The next thing we knew, when the two running figures reach Johnny, George runs to the lake and using his hat as a container, gets some water. With it he revives Johnny who had merely fainted at so unexpectedly having a human being open the door in response to his knocking.
Now we know that all is well again.
George turns and motions for us to come on around.
This we do. Upon reaching the others, we are surprised to have this tall slender Moonalite take us into his dwelling and give us some refreshments which are fish that were not boiled nor fried but were preserved. They had an odd taste to us, yet were very palatable. With this fish he gave us some liquid which was neither coffee nor water nor could it be called Bourbon, yet it has a stimulating effect upon us and is very refreshing. As we partake of these refreshments and talk among ourselves, our new friend keeps a steady watch over us, observing every move and act we perform.
Several hours had elapsed when finally he began to gesture with his hands, trying to tell us something or to ask us some question. We didn't know which for we didn't seem to succeed well at first in trying to convey messages to each other. Finally we thought of an idea by which we might make ourselves known to him.
We took him outside his home and pointed to the Earth riding just above the horizon as the long Moon night nears its end. By motions and pictures in the sand, we succeed in conveying to him that we have come here from the Earth in a big ship flying through the air. As this fact dawned upon him, he expressed great surprise.
Through signs which we are beginning to understand by this time, he indicates that all these other dwellings are at present empty. He alone is here as a keeper of all these places. We learn that these dwellings are all fishermen's shacks in which they live when they are fishing from the lake. They are all made from the same kind of brush which we had had to cut our way through before reaching the lake. Although we had found the brush brittle and easily broken, these shacks were all very neatly and solidly put together.
Our Moonalite friend, as we now all feel towards him, is about six feet eight inches in height, very slender yet not undernourished. The bony structure of his body seems to be delicate, yet strong. His arms are quite long, due to his slender form of body structure. His skin is clear white. A feeling of warm friendliness is expressed towards us through his deep blue eyes, as well as a quick sparkle of merriment, as he seemed to understand us much better than we are able to understand him. His eyeballs protrude a little more than ours but in no way detract from his general appearance. His mouth is firm but very sensitive and in it he has very good teeth, strong, firm, and white. Judging from our Earth experience, this man looks to us to be around seventy years of age, yet well preserved and with an intensely active mentality. Later we learn that he is one hundred and ninety years of age.
The Earth is sinking low on the horizon as we prepare to return to our ship. We have invited our friend to accompany us but he has made us understand by signs that he cannot leave at this time, but must stay here.
We tried to learn if there are many people in this part of the Moon but in this we were unsuccessful for we seem unable to make our signs clear enough for him to understand what we are asking.