em.
But as the sunlight was never strong, rooms were rarely ever light
enough for comfort without the flames of gas.

This was my first acquaintance with Martian gases, which I soon found to
be very numerous and various in use. On the other hand, very few liquids
existed. The atmospheric pressure was so low that what might have
existed normally as liquids on Earth, took the form of heavy gases here.
In every case they were heavier than the air, so that they remained in
vessels just as a liquid would have done. The four lamps were made of
reeds and shaped like the letter U. The right-hand side of the U was a
large vertical reed, connecting neatly at the bottom with a very much
smaller reed forming the other prong and terminating at the top in a tip
of baked earth, turned downward, so that it would discharge the gas away
from the lamp. A light stone weight was fitted to slide neatly down the
large vertical tube in which the gas was stored, and thus force the gas
up to the burner in the smaller tube. If a brighter light was desired, a
heavier weight was put on, and to extinguish the light it was only
necessary to lift the weight, which cut off the supply from the burner.

While lying on the downy floor-cushion, I was strangely annoyed by the
faint and distant howling of a dog. It seemed to come from the banquet
room adjoining mine, or from the doctor's room on the other side. I
called in the doctor, who said he heard nothing and had seen no dogs on
Mars. He tried to make me believe it was a fancy of mine. But presently
when a servant entered, he seemed to hear it instantly, for he turned
quickly about and left, but it was fully half an hour later before the
plaintive howling ceased.

"These Kemish people have better ears than we have," I remarked to the
doctor.

"Yes, both their ears and eyes are much better suited to the conditions
of fainter light, and higher, thinner sounds. There may be music at the
banquet to-night which we cannot hear at all in some of its notes."

"If there are no foods whose delicate flavours we fail to taste, I shall
be able to get along quite well. I am extremely hungry, and quite ready
for a change of fare." We had only eaten a hasty lunch when we had
re-entered the projectile at Long Breath to await the return of the
soldier.

Zaphnath himself came to conduct us to the banquet room, and we were
much surprised at its dark and gloomy character. The entire vast
enclosure had but twenty-one