Evening public ledger. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1914-1942, 1916-04-13

the other women, remodeled the trRpplngs
TO ft my lesser proportions, and after they
completed the work I went about garbed
in all the panoply of war.
From then on Sola instructed me in the
mysteries Of the various weapons, and
with the Martian young I spent several
hours each day practicing upon the plaza.
I was not yet proficient with all the wea-
pons, but my great familiarity with SIM
liar earthly weapons made me an unusu-
ally apt pupil, and progressed in a very
satisfactory manner
The training Of myself ana the young
Martians was conducted solely by the
women, who not only attend 20 the educa-
| tion of the young in the arts OF individual
| defense and offense, but are also the arti-
sans who produce every manufactured ar
ticle wrought by the green Martians.
They make the powder, the cartridges,
the firearms I'm fact, everything of value
tis produced by the females In time of
actual warfare they form part Of the re-
serves, and, when the necessity arises,
fight with even greater intelligence and
ferocity than the men.
The men are trained in the higher
branches Of the art of war; in strategy,
and the maneuvering of large bodies of
troops. They make the laws as they are
needed; a new law for each emergency
They are unfettered by precedent in the
administration of justice.
Customs have been handed down by
ages of repetition, but the punishment for
ignoring custom Is n matter for indi-
vldual treatment by n jury Of the culprit's
peers, and l may say that justice seldom
misses fire, but seems rather to rule in
inverse ratio to the ascendancy of law
In one respect at least the Martlans are
happy people; they have no lawyers.
did not see the prisoner again for
several days subsequent to our first en-
n a
glimpse of her as she was being conducted
to the great audience chamber where 1
had had my first meeting with Lorauas
Ptomel l could not but note the un-
necessary harshness and brutality with
which her guards treated her: so different
from tho almost maternal kindiness of
Sola toward me- and, In fact the respect
ful attitude of the few green Martians
who took the trouble TO notice me at ALL
| had observed on two occasions that
/ had seen her that the prisoner exchanged
words with her guards and this convinced
me that they spoke. or at least could make
themselves understood, ny common lam
guage. With this added incentive near
ly drove Sola distracted by my importun-
tiles to hasten on my education, and
within a few more days l had mastered
the Marian tongue sufficiently well to
enable me to carry on n passable con-
versation, and to understand virtually all
that ! heard.
At this time our steeplng quarters were
occupied by three or four females and
couple OF the recently hatched young, be-
sides Sola and her beautiful ward, and my
self and Woola, tho hound.
After they had retired for the night 1t
was customary for the adults to carry on
a desultory conversation for n short time
before lapsing into sleep, and now that
I could understand their language l was
always n keen listener, though l never
DrOtfergu remarks mySelf.
on the night following the prisoners
visit to the audience-chamber the conyer-
sation finally fell upon this subject, and
l was all ears on the instant. 1 had feared
to question Sola relative TO the beautiful
captive, as L could not but recall the
strange expression L had noted upon her
race after my first encounter with the
prisoner.
That 1t denoted jealousy could not
say, and yet, judging all things by num-
dane standards as / still did, felt It safer