The Aberdeen weekly., 1921-03-04

their bones are very large and they
are muscled only in pronnrtiol TO the
gravitation which they must overcome.
The result is that they are infinitely
less agile and less powerful, in pro-
portion to their weight, than an Earth
man. and / doubt that were one of
them suddenly TO be transported TO
Earth he could lift his own weight
from the ground in fact, l am con-
vinced that ne could not do so.
Ny feat, then, was as marvellous up
on Mars as it would have been upon
Earth. and from desiring to annihilate
me they suddenly looked upon me as
4 wonderful discovery to be captured
and exhibited among their fellows
I noted that each was armed With
several other weapons in addition to
the huge spear which ! have described.
The weapon which caused me TO de-
eide against an attempt ut escape by
fight was what was evidently a rife
Of some description and which. l felt.
for some reason. they We're peculiarly
efficient in handling.
These rifles were of 4 white metal
stocked with wood, which ! learned
later was a very light and intensely
hard growth much priced on Mars.
and entirely unknown TO US denizens
Of Earth The metal of the barrel
is an alloy composed principally of
aluminium and steel which they have
learned TO temper TO a hardness far
exceeding that of the steel with which
we are familiar The weight Of these
with
the small caliber, explosive, radium
protectiles which they use and the
great length of the barrel, they are
deadly i'm the extreme and at ranges
which would be unthinkable on Earth.
The theoretic effective radius of this
rifle is three hundred miles, but the
best they can do in actual service
when equipped with their wireless
finders and sighters is but trifie
over two hundred miles.
The Martians, after conversing for
short time. turned and rode away
in the direction from which they had
come, leaving one of their number
alone by the enclosure. When they
had covered perhaps two hundred
yards they halted and turning their
mounts toward us sat watching the
warrior by the enclosure.
When his force had come to a halt
he dismOunted, threw down his spear
and small arms and came around the
end Of the incubator toward me. en-
tirely unarmed and as naked as L,
except for the ornaments strapped up
on his head, limbs and breast
When he was within about fifty feet
of me he unclasped an enormous met
al armlet and holding it toward me in
the open palm of his hand. addressed
me In a clear. resonant voice. but in
a language, 1t is needless to say,
could not understand. He 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
concluded to hazard a little conversa-
tion on my own part, as | had guessed
that he was making overtures of
peace.
Stretching my hand toward him /
advanced and took the armlet from
his open palm, clasping IL 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 few words with his
men. motiOned TO me that l would ride
behind one of them, and then mounted
his own animal. The fellow desig-
mated ,reached down two or three