THE MORROW--AND WHAT CAME OF IT!
Never did four human beings await the coming of daylight with such
feelings as ours. Not one of us slept for a moment, the livelong
night; our excitement was too intense, and the result of our doings
on the morrow too momentous. We were up and out of the _Sirius_ by
sunrise, looking westwards across the undulating expanse of country,
to obtain a glimpse of the fair city we saw yesterday; but vain were
our endeavours; a group of low hills hid all from view. On a hill
about twenty miles to the north of where we stood, however, we saw
three mighty domes, the central one being more than twice the size of
the others. From the way in which they glistened in the sunlight, we
concluded that they were roofed with gold, or some metal unknown to
us of the same colour and brilliancy. A large wood that surrounded
them hid the remainder of the buildings from sight, but their size
appeared to be enormous, dwarfing all earthly structures into utter
insignificance.
We started off in the yet early morning, fully armed and equipped for
our walk across country to the distant city, to make the acquaintance
of its yet unknown inhabitants. That they were beings of noble stature
we had not the slightest doubt; for only a race of giants could have
reared such a colossal city; besides, the very physical conditions
of Mars point to the existence of larger types of life than any now
prevailing on earth.
We had not walked more than four miles on our way before we reached
country evidently in a high state of cultivation. We passed large
enclosures of red "grass," divided by hedges of a cactus-like plant,
similar to the one we noticed growing in the swamp. These fields were
evidently crops, the herbage being finer and longer than that growing
wild on the mountain slopes. There were other enclosures full of a
creeping plant, something like convolvulus, but bearing a long narrow
pod, full of small bean-like seeds; and in others were bushes laden
with fruit as big as melons, and very similar in appearance.
We were walking steadily along a broad kind of pathway between these
enclosures, when an exclamation from Sandy caused us to halt, and
immediately confine our attention to something which the cautious Scot
was looking at on the ground before him.
It was the imprint of feet in the soft, bare ground, and evidently the
impressions of a being shod with moccasins, and of mighty stature.
As we were all stooping down, intently examining the first absolute
traces of the intellectual inhabitants of Mars, we did not notice the
approach of the being who had doubtless left these tracks behind. He
came slowly along the path we were following--a being--shall we say a
human being? for in all his outward frame he resembled ourselves, save
that in stature he was a giant, quite nine feet in height. His features
were noble-looking, almost like the Egyptians of old, and his skin was
wonderfully fair and beautiful. His black beard swept downwards to his
breast, and his long bushy hair, of the same tint, was confined simply
by a ring of some metal which just encircled the crown of his shapely
head. He was clothed in a loosely flowing robe of some soft material,
almost like silk, which draped from his neck to his knees, girded
at the waist with a broad strap, from which dangled several curious
articles of which we knew not the use. His legs and feet were covered
with the skins of some beast, curiously ornamented. Slowly but without
a sign of fear he advanced towards us, carrying in his hands a long rod
made of some metal. His expression was warlike; we had evidently to
deal with no coward; but we could plainly see that his curiosity was
most intense.
With the exception, perhaps, of the Doctor, all of us were visibly
alarmed at this strange bold and haughty man, and had we not been
assured by the calm confidence of our friend we should most certainly
have felt inclined either to fight our visitor at once, or make the
best of our way out of his presence. There was something uncanny about
him. Had he even spoken, the awe and mystery surrounding him would not
have been so terrible. But he came towards us in absolute silence;
and when about a dozen paces away from where we stood, he paused and
watched us intently.
Doctor Hermann, foolishly we thought, hailed him successively in
German, in English, and in Latin, but he made no sound in reply.
He was examining us minutely, evidently full of confidence in the
superiority of his size and strength. He must have looked upon us
with much the same contemptuous wonder as the old travellers viewed
the race of dwarfs that they assure us inhabit the vast forests of
Central Africa. Sandy at last hurled at him a perfect torrent of
honest Gaelic, which only seemed to rouse his anger, and he uttered
several sounds which were evidently meant for words of warning, in a
loud, imperious, but not unpleasant voice. His arm was raised as if in
threat towards us, and all of us felt thoroughly alarmed, except the
Doctor, who advanced a step towards him with both hands held out as if
in greeting. At this he pointed the long rod he was carrying towards
one of the curious animals we had previously met with near the lake,
which happened to be grazing quietly half-a-mile away, and within a
second of time we saw the poor creature leap into the air and drop
dead! We heard no report, we saw no flash! This was too much for Sandy,
and before we could prevent him his revolver was drawn, pointed at the
unknown stranger, and fired once, twice, three times into his stalwart
body! At the first shot he screamed with pain, and tried to level his
rod at us; at the second he fell to the ground; the result of the
third we never learned, for we all turned and fled as if for our lives
towards the friendly cover which sheltered the _Sirius_. As we ran
behind the welcome shelter of the low hills we noticed several more of
these strange beings, hastening from various directions to their fallen
comrade; and as we had every reason to dread the deadly weapons with
which they were most probably armed, we were glad to reach the wooded
country and seek our refuge under the cover of the trees.
With thankful hearts we reached the _Sirius_, finding everything as we
had left it. Doctor Hermann was angry beyond all measure with Sandy for
his foolishness in shooting without just provocation, and threatened
that if he did not keep more command over himself in future, he should
not carry firearms at all.
"This, Temple, is a most unfortunate occurrence--most unfortunate for
us all," continued the Doctor, after he had finished lecturing Sandy,
who was now all contrition, and cursing himself for his stupid blunder.
"There is no telling what may happen now; it is impossible to estimate
the amount of misfortune this unwarranted attack on a harmless being
may bring upon us. It is folly now to think of visiting that fair city
yonder, on foot, as I so much desired."
"I quite agree with you, Doctor; yet, after all, there is some little
excuse for poor Sandy. Matters certainly looked threatening; my own
hand, too, was on my revolver at the time."
"Well," continued Temple, "all our arguments will avail us nothing now.
Regrets are useless; we are in a serious position. Like all Englishmen,
we have readily got ourselves into a mess; and let us hope, like our
countrymen, we shall display the usual quickness of resource in the
time of difficulty and danger, and soon see a way out of it."
"True, true, my dear Temple," remarked the Doctor, regaining his
usual _sang froid_; "time is pressing. We may rest assured that this
morning's work is well noised abroad, and ere long, there will be a
hue and cry after us. Although my remarks may savour of egotism, I can
frankly say, I have no fear of any living being on this planet. From
what little I have seen of its civilisation, I am confident that we
shall, at any-rate, receive justice at the hands of its inhabitants. If
a low-born labourer of the field--for such I take this Martial, whom we
have slain, to be--can show such courage, and be possessed of a weapon
that makes the arms of Earth seem but as the toys of barbarians, in
comparison--if, I say, the lower classes of this planet's people are so
much in advance of ourselves, then its aristocracy must be gifted with
intelligence far higher than aught we wot of; and with such a people we
have nought to fear, provided we can make them understand who we are,
whence we came, and what is our mission. Let us lose no time in getting
away from here; let us visit the city yonder in the _Sirius_, boldly
and with brave hearts; and I feel sure we shall be received in a manner
worthy of our confidence and our courage."
"Doctor, I am afraid your naturally brave nature makes you feel too
sanguine. I frankly own that I am unable to acquiesce with all you say;
still, I cannot suggest anything so good as an alternative, and am
ready to act on your suggestion. Let us hope all may yet be well," said
Temple.
"We could start off elsewhere," said Graham. "The good _Sirius_ can
carry us to some other part of this Martial world, where we may have
better luck with the natives."
"Gently, Graham," rejoined the Doctor; "you overlook the fact that we
have nearly worn out our machinery. Everything requires a thorough
overhaul; as things are now, I much doubt if the _Sirius_ would carry
us a couple of hundred miles. I ascertained this before we started this
morning."
"As an engineer I ought to have known this, Doctor; but, really, the
excitement of the last few days seems to have knocked everything out of
me. By all means let us visit the city with what little electric force
is still left to us, and take our chance," answered Graham, and his
remarks were seconded by Temple.
Our conversation was suddenly interrupted by a mighty blast from what
we judged to be some instrument like a horn. It sounded so near that we
each sprang up to look, fully expecting that the alarm had already been
given and that our hiding-place was discovered. As we cautiously peeped
between the trees, whilst standing on the balcony of the _Sirius_,
we beheld dozens of this mighty race of people, searching everywhere
about the countryside; and another blast from the horn, which sounded
much nearer than the previous one, informed us that some at least of
our pursuers were coming in our direction, and that the discovery of
our hiding-place was but a matter of a very short time. The climax
was reached a few minutes afterwards when a black-bearded giant of
herculean strength burst through the low underwood, and with a curious
unearthly shout as of triumph rushed towards the _Sirius_. Perhaps
fortunately for us he carried no rod-like weapon--his sole equipment
seemed to be a mighty horn, whose bright and gleaming gold-like coils
encircled his body several times!
But he came too late! For ere he could get within twenty paces of the
_Sirius_ the command was given by Doctor Hermann, and Graham set the
engines in motion. We shot upwards towards the sky with great speed,
and before our astonished pursuer could recover from his surprise we
were a thousand feet above him in the air. However superior to us in
their intelligence the people of Mars might be, they were evidently
nonplussed at our escape, and appeared to be utterly ignorant of aerial
navigation in any form whatever. At least we thought so then, as we
watched them gathering into terror-stricken groups below us, and ever
and anon pointing to the _Sirius_, now almost at rest four thousand
feet above them.
"Doctor, how I wish we could manage to well clean our machinery, and be
able to rely upon our electricity for safety. This is beating the enemy
with a vengeance," said Graham.
"But, my young friend, you forget that we cannot live in the air; our
mission is to make friends with these people, not to shun them; to
fraternise with them in the common interests of humanity. Now that we
are here, a serious responsibility rests upon each and all of us--the
teeming millions of our fellow-men, left behind on earth, will expect
us to make the very most of our glorious opportunities, and to carry
back to them a full history of the wonders of this new world and new
race. 'Advance' must be our watchword, until our work is done; even
though our lives are lost in the effort. Recall the words you uttered,
Graham, years ago, on that fateful evening, when you solemnly pledged
yourself to this mission, nay, even devoted your life to its full
accomplishment. Our course is clear; put the _Sirius_ up another ten
thousand feet, and we will let her head towards the beautiful city
yonder. We will come to rest on that elevation above it, and then be
guided by events."
The country below us seemed teeming with people, spreading about in
all directions; and dense bodies of what looked like troops, could
be distinguished coming from the city in the direction of the place
where the _Sirius_ had rested the previous night. Evidently these
people had some very rapid means of communication, one with the
other. The entire district appeared to be thoroughly aroused, and the
commotion was evidently increasing each moment. That we were seen was
manifest--thousands of upturned faces told us that the _Sirius_ was the
centre of attraction, and every movement was keenly noted. We had now a
much better view of the three glittering domes; they appeared to be the
roof of some magnificent temple, whose walls seemed of white marble;
but the dense growth of trees round the entire edifice, still concealed
much of its rare beauty from our gaze.
Just as we came over the outskirts of this wonderful town, the _Sirius_
received a terrible blow from some missile, which made her quiver from
top to bottom, and we quite expected that we were about to fall to the
ground. Had the projectile struck us fairly, nothing could have saved
us; but by good fortune it glanced obliquely along the sides of the
_Sirius_, and spent itself in space.
"If I mistake not, that has been fired at us from the city below;
but what the force was that hurled that bullet so high, and with
such marvellously accurate aim is unknown to me, for no explosion
accompanied it," said the Doctor, with rather a disconcerted air.
"It is time we descended of our own free will, Doctor," answered
Temple, "otherwise we shall be brought down as ignominiously as
a winged hawk, and there will then be a speedy end to us and our
projects."
We were now directly over the city. And such a noble city, too! The
buildings were all of colossal grandeur, the streets wide, and at right
angles; no smaller houses mingled with the rest--all were uniformly
grand, though the variety of the architecture prevented the slightest
monotony. There were several magnificent buildings which we concluded
were palaces or seats of government, on the larger of the two hills on
which the city rested, and some of these were surrounded by gardens.
The top of each hill had been levelled, and the bridge between them was
a superb structure, quite half a mile in width, and perhaps three miles
in length! What surprised us beyond everything was the total absence
of conveyances, or of any kind of beasts of burthen whatever in the
spacious thoroughfares, which were crowded with people alone.
"What palaces! What domes! What halls and towers! What streets!"
shouted Graham, carried away by his admiration for the architects and
engineers who had planned and reared them.
After earnest consultation we decided to descend at once, choosing
a vast open square before one of the largest edifices, but which
appeared to be deserted of people, as the exact spot. Slowly we dropped
through the air. Nearer and nearer to the ground we came, each moment
the magnificence of the city increasing as our eager scrutiny became
closer. One thousand feet more! Five hundred! One hundred only left!
Not a living creature in view! Our hearts beat fast; our excitement
became agony in its intensity. The courtyard seemed paved with precious
stones of every hue, as large as ostrich-eggs; certainly no common
stones of Earth are like them, and none known to man, even the most
rare, so large. Curious plants and trees grew in well-kept beds;
fountains of perfumed water shot like crystal rockets to the sky! All
this, and more, we noted in the short time that we were descending the
last few feet; but ere the _Sirius_ could touch the ground, a thousand
stalwart warrior-giants rushed out from every side! In an instant we
were the centre of an excited frenzied throng, and our lives were
apparently not worth another moment's purchase!