ed.
Here where we had weight "up" and "down" had resumed their old meanings.
"Down" was toward the center of Mars, and "up" was away from that
center.

Standing on the deck, and looking overhead as we swiftly ploughed our
smooth way at a great height through the now imperceptible atmosphere of
the planet, I saw the two moons of Mars meeting in the sky exactly above
us.

Before our arrival at Mars, there had been considerable discussion among
the learned men as to the advisability of touching at one of their
moons, and when the discovery was made that our provisions were nearly
exhausted, it had been suggested that the Martian satellites might
furnish us with an additional supply.

But it had appeared a sufficient reply to this suggestion that the moons
of Mars are both insignificant bodies, not much larger than the asteroid
we had fallen in with, and that there could not possibly be any form of
vegetation or other edible products upon them.

This view having prevailed, we had ceased to take an interest in the
satellites, further than to regard them as objects of great curiosity on
account of their motions.

The nearer of these moons, Phobos, is only 3,700 miles from the surface
of Mars, and we watched it traveling around the planet three times in
the course of every day. The more distant one, Deimos, 12,500 miles
away, required considerably more than one day to make its circuit.

It now happened that the two had come into conjunction, as I have said,
just over our heads, and, throwing myself down on my back on the deck of
the electrical ship, for a long time I watched the race between the two
satellites, until Phobos, rapidly gaining upon the other, had left its
rival far behind.

Suddenly Colonel Smith, who took very little interest in these
astronomical curiosities, touched me, and pointing ahead, said:

"There they are."

I looked, and sure enough there were the signal lights of the principal
squadron, and as we gazed we occasionally saw, darting up from the vast
cloud mass beneath, an electric bayonet, fiercely thrust into the sky,
which showed that the siege was still actively going on, and that the
Martians were jabbing away at their invisible enemies outside the
curtain.

In a short time the two fleets had joined, and Colonel Smith and I
immediately transferred ourselves to the flagship.

"Well, what have you done?" asked Mr. Edison, while others crowded
around with eager attention.

"If we have