exploring. Where
there are snow and clouds there is moisture, and where there is moisture
a man ought to be able to breathe."

[Illustration: _Snow peaks and cloud seas._]

The _Astronef_, still falling, but now easily under the command of the
helmsman, shot forwards and downwards towards a vast dome of snow which,
rising some two thousand feet above the cloud-sea, shone with dazzling
brilliance in the light of the rising Sun. She landed just above the
edge of the clouds. Meanwhile they had put on their breathing-suits, and
Redgrave had seen that the air chamber through which they had to pass
from their own little world into the new ones that they visited was in
working order. When the outer door was opened and the ladder lowered he
stood aside, as he had done on the Moon, and Zaidie's was the first
human foot which made an imprint on the virgin snows of Venus.

The first thing Redgrave did was to raise the visor of his helmet and
taste the air of the new world. It was cool, and fresh, and sweet, and
the first draught of it sent the blood tingling and dancing through his
veins. Perfect as the arrangements of the _Astronef_ were in this
respect, the air of Venus tasted like clear running spring water would
have done to a man who had been drinking filtered water for several
days. He threw the visor right up and motioned to Zaidie to do the same.
She obeyed, and, after drawing a long breath, she said:

"That's glorious! It's like wine after water, and rather stagnant water
too. But what a world, snow-peaks and cloud-seas, islands of ice and
snow in an ocean of mist! Just look at them! Did you ever see anything
so lovely and unearthly in your life? I wonder how high this mountain
is, and what there is on the other side of the clouds. Isn't the air
delicious! Not a bit too cold after all--but, still, I think we may as
well go back and put on something more becoming. I shouldn't quite like
the ladies of Venus to see me dressed like a diver."

"Come along, then," laughed Lenox, as he turned back towards the vessel.
"That's just like a woman. You're about a hundred and fifty million
miles away from Broadway or Regent Street. You are standing on the top
of a snow mountain above the clouds of Venus, and the moment that you
find the air is fit to breathe you begin thinking about dress. How do
you know that the inhabitants of Venus, if there are any, dress at all?"

"What nonsense! Of course they do--at least, if they are any