This contact with Mars had hardly been broken when a large group of
natives from both villages arrived on the scene to look after our ship
while we were away. What method of communication they had between
themselves and Mars, we don't know unless it was mental telepathy.
After again greeting our Moonalite friends, we groomed ourselves and
then took a good rest for the journey just ahead.
As the first rays of the rising sun pierced the morning sky we saw a
giant airship streaking out of space towards us. We knew it was the
Martonian ship. It circled overhead once and then landed alongside of
our ship.
As they land and start coming out of their ship, we realize these are
not the same men we met in the city. The first man to leave the ship
comes directly to us and shakes our hands in warm friendly greeting as
he introduces himself.
He is a Martonian scientist and has been chosen as our host and guide
on this trip. This man is about five feet, ten inches in height,
well built but not heavy, or stout. His face is quite round with
such a happy expression he seems always to be smiling. He is olive
complexioned, has sparkling brown eyes and jet black hair. There is a
warmth about his being which seems to so enfold us that we have not the
slightest awareness of strangeness between us and these men.
After introducing himself, he introduces us to all the others who
have come with him from Mars to meet us. In the group there are
twelve scientists, six pilots, forty crew-men, and fourteen servants,
seventy-two men in all.
After all introductions had been made and greetings had been exchanged
between the Martonians and the Moonalites, we were all invited to come
into the diner of their ship for a meal which had already been prepared.
In the diner the tables are all set for just the number of people there
are present.
The flavor of the food defies description. Most of it is entirely
different than anything we have ever eaten on Earth, but there is some
kind of fowl served that is similar to Earthly chicken both in taste
and appearance. The drink is delicious in flavor and non-intoxicating
but we have no idea what it is.
This ship is far larger than the one we had seen in the city. During
the conversation at the table, the first pilot remarked that it was in
readiness to come to the Moon to meet us as an official ship from Mars
when the people there knew that everything was set on the Earth for us
to leave the Moon.
In surprise Johnny asked how they knew when we were leaving.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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