he remembered seeing a monk Felix
when he first entered the convent. The records were searched, and it was
found that Brother Felix had left the convent a hundred years before,
and as he had never returned he had been entered in the list of the
dead. So then

'They knew, at last,
That such had been the power
Of that celestial and immortal song,
A hundred years had passed,
And had not seemed so long
As a single hour.'

"That has really been something like my own experience to-night,"
continued John; "for I have scarcely been conscious of the passage of
time, and hours have seemed only minutes! I trust, Merna, that you will
convey to your friends our most grateful thanks for all the pleasure we
have derived from this magnificent display of Martian attainments."

M'Allister and I joined in this request, and Merna promised to comply
with our wishes. He seemed very pleased at our appreciation; and he told
John that his quotation had recalled to his memory the beautiful poem by
Longfellow, which had been a favourite with him during his earthly
school-days, but had lain entirely dormant in his mind until now.

We all agreed that, however long we might live, the memory of that
evening's events--the magnificent display of aerial skill, the glorious
harmonies of colour, and, above all, the majestic and incomparable
music--could never be effaced from our minds. We wondered whether aerial
flight would ever be brought so completely under control as to permit of
a similar display in the skies of our own world.

Merna replied that he was sure it would be quite possible some day, but
it must be remembered that what we had been witnessing was the result of
centuries of Martian experience in aerial navigation.

Merna then gave us an account of the progress of Martian discovery in
regard to aeronautics, from which we gathered that the earlier
experiences of the Martians had been somewhat similar to those of our
own people. They began with bags of various shapes inflated with gas
lighter than air, similar to our balloons, then experimented with
aeroplanes of various designs, also bird-like wings, on a very large
scale, actuated by electric and other motors. As time went on, however,
their atmosphere became thinner and thinner, until at last all such
forms of apparatus became nearly, if not quite, useless as a means of
artificial flight.

After this they made use of numerous vertical screws of a spiral form,
wh