The herald., 1898-03-27
XIX

Defines proved to be, as we had ex-
pected, about six miles in diameter. Its
mean density is not very great so that
the acceleraton of gravity did not ex-
ceed one two-thousandths of the
earth's. Consequently the weight of a
man turning the scales at $50 at home
was here only about one ounce.
The attraction of this little satellite
was so slight that we had to be very
careful not to move too quickly in going
about lest we should involuntarily
leave the ground and sail out into
space, as, it will be remembered. had
happened to the fugitives during the
fight on the asteroid.
Not only would such an adventure
have been an uncomfortable expert
ence, but it might have endangered the
success of our scheme Our present
distance from the surface of Mars did
not exceed 1880 miles, and we had
reason to believe that the Martians
possessed telescopes powerful enough
to enable them not merely to see the
electrical ships at such distance, but
also to catch sight Of us individually.
Although the cloud curtain still rested
on the planet it was was probable that
the Martians would send some of their
determine what our fate had been.
Accordingly strict orders were given,
not only that the ships should be
moored on that side of the satellite
which is perpetually turned away from
Mars, but that, without orders, no one
should venture around on the other
side of the little globe, or even on the
edge of it, where he might be seen in
profile against the sky.
Still, of course, it was essential that
we, on our part, should keep a close
watch, and so q number of sentinels
We're selected, whose duty it was to
place themselves at the edge of Deimos,
where they could peep over the horizon,
so to speak, and catch sight of the
globe of our enemies.
At the suggestion of Colonel Smith,
who had so frequently stalked Indians
that devices of this kind readily oc-
Cured to his mind, the sentnels all
wore garments corresponding in color
to that of the soil of the asteroid,
which was of dark, reddish brown
hue. This would tend to conceal them
from the prying eyes of the Martians.
Finally, after about "a week had
passed. the Martians evidently made
up their minds that they had annihi-
lated us, and that there was no longer
danger to be feared. Convincing evil
dence that they believed we should not
be heard from again was furnished
when the withdrawal of the great cur
tain of cloud began.
This phenomenon first manifested it,
self by gradual thinning of the, va
porous shield until, at length we be-
gan to perceive the red surface of the
planet dimly shining through it. Thin
ner and rarer it became, and, after the
lapse of about eighteen hours, it had
completely disappeared and the huge
globe shone out again, rejecting the
light of the sun from it's continents
and oceans with a brightness that, in
contrast with the all-enveloping. night
to which we had so long been subject
ed, seemed unbearable to our eyes.
Meanwhile, the object which we
had in view in retreating to the satel-
lite was not lost sight of, and the serv-
ices of the chief linguists of the expe-
s dition were again called into use for
h the purpose of acquiring a new Ian
guage. The experiment was conducted
in the flagship. The fact that this time
Y 1t was not monster belonging to an
utterly alien race upon whom we were
to experiment, but q beautiful daughter