Suddenly a strong, ringing voice
spoke from the gallery immediately in front of me. It said--I could not
quite separate the speaker in the moving throng: 'Come to the _Manana_.'
"Chapman and my friend whispered together 'Volta,' and then turning to
me told me to follow them. I followed. Already the hall had become
partially emptied, and we pushed onward amongst radiant men and women,
who received me with smiles and gestures of approval. Once outside the
Hall of Attention, we hurried through some narrow corridors, up winding
stairways, until at length we emerged upon a lofty platform carrying a
railing about it, and so elevated above all the surrounding buildings of
the Patenta that my glance seemed to sweep the circuit of the City, and
swept outward over a rolling and low country through which ran wide
mirror-like ribbons of water, the great canals of Mars, while afar off
melting into the crystalline hazes of the horizon rose dark masses of
mountains.
"I stood an instant stupified and overcome. The deep voice of a
salutation came to my ears, and turning I saw the face of Volta. Beside
me was a large induction coil, and above it two huge plates of copper
about ten feet apart. The next instant a flash passed between the
electrodes, and I was caught and turned aside with my companions. The
light of the spark was intense, and the spark itself of great
dimensions.
"Volta then spoke: 'My friend, your arrival on the surface of our planet
is a sensation.
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