Thorwald smiled in appreciation of the doctor’s final words, but before he had time to speak we were a little startled by the red voice of Foedric, calling out:
“The moon! Look!”
It was nothing new for any of us now to look at our old moon. We had seen it almost every day, had talked much about it, and thought the novelty of its companionship to Mars about worn off. But our present high position and the clear, thin atmosphere gave it quite a changed appearance, as it was slowly coming into view above the horizon. We watched it in silence for a while and saw it mount the eastern sky, and I think all of us except Foedric had the same thought, that it appeared to be much nearer than usual. Foedric had seen it before from the same height, and knew when he called our attention to it that we were going to be surprised.
As the moon rose still higher it appeared to be coming toward us, instead of aiming at a point far over our heads, and our next sensation was caused by Zenith, who mildly exclaimed:
“It cannot be more than a few miles away. Why not go and make it a visit?”
To her surprise, if people of such high endowments ever are surprised, Thorwald asked quickly:
“Are you willing to try it if the rest of us are?”
“Certainly,” she replied.
“Foedric,” said Thorwald, “what do you say to flying out to the moon and attempting an invasion of it?”
“I say,” answered Foedric, “that I am ready. We have provisions enough for several days, and I believe the capacity of our battery is sufficient for the trip.” Thorwald learned from Avis and Antonia that they would not object to the trial, and then said: