Part 7 (1/2)
”The avenue of Approach is known as the _Imprintum_. On either side rose lines of marble columns, their lofty capitals crowned with statues, their bases cl.u.s.tering with marble groups, while breaking now and then the white monotony, spiral and intertwining pillars of colored gla.s.s sprang into the air, like t.i.tanic tropical vines holding in extended fingers the b.a.l.l.s of phosphori.
”The pavement we trod was made of blocks of the phosphori, and at night this magnificent, indescribable and transcendent street becomes a path of flame, showering upon the files of silent marble statues above it the splendor of this spectral effulgence.
”As we came near the buildings of the Patenta our outcry and the sonorous pulsations of the singing brought to its windows and doorways the many workers in the laboratories, lecture halls, and offices. We were regarded with wonder. But there seems present amongst these people a telepathic power, not perhaps what we call that in the Earth, but an intuitive construction of meaning upon the pa.s.sing of a word or a hint.
Forerunners furthermore had given some account of the strange new spirit from the Earth, who had prearranged with people on the Earth itself, to return to them, if possible, messages of his experiences after a human death. It had been the dream of the Martians, the sensation of their daily lives, the hope of returning to their former dwelling places, some token, word, salutation, indeed to somehow begin that almost apocryphal conception of binding the Universe into a conversational unit.
”No marvel that they were now excited, transported; no wonder that I, the accidental being, who falling in their world, as it were, from outside, should be the agency to lead to the eventual conquest of these great designs.
”On we swept like a tide that advances upon a coast, encompa.s.ses each salient rock, island and projection, and evading it by embracing it, rises still further into the bays and harbors, and brings the full tide at last to its most remote limits. So columns and stairways, halls, and wings, and arms, of buildings successively were surged round, and the vast complex pushed its way to the great Hall of Attention.
”This enormous structure was built somewhat to one side of the great Observatories. It was rectangular, elevated and attained to by stairs on every side. It resembles a huge Grecian temple, but the interior treatment was quite contrasted. Externally it was made of the white phosph.o.r.escent marble with colonnades of columns of the blue metal supporting its projecting roofs. I was carried as by a cataract of waters up its stairways. Already its bronze gates were swung wide open, and through them the Martian army pa.s.sed with impetuous stride. Learned men, the leaders and great physicists, many of those I had seen in the morning had reached the Hall. These were constantly augmented by new arrivals from the more distant Schools of Philosophy, Design and Art, while streaming in at every door came the joyous mult.i.tude, and the great vault of the Hall of Attention resounded with the rolling chorus.
”It was a moving, an impossible spectacle. The balconies swept upward to a wall of polished granite. They were supported by columns of mosaic marble; the floor of roughened gla.s.s was concealed with benches of a gray stone, whose backs were carved in a tracery of branches, over which were thrown pale yellow rugs or shawls; the broad ceiling was divided into deep, rectangular recesses _plafonded_ with opalescent gla.s.s, and these recesses were made by the intersection of huge girders of the blue metal, while provisions were made throughout for electric lighting by tall gla.s.s cylinders, which glow like pillars of lambent flame, and stood upright, affixed to the walls at regular intervals, or concealed in cavities along the ceiling, or grouped like the fasces of the Roman lictors, at the railings of the balconies.
”A wide platform occupied the center of this vast auditorium, and upon this I was carried as by a wave of the sea. Here I touched the floor; the accompanying crowds dispersed through the hall, which became filled, and as it filled some unnoticed signal ushered the glow of the electric ether in the cylinders, until a glory of radiance mingled with the sunlight and illuminated the audience, whose songs had died away, and who sat in att.i.tudes of attention, their faces upturned, their blue caps s.h.i.+ning resplendently, like a surface of tempered steel.
”I stood alone with my former guide, and Chapman. I felt moved by some singular enthusiasm; the exaltation of the moment possessed me, and unannounced, as yet unquestioned, I rose to my full height upon a narrow rostrum in the platform, and turning from side to side spoke with an elation that seemed to propel my ringing words over the great a.s.sembly with the power and shock of a trumpet:
”'Men and women,' I cried, 'I have reached your wonderful world from that habitation of mortal men known to many of you as the Earth, where death ceaselessly destroys generation after generation, and only the incessant processes of birth as quickly renew the falling ranks of life.
To us on earth, the disappearance of those we love and cherish, the sundering of ties which a lifetime of love and companions.h.i.+p has established, the sharp vanis.h.i.+ng away into nothingness and silence of the faces and spirits of the great and glorious, the good, the helpful, the true and n.o.ble, has made death an awful, hideous, to some a hopeless mystery.
”'We stand on earth speechless before the unseen power which s.n.a.t.c.hes from our caresses all that we most cherish, all that makes our life there worth living. There is no solution of the mystery, no voice, no return, no message, only a blankness of doubt, misgiving and desperate yearning in those who must continue. There is indeed with those on Earth a partial confidence by reason of religious faith, but strong as that seems to be, the endless succession of centuries, each crowding the viewless habitations of the dead with the still more and deeper streams of disembodied souls, unaccompanied by any response, any utterance or return, limit or telltale apparition, has somehow filled all minds with a creeping wonder if even the a.s.surances of Revelation can be believed.
”'Dying on the Earth may have continued in historic, and what is called prehistoric time, for over 50000 years, and yet from those unnumbered millions not a cry or a whisper, note, or vision, is heard or seen to betray their destiny, if destiny beyond the grave there is.
”'But back of Religion, back of experience, back of rational doubt or infidelity, the heart keeps up its importunate cry of hope. We dare not crush out within us the sweet thought of reunion. Upon that earth I lost a wife, who summed up to me everything of value, virtue, and beauty human life can claim. The pa.s.sionate desire to regain her, the defiant mutiny of my heart against any thought of her annihilation, made me turn to the s.h.i.+ning hosts of heaven for rea.s.surance. In them somewhere I believed the vanished soul of my companion had flown. This wonderful world was known to me, and what the wise men of the Earth said of its possible population. It was then that with my son I devised, following certain suggestions, a system of wireless telegraphy. We have both, my son and myself, felt certain that some disturbance was recorded by our instrument from some planet beyond the earth. From that moment my son and myself felt convinced that we might be permitted to bring about a release of the inhabitants of the Earth from the narrow limits of its own surface, and launch out upon the s.p.a.ces of the universe the messages that would return to us with some news of other worlds, or bring a.s.surance that the Death of the world was but the swinging door to some new existence.
”'Men of Mars, that Death which tore from me my wife set his seal at last on me, but before the summons was executed, I had made arrangements in every possible detail to communicate with my son. We agreed upon a cypher, and I have so imprinted each measure of our compact upon my memory that all of it is as clear to my mind as it was before I left the Earth. Give me possession of your great instruments, let me bridge the millions of miles to our earth, and in an instant stir the populations of the Earth into fierce attention, so that from now on through all the coming years you Martians shall speak with the people of the earth and again from Mars, as from some relay station, messages shall pa.s.s outward to the stars, and thus from planet to planet the reinforced utterance may pierce the universe of worlds.'
”I finished; a great shout arose from the immense mult.i.tude; with one impulse the light blue metal caps were swung from their heads and tossed upward, while the cheers pa.s.sing out into the streets were caught up, and in refluent waves of sound rolled back upon me like the murmur of a distant storm at sea.
”I do not think I was quite understood, but the chief feature of my speech was realized, and the Martians, quick to respond to any suggestion, and inflammable of nature, had become enthusiastic over the prospects of this new revelation.
”I stood an instant uncertain what I should do, or what new development would follow my evident popularity. Suddenly a strong, ringing voice spoke from the gallery immediately in front of me. It said--I could not quite separate the speaker in the moving throng: 'Come to the _Manana_.'
”Chapman and my friend whispered together 'Volta,' and then turning to me told me to follow them. I followed. Already the hall had become partially emptied, and we pushed onward amongst radiant men and women, who received me with smiles and gestures of approval. Once outside the Hall of Attention, we hurried through some narrow corridors, up winding stairways, until at length we emerged upon a lofty platform carrying a railing about it, and so elevated above all the surrounding buildings of the Patenta that my glance seemed to sweep the circuit of the City, and swept outward over a rolling and low country through which ran wide mirror-like ribbons of water, the great ca.n.a.ls of Mars, while afar off melting into the crystalline hazes of the horizon rose dark ma.s.ses of mountains.
”I stood an instant stupified and overcome. The deep voice of a salutation came to my ears, and turning I saw the face of Volta. Beside me was a large induction coil, and above it two huge plates of copper about ten feet apart. The next instant a flash pa.s.sed between the electrodes, and I was caught and turned aside with my companions. The light of the spark was intense, and the spark itself of great dimensions.
”Volta then spoke: 'My friend, your arrival on the surface of our planet is a sensation. We are all delighted. You have solved our difficulties.
With this transmitter you can yourself send to the earth the message you wish. And this receiver will catch the waves of the smallest amplitudes.'
”He pointed to a singular train of tubes, each filled apparently with a s.h.i.+ning line of straw shaped metallic bodies. This was raised by some silk cord pa.s.sing to a pulley and arm, perhaps a hundred feet above us.
”Volta spoke with difficulty; he seemed preoccupied, and after I was shown the transmitter, and its mechanism was explained, he took my hand warmly, pressed it between his own, and then speaking in the Martian tongue to Chapman, left us.
”I then sent you, my son, my first message. What pleasure! The great sparks flashed magnificently. Chapman and my friend were in ecstacies. I worked steadily until the night. And when all was over I waited until the stars came out, until again the City of Light shone like some huge, myriad faceted stone, and then there came, while Chapman and my friend stood mute beside me, your faint response.
”I scarcely caught the lisping ticks, but they came, and it seemed indeed as if the power of the Creator had pa.s.sed into the hands of men.
”With a joy too deep for the futile hopelessness of words to express, we both descended from the high station and through the great halls. I found my way to the charming, peaceful room above the glowing city and fell asleep with prayers upon my lips for all the dead and dying upon the Earth.