Vilas County news. [volume] (Eagle River, Vilas County, Wis.) 1896-1927, 1897-05-10

| from it's smooth CLASSY shell would doubt
| less make it shine like a bright meteor in
| the sky.
| introduce myself to these strange in
| habitahts of another planet? And what
reception would they give me when |
| did? If they should prove hostile l
might find my Shooting Star with all
| it's wonderful capabilities an insufficient
protection, for they evidently possessed
| a knowledge of some of the potent Sc
| crets of mature, as was proved by their
strange self-acting boats and vehicles.
| But why should they show hostility!
| This could only happen on the suppose
ton that they suspected hostility on my
part But there precisely was the diff
ficulty. Unable to speak word OF thelr
| language, how could | convince them
| that had come with friendly intentions!
| At all events / thought that bold de-
| cision was more likely to succeed than
timid shillyshallying, so set the Shoot
| ing Star at once in motion, and descended
swiftly in a slanting direction straight
| towards them. Some fed into their
houses in alarm; but the majority were
so taken by surprise that they stood still
as if fascinated. Just as / was over the
entrance of the harbor an accident oc-
| Cured among the crowd on the pier to
my left hand which afforded me an excel
| lent and welcome opportunity of proving
| that had not come with any hostile in
| tentions A little boy who had impru-
| IDENTIFY mounted on the parapet in order
to have better view, frightened prob
| ably by the sudden and unexpected ap-
| proach of the object OF his admiration,
overbalanced himself, and, after first
striking his head rather severely against
projecting portion of the pier, fell
| into the deep water below, about 100
yards from me. Swift as lightning sent
the Shooting Star slanting into the water
at about twenty yards from the spot
where he had disappeared. The next mo-
ment it reappeared on the surface, and
rose again into the air with the little fell
| low, who was about 10, adhering to it's
under surface by his back, by virtue of
the machines powerful attraction. In
| this way [ conveyed him, dripping and
insensible, OH to the pier, where gently
deposited him, loosening the attraction of
the machine as soon as he touched the
ground. Then, before the crowd could
| get over their establishment and admira-
| ton, l flung open the door of the Shoot
ing Star and sprang out,
! Again, in spite of my experience of the
day BEFORE had forgotten to make al
| lowance for the inferiority of the Marsian
| attra ction, and, miscalculating my dis
| lance, leaped twice as far as | had in
tended. The consequence was that [
| fell down on my hands and knees on the
| hard pier but fortunately without suffer-
ing any injury beyond slight scratching
of both hands. [ was on my feet again
| directly, and began bowling and smiling
pleasantly to the crowd, who stood
watching me with the widest astonish-
| ment depicted on their pale-blue faces.
[ showed them my scratched and bleeding
hands, and then laughed good-naturedly,
| to indicate that | did not mind my mis-
hap a bit, and that [ regarded it as
good joke rather than otherwise This
made an excellent impression. Several
| laughed with me, and all looked pleased
and smiling. On observing some Of them
nodding and pointing to something behind
me, [ turned round and saw that they
were pointing to the boy l had saved,
| who had recovered his senses, and was
| now half lying, half sitting, leaning on his
elbow, and painting hard. stepped up
| to him at once, and. taking hold Of his
hand gently, raised him up on to his feet.
The poor little fellow looked up at me in
utter beWilderment, and yet with q con-
| fidence and gratitude that was quite
| touching. In his wet garment he smelt
strongly of the Marsian sea, that is to
| say, of that peculiar aromatic odor which
| [ have already spoken of.
The other persons on the pier, men,
women and children, now came running
up from all parts and crowded round
| me- A strange people truly they looked,
with their tight-ftting red and green gar
ments and pale-blue faces. On seeing
them now at close quarters | saw that
they had another popularity; they had
all, without exception, large, beautiful
hazel eyes, which shone with an extraor-
binary brilliancy, those of the women
especially. Despite the color of their
skin, which after all though strange was
very pretty, have no hesitation IN
nronouncing them the handsomest race |
had ever seen in my life. Their fea-
lures were finely and delicately cut; but
their great charm lay in the fascinating
~ ,4,.a FVNhnCn
were now bent upon me from all quar-
tiers, with a soft, benevolent expression
which greatly cheered and encouraged
me. Still, as | did not know word OF
| their language, | was sorely puzzled now
to act / thought | would first begin
with the primitive language common m. 10
us all-the language OF signs; SO, by way
of a beginning, | pointed to my mouth,
and initiated the action Of chewing, to In
dictate that I should like to have some
thing to eat. -
They understood me at once. Several
of them pointed simultaneously to
large and lofty building in the very
| center of their town, from the four
corners of which four white flags We're
waving, and made signs to me that
| could have something to eat there.
nodded and smiled to show that I'M
derstood. Then | entered my machine,
| shut the door behind me, sat down COM
| fortably in my steering seat, and made
everything ready for starting; the crowd
meanwhile watching me with the in
! tensest curiosity. In less than minute
the Shooting Star was in motion. Slow
~ il rose to height of about four feet
from the ground Then it moved hori-
zontally Sideways till it reached the
middle of the pier. Here | kept it for
moment stationary in the air, while While
| through it's transparent shell l NODDED
and smiled again at my spectators, VINO
had hastily retreated to make room for
me. Then 1 moved slowly along at the
same low height, accompanied by a
| dense crowd of wondering Marsians, to
whom l. kept constantly nodding, bowling
and smiling with the pleasantest ex-
| pressions of face l could command. The
boy whom l had saved had now quite
recovered, and was following in the
| crowd behind. I once or twice halted,
and lowering the machine and opening
| the door invited him to enter, but he
each time shook his head and smilingly
| declined. Perhaps he was afraid l
should fly away with him. Moved at
last, however, by the persuasion of those