Almost
instantly these were apparently answered by similar rockets in other
colors from the hill I stood on.
"There was a sudden movement about me. The pilot had returned. With him
came the messenger. I flung my absorption from me. I was a Martian. The
light of recognition came back again to my eyes--my tongue was loosened,
my senses accommodated themselves to the stupendous circumstances about
me. I spoke first.
"'Mindo,' (the name of the pilot), 'I am ready to accompany my guide to
the City. Will you go with us?'
"'No! Heboribimo,' (your excellency), 'I must stay at the locks. I shall
descend to the City in the boat to-morrow. This man will bring you to
the canal. I advise haste. There is great excitement and dread in
Scandor. Mars is in the path of a comet.'
"I turned to my guide, a beautiful youth, not dressed as the citizens of
the City of Light, but clothed in a tight fitting doublet of a creamy
blue, with short trunks of yellow, and on his feet were sandals. He
saluted me, and together we descended the broad boulevard between the
widely separated lustres that became more crowded as they massed like a
progressive deepening of color into the eddying splendors of the City
itself.
"Again I realized how swift is motion in Mars. We wished to reach the
City, and we glided to it by the rapid propulsion of desire. The broad
way was filled with lines and groups of peoples clustering to the
hilltop--and over the far-reaching slopes I could see the awaiting
throngs.
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