CHAPTER ELEVEN
_THE EARTH GIRL_
It was a wild plunge. We kept off the decks while rushing through theblinding smoke, but the instant we emerged below, where we foundourselves still a mile above the ground, we were out again, ready tostrike.
I have simply a confused recollection of flashing lights beneath, and agreat, dark arch of clouds above, out of which our ships seemed droppingon all sides, and then the fray burst on and around us, and no man couldsee or notice anything except by half-comprehended glances.
Almost in an instant, it seemed, a swarm of airships surrounded us,while from what, for lack of a more descriptive name, I shall call theforts about the Lake of the Sun, leaped tongues of electric fire, beforewhich some of our ships, were driven like bits of flaming paper in ahigh wind, gleaming for a moment, then curling up and gone forever!
It was an awful sight; but the battle fever was raging within us, andwe, on our part, were not idle.
Every man carried a disintegrator, and these hand instruments, togetherwith those of heavier caliber on the ship poured their resistlessvibrations in every direction through the quivering air.
The airships of the Martians were destroyed by the score, and yet theyflocked upon us thicker and faster.
We dropped lower and our blows fell upon the forts, and upon the widespread city bordering the Lake of the Sun. We almost entirely silencedthe fire of one of the forts; but there were forty more in full actionwithin reach of our eyes!
Some of the metallic buildings were partly unroofed by thedisintegrators and some had their walls riddled and fell with thunderingcrashes, whose sound rose to our ears above the hellish din of battle. Icaught glimpses of giant forms struggling in the ruins and rushingwildly through the streets, but there was no time to see anythingclearly.
Our flagship seemed charmed. A crowd of airships hung upon it like aswarm of angry bees, and, at times, one could not see for the lightningstrokes--yet we escaped destruction, while ourselves dealing death onevery hand.
It was a glorious fight, but it was not war; no, it was not war. Wereally had no more chance of ultimate success amid that multitude ofenemies than a prisoner running the gauntlet in a crowd of savages hasof escape.
A conviction of the hopelessness of the contest finally forced itselfupon our minds, and the shattered squadron, which had kept well togetheramid the storm of death, was signalled to retreat.
Shaking off their pursuers, as a hunted bear shakes off the dogs, sixtyof the electrical ships rose up through the clouds where more thanninety had gone down!
Madly we rushed upward through the vast curtain and continued our flightto a great elevation, far beyond the reach of the awful artillery of theenemy.
Looking back it seemed the very mouth of hell from which we had escaped.
The Martians did not for an instant cease their fire, even when we werefar beyond their reach. With furious persistence they blazed awaythrough the cloud curtain, and the vivid spikes of lightning shudderedso swiftly on one another's track that they were like a flaming halo ofelectric lances around the frowning helmet of the War Planet.
But after a while they stopped their terrific sparring, and once morethe immense globe assumed the appearance of a vast ball of black smokestill widely agitated by the recent disturbance, but exhibiting noopening through which we could discern what was going on beneath.
Evidently the Martians believed they had finished us.
At no time since the beginning of our adventure had it appeared to mequite so hopeless, reckless and mad as it seemed at present.
We had suffered fearful losses, and yet what had we accomplished? We hadwon two fights on the asteroid, it is true, but then we had overwhelmingnumbers on our side.
Now we were facing millions on their own ground, and our very firstassault had resulted in a disastrous repulse, with the loss of at leastthirty electric ships and 600 men!
Evidently we could not endure this sort of thing. We must find someother means of assailing Mars or else give up the attempt.
But the latter was not to be thought. It was no mere question ofself-pride, however, and no consideration of the tremendous interests atstake, which would compel us to continue our apparently vain attempt.
Our provisions could last only a few days longer. The supply would notcarry us one-quarter of the way back to earth, and we must thereforeremain here and literally conquer or die.
In this extremity a consultation of the principal officers was calledupon the deck of the flagship.
Here the suggestion was made that we should attempt to effect bystrategy what we had failed to do by force.
An old army officer who had served in many wars against the cunningIndians of the West, Colonel Alonzo Jefferson Smith, was the author ofthis suggestion.
"Let us circumvent them," he said. "We can do it in this way. Thechances are that all of the available fighting force of the planet Marsis now concentrated on this side and in the neighborhood of The Lake ofthe Sun.
"Possibly, by some kind of X-ray business, they can only see us dimlythrough the clouds, and if we get a little further away they will not beable to see us at all.
"Now, I suggest that a certain number of the electrical ships bewithdrawn from the squadron to a great distance, while the remainderstay here; or, better still, approach to a point just beyond the reachof those streaks of lightning, and begin a bombardment of the cloudswithout paying any attention to whether the strokes reach through theclouds and do any damage or not.
"This will induce the Martians to believe that we are determined topress our attack at this point.
"In the meantime, while these ships are raising a hulabaloo on this sideof the planet, and drawing their fire, as much as possible, withoutrunning into any actual danger, let the others which have been selectedfor the purpose, sail rapidly around to the other side of Mars and takethem in the rear."
It was not perfectly clear what Colonel Smith intended to do after thelanding had been effected in the rear of the Martians, but still thereseemed a good deal to be said for his suggestion, and it would, at anyrate, if carried out, enable us to learn something about the conditionof things on the planet, and perhaps furnish us with a hint as to how wecould best proceed in the further prosecution of the siege.
Accordingly it was resolved that about twenty ships should be told offfor this movement, and Colonel Smith himself was placed in command.
At my desire I accompanied the new commander in his flagship.
Rising to a considerable elevation in order that there might be no riskof being seen, we began our flank movement while the remaining ships, inaccordance with the understanding, dropped nearer the curtain of cloudand commenced a bombardment with the disintegrators, which caused atremendous commotion in the clouds, opening vast gaps in them, andoccasionally revealing a glimpse of the electric lights on the planet,although it was evident that the vibratory currents did not reach theground. The Martians immediately replied to this renewed attack, andagain the cloud covered globe bristled with lightning, which flashed sofiercely out of the blackness below that the stoutest hearts among usquailed, although we were situated well beyond the danger.
But this sublime spectacle rapidly vanished from our eyes when, havingattained a proper elevation, we began our course toward the oppositehemisphere of the planet.
We guided our flight by the stars, and from our knowledge of therotation period of Mars, and the position which the principal points onits surface must occupy at certain hours, we were able to tell what partof the planet lay beneath us.
Having completed our semi-circuit we found ourselves on the night sideof Mars, and determined to lose no time in executing our coup. But itwas deemed best that an exploration should first be made by a singleelectrical ship, and Colonel Smith naturally wished to undertake theadventure with his own vessel.
We dropped rapidly through the black cloud curtain, which proved to beat least half a mile in thickness, and then suddenly emerged, as ifsuspen
ded at the apex of an enormous dome, arching above the surface ofthe planet a mile beneath us, which sparkled on all sides withinnumerable lights.
These lights were so numerous and so brilliant as to produce a faintimitation of daylight, even at our immense height above the ground, andthe dome of cloud out of which we had emerged assumed a soft fawn colorwhich produced an indescribably beautiful effect.
For a moment we recoiled from our undertaking, and arrested the motionof the electric ship.
But on closely examining the surface beneath us we found that there wasa broad region, where comparatively few bright lights were to be seen.From my knowledge of the geography of Mars I knew that this was a partof the Land of Ausonia, situated a few hundred miles northeast ofHellas, where we had first seen the planet.
Evidently it was not so thickly populated as some of the other parts ofMars, and its comparative darkness was an attraction to us. Wedetermined to approach within a few hundred feet of the ground with theelectric ship, and then, in case no enemies appeared, to visit the soilitself.
"Perhaps we shall see or hear something that will be of use to us," saidColonel Smith, "and for the purposes of this first reconnaissance it isbetter that we should be few in number. The other ships will await ourreturn, and at any rate we shall not be gone long."
As our car approached the ground we found ourselves near the tops ofsome lofty trees.
"This will do," said Colonel Smith to the electrical steersman, "Stayright here."
He and I then lowered ourselves into the branches of the trees, eachcarrying a small disintegrator, and cautiously clambered down to theground.
We believed we were the first of the descendants of Adam to set foot onthe planet of Mars.
At first we suffered somewhat from the effects of the rare atmosphere.It was so lacking in density that it resembled the air on the summits ofthe loftiest terrestrial mountains.
Having reached the foot of the tree in safety, we lay down for a momenton the ground to recover ourselves and to become accustomed to our newsurroundings.
A thrill, born half of wonder, half of incredulity, ran through me atthe touch of the soil of Mars. Here was I, actually on that planet,which had seemed so far away, so inaccessible, and so full of mysterieswhen viewed from the earth. And yet, surrounding me, werethings--gigantic, it is true--but still resembling and recalling thefamiliar sights of my own world.
After a little while our lungs became accustomed to the rarity of theatmosphere and we experienced a certain stimulation in breathing.
We then got upon our feet and stepped out from under the shadow of thegigantic tree. High above we could faintly see our electrical ship,gently swaying in the air close to the tree top.
There were no electric lights in our immediate neighborhood, but wenoticed that the whole surface of the planet around us was gleaming withthem, producing an effect like the glow of a great city seen from adistance at night. The glare was faintly reflected from the vast dome ofclouds above, producing the general impression of a moonlight night uponthe earth.
It was a wonderfully quiet and beautiful spot where we had come down.The air had a delicate feel and a bracing temperature, while a softbreeze soughed through the leaves of the tree above our heads.
Not far away was the bank of a canal, bordered by a magnificent avenueshaded by a double row of immense umbrageous trees.
We approached the canal, and, getting upon the road, turned to the leftto make an exploration in that direction. The shadow of the treesfalling upon the roadway produced a dense gloom, in the midst of whichwe felt that we should be safe, unless the Martians had eyes like thoseof cats.
As we pushed along, our hearts, I confess, beating a little quickly, ashadow stirred in front of us.
Something darker than the night itself approached.
As it drew near it assumed the appearance of an enormous dog, as tall asan ox, which ran swiftly our way with a threatening motion of its head.But before it could even utter a snarl, the whirr of Colonel Smith'sdisintegrator was heard and the creature vanished in the shadow.
"Gracious, did you ever see such a beast?" said the Colonel. "Why he wasas big as a grizzly."
"The people he belonged to must be near by," I said. "Very likely he wasa watch on guard."
"But I see no signs of a habitation."
"True, but you observe there is a thick hedge on the side of the roadopposite the canal. If we get through that perhaps we shall catch sightof something."
Cautiously we pushed our way through the hedge, which was composed ofshrubs as large as small trees, and very thick at the bottom, and,having traversed it, found ourselves in a great meadow-like expansewhich might have been a lawn. At a considerable distance, in the midstof a clump of trees, a large building towered skyward, its walls of somered metal, gleaming like polished copper in the soft light that fellfrom the cloud dome.
There were no lights around the building itself, and we saw nothingcorresponding to windows on that side which faced us, but toward theright a door was evidently open, and out of this streamed a brilliantshaft of illumination, which lay bright upon the lawn, then crossed thehighway through an opening in the hedge, and gleamed on the water of thecanal beyond.
Where we stood the ground had evidently been recently cleared, and therewas no obstruction, but as we crept closer to the house--for ourcuriosity had now become irresistible--we found ourselves crawlingthrough grass so tall that if we had stood erect it would have risenwell above our heads.
"This affords good protection," said Colonel Smith, recalling hisadventures on the western plains. "We can get close in to the Indians--Ibeg pardon, I mean the Martians--without being seen."
Heavens, what an adventure was this! To be crawling about in the nighton the face of another world and venturing, perhaps, into the jaws of adanger which human experience could not measure!
But on we went, and in a little while we had emerged from the tall grassand were somewhat startled by the discovery that we had got close to thewall of the building.
Carefully we crept around to the open door.
As we neared it we suddenly stopped as if we had been stricken withinstantaneous paralysis.
Out of the door floated, on the soft night air, the sweetest music towhich I have ever listened.
It carried me back in an instant to my own world. It was the music ofthe earth. It was the melodious expression of a human soul. It thrilledus both to the heart's core.
"My God!" exclaimed Colonel Smith. "What can that be? Are we dreaming,or where in heaven's name are we?"
Still the enchanting harmony floated out upon the air.
What the instrument was I could not tell, but the sound seemed morenearly to resemble that of a violin than anything else of which I couldthink.
When we first heard it the strains were gentle, sweet, caressing andfull of an infinite depth of feeling, but in a little while its tonechanged, and it became a magnificent march, throbbing upon the air instirring notes that set our hearts beating in unison with its stride andinspiring in us a courage that we had not felt before.
Then it drifted into a wild fantasia, still inexpressibly sweet, andfrom that changed again into a requiem or lament, whose mellifluous tideof harmony swept our thoughts back again to the earth.
"I can endure this no longer," I said. "I must see who it is that makesthat music. It is the product of a human heart and must come from thetouch of human fingers."
We carefully shifted our position until we stood in the blaze of lightthat poured out of the door.
The doorway was an immense arched opening, magnificently ornamented,rising to a height of, I should say, not less than twenty or twenty-fivefeet and broad in proportion. The door itself stood widely open and it,together with all of its fittings and surroundings, was composed of thesame beautiful red metal.
Stepping out a little way into the light I could see within the door animmense apartment, glittering on all sides with metallic ornaments andgems and lighted from
the center by a great chandelier of electriccandles.
In the middle of the great floor, holding the instrument delicatelypoised, and still awaking its ravishing voice, stood a figure, the sightof which almost stopped my breath.
It was a slender sylph of a girl!
A girl of my own race; a human being here upon the planet Mars!
_"In the middle of the great floor, holding the instrumentdelicately poised, and still awaking its ravishing voice, stood afigure, the sight of which almost stopped my breath! It was a slendersylph of a girl! A girl of my own race; a human being here on Mars!"_]
Her hair was loosely coiled and she was attired in graceful whitedrapery.
"By God!" cried Colonel Smith, "she's human!"