nity to strike effectively when we are again ready."

"Why not rendezvous at one of the moons?" said an astronomer. "Neither
of the two moons is of much consequence, as far as size goes, but still
it would serve as sort of an anchorage ground, and while there, if we
were careful to keep on the side away from Mars, we should escape
detection."

This suggestion was immediately accepted, and the squadron having been
signalled to assemble quickly bore off in the direction of the more
distant moon of Mars, Deimos. We knew that it was slightly smaller than
Phobos, but its greater distance gave promise that it would better serve
our purpose of temporary concealment. The moons of Mars, like the
earth's moon, always kept the same face toward their master. By hiding
behind Deimos we should escape the prying eyes of the Martians, even
when they employed telescopes, and thus be able to remain comparatively
close at hand, ready to pounce down upon them again, after we had
obtained, as we now had good hope of doing, information that would make
us masters of the situation.

CHAPTER THIRTEEN

_THERE WERE GIANTS IN THE EARTH_

Deimos proved to be, as we had expected, about six miles in diameter.
Its mean density is not very great so that the acceleration of gravity
did not exceed one-two-thousandths of the earth's. Consequently the
weight of a man turning the scales at 150 pounds at home was here only
about one ounce.

The result was that we could move about with greater ease than on the
golden asteroid, and some of the scientific men eagerly resumed their
interrupted experiments.

But the attraction of this little satellite was so slight that we had to
be very careful not to move too swiftly in going about lest we should
involuntarily leave the ground and sail out into space, as, it will be
remembered, happened to the fugitives from the fight on the asteroid.

Not only would such an adventure have been an uncomfortable experience,
but it might have endangered the success of our scheme. Our present
distance from the surface of Mars did not exceed 12,500 miles, and we
had reasons to believe the Martians possessed telescopes powerful enough
to enable them not merely to see the electrical ships at such a
distance, but to also catch sight of us individually. Although the cloud
curtain still rested on the planet it was probable that the Martians
would send some of their airships up to its surface in order to
determine what