Mountain Home Republican. [volume] (Mountain Home, Idaho) 1915-1946, 1923-01-06
CHAPTER II.
MY Advent on Mars.

NlNuth my eyes upon NtlttihN
and weird landscape. / knew that
was on Mars not once did I question
either my sanity or my waSefulness
1t was midday, the sun was shining
fun upon me and the heat Of It was
rather intense upon my naked body
yet no greater than would have been
/ true under similar conditions on an
Arizona desert.
] little to my left, perhaps a hun
dred yards, appeared a low, walled
enclosure about four feet in height.
No water, and no other vegetation
than moss was in evidence, and as
was somewhat thirsty I determined to
do a little exploring
Springing TO my feet / received my
first Marian surprise for the effort,
which on Earth would have brought
me standing upright, carried me into
the Marian air to the height Of about
three yards. alighted softly upon
the ground however, without appre-
ciable shock on jar. Now commenced
a series of evolutlons which even then
seemed udicrous In the extreme, My
muscles, perfectly attuned and accus-
toned to the force Of gravity on
Earth. played the mischief with me in
attempting for the first time to cope
with the lesser grayIation and lower
air pressure on Mars.
I was determined however, TO ex-
plore the low structure which was the
only evidence Of habltatlon In sight,
and so / hit upon the unique plan Of
reyerting to first principles IN locomo-
ton, creeping. did fairly well ut
this and IN a few moments had
reached the low enclrcling wall Of the
enclosure. I cautiously gained my feet
and peered over the top upon the
strongest sight 1t had ever been given
re 10 see.
The roof Of the enclosure was
saiid glass about four or FIVE inches
in thickness. and beneath this were
several hundred large eggs perfectly
round and snowy white. The eggs
were nearly uniform In size being
about two and one-half feet in diane
ter.
Five or six had already Matched
and the grotesque caricatures which
sat blinking IN the sunlight were
enough TO cause me TO doubt my san
ity. They seemed mostly head, with
little scrawny bodies, long necSs and
six legs, or, as 7 afterward learned,
two legs and two arms, with an inter
medlary pair of limbs which could be
used at win either as arms or legs
Their eyes were set at the extreme
sides of their heads a trife above the
center and prOtruded in such a man
ner that they could be directed either
forward or back and also independents
ly Of each other, thus permitting this
queer animal to look I'm any direction,
or in two directions at once, without
the necessity of turning the head.
There was no hair on their bodies,
which we're Of a very light yellow
green color. In the adults as ! was
to learn quite soon. this color deepens
to an olive green and is darker in the
male than IN the female.
The iris Of the eyes is blood red, as
In Albinos, while the pupil is dark |
The eyeball itself IS very white, as
are the teeth. These latter add a most |
ferocious appearance TO an otherwise |
fearsome and terrible countenance. as
the lower tusks curve upward to sharp |
points which end about where the eyes
Of earthly human beings are located
The whiteness Of the teeth is not that
Of ivory but of the snowlest and most
cleaning Of china.
I was given but little time to specu-
late on the wonders Of my new dis
covery. had seen that the eggs were
In the process Of Matching, and as /
stood watching the hldeous little mon
STEERS break from their shells failed
10 note The approach of a score Of
ullgrown Mnrtians from behind me.
They might have captured me easily.
but tbeir intentions were far more
sinister. II was the rafting of the
Of the foremost war
-ior which warned me. Had not the
life Of the leader of the party swung
from It's fastenngs beside his saddle
IN such a way as TO strike against the
lutt of his great metal-shOd spear I
should have snuffed out without ever
mowlng that death was near me But
he little sound caused me to turn,
md there upon me. not ten feet from
ny breast. was the point Of that huge
pear, a spear forty feet long tipped
With cleaning metal, and held low at :
ne side Of a mounted replica OF the r
title devils I had been watching
But how puny and harmless they
low looked beside this huge and ter
fife incarnation Of hate, Of vengeance,
nd Of death The man himself, for
uch / may call him, was fully fifteen
eet IN height and, on earth, would
ave weighed some four hundred !
ounds ::
And his mount How can earthly I
-ords describe I'll II lowered ten feet ::
I the shoulder; had -four legs on I
ither side bread fat tail, larger at !
he ZIP than nj tie root, and which !:
held straight ont behind while rum I
lne gaping moHth which split Its !
cad from its snuut to its long mas .