Chapter 15

HURLED FROM THE MOON.

Together we stood gazing in silence out into the abyss over the small surface of the moon that was visible to us, oppressed with a sense of awe as the sun dropped from sight, leaving us plunged in darkness.

Suddenly there appeared from out of the inky blackness of the heavens a huge crescent, stretching across the sky far above us. The sight of it fascinated us, and, as we stood lost in admiration at the majestic proportions of the beautiful arch of light, ever growing in width, we gradually realized that it was the sun-tipped rim of the planet which our moon was journeying around--the world from which we had been hurled and to which we must return.

A sense of great reverence overpowered me; I realized that we looked upon sights, and felt great forces never before bared to mortals. Through my mind ran lines of Addison's ode:

"The spacious firmament on high With all the blue ethereal sky, And spangled heavens, a shining frame, Their great _Original_ proclaim.

* * * * *

Forever singing as they shine The hand that made us is divine."

Slowly the light crept over the planet's surface until the huge illuminated sphere, almost filling the entire heavens, made a scene of the most exquisite grandeur that human eyes have ever beheld.

"Dearest!" I exclaimed, with sudden impulse, as a most remarkable and terrifying fact occurred to me, "wonderful though our deliverance from death seems to us, it is even more miraculous than we had any conception of! To meet with this moon in our journey through space, we must have described an arc, as this satellite never passes over the pole."

"How can such a thing be possible?" returned Zarlah, in tremulous accents, drawing closer to me as the awfulness of our narrow escape appalled her.

"Ah, my love, we may never know that!" I answered. "The Great Creator of all these wonders has, indeed, guided us to this haven in our wild flight through space. We can but theorize that the pole, being several miles in diameter, hurled us from its edge, the tremendous repelling force not permitting our aerenoids to proceed over its surface. The rotary motion of the planet upon its axis would then cause us to describe a curve in our flight from its surface, as only in the center of the pole would this rotary motion lose its effect."

"Oh, Harold," whispered Zarlah, timidly, when I had finished speaking, "the thought of these terrible things and the sight of this immense globe hanging over us fill me with dread! Do you think we shall ever reach our world again? It appears to be so near and yet is so far away from us. What veritable atoms we are in the glory of this tumultuous whirl!"

"I do not think we could possibly miss it, sweetheart," I answered, cheerfully, as I placed my arm about her and drew her away from the window which commanded a view of Mars. "Come, let us look out upon the little globe that supports us; we are entirely missing the beautiful effect of this grand reflection of light"

The surface of the moon was now bathed in a beautiful diffused light, and our surroundings where once more visible. Indeed, many objects, which we had been unable to see in the dazzling brilliancy of the sun's light, as it blazed forth from a heaven unsoftened by any atmosphere, were now clearly revealed. We had approached a window and were looking at these new objects of interest, when Zarlah suddenly cried in dismay: "Look, Harold, look! The other aerenoid is moving!"

Quickly turning my gaze in the direction indicated, I saw the aerenoid in which I had made the journey from Mars move a space of several yards with a jerky motion, then, to my intense horror, glide off the surface of the moon into space. At the same instant, the car in which we stood rocked as though about to turn over upon its side.

Not a moment was to be lost! Some unknown force was exerting its influence over the movable objects on the moon's surface. What this power was I knew not, but the direction in which the aerenoid had glided proved it to be other than Mars. Our position was now perilous in the extreme, for were we suddenly to glide off into space we would undoubtedly be lost, as it was necessary to have air surrounding us in order to propel the car. Without an atmosphere we would therefore be helpless and entirely at the mercy of the unknown and mysterious power. Indeed, it was evident that only our increased weight had saved us from immediately following the other aerenoid, and I felt that at any moment we might do so. Although lacking the power of propulsion, my hope was that our repelling force, which I knew must be increased to an enormous extent by the slight gravity on the moon's surface, would hurl us off that satellite straight upward into the influence of Mars' gravity.

Seizing the lever, I cried to Zarlah to He on the floor of the car, but even as she did so, the aerenoid rocked again with still greater violence--in another moment it would be too late! Thrusting the lever over, I exposed the full repelling force to the moon's surface. The shock hurled me to the floor, and so terrific was the force with which we shot upward, that I was held powerless to move hand or foot. For a space of time which seemed to me hours I was obliged to remain thus, contenting myself with calling words of encouragement to my dear one, whom I greatly feared must have suffered severely from the awful shock. At last, finding that I could rise, I hastened to her side, and, to my great relief, discovered that she had entirely escaped injury.

As it was impossible in any way to control the aerenoid speeding upward through space, it was useless for me to stand by the levers, and, assisting Zarlah to rise, we approached a window in the roof of the car and glanced upward at the planet to which we were rushing. A remarkable phenomenon met our eyes! Mars appeared to be no longer a sphere--the great globe that we had beheld from the moon--but instead a huge dome, which hung over us, ever deepening in the center as we rushed up toward it. Inconceivable though it seemed, I knew that, to produce such an effect, we must already have covered more than half the distance between the two bodies. Upward we shot, and although there was no means of ascertaining how fast we were travelling, I knew by the rapidly changing appearance of the dome above us that our speed must be terrific.

We had steadily grown lighter, and now we discovered that we were entirely without weight, and that it required some effort to keep our feet on the floor of the car.

Still upward we rushed into the center of the dome which now stretched down and encircled us on all sides like an immense umbrella, when suddenly, without the slightest perceptible movement of the car, the dome appeared to swing around until it lay beneath us, and instantly we felt our feet settling upon the floor of the car.

"We are safe from the unknown power now, dearest!" I exclaimed, anxiously examining the lever that controlled the descent, to make sure that the repelling metal was fully exposed. "We are dropping upon Mars, and our repelling metal should soon check our speed."

"Oh, Harold, my love," sighed Zarlah, timidly clinging to me, her eyes filled with tears, and a look of great yearning coming into them, "my heart despairs at the dangers that encompass us! With you as my goal I knew no fear; but now that I have you, I am a coward. Is our love forbidden, that we should be thus pursued by these terrible dangers?"

"Courage, dearest!" I replied, reassuringly. "We shall soon be safe, and then nothing shall interrupt the happiness for which we have endured so much."

I hid from her the anxiety that lurked near my heart, and endeavored to interest her by advancing several theories upon the phenomenal appearance of the planet's surface.

Like a huge cup the land now stretched up and around us, but we were still descending with frightful velocity. I had noticed that the air in the car was becoming warmer, and now, filled with apprehension, I stretched out my hand and touched the wall. Instantly I withdrew it--the wall was hot! Like a flash the full realization of our terrible danger burst upon me. I had relied upon the repelling metal to check our descent before we entered the region of air, and had supposed that we would float lightly to the ground under perfect control. But now I saw how foolishly I had erred, in omitting to take into consideration the terrific momentum we would attain in our journey of six thousand miles through space. This momentum was now driving us to the ground, in spite of our strong repelling force, and with such a frightful speed that heat was being generated by friction with the air as we rushed through it. The creaking and straining sound coming from the bottom of the aerenoid was evidence of the fight the repelling metal was making to overcome this momentum before the surface of Mars was reached, but I shuddered as I realized what little effect it had upon this gigantic force.

In a few seconds the air became unbearably hot, and, with a gasp, Zarlah lay limp in my arms, as she turned her face to me to speak. Laying her tenderly upon the floor, I hastily wrapped wet blankets around her, and, dashing water over myself, I staggered across the car to the window again. We were still descending rapidly, but, as I felt the walls of the car, I found that they were now cooler, proving that our terrific speed had been reduced. The increased pressure of my feet upon the floor of the car was also evidence that our descent was being steadily checked. A wild hope surged within me that the repelling metal would overcome the momentum in time to save us from destruction.

Glancing down, I saw white specks lying far beneath us. My heart stood still as I realized that these were buildings. We could not be more than a few miles from the surface, yet down, down we sped. A few moments more and the buildings became plainly visible, and my heart thumped wildly, as they seemed to rush up to meet us. We would be dashed to pieces! The repelling force could not possibly stop us in time! Turning, in despair, I threw myself down beside Zarlah, and enfolded her in a last embrace.

Instantly there was a terrific shock--a deafening crash. Then all was dark, while a flood of water came pouring in upon us. I staggered to my feet with Zarlah in my arms, only to be thrown to the floor again by an upward bound of the aerenoid. Sunlight once more filled the car, and, as I struggled to my feet, a cool breeze wafted in through the shattered windows. To what further extremes of temperature and mediums were we to be subjected?

I was still too dazed by the shock to realize how we had escaped from a death that seemed inevitable, but I knew that we were flying upward with the full force of our repelling metal. Tenderly lifting Zarlah to a safer and more comfortable place, I seized the lever and gradually decreased the repelling power, until we rested motionless in the air.

We had already attained a considerable height, and, as I eagerly gazed down, I beheld far beneath us the glistening surface of a lake. With a gasp of horror, I realized what a narrow escape had been ours. Into this lake we had plunged with a velocity sufficient to have dashed us to pieces had we struck the ground; the damage which the car had sustained upon striking the water was evidence of this. Our descent being stopped, the repelling metal, which was fully exposed, had then sent us bounding into the air again, and in all probability had thus saved us from being drowned beneath the waters of the lake.

Death had indeed been close to us many times during our strange adventure, and now that all the dangers were past, I breathed a heartfelt prayer of thankfulness for our safe deliverance.

Freeing Zarlah from the wet blankets I had wrapped around her during the intense heat, I gazed anxiously down upon the beautiful, unconscious face.

"My love! my love!" I murmured, passionately. "How much you have risked--how much you have suffered for my sake! Oh, cruel the fate that thus delays our happiness!"

The sun was setting, and I now realized the importance of descending nearer to the ground, that I might ascertain our whereabouts, as from our present altitude, even with Almos' knowledge of Mars, I was unable to recognize any familiar landmark, and I knew that darkness would soon be upon us.

Bending once again over the form of my loved one, I tenderly kissed the silent lips, but as I did so, her arms closed about my neck, and dreamily opening her eyes, she smiled up at me as a child awakening from a peaceful sleep.

"We are safe now, darling, all the danger is past!" I murmured, and falling on my knees beside her, I took her up into my arms, with the prayer that I might ever shield her in the days to come.

The shadows lengthened; quickly the gloom gathered, and darkness closed in upon us, but still we remained suspended in the cool night air under the dome of the starry heavens, unmindful of all in the joy of our great love; for with the fulfillment of our hearts' long cherished desire, came the realization that our journey was ended.

* * * * *

PARIS, February 17, 19--.

Six months have elapsed since that memorable evening when Harold and Zarlah--radiant with their new-found happiness--were portrayed upon the instrument in Paris at which I anxiously waited, after having exchanged my existence on Mars for one on Earth. The account of his strange adventures, which Harold has since given me, I have endeavored to record in the foregoing pages, as nearly as possible in his own words, trusting that this narration of the events connected with the opening of communication between Earth and Mars will prepare the way for the greater developments soon to be announced by scientists.

ALMOS.

THE END.

End of Project Gutenberg's Zarlah the Martian, by R. Norman Grisewood