It had been the dream of the Martians, the sensation of their
daily lives, the hope of returning to their former dwelling places, some
token, word, salutation, indeed to somehow begin that almost apocryphal
conception of binding the Universe into a conversational unit.
"No marvel that they were now excited, transported; no wonder that I,
the accidental being, who falling in their world, as it were, from
outside, should be the agency to lead to the eventual conquest of these
great designs.
"On we swept like a tide that advances upon a coast, encompasses each
salient rock, island and projection, and evading it by embracing it,
rises still further into the bays and harbors, and brings the full tide
at last to its most remote limits. So columns and stairways, halls, and
wings, and arms, of buildings successively were surged round, and the
vast complex pushed its way to the great Hall of Attention.
"This enormous structure was built somewhat to one side of the great
Observatories. It was rectangular, elevated and attained to by stairs on
every side. It resembles a huge Grecian temple, but the interior
treatment was quite contrasted. Externally it was made of the white
phosphorescent marble with colonnades of columns of the blue metal
supporting its projecting roofs. I was carried as by a cataract of
waters up its stairways. Already its bronze gates were swung wide open,
and through them the Martian army passed with impetuous stride.
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