Chapter 1
Dare I say it? Dare I say that I, a plain, prosaic lieutenant in therepublican service have done the incredible things here set out for the loveof a woman--for a chimera in female shape; for a pale, vapid ghost ofwoman-loveliness? At times I tell myself I dare not: that you will laugh,and cast me aside as a fabricator; and then again I pick up my pen andcollect the scattered pages, for I MUST write it--the pallid splendour ofthat thing I loved, and won, and lost is ever before me, and will not beforgotten. The tumult of the struggle into which that vision led me stillthrobs in my mind, the soft, lisping voices of the planet I ransacked for itssake and the roar of the destruction which followed me back from thequest drowns all other sounds in my ears! I must and will write--itrelieves me; read and believe as you list.
　　At the moment this story commences I was thinking of grill- ed steakand tomatoes--steak crisp and brown on both sides, and tomatoes red as asetting sun!
　　Much else though I have forgotten, THAT fact remains as clear as thelast sight of a well-remembered shore in the mind of some wave-tossedtraveller. And the occasion which produced that prosaic thought was anight well calculated to make one think of supper and fireside, though theone might be frugal and the other lonely, and as I, Gulliver Jones, the poorforesaid Navy lieutenant, with the honoured stars of our Republic on mycollar, and an undeserved snub from those in authority rankling in myheart, picked my way homeward by a short cut through the dismalness of aNew York slum I longed for steak and stout, slippers and a pipe, with allthe pathetic keenness of a troubled soul.
　　It was a wild, black kind of night, and the weirdness of it showed up asI passed from light to light or crossed the mouths of dim alleys leadingHeaven knows to what infernal dens of mystery and crime even in thislatter-day city of ours. The moon was up as far as the church steeples;large vapoury clouds scudding across the sky between us and her, and astrong, gusty wind, laden with big raindrops snarled angrily round cornersand sighed in the parapets like strange voices talking about things not of human interest.
　　It made no difference to me, of course. New York in this year ofgrace is not the place for the supernatural be the time never so fit forwitch-riding and the night wind in the chimney-stacks sound never somuch like the last gurgling cries of throttled men. No! the world wasvery matter-of-fact, and particularly so to me, a poor younger son withfive dollars in my purse by way of fortune, a packet of unpaid bills in mybreastpocket, and round my neck a locket with a portrait therein of thatdear buxom, freckled, stub-nosed girl away in a little southern seaporttown whom I thought I loved with a magnificent affection. Gods! I hadnot even touched the fringe of that affliction.
　　Thus sauntering along moodily, my chin on my chest and much tooabsorbed in reflection to have any nice apprecia- tion of what washappening about me, I was crossing in front of a dilapidated block ofhouses, dating back nearly to the time of the Pilgrim Fathers, when I had avague consciousness of something dark suddenly sweeping by me-- athing like a huge bat, or a solid shadow, if such a thing could be, and thenext instant there was a thud and a bump, a bump again, a half-stifled cry,and then a hurried vision of some black carpeting that flapped and shookas though all the winds of Eblis were in its folds, and then apparentlydisgorged from its inmost recesses a little man.
　　Before my first start of half-amused surprise was over I saw him bythe flickering lamp-light clutch at space as he tried to steady himself,stumble on the slippery curb, and the next moment go down on the back ofhis head with a most ugly thud.
　　Now I was not destitute of feeling, though it had been my lot to seemen die in many ways, and I ran over to that motionless form without anidea that anything but an ordinary accident had occurred. There he lay,silent and, as it turned out afterwards, dead as a door-nail, the strangest oldfellow ever eyes looked upon, dressed in shabby sorrel- coloured clothesof antique cut, with a long grey beard upon his chin, pent-roof eyebrows,and a wizened complexion so puckered and tanned by exposure to Heavenonly knew what weathers that it was impossible to guess his nationality.
　　I lifted him up out of the puddle of black blood in which he was lying,  and his head dropped back over my arm as though it had been fixed to hisbody with string alone. There was neither heart-beat nor breath in him,and the last flicker of life faded out of that gaunt face even as I watched.
　　It was not altogether a pleasant situation, and the only thing to do appearedto be to get the dead man into proper care (though little good it could dohim now!) as speedily as possible. So, sending a chance passer-by intothe main street for a cab, I placed him into it as soon as it came, and therebeing nobody else to go, got in with him myself, telling the driver at thesame time to take us to the nearest hospital.
　　"Is this your rug, captain?" asked a bystander just as we were drivingoff.
　　"Not mine," I answered somewhat roughly. "You don't suppose I goabout at this time of night with Turkey carpets under my arm, do you? Itbelongs to this old chap here who has just dropped out of the skies on tohis head; chuck it on top and shut the door!" And that rug, the verymain- spring of the startling things which followed, was thus care- lesslythrown on to the carriage, and off we went.
　　Well, to be brief, I handed in that stark old traveller from nowhere atthe hospital, and as a matter of curiosity sat in the waiting-room while theyexamined him. In five minutes the house-surgeon on duty came in to seeme, and with a shake of his head said briefly-"Gone, sir--clean gone! Broke his neck like a pipe-stem. Moststrange-looking man, and none of us can even guess at his age. Not afriend of yours, I suppose?""Nothing whatever to do with me, sir. He slipped on the pavementand fell in front of me just now, and as a mat- ter of common charity Ibrought him in here. Were there any means of identification on him?""None whatever," answered the doctor, taking out his notebook and, asa matter of form, writing down my name and address and a few briefparticulars, "nothing what- ever except this curious-looking bead hunground his neck by a blackened thong of leather," and he handed me a thingabout as big as a filbert nut with a loop for suspension and apparently ofrock crystal, though so begrimed and dull its nature was difficult to speakof with certainty. The bead was of no seeming value and slipped  unintentionally into my waistcoat pocket as I chatted for a few minutesmore with the doctor, and then, shaking hands, I said goodbye, and wentback to the cab which was still waiting outside.
　　It was only on reaching home I noticed the hospital porters hadomitted to take the dead man's carpet from the roof of the cab when theycarried him in, and as the cab- man did not care about driving back to thehospital with it, and it could not well be left in the street, I somewhatreluctantly carried it indoors with me.
　　Once in the shine of my own lamp and a cigar in my mouth I had acloser look at that ancient piece of art work from heaven, or the otherplace, only knows what ancient loom.
　　A big, strong rug of faded Oriental colouring, it covered half the floorof my sitting-room, the substance being of a material more like camel'shair than anything else, and run- ning across, when examined closely, weresome dark fibres so long and fine that surely they must have come fromthe tail of Solomon's favourite black stallion itself. But the strangestthing about that carpet was its pattern. It was threadbare enough to allconscience in places, yet the design still lived in solemn, age-wasted hues,and, as I dragged it to my stove-front and spread it out, it seemed to methat it was as much like a star map done by a scribe who had latelyrecovered from delirium tremens as anything else. In the centre appeareda round such as might be taken for the sun, while here and there, "in thefield," as heralds say, were lesser orbs which from their size and positioncould represent smaller worlds circling about it. Between these orbswere dotted lines and arrow-heads of the oldest form pointing in alldirections, while all the intervening spaces were filled up with wovencharacters half-way in appearance between Runes and Cryptic-Sanskrit.
　　Round the borders these characters ran into a wild maze, a perfect jungleof an alphabet through which none but a wizard could have forced a wayin search of meaning.
　　Altogether, I thought as I kicked it out straight upon my floor, it wasa strange and not unhandsome article of furniture--it would do nicely forthe mess-room on the Carolina, and if any representatives of yonderpoor old fel- low turned up tomorrow, why, I would give them a couple of  dollars for it. Little did I guess how dear it would be at any price!
　　Meanwhile that steak was late, and now that the tempor- aryexcitement of the evening was wearing off I fell dull again. What a dark,sodden world it was that frowned in on me as I moved over to the windowand opened it for the benefit of the cool air, and how the wind howledabout the roof tops. How lonely I was! What a fool I had been to askfor long leave and come ashore like this, to curry favour with a set ofstubborn dunderheads who cared nothing for me--or Polly, and could notor would not understand how important it was to the best interests of theService that I should get that promotion which alone would send me backto her an eligible wooer! What a fool I was not to have volunteered forsome desperate service instead of wast- ing time like this! Then at leastlife would have been interesting; now it was dull as ditch-water, withwretched vistas of stagnant waiting between now and that joyful day whenI could claim that dear, rosy-checked girl for my own. What a fool I hadbeen!
　　"I wish, I wish," I exclaimed, walking round the little room, "I wish Iwere--"While these unfinished exclamations were actually passing my lips Ichanced to cross that infernal mat, and it is no more startling than true, butat my word a quiver of expectation ran through that gaunt web--a rustle ofantici- pation filled its ancient fabric, and one frayed corner surged up, andas I passed off its surface in my stride, the sentence still unfinished on mylips, wrapped itself about my left leg with extraordinary swiftness and soeffectively that I nearly fell into the arms of my landlady, who opened thedoor at the moment and came in with a tray and the steak and tomatoesmentioned more than once already.
　　It was the draught caused by the opening door, of course, that hadmade the dead man's rug lift so strangely-- what else could it have been?
　　I made this apology to the good woman, and when she had set the tableand closed the door took another turn or two about my den, con-tinuing asI did so my angry thoughts.
　　"Yes, yes," I said at last, returning to the stove and taking my stand,hands in pockets, in front of it, "anything were better than this, any  enterprise however wild, any adventure however desperate. Oh, I wish Iwere anywhere but here, anywhere out of this redtape-ridden world of ours!
　　I WISH I WERE IN THE PLANET MARS!"How can I describe what followed those luckless words? Even as Ispoke the magic carpet quivered responsively under my feet, and anundulation went all round the fringe as though a sudden wind wereshaking it. It humped up in the middle so abruptly that I came downsitting with a shock that numbed me for the moment. It threw me on myback and billowed up round me as though I were in the trough of a stormysea. Quicker than I can write it lapped a corner over and rolled me in itsfolds like a chrysalis in a cocoon. I gave a wild yell and made one franticstruggle, but it was too late. With the leathery strength of a giant and theswiftness of an accomplished cigar- roller covering a "core" with leaf, itswamped my efforts, straightened my limbs, rolled me over, lapped me infold after fold till head and feet and everything were gone-- crushed lifeand breath back into my innermost being, and then, with the last particleof consciousness, I felt myself lifted from the floor, pass once round theroom, and finally shoot out, point foremost, into space through the openwindow, and go up and up and up with a sound of rending atmospheresthat seemed to tear like riven silk in one pro- longed shriek under my head,and to close up in thunder astern until my reeling senses could stand it nolonger. and time and space and circumstances all lost their meaning tome.
Chapter 2
How long that wild rush lasted I have no means of judging. It mayhave been an hour, a day, or many days, for I was throughout in a state ofsuspended animation, but presently my senses began to return and withthem a sensa- tion of lessening speed, a grateful relief to a heavy pressurewhich had held my life crushed in its grasp, without destroy- ing itcompletely. It was just that sort of sensation though more keen which,drowsy in his bunk, a traveller feels when he is aware, without specialperception, harbour is reached and a voyage comes to an end. But in mycase the slowing down was for a long time comparative. Yet thesensation served to revive my scattered senses, and just as I wasawakening to a lively sense of amazement, an incredible doubt of my ownemotions, and an eager desire to know what had happened, my strangeconveyance oscillated once or twice, undulated lightly up and down, like awood- pecker flying from tree to tree, and then grounded, bows first,rolled over several times, then steadied again, and, coming at last to rest,the next minute the infernal rug opened, quiver- ing along all its borders inits peculiar way, and humping up in the middle shot me five feet into theair like a cat tossed from a schoolboy's blanket.
　　As I turned over I had a dim vision of a clear light like the shine ofdawn, and solid ground sloping away below me. Upon that slope wasranged a crowd of squatting people, and a staid-looking individual with hisback turned stood nearer by. Afterwards I found he was lecturing allthose sitters on the ethics of gravity and the inherent properties of fallingbodies; at the moment I only knew he was directly in my line as Idescended, and him round the waist I seized, giddy with the light and freshair, waltzed him down the slope with the force of my impetus, and,tripping at the bottom, rolled over and over recklessly with him sheer intothe arms of the gaping crowd below. Over and over we went into thethickest mass of bodies, making a way through the people, until at last wecame to a stop in a perfect mound of writhing forms and waving legs andarms. When we had done the mass disentangled itself and I was able toraise my head from the shoulder of someone on whom I had fallen, lifting  him, or her--which was it?--into a sitting posture alongside of me at thesame time, while the others rose about us like wheat-stalks after a storm,and edged shyly off, as well as they might.
　　Such a sleek, slim youth it was who sat up facing me, with a flush ofgentle surprise on his face, and dapper hands that felt cautiously about hisanatomy for injured places. He looked so quaintly rueful yet withal sogood- tempered that I could not help bursting into laughter in spite of myown amazement. Then he laughed too, a sedate, musical chuckle, andsaid something incomprehensible, point- ing at the same time to a cutupon my finger that was bleed- ing a little. I shook my head, meaningthereby that it was nothing, but the stranger with graceful solicitude tookmy hand, and, after examining the hurt, deliberately tore a strip of clothfrom a bright yellow toga-like garment he was wearing and bound theplace up with a woman's tenderness.
　　Meanwhile, as he ministered, there was time to look about me.
　　Where was I? It was not the Broadway; it was not Staten Island on aSaturday afternoon. The night was just over, and the sun on the point ofrising. Yet it was still shadowy all about, the air being marvellously tepidand pleasant to the senses. Quaint, soft aromas like the breath of a newworld--the fragrance of unknown flowers, and the dewy scent of never-trodden fields drifted to my nostrils; and to my ears came a sound oflaughter scarcely more human than the murmur of the wind in the trees,and a pretty undulating whisper as though a great concourse of peoplewere talking softly in their sleep. I gazed about scarcely knowing howmuch of my senses or surroundings were real and how much fanciful, untilI presently be- came aware the rosy twilight was broadening into day, andunder the increasing shine a strange scene was fashion- ing itself.
　　At first it was an opal sea I looked on of mist, shot along its uppersurface with the rosy gold and pinks of dawn. Then, as that soft,translucent lake ebbed, jutting hills came through it, black and crimson,and as they seemed to mount into the air other lower hills showed throughthe veil with rounded forest knobs till at last the brightening day dispelled the mist, and as the rosy-coloured gauzy fragments went slowlyfloating away a wonderfully fair country lay at my feet, with a broad sea  glimmering in many arms and bays in the distance beyond. It was alldim and unreal at first, the mountains shadowy, the ocean unreal, theflowery fields be- tween it and me vacant and shadowy.
　　Yet were they vacant? As my eyes cleared and day brightened stillmore, and I turned my head this way and that, it presently dawned uponme all the meadow cop- pices and terraces northwards of where I lay, allthat blue and spacious ground I had thought to be bare and vacant, werealive with a teeming city of booths and tents; now I came to look moreclosely there was a whole town upon the slope, built as might be in a nightof boughs and branches still unwithered, the streets and ways of that cityin the shadows thronged with expectant people moving in groups andshifting to and fro in lively streams--chatting at the stalls and clusteringround the tent doors in soft, gauzy, parti-coloured crowds in a way bothfascinating and per-plexing.
　　I stared about me like a child at its first pantomime, dimlyunderstanding all I saw was novel, but more allured to the colour and lifeof the picture than concerned with its exact meaning; and while I staredand turned my finger was bandaged, and my new friend had been lispingaway to me without getting anything in turn but a shake of the head.
　　This made him thoughtful, and thereon followed a curious incident whichI cannot explain. I doubt even whether you will believe it; but what am Ito do in that case? You have already accepted the episode of my coming, or you would have shut the covers before arriving at this page of mymodest narrative, and this emboldens me. I may strengthen my claim onyour credulity by pointing out the extraordinary marvels which science isteaching you even on our own little world. To quote a single instance: Ifany one had declared ten years ago that it would shortly be practicable andeasy for two persons to converse from shore to shore across the Atlanticwithout any intervening medium, he would have been laughed at as apossibly amusing but certainly extravagant romancer. Yet that picturesque lie of yesterday is amongst the accomplished facts of today!
　　Therefore I am encouraged to ask your in- dulgence, in the name of yourprevious errors, for the following and any other instances in which I mayappear to trifle with strict veracity. There is no such thing as the  impossible in our universe!
　　When my friendly companion found I could not under- stand him, helooked serious for a minute or two, then shortened his brilliant yellow toga,as though he had ar- rived at some resolve, and knelt down directly infront of me. He next took my face between his hands, and putting hisnose within an inch of mine, stared into my eyes with all his might. Atfirst I was inclined to laugh, but before long the most curious sensationstook hold of me. They commenced with a thrill which passed all up mybody, and next all feeling save the consciousness of the loud beating of myheart ceased. Then it seemed that boy's eyes were inside my head andnot outside, while along with them an intangible something pervaded mybrain. The sensation at first was like the application of ether to the skin--acool, numbing emotion. It was followed by a curious tingling feeling, assome dormant cells in my mind answered to the thought-transfer, and werefilled and fertil- ised! My other brain-cells most distinctly felt thevitalising of their companions, and for about a minute I experi- encedextreme nausea and a headache such as comes from over-study, thoughboth passed swiftly off. I presume that in the future we shall all obtainknowledge in this way. The Professors of a later day will perhaps keepshops for the sale of miscellaneous information, and we shall drop in andbe inflated with learning just as the bicyclist gets his tire pumped up, orthe motorist is recharged with electricity at so much per unit.
　　Examinations will then become matters of capacity in the real meaning ofthat word, and we shall be tempted to invest our pocket-money byadvertisements of "A cheap line in Astrology," "Try our double-strength,two- minute course of Classics," "This is remnant day for Trig- onometryand Metaphysics," and so on.
　　My friend did not get as far as that. With him the process did nottake more than a minute, but it was startling in its results, and reduced meto an extraordinary state of hypnotic receptibility. When it was over myinstructor tapped with a finger on my lips, uttering aloud as he did so thewords-"Know none; know some; know little; know morel" again and again;and the strangest part of it is that as he spoke I did know at first a little,  then more, and still more, by swift accumulation, of his speech andmeaning. In fact, when pre- sently he suddenly laid a hand over my eyesand then let go of my head with a pleasantly put question as to how I felt, Ihad no difficulty whatever in answering him in his own tongue, and rosefrom the ground as one gets from a hair-dresser's chair, with a vague ideaof looking round for my hat and offering him his fee.
　　"My word, sir!" I said, in lisping Martian, as I pulled down my cuffsand put my cravat straight, "that was a quick process. I once heard of aman who learnt a language in the moments he gave each day to having hisboots blacked; but this beats all. I trust I was a docile pupil?""Oh, fairly, sir," answered the soft, musical voice of the strange beingby me; "but your head is thick and your brain tough. I could have taughtanother in half the time.""Curiously enough," was my response, "those are almost the verywords with which my dear old tutor dismissed me the morning I leftcollege. Never mind, the thing is done. Shall I pay you anything?""I do not understand.""Any honorarium, then? Some people understand one word and notthe other." But the boy only shook his head in answer.
　　Strangely enough, I was not greatly surprised all this time either at thenovelty of my whereabouts or at the hypnotic instruction in a newlanguage just received. Per- haps it was because my head still spun toogiddily with that flight in the old rug for much thought; perhaps be- causeI did not yet fully realise the thing that had happened. But, anyhow, thereis the fact, which, like so many others in my narrative, must, alas! remainunexplained for the moment. The rug, by the way, had completely disappeared, my friend comforting me on this score, however, by saying he hadseen it rolled up and taken away by one whom he knew.
　　"We are very tidy people here, stranger," he said, "and everythingfound Lying about goes back to the Palace store- rooms. You will laughto see the lumber there, for few of us ever take the trouble to reclaim ourproperty."Heaven knows I was in no laughing mood when I saw that enchantedweb again!
　　When I had lain and watched the brightening scene for a time, I got up,and having stretched and shaken my clothes into some sort of order, westrolled down the hill and joined the light-hearted crowds that twinedacross the plain and through the streets of their city of booths. They werethe prettiest, daintiest folk ever eyes looked upon, well-formed and like tous as could be in the main, but slender and willowy, so dainty and light,both the men and the women, so pretty of cheek and hair, so mild of aspect,I felt, as I strode amongst them, I could have plucked them like flowersand bound them up in bunches with my belt. And yet somehow I likedthem from the first minute; such a happy, careless, light-hearted race,again I say, never was seen before. There was not a stain of thought orcare on a single one of those white foreheads that eddied round me undertheir peaked, blossom-like caps, the perpetual smile their faces wore neversuffered rebuke anywhere; their very movements were graceful and slow,their laughter was low and musical, there was an odour of friendly,slothful happiness about them that made me admire whether I would orno.
　　Unfortunately I was not able to live on laughter, as they appeared to be,so presently turning to my acquaintance, who had told me his name wasthe plain monosyllabic An, and clapping my hand on his shoulder as hestood lost in sleepy reflection, said, in a good, hearty way, "Hullo, friendYellow-jerkin! If a stranger might set himself athwart the cheerfulcurrent of your meditations, may such a one ask how far 'tis to the nearestwine-shop or a booth where a thirsty man may get a mug of ale at amoderate reckoning?"That gilded youth staggered under my friendly blow as though thehammer of Thor himself had suddenly lit upon his shoulder, and ruefullyrubbing his tender skin, he turned on me mild, handsome eyes, answeringafter a moment, dur-ing which his native mildness struggled with the painI had unwittingly given him-"If your thirst be as emphatic as your greeting, friend Heavy-fist, itwill certainly be a kindly deed to lead you to the drinking-place. Myshoulder tingles with your good- fellowship," he added, keeping twoarms'-lengths clear of me. "Do you wish," he said, "merely to cleanse a  dusty throat, or for blue or pink oblivion?""Why," I answered laughingly, "I have come a longish journey sinceyesterday night--a journey out of count of all reasonable mileage--and Imight fairly plead a dusty throat as excuse for a beginning; but as to theother things mentioned, those tinted forgetfulnesses, I do not even knowwhat you mean.""Undoubtedly you are a stranger," said the friendly youth, eyeing mefrom top to toe with renewed wonder, "and by your unknown garb onefrom afar.""From how far no man can say--not even I--but from very far, in truth.
　　Let that stay your curiosity for the time. And now to bench and ale-mug,on good fellow!--the short- est way. I was never so thirsty as this sinceour water-butts went overboard when I sailed the southern seas as a trampapprentice, and for three days we had to damp our black tongues with thepuddles the night-dews left in the lift of our mainsail."Without more words, being a little awed of me, I thought, the boy ledme through the good-humoured crowd to where, facing the main road tothe town, but a little sheltered by a thicket of trees covered with giganticpink blossoms, stood a drinking-place--a cluster of tables set round anopen grass-plot. Here he brought me a platter of some light inefficientcakes which merely served to make hunger more self-conscious, and somefine aromatic wine contained in a triple-bodied flask, each divisioncontaining vintage of a separate hue. We broke our biscuits, sipped thatmysterious wine, and talked of many things until at last something set uson the subject of astronomy, a study I found my dapper gallant had someknowledge of-- which was not to be wondered at seeing he dwelt underskies each night set thick above his curly head with tawny planets, andglittering constellations sprinkled through space like flowers in Maymeadows. He knew what worlds went round the sun, larger or lesser, andseeing this I be- gan to question him, for I was uneasy in my innermostmind and, you will remember, so far had no certain knowledge of where Iwas, only a dim, restless suspicion that I had come beyond the ken of allmen's knowledge.
　　Therefore, sweeping clear the board with my sleeve, and breaking the  wafer cake I was eating, I set down one central piece for the sun, and, "Seehere!" I said, "good fel- low! This morsel shall stand for that sun youhave just been welcoming back with quaint ritual. Now stretch yourstarry knowledge to the utmost, and put down that tankard for a moment.
　　If this be yonder sun and this lesser crumb be the outermost one of ourrevolving system, and this the next within, and this the next, and so on;now if this be so tell me which of these fragmentary orbs is ours--which ofall these crumbs from the hand of the primordial would be that we standupon?" And I waited with an anxiety a light manner thinly hid, to hearhis answer.
　　It came at once. Laughing as though the question were too trivial,and more to humour my wayward fancy than aught else, that boy circledhis rosy thumb about a minute and brought it down on the planet Mars!
　　I started and stared at him; then all of a tremble cried, "You trifle withme! Choose again--there, see, I will set the symbols and name them toyou anew. There now, on your soul tell me truly which this planet is, theone here at our feet?" And again the boy shook his head, wondering atmy eagerness, and pointed to Mars, saying gently as he did so the fact wascertain as the day above us, nothing was marvellous but my questioning.
　　Mars! oh, dreadful, tremendous, unexpected! With a cry of affright,and bringing my fist down on the table till all the cups upon it leapt, I toldhim he lied--lied like a simpleton whose astronomy was as rotten as hiswit-- smote the table and scowled at him for a spell, then turned away andlet my chin fall upon my breast and my hands upon my lap.
　　And yet, and yet, it might be so! Everything about me was new andstrange, the crisp, thin air I breathed was new; the lukewarm sunshine new;the sleek, long, ivory faces of the people new! Yesterday--was ityesterday?--I was back there--away in a world that pines to know of otherworlds, and one fantastic wish of mine, backed by a hideous, infernalchance, had swung back the doors of space and shot me--if that boy spoketrue--into the outer void where never living man had been before: all mywits about me, all the horrible bathos of my earthly clothing on me, all myterrestrial hungers in my veins!
　　I sprang to my feet and swept my hands across my eyes. Was that a  dream, or this? No, no, both were too real. The hum of my faraway citystill rang in my ears: a swift vision of the girl I had loved; of the men I hadhated; of the things I had hoped for rose before me, still dazing my innereye. And these about me were real people, too; it was real earth; realskies, trees, and rocks--had the infernal gods indeed heard, I asked myself,the foolish wish that started from my lips in a moment of fierce discontent,and swept me into another sphere, another existence? I looked at the boyas though he could answer that question, but there was nothing in his facebut vacuous wonder; I clapped my hands together and beat my breast; itwas true; my soul within me said it was true; the boy had not lied; thedjins had heard; I was just in the flesh I had; my common human hungersstill unsatisfied where never mortal man had hungered before; andscarcely knowing whether I feared or not, whether to laugh or cry, butwith all the wonder and terror of that great remove sweeping suddenlyupon me I staggered back to my seat, and dropping my arms upon thetable, leant my head heavily upon them and strove to choke back thepassion which beset me.
Chapter 3
It was the light touch of the boy An upon my shoulder which rousedme. He was bending down, his pretty face full of concernful sympathy,and in a minute said--know- ing nothing of my thoughts, of course,"It is the wine, stranger, the pink oblivion, it sometimes makes one feellike that until enough is taken; you stopped just short of what you shouldhave had, and the next cup would have been delight--I should have toldyou.""Ay," I answered, glad he should think so, "it was the wine, no doubt;your quaint drink, sir, tangled up my senses for the moment, but they areclearer now, and I am eager past expression to learn a little more of thisstrange country I have wandered into.""I would rather," said the boy, relapsing again into his state of kindlylethargy, "that you learnt things as you went, for talking is work, and workwe hate, but today we are all new and fresh, and if ever you are to askquestions now is certainly the time. Come with me to the city yonder,and as we go I will answer the things you wish to know;" and I went withhim, for I was humble and amazed, and, in truth, at that moment, had not aword to say for myself.
　　All the way from the plain where I had awoke to the walls of the citystood booths, drinking-places, and gardens divided by labyrinths of canals,and embowered in shrub- beries that seemed coming into leaf and floweras we looked, so swift was the process of their growth. These waterwayswere covered with skiffs being pushed and rowed in every direction; thecheerful rowers calling to each other through the leafy screens separatingone lane from another till the place was full of their happy chirruping.
　　Every booth and way-side halting-place was thronged with these delicateand sprightly people, so friendly, so gracious, and withal so pur- poseless.
　　I began to think we should never reach the town itself, for first myguide would sit down on a green stream-bank, his feet a-dangle in theclear water, and bandy wit with a passing boat as though there werenothing else in the world to think of. And when I dragged him out of that,whisper- ing in his ear, "The town, my dear boy! the town! I am all  agape to see it," he would saunter reluctantly to a booth a hundred yardsfurther on and fall to eating strange con- fections or sipping colouredwines with chance acquaintances, till again I plucked him by the sleeveand said: "Seth, good comrade--was it not so you called your city justnow?--take me to the gates, and I will be grateful to you," then on againdown a flowery lane, aimless and happy, wasting my time and his, withplacid civility I was led by that simple guide.
　　Wherever we went the people stared at me, as well they might, as Iwalked through them overtopping the tallest by a head or more. Thedrinking-cups paused half-way to their mouths; the jests died away upontheir lips; and the blinking eyes of the drinkers shone with a momentarysparkle of wonder as their minds reeled down those many- tinted floods tothe realms of oblivion they loved.
　　I heard men whisper one to another, "Who is he?"; "Whence does hecome?"; "Is he a tribute-taker?" as I strolled amongst them, my mind stillso thrilled with doubt and wonder that to me they seemed hardly morethan painted puppets, the vistas of their lovely glades and the ivory townbeyond only the fancy of a dream, and their talk as incontinent as thebabble of a stream.
　　Then happily, as I walked along with bent head brood- ing over theincredible thing that had happened, my com- panion's shapely legs gaveout, and with a sigh of fatigue he suggested we should take a skiffamongst the many ly- ing about upon the margins and sail towards thetown, "For," said he, "the breeze blows thitherward, and 'tis a shame to useone's limbs when Nature will carry us for nothing!""But have you a boat of your own hereabouts?" I queried; "for to tellthe truth I came from home myself somewhat poorly provided with meansto buy or barter, and if your purse be not heavier than mine we must stilldo as poor men do.""Oh!" said An, "there is no need to think of that, no one here to hire orhire of; we will just take the first skiff we see that suits us.""And what if the owner should come along and find his boat gone?""Why, what should he do but take the next along the bank, and themaster of that the next again--how else could it be?" said the Martian, and  shrugging my shoulders, for I was in no great mood to argue, we wentdown to the waterway, through a thicket of budding trees underlaid with acarpet of small red flowers filling the air with a scent of honey, and soonfound a diminutive craft pulled up on the bank. There were some daintycloaks and wraps in it which An took out and laid under a tree. But firsthe felt in the pouch of one for a sweetmeat which his fine nostrils, acute asa squirrel's, told him was there, and taking the lump out bit a piece from it,afterwards replacing it in the owner's pocket with the frankest simplicity.
　　Then we pushed off, hoisted the slender mast, set the smallest lug-sailthat ever a sailor smiled at, and, myself at the helm, and that golden youthamidships, away we drifted under thickets of drooping canes tasselledwith yel- low catkin-flowers, up the blue alley of the water into thebroader open river beyond with its rapid flow and crowd- ing boats, thewhite city front now towering clear before us.
　　The air was full of sunshine and merry voices; birds were singing,trees were budding; only my heart was heavy, my mind confused. Yetwhy should I be sad, I said to myself presently? Life beat in my pulses;what had I to fear? This world I had tumbled into was new and strange, nodoubt, but tomorrow it would be old and familiar; it dis- credited mymanhood to sit brow-bent like that, so with an effort I roused myself.
　　"Old chap!" I said to my companion, as he sat astride of a thwartslowly chewing something sticky and eyeing me out of the corner of hiseyes with vapid wonder, "tell me something of this land of yours, orsomething about yourself--which reminds me I have a question to ask. Itis a bit delicate, but you look a sensible sort of fellow, and will take nooffence. The fact is, I have noticed as we came along half yourpopulation dresses in all the colours of the rainbow--'fancy suitings' ourtailors could call it at home--and this half of the census are undoubtedlymen and women. The rub is that the other half, to which you be- long,all dress alike in YELLOW, and I will be fired from the biggest gun on theCarolina's main deck if I can tell what sex you belong to! I took you fora boy in the begin- ning, and the way you closed with the idea of having adrink with me seemed to show I was dead on the right course. Then alittle later on I heard you and a friend abusing our sex from an outside  point of view in a way which was very disconcerting. This, and someother things, have set me all abroad again, and as fate seems determined tomake us chums for this voyage--why--well, frankly, I should be glad toknow if you be boy or girl? If you are as I am, no more nor less then--forI like you--there's my hand in comradeship. If you are otherwise, asthose sleek outlines seem to promise--why, here's my hand again! Butman or woman you must be--come, which is it?"If I had been perplexed before, to watch that boy now was morecurious than ever. He drew back from me with a show of woundeddignity, then bit his lips, and sighed, and stared, and frowned. "Come," Isaid laughingly, "speak! it engenders ambiguity to be so ambiguous ofgender! 'Tis no great matter, yes or no, a plain answer will set us fairly inour friendship; if it is comrade, then comrade let it be; if maid, why, I shallnot quarrel with that, though it cost me a likely messmate.""You mock me.""Not I, I never mocked any one.""And does my robe tell you nothing?""Nothing so much; a yellow tunic and becoming enough, but nothingabout it to hang a deduction on. Come! Are you a girl, after all?""I do not count myself a girl.""Why, then, you are the most blooming boy that ever eyes were setupon; and though 'tis with some tinge of regret, yet cheerfully I welcomeyou into the ranks of man- hood.""I hate your manhood, send it after the maidhood; it fits me just asbadly.""But An, be reasonable; man or maid you must be.""Must be; why?""Why?" Was ever such a question put to a sane mortal before? Istared at that ambiguous thing before me, and then, a little wroth to beplayed with, growled out some- thing about Martians being all drunk ormad.
　　"'Tis you yourself are one or other," said that individual, by this timepink with anger, "and if you think because I am what I am you can safelytaunt me, you are wrong. See! I have a sting," and like a thwarted child  my com- panion half drew from the folds of the yellow tunic-dress thedaintiest, most harmless-looking little dagger that was ever seen.
　　"Oh, if it comes to that," I answered, touching the Navy scabbard stillat my hip, and regaining my temper at the sight of hers, "why, I have asting also--and twice as long as yours! But in truth, An, let us not talk ofthese things; if something in what I have said has offended nice Martianscruples I am sorry, and will question no more, leaving my wonder fortime to settle.""No," said the other, "it was my fault to be hasty of offence; I am notso angered once a year. But in truth your question moves us yellowrobes deeply. Did you not really know that we who wear this saffrontunic are slaves,-- a race apart, despised by all.""'Slaves,' no; how should I know it?""I thought you must understand a thing so fundamental, and it was thatthought which made your questions seem unkind. But if indeed you havecome so far as not to under- stand even this, then let me tell you once weof this garb were women--priestesses of the immaculate conceptions ofhumanity; guardians of those great hopes and longings which die so easily.
　　And because we forgot our high station and took to aping another sex thegods deserted and men despised us, giving us, in the fierceness of theircontempt, what we asked for. We are the slave ants of the nest, the work-bees of the hive, come, in truth, of those here who still be men and womenof a sort, but toilers only; un- known in love, unregretted in death--thosewho dangle all children but their own--slaves cursed with the accomplishment of their own ambition."There was no doubt poor An believed what she said, for her attitudewas one of extreme dejection while she spoke, and to cheer her I laughed.
　　"Oh! come, it can't be as bad as that. Surely sometimes some of youwin back to womanhood? You yourself do not look so far gone but whatsome deed of abnegation, some strong love if you could but conceive itwould set you right again. Surely you of the primrose robes cansometimes love?"Whereat unwittingly I troubled the waters in the placid soul of thatoutcast Martian! I cannot exactly describe how it was, but she bent her  head silently for a moment or two, and then, with a sigh, lifting her eyessuddenly to mine, said quietly, "Yes, sometimes; sometimes--but very seldom," while for an instant across her face there flashed the summerlightning of a new hope, a single transient glance of wistful, timid entreaty;of wonder and delight that dared not even yet acknowledge itself.
　　Then it was my turn to sit silent, and the pause was so awkward that ina minute, to break it, I exclaimed-"Let's drop personalities, old chap--I mean my dear Miss An. Tell mesomething about your people, and let us begin properly at the top: haveyou got a king, for instance?"To this the girl, pulling herself out of the pleasant slough of herlistlessness, and falling into my vein, answered-"Both yes and no, sir traveller from afar--no chiefly, and yet perhapsyes. If it were no then it were so, and if yes then Hath were our king.""A mild king I should judge by your uncertainty. In the place where Icame from kings press their individualities somewhat more clearly on theirsubjects' minds. Is Hath here in the city? Does he come to your feaststoday?"An nodded. Hath was on the river, he had been to see the sunrise;even now she thought the laughter and singing down behind the bendmight be the king's barge coming up citywards. "He will not be late,"said my companion, "because the marriage-feast is set for tomorrow in thepalace."I became interested. Kings, palaces, marriage-feasts--why, here wassomething substantial to go upon; after all these gauzy folk might turn outgood fellows, jolly com- rades to sojourn amongst--and marriage-feastsreminded me again I was hungry.
　　"Who is it," I asked, with more interest in my tone, "who getsmarried?--is it your ambiguous king himself?"Whereat An's purple eyes broadened with wonder: then as though shewould not be uncivil she checked herself, and answered with smotheredpity for my ignorance, "Not only Hath himself, but every one, stranger,they are all married tomorrow; you would not have them married one at atime, would you?"--this with inexpressible derision.
　　I said, with humility, something like that happened in the place I camefrom, asking her how it chanced the convenience of so many came to oneclimax at the same mo- ment. "Surely, An, this is a marvel ofarrangement. Where I dwelt wooings would sometimes be long orsometimes short, and all maids were not complacent by such universalagree- ment."The girl was clearly perplexed. She stared at me a space, then said,"What have wooings long or short to do with weddings? You talk as ifyou did your wooing first and then came to marriage--we get married firstand woo after- wards!""'Tis not a bad idea, and I can see it might lend an ease and certainty tothe pastime which our method lacks. But if the woman is got first and suedsubsequently, who brings you together? Who sees to the essentialpreliminaries of assortment?"An, looking at my shoes as though she speculated on the remoteness ofthe journey I had come if it were measured by my ignorance, replied, "Theurn, stranger, the urn does that--what else? How it may be in that out-fashioned region you have come from I cannot tell, but here--'tis socommonplace I should have thought you must have known it--we put eachnew year the names of all womenkind into an urn and the men draw forthem, each town, each village by itself, and those they draw are theirs; is itconceivable your race has other methods?"I told her it was so--we picked and chose for ourselves, beseeching thedamsels, fighting for them, and holding the sun of romance was at itssetting just where the Martians held it to rise. Whereat An burst outlaughing--a clear, ringing laugh that set all the light-hearted folk in thenearest boats laughing in sympathy. But when the grotesqueness of theidea had somewhat worn off, she turned grave and asked me if such afancy did not lead to spite, envy, and bickerings. "Why, it seems to me,"she said, shaking her curly head, "such a plan might fire cities, desolateplains, and empty palaces--""Such things have been.""Ah! our way is much the better. See!" quoth that gentle philosopher.
　　"'Here,' one of our women would say, 'am I to-day, unwed, as free of  thought as yonder bird chasing the catkin down; tomorrow I shall bemarried, with a whole summer to make love in, relieved at one bound ofall those uncertainties you acknowledge to, with nothing to do but lieabout on sunny banks with him whom chance sends me, come to the goalof love without any travelling to get there.' Why, you must acknowledgethis is the per- fection of ease.""But supposing," I said, "chance dealt unkindly to you from yournuptial urn, supposing the man was not to your liking, or another covetedhim?" To which An answered, with some shrewdness-"In the first case we should do what we might, being no worse off thanthose in your land who had played ill providence to themselves. In thesecond, no maid would covet him whom fate had given to another, it weretoo fatiguing, or if such a thing DID happen, then one of them wouldwaive his claims, for no man or woman ever born was worth a wrangle,and it is allowed us to barter and change a little."All this was strange enough. I could not but laugh, while An laughedat the lightest invitation, and thus chatting and deriding each other's socialarrangements we floated idly townwards and presently came out into themain waterway perhaps a mile wide and flowing rapidly, as streams willon the threshold of the spring, with brash or waste of distant beachesriding down it, and every now and then a broken branch or tree-stemglancing through waves whose crests a fresh wind lifted and sowed ingolden showers in the inter- vening furrows. The Martians seemedexpert upon the water, steering nimbly between these floating dangerswhen they met them, but for the most part hugging the shore where a moreplacid stream better suited their fancies, and for a time all went well.
　　An, as we went along, was telling me more of her strange country,pointing out birds or flowers and naming them to me. "Now that," shesaid, pointing to a small grey owl who sat reflective on a floating log wewere approaching-- "that is a bird of omen; cover your face and look away,for it is not well to watch it."Whereat I laughed. "Oh!" I answered, "so those ancient follies havecome as far as this, have they? But it is no bird grey or black or whitethat can frighten folk where I come from; see, I will ruffle his philosophy  for him," and suiting the action to the words I lifted a pebble thathappened to lie at the bottom of the boat and flung it at that creature withthe melancholy eyes. Away went the owl, dipping his wings into thewater at every stroke, and as he went wailing out a ghostly cry, which evenamongst sunshine and glitter made one's flesh creep.
　　An shook her head. "You should not have done that," she said; "ourdead whom we send down over the falls come back in the body of yonderlittle bird. But he has gone now," she added, with relief; "see, he settlesfar up stream upon the point of yonder rotten bough; I would not disturbhim again if I were you--"Whatever more An would have said was lost, for amidst a sound offlutes and singing round the bend of the river below came a crowd of boatsdecked with flowers and gar- lands, all clustering round a barge barelyable to move, so thick those lesser skiffs pressed upon it. So close thosewherries hung about that the garlanded rowers who sat at the oars couldscarcely pull, but, here as everywhere, it was the same good temper, thesame carelessness of order, as like a flowery island in the dancing bluewater the motley fleet came up.
　　I steered our skiff a space out from the bank to get a better view, whileAn clapped her hands together and laughed. "It is Hath--he himself andthose of the palace with him. Steer a little nearer still, friend--so!
　　between yon floating rubbish flats, for those with Hath are good to lookat."Nothing loth I made out into mid-stream to see that strange prince goby, little thinking in a few minutes I should be shaking hands with him, awet and dripping hero. The crowd came up, and having the advantage ofthe wind, it did not take me long to get a front place in the ruck, whence Iset to work, with republican interest in royalty, to stare at the man who Ansaid was the head of Martian society. He did not make me desire torenounce my demo- cratic principles. The royal fellow was sitting in thecentre of the barge under a canopy and on a throne which was a mass offlowers, not bunched together as they would have been with us, but socunningly arranged that they rose from the footstool to the pinnacle in arhythm of colour, a poem in bud and petals the like of which for  harmonious beauty I could not have imagined possible. And in this fairyden was a thin, gaunt young man, dressed in some sort of black stuff sonondescript that it amounted to little more than a shadow. I took it forgranted that a substance of bone and muscle was covered by that gloomysuit, but it was the face above that alone riveted my gaze and made mereturn the stare he gave me as we came up with re- doubled interest. Itwas not an unhandsome face, but ashy grey in colour and amongst theinsipid countenances of the Martians about him marvellously thoughtful.
　　I do not know whether those who had killed themselves by learn- ing everleave ghosts behind, but if so this was the very ideal for such a one. Athis feet I noticed, when I un- hooked my eyes from his at last, sat a girl ina loose coral pink gown who was his very antipode. Princess Heru, forso she was called, was resting one arm upon his knee at our approach andpulling a blue convolvulus bud to pieces--a charming picture of daintyidleness. Anything so soft, so silken as that little lady was never seenbefore. Who am I, a poor quarter-deck loafer, that I should attempt todescribe what poet and painter alike would have failed to realise? I know,of course, your stock descriptives: the melting eye, the coral lip, thepeachy cheek, the raven tress; but these were coined for mortal woman-and this was not one of them. I will not attempt to describe the glorioustenderness of those eyes she turned upon me presently; the glowingradiance of her skin; the infinite grace of every action; the incredible soul-searching harmony of her voice, when later on I heard it--you must gathersomething of these things as I go--suffice it to say that when I saw herthere for the first time in the plenitude of her beauty I fell desperately,wildly in love with her.
　　Meanwhile, even the most infatuated of mortals cannot stare for everwithout saying something. The grating of our prow against the garlandedside of the royal barge roused me from my reverie, and nodding to An, toimply I would be back presently, I lightly jumped on to Hath's vessel, and,with the assurance of a free and independent American voter, approachedthat individual, holding out my palm, and saying as I did so,"Shake hands, Mr. President!"The prince came forward at my bidding and extending his hand for  mine. He bowed slow and sedately, in that peculiar way the Martianshave, a ripple of gratified civility passing up his flesh; lower and lower hebowed, until his face was over our clasped hands, and then, with simplecourtesy, he kissed my finger-tips! This was somewhat em- barrassing.
　　It was not like the procedure followed in Courts nearer to Washington thanthis one, as far as my reading went, and, withdrawing my fingers hastily, Iturned to the princess, who had risen, and was eyeing her somewhatawkwardly, the while wondering what kind of salutation would be suitablein her case when a startling incident happened. The river, as said, wasfull of floating rubbish brought down from some far-away uplands by aspring freshet while the royal convoy was making slow progress upstreamand thus met it all bow on. Some of this stuff was heavy timber, andwhen a sudden warning cry went up from the leading boats it did not takemy sailor instinct long to guess what was amiss. Those in front shot sideto side, those be- hind tried to drop back as, bearing straight down on theroyal barge, there came a log of black wood twenty feet long and as thickas the mainmast of an old three-decker.
　　Hath's boat could no more escape than if it had been planted on arocky pedestal, garlands and curtains trailing in the water hung so heavyon it. The gilded paddles of the slender rowers were so feeble--they hadbut made a half- turn from that great javelin's road when down it cameupon them, knocking the first few pretty oarsmen head over heels andcrackling through their oars like a bull through dry maize stalks. I sprangforward, and snatching a pole from a half-hearted slave, jammed the endinto the head of the log and bore with all my weight upon it, diverting it alittle, and thereby perhaps saving the ship herself, but not enough. As itflashed by a branch caught upon the trailing tapestry, hurling me to thedeck, ,and tearing away with it all that finery. Then the great spar,tossing half its dripping length into the air, went plunging downstreamwith shreds of silk and flowers trailing from it, and white water bubblingin its rear.
　　When I scrambled to my feet all was ludicrous confusion on board.
　　Hath still stood by his throne--an island in a sea of disorder--staring at me;all else was chaos. The rowers and courtiers were kicking and wallowing  in the "waist" of the ship like fish newly shot out of a trawl net, but theprincess was gone. Where was she? I brushed the spray from my eyes,and stared overboard. She was not in the bub- bling blue water alongside.
　　Then I glanced aft to where the log, now fifteen yards away, was splashingthrough the sun- shine, and, as I looked, a fair arm came up fromunderneath and white fingers clutched convulsively at the sky. Whatman could need more? Down the barge I rushed, and drop- ping only myswordbelt, leapt in to her rescue. The gentle Martians were too numb toraise a hand in help; but it was not necessary. I had the tide with me, andgained at every stroke. Meanwhile that accursed tree, with poor Heru'sskirts caught on a branch, was drowning her at its leisure; lifting her up asit rose upon the crests, a fair, helpless bundle, and then sousing her in itsfall into the nether water, where I could see her gleam now and again likepink coral.
　　I redoubled my efforts and got alongside, clutching the rind of that oldstump, and swimming and scrambling, at last was within reach of theprincess. Thereon the log lifted her playfully to my arms, and when I hadlaid hold came down, a crushing weight, and forced us far into the clammybosom of Martian sea. Again we came up, coughing and choking--Itugging furiously at that tangled raiment, and the lady, a mere lump ofsweetness in my other arm-- then down again with that log upon me andall the noises of Eblis in my ears. Up and down we went, over and over,till strength was spent and my ribs seemed breaking; then, with a lastdesperate effort, I got a knee against the stem, and by sheer strength freedmy princess--the spiteful timber made a last ugly thrust at us as it rolledaway--and we were free!
　　I turned upon my back, and, sure of rescue now, took the lady's headupon my chest, holding her sweet, white fists in mine the while, and,floating, waited for help.
　　It came only too quickly. The gallant Martians, when they saw theprincess saved, came swiftly down upon us. Over the lapping of the waterin my ears I heard their sigh- like cries of admiration and surprise, therattle of spray on the canoe sides mingled with the splash of oars, theflitting shadows of their prows were all about us, and in less time than it  takes to write we were hauled aboard, revived, and taken to Hath's barge.
　　Again the prince's lips were on my fingertips; again the flutes and musicstruck up; and as I squeezed the water out of my hair, and tried to keep myeyes off the outline of Heru, whose loveliness shone through her damp,clinging, pink robe, as if that robe were but a gauzy fancy, I vaguely heardHath saying wondrous things of my gallantry, and, what was more to thepurpose, asking me to come with him and stay that night at the palace.
Chapter 4
They lodged me like a prince in a tributary country that first night.
　　was tired. 'Twas a stiff stage I had come the day before, and they gaveme a couch whose ethereal softness seemed to close like the wings of abird as I plunged at its touch into fathomless slumbers. But the next dayhad hardly broken when I was awake, and, stretching my limbs upon thepiled silk of a legless bed upon the floor, found myself in a great chamberwith a purple tapestry across the entrance, and a square arch leading to aflat terrace outside.
　　It was a glorious daybreak, making my heart light within me, the airlike new milk, and the colours of the sunrise lay purple and yellow in barsacross my room. I yawned and stretched, then rising, wrapped a silkenquilt about me and went out into the flat terrace top, wherefrom all the citycould be seen stretched in an ivory and emerald patchwork, with open,blue water on one side, and the Martian plain trending away in illimitabledistance upon the other.
　　Directly underneath in the great square at the bottom of Hath's palacesteps were gathered a concourse of people, brilliant in many-coloureddresses. They were sitting or lying about just as they might for all I knewhave done through the warm night, without much order, save that wherethe black streaks of inlaid stone marked a carriage- way across the squarenone were stationed. While I won- dered what would bring so manytogether thus early, there came a sound of flutes--for these people can donothing without piping like finches in a thicket in May--and from thestorehouses half-way over to the harbour there streamed a line of cartspiled high with provender. Down came the teams attended by theirslaves, circling and wheeling into the open place, and as they passed eachgroup those lazy, lolling beggars crowded round and took the dole theywere too thriftless to earn themselves. It was strange to see how listlessthey were about the meal, even though Provi- dence itself put it into theirhands; to note how the yellow-girted slaves scudded amongst them,serving out the loaves, themselves had grown, harvested, and baked;slipping from group to group, rousing, exhorting, admin- istering to a  helpless throng that took their efforts without thought or thanks.
　　I stood there a long time, one foot upon the coping and my chin uponmy hand, noting the beauty of the ruined town and wondering how such afeeble race as that which lay about, breakfasting in the limpid sunshine,could have come by a city like this, or kept even the ruins of its walls andbuildings from the covetousness of others, until presently there was arustle of primrose garments and my friend of the day before stood by me.
　　"Are you rested, traveller?" she questioned in that pretty voice of hers.
　　"Rested ambrosially, An.""It is well; I will tell the Government and it will come up to wash anddress you, afterwards giving you breakfast.""For the breakfast, damsel, I shall be grateful, but as for the washingand dressing I will defend myself to the last gasp sooner than submit tosuch administration.""How strange! Do you never wash in your country?""Yes, but it is a matter left largely to our own discretion; so, my deargirl, if you will leave me for a minute or two in quest of that meal youhave mentioned, I will guarantee to be ready when it comes."Away she slipped, with a shrug of her rosy shoulders, to returnpresently, carrying a tray covered with a white cloth, whereon were half adozen glittering covers whence came most fragrant odours of cookedthings.
　　"Why, comrade," I said, sitting down and lifting lid by lid, for the cold,sweet air outside had made me hungry, "this is better than was hoped for; Ithought from what I saw down yonder I should have to trot behind atumbril for my breakfast, and eat it on my heels amongst your sleepyfriends below."An replied, "The stranger is a prince, we take it, in his own country,and princes fare not quite like common people, even here.""So," I said, my mouth full of a strange, unknown fish, and a cake softas milk and white as cotton in the pod. "Now that makes me feel at home!""Would you have had it otherwise with us?""No! now I come to think of it, it is most natural things should bemuch alike in all the corners of the universe; the splendid simplicity that  rules the spheres, works much the same, no doubt, upon one side of thesun as upon the other. Yet, somehow--you can hardly wonder at it--yesterday I looked to find your world, when I realised where I had tumbled to,a world of djin and giants; of mad possibilities over realised, and here Isee you dwellers by the utterly remote little more marvellous than if I hadcome amongst you on the introduction of a cheap tourist ticket, and roundsome neglected corner of my own distant world!""I hardly follow your meaning, sir.""No, no, of course you cannot. I was forgetting you did not know!
　　There, pass me the stuff on yonder platter that looks like caked mud froman anchor fluke, and swells like breath of paradise, and let me questionyou;" and while I sat and drank with that yellow servitor sitting in front ofme, I plied her with questions, just as a baby might who had come into theworld with a full-blown gift of speech. But though she was ready andwilling enough to answer, and laughed gaily at my quaint ignorance ofsimple things, yet there was little water in the well.
　　"Had they any kind of crafts or science; any cult of stars or figures?"But again she shook her head, and said, "Hath might know, Hathunderstood most things, but her- self knew little of either." "Armies ornavies?" and again the Martian shrugged her shoulders, questioning inturn-"What for?""What for!" I cried, a little angry with her engaging dulness, "Why, tokeep that which the strong hand got, and to get more for those who comenext; navies to sweep yonder blue seas, and armies to ward what theyshould bring home, or guard the city walls against all enemies,--for Isuppose, An," I said, putting down my knife as the cheering thought cameon me,--"I suppose, An, you have some en-emies? It is not likeProvidence to give such riches as you possess, such lands, such cities, andnot to supply the anti- dote in some one poor enough to covet them."At once the girl's face clouded over, and it was obvious a tendersubject had been chanced upon. She waved her hand impatiently asthough to change the subject, but I would not be put off.
　　"Come," I said, "this is better than breakfast. It was the one thing- this unknown enemy of yours--wanting to lever the dull mass of your toopeacefulness. What is he like? How strong? How stands the quarrelbetween you? I was a soldier myself before the sea allured me, and lovehorse and sword best of all things.""You would not jest if you knew our enemy!""That is as it may be. I have laughed in the face of many a strongerfoe than yours is like to prove; but anyhow, give me a chance to judge.
　　Come, who is it that frightens all the blood out of your cheeks by a baremention and may not be laughed at even behind these substantial walls?""First, then, you know, of course, that long ago this land of ours washarried from the West.""Not I.""No!" said An, with a little warmth. "If it comes to that, you knownothing."Whereat I laughed, and, saying the reply was just, vowed I would notinterrupt again; so she wont on saying how Hath--that interminable Hath!
　　-would know it all better than she did, but long ago the land was overrunby a people from beyond the broad, blue waters outside; a people huge ofperson, hairy and savage, uncouth, unlettered, and poor An's voicetrembled even to describe them; a people without mercy or compunction,dwellers in woods, eaters of flesh, who burnt, plundered, and destroyed allbefore them, and had toppled over this city along with many others in anancient foray, the horrors of which, still burnt lurid in her people's minds.
　　"Ever since then," went on the girl, "these odious terrors of the outerland have been a nightmare to us, making hectic our pleasures, and fillingour peace with horrid thoughts of what might be, should they chance tocome again.""'Tis unfortunate, no doubt, lady," I answered. "Yet it was long ago,and the plunderers are far away. Why not rise and raid them in turn?
　　To live under such a nightmare is miserable, and a poet on my side of theether has said-"'He either fears his fate too much,Or his deserts are small,Who will not put it to the touch,  To win or lose it all.'
　　It seems to me you must either bustle and fight again, or sit tamelydown, and by paying the coward's fee for peace, buy at heavy price,indulgence from the victor.""We," said An simply, and with no show of shame, "would rather diethan fight, and so we take the easier way, though a heavy one it is.
　　Look!" she said, drawing me to the broad window whence we could get aglimpse of the westward town and the harbour out beyond the walls.
　　"Look! see yonder long row of boats with brown sails hanging loosereefed from every yard ranged all along the quay. Even from here youcan make out the thin stream of porter slaves passing to and fro betweenthem and the granaries like ants on a sunny path. Those are our tax-men's ships, they came yesterday from far out across the sea, as punctualas fate with the first day of spring, and two or three nights hence we trustwill go again: and glad shall we be to see them start, although they leavescupper deep with our cloth, our corn, and gold.""Is that what they take for tribute?""That and one girl--the fairest they can find.""One--only one! 'Tis very moderate, all things considered.""She is for the thither king, Ar-hap, and though only one as you say,stranger, yet he who loses her is apt sometimes to think her one too manylost.""By Jupiter himself it is well said! If I were that man I would stir upheaven and hell until I got her back; neither man, nor beast, nor devilshould stay me in my quest!" As I spoke I thought for a minute An'sfingers trembled a little as she fixed a flower upon my coat, while therewas something like a sigh in her voice as she said-"The maids of this country are not accustomed, sir, to be so stronglyloved."By this time, breakfasted and rehabilitated, I was ready to go forth.
　　The girl swung back the heavy curtain that served in place of door acrossthe entrance of my chamber, and leading the way by a corridor and marblesteps while I followed, and whether it was the Martian air or the meal Iknow not, but thinking mighty well of myself until we came presently  onto the main palace stairs, which led by stately flights from the uppergalleries to the wide square below.
　　As we passed into the full sunshine--and no sunshine is so crisplygolden as the Martian--amongst twined flowers and shrubs and gay, quaintbirds building in the cornices, a sleek youth rose slowly from where hehad spread his cloak as couch upon a step and approaching asked-"You are the stranger of yesterday?""Yes," I answered.
　　"Then I bring a message from Prince Hath, saying it would pleasurehim greatly if you would eat the morning meal with him.""Why," I answered, "it is very civil indeed, but I have breakfastedalready.""And so has Hath," said the boy, gently yawning. "You see I camehere early this morning, but knowing you would pass sooner or later Ithought it would save me the trouble if I lay down till you came--thosequaint people who built these places were so prodigal of steps," andsmiling apologetically he sank back on his couch and began toying with aleaf.
　　"Sweet fellow," I said, and you will note how I was getting into theirstyle of conversation, "get back to Hath when you have rested, give himmy most gracious thanks for the intended courtesy, but tell him theinvitation should have started a week earlier; tell him from me, younimble- footed messenger, that I will post-date his kindness and cometomorrow; say that meanwhile I pray him to send any ill news he has forme by you. Is the message too bulky for your slender shoulders?""No," said the boy, rousing himself slowly, "I will take it," and then heprepared to go. He turned again and said, without a trace of incivility,"But indeed, stranger, I wish you would take the message yourself. Thisis the third flight of stairs I have been up today."Everywhere it was the same friendly indolence. Half the breakfasterswere lying on coloured shawls in groups about the square; the other halfwere strolling off--all in one direction, I noticed--as slowly as could betowards the open fields beyond; no one was active or had anything to dosave the yellow folk who flitted to and fro fostering the others, and doing  the city work as though it were their only thought in life. There were noshops in that strange city, for there were no needs; some booths I sawindeed, and temple-like places, but hollow, and used for birds and beasts-things these lazy Martians love. There was no tramp of busy feet, for noone was busy; no clank of swords or armour in those peaceful streets, forno one was warlike; no hustle, for no one hurried; no wide-packed assesnodding down the lanes, for there was nothing to fill their packs with, andthough a cart sometimes came by with a load of lolling men and maids, ora small horse, for horses they had, paced along, itself nearly as lazy as themaster he bore, with trappings sewed over bits of coloured shell and coral,yet somehow it was all extraordinarily unreal. It was a city full of theghosts of the life which once pulsed through its ways. The streets werepeopled, the chatter of voices everywhere, the singing boys and laughinggirls wandering, arms linked together, down the ways filled every echowith their merriment, yet somehow it was all so shallow that again andagain I rubbed my eyes, wonder- ing if I were indeed awake, or whether itwere not a pro- longed sleep of which the tomorrow were still to come.
　　"What strikes me as strangest of all, good comrade," I observedpleasantly to the tripping presence at my elbow, "is that these countrymenof yours who shirk to climb a flight of steps, and have palms as soft asrose petals, these wide ways paved with stones as hard as a usurer's heart."An laughed. "The stones were still in their native quar- ries had itbeen left to us to seek them; we are like the conies in the ruins, sir, theinheritors of what other hands have done.""Ay, and undone, I think, as well, for coming along I have noted axechippings upon the walls, smudges of ancient fire and smoke upon thecornices."An winced a little and stared uneasily at the walls, mut- tering belowher breath something about trying to hide with flower garlands the marksthey could not banish, but it was plain the conversation was not pleasing toher. So unpleasant was talk or sight of woodmen (Thither-folk, as shecalled them, in contradiction to the Hither people about us here), that thegirl was clearly relieved when we were free of the town and out into theopen play- ground of the people. The whole place down there was a gay,  shifting crowd. The booths of yesterday, the ar- cades, the archways,were still standing, and during the night unknown hands had redeckedthem with flowers, while another day's sunshine had opened the coppicebuds so that the whole place was brilliant past expression. And here theHither folk were varying their idleness by a general holiday. They werestanding about in groups, or lying ranked like new-plucked flowers on thebanks, piping to each other through reeds as soft and melodious as runningwater. They were playing inconsequent games and breaking off in themiddle of them like children looking for new pleasures. They wereidling about the drinking booths, delicately stupid with quaint, thin wines,dealt out to all who asked; the maids were ready to chevy or be cheviedthrough the blossoming thickets by anyone who chanced upon them, themen slipped their arms round slen- der waists and wandered down thepaths, scarce seeming to care even whose waist it was they circled or intowhose ear they whispered the remainder of the love-tale they had begun tosome one else. And everywhere it was "Hi," and "Ha," and "So," and"See," as these quaint people called to one another, knowing each other asfamiliarly as ants of a nest, and by the same magic it seemed to me.
　　"An," I said presently, when we had wandered an hour or so throughthe drifting throng, "have these good country- men of yours no othernames but monosyllabic, nothing to designate them but these chirrupingsyllables?""Is it not enough?" answered my companion. "Once in- deed I thinkwe had longer names, but," she added, smiling, "how much trouble itsaves to limit each one to a single sound. It is uncivil to one's neighboursto burden their tongues with double duty when half would do.""But have you no patronymics--nothing to show the child comes of thesame source as his father came?""We have no fathers.""What! no fathers?" I said, starting and staring at her.
　　"No, nor mothers either, or at least none that we remem- ber, for again,why should we? Mayhap in that strange dis- trict you come from youkeep count of these things, but what have we to do with either when theirinitial duty is done. Look at that painted butterfly swinging on the honey laden catkin there. What knows she of the mother who shed her life intoa flowercup and forgot which flower it was the minute afterwards. We,too, are insects, stranger.""And do you mean to say of this great concourse here, that every atomis solitary, individual, and can claim no kin- dred with another save theloose bonds of a general fraterni- ty--a specious idea, horrible,impracticable!"Whereat An laughed. "Ask the grasshoppers if it is im- practicable;ask the little buzzing things of grass and leaves who drift hither and thitherupon each breath of wind, finding kinsmen never but comradeseverywhere--ask them if it is horrible."This made me melancholy, and somehow set me thinking of thefriends immeasurably distant I had left but yesterday.
　　What were they doing? Did they miss me? I was to have called formy pay this afternoon, and tomorrow was to have run down South to seethat freckled lady of mine. What would she think of my absence? Whatwould she think if she knew where I was? Gods, it was too mad, tooabsurd! I thrust my hands into my pockets in fierce des- peration, andthere they clutched an old dance programme and an out-of-date check fora New York ferry-boat. I scowled about on that sunny, helpless people,and laying my hand bitterly upon my heart felt in the breast-pocketbeneath a packet of unpaid Boston tailors' bills and a note from mylandlady asking if I would let her aunt do my washing while I was onshore. Oh! what would they all think of me? Would they brand me as adeserter, a poltroon, and a thief, letting my name presently sink down inshame and mystery in the shadowy realm of the forgotten? Dread- fulthoughts! I would think no more.
　　Maybe An had marked my melancholy, for presently she led me to astall where in fantastic vases wines of sorts I have described before wereput out for all who came to try them. There was medicine here for everykind of dulness--not the gross cure which earthly wine effects, but sonicely proportioned to each specific need that one could regulate one'sdebauch to a hairbreadth, rising through all the gamut of satisfaction, fromthe staid contentment coming of that flask there to the wild extravagances  of the further- most vase. So my stripling told me, running her fingerdown the line of beakers carved with strange figures and cased in silver,each in its cluster of little attendant drinking- cups, like-coloured, andwaiting round on the white napkins as the shore boats wait to unload acargo round the sides of a merchant vessel.
　　"And what," I said, after curiously examining each liquor in turn,"what is that which stands alone there in the humble earthen jar, as thoughunworthy of the company of the others.""Oh, that," said my friend, "is the most essential of them all--that is thewine of recovery, without which all the others were deadly poisons.""The which, lady, looks as if it had a moral attaching to it.""It may have; indeed I think it has, but I have forgotten. Prince Hathwould know! Meanwhile let me give you to drink, great stranger, let meget you something.""Well, then," I laughed, "reach me down an antidote to fate, a specificfor an absent mistress, and forgetful friends.""What was she like?" said An, hesitating a little and frowning.
　　"Nay, good friend," was my answer, "what can that matter to you?""Oh, nothing, of course," answered that Martian, and while she tookfrom the table a cup and filled it with fluid I felt in the pouch of mysword-belt to see if by chance a bit of money was Iying there, but therewas none, only the pips of an orange poor Polly had sucked andlaughingly thrown at me.
　　However, it did not matter. The girl handed me the cup, and I put mylips to it. The first taste was bitter and acrid, like the liquor of long-steeped wood. At the second taste a shiver of pleasure ran through me,and I opened my eyes and stared hard. The third taste grossness andheavi- ness and chagrin dropped from my heart; all the com- plexion ofProvidence altered in a flash, and a stupid irresistible joy, unreasoning,uncontrollable took possession of my fibre. I sank upon a mossy bankand, lolling my head, beamed idiotically on the lolling Martians all aboutme. How long I was like that I cannot say. The heavy minutes ofsodden contentment slipped by unnoticed, un- umbered, till presently I feltthe touch of a wine-cup at my lips again, and drinking of another liquor  dulness vanished from my mind, my eyes cleared, my heart throbbed; afantastic gaiety seized upon my limbs; I bounded to my feet, and seizingAn's two hands in mine, swung that damsel round in a giddy dance,capering as never dancer danced before, till spent and weary I sank downagain from sheer lack of breath, and only knew thereafter that An wassitting by me saying, "Drink! drink stranger, drink and forget!" and as athird time a cup was pressed to my lips, aches and pleasures, stupidnessand joy, life itself, seemed slipping away into a splendid golden vacuity, ahazy epi- sode of unconscious Elysium, indefinite, and unfathomable.
Chapter 5
When I woke, feeling as refreshed as though I had been dreamingthrough a long night, An, seeing me open-eyed, helped me to my feet, andwhen I had recovered my senses a little, asked if we should go on. I wasmyself again by this time, so willingly took her hand, and soon came outof the tangle into the open spaces. I must have been under the spell ofthe Martian wines longer than it seemed, for already it was late in theafternoon, the shadows of trees were lying deep and far-reaching over themotley crowds of people. Out here as the day waned they had developedsome sort of method in their sports. In front of us was a broad, grassycourse marked off with garlanded finger-posts, and in this space rallies ofworkfolk were taking part in all manner of games under the eyes of a greatconcourse of spectators, doing the Martians' pleasures for them as they didtheir labours. An led me gently on, leaning on my arm heavier, I thought,than she had done in the morning, and ever and anon turning her gazelle-like eyes upon me with a look I could not understand. As we saunteredforward I noticed all about lesser circles where the yellow-girted oneswere drawing delighted laughter from good-tempered crowds by tricks ofsleight-of-hand, and posturing, or toss- ing gilded cups and balls as thoughthey were catering, as indeed they were, for outgrown children. Othersfluted or sang songs in chorus to the slow clapping of hands, while otherswere doing I knew not what, sitting silent amongst si- lent spectators whoevery now and then burst out laughing for no cause that I could see. ButAn would not let me stop, and so we pushed on through the crowd till wecame to the main enclosures where a dozen slaves had run a race for theamusement of those too lazy to race them- selves, and were sitting pantingon the grass.
　　To give them time to get their breath, perhaps, a man stepped out ofthe crowd dressed in a dark blue tunic, a strange vacuous-looking fellow,and throwing down a sheaf of javelins marched off a dozen paces, then,facing round, called out loudly he would give sixteen suits of "summercloth" to any one who could prick him with a javelin from the heap.
　　"Why," I said in amazement, "this is the best of fools-- no one could  miss from such a distance.""Ay but," replied my guide, "he is a gifted one, versed in mystics."I was just going to say a good javelin, shod with iron, was a strongerargument than any mystic I had ever heard of could stand, when out of thecrowd stepped a youth, and amid the derisive cheers of his friends chose areed from the bundle. He poised it in his hand a minute to get the middle,then turned on the living target. Whatever else they might be, theseMartians were certainly beautiful as the day- time. Never had I seen sucha perfect embodiment of grace and elegance as that boy as he stood therefor a moment poised to the throw; the afternoon sunshine warm and strongon his bunched brown hair, a girlish flush of shyness on his handsome face,and the sleek perfection of his limbs, clear cut against the duskybackground beyond. And now the javelin was going. Surely the mysticwould think better of it at the last moment! No! the initiate held hisground with tight-shut lips and retrospective eyes, and even as I looked theweapon flew upon its errand.
　　"There goes the soul of a fool!" I exclaimed, and as the words wereuttered the spear struck, or seemed to, between the neck and shoulder, butinstead of piercing rose high into the air, quivering and flashing, andpresently turning over, fell back, and plunged deep into the turf, while alow murmur of indifferent pleasure went round amongst the onlookers.
　　Thereat An, yawning gently, looked to me and said, "A strong-willedfellow, isn't he, friend?"I hesitated a minute and then asked, "Was it WILL which turned thatshaft?"She answered with simplicity, "Why, of course--what else?"By this time another boy had stepped out, and having chosen a javelin,tested it with hand and foot, then re- tiring a pace or two rushed up to thethrowing mark and flung it straight and true into the bared bosom of theman. And as though it had struck a wall of brass, the shaft leapt backfalling quivering at the thrower's feet. Another and another triedunsuccessfully, until at last, vexed at their futility, I said, "I have asomewhat scanty wardrobe that would be all the better for that fellow'ssummer suiting, by your leave I will venture a throw against him.""It is useless," answered An; "none but one who knows more magicthan he, or is especially befriended by the Fates can touch him through theenvelope he has put on.""Still, I think I will try.""It is hopeless, I would not willingly see you fail," whispered the girl,with a sudden show of friendship.
　　"And what," I said, bending down, "would you give me if Isucceeded?" Whereat An laughed a little uneasily, and, withdrawing herhand from mine, half turned away. So I pushed through the spectatorsand stepped into the ring. I went straight up to the pile of weapons, andhaving chosen one went over to the mystic. "Good fellow," I cried outos- tentatiously, trying the sharpness of the javelin-point with my finger,"where are all of those sixteen summer suits of yours lying hid?""It matters nothing," said the man, as if he were asleep.
　　"Ay, but by the stars it does, for it will vex the quiet repose of yoursoul tomorrow if your heirs should swear they could not find them.""It matters nothing," muttered the will-wrapped visionary.
　　"It will matter something if I take you at your word. Come, friendPurple-jerkin, will you take the council with your legs and run while thereis yet time, or stand up to be thrown at?""I stand here immoveable in the confidence of my initia- tion.""Then, by thunder, I will initiate you into the mysteries of a javelin-end, and your blood be on your head."The Martians were all craning their necks in hushed eagerness as Iturned to the casting-place, and, poising the javelin, faced the magician.
　　Would he run at the last moment? I half hoped so; for a minute I gavehim the chance, then, as he showed no sign of wavering, I drew my handback, shook the javelin back till it bent like a reed, and hurled it at him.
　　The Martians' heads turned as though all on one pivot as the spear spedthrough the air, expecting no doubt to see it recoil as others had done.
　　But it took him full in the centre of his chest, and with a wild wave ofarms and a flutter of purple raiment sent him backwards, and down, andover and over in a shapeless heap of limbs and flying raiment, while a lowmurmur of awed surprise rose from the spectators. They crowded round  him in a dense ring, as An came flitting to me with a startled face.
　　"Oh, stranger," she burst out, "you have surely killed him!" but moreastounded I had broken down his guard than grieved at his injury.
　　"No," I answered smilingly; "a sore chest he may have tomorrow, butdead he is not, for I turned the lance-point back as I spun it, and it was thebutt-end I threw at him!""It was none the less wonderful; I thought you were a common man, aprince mayhap, come but from over the hills, but now something tells meyou are more than that," and she lapsed into thoughtful silence for a time.
　　Neither of us were wishful to go back amongst those who were raisingthe bruised magician to his legs, but wandered away instead through thedeepening twilight towards the city over meadows whose damp, softfragrance loaded the air with sleepy pleasure, neither of us saying a wordtill the dusk deepened and the quick night descended, while we cameamongst the gardened houses, the thousand lights of an unreal city risinglike a jewelled bank before us, and there An said she would leave me for atime, meet- ing me again in the palace square later on, "To see PrincessHeru read the destinies of the year.""What!" I exclaimed, "more magic? I have been brought up on moresubstantial mental stuff than this.""Nevertheless, I would advise you to come to the square," persistedmy companion. "It affects us all, and--who knows? --may affect youmore than any."Therein poor An was unconsciously wearing the cloak of prophesyherself, and, shrugging my shoulders good- humouredly, I kissed her chin,little realising, as I let her fingers slip from mine, that I should see her nomore.
　　Turning back alone, through the city, through ways twinkling withmyriad lights as little lamps began to blink out amongst garlands andflower-decked booths on every hand, I walked on, lost in varying thoughts,until, fairly tired and hungry, I found myself outside a stall where manyMartians stood eating and drinking to their hearts' content. I was knownto none of them, and, forgetting past experience, was looking on ratherenviously, when there came a touch upon my arm, and- "Are you hungry, sir?" asked a bystander.
　　"Ay," I said, "hungry, good friend, and with all the zest which anempty purse lends to that condition.""Then here is what you need, sir, even from here the wine smells good,and the fried fruit would make a mouse's eye twinkle. Why do youwait?""Why wait? Why, because though the rich man's dinner goes in at hismouth, the poor man must often be content to dine through his nose. Itell you I have nothing to get me a meal with."The stranger seemed to speculate on this for a time, and then he said,"I cannot fathom your meaning, sir. Buying and selling, gold and money,all these have no mean- ing to me. Surely the twin blessings of anappetite and food abundant ready and free before you are enough.""What! free is it--free like the breakfast served out this morning?""Why, of course," said the youth, with mild depreci- ation; "everythinghere is free. Everything is his who will take it, without exception.
　　What else is the good of a co- herent society and a Government if it cannotprovide you with so rudimentary a thing as a meal?"Whereat joyfully I undid my belt, and, without nicely examining theargument, marched into the booth, and there put Martian hospitality to thetest, eating and drinking, but this time with growing wisdom, till I was anew man, and then, paying my leaving with a wave of the hand to theyellow-girted one who dispensed the common provender, I sauntered onagain, caring little or nothing which way the road went, and soon acrossthe current of my medita- tions a peal of laughter broke, accompanied bythe piping of a flute somewhere close at hand, and the next minute I foundmyself amid a ring of light-hearted roisterers who were linking hands for adance to the music a curly- headed fellow was making close by.
　　They made me join them! One rosey-faced damsel at the hither endof the chain drew up to me, and, without a word, slipped her soft, babyfingers into my hand; on the other side another came with melting eyes,breath like a bed of violets, and banked-up fun puckering her dainty mouth.
　　What could I do but give her a hand as well? The flute began to gurgleanew, like a drinking spout in spring- time, and away we went, faster and  faster each minute, the boys and girls swinging themselves in time to thetune, and capering presently till their tender feet were twinkling over theground in gay confusion. Faster and faster till, as the infection of thedance spread even to the outside groups, I capered too. My word! if theycould have seen me that night from the deck of the old Carolina, how theywould have laughed--sword swinging, coat-tails flying-- faster and faster,round and round we went, till limbs could stand no more; the gaspingpiper blew himself quite out, and the dance ended as abruptly as itcommenced, the dancers melting away to join others or casting themselvespanting on the turf.
　　Certainly these Martian girls were blessed with an in- gratiatingsimplicity. My new friend of the violet-scented breath hung back a little,then after looking at me de- murely for a minute or two, like a child thatchooses a new playmate, came softly up, and, standing on tiptoe, kissedme on the cheek. It was not unpleasant, so I turned the other, whereon,guessing my meaning, without the smallest hesitation, she reached upagain, and pressed her pretty mouth to my bronzed skin a second time.
　　Then, with a little sigh of satisfaction, she ran an arm through mine, saying,"Comrade, from what country have you come? I never saw one quite likeyou before.""From what country had I come?" Again the frown dropped downupon my forehead. Was I dreaming--was I mad? Where indeed had Icome from? I stared back over my shoulder, and there, as if in answer tomy thought-- there, where the black tracery of flowering shrubs waved inthe soft night wind, over a gap in the crumbling ivory ramparts, the skywas brightening. As I looked into the centre of that glow, a planet,magnified by the wonderful air, came swinging up, pale but splendid, andmapped by soft colours--green, violet, and red. I knew it on the min- ute,Heaven only knows how, but I knew it, and a des- perate thrill ofloneliness swept over me, a spasm of com- prehension of the horrible voiddividing us. Never did yearn- ing babe stretch arms more wistfully to anunattainable mother than I at that moment to my mother earth. All hermeanness and prosaicness was forgotten, all her im- perfections andshortcomings; it was home, the one tangible thing in the glittering  emptiness of the spheres. All my soul went into my eyes, and then Isneezed violently, and turning round, found that sweet damsel whose silkyhead nestled so friendly on my shoulder was tickling my nose with afeather she had picked up.
　　Womanlike, she had forgotten all about her first question, and nowasked another, "Will you come to supper with me, stranger? 'Tis nearlyready, I think.""To be able to say no to such an invitation, lady, is the first thing ayoung man should learn," I answered lightly; but then, seeing there wasnothing save the most innocent friendliness in those hazel eyes, I went on,"but that stern rule may admit of variance. Only, as it chances, I havejust supped at the public expense. If, instead, you would be a sailor'ssweetheart for an hour, and take me to this show of yours--your princess'sbenefit, or whatever it is-- I shall be obliged; my previous guide is hulldown over the horizon, and I am clean out of my reckoning in this crowd."By way of reply, the little lady, light as an elf, took me by thefingertips, and, gleefully skipping forward, piloted me through the mazesof her city until we came out into the great square fronting on the palace,which rose beyond it like a white chalk cliff in the dull light. Not a tapershowed anywhere round its circumference, but a mysterious kind ofradiance like sea phosphorescence beamed from the palace porch. Allwas in such deathlike silence that the nails in my "ammunition" bootsmade an unpleasant clanking as they struck on the marble pavement; yet,by the uncertain starlight, I saw, to my surprise, the whole square wasthronged with Martians, all facing towards the porch, as still, gravenimages, and as voiceless, for once, as though they had indeed been marble.
　　It was strange to see them sitting there in the twilight, waiting for I knewnot what, and my friend's voice at my elbow almost startled me as she said,in a whisper, "The princess knows you are in the crowd, and desires you togo up upon the steps near where she will be.""Who brought her message?" I asked, gazing vaguely round, for nonehad spoken to us for an hour or more.
　　"No one," said my companion, gently pushing me up an open waytowards the palace steps left clear by the sitting Martians. "It came direct  from her to me this minute.""But how?" I persisted.
　　"Nay," said the girl, "if we stop to talk like this we shall not be placedbefore she comes, and thus throw a whole year's knowledge out."So, bottling my speculations, I allowed myself to be led up the firstflight of worn, white steps to where, on the terrace between them and thenext flight leading directly to the palace portico, was a flat, having a circleabout twenty feet across, inlaid upon the marble with darker colouredblocks. Inside that circle, as I sat down close by it in the twilight,showed another circle, and then a final one in whose inmost middle stooda tall iron tripod and something atop of it covered by a cloth. And allround the outer circle were magic symbols--I started as I recognised themeaning of some of them--within these again the inner circle held whatlooked like the representations of planets, ending, as I have said, in thatdished hollow made by countless dancers' feet, and its solitary tripod.
　　Back again, I glanced towards the square where the great concourse-- tenthousand of them, perhaps--were sitting mute and silent in the deepeningshadows, then back to the magic circles, till the silence and expectancy ofa strange scene began to possess me.
　　Shadow down below, star-dusted heaven above, and not a figuremoving; when suddenly something like a long- drawn sigh came from thelips of the expectant multitude, and I was aware every eye had suddenlyturned back to the palace porch, where, as we looked, a figure, wrapped inpale blue robes, appeared and stood for a minute, then stole down the stepswith an eagerness in every movement holding us spellbound. I have seenmany splendid pageants and many sights, each of which might be the talkof a life- time, but somehow nothing ever so engrossing, so thrilling, asthat ghostly figure in flowing robes stealing across the piazza in starlightand silence--the princess of a broken kingdom, the priestess of a forgottenfaith coming to her station to perform a jugglery of which she knew noteven the meaning. It was my versatile friend Heru, and with quick,incisive steps, her whole frame ambent for the time with the fervour of hermission, she came swiftly down to within a dozen yards of where I stood.
　　Heru, indeed, but not the same princess as in the morning; an inspired  priestess rather, her slim body wrapped in blue and quiver- ing withemotion, her face ashine with Delphic fire, her hair loose, her feet bare,until at last when, as she stood within the limit of the magic circle, herwhite hands upon her breast, her eyes flashing like planets themselves inthe star- shine she looked so ghostly and unreal I felt for a minute I wasdreaming.
　　Then began a strange, weird dance amongst the im- agery of the rings,over which my earth planet was begin- ning to throw a haze of light. Atfirst it was hardly more than a walk, a slow procession round the twincircumfer- ences of the centred tripod. But soon it increased to anextraordinary graceful measure, a cadenced step without music or soundthat riveted my eyes to the dancer. Pres- ently I saw those mystic,twinkling feet of hers--as the dance became swifter--were performing ameasured round amongst the planet signs--spelling out something, I knewnot what, with quick, light touch amongst the zodiac figures, dancing out asoundless invocation of some kind as a dumb man might spell a messageby touching letters. Quicker and quicker, for minute after minute, grewthe dance, swifter and swifter the swing of the light blue drapery as thepriestess, with eager face and staring eyes, swung pant- ing round uponher orbit, and redder and redder over the city tops rose the circumferenceof the earth. It seemed to me all the silent multitude were breathingheavily as we watched that giddy dance, and whatever THEY felt, all myown senses seemed to be winding up upon that re- volving figure as threadwinds on a spindle.
　　"When will she stop?" I whispered to my friend under my breath.
　　"When the earth-star rests in the roof-niche of the temple it isclimbing," she answered back.
　　"And then?""On the tripod is a globe of water. In it she will see the destiny of theyear, and will tell us. The whiter the water stays, the better for us; itnever varies from white. But we must not talk; see! she is stopping."And as I looked back, the dance was certainly ebbing now with suchsmoothly decreasing undulations, that every heart began to beat calmer inresponse. There was a minute or two of such slow cessation, and then to  say she stopped were too gross a description. Motion rather died awayfrom her, and the priestess grounded as smoothly as a ship grounds in fineweather on a sandy bank. There she was at last, crouched behind thetripod, one corner of the cloth covering it grasped in her hand, and hereyes fixed on the shining round just poised upon the distant run.
　　Keenly the girl watched it slide into zenith, then the cloth wassnatched from the tripod-top. As it fell it un- covered a beautiful andperfect globe of clear white glass, a foot or so in diameter, and obviouslyfilled with the thin- nest, most limpid water imaginable. At first itseemed to me, who stood near to the priestess of Mars, with that beamingsphere directly between us, and the newly risen world, that its smooth andflawless face was absolutely devoid of sign or colouring. Then, as thedistant planet became stronger in the magnifying Martian air, or my eyesbetter accustomed to that sudden nucleus of brilliancy, a delicate and infinitely lovely network of colours came upon it. They were like theradiant prisms that sometimes flush the surface of a bubble more thanaught else for a time. But as I watched that mosaic of yellow and purplecreep softly to and fro upon the globe it seemed they slowly took form andmeaning. Another minute or two and they had certainly con- gealed intoa settled plan, and then, as I stared and wondered, it burst upon me in aminute that I was looking upon a picture, faithful in every detail, of theworld I stood on; all its ruddy forests, its sapphire sea, both broad andnarrow ones, its white peaked mountains, and unnumbered islands beingmapped out with startling clearness for a spell upon that beaming orb.
　　Then a strange thing happened. Heru, who had been crouching in atremulous heap by the tripod, rose stealthily and passed her hands a fewtimes across the sphere. Colour and picture vanished at her touch likebreath from a mirror. Again all was clear and pellucid.
　　"Now," said my companion, "now listen! For Heru reads the destiny;the whiter the globe stays the better for us--" and then I felt her handtighten on mine with a startled grasp as the words died away upon her lips.
　　Even as the girl spoke, the sphere, which had been beam- ing in thecentre of the silent square like a mighty white jewel, began to flush withangry red. Redder and redder grew the gleam--a fiery glow which  seemed curdling in the interior of the round as though it were filled withflame; redder and redder, until the princess, staring into it, seemed turnedagainst the jet-black night behind, into a form of molten metal. A spasmof terror passed across her as she stared; her limbs stiffened; her frightenedhands were clutched in front, and she stood cowering under that greatcrimson nucleus like one bereft of power and life, and lost to every sensebut that of agony. Not a syllable came from her lips, not a movementstirred her body, only that dumb, stupid stare of horror, at the somethingshe saw in the globe. What could I do? I could not sit and see her soulcome out at her frightened eyes, and not a Martian moved a finger to herrescue; the red shine gleamed on empty faces, tier above tier, and flung itsbroad flush over the endless rank of open-mouthed spectators, then back Ilooked to Heru--that winsome little lady for whom, you will re- member, Ihad already more than a passing fancy--and saw with a thrill of emotionthat while she still kept her eyes on the flaming globe like one in a horribledream her hands were slowly, very slowly, rising in supplication to ME! Itwas not vanity. There was no mistaking the direction of that silent,imploring appeal.
　　Not a man of her countrymen moved, not even black Hath! Therewas not a sound in the world, it seemed, but the noisy clatter of my ownshoenails on the marble flags. In the great red eye of that unholy globethe Martians glimmered like a picture multitude under the red cliff of theirruined palace. I glared round at them with contempt for a minute, thensprang forward and snatched the prin- cess up. It was like pulling aflower up by the roots. She was stiff and stark when I lay hold of her, butwhen I tore her from the magic ground she suddenly gave a piercingshriek, and fainted in my arms.
　　Then as I turned upon my heels with her upon my breast my footcaught upon the cloths still wound about the tripod of the sphere. Overwent that implement of a thousand years of sorcery, and out went the redfire. But little I cared--the princess was safe! And up the palace steps,amidst a low, wailing hum of consternation from the re- covering Martians,I bore that bundle of limp and senseless loveliness up into the pale shine ofher own porch, and there, laying her down upon a couch, watched her  recover presently amongst her women with a varied assortment ofemotions tingling in my veins.
Chapter 6
Beyond the first flutter of surprise, the Martians had shown no interestin the abrupt termination of the year's divinations. They melted away, atrifle more silently per- haps than usual, when I shattered the magic globe,but with their invariable indifference, and having handed the revivingHeru over to some women who led her away, apparently already halfforgetful of the things that had just happened, I was left alone on thepalace steps, not even An beside me, and only the shadow of a passerbynow and then to break the solitude. Whereon a great lone- liness tookhold upon me, and, pacing to and fro along the ancient terrace with benthead and folded arms, I bewailed my fate. To and fro I walked, heedlessand melancholy, thinking of the old world, that was so far and this nearworld so distant from me in everything making life worth living, thinking,as I strode gloomily here and there, how gladly I would exchange thesepoor puppets and the mockery of a town they dwelt in, for a sight of mycom- rades and a corner in the poorest wine-shop salon in New York or'Frisco; idly speculating why, and how, I came here, as I sauntered downamongst the glistening, shell-like fragments of the shattered globe, andfinding no answer. How could I? It was too fair, I thought, standing therein the open; there was a fatal sweetness in the air, a deadly sufficiency inthe beauty of everything around falling on the lax senses like some sleepydraught of pleasure. Not a leaf stirred, the wide purple roof of the skywas unbroken by the healthy promise of a cloud from rim to rim, thesplendid country, teeming with its spring-time richness, lay in rankperfection everywhere; and just as rank and sleek and passionless werethose who owned it.
　　Why, even I, who yesterday was strong, began to come under the spellof it. But yesterday the spirit of the old world was still strong within me,yet how much things were now changing. The well-strung musclesloosening, the heart beating a slower measure, the busy mind drowsing offto listlessness. Was I, too, destined to become like these? Was the redstuff in my veins to be watered down to pallid Martian sap? Wasambition and hope to desert me, and idleness itself become laborious,  while life ran to seed in gilded uselessness? Little did I guess howunnecessary my fears were, or of the incredible fairy tale of adventure intowhich fate was going to plunge me.
　　Still engrossed the next morning by these thoughts, I decided I wouldgo to Hath. Hath was a man--at least they said so--he might sympathiseeven though he could not help, and so, dressing finished, I went downtowards the innermost palace whence for an hour or two had come soundsof unwonted bustle. Asking for the way occasion- ally from sleepy folklolling about the corridors, waiting as it seemed for their breakfasts tocome to them, and embarrassed by the new daylight, I wandered to and froin the labyrinths of that stony ant-heap until I chanced upon a curtaineddoorway which admitted to a long cham- ber, high-roofed, ample inproportions, with colonnades on either side separated from the main aisleby rows of flowery figures and emblematic scroll-work, meaning I knewnot what. Above those pillars ran a gallery with many windows lookingout over the ruined city. While at the further end of the chamber stoodthree broad steps leading to a dais. As I entered, the whole place was fullof bustling girls, their yellow garments like a bed of flowers in the sunlighttrickling through the casements, and all intent on the spreading of a feaston long tables ranged up and down the hall. The morning light streamedin on the white cloths. It glittered on the glass and the gold they wereputting on the trestles, and gave resplendent depths of colour to the ribbonbands round the pillars. All were so busy no one noticed me standing inthe twilight by the door, but presently, laying a hand on a worker'sshoulder, I asked who they banqueted for, and why such unwontedpreparation?
　　"It is the marriage-feast tonight, stranger, and a marvel you did notknow it. You, too, are to be wed.""I had not heard of it, damsel; a paternal forethought of yourGovernment, I suppose? Have you any idea who the lady is?""How should I know?" she answered laughingly. "That is the secretof the urn. Meanwhile, we have set you a place at the table-head nearPrincess Heru, and tonight you dip and have your chance like all of them;may luck send you a rosy bride, and save her from Ar-hap.""Ay, now I remember; An told me of this before; Ar-hap is thesovereign with whom your people have a little difference, and sharesunbidden in the free distribution of brides to-night. This promises to beinteresting; depend on it I will come; if you will keep me a place where Ican hear the speeches, and not forget me when the turtle soup goes round,I shall be more than grateful. Now to another matter. I want to get a fewminutes with your President, Prince Hath. He concentrates the fluidintelligence of this sphere, I am told. Where can I find him?""He is drunk, in the library, sir!""My word! It is early in the day for that, and a singular conjunctionof place and circumstance.""Where," said the girl, "could he safer be? We can always fetch himif we want him, and sunk in blue ob- livion he will not come to harm.""A cheerful view, Miss, which is worthy of the attention of ourreformers. Nevertheless, I will go to him. I have known men tell moretruth in that state than in any other."The servitor directed me to the library, and after deso- late wanderingsup crumbling steps and down mouldering corridors, sunny and lovely indecay, I came to the im- mense lumber-shed of knowledge they had toldme of, a city of dead books, a place of dusty cathedral aisles stored withforgotten learning. At a table sat Hath the purposeless, enthroned inleather and vellum, snoring in divine content amongst all that wastedlabour, and nothing I could do was sufficient to shake him into semblanceof intelligence. So perforce I turned away till he should have come tohim-self, and wandering round the splendid litter of a noble library,presently amongst the ruck of volumes on the floor, amongst those lordlytomes in tattered green and gold, and ivory, my eye lit upon a volumepropped up curiously on end, and going to it through the confusion I sawby the dried fruit rind upon the sticks supporting it, that the grave andreverend tome was set to catch a mouse! It was a splendid book when Ilooked more closely, bound as a king might bind his choicest treasure, thesweet- scented leather on it was no doubt frayed; the golden arabesquesupon the covers had long since shed their eyes of inset gems, the jewelledclasp locking its learning up from vulgar gaze was bent and open. Yet it  was a lordly tome with an odour of sanctity about it, and lifting it withdiffi- culty, I noticed on its cover a red stain of mouse's blood. Those whoput it to this quaint use of mouse-trap had already had some sport, butsurely never was a mouse crushed before under so much learning. Andwhile I stood guessing at what the book might hold within, Heru, theprincess, came tripping in to me, and with the abrupt famili- arity of herkind, laid a velvet hand upon my wrist, conned the title over to herself.
　　"What does it say, sweet girl?" I asked. "The matter is learned, by itsfeel," and that maid, pursing up her pretty lips, read the title to me--"TheSecret of the Gods.""The Secret of the Gods," I murmured. "Was it pos- sible otherworlds had struggled hopelessly to come within the barest ken of that greatknowledge, while here the same was set to catch a mouse with?"I said, "Silver-footed, sit down and read me a passage or two," andpropping the mighty volume upon a table drew a bench before it andpulled her down beside me.
　　"Oh! a horrid, dry old book for certain," cried that lady, her pinkfingertips falling as lightly on the musty leaves as almond petals on Marchdust. "Where shall I begin? It is all equally dull.""Dip in," was my answer. " 'Tis no great matter where, but near thebeginning. What says the writer of his intention? What sets he out toprove?""He says that is the Secret of the First Great Truth, descended straightto him--""Many have said so much, yet have lied.""He says that which is written in his book is through him but not ofhim, past criticism and beyond cavil. 'Tis all in ancient and crabbedcharacters going back to the threshold of my learning, but here upon thispassage-top where they are writ large I make them out to say, 'ONLY THEMAN WHO HAS DIED MANY TIMES BEGINS TO LIVE.'""A pregnant passage! Turn another page, and try again; I have aninkling of the book already.""'Tis poor, silly stuff," said the girl, slipping a hand covertly into myown. "Why will you make me read it? I have a book on pomatums worth  twice as much as this.""Nevertheless, dip in again, dear lady. What says the next heading?"And with a little sigh at the heaviness of her task, Heru read out:
　　"SOMETIMES THE GODS THEM- SELVES FORGET THE ANSWERSTO THEIR OWN RIDDLES.""Lady, I knew it!
　　"All this is still preliminary to the great matter of the book, but themutterings of the priest who draws back the cur- tains of the shrine--andhere, after the scribe has left these two yellow pages blank as though to seta space of reverence between himself and what comes next--here speaksthe truth, the voice, the fact of all life." But "Oh! Jones," she said,turning from the dusty pages and clasping her young, milk-warm handsover mine and leaning towards me until her blushing cheek was near tomy shoulder and the incense of her breath upon me. "Oh! GulliverJones," she said. "Make me read no more; my soul revolts from the task,the crazy brown letters swim before my eyes. Is there no learning near athand that would be pleasanter reading than this silly book of yours?
　　What, after all," she said, growing bolder at the sound of her own voice,"what, after all, is the musty reticence of gods to the whispered secret of amaid? Jones, splendid stranger for whom all men stand aside and womenlook over shoulders, oh, let me be your book!" she whispered, slipping onto my knee and winding her arms round my neck till, through the whiteglimmer of her single vest, I could feel her heart beating against mine.
　　"Newest and dearest of friends, put by this dreary learning and look in myeyes; is there nothing to be spelt out there?"And I was constrained to do as she bid me, for she was as fresh as analmond blossom touched by the sun, and looking down into twoswimming blue lakes where shyness and passion were contending--bookseasy enough, in truth, to be read, I saw that she loved me, with theunconventional ardour of her nature.
　　It was a pleasant discovery, if its abruptness was em- barrassing, forshe was a maid in a thousand; and half ashamed and half laughing I let herescalade me, throwing now and then a rueful look at the Secret of theGods, and all that priceless knowledge treated so unworthily.
　　What else could I do? Besides, I loved her myself! And if therewas a momentary chagrin at having yonder golden knowledge put off bythis lovely interruption, yet I was flesh and blood, the gods could wait-they had to wait long and often before, and when this sweet interpreterwas comforted we would have another try. So it happened I took her intomy heart and gave her the answer she asked for.
　　For a long time we sat in the dusky grandeur of the royal library, mymind revolving between wonder and ad- miration of the neglectedknowledge all about, and the stir- rings of a new love, while Heru herself,lapsed again into Martian calm, lay half sleeping on my shoulder, but presently, unwinding her arms, I put her down.
　　"There, sweetheart," I whispered, "enough of this for the moment;tonight, perhaps, some more, but while we are here amongst all this lordlylitter, I can think of nothing else." Again I bid her turn the pages, noting asshe did so how each chapter was headed by the coloured configuration ofa world. Page by page we turned of crackling parchment, until by chance,at the top of one, my eye caught a coloured round I could not fail torecognise--'twas the spinning but- ton on the blue breast of theimmeasurable that yesterday I inhabited. "Read here," I cried, clappingmy finger upon the page midway down, where there were some signslooking like Egyptian writing. "Says this quaint dabbler in all knowledgeanything of Isis, anything of Phra, of Am- mon, of Ammon Top?""And who was Isis? who Ammon Top?" asked the lady.
　　"Nay, read," I answered, and down the page her slender fingers wentawandering till at a spot of knotted signs they stopped. "Why, here issomething about thy Isis," ex- claimed Heru, as though amused at myperspicuity. "Here, halfway down this chapter of earth-history, it says,"and putting one pink knee across the other to better prop the book sheread:
　　"And the priests of Thebes were gone; the sand stood un- trampled onthe temple steps a thousand years; the wild bees sang the song ofdesolation in the ears of Isis; the wild cats littered in the stony lap ofAmmon; ay, another thou- sand years went by, and earth was tilled ofunseen hands and sown with yellow grain from Paradise, and the thin veil  that separates the known from the unknown was rent, and men walked toand fro.""Go on," I said.
　　"Nay," laughed the other, "the little mice in their eager-ness have beenbefore you--see, all this corner is gnawed away.""Read on again," I said, "where the page is whole; those sips ofknowledge you have given make me thirsty for more. There, begin wherethis blazonry of initialed red and gold looks so like the carpet spread bythe scribe for the feet of a sovereign truth--what says he here?" And she,half pouting to be set back once more to that task, half won- dering as shegazed on those magic letters, let her eyes run down the page, then began:
　　"And it was the Beginning, and in the centre void pres- ently therecame a nucleus of light: and the light brightened in the grey primevalmorning and became definite and articulate. And from the midst of thatnatal splendour, behind which was the Unknowable, the life camehitherward; from the midst of that nucleus undescribed, undescribable,there issued presently the primeval sigh that breathed the breath of life intoall things. And that sigh thrilled through the empty spaces of theillimitable: it breathed the breath of promise over the frozen hills of theoutside planets where the night-frost had lasted without beginning: and thewaters of ten thousand nameless oceans, girding nameless planets, werestirred, trembling into their depth. It crossed the il- limitable spaceswhere the herding aerolites swirl forever through space in the wake ofcareering world, and all their whistling wings answered to it. Itreverberated through the grey wastes of vacuity, and crossed the darkoceans of the Outside, even to the black shores of the eternal nightbeyond.
　　"And hardly had echo of that breath died away in the hollow of theheavens and the empty wombs of a million barren worlds, when the lightbrightened again, and draw- ing in upon itself became definite and tookform, and therefrom, at the moment of primitive conception, there came--"And just then, as she had read so far as that, when all my facultieswere aching to know what came next-- whether this were but the idlescribbling of a vacuous fool, or something else--there rose the sound of  soft flutes and tinkling bells in the corridors, as seneschals wandered piping round the palace to call folk to meals, a smell of roast meat andgrilling fish as that procession lifted the curtains between the halls, and-"Dinner!" shouted my sweet Martian, slapping the cov- ers of TheSecret of the Gods together and pushing the stately tome headlong fromthe table. "Dinner! 'Tis worth a hundred thousand planets to thehungry!"Nothing I could say would keep her, and, scarcely know- ing whetherto laugh or to be angry at so unseemly an interruption, but both beingpurposeless I dug my hands into my pockets, and somewhat sulkilyrefusing Heru's invita- tion to luncheon in the corridor (Navy rations hadnot fitted my stomach for these constant debauches of gos- samer food),strolled into the town again in no very pleasant frame of mind.
Chapter 7
It was only at moments like these I had any time to reflect on mycircumstances or that giddy chance which had shot me into space in thisfashion, and, frankly, the opportunities, when they did come, brought suchan extraordinary de- pressing train of thought, I by no means invited them.
　　Even with the time available the occasion was always awry for suchreflection. These dainty triflers made sulking as impossible amongstthem as philosophy in a ballroom. When I stalked out like that from thelibrary in fine mood to moralise and apostrophise heaven in a way thatwould no doubt have looked fine upon these pages, one sprightly dam-sel,just as the gloomy rhetoric was bursting from my lips, thrust a flowerunder my nose whose scent brought on a violent attack of sneezing, hercompanions joining hands and dancing round me while they imitated myagony. Then, when I burst away from them and rushed down a nar-rowarcade of crumbling mansions, another stopped me in mid-career, andtaking the honey-stick she was sucking from her lips, put it to mine, like apretty, playful child. An- other asked me to dance, another to drink pinkoblivion with her, and so on. How could one lament amongst all thisirritating cheerfulness?
　　An might have helped me, for poor An was intelligent for a Martian,but she had disappeared, and the terrible vacu- ity of life in the planet wasforced upon me when I realised that possessing no cognomen, no fixedaddress, or rating, it would be the merest chance if I ever came across heragain.
　　Looking for my friendly guide and getting more and more at seaamongst a maze of comely but similar faces, I made chance acquaintancewith another of her kind who cheerfully drank my health at theGovernment's expense, and chatted on things Martian. She took me tosee a funeral by way of amusement, and I found these people floated theirdead off on flower-decked rafts instead of burying them, the send-offs alltaking place upon a certain swift-flowing stream, which carried the deadaway into the vast region of northern ice, but more exactly whither myinformant seemed to have no idea. The voyager on this occasion was old,  and this brought to my mind the curious fact that I had observed fewchildren in the city, and no elders, all, except perhaps Hath, being in a stateof sleek youthfulness. My new friend explained the peculiarity bydeclaring Mar- tians ripened with extraordinary rapidity from infancy tothe equivalent of about twenty-five years of age, with us, and thenremained at that period however long they might live; Only when theydied did their accumulated seasons come upon them; the girl turning pale,and wringing her pret- ty hands in sympathetic concern when I told herthere was a land where decrepitude was not so happily postponed. TheMartians, she said, arranged their calendar by the varying colours of theseasons, and loved blue as an antidote to the generally red and rustycharacter of their soil.
　　Discussing such things as these we lightly squandered the day away,and I know of nothing more to note until the evening was come again: thatwonderful purple evening which creeps over the outer worlds at sunset, aseductive darkness gemmed with ten thousand stars riding so low in theheaven they seem scarcely more than mast high. When that hour wascome my friend tiptoed again to my cheek, and then, pointing to the palaceand laughingly hoping fate would send me a bride "as soft as catkin and assweet as honey," slipped away into the darkness.
　　Then I remembered all on a sudden this was the con- nubial evening ofmy sprightly friends--the occasion when, as An had told me, theGovernment constituted itself into a gigantic matrimonial agency, and,with the cheerful care- lessness of the place, shuffled the matrimonial packanew, and dealt a fresh hand to all the players. Now I had no wish toavail myself of a sailor's privilege of a bride in every port, but surely thisgame would be interesting enough to see, even if I were but a disinterestedspectator. As a matter of fact I was something more than that, and hadbeen thinking a good deal of Heru during the day. I do not know whetherI actually aspired to her hand--that were a large order, even if there hadbeen no suspicion in my mind she was already bespoke in some vagueway by the invisible Hath, most abortive of princes. But she wasundeniably a lovely girl; the more one thought of her the more she grewupon the fancy, and then the preference she had shown myself was very  gratifying. Yes, I would certainly see this quaint ceremonial, even if Itook no leading part in it.
　　The great centre hall of the palace was full of a radiant light bringingup its ruined columns and intruding creepers to the best effect when Ientered. Dinner also was just being served, as they would say in another,and alas! very distant place, and the whole building thronged with folk.
　　Down the centre low tables with room for four hundred people wereranged, but they looked quaint enough since but two hundred were sittingthere, all brand-new bachelors about to be turned into brand newBenedicts, and taking it mightily calmly it seemed. Across the hall-topwas a raised table similarly arranged and ornamented; and entering intothe spirit of the thing, and little guessing how stern a reality was to comefrom the evening, I sat down in a vacant place near to the dais, and only afew paces from where the pale, ghost-eyed Hath was already seated.
　　Almost immediately afterwards music began to buzz all about the hall-music of the kind the people loved which always seemed to me as thoughit were exuding from the tables and benches, so disembodied and difficultit was to locate; all the sleepy gallants raised their flower-encircled headsat the same time, seizing their wine-cups, already filled to the brim, andthe door at the bottom of the hall opening, the ladies, preceded by onecarrying a mysterious vase covered with a glittering cloth, came in.
　　Now, being somewhat thirsty, I had already drunk half the wine in mybeaker, and whether it was that draught, drugged as all Martian wines are,or the sheer loveliness of the maids themselves, I cannot say, but as theprocession entered, and, dividing, circled round under the colonnades ofthe hall, a sensation of extraordinary felicity came over me--an emotion ofdivine contentment purged of all gross- ness--and I stared and stared at thecircling loveliness, gos- samer-clad, flower-girdled, tripping by me withvapid de- light. Either the wine was budding in my head, or there waslittle to choose from amongst them, for had any of those ladies sat down inthe vacant place beside me, I should certainly have accepted her as a giftfrom heaven, without question or cavil. But one after another theyslipped by, modestly taking their places in the shadows until at last camePrincess Heru, and at the sight of her my soul was stirred.
　　She came undulating over the white marble, the loveliness of her fairyperson dimmed but scarcely hidden by a robe of softest lawn in colour likerose-petals, her eyes aglitter with excitement and a charming blush uponher face.
　　She came straight up to me, and, resting a dainty hand upon myshoulder, whispered, "Are you come as a spectator only, dear Mr. Jones, ordo you join in our custom tonight?""I came only as a bystander, lady, but the fascination of theopportunity is deadly--""And have you any preference?"--this in the softest little voice fromsomewhere in the nape of my neck. "Strangers sometimes say there arefair women in Seth.""None--till you came; and now, as was said a long time ago, 'All isdross that is not Helen.' Dearest lady," I ran on, detaining her by thefingertips and gazing up into those shy and star-like eyes, "must I indeedput all the hopes your kindness has roused in me these last few days to ashuffle in yonder urn, taking my chance with all these lazy fellows? Inthat land whereof I was, we would not have had it so, we loaded our dicein these matters, a strong man there might have a willing maid though allheaven were set against him! But give me leave, sweet lady, and I willruffle with these fellows; give me a glance and I will barter my life foryour billet when it is drawn, but to stand idly by and see you won by acold chance, I cannot do it."That lady laughed a little and said, "Men make laws, dear Jones, forwomen to keep. It is the rule, and we must not break it." Then, gentlytugging at her imprisoned fingers and gathering up her skirts to go, sheadded, "But it might happen that wit here were better than sword." Thenshe hesitated, and freeing herself at last slipped from my side, yet beforeshe was quite gone half turned again and whispered so low that no one butI could hear it, "A golden pool, and a silver fish, and a line no thicker thana hair!" and before I could beg a meaning of her, had passed down the halland taken a place with the other expectant damsels.
　　"A golden pool," I said to myself, "a silver fish, and a line of hair."What could she mean? Yet that she meant something, and something  clearly of importance, I could not doubt. "A golden pool, and a silverfish--" I buried my chin in my chest and thought deeply but without effectwhile the preparations were made and the fateful urn, each maid havingslipped her name tablet within, was brought down to us, covered in abeautiful web of rose-coloured tissue, and commenced its round, passingslowly from hand to hand as each of those handsome, impassive, fawn-eyed gallants lifted a corner of the web in turn and helped themselves tofate.
　　"A golden pool," I muttered, "and a silver fish"--so ab- sorbed in myown thoughts I hardly noticed the great cup begin its journey, but when ithad gone three or four places the glitter of the lights upon it caught my eye.
　　It was of pure gold, round-brimmed, and circled about with a string of theblue convolvulus, which implies delight to these people. Ay! and eachman was plunging his hand into the dark and taking in his turn a smallnotch-edged mother-of- pearl billet from it that flashed soft and silvery ashe turned it in his hand to read the name engraved in unknown charactersthereon. "Why," I said, with a start, "surely THIS might be the goldenpool and these the silver fish-- but the hair-fine line? And again Imeditated deeply, with all my senses on the watch.
　　Slowly the urn crept round, and as each man took a ticket from it, andpassed it, smiling, to the seneschal behind him, that official read out thename upon it, and a blushing damsel slipped from the crowd above,crossing over to the side of the man with whom chance had thus lightlylinked her for the brief Martian year, and putting her hands in his theykissed before all the company, and sat down to their places at the table ascalmly as country folk might choose partners at a village fair in hay-time.
　　But not so with me. Each time a name was called I started and staredat the drawer in a way which should have filled him with alarm had alarmbeen possible to the peace-soaked triflers, then turned to glance to where,amongst the women, my tender little princess was leaning against a pillar,with drooping head, slowly pulling a con- volvulus bud to pieces. Nonedrew, though all were thinking of her, as I could tell in my fingertips.
　　Keener and keener grew the suspense as name after name was told andeach slim white damsel skipped to the place allotted her. And all the time  I kept muttering to myself about that "golden pool," wondering andwondering until the urn had passed half round the tables and was onlysome three men up from me--and then an idea flashed across my mind.
　　dipped my fingers in the scented water-basin on the table, drying themcarefully on a napkin, and waiting, outwardly as calm as any, yet inwardlywrung by those tremors which beset all male creation in suchcircumstances.
　　And now at last it was my turn. The great urn, blazing golden,through its rosy covering, was in front, and all eyes on me. I clapped asunburnt hand upon its top as though I would take all remaining in it tomyself and stared round at that company--only her herself I durst not lookat! Then, with a beating heart, I lifted a corner of the web and slippedmy hand into the dark inside, muttering to myself as I did so, "A goldenpool, and a silver fish, and a line no thicker than a hair." I touched inturn twenty perplexing tablets and was no whit the wiser, and felt aboutthe sides yet came to nothing, groping here and there with a rising despair,until as my fingers, still damp and fine of touch, went round the sides asecond time, yes! there was some- thing, something in the hollow of thefluting, a thought, a thread, and yet enough. I took it unseen, lifting itwith in- finite forbearance, and the end was weighted, the other tabletsslipped and rattled as from their midst, hanging to that one fine virgin hair,up came a pearly billet. I doubted no longer, but snapped the thread, andshowed the tablet, heard Heru's name, read from it amongst the softapplause of that luxurious company with all the unconcern I could muster.
　　There she was in a moment, lip to lip with me, before them all, hereyes more than ever like planets from her native skies, and only the quickheave of her bosom, slowly subsiding like a ground swell after a storm,remaining to tell that even Martian blood could sometimes beat quickerthan usual! She sat down in her place by me in the simplest way, andsoon everything was as merry as could be. The main meal came on now,and as far as I could see those Martian gallants had extremely goodappetites, though they drank at first but little, wisely remembering thestrength of their wines. As for me, I ate of fishes that never swam inearthly seas, and of strange fowl that never flapped a way through thick  terrestrial air, ate and drank as happy as a king, and falling each momentmore and more in love with the wonderfully beautiful girl at my side whowas a real woman of flesh and blood I knew, yet somehow so dainty, sopink and white, so unlike other girls in the smoothness of her outlines, inthe subtle grace of each unthinking attitude, that again and again I lookedat her over the rim of my tankard half fearing she might dissolve intonothing, being the half-fairy which she was.
　　Presently she asked, "Did that deed of mine, the hair in the urn, offendyou, stranger?""Offend me, lady!" I laughed. "Why, had it been the blackest crimethat ever came out of a perverse imagination it would have brought itsown pardon with it; I, least of all in this room, have least cause to beoffended.""I risked much for you and broke our rules.""Why, no doubt that was so, but 'tis the privilege of your kind to havesome say in this little matter of giving and taking in marriage. I onlymarvel that your countrywomen submit so tamely to the quaintest game ofchance I ever played at.
　　"Ay, and it is women's nature no doubt to keep the laws which othersmake, as you have said yourself. Yet this rule, lady, is one broken withmore credit than kept, and if you have offended no one more than me,your penance is easily done.""But I have offended some one," she said, laying her hand on minewith gentle nervousness in its touch, "one who has the power to hurt, andenough energy to resent. Hath, up there at the cross-table, have Ioffended deeply tonight, for he hoped to have me, and would havecompelled any other man to barter me for the maid chance assigned to him;but of you, somehow, he is afraid--I have seen him staring at you, andchanging colour as though he knew something no one else knows--""Briefly, charming girl," I said, for the wine was be- ginning to sing inmy head, and my eyes were blinking stupidly--"briefly, Hath hath thee not,and there's an end of it. I would spit a score of Haths, as these figs arespit on this golden skewer, before I would relinquish a hair of your head tohim, or to any man," and as everything about the great hall began to look  gauzy and unreal through the gathering fumes of my confusion, I smiledon that gracious lady, and began to whisper I know not what to her, andwhisper and doze, and doze-I know not how long afterwards it was, whether a minute or an hour,but when I lifted my head suddenly from the lady's shoulder all the placewas in confusion, every one upon their feet, the talk and the drinkingceased, and all eyes turned to the far doorway where the curtains were justdropping again as I looked, while in front of them were standing threemen.
　　These newcomers were utterly unlike any others--a fright- ful vision ofugly strength amidst the lolling loveliness all about. Low of stature,broad of shoulder, hairy, deep-chest- ed, with sharp, twinkling eyes, set farback under bushy eyebrows, retreating foreheads, and flat noses in facestan-ned to a dusky copper hue by exposure to every kind of weather thatracks the extreme Martian climate they were so opposite to all about me,so quaint and grim amongst those mild, fair-skinned folk, that at first Ithought they were but a disordered creation of my fancy.
　　I rubbed my eyes and stared and blinked, but no! they were real men,of flesh and blood, and now they had come down with as much statelinessas their bandy legs would admit of, into the full glare of the lights to thecentre table where Hath sat. I saw their splendid apparel, the greatstrings of rudely polished gems hung round their hairy necks and wrists,the cunningly dyed skins of soft-furred animals, green and red and black,wherewith their limbs were swathed, and then I heard some one by mewhisper in a frightened tone, "The envoys from over seas.""Oh," I thought sleepily to myself, "so these are the ape-men of thewestern woods, are they? Those who long ago vanquished my white-skinned friends and yearly come to claim their tribute. Jove, what haythey must have made of them! How those peach-skinned girls must havescreamed and the downy striplings by them felt their dimpled knees knocktogether, as the mad flood of barbarians came pour- ing over from theforest, and long ago stormed their cit-adels like a stream of red lava, asdeadly, as irresistible, as remorseless!" And I lay asprawl upon my armson the table watching them with the stupid indifference I thought I could  so well afford.
　　Meanwhile Hath was on foot, pale and obsequious like others in thepresence of those dread ambassadors, but more collected, I thought.
　　With the deepest bows he welcomed them, handing them drink in a goldenState cup, and when they had drunk (I heard the liquor running down theirgreat throats, in the frightened hush, like water in a runnel on a wet day),they wiped their fierce lips upon their furry sleeves, and the leader beganreciting the tribute for the year. So much corn, so much wine--and verymuch it was--so many thousands ells of cloth and webbing, and so muchhammered gold, and sinah and lar, precious metal of which I knew nothingas yet; and ever as he went growl- ing through the list in his harsh animalvoice, he refreshed his memory with a coloured stick whereon a notch wasmade for every item, the woodmen not having come as yet, apparently, tothe gentler art of written signs and symbols. Longer and longer thatcaravan of unearned wealth stretched out before my fancy, but at last itwas done, or all but done, and the head envoy, passing the painted stick toa man behind, folded his bare, sinewy arms, upon which the red fellbristles as it does upon a gorilla's, across his ample chest, and, includingus all in one general scowl, turned to Hath as he said-"All this for Ar-hap, the wood-king, my master and yours; all this, andthe most beautiful woman here tonight at your tables!""An item," I smiled stupidly to myself, for indeed I was very sleepyand had no nice perception of things, "which shows his majesty with thetwo-pronged name is a jolly fellow after all, and knows wealth isincomplete without the crown and priming of all riches. I wonder howthe Martian boys will like this postscript," and chin on hand, and eyes thatwould hardly stay open, I watched to see what would happen next. Therewas a little conversation between the prince and the ape-man; then I sawHath the traitor point in my direction and say-"Since you ask and will be advised, then, mighty sir, there can be nodoubt of it, the most beautiful woman here tonight is undoubtedly she whosits yonder by him in blue.""A very pretty compliment!" I thought, too dull to see what wascoming quickly, "and handsome of Hath, all things considered."And so I dozed and dozed, and then started, and stared! Was I in mysenses? Was I mad, or dreaming? The drunk- enness dropped from melike a mantle; with a single, smothered cry I came to myself and saw that itwas all too true. The savage envoy had come down the hall at Hath'svindictive prompting, had lifted my fair girl to her feet, and there, even asI looked, had drawn her, white as death, into the red circle of his arm, andwith one hand under her chin had raised her sweet face to within an inchof his, and was staring at her with small, ugly eyes.
　　"Yes," said the enjoy, more interestedly than he had spoken yet, "it willdo; the tribute is accepted--for Ar- hap, my master!" And takingshrinking Heru by the wrist, and laying a heavy hand upon her shoulder,he was about to lead her up the hall.
　　I was sober enough then. I was on foot in an instant, and before allthe glittering company, before those simpering girls and pale Martianyouths, who sat mumbling their fingers, too frightened to lift their eyesfrom off their half-finished dinners, I sprang at the envoy. I struck himwith my clenched fist on the side of his bullet head, and he let go of Heru,who slipped insensible from his hairy chest like a white cloud slippingdown the slopes of a hill at sunrise, and turned on me with a snort of rage.
　　We stared at each other for a minute, and then I felt the wine fumesroaring in my head; I rushed at him and closed. It was like embracing amoun- tain bull, and he responded with a hug that made my ribs crackle.
　　For a minute we were locked together like that, swinging here and there,and then getting a hand loose, I belaboured him so unmercifully that heput his head down, and that was what I wanted. I got a new hold of himas we staggered and plunged, roaring the while like the wild beasts wewere, the teeth chattering in the Martian heads as they watched us, andthen, exerting all my strength, lifted him fairly from his feet and withsupreme effort swung him up, shoulder high, and with a mighty heavehurled him across the tables, flung that ambassador, whom no Martiandared look upon, crashing and sprawling through the gold and silver of thefeast, whirled him round with such a splendid send that bench and trestle,tankards and flagons, chairs and cloths and candelabras all went down intothundering chaos with him, and the envoy only stayed when his sacred  person came to harbour amongst the westral odds and ends, the soiledlinen, and dirty platters of our wedding feast.
　　I remember seeing him there on hands and knees, and then the liquor Ihad had would not be denied. In vain I drew my hands across mydrooping eyelids, in vain I tried to master my knees that knocked together.
　　The spell of the love-drink that Heru, blushing, had held to my lips was onme. Its soft, overwhelming influence rose like a prismatic fog betweenme and my enemy, everything again became hazy and dreamlike, andfeebly calling on Heru, my chin dropped upon my chest, my limbs relaxed,and I slipped down in drowsy oblivion before my rival.
Chapter 8
They must have carried me, still under the influence of wine fumes,to the chamber where I slept that night, for when I woke the followingmorning my surroundings were familiar enough, though a glorious mazeof uncertainties rocked to and fro in my mind.
　　Was it a real feast we had shared in overnight, or only a quaint dream?
　　Was Heru real or only a lovely fancy? And those hairy ruffians of whoma horrible vision danced before my waking eyes, were they fancy too?
　　No, my wrists still ached with the strain of the tussle, the quaint, sad winetaste was still on my lips--it was all real enough, I decided, starting up inbed; and if it was real where was the little princess? What had they donewith her? Surely they had not given her to the ape-men--cowards thoughthey were they could not have been cowards enough for that. And as Iwondered a keen, bright picture of the hapless maid as I saw her lastblossomed before my mind's eye, the am- bassadors on either side holdingher wrists, and she shrink- ing from them in horror while her poor, whiteface turned to me for rescue in desperate pleading--oh! I must find her atall costs; and leaping from bed I snatched up those trousers without whichthe best of heroes is nothing, and had hardly got into them when therecame the patter of light feet without and a Martian, in a hurry for once,with half a dozen others behind him, swept aside the curtains of mydoorway.
　　They peeped and peered all about the room, then one said, "Is PrincessHeru with you, sir?""No," I answered roughly. "Saints alive, man, do you think I wouldhave you tumbling in here over each other's heels if she were?""Then it must indeed have been Heru," he said, speak-ing in an awedvoice to his fellows, "whom we saw carried down to the harbour atdaybreak by yonder woodmen," and the pink upon their pretty cheeksfaded to nothing at the suggestion.
　　"What!" I roared, "Heru taken from the palace by a handful of menand none of you infernal rascals--none of you white-livered abortionslifted a hand to save her--curse on you a thousand times. Out of my way,  you churls!" And snatching up coat and hat and sword I rushed furiouslydown the long, marble stairs just as the short Martian night was givingplace to lavender-coloured light of morning. I found my way somehowdown the deserted corridors where the air was heavy with aromaticvapours; I flew by cur- tained niches and chambers where amongstmounds of half- withered flowers the Martian lovers were slowly waking.
　　Down into the banquethall I sped, and there in the twilight was the litter ofthe feast still about--gold cups and silver, broken bread and meat, theconvolvulus flowers all turning their pallid faces to the rosy daylight,making pools of brightness between the shadows. Amongst the litterlittle sapphire-coloured finches were feeding, twittering merrily tothemselves as they hopped about, and here and there down the long tableslay asprawl a belated reveller, his empty oblivion-phial before him, hiscurly head upon his arms, dreaming perhaps of last night's feast and aneglected bride dozing dispassionate in some distant chamber. But Heruwas not there and little I cared for twittering finches or sighing damsels.
　　With hasty feet I rushed down the hall out into the cool, sweet air of theplanet morning.
　　There I met one whom I knew, and he told me he had been among thecrowd and had heard the woodmen had gone no farther than the river gate,that Heru was with them beyond a doubt. I would not listen to more.
　　"Good!" I shouted. "Get me a horse and just a handful of your sleekkindred and we will pull the prize from the bear's paw even yet! Surely,"I said, turning to a knot of Martian youths who stood listening a few stepsaway, "surely some of you will come with me at this pinch? The bigbullies are very few; the sea runs behind them; the maid in their clutch isworth fighting for; it needs but one good onset, five minutes' gallantry, andshe is ours again. Think how fine it will look to bring her back beforeyon sleepy fellows have found their weapons. You, there, with the bluetunic! you look a proper fellow, and something of a heart should beatunder such gay wrappings, will you come with me?"But blue-mantle, biting his thumbs, murmured he had not breakfastedyet and edged away behind his com-panions. Wherever I looked eyesdropped and timid hands fidgeted as their owners backed off from my  dangerous en- thusiasm. There was obviously no help to be had fromthem, and meantime the precious moments were flying, so with adisdainful glance I turned on my heels and set off alone as hard as I couldgo for the harbour.
　　But it was too late. I rushed through the marketplace where all wassilent and deserted; I ran on to the wharves beyond and they were emptysave for the litter and embers of the fires Ar-hap's men had made duringtheir stay; I dashed out to the landing-place, and there at the hythe the lastboat- loads of the villains were just embarking, two boatloads of themtwenty yards from shore, and another still upon the beach. This latterwas careening over as a dusky group of men lifted aboard to a heap oftumbled silks and stuffs in the stern such a sweet piece of insensiblemerchandise as no man, I at least of all, could mistake. It was Heru herself, and the rogues were ladling her on board like so much sandal-woodor cotton sheeting. I did not wait for more, but out came my sword, andyielding to a reckless impulse, for which perhaps last night's wine was asmuch to blame as anything, I sprang down the steps and leapt aboard ofthe boat just as it was pushed off upon the swift tide. Full of Bersarkrage, I cut one brawny copper-coloured thief down, and struck anotherwith my fist between the eyes so that he went headlong into the water,sinking like lead, and deep into the great target of his neighbour's chest Idrove my blade. Had there been a man beside me, had there been buttwo or three of all those silken triflers, too late come on the terraces aboveto watch, we might have won. But all alone what could I do? That lastred beast turned on my blade, and as he fell dragged me half down withhim. I staggered up, and tugging the metal from him turned on the next.
　　At that moment the cause of all the turmoil, roused by the fighting,came to herself, and sitting up on the piled plunder in the boat staredround for a moment with a child- ish horror at the barbarians whose prizeshe was, then at me, then at the dead man at my feet whose blood waswelling in a red tide from the wound in his breast. As the full meaning ofthe scene dawned upon her she started to her feet, looking wonderfullybeautiful amongst those dusky forms, and extending her hands to mebegan to cry in the most piteous way. I sprang forward, and as I did so  saw an ape- man clap his hairy paw over her mouth and face--it was likean eclipse of the moon by a red earth-shadow, I thought at the moment-and drag her roughly back, but that was about the last I remembered. AsI turned to hit him standing on the slippery thwart, another rogue crept upbehind and let drive with a club he had in hand. The cud- gel caught mesideways on the head, a glancing shot. I can recall a blaze of light, astrange medley of sounds in my ears, and then, clutching at a pile of stuffsas I fell, a tall bower of spray rising on either hand, and the cool shock ofthe blue sea as I plunged headlong in--but noth- ing after that!
　　How long after I know not, but presently a tissue of day- light creptinto my eyes, and I awoke again. It was better than nothing perhaps, yetit was a poor awakening. The big sun lay low down, and the day was allbut done; so much I guessed as I rocked in that light with an undulatingmovement, and then as my senses returned more fully, recognised with astart of wonder that I was still in the water, floating on a swift current intothe unknown on an air-filled pile of silken stuffs which had been pulleddown with me from the boat when I got my ganging from yonder rascal'smace. It was a wet couch, sodden and chilly, but as the fresheningevening wind blew on my face and the dark- ening water lapped againstmy forehead I revived more fully.
　　Where had we come to? I turned an aching neck, and all along onboth sides seemed to stretch steep, straight coasts about a mile or so apart,in the shadow of the setting sun black as ebony. Between the two thehampered water ran quickly, with, away on the right, some shallow sandyspits and islands covered with dwarf bushes--chilly, inhospitable- lookingplaces they seemed as I turned my eyes upon them; but he who rideshelpless down an evening tide stands out for no great niceties of landing-place; could I but reach them they would make at least a drier bed thanthis of mine, and at that thought, turning over, I found all my muscles asstiff as iron, the sinews of my neck and forearms a mass of agonies and nomore fit to swim me to those reedy swamps, which now, as pain andhunger began to tell, seemed to wear the aspects of paradise.
　　With a groan I dropped back upon my raft and watched the islandsslipping by, while over my feet the southern sky darkened to purple.
　　There was no help there, but glanc- ing round away on the left and a fewfurlongs from me, I noticed on the surface of the water two convergingstrands of brightness, an angle the point of which seemed to be comingtowards me. Nearer it came and nearer, right across my road, until Icould see a black dot at the point, a head presently developed, then as weapproached the ears and antlers of a swimming stag. It was a huge beastas it loomed up against the glow, bigger than any mortal stag ever was--thekind of fellow-traveller no one would willingly accost, but even if I hadwished to get out of its path I had no power to do so.
　　Closer and closer we came, one of us drifting helplessly, and the otherswimming strongly for the islands. When we were about a furlong apartthe great beast seemed to change its course, mayhap it took the wreckageon which I floated for an outlying shoal, something on which it could resta space in that long swim. Be this as it may, the beast came hurtlingdown on me lip deep in the waves, a mighty brown head with pricked earsthat flicked the water from them now and then, small bright eyes set farback, and wide palmated antlers on a mighty forehead, like the deadbranches of a tree. What that Martian mountain elk had hoped for canonly be guessed, what he met with was a tangle of floating finery carryinga numbed traveller on it, and with a snort of disappointment he turnedagain.
　　It was a poor chance, but better than nothing, and as he turned I triedto throw a strand of silk I had unwound from the sodden mass over hisbranching tines. Quick as thought the beast twisted his head aside andtossed his antlers so that the try was fruitless. But was I to lose my onlychance of shore? With all my strength I hurled myself upon him, missingmy clutch again by a hair's-breadth and going head- long into the saltfurrow his chest was turning up. Happily I kept hold of the web, for thegreat elk then turned back, passing between me and the ruck of stuff andgetting thereby the silk under his chin, and as I came gasping to the toponce more round came that dainty wreckage over his back, and I clutchedit, and sooner than it takes to tell I was towing to the shore as perhaps noone was ever towed before.
　　The big beast dragged the ruck like withered weed be- hind him,  bellowing all the time with a voice which made the hills echo all round;and then, when he got his feet upon the shallows, rose dripping andmountainous, a very cliff of black hide and limb against the night shine,and with a single sweep of his antlers tore the webbing from me, who layprone and breathless in the mud, and, thinking it was his enemy, hurled thelimp bundle on the beach, and then, having pounded it with his cloven feetinto formless shreds, bellowed again victoriously and went off into thedark- ness of the forests.
Chapter 9
I landed, stiff enough as you will guess, but pleased to be on shoreagain. It was a melancholy neighbourhood of low islands, overgrownwith rank grass and bushes, salt water encircling them, and inside sandydunes and hummocks with shallow pools, gleaming ghostly in theretreating daylight, while beyond these rose the black bosses of whatlooked like a forest. Thither I made my way, plunging uncomfortablythrough shallows, and tripping over blackened branches which, lying justbelow the surface, quivered like snakes as the evening breeze ruffled eachsurface, until the ground hardened under foot, and presently I was standing,hungry and faint but safe, on dry land again.
　　The forest was so close to the sea, one could not advance withoutentering it, and once within its dark arcades every way looked equallygloomy and hopeless. I struggled through tangles night made more andmore impenetrable each min- ute, until presently I could go no further, andwhere a dense canopy of trees overhead gave out for a minute on the edgeof a swampy hollow, I determined to wait for daylight.
　　Never was there a more wet or weary traveller, or one moredesperately lonely than he who wrapped himself up in the miserableinsufficiency of his wet rags, and without fire or supper crept amongst theexposed roots of a tree growing out of a bank, and prepared to hope grimlyfor morning.
　　Round and round meanwhile was drawn the close screen of night, tillthe clearing in front was blotted out, and only the tree-tops, black asrugged hills one behind the other, stood out against the heavy purple of thecirclet of sky above. As the evening deepened the quaintest noises beganon every hand--noises so strange and bewildering that as I cowered downwith my teeth chattering, and stared hard into the impenetrable, they couldbe likened to nothing but the crying of all the souls of dead things sincethe beginning. Never was there such an infernal chorus as that whichplayed up the Martian stars. Down there in front, where hummock grasswas growing, some beast squeaked contin- uously, till I shouted at him,then he stopped a minute, and began again in entirely another note.
　　Away on the hills two rival monsters were calling to each other in tones sohollow they seemed as I listened to penetrate through me, and echo out ofmy heart again. Far overhead, gigantic bats were flitting, the shadow oftheir wings dimming a dozen universes at once, and crying to each other inshrill tones that rent the air like tearing silk.
　　As I listened to those vampires discussing their infernal loves underthe stars, from a branch right overhead broke such a deathly howl from thethroat of a wandering forest cat that everything else was hushed for amoment. All about a myriad insects were making night giddy with theirghostly fires, while underground and from the labyrinths of mat- ted rootscame quaint sounds of rustling snakes and forest pigs, and all the lesserthings that dig and scratch and growl.
　　Yet I was desperately sleepy, my sword hung heavy as lead at my side,my eyelids drooped, and so at last I dozed uneasily for an hour or two.
　　Then, all on a sudden, I came wide awake with a shock. The night wasquieter now; away in the forest depth strange noises still arose, but close athand was a strange hush, like the hush of expecta- tion, and, listeningwonderingly, I was aware of slow, heavy footsteps coming up from theriver, now two or three steps together, then a pause, then another step ortwo, and as I bent towards the approaching thing, staring into the darkness, my strained senses were conscious of another approach, as like ascould be, coming from behind me. On they came, making the veryground quake with their weight, till I judged that both were about on theedge of the clearing, two vast rat-like shadows, but as big as elephants,and bringing a most intolerable smell of sour slime with them. There, onthe edge of the amphitheatre, each for the first time ap- peared to becomeaware of the other's presence--the foot- steps stopped dead. I could hearthe water dripping from the fur of those giant brutes amongst the shadowsand the deep breathing of the one nearest me, a scanty ten paces off, butnot another sound in the stillness.
　　Minute after minute passed, yet neither moved. A half- hour grew toa full hour, and that hour lengthened amid the keenest tension till my earsached with listening, and my eyes were sore with straining into theblackness. At last I began to wonder whether those earth-shaking beasts  had not been an evil dream, and was just venturing to stretch out acramped leg, and rally myself upon my cowardice, when, without warning,at my elbow rose the most ear- piercing scream of rage that ever camefrom a living throat. There was a sweeping rush in the darkness which Icould feel but not see, and with a shock the two gladiators met in the midstof the arena. Over and over they went screaming and struggling, andslipping and plunging. I could hear them tearing at each other, and thesharp cries of pain, first one and then another gave as claw or tooth gothome, and all the time, though the ground was quaking under theirstruggles and the air full of horrible uproar, not a thing was to be seen. Idid not even know what manner of beasts they were who rocked androlled and tore at each other's throats, but I heard their teeth snapping, andtheir fierce breath in the pauses of the struggle, and could but wait in ahuddle amongst the roots until it was over. To and fro they went, now atthe far side of the dark clearing, now so close that hot drops of blood fromtheir jaws fell on my face like rain in the darkness. It seemed as thoughthe fight would never end, but presently there was more of worrying in itand less of snapping; it was clear one or the other had had enough and as Imarked this those black shad- ows came gasping and struggling towardsme. There was a sudden sharp cry, a desperate final tussle--before whichstrong trees snapped and bushes were flattened out like grass, not twentyyards away--and then for a minute all was silent.
　　One of them had killed, and as I sat rooted to the spot I was forced tolisten while his enemy tore him up and ate him. Many a banquet have Ibeen at, but never an uglier one than that. I sat in the darkness while theunknown thing at my feet ripped the flesh from his half-dead rival in strips,and across the damp night wind came the reek of that abominable feast-the reek of blood and spilt en- trails--until I turned away my face inloathing, and was nearly starting to my feet to venture a rush into theforest shadows. But I was spellbound, and remained listening to theheavy munch of blood-stained jaws until presently I was aware other andlesser feasters were coming. There was a twinkle of hungry eyes allabout the limits of the area, the shine of green points of envious fire thatcircled round in decreasing orbits, as the little foxes and jackals came  crowding in. One fellow took me for a rock, so still I sat, putting his hot,soft paws upon my knee for a space, and others passed me so near I couldall but touch them.
　　The big beast had taken himself off by this time, and there must havebeen several hundreds of these newcomers. A merry time they had of it;the whole place was full of the green, hurrying eyes, and amidst the snapof teeth and yapping and quarrelling I could hear the flesh being torn fromthe red bones in every direction. One wolf-like individual brought amass of hot liver to eat between my feet, but I gave him a kick, and senthim away much to his surprise. Gradually, however, the sound of thisunholy feast died away, and, though you may hardly believe it, I fell offinto a doze. It was not sleep, but it served the purpose, and when in anhour or two a draught of cool air roused me, I awoke, feeling more myselfagain.
　　Slowly morning came, and the black wall of forest around became fullof purple interstices as the east brightened. Those glimmers of lightbetween bough and trunk turned to yellow and red, the day-shine presentlystretched like a canopy from point to point of the treetops on either side ofmy sleeping-place, and I arose.
　　All my limbs were stiff with cold, my veins emptied by hunger andwounds, and for a space I had not even strength to move. But a littlerubbing softened my cramped muscles presently and limping painfullydown to the place of combat, I surveyed the traces of that midnight fight.
　　I will not dwell upon it. It was ugly and grim; the trampled grass, thegiant footmarks, each enringing its pool of cur- dled blood; the brokenbushes, the grooved mud-slides where the unknown brutes had slid indeadly embrace; the hollows, the splintered boughs, their ragged pointstufted with skin and hair--all was sickening to me. Yet so hungry was Ithat when I turned towards the odious remnants of the vanquished--ashapeless mass of abomination--my thou- ghts flew at once to breakfasting!
　　I went down and in- spected the victim cautiously--a huge rat-like beast asfar as might be judged from the bare uprising ribs--all that was left of himlooking like the framework of a schooner yacht. His heart lay amongstthe offal, and my knife came out to cut a meal from it, but I could not do it.
　　Three times I essayed the task, hunger and disgust contending for mastery;three times turned back in loathing. At last I could stand the sight nomore, and, slamming the knife up again, turned on my heels, and fairly ranfor fresh air and the shore, where the sea was beginning to glimmer in thelight a few score yards through the forest stems. There, once more out onthe open, on a pebbly beach, I stripped, spreading my things out to dry onthe stones, and laying myself down with the lapping of the waves in myears, and the first yellow sunshine thawing my limbs, tried to piecetogether the hurrying events of the last few days.
　　What were my gay Martians doing? Lazy dogs to let me, a stranger,be the only one to draw sword in defence of their own princess! Wherewas poor Heru, that sweet maiden wife? The thought of her in the handsof the ape-men was odious. And yet was I not mad to try to rescue, oreven to follow her alone? If by any chance I could get off this beast-haunted place and catch up with the ravishers, what had I to look for fromthem except speedy extinction, and that likely enough by the most painfulprocess they were acquainted with?
　　The other alternative of going back empty handed was terriblyignominious. I had lectured the amiable young manhood of Seth sosoundly on the subject of gallantry, and set them such a good example ontwo occasions, that it would be bathos to saunter back, hands in pockets,and con- fess I knew nothing of the lady's fate and had been daunted bythe first night alone in the forest. Besides, how dull it would be in thatbeautiful, tumble-down old city without Heru, with no expectation day byday of seeing her sylph-like form and hearing the merry tinkle of her fairylaughter as she scoffed at the unknown learning col- lected by herancestors in a thousand laborious years. No! I would go on for certain.
　　I was young, in love, and angry, and before those qualifications difficultiesbecame light.
　　Meanwhile, the first essential was breakfast of some kind. I arose,stretched, put on my half-dried clothes, and mount- ing a low hummock onthe forest edge looked around. The sun was riding up finely into the sky,and the sea to the eastward shone for leagues and leagues in the loveliestazure. Where it rippled on my own beach and those of the low islands  noted over night, a wonderful fire of blue and red played on the sands asthough the broken water were full of living gems. The sky was full ofstrange gulls with long, forked tails, and a lovely little flying lizard withtransparent wings of the palest green--like those of a grass-hopper--wasflitting about picking up insect stragglers.
　　All this was very charming, but what I kept saying to myself was"Streaky rashers and hot coffee: rashers and coffee and rolls," and, indeed,had the gates of Paradise themselves opened at that moment I fear my firstlook down the celestial streets within would have been for a restaurant.
　　They did not, and I was just turning away disconsolate when my eyecaught, ascending from behind the next bluff down the beach, a thin strandof smoke rising into the morning air.
　　It was nothing so much in itself--a thin spiral creeping upwards mast-high, then flattening out into a mushroom head--but it meant everything tome. Where there was fire there must be humanity, and where there washuman- ity--ay, to the very outlayers of the universe--there must bebreakfast. It was a splendid thought; I rushed down the hillock and wentgaily for that blue thread amongst the reeds. It was not two hundredyards away, and soon below me was a tiny bay with bluest water frilling asilver beach, and in the midst of it a fire on a hearth dancing round a potthat simmered gloriously. But of an owner there was nothing to be seen.
　　I peered here and there on the shore, but nothing moved, while out to seathe water was shining like molten metal with not a dot upon it!--what didit matter? I laughed as, pleased and hungry, I slipped down the bank andstrode across the sands; it pleased Fate to play bandy with me, and if itsent me supperless to bed, why, here was restitution in the way ofbreakfast. I took up a morsel of the stuff in the kettle on a handy stick andfound it good--indeed, I knew it at once as a very dainty mess made fromthe roots of a herb the Martians great- ly liked; An had piled my platterwith it when we supped that night in the market-place of Seth, and thesweet white stuff had melted into my corporal essence, it seemed, without any gross intermediate process of digestion. And here I was again,hungry, sniffing the fragrant breath of a full meal and not a soul in sight--Ishould have been a fool not to have eaten. So thinking, down I sat,  taking the pot from its place, and when it was a little cool plunging myhands into it and feasting with as good an appetite as ever a man hadbefore.
　　It was gloriously ambrosial, and deeper and deeper I went, with the tallstalk of the smoke in front growing from the hearth-stones like somestrange new plant, the plea- sant sunshine on my back, and never a thoughtfor any- thing but the task in hand. Deeper and deeper, oblivious of allelse, until to get the very last drops I lifted the pipkin up and putting backmy head drank in that fashion.
　　It was only when with a sigh of pleasure I lowered it slowly again thatover the rim as it sank there dawned upon me the vision of a Martianstanding by an empty canoe on the edge of the water and regarding mewith calm amaze- ment. I was, in fact, so astonished that for a minute theempty pot stood still before my face, and over its edge we stared at eachother in mute surprise, then with all the dig- nity that might be I laid thevessel down between my feet and waited for the newcomer to speak. Shewas a girl by her yellow garb, a fisherwoman, it seemed, for in the prow ofher craft was piled a net upon which the scales of fishes were twinkling--aMartian, obviously, but something more ro- bust than most of them, asavour of honest work about her sunburnt face which my pallid friendsaway yonder were lacking in, and when we had stared at each other for afew moments in silence she came forward a step or two and said without atrace of fear or shyness, "Are you a spirit, sir?
　　"Why," I answered, "about as much, no more and no less, than most ofus.""Aye," she said. "I thought you were, for none but spirits live hereupon this island; are you for good or evil?""Far better for the breakfast of which I fear I have robbed you, butwandering along the shore and finding this pot boiling with no owner, Iventured to sample it, and it was so good my appetite got the better ofmanners."The girl bowed, and standing at a respectful distance asked if I wouldlike some fish as well; she had some, but not many, and if I would eat shewould cook them for me in a minute--it was not often, she added lightly,  she had met one of my kind before. In fact, it was obvious that simpleperson did actually take me for a being of another world, and was it for meto say she was wrong? So adopt- ing a dignity worthy of my reputation Inodded gravely to her offer. She fetched from the boat four little fishesof the daintiest kind imaginable. They were each about as big as a handand pale blue when you looked down upon them, but so clear against thelight that every bone and vein in their bodies could be traced. Thesewere wrapped just as they were in a broad, green leaf and then the Martian,taking a pointed stick, made a hollow in the white ashes, laid them in sideby side, and drew the hot dust over again.
　　While they cooked we chatted as though the acquaintance were themost casual thing in the world, and I found it was indeed an island wewere on and not the mainland, as I had hoped at first. Seth, she told me,was far away to the eastward, and if the woodmen had gone by in theirships they would have passed round to the north-west of where we were.
　　I spent an hour or two with that amiable individual, and, it is to behoped, sustained the character of a spiritual visitant with considerabledignity. In one particular at least, that, namely, of appetite, I did honourto my supposed source, and as my entertainer would not hear of paymentin material kind, all I could do was to show her some conjuring tricks,which greatly increased her belief in my supernatural origin, and to teachher some new hitches and knots, using her fishing-line as a means ofillustration, a demonstration which called from her the natural observationthat we must be good sailors "up aloft" since we knew so much aboutcordage, then we parted.
　　She had seen nothing of the woodmen, though she had heard they hadbeen to Seth and thought, from some niceties of geographical calculationwhich I could not follow, they would have crossed to the north, as juststated, of her island. There she told me, with much surprise at my desirefor the information, how I might, by following the forest track to thewestward coast, make my way to a fishing village, where they would giveme a canoe and direct me, since such was my extraordinary wish, to theplace where, if anywhere, the wild men had touched on their way home.
　　She filled my wallet with dried honey-cakes and my mouth with sugar  plums from her little store, then down on her knees went that poor waif ofa worn-out civilisation and kissed my hands in humble farewell, and I,blushing to be so saluted, and after all but a sailor, got her by the rosyfingers and lifted her up shoulder high, and getting one hand under herchin and the other behind her head kissed her twice upon her pretty cheeks;and so, I say, we parted.
Chapter 10 
Off into the forest I went, feeling a boyish elation to be so free nortaking heed or count of the reckless adventure before me. The Martianweather for the moment was lovely and the many-coloured grass lush andsoft under foot. Mile after mile I went, heeding the distance lightly, theair was so elastic. Now pressing forward as the main interest of myerrand took the upper hand, and remembrance of poor Heru like a crushedwhite flower in the red grip of those cruel ravishers came upon me, andthen pausing to sigh with pleasure or stand agape--forgetful even of her--inwonder of the unknown loveliness about me.
　　And well might I stare! Everything in that forest was wonderful!
　　There were plants which turned from colour to colour with the varyinghours of the day. While others had a growth so swift it was dangerous tosit in their neighbour- hood since the long, succulent tendrils clamberingfrom the parent stem would weave you into a helpless tangle while yougazed, fascinated, upon them. There were plants that climbed andwalked; sighing plants who called the winged things of the air to themwith a noise so like to a girl sobbing that again and again I stopped in thetangled path to listen. There were green bladder-mosses which swamabout the surface of the still pools like gigantic frog-broods. There wereon the ridges warrior trees burning in the vindictiveness of a longforgotten cause--a blaze of crimson scimitar thorns from root to topmosttwig; and down again in the cool hollows were lady-bushes makingtwilight of the green gloom with their cloudy ivory blos- soms and fillingthe shadows with such a heavy scent that head and heart reeled with fatalpleasure as one pushed aside their branches. Every river-bed was full ofmighty reeds, whose stems clattered together when the wind blew likeswords on shields, and every now and then a bit of forest was woventogether with the ropey stems of giant creepers till no man or beast couldhave passed save for the paths which constant use had kept open throughthe mazes.
　　All day long I wandered on through those wonderful woodlands, andin fact loitered so much over their infinite marvels that when sundown  came all too soon there was still undulating forest everywhere, vistas offairy glades on every hand, peopled with incredible things and echoingwith sounds that excited the ears as much as other things fascinated theeyes, but no sign of the sea or my fishing village anywhere.
　　It did not matter; a little of the Martian leisureliness was getting intomy blood: "If not today, why then tomorrow," as An would have said; andwith this for comfort I selected a warm, sandy hollow under the roots of abig tree, made my brief arrangements for the night, ate some honey cakes,and was soon sleeping blissfully.
　　I woke early next morning, after many hours of interrupted dreams,and having nothing to do till the white haze had lifted and made it possibleto start again, rested idly a time on my elbow and watched the sunshinefilter into the recesses.
　　Very pretty it was to see the thick canopy overhead, by star-light soimpenetrable, open its chinks and fissures as the searching sun came uponit; to see the pin-hole gaps shine like spangles presently, the spacesbroaden into lesser suns, and even the thick leafage brighten and shinedown on me with a soft sea-green radiance. The sunward sides of thetree-stems took a glow, and the dew that ran dripping down their mossysides trickled blood-red to earth. Else- where the shadows were stillblack, and strange things began to move in them--things we in our middle-aged world have never seen the likeness of: beasts half birds, birds halfcreeping things, and creeping things which it seemed to me passed throughlesser creations down to the basest life that crawls without interruption ordivision.
　　It was not for me, a sailor, to know much of such things, yet some Icould not fail to notice. On one grey branch overhead, jutting from atree-stem where a patch of velvet moss made in the morning glint a fairybed, a won- derful flower unfolded. It was a splendid bud, ivory white,cushioned in leaves, and secured to its place by naked white roots thatclipped the branch like fingers of a lady's hand. Even as I looked it opened,a pale white star, and hung pensive and inviting on its mossy cushion.
　　From it came such a ravishing odour that even I, at the further end of thegreat scale of life, felt my pulses quicken and my eyes brighten with  cupidity. I was in the very act of climbing the tree, but before I couldmove hand or foot two things happened, whether you take my word forthem or no.
　　Firstly, up through a glade in the underwood, attracted by the odour,came an ugly brown bird with a capacious beak and shining claws. Heperched near by, and peeped and peered until he made out the flowerpining on her virgin stem, whereat off he hopped to her branch and there,with a cynical chuckle, strutted to and fro between her and the main stemlike an ill genius guarding a fairy princess.
　　Surely Heaven would not allow him to tamper with so chaste a bud!
　　My hand reached for a stone to throw at him when happened the secondthing. There came a gentle pat upon the woodland floor, and from a treeoverhead dropped down another living plant like to the one above yet notexactly similar, a male, my instincts told me, in full sol- itary blossom likeher above, cinctured with leaves, and supported by half a score of thickwhite roots that worked, as I looked, like the limbs of a crab. In atwinkling that parti-coloured gentleman vegetable near me was off to thestem upon which grew his lady love; running and scram- bling, draggingthe finery of his tasselled petals behind, it was laughable to watch hiseagerness. He got a grip of the tree and up he went, "hand over hand,"root over root. I had just time to note others of his species had droppedhere and there upon the ground, and were hurry- ing with frantic haste tothe same destination when he reached the fatal branch, and was straddlingvictoriously down it, blind to all but love and longing. That ill-omenedbird who stood above the maiden-flower let him come within a stalk'slength, so near that the white splendour of his sleeping lady gleamedwithin arms' reach, then the great beak was opened, the great claws made aclutch, the gal- lant's head was yanked from his neck, and as it wenttumbling down the maw of the feathered thing his white legs fell spinningthrough space, and lay knotting them- selves in agony upon the ground fora minute or two before they relaxed and became flaccid in the repose ofdeath. An- other and another vegetable suitor made for that fatal tryst,and as each came up the snap of the brown bird's beak was all theirobsequies. At last no more came, and then that Nemesis of claws and  quills walked over to the girl-flower, his stomach feathers ruffled withrepletion, the green blood of her lovers dripping from his claws, andpulled her golden heart out, tore her white limbs one from the other, andswallowed her piecemeal before my very eyes! Then up in wrath Ijumped and yelled at him till the woods echoed, but too late to stay hissacrilege.
　　By this time the sun was bathing everything in splendour, and turningaway from the wonders about me, I set off at best pace along the well-trodden path which led without turning to the west coast village where thecanoes were.
　　It proved far closer than expected. As a matter of fact the forest inthis direction grew right down to the water's edge; the salt-loving treesactually overhanging the waves--one of the pleasantest sights in nature-and thus I came right out on top of the hamlet before there had been anindication of its presence. It occupied two sides of a pretty little bay, thethird side being flat land given over to the cultivation of an enormousspecies of gourd whose characteristic yellow flowers and green, succulentleaves were discernible even at this distance.
　　I branched off along the edge of the surf and down a dainty littleflowery path, noticing meanwhile how the whole bay was filled byhundreds of empty canoes, while scores of others were drawn up on thestrand, and then the first thing I chanced upon was a group of people-youthful, of course, with the eternal Martian bloom--and in the splendidsimplicity of almost complete nakedness. My first idea was that theywere bathing, and fixing my eyes on the tree-tops with great propriety, Igave a warning cough. At that sound instead of getting to cover, orclothes, all started up and stood staring for a time like a herd of startledcattle. It was highly embarrassing; they were right in the path, a rounddozen of them, naked and so little ashamed that when I edged awaymodestly they began to run after me. And the farther they came forwardthe more I retired, till we were playing a kind of game of hide-and-seekround the tree-stems. In the middle of it my heel caught in a root anddown I went very hard and very ignominiously, whereon those laughing,light-hearted folk rushed in, and with smiles and jests helped me to my  feet.
　　"Was I the traveller who had come from Seth?""Yes.""Oh, then that was well. They had heard such a traveller was on theroad, and had come a little way down the path, as far as might be withoutfatigue, to meet him.""Would I eat with them?" these amiable strangers asked, pushing theirsoft warm fingers into mine and ringing me round with a circle. "Butfirstly might they help me out of my clothes? It was hot, and these thingswere cumber- some." As to the eating, I was agreeable enough seeinghow casual meals had been with me lately, but my clothes, though Heavenknows they were getting horribly ragged and travel-stained, I clung todesperately.
　　My new friends shrugged their dimpled shoulders and, argumentsbeing tedious, at once squatted round me in the dappled shade of a big treeand produced their stores of never failing provisions. After a pleasantlittle meal taken thus in the open and with all the simplicity Martians delight in, we got to talking about those yellow canoes which were bobbingabout on the blue waters of the bay.
　　"Would you like to see where they are grown?" asked an individualbasking by my side.
　　"Grown!" I answered with incredulity. "Built, you mean. Never inmy life did I hear of growing boats.""But then, sir," observed the girl as she sucked the honey out of thestalk of an azure convolvulus flower and threw the remains at a butterflythat sailed across the sunshine, "you know so little! You have come fromafar, from some barbarous and barren district. Here we undoubtedlygrow our boats, and though we know the Thither folk and suchuncultivated races make their craft by cumbrous methods of flat planks,yet we prefer our own way, for one thing be- cause it saves trouble," andas she murmured that all- sufficient reason the gentle damsel noddedreflectively.
　　But one of her companions, more lively for the moment, tickled herwith a straw until she roused, and then said, "Let us take the stranger to the  boat garden now. The cur- rent will drift us round the bay, and we cancome back when it turns. If we wait we shall have to row in bothdirections, or even walk," and again planetary slothfulness carried the day.
　　So down to the beach we strolled and launched one of the golden-huedskiffs upon the pretty dancing wavelets just where they ran, lipped withjewelled spray, on the shore, and then only had I a chance to scrutinisetheir material. I patted that one we were upon inside and out. I notedwith a seaman's admiration its lightness, elasticity, and supreme sleekness,its marvellous buoyancy and fairy- like "lines," and after some minutes'
　　consideration it sud- denly flashed across me that it was all of gourd rind.
　　And as if to supply confirmation, the flat land we were ap- proaching onthe opposite side of the bay was covered by the characteristic verdure ofthese plants with a touch here and there of splendid yellow blossoms, butall of gigantic proportions.
　　"Ay," said a Martian damsel lying on the bottom, and taking andkissing my hand as she spoke, in the simple- hearted way of her people, "Isee you have guessed how we make our boats. Is it the same in yourdistant country?""No, my girl, and what's more, I am a bit uneasy as to what the fellowson the Carolina will say if they ever hear I went to sea in a hollowed-outpumpkin, and with a young lady--well, dressed as you are--for crew.
　　Even now I can- not imagine how you get your ships so trim and shapely-there is not a seam or a patch anywhere, it looks as if you had run theminto a mould.""That's just what we have done, sir, and now you will witness themoulds at work, for here we are," and the little skiff was pulled ashore andthe Martians and I jumped out on the shelving beach, hauled our boat uphigh and dry, and there right over us, like great green umbrellas, spread thefronds of the outmost garden of this strangest of all ship- building yards.
　　Briefly, and not to make this part of my story too long, those gilded boysand girls took me ashore, and chattering like finches in the evening,showed how they planted their gourd seed, nourished the gigantic plants asthey grew with brackish water and the burnt ashes; then, when theyflowered, mated the male and female blossoms, glorious funnels of golden  hue big enough for one to live in; and when the young fruit was of thebigness of an ordinary bolster, how they slipped it into a double mould ofopen reed-work something like the two halves of a walnut- shell; and how,growing day by day in this, it soon took every curve and line they chose togive it, even the hanging keel below, the strengthened bulwarks, and tallprow-piece. It was so ingenious, yet simple; and I confess I laughed overmy first skiff "on the stalk," and fell to bantering the Martians, askingwhether it was a good season for navies, whether their Cunarders werespreading nicely, if they could give me a pinch of barge seed, or a yacht inbud to show to my friends at home.
　　But those lazy people took the matter seriously enough. They led medown green alleys arched over with huge melon-like leaves; they led mealong innumerable byways, making me peep and peer through thechequered sunlight at ocean-growing craft, that had budded twelve monthsbefore, already filling their moulds to the last inch of space. They told methat when the growing process was sufficiently advanced, they loosenedthe casing, and cutting a hole into the interior of each giant fruit, scoopedout all its seed, thereby checking more advance, and throwing into the rindstrength that would otherwise have gone to reproductive- ness. They saideach fruit made two vessels, but the upper half was always best and usedfor long salt-water jour- neys, the lower piece being but for punting orfishing on their lakes. They cut them in half while still green, scrapedout the light remaining pulp when dry, and dragged them down with theminimum of trouble, light as feathers, ten- acious as steel plate, andalready in the form and fashion of dainty craft from five to twenty feet inlength, when the process was completed.
　　By the time we had explored this strangest of ship- building yards, andI had seen last year's crop on the stocks being polished and fitted withseats and gear, the sun was going down; and the Martian twilight, owing tothe comparative steepness of the little planet's sides, being brief, westrolled back to the village, and there they gave me harbourage for thenight, ambrosial supper, and a deep draught of the wine of Forgetfulness,under the gauzy spell of which the real and unreal melted into the vistas ofrosy oblivion, and I slept.
Chapter 11
With the new morning came fresh energy and a spasm of conscienceas I thought of poor Heru and the shabby sort of rescuer I was to lie aboutwith these pretty triflers while she remained in peril.
　　So I had a bath and a swim, a breakfast, and, to my shame be itacknowledged, a sort of farewell merry-go- round dance on the yellowsands with a dozen young persons all light-hearted as the morning,beautiful as the flowers that bound their hair, and in the extremity ofstatuesque attire.
　　Then at last I got them to give me a sea-going canoe, a stock of cakesand fresh water; and with many parting in- junctions how to find theWoodman trail, since I would not listen to reason and lie all the rest of mylife with them in the sunshine, they pushed me off on my lonely voyage.
　　"Over the blue waters!" they shouted in chorus as I dipped my paddleinto the diamond-crested wavelets. "Six hours, adventurous stranger,with the sun behind you! Then into the broad river behind the yellowsand-bar. But not the black northward river! Not the strong, black river,above all things, stranger! For that is the River of the Dead, by whichmany go but none come back. Goodbye!" And waving them adieu, Isternly turned my eyes from delights behind and faced the fascination ofperils in front.
　　In four hours (for the Martians had forgotten in their calculations thatmy muscles were something better than theirs) I "rose" the further shore,and then the question was, Where ran that westward river of theirs?
　　It turned out afterwards that, knowing nothing of their tides, I haddrifted much too far to northward, and con- sequently the coast had closedup the estuary mouth I should have entered. Not a sign of an openingshowed any-where, and having nothing whatever for guidance I turnednorthward, eagerly scanning an endless line of low cliffs, as the daylessened, for the promised sand-bar or inlet.
　　About dusk my canoe, flying swiftly forward at its own sweet will,brought me into a bight, a bare, desolate-looking country with novegetation save grass and sedge on the near marshes and stony hills rising  up beyond, with others beyond them mounting step by step to a long lineof ridges and peaks still covered in winter snow.
　　The outlook was anything but cheering. Not a trace of habitation hadbeen seen for a long time, not a single living being in whoseneighbourhood I could land and ask the way; nothing living anywhere buta monstrous kind of sea- slug, as big as a dog, battening on the watersidegarbage, and gaunt birds like vultures who croaked on the mud-flats, andhalf-spread wings of funereal blackness as they gam- bolled here and there.
　　Where was poor Heru? Where pink- shouldered An? Where those wildmen who had taken the princess from us? Lastly, but not least, wherewas I?
　　All the first stars of the Martian sky were strange to me, and my boatwhirling round and round on the current con- fused what little geography Imight otherwise have retained. It was a cheerless look out, and again andagain I cursed my folly for coming on such a fool's errand as I sat, chin inhand, staring at a landscape that grew more and more de- pressing everymile. To go on looked like destruction, to go back was almost impossiblewithout a guide; and while I was still wondering which of the two mightbe the lesser evil, the stream I was on turned a corner, and in a moment wewere upon water which ran with swift, oily smoothness straight for thesnow-ranges now beginning to loom un- pleasantly close ahead.
　　By this time the night was coming on apace, the last of the evil-looking birds had winged its way across the red sunset glare, and though itwas clear enough in mid-river under the banks, now steep and unclimbable,it was already evening.
　　And with the darkness came a wondrous cold breath from off the ice-fields, blowing through my lowland wrap- pings as though they were buttissue. I munched a bit of honey-cake, took a cautious sip of wine, andthough I will not own I was frightened, yet no one will deny that the circumstances were discouraging.
　　Standing up in the frail canoe and looking around, at the second glancean object caught my eye coming with the stream, and rapidly overtakingme on a strong sluice of water. It was a raft of some sort, and somethingextra- ordinarily like a sitting Martian on it! Nearer and nearer it came,  bobbing to the rise and fall of each wavelet with the last icy sunlighttouching it up with reds and golds, nearer and nearer in the deadly hush ofthat forsaken region, and then at last so near it showed quite plainly on thepurple water, a raft with some one sitting under a canopy.
　　With a thrill of delight I waved my cap aloft and shouted-"Ship-ahoy! Hullo, messmate, where are we bound to?"But never an answer came from that swiftly-passing stranger, so againI hailed-"Put up your helm, Mr. Skipper; I have lost my bearings, and thechronometer has run down," but without a pause or sound that strangecraft went slipping by.
　　That silence was more than I could stand. It was against all seacourtesies, and the last chance of learning where I was passing away. So,angrily the paddle was snatched from the canoe bottom, and roaring outagain-"Stop, I say, you d----- lubber, stop, or by all the gods I will makeyou!" I plunged the paddle into the water and shot my little craftslantingly across the stream to inter-cept the newcomer. A single strokesent me into mid-stream, a second brought me within touch of that strangecraft. It was a flat raft, undoubtedly, though so disguised by flowers andsilk trailers that its shape was difficult to make out. In the centre was achair of ceremony bedecked with greenery and great pale buds, hardly yetwithered--oh, where had I seen such a chair and such a raft before?
　　And the riddle did not long remain unanswered. Upon that seat, as Iswept up alongside and laid a sunburnt hand upon its edge, was a girl, andanother look told me she was dead!
　　Such a sweet, pallid, Martian maid, her fair head lolling back againstthe rear of the chair and gently moving to and fro with the rise and fall ofher craft. Her face in the pale light of the evening like carved ivory, andnot less passion- less and still; her arms bare, and her poor fingers stillclosed in her lap upon the beautiful buds they had put into them. I fairlygasped with amazement at the dreadful sweetness of that solitary lady, andcould hardly believe she was really a corpse! But, alas! there was nodoubt of it, and I stared at her, half in admiration and half in fear; noting  how the last sunset flush lent a hectic beauty to her face for a moment, andthen how fair and ghostly she stood out against the purpling sky; how herlight drapery lifted to the icy wind, and how dreadfully strange all thosesoft- scented flowers and trappings seemed as we sped along side by sideinto the country of night and snow.
　　Then all of a sudden the true meaning of her being there burst upon me,and with a start and a cry I looked around. WE WERE FLYINGSWIFTLY DOWN THAT RIVER OF THE DEAD THEY HAD TOLDME OF THAT HAS NO OUTLET AND NO RETURNING!
　　With frantic haste I snatched up a paddle again and tried to paddleagainst the great black current sweeping us for- ward. I worked until theperspiration stood in beads on my forehead, and all the time I worked theriver, like some black snake, hissed and twined, and that pretty lady rodecheerily along at my side. Overhead stars of unearthly bril- liancy werecoming out in the frosty sky, while on either hand the banks were high andthe shadows under them black as ink. In those shadows now and then Inoticed with a horrible indifference other rafts were travelling, andpresently, as the stream narrowed, they came out and joined us, deadMartians, budding boys and girls; older voyagers with their agequickening upon them in the Martian manner, just as some fruit onlyripens after it falls; yellow-girt slaves staring into the night in front, quite amerry crew all clustered about I and that gentle lady, and more far aheadand more behind, all bobbing and jostling forward as we hurried to thedreadful graveyard in the Martian re- gions of eternal winter none had everseen and no one came to! I cried aloud in my desolation and fear and hidmy face in my hands, while the icy cliffs mocked my cry and the deadmaid, tripping alongside, rolled her head over, and stared at me with stony,unseeing eyes.
　　Well, I am no fine writer. I sat down to tell a plain, un- varnished tale,and I will not let the weird horror of that ride get into my pen. Wecareened forward, I and those lost Martians, until pretty near on midnight,by which time the great light-giving planets were up, and never a chancedid Fate give me all that time of parting company with them. Aboutmidnight we were right into the region of snow and ice, not the actual  polar region of the planet, as I afterwards guessed, but one of those longoutliers which follow the course of the broad waterways almost into fertileregions, and the cold, though intense, was somewhat modified by thecomplete stillness of the air.
　　It was just then that I began to be aware of a low, rum- bling soundahead, increasing steadily until there could not be any doubt the journeywas nearly over and we were approaching those great falls An had told meof, over which the dead tumble to perpetual oblivion. There was no opportunity for action, and, luckily, little time for thought. I rememberclapping my hand to my heart as I muttered an im- perfect prayer, andlaughing a little as I felt in my pocket, between it and that organ, anenvelope containing some corn-plaster and a packet of unpaid tailors' bills.
　　Then I pulled out that locket with poor forgotten Polly's photo- graph, andwhile I was still kissing it fervently, and the dead girl on my right wasjealously nudging my canoe with the corner of her raft, we plunged into anarrow gully as black as hell, shot round a sharp corner at a tremendouspace, and the moment afterwards entered a lake in the midst of anunbroken amphitheatre of cliffs gleaming in soft light all round.
　　Even to this moment I can recall the blue shine of those terrible icecrags framing the weird picture in on every hand, and the strange effectupon my mind as we passed out of the darkness of the gully down whichwe had come into the sepulchral radiance of that place. But though itfixed with one instantaneous flash its impression on my mind forever,there was no time to admire it. As we swept on to the lake's surface, anda glance of light coming over a dip in the ice walls to the left lit up thedead faces and half- withered flowers of my fellow-travellers withstartling dis-tinctness, I noticed with a new terror at the lower end of thelake towards which we were hurrying the water suddenly disappeared in acloud of frosty spray, and it was from thence came the low, ominousrumble which had sounded up the ravine as we approached. It was thefall, and beyond the stream dropped down glassy step after step, in wildpools and rapids, through which no boat could live for a moment, to ablack cavern entrance, where it was swal- lowed up in eternal night.
　　I WOULD not go that way! With a yell such as those solitudes had  probably never heard since the planet was fashioned out of the void, Iseized the paddle again and struck out furiously from the main current,with the result of post- poning the crisis for a time, and finding myselfbobbing round towards the northern amphitheatre, where the light fellclearest from planets overhead. It was like a great ball- room with thoseconstellations for tapers, and a ghastly crowd of Martians were doingcotillions and waltzes all about me on their rafts as the troubled water, icycold and clear as glass, eddied us here and there in solemn con- fusion.
　　On the narrow beaches at the cliff foot were hundreds of wreckedvoyagers--the wall-flowers of that ghostly as- sembly-room--and I wentjostling and twirling round the circle as though looking for a likely partner,until my brain spun and my heart was sick.
　　For twenty minutes Fate played with me, and then the deadly suck ofthe stream got me down again close to where the water began to race forthe falls. I vowed sav- agely I would not go over them if it could behelped, and struggled furiously.
　　On the left, in shadow, a narrow beach seemed to lie between the waterand the cliff foot; towards it I fought. At the very first stroke I fouled araft; the occupant thereof came tumbling aboard and nearly swamped me.
　　But now it was a fight for life, so him I seized without ceremony byclammy neck and leg and threw back into the water. Then another playfulMartian butted the behind part of my canoe and set it spinning, so that allthe stars seemed to be dancing giddily in the sky. With a yell I shovedhim off, but only to find his comrades were closing round me in a solidring as we sucked down to the abyss at ever- increasing speed.
　　Then I fought like a fury, hacking, pushing, and paddling shorewards,crying out in my excitement, and spinning and bumping and twisting everdownwards. For every foot I gained they pushed me on a yard, as thoughdetermined their fate should be mine also.
　　They crowded round me in a compact circle, their poor flower-girtheads nodding as the swift current curtsied their crafts. They hemmedme in with desperate persistency as we spun through the ghostly starlightin a swirling mass down to destruction! And in a minute we were soclose to the edge of the fall I could see the water break into ridges as it felt  the solid bottom give way under it. We were so close that already theforemost rafts, ten yards ahead, were tipping and their occupants one byone waving their arms about and tumbling from their funeral chairs as theyshot into the spray veil and went out of sight under a faint rainbow thatwas arched over there, the symbol of peace and the only lovely thing inthat gruesome region. Another minute and I must have gone with them.
　　It was too late to think of getting out of the tangle then; the water behindwas heavy with trailing silks and flowers. We were jammed togetheralmost like one huge float and in that latter fact lay my one chance.
　　On the left was a low ledge of rocks leading back to the narrow beachalready mentioned, and the ledge came out to within a few feet of wherethe outmost boat on that side would pass it. It was the only chance and apoor one, but already the first rank of my fleet was trembling on the brink,and without stopping to weigh matters I bounded off my own canoe on tothe raft alongside, which rocked with my weight like a tea-tray. Fromthat I leapt, with such hearty good-will as I had never had before, on to asecond and third. I jumped from the footstool of one Martian to the kneeof another, steadying myself by a free use of their nodding heads as Ipassed. And every time I jumped a ship collapsed behind me. As Istaggered with my spring into the last and outermost boat the ledge wasstill six feet away, half hidden in a smother of foam, and the rim of thegreat fall just under it. Then I drew all my sailor agility together and justas the little vessel was going bow up over the edge I leapt from her--camedown blinded with spray on the ledge, rolled over and over, clutchedfrantically at the frozen soil, and was safe for the moment, but only a fewinches from the vortex below!
　　As soon as I picked myself up and got breath, I walked shorewardsand found, with great satisfaction, that the ledge joined the shelving beach,and so walked on in the blue obscurity of the cliff shadow back from thefalls in the bare hope that the beach might lead by some way into the gullythrough which we had come and open country beyond. But after a coupleof hundred yards this hope ended as abruptly as the spit itself in deepwater, and there I was, as far as the darkness would allow me to ascertain,as utterly trapped as any mortal could be.
　　I will not dwell on the next few minutes, for no one likes toacknowledge that he has been unmanned even for a space. When thoseminutes were over calmness and con- sideration returned, and I was ableto look about.
　　All the opposite cliffs, rising sheer from the water, were in light, theircold blue and white surfaces rising far up into the black starfieldsoverhead. Looking at them intently from this vantage-point I sawwithout at first understanding that along them horizontally, tier above tier,were rows of objects, like--like--why, good Heavens, they were like menand women in all sorts of strange postures and positions! Rubbing my eyesand looking again I perceived with a start and a strange creepy feelingdown my back that they WERE men and women!--hundreds of them,thousands, all in rows as cormorants stand upon sea-side cliffs, myriadsand myriads now I looked about, in every conceivable pose and attitudebut never a sound, never a movement amongst the vast concourse.
　　Then I turned back to the cliffs behind me. Yes! they ere there too,dimmer by reason of the shadows, but there for certain, from thesnowfields far above down, down--good Heavens! to the very level whereI stood. There was one of them not ten yards away half in and half out ofthe ice wall, and setting my teeth I walked over and examined him. Andthere was another further in behind as I peered into the clear blue depth,another behind that one, another behind him--just like cherries in a jelly.
　　It was startling and almost incredible, yet so many wonderful thingshad happened of late that wonders were losing their sharpness, and I wassoon examining the cliff almost as coolly as though it were only sometrivial geo- logical "section," some new kind of petrified sea-urchinswhich had caught my attention and not a whole nation in ice, a hugeamphitheatre of fossilised humanity which stared down on me.
　　The matter was simple enough when you came to look at it withphilosophy. The Martians had sent their dead down here for manythousand years and as they came they were frozen in, the bands and zonesin which they sat indicating perhaps alternating seasons. Then afterNature had been storing them like that for long ages some up- heavalhappened, and this cleft and lake opened through the heart of the preserve.
　　Probably the river once ran far up there where the starlight was crowningthe blue cliffs with a silver diadem of light, only when this hollow openeddid it slowly deepen a lower course, spreading out in a lake, andeventually tumbling down those icy steps lose itself in the dark roots ofthe hills. It was very simple, no doubt, but incredibly weird andwonderful to me who stood, the sole living thing in that immenseconcourse of dead humanity.
　　Look where I would it was the same everywhere. Those endlessrows of frozen bodies lying, sitting, or standing stared at me from everyniche and cornice. It almost seemed, as the light veered slowly round, asthough they smiled and frowned at times, but never a word was thereamongst those millions; the silence itself was audible, and save the dulllow thunder of the fall, so monotonous the ear be- came accustomed toand soon disregarded it, there was not a sound anywhere, not a rustle, nota whisper broke the eternal calm of that great caravansary of the dead.
　　The very rattle of the shingle under my feet and the jingle of my navyscabbard seemed offensive in the perfect hush, and, too awed to befrightened, I presently turned away from the dreadful shine of those cliffsand felt my way along the base of the wall on my own side. There wasno means of escape that way, and presently the shingle beach itself gaveout as stated, where the cliff wall rose straight from the surface of the lake,so I turned back, and finding a grotto in the ice determined to make myselfas comfortable as might be until daylight came.
Chapter 12
Fortunately there was a good deal of broken timber thrown up at"high-water" mark, and with a stack of this at the mouth of the little cave apleasant fire was soon made by help of a flint pebble and the steel back ofmy sword. It was a hearty blaze and lit up all the near cliffs with a ruddyjumping glow which gave their occu- pants a marvellous appearance oflife. The heat also brought off the dull rime upon the side of my recess,leaving it clear as polished glass, and I was a little startled to see, only aninch or so back in the ice and standing as erect as ever he had been in life,the figure of an imposing grey clad man. His arms were folded, his chindropped upon his chest, his robes of the finest stuff, the very flowers theyhad decked his head with frozen with immortality, and under them, roundhis crisp and iron-grey hair, a simple band of gold with strange runes andfigures engraved upon it.
　　There was something very simple yet stately about him, though hisface was hidden and as I gazed long and in- tently the idea got hold of methat he had been a king over an undegenerate Martian race, and had stoodwaiting for the Dawn a very, very long time.
　　I wished a little that he had not been quite so near the glassy surface ofthe ice down which the warmth was bringing quick moisture drops. Hadhe been back there in the blue depths where others were sitting andcrouching it would have been much more comfortable. But I was a sailor,and misfortune makes strange companions, so I piled up the fire again, andlying down presently on the dry shingle with my back to him staredmoodily at the blaze till slowly the fatigues of the day told, my eyelidsdropped and, with many a fitful start and turn, at length I slept.
　　It was an hour before dawn, the fire had burnt low and I was dreamingof an angry discussion with my tailor in New York as to the sit of my lastnew trousers when a faint sound of moving shingle caught my quickseaman ear, and before I could raise my head or lift a hand, a man's weightwas on me--a heavy, strong man who bore me down with irresistible force.
　　I felt the slap of his ice-cold hand upon my throat and his teeth in the backof my neck! In an instant, though but half awake, with a yell of surprise  and anger I grappled with the enemy, and exerting all my strength rolledhim over. Over and over we went struggling to- wards the fire, and whenI got him within a foot or so of it I came out on top, and, digging myknuckles into his throttle, banged his head upon the stony floor in recklessrage, until all of a sudden it seemed to me he was done for. I relaxed mygrip, but the other man never moved. I shook him again, like a terrierwith a rat, but he never resented it. Had I killed him? How limp and coldhe was! And then all of a sudden an uneasy feeling came upon me. Ireached out, and throwing a handful of dried stuff upon the embers the firedanced gaily up into the air, and the blaze showed me I was savagelyholding down to the gravel and kneeling on the chest of that long-deadking from my grotto wall!
　　It was the man out of the ice without a doubt. There was the veryniche he had fallen from under the influence of the fire heat, the veryrecess, exactly in his shape in every detail, whence he had stood gazinginto vacuity all those years. I left go my hold, and after the flutter in myheart had gone down, apologetically set him up against the wall of thecavern whence he had fallen; then built up the fire until twirling flamesdanced to the very roof in the blue light of dawn, and hobgoblin shadowsleapt and capered about us. Then once more I sat down on the oppositeside of the blaze, resting my chin upon my hands, and stared into thefrozen eyes of that grim stranger, who, with his chin upon his knees, staredback at me with irresistible, remorseless steadfastness.
　　He was as fresh as if he had died but yesterday, yet by his clothing andsomething in his appearance, which was not that of the Martian of to-day,I knew he might be many thousand years old. What things he had seen,what wonders he knew! What a story might be put into his mouth if Iwere a capable writer gifted with time and imagination instead of a pooroutcast, ill-paid lieutenant whose literary wit is often taxed hardly to filleven a log- book entry! I stared at him so long and hard, and he at methrough the blinking flames, that again I dozed--and dozed-- and dozedagain until at last when I woke in good earnest it was daylight.
　　By this time hunger was very aggressive. The fire was naught but acirclet of grey ashes; the dead king, still sitting against the cave-side,  looked very blue and cold, and with an uncomfortable realisation of myposition I shook myself together, picked up and pocketed without muchthought the queer gold circlet that had dropped from his forehead, andwent outside to see what prospect of escape the new day had brought.
　　It was not much. Upriver there was not the remotest chance. Noteven a Niagara steamer could have forged back against the sluice comingdown from the gulch there. Looking round, the sides of the icyamphitheatre--just lighting up now with glorious gold and crimsonglimmers of morning--were as steep as a wall face; only back towards thefalls was there a possibility of getting out of the dreadful trap, so thither Iwent, after a last look at the poor old king, along my narrow beach with allthe eagerness begotten of a final chance. Up to the very brink it lookedhopeless enough, but, looking downwards when that was reached, insteadof a sheer drop the slope seemed to be a wild "staircase" of rocks and icyledges with here and there a little patch of sand on a cornice, and far below,five hundred feet or so, a good big spread of gravel an acre or two inextent close by where the river plunged out of sight into the nethermostcavern mouth.
　　It was so hopeless up above it, it could not possibly be worse furtherdown, and there was the ugly black flood running into the hole to trustmyself to as a last resource; so slipping and sliding I began the descent.
　　Had I been a schoolboy with a good breakfast ahead the incident mighthave been amusing enough. The travel- ling was mostly done on the seatof my trousers, which consequently became caked with mud and glacialloam. Some was accomplished on hands and knees, with now and then abit down a snow slope, in good, honest head-over- heels fashion. Theresult was a fine appetite for the next meal when it should pleaseprovidence to send it, and an abrupt arrival on the bottom beach about fiveminutes after leaving the upper circles.
　　I came to behind a cluster of breast-high rocks, and before movingtook a look round. Judge then of my as- tonishment and delight at thesecond glance to perceive about a hundred yards away a brown object,looking like an ape in the half light, meandering slowly up the margin ofthe water towards me. Every now and then it stopped, stooping down to  pick up something or other from the scum along the torrent, and it was thefact that these trifles, whatever they were, were put into a wallet by thevision's side--not into his mouth--which first made me understand with ajoyful thrill that it was a MAN before me--a real, living man in this hugechamber of dead horrors! Then again it flashed across my mind in aluminous moment that where one man could come, or go, or live, anothercould do likewise, and never did cat watch mouse with more concentrated eagerness than I that quaint, bent-shouldered thing hobblingabout in the blue morning shadows where all else was silence.
　　Nearer and nearer he came, till so close face and garb were discernible,and then there could no longer be any doubt, it was a woodman, an oldman, with grizzled monkey-face, stooping gait, and a shaggy fur cloak,utterly unlike the airy garments of my Hither folk, who now stood beforeme. It gave me quite a start to recognise him there, for it showed I was ina new land, and since he was going so cheerfully about his business,whatever it might chance to be, there must be some way out of thisaccursed pit in which I had fallen. So very cautiously I edged out, takingadvantage of all the cover possible until we were only twenty yards apart,and then suddenly standing up, and putting on the most affable smile, Icalled out-"Hullo, mess-mate!"The effect was electrical. That quaint old fellow sprang a yard intoair as though a spring had shot him up. Then, coming down, he stoodtransfixed at his full height as stiff as a ramrod, staring at me withincredible wonder. He looked so funny that in spite of hunger andloneliness I burst out laughing, whereat the woodman, suddenlyrecovering his senses, turned on his heels and set off at his best pace in theopposite direction. This would never do! I wanted him to be my guide,philosopher, and friend. He was my sole visible link with the outsideworld, so after him I went at tip-top speed, and catching him up in fiftyyards along the shingle laid hold of his nether garments. Whereat the oldfellow stopping suddenly I shot clean over his back, coming down on myshoulder in the gravel.
　　But I was much younger than he, and in a minute was in chase again.
　　This time I laid hold of his cloak, and the moment he felt my grip heslipped the neck-thongs and left me with only the mangy garment in myhands. Again we set off, dodging and scampering with all our mightupon that frozen bit of beach. The activity of that old fellow wasmarvellous, but I could not and would not lose him. I made a rush andgrappled him, but he tossed his head round and slipped away once moreunder my arm, as though he had been brought up by a Chinese wrestler.
　　Then he got on one side of a flat rock, I the other, and for three or fourminutes we waltzed round that slab in the most insane manner.
　　But by this time we were both pretty well spent--he with age and Iwith faintness from my long fast, and we came presently to a standstill.
　　After glaring at me for a time, the woodman gasped out as hestruggled for breath-"Oh, mighty and dreadful spirit! Oh, dweller in pri- mordial ice, sayfrom which niche of the cliffs has the breath of chance thawed you?""Never a niche at all, Mr. Hunter-for-Haddocks'-Eyes," I answered assoon as I could speak. "I am just a castaway wrecked last night on thisshore of yours, and very grateful indeed will I be if you can show me theway to some breakfast first, and afterwards to the outside world."But the old fellow would not believe. "Spirits such as you," he saidsullenly, "need no food, and go whither they will by wish alone.""I tell you I am not a spirit, and as hungry as I don't particularly wantto be again. Here, look at the back of my trousers, caked three inchesdeep in mud. If I were a spirit, do you think I would slide about on mycoat-tails like that? Do you think that if I could travel by volition I wouldslip down these infernal cliffs on my pants' seat as I have just done? Andas for materialism--look at this fist; it punched you just now! Surelythere was nothing spiritual in that knock?''
　　"No," said the savage, rubbing his head, "it was a good, honest rap, soI must take you at your word. If you are indeed man, and hungry, it willbe a charity to feed you; if you are a spirit, it will at least be interesting towatch you eat; so sit down, and let's see what I have in my wallet."So cross-legged we squatted opposite each other on the table rock, and,feeling like another Sindbad the Sailor, I watched my new friend fumble in  his bag and lay out at his side all sorts of odds and ends of string, fishhooks, chew- ing-gum, material for making a fire, and so on, until at lasthe came to a package (done up, I noted with delight, in a broad, green leafwhich had certainly been growing that morning), and unrolling it,displayed a lump of dried meat, a few biscuits, much thicker and heavierthan the honey- cakes of the Hither folk, and something that looked andsmelt like strong, white cheese.
　　He signed to me to eat, and you may depend upon it I was not slow inaccepting the invitation. That tough biltong tasted to me like thetenderest steak that ever came from a grill; the biscuits were ambrosial; thecheese melted in my mouth as butter melts in that of the virtuous; butwhen the old man finished the quaint picnic by inviting me to accompanyhim down to the waterside for a drink, I shook my head. I had a greatrespect for dead queens and kings, I said, but there were too many of themup above to make me thirsty this morning; my respect did not go tomaking me desire to imbibe them in solution!
　　Afterwards I chanced to ask him what he had been pick- ing up justnow along the margin, and after looking at me suspiciously for a minutehe asked-"You are not a thief?" On being reassured on that point he continued:
　　"And you will not attempt to rob me of the harvest for which I venture intothis ghost-haunted glen, which you and I alone of living men have seen?""No." Whatever they were, I said, I would respect his earnings.
　　"Very well, then," said the old man, "look here! I come hither to pickup those pretty trifles which yonder lords and ladies have done with," andplunging his hand into an- other bag he brought out a perfect fistful ofsplendid gems and jewels, some set and some unset. "They wash fromthe hands and wrists of those who have lodgings in the crevices of the fallsabove," he explained. "After a time the beach here will be thick withthem. Could I get up whence you came down, they might be gathered bythe sackful. Come! there is an eddy still unsearched, and I will show youhow they lie."It was very fascinating, and I and that old man set to work amongst thegravels, and, to be brief, in half an hour found enough glittering stuff to set  up a Fifth Avenue jewel- ler's shop. But to tell the truth, now that I hadbreakfasted, and felt manhood in my veins again, I was eager to be off,and out of the close, death-tainted atmosphere of that valley.
　　Consequently I presently stood up and said-"Look here, old man, this is fine sport no doubt, but just at present Ihave a big job on hand--one which will not wait, and I must be going.
　　See, luck and young eyes have favoured me; here is twice as much goldand stones as you have got together--it is all yours without a question ifyou will show me the way out of this den and afterwards put me on theroad to your big city, for thither I am bound with an errand to your king,Ar-hap."The sight of my gems, backed, perhaps, with the men- tion of Ar-hap'sname, appealed to the old fellow; and af- ter a grunt or two about "losing atide" just when spoil was so abundant, he accepted the bargain, shoulderedhis be- longings, and led me towards the far corner of the beach.
　　It looked as if we were walking right against the tower-ing ice wall,but when we were within a yard or two of it a narrow cleft, only eighteeninches wide, and wonderfully masked by an ice column, showed to the left,and into this we squeezed ourselves, the entrance by which we had comeappearing to close up instantly we had gone a pace or two, so perfectly didthe ice walls match each other.
　　It was the most uncanny thoroughfare conceivable--a sheer, sharpcrack in the blue ice cliffs extending from where the sunlight shone in adazzling golden band five hundred feet overhead to where bottom wastouched in blue ob- scurity of the ice-foot. It was so narrow we had totravel sideways for the most part, a fact which brought my face closeagainst the clear blue glass walls, and enabled me from time to time to see,far back in those translucent depths, more and more and evermore frozenMartians waiting in stony silence for their release.
　　But the fact of facts was that slowly the floor of the cleft trendedupwards, whilst the sky strip appeared to come downwards to meet it. Amile, perhaps, we growled and squeezed up that wonderful gully; thenwith a feeling of incredible joy I felt the clear, outer air smiting upon me.
　　In my hurry and delight I put my head into the small of the back of  the puffing old man who blocked the way in front and forced him forward,until at last--before we expected it--the cleft suddenly ended, and he and Itumbled headlong over each other on to a glittering, frozen snowslope; thesky azure overhead, the sunshine warm as a tepid bath, and a wideprospect of mountain and plain extending all around.
　　So delightful was the sudden change of circumstances that I becamequite boyish, and seizing the old man in my exub- erance by the hands,dragged him to his feet, and danced him round and round in a circle, whilehis ancient hair flapped about his head, his skin cloak waved from hisshoulders like a pair of dusky wings and half-eaten cakes, dried flesh,glittering jewels, broken diadems, and golden finger-rings were flung in anarc about us. We capered till fairly out of breath, and then, slapping himon the back shoulder, I asked whose land all this was about us.
　　He replied that it was no one's, all waste from verge to verge.
　　"What!" was my exclamation. "All ownerless, and with so muchtreasure hidden hereabout! Why, I shall annex it to my country, and youand I will peg out original settlers' claims!" And, still excited by themountain air, I whipped out my sword, and in default of a star-spangledbanner to plant on the newly-acquired territory, traced in gigantic letterson the snow-crust--U.S.A.
　　"And now," I added, wiping the rime off my blade with the lappet ofmy coat, "let us stop capering about here and get to business. You havepromised to put me on the way to your big city.""Come on then," said the little man, gathering up his property. "Thiswhite hillside leads to nowhere; we must get into the valley first, and thenyou shall see your road." And right well that quaint barbarian kept hispromise.
Chapter 13
It was half a day's march from those glittering snow- fields into thelow country, and when that was reached I found myself amongst quiteanother people.
　　The land was no longer fat and flowery, giving every kind of producefor the asking, but stony for the most part, and, where we first came onvegetation, overgrown by firs, with a pine which looked to me like aspecies which went to make the coal measures in my dear but distantplanet. More than this I cannot say, for there are no places in the worldlike mess-room and quarter-deck for forgetting school learn- ing. Insteadof the glorious wealth of parti-coloured vege- tation my eyes had beenaccustomed to lately, here they rested on infertile stretches of marshlandintersected by moss-covered gravel shoots, looking as though they hadbeen pushed into the plains in front of extinct glaciers coming down fromthe region behind us. On the low hills away from the sea those sombreevergreen forests with an undergrowth of moss and red lichens were morevariegated with light foliage, and indeed the pines proved to be but afringe to the Arctic ice, giving way rapidly to more typical Martianvegetation each mile we marched to the southward.
　　As for the inhabitants, they seemed, like my guide, rough, uncouthfellows, but honest enough when you came to know them. Anintroduction, however, was highly desirable. I chanced upon the firstnative as he was gathering reindeer- moss. My companion was somelittle way behind at the moment, and when the gentle aborigine saw thestranger he stared hard for a moment, then, turning on his heels, withextraordinary swiftness flung at me half a pound of hard flint stone. Hadhis aim been a little more careful this humble narrative had never appearedon the Broadway bookstalls. As it was, the pebble, missing my head byan inch or two, splintered into a hundred fragments on a rock behind, andwhile I was debating whether a revengeful rush at the slinger or a strategicadvance to the rear were more advisable, my guide called out to hiscountryman-"Ho! you base prowler in the morasses; you eater of un- clean  vegetation, do you not see this is a ghost I am con- ducting, a dweller inthe ice cliffs, a spirit ten thousand years old? Put by your sling lest hewither you with a glance." And, very reasonably, surprised, the aboriginedid as he was bid and cautiously advanced to inspect me.
　　The news soon spread over the countryside that my jewel- hunter wasbringing a live "spook" along with him, con- siderable curiosity mixedwith an awe all to my advantage characterising the people we metthereafter. Yet the won- der was not so great as might have beenexpected, for these people were accustomed to meeting the tags of lostraces, and though they stared hard, their interest was chiefly in hearinghow, when, and where I had been found, whether I bit or kicked, or hadany other vices, and if I possessed any commercial value.
　　My guide's throat must have ached with the repetition of the narrative,but as he made the story redound greatly to his own glory, he put upcheerfully with the hoarseness. In this way, walking and talking alternately,we travelled during daylight through a country which slowly lost itsrugged features and became more and more inhabited, the hardy peopleliving in scattered villages in contradiction to the debased city-lovingHither folk.
　　About nightfall we came to a sea-fishers' hamlet, where, after the oldman had explained my exalted nature and ven- erable antiquity, I wasoffered shelter for the night.
　　My host was the headman, and I must say his bearing towards thesupernatural was most unaffected. If it had been an Avenue hotel I couldnot have found more handsome treatment than in that reed-thatched hut.
　　They made me wash and rest, and then were all agog for my history; butthat I postponed, contenting myself with telling them I had been lately inSeth, and had come thence to see them via the ice valley--to all of whichthey listened with the simplicity of children. Afterwards I turned onthem, and openly mar- velled that so small a geographical distance as therewas between that land and this could make so vast a human difference.
　　"The truth, O dweller in blue shadows of primordial ice, is," said the mostintelligent of the Thither folk as we sat over fried deer-steak in his hut thatevening, "we who are MEN, not Peri-zad, not overstayed fairies like those  you have been amongst, are newcomers here on this shore. We came buta few generations ago from where the gold curtains of the sun lie behindthe westward pine-trees, and as we came we drove, year by year, thosefays, those spent triflers, back before us. All this land was theirs once,and more and more towards our old home. You may still see traces ofharbours dug and cities built thousands of years ago, when the Hither folkwere living men and women-- not their shadows. The big water outsidestops us for a space, but," he added, laughing gruffly and taking a draughtof a strong beer he had been heating by the fire, "King Ar-hap has theirpretty noses between his fingers; he takes tribute and girls while he getsready--they say he is nearly ready this summer, and if he is, it will not bemuch of an excuse he will need to lick up the last of those triflers, thosepretences of manhood."Then we fell to talking of Ar-hap, his subjects and town, and I learnedthe tides had swept me a long way to the northward of the proper routebetween the capitals of the two races, that day they carried me into theDead-Men's Ice, as these entertainers of mine called the northern snows.
　　To get back to the place previously aimed at, where the woodmen roadcame out on the seashore, it was necessary to go either by boat, aroundabout way through a maze of channels, "as tangled as the grass rootsin autumn"; or, secondly, by a couple of days' marching due southwardacross the base of the great peninsula we were on, and so strike blue wateragain at the long-sought-for harbour.
　　As I lay dozing and dreaming on a pile of strange furs in the corner ofthe hut that evening I made up my mind for the land journey tomorrow,having had enough for the mo- ment of nautical Martian adventures; andthis point settled, fell again to wondering what made me follow so recklessa quest in the way I was doing; asking myself again and again what wasgazelle-eyed Heru to me after all, and why should it matter even as muchas the value of a brass waist- coat button whether Hath had her or Ar-hap?
　　What a fool I was to risk myself day by day in quaint and dangerousadventures, wearing out good Government shoe-leather in other men'squarrels, all for a silly slip of royal girlhood who, by this time, wasprobably making herself comfortable and forgetting both Hath and me in  the arms of her rough new lord.
　　And from Heru my mind drifted back dreamily to poor An, and Seth,the city of fallen magnificence, where the spent masters of a strange planetnow lived on suffer- ance--the ghosts of their former selves. Where wasAn, where the revellers on the morning--so long ago it seemed!--whenfirst that infernal rug of mine translated a chance wish into a horriblereality and shot me down here, a stranger and an outcast? Where was themagic rug itself? Where my steak and tomato supper? Who had eaten it?
　　Who was drawing my pay? If I could but find the rug when I got back toSeth, gods! but I would try if it would not return whence I had come, andas swiftly, out of all these silly coils and adventuring.
　　So musing, presently the firelight died down, and bulky forms of hide-wrapped woodmen sleeping on the floor slowly disappeared in obscuritylike ranges of mountains disappearing in the darkness of night. All thoseuncouth forms, and the throb of the sea outside, presently faded upon mysenses, and I slept the heavy sleep of one whose wakefulness gives waybefore an imperious physical demand. All through the long hours of thenight, while the waves outside champed upon the gravels, and thewoodmen snored and grunted uneasily as they simultaneously dreamt ofthe day's hunting and digested its proceeds, I slept; and then when dawnbegan to break I passed from that heavy stupor into another and lighterrealm, wherein fancy again rose superior to bodily fatigue, and events ofthe last few days passed in procession through my mind.
　　I dreamt I was lunching at a fashionable seaside resort with Polly atmy side, and An kept bringing us melons, which grew so monstrous everytime a knife was put into them that poor Polly screamed aloud. I dreamtI was afloat on a raft, hotly pursued by my tailor, whose bare and shinyhead--may Providence be good to him!--was garlanded with roses, whilein his fist was a bunch of unpaid bills, the which he waved aloft, shoutingto me to stop. And thus we danced down an ink-black river until he hadchiveyed me into the vast hall of the Admiralty, where a fearsomeSecretary, whose golden teeth rattled and dropped from his head withmingled cold and anger, towered above me as he asked why I was absentfrom my ship without leave. And I was just mumbling out excuses while  stooping to pick up his golden dentistry, when some one stirring in the hutaroused me. I started up on my elbow and looked around. Where was I?
　　For a minute all was confused and dark. The heavy mound-like forms ofsleeping men, the dim outlines of their hunting gear upon the walls, thepale sea beyond, half seen through the open doorway, just turning livid inthe morning light; and then as my eyes grew more ac- customed to theobscurity, and my stupid senses returned, I recognised the surroundings,and, with a sigh, remembered yesterday's adventures. However, it wouldnever do to mope; so, rising silently and picking a way through humanlumber on the floor, I went out and down to the water's edge, where"shore-going" clothes, as we sailors call them, were slipped off, and Iplunged into the sea for a swim.
　　It was a welcome dip, for I needed the plunge physically andintellectually, but it came to an abrupt conclusion. The Thither folkapparently had never heard of this form of enjoyment; to them water stoodfor drinking or drowning, nothing else, and since one could not drink thesea, to be in it meant, even for a ghost, to drown. Consequently, whenthe word went round the just rousing villages that "He-on-foot- from-afar"was adrift in the waves, rescue parties were hur- riedly organised, a boatlaunched, and, in spite of all my kicking and shouting (which they took tobe evidence of my semi-moribund condition), I was speedily hauled out byhairy and powerful hands, pungent herbs burnt un- der my nose, and myheels held high in the air in order that the water might run out of me. Itwas only with the greatest difficulty those rough but honest fellows wereeventually got to believe me saved.
　　The breakfast I made of grilled deer flesh and a fish not unlike salmon,however, convinced them of my recovery, and afterward we parted verygood friends; for there was some- thing in the nature of those ruggedbarbarians just coming into the dawn of civilisation that won my liking farmore than the effete gentleness of others across the water.
　　When the time of parting came they showed no curiosity as to myerrand, but just gave me some food in a fish-skin bag, thrust a heavystone-headed axe into my hand, "in case I had to talk to a thief on theroad," and pointed out on the southern horizon a forked mountain, under  which, they said, was the harbour and high-road to King Ar-hap's capital.
　　Then they hugged me to their hairy chests in turn, and let me go with atraveller's blessing.
　　There I was again, all alone, none but my thoughts for companions,and nothing but youth to excuse the folly in thus venturing on a recklessquest!
　　However, who can gainsay that same youth? The very spice of dangermade my steps light and the way pleasant. For a mile or two the track wasplain enough, through an undulating country gradually becoming moreand more wooded with vegetation, changing rapidly from Alpine to subtropical. The air also grew warmer, and when the divid- ing ridge wascrossed and a thick forest entered, the snows and dreadful region ofDeadmen's Ice already seemed leagues and leagues away.
　　Probably a warm ocean current played on one side of the peninsula,while a cold one swept the other, but for sci- entific aspects of the questionI cared little in my joy at being anew in a soft climate, amongst beautifulflowers and vivid life again. Mile after mile slipped quickly by as Istrode along, whistling "Yankee Doodle" to myself and revelling in thechange. At one place I met a rough-looking Martian woodcutter, whowanted to fight until he found I also wanted to, when he turned very civiland as talkative as a solitary liver often is when his tongue gets started.
　　He particularly desired to know where I came from, and, as in the casewith so many other of his countrymen, took it for granted, and with verylittle surprise, that I was either a spirit or an inhabitant of another world.
　　With this idea in his mind he gave me a curious piece of information,which, unfortunately, I was never able to follow up.
　　"I don't think you can be a spirit," he said, critically eyeing my clothes,which were now getting ragged and dirty beyond description. "They arefiner-looking things than you, and I doubt if their toes come through theirshoes like yours do. If you are a wanderer from the stars, you are not likethat other one we have down yonder," and he pointed to the southward.
　　"What!" I asked, pricking my ears in amazement, "an- other wandererfrom the outside world! Does he come from the earth?"--using the wordAn had given me to signify my own planet.
　　"No, not from there; from the one that burns blue in evening betweensun and sea. Men say he worked as a stoker or something of the kindwhen he was at home, and got trifling with a volcano tap, and was lappedin hot mud, and blown out here. My brother saw him about a week ago.""Now what you say is down right curious. I thought I had amonopoly of that kind of business in this sphere of yours. I should betremendously interested to see him.""No you wouldn't," briefly answered the woodman. "He is thestupidest fool ever blown from one world to another-- more stupid to lookat than you are. He is a gaseous, wavey thing, so glum you can't get twowords a week out of him, and so unstable that you never know when youare with him and when the breeze has drifted him somewhere else."I could but laugh and insist, with all respect to the woodcutter, such anindividual were worth the knowing however unstable his constitution; atwhich the man shrugged his shoulders and changed the conversation, asthough the subject were too trivial to be worth much consideration.
　　This individual gave me the pleasure of his company until nearlysundown, and finding I took an interest in things of the forest, pointed outmore curious plants and trees than I have space to mention. Two of them,however, cling to my memory very tenaciously. One was a very Circeamongst plants, the horrible charm of which can never be forgotten. Wewere going down a glade when a most ravishing odour fell upon mynostrils. It was heavenly sweet yet withal there lurked an incredibly,unexpressibly tempting spice of wickedness in it. The moment he caughtthat ambrosial invitation in the air my woodman spit fiercely on theground, and taking a plug of wool from his pouch stuffed his nostrils up.
　　Then he beckoned me to come away. But the odour was too ravishing, Iwas bound to see whence it arose, and finding me deaf to all warnings, theman reluctantly turned aside down the enticing trail. We pushed about ahundred yards through bushes until we came to a little arena full insunshine where there were neither birds nor butterflies, but a death-likehush upon everything. Indeed, the place seemed shunned in spite of thesodden loveliness of that scent which monopolised and mounted to mybrain until I was beginning to be drunk with the sheer pleasure of it. And  there in the centre of the space stood a plant not unlike a tree fern, aboutsix feet high, and crowned by one huge and lovely blossom. It resembleda vast passion-flower of incredible splendour. There were four petals,with points resting on the ground, each six feet long, ivory-white inside,exquisitely patterned with glittering silver veins. From the base of theserose upright a gauzy veil of azure filaments of the same length as thepetals, wirelike, yet soft as silk, and inside them again rested a chalice ofsilver holding a tiny pool of limpid golden honey. Circe, indeed! It wasfrom that cup the scent arose, and my throat grew dry with longing as Ilooked at it; my eyes strained through the blue tendrils towards that liquidnectar, and my giddy senses felt they must drink or die! I glanced at thewoodman with a smile of drunken happiness, then turned tottering legstowards the blossom. A stride up the smooth causeway of white petals, apush through the azure haze, and the wine of the wood enchantress wouldbe mine--molten am- ber wine, hotter and more golden than the sunshine;the fire of it was in my veins, the recklessness of intoxication was on me,life itself as nothing compared to a sip from that chalice, my lips musttaste or my soul would die, and with trembling hand and strained face Ibegan to climb.
　　But the woodman pulled me back.
　　"Back, stranger!" he cried. "Those who drink there never live again.""Blessed oblivion! If I had a thousand lives the price were still toocheap," and once more I essayed to scramble up.
　　But the man was a big fellow, and with nostrils plugged, and eyesaverted from the deadly glamour, he seized me by the collar and threw meback. Three times I tried, three times he hurled me down, far too faintand absorbed to heed the personal violence. Then standing between us,"Look," he said, "look and learn."He had killed a small ape that morning, meaning later on to take its furfor clothing, and this he now unslung from his shoulder, and hitching thehandle of his axe into the loose skin at the back of its neck, cautiouslyadvanced to the witch plant, and gently hoisted the monkey over the bluepalings. The moment its limp, dead feet touched the golden pool ashudder passed through the plant, and a bird some- where far back in the  forest cried out in horror. Quick as thought, a spasm of life shot up thetendrils, and like tongues of blue flame they closed round the victim,lapping his miserable body in their embrace. At the same time the petalsbegan to rise, showing as they did so hard, leathery, un- lovely outer rinds,and by the time the woodman was back at my side the flower was closed.
　　Closer and closer wound the blue tendrils; tighter and tighter closedthe cruel petals with their iron grip, until at last we heard the ape's bonescrackling like dry firewood; then next his head burst, his brains cameoozing through the crevices, while blood and entrails followed themthrough every cranny, and the horrible mess with the overflow of thechalice curled down the stem in a hundred steaming rills, till at last thepetals locked with an ugly snap upon their ghastly meal, and I turned awayfrom the sight in dread and loathing.
　　That was plant Number One.
　　Plant Number Two was of milder disposition, and won a hearty laughfor my friendly woodman. In fact, being of a childlike nature, hissuccess as a professor of botany quite pleased him, and not content withanswering my questions, he set to work to find new vegetable surprises,greatly enjoying my wonder and the sense of importance it gave him.
　　In this way we came, later on in the day, to a spot where herbage wassomewhat scantier, the grass coarse, and soil shallow. Here I espied atree of small size, apparently withered, but still bearing a few parchedleaves on its upper- most twigs.
　　"Now that," quoth the professor, "is a highly curious tree, and I shouldlike you to make a close acquaintance with it. It grows from a seed in thecourse of a single springtime, perishes in the summer; but a few specimensstand through- out the winter, provided the situation is sheltered, as thisone has done. If you will kindly go down and shake its stem I believeyou will learn something interesting."So, very willing to humour him, away I went to the tree, which wasperfect in every detail, but apparently very dry, clasped it with both hands,and, pulling myself to- gether, gave it a mighty shake. The result wasinstantaneous. The whole thing was nothing but a skin of dust, whence allfibre and sap had gone, and at my touch it dissolved into a cloud of  powder, a huge puff of white dust which descended on me as though acouple of flour-bags had been inverted over my head; and as I staggeredout sneez- ing and blinking, white as a miller from face to foot, theMartian burst into a wild, joyous peal of laughter that made the woods ringagain. His merriment was so sincere I had not the heart to be angry, andsoon laughed as loud as he did; though, for the future, I took his botanicales- says with a little more caution.
Chapter 14
That woodman friend of mine proved so engaging it was difficult toget away, and thus when, dusk upon us, and my object still a long distanceoff, he asked me to spend the night at his hut, I gladly assented.
　　We soon reached the cabin where the man lived by himself whilstworking in the forest. It was a picturesque little place on a tree-overhunglagoon, thatched, wattled, and all about were piles of a pleasant-scentedbark, collected for the purpose of tanning hides, and I could not but marvelthat such a familiar process should be practised identically on two sides ofthe universal ether. But as a matter of fact the similarity of many detailsof existence here and there was the most striking of the things I learnedwhilst in the red planet.
　　Within the hut stood a hearth in the centre of the floor, whereon acomfortable blaze soon sparkled, and upon the walls hung variousimplements, hides, and a store of dried fruits of various novel kinds. Myhost, when he had somewhat disdainfully watched me wash in a rill ofwater close by, suggested supper, and I agreed with heartiest good will.
　　"Nothing wonderful! Oh, Mr. Blue-coat!" he said, pranc- ing aboutas he made his hospitable arrangements. "No fine meat or scented wineto unlock, one by one, all the doors of paradise, such as I have heard theyhave in lands be- yond the sea; but fare good enough for plain men whoeat but to live. So! reach me down yonder bunch of yellow aru fruit, anddon't upset that calabash, for all my funniest stories lurk at the bottom ofit."I did as he bid, and soon we were squatting by the fire toasting arus onpointed sticks, the doorway closed with a wattle hurdle, and the black andgold firelight filling the hut with fantastic shadows. Then when thebanana-like fruit was ready, the man fetched from a recess a loaf of breadsavoured with the dust of dried and pounded fish, put the foresaid calabashof strong ale to warm, and down we sat to supper with real woodmanappetites. Seldom have I enjoyed a meal so much, and when we hadfinished the fruit and the wheat cake my guide snatched up the great gourdof ale, and putting it to his lips called out:
　　"Here's to you, stranger; here's to your country; here's to your girl, ifyou have one, and death to your enemies!" Then he drank deep and long,and, passed the stuff to me.
　　"Here's to you, bully host, and the missus, and the children, if there areany, and more power to your el- bow!"--the which gratified him greatly,though probably he had small idea of my meaning.
　　And right merry we were that evening. The host was a jolly goodfellow, and his ale, with a pleasant savour of mint in it, was the heartiestdrink I ever set lips to. We talked and laughed till the very jackalsyapped in sympathy outside. And when he had told a score of wonderfulwood stories as pungent of the life of these fairy forests as the aromaticscent of his bark-heaps outside, as iridescent with the colours of anotherworld as the rainbow bubbles rid-ing down his starlit rill, I took a turn,and told him of the commonplaces of my world so far away, whereat helaughed gloriously again. The greater the commonplace the larger hisjoy. The humblest story, hardly calculated to impress a griffin betweenwatches on the main-deck, was a masterpiece of wit to that gentle savage;and when I "took off" the tricks and foibles of some of my superiors-Heaven forgive me for such treason!--he listened with the exquisite open-mouthed delight of one who wanders in a brand-new world of mirth.
　　We drank and laughed over that strong beer till the little owls outsideraised their voice in combined accord, and then the woodman, shaking thelast remnant of his sleepy wits together, and giving a reproachful look atme for finally passing him the gourd empty to the last drop, rose, threw afur on a pile of dead grass at one side of the hut, and bid me sleep, "for hisbrain was giddy with the wonders of the incredible and ludicrous spherewhich I had lately in- habited."Slowly the fire died away; slowly the quivering gold and blackarabesques on the walls merged in a red haze as the sticks dropped intotinder, and the great black outline of the hairy monster who had thrownhimself down by the embers rose up the walls against that flush like theoutline of a range of hills against a sunset glow. I listened drowsily for aspace to his snoring and the laughing answer of the brook outside, andthen that ambrosial sleep which is the gentle attendant of hardship and  danger touched my tired eyelids, and I, too, slept.
　　My friend was glum the next morning, as they who stay over-long atthe supper flagon are apt to be. He had been at work an hour on his bark-heaps when I came out into the open, and it was only by a good deal ofdiplomacy and some material help in sorting his faggots that he was gotinto a better frame of mind. I could not, however, trust his moodcompletely, and as I did not want to end so jovial a friendship with aquarrel, I hurried through our breakfast of dry bread, with hard-boiledlizard eggs, and then settling my reckoning with one of the brass buttonsfrom my coat, which he immediately threaded, with every evidence of extreme gratification, on a string of trinkets hanging round his neck, askedhim the way to Ar-hap's capital.
　　"Your way is easy, friend, as long as you keep to the straight path andhave yonder two-humped mountain in front. To the left is the sea, andbehind the hill runs the canal and road by which all traffic comes or goesto Ar-hap. But above all things pass not to the hills right, for no man goesthere; there away the forests are thick as night, and in their perpetualshadows are the ruins of a Hither city, a haunted fairy town to which sometravellers have been, but whence none ever returned alive.""By the great Jove, that sounds promising! I would like to see thattown if my errand were not so urgent."But the old fellow shook his shaggy head and turned a shade yellower.
　　"It is no place for decent folk," he growled. "I myself once passed within amile of its outskirts at dusk, and saw the unholy little people's lanternedprocessions starting for the shrine of Queen Yang, who, tradition says,killed herself and a thousand babies with her when we took this land.""My word, that was a holocaust! Couldn't I drop in there to lunch? Itwould make a fine paper for an anti- quarian society."Again the woodman frowned. "Do as I bid you, son. You are tooyoung and green to go on ventures by yourself. Keep to the straight road:
　　shun the swamps and the fairy forest, else will you never see Ar-hap.""And as I have very urgent and very important business with him,comrade, no doubt your advice is good. I will call on Princess Yangsome other day. And now goodbye! Rougher but friendlier shelter than  you have given me no man could ask for. I am downright sorry to partwith you in this lonely land. If ever we meet again--" but we never did!
　　The honest old churl clasped me into his hairy bosom three times, stuffedmy wallet with dry fruit and bread, and once more repeating his directions,sent me on my lonely way.
　　I confess I sighed while turning into the forest, and looked back morethan once at his retreating form. The loneliness of my position, thehopelessness of my venture, welled up in my heart after that goodcomradeship, and when the hut was out of sight I went forward down thegreen grass road, chin on chest, for twenty minutes in the deepestdejection. But, thank Heaven, I was born with a tough spirit, and possess amind which has learned in many fights to give brave counsel to my spirit,and thus presently I shook myself together, setting my face boldly to thequest and the day's work.
　　It was not so clear a morning as the previous one, and a steamy windon what at sea I should have called the starboard bow, as I pressed forwardto the distant hill, had a curiously subduing effect on my thoughts, andfilled the forest glades with a tremulous unreality like to nothing on ourearth, and distinctly embarrassing to a stranger in a strange land. Smallbirds in that quaint atmospheric haze looked like condors, butterflies likegiant fowl, and the sim-plest objects of the forest like the imaginations ofa disordered dream. Behind that gauzy hallucination a fine white mistcame up, and the sun spread out flat and red in the sky, while the pent-inheat became almost unendurable.
　　Still I plodded on, growling to myself that in Christian latitudes all theevidences would have been held to be- token a storm before night,whatever they might do here, but for the most part lost in my own gloomyspeculations. That was the more pity since, in thinking the walk over now,it seems to me that I passed many marvels, saw many glorious vistas inthose nameless forests, many spreads of colour, many incidents that, couldI but remember them more distinctly, would supply material for makingmy fortune as a descriptive traveller. But what would you? I haveforgotten, and am too virtuous to draw on my imagination, as it issometimes said other travellers have done when picturesque facts were  deficient. Yes, I have forgotten all about that day, save that it was sultryhot, that I took off my coat and waistcoat to be cooler, carrying them, likethe tramp I was, across my arm, and thus dishevelled passed some time inthe afternoon an encampment of forest folk, wherefrom almost all the menwere gone, and the women shy and surly.
　　In no very social humour myself, I walked round their woodlandvillage, and on the outskirts, by a brook, just as I was wishing there weresome one to eat my solitary lunch with, chanced upon a fellow busilyengaged in hammering stones into weapons upon a flint anvil.
　　He was an ugly-looking individual at best, yet I was hard up forcompany, so I put my coat down, and, seating myself on a log opposite,proceeded to open my wallet, and take out the frugal stores the woodmanhad given me that morning.
　　The man was seated upon the ground holding a stone anvil betweenhis feet, while with his hands he turned and chipped with great skill aspear-head he was making out of flint. It was about the only pastime hehad, and his little yellow eyes gleamed with a craftsman's pleasure, hisshaggy round shoulders were bent over the task, the chips flew in quickparticles, and the wood echoed musically as the arti- ficer watched thething under his hands take form and fashion. Presently I spoke, and theworker looked up, not too pleased at being thus interrupted. But he waseasy of propitiation, and over a handful of dried raisins communi- cative.
　　How, I asked, knowing a craftsman's craft is often nearest to his heart,how was it such things as that he chipped came to be thought of by himand his? Whereon the woodman, having spit out the raisin-stones andwiped his fingers on his fur, said in substance that the first weapon wasfashioned when the earliest ape hurled the first stone in wrath.
　　"But, chum," I said, taking up his half-finished spear and touching therazor-fine edge with admiring caution, "from hurling the crude pebble tofashioning such as this is a long stride. Who first edged and pointed theprimitive malice? What man with the soul of a thousand unborn fighters inhim notched and sharpened your natural rock?"Whereon the chipper grinned, and answered that, when the woodmenhad found stones that would crack skulls, it came upon them presently that  they would crack nuts as well. And cracking nuts between two stonesone day a flint shattered, and there on the grass was the golden secret ofthe edge--the thing that has made man what he is.
　　"Yet again, good fellow," I queried, "even this happy chance onlygives us a weapon, sharp, no doubt, and cal- culated to do a hundredservices for any ten the original pebble could have done, but stillunhandled, small in force, imperfect--now tell me, which of your amiableancestors first put a handle to the fashioned flint, and how he thought ofit?"The workman had done his flake by now, and wrapping it in a bit ofskin, put it carefully in his belt before turning to answer my question.
　　"Who made the first handle for the first flint, you of the manyquestions? She did--she, the Mother," he suddenly cried, patting the earthwith his brown hand, and working himself up as he spoke, "made it in herheart for us her first-born. See, here is such as the first handled weaponthat ever came out of darkness," and he snatched from the ground, where ithad lain hidden under his fox-skin cloak, a heavy club. I saw in aninstant how it was. The club had been a sapling, and the sapling's rootshad grown about and circled with a splendid grip a lump of native flint. Awoodman had pulled the sapling, found the flint, and fashioned the two ina moment of happy inspiration, the one to an axe-head and the other to ahandle, as they lay Nature-welded!
　　"This, I say, is the first--the first!" screamed the old fellow as though Iwere contradicting him, thumping the ground with his weapon, andworking himself up to a fury as its black magic entered his being. "Thisis the first: with this I slew Hetter and Gur, and those who plundered myhiding- places in the woods; with this I have killed a score of others,bursting their heads, and cracking their bones like dry sticks. With this-with this--" but here his rage rendered him in- articulate; he stammeredand stuttered for a minute, and then as the killing fury settled on him hisyellow teeth shut with a sudden snap, while through them his breathrattled like wind through dead pine branches in December, the sinews satup on his hands as his fingers tightened upon the axe-heft like the roots ofthe same pines from the ground when winter rain has washed the soil from  beneath them; his small eyes gleamed like baleful planets; every hair uponhis shaggy back grew stiff and erect--another minute and my span wereended.
　　With a leap from where I sat I flew at that hairy beast, and sinking myfists deep in his throttle, shook him till his eyes blazed with delirious fires.
　　We waltzed across the short green-sward, and in and about the tree-trunks,shaking, pulling, and hitting as we went, till at last I felt the man's vigourdy- ing within him; a little more shaking, a sudden twist, and he was lyingon the ground before me, senseless and civil! That is the worst of someorators, I thought to myself, as I gloomily gathered up the scatteredfragments of my lunch; they never know when they have said enough, andare too apt to be carried away by their own arguments.
　　That inhospitable village was left behind in full belief the mountainlooming in the south could be reached before nightfall, while the road toits left would serve as a sure guide to food and shelter for the evening.
　　But, as it turned out, the morning's haze developed a strong mist ere theafternoon was half gone, through which it was impossible to see more thantwenty yards. My hill loomed gigantic for a time with a tantalisingappearance of being only a mile or two ahead, then wavered, becamevisionary, and finally disap- peared as completely as though the forest misthad drunk it up bodily.
　　There was still the road to guide me, a fairly well- beaten track twiningthrough the glades; but even the best of highways are difficult in fog, andthis one was compli- cated by various side paths, made probably byhunters or bark-cutters, and without compass or guide marks it wasnecessary to advance with extreme caution, or get helplessly mazed.
　　An hour's steady tramping brought me nowhere in particu- lar, andstopping for a minute to consider, I picked a few wild fruit, such as mywood-cutter friend had eaten, from an overhanging bush, and in so doingslipped, the soil having now become damp, and in falling broke a branchoff. The incident was only important from what follows. Pickingmyself up, perhaps a little shaken by the jolt, I set off again upon whatseemed the plain road, and being by this time displeased by mysurroundings, determined to make a push for "civilization" before the  rapidly gathering darkness set- tled down.
　　Hands in pockets and collar up, I marched forward at a good roundpace for an hour, constantly straining eyes for a sight of the hill and earsfor some indications of living beings in the deathly hush of the shroudedwoods, and at the end of that time, feeling sure habitations must now benear, arrived at what looked like a little open space, some- how seemingrather familiar in its vague outlines.
　　Where had I seen such a place before? Sauntering round the margin, abush with a broken branch sud- denly attracted my attention--a brokenbush with a long slide in the mud below it, and the stamp of Navy boots inthe soft turf! I glared at those signs for a moment, then with anexclamation of chagrin recognised them only too well--it was the bushwhence I had picked the fruit, and the mark of my fall. An hour's hardwalking round some accursed woodland track had brought me exactlyback to the point I had started from--I was lost!
　　It really seemed to get twenty per cent darker as I made thatabominable discovery, and the position dawned in all its uncomfortableintensity. There was nothing for it but to start off again, this time judgingmy direction only by a light breath of air drifting the mist tangles before it;and therein I made a great mistake, for the breeze had shifted severalpoints from the quarter whence it blew in the morning.
　　Knowing nothing of this, I went forward with as muchlightheartedness as could be managed, humming a song to myself, andcarefully putting aside thoughts of warmth and supper, while the duskincreased and the great forest vegetation seemed to grow ranker and closerat every stepAnother disconcerting thing was that the ground sloped graduallydownwards, not upwards as it should have done, till it seemed the path layacross the flats of a forest-covered plain, which did not conform to mywish of striking a road on the foot-hills of the mountain. However, Iplodded on, drawing some small comfort from the fact that as darknesscame the mist rose from the ground and appeared to con- dense in aghostly curtain twenty feet overhead, where it hung between me and aclear night sky, presently illum- ined by starlight with the strangest effect.
　　Tired, footsore, and dejected, I struggled on a little further. Oh for acab, I laughed bitterly to myself. Oh for even the humble necessaryomnibus of civilisation. Oh for the humblest tuck-shop where a mug ofhot coffee and a snack could be had by a homeless wanderer; and as Ithought and plodded savagely on, collar up, hands in pockets, through theblack tangles of that endless wood, suddenly the sound of wailing childrencaught my ear!
　　It was the softest, saddest music ever mortal listened to. It was asthough scores of babes in pain were dropping to sleep on their mothers'
　　breasts, and all hushing their sor- rows with one accord in a commonmelancholy chorus. I stood spell-bound at that elfin wailing, the firstsound to break the deathly stillness of the road for an hour or more, andmy blood tingled as I listened to it. Nevertheless, here was what I waslooking for; where there were weeping children there must be habitations,and shelter, and--splendid thought!--supper. Poor little babes! theircrying was the deadliest, sweetest thing in sorrows I ever listened to. If itwas cholic--why, I knew a little of medicine, and in gratitude for thatprospective supper, I had a soul big enough to cure a thousand; and if theywere in disgrace, and by some quaint Martian fashion had suffered simultaneous punishment for baby offences, I would plead for them.
　　In fact, I fairly set off at the run towards the sobbing, in the black, wet,night air ahead, and, tripping as I ran, looked down and saw in the filteringstarlight that the forest grass had given place to an ancient roadway, pavedwith moss-grown flag-stones, such as they still used in Seth.
　　Without stopping to think what that might mean I hur- ried on, thewailing now right ahead, a tremulous tumult of gentle grief rising andfalling on the night air like the sound of a sea after a storm; and so,presently, in a minute or two, came upon a ruined archway spanning thelonely road, held together by great masses of black-fingered creep- ers,gaunt and ghostly in the shadows, an extraordinary and unexpected vision;and as I stopped with a jerk under that forbidding gateway and glared at itstumbled masonry and great portals hanging rotten at their hinges, suddenlythe truth flashed upon me. I had taken the forbidden road after all.
　　was in the ancient, ghost-haunted city of Queen Yang!
Chapter 15
The dark forest seemed to shut behind as I entered the gateway of thedeserted Hither town, against which my wood-cutter friend had warnedme, while inside the soft mist hung in the starlight like grey drapery overendless vistas of ruins. What was I to do? Without all was black andcheerless, inside there was at least shelter. Wet and cold, my couragewas not to be put down by the stories of a silly savage; I would go onwhatever happened. Besides, the soft sound of crying, now apparentlyall about, seemed companionable, and I had heard so much of ghosts oflate, the sharp edge of fear at their presence was wearing off.
　　So in I went: up a broad, decayed street, its flagstones heavedeverywhere by the roots of gnarled trees, and finding nothing save ruin,tried to rest under a wall. But the night air was chilly and the shelterpoor, so out I came again, with the wailing in the shadows so close aboutnow that I stopped, and mustering up courage called aloud:
　　"Hullo, you who weep there in the dark, are you living or dead?"And after a minute from the hollows of the empty hearths around came thesad little responsive echo:
　　"Are you living or dead?" It was very delusive and un- satisfactory,and I was wondering what to do next when a slant of warmer wind cameup behind me under the mist, and immediately little tongues of blue flameblossomed with- out visible cause in every darksome crevice; pale flickersof miasmic light rising pallid from every lurking nook and corner in theblack desolation as though a thousand lamps were lit by unseen fingers,and, knee high, floated out into the thoroughfare where they oscillatedgently in airy grace, and then, forming into procession, began drifting before the tepid air towards the city centre. At once I thought of what thewoodcutter had seen, but was too wet and sulky by this time to care. Thefascination of the place was on me, and dropping into rear of the march, Iwent forward with it. By this time the wailing had stopped, though nowand then it seemed a dark form moved in the empty door- ways on eitherhand, while the mist, parting into gossamers before the wind, tookmarvellously human forms in every alley and lane we passed.
　　Thus I, a sodden giant, led by those elfin torches, paced through thecity until we came to an open square with a great lumber of ruins in thecentre all marred and spoiled by vegetation; and here the lights wavered,and went out by scores and hundreds, just as the petals drop from spentflowers, while it seemed, though it may have been only wind in the rankgrass, that the air was full of most plaintive sighs as each little lampslipped into oblivion.
　　The big pile was a mass of fallen masonry, which, from the brokenpillars all about, might have been a palace or temple once. I pushed in,but it was as dark as Hades here, so, after struggling for a time in alabyrinth of chambers, chose a sandy recess, with some dry herbage byway of bedding in a corner, and there, thankful at least for shel- ter, mynight's wanderings came to an end and I coiled myself down, ate a lasthandful of dry fruit, and, strange as it may seem, was soon sleepingpeacefully.
　　I dreamed that night that a woman, with a face as white as ivory, cameand bent over me. She led a babe by either hand, while behind her werescores of other ones, with lovely faces, but all as pale as the starsthemselves, who looked and sighed, but said nothing, and when they hadstared their fill, dropped out one by one, leaving a wonderful blank in themonotony where they had been; but beyond that dream nothing happened.
　　It was a fine morning when I woke again, and ob- viously broad dayoutside, the sunshine coming down through cracks in the old palace roof,and lying in golden pools on the floor with dazzling effect.
　　Rubbing my eyes and sitting up, it took me some time to get my sensestogether, and at first an uneasy feeling possessed me that I was somehowdematerialised and in an unreal world. But a twinge of cramp in my leftarm, and a healthy sneeze, which frightened a score of bats overheadnearly out of their senses, was reassuring on this point, and rubbing awaythe cramp and staggering to my feet, I looked about at the strangesurroundings. It was cavernous chaos on every side: magnificentarchitecture reduced to the confusion of a debris-heap, only the hollowchambers being here and there preserved by massive columns meetingoverhead. Into these the yellow light filtered wher- ever a rent in a  cupola or side-wall admitted it, and allured by the vision of corridors onebeyond the other, I presently set off on a tour of discovery.
　　Twenty minutes' scrambling brought me to a place where the fallenjambs of a fine doorway lay so close together that there was barely roomto pass between them. However, seeing light beyond, I squeezed through,and I found my- self in the best-preserved chamber of all--a wide, roomyhall with a domed roof, a haze of mural paintings on the walls, and amarble floor nearly hidden in a century of fallen dust. I stumbled oversomething at the threshold, and picking it up, found it was a baby's skull!
　　And there were more of them now that my eyes became accustomed to thelight. The whole floor was mottled with them--scores and hundreds ofbones and those poor little relics of humanity jutting out of the sandeverywhere. In the hush of that great dead nursery the little whitetrophies seemed inexpressibly pathetic, and I should have turned backreverently from that chamber of forgotten sorrows but that somethingcaught my eye in the centre of it.
　　It was an oblong pile of white stone, very ill-used and chipped, wrist-deep in dust, yet when a slant of light came in from above and fell straightupon it, the marble against the black gloom beyond blazed like living pearl.
　　It was dazzling; and shading my eyes and going tenderly over through thepoor dead babes, I looked, and there, full in the shine, lay a woman'sskeleton, still wrapped in a robe of which little was left save the hard goldembroidery. Her brown hair, wonderful to say, still lay like lank, deadsea- weed about her, and amongst it was a fillet crown of plain iron setwith gems such as eye never looked upon before. There were not many,but enough to make the proud sim- plicity of that circlet glisten like a littleband of fire--a gleaming halo on her dead forehead infinitely fascinating.
　　At her sides were two other little bleached human flowers, and I stoodbefore them for a long time in silent sympathy.
　　Could this be Queen Yang, of whom the woodcutter had told me? Itmust be--who else? And if it were, what strange chance had brought mehere--a stranger, yet the first to come, since her sorrow, from her distantkindred? And if it were, then that fillet belonged of right to Heru, the lastrep- resentative of her kind. Ought I not to take it to her rather than leave  it as spoil to the first idle thief with pluck enough to deride the mysteriesof the haunted city? Long time I thought over it in the faint, heavyatmosphere of that hall, and then very gently unwound the hair, lifted thecirclet, and, scarcely knowing what I did, put it in my shoulder-bag.
　　After that I went more cheerfully into the outside sun- shine, andsetting my clothes to dry on a stone, took stock of the situation. Theplace was, perhaps, not quite so romantic by day as by night, and thescattered trees, matted by creepers, with which the whole were overgrown,prevented anything like an extensive view of the ruined city being obtained. But what gave me great satisfaction was to note over these treesto the eastward a two-humped mountain, not more than six or seven milesdistant--the very one I had mislaid the day before. Here was reality and achance of getting back to civilisation. I was as glad as if home were insight, and not, perhaps, the less so because the hill meant villages and food;and you who have doubtless lunched well and lately will please bear inmind I had had nothing since breakfast the day before; and though thismay look picturesque on paper, in practice it is a painful item in one'sprogramme.
　　Well, I gave my damp clothes but a turn or two more in the sun, andthen, arguing that from the bare ground where the forest ended half-wayup the hill, a wide view would be obtained, hurried into my garments andset off thither right gleefully. A turn or two down the blank streets, nowprosaic enough, an easy scramble through a gap in the crumblingbattlements, and there was the open forest again, with a friendly path wellmarked by the passage of those wild animals who made the city their lairtrending towards my landmark.
　　A light breakfast of soft green nuts, plucked on the way, and then theground began to bend upwards and the woods to thin a little. Withinfinite ardour, just before mid- day, I scrambled on to a bare knoll on thevery hillside, and fell exhausted before the top could be reached.
　　But what were hunger or fatigue to the satisfaction of that moment?
　　There was the sea before me, the clear, strong, gracious sea, blue leaguesof it, furrowed by the white ridges of some distant storm. I could smellthe scent of it even here, and my sailor heart rose in pride at the  companion- ship of that alien ocean. Lovely and blessed thing! howoften have I turned from the shallow trivialities of the land and foundconsolation in the strength of your stately soli- tudes! How often have Iturned from the tinselled presence of the shore, the infinite pretensions ofdry land that make life a sorry, hectic sham, and found in the black bosomof the Great Mother solace and comfort! Dear, lovely sea, man- half ofevery sphere, as far removed in the sequence of your strong emotions fromthe painted fripperies of the woman-land as pole from pole--the gratefulblessing of the humblest of your followers on you!
　　The mere sight of salt water did me good. Heaven knows ourseparation had not been long, and many an unkind slap has the Mothergiven me in the bygone; yet the mere sight of her was tonic, a lethe oftroubles, a sedative for tired nerves; and I gazed that morning at theillimitable blue, the great, unfettered road to everywhere, the ever- varied,the immutable, the thing which was before every- thing and shall be last ofall, in an ecstasy of affection.
　　There was also other satisfaction at hand. Not a mile away lay awell-defined road--doubtless the one spoken of by the wood-cutter--andwhere the track pointed to the seashore the low roofs and circling smokeof a Thither town- ship showed.
　　There I went hot-footed, and, much too hungry to be nice in formality,swung up to the largest building on the waterside quay and demandedbreakfast of the man who was lounging by its doorway chewing a honeyreed. He looked me up and down without emotion, then, falling into thecommon mistake, said,"This is not a hostel for ghosts, sir. We do not board and lodgephantoms here; this is a dry fish shop.""Thrice blessed trade!" I answered. "Give me some dried fish, goodfellow, or, for the matter of that, dried horse or dog, or anything mortalteeth can bite through, and I will show you my tastes are altogethermundane."But he shook his head. "This is no place for the likes of you, whocome, mayhap, from the city of Yang or some other abode of disembodiedspirits--you, who come for mischief and pay harbourage with mischance- is it likely you could eat wholesome food?""Indeed I could, and plenty of it, seeing I have dined and breakfastedalong the hedges with the blackbirds this two days. Look here, I will payin advance. Will that get me a meal?" and, whipping out my knife, cutoff another of my fast-receding coat buttons.
　　The man took it with great interest, as I hoped he would, the yellowmetal being apparently a very scarce commodity in his part of the planet.
　　"Gold?" he asked.
　　"Well--ahem! I forgot to ask the man who sewed them on for mewhat they were exactly, but it looks like gold, doesn't it?""Yes," he answered, turning it to and fro admiringly in his hand, "youare the first ghost I ever knew to pay in ad- vance, and plenty of them goto and fro through here. Such a pretty thing is well worth a meal--if,indeed, you can stomach our rough fare. Here, you woman within," hecalled to the lady whom I presume was his wife, "here is a gentleman fromthe nether regions who wants some break- fast and has paid in advance.
　　Give him some of your best, for he has paid well.""And what," said a female voice from inside, "what if I refused toserve another of these plaguy wanderers you are always foisting uponme?""Don't mind her tongue, sir. It's the worst part of her, though she ismighty proud of it. Go in and she will see you do not come out hungry,"and the Thither man returned calmly to his honey stick.
　　"Come on, you Soul-with-a-man's-stomach," growled the woman, andtoo hungry to be particular about the tone of invitation, I strode into theparlour of that strange refreshment place. The woman was the first I hadseen of the outer race, and better than might have been expected inappearance. Big, strong, and ruddy, she was a mental shock after theslender slips of girlhood on the far side of the water, half a dozen of whomshe could have carried off without effort in her long arms. Yet there wasabout her the credential of rough health, the dignity of muscle, an uprightcarriage, an animal grace of movement, and withal a comely thoughstrongly featured face, which pleased me at once, and later on I had greatcause to remember her with gratitude. She eyed me sulkily for a minute,  then her frown gradually softened, and the instinctive love of the womanfor the supernatural mastered her other feelings.
　　"Is that how you looked in another world?" she asked.
　　"Yes, exactly, cap to boots. What do you think of the attire, ma'am?""Not much," replied the good woman frankly. "It could not havebeen becoming even when new, and you appear as though you had taken amuddy road since then. What did you die of?""I will tell you so much as this, madam--that what I am like to die ofnow is hunger, plain, unvarnished hunger, so, in Heaven's name, get outwhat you have and let me fall-to, for my last meal was yesterdaymorning."Whereat, with a shrug of her shoulders at the eccentric- ities of netherfolk, the woman went to the rear of the house, and presently came backwith a meal which showed her husband had done scant justice to theestablishment by calling it a dry fish shop. It is true, fish supplied thestaple of the repast, as was inevitable in a seaport, but, like all Martian fish,it was of ambrosial kind, with a savour about it of wine and sunshine suchas no fish on our side of space can boast of. Then there were cakes,steaming and hot, vegetables which fitted into the previous course withexquisite nicety, and, lastly, a wooden tankard of the in- variable Thitherbeer to finish off. Such a meal as a hungry man might consider himselffortunate to meet with any day.
　　The woman watched me eat with much satisfaction, and when I hadanswered a score of artless questions about my previous state, or presentcondition and prospects, more or less to her satisfaction, she supplied mein turn with some information which was really valuable to me just then.
　　First I learned that Ar-hap's men, with the abducted Heru, had passedthrough this very port two days before, and by this time were probably inthe main town, which, it appeared, was only about twelve hours' rowingup the salt- water estuary outside. Here was news! Heru, the prize andobject of my wild adventure, close at hand and well. It brought a wholenew train of thoughts, for the last few days had been so full of the stress oftravel, the bare, hard necessity of getting forward, that the object of myquest, illogical as it may seem, had gone into the background before these  things. And here again, as I finished the last cake and drank down to thebottom of the ale tankard, the extreme folly of the venture came upon me,the madness of venturing single-handed into the den of the Wood King.
　　What had I to hope for? What chance, however remote, was there ofsuccessfully wresting that blooming prize from the arms of her captor?
　　Force was out of the question; stealth was utterly impractical; as forcajolery, apparently the sole remaining means of winning back thePrincess--why, one might as well try the persuasion of a penny flute upona hungry eagle as seek to rouse Ar-hap's sympathies for bereaved Hath inthat way. Surely to go forward would mean my own certain destruction,with no advantage, no help to Heru; and if I was ever to turn back or stopin the idle quest, here was the place and time. My Hither friends werebehind the sea; to them I could return before it was too late, and here werethe rough but honest Thither folk, who would doubtless let me liveamongst them if that was to be my fate. One or other alternative werebetter than going to torture and death.
　　"You seem to take the fate of that Hither girl of yours mightily to heart,stranger," quoth my hostess, with a touch of feminine jealousy, as shewatched my hesitation. "Do you know anything of her?""Yes," I answered gloomily. "I have seen her once or twice away inSeth.""Ah, that reminds me! When they brought her up here from the boatsto dry her wet clothes, she cried and called in her grief for just such a oneas you, saying he alone who struck down our men at her feast could rescueher--""What! Heru here in this room but yesterday! How did she look?
　　Was she hurt? How had they treated her?"My eagerness gave me away. The woman looked at me through herhalf-shut eyes a space, and then said, "Oh! sits the wind in THAT quarter?
　　So you can love as well as eat. I must say you are well-conditioned for aspirit."I got up and walked about the room a space, then, feeling veryfriendless, and knowing no woman was ever born who was not interestedin another woman's loves, I boldly drew my hostess aside and told her  about Heru, and that I was in pursuit of her, dwelling on the girl's gentlehelplessness, my own hare-brained adventure, and frankly asking whatsort of a sovereign Ar-hap was, what the customs of his court might be,and whether she could suggest any means, tem- poral or spiritual, bywhich he might be moved to give back Heru to her kindred.
　　Nor was my confidence misplaced. The woman, as I guessed, wastouched somewhere back in her female heart by my melting love-tale, bymy anxiety and Heru's peril. Besides, a ghost in search of a fairy lady--andsuch the slender folk of Seth were still considered to be by the race whichhad supplanted them--this was romance indeed. To be brief, that goodwoman proved invaluable.
　　She told me, firstly, that Ar-hap was believed to be away at war,"weekending" as was his custom, amongst rebellious tribes, and bystarting at once up the water, I should very probably get to the town beforehe did. Sec- ondly, she thought if I kept clear of private brawls there waslittle chance of my receiving injury, from the people at all events, as theywere accustomed to strange visitors, and civil enough until they were firedby war. "Sickle cold, sword hot," was one of their proverbs, meaningthereby that in peaceful times they were lambs, however lionlike theymight be in contest.
　　This was reassuring, but as to recovering the lady, that was anothermatter over which the good woman shook her head. It was ill comingbetween Ar-hap and his tribute, she said; still, if I wanted to see Heru onceagain, this was my op- portunity, and, for the rest, that chance, which oftenfavours the enamoured, must be my help.
　　Briefly, though I should probably have gone forward in any case out ofsheer obstinacy, had it been to certain destruction, this better aspect of thesituation hastened my resolution. I thanked the woman for help, and thenthe man outside was called in to advise as to the best and speediest way ofgetting within earshot of his hairy sovereignty, the monarch of
Chapter 16
The Martian told me of a merchant boat with ten rowers which wasgoing up to the capital in a couple of hours, and as the skipper was a friendof his they would no doubt take me as supercargo, thereby saving thenecessity of passenger fees, which was obviously a consideration with me.
　　It was not altogether a romantic approach to the dungeon of an imprisonedbeauty, but it was practical, which is often better if not so pleasant. Sothe offer was gladly closed with, and curling myself in a rug of foxskins,for I was tired with much walking, sailors never being good foot- gangers,I slept soundly fill they came to tell me it was time to go on board.
　　The vessel was more like a canal barge than anything else, lean andlong, with the cargo piled in a ridge down the centre as farmers store theirwinter turnips, the rowers sitting on either side of this plying oars likedessert-spoons with long handles, while they chanted a monotonouscadence of monosyllables:
　　Oh, ho, oh,Oh, ho, oh,How high, how high.
　　and then again after a pause-How high, how highOh, ho, oh,Oh, ho, oh.
　　the which was infinitely sleep-provoking if not a refrain of a highintellectual order.
　　I shut my eyes as we pulled away from the wharfs of that namelessemporium and picked a passage through a crowd of quaint shipping,wondering where I was, and asking myself whether I was mentally risingequal to my extraordinary surroundings, whether I adequately appreciated the immensity of my remove from those other seas on which I hadlast travelled, tiller-ropes in hand, piloting a captain's galley from a wharf.
　　Good heavens, what would my comrades on my ship say if they could seeme now steer- ing a load of hairy savages up one of those waterwayswhich our biggest telescopes magnify but to the thickness of an indication?
　　No, I was not rising equal to the oc- casion, and could not. The humanmind is of but limited capacity after all, and such freaks of fortune arebeyond its conception. I knew I was where I was, but I knew I shouldprobably never get the chance of telling of it, and that no one would everbelieve me if I did, and I re- signed myself to the inevitable with sullenacquiescence, smothering the wonder that might have been overwhelmingin passing interests of the moment.
　　There is little to record of that voyage. We passed through a fleet ofAr-hap's warships, empty and at anchor in double line, serviceable half-decked cutters, built of solid timber, not pumpkin rind it was pleasant tonotice, and then the town dropped away as we proceeded up a streamabout as broad as the Hudson at its widest, and profusely studded withislands. This water was bitterly salt and joined an- other sea on the otherside of the Martian continent. Yet it had a pronounced flow against useastward, this tide running for three spring months and being followed, Ilearned, as ocean temperatures varied, by a flow in the opposite directionthroughout the summer.
　　Just at present the current was so strong eastwards, the moisturebeaded upon my rowers' tawny hides as they strug- gled against it, andtheir melancholy song dawdled in "linked sweetness long drawn out,"while the swing of their oars grew longer and longer. Truly it was veryhot, far hotter than was usual for the season, these men declared, and possibly this robbed me of my wonted energy, and you, gentle reader, of adescription of all the strange things we passed upon that highway.
　　Suffice it to say we spent a scorching afternoon, the greater part of astifling night moored under a mud-bank with a grove of trees on top fromwhich gigantic fire-flies hung as though the place were illuminated for agarden fete, and then, rowing on again in the comparatively cool hoursbefore dawn, turned into a backwater at cock-crow.
　　The skipper of our cargo boat roused me just as we turned, puttingunder my sleepy nostrils a handful of toasted beans on a leaf, and a smallcup full of something that was not coffee, but smelt as good as thatmatutinal beverage always does to the tired traveller.
　　Over our prow was an immense arch of foliage, and under- neath a  long arcade of cool black shadows, sheltering still water, till water andshadow suddenly ended a quarter of a mile down in a patch of brilliantcolour. It was as peaceful as could be in the first morning light, and tome over all there was the inexpressible attraction of the unknown.
　　As our boat slipped silently forward up this leafy lane, a thin white"feather" in her mouth alone breaking the steely surface of the stream, themen rested from their work and began, as sailors will, to put on theirshore-going clothes, the while they chatted in low tones over the profits ofthe voyage. Overhead flying squirrels were flitting to and fro like bats,or shelling fruit whereof the husks fell with a pleasant splash about us, andon one bank a couple of early mothers were washing their babies, whosesmothered protests were almost the only sound in this morning world.
　　Another silent dip or two of the oars and the colour ahead crystallisedinto a town. If I said it was like an African village on a large scale, Ishould probably give you the best description in the fewest words. Fromthe very water's edge up to the crown of a low hill inland, extended a massof huts and wooden buildings, embowered and partly hidden in brightgreen foliage, with here and there patches of millet, or some such foodplant, and the flowers that grow everywhere so abundantly in this country.
　　It was all Arcadian and peaceful enough at the moment, and as we drewnear the men were just coming out to the quays along the har- bour front,the streets filling and the town waking to busy life.
　　A turn to the left through a watergate defended by towers of wood andmud, and we were in the city harbour itself; boats of many kinds mooredon every side; quaint craft from the gulfs and bays of Nowhere, full ofunheard-of merch- andise, and manned by strange-faced crews, everyvessel a romance of nameless seas, an epitome of an undiscovered world,and every moment the scene grew busier as the breakfast smoke arose, andwharf and gangway set to work upon the day's labours.
　　Our boat--loaded, as it turned out, with spoil from Seth-- was run to aplace of honour at the bottom of the town square, and was an object ofmuch curiosity to a small crowd which speedily collected and lent a handwith the mooring ropes, the while chatting excitedly with the crew aboutfurther tribute and the latest news from overseas. At the same time a  swarthy barbarian, whose trappings showed him to be some sort offunctionary, came down to our "captain," much wagging of heads andcounting of notched sticks taking place between them.
　　I, indeed, was apparently the least interesting item of the cargo, andthis was embarrassing. No hero likes to be ne- glected, it is fatal to hispart. I had said my prayers and steeled myself to all sorts of fineendurance on the way up, and here, when it came to the crisis, no one wasanxious to play the necessary villain. They just helped me ashore civillyenough, the captain nodded his head at me, mutter- ing something in anindifferent tone to the functionary about a ghost who had wanderedoverseas and begged a passage up the canal; the group about the quaystared a little, but that was all.
　　Once I remember seeing a squatting, life-size heathen idol hoistedfrom a vessel's hold and deposited on a sugar-box on a New York quay.
　　Some ribald passer-by put a battered felt hat upon Vishnu's sacred curls,and there the poor image sat, an alien in an indifferent land, a sack acrossits shoulders, a "billycock" upon its head, and honoured at most with apassing stare. I thought of that lonely image as al- most as lonely I stoodon the Thither men's quay, without the support of friends or heroics,wondering what to do next.
　　However, a cheerful disposition is sometimes better than a bankingaccount, and not having the one I cultivated the other, sunning myselfamongst the bales for a time, and then, since none seemed interested in me,wandered off into the town, partly to satisfy my curiosity, and partly in thevague hope of ascertaining if my princess was really here, and, if possible,getting sight of her.
　　Meanwhile it turned hot with a supernatural, heavy sort of heataltogether, I overheard passersby exclaiming, out of the common, and afterwandering for an hour through gardens and endless streets of thatched huts,I was glad enough to throw myself down in the shadow of some trees onthe outskirts of the great central pile of buildings, a whole village in itselfof beam-built towers and dwelling- place, suggesting by its superior sizethat it might actually be Ar-hap's palace.
　　Hotter and hotter it grew, while a curious secondary sunrise in the west,  the like of which I never saw before seemed to add to the heat, and heavierand heavier my eye- lids, till I dozed at last, and finally sleptuncomfortably for a time.
　　Rousing up suddenly, imagine my surprise to see sitting, chin on knees,about a yard away, a slender girlish figure, infinitely out of place in thatworld of rough barbarians. Was it possible? Was I dreaming? No, therewas no doubt about it, she was a girl of the Hither folk, slim and pretty,but with a wonderfully sad look in her gazelle eyes, and scarcely a sign ofthe indolent happiness of Seth in the pale little face regarding me sofixedly.
　　"Good gracious, miss," I said, still rubbing my eyes and doubting mysenses, "have you dropped from the skies? You are the very last person Iexpected to see in this barbarian place.""And you too, sir. Oh, it is lovely to see one so newly from home,and free-seeming--not a slave.""How did you know I was from Seth?""Oh, that was easy enough," and with a little laugh she pointed to apebble lying between us, on which was a piece of battered sweetmeat in aperforated bamboo box. Poor An had given me something just like thatin a playful mood, and I had kept it in my pocket for her sake, being, asyou will have doubtless observed, a sentimental young man, and now Iclapped my hand where it should have been, but it was gone.
　　"Yes," said my new friend, "that is yours. I smelt the sweetmeatcoming up the hill, and crossed the grass until I found you here asleep.
　　Oh, it was lovely! I took it from your pocket, and white Seth rose upbefore my swimming eyes, even at the scent of it. I am Si, well named,for that in our land means sadness, Si, the daughter of Prince Hath's chiefsweetmeat-maker, so I should know something of such stuff. May I,please, nibble a little piece?""Eat it all, my lass, and welcome. How came you here? But I canguess. Do not answer if you would rather not.""Ay, but I will. It is not every day I can speak to ears so friendly asyours. I am a slave, chosen for my luckless beauty as last year's tributeto Ar-hap.""And now?""And now the slave of Ar-hap's horse-keeper, set aside to make roomfor a fresher face.""And do you know whose face that is?""Not I, a hapless maid sent into this land of horrors, to bear ignominyand stripes, to eat coarse food and do coarse work, the miserable playthingof some brute in semi-human form, with but the one consolation of dyingearly as we tribute-women always die. Poor comrade in exile, I onlyknow her as yet by sympathy.""What if I said it was Heru, the princess?"The Martian girl sprang to her feet, and clasping her hands exclaimed,"Heru, the Slender! Then the end comes, for it is written in ourbooks that the last tribute is paid when the best is paid. Oh, how splendidif she gave herself of free will to this slavery to end it once for all. Was itso?""I think, Si, your princess could not have known of that tradition; shedid not come willingly. Besides, I am come to fetch her back, if it maybe, and that spoils the look of sacrifice.""You to fetch her back, and from Ar-hap's arms? My word, Sir Spirit,you must know some potent charms; or, what is less likely, mycountrymen must have amazingly improved in pluck since I left them.
　　Have you a great army at hand?"But I only shook my head, and, touching my sword, said that here wasthe only army coming to rescue Heru. Whereon the lady replied that shethought my valour did me more honour than my discretion. How did Ipropose to take the princess from her captors?
　　"To tell the truth, damsel, that is a matter which will have to be left toyour invention, or the kindness of such as you. I am here on a harebrained errand, playing knight- errant in a way that shocks my commonsense. But since the matter has gone so far I will see it through, or die inthe attempt. Your bully lord shall either give me Heru, stock, lock, andblock, or hang me from a yard-arm. But I would rather have the lady.
　　Come, you will help me; and, as a beginning, if she is in yonder shanty getme speech with her."Poor Si's eyes dilated at the peril of the suggestion, and I saw thesluggish Martian nature at war against her better feelings. But presentlythe latter conquered. "I will try," she said. "What matter a few stripesmore or less?" pointing to her rosy shoulders where red scars crisscrossupon one an- other showed how the Martian girls fared in Ar-hap's palacewhen their novelty wore off. "I will try to help you; and if they kill mefor it--why, that will not matter much." And forthwith in that blazingforenoon under the flickering shadow of the trees we put our headstogether to see what we might do for Heru.
　　It was not much for the moment. Try what we would that afternoon,I could not persuade those who had charge of the princess to let me evenapproach her place of im- prisonment, but Si, as a woman, was moresuccessful, actually seeing her for a few moments, and managed towhisper in her ear that I had come, the Spirit-with-the-gold-buttonsdown-his front, afterwards describing to me in flowing Mar- tian imagery-but doubtless not more highly coloured than poor Heru's emotionwarranted--how delightedly that lady had received the news.
　　Si also did me another service, presenting me to the porter's wife, whokept a kind of boarding-house at the gates of Ar-hap's palace forgentlemen and ladies with grievances. I had heard of lobbying before,and the pre- sentation of petitions, though I had never indulged myself inthe pastime; but the crowd of petitioners here, with petitions as wild andpicturesque as their own motley ap- pearances, was surely the strangestthat ever gathered round a seat of supreme authority.
　　Si whispered in the ear of that good woman the nature of my errand,with doubtless some blandishment of her own; and my errand being one somuch above the vulgar and so nearly touching the sovereign, I was at onceac- corded a separate room in the gate-house, whence I could look down incomparative peace on the common herd of suitors, and listen to the buzzof their invective as they practised speeches which I calculated it wouldtake Ar-hap all the rest of his reign to listen to, without allowing him anytime for pronouncing verdicts on them.
　　Here I made myself comfortable, and awaited the return of thesovereign as placidly as might be. Meanwhile fate was playing into my  feeble hands.
　　I have said it was hot weather. At first this seemed but an outcome ofthe Martian climate, but as the hours went by the heat developed to anincredible extent. Also that red glare previously noted in the west grewin intensity, till, as the hours slipped by, all the town was staring at it inpanting horror. I have seen a prairie on fire, luckily from the far side of acomfortably broad river, and have ridden through a pine- forest whenevery tree for miles was an uplifted torch, and pungent yellow smokerolled down each corrie side in grey rivers crested with dancing flame.
　　But that Martian glare was more sombre and terrible than either.
　　"What is it?" I asked of poor Si, who came out gasping to speak to meby the gate-house.
　　"None of us know, and unless the gods these Thither folk believe inare angry, and intend to destroy the world with yonder red sword in thesky, I cannot guess. Perhaps," she added, with a sudden flash ofinspiration, "it comes by your machinations for Heru's help.""No!""If not by your wish, then, in the name of all you love, set your wishagainst it. If you know any incantations suitable for the occasion, oh,practise them now at once, for look, even the very grass is withering; birdsare dropping from trees; fishes, horribly bloated, are beginning to floatdown the steaming rills; and I, with all others, have a nameless dread uponme."Hotter and hotter it grew, until about sunset the red blaze upon the skyslowly opened, and showed us for about half an hour, through the openinga lurid, flame-coloured meteor far out in space beyond; then the cleftclosed again, and through that abominable red curtain came the verybreath of Hades.
　　What was really happening I am not astronomer enough to say, thoughon cooler consideration I have come to the conclusion that our planet, ingoing out to its summer pastures in the remoter fields of space, hadsomehow come across a wandering lesser world and got pretty well singedin passing. This is purely my own opinion, and I have not yet submittedit to the kindly authorities of the Lick Obser- vatory for verification. All  I can say for certain is that in an incredibly short space of time the face ofthe country changed from green to sear, flowers drooped; streams (therewere not many in the neighbourhood apparently) dried up; fishes died; amighty thirst there was nothing to quench set- tled down on man and beast,and we all felt that unless Providence listened to the prayers andimprecations which the whole town set to work with frantic zeal to hurl atit, or that abominable comet in the sky sheered off on another tack withthe least possible delay, we should all be re- duced to cinders in a verybrief space of time.
Chapter 17
The evening of the second day had already come, when Ar-hap arrivedhome after weekending amongst a tribe of rebellious subjects. But anyimposing State entry which might have been intended was renderedimpossible by the heat and the threat of that baleful world in the westernsky.
　　It was a lurid but disordered spectacle which I wit- nessed from myroom in the gate-house just after nightfall. The returning army hadapparently fallen away exhausted on its march through the town; onlysome three hundred of the bodyguard straggled up the hill, limp andsweating, behind a group of pennons, in the midst of which rode ahorseman whose commanding presence and splendid war harnessimpressed me, though I could not make out his features; a wild,impressionist scene of black outlines, tossing headgear, and spearsglittering and vanishing in front of the red glare in the sky, but nothingmore. Even the dry throats of the suitors in the courtyard hardlymustered a husky cry of welcome as the cavalcade trooped into theenclosure, and then the shadows enfolded them up in silence, and, too hotand listless to care much what the morrow brought forth, I threw myselfon the bare floor, tossing and turning in a vain endeavour to sleep untildawn came once more.
　　A thin mist which fell with daybreak drew a veil over the horribleglare in the west for an hour or two, and taking advantage of the slightalleviation of heat, I rose and went into the gardens to enjoy a dip in a pool,making, with its surrounding jungle of flowers, one of the pleasantestthings about the wood-king's forest citadel. The very earth seemedscorched and baking underfoot--and the pool was gone! It had run as dryas a limekiln; nothing remained of the pretty fall which had fed it but amiserable trickle of drops from the cascade above. Down beyond thetown shone a gleam of water where the bitter canal steamed and simmered in the first grey of the morning, but up here six months of scorchingdrought could not have worked more havoc. The very leaves weredropping from the trees, and the luxuriant growths of the day before  looked as though a simoon had played upon them.
　　I staggered back in disgust, and found some show of official activityabout the palace. It was the king's custom, it appeared, to hear petitionsand redress wrongs as soon after his return as possible, but today theceremony was to be cut short as his majesty was going out with all hiscourt to a neighbouring mountain to "pray away the comet," which by thistime was causing dire alarm all through the city.
　　"Heaven's own particular blessing on his prayers, my friend," I said tothe man who told me this. "Unless his majesty's orisons are fruitful, weshall all be cooked like baked potatoes before nightfall, and though I havefaced many kinds of death, that is not the one I would choose bypreference. Is there a chance of myself being heard at the throne? Yourpeculiar climate tempts me to hurry up with my business and begone if Imay.""Not only may you be heard, sir, but you are sum- moned. The kinghas heard of you somehow, and sent me to find and bring you into hispresence at once.""So be it," I said, too hot to care what happened. "I have no leveedress with me. I lost my luggage check some time ago, but if you willwait outside I will be with you in a moment."Hastily tidying myself up, and giving my hair a comb, as though justoff to see Mr. Secretary for the Navy, or on the way to get a senator topush a new patent medicine for me, I rejoined my guide outside, andtogether we crossed the wide courtyard, entered the great log-built portalsof Ar-hap's house, and immediately afterwards found ourselves in a vasthall dimly lit by rays coming in through square spaces under the eaves,and crowded on both sides with guards, courtiers, and supplicants. Theheat was tre- mendous, the odour of Thither men and the ill-dressed hidesthey wore almost overpowering. Yet little I recked for either, for there atthe top of the room, seated on a dais made of rough-hewn wood inlet withgold and covered with splendid furs, was Ar-hap himself.
　　A fine fellow, swarthy, huge, and hairy, at any other time or place Icould have given him due admiration as an admirable example of thesavage on the borderland of grace and culture, but now I only glanced at  him, and then to where at his side a girl was crouching, a gem of humanloveliness against that dusky setting. It was Heru, my ravished princess,and, still clad in her diaphanous Hither robes, her face white with anxiety,her eyes bright as stars, the embodiment of helpless, flowery beauty, myheart turned over at sight of her.
　　Poor girl! When she saw me stride into the hall she rose swiftly fromAr-hap's side, clasped her pretty hands, and giving a cry of joy would haverushed towards me, but the king laid a mighty paw upon her, under whichshe subsided with a shiver as though the touch had blanched all the lifewithin.
　　"Good morning, your majesty," I said, walking boldly up to the lowerstep of the dais.
　　"Good morning, most singular-looking vagrant from the Unknown,"answered the monarch. "In what way can I be of service to you?''
　　"I have come about that girl," I said, nodding to where Heru layblossoming in the hot gloom like some night- flowering bud. "I do notknow whether your majesty is aware how she came here, but it is a highlydiscreditable incident in what is doubtless your otherwise blameless reign.
　　Some rough scullions intrusted with the duty of col- lecting your majesty'scustoms asked Prince Hath of the Hither people to point out the mostattractive young person at his wedding feast, and the prince indicated thatlady there at your side. It was a dirty trick, and all the worse because itwas inspired by malice, which is the meanest of all weaknesses. I hadthe pleasure of knocking down some of your majesty's representatives, butthey stole the girl away while I slept, and, briefly, I have come to fetch herback."The monarch had followed my speech, the longest ever made in mylife, with fierce, blinking eyes, and when it stopped looked at poorshrinking Heru as though for ex- planation, then round the circle of hisawestruck courtiers, and reading dismay at my boldness in their faces,burst into a guttural laugh.
　　"I suppose you have the great and puissant Hither nation behind you inthis request, Mr. Spirit?""No, I came alone, hoping to find justice here, and, if not, then  prepared to do all I could to make your majesty curse the day yourservants maltreated my friends.""Tall words, stranger! May I ask what you propose to do if Ar-hap, inhis own palace, amongst his people and soldiers, refuses to disgorge apretty prize at the bidding of one shabby interloper--muddy andfriendless?""What should I do?""Yes," said the king, with a haughty frown. "What would you do?"I do not know what prompted the reply. For a moment I wascompletely at a loss what to say to this very obvious question, and then allon a sudden, remembering they held me to be some kind of disembodiedspirit, by a happy inspiration, fixing my eyes grimly on the king, Ianswered,"What would I do? Why, I WOULD HAUNT YOU!"It may not seem a great stroke of genius here, but the effect on theMartian was instantaneous. He sat straight up, his hands tightened, hiseyes dilated, and then fidgeting un- easily, after a minute he beckoned toan over-dressed in- dividual, whom Heru afterwards told me was the Courtnecromancer, and began whispering in his ear.
　　After a minute's consultation he turned again, a rather frightenedcivility struggling in his face with anger, and said, "We have no wish, ofcourse, stranger, to offend you or those who had the honour of yourpatronage. Perhaps the princess here was a little roughly handled, and, Icon- fess, if she were altogether as reluctant as she seems, a lesser maidwould have done as well. I could have wooed this one in Seth, where Imay shortly come, and our espousals would possibly have lent, in the eyesof your friends, quite a cheerful aspect to my arrival. But my ambassadors have had no great schooling in diplomacy; they have broughtPrincess Heru here, and how can I hand her over to one I know nothing of?
　　How do I know you are a ghost, after all? How do I know you haveanything but a rusty sword and much impertinence to back your astounding claim?""Oh, let it be just as you like," I said, calmly shelling and eating a nut Ihad picked up. "Only if you do not give the maid back, why, then--" And  I stopped as though the sequel were too painful to put into words.
　　Again that superstitious monarch of a land thronged with maliciousspirits called up his magician, and, after they had consulted a moment,turned more cheerfully to me.
　　"Look here, Mister-from-Nowhere, if you are really a spirit, and havethe power to hurt as you say, you will have the power also to go and comebetween the living and the dead, between the present and the past. Now Iwill set you an errand, and give you five minutes to do it in.""Five minutes!" I exclaimed in incautious alarm.
　　"Five minutes," said the monarch savagely. "And if in that time theerrand is not done, I shall hold you to be an impostor, an impudent thieffrom some scoundrel tribe of this world of mine, and will make of you anexample which shall keep men's ears tingling for a century or two."Poor Heru dropped in a limp and lovely heap at that dire threat, while Iam bound to say I felt somewhat uncomfortable, not unnaturally when allthe circumstances are considered, but contented myself with remarking,with as much bravado as could be managed,"And now to the errand, Ar-hap. What can I do for your majesty?"The king consulted with the rogue at his elbow, and then nodding andchuckling in expectancy of his triumph, addressed me.
　　"Listen," he cried, smiting a huge hairy hand upon his knee, "listen,and do or die. My magician tells me it is record- ed in his books thatonce, some five thousand years ago, when this land belonged to the Hitherpeople, there lived here a king. It is a pity he died, for he seems to havebeen a jovial old fellow; but he did die, and, according to their custom,they floated him down the stream that flows to the regions of eternal ice,where doubtless he is at this present moment, caked up with ten million ofhis subjects. Now just go and find that sovereign for me, oh you bold-tongued dweller in other worlds!""And if I go how am I to know your ancient king, as you say, amongstten million others?""That is easy enough," quoth Ar-hap lightly. "You have only to passto and fro through the ice mountains, opening the mouths of the dead menand women you meet, and when you come to a middle-sized man with a  fillet on his head and a jaw mended with gold, that will be he whom youlook for. Bring me that fillet here within five minutes and the maid isyours."I started, and stared hard in amazement. Was this a dream? Was theroyal savage in front playing with me? By what incredible chance had hehit upon the very errand I could answer to best, the very trophy I hadbrought away from the grim valley of ice and death, and had still in myshoulder-bag? No, he was not playing; he was staring hard in turn,joying in my apparent confusion, and clearly thinking he had cornered mebeyond hope of redemption.
　　"Surely your mightiness is not daunted by so simple a task," scowledthe sovereign, playing with the hilt of his huge hunting-knife, "and allamongst your friends' kindred too. On a hot day like this it ought to be apleasant saunter for a spirit such as yourself.""Not daunted," I answered coldly, turning on my heels towards thedoor, "only marvelling that your majesty's skull and your necromancer'scould not between them have de- vised a harder task."Out into the courtyard I went, with my heart beating finely in spite ofmy assumed indifference; got the bag from a peg in my sleeping-room,and was back before the log throne ere four minutes were gone.
　　"The old Hither king's compliments to your majesty," I said, bowing,while a deathly hush fell on all the assembly, "and he says though yourancestors little liked to hear his voice while alive, he says he has noobjection to giving you some jaw now he is dead," and I threw down onthe floor the golden circlet of the frozen king.
　　Ar-hap's eyes almost started from his head as, with his courtiers, heglared in silent amazement at that shining thing while the great drops offear and perspiration trickled down his forehead. As for poor Heru, sherose like a spirit behind them, gazed at the jaw-bone of her mythical ancestor, and then suddenly realising my errand was done and she apparentlyfree, held out her hands, and, with a tremulous cry, would have come tome.
　　But Ar-hap was too quick for her. All the black savage blood swelledinto his veins as he swept her away with one great arm, and then with his  foot gave the luckless jaw a kick that sent it glittering and spinningthrough the far doorway out into the sunshine.
　　"Sit down," he roared, "you brazen wench, who are so eager to leave aking's side for a nameless vagrant's care! And you, sir," turning to me, andfairly trembling with rage and dread, "I will not gainsay that you havedone the errand set you, but it might this once be chance that got you thatcursed token, some one happy turn of luck. I will not yield my prize onone throw of the dice. Another task you must do. Once might bechance, but such chance comes not twice.""You swore to give me the maid this time.""And why should I keep my word to a half-proved spirit such as you?""There are some particularly good reasons why you should," I said,striking an attitude which I had once seen a music-hall dramatist takewhen he was going to blast somebody's future--a stick with a star on top ofit in his hand and forty lines of blank verse in his mouth.
　　The king writhed, and begged me with a sign to desist.
　　"We have no wish to anger you. Do us this other task and none willdoubt that you are a potent spirit, and even I, Ar-hap, will listen to you.""Well, then," I answered sulkily, "what is it to be this time?"After a minute's consultation, and speaking slowly as thoughconscious of how much hung on his words, the king said,"Listen! My soothsayer tells me that somewhere there is a city lost ina forest, and a temple lost in the city, and a tomb lost in the temple; a cityof ghosts and djins given over to bad spirits, wherefore all human menshun it by day and night. And on the tomb is she who was once queenthere, and by her lies her crown. Quick! oh you to whom all dis- tancesare nothing, and who see, by your finer essence, into all times and places.
　　Away to that city! Jostle the memories of the unclean things that hide inits shadows; ask which amongst them knows where dead Queen Yang stilllies in dusty state. Get guides amongst your comrade ghosts. FindQueen Yang, and bring me here in five minutes the bloody circlet from herhair."Then, and then for the first time, I believed the planet was hauntedindeed, and I myself unknowingly under some strange and watchful  influence. Spirits, demons! Oh! what but some incomprehensiblepower, some unseen influence shap- ing my efforts to its ends, could havemoved that hairy barbarian to play a second time into my hands like this,to choose from the endless records of his world the second of the twoincidents I had touched in hasty travel through it? I was almost overcomefor a minute; then, pulling myself together, strode forward fiercely, and,speaking so that all could hear me, cried, "Base king, who neither knowsthe capacities of a spirit nor has learned as yet to dread its anger, see! yourcommission is executed in a thought, just as your punishment might be.
　　Heru, come here." And when the girl, speechless with amazement, hadrisen and slipped over to me, I straightened her pretty hair from her forehead, and then, in a way which would make my fortune if I could repeat itat a conjuror's table, whipped poor Yang's gemmy crown from my pocket,flashed its baleful splendour in the eyes of the courtiers, and placed it onthe tresses of the first royal lady who had worn it since its rightful ownerdied a hundred years before.
　　A heavy silence fell on the hall as I finished, and nothing was heard fora time save Heru sobbing on my breast and a thirsty baby somewhereoutside calling to its mother for the water that was not to be had. Butpresently on those sounds came the fall of anxious feet, and a messenger,entering the doorway, approached the throne, laid him- self out flat twice,after which obeisance he proceeded to remind the king of the morning'sceremonial on a distant hill to "pray away the comet," telling his majestythat all was ready and the procession anxiously awaiting him.
　　Whereon Ar-hap, obviously very well content to change the subject,rose, and, coming down from the dais, gave me his hand. He was a finefellow, as I have said, strong and bold, and had not behaved badly for anautocrat, so that I gripped his mighty fist with great pleasure.
　　"I cannot deny, stranger," he said, "that you have done all that has beenasked of you, and the maid is fairly yours. Yet before you take away theprize I must have some as- surance of what you yourself will do with her.
　　Therefore, for the moment, until this horrible thing in the sky whichthreatens my people with destruction has gone, let it be truce between us-you to your lodgings, and the princess back, unharmed, amongst my  women till we meet again.""But--""No, no," said the king, waving his hand. "Be content with youradvantage. And now to business more important than ten thousand sillywenches," and gathering up his robes over his splendid war-gear the woodking stalked haughtily from the hall.
Chapter 18
Hotter and hotter grew that stifling spell, more and more languid manand beast, drier and drier the parching earth.
　　All the water gave out on the morning after I had bearded Ar-hap in hisden, and our strength went with it. No earthly heat was ever like it, and itdrank our vitality up from every pore. Water there was down below inthe bitter, streaming gulf, but so noisome that we dared not even bathethere; here there was none but the faintest trickle. All discipline was at anend; all desire save such as was born of thirst. Heru I saw as often as Iwished as she lay gasping, with poor Si at her feet, in the women'sverandah; but the heat was so tremendous that I gazed at her with lack-lustre eyes, staggering to and fro amongst the court- yard shadows,without nerve to plot her rescue or strength to carry out anything my mindmight have conceived.
　　We prayed for rain and respite. Ar-hap had prayed with a wealth ofpicturesque ceremonial. We had all prayed and cursed by turns, but stillthe heavens would not relent, and the rain came not.
　　At last the stifling heat and vapour reached an almost intolerable pitch.
　　The earth reeked with unwholesome hum- ours no common summer coulddraw from it, the air was sulphurous and heavy, while overhead the skyseemed a tawny dome, from edge to edge of angry clouds, parting nowand then to let us see the red disc threatening us.
　　Hour after hour slipped by until, when evening was upon us, theclouds drew together, and thunder, with a continu- ous low rumble, beganto rock from sky to sky. Fitful showers of rain, odorous and heavy, butunsatisfying, fell, and birds and beasts of the woodlands came slinking into our streets and courtyards. Ever since the sky first darkened our ownanimals had become strangely familiar, and now here were these wildthings of the woods slinking in for companion- ship, sagheaded andfrightened. To me especially they came, until that last evening as Istaggered dying about the streets or sat staring into the remorseless skyfrom the steps of Heru's prison house, all sorts of beasts drew softly in andcrowded about, whether I sat or moved, all asking for the hope I had not to  give them.
　　At another time this might have been embarrassing; then it seemedpure commonplace. It was a sight to see them slink in between theuseless showers, which fell like hot tears upon us--sleek panthers withlolling tongues; russet-red wood dogs; bears and sloths from the darkarcades of the remote forests, all casting themselves down gasping in thepalace shadows; strange deer, who staggered to the garden plots and laythere heaving their lives out; mighty boars, who came from the rivermarshes and silently nozzled a place amongst their enemies to die in!
　　Even the wolves came off the hills, and, with bloodshot eyes and tonguesthat dripped foam, flung themselves down in my shadow.
　　All along the tall stockades apes sat sad and listless, and on the roof-ridges storks were dying. Over the branches of the trees, whose leaveswere as thin as though we had had a six months' drought, the toucans andMartian parrots hung limp and fashionless like gaudy rags, and in thecourtyard ground the corn-rats came up from their tunnels in the scorchingearth to die, squeaking in scores along under the walls.
　　Our common sorrow made us as sociable as though I were Noah, andAr-hap's palace mound another Ararat. Hour after hour I sat amongst allthese lesser beasts in the hot darkness, waiting for the end. Every nowand then the heavy clouds parted, changing the gloom to sudden fierydaylight as the great red eye in the west looked upon us through thecrevice, and, taking advantage of those gleams, I would reel across towhere, under a spout leading from a dried rivulet, I had placed a cup tocollect the slow and tepid drops that were all now coming down the reedfor Heru. And as I went back each time with that sickly spoonful at thebottom of the vessel all the dying beasts lifted their heads and watched-the thirsty wolves shamb- ling after me; the boars half sat up and gruntedplaintively; the panthers, too weak to rise, beat the dusty ground with theirtails; and from the portico the blue storks, with trailing wings, croakedhusky greeting.
　　But slower and slower came the dripping water, more and moreintolerable the heat. At last I could stand it no longer. What purposedid it serve to lay gasping like this, dying cruelly without a hope of rescue,  when a shorter way was at my side? I had not drank for a day and a half.
　　I was past active reviling; my head swam; my reason was clouded. No!
　　would not stand it any longer. Once more I would take Heru and poor Sithe cup that was but a mockery after all, then fix my sword into the groundand try what next the Fates had in store for me.
　　So once again the leathern mug was fetched and carried through theprostrate guards to where the Martian girl lay, like a withered flower, uponher couch. Once again I moistened those fair lips, while my own tonguewas black and swollen in my throat, then told Si, who had had none all theafternoon, to drink half and leave half for Heru. Poor Si put her achinglips to the cup and tilted it a little, then passed it to her mistress. AndHeru drank it all, and Si cried a few hot tears behind her hands, FOR SHEHAD TAKEN NONE, and she knew it was her life!
　　Again picking a way through the courtyard, scarce notic- ing how thebeasts lifted their heads as I passed, I went instinctively, cup in hand, tothe well, and then hesitated. Was I a coward to leave Heru so? Ought Inot to stay and see it out to the bitter end? Well, I would compound withFate. I would give the malicious gods one more chance. I would put thecup down again, and until seven drops had fallen into it I would wait.
　　That there might be no mistake about it, no sooner was the mug in placeunder the nozzle wherefrom the moisture beads collected and fell withinfinite slowness, than my sword, on which I meant to throw my- self, wasbared and the hilt forced into a gaping crack in the ground, and sullenlycontented to leave my fate so, I sat down beside it.
　　I turned grimly to the spout and saw the first drop fall, then another,and another later on, but still no help came. There was a long rift in theclouds now, and a glare like that from an open furnace door was upon me.
　　I had noticed when I came to the spring how the comet which was killingus hung poised exactly upon the point of a dis- tant hill. If he had passedhis horrible meridian, if he was going from us, if he sunk but a hair'sbreadth before that seventh drop should fall, I could tell it would meansalvation.
　　But the fourth drop fell, and he was big as ever. The fifth drop fell,and a hot, pleasing nose was thrust into my hand, and looking down I saw  a grey wolf had dragged herself across the court and was asking witheloquent eyes for the help I could not give. The sixth drop gathered, andfell; already the seventh was like a seedling pearl in its place. The dyingwolf yanked affectionately at my hand, but I put her by and undid mytunic. Big and bright that drop hung to the spout lip; another minute andit would fall. A beauti- ful drop, I laughed, peering closely at it, manycoloured, prismatic, flushing red and pink, a tiny living ruby, hanging by atouch to the green rim above; enough! enough! The quiver of an eyelashwould unhinge it now; and angry with the life I already felt was behind me,and turning in defiant expectation to the new to come, I rose, saw the redgleam of my sword jutting like a fiery spear from the cracking soil where Ihad planted it, then looked once more at the drop and glanced for the lasttime at the sullen red terror on the hill.
　　Were my eyes dazed, my senses reeling? I said a space ago that themeteor stood exactly on the mountain-top and if it sunk a hair's breadth Ishould note it; and now, why, there WAS a flaw in its lower margin, aflattening of the great red foot that before had been round and perfect. Iturned my smarting eyes away a minute,--saw the seventh drop fall with amelodious tingle into the cup, then back again,-- there was no mistake--thetruant fire was a fraction less, it had shrunk a fraction behind the hill evensince I looked, and thereon all my life ran back into its channels, the worlddanced before me, and "Heru!" I shouted hoarsely, reeling back towardsthe palace, "Heru, 'tis well; the worst is past!"But the little princess was unconscious, and at her feet was poor Si,quite dead, still reclining with her head in her hands just as I had left her.
　　Then my own senses gave out, and dropping down by them I rememberedno more.
　　I must have lain there an hour or two, for when con- sciousness cameagain it was night--black, cool, profound night, with an inky sky low downupon the tree-tops, and out of it such a glorious deluge of rain descendingswiftly and silently as filled my veins even to listen to. Eagerly Ishuffled away to the porch steps, down them into the swimming courtyard,and ankle-deep in the glorious flood, set to work lapping furiously at thefirst puddle, drinking with gasps of pleasure, gasping and drinking again,  feeling my body filling out like the thirsty steaming earth below me.
　　Then, as I still drank insatiably, there came a gleam of lightning out of thegloom overhead, a brilliant yellow blaze, and by it I saw a few yards awaya panther drinking at the same pool as myself, his gleaming eyes lowdown like mine upon the water, and by his side two apes, the black waterrunning in at their gaping mouths, while out beyond were more pools,more drinking animals. Everything was drinking. I saw their outlinedforms, the gleam shining on wet skins as though they were cut out in silveragainst the darkness, each beast steaming like a volcano as the Heaven-sent rain smoked from his fevered hide, all drinking for their lives,heedless of aught else--and then came the thunder.
　　It ran across the cloudy vault as though the very sky were being rippedapart, rolling in mighty echoes here and there before it died away. As itstopped, the rain also fell less heavily for a minute, and as I lay with myface low down I heard the low, contented lapping of numberless tonguesunceasing, insatiable. Then came the lightning again, lighting upeverything as though it were daytime. The twin black apes were stilldrinking, but the panther across the puddle had had enough; I saw him lifthis grateful head up to the flare; saw the limp red tongue licking the blacknose, the green eyes shining like opals, the water dripping in threads ofdiamonds from the hairy tag under his chin and every tuft upon his chest-then darkness again.
　　To and fro the green blaze rocked between the thunder crashes. Itstruck a house a hundred yards away, stripping every shingle from the roofbetter than a master builder could in a week. It fell a minute after on atall tree by the courtyard gate, and as the trunk burst into white splin- ters Isaw every leaf upon the feathery top turn light side up against the violetreflection in the sky beyond, and then the whole mass came down to earthwith a thud that crushed the courtyard palings into nothing for twentyyards and shook me even across the square.
　　Another time I might have stopped to marvel or to watch, as I haveoften watched with sympathetic pleasure, the gods thus at play; but tonightthere were other things on hand. When I had drunk, I picked up an earthencrock, filled it, and went to Heru. It was a rough drinking-vessel for  those dainty lips, and an indifferent draught, being as much mud as aughtelse, but its effect was wonderful. At the first touch of that turgid stuff ashiver of delight passed through the drowsy lady. At the second she gavea sigh, and her hand tightened on my arm. I fetched another crockful,and by the flickering light rocking to and fro in the sky, took her headupon my shoulder, like a prodigal new come into riches, squandering thestuff, giving her to drink and bathing face and neck till presently, to mydelight, the princess's eyes opened. Then she sat up, and taking the basinfrom me drank as never lady drank before, and soon was almost her-selfagain.
　　I went out into the portico, there snuffing the deep, strong breath of thefragrant black earth receiving back into its gaping self what the last fewdays had taken from it, while quick succeeding thoughts of escape andflight passed across my brain. All through the fiery time we had just hadthe chance of escaping with the fair booty yonder had been present.
　　Without her, flight would have been easy enough, but that was not worthconsidering for a moment. With her it was more difficult, yet, as I hadwatched the wood- men, accustomed to cool forest shades, faint under thefiery glare of the world above, to make a dash for liberty seemed eachhour more easy. I had seen the men in the streets drop one by one, andthe spears fall from the hands of guards about the pallisades; I had seenmessengers who came to and fro collapse before their errands wereaccomplished, and the forest women, who were Heru's gaolers, groan anddrop across the thresholds of her prison, until at length the way was clear-a babe might have taken what he would from that half-scorched town andasked no man's leave. Yet what did it avail me? Heru was helpless, myown spirit burnt in a nerveless frame, and so we stayed.
　　But with rain strength came back to both of us. The guards, lyingabout like black logs, were only slowly re- turning to consciousness; thetown still slept, and darkness favoured; before they missed us in themorning light we might be far on the way back to Seth--a dangerous waytruly, but we were like to tread a rougher one if we stayed. In fact, directlymy strength returned with the cooler air, I made up my mind to the ventureand went to Heru, who by this time was much recovered. To her I  whispered my plot, and that gentle lady, as was only natural, trembled atits dangers. But I put it to her that no time could be better than thepresent: the storm was going over; morning would "line the black mantleof the night with a pink dawn of promise"; before any one stirred wemight be far off, shaping a course by our luck and the stars for her kindred,at whose name she sighed. If we stayed, I argued, and the king changedhis mind, then death for me, and for Heru the arms of that surly monarch,and all the rest of her life caged in these pallisades amongst the uncouthforms about us.
　　The lady gave a frightened little shiver at the picture, but after amoment, laying her head upon my shoulder, an- swered, "Oh, my guardianspirit and helper in adversity, I too have thought of tomorrow, and doubtwhether that horror, that great swine who has me, will not invent anexcuse for keeping me. Therefore, though the forest roads are dread- ful,and Seth very far away, I will come; I give myself into your hands. Dowhat you will with me.""Then the sooner the better, princess. How soon can you beprepared?"She smiled, and stooping picked up her slippers, saying as she did so,"I am ready!"There were no arrangements to be made. Every instant was of value.
　　So, to be brief, I threw a dark cloak over the damsel's shoulders, for indeedshe was clad in little more than her loveliness and the gauziest filaments ofa Hither girl's underwear, and hand in hand led her down the log steps,over the splashing, ankle-deep courtyard, and into the shadows of thegateway beyond.
　　Down the slope we went; along towards the harbour, through a scoreof deserted lanes where nothing was to be heard but the roar of rain andthe lapping of men and beasts, drinking in the shadows as though theynever would stop, and so we came at last unmolested to the wharf. ThereI hid royal Seth between two piles of merchandise, and went to look for aboat suitable to our needs. There were plenty of small craft moored torings along the quay, and selecting a canoe--it was no time to stand onniceties of property-- easily managed by a single paddle, I brought it round  to the steps, put in a fresh water-pot, and went for the princess.
　　With her safely stowed in the prow, a helpless, sodden little morsel offeminine loveliness, things began to appear more hopeful and an escapedown to blue water, my only idea, for the first time possible. Yet I mustneeds go and well nigh spoil everything by over-solicitude for my charge.
　　Had we pushed off at once there can be no doubt my credit as a spiritwould have been established for all time in the Thither capital, and thebelief universally held that Heru had been wafted away by myenchantment to the regions of the unknown. The idea would havegradually grown into a tradition, receiving embellishments in succeedinggen-erations, until little wood children at their mother's knees came tolisten in awe to the story of how, once upon a time, the Sun-god loved abeautiful maiden, and drove his fiery chariot across the black night-fieldsto her prison door, scorch- ing to death all who strove to gainsay him.
　　How she flew into his arms and drove away before all men's eyes, in hisred car, into the west, and was never seen again--the foresaid Sun-godbeing I, Gulliver Jones, a much under- paid lieutenant in the gloriousUnited States navy, with a packet of overdue tailors' bills in my pocket,and nothing lovable about me save a partiality for meddling with otherpeople's affairs.
　　This is how it might have been, but I spoiled a pretty fairy story andchanged the whole course of Martian history by going back at thatmoment in search of a wrap for my prize. Right on top of the steps was aman with a lantern, and half a glance showed me it was the harbour mastermet with on my first landing.
　　"Good evening," he said suspiciously. "May I ask what you aredoing on the quay at such an hour as this?""Doing? Oh, nothing in particular, just going out for a little fishing.""And your companion the lady--is she too fond of fishing?"I swore between my teeth, but could not prevent the fel- low walkingto the quay edge and casting his light full upon the figure of the girl below.
　　I hate people who interfere with other people's business!
　　"Unless I am very much mistaken your fishing friend is the Hitherwoman brought here a few days ago as tribute to Ar-hap.""Well," I answered, getting into a nice temper, for I had been verymuch harrassed of late, "put it at that. What would you do if it were so?""Call up my rain-drunk guards, and give you in charge as a thiefcaught meddling with the king's property.""Thanks, but as my interviews with Ar-hap have al- ready begun togrow tedious, we will settle this little matter here between ourselves atonce." And without more to-do I closed with him. There was a briefscuffle and then I got in a blow upon his jaw which sent the harbourmaster flying back head over heels amongst the sugar bales and potatoes.
　　Without waiting to see how he fared I ran down the steps, jumped onboard, loosened the rope, and pushed out into the river. But my heartwas angry and sore, for I knew, as turned out to be the case, that our secretwas one no more; in a short time we should have the savage king inpursuit, and now there was nothing for it but headlong flight with only asmall chance of getting away to distant Seth.
　　Luckily the harbour master lay insensible until he was found at dawn,so that we had a good start, and the moment the canoe passed from thearcade-like approach to the town the current swung her head automaticallyseaward, and away we went down stream at a pace once more filling mewith hope.
Chapter 19
All went well and we fled down the bitter stream of the Martian gulf ata pace leaving me little to do but guide our course just clear of snags andpromontories on the port shore. Just before dawn, however, with a thinmist on the water and flocks of a flamingo-like bird croaking as they flewsouthward overhead, we were nearly captured again.
　　Drifting silently down on a rocky island, I was having a drink at thewater-pitcher at the moment, while Heru, her hair beaded with prismaticmoisture and looking more ethereal than ever, sat in the bows timorouslyinhaling the breath of freedom, when all on a sudden voices invisible inthe mist, came round a corner. It was one of Ar-hap's war-canoes toilingup-stream. Heru and I ducked down into the haze like dab-chicks andheld our breath.
　　Straight on towards us came the toiling ship, the dip of oars resonant inthe hollow fog and a ripple babbling on her cutwater plainly discernible.
　　"Oh, oh!
　　Hoo, hoo!
　　How high, how high!"sounded the sleepy song of the rowers till they were loom- ing rightabreast and we could smell their damp hides in the morning air. Thenthey stopped suddenly and some one asked,"Is there not something like a boat away on the right?""It is nothing," said another, "but the lees of last night's beer curdlingin your stupid brain.""But I saw it move.""That must have been in dreams.""What is all that talking about?" growled a sleepy voice of authorityfrom the stern.
　　"Bow man, sir, says he can see a boat.""And what does it matter if he can? Are we to delay every time thatlazy ruffian spying a shadow makes it an excuse to stop to yawn andscratch? Go on, you plankful of lubbers, or I'll give you something worththinking about!" And joyfully, oh, so joyfully, we heard the sullen dip of  oars commence again.
　　Nothing more happened after that till the sun at length shone on thelittle harbour town at the estuary mouth, making the masts of fishing craftclustering there like a golden reed- bed against the cool, clean blue of thesea beyond.
　　Right glad we were to see it, and keeping now in shadow of the banks,made all haste while light was faint and mist hung about to reach the town,finally pushing through the boats and gaining a safe hiding-place withouthostile notice before it was clear daylight.
　　Covering Heru up and knowing well all our chances of escape lay inexpedition, I went at once, in pursuance of a plan made during the night,to the good dame at what, for lack of a better name, must still continue tobe called the fish-shop, and finding her alone, frankly told her the salientpoints of my story. When she learned I had "robbed the lion of his prey"and taken his new wife singlehanded from the dreaded Ar-hap herastonishment was unbounded. Nothing would do but she must look uponthe princess, so back we went to the hiding-place, and when Heru knewthat on this woman depended our lives she stepped ashore, taking therugged Martian hand in her dainty fingers and begging her help so sweetlythat my own heart was moved, and, thrusting hands in pocket, I went aside,leaving those two to settle it in their own female way.
　　And when I looked back in five minutes, royal Seth had her armsround the woman's neck, kissing the homely cheeks with more thanimperial fervour, so I knew all was well thus far, and stoppedexpectorating at the little fishes in the water below and went over to them.
　　It was time! We had hardly spoken together a minute when a couple ofwar-canoes filled with men appeared round the nearest promontory,coming down the swift water with arrow-like rapidity.
　　"Quick!" said the fishwife, "or we are all lost. Into your canoe andpaddle up this creek. It runs out to the sea behind the town, and at thebar is my man's fishing-boat amongst many others. Lie hidden there tillhe comes if you value your lives." So in we got, and while that goodSamaritan went back to her house we cautiously paddled through adeserted backwater to where it presently turned through low sandbanks to  the gulf. There were the boats, and we hid the canoe and lay downamongst them till, soon after, a man, easily recognised as the husband ofour friend, came sauntering down from the village.
　　At first he was sullen, not unreasonably alarmed at the danger intowhich his good woman was running him. But when he set eyes on Heruhe softened immediately. Prob- ably that thick-bodied fellow had neverseen so much female loveliness in so small a bulk in all his life, and, beinga man, he surrendered at discretion.
　　"In with you, then," he growled, "since I must needs risk my neck for apair of runaways who better deserve to be hung than I do. In with youboth into this fishing-cobble of mine, and I will cover you with nets whileI go for a mast and sail, and mind you lie as still as logs. The town isalready full of soldiers looking for you, and it will be short shrift for us allif you are seen."Well aware of the fact and now in the hands of destiny, the princessand I lay down as bidden in the prow, and the man covered us lightly overwith one of those fine meshed seines used by these people to catch thelittle fish I had breakfasted on more than once.
　　Materially I could have enjoyed the half-hour which fol- lowed, sincesuch rest after exertion was welcome, the sun warm, the lapping of sea onshingle infinitely soothing, and, above all, Heru was in my arms! Howsweet and childlike she was! I could feel her little heart beating throughher scanty clothing, while every now and then she turned her gazelle eyesto mine with a trust and admiration infinitely alluring. Yes! as far as thatwent I could have lain there with that slip of maiden royalty for ever, butthe fascination of the moment was marred by the thought of our danger.
　　What was to prevent these new friends giving us away? They knew wehad no money to recompense them for the risk they were running. Theywere poor, and a splendid reward, wealth itself to them, would doubtlessbe theirs if they betrayed us even by a look. Yet somehow I trusted themas I have trusted the poor before with the happiest results, and tellingmyself this and comforting Heru, I lis- tened and waited.
　　Minute by minute went by. It seemed an age since the fisherman hadgone, but presently the sound of voices inter- rupted the sea's murmur.
　　Cautiously stealing a glance through a chink imagine my feelings onperceiving half a dozen of Ar-hap's soldiers coming down the beachstraight towards us! Then my heart was bitter within me, and I tasted ofdefeat, even with Heru in my arms. Luckily even in that moment ofagony I kept still, and another peep showed the men were now wanderingabout rather aimlessly. Perhaps after all they did not know of our nearness?
　　Then they took to horseplay, as idle soldiers will even in Mars, peltingeach other with bits of wood and dead fish, and thereon I breathed again.
　　Nearer they came and nearer, my heart beating fast as they strolledamongst the boats until they were actually "larking" round the one next toours. A minute or two of this, and another footstep crunched on thepebbles, a quick, nervous one, which my instinct told me was that of ourreturning friend.
　　"Hullo old sprat-catcher! Going for a sail?" called out a soldier, and Iknew that the group were all round our boat, Heru trembling so violentlyin my breast that I thought she would make the vessel shake.
　　"Yes," said the man gruffly.
　　"Let's go with him," cried several voices. "Here, old dried haddock,will you take us if we help haul your nets for you?""No, I won't. Your ugly faces would frighten all the fish out of thesea.""And yours, you old chunk of dried mahogany, is meant to attract themno doubt.""Let's tie him to a post and go fishing in his boat ourselves," some onesuggested. Meanwhile two of them began rocking the cobble violentlyfrom side to side. This was awful, and every moment I expected the netand the sail which our friend had thrown down unceremoniously upon uswould roll off.
　　"Oh, stop that," said the Martian, who was no doubt quite as wellaware of the danger as we were. "The tide's full, the shoals are in thebay--stop your nonsense, and help me launch like good fellows.""Well, take two of us, then. We will sit on this heap of nets as quietas mice, and stand you a drink when we get back.""No, not one of you," quoth the plucky fellow, "and here's my staff in  my hand, and if you don't leave my gear alone I will crack some of yourugly heads.""That's a pity," I thought to myself, "for if they take to fighting it willbe six to one--long odds against our chances." There was indeed ascuffle, and then a yell of pain, as though a soldier had been hit across theknuckles; but in a minute the best disposed called out, "Oh, cease your fun,boys, and let the fellow get off if he wants to. You know the fleet will bedown directly, and Ar-hap has promised something worth having to theman who can find that lost bit of crackling of his. It's my opinion she's inthe town, and I for one would rather look for her than go haddock fishingany day.""Right you are, mates," said our friend with visible relief. "And, what'smore, if you help me launch this boat and then go to my missus and tellher what you've done, she'll understand, and give you the biggestpumpkinful of beer in the place. Ah, she will understand, and bless yoursoft hearts and heads while you drink it--she's a cute one is my missus.""And aren't you afraid to leave her with us?""Not I, my daisy, unless it were that a sight of your pretty face mightgive her hysterics. Now lend a hand, your accursed chatter has alreadycost me half an hour of the best fishing time.""In with you, old buck!" shouted the soldiers; I felt the fisherman stepin, as a matter of fact he stepped in on to my toes; a dozen hands were onthe gunwales: six soldier yells resounded, it seemed, in my very ears: therewas the grit and rush of pebbles under the keel: a sudden lurch up of thebows, which brought the fairy lady's honey- scented lips to mine, and thenthe gentle lapping of deep blue waters underneath us!
　　There is little more to be said of that voyage. We pulled until out ofsight of the town, then hoisted sail, and, with a fair wind, held upon onetack until we made an island where there was a small colony of Hitherfolk.
　　Here our friend turned back. I gave him another gold button from mycoat, and the princess a kiss upon either cheek, which he seemed to likeeven more than the button. It was small payment, but the best we had.
　　Doubtless he got safely home, and I can but hope that Providence  somehow or other paid him and his wife for a good deed bravely done.
　　Those islanders in turn lent us another boat, with a guide, who hadbusiness in the Hither capital, and on the evening of the second day, thedirect route being very short in com- parison, we were under thecrumbling marble walls of Seth.
Chapter 20
It was like turning into a hothouse from a keen winter walk, our arrivalat the beautiful but nerveless city after my life amongst the woodmen.
　　As for the people, they were delighted to have their princess back, butwith the delight of children, fawning about her, singing, clapping hands,yet asking no questions as to where she had been, showing no appreciationof our adventures--a serious offence in my eyes--and, perhaps mostimportant of all, no understanding of what I may call the political bearingsof Heru's restoration, and how far their arch enemies beyond the sea mightbe inclined to attempt her recovery.
　　They were just delighted to have the princess back, and that was theend of it. Theirs was the joy of a vast nursery let loose. Flowerprocessions were organised, garlands woven by the mile, a general orderissued that the nation might stay up for an hour after bedtime, and in thevortex of that gentle rejoicing Heru was taken from me, and I saw her nomore, till there happened the wildest scene of all you have shared with meso patiently.
　　Overlooked, unthanked, I turned sulky, and when this mood, one I cannever maintain for long, wore off, I threw myself into the dissipation aboutme with angry zeal. I am frankly ashamed of the confession, but I was "asailor ashore," and can only claim the indulgences proper to the situation.
　　I laughed, danced, drank, through the night; I drank deep of a dozen rosyways to forgetfulness, till my mind was a great confusion, full of flittingpictures of love- liness, till life itself was an illusive pantomime, and mywill but thistle-down on the folly of the moment. I drank with thosegentle roisterers all through their starlit night, and if we stopped whenmorning came it was more from weariness than virtue. Then the yellow-robed slaves gave us the wine of recovery--alas! my faithful An was notamongst them-- and all through the day we lay about in sodden happiness.
　　Towards nightfall I was myself again, not unfortunately with theheadache well earned, but sufficiently remorseful to be in a vein to makegood resolutions for the future.
　　In this mood I mingled with a happy crowd, all purpose- less and  cheerful as usual, but before long began to feel the influence of one ofthose drifts, a universal turning in one direction, as seaweed turns whenthe tide changes, so char- acteristic of Martian society. It was dusk, alovely soft velvet dusk, but not dark yet, and I said to a yellow-robed fairyat my side:
　　"Whither away, comrade? It is not eight bells yet. Surely we arenot going to be put to bed so early as this?""No," said that smiling individual, "it is the princess. We are going tolisten to Princess Heru in the palace square. She reads the globe on theterrace again tonight, to see if omens are propitious for her marriage.
　　She MUST marry, and you know the ceremony has been unavoidablypostponed so far.""Unavoidably postponed?" Yes, Heaven wotted I was aware of thefact. And was Heru going to marry black Hath in such a hurry? Andafter all I had done for her? It was scarcely decent, and I tried to rousemyself to rage over it, but somehow the seductive Martian contentmentwith any fate was getting into my veins. I was not yet altogether sunk intheir slothful acceptance of the inevitable, but there was not the slightestdoubt the hot red blood in me was turn- ing to vapid stuff such as did dutyfor the article in their veins. I mustered up a half-hearted frown at thisunwelcome intelligence, turning with it on my face towards the slave girl;but she had slipped away into the throng, so the frown evaporated, andshrugging my shoulders I said to myself, "What does it matter? Thereare twenty others will do as well for me. If not one, why then obviouslyan- other, 'tis the only rational way to think, and at all events there is themagic globe. That may tell us something." And slipping my arm roundthe waist of the first disengaged girl--we were not then, mind you, inAtlantic City--I kissed her dimpling cheek unreproached, and gailyfollowed in the drift of humanity, trending with a low hum of pleasuretowards the great white terraces under the palace porch.
　　How well I knew them! It was just such an evening Heru hadconsulted Fate in the same place once before; how much had happenedsince then! But there was little time or in- clination to think of thosethings now. The whole phantom city's population had drifted to one  common centre. The crumbling seaward ramparts were all deserted; nosoldier watch was kept to note if angry woodmen came from over seas; asoft wind blew in from off the brine, but told no tales; the streets wereempty, and, when as we waited far away in the southern sky the earthplanet presently got up, by its light Heru, herself again, came trippingdown the steps to read her fate.
　　They had placed another magic globe under a shroud on a tripod forher. It stood within the charmed circle upon the terrace, and I was closeby, although the princess did not see me.
　　Again that weird, fantastic dance commenced, the princess workingherself up from the drowsiest undulations to a hur- ricane of emotion.
　　Then she stopped close by the orb, and seized the corner of the webcovering it. We saw the globe begin to beam with veiled magnificence ather touch.
　　Not an eye wavered, not a thought wandered from her in all that silentmultitude. It was a moment of the keenest suspense, and just when it wasat its height there came a strange sound of hurrying feet behind theoutermost crowd, a murmur such as a great pack of wolves might makerushing through snow, while a soft long wail went up from the darkness.
　　Whether Heru understood it or not I cannot say, but she hesitated amoment, then swept the cloth from the orb of her fate.
　　And as its ghostly, self-emitting light beamed up in the darkness withweird brilliancy, there by it, in gold and furs and war panoply, huge, fierce,and lowering, stood--AR-HAP HIMSELF!
　　Ay, and behind him, towering over the crouching Mar- tians, blockingevery outlet and street, were scores and hundreds of his men. Never wassurprise so utter, ambush more complete. Even I was transfixed withastonishment, staring with open-mouthed horror at the splendid figure ofthe barbarian king as he stood aglitter in the ruddy light, scowling defianceat the throng around him. So silently had he come on his errand ofvengeance it was difficult to be- lieve he was a reality, and not some cleverpiece of stageplay, some vision conjured up by Martian necromancy.
　　But he was good reality. In a minute comedy turned to tragedy. Arhap gave a sign with his hand, whereon all his men set up a terrible warcry,  the like of which Seth had not heard for very long, and as far as I couldmake out in the half light began hacking and hewing my luckless friendswith all their might. Meanwhile the king made at Heru, feeling sure ofher this time, and doubtless intending to make her taste his vengeance tothe dregs; and seeing her handled like that, and hearing her plaintive cries,wrath took the place of stupid surprise in me. I was on my feet in asecond, across the intervening space, and with all my force gave the king ablow upon the jaw which sent even him staggering backwards. Before Icould close again, so swift was the sequence of events in those flyingminutes, a wild mob of people, victims and executioners in one disorderedthrong, was between us. How the king fared I know not, nor stopped toask, but half dragging, half carrying Heru through the shrieking mob, gother up the palace steps and in at the great doors, which a couple of yellow-clad slaves, more frightened of the barbarians than thoughtful of the crowdwithout, promptly clapped to, and shot the bolts. Thus we were safe for amoment, and putting the princess on a couch, I ran up a short flight ofstairs and looked out of a front window to see if there were a chance ofsuccouring those in the palace square. But it was all hopeless chaos withthe town already beginning to burn and not a show of fight anywherewhich I could join.
　　I glared out on that infernal tumult for a moment or two in an agony ofimpotent rage, then turned towards the harbour and saw in the shine of theburning town below the ancient battlements and towers of Seth begin togleam out, like a splendid frost work of living metal clear-cut against thesmooth, black night behind, and never a show of resistance there either.
　　Ay, and by this time Ar-hap's men were battering in our gates with a bigbeam, and somehow, I do not know how it happened, the palace itselfaway on the right, where the dry-as-dust library lay, was also beginning toburn.
　　It was hopeless outside, and nothing to be done but to save Heru, sodown I went, and, with the slaves, carried her away from the hall througha vestibule or two, and into an anteroom, where some yellow-girtindividuals were al- ready engaged in the suggestive work of tying up palace plate in bundles, amongst other things, alas! the great gold love-bowl  from which--oh! so long ago--I had drawn Heru's marriage billet. Theseindividuals told me in tremulous accents they had got a boat on a secretwaterway behind the palace whence flight to the main river and so, faraway inland, to another smaller but more peaceful city of their race wouldbe quite practical; and joyfully hearing this news, I handed over to themthe princess while I went to look for Hath.
　　And the search was not long. Dashing into the banquet-hall, stilllittered with the remains of a feast, and looking down its deserted vistas,there at the farther end, on his throne, clad in the sombre garments heaffected, chin on hand, sedate in royal melancholy, listening unmoved tothe sack of his town outside, sat the prince himself. Strange, gloomyman, the great dead intelligence of his race shining in his face as weirdand out of place as a lonely sea beacon fading to nothing before the glowof sunrise, never had he appeared so mysterious as at that moment. Evenin the heat of excitement I stared at him in amazement, wishing in a hastythought the confusion of the past few weeks had given me opportun- ity topenetrate the recesses of his mind, and therefrom retell you things betterworth listening to than all the incident of my adventures. But now therewas no time to think, scarce time to act.
　　"Hath!" I cried, rushing over to him, "wake up, your majesty. TheThither men are outside, killing and burning!""I know it.""And the palace is on fire. You can smell the reek even here.""Yes.""Then what are you going to do?""Nothing.""My word, that is a fine proposition for a prince! If you care nothingfor town or palace perhaps you will bestir yourself for Princess Heru."A faint glimmer of interest rose upon the alabaster calm of his face atthat name, but it faded instantly, and he said quietly,"The slaves will save her. She will live. I looked into the book ofher fate yesterday. She will escape, and forget, and sit at anothermarriage feast, and be a mother, and give the people yet one more princeto keep the faint glimmer of our ancestry alive. I am content.""But, d--- it, man, I am not! I take a deal more in- terest in the younglady than you seem to, and have scoured half this precious planet of yourson her account, and will be hanged if I sit idly twiddling my thumbs whileher pretty skin is in danger." But Hath was lost in contempla- tion of hisshoe-strings.
　　"Come, sir," I said, shaking his majesty by the shoulder, "don't bedown on your luck. There has been some rivalry between us, but nevermind about that just now. The prin- cess wants you. I am going to saveboth her and you, you must come with her.""No.""But you SHALL come.""No!"By this time the palace was blazing like a bonfire and the uproaroutside was terrible. What was I to do? As I hesitated the arras at thefurther end of the hall was swept aside, a disordered mob of slaves bearingbundles and drag- ging Heru with them rushing down to the door near us.
　　As Heru was carried swiftly by she stretched her milk-white arms towardsthe prince and turned her face, lovely as a convolvulus flower even in itspallor, upon him.
　　It was a heart-moving appeal from a woman with the heart of a child,and Hath rose to his feet while for a mo- ment there shone a look ofresponsible manhood in his eyes. But it faded quickly; he bowed slowly asthough he had received an address of condolence on the condition of hisempire, and the next moment the frightened slaves, stumbling under theirburdens, had swept poor Heru through the doorway.
　　I glanced savagely round at the curling smoke overhead, the redtendrils of fire climbing up a distant wall, and there on a table by us was ahalf-finished flask of the lovely tinted wine of forgetfulness. If Hathwould not come sober perhaps he might come drunk.
　　"Here," I cried, "drink to tomorrow, your majesty, a sov- ereign toast inall ages, and better luck next time with these hairy gentlemen battering atyour majesty's doors," and splashing out a goblet full of the stuff I handedit to him.
　　He took it and looked rather lovingly into the limpid pool, then  deliberately poured it on the step in front of him, and throwing the cupaway said pleasantly,"Not tonight, good comrade; tonight I drink a deeper draught ofoblivion than that,--and here come my cup- bearers."Even while he spoke the palace gates had given way; there was ahorrible medley of shrieks and cries, a quick sound of running feet; thenagain the arras lifted and in poured a horde of Ar-hap's men-at-arms. Themoment they caught sight of us about a dozen of them, armed with bows,drew the thick hide strings to their ears and down the hall came a raveningflight of shafts. One went through my cap, two stuck quivering in thethrone, and one, winged with owl feather, caught black Hath full in thebosom.
　　He had stood out boldly at the first coming of that onset, arms crossedon breast, chin up, and looking more of a gentleman than I had ever seenhim look before; and now, stricken, he smiled gravely, then withoutflinching, and still eyeing his enemies with gentle calm, his knees unlocked, his frame trembled, then down he went headlong, his red bloodrunning forth in rivulets amongst the wine of oblivion he had just pouredout.
　　There was no time for sentiment. I shrugged my shoulders, andturning on my heels, with the woodmen close after me, sprang through thenear doorway. Where was Heru? I flew down the corridor by which itseemed she had re- treated, and then, hesitating a moment where it dividedin two, took the left one. This to my chagrin presently began to trendupwards, whereas I knew Heru was making for the river down below.
　　But it was impossible to go back, and whenever I stopped in thosedeserted passages I could hear the wolflike patter of men's feet upon mytrail. On again into the stony laby- rinths of the old palace, ever upwards,in spite of my desire to go down, until at last, the pursuers off the track fora moment, I came to a north window in the palace wall, and, hot andbreathless, stayed to look out.
　　All was peace here; the sky a lovely lavender, a promise of comingmorning in it, and a gold-spangled curtain of stars out yonder on thehorizon. Not a soul moved. Below appeared a sheer drop of a hundred  feet into a moat wind- ing through thickets of heavy-scented convolvulusflowers to the waterways beyond. And as I looked a skiff with half adozen rowers came swiftly out of the darkness of the wall and passed likea shadow amongst the thickets. In the prow was all Hath's wedding plate,and in the stern, a faint vision of unconscious loveliness, lay Heru!
　　Before I could lift a finger or call out, even if I had had a mind to do so,the shadow had gone round a bend, and a shout within the palace told me Iwas sighted again.
　　On once more, hotly pursued, until the last corridor ended in two doorsleading into a half-lit gallery with open win-dows at the further end.
　　There was a wilderness of lumber down the sides of the great garret, andnow I come to think of it more calmly I imagine it was Hath's LostProperty Office, the vast receptacle where his slaves deposited everythinglazy Martians forgot or left about in their daily life. At that moment itonly represented a last refuge, and into it I dashed, swung the doors to andfastened them just as the foremost of Ar-hap's men hurled themselvesupon the barrier from outside.
　　There I was like a rat in a trap, and like a rat I made up my mind tofight savagely to the end, without for a mo- ment deceiving myself as towhat that end must be. Even up there the horrible roar of destruction wasplainly audible as the barbarians sacked and burned the ancient town, andI was glad from the bottom of my heart my poor little princess was safelyout of it. Nor did I bear her or hers the least resentment for making offwhile there was yet time and leaving me to my fate--anything else wouldhave been contrary to Martian nature. Doubtless she would get away, asHath had said, and elsewhere drop a few pearly tears and then over hersugar-candy and lotus-eating forget with happy completeness--mostblessed gift! And meanwhile the foresaid barbarians were battering onmy doors, while over their heads choking smoke was pouring in in everincreas- ing volumes.
　　In burst the first panel, then another, and I could see through the gaps amedley of tossing weapons and wild faces without. Short shrift for me ifthey came through, so in the obstinacy of desperation I set to work to pileold furniture and dry goods against the barricade. And as they yelled and  hammered outside I screamed back defiance from within, sweating,tugging, and hauling with the strength of ten men, piling up the oldMartian lumber against the opening till, so fierce was the attack outside,little was left of the original doorway and nothing between me and thebeseigers but a rampart of broken woodwork half seen in a smother ofsmoke and flames.
　　Still they came on, thrusting spears and javelins through every creviceand my strength began to go. I threw two tables into a gap, and brained abesieger with a sweet- meat-seller's block and smothered another, andoverturned a great chest against my barricade; but what was the purpose ofit all? They were fifty to one and my rampart quaked before them. Thesmoke was stifling, and the pains of dis- solution in my heart. They burstin and clambered up the rampart like black ants. I looked round for stillone more thing to hurl into the breach. My eyes lit on a roll of carpet: Iseized it by one corner meaning to drag it to the door- way, and it cameundone at a touch.
　　That strange, that incredible pattern! Where in all the vicissitudes ofa chequered career had I seen such a one before? I stared at it inamazement under the very spears of the woodmen in the red glare ofHath's burning palace. Then all on a sudden it burst upon me that ITWAS THE ACCURSED RUG, the very one which in response to acareless wish had swept me out of my own dear world, and forced me totake as wild a journey into space as ever fell to a man's lot since theuniverse was made!
　　And in another second it occurred to me that if it had brought mehither it might take me hence. It was but a chance, yet worth trying whenall other chances were against me. As Ar-hap's men came shouting overthe barricade I threw myself down upon that incredible carpet and criedfrom the bottom of my heart,"I wish--I wish I were in New York!"Yes!
　　A moment of thrilling suspense and then the corners lifted as though astrong breeze were playing upon them. An- other moment and they hadcurled over like an incoming surge. One swift glance I got at the smoke  and flames, the glittering spears and angry faces, and then fold upon fold,a stifling, all-enveloping embrace, a lift, a sense of super- human speed-and then forgetfulness.
　　When I came to, as reporters say, I was aware the rug had ejected meon solid ground and disappeared, forever. Where was I! It was cool,damp, and muddy. There were some iron railings close at hand and astreet lamp overhead. These things showed clearly to me, sitting on adoorstep under that light, head in hand, amazed and giddy--so amazed thatwhen slowly the recognition came of the in- credible fact my wish wasgratified and I was home again, the stupendous incident scarcely appealedto my tingling sen-ses more than one of the many others I had latelyundergone.
　　Very slowly I rose to my feet, and as like a discreditable reveller ascould be, climbed the steps. The front door was open, and entering theoh, so familiar hall a sound of voices in my sitting-room on the rightcaught my ear.
　　"Oh no, Mrs. Brown," said one, which I recognised at once as myPolly's, "he is dead for certain, and my heart is breaking. He would never,never have left me so long without writing if he had been alive," and thencame a great sound of sobbing.
　　"Bless your kind heart, miss," said the voice of my land- lady in reply,"but you don't know as much about young gentlemen as I do. It is notlikely, if he has gone off on the razzle-dazzle, as I am sure he has, he isgoing to write every post and tell you about it. Now you go off to yourma at the hotel like a dear, and forget all about him till he comes back-that's MY advice.""I cannot, I cannot, Mrs. Brown. I cannot rest by day or sleep bynight for thinking of him; for wondering why he went away so suddenly,and for hungering for news of him. Oh, I am miserable. Gully! Gully!
　　Come to me," and then there were sounds of troubled footsteps pacing toand fro and of a woman's grief.
　　That was more than I could stand. I flung the door open, and, dirty,dishevelled, with unsteady steps, advanced into the room.
　　"Ahem!" coughed Mrs. Brown, "just as I expected!"But I had no eyes for her. "Polly! Polly!" I cried, and that dear girl,after a startled scream and a glance to make sure it was indeed therecovered prodigal, rushed over and threw all her weight of dear, warm,comfortable woman- hood into my arms, and the moment after burst into apas- sion of happy tears down my collar.
　　"Humph!" quoth the landlady, "that is not what BROWN gets when heforgets his self. No, not by any means."But she was a good old soul at heart, and, seeing how matters stood,with a parting glance of scorn in my direction and a toss of her head, wentout of the room, and closed the door behind her.
　　Need I tell in detail what followed? Polly behaved like an angel, andwhen in answer to her gentle reproaches I told her the outlines of mymarvellous story she almost be- lieved me! Over there on the writing-desk lay a whole row of the unopened letters she had showered upon meduring my absence, and amongst them an official one. We went andopened it together, and it was an intimation of my promotion, a muchbetter "step" than I had ever dared to hope for.
　　Holding that missive in my hand a thought suddenly oc- curred to me.
　　"Polly dear, this letter makes me able to maintain you as you ought tobe maintained, and there is still a fortnight of vacation for me. Polly, willyou marry me tomorrow?""No, certainly not, sir.""Then will you marry me on Monday?""Do you truly, truly want me to?""Truly, truly.""Then, yes," and the dear girl again came blushing into my arms.
　　While we were thus the door opened, and in came her parents whowere staying at a neighbouring hotel while in- quiries were made as to mymysterious absence. Not un- naturally my appearance went a long wayto confirm suspi- cions such as Mrs. Brown had confessed to, and, afterthey had given me cold salutations, Polly's mother, fixing gold glasses onthe bridge of her nose and eyeing me haughtily therefrom, observed,"And now that you ARE safely at home again, Lieuten- ant GulliverJones, I think I will take my daughter away with me. Tomorrow her  father will ascertain the true state of her feelings after this unpleasantexperience, and sub- sequently he will no doubt communicate with you onthe subject." This very icily.
　　But I was too happy to be lightly put down.
　　"My dear madam," I replied, "I am happy to be able to save her fatherthat trouble. I have already communicated with this young lady as to thestate of her feelings, and as an outcome I am delighted to be able to tellyou we are to be married on Monday.""Oh yes, Mother, it is true, and if you do not want to make me themost miserable of girls again you will not be unkind to us."In brief, that sweet champion spoke so prettily and smoothed things socleverly that I was "forgiven," and later on in the evening allowed toescort Polly back to her hotel.
　　"And oh!" she said, in her charmingly enthusiastic way when we weresaying goodnight, "you shall write a book about that extraordinary storyyou told me just now. Only you must promise me one thing.""What is it?""To leave out all about Heru--I don't like that part at all." This with theprettiest little pout.
　　"But, Polly dear, see how important she was to the nar- rative.
　　cannot quite do that.""Then you will say as little as you can about her?""No more than the story compels me to.""And you are quite sure you like me much the best, and will not goafter her again?""Quite sure."The compact was sealed in the most approved fashion; and here,indulgent reader, is the artless narrative that re- sulted--an incident soincredible in this prosaic latter-day world that I dare not ask you to believe,and must humbly content myself with hoping that if I fail to convince yet Imay at least claim the consolation of having amused you.