The St. Charles herald., 1921-04-02

Sola and had entered a builo'ns
upon the front of the city. IN fact- the
salae one in which had had my en-
counter with the apes and. wishing 10
see what had caused the su0oeh re-
treat, mounted to an upper hoor anu
neered from the window out over the
valley and the hills beyond: and there
| saw the cause of their sudden sour
rying to cover. huge craft. long,
low and gray painted. swung SLOWLY
over the crest of the nearest nil. Foi-
lowing it came another. and ano'her'
and another, until twenty or then'
swinging low above the ground. sailed
slowly and majestically toward US.
Each carried strange banner
swung from stem to stern above the
upper works. and upon the PROV Oh
each was painted some odd device that
cleaned In the sunlight and showed
plainly even at the distance at which
we were from theavessels. couid see
figures crowtiing the forward decks
and upper works OF the aircraft.
Whether they had discovered us or
simply were looking at the deserted
city I could not say. but in any event
thew received rude reception for
suddenly and without warning the
green Martian warriors fired terriiic
volley from the windows OF the buiio-
jngs facing the little valley across
which the great ships were so peace
fully advancing.
Instantly the scene changed as ny
magic: the foremost vessel swiihg
brOadside toward us, and bringing her
guns into play returned our fire at the
same time moving parallel to our front
for short distance and then turning
back with the evident intention. OF
completing a great circle which woHio
bring her up TO position once more
opposite our firing line; the other YES
sells followed In her wake. each one
opening upon us as she swung ihto
nosition. Our own fire never dimin-
ished. and l doubt if 23 per cent OF
o,r shots went wild. II had never
been given me to see such deadly ac-
c,lracy of aim aud II seemed as
though n little figure on one of the
craft dropped Mt the explosion of each
bullet, while the banners and upper
works dissolved in spurts of flame as
! the Tres. .stible projectiles of our war
riors moved through them.
The fire from the vessels was most
;neffectual, owing. as ! atterWard
!earned. to the unexpected Suddenness
of the first volley. which caught the
ships crews entirely unpreparei and
the sighting apparatus OF the guns M
| protected from the deadly aim of our
| warriors.
Twenty minutes after the first vol
| lev the great feet swung trailing OF
| I'm the direction from which ii had
| first appeared Several of the craft
were limning perceptibly. and seemed
hut barely under the control of their
| den!eted crews Their fire had ceased
| entirely and all their energies seemed
| focused upon escape. Our warriors
then rushed 40 TO the roofs of tho
buildings which we occupied and fol-
| lowed the retreating armada with a
| continuous fnsilade of deadly fire.
One by one. however, the ships man
| 1red 70 din below the crests of the
| OUTLYING hlls until only one barely
| moving craft was I'm sight. This had
| received the brunr of our fire and
seemed TO he entirely unnamed. sas
not moving figure was visible upon
her decks. Slowly she swung from
| her course circling hack toward us in
| an erratic and Ditiful manner. In
stanrly the warriors ceased firing. for
II YVES quite anparent that the vessel
| was entirely helpless and. far from
being in position to inf1lct harm
| unon us. she col,l,l not even control
herself sufficiently to escape.
1 AS she neared the city the warriors
rushed ont upon the plain to meet her
bn, II WAS evident that she still was
roo high for them to hope to reach hel
decks
| She was drifting some fifty fee
above the ground. followed bv all hut
some hundred nf the warriors who
had heen ordered hack TO the roofs
| ls1 cONoE TIE I"t~~ttfs'ttS vi I" iS'ot - VI
the fleet or for re- endorsements.
4 As the craft reared the building
and JUST before she struck. the Mar
tian warriors swar,ned upon .her from
i the windows. and with their .grea
spears eascd ihe shock of the COLI
sion. and In few moments they has
thrown ont graphing hooks and th'
big hoat was being hauled to grount
by their fellows below.
After making her fast, sthe,
swarned the sides and searched III,
vessel from stem to stern. ! could SCI
them examining the dead sailors. eyi
IDENTIFY for signs of life. and PRESENT.!
party of .hem appeared from below
dragging little figure among them
The creature was considerably les
than half as tall as the green Martia,
| warriors. and from my balcony coul,
see that II walked erect upon two leg
and snrmise1 that II was some nev
and strange Marian mnnstrosity will
which had not as yet become ac
Z quainted.