and who could doubt that with the invincible powers of destruction at
their command they would this time make their work complete and final?

A Startling Announcement.

This startling announcement was the more pitiable in its effects because
it served to unnerve and discourage those few of stouter hearts and more
hopeful temperaments who had already begun the labor of restoration and
reconstruction amid the embers of their desolated homes. In New York
this feeling of hope and confidence, this determination to rise against
disaster and to wipe out the evidences of its dreadful presence as quickly
as possible, had especially manifested itself. Already a company had been
formed and a large amount of capital subscribed for the reconstruction
of the destroyed bridges over the East River. Already architects were
busily at work planning new twenty-story hotels and apartment houses;
new churches and new cathedrals on a grander scale than before.

The Martians Returning.

Amid this stir of renewed life came the fatal news that Mars was
undoubtedly preparing to deal us a death blow. The sudden revulsion of
feeling flitted like the shadow of an eclipse over the earth. The scenes
that followed were indescribable. Men lost their reason. The faint-hearted
ended the suspense with self-destruction, the stout-hearted remained
steadfast, but without hope and knowing not what to do.

But there was a gleam of hope of which the general public as yet knew
nothing. It was due to a few dauntless men of science, conspicuous
among whom were Lord Kelvin, the great English savant; Herr Roentgen,
the discoverer of the famous X ray, and especially Thomas A. Edison, the
American genius of science. These men and a few others had examined with
the utmost care the engines of war, the flying machines, the generators
of mysterious destructive forces that the Martians had produced, with
the object of discovering, if possible, the sources of their power.

Suddenly from Mr. Edison's laboratory at Orange flashed the startling
intelligence that he had not only discovered the manner in which the
invaders had been able to produce the mighty energies which they employed
with such terrible effect, but that, going further, he had found a way
to overcome them.

The glad news was quickly circulated throughout the civilized
world. Luckily the Atlantic cables had not been destroyed by the Martians,
so that communication between the Eastern and Western conti