swallowed up in the universal sympathy which was felt for those who had
suffered so terribly from an evil that was as unexpected as it was
unimaginable in its enormity.

But the worst was not yet. More dreadful than the actual suffering and
the scenes of death and devastation which overspread the afflicted lands
was the profound mental and moral depression that followed. This was
shared even by those who had not seen the Martians and had not witnessed
the destructive effects of the frightful engines of war that they had
imported for the conquest of the earth. All mankind was sunk deep in
this universal despair, and it became tenfold blacker when the
astronomers announced from their observatories that strange lights were
visible, moving and flashing upon the red surface of the Planet of War.
These mysterious appearances could only be interpreted in the light of
past experience to mean that the Martians were preparing for another
invasion of the earth, and who could doubt that with the invincible
powers of destruction at their command they would this time make their
work complete and final?

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.

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