The other was not a Terrestrial, but a visiting Martian. It was impossible to mistake the distinctly Martian cast of countenance. The great black horse eyes in the long, melancholy face, the elongated slightly pointed ears were proof enough. Martians in New York were not sufficiently rare to excite any particular comment. Many made that city their permanent home, although the law on the planet Earth, as well as on Mars, which forbade the intermarriage of Martians and Terrestrials, kept them from flocking earthwards in any great numbers.
In the applause that followed the conclusion of Ralph's words the incident of the two pairs of scrutinizing eyes vanished from his thoughts. But his sub-conscious self, that marvelous mechanism which forgets nothing, had photographed them indelibly. With the plaudits of the crowd still ringing he bowed and left the room.
He went, via the elevator, directly to his library, and asked for the afternoon news.
His man handed him a tray on which lay a piece of material as large as a postage stamp, as transparent and flexible as celluloid.
"What edition is this?" he asked.
"The 5 o'clock New York News,[1] sir."
Ralph took the "News" and placed it in a metal holder which was part of the hinged door of a small box. He closed the door and turned on a switch on the side of the box. Immediately there appeared on the opposite white wall of the room, a twelve-column page of the New York News and the scientist, leaning back in his chair, proceeded to read.
The New York News was simply a microscopic reduction of a page, which, when enlarged by a powerful lens, became plainly visible.
Moreover, each paper had eight "pages," in separate sheets, as was the fashion centuries ago, but eight pages literally on top of each other. The printing process was electrolytic, no ink whatsoever being used in the manufacture of the "newspaper." This process was invented in 1910 by an Englishman, and improved by the American 64L 52 in 2031, who made it possible to "print" in one operation eight different subjects, one on top of another.