y beneath us. Stretching as far as the eye could
reach lay a landscape of pink and green, dotted with white marble
buildings of magnificent architecture. Narrow paths, shaded by trees,
could be seen winding in and out over rustic bridges and beside
sparkling brooks. But nowhere did there appear either cities or
towns--not even a road was there to indicate a volume of traffic in any
particular direction.

No small aerenoids were to be seen floating about, and as the air in our
car was now very close, I realized that in consequence of the light
atmosphere of Mars, the sun's direct rays gave great heat. It was
evidently the custom for Martians to remain as much as possible under
cover in the daytime.

Opening the door of the aerenoid to obtain a fresh supply of air, I was
at once struck with the remarkable appearance of the sky, which was
intensely blue in color, but of such a dark shade as to appear almost
black. It presented all the appearance of night, so many stars were
visible and so brightly did they shine, while the sun blazed forth with
such brilliancy from the surrounding blackness, that it was impossible
to look westward without shading the eyes. I now appreciated the
enormous advantage of having an atmosphere as dense as Earth's, which
diffused the light to a much more comfortable extent. But the appearance
of the Martian sky was magnificent, and I stood lost in admiration
until, with a hardly perceptible shock, I discovered that we had come to
rest upon a ledge which projected from the circular balcony of a most
palatial building.

Jumping out, I moored the aerenoid by means of ropes that were attached
to the balcony for that purpose. I was aware that this was my duty upon
landing, and when I had made everything secure, Reon left his place at
the levers and joined me.

There were numerous other aerenoids moored to the balcony, some of the
high-speed class similar to ours, and a few of the lighter class
resembling rowboats. The balcony was entirely deserted, however, and it
was evident that all were inside listening to the recital of the
lumaharp.

As we proceeded across the broad balcony, I was astonished to discover
that the outside walls of this building were entirely covered with
beautifully carved reliefs, representing the inventions of Sarraccus.
Had it been daylight at the observatory, I would have noticed that it,
too, was decorated with the wonders of other worlds discovered by Almos.
The mountai