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Edison's Conquest Of Mars
By
Garrett P. Serviss
DEDICATED to GARR=
ETT
PUTMAN SERVISS
A COSMOPOLITE IN =
TIME
1851-1929
Contents
CHAPTER
ONE - "LET US GO TO MARS".
CHAPTER
TWO - THE DISINTEGRATOR
CHAPTER
THREE - THE CONGRESS OF NATIONS
CHAPTER
FOUR - TO CONQUER ANOTHER WORLD
CHAPTER
FIVE - THE FOOTPRINT ON THE MOON..
CHAPTER
SIX - THE MONSTERS ON THE ASTEROID..
CHAPTER
SEVEN - A PLANET OF GOLD
CHAPTER
EIGHT - "THE MARTIANS ARE COMING!".
CHAPTER
TEN - THE GREAT SMOKE BARRIER
CHAPTER
ELEVEN - THE EARTH GIRL
CHAPTER
TWELVE - RETREAT TO DEIMOS
CHAPTER
THIRTEEN - THERE WERE GIANTS IN THE EARTH..
CHAPTER
FOURTEEN - THE FLOOD GATES OF MARS.
CHAPTER
FIFTEEN - VENGEANCE IS OURS
CHAPTER
SIXTEEN - THE WOMAN FROM CERES
CHAPTER
SEVENTEEN - THE FEARFUL OATHS OF COLONEL SMITH..
If you picked up a magazine and read in =
it a
story mentioning a passenger-carrying rocket driven by atomic power furnish=
ed
by a substance prepared from uranium, you probably would not be greatly sur=
prised.
After all, such an invention is today but a step or two ahead of cold fact.=
But
you might be surprised to learn that if this story was A Columbus of Space,=
the
one I happen to have in mind, your grand-parents may well have read it befo=
re
you were born--for A Columbus of Space was published in All-Story magazine =
in
1909, thirty years before the potentialities of U235 were realized, and nea=
rly
forty before the atomic bomb became a problem for people to think about.
Did the author of
this story simply make a lucky shot in the dark? Perhaps; but let me tell t=
hose
who are inclined to think so that he was a Carnegie lecturer, a member of
half-a-dozen learned societies, one of the first to write a book on Einstei=
n's
theory of relativity, and an internationally known figure in his specialty,
astronomy. His name is Garrett Putman Serviss.
He was born on Ma=
rch
24, 1851, at Sharon Springs, New York, of native New England stock. His
interest in astronomy began as a boy, and was greatly stimulated when he be=
gan
to examine the beauties of the heavens through a small telescope, the gift =
of
his older brother. This encouraged his enrolling in the course of science at
Cornell University in 1868 (its opening year) from which he was graduated in
1872. There followed two years at the Columbia College Law School, which he
left as an LL. B.; and in June, 1874 he was admitted to the bar. He did not=
practice
law, however, but turned instead to newspaper reporting.
Whence came this
interest in law and journalism? We can only guess, tracing its onset to the
man's college days. As a Cornell sophomore, he was the class poet; as a sen=
ior,
its historian; and on commencement day delivered an oration on "The
Perpetuity of the Heroic Element." But whatever the origin of the
interest, unquestioned ability supported it. From the position of reporter =
and
correspondent with the New York Tribune he rose to the post of copy editor =
on
the staff of the Sun. Finally he became night editor, a position which he h=
eld
for a full decade.
During this perio=
d we
can see the old interest in science gradually assert itself. At first it to=
ok
the form of anonymous articles, mainly on matters astronomical. These usual=
ly
appeared on the editorial page and, partly because they were then a novelty,
partly because of a quirk of fate--editor-in-chief Charles Dana frequently =
had
them set up in bold type, believing their logic was a fine counter-irritant=
for
heated political campaigns of the day--the attention of subscribers was foc=
used
on them more sharply than usual. In fact, readers over the entire country w=
ere
soon conjecturing about the identity of "the Sun's astronomer." V=
ery
few knew that it was Garrett Serviss, who successfully cloaked his identity=
for
years.
Success in written
popularizing of science led him to attempt its duplication on the lecture
platform. There his triumphs were such as to lead him to resign as night ed=
itor
of the Sun in 1892 and make astronomy his life work. Until 1894 he was occu=
pied
with "The Urania Lectures." These were sponsored by Andrew Carneg=
ie,
and dealt with geology, astronomy, archeology and similar scientific topics.
With them Serviss successfully toured the country, and it was only because =
of
the great difficulty in transporting the elaborate staging equipment they r=
equired
that they were eventually discontinued. He continued to give popular lectur=
es,
however, and one of his few biographers has credited his greatness on the
rostrum to "a pleasant voice, a charming personality, and a genuine
enthusiasm for his subject."
One cannot doubt =
this
enthusiasm; it shines forth unmistakably from all his writings. Probably, t=
oo,
it played the major part in enabling him to reach a wider reading public th=
an
any other astronomer before or after him. For he never abandoned the pen. Up
until his death, which occurred on May 25, 1929, he wrote continually,
syndicated newspaper columns, magazine articles, books on astronomy, fictio=
n.
His first book,
Astronomy with an Opera Glass, appeared in 1888. He was responsible for sev=
eral
other scientific titles (the reader is referred to the bibliography at the =
end
of this volume for a detailed listing); they include Einstein's Theory of
Relativity, which is a companion work to the motion picture of the same nam=
e. He
was also editor-in-chief of Collier's sixteen-volume Popular Science Librar=
y. It
might be added that much of the editing and captioning of the Einstein film=
was
his work, and that he collaborated with Leon Barritt in the invention of the
Barritt-Serviss Star and Planet Finder, a device still in use.
In comparison with
his other writings his output of fiction is small: five novels and a single
short story. It is, however, characterized by the same logic and interest, =
this
time tossed aloft to soar on the wings of romantic imagination. Two of these
works deal in some detail with the world of the future as he thought it mig=
ht
be--prophetic fiction, if you will; another two give us a picture of life on
neighboring planets; and the final couple, although they maintain a terrest=
rial
locale, show as wide a scope of creative invention.
In only one of th=
ese
does astronomy fail to play at least a supporting role. That is The Sky Pir=
ate
(1909), which is an adventure story laid in the year 1936. Its plot revolves
around an abduction for ransom in a period which is visualized as rampant w=
ith
piracy because of the general adoption of air transportation. As usual, fact
has outmoded prophecy, for long before 1936 airplane speeds exceeded the 140
miles per hour Serviss predicted. We still need, though, his invention which
enables badly damaged aircraft to drift slowly down to a safe landing.
The Moon Metal (1=
900)
deals with the problem of a strange, lunar metal used as a monetary standar=
d to
replace gold when, in 1949, huge new deposits of that metal rendered it com=
mon
as iron. This is of short story length, and amply demonstrates the author's
mastery of that medium.
From the propheti=
c as
well as the entertainment standpoint, one of Garrett Serviss' most interest=
ing
novels is A Columbus of Space. Here he visualizes atomic energy liberated a=
nd
harnessed to drive a rocket to the planet Venus. His conception is uncannily
close to truth; he names uranium as the raw material from which is extracted
the vital substance, a "crystallized powder" which releases its
energy on proper treatment. No less intriguing is the description of the
intelligent civilizations on Venus which explorers from this world find.
Two later novels =
came
from his pen: The Moon Maiden (1915) and The Second Deluge (1911). The form=
er
is a scientific mystery, and probably the least distinguished of his works.=
The
latter, conversely, is probably his best. It tells of a watery nebula which
collides with the earth, flooding it with a second deluge; and of how the h=
uman
race is saved through the wisdom of one man who foresaw the coming disaster=
in time
to build a second ark. A new civilization which has mastered the secret of
atomic energy springs up on the planet as the waters recede. The canvas is a
broad one, and the author does it full justice.
Serviss' outstand=
ing
stories have been published abroad and re-printed in this country several
times, a deserved tribute to their quality and popularity. His very first w=
ork
of fiction, however, has been shrouded in obscurity for nearly half a centu=
ry.
Indeed, among collectors and aficionados of the fantastic there was for a t=
ime
debate as to its actual existence. This is hardly surprising, for until its
reprinting in this book Edison's Conquest of Mars lay buried in the Congres=
sional
Library's file of the ephemeral New York Evening Journal, where it ran seri=
ally
in early 1898.
This is a remarka=
ble
work. First of all, as many readers will quickly discern, it is in a sense a
sequel to H. G. Wells' well known War of the Worlds. The latter novel was
serialized by Cosmopolitan magazine in 1897; it caught the public's fickle
fancy, and was widely commented upon. All evidence indicates that Serviss a=
lso
read it: he was a regular contributor to Cosmopolitan. Yet I am inclined to=
doubt
that mere reading of The War of the Worlds in itself prompted him to produc=
e a work
in the same vein. Wells' effort was not concluded until the December, 1897
number of the magazine, and Edison's Conquest of Mars began on the following
January 12th--a scant six weeks later. For Serviss it was the initial excur=
sion
into the realm of fiction, and it is hard to conceive his so hastily adopti=
ng a
new metier on personal impulse alone. These circumstances, in conjunction w=
ith
the context of the novel itself, clearly stamp the entire business as cleve=
r capitalization
on already existent publicity. Again, I doubt if he thought of it at first =
in
that light; his name was well enough known so that he could live by his
knowledge, not his wits. But to a newspaper editor the prospect of combining
the authority of a nationally known and reputable astronomer with a work
designed to satisfy a reading public's waiting appetite for the unusual--in
short, presenting legitimatized sensationalism at the psychological moment-=
-this
must have had irresistible appeal. That Edison's Conquest of Mars was writt=
en
on editorial commission, perhaps as fast as it appeared, seems, then, the m=
ost
probable interpretation.
Historically, the
work is one of the earliest to employ the interplanetary theme. It is the f=
irst
to portray a battle fought by space craft in the airless void; and possibly=
the
first also to propose the use of sealed suits that enable men to traverse a
vacuum. Of the more minor twists of plot initially found here that have sin=
ce
become parts of the "pulp" science-fiction writers' standard
stock-in-trade, there are literally too many to mention.
The novel opens w=
ith
a description of the ruins of eastern America. Although the Martians who
survived terrestrial bacteria have left the planet, astronomical observatio=
ns
show a recurrence on the red planet of the same lights that were a prelude =
to
the first onslaught. The conclusion is inevitable: a second invasion is on =
the
way. Serviss pictures the gathering together of the most famous scientists =
of
the day--Edison, Roentgen, Lord Kelvin and others. The Martian machines and=
weapons
left behind are dismantled; their principles of operation are discovered and
duplicated; and a defense against their forces is perfected. Armed with this
knowledge and with the "disintegrator," a device invented by Edis=
on
which is capable of reducing to atoms any substance at which it is aimed, t=
he
nations of the world pool their resources and launch an invasion of Mars ac=
ross
interplanetary space.
More by way of
explanation than justification, it should be stated that science today is
diminishing the number of critics who are wont to label plots of this nature
"too fantastic." For them to say that the colossal has become more
important than the rational is, I feel, misleading. For this is a branch of
literature that is in many respects the most rational of all: it is a sympt=
om
of progress. These same critics also complain that a fantastic plot is
frequently developed at the expense of characterization. To this, one may
answer that at times what happens can be more important than the people to =
whom
it happens. In essence, both charges derive from laying undue stress upon
psychology as the only legitimate fibre from which a fictional cloth may be
woven. Undoubtedly psychology is necessary--but it can be a warp alone if a
strong woof is supplied. Let me cite two imaginary examples. If a single
scientist had released atomic energy and was in doubt as to whether he shou=
ld
destroy his secret or reveal it, the psychological processes that determine=
his
decision become more relevant to consideration than the decision itself. Bu=
t if
that same scientist managed by the aid of atomic energy to transport himsel=
f to
Mars, I would unquestionably be more interested in what he found on that pl=
anet
than in why an Oedipus complex drove him there in the first place.
In the fiction of
Garrett Serviss the sweeping magnitude of events described gives them the
leading role. Yet within the limits he has set for himself he has used human
psychology to good advantage. His stories do not lack empathy, and they are
rich in pictorial detail. Inevitably they reflect the mores of the time, bu=
t do
not emphasize them unduly. As a consequence they remain readable and
entertaining even to this day.
They show, too, t=
hat
he was familiar with the works of the few authors in the genre who preceeded
him. A Columbus of Space was dedicated "to the readers of Jules Verne's
romances,"
Not because the author flatters hims=
elf
that he can walk in the Footst=
eps of
that Immortal Dreamer, but because, like Jules Verne, he believes that the World of Imagin=
ation
is as legitimate a Domain of t=
he
Human Mind as the World of Fact.
Garrett Serviss
modestly underestimated his abilities. With the perspective we possess toda=
y it
can be seen that he is easily the equal of Verne, standing with him and H. =
G.
Wells as one of the foremost science-fiction writers of his day.
A. Langley Searles New York, N. Y. May 1=
947
EDISON'S
CONQUEST OF MARS
CHAPTER ONE - "LET U=
S GO
TO MARS"
It is impossible that the stupendous eve=
nts
which followed the disastrous invasion of the earth by the Martians should =
go
without record, and circumstances having placed the facts at my disposal, I
deem it a duty, both to posterity and to those who were witnesses of and pa=
rticipants
in the avenging counterstroke that the earth dealt back at its ruthless ene=
my
in the heavens, to write down the story in a connected form.
The Martians had
nearly all perished, not through our puny efforts, but in consequence of
disease, and the few survivors fled in one of their projectile cars, inflic=
ting
their crudest blow in the act of departure.
They possessed a
mysterious explosive, of unimaginable puissance, with whose aid they set th=
eir
car in motion for Mars from a point in Bergen County, N. J., just back of t=
he
Palisades.
The force of the
explosion may be imagined when it is recollected that they had to give the =
car
a velocity of more than seven miles per second in order to overcome the att=
raction
of the earth and the resistance of the atmosphere.
The shock destroy=
ed
all of New York that had not already fallen a prey, and all the buildings y=
et
standing in the surrounding towns and cities fell in one far-circling ruin.=
The Palisades tum=
bled
in vast sheets, starting a tidal wave in the Hudson that drowned the opposi=
te
shore.
The victims of th=
is
ferocious explosion were numbered by tens of thousands, and the shock,
transmitted through the rocky frame of the globe, was recorded by seismogra=
phic
pendulums in England and on the Continent of Europe.
The terrible resu=
lts
achieved by the invaders had produced everywhere a mingled feeling of
consternation and hopelessness. The devastation was widespread. The
death-dealing engines which the Martians had brought with them had proved
irresistible and the inhabitants of the earth possessed nothing capable of
contending against them. There had been no protection for the great cities;=
no
protection even for the open country. Everything had gone down before the
savage onslaught of those merciless invaders from space. Savage ruins cover=
ed
the sites of many formerly flourishing towns and villages, and the broken w=
alls
of great cities stared at the heavens like the exhumed skeletons of Pompeii.
The awful agencies had extirpated pastures and meadows and dried up the ver=
y springs
of fertility in the earth where they had touched it. In some parts of the
devastated lands pestilence broke out; elsewhere there was famine. Desponde=
ncy
black as night brooded over some of the fairest portions of the globe.
Yet all had not b=
een
destroyed, because all had not been reached by the withering hand of the
destroyer. The Martians had not had time to complete their work before they
themselves fell a prey to the diseases that carried them off at the very
culmination of their triumph.
From those lands
which had, fortunately, escaped invasion, relief was sent to the sufferers.=
The
outburst of pity and of charity exceeded anything that the world had known.
Differences of race and religion were swallowed up in the universal sympathy
which was felt for those who had suffered so terribly from an evil that was=
as
unexpected as it was unimaginable in its enormity.
But the worst was=
not
yet. More dreadful than the actual suffering and the scenes of death and
devastation which overspread the afflicted lands was the profound mental and
moral depression that followed. This was shared even by those who had not s=
een
the Martians and had not witnessed the destructive effects of the frightful=
engines
of war that they had imported for the conquest of the earth. All mankind was
sunk deep in this universal despair, and it became tenfold blacker when the=
astronomers
announced from their observatories that strange lights were visible, moving=
and
flashing upon the red surface of the Planet of War. These mysterious
appearances could only be interpreted in the light of past experience to me=
an
that the Martians were preparing for another invasion of the earth, and who
could doubt that with the invincible powers of destruction at their command
they would this time make their work complete and final?
This startling
announcement was the more pitiable in its effects because it served to unne=
rve
and discourage those few of stouter hearts and more hopeful temperaments who
had already begun the labor of restoration and reconstruction amid the embe=
rs
of their desolated homes. In New York this feeling of hope and confidence, =
this
determination to rise against disaster and to wipe out the evidences of its
dreadful presence as quickly as possible, had especially manifested itself.
Already a company had been formed and a large amount of capital subscribed =
for
the reconstruction of the destroyed bridges over the East River. Already ar=
chitects
were busily at work planning new twenty-story hotels and apartment houses; =
new
churches and new cathedrals on a grander scale than before.
Amid this stir of
renewed life came the fatal news that Mars was undoubtedly preparing to dea=
l us
a death blow. The sudden revulsion of feeling flitted like the shadow of an
eclipse over the earth. The scenes that followed were indescribable. Men lo=
st
their reason. The faint-hearted ended the suspense with self-destruction, t=
he stout-hearted
remained steadfast, but without hope and knowing not what to do.
But there was a g=
leam
of hope of which the general public as yet knew nothing. It was due to a few
dauntless men of science, conspicuous among whom were Lord Kelvin, the great
English savant; Herr Roentgen, the discover of the famous X-ray, and especi=
ally
Thomas A. Edison, the American genius of science. These men and a few others
had examined with the utmost care the engines of war, the flying machines, =
the
generators of mysterious destructive forces that the Martians had produced,
with the object of discovering, if possible, the sources of their power.
Suddenly from Mr.
Edison's laboratory at Orange flashed the startling intelligence that he had
not only discovered the manner in which the invaders had been able to produ=
ce
the mighty energies which they employed with such terrible effect, but that,
going further, he had found a way to overcome them.
The glad news was
quickly circulated throughout the civilized world. Luckily the Atlantic cab=
les
had not been destroyed by the Martians, so that communication between the
Eastern and Western continents was uninterrupted. It was a proud day for
America. Even while the Martians had been upon the earth, carrying everythi=
ng
before them, demonstrating to the confusion of the most optimistic that the=
re
was no possibility of standing against them, a feeling--a confidence had
manifested itself in France, to a minor extent in England, and particularly=
in
Russia, that the Americans might discover means to meet and master the
invaders.
Now, it seemed, t=
his
hope and expectation was to be realized. Too late, it is true, in a certain
sense, but not too late to meet the new invasion which the astronomers had
announced was impending. The effect was as wonderful and indescribable as t=
hat
of the despondency which but a little while before had overspread the world.
One could almost hear the universal sigh of relief which went up from human=
ity.
To relief succeeded confidence--so quickly does the human spirit recover li=
ke
an elastic spring, when pressure is released.
"Let them
come," was the almost joyous cry. "We shall be ready for them now.
The Americans have solved the problem. Edison has placed the means of victo=
ry
within our power."
Looking back upon
that time now, I recall, with a thrill, the pride that stirred me at the
thought that, after all, the inhabitants of the earth were a match for those
terrible men from Mars, despite all the advantage which they had gained from
their millions of years of prior civilization and science.
As good fortunes,
like bad, never come singly, the news of Mr. Edison's discovery was quickly
followed by additional glad tidings from that laboratory of marvels in the =
lap
of the Orange mountains. During their career of conquest the Martians had
astonished the inhabitants of the earth no less with their flying
machines--which navigated our atmosphere as easily as they had that of their
native planet--than with their more destructive inventions. These flying
machines in themselves had given them an enormous advantage in the contest.
High above the desolation that they had caused to reign on the surface of t=
he
earth, and, out of the range of our guns, they had hung safe in the upper a=
ir.
From the clouds they had dropped death upon the earth.
Now, rumor declar=
ed
that Mr. Edison had invented and perfected a flying machine much more compl=
ete
and manageable than those of the Martians had been. Wonderful stories quick=
ly
found their way into the newspapers concerning what Mr. Edison had already
accomplished with the aid of his model electrical balloon. His laboratory w=
as
carefully guarded against the invasion of the curious, because he rightly f=
elt
that a premature announcement, which should promise more than could actuall=
y be
fulfilled, would, at this critical juncture, plunge mankind back again into=
the
gulf of despair, out of which it had just begun to emerge.
Nevertheless,
inklings of the truth leaked out. The flying machine had been seen by many
persons hovering by night high above the Orange hills and disappearing in t=
he
faint starlight as if it had gone away into the depths of space, out of whi=
ch
it would re-emerge before the morning light had streaked the east, and be s=
een
settling down again within the walls that surrounded the laboratory of the
great inventor. At length the rumor, gradually deepening into a conviction,
spread that Edison himself, accompanied by a few scientific friends, had ma=
de
an experimental trip to the moon. At a time when the spirit of mankind was =
less
profoundly stirred, such a story would have been received with complete inc=
redulity,
but now, rising on the wings of the new hope that was buoying up the earth,
this extraordinary rumor became a day star of truth to the nations.
And it was true. I
had myself been one of the occupants of the car of the flying Ship of Space=
on that
night when it silently left the earth, and rising out of the great shadow of
the globe, sped on to the moon. We had landed upon the scarred and desolate
face of the earth's satellite, and but that there are greater and more
interesting events, the telling of which must not be delayed, I should
undertake to describe the particulars of this first visit of men to another
world.
But, as I have
already intimated, this was only an experimental trip. By visiting this lit=
tle
nearby island in the ocean of space, Mr. Edison simply wished to demonstrate
the practicability of his invention, and to convince, first of all, himself=
and
his scientific friends that it was possible for men--mortal men--to quit an=
d to
revisit the earth at their will. That aim this experimental trip triumphant=
ly
attained.
It would carry me
into technical details that would hardly interest the reader to describe the
mechanism of Mr. Edison's flying machine. Let it suffice to say that it
depended upon the principal of electrical attraction and repulsion. By mean=
s of
a most ingenious and complicated construction he had mastered the problem of
how to produce, in a limited space, electricity of any desired potential an=
d of
any polarity, and that without danger to the experimenter or to the material
experimented upon. It is gravitation, as everybody knows, that makes man a
prisoner on the earth. If he could overcome, or neutralize, gravitation he
could float away, a free creature of interstellar space. Mr. Edison in his =
invention
had pitted electricity against gravitation. Nature, in fact, had done the s=
ame
thing long before. Every astronomer knew it, but none had been able to imit=
ate
or to reproduce this miracle of nature. When a comet approaches the sun, the
orbit in which it travels indicates that it is moving under the impulse of =
the
sun's gravitation. It is in reality falling in a great parabolic or ellipti=
cal
curve through space. But, while a comet approaches the sun it begins to
display--stretching out for millions, and sometimes hundreds of millions of
miles on the side away from the sun--an immense luminous train called its t=
ail.
This train extends back into that part of space from which the comet is mov=
ing.
Thus the sun at one and the same time is drawing the comet toward itself and
driving off from the comet in an opposite direction minute particles or ato=
ms
which, instead of obeying the gravitational force, are plainly compelled to
disobey it. That this energy, which the sun exercises against its own
gravitation, is electrical in its nature, hardly anybody will doubt. The he=
ad
of the comet being comparatively heavy and massive, falls on toward the sun,
despite the electrical repulsion. But the atoms which form the tail, being
almost without weight, yield to the electrical rather than to the gravitati=
onal
influence, and so fly away from the sun.
Now, what Mr. Edi=
son
had done was, in effect, to create an electrified particle which might be
compared to one of the atoms composing the tail of a comet, although in rea=
lity
it was a kind of car, of metal, weighing some hundreds of pounds and capabl=
e of
bearing some thousands of pounds with it in its flight. By producing, with =
the
aid of the electrical generator contained in this car, an enormous charge of
electricity, Mr. Edison was able to counterbalance, and a trifle more than =
counterbalance,
the attraction of the earth, and thus cause the car to fly off from the ear=
th
as an electrified pithball flies from the prime conductor.
As we sat in the
brilliantly lighted chamber that formed the interior of the car, and where
stores of compressed air had been provided together with chemical apparatus=
, by
means of which fresh supplies of oxygen and nitrogen might be obtained for =
our
consumption during the flight through space, Mr. Edison touched a polished =
button,
thus causing the generation of the required electrical charge on the exteri=
or
of the car, and immediately we began to rise.
The moment and
direction of our flight had been so timed and prearranged, that the original
impulse would carry us straight toward the moon.
When we fell with=
in
the sphere of attraction of that orb it only became necessary to so manipul=
ate
the electrical charge upon our car as nearly, but not quite, to counterbala=
nce
the effect of the moon's attraction in order that we might gradually approa=
ch
it and with an easy motion, settle, without shock, upon its surface.
We did not remain=
to
examine the wonders of the moon, although we could not fail to observe many
curious things therein. Having demonstrated the fact that we could not only
leave the earth, but could journey through space and safely land upon the
surface of another planet, Mr. Edison's immediate purpose was fulfilled, an=
d we
hastened back to the earth, employing in leaving the moon and landing again
upon our own planet the same means of control over the electrical attraction
and repulsion between the respective planets and our car which I have alrea=
dy described.
When actual
experiment had thus demonstrated the practicability of the invention, Mr.
Edison no longer withheld the news of what he had been doing from the world.
The telegraph lines and the ocean cables labored with the messages that in
endless succession, and burdened with an infinity of detail, were sent all =
over
the earth. Everywhere the utmost enthusiasm was aroused.
"Let the
Martians come," was the cry. "If necessary, we can quit the earth=
as
the Athenians fled from Athens before the advancing host of Xerxes, and like
them, take refuge upon our ships--these new ships of space, with which Amer=
ican
inventiveness has furnished us."
And then, like a
flash, some genius struck out an idea that fired the world.
"Why should =
we
wait? Why should we run the risk of having our cities destroyed and our lan=
ds
desolated a second time? Let us go to Mars. We have the means. Let us beard=
the
lion in his den. Let us ourselves turn conquerors and take possession of th=
at
detestable planet, and if necessary, destroy it in order to relieve the ear=
th
of this perpetual threat which now hangs over us like the sword of
Damocles."
CHAPTER TWO - THE
DISINTEGRATOR
This enthusiasm would have had but little
justification had Mr. Edison done nothing more than invent a machine which
could navigate the atmosphere and the regions of interplanetary space.
He had, however, =
and
this fact was generally known, although the details had not yet leaked
out--invented also machines of war intended to meet the utmost that the
Martians could do for either offence or defence in the struggle which was n=
ow
about to ensue.
Acting upon the h=
int
which had been conveyed from various investigations in the domain of physic=
s,
and concentrating upon the problem all those unmatched powers of intellect
which distinguished him, the great inventor had succeeded in producing a li=
ttle
implement which one could carry in his hand, but which was more powerful th=
an
any battleship that ever floated. The details of its mechanism could not be
easily explained, without the use of tedious technicalities and the employm=
ent of
terms, diagrams and mathematical statements, all of which would lie outside=
the
scope of this narrative. But the principle of the thing was simple enough. =
It
was upon the great scientific doctrine, which we have since seen so complet=
ely
and brilliantly developed, of the law of harmonic vibrations, extending from
atoms and molecules at one end of the series up to the worlds and suns at t=
he
other end, that Mr. Edison based his invention.
Every kind of
substance has its own vibratory rhythm. That of iron differs from that of p=
ine
wood. The atoms of gold do not vibrate in the same time or through the same
range as those of lead, and so on for all known substances, and all the
chemical elements. So, on a larger scale, every massive body has its period=
of
vibration. A great suspension bridge vibrates, under the impulse of forces =
that
are applied to it, in long periods. No company of soldiers ever crosses suc=
h a
bridge without breaking step. If they tramped together, and were followed by
other companies keeping the same time with their feet, after a while the vi=
brations
of the bridge would become so great and destructive that it would fall in
pieces. So any structure, if its vibration rate is known, could easily be
destroyed by a force applied to it in such a way that it should simply incr=
ease
the swing of those vibrations up to the point of destruction.
Now Mr. Edison had
been able to ascertain the vibratory swing of many well known substances, a=
nd
to produce, by means of the instrument which he had contrived, pulsations in
the ether which were completely under his control, and which could be made =
long
or short, quick or slow, at his will. He could run through the whole gamut =
from
the slow vibrations of sound in air up to the four hundred and twenty-five
millions of millions of vibrations per second of the ultra red rays.
Having obtained an
instrument of such power, it only remained to concentrate its energy upon a
given object in order that the atoms composing that object should be set in=
to
violent undulation, sufficient to burst it asunder and to scatter its molec=
ules
broadcast. This the inventor effected by the simplest means in the
world--simply a parabolic reflector by which the destructive waves could be
sent like a beam of light, but invisible, in any direction and focused upon=
any
desired point.
I had the good
fortune to be present when this powerful engine of destruction was submitte=
d to
its first test. We had gone upon the roof of Mr. Edison's laboratory and the
inventor held the little instrument, with its attached mirror, in his hand.=
We
looked about for some object on which to try its powers. On a bare limb of a
tree not far away, for it was late in fall, sat a disconsolate crow.
"Good,"
said Mr. Edison, "that will do." He touched a button at the side =
of
the instrument and a soft, whirring noise was heard.
"Feathers,&q=
uot;
said Mr. Edison, "have a vibration period of three hundred and eighty-=
six
million per second."
He adjusted the i=
ndex
as he spoke. Then, through a sighting tube, he aimed at the bird.
"Now
watch," he said.
Another soft whir=
r in
the instrument, a momentary flash of light close around it, and, behold, the
crow had turned from black to white!
"Its feathers
are gone," said the inventor; "they have been dissipated into the=
ir
constituent atoms. Now, we will finish the crow."
Instantly there w=
as another
adjustment of the index, another outshooting of vibratory force, a rapid up=
and
down motion of the index to include a certain range of vibrations, and the =
crow
itself was gone--vanished in empty space! There was the bare twig on which a
moment before it had stood. Behind, in the sky, was the white cloud against
which its black form had been sharply outlined, but there was no more crow.=
"That looks =
bad
for the Martians, doesn't it?" said the Wizard. "I have ascertain=
ed
the vibration rate of all the materials of which their war engines, whose
remains we have collected together, are composed. They can be shattered into
nothingness in the fraction of a second. Even if the vibration period were =
not
known, it could quickly be hit upon by simply running through the gamut.&qu=
ot;
"Hurrah!&quo=
t;
cried one of the onlookers. "We have met the Martians and they are
ours."
Such in brief was=
the
first of the contrivances which Mr. Edison invented for the approaching war
with Mars.
And these facts h=
ad
become widely known. Additional experiments had completed the demonstration=
of
the inventor's ability, with the aid of his wonderful instrument, to destroy
any given object, or any part of an object, provided that that part differe=
d in
its atomic constitution, and consequently in its vibratory period, from the
other parts.
A most impressive
public exhibit of the powers of the little disintegrator was given amid the
ruins of New York. On lower Broadway a part of the walls of one of the giga=
ntic
buildings, which had been destroyed by the Martians, impended in such a man=
ner
that it threatened at any moment to fall upon the heads of the passersby. T=
he
Fire Department did not dare touch it. To blow it up seemed a dangerous exp=
edient,
because already new buildings had been erected in its neighborhood, and the=
ir
safety would be imperilled by the flying fragments. The fact happened to co=
me
to my knowledge.
"Here is an
opportunity," I said to Mr. Edison, "to try the powers of your
machine on a large scale."
"Capital,&qu=
ot;
he instantly replied. "I shall go at once."
For the work now =
in
hand it was necessary to employ a battery of disintegrators, since the fiel=
d of
destruction covered by each was comparatively limited. All of the impending
portions of the wall must be destroyed at once and together, for otherwise =
the
danger would rather be accentuated rather than annihilated. The disintegrat=
ors
were placed upon the roof of a neighboring building, so adjusted that their
fields of destruction overlapped one another upon the wall. Their indexes w=
ere
all set to correspond with the vibration period of the peculiar kind of bri=
ck
of which the wall consisted. Then the energy was turned on, and a shout of
wonder arose from the multitudes which had assembled at a safe distance to
witness the experiment.
The wall did not
fall; it did not break asunder; no fragments shot this way and that and hig=
h in
the air; there was no explosion; no shock or noise disturbed the still
atmosphere--only a soft whirr, that seemed to pervade everything and to tin=
gle
in the nerves of the spectators; and--what had been was not! The wall was g=
one!
But high above and all around the place where it had hung over the street w=
ith
its threat of death there appeared, swiftly billowing outward in every
direction, a faint bluish cloud. It was the scattered atoms of the destroyed
wall.
And now the cry
"On to Mars!" was heard on all sides. But for such an enterprise
funds were needed--millions upon millions. Yet some of the fairest and rich=
est
portions of the earth had been impoverished by the frightful ravages of tho=
se
enemies who had dropped down upon them from the skies. Still, the money mus=
t be
had. The salvation of the planet, as everyone was now convinced, depended u=
pon
the successful negotiation of a gigantic war fund, in comparison with which=
all
the expenditures in all of the wars that had been waged by the nations for
2,000 years would be insignificant. The electrical ships and the vibration
engines must be constructed by scores and thousands. Only Mr. Edison's imme=
nse
resources and unrivaled equipment had enabled him to make the models whose
powers had been so satisfactorily shown. But to multiply these upon a war s=
cale
was not only beyond the resources of any individual--hardly a nation on the
globe in the period of its greatest prosperity could have undertaken such a
work. All the nations, then, must now conjoin. They must unite their resour=
ces,
and if necessary, exhaust all their hoards, in order to raise the needed su=
m.
Negotiations were=
at
once begun. The United States naturally took the lead, and their leadership=
was
never for a moment questioned abroad.
Washington was
selected as the place of meeting for a great congress of nations. Washingto=
n,
luckily, had been one of the places which had not been touched by the Marti=
ans.
But if Washington had been a city composed of hotels alone, and every hotel=
so
great as to be a little city in itself, it would have been utterly insuffic=
ient
for the accommodation of the innumerable throngs which now flocked to the b=
anks
of the Potomac. But when was American enterprise unequal to a crisis? The
necessary hotels, lodging-houses and restaurants were constructed with
astounding rapidity. One could see the city growing and expanding day by day
and week after week. It flowed over Georgetown Heights; it leaped the Potom=
ac;
it spread east and west, south and north; square mile after square mile of
territory was buried under the advancing buildings, until the gigantic city,
which had thus grown up like a mushroom in a night, was fully capable of ac=
commodating
all its expected guests.
At first it had b=
een
intended that the heads of the various governments should in person attend =
this
universal congress, but as the enterprise went on, as the enthusiasm spread=
, as
the necessity for haste became more apparent through the warning notes which
were constantly sounded from the observatories where the astronomers were
nightly beholding new evidences of threatening preparations in Mars, the ki=
ngs
and queens of the old world felt that they could not remain at home; that t=
heir
proper place was at the new focus and center of the whole world--the city o=
f Washington.
Without concerted action, without interchange of suggestion, this impulse
seemed to seize all the old world monarchs at once. Suddenly cablegrams fla=
shed
to the government at Washington, announcing that Queen Victoria, the Emperor
William, the Czar Nicholas, Alphonso of Spain, with his mother, Maria
Christina; the old emperor Francis Joseph and the empress Elizabeth, of
Austria; King Oscar and Queen Sophia, of Sweden and Norway; King Humbert and
Queen Margherita, of Italy; King George and Queen Olga, of Greece; Abdul Ha=
mid,
of Turkey; Tsait'ien, Emperor of China; Mutsuhito, the Japanese Mikado, with
his beautiful Princess Haruko; the President of France, the President of
Switzerland, the First Syndic of the little republic of Andorra, perched on=
the
crest of the Pyrenees, and the heads of all the Central and South American =
republics,
were coming to Washington to take part in the deliberations, which, it was
felt, were to settle the fate of earth and Mars.
One day, after th=
is
announcement had been received, and the additional news had come that nearly
all the visiting monarchs had set out, attended by brilliant suites and
convoyed by fleets of warships, for their destination, some coming across t=
he
Atlantic to the port of New York, others across the Pacific to San Francisc=
o,
Mr. Edison said to me:
"This will b=
e a
fine spectacle. Would you like to watch it?"
"Certainly,&=
quot;
I replied.
The Ship of Space= was immediately at our disposal. I think I have not yet mentioned the fact that= the inventor's control over the electrical generator carried in the car was so perfect that by varying the potential or changing the polarity he could cau= se it slowly or swiftly, as might be desired, to approach or recede from any object. The only practical difficulty was presented when the polarity of the electrical charge upon an object in the neighborhood of the car was unknown= to those in the car, and happened to be opposite to that of the charge to which the = car, at that particular moment was bearing. In such a case, of course, the car w= ould fly toward the object, whatever it might be, like a pithball or a feather, attracted to the knob of an electrical machine. In this way, considerable danger was occasionally encountered, and a few accidents could not be avoid= ed. Fortunately, however, such cases were rare. It was only now and then that, owing to some local cause, electrical polarities unknown to or unexpected by the navigators, endangered the safety of the car. As I shall have occasion = to relate however, in the course of the narrative, this danger became more acu= te and assumed at times a most formidable phase, when we had ventured outside the sphere of the earth and were moving through the unexplored regions beyond.<= o:p>
On this occasion,
having embarked, we rose rapidly to a height of some thousands of feet and
directed our course over the Atlantic. When half-way to Ireland, we beheld,=
in
the distance, steaming westward, the smoke of several fleets. As we drew ne=
arer
a marvelous spectacle unfolded itself to our eyes. From the northeast, their
great guns flashing in the sunlight and their huge funnels belching black
volumes that rested like thunder clouds upon the sea, came the mighty warsh=
ips of
England, with her meteor flag streaming red in the breeze, while the royal
insignia, indicating the presence of the ruler of the British Empire, was
conspicuously displayed upon the flagship of the squadron.
Following a course
more directly westward there appeared, under another black cloud of smoke, =
the
hulls and guns and burgeons of another great fleet, carrying the tri-color =
of
France, and bearing in its midst the head of the magnificent republic of
western Europe.
Further south,
beating up against the northerly winds came a third fleet with the gold and=
red
of Spain fluttering from its masthead. This, too, was carrying its King
westward, where now, indeed, the star of empire had taken its way.
Rising a little
higher, so as to extend our horizon, we saw coming down the English channel,
behind the British fleet, the black ships of Russia. Side by side, or follo=
wing
one another's lead, these war fleets were on a peaceful voyage that belied
their threatening appearance. There had been no thought of danger to or from
the forts and ports of rival nations which they had passed. There was no
enmity, and no fear between them when the throats of their ponderous guns
yawned at one another across the waves. They were now, in spirit, all one
fleet, having one object, bearing against one enemy, ready to defend but on=
e country,
and that country was the entire earth.
It was some time
before we caught sight of the emperor William's fleet. It seems that the
Kaiser, although at first consenting to the arrangement by which Washington=
had
been selected as the assembling place for the nations, afterwards objected =
to
it.
"I ought to =
do
this thing myself," he had said. "My glorious ancestors would nev=
er
have consented to allow these upstart Republicans to lead in a warlike
enterprise of this kind. What would my grandfather have said to it? I suspe=
ct
that it is some scheme aimed at the divine right of kings."
But the good sens=
e of
the German people would not suffer their ruler to place them in a position =
so
false and so untenable. And swept along by their enthusiasm the Kaiser had =
at
last consented to embark upon his flagship at Kiel, and now he was following
the other fleets on their great mission to the Western Continent.
Why did they bring
their warships when their intentions were peaceable, do you ask? Well, it w=
as
partly the effect of ancient habit, and partly due to the fact that such
multitudes of officials and members of ruling families wished to embark for
Washington that the ordinary means of ocean communications would have been
utterly inadequate to convey them.
After we had feas=
ted
our eyes on this strange sight, Mr. Edison suddenly exclaimed: "Now le=
t us
see the fellows from the rising sun."
The car was immediately directed toward the west. We rapidly approached the American co= ast, and as we sailed over the Allegheny Mountains and the broad plains of the O= hio and the Mississippi, we saw crawling beneath us from west, south and north,= an endless succession of railway trains bearing their multitudes on toward Washington. With marvelous speed we rushed westward, rising high to skim ov= er the snow-topped peaks of the Rocky Mountains and then the glittering rim of= the Pacific was before us. Half-way between the American Coast and Hawaii we met the fleets coming from China and Japan. Side by side they were plowing the = main, having forgotten, or laid aside, all the animosities of their former wars.<= o:p>
I well remember h=
ow
my heart was stirred at this impressive exhibition of the boundless influen=
ce
which my country had come to exercise over all the people of the world, and=
I
turned to look at the man to whose genius this uprising of the earth was du=
e.
But Mr. Edison, after his wont, appeared totally unconscious of the fact th=
at
he was personally responsible for what was going on. His mind, seemingly, w=
as
entirely absorbed in considering problems, the solution of which might be e=
ssential
to our success in the terrific struggle which was soon to begin.
"Well, have =
you
seen enough?" he asked. "Then let us go back to Washington."=
As we speeded back
across the continent we beheld beneath us again the burdened express trains
rushing toward the Atlantic, and hundreds of thousands of upturned eyes wat=
ched
our swift progress, and volleys of cheers reached our ears, for everyone kn=
ew
that this was Edison's electrical warship, on which the hope of the nation,=
and
the hopes of all the nations, depended. These scenes were repeated again and
again until the car hovered over the still expanding capitol on the Potomac=
, where
the unceasing ring of hammers rose to the clouds.
CHAPTER THREE - THE CONGR=
ESS
OF NATIONS
The day appointed for the assembling of =
the
nations in Washington opened bright and beautiful. Arrangements had been ma=
de
for the reception of the distinguished guests at the Capitol. No time was t=
o be
wasted, and having assembled in the Senate Chamber, the business that had
called them together was to be immediately begun. The scene in Pennsylvania=
Avenue,
when the procession of dignitaries and royalties passed up toward the Capit=
ol
was one never to be forgotten. Bands were playing, magnificent equipages
flashed in the morning sunlight, the flags of every nation on the earth
fluttered in the breeze. Queen Victoria, with the Prince of Wales escorting
her, and riding in an open carriage, was greeted with roars of cheers; the
emperor William, following in another carriage with empress Victoria at his
side, condescended to bow and smile in response to the greetings of a free
people. Each of the other monarchs was received in a similar manner. The Cz=
ar
of Russia proved to be an especial favorite with the multitude on account of
the ancient friendship of his house for America. But the greatest applause =
of
all came when the President of France, followed by the President of Switzer=
land
and the First Syndic of the little republic of Andorra, made their appearan=
ce.
Equally warm were the greetings extended to the representatives of Mexico a=
nd
the South American States.
The crowd apparen=
tly
hardly knew at first how to receive the Sultan of Turkey, but the universal
good feeling was in his favor, and finally rounds of hand clapping and chee=
rs
greeted his progress along the splendid avenue.
A happy idea had
apparently occurred to the Emperor of China and the Mikado of Japan, for,
attended by their intermingled suites, they rode together in a single carri=
age.
This object lesson in the unity of international feeling immensely pleased =
the
spectators.
The scene in the
Senate Chamber stirred everyone profoundly. That it was brilliant and magni=
ficent
goes without saying, but there was a seriousness, an intense feeling of
expectancy, pervading both those who looked on and those who were to do the
work for which these magnates of the earth had assembled, which produced an
ineradicable impression. The President of the United States, of course,
presided. Representatives of the greater powers occupied the front seats, a=
nd
some of them were honored with special chairs near the President.
No time was waste=
d in
preliminaries. The President made a brief speech.
"We have come
together," he said, "to consider a question that equally interests
the whole earth. I need not remind you that unexpectedly and without
provocation on our part the people--the monsters, I should rather say--of M=
ars,
recently came down upon the earth, attacked us in our homes and spread
desolation around them. Having the advantage of ages of evolution, which fo=
r us
are yet in the future, they brought with them engines of death and destruct=
ion
against which we found it impossible to contend. It is within the memory of
every one within reach of my voice that it was through the entirely unexpec=
ted
succor which Providence sent us that we were suddenly and effectually freed
from the invaders. By our own efforts we could have done nothing.
"But, as you=
all
know, the first feeling of relief which followed the death of our foes was
quickly succeeded by the fearful news which came to us from the observatori=
es,
that the Martians were undoubtedly preparing for a second invasion of our
planet. Against this we should have had no recourse and no hope but for the
genius of one of my countrymen, who, as you are all aware, has perfected me=
ans
which may enable us not only to withstand the attack of those awful enemies,
but to meet them, and, let us hope, to conquer them on their own ground.
"Mr. Edison =
is
here to explain to you what those means are. But we have also another objec=
t.
Whether we send a fleet of interplanetary ships to invade Mars or whether we
simply confine our attention to works of defense, in either case it will be
necessary to raise a very large sum of money. None of us has yet recovered =
from
the effects of the recent invasion. The earth is poor today compared to its
position a few years ago; yet we can not allow our poverty to stand in the =
way.
The money, the means, must be had. It will be part of our business here to
raise a gigantic war fund by the aid of which we can construct the equipment
and machinery that we shall require. This, I think, is all I need to say. L=
et
us proceed to business."
"Where is Mr.
Edison?" cried a voice.
"Will Mr. Ed=
ison
please step forward?" said the President.
There was a stir =
in
the assembly, and the iron-grey head of the great inventor was seen moving
through the crowd. In his hand he carried one of his marvelous disintegrato=
rs.
He was requested to explain and illustrate its operation. Mr. Edison smiled=
.
"I can expla=
in
its details," he said, "to Lord Kelvin, for instance, but if Their
Majesties will excuse me, I doubt whether I can make it plain to the Crown
Heads."
The Emperor Willi=
am
smiled superciliously. Apparently he thought that another assault had been
committed upon the divine right of kings. But the Czar Nicholas appeared to=
be
amused, and the Emperor of China, who had been studying English, laughed in=
his
sleeve, as if he suspected that a joke had been perpetrated.
"I think,&qu=
ot;
said one of the deputies, "that a simple exhibition of the powers of t=
he
instrument, without a technical explanation of its method of working, will
suffice for our purpose."
This suggestion w=
as
immediately approved. In response to it, Mr. Edison, by a few simple
experiments, showed how he could quickly and certainly shatter into its
constituent atoms any object upon which the vibratory force of the
disintegrator should be directed. In this manner he caused an inkstand to
disappear under the very nose of the Emperor William without a spot of ink
being scattered upon his sacred person, but evidently the odor of the disun=
ited
atoms was not agreeable to the nostrils of the Kaiser.
Mr. Edison also
explained in general terms the principle on which the instrument worked. He=
was
greeted with round after round of applause, and the spirit of the assembly =
rose
high.
Next the workings=
of
the electrical ship were explained, and it was announced that after the mee=
ting
had adjourned an exhibition of the flying powers of the ship would be given=
in
the open air.
These experiments,
together with the accompanying explanations, added to what had already been
disseminated through the public press, were quite sufficient to convince all
the representatives who had assembled in Washington that the problem of how=
to
conquer the Martians had been solved. The means were plainly at hand. It on=
ly
remained to apply them. For this purpose, as the President had pointed out,=
it
would be necessary to raise a very large sum of money.
"How much wi=
ll
be needed?" asked one of the English representatives.
"At least ten
thousand millions of dollars," replied the President.
"It would be
safer," said a Senator from the Pacific Coast, "to make it twenty
five thousand millions."
"I
suggest," said the King of Italy, "that the nations be called in =
alphabetical
order, and that the representatives of each name a sum which he is ready and
able to contribute."
"We want the=
cash
or its equivalent," shouted the Pacific Coast Senator.
"I shall not
follow the alphabet strictly," said the President, "but shall beg=
in
with the larger nations first. Perhaps, under the circumstances, it is prop=
er
that the United States should lead the way. Mr. Secretary," he continu=
ed,
turning to the Secretary of the Treasury, "how much can we stand?"=
;
"At least a
thousand millions," replied the Secretary of the Treasury.
A roar of applause
that shook the room burst from the assembly. Even some of the monarchs thre=
w up
their hats. The Emperor Tsait'ien smiled from ear to ear. One of the Roko T=
uis,
or native chiefs, from Fiji, sprang up and brandished a war club.
The President then
proceeded to call the other nations, beginning with Austria-Hungary and end=
ing
with Zanzibar, whose Sultan, Hamoud bin Mahomed, had come to the congress in
the escort of Queen Victoria. Each contributed liberally.
Germany, coming in
alphabetical order just before Great Britain, had named, through its
chancellor, the sum of
500,000,000, but =
when
the First Lord of the British Treasury, not wishing to be behind the United=
States,
named double that sum as the contribution of the British Empire, the Emperor
William looked displeased. He spoke a word in the ear of the Chancellor who
immediately raised his hand.
"We will giv=
e a
thousand million dollars," said the Chancellor.
Queen Victoria se=
emed
surprised, though not displeased. The First Lord of the Treasury met her ey=
e,
and then, rising in his place, said:
"Make it fif=
teen
hundred million for Great Britain."
Emperor William
consulted again with his Chancellor, but evidently concluded not to increase
his bid.
But, at any rate,=
the
fund had benefited to the amount of a thousand millions by this little outb=
urst
of imperial rivalry.
The greatest surp=
rise
of all, however, came when the King of Siam was called upon for his
contribution. He had not been given a foremost place in the Congress, but w=
hen
the name of his country was pronounced he rose by his chair, dressed in a g=
orgeous
specimen of the peculiar attire of his country, then slowly pushed his way =
to
the front, stepped up to the President's desk and deposited upon it a small
box.
"This is our
contribution," he said in broken English.
The cover was lif=
ted,
and there darted, shimmering in the half-gloom of the Chamber, a burst of
iridescence from the box.
"My friends =
of
the Western world," continued the King of Siam, "will be interest=
ed
in seeing this gem. Only once before has the eye of a European been blessed
with the sight of it. Your books will tell you that in the seventeenth cent=
ury
a traveller, Tavernier, saw in India an unmatched diamond which afterward
disappeared like a meteor, and was thought to have been lost from the earth.
You all know the name of that diamond and its history. It is the Great Mogu=
l,
and it lies before you. How it came into my possession I shall not explain.=
At
any rate, it is honestly mine, and I freely contribute it here to aid in
protecting my native planet against those enemies who appear determined to
destroy it."
When the exciteme=
nt
which the appearance of this long lost treasure, that had been the subject =
of
so many romances and of such long and fruitless search, had subsided, the
President continued calling the list, until he had completed it.
Upon taking the s=
um
of the contributions (the Great Mogul was reckoned at three millions) it was
found to be still one thousand millions short of the required amount.
The secretary of =
the
Treasury was instantly on his feet.
"Mr.
President," he said, "I think we can stand that addition. Let it =
be added
to the contribution of the United States of America."
When the cheers t=
hat
greeted the conclusion of the business were over, the President announced t=
hat
the next affair of the Congress was to select a director who should have en=
tire
charge of the preparations for the war. It was the universal sentiment that=
no
man could be so well suited for this post as Mr. Edison himself. He was
accordingly selected by the unanimous and enthusiastic choice of the great
assembly.
"How long a =
time
do you require to put everything in readiness?" asked the President.
"Give me car=
te
blanche," replied Mr. Edison, "and I believe I can have a hundred
electric ships and three thousand disintegrators ready within six months.&q=
uot;
A tremendous cheer
greeted this announcement.
"Your powers=
are
unlimited," said the President, "draw on the fund for as much mon=
ey
as you need," whereupon the Treasurer of the United States was made the
disbursing officer of the fund, and the meeting adjourned.
Not less than
5,000,000 people had assembled at Washington from all parts of the world. E=
very
one of this immense multitude had been able to listen to the speeches and t=
he
cheers in the Senate Chamber, although not personally present there. Wires =
had
been run all over the city, and hundreds of improved telephonic receivers
provided, so that everyone could hear. Even those who were unable to visit
Washington, people living in Baltimore, New York, Boston, and as far away as
New Orleans, St. Louis and Chicago, had also listened to the proceedings wi=
th
the aid of these receivers. Upon the whole, probably not less than 50,000,0=
00 people
had heard the deliberations of the great congress of the nations.
The telegraph and=
the
cable had sent the news across the oceans to all the capitols of the earth.=
The
exultation was so great that the people seemed mad with joy.
The promised
exhibition of the electrical ship took place the next day. Enormous multitu=
des
witnessed the experiment, and there was a struggle for places in the car. E=
ven
Queen Victoria, accompanied by the Prince of Wales, ventured to take a ride=
in
it, and they enjoyed it so much that Mr. Edison prolonged the journey as fa=
r as
Boston and the Bunker Hill monument.
Most of the other
monarchs also took a high ride, but when the turn of the Emperor of China c=
ame
he repeated a fable which he said had come down from the time of Confucius:=
"Once upon a
time there was a Chinaman living in the valley of the Hoang-Ho River, who w=
as
accustomed frequently to lie on his back, gazing at, and envying, the birds
that he saw flying away in the sky. One day he saw a black speck which rapi=
dly
grew larger and larger, until as it got near he perceived that it was an
enormous bird, which overshadowed the earth with its wings. It was the elep=
hant
of birds, the roc. 'Come with me,' said the roc, 'and I will show you the
wonders of the kingdom of the birds.' The man caught hold of its claw and
nestled among its feathers, and they rapidly rose high in the air, and sail=
ed
away to the Kuen-Lun Mountains. Here, as they passed near the top of the pe=
aks,
another roc made its appearance. The wings of the two great birds brushed
together, and immediately they fell to fighting. In the midst of the melee =
the
man lost his hold and tumbled into the top of a tree, where his pigtail cau=
ght
on a branch, and he remained suspended. There the unfortunate man hung
helpless, until a rat, which had its home in the rocks at the foot of the t=
ree,
took compassion upon him, and, climbing up, gnawed off the branch. As the m=
an
slowly and painfully wended his weary way homeward, he said: 'This teaches =
me
that creatures to whom nature has given neither feathers nor wings should l=
eave
the kingdom of the birds to those who are fitted to inhabit it.'"
Having told this
story, Tsait'ien turned his back on the electrical ship.
After the exhibit=
ion
was finished, and amid the fresh outburst of enthusiasm that followed, it w=
as
suggested that a proper way to wind up the Congress and give suitable
expression to the festive mood which now possessed mankind would be to have=
a
grand ball. This suggestion met with immediate and universal approval.
But for so gigant=
ic
an affair it was, of course, necessary to make special preparations. A
convenient place was selected on the Virginia side of the Potomac; a space =
of
ten acres was carefully levelled and covered with a polished floor, rows of
columns one hundred feet apart were run across it in every direction, and t=
hese
were decorated with electric lights, displaying every color of the spectrum=
.
Above this immense
space, rising in the center to a height of more than a thousand feet, was
anchored a vast number of balloons, all aglow with lights, and forming a
tremendous dome, in which brilliant lamps were arranged in such a manner as=
to
exhibit, in an endless succession of combinations, all the national colors,
ensigns and insignia of the various countries represented at the Congress.
Blazing eagles, lions, unicorns, dragons and other imaginary creatures that=
the
different nations had chosen for their symbols appeared to hover high above=
the
dancers, shedding a brilliant light upon the scene.
Circles of
magnificent thrones were placed upon the floor in convenient locations for
seeing. A thousand bands of music played, and tens of thousands of couples,
gayly dressed and flashing with gems, whirled together upon the polished fl=
oor.
The Queen of Engl=
and
led the dance, on the arm of the President of the United States.
The Prince of Wal=
es
led forth the fair daughter of the President, universally admired as the mo=
st
beautiful woman on the great ballroom floor.
The Emperor Willi=
am,
in his military dress, danced with the beauteous Princess Masaco, the daugh=
ter
of the Mikado, who wore for the occasion the ancient costume of the women of
her country, sparkling with jewels, and glowing with quaint combinations of
color like a gorgeous butterfly.
The Chinese Emper=
or,
with his pigtail flying high as he spun, danced with the Empress of Russia.=
The King of Siam
essayed a waltz with the Queen Ranavalona of Madagascar, while the Sultan of
Turkey basked in the smiles of a Chicago heiress to a hundred millions.
The Czar chose for
his partner a dark-eyed beauty from Peru, but King Malietoa, of Samoa, was
suspicious of civilized charmers and, avoiding all of their allurements,
expressed his joy and gave vent to his enthusiasm in a pas seul. In this he=
was
quickly joined by a band of Sioux Indian chiefs, whose whoops and yells so
startled the leader of a German band on their part of the floor that he dro=
pped
his baton, and followed by the musicians, took to his heels.
This incident amu=
sed
the good-natured Emperor of China more than anything else that had occurred=
.
"Make muchee
noisee," he said, indicating the fleeing musicians with his thumb.
"Allee samee muchee flaid noisee," and then his round face dimpled
into another laugh.
The scene from the
outside was even more imposing than that which greeted the eye within the
brilliantly lighted enclosure. Far away in the night, rising high among the
stars, the vast dome of illuminated balloons seemed, like some supernatural
creation, too grand and glorious to have been constructed by the inhabitant=
s of
the earth.
All around it, and
from some of the balloons themselves, rose jets and fountains of fire,
ceasingly playing, and blotting out the constellations of the heavens by th=
eir
splendor.
The dance was
followed by a grand banquet, at which the Prince of Wales proposed a toast =
to
Mr. Edison:
"It gives me
much pleasure," he said, "to offer, in the name of the nations of=
the
Old World, this tribute of our admiration for, and our confidence in, the
genius of the New World. Perhaps on such an occasion as this, when all raci=
al
differences and prejudices ought to be, and are, buried and forgotten, I sh=
ould
not recall anything that might revive them; yet I cannot refrain from
expressing my happiness in knowing that the champion who is to achieve the
salvation of the earth has come forth from the bosom of the Anglo-Saxon
race."
Several of the gr=
eat
potentates looked grave upon hearing the Prince of Wales' words, and the Cz=
ar
and the Kaiser exchanged glances; but there was no interruption to the chee=
rs
that followed. Mr. Edison, whose modesty and dislike to display and to
speechmaking were well known, simply said:
"I think we =
have
got the machine that can whip them. But we ought not to be wasting any time.
Probably they are not dancing on Mars, but are getting ready to make us
dance."
These words insta=
ntly
turned the current of feeling in the vast assembly. There was no longer any
disposition to expend time in vain boastings and rejoicings. Everywhere the=
cry
now became, "Let us make haste! Let us get ready at once! Who knows but
the Martians have already embarked, and are now on their way to destroy
us?"
Under the impulse=
of
this new feeling, which, it must be admitted, was very largely inspired by
terror, the vast ballroom was quickly deserted. The lights were suddenly put
out in the great dome of balloons, for someone had whispered:
"Suppose they
should see that from Mars? Would they not guess what we were about, and
redouble their preparations to finish us?"
Upon the suggesti=
on
of the President of the United States, an executive committee, representing=
all
the principal nations, was appointed, and without delay a meeting of this
committee was assembled at the White House. Mr. Edison was summoned before =
it,
and asked to sketch briefly the plan upon which he proposed to work.
I need not enter =
into
the details of what was done at this meeting. Let it suffice to say that wh=
en
it broke up, in the small hours of the morning, it had been unanimously
resolved that as many thousands of men as Mr. Edison might require should be
immediately placed at his disposal; that as far as possible all the great
manufacturing establishments of the country should be instantly transformed
into factories where electrical ships and disintegrators could be built, an=
d upon
the suggestion of Professor Sylvanus P. Thompson, the celebrated English
electrical expert, seconded by Lord Kelvin, it was resolved that all the
leading men of science in the world should place their services at the disp=
osal
of Mr. Edison in any capacity in which, in his judgement, they might be use=
ful
to him.
The members of th=
is
committee were disposed to congratulate one another on the good work which =
they
had so promptly accomplished, when at the moment of their adjournment, a
telegraphic dispatch was handed to the President from Professor George E. H=
ale,
the director of the great Yerkes Observatory, in Wisconsin. The telegram re=
ad:
"Professor
Barnard, watching Mars tonight with the forty-inch telescope, saw a sudden
outburst of reddish light, which we think indicates that something has been
shot from the planet. Spectroscopic observations of this moving light indic=
ated
that it was coming earthward, while visible, at the rate of not less than o=
ne
hundred miles a second."
Hardly had the
excitement caused by the reading of this dispatch subsided, when others of a
similar import came from the Lick Observatory, in California; from the bran=
ch
of the Harvard Observatory at Arequipa, in Peru, and from the Royal
Observatory, at Potsdam.
When the telegram
from this last named place was read the Emperor William turned to his
Chancellor and said:
"I want to go
home. If I am to die I prefer to leave my bones among those of my imperial
ancestors and not in this vulgar country, where no king has ever ruled. I d=
on't
like this atmosphere. It makes me limp."
And now, whipped =
on
by the lash of alternate hope and fear, the earth sprang to its work of
preparation.
CHAPTER FOUR - TO CONQUER
ANOTHER WORLD
It is not necessary for me to describe t=
he
manner in which Mr. Edison performed his tremendous task. He was as good as=
his
word, and within six months from the first stroke of the hammer, a hundred
electrical ships, each provided with a full battery of disintegrators, were=
floating
in the air above the harbor and the partially rebuilt city of New York.
It was a wonderful
scene. The polished sides of the huge floating cars sparkled in the sunligh=
t,
and, as they slowly rose and fell, and swung this way and that, upon the ti=
des
of the air, as if held by invisible cables, the brilliant pennons streaming
from their peaks waved up and down like the wings of an assemblage of gigan=
tic
humming birds.
Not knowing wheth=
er
the atmosphere of Mars would prove suitable to be breathed by inhabitants of
the earth, Mr. Edison had made provision, by means of an abundance of
glass-protected openings, to permit the inmates of the electrical ships to
survey their surroundings without quitting the interior. It was possible by
properly selecting the rate of undulation, to pass the vibratory impulse fr=
om
the disintegrators through the glass windows of a car without damage to the
glass itself. The windows were so arranged that the disintegrators could sw=
eep
around the car on all sides, and could also be directed above or below, as =
necessity
might dictate.
To overcome the
destructive forces employed by the Martians no satisfactory plan had yet be=
en
devised, because there was no means to experiment with them. The production=
of
those forces was still the secret of our enemies. But Mr. Edison had no dou=
bt
that if we could not resist their efforts we might at least be able to avoid
them by the rapidity of our motions. As he pointed out, the war machines wh=
ich
the Martians had employed in their invasion of the earth, were really very =
awkward
and unmanageable affairs. Mr. Edison's electrical ships, on the other hand,
were marvels of speed and of manageability. They could dart about, turn,
reverse their course, rise, fall, with the quickness and ease of a fish in =
the
water. Mr. Edison calculated that even if mysterious bolts should fall upon=
our
ships we could diminish their power to cause injury by our rapid evolutions=
.
We might be decei=
ved
in our expectations, and might have overestimated our powers, but at any ra=
te
we must take our chances and try.
A multitude,
exceeding even that which had assembled during the great congress in
Washington, now thronged New York and its neighborhood to witness the muste=
ring
and the departure of the ships bound for Mars. Nothing further had been hea=
rd
of the mysterious phenomenon reported from the observatories six months bef=
ore,
and which at the time was believed to indicate the departure of another
expedition from Mars for the invasion of the earth. If the Martians had set=
out
to attack us they had evidently gone astray; or, perhaps, it was some other
world that they were aiming at this time.
The expedition ha=
d,
of course, profoundly stirred the interest of the scientific world, and
representatives of every branch of science, from all the civilized nations,
urged their claims to places in the ships. Mr. Edison was compelled, from l=
ack
of room, to refuse transportation to more than one in a thousand of those w=
ho
now, on the plea that they might be able to bring back something of advanta=
ge
to science, wished to embark for Mars.
On the model of t=
he
celebrated corps of literary and scientific men which Napoleon carried with=
him
in his invasion of Egypt, Mr. Edison selected a company of the foremost
astronomers, archaeologists, anthropologists, botanists, bacteriologists,
chemists, physicists, mathematicians, mechanics, meteorologists and experts=
in
mining, metallurgy and every other branch of practical science, as well as =
artists
and photographers. It was but reasonable to believe that in another world, =
and
a world so much older than the earth as Mars was, these men would be able to
gather materials in comparison with which the discoveries made among the ru=
ins
of ancient empires in Egypt and Babylonia would be insignificant indeed.
It was a wonderful
undertaking and a strange spectacle. There was a feeling of uncertainty whi=
ch
awed the vast multitude whose eyes were upturned to the ships. The expediti=
on
was not large, considering the gigantic character of the undertaking. Each =
of
the electrical ships carried about twenty men, together with an abundant su=
pply
of compressed provisions, compressed air, scientific apparatus and so on. In
all, there were about 2,000 men, who were going to conquer, if they could, =
another
world!
But though few in
numbers, they represented the flower of the earth, the culmination of the
genius of the planet. The greatest leaders in science, both theoretical and
practical, were there. It was the evolution of the earth against the evolut=
ion
of Mars. It was a planet in the hey-day of its strength matched against an =
aged
and decrepit world which, nevertheless, in consequence of its long ages of
existence, had acquired an experience which made it a most dangerous foe. On
both sides there was desperation. The earth was desperate because it foresa=
w destruction
unless it could first destroy its enemy. Mars was desperate because nature =
was
gradually depriving it of the means of supporting life, and its teeming
population was compelled to swarm like the inmates of an overcrowded hive of
bees, and find new homes elsewhere. In this respect the situation on Mars, =
as
we were well aware, resembled what had already been known upon the earth, w=
here
the older nations overflowing with population had sought new lands in which=
to
settle, and for that purpose had driven out the native inhabitants, whenever
those natives had proven unable to resist the invasion.
No man could fore=
see the
issue of what we were about to undertake, but the tremendous powers which t=
he
disintegrators had exhibited and the marvelous efficiency of the electrical
ships bred almost universal confidence that we should be successful.
The car in which =
Mr.
Edison travelled was, of course, the flagship of the squadron, and I had the
good fortune to be included among its inmates. Here, besides several leading
men of science from our own country, were Lord Kelvin, Lord Rayleigh, Profe=
ssor
Roentgen, Dr. Moissan--the man who first made artificial diamonds--and seve=
ral
others whose fame had encircled the world. Each of these men cherished hope=
s of
wonderful discoveries, along his line of investigation, to be made in Mars.=
An elaborate syst=
em
of signals had, of course, to be devised for the control of the squadron. T=
hese
signals consisted of brilliant electric lights displayed at night and so
controlled that by their means long sentences and directions could be easily
and quickly transmitted.
The day signals
consisted partly of brightly colored pennons and flags, which were to serve
only when, shadowed by clouds or other obstructions, the full sunlight could
not fall upon the ship. This could naturally only occur near the surface of=
the
earth or of another planet.
Once out of the
shadow of the earth we should have no more clouds and no more night until we
arrived at Mars. In open space the sun would be continually shining. It wou=
ld
be perpetual day for us, except as, by artificial means, we furnished ourse=
lves
with darkness for the purpose of promoting sleep. In this region of perpetu=
al
day, then, the signals were also to be transmitted by flashes of light from
mirrors reflecting the rays of the sun.
Yet this perpetual
day would be also, in one sense, a perpetual night. There would be no more =
blue
sky for us, because without an atmosphere the sunlight could not be diffuse=
d.
Objects would be illuminated only on the side toward the sun. Anything that
screened off the direct rays of sunlight would produce absolute darkness be=
hind
it. There would be no graduation of shadow. The sky would be as black as in=
k on
all sides.
While it was the
intention to remain as much as possible within the cars, yet since it was
probable that necessity would arise for occasionally quitting the interior =
of
the electrical ships, Mr. Edison had provided for this emergency by inventi=
ng
an air-tight dress constructed somewhat after the manner of a diver's suit,=
but
of much lighter material. Each ship was provided with several of these suit=
s,
by wearing which one could venture outside the ship even when it was beyond=
the
atmosphere of the earth.
Provision had been
made to meet the terrific cold which we knew would be encountered the momen=
t we
had passed beyond the atmosphere--that awful absolute zero which men had
measured by anticipation, but never yet experienced--by a simple system of
producing within the air-tight suits a temperature sufficiently elevated to
counteract the effects of the frigidity without. By means of long, flexible
tubes, air could be continually supplied to the wearers of the suits, and b=
y an
ingenious contrivance a store of compressed air sufficient to last for seve=
ral hours
was provided for each suit, so that in case of necessity the wearer could t=
hrow
off the tubes connecting him with the air tanks in the car. Another object
which had been kept in view in the preparation of these suits was the possi=
ble
exploration of an airless planet, such as the moon.
The necessity of =
some
contrivance by means of which we should be enabled to converse with one ano=
ther
while outside the cars in open space, or when in an airless world, like the
moon, where there would be no medium by which the waves of sound could be
conveyed as they are in the atmosphere of the earth, had been foreseen by o=
ur
great inventor, and he had not found it difficult to contrive suitable devi=
ces
for meeting the emergency.
Inside the headpi=
ece
of each of the electrical suits was the mouthpiece of a telephone. This was
connected to a wire which, when not in use, could be conveniently coiled up=
on
the arm of the wearer. Near the ears, similarly connected with wires, were
telephonic receivers.
When two persons
wearing the air-tight dresses wished to converse with one another it was on=
ly
necessary for them to connect themselves by the wires, and conversation cou=
ld
then be easily carried on.
Careful calculati=
ons
of the precise distance of Mars from the earth at the time when the expedit=
ion
was to start had been made by a large number of experts in mathematical
astronomy. But it was not Mr. Edison's intention to go direct to Mars. With=
the
exception of the first electrical ship, which he had completed, none had yet
been tried in a long voyage. It was desirable that the qualities of each of=
the
ships should first be carefully tested, and for this reason the leader of t=
he expedition
determined that the moon should be the first port of space at which the
squadron would call.
It chanced that t=
he
moon was so situated at this time as to be nearly in a line between the ear=
th
and Mars, which latter was in opposition to the sun, and consequently as
favorably situated as possible for the purposes of the voyage. What would b=
e,
then, for 99 out of the 100 ships of the squadron, a trial trip would at the
same time be a step of a quarter of a million of miles gained in the direct=
ion
of our journey, and so no time would be wasted.
The departure from
the earth was arranged to occur precisely at midnight. The moon near the fu=
ll
was hanging high over head, and a marvelous spectacle was presented to the =
eyes
of those below as the great squadron of floating ships, with their insignia
lights ablaze, cast loose and began slowly to move away on their adventurous
and unprecedented expedition into the great unknown. A tremendous cheer, bi=
llowing
up from the throats of millions of excited men and women, seemed to rend the
curtain of the night, and made the airships tremble with the atmospheric
vibrations that were set in motion.
Instantly magnifi=
cent
fireworks were displayed in honor of our departure. Rockets by hundreds of
thousands shot heaven-ward, and then burst in constellations of firey drops.
The sudden illumination thus produced, overspreading hundreds of square mil=
es
of the surface of the earth with a light almost like that of day, must
certainly have been visible to the inhabitants of Mars, if they were watchi=
ng
us at the time. They might, or might not, correctly interpret its significa=
nce;
but, at any rate, we did not care. We were off, and were confident that we
could meet our enemy on his own ground before he could attack us again.
And now, as we sl=
owly
rose higher, a marvelous scene was disclosed. At first the earth beneath us,
buried as it was in night, resembled the hollow of a vast cup of ebony
blackness, in the center of which, like the molten lava run together at the
bottom of a volcanic crater, shone the light of the illuminations around New
York. But when we got beyond the atmosphere, and the earth still continued =
to
recede below us, its aspect changed. The cup-shaped appearance was gone, an=
d it
began to round out beneath our eyes in the form of a vast globe--an enormous
ball mysteriously suspended under us, glimmering over most of its surface, =
with
the faint illumination of the moon, and showing toward its eastern edge the
oncoming light of the rising sun.
When we were still
further away, having slightly varied our course so that the sun was once mo=
re
entirely hidden behind the center of the earth, we saw its atmosphere
completely illuminated, all around it, with prismatic lights, like a gigant=
ic
rainbow in the form of a ring.
Another shift in =
our
course rapidly carried us out of the shadow of the earth and into that all
pervading sunshine. Then the great planet beneath us hung unspeakable in its
beauty. The outlines of several of the continents were clearly discernible =
on
its surface, streaked and spotted with delicate shades of varying color, and
the sunlight flashed and glowed in long lanes across the convex surface of =
the
oceans. Parallel with the Equator and along the regions of the ever blowing=
trade
winds, were vast belts of clouds, gorgeous with crimson and purple as the
sunlight fell upon them. Immense expanses of snow and ice lay like a glitte=
ring
garment upon both land and sea around the North Pole.
As we gazed upon =
this
magnificent spectacle, our hearts bounded within us. This was our earth--th=
is
was the planet we were going to defend--our home in the trackless wildernes=
s of
space. And it seemed to us indeed a home for which we might gladly expend o=
ur
last breath. A new determination to conquer or die sprang up in our hearts,=
and
I saw Lord Kelvin, after gazing at the beauteous scene which the earth
presented through his eyeglass, turn about and peer in the direction in whi=
ch
we knew that Mars lay, with a sudden frown that caused the glass to lose its
grip and fall dangling from its string upon his breast. Even Mr. Edison see=
med
moved.
"I am glad I
thought of the disintegrator," he said. "I shouldn't like to see =
that
world down there laid waste again."
"And it won't
be," said Professor Sylvanus P. Thompson, gripping the handle of an
electric machine, "not if we can help it."
CHAPTER FIVE - THE FOOTPR=
INT
ON THE MOON
To prevent accidents, it had been arrang=
ed
that the ships should keep a considerable distance apart. Some of them grad=
ually
drifted away, until, on account of the neutral tint of their sides, they we=
re
swallowed up in the abyss of space. Still it was possible to know where eve=
ry
member of the squadron was through the constant interchange of signals. The=
se,
as I have explained, were effected by means of mirrors flashing back the li=
ght
of the sun.
But, although it =
was
now unceasing day for us, yet, there being no atmosphere to diffuse the sun=
's
light, the stars were visible to us just as at night upon the earth, and th=
ey
shone with extraordinary splendor against the intense black background of t=
he
firmament. The lights of some of the more distant ships of our squadron were
not brighter than the stars in whose neighborhood they seemed to be. In some
cases it was only possible to distinguish between the light of a ship and t=
hat
of a star by the fact that the former was continually flashing while the st=
ar was
steady in its radiance.
The most uncanny
effect was produced by the absence of atmosphere around us. Inside the car,=
where
there was air, the sunlight, streaming through one or more of the windows, =
was
diffused and produced ordinary daylight.
But when we ventu=
red
outside we could only see things by halves. The side of the car that the su=
n's
rays touched was visible, the other side was invisible, the light from the
stars not making it bright enough to affect the eye in contrast with the
sun-illumined half.
As I held up my a=
rm
before my eyes, half of it seemed to be shaved off lengthwise; a companion =
on
the deck of the ship looked like half a man. So the other electrical ships =
near
us appeared as half ships, only the illumined sides being visible.
We had now gotten=
so
far away that the earth had taken on the appearance of a heavenly body like=
the
moon. Its colors had become all blended into a golden-reddish hue, which
overspread nearly its entire surface, except at the poles, where there were
broad patches of white. It was marvelous to look at this huge orb behind us,
while far beyond it shone the blazing sun like an enormous star in the blac=
kest
of nights. In the opposite direction appeared the silver orb of the moon, a=
nd
scattered all around were millions of brilliant stars, amid which, like
fireflies, flashed and sparkled the signal lights of the squadron.
A danger that mig=
ht
easily have been anticipated, that perhaps had been anticipated, but against
which it had been difficult, if not impossible, to provide, presently
manifested itself.
Looking out of a
window toward the right, I suddenly noticed the lights of a distant ship
darting about in a curious curve. Instantly afterward, another member of the
squadron, nearer by, behaved in the same inexplicable manner. Then two or t=
hree
of the floating cars seemed to be violently drawn from their courses and
hurried rapidly in the direction of the flagship. Immediately I perceived a
small object, luridly flaming, which seemed to move with immense speed in o=
ur
direction.
The truth instant=
ly
flashed upon my mind, and I shouted to the other occupants of the car:
"A meteor!&q=
uot;
And such indeed it
was. We had met this mysterious wanderer in space at a moment when we were
moving in a direction at right angles to the path it was pursuing around the
sun. Small as it was, and its diameter probably did not exceed a single foo=
t,
it was yet an independent little world, and as such a member of the solar
system. Its distance from the sun being so near that of the earth, I knew t=
hat
its velocity, assuming it to be travelling in a nearly circular orbit, must=
be
about eighteen miles in a second. With this velocity, then, it plunged like=
a projectile
shot by some mysterious enemy in space directly through our squadron. It had
come and was gone before one could utter a sentence of three words. Its
appearance, and the effect it had produced upon the ships in whose neighbor=
hood
it passed, indicated that it bore an intense and tremendous charge of
electricity. How it had become thus charged I cannot pretend to say. I simp=
ly
record the fact. And this charge, it was evident, was opposite in polarity =
to
that which the ships of the squadron bore. It therefore exerted an attracti=
ve
influence upon them and thus drew them after it.
I had just time to
think how lucky it was that the meteor did not strike any of us, when, glan=
cing
at a ship just ahead, I perceived that an accident had occurred. The ship
swayed violently from its course, dazzling flashes played around it, and tw=
o or
three of the men forming its crew appeared for an instant on its exterior,
wildly gesticulating, but almost instantly falling prone.
It was evident at=
a
glance that the car had been struck by the meteor. How serious the damage m=
ight
be we could not instantly determine. The course of our ship was immediately
altered, the electric polarity was changed and we rapidly approached the di=
sabled
car.
The men who had
fallen lay upon its surface. One of the heavy circular glasses covering a
window had been smashed to atoms. Through this the meteor had passed, killi=
ng
two or three men who stood in its course. Then it had crashed through the o=
pposite
side of the car, and, passing on, had disappeared into space. The store of =
air
contained in the car had immediately rushed out through the openings, and w=
hen
two or three of us, having donned our air-tight suits as quickly as possibl=
e,
entered the wrecked car we found all its inmates stretched upon the floor i=
n a condition
of asphyxiation. They, as well as those who lay upon the exterior, were
immediately removed to the flagship, restoratives were applied, and,
fortunately, our aid had come so promptly that the lives of all of them were
saved. But life had fled from the mangled bodies of those who had stood
directly in the path of the fearful projectile.
This strange acci=
dent
had been witnessed by several of the members of the fleet, and they quickly=
drew
together, in order to inquire for the particulars. As the flagship was now
overcrowded by the addition of so many men to its crew, Mr. Edison had them
distributed among the other cars. Fortunately it happened that the
disintegrators contained in the wrecked car were not injured. Mr. Edison
thought that it would be possible to repair the car itself, and for that
purpose he had it attached to the flagship in order that it might be carrie=
d on
as far as the moon. The bodies of the dead were transported with it, as it =
was determined,
instead of committing them to the fearful deep of space, where they would h=
ave
wandered forever, or else have fallen like meteors upon the earth, to give =
them
interment in the lunar soil.
As we now rapidly
approached the moon the change which the appearance of its surface underwent
was no less wonderful than that which the surface of the earth had presente=
d in
the reverse order while we were receding from it. From a pale silver orb,
shining with comparative faintness among the stars, it slowly assumed the
appearance of a vast mountainous desert. As we drew nearer its colors became
more pronounced; the great flat regions appeared darker; the mountain peaks
shone more brilliantly. The huge chasms seemed bottomless and blacker than =
midnight.
Gradually separate mountains appeared. What seemed like expanses of snow an=
d immense
glaciers streaming down their sides sparkled with great brilliancy in the
perpendicular rays of the sun. Our motion had now assumed the aspect of
falling. We seemed to be dropping from an immeasurable height, and with an
inconceivable velocity, straight down upon those giant peaks.
Here and there
curious lights glowed upon the mysterious surface of the moon. Where the ed=
ge
of the moon cut the sky behind it, it was broken and jagged with mountain
masses. Vast crater rings overspread its surface, and in some of these I
imagined I could perceive a lurid illumination coming out of their deepest
cavities, and the curling of mephitic vapors around their terrible jaws.
We were approachi=
ng
that part of the moon which is known to the astronomers as the Bay of Rainb=
ows.
Here a huge semi-circular region, as smooth almost as the surface of a prai=
rie,
lay beneath our eyes, stretching southward into a vast ocean-like expanse, =
while
on the north it was enclosed by an enormous range of mountain cliffs, risin=
g perpendicularly
to a height of many thousands of feet, and rent and gashed in every directi=
on
by forces which seemed at some remote period to have labored at tearing this
little world in pieces.
It was a fearful
spectacle; a dead and mangled world, too dreadful to look upon. The idea of=
the
death of the moon was, of course, not a new one to many of us. We had long =
been
aware that the earth's satellite was a body which had passed beyond the sta=
ge
of life, if indeed it had ever been a life supporting globe; but none of us
were prepared for the terrible spectacle which now smote our eyes.
At each end of the semi-circular ridge that encloses the Bay of Rainbows there is a lofty prom= ontory. That at the northwestern extremity had long been known to the astronomers u= nder the name of Cape Laplace. The other promontory, at the southeastern termination, is called Cape Heraclides. It was toward the latter that we we= re approaching, and by interchange of signals all the members of the squadron = had been informed that Cape Heraclides was to be our rendezvous upon the moon.<= o:p>
I may say that I =
had
been somewhat familiar with the scenery of this part of the lunar world, fo=
r I
had often studied it from the earth with a telescope, and I had thought tha=
t if
there was any part of the moon where one might, with fair expectation of
success, look for inhabitants, or if not inhabitants, at least for relics of
life no longer existant there, this would surely be the place. It was,
therefore, with no small degree of curiosity, notwithstanding the unexpecte=
dly
frightful and repulsive appearance that the surface of the moon presented, =
that
I now saw myself rapidly approaching the region concerning whose secrets my=
imagination
had so often busied itself. When Mr. Edison and I had paid our previous tri=
p to
the moon on our first experimental trip of the electrical ship we had lande=
d at
a point on its surface remote from this, and, as I have before explained, we
then made no effort to investigate its secrets. But now it was to be differ=
ent,
and we were at length to see something of the wonders of the moon.
I had often on the
earth drawn a smile from my friends by showing them Cape Heraclides with a
telescope, and calling their attention to the fact that the outline of the =
peak
terminating the cape was such as to present a remarkable resemblance to a h=
uman
face, unmistakably a feminine countenance, seen in profile, and possessing =
no
small degree of beauty. To my astonishment, this curious human semblance st=
ill
remained when we had approached so close to the moon that the mountains for=
ming
the cape filled nearly the whole field of view of the window from which I w=
as
watching it. The resemblance, indeed, was most startling.
"Can this in=
deed
be Diana herself?" I said half-aloud, but instantly afterward I was
laughing at my fancy, for Mr. Edison had overhead me and exclaimed, "W=
here
is she?"
"Who?"<= o:p>
"Diana."=
;
"Why,
there," I said, pointing to the moon. But lo! the appearance was gone =
even
while I spoke. A swift change had taken place in the line of sight by which=
we
were viewing it, and the likeness had disappeared in consequence.
A few moments lat=
er
my astonishment was revived, but the cause this time was a very different o=
ne.
We had been dropping rapidly toward the mountains, and the electrician in
charge of the car was swiftly and constantly changing his potential, and, l=
ike
a pilot who feels his way into an unknown harbor, endeavoring to approach t=
he
moon in such a manner that no hidden peril should surprise us. As we thus
approached I suddenly perceived, crowning the very apex of the lofty peak n=
ear
the termination of the cape, the ruins of what appeared to be an ancient wa=
tch
tower. It was evidently composed of Cyclopean blocks larger than any that I=
had
ever seen even among the ruins of Greece, Egypt and Asia Minor.
Here, then, was
visible proof that the moon had been inhabited, although probably it was not
inhabited now. I cannot describe the exultant feeling which took possession=
of
me at this discovery. It settled so much that learned men had been disputing
about for centuries.
"What will t= hey say," I exclaimed, "when I show them a photograph of that?"<= o:p>
Below the peak,
stretching far to right and left, lay a barren beach which had evidently on=
ce
been washed by sea waves, because it was marked by long curved ridges such =
as
the advancing and retiring tide leaves upon the shore of the ocean.
This beach sloped
rapidly outward and downward toward a profound abyss, which had once,
evidently, been the bed of a sea, but which now appeared to us simply as the
empty, yawning shell of an ocean that had long vanished.
It was with no sm=
all
difficulty, and only after the expenditure of considerable time, that all t=
he
floating ships of the squadron were gradually brought to rest on this lone
mountain top of the moon. In accordance with my request, Mr. Edison had the
flagship moored in the interior of the great ruined watch tower that I have
described. The other ships rested upon the slope of the mountain around us.=
Although time
pressed, for we knew that the safety of the earth depended upon our promptn=
ess
in attacking Mars, yet it was determined to remain here at least two or thr=
ee
days in order that the wrecked car might be repaired. It was found also that
the passage of the highly electrified meteor had disarranged the electrical
machinery in some of the other cars, so that there were many repairs to be =
made
besides those needed to restore the wreck.
Moreover, we must
bury our unfortunate companions who had been killed by the meteor. This, in
fact, was the first work that we performed. Strange was the sight, and stra=
nger
our feelings, as here on the surface of a world distant from the earth, and=
on
soil which had never before been pressed by the foot of man, we performed t=
hat
last ceremony of respect which mortals pay to mortality. In the ancient bea=
ch
at the foot of the peak we made a deep opening, and there covered forever t=
he
faces of our friends, leaving them to sleep among the ruins of empires, and
among the graves of races which had vanished probably ages before Adam and =
Eve appeared
in Paradise.
While the repairs
were being made several scientific expeditions were sent out in various
directions across the moon. One went westward to investigate the great ring=
of
Plato, and the lunar Alps. Another crossed the ancient Sea of Showers toward
the inner Appenines.
One started to
explore the immense Crater of Copernicus, which, yawning fifty miles across,
presents a wonderful appearance even from the distance of the earth. The sh=
ip
in which I, myself, had the good fortune to embark, was bound for the
mysterious inner mountain Aristarchus.
Before these
expeditions started, a careful exploration had been made in the neighborhoo=
d of
Cape Heraclides. But, except that the broken walls of the watch tower on the
peak, composed of blocks of enormous size, had evidently been the work of
creatures endowed with human intelligence, no remains were found indicating=
the
former presence of inhabitants upon this part of the moon.
But along the sho=
re
of the old sea, just where the so-called Bay of Rainbows separates itself f=
rom
the abyss of the Sea of Showers, there were found some stratified rocks in
which the fascinated eyes of the explorer beheld the clear imprint of a
gigantic human foot, measuring five feet in length from toe to heel.
The most minute
search failed to reveal another trace of the presence of the ancient giant,=
who
had left the impress of his foot in the wet sands of the beach here so many
millions of years ago that even the imagination of the geologists shrank fr=
om
the task of attempting to fix the precise period.
Around this gigan=
tic
footprint gathered most of the scientific members of the expedition, wearing
their oddly shaped air-tight suits, connected with telephonic wires, and the
spectacle, but for the impressiveness of the discovery, would have been
laughable in the extreme. Bending over the mark in the rock, nodding their
heads together, pointing with their awkwardly accoutered arms, they looked =
like
an assemblage of antidiluvian monsters collected around their prey. Their
disappointment over the fact that no other marks of anything resembling hum=
an habitation
could be discovered was very great.
Still this footpr=
int
in itself was quite sufficient, as they all declared, to settle the questio=
n of
the former habitation of the moon, and it would serve for the production of
many a learned volume after their return to earth, even if no further
discoveries should be made in other parts of the lunar world.
It was the hope of
making such other discoveries that led to the dispatch of the other various
expeditions which I have already named. I was chosen to accompany the car t=
hat
was going to Aristarchus, because, as every one who had viewed the moon from
the earth was aware, there was something very mysterious about that mountai=
n. I
knew that it was a crater nearly thirty miles in diameter and very deep,
although its floor was plainly visible.
What rendered it
remarkable was the fact that the floor and the walls of the crater,
particularly on the inner side, glowed with a marvelous brightness which
rendered them almost blinding when viewed with a powerful telescope.
So bright were th=
ey,
indeed, that the eye was unable to see many of the details which the telesc=
ope
would have made visible but for the flood of light which poured from the
mountains. Sir William Hershel had been so completely misled by this appear=
ance
that he supposed he was watching a lunar volcano in eruption.
It had always bee=
n a
difficult question what caused the extraordinary luminosity of Aristarchus.=
No
end of hypothesis had been invented to account for it. Now I was to assist =
in
settling these questions forever.
From Cape Heracli=
des
to Aristarchus the distance in air line was something over 300 miles. Our
course lay across the northeastern part of the Sea of Showers, with enormous
cliffs, mountain masses and peaks shining on the right, while in the other
direction the view was bounded by the distant range of the lunar Appenines,
some of whose towering peaks, when viewed from our immense elevation, appea=
red
as sharp as the Swiss Matterhorn.
When we had arriv=
ed
within about a hundred miles of our destination we found ourselves, floating
directly over the so-called Harbinger Mountains. The serrated peaks of
Aristarchus then appeared ahead of us, fairly blazing in the sunshine.
It seemed as if a
gigantic string of diamonds, every one as great as a mountain peak, had been
cast down upon the barren surface of the moon and left to waste their
brilliance upon the desert air of this abandoned world.
As we rapidly
approached the dazzling splendor of the mountain became almost unbearable to
our eyes, and we were compelled to resort to the devise, practised by all
climbers of lofty mountains, where the glare of sunlight on snow surfaces is
liable to cause temporary blindness, of protecting our eyes with neutral-ti=
nted
glasses.
Professor Moissan,
the great French chemist and maker of artificial diamonds, fairly danced wi=
th
delight.
"Voila! Voil=
a!
Voila!" was all that he could say.
When we were
comparatively near, the mountain no longer seemed to glow with a uniform
radiance, evenly distributed over its entire surface, but now innumerable
points of light, all as bright as so many little suns, blazed away at us. It
was evident that we had before us a mountain composed of, or at least cover=
ed
with, crystals.
Without stopping =
to
alight on the outer slopes of the great ring-shaped range of peaks which
composed Aristarchus, we sailed over their rim and looked down into the
interior. Here the splendor of the crystals was greater than on the outer
slopes, and the broad floor of the crater, thousands of feet beneath us, sh=
one
and sparkled with overwhelming radiance, as if it were an immense bin of
diamonds, while a peak in the center flamed like a stupendous tiara incrust=
ed
with selected gems.
Eager to see what
these crystals were, the car was now allowed rapidly to drop into the inter=
ior
of the crater. With great caution we brought it to rest upon the blazing
ground, for the sharp edges of the crystals would certainly have torn the
metallic sides of the car if it had come into violent contact with them.
Donning our air-t=
ight
suits and stepping carefully out upon this wonderful footing we attempted to
detach some of the crystals. Many of them were firmly fastened, but a few--=
some
of astonishing size--were readily loosened.
A moment's inspec=
tion
showed that we had stumbled upon the most marvelous work of the forces of
crystalization that human eyes had ever rested upon. Some time in the past
history of the moon there had been an enormous outflow of molten material f=
rom
the crater. This had overspread the walls and partially filled up the inter=
ior,
and later its surface had flowered into gems, as thick as blossoms in a bed=
of
pansies.
The whole mass
flashed prismatic rays of indescribable beauty and intensity. We gazed at f=
irst
speechless with amazement.
"It cannot b=
e,
surely it cannot be," said Professor Moissan at length.
"But it
is," said another member of the party.
"Are these
diamonds?" asked a third.
"I cannot yet
tell," replied the Professor. "They have the brilliancy of diamon=
ds,
but they may be something else."
"Moon
jewels," suggested a third.
"And worth
untold millions, whatever they are," remarked another. These magnifice=
nt
crystals, some of which appeared to be almost flawless, varied in size from=
the
dimensions of a hazelnut to geometrical solids several inches in diameter. =
We
carefully selected as many as it was convenient to carry and placed them in=
the
car for future examination. We had solved another long standing lunar probl=
em
and had, perhaps, opened up an inexhaustible future mine of wealth which mi=
ght
eventually go far toward reimbursing the earth for the damage which it had
suffered from the invasion of the Martians.
On returning to C=
ape
Heraclides we found that the other expeditions had arrived at the rendezvous
ahead of us. Their members had wonderful stories to tell of what they had s=
een,
but nothing caused quite so much astonishment as that which we had to tell =
and
to show.
The party which h=
ad
gone to visit Plato and the lunar Alps brought back, however, information
which, in a scientific sense, was no less interesting than what we had been
able to gather.
They had found wi=
thin
this curious ring of Plato, which is a circle of mountains sixty miles in
diameter, enclosing a level plain remarkably smooth over most of its surfac=
e,
unmistakable evidences of former habitation. A gigantic city had evidently =
at
one time existed near the center of this great plain. The outlines of its w=
alls
and the foundation marks of some of its immense buildings were plainly made
out, and elaborate plans of this vanished capitol of the moon were prepared=
by several
members of the party.
One of them was
fortunate enough to discover an even more precious relic of the ancient
lunarians. It was a piece of petrified skullbone, representing but a small
portion of the head to which it had belonged, but yet sufficient to enable =
the
anthropologists, who immediately fell to examining it, to draw ideal
representations of the head as it must have been in life--the head of a gia=
nt
of enormous size, which, if it had possessed a highly organized brain, of
proportionate magnitude, must have given to its possessor intellectual powe=
rs
immensely greater than any of the descendants of Adam have ever been endowed
with.
Indeed, one of the
professors was certain that some little concretions found on the interior of
the piece of skull were petrified portions of the brain matter itself, and =
he
set to work with the microscope to examine its organic quality.
In the meantime, =
the
repairs to the electrical ships had been completed, and, although these
discoveries on the moon had created a most profound sensation among the mem=
bers
of the expedition, and aroused an almost irresistable desire to continue the
explorations thus happily begun, yet everybody knew that these things were
aside from the main purpose in view, and that we should be false to our dut=
y in
wasting a moment more upon the moon than was absolutely necessary to put the
ships in proper condition to proceed on their warlike voyage.
Everything being
prepared then, we left the moon with great regret, just forty-eight hours a=
fter
we had landed upon its surface, carrying with us a determination to revisit=
it
and to learn more of its wonderful secrets in case we should survive the
dangers which we were now going to face.
CHAPTER SIX - THE MONSTER=
S ON
THE ASTEROID
A day or two after leaving the moon, we =
had
another adventure with a wandering inhabitant of space which brought us into
far greater peril than had our encounter with the meteor.
The airships had =
been
partitioned off so that a portion of the interior could be darkened in orde=
r to
serve as a sleeping chamber, wherein, according to the regulations prescrib=
ed
by the commander of the squadron each member of the expedition in his turn
passed eight out of every twenty-four hours--sleeping if he could, if not,
meditating in a more or less dazed way, upon the wonderful things that he w=
as
seeing and doing--things far more incredible than the creations of a dream.=
One morning, if I=
may
call by the name morning the time of my periodical emergence from the darke=
ned
chamber, glancing from one of the windows, I was startled to see in the bla=
ck
sky a brilliant comet.
No periodical com=
et,
as I knew, was at this time approaching the neighborhood of the sun, and no
stranger of that kind had been detected from the observatories making its w=
ay
sunward before we left the earth. Here, however, was unmistakably a comet
rushing toward the sun, flinging out a great gleaming tail behind it and so
close to us that I wondered to see it remaining almost motionless in the sk=
y.
This phenomenon was soon explained to me, and the explanation was of a most
disquieting character.
The stranger had
already been perceived, not only from the flagship, but from the other memb=
ers
of the squadron, and, as I now learned, efforts had been made to get out of=
the
neighborhood, but for some reason the electrical apparatus did not work
perfectly--some mysterious disturbing force acting upon it--and so it had b=
een
found impossible to avoid an encounter with the comet, not an actual coming
into contact with it, but a falling into the sphere of its influence.
In fact, I was
informed that for several hours the squadron had been dragging along in the
wake of a comet, very much as boats are sometimes towed off by a wounded wh=
ale.
Every effort had been made to so adjust the electric charge upon the ships =
that
they would be repelled from the cometic mass, but, owing apparently to elec=
tric
changes affecting the clashing mass of meteoric bodies which constituted the
head of the comet, we found it impossible to escape from its influence.
At one instant th=
e ships
would be repelled; immediately afterward they would be attracted again, and
thus they were dragged hither and thither, but never able to break from the
invisible leash which the comet had cast upon them. The latter was moving w=
ith
enormous velocity toward the sun, and, consequently, we were being carried =
back
again, away from the object of our expedition, with a fair prospect of being
dissipated in blazing vapors when the comet had dragged us, unwilling
prisoners, into the immediate neighborhood of the solar furnace.
Even the most
cool-headed lost his self control in this terrible emergency. Every kind of
devise that experience or the imagination could suggest was tried, but noth=
ing
would do. Still on we rushed with the electrified atoms composing the tail =
of
the comet swinging to and fro over the members of the squadron, as they shi=
fted
their position, like the plume of smoke from a gigantic steamer, drifting o=
ver
the sea birds that follow in its course.
Was this to end it
all, then? Was this the fate that Providence had in store for us? Were the
hopes of the earth thus to perish? Was the expedition to be wrecked and its
fate to remain for ever unknown to the planet from which it had set forth? =
And
was our beloved globe, which had seemed so fair to us when we last looked u=
pon
it nearby, and in whose defense we had resolved to spend our last breath, t=
o be
left helpless and at the mercy of its implacable foe in the sky?
At length we gave
ourselves up for lost. There seemed to be no possible way to free ourselves
from the baleful grip of this terrible and unlooked for enemy.
As the comet
approached the sun its electrical energy rapidly increased, and watching it
with telescopes, for we could not withdraw our fascinated eyes from it, we
could clearly behold the fearful things that went on in its nucleus.
This consisted of=
an
immense number of separate meteors of no very great size individually, but
which were in constant motion among one another, darting to and fro, clashi=
ng
and smashing together, while fountains of blazing metallic particles and hot
mineral vapours poured out in every direction.
As I watched it,
unable to withdraw my eyes, I saw imaginary forms revealing themselves amid=
the
flaming meteors. They seemed like creatures in agony, tossing their arms,
bewailing in their attitudes the awful fate that had overtaken them, and fa=
irly
chilling my blood with the pantomime of torture which they exhibited. I tho=
ught
of an old superstition which I had often heard about the earth, and exclaim=
ed:
"Yes, surely,
this is a flying hell!"
As the electric
activity of the comet increased, its continued changes of potential and
polarity became more frequent, and the electrical ships darted about with e=
ven
greater confusion than before. Occasionally one of them, seized with a sudd=
en
impulse, would spring forward toward the nucleus of the comet with a sudden
access of velocity that would fling every one of its crew from his feet, and
all would lie sprawling on the floor of the car while it rushed, as it seem=
ed,
to inevitable and instant destruction.
Then, either thro=
ugh
the frantic efforts of the electrician struggling with the controller or
through another change in the polarity of the comet, the ship would be save=
d on
the very brink of ruin and stagger away out of immediate danger.
Thus the captured
squadron was swept, swaying and darting hither and thither, but never able =
to
get sufficiently far from the comet to break the bond of its fatal attracti=
on.
So great was our
excitement and so complete our absorption in the fearful peril that we had =
not
noticed the precise direction in which the comet was carrying us. It was en=
ough
to know that the goal of the journey was the furnace of the sun. But presen=
tly
someone in the flagship recalled us to a more accurate sense of our situati=
on
in space by exclaiming:
"Why, there =
is
the earth!"
And there, indeed=
, it
was, its great globe rolling under our eyes, with the contrasted colors of =
the
continents and clouds and the watery gleam of the oceans spread beneath us.=
"We're going=
to
strike it!" exclaimed somebody. "The comet is going to dash us in=
to
the earth."
Such a collision =
at
first seemed inevitable, but presently it was noticed that the direction of=
the
comet's motion was such that while it might graze the earth it would not
actually strike it.
And so, like a sw=
arm
of giant insects circling about an electric light from whose magic influence
they could not escape, our ships went on, to be whipped against the earth in
passing and then to continue their swift journey to destruction.
"Thank God, =
this
saves us," suddenly cried Mr. Edison.
"What-what?&=
quot;
"Why, the ea=
rth,
of course. Do you not see that as the comet sweeps close to the great planet
the superior attraction of the latter will snatch us from its grasp, and th=
at thus
we shall be able to escape."
And it was indeed=
as
Mr. Edison had predicted. In a blaze of falling meteors the comet swept the
outer limits of the earth's atmosphere and passed on, while the swaying shi=
ps,
having been instructed by signals what to do, desperately applied their
electrical machinery to reverse the attraction and threw themselves into the
arms of their mother earth.
In another instan=
t we
were all free, settling down through the quiet atmosphere with the Atlantic
Ocean sparkling in the morning sun far below.
We looked at one
another in amazement. So this was the end of our voyage! This was the
completion of our warlike enterprise. We had started out to conquer a world,
and we had come back ignominiously dragged in the train of a comet.
The earth which we
were going to defend and protect had herself turned protector, and reaching=
out
her strong arm had snatched her foolish children from the destruction which
they had invited.
It would be
impossible to describe the chagrin of every member of the expedition.
The electric ships
rapidly assembled and hovered high in the air, while their commanders consu=
lted
about what should be done. A universal feeling of shame almost drove them t=
o a
decision not to land upon the surface of the planet, and if possible not to=
let
its inhabitants know what had occurred.
But it was too la=
te
for that. Looking carefully beneath us, we saw that fate had brought us bac=
k to
our very starting point, and signals displayed in the neighborhood of New Y=
ork
indicated that we had already been recognized. There was nothing for us then
but to drop down and explain the situation.
I shall not delay=
my
narrative by undertaking to describe the astonishment and the disappointmen=
t of
the inhabitants of the earth when, within a fortnight from our departure, t=
hey
saw us back again, with no laurels of victory crowning our brows.
At first they had
hoped that we were returning in triumph, and we were overwhelmed with quest=
ions
the moment we had dropped within speaking distance.
"Have you
whipped them?"
"How many are
lost?"
"Is there any
more danger?"
"Faix, have =
ye
got one of thim men from Mars?"
But their rejoici=
ng
and their facetiousness were turned into wailing when the truth was imparte=
d.
We made a short s=
tory
of it, for we had not the heart to go into details. We told of our unfortun=
ate
comrades whom we had buried upon the moon, and there was one gleam of
satisfaction when we exhibited the wonderful crystals we had collected in t=
he
crater of Aristarchus.
Mr. Edison determ=
ined
to stop only long enough to test the electrical machinery of the cars, which
had been more or less seriously deranged during our wild chase after the co=
met,
and then to start straight back for Mars--this time on a through trip.
The astronomers, =
who
had been watching Mars, since our departure, with their telescopes, reported
that mysterious lights continued to be visible, but that nothing indicating=
the
starting of another expedition for the earth had been seen.
Within twenty-four
hours we were ready for our second start.
The moon was now =
no
longer in a position to help us on our way. It had moved out of line between
Mars and the earth.
High above us, in=
the
center of the heavens, glowed the red planet which was the goal of our jour=
ney.
The needed comput=
ations
of velocity and direction of flight having been repeated, and the ships bei=
ng
all in readiness, we started direct for Mars.
An enormous charg=
e of
electricity was imparted to each member of the squadron, in order that as s=
oon
as we had reached the upper limits of the atmosphere, where the ships could
move swiftly, without danger of being consumed by the heat developed by the
friction of their passage through the air, a very great initial velocity co=
uld
be imparted.
Once started off =
by
this tremendous electrical kick, and with no atmosphere to resist our motio=
n,
we should be able to retain the same velocity, baring incidental encounters,
until we arrived near the surface of Mars.
When we were free=
of
the atmosphere, and the ships were moving away from the earth, with the hig=
hest
velocity which we were able to impart to them, observations on the stars we=
re
made in order to determine the rate of our speed.
This was found to=
be
ten miles in a second, or 864,000 miles in a day, a very much greater speed
than that with which we had travelled on starting to touch at the moon.
Supposing this velocity to remain uniform, and, with no known resistance, it
might reasonably be expected to do so, we should arrive at Mars in a little
less than forty-two days, the distance of the planet from the earth being at
this time, about thirty-six million miles.
Nothing occurred =
for
many days to interrupt our journey. We became accustomed to our strange
surroundings, and many entertainments were provided to while away the time.=
The
astronomers in the expedition found plenty of occupation in studying the
aspects of the stars and the other heavenly bodies from their new point of
view.
At the expiration= of about thirty-five days we had drawn so near to Mars that with our telescope= s, which, though small, were of immense power, we could discern upon its surfa= ce features and details which no one had been able to glimpse from the earth.<= o:p>
As the surface of
this world, that we were approaching as a tiger hunter draws near the jungl=
e, gradually
unfolded itself to our inspection, there was hardly one of us willing to de=
vote
to sleep or idleness the prescribed eight hours that had been fixed as the =
time
during which each member of the expedition must remain in the darkened cham=
ber.
We were too eager to watch for every new revelation upon Mars.
But something was=
in
store that we had not expected. We were to meet the Martians before arrivin=
g at
the world in which they dwelt.
Among the stars w=
hich
shone in that quarter of the heavens where Mars appeared as the master orb,
there was one, lying directly in our path, which, to our astonishment, as we
continued on, altered from the aspect of a star, underwent a gradual
magnification, and soon presented itself in the form of a little planet.
"It is an
asteroid," said somebody.
"Yes, eviden=
tly;
but how does it come inside the orbit of Mars?"
"Oh, there a=
re
several asteroids," said one of the astronomers, "which travel in=
side
the orbit of Mars, along a part of their course, and, for aught we can tell,
there may be many which have not yet been caught sight of from the earth, t=
hat
are nearer to the sun than Mars is."
"This must be
one of them."
"Manifestly
so."
As we drew nearer=
the
mysterious little planet revealed itself to us as a perfectly formed globe =
not
more than five miles in diameter.
"What is that
upon it?" asked Lord Kelvin, squinting intently at the little world
through his glass. "As I live, it moves."
"Yes, yes!&q=
uot;
exclaimed several others, "there are inhabitants upon it, but what gia=
nts!"
"What
monsters!"
"Don't you see?" exclaimed an excited savant. "They are the Martians!"<= o:p>
The startling tru=
th
burst upon the minds of all. Here upon this little planetoid were several of
the gigantic inhabitants of the world that we were going to attack. There w=
as
more than one man in the flagship who recognized them well, and who shudder=
ed
at the recognition, instinctively recalling the recent terrible experience =
of
the earth.
Was this an outpo=
st
of the warlike Mars?
Around these
monstrous enemies we saw several of their engines of war. Some of these
appeared to have been wrecked, but at least one, as far as we could see, was
still in a proper condition for use.
How had these
creatures got there?
"Why, that is
easy enough to account for," I said, as a sudden recollection flashed =
into
my mind. "Don't you remember the report of the astronomers more than s=
ix
months ago, at the end of the conference in Washington, that something would
seem to indicate the departure of a new expedition from Mars had been notic=
ed
by them? We have heard nothing of that expedition since. We know that it did
not reach the earth. It must have fallen foul of this asteroid, run upon th=
is
rock in the ocean of space and been wrecked here."
"We've got '=
em,
then," shouted our electric steersman, who had been a workman in Mr.
Edison's laboratory and had unlimited confidence in his chief.
The electrical sh=
ips
were immediately instructed by signal to slow down, an operation that was
easily affected through the electrical repulsion of the asteroid.
The nearer we got=
the
more terrifying was the appearance of the gigantic creatures who were riding
upon the little world before us like castaway sailors upon a block of ice. =
Like
men, and yet not like men, combining the human and the beast in their
appearance, it required a steady nerve to look at them. If we had not known
their malignity and their power to work evil, it would have been different,=
but
in our eyes their moral character shone through their physical aspect and t=
hus
rendered them more terrible than they would otherwise have been.
When we first saw
them their appearance was most forlorn, and their attitudes indicated only
despair and desperation, but as they caught sight of us their malign power =
of
intellect instantly penetrated the mystery, and they recognized us for what=
we
were.
Their despair
immediately gave place to reawakened malevolence. On the instant they were
astir, with such heart-chilling movements as those that characterize a veno=
mous
serpent preparing to strike.
Not imagining that
they would be in a position to make serious resistance, we had been somewhat
incautious in approaching.
Suddenly there wa=
s a
quicker movement than usual among the Martians, a swift adjustment of that =
one
of their engines of war which, as already noticed, seemed to be practically
uninjured, then there darted from it and alighted upon one of the foremost
ships, a dazzling lightning stroke a mile in length, at whose touch the
metallic sides of the car curled and withered and, licked for a moment by w=
hat
seemed lambent flames, collapsed into a mere cinder.
For an instant no=
t a
word was spoken, so sudden and unexpected was the blow.
We knew that every
soul in the stricken car had perished.
"Back!
Back!" was the signal instantly flashed from the flagship, and reversi=
ng
their polarities the members of the squadron sprang away from the little pl=
anet
as rapidly as the electrical impulse could drive them.
But before we were
out of reach a second flaming tongue of death shot from the fearful engine,=
and
another of our ships, with all its crew, was destroyed.
It was an
inauspicious beginning for us. Two of our electrical ships, with their enti=
re
crews, had been wiped out of existence, and this appalling blow had been de=
alt
by a few stranded and disabled enemies floating on an asteroid.
What hope would t=
here
be for us when we came to encounter the millions of Mars itself on their own
ground and prepared for war?
However, it would=
not
do to despond. We had been incautious, and we should take good care not to
commit the same fault again.
The first thing t=
o do
was to avenge the death of our comrades. The question whether we were able =
to
meet these Martians and overcome them might as well be settled right here a=
nd
now. They had proved what they could do, even when disabled and at a
disadvantage. Now it was our turn.
CHAPTER SEVEN - A PLANET =
OF
GOLD
The squadron had been rapidly withdrawn =
to a
very considerable distance from the asteroid. The range of the mysterious
artillery employed by the Martians was unknown to us. We did not even know =
the
limit of the effective range of our own disintegrators. If it should prove =
that
the Martians were able to deal their strokes at a distance greater than any=
we
could reach, then they would of course have an insuperable advantage.
On the other hand=
, if
it should turn out that our range was greater than theirs, the advantage wo=
uld
be on our side. Or--which was perhaps most probable--there might be practic=
ally
no difference in the effective range of the engines.
Anyhow, we were g=
oing
to find out how the case stood, and that without delay.
Everything being =
in
readiness, the disintegrators all in working order, and the men who were ab=
le
to handle them, most of whom were experienced marksmen, chosen from among t=
he officers
of the regular army of the United States, and accustomed to the straight
shooting and the sure hits of the West, standing at their posts, the squadr=
on
again advanced.
In order to distr=
act
the attention of the Martians, the electrical ships had been distributed ov=
er a
wide space. Some dropped straight down toward the asteroid; others approach=
ed
it by flank attack, from this side and that. The flagship moved straight in
toward the point where the first disaster occurred. Its intrepid commander =
felt
that his post should be that of the greatest danger, and where the severest
blows would be given and received.
The approach of t=
he
ships was made with great caution. Watching the Martians with our telescope=
s we
could clearly see that they were disconcerted by the scattered order of our
attack. Even if all of their engines of war had been in proper condition for
use it would have been impossible for them to meet the simultaneous assault=
of
so many enemies dropping down upon them from the sky.
But they were mad=
e of
fighting mettle, as we knew from old experience. It was no question of
surrender. They did not know how to surrender, and we did not know how to
demand their surrender. Besides, the destruction of the two electrical ships
with the forty men, many of whom bore names widely known upon the earth, had
excited a kind of fury among the members of the squadron which called for
vengeance.
Suddenly a repeti=
tion
of the quick movement by the Martians, which had been the forerunner of the
former coup, was observed; again a blinding flash burst from their war engi=
nes
and instantaneously a shiver ran through the frame of the flagship; the air
within quivered with strange pulsations and seemed suddenly to have assumed=
the
temperature of a blast furnace.
We all gasped for
breath. Our throats and lungs seemed scorched in the act of breathing. Some
fell unconscious upon the floor. The marksmen, carrying the disintegrators
ready for use, staggered, and one of them dropped his instrument.
But we had not be=
en
destroyed like our comrades before us. In a moment the wave of heat passed;
those who had fallen recovered from their momentary stupor and staggered to
their feet.
The electrical
steersman stood hesitating at his post.
"Move on,&qu=
ot;
said Mr. Edison sternly, his features set with determination and his eyes
afire.
"We are still
beyond their effective range. Let us get closer in order to make sure work =
when
we strike."
The ship moved on.
One could hear the heartbeats of its inmates. The other members of the
squadron, thinking for the moment that disaster had overtaken the flagship,=
had
paused and seemed to be meditating flight.
"Signal them=
to
move on," said Mr. Edison.
The signal was gi=
ven,
and the circle of electrical ships closed in upon the asteroid.
In the meantime M=
r.
Edison had been donning his air-tight suit. Before we could clearly compreh=
end
his intention he had passed through the double trapped door which gave acce=
ss
to the exterior of the car without permitting the loss of air, and was stan=
ding
upon what served as the deck of the ship.
In his hand he
carried a disintegrator. With a quick motion he sighted it.
As quickly as
possible I sprang to his side. I was just in time to note the familiar blue
gleam about the instrument, which indicated that its terrific energies were=
at
work. The whirring sound was absent, because here, in open space, where the=
re
was no atmosphere, there could be no sound.
My eyes were fixed
upon the Martian's engine, which had just dealt us a staggering, but not fa=
tal,
blow, and particularly I noticed a polished knob projecting from it which
seemed to have been the focus from which its destructive bolt emanated.
A moment later the
knob disappeared. The irresistible vibrations darted from the electrical
disintegrator and had fallen upon it and instantaneously shattered it into
atoms.
"That fixes
them," said Mr. Edison, turning to me with a smile.
And indeed it did=
fix
them. We had most effectually spiked their gun. It would deal no more death
blows.
The doings of the
flagship had been closely watched throughout the squadron. The effect of its
blow had been evident to all, and a moment later we saw, on some of the nea=
rer
ships, men dressed in their air suits, appearing upon the deck, swinging th=
eir
arms and sending forth soundless cheers into empty space.
The stroke that we
had dealt was taken by several of the electrical ships as a signal for a co=
mmon
assault, and we saw two of the Martians fall beside the ruins of their engi=
ne,
their heads having been blown from their bodies.
"Signal them=
to
stop firing," commanded Mr. Edison. "We have got them down, and we
are not going to murder them without necessity."
"Besides,&qu=
ot;
he added, "I want to capture some of them alive."
The signal was gi=
ven
as he had ordered. The flagship then alone dropped slowly toward the place =
on
the asteroid where the prostrate Martians were.
As we got near th=
em a
terrible scene unfolded itself to our eyes. There had evidentially been not
more than a half dozen of the monsters in the beginning. Two of these were
stretched headless upon the ground. Three others had suffered horrible inju=
ries
where the invisible vibratory beams from the disintegrators had grazed them,
and they could not long survive. One only remained apparently uninjured.
It is impossible =
for
me to describe the appearance of this creature in terms that would be readi=
ly
understood. Was he like a man? Yes and no. He possessed many human
characteristics, but they were exaggerated and monstrous in scale and in
detail. His head was of enormous size, and his huge projecting eyes gleamed
with a strange fire of intelligence. His face was like a caricature, but not
one to make the beholder laugh. Drawing himself up, he towered to a height =
of
at least fifteen feet.
But let the reader
not suppose from this inadequate description that the Martians stirred in t=
he
beholder precisely the sensation that would be caused by the sight of a
gorilla, or other repulsive inhabitant of our terrestrial jungles, suddenly
confronting him in its native wilds.
With all his horr=
ible
characteristics, and all his suggestions of beast and monster, nevertheless=
the
Martian produced the impression of being a person and not a mere animal.
I have already
referred to the enormous size of his head, and to the fact that his counten=
ance
bore considerable resemblance to that of a man. There was something in his =
face
that sent a shiver through the soul of the beholder. One could feel in look=
ing
upon it that here was intellect, intelligence developed to the highest degr=
ee,
but in the direction of evil instead of good.
The sensations of=
one
who had stood face to face with Satan, when he was driven from the battleme=
nts
of heaven by the swords of his fellow archangels, and had beheld him
transformed from Lucifer, the Son of the Morning, into the Prince of Night =
and
Hell, might not have been unlike those which we now experienced as we gazed
upon this dreadful personage, who seemed to combine the intellectual powers=
of
a man, raised to their highest pitch, with some of the physical features of=
a beast,
and all the moral depravity of a fiend.
The appearance of=
the
Martian was indeed so threatening and repellent that we paused at the heigh=
t of
fifty feet above the ground, hesitating to approach nearer. A grin of rage =
and
hate overspread his face. If he had been a man I should say he shook his fi=
st
at us. What he did was to express in even more telling pantomime his hatred=
and
defiance, and his determination to grind us to shreds if he could once get =
us
within his clutches.
Mr. Edison and I
still stood upon the deck of the ship, where several others had gathered ar=
ound
us. The atmosphere of the little asteroid was so rare that it practically
amounted to nothing, and we could not possibly have survived if we had not
continued to wear our air tight suits. How the Martians contrived to live h=
ere
was a mystery to us. It was another of their secrets which we were yet to
learn.
Mr. Edison retain=
ed
his disintegrator in his hand.
"Kill him,&q=
uot;
said someone. "He is too horrible to live."
"If we do not
kill him we shall never be able to land upon the asteroid," said anoth=
er.
"No," s=
aid
Mr. Edison. "I shall not kill him. We have got another use for him.
Tom," he continued, turning to one of his assistants, whom he had brou=
ght
from his laboratory, "bring me the anaesthetic."
This was something
entirely new to nearly all the members of the expedition. Mr. Edison, howev=
er,
had confided to me before we left the earth the fact that he had invented a
little instrument by means of which a bubble, strongly charged with a power=
ful
anaesthetic agent, could be driven to a considerable distance into the face=
of
an enemy, where exploding without other damage, it would instantly put him =
to sleep.
When Tom had plac=
ed
the instrument in his hands Mr. Edison ordered the electrical ship to forge
slightly ahead and drop a little lower toward the Martian, who, with watchf=
ul
eyes and threatening gestures, noted our approach in the attitude of a wild
beast on the spring. Suddenly Mr. Edison discharged from the instrument in =
his
hand a little gaseous globe, which glittered like a ball of tangled rainbow=
s in
the sunshine, and darted with astonishing velocity straight into the upturn=
ed
face of the Martian. It burst as it touched and the monster fell back sense=
less
upon the ground.
"You have ki=
lled
him!" exclaimed all.
"No," s=
aid
Mr. Edison. "He is not dead, only asleep. Now we shall drop down and b=
ind
him tight before he can awake."
When we came to b=
ind
our prisoner with strong ropes we were more than ever impressed with his
gigantic stature and strength. Evidentially in single combat with equal wea=
pons
he would have been a match for twenty of us.
All that I had re=
ad
of giants had failed to produce upon my mind the impression of enormous size
and tremendous physical energy which the sleeping body of this immense Mart=
ian
produced. He had fallen on his back, and was in a most profound slumber. All
his features were relaxed, and yet even in that condition there was a
devilishness about him that made the beholders instinctively shudder.
So powerful was t=
he
effect of the anaesthetic which Mr. Edison had discharged into his face tha=
t he
remained perfectly unconscious while we turned him half over in order the m=
ore
securely to bind his muscular limbs.
In the meantime t=
he
other electrical ships approached, and several of them made a landing upon =
the
asteroid. Everybody was eager to see this wonderful little world, which, as=
I
have already remarked, was only five miles in diameter.
Several of us from
the flagship started out hastily to explore the miniature planet. And now o=
ur
attention was recalled to an intensely interesting phenomenon which had eng=
aged
our thoughts not only when we were upon the moon, but during our flight thr=
ough
space. This was the almost entire absence of weight.
On the moon, where
the force of gravitation is one-sixths as great as upon the earth, we had f=
ound
ourselves astonishingly light. Five-sixths of our own weight, and of the we=
ight
of the air-tight suits in which we were encased, had magically dropped from=
us.
It was therefore comparatively easy for us, encumbered, as we were, to make=
our
way about on the moon.
But when we were =
far
from both the earth and the moon, the loss of weight was more astonishing
still--not astonishing because we had not known that it would be so, but
nevertheless a surprising phenomenon in contrast with our lifelong experien=
ce
on the earth.
In open space we =
were
practically without weight. Only the mass of the electrical car in which we
were enclosed attracted us, and inside that we could place ourselves in any
position without falling. We could float in the air. There was no up and no
down, no top and no bottom for us. Stepping outside the car, it would have =
been
easy for us to spring away from it and leave it forever.
One of the most
startling experiences that I have ever had was one day when we were navigat=
ing
space about half way between the earth and Mars. I had stepped outside the =
car
with Lord Kelvin, both of us, of course, wearing our air-tight suits. We we=
re
perfectly well aware what would be the consequence of detaching ourselves f=
rom
the car as we moved along. We should still retain the forward motion of the
car, and of course accompany it in its flight. There would be no falling one
way or the other. The car would have a tendency to draw us back again by it=
s attraction,
but this tendency would be very slight, and practically inappreciable at a
distance.
"I am going =
to
step off," I suddenly said to Lord Kelvin. "Of course I shall keep
right along with the car, and step aboard again when I am ready."
"Quite right=
on
general principles, young man," replied the great savant, "but be=
ware
in what manner you step off. Remember, if you give your body an impulse
sufficient to carry it away from the car to any considerable distance, you =
will
be unable to get back again, unless we can catch you with a boathook or a
fishline. Out there in empty space you will have nothing to kick against, a=
nd
you will be unable to propel yourself in the direction of the car, and its
attraction is so feeble that we should probably arrive at Mars before it had
drawn you back again."
All this was, of
course, perfectly self-evident, yet I believe that but for the warning word=
s of
Lord Kelvin I should have been rash enough to step out into empty space, wi=
th
sufficient force to have separated myself hopelessly from the electrical sh=
ip.
As it was, I took
good care to retain a hold upon a projecting portion of the car. Occasional=
ly
cautiously releasing my grip, I experienced for a few minutes the delicious,
indescribable pleasure of being a little planet swinging through space, with
nothing to hold me up and nothing to interfere with my motion.
Mr. Edison, happe=
ning
to come upon the deck of the ship at this time, and seeing what we were abo=
ut
at once said:
"I must prov=
ide
against this danger. If I do not, there is a chance that we shall arrive at
Mars with the ships half empty and the crews floating helplessly around
us."
Mr. Edison's way =
of
guarding against the danger was by contriving a little apparatus, modeled a=
fter
that which was the governing force of the electrical ships themselves, and
which, being enclosed in the air-tight suits, enabled their wearers to
manipulate the electrical charge upon them in such a way that they could ma=
ke
excursions from the cars into open space like steam launches from a ship, g=
oing
and returning at their will.
These little mach=
ines
being rapidly manufactured, for Mr. Edison had a miniature laboratory aboar=
d,
were distributed about the squadron, and henceforth we had the pleasure of =
paying
and receiving visits among the various members of the fleet.
But to return from
this digression to our experience of the asteroid. The latter being a body =
of
some mass was, of course, able to impart to us a measurable degree of weigh=
t.
Being five miles in diameter, on the assumption that its mean density was t=
he
same as that of the earth, the weight of bodies on its surface should have
borne the same ratio to their weight upon the earth that the radius of the
asteroid bore to the radius of the earth; in other words, as 1 to 1,600.
Having made this
mental calculation, I knew that my weight, being 150 pounds on the earth,
should on this asteroid be an ounce and a half.
Curious to see
whether fact would bear out theory, I had myself weighed with a spring bala=
nce.
Mr. Edison, Lord Kelvin and the other distinguished scientists stood by
watching the operation with great interest.
To our complete
surprise, my weight instead of coming out an ounce and a half, as it should
have done, on the supposition that the mean density of the asteroid resembl=
ed
that of the earth--a very liberal supposition on the side of the asteroid, =
by
the way--actually came out five ounces and a quarter!
"What in the
world makes me so heavy?" I asked.
"Yes, indeed,
what an elephant you have become," said Mr. Edison.
Lord Kelvin screw=
ed
his eyeglass in his eye, and carefully inspected the balance.
"It's quite
right," he said. "You do indeed weigh five ounces and a quarter. =
Too
much; altogether too much," he added. "You shouldn't do it, you
know."
"Perhaps the
fault is in the asteroid," suggested Professor Sylvanus P. Thompson.
"Quite so,&q=
uot;
exclaimed Lord Kelvin, a look of sudden comprehension overspreading his
features. "No doubt it is the internal constitution of the asteroid wh=
ich
is the cause of the anomaly. We must look into that. Let me see? This
gentleman's weight is three and one-half times as great as it ought to be. =
What
element is there whose density exceeds the mean density of the earth in abo=
ut
that proportion?"
"Gold,"=
exclaimed
one of the party.
For a moment we w=
ere
startled beyond expression. The truth had flashed upon us.
This must be a go=
lden
planet this little asteroid. If it were not composed internally of gold it
could never have made me weight three times more than I ought to weight.
"But where is
the gold?" cried one.
"Covered up,=
of
course," said Lord Kelvin. "Buried in Stardust. This asteroid cou=
ld
not have continued to travel for millions of years through legions of space
strewn with meteoric particles without becoming covered with the inevitable
dust and grime of such a journey. We must dig now, and then doubtless we sh=
all
find the metal."
This hint was
instantly acted upon. Something that would serve as a spade was seized by o=
ne
of the men, and in a few minutes a hole had been dug in the comparatively l=
ight
soil of the asteroid.
I shall never for=
get
the sight, nor the exclamations of wonder that broke forth from all of us
standing around, when the yellow gleam of the precious metal appeared under=
the
"star dust." Collected in huge masses it reflected the light of t=
he
sun from its hiding place.
Evidently the pla=
net
was not a solid ball of gold, formed like a bullet run in a mold, but was
composed of nuggets of various sizes, which had come together here under the
influence of their mutual gravitation, and formed a little metallic planet.=
Judging by the te= st of weight which we had already tried, and which had led to the discovery of= the gold, the composition of the asteroid must be the same to its very center.<= o:p>
In an assemblage =
of
famous scientific men such as this the discovery of course, immediately led=
to
questions as to the origin of this incredible phenomenon.
How did these mas=
ses
of gold come together? How did it chance that, with the exception of the th=
in
crust of the asteroid nearly all its substance was composed of the precious
metal?
One asserted that=
it
was quite impossible that there should be so much gold at so great a distan=
ce
from the sun.
"It is the
general law," he said, "that the planets increase in density towa=
rds
the sun. There is every reason to think that the inner planets possess the
greater amount of dense elements, while the outer ones are comparatively
light."
But another refer=
red
to the old theory that there was once in this part of the solar system a pl=
anet
which had been burst in pieces by some mysterious explosion, the fragments
forming what we know as the asteroids. In his opinion, this planet might ha=
ve
contained, a large quantity of gold, and in the course of ages the gold,
having, in consequence of its superior atomic weight, not being so widely
scattered by the explosion as some of the other elements of the planet, had=
collected
itself together in this body.
But I observed th=
at
Lord Kelvin and the other more distinguished men of science said nothing du=
ring
this discussion. The truly learned man is the truly wise man. They were not
going to set up the theories without sufficient facts to substain them. The=
one
fact that the gold was here was all they had at present. Until they could l=
earn
more they were not prepared to theorize as to how the gold got there.
And in truth, it =
must
be confessed, the greater number of us really cared less for the explanatio=
n of
the wonderful fact than we did for the fact itself.
Gold is a thing w=
hich
may make its appearance anywhere and at any time without offering any excus=
es
or explanations.
"Phew! Won't=
we
be rich?" exclaimed a voice.
"How are we
going to dig it and get it back to earth?" asked another.
"Carry it in
your pockets," said one.
"No need of
staking claims here," remarked another. "There is enough for ever=
ybody."
Mr. Edison sudden=
ly
turned the current of talk.
"What do you
suppose those Martians were doing here?"
"Why, they w=
ere
wrecked here."
"Not a bit of
it," said Mr. Edison. "According to your own showing they could n=
ot
have been wrecked here. This planet hasn't gravitation enough to wreck them=
by
a fall, and besides I have been looking at their machines and I know there =
has
been a fight."
"A fight?&qu=
ot;
exclaimed several, pricking up their ears.
"Yes," =
said
Mr. Edison. "Those machines bear the marks of the lightning of the
Martians. They have been disabled, but they are made of some metal or some
alloy of metals unknown to me, and consequently they have withstood the des=
tructive
force applied to them, as our electric ships were unable to withstand it. I=
t is
perfectly plain to me that they have been disabled in a battle. The Martians
must have been fighting among themselves."
"About the
gold!" exclaimed one.
"Of course. =
What
else was there to fight about?"
At this instant o=
ne
of our men came running from a considerable distance, waving his arms
excitedly, but unable to give voice to his story, in the inappreciable
atmosphere of the asteroid, until he had come up and made telephonic connec=
tion
with us.
"There are a=
lot
of dead Martians over there," he said. "They've been cleaning one
another out."
"That's
it," said Mr. Edison. "I knew it when I saw the condition of those
machines."
"Then this is
not a wrecked expedition, directed against the earth?"
"Not at
all."
"This must be
the great gold mine of Mars," said the president of an Australian mini=
ng
company, opening both his eyes and his mouth as he spoke.
"Yes, eviden=
tly
that's it. Here's where they come to get their wealth."
"And this,&q=
uot;
I said, "must be their harvest time. You notice that this asteroid, be=
ing
several million miles nearer to the sun than Mars is, must have an apprecia=
bly
shorter period of revolution. When it is in conjunction with Mars, or nearly
so, as it is at present, the distance between the two is not very great,
whereas when it is in the opposite part of its orbit they are separated by =
an
enormous gap in space and the sun is between them.
"Manifestly =
in
the latter case it would be perilous if not entirely impossible for the
Martians to visit the golden asteroid, but when it is near Mars, as it is at
present, and as it must be periodically for several years at a time, then is
their opportunity.
"With their
projectile cars sent forth with the aid of the mysterious explosives which =
they
possess, it is easy for them under such circumstances, to make visits to the
asteroid.
"Having obta=
ined
all the gold they need or all that they can carry, a comparatively slight
impulse given to their car, the direction of which is carefully calculated,
will carry them back again to Mars."
"If that's
so," exclaimed a voice, "we had better look out for ourselves! We
have got into a very hornet's nest! If this is the place where the Martians
come to dig gold, and if this is the height of their season, as you say, th=
ey
are not likely to leave us here long undisturbed."
"These fello=
ws
must have been pirates that they had the fight with," said another.
"But what's
become of the regulars, then?"
"Gone back to
Mars for help, probably, and they'll be here again pretty quick, I am
afraid!"
Considerable alarm
was caused by this view of the case, and orders were sent to several of the
electrical ships to cruise out to a safe distance in the direction of Mars =
and
keep a sharp outlook for the approach of enemies.
Meanwhile our
prisoner awoke. He turned his eyes upon those standing about him, without a=
ny
appearance of fear, but rather with a look of contempt, like that which
Gulliver must have felt for the Lilliputians who had bound him under similar
circumstances.
There were both
hatred and defiance in his glance. He attempted to free himself, and the ro=
pes
strained with the tremendous pressure that he put upon them, but he could n=
ot
break loose.
Satisfied that the
Martian was safely bound, we left him where he lay, and, while awaiting news
from the ships which had been sent to reconnoitre, continued the exploratio=
n of
the little planet.
At a point nearly
opposite to that where we had landed we came upon the mine which the Martia=
ns
had been working. They had removed the thin coating of soil, laying bare the
rich stores of gold beneath, and large quantities of the latter had been
removed. Some of it was so solidly packed that the strokes of the instrumen=
ts
by means of which they had detached it were visible like the streaks left b=
y a
knife cutting cheese.
The more we saw of
this golden planet the greater became our astonishment. What the Martians h=
ad
removed was a mere nothing in comparison with the entire bulk of the astero=
id.
Had the celestial mine been easier to reach, perhaps they would have removed
more, or, possibly, their political economists perfectly understood the
necessity of properly controlling the amount of precious metal in circulati=
on. Very
likely, we thought, the mining operations were under government control in =
Mars
and it might be that the majority of the people there knew nothing of this
store of wealth floating in the firmament. That would account for the battle
with the supposed pirates, who, no doubt had organized a secret expedition =
to
the asteroid and had been caught red-handed at the mine.
There were many
detached masses of gold scattered about, and some of the men, on picking th=
em
up, exclaimed with astonishment at their lack of weight, forgetting for the
moment that the same law which caused their own bodies to weigh so little m=
ust
necessarily affect everything else in a like degree.
A mass of gold th=
at
on the earth no man would have been able to lift could here be tossed about
like a hollow rubber ball.
While we were
examining the mine, one of the men left to guard the Martian came running to
inform us that the latter evidently wished to make some communication. Mr.
Edison and the others hurried to the side of the prisoner. He still lay on =
his
back, from which position he was not able to move, notwithstanding all his
efforts. But by the motion of his eyes, aided by the pantomime with his
fingers, he made us understand that there was something in a metallic box
fastened at his side which he wished to reach.
With some difficu=
lty
we succeeded in opening the box and in it there appeared a number of bright=
red
pellets, as large as an ordinary egg.
When the Martians=
saw
these in our hands he gave us to understand by the motion of his lips that =
he
wished to swallow one of them. A pellet was accordingly placed in his mouth,
and he instantly and with great eagerness swallowed it.
While trying to
communicate his wishes to us, the prisoner had seemed to be in no little
distress. He exhibited spasmodic movements which led some of the bystanders=
to
think that he was on the point of dying, but within a few seconds after he =
had
swallowed the pellet he appeared to be completely restored. All evidence of
distress vanished, and a look of content came over his ugly face.
"It must be a
powerful medicine," said one of the bystanders. "I wonder what it
is?"
"I will expl=
ain
to you my notion," said Professor Moissan, the great French chemist.
"I think it was a pill of the air, which he has taken."
"What do you
mean by that?"
"My meaning
is," said Professor Moissan, "that the Martian must have, for tha=
t he
may live, the nitrogen and the oxygen. These can he not obtain here, where
there is not the atmosphere. Therefore must he get them in some other manne=
r.
This has he managed to do by combining in these pills the oxygen and the
nitrogen in the proportions which make atmospheric air. Doubtless upon Mars
there are the very great chemists. They have discovered how this may be don=
e.
When the Martian has swallowed his little pill, the oxygen and the nitrogen=
are
rendered to his blood as if he had breathed them, and so he can live with t=
hat
air which has been distributed to him with the aid of his stomach in place =
of
his lungs."
If Monsieur Moiss=
an's
explanation was not correct, at any rate it seemed the only one which would=
fit
the facts before us. Certainly the Martian could not breathe where there was
practically no air, yet just as certainly after he had swallowed his pill he
seemed as comfortable as any of us.
Suddenly, while we
were gathered around the prisoner, and interested in this fresh evidence of=
the
wonderful ingenuity of the Martians, and of their control over the processe=
s of
nature, one of the electrical ships that had been sent off in the direction=
of
Mars was seen rapidly returning and displaying signals.
It reported that =
the
Martians were coming!
CHAPTER EIGHT - "THE
MARTIANS ARE COMING!"
The alarm was spread instantly among tho=
se
upon the planet and through the remainder of the fleet.
One of the men fr=
om
the returning electrical ship dropped down upon the asteroid and gave a more
detailed account of what they had seen.
His ship had been=
the
one which had gone to the greatest distance, in the direction of Mars. While
cruising there, with all eyes intent, they had suddenly perceived a glitter=
ing
object moving from the direction of the ruddy planet, and manifestly
approaching them. A little inspection with the telescope had shown them tha=
t it
was one of the projectile cars used by the Martians.
Our ship had vent=
ured
so far from the asteroid that for a moment it seemed doubtful whether it wo=
uld
be able to return in time to give warning, because the electrical influence=
of
the asteroid was comparatively slight at such a distance, and, after they h=
ad
reversed their polarity, and applied their intensifier, so as to make that =
influence
effective, their motion was at first exceedingly slow.
Fortunately after=
a
time they got under way with sufficient velocity to bring them back to us
before the approaching Martians could overtake them.
The latter were n=
ot
moving with great velocity, having evidently projected themselves from Mars
with only just sufficient force to throw them within the feeble sphere of
gravitation of the asteroid, so that they should very gently land upon its
surface.
Indeed, looking o=
ut
behind the electrical ship which had brought us the warning, we immediately=
saw
the projectile of the Martians approaching. It sparkled like a star in the
black sky as the sunlight fell upon it.
The ships of the
squadron whose crews had not landed upon the planet were signaled to prepare
for action, while those who were upon the asteroid made ready for battle th=
ere.
A number of disintegrators were trained upon the approaching Martians, but =
Mr.
Edison gave strict orders that no attempt should be made to discharge the
vibratory force at random.
"They do not
know that we are here," he said, "and I am convinced that they are
unable to control their motions as we can do with our electrical ships. They
depend simply upon the force of gravitation. Having passed the limit of the
attraction of Mars, they have now fallen within the attraction of the aster=
oid,
and they must slowly sink to its surface.
"Having, as =
I am
convinced, no means of producing or controlling electrical attraction and
repulsion, they cannot stop themselves, but must come down upon the asteroi=
d.
Having got here, they could never get away again, except as we know the
survivors got away from earth, by propelling their projectile against
gravitation with the aid of an explosive.
"Therefore, =
to a
certain extent they will be at our mercy. Let us allow them quietly to land
upon the planet, and then I think, if it becomes necessary, we can master
them."
Notwithstanding M=
r.
Edison's reassuring words and manner, the company upon the asteroid experie=
nced
a dreadful suspense while the projectile which seemed very formidable as it
drew near, sank with a slow and graceful motion toward the surface of the
ground. Evidently it was about to land very near the spot where we stood
awaiting it.
Its inmates had
apparently just caught sight of us. They evinced signs of astonishment, and
seemed at a loss exactly what to do. We could see projecting from the fore =
part
of their car at least two of the polished knobs, whose fearful use and powe=
r we
well comprehended.
Several of our men
cried out to Mr. Edison in an extremity of terror:
"Why do you =
not
destroy them? Be quick, or we shall all perish."
"No," s=
aid
Mr. Edison, "there is no danger. You can see that they are not prepare=
d. They
will not attempt to attack us until they have made their landing."
And Mr. Edison was
right. With gradually accelerated velocity, and yet very, very slowly in
comparison with the speed they would have exhibited in falling upon such a
planet as the earth, the Martians and their car came down to the ground.
We stood at a
distance of perhaps three hundred feet from the point where they touched the
asteroid. Instantly a dozen of the giants sprang from the car and gazed abo=
ut
for a moment with a look of intense surprise. At first it was doubtful whet=
her
they meant to attack us at all.
We stood on our
guard, several carrying disintegrators in our hands, while a score more of
these terrible engines were turned upon the Martians from the electrical sh=
ips
which hovered near.
Suddenly he who
seemed to be the leader of the Martians began to speak to them in pantomime,
using his fingers after the manner in which they are used for conversation =
by
deaf and dumb people.
Of course, we did=
not
know what he was saying, but his meaning became perfectly evident a minute
later. Clearly they did not comprehend the powers of the insignificant look=
ing
strangers with whom they had to deal. Instead of turning their destructive
engines on us, they advanced on a run, with the evident purpose of making us
prisoners or crushing us by main force.
The soft whirr of=
the
disintegrator in the hands of Mr. Edison standing near me came to my ears
through the telephonic wire. He quickly swept the concentrating mirror a li=
ttle
up and down, and instantly the foremost Martian vanished! Part of some meta=
llic
dress that he wore fell upon the ground where he had stood, its vibratory r=
ate
not having been included in the range imparted to the disintegrator.
His followers pau=
sed
for a moment, amazed, stared about as if looking for their leader, and then
hurried back to their projectile and disappeared within it.
"Now we've g=
ot
business on our hands," said Mr. Edison. "Look out for yourselves=
."
As he spoke, I saw
the death-dealing knob of the war engine contained in the car of the Martia=
ns
moving around toward us. In another instant it would have launched its
destroying bolt.
Before that could
occur, however, it had been dissipated into space by a vibratory stream fro=
m a
disintegrator.
But we were not to
get the victory quite so easily. There was another of the war engines in the
car, and before we could concentrate our fire upon it, its awful flash shot
forth, and a dozen of our comrades perished before our eyes.
"Quick!
Quick!" shouted Mr. Edison to one of his electrical experts standing n=
ear.
"There is something the matter with this disintegrator, and I cannot m=
ake
it work. Aim at the knob, and don't miss it."
But the aim was n=
ot
well taken, and the vibratory force fell upon a portion of the car at a
considerable distance from the knob, making a great breach, but leaving the
engine uninjured.
A section of the =
side
of the car had been destroyed, and the vibratory energy had spread no furth=
er.
To have attempted to sweep the car from end to end would have been futile,
because the period of action of the disintegrators during each discharge did
not exceed one second, and distributing the energy over so great a space wo=
uld
have seriously weakened its power to shatter apart the atoms of the resisti=
ng substance.
The disintegrators were like firearms, in that after each discharge they mu=
st
be readjusted before they could be used again.
Through the breac=
h we
saw the Martians inside making desperate efforts to train their engine upon=
us,
for after their first disastrous stroke we had rapidly shifted our position.
Swiftly the polished knob, which gleamed like an evil eye, moved round to s=
weep
over us. Instinctively, though incautiously, we had collected in a group.
A single discharge
would sweep us all into eternity.
"Will no one
fire upon them?" exclaimed Mr. Edison, struggling with the disintegrat=
or
in his hands which still refused to work.
At this fearful
moment I glanced around upon our company, and was astonished at the spectac=
le.
In the presence of the danger many of them had lost all self-command. A half
dozen had dropped their disintegrators upon the ground. Others stood as if
frozen fast in their tracks. The expert electrician, whose poor aim had had
such disastrous results, held in his hand an instrument which was in perfect
condition, yet with mouth agape, he stood trembling like a captured bird.
It was a disgrace=
ful
exhibition. Mr. Edison, however, had not lost his head. Again and again he
sighted at the dreadful knob with his disintegrator, but the vibratory force
refused to respond.
The means of safe=
ty
were in our hands, and yet through a combination of ill luck and paralyzing
terror, we seemed unable to use them.
In a second more =
it
would be all over with us.
The suspense in
reality lasted only during the twinkling of an eye, though it seemed ages l=
ong.
Unable to endure =
it,
I sharply struck the shoulder of the paralyzed electrician. To have attempt=
ed
to seize the disintegrator from his hands would have been a fatal waste of
time. Luckily the blow either roused him from his stupor or caused an
instinctive movement of his hand that set the little engine in operation.
I am sure he took=
no
aim, but providentially the vibratory force fell upon the desired point, and
the knob disappeared.
We were saved!
Instantly half a
dozen rushed toward the car of the Martians. We bitterly repented their has=
te;
they did not live to repent.
Unknown to us the
Martians carried hand engines, capable of launching bolts of death of the s=
ame
character as those which emanated from the knobs of their larger machines. =
With
these they fired, so to speak, through the breach in their car, and four of=
our
men who were rushing upon them fell in heaps of cinders. The effect of the
terrible fire was like that which the most powerful strokes of lightning
occasionally produce on earth.
The destruction of
the threatening knob had instantaneously relieved the pressure upon the
terror-stricken nerves of our company, and they had all regained their
composure and self-command. But this new and unexpected disaster, following=
so
close upon the fear which had recently overpowered them, produced a second
panic, the effect of which was not to stiffen them in their tracks as befor=
e,
but to send them scurrying in every direction in search of hiding places.
And now a most
curious effect of the smallness of the planet we were on began to play a
conspicuous part in our adventures. Standing on a globe only five miles in
diameter was like being on the summit of a mountain whose sides sloped rapi=
dly
off in every direction, disappearing in the black sky on all sides, as if it
were some stupendous peak rising out of an unfathomable abyss.
In consequence of=
the
quick rounding off of the sides of this globe, the line of the horizon was
close at hand, and by running a distance of less that 250 yards the fugitiv=
es
disappeared down the sides of the asteroid, and behind the horizon, even fr=
om
the elevation of about fifteen feet from which the Martians were able to wa=
tch
them. From our sight they disappeared much sooner.
The slight attrac=
tion
of the planet and their consequent almost entire lack of weight enabled the=
men
to run with immense speed. The result, as I have subsequently learned, was =
that
after they had disappeared from our view they quitted the planet entirely, =
the
force being sufficient to partially free them from its gravitation, so that
they sailed out into space, whirling helplessly end over end, until the
elliptical orbits in which they travelled eventually brought them back agai=
n to
the planet on the side nearly opposite to that from which they had departed=
.
But several of us,
with Mr. Edison, stood fast, watching for an opportunity to get the Martians
within range of the disintegrators. Luckily we were enabled, by shifting our
position a little to the left, to get out of the line of sight of our enemi=
es
concealed in the car.
"If we cannot
catch sight of them," said Mr. Edison, "we shall have to riddle t=
he
car on the chance of hitting them."
"It will be =
like
firing into a bush to kill a hidden bear," said one of the party.
But help came fro=
m a
quarter which was unexpected to us, although it should not have been so.
Several of the electric ships had been hovering above us during the fight,
their commanders being apparently uncertain how to act--fearful, perhaps, of
injuring us in the attempt to smite our enemy.
But now the situa=
tion
apparently lightened for them. They saw that we were at an immense
disadvantage, and several of them immediately turned their batteries upon t=
he
car of the Martians.
They riddled it f=
ar
more quickly and effectively than we could have done. Every stroke of the
vibratory emanation made a gap in the side of the car, and we could perceive
from the commotion within that our enemies were being rapidly massacred in
their fortification.
So overwhelming w= as the force and the advantage of the ships that in a little while it was all over. Mr. Edison signaled them to stop firing because it was plain that all resistance had ceased and probably not one of the Martians remained alive.<= o:p>
We now approached=
the
car, which had been transpierced in every direction, and whose remaining
portions were glowing with heat in consequence of the spreading of the atom=
ic
vibrations. Immediately we discovered that all our anticipations were corre=
ct
and that all of our enemies had perished.
The effect of the
disintegrators upon them had been awful--too repulsive, indeed, to be descr=
ibed
in detail. Some of the bodies had evidently entirely vanished; only certain
metal articles which they had worn remaining, as in the case of the first
Martian killed, to indicate that such beings had ever existed. The nature of
the metal composing these articles was unknown to us. Evidently its vibrato=
ry
rhythm did not correspond with any included in the ordinary range of the di=
sintegrators.
Some of the giants
had been only partially destroyed, the vibratory current having grazed them=
, in
such a manner that the shattering undulations had not acted upon the entire
body.
One thing that le=
nds
a peculiar horror to a terrestrial battlefield was absent; there was no
bloodshed. The vibratory energy, not only completely destroyed whatever it =
fell
upon but it seared the veins and arteries of the dismembered bodies so that
there was no sanguinary exhibition connected with its murderous work.
All this time the
shackled Martian had lain on his back where we had left him bound. What his
feeling must have been may be imagined. At times, I caught a glimpse of his
eyes, wildly rolling and exhibiting, when he saw that the victory was in our
hands, the first indications of fear and terror shaking his soul that had y=
et
appeared.
"That fellow=
is
afraid at last," I said to Mr. Edison.
"Well, I sho=
uld
think he ought to be afraid," was the reply.
"So he ought,
but if I am not mistaken this fear of his may be the beginning of a new
discovery for us."
"How so?&quo=
t;
asked Mr. Edison.
"In this way.
When once he fears our power, and perceives that there would be no hope of
contending against us, even if he were at liberty, he will respect us. This
change in his mental attitude may tend to make him communicative. I do not =
see
why we should despair of learning his language from him, and having done th=
at,
he will serve as our guide and interpreter, and will be of incalculable
advantage to us when we have arrived at Mars."
"Capital!
Capital!" said Mr. Edison. "We must concentrate the linguistic ge=
nius
of our company upon that problem at once."
In the meantime s=
ome
of the skulkers whose flight I have referred to began to return, crestfalle=
n,
but rejoicing in the disappearance of the danger. Several of them, I am ash=
amed
to say, had been army officers. Yet possibly some excuse could be made for =
the
terror by which they had been overcome. No man has a right to hold his fell=
ow
beings to account for the line of conduct they may pursue under circumstanc=
es
which are not only entirely unexampled in their experience, but almost beyo=
nd
the power of the imagination to picture.
Paralyzing terror=
had
evidently seized them with the sudden comprehension of the unprecedented
singularity of their situation. Millions of miles away from the earth,
confronted on an asteroid by these diabolical monsters from a maleficent
planet, who were on the point of destroying them with a strange torment of
death--perhaps it was really more than human nature, deprived of the suppor=
t of
human surroundings, could be expected to bear.
Those who, as alr=
eady
described, had run with so great a speed that they were projected, all
unwilling, into space, rising in elliptical orbits from the surface of the
planet, describing great curves in what might be denominated its sky, and t=
hen
coming back again to the little globe on another side, were so filled with =
the
wonders of their remarkable adventure that they had almost forgotten the te=
rror
which had inspired it.
There was nothing
surprising in what had occurred to them the moment one considered the laws =
of
gravitation on the asteroid, but their stories aroused an intense interest
among all who listened to them.
Lord Kelvin was
particularly interested, and while Mr. Edison was hastening preparations to
quit the asteroid and resume our voyage to Mars, Lord Kelvin and a number of
other scientific men instituted a series of remarkable experiments.
It was one of the
most laughable things imaginable to see Lord Kelvin, dressed in his air-tig=
ht
suit, making tremendous jumps in empty space. It reminded me forcibly of wh=
at
Lord Kelvin, then plain William Thompson, and Professor Blackburn had done =
when
spending a summer vacation at the seaside, while they were undergraduates of
Cambridge University. They had spent all their time, to the surprise of
onlookers, in spinning rounded stones on the beach, their object being to
obtain a practical solution of the mathematical problem of
"precession."
Immediately Lord
Kelvin was imitated by a dozen others. With what seemed very slight effort =
they
projected themselves straight upwards, rising to a height of four hundred f=
eet
or more, and then slowly settling back again to the surface of the asteroid.
The time of rise and fall combined was between three and four minutes.
On this little pl=
anet
the acceleration of gravity or the velocity acquired by a falling body in o=
ne
second was only four-fifths of an inch. A body required an entire minute to
fall a distance of only 120 feet. Consequently, it was more like gradually
settling than falling. The figures of these men of science, rising and sink=
ing
in this manner, appeared like so many gigantic marionettes bobbing up and d=
own
in a pneumatic bottle.
"Let us try =
that,"
said Mr. Edison, very much interested in the experiments.
Both of us jumped
together. At first, with great swiftness, but gradually losing speed, we ro=
se
to an immense height straight from the ground. When we had reached the utmo=
st
limit of our flight we seemed to come to rest for a moment, and then began
slowly, but with accelerated velocity, to sink back again to the planet. It=
was
not only a peculiar but a delicious sensation, and but for strict orders wh=
ich
were issued that the electrical ships should be immediately prepared for
departure, our entire company might have remained for an indefinite period
enjoying this new kind of athletic exercise in a world where gravitation ha=
d become
so humble that it could be trifled with.
While the final
preparations for departure were being made, Lord Kelvin instituted other
experiments that were no less unique in their results. The experience of th=
ose
who had taken unpremeditated flights in elliptical orbits when they had run
from the vicinity of the Martians suggested the throwing of solid objects in
various directions from the surface of the planet in order to determine the
distance they would go and the curves they would describe in returning.
For these experim=
ents
there was nothing more convenient or abundant than chunks of gold from the
Martians' mine. These, accordingly, were hurled in different directions and
with every degree of velocity. A little calculation had shown that an initi=
al
velocity of thirty feet per second imparted to one of these chunks, moving =
at
right angles to the radius of the asteroid, would, if the resistance of an
almost inappreciable atmosphere were neglected, suffice to turn the piece of
gold into a little satellite that would describe an orbit around the astero=
id,
and continue to do so forever, or at least until the slight atmospheric res=
istance
should eventually bring it down to the surface.
But a less veloci=
ty
than thirty feet per second would cause the golden missile to fly only part=
way
around, while a greater velocity would give it an elliptical instead of a
circular orbit, and in this ellipse it would continue to revolve around the
asteroid in the character of a satellite.
If the direction =
of
the original impulse were at more than a right angle to the radius of the
asteroid, then the flying body would pass out to a greater or less distance=
in
space in an elliptical orbit, eventually coming back again and falling upon=
the
asteroid, but not at the same spot from which it had departed.
So many took part=
in
these singular experiments, which assumed rather the appearance of outdoor
sports than of scientific demonstrations, that in a short time we had provi=
ded
the asteroid with a very large number of little moons, or satellites, of go=
ld,
which revolved around it in orbits of various degrees of ellipticity, takin=
g,
on the average, about three-quarters of an hour to complete a circuit. Sinc=
e,
on completing a revolution, they must necessarily pass through the point fr=
om
which they started, they kept us constantly on the qui vive to avoid being =
knocked
over by them as they swept around in their orbits.
Finally the signal
was given for all to embark, and with great regret the savants quitted their
scientific games, and prepared to return to the electric ships.
Just on the momen=
t of
departure, the fact was announced by one, who had been making a little
calculation on a bit of paper, that the velocity with which a body must be
thrown in order to escape forever the attraction of the asteroid, and to pa=
ss
on to an infinite distance in any direction, was only about forty-two feet =
in a
second.
Manifestly it wou=
ld
be quite easy to impart such a speed as that to the chunks of gold that we =
held
in our hands.
"Hurrah!&quo=
t;
exclaimed one. "Let's send some of this back to the earth."
"Where is the
earth?" asked another.
Being appealed to,
several astronomers turned their eyes in the direction of the sun, where the
black firmament was ablaze with stars, and in a moment recognized the
earth-star shining there, with the moon attending close at hand.
"There,"
said one, "is the earth. Can you throw straight enough to hit it?"=
;
"We'll
try," was the reply, and immediately several threw huge golden nuggets=
in
the direction of our far-away world, endeavoring to impart to them at least=
the
required velocity of forty-two feet in a second, which would insure their
passing beyond the attraction of the asteroid, and if there should be no
disturbance on the way, and the aim were accurate, their eventual arrival u=
pon
the earth.
"Here's for =
you,
Old Earth," said one of the throwers, "good luck, and more gold to
you!"
If these precious
missiles ever reached the earth we knew that they would plunge into the
atmosphere like meteors and that probably the heat developed by their passa=
ge
would melt and dissipate them in golden vapors before they could touch the
ground.
Yet there was a
chance that some of them--if the aim were true--might survive the fiery pas=
sage
through the atmosphere and fall upon the surface of our planet where, perha=
ps,
they would afterward be picked up by a prospector and lead him to believe t=
hat
he had struck a new bonanza.
But until we retu=
rned
to the earth it would be impossible for us to tell what had become of the
golden gifts which we had launched into space for our mother planet.
CHAPTER NINE - JOURNEY'S =
END
"All aboard!" was the signal, =
and
the squadron having assembled under the lead of the flagship, we started ag=
ain
for Mars.
This time, as it
proved, there was to be no further interruption, and when next we paused it=
was
in the presence of the world inhabited by our enemies, and facing their
frowning batteries.
We did not find i=
t so
easy to start from the asteroid as it had been to start from the earth; tha=
t is
to say, we could not so readily generate a very high velocity.
In consequence of=
the
comparatively small size of the asteroid, its electric influence was very m=
uch
less than that of the earth, and notwithstanding the appliances which we
possessed for intensifying the electrical effect, it was not possible to
produce a sufficient repulsion to start us off for Mars with anything like =
the
impulse which we had received from the earth on our original departure.
The utmost veloci=
ty
that we could generate did not exceed three miles in a second, and to get t=
his
required our utmost efforts. In fact, it had not seemed possible that we sh=
ould
attain even so great a speed as that. It was far more than we could have
expected, and even Mr. Edison was surprised, as well as greatly gratified, =
when
he found that we were moving with the velocity that I have named.
We were still abo=
ut
6,000,000 miles from Mars, so that, traveling three miles in a second, we
should require at least twenty-three days to reach the immediate neighborho=
od
of the planet.
Meanwhile we had
plenty of occupation to make the time pass quickly. Our prisoner was
transported along with us, and we now began our attempts to ascertain what =
his
language was, and, if possible, to master it ourselves.
Before quitting t=
he
asteroid we had found that it was necessary for him to swallow one of his
"air pills," as Professor Moissan had called them, at least three
times in the course of every twenty-four hours. One of us supplied him
regularly and I thought that I could detect evidences of a certain degree of
gratitude in his expression. This was encouraging, because it gave addition=
al
promise of the possibility of our being able to communicate with him in some
more effective way than by mere signs. But once inside the car, where we ha=
d a
supply of air kept at the ordinary pressure experienced on the earth, he co=
uld
breathe like the rest of us.
The best linguist=
s in
the expedition, as Mr. Edison had suggested, were now assembled in the
flagship, where the prisoner was, and they set to work to devise some means=
of
ascertaining the manner in which he was accustomed to express his thoughts.=
We
had not heard him speak, because until we carried him into our car there wa=
s no
atmosphere capable of conveying any sounds he might attempt to utter.
It seemed a fair
assumption that the language of the Martians would be scientific in its
structure. We had so much evidence of the practical bent of their minds, an=
d of
the immense progress which they had made in the direction of the scientific
conquest of nature, that it was not to be supposed their medium of communic=
ation
with one another would be lacking in clearness, or would possess any of the
puzzling and unnecessary ambiguities that characterized the languages spoke=
n on
the earth.
"We shall not
find them making he's and she's of stones, sticks and other inanimate
objects," said one of the American linguists. "They must certainly
have gotten rid of all that nonsense long ago."
"Ah," s=
aid
a French Professor from the Sorbonne, one of the makers of the
never-to-be-finished dictionary. "It will be like the language of my c=
ountry.
Transparent, similar to the diamond, and sparkling as is the fountain."=
;
"I think,&qu=
ot;
said a German enthusiast, "that it will be a universal language, the
Volapuk of Mars, spoken by all the inhabitants of that planet."
"But all the=
se
speculations," broke in Mr. Edison, "do not help you much. Why not
begin in a practical manner by finding out what the Martian calls himself, =
for
instance."
This seemed a good
suggestion, and accordingly several of the bystanders began an expressive
pantomime, intended to indicate to the giant, who was following all their
motions with his eyes, that they wished to know by what name he called hims=
elf.
Pointing their fingers to their own breast they repeated, one after the oth=
er,
the word "man."
If our prisoner h=
ad
been a stupid savage, of course any such attempt as this to make him unders=
tand
would have been idle. But it must be remembered that we were dealing with a
personage who had presumably inherited from hundreds of generations the res=
ults
of a civilization, and an intellectual advance, measured by the constant
progress of millions of years.
Accordingly we we=
re
not very much astonished, when, after a few repetitions of the experiment, =
the
Martian--one of whose arms had been partially released from its bonds in or=
der
to give him a little freedom of motion--imitated the action of his
interrogators by pressing his finger over his heart.
Then, opening his
mouth, he gave utterance to a sound which shook the air of the car like the
hoarse roar of a lion. He seemed himself surprised by the noise he made, fo=
r he
had not been used to speak in so dense an atmosphere.
Our ears were
deafened and confused, and we recoiled in astonishment, not to say, half in
terror.
With an ugly grin
distorting his face as if he enjoyed our discomfiture, the Martian repeated=
the
motion and the sound.
"R-r-r-r-r-r=
-h!"
It was not articu=
late
to our ears and not to be represented by any combination of letters.
"Faith,"
exclaimed a Dublin University professor, "if that's what they call
themselves, how shall we ever translate their names when we come to write t=
he
history of the conquest?"
"Whist,
mon," replied a professor from the University of Aberdeen, "let us
whip the gillravaging villains first, and then we can describe them by any =
intitulation
that may suit our deesposition."
The beginning of =
our
linguistic conquest was certainly not promising, at least if measured by our
acquirement of words, but from another point of view it was very gratifying,
inasmuch as it was plain that the Martian understood what we were trying to=
do,
and was, for the present, at least, disposed to aid us.
These efforts to
learn the language of Mars were renewed and repeated every few hours, all t=
he
experience, learning and genius of the squadron being concentrated upon the
work, and the result was that in the course of a few days we had actually
succeeded in learning a dozen or more of the Martian's words and were able =
to
make him understand us when we pronounced them, as well as to understand him
when our ears had become accustomed to the growling of his voice.
Finally, one day =
the
prisoner, who seemed to be in an unusually cheerful frame of mind, indicated
that he carried in his breast some object which he wished us to see.
With our assistan=
ce
he pulled out a book!
Actually, it was a
book, not very unlike the books which we have upon the earth, but printed, =
of
course, in characters that were entirely strange and unknown to us. Yet the=
se
characters evidently gave expression to a highly intellectual language. All
those who were standing by at the moment uttered a shout of wonder and of
delight, and the cry of "a book! a book!" ran around the circle, =
and
the good news was even promptly communicated to some of the neighboring
electric ships of the squadron. Several other learned men were summoned in
haste from them to examine our new treasure.
The Martian, whose
good nature had manifestly been growing day after day, watched our inspecti=
on
of his book with evidences of great interest, not unmingled with amusement.
Finally he beckoned the holder of the book to his side, and placing his bro=
ad
finger upon one of the huge letters--if letters they were, for they more ne=
arly
resembled the characters employed by the Chinese printer--he uttered a sound
which we, of course, took to be a word, but which was different from any we=
had
yet heard. Then he pointed to one after another of us standing around.
"Ah,"
explained everybody, the truth being apparent, "that is the word by wh=
ich
the Martians designate us. They have a name, then, for the inhabitants of t=
he
earth."
"Or, perhaps=
, it
is rather the name for the earth itself," said one.
But this could no=
t,
of course, be at once determined. Anyhow, the word, whatever its precise
meaning might be, had now been added to our vocabulary, although as yet our
organs of speech proved unable to reproduce it in a recognizable form.
This promising and
unexpected discovery of the Martian's book lent added enthusiasm to those w=
ho
were engaged in the work of trying to master the language of our prisoner, =
and
the progress that they made in the course of the next few days was truly
astonishing. If the prisoner had been unwilling to aid them, of course, it
would have been impossible to proceed, but, fortunately for us, he seemed m=
ore
and more to enter into the spirit of the undertaking, and actually to enjoy=
it
himself. So bright and quick was his understanding that he was even able to
indicate to us methods of mastering his language that would otherwise,
probably, never have occurred to our minds.
In fact, in a very
short time he had turned teacher and all these learned men, pressing around=
him
with eager attention, had become his pupils.
I cannot undertak=
e to
say precisely how much of the Martian language had been acquired by the chi=
ef
linguists of the expedition before the time when we arrived so near to Mars
that it became necessary for most of us to abandon our studies in order to =
make
ready for the more serious business which now confronted us.
But, at any rate,=
the
acquisition was so considerable as to allow of the interchange of ordinary
ideas with our prisoner, and there was no longer any doubt that he would be
able to give us much information when we landed on his native planet.
At the end of
twenty-three days as measured by terrestrial time, since our departure from=
the
asteroid, we arrived in the sky of Mars.
For a long time t=
he
ruddy planet had been growing larger and more formidable, gradually turning
from a huge star into a great red moon, and then expanding more and more un=
til
it began to shut out from sight the constellations behind it. The curious
markings on its surface, which from the earth can only be dimly glimpsed wi=
th a
powerful telescope, began to reveal themselves clearly to our naked eyes.
I have related how
even before we had reached the asteroid, Mars began to present a most impos=
ing
appearance as we saw it with our telescopes. Now, however, that it was clos=
e at
hand, the naked eye view of the planet was more wonderful than anything we =
had
been able to see with telescopes when at a greater distance.
We were approachi=
ng
the southern hemisphere of Mars in about latitude 45 degrees south. It was =
near
the time of the vernal equinox in that hemisphere of the planet, and under =
the
stimulating influence of the spring sun, rising higher and higher every day,
some such awakening of life and activity upon its surface as occurs on the
earth under similar circumstances was evidently going on.
Around the South =
Pole
were spread immense fields of snow and ice, gleaming with great brilliance.
Cutting deep into the borders of these ice-fields, we could see broad chann=
els
of open water, indicating the rapid breaking of the grip of the frost.
Almost directly
beneath us was a broad oval region, light red in color, to which terrestrial
astronomers had given the name of Hellas. Toward the south, between Hellas =
and
the borders of the polar ice, was a great belt of darkness that astronomers=
had
always been inclined to regard as a sea. Looking toward the north, we could
perceive the immense red expanses of the continent of Mars, with the long
curved line of the Syrtis Major, or "The Hour-glass Sea," sweeping
through the midst of them toward the north until it disappeared under the
horizon.
Crossing and
recrossing the red continent, in every direction, were the canals of
Schiaparelli.
Plentifully sprin=
kled
over the surface we could see brilliant points, some of dazzling brightness,
outshining the daylight. There was also an astonishing variety in the color=
s of
the broad expanses beneath us. Activity, vivacity and beauty, such as we we=
re
utterly unprepared to behold, expressed their presence on all sides.
The excitement on=
the
flagship and among the other members of the squadron was immense. It was
certainly a thrilling scene. Here, right under our feet, lay the world we h=
ad
come to do battle with. Its appearances, while recalling in some of their
broader aspects those which it had presented when viewed from our
observatories, were far more strange, complex and wonderful than any astron=
omer
had ever dreamed. Suppose all of our anticipations about Mars should prove =
to
have been wrong, after all?
There could be no
longer any question that it was a world which, if not absolutely teeming wi=
th
inhabitants, like a gigantic ant-hill, at any rate bore on every side the m=
arks
of their presence and of their incredible undertakings and achievements.
Here and there cl=
ouds
of smoke arose and spread slowly through the atmosphere beneath us. Floating
higher above the surface of the planet were clouds of vapor, assuming the
familiar forms of stratus and cumulus with which we were acquainted upon the
earth.
These clouds,
however, seemed upon the whole to be much less dense than those to which we
were accustomed at home. They had, too, a peculiar iridescent beauty as if
there was something in their composition or their texture which split up the
chromatic elements of the sunlight and thus produced internal rainbow effec=
ts
that caused some of the heavier cloud masses to resemble immense collection=
s of
opals, alive with the play of ever-changing colors and magically suspended
above the planet.
As we continued to
study the phenomena that was gradually unfolded beneath us we thought we co=
uld
detect in many places evidences of the existence of strong fortifications. =
The
planet of war appeared to be prepared for the attacks of enemies. Since, as=
our
own experience had shown, it sometimes waged war with distant planets, it w=
as
but natural that it should be found prepared to resist foes who might be
disposed to revenge themselves for injuries suffered at its hands.
As had been expec=
ted,
our prisoner now proved to be of very great assistance to us. Apparently he
took a certain pride in exhibiting to strangers from a distant world the
beauties and wonders of his own planet.
We could not
understand by any means all that he said, but we could readily comprehend, =
from
his gestures, and from the manner in which his features lighted up at the
recognition of familiar scenes and objects, what his sentiments in regard to
them were, and, in a general way, what part they played in the life of the
planet.
He confirmed our
opinion that certain of the works which we saw beneath us were fortificatio=
ns,
intended for the protection of the planet against invaders from outer space=
. A
cunning and almost diabolical look came into his eyes as he pointed to one =
of
these strongholds.
His confidence and
his mocking looks were not reassuring to us. He knew what his planet was
capable of, and we did not. He had seen, on the asteroid, the extent of our
power, and while its display served to intimidate him there, yet now that he
and we together were facing the world of his birth, his fear had evidently
fallen from him, and he had the manner of one who feels that the shield of =
an
all-powerful protector had been extended over him.
But it could not =
be
long now before we could ascertain, by the irrevocable test of actual
experience, whether the Martians possessed the power to annihilate us or no=
t.
How shall I descr=
ibe
our feelings as we gazed at the scene spread beneath us? They were not quite
the same as those of the discoverer of new lands upon the earth. This was a
whole new world that we had discovered, and it was filled, as we could see,
with inhabitants.
But that was not =
all.
We had not come with peaceful intentions.
We were to make w=
ar
on this new world.
Deducting our los=
ses
we had not more than 940 men left. With these we were to undertake the conq=
uest
of a world containing we could not say how many millions!
Our enemies, inst=
ead
of being below us in the scale of intelligence were, we had every reason to
believe, greatly our superiors. They had proved that they possessed a comma=
nd
over the powers of nature such as we, up to the time when Mr. Edison made h=
is
inventions, had not even dreamed that it was possible for us to obtain.
It was true that =
at
present we appeared to have the advantage, both in our electrical ships and=
in
our means of offense. The disintegrator was at least as powerful an engine =
of
destruction as any that the Martians had yet shown that they possessed. It =
did
not seem that in that respect they could possibly excel us.
During the brief =
war
with the Martians upon the earth it had been gunpowder against a mysterious
force as much stronger than gunpowder as the latter was superior to the bows
and arrows that preceded it.
There had been no
comparison whatever between the offensive means employed by the two parties=
in
the struggle on the earth.
But the genius of=
one
man had suddenly put us on the level of our enemies in regard to fighting
capacity.
Then, too, our
electrical ships were far more effective for their purpose than the project=
ile
cars used by the Martians. In fact, the principle upon which they were based
was, at bottom, so simple that it seemed astonishing the Martians had not h=
it
upon it.
Mr. Edison himself
was never tired of saying in reference to this matter:
"I cannot
understand why the Martians did not invent these things. They have given am=
ple
proof that they understand electricity better than we do. Why should they h=
ave
resorted to the comparatively awkward and bungling means of getting from one
planet to another that they have employed when they might have ridden throu=
gh
the solar system in such conveyances as ours with perfect ease?"
"And
besides," Mr. Edison would add, "I cannot understand why they did=
not
employ the principle of harmonic vibrations in the construction of their
engines of war. The lightning-like strokes which they dealt from their mach=
ines
are no doubt equally powerful, but I think the range of destruction covered=
by
the disintegrators is greater."
However, these
questions must remain open until we could effect a landing on Mars, and lea=
rn
something of the condition of things there.
The thing that ga=
ve
us the most uneasiness was the fact that we did not yet know what powers the
Martians might have in reserve. It was but natural to suppose that here, on
their own ground, they would possess means of defense even more effective t=
han
the offensive engines they had employed in attacking enemies so many millio=
ns
of miles from home.
It was important =
that
we should waste no time, and it was equally important that we should select=
the
most vulnerable point for attack. It was self-evident, therefore, that our
first duty would be to reconnoiter the surface of the planet and determine =
its
weakest point of defense.
At first Mr. Edis=
on
contemplated sending the various ships in different directions around the
planet in order that the work of exploration might be quickly accomplished.=
But
upon second thought it seemed wiser to keep the squadron together, thus
diminishing the chance of disaster.
Besides, the
commander wished to see with his own eyes the exact situation of the various
parts of the planet, where it might appear advisable for us to begin our as=
sault.
Thus far we had
remained suspended at so great a height above the planet that we had hardly
entered into the perceptible limits of its atmosphere and there was no evid=
ence
that we had been seen by the inhabitants of Mars; but before starting on our
voyage of exploration it was determined to drop down closer to the surface =
in
order that we might the more certainly identify the localities over which we
passed.
This maneuver nea=
rly
got us into serious trouble.
When we had arriv=
ed
within a distance of three miles from the surface of Mars we suddenly perce=
ived
approaching from the eastward a large airship which was navigating the Mart=
ian
atmosphere at a height of perhaps half a mile above the ground.
This airship moved
rapidly on to a point nearly beneath us, when it suddenly paused, reversed =
its
course, and evidently made signals, the purpose of which was not at first
evident to us.
But in a short ti=
me
their meaning became perfectly plain, when we found ourselves surrounded by=
at
least twenty similar aerostats approaching swiftly from different sides.
It was a great
mystery to us where so many airships had been concealed previous to their
sudden appearance in answer to the signals.
But the mystery w= as quickly solved when we saw detaching itself from the surface of the planet beneath us, where, while it remained immovable, its color had blended with = that of the soil so as to render it invisible, another of the mysterious ships.<= o:p>
Then our startled
eyes beheld on all sides these formidable-looking enemies rising from the
ground beneath us like so many gigantic insects, disturbed by a sudden alar=
m.
In a short time t=
he
atmosphere a mile or two below us, and to a distance of perhaps twenty miles
around in every direction, was alive with airships of various sizes, and so=
me
of most extraordinary forms, exchanging signals, rushing to and fro, but all
finally concentrating beneath the place where our squadron was suspended.
We had poked the
hornet's nest with a vengeance!
As yet there had =
been
no sting, but we might quickly expect to feel it if we did not get out of
range.
Quickly instructi=
ons
were flashed to the squadrons to rise as rapidly as possible to a great hei=
ght.
It was evident th=
at
this maneuver would save us from danger if it were quickly effected, because
the airships of the Martians were simply airships and nothing more. They co=
uld
only float in the atmosphere, and had no means of rising above it, or of
navigating empty space.
To have turned our
disintegrators upon them, and to have begun a battle then and there, would =
have
been folly.
They overwhelming=
ly
outnumbered us, the majority of them were yet at a considerable distance an=
d we
could not have done battle, even with our entire squadron acting together, =
with
more than one-quarter of them simultaneously. In the meantime the others wo=
uld
have surrounded and might have destroyed us. We must first get some idea of=
the
planet's means of defence before we ventured to assail it.
Having risen rapi=
dly
to a height of twenty-five or thirty miles, so that we could feel confident
that our ships had vanished at least from the naked eye view of our enemies
beneath, a brief consultation was held.
It was determined=
to
adhere to our original program and to circumnavigate Mars in every direction
before proceeding to open the war.
The overwhelming
forces shown by the enemy had intimidated even some of the most courageous =
of
our men, but still it was universally felt that it would not do to retreat
without a blow struck.
The more we saw of
the power of the Martians, the more we became convinced that there would be=
no
hope for the earth, if these enemies ever again effected a landing upon its
surface, the more especially since our squadron contained nearly all of the
earth's force that would be effective in such a contest.
With Mr. Edison a=
nd
the other men of science away, they would not be able at home to construct =
such
engines as we possessed, or to manage them even if they were constructed.
Our planet had st=
aked
everything on a single throw.
These considerati=
ons
again steeled our hearts, and made us bear up as bravely as possible in the
face of the terrible odds that confronted us.
Turning the noses=
of
our electrical ships toward the west, we began our circumnavigation.
CHAPTER TEN - THE GREAT S=
MOKE
BARRIER
At first we rose to a still greater heig=
ht, in
order more effectually to escape the watchful eyes of our enemies, and then,
after having moved rapidly several hundred miles toward the west, we dropped
down again within easy eyeshot of the surface of the planet, and commenced =
our inspection.
When we originally
reached Mars, as I have related, it was at a point in its southern hemisphe=
re,
in latitude 45 degrees south, and longitude 75 degrees east, that we first
closely approached its surface. Underneath us was the land called
"Hellas," and it was over this land of Hellas that the Martian air
fleet had suddenly made its appearance.
Our westward moti=
on,
while at a great height above the planet, had brought us over another
oval-shaped land called "Noachia," surrounded by the dark ocean, =
the
"Mare Erytræum." Now approaching nearer the surface our course was
changed so as to carry us toward the equator of Mars.
We passed over the
curious half-drowned continent known to terrestrial astronomers as the Regi=
on of
Deucalion, then across another sea, or gulf, until we found ourselves float=
ing
at a height of perhaps five miles, above a great continental land, at least
three thousand miles broad from east to west, and which I immediately
recognized as that to which astronomers had given the various names of
"Aeria," "Edom," "Arabia," and "Eden.&qu=
ot;
Here the spectacle
became of breathless interest.
"Wonderful!
Wonderful!"
"Who could h=
ave
believed it!"
Such were the
exclamations heard on all sides.
When at first we =
were
suspended above Hellas, looking toward the north, the northeast and the
northwest, we had seen at a distance some of these great red regions, and h=
ad
perceived the curious network of canals by which they were intersected. But
that was a far-off and imperfect view.
Now, when we were
near at hand and straight above one of these singular lands, the magnificen=
ce
of the panorama surpassed belief.
From the earth ab=
out
a dozen of the principal canals crossing the continent beneath us had been
perceived, but we saw hundreds, nay thousands of them!
It was a double
system, intended both for irrigation and for protection, and far more marve=
lous
in its completeness than the boldest speculative minds among our astronomers
had ever dared to imagine.
"Ha! that's =
what
I always said," exclaimed a veteran from one of our great observatorie=
s.
"Mars is red because its soil and vegetation are red."
And certainly
appearances indicated that he was right.
There were no gre=
en
trees, and there was no green grass. Both were red, not of a uniform red ti=
nt,
but presenting an immense variety of shades which produced a most brilliant
effect, fairly dazzling our eyes.
But what trees! A=
nd
what grass! And what flowers!
Our telescopes sh= owed that even the smaller trees must be 200 or 300 feet in height, and there we= re forests of giants, whose average height was evidently at least 1,000 feet.<= o:p>
"That's all
right," exclaimed the enthusiast I have just quoted. "I knew it w=
ould
be so. The trees are big for the same reason that the men are, because the
planet is small, and they can grow big without becoming too heavy to
stand."
Flashing in the s=
un
on all sides were the roofs of metallic buildings, which were evidently the
only kind of edifices which Mars possessed. At any rate, if stone or wood w=
ere
employed in their construction both were completely covered with metallic
plates.
This added immens=
ely
to the warlike aspect of the planet. For warlike it was. Everywhere we
recognized fortified stations, glittering with an array of the polished kno=
bs
of the lightning machines, such as we had seen in the land of Hellas.
From the land of
Edom, directly over the equator of the planet, we turned our faces westward,
and, skirting the Mare Erytræum, arrived above the place where the broad ca=
nal
known as the Indus empties into the sea.
Before us, and
stretching away to the northwest, now lay the Continent of Chryse, a vast r=
ed
land, oval in outline, and surrounded and crossed by innumerable canals. Ch=
ryse
was not less than 1,600 miles across and it, too, evidently swarmed with gi=
ant
inhabitants.
But the shadow of
night lay upon the greater portion of the land of Chryse. In our rapid moti=
on
westward we had outstripped the sun and had now arrived at a point where day
and night met upon the surface of the planet beneath us.
Behind all was
brilliant with sunshine, but before us the face of Mars gradually disappear=
ed
in the deepening gloom. Through the darkness, far away, we could behold
magnificent beams of electric light darting across the curtain of night, and
evidently serving to illuminate towns and cities that lay beneath.
We pushed on into=
the
night for two or three hundred miles over that part of the continent of Chr=
yse
whose inhabitants were doubtless enjoying the deep sleep that accompanies t=
he dark
hours immediately preceding the dawn. Still everywhere splendid clusters of
light lay like fallen constellations upon the ground, indicating the sites =
of
great towns, which, like those of the earth never sleep.
But this scene,
although weird and beautiful, could give us little of the kind of informati=
on
of which we were in search.
Accordingly it was
resolved to turn back eastward until we had arrived in the twilight space
separating day and night, and then hover over the planet at that point,
allowing it to turn beneath us so that, as we looked down, we should see in
succession the entire circuit of the globe of Mars while it rolled under our
eyes.
The rotation of M=
ars
on its axis is performed in a period very little longer than the earth's
rotation, so that the length of the day and night in the world of Mars is o=
nly
some forty minutes longer than their length upon the earth.
In thus remaining
suspended over the planet, on the line of daybreak, so to speak, we believed
that we should be peculiarly safe from detection by the eyes of the
inhabitants. Even astronomers are not likely to be wide awake just at the p=
eep
of dawn. Almost all of the inhabitants, we confidently believed, would stil=
l be
sound asleep upon that part of the planet passing directly beneath us, and
those who were awake would not be likely to watch for unexpected appearance=
s in
the sky.
Besides, our heig=
ht
was so great that notwithstanding the numbers of the squadron, we could not
easily be seen from the surface of the planet, and if seen at all we might =
be
mistaken for high-flying birds.
Here we remained =
then
through the entire course of twenty-four hours and saw in succession as they
passed from night into day beneath our feet the land of Chryse, the great
continent of Tharsis, the curious region of intersecting canals which puzzl=
ed
astronomers on the earth had named the "Gordian Knot." The
continental lands of Memnonia, Amozonia and Aeolia, the mysterious center w=
here
hundreds of vast canals came together from every direction, called the Triv=
iun
Charontis; the vast circle of Elysium, a thousand miles across, and complet=
ely
surrounded by a broad green canal; the continent of Libya, which, as I
remembered, had been half covered by a tremendous inundation whose effects =
were
visible from the earth in 1889, and finally the long, dark sea of the Syrti=
s Major,
lying directly south of the land of Hellas.
The excitement and
interest which we all experienced were so great that not one of us took a w=
ink
of sleep during the entire twenty-four hours of our marvelous watch.
There are one or =
two
things of special interest amid the multitude of wonderful observations tha=
t we
made which I must mention here on account of their connection with the
important events that followed soon after.
Just west of the =
land
of Chryse we saw the smaller land of Ophir, in the midst of which is a sing=
ular
spot called the Juventae Fons, and this Fountain of Youth, as our astronome=
rs,
by a sort of prophetic inspiration, had named it, proved later to be one of=
the
most incredible marvels on the planet of Mars.
Further to the we=
st,
and north from the great continent of Tharsis, we beheld the immense
oval-shaped land of Thaumasia containing in its center the celebrated
"Lake of the Sun," a circular body of water not less than five
hundred miles in diameter, with dozens of great canals running away from it
like the spokes of a wheel in every direction, thus connecting it with the
ocean which surrounds it on the south and east, and with the still larger
canals that encircle it toward the north and west.
This Lake of the =
Sun
came to play a great part in our subsequent adventures. It was evident to us
from the beginning that it was the chief center of population on the planet=
. It
lies in latitude 25 degrees south and longitude about 90 degrees west.
Having completed =
the
circuit of the Martian globe, we were moved by the same feeling which every
discoverer of new lands experiences, and immediately returned to our origin=
al
place above the land of Hellas, because since that was the first part of Ma=
rs
which we had seen, we felt a greater degree of familiarity with it than with
any portion of the planet, and there, in a certain sense, we felt "at
home."
But, as it proved,
our enemies were on the watch for us there. We had almost forgotten them, so
absorbed were we by the great spectacles that had been unrolling themselves
beneath our feet.
We ought, of cour=
se,
to have been a little more cautious in approaching the place where they fir=
st
caught sight of us, since we might have known that they would remain on the
watch near that spot.
But at any rate t=
hey
had seen us, and it was now too late to think of taking them again by surpr=
ise.
They on their part
had a surprise in store for us, which was greater than any we had yet
experienced.
We saw their ships
assembling once more far down in the atmosphere beneath us, and we thought =
we
could detect evidences of something unusual going on upon the surface of the
planet.
Suddenly from the
ships, and from various points on the ground beneath, there rose high in the
air, and carried by invisible currents in every direction, immense volumes =
of
black smoke, or vapor, which blotted out of sight everything below them!
South, north, west
and east, the curtain of blackness rapidly spread, until the whole face of =
the
planet as far as our eyes could reach, and the airships thronging under us,
were all concealed from sight!
Mars had played t=
he
game of the cuttlefish, which when pursued by its enemies darkens the water
behind it by a sudden outgush of inky fluid and thus escapes the eye of its
foe.
The eyes of man h=
ad
never beheld such a spectacle!
Where a few minut=
es
before the sunny face of a beautiful and populous planet had been shining
beneath us, there was now to be seen nothing but black, billowing clouds,
swelling up everywhere like the mouse-colored smoke that pours from a great
transatlantic liner when fresh coal has just been heaped upon her fires.
In some places the
smoke spouted upward in huge jets to the height of several miles; elsewhere=
it
eddied in vast whirlpools of inky blackness.
Not a glimpse of =
the
hidden world beneath us was anywhere to be seen.
Mars had put on i=
ts
war mask, and fearful indeed was the aspect of it!
After the first p=
ause
of surprise the squadron quickly backed away into the sky, rising rapidly,
because, from one of the swirling eddies beneath us the smoke began suddenl=
y to
pile itself up in an enormous aerial mountain, whose peaks shot higher and
higher, with apparently increasing velocity, until they seemed about to eng=
ulf
us with their tumbling ebon masses.
Unaware what the
nature of this mysterious smoke might be, and fearing that it was something
more than a shield for the planet, and might be destructive to life, we fled
before it, as before the onward sweep of a pestilence.
Directly undernea=
th
the flagship, one of the aspiring smoke peaks grew with most portentous
swiftness, and, notwithstanding all our efforts, in a little while it had
enveloped us.
Several of us were
standing on the deck of the electrical ship. We were almost stifled by the
smoke, and were compelled to take refuge within the car, where, until the
electric lights had been turned on, darkness so black that it oppressed the
strained eyeballs prevailed.
But in this brief experience, terrifying though it was, we had learned one thing. The smoke w= ould kill by strangulation, but evidently there was nothing especially poisonous= in its nature. This fact might be of use to us in our subsequent proceedings.<= o:p>
"This spoils=
our
plans," said the commander. "There is no use of remaining here for
the present; let us see how far this thing extends."
At first we rose
straight away to a height of 200 or 300 miles, thus passing entirely beyond=
the
sensible limits of the atmosphere, and far above the highest point that the
smoke could reach.
From this command=
ing
point of view our line of sight extended to an immense distance over the
surface of Mars in all directions. Everywhere the same appearance; the whole
planet was evidently covered with the smoke.
A complete
telegraphic system evidently connected all the strategic points upon Mars, =
so
that, at a signal from the central station, the wonderful curtain could be
instantaneously drawn over the entire face of the planet.
In order to make
certain that no part of Mars remained uncovered, we dropped down again near=
er
to the upper level of the smoke clouds, and then completely circumnavigated=
the
planet. It was thought possible that on the night side no smoke would be fo=
und
and that it would be practicable for us to make a descent there.
But when we had
arrived on that side of Mars which was turned away from the sun, we no long=
er
saw beneath us, as we had done on our previous visit to the night hemispher=
e of
the planet, brilliant groups and clusters of electric lights beneath us. All
was dark.
In fact, so
completely did the great shell of smoke conceal the planet that the place
occupied by the latter seemed to be simply a vast black hole in the firmame=
nt.
The sun was hidden
behind it, and so dense was the smoke that even the solar rays were unable =
to
penetrate it, and consequently there was no atmospheric halo visible around=
the
concealed planet.
All the sky around
was filled with stars, but their countless host suddenly disappeared when o=
ur
eyes turned in the direction of Mars. The great black globe blotted them out
without being visible itself.
"Apparently =
we
can do nothing here," said Mr. Edison. "Let us return to the dayl=
ight
side."
When we had arriv=
ed
near the point where we had been when the wonderful phenomenon first made i=
ts
appearance, we paused, and then, at the suggestion of one of the chemists,
dropped close to the surface of the smoke curtain which had now settled down
into comparative quiescence, in order that we might examine it a little more
critically.
The flagship was
driven into the smoke cloud so deeply that for a minute we were again envel=
oped
in night. A quantity of the smoke was entrapped in a glass jar.
Rising again into=
the
sunlight, the chemists began an examination of the constitution of the smok=
e.
They were unable to determine its precise character, but they found that its
density was astonishingly slight. This accounted for the rapidity with whic=
h it
had risen, and the great height which it had attained in the comparatively
light atmosphere of Mars.
"It is
evident," said one of the chemists, "that this smoke does not ext=
end
down to the surface of the planet. From what the astronomers say as to the
density of the air on Mars, it is probable that a clear space of at least a
mile in height exists between the surface of Mars and the lower limit of the
smoke curtain. Just how deep the latter is we can only determine by experim=
ent,
but it would not be surprising if the thickness of this great blanket which
Mars has thrown around itself should prove to be a quarter or half a
mile."
"Anyhow,&quo=
t;
said one of the United States army officers, "they have dodged out of
sight, and I don't see why we should not dodge in and get at them. If there=
is
clear air under the smoke, as you think, why couldn't the ships dart down
through the curtain and come to a close tackle with the Martians?"
"It would no=
t do
at all," said the commander. "We might simply run ourselves into =
an
ambush. No; we must stay outside, and if possible fight them from here.&quo=
t;
"They can't =
keep
this thing up forever," said the officer. "Perhaps the smoke will
clear off after a while, and then we will have a chance."
"Not much ho=
pe
of that, I am afraid," said the chemist who had originally spoken.
"This smoke could remain floating in the atmosphere for weeks, and the
only wonder to me is how they ever expect to get rid of it, when they think
their enemies have gone and they want some sunshine again."
"All that is
mere speculation," said Mr. Edison; "let us get at something
practical. We must do one of two things; either attack them shielded as they
are, or wait until the smoke has cleared away. The only other alternative, =
that
of plunging blindly down through the curtain is at present not to be thought
of."
"I am afraid=
we
couldn't stand a very long siege ourselves," suddenly remarked the chi=
ef
commissary of the expedition, who was one of the members of the flagship's
company.
"What do you
mean by that?" asked Mr. Edison sharply, turning to him.
"Well, sir, =
you
see," said the commissary, stammering, "our provisions wouldn't h=
old
out."
"Wouldn't ho=
ld
out?" exclaimed Mr. Edison, in astonishment, "why we have compres=
sed
and prepared provisions enough to last this squadron for three years."=
"We had, sir,
when we left the earth," said the commissary, in apparent distress,
"but I am sorry to say that something has happened."
"Something h=
as
happened! Explain yourself!"
"I don't know
what it is, but on inspecting some of the compressed stores, a short time a=
go,
I found that a large number of them were destroyed, whether through leakage=
of
air, or what, I am unable to say. I sent to inquire as to the condition of =
the
stores in the other ships in the squadron and I found that a similar condit=
ion
of things prevailed there.
"The fact
is," continued the commissary, "we have only provisions enough, in
proper condition, for about ten days' consumption."
"After that =
we
shall have to forage on the country, then," said the army officer.
"Why did you=
not
report this before?" demanded Mr. Edison.
"Because,
sir," was the reply, "the discovery was not made until after we
arrived close to Mars, and since then there has been so much excitement tha=
t I
have hardly had time to make an investigation and find out what the precise
condition of affairs is; besides, I thought we should land upon the planet =
and
then we would be able to renew our supplies."
I closely watched=
Mr.
Edison's expression in order to see how this most alarming news would affect
him. Although he fully comprehended its fearful significance, he did not lo=
se
his self-command.
"Well,
well," he said, "then it will become necessary for us to act quic=
kly.
Evidently we cannot wait for the smoke to clear off, even if there was any =
hope
of its clearing. We must get down on Mars now, having conquered it first if
possible, but anyway we must get down there, in order to avoid
starvation."
"It is very
lucky," he continued, "that we have ten days' supply left. A great
deal can be done in ten days."
A few hours after
this the commander called me aside, and said:
"I have thou=
ght
it all out. I am going to reconstruct some of our disintegrators, so as to
increase their range and their power. Then I am going to have some of the
astronomers of the expedition locate for me the most vulnerable points upon=
the
planet, where the population is densest and a hard blow would have the most
effect, and I am going to pound away at them, through the smoke, and see
whether we cannot draw them out of their shell."
With his expert
assistants Mr. Edison set to work at once to transform a number of the
disintegrators into still more formidable engines of the same description. =
One
of these new weapons having been distributed to each of the members of the
squadron, the next problem was to decide where to strike.
When we first exa=
mined
the surface of the planet it will be remembered that we had regarded the La=
ke
of the Sun and its environs as being the very focus of the planet. While it
might also be a strong point of defence, yet an effective blow struck there
would go to the enemy's heart and be more likely to bring the Martians prom=
ptly
to terms than anything else.
The first thing,
then, was to locate the Lake of the Sun on the smoke hidden surface of the
planet beneath us. This was a problem that the astronomers could readily so=
lve.
Fortunately, in t=
he
flagship itself there was one of the star-gazing gentlemen who had made a
specialty of the study of Mars. That planet, as I have already explained, w=
as
now in opposition to the earth. The astronomer had records in his pocket wh=
ich enabled
him, by a brief calculation, to say just when the Lakes of the Sun would be=
on
the meridian of Mars as seen from the earth. Our chronometers still kept te=
rrestrial
time; we knew the exact number of days and hours that had elapsed since we =
had
departed, and so it was possible by placing ourselves in a line between the
earth and Mars to be practically in the situation of an astronomer in his
observatory at home.
Then it was only
necessary to wait for the hour when the Lake of the Sun would be upon the
meridian of Mars in order to be certain what was the true direction of the
latter from the flagship.
Having thus locat= ed the heart of our foe behind its shield of darkness, we prepared to strike.<= o:p>
"I have
ascertained," said Mr. Edison, "the vibration period of the smoke=
, so
that it will be easy for us to shatter it into invisible atoms. You will see
that every stroke of the disintegrators will open a hole through the black
curtain. If their field of destruction could be made wide enough, we might =
in
that manner clear away the entire covering of smoke, but all that we shall
really be able to do will be to puncture it with holes, which will, perhaps,
enable us to catch glimpses of the surface beneath. In that manner we may be
able more effectually to concentrate our fire upon the most vulnerable
points."
Everything being
prepared, and the entire squadron having assembled to watch the effect of t=
he
opening blow and be ready to follow it up, Mr. Edison himself poised one of=
the
new disintegrators, which was too large to be carried in the hand, and,
following the direction indicated by the calculations of the astronomers,
launched the vibratory discharge into the ocean of blackness beneath.
Instantly there
opened beneath us a huge well-shaped hole from which the black clouds rolled
violently back in every direction.
Through this open=
ing
we saw the gleam of brilliant lights beneath.
We had made a hit=
.
"It's the La=
ke
of the Sun!" shouted the astronomer who furnished the calculation by m=
eans
of which its position had been discovered.
And, indeed, it w=
as
the Lake of the Sun. While the opening in the clouds made by the discharge =
was
not wide, yet it sufficed to give us a view of a portion of the curving sho=
re
of the lake, which was ablaze with electric lights.
Whether our shot =
had
done any damage, beyond making the circular opening in the cloud curtain, we
could not tell, for almost immediately the surrounding black smoke masses
billowed in to fill up the hole.
But in the brief
glimpse we had caught sight of two or three large airships hovering in space
above that part of the Lake of the Sun and its bordering city which we had
beheld. It seemed to me in the brief glance I had that one ship had been
touched by the discharge and was wandering in an erratic manner. But the cl=
ouds
closed in so rapidly that I could not be certain.
Anyhow, we had
demonstrated one thing, and that was that we could penetrate the cloud shie=
ld
and reach the Martians in their hiding place.
It had been
prearranged that the first discharge from the flagship should be a signal f=
or
the concentration of the fire of all the other ships upon the same spot.
A little hesitati=
on,
however, occurred, and a half a minute had elapsed before the disintegrators
from the other members of the squadron were got into play.
Then, suddenly we=
saw
an immense commotion in the cloud beneath us. It seemed to be beaten and
hurried in every direction and punctured like a sieve with nearly a hundred
great circular holes. Through these gaps we could see clearly a large regio=
n of
the planet's surface, with many airships floating above it and the blaze of
innumerable electric lights illuminating it. The Martians had created an
artificial day under the curtain.
This time there w=
as
no question that the blow had been effective. Four or five of the airships,
partially destroyed, tumbled headlong toward the ground, while even from our
great distance there was unmistakable evidence that fearful execution had b=
een
done among the crowded structures along the shore of the lake.
As each of our sh=
ips
possessed but one of the new disintegrators, and since a minute or so was
required to adjust them for a fresh discharge, we remained for a little whi=
le
inactive after delivering the blow. Meanwhile the cloud curtain, though ren=
t to
shreds by the concentrated discharge of the disintegrators, quickly became a
uniform black sheet again, hiding everything.
We had just had t=
ime
to congratulate ourselves on the successful opening of our bombardment, and=
the
disintegrator of the flagship was poised for another discharge, when sudden=
ly
out of the black expanse beneath, quivered immense electric beams, clear cut
and straight as bars of steel, but dazzling our eyes with unendurable
brilliance.
It was the reply =
of
the Martians to our attack.
Three or four of =
the
electrical ships were seriously damaged, and one, close beside the flagship,
changed color, withered and collapsed, with the same sickening phenomena th=
at
had made our hearts shudder when the first disaster of this kind occurred
during our brief battle over the asteroid.
Another score of =
our
comrades were gone, and yet we had hardly begun the fight.
Glancing at the o=
ther
ships which had been injured, I saw that the damage to them was not so seri=
ous,
although they were evidently hors de combat for the present.
Our fighting blood
was now boiling and we did not stop long to count our losses.
"Into the
smoke!" was the signal, and the ninety and more electric ships which s=
till
remained in condition for action immediately shot downward.
CHAPTER ELEVEN - THE EARTH
GIRL
It was a wild plunge. We kept off the de=
cks
while rushing through the blinding smoke, but the instant we emerged below,
where we found ourselves still a mile above the ground, we were out again,
ready to strike.
I have simply a
confused recollection of flashing lights beneath, and a great, dark arch of
clouds above, out of which our ships seemed dropping on all sides, and then=
the
fray burst on and around us, and no man could see or notice anything except=
by
half-comprehended glances.
Almost in an inst=
ant,
it seemed, a swarm of airships surrounded us, while from what, for lack of a
more descriptive name, I shall call the forts about the Lake of the Sun, le=
aped
tongues of electric fire, before which some of our ships, were driven like =
bits
of flaming paper in a high wind, gleaming for a moment, then curling up and
gone forever!
It was an awful
sight; but the battle fever was raging within us, and we, on our part, were=
not
idle.
Every man carried=
a
disintegrator, and these hand instruments, together with those of heavier
caliber on the ship poured their resistless vibrations in every direction
through the quivering air.
The airships of t=
he
Martians were destroyed by the score, and yet they flocked upon us thicker =
and
faster.
We dropped lower =
and
our blows fell upon the forts, and upon the wide spread city bordering the =
Lake
of the Sun. We almost entirely silenced the fire of one of the forts; but t=
here
were forty more in full action within reach of our eyes!
Some of the metal=
lic
buildings were partly unroofed by the disintegrators and some had their wal=
ls
riddled and fell with thundering crashes, whose sound rose to our ears above
the hellish din of battle. I caught glimpses of giant forms struggling in t=
he
ruins and rushing wildly through the streets, but there was no time to see
anything clearly.
Our flagship seem=
ed
charmed. A crowd of airships hung upon it like a swarm of angry bees, and, =
at
times, one could not see for the lightning strokes--yet we escaped destruct=
ion,
while ourselves dealing death on every hand.
It was a glorious
fight, but it was not war; no, it was not war. We really had no more chance=
of
ultimate success amid that multitude of enemies than a prisoner running the
gauntlet in a crowd of savages has of escape.
A conviction of t=
he
hopelessness of the contest finally forced itself upon our minds, and the
shattered squadron, which had kept well together amid the storm of death, w=
as
signalled to retreat.
Shaking off their
pursuers, as a hunted bear shakes off the dogs, sixty of the electrical shi=
ps
rose up through the clouds where more than ninety had gone down!
Madly we rushed
upward through the vast curtain and continued our flight to a great elevati=
on,
far beyond the reach of the awful artillery of the enemy.
Looking back it
seemed the very mouth of hell from which we had escaped.
The Martians did =
not
for an instant cease their fire, even when we were far beyond their reach. =
With
furious persistence they blazed away through the cloud curtain, and the viv=
id
spikes of lightning shuddered so swiftly on one another's track that they w=
ere
like a flaming halo of electric lances around the frowning helmet of the War
Planet.
But after a while
they stopped their terrific sparring, and once more the immense globe assum=
ed
the appearance of a vast ball of black smoke still widely agitated by the
recent disturbance, but exhibiting no opening through which we could discern
what was going on beneath.
Evidently the
Martians believed they had finished us.
At no time since =
the
beginning of our adventure had it appeared to me quite so hopeless, reckless
and mad as it seemed at present.
We had suffered
fearful losses, and yet what had we accomplished? We had won two fights on =
the
asteroid, it is true, but then we had overwhelming numbers on our side.
Now we were facing
millions on their own ground, and our very first assault had resulted in a
disastrous repulse, with the loss of at least thirty electric ships and 600
men!
Evidently we could
not endure this sort of thing. We must find some other means of assailing M=
ars
or else give up the attempt.
But the latter was
not to be thought. It was no mere question of self-pride, however, and no
consideration of the tremendous interests at stake, which would compel us to
continue our apparently vain attempt.
Our provisions co=
uld
last only a few days longer. The supply would not carry us one-quarter of t=
he
way back to earth, and we must therefore remain here and literally conquer =
or
die.
In this extremity=
a
consultation of the principal officers was called upon the deck of the
flagship.
Here the suggesti=
on
was made that we should attempt to effect by strategy what we had failed to=
do
by force.
An old army offic=
er
who had served in many wars against the cunning Indians of the West, Colonel
Alonzo Jefferson Smith, was the author of this suggestion.
"Let us
circumvent them," he said. "We can do it in this way. The chances=
are
that all of the available fighting force of the planet Mars is now concentr=
ated
on this side and in the neighborhood of The Lake of the Sun.
"Possibly, by
some kind of X-ray business, they can only see us dimly through the clouds,=
and
if we get a little further away they will not be able to see us at all.
"Now, I sugg=
est
that a certain number of the electrical ships be withdrawn from the squadro=
n to
a great distance, while the remainder stay here; or, better still, approach=
to
a point just beyond the reach of those streaks of lightning, and begin a
bombardment of the clouds without paying any attention to whether the strok=
es
reach through the clouds and do any damage or not.
"This will
induce the Martians to believe that we are determined to press our attack at
this point.
"In the
meantime, while these ships are raising a hulabaloo on this side of the pla=
net,
and drawing their fire, as much as possible, without running into any actual
danger, let the others which have been selected for the purpose, sail rapid=
ly
around to the other side of Mars and take them in the rear."
It was not perfec=
tly
clear what Colonel Smith intended to do after the landing had been effected=
in
the rear of the Martians, but still there seemed a good deal to be said for=
his
suggestion, and it would, at any rate, if carried out, enable us to learn
something about the condition of things on the planet, and perhaps furnish =
us
with a hint as to how we could best proceed in the further prosecution of t=
he
siege.
Accordingly it was
resolved that about twenty ships should be told off for this movement, and
Colonel Smith himself was placed in command.
At my desire I
accompanied the new commander in his flagship.
Rising to a
considerable elevation in order that there might be no risk of being seen, =
we
began our flank movement while the remaining ships, in accordance with the
understanding, dropped nearer the curtain of cloud and commenced a bombardm=
ent
with the disintegrators, which caused a tremendous commotion in the clouds,
opening vast gaps in them, and occasionally revealing a glimpse of the elec=
tric
lights on the planet, although it was evident that the vibratory currents d=
id
not reach the ground. The Martians immediately replied to this renewed atta=
ck,
and again the cloud covered globe bristled with lightning, which flashed so=
fiercely
out of the blackness below that the stoutest hearts among us quailed, altho=
ugh
we were situated well beyond the danger.
But this sublime
spectacle rapidly vanished from our eyes when, having attained a proper
elevation, we began our course toward the opposite hemisphere of the planet=
.
We guided our fli=
ght
by the stars, and from our knowledge of the rotation period of Mars, and the
position which the principal points on its surface must occupy at certain
hours, we were able to tell what part of the planet lay beneath us.
Having completed =
our
semi-circuit we found ourselves on the night side of Mars, and determined to
lose no time in executing our coup. But it was deemed best that an explorat=
ion
should first be made by a single electrical ship, and Colonel Smith natural=
ly
wished to undertake the adventure with his own vessel.
We dropped rapidly
through the black cloud curtain, which proved to be at least half a mile in
thickness, and then suddenly emerged, as if suspended at the apex of an
enormous dome, arching above the surface of the planet a mile beneath us, w=
hich
sparkled on all sides with innumerable lights.
These lights were=
so
numerous and so brilliant as to produce a faint imitation of daylight, even=
at
our immense height above the ground, and the dome of cloud out of which we =
had
emerged assumed a soft fawn color which produced an indescribably beautiful
effect.
For a moment we
recoiled from our undertaking, and arrested the motion of the electric ship=
.
But on closely
examining the surface beneath us we found that there was a broad region, wh=
ere
comparatively few bright lights were to be seen. From my knowledge of the
geography of Mars I knew that this was a part of the Land of Ausonia, situa=
ted
a few hundred miles northeast of Hellas, where we had first seen the planet=
.
Evidently it was =
not
so thickly populated as some of the other parts of Mars, and its comparative
darkness was an attraction to us. We determined to approach within a few
hundred feet of the ground with the electric ship, and then, in case no ene=
mies
appeared, to visit the soil itself.
"Perhaps we
shall see or hear something that will be of use to us," said Colonel
Smith, "and for the purposes of this first reconnaissance it is better
that we should be few in number. The other ships will await our return, and=
at
any rate we shall not be gone long."
As our car approa=
ched
the ground we found ourselves near the tops of some lofty trees.
"This will
do," said Colonel Smith to the electrical steersman, "Stay right
here."
He and I then low=
ered
ourselves into the branches of the trees, each carrying a small disintegrat=
or,
and cautiously clambered down to the ground.
We believed we we=
re
the first of the descendants of Adam to set foot on the planet of Mars.
At first we suffe=
red
somewhat from the effects of the rare atmosphere. It was so lacking in dens=
ity
that it resembled the air on the summits of the loftiest terrestrial mounta=
ins.
Having reached the
foot of the tree in safety, we lay down for a moment on the ground to recov=
er
ourselves and to become accustomed to our new surroundings.
A thrill, born ha=
lf
of wonder, half of incredulity, ran through me at the touch of the soil of
Mars. Here was I, actually on that planet, which had seemed so far away, so
inaccessible, and so full of mysteries when viewed from the earth. And yet,
surrounding me, were things--gigantic, it is true--but still resembling and
recalling the familiar sights of my own world.
After a little wh=
ile
our lungs became accustomed to the rarity of the atmosphere and we experien=
ced
a certain stimulation in breathing.
We then got upon =
our
feet and stepped out from under the shadow of the gigantic tree. High above=
we
could faintly see our electrical ship, gently swaying in the air close to t=
he
tree top.
There were no
electric lights in our immediate neighborhood, but we noticed that the whole
surface of the planet around us was gleaming with them, producing an effect
like the glow of a great city seen from a distance at night. The glare was
faintly reflected from the vast dome of clouds above, producing the general
impression of a moonlight night upon the earth.
It was a wonderfu=
lly
quiet and beautiful spot where we had come down. The air had a delicate feel
and a bracing temperature, while a soft breeze soughed through the leaves of
the tree above our heads.
Not far away was =
the
bank of a canal, bordered by a magnificent avenue shaded by a double row of
immense umbrageous trees.
We approached the
canal, and, getting upon the road, turned to the left to make an exploratio=
n in
that direction. The shadow of the trees falling upon the roadway produced a
dense gloom, in the midst of which we felt that we should be safe, unless t=
he
Martians had eyes like those of cats.
As we pushed alon=
g,
our hearts, I confess, beating a little quickly, a shadow stirred in front =
of
us.
Something darker =
than
the night itself approached.
As it drew near it
assumed the appearance of an enormous dog, as tall as an ox, which ran swif=
tly
our way with a threatening motion of its head. But before it could even utt=
er a
snarl, the whirr of Colonel Smith's disintegrator was heard and the creature
vanished in the shadow.
"Gracious, d=
id
you ever see such a beast?" said the Colonel. "Why he was as big =
as a
grizzly."
"The people =
he
belonged to must be near by," I said. "Very likely he was a watch=
on
guard."
"But I see no
signs of a habitation."
"True, but y=
ou
observe there is a thick hedge on the side of the road opposite the canal. =
If
we get through that perhaps we shall catch sight of something."
Cautiously we pus=
hed
our way through the hedge, which was composed of shrubs as large as small
trees, and very thick at the bottom, and, having traversed it, found oursel=
ves
in a great meadow-like expanse which might have been a lawn. At a considera=
ble
distance, in the midst of a clump of trees, a large building towered skywar=
d,
its walls of some red metal, gleaming like polished copper in the soft light
that fell from the cloud dome.
There were no lig=
hts
around the building itself, and we saw nothing corresponding to windows on =
that
side which faced us, but toward the right a door was evidently open, and ou=
t of
this streamed a brilliant shaft of illumination, which lay bright upon the
lawn, then crossed the highway through an opening in the hedge, and gleamed=
on
the water of the canal beyond.
Where we stood th=
e ground
had evidently been recently cleared, and there was no obstruction, but as we
crept closer to the house--for our curiosity had now become irresistible--we
found ourselves crawling through grass so tall that if we had stood erect it
would have risen well above our heads.
"This affords
good protection," said Colonel Smith, recalling his adventures on the
western plains. "We can get close in to the Indians--I beg pardon, I m=
ean
the Martians--without being seen."
Heavens, what an
adventure was this! To be crawling about in the night on the face of another
world and venturing, perhaps, into the jaws of a danger which human experie=
nce
could not measure!
But on we went, a=
nd
in a little while we had emerged from the tall grass and were somewhat star=
tled
by the discovery that we had got close to the wall of the building.
Carefully we crept
around to the open door.
As we neared it we
suddenly stopped as if we had been stricken with instantaneous paralysis.
Out of the door
floated, on the soft night air, the sweetest music to which I have ever
listened.
It carried me bac=
k in
an instant to my own world. It was the music of the earth. It was the melod=
ious
expression of a human soul. It thrilled us both to the heart's core.
"My God!&quo=
t;
exclaimed Colonel Smith. "What can that be? Are we dreaming, or where =
in
heaven's name are we?"
Still the enchant=
ing
harmony floated out upon the air.
What the instrume=
nt
was I could not tell, but the sound seemed more nearly to resemble that of a
violin than anything else of which I could think.
When we first hea=
rd
it the strains were gentle, sweet, caressing and full of an infinite depth =
of
feeling, but in a little while its tone changed, and it became a magnificent
march, throbbing upon the air in stirring notes that set our hearts beating=
in
unison with its stride and inspiring in us a courage that we had not felt
before.
Then it drifted i=
nto
a wild fantasia, still inexpressibly sweet, and from that changed again int=
o a
requiem or lament, whose mellifluous tide of harmony swept our thoughts back
again to the earth.
"I can endure
this no longer," I said. "I must see who it is that makes that mu=
sic.
It is the product of a human heart and must come from the touch of human
fingers."
We carefully shif=
ted
our position until we stood in the blaze of light that poured out of the do=
or.
The doorway was an
immense arched opening, magnificently ornamented, rising to a height of, I
should say, not less than twenty or twenty-five feet and broad in proportio=
n.
The door itself stood widely open and it, together with all of its fittings=
and
surroundings, was composed of the same beautiful red metal.
Stepping out a li=
ttle
way into the light I could see within the door an immense apartment, glitte=
ring
on all sides with metallic ornaments and gems and lighted from the center b=
y a
great chandelier of electric candles.
In the middle of =
the
great floor, holding the instrument delicately poised, and still awaking its
ravishing voice, stood a figure, the sight of which almost stopped my breat=
h.
It was a slender
sylph of a girl!
A girl of my own
race; a human being here upon the planet Mars!
Her hair was loos=
ely
coiled and she was attired in graceful white drapery.
"By God!&quo=
t;
cried Colonel Smith, "she's human!"
CHAPTER TWELVE - RETREAT =
TO
DEIMOS
Still the Bewildering Strains of the mus=
ic
came to our ears, and yet we stood there unperceived, though in the full gl=
are
of the chandelier.
The girl's face w=
as
presented in profile. It was exquisite in beauty, pale, delicate with a cer=
tain
pleading sadness which stirred us to the heart.
An element of rom=
ance
and a touch of personal interest such as we had not looked for suddenly ent=
ered
into our adventure.
Colonel Smith's m=
ind
still ran back to the perils of the plains.
"She is a
prisoner," he said, "and by the Seven Devils of Dona Ana we'll not
leave her here. But where are the hellhounds themselves?"
Our attention had
been so absorbed by the sight of the girl that we had scarcely thought of
looking to see if there was any one else in the room.
Glancing beyond h=
er,
I now perceived sitting in richly decorated chairs three or four gigantic
Martians. They were listening to the music as if charmed.
The whole story t=
old
itself. This girl, if not their slave, was at any rate under their control,=
and
she was furnishing entertainment for them by her musical skill. The fact th=
at
they could find pleasure in music so beautiful was, perhaps, an indication =
that
they were not really as savage as they seemed.
Yet our hearts we=
nt
out to the girl, and were turned against them with an uncontrollable hatred=
.
They were of the =
same
remorseless race with those who had so lately lain waste our fair earth and=
who
would have completed its destruction had not Providence interferred in our
behalf.
Singularly enough,
although we stood full in the light, they had not yet seen us.
Suddenly the girl,
moved by what impulse I know not, turned her face in our direction. Her eyes
fell upon us. She paused abruptly in her playing, and her instrument droppe=
d to
the floor. Then she uttered a cry, and with extended arms ran toward us.
But when she was =
near
she stopped abruptly, the glad look fading from her face, and started back =
with
terror-stricken eyes, as if, after all, she had found us not what she expec=
ted.
Then for an insta=
nt
she looked more intently at us, her countenance cleared once more, and,
overcome by some strange emotion, her eyes filled with tears, and, drawing a
little nearer, she stretched forth her hands to us appealingly.
Meanwhile the
Martians had started to their feet. They looked down upon us in astonishmen=
t.
We were like pygmies to them; like little gnomes which had sprung out of the
ground at their feet.
One of the giants
seized some kind of a weapon and started forward with a threatening gesture=
.
The girl sprang t=
o my
side and grasped my arm with a cry of fear.
This seemed to th=
row
the Martian into a sudden frenzy, and he raised his arms to strike.
But the disintegr=
ator
was in my hand.
My rage was equal=
to
his.
I felt the
concentrated vengeance of the earth quivering through me as I pressed the
button of the disintegrator and, sweeping it rapidly up and down, saw the
gigantic form that confronted me melt into nothingness.
There were three
other giants in the room, and they had been on the point of following up the
attack of their comrade. But when he disappeared from before their eyes, th=
ey
paused, staring in amazement at the place where, but a moment before, he had
stood, but where now only the metal weapon he had wielded lay on the floor.=
At first they sta=
rted
back, and seemed on the point of fleeing; then, with a second glance,
perceiving again how small and insignificant we were, all three together
advanced upon us.
The girl sank
trembling on her knees.
In the meantime I=
had
readjusted my disintegrator for another discharge, and Colonel Smith stood =
by
me with the light of battle upon his face.
"Sweep the
discharge across the three," I exclaimed. "Otherwise there will be
one left and before we can fire again he will crush us."
The whirr of the =
two
instruments sounded simultaneously, and with a quick horizontal motion we s=
wept
the lines of force around in such a manner that all three of the Martians w=
ere
caught by the vibratory streams and actually cut in two.
Long gaps were op=
ened
in the wall of the room behind them, where the destroying currents had pass=
ed,
for with wrathful fierceness, we had ran the vibrations through half a gamu=
t on
the index.
The victory was o=
urs.
There were no other enemies, that we could see, in the house.
Yet at any moment=
others
might make their appearance, and what more we did must be done quickly.
The girl evidently
was as much amazed as the Martians had been by the effects which we had
produced. Still she was not terrified, and continued to cling to us and gla=
nce
beseechingly into our faces, expressing in her every look and gesture the f=
act
that she knew we were of her own race.
But clearly she c=
ould
not speak our tongue, for the words she uttered were unintelligible.
Colonel Smith, wh=
ose
long experience in Indian warfare had made him intensely practical, did not
lose his military instincts, even in the midst of events so strange.
"It occurs to
me," he said, "that we have got a chance at the enemies' supplies.
Suppose we begin foraging right here. Let's see if this girl can't show us =
the
commissary department."
He immediately be=
gan
to make signs to the girl to indicate that he was hungry.
A look of
comprehension flitted over her features, and, seizing our hands, she led us
into an adjoining apartment, and pointed to a number of metallic boxes.
One of these she
opened, taking out of it a kind of cake, which she placed between her teeth,
breaking off a very small portion and then handing it to us, motioning that=
we
should eat, but at the same time showing us that we ought to take only a sm=
all
quantity.
"Thank God! =
It's
compressed food," said Colonel Smith. "I thought these Martians w=
ith
their wonderful civilization would be up to that. And it's mighty lucky for=
us,
because, without overburdening ourselves, if we can find one or two more ca=
ches
like this we shall be able to reprovision the entire fleet. But we must get
reinforcements before we can take possession of the fodder."
Accordingly we
hurried out into the night, passed into the roadway, and, taking the girl w=
ith
us, ran as rapidly as possible to the foot of the tree where we had made our
descent. Then we signalled to the electric ship to drop down to the level of
the ground.
This was quickly
done, the girl was taken aboard, and a dozen men, under our guidance, haste=
ned
back to the house, where we loaded ourselves with the compressed provisions=
and
conveyed them to the ship.
On this second tr=
ip
to the mysterious house we had discovered another apartment containing a ve=
ry
large number of the metallic boxes, filled with compressed food.
"By Jove, it=
is
a storehouse," said Colonel Smith. "We must get more force and ca=
rry
it all off. Gracious, but this is a lucky night. We can reprovision the who=
le
fleet from this room."
"I thought it
singular," I said, "that with the exception of the girl whom we h=
ave
rescued no women were seen in the house. Evidently the lights over yonder
indicate the location of a considerable town, and it is quite probable that
this building, without windows, and so strongly constructed, is the common
storehouse, where the provisions for the town are kept. The fellows we kill=
ed
must have been the watchmen in charge of the storehouse, and they were trea=
ting
themselves to a little music from the slave girl when we happened to come u=
pon
them."
With the utmost h=
aste
several of the other electrical ships, waiting above the cloud curtain, were
summoned to descend, and, with more than a hundred men, we returned to the
building, and this time almost entirely exhausted its stores, each man carr=
ying
as much as he could stagger under.
Fortunately our
proceedings had been conducted without much noise, and the storehouse being
situated at a considerable distance from other buildings, none of the Marti=
ans,
except those who would never tell the story, had known of our arrival or of=
our
doings on the planet.
"Now, we'll
return and surprise Edison with the news," said Colonel Smith.
Our ship was the =
last
to pass up through the clouds, and it was a strange sight to watch the othe=
rs
as one after another they rose toward the great dome, entered it, though fr=
om
below it resembled a solid vault of grayish-pink marble, and disappeared.
We quickly follow=
ed
them, and having penetrated the enormous curtain, were considerably surpris=
ed
on emerging at the other side to find that the sun was shining brilliantly =
upon
us. It will be remembered that it was night on this side of Mars when we we=
nt
down, but our adventure had occupied several hours, and now Mars had so tur=
ned
upon its axis that the portion of its surface over which we were had come
around into the sunlight.
We knew that the
squadron which we had left besieging the Lake of the Sun must also have been
carried around in a similar manner, passing into the night while the side of
the planet where we were was emerging into day.
Our shortest way =
back
would be by traveling westward, because then we should be moving in a direc=
tion
opposite to that in which the planet rotated, and the main squadron, sharing
that rotation, would be continually moving in our direction.
But to travel
westward was to penetrate once more into the night side of the planet.
The prows, if I m=
ay
so call them, of our ships were accordingly turned in the direction of the =
vast
shadow which Mars was invisibly projecting into space behind it, and on ent=
ering
that shadow the sun disappeared from our eyes, and once more the huge hidden
globe beneath us became a black chasm among the stars.
Now that we were =
in
the neighborhood of a globe capable of imparting considerable weight to all
things under the influence of its attraction that peculiar condition which I
have before described as existing in the midst of space, where there was
neither up nor down for us, had ceased. Here where we had weight "up&q=
uot;
and "down" had resumed their old meanings. "Down" was t=
oward
the center of Mars, and "up" was away from that center.
Standing on the d=
eck,
and looking overhead as we swiftly ploughed our smooth way at a great height
through the now imperceptible atmosphere of the planet, I saw the two moons=
of
Mars meeting in the sky exactly above us.
Before our arriva=
l at
Mars, there had been considerable discussion among the learned men as to the
advisability of touching at one of their moons, and when the discovery was =
made
that our provisions were nearly exhausted, it had been suggested that the
Martian satellites might furnish us with an additional supply.
But it had appear=
ed a
sufficient reply to this suggestion that the moons of Mars are both
insignificant bodies, not much larger than the asteroid we had fallen in wi=
th,
and that there could not possibly be any form of vegetation or other edible
products upon them.
This view having
prevailed, we had ceased to take an interest in the satellites, further tha=
n to
regard them as objects of great curiosity on account of their motions.
The nearer of the=
se
moons, Phobos, is only 3,700 miles from the surface of Mars, and we watched=
it
traveling around the planet three times in the course of every day. The more
distant one, Deimos, 12,500 miles away, required considerably more than one=
day
to make its circuit.
It now happened t=
hat
the two had come into conjunction, as I have said, just over our heads, and,
throwing myself down on my back on the deck of the electrical ship, for a l=
ong
time I watched the race between the two satellites, until Phobos, rapidly
gaining upon the other, had left its rival far behind.
Suddenly Colonel
Smith, who took very little interest in these astronomical curiosities, tou=
ched
me, and pointing ahead, said:
"There they
are."
I looked, and sure
enough there were the signal lights of the principal squadron, and as we ga=
zed
we occasionally saw, darting up from the vast cloud mass beneath, an electr=
ic
bayonet, fiercely thrust into the sky, which showed that the siege was still
actively going on, and that the Martians were jabbing away at their invisib=
le
enemies outside the curtain.
In a short time t=
he
two fleets had joined, and Colonel Smith and I immediately transferred
ourselves to the flagship.
"Well, what =
have
you done?" asked Mr. Edison, while others crowded around with eager
attention.
"If we have =
not
captured their provision train," said Colonel Smith, "we have done
something just about as good. We have foraged on the country, and have
collected a supply that I reckon will last this fleet for at least a
month."
"What's that?
What's that?"
"It's just w=
hat
I say," and Colonel Smith brought out of his pocket one of the square
cakes of compressed food. "Set your teeth in that, and see what you th=
ink
of it, but don't take too much, for its powerful strong."
"I say,"=
; he
continued, "we have got enough of that stuff to last us all for a mont=
h,
but we've done more than that; we have got a surprise for you that will make
you open your eyes. Just wait a minute."
Colonel Smith mad=
e a
signal to the electrical ship which we had just quitted to draw near. It ca=
me
alongside, so that one could step from its deck onto the flagship. Colonel
Smith disappeared for a minute in the interior of his ship, then re-emerged,
leading the girl whom we had found upon the planet.
"Take her
inside, quick," he said, "for she is not used to this thin air.&q=
uot;
In fact, we were =
at
so great an elevation that the rarity of the atmosphere now compelled us al=
l to
wear our air-tight suits, and the girl, not being thus attired, would have =
fallen
unconscious on the deck if we had not instantly removed her to the interior=
of
the car.
There she quickly
recovered from the effects of the deprivation of air and looked about her,
pale, astonished, but yet apparently without fear.
Every motion of t=
his
girl convinced me that she not only recognized us as members of her own rac=
e,
but that she felt that her only hope lay in our aid. Therefore, strange as =
we
were to her in many respects, nevertheless she did not think that she was in
danger while among us.
The circumstances
under which we had found her were quickly explained. Her beauty, her strange
fate and the impenetrable mystery which surrounded her excited universal
admiration and wonder.
"How did she=
get
on Mars?" was the question that everybody asked, and that nobody could
answer.
But while all were
crowding around and overwhelming the poor girl with their staring, suddenly=
she
burst into tears, and then, with arms outstretched in the same appealing ma=
nner
which had so stirred our sympathies when we first saw her in the house of t=
he
Martians, she broke forth in a wild recitation, which was half a song and h=
alf
a wail.
As she went on I
noticed that a learned professor of languages from the University of Heidel=
berg
was listening to her with intense attention. Several times he appeared to b=
e on
the point of breaking in with an exclamation. I could plainly see that he w=
as
becoming more and more excited as the words poured from the girl's lips.
Occasionally he nodded and muttered, smiling to himself.
Her song finished,
the girl sank half-exhausted upon the floor. She was lifted and placed in a
reclining position at the side of the car.
Then the Heidelbe=
rg
professor stepped to the center of the car, in the sight of all, and in a m=
ost
impressive manner said:
"Gentlemen, =
our
sister.
"I have her
tongue recognized! The language that she speaks, the roots of the great
Indo-European, or Aryan stock, contains.
"This girl,
gentlemen, to the oldest family of the human race belongs. Her language eve=
ry
tongue that now upon the earth is spoken antedates. Convinced am I that it =
that
great original speech is from which have all the languages of the civilized
world sprung.
"How she here
came, so many millions of miles from the earth, a great mystery is. But it
shall be penetrated, and it is from her own lips that we shall the truth le=
arn,
because not difficult to us shall it be the language that she speaks to acq=
uire
since to our own it is akin."
This announcement=
of
the Heidelberg professor stirred us all most profoundly. It not only deepen=
ed
our interest in the beautiful girl whom we had rescued, but, in a dim way, =
it
gave us reason to hope that we should yet discover some means of mastering =
the
Martians by dealing them a blow from within.
It had been expec=
ted,
the reader will remember, that the Martian whom we had made prisoner on the
asteroid, might be of use to us in a similar way, and for that reason great
efforts had been made to acquire his language, and considerable progress had
been effected in that direction.
But from the mome=
nt
of our arrival at Mars itself, and especially after the battles began, the
prisoner had resumed his savage and uncommunicative disposition, and had se=
emed
continually to be expecting that we would fall victims to the prowess of his
fellow beings, and that he would be released. How an outlaw, such as he
evidently was, who had been caught in the act of robbing the Martian gold
mines, could expect to escape punishment on returning to his native planet =
it
was difficult to see. Nevertheless, so strong are the ties of race we could
plainly perceive that all his sympathies were for his own people.
In fact, in
consequence of his surly manner, and his attempts to escape, he had been mo=
re
strictly bound than before and to get him out of the way had been removed f=
rom
the flagship, which was already overcrowded, and placed in one of the other
electric ships, and this ship--as it happened--was one of those which were =
lost
in the great battle beneath the clouds. So after all, the Martian had peris=
hed,
by a vengeful stroke launched from his native globe.
But Providence had
placed in our hands a far better interpreter than he could ever have been. =
This
girl of our own race would need no urging, or coercion, on our part in orde=
r to
induce her to reveal any secrets of the Martians that might be useful in our
further proceedings.
But one thing was
first necessary to be done.
We must learn to =
talk
with her.
But for the disco=
very
of the store of provisions it would have been impossible for us to spare the
time needed to acquire the language of the girl, but now that we had been s=
aved
from the danger of starvation, we could prolong the siege for several weeks,
employing the intervening time to the best advantage.
The terrible disa=
ster
which we had suffered in the great battle above the Lake of the Sun, wherei=
n we
had lost nearly a third of our entire force, had been quite sufficient to
convince us that our only hope of victory lay in dealing the Martians some
paralyzing stroke that at one blow would deprive them of the power of
resistance. A victory that cost us the loss of a single ship would be too
dearly purchased now.
How to deal that
blow, and first of all, how to discover the means of dealing it, were at
present the uppermost problems in our minds.
The only hope for=
us
lay in the girl.
If, as there was
every reason to believe, she was familiar with the ways and secrets of the
Martians, then she might be able to direct our efforts in such a manner as =
to
render them effective.
"We can spare
two weeks for this," said Mr. Edison. "Can you fellows of many
tongues learn to talk with the girl in that time?"
"We'll try
it," said several.
"It shall we
do," cried the Heidelberg professor more confidently.
"Then there =
is
no use of staying here," continued the commander. "If we withdraw=
the
Martians will think that we have either given up the earth's moon, always k=
eep
the same face toward their master. By blanket and let us see their face once
more. That will give us a better opportunity to strike effectively when we =
are
again ready."
"Why not
rendezvous at one of the moons?" said an astronomer. "Neither of =
the
two moons is of much consequence, as far as size goes, but still it would s=
erve
as sort of an anchorage ground, and while there, if we were careful to keep=
on
the side away from Mars, we should escape detection."
This suggestion w=
as
immediately accepted, and the squadron having been signalled to assemble
quickly bore off in the direction of the more distant moon of Mars, Deimos.=
We
knew that it was slightly smaller than Phobos, but its greater distance gave
promise that it would better serve our purpose of temporary concealment. The
moons of Mars, like the earth's moon, always kept the same face toward their
master. By hiding behind Deimos we should escape the prying eyes of the
Martians, even when they employed telescopes, and thus be able to remain
comparatively close at hand, ready to pounce down upon them again, after we=
had
obtained, as we now had good hope of doing, information that would make us
masters of the situation.
CHAPTER THIRTEEN - THERE =
WERE
GIANTS IN THE EARTH
Deimos proved to be, as we had expected,=
about
six miles in diameter. Its mean density is not very great so that the
acceleration of gravity did not exceed one-two-thousandths of the earth's.
Consequently the weight of a man turning the scales at 150 pounds at home w=
as
here only about one ounce.
The result was th=
at
we could move about with greater ease than on the golden asteroid, and some=
of
the scientific men eagerly resumed their interrupted experiments.
But the attractio=
n of
this little satellite was so slight that we had to be very careful not to m=
ove
too swiftly in going about lest we should involuntarily leave the ground and
sail out into space, as, it will be remembered, happened to the fugitives f=
rom
the fight on the asteroid.
Not only would su=
ch
an adventure have been an uncomfortable experience, but it might have
endangered the success of our scheme. Our present distance from the surface=
of
Mars did not exceed 12,500 miles, and we had reasons to believe the Martians
possessed telescopes powerful enough to enable them not merely to see the
electrical ships at such a distance, but to also catch sight of us
individually. Although the cloud curtain still rested on the planet it was
probable that the Martians would send some of their airships up to its surf=
ace
in order to determine what our fate had been. From that point of vantage wi=
th
their exceedingly powerful glasses, we feared that they might be able to de=
tect
anything unusual upon or in the neighborhood of Deimos.
Accordingly strict
orders were given, not only that the ships should be moored on that side of=
the
satellite which is perpetually turned away from Mars, but that, without ord=
ers,
no one should venture around on the other side of the little globe or even =
on
the edge of it, where he might be seen in profile against the sky.
Still, of course,=
it
was essential that we, on our part, should keep a close watch, and so a num=
ber
of sentinels were selected, whose duty it was to place themselves at the ed=
ge
of Deimos, where they could peep over the horizon, so to speak, and catch s=
ight
of the globe of our enemies.
The distance of M=
ars
from us was only about three times its own diameter, consequently it shut o=
ff a
large part of the sky, as viewed from our position.
But in order to s=
ee
its whole surface it was necessary to go a little beyond the edge of the
satellite, on that side which faced Mars. At the suggestion of Colonel Smit=
h,
who had so frequently stalked Indians that devices of this kind readily
occurred to his mind, the sentinels all wore garments corresponding in colo=
r to
that of the soil of the asteroid, which was of a dark, reddish brown hue. T=
his
would tend to conceal them from the prying eyes of the Martians.
The commander him=
self
frequently went around the edge of the planet in order to take a look at Ma=
rs,
and I often accompanied him.
I shall never for=
get
one occasion, when, lying flat on the ground, and cautiously worming our way
around on the side toward Mars, we had just begun to observe it with our
telescopes, when I perceived, against the vast curtain of smoke, a small,
glinting object, which I instantly suspected to be an airship.
I called Mr. Edis=
on's
attention to it, and we both agreed that it was, undoubtedly, one of the
Martian's aerial vessels, probably on the lookout for us.
A short time
afterward a large number of airships made their appearance at the upper sur=
face
of the clouds, moving to and fro, and although, with our glasses, we could =
only
make out the general form of the ships, without being able to discern the
Martians upon them, yet we had not the least doubt but they were sweeping t=
he
sky in every direction in order to determine whether we had been completely
destroyed or had retreated to a distance from the planet.
Even when that si=
de
of Mars on which we were looking had passed into night, we could still see =
the
guardships circling above the clouds, their presence being betrayed by the
faint twinkling of the electric lights that they bore.
Finally, after ab=
out
a week had passed, the Martians evidently made up their minds that they had
annihilated us, and that there was no longer danger to be feared. Convincing
evidence that they believed we should not be heard from again was furnished
when the withdrawal of the great curtain of cloud began.
This phenomenon f=
irst
manifested itself by a gradual thinning of the vaporous shield, until, at
length, we began to perceive the red surface of the planet dimly shining
through it. Thinner and rarer it became, and, after the lapse of about eigh=
teen
hours, it had completely disappeared, and the huge globe shone out again,
reflecting the light of the sun from its continents and oceans with a
brightness that, in contrast with the all-enveloping night to which we had =
so
long been subjected, seemed unbearable to our eyes.
Indeed, so brilli=
ant
was the illumination which fell upon the surface of Deimos that the number =
of
persons who had been permitted to pass around on the exposed side of the
satellite was carefully restricted. In the blaze of light which had been
suddenly poured upon us we felt somewhat like malefactors unexpectedly
enveloped in the illumination of a policeman's dark lantern.
Meanwhile, the ob=
ject
which we had in view in retreating to the satellite was not lost sight of, =
and
the services of the chief linguists of the expedition were again called into
use for the purpose of acquiring a new language. The experiment was conduct=
ed
in the flagship. The fact that this time it was not a monster belonging to =
an
utterly alien race upon whom we were to experiment, but a beautiful daughte=
r of
our common Mother Eve, added zest and interest as well as the most confident
hopes of success to the efforts of those who were striving to understand the
accents of her tongue.
Still the difficu=
lty
was very great, notwithstanding the conviction of the professors that her
language would turn out to be a form of the great Indo-European speech from
which the many tongues of civilized men upon the earth had been derived.
The learned men, =
to
tell the truth, gave the poor girl no rest. For hours at a time they would =
ply
her with interrogations by voice and by gesture, until, at length, wearied
beyond endurance, she would fall asleep before their faces.
Then she would be
left undisturbed for a little while, but the moment her eyes opened again t=
he
merciless professors flocked about her once more, and resumed the tedious
iteration of their experiments.
Our Heidelberg
professor was the chief inquisitor, and he revealed himself to us in a new =
and
entirely unexpected light. No one could have anticipated the depth and vari=
ety
of his resources. He placed himself in front of the girl and gestured and
gesticulated, bowed, nodded, shrugged his shoulders, screwed his face into =
an
infinite variety of expressions, smiled, laughed, scowled and accompanied a=
ll
these dumb shows with posturings, exclamations, queries, only half expresse=
d in
words and cadences which, by some ingenious manipulation of the tones of th=
e voice,
he managed to make expressive of his desires.
He was a universal
actor--comedian, tragedian, buffoon--all in one. There was no shade of human
emotions to which he did not seem capable of giving expression.
His every attitude
was a symbol, and all his features became in quick succession types of thou=
ght
and exponents of hidden feelings, while his inquisitive nose stood forth in=
the
midst of their ceaseless play like a perpetual interrogation point that wou=
ld
have electrified the Sphinx into life, and set its stone lips gabbling answ=
ers
and explanations.
The girl looked o=
n,
partly astonished, partly amused, and partly comprehending. Sometimes she
smiled, and then the beauty of her face became most captivating. Occasional=
ly
she burst into a cherry laugh when the professor was executing some of his
extraordinary gyrations before her.
It was a marvelous
exhibition of what the human intellect, when all its powers are concentrated
upon a single object, is capable of achieving. It seemed to me, as I looked=
at
the performance, that if all the races of men, who had been stricken asunde=
r at
the foot of the Tower of Babel by the miracle which made the tongues of eac=
h to
speak a language unknown to the others, could be brought together again at =
the
foot of the same tower, with all the advantages which thousands of years of=
education
had in the meantime imparted to them, they would be able, without any mirac=
le,
to make themselves mutually understood.
And it was evident
that an understanding was actually growing between the girl and the profess=
or.
Their minds were plainly meeting, and when both had become focused upon the
same point, it was perfectly certain that the object of the experiment woul=
d be
attained.
Whenever the
professor got from the girl an intelligent reply to his pantomimic inquirie=
s,
or whenever he believed that he got such a reply, it was immediately jotted
down in the ever open note book which he carried in his hand.
And then he would
turn to us standing by, and with one hand on his heart, and the other sweep=
ing
grandly through the air, would make a profound bow and say:
"The young l=
ady
and I great progress make already. I have her words comprehended. We shall
wondrous mysteries solve. Jawohl! Wunderlich! Make yourselves gentlemen eas=
y.
Of the human race the ancestral stem have I here discovered."
Once I glanced ov=
er a
page of his notebook and there I read this:
"Mars--Zahmo=
r
"Copper--Hay=
ez
"Sword--Anz<= o:p>
"I jump--Alt=
esna
"I slay--Amo=
utha
"I cut off a
head--Ksutaskofa
"I sleep--Zl=
cha
"I
love--Levza"
When I saw this l=
ast
entry I looked suspiciously at the professor.
Was he trying to =
make
love without our knowing it to the beautiful captive from Mars?
If so, I felt cer=
tain
that he would get himself into difficulty. She had made a deep impression u=
pon
every man in the flagship, and I knew that there was more than one of the
younger men who would promptly have called him to account if they had suspe=
cted
him of trying to learn from those beautiful lips the words, "I love.&q=
uot;
I pictured to mys=
elf
the state of mind of Colonel Alonzo Jefferson Smith if, in my place, he had
glanced over the notebook and read what I had read.
And then I though=
t of
another handsome young fellow in the flagship--Sydney Phillips--who, if mere
actions and looks could make him so, had become exceedingly devoted to this
long lost and happily recovered daughter of Eve.
In fact, I had
already questioned within my own mind whether the peace would be strictly k=
ept
between Colonel Smith and Mr. Phillips, for the former had, to my knowledge,
noticed the young fellow's adoring glances, and had begun to regard him out=
of
the corners of his eyes as if he considered him no better than an Apache.
"But what,&q=
uot;
I asked myself, "would be the vengeance that Colonel Smith would take =
upon
this skinny professor from Heidelberg if he thought that he, taking advanta=
ge
of his linguistic powers, had stepped in between him and the damsel whom he=
had
rescued?"
However, when I t=
ook
a second look at the professor, I became convinced that he was innocent of =
any
such amorous intentions, and that he had learned, or believed he had learne=
d,
the word for "love" simply in pursuances of the method by which he
meant to acquire the language of the girl.
There was one thi=
ng
which gave some of us considerable misgivings, and that was the question
whether, after all, the language the professor was acquiring was really the
girl's own tongue or one that she had learned from the Martians.
But the professor
bade us rest easy on that point. He assured us, in the first place, that th=
is
girl could not be the only human being living upon Mars, but that she must =
have
friends and relatives there. That being so, they unquestionably had a langu=
age
of their own, which they spoke when they were among themselves. Here finding
herself among beings belonging to her own race, she would naturally speak h=
er
own tongue and not that which she had acquired from the Martians.
"Moreover,
gentlemen," he added, "I have in her speech many roots of the gre=
at
Aryan tongue already recognized."
We were greatly
relieved by this explanation, which seemed to all of us perfectly satisfact=
ory.
Yet, really, there
was no reason why one language should be any better than the other for our
present purpose. In fact, it might be more useful to us to know the languag=
e of
the Martians themselves. Still, we all felt that we should prefer to know h=
er
language rather than that of the monsters among whom she had lived.
Colonel Smith
expressed what was in all our minds when, after listening to the reasoning =
of
the Professor, he blurted out:
"Thank God, =
she
doesn't speak any of their blamed lingo! By Jove, it would soil her pretty
lips."
"But also th=
at
she speaks, too," said the man from Heidelberg, turning to Colonel Smi=
th
with a grin. "We shall both of them eventually learn."
Three entire weeks
were passed in this manner. After the first week the girl herself materially
assisted the linguists in their efforts to ac-quire her speech.
At length the task
was so far advanced that we could, in a certain sense, regard it as practic=
ally
completed. The Heidelberg professor declared that he had mastered the tongu=
e of
the ancient Aryans. His delight was unbounded. With prodigious industry he =
set
to work, scarcely stopping to eat or sleep, to form a grammar of the langua=
ge.
"You shall
see," he said, "it will the speculations of my countrymen vindica=
te."
No doubt the
Professor had an exaggerated opinion of the extent of his acquirements, but=
the
fact remained that enough had been learned of the girl's language to enable=
him
and several others to converse with her quite as readily as a person of good
capacity who has studied under the instructions of a native teacher during a
period of six months can converse in a foreign tongue.
Immediately almost
every man in the squadron set vigorously at work to learn the language of t=
his
fair creature for himself. Colonel Smith and Sydney Phillips were neck and =
neck
in the linguistic race.
One of the first = bits of information which the Professor had given out was the name of the girl.<= o:p>
It was Aina (pron=
ounced
Ah-ee-na).
This news was fla=
shed
throughout the squadron, and the name of our beautiful captive was on the l=
ips
of all.
After that came h=
er
story. It was a marvelous narrative. Translated into our tongue it ran as
follows:
"The traditi=
ons
of my fathers, handed down for generations so many that no one can number t=
hem,
declare that the planet of Mars was not the place of our origin.
"Ages and ag=
es
ago our forefathers dwelt on another and distant world that was nearer the =
sun
than this one is, and enjoyed brighter daylight than we have here.
"They dwelt-=
-as
I have often heard the story from my father, who had learned it by heart fr=
om
his father, and he from his--in a beautiful valley that was surrounded by
enormous mountains towering into the clouds and white about their tops with
snow that never melted. In the valley were lakes, around which clustered the
dwellings of our race.
"It was, the
traditions say, a land wonderful for its fertility, filled with all things =
that
the heart could desire, splendid with flowers and rich with luscious fruits=
.
"It was a la=
nd
of music, and the people who dwelt in it were very happy."
While the girl was
telling this part of her story the Heidelberg professor became visibly more=
and
more excited. Presently he could keep quiet no longer, and suddenly exclaim=
ed,
turning to us who were listening, as the words of the girl were interpreted=
for
us by one of the other linguists:
"Gentlemen, =
it
is the Vale of Cashmere! Has not my great countryman, Adelung, so declared?=
Has
he not said that the Valley of Cashmere was the cradle of the human race
already?"
"From the Va=
lley
of Cashmere to the planet Mars--what a romance!" exclaimed one of the
bystanders.
Colonel Smith
appeared to be particularly moved, and I heard him humming under his breath,
greatly to my astonishment, for this rough soldier was not much given to po=
etry
or music:
"Who has not heard of the Vale of
Cashmere, With its roses the
brightest that earth ever gave; Its
temples, its grottoes, its fountains as clear, As the love-lighted eyes that hang =
'oer
the wave."
Mr. Sydney Philli=
ps,
standing by, and also catching the murmur of Colonel Smith's words, showed =
in
his handsome countenance some indications of distress, as if he wished he h=
ad
thought of those lines himself.
The girl resumed =
her
narrative:
"Suddenly th=
ere
dropped down out of the sky strange gigantic enemies, armed with mysterious
weapons, and began to slay and burn and make desolate. Our forefathers could
not withstand them. They seemed like demons, who had been sent from the abo=
des
of evil to destroy our race.
"Some of the
wise men said that this thing had come upon our people because they had been
very wicked, and the Gods in Heaven were angry. Some said they came from the
moon, and some from the far-away stars. But of these things my forefathers =
knew
nothing for a certainty.
"The destroy=
ers
showed no mercy to the inhabitants of the beautiful valley. Not content with
making it a desert, they swept over other parts of the earth.
"The traditi=
on
says that they carried off from the valley, which was our native land, a la=
rge
number of our people, taking them first into a strange country, where there
were oceans of sand, but where a great river, flowing through the midst of =
the
sands, created a narrow land of fertility. Here, after having slain and dri=
ven
out the native inhabitants, they remained for many years, keeping our peopl=
e,
whom they had carried into captivity, as slaves.
"And in this
Land of Sand, it is said, they did many wonderful works.
"They had be=
en
astonished at the sight of the great mountains which surrounded our valley,=
for
on Mars there are no mountains, and after they came into the Land of Sand t=
hey
built there, with huge blocks of stone, mountains in imitation of what they=
had
seen, and used them for purposes my people did not understand.
"Then, too, =
it
is said they left there at the foot of these mountains that they had made a
gigantic image of the great chief who led them in their conquest of our
world."
At this point in =
the
story the Heidelberg professor again broke in, fairly trembling with
excitement:
"Gentlemen,
gentlemen," he cried, "is it that you do not understand? This Lan=
d of
Sand and of a wonderful fertilizing river--what can it be? Gentleman, it is
Egypt! These mountains of rock that the Martians have erected, what are the=
y?
Gentlemen, they are the great mystery of the land of the Nile, the Pyramids.
The gigantic statue of their leader that they at the foot of their artifici=
al
mountains have set up--gentlemen, what is that? It is the Sphinx!"
The professor's
agitation was so great that he could not go on further. And indeed there was
not one of us who did not fully share his excitement. To think that we shou=
ld
have come to the planet Mars to solve one of the standing mysteries of the
earth, which had puzzled mankind and defied all their efforts at solution f=
or
so many centuries! Here, then, was the explanation of how those gigantic bl=
ocks
that constitute the great Pyramid of Cheops had been swung to their lofty e=
levation.
It was not the work of puny man, as many an engineer had declared that it c=
ould
not be, but the work of these giants of Mars.
At length, our traditions say, a great pestilence broke out in the Land of Sand, and a par= tial vengeance was granted to us in the destruction of the larger number of our enemies. At last the giants who remained, fleeing before this scourge of the gods, used the mysterious means at their command, and, carrying our ancesto= rs with them, returned to their own world, in which we have ever since lived.<= o:p>
"Then there =
are
more of your people in Mars?" said one of the professors.
"Alas, no,&q=
uot;
replied Aina, her eyes filling with tears, "I alone am left."
For a few minutes=
she
was unable to speak. Then she continued:
"What fury
possessed them I do not know, but not long ago an expedition departed from =
the
planet, the purpose of which, as it was noised about over Mars, was the
conquest of a distant world. After a time a few survivors of that expedition
returned. The story they told caused great excitement among our masters. Th=
ey
had been successful in their battles with the inhabitants of the world they=
had
invaded, but as in the days of our forefathers, in the Land of Sand, a
pestilence smote them, and but few survivors escaped.
"Not long af=
ter
that, you, with your mysterious ships, appeared in the sky of Mars. Our mas=
ters
studied you with their telescopes, and those who had returned from the
unfortunate expedition declared that you were inhabitants of the world which
they had invaded, come, doubtless, to take vengeance upon them.
"Some of my
people who were permitted to look through the telescopes of the Martians, s=
aw
you also, and recognized you as members of their own race. There were sever=
al
thousand of us all together, and we were kept by the Martians to serve them=
as
slaves, and particularly to delight their ears with music, for our people h=
ave
always been especially skillful in the playing of musical instruments, and =
in
songs, and while the Martians have but little musical skill themselves, they
are exceedingly fond of these things.
"Although Ma=
rs
had completed not less than five thousand circuits about the sun since our
ancestors were brought as prisoners to its surface, yet the memory of our
distant home had never perished from the hearts of our race, and when we
recognized you, as we believed, our own brothers, come to rescue us from lo=
ng
imprisonment, there was great rejoicing. The news spread from mouth to mout=
h,
wherever we were in houses and families of our masters. We seemed to be
powerless to aid you or to communicate with you in any manner. Yet our hear=
ts
went out to you, as in your ships you hung above the planet, and preparatio=
ns
were secretly made by all the members of our race for your reception when, =
as we
believed, would occur, you should effect a landing upon the planet and dest=
roy
our enemies.
"But in some
manner the fact that we had recognized you, and were preparing to welcome y=
ou,
came to the ears of the Martians."
At this point the
girl suddenly covered her eyes with her hands, shuddering and falling back =
in
her seat.
"Oh, you do =
not
know them as I do!" at length she exclaimed. "The monsters! Their
vengeance was too terrible! Instantly the order went forth that we should a=
ll
be butchered, and that awful command was executed!"
"How, then, =
did
you escape?" asked the Heidelberg professor.
Aina seemed unabl=
e to
speak for a while. Finally mastering her emotion, she replied:
"One of the
chief officers of the Martians wished me to remain alive. He, with his aide=
s,
carried me to one of the military depots of supplies, where I was found and
rescued," and as she said this she turned toward Colonel Smith with a
smile that reflected on his ruddy face and made it glow like a Chinese lant=
ern.
"By God!&quo=
t;
muttered Colonel Smith, "that was the fellow we blew into nothing! Bla=
st
him, he got off too easy!"
The remainder of
Aina's story may be briefly told.
When Colonel Smith
and I entered the mysterious building which, as it now proved, was not a
storehouse belonging to a village, as we had supposed, but one of the milit=
ary
depots of the Martians, the girl, on catching sight of us, immediately
recognized us as belonging to the strange squadron in the sky. As such she =
felt
that we must be her friends, and saw in us her only possible hope of escape.
For that reason she had instantly thrown herself under our protection. This
accounted for the singular confidence which she had manifested in us from t=
he beginning.
Her wonderful sto=
ry
had so captivated our imaginations that for a long time after it was finish=
ed
we could not recover from the spell. It was told over and over again, from
mouth to mouth, and repeated from ship to ship, everywhere exciting the utm=
ost
astonishment.
Destiny seemed to
have sent us on this expedition into space for the purpose of clearing off
mysteries that had long puzzled the minds of men. When on the moon we had
unexpectedly to ourselves settled the question that had been debated from t=
he
beginning of astronomical history of the former habitability of that globe.=
Now, on Mars, we =
had
put to rest no less mysterious questions relating to the past history of our
own planet. Adelung, as the Heidelberg professor asserted, had named the Va=
le
of Cashmere, as the probable site of the Garden of Eden, and the place of
origin of the human race, but later investigators had taken issue with this
opinion and the question where the Aryans originated on the earth had long =
been
one of the most puzzling that science presented.
This question see=
med
now to have been settled.
Aina had said that
Mars had completed 5,000 circuits about the sun since her people were broug=
ht
to it as captives. One circuit of Mars occupies 687 days. More than 9000 ye=
ars
had therefore elapsed since the first invasion of the earth by the Martians=
.
Another great
mystery--that of the origin of those gigantic and inexplicable monuments, t=
he
great pyramids and the Sphinx, on the banks of the Nile, had also apparently
been solved by us, although these Egyptian wonders had been the furthest th=
ings
from our thoughts when we set out for the planet Mars.
We had traveled m=
ore
than thirty millions of miles in order to get answers to questions which co=
uld
not be solved at home.
But from these
speculations and retrospects we were recalled by the commander of the
expedition.
"This is all
very interesting and very romantic, gentlemen," he said, "but now=
let
us get at the practical side of it. We have learned Aina's language and hea=
rd
her story. Let us next ascertain whether she can not place in our hands some
key which will place Mars at our mercy. Remember what we came here for, and
remember that the earth expects every man of us to do his duty."
This Nelson-like
summons again changed the current of our thoughts, and we instantly set to =
work
to learn from Aina if Mars, like Achilles, had not some vulnerable point wh=
ere
a blow would be mortal.
CHAPTER FOURTEEN - THE FL=
OOD
GATES OF MARS
It was a curious scene when the momentous
interview which was to determine our fate and that of Mars began. Aina had =
been
warned of what was coming. We in the flagship had all learned to speak her
language with more or less ease, but it was deemed best that the Heidelberg=
professor,
assisted by one of his colleagues, should act as interpreter.
The girl, flushed
with excitement of the novel situation, fully appreciating the importance of
what was about to occur, and looking more charming than before, stood at one
side of the principal apartment. Directly facing her were the interpreters,=
and
the rest of us, all with ears intent and eyes focused upon Aina, stood in a
double row behind them. As heretofore, I am setting down her words translat=
ed
into our own tongue, having taken only so much liberty as to connect the
sentences into a stricter sequence than they had when falling from her lips=
in reply
to the questions which were showered upon her.
"You will ne=
ver
be victorious," she said, "if you attack them openly as you have =
been
doing. They are too strong and too numerous. They are well prepared for such
attacks, because they have had to resist them before.
"They have w=
aged
war with the inhabitants of the asteroid Ceres, whose people are giants gre=
ater
than themselves. Their enemies from Ceres have attacked them here. Hence th=
ese
fortifications, with weapons pointing skyward, and the great air fleets whi=
ch
you have encountered."
"But there m=
ust
be some point," said Mr. Edison, "where we can."
"Yes, yes,&q=
uot;
interrupted the girl quickly, "there is one blow you can deal them whi=
ch
they could not withstand."
"What is
that?" eagerly inquired the commander.
"You can dro=
wn
them out."
"How? With t=
he
canals?"
"Yes, I will
explain to you. I have already told you, and, in fact, you must have seen f=
or
yourselves, that there are almost no mountains on Mars. A very learned man =
of my
race used to say that the reason was because Mars is so very old a world th=
at
the mountains it once had have been almost completely leveled, and the enti=
re
surface of the planet had become a great plain. There are depressions, howe=
ver,
most of which are occupied by the seas. The greater part of the land lies b=
elow
the level of the ocean. In order at the same time to irrigate the soil and =
make
it fruitful, and to protect themselves from overflows by the ocean breaking=
in
upon them, the Martians have constructed the immense and innumerable canals
which you see running in all directions over the continents.
"There is one
period in the year, and that period has now arrived when there is special
danger of a great deluge. Most of the oceans of Mars lie in the southern
hemisphere. When it is Summer in that hemisphere, the great masses of ice a=
nd
snow collected around the south pole melt rapidly away."
"Yes, that is
so," broke in one of the astronomers, who was listening attentively.
"Many a time I have seen the vast snow fields around the southern pole=
of
Mars completely disappear as the Summer sun rose high upon them."
"With the
melting of these snows," continued Aina, "a rapid rise in the lev=
el
of the water in the southern oceans occurs. On the side facing these oceans=
the
continents of Mars are sufficiently elevated to prevent an overflow, but ne=
arer
the equator the level of the land sinks lower.
"With your
telescopes you have no doubt noticed that there is a great bending sea
connecting the oceans of the south with those of the north and running thro=
ugh
the midst of the continents."
"Quite so,&q=
uot;
said the astronomer who had spoken before, "we call it the Syrtis
Major."
"That long
narrow sea," Aina went on, "forms a great channel through which t=
he
flood of waters caused by the melting of the southern polar snows flows swi=
ftly
toward the equator and then on toward the north until it reaches the sea ba=
sins
which exist there. At that point it is rapidly turned into ice and snow,
because, of course, while it is Summer in the southern hemisphere it is Win=
ter
in the northern.
"The Syrtis
Major (I am giving our name to the channel of communication in place of tha=
t by
which the girl called it) is like a great safety valve, which, by permitting
the waters to flow northward, saves the continents from inundation.
"But when
mid-Summer arrives, the snows around the pole, having been completely melted
away, the flood ceases and the water begins to recede. At this time, but fo=
r a
device which the Martians have employed, the canals connected with the ocea=
ns
would run dry, and the vegetation left without moisture under the Summer su=
n,
would quickly perish.
"To prevent =
this
they have built a series of enormous gates extending completely across the
Syrtis Major at its narrowest point (latitude 25 degrees south). These gates
are all controlled by machinery collected at a single point on the shore of=
the
strait. As soon as the flood in the Syrtis Major begins to recede, the gates
are closed, and, the water being thus restrained, the irrigating canals are
kept full long enough to mature the harvests."
"The clue! T=
he
clue at last!" exclaimed Mr. Edison. "That is the place where we
shall nip them. If we can close those gates now at the moment of high tide =
we
shall flood the country. Did you say," he continued, turning to Aina,
"that the movement of the gates was all controlled from a single
point?"
"Yes," = said the girl. "There is a great building (power house) full of tremendous machinery which I once entered when my father was taken there by his master, and where I saw one Martian, by turning a little handle, cause the great li= ne of gates, stretching a hundred miles across the sea, to slowly shut in, edg= e to edge, until the flow of the water toward the north had been stopped."<= o:p>
"How is the
building protected?"
"So
completely," said Aina, "that my only fear is that you may not be=
able
to reach it. On account of the danger from their enemies on Ceres, the Mart=
ians
have fortified it strongly on all sides, and have even surrounded it and co=
vered
it overhead with a great electrical network, to touch which would be instant
death."
"Ah," s=
aid
Mr. Edison, "they have got an electric shield, have they? Well, I thin=
k we
shall be able to manage that."
"Anyhow,&quo=
t;
he continued, "we have got to get into that power house, and we have g=
ot
to close those gates, and we must not lose much time in making up our minds=
how
it is to be done. Evidently this is our only chance. We have not force enou=
gh
to contend in open battle with the Martians, but if we can flood them out, =
and
thereby render the engines contained in their fortifications useless, perha=
ps
we shall be able to deal with the airships, which will be all the means of
defense that will then remain to them."
This idea commend=
ed
itself to all the leaders of the expedition. It was determined to make a
reconnaissance at once.
But it would not =
do
for us to approach the planet too hastily, and we certainly could not think=
of
landing upon it in broad daylight. Still, as long as we were yet a consider=
able
distance from Mars, we felt that we should be safe from observation because=
so
much time had elapsed while we were hidden behind Deimos that the Martians =
had
undoubtedly concluded that we were no longer in existance.
So we boldly quit=
ted
the little satellite with our entire squadron and once more rapidly approac=
hed
the red planet of war. This time it was to be a death grapple and our chanc=
es
of victory still seemed good.
As soon as we arr=
ived
so near the planet that there was danger of our being actually seen, we took
pains to keep continually in the shadow of Mars, and the more surely to con=
ceal
our presence all lights upon the ships were extinguished. The precaution of=
the
commander even went so far as to have the smooth metallic sides of the cars
blackened over so that they should not reflect light, and thus become visib=
le
to the Martians as shining specks, moving suspiciously among the stars.
The precise locat=
ion
of the great power house on the shores of the Syrtis Major having been
carefully ascertained, the squadron dropped down one night into the upper
limits of the Martian atmosphere, directly over the gulf.
Then a consultati=
on
was called on the flagship and a plan of campaign was quickly devised.
It was deemed wise
that the attempt should be made with a single electric ship, but that the
others should be kept hovering near, ready to respond on the instant to any
signal for aid which might come from below. It was thought that,
notwithstanding the wonderful defences, which, according to Aina's account
surrounded the building, a small party would have a better chance of success
than a large one.
Mr. Edison was
certain that the electrical network which was described as covering the pow=
er
house would not prove a serious obstruction to us, because by carefully
sweeping the space where we intended to pass with the disintegrators before
quitting the ship, the netting could be sufficiently cleared away to give us
uninterrupted passage.
At first the
intention was to have twenty men, each armed with two disintegrators (that
being the largest number one person could carry to advantage) descend from =
the
electrical ship and make the venture. But, after further discussion, this
number was reduced; first to a dozen, and finally, to only four. These four
consisted of Mr. Edison, Colonel Smith, Mr. Sydney Phillips and myself.
Both by her own
request and because we could not help feeling that her knowledge of the
locality would be indispensable to us, Aina was also included in our party,=
but
not, of course, as a fighting member of it.
It was about an h=
our
after midnight when the ship in which we were to make the venture parted fr=
om
the remainder of the squadron and dropped cautiously down. The blaze of
electric lights running away in various directions indicated the lines of
innumerable canals with habitations crowded along their banks, which came t=
o a
focus at a point on the continent of Aeria, westward from the Syrtis Major.=
We stopped the
electrical ship at an elevation of perhaps three hundred feet above the vas=
t roof
of a structure which Aina assured us was the building of which we were in
search.
Here we remained =
for
a few minutes, cautiously reconnoitering. On that side of the power house w=
hich
was opposite to the shore of the Syrtis Major there was a thick grove of tr=
ees,
lighted beneath, as was apparent from the illumination which here and there
streamed up through the cover of leaves, but, nevertheless, dark and gloomy
above the tree tops.
"The electric
network extends over the grove as well as over the building," said Ain=
a.
This was lucky for
us, because we wished to descend among the trees, and, by destroying part of
the network over the tree tops, we could reach the shelter we desired and at
the same time pass within the line of electric defenses.
With increased
caution, and almost holding our breath lest we should make some noise that
might reach the ears of the sentinels below, we caused the car to settle ge=
ntly
down until we caught sight of a metallic net stretched in the air between us
and the trees.
After our first
encounter with the Martians on the asteroid, where, as I have related, some
metal which was included in their dress resisted the action of the
disintegrators, Mr. Edison had readjusted the range of vibrations covered by
the instruments, and since then we had found nothing that did not yield to
them. Consequently, we had no fear that the metal of the network would not =
be
destroyed.
There was danger,
however, of arousing attention by shattering holes through the tree tops. T=
his
could be avoided by first carefully ascertaining how far away the network w=
as
and then with the adjustable mirrors attached to the disintegrators focusing
the vibratory discharge at that distance.
So successful wer=
e we
that we opened a considerable gap in the network without doing any percepti=
ble
damage to the trees beneath.
The ship was
cautiously lowered through the opening and brought to rest among the upper
branches of one of the tallest trees. Colonel Smith, Mr. Phillips, Mr. Edis=
on
and myself at once clambered out upon a strong limb.
For a moment I fe=
ared
our arrival had been betrayed on account of the altogether too noisy contest
that arose between Colonel Smith and Mr. Phillips as to which of them should
assist Aina. To settle the dispute I took charge of her myself.
At length we were=
all
safely in the tree.
Then followed the
still more dangerous undertaking of descending from this great height to the
ground. Fortunately, the branches were very close together and they extended
down within a short distance of the soil. So the actual difficulties of the
descent were not very great after all. The one thing that we had particular=
ly
to bear in mind was the absolute necessity of making no noise.
At length the des=
cent
was successfully accomplished, and we all five stood together in the shadow=
at
the foot of the great tree. The grove was so thick around that while there =
was
an abundance of electric lights among the trees, their illumination did not
fall upon us where we stood.
Peering cautiously
through the vistas in various directions, we ascertained our location with
respect to the wall of the building. Like all the structures which we had s=
een
on Mars, it was composed of polished red metal.
"Where is the
entrance?" inquired Mr. Edison, in a whisper.
"Come softly=
this
way, and look out for the sentinel," replied Aina.
Gripping our
disintegrators firmly, and screwing up our courage, with noiseless steps we
followed the girl among the shadows of the trees.
We had one-very g=
reat
advantage. The Martians had evidently placed so much confidence in the elec=
tric
network which surrounded the power house that they never dreamed of enemies
being able to penetrate it--at least, without giving warning of their comin=
g.
But the hole whic= h we had blown in this network with the disintegrators had been made noiselessly, and Mr. Edison believed, since no enemies had appeared, that our operations= had not been betrayed by any automatic signal to watchers inside the building.<= o:p>
Consequently, we =
had
every reason to think that we now stood within the line of defense, in which
they reposed the greatest confidence, without their having the least suspic=
ion
of our presence.
Aina assured us t=
hat
on the occasion of her former visit to the power house there had been but t=
wo
sentinels on guard at the entrance. At the inner end of a long passage lead=
ing
to the interior, she said, there were two more. Besides these there were th=
ree
or four Martian engineers watching the machinery in the interior of the
building. A number of airships were supposed to be on guard around the
structure, but possibly their vigilance had been relaxed, because not long =
ago
the Martians had sent an expedition against Ceres which had been so success=
ful
that the power of that planet to make any attack upon Mars had, for the pre=
sent
been destroyed.
Supposing us to h=
ave
been annihilated in the recent battle among the clouds, they would have no =
fear
or cause for vigilance on our account.
The entrance to t=
he
great structure was low--at least, when measured by the stature of the Mart=
ians.
Evidently the intention was that only one person at a time should find room=
to
pass through it.
Drawing cautiously
near, we discerned the outlines of two gigantic forms, standing in the
darkness, one on either side of the door. Colonel Smith whispered to me:
"If you will
take the fellow on the right, I will attend to the other one."
Adjusting our aim=
as
carefully as was possible in the gloom, Colonel Smith and I simultaneously
discharged our disintegrators, sweeping them rapidly up and down in the man=
ner
which had become familiar to us when endeavoring to destroy one of the giga=
ntic
Martians with a single stroke. And so successful were we that the two senti=
nels
disappeared as if they were ghosts of the night.
Instantly we all
hurried forward and entered the door. Before us extended a long, straight
passage, brightly illuminated by a number of electric candles. Its polished
sides gleamed with blood-red reflections, and the gallery terminated, at a
distance of two or three hundred feet, with an opening into a large chamber
beyond, on the further side of which we could see part of a gigantic and
complicated mass of machinery.
Making as little
noise as possible, we pushed ahead along the passage, but when we had arriv=
ed
within the distance of a dozen paces from the inner end, we stopped, and
Colonel Smith, getting down upon his knees, crept forward, until he had rea=
ched
the inner end of the passage. There he peered cautiously around the edge in=
to
the chamber, and, turning his head a moment later, beckoned us to come forw=
ard.
We crept to his side, and, looking out into the vast apartment, could perce=
ive
no enemies.
What had become of
the sentinels supposed to stand at the inner end the passage we could not
imagine. At any rate, they were not at their posts.
The chamber was an
immense square room at least a hundred feet in height and 400 feet on a sid=
e,
and almost filling the wall opposite to us was an intricate display of
machinery, wheels, levers, rods and polished plates. This we had no doubt w=
as
one end of the engine which opened and shut the great gates that could dam =
an
ocean.
"There is no=
one
in sight," said Colonel Smith.
"Then we must
act quickly," said Mr. Edison.
"Where,"=
; he
said, turning to Aina, "is the handle by turning which you saw the Mar=
tian
close the gates?"
Aina looked about=
in
bewilderment. The mechanism before us was so complicated that even an expert
mechanic would have been excusable for finding himself unable to understand=
it.
There were scores of knobs and handles, all glistening in the electric ligh=
t,
any one of which, so far as the uninstructed could tell, might have been the
master key that controlled the whole complex apparatus.
"Quick,"
said Mr. Edison, "where is it?"
The girl in her
confusion ran this way and that, gazing hopelessly upon the machinery, but
evidently utterly unable to help us.
To remain here
inactive was not merely to invite destruction for ourselves, but was sure to
bring certain failure upon the purpose of the expedition. All of us began
instantly to look about in search of the proper handle, seizing every crank=
and
wheel in sight and striving to turn it.
"Stop
that!" shouted Mr. Edison, "you may set the whole thing wrong. Do=
n't
touch anything until we have found the right lever."
But to find that =
seemed
to most of us now utterly beyond the power of man.
It was at this
critical moment that the wonderful depth and reach of Mr. Edison's mechanic=
al
genius displayed itself. He stepped back, ran his eyes quickly over the who=
le
immense mass of wheels, handles, bolts, bars and levers, paused for an inst=
ant,
as if making up his mind, then said decidedly, "There it is," and
stepping quickly forward, selected a small wheel amid a dozen others, all
furnished at the circumference with handles like those of a pilot's wheel, =
and
giving it a quick wrench, turned it half-way around.
At this instant, a
startling shout fell upon our ears. There was a thunderous clatter behind u=
s,
and, turning, we saw three gigantic Martians rushing forward.
CHAPTER FIFTEEN - VENGEAN=
CE
IS OURS
"Sweep them! sweep them!" shou=
ted
Colonel Smith, as he brought his disintegrator to bear. Mr. Phillips and I
instantly followed his example, and thus we swept the Martians into eternit=
y,
while Mr. Edison coolly continued his manipulations of the wheel.
The effect of wha=
t he
was doing became apparent in less than half a minute. A shiver ran through =
the
mass of machinery and shook the entire building.
"Look!
Look!" cried Sydney Phillips, who had stepped a little apart from the
others.
We all ran to his
side and found ourselves in front of a great window which opened through the
side of the engine, giving a view of what lay in front of it. There, gleami=
ng
in the electric lights, we saw Syrtis Major, its waters washing high against
the walls of the vast power house. Running directly out from the shore, the=
re
was an immense metallic gate at least 400 yards in length and rising three
hundred feet above the present level of the water.
This great gate w=
as
slowly swinging upon an invisible hinge in such a manner that in a few minu=
tes
it would evidently stand across the current of the Syrtis Major at right
angles.
Beyond was a seco=
nd
gate, which was moving in the same manner. Further on was a third gate, and
then another, and another, as far as the eye could reach, evidently extendi=
ng
in an unbroken series completely across the great strait.
As the gates, with
accelerated motion when the current caught them, clanged together, we behel=
d a
spectacle that almost stopped the beating of our hearts.
The great Syrtis
seemed to gather itself for a moment, and then it leaped upon the obstructi=
on
and buried its waters into one vast foaming geyser that seemed to shoot a
thousand feet skyward.
But the metal gat=
es
withstood the shock, though buried from our sight in the seething white mas=
s,
and the baffled waters instantly swirled around in ten thousand gigantic
eddies, rising to the level of our window and beginning to inundate the pow=
er
house before we fairly comprehended our peril.
"We have done
the work," said Mr. Edison, smiling grimly. "Now we had better get
out of this before the flood bursts upon us."
The warning came =
none
too soon. It was necessary to act upon it at once if we would save our live=
s.
Even before we could reach the entrance to the long passage through which we
had come into the great engine room, the water had risen half-way to our kn=
ees.
Colonel Smith, catching Aina under his arm, led the way. The roar of the
maddened torrent behind deafened us.
As we ran through=
the
passage the water followed us, with a wicked swishing sound, and within five
seconds it was above our knees; in ten seconds up to our waists.
The great danger = now was that we should be swept from our feet, and once down in that torrent th= ere would have been little chance of our ever getting our heads above its level. Supporting ourselves as best we could with the aid of the walls, we partly = ran, and were partly swept along, until when we reached the outer end of the pas= sage and emerged into the open air, the flood was swirling about our shoulders.<= o:p>
Here there was an
opportunity to clutch some of the ornamental work surrounding the doorway, =
and
thus we managed to stay our mad progress, and gradually to work out of the
current until we found that the water, having now an abundance of room to
spread, had fallen again as low as our knees.
But suddenly we h=
eard
the thunder of the banks tumbling behind us, and to the right and left, and=
the
savage growl of the released water as it sprang through the breaches.
To my dying day, I
think, I shall not forget the sight of a great fluid column that burst thro=
ugh
the dike at the edge of the grove of trees, and, by the tremendous impetus =
of
its rush, seemed turned into a solid thing.
Like an enormous =
ram,
it plowed the soil to a depth of twenty feet, uprooting acres of the immense
trees like stubble turned over by the plowshare.
The uproar was so
awful that for an instant the coolest of us lost our self-control. Yet we k=
new
that we had not the fraction of a second to waste. The breaking of the banks
had caused the water again rapidly to rise about us. In a little while it w=
as
once more as high as our waists.
In the excitement=
and
confusion, deafened by the noise and blinded by the flying foam, we were in
danger of becoming separated in the flood. We no longer knew certainly in w=
hat
direction was the tree by whose aid we had ascended from the electrical shi=
p.
We pushed first one way and then another, staggering through the rushing wa=
ters
in search of it. Finally we succeeded in locating it, and with all our stre=
ngth
hurried toward it.
Then there came a
noise as if the globe of Mars had been split asunder, and another great hea=
d of
water hurled itself down upon the soil before us, and, without taking time =
to
spread, bored a vast cavity in the ground, and scooped out the whole of the
grove before our eyes as easily as a gardener lifts a sod with his spade.
Our last hope was
gone. For a moment the level of the water around us sank again, as it poured
into the immense excavation where the grove had stood, but in an instant it=
was
reinforced from all sides and began once more rapidly to rise.
We gave ourselves=
up
for lost, and, indeed, there did not seem any possible hope of salvation.
Even in the extre=
mity
I saw Colonel Smith lifting the form of Aina, who had fainted, above the
surface of the surging water, while Sydney Phillips stood by his side and a=
ided
him in supporting the unconscious girl.
"We stayed a
little too long," was the only sound I heard from Mr. Edison.
The huge bulk of =
the
power house partially protected us against the force of the current, and the
water spun us around in great eddies. These swept us this way and that, but=
yet
we managed to cling together, determined not to be separated in death if we
could avoid it.
Suddenly a cry ra=
ng
out directly above our heads:
"Jump for yo=
ur
lives, and be quick!"
At the same insta=
nt
the ends of several ropes splashed into the water.
We glanced upward,
and there, within three or four yards of our heads, hung the electrical shi=
p,
which we had left moored at the top of the tree.
Tom, the expert
electrician from Mr. Edison's shop, who had remained in charge of the ship,=
had
never once dreamed of such a thing as deserting us. The moment he saw the w=
ater
bursting over the dam, and evidently flooding the building which we had
entered, he cast off his moorings, as we subsequently learned, and hovered =
over
the entrance to the power house, getting as low down as possible and keepin=
g a
sharp watch for us.
But most of the
electric lights in the vicinity had been carried down by the first rush of
water, and in the darkness he did not see us when we emerged from the entra=
nce.
It was only after the sweeping away of the grove of trees had allowed a flo=
od
of light to stream upon the scene from a cluster of electric lamps on a dis=
tant
portion of the bank on the Syrtis that had not yet given way that he caught
sight of us.
Immediately he be=
gan
to shout to attract our attention, but in the awful uproar we could not hear
him. Getting together all the ropes that he could lay his hands on, he stee=
red
the ship to a point directly over us, and then dropped down within a few ya=
rds
of the boiling flood.
Now as he hung ov=
er
our heads, and saw the water up to our very necks and still swiftly rising,=
he
shouted again:
"Catch hold,=
for
God's sake!"
The three men who
were with him in the ship seconded his cries.
But by the time we
had fairly grasped the ropes, so rapidly was the flood rising, we were alre=
ady
afloat. With the assistance of Tom and his men we were rapidly drawn up, and
immediately Tom reversed the electric polarity, and the ship began to rise.=
At that same inst=
ant,
with a crash that shivered the air, the immense metallic power house gave w=
ay
and was swept tumbling, like a hill torn loose from its base, over the very
spot where a moment before we had stood. One second's hesitation on the par=
t of
Tom, and the electrical ship would have been battered into a shapeless wad =
of
metal by the careening mass.
When we had attai=
ned
a considerable height, so that we could see a great distance on either side,
the spectacle became even more fearful than it was when we were close to the
surface.
On all sides banks
and dykes were going down; trees were being uprooted; buildings were tumbli=
ng,
and the ocean was achieving that victory over the land which had long been =
its
due, but which the ingenuity of the inhabitants of Mars had postponed for a=
ges.
Far away we could=
see
the front of the advancing wave crested with foam that sparkled in the elec=
tric
lights, and as it swept on it changed the entire aspect of the planet--in f=
ront
of it all life, behind it all death.
Eastward our view
extended across the Syrtis Major toward the land of Libya and the region of
Isidis. On that side also the dykes were giving way under the tremendous
pressure, and the floods were rushing toward the sunrise, which had just be=
gan
to streak the eastern sky.
The continents th=
at
were being overwhelmed on the western side of the Syrtis were Meroc, Aeria,
Arabia, Edom and Eden.
The water beneath=
us
continually deepened. The current from the melting snows around the southern
pole was at its strongest, and one could hardly have believed that any
obstruction put in its path would have been able to arrest it and turn it i=
nto
these two all-swallowing deluges, sweeping east and west. But, as we now
perceived, the level of the land over a large part of its surface was hundr=
eds
of feet below the ocean, so that the latter, when once the barriers were
broken, rushed into depressions that yawned to receive it.
The point where we
had dealt our blow was far removed from the great capitol of Mars, around t=
he
Lake of the Sun, and we knew that we should have to wait for the floods to
reach that point before the desired effect could be produced. By the nearest
way, the water had at least 5,000 miles to travel. We estimated that its sp=
eed
where we hung above it was as much as a hundred miles an hour. Even if that
speed were maintained, more than two days and nights would be required for =
the floods
to reach the Lake of the Sun.
But as the water
rushed on it would break the banks of all the canals intersecting the count=
ry,
and these, being also elevated above the surface, would add the impetus of
their escaping waters to hasten the advance of the flood. We calculated, th=
erefore,
that about two days would suffice to place the planet at our mercy.
Half way from the
Syrtis Major to the Lake of the Sun another great connecting link between t=
he
Southern and Northern ocean basins, called on our maps of Mars the Indus,
existed, and through this channel we knew that another great current must be
setting from the south toward the north. The flood that we had started would
reach and break the banks of the Indus within one day.
The flood traveli=
ng
in the other direction, toward the east, would have considerably further to=
go
before reaching the neighborhood of the Lake of the Sun. It, too, would inv=
olve
hundreds of great canals as it advanced and would come plunging upon the La=
ke
of the Sun and its surrounding forts and cities, probably about half a day
later than the arrival of the deluge that traveled toward the west.
Now that we had l=
et
the awful destroyer loose we almost shrank from the thought of the conseque=
nces
which we had produced. How many millions would perish as the result of our =
deed
we could not even guess. Many of the victims, so far as we knew, might be
entirely innocent of enmity toward us, or of the evil which had been done to
our native planet. But this was a case in which the good--if they existed--=
must
suffer with the bad on account of the wicked deeds of the latter.
I have already
remarked that the continents of Mars were higher on their northern and sout=
hern
borders where they faced the great oceans. These natural barriers bore to t=
he
main mass of land somewhat the relation of the edge of a shallow dish to its
bottom. Their rise on the land side was too gradual to give them the appear=
ance
of hills, but on the side toward the sea they broke down in steep banks and
cliffs several hundred feet in height. We guessed that it would be in the
direction of these elevations that the inhabitants would flee, and those who
had timely warning might thus be able to escape in case the flood did not--=
as
it seemed possible it might in its first mad rush--overtop the highest elev=
ations
on Mars.
As day broke and =
the
sun slowly rose upon the dreadful scene beneath us, we began to catch sight=
of
some of the fleeing inhabitants. We had shifted the position of the fleet
toward the south, and were now suspended above the southeastern corner of
Aeria. Here a high bank of reddish rock confronted the sea, whose waters ran
lashing and roaring along the bluffs to supply the rapid drought produced by
the emptying of Syrtis Major. Along the shore there was a narrow line of la=
nd,
hundreds of miles in length, but less than a quarter of a mile broad, which
still rose slightly above the surface of the water, and this land of refuge=
was
absolutely packed with the monstrous inhabitants of the planet who had fled
hither on the first warning that the water was coming.
In some places it=
was
so crowded that the later comers could not find standing ground on dry land,
but were continually slipping back and falling into the water. It was an aw=
ful
sight to look at them. It reminded me of pictures I had seen of the deluge =
in
the days of Noah, when the waters had risen to the mountain tops, and men,
women and children were fighting for a foothold upon the last dry spots the
earth contained.
We were all moved=
by
a desire to help our enemies, for we were overwhelmed with feelings of pity=
and
remorse, but to aid them was now utterly beyond our power. The mighty floods
were out, and the end was in the hands of God.
Fortunately, we h=
ad
little time for these thoughts, because no sooner had the day begun to dawn
around us than the airships of the Martians appeared. Evidently the people =
in
them were dazed by the disaster and uncertain what to do. It is doubtful
whether at first they comprehended the fact that we were the agents who had
produced the cataclysm.
But as the morning
advanced the airships came flocking in greater and greater numbers from eve=
ry
direction, many swooping down close to the flood in order to rescue those w=
ho
were drowning. Hundreds gathered along the slip of land which was crowded a=
s I
have described, with refugees, while other hundreds rapidly assembled about=
us,
evidently preparing for an attack.
We had learned in=
our
previous contests with the airships of the Martians that our electrical shi=
ps
had a great advantage over them, not merely in rapidity and facility of
movement, but in the fact that our disintegrators could sweep in every
direction, while it was only with much difficulty that the Martian airships
could discharge their electrical strokes at an enemy poised directly above
their heads.
Accordingly, orde=
rs
were instantly flashed to all the squadrons to rise vertically to an elevat=
ion
so great that the rarity of the atmosphere would prevent the airships from
attaining the same level.
This maneuver was
executed so quickly that the Martians were unable to deal us a blow before =
we
were poised above them in such a position that they could not easily reach =
us.
Still they did not mean to give up the conflict.
Presently we saw =
one
of the largest of their ships maneuvering in a very peculiar manner, the
purpose of which we did not at first comprehend. Its forward portion commen=
ced
slowly to rise, until it pointed upward like the nose of a fish approaching=
the
surface of the water. The moment it was in this position, an electrical bolt
was darted from its prow, and one of our ships received a shock which, alth=
ough
it did not prove fatal to the vessel itself, killed two or three men aboard=
it,
disarranged its apparatus, and rendered it for the time being useless.
"Ah, that's
their trick, is it?" said Mr. Edison. "We must look out for that.
Whenever you see one of the airships beginning to stick its nose up after t=
hat
fashion blaze away at it."
An order to this
effect was transmitted throughout the squadron. At the same time several of=
the
most powerful disintegrators were directed upon the ship which had executed=
the
stratagem and, reduced to a wreck, it dropped, whirling like a broken kite
until it fell into the flood beneath.
Still the Martian
ships came flocking in ever greater numbers from all directions. They made
desperate attempts to attain the level at which we hung above them. This was
impossible, but many, getting an impetus by a swift run in the denser porti=
on
of the atmosphere beneath, succeeded in rising so high that they could
discharge their electric artillery with considerable effect. Others, with m=
ore
or less success, repeated the maneuver of the ship which had first attacked=
us,
and thus the battle gradually became more general and more fierce, until, in
the course of an hour or two, our squadron found itself engaged with probab=
ly a
thousand airships, which blazed with incessant lightning strokes, and were
able, all too frequently, to do us serious damage.
But on our part t=
he
battle was waged with a cool determination and a consciousness of insuperab=
le
advantage which boded ill for the enemy. Only three or four of our sixty
electrical ships were seriously damaged, while the work of the disintegrato=
rs
upon the crowded fleet that floated beneath us was terrible to look upon.
Our strokes fell
thick and fast on all sides. It was like firing into a flock of birds that
could not get away. Notwithstanding all their efforts they were practically=
at
our mercy. Shattered into unrecognizable fragments, hundreds of the airships
continually dropped from their great height to be swallowed up in the boili=
ng
waters.
Yet they were gam=
e to
the last. They made every effort to get at us, and in their frenzy they see=
med
to discharge their bolts without much regard to whether friends or foes were
injured. Our eyes were nearly blinded by the ceaseless glare beneath us, and
the uproar was indescribable.
At length, after =
this
fearful contest had lasted for at least three hours, it became evident that=
the
strength of the enemy was rapidly weakening. Nearly the whole of their imme=
nse
fleet of airships had been destroyed, or so far damaged that they were bare=
ly
able to float. Just so long, however, as they showed signs of resistance we
continued to pour our merciless fire upon them, and the signal to cease was=
not
given until the airships, which had escaped serious damage began to flee in=
every
direction.
"Thank God, =
the
thing is over," said Mr. Edison. "We have got the victory at last,
but how we shall make use of it is something that at present I do not
see."
"But will th=
ey
not renew the attack?" asked someone.
"I do not th=
ink
they can," was the reply. "We have destroyed the very flower of t=
heir
fleet."
"And better =
than
that," said Colonel Smith, "we have destroyed their clan; we have
made them afraid. Their discipline is gone."
But this was only=
the
beginning of our victory. The floods below were achieving a still greater
triumph, and now that we had conquered the airships we dropped within a few
hundred feet of the surface of the water and then turned our faces westward=
in
order to follow the advance of the deluge and see whether, as we hoped, it
would overwhelm our enemies in the very center of their power.
In a little while=
we
had overtaken the first wave, which was still devouring everything. We saw =
it
bursting the banks of the canal, sweeping away forests of gigantic trees, a=
nd
swallowing cities and villages, leaving nothing but a broad expanse of swir=
ling
and eddying waters, which, in consequence of the prevailing red hue of the =
vegetation
and the soil, looked, as shuddering we gazed down upon it, like an ocean of
blood flecked with foam and steaming with the escaping life of the planet f=
rom
whose veins it gushed.
As we skirted the
southern borders of the continent the same dreadful scenes which we had beh=
eld
on the coast of Aeria presented themselves. Crowds of refugees thronged the
high borders of the land and struggled with one another for a foothold agai=
nst
the continually rising flood.
We saw, too, flit=
ting
in every direction, but rapidly fleeing before our approach, many airships,
evidently crowded with Martians, but not armed either for offense or defens=
e.
These, of course, we did not disturb, for merciless as our proceedings seem=
ed
even to ourselves, we had no intention of making war upon the innocent, or =
upon
those who had no means to resist. What we had done it had seemed to us
necessary to do, but henceforth we were resolved to take no more lives if it
could be avoided.
Thus, during the
remainder of that day, all of the following night and all of the next day, =
we
continued upon the heels of the advancing flood.
CHAPTER SIXTEEN - THE WOM=
AN
FROM CERES
The second night we could perceive ahead=
of us
the electric lights covering the land of Thaumasia, in the midst of which l=
ay
the Lake of the Sun. The flood would be upon it by daybreak, and, assuming =
that
the demoralization produced by the news of the coming of the waters, which =
we
were aware had hours before been flashed to the capitol of Mars, would prev=
ent
the Martians from effectively manning their forts, we thought it safe to ha=
sten
on with the flagship, and one or two others, in advance of the waters, and =
to
hover over the Lake of the Sun, in the darkness, in order that we might wat=
ch
the deluge perform its awful work in the morning.
Thaumasia, as we =
have
before remarked, was a broad, oval-shaped land, about 1,800 miles across,
having the Lake of the Sun exactly in its center. From this lake, which was
four or five hundred miles in diameter, and circular in outline, many canals
radiated, as straight as the spokes of a wheel, in every direction, and
connected it with the surrounding seas.
Like all the other
Martian continents, Thaumasia lay below the level of the sea, except toward=
the
south, where it fronted the ocean.
Completely
surrounding the lake was a great ring of cities constituting the capitol of
Mars. Here the genius of the Martians had displayed itself to the full. The
surrounding country was irrigated until it fairly bloomed with gigantic
vegetation and flowers; the canals were carefully regulated with locks so t=
hat
the supply of water was under complete control; the display of magnificent
metallic buildings of all kinds and sizes produced a most dazzling effect, =
and
the protection against enemies afforded by the innumerable fortifications
surrounding the ringed city, and guarding the neighboring lands, seemed
complete.
Suspended at a he=
ight
of perhaps two miles from the surface, near the southern edge of the lake, =
we
waited for the oncoming flood. With the dawn of day we began to perceive mo=
re
clearly the effects which the news of the drowning of the planet had produc=
ed.
It was evident that many of the inhabitants of the cities had already fled.
Airships on which the fugitives hung as thick as swarms of bees were seen,
elevated but a short distance above the ground, and making their way rapidly
toward the south.
The Martians knew
that their only hope of escape lay in reaching the high southern border of =
the
land before the floods were upon them. But they must have known also that t=
hat
narrow beach would not suffice to contain one in ten of those who sought re=
fuge
there. The density of the population around the Lake of the Sun seemed to us
incredible. Again our hearts sank within us at the sight of the fearful
destruction of life for which we were responsible. Yet we comforted ourselv=
es
with the reflection that it was unavoidable. As Colonel Smith put it:
"You couldn't
trust these coyotes. The only thing to do was to drown them out. I am sorry=
for
them, but I guess there will be as many left as will be good for us,
anyhow."
We had not long to
wait for the flood. As the dawn began to streak the east, we saw its awful
crest moving out of the darkness, bursting across the canals and plowing its
way into the direction of the crowded shores of the Lake of the Sun. The su=
pply
of water behind that great wave seemed inexhaustible. Five thousand miles it
had traveled, and yet its power was as great as when it started from the Sy=
rtis
Major.
We caught sight of
the oncoming water before it was visible to the Martians beneath us. But wh=
ile
it was yet many miles away, the roar of it reached them, and then arose a
chorus of terrified cries, the effect of which, coming to our ears out of t=
he
half gloom of the morning, was most uncanny and horrible. Thousands upon
thousands of the Martians still remained here to become victims of the delu=
ge.
Some, perhaps, had doubted the truth of the reports that the banks were down
and the floods were out; others, for one reason or another had been unable =
to
get away; others, like the inhabitants of Pompeii, had lingered too long, or
had returned after beginning their flight to secure abandoned treasures, an=
d now
it was too late to get away.
With a roar that
shook the planet the white wall rushed upon the great city beneath our feet,
and in an instant it had been engulfed. On went the flood, swallowing up the
Lake of the Sun itself, and in a little while, as far as our eyes could ran=
ge,
the land of Thaumasia had been turned into a raging sea.
We now turned our
ships toward the southern border of the land, following the direction of the
airships carrying the fugitives, a few of which were still navigating the
atmosphere a mile beneath us. In their excitement and terror the Martians p=
aid
little attention to us, although, as the morning brightened, they must have
been aware of our presence over their heads. But, apparently, they no longer
thought of resistance; their only object was escape from the immediate and =
appalling
danger.
When we had
progressed to a point about half way from the Lake of the Sun to the border=
of
the sea, having dropped down within a few hundred feet of the surface, there
suddenly appeared, in the midst of the raging waters, a sight so remarkable
that at first I rubbed my eyes in astonishment, not crediting their report =
of
what they beheld.
Standing on the a=
pex
of a sandy elevation, which still rose a few feet above the gathering flood,
was a figure of a woman, as perfect in form and in classic beauty of featur=
e as
the Venus of Milo--a magnified human being not less than forty feet in heig=
ht!
But for her swayi=
ng
and the wild motions of her arms, we should have mistaken her for a marble
statue.
Aina, who happene=
d to
be looking, instantly exclaimed:
"It is the w=
oman
from Ceres. She was taken prisoner by the Martians during their last invasi=
on
of that world, and since then has been a slave in the palace of the
emperor."
Apparently her gr=
eat
stature had enabled her to escape, while her masters had been drowned. She =
had
fled like the others, toward the south, but being finally surrounded by the
rising waters, had taken refuge on the hillock of sand, where we saw her. T=
his
was fast giving way under the assault of the waves, and even while we watch=
ed
the water rose to her knees.
"Drop
lower," was the order of the electrical steersman of the flagship, and=
as
quickly as possible we approached the place where the towering figure stood=
.
She had realized =
the
hopelessness of her situation, and quickly ceased those appalling and
despairing gestures, which had at first served to convince us that it was
indeed a living being on whom we were looking.
There she stood, =
with
a light, white garment thrown about her, erect, half-defiant, half yielding=
to
her fear, more graceful than any Greek statue, her arms outstretched, yet
motionless, and her eyes upcast, as if praying to her God to protect her. H=
er
hair, which shone like gold in the increasing light of day, streamed over h=
er
shoulders, and her great eyes were astare between terror and supplication. =
So
wildly beautiful a sight not one of us had ever beheld.
For a moment symp=
athy
was absorbed in admiration. Then:
"Save her! S=
ave
her!" was the cry that arose throughout the ship.
Ropes were instan=
tly
thrown out, and one or two men prepared to let themselves down in order bet=
ter
to aid her.
But when we were
almost within reach, and so close that we could see the very expression of =
her
eyes, which appeared to take no note of us, but to be fixed, with a far away
look upon something beyond human ken, suddenly the undermined bank on which=
she
stood gave way, the blood red flood swirled in from right to left, and then=
:
"The waters closed above her fac=
e With many a ring."
"If but for =
that
woman's sake, I am sorry we drowned the planet," exclaimed Sydney
Phillips. But a moment afterward I saw that he regretted what he had said, =
for
Aina's eyes were fixed upon him. Perhaps, however, she did not understand h=
is
remark, and perhaps if she did it gave her no offence.
After this episod=
e we
pursued our way rapidly until we arrived at the shore of the Southern Ocean.
There, as we had expected, was to be seen a narrow strip of land with the o=
cean
on one side and the raging flood seeking to destroy it on the other. In some
places it had already broken through, so that the ocean was flowing in to
assist in the drowning of Thaumasia.
But some parts of=
the
coast were evidently so elevated that no matter how high the flood might ri=
se
it would not completely cover them. Here the fugitives had gathered in dense
throngs and above them hovered most of the airships, loaded down with others
who were unable to find room upon the dry land.
On one of the
loftiest and broadest of these elevations we noticed indications of military
order in the alignment of the crowds and the shore all around was guarded by
gigantic pickets, who mercilessly shoved back into the flood all the later
comers, and thus prevented too great crowding upon the land. In the center =
of
this elevation rose a palatial structure of red metal which Aina informed us
was one of the residences of the Emperor, and we concluded that the monarch
himself was now present there.
The absence of any
signs of resistance on the part of the airships, and the complete drowning =
of
all of the formidable fortifications on the surface of the planet, convince=
d us
that all we had to do in order to complete our conquest was to get possessi=
on
of the person of the chief ruler.
The fleet was,
accordingly, concentrated, and we rapidly approached the great Martian pala=
ce.
As we came down within a hundred feet of them and boldly made our way among
their airships, which retreated at our approach, the Martians gazed at us w=
ith
mingled fear and astonishment.
We were their
conquerors and they knew it. We were coming to demand their surrender, and =
they
evidently understood that also. As we approached the palace signals were ma=
de
from it with brilliant colored banners which Aina informed us were intended=
as
a token of truce.
"We shall ha=
ve
to go down and have a confab with them, I suppose," said Mr. Edison.
"We can't kill them off now that they are helpless, but we must manage
somehow to make them understand that unconditional surrender is their only
chance."
"Let us take
Aina with us," I suggested, "and since she can speak the language=
of
the Martians we shall probably have no difficulty in arriving at an
understanding."
Accordingly the
flagship was carefully brought further down in front of the entrance to the
palace, which had been kept clear by the Martian guards, and while the
remainder of the squadron assembled within a few feet directly over our hea=
ds
with the disintegrators turned upon the palace and the crowd below, Mr. Edi=
son
and myself, accompanied by Aina, stepped out upon the ground.
There was a forwa=
rd
movement in the immense crowd, but the guards sternly kept everybody back. A
party of a dozen giants, preceded by one who seemed to be their commander,
gorgeously attired in jewelled garments, advanced from the entrance of the
palace to meet us. Aina addressed a few words to the leader, who replied
sternly, and then, beckoning us to follow, retraced his steps into the pala=
ce.
Notwithstanding o=
ur
confidence that all resistance had ceased, we did not deem it wise actually=
to
venture into the lion's den without having taken every precaution against a=
surprise.
Accordingly, before following the Martian into the palace, we had twenty of=
the
electrical ships moored around it in such a position that they commanded not
only the entrance but all of the principal windows, and then a party of for=
ty picked
men, each doubly armed with powerful disintegrators, were selected to atten=
d us
into the building. This party was placed under the command of Colonel Smith,
and Sydney Phillips insisted on being a member of it.
In the meantime t=
he
Martian with his attendants who had first invited us to enter, finding that=
we
did not follow him, had returned to the front of the palace. He saw the
disposition that we had made of our forces, and instantly comprehended its
significance, for his manner changed somewhat, and he seemed more desirous =
than
before to conciliate us.
When he again
beckoned us to enter, we unhesitatingly followed him, and passing through t=
he
magnificent entrance, found ourselves in a vast ante-chamber, adorned after=
the
manner of the Martians in the most expensive manner. Thence we passed into a
great circular apartment, with a dome painted in imitation of the sky, and =
so
lofty that to our eyes it seemed like the firmament itself. Here we found
ourselves approaching an elevated throne situated in the center of the
apartment, while long rows of brilliantly armored guards flanked us on eith=
er
side, and grouped around the throne, some standing and others reclining upon
the flights of steps which appeared to be of solid gold, was an array of
Martian woman, beautifully and becomingly attired, all of whom greatly asto=
nished
us by the singular charm of their faces and bearing, so different from the
aspect of most of the Martians whom we had encountered.
Despite their
stature--for these women averaged twelve or thirteen feet in height--the be=
auty
of their complexions--of a dark olive tint--was no less brilliant than that=
of
the women of Italy or Spain.
At the top of the
steps on a magnificent golden throne, sat the Emperor himself. There are so=
me
busts of Caracalla which I have seen that are almost as ugly as the face of=
the
Martian ruler. He was of gigantic stature, larger than the majority of his
subjects, and as near as I could judge must have been between fifteen and
sixteen feet in height.
As I looked at hi=
m I understood
a remark which had been made by Aina to the effect that the Martians were n=
ot
all alike, and that the peculiarities of their minds were imprinted on their
faces and expressed in their forms in a very wonderful, and sometimes terri=
ble
manner.
I had also learned
from her that Mars was under a military government, and that the military c=
lass
had absolute control of the planet. I was somewhat startled, then, in looki=
ng
at the head and center of the great military system of Mars, to find in his
appearance a striking conformation of the speculations of our terrestrial
phrenologists. His broad, mis-shapen head bulged in those parts where they =
had
placed the so-called organs of combativeness, destructiveness, etc.
Plainly, this was=
an
effect of his training and education. His very brain had become a military
engine; and the aspect of his face, the pitiless lines of his mouth and chi=
n,
the evil glare of his eyes, the attitude and carriage of his muscular body,=
all
tended to complete the warlike ensemble.
He was magnificen=
tly
dressed in some vesture that had the luster of a polished plate of gold, and
the suppleness of velvet. As we approached he fixed his immense, deep-set e=
yes
sternly upon our faces.
The contrast betw=
een
his truly terrible countenance and the Eve-like features of the women which
surrounded his throne was as great as if Satan after his fall had here
re-enthroned himself in the midst of angels.
Mr. Edison, Colon=
el
Smith, Sydney Phillips, Aina and myself advanced at the head of the process=
ion,
our guard following in close order behind us. It had been evident from the
moment that we entered the palace that Aina was regarded with aversion by a=
ll
of the Martians. Even the women about the throne gazed scowlingly at her as=
we
drew near. Apparently, the bitterness of feeing which had led to the massac=
re
of all of her race had not yet vanished. And, indeed, since the fact that s=
he
remained alive could have been known only to the Martian who had abducted h=
er
and to his immediate companions, her reappearance with us must have been a =
great
surprise to all those who now looked upon her.
It was clear to me that the feeling aroused by her appearance was every moment becoming more intense. Still, the thought of a violent outbreak did not occur to me, beca= use our recent triumph had seemed so complete that I believed the Martians woul= d be awed by our presence, and would not undertake actually to injure the girl.<= o:p>
I think we all had
the same impression, but as the event proved, we were mistaken.
Suddenly one of t=
he
gigantic guards, as if actuated by a fit of ungovernable hatred, lifted his
foot and kicked Aina. With a loud shriek she fell to the floor.
The blow was so
unexpected that for a second we all stood riveted to the spot. Then I saw
Colonel Smith's face turn livid, and at the same instant heard the whirr of=
his
disintegrator, while Sydney Phillips, forgetting the deadly instrument he
carried in his hand, sprung madly toward the brute who had kicked Aina, as =
if
he intended to throttle him, colossus that he was.
But Colonel Smith=
's
aim, though instantaneously taken, as he had been accustomed to shoot on the
plains, was true, and Phillips, plunging madly forward, seemed wreathed in a
faint blue mist--all that the disintegrator had left of the gigantic Martia=
n.
Who could adequat=
ely
describe the scene that followed?
I remember that t=
he
Martian emperor sprang to his feet, looking tenfold more terrible than befo=
re.
I remember that there instantly burst from the line of guards on either side
crinkling beams of death-fire that seemed to sear the eyeballs. I saw a hal=
f a
dozen of our men fall in heaps of ashes, and even at that terrible moment I=
had
time to wonder that a single one of us remained alive.
Rather by instinct
than in consequence of any order given, we formed ourselves in a hollow squ=
are,
with Aina lying apparently lifeless in the center, and then with gritted te=
eth
we did our work.
The lines of guar=
ds
melted before the disintegrators like rows of snow men before a licking fla=
me.
The discharge of =
the
lightning engines in the hands of the Martians in that confined space made =
an
uproar so tremendous that it seemed to pass the bounds of human sense.
More of our men f=
ell
before their awful fire, and for the second time since our arrival on this
deadful planet of war our annihilation seemed inevitable.
But in a moment t=
he
whole scene changed. Suddenly there was a discharge into the room which I k=
new
came from one of the disintegrators of the electrical ships. It swept throu=
gh
the crowded throng like a destroying blast. Instantly from another side,
swished a second discharge, no less destructive, and this was quickly follo=
wed
by a third.
Our ships were fi=
ring
through the windows.
Almost at the same
moment I saw the flagship, which had been moored in the air close to the
entrance and floating only three or four feet above the ground, pushing its=
way
through the gigantic doorway from the ante-room, with its great disintegrat=
ors
pointed upon the crowd like the muzzles of a cruiser's guns.
And now the Marti=
ans
saw that the contest was hopeless for them, and their mad struggle to get o=
ut
of the range of the disintegrators and to escape from the death chamber was
more appalling to look upon than anything that had yet occurred.
It was a panic of
giants. They trod one another under foot; they yelled and screamed in their
terror; they tore each other with their claw-like fingers. They no longer
thought of resistance. The battle spirit had been blown out of them by a br=
eath
of terror that shivered their marrow.
Still the pitiless
disintegrators played upon them until Mr. Edison, making himself heard, now
that the thunder of their engines had ceased to reverberate through the
chamber, commanded that our fire should cease.
In the meantime t=
he
armed Martians outside the palace, hearing the uproar within, seeing our men
pouring their fire through the windows, and supposing that we were guilty at
once of treachery and assassination, had attempted an attack upon the
electrical ships stationed round the building. But fortunately they had non=
e of
their larger engines at hand, and with their hand arms alone they had not b=
een able
to stand up against the disintegrators. They were blown away before the
withering fire of the ships by the hundreds until, fleeing from destruction,
they rushed madly, driving their unarmed companions before them into the
seething waters of the flood close at hand.
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN - THE
FEARFUL OATHS OF COLONEL SMITH=
Through all this terrible contest the em=
peror
of the Martians had remained standing upon his throne, gazing at the awful
spectacle, and not moving from the spot. Neither he nor the frightened woman
gathered upon the steps of the throne had been injured by the disintegrator=
s. Their
immunity was due to the fact that the position and elevation of the throne =
were
such that, it was not within the range of fire of the electrical ships which
had poured their vibratory discharges through the windows, and we inside had
only directed our fire toward the warriors who had attacked us.
Now that the stru=
ggle
was over we turned our attention to Aina. Fortunately the girl had not been
seriously injured and she was quickly restored to consciousness. Had she be=
en
killed, we would have been practically helpless in attempting further
negotiations, because the knowledge which we had acquired of the language of
the Martians from the prisoner captured on the golden asteroid, was not
sufficient to meet the requirements of the occasion.
When the Martian
monarch saw that we ceased the work of death, he sank upon his throne. Ther=
e he
remained, leaning his chin upon his two hands and staring straight before h=
im
like that terrible doomed creature who fascinates the eyes of every beholder
standing in the Sistine Chapel and gazing at Micheal Angeleo's dreadful pai=
nting
of "The Last Judgement."
This wicked Marti=
an
also felt that he was in the grasp of pitiless and irresistible fate, and t=
hat
a punishment too well deserved, and from which there was no possible escape,
now confronted him.
There he remained= in a hopelessness which almost compelled our sympathy, until Aina had so far recovered that she was once more able to act as our interpreter. Then we ma= de short work of the negotiations. Speaking through Aina, the commander said:<= o:p>
"You know wh=
o we
are. We have come from the earth, which, by your command, was laid waste. O=
ur
commission was not revenge, but self-protection. What we have done has been
accomplished with that in view. You have just witnessed an example of our
power, the exercise of which was not dictated by our wish, but compelled by=
the
attack wantonly made upon a helpless member of our own race under our
protection.
"We have laid
waste your planet, but it is simply a just retribution for what you did with
ours. We are prepared to complete the destruction, leaving not a living bei=
ng
in this world of yours, or to grant you peace, at your choice. Our conditio=
n of
peace is simply this: All resistance must cease absolutely."
"Quite
right," broke in Colonel Smith; "let the scorpion pull out his st=
ing
or we shall do it for him."
"Nothing tha=
t we
could do now," continued the commander, "would in my opinion save=
you
from ultimate destruction. The forces of nature which we have been compelle=
d to
let loose upon you will complete their own victory. But we do not wish,
unnecessarily, to stain our hands further with your blood. We shall leave y=
ou
in possession of your lives. Preserve them if you can. But, in case the flo=
od
recedes before you have all perished from starvation, remember that you here
take an oath, solemnly binding yourself and your descendants forever never
again to make war upon the earth."
"That's real=
ly
the best we can do," said Mr. Edison, turning to us. "We can't
possibly murder these people in cold blood. The probability is that the flo=
od
has hopelessly ruined all their engines of war. I do not believe that there=
is
one chance in ten that the waters will drain off in time to enable them to =
get
at their stores of provisions before they have perished from starvation.&qu=
ot;
"It is my
opinion," said Lord Kelvin, who had joined us (his pair of disintegrat=
ors
hanging by his side, attached to a strap running over the back of his neck,
very much as a farmer sometimes carries his big mittens), "it is my
opinion that the flood will recede more rapidly than you think, and that the
majority of these people will survive. But I quite agree with your merciful
view of the matter. We must be guilty of no wanton destruction. Probably mo=
re
than nine-tenths of the inhabitants of Mars have perished in the deluge. Ev=
en
if all the others survived ages would elapse before they could regain the p=
ower
to injure us."
I need not descri=
be
in detail how our propositions were received by the Martian monarch. He kne=
w,
and his advisors, some of whom he had called in consultation, also knew, th=
at
everything was in our hands to do as we pleased. They readily agreed,
therefore, that they would make no more resistance and that we and our
electrical ships should be undisturbed while we remained upon Mars. The mon=
arch
took the oath prescribed after the manner of his race; thus the business was
completed. But through it all there had been a shadow of a sneer on the
emperor's face which I did not like. But I said nothing.
And now we began =
to
think of our return home, and of the pleasure we should have in recounting =
our
adventures to our friends on the earth, who undoubtedly were eagerly awaiti=
ng
news from us. We knew that they had been watching Mars with powerful
telescopes, and we were also eager to learn how much they had seen and how =
much
they had been able to guess of our proceedings.
But a day or two =
at
least would be required to overhaul the electrical ships and examine the st=
ate
of our provisions. Those which we had brought from the earth, it will be
remembered, had been spoiled and we had been compelled to replace them from=
the
compressed provisions found in the Martian's storehouse. This compressed fo=
od
had proved not only exceedingly agreeable to the taste, but very nourishing,
and all of us had grown extremely fond of it. A new supply, however, would =
be
needed in order to carry us back to the earth. At least sixty days would be=
required
for the homeward journey, because we could hardly expect to start from Mars
with the same initial velocity which we had been able to generate on leaving
home.
In considering the
matter of provisioning the fleet it finally became necessary to take an acc=
ount
of our losses. This was a thing that we had all shrunk from, because they h=
ad
seemed to us almost too terrible to be borne. But now the facts had to be
faced. Out of the one hundred ships, carrying something more than two thous=
and
souls, with which we had quitted the earth, there remained only fifty-five
ships and 1085 men! All the others had been lost in our terrible encounters
with the Martians, and particularly in our first disastrous battle beneath =
the clouds.
Among the lost we=
re
many men whose names were famous upon the earth, and whose death would be
widely deplored when the news of it was received upon their native planet.
Fortunately this number did not include any of those whom I have had occasi=
on
to mention in the course of this narrative. The venerable Lord Kelvin, who,
notwithstanding his age, and his pacific disposition, proper to a man of
science, had behaved with the courage and coolness of a veteran in every
crisis; Monsieur Moissan, the eminent chemist; Professor Sylvanus P. Thomps=
on,
and the Heidelberg professor, to whom we all felt under special obligations
because he had opened to our comprehension the charming lips of Aina--all t=
hese
had survived, and were about to return with us to the earth.
It seemed to some=
of
us almost heartless to deprive the Martians who still remained alive of any=
of
the provisions which they themselves would require to tide them over the lo=
ng
period which must elapse before the recession of the flood should enable th=
em
to discover the sites of their ruined homes, and to find the means of
sustenance. But necessity was now our only law. We learned from Aina that t=
here
must be stores of provisions in the neighborhood of the palace, because it =
was
the custom of the Martians to lay up such stores during the harvest time in
each Martian year in order to provide against the contingency of an extraor=
dinary
drought.
It was not with v=
ery
good grace that the Martian emperor acceded to our demands that one of the
storehouses should be opened, but resistance was useless and of course we h=
ad
our way.
The supplies of w=
ater
which we brought from the earth, owing to a peculiar process invented by
Monsieur Moissan, had been kept in exceedingly good condition, but they were
now running low and it became necessary to replenish them also. This was ea=
sily
done from the Southern Ocean, for on Mars, since the levelling of the
continental elevations, brought about many years ago, there is comparatively
little salinity in the sea waters.
While these
preparations were going on Lord Kelvin and the other men of science entered
with the utmost eagerness upon those studies, the prosecution of which had =
been
the principal inducement leading them to embark on the expedition. But, alm=
ost
all of the face of the planet being covered with the flood, there was
comparatively little that they could do. Much, however, could be learned wi=
th
the aid of Aina from the Martians, now crowded on the land above the palace=
.
The results of th=
ese
discoveries will in due time appear, fully elaborated in learned and
authoratative treatises prepared by these savants' themselves. I shall only
call attention to one, which seemed to me very remarkable. I have already s=
aid
that there were astonishing differences in the personal appearance of the
Martians evidently arising from differences of character and education, whi=
ch
had impressed themselves in the physical aspect of the individuals. We now
learned that these differences were more completely the result of education
than we had at first supposed.
Looking about amo=
ng
the Martians by whom we were surrounded, it soon became easy for us to tell=
who
were the soldiers and who were the civilians, simply by the appearance of t=
heir
bodies, and particularly of their heads. All members of the military class
resembled, to a greater or less extent, the monarch himself, in that those
parts of their skulls which our phrenologists had designated as the bumps of
destructiveness, combativeness and so on were enormously and disproportiona=
tely
developed.
And all this, we =
were
assured, was completely under the control of the Martians themselves. They =
had
learned, or invented, methods by which the brain itself could be manipulate=
d,
so to speak, and any desired portions of it could be especially developed,
while other parts of it were left to their normal growth. The consequence w=
as
that in the Martian schools and colleges there was no teaching in our sense=
of
the word. It was all brain culture.
A Martian youth
selected to be a soldier had his fighting faculties especially developed,
together with those parts of the brain which impart courage and steadiness =
of
nerve. He who was intended for scientific investigation had his brain devel=
oped
into a mathematical machine, or an instrument of observation. Poets and
literary men had their heads bulging with the imaginative faculties. The he=
ads
of the inventors were developed into a still different shape.
"And so,&quo=
t;
said Aina, translating for us the words of a professor in the Imperial
University of Mars, from whom we derived the greater part of our informatio=
n on
this subject, "the Martian boys do not study a subject; they do not ha=
ve
to learn it, but, when their brains have been sufficiently developed in the
proper direction, they comprehend it instantly, by a kind of divine
instinct."
But among the wom=
en
of Mars, we saw none of these curious, and to our eyes, monstrous differenc=
es
of development. While the men received, in addition to their special educat=
ion,
a broad general culture also, with the women there was no special education=
. It
was all general in its character, yet thorough enough in that way. The
consequence was that only female brains upon Mars were entirely well balanc=
ed.
This was the reason why we invariably found the Martian women to be remarka=
bly charming
creatures, with none of those physical exaggerations and uncouth developmen=
ts
which disfigured their masculine companions.
All the books of =
the
Martians, we ascertained, were books of history and of poetry. For scientif=
ic
treatises they had no need, because, as I have explained, when the brains of
those intended for scientific pursuits had been developed in the proper way=
the
knowledge of nature's laws came to them without effort, as a spring bubbles
from the rocks.
One word of
explanation may be needed concerning the failure of the Martians, with all
their marvelous powers, to invent electrical ships like those of Mr. Edison=
's
and engines of destruction comparable with our disintegrators. This failure=
was
simply due to the fact that on Mars there did not exist the peculiar metals=
by
the combination of which Mr. Edison had been able to effect his wonders. The
theory involved by our inventions was perfectly understood by them and had =
they
possessed the means, doubtless they would have been able to carry it into
practice even more effectively than we had done.
After two or three
days all the preparations having been completed the signal was given for our
departure. The men of science were still unwilling to leave this strange wo=
rld,
but Mr. Edison decided we could linger no longer.
At the moment of
starting a most tragic event occured. Our fleet was assembled around the
palace, and the signal was given to rise slowly to a considerable height be=
fore
imparting a great velocity to the electrical ships. As we slowly rose we saw
the immense crowd of giants beneath us, with upturned faces, watching our
departure. The Martian monarch and all his suite had come out upon the terr=
ace
of the palace to look at us. At a moment when he probably supposed himself =
to
be unwatched he shook his fist at the retreating fleet. My eyes and those of
several others in the flagship chanced to be fixed upon him. Just as he made
the gesture one of the women of his suite, in her eagerness to watch us,
apparently lost her balance and stumbled against him. Without a moment's
hesitation, with a tremendous blow, he felled her like an ox at his feet.
A fearful oath br=
oke
from the lips of Colonel Smith, who was one of those looking on. It chanced
that he stood near the principal disintegrator of the flagship. Before anyb=
ody
could interfere he had sighted and discharged it. The entire force of the
terrible engine, almost capable of destroying a fort, fell upon the Martian=
emperor
and not merely blew him into a cloud of atoms but opened a great cavity in =
the
ground on the spot where he had stood.
A shout arose from
the Martians, but they were too much astounded at what had occurred to make=
any
hostile demonstrations, and, anyhow, they knew well that they were complete=
ly
at our mercy.
Mr. Edison was on= the point of rebuking Colonel Smith for what he had done, but Aina interposed.<= o:p>
"I am glad it
was done," said she "for now only can you be safe. That monster w=
as
more directly responsible than any other inhabitant of Mars for all the
wickedness of which they have been guilty.
"The expedit=
ion
against the earth was inspired solely by him. There is a tradition among the
Martians--which my people, however, could never credit--that he possessed a
kind of immortality. They declared that it was he who led the former expedi=
tion
against the earth when my ancestors were brought away prisoners from their
happy home, and that it was his image which they had set up in stone in the
midst of the Land of Sand. He prolonged his existence, according to this
legend, by drinking the waters of a wonderful fountain, the secret of whose
precise location was known to him alone but which was situated at that point
where in your maps of Mars the name of the Fons Juventae occurs. He was
personified wickedness, that I know; and he never would have kept his oath =
if
power had returned to him again to injure the earth. In destroying him, you=
have
made your victory secure."
CHAPTER EIGHTEEN<= o:p>
THE GREAT OVATION=
When at length we once more saw our nati=
ve
planet, with its well-remembered features of land and sea, rolling beneath =
our
eyes, the feeling of joy that came over us transcended all powers of
expression.
In order that all=
the
nations which had united in sending out the expedition should have visual
evidence of its triumphal return, it was decided to make the entire circuit=
of
the earth before seeking our starting point and disembarking. Brief account=
s in
all known languages, telling the story of what we had done was accordingly
prepared, and then we dropped down through the air until again we saw the
well-loved blue dome over our heads, and found ourselves suspended directly
above the white topped cone of Fujiyama, the sacred mountain of Japan. Shif=
ting
our position toward the northeast, we hung above the city of Tokyo and drop=
ped
down into the crowds which had assembled to watch us, the prepared accounts=
of
our journey, which, the moment they had been read and comprehended, led to =
such
an outburst of rejoicing as it would be quite impossible to describe.
One of the ships
containing the Japanese members of the expedition, dropped to the ground, a=
nd
we left them in the midst of their rejoicing countrymen. Before we started-=
-and
we remained but a short time suspended above the Japanese capitol--millions=
had
assembled to greet us with their cheers.
We now repeated w=
hat
we had done during our first examination of the surface of Mars. We simply
remained suspended in the atmosphere, allowing the earth to turn beneath us=
. As
Japan receded in the distance we found China beginning to appear. Shifting =
our
position a little toward the south, we again came to rest over the city of
Pekin, where once more we parted with some of our companions, and where the
outburst of universal rejoicing was repeated.
From Asia, crossi=
ng
the Caspian Sea, we passed over Russia, visiting in turn Moscow and St.
Petersburg.
Still the great g=
lobe
rolled steadily beneath, and still we kept the sun with us. Now Germany
appeared, and now Italy, and then France, and England, as we shifted our
position, first north then south, in order to give all the world the
opportunity to see that its warriors had returned victorious from its far
conquest. And in each country as it passed beneath our feet, we left some of
the comrades who had shared our perils and our adventures.
At length the
Atlantic had rolled away under us, and we saw the spires of the new New Yor=
k.
The news of our
coming had been flashed ahead from Europe and our countrymen were prepared =
to
welcome us. We had originally started, it will be remembered, at midnight, =
and
now again as we approached the new capitol of the world the curtain of night
was just beginning to be drawn over it. But our signal lights were ablaze, =
and
through these they were aware of our approach.
Again the air was
filled with bursting rockets and shaken with the roar of cannon, and with
volleying cheers, poured from millions of throats, as we came to rest direc=
tly
above the city.
Three days after =
the
landing of the fleet, and when the first enthusiasm of our reception had a
little passed, I received a beautifully engraved card inviting me to be pre=
sent
in Trinity Church at the wedding of Aina and Sydney Phillips.
When I arrived at=
the
church, which had been splendidly decorated, I found there Mr. Edison, Lord
Kelvin, and all the other members of the crew of the flagship, and,
considerably to my surprise, Colonel Smith, appropriately attired, and with=
a
grace for the possession of which I had not given him credit, gave away the
beautiful bride.
But Alonzo Jeffer=
son
Smith was a man and a soldier, every inch of him.
"I asked her=
for
myself," he whispered to me after the ceremony, swallowing a great lum=
p in
his throat, "but she has had the desire of her heart. I am going back =
to
the plains. I can get a command again, and I still know how to fight."=
And thus was unit=
ed,
for all future time, the first stem of the Aryan race, which had been long
lost, but not destroyed, with the latest offspring of that great family, an=
d the
link which had served to bring them together was the far-away planet of Mar=
s.