"But what about our prisoner--the crazy machinist?" asked Jack. "Oh, I guess he will be all right. He had a good meal just before we landed, and he was asleep. We'll go with these queer people, and come back to-night to the projectile," said Mr. Roumann. "Come on." They started to follow the leader, who beckoned them forward. He went off at a rapid pace, and the travelers found themselves being urged on just as speedily by that mysterious thought force. "This is a great way of traveling," observed Jack. "It suah does beat walkin'," commented Washington White, who, after his first fright, appeared to take it all as a matter of course. "But I hopes dat dey's got suffin' t' placate mah inner conscientiousness wid, 'case I'se gittin' mighty hungry." "Oh, I guess these people have to eat, even if they are mostly brains," suggested Jack. "Anyhow, we've got plenty in the projectile." "If dat air crazy man don't git loose an' cat it all up," added Washington. "I shorely hopes dat he doesn't hurt mah Shanghai rooster." "Never mind about him. Look what a wonderful country we're in," said Mark. And indeed they were in a strange land. CHAPTER XXIII THE RED LIGHT At first glance Mars had not seemed to be much different from the earth they had left, but when the travelers had gotten over their first astonishment at seeing the strange people, they saw that there were many points of dissimilarity. In the first place, there appeared to be a great deal of water about them. There were canals or broad rivers on every side, with only narrow strips of land dividing them. The Annihilator had landed on a broad, sandy plain, one of the largest on the planet, as it afterward developed, and so gentle had been the descent, that the projectile was not injured in the least. But leaving that vicinity, and following their guide, the travelers found themselves in the midst of a network of waterways. "These must be some of the canals the astronomers see," observed Jack. "Yes," assented Mark. "There isn't much land to spare. I should think the Martians would be a sort of water race. But they don't appear to have any boats." "Yes, they do," put in Mr. Roumann. "Here comes one now." Sure enough, there suddenly appeared on a broad river or canal, along which they were being moved by that mysterious force, a large open boat, in which were several Martians. "Well, I wonder how that moves?" said Jack. "They're not rowing, they have no sail, and I can't see any engine." "Maybe thought power moves the boat, too," suggested Mark. "It certainly seems so," rejoined Mr. Henderson.