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EDISON'S CONQUEST OF MARS t Copyrlght, IS9R. by Oarrctt I>. BerviSS.] SYNOPSIS. The Martians have attempted to con quer the earth in order to relieve thaw overpopulated planet. The invasion falls through the breaking out of disease, and not humn.n cffiirt. Fearing a second at tack, Thomas A. Edison devises a scheme of resistance. He Invents a practical electrical air ship und an engine ol de struction called the "Disintegrator, which will cause the constituent particles of any object at which it may be direct ed to bo vibrate thut the object will lie Immediately nnd completely dispersed. With these means at Its command, the earth decides to assume the offensive and proceed against .Mars. At the end of six months a licet of one hundred air ships, with Mr. Edison in command, armed with three thousand disintegrators. and manned by two thousand men, among whom are many famous scientists, sets out. Provision has been made for every emergency that can be thought of: such us working and communicating in at mospheres different from our own; sig naling, etc. After leaving the moon, where a Short stay is made for explora tion and repairs, the licet is drawn into the train of a comet, and is only saved from precipitation into the sun by com ing within tlie earth's attractive force. Another start is made, and when still several million miles from Mors the ex pedition comes upon a party of Martians upon v small heavenly body—one of the asteroids. Tin' Martians are of giant stature, human in form, but of somewhat repulsive aspect. They manage to de stroy several ot the ships and their crews before their engine of war can be exter minated with a disintegrator. The .Mar tians are all killed except one, wlio Is taken prisoner. Several id' the ships land on the little planet, which is found to he Of solid gold. To gel the precious metal Is doubtless the reason of the .Martians' presence. Before the asteroid, which is five miles In diameter, can be explored, one of the watching ships reports that the Martians are coming. XI. The nlnrm was spread instantly among those upon the planet and through the remainder of the Meet. One of the men from tho returning electrical ship dropped down upon tbe asteroid and gave ;i more detailed ac count of what they had seen. His ship hud been the one which had gone to the greatest distance in the direction of Mara. While cruising there, with all eyes intent, they hud suddenly perceived n glittering object moving from tho direction of the ruddy planet, nnd manifestly approaching them. A little inspection with the telescope had shown that it was one of the projectile cars used by tho Martians. Our ship hud ventured so far from the asteroid that for a moment it seemed doubtful whether it would be able to return in time to give warning, because the electrical influence of the asteroid was comparatively slight. Fortunately after a time they got under way with sufficient velocity to bring them back to us before tho ap proaching Martians could overtake them. Indeed, looking out behind the elec trical ship which had brought us the warning, wo immediately saw the pro jectile of the Martians approaching, The ships of the squadron whoso crews bad not landed upon the planet were signaled to prepare for action, while those who wen' upon the asteroid made ready for battle there. A num ber 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 nt random. "Having, as I am convinced, no means of producing or controlling elec trical attraction and repulsion, they cannot stop themselves, but must come down upon the asteroid. Having got here they could never get away again, except as we know the survivors got away from Hie earth, by propelling their projectile against gravitation with the aid o.' an c plosive." The Martians hud apparently just Caught sight of us. They evinced signs of astonishment, and Beemed at a loss exactly what to do. We could see pro jecting from tip' tore part of their car ut least two of the polished knobs, whose fearful use and power We well comprehended. We stood at a distance of perhaps three hundred feet from the point : where they touched the asteroid. In stantly a dozen of the giants jumped from tile car and gazed about [or a moment with a look of Intense surprise. At lirst it was doubtful whether they meant to at lack us at all. We Stood iii mir guard, several car rying disintegrators in our bands, while a score more of those terrible en gines were turned upon the Martians from the electrical ships which hovered near. Suddenly he who seemed to be the leader of tlie Martians began to speak to them iii pantomime, using his lin gers after the manm r in which they are used for conversation by deaf and dumb i pie. Of course, we did not know what he was saying, but his meaning became perfectly evident a moment later. In stead of turning their destructive en pines upon us. they advanoed on a run, with the evident purpose of mak ing us prisoners or crushing us by main force. The soft whirr of the disintegrator ln tho hands of Mr. Edison standing Dear me came to my ears through the telephonic wire. He quickly swept the concentrating mirror a little up and down, nnd instantly the foremost Mar tian vanished! Pari of some metallic dress that he wore fell upon the ground where be bail stood, its vibratory rate not having been Included In the range Imparted to the disintegrator. His followers paused for a moment, i amased, stared about as if looking for their leader, and then hurried back to their projectile and disappeared within it. "Now we've pot business on our hnnds," snid Mr. Edison. "Look out for yourselves." As he spoke I saw the death-dealing Garett P.Serviss knob of tho war engine contained In the car of tb! Martians moving around toward us. In another instant it would have launched Its destroying bolt. Before that could occur, however, It had hern dissipated into space by a vibratory stream from a disinte grator. But we were not to get the victory quite so easily. There was another of the war engines ln 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. Edi son to one of his electrical experts standing near. "There is something the matter with this disintegrator, and I cannot make it work. Aim at the knob, and don't miss it." Hut tho aim was - -t 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 un injured. Through tho broach we saw the Mar tians inside making desperate efforts to train their engine upon us, for after their first disastrous stroke we had rapidly shifted our position. Swiftly tho polished knob, which gleamed like an evil eye moved round to swoop over us. Instinctively) though incau tiously, wo had collected In a group. A single discharge would sweep lis all Into eternity. "Will no one fire upon them?" ex claimed Mr. Edison, struggling with the disintegrator in his hands, which still refused to work. At this fearful moment T glanced around upon our company, nnd was as tonished at the spectacle. Tn the pres ence of tho danger many of thorn had lost nil self-command. The expert electrician, whoso poor nlm had had such disastrous results, held in his band nn instrument which was In per fect condition, yet with mouth agape ho stood trembling like a captured bird. The means of safety wore In our hands, nnd yet through a combination of 111 luck nnd paralyzing terror we seemed unable to use them. In a second more it would be all over with us. JUL The suspense In reality lasted only during the twinkling of an eye, though It seemed ages long. Unable to endure it I sharply struck tho shoulder of the paralyzed electri cian. To have attempted to seize the disintegrator from his hands would have been a fatal waste of time. Luck ily the blow either roused him from his stupor or caused an instinctive move ment of his band that set the little en gine in operation. I am sure ho took no aim, but prov identially tho vibratory force fell upon tho desired point and the knob disap peared. Wo were saved! Instantly half a dozen rushed toward tho cars of the Martians. We bit terly repented their haste; they did not live to repent. Unknown to us the Martians carried band engines capable of launching bolts of death of the same character us those which emanated from tbe knobs of their larger machines. With these they fired, so tn speak, through the breach in their car, and four of BUr men w ho wore rushing upon them foil in heaps of cinders. The destruction of the threatening knob had instantaneously relieved the pressure upon the terror-stricken nerves of our company, and they had til regained their composure and self :ommand. But this now and unexpect ed disaster, following so close upon tbe fear which had recently overpowered them, produced a second panic, the iffect of which was not to stiffen them 11 their tracks as before, but to send [hem scurrying in every direction in learch of hiding places. And now a most curious effect nf he smallness nf the planet we were on logan to play a conspicuous part in our idventures. Standing on a globe only lye miles in diameter was like being m the summit nf a mountain whose ides Bloped rapidly off in every direc :lon, disappearing ln tho black sky on ill sides, as if it were some stupendous ieak rising out of an unfathomable ibysa. In consequence of the quick rounding iff of the sides of this globe, the line if the horizon we- dose at hand, and ty running a distance nf less than ;,'io aids tho fugitives disappeared down ho sides of the asteroid. The slight attraction of the planet, md their consequent almost entire ack of weight, enabled the men to run vith. immense speed. The result, as I übsequently learned, was that after hey had disappeared from our view hey quitted the planet entirely, the orce being Bi'fflcient to partially free hem from its gravitation, sn that they ailed out into space, whirling help sssly end over end, until the elliptical rbits In which they travelled event lally brought them back again to he planet on the side nearly opposite 0 that from which they had departed. But several of us, with Mr. Edison, tood fast, watching for an opportun ty to get the -Martians within range f the disintegrators. Luckily we were nabled, by shifting our position a Ittle to the left, to got out of the Ine of sight nf our enemies concealed n the car. I But help came from a quarter which was unexpected to us. although it i should not have been so. Several of the I electric ships had been hovering above us during the fight, their command ers being apparently uncertain how to act —fearful, perhaps, of injur ing us in the attempt to smite the enemy. But now the situation apparently lightened for them. They saw that we were at an immense disadvantage, and several of them immediately turned their batteries upon the car of the Martians. They riddled it far more quickly and effectively than we could have done. Every stroke of the vibratory emana tion made a gap In tho side of the car, and we could perceive from the com motion within that our enembs were being rapidly massacred in their for tification. So overwhelming was the force and the advantage of tbe ships that In a little while It was all over. Mr. Edi son signaled thorn to step liring be cause it was plain that all resistance had censed and probably not one of tho Martians remained alive. We now approached the car, which had been transpierced in every direc tion, and whose remaining portion! were glowing with heat in consequence of the spreading of the atomic vibra tions. Immediately we discovered that all our anticipations were correct nnd that all of our enemies had per ished. All this time the shackled Martian had lain on his back whore we had left him bound. What his feelings must have been may be imagined. At times, I caught a glimpse of his eyes, wildly rolling and exhibiting, when ho saw that the victory was in our hands, the first Indication of fear and ter ror shaking his soul that had yet ap peared. "That fellow Is afraid at lust." I said to Mr. Edison. "But if I am not mis taken this fear of his may be the beginning of a new discovery for us." "How so?" 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 ho wore r.t liberty, he will respect us. This change In his mental attitude may tend to make him com municative. I do not see why we should despair of learning his language from him and having done that, he will With Very Slight Effort They Projected Themselves Straight Upward. | servo as our guide and interpreter and will be of incalculable advantagi to us when we have arrived at Mars.' "Capital! Capital!" said Mr. Edison I "Wo must concentrate the linguistic genius of our company upon that prob lent at once." In the meantime some of the skulk ers, whose flight I have referred to began to return, chapfallen, but re joking in the disappearance of tip danger. Those who, ns already described, hnr run with so groat a speed that thej were projected, all unwilling, inti 'space, rising In elliptical orbits fron the surface of the planet, describing ' great curves in what might bo denom- I Inated its sky, and then coming bacli again to tho little globe on anothei side, wore so tilled with the wonden of their remarkable adventure thai they had almost forgotten the terroi which had Inspired it. There was nothing surprising ir what had occurred to them the moment one considered the laws of gravitatlor on the asteroid, but their stories aroused an intense interest among al who listened to them. Lord Kelvin was particularly Inter ested, and while Mr. Edison was has tening preparations to quit the asteroid and resume our voyage to Mars, Lord Kelvin and a number of other scienti fic men instituted a series of remark able experiments. It was one of tho most laughable things imaginable to see Lord Kelvin, dressed in his air-tight suit, making tremendous jumps into empty space. Immediately Lord Kelvin was imita ted by a dozen others. With what seemed very slight effort they project ed themselves straight upward, rising to a height of four hundred feet or more, and then slowly settling back again to the surface of the asteroid. LOS ANGELES HERALD: SUNDAY MORNING, MARCH 6, 1898. The time of rise and fall coniblned wa between three and four minutes. On this little planet the acceleration of gravity or the velocity acquired by a falling body in one 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 gradual settling than falling. The figures of these men of science, rising nnd sinking in this manner, ap peared like so many gigantic marion ettes bobbing up and down in a pneu matic bottle. "Let us try that," said Mr. F.dlson, very much Interested in the experi ments. Both of us jumped together. At first, with great swiftness, but grad ually losing speed, we rose to an im mense height straight from the ground. When we had reached tho utmost lim it 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 n delicious sensation, and but for strict orders which were issued that the electric ships should be Immediately prepared for departure our entire company might have remained for an indefinite period enjoying this new kind of ath letic exercise ln a world where gravita tion had become so humble that it could be trilled with. While the final preparations for de parture were being made. Lord Kelvin instituted other experiments that were no less unique in their results. The ex perience of those who had taken un- premeditated flights In elliptical orbits when they had run from the vicinity of the Martians, suggested the throw ing of solid objects in various direc tions from the surface of the planet In order to determine the distance that they would go nnd the curves they would describe in returning. For these experiments there was nothing more convenient or abundant than chunks of gold from the Martians' mine. These, accordingly, were hurled in various directions, and with every degree of velocity. A little calculation had shown that an initial velocity of thirty feet per second imparted to one Of these chunks, moving at right angles to the radius of the asteroid, would, if 1 tho resistance of an almost inappre ! l iable atmosphere were neglected, suf- I lice to turn the piece of gold into a lit tle satellite that would describe an or i bit around the asteroid, and continue Ito do so forever, or at least until the slight atmospheric resistance should i eventually bring it down to the sur face. Hut a less velocity than thirty feet i per second would cause tho golden mis- S sile to fly only part way around, while ' a greater velocity would give it an ; elliptical Instead of a circular orbit, 1 and in this ellipse it would continue to j revolve around tho asteroid in the character of a satellite. If the direction of the original Im pulse were at more than a right angle to the radius of the asteroid, then the flying body would pass nut tn a greater or less distance in space in an elliptical I orbit, eventually coming back again | nnd falling upnn the asteroid, but 1 not al the same spot from which it had departed. Bo many tnnk part In these singular ; experiments, which assumed rather the appearance of outdoor sports than of | scientific demonstrations, that in a | short time we had provided the as- I terold with a very large number nf llt , tie moons, or satellites, of gold, which revolved around it in orbits nf various '. degrees of elllpticity, taking, on the average, about three-quarters of an l hnur to complete a circuit. Since, on J completing a revolution they must ! necessarily pass through the point from which they started, they kept us constantly on the gui vivo tn avoid being knocked over by them as they | swept around In their orbits. Finally the signal was given for nil tn embark, and with great regret the savants quitted their scientific games and prepared to return to the electric ships Just on the moment 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 ln order to escape forever from the attraction of the asteroid, and to pass on to an Infinite distance In any direction, was only about forty-two feet in a sec ond. Manifestly It would be quite easy to impart such a speed as that to the chunks of gold that we held in our hands. "Hurrah!" exclaimed one. "Let's send some of this back to the earth." "Where la tho earth?" asked another. Being appealed to, several astron omers turned their eyes in the direc tion of tho sun, where the black firma ment was ablaze with stars, nnd 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 im mediately several threw huge golden nuggets In the direction of our far away world, endeavorlnft 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 if the aim were accurate, their eventual arrival upon the earth. If these precious missiles ever reached the earth we knew that they would plunge Into the atmosphere like meteors and that probably the heat de veloped by their passage would melt and dissipate them in golden vapors before they could touch the ground. Yet, there was a chance that some of them—lf the aim wci•-> true—might sur vive the fiery passage through the at mosphere and fall upon the surface of our planet where, perhaps, they would afterward be picked up by a prospec tor and load him to believe that he had struck a new bonanza. "All aboard!" was the signal, and the squadron having assembled under the lend of the flag ship, we started again for Mars. This time, ns it proved, there wns to be no further interruption, and when next we paused it was in the presence nf tho wnrld inhabited by nur ene mies, and facing their frowning bat teries XIII. In consequence of the comparatively small size nf tho asternid, its electric Influence was very much less than that nf the earth, and notwithstanding the appliances which we possessed for In tensifying the electrical effect, it was not possible to produce a sufficient re pulsion to start us off for Mars with anything like the impulse which we had received frnm the earth on our original departure. The utmost velocity that we could generate did not exceed three miles in a second, and to get this required our utmost efforts. In fact, it had not scorned possible that we should attain eve n sn great a speed as that. It was far mnre thnn we could have expected, and even Mr. Edison was surprised, as well ns greatly gratified,when he found that we were moving with the velocity that I have named. We were still about 6,000,000 miles from Mars, so that, traveling three miles in a second, we should require at bast twenty-three days to reach the Immediate neighborhood of the planet. Meanwhile we had a plenty of occu pation In make the time pass quickly. Our prisoner was transported along With us, and we now began our at tempts to ascertain what his language was. and, if possible, to master it our selves. Before quitting the nsteroid we had found that it was necessary for him to swallow one of his "air pills," as Prof. Molssan called them, at least three times in the course of every twenty four hours. One of us supplied him .regularly, and I thought I could detect evidences of a certain degree of grati tude in his expression. This was en couraging, because it gave additional promise of the poss.Dllity of our being able to communicate with him fh some more effective way than by mere signs. But once inside the car, where he had a supply of air kept at the ordinary pressure experienced on the earth, he could breathe like the rest of us. The best linguists of the expedition, as Mr. Edison had suggested, were now assembled ln the flag ship, 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 thought. We had not heard him speak, because until we car ried him Into our car there was no at mosphere capable of conveying any sounds he might attempt to utter. It seemed a fair assumption that the languuge of the Martians would be scientific in Its structure. We had so much evidence of the practical bent of their minds, and of the immense pro gress which they had made in the di rection of the scientific conquest of nature, that it was not to be supposed their medium of communication with one another would be lacking in clear ness, or would possess any of the puz zling or unnecessary ambiguities that characterized the languages spoken on the earth. "I think," said a German enthusiast, "that It will be universal language, the Volapuk of Mars, spoken by all the inhabitants of that planet." "But all these 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, in tended to indicate to the giant, who was following all their motions with his eyes, that they wished to know by what name he called himself. Point ing their fingers to their own breasts they repeated one after the other, the word "man." If our prist :ier had been a stupid savage, of course any such attempt as this to make him understand would have been idle. But it must be remem bered that we were dealing with a personage who had presumably In herited from hundreds of generations the results of a civilization, and an In tellectual advance, measured by the constant progress of millions of years. Accordingly we were not very much astonished, when, after a few repeti tions of the experiment, the Martian one of whose arms had been partly re leased from its bonds in order to give him a little freedom of motion—lmita ted the action of his interrogators by pressing his finger over his heart. Then opening his mouth he gave ut terance 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, for he had not been used to speak in so dense an at mosphere. Our ears were deafened and con fused, 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 articulate to our ears, and not to be repeated by any combination of letters. "Faith." exclaimed a Dublin Univer sity professor, "If that's what they call themselves, how shall we ever trans late their names when we come to write the 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 intitulatlon that may suit our deespo altion." These efforts to learn the language of Mars were renewed and repeated every few hours, all the experience, learning and genius of the squadron being con centrated upon the work, and the re sult was that ln the course of a few days we had actually succeeded ln learning a dozen or more of the Mar tian's words md were able to make him understand us when we pro nounced them, as well as to under stand him when our ears had become accustomed to the growling of his voice. Finally, one dry the prisoner, who seemed to be in an unusually cheerful frame nf mind, indicated that he car ried in his breast some object which he wished us to see. With our assistance he pulled out a bonk! Actually, It was a book, not very un like the books which we have upon the earth, but printed, of course, In char acters that were entirely strange and unknown to us. Yet these characters evidently gave expression to a highly Intellectual language. All those who were standing by at the moment ut tered 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 sqadron. 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 inspection of his book with evidences of great interest, not unmingled with amusement. Final ly he beckoned the holder of the book to his side, and placing his broad fin ger upon one of the huge letters—if letters they were, for they more nearly 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 which the Martians designate us. They have a name, then, for the inhabitants of the earth." "Or, perhaps, it is rather the name for the earth itself," said one. But this could not, of course, be at once determined. Anyhow, the word, whatever its precise meaning might be, had now been added to our vocabu lary, although as yet our organs of speech proved unable to reproduce it in a recognizable form. This promising and unexpected dis covery of the Martian's book lent add ed enthusiasm to those who were en gaged ln 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 aston ishing. If the prisoner had beer, un willing to aid them, of course, it would have been impossible to proceed, but, fortunately for us, he seemed more 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, ln a very short time he had turned teacher, and all these learned men, pressing around htm with eager attention had become his pupils. I cannot undertake to say precisely how much of the Martian language had been acquired by the chief lin guists of the expediUon before the time when we arrived so near to Mara that it became necessary for most of us to abandon our studies In order to make ready for the more serious busi ness which now confronted us. But, at any rate, the acquisition waa so considerable as to allow of the ln- terchange of ordinary ideas with our prisoner and there was no longer any doubt that he would be able to give ua much Information when we landed on his native planet. At the end of twenty-three days, am measured by terrestrial time, after our ' departure from the asteroid, we ar rived in the sky of Mars. For a long time the ruddy planet had been growing larger and more formid able, gradually turning from a huge star Into a great red moon, and then expanding more and more until it be gan to shut out from sight the con stellations behind it. We were approaching the southern hemisphere of in about latitude 45 degrees south. It was near the time of the vernal equinox in that hemis phere 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 circumstancea was evidently going on. Around the South Pole were spread Immense fields of snow and ice, gleam ing with great brilliance. Cutting deep Into the borders of these ice field*, we could see broad channels of open water, indicating tho rapid breaking ot 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 ns a sea. Look ing toward the north, we could per ceive the Immense red expanses of the continents 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 recrosslng the red con tinents in every direction, were the canals of Schiaparelll. Plentifully sprinkled over the sur face we could see brilliant points, some of dazzling brightness, outshining the daylight. There was also an astonish ing variety in the colors of the broad expanses beneath us. Activity, viva city and beauty, such as we were ut terly unprepared to behold, expressed their presence on all sides. There could be no longer any ques tion that it was a world which, If not absolutely teeming with Inhabitants, like a gigantic ant-hill, at any rate bore on every side the marks of their presence and of their incredible un dertakings and achievements. Many of the gleaming points that we saw upon the surface of the planet were evidently reflections from the polished roofs and domes of vast metallic edifices. At certain places, where a large number of canals met and crossed, there were assemblages of these brilliant reflections, indicating, as we thought, the existence of towns or cities. Here and there clouds of smoke arose and spread slowly through the atmo sphere beneath us. Floating higher above the surface of the planet were clouds of vapor, assuming the fami liar forms of stratus and cumulus with which we were acquainted upon the earth. As we continued to study the phe nomena that were gradually unfolded beneath us, we thought that we could 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 was 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 expected, our prisoner now proved to be of very great assist ance to us. Apparently he took a cer tain pride in exhibiting to strangers from a distant world the beauties and the wonders of his own planet. We cnuld not understand by any means all that he said, but we could readily comprehend, from his gestures, and from the manner ln which his fea tures 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 opininn that cer tain of the works which we saw be neath us were fortifications, Intended for the protection of the planet against invaders from outer space. A cunning and almost diabolical lnok came Into his eyes as he pointed to one of these strongholds, and then with a sweep of his hand —for we had thought it safe to release his bonds to such an extent that he could partially use one of his arms—indicated our squadron and snapped his fingers with an expression showing that in his opinion we should have no chance against the prodigious energies that would be launched against us. 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 as teroid, the extent of our power, and while its display served to Intimidate him there, yet now that he and we to gether 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 has been ex« tended over him. But it could not be long now before we should ascertain, by the irrevocable test of actual experience, whether tha Martians possessed the power to unal hllate us or not. TO BE CONTINUED. Yellow Light. A yellow light has been obtained with" incandescent gas burners by a German Inventor at Krefeld. He alters ths burners so that the gas is supplied at a pressure of three and a half atmos pheres. A single jet of ordinary size then emits a light of more than 1,000 candle power, by which fine print may be read at a distance of 150 feet from the light