sounded as distinct as if he were in the room, and his image, depicted
life-size, made it hard to believe that he was more than a few feet
away. That my informant was, in reality, millions of miles away, my mind
absolutely refused to grasp.

A thousand questions to put to my Martian acquaintance rushed into my
mind, but alas, in supposing that I could not come in contact with Mars
on account of cloud obscurity, I had lost much of the precious time, and
now the waning light on my instrument warned me that the planet would,
in a few moments, pass out of range. We therefore hastily bade each
other adieu, promising to continue our conversation on the morrow, as
though we had parted at a street corner. The light now faded completely,
and the instrument, that a few moments previously had been animated with
such an exuberance of life and mystery, now stood before me wrapped in
profound darkness and silence.

How impossible, how inconceivable it all seemed! How the outside world
would scoff if I attempted to explain or publish my discovery! I felt
that the time had not yet come to take anyone into my confidence, and I
determined still to keep all a secret. I was then unaware, however, that
the more I learned of Mars and its people the more closely I would guard
my knowledge.

Pacing excitedly up and down my laboratory, I spent most of the night in
reviewing what I had heard, and speculating the rare knowledge that the
morrow would bring. The secrets of another world would be unfolded to
me, and the scientific achievements of a people over a thousand years in
advance of us would be mine. What glorious possibilities this disclosed!
What a brilliant future as a scientist such knowledge would assure me!
And in the exuberance of my spirits I little thought that the possession