Burlington weekly free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1866-1928, 1898-11-17

tho prince Of night and hell, might not
have been unlike those which we now
experienced as we gazed upon this dread.
full parsonage, who seemed to combine
the intellectual powers of man, raieed
to their highest pitch, with some Of the
physical features of beast and all the
moral depravity of fiend.
The appearance Of the Marian was
indeed SO threatening and repellent that
we paused at the height Of so feet above
the ground, hesitating to approach
nearer. A grin Of rage and hate over
spread his face. If no had been man.
l should say no shook his fist at us.
What no did was to express in oven
more telling pantomime his hatred and
defiance and his determination to grind
US to shrods if he could once get us
within his clutches.
Mr.. Edison and l still stood upon tho
deck Of the ship, where several others
had gathered around US. The atmos-
phere of the little nsterold was so rare
that it practically amounted to nothing,
and we could not possibly have survived
1T If we had not continued to wear our
alright suits. How the Martians con
trived TO live here was mystery to us.
1t was another of their secrets which
we were yet to learn.
Mr.. Edison retained his disintogrator
in his hand.
kill him." said some one. "He is
too horrible to live"
eff we do not kill him. we shall
never be able to land upon the asteroid, "
said another.
mo, said Mr.. Edison, "I shall not
kill him. We have got other use for
him. Tom, he concluded, turning to
one of his assistants. whom he had
brought from his laboratory, bring me
the anRsthetizer.
This was something entirely new to
nearly all the members of the expedi-
ton. Mr.. Edison. however. had contided
to me before we left the earth the fact
that he had invented little instrument
ny means of which bubble strongly
charged with powerful anpsthetic
agent could be driven to u considerable
distance into tho face of an enemy.
where, exploding without other dam
age, it would instantly put him to sleep
When Tom lad placed the inStru-
ment in his hands, Mr.. Edison ordered
the electrical ship to forge slightly
ahead and drop n little lower toward
the Marian, who, with watchful eyes
and threatening gestures, noted our ap.
proach in the attitude Of wild beast
on the spring. suddenly Mr.. Edison
discharged from the instrument in his
hand II little gaseous globe, which gilt
tered like ball of tangled rainbows in
the sunshine and darted with astonish-
ing velocity straight into the upturned
face Of the Marian. IL burst as il
touched, and the monster fell hack
senseless upon the ground.
"You have killed himr' exclaimed
all
"No," said Mr.. Edison. she is no,
dead, only asleep. Now we shall drop
down and bind him tight before he can
awake"
When VIC cano 20 bind CUE prisoner
with strong ropes, we were more than
ever impressed with his gigantic stature
and strength Evidently in single com.
bat with equal weapons no would have
been u match for 90 of us.
All that 1 had read of giants had
failed to produce upon my mind the i'm.
preston Of enormous size and tremen-
dous physical energy which the sleep.
ing body of this immense Marian pro.
duced. He had fallen On his back and
was in most profound slumber. All
his features We're relaxed, and yet even
in that condition there was u deviliSh-
ness about him that made the beholders
instinctively shudder.
So powerful was the effect Of the an.
aesthetic which Mr. Edison had dis.
charged into his face that he remained
perfectly unconscious while we turned
him half over i'll order the more secure
| ly to bind his muscular limbs.
| In the meantime the other electrical
ships approached and several of them
made "A landing upon the asteroid. Ev'
erybody was eager to sec this wonderful
, little wcrld, which, as / have already
, remarked, was only five miles i'll diam
eter.
Several Of us from the flagship started
! out hastily to explore the miniature
planet. And now our attention was 70
{ called to an intensely interesting pine
, nomenon which had engaged oul
thoughts not only when we were upor
the moon, but during our flight through
space. This was the almost entire alb
sence Of weight.
On the moon, where the force o.
gravitation is one-sixth as great AS upor
the earth we had found ourselves as
tonishingly light. Fivo.sixths Of oul
own weight and Of tho weight of th'
alright suits in which we were incase6
had magically dropped from US. 1t wa,
therefore comparatively easy for us, III
numbered as we We're, to make our way
about on the moon.
But when we We're far from both thu
earth and the moon the loss Of weigh
was more astonishing still-not aston
ishing because we had not known tina
it would DO so, but nevertheless sur
prising phenomenon in contrast witt
our lifelong experience on the earth.
In open space we We're practicall,
without weight. Only the mass of thu
electrical car in which we were inclosel
attracted us, and inside that We coulC
place ourselves in any position withoo
falling. We could float in the air
There was no up and no down. no tot
and no bottom for us. Stepping outsid
!, the car, it would have been easy for n
to spring away from it and leave it for