that direction. The shadow of the trees falling
upon the roadway produced a dense gloom, in the midst of which we felt
that we should be safe, unless the Martians had eyes like those of cats.

An Alarming Encounter.

As we pushed along, our hearts, I confess, beating a little quickly,
a shadow stirred in front of us.

Something darker than the night itself approached.

As it drew near it assumed the appearance of an enormous dog, as tall
as an ox, which ran swiftly our way with a threatening motion of its
head. But before it could even utter a snarl the whirr of Colonel Smith's
disintegrator was heard and the creature vanished in the shadow.

"Gracious, did you ever see such a beast?" said the Colonel. "Why,
he was as big as a grizzly."

"The people he belonged to must be near by," I said. "Very likely he
was a watch on guard."

"But I see no signs of a habitation."

"True, but you observe there is a thick hedge on the side of the road
opposite the canal. If we get through that perhaps we shall catch sight
of something."

A Palace in View.

Cautiously we pushed our way through the hedge, which was composed
of shrubs as large as small trees, and very thick at the bottom, and,
having traversed it, found ourselves in a great meadow-like expanse which
might have been a lawn. At a considerable distance, in the midst of a
clump of trees, a large building towered skyward, its walls of some red
metal, gleaming like polished copper in the soft light that fell from
the cloud dome.

There were no lights around the building itself, and we saw nothing
corresponding to windows on that side which faced us, but toward the
right a door was evidently open, and out of this streamed a brilliant
shaft of illumination, which lay bright upon the lawn, then crossed the
highway through an opening in the hedge, and gleamed on the water of
the canal beyond.

Where we stood the ground had evidently been recently cleared, and there
was no obstruction, but as we crept closer to the house--for our curiosity
had now become irresistible--we found ourselves crawling through grass so
tall that if we had stood erect it would have risen well above our heads.

Taking Precautions.

"This affords good protection," said Colonel Smith, recalling his
adventures on the Western plains. "We can get close in to the Indians--I
beg pardon, I mean the Martians--without being seen."

Heavens, what an adventure was this! To be crawling about in t