ile the
deference they showed the spirit seems, as usual, to have been merely
superficial."

"Let us note," said Cortlandt, "that the spirit thermometer outside has
fallen several degrees since we entered, though, from the time taken, I
should not say that the sudden change would be one of temperature."

Just then they saw a number of birds, which had been resting in a clump
of trees, take flight suddenly; but they fell to the ground before they
had risen far, and were dashed to pieces. In another moment the trees
began to bend and sway before the storm; and as they gazed, the colour
of the leaves turned from green and purple to orange and red. The wind
blew off many of these, and they were carried along by the gusts, or
fluttered to the ground, which was soon strewed with them. It was a
typical autumnal scene. Presently the wind shifted, and this was
followed by a cold shower of rain.

"I think the worst is over," said Bearwarden. "The Sailor's Guide says:

'When the rain's before the wind,
Halliards, sheets, and braces mind;
When the wind's before the rain,
Soon you can make sail again.'

Doubtless that will hold good here."

This proved to be correct; and, after a repetition of the precautions
they had taken on their arrival on the planet in regard to the
inhalability of the air, they again sallied forth. They left their
magazine shot-guns, taking instead the double-barrelled kind, on
account of the rapidity with which this enabled them to fire the second
barrel after the first, and threw away the water that had collected in
the bucket, out of respect to the spirit's warning. They noticed a
pungent odour, and decided to remain on high ground, since they had
observed that the birds, in their effort to escape, had flown almost
vertically into the air. On reaching the grove in which they had seen
the storm, they found their table and everything on it exactly as they
had left it. Bearwarden threw out the brandy peaches on the ground,
exclaiming that it was a shame to lose such good preserves, and they
proceeded on their walk. They passed hundreds of dead birds, and on
reaching the edge of the toadstool valley were not a little surprised
to find that every toadstool had disappeared.

"I wonder," said the doctor, "if there can be any connection between
the phenomenon of the disappearance of those toadstools and the death
of the birds? We could easily discov