But he came too late! For ere he could get within twenty paces of the Sirius the command was given by Doctor Hermann, and Graham set the engines in motion. We shot upwards towards the sky with great speed, and before our astonished pursuer could recover from his surprise we were a thousand feet above him in the air. However superior to us in their intelligence the people of Mars might be, they were evidently nonplussed at our escape, and appeared to be utterly ignorant of aerial navigation in any form whatever. At least we thought so then, as we watched them gathering into terror-stricken groups below us, and ever and anon pointing to the Sirius, now almost at rest four thousand feet above them.
"Doctor, how I wish we could manage to well clean our machinery, and be able to rely upon our electricity for safety. This is beating the enemy with a vengeance," said Graham.
"But, my young friend, you forget that we cannot live in the air; our mission is to make friends with these people, not to shun them; to fraternise with them in the common interests of humanity. Now that we are here, a serious responsibility rests upon each and all of us—the teeming millions of our fellow-men, left behind on earth, will expect us to make the very most of our glorious opportunities, and to carry back to them a full history of the wonders of this new world and new race. 'Advance' must be our watchword, until our work is done; even though our lives are lost in the effort. Recall the words you uttered, Graham, years ago, on that fateful evening, when you solemnly pledged yourself to this mission, nay, even devoted your life to its full accomplishment. Our course is clear; put the Sirius up another ten thousand feet, and we will let her head towards the beautiful city yonder. We will come to rest on that elevation above it, and then be guided by events."
The country below us seemed teeming with people, spreading about in all directions; and dense bodies of what looked like troops, could be distinguished coming from the city in the direction of the place where the Sirius had rested the previous night. Evidently these people had some very rapid means of communication, one with the other. The entire district appeared to be thoroughly aroused, and the commotion was evidently increasing each moment. That we were seen was manifest—thousands of upturned faces told us that the Sirius was the centre of attraction, and every movement was keenly noted. We had now a much better view of the three glittering domes; they appeared to be the roof of some magnificent temple, whose walls seemed of white marble; but the dense growth of trees round the entire edifice, still concealed much of its rare beauty from our gaze.
Just as we came over the outskirts of this wonderful town, the Sirius received a terrible blow from some missile, which made her quiver from top to bottom, and we quite expected that we were about to fall to the ground. Had the projectile struck us fairly, nothing could have saved us; but by good fortune it glanced obliquely along the sides of the Sirius, and spent itself in space.
"If I mistake not, that has been fired at us from the city below; but what the force was that hurled that bullet so high, and with such marvellously accurate aim is unknown to me, for no explosion accompanied it," said the Doctor, with rather a disconcerted air.
"It is time we descended of our own free will, Doctor," answered Temple, "otherwise we shall be brought down as ignominiously as a winged hawk, and there will then be a speedy end to us and our projects."
We were now directly over the city. And such a noble city, too! The buildings were all of colossal grandeur, the streets wide, and at right angles; no smaller houses mingled with the rest—all were uniformly grand, though the variety of the architecture prevented the slightest monotony. There were several magnificent buildings which we concluded were palaces or seats of government, on the larger of the two hills on which the city rested, and some of these were surrounded by gardens. The top of each hill had been levelled, and the bridge between them was a superb structure, quite half a mile in width, and perhaps three miles in length! What surprised us beyond everything was the total absence of conveyances, or of any kind of beasts of burthen whatever in the spacious thoroughfares, which were crowded with people alone.
"What palaces! What domes! What halls and towers! What streets!" shouted Graham, carried away by his admiration for the architects and engineers who had planned and reared them.
After earnest consultation we decided to descend at once, choosing a vast open square before one of the largest edifices, but which appeared to be deserted of people, as the exact spot. Slowly we dropped through the air. Nearer and nearer to the ground we came, each moment the magnificence of the city increasing as our eager scrutiny became closer. One thousand feet more! Five hundred! One hundred only left! Not a living creature in view! Our hearts beat fast; our excitement became agony in its intensity. The courtyard seemed paved with precious stones of every hue, as large as ostrich-eggs; certainly no common stones of Earth are like them, and none known to man, even the most rare, so large. Curious plants and trees grew in well-kept beds; fountains of perfumed water shot like crystal rockets to the sky! All this, and more, we noted in the short time that we were descending the last few feet; but ere the Sirius could touch the ground, a thousand stalwart warrior-giants rushed out from every side! In an instant we were the centre of an excited frenzied throng, and our lives were apparently not worth another moment's purchase!