"For a somewhat similar reason, I have directed M'Allister to keep the _Areonal_ at least ten miles above the lunar surface all the time we have been passing over it. When we saw it from a distance it was, as you know, an object of surpassing beauty; and as we have seen it from here it has still been pleasant to look upon. This is truly a case where distance lends enchantment to the view; for, if we went down close to the surface, we should find it a scene of the weirdest and wildest desolation--more horrible than anything seen during a nightmare, and more terrible than anything imagined by the insane! "No, John," I concluded, "let us retain our memory of the moon as a thing of beauty, and leave it at that." "I quite agree with your view of the matter, Professor," John replied; so I gave the signal to M'Allister, who was awaiting the result of our discussion, and we soon left the moon far below us. CHAPTER VII WE RESUME OUR VOYAGE--THE SUN AND THE SKY AS SEEN FROM SPACE All the time the _Areonal_ had been near the moon some of our machines were storing up fresh power, and we had accumulated a supply amply sufficient to meet any extra requirements in the event of our arrival upon Mars being unduly delayed. We now turned and looked back at the earth; and, as the moon was so near to it at that time, the earth's disc appeared very nearly two degrees in diameter, or nearly four times the usual apparent diameter of the full moon as seen from the earth. The crescent of light on its right-hand side was rather wider than when we last looked at it; but so many clouds hung over it, that we could not see what countries were comprised in the lighted portion of its surface. Owing to the light of the stars behind the earth being diffused by the dense atmosphere--in the same way as it would be diffused by a large lens--there was a ring of brilliant light like a halo all round the earth's disc. Having passed away from the moon, I now gave M'Allister the necessary directions in order to keep the _Areonal_ on a course which would enable us to head off the planet Mars at, as near as I could reckon, the point it would reach in fifty days' time. The course having been set, M'Allister was free to join us again, as the machinery required very little attention. When he did so, M'Allister at once asked me a question. "Professor, can you tell me when it's going to be daylight? The sun has been shining for hours and hours, yet it's still night; the sky is blacker than the blackest night I ever saw, and the stars are all out!" John laughed heartily, and said, "M'Allister, this is daylight! and all the daylight you will get until we reach Mars." M'Allister turned to me with a perplexed look on his face and asked, "Is that right, Professor, or is he trying to pull my leg, as he said he would?"