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

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another Of our ships. trifh all its cree,
1rdS destroyed.
swift adjustment of that one of thoit
engines of war which, as already no.
ticed, seemed to be practically uninjur.
ed, and then there darted from it and
aliRhtcd upon one Of the foremost ships
dazzling lightning stroke mile in
length ut whose touch the metallic
sides of tho car curled and withcred
and, licked for moment by what seem
ed la mbeDt flames, collapsed into n mere
cinder
For an instant not word was spo-
ken, so sudden and unexpected had been
the blow.
We knew that every soul in the
stricken car had persisted.
"Bacls! Back" was the signal in
spontaneously flashed from the flagship,
and, reversing their polarities, the mem.
bers Of the squadron sprang away from
the little planet as rapidly as the cleo
trical impulse could drive them.
But before we were out Of reach q
second flaming tongue Of death shot
from the fearful engine, and another of
our ships, with all its crew, was de-
s,royed
1t was an iRauspicious beginning for
us. Two of our electrical ships, with
their entire crews, had been wiped out
Of existence, and this appalling blow
had been dealt by few stranded and
disabled enemies floating ON an asteroid.
What hope would there be for US
when we came TO encounter the millions
Of Mars itself on their own ground and
prepared for war?
However, it would not do to dcspond.
We had been incautious, and wo should
take good care not to COMMITS tho same
fault again.
The first thing TO do was TO avenge
the death If our comrades Tho question
whether we were able To meet thesci
Martians and overcome them might Nv
well be settled right here and now.
They had proved what they could do
even when disabled and at u disadvan-
tage. Now it was our turn.
The squadron had been rapidly with
drawn to very considerable distance
from the .stcroid. The range of the
mysterious artillery employed by the
Martians was unknown to us. We did
not even know the limit of the effective
range of our own disintogrators, If il
should prove that the Martians were
able to deal their strokes at distance
greater than any which we could reach
then they would Of course have an in
superahle advantage.
On the other hand, II it should turn
out that our range was greater thar
theirs the advantage would DO ON oul
side, or-which was perhaps mOst
probable-there might be practically nC
| difference in the effective range of tho
engines.
Anyhow we were going to find GU,
how the case stood and that without de-
lay.
| Everything being in readiness, the
disintcgrators all in working order, ant
| the men who were able to handle them
most Of whom were experienced marks
mon, chosen from among the officers o
/ the regular army of the United State
and accustomed TO the straight shootin.
ana the sure hits of the west, standing
| at their posts, the squadron again ad
| yanCed
lp order to distract tho attention o
the Martians tho electrical ships haI
been distributed over wide spaco
Some dropped straight down toward III,
asteroid; others approached it by flanl
attack, from this side and that. Tn
flagship moved straight in toward tn
point where the first disaster occurred
It's intrepid commander felt that hi
post should be that of tho greatest dan
ger and where the severest blows woul,
be given and received.
Tho approach of the ships was mad
with great caution. Watching tho Mar
tians with our telescopes we could clear
ly see that they were disconnected b,
the scattered order of cur attack. Evcl
IL I'LL of their engines Of war had beel
in proper condition for use it woul,
have been impossible for them to NEE
the simultaneous assault Of so man,
enemies dropping down upon them iron
the sky.
But they were made of fighting metal
as we knew from cid experience. 1t wa
M question Of surrender. They did no
haow how to surrender, and we did no
know how to demand surrender. BE
sil,s, the destruction of the two cleo
trial ships with the 40 men. many q
whom bore names widely known on tn
earth, had excited a kind of fury anon
the members of the squadron wbic
called for Vengeance.
Suddenly g repetition of the quic
movement by tho Martians which ha
Eecn tho forerunner Of their forme
| coup was observed. Again blindin