of the power of resistance. A victory that cost
us the loss of a single ship would be too dearly purchased now.

How to deal that blow, and first of all, how to discover the means of
dealing it, were at present the uppermost problems in our minds.

The only hope for us lay in the girl.

If, as there was every reason to believe, she was familiar with the
ways and secrets of the Martians, then she might be able to direct our
efforts in such a manner as to render them effective.

"We can spare two weeks for this," said Mr. Edison. "Can you fellows of
many tongues learn to talk with the girl in that time?"

"We'll try it," said several.

"It shall we do," cried the Heidelberg professor more confidently.

"Then there is no use of staying here," continued the commander. "If we
withdraw the Martians will think that we have either given up the contest
or been destroyed. Perhaps they will then pull off their blanket and
let us see their face once more. That will give us a better opportunity
to strike effectively when we are again ready."

Preparing a Rendezvous.

"Why not rendezvous at one of the moons?" said an astronomer. "Neither
of the two moons is of much consequence, as far as size goes, but still
it would serve as a sort of anchorage ground, and while there, if we were
careful to keep on the side away from Mars, we should escape detection."

This suggestion was immediately accepted, and the squadron having been
signalled to assemble quickly bore off in the direction of the more
distant moon of Mars, Deimos. We knew that it was slightly smaller than
Phobos but its greater distance gave promise that it would better serve
our purpose of temporary concealment. The moons of Mars, like the earth's
moon, always keep the same face toward their master. By hiding behind
Deimos we should escape the prying eyes of the Martians, even when they
employed telescopes, and thus be able to remain comparatively close at
hand, ready to pounce down upon them again after we had obtained, as we
now had good hope of doing, information that would make us masters of
the situation.

Chapter XIII.

On One of Mars' Moons.

Deimos proved to be, as we had expected, about six miles in diameter. Its
mean density is not very great so that the acceleration of gravity did
not exceed one two-thousandths of the earth's. Consequently the weight
of a man turning the scales at 150 pounds at home was here only about
one ounce.

The resul