at the mercy of the mysterious
creatures known as the Vivores; and toward them moved the little group of young
people who alone, in all the universe, could save them . . . yet
how? How could only those three save them?
I
learned the truth at last—the fabulous truth, and also, alas, the tragic truth.
There came a day—the events of it to be related in due course—when, more than
six long months after its departure, I learned of the Comet’s return. With thankfulness—but also
sorrow—in my heart, I sped to greet my friends. And so, when all the first
flurry of welcome was over, I came to a knowledge of everything that had
befallen.
It
was plain to me, as the various contributions reached me, that in order to do
full justice to the last long part of the adventure, it would be necessary to
change somewhat the method of presentation. The narrative of the Rescue is so
continuous that it would lose much of its flavor and atmosphere split up into
successive viewpoints. I therefore set out to choose one member of the party to
set down, in as detached a manner as possible, the whole strange tale; and,
after some consideration, decided upon Mr. Archibald Keith Borrowdale as the
likeliest to accomplish the task. He had had some previous literary
experience—moreover was, as a scientist (yet perhaps not quite so “scientifically
minded” a scientist as Dr. Kalkenbrenner, if I may say so), more likely to be
able to take up the necessarily impartial point of view.
I
consequently asked Mr. Borrowdale to undertake almost single-handed the telling
of the last part of the story. I am happy to say that he consented. Until the
last chapter of all, therefore—the final summing up—the tale of the Living
Canals of Mars is told by Mr. A. Keith Borrowdale in a continuous narrative,
commencing upon the next page. The one interpolation from another pen has been
kept to a minimum.
For
purposes of dramatic convenience Mr. Borrowdale’s narrative has been split into
chapters: the first of them (Chapter Eight in the over-all pattern of the book,
of course) follows herewith, under the title—
CHAPTER VIII. LOOMINGS, by A. Keith Borrowdale [3]
OUR
FIRST STEP when we landed on Mars (as Dr. Kalkenbrenner has already said) was
to set about attaching the prefabricated booster rocket to the under part of
the Comet ,
so as to be prepared for a departure at any moment. The work was comparatively
simple—every detail had been carefully worked out beforehand; and even allowing
for the extreme haste with which all our final preparations had to be made on
Earth, there were no undue complications.
As
the Comet stood on its gigantic tripod undercarriage, extending from the three great fins
at its tail, a secondary and wider entrance hatch was opened in its side,
giving access to what I may call the “hold,” beneath the main living cabin.
From this, a small but powerful derrick lowered the component parts of the
booster, then swung them into position and held them firm for assembly.
While
this work was going forward, the young folk, needless to say, were having the
time of their lives. After the long period of near-imprisonment in the small
cabin of the spaceship, they were like puppies—leaped, skipped and ran with a
complete happy abandon. Katey, I may add, was as delighted as any of them to be
free. Like Maggie, she was being introduced for the first time to the
extraordinary sensation of being almost three times as strong (or as light, rather) on Mars as upon
Earth. She went sailing twelve and thirteen feet in the air in huge jumps, and—
“Look— look ,
Archie,” she cried, as she glided serenely above my head while I worked at the
booster assembly, “what wouldn’t I give to be able to do this back home! I’d
make my fortune as an act at the Palladium! And the air ! It’s like
bubbly—dear old bubbly!”
And
she soared past me again, with the others beyond, like so many figures in a
presentation of Peter Pan .
creatures known as the Vivores; and toward them moved the little group of young
people who alone, in all the universe, could save them . . . yet
how? How could only those three save them?
I
learned the truth at last—the fabulous truth, and also, alas, the tragic truth.
There came a day—the events of it to be related in due course—when, more than
six long months after its departure, I learned of the Comet’s return. With thankfulness—but also
sorrow—in my heart, I sped to greet my friends. And so, when all the first
flurry of welcome was over, I came to a knowledge of everything that had
befallen.
It
was plain to me, as the various contributions reached me, that in order to do
full justice to the last long part of the adventure, it would be necessary to
change somewhat the method of presentation. The narrative of the Rescue is so
continuous that it would lose much of its flavor and atmosphere split up into
successive viewpoints. I therefore set out to choose one member of the party to
set down, in as detached a manner as possible, the whole strange tale; and,
after some consideration, decided upon Mr. Archibald Keith Borrowdale as the
likeliest to accomplish the task. He had had some previous literary
experience—moreover was, as a scientist (yet perhaps not quite so “scientifically
minded” a scientist as Dr. Kalkenbrenner, if I may say so), more likely to be
able to take up the necessarily impartial point of view.
I
consequently asked Mr. Borrowdale to undertake almost single-handed the telling
of the last part of the story. I am happy to say that he consented. Until the
last chapter of all, therefore—the final summing up—the tale of the Living
Canals of Mars is told by Mr. A. Keith Borrowdale in a continuous narrative,
commencing upon the next page. The one interpolation from another pen has been
kept to a minimum.
For
purposes of dramatic convenience Mr. Borrowdale’s narrative has been split into
chapters: the first of them (Chapter Eight in the over-all pattern of the book,
of course) follows herewith, under the title—
CHAPTER VIII. LOOMINGS, by A. Keith Borrowdale [3]
OUR
FIRST STEP when we landed on Mars (as Dr. Kalkenbrenner has already said) was
to set about attaching the prefabricated booster rocket to the under part of
the Comet ,
so as to be prepared for a departure at any moment. The work was comparatively
simple—every detail had been carefully worked out beforehand; and even allowing
for the extreme haste with which all our final preparations had to be made on
Earth, there were no undue complications.
As
the Comet stood on its gigantic tripod undercarriage, extending from the three great fins
at its tail, a secondary and wider entrance hatch was opened in its side,
giving access to what I may call the “hold,” beneath the main living cabin.
From this, a small but powerful derrick lowered the component parts of the
booster, then swung them into position and held them firm for assembly.
While
this work was going forward, the young folk, needless to say, were having the
time of their lives. After the long period of near-imprisonment in the small
cabin of the spaceship, they were like puppies—leaped, skipped and ran with a
complete happy abandon. Katey, I may add, was as delighted as any of them to be
free. Like Maggie, she was being introduced for the first time to the
extraordinary sensation of being almost three times as strong (or as light, rather) on Mars as upon
Earth. She went sailing twelve and thirteen feet in the air in huge jumps, and—
“Look— look ,
Archie,” she cried, as she glided serenely above my head while I worked at the
booster assembly, “what wouldn’t I give to be able to do this back home! I’d
make my fortune as an act at the Palladium! And the air ! It’s like
bubbly—dear old bubbly!”
And
she soared past me again, with the others beyond, like so many figures in a
presentation of Peter Pan .
Similar Books
