’It’s written by some old Martian crank of an astronomer, and contains his speculations upon the subject of the Earth. They call us, you know, the evening star; for so our planet appears to them, just as Venus does to us. Well, he is writing and speculating about their evening star—that is, about our world—and he declares his conviction that it cannot be inhabited by human beings like those living on Mars. He argues that because the light from our Earth shines with a bluish tint, therefore, if there are people on it, they must have blue skins. He brings forward a lot of most convincing arguments to support this theory, and winds up by declaring that if our world is really inhabited, it can only be by a race of ape-like creatures, with blue skins and bodies partly covered with green hair!’ ’H’m! So much for some people’s scientific theories. However, I ’ve got something else to talk to you about just now. While you ’ve been reading and dreaming, and going about with your head in the clouds’—— ’Above the clouds, Jack—far, far above the clouds! Be practical, now. Consider! Are we not far above the clouds?’ ’Will you listen, you incorrigible dreamer?’ exclaimed Jack impatiently. ’I want to tell you that I am afraid there is some fresh trouble brewing in which those Zuanstrooms are mixed up. Two or three times lately I have come upon their youngster, Freddy, wandering about in melancholy fashion, and when I asked him why he was alone, he said, each time, that they had sent him out because the "ugly old man" had come there to talk, and he was in the way. Now, by "ugly old man" Freddy means the one you called the Ogre—Kazzaro. The question naturally suggests itself, why should there be secret conferences between that worthy and the Diamond King?’ ’Seems funny, doesn’t it? Have you mentioned anything about it to our guardian or Mr Monck?’ ’Not yet. You see, I haven’t anything definite to go upon. But I ’m going to keep my eyes open, and I mean, if I can, to find out what it really is that is going on between the Zuanstrooms and the crowd they’ve become so thick with.’ ’Well, I’ll help you to keep an eye on them too. Neither Kazzaro nor Mr Zuanstroom is any friend of ours; that we know. I do believe that if they could have their way they would throw us off the ship, and leave us to go whizzing about in space like a couple of little comets.’ However, time passed on without anything further occurring to strengthen Jack’s suspicions; and soon they were almost forgotten in the interest and excitement which sprang up and grew from day to day as they neared the end of the voyage.