t was that we could move about with greater ease than on the
golden asteroid, and some of the scientific men eagerly resumed their
interrupted experiments.

But the attraction of this little satellite was so slight that we had to
be very careful not to move too swiftly in going about lest we should
involuntarily leave the ground and sail out into space, as, it will be
remembered, happened to the fugitives during the fight on the asteroid.

Not only would such an adventure have been an uncomfortable experience,
but it might have endangered the success of our scheme. Our present
distance from the surface of Mars did not exceed 12,500 miles, and we had
reason to believe that Martians possessed telescopes powerful enough to
enable them not merely to see the electrical ships at such a distance,
but to also catch sight of us individually. Although the cloud curtain
still rested on the planet it was probable that the Martians would send
some of their airships up to its surface in order to determine what
our fate had been. From that point of vantage, with their exceedingly
powerful glasses, we feared that they might be able to detect anything
unusual upon or in the neighborhood of Deimos.

The Ships are Moored.

Accordingly strict orders were given, not only that the ships should be
moored on that side of the satellite which is perpetually turned away
from Mars, but that, without orders, no one should venture around on
the other side of the little globe, or even on the edge of it, where he
might be seen in profile against the sky.

Still, of course, it was essential that we, on our part, should keep a
close watch, and so a number of sentinels were selected, whose duty it
was to place themselves at the edge of Deimos, where they could peep over
the horizon, so to speak, and catch sight of the globe of our enemies.

The distance of Mars from us was only about three times its own diameter,
consequently it shut off a large part of the sky, as viewed from our
position.

But in order to see its whole surface it was necessary to go a little
beyond the edge of the satellite, on that side which faced Mars. At the
suggestion of Colonel Smith, who had so frequently stalked Indians that
devices of this kind readily occurred to his mind, the sentinels all
wore garments corresponding in color to that of the soil of the asteroid,
which was of a dark, reddish brown hue. This would tend to conceal them
from the prying eyes of the Marti