The Connecticut labor news., 1921-05-06

l could not understand Te then stopped as though waiting for my reply, pricking up his antennae-like ears and cooking his strange-looking eyes still further toward me.
 As the silence became painful I concluded to hazard a little conversa- ton on my own part, as l had guessed that he was making overtures of peace.
 Stretching my hand toward him advanced and took the armlet from his open palm, clasping 1t about my arm above the elbow; smiled at him and stood waiting. His wide mouth spread into an answering smile, and locking one of his intermediary arms in mine we turned and walked back toward his mount. At the same time he motiOned his followers to advance.
 He exchanged a few words with his men, motioned to me that I would ride behind one of them, and then mounted his own animal. The fellow desig- mated reached down two or three hands and lifted me up behind him on the glossy back of his mount, where I hung on as best I could by the belts and straps which held the Martian's weapons and ornaments.
 The entire cavalcade then turned and galloped away toward the range of hills in the distance.
 In a short time we gained the foot of the mountains, and after traversfng a narrow gorge came to an open val ley, at the far extremity of which was low tableland upon which I beheld an enormous city Toward this we galloped, entering 1t by what appeared to be a ruined roadway leading out from the city, but only to the edge of the tableland, where 1t ended abrupt ly in a flight of broad steps.
 Upon closer observation I saw as we passed them that the buildings were deserted, and while not greatly decayed had the appearance of not having been tenanted for years, pos sibly for ages. Toward the center of the city was a large plaza, and upon this and in the buildings immediately surrounding 1t were camped some nine or ten hundred creatures of the same breed as my captors, for such I now considered them, despite the suave manner in which I had been trapped.
 With the exception of their Orna- ments all were naked. The women varied in appearance but little from the men, except that their tusks were much larger in proportion to their height, in some instances curving near ly to their high-set ears. The adult females ranged in height from ten to twelve feet.
 The children were light in color, even lighter than the women, and all that some were taller than others i; older, presumed.
 saw no signs of extreme age among them, nor Is there any appreciable diff ference in their appearance from the age of maturity, about forty, until, at about the age of one thousand years, they go voluntarily upon their last strange pilgrimage down the river Iss, which leads no living Martian knows whither and from whose bosom no Martian has ever returned, or would be allowed to live did he return after once embarking upon its cold, dark waters.
 Only about one Martian in a thou sand dies of sickness or disease, and possibly about twenty take the volun- tary pilgrimage. The other nine hun- dred and seventy-nine die violent deaths in duels, in hunting, in aviation and in war; but perhaps by far the greatest death loss comes during the age of childhood, when vast numbers of the little Martians fall victims to the great white apes of Mars.
 AS we neared the plaza and my presence was discovered we were inn mediately surrounded by hundreds of the creatures, who seemed anxious to pluck me from my seat behind the guard. A word from the leader of the party stilled their c1amor, and we pro- ceeded at a trot across the plaza to the entrance of as magnificent an edifice as mortal eye has rested upon.
 The building was low, but covered an enormous area. It was constructed of gleaming white marble inlaid with gold and brilliant stones which spar kled and scintillatsd in the sunlight. There was no stairway, but a gentle incline to the first floor of the building opened into an enormous chamber en- circled by galleries.
 On the floor of this chamber, which was dotted with highly carved wooden desks and chairs, were assembled about forty or fifty male Martians around the steps of rostrum. On the platform proper squatted an enor- nous warrior heavily loaded with metal ornaments, gay-cOlored feathers and beautifully wrought leather trap pings ingeniously set with precious stones.
 What struck me as most remarkable about this assemblage and the hall in which they were cOngregated was the fact that the creatures were entirely out of proportion to the desks. chairs, and other furnishings, these being of a size adapted to human beings such as I, whereas the great bulks of the Martians could scarcely have squeezed into the chairs, nor was there room beneath the desks for their long legs. Evidently, then, there were other deni- zenS on Mars than the wild and gro tesque creatures into whose hands I had fallen.
 Our party had halted at the en- trance to the building and at a sign from the leader I had been lowered &0