of the West, Colonel Alonzo Jefferson Smith, was the author of
this suggestion.

"Let us circumvent them," he said. "We can do it in this way. The chances
are that all of the available fighting force of the planet Mars is now
concentrated on this side and in the neighborhood of the Lake of the Sun."

Formulating a "Last Hope."

"Possibly, by some kind of X-ray business, they can only see us dimly
through the clouds, and if we get a little further away they will not
be able to see us at all."

"Now, I suggest that a certain number of the electrical ships be withdrawn
from the squadron to a great distance, while the remainder stay here;
or, better still, approach to a point just beyond the reach of those
streaks of lightning, and begin a bombardment of the clouds without
paying any attention to whether the strokes reach through the clouds
and do any damage or not."

"This will induce the Martians to believe that we are determined to
press our attack at this point."

"In the meantime, while these ships are raising a hullabaloo on this
side of the planet, and drawing their fire, as much as possible, without
running into any actual danger, let the others which have been selected
for the purpose, sail rapidly around to the other side of Mars and take
them in the rear."

It was not perfectly clear what Colonel Smith intended to do after the
landing had been effected in the rear of the Martians, but still there
seemed a good deal to be said for his suggestion, and it would, at any
rate, if carried out, enable us to learn something about the condition
of things on the planet, and perhaps furnish us with a hint as to how
we could best proceed in the further prosecution of the siege.

Accordingly it was resolved that about twenty ships should be told off
for this movement, and Colonel Smith himself was placed in command.

At my desire I accompanied the new commander in his flagship.

Flank Movements.

Rising to a considerable elevation in order that there might be no risk
of being seen, we began our flank movement while the remaining ships,
in accordance with the understanding, dropped nearer the curtain of
cloud and commenced a bombardment with the disintegrators, which caused
a tremendous commotion in the clouds, opening vast gaps in them, and
occasionally revealing a glimpse of the electric lights on the planet,
although it was evident that the vibratory currents did not reach the
ground. The Martians immediate