Not far away was the bank of a canal, bordered by a magnificent avenue shaded by a double row of immense umbrageous trees. We approached the canal, and, getting upon the road, turned to the left to make an exploration in that direction. The shadow of the trees falling upon the roadway produced a dense gloom, in the midst of which we felt that we should be safe, unless the Martians had eyes like those of cats. As we pushed along, our hearts, I confess, beating a little quickly, a shadow stirred in front of us. Something darker than the night itself approached. As it drew near it assumed the appearance of an enormous dog, as tall as an ox, which ran swiftly our way with a threatening motion of its head. But before it could even utter a snarl, the whirr of Colonel Smith's disintegrator was heard and the creature vanished in the shadow. "Gracious, did you ever see such a beast?" said the Colonel. "Why he was as big as a grizzly." "The people he belonged to must be near by," I said. "Very likely he was a watch on guard." "But I see no signs of a habitation." "True, but you observe there is a thick hedge on the side of the road opposite the canal. If we get through that perhaps we shall catch sight of something." Cautiously we pushed our way through the hedge, which was composed of shrubs as large as small trees, and very thick at the bottom, and, having traversed it, found ourselves in a great meadow-like expanse which might have been a lawn. At a considerable distance, in the midst of a clump of trees, a large building towered skyward, its walls of some red metal, gleaming like polished copper in the soft light that fell from the cloud dome. There were no lights around the building itself, and we saw nothing corresponding to windows on that side which faced us, but toward the right a door was evidently open, and out of this streamed a brilliant shaft of illumination, which lay bright upon the lawn, then crossed the highway through an opening in the hedge, and gleamed on the water of the canal beyond. Where we stood the ground had evidently been recently cleared, and there was no obstruction, but as we crept closer to the house--for our curiosity had now become irresistible--we found ourselves crawling through grass so tall that if we had stood erect it would have risen well above our heads. "This affords good protection," said Colonel Smith, recalling his adventures on the western plains. "We can get close in to the Indians--I beg pardon, I mean the Martians--without being seen." Heavens, what an adventure was this! To be crawling about in the night on the face of another world and venturing, perhaps, into the jaws of a danger which human experience could not measure! But on we went, and in a little while we had emerged from the tall grass and were somewhat startled by the discovery that we had got close to the wall of the building. Carefully we crept around to the open door.