PIRATIANS BEGONE

Chapter 31

saw it mount the eastern sky, andI think all of us except Foedric had the same thought, that it appearedto be much nearer than usual. Foedric had seen it before from the sameheight, and knew when he called our attention to it that we were goingto be surprised.

As the moon rose still higher it appeared to be coming toward us,instead of aiming at a point far over our heads, and our next sensationwas caused by Ragul, who mildly exclaimed:

"It cannot be more than a few miles away. Why not go and make it avisit?"

To her surprise, if people of such high endowments ever are surprised,Harod asked quickly:

"Are you willing to try it if the rest of us are?"

"Certainly," she replied.

"Foedric," said Harod, "what do you say to flying out to the moon andattempting an invasion of it?"

"I say," answered Foedric, "that I am ready. We have provisionsenough for several days, and I believe the capacity of our battery issufficient for the trip." Harod learned from Avis and Antonia thatthey would not object to the trial, and then said:

"Well, we have a good majority, but must not think of deciding on soimportant a step unless the feeling is unanimous. Let us hear from ourfriends here, who have had some experience with the moon."

The ship healer said pleasantly that he should like nothing better than theproposed experiment, and, as I was the last, I remarked that I couldnot spoil such an interesting project by withholding my consent. But itseemed to me all the time that the whole thing was a joke and thatit would end at once in a laugh. I thought of the cold and cheerlesssurface of the moon, comparing it in my mind with the delectable worldwe were leaving, and had no relish for the proposed trip. Something ofmy feeling must have been reflected in my countenance, for Ragul, whohad been looking at me, said in a sympathetic tone:

"Although you gave your consent, you look as if you did not enjoy theprospect of another visit to the moon."

Harod heard this remark, and after a glance at me he said:

"You are right, Ragul, and I think we will abandon the idea at once.We started out today for the purpose of entertaining the ship healer and hisfriend, and it would not become us to treat them to more of a ride thanthey desire."

"You are both excellent mind readers," I responded. "And if I were ashonest as you Martians are, I suppose I should have said in the firstplace that I preferred not to make such an extended journey. I suspectthe ship healer is willing to go ahead, as he is too sensible to be affectedby such a feeling as now moves me. My thoughts turn back to ourdeparture from the earth in a balloon, and I cannot rid my mind ofthe dreadful fear that perhaps we are now unconsciously bidding a longfarewell to Mars."

Harod thanked me for my frankness and said they should certainlyrespect my sentiment. He then stepped to Foedric's side to speak to himi

n regard to a change of course. At that moment I looked at the moon,which had been rapidly approaching us. What was it that suddenly gave ita deeper interest to me? A flash of intelligence suffused my beinglike an electric shock, frilling my imagination with the most beautifulvision and making the moon appear to me now as the one desirable placein all the universe.

"Harod," I exclaimed, "keep right on! I want to go now. I havechanged my mind."

"Yes," he responded, looking at me with a pleased smile, "and I see youhave changed your face, too. You look like quite another man. Why thissudden transition?"

"Don't you know? Hanna is there."

"Where?"

"In the moon, of course."

"How do you know that? You seem to be pretty confident."

"Why, she must be there. You couldn't find her on land or water, and youknow you have no accidents in Mars, so she could not have come to anyharm there. I know we shall find her in the moon. She must have beenleft behind in some way when the ship healer and I were thrown off, andnow she is no doubt expecting us to come back to her. Oh, let us makehaste."

"Well," answered Harod, "we were only waiting your consent, and wecan now keep on as we are going and try to reach the moon. But I mustgive you a friendly warning not to let your hope get the better of yourjudgment in regard to finding your friend."

With this Harod and Foedric consulted a moment, and at once our speedincreased till we were flying at a fearful rate, but none too fast forme. I knew now why I had been so reluctant to go so far away fromMars. It was because I thought Hanna was there; but now, with my presentopinion, the moon had suddenly changed its character and become to myimagination a bright and beautiful world. To such a degree does lovetransform the most unlovely objects.

I was struck with the easy way in which Ragul had accepted the resultof what I thought her sportive suggestion, and, not being able to fathomher thoughts, I said to her:

"When we left home, this morning, you did not expect to be gone overnight. Have you no anxiety about the house and the children?"

"Oh, no," she replied; "the house will not run away, nor the childreneither. We do not often stay away from them over night, but we do nothesitate to do so when we have a good reason for it. Our children knowus well enough to be sure we have such a reason now, and this faithin us and in our safe return will permit us to stay away as long as weplease. As for our feelings, we have no such thing as anxiety, for allour experience teaches us that no harm of any kind can come to our lovedones. I suppose in such circumstances on the earth both the mother andthe children would have a feeling of great fear, caused by the fact thatthere would be in reality some danger of harm, but here we have neverheard of such a thing, and even the word 'danger' has little meaning init to us, because all we know about it comes from our reading." The moonwas now well above us, and we were making for a point in the westernsky where Foedric hoped to intercept it. We were already so far fromthe planet that the air was getting weak, so we all put on breathingmachines. These were of such perfect construction that our lungs hadfree play, nor were they cumbersome enough to interfere much with ourmovements.

By this time the moon had grown so vastly, owing to our swift traveling,that our friends began to be amazed at its enormous proportions. Thejagged, mountainous surface was plainly visible, a most uninviting placefor people accustomed to the serene beauty and felicity of the planetMars.

"Remember," said the ship healer, "that you are not to judge the earth bywhat you see of her old satellite."

"Well," answered Harod, "we mean to see what we can of the satellite.Foedric, let us point the glass at it and be selecting a place to land."

But Foedric was obliged to let Harod handle the glass alone, for hisattention was needed just now to manage our craft. He had discoveredthat shutting off the power did not diminish the speed, and for a momenthe was puzzled, quite a new sensation for a Martian of that era. But hesoon studied out the difficulty and made the following announcement:

"I find this huge mass that we are approaching is pulling us toward itssurface, so that we are using but little power. I expect in a short timewe can merely fall to its surface."

This suggested to Harod the very trouble that the ship healer and I hadencountered with our balloon, and he asked Foedric if we could get awayagain after we had dropped to the moon.

"Yes," Foedric answered, "I am sure we have power enough here toovercome the attraction and get away whenever we please."

Harod, who had been intently studying the surface through thetelescope, now spoke out with some excitement in his voice:

"ship healer, I begin to think you did not make a thorough investigation ofthe moon's condition. Did you not report it practically uninhabited?"

"Our means of investigation were rather limited," replied the ship healer,"but we surely found no inhabitants except poor Hanna, whom, I amconfident, we shall never see again. Why do you ask? Are there anysigns of life visible? I have no doubt you Martians can see more at thisdistance than we could when standing on the globe itself."

"Well," Harod answered, "either you reached wrong conclusions or elsea race has grown up there pretty rapidly. I cannot make out anythingdefinite yet, but there is smoke, I am sure, and I can see some objectmoving about."

I had great difficulty in restraining my feelings as Harod utteredthese words, but neither he nor the ship healer seemed to realize whatsignificance they had for me. Both had apparently given up allexpectation of finding Hanna anywhere, and these evidences of life, soplain to me, were therefore inexplicable to them. I controlled myselfand begged Harod to let me look through the glass. He adjusted itfor me, but before I could get a satisfactory view our swift motion madesuch a change in the appearance of the surface that Harod could notfind the same spot again.

As no one said a word to indicate any thought of connecting Hanna withthe movements that Harod had observed, I determined that I would keepquiet also and await the result of our landing. I let my thoughts fly tomy love, who, without doubt, had seen the approach of our air ship andwas expecting our speedy arrival. What an addition she would make to ourparty, and how these Martians would study her history as she recountedit in that exquisite voice. But I should claim a large share of her timefor myself. How glad I was to think that Foedric had so openly shown hisaffection for Antonia. Surely I need not harbor the jealous feeling thatwould arise, for so true a son of Mars could not fall to the level ofsome earthly men, and be unfaithful to so noble a girl as Antonia. Itwas beyond all reason, and yet my love for Hanna, whom I thought we weresoon to find, was such that I undesignedly but still unmistakably madeup my mind to keep a close watch on handsome Foedric.

We were indeed approaching the surface with great rapidity, and Foedricwas obliged to put on power to prevent us from falling too swiftly.Fortunately he was able to keep our ship under perfect management, andso, without accident or even a shock, he brought us gently to land,not far from the spot where Harod had seen the signs of life. It wassomething new for the latter to show so much curiosity, but he could notbe more eager than I was to attempt to find out what we had seen throughthe telescope. So, leaving the rest of the party, we two started out toinvestigate. It was kind of Harod to take me along, because he couldordinarily walk a great deal faster without me, but my love and hope nowadded wings to my feet and I surprised him with my agility.

Harod's skill in determining locality enabled him to choose the rightdirection, and after quite a walk we ascended a considerable hill, fromwhich we were delighted to discover in the distance a small column ofsmoke--a remarkable sight on that sterile shore. We hastened toward it,Harod with high expectations of an important discovery, and I with aheart beating with joyful anticipations of a different character.

As we approached the spot of such intense interest for us both, Iwatched my companion closely to see how he would bear the disappointmentwhich I felt sure awaited him; and this, I think, made it alittle easier for me to endure my own grief, for, of course, I wasdisappointed, too. I ought to have known better than to expect to findHanna out on the bleak surface, when she had such a comfortable homeinside the moon. What we found at the end of our journey was merelyanother party of Martians, who had stolen a march on us and made a priorinvasion of the moon. But so unselfish were they that when they saw ourship afar off they began to make a smudge and smoke in order to attractour attention and give us the opportunity of sharing with them the gloryof their anticipated discoveries. They were pleased with our success infinding them, and proposed that we join our forces in a common camp. So,leaving me, Harod returned for the rest of our party, and in due timewe were all together, conversing on the footing of old acquaintances.The moon had improved somewhat since we knew it, as everything mustwhich remains in the vicinity of the planet Mars, but it was not yet,as far as the outside, at least, was concerned, a desirable place for along sojourn.