oard f

uadron having assembled under the lead o

on, and when next we paused it was in the presence of the worl

lty in

as it had been to start from the earth; that is to say

d notwithstanding the appliances which we possessed for intensifying the electrical effect, it was not possible to produce a suffici

act, it had not seemed possible that we should attain even so great a speed as that. It was far more than we could have expected, an

00,000 M

ling three miles in a second, we should require at least twent

prisoner was transported along with us, and we now began our attempts to

plied him regularly and I thought that I could detect evidences of a certain degree of gratitude in his expression. This was encouraging, because it gave additional promise of the possibility of our being able to

he Martian

led in the flagship, where the prisoner was, and they set to work to devise some m

ed him into our car there was no atmosphere capabl

d of the immense progress which they had made in the direction of the scientific conquest of nature, that it was not to be supposed their medium of communication wi

d other inanimate objects," said one of the American linguists. "T

never-to-be-finished dictionary. "It will be like the language of my count

lapuk

ill be a universal language, the Volapuk of Mar

t help you much. Why not begin in a practical manner by f

o indicate to the giant, who was following all their motions with his eyes, that they wished to know by what name

e. But it must be remembered that we were dealing with a personage who had presumably inherited from hundreds of genera

Martian-one of whose arms had been partially released from its bonds in order to give him a littl

rtian

f the car like the hoarse roar of a lion. He seemed himself surprised by th

sed, and we recoiled in astonish

s if he enjoyed our discomfiture, the M

r-r-r

ars, and not to be represented

s what they call themselves, how shall we ever translate th

, "let us whip the gillravaging villains first, and then we can d

rement of words, but from another point of view it was very gratifying, inasmuch as it was plain that t

trated upon the work, and the result was that in the course of a few days we had actually succeeded in learning a dozen or more of the Martian's words and

nusually cheerful frame of mind, indicated that he carr

rtian'

stance he pul

gave expression to a highly intellectual language. All those who were standing by at the moment uttered a shout of wonder and of delight, and the cry of "A book! a book!" ran around the circle,

en Learned the

uced, and then he proceeded to teach us, as we

eckoned the holder of the book to his side, and placing his broad finger upon one of the huge letters-if letters they were, for they more nearly resembled the characters employed by the

hat is the word by which the Martians designate us. The

ther the name for the

r its precise meaning might be, had now been added to our vocabulary, although

next few days was truly astonishing. If the prisoner had been unwilling 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 unde

soner T

cher and all these learned men, pressing around

ists of the expedition before the time when we arrived so near to Mars that it became necessary for most

ange of ordinary ideas with our prisoner, and there was no longer any doubt that

by terrestrial time, since our departure fro

, and then expanding more and more until it began to shut out from sight the constellations behind it. The curious markings on its sur

nce as we saw it with our telescopes. Now, however, that it was close at hand, the naked eye view of the

in

x in that hemisphere of the planet, and under the stimulating influence of the Spring sun, rising higher and higher every day, so

eat brilliance. Cutting deep into the borders of these ice fields, we could see br

f the Planet Which Near

d immense fields of snow and ice

of the polar ice, was a great belt of darkness that astronomers had always been inclined to regard as a sea. Looking toward the north, we could perceive the immense red expanses of the

continents, in every direction,

t Last-Thrilli

g the daylight. There was also an astonishing variety in the colors of the broad expanses beneath us. Activi

e had come to do battle with. Its appearances, while recalling in some of their broader aspects those which it had presented when viewed from our observatories, were f

teeming with inhabitants, like a gigantic ant-hill, at any rate bore on every sid

us. Floating higher above the surface of the planet were clouds of vapor, assuming t

Clouds

there was something in their composition or their texture which split up the chromatic elements of the sunlight and thus produced internal rainbow effects that cau

ng 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 di

ul Battleme

Martians were plainly shown. It was an awe-inspiring spectacle a

stance to us. Apparently he took a certain pride in exhibiting to stra

ian Is U

nd from the manner in which his features lighted up at the recognition of familiar scenes and objects, what

ions, intended for the protection of the planet against invaders from outer space. A cunni

for An

the extent of our power, and while its display served to intimidate him there, yet now that he and we together were facing the world of his birth, h

by the irrevocable test of actual experience, whether t

ot quite the same as those of the discoverer of new lands upon the earth. This was a whol

We had not come with

ake war on t

ft. With these we were to undertake the conquest of

Task

eatly our superiors. They had proved that they possessed a command over the powers of nature such as we, up

ans of offence. The disintegrator was at least as powerful an engine of destruction as any that the Marti

unpowder against a mysterious force as much stronger than gunpowder

ween the offensive means employed by the

nly put us on the level of our enem

ojectile cars used by the Martians. In fact, the principle upon which they were based

ever tired of saying in

tians a

etter than we do. Why should they have resorted to the comparatively awkward and bungling means of getting from one planet to ano

ations in the construction of their engines of war. The lightning-like strokes that they deal from their machine

il we could effect a landing on Mars, and lea

in reserve. It was but natural to suppose that here, on their own ground, they would possess means of defence even

lect the most vulnerable point for attack. It was self-evident, therefore, that our first dut

planet in order that the work of exploration might be quickly accomplished. But upon second

e exact situation of the various parts of the planet, whe

mosphere and there was no evidence that we had been seen by the inhabitants of Mars; but before starting on our voyage of exploration it

early got us int

e Air

suddenly perceived approaching from the eastward a large airship which was navi

ns in Thei

ddenly perceived approaching from the eastward a large airship which was naviga

ntures of Our Warr

en it suddenly paused, reversed its course, and evidently made

when we found ourselves surrounded by at least twenty si

irships had been concealed previous to their

the planet beneath us, where, while it remained immovable, its color had blended w

ble-looking enemies rising from the ground beneath us li

very direction, was alive with airships of various sizes, and some of most extraordinary forms, exchanging s

hornet's nest w

t we might quickly expect to feel

ing D

he squadron to instantly reverse polarities an

ecause the airships of the Martians were simply airships and nothing more. They could only

on them, and to have begun a battle

with our entire squadron acting together, with more than one-quarter of them simultaneously. In the meantime the others would have

at we could feel confident that our ships had vanished at least from t

programme and to circumnavigate Mars in ever

ted by t

some of the most courageous of our men, but still it was univers

for the earth, if these enemies ever again effected a landing upon its surface, the more especially s

ould not be able at home to construct such engines as we

aked everything o

and made us bear up as bravely as possible in t

trical ships toward the west,