The herald. [microfilm reel], March 20, 1898, Image 20

About The herald. [microfilm reel] (Los Angeles [Calif.]) 1893-1900

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EDISON'S
CONQUEST
OF MARS
(Copyright, 1858, by Garrett P. Serviss.}
SYNOI'SIS.
The inventive Renins of Thomas A. Edl
•on makes possible an attack of the earth
upon Mars. This is done to prevent a sec
ond invasion of the Martians, who aro
trying to relieve their overpopmated
planet; the first having failed through the
breaking out of disease and not human ex
tort Edison invents a practical electrical
air ship, and an engine of destruction
called the "Disintegrator," which Will
cause the constituent particles of any ou
ject at which it may be directed to so
vibrate that the object will be immediate
ly and completely dispersed. A large neei
of airships armed with disintegrators ana
manned by two thousand men. among
whom are many famous scientists, sets
out. When several million miles from
Mars the expedition comes upon a party
of Martians upon a small heavenly body
one of the asteroids. The Martians are
of giant stature, human in form, but 01
somewhat repulsive aspect. The asteroid
is of solid gold, and to get the precious
metal is doubtless the reason of the Mar
tians' presence. Another party lroin
Mars arrives in one of their aerial cars,
und an encounter follows, in which, how
ever, the superior efficiency of the disinte
grator over the enemy's engines of war
is ably proven, and the tleet leaves for
Mars after all the Martians have been
killed, except one. who is taken prisoner.
Hut victory has not been won until B6V
eral ships have been destroyed, and many
men killed. During the journey much
progress is made by the linguists of the
party in acquiring the language of the
captured Martian, The Meet arrives
above the land of Hellas, on Mars, and
finds a host of air ships on the watch.
The visitors withdraw from reach While
the planet revolves beneath them, w hen
the land of Hellas is beneath them again,
activities begin. The Martians cover
their planet with a thick cloud of smoke,
which the visitors pierce with their dis
integrators. The Martians launch their
thunderbolts, and do much damage to the
Edison fleet, which finally drops ben. tali
the smoke curtain and engages the ene
my, ln their ships. In close combat. The
destruction is awful, both on land ana In
the air, and the ships from the earth
withdraw but sixty In number. Colonel
Smith, an army officer, proposes strategy.
His plan is to concentrate a majority of
the ships and engage the attention of the
Martians, while a few are sent to the
other side of Ihe planet to effect a land
ing. This is of vital importance, because
most of the provisions have been unac
countably destroyed. Colonel Smith is
put ln charge of the ships which repair
to a thinly settled region in the land of
AUSOIIta, far from the Lake of the Sun.
the most densely populated portion of
the pluuet. where the great fight had
taken place. The narrator accompanies
Colonel Smith, and they succeed in land
ing upon Mars.
XVII.
At first we suffered somewhat from
the effects of the rare atmosphere. It
was so lacking in density that it resem
bled tne air on the summits of the
loftiest terrestrial mountains.
Having reached the foot of the tree in
safety, we lay down for a moment on
the ground to recover ourselves and to
become accustomed to our new sur
roundings.
A thrill, born half 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 —
still resembling and recalling the fa
miliar sights of my own world.
After a little while our lungs became
accustomed to the rarity of the atmos
phere and we experienced 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
swayin,g in the air close to the treetop.
There were no electric lights in our
immediate neighborhood, but we no
ticed 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 wonderful quiet and beauti
ful 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 head.
Not far away was the bank of a
canal, bordered by a double row of im
mense umbrageous trees.
We approached the canal, and, get
ting up the road, turned to the left to
make an exploration in that direction.
The shadow of the trees fating upon
the roadway produced a dense gloom,
in the midst of which we felt that we
should be safe, unless the Martians had
eyes like those of cats.
As we pushed along, our hearts, I
confess, beating a little quickly, a
shadow stirred in front of us.
Something darker than tho night it
self approached.
As it drew near it assumed the ap
pearance of an enormous dog, as tall
as an ox, which ran swiftly our way
with a threatening motion of its head.
But before it could even utter a snarl
the whirr of Colonel Smith's disinte
grator was heard and the creature van
ished In the shadow.
"Gracious, did you ever see such a
beast?" said the colonel. "Why, he
was as big ns a grizzly."
"The people be 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 you observe there is a
thick hedge on the side of the road op
posite the canal. If we get through
that perhaps we shall catch sight of
something."
Cautiously we pushed our way
through the hedge.whlch was composed
of shrubs as large as small trees, and
very thick at the bottom, and, having
traversed it, found ourselves in a great
meadow-liko expanse which might have
been a lawn. At a considerable dis
tance, in the midst of a clump of trees,
a large building towered skyward. Its
walls of some red metal gleaming like
polished copper in the soft light that
fell from the cloud dome.
There were no lights around the
building itself, and we saw nothing cor
responding to windows on that side
which faced us. but toward the right a
Garrett P.Serviss
door was evidently open, and out ol
this streamed a brilliant shaft of il
lumination, which lay bright upon the
lawn, then crossed the blghwa]
through an opening i" the hedge, am
gleamed on the water of the canal be
yond.
Where we stood tho ground had evi
dently been recently cleared, and there
was no obstruction, but as we crept
closer to tho house —for our curiosity
had now become irresistible —we found
ourselves crawling through grass sc
tall that if wo had stood erect it would
have risen well over 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 mean 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 ven
turing, perhaps, into th? jaws of a dan
ger which human experience could not
measure!
But on we went, and in a little while
we had emerged from the tall grass
and were somew hat startled by the dis
covery that we had got close to the
wall of the building.
Carefully we crept around toward the
open door.
As we neared it we suddenly stopped
as if we had been stricken with in
stantaneous paralysis.
Out of the door lioated, on the soft
night air, the sweetest music I have
ever listened to.
It carried mo back in an Instant to
my own world. It was the music of
the earth. It was tho melodious ex
pression of a human soul. It thrilled
us both to the heart's core.
"My God!" exclaimed Colonel Smith.
"What can that be? Are we dre'iming,
or where in heaven's name aye we?"
Still the enchanting harmony lioated
4pt upon the air.
What the instrument was I could not
tell, but the sound seemed more nearly
to resemble that of a violin than of
anything else I could think of.
W r nen we first heard 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 be
came 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 into a wild fantasia
still inexpressibly sweet, and from that
changed again Into a requiem or la
ment, whose mellifluous tide of har
mony swept our thoughts back again to
the earth.
"I can endure this no long'T," I said.
"I must see who it is that makes that
music. It is the product of a human
heart and must come from the touch
of human fingers."
We carefully shifted our position un
til we stood in the blaze of light that
poured out of the door.
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 proportion. The door it
self stood widely open and ii. together
with all its fittings and surroundings,
was composed of the same beautiful
red metal.
Stepping out a little way into the
light, I could see within the door an
immense apartment, glittering on all
sides with metallic ornaments and
gems and lighted from the center by a
great chandelier of electric candles.
In the middle of the great floor, hold
ing the instrument delicately poised,
and still awaking its ravishing vole's,
stood a figure, the sight of which al
most stopped my breath.
It was a slender sylph of a girl!
A girl of my own race; a human be
ing here upon the planet of Mars!
Her hair was loosely coiled and she
was attired in graceful white drapery.
"By 1" cried Colonel Smith, "she's
human!"
Still the bewildering strains of the
music came to our ears, and yet we
stood there unpercelved, though in the
full glare of the chandelier.
The girl's face was presented in a
profile. It was exquisite in beauty,
pale, delicate, with a certain pleading
sadness which stirred us to the heart
An element of romance and a toucl
of personal interest such as we had no
looked for suddenly entered into ou
adventure.
Colonel Smith's mind still ran bacl
to the perils of tho plains.
"She is a prisoner." he said, "and b;
the Seven Devils of Dona Anna wrVl
not leave her here. But where are th
lellhounds themselves?"
Our attention had been so absorbei
jy the sight of the girl that we ha<
scarcely thought of looking to see 1
.here was any one else In the room.
(Ilancing beyond her, I now perceive!
sitting In richly decorated chair:
hree or four gigantic Martians. The;
,vere listening to the music as i
•harmed.
Tho whole story told itself. This girl
f not their slave, was at any rate un
ler their control, and she was furnish
ng entertainment for them by her mv
lical skill. The fact that they couli
Ind pleasure in music so beautiful was
lerhapa, an indication that thoy wen
lot really so savage as they seemed.
Yet our hearts went out to the girl
md were turned against them with ar
tncontrollable hatred.
They were of the same remorseless
ace with those who so lately had lair
caste our fair earth and who woult
lave completed its destruction had not
'rovidence interfered in our behalf.
Singularly enough, although we stooc
till In the light, they had not yet seen
is.
Suddenly the girl, moved by what im
lulse I know not, turned her face Ir
iur direction. Her eyes fell upon us.
ihe paused abruptly in her playing,
LOS ANGELES HERALD. SUNDAY MORNING, MARCH 20, 1898.
and her instrument dropped 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 expected.
Then for an instant 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 appeal
ingly.
Meanwhile the Martians had started
to their feet. They looked down upon
us in astonishment. Wo were like pig-
mies 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 to my side and
grasped my arm with a cry of fear.
This seemed to throw the Martian
into a sudden frenzy, and he raised his
arms to strike.
But the disintegrator was In my
hand. My rage was equal to his.
1 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,
I saw the gigantic form that had con-
I fronted me melt into nothingness.
Ther? were three other giants in the
room, and they had been on the point
of following up the attack of their
j comrade. But when he disappeared
j from before their eyes, they paused,
| staring' in amazement at the place
! whero, but a moment before, he had
stood, but Where now only the metal
! weapon he had wielded lay on the floor.
At first they started back, and
j seemed on the point of fleeing; then,
j 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 mo with
the light of battle upon his face.
"Sweep the discharge acros3 the
three," I exclaimed. "Otherwise there
will be one left and before we can lire
again he will crush us."
The whirr of the two instruments
sounded simultaneously, and with a
quick, horizontal motion we swept the
lines of force around in such a manner
that all three of the Martians were
caught by the vibratory streams, and
actually cut in two.
Long saps were opened in the wall of !
the room behind them, where the de-
Stroylng currents had passed, for with
Wrathful fierceness, we had run the vi
bratlona through half a gamut on the j
index.
Tho victory was ours. There were no
other enemies, that we could see, in the
house.
Yet at any moment others might
' i make their appearance, and what more
'| we did must be done quickly.
The girl evidently was as much
I amazed as the Martians had been by
j the effects which we had produced.
; Still she was not terrified, and contin
i ued to cling to us and to glance be-
( seechingly into our faces, expressing in
her every look and gesture the fact
' that she knew we were of her own race.
But clearly she could not speak our
tongue, for the words she uttered were
unintelligible.
Colonel Smith, whose long experience
In Indian warfare had made him in
tensely practical, did not lose his mili
tary instincts, even in the midst of
events so strange.
"it occurs to me," he said "that we
have got a chance at the enemies' sup
plies. Suppose we begin foraging right
here. Let's see if this girl can't show
us the commissary department."
He immediately began to make signs
to the girl to indicate that he was
' hungry.
i A look of comprehension flitted over
'her features, and, seizing our hands,
She led us into an adjoining apartment
J and pointed to a number of metallic
boxes, i >ne Of these she opened, taking
out of it a kind of cake, which she
placed between her teeth, breaking off
la very small portion and then handing
llt to us. motioning that we should eat,
but at the same time showing us that
we ought to take only a small quantity.
"Thank God! It's compressed food,"
said Colonel Smith. "1 thought these
Martians with their wonderful civiliza
tion would be up to that. And it's
mighty lucky for us, because, without
overburdening ourselves, if we can find
one or two more caches like this we
shall be able to re-provision the entire
fleet. But we must gel reinforcements
before we can take possession of the
fodder."
Accordingly we hurried out into the
night, passed Into the roadway, and,
taking the girl with us ran as quickly
as possible to the foot of the tree where
we had made our descent. Then we
signaled 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, hastened back to the
house, where we loaded ourselves with
the compressed provisions and con
veyed them to the ship.
XVIII.
On this second trip to the mysteri
ous house we had discovered another
apartment containing a very large
number of the metallic boxes, tilled
with compressed food.
"By Jove, it ls a store house," said
Colonel Smith. "We must get more
force and carry it all off. Gracious, but
this Is a lucky night. We can re-provi
sion our whole fleet from this room."
"I thought It singular," I said, "that
with the exception of the girl whom we
have rescued, no women were seen in
the house. Evidently the lights over
yonder indicate the location of a con
siderable town, and It is quite prob
able that this building, without win
dows, and so strongly constructed, is
the common storehouse, where the pro
visions for the town are kept. The
follows we killed must have been the
watchmen ln charge of the storehouse,
and they were treating themselves to
a little music from the slave girl when
we happened to come upon them."
With the utmost haste several of the
other electrical ships, waiting above
the cloud curtain, were summoned to
descend, and, with more than a hun
dred men, we returned to the building
and this time almost entirely exhaust
ed Its stores, each man carrying as
much as he could stagger under.
Fortunately our proceedings had been
conducted without much noise, and the
storehouse being situated at a consid
erable distance from other buildings,
none of the Martians, 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 Edi
son with tho news." said Colonel Smith.
Our ship was the last to pass up
through the clouds, and it was a
strange sight to watch the others as
one after another they rose toward the
great dome, entered It, though from be
low it resembled a solid vault of gray
ish-pink marble, and disappeared.
We quickly followed ihem, and hay-
I ing penetrated, the enormous curtain,
j were considerably surprised on emorg
j ing at the upper side to find that the
j sun was shining brilliantly upon us. It
I will be remembered that It was night
on this side of Mars, when we went
j down, but our adventure had occupied
| several hours, and now Mars had so
far turned upon its axis that the por-
I tion of its surface over which wo were
1 had come around into the sunlight.
She Littered a Cry and Ran Toward Us.
We knew that the squadron which
we had left besieging the Lake ot the
Sun must also have been carried
around in a similar manner, passing
into the night while the side of the
planet where we wero was emerging In
!to day.
Our shortest way back would be by
I traveling westward, because then we
should be moving ln a direction oppo
j site to that in which the planet rotated,
and the main squadron, sharing that
rotation, would be continually moving
!In our direction.
Hut lo travei westward was to pene
trate once mote into the night side of
the planet.
The prows, If I may so call them, of
I our ships were accordingly turned In
! the direction of the vast shadow which
Mars was invisibly projecting into
space behind it, and on entering 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 neighbor
hood 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 ln the midst of
space, where there was neither up nor
down from us, had ceased. Here where
we had weight "up" and "down" had
resumed their old meanings. "Down"
was toward the centre of Mars, and
"up" was away from that centre.
Standing on the deck, 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 over
us.
Before our arrival at Mars, there had
been considerable discussion among the
learned men as to the advisability ot
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 ad
ditional supply.
But It had appeared a sufficient reply
to this suggestion that the moons of
Mars arc both insignificant bodies, not
much larger than the asteroid we had
fallen ln with, 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 than to regard them
as objects of great curiosity on account
of their motions.
The nearer of these moons, Phobos.
is only 3,700 miles from the surface of
Mars, and wo watched it traveling
nrouifd 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 that the two had
come Into conjunction, as I have said,
Just over our heads, and, throwing my
self down on my back on the deck of
the electrical ship, for a long time I
watched the race between the two
1 satellites, until Phobos, rapidly gaining
upon the other, had. left its rival far
behind.
Suddenly Colonel Smith, who took
very little interest in these astronom
ical curiosities, touched mo, and point
ing ahead, said:
"There they are."
I looked, and sure enough there were
the signal lights of the principal
squadron, and as we gazed we occa
sionally saw, darting up from the vast
cloud mass beneath, an electric bay
onet, fiercely thrust into the sky, which
■showed that the siege was still active
j ly going on, and that the Martians were
j jabbing away at their invisible enemies
1 outside the curtain.
In a short time tho two lleets had
joined, and Colonel Smith and I imme
diately transferred ourselves to the
llagship.
"Well, what have you done?" asked
Mr. Edison, while others crowded
around With eager attention.
"If we have not captured their pro
vision train," said Colonel Smith, "we
j 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 tor at least
a month."
"What's that? What's that?"
"It's just what 1 say," and Colonel
Smith brought out of his pocket one of
the square cakes of compressed food.
"Set your teeth on that and see what
you think of it, but don't take too
much, for It's powerful strong.
"I say." he continued, "we have got
enough of that stuff to lost us all for
a month, 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 made a signal to the
electrical ship which we had just quit
i ted to draw near. It came alongside,
|so that one could step from its deck
on the flagship. Colonel Smith disap
| peared for a minute in the interior of
! his ship, then re-emerged, leading the
girl whom he had found upon the
planet.
"Take her inside quick, for she is not
I used to this thin air."
In fact we were at so great an ele
vation that the rarity of the atmos
phere now compelled us all to wear our
air-tight suits, and the girl, not being
thus attired, would have fallen uncon
scious on the deck If we had not in
stantly 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 this girl convinced
me that she not only recognized us as
members of her own race, 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 surround
ed 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, she burst Into tears, and
then, with arms outstretched ln the
same manner which had so stirred our
sympathies when we first saw her in
the house of the Martians, she broke
forth in a wild recitation, which waß
half a song and half a wall.
As she went on I noticed that a
learned professor of languages from
the University of Heidelberg was list
ening to her with Intense attention.
Several times he appeared to be on the
point of breaking ln with an exclama
tion. I could plainly see that he was
becoming more and rhore excited as the
words poured from the girl's Hps. Oc
casionally he nodded and muttered,
smiling to himself.
Her song finished, the girl Bank half
exhausted upon the floor. She was
lifted and placed In a reclining position
at the side of the car.
Then the Heidelberg professor
stepped to the centre of the car, In the
sight of all, and in a most 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 every tongue that now upon
the earth is spoken antedates. Con
vinced am I that it that great original
speech Is from which have all the lan
guages of the civilized world sprung.
"How she here came, so many mil
lions of miles from the earth, a great
mystery Is. But It shall be penetrated,
and It ls from her own lips that we
the truth shall le"arn, because not diffi
cult to us shall it be the language that
she speaks to acquire since to our own
it is akin."
This announcement of the Heidelberg
professor stirred us all most profound
ly. It not only deepened our interest
In the beautiful girl whom we had res
cued, but, in a dim way, it gave us rea
son to hope that we should yet discover
some means of mastering the Martians
by dealing them a blow from within.
It had been expected, 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
conslderable progress had been effected
in that direction.
But from the moment of our arrival
at Mars Itself, and especially after the
battles began, the prisoner had re
sumed his savage and uncommunica-
tive disposition, and had seemed con
tinually to be expecting that we would
fall victims to the prowess of his fel
low beings, and that he would be re
leased. How an outlaw, such as he
evidently was, who had been caught ln
the act of robbing the Martian gold
mines, could expect to escape punish
ment 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 sympa
thies were lor his own people.
in fact, ln consequence ot his surly
manner, and his attempts to escape,
he had been more strictly bound than
before, and to get him out of the way
he had been removed from the flag
ship, 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 ln the
great battle under the clouds. So after
all, the Martian had perished, by a
vengeful stroke launched from his na
tive 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 order to Induce
her to reveal any secrets of the Mar
tians that might be useful in our fur
ther proceedings.
But one thing was first necessary to
be done.
We must learn to talk with her.
But for the discovery of the store of
provisions It would have been impos
sible for us to spare the time needed to
acquire the language of the girl, but
now that we had been saved from the
danger of starvation, we could prolong
the siege for several weeks, employing (
the intervening time to the best ad
vantage.
The terrible disaster which we had
suffered in the great battle above the
Lake of the Sun, wherein we had lost
nearly a third of our entire force, had
been quite sufficient to convince us
that our only hope of victory lay ln
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 deal
ing it, were at present the uppermost
problems before our minds.
The only hope for U3 lay in the girl.
If. as there was every reason to be
lieve, 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 ef
fective.
"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," 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 con
test or been destroyed. Perhaps they
will then pull off their blanket and let
us see their face once more. That will
give us a better opportunity to strike
effectively when we arc again ready."
"Why not rendezvous at one of the
moons?" said an astronomer. "Neither
of the two moons is of much conse
quence, as far as size goes, but still it
would serve an a sort of anchorage
ground, and while there. If we were
careful to keep on the side away from
Mars, we should escape detection."
This suggestion was immediately ac
cepted, and the squadron, having been
signaled to assemble quickly, bore off
ln the direction of the more distant
moon of Mars, Delmos. We knew It
was slightly smaller than Phobos, but
its greater distance gave promise that
It would better serve pur purpose of
temporary concealment. The moons
of Mars, like tho earth's moon, always
keep the Bame face toward their mas
ter. By hiding behind Deimos we
should escape the prying eyeß of the
Martians, even when they employed
telescopes, and thus be able tn 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.
TO BE CONTINUED.
Lucky Girls of Borneo.
AH the suitors for the girl's hand In
Borneo are expected to be generous ln
their presents to her. These presents
are never returned; therefore the wily
young lady defers as long as possible a
positive selection of the happy man.
Tax on Whiskers.
Beards are taxed 10 yen a year ln a
Japanese village in Awa county, Chiba
Ken-
INDIANS LEAVING
Nearly 50,000 of Them Will
Desert the Indian Territory
for Old Mexico.
TO SELL THEIR LANDS.
.Believe That Their Territory Will
Scon Be Invaded and That Con*
gresa Will Abolish Their
Government
LED BY INDIAN AGENT WISDOM
The extraordinary spectacle of nearly
50,000 full-blood Indians migrating from
Indian Territory to old Mexico, is to be
looked for about April. The commit
tees sent to Mexico last December
have Just returned and made their re
port. There were eight delegates, and
they all agree that the plan of emigra
tion Is entirely feasible and declare that
it will certainly be carried out.
The Indians who are to emigrate will
come from tho Choctaw, Chickasaw,
Creek, and Cherokee Nations of Indian
Territory. Their wealth exceeds $2,000,
--000, and their »hare of lands ln Indian
Territory amounts to 4,800,000 acres.
This land they expect to sell or lease
to a syndicate ln Topeka, Kansas, and
with the proceeds purchase lands in
southern portion of the Mexican coun
try. The delegates, just returned, be
lieve that they can get good land at
$2.50 per acre. They add that the cli
mate there is much better suited than
that of Kansas to the Indian physique,
and that the soil is extremely fertile.
Fruits, especially, can be raised in
abundance with little trouble, and to
the prospectors it seems almost an
ideal land for men of their race.
Their chief reason, however, for
abandoning Indian Territory, is a con
viction that the whit.* man will soon
be permitted to Invade it, and that
Congress is bent on abolishing their
Indian governments. In Mexico they
propose to establish laws of their own
and live in a manner pleasing to them
selves and modeled after the habits ot
their forefathers.
AU the Five Tribe Indians have been
living in their present Territory and
have had laws to suit themselves for
over a half century; white men can ob
tain no right in Indian Territory except
by marrying Indian women; but this
gives an opportunity of which many
have availed themselves. Indeed, they
have taken advantage of it to such an
extent that two-thirds of tbe Indian
territory Indians are "White Indians;"
yet there still remain about 50,000 full
bloods, and these are the men who have
resolved to migrate. To "white In
dians" no Invitation will be extended.
In the fullblood vernacular, they are
"white-hearted and double-tongued."
The full-bloods dwell with sad hearts
upon the undermining of their institu
tions, and it cannot be doubted that
they mean business. They have select
ed U. S. Indian Agent Wisdom to lead
them on to the promised land. Wisdom
has won great popularity among the
Five Tribe Indians, having been their
agent for about five years. They can
trust him, they say, even though "his
heart Is white." Wisdom is an old con
federate veteran, and Dears the title
of colonel. He puts great faith In the
plan, and is dubbed "the Indian Moses"
all over the Territory. Colonel Wisdom
says:
"I believe the emigration scheme will
be carried out. It is merely an attempt
on the Indian's part to carry Into effect
the 'doctrine of isolation' so long ap
plied by the Federal government to the
Indians here. When they moved here
the United States agreed to protect
their rights as long as grass grew and
water ran. The treaties have been vio
lated, whether rightly or wrongly, in
the Interests of civilization, I am un
prepared to say; and there will soon
be nothing left for the Indian who
wants to preserve his tribal traditions."
Chief S. H. Mayes, of the Cherokees,
does not favor the scheme; but he is a
half-breed, and half-breeds are exclud
ed from the scheme anyhow.
Chief Isparbecker, a full-blood, of the
Creeks, does not disapprove of it, and
says that If he can do no better he will
go. But "Splechy," as he ls called, now
has a little plan of his own,—that of
forming all the Indians Into one state
and defying the United States courts to
prosecute him. No doubt he will fail
ln this, as he is alone, and will event
ually become a powerful factor in the
new Indian country under the southern
sunny sky of old Mexico.
Copyright, 1898, by Bacheller Syndicate.
Curious Experiment.
In Vienna a condemned criminal was
kept ln complete darkness for several
hours previous to his execution, as a
preliminary to an experiment that was
to be tried upon him for the purpose
of ascertaining whether or not- the
retina of the human eye ls of sufficient
sensitiveness to hold the image of the
object to which It had last been ex
posed for any length of time. He was
Instructed to fix his gaze intently on a
building facing the place of execution,
on which a very bright light fell. When
the black cap was pulled over his head,
the eye was prevented from accepting
any fresh image or picture; the execu
tion followed immediately and the ex
amination held on the eyes within a
few minutes thereafter resulted ln find
ing the building as an outlined object
on the. retina. The details, however,
were wanting, and the picture faded
rapidly.
Fossil FueL
It Is said that the earliest mention
made of the use of coal as a fuel is In
the records of the Abbey of Peterbor
ough, in the year 850 A. D., where is
found an entry of 12 cart loads of "fos
sil fuel."
In One Family,
There Is a tobacco store in the Hay
market, London, which has been con
ducted in the same building without
change and by the same family, son
succeeding father, since the reign ot
Charles II