, and my hand instinctively
grasped a lever in the wall of the apparatus. A door opened and I
stepped out, carefully closing it behind me. Again I was astonished at
my wonderful familiarity with everything. If I had lived on Mars all my
life, I could not have had a more intimate knowledge of my surroundings.
I seemed to know exactly how to proceed, and after attending to several
important details, and carefully noting the temperature of the virator
on a thermometer placed for that purpose, I consulted a chronometer to
ascertain how long it would be safe for me to remain on Mars. I found
that, allowing a half-hour for the process of arrival and the same for
departure, I had just five hours.

My mind, at first stunned by the new and strange conditions to which it
was subjected, now gradually began to realize its remarkable position in
relation to the brain.

That the mind and the spirit are one, or so closely related as to be
indistinguishable and inseparable, was now beyond doubt, as I was keenly
aware of all that had happened to me on Earth, showing that my mind not
only existed, but also possessed the same faculty of thought in Almos'
body as it did in mine while on Earth. Here was a positive proof, in
fact a demonstration, of the theory advanced by some scientists, that
the mind is separate and distinct from the brain.

But the gulf that lies between life and death remained as wide as ever.
Death was still shrouded in mystery, for my mind knew nothing from the
moment it left the body on Earth, until it awakened in the body on Mars.
Flesh and blood, then, were essential to the mind's existence. Mind or
spirit must have expression through some form. Although man may achieve
much by scientific advancement, that to which he has progressed is but
as a grain of sand in the desert, to the wonders that surround him.
Science shall never penetrate the mystery of those things that are
withheld from him.

The brain of which my mind now took control, acted merely as the
material handle by which the machinery of the body was operated, thus
converting thoughts into actions. But although my mind, having by now
become perfectly familiar with the strange conditions, was able to
record new impressions on the brain, there still existed the impression
of Almos' thoughts. It resembled a book which my mind could instantly
refer to and be guided by, and thus was I in possession of a perfect
knowledge of Mars, its people, and its language