A Trip to Mars Page 5

  *CHAPTER II.*

  *WHAT GERALD SAW.*

  Seldom, perhaps, have there been seen three people more puzzled andamazed than the little group who had witnessed the tremendous advent ofthe wondrous 'meteorite'--for such it appeared to be--and now stoodgazing at it in helpless astonishment as it floated quietly in the seaonly a short distance from the shore.

  It was some time before either Jack or Gerald spoke, and when they atlast found speech, they had little to say beyond vague, incoherentexclamations.

  Presently an impulse came upon them to run down the path which led tothe shore, thinking that they might get a better view from there of thisextraordinary new arrival from the realms above. Perhaps a closer lookmight yield some clue as to the nature of the strange visitor.

  But a nearer view did not help them much. All that they could see, whenthey arrived on the sandy margin, was what they had already seen fromabove--and that was a huge mass composed of some material not heavyenough to sink, and--as a natural consequence--light enough to float.

  What could it be? It was, presumably, a meteorite--so Armeathpronounced--but of what kind? Who had ever heard of a meteorite of sucha size, and above all, of a material light enough to float in water?

  'Don't you wish you had gone in to your supper, Jack?' Gerald askedmischievously. 'Had you done so you would not have witnessed thiswonder.'

  'It's all very well to pretend to joke about it,' returned Jack,affecting to grumble; 'but it's rather serious, you know. The giddything might have hit one of us a nasty crack on the head, or somethingworse. This all comes of your busying yourself about what doesn'tconcern you, Gerald. You've bothered about the stars above us so longthat, as you can't get up to them, one of 'em's come down to pay a visitto you.'

  'Well, it's likely to prove a grand find, anyhow. It must be made ofsome substance unknown to science, and its discovery may bring us allname and fame; so its arrival is bound to be a gain to us.'

  'It's been nearer bringing us pain than gain, I guess,' was Jack'sretort. 'But what on earth are we going to do with the thing? How canwe hope to get a great, round affair like that ashore?'

  'Well, Tom, you seem to be pondering something very weighty in yourmind. Have you thought of a likely plan for getting this prettyplaything ashore in the morning?'

  Gerald addressed these words to one of their attendants, Tom Clinch byname, a grizzled, rough, but worthy old sailor, who had known Gerald allhis days. He had been indoors when the meteorite fell, and had nottherefore witnessed its arrival. As the sound of its fall reached hisears he had rushed out, with others of the attendants--chieflynatives--most of whom had gone off shrieking and panic-stricken towardsthe interior of the island. Only Tom and another sailor had stood theirground.

  'Humph! It's a rum sort o' visitin' star, this 'ere, Mr Gerald,' saidthe old mariner, with a wise shake of the head. 'Got out of its coorse,I reckon, the channel not being buoyed; onless,' he added, a suddenthought striking him as he noted how lightly the mass floated, 'onlessthis be one of the buoys which 'as got loose from its moorin's above,an' toppled over down 'ere, d'ye see?'

  With comments and talk such as this, the islanders passed the time whilewaiting for the morning. They felt too restless and excited to 'turnin,' with the exception of Mr Armeath. He, after a while, deeming thatthere was nothing to be gained by waiting outside, went back to his ownrooms, leaving instructions that he was to be called at once if anythingfresh occurred.

  His wards remained on the watch, however, and with them their two sailorhands, Tom Clinch and Bob Reid; and in due course the moon went down andit became quite dark. Then, behold! there was another wonder to beadded to the rest--the whole great mass became luminous! Not only that,but queer shadows came and went upon it, as though something were inmotion upon the surface or just beneath it.

  The news of this being conveyed to Armeath brought him out again; but hecould not account to his own satisfaction for this new phase.

  'It may be that it is composed of some highly phosphorescent mineral,'was the only explanation he could suggest.

  At last the morning dawned, and, immediately it was light, Armeath andhis two young companions, without waiting for breakfast, put off in aboat, with the two sailors, to examine the meteorite more closely.

  It was still there, but the slight wind had drifted it up to a sandyledge close inshore, and it appeared to be now resting on the sand.

  They rowed up to it and were not a little surprised to find that thewhole mass was perfectly smooth like glass. Still more mystifying wasit to see that there were bands at regular intervals extending 'fromstem to starn,' as Tom expressed it, 'jest for all the world like thehull of a great boat.'

  They rowed all round it, their wonderment and astonishment growing allthe time. They computed that it must be considerably over a thousandfeet in length, by, perhaps, a hundred feet in diameter.

  Suddenly Gerald uttered a loud exclamation. Jack, glancing at him, sawthat he was pointing to a place in the side of the mass and staring atit as though his eyes were about to start out of his head.

  'What on earth's up, old man?' he asked in alarm. 'Have you got anattack of nerves again, or'----

  'Jack!' cried Gerald, seizing his chum's arm, 'd-didn't you see--didn'tyou see them?'

  'Them--what--who?' asked Jack, bewildered.

  'People--men--moving about! I declare that I saw some men moving aboutinside the--the--thing!'

  'You 're barmy, my good Gerald! This little astronomical raree-show hasbeen too much for those imaginative nerves of yours. I see nothing.Perhaps you saw shadows thrown by some birds flying overhead.'

  'No, oh no! A thousand times no! I tell you I saw people--two orthree--moving about inside that smooth, slippery surface. They werevery dim and shadowy, it is true, but they were there. I saw them justas one might see anything through very thick, semi-opaque glass. Whatdoes it mean? I tell you it's uncanny! There's some strange mysteryabout it all. This thing is not what it seems to be. What, in the nameof all that is wonderful, does it mean?'

  Jack looked at the smooth, shining sides which rose from the water andtowered up high in the air. But he could see nothing to account forGerald's wild words; and he then glanced inquiringly, with real alarmand trouble in his eyes, at Armeath.

  'I am afraid,' said the scientist, with a grave smile, 'that Gerald isletting his exuberant imagination run away with him this morning. Iconfess I see nothing of the kind he described. It must have been somestrange effect of the rays of the sun, which is not very high yet,striking at an angle upon these remarkable, shining sides.'

  Gerald shook his head impatiently, but made no verbal reply; and theyrowed round and round the phenomenon, without finding anything tosatisfy their curiosity. Armeath examined the smooth sides closely,sometimes through a magnifying glass. He even tried to chip off a piecewith a hammer and a chisel; but it was so hard that he could make noimpression upon it, and so slippery that his chisel glanced off and flewfrom his hand into the sea.

  After a good deal of rowing to and fro, and a considerable amount ofcritical examination, which threw not the slightest light upon thepuzzling lump of mystery, it was decided to return to shore for theirbreakfast.

  Even over their meal, however, their talk continued to run upon theall-engrossing subject. Jack rallied his chum unmercifully upon theextraordinary statement he had made; but Gerald refused to admit that hemight have been mistaken.

  'I saw what I told you!' he persisted doggedly. 'I may be a bit of adreamer at times, but I don't "see visions" to that extent. No, thereis some awful, inscrutable, incredible mystery about it all! Well, we'll wait and see. We shall find out, I suppose, in good time.'

  With such discussions and speculations the day passed, without bringinganything fresh in the way of enlightenment.

  When evening came, Jack declared his fixed resolution not to allow thepuzzle to deprive him of another night's sleep
. After supper,therefore, he went off incontinently to bed; and as Armeath shut himselfup as usual, Gerald was left to himself.

  Still restless and perplexed, dissatisfied with the explanations andtheories which had been propounded, Gerald felt no inclination to 'turnin.' Something within him--some vague impulse he could not analyse,above all, the recollection of the mysterious, shadowy figures hebelieved he had seen through the semi-transparent 'shell,' as Jack nowcalled it--urged him to remain on the watch.

  'As Mr Armeath says,' he thought to himself, 'if a wind were to springup it might be gone by to-morrow. We may as well, therefore, keep aneye on it while it is here, and watch its departure when it goes.'

  In order to carry out his idea, he required a reliable assistant, andthis he found in Tom Clinch. Not only had Tom known Gerald all hislife, as already stated, but he had served his father before him, and hehad now transferred his devotion to the son. When, therefore, the youngfellow sought him out and told him what he required, Tom was readyenough to lend his aid.

  'We 'll keep a watch, Mr Gerald,' he responded, 'turn and turn about,all night, an' have the boat ready in case we wants it. Fur my part, Ithink ye're only actin' cautious-like. Nobody can tell what's goin' tohappen next when things like this once begin fallin' from the skies.I've 'eerd it said as 'ow theer's supposed to be a great bear, an'scorpions, an' crabs in the sky. An' after this, who can say but theymight come a-rainin' down on us an' eat us all up in our sleep?'

  Honest Tom had heard vaguely of the constellations of stars called bythose names, and had very loose notions as to what they meant.

  'Well, I hope it won't be as bad as that,' Gerald answered with a smile.'But I shall be very glad of your company on my night-watch, all thesame.'

  So it was arranged; and the two betook themselves to a part of the shorewhere there was a cave which had been utilised as a boathouse, and herethey began their watch.

  The night turned out as fine as the previous one, except that there werea few drifting clouds which now and again obscured the light of themoon. There was scarcely any breeze, however, and the sea was, as Tomput it, 'as calm and still as a pint of stale beer.'

  For a long time nothing occurred, though they kept up their watch tillthe moon had set, and it had become quite dark. Then they saw again theluminous appearance which they had noticed before.

  'Now this is what I want to investigate, Tom,' said Gerald. 'Get outthe boat quickly, and let us pull close up as silently as we can.'

  The boat, which had been placed ready for launching, was slipped intothe water, Gerald putting in the stern a dark lantern, which he hadlighted.

  Like a gliding shadow, the boat and her two occupants--the sailor rowingand Gerald steering--approached the huge 'meteorite,' now all aglow witha strange, dim light. The oars, well greased, made no sound, and theypassed silently along the side nearest the shore, rounded the end, andwere making their way back upon the outer side, when Gerald put a handupon his companion as a signal to stop rowing.

  They were then about the centre of the great mass, on the side which wasaway from the shore and faced the sea. There the boat remainedstationary, Gerald staring intently at the curious shimmering wall whichtowered up at a distance of twenty or thirty feet.

  'See, Tom! Look!' he suddenly whispered excitedly. 'See! There arethe shadows--the forms of people! There! Now, who was right?'

  'Heaven defend us!' breathed Tom fervently. 'Whatever do it mean? Bethe thing bewitched?'

  'Hush! Whatever you see, do not utter a word--not a sound--on yourlife! I believe they're coming out!'

  Decidedly it was no trick of the imagination this time, at any rate.There were actually figures, as of men, moving about inside. They couldbe dimly seen through the semi-opaque outer wall or shell. What theywere, how they were dressed, or what they were doing, was not clear; butactual, moving, living beings they certainly were.

  Something now seemed to be shifted inside, as though a screen had beenremoved, and at once the figures could be distinguished more plainly.But ere Gerald could fix his attention upon one or another among them, asort of door had opened in the smooth, shining side, a platform had beenrun out, and now remained extended in a horizontal position.

  Then a tall, noble-looking man appeared in the doorway, stepped on tothe platform, and remained there, gazing out over the darkling waters.