upon my immediate departure, when, under
the influence of her great beauty, I would have lingered until too late.
My mind was fully determined as to how to proceed with regard to
righting the wrong I felt I had done Almos, in confessing to Zarlah my
love for her. I would leave a note for him at the observatory to the
effect that I wished to communicate with him the following evening, when
I would tell him all.

The hopelessness of my love was plain, for it was Almos whom she loved,
and she believed also that Almos had confessed his love to her; and,
with a lover's conviction that everyone must love the one he loves, I
felt that Almos undoubtedly loved Zarlah. Indeed, it was probably his
affection for her through which I had silently won her confession. Almos
would then have no cause to regret my action, and Zarlah would never
know the strange circumstances that had brought them together. Thus did
I picture in my mind a happy conclusion to my selfish and precipitate
action, which, I had feared at first, must bring overwhelming sorrow and
humiliation into three lives, two of which were dearer to me than any on
Earth.

I was roused from these meditations by the sudden roar of rushing waters
as, in order to reduce speed, we plunged along the surface of the
canal. We were nearing our destination at last, and my mind at once
reverted to the now imminent danger--that of arriving at the observatory
only to find that the wave contact with Paris had ceased, and I was too
late ever to return to the world from which I had come. In such a case,
I determined to write a brief account of my experiences to Almos, and,
after arranging the current of super-radium so that it would convey my
spirit out of the virator (whither I knew not), I would then enter the
virator and deliver the body to its rightful owner.

Although I determined upon this course as being clearly my duty, in the
event of my being too late to return to Earth, the desperate nature of
such a proceeding roused me to action. We had now risen from the canal
and were floating slowly in the air at a considerable height. Striving
hard to suppress my agitation, I urged Reon to make more speed, and he
at once responded by increasing the power. As it was now after midnight
in this part of Mars, we were in no danger of encountering small
aerenoids in our flight, and in a few moments, to my great relief, I
distinguished the observatory lying far beneath us. Describing circles
ov