On the other hand, we were able to indicate to him the location of our ship and the fact that we would like to have him come there whenever he could. We also made him understand that as we were leaving him now, we were returning to the ship.
In answer to our invitation to visit us, he pointed to himself, then in the direction of our ship and with a sign of the eyes, by opening up his lids with his fingers and pointing to the sky, that he would come when it was again daylight.
As a warning in response to the fact that we were now returning although it was still night-time, he gave us a shivering of his body sign by which we thought he meant that we had better be careful on the return for we may encounter some danger.
After shaking hands with our friend, we start on the way back to our ship, returning to the forest around the opposite end of the lake to what we had come. We easily find the path we had made through the brush but only a short way in, we do encounter danger. A very large size beast, quite wet, is standing upon the path blocking our passage and there is no way for us to get past him. Apparently he had come out of the lake just before we reached here. He challenges our right to pass as he stands there in the path growling, with his eyes blazing. He has four feet, no tail, an immense head and body and a pair of arms that seem to extend from his collar bones. He keeps swaying these arms back and forth just as if he wants to talk with his hands; yet we know that should one of us get caught in those arms, it would be the end.
There is but one thing for us to do if we are ever to get back to the ship and that is to get rid of him in some way.
We don't want to kill him, nor even to injure him, for we don't know with what regard the natives around here hold him, and we surely don't want to do anything to incite them against us. On the Earth we know there are some tribes who worship certain animals, like the Hindoo worships the cow. This could easily be the case also here on the Moon. So we decide on shooting a volley just over his head with the hope of frightening him. This idea worked; maybe because the animal heard a strange sound that he had never heard before. Instead of attacking us, he lumbered off through the brush and strange as it may seem, he made his way through without breaking the brush or leaving any path behind him.
Finally, just as the first golden streaks of sunlight appear above the horizon, we reach our ship. Shortly afterward we learn that on firing the shot back in the forest, we have alerted something we did not expect.
Chapter III
VISITED
The sun rose above the horizon in a burst of splendor and standing outside of our ship we enjoy this beauty to its fullest. We wonder if every day is like this. The air is sparkling clear as it still retains some of the coolness of the departing night, but from the appearance of that sun as it climbs higher into the sky, we know today will be just as hot as yesterday had been.