The Brattleboro reformer. (Brattleboro, Vt.) 1907-1912, 1910-06-03
THE WINNING STORY.
Mars, As I Saw 1t.
(By Marion Grout, IA, Gill, Mass.)

(By Marion Grout, IA, Giii, Mass
II was bed time but l wasn't sleepy,
so | pulled chair up to an open wihdo"
and said to my sister: .
aPm not a bit sleepy, so I'm going to
sit here until the night air makes me
sleepy. Don't blow out the light, be-
cause | may want to read.
But instead of reading l looked out Oh
THE window. How calm and peaceful "
all was, | thought. The stars all seemed
TO be shining and a full moon was max
| ina everything look like day; saw !.
star that l thought must be Mars on II
| the distance and remembered what l naa
heard that some people had said-how
they believed that there were human DC
ings there. 1t didn't seem possible 70
mo, it can't be true" said aloud
@But it isl" said some one sharply, !
looked around thinking my. sister had
spoken, but she hadn't. Then, looked
opt Of the window. There stood man
on our porch roof. Now although l was
frightened, | didn't like to be disputed,
so | answered: :. ~, .horo
and let me see. Let's see you; ~,
VERY well, come" and he held out his
/ Igasped-then laughed. OF course, ne
was Joking. but | had something else 10
do I looked at him more closely. ne was
man about forty years old, ! thougn.,
he was really quite good looking; ne ne
lacked intelligent and had on clothes OF
the best kind. But | wondered now ne
ever came to be standing on our porch
roof. But should go with him! !, -.
"Yes! All right" | said, ana heid o"'
my hand. ;ndov and
,ed me to an air ship. I stepped into IT,
I. w n a cozy little air ship, quite differ
ont from the ordinary-though, ! never
saw one There were couches there WIN
,'ion+v NJ sofa pillows on them, magazines
near by and, best of all, dainty boxes Oh
chocolates. .h and took
some chocolates while he started the ma ma
e ob;ne Then the air ship started. UP,
up, up we went. a., ,,,od
"Why. to Mars, where | came from.
"Yom came from Mars" -,
re nodded. / looked at him with greatt
respect. "My goodness me! was al ina t%e
ea rtblu W. W. were certainly leaving it, it,
And up, up, past the ci0ua' anl
went. -. - hreatbe nv
and By" I thought, But Juss ;n .mea and
made a discovery. There were pipes and
. small engine over in the corner anu
oxvaen was really coming from the pipes;
~ sow how puzzled | looked and SAID
briefly: -,
ru nS he didn't seemed inclined to be
laxative, / said nothing more put iea ;nto
lam taiHa" nn the cushions and looked INTO
DaoM r. was then that / realized tne
s spps;rh+fr1 sensation of rushing through
thn ar And how beautiful it an was!
H., + mean the stars and the deep
hi,,e Of the sky. Little by little my nead
began to nod and I went to sleep anu
vas VAS dreaming of birds and clouds ~nen
smddenly-bump, and ;, ,;do
"Here we are at Mars" SAID my gulue,
AS YOU may suppose, Jump Mars
quickly. 1t was day time i heIe ~ around
now. On every side az l .oo onJ houses:
: ! sam everything was strange. The lano
i .aomed to be irrigated, however, by
seemieu GLOW strange" I thought; But
canais. lido ied me through a bit OF
my ,,nt su,u1 IN the long, wide streets OF
cry sFhere were no skyscrapers here, a.,
were low buildings-there was no , nolse
and and no dust. The people who were y; h %aln
ing on the sidewalks were no. ,, II intro
and all looked happy; NY byga s sncS funny
desd to .sas Wanted mhsg ha to laugh
r ,U they felt like laughing at n inn.
when they spoke it was IN 2 s.daIt into
guage, but my guide tr ans was dressed
English nn,e a0f but lovely clothes of soft, rich
in nn,a Simple Even the poorest seemed tG 9e
dressed dress we're wen any really poor people he
snsIe NO. the government attends 10
them