Vilas County news. [volume] (Eagle River, Vilas County, Wis.) 1896-1927, 1897-05-17
CHAPTER VIII.

were also the doors, windows and house
tops. A picturesque sight truly it
was; hundreds of mingled red and
green maillot-like garments contrast
ing strangely with the naked, pale blue
arms, legs and faces of their wearers,
and with the white marble or marble
like pavement, and f1at-roOfed houses.
The whole traffic of the town seemed ar
rested; the horseless automatic car
riageS, which had been moving up or
down in the middle of the street, stood
still when they saw the Shooting Star
approach, and their conductors inside
put their heads out of the windows to
gaze at it. They would have moved
aside to make room for it; but, to pre-
vent putting them to any inconvenience
on my account, made it rise higher into
the air, and passed over them.
had nearly reached the great re-
freshment hall, when my little Marsian
began to show signs of great excite
ment, tapping the transparent side of the
Shooting Star, and gesticulating with
much animation and energy. l looked to
see the cause, and saw four persons at
the window of house to our right, and
just opposite to him, who were answer
ing him with equal energy and ANNA
ton. | Immediately jumped to the con-
cluSion that this was his house, and
that the four persons were respectively
his father, mother, brother and sister.
They were apparently making signs to
him to come to them; while he seemed
to be making signs that he would come
presently, as we were only going as far
as the refreShment hall close by, to
which he every now and then pointed.
Wishing to crafty both him and
them, moved the Shooting Star slowly
sideways toward them till I brought it's
entrance, which was sliding door,
close to the window at which they were
standing. Then | drew back the slid
ing door, leaving the little Marsian free
to step right in and join his friends. He
quickly availed himself of the oppOrtuni-
ty, and the next moment he was in their
midst chattering excitedly and doing his
best to answer questions from all four
at once. He repeatedly pointed to me as
he spoke, and was evidently telling them
how [ saved his life, and all the other
wonderful things which l had done.
was glad to see that the glances which
they cast at me were kind and friendly,
those of his sister, a beautiful young
girl of about 20, being particularly ten
der. felt completely fascinated by this
maiden, and could not withdraw my
eyes from her. [ have spoken of the
other Marsian ladies as beautiful, their
beauty being enhanced rather than di-
minished by their strange blue complex
ion; but this one appeared to me to be
the lOveliest by far that l had yet seen.
The father, when he had heard from
his son how l had saved his life, made
signs to me to enter. [ wondered how
/ had better act. | might have tightly
fastened the Shooting Star to the wall
where it was by simply developing it's
attraction in that direction which I
could have effected by a mere turn of the
regulator, and stepped in at the window
as my young Marsian friend had done;
but this might have been inconvenient
for them. The father, with wonderful
rapidity of perception, OWNED my
thoughts, and pointed upwards and
backwards which | understood, and cor
rectly, to mean that / was to take my
machine to the fiat roof of his house.
followed his direction at once, and took
it there. / had not been there half a
minute when he, too, made his appear
ance on the roof, having issued
through a transparent kind of trap-door
He gave me a cordial, welcoming SMILE
and held out his left hand to me, which
L at once grasped and pressed also with
my left. This struck me as very
strange; not that he should hold out to
me his left hand instead of his right,
but that he should hold out his hand to
me at all. l thought it strange that these
MarsianS should be so like the terres-
trials, not only in their forms and fea-
lures, but in their very customs I'm
questionably they must have had a COM
mon origin, and at no extraordinary re-
mote period either. How could this pos
Sibly have been? Was it possible that
other terreStriaIs had anticipated me, and
dared to traverse the interplanetary
space before me? That was the only
solution of the mystery which / could
think Of at the time, and it is probably
also the only possible solution which will