ese along for companions, I suppose?"

"Yes, for that and for experiments. We may reach places where it will
be necessary to determine whether living, breathing things can exist
before we try it ourselves. Then we shall put one of these out and
observe the effects."

"You may experiment on the rabbit all you please, but this little puppy
and I are going to be fast friends, and we shall die together; shan't
we, Two-spot?"

"Why do you call him Two-spot? There is only one spot on him, and his
name is _Himmelshundchen_."

"Rubbish! The idea of such a long, heavy name for such a little puppy! I
shall call him Two-spot because he is the smallest thing in the pack.
Heavenly-puppy, indeed!"

The doctor had entered and lighted a small gas jet, supplied on the
Pintsch system from compressed gas stored in one of the chambers. The
rear compartment, which was to be mine, looked half an arsenal and half
a pantry. On the right side a cupboard was filled with newly-cooked
meats. I remember how plentiful the store looked at the time, but, alas!
how soon it vanished and we were reduced to tinned and bottled foods!
There was a cold joint of beef, a quarter of roast mutton, three boiled
hams and four roast chickens.

On the left, folding up into the concavity of the wall, like the upper
berth of a Pullman sleeping car, was my bunk. On the walls not thus
occupied the arms were hung. There were two repeating rifles, each
carrying seventeen cartridges; two large calibre hammerless revolvers;
two long and heavy swords, designed for cleaving rather than for
stabbing; two chain shirts, to be worn under the clothing to protect
against arrows; and finally two large shields, made of overlapping steel
plates and almost four feet high. The doctor explained to me that the
idea was to rest the lower edge of these on the ground and crouch behind
them. They were rather heavy and cumbersome to be carried far, and were
grooved in three sections, so that they slipped together into an arc
one-third of their circumference.

I examined everything closely and asked a hundred questions, but the
doctor seemed to have provided for every necessity or contingency.

"Let us waste no more time," said I. "If we have forgotten anything, we
must get along without it. All aboard! What is our first stop?"

"The planet Mars, only thirty-six million miles away, if we are
successful in meeting him just as he comes into opposition on the third
day of August. This i