fe cutting cheese.

Reason for Astonishment.

The more we saw of this golden planet the greater became our
astonishment. What the Martians had removed was a mere nothing in
comparison with the entire bulk of the asteroid. Had the celestial mine
been easier to reach, perhaps they would have removed more, or, possibly,
their political economists perfectly understood the necessity of properly
controlling the amount of precious metal in circulation. Very likely,
we thought, the mining operations were under government control in Mars
and it might be that the majority of the people there knew nothing of
this store of wealth floating in the firmament. That would account for
the battle with the supposed pirates, who, no doubt, had organized a
secret expedition to the asteroid and been caught red-handed at the mine.

Richer Than the Klondike.

There were many detached masses of gold scattered about, and some of the
men, on picking them up, exclaimed with astonishment at their lack of
weight, forgetting for the moment that the same law which caused their
own bodies to weigh so little must necessarily affect everything else
in like degree.

A mass of gold that on the earth no man would have been able to lift
could here be tossed about like a hollow rubber ball.

While we were examining the mine, one of the men left to guard the
Martian came running to inform us that the latter evidently wished to
make some communication. Mr. Edison and others hurried to the side of the
prisoner. He still lay on his back, from which position he was not able
to move, notwithstanding all his efforts. But by the motion of his eyes,
aided by a pantomime with his fingers, he made us understand that there
was something in a metallic box fastened at his side which he wished
to reach.

The Martian's Treasure Box.

With some difficulty we succeeded in opening the box and in it there
appeared a number of bright red pellets, as large as an ordinary egg.

When the Martian saw these in our hands he gave us to understand by
the motion of his lips that he wished to swallow one of them. A pellet
was accordingly placed in his mouth, and he instantly and with great
eagerness swallowed it.

The Mysterious Pellets.

While trying to communicate his wishes to us, the prisoner had seemed
to be in no little distress. He exhibited spasmodic movements which
led some of the bystanders to think that he was on the point of dying,
but within a few seconds