A Dash Into the Smoke.
It was a wild plunge. We kept off the decks 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 upon and around us, and no man
could see or notice anything except by half-comprehended glances.
Almost in an instant, 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, leaped 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!
Never Was Such a Conflict.
It was an awful sight; but the battle fever was raging in us, and we,
on our part, were not idle.
Every man carried a disintegrator, and these hand instruments, together
with those of heavier calibre on the ships poured their resistless
vibrations in every direction through the quivering air.
The airships of the Martians were destroyed by the score, but yet they
flocked upon us thicker and faster.
We dropped lower and our blows fell upon the forts, and upon the
widespread city bordering the Lake of the Sun. We almost entirely
silenced the fire of one of the forts; but there were forty more in full
action within reach of our eyes!
Some of the metallic buildings were partly unroofed by the disintegrators
and some had their walls 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 the ruins and rushing wildly through the
streets, but there was no time to see anything clearly.
The Flagship Charmed!
Our flagship seemed 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 destruction, 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 the hopelessness of the contest finally forced itself
upon our minds, and the shattered squadron, which had kept well together
amid the storm of death, was signalled to retreat.
Shaking off their pursuers, as a hunted bear shakes off the dogs, sixty
of the electrical ships 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 elevation, far beyond the reach of the awful artillery of
the enemy.
Forced to Retreat.
Looking back it seemed the very mouth of hell that we had escaped from.
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 curtains, and the vivid spikes of lightning shuddered
so swiftly on one another's track that they were 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 assumed the appearance of a vast ball of black smoke,
still wildly 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.
Despair Seizes 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 Mars or else give up the attempt.
But the latter was not to be thought of. 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.
No Hope in Sight.
Our provisions could last only a few days longer. The supply would not
carry us one-quarter of the way back to the 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 suggestion was made that we should attempt to effect by strategy
what we had failed to do by force.
An old army officer 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
concentrated on this side and in the neighborhood of the Lake of the Sun."
Formulating a "Last Hope."
"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 suggest that a certain number of the electrical ships be withdrawn
from the squadron 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 strokes 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 hullabaloo on this
side of the planet, 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 rapidly around to the other side of Mars and take
them in the rear."
It was not perfectly 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 the 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.
Flank Movements.
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 bombardment with the disintegrators, which caused
a tremendous commotion in the clouds, opening vast gaps in them, and
occasionally revealing a glimpse of the electric lights on the planet,
although it was evident that the vibratory currents did not reach the
ground. The Martians immediately replied to this renewed attack, 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, although 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 flight 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 exploration should first be made by a single
electrical ship, and Colonel Smith naturally wished to undertake the
adventure with his own vessel.
Dropping to the Planet.
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, which 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 that 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, where 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, situated 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 enemies 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 approached 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 lowered ourselves into the branches of the trees, each
carrying a small disintegrator, and cautiously clambered down to the
ground.
Landing On Mars.
We believed we were the first of the descendants of Adam to set foot on
the planet of Mars.
An Experience On Mars.
The Great Planet Exhibits Its Wonders to Our Warriors.
At first we suffered somewhat from the effects of the rare atmosphere. It
was so lacking in density that it resembled the 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
surroundings.
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--but still resembling and recalling the familiar sights of
my own world.
After a little while our lungs became accustomed to the rarity of the
atmosphere and we experienced a certain stimulation in breathing.
Starting on our Travels.
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 the treetop.
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 wonderfully 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 exploration 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 the Martians had eyes like those of cats.
An Alarming Encounter.
As we pushed along, 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 swiftly our way with a threatening motion of its
head. But before it could even utter a snarl the whirr of Colonel Smith's
disintegrator was heard and the creature vanished in the shadow.
"Gracious, did 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 you 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."
A Palace in View.
Cautiously we pushed 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 ourselves in a great meadow-like expanse which
might have been a lawn. At a considerable distance, 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
corresponding to windows on that side which faced us, but toward the
right a door was evidently open, and out 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 the 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.
Taking Precautions.
"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 venturing, perhaps, into the jaws of
a danger which human experience could not measure!
But on we went, and in a little while we had emerged from the tall grass
and were somewhat startled by the discovery 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
instantaneous paralysis.
Out of the door floated, on the soft night air, the sweetest music I
have ever listened to.
A Monstrous Surprise.
It carried me back in an instant to my own world. It was the music of
the earth. It was the melodious expression of a human soul. It thrilled
us both to the heart's core.
"My God!" exclaimed Colonel Smith. "What can that be? Are we dreaming,
or where in heaven's name are we?"
Still the enchanting harmony floated out 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.
Magnificent Music.
When 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 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 into a wild fantasia, still inexpressibly sweet, and from
that changed again into 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 music. It is the product of a human heart and must come from the
touch of human fingers."
We carefully shifted our position until 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 itself stood widely open and it,
together with all of its fittings and surroundings, was composed of the
same beautiful red metal.
A Beautiful Girl!
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 centre by 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 breath.
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 loosely coiled and she was attired in graceful white drapery.
"By ----!" cried Colonel Smith, "she's human!"