"AS OTHERS SEE US."
The next morning found me resolved to make the journey to Mars at any
cost. That Almos had intended to say he would leave further
instructions, I had no doubt. The instructions would probably be
written, and placed where I would immediately see them upon regaining
consciousness. In any event, I argued, if, at the usual hour of Martian
contact, my instrument should glow in response to super-radium, it would
clearly be my duty to fulfil my part of the agreement, for the glow
would be proof that Almos had fulfilled his and that his spirit had
passed into the upper chamber of the virator.
I had purchased the necessary articles for my remarkable journey, and
had taken the precaution to fasten a notice outside my door to the
effect that I would be out during the evening. I could not restrain a
grim smile at the thought of the uncanny literal truth in this
announcement.
These things done I fell to speculating upon what would be my experience
on Mars if, indeed, I ever reached that planet. For the first hours, try
as I would to check it, there was, at times, a doubt as to the outcome
of this wild soul-adventure. But, strange as it may appear, although I
fully realized the danger attending such an undertaking, the success of
which was based entirely on theories, it did not, in any way, act as a
deterrent. So great was the prize to be attained, that the risk of life
seemed unimportant. Indeed, the first step of the journey to Mars was to
take my life, as we understand the term on Earth, and, having become
reconciled to this, I was not sensible of any danger beyond. So absorbed
was I in these thoughts, that the time passed without my realizing it,
and only the fading daylight warned me of the near approach of the hour
of Martian contact.
I now made a complete examination of all the batteries and coils of my
instrument, as failure in any of these might result most seriously.
Finding all to be in perfect working order, I next proceeded to arrange
my couch so as to bring it directly between the instrument and the
window. Having thus completed my preparations, possessed by conflicting
emotions, I now waited for the appearance of Mars.
Early in the day I had arranged my letters and private papers so that in
the event of the worst happening, they could be readily packed, and it
now occurred to me that it would be only proper to leave a word of
explanation with them. I therefore hastily penned a note to a cousin
living in England--my nearest relative--briefly explaining my discovery
of the Martian super-radium current, and also the character of the
adventure in which I was about to participate. This note I placed with
my papers.
Returning to the instrument, I discovered that Mars was already visible.
Quickly turning on the current and finding no responsive glow, I knew
that Almos was already making the preparations he had described to me.
He had said that within half an hour the clockwork would turn on the
current, and the glow of my instrument would be the signal for my
departure.
No time was to be lost. Securely fastening the door of my room, I
prepared the cone of chloroform and extinguished the light, in order not
to excite the suspicion of a chance caller during the evening.
I now sat on the couch awaiting with anxiety the current of super-radium
that would convey me to the far world of my dreams. Minutes seemed like
hours, as I sat in the darkness, with every nerve strained to its
uttermost, awaiting Death. What if Death should refuse to release me!
Millions have been wrapped in Death's cold arms, but no mortal has
returned to give accounting.
What was that!--A blinding flash made me instantly shield my eyes. Ah!
The glow at last! But such was its dazzling brilliancy that I could not
stand the glare. I had been accustomed to see the glow gradually creep
up the surface of the instrument, slowly growing brighter as the rim of
the star appeared above the window casement, but this time Mars had
risen to full view before the current was turned on by the clockwork.
This was ample proof that everything had happened as Almos had planned.
It was now my turn to act and I must not hesitate. Stretching myself on
the couch so that I came into full contact with the current of
super-radium, I seized the cone saturated with chloroform, and fastened
it securely over my mouth and nose.
A few moments of a slightly suffocating sensation, then a long, long
fall, gradual at first, then quicker, quicker--
* * * * *
With a feeling of exhilaration, such as I had never before experienced,
I opened my eyes and sprang to my feet. My brain was perfectly clear,
and so active that my mind utterly failed to keep pace with the
multitude of thoughts that were crowded upon it--thoughts that were
strange to my mind, yet perfectly familiar to my brain, if this
paradoxical statement may stand. It seemed as if my mind stood, apart
and marveled at the remarkable activity and knowledge possessed by the
brain--of which knowledge my mind was entirely ignorant.
I was in another world, millions of miles away from Earth. My mind
realized that something little short of a miracle had happened, and yet
I felt absolutely familiar with all the objects about me. The glass-like
walls that surrounded me, reaching up and forming a dome several feet
above my head; the narrow passage in the center of the dome (just as the
neck of a bottle would appear if viewed from inside), through which the
spirit of Almos had passed to the chamber above; all these were
wonderfully familiar to me.
I was in the virator, but it was uncomfortable to remain inside, as the
air was oppressively warm. Moreover, dictated my brain, I must prepare
the virator for my return within five hours, and my hand instinctively
grasped a lever in the wall of the apparatus. A door opened and I
stepped out, carefully closing it behind me. Again I was astonished at
my wonderful familiarity with everything. If I had lived on Mars all my
life, I could not have had a more intimate knowledge of my surroundings.
I seemed to know exactly how to proceed, and after attending to several
important details, and carefully noting the temperature of the virator
on a thermometer placed for that purpose, I consulted a chronometer to
ascertain how long it would be safe for me to remain on Mars. I found
that, allowing a half-hour for the process of arrival and the same for
departure, I had just five hours.
My mind, at first stunned by the new and strange conditions to which it
was subjected, now gradually began to realize its remarkable position in
relation to the brain.
That the mind and the spirit are one, or so closely related as to be
indistinguishable and inseparable, was now beyond doubt, as I was keenly
aware of all that had happened to me on Earth, showing that my mind not
only existed, but also possessed the same faculty of thought in Almos'
body as it did in mine while on Earth. Here was a positive proof, in
fact a demonstration, of the theory advanced by some scientists, that
the mind is separate and distinct from the brain.
But the gulf that lies between life and death remained as wide as ever.
Death was still shrouded in mystery, for my mind knew nothing from the
moment it left the body on Earth, until it awakened in the body on Mars.
Flesh and blood, then, were essential to the mind's existence. Mind or
spirit must have expression through some form. Although man may achieve
much by scientific advancement, that to which he has progressed is but
as a grain of sand in the desert, to the wonders that surround him.
Science shall never penetrate the mystery of those things that are
withheld from him.
The brain of which my mind now took control, acted merely as the
material handle by which the machinery of the body was operated, thus
converting thoughts into actions. But although my mind, having by now
become perfectly familiar with the strange conditions, was able to
record new impressions on the brain, there still existed the impression
of Almos' thoughts. It resembled a book which my mind could instantly
refer to and be guided by, and thus was I in possession of a perfect
knowledge of Mars, its people, and its language.
I now realized that my first actions, upon becoming conscious, had
simply been carrying out the instructions Almos had left for me. Strange
to the conditions in those first few minutes, I had instinctively done
what the brain dictated. In this remarkable way had Almos completed the
instructions he was about to give me when interrupted by the cessation
of wave contact.
Having thus arrived at what I felt to be the true relation of my mind
with Almos' body, I now turned my attention to the objects surrounding
me.
I stood in a room about the size of my laboratory on Earth. There were
no windows to admit light, but the ceiling, which was fully twenty feet
high, emitted a beautifully diffused white light, which filled every
corner of the room, leaving absolutely no shadows. Its effect was that
of daylight, and so closely did it resemble the sky, that, had I not
been supplied with Almos' knowledge of Martian science, I would have
naturally supposed that there was no ceiling to the room. Immediately
upon the question coming into my mind, however, I became aware that the
ceiling was coated with a composition, one of the component parts of
which was radium in a highly developed state. Its action upon the other
elements that composed this substance resulted in a perpetual light
without heat, which was equal in every way to daylight.
The tourist, finding himself in a new country, has but one thought, one
ambition, that of seeing all he can; yet, strange to say, although a
whole new world lay before me, my first thought was of Mother Earth. A
desire to view my old habitat as Martians see it seemed almost
irresistible.
To touch the radioscope that was trained on Earth, would result in an
instant change taking place in my body as it lay in the laboratory, and
this would be disastrous. It was only the regenerating properties of the
super-radium current that kept it in a state acceptable to my return,
and the delicate mechanism of this instrument was regulated so as to
keep the current exactly in position, as long as that part of the
Earth's surface was exposed to Mars. To interfere then with this
current, for a moment, would mean certain death.
Immediately I became conscious of the presence of another instrument,
which was in a room adjoining, and, feeling absolutely familiar with
every inch of the way, I proceeded thence. The room was a small one,
just large enough, indeed, to operate the radioscope, which was exactly
the same as the one in the room I had just quitted.
With a perfect knowledge of the mechanism of the instrument, I was soon
at work adjusting the projecting and receiving apparatus. An ordinary
telescope was attached to the huge tube of the radioscope, and with
Almos' dexterity I soon located Earth through it, thus sighting the
radioscope for that planet.
I had now but to turn on the current to see the people on Earth and
watch their doings, as had done Martians for hundreds of years, but,
with my hand on the lever that controlled the current, I paused.
The sight of Earth, as it appeared through the telescope, was too
beautiful to pass by with a mere glance. Half illuminated, owing to the
greater distance of Mars from the sun and the position of the planets at
that time, Earth appeared about the size the moon looks to the naked
eye. But what a wonderful sight! Bathed in sunlight lay the eastern half
of the continents of North and South America, faintly outlined by the
pale blue of the western portion of the Atlantic Ocean. So familiar was
I with the appearance of these two great continents as drawn in an
atlas, that I had difficulty in recognizing them as they now appeared.
Mexico and Central America seemed almost as broad as that part of the
United States from San Francisco to Washington; the whole tapering down
from Canada to Cape Horn almost in the shape of a cone.
Aeronauts passing over a lake or river are able to see the bottom, owing
to their altitude; this was undoubtedly the explanation of the strange
appearance of the continents of North and South America. On account of
the enormous distance I was away from Earth, the shallow waters appeared
as land, obliterating completely the familiar coast line, and only the
extreme depth of an ocean showed a pale blue.
Night covered Europe and Africa, which would otherwise have been visible
to me, and the shadow of darkness was steadily creeping across the
Atlantic Ocean, as the Earth revolved upon its axis. I could not
suppress a shudder at the thought that I must cover that enormous
distance ere it revolved too far.
I now moved the lever that controlled the current, and at once the lens
in the receiving apparatus shone with a brilliant dark blue color. The
current of super-radium had reached Earth and returned in less than a
second, and I saw, beautifully pictured before me, an expanse of ocean
with waves tumbling and tossing so near me that it seemed as if I were
but a few feet above them.
By diminishing the current I found that the image on the lens grew
smaller, the effect being exactly the same as that from a balloon
rising. The picture at first appeared slanting at an angle of about
thirty degrees, owing to the curvature of the Earth, but by manipulating
a small lever close at hand that operated a mirror in the radioscope,
this defect was corrected.
After searching about with the current, I at last came upon a large
steamer, evidently an ocean liner. Throwing huge billows aside in clouds
of white spray as she cut through the water, she made a beautiful sight,
and it was with difficulty that I kept her in the field of vision. As I
appeared to be looking straight down upon her decks, it was evident that
she was about in the center of the Earth's surface exposed to Mars.
I now moved the current in a westerly direction, travelling at what
would be a terrific speed on Earth, until I came to land. Not
recognizing the small coast town that first came in view, I moved up the
coast in a northerly direction, diminishing the current until I could
see a large stretch of country. Toward the northwest a large city
appeared, which I immediately recognized as Washington. Directing the
instrument to that city, I increased the current until the people on the
streets measured two or three feet on the lens of my instrument. Here I
found that the curvature of the Earth resulted in my looking down
obliquely at the objects on its surface, but not at a sufficient angle
to see the faces of those who passed across my lens.
But now I became aware of a strange condition that, owing to the motion
of the liner at sea, had escaped my notice before. Although I was
looking at the people passing before one of the large government
buildings in Washington, I had to keep regulating the instrument in
order to keep this building in view. Moreover, I discovered that I had
to regulate it as fast as I had done with the ocean liner. In fact,
obviously the liner's speed mattered but little; it was the rate at
which the Earth was revolving upon its axis and journeying around the
sun with which I had to contend. Through the telescope this was not
discernible, but now that I had come into such close visual contact with
the Earth's surface, I realized the terrific speed with which it rushed
through space. Hundreds of miles a minute was the speed my instrument
had to be regulated to, in order to keep an object on Earth in view--the
motion of the liner was insignificant!
Moving the current eastward over the Atlantic Ocean, I discovered that
darkness in no way hindered my view of objects on Earth's surface. The
reproduction on the lens, however, presented quite a different
appearance to that which I had witnessed while observing the part of
Earth illuminated by the sun. The beautiful colors which contributed so
much realism to the picture were now replaced by a sombre gray tone,
greatly resembling a photograph in appearance.
So absorbed had I become in all that this wonderful instrument revealed
to me of the different phases of life on Earth, that I forgot all else,
until, with a start, I realized that someone was moving about in the
large room which contained the virator that I had recently left. I was
filled with apprehension. Who could it be? And what was the reason of
this unexpected visit? Almos had not warned me against intrusion of any
kind, and I felt that to meet and converse with a Martian, thus
unprepared, would be impossible. In that room, however, were the
instruments that held two lives within their delicate mechanism, and
even now they might have been tampered with enough to cause the most
serious consequences. I must not hesitate a moment longer. Hastening
down the passage that led to the larger room, I pushed aside the heavy
portieres and found myself in the presence of a Martian.