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diff --git a/25295.txt b/25295.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..d5b818b --- /dev/null +++ b/25295.txt @@ -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 + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK PHARAOH'S BROKER *** + +***** This file should be named 25295.txt or 25295.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + http://www.gutenberg.org/2/5/2/9/25295/ + +Produced by Greg Weeks, George Snoga, Stephen Blundell and +the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at +http://www.pgdp.net + + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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