PIRATIANS BEGONE

Chapter 4

For as soon as we left our car we began to have the queerest sensationsof lightness. We felt as if we were standing on springs, which the leastmotion would set off and up we would go toward the sky. Everything wehandled had but a small fraction of the weight it would possess on theearth, and our great air-condensing machines we carried about with ease.But however high we might jump we always returned to the ground, andwhether we were on top of the moon or on the bottom of it, it was prettycertain that we could not fall off, any more than we could have fallenoff the earth before we voluntarily but so rashly left it.

My exhilaration of spirit did not last, for I could not help thinking ofour condition. The law of gravitation surely held us, although with lessforce than we had been accustomed to, on account of the smaller size ofthe moon; and how were we to get away from it?

I again appealed to my companion.

"I do not like the idea of spending the rest of our lives on the moon,ship healer, but can you tell me how we are to prevent it? Can we ever getback within the earth's attraction again?"

"I have been pondering the subject myself," he replied, "and I think Ican give you some hope of seeing home once more. If our old measurementsof the moon are correct, and if we are, as I suppose, somewhere nearthe equator, we must be about fifteen hundred miles from the earth,following the curve of the moon's surface. Now, after we have finishedour investigations here, we can start for home on foot. We can cover agood many miles a day, since walking can be no burden here, and we caneasily tow our balloon along. As we approach the earth, my impressionis that we shall become more and more light-footed, for we shall begradually getting back to the earth's attraction. Somewhere between thispoint and our planet there must be a spot where the attraction of bothbodies will be equal, and we can stay on the moon or drop off and returnto the earth in our balloon as we please."

"What a curious idea," I answered; "and yet, considering the strangebehavior of our sand bag, I don't know but you are right. And I haveonly one suggestion to make; that is, that we start earthward at onceand try the experiment. Let the investigations go. If there are anyinhabitants here they will never miss us, since we haven't made theiracquaintance yet. Science or no science, I object to remaining anylonger than necessary in this uncertainty in regard to our future.You know very well we couldn't live long in this temperature and withnothing for our lungs but what comes through these horrid machines. Andwhat good would come of our discoveries if we are never to get back tothe earth again? I profess to have as much courage left as the ordinarymortal would have, but in the present circumstances I believe no onewould blame us for wanting to settle this question at once."

"It would seem a trifle ridiculous," said the ship healer in reply to thisharangue, "for us to return to our planet without any further effortto accomplish our errand. But I will not deny that I share something ofyour feeling, and I will start with you right away, on condition thatyou will return here if we find that I am correct in believing we canleave the moon at our pleasure."

"Agreed," I cried, and we were soon on our way.

So far we had been exposed to the sun and were almost scorched by theintensity of its rays. We had never experienced anything like such heatand would not have supposed the human body could endure it. But now,soon after we had started to find the place where the moon would letgo of us, the sun set and, with scarcely a minute's warning, we wereplunged into darkness and cold. The darkness was relieved by theexceedingly brilliant appearance of the stars, the sky fairly blazingwith them, but the cold was almost unendurable even for the few momentsin which we were exposed to it. We secured our car as speedily aspossible, climbed into it, and got a little warmth from our gas heater.

These extremes of temperature convinced us that no life such as we wereacquainted with could exist a great while on the moon.

We found we could make no progress at all by night. We could only shutourselves up and wait for the sun to come. In trying to keep warm wewould work our air-condensers harder than usual, and the water thusproduced we would freeze in little cakes, and have them to help mitigatethe burning heat a short time the next day.

The country through which we were traveling was made up of bold mountainpeaks and deep ravines. There was no sign of vegetation and not eventhe soil for it to grow in, but everywhere only hard, metallic rock thatshowed unmistakably the action of fire.

And so it was with the greatest difficulty that we made our wayearthward, although there was so little effort needed in walking. As Ipondered the ship healer's idea, it seemed to me more and more that hemust be right. We were certainly held to the moon where we were bygravitation. It was just as true that near the surface of the earth itssuperior attraction would draw all objects to itself. Accordingly, ifwe kept on our way, why should we not in time come to a place where wecould throw ourselves once more under the influence of the old earth,now becoming very dear to us?

Thinking chiefly of this subject and talking of it every day, we laboredon, and finally were wonderfully encouraged with the belief that we wereactually walking easier and everything was becoming lighter. Soon thisbelief became a certainty, and, since leaping was no effort, we leapedwith joy and hope.

And now how shall I describe our sensations as we went bounding along,hardly touching the ground, until we finally came to the place where itwas not necessary to touch the ground at all? Now we knew that by goingonly a little further we should be able to mount our car and set sailfor the earth again. But with this knowledge we lost at once much ofour desire, and thought we would not hasten our departure. Here we were,absolutely floating in the air, and it maybe believed that the feelingwas as delicious as it was unique. Using our hands as fins we could withthe slightest effort sail around at pleasure, resting in any position wechose to take, truly a most luxurious experience.

"How shall we make our friends believe all this when we try to tell themabout it, ship healer?" said I.