Above and around them the blackness of space was unbroken. The sun seemed simply to have gone out completely. Only the vivid sight of Mars reassured them.
“The moon!” yelled Taggert, first to think of it.
Hard on the heels of the realization of what had caused the sudden darkness came to Robert and Professor Palmer the knowledge that the satellite must be dangerously close to them. Otherwise, its small diameter would not have so completely hidden the sun from them. Passing between them and the sun, there was no longer danger of its crashing into them, but it was not entirely improbable that it might attract the Sphere toward it, with disastrous results.
Almost the next instant they were plunged again into the joyous rays of the sun. All of this had happened in a few seconds’ time, but to their startled minds it had seemed much longer. Looking up furtively they had glimpsed, for just a moment, a slice of blackness slipping from the edge of the sun. The miniature satellite had passed from their vision into the sightless black background of space. But, no; there was something there!
The reflection from Mars produced a barely perceptible glow upon the jagged face of the big ball above them. It reminded Robert exactly of the faint, broken reflection of lantern light on the ceiling of a large chamber in a cave which he had once explored. There was something threatening and terrifying about the rapidly dissolving apparition.
“I’ve seen enough of that baby,” sighed Taggert. “Oy, let’s go down on Mars and meet some nice, fresh cannibals before we hook up with another one of those things.”
“As a matter of fact, my esteemed friend, we are still scurrying toward yon cannibalistic region to the tune of some thousand miles an hour,” volunteered Robert, adopting Taggert’s vernacular.
The curious lines and dots now stood out vividly on the ocher-tinted background. So obviously of artificial origin did they appear that neither Taggert nor Robert entertained any further doubts as to the planet’s being inhabited. Soon they were all three engrossed in a discussion concerning the probable appearance of these remarkable people, who were engaged in a desperate struggle for life against the waning of their world.
“I think they are a race of giants, because no people of ordinary strength could succeed in constructing such a vast system of canals,” Taggert suggested.
“I’ve heard it claimed that the Martians are probably a race of smaller stature than ourselves, in proportion to the size of their planet,” said Robert.