CHAPTER II.
THE MARTIAN.
I returned to my rooms with a much clearer conception of the conditionswith which I had to cope, if the waves to which my apparatus respondedshould prove to be Martian waves. My mind was fully made up to proceedas if this were an established fact, as, in order to give my bestefforts to improving my apparatus, I felt that I must eliminate allscepticism. I clearly appreciated the advantage of moving my instrumentoutside, where I could command a view of Mars for a much longer time,but the necessity of being in my laboratory while I was engaged in theseimprovements, decided me against any immediate change.
Accordingly I proceeded the next morning to make the changes I deemednecessary, being goaded into a fever of haste by a feeling ofsuppressed excitement. The composition I had used in the form of a filmI now liquefied, having concluded that in the former condition, althoughnecessary in my original experiments, it now only retarded the vibrationof the wires.
That this composition was essential there could be no doubt, as it wasits elements that responded to the agent used on Mars to project thewaves. I therefore liquefied the film substance, being careful in sodoing not to alter its properties. I then procured wires, much thinnerthan those I had previously used, and dipped them-into the liquid. Afterthey had become perfectly dry, I stretched them on the frame as closetogether as I could without their coming into contact with one another.As light-waves are received in hundreds of different vibrationssimultaneously, according to the light or shade of the object projected,I concluded that each wire should be capable of individual vibration.The device now resembled a large piece of mosquito netting with thecross wires removed, the coating of composition on each wire being sothin that it was hardly discernible. The batteries and coils Iconnected as before, taking great care not to change their arrangement.
My preparations were now completed, and before me stood an instrument asdelicate and sensitive to wave vibrations as I could make it. Raisingone side of the frame a foot higher than the other, in order that thesurface of wires would be squarely facing the star when it appearedabove the casement, I waited impatiently for the moment which shouldprove the truth or falsity of my surmises.
The day had closed, and I spent the remaining time speculating upon theresults of my labors. But even the wildest flights of my imagination didnot picture, in the smallest degree, the wonderful transformation whichmy new instrument would make in what had appeared before as a shadow onthe film. Little did I imagine to what an extent the unknown was to berevealed to me.
As I stood by the side of the frame all in readiness, Mars appeared, butit still had a little farther to climb before it would be visible fromthe level of the wires. Nevertheless, I turned on the current from thebatteries. All was darkness; never before had darkness seemed to me soprofound, so absolutely appalling. Minutes passed like hours, but stillthat ominous darkness reigned. I felt the keen disappointment offailure; I grew incredulous as the time passed, and found myselfadmitting and rehearsing the absurdity of it all. I even blamed myselffor having been so easily deflected from my former experiments, by whatnow seemed to be merely an idle fancy.
Suddenly I bent over the frame and gazed eagerly at the surface ofwires, for there, on the top edge, appeared a touch of thephosphorus-colored glow. My heart thumped with wild excitement. Istooped down until my eyes were on the level of the wires, and lookingup toward the window I could just see the rim of Mars appearing abovethe casement. A shout of joy burst from my lips at the sight of it, forit was now beyond all doubt that the phenomenon was attributable toMars. Brighter and brighter became the light as it covered the surfaceof wires, until all its resemblance to a phosphorus glow had gone, andit shone with such brilliancy that my eyes, accustomed as they were tothe darkness of the room, quailed before it. Turning away so that myeyes might gradually become accustomed to the glare, I noticed that inspite of the brilliant white light on the surface of the wires, the roomwas in perfect darkness--the light had no power of illumination!Impenetrable mystery enshrouded the agent which Mars was employing tocommunicate with Earth!
A curious humming sound issuing from the frame, much louder than I hadnoticed the night before, caused me to turn involuntarily, and as I didso I uttered a cry of wonder at the marvelous vision that met my eyes.There lay before me, as bright as daylight, a picture that a thousandtimes surpassed my highest, wildest hope. The great secret of anotherplanet was revealed, and I stood motionless, beholding an inhabitant ofa star millions of miles away.
Among the vast multitude who for centuries have yearned for a glimpseinto the unknown worlds that surround us, I stood alone gazing upon theimage of a Martian. The thought stunned me; I was seized with a wildimpulse to rush out into the street and bring in the throng, that theymight look upon the form of this wonderful being on our sister planet.But what proof was there to give them that this was so? I wouldundoubtedly be ridiculed and accused of trickery. The very fact that hadbrought a cry of amazement to my lips--the remarkable brilliancy andclearness of the image, and the appearance of the Martian himself--wouldserve to bring discredit upon anything I might say. Personally I hadample proof that the image was that of a Martian, but what instant proofcould I give a jeering crowd? I had expected to find in a Martian astrange grotesque being in appearance, if not in mind, much after theweird and fierce character so many authors have portrayed him. Judge,then, my astonishment when I beheld one who, in every particular of formand feature, resembled the people of Earth.
He appeared to be a man of about forty years of age, judging by ourearthly standard of time, possessing clear-cut features and darkcomplexion. His face, which was clean-shaven, was remarkably handsome,and his piercing dark eyes, although they enhanced the smile thatgreeted my appearance at the instrument, seemed to search into my verysoul and to hold me spellbound with mute challenge. Nor could I, uponafterthought, remember having shown the common courtesy of returning hisgreeting.
My astonishment was so great that every faculty seemed to leave me, andI stood transfixed, staring at the image of the Martian without even thepower of thought. Gradually recovering my senses, however, I took noteof the man and his surroundings. He stood in a room of about the samedimensions as my laboratory, which seemed to be flooded with brightdaylight, though I could not see any windows on three sides of the roomto admit the light, nor any shadows to indicate that the light came froma window in the fourth. He held in his hands an instrument unknown tome, and seemed to be perfectly at his ease, showing neither surprise norcuriosity. Evidently this was not the first time that he had seen aninhabitant of the Earth. So unconcerned was he and so natural did heappear, even in the smallest detail of dress, that it was hard tobelieve I was not looking at an image of some room and its occupant inParis. His close-fitting clothes seemed to be of a dark green material,and resembled, to some degree, the uniform of an army officer.
Bending over the instrument he held, he placed his mouth close to thetop of it, and immediately the humming sounds, which I had noticedbefore, emanated from the wires of my apparatus. The thought flashedthrough my mind that the Martian held in this instrument a means ofcommunicating sound. If so, what were the words--what language? Thepossibility of what I heard being words, made me strain every nerve tocatch the slightest resemblance to such sounds, but alas, with nosuccess. That they were intended to convey a message, I became fullyconvinced, but I could not rest in the belief that this jumble of soundswas the Martian language. If the Martians themselves resembled, in sostriking a degree, the inhabitants of Earth, I argued, then it was inthe nature of things to expect a language that, in some way,corresponded to one of our languages. The fault lay in my instrument, Iwas sure of that, and in the keen disappointment of my failure toreceive his message and the excitement of the moment, I gave utteranceto an exclamation of despair. Immediately a smile overspread theMartian's countenance, and, to my great astonishment, he put down theinstrument and clapped his hands by way of showing his approval.
Before I could recove
r from my surprise at this new evidence of Martianfamiliarity with the customs of Earth, the light suddenly grew dim andin a few seconds had disappeared completely, leaving the instrumentplunged in darkness. Mars had risen above the frame of the skylight, andI was no longer in contact with the light-waves. I listened intently,thinking that if the sound-waves were of the nature of theelectrical-waves we employ in the wireless system, I would still be intouch with my newly found friend, but I heard no further sound from theinstrument, thus proving that these waves also were projected by themysterious agent known only to the Martians.
I had so much to occupy my mind, with what I had just witnessed, and somany thoughts rushed in upon me regarding the perfecting of myinstrument so that it might properly respond to the sound-waves, that Idid not experience the disappointment I had felt before at the shortduration of our contact with each other. I was glad of the opportunityto think; I felt that it was necessary to do so before further action,if I ever hoped to attain the knowledge of Mars and its inhabitants thatmy remarkable discovery had placed within my reach. I determined that onthe morrow, if I did not meet with better results in the soundvibrations, I would try to communicate with the Martian by writing somesimple sentence in a bold hand, and in as many languages as I could.This I would expose in front of the instrument, but I placed little hopein the success of the scheme, for it was not possible that the Martianlanguage would be identical with any of ours.