me.
+The chambers were all full and sealed, but one; it
+had been opened, and wheat was daily being used
+out of it; none was at hand to be poured in. It
+was foolish to do so, but I could not rest until I had
+gone to the Gnomons to see. Of course I would find
+nothing there, but I should not be content till I
+had tried. At least, the night air and the gently
+falling feathers of darkness would restore my calmness
+again.</p>
+
+<p>I had the precaution to take my revolver again,
+and after a very short walk I stood face to face<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_298" id="Page_298">[298]</a></span>
+with the great stone gate, barred and locked to
+confine all others within the city. The fact that it
+was fastened on the inside proved that the doctor's
+captors were not outside, or, at least, did not expect
+to return till after daylight. With a brisk jump
+I cleared the wall easily, and walked rapidly to the
+plateau. There was no sign of life there. I
+mounted the only unsealed Gnomon and shouted
+down into its cavernous depths. Of course there
+was no answer. I was now so wide awake it seemed
+to me quite silly to follow the promptings of a
+dream, so I began to return in a leisurely walk.</p>
+
+<p>The night scene all about me, how different it
+was from those to which I had been accustomed on
+Earth! Out of a pink sky flakes of frozen dew
+were gently falling, starching the arid, verdureless
+soil with a glistening coat of evanescent white.
+Along the river bank, tall, slender, lightly-rooted
+trees reached far up into the breathless air, but
+there was never the movement of a bough or the
+rustle of a leaf, except from the flutter of birds.
+Jungles of spindling reeds also towered from waste
+marshes, in testimony to the easy struggle which
+vegetable sap had been able to accomplish over a
+weak gravity. Everything was eloquent with the
+reminder that I was on a different world; but yet,
+when I looked up at the starry heavens, they were
+the same. All the familiar constellations, changing
+their positions through the night with the same
+stately dignity, were there. The Pleiades, Orion,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_299" id="Page_299">[299]</a></span>
+the Great Bear, with his nose constantly pointed at
+the Pole Star, made me feel that, at least in the
+heavens, I was at home! Only the colour of the
+night, the two little moons, and the planets looked
+different. Great Jupiter, king of the Martian night,
+whose brilliancy, if not his size, outrivalled the
+pale moons; Saturn, with his tilted ring, was
+visible to the naked eye; and yon pearly blue star,
+just rising to announce the morning, was Earth.
+Earth, which I had so unwillingly left, would I ever
+see her again as anything but a Sun-attending
+star? Would I ever walk her familiar paths, and
+know my brother creatures there again?</p>
+
+<p>With this thought came over me an unspeakable
+sense of loneliness, a depressing home-sickness, an
+aching yearning for that life, tempestuous as it had
+been. And how I despised the monotony and
+lowness of the Martian life; how I loathed the
+spreading misery of the famine, and the vile and
+dreadful pestilences which it was begetting! How
+could I ever endure the four more slow years of it
+which I confidently expected to ensue? What
+would I not give to leave it all and return!</p>
+
+<p>I had retraced my steps, leapt the wall again,
+and as I approached our house was surprised to
+see, in the dim light of the coming morning, a
+figure standing guard at the doorway. He was a
+soldier, and on closer approach I saw that he wore
+a beard, which showed him to be a captain. But
+what surprised me far more was that he held awkwardly<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_300" id="Page_300">[300]</a></span>
+in his arms one of our loaded rifles. Here
+was certain treachery. Since he stood guard, he
+doubtless had soldiers within; and if they had
+found one firearm they must have found the others
+also. But how had they succeeded in finding
+them? A mere search never would have revealed
+their secret place. Some one who knew of their
+location must have disclosed it. Could it have been
+the doctor? Had they brought him back, and
+forced him to produce the arms?</p>
+
+<p>In that case, now was my chance to liberate him.
+Fortunately they did not know how to use the
+arms they had captured, and I had one revolver
+with five good loads in it. With five telling shots
+I ought to be able to create panic enough to enable
+the doctor to get possession of another gun and
+help me rout them.</p>
+
+<p>All this flashed through my mind in a twinkling,
+and just as I drew out my revolver the captain
+caught sight of me. He quickly shifted the rifle
+in his hands and tugged at the hammer. He knew
+nothing of the necessity of taking aim, or of the
+use of the trigger. It would only be by the merest
+chance if he hit me. I had half drawn the trigger,
+and was just correcting my aim, when a long flash
+of flame from the rifle startled me, and unconsciously
+I fired wild. By lifting the hammer of
+the rifle and letting it snap back, the captain had
+exploded one cartridge at random. But my careful
+aiming had now taught him a trick; I saw him<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_301" id="Page_301">[301]</a></span>
+attempting the same arm's-length aim with the
+rifle. He did it awkwardly enough, and pulled up
+the hammer with the other hand. It fell with a
+snap on the discharged cartridge. He could be
+relied on never to learn the trick of ejecting them
+and reloading with the sixteen that lay ready up
+the length of the barrel. Therefore, instead of
+firing again, I rushed at him to capture the rifle.
+But he was too quick for me, for thrusting it inside
+the house with a quick command, the other was
+handed out to him. I was now at such extremely
+close range that his awkward aim covered me; but
+I was quicker on the trigger than he was on the
+hammer, and with a cry the first Martian to suffer
+by gunpowder fell to the ground. I sprang for his
+rifle just as some one from inside snatched it away
+and pointed it at me again. Whoever had it, stood
+half behind the door and out of range. But I aimed
+at his fingers on the rifle barrel, and by a lucky
+chance I hit them, for the rifle dropped and the
+body staggered into full view. Another quick shot
+sent this fellow to the ground, but as I reached for
+his rifle, it was snatched away again.</p>
+
+<p>Now I saw the absolute necessity of possessing
+myself of another firearm, for I had but one load
+left in the revolver. I felt little fear of their awkward
+aim, therefore I made bold to rush inside on
+the chance of seizing the first gun I could lay my
+hands on. At the same time I would be able to
+see the position of the doctor. He must be gagged,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_302" id="Page_302">[302]</a></span>
+for he had made no answer to my frequent cries
+to him in English. Once inside, I saw that the
+room was full of soldiers&mdash;twenty at least. They
+had a prisoner, true enough, but not the doctor. It
+was my servant, whom they had forced to disclose
+the location of the arms.</p>
+
+<p>The soldiers quickly blocked the door and began
+closing in on me. One seized me by each arm, but
+with a quick shake I threw them off. Then a third
+fellow clutched my left arm so tightly I could not
+loosen him. Had I taken my eyes or my revolver
+off the crowd in front, they would have been upon
+me in a body; yet with my left arm I was able
+slowly to turn the clinging soldier around in front
+of me and to bring him gradually within close
+range of my revolver. When he saw its gleaming
+muzzle, he broke from me and fled to the others.</p>
+
+<p>Little did they know that I could not afford to
+sacrifice my remaining load to kill a single man.
+I must use it to capture the other revolver, for
+rifles were of no use at such short range. I man&#339;uvred
+cautiously to keep most of the soldiers in
+front of me, and stealthily backed toward the door,
+where a soldier stood guard with the other weapon.
+I was reckoning on the cowardice of most of those
+in front of me, but I had failed to count on the men
+I had shot. As I now backed quickly towards the
+door, I suddenly felt the arms of the fallen man
+about my legs, and I stumbled backwards over him.
+In a twinkling the whole crowd was upon me, my<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_303" id="Page_303">[303]</a></span>
+revolver was seized, my arms were pinned to the
+ground, and the dying soldier clutched my legs in
+his last frenzy. I expected no better than to be
+shot immediately by a rifle held against my head,
+but their orders were evidently different. My arms
+were securely bound with rough fibrous thongs,
+and then they marched me to the palace just as
+the sun was rising.</p>
+
+<hr /><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_304" id="Page_304">[304]</a></span></p>
+<h2>CHAPTER XIII</h2>
+
+<h3>The Revelation of Hotep</h3>
+
+<p class="cap"><span class="dcap">I was</span> not a little surprised to see that they
+carried me to the same ante-room in the palace
+which I had occupied on coming to Kem. But it
+was now quite stripped of all furnishings, and over
+each door were hung large, closely-spun fabrics,
+which completely covered and concealed them from
+sight. There were but two little windows high
+above my head, and had I been free to leap up to
+them, they were too small to afford me an exit.
+Driven into a stone slab of the floor were two large
+bent-wood staples. Between these they placed
+several cushions, upon which they laid me.</p>
+
+<p>"May it please the strong man to rest here quietly,
+aye! and to slumber if he feel the need, until my
+master, the worshipful Zaphnath, be risen?"
+sneered the leader in polite irony, as the soldiers,
+having unbound my arms, proceeded to tie each
+hand securely to one of the wooden rings. Then
+with jeers they left me, pointing the fire-arms and
+swords at me as they went. I heard them bar the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_305" id="Page_305">[305]</a></span>
+doors on the outside and try them with a severe
+shake; then their footsteps receded and all was
+still.</p>
+
+<p>As I lay on my back looking up at the vaulted
+stone roof, I had my first leisure to reflect on the
+desperate condition into which we had at last
+fallen. The arms, which had meant our supremacy,
+were in the hands of our enemies; Hotep, our only
+friend in the palace, had mysteriously disappeared;
+the doctor was taken, perhaps killed by this time;
+and I could hardly outlast the day, for Zaphnath
+would reserve but one fate for a conspirator who
+sought his place. How soon would he come, and
+how would he dispose of me? I remembered having
+seen the punishment for treason of a noble personage,
+with whom I had once eaten at the Pharaoh's
+table. He was confined at the bottom of a tight
+stone pit, and a heavy, poisonous gas was slowly
+poured into it. He could see it slowly fill the pit,
+and as it gradually rose toward his nostrils, he
+could feel his death gradually measured out to him
+by inches. When he had breathed it in a little, his
+face swelled a livid purple, he choked and strangled,
+staggered and fell beneath the murky surface to die
+out of sight. The terror of such a slowly creeping
+danger! the horror of such a repulsive death! I
+remember saying at the time that in his place I
+would have snatched a quick respite from the
+lingering agonies by strangling myself, or tearing
+my wrist open with my teeth. Now, as I thought<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_306" id="Page_306">[306]</a></span>
+of it, I suddenly remembered my dream of being
+similarly smothered in the Gnomons by slowly inpouring
+grain. A superstitious mind would have
+feared that dream foretold my fate, but I was
+rational enough to perceive that it must have been
+suggested to me by a vagrant memory of the poisoning
+I had seen.</p>
+
+<p>As I lay thinking thus, I shifted my position a
+little on the pillows for better comfort, and my eyes
+wandered slowly from the vaulted roof to the daylight
+at the two little high windows. I started in
+terror at what I saw, but blinked my eyes to make
+sure I was awake, and then looked more intently.
+There was no dreaming this time! I saw clearly,
+and at both windows, a curling, purple stream of
+dense, noxious gas pouring down into the room! It
+was much heavier than the air, and trickled slowly
+down like the ghost of murky waters gradually
+filling up a great well. Then I turned to look at
+the floor, the stones were no longer visible, but a
+coat of muddy purple covered them to a depth of
+several inches, and the noisome gas already reached
+almost to the tops of my cushions! All this had
+trickled in within ten minutes, and twice as much
+more would rise and cover me completely. Then
+an awful but silent death would creep into my
+lungs, and my only friends, the common people of
+Kem, would never know how I had perished.</p>
+
+<p>Did I try to strangle myself or tear open my
+wrist? I could not get hand and mouth near<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_307" id="Page_307">[307]</a></span>
+enough together for either of these expedients, had
+the stubborn instinct of self-preservation left them
+any place in my mind. I kicked away the cushions,
+which gave me a little more room to work my
+knees under me. Then by straining on my thongs
+I was able to lift my head and shoulders upright,
+and save my nostrils from the noxious stuff for
+many minutes longer. All the years of my life
+on Ptah I had been vain of my superior physical
+strength. Would it serve me now to break the
+thongs that bound me? I tugged, and pulled, and
+struggled until I cut the flesh, but they only drew
+tighter; yet at each effort I gained a little more
+length of thong.</p>
+
+<p>The purple surface, on which death floated, crept
+up toward me. The room was gas-tight; the doors
+were so covered that they could not leak, and had I
+succeeded in breaking loose I could not have shaken
+their bars. To save myself, I must make a breach
+in the floor; I must pull up a slab and let the
+gaseous poison run out below. That was my only
+chance. I worked my knees back as nearly as
+possible to the edge of the slab into which the
+wooden staples were fastened, and threw all my
+weight and strength into the effort. The stone did
+not move. Yet I got more thong-room, and
+succeeded in doubling my feet under me to give
+more force to the next heave. I felt sure I could
+have lifted the weight of the stone if it were free,
+but struggle as I would, I could not loosen it from<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_308" id="Page_308">[308]</a></span>
+its wedged position. The purple poison had risen
+to my waist by this time, and in my violent efforts
+I had stirred it into billowing waves which occasionally
+surged almost to my nostrils. I had
+breathed a little which made me faint and giddy.
+I feared lest I should stagger and fall into it.
+Once my head below the surface, and I was most
+surely and horribly drowned!</p>
+
+<p>I stood resting a second, anxiously thinking,
+planning in desperation and keeping my eyes
+always fixed on the rising purple. Suddenly,
+though I had given no tug, I heard the stone under
+me crunch at its edges, and felt it begin to rise a
+little at one side! What could have loosened it,
+when all my efforts had failed? No matter! if I
+could pull it away now and make a breach, I would
+at least gain a long respite. I tugged again and
+found it easy to pull the loosened stone up on one
+edge, till it tottered and fell over against me.
+Feverishly I watched the poison about me; it rose
+no longer; slowly it began to sink away. Thank
+God for so much!</p>
+
+<p>Then suddenly I heard voices calling me. They
+seemed to come from below. Yes! It was Hotep
+in Kemish,&mdash;and the doctor in English! Were
+they confined in the cavern below, then? And had
+the gas been reserved for them, when it had finished
+its dread work with me? Horrible thought! If
+so, in saving myself I was only sending the sure
+poison to them. Where were they? I could not<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_309" id="Page_309">[309]</a></span>
+see down through the murky stuff; but I must
+warn them.</p>
+
+<p>"Halloo! The gas is poisonous! Leap through,
+save yourselves! Climb out, or it will kill you!"</p>
+
+<p>"Bear up!" I heard the doctor's voice begin,
+"one minute more and we&mdash;&mdash;" Then there was a
+violent coughing, a door slammed, and the voice
+was barely heard&mdash;afar off&mdash;as through a wall.
+Had they escaped, then, to another room? I had no
+further time to puzzle what it meant, for another
+slab of my floor rose, wavered and fell over with a
+crash, and up through the purplish gas I could see
+a great round black thing rising, stretching high
+up into the room until its top almost touched the
+roof.</p>
+
+<p>My God! <i>It was the projectile!</i></p>
+
+<p>When the breach in the floor was cleared, all the
+gas rushed down into the lower chamber. The projectile
+eased over on its side, and out of the rear
+port-hole came Hotep with a revolver and a sword.
+He soon had me cut loose, and then he told me how
+it all had happened.</p>
+
+<p>He had been chamberlain but a single day when
+he discovered the existence of a secret subterranean
+chamber under the ante-room of the banquet hall.
+His curiosity led him to explore this, and in its
+darkest recess, unseen at first entrance, he found
+our projectile. It had been there ever since the
+day of its disappearance. During our interview
+before Zaphnath and the wise men, they had<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_310" id="Page_310">[310]</a></span>
+learned from us that others could not come from
+Earth without the projectile, and that we had left
+no third person in charge of it. It must have been
+with an order to make away with the projectile, and
+to secrete it in this chamber, that the third messenger
+had been dispatched that day. Also on my first
+evening in this very ante-room, I had heard Two-spot
+barking in the chamber below, and the servant,
+on hearing him too, had him hastily released, lest
+he should betray the hiding-place.</p>
+
+<p>As soon as Hotep had found the projectile, he had
+sent for us, but it was the doctor alone who joined
+him. They two had been busy all that day and
+night repairing the projectile and storing it anew.
+In this manner the doctor had escaped the soldiers
+who came at daybreak to capture us both. Beyond
+the projectile, Hotep had discovered a secret passage
+leading outside the palace walls, which they could
+use on their errands of repairs without being
+observed.</p>
+
+<p>All night they worked without disturbance, but
+early in the morning something happened to alarm
+them. They heard footsteps outside and a noise at
+the door which led to the palace. It probably
+meant death to be discovered there, but they extinguished
+their lights, entered the projectile, and
+closed the port-holes and lay there quite still. The
+door was opened, and soldiers bearing lights entered.
+But they made no search; they carried with them
+our swords, fire-arms, and the two belts of cartridges,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_311" id="Page_311">[311]</a></span>
+which they deposited here, it being the natural
+place for their safe keeping. When they were gone,
+the doctor emerged and examined the revolvers and
+rifles, and finding that five cartridges had been discharged,
+he knew there had been a struggle with
+me in which I had been worsted. This caused them
+to hasten their efforts and make an escape with
+the projectile as soon as possible. All the supplies
+necessary to the batteries had been found intact in
+their places, and the compressing of air with the
+repaired pump and the further storing of food could
+be postponed till they were more free to do it.</p>
+
+<p>At last the projectile lifted and worked; slowly
+it loosened the stones of my floor above them; but
+when one stone was pushed aside they noticed that
+the daylight did not come through the breach as it
+ought. They had heard my cries, and as the gas
+came down on them, the doctor had slammed the
+front port-hole, which was never wide open, and
+had thus saved himself. Hotep was safely shut
+into the other compartment with the fire-arms and
+ammunition.</p>
+
+<p>The doctor now came down to the rear port-hole
+to speak to me.</p>
+
+<p>"My plan is to escape now to the Gnomons,
+where we will leave Hotep in possession with most
+of our fire-arms. You can give him some instructions
+how to use them, so that he may defend himself.
+There we can finish our stores of air and
+food." To this I assented, and said to Hotep,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_312" id="Page_312">[312]</a></span>&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>"The Gnomons I give to thee, and all the land
+round about them, as a reward for thy most valuable
+assistance. Also I put into thy charge all my
+stores of wheat, to be distributed among the needy.
+Thou must husband them to last yet four years
+more, and for thine own thou mayest keep one
+measure in twenty. Take thou also a sword, a
+rifle, a revolver, and a belt of cartridges. Mayhap,
+to thy right to rule they may add the power to be
+a Pharaoh!"</p>
+
+<p>I was interrupted by a noise below, as of some
+one opening the door of the secret chamber. All
+the deadly gas lurked in that room now, and it was
+certain death to whoever opened and entered! Yet
+if an alarm had been raised it was there they
+would immediately go for the fire-arms. I listened
+and heard faintly a voice of command, like that of
+Zaphnath, saying, "Haste, get me the thunderers!"
+Then, as the door below creaked open, I heard it
+louder: "The thunderers!" Next I heard many
+men in violent fits of coughing; I heard some groan
+and fall; but who or how many died by the purplish
+poison intended for me, I never knew.</p>
+
+<p>It was but a moment later that hurried footsteps
+in the banquet-hall were heard approaching the
+veiled doorway. I took the revolver from Hotep,
+and motioned him inside the projectile. How
+cautiously they opened the door I could not see, for
+it was behind the great curtain. Presently, however,
+the captain who had bound me and bade me<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_313" id="Page_313">[313]</a></span>
+wait, drew aside the curtain, and the Pharaoh stood
+in the door, and behind him were a crowd of soldiers
+armed with cross-bows. In all the number I did
+not see the face of Zaphnath. They beheld me
+alone, and had no reason to suspect the presence of
+the others inside the projectile.</p>
+
+<p>"Guard both the doors!" the captain commanded,
+and a detachment of soldiers barred the other door,
+as if thus to prevent me from escaping with the
+projectile; for of course they had not seen it rise
+through the floor.</p>
+
+<p>"Seize and bind yon traitor!" cried the Pharaoh;
+"and he who hesitates shall be flayed!"</p>
+
+<p>"And he who attempts it, shall die ere his first
+step be taken!" I replied, levelling the revolver.
+The captain started for me and I shot him down.</p>
+
+<p>"If a man of you moves till I have entered this
+thing, I will kill the Pharaoh, as I have killed this
+dog! Ye serve him best who stand still as ye
+are!" So saying, I covered the trembling monarch
+with the revolver, and with my other hand I opened
+the rear port-hole; then stooping, I sprang inside
+with a quick motion. When the Pharaoh had
+recovered from his fright, I heard him cry out,&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>"Cast that black thing, and the traitor inside it,
+into yon poisonous hole again!"</p>
+
+<p>The soldiers did not fear to act this time, and the
+whole company seized the projectile and carried it
+toward the breach in the floor. As they lifted it on
+end to thrust into the hole, I called out to the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_314" id="Page_314">[314]</a></span>
+doctor, who turned in two batteries, and gently we
+lifted out of their dumb hands and rose steadily till
+we touched the roof. There the vaulted stonework
+stopped us, and an exultant shout went up from
+below. Suddenly a score of arrows twanged against
+my window, but the doctor turned in two more
+batteries and then gradually we lifted the key of
+the great stone arch, broke through the roof, and
+the whole universe was an open sea before us!</p>
+
+<p>Crouching by me at the port-hole, Hotep watched
+the roof collapse and tumble in. "For thy sake,"
+I said to him, "I hope a falling stone may have
+crushed him!"</p>
+
+<hr class="min" />
+
+<p>Thus ended our other-world life. In a time of
+activity it would never have occurred to me to write
+down these events. It was to relieve the uneventful
+quiet of our trip back to Earth that I undertook
+to set down all our Martian experiences in their
+proper order. No doubt it was the changeless
+monotony of that return journey which made the
+record appear to me novel, unusual, and at times
+exciting. But now, six little months again on Earth
+have made the more than three Martian years
+(equalling six years of Earth) seem slow, tame, and
+profitless. If they were pregnant with adventure,
+they lacked the real experiences of life which have
+been crowded into the half-year since our return.</p>
+
+<p>The very day I reached my old home I found
+another wheat corner more wide-spread, if less<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_315" id="Page_315">[315]</a></span>
+complete and impregnable, and I set to work to
+break it down. Thus the maelstr&ouml;m of modern
+commercial life dragged me into its dizzy whirl
+before I slept the first night on Earth, and I am
+already surfeited with it. I seem to take the
+Earthly life in too large and rapid doses. Into the
+half-year she has put a flattering success and a dismaying
+failure. She has given me a month of her
+sweetest experiences and another of her bitterest
+disappointments. As if she knew I would not
+remain long at her feast, she has served to me in
+quick succession a measure of renown, a taste of
+fortune, the rapture of wooing, the bliss of marriage,
+and the rare delight of loving a soul created to love
+me. Then one little drop from the cup of Death
+embittered the whole feast and turned me against
+it all.</p>
+
+<p>In the rush and turmoil of it all I should never
+have thought of my crudely written narrative
+again had not my cousin Ruth, who never tired of
+the story, fished it out and sent it to a literary
+friend in Boston. It was probably the instant
+success in the scientific world of Dr. Anderwelt's
+scholarly books on <i>Mars and His Life</i>, and the new
+direction given to modern thought by his <i>Theory of
+Parallel Planetary Life</i>, which led my literary
+sponsor to think the world would be interested in a
+plain, unscientific narrative of our trip Marsward
+and our doings there. In agreeing to look it over
+and cause it to be a "good delivery" in the literary<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_316" id="Page_316">[316]</a></span>
+world, he exacted a promise from me to make my
+recent Earthly experiences and our adventures on
+Venus join in producing another story. For before
+the eyes of the first reader have reached these words,
+Dr. Anderwelt and I will have departed sunwards, on
+the visit to our brilliant sister planet, where, according
+to his theory, life will have run through some
+31,000 years more than Earth toward the perfect
+existence. By the first return of the projectile I
+have promised to send back a thorough account of
+the evolution of life and the advancement of civilization
+on Venus, so far as Earthly eyes and wits can
+see and know it.</p>
+
+<p class="hd2"><b><small>Butler &amp; Tanner, The Selwood Printing Works, Frome, and London.</small></b></p>
+
+<div class="trn"><b>Transcriber's Note:</b><br />
+Minor typographical errors have been corrected without note.
+Obsolete spellings have been retained.</div>
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+<pre>
+
+
+
+
+
+End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Pharaoh's Broker, by Ellsworth Douglass
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@@ -0,0 +1,7759 @@
+The Project Gutenberg EBook of Pharaoh's Broker, by Ellsworth Douglass
+
+This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with
+almost no restrictions whatsoever.  You may copy it, give it away or
+re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included
+with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org
+
+
+Title: Pharaoh's Broker
+       Being the Very Remarkable Experiences in Another World of Isidor Werner
+
+Author: Ellsworth Douglass
+
+Release Date: May 2, 2008 [EBook #25295]
+
+Language: English
+
+Character set encoding: ASCII
+
+*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK PHARAOH'S BROKER ***
+
+
+
+
+Produced by Greg Weeks, George Snoga, Stephen Blundell and
+the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at
+http://www.pgdp.net
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+              PHARAOH'S BROKER
+
+   BEING THE VERY REMARKABLE EXPERIENCES
+            IN ANOTHER WORLD OF
+               ISIDOR WERNER
+
+            (WRITTEN BY HIMSELF)
+
+
+ EDITED, ARRANGED, AND WITH AN INTRODUCTION
+           BY ELLSWORTH DOUGLASS
+
+
+                  [Device]
+
+
+                   LONDON
+         C. ARTHUR PEARSON LIMITED
+           HENRIETTA STREET W.C.
+                    1899
+
+
+
+
+Transcriber's Note:
+
+    Minor typographical errors have been corrected without note.
+    Obsolete spellings have been retained. The oe ligature is
+    represented by [oe].
+
+
+
+
+CONTENTS
+
+
+                                                  PAGE
+ INTRODUCTION: ELUSIVE TRUTH                         7
+
+
+               BOOK I. SECRETS OF SPACE
+
+ CHAPTER
+      I. DR. HERMANN ANDERWELT                      19
+     II. THE GRAVITY PROJECTILE                     27
+    III. STRUCTURE OF THE PROJECTILE                37
+     IV. WHAT IS ON MARS?                           48
+      V. FINAL PREPARATIONS                         57
+     VI. FAREWELL TO EARTH                          67
+    VII. THE TERRORS OF LIGHT                       81
+   VIII. THE VALLEY OF THE SHADOW                   91
+     IX. TRICKS OF REFRACTION                       99
+      X. THE TWILIGHT OF SPACE                     108
+     XI. TELLING THE TIME BY GEOGRAPHY             117
+    XII. SPACE FEVER                               126
+   XIII. THE MYSTERY OF A MINUS WEIGHT             141
+
+
+               BOOK II. OTHER WORLD LIFE
+
+      I. WHY MARS GIVES A RED LIGHT                157
+     II. THE TERROR BIRDS                          170
+    III. TWO OF US AGAINST THE ARMIES OF MARS      182
+     IV. THE STRANGE BRAVERY OF MISS BLANK         192
+      V. ZAPHNATH, RULER OF THE KEMI               204
+     VI. THE IRON MEN FROM THE BLUE STAR           220
+    VII. PARALLEL PLANETARY LIFE                   240
+   VIII. A PLAGIARIST OF DREAMS                    249
+     IX. GETTING INTO THE CORNER                   260
+      X. HUMANITY ON PTAH                          275
+     XI. REVOLUTIONIST AND EAVESDROPPER            283
+    XII. THE DOCTOR DISAPPEARS                     292
+   XIII. THE REVELATION OF HOTEP                   304
+
+
+
+
+INTRODUCTION
+
+Elusive Truth
+
+
+It was the Chicago _Tribune_ of June 13th, 189-, which contained this
+paragraph under the head-line: "Big Broker Missing!"
+
+   "The friends of Isidor Werner, a young man prominent in Board of
+   Trade circles, are much concerned about him, as he has not been seen
+   for several days. He made his last appearance in the wheat pit as a
+   heavy buyer Tuesday forenoon. That afternoon he left his office at
+   Room 87 Board of Trade, and has not been seen since, nor can his
+   whereabouts be learned. He is six feet two inches high, of athletic
+   build, with black hair and moustache, a regular nose, and an
+   unpronounced Jewish appearance. His age is hardly more than
+   twenty-seven, but he has often made himself felt as a market force on
+   the Board of Trade, where he was well thought of."
+
+But it was the _Evening Post_ of the same date which prided itself on
+unearthing the real sensation. A scare-head across the top of a first
+page column read:
+
+   "A PLUNGER'S LAST PLUNGE!"
+
+   "The daring young broker who held the whole wheat market in his hands
+   a few months ago, amassing an independent fortune in three days, but
+   losing most of it gamely on subsequent changes in the market, has
+   made his last plunge. This time he has gone into the cold, kind bosom
+   of Lake Michigan. Isidor Werner evened up his trades in the wheat
+   market last Tuesday forenoon, and then applied for his balance-sheet
+   at a higher clearing house! No trace of him or clue to his
+   whereabouts was found, until the _Evening Post_, on the principle of
+   setting one mystery to solve another, sent its representative to
+   examine a strange steel rocket, discovered half-buried in the sands
+   of Lake Michigan, near Berrien Springs, two days ago. Our reporter
+   investigated this bullet-shaped contrivance and found an opening into
+   it, and within he discovered a scrap of paper on which were written
+   the words: 'Farewell to Earth for ever!' Werner's friends, when
+   interviewed by the _Evening Post_, all positively identified the
+   handwriting of this scrap as his chirography. It is supposed that he
+   took an excursion steamer to St. Joseph, Michigan, last Tuesday or
+   Wednesday afternoon, and walking down the shore toward Berrien
+   Springs, finally threw himself into the Lake. Neither Israel Werner,
+   with whom the dead man lived on Indiana Avenue, nor Patrick Flynn,
+   the chief clerk at his office, can give any reason for the suicide,
+   or explain the exact connection of the infernal machine (if such it
+   be) with the sad circumstance. But they both positively identify the
+   handwriting on the scrap of paper. We have wired our representative
+   to bring the mysterious machine to Chicago; and those who think they
+   may be able to throw any light upon the case, are invited to call at
+   the office of the _Evening Post_ and examine it."
+
+The _Inter Ocean_ developed a theory that the suicide was only a
+pretended one for the purpose of fraudulently collecting life insurance
+policies. It was cited that Isidor Werner had insured his life for more
+than $100,000, and this in spite of the fact that he had no family,
+parents, brothers or sisters to provide for; but had taken the policies
+in favour of his uncle, Israel Werner, and in case of his prior death,
+in favour of a cousin, Ruth Werner. This theory gained but little
+currency among those who knew the man best, and although the insurance
+companies prepared to resist payment of the policies to the bitter end,
+yet, as time went on, no one attempted to prove his death, nor to claim
+the handsome sum which would result from it. Moreover, Israel Werner and
+his daughter Ruth, the beneficiaries under the policies, persisted in
+believing that their relative was yet alive, though they could give no
+good reasons for so believing, nor explain his disappearance.
+
+In its issue of June 15th the _Tribune_ scouted the idea of suicide
+altogether. It had a better and more plausible theory of the case.
+Isidor Werner had a large sum of money in the Corn Exchange Bank,
+drawing interest by the year. In case of either a premeditated or a
+pretended suicide he would most certainly have withdrawn, and made some
+disposition of, this money. In fact, he had, on the day of his
+disappearance, drawn out five thousand dollars of it in gold. For this
+coin the _Tribune_ believed he had been murdered, and that they had a
+clue to the murderer. The vanished man had several times been seen in
+the company of a suspicious German, of intelligent but erratic
+appearance. This queer character lived in a hotbed of socialism on the
+West Side, and the young broker was supposed to be in his power. In
+fact, it was known for certain that the erratic German had secured a
+large sum of money from him, and that Werner had visited his rooms in
+the slums of the West Side more than once. Moreover, the two had made a
+secret railway journey together two days before the disappearance, and
+on the very day that Werner was last seen, the German had fled his
+lodgings without giving any explanation of his departure to his few
+acquaintances. When the _Tribune_ reporter called at these lodgings, the
+landlord still had in his possession a gold eagle, with which the German
+had paid his rent, and in the grate of the deserted room were the
+charred remains of burnt papers. One of these was a rather firm, crisp
+cinder, and had been a blue-print of a drawing. As nearly as could be
+judged, from its shrivelled state, it appeared to be the plan of some
+infernal machine. The name of the fugitive was Anderwelt, and he called
+himself a doctor. Further investigations were being carried on by the
+_Tribune_, which promised to prove beyond a doubt that he was the
+murderer of Isidor Werner.
+
+But the _Evening Post_ still held the palm for sensations, and I copy
+verbatim from its columns of June 15th:
+
+   "It is rare that a newspaper, dealing strictly in facts, has to
+   record anything so closely bordering on the supernatural and
+   mysterious as that which we must now relate. The following facts,
+   however, are vouched for by the entire editorial department of the
+   _Evening Post_, and many of them by several hundred witnesses. We
+   begin by apologising to the hundreds who have called at this office
+   and have been unable to see the Werner infernal machine. We gave it
+   that name in a thoughtless jest, but its subsequent actions have more
+   than justified the title. Our reporter brought it from Berrien
+   Springs, as directed, and deposited it in the court of the _Evening
+   Post_ building. As is quite generally known, this court is a central
+   well in the building, affording ventilation and light to the interior
+   offices, from every one of which can be seen what goes on in it. The
+   well is spanned by a glass roof above the eighth storey. In this
+   court, at eleven o'clock this morning, the entire editorial and a
+   large part of the business staff of this paper, repaired, to examine
+   the mysterious rocket-like thing. A little lid was opened, showing
+   the recess where the tell-tale scrap of paper, written by Werner, had
+   been found. Inside there seemed to be a pair of peculiar battery
+   cells, whose exact nature was hidden by the outer shell. Outside
+   there were several thumb-screws, which were turned both ways without
+   any apparent effect. While making this examination the machine had
+   been set up on its lower end, and when it was again laid down it
+   _refused to lie on its side_, but persisted in _standing erect of its
+   own accord_. This was the more wonderful because the lower end was
+   not flat, so that it would afford a good base, but was pointed. More
+   than a hundred people saw it stand up on this sharp tip, saw it lift
+   up light weights which were placed upon it to hold it on its side,
+   and saw it quickly right itself when it was placed vertically but
+   wrong end down.
+
+   "Thinking this queer property had been contributed to it in some way
+   by loosening the thumb-screws, they were next all set down as tightly
+   as possible, to see if this tendency to erectness would be lost.
+   Then, to the astonishment of every one in the court, and of several
+   hundred people who were by this time watching from the interior
+   windows, this infernal machine, without any explosion, burning of
+   gases, or any apparent force acting upon it, slowly _rose from the
+   ground_, and then, travelling more swiftly, _shot through the roof of
+   glass_ and vanished from sight! Nor has the most diligent search
+   enabled us to recover it. Does it possess the secret of Isidor
+   Werner's death?"
+
+But the Chicago _Herald_ had been working thoroughly and saying little
+until its issue of June 16th, when it claimed the credit of solving the
+whole mystery. Its long article lies before me as I write: There had
+been no suicide; there had been no murder; there had been no infernal
+machine. Doctor Anderwelt was a learned man, and the warm personal
+friend of Isidor Werner. Both men had shared the same fate; they might
+yet be alive, but they were certainly _at the bottom of Lake Michigan
+together_! They were imprisoned there in a sunken submarine boat, which
+was the invention of Doctor Anderwelt, and was built with funds
+furnished by the young broker. The foundryman who had constructed the
+big torpedo-shaped contrivance had been interviewed. He knew both men,
+and they were on the most friendly terms. In a moment of confidence
+Doctor Anderwelt had told him the machine was for submarine exploration;
+had explained the four-winged rudder, which would make it dive into the
+water, rise to the surface, or direct it to right or to left. Moreover,
+there were closed living compartments, around which were chambers
+containing a supply of air. He himself had pumped them full of
+compressed air, and it was so arranged that foul air could be let out
+when used and new air admitted. When all had been finished the
+foundryman had shipped the new invention, _via_ the Michigan Southern
+Railway, to the shore of the Lake near Whiting, Indiana. Next the
+_Herald_ had sought and found the conductor whose train had hauled it to
+Whiting. He remembered switching off the flat-car there, and he was
+surprised on his return trip next morning to see the heavy thing already
+unloaded and gone.
+
+Undoubtedly, the two men had made an experiment with the diving boat
+under the surface of the water; and its failure to operate as hoped had
+resulted in its sinking to the bottom, with the two men imprisoned in
+it. On no other hypothesis could its disappearance, and that of the two
+men, be so plausibly accounted for. But as they had stores of air, and
+probably of food, there was a possibility that they were still alive
+inside the thing in the bottom of the Lake! Only three days had elapsed
+since it had been launched, and the _Herald_ was willing to head a
+subscription to drag the Lake and send divers to search for and rescue
+the two unfortunate men!
+
+All this serves to illustrate the untiring energy of newspaper
+investigation, as well as the remarkable fertility of journalistic
+imagination; for none of these clever theories hit at the real truth, or
+explained the correct bearing of the astonishing facts which the
+newspapers had so industriously unearthed.
+
+And if the mystery of the disappearance of Isidor Werner was uncommonly
+deep and wonderful, the explanation and final solution of it is not less
+marvellous. After a delay of more than six years, it has just now come
+into my hands whole and perfect. It is in no less satisfactory form than
+a complete manuscript written by the very hand of Isidor Werner! I came
+strangely into possession of it, and it relates a story of interest and
+wonder, compared with which the mystery of his disappearance pales into
+insignificance. But the reader may judge for himself, for here follows
+the story exactly as he wrote it. Upon his manuscript I have bestowed
+hardly more than a proof-reader's technical revision.
+
+                                                   ELLSWORTH DOUGLASS.
+
+    BOSTON, U.S.A.,
+ _December 13th, 1898._
+
+
+
+
+BOOK I
+
+Secrets of Space
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER I
+
+Dr. Hermann Anderwelt
+
+
+I had been busy all day trying to swarm the bees and secure my honey.
+The previous day had been February 29th, a date which doesn't often
+happen, and which I had especial reason to remember, for it had been the
+most successful of my business career. I had made a long guess at the
+shaky condition of the great house of Slater, Bawker & Co., who had been
+heavy buyers of wheat. I had talked the market down, sold it down,
+hammered it down; and, true enough, what nobody else seemed to expect
+really happened. The big firm failed, the price of wheat went to smash
+in a panic of my mixing, and, as a result, I saw a profit of more than
+two hundred thousand dollars in the deal. But, in order to secure this
+snug sum, I still had to buy back the wheat I had sold at higher prices,
+and this I didn't find so easy. The crowd in the wheat pit had seen my
+hand, and were letting me play it alone against them all.
+
+After the session I hurried to my office to get my overcoat and hat,
+having an engagement to lunch at the Club.
+
+"If you please, Mr. Werner, there is a queer old gentleman in your
+private office who wishes to see you," said Flynn, my chief clerk.
+
+"Ask him to call again to-morrow; I am in a great hurry to-day," I said,
+slipping on one sleeve of my overcoat as I started out.
+
+"But he has been waiting in there since eleven o'clock, and said he very
+much wished to see you when you had plenty of time. He would not allow
+me to send on the floor for you during the session."
+
+"Since eleven o'clock! Did he have his lunch and a novel sent up? Well,
+I can hardly run away from a man who has waited three and a half hours
+to see me;" and I entered my private office with my overcoat on.
+
+Seated in my deep, leathern arm-chair was an elderly man, with rather
+long and bushy iron-grey hair, and an uneven grey beard. His head
+inclined forward, he breathed heavily, and was apparently fast asleep.
+
+"You will pardon my awaking you, but I never do business asleep!" I
+ventured rather loudly.
+
+Slowly the steel-blue eyes opened, and, without any start or
+discomposure, the old man answered,--
+
+"And I--my most successful enterprises are developed in my dreams."
+
+His features and his accent agreed in pronouncing him German. He arose
+calmly, buttoned the lowest button of his worn frock-coat, and, instead
+of extending his hand to me, he poked it inside his coat, letting it
+hang heavily on the single button. It was a lazy but characteristic
+attitude. It tended to make his coat pouch and his shoulders droop. I
+remembered having seen it somewhere before.
+
+"Mr. Werner, I have a matter of the deepest and vastest importance to
+unfold to you," he began, rather mysteriously, "for which I desire five
+hours of your unemployed time----"
+
+"Five hours!" I interrupted. "You do not know me! That much is hard to
+find without running into the middle of the night, or into the middle of
+the day--which is worse for a busy man. I have just five minutes to
+spare this afternoon, which will be quite time enough to tell me who you
+are and why you have sought me."
+
+"You do not know me because you do not expect to see me on this
+hemisphere," he continued. "Nor did I expect to find you a potent force
+in the commercial world, only three years after a literary and
+linguistic preparation for a scholarly career. Why, the _maedchens_ of
+Heidelberg have hardly had time to forget your tall, athletic figure, or
+ceased wondering if you were really a Hebrew----"
+
+"You seem to be altogether familiar with my history," I put in with a
+little heat. "Kindly enlighten me equally well as to your own."
+
+"I gave you the pleasure of an additional year of residence at the
+University of Heidelberg not long ago," he answered.
+
+"I do not know how that can be, for to my uncle I owe my entire
+education there."
+
+"Perhaps an unappreciated trifle of it you owe to your instructors and
+lecturers. Do you forget that I refused to pass your examinations in
+physics, and kept you there a year longer?"
+
+"You are not Doctor Anderwelt, then?"
+
+"Hermann Anderwelt, Ph.D., at your service, sir," he replied somewhat
+proudly.
+
+"But when and why did you leave your chair at Heidelberg?"
+
+"It is to answer this that I ask the five hours," he said slowly.
+
+"Oh, come now, doctor, you used to tell me more in a two-hour lecture
+than I could remember in a week," I answered, taking off my overcoat,
+and touching an electric button at my desk. My office boy entered.
+
+"Teddy, have I had lunch to-day?" This was my favourite question on a
+busy day, and Teddy always answered it seriously.
+
+"No, sir, you have an engagement to lunch at the Standard Club," he
+replied.
+
+"Telephone to Gus at the Club that I can't come up to-day. Also send
+over to the Grand Pacific for a good lunch for two. Have some beer in
+it--real Munchner, and in _steins_," I directed, and then I reclined on
+a long leather lounge, and motioned to the doctor to have a chair. He
+declined, however, and walked slowly back and forth before me as he
+talked, keeping his right hand inside his coat, and with the left he
+occasionally ploughed up his heavy hair, as if to ventilate his brain.
+
+"A year ago I gave up theoretical physics for applied physics; I
+resigned my chair at Heidelberg, and came to this progressive city. I
+brought with me a working model of the greatest invention of this
+inventive age. Yet it was then neither perfect in design nor complete in
+detail. But now I have hit on the plan that makes it practicable and
+certain of success. I need only a little money to build it, and the
+world will open its eyes!"
+
+"But you must pardon me if instead of opening mine I shut them," I
+interrupted, seeing the point quickly, and losing no time in dodging. "I
+have no money to invest in patent rights; but still, you must stay to
+lunch with me."
+
+Just here the doctor seemed to find it necessary to diverge from the
+orderly course of his lecture as he had prepared it, and interject a few
+impromptu observations.
+
+"Events are difficult to forecast, but the capabilities of a youth are
+harder to divine. One educates his son in all the fine arts, and he
+turns out a founder of pig iron. One's nephew is apprenticed to a
+watchmaker, and in a few years, behold, he is a great barrister. Your
+uncle educated you thoroughly in the old Hebrew and Chaldee of the
+rabbis, and, lo! you are now the _ursa major_ of the wheat market.
+
+"Just now you are in the centre of the kaleidoscope of success. Slater,
+Bawker & Co. were there a month ago, but now they are only bits of
+broken glass in the bottom of the heap! And you? you are really a
+twisted bit of coloured glass like the rest, but you chance to be thrown
+to the middle. The mirrors of public opinion multiply your importance
+half a dozen times, and behold you are reflected into the whole picture.
+But the kaleidoscope turns, and the pieces of glass are shifted. Other
+broken chips now at the bottom of the heap will soon be filling the
+centre!
+
+"Permit me to change my figure of speech. You are sweeping back the
+waves of the sea while the tide is falling, and the wide-mouthed public
+looks on, and whispers about that your broom makes all the waves obey,
+and drives them back at will. Just when you begin to believe it yourself
+the tide may turn, and neither brooms nor all the powers on earth can
+then sweep it back.
+
+"Isidor Werner, you believe yourself rich; but your wealth is like
+molasses in a sieve. If you do not dip in your finger and taste the
+sweet occasionally, you will have nothing to show for your pains in the
+end. I shall ask you for but a taste of the sweet now, so that I may
+preserve a little of it against that day which may come, when the sieve
+will be bright and clean and empty again!"
+
+There was a knock at the door.
+
+"Come in!" I shouted. "Nothing but this lunch can save me from your
+eloquence. You have already ruined me in three similes!"
+
+The waiter arranged a bountiful and tempting luncheon on a writing
+table. I commenced on it at once, but the doctor, though repeatedly
+urged, persistently refused. He took a long draught at a _stein_ of
+Munich beer, and continued:--
+
+"My invention proposes to navigate the air and the ether beyond, as well
+as the interplanetary spaces," he said impressively.
+
+"Flying machine, eh?" I sneered, between bites of planked whitefish.
+
+"Indeed no!" he growled, as if he detested this name. "My invention is
+not a machine but a projectile. It is not self-propelling, because if it
+depended upon its own propelling apparatus, it could not in thousands of
+years navigate the interplanetary spaces. It is a _gravity projectile_,
+and will travel at a rate of speed almost incalculable. It does not fly,
+but its manner of travelling is more nearly like falling."
+
+I gave the doctor a quick searching look to see if I could discover any
+signs of incipient insanity. I met a firm, steady gaze; an earnest,
+convincing look. Somehow, I felt there was something real and true and
+wonderful about to come from the great scholar before me, and that I
+must hear it and hear it all; that I must lend a serious and thoughtful
+attention. My eyes were rivetted upon the doctor's for fully a minute in
+silence.
+
+"Go on," I said at last; "I am all attention."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER II
+
+The Gravity Projectile
+
+
+Hermann Anderwelt had probably suffered many disappointments and waited
+long for a hearing. Now he seemed to feel that his opportunity had come,
+for he continued with growing enthusiasm:--
+
+"Hitherto all attempts at space travelling have been too timid or
+puerile. We have experimented at aerial navigation, as if the brief span
+of air were a step in the mighty distance which separates us from our
+sister planets. As well might steamboats have been invented to cross
+narrow streams, and never have ventured on the mighty ocean! We have
+tried to imitate the bird, the kite, and the balloon, and our
+experiments have failed, and always must, so long as we do not look
+farther and think deeper. Every Icarus who attempts to overcome the
+force of gravity, which conquers planets, and propel himself through the
+air by any sort of apparatus, will always finish the trip with a wiser
+but badly bruised head."
+
+"Still, it has been freely predicted," I ventured, "that this century
+will not close without the invention of a successful air-travelling
+machine."
+
+"And I alone have hit upon the right plan, because I have not attempted
+to _struggle against_ gravity, but have made use of it only for
+propelling my projectile!" exclaimed the doctor triumphantly.
+
+"But wait!" I interposed. "Gravity acts only in one direction, and that
+is exactly opposite to the one you propose to travel."
+
+"That brings me to the very important discovery I made in physics two
+years ago, upon which the whole success of the projectile rests. You
+will remember that, according to the text-books, very little is known
+about gravity except the laws of its action. What it is, and how it can
+be controlled or modified, have never been known. Electricity was as
+much a mystery fifty years ago, but we know all its attributes. We can
+make it, store it, control it, and use it for almost every necessity of
+life. The era of electricity is in full bloom, but the era of
+gravitational force is just budding."
+
+"Can it be that we have as much to learn from gravity as electricity has
+taught us in the last half-century?" I exclaimed, as my eyes began to
+open.
+
+"I believe it will teach us far more wonderful things, because it will
+take us to unknown worlds, while electricity has been confined to Earth.
+Its realm is the wide universe. It will show us what life there is on
+the planets. It will make us at home with the stars.
+
+"What!" he continued in a sort of ecstasy. "Do you think all great
+discoveries are over, all wonderful inventions made? As well might a
+trembling child, elated with the success of its first feeble steps
+alone, suppose it had exhausted all the possibilities of life. We are
+but spelling over the big letters on the title page of the primary book
+of knowledge. There be other pages and grander chapters further on.
+There be greater volumes, and sweeter, more expressive tongues which man
+may learn some day.
+
+"Has a reasoning Divinity created the heavens and peopled the myriad
+stars with thinking, capable beings, who must be perpetually isolated?
+Or may they not know each other some time? But shall we attempt to sail
+the vast heavens with a paper kite, or try to fly God's distances with
+the wings of fluttering birds? Nay; we must use God's engine for such a
+task. Has He tied the planets to the sun, and knitted the suns and their
+systems into one great universe obedient to a single law, with no
+possibility that we may use that law for intercommunication? With what
+wings do the planets fly around the sun, and the suns move through the
+heavens? With the wings of gravity! The same force for minute satellite
+or mighty sun. It is God's omnipotence applied to matter. Let us fly
+with that!"
+
+"But will you permit me to suggest that we are soaring before the
+projectile is built?" I put in.
+
+"Quite right. Let us come back to Earth, and return to facts. My studies
+in physics led me to believe that all natural forces--gravity,
+centrifugal force, and even capillary attraction--are, like electricity
+and magnetism, both positive and negative in their action. If they do
+not normally alternate between a positive and negative current, as
+electricity does, they can be made to do so. Gravity and capillary
+attraction, as we know them, always act positively; that is, they always
+_attract_. On the other hand, centrifugal force always acts negatively;
+that is, it always _repels_. But each of these forces, I believe, can
+temporarily be made to act opposite to its usual manner. I know this to
+be the case with gravity, for I have caused its positive and negative
+currents to alternate; that is, I have made it repel and then attract,
+and so on, at will, by changing the polarity of the body which it acts
+upon."
+
+"Now that I remember it," I added, "our original ideas of magnetism were
+that it simply attracted. We knew the lodestone drew the steel, but only
+on better acquaintance did we learn of its alternating currents,
+attractive and repellant."
+
+"I have positively demonstrated with my working model that I can reverse
+the force of gravity acting upon the model, and make it sail away into
+space. I will show you this whenever you like. It is so arranged that
+the polarizing action ceases in three minutes, after which the positive
+current controls, and the model falls to the Earth again."
+
+"But have you ever attempted a trip yet?" I inquired.
+
+"Oh, no. The model was not built to carry me, but it has demonstrated
+all the important facts, and I now need ten thousand dollars to build
+one large enough to carry several persons, and to equip it with
+everything necessary to make a trip to one of the planets. With a man
+inside to control the currents, it will be far more easily managed than
+the experimental model has been."
+
+"Suppose you had the projectile built, and everything was ready for a
+start," I said, "what would be the method of working it?"
+
+"I should enter the forward compartment," began the doctor.
+
+"But would you make the trial trip yourself?"
+
+"I certainly would not trust the secret of operating the currents to any
+one else," he remarked, with emphasis. "And will you accompany me in the
+rear compartment?"
+
+"No, indeed; unless you will promise to return in time for the following
+day's market," I replied.
+
+"Then I shall engage some adventurous fellow as assistant. First, we
+must set the rudder, which is both horizontal and vertical, so that the
+projectile can be steered up, down, or to either side. Having fixed it
+so as to be directed a little upward, I begin with the currents.
+Suppose the projectile weighs a ton, I gradually neutralize the positive
+current, which we are acquainted with as gravity. When it is exactly
+neutralized, the projectile weighs nothing, and the pressure of the air
+is enough to make it rise more rapidly than a balloon. When I have
+created a negative current, the projectile acquires a buoyancy equal to
+its previous weight. That is, it will now _fall up_ as rapidly as it
+would previously have fallen down. It will not do to put on the full
+negative current at once, for we should acquire a velocity that would
+simply burn us up by friction with the atmosphere. However, the air is
+soon passed; if in the ether beyond there is very little friction, or
+none at all, we shall go at full speed, which will be the constantly
+increasing velocity of a falling body.
+
+"Somewhere between the Earth and the nearest planet," he continued,
+"there is a place where the attraction of one is just equal to the
+attraction of the other; and if a body is stopped in that fatal spot it
+will be anchored there for ever, by the equally matched forces tugging
+in opposite directions. There is such a dead line between all the
+planets, and our principal danger lies in falling into one of these, for
+we should remain there a twinkling star throughout eternity! We must
+trust to our momentum to carry us past this point, and into space where
+the gravitational attraction of the other planet is paramount. Then we
+must promptly change our current from negative to positive, so that the
+other planet will attract us to her. Otherwise, she would repel us back
+to the dead line.
+
+"With a positive current we are now literally falling into the new
+planet. We need not land unless we wish, for as soon as we enter a
+resisting atmosphere we can steer a course lacking barely a quarter of
+being directly away from the planet, just as you can sail a boat three
+quarters against the wind."
+
+"But suppose you experiment at making a landing on this new planet?" I
+suggested.
+
+"Very well. Of course, as soon as we enter an atmosphere, it behoves us
+to travel slowly to avoid overheating. We can still safely travel
+several hundred miles an hour, however. We continue falling until rather
+near the planet; then, turning the rudder gently down, we can sail
+around and around the planet until we choose our landing place. Gently
+reversing currents, a mild negative one soon overcomes our momentum.
+Tempering our currents experimentally to the pressure of the air, we
+can, if we desire, float like a feather and be wafted with every breeze.
+Just a suspicion of a positive current brings us gently to the surface,
+and, when we have cooled, we unscrew the rear port-hole and crawl out to
+explore a new world."
+
+I had mentally made the trip, and was not only intensely interested, but
+infinitely pleased. I was lost for some time with my imagination on the
+new sphere, but presently my mind returned to the practical side of the
+question, and I inquired,--
+
+"Are you quite sure that ten thousand dollars will be sufficient to
+build and fully equip the projectile?"
+
+"Yes, quite certain," he answered with decision. "It will be ample for
+that and for the expenses of forming a corporation to own my patents and
+exploit the invention. It is easy to see the projectile will be cheap of
+construction. No machinery is necessary; no strong building to withstand
+enormous shocks or anything of that kind. The principal expenditures
+will be for stores of food and for scientific and astronomical
+instruments. Of course, I wish to show you my working model and my plans
+for the practical projectile, and to explain to you many further
+details."
+
+It was growing dark. I arose, turned on the electric light, and rang my
+bell. The office boy entered.
+
+"Teddy, tell all the boys they may go, except Flynn. Ask him to wait,
+please."
+
+I was quite used to making ten thousand dollar bargains in a few seconds
+of time and without the scratch of a pen. I had risked more money than
+that on the fact that Slater looked worried and Bawker was very cross
+when at his office, and it had won immensely. But here, what a prospect,
+what a far-reaching, all-encircling prospect it was! No time was to be
+lost; besides, there was pleasure to me in driving a good bargain and
+driving it quickly.
+
+"And if I give you the ten thousand dollars, what do I get in return?" I
+asked, mentally placing my part at fifty-five per cent. of the shares at
+the lowest, so that I might control the company.
+
+"You may organize the corporation yourself. The projectile must bear my
+name, and I must have the credit for all discoveries and inventions.
+Then you may give me such a part of the shares of the company as you
+think right," he replied.
+
+On hearing this, I mentally advanced my portion to seventy-five per
+cent. Then I said,--
+
+"When the projectile is built and proves successful, who is to manage
+the affairs of the company? Who is to finance it and raise further funds
+for exploiting its business?"
+
+"I have no capacity for business," he declared. "I have no ambition to
+be a Pullman or an Edison. I would rather see myself a Franklin or a
+Fulton. You shall manage all the business affairs."
+
+"Then I will undertake the whole matter, and give you my cheque for ten
+thousand dollars to-night, provided you allow me--ninety-five per cent.
+of the company's shares!" I said, simulating a burst of generosity.
+
+Doctor Anderwelt ploughed his hair and harrowed his beard. He knew this
+was giving too much, but to have the projectile built, to sail away, to
+make all those grand new discoveries, to write books, and have future
+generations pronounce his name reverently along with Kepler and Newton!
+I did not believe he would have the courage to say no. While he
+meditated, my bell summoned Flynn.
+
+"Please draw a cheque for ten thousand dollars to the order of Hermann
+Anderwelt," I said, watching the doctor as I spoke. There was indecision
+in his face.
+
+"Suppose I allow you, say, ninety per cent.?" he said at last.
+
+I was signing the cheque Flynn had brought me. "Done!" I cried, handing
+it over. He scanned it carefully, and after a long time said,--
+
+"Mars is nearest to the Earth on the third day of next August.
+Fortunately Chicago is a good place to do things in a hurry. The
+projectile must be ready to start early in June, but its construction
+and its first trip must be kept a profound secret."
+
+The doctor must have been hungry since noon. He began munching a chicken
+sandwich. The cold planked whitefish tasted quite as good as smoked
+herrings, perhaps, and strawberry short-cake in March was a luxury which
+he evidently appreciated.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER III
+
+Structure of the Projectile
+
+
+A few weeks later I received a letter from Dr. Anderwelt asking me to
+call at his rooms on the West Side that afternoon, as soon as the market
+had closed. He desired to exhibit and explain the drawings of the new
+projectile and talk over the preparations for the trip. I had been so
+engrossed with every sort of worry that I had thought but little of the
+doctor and his grand schemes of late. But now I was anxious to know what
+progress he was making. Sometimes I felt that I had been foolish to put
+any money into the thing; but the doctor's idea of reversing gravity was
+so simple and so elemental, that I marvelled it had never occurred to
+scientists before.
+
+After the market I hunted up the street and number the doctor had given
+me, and found a little, dingy boarding-house, lost among machine shops
+and implement factories, near the west side of the river. In a
+third-floor back room, with one small window looking out on dark, sooty
+buildings and belching chimneys, Dr. Anderwelt was thinking out all the
+incidental problems, and preparing for all the emergencies that might
+arise on a trip of some forty million miles, through unknown space, to a
+strange planet whose composition was unguessed.
+
+The walls of the room were soiled and bare, except for blue-prints of
+drawings from which the projectile was being built in neighbouring
+foundries. There were but two plain, hard chairs in the room. The doctor
+sat on one with a pillow doubled up under him for a cushion. He was
+bending over a draughting board, which was propped up on the bed during
+the day and went under it at night.
+
+Three flights of steep stairs had taken my breath, and I dropped into
+the other hard chair and exclaimed,--
+
+"I say, Doctor, why didn't you take an office in the twelfth heaven of a
+modern office building over in town, where they have elevators? I have
+really forgotten how to climb stairs. Didn't I furnish you money enough
+to do this thing right?"
+
+"Don't you think this is a good place?" he inquired in some surprise.
+"The rent is cheap, and it is convenient to the work. But speaking of
+elevators, we are going to revolutionize all that. No more hoisting or
+hydraulic lifts after we apply our ideas to the lifting of these
+elevator cages!"
+
+"I am afraid this idea of negative gravity is apt to revolutionize
+everything, and generally upset the entire universe," I replied. "I
+have been wondering what would happen if you were to apply a negative
+current to this Earth of ours and send it whirling out of its orbit, an
+ostracised Pariah, repelled by all the celestial bodies!"
+
+"Not the slightest danger of any such calamity," he answered. "The
+reversal of polarity can only be accomplished with comparatively small
+and insignificant masses. It would be impossible to impart a negative
+condition even to the smallest satellite. Our projectile will weigh but
+a few thousand pounds, compared to the millions of tons of the smallest
+celestial bodies. The Creator has looked out for the stability of the
+universe, never fear for that! And He has also given us a few hints of
+negative currents and repellant gravities in the form of meteorites and
+falling stars, which cannot be so well explained by any other theory.
+But what I want to talk to you about is the vital importance of
+providing against every possible emergency before starting on this trip
+through space. A trifling oversight in the preparations may mean death
+in the end, and things we put no value on here we might be willing to
+give a fortune for on Mars!"
+
+"Well, let's hear how this thing is built," I said, rising and facing
+the larger blue-print. "So that's the shape of it, is it? Looks like a
+cigar!"
+
+"Yes, the design resembles that of a torpedo considerably," replied the
+doctor, and referring to the sectional blue-print he began explaining
+the construction.
+
+"This outer covering is a crust of graphite or black lead, inside which
+is a two-inch layer of asbestos. Both of these resist enormous heats,
+and they will prevent our burning by friction with atmospheres, and
+protect us against extremes of cold. Also, when we are ready, they will
+enable us to visit planets about whose cooled condition we are not
+certain. We might touch safely for a short time on a molten planet with
+this covering.
+
+"Next comes the general outer framework of steel, just within which, and
+completely surrounding the living compartments, are the chambers for the
+storage of condensed air for use on the trip. These chambers are lined
+inside with another layer of asbestos. Now, air being a comparatively
+poor conductor of heat, and asbestos one of the best non-conductors we
+know of, this insures a stable temperature of the living compartments,
+regardless of the condition without, whether of extreme heat or extreme
+cold. Afterward comes the inner framework of steel, and lastly a
+wainscotting of hard wood to give the compartments a finish."
+
+"How large are these living rooms?" I inquired.
+
+"The rear one is four feet high and eight feet long. The forward one,
+designed for my own use, is longer, and must contain a good-size
+telescope and all my scientific instruments. The apparatus with which I
+produce the currents is built into the left wall, and it acts on the
+steel work of the projectile only. The rear compartment has a sideboard
+for preparing meals, which will have to be wholly of bread, biscuits,
+and various tinned vegetables and meats. We shall not attempt any
+cooking."
+
+"But are there no windows for looking out?" I queried.
+
+"Certainly, there are two of them, made of thick mica. One is directly
+in the front end, through which my telescope will look. The other is in
+the port-hole in the rear end. Each window is provided with an outer
+shutter of asbestos, which can be closed in case of great heat or cold.
+You will notice the two compartments can be separated by an air-tight
+plunger, fitting into the aperture between them. It will be necessary
+for both of us to occupy the same compartment while the air is being
+changed in the other. The foul air will be forced outside by a powerful
+pump until a partial vacuum is created. Then a certain measure of
+condensed air is emptied in, and expands until the barometer in that
+compartment indicates a proper pressure."
+
+"The air will be made to order while you wait, then?" I put in.
+
+"That is exactly what will be done in a more literal manner than you may
+suppose!" exclaimed the doctor. "This air problem is a most interesting
+one, for we must educate ourselves on the trip to use the sort of
+atmosphere we expect to find when we land. For instance, going to Mars
+we must use an atmosphere more and more rarefied each day, until
+gradually we become used to the thin air we expect to find there. Of
+course, there is an especially designed barometer and thermometer,
+capable of being read in the rear compartment, but exposed outside near
+the rudder. The barometer will give us the pressure of the earthly
+atmosphere as it becomes more and more rare with our ascent. It will
+show us what pressure there is of the ether, which may vary
+considerably, depending on our nearness to heavenly bodies. It will also
+immediately indicate to us when we are entering any new atmosphere. When
+we have arrived at Mars, we shall observe the exact pressure of the
+Martian air, and then manufacture one of the same pressure inside, and
+try breathing it before we venture out. The thermometer will give us the
+temperature of the ether, will indicate the loss of heat as we leave the
+sun, and will show us the Martian temperature before we venture into
+it."
+
+"But you have said the condensed air will be used to resist the outer
+heat. This will certainly make it so hot it will be unfit to breathe," I
+interposed.
+
+"Ah, but you forget that the quick expansion of a gaslike air produces
+cold. We shall regulate our temperature in that way. If it is becoming
+too warm inside, the new measure of condensed air will be quickly
+introduced into the partial vacuum, and its sudden expansion will
+produce great cold, and freeze ice for us if we wish it. On the other
+hand, if the compartments are already cold, we shall allow the condensed
+air to enter very gradually, and its slow expansion will produce but
+little cold. The question of heating the projectile is the most
+difficult one I have found. We cannot have any fires, for there is no
+way for the smoke to escape, and we cannot carry oxygen enough to keep
+them burning. I have decided that we must depend on the heat arising
+from outer friction and from absorption of the Sun's rays by our black
+surface. When we are in ether where friction is very little, the
+velocity will be all the greater, and I believe we shall always be warm
+enough. You must remember, we shall not have the slightest suspicion of
+a draught, and we must necessarily take along the warmest clothing for
+use on Mars. Even then we probably cannot safely visit any but his
+equatorial districts."
+
+"This is the rudder, I suppose; but haven't you put it in wrong end
+first?" I asked. "It is just the opposite of a fish's tail. You have the
+widened end near the projectile and the narrow end extending."
+
+"Yes, and with good reason. You will note that the rudder slides into
+the rear end of the projectile so that none of it extends out. This is a
+variable steering apparatus, adapted to every sort of atmosphere.
+Naturally, a rudder that would steer in the water, might not steer the
+same craft in the air. There is probably a vaster difference between air
+and ether than between water and air. It is necessary, therefore, to
+have a small rudder with but little extending surface in thick
+atmosphere; but when it becomes thinner the rudder must be pushed out,
+so that a greater surface will offer resistance. When we start, the
+smallest portion of this rudder moved but the sixteenth of an inch, up,
+down, or to either side, will quickly change our course correspondingly.
+When we have reached the ether, the full surface of the rudder pushed
+out and exposed broadside may not have much effect in changing our
+course. This is one of the things that we cannot possibly know till we
+try. However, if ether is anything at all but a name, if it is the
+thinnest, lightest conceivable gas, and we are rushing through it at a
+speed of a thousand miles a minute, our rudder certainly should have
+some effect."
+
+"But suppose you cannot steer at all in the ether, what then?" I
+interposed, hunting all the trouble possible.
+
+"Even that will not be so very dreadful, provided we have taken a true
+course for Mars while coming through the Earth's atmosphere. There is no
+other planet or star nearer to us than Mars when in opposition.
+Therefore there will be nothing to attract us out of our correct course;
+and if we can manage to come anywhere near the true course, the
+gravitational attraction of Mars will draw us to him in a straight line.
+The Moon might give us some trouble, and we shall be obliged, either to
+avoid her entirely by starting so as to cross her orbit when she is on
+the opposite side of the Earth, or else go directly to the Moon, land
+there, and make a new start. But if the ether which surrounds the Moon
+(for she has no atmosphere so far as we know) has no resisting power
+whatever, we might have rather a difficult time there. The only thing we
+could do would be to land on the side toward the Earth, then disembark
+and carry the projectile on our shoulders around the Moon to the
+opposite side, making a new start from there!"
+
+"What on earth do you mean?" I exclaimed, interrupting. "Land on a
+satellite which has no atmosphere, and carry this projectile, weighing
+over a ton, half-way around the globe?"
+
+"But the point is, it isn't on the Earth, but on the Moon! Think it over
+a little, and see how easily we could do it now. In the first place, we
+shall always carry divers' suits and helmets, to use in going ashore on
+planets having no atmosphere. Air will be furnished through tubes from
+inside the compartments. In the second place, the projectile in its
+natural state will hardly weigh two hundred pounds on the Moon, since
+the mass of that satellite is so much less than the Earth's, and weight
+therefore proportionately less. But you must remember I can make the
+projectile weigh nothing at all, so one of us could run ahead and tow
+it, as a child would play with its toy balloon."
+
+"I perceive you have already made this trip several times, and are quite
+familiar with everything. But in case the Moon's surface is not suitable
+for foot passengers, what then? I understand it to be rough, jagged,
+mountainous, and even crossed by immense, yawning, unbridged fissures."
+
+"That is most likely true, and for that reason we must carry a jointed
+punt-pole, and take turns standing on the back, landing and punting
+along through space just above the surface. Do you remember how far you
+can send a slightly shrunk toy balloon with one light blow? And how it
+finally stops with the resistance of the air? Without any resisting
+atmosphere, how far and how easily could it be sent along?"
+
+"I can quite imagine you, astride the rudder of this thing, with a
+punt-pole as long as a ship's mast and as light as a broom-straw,
+bumping and skipping along in the utter darkness on the other side of
+the Moon; scaling mountains, bridging yawning chasms, and skimming over
+sombre sea-beds!" I laughed, for it aroused my active sense of the
+ridiculous.
+
+"And the Moon may be well worth the exploration," exclaimed the always
+serious doctor. "Who knows what treasure of gold and silver, or other
+metals, rare and precious here, may not be found there? Why was the Moon
+ever created without an atmosphere, and therefore probably without the
+possibility of ever being inhabited? Is it put there only to illume our
+nights? Remember, we do the same service for her fourteen times as well;
+and if she has inhabitants they may think the Earth exists only for that
+purpose. Is it not more reasonable to suppose that some vast treasures
+are there, which the Earth will some day be in pressing need of? That it
+is a great warehouse of earthly necessities, which will be discovered
+just as they are being exhausted here? And who knows but _we_ may be the
+discoverers ourselves? If the satellite is uninhabited, it will belong
+to the first explorers. Its treasures may be ours! We shall at least
+have a monopoly on the only known method of getting there and bringing
+them away."
+
+"Ah! now you tempt me to go with you," I said, in a mild excitement.
+"Now I see myself, erect on the rudder, a new Count of Monte Cristo,
+waving the long punt-pole majestically, and exclaiming, '_The Moon is
+mine!_'"
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER IV
+
+What is on Mars?
+
+
+"I only wish you _would_ come along with me," replied the doctor. "I
+have no idea what intelligent, educated person I can persuade to
+accompany me, unless he is given an interest in the discoveries. You are
+the person most interested in the enterprise, and you should go. If it
+is money-making that detains you here, you may rest assured that we
+shall find fortunes for both of us somewhere."
+
+"I am a slave to the excitement of my business," I answered. "I could
+not possibly spend two or three months in a lonely cell, flying through
+space, without a ticker or a quotation of the market. Besides, there are
+people on the earth I should not care to leave, unless I was certain of
+getting back soon."
+
+"You may be sure of excitement enough, and of a continuously novel kind.
+Besides, of what interest are the people of this earth, who are all
+alike, and whom we have known all our lives, compared with the rapture
+of finding a new and different race, of investigating another
+civilization, and exploring an entire new world?"
+
+"I shall have to warn my friends about you and have myself watched, lest
+you persuade me and run away with me when the time comes. If your
+adventures are half as exciting and varied as your theories, I should
+hate to miss them. But tell me why you have chosen Mars for a first
+visit."
+
+"Because of all the planets he is the one which most resembles the Earth
+in all the essential conditions of life. He is the Earth's little
+brother, situated next farther out in the path from the Sun. He has the
+same seasons, day and night of the same length, and zones of about the
+same extent. He possesses air, water, and sufficient heat to make
+habitation by us quite possible. Moreover, his gravity problem will not
+put earthly visitors at a disadvantage, as it would on the very large
+planets, but rather at a distinct advantage over the Martians."
+
+"What do you expect to find on Mars?" I queried.
+
+"That is a very comprehensive question, and any answer is the merest
+guess-work, guided by a few known facts," replied the doctor. "The
+principal controlling fact is the reduced gravitational attraction of
+Mars, which will make things weigh about one-third as much as on the
+Earth. The air will be far less dense than here. In the mineral kingdom
+the dense metals will be very rare. I doubt if platinum will be found at
+all; gold and silver very little; iron, lead, and copper will be
+comparatively scarce, while aluminium may be the common and useful
+metal. Gases should abound, and doubtless many entirely new to us will
+be there. It is not unlikely that many of these will serve as foods for
+the animals and intelligent beings. It is also quite possible that the
+heavier gases may run in channels, like rivers, and be alive with winged
+fish and chameleons."
+
+"How about vegetation?" I suggested.
+
+"The vegetable kingdom will certainly not be rank and luxurious, because
+there is not enough sunlight or heat for that; nor will it be gnarled
+and tough, but more likely spongy and cactus-like. The weak gravity will
+oppose but a mild resistance to the activity and climbing propensities
+of vegetable sap, however, which is likely to result in very tall,
+slender trees. The forces that lie hidden in an acorn should be able to
+build a most grandly towering oak on Mars. Among the animals the species
+of upright, two-legged things is apt to abound. There is no reason for
+four legs when the body weighs but little. On the Earth an extremely
+strong development of the lower limbs is necessary for upright things,
+as is shown in the cases of kangaroos and men. In order that a cow might
+go comfortably on two legs, she would have to be furnished with the
+hind-legs of an elephant; but not so on Mars. Creeping things would be
+very few, and it is possible that fish may fly in the water with a short
+pair of wings. What four-legged animals there are will very likely be
+large and monstrous; for an enormous animal could exist comfortably and
+move about easily without clumsiness. For instance, an earthly elephant
+transferred to Mars would weigh only one-third as much, and so there
+might well be elephants three times as large as ours, perfectly able to
+handle themselves with ease."
+
+"By the same reasoning then, I suppose the intelligent beings, or what
+we call men, will be great giants twenty-five feet high?" I put in.
+
+"Some have thought so, but I do not at all agree with them," replied the
+doctor. "I stick to the theory of small men for small planets, and large
+men for large planets. There is no possible reason for a large man on
+Mars, where muscular development is uncalled for and useless, and where
+the inhabitable space is small. If there are men on Jupiter, they must
+of necessity be enormously strong to hold themselves up and resist
+gravitation. If they walk upright (which I think unlikely), their legs
+must be very large and as solid as iron. The Martian legs are likely to
+be small and puny, and I believe the upper limbs will be much more
+strongly developed. In fact, on Mars the Creator had His one great
+opportunity of making a _flying man_, and I do not think He has
+overlooked it. With a rather small, tightly-knit frame, and the upper
+limbs developed into wings as long as the body, flying against the weak
+Martian gravitation would be perfectly easy, and a vast advantage over
+walking."
+
+"Ah! then perhaps they will fly out to meet you!" I ejaculated.
+
+"If they do, they will be stricken with fear to see that we fly without
+wings and so much more rapidly," he answered, and continued: "If a
+flying race has been created there, we shall probably find the
+atmosphere deeper and relatively (though not actually) denser than the
+Earth's. This would serve to add buoyancy and still further diminish
+weight, thus making flying quite natural and simple. I certainly do not
+believe that the Martians are subjected to the tedium of walking. If
+they do not fly, they will at least make long, swift, graceful hops or
+jumps of some ten or fifteen feet each. This would require a more hinged
+development of the lower limbs, like a bird's. It is also possible that
+the lower limbs may have the prehensile function, and do all the
+handling and working."
+
+"But how about intelligence and intellectual development? That is the
+main thing, after all," said I.
+
+"To answer that takes one into the realm of pure speculation. There are
+but few facts to guide one's guesses. But the trip yonder is worth
+making, if only to learn that. I do not incline to the opinion that
+their civilization is vastly older and more developed than ours.
+Granting the nebular theory of the origin of the universe (which is,
+after all, only a guess), it is not even then certain that Mars was
+thrown off the central sun before the Earth. It is much smaller, and may
+have been thrown off later and travelled farther for this reason.
+Another good reason for believing in a less advanced civilization is the
+length of the Martian year and consequent sluggishness of the seasons.
+He requires 687 of our days to complete his sun revolution, making his
+years nearly twice as long as ours. I believe his whole development is
+at a correspondingly slow rate of speed."
+
+"Which do you think is the most advanced and enlightened planet, then?"
+I ventured.
+
+"That one which finds a way to visit the others first," he answered,
+with a touch of pride.
+
+"But there may be a tinge of personal conceit in that idea," I
+suggested.
+
+"Possibly a mere tinge, but the essence of it is apparent truth," he
+declared. "That planet which has learned the most, made the greatest
+discoveries and the most useful inventions, is the best and fittest
+teacher of the others, and will be the sharpest and keenest to gather
+new information and formulate new science. It is eminently fit that
+representatives of such a planet should visit the others, and eminently
+unfit that any primitive civilization engaged in base wars and striving
+for mere conquest should be allowed that privilege. An all-wise Creator
+would not permit a huge, strong, ignorant race entirely to overrun and
+extinguish one weaker but more intelligent. He might permit a strong,
+intelligent, masterful race to rule and direct a weaker and dependent
+one, as a schoolmaster rules and guides a child."
+
+"Then you think we are the wise and masterful race?"
+
+"As no other race has yet discovered us; as they have all left the Space
+Problem unsolved, and as it has been uncovered to us, that is my
+irresistible conclusion."
+
+"Still, you will not go with ideas of conquest, but to teach and to
+learn?"
+
+"We shall take with us swords, shields, and fire-arms, for defence.
+Unless I mistake the nature of their metals, our steel will resist any
+weapon they can manufacture. But what explosives or what noxious gases
+they may have, all strange to us, it is impossible to conjecture.
+Therefore, we shall go with peace in our hands."
+
+"What progress do you think they have made in inventions?" I suggested,
+as the doctor hesitated.
+
+"If they are winged men, I should say they have never felt that urgent
+need of railroads, steam boats, telegraphs and telephones, which was the
+mother of their invention here. Flying or air-travelling machines will
+no more have occurred to them than a walking machine to us. They will
+have thoroughly explored every part of their planet, and it is possible
+that their cities will have been built on high plateaus, or even on
+mountain peaks. But they will not have builded greatly, for they will
+have been able to use the great architecture of nature in a way
+impossible to us."
+
+"Have you heard the theory advanced by some humorous scientist not long
+ago, that the organs of locomotion and prehension would some day, or on
+some planet, be supplanted by machinery, and that digestive apparatus
+would give way for artificially prepared blood?" I asked.
+
+"Oh, yes, that fanciful idea is novel, but irrational. It makes man only
+a fraction of a being. On every planet, no matter what the advancement
+of civilization, we shall find _complete beings_, not dependent on
+adventitious machinery for locomotion or labour, or on artificial or
+animal blood for nutriment. Think how helpless such a creature would be
+at the loss or rusting of his machinery, and at the exhaustion of just
+the right sort of nutritive fluid. Our digestive apparatus will convert
+a thousand different foods into blood. Suppose we could live only on
+buffalo meat? We should all have been dead long ago. We might as well
+imagine men as mere fungus brains, swimming in rivers of blood; or as
+beings beyond the necessity of personal thought, and living on brain
+sandwiches, cut from the thinking heads of others. Eating is not only a
+necessity, but a pleasure----"
+
+"That is just what I was thinking," I interposed, looking at my watch,
+for it was growing late.
+
+"Well, now I have told you how I would have peopled Mars had the order
+been sent to me here to do it," said the doctor, "will you go along with
+me, and see how nearly I am right?"
+
+"I am afraid not," I replied; "my business ties forbid. However, I want
+to see you make the start and the moment you return!"
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER V
+
+Final Preparations
+
+
+On the tenth day of June, Dr. Anderwelt had written me as follows:
+
+    "Please catch the 7.25 train on the Lake Shore for Whiting this
+    evening. I will take the same train, and we will walk from Whiting
+    to a deserted railway siding two miles further on, where the
+    projectile has been shipped. We will unload it from the flat car and
+    take it into a grove of scrub oaks on the shore of Lake Michigan,
+    near by. This will be enough to demonstrate to you our control of
+    gravity. The experimental model is there also, and we will send it
+    off on a trip if you like. Everything will be ready for the start to
+    Mars to-morrow night."
+
+I dined early and caught the train specified at Twenty-Second Street.
+The doctor was looking for me from the rear platform of a car. It was a
+local train, and crept slowly out through the smoky blackness of South
+Chicago, illuminated here and there by the flaming chimneys of her great
+iron furnaces, to the little city of pungent smells, of petroleum tanks
+and oil refineries, in Northern Indiana. The doctor was explaining the
+difficulties he had experienced in getting a companion for the trip.
+
+"Men whom I could hire for mere wages are not intelligent enough to
+understand the workings of the projectile, or to comprehend the risks
+they may run. Besides, their companionship and assistance during the
+trip through space and on a new planet is worth nothing. On the other
+hand, I could not afford to go about explaining the workings of so
+important an invention miscellaneously to people capable of
+understanding it in an experimental search for a companion. I might not
+find one among twenty, and I would be tossing my secrets to the winds,
+and inviting all the daily papers to send their representatives to
+report the start. My reputation as a scientist, on the other side, is
+too dear to me to risk a public failure. If the projectile acts, as I am
+confident it must, on our return we shall take out letters patent and
+form our company to exploit the business features. But primarily, this
+is a test of the projectile and a journey of exploration and research.
+Business afterward."
+
+Naturally on this point we had disagreed. My motto had always been
+"Business first!" and I had desired to have the patents secured
+immediately. But the doctor would not consent to the filing of the
+required specifications and claims, lest his secrets should be learned
+before success was demonstrated. As a compromise, the doctor had agreed
+to leave the necessary descriptions and data in a sealed envelope with
+me, which I was to be at liberty to open and place on record at any time
+during the doctor's absence that I might deem it necessary in order to
+protect our rights.
+
+"Whom have you finally secured to go with you, then?" I asked.
+
+"I will tell you that after we have finished to-night's work," said the
+doctor, and then abruptly changed the subject.
+
+The walk from Whiting was inspiriting. It was a beautiful night. There
+was not a cloud in the sky and no Moon, which made the stars all the
+brighter. Everything was still, save the constant lapping of the great
+lake on the sandy shore, but a short way off.
+
+"Yonder is the mustard seed planted in the heavens, which shall grow
+into a whole new world for us!" exclaimed the doctor, pointing out a
+particularly bright star. "That is Mars rushing on to opposition. In six
+weeks he will be nearest to the Earth; so for that time he will be
+flying to meet us. To-morrow is our last day on Earth; to-morrow night
+the ether! And in six weeks, diminutive but mighty man will have known
+two worlds!"
+
+"There you go, soaring again!" I cried. "Let us keep on practical
+subjects. What have the foundry people who built this thing, and the
+railroad people who brought it down here, thought about its probable
+use? Have they not guessed something?"
+
+"You may trust the popular mind not to guess flying unless it sees
+wings! They have imagined this is a new sort of torpedo, sent down here
+for a private trial in the lake. In fact, the conductor of the freight
+train, who switched the car off here, asked me in a confidential way if
+he should get teams and men and help me to launch her? I have fostered
+this idea, and really had the projectile sent here to carry out that
+impression."
+
+A more fitting place for an unobserved start could not have been
+selected, however. All this part of the country is a sandy waste, with a
+sparse growth of scrub oaks and but little vegetation. There are no
+farms, and the nearest houses are at Whiting. No one could see our work,
+except, possibly, the passengers from occasional trains, which rushed by
+without stopping, and were infrequent at this time of day.
+
+As we were arriving, I stood off at some distance to observe the black
+object on the open car. It was five feet through, and twenty feet long,
+not counting the rudder, which was now entirely drawn into the rear end.
+
+"Looks exactly like a cigar," I said. "Sharp and pointed in front,
+slightly swelled in the middle, and cut squarely off behind. Only it is
+too thick for its length, of course."
+
+But the doctor already had the rear port-hole open. This was two feet in
+diameter, and permitted a rather awkward entrance to the rear
+compartment. The interior was crowded with boxes, as yet unpacked,
+containing scientific instruments, tinned foods, biscuits, meat
+extracts, condensed milk and coffee, bottled fruits, vegetables, and the
+like. Over these the doctor worked his way to the forward compartment,
+while I followed him, anxious to explore the interior.
+
+"I will unpack all these goods and put them in their places to-morrow
+forenoon," explained the doctor. "Here, in my compartment on the left, I
+have my gravity apparatus, battery cells and the like, and a small table
+for writing and other work. On the right is the bunk on which I sleep,
+and under it is the big telescope, neatly fitted and swinging up easily
+into place before the mica window."
+
+"Has the compressed air been put in yet?" I inquired.
+
+"Oh, yes, that had to be done in the city, where they have powerful air
+compressors. I would have preferred this purer air out here, but it was
+impossible. The air we put in only increased the weight of the
+projectile eighteen pounds, but it will be sufficient for two of us for
+six months. We were obliged to make the most careful and thorough tests
+for leaks in the air-chambers; for if there were any of these, our life
+would leak out with the air."
+
+"And such airless satellites as the Moon will make the most desperate
+efforts to steal your atmosphere, too!" I added.
+
+"Yes, but we will give them only our foul air as a small stock-in-trade
+with which they may begin business. But I see my batteries are
+commencing to work nicely. I think I can lift her now. You go outside
+and make a hitch with that rope you saw just forward of the middle of
+the projectile. Then, when I have neutralized her weight, you tow her
+over beyond that clump of trees you saw near the shore. That will be out
+of the view of trains."
+
+"Must I concentrate my mind or keep my thoughts fixed on anything?" I
+asked quizzically.
+
+"Rubbish! Concentrate it on this. If the projectile starts up, don't try
+to hold her with your little rope. Let go quickly, or you may get
+uncomfortable holding on!"
+
+I went outside, untied the coil of rope and threw one end over. Meantime
+the doctor had opened the forward window, so that he might give
+directions, and I said to him,--
+
+"I can't get the rope under her; she is lying flat on the car."
+
+"Wait a moment and I will lift her for you," he replied. The railroad
+ties rose a little out of the sand, and there was a slight creaking of
+the woodwork of the car as the weight came off. Presently the forward
+end of the projectile rose slowly an inch, two inches!
+
+"That's enough!" I cried, thrusting the rope under, and she settled back
+gently. Having made my knot, I went out to the other end of the rope,
+about thirty feet distant. Forgetting the doctor's injunction about not
+hanging on, I wrapped the rope around my body, worked my feet firmly
+into the sand, and finally cried out, "All ready!"
+
+There was a faint creaking of the car again, and soon the doctor said,
+"Pull away!" I threw all my force into the effort and gave a tremendous
+heave, and tumbled over backwards. Had I not done so, the projectile
+must have hit me as it glided rapidly from the car, sinking very slowly
+to the sand about fifty feet away. I scrambled to my feet, went in front
+again, and easily dragged it along on the sand to an open place just
+beyond the trees. There the doctor allowed it to settle. It sank into
+the loose sand about eight inches, remaining steady in this position.
+
+"She works beautifully!" I cried. "How I would like to see her turned
+loose for a real flight!"
+
+"That will come to-morrow night," said the doctor, crawling out of the
+port-hole. "But if you will help me remove these boxes from the
+experimental model, you shall see it lost in the sky." We uncovered and
+dragged out a small steel thing, about the same shape as the projectile,
+but less than a foot thick and four feet long. It had a lid opening into
+its batteries from the top. The doctor entered his compartment to
+secure some chemicals.
+
+"If you have no further use for this model," I suggested, "why not
+create a very strong current and let it sail off into indefinite space?"
+
+"Very well; I don't wish to leave it behind me for some one to discover,
+and I can't take it along. We will send it off for a long trip, and if
+it falls back it will be into the lake."
+
+"Wait a moment, then! Let's put a good-bye message in it;" and so saying
+I took an old envelope from my pocket and wrote on the back of it with a
+pencil in a bold hand: "Farewell to Earth for ever!" Laughing, I put
+this inside and closed the lid.
+
+Then the doctor turned down a thumb-screw upon a little wire which
+connected the poles, and stepped back quickly. Presently the forward end
+began to rise slowly, until it stood upright, but there it hesitated.
+The doctor stepped forward and gave the thumb-screw a hard turn down,
+and the model lifted immediately, rising at first gradually, but soon
+shooting off with the whizz of a rocket over the lake. We watched it as
+long as we could distinguish its dark outline.
+
+"It will go a long way," said the doctor. "I have never seen it make so
+good a start. It will lose itself in the lake far from here."
+
+We fastened up the front window and the port-hole, and started back to
+Whiting, where the doctor was to remain all night, so as to begin work
+early in the morning. Presently, as we walked along, the doctor said,--
+
+"Well, Isidor, now you have seen a practical demonstration of the
+elementary working of the projectile. You also have some idea of all
+there is to be discovered up yonder in the red planet. You are the most
+interested in making and profiting by those discoveries. I want you to
+consent to go along."
+
+"Haven't you secured a companion, then?" I inquired.
+
+"Yes, I have a friend, a countryman of mine here, who will go wherever I
+say. He appreciates neither the risks nor the opportunities of the trip,
+still he will take my word for everything. Yet if I ask him to go I take
+the responsibility of his life as well as my own. He is not a suitable
+man, however, and I have really relied on you to come," he insisted.
+
+"My dear doctor, I have every faith in you and in the projectile, and I
+prophesy a most successful trip. I should like nothing better than the
+adventure; but you must not count on me; I could not leave my business.
+There's a fever in my blood that thirsts for it!"
+
+"Your business, indeed! You will never really amount to much till you
+have left it. It's half a throw of dice and the other half a struggle of
+cut-throats!"
+
+"That is what people say who know nothing at all about it," I retorted.
+"It occupies a large and important place in the world's commerce.
+Besides, I could not well leave Ruth and my uncle."
+
+"Isn't it time you did something to make her proud of you, and to be
+worthy the education which he gave you? You have a chance now to be
+great. Isn't that worth ten chances to be rich? What would you have
+thought of Galileo if he hadn't had time to use the telescope after
+inventing it, but had devoted his time and talent to the maccaroni
+market? You are one man in ten million; you have an opportunity Columbus
+would have been proud of! Will you neglect it for mere gold-grubbing?
+Leave that to the rest of your race and to this money-mad Chicago. You
+come along with me. Let's make this work-a-day world of ours take time
+to stop and shake hands with her heavenly neighbours!"
+
+"You tempt me to do it, Doctor! Can you wait two or three days for me?"
+
+"I can, but Mars won't," he answered laconically. "Besides, you must not
+tell any one that you are going."
+
+"If there are any two things I love, it's a secret and a hurry! I will
+be here to-morrow night," I exclaimed.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VI
+
+Farewell to Earth
+
+
+The next day I quietly bought in my wheat, and told Flynn I was thinking
+of taking a little vacation. I said I was worn out fighting the contrary
+market, and told him to run the office as if it were his own until I
+returned. At home I said nothing about the vacation, for I didn't care
+to have my stories agree very perfectly. I simply packed a few
+necessities for the trip in a dress-suit case. My uncle was used to
+seeing me carry my evening clothes to the Club in this manner, and I
+casually told him I should remain the night this time.
+
+I could not leave without kissing cousin Ruth good-bye, but this excited
+no suspicion, as it was a thing I did on every pretext. Then I slipped
+out and took back streets till I was several blocks away from the house.
+Taking a closed carriage here, I was driven to the same station and took
+the same train for Whiting as on the previous evening. I found the
+doctor awaiting me with a lantern. As we walked down the tracks in the
+twilight I said to him,--
+
+"I never made so quick a preparation, nor attempted so long a trip. I
+have left my friends a lot of guessing! Now, how soon shall we be off?"
+
+"Within an hour," he answered. "Mars will not be directly overhead until
+midnight, but there is a little side trip I wish to make first, to test
+the projectile before we get too far above the Earth's surface."
+
+The sky was densely cloudy, there was no Moon, and it was already
+growing very dark. As we began to have difficulty in finding the way,
+the doctor lighted his lantern. Peering up into the darkness, I said to
+him,--
+
+"There is not a star visible. How are you to find your way in the
+heavens a night like this?"
+
+"That is all perfectly easy. We shall soon rise far above those clouds,
+and then the stars will come out. Besides, I shall show you perfect
+daylight again before midnight."
+
+"I don't see just how, but I will take your word for it, Doctor. I
+daresay you have thought it all out, and the whole trip will contain no
+surprises for you."
+
+"I have tried to think it all out and prepare for everything. But I am
+certain I have forgotten something. I have a feeling amounting to a
+dreadful presentiment that I have overlooked something important. I wish
+you would see if you can think of anything I have omitted."
+
+"The only really important thing I have remembered is half a dozen boxes
+of the best cigars," I replied.
+
+"Leave them right here in Whiting," he said with emphasis. "We are
+carrying only a limited supply of pure air, and we cannot afford to
+contaminate it with tobacco smoke. No, sir, you can't smoke on this
+trip."
+
+"Then I won't go! Imagine not smoking for two whole months! Do you think
+I have sworn off?"
+
+"No, not yet. But you must. It pollutes the air, which we must keep
+clean and fresh as long as possible."
+
+"Now, Doctor, you must let me have a good smoke once a day, just before
+pumping the air out of my compartment."
+
+"No, not even that. It is impossible to pump all the air out, and what
+is left mixes back with what is in my compartment. Once contaminated
+with tobacco smoke, we could never get it perfectly pure again."
+
+"Well, may I smoke on Mars, then? I will take them along for that. But,
+I warn you, I eat like a farm horse when I can't smoke."
+
+"I have provided plenty to eat, but I know I have forgotten something.
+Mention something now, mention everything you can think of, so that I
+may see if it is provided for."
+
+"Have you any money?" I asked. "I have changed some into gold, and have
+a fairly heavy bag here."
+
+"Oh, yes, I have some gold and silver money, besides a lot of beads,
+trinkets, and gaudy tinsel things, such as earthly savages have been
+willing to barter valuable merchandise for."
+
+"So you are going on a trading expedition, are you?" I asked.
+
+"Not exactly. I leave all that to your superior abilities. But we may
+find these things valuable to give as presents. Many of them are of tin,
+and if they do not happen to have that useful metal on Mars, they will
+be of rare value there."
+
+We had now reached the little grove where the projectile was hidden. I
+proceeded to open the rear port-hole, saying,--
+
+"Let me look inside, and when I see what you have, some other necessary
+thing may suggest itself."
+
+"Let me go in first, for I am afraid you will allow the menagerie to
+escape," he said, as he peered in by the light of the lantern. A
+diminutive fox terrier barked from the inside, and wagged his tail
+faster than a watch ticks, so glad he was to see us. The bright light
+also awakened a small white rabbit that had been asleep in the doctor's
+compartment.
+
+"You are taking these along for companions, I suppose?"
+
+"Yes, for that and for experiments. We may reach places where it will
+be necessary to determine whether living, breathing things can exist
+before we try it ourselves. Then we shall put one of these out and
+observe the effects."
+
+"You may experiment on the rabbit all you please, but this little puppy
+and I are going to be fast friends, and we shall die together; shan't
+we, Two-spot?"
+
+"Why do you call him Two-spot? There is only one spot on him, and his
+name is _Himmelshundchen_."
+
+"Rubbish! The idea of such a long, heavy name for such a little puppy! I
+shall call him Two-spot because he is the smallest thing in the pack.
+Heavenly-puppy, indeed!"
+
+The doctor had entered and lighted a small gas jet, supplied on the
+Pintsch system from compressed gas stored in one of the chambers. The
+rear compartment, which was to be mine, looked half an arsenal and half
+a pantry. On the right side a cupboard was filled with newly-cooked
+meats. I remember how plentiful the store looked at the time, but, alas!
+how soon it vanished and we were reduced to tinned and bottled foods!
+There was a cold joint of beef, a quarter of roast mutton, three boiled
+hams and four roast chickens.
+
+On the left, folding up into the concavity of the wall, like the upper
+berth of a Pullman sleeping car, was my bunk. On the walls not thus
+occupied the arms were hung. There were two repeating rifles, each
+carrying seventeen cartridges; two large calibre hammerless revolvers;
+two long and heavy swords, designed for cleaving rather than for
+stabbing; two chain shirts, to be worn under the clothing to protect
+against arrows; and finally two large shields, made of overlapping steel
+plates and almost four feet high. The doctor explained to me that the
+idea was to rest the lower edge of these on the ground and crouch behind
+them. They were rather heavy and cumbersome to be carried far, and were
+grooved in three sections, so that they slipped together into an arc
+one-third of their circumference.
+
+I examined everything closely and asked a hundred questions, but the
+doctor seemed to have provided for every necessity or contingency.
+
+"Let us waste no more time," said I. "If we have forgotten anything, we
+must get along without it. All aboard! What is our first stop?"
+
+"The planet Mars, only thirty-six million miles away, if we are
+successful in meeting him just as he comes into opposition on the third
+day of August. This is the most favourable opposition in which to meet
+him for the past quarter of a century. Back in the year 1877 he was only
+about thirty-five million miles away, and it was then that we learned
+most that we know of his physical features. But we shall not have a more
+favourable time than this for the next seventeen years."
+
+"Still it seems like nonsense to talk about travelling such an
+incomprehensible distance, doesn't it?" I ventured.
+
+"Not at all!" he replied positively. "If the Earth travels a million
+miles per day in her orbit, without any motion being apparent to her
+inhabitants, why should we not travel just as fast and just as
+unconsciously? We are driven by the same force. The same engine of the
+Creator's which drives all the universe, drives us. When we have left
+the atmosphere we shall rush through the void of space without knowing
+whether we are travelling at a thousand miles per minute or standing
+perfectly still. Our senses will have nothing to lay hold on to form a
+judgment of our rate of speed. But if we make an average of only five
+hundred miles per minute we shall accomplish the distance in about fifty
+days, and arrive soon after opposition."
+
+"But have you given up stopping on the Moon?" I asked. "I had great
+hopes of making those rich discoveries there."
+
+"We must leave all that until our return trip. I have chosen this
+starting time in the dark of the Moon in order to have the satellite on
+the other side of the Earth and out of the way. She would only impede
+our progress, as we wish to acquire a tremendous velocity just as soon
+as we leave the atmosphere. We must accelerate our speed as long as
+gravity will do it for us. When we can no longer gain speed, we shall
+at least continue to maintain our rapid pace.
+
+"But if we stopped on the Moon, we should only have her weak gravity to
+repel us towards Mars, and we could make but little speed. On our
+return, the stop on the Moon will be a natural and easy one. We shall be
+near home and can afford to loiter."
+
+While the doctor was saying this, he had been busy making tests of his
+apparatus. He now called me to see his buoyancy gauge, which was a
+half-spherical mass of steel weighing just ten pounds. It was pierced
+with a hole at right angles to its plane surface and strung upon a
+vertical copper wire. Small leaden weights, weighing from an ounce to
+four pounds each, were provided to be placed upon the plane surface of
+the steel. The doctor explained its action to me thus:--
+
+"The polarizing action of the gravity apparatus affects only steel and
+iron, and has no effect upon lead. Therefore, when the current is
+conducted through the copper wire into the soft steel ball, it will
+immediately rise up the wire, by the repulsion of negative gravity. Now,
+if the leaden weights are piled upon the steel ball one by one, until it
+is just balanced half way up the wire, our buoyancy is thus measured or
+weighed. For instance, with the first two batteries turned in we have a
+buoyancy a little exceeding one pound. That means, we should rise with
+one-tenth the velocity that we should fall. Turning in two more
+batteries, you see the buoyancy is three pounds, or our flying speed
+will be three-tenths of our falling speed. With all the batteries acting
+upon the gauge, you see it will carry up more than ten pounds of lead,
+because the pressure of the air is against weight and in favour of
+buoyancy. So long as we are in atmospheres, then, it is possible to fall
+up more rapidly than to fall down; but, on account of friction and the
+resultant heat, it is not safe to do so."
+
+"So we have been doing the hard thing, by falling all our lives, when
+flying would really have been easier!" I put in.
+
+"We have been overlooking a very simple thing for a long time, just as
+our forefathers overlooked the usefulness of steam, being perfectly well
+acquainted with its expansive qualities. But let us be off. Close your
+port-hole, and screw it in tightly and permanently for the trip. Then
+let down your bunk and prepare for a night of awkward, cramped
+positions. We shall be more uncomfortable to-night than any other of the
+trip. You see, when we start, this thing will stand up on its rear end,
+and that end will continue to be the bottom until we begin to fall into
+Mars. Then the forward end will be the bottom. But after the first night
+our weight will have so diminished that we can sleep almost as well
+standing on our heads as any other way. Within fifteen hours you will
+have lost all idea which end of you should be right side up, and we
+will be quite as likely to float in the middle of the projectile as to
+rest upon anything."
+
+My bed was hinged in the middle, and one end lifted up until it looked
+like a letter L, with the shorter part extending across the projectile
+and the longer part reaching up the side. I could sit in it in a half
+reclining posture. The doctor then pulled out a fan-like, extending
+lattice-work of steel slats, to form a sort of false floor over the
+port-hole. This was full of diamond-shaped openings between the slats,
+so that the view out of the rear window was not obstructed. Then he did
+the same to form a false floor for his compartment. Finally he said to
+me,--
+
+"Now, if you are all ready, I will stand her on end;" and by applying
+the currents to the forward end only he caused her to rise slowly until
+she stood upright. The cupboard in my compartment and the desk in his
+end were each hung upon a central bolt, and they righted themselves as
+the projectile stood up, so that nothing in them was disarranged. I was
+sitting on the lower hinge of my bed, clutching tightly and watching
+everything, when the doctor called to me to turn the little wheel which
+operated a screw and served to push out the rudder.
+
+"But the whole weight of the projectile is now on the rudder," I
+objected.
+
+"You will have to make over all your ideas of weight," he said, with
+some impatience. "Run the rudder out. The gauge shows an ounce of
+buoyancy, which is nearly enough to counteract all the dead weight we
+have. You can lift the rest with the rudder-screw."
+
+And, true enough, it was perfectly easy to whirl the little wheel around
+which made the rudder creep out. There was a steering wheel in the
+doctor's compartment and one in my own. He set it exactly amidships, and
+told me to prepare for the ascent. I turned out the gas in my
+compartment and crouched nervously over the port-hole window to watch
+the panorama of Earth fade away.
+
+"Here go two batteries!" he cried. I held on frantically, expecting that
+we would leap into the heavens in one grand bound, as I had seen the
+model do. But we began to rise very slowly, a foot and a half the first
+second, three feet the next, and so on, as the doctor told me
+afterwards. It was all so slow and quiet that I was suddenly possessed
+with a fear that after all the projectile was a failure. Had a balloon
+started so slowly, it would never have risen far. This fear held me for
+only a minute, for when I looked down again, the landscape below was
+beginning to look like a dim map or a picture, instead of the reality.
+The doctor was steering to the northward, directly over the lake. I
+could see its great purple, restful surface below me, but more plainly
+could I discern the outline where its silvery edge bathed the white
+sands of the shore. Following this outline I could see a web of
+railroads, like ropes bent around the lower end of the lake. The night
+was too dark to see it long. The hundreds of huge oil tanks of Whiting
+had now disappeared, and I could see only the flaming tops of the iron
+furnaces of South Chicago. Suddenly they went out in an instant, as if a
+thick fog had smothered them, and there was a long minute of pale mist;
+and then suddenly a bright blue sky, the twinkling stars and a veil of
+grey shutting off all view of the Earth.
+
+"We have passed through the clouds," said the doctor cheerily. "What
+does the barometer register?"
+
+I looked, and was astonished to see the mercury down to fifteen. I asked
+him if he thought the barometer might be broken.
+
+"No, that is quite right," he replied. "That is half the surface
+pressure, which shows that we are two and a half miles high. I have four
+batteries in, and we are going at a constantly increasing speed now."
+
+I could easily believe it, for the wind howled around my compartment and
+whistled over the rudder aperture in a most dismal way. Whenever the
+rudder was changed, there was a new sound to the moaning. Still, as I
+looked back at the clouds, I saw that no wind was moving them. It was
+not wind, but only the air whistling as we rushed through it.
+
+"Watch the barometer, and let me know the exact time when it registers
+seven and a half inches," said the doctor. "We shall be five miles high
+then, and we started at nine o'clock to a second."
+
+I noted the rapidly sinking mercury and opened my watch. When it was
+just at seven and a half, I looked at the watch, and it said half a
+minute after nine. Knowing that could not be correct, I held it to my
+ear and discovered it was stopped. I attempted to wind it, but found it
+almost wound up.
+
+"Something wrong with my watch, Doctor. You will have to look."
+
+"Half a minute after nine, that can't be right!" he exclaimed. Then as
+the truth flashed upon him he added,--
+
+"There is the first thing I have overlooked! Our watch springs are
+steel, and the magnetic currents affect them. It is strange I did not
+think of that, for I knew a mariner's compass would be of no use to us
+in steering on account of the currents. For that reason I have risen
+above the clouds so as to steer by the stars. I am making for the North
+Star yonder, now."
+
+"We will have to get back to the same primitive methods of measuring
+time," I put in. "Neither weight clocks nor spring clocks would have
+been of any account. And an hour glass would tell a different tale just
+as gravity varied. We will have to rely on the Moon and stars, and it
+may be rather awkward." But I did not then appreciate how awkward it
+would be when even the markings of day and night would be taken away
+from us.
+
+"We can count our pulse or go by our stomachs," said the doctor, who was
+really disappointed at having forgotten anything. But he was destined to
+get used to that. Presently he inquired,--
+
+"What is the barometer now? Perhaps we are high enough for the present."
+
+"There is scarcely two inches of mercury in the tube!" I cried out.
+
+He hesitated for a moment as if calculating, and then said,--
+
+"That makes us ten miles high. Work the rudder gradually very much
+farther out for this thinner atmosphere, and we will try falling awhile,
+with a long slant to northward."
+
+And so saying, the doctor detached all the polarizing batteries, and I
+could hear the monotonous howling of the wind die down; and the
+whistling ceased altogether as the feeble resistance of the rarefied air
+slowly but surely overcame our momentum. As we began to fall, the doctor
+turned the rudder hard down, in order to give us a long sailing slant.
+This modified the position of the projectile so that it lay almost flat
+again, with a dip of the forward end downward.
+
+"Lie down and have a nap while she is in this comfortable position," he
+said to me. "When you waken, I shall have a surprise for you."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VII
+
+The Terrors of Light
+
+
+I was weary from the trials of the day on Earth, and fell asleep easily.
+It was the red sunlight streaming in at the port-hole that awakened me.
+I thought I had slept but a very short time, but the night was evidently
+over. As soon as the doctor heard me moving, he cried out to me,--
+
+"Here is the daylight I promised you. Did you ever see it at midnight
+before?"
+
+"How do you know it is midnight? It looks more like a red sunset to me,"
+I said, for the sun was just in the horizon.
+
+"The sun has just set, and is now rising. It did not go out of sight,
+but gradually turned about and began to mount again. That is how I know
+it is midnight."
+
+"Sunset presses so closely upon sunrise that night is crowded out
+altogether. Then this must be the land of the midnight sun that I have
+read about?"
+
+"Yes, we are very near the Earth again, and this is far inside the
+arctic polar circle, where the sun never goes down during summer, but
+sets for a long night in the winter. I have kept far to the westward to
+avoid the magnetic pole, which might play havoc with my apparatus."
+
+"Then your little side-trip is----"
+
+"To the North Pole, of course!" he cried triumphantly.
+
+How simple this vexed problem had become, after all! It had worsted the
+most daring travellers of all countries for centuries. Thousands upon
+thousands spent in sending expeditions to find the Pole had only called
+for other thousands to fit out relief expeditions. Ship after ship had
+been crashed, life after life had been clutched in its icy hand! But now
+it had become an after-thought, a side-trip, a little excursion to be
+made while waiting for midnight! And it is often that such a simple
+solution of the most baffling difficulties is found at last.
+
+The doctor had been observing his quadrant, and was now busy making
+calculations. He called me up to his compartment.
+
+"Longitude, 144 degrees and 45 minutes west; Latitude, 89 degrees 59
+minutes and 30 seconds north. That is the way it figures out. We were
+half a mile from the Pole when I took my observation. We must have just
+crossed over it since then."
+
+"Go down a little nearer, so we may see what it looks like!" I said
+excitedly.
+
+"I dare not go too close to all that ice, or we may freeze the mercury
+in our thermometer and barometer. We must keep well in the sunlight, but
+I will lower a little."
+
+What mountains of crusted snow! What crags and peaks of solid ice! It
+was impossible to tell whether it was land or sea underneath. Judging by
+the general level it must have been a sea, but no water was visible in
+any direction. The great floes of ice were piled high upon each other. A
+million sharp, glittering edges formed ramparts in every direction to
+keep off the invader by land. How impotent and powerless man would be to
+scale these jagged walls or climb these towering mountains! How
+absolutely impossible to reach by land, how simple and easy to reach
+through the air! The North Pole and Aerial Navigation had been cousin
+problems that baffled man for so long, and their solution had come
+together.
+
+"Empty a biscuit tin to contain this record, and we will toss it out
+upon this world of ice, so that if any adventurer ever gets this far
+north he may find that we have already been here," said the doctor,
+bringing down a freshly-written page for me to sign. It read as
+follows:--
+
+    "Aboard Anderwelt's Gravity Projectile, 12.25 a.m., June 12th, 1892.
+    The undersigned, having left the vicinity of Chicago at nine o'clock
+    on the evening of June 11th, took bearings here, showing that they
+    passed over the North Pole soon after midnight. Then they took up
+    their course to the planet Mars.
+
+                                          "(Signed) HERMANN ANDERWELT.
+                                                    ISIDOR WERNER."
+
+This was duly enclosed in the biscuit tin, which I bent and crimped a
+little around the top so that the cover would stay on tightly. Then I
+learned how such things were conveyed outside the projectile. A
+cylindrical, hollow plunger fitting tightly into the rear wall was
+pulled as far into the projectile as it would come. A closely fitting
+lid on the top of the cylinder was lifted, and the tin deposited within.
+The lid was then fitted down again, and the plunger was pushed out and
+turned over until the weight of the lid caused it to fall open and the
+contents to drop out. The tin sailed down, struck a tall crag, bounded
+off, and fell upon a comparatively level plateau. The cylinder was then
+turned farther over, causing the lid to close, and the plunger was
+pulled in again. I remember how crisply cold was that one cubic foot of
+air that came back with the cylinder. My teeth had been chattering ever
+since I wakened, and I had been too excited to put on a heavier coat.
+
+"What is the thermometer?" asked the doctor. It was a Fahrenheit
+instrument we were carrying.
+
+"Thirty-eight degrees below zero, and still falling!" I told him.
+
+"Then we must be off at once, and at a good speed, to warm up. Now say a
+long good-bye to Earth, for it may be nothing more than a pale star to
+us hereafter."
+
+The doctor steered to westward as he rose steadily to a height of about
+ten miles. Then he fell with a long slant to the south-west. He was
+working back into the darkness of night again. We had lost the sun long
+before we started to rise again.
+
+"We are now well above the Pacific Ocean, about fifteen hundred miles
+north-west of San Francisco," said the doctor, consulting his large
+globe.
+
+"It seems to me you cross continents with remarkable ease and swiftness.
+From Chicago to San Francisco alone is almost three thousand miles," I
+ventured.
+
+"But we have been gone four hours, and if we had simply stood still
+above the Earth for four hours it would have travelled under us about
+four thousand miles, so that San Francisco would already have passed the
+place where we started."
+
+"Then one only needs to get off somewhere and remain still in order to
+make a trip around the World!" I exclaimed.
+
+"You are quite right, and travelling upon the Earth's surface is the
+most awkward method, because it is impossible to take advantage of the
+Earth's own rapid motion. Around the World in eighty days was once
+considered a remarkable feat, but if we were to travel steadily
+westward we should make the circuit in very much less than twenty-four
+hours. The motion of the Earth upon its axis is such an immense
+advantage that if we were only going from Chicago to London, the trip
+could be more easily and quickly made by going to the westward some
+twenty-one thousand miles, rather than going directly eastward less than
+four thousand miles. For going eastward we should have to travel a
+thousand miles an hour in order to keep up with the Earth. It is
+questionable whether we could make that speed tacking up and slanting
+down."
+
+"Then we shall have to follow the course of Empire, always westward!" I
+laughed.
+
+While we were talking thus, the whizzing and whistling of the wind,
+which had been at first very loud and hissing, had gradually died down.
+I looked at the barometer, and reported that there was scarcely
+three-eighths of an inch of mercury in the tube.
+
+"We are practically above the atmosphere, then," said the doctor,
+turning in all the batteries. He tried the rudder in the ether, and
+found it turned her when fully extended and turned rather hard over.
+
+"I tried to sleep this morning at Whiting to prepare for to-night's
+work," said the doctor presently; "but I find I am getting
+uncontrollably drowsy. Come up, and I will show you the course we most
+keep, and then I will lie down to get a little rest."
+
+I mounted to his compartment and gazed through the telescope at Mars,
+looking like a little, red baby-moon, floating in one side of the blue
+circle.
+
+"Keep him always in view, but in the edge of the field like that," said
+the doctor. "We must always steer a little to the right of him--that is,
+a little behind him."
+
+"But he travels around the sun in the same direction the Earth does," I
+objected. "I should think we ought to aim a little ahead of him, or to
+the left, to allow for his motion forward in his orbit."
+
+"That looks reasonable at first sight, doesn't it?" said the doctor.
+"But a little learning is a dangerous thing. I will explain to you why
+we must steer a little behind him after I have had my nap. I am too
+sleepy now;" and he finished with a yawn.
+
+He soon fell asleep, and I was left alone to think over the events of
+the day and the still more strange happenings of the night. It hurt my
+eyes to look long through the telescope, so I closed them and gave free
+rein to my thoughts.
+
+How soon will it be morning? How shall I know when it _is_ morning? That
+term "morning" applies only to the surface of revolving planets. I had
+just seen the morning come at midnight, and then the darkness of night
+fall again directly after morning. After all, what are night and
+morning? The one is a passing into the shadow of the Earth, and the
+other is simply the emerging into the light. They depend on a rotation,
+and we shall know no more of them until we land on a revolving planet
+again. But which shall we have on the trip, night or daylight? Naturally
+we would very soon emerge from the little shadow cast by the Earth. It
+had taken us but an hour or two to travel out of it into the daylight
+and then back into the darkness again. Even if we did not leave it, the
+Earth would move on and leave us.
+
+And what then? Nothing but uninterrupted, untempered, unhindered
+daylight! Eternal, dazzling, direct sunlight, unrelieved by any night,
+unstrained through any clouds! This deep blue of the starry night would
+be succeeded by the hot, white light of a scorching, gleaming Sun. And
+then (the thought chilled my bones as it fell upon me!), then how would
+we see Mars? How would we see any star, or perchance the Moon? Even the
+Earth might be drowned in that sea of everlasting, all-engulfing
+brilliancy! Nothing in all the Universe would be visible but the beaming
+Sun, and he too blindingly bright to look upon.
+
+As the truth of all this took hold of me, it filled me with a growing
+terror. At any moment we might emerge from this grateful shadow of the
+Earth, and then we would be lost, drowned, engulfed in a blinding,
+sight-suffocating light! In desperate terror I looked around toward the
+doctor, as if for assistance. He was sleeping peacefully. He had never
+thought of it! _This_ was the great thing he had overlooked! Even at
+starting he had a dreadful presentiment of it.
+
+He was a great man, and his discovery a wonderful one; but here was the
+trouble with it. He had solved the question of navigating space, but the
+sunlight! the dazzling, burning, terrible sunlight! how was he to
+navigate that? It was simply impossible! We would have to turn back
+before we emerged into it. We would have to retrace our path while we
+were still in the grateful shadow. Ah, the blessedness of night after
+all!
+
+Then slowly and cautiously, so that I might not waken him, I crept down
+to the rear window to see how far away the Earth was. We were at so
+great a distance that I could see the whole outline of it, as a great
+dull globe filling all the view behind us. And as I looked again I
+started and uttered a cry! A thin sickle of bright, white light
+glimmered over the whole eastern edge of it, like the first glimpse of
+the new Moon, but a hundred times larger! It was the sunlight! It must
+be creeping around the eastern edge, and would soon engulf us.
+
+The doctor had been aroused by my cry. Not seeing me in his compartment,
+he had gone at once to the telescope.
+
+"What is the matter?" he said. "You have lost the course a little." And
+as I peered out of my port-hole I saw that narrow sickle of light grow
+thinner and thinner, and finally go out. Had I imagined it all? No, I
+had seen it.
+
+"Ah, Doctor, I am so glad you have wakened. I am frightened, terrified,
+by the light!"
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VIII
+
+The Valley of the Shadow
+
+
+"Light! Where have you seen any light?"
+
+"I saw the Earth begin to shine like a New Moon on the eastern edge,
+but----"
+
+"Ah, that _was_ a danger signal. I am glad you awakened me. But you are
+actually pale and trembling! There is no danger if you keep the course.
+You see, that rim of light has faded and disappeared since I corrected
+the course."
+
+"Yes, but you cannot keep in this little Earthly shadow much longer; and
+what can we possibly do when we emerge into the fathomless, trackless
+effulgence of eternal sunshine? Let us turn back before we plunge into
+it," I pleaded.
+
+"So that is what terrified you! Well, you have hit upon one of the
+greatest difficulties of the trip; but it is far from insurmountable. We
+will not turn back yet, especially as we have started in the most
+opportune time. You have mentioned this 'little shadow.' It is eight
+thousand miles wide at the surface of the Earth, and gradually, very
+gradually, tapers down to nothing far out in space. Have you ever
+calculated how far it reaches?"
+
+"No," I answered. "But we moved out of it and back into it at the
+surface very easily, and besides, as the Earth moves forward in its
+orbit, the shadow will leave us."
+
+"This little shadow is eight hundred and fifty-six thousand miles long,
+and we will never leave it as long as it lasts!" exclaimed the doctor.
+"Just at this time it points like a long arrow out in the direction of
+Mars. It is moving gradually as the Earth moves and hourly correcting
+its aim. At opposition time it will point directly and unerringly at
+Mars. Therefore it is a way prepared, surveyed, and marked for us
+through the all-enveloping sunlight, which otherwise would be dreadful
+enough."
+
+"But how can we be sure of keeping in it? It is rapidly narrowing as it
+reaches farther out."
+
+"I see I should have explained that to you before I went to sleep, and
+saved you this fright. The shadow now points behind Mars, as it is many
+days yet before it overtakes that planet in opposition. That is why I
+told you to steer always a little behind the planet. But you went a
+little out of the course, and immediately something warned us. That rim
+of light on the east of the Earth was notice to us that we were not in
+the centre of the shadow, but bearing too far to the left. We must keep
+absolutely in the dark of the Earth, with no light visible on either
+side of it. If a thin rim should appear on one side, we must turn toward
+the other until it is all dark again."
+
+"Grant that this shadow is so enormously long, yet it is only scarcely
+one-fortieth of the distance to Mars," I objected. "After we emerge from
+it, what then?"
+
+"With the aid of my telescope we shall probably be able to see the Earth
+as an orb, half or quarter as large as the Moon usually appears to us,
+and to observe its phases until we are several million miles from it. We
+must continue to keep the rim of light, which will then surround it,
+equal on all sides."
+
+"Ah, but I am afraid," I interrupted, "that as soon as we pass out of
+this shadow the sunlight will be so bright that we cannot see any
+planets, not even the Earth. You know we cannot see the Moon only a
+quarter of a million miles away when the sun shines."
+
+"In that case we must move the telescope to your window, put on a
+darkened lens, and steer so as to keep the Earth as a spot in the middle
+of the Sun. It must appear to us as Venus does to the Earth when she is
+making a transit across the face of the sun. But by our continual
+shifting we prevent the Earth from making a transit, and hold it as a
+steady spot in the centre of the Sun. This we can do for many, many
+million miles, continuing until we have reached the vicinity of Mars.
+
+"And you must also remember," continued the doctor, "that the brighter
+the light the darker will be the shadow. Now, this projectile is a
+perfectly black, non-reflecting object five feet wide. It will cast a
+shadow in front of it five hundred feet long. When we are comparatively
+near Mars my telescope, situated in the miniature night cast by the
+projectile, will find the planet, and we can then steer directly for
+him. If we should chance within eighty thousand miles of him, he would
+attract us to him in a straight line. But we shall not rely upon chance.
+Moreover, when we are as near to him as that, the light and heat of the
+Sun's rays will have decreased sixty or seventy per cent. When Mars is
+farthest from the Sun, he receives only one-third as much light as the
+Earth does. But he is now almost at his nearest point to the Sun, and
+receives half as much light."
+
+"Well, you certainly have a pretty clear idea of how to steer the course
+all the way, Doctor. And I was hasty enough to think you had overlooked
+this entire phase of the subject!" I ejaculated.
+
+"Indeed, I have thought of it very much. And we should not enjoy all
+these advantages if we had not started just before opposition. At any
+other time the Earth's shadow would not point toward Mars, nor would the
+transit of the Earth over the Sun be of any use to us."
+
+"All this reassures me greatly," I replied; "but I shall keep a close
+watch from my rear window for danger lights on the Earth."
+
+"It must be time for breakfast," put in the doctor. "Will you see how
+tempting a meal you can prepare?"
+
+There was one reservoir built inside the compartments, from which we
+drew cool water, and another built next to the outer steel framework,
+from which we could draw boiling water. As this tank was connected with
+the discharge pipe of the air-pump, and thus with the exterior, I was
+disgusted to find that, although the water boiled furiously, and was
+rapidly wasting away in steam, it did not become hot enough to make good
+beef tea. The heat escaped with the steam at a comparatively low
+temperature, so that I was compelled to boil water over my gas jet for
+the meat extract, which we drank instead of coffee. I also prepared some
+sandwiches of roast beef and cold ham, and with great relish we began
+our diet of ready cooked foods, which was to continue for so long.
+
+After this meal I felt quite sleepy, for I had enjoyed but three hours'
+rest. The doctor saw my yawns and told me to turn out the gas and have a
+long doze, and I was glad enough to do so.
+
+I must have slept soundly for an hour or two, and then I remember dozing
+and rolling lazily in my bed, as I usually did at home on Sunday
+mornings. During my previous nap the bunk had seemed hard and cramped,
+and I had privately grumbled at the doctor for overlooking personal
+comforts; but now I felt that luxurious sensation of sleeping on soft
+mattresses and yielding springs, though of course I had neither. I do
+not know how soon I should have thoroughly awakened had I not lifted my
+hand to rub my eye, and unwittingly dealt myself a stinging blow in the
+face. This roused me.
+
+But what was the matter with that arm? It was as it had once been in a
+nightmare, when it felt detached from its place, and moved lightly and
+without effort, like a bough in the wind. I pinched it with my other
+hand, and it was quite sensible to the pain. In fact, the other arm was
+now acting in the same queer way. I arose in bed quickly to see what was
+the matter, and the upper part of my body bent violently over and struck
+against my knees. Then my effort to take an upright position threw me on
+my back again. Evidently my muscles were not working as they were when I
+went to bed. They must be over-excited and over-active. I immediately
+thought of my heart as the principal and controlling muscle, and in my
+eagerness to feel its beating my hand dealt me a slap in the chest.
+These blows, though rapid, did not seem to hurt as much as they ought,
+after the first stinging sensation. I found my heart was beating
+regularly enough.
+
+"Doctor!" I cried out presently, more to test my voice than for
+anything else. It sounded perfectly natural, and my vocal chords were
+not over-stimulated or abnormal.
+
+He came half way down from his compartment soon after hearing me, and
+rested his elbow against one side of the aperture between the
+compartments, leaning against the other side easily. He had a scale made
+of heavy coiled spring in his hand.
+
+"I wish to calculate our distance from the Earth," he said. "Do you mind
+weighing yourself on these scales?" and he held the spiral down toward
+me.
+
+"You can't support my weight!" I exclaimed, and springing up from the
+bed I bumped my head against the partition between the compartments,
+eight feet above my floor. I grasped the lower ring of the scale he held
+down and lifted up my feet. It seemed as if something were still
+supporting me from below, for scarcely one-tenth my weight had fallen
+upon my hands.
+
+"You weigh twenty and a half pounds," he said, and then inquired, "What
+did you weigh on Earth?"
+
+"One hundred and eighty-five pounds," I answered, just beginning to
+understand that our greatly increased distance from the Earth had much
+reduced her attraction for us.
+
+"That is disappointing," he answered, "for we are only eight thousand
+miles from home; but our velocity is still constantly increasing."
+
+"I would like to buy things here and sell them at the surface," I
+exclaimed.
+
+"You wouldn't make anything by it if you used the ordinary balance
+scales," replied the doctor.
+
+Try as hard as I would, I could not accustom my muscles to these new
+conditions. They were too gross and clumsy for the fine and delicate
+efforts which were now necessary. I was constantly hitting and slapping
+myself, though these blows scarcely hurt, and never resulted in bruises.
+I attempted a thorough re-training of my muscles, which was to all
+intents an utter failure, for weight continued diminishing much more
+rapidly than my stubborn muscles could appreciate. After another eight
+thousand miles, which were quickly made, we had but one twenty-fifth our
+usual weight, which reduced me to seven pounds. And for most of the trip
+we weighed practically nothing, suffering many inconveniences on that
+account.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER IX
+
+Tricks of Refraction
+
+
+The doctor figured out that we should be quite insensible to any weight
+when we were seventy-five thousand miles from the Earth. At fifty
+thousand miles I would still weigh a pound, and when we had finished the
+first million miles, the entire projectile, with its two occupants and
+all its dead weight, would weigh considerably less than an ounce. That
+was a mere start on the enormous trip ahead of us; but when that
+distance was reached, we could no longer count upon terrestrial gravity
+for accelerating our speed. We must travel with our accumulated
+momentum, unless by that time the Sun should have taken the place of the
+Earth, and with his vaster forces continue to repel us Marsward.
+
+As we sat talking the doctor grew weary, and soon unconsciously dropped
+asleep. I left him to enjoy his rest, and, tossing a scrap of ham bone
+to Two-spot, I went up to take my place at the telescope.
+
+Mars seemed to be exactly in the right part of the field. I surveyed the
+starry stretches ahead with a feeling a little akin to fear. I was
+queerly affected by the vast expanse of loneliness outside, and by the
+deathly quiet prevailing both without and within. There was not the
+slightest whizzing or whistling now. We might be hanging perfectly
+motionless in space for all I knew. The batteries made no sound either.
+I could hear only the low, regular breathing of the doctor as he slept,
+and the slight crunching of Two-spot on his bone. Presently I thought of
+looking for the danger lights, but I looked through the telescope
+instead, and saw the little red planet in his proper place.
+
+What a vast distance we were from any planet! If anything were to happen
+to us, no one on Earth or in the heavens would ever know of it. I had
+never been homesick, but a very little would have made me Earthsick just
+then. I did not like the upper end of the projectile because I could not
+look back at the home planet. I wondered if it was all dark back that
+way, or if those warning lights had begun to appear. That idea seemed to
+haunt me. I touched the steering wheel just a little while I kept my
+eyes on Mars. He moved slightly in the field at once. Then I turned the
+wheel back until he took his former place. It was reassuring to know how
+easily the projectile minded her great rudder, which was now fully
+extended like an enormous wing. This made me feel that we were masters
+of the situation, that all this vast space was as nothing to us, that
+any planet in the heavens must mind us, and that though Earth was
+driving us away, she must draw us back if we willed it. More than that,
+she would warn us of all dangers. Perhaps she was sending that warning
+now. I had promised to look out for it. I felt that I must go down. I
+crept softly past the doctor and stooped over the port-hole. My eyes had
+scarcely found the Earth in the darkness when I drew back quickly and
+clapped my hand over my mouth to prevent a cry escaping me. Then I
+looked again more closely. There was no small illuminated portion of the
+surface this time, but a great smear of light just outside the edge of
+the Earth. It was of a dull red colour, with rainbow tints around the
+edges, and was much the shape of a great umbrella held just above one
+quarter of her surface to westward.
+
+I gave the steering wheel in my compartment a sharp turn in the
+direction which should cause the light to disappear. Then I crouched and
+looked again, but instead of being reduced in size the light broadened
+and swelled. It was as if one edge of the umbrella were left against the
+Earth's surface, and then the umbrella was being turned gradually around
+until it faced me and formed an enormous disc, apparently a third as big
+as the Earth. Then, as it slowly moved outward, its edge seemed to
+cleave to the Earth's, as two drops of water do when about to separate.
+Finally, it detached itself entirely, and stood as a great muddy red orb
+a little to the west of and above the Earth. It filled me with dismay to
+see all this happen after I had turned the rudder in the direction which
+should have corrected our course. In desperation I gave the wheel an
+additional hard turn and looked again. At last the great red patch was
+shrinking; slowly it diminished, and finally disappeared. But just as I
+was breathing a sigh of relief, I noticed the white sickle of light on
+the east side that I had seen before; only it was increasing most
+threateningly now. Yes, it was assuming the same umbrella shape and
+detaching itself a little from the eastern edge of the Earth. There was
+still a narrow rim of bright white light on the Earth, and this dimmer
+umbrella shape was faintly separated from its edge. Its outlines were
+marked by flashes of rainbow colours, as had been the case on the other
+side. I sprang to the wheel and gave it several frantic turns back the
+other way. Then I ran up to the telescope for a hurried view, and Mars
+was nowhere to be seen! I hastened back to the wheel and gave it a
+vicious additional turn. I was determined to prevent this umbrella from
+opening at me! And true enough it ceased enlarging, and gradually shrank
+and settled back upon the surface of the Earth. Then slowly it faded and
+disappeared, as it had done before when the doctor had corrected the
+course. I eased back the wheel and went to look for Mars again, but he
+was not in the field. As I returned I brushed unconsciously against the
+doctor in my excitement. He roused himself, sat up, and watched me
+peering out of the port-hole. I was gazing at a new appearance.
+
+"There it is again!" I cried, for below the Earth and to westward a pale
+white disc came into view all at once, not gradually, as if emerging
+from behind the Earth, but springing out complete and detached.
+
+"Doctor!" I said, catching him by the arm and pulling him down to the
+port-hole, "what is that?"
+
+"That? That is the Moon, my boy. Has it excited you so much?"
+
+"Yes; I have been trying to dodge it. But you had better look to the
+wheel," I cried.
+
+He ran up to the telescope, and I heard him exclaim, "_Donnerwetter!_"
+half under his breath. But with a few careful turns of the wheel he
+found the planet again, and moved him to the right part of the field.
+Meanwhile the Full Moon shone on us with its pale glimmer. But a thin
+rim of it next to the Earth gleamed brightly with rich silver light.
+
+"I thought you said we had started in the dark of the Moon. I thought it
+was behind the Earth," I interposed.
+
+"That is the New Moon just emerging. It will probably not be seen on the
+Earth until to-morrow night, but as we are at a greater distance we see
+it first," replied the doctor.
+
+"But that is not a New Moon, it is a Full Moon, which should not be seen
+for fourteen days yet," I objected.
+
+"Pardon me, it _is_ a New Moon," he insisted. "That inner rim of
+brightness is all the sunlight she reflects. The paler glimmer is
+Earth-light, which she reflects. When she is really a Full Moon, she
+will be perfectly dark to us."
+
+Then I explained to him the first umbrella appearance, and its gradual
+swelling and final disappearance.
+
+"Rainbow colours around the edge and a gradual changing of the shape,
+you say? That means refraction. The Earth's atmosphere has been playing
+tricks on you. The umbrella of dull red light was a refracted view of
+the Moon before she really came into sight. Rays of light from the
+hidden Moon were bent around to you. Then, as she gradually moved from
+behind the Earth, her appearance was magnified by the convex lens formed
+by the atmosphere, bent over that planet. Presently it diminished and
+went out altogether, you say?"
+
+"Yes, but that was because I steered away from her," I replied.
+
+"No; you could hardly lose her so easily," he answered. "Did you ever
+try holding an object behind a water-bottle or a gold-fish jar? There is
+a place near the edge of the jar where a thing cannot be seen, though
+the glass and water are perfectly transparent. The rays of light from
+the object are bent around, through the glass and water, away from the
+eyes of the observer. It was like that with the Moon when she
+disappeared. She was really drawing out from the Earth all the time.
+Finally, when her light passed beyond the atmosphere altogether, she
+became suddenly visible in a different place and shining with another
+colour. What we see now is the real Moon in her true place. The other
+appearances were all tricks of refraction."
+
+"But when I had turned away," I explained, "there came a thin rim of
+bright light on the other side of the Earth, and a gradually appearing
+umbrella shape there too."
+
+"Ah, then you steered far enough out of your course to see part of the
+illuminated surface of the Earth. That was the real danger light. And if
+it began to assume the umbrella shape, detached from the Earth, that was
+due to atmospheric refraction of sunlight. This great shadow we are
+travelling in has an illuminated core, which we shall encounter when we
+have proceeded a little further. I tell you of it now, so it may not
+give you another shock. Have you ever noticed the small bright spot
+which illuminates the centre of the shadow cast by a glass of water?
+That is partly the same as the core of light which exists in the heart
+of this shadow. Rays from the sun, passing on all sides of the Earth,
+are refracted through the atmosphere and bent inward. You must have
+steered over into some of these rays just now, and then turned back from
+them. Somewhat farther on all these refracted rays will meet at a common
+centre, which they will illuminate, and we shall have an oasis of
+rainbow-tinged sunlight in this great desert of shadow. The sun will
+then appear to us to be an enormous circle of dull light entirely
+surrounding the Earth."
+
+"I don't fancy running into that at all," said I. "Can't we avoid it by
+steering out?"
+
+"Avoid it!" exclaimed the doctor. "We must investigate it, and
+photograph the peculiar appearance of the sun. Light seems to have more
+terrors for you than anything else just now. You must get over your
+rush-and-do tendency; you must stifle your emotions and impulses, and
+learn to think of things in a more calm and scientific manner."
+
+"But that is not so easy for me, Doctor. Whenever I am left alone, a
+feeling of dread possesses me. I am used to having many people, bustling
+noises, and confused movement all about me. The silence of Space stifles
+me, and the loneliness of the ether oppresses and overcomes me
+strangely."
+
+"I prescribe a change of air for you," answered the doctor. "You will do
+better in a rarer atmosphere. Let us send what we have been breathing
+back to Whiting, and make a new one to suit ourselves."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER X
+
+The Twilight of Space
+
+
+"Shall I come up into your compartment for the operation?" I asked.
+
+"No; for this first time we will pump out my compartment, as I wish to
+observe from the rear port-hole the action of the air which we set
+free."
+
+The bulkhead, with its bevelled edge, was therefore fitted into the
+opening between the compartments, and I took the first turn at the lever
+handle of the air-pump, while the doctor observed from the window. I had
+given the handle less than a dozen vigorous strokes when the doctor
+suddenly exclaimed,--
+
+"Stop! Wait a moment;" and he began pulling at the bulkhead, which was
+already rather tightly wedged in by the air pressure. "I have left the
+rabbit inside," he said, when he found breath to speak. And poor little
+bunny's heart was beginning to beat fast when he was rescued.
+
+Then we began again. The doctor watched the escaping air for some time,
+evidently forgetting that I was at all interested in it.
+
+"All quite as I expected," he said at last. "Only I had forgotten about
+the snow."
+
+"Nothing will ever be very new or interesting to you," I put in; "but
+pray remember I am here, and rapidly getting empty of breath and full of
+curiosity."
+
+Then he relieved me at the pump handle, and this is what I saw from the
+port-hole: The air escaping from the discharge pipe of the air-pump was
+visible, and looked like dull, grey steam. Immediately on being set free
+it swelled and expanded greatly, and sank away from us slowly. But at
+the instant of its expansion the cold thus produced froze the moisture
+of the air into a fine fleecy snow, which lasted but a second as it sank
+away from us and melted in the heat, which the thermometer showed to be
+close upon ninety-five degrees. This miniature snowstorm was seen for an
+instant only after each down motion of the pump handle.
+
+"Where is this air going?" I inquired. "The little clouds of it seem to
+drop away from us like lead; but that must be because of our speed."
+
+"It is falling back to the Earth, to join the outer layer of rare
+atmosphere there. If we had a positive current instead of a negative
+one, the air would not leave us, but we should gradually be surrounded
+by an atmosphere of our own, which we should retain until some planet,
+whose gravitational attraction is vastly stronger than ours, stole it
+from us. When we begin to fall into Mars, we shall acquire such an
+enveloping atmosphere; and we can draw upon it and re-compress it if our
+inner supply should become exhausted."
+
+"If this air is falling home to earth," said I, "we could send messages
+back in that manner."
+
+"We can drop them back at any time, regardless of the air," he answered,
+and then added suddenly, "but it will make a beautiful experiment to
+drop out a bottle now."
+
+He ceased pumping, and opening a bottle of asparagus tips, he placed
+them in a bowl, and prepared to drop out the bottle. I took my pencil
+and wrote this message to go inside,--"Behold, I have decreed a judgment
+upon the Earth; for it shall rain pickle bottles and biscuit tins for
+the period of forty days, because of the wickedness of the world, unless
+she repent!" And I pictured to myself the perplexity of the poor devil
+who should see this message come straight down from heaven!
+
+In order to make his experiment more successful, the doctor put in half
+a dozen bullets from one of the rifles, to make the weight more
+perceptible. Then he put the bottle into the discharging cylinder, and
+preparing to push it out he stooped over the port-hole. At a signal from
+him I gave the pump handle several quick, successive motions, and at the
+same instant he let drop the bottle. At once he cried out,--
+
+"Beautiful! and just as I thought."
+
+"But I didn't see it!" I protested. "What was it?"
+
+"The instant the bottle was released the discharged air was immediately
+attracted toward it, and gradually surrounded it entirely. It was like a
+little planet with an atmosphere of its own, as they fell back to the
+Earth together."
+
+"But I couldn't see it; I had to pump," I complained. "We must do it
+again."
+
+"We shall soon have our bottled things all emptied out on plates to dry
+up and spoil," he objected. So I emptied a biscuit tin this time, and
+delaying for no message, I put it in the discharging cylinder. Then I
+bent over the port-hole and gave the signal for the pumping. As I thrust
+out the tin I was astonished to see the lid pop off the first thing. The
+quick expansion of the air inside it did that. This air, as well as the
+air from the discharge pipe, seemed to flee from it instead of
+surrounding it, as the doctor had said. I continued watching so long
+that he finally said,--
+
+"Hasn't it fallen out of sight yet?"
+
+"No; it is not falling away swiftly as the air does. It is following the
+projectile! It is not gathering any air about it as you said it would.
+It does not quite keep up with us; but considering our speed, it is
+doing remarkably well!"
+
+The doctor was not inclined to believe me until he had looked for
+himself. He watched and pondered for a minute or two. Then his surprise
+ceased, and he spoke in that assured way which always irritated me.
+
+"Quite natural, after all," he said. "That biscuit can is made of thin
+sheet-iron with a surface coating of tin. The iron has become magnetized
+by induction, and the Earth repels the can just as it repels us. It will
+follow us to the dead-line, and probably on to Mars, unless the
+sheet-iron loses its polarization. If we had cast out a thing of solid
+iron, it would rush ahead of us, instead of falling a little behind, as
+this does, for it would have no dead weight to carry. But we could not
+put such a thing out of the rear end, for no force would make it fall
+that way. If we put it out of the forward port-hole, it would beat us in
+the race toward Mars."
+
+I remarked to the doctor that the air-pump seemed to be incorrectly
+built, for its action was strangely difficult in the reverse manner that
+it should have been. The down strokes went by themselves with a quick
+snap, but the up strokes were as if against pressure, and the moment the
+handle was released it flew down again. He had not tested the pump at
+the surface, as it was of a well-known make, but it certainly seemed to
+work backwards. Moreover, the more nearly we had a compartment emptied
+of air, the more difficult the pumping should become, but here again the
+reverse seemed to be the case, for the longer we worked the easier the
+up strokes became.
+
+The temperature of the projectile was still fairly comfortable, and the
+doctor allowed the condensed air to issue very slowly into the partial
+vacuum in his compartment until it produced a barometric pressure of
+twenty-seven. Then we pulled back the bulkhead, and when the new
+atmosphere had mixed with the old in my compartment, a pressure of
+twenty-eight resulted.
+
+"That is about the way the barometer stands during tempests at sea,"
+remarked the doctor. I could not notice much difference from the air we
+had previously had. Possibly it was fresher and slightly more
+exhilarating.
+
+The effort at the pump had made us both hungry again, and I prepared
+from meat extracts a warm and rather thick gravy to put over the
+asparagus tips. I attempted to pour it, but it was so light that its
+sticky consistency prevented it from running. We had a hundred such
+examples daily of the changes which lack of weight caused in the
+simplest operations. With sandwiches made of biscuits and condensed
+meat, we eked out a luncheon. This must have been about noon, for when
+it was over I remember noticing that we no longer needed the gas in the
+compartment, for there was a gradually increasing mellow light outside.
+
+"Are we already emerging from the shadow?" I inquired eagerly.
+
+"No, not yet," replied the doctor. "But we are now entering its
+illuminated core. I must prepare to photograph the strange appearance of
+the Sun that we shall see presently."
+
+I hastened to the port-hole, and did not leave until it was all over.
+What I then saw was one of the most beautiful things of the whole trip.
+The light outside was not bright, but soft and dreamy, like the first
+twilight after a rich day of summer. The great corona all around the
+outer edge of the Earth was the most magnificent appearance I have ever
+seen. It was not at all dazzling, but had the melting shades, first of a
+sunrise and then of a gorgeous sunset. We had missed the gradual
+appearance of the phenomenon, but we had a good view of its highest
+splendour. The colours were continually but slowly changing, and finally
+the darker hues gradually suffused and dyed the pinks and crimsons.
+
+The Earth was now about three times the diameter of a rising Full Moon,
+and the corona was about a quarter her width, and looked as if twenty
+shell-pink suns were set one against the other and overlapping all about
+the edge of the dark orb.
+
+"How do you know that is not really the extending edge of the Sun?" I
+asked the doctor. "Perhaps we are already far enough away to see it all
+about the Earth like that."
+
+"If that were really the Sun, the light from his extending edge would
+illuminate the surface of the Earth towards us. The planet's outline
+would be irregular and partly glowing, but you see it is quite dull and
+dark, and the outline is most plainly visible."
+
+In rapt attention I watched the delicate shell-pink change to a deeper
+hue of orange, and then our twilight waned a little and turned a sombre
+grey. Presently the corona glowed a rich maroon, gradually dying to a
+luminous purple, which slowly deepened and darkened, and finally melted
+into the general blackness. And lo! we were in the shadow again, and the
+dreamily beautiful panorama was over.
+
+"It must have lasted nearly an hour," said the doctor. "I am sorry we
+did not notice the beginning, but it must have commenced with the same
+dull shades we saw at the end, and gradually changed to brighter
+colours. I secured three negatives when the glow was most intense."
+
+"Then we have had a waxing and a waning twilight coming together in the
+middle of our night. And the corona was like a sunrise, followed
+immediately by a sunset," I exclaimed.
+
+"And why shouldn't it appear so?" said the matter-of-fact doctor.
+"Twilight is the commonest phenomenon of refraction with which we are
+acquainted, and sunrise and sunset are merely a mixture of refraction
+and reflection. There is nothing new about it."
+
+"Now, Doctor, we must remain friends, but you shall not continually
+tarnish my poetry with your accursed science! I thank my Creator that
+He made me ignorant enough to admire the beauties of nature. You are
+continually peeping behind the scenes, and pointing out the grease
+paints, the lime-lights and the sham effects. Let me enjoy the beauty of
+the tableau, no matter how it is produced. I would give all of your pat
+knowledge for that feeling of profound awe which rises in the untutored
+breast at beholding the magnificent grandeur of unfamiliar nature."
+
+"When your ecstasy has quite passed, I shall appreciate a little cold
+mutton and biscuits, and then we must pump out again," he replied.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XI
+
+Telling the Time by Geography
+
+
+After supper I went up into his compartment, and having arranged the
+bulkhead, began the tedious operation at the pump handle. It was a
+matter of pure muscular strength, as the effort had to be made to lift
+the handle, which snapped back sharply when released. I was working
+vigorously when I was suddenly struck dumb at seeing the handle break
+off just at the point of leverage, so that it was quite impossible to
+operate it. The doctor heard the handle fall, and looked around in great
+vexation.
+
+"That means asphyxiation within twenty-four hours!" he exclaimed.
+
+"Which is plenty of time to think it over," I answered.
+
+After all, why was this pumping necessary? If a way could be devised to
+open a valve, all the air would rush out of my compartment as easily as
+beer runs out of a bung-hole. In fact, it did rush out a little at a
+time, which is what made the handle go down of itself. But any such new
+valve would have to be automatically closed, as it would be manifestly
+impossible to enter and shut it. I kept on thinking, and finally began
+examining the partition between the compartments. There seemed to be
+several long screws that went quite through it.
+
+"Doctor, did you ever hear of those wise people who, after every
+freshet, shipped the surplus water down the river in boats? Well, it
+strikes me this air-pumping is just about as useless labour. Help me
+pull in the bulkhead and I will show you something."
+
+I went at once to the cylinder we used for discharging things from the
+projectile. With a pair of pliers I chipped off a small piece of the
+edge of the closing lid in two places, one near each end. This made two
+little irregular holes into the cylinder about eight inches apart. Then
+I pushed it half way out, so that one hole was outside and the other
+inside. Of course the air rushed through the inner hole into the
+cylinder, and thence through the outer hole to the exterior.
+
+"Shut that thing!" cried the doctor, when he saw what I had done. "Do
+you wish to suffocate us? That will let the air out perfectly, but how
+are you going to close it to admit the condensed air?"
+
+"People unskilled in these matters are so hasty!" I said rather
+sarcastically. "Wait until I have finished and you will see."
+
+I found he had a screw-driver, and I loosened one of the long screws
+and enlarged the half of its hole toward my compartment. Then I whittled
+a block of soft wood, so that it would slide smoothly into this half of
+the hole. Driving the screw home again, I just allowed its tip to enter
+the end of the block. Then I fastened a piece of stout twine to the
+cylinder and the other end to the block of wood, which was almost
+opposite it. Pushing the cylinder half way out, I made the twine taut,
+and hastening into the doctor's compartment, I thrust in the bulkhead.
+The air was rapidly escaping. Waiting long enough for all of it to have
+leaked out, I then unscrewed the long screw, which gradually drew in the
+block of wood and the twine, and thus pulled the cylinder into the
+projectile so that there was no connection with the exterior. Then the
+doctor let in the condensed air to a barometric pressure of twenty-six,
+and the whole operation was over in a few minutes. My compartment must
+have been almost a complete vacuum. When it was over, I cried rather
+triumphantly to the doctor,--
+
+"There, you see, one doesn't need a steam pump to make the water run
+over Niagara! At this distance from the surface, nature abhors a gas and
+prefers a vacuum!" He was inclined to be rather sulky at first, but he
+really did not like pumping any better than I did.
+
+I should say it was about five hours later that we noticed it was
+growing gradually lighter outside. Mars lost his ruddiness and grew
+pale in a grey field. Our view of the Earth was also becoming more and
+more misty.
+
+"We are emerging from the black core of the shadow into the
+semi-illuminated penumbra," said the doctor. Then he altered his course
+experimentally, and found a slightly darker path, but it soon began
+changing again to grey.
+
+"There is no use trying to keep in the umbra any longer. It is growing
+too narrow. The penumbra will last quite a long time yet, but it will
+gradually get fainter and fainter. We shall not plunge at once into the
+dreadful light you fear so much. Keep your eyes glued to the Earth. I
+can scarcely see Mars any longer. The whole field is getting blank and
+white."
+
+The rear vista was also growing a pale white, and I could distinguish
+the form of the Earth as a darker object slightly larger than a full
+moon when risen. But it was all growing dimmer and dimmer as the
+penumbra faded toward the perfect light.
+
+"Mars is completely gone now," said the doctor. "The field of the
+telescope is one pale curtain of light. I have steered to the left to go
+ahead of him now, as there is no longer any reason for going behind
+him."
+
+I heard him working at the telescope as if loosening it from its
+fastenings, but I dared not take my eyes from the Earth to see what he
+was doing. Presently he called out to me,--
+
+"Make room down there. I must bring the instrument down and observe the
+Earth now. Be careful you don't lose sight of her." But the instant he
+removed the telescope from its bearings and uncovered his forward
+window, I lost all view of the Earth. The new light now entering by his
+window, from behind me, made it impossible to see so far.
+
+"Too late!" I cried; "I have lost her! We are alone in limitless space,
+without even the company of the planets!"
+
+But while the doctor was carefully lowering the telescope, my eyes were
+still searching, and presently I perceived a thin crescent of faintly
+brighter light, growing gradually wider. It was like a new moon dimly
+seen in a clear part of the sky when the afternoon sun is cloud-hidden.
+The doctor stopped to look where I pointed it out to him, and then
+changed the wheel a little.
+
+"That is a thin slice of the illuminated part of the Earth," he said.
+"We can no longer see the dark side which has been visible to us while
+in the shadow. Fortunately our new course a little ahead of Mars will
+give us a constant view of this thin crescent."
+
+We now stood the instrument on end over the port-hole window, which
+brought the small end near the aperture between the compartments. When
+the doctor had secured a focus, he called me to look. The crescent was
+greatly magnified, but the outline of the sphere on the other side could
+not be seen, nor could anything be distinguished in the centre. Both
+the outer and inner edges of the crescent were ragged and irregular in
+places, and there were faint darker spots on its surface. I called the
+doctor's attention to the fact that the ragged appearance was always in
+the form of extending teeth on the outer side of the crescent, and in
+the form of notches eaten into its inner edge. He studied all these
+appearances carefully and finally said,--
+
+"This crescent is that part of Earth which is just coming into morning.
+It is gradually shifting from east to west with the Earth's rotation of
+course. What we see now, however, is _land_ almost from pole to pole.
+There is a small sea just above the middle, which might be the
+Mediterranean. Moreover, it must be mountainous land to cause the ragged
+edges and the shadows inside."
+
+Then he turned away to get his globe, and I took the place at the
+instrument. He was slowly turning the globe and examining it
+thoughtfully as he said to himself,--
+
+"The only continuous land from pole to pole with one interrupting sea
+must be over the two Americas or over Europe and Africa. The American
+mountain ranges run from north to south, while through Europe and Africa
+they are scarce, and almost uniformly run from east to west. Besides,
+the sand of Sahara would be sure to show as a large, bright, regular
+spot. A section from longitude 70 to 80 west would include the Green
+Mountains and the Alleghanies of North America and the Andes of South
+America, and in that case the darker spot in the centre would be the
+Caribbean Sea."
+
+"Look here!" I cried. "Toward the lower end the inner outline is growing
+darker but more regular, and faint streaks or shadows reach through the
+brighter light toward the dark greenish regular surface which looks like
+water."
+
+He observed closely and said,--
+
+"Those shadows must be cast to westward by the enormous peaks of the
+Andes, and the dark greenish surface they reach toward must be the
+Pacific Ocean."
+
+Then he consulted his globe while I looked. "The first two to come into
+view," he said, "would be the two great peaks in Bolivia, over
+twenty-one thousand feet high."
+
+"There _are_ two of them together," I said, "and now others are rapidly
+coming into view. There are five more scattered unequally, and then,
+lower down, three near together."
+
+"Then there is not the slightest doubt that we see the Lower Andes," he
+said. "These last you mention are scattered just as you say along the
+border between Chili and Argentina, and the group of three are near
+Valparaiso, the peak of Aconcagua being the tallest. But watch now for
+the group in Ecuador, about midway between the top and bottom of the
+crescent. There are four very large peaks and numerous smaller ones."
+
+"The middle all looks bright yet, like land, with no shadows or greenish
+spots. But a queer thing is happening lower down, where the shadows have
+ceased lengthening and are now fading. There are several fine points of
+light just beyond the outer edge of the crescent. They are mere bright
+specks, but gradually they join with the surface, making a rough toothed
+edge."
+
+"Ah, that phenomenon has been observed upon the Moon," said he. "That is
+the sun shining on the snow-capped peaks first, and then, when the
+diminutive outline of the mountain comes into view, it looks like a
+tooth."
+
+"The same is happening all down the coast," I reported. "Now I see it on
+the lower group of three."
+
+"Give me the instrument," demanded the doctor. "That can be nothing but
+the west coast of South America, and if that be the case, the whole
+thing will be repeated for the tall group in Ecuador, dominated by
+Chimborazo."
+
+As I surrendered the telescope to him, the whole lower part of the
+crescent was dark, but with regular edges. Only in the middle, which
+should have been about the Equator, and in the upper part, was there the
+bright lustre of land reflection. He watched for fully half an hour
+before observing anything remarkable. At last he exclaimed,--
+
+"Now they are beginning! Five streaks near together and just at the
+Equator. They are almost equidistant from each other, and the next to
+the lowest one is the longest. Now the top one begins to fade! Yes, and
+a point of light has appeared detached from the outer edge, and now
+another and another! They are growing inward toward the surface. Now
+they are all connected like five saw teeth; the bottom one is the
+shortest, and that next very high one is old Chimborazo."
+
+"Then it is morning at Quito and also at Pittsburg!" I said, tracing up
+the 80th meridian.
+
+"Yes, and we have been one complete day and about five hours more
+travelling the nine hundred thousand miles that lie between this and
+Earth," replied he.
+
+"That makes us one full meal behind time," I said; "but we have
+discovered a way to make the Andes call us for breakfast. When the
+Pacific Ocean has passed from view, Japan and Australia shall strike
+noon for us, and we will have supper and call it night when the Indian
+Ocean is gone and darkest Africa has come into view!"
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XII
+
+Space Fever
+
+
+We counted seven successive returns of the peaks of the Andes, and being
+by that time certainly six million miles from the Earth, we could
+distinguish them no longer. Then followed what I remember as a very long
+and unspeakably monotonous period, without any adequate method of
+marking the time. Our days became a full week long, for the only way we
+could guess at the time was by the quarterings of the Moon. We could
+still see her about the size of a marble in the telescope, and as her
+crescent began to wane, and finally her light entirely disappeared, we
+knew she was then just between us and the Earth, and shining upon that
+planet as a Full Moon. This was due to occur fifteen days after our
+departure. Then we watched her grow from a thin crescent to a bright
+quarter, and we knew another week had elapsed.
+
+"We shall soon be able to determine one date with absolute certainty," I
+said to the doctor, when we must have been some twenty days out. "I have
+been reading up your almanack, and I find there is a total eclipse of
+the Sun by the Moon on June 29th."
+
+"You might as well try to eclipse him with a straw-hat, as far as we are
+concerned," he replied. "The Moon will necessarily be on the further
+side of the Earth when that occurs, and the eclipse will barely reach
+the Earth. It will fall short of us by a matter of some thirty million
+miles!"
+
+It was soon after this that we gave up observing the Earth as a planet,
+put on our darkened lens, and proceeded to hold her as a spot in the Sun
+a little to the left of his centre. The Moon remained a tiny spot of
+light outside for a few days; but finally she entered the Sun also, and
+was seen as a faint spot travelling toward the Earth-spot.
+
+Although the dazzling quality of the light, into which we had emerged
+after the second day, was finally beginning to wane and pale a little,
+Mars was still invisible. In fact, no stars or planets were visible;
+only the gleaming Sun with the Earth-spot upon it. Our thermometer was
+poorly placed in the glare of the Sun at the rear; but it showed the
+heat was decreasing, and from a temperature of thirty-five degrees,
+observed at the end of the second day, it had now fallen to twelve, and
+was diminishing regularly about two degrees daily as nearly as we could
+reckon.
+
+Our appetites were steadily failing, and for two very good reasons: the
+unsuitable foods and the impossibility of getting any exercise. There
+was no such thing as getting any healthy actions of the body. Nothing
+had any weight, and such a thing as physical labour was impossible on
+the face of it. I attempted to go through regular courses of gymnastics
+at frequent intervals; but as my body and its members weighed nothing,
+my muscles found nothing whatever to expend their force upon. I thought
+myself worse than Prometheus bound upon his rock, for he could at least
+struggle with the birds of prey and pull upon his chains! I might as
+well have been utterly paralyzed, and I actually began to fear that I
+should lose all my strength, and that my muscles would forget their
+cunning.
+
+And our foods could not have been more unsuitable. The light vegetable
+diet which this lack of exercise called for was impossible. We had never
+had any fresh vegetables or fruits, and our tinned and canned supplies
+of these had been rapidly exhausted. We had plenty of solid, meaty foods
+and beef essences; but our systems did not require these, and at last
+absolutely refused to have them. I lived for days at a time upon beer
+and biscuits, and looked longingly at my cigars. I believed I could have
+existed comfortably and luxuriously upon smoke alone. My dreams were
+filled with visions of ripe, luscious fruits and fresh, crisp
+vegetables. When I awoke, I loathed the only foods we had.
+
+I believe I should finally have given up eating, had I not hit upon a
+method of exercise at last. It was a sort of rowing or pulling machine,
+which I rigged up by running a bar through one end of the doctor's
+spring scales, and fastening the other end to the foot of my bed. I
+pulled vigorously against this spring for hours at a time, and was
+delighted to find that my strength had not left me, and that I could
+easily lift as much as these scales had been made to weigh. I remember
+the returned appetite with which I enjoyed potted meat and a tinned
+pudding, after the first hour of as vigorous exercise as our rarefied
+air would permit.
+
+The Moon-spot had disappeared and gone to her eclipse behind the Earth,
+when an incident occurred to vary the monotony of our existence a
+little, and to suggest to me a diversion that had been hitherto
+forbidden. Our supply of water in the outer tank had long ago boiled
+away, and I had lighted the gas to heat water for the doctor's coffee. I
+had taken the cup up to him and remained chatting with him, when
+presently I smelled something burning from the compartment below. I
+descended quickly, and saw that my light bedclothes, which now weighed
+less than a feather, and often floated from their place, had been drawn
+into the flame by the draft of the burning gas. They were floating about
+the compartment now, all aflame and threatening to set fire to
+everything. We had not a drop of water to spare; but for once I thought
+of the right thing to do without hesitation. I pushed out the
+ventilating cylinder, hurried back to the doctor's compartment and
+thrust in the bulkhead. Within two minutes all the air had escaped from
+my room, and the fire had died for lack of oxygen. I waited a few
+minutes longer for the smoke to escape, and then we admitted condensed
+air, but only to the remarkably low pressure of eighteen. Within five
+minutes the compartment was ready again, and there was not a trace of
+smoke or smell of fire to be perceived.
+
+"I congratulate you on your quick perception and prompt action," said
+the doctor when it was over.
+
+"Quick rubbish!" I exclaimed. "I have been a dundering fool for four
+weeks by the Moon! I might just as well have been smoking ever since I
+contrived this self-ventilating arrangement. The compartment becomes a
+perfectly clean vacuum at each operation, yet I had to wait for this bed
+clothing to catch fire before I could think of so simple a thing!"
+
+It was at the meal time just preceding the next changing of air that I
+opened the last tin of canned peas, as a sort of treat for the doctor to
+offset my expected revel in fragrant tobacco. I prepared half the
+quantity for him, but left my portion in the tin until I should be
+hungrier. With the prospects of a good smoke before me, I had no
+appetite for food. I put in the bulkhead to prevent the smoke from
+entering his compartment and lighted my Havana. Then I took Two-spot on
+my lap and stretched myself for a reverie. On Earth, smoking time had
+been my period for reflection. And far back on that distant planet, what
+were they doing now? In that one busy corner that had known me, they had
+probably wondered at my disappearance for a day or two; but after the
+month that had passed I was certainly forgotten. There were few back
+there whom I cared for, and not many had much reason to remember me. My
+interests, my desires, my hopes were all ahead of me on a new planet.
+And what was waiting for me on Mars? Discovery, riches perhaps, and a
+measure of fame when I returned. Then I thought of the numberless
+problems that the next few weeks must solve for us. Would there be
+intelligent inhabitants on Mars? Would they be in the forms of men or
+beasts? Would they be civilized or savage? Would they speak a language,
+and how could we learn to communicate with them? Would they have foods
+suitable to us; indeed, would the very air they breathed be fit to
+sustain our lives? Should we find them peaceable, or, if warlike, should
+we be able to cope with them?
+
+These thoughts were interrupted by the doctor, who called feebly to me
+to come up. "Don't eat any of the peas," he said weakly. "There was a
+queer taste about them, and they have made me deathly sick."
+
+He was very wretched, and grew rapidly worse. I immediately saw that it
+was a severe case of poisoning, and I did everything I could to relieve
+him, but he groaned in agony for several hours. Finally he fell asleep,
+but his rest was disturbed by fits of delirium, in which he raved wildly
+in German mixed with English. As he slept I had time to think the matter
+over carefully. After all, it was a thing which required only simple
+remedies, and I had administered them. It was only a question of a
+little nursing and a careful diet, and he would be well again.
+
+But his fever increased and his delirium became more frequent, and I
+began to appreciate that the derangement incident to the poisoning had
+prepared the way for a more serious illness. During his ravings I caught
+a glimpse of the struggling and ambitious side of his nature, which he
+always so carefully repressed.
+
+Once I heard him mumble this to himself in German: "Kepler perceived a
+little, he saw dimly; Newton comprehended the easy half; but Anderwelt,
+Anderwelt of Heidelberg, grasped the hidden meaning!"
+
+In spite of all my attentions (I did not then understand the nature of
+Space Fever, of course), he was growing steadily worse, and I was
+becoming desperate. I could not afford to have him ill long. The
+currents would probably continue to work fairly well until it became
+necessary to reverse them, and that time was not far off. Unless they
+were reversed exactly at the right moment, we might fall into the
+neutral spot and be held there for ever. Even if I managed to stop the
+negative current, and succeeded in falling towards Mars, I could not
+regulate the positive current so as to temper our fall and make a safe
+landing. It was equally dangerous to remain fixed in space, or to fall
+headlong upon a planet and be smashed, or be buried miles deep if the
+projectile did not collapse.
+
+I had no way of telling how much time passed, but it seemed to me a very
+long period, and he grew steadily worse as we approached the neutral
+point. I tried to rouse him from his delirium. I addressed him
+jocularly, then commandingly, then beseechingly. And he answered me
+always with reflections from that other side of his nature which one
+rarely saw when he was well.
+
+"Hast thou seen red ants crawling upon a cherry? Such are the mere
+circumnavigators of a globe! What! Hath not the world forgotten a
+Columbus? How long, then, will it remember---- Hast thou no cooler
+water? This is tepid and bitter!"
+
+Ever since the last quarter of the Moon, which must have been ten days
+ago, there had not been the slightest perceptible evidence of movement.
+The standards by which we judge motion on the Earth had failed ever
+since we left the atmosphere. There was no rushing or whizzing; we
+passed nothing; all the ordinary evidences of speed were absent. When
+you lie in the state-room of a smoothly moving steamer, no forward
+motion is perceptible. If you see another ship pass near by, you get a
+sudden surprising idea of the speed. If you watch the receding water,
+you appear to be going forward slowly; and if you watch the spray at the
+bow or the wake astern, you appreciate the movement more fully. But if
+the waves or the tide happen to be running with the ship, she has
+apparently almost stopped, when really her speed has been somewhat
+accelerated. If you watch the distant stars, you can scarcely perceive
+any motion at all; and if the clouds should be moving in the same
+direction as the ship, her motion appears reversed.
+
+We had none of these things by which to judge, and we appeared to be
+hanging perfectly still in space, though the doctor had assured me we
+were travelling at least five hundred miles a minute. This was rational,
+as it agreed with the diminishing size of the Earth; but it required an
+effort of faith on my part to believe that we had been moving at all.
+
+But suppose we should gradually lose our speed and stop in a neutral
+point, how should I know it? The Earth now was, and had been for ten
+days, a mere spot on the Sun. While Mars had been visible, he had never
+increased in size in the telescope, and he was now invisible. The only
+way I could tell would be to wait until after many days had elapsed, and
+if Mars did not finally come into view, I should know something was
+wrong. But it would be too late then; there would be no winds or tides,
+no weight or buoyancy, nothing to move us out of that dreadful calm
+where even gravity does not exist. That must be avoided at every cost!
+But might we not be very near it now? Weight had been practically
+nothing for a month, within an hour it might be positively nothing,
+and----
+
+The doctor's mutterings interrupted these thoughts. "The power with
+which to travel was so simple and so vast! It all lay hidden in that
+elementary law of magnetism, like poles repel and unlike poles attract.
+But the road to travel and the problems by the way, those were the hard
+things!"
+
+He was putting them all in the past tense, as if he had already solved
+them! But what was that law of magnetism he mentioned? Perhaps he would
+reveal his secrets to me in his ravings! I must mark every word he said;
+for it was clear I must solve the problem, he would not be well in time.
+I must brush the cobwebs from my meagre science and struggle with his
+invention.
+
+"Unlike poles attract," he had said. Then Earth and matter must normally
+have unlike poles, and to make Earth repel matter it would only be
+necessary to change the polarization of the matter. Yes, he had told me
+it was all accomplished by polarizing the steel and iron of the
+projectile! When they were made the same pole as the Earth, then she
+repelled them. But if the whole thing were so simple, why had it never
+been discovered before? Ah, that is the strong shield behind which
+incredulity always takes refuge!
+
+I ventured near the gravity apparatus and examined it carefully. There
+was a small thing which looked like the switchboard of a telegraph
+office. The perforations in it were all in a row, and the ten holes were
+now filled with little brass pegs, which were suspended from above on
+small spiral springs. These were evidently the points of communication
+of the negative current to the framework of the projectile. It certainly
+would do no harm to pull out one of these pegs, as that would only
+slightly diminish the current. At least I would risk it. My fingers had
+scarcely closed upon the brass, when I was given such a violent shock as
+to be thrown powerfully across the compartment; and had my body weighed
+anything, my bones would certainly have been broken by the concussion.
+My arm and shoulder did not recover from the stinging and deadening
+sensation for some time. I noted the little peg I had pulled out hanging
+by its spiral spring just above the hole it had filled. It would be
+worth my life to remove the other nine in the same way.
+
+Besides, how would I know when the time came to remove them? My eyes
+fell upon the two large leaden balls suspended from short copper
+chains. I had seen these before, but now I thought I understood them.
+They would swing whichever way gravity attracted. They hung down toward
+my compartment now, and if we ever passed the dead line, they would hang
+forward toward Mars. But in the neutral point what would they do? When
+the gravity of planets neutralized each other, the steel of the
+projectile would repel these balls towards its centre, which would tend
+to put them both in the same spot and thus bring them together.
+Moreover, they would slightly attract each other. Yes, it was quite
+certain that these had been devised as a Gravity Indicator, and they
+would tell me when we were approaching a dead line, when we were in it,
+and when it was safely passed. But all that would do me but little good
+unless I could manage the currents.
+
+I sat thinking this over a long time, when it suddenly occurred to me
+that the doctor would recognise, even in his delirium, the importance of
+action when these two balls came together. As soon as they had
+approached each other, I must lift him up and show them to him. The
+brain that had made them would know their meaning, and know how to act
+even in illness! Perhaps I was like a drowning man clutching at a straw;
+but from the moment I thought of this I believed firmly that the
+solution of the whole problem would come in this manner. My hopes were
+ready to hang on the slightest peg. It consoled me to remember some
+instances where men temporarily insane had been brought to consciousness
+by impending danger, or by the sight of what last weighed upon their
+mind.
+
+When I glanced at the balls next, I saw that their chains lacked an inch
+of being parallel. They were already moving slowly inward toward each
+other. I noted that the chains, which ran through the balls and were
+connected with a small copper plate on the bottom of each, were just
+long enough to allow the bottom edges to touch, if they were drawn as
+far toward each other as possible.
+
+The doctor's fever was at its very worst, but that did not dampen my
+hopes. The balls were gradually drawing nearer together. I wished them
+to be quite close before I made the supreme trial which was to liberate
+us or leave us prisoners in space for ever! Presently I loosened the
+knotted sheets which held him to his bed, and lifted the feverish man,
+as I might have carried a doll, and brought him in full view of the
+approaching balls.
+
+"Doctor, listen now and look," I said firmly and commandingly.
+
+"Always stubborn and unbelieving!" he raved. "I must take it to a new
+country, to America, where they invent things themselves, and are
+willing to listen, and anxious to try!"
+
+"Doctor, don't you know me? It is I, Werner, who helped you. This is a
+crisis for us! Do you see those approaching balls? You know what they
+mean! You must save us."
+
+"Thou'rt too busy, like all the rest! Why, then, remember that to-morrow
+will despise those who are so busy with to-day! Opportunity has knocked
+and listened for thee and thou hast bade her begone!"
+
+"Listen, Doctor. I am he who heard you and gave you the pink cheque. I
+am he who refused three times to go with you and then came at last. I am
+he who was afraid of the light, who dodged the Moon, and chaffed you
+about the pump. Do you not remember it all? Come, you are no longer ill.
+There is work to do. Have you forgotten the leaden balls? See! they are
+touching each other now, and we are in the dead-line, the neutral spot,
+the one danger of the trip which you acknowledged."
+
+But it was useless. He remembered nothing, his eyes were dim and vacant,
+and the great brain that had planned all this was overthrown by fever.
+The experiment had failed and we were lost!
+
+I tied him gently back on his bed and turned in desperation to the
+apparatus, deciding to risk my life to pull out those nine pegs with my
+hands, one after another.
+
+My God! they were already out! Every one of them was hanging by its
+spiral spring, just above the hole it had filled. The switchboard had
+opened a little and released them. It was all automatic! The contact of
+the copper surface of the balls had completed a short circuit which cut
+the negative current. He had thought of it all, even to this emergency,
+and the machine could take care of itself!
+
+And in the wave of thankfulness and rejoicing which swept over me, I
+sank on my knees and kissed the forehead of the feverish old man again
+and again!
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XIII
+
+The Mystery of a Minus Weight
+
+
+It was the doctor himself who gave the name Space Fever (now so
+generally adopted) to the peculiar malady from which he suffered in that
+long period when weight was very slight or nothing at all. A little
+reflection on the physiological bearings of the conditions we were
+passing through, will serve to explain the illness.
+
+For the period of a month, owing to the impossibility of effort, there
+was scarcely any wasting of our bodily tissues, and very little need for
+oxydization of the blood. The limbs, which the heart really works
+hardest to serve, did scarcely any labour and needed very little blood.
+But the heart had its stubborn habits the same as the other muscles. It
+is a high-pressure engine, and there is no way of slowing it down
+materially. It kept up its vigorous pumping and driving just as if the
+great muscles of the limbs had wasted and needed building up, and just
+as if it had the task of forcing the blood through those parts of the
+body usually compressed by its weight or strained by the effort of
+carrying it. The result was much the same as if your heart now should
+suddenly begin to beat much too fast, the blood was heated into a state
+of fever, which naturally increased as we lost weight, culminated at the
+dead-line and began decreasing as soon as we commenced having a weight
+toward Mars. It was only my fortunate invention of a method of exercise,
+and my religious adherence to it, which saved me from a similar attack.
+
+But many things happened before the doctor recovered consciousness. The
+Moon had re-appeared on the other side of the Earth-spot, the light
+about us had grown less dazzling than sunlight on Earth, and the
+temperature had fallen to four degrees. It was perhaps two days after
+passing the dead-line that, as I was gazing carefully out of the forward
+window, I saw far to the right of us a large circular patch of faintly
+redder light in the general curtain of white. Its size quite startled
+me, for it was rather larger than a full moon, and I had expected Mars
+to re-appear as a very bright star before we could distinguish any disc
+with the naked eye. This misapprehension probably arose from the fact
+that I had thought the dead-line about half way between the two planets,
+which upon reflection I saw to be impossible, as it must be much nearer
+the smaller planet.
+
+The outline of the planet was not clearly visible yet, but I could not
+have missed seeing that red glow long before, had it been more directly
+in front of us. Evidently we were steering much ahead of the planet,
+which indicated that we were arriving before opposition. I immediately
+changed our course so as to go more nearly toward it, but yet to keep a
+little ahead. Then I hastily brought the telescope back to the forward
+compartment, which was now the bottom of the projectile. The lenses
+easily pierced the curtain of light that seemed to be hung in front of
+the new planet, and I could distinguish the outline of the greatly
+magnified orb very clearly.
+
+Judging from appearances, it could not be farther from us than twice the
+distance of the Moon from the Earth. I resorted to the scales at once,
+and found that weight was beginning slowly to return, for I weighed a
+little less than an ounce. From a rule the doctor had explained to me, I
+calculated that this indicated a distance from the planet of about four
+hundred thousand miles, if it really was Mars. But I had some doubts
+about its really being that planet; for a clear white, irregular-shaped
+spot upon it, which I had noticed as soon as the telescope was focussed,
+did not appear to move at all, as it should have done had it been upon a
+rotating planet. Upon closer observation, I detected a dull, greenish
+spot, just coming upon the lower edge. But when I looked again a bright
+white and perfectly circular spot had appeared in the same place and
+covered it up. But this new white spot travelled much more rapidly, and
+soon uncovered the greenish spot, which seemed to move in the same path,
+but much more slowly. This was something I could not understand. The
+white circle was too bright and regular to be a cloud, yet if they were
+both on the surface how could one travel faster over the same path?
+
+Very soon the white circle passed entirely across the greater orb, and
+then I was surprised to see it detach itself from the planet and remain
+for a few moments as a separate small orb in the sky! Could this be
+another freak of refraction? But before I could determine, the little
+orb disappeared behind the greater disc and was gone. The greenish spot,
+which I judged to be truly on the surface and caused by an ocean or
+great sea, was about three times as long in crossing the disc. I next
+turned my attention to the immovable and irregular white spot, and
+discovered that its edges seemed to be revolving slowly around its
+centre. Then it occurred to me that this spot must be located at one of
+the poles and be caused by polar ice and snows. The doctor had expected
+such on Mars, and I no longer doubted that this was our objective
+planet.
+
+It was like a great holiday for me when the doctor regained
+consciousness. Almost as soon as his fever abated he was well enough to
+perform his customary duties. His illness had not made him appreciably
+weak, because as yet scarcely any effort was required to move about. He
+was quite as anxious to hear all my experiences as I was eager to
+relate them. I gave him a full account of my struggle passing the
+dead-line, of my discovery of Mars, and the various spots I had noted.
+
+"From the time it took the greenish spot to cross, I should judge a
+Martian day to be about fifty hours long," I said.
+
+"Then you _must_ have been very lonely," he replied. "For a Martian day
+is just forty-one minutes longer than an Earthly day, unless a great
+number of our scientists have continually made the same mistake in
+observing him."
+
+"When we arrive, we shall be able to determine the point exactly if our
+watches commence running again," I answered. "But I think I know one
+reason why I have misjudged the time. Ever since you have been ill I
+have slept very little. I have hardly felt the need of rest since I lost
+my weight. I have been growing more and more wakeful, and I rarely sleep
+more than an hour at a time. That seems quite sufficient to refresh me."
+
+"As we regain our weight we shall feel the need of sleep again," he
+said. "But on Mars we may need but one-third as much as we had on Earth,
+unless we exert ourselves proportionately more."
+
+Then I told him about the circular spot which had seemed to slip off the
+upper edge of Mars, and asked his explanation of it.
+
+"That must have been Phobos, one of the moons of Mars," he said.
+
+"One of his moons!" I exclaimed; "I didn't know he had _any_."
+
+"You are an American, and say that!" he answered in surprise. "It is one
+of the astronomical glories of your people that they discovered the two
+moons of Mars, during the favourable opposition of 1877."
+
+"This is the first case I remember where we have left it to a foreigner
+to tell us how great we have been!" I laughed.
+
+"These two moons of Mars also furnish a most interesting example of how
+fiction may forestall and pre-figure actual scientific discovery. Dr.
+Swift made Gulliver, in his wonderful travels, discover two moons of
+Mars, revolving at a speed which he must have thought ridiculously fast.
+Many years afterward the American telescopes really found two moons, but
+actually revolving more rapidly than Dr. Swift had dared to boast! If
+your white circle was really Phobos, you have seen the freak among
+satellites. She is the smallest, swiftest moon ever discovered, and
+travels so much more swiftly than the revolution of her primary that she
+appears to go opposite to everything else in the Martian sky, rising
+where the Sun sets and crossing the heavens from west to east!"
+
+"What I saw did travel in the same direction as the rotation of the
+planet, and much more rapidly," I exclaimed.
+
+"Then it was Phobos without a doubt, and she is due to appear again in
+the west in three hours and fifty minutes after she sets in the east. We
+must watch closely, for I wish to land upon her and make a flying trip
+all around Mars with her. Do you realize what a glorious view we shall
+have of the great planet, sailing around him on this satellite in a
+period of a little over seven and a half hours, and at a distance of
+only about four thousand miles? There will be no night, for if one side
+of the little moon is heavier than the other, the heavier side will
+always be turned toward Mars. Therefore, when the Sun does not shine on
+Phobos, Mars will do so, and keep her continually illuminated, except
+for the brief period of the regular eclipse during each revolution. And
+one-fourth of the entire heavens, as seen from Phobos, will be filled
+with the glowing orb of Mars! The great planet will exhibit to us at a
+near range all the configurations of his surface, his oceans and his
+clouds. We will survey and photograph him to our hearts' content."
+
+The doctor was justly enthusiastic on this subject, and I felt that such
+a landing would, in some measure, compensate for my disappointment in
+not being able to visit the Moon.
+
+As I watched carefully, the satellite finally came into view, but very
+much more distant from Mars than before. Also, it moved very slowly now,
+and seemed to grow larger as it approached the disc. I pointed it out to
+the doctor, and remarked that it was acting quite differently. Just as
+it entered upon the orb of Mars, another moon, somewhat smaller, mounted
+hurriedly from the under side of the planet and began hastily ploughing
+her way over the ruddy disc.
+
+"That last one is the one I saw before, that is my Phobos!" I cried
+excitedly.
+
+"Then the other slow one is Deimos, the outer moon. She appears the
+larger to us now, because her greater distance from Mars makes her
+nearer to us, but she appears to the Martians as the smaller. We must
+observe closely, and we may discover some new and lesser satellites
+which Earthly telescopes have never found."
+
+"Time enough for that when we land on Mars," I answered. "If we get in
+past these two without being hit, I shall be satisfied. You dare not
+venture in front of that Phobos, and I don't see how you can ever
+overtake her if you approach from behind."
+
+"That reminds me to slacken speed, for we must be getting very near," he
+said. "Please weigh yourself every few minutes and note your increasing
+weight. You should weigh seventy-two pounds on Mars, and eight pounds at
+the distance of Phobos."
+
+He immediately reversed currents, and when I reported that I weighed
+almost a pound, it frightened him, and he turned in the full power of
+the negative currents to overcome our momentum. And it proved that the
+repelling power of Mars at the distance of 15,000 miles, which this
+indicated, was not at all strong against the great velocity we had been
+daily acquiring. I hung upon the scales every few minutes, and reported
+a steadily increasing weight up to three pounds.
+
+"That shows a distance of eight thousand miles," he figured. "Almost
+exactly in the orbit of Deimos, but she has safely passed, and will not
+return for thirty hours. We must turn the rudder hard over to the right,
+and sail around the planet in a circle until Phobos overtakes us; then,
+if we approach her travelling in the same direction at almost the same
+rate of speed, her gravitational attraction will pick us up and draw us
+safely ashore."
+
+Mars was already an enormous orb ahead of us, and many of his features,
+such as oceans, ice-caps, and continents, could easily be distinguished;
+but we paid little attention to them, being occupied with making a safe
+landing on Phobos, and expecting to make a systematic study of him from
+there.
+
+"We must not attempt a landing on the outer side of the satellite," the
+doctor reflected, "for we should have no way of getting around to the
+inner side to make our observations. We must go within her orbit, and
+then as she comes past allow her attraction to draw us gently toward
+her."
+
+We had quickly overtaken and passed Deimos, far within her orbit. I was
+keeping a close watch for Phobos out of the rear window as we circled
+about Mars at a distance which we calculated, from my weight on the
+scales, must be within the path of the satellite. We were circling in
+the same direction that the great planet was rotating, and yet we passed
+by things on his surface, which proved that we were travelling faster
+than his rotation. The doctor noticed, with his telescope, a brilliant
+snow-capped peak of a great mountain towering up from a small island.
+The contrast of the snow peak, with the darkish green waters all around
+it, was the most pronounced thing visible on the great planet, and he
+decided this must be the white spot detached from the polar ice which
+our astronomers have frequently observed at about twenty-five degrees
+south latitude, and to which they have given the name Hall's Island.
+
+"I am afraid we have not appreciated the speed at which we have been
+travelling," remarked the doctor. "Phobos is very slow in overtaking
+us;" and he was just beginning to slacken speed still more, when he
+suddenly cried out,--
+
+"Here she is ahead of us now! We have overtaken her, instead of waiting
+for her to catch us!"
+
+And, true enough, we were gradually approaching a small brownish mass,
+feebly illuminated on its outer half by the sun, and more faintly still
+on its inner half by reflected light from Mars.
+
+And how shall I describe that queer little toy-world which we were
+gradually overtaking? Imagine, if you can, a little island, less than a
+third the size of the Isle of Wight, tossed a few thousand miles into
+space, and circling there rapidly to avoid falling back upon the greater
+sphere. Imagine that flying island devoid of soil, of trees or
+vegetation, of water or air, of everything but barren, uncrumbled,
+homogeneous rock, and you have some idea of the unadorned desolation of
+Phobos, into which we were slowly sailing, or falling. There was not
+even the slightest trace of sand or scraps of rock, such as time must
+have abraded from even the hardest surfaces, but the reason for this
+soon became apparent.
+
+The doctor feared steering directly against her as we approached, lest
+we should land with a crash. We had already reached her and were
+travelling along her inner side. Although we were very near her, she
+seemed to have very little attraction for us. Then he turned very much
+closer, but as soon as the influence of the rudder was released, we
+seemed to leave her instead of falling upon her as we expected. We were
+still travelling faster than she was, and had we steered directly
+against her, we would have crashed and bumped against her protuberances.
+Still there seemed to be no other way to make a landing. In order to
+estimate the amount of such a shock, the doctor calculated, from the
+best information he had of her size and a guess at her density, that she
+would attract the projectile and its entire load with a force of only
+two pounds. That was not enough to cause any very great shock, and he
+decided to take chances at once, before we had entirely passed her. He
+turned the rudder hard over toward the satellite, and we came against
+her with scarcely any crash, but with a bumping and grating that
+continued until the rudder was eased back. Then, to our great surprise,
+we did not remain on the surface, but rose from it and sailed inward
+towards Mars.
+
+"Something wrong here!" exclaimed the doctor. "She has no attraction for
+us."
+
+"Well, how do you explain this?" I asked. "You say the whole projectile
+weighs only two pounds toward Phobos, when, just a short time ago, I
+weighed nearly eight pounds myself on the scales."
+
+"True enough!" he cried; "the gravity of Mars must be dominant." He
+began figuring rapidly, and then exclaimed: "We weigh one hundred and
+thirty pounds toward Mars, and only two pounds toward the satellite.
+Small wonder that we could not make a landing, with Mars pulling us away
+sixty-five times harder than Phobos attracted us! But this is very
+strange! I remember no mention of this in any of the astronomical
+writings, and it is as easily calculable on Earth as it is here.
+Moreover, this must cause everything that is loose upon Phobos to fall
+upon Mars. The great planet is tugging at everything the satellite has
+with a force sixty-five times stronger than her own!"
+
+"Now, I am afraid those figures won't do, Doctor," I put in. "For, if
+what you say is true, what prevents the whole satellite from tumbling
+into Mars at once?"
+
+"She would do so were it not for centrifugal force. The speed with which
+she whirls around the planet must just balance the force with which he
+attracts her, and thus she is kept in her orbit. But stones and loose
+things on this side of her centre are attracted more strongly by Mars
+than they are repelled by the whirling, so they must all have fallen to
+the planet. That is why the surface was perfectly barren. If Phobos
+always keeps the same side turned toward Mars, there may be rocks and
+soil on the outer side, and we could land there with a positive current;
+but we could not see the great planet, as I had hoped."
+
+"I have had quite enough of this moon-chasing," I said; "let us be off
+for the large game at once!" and the doctor agreeing, we turned directly
+toward Mars.
+
+
+
+
+BOOK II
+
+Other World Life
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER I
+
+Why Mars gives a Red Light
+
+
+Our telescope was now pointed exactly at Mars, and we were observing
+every feature as we approached him. Compared with the illuminated
+crescent of the Earth, which we had studied when we were observing the
+Andes, our present view was infinitely vaster and more comprehensive. We
+were approaching the illuminated side of a planet, whereas we had then
+been rapidly receding from the dark side of one partly lighted at its
+edge. In our new vista there were remarkably few clouds. There were a
+few pale mists here and there over the seas, but no such heavy, black
+masses as had frequently obscured the Earth.
+
+On Mars there were fewer large bodies of water, and a very much greater
+proportion of land. In fact, about the Equator, whither we were
+steering, there seemed to be a broad, uninterrupted zone of land, with
+occasional bays or inlets cutting into it, but never crossing it. An
+open sea of considerable proportions surrounded the great ice-cap at
+each pole, and it was apparently thus possible to travel entirely
+around the globe, either by sea or by land, as one might choose.
+
+"Behold again the infinite wisdom of the Creator!" cried the doctor.
+"Although Mars is a much smaller planet than our own, it is fitted for
+almost as large a population. The land is nearly all grouped about the
+Equator, where it is warm enough to live comfortably. On the contrary,
+on Earth there is no important civilization under the Equator, and most
+of the land is favourably located in the north temperate zone. On Earth
+the intervention of great oceans between the continents kept the
+population restricted to Asia and Egypt for centuries, and to the Old
+World for a still longer time. But here, this band of continuous land
+has made it easy and natural to explore the whole globe, and its
+inhabitants have had ample time and opportunity to distribute
+themselves."
+
+But by far the most wonderful thing that we had been observing for a
+long time, and which became more remarkable as we approached, was that
+the entire planet, seas and continents alike, gave off a reddish light.
+This tinge of red had been visible ever since we had left the Earth.
+Much further back we had observed that it seemed to extend a little
+beyond the outline of Mars, and we now saw that even the white light
+from the snow-caps had a faint tinge of red.
+
+"For centuries the ruddy light of this planet has been remarked," said
+the doctor. "His very name was given him because of his gory, warlike
+appearance. Scientists have attempted to explain it by supposing that
+his vegetation is uniformly red, instead of green like ours. Still
+others, objecting that his vegetation could not possibly be rank or
+plentiful, or continue the same colour through all seasons, have
+supposed that his soil or primaeval rock is of a deep red colour. But
+neither of these suppositions explain why his seas should give off a
+reddish light mixed with their green, or why the pure white of polar
+snows should be tinged with crimson."
+
+We must have been still two hundred miles above the surface when the
+barometer began to rise feebly, indicating that we were already entering
+the Martian atmosphere; and, as we proceeded, the reddish glow spread
+all around us, and was even dimly visible behind as well as in front. We
+were still travelling too rapidly to plunge into the denser atmosphere
+or attempt a landing. Besides, we wished to explore the planet, and find
+life and civilization before choosing a landing place. And as we drew
+nearer, in a constantly narrowing circle, that red haze was all about us
+everywhere.
+
+"There can be but one explanation of it," said the doctor at last. "This
+red is a colour in the Martian atmosphere. It seems very strange and
+almost impossible to us; but we must prepare ourselves for extremely
+unusual and even apparently impossible things."
+
+But this seemed to disturb the doctor greatly, as also did the fact that
+we could no longer breathe with comfort the rare air which we had not
+found objectionable far back in space. Our returning weight made
+physical effort again necessary, and we were able to exert ourselves but
+little without panting and gasping. The rarest air we had used had shown
+a pressure of fourteen, and we were now compelled to increase this to
+eighteen in order to be comfortable.
+
+"This Martian air is sure to give us trouble," the doctor said to me
+after considerable reflection. "In the first place, its red colour makes
+me fear it is not composed of the same gases that our air is. If it
+should turn out to be a mixture of oxygen and nitrogen, like ours, there
+is the possibility that this red matter which gives it colour will be
+poisonous to us. And even if it is not harmful, I do not think the air
+will have a pressure above ten or eleven, and we seem to need eighteen
+or twenty for comfort. I shall be very sorry if we have to return at
+once; but our supply of air is limited, you know."
+
+"You keep a close watch through your telescope for those flying men you
+promised to show me," I answered. "If they can live in this air, I think
+we can manage it somehow. I will not go back while there is a breath
+left in me."
+
+But as we drew nearer and nearer to the surface we did not discover the
+slightest sign of habitation. As far as we could see there was a great
+desert, barren of all vegetation, and apparently unwatered since
+creation. Our telescope did not detect the existence even of animals or
+creeping things.
+
+"The wisdom of the Creator is probably quite as profound, but certainly
+not as apparent just here as it was somewhat farther back," I ventured.
+
+"We must search over the whole surface of the globe until we find smoke
+rising," said the doctor. "That is the sure sign of intelligent life on
+Earth. There has hardly been a tribe of the lowest savages there which
+did not know how to light a fire, and this knowledge would be far more
+essential on a cold planet like this. Wherever we find smoke we shall
+find those intellectual creatures, corresponding to men on our planet."
+
+Presently, far ahead of us, we discerned a small black cloud rapidly
+crossing our path. As we approached we examined it through the
+telescope, and soon saw that it was nothing less than an enormous flock
+of swiftly-flying small grey birds. This was our first acquaintance with
+what we afterwards found to be the predominating form of animal life on
+the planet. But the swift-winged cloud bore away from us, as if fleeing
+from the desert, and was soon lost to view.
+
+It was not long after this that we perceived a broad stripe of
+brilliant green extending down into the dull expanse of the desert. In
+the middle of this verdant zone there was a weaving silver ribbon, which
+could be nothing else than a great river, along whose banks we could
+discern hundreds of hovering or wading birds, hopping lugubriously, or
+spreading their broad wings in a low flight.
+
+As we now lowered rapidly to examine the soil more closely, we saw that
+we were approaching some great geometrical masses of hewn rock, whose
+regularity of design indicated that they were buildings of some sort. We
+at once decided to land and investigate these, even if we had to take up
+our search for intelligent life later.
+
+We remarked that none of these enormous structures were square, or with
+right-angled corners, such as we were used to. They all seemed to be a
+combination or multiplication of a single design, which was nothing more
+than a massive triangular wall, with its right angle on the ground and
+its acute angle at the top. Sometimes two were built together, with
+their perpendicular surfaces joining; again, four were joined in the
+same manner, and one very large one was composed of twelve of these,
+radiating from a common centre, which, if they had quite joined each
+other, would have formed a gigantic cone.
+
+I took another look at the tall, slender birds down the river, and
+remarked to the doctor,--
+
+"These great structures are no birds' nests! You can't make me believe
+winged men would build with stone. These look more like giants'
+playthings than anything else."
+
+"They appear to me like the gnomons of enormous sundials," remarked the
+doctor; "and, indeed, their uses must certainly be astronomical. With
+these one can not only tell the time, but the ascension and meridian of
+the sun and stars, and therefore the months and seasons."
+
+We lowered and circled about above the largest one, which had twelve of
+the triangular walls built in circular form, with their common
+perpendicular line in the centre and their acute angles at the
+circumference. On closer observation, the twelve slanting sides, which
+radiated from the common peak, had a tubular appearance, and we were
+soon able to look down through almost a hundred great cylindrical
+chambers, which ran from a common opening at the top, slanting at every
+different angle down to the surface.
+
+"These are nothing more than great, immovable masonry telescopes, for
+watching the stars in their courses!" cried the doctor. "Look, there is
+one perpendicular cylinder for observing just when a star or planet
+comes directly overhead, and these scores of other cylinders, at
+different angles, successively afford a view of a given constellation as
+it rises and then declines."
+
+"Then they have built a separate masonry telescope, pointing in almost
+every conceivable direction, instead of having one movable telescope to
+take any direction," said I.
+
+The wonderful size and massive construction of these was very striking,
+rivalling the pyramids of Egypt in their ponderous and enduring
+character. They were located on a raised plateau, whence the view in all
+directions was quite unobstructed. We came gently to land in the midst
+of them. To the rear, whence we had come, I could see the desolate waste
+of the desert. From the forward window we observed that the peaceful
+river kept a straight course from the cataract where it plunged over the
+plateau, through the green valley, between level banks, as far as we
+could see; and just at the foot of our plateau restfully nestled a city,
+whose massive and towering structures reached almost to our level. With
+the aid of the telescope we saw beings moving slowly about. Their form
+was upright and unwinged, but more than this we could not see. The
+deliberation and stately dignity of their movements comported perfectly
+with the majestic city wherein they dwelt.
+
+"At last we have arrived at the boundaries of Martian civilization,"
+exclaimed the doctor. "We will rest here and test the atmosphere; and if
+it permits us, we will then venture forth to measure our skill and
+knowledge against this race of builders. I hazard a guess that we will
+excel them in many things, for they are apparently only at the
+perfection of their Stone Age, while we finished that long ago, and have
+since passed through the Ages of Iron and of Steam, and are now at the
+dawn of the Era of Magnetism and Gravitation. Our minds are more fertile
+and elastic, for with this little movable telescope we probably obtain
+better results than they have done with their years of toiling
+calculation and patient building."
+
+"You will be sadly disappointed if they so far excel us that they eat us
+up at two mouthfuls," said I. "As they move about yonder, they impress
+me as being full of power."
+
+"They are as sluggish as elephants," he replied. "We are certainly more
+rapid in thought and action, and it is highly probable that we shall
+excel them in physical strength, as we have been built for three times
+as heavy muscular tasks as they."
+
+"Still, if we cannot make them understand that we come peaceably as
+friends, they may attempt to kill us as the quickest solution of the
+question. And they are a whole race against two of us," said I, just
+beginning to realize all the difficulties that were yet ahead of us.
+
+"Unless they are a very intelligent and magnanimous race, they will
+probably attempt to take us prisoners," he answered. "It is the mark of
+an enlightened nation to welcome strangers whose powers are unknown. A
+primitive race fears everything it does not understand, and force is
+its only argument against a superior intelligence."
+
+Thereupon I immediately began a thorough overhauling of all the arms and
+ammunition, while the doctor prepared to test the air. There was a tone
+of confident exultation in his voice when he spoke again.
+
+"This redness of the air will not trouble us a whit. Look! you can see
+no tinge of red between here and that huge wall yonder, nor anywhere
+along the ground as far as you can see. It is so slight a colouring that
+it is only noticeable in vast reaches of atmosphere, like the blue
+colour in our own air. See here, where a small cloud obscures the sky
+there is no ruddy tinge. There is no more colouring-matter in this than
+there is indigo in our own air. The amount of it is so infinitely small
+that it will never trouble us. Now, if it only contains oxygen enough,
+we are sure of life in it."
+
+"Yes, if they will leave us alive to breathe it," I added, counting out
+seventeen cartridges for each rifle.
+
+"The air outside shows a pressure of only eleven, while we have eighteen
+inside," he said. "I will bring in the discharging cylinder full of the
+outer air, and by keeping it upside down the lighter air will remain in
+it. Then, if a candle flame will burn steadily in it, the oxygen we need
+is there."
+
+Suiting the action to the word, he carefully drew in the inverted
+cylinder, and cautiously brought a lighted candle into it. To our great
+delight the flame burned for a moment with a brighter, stronger light
+than it did in the air of the compartment.
+
+"Hurrah!" cried the doctor, as happily as if he had just earned the
+right to live. "It seems to have more oxygen than our own air, which
+will make up for the lesser density."
+
+Then he put the lighted candle in the cylinder, and quickly discharged
+it outside upon the ground where we could see it. The flame had almost
+twice the brilliancy that it had had inside.
+
+"Our scientists who have sneered at the possibility of life on Mars,
+because of its rare atmosphere, have overlooked the simplicity of the
+problem. They delight in propounding posers for Omnipotence. If a
+Creator dilutes oxygen with three parts of nitrogen on one planet where
+conditions make a dense atmosphere, why should He not dilute oxygen with
+an equal part of nitrogen on a planet where the air is rare? Air is not
+a chemical compound, but a simple mixture. When a stronger, more
+life-giving atmosphere is needed, let there be less of the diluting gas.
+The nitrogen is of no known use, except to weaken the oxygen."
+
+"Let me out into it, if you say it is all right," I cried. "I am tired
+of this bird-cage."
+
+"Put on the diver's suit and helmet, and I will weaken the pressure of
+the air gradually, to prevent bleeding at the nose and ears which a
+sudden change might cause. When you are used to the low pressure, you
+can throw off the helmet and try the Martian double-oxygenated air."
+
+I hurriedly donned the queer, baggy suit and the enormous helmet with
+the bulging glass eyes, and then connected the two long rubber tubes
+which sprang from the top with the air pipes which led to the doctor's
+compartment. He put in the bulkhead, and I went to the port-hole to
+unseal it. As I glanced out the little window, I thought I saw a light
+very near the mica. Was it our candle flame that something had lifted?
+The thick glass of the helmet blinded me a little, and I approached the
+window and peered out, coming face to face with a Martian, whose nose
+was pressed against the mica! What a rounded, smooth, and expressionless
+face! But what large, deep, luminous eyes!
+
+I sprang back from the window in surprise, but not more quickly than he
+did. Just then the projectile rolled over slightly with a crunching
+noise, and I hear the thud of a heavy muffled blow on the doctor's end.
+Suddenly he pulled away the bulkhead and whispered to me excitedly:--
+
+"They are all about us outside--dozens of them! They are examining the
+projectile and trying to break it open. If they strike the windows, it
+will be too easy."
+
+The projectile tottered a little again. There was a heaving noise, and
+one end rose a little from the ground.
+
+"They are trying to carry us off, Doctor," I cried. "You must turn in
+the currents and fly away from them."
+
+The projectile was just then lifted awkwardly, and wavered a little and
+pitched, as if it were being carried by a throng struggling clumsily all
+about it. The doctor sprang to his apparatus and turned in four
+batteries at once. We shot up swiftly in a long curve, and from my
+window I could see the circle of amazed Martians, standing dumbly with
+their hands still held up in front of them, as they had been when the
+projectile left them, while they gazed open-mouthed into the sky at us.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER II
+
+The Terror Birds
+
+
+"They must have thought the projectile was another chunk fallen from
+Phobos!" I exclaimed; "and now they can't make out why it should fly
+back to the satellite again."
+
+"The more we mystify them, the more they will fear us," said the doctor.
+"I am going to make a swift downward swoop now, as if we would crash
+through the midst of them. Then perhaps they will let us alone till we
+are ready for them."
+
+He had scarcely finished speaking when we shot down in a long curve,
+like the swing of a pendulum, apparently making directly for the group
+of Martians. They were not seized by any quick panic; they were too
+phlegmatic for that. But just as the projectile threatened to smash into
+them, they seemed to realize the danger, and to grasp the idea that it
+was being operated and directed by some power and mind inside. Then they
+turned, scrambling clumsily over each other, and fled with the awkward
+precipitation of a rhinoceros in a hurry. Our pendulum motion swung us
+up a little before we would have struck them, but they had scattered and
+were scurrying to hiding-places behind the walls of the masonry
+telescopes. We continued our flight to the edge of the plateau, whence
+we could get a better view of the city and hold a more commanding
+position.
+
+"None of these who have seen our aerial evolutions are likely to trouble
+us again," remarked the doctor. "But they will quickly spread the news
+to the city, and we must be where we can watch everything that goes on
+there, and hurriedly prepare for the worst they can do to us. We will
+seek the principal approach to the plateau and defend it."
+
+His ideas had suddenly become altogether warlike. I liked the excitement
+of it so far, and hastened to agree with him. We came to land in a
+sheltered part of the main road leading to the plateau, and prepared to
+emerge and set up our telescope where it would sweep the city.
+
+"Shall we try this air on the dog before you go out?" inquired the
+doctor in all seriousness.
+
+"Try it on the rabbit if you wish, but not on Two-spot."
+
+He put Bunny into the discharging cylinder and pushed him out. The meek
+little animal seemed quite delighted at being released. He hopped about
+playfully, skipping much higher and farther at each hop than I had ever
+seen him do before.
+
+This reassured me, and I put on the helmet again, and opened the
+port-hole. As the rarer Martian air swept in, my suit swelled and puffed
+to its fullest capacity, by the expansion of the denser air within it. I
+was so blown up that I could scarcely squeeze myself out of the
+port-hole. It was like a red misty day outside, though there were no
+clouds. The sky was a perfectly cloudless dull red, and the coppery sun
+was shining almost overhead. His orb looked less than two-thirds the
+size it did from the Earth, and one could look at its duller light
+fixedly without hurting the eyes. Phobos was also faintly visible,
+steering his backward course across the ruddy sky. The thermometer
+showed a temperature just above freezing, but I was perfectly warm
+within the diver's suit and its envelope of air. The red haze and utter
+lack of breeze added a deceptive appearance of sultry heat.
+
+I was gazing back toward the Gnomons, when suddenly a group of the
+Martians we had first seen came around a turn of the road and over a
+knoll into full view of us. They were plainly surprised beyond all
+measure by my strange appearance. My puffed and corpulent figure, my
+bulging face of glass, my two long rubber tentacles extending back into
+my shell, must have made them think I was a very curious animal! Also
+they were probably surprised at seeing any living thing come out of the
+mass, which they must have thought had fallen from their moon, for she
+was always shying things at them. And I now had my first chance to
+study their appearance closely.
+
+"Doctor," I said softly, to see if he could hear me through the
+connecting tubes. As I had hoped, they proved to be very good
+speaking-trumpets, and I heard his answer noisily.
+
+"Speak lower; I hear you easily," I said. "There is a party of them
+coming down this road to descend to the city. They have stopped upon
+seeing me. They are nothing but men like ourselves. I see no wings,
+horns, tails, or other appendages that we have not. They are just fat,
+puffy, sluggish men, very white and pale in colour, and covered with a
+peculiar clothing that looks like feathers. I seem to be a far greater
+freak to them than they are to me."
+
+Had he been a million miles away, I should have known that it was the
+doctor answering, from his unsurprised and matter-of-fact tone. I
+imagined I could see the exact expression of his face as he said,--
+
+"After all, then, man is the most perfect animal the Creator could make.
+From a mechanical standpoint he needs nothing that he has not, and has
+nothing that he does not need. However you change him, you would make
+him imperfect. Physiologically he may be much the same on all the
+planets, but there is room for the widest variations on the intellectual
+and spiritual side."
+
+"Do not forget that my patriarchal ancestors record that God made man
+in His own image, upon which there could be no improvement," I put in.
+
+"Yes, but modern scientists would have us believe that your patriarchs
+would have written a different fable if they had understood the theory
+of evolution. It appears that man is really a little lower than the
+angels, by being material and ponderable and visible, but the general
+image may be the same. Perhaps upon the various planets it may be that
+the same lines of differences prevail, as between the heathen tribes and
+the civilized people on earth. There at least we are sure that
+physiologically no marked difference exists between the lowest savage
+and the wisest sage."
+
+"Except, perhaps, that the savage may have the best digestion," I added.
+"Those look as if they had but few troubles and plenty to eat. I see no
+wrinkles or hard lines. Their forms and features are gracefully rounded.
+Their eyes are larger and stronger, with a liquid depth suited to this
+soft and weaker light. None of them wear beards, and very little hair is
+visible. I must say they do not look at all warlike. If we could only
+make them understand that we are friendly, I think they would gladly bid
+us to a feast of freshly-cooked meats and good wines, and ask us,
+chuckling, for the latest after-dinner stories that are current on
+Earth."
+
+"Make friendly signs to them, and see how they behave," he suggested.
+
+I slowly waved my hand to them to approach, and extended my arm as if to
+shake hands. While talking with the doctor I had stood perfectly still,
+and they had been warily watching me all the time. When I moved and
+stretched out my arm, they took fright and fled precipitately.
+
+"I have scared them away, as if they were a lot of roe deer!" I
+exclaimed.
+
+"Then let us hasten preparations while they are gone," he replied. "If
+you can stand the pressure I have given you, it will be safe to throw
+off the helmet and suit."
+
+Upon lifting the cover from my head, I caught a draught of fresh cold
+air that was unspeakably invigorating. I drank it in deep breaths, and
+felt like skipping about for joy. Kicking off the suit that trammelled
+me, I put it and the helmet back inside and closed the port-hole. Then
+the doctor pulled away the bulkhead and breathed the mixed atmosphere,
+half-Martian from my compartment and half-Earthly from his. He suffered
+no inconvenience from the sudden half-way step toward a lower density,
+and presently he emerged into the exhilarating air with me.
+
+"This atmosphere has a stimulation in it like thin wine, and it gives me
+an appetite. I feel strong and virile enough to tip Mars topsy-turvy," I
+said. "At least, let me get some cigars to smoke while we are arming our
+stronghold."
+
+When I went in for the guns, I put a handful of Havanas in my vest
+pocket, and emerging, I laid the rifles handy and proceeded to light a
+weed. I was watching the bright flame of the match, and puffing with
+gusto at the fragrant smoke, when from another direction a second squad
+of Martians came into view very near us. They immediately halted and
+gazed at us in open-mouthed wonder, which soon changed to a look of
+horror. Remembering the pipe of peace among the American Indians, I drew
+out a cigar, and hastily striking a match upon my trousers, I held the
+weed and flame toward them. Not a man of them stayed to see any more.
+Their flight was more precipitate than the other party's had been.
+
+"It was your smoke they were afraid of," said the doctor. "Whenever you
+puffed, I saw them looking at each other blankly and dropping back a
+little. They have taken you for a fire-eater and a smoke-breather, and
+when you drew the flame from your lungs it was too much for them. But
+all this serves our purpose of frightening them. They will spread
+strange stories in the city below!"
+
+I helped him carry out the telescope, and we placed it in a commanding
+position. Then we propped up the broad shields, so that each of us could
+crouch behind one, and I laid a broadsword and rifle handy to each. Then
+we put on the linked-wire shirts under our coats, buckled the revolvers
+about us, and, as it was rather cold, we each put on a thick pair of
+gloves and a heavy topcoat.
+
+The doctor, who was carefully watching things down in the city through
+the telescope, cried out to me presently,--
+
+"There is wild commotion and great excitement down yonder by the great
+palace. The news has reached them! They are preparing to come in force
+to take us!"
+
+"I wish I knew what their sign of peace is, we might save a conflict,"
+said I. "Perhaps our fire-arms won't harm them."
+
+"More likely they will blow them all to pieces," answered the doctor.
+"But we must not fire unless it becomes absolutely necessary to defend
+ourselves, for if we kill any of them, they will then have cause to deal
+with us as dreadfully as they can. We cannot hope to overcome them all.
+It will be enough to demonstrate our supremacy, so that they will allow
+us to live among them. Therefore, let us simply defend ourselves and do
+nothing offensive, thus showing that we are peaceably disposed."
+
+"You cry peace, but look at the great army they are sending against us!"
+I exclaimed. "There are four companies of foot soldiers marching through
+the streets, and each man is armed with a very long cross-bow and wears
+a brightly-coloured bird-wing on his forehead. The streets are filling
+with people to see them pass. Now three more companies wheel out of the
+palace, but they have no cross-bows. They are whirling something around
+their heads."
+
+The doctor anxiously awaited his turn at the telescope, and as he looked
+he clutched his pistol though they were still several miles away.
+
+"Those are slings they are whirling about their heads," he said. "And
+the commander of each company rides an ambling donkey, and wears a heavy
+plaited beard and long braided hair, without head covering."
+
+"But look further back, coming out of the palace now!" I cried. "What
+are those strange, stately animals far behind the soldiers? I can see
+them with the naked eye."
+
+"_Donnerwetter!_ what towering birds!" he muttered under his breath.
+"Like ostriches in form, but as tall and graceful as a giraffe! There is
+a man riding astride the neck of each of them, yet he could scarcely
+reach half-way to their heads!"
+
+"Are those monstrous things birds?" I demanded. "Let me look. What long
+and bony legs they have! They would stride over us without touching our
+heads; but how they could kick!"
+
+"And how they could run!" put in the doctor. "See, they stride easily
+over seven or eight feet with a single step. They must be messenger
+birds, for there are only four of them, and their riders are not
+armed."
+
+"They may have hundreds more of them in reserve, and they could fight
+far more viciously than the men. See what a wicked beak and what a long
+muscular neck they have. They could crush a skull in a twinkling with
+one swift swoop of that head! I will fight the men, but I will take no
+chances with those birds!"
+
+Although these strange, small-winged creatures had started long after
+the soldiers, they had quickly passed them, and were now beginning to
+mount toward our plateau. They were making swift detours at intervals,
+as if to reconnoitre. We were hidden behind our rocks and shields, and
+the riders could not see us, and they had evidently not yet seen the
+brass barrel of our telescope. It would be folly for them to attempt to
+come up the road we were guarding, for we could easily heave boulders
+over and crush them. I had already put my shoulder to an immense rock
+near the brink, to see if it was as heavy as it looked. I found it
+porous and crumbly, and no heavier than so much chalk. Up the roadway
+the great birds climbed with wonderful ease. Their riders were evidently
+looking for us without any idea where we were.
+
+"I won't see those elephantine bipeds come any nearer to me!" I
+exclaimed, and rushing to the boulder, which was certainly four feet in
+diameter, I toppled it over the brink, and expected to see it carry
+everything down before it. It rolled slowly down the steep bank, with
+hardly a third the force and speed of the same mass on Earth. This
+discouraged me, but I watched for it to reach the foremost bird. He was
+surprised by it, but made one step sideways, and, lifting his great
+right leg, the stone rolled under him without any damage. He gave a
+queer, guttural croak, accompanied by a most violent motion of the head
+and neck. The other birds, thus warned, dodged quickly sidewise, and
+avoided the slowly rolling boulder; but all three of the riders were
+thrown by the swift lateral movement of the birds. The astonished men
+picked themselves up slowly from the bushes and approached their birds.
+But they could scarcely reach with their hands the lower part of the
+neck where they had sat.
+
+"Unless they are good jumpers, they cannot mount again without a
+ladder!" said the doctor.
+
+"Jumping is easier than standing still here," I interrupted. "I can jump
+ten feet high with no trouble."
+
+"Yes; but these Martian boobies haven't your muscles. _Aber Blitzen!_
+did you see that fellow mount his bird again?"
+
+I had seen it, and I do not remember anything more wonderful than this
+operation, which was repeated for each rider. The man went in front of
+his bird, turned his back, and stooped forward. The bird then curved his
+long neck to the ground, and put his head and neck between the legs of
+the rider, who clutched tightly with his arms and legs. With a swift,
+graceful swing, the bird lifted its head on high, carrying the rider as
+if he were nothing. When the great neck was again erect, the man slid
+carefully down it to his place, much as one might slip down a telegraph
+pole. Then two of the birds turned back to the city as swiftly as they
+could go, and the other two took separate side trails and soon
+disappeared.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER III
+
+The Armies of Mars
+
+
+As the two returning birds passed the marching soldiers, their riders
+evidently delivered some message to the captains, for the soldiers
+suddenly broke forward in a run, using their long cross-bows with great
+dexterity as jumping staves. Placing the outer end upon the ground ahead
+of them as they ran, they leaped and hung upon the cross-piece with
+their hands. The springy resistance of this tough wood imparted to them
+a forward motion with its rebound, and they scaled great distances at
+each jump. The whole company did it in concert, and they made almost as
+great speed as if they had been riding bicycles. The slingers were
+consequently left far in the rear.
+
+Less than half way up the incline the archers stopped, arranged their
+bow-thongs, and selected feathered arrows from a pouch slung over their
+shoulders.
+
+"They can never hit us from that distance!" I exclaimed; "a rifle would
+not carry so far."
+
+"You forget the weak gravity which will bend their course down very
+little, and the thin air which will barely resist their flight; this is
+a model planet for archery," he answered. "Quick! drop behind your
+shield! They have fired the first volley!"
+
+A torrent of the shafts fell all about us, and many pelted against our
+shields. Those which struck the soft earth of the bank sank into it and
+stuck there, but those which struck our steel were shivered and broken.
+
+"Sit still and let them shoot away their arrows," I whispered. "This
+will soon be over."
+
+The next volley came with a little more force, as if they had marched
+further up the hill. One or two arrows fell very near me, and I reached
+for them to examine their construction. They were made of the hollow,
+filmy stock of a rather tough reed, and were pointed with a chipped
+stone tip, which was brittle, but not harder than porous chalk.
+
+"That stuff wouldn't pierce my two coats, to say nothing of the linked
+steel shirt," I sneered. "I will show them what fools they are!" and I
+walked boldly out to the brink and faced them. They let fly a quick
+volley with a concerted shout. As I saw the arrows start, I turned my
+back and bent down my head quickly. Perhaps a dozen of the slim reeds
+pelted me, and then I stooped over and gathered up as many as I could
+find, and broke them all in my hands before their eyes.
+
+This sent a hum of excited jabbering through their ranks, and they fired
+no more. I stood watching them, and presently I grasped my two hands
+together and shook hands with myself, to try to convey to them the idea
+that we were friendly; but it must have carried no meaning to them. By
+this time the slingers had come up, and I retired behind my shield to
+await their action. The archers seemed very glad of their arrival, and
+yielded the foremost place to them. I noted their operations carefully,
+and saw them place something, which did not look like a round stone, in
+the pocket of their slings, and then they whirled it long and
+cautiously. Suddenly they discharged it with a swift movement of their
+bodies backward, which landed them on one knee.
+
+"Wide of the mark!" I cried, as the missiles sailed off far to the right
+of us. But just before landing they bent a sharp, surprising curve, and
+lacked but little of hitting us behind the shields! The things they had
+thrown were the thin, concave shells of a large nut, and the trick of
+discharging them gave them their peculiar flight.
+
+"I don't like this throwing around the corner!" exclaimed the doctor.
+"With a little truer aim they will be able to hit us behind anything."
+
+"Hurry, bring your shield over behind mine, and face it the other way,"
+said I; "then we will crouch between the two in safety."
+
+He did this just in time, for some of the next volley actually curved
+around and hit his shield, but none struck mine in front. However, the
+shells which fell near us were of light weight, and would not have
+bruised us much with heavy clothing on. Presently their pelting ceased,
+and we concluded that they were planning something new. We decided to
+let them know that we were not hurt, so we emerged; and I tried throwing
+the shells back with my hand, but I could not control their erratic
+course. When they saw this they jeered at me, and I itched to treat them
+to just one pistol shot, only to show them what child's play their
+fighting was! Presently we saw what they were waiting for. Far down the
+road the two great birds were returning harnessed together, and dragging
+behind them an enormous catapult. Tied across their backs were two stout
+darts, seemingly twelve feet long and three inches square. Each of them
+had a wicked-looking barbed tip.
+
+There was a pleased and confident jabber among the slingers and archers
+below as the birds arrived. The catapult was turned about toward us, and
+lashed tightly to stakes driven in front and behind. Then the birds were
+hitched to the cord of the immense bow, and they pulled it far back,
+until the men made it fast in a notch. The cross-piece had now become
+almost a half-circle, quite ten feet in diameter. The captain of a
+company of archers acted as gunner, and carefully adjusted the catapult,
+aiming it evidently at our shield. Upon seeing this we placed the two
+shields together, and leaned them both inward toward us, so as to make
+their angle with the upward course of the dart more obtuse, and thus
+cause a glancing blow instead of a solid impact. Crouching under the
+steel shelters, we awaited the dart.
+
+Whiz-z-z it whistled up through the thin air! Bimm-m! it struck the top
+of our outer shield, and glanced off as we had hoped. The outer steel
+rattled and banged against the inner, and both shields pressed hard over
+against us, but not the slightest damage was done.
+
+We went out to watch them load the second dart. They evidently saw the
+impotence of the glancing blow, and were noisily discussing it. A
+captain of the slingers was arguing hotly with the gunner, who was
+finally persuaded to take his aim a little lower. Then a hum of approval
+went through the throng.
+
+"They do think a little, but they are not secretive!" I sneered,
+flopping our inner shield over flat on the ground. "Come, sit on this,
+Doctor, and we will lean the outer shield over us, and snuggle in
+between them as cosy as two oysters! Let them fondly imagine they can
+shoot us through this pasty soil, and keep their own counsel better
+after this!"
+
+It was not a bad guess on my part; for the second dart struck the edge
+of the cliff, bored through the loose soil, and thumped our lower shield
+with a dull thud that lifted us from the ground. But the point and
+edges of the dart were blunted, and crumbled with the blow, and I could
+find no dent in the shield.
+
+"See, the birds are returning to the city in haste for more darts!" said
+the doctor. But I was interested in examining the first dart, which had
+fallen a few hundred feet behind us. Its shaft was of roughly-hewn,
+spongy wood, and it weighed far less than half the mass of soft pine
+would on Earth. Its tip was not metal, but chipped stone--crumbly, like
+the arrow-heads. Either they did not know the metals, or they were too
+rare to be used in their arts. And it was to be supposed that they would
+use the hardest stone they had for arrow-heads and dart-tips.
+
+I carried the shaft easily upon my shoulder forward to the edge of the
+cliff. This surprised even the doctor a little, for four Martians had
+been necessary to put it in place upon the catapult. It must have
+astonished them still more, for they were staring at me so blankly that
+I was tempted to toss the dart down their gaping throats!
+
+"Give them just one dose of their own medicine!" suggested the doctor.
+
+"Perhaps I had better teach them to keep their dangerous weapons at
+home," I said; and, balancing the dart easily above my head, I aimed it
+carefully at a dense group around the catapult. I threw my whole force
+into the thrust, and sent the shaft whizzing down at them. Then I
+staggered back, quite exhausted by the effort and gasping for breath.
+
+"Good God! You have impaled two of them upon the dart!" cried the
+doctor, "and it is causing a panic in the whole army!"
+
+And when I sprang up to look, I saw two writhing Martians, much shrunken
+in size and dying upon the dart. The terror-stricken archers and
+slingers were scattering and scurrying in every direction, regardless of
+the shouted orders of their captains. The foremost of the impaled men
+wore a beard, and was no other than the gunner of the catapult.
+
+"I am sorry for the poor devils!" I exclaimed. "I had no idea they were
+so soft and tender. They have shrunk like a pricked balloon!"
+
+"They thought they could prick us like that, and let the life ooze out,"
+said the doctor. "There is no danger that they will shoot any more at
+us. The whole army is afraid that you will throw down the other dart."
+
+Nevertheless, other companies of archers and slingers were seen leaving
+the palace, and the birds were already returning with two more darts.
+And the soldiers below were gaining courage and responding to the
+rallying cries of the captains, who were halloing and pointing toward
+the edge of the cliff, down in the direction of the cataract. I looked
+quickly that way, and instantly shouted,--
+
+"To the rifles, quick, doctor! The other two birds have ascended the
+cliff, and are racing toward us along its edge. Take careful aim at the
+head of that front one. Afterward, let drive two random bullets into his
+body!"
+
+Urged on by their riders, who with their hands swayed the long necks of
+the birds in unison with their rhythmical stride, these two-legged
+giraffes, with the wild look and sharp beak of an eagle, swept
+menacingly toward us.
+
+"Ready now!" I cried, as the foremost came within fifty feet of us.
+"Fire!"
+
+Two sharp reports almost simultaneous, with a less thunderous explosion
+than on Earth, but singing in a higher key and flaming vastly more,
+startled and terrified the Martians. Then crack! crack! bang! bang! four
+other shots in swift succession, followed by the terrific croaking of
+the wounded Terror-bird, which fell ponderously forward, kicking
+violently and beating the ground wildly with its head.
+
+Seizing my broadsword in a flash, I dealt it such a blow upon the neck
+as quite to sever the head from the body. There was a gush of red blood;
+and those who have seen the antics of a decapitated chicken, may
+correspondingly multiply the corpse and imagine the confusion that now
+ensued.
+
+"Stand ready for the second bird!" I shouted to the doctor; but on
+looking, I saw that the other animal refused to be urged forward, after
+seeing the fate of his companion. His rider was half-hearted in his
+efforts, and was watching the forward rider, who had been severely
+thrown with the bird's fall, and badly bruised by the kicking and
+threshing. He seemed to realize that he was in our power, and was
+thoroughly desperate. With a wailing cry he rushed at me with open arms,
+as if to embrace death, for I still held the sword. Dropping the weapon,
+I grappled with him, catching him about the wrists, which shrank under
+my grasp. He seemed to have scarcely the strength of a child; and
+everywhere I touched him, his flesh yielded like the flabby muscles of a
+fat baby. I bent him over backwards, then swung him around and caught
+him by the shoulders, and whirled him around my head. Finally, I tossed
+him over the edge of the cliff, where he landed among some bushes, and
+scrambled down as fast as he could, glad to have saved his life. The
+other rider had turned his bird back toward the cataract with all
+possible despatch.
+
+"The whole army below us is now thoroughly demoralized!" said the
+jubilant doctor. "Many of them fled dismayed on hearing the firing, and
+others screamed and ran away when they saw you decapitate the bird. But
+your wrestling with the rider, and flinging him about like an infant,
+was an object lesson none of them could stay to see repeated. I saw one
+trembling fool slink back to cut the thong of the catapult, so that we
+could not use it on them. They have wholly abandoned the attack!"
+
+"If this is the worst they can do, I will undertake to make myself king,
+and you prime minister here, within twenty-four hours!" I ejaculated,
+decidedly pleased with the idea. "And I will maintain supremacy with a
+standing army of a thousand Terror-birds!"
+
+"The consciousness of superior strength always brings that desire for
+conquest," answered the doctor. "We must not allow it to master us, but
+we must push our advantage. Look! the panic of the first ones reaching
+the city is spreading to the new companies marching out. They are
+trampled over by the fleeing host, they turn and mingle with the
+frightened mob in one struggling, terror-stricken mass! Come, let us be
+into the projectile and after them. With a few booming shots above their
+heads, we will make them think their Thunder-gods have come!"
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER IV
+
+The Strange Bravery of Miss Blank
+
+
+Telescope, rifles, and shields were tumbled into the projectile
+pell-mell, and without stopping to close the port-hole, we steered
+towards the city as we mounted rapidly. When the soldiers, weary of
+running, saw us start, they were stricken with a new fear, and made all
+possible haste for shelter. When they perceived that we were rising into
+the red haze, they took a little courage, but still hastened.
+
+"Perhaps they think we are mounting to the sky for more thunder and
+lightning," I suggested. "Little do they know the destruction we could
+do them with the handful of ammunition we have, if we really meant war
+as much as they at first desired it and now fear it!"
+
+By this time we were almost above the thickest crowd of the fleeing
+army, while the most energetic runners and the Terror-bird that had
+turned back had reached the heart of the city; and we could see the
+alarm spreading like wild-fire to all its inhabitants. I was busy
+loading the rifles with the cartridges which the doctor had robbed of
+their bullets for the pickle-bottle experiment soon after our start.
+
+"We will execute a little _coup_, to show them the difficulties of
+retreat when the enemy is armed with gravity projectiles," said the
+doctor. "Do you see that great gate of the city they are all making for?
+We will drop down there, just in front of them, and prevent their
+entrance. It will be better to keep the whole army outside the walls, if
+possible, for its absence and disorganization will make the rulers all
+the more tractable when we are ready to drop down into their city and
+make peace with them on our own terms."
+
+"I must say you are a good general, Doctor!" I exclaimed. "You plan the
+campaign, and I will do the fighting."
+
+The blank dismay of the soldiers when they saw us descending again, and
+their abject desperation when they perceived that we should land in
+front of them and cut off their entrance to the city, was pitiful to
+see.
+
+"Doctor, do you remember the grand display and the proud strength with
+which these soldiers marched forth? Look at the difference now!"
+
+"Oh, war! war!" he exclaimed. "The glory of its beginning! The terror of
+its prosecution! The misery of its end! Would that it could always be
+carried on by terrorizing the mind instead of by slaying the body!"
+
+As we were about to come to land in front of the straggling multitude of
+soldiers, I fired a dozen blank cartridges as rapidly as I could work
+the rifle. This was at very near range, and although the explosions
+sounded weak to me, the excessive flaming of the powder added a new
+terror. The disorganized army stopped in dread; the stragglers pushing
+up from behind, and the frightened turning of those in front, crushed
+the multitude together and increased the confusion. Throngs of people,
+whose curiosity was still stronger than their fear, were coming out from
+the city. As they saw us float down and land, and then heard the firing,
+they turned and rushed within the gates again, ready to believe far
+worse stories than they had yet heard.
+
+"We must scatter this rabble army and put it wholly to rout," insisted
+the doctor. "I will swing amongst them and over their heads, while you
+burn powder for them. If they won't scatter, use your revolver and wound
+one or two of them."
+
+"No, I will not harm another man," I answered. "They are too weak and
+defenceless a foe, and are no match for us. Hereafter I will fight only
+with the birds."
+
+We rose and sailed slantingly toward them, but they had already started
+to disperse. Those who had jumping-staves disentangled themselves from
+the crowd and scattered into the bushy wastes. I continued firing until
+my blank cartridges were gone, and then we landed just outside the
+entrance and emerged from the projectile to examine the gates and see if
+we could close and fasten them.
+
+Within the wall those who had gained entrance during our last movements
+were rapidly retreating toward the centre of the city, warning all whom
+they passed. One single stately figure showed no fear, and paid no heed
+to the exclamations of the runners. The ampler dress and flowing flaxen
+hair indicated that it was a woman, and to our surprise, though she was
+well clothed, she seemed to be demanding alms of every one as she
+approached us. No one gave her anything, and occasionally a runner
+seized her arm and tried to persuade her to return. But she caught none
+of their excitement, and composedly pursued her course.
+
+"Egad! This beautiful girl is braver than the whole Martian army!" I
+exclaimed in amazement, as she calmly approached where I was standing by
+the gate and extended her fair, plump hand. If she was asking alms, I
+had nothing to give her; but here, at least, was one pacific, composed,
+and reasonable person. Perhaps it was the queen, or a diplomatic envoy
+of the ruler!
+
+"Now is the time to demonstrate our friendliness," I exclaimed, and
+reaching forth my hand I grasped hers in a warm clasp of welcome.
+
+She looked up at me blankly. Her beautiful face carried no expression of
+satisfaction or surprise. Her transparent complexion was neither paled
+by fear nor flushed by pleasure. Her great dreamy eyes, of a deep liquid
+blue, wandered unfixedly in their languid gaze. Still holding her soft
+hand, which was far warmer than my own, I opened her fingers with my
+other hand and pointed at her pink extended palm as if to inquire what
+she wished. I watched her closely, but she made no sign, said nothing,
+looked nothing.
+
+"Since I do not know you, I can think of no more fitting name to call
+you by than Miss Blank," I said, more to express my thought in
+articulate sounds than anything else, for I had no idea she would
+understand me. From her expression I could not judge whether she had
+even heard me, to say nothing of comprehending. She was looking beyond
+me, through the gate, as if searching others from whom she might ask
+alms. Seeing none, she wheeled slowly about to return. Unwillingly I
+released her hand, and stood unspeakably puzzled by the whole matter.
+She was commanding in appearance, being taller than I by a few inches,
+not slim, but well proportioned. She had the stately serenity of a
+dreaming queen, but the blank, unresponsive soul of one who dwelt within
+herself; and though she saw, she did not realize the existence or
+meaning of anything outside.
+
+"Doctor, will all your learning solve this riddle for me!" I exclaimed.
+"Can all the Martian women be like this? She is beautiful of body and
+strangely warm and winning to the touch, but as cold of heart as the
+drifting snow that suffocates a poor lost lamb. She has had a strange
+influence over me; a puzzling, baffling attraction. A suggestion of
+something delicate and subtlely charming, which, when one seeks to seize
+and to define, retires icily behind the drawn curtain of her soul."
+
+"I hope you won't play the lost lamb to her snowdrift!" he sneered, in a
+way that I resented. "One would think she had hypnotized you on the
+spot! And she must be in a trance herself, for she had not sense enough
+to fear us."
+
+"Those who have the most sense fear us the least!" I retorted.
+
+"But fear is our sharp weapon now," he answered; "and some of the
+stragglers, looking back, saw you stand there holding her hand in a
+manner far from warlike. They will report this to the rulers unless we
+forestall them. Come, fasten the gates tightly upon the inside to keep
+the soldiers out, and I will sail over the wall to pick you up."
+
+"Doctor, we make our peace at once, and fight no more with the brothers
+of this girl," I said with decision.
+
+The massive gates were of hewn stone, turning in sockets at their outer
+corners above and below. They swung as easily as if hung upon hinges,
+and when closed a slab of stone came down to bar them. I made them
+fast, and then called out to the doctor,--
+
+"Don't come for me. I have found a jumping-staff, and I think I can leap
+to the top of the wall."
+
+It was a sheer fifteen feet of solid masonry, but my chief delight since
+landing on Martian soil was the inordinate springiness of my leg muscles
+against the feeble gravity. I ran and sprang lustily with the aid of the
+cross-bow, and I remember the doctor's surprised look when he saw me
+clear the entire wall without touching the top and land safely with a
+very mild jolt on his side.
+
+A short oblique ascent of the projectile brought us over the city, and
+revealed to us the condition of desperate panic into which the wild
+reports of the soldiers and the bird-rider had thrown the frantic
+populace. The soldiers still within the walls could not restrain the
+people, or did not try. If there was any government, it lacked a head or
+could not command attention. The stubborn instinct of self-preservation
+was king. Distracted throngs surged out at one gate, to separate and
+waver and hesitate, and finally to fight for a speedy entrance at
+another. On one side soldiers were apparently ordering people down from
+the wall, while on another the excited populace was hauling sentinel
+soldiers from the same elevation, lest our attention should be
+attracted. Within, strong men were weeping and wailing; without, nervous
+men were haranguing the vacillating multitude; but more were stolidly
+pushing with the rabble or being hustled by it.
+
+Only one sign of order and forethought was apparent. Evidently for
+better safety and for an easier defence, the women and children had been
+taken to a central park or pleasure ground, and left there with a small
+guard of soldiers. The men to whom they belonged had apparently all gone
+elsewhere.
+
+"Doctor, we must put an end to this fear and frenzy at the earliest
+possible moment. If we are not destroying those people, we are exciting
+them to destroy each other, which is equally blameworthy. We must go
+down at once, but we had best avoid the frantic men. The women seem far
+more reposeful. Let us drop quietly into that open field in the park,
+and I will make friendly signs to the women, pat the children on the
+head, and give them all to understand that we mean no harm."
+
+He evidently saw that we had quite overdone the scare, and was as much
+impressed by the terrible picture below as I was. We turned down without
+delay, and landed quietly behind a clump of trees. I took a tin of sweet
+biscuits under my arm, and the doctor following me, with a generous
+handful of his trinkets and tinsel toys, we left the projectile, and
+rounding the grove of dwarfed trees we approached the romping children
+first. I patted their flaxen curls, lightly pinched their cheeks, and
+handed each of them a sweet biscuit. Then, while the doctor distributed
+strange toys amongst them, I put on my most courtly ways and addressed
+myself to the women. Their first impulses of fear had been somewhat
+allayed by our attentions to the children, and I bowed profusely and
+made bold to kiss the hands of a few of the youngest of them. Each of
+these looked to see if I had left anything visible or harmful on her
+hand, from which I judged the custom was wholly strange to them. The
+others looked on askance and whispered excitedly among themselves.
+
+One of the soldiers who had seen us approach, but offered no resistance,
+had now started to run, as fast as his jumping-staff would carry him,
+toward the palace. I knew at once that this meant some new development,
+and I hoped it meant a report of our friendly actions and a truce all
+around. But the doctor reminded me that we must be prepared for
+surprises and treachery. Therefore we re-entered the projectile, and out
+of the sight of all the Martians I re-loaded the rifles, and then we
+waited a long time.
+
+Our patience was finally rewarded, for we saw the soldier returning,
+slowly leading a woman. In her left arm, which the soldier held, she
+carried something white which wriggled occasionally. All this we
+considered so favourable a development that we went out again, bowing to
+the women about us, petting the children, and looking as peaceable and
+amiable as the politest of Earth's people. But it may have passed for
+imbecility, or worse, on Mars.
+
+When I looked toward the soldier again, my heart began a queer thumping,
+for he was leading no other than the woman who had met us at the gate,
+and she was carrying our white rabbit, which we had released early that
+morning a long way from this spot.
+
+"By all that is wonderful!" I exclaimed to the doctor, "if we have not
+fallen upon a country which is ruled by yon dumb queen, and she brings
+to us as a peace offering the only thing that we have lost!"
+
+"Since when have potentates learned to beg, and forgotten to command and
+to exact?" he answered with half a sneer. "See, she still extends her
+hand to every one she passes."
+
+And as the soldier, trained to revere a beard, led the woman directly up
+to the doctor, she stretched forth her pretty palm again; but if he had
+presumed to take it I could have struck him! To my cordial grasp I added
+a kiss this time, and then I raised my eyes slowly to her face, fearing
+to see that blank look again. There _was_ no look in her eyes; they did
+not look, they only wandered!
+
+The soldier, who still held her other arm, waved his cross-bow toward
+the palace meaningly, and a hush fell upon the murmuring crowd. I
+ignored him and spoke to her,--
+
+"If thou art the queen, command me but by a look or sign, and I obey.
+And if thou art not the queen, then they should make thee one. Dost thou
+wish us to follow thee to yon palace?" said I; but the only mind that
+understood scoffed at my rapturous declamation.
+
+The woman merely drew her hand from my warm clasp and stretched it out
+to the people, who crowded about and paid her no attention. Then the
+soldier, as if suddenly remembering, took the rabbit from her arm and
+handed it to me. She looked about at this, as if missing the snuggling
+animal, and I stared hard at the meddling soldier to reprove him for
+interfering with his queen, and gently restored the rabbit to her arm.
+
+"The soldier wishes us to go to the palace," put in the doctor. "But we
+must not go unarmed. He may be leading us into an ambush. Let us take
+all of our arms and follow him."
+
+Accordingly, we buckled on the swords, and took the rifles on our
+shoulders. As we dragged out the heavy shields, the soldier pointed to a
+group of donkeys laden with bags of something like grain. I waved
+assent, and the muleteer unburdened one of them and loaded the shields
+upon him.
+
+"Why not take the telescope?" I suggested; "it is big and bright, and
+perhaps they may fear it too. Or we may wish to show its wondrous use."
+As I drew it out the crowd started back, but the soldier and the
+muleteer gingerly loaded it upon another donkey. Then the soldier took
+the woman's arm again, and pushed her extended palm around toward me, as
+if I would be unwilling to go unless I had it. My right hand held my
+rifle, but I was secretly glad that my left was free to clasp the
+woman's hand. The doctor walked behind to watch the muleteer, and thus
+we marched to the palace.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER V
+
+Zaphnath, Ruler of the Kemi
+
+
+Two hieroglyph-bearing columns of red sandstone, strong and broad enough
+to have supported a Tower of Babel, formed the portals of the outer gate
+of the palace. A pair of Terror-birds, whose plumage was a pearly grey,
+stood sleepily on guard. Our soldier, who could scarcely have reached to
+the backs of the birds, lifted up his cross-bow and tapped upon their
+long necks. Acting perfectly in concert, the animals each engaged with
+its beak a wooden ring suspended high in front of them, and then,
+bending down their necks, the hempen ropes, to which the rings were
+fastened, hauled up a ponderous portcullis, made of slabs of stone, and
+thus afforded us an entrance.
+
+As this stone gate rumbled slowly down again, we saw that we were shut
+into a vast courtyard, surrounded by a colonnade, whence cavernous
+passages led circuitously to the various compartments of the palace.
+Within the courtyard were drawn up in expectant readiness four companies
+of archers and three of slingers, in all, perhaps, seven hundred men,
+who gaped and stared at us.
+
+The doctor touched my elbow, and whispered: "We should have landed in
+here with the projectile, which would have given us a means of ready
+escape."
+
+"Remember the saying of General Grant," I answered. "'When you are
+frightened, don't forget that the enemy may be far more so.' These
+soldiers have heard enough to make them believe us capable of anything.
+They would tear down the very walls, if we were to open fire on them.
+Besides, I could leap that courtyard wall and drag you with me."
+
+Unsheathing our swords, as an object lesson to the soldiers, we followed
+our guide to the blind end of a long passage, which apparently gave
+entrance only to a small stone chamber. Following the soldier and
+muleteer, who were now carrying our shields and telescope, we crowded
+into this and waited. Presently the entire chamber, operated in some
+unseen manner, turned slowly half way round, so that its door now gave
+entrance directly to a vast but gloomy and tomb-like audience chamber,
+where we were evidently expected.
+
+Upon a massive throne of richly-chiselled stone a youth of scarcely more
+than five-and-twenty years (if judged by earthly standards) sat
+gorgeously arrayed in vestments of richly coloured feathers, woven
+skilfully into the meshes of coarse cloth. Longer plumes of changeable
+colours radiated from a wide collar which he wore, covering his breast
+and back, and extending over his shoulders. The peach-blow of his fair
+cheeks was partly hidden by a heavy false beard, plaited into stubby
+braids, which hung to an even line a little below the chin. His own
+soft, flaxen hair peeped meekly out from under a wig of tightly curled
+grey strands, cropped all round to a level with the beard. His feet and
+arms were bare, except for thin ribbons of downy, purple feathers, which
+circled the wrists and ankles. No crown was on his head, but among the
+stringy wig-curls the sinuous body of an asp bent in and out, and the
+curved neck and threatening head surmounted his clear brow.
+
+To his right, round an oval table of highly polished stone, sat twelve
+wrinkled men, not one of whom but had seen three times his years. They
+wore their own white beards, unplaited, and their feather clothing was
+less elaborate and of simple grey, like the plumage of the Terror-bird.
+
+Our soldier placed his right hand upon his cheek, and inclined his head
+slightly forward and to the right, as a salutation to the ruler, and,
+leaving the woman standing by me, he and the muleteer retired. She
+seemed neither surprised at, nor accustomed to, these surroundings. She
+made no salutation or obeisance to the ruler or to the old men, and they
+made none to her. Withdrawing her hand from mine, she stretched it
+toward them, as she had toward the commonest man outside. They paid her
+no attention, but the oldest of the men signalled to an attendant, who
+led her back and placed her hand in mine again. That soldiers and
+counsellors alike should consider this necessary or fitting seemed
+strange to me. The doctor jokingly suggested that they wished to keep me
+permanently hypnotized, lest I should become dangerous again.
+
+Having laid off our rifles, swords, and outer coats, I lifted my cap and
+made a low bow to the youth and to the old men, but the doctor tried the
+salute of the right hand upon the cheek, as he had seen the soldier do.
+In answer the youth simply looked toward the twelve, waving his hand
+towards us in a way which seemed to say to them, "Gentlemen, behold the
+enigma!" Then, beginning with the eldest, the twelve jabbered at us in
+turn, apparently in different tongues, some sibilant, some guttural, and
+others with the musical cadence of frequent vowel sounds. Needless to
+say, each was equally incomprehensible to us, and we did not think it
+worth while to try German or English upon them. When they had finished,
+they looked much vexed, and slowly wagged their beards. Then the youth
+spoke something to them with a confident gesture toward himself. He
+arose, and began addressing us. I suddenly stopped short in the middle
+of a sentence I was whispering to the doctor. It seemed as if the youth
+had ceased making mere sounds, and had begun to speak a coherent
+language, a tongue which has lived ages while others have languished
+into forgetfulness; a language whose words I understood, but yet the
+words carried little clear meaning to me.
+
+"Listen, Doctor! The boy is speaking Hebrew! Ancient and archaic in
+form, but yet Hebrew which I understand!" And this is what he had said:
+
+"Oh ye, who speak among yourselves, but understand only those who speak
+not at all, I, Zaphnath, revealer of God's hidden things, will address
+ye in my native tongue, which none but me in all the land of Kem hath
+any knowledge of."
+
+"There be two of us in Kem, O Zaphnath, who understand that tongue.
+Speak on!" I cried.
+
+But the boy stripped off his wig and beard, and, leaving the throne,
+hastened toward me and laid his soft right cheek against my own with
+gentle pressure.
+
+"Comest thou, then, from the land of my father, a stranger wandering
+into Kem, even as I came?" he asked.
+
+"Nay, gentle youth, we came a vastly farther way, from another world, so
+distant that thou seest it from here only as a twinkling star in the
+night. But if, indeed, thou camest a wandering stranger into Kem, art
+thou then the king?" He had resumed his wig and beard, and his proud
+seat upon the throne, and after he had translated my words for the
+twelve old men, he answered me,--
+
+"I am Zaphnath, ruler over all the land of Kem, without whom the
+Pharaoh doeth not, nor sayeth anything. These are his twelve wise men,
+who do not believe what thou hast said, for there is no other world
+large enough for the abode of two men, except the Day-Giver, whence they
+think ye have come. The Pharaoh may believe them, but I will believe
+what ye tell me. He hath given me full power to treat with you, and hath
+taken refuge with all his women in his tomb, and will not come forth
+until ye be appeased. Tell me in truth, then, are ye men, or gods? Ye
+look not half so warlike as all the soldiers have described you."
+
+I translated this to the doctor, but replied without waiting to consult
+with him,--
+
+"We know but one God, who hath made all the stars, and all who dwell
+upon them. We are men to whom it hath been given to travel the infinite
+distances which reach from one of His stars to another, and we are come
+to this one, not to make war but to find peace. We would have sought
+thee peacefully as friends, had not thine armies made war upon us on the
+plateau yonder. But our means of warfare proved far more terrible and
+dreadful here than on our proper star. Thus have we unwittingly slain
+two of thy soldiers and frightened all the army. We have with us the
+means to kill them all, but we seek a peaceable life here for a brief
+time, that we may learn your ways and test your wisdom, when we shall be
+gone again."
+
+"The Pharaoh could have better spared a thousand men than the bird
+which thy lightning hath killed. For are not his slaves as the plenteous
+grain of a rich harvest, while his birds are but as the fingers of his
+hands. If ye came but to learn, 'tis well ye know these wise men,
+though, since I came to Kem, their profession hath fallen somewhat into
+disrepute. I doubt not but they could learn far more from thee than thou
+from them, but they will not do it. Whatever they do not know is not
+true in Kem, but what they know continues true long after common men
+know better. Now, wilt thou explain to me the mysteries the soldiers
+have reported to us? But first tell us which of all the stars it is thou
+comest from."
+
+"Know then, O Zaphnath, that we call our star the Earth, and in her
+wanderings she hath now approached so near to the great Orb of Day that
+her rays are paled by his brighter light; she sets with him, and shines
+no more by night. But yet a few days now, and she shall triumph even
+over him, and, entering on his glowing disc, she shall be seen at
+mid-day, obscuring his light and travelling as a spot across his glory."
+
+The old men wagged their beards as the boy translated, but he sprang to
+his feet with no little excitement, and exclaimed,--
+
+"Meanest thou that blue star with its attendant speck of white, which
+but a little while ago shone with great brightness as a Twilight Star?"
+
+"That is the Earth, O Zaphnath, the world from whence we came," I
+exclaimed; and the youth again threw off his wig and beard, and rushing
+toward me, pressed first his right cheek and then his left cheek against
+mine, and then against the doctor's.
+
+"Then ye are most welcome to the land of Kem, and we shall be friends
+for ever. For ye should know that my mother was barren all the years of
+her life until this same Blue Star came to shine wondrously, even in the
+presence of the Day-Giver, before his setting. It was then, under the
+beneficent influence of this star, that she gave birth to me. And when
+the star paled and wandered again I tarried not in the land of my
+father, but came strangely hither, to be ruler in a great land which my
+people had never known."
+
+When he had resumed his seat again, I said, "All that I have told thee
+shalt thou see come to pass, and through this Larger Eye, which we have
+made to pierce the deep of space, thou shalt see more clearly that the
+Blue Star is indeed a great orb, where many men may dwell, and after she
+hath passed the Day-Giver, she will appear as a bright morning star
+again to announce his coming."
+
+"Why now, if this be true, then every one of these old men must die. For
+Pharaoh's laws provide that whatsoever wise man faileth to predict such
+an appearance, or predicteth one which doth not occur, must lose his
+life. These grey-beards, always jealous of me, have said that the Blue
+Star, which beareth my destiny, hath disappeared, never to be seen
+again. Now, when they are slain, Pharaoh shall appoint you to sit in
+their places. Ye shall reign jointly with Zaphnath if it pleaseth you,
+and ye may choose what seemeth good to you of everything that is in the
+land of Kem and in all the countries which pay tribute unto Pharaoh. And
+he will give you as wives all the women ye saw in Long Breath Park, and
+an equal part of all the slaves and women taken in war will he give you
+also. For hath he not bidden me treat generously with you, even to his
+tributary countries and half his women?"
+
+"We come from a star, O Zaphnath, where men desire many things and are
+never satisfied. But of all the things thou offerest us, we wish not
+one. We make no peace unless these old men be left alive. We do not know
+this country or its people, wherefore we are most unfit to rule them. We
+wish no slaves, but will pay a hire to one or two good men, who may do
+our daily tasks. And as for women, we never choose but one, and then
+only when we know her well and find her equally willing."
+
+"Then are ye come from a most strange star indeed! But I must tell thee
+that the laws of the Kemi forbid even to the Pharaoh, who hath the first
+claim upon all women, to take to wife a woman such as her whose hand
+thou clingest to so warmly. What findest thou in her whose dumb tongue
+could never tell thy praises, and if 'twere loosened, her mind would
+still be dumb and silent?"
+
+"Who is this woman, then, whom thou sentest out to meet us? She alone
+hath had no fear, and hath greeted us in a friendly and a welcome
+manner. Had it not been for her, we might still have been loosening our
+thunder among your soldiers, or flashing this lightning in thy face!" I
+said, half drawing my long sword as I spoke.
+
+"She is Thenocris, a poor, unfortunate maiden, dumb of tongue and mind,"
+he answered. "In my country we would call her mute and senseless, but
+here among the Kemi they revere such ill-starred creatures, thinking
+that because they act strangely, and look not upon the world as others
+do, their souls must be turned within to the contemplation of hidden and
+spiritual things. They think such creatures know the secrets of the
+gods, and that the gods have made them mute, or speaking only silly
+things, lest those secrets be revealed. The people, therefore, give them
+alms, and suppose that they are effectual in intercessions with the
+gods. This girl went out at noon, as was her custom, to stand by the
+gate and ask alms. A soldier saw thee seize her hand and hold it
+strangely long, and he reported this to us. Whereupon these wise men
+with one accord decided that ye must have come for women, and we set
+about preparing a peace-offering of two thousand maidens for you in the
+Park. Afterwards there came another soldier later to say that ye had
+landed in the Park, pleased with our offering of the women. Then rose
+yon grey-beard and argued most wisely thus: That ye, being such strange
+creatures, had understood best what we understand the least; that thou
+hadst learned the hidden thought of this dumb woman by long holding of
+her hand; that, as ye had been friendly to her, she might be able to
+lead you unto us; and lastly, that it would be no breach of our laws if
+thou tookest this woman to thine own land and madest her thy wife; that
+if we could thus save our city, and the lives of the people, it would be
+wisdom to give her to thee, together with all the women in the Park.
+Then another grey-beard, wishing to share the credit for a wise idea,
+arose and insisted that it would be ill in us to keep the strange white
+animal, which one of the men found upon the plateau. We knew that ye
+must have brought this, for in all our land we have no four-footed thing
+smaller than the useful burden-carrying asses ye have seen. Wherefore,
+the wisdom of the grey-beards being now complete, we sent the dumb girl
+and the white animal out with the soldier, and they have brought you
+hither."
+
+"So you have been falling in love with a queen of your own making, who
+is no more than a dumb idiot!" chuckled the doctor.
+
+"Silence!" I shouted hotly, for I was unspeakably sorry for the poor
+girl. "There are softer, kinder words than those by which to call a
+poor blank soul that's born awry. The Kemi are quite right, for this
+girl, having no sense, has yet been wiser to-day than both of us and all
+these wise men." Then turning, I addressed the ruler in Hebrew:
+
+"Thou shouldst know that in our land the seizing of the right hand is a
+salutation of friendship and welcome, much the same as the pressure of
+the cheek is here. We had vainly tried to signal to your soldiers that
+we were friendly, and when this woman stretched out her pretty hand I
+was pleased to seize it warmly. Call thou a soldier now and send her
+safely home. Let the white rabbit belong henceforth to her. She hath
+unwittingly been God's messenger in bringing us together. Mayhap she
+hath saved the lives of many of the people. Wherefore let them remember
+her, and henceforth treat her kindly. And as for those other women in
+the Park, bid them all return to their homes, and let it generally be
+known that there will be peace, and no further war. The terms of truce
+we will arrange with thee and with the Pharaoh somewhat later. We wish
+no gifts or offerings of peace. No more do we desire than that the
+Pharaoh shall entertain us for a season until we learn your ways, and
+then permit us to live quietly in this, your city, obedient to your
+laws, and pursuing such careers as our abilities may fit us for."
+
+"All this that ye desire, and more, most gladly shall be done, and a
+grand festival shall be appointed for this night to celebrate the peace.
+The Pharaoh will entertain you and his royal friends with feasting and
+with dancing, and the terms of the compact between us shall then be
+ratified."
+
+At this point a grey-beard interrupted the young ruler, and a spirited
+conversation took place between them, after which the youth asked,--
+
+"Tell me now, are there not many more such men as ye upon the Blue Star,
+who may come to wage a further war with us?"
+
+"Have no fear for that," I answered. "The vessel in which we came is the
+sole means of bridging that vast space, and no more can come, unless
+indeed we bring them. But all of them shall keep the covenant we make
+with thee."
+
+Then Zaphnath held a long consultation with the wise men, which ended by
+the summoning of three soldiers--one to take the woman home, another to
+carry the news of peace to the Park and to the people, and the third, as
+I supposed, to convey a message to the Pharaoh; but before the last was
+despatched, Zaphnath said to me,--
+
+"Our messengers reported a third curious person with you, having a much
+larger body and long moving horns. What have ye done with him? Is he
+left in charge of your travelling house?"
+
+Then I explained this circumstance to them, as well as the incident of
+my smoking, which I promised to repeat at the banquet in the evening.
+After hearing this they dispatched the third messenger.
+
+"We have heard, not only that ye breathed smoke and carried flames in
+your limbs, but that your flesh was of iron, invulnerable to arrows;
+that ye were stronger than birds, and carried the thunder and lightnings
+of the gods with which to kill; and that ye were able to walk through
+the air as well as on the ground."
+
+"'Tis true we are stronger than any birds upon our proper star, and that
+we kill with a thunder and a lightning. Our flesh is tougher and more
+solid than thine, yet 'tis not of iron. But tell me, what knowest thou
+of iron?"
+
+"'Tis a rare, precious metal which we coin for money, but I see thou
+carriest much of it. Thy thunderers are made of it."
+
+"And hast thou no metal, bright and yellow, such as this?" I asked,
+exhibiting my gold watch.
+
+"In truth, the Pharaoh alone is able to possess such riches, and in all
+the land of Kem there is no such huge lump of it as that!" he exclaimed
+in wonder, while the sleepy wise men opened their big eyes.
+
+"We have within our belts many coins of this, which we may barter with
+the Pharaoh for things more plenteous here."
+
+"Are ye travelling traders then, or what were your occupations on the
+Blue Star? Were ye warriors, rulers, wise men, or owners of the soil?"
+
+"My good friend here hath been a wise man, as thou must know from his
+grey beard," I answered, smiling at the doctor. "He hath been a teacher
+of knowledge to the people, and it was his superior wisdom which
+contrived the house in which we travelled hither."
+
+"But hath it not been a folly to teach wisdom to the people? When they
+have learned, the wise man turneth fool! Wisdom groweth ripe by being
+bottled, but whoso poureth it out for every thirsty drinker wasteth good
+wine upon gross beasts!"
+
+"In its youth our star held to these opinions, but now it teacheth
+wisdom to every child, and in this manner we have made progress into
+many things not even dreamed of here. As for my own profession, I have
+been a dealer in wheat, the bread-grain of our star. Hast thou here such
+a small grain growing at the bearded end of a tall straw?"
+
+"In truth, the land of Kem raiseth so large a store of such a grain as
+to feed all the surrounding countries! Our greatest traffic is in this
+wheat. Hast thou not seen the green fields of it lining the banks of the
+Nasr-Nil, until the sight tires following it? This season there cometh
+such a crop as Kem hath never seen before, and for six years we have
+been blest with its plenty----"
+
+Here he was interrupted by the hurried return of the third messenger,
+who addressed him in excited tones. As the Kemi use no gestures, and
+but little facial expression in their conversation, I could not guess
+the import of his message. Therefore when it was translated by the youth
+it was all the more surprising.
+
+"The soldier saith that a certain curious man of Kem, anxious to explore
+thy travelling house, ventured within it, when presently it rose and
+sailed away with him far out of the city, and was lost from sight in the
+red distance!"
+
+This was an unforeseen, stupefying development. I left the doctor to
+guard our things, and rushing out I leaped the courtyard wall and ran
+with all haste to the Park. The projectile was gone! No sign or trace of
+it was anywhere to be seen. Willingly or not, we were henceforth chained
+to Mars!
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VI
+
+The Iron Men from the Blue Star
+
+
+Returning from Long Breath, I could not but notice the entire subsidence
+of the terror, which had previously been so marked, and the general
+signs of rejoicing which were now taking its place. It was easy to see
+that I was an object of absorbing interest and busy comment. No one
+pointed the finger at me, for that rude gesture was as unknown as it was
+unnecessary. The mere turning of a great pair of eyes quickly in my
+direction was an indication, significant enough, that I was being
+denoted.
+
+I now understood the more composed behaviour of the women. They were
+accustomed to the idea of being taken in war, and never suffered
+slaughter or hardship thereby, but merely a change of masters. As they
+now left the Park they eyed me curiously, as if wondering from what sort
+of new master they had escaped. I imagined I could detect some signs of
+disappointment among them, at being cheated out of a trip to a new star
+or being dismissed from the service of a god. Occasionally one of them
+would incline her head gently to the right to meet her rising hand, in a
+dignified salutation. I approached one of the fairest of these and
+extended my hand. She seemed rather surprised, but calmly placed an iron
+coin in my palm! Evidently I must make haste to learn the Kemish
+salutation, or I would pass for a common beggar! My hand certainly did
+look hard and brown, compared with her perfectly white and transparent
+skin, through which the blood suffused the beautiful pink flush of life.
+But even if a hotter sun had scorched and tanned my hand, it did not
+look as dark and tough as the coin, although the soldiers had spread the
+report that our flesh was of iron.
+
+The chief business activity in the city seemed to be the transporting
+from the surrounding country of an endless number of fibrous bags filled
+with the bread-grain. I saw some of these bags open in the shops, and
+the grain was shaped like wheat, but as large and less solid than a
+coffee berry. Trains of asses bearing these bags were seen in every
+street and entering by every gate. Each train of fifteen or twenty asses
+was driven by a sandalled Martian, wearing the spread bird-wing which
+seemed to denote the Pharaoh's service. The animals had the lazy,
+sluggish, plodding habits which I expected, and in these respects their
+driver differed very little from them. He gave an occasional long hiss,
+followed by a jerky grunt, which sounded like "sh-h-h-h, kuhnk!" and
+was evidently intended to hurry the animals, but it served them quite as
+well as a lullaby. These drivers, who doubtless had just been hearing
+stories of me, were a little surprised at coming upon me so soon, but
+looked me over deliberately, as if calculating how much iron money I
+would make, if there were no waste in the coinage!
+
+But I hastened back to the doctor at the Palace, being obliged to leap
+the courtyard wall again, for I was not acquainted with the signal to
+command the Terror-birds. He expected no other report of the projectile
+than the one I brought.
+
+"The only hope is that the meddling Martian may have turned in but one
+battery," he said. "In time this will exhaust itself, and the projectile
+will tumble back upon Mars. If it should strike in the water, it may not
+be shattered, but of course it might be submerged. The chances that we
+will ever see it again are extremely remote. If it should be discovered
+anywhere on the planet, it would probably be coined up into money, and
+the fortune of the Pharaoh would hardly buy us iron enough to make
+another. Well, the unexpected always happens. It was a fatal mistake
+ever to have left it."
+
+"If it is gone for good," I answered, "let us hope that this planet may
+suit us better than the Earth, anyhow. We are certain of an easy
+existence here at least. One shield will coin into money enough to
+supply our wants a long time. If we had not been so dreadfully secretive
+on Earth, perhaps some one, infringing our ideas, might have built
+another projectile and sent a relief expedition!"
+
+Preparations for the banquet were rapidly being made about the Palace by
+men servants. We saw no female servants, and we learned afterward that
+they did no menial work, except the serving of the meals, which was
+rather an artistic duty.
+
+We were conducted to two large ante-chambers, adjoining the banquet
+room, where we deposited our armament and proceeded to make ourselves at
+home as well as we could. The rooms were gloomy and poorly lighted, but
+a great number of servants were busy waiting upon us, and one presently
+brought in four portable gas-burners, placing them in a circle about my
+head as I reclined on a large pillow of soft down, laid on the floor.
+These burners thus furnished both heat and light, and nearly all the
+rooms were thus lighted and heated throughout the day. They had windows
+and a very thick, coarse, translucent but not transparent glass in them.
+But as the sunlight was never strong, rooms were rarely ever light
+enough for comfort without the flames of gas.
+
+This was my first acquaintance with Martian gases, which I soon found to
+be very numerous and various in use. On the other hand, very few liquids
+existed. The atmospheric pressure was so low that what might have
+existed normally as liquids on Earth, took the form of heavy gases here.
+In every case they were heavier than the air, so that they remained in
+vessels just as a liquid would have done. The four lamps were made of
+reeds and shaped like the letter U. The right-hand side of the U was a
+large vertical reed, connecting neatly at the bottom with a very much
+smaller reed forming the other prong and terminating at the top in a tip
+of baked earth, turned downward, so that it would discharge the gas away
+from the lamp. A light stone weight was fitted to slide neatly down the
+large vertical tube in which the gas was stored, and thus force the gas
+up to the burner in the smaller tube. If a brighter light was desired, a
+heavier weight was put on, and to extinguish the light it was only
+necessary to lift the weight, which cut off the supply from the burner.
+
+While lying on the downy floor-cushion, I was strangely annoyed by the
+faint and distant howling of a dog. It seemed to come from the banquet
+room adjoining mine, or from the doctor's room on the other side. I
+called in the doctor, who said he heard nothing and had seen no dogs on
+Mars. He tried to make me believe it was a fancy of mine. But presently
+when a servant entered, he seemed to hear it instantly, for he turned
+quickly about and left, but it was fully half an hour later before the
+plaintive howling ceased.
+
+"These Kemish people have better ears than we have," I remarked to the
+doctor.
+
+"Yes, both their ears and eyes are much better suited to the conditions
+of fainter light, and higher, thinner sounds. There may be music at the
+banquet to-night which we cannot hear at all in some of its notes."
+
+"If there are no foods whose delicate flavours we fail to taste, I shall
+be able to get along quite well. I am extremely hungry, and quite ready
+for a change of fare." We had only eaten a hasty lunch when we had
+re-entered the projectile at Long Breath to await the return of the
+soldier.
+
+Zaphnath himself came to conduct us to the banquet room, and we were
+much surprised at its dark and gloomy character. The entire vast
+enclosure had but twenty-one flickering fire-brands, suspended overhead
+and in front of us, to furnish light. There were no tables or chairs, no
+flowers or decorations, no sign of anything to eat. Other guests were
+moving about through the semi-darkness to their places, seemingly
+without inconvenience. I was whispering to the doctor that I would need
+eyes of much greater candle power to enjoy the function, when we arrived
+at our places. A double row of comfortable cushions ran along the edge
+of our floor, where it seemed to sink to a lower terrace, whence we
+could hear the indistinct hum of women's voices. Zaphnath took his seat
+on a raised cushion in the middle of the row, and motioned me to the
+cushion on his right and the doctor to his left. Eighteen other guests
+now reclined upon their cushions to left and right, so that we were all
+arranged in a direct line, facing the lower terrace whence came the
+feminine buzz. Directly opposite each of us was an empty cushion, but no
+table.
+
+I was wondering at it all when the fire-brand farthest from me suddenly
+exploded a great flaming ball of fire, and we all sprang to our feet.
+From the terrace below came a grand burst of reed music, a swelling
+chorus of women's voices, and then each fire-brand in quick succession
+exploded a burst of flame, which floated down toward the dancing women,
+but expired above their heads. I soon saw that these white fire-balls,
+which continued in quick succession throughout the banquet, and afforded
+us a glorious if a somewhat appalling light, were caused by the
+successive discharges of small volumes of heavy gas from twenty-one
+reed-tanks in the comb of the roof, one above each of the fire-brands.
+When the discharged gas had floated down to the fire-brand beneath it,
+there was a quick, bright explosion, and the flame sank menacingly
+toward the women below.
+
+The burst of music, the chorus of huzzahs, and the flashing forth of
+light, proved to be a welcome to the Pharaoh, who was standing proudly
+on his great throne opposite us, across the terrace and somewhat higher,
+whence he could look down upon the dancers and singers. He wore a crown
+of thin iron, surmounted by a golden asp. His elaborately curled wig did
+not conceal his ears, from which large golden pendants hung almost to
+his shoulders. His own beard was waxed and curled, and trimmed to the
+shape of a beaver's tail. His dress is best described by calling it a
+feather velvet, edged with flaring wing and tail plumes of iridescent
+colours. In this feather cloth there was none of the rough, gaudy show
+of the savage, but a discriminating, tasteful blending of colours and
+harmony of design, imitated from the beauty of the bird itself.
+
+Grouped about him on the approaches to his throne were one-and-twenty of
+his favourite women, beautifully dressed in feather textures, with the
+curved neck and head of a bird surmounting their brows. But their
+costume was scant and simple compared with that of the dancing girls
+below us. They wore a wonderful head-dress, composed of the entire body
+of a small peacock. The head and neck were arched over the forehead, the
+back fitted tightly, like a hat over their head, the drooping wings
+covered their ears, while the fully spread tail arched above their head
+in its wonderful opalescence. Much of the snowy whiteness of their backs
+and breasts was bare, and a downy feather ribbon circled the necks,
+wrists, and ankles. A two-headed iron serpent with golden eyes clasped
+the upper arm and gartered the knee, but no jewels of any kind were to
+be seen. All the dancers carried long decorated reeds, which they
+flourished wondrously, and with which occasionally they executed the
+most surprising leaps. While there was a stateliness about their
+movements, there were also the most startling acrobatic surprises, made
+possible by the feeble gravity.
+
+The singing women, or what might be called the chorus, were in twelve
+sets, each group clad in a different colour or design of feather-silk.
+Their head-dress, while composed of the entire body of a bird of
+plumage, lacked the flamboyant tail of the peacock. The music was weird
+and whimsical, as there were neither stringed nor brass instruments. It
+was made wholly by women playing upon a vast variety of drums and reeds.
+There were all sizes of whistling reeds or flutes; several of these of
+different lengths were grouped into one instrument like the pipes of
+Pan; a series of long hollow reeds, when rapidly struck, gave forth a
+marvellous cadence; while groups of small drums, of different size and
+tensity, gave curious tones. The whole effect was weirdly eloquent,
+rather than racy or exciting.
+
+When the burst of welcome was ended, Zaphnath stretched forth his hand
+and exclaimed, first to us in Hebrew, and then in Kemish,--
+
+"O Pharaoh, whose power and wisdom from all the Pharaohs have descended,
+behold, I bring unto thee these two iron men from the Blue Star, who,
+though excelling in the arts of war, are yet pleased to come out of the
+ruddy heavens to practise peace amongst us!"
+
+And thus did Zaphnath translate the Pharaoh's response to us:--
+
+"Unto Ptah, the Centre of Things, to whom the myriad stars of the
+heavens are but ministering slaves, I, Pharaoh of Kem, do give you
+welcome. Whatever pleaseth you in the largeness of this rich land, or in
+the matchless beauty of our women, shall be unto you as if ye had owned
+it always."
+
+Whereupon the other guests turned toward us with the right hand upon the
+cheek, and we awkwardly attempted the same salutation. Then a group of
+the singing women, twenty-one in number, tripping to the weird music,
+came up the steps which led to our floor, carrying covered dishes. At
+the top they turned and saluted the Pharaoh, and then took their places,
+one upon each of the cushions opposite us. Before uncovering the dishes
+they took me a little by surprise, by bending forward and pressing their
+warm, pink cheek against the right cheek of the guest they were about to
+serve. My maiden unconsciously shivered a little, for my cheek must have
+felt cold, even though my surprised blushes did their best to warm it.
+Her dish, when opened, contained nothing but flowers, waxy white, but
+emitting a delicately sweet perfume. She held them toward my face, and
+presently breathed gently across them, as if to waft their perfume to
+me. Then scattering them about my cushion, she pressed her left cheek
+to mine, arose and tripped down the steps again. There was a modest
+self-possession about her which enchanted me, and I hoped she would soon
+return bringing something more substantial.
+
+But another group of maidens, differently clothed, had already begun to
+mount towards us with earthen goblets and reed-pitchers, which looked as
+if they might contain wine. Dropping on her knees on the cushion before
+me, this maiden saluted me as the other had done. Then sitting
+gracefully before me, she tipped her reed pitcher toward the goblet, and
+poured out apparently nothing! But, watching the others, I saw them
+carry the goblet to their lips and draw a deep breath from it, while
+tipping it as one might a glass of wine. I did the same, and inhaled a
+deep draught of stimulating, wine-flavoured gas, which, when I exhaled
+it through the nostrils, proved to be deliciously perfumed.
+
+"I have heard of some poets who could dine upon the fragrance of flowers
+and sup the sweetness of a woman's kiss, but I am hungry for grosser
+things," I whispered to the doctor.
+
+"There are ten other groups of these serving maidens to come up to us,"
+he replied. "They will certainly bring us something more tangible before
+it is over. Meantime, while we are in Kem, let us imitate the Kemish;"
+and I must say he was succeeding remarkably well.
+
+The next maiden who tripped up toward me was wonderfully beautiful and
+most becomingly dressed. I was a little disappointed that, upon taking
+her place on the cushion in front of me, she omitted the salutation the
+others had given. However, she carried a small flask in her right hand,
+which she placed near my mouth. Then opening the top of it slightly, it
+jetted forth a deliciously perfumed fine spray, which moistened my lips.
+Waiting just a moment for me to enjoy the perfume, she then pressed her
+pretty cheeks in turn against my lips, until they were soft and dry.
+This was the nearest approach to a kiss which I saw among these people,
+and I learned it was given always just before eating solid food. The
+plate she carried to me contained small morsels of fish, served upon
+neat little wheaten cakes. There was no knife, fork, chopstick, or
+anything of that kind, but each little cake was lifted with its morsel
+of fish, and they were together just a delicate mouthful. This maiden
+quite took my fancy, and I watched her evolutions and listened for her
+voice in the chorus during the rest of the banquet, for she had no more
+serving to do.
+
+After this course Zaphnath arose, and waving to the music and singing to
+cease, he thus addressed the Pharaoh:--
+
+"It doth appear, O Pharaoh, that these visitors of ours come from a
+strange, small world, where, though much is done, but little is enjoyed.
+At thy bidding I have offered unto them all the luxuries of Kem, such
+as our people strive all their lives for, and dying still desire; but
+they wish no gifts or presents. Like slaves they only wish to work, but
+at some noble, fitting occupation. This younger man, whose wondrous
+learning hath taught him to speak even the tongues of other worlds, hath
+been a great handler of grain upon his proper star, and for him the
+fitting occupation is not far to seek. Thou knowest how the gathering of
+thy bounteous harvests hath distracted my own attention from weightier
+matters; wherefore, O Pharaoh, I do entreat thee to put into his charge
+the labour of gathering, storing, and distributing all thy harvests; and
+as a fitting compensation, let him have one measure of grain for every
+twenty that he shall gather for thee."
+
+Nothing could have suited my wishes and abilities better, and my pay on
+Earth had been only one measure in five hundred. The Pharaoh's reply was
+thus translated to us,--
+
+"The gods put into thy mouth, O Zaphnath, only the ripeness of their
+wisdom, and Pharaoh granteth thy requests ere they are uttered. But what
+desireth the wise man?"
+
+To this I made answer for the doctor,--
+
+"When thou knowest his wondrous wisdom touching many things, O Pharaoh,
+thou mayest think fit to give him a place among thy wise men, where they
+may learn from him and he from them. Will it please thee to send a
+slave for the Larger Eye and have it placed by yonder window, and he
+will presently show unto thee many of the wonders of the starry heavens
+that are hidden beyond the reach of man's unaided vision."
+
+While two slaves were despatched in charge of a soldier to bring the
+telescope, we were served with a highly-sparkling, gas-charged wine,
+which further whetted my appetite. Then came another maiden with a small
+roast bird, neatly and delicately carved, and each tempting piece was
+laid upon a small lozenge of bread. I never ate anything with more
+relish.
+
+There was an excited buzz among the women, and the Pharaoh himself was
+visibly affected at the sight of the telescope, whose burnished brass
+was evidently mistaken for gold. The doctor mounted it upon the backs of
+slaves near a high window, whence there was a good view of the heavens,
+and signalled to me to explain its use.
+
+"O Zaphnath, wilt thou make known unto the Pharaoh, and these, his
+guests, that the wondrous value of this instrument lieth not in its
+bright and glistening appearance, but in the farther reach and truer
+vision of the heavenly bodies which it affordeth us. With this we
+ascertain all and far more than yon monstrous Gnomons tell thee; we
+learn the periods of the day, the seasons of the year, and vastly more
+than our common tongue hath words to tell thee of. Tell me, what
+callest thou yon risen orb, which hasteneth a rapid backward journey
+through the heavens?" I asked, indicating the full disc of Phobos.
+
+"That is the Perverse Daughter, sole disobedient Child of Night, whose
+stubborn, contrary ways are justly punished by her mother. For she must
+draw a veil across her brilliant face for a brief period during every
+hasty trip she makes."
+
+"Behold her, then, just entering upon her punishment!" I exclaimed, for
+the regular eclipse was just beginning. "Look! and tell us all thou
+seest."
+
+"I see a glorious orb, far larger than the Day-Giver and very near to
+Ptah! But it is the Perverse Daughter, grown larger and come nearer, for
+she alone knoweth how to draw the veil of night across her face like
+that. Now she hath fully hidden! It is most wonderful, O Pharaoh!"
+
+"Be not deceived by mere appearance, O Zaphnath," replied the Pharaoh.
+"All that thou seest may be contained within the thing thou gazest into.
+'Tis true, the Perverse Daughter hath drawn her veil, but be thou sure
+thou seest what is beyond and not merely what is within."
+
+As soon as this was translated to us, the doctor focussed the telescope
+upon the Gnomons, which were just visible over the edge of the plateau,
+and I said,--
+
+"Look now again, and behold all the familiar features of the landscape,
+the plateau yonder and the ponderous Gnomons, which could never be
+contained within this little enclosure."
+
+"'Tis all most true, O Pharaoh, and with this little instrument thy
+reign may be more glorious, and come to greater wisdom, than any of that
+long line of Pharaohs, whose toiling slaves have built the towering
+Gnomons. Let this grey-beard be made chief of all thy wise men; let the
+others teach him our language and make him acquainted with all our
+monuments and records; also command them to record most faithfully all
+the wonders which he is able to reveal. Mayhap he may be able to write
+thy name among the stars of night, to shine for ever, instead of upon
+the crumbling stone which telleth of thy ancestors!"
+
+"O men of Kem," replied the Pharaoh, addressing the other guests, "hear
+ye the wisdom of Zaphnath, which cometh with the swift wings of birds,
+while thy halting counsel stumbleth slowly upon the lazy legs of asses!
+What Zaphnath asketh hath already been decreed touching these two men
+from the Blue Star, provided only that they live peaceably among us
+obedient to our laws."
+
+We assured him of our obedience and our best efforts to discharge our
+new duties, whereupon the feast continued. Courses of small birds' eggs
+and of fruits and confections were each served by a separate group of
+maidens. When the feast was finally completed, I turned to Zaphnath with
+my cigars and said,--
+
+"In our travelling house I brought with me many such things as these and
+others of a smaller, milder form, which might delight the women; but now
+that the house is gone, I have but three, one of which wilt thou send to
+the Pharaoh, one keep for thyself, and the other I will smoke to show
+you the manner of it. There is naught to fear about them; your taste for
+heavy vapours will have prepared you to enjoy the warmth and fragrance
+of this peculiar weed."
+
+A servant came to carry the one to the Pharaoh, and I struck a match
+upon the stone floor and held the cigar designed for Zaphnath in the
+flame. Then I touched the flame to my own, and puffing gently, I asked
+Zaphnath to do the same. When I saw that his custom of inhaling gases
+led him to breathe in the smoke, I puffed very slowly and gently, until
+he should become accustomed to it. When Pharaoh saw that it did no harm
+to Zaphnath, he lighted his own and inhaled the smoke in long draughts
+with evident gusto.
+
+"How sayest thou, O Zaphnath," he said at last. "Is not this warm vapour
+most stimulating? It is a treat worth all the rest of the banquet.
+Continual feasting hath made the luxuries of Kem to pall upon me, but
+this hath novelty and comfort in it. If, indeed, there were many of
+these in thy travelling house, my slaves shall search all the width and
+breadth of Ptah, until it be found."
+
+The music now burst forth again in new volume, and the singing girls
+went through a new evolution, which broke up their groups and formed
+twelve new ones, containing one girl from each of the previous sets.
+Then the entire number began ascending the steps together, and I noted
+that those approaching me were the twelve maidens who had served me
+during the banquet. They came and circled around me, and presently
+stopped with their hands upon their cheeks in salute. The other groups
+did the same to the guests they had served, and each guest selected a
+maiden by saluting her upon the cheek, whereupon she left her circle and
+took her position upon the cushion opposite him. Zaphnath, seeing that
+we did not understand this ceremony, explained it to me.
+
+"It is an ancient custom with the Pharaoh to present each of his guests
+with a living reminder of the occasion and his hospitality. Wherefore he
+desireth thee to choose which of the twelve serving maidens hath pleased
+thee best, and he will give her to thee, to be always thy maidservant."
+
+I translated this to the doctor, and watched him curiously, with an
+inquiring twinkle in my eye.
+
+"Let us accept them, and bestow their liberty upon them," he said.
+
+I immediately chose the third maiden, who had pressed her pink cheeks to
+my lips, and when she came to sit opposite to me upon the cushion, I
+spoke to her through Zaphnath,--
+
+"Thy ways have pleased me, but upon my star we do not think it proper
+to own any slaves. When we know well-favoured and graceful women, such
+as thou art, we prefer to be their slaves, rather than they ours. If I
+could take thee with me to the Earth, the laws there would set thee free
+to do whatever pleased thee best. Wishest thou that I make thee free
+here?"
+
+She was evidently surprised when Zaphnath put this question to her. She
+replied in a sincere and pleading tone, but her words astonished me,--
+
+"Whatever the dark Man of Ice wisheth, I will do. I know not why he hath
+asked what I desire. He speaketh of freedom, but I beseech him not to
+send me back to that! I was born an unhappy and masterless maiden, and
+many years I struggled and laboured for a miserable existence. I drove
+asses, gleaned in the fields, and did the menial work of men. But I felt
+I was fit for better, nobler things. At last, I heard that the armies of
+the Pharaoh were coming to my land, and I took heed of my appearance,
+put on my neatest feather clothing, and went to throw myself before the
+soldiers. They were pleased with me, and brought me to this city, where
+fortune favoured me, and Pharaoh, looking over all the women whom the
+soldiers brought from the wars, chose me, with many others, to join his
+household. And here in the Palace for a few years I have been happy and
+well cared for. I pray thee do not turn me out again; do not degrade me
+to the labour and misery of freedom. Even the beasts have masters! They
+are housed, and fed, and cared for; why should I then be cast out and
+left to drudge or beg?"
+
+"Doth she mean this?" I exclaimed. "What then is the chief aim of women
+in Kem? What is the highest state to which they may aspire?"
+
+"'Tis a strange, simple question!" he answered. "There is no greater
+blessing for a woman than to belong to the household of the Pharaoh.
+Here they are delighted with constant music and dancing; their beauty is
+cultivated and heightened by rich and tasteful clothing; and their
+charms and graces may win for them a selection as one of the
+one-and-twenty favourites of the Pharaoh. What they fear most is being
+chosen and carried away by guests whose palaces and ways of life are
+less luxurious than the Pharaoh's."
+
+"Why then, as we have no palaces and wish no slaves, it were best to
+return these maidens to the Pharaoh if they will be happier and better
+cared for here than anywhere else in all the land of Kem," I said to
+Zaphnath.
+
+"This age is not ripe for the grand idea of freedom which dominates our
+own," remarked the doctor, as we returned the grateful maidens to the
+constant delights of an ornate and sensuous slavery.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VII
+
+Parallel Planetary Life
+
+
+I was sleeping soundly on my deliciously soft heap of downy pillows,
+when in the early morning I was awakened by a pounding on the door of
+the ante-chamber. As one always wakens from a sound sleep with his most
+familiar language upon his tongue, I cried out in English, "Who's
+there?" The doctor answered, wishing to be let in. I fumbled about in
+the darkness sleepily, and opened the door, and he lighted two of my
+gas-lamps with the one he carried. He looked rather tired and worn.
+
+"I am possessed by a tyrant idea, which will not let me sleep," he said.
+"I must get rid of it before morning. Come, get your senses about you,
+and listen to me," he commanded, as I yawned and rubbed my fists into my
+eyes, blinded by the sudden strong light.
+
+"If you think I can sleep with it any better than you can, out with it,"
+I answered.
+
+"How does it happen that a young Hebrew is ruler over all these people?"
+he demanded.
+
+"Do you lie awake thinking up conundrums?" I ejaculated.
+
+"On Earth, what notable Jews have been rulers over a great people not of
+their own race?" he continued.
+
+"Disraeli in England, Joseph in Egypt, and--well, that is all I can
+think of just now."
+
+"Perhaps that is enough. Egypt was the greatest grain-raising country in
+Joseph's time, wasn't it?"
+
+"Yes, of course," I answered. "And Joseph's rule began with seven years
+of most wonderful crops."
+
+"Zaphnath told us this morning that the seventh great crop, and the most
+plenteous of all, is now growing," he interrupted.
+
+"What has that to do with Joseph? We are not on Earth, but on Mars. Have
+you been dreaming? Zaphnath is---- But, by the way, Joseph's Egyptian
+name was Zaphnath-paaneah, meaning a revealer of secrets! When I heard
+that name this morning, I thought it was strangely familiar. Pharaoh
+called him that when he appointed him ruler, because he had interpreted
+his dream," I said, just realizing the very peculiar coincidence.
+
+"You are as good as a Bible!" cried the doctor. "Perhaps you can also
+remember by which of Jacob's wives Joseph was born?"
+
+"Of course I can. He was the first son of Rachel, the wife whom Jacob
+really loved, and worked fourteen years to secure."
+
+"But how could he have ten older brothers, if he was Rachel's first
+son?" he demanded, a little perplexed.
+
+"They were all the sons of her sister Leah and her handmaidens. Rachel
+was barren all her life until Joseph was born," I explained.
+
+"And Zaphnath said this morning that his mother was barren all the years
+of her life that the Blue Star wandered. He also called himself revealer
+of God's hidden things."
+
+"Yes; and it struck me as peculiar at the time that he said of '_God's_'
+not of '_the gods'_,'" I reflected. "Evidently he thinks there is but
+one God. The whole matter is altogether peculiar."
+
+"Here are the facts," replied the doctor. "Listen to them attentively.
+We have dropped down into a civilization here upon Mars which coincides
+in every important particular with that of the Ancient Egyptians on
+Earth. They are great builders, erecters of monuments, raisers of grain,
+polygamists, and they now have a young Hebrew ruler, corresponding in
+every important respect with Joseph. We chance to have arrived during
+the seventh year of plenty of Joseph's rule. Grain abounds; the soil
+brings it forth 'by handfuls.' It is, 'as the sand of the sea, very
+much,' and the Pharaoh, probably at the suggestion of his young ruler,
+is storing it up----"
+
+"By all the Patriarchs!" I interrupted. "They are running a wheat
+corner, and I didn't know it! Go on, go on!"
+
+"These are all very singular coincidences with a history which was
+enacted many thousands of years ago on Earth. Now, how can you explain
+their strange recurrence here?" he queried.
+
+"How should I know? I haven't been lying awake! How do you explain
+them?" I asked, full of interest.
+
+"I have tossed on my pillows in there for three hours evolving a theory
+for it. If it is correct, our opportunities here in Kem are simply
+enormous. Now listen, and don't interrupt me. The Creator has given all
+the habitable planets the same great problem of life to work out. Every
+one of His worlds in its time passes through the same general history.
+This runs parallel on all of them, but at a different speed on each. The
+swift ones, nearest to the sun, have hurried through it, and may be
+close upon the end. But this is a slow planet, whose year is almost
+twice as long as the Earth's, and more than three times that of Venus.
+The seasons pass sluggishly here, and history ripens slowly. This world
+has only reached that early chapter in the story equivalent to Ancient
+Egypt on Earth. We have forged far ahead of that, and on Venus they have
+worked out far more of the story than we know anything about. If Mercury
+is habitable yet, his people may have reached almost the end, but it is
+most probable that life has not started there; when it does begin, it
+will be worked out four times as rapidly as it has on Earth."
+
+"Then a seven years' famine will begin here next year, and I am in
+charge of the world's entire wheat supply!" I gasped, almost overwhelmed
+by the speculative possibilities which this unfolded.
+
+"It is not likely that there will be more than a general similarity of
+the history. But Zaphnath has told us that this is the seventh year of
+plenty. If the famine begins soon, it will be fair to suppose it will
+for about seven crops. In its later developments the entire history may
+change when the crucial period comes, and have a very different outcome.
+But we are now almost at the beginnings of civilized history. Joseph,
+the first Jew in Egypt, is a ruler here, and your entire race must
+follow him hither, and pass through a miserable captivity. Even if you
+remained here all your life, you would not last that long; but upon the
+later doings of your people and their treatment of the Martian Messiah,
+when He comes, depend the future conditions of this planet. Will it be
+different then from the Earthly story? It is an extremely interesting
+theory to follow to the end, but that would take thousands of years, and
+we are concerned with the present."
+
+"Doctor, if this theory be true, then we are nothing short of prophets
+here!" I exclaimed, still struggling with the wonderful bearings of the
+idea on our personal welfare.
+
+"In a general way we are prophets, but Zaphnath has forestalled us on
+immediate matters. Let us keep our own counsel as to any foreknowledge.
+If we disclose it, we may suddenly lose our opportunities, and, besides,
+we shall be powerless to change history here in any important respect."
+
+"I might prevent Zaphnath from bringing all Israel down into Egypt, and
+thus save them from that captivity," I exclaimed.
+
+"Then you would forestall a Moses, and prevent the miraculous
+deliverance of your people, and all the paternal care which God bestowed
+upon them during that time. You will never be able to do this. Zaphnath
+is in the way. He is headstrong and wilful. He is an active thinker and
+a hard worker among a race of idlers, who live only to enjoy the fulness
+of a rich land. He knows the greater activity and industry of his own
+people, and he will wish to make them masters of this goodly land. I
+will warrant that his head is full of plans at this very moment for
+bringing his old father and all his race down here to give them
+important places. See how readily he gave the keystone of the whole
+situation to you. It will pay you better to keep on good terms with him.
+Instead of trying to change the situation, let us make the best of it as
+we find it."
+
+"Well, I must say the present situation is attractive enough to me," I
+said, and then inquired, "How many gold coins have you, Doctor?"
+
+"I have only a hundred half eagles and a little silver coin," he
+replied; "and I wish to be very sure of the correctness of my theory
+before I undertake any speculations with that."
+
+"Nonsense! What is money for, but to double, and then to double the
+result again!" I exclaimed. "You work out this great theory, and then
+fail to grasp its commercial importance to us. You and I will embark in
+the grain business, with our entire stock of gold, the first thing in
+the morning. We have iron enough to live on."
+
+"I didn't come here to go into business," he answered. "I have a grand
+scientific career to pursue, and last night's appointment puts me in
+just the position to carry it out."
+
+"Go ahead with it then, but invest your gold coins in my enterprise. I
+will manage it all," I said, reaching for my belt under my pillow. "I
+have here three hundred eagles and one hundred double eagles,--five
+thousand dollars in all. I scarcely need your five hundred dollars, but
+I don't wish to see you left out, and buying bread of me at a dollar a
+loaf in a short time. Gold must have an enormous value here, considering
+the small amount of it used as ornaments in the Pharaoh's household, and
+the general currency of iron money. Three of these double eagles would
+make a pair of ear pendants equal to his. I wonder how he would like to
+have pure gold bracelets on all his women instead of those rough iron
+things? And wheat must be cheaper than dirt after seven enormous crops.
+I will buy all the grain he has to sell before to-morrow night! Even if
+your theory is all wrong, we can't lose much."
+
+"That is all very well, but we may as well be sure," he replied
+cautiously. "You can find out much by a few discreet questions to
+Zaphnath in the morning."
+
+"The trouble about the whole matter is, that I will be obliged to do
+business through him altogether until we learn this language. Come, you
+must contribute your share. I have furnished the Hebrew, you must learn
+the Kemish at once through those wise men. But I can't wait for that. I
+will make Zaphnath teach me the necessary shop words and stock phrases
+for carrying on the grain business to-morrow. I can't perform my new
+duties unless he does that."
+
+However, the doctor did not respond wholly to my new enthusiasm. He was
+sleepy, and retired yawning to his own room to get the rest which had
+evaded him. But I lay and tossed on the pillows, revolving a hundred
+plans, and feeling anything but sleepy. Presently I thought of a scheme,
+which would demonstrate whether there was anything in the doctor's
+theory. I knew it would just suit him, and I sprang up and knocked
+gently on his door, saying,--
+
+"I have it, Doctor. Here is the very idea!" There was no answer, so I
+knocked louder and listened. I heard him breathing heavily in deep
+slumber. After all, the morrow would do for ideas; just then he needed
+sleep.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VIII
+
+A Plagiarist of Dreams
+
+
+Being unable to sleep, I arose early to get the refreshment of a morning
+walk. I passed quietly through the next room, where the doctor was still
+sleeping soundly, out into the courtyard. I was scarcely outside when I
+heard a familiar, excited barking, and Two-spot ran across the open
+space toward me as fast as his four short legs and his very active tail
+would carry him. His frantic jumping up toward me was extremely comical,
+for he sprang with more than twice the swiftness I was accustomed to
+seeing, almost to a level with my face, but he fell very slowly to the
+ground with only one third the speed that he would have fallen on Earth.
+He could jump, with almost the agility of a flea, and yet he fell back
+deliberately like a gas ball. He was evidently enjoying his muscles as
+much as I had mine. When he made a particularly high jump, I caught him
+in my hands and patted him fondly.
+
+"So you didn't fly away with the projectile? Or, did you go with it, and
+is it safely back again, somewhere? How I wish you could speak my
+language and tell me all you know! These different tongues are a great
+bother, aren't they, Two-spot?"
+
+He answered me volubly, but apart from the fact that he quite agreed
+with me, I could not understand his message. Had I been able to, it
+might have made a very great difference to me.
+
+There was a beautiful, filmy snow on the ground, which had fallen during
+the night. It was scarcely more than a heavy hoar frost, and as the sun
+sprang up without any warning twilight, the snow melted and left the
+surface damp and fresh. As I afterwards learned, this thin snow fell
+almost every night of the year, except for the warmest month of summer
+when the grain ripened. There were hardly ever any violent storms or
+quick showers. The thin air made heavy clouds or severe atmospheric
+movements impossible. But the coolness of night, after a day of feeble
+but direct and tropical sunshine, precipitated the moisture in the form
+of those delightful feathers of darkness. I also learned that the months
+were distinguished by the time of night when this snow fell; for it was
+precipitated directly after sunset in the winter, but gradually later
+into the night as summer advanced, and finally just before daybreak. The
+month in which none fell at all was midsummer, of course. It had
+scarcely finished falling this morning when I came out into it.
+
+I sprang to the top of the wall, and was watching the quick rising of
+the Sun, and enjoying the sensation of looking fixedly at his orb
+without being dazzled, when I noticed that there was a dark notch in the
+lower left-hand part of his disc! Soon after I distinguished, somewhat
+farther in, a faint and smaller dark spot. This must be the beginning of
+the double transit of the Earth and the Moon! I experienced a sensation
+of joy in finding the home planet again. I confess it had given me a
+curious shock not to be able to see it in the heavens. It was more
+comfortable to have it back in the sky again, and at last I knew just
+where we were in the calendar. On Earth it was the third day of August,
+1892. The summer there was at its height, and all my friends were as
+busy and as deeply immersed in their own affairs as if their little spot
+had no idea of coquetting with the Sun. Possibly a dozen pairs of
+studious eyes out of the teeming hundreds of millions on Earth were
+turned Marsward. This led me to wonder what all-absorbing topics of
+sport, politics, or war may fill the minds of the possible million
+people on Venus, when the Earth is so much excited over one of the
+infrequent and picturesque transits of that planet across the Sun.
+
+But the doctor and Zaphnath must know of this! I hastened into the
+ante-chamber and called out,--
+
+"Come, get up! I have already discovered two very significant things
+this morning."
+
+"What are they?" he asked wearily between yawns.
+
+"Two-spot and the Earth!" I exclaimed. "The former crossed my path in
+the courtyard, and the latter is just now crossing the Sun. Where is the
+telescope? quick!"
+
+The doctor was not long in propping it up by the east window, and I went
+to look for a servant. By repeating the word "Zaphnath" several times, I
+made him understand that we wished the attendance of the young ruler,
+and he started for him.
+
+By this time the notch was almost a complete circle of dark shadow
+within the lower edge of the Sun. The smaller spot, one-fourth the
+diameter, was forging ahead like a herald to clear the way. Zaphnath
+soon arrived, for he lived in another part of the Palace. He quietly
+pressed his cheek to mine, but in my excitement I had seized his hand,
+and with a pressure which must have hurt his shrinking flesh, I
+exclaimed,--
+
+"This is the day of thy greatness, O Zaphnath, for, behold, the Blue
+Star is already upon the face of the Day-Giver!" I led him hastily to
+the telescope, and explained to him that the smaller forward spot was
+caused by a moon like Phobos, and that the Earth was really a round
+ball, like the Sun. He looked intently for a long time, and then turning
+about to me he said,--
+
+"It is well ye left just when ye did, for the fire of the Day-Giver hath
+by this time burned every living thing upon your star! See how she
+hastens through his hot flames."
+
+I attempted to explain that the Earth was more than twice as far from
+the Sun as she was from us; but he believed the evidence of his eyes,
+and I had to give it up in despair.
+
+"I pray thee, bring this Larger Eye to the Council Chamber. I must
+summon all the wise men at once to behold this wonder. How long will it
+continue?"
+
+The doctor told me it might last almost two hours; but I found it
+impossible to convey any idea of this period of time to Zaphnath, until
+I told him that it would continue half the time of the crossing of
+Phobos, who had just risen dimly in the west.
+
+We made a quick breakfast on fruit like grapes and a wheaten gruel, and
+hastened to the chamber where we had been received the day before.
+Zaphnath was already there, and so were eleven of the grey-beards. We
+did not wait for the twelfth, but Zaphnath led the doctor to the place
+at the centre of their oval table, which thus filled all the seats. Then
+the young ruler ascended his throne and thus addressed them:--
+
+"While ye have tossed and tumbled in an idle slumber, two things of
+grave importance have happened touching you. The Pharaoh, acting upon my
+urgent advices, hath appointed this grey-beard from the Blue Star to be
+your chief; and now the Blue Star herself hath re-appeared upon the
+very face of the Day-Giver, even as these, her people, told us yesterday
+that she must do."
+
+Just at this point the belated wise man came straggling in, a slow
+surprise growing upon him when he saw that his seat was taken. Zaphnath
+then turned, addressing him,--
+
+"Thou hast not heard, O lazy idler in the lap of morning, what I have
+just spoken to thy brothers? Then go thou to yonder Larger Eye and speak
+truthfully to these grey-beards all that thou seest."
+
+I adjusted the instrument, and placed him in the proper position to see.
+He looked long and carefully, then left the instrument and looked with
+the unaided eye. Coming back he gazed again, and finally spoke very
+slowly, as if resigning his life with the words:--
+
+"I am old, and my sight deceiveth me, O my brothers, for when I gaze
+into this mysterious instrument the Day-Giver suddenly groweth very
+large, and hath two blots of shadow upon the upper half of his
+brightness. But when I look with my proper eyes, he keeps his size, and
+there are still spots upon him, but they are upon his lower side."
+
+I explained to Zaphnath that the telescope made things look wrong side
+up, just as it made them look larger, and I focussed it upon the Gnomons
+to convince the wise man of this. Then the youth spoke to him again:--
+
+"The Pharaoh hath appointed this grey-beard from the Blue Star to be
+chief of all the wise men, and as there can be but twelve, thou art no
+longer one. Unto thee, however, is given the duty of teaching our
+language to the chief. See that thou doest it well, for the lives of all
+of you, having now been forfeited by the law, are in his hands. But so
+long as his wisdom spares you, ye shall live."
+
+As there was now a lull, I saw an opportunity for my plan which I had
+not yet found time to explain to the doctor. I translated to him as I
+proceeded, however,--
+
+"Tell me, O Zaphnath, is it the custom here to relate dreams to the wise
+men for interpretation? I had last night a most peculiar one, and I will
+give this golden coin to whomsoever is able to explain its meaning." All
+the great eyes opened wide and round at beholding the eagle I held up to
+view. So large a piece of gold must have been uncommon. The youth
+replied,--
+
+"It is, in truth, an obsolete formality to submit dreams to the wise
+men, for they have interpreted none since I came into Kem. But let us
+hear it; if they cannot make it known, mayhap I can do so."
+
+"I dreamed that I stood by the great river which runneth just without
+thy city walls, and I saw coming up out of the water, as if they had
+been fishes, seven familiar beasts, such as I have not seen since I came
+to Kem. Knowest thou here such large, useful animals, each having a long
+tail and four legs, and whose peaceful habit is to eat the grass of the
+fields, which, having digested, the female yieldeth back in a white
+fluid very fit to drink?"
+
+"It is kine thou meanest," answered Zaphnath. "In truth there are but
+few within the city, but they are well known, for in the land of my
+father my people do naught but to breed and raise them and send them
+hither for ploughing in the fields. At the season of planting thou shalt
+see many of them."
+
+"I saw seven kine, most sleek and plump of flesh, feeding in a green
+meadow by the river; but suddenly there came up out of the water in the
+same manner two lean and shrunken kine, whose withered bones rattled
+against their dry skins, they were so poor and hungry. And they stayed
+not to eat the grass of the meadow, but fell upon and devoured their
+fatter sisters----"
+
+"Saidst thou two?" interrupted Zaphnath.
+
+"Two of the lean and shrunken, but they ate the fat-fleshed, which were
+seven," I answered, watching Zaphnath and the wise men closely, for he
+was translating to them phrase by phrase as I spoke. He faltered when I
+described the eating up of the fat cattle; there were wondering and
+inquiring looks among the wise men and a constant chattering in Kemish.
+I waited patiently for some time, then waving my coin I demanded,--
+
+"Can none of the grey-beards declare the meaning to me?"
+
+There were more consultations among themselves and with Zaphnath, and
+presently he said,--
+
+"Before the wise men can declare thy dream, they demand to know whether
+the lean kine only slaughtered the sleek ones, or if they ate them
+wholly up? And were they filled and satisfied when they had eaten their
+fatter sisters?"
+
+"In truth, I forgot to say that they devoured the fat kine wholly and
+completely, yet it could not be known that they had eaten anything, they
+were still so lean and ill-favoured."
+
+This caused even a greater chattering than before, and the youth finally
+asked,--
+
+"Didst thou dream aught more, or is this all?"
+
+"Truly I had another dream, but it was different. I thought that all the
+wheat in the field grew upon one stalk in seven great kernels; then a
+shrivelled and withered stalk began to spring up; when suddenly a
+rapping on my door awakened me, and I dreamed no more."
+
+The effect which this produced was most curious. Blank surprise, hidden
+cunning, anxious debating and uneasy hesitation, succeeded each other
+among the wise men. I watched it with great interest, and perceived the
+doctor's satisfaction, but I again demanded the interpretation.
+
+"Know, then, O dreamer," answered Zaphnath, "that we understand not only
+the import of all that thou hast dreamed, but even what thou wouldst
+have dreamed hadst thou not been wakened! But, in spite of thy handsome
+offer, it doth not appear fit or proper to us that the interpretation of
+it should be made known to thee. Tell me, however, hast thou had
+conversation with any other person in Kem, save with me and with the
+wise men?"
+
+"Thou knowest well, O Zaphnath, that I speak not the Kemish tongue, and
+can understand or communicate only through thy interpretation. I have
+spoken with no one on all of Ptah except through thee, and if thou wilt
+not declare my dream I care not, for while ye have been debating among
+yourselves I have learned its meaning!"
+
+"Thou understandest it already!" he exclaimed. "Pray tell us, then, how
+thou hast learned it."
+
+"The chief wise man hath declared it to me in my own tongue!" I
+exclaimed, with a meaning look toward the doctor, who had been speaking
+to me to urge caution. "He saith that the seven sleek kine are the
+Kemish people, and the two lean and ill-favoured are we two from the
+Earth--for are not thy people larger and plumper than we!--and the seven
+denoteth their much greater number. But the dream meaneth that we two,
+poor and hungry, might eat up all your people and become their masters."
+
+There was still more delighted jabbering and excited comment. Then
+Zaphnath arose, and turning graciously to the doctor said to him,--
+
+"Thy marvellous interpretation, O chief grey-beard, is most correct and
+wise, and it hath wholly eaten ours up! We quite agree with thy superior
+wisdom, for thou only hast read the dream aright!"
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER IX
+
+Getting into the Corner
+
+
+The doctor's new official position carried with it the use of a
+spacious, rambling dwelling, situated just inside the gate where we had
+met Miss Blank. It was thus conveniently located for the doctor's duties
+at the observatories on the plateau. Another house would have been
+assigned to me, but I preferred to live with the doctor, and I desired
+to keep my eye on those enormous stone structures which our telescope
+had quickly relegated to scientific uselessness.
+
+We had established ourselves comfortably in this house, surrounded
+ourselves with a modest retinue of servants, and were rapidly becoming
+acquainted with Kemish life and manners. The doctor learned the language
+laboriously from the deposed wise man, who had no means of communicating
+with him except in the tongue he was teaching. Thus it happened that the
+doctor could teach me in a few hours in the evening what it had taken
+him all day to learn. Naturally I picked up the most common phrases used
+in receiving and handling the grain, by hearing them frequently; but I
+soon learned that I must pronounce them with exactly the same intonation
+and emphasis, or they were not understood. Knowing but one language
+themselves, they had no facility in recognising mispronounced words, or
+in guessing at the meaning of incomplete phrases on which I stumbled.
+
+The most difficult thing I encountered was their method of telling the
+time. During the day it was reckoned rationally enough by the passage of
+the Sun, which was never obscured by clouds and could always be seen.
+Every house had a small hole in the roof, at a fixed distance from the
+floor, and the daily track and varying shape of the spot of sunshine
+thus admitted gave names to the periods of the day. There seemed to be a
+settled superstition that no house was fortunate unless this spot of
+sunshine entered by the door in the morning. For this reason the
+principal door in nearly every house was built in the west, so that the
+rising Sun would cast its spot first on the porch outside and then
+gradually creep in through the door, across the floor, and up the
+opposite wall late in the afternoon. Of course there were daylight
+periods in the early morning and late afternoon when the Sun was too low
+to cast a spot, and these were known by terms which are best translated
+"before the clock" and "after the clock."
+
+No one dared to make a social call while the Sun was still outside the
+door, but friends were best welcome when the Sun was just entering it.
+Moreover, whoever slept until the Sun had entered the door was looked
+upon as an irredeemable sluggard. The track of the spot from the
+door-sill to the wall opposite was measured by linear distance from the
+centre or noon-position of the spot. As in different houses the
+apertures through which the clock-light was admitted were always the
+same distance from the floor, such expressions as "two feet before
+noon," or "a foot and a quarter after noon" (which I translate from the
+Kemish) always had a definite and exact meaning. The nearer the spot
+drew to noon the more exactly circular it became and the more slowly it
+moved. Therefore, very fine measurements were needed in the middle of
+the day, and an inch near noon represented nearly as much time as a foot
+in the morning or evening.
+
+But the daylight methods were simplicity itself compared with the night
+methods, which were calculated on an entirely different system, based on
+the combined movements of the two moons, neither of which agreed or
+coincided with the movement of the Sun in any close degree. I urged upon
+the doctor, as one of his earliest duties, the necessity of reforming
+their calendar and establishing a uniform method of denoting the time,
+to extend throughout the day and night. But on this point he failed to
+agree with me.
+
+"What are our seconds, minutes, hours, and weeks after all?" he queried.
+"They are only arbitrary and meaningless divisions of time, which we
+have found necessary because we have a very meagre heavenly clockwork;
+but here they have a very elaborate one. Our day is a rational period
+based on the Sun's revolution. Here they have seen fit to give up the
+Sun-day to simplify matters and stick to a Moon-day. Their two contrary
+moons furnish a rational, if rather intricate, method of telling the
+time at night. They are best understood by imagining them to represent
+the two hands of a clock. The smaller moon is what may be called a 'week
+hand,' completing its revolution in five and a half Sun-days; which they
+have for convenience divided into six Moon-days of twenty-two hours
+each. The larger moon makes two complete revolutions in a day, just as
+the hour hand of a clock does; and it really makes but little difference
+that it travels around the dial in an opposite direction to that of the
+'week hand,' or that they both gain two hours a day on the Sun. These
+are mere details, that one gets used to in the end."
+
+"Doctor, you argue like the old farmer I used to know, who stuck to the
+clock handed down by his grandfather, and maintained that no
+new-fangled arrangement kept as good time. It was true that the
+striking apparatus had long ago failed to agree with the hands; and the
+hands themselves, owing to the accumulated inaccuracies of years, no
+longer denoted the real time; nevertheless, whenever it struck seven he
+could always be sure that the hands were pointing to a quarter-past
+twelve, and it was then just twenty-two minutes to three. This was
+something he could depend upon with a certainty which quite compensated
+for the annoyance of incessant calculations and mental corrections."
+
+"Pray leave joking aside and consider the wonderful nightly clockwork
+here, which makes automatic time-keepers unnecessary. This accommodating
+inner moon, within the brief space of five hours, goes through the
+phases of a thin crescent, first quarter, and just as it approaches
+fulness it submits to a total eclipse, followed by a waning quarter,
+then the reverse crescent of an old moon, and finally it sets where the
+Sun must soon rise. It is a wonderful heavenly clock, which is never
+obscured by clouds, and turns its face toward every one alike."
+
+"Yes, but one must remember that this hurrying moon gains two hours a
+day on the Sun, and therefore goes through her performance that much
+earlier each night. Besides, she is capable of rising twice in the same
+night occasionally."
+
+"Those are mere details that one learns to allow for. Moreover,
+consider the convenience of being able to tell the day of the week by
+the smaller moon. If it is just risen, we know we are on the eve of the
+first day of the week; if it is high or eclipsed, it must be the second
+day; and if it is sinking in the west, it is the third day----"
+
+"But for the last half of the week it is not seen at all, and one is
+free to guess which day it is," I interrupted. "Then no two days of the
+week begin at the same hour. The first day begins with sunrise, the
+second two hours before sunrise, the third four hours before, and the
+fourth at midnight, and so on--two hours earlier each day till the week
+ends, when they throw in a whole night for good measure and begin the
+next week at sunrise again!"
+
+"Yes, that arrangement is made necessary because their Moon-day will not
+agree with their Sun-day in any other manner. But it is rather
+remarkable that the two moons agree with each other so well, the larger
+one making twelve revolutions while the smaller makes one, so that at
+the end of every week they both rise together, but on opposite sides of
+the horizon, which is the signal for that night to be disregarded in the
+count. The next week begins on the following morning, the first rising
+of the larger moon being disregarded, and her second rising being the
+one reckoned from."
+
+We were discussing this during our noon-day meal, and, when we had
+finished, I walked with the doctor out to the plateau, where I was
+supervising some important work on the Gnomons; for I had not been ten
+days in Kem until I attempted to buy, with my gold coins, a large amount
+of wheat from the Pharaoh. Through the interference and objection of
+Zaphnath, however, I failed utterly in getting any. But the gold had its
+effect just the same, and later the Pharaoh showed an evident
+willingness to part with anything in his possession in order to get a
+liberal number of the smaller coins. But I put a very high value upon
+the gold, comparing closely with the worth of diamonds upon Earth, and
+refused to part with any, until one day the wisdom of buying the Gnomons
+occurred to me. I considered the project carefully, and finally made him
+an offer of a hundred half-eagles for them. Many of the small ones had
+been built to watch the course of the birth-stars of his various
+ancestors, and these were now in a sense monuments to his dynasty. He
+reserved these and a small one, built to observe his own star of
+nativity, and finally sold me all the large important ones, upon the
+doctor's representation that they were no longer needed for astronomical
+purposes. He specified only that they must not be torn down, but that I
+might use them as I should see fit.
+
+As I have said before, the Gnomons contained numerous large, long
+chambers, and it only became necessary to put a permanent bottom in
+these to convert them into enormous warehouses. All the storage places
+inside the city were rapidly filling with grain, which poured in at
+every gate on tens of thousands of mules. The plenteous crop, already
+ripening, would have to be housed somewhere, and even if I did not
+succeed in buying a large store of grain for myself, I knew how to make
+a storehouse eat up a large portion of the value of the grain it housed.
+I had seen wheat, stored year after year, finally become the property of
+the elevator owner, by virtue of his charges.
+
+I was not only putting a bottom to the storage chambers, but converting
+the inclined slopes of the largest Gnomons into a passable mule-trail,
+by roughening and corrugating the surface to give the patient animals a
+surer foot-hold, so they might climb to the top to discharge their
+cargoes. This was a simple form of elevator, and I laughed to think what
+some of my former acquaintances would think of it! One of the smaller
+Gnomons had already been completed to receive my share of the grain
+which I earned in the Pharaoh's service, and to this I was adding such
+meagre purchases as I could make from the small farmers. These, however,
+were not numerous, for the land was mostly in the hands of the Pharaoh
+and of a few large owners, more or less bound to him. I was therefore
+not a little surprised now upon approaching to see a long line of mules
+picking their way up the inclined side of the finished Gnomon, and as
+they reached the top their drivers emptied the pair of sacks they bore
+into my storehouse. Including the drove of unladen animals at the bottom
+of the Gnomon, there must have been a hundred in all, and I was awaited
+by the chief driver, who rode one sleek mule covered with a soft blanket
+of feather texture, and had another similarly saddled by his side. After
+a slow salute of each hand upon his cheek, he said to me,--
+
+"My master, the glorious Hotep, sendeth to the keeper of the Pharaoh's
+grain a present of two hundred bags of wheat, and wisheth to know if it
+be true that thou desirest to buy a large store of grain with gold? For
+hath not Hotep the gathered harvests of two full years in his bins, and
+upon his fertile lands the largest crop in all Kem (save only that of
+the Pharaoh) is nodding and awaiting the warm, ripening breath of the
+Snowless Month! Yet Hotep hath no use for iron money, for he is weighted
+and fettered with it already; but if thou desirest to bargain with him
+for as much yellow gold as thou hast bartered to the Pharaoh, he will be
+most pleased to treat with thee, and sendeth me with this ambling mule
+to fetch thee. Will it please thee to come with me now to his palace
+within the city?"
+
+"What do you think, Doctor? This Hotep must be almost a rival to the
+Pharaoh, if he has stored so much grain and owns so many ripening
+fields. He must have seen the new gold ornaments upon the Pharaoh's
+women, which have rendered him envious. If, indeed, he has such a vast
+quantity of grain to sell, I will deck him out with gold, such as will
+turn the Pharaoh green with envy! I shall lose no time in seeing him;"
+and so saying I mounted the mule, and assured the chief driver I would
+express my thanks in person to the great Hotep.
+
+He conducted me to the opposite side of the city, and, as we crossed a
+height near its centre, he pointed out to me the long fields of his
+master lining the left bank of the river. There were miles of waving
+grain just beginning to turn from a luxuriant green to the lighter
+yellow tints of harvest. Presently we approached a large palace, which I
+had often before seen from afar against the distant wall of the city,
+but had never known. Upon entering, I observed every sign of the same
+idle luxury which marked the Pharaoh's dwelling, but none of that regal
+disdain or imperial haughtiness which separated every one but his
+favourite women from the immediate presence of the monarch.
+
+I was graciously received in a large, lighted chamber, where Hotep
+reclined lazily upon a billowy heap of downy cushions, surrounded by
+many women. He only arose from his elbow to a sitting posture when I
+saluted him. Without saying a word to him, I approached, and, loosening
+my belt from about my waist, I unbuckled its mouth and poured out upon
+a large cushion by his side my three hundred shining golden eagles. The
+effect was electrical, for they were twice the size and three times as
+many as the coins I had given the Pharaoh. It must have seemed
+impossible to him that I could possess larger coins, and more of them,
+than he had seen upon the monarch's favourites. He was simply delighted
+with the mere view, and his women crowded around or ran out in haste to
+bring in their absent sisters to behold a marvel of riches such as Kem
+had never seen. But though they wondered and gloated over the sight,
+none of them touched a coin until I spoke.
+
+"I pray thee, most gracious Hotep, examine all these coins, and pass
+them among thy women to see if they be pleased with them. Observe their
+regularity of form and beauty of design, and test the music they give
+forth when cast upon thy floor of stone. Mayhap, thou wouldst rather own
+all these than to be cumbered with so much grain."
+
+Thereupon Hotep seized a heaping handful, which he poured jingling from
+one palm to the other, and all the women delved their pretty fingers
+into the shining heap and passed the coins to their admiring sisters,
+until not one was left upon the cushion.
+
+"Thy Chief of Harvests hath made known to me, O Hotep, that thou still
+hast the full crops of two years. Wilt thou tell me how many bags of
+grain grow upon thy fields at a single crop?"
+
+"Are not the number of my mules a thousand and one, and bear they not
+two bags each? To gather a single harvest, each faithful animal must
+make five trips each day for the period of an hundred days."
+
+I had often estimated an average mule-load at five bushels, upon which
+basis each crop would aggregate two and a half million bushels. This
+seemed impossible for a single farmer, but his fields wearied the sight
+to follow down the left bank of the Nasr-Nil.
+
+"If thou wilt leave all this gold with me, I will deliver by my mules to
+thy storehouses upon the plateau all the grain of my past two crops with
+which my whole palace here is cumbered."
+
+"I fear thou holdest thy grain too dearly, and that thou knowest not the
+value of this gold. What is more plenteous in Kem than wheat? There be
+more bags of it than the stars in heaven. But this gold I bring is more
+than all the store of it upon Ptah before I came. Pray give it back
+again," I said, gathering up the few pieces which had been returned to
+the cushion, and glancing about among the women as if searching for the
+rest. They returned them slowly, but Hotep still held his handful. After
+a brief pause, I continued,--
+
+"Hast thou not a fair crop growing which thou mightest also give me, so
+that no other than Hotep shall receive any of these coins?"
+
+"In truth, I have never ridden as far as my waving fields stretch down
+the Nasr-Nil; but one cannot sell what hath not fully ripened, for who
+knoweth what it may turn out to be?"
+
+"Then I must beg thee to return my coins," I answered slowly; but,
+unbuckling the other end of my belt, I poured out upon another cushion
+the hundred magnificent double eagles which I was holding in reserve.
+Then, taking a particularly bright one of these, I continued,--
+
+"But as thou hast been generous and thoughtful enough to send me a
+present, O Hotep, I desire to return one to thee, such as no man in Kem
+ever possessed before. Will it please thee to accept this disc of gold
+as large as the lesser moon that creeps across the sky? And with it go
+my wishes that Hotep's crops may always be great and plentiful."
+
+Slowly and unwillingly the women returned the eagles to the cushion,
+while they stared in wonder at the heap of larger coins. Hotep filtered
+the handful through his fingers to the cushion, and accepted the double
+eagle with gladness. With his eyes fixed on the second heap he seemed to
+be thinking deeply and making calculations.
+
+"The people are wont to call thee Iron Man, but I believe thou art
+golden!" he ruminated, and then suddenly, "For these heaps of riches,
+large and small, what desirest thou of all my possessions? Wilt thou
+have all my grain and half my land? Shall I give to thee all my fields
+which cannot be seen from the palace here?"
+
+"Why should I wish thy land when I have no cattle to till it, nor mules
+to gather the harvest? In lieu of the land, give me only a share of what
+it should produce for a few years. Now give heed to the bargain I will
+make with thee. If thou wilt deliver to my storehouses, upon the
+plateau, all the gathered grain of thy past two crops, and all the grain
+thou shalt gather from this growing crop (save only what thou needest
+for seed), and half of each of the crops of the three succeeding
+years,--provided, however, that you assure me each year as much as thy
+thousand mules can carry in an hundred journeys;--then thou mayest keep
+all this store of gold, which is, indeed, all that both of us from the
+Blue Star possess."
+
+He seemed to be revolving these terms slowly in his mind to be sure of
+them, and then called out to his servants,--
+
+"Bring in spiced wine, and bid my Chief of Harvests enter! He shall be
+witness that Hotep agrees to this compact, and, should I die before it
+is fulfilled, he shall see that it is carried out to the last year. But
+wilt thou leave all this gold with me now, or must I wait until the
+harvests are delivered?"
+
+"What Hotep promiseth me I believe, as certainly as if it were done
+already. I will leave the gold with thee, knowing thou wilt perform the
+contract in every item; but if thou failest in any year, thou shalt
+return to me one small gold-piece for each trip that thy thousand mules
+fall short of an hundred."
+
+He agreed, and arose and recited the terms of the compact to his Chief
+of Harvests, charging him to carry it out, and to cause to be engraved a
+small stone cylinder as a permanent record of its provisions, as it was
+their custom to do in such cases. Then filling three goblets with rich
+spiced wine, he exclaimed,--
+
+"For thy sake, O most generous youth, may the Nasr-Nil fondly nurse
+every harvest, and may the gentle Snowless Month ripen them in such
+abundance as they have never shown before! And may Hotep's mules grow
+old and weary bearing the plenty to thy storehouses!"
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER X
+
+Humanity on Ptah
+
+
+The magnificent abundance of the seventh great harvest, which ripened
+late in the year of our arrival, attracted a multitude of both men and
+animals from all the out-lying countries into Kem to assist in gathering
+it, and many of them remained to spend their gains in the luxuries of
+the great city. It was an unparalleled period of prosperity and plenty;
+and though the rich wasted everything with a careless hand, the poor
+were better provided for than they had ever been.
+
+Like an endless caravan Hotep's mules trailed across the city day by
+day, and emptied their cargoes into the bottomless pits of the Gnomons.
+And Hotep's thousand cattle tramped his threshing-floors during the long
+winter, and until the later nightly snows signalled the coming of a
+tardy spring; and yet the patient mules streamed through the city, and
+wore deeper paths into the sides of the Gnomons, until one by one the
+great chambers were filled and sealed.
+
+Late in the spring the toiling cattle left the threshing-floors, and
+traversed the fields in long procession, two and two, lashed together by
+a bar across the horns instead of a yoke, and dragging heavy stone
+ploughs slowly after them to prepare the soil for a new planting. But
+while the whole left bank of the Nasr-Nil swarmed with Hotep's patient
+teams and their busy drivers, the right bank was deserted, idle, and
+lifeless. Every one wondered why the Pharaoh's planting was being
+delayed; no one knew why the Pharaoh's men and cattle were idle; and the
+old men shook their heads and muttered that the river would overflow its
+banks long before the Pharaoh's seed was in. After a while Zaphnath sent
+for me, and when I came before him he said,--
+
+"The Pharaoh is sick with the plenty of the land, weary of the sight of
+grain-laden mules and ploughing cattle, and so cumbered about with
+mountains of wheat that he desireth not to plant his fields. Thou art
+not one to see his lands lie idle. If thou hast aught with which to
+tempt him, I can persuade him to let unto thee all his land and to hire
+unto thee all his men and mules and cattle. For hath he not acquired all
+his riches in seven years' harvests? and in another seven thou mayest be
+as rich as he."
+
+"Mayhap, O Zaphnath, the coming seven years may not be as plenteous as
+the last seven have been; but, in any case, I have no more gold with
+which to tempt the Pharaoh, having parted with all of it in a bad
+bargain with Hotep, whom thou knowest, for half of his coming crops."
+
+Thereupon he bade me remain, and sent for Hotep, and said to him,--
+
+"Behold, have not the harvests of seven years made Pharaoh the richest
+man upon Ptah, so that he covets no more grain, but only things of rare
+beauty? And are not thy harvests reduced by half through thy compact
+with him from the Blue Star? Now, if thou likest to tempt the Pharaoh
+with an hundred of thy golden coins, and one-and-twenty of the
+moon-sized discs of gold such as thou wearest there, thou mayest hire
+his land for the next seven years, and all his men and animals for a
+like time, if thou wilt feed and nourish them; and then shall not both
+banks of the great river bring forth riches, and be burdened with the
+plenteous harvests of Hotep?"
+
+"Is the Pharaoh indeed weary of rich harvests, or doth he rather itch
+for my gold? Yet, had I the seed to plant all his fields, I might
+consider the undertaking thou shewest me."
+
+"Let not that delay thee," answered Zaphnath, "for I am sure he will
+gladly lend to such a man as Hotep the seed thou needest until thy next
+harvest be gathered."
+
+So the matter was thus finally concluded, and I was a witness to the
+compact.
+
+Then Hotep's Chief of Harvests worked early and late to finish planting
+before the Month of Midnight Snows, when the Nasr-Nil usually overflows
+its banks and waters the harvest. But, as if to oblige a man so
+industrious in preparing the way for it, the great river did not rise at
+its customary time, and Hotep was able to finish his seeding on both
+banks.
+
+The black loam along the shores parched and crumbled, and borrowed the
+look of the great desert; the feathers of darkness fell later and later,
+until they began to appear with the dawn, and yet the river failed to
+rise; the priests went through their perfunctory rites to placate the
+god of the Overflow, and made their impotent sacrifices to tempt him to
+bless the harvest; but Hotep saw the Snowless Month, which should have
+ripened his grain, dawn upon fields that were dried to seas of drifting
+dust and void of all vegetation. His army of men, augmented by the
+Pharaoh's thousands, and his ten thousand cattle and mules, all ate and
+waited and waited and ate, and yet there was no work for them. The
+following spring there was no need to plough the fields, and no seed to
+plant them.
+
+When Zaphnath learned that Hotep must deliver a hundred thousand
+mule-cargoes of wheat to me, or forfeit a hundred gold pieces, he sent
+for him, and sold to him for the hundred pieces enough of the Pharaoh's
+grain already on the plateau to pay me, and lent him the seed to plant
+all the land again. But aside from this, the Pharaoh sold not a bag of
+wheat, and during the first year all the small stores of grain
+throughout Kem were consumed, and the price rose to three times its
+former value. Therefore, Hotep consoled himself with the thought that he
+could make more out of one crop after a failure than he could have made
+out of two crops without it, and he happily sowed his fields anew.
+
+Before the river was due to rise the second time, the poor began to
+suffer from the famine. There was no employment for the thousands who
+had been attracted to Kem to gather the previous large harvests. Only
+those fortunate enough to be slaves enjoyed an assured living, and this
+entire class was now dependent upon Hotep, for Pharaoh supported only
+his women and his personal servants. Many people desired to deliver
+themselves into slavery, but Pharaoh would not accept any, and Hotep
+already had more than he could feed. During the Month of Midnight Snows
+the entire population of the city watched the river with apprehension,
+noting its slightest fluctuation. But day after day the people saw no
+change, and idleness fostered grumbling and discontent among them.
+Zaphnath and the Pharaoh were privately criticised because they did not
+attend or contribute to the sacrifices made to the god of Overflow;
+because they hoarded so much grain, and did nothing to alleviate the
+distress of the people. And there were many who attributed the unusual
+action of the river to the presence upon Ptah of two strangers from the
+Blue Star.
+
+When two fruitless months had passed without any rising of the waters,
+Hotep lost courage, and was obliged to proclaim that all his men and
+beasts must exist upon half-rations. It was then that public suffering
+became general. About this time I consulted with the doctor whether to
+press Hotep for the second delivery of a hundred thousand cargoes of
+wheat.
+
+"Certainly; demand it from him," he answered, greatly to my surprise,
+"especially so long as it amounts to squeezing the wheat out of the
+Pharaoh. It is certain he will furnish the wheat in exchange for Hotep's
+gold, and a few coins are really nothing to him or to you either. As
+long as the Pharaoh covets them, make him pay well for them."
+
+"But I expected you would advise leniency, as you have never sympathized
+with my wheat speculation in the least," I replied.
+
+"I do not share your idle dream of riches, but nevertheless I want to
+get as much wheat into our hands as possible, especially if it comes
+from the Pharaoh. You do not seem to appreciate the real reason, but
+blindly chase after the bauble of fortune. It was the same when I first
+saw you in Chicago, and now you are just as impulsive and thoughtless. I
+have no doubt but you have already computed a hundred times how rich
+you are in Earthly terms and figures."
+
+"The time for a big value has not quite come yet, but I confess I have
+estimated that it will run into many millions of dollars."
+
+"Rubbish! What is the use of such childish nonsense? Even if we had our
+projectile to return with, you could never take any of your riches back
+to Earth with you!"
+
+"And why not?" I demanded in astonishment.
+
+"What is your fortune? It now exists in grain at an inflated famine
+value. You couldn't transport the grain back to Earth, and if you could,
+it would shrink in value and fail to pay the freight. What can you
+exchange it for here? For lands, for women, for slaves, none of which
+have any commercial value on Earth."
+
+"But I can sell it for money!" I put in.
+
+"Yes, for iron money worth a few dollars a ton on Earth! Why, not even
+your entire fortune will buy enough iron to build a new projectile to
+enable us to return. You parted with the only valuable and portable form
+of property when you exchanged your gold. Now that is rapidly going into
+the Pharaoh's hands, to remain there, and you can never return to Earth
+as rich as you left it, though you be worth all the money and property
+in the land of Kem!"
+
+"Well, it does look a little as if I had been scheming for riches here,
+without knowing just why I want them."
+
+"Yes, you have formed that habit on Earth. Only they carry it further
+there--swindle their brothers, deceive their parents, oppress the weak,
+extort from the poor; work, toil, plot, cheat, rob, yes, even _kill!_ in
+order to lay up a store of something they can never take away with them,
+and which renders them unhappy oftener than happy while they remain to
+guard it."
+
+"I have heard that sort of talk often before, Doctor, but I never saw
+the truth of it quite so plainly as now. I have outwitted and squeezed
+Hotep, the man on whom the whole city now depends for existence."
+
+"They think they depend upon him, but you know as well as I do that he
+will be powerless; that he must see them starve by thousands, and part
+with the last bit of his cherished riches to save his own life. No,
+Isidor, your business sagacity has not been in vain, for this entire
+people depend not on Hotep, but on _you_! You alone have the food to
+preserve many of them alive through a famine and a pestilence whose
+horrors are just beginning. Pharaoh and Zaphnath will squeeze and pinch
+them, and see them die, and turn it all to their own profit; but let us
+constitute ourselves a relief committee, you and I. Let us set these
+Kemish rulers an example of humanity, as we know it on Earth."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XI
+
+Revolutionist and Eavesdropper
+
+
+In Kem, where agriculture was almost the only occupation, and where the
+ox was helpful both in planting and threshing the grain, it was quite
+natural that he should be revered, or at least respected as a partner in
+the toil, and that a strong prejudice should prevail against his being
+slaughtered for food. In fact, it was not the practice of the Kemish to
+eat any large animals, but they confined themselves to fish and small
+fowl for meats. Nevertheless, I urged upon Hotep the necessity of
+killing some of his cattle to provide food for his miserable and
+poorly-fed labourers. But he stubbornly refused to do so, saying his men
+would rather eat the flesh of mules than of cattle.
+
+Without being pressed for it, he paid me the second hundred thousand
+cargoes of wheat, which he bought from the Pharaoh with gold, as he had
+done before. But I divided this entire quantity of grain among Hotep's
+labourers, which eked out their half-rations for almost a year. I
+stipulated that none of this grain should be used for seed, for I
+firmly believed it would be wasted. But Pharaoh again lent the seed for
+planting a third crop, insisting that the discouraged Hotep should put
+it in the ground, and reminding him that the only way he could get grain
+to pay his heavy debts was to raise a crop.
+
+Thenocris had not been long in learning the location of our house near
+her favourite gate, and it was her habit to call on us every day at the
+time of the noon-day meal. She always carried and caressed her white
+rabbit, and they came to us like two dumb animals to be fed. Her tall,
+stately figure, traversing the city on her daily journey to our house,
+soon became a familiar sight; and when the people began to be oppressed
+by hunger, they gradually overcame their early fear of us, and followed
+her to our door for food. We had never turned any away, for beggary was
+rare enough in Kem, and no sane person ever resorted to it except in the
+sorest extremes of need.
+
+Zaphnath doubtless looked with an evil eye upon the crowds that daily
+thronged our door to secure food. The Pharaoh rarely left his palace,
+and bothered little about affairs outside, and Zaphnath must have been
+at the bottom of an edict which was shortly issued. Nothing that I
+remember in Kem better illustrated the absolute power of the Pharaoh and
+the unrestrained enforcement of his merest whim. The edict referred to
+the scarcity of bread and the multitude of foreigners who were flocking
+to the city to secure it, and provided (ostensibly for the good of the
+Kemish people) that no man in the city of Kem should give bread or any
+sort of food to any but the members of his own household. Moreover, no
+man should sell grain or bread at a less price than that established by
+the Pharaoh for the sale of his own.
+
+The doctor and I realized that this was aimed at no one but us. They
+were jealous of our charity, and wished to turn everybody's need to
+their own profit. We scoffed at the tyranny of such an edict, but it was
+the arbitrary sort of law to which the Kemish were accustomed. Yet if we
+gave up our undertaking, and the unfortunate multitude went unfed for a
+few days, bread riots were certain to break out, and they might result
+in the death or overthrow of the short-sighted Pharaoh, and the seizure
+of his grain. Even this would not settle the question, for the victors
+might enforce a worse monopoly of it, if that were possible.
+
+"We must continue to feed them all outside the city,--at the Gnomons,
+for instance," I suggested.
+
+"Yes, we must feed them there in a large chamber, and eat with them, so
+that they may be considered members of our household," added the doctor.
+
+Thus it happened that the paths which Hotep's mules had worn so deeply
+were now thronged by a great multitude of the city's poor in their
+daily pilgrimage to the Gnomons. In an enormous chamber which we fitted
+up for that purpose, we served to each comer one generous meal, and
+there were so many who came that this meal was going on almost all day
+long. The Pharaoh fed no one but his favourites and his soldiers, and of
+these last he discharged a large number, reducing his army to a hungry,
+ill-fed thousand men. Those who were discharged came to eat with us, and
+many of those retained would gladly have done so, had we not excluded
+every one in the Pharaoh's service.
+
+Meantime the Nasr-Nil ran lower in her banks than ever before, and gave
+no signs of rising; the nightly snows were brief and evanescent, and the
+rains, which had never been copious on Ptah, now ceased entirely. Every
+green thing gradually vanished from Kem, and Hotep's third crop rotted
+or lay sodden in the ground as the others had done. He knew that I had
+been offered the opportunity to plant the Pharaoh's fields, and that I
+had not only refused, but had hoarded grain. This may have led him to
+conclude that I knew some reason for the famine, and I was not surprised
+when he sought me one day at the Gnomons. He begged a strictly private
+interview with me, and I conducted him to a small room I had constructed
+by running two thin walls of porous stone from one Gnomon to another,
+and covering the enclosure with a flat roof.
+
+"Dost thou know that thou hast linked together with thy slender walls
+the monuments of two antagonistic dynasties?" he began. "This structure
+to the left was built by the fifth ancestor of the present Pharaoh, in
+truth the first ruler of his dynasty. The structure to the right,
+however, is vastly older, and was built by the tenth Pharaoh of the
+dynasty, from which I am directly descended. My ancestors were
+vanquished by dint of wars, and their powers usurped by the ancestors of
+this same selfish Pharaoh, who hath not so good a right to rule as I."
+
+I think I was born without a vestige of revolutionary spirit, for I have
+always felt a respect for the institutions that are, and an allegiance
+to the powers that rule. I remember the distinct shock which this
+utterance of Hotep's gave me. I said nothing, but he answered the
+surprised look on my face.
+
+"Thou knowest well that the entire labouring population of Kem is fed by
+me in my fields on one side of the city; while all the poor and
+unfortunate are fed by you here on the other side. What man of Kem
+thinks of the grand palace of the Pharaoh in the midst of the city, but
+to curse it? What subject who knows how the Pharaoh and his favourites
+gorge themselves in luxurious plenty, while he nurses his hunger, but
+would a thousand times rather pay allegiance to those who save him from
+absolute starvation? And Zaphnath, in his nightly wanderings and his
+daily errands of espionage, thinkest thou he overhears a public grumbler
+who fails to curse him and his Pharaoh, and to extol the men from the
+Blue Star, and the unfortunate farmer, who, until now, has been able to
+give the people work and sustenance?"
+
+"Doth Zaphnath spend his time in watching and spying, then?" I asked.
+
+"Aye, that he doth! I crossed his path even now, coming through the
+city, and he set at following me, but by quick turns I eluded him. He it
+is who by his loans and compacts hath snared and tricked me until now I
+am utterly ruined, unless I can claim my rightful turn at ruling. Alone
+I cannot do it; with thy help I can."
+
+"How, then, could I be of assistance to you?" I exclaimed in some
+astonishment, without stopping to think of the justice of his claims.
+
+"From what I have heard of the thunder thou commandest, and the
+lightning thou art able to carry, it doth appear that thou couldst
+overcome the Pharaoh and his thousand half-starved men, who secretly
+itch to change masters. Thou hast the means to do it; I have the right
+to do it; and the people would unanimously applaud the doing of it. Let
+us strike together, then; let us seize the Pharaoh's grain and apportion
+it among our supporters and the needy, and when I am established as
+Pharaoh, thou shalt be my ruler in the place of Zaphnath."
+
+"Thou temptest me but little, O Hotep. Once before I was offered a
+rulership in Kem which I refused. Besides, am I not bound by an
+agreement to loyalty and obedience to this Pharaoh?"
+
+"Aye! Even as I am bound to come to a sure ruin; and as every man in Kem
+is bound to sit meekly by and starve. But is a ruler no way bound? May
+he claim the life of his subjects for his profit? How long will they
+suffer such treatment? And if we are restrained by loyalty, how long
+will it be till some one else strikes the blow we stick at----?"
+
+He was interrupted by a vigorous knocking at the door, as of one who
+commands rather than entreats an opening. Who could it be? I turned to
+see, but Hotep caught me by the arm.
+
+"Before thou openest, tell me if thou wilt join me in this undertaking
+for the sake of a suffering people?"
+
+"Nay, Hotep; it is wrong, and I will not do it. I am bound to this
+Pharaoh, bad as he is, and to thy dynasty I owe nothing." The rapping
+began again and more loudly now, but Hotep still restrained me.
+
+"For half of all my fields wilt thou furnish me the grain to pay the
+Pharaoh, and thus avert my ruin?"
+
+"And if I would, how wouldst thou feed the men and mules and cattle
+through another year of famine, and another, and another?"
+
+"Thou thinkest the crops will fail yet three more years!" he exclaimed,
+half stupefied by the thought.
+
+"Aye, four! I know it for most certain," I answered, and the insistent
+knocking was vigorously renewed.
+
+"Then I am too deep in the mire for thee or any one to pull me out. Open
+to this importunate knocker."
+
+I threw open the door, and there stood the keen-eyed, angry-visaged
+Zaphnath! How long had he been listening outside there? How much had he
+stealthily overheard before he began knocking? All the Kemish had need
+to speak doubly loud to us from Earth, for our ears were not made for
+thin air and its weak sounds. Moreover, Hotep had spoken throughout with
+a fervent declamation. But what I said in my ordinary tones was always
+easily understood by Hotep's keen ears. Therefore it seemed quite
+certain that Zaphnath had heard through the thin wall all that Hotep had
+said, and probably none of what I said. So much the worse. He had
+doubtless supplied my speeches to suit himself, and made them fit into
+Hotep's plotting. At any rate there was hot anger in his face when he
+spoke to me,--
+
+"Thou servest the Pharaoh well, by contriving how to cross his wishes at
+every point! It were well thy office were withdrawn; I have brothers
+about me now who could better fill it."
+
+"Whenever it pleaseth the Pharaoh or his all-potent ruler to abrogate
+his compact with me, I am quite ready to begin where we left off when it
+was made," I retorted. I did not think till afterwards that this might
+serve wrongly to indicate to him the tenor of my answers to Hotep's
+scheming. His eyes flashed angrily at this, yet he made no reply, but
+spoke to Hotep instead.
+
+"Before the end of the clock this day, the Pharaoh requireth of thee
+full settlement of all thou owest him. Attempt nothing but a just and
+full repayment, O most precious Hotep, for thy every act is watched and
+known to us!"
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XII
+
+The Doctor Disappears
+
+
+Hotep saw that he was ruined, and he went to fall down before Pharaoh
+and beg for mercy. The monarch, not having the courage of his own
+hard-heartedness, answered him,--
+
+"I desire not to deal harshly with thee, O Hotep; for thou hast
+struggled desperately against an unwilling soil and unpropitious
+seasons. But thou knowest all my affairs are in the hands of Zaphnath,
+without whom I do nothing. Therefore go thou before him and do even as
+he telleth thee."
+
+And Hotep, having made an invoice of all his money, and slaves, and
+mules, and cattle, took it before Zaphnath, saying,--
+
+"Behold, O most merciful ruler of Kem, I have threescore-and-ten of the
+great golden discs, and seven hundredweight of the coins of Kem
+wherewith to repay the Pharaoh for the seed which the seasons have
+stolen from me. But I have neither food for all the men, and mules, and
+cattle which are the Pharaoh's, nor yet for mine own; wherefore I beg
+of thee to take back his slaves and animals, and release me from feeding
+them; and I will forfeit unto the Pharaoh all my working slaves, which
+are thirty score, and all my mules, which are a thousand and one, and
+all my cattle, which are an hundred score, and they shall be his for
+ever."
+
+"Methinks thou borrowest with a large hand and repayest like a very
+miser," answered Zaphnath. "All the money thou namest will not buy a
+thousand cargoes of grain, for behold, is not wheat worth iron money,
+weight for weight? And to reimburse the Pharaoh for feeding all his men
+and animals through the famine, which may continue, it is a rare
+kindness in thee to desire to give him also all of thine to be fed and
+nourished! What wilt thou do with all thy land when thou hast no men or
+beasts to till it? And how wilt thou maintain thy proud palace, with
+three hundred women, when thou hast no revenues left?"
+
+"'Tis true, O Zaphnath; and if the Pharaoh covet them, take them
+all--the palace, the women, the rich clothing and rare jewels, and even
+the endless fields which have cursed me! For the days of Hotep's riches
+are ended. Let him be acquit, and go from thee in peace!"
+
+"Even with them all, thou knowest he is but poorly paid; yet it is I who
+have prevailed upon him not to be harsh with thee. But if the famine
+continue, what thinkest thou of doing to gain a living?"
+
+"By my beard! Doth the Pharaoh wish to make a slave of me also?"
+
+"Nay, Hotep; not a common slave. But hast thou a mind to starve? I have
+besought him to give thee an honourable and luxuriant service, befitting
+thy tastes and habits. He will make thee chamberlain of his palace."
+
+"Is there no other thing thou canst think of or invent, O most merciful
+Zaphnath? Lands, slaves, animals, money, women, jewels, palace, and even
+my life and body for the gracious Pharaoh's service! Is that all? If so,
+I beg thee declare the bargain made and all my undertakings fully
+acquit."
+
+Hotep came to me the following day, with his beard shaven and the
+Pharaoh's bird-wing on his brow. He wore the dress of the Pharaoh's
+chamberlain, and he told me how it had all happened. He also told me
+that the Pharaoh had now thrown wide open the doors of slavery, and
+offered to feed all who surrendered themselves to his service for life.
+And Zaphnath never ceased to itch for all the lands, and cattle, and
+slaves of every one in Kem and her tributary countries, either in
+exchange for the bare needs of life, or as pledges for seed which he
+knew would only rot and ruin the borrower.
+
+I went about my affairs on the plateau that day, wondering how long I
+should continue there, or whether my threat had been effective in
+silencing the enmity of the rulers. When I returned that evening, I did
+not find the doctor at the house. My servant said that a messenger from
+the chamberlain had summoned him on important business, soon after the
+noon-day meal. I waited a little longer, and then I began to fear that
+the chamberlain had been used to decoy the doctor into some trap. If he
+was staying away of his own account, why did he not send me some word?
+Messengers were plenty. At last I sent the servant to the palace to
+inquire and search for him. After a long stay he returned, saying the
+doctor was nowhere to be found. No one had seen or heard of him there
+that day.
+
+"And the chamberlain?" I demanded.
+
+"He was not to be found in his rooms, and no one had seen him since
+noon-day."
+
+"Didst thou make inquiry for the messenger who summoned the doctor?" I
+asked.
+
+He had not thought of it; so I started to the palace myself. I had gone
+but a few steps when it occurred to me to act with a little more
+caution, and be prepared for some plot against myself. I turned back to
+the house, and had the servant remove the heap of pillows where I slept.
+Underneath was a loosened stone of the floor, and below it we kept the
+rifles, revolvers, and ammunition hidden. I carefully loaded all of
+them, and put all the remaining cartridges into our two old belts. I
+thought of strapping one of these about me, but reflected that this
+would have a hostile and treasonable appearance, so I contented myself
+with concealing one revolver in my coat, and then I carefully covered up
+all the rest, and had the servant pile the pillows over the stone slab
+again.
+
+Then I went out and walked to the palace. Leaping the wall, I questioned
+every one I saw about the doctor, the chamberlain, and his messenger. No
+one had seen anything of them. The messenger was absent from his
+lodging, as well as the chamberlain. Either they were all gone somewhere
+secretly together, or they had all suffered a common mysterious fate.
+Unable to do anything more, I returned home full of apprehension.
+
+I slept fitfully a few hours, and then I had a most realistic dream,
+which began among my old surroundings on Earth: the wheat pit, the
+closing of a turbulent session, the drive through the parks till I came
+suddenly in sight of the great spherical cactus design of the World in
+Washington Park. As I approached this, it seemed to leave its pedestal
+and move freely through space toward me. I seized one of its meridians,
+and, clinging tightly, was carried off over the park, over the lake,
+over seas of ice, through an ocean of sparkling light, faster and
+farther every moment, until presently my little globe refused to hold me
+longer, and repelled me through a long, giddy, awful fall which filled
+me with terror. But I landed in the dark chamber of a Gnomon, waist-deep
+in loose wheat. It seemed gradually to grow deeper about me, rose to my
+shoulders, to my chin; and as I looked up I saw Slater pouring in wheat
+in a steady stream. He meant to smother and choke me with it. Ah, if I
+only had a thousand, aye, ten thousand mouths to eat it, he could never
+do it. I could keep even with him. But it gradually rose past my mouth,
+past my nose; it covered my head and was smothering me. What an awful
+thing was too much food, after all! And then I wakened to find my head
+covered with pillows until I was half-choked for breath.
+
+It was all so vivid I could not rid my mind of it. It seemed really to
+have happened but a moment ago. My mind was palpitating afresh with
+those Earthly scenes which had for years been fading out of it. What
+could it all mean? Then I thought of the doctor. Perhaps they were
+smothering him in one of the Gnomons. It seemed hardly probable, but the
+idea took a strange hold on me. The chambers were all full and sealed,
+but one; it had been opened, and wheat was daily being used out of it;
+none was at hand to be poured in. It was foolish to do so, but I could
+not rest until I had gone to the Gnomons to see. Of course I would find
+nothing there, but I should not be content till I had tried. At least,
+the night air and the gently falling feathers of darkness would restore
+my calmness again.
+
+I had the precaution to take my revolver again, and after a very short
+walk I stood face to face with the great stone gate, barred and locked
+to confine all others within the city. The fact that it was fastened on
+the inside proved that the doctor's captors were not outside, or, at
+least, did not expect to return till after daylight. With a brisk jump I
+cleared the wall easily, and walked rapidly to the plateau. There was no
+sign of life there. I mounted the only unsealed Gnomon and shouted down
+into its cavernous depths. Of course there was no answer. I was now so
+wide awake it seemed to me quite silly to follow the promptings of a
+dream, so I began to return in a leisurely walk.
+
+The night scene all about me, how different it was from those to which I
+had been accustomed on Earth! Out of a pink sky flakes of frozen dew
+were gently falling, starching the arid, verdureless soil with a
+glistening coat of evanescent white. Along the river bank, tall,
+slender, lightly-rooted trees reached far up into the breathless air,
+but there was never the movement of a bough or the rustle of a leaf,
+except from the flutter of birds. Jungles of spindling reeds also
+towered from waste marshes, in testimony to the easy struggle which
+vegetable sap had been able to accomplish over a weak gravity.
+Everything was eloquent with the reminder that I was on a different
+world; but yet, when I looked up at the starry heavens, they were the
+same. All the familiar constellations, changing their positions through
+the night with the same stately dignity, were there. The Pleiades,
+Orion, the Great Bear, with his nose constantly pointed at the Pole
+Star, made me feel that, at least in the heavens, I was at home! Only
+the colour of the night, the two little moons, and the planets looked
+different. Great Jupiter, king of the Martian night, whose brilliancy,
+if not his size, outrivalled the pale moons; Saturn, with his tilted
+ring, was visible to the naked eye; and yon pearly blue star, just
+rising to announce the morning, was Earth. Earth, which I had so
+unwillingly left, would I ever see her again as anything but a
+Sun-attending star? Would I ever walk her familiar paths, and know my
+brother creatures there again?
+
+With this thought came over me an unspeakable sense of loneliness, a
+depressing home-sickness, an aching yearning for that life, tempestuous
+as it had been. And how I despised the monotony and lowness of the
+Martian life; how I loathed the spreading misery of the famine, and the
+vile and dreadful pestilences which it was begetting! How could I ever
+endure the four more slow years of it which I confidently expected to
+ensue? What would I not give to leave it all and return!
+
+I had retraced my steps, leapt the wall again, and as I approached our
+house was surprised to see, in the dim light of the coming morning, a
+figure standing guard at the doorway. He was a soldier, and on closer
+approach I saw that he wore a beard, which showed him to be a captain.
+But what surprised me far more was that he held awkwardly in his arms
+one of our loaded rifles. Here was certain treachery. Since he stood
+guard, he doubtless had soldiers within; and if they had found one
+firearm they must have found the others also. But how had they succeeded
+in finding them? A mere search never would have revealed their secret
+place. Some one who knew of their location must have disclosed it. Could
+it have been the doctor? Had they brought him back, and forced him to
+produce the arms?
+
+In that case, now was my chance to liberate him. Fortunately they did
+not know how to use the arms they had captured, and I had one revolver
+with five good loads in it. With five telling shots I ought to be able
+to create panic enough to enable the doctor to get possession of another
+gun and help me rout them.
+
+All this flashed through my mind in a twinkling, and just as I drew out
+my revolver the captain caught sight of me. He quickly shifted the rifle
+in his hands and tugged at the hammer. He knew nothing of the necessity
+of taking aim, or of the use of the trigger. It would only be by the
+merest chance if he hit me. I had half drawn the trigger, and was just
+correcting my aim, when a long flash of flame from the rifle startled
+me, and unconsciously I fired wild. By lifting the hammer of the rifle
+and letting it snap back, the captain had exploded one cartridge at
+random. But my careful aiming had now taught him a trick; I saw him
+attempting the same arm's-length aim with the rifle. He did it awkwardly
+enough, and pulled up the hammer with the other hand. It fell with a
+snap on the discharged cartridge. He could be relied on never to learn
+the trick of ejecting them and reloading with the sixteen that lay ready
+up the length of the barrel. Therefore, instead of firing again, I
+rushed at him to capture the rifle. But he was too quick for me, for
+thrusting it inside the house with a quick command, the other was handed
+out to him. I was now at such extremely close range that his awkward aim
+covered me; but I was quicker on the trigger than he was on the hammer,
+and with a cry the first Martian to suffer by gunpowder fell to the
+ground. I sprang for his rifle just as some one from inside snatched it
+away and pointed it at me again. Whoever had it, stood half behind the
+door and out of range. But I aimed at his fingers on the rifle barrel,
+and by a lucky chance I hit them, for the rifle dropped and the body
+staggered into full view. Another quick shot sent this fellow to the
+ground, but as I reached for his rifle, it was snatched away again.
+
+Now I saw the absolute necessity of possessing myself of another
+firearm, for I had but one load left in the revolver. I felt little fear
+of their awkward aim, therefore I made bold to rush inside on the chance
+of seizing the first gun I could lay my hands on. At the same time I
+would be able to see the position of the doctor. He must be gagged, for
+he had made no answer to my frequent cries to him in English. Once
+inside, I saw that the room was full of soldiers--twenty at least. They
+had a prisoner, true enough, but not the doctor. It was my servant, whom
+they had forced to disclose the location of the arms.
+
+The soldiers quickly blocked the door and began closing in on me. One
+seized me by each arm, but with a quick shake I threw them off. Then a
+third fellow clutched my left arm so tightly I could not loosen him. Had
+I taken my eyes or my revolver off the crowd in front, they would have
+been upon me in a body; yet with my left arm I was able slowly to turn
+the clinging soldier around in front of me and to bring him gradually
+within close range of my revolver. When he saw its gleaming muzzle, he
+broke from me and fled to the others.
+
+Little did they know that I could not afford to sacrifice my remaining
+load to kill a single man. I must use it to capture the other revolver,
+for rifles were of no use at such short range. I man[oe]uvred cautiously
+to keep most of the soldiers in front of me, and stealthily backed
+toward the door, where a soldier stood guard with the other weapon. I
+was reckoning on the cowardice of most of those in front of me, but I
+had failed to count on the men I had shot. As I now backed quickly
+towards the door, I suddenly felt the arms of the fallen man about my
+legs, and I stumbled backwards over him. In a twinkling the whole crowd
+was upon me, my revolver was seized, my arms were pinned to the ground,
+and the dying soldier clutched my legs in his last frenzy. I expected no
+better than to be shot immediately by a rifle held against my head, but
+their orders were evidently different. My arms were securely bound with
+rough fibrous thongs, and then they marched me to the palace just as the
+sun was rising.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XIII
+
+The Revelation of Hotep
+
+
+I was not a little surprised to see that they carried me to the same
+ante-room in the palace which I had occupied on coming to Kem. But it
+was now quite stripped of all furnishings, and over each door were hung
+large, closely-spun fabrics, which completely covered and concealed them
+from sight. There were but two little windows high above my head, and
+had I been free to leap up to them, they were too small to afford me an
+exit. Driven into a stone slab of the floor were two large bent-wood
+staples. Between these they placed several cushions, upon which they
+laid me.
+
+"May it please the strong man to rest here quietly, aye! and to slumber
+if he feel the need, until my master, the worshipful Zaphnath, be
+risen?" sneered the leader in polite irony, as the soldiers, having
+unbound my arms, proceeded to tie each hand securely to one of the
+wooden rings. Then with jeers they left me, pointing the fire-arms and
+swords at me as they went. I heard them bar the doors on the outside
+and try them with a severe shake; then their footsteps receded and all
+was still.
+
+As I lay on my back looking up at the vaulted stone roof, I had my first
+leisure to reflect on the desperate condition into which we had at last
+fallen. The arms, which had meant our supremacy, were in the hands of
+our enemies; Hotep, our only friend in the palace, had mysteriously
+disappeared; the doctor was taken, perhaps killed by this time; and I
+could hardly outlast the day, for Zaphnath would reserve but one fate
+for a conspirator who sought his place. How soon would he come, and how
+would he dispose of me? I remembered having seen the punishment for
+treason of a noble personage, with whom I had once eaten at the
+Pharaoh's table. He was confined at the bottom of a tight stone pit, and
+a heavy, poisonous gas was slowly poured into it. He could see it slowly
+fill the pit, and as it gradually rose toward his nostrils, he could
+feel his death gradually measured out to him by inches. When he had
+breathed it in a little, his face swelled a livid purple, he choked and
+strangled, staggered and fell beneath the murky surface to die out of
+sight. The terror of such a slowly creeping danger! the horror of such a
+repulsive death! I remember saying at the time that in his place I would
+have snatched a quick respite from the lingering agonies by strangling
+myself, or tearing my wrist open with my teeth. Now, as I thought of
+it, I suddenly remembered my dream of being similarly smothered in the
+Gnomons by slowly inpouring grain. A superstitious mind would have
+feared that dream foretold my fate, but I was rational enough to
+perceive that it must have been suggested to me by a vagrant memory of
+the poisoning I had seen.
+
+As I lay thinking thus, I shifted my position a little on the pillows
+for better comfort, and my eyes wandered slowly from the vaulted roof to
+the daylight at the two little high windows. I started in terror at what
+I saw, but blinked my eyes to make sure I was awake, and then looked
+more intently. There was no dreaming this time! I saw clearly, and at
+both windows, a curling, purple stream of dense, noxious gas pouring
+down into the room! It was much heavier than the air, and trickled
+slowly down like the ghost of murky waters gradually filling up a great
+well. Then I turned to look at the floor, the stones were no longer
+visible, but a coat of muddy purple covered them to a depth of several
+inches, and the noisome gas already reached almost to the tops of my
+cushions! All this had trickled in within ten minutes, and twice as much
+more would rise and cover me completely. Then an awful but silent death
+would creep into my lungs, and my only friends, the common people of
+Kem, would never know how I had perished.
+
+Did I try to strangle myself or tear open my wrist? I could not get hand
+and mouth near enough together for either of these expedients, had the
+stubborn instinct of self-preservation left them any place in my mind. I
+kicked away the cushions, which gave me a little more room to work my
+knees under me. Then by straining on my thongs I was able to lift my
+head and shoulders upright, and save my nostrils from the noxious stuff
+for many minutes longer. All the years of my life on Ptah I had been
+vain of my superior physical strength. Would it serve me now to break
+the thongs that bound me? I tugged, and pulled, and struggled until I
+cut the flesh, but they only drew tighter; yet at each effort I gained a
+little more length of thong.
+
+The purple surface, on which death floated, crept up toward me. The room
+was gas-tight; the doors were so covered that they could not leak, and
+had I succeeded in breaking loose I could not have shaken their bars. To
+save myself, I must make a breach in the floor; I must pull up a slab
+and let the gaseous poison run out below. That was my only chance. I
+worked my knees back as nearly as possible to the edge of the slab into
+which the wooden staples were fastened, and threw all my weight and
+strength into the effort. The stone did not move. Yet I got more
+thong-room, and succeeded in doubling my feet under me to give more
+force to the next heave. I felt sure I could have lifted the weight of
+the stone if it were free, but struggle as I would, I could not loosen
+it from its wedged position. The purple poison had risen to my waist by
+this time, and in my violent efforts I had stirred it into billowing
+waves which occasionally surged almost to my nostrils. I had breathed a
+little which made me faint and giddy. I feared lest I should stagger and
+fall into it. Once my head below the surface, and I was most surely and
+horribly drowned!
+
+I stood resting a second, anxiously thinking, planning in desperation
+and keeping my eyes always fixed on the rising purple. Suddenly, though
+I had given no tug, I heard the stone under me crunch at its edges, and
+felt it begin to rise a little at one side! What could have loosened it,
+when all my efforts had failed? No matter! if I could pull it away now
+and make a breach, I would at least gain a long respite. I tugged again
+and found it easy to pull the loosened stone up on one edge, till it
+tottered and fell over against me. Feverishly I watched the poison about
+me; it rose no longer; slowly it began to sink away. Thank God for so
+much!
+
+Then suddenly I heard voices calling me. They seemed to come from below.
+Yes! It was Hotep in Kemish,--and the doctor in English! Were they
+confined in the cavern below, then? And had the gas been reserved for
+them, when it had finished its dread work with me? Horrible thought! If
+so, in saving myself I was only sending the sure poison to them. Where
+were they? I could not see down through the murky stuff; but I must
+warn them.
+
+"Halloo! The gas is poisonous! Leap through, save yourselves! Climb out,
+or it will kill you!"
+
+"Bear up!" I heard the doctor's voice begin, "one minute more and
+we----" Then there was a violent coughing, a door slammed, and the voice
+was barely heard--afar off--as through a wall. Had they escaped, then,
+to another room? I had no further time to puzzle what it meant, for
+another slab of my floor rose, wavered and fell over with a crash, and
+up through the purplish gas I could see a great round black thing
+rising, stretching high up into the room until its top almost touched
+the roof.
+
+My God! _It was the projectile!_
+
+When the breach in the floor was cleared, all the gas rushed down into
+the lower chamber. The projectile eased over on its side, and out of the
+rear port-hole came Hotep with a revolver and a sword. He soon had me
+cut loose, and then he told me how it all had happened.
+
+He had been chamberlain but a single day when he discovered the
+existence of a secret subterranean chamber under the ante-room of the
+banquet hall. His curiosity led him to explore this, and in its darkest
+recess, unseen at first entrance, he found our projectile. It had been
+there ever since the day of its disappearance. During our interview
+before Zaphnath and the wise men, they had learned from us that others
+could not come from Earth without the projectile, and that we had left
+no third person in charge of it. It must have been with an order to make
+away with the projectile, and to secrete it in this chamber, that the
+third messenger had been dispatched that day. Also on my first evening
+in this very ante-room, I had heard Two-spot barking in the chamber
+below, and the servant, on hearing him too, had him hastily released,
+lest he should betray the hiding-place.
+
+As soon as Hotep had found the projectile, he had sent for us, but it
+was the doctor alone who joined him. They two had been busy all that day
+and night repairing the projectile and storing it anew. In this manner
+the doctor had escaped the soldiers who came at daybreak to capture us
+both. Beyond the projectile, Hotep had discovered a secret passage
+leading outside the palace walls, which they could use on their errands
+of repairs without being observed.
+
+All night they worked without disturbance, but early in the morning
+something happened to alarm them. They heard footsteps outside and a
+noise at the door which led to the palace. It probably meant death to be
+discovered there, but they extinguished their lights, entered the
+projectile, and closed the port-holes and lay there quite still. The
+door was opened, and soldiers bearing lights entered. But they made no
+search; they carried with them our swords, fire-arms, and the two belts
+of cartridges, which they deposited here, it being the natural place
+for their safe keeping. When they were gone, the doctor emerged and
+examined the revolvers and rifles, and finding that five cartridges had
+been discharged, he knew there had been a struggle with me in which I
+had been worsted. This caused them to hasten their efforts and make an
+escape with the projectile as soon as possible. All the supplies
+necessary to the batteries had been found intact in their places, and
+the compressing of air with the repaired pump and the further storing of
+food could be postponed till they were more free to do it.
+
+At last the projectile lifted and worked; slowly it loosened the stones
+of my floor above them; but when one stone was pushed aside they noticed
+that the daylight did not come through the breach as it ought. They had
+heard my cries, and as the gas came down on them, the doctor had slammed
+the front port-hole, which was never wide open, and had thus saved
+himself. Hotep was safely shut into the other compartment with the
+fire-arms and ammunition.
+
+The doctor now came down to the rear port-hole to speak to me.
+
+"My plan is to escape now to the Gnomons, where we will leave Hotep in
+possession with most of our fire-arms. You can give him some
+instructions how to use them, so that he may defend himself. There we
+can finish our stores of air and food." To this I assented, and said to
+Hotep,--
+
+"The Gnomons I give to thee, and all the land round about them, as a
+reward for thy most valuable assistance. Also I put into thy charge all
+my stores of wheat, to be distributed among the needy. Thou must husband
+them to last yet four years more, and for thine own thou mayest keep one
+measure in twenty. Take thou also a sword, a rifle, a revolver, and a
+belt of cartridges. Mayhap, to thy right to rule they may add the power
+to be a Pharaoh!"
+
+I was interrupted by a noise below, as of some one opening the door of
+the secret chamber. All the deadly gas lurked in that room now, and it
+was certain death to whoever opened and entered! Yet if an alarm had
+been raised it was there they would immediately go for the fire-arms. I
+listened and heard faintly a voice of command, like that of Zaphnath,
+saying, "Haste, get me the thunderers!" Then, as the door below creaked
+open, I heard it louder: "The thunderers!" Next I heard many men in
+violent fits of coughing; I heard some groan and fall; but who or how
+many died by the purplish poison intended for me, I never knew.
+
+It was but a moment later that hurried footsteps in the banquet-hall
+were heard approaching the veiled doorway. I took the revolver from
+Hotep, and motioned him inside the projectile. How cautiously they
+opened the door I could not see, for it was behind the great curtain.
+Presently, however, the captain who had bound me and bade me wait, drew
+aside the curtain, and the Pharaoh stood in the door, and behind him
+were a crowd of soldiers armed with cross-bows. In all the number I did
+not see the face of Zaphnath. They beheld me alone, and had no reason to
+suspect the presence of the others inside the projectile.
+
+"Guard both the doors!" the captain commanded, and a detachment of
+soldiers barred the other door, as if thus to prevent me from escaping
+with the projectile; for of course they had not seen it rise through the
+floor.
+
+"Seize and bind yon traitor!" cried the Pharaoh; "and he who hesitates
+shall be flayed!"
+
+"And he who attempts it, shall die ere his first step be taken!" I
+replied, levelling the revolver. The captain started for me and I shot
+him down.
+
+"If a man of you moves till I have entered this thing, I will kill the
+Pharaoh, as I have killed this dog! Ye serve him best who stand still as
+ye are!" So saying, I covered the trembling monarch with the revolver,
+and with my other hand I opened the rear port-hole; then stooping, I
+sprang inside with a quick motion. When the Pharaoh had recovered from
+his fright, I heard him cry out,--
+
+"Cast that black thing, and the traitor inside it, into yon poisonous
+hole again!"
+
+The soldiers did not fear to act this time, and the whole company seized
+the projectile and carried it toward the breach in the floor. As they
+lifted it on end to thrust into the hole, I called out to the doctor,
+who turned in two batteries, and gently we lifted out of their dumb
+hands and rose steadily till we touched the roof. There the vaulted
+stonework stopped us, and an exultant shout went up from below. Suddenly
+a score of arrows twanged against my window, but the doctor turned in
+two more batteries and then gradually we lifted the key of the great
+stone arch, broke through the roof, and the whole universe was an open
+sea before us!
+
+Crouching by me at the port-hole, Hotep watched the roof collapse and
+tumble in. "For thy sake," I said to him, "I hope a falling stone may
+have crushed him!"
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+Thus ended our other-world life. In a time of activity it would never
+have occurred to me to write down these events. It was to relieve the
+uneventful quiet of our trip back to Earth that I undertook to set down
+all our Martian experiences in their proper order. No doubt it was the
+changeless monotony of that return journey which made the record appear
+to me novel, unusual, and at times exciting. But now, six little months
+again on Earth have made the more than three Martian years (equalling
+six years of Earth) seem slow, tame, and profitless. If they were
+pregnant with adventure, they lacked the real experiences of life which
+have been crowded into the half-year since our return.
+
+The very day I reached my old home I found another wheat corner more
+wide-spread, if less complete and impregnable, and I set to work to
+break it down. Thus the maelstroem of modern commercial life dragged me
+into its dizzy whirl before I slept the first night on Earth, and I am
+already surfeited with it. I seem to take the Earthly life in too large
+and rapid doses. Into the half-year she has put a flattering success and
+a dismaying failure. She has given me a month of her sweetest
+experiences and another of her bitterest disappointments. As if she knew
+I would not remain long at her feast, she has served to me in quick
+succession a measure of renown, a taste of fortune, the rapture of
+wooing, the bliss of marriage, and the rare delight of loving a soul
+created to love me. Then one little drop from the cup of Death
+embittered the whole feast and turned me against it all.
+
+In the rush and turmoil of it all I should never have thought of my
+crudely written narrative again had not my cousin Ruth, who never tired
+of the story, fished it out and sent it to a literary friend in Boston.
+It was probably the instant success in the scientific world of Dr.
+Anderwelt's scholarly books on _Mars and His Life_, and the new
+direction given to modern thought by his _Theory of Parallel Planetary
+Life_, which led my literary sponsor to think the world would be
+interested in a plain, unscientific narrative of our trip Marsward and
+our doings there. In agreeing to look it over and cause it to be a "good
+delivery" in the literary world, he exacted a promise from me to make
+my recent Earthly experiences and our adventures on Venus join in
+producing another story. For before the eyes of the first reader have
+reached these words, Dr. Anderwelt and I will have departed sunwards, on
+the visit to our brilliant sister planet, where, according to his
+theory, life will have run through some 31,000 years more than Earth
+toward the perfect existence. By the first return of the projectile I
+have promised to send back a thorough account of the evolution of life
+and the advancement of civilization on Venus, so far as Earthly eyes and
+wits can see and know it.
+
+
+
+
+Butler & Tanner, The Selwood Printing Works, Frome, and London.
+
+
+
+
+
+End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Pharaoh's Broker, by Ellsworth Douglass
+
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