ack star
in the midst of dead worlds. Perhaps the system will fall together,
perhaps it will run against a star. In either case there would probably
be a 'new heaven and a new earth.'"

"Born like a phoenix from the ashes of the old," said I, feeling the
justice of the well-worn simile.

"I daresay the process goes on to all eternity."

"Like enough."

The sublime idea, with its prospect of the infinite, held us for a time
in silence. At length my thoughts reverted to the original question
which had been forgotten.

"Now, whether should I go to Mars or Venus?" I enquired, fixing my eyes
on these planets and trying to estimate their relative distances from
the earth.

Gazen made a mental computation, and replied with decision,

"Venus."

"All right," I responded. "Venus let it be."

CHAPTER V.

LEAVING THE EARTH.

"Check!"

I was playing a game of chess with an old acquaintance, Viscount ----,
after dinner, one evening, in the luxurious smoking-room of a
fashionable club in the West End of London.

Having got his queen into a very tight corner, I sipped a glass of wine,
lit a Turkish cigarette, and leaned back in my chair with an agreeable
sense of triumph.

My companion, on the other hand, puffed rapidly at his cigar, and took a
long drink of hot whiskey and water, then fixed his attention on the
board, and stroked his beard with an air of the deepest gravity. Had you
only seen his face at that moment you would have supposed that all the
care of a mighty empire weighed upon his shoulders. The countenance of a
grand vizier, engaged in considering an ultimatum of Lord Salisbury,
were frivolous in comparison. There is little doubt that if Lord ----
had applied to the serious business of life as much earnest deliberation
as he gave to the movement of a pawn, he would have made a very
different figure in Society. But having been born without any effort of
his own to all that most men covet--rank, wealth, and title--he showed a
rare spirit of contentment, and did his best to make the world happier
by enjoying himself.

As he was a very slow player, I began to think of a matter which lay
nearer to my heart than the game, I mean the project of travelling to
Venus. Tests of the new flying machine, by Professor Gazen and myself,
as well as our enquiries into the character of Mr. Carmichael, having
proved quite satisfactory, I had signed an agreement for the
construction of an ethereal ship or car, eq