Another outstanding feature was certain large, bluish-green blotches interrupting the general rose-and-ocher hue of the plains. Some of the lines ended in these blotches. Wherever this occurred there was a caret-shaped junction, the line connecting directly at the point of the caret. At this point the color was deepest; from there it faded, gradually changing in color, the blotch blending into the ocher plain. All of these features stood out in increasing vividness as the strange planet drew nearer, proving that the Martian atmosphere contained little or no moisture in the form of clouds. With the further expansion of the surface beneath them, new and fainter lines were discovered. The great disk had by this time grown so large that its outer edges could be viewed readily from the sloping ports. The professor compared painstakingly the actual features of the planet before him with his own maps of it, the result of years of faithful observation and study at the lonely California observatory, that an ever-skeptical world might be further enlightened. The sight of him poring intently over his maps and notes, oblivious for the while of all else, was not without a certain pathos. At last, he stood at the threshold of vindication. “Gosh,” ejaculated the redhead, breaking a long silence with startling abruptness, “I hope we don’t drop into that snow on the north pole there.” “We can land at any point we prefer, old man,” Robert assured him. “That happens to be the south pole, my friends,” said the professor, referring to the large polar cap over the edge of which the _Sphere_ then hung. “See, the planet has been turning this way--toward what we shall call the east, which makes this pole the south.” “Give me the desert,” replied Taggert, indulging in the luxury of a shiver. “From the looks of things,” said Robert, “we shall have all the desert we want. That ocher shade seems entirely too popular. It makes me thirsty to look at it.” The gyrostats had been started again for safety as they drew near the planet, and the _Sphere’s_ comet-like velocity retarded by cautiously focusing the disk in the opposite direction temporarily. A deflection of the disk swung the _Sphere_ away from the pole and nearer the Martian equator. With the possibility of landing within a few hours, a keen watch was kept for the most promising region in which to land. “If our belief that Mars is inhabited be correct,” said Robert, “it may be well to avoid the population centers. The Martians may fear that we are seeking to do them harm with some machine of destruction, and destroy us.” “That’s a good suggestion,” exclaimed Taggert. “It would be just like one of those dudes to take a crack at us with some kind of a howitzer for luck.”