Saturn

: SATURN

Landing on a place about ten degrees north of the equator, so

that they might obtain a good view of the great rings--since ON

the line only the thin edge would be visible--they opened a

port-hole with the same caution they had exercised on Jupiter.

Again there was a rush of air, showing that the pressure without

was greater than that within; but on this occasion the barometer

stopped at thirty-eight, from which they c lculated that the

pressure was nineteen pounds to the square inch on their bodies,

instead of fifteen as at sea-level on earth. This difference was

so slight that they scarcely felt it. They also discarded the

apergetic outfits that had been so useful on Jupiter, as

unnecessary here. The air was an icy blast, and though they

quickly closed the opening, the interior of the Callisto was

considerably chilled.



"We shall want our winter clothes," said Bearwarden; "it might be

more comfortable for us exactly on the equator, though the scene

at night will be far finer here, if we can stand the climate.

Doubtless it will also be warmer soon, for the sun has but just

risen."



"I suspect this is merely one of the cold waves that rush towards

the equator at this season, which corresponds to about the 10th

of our September," replied Cortlandt. "The poles of Saturn must

be intensely cold during its long winter of fourteen and three

quarter years, for, the axis being inclined twenty-seven degrees

from the perpendicular of its orbit, the pole turned from the sun

is more shut off from its heat than ours, and in addition to this

the mean distance--more than eight hundred and eighty million

miles--is very great. Since the chemical composition of the air

we have inhaled has not troubled our lungs, it is fair to suppose

we shall have no difficulty in breathing."



Having dressed themselves more warmly, and seen by a thermometer

they had placed outside that the temperature was thirty-eight

degrees Fahrenheit, which had seemed very cold compared with the

warmth inside the Callisto, they again opened the port-hole, this

time leaving it open longer. What they had felt before was

evidently merely a sudden gust, for the air was now comparatively

calm.



Finding that the doctor's prediction as to the suitability of the

air to their lungs was correct, they ventured out, closing the

door as they went.



Expecting, as on Jupiter, to find principally vertebrates of the

reptile and bird order, they carried guns and cartridges loaded

with buckshot and No. 1, trusting for solid-ball projectiles to

their revolvers, which they shoved into their belts. They also

took test- tubes for experiments on the Saturnian bacilli.

Hanging a bucket under the pipe leading from the roof, to catch

any rain that might fall--for they remembered the scarcity of

drinking-water on Jupiter--they set out in a southwesterly

direction.



Walking along, they noticed on all sides tall lilies immaculately

pure in their whiteness, and mushrooms and toadstools nearly a

foot high, the former having a delicious flavour and extreme

freshness, as though only an hour old. They had seen no animal

life, or even sign of it, and were wondering at its dearth, when

suddenly two large white birds rose directly in front of them.

Like thought, Bearwarden and Ayrault had their guns up, snapping

the thumb-pieces over "safe" and pulling the triggers almost

simultaneously. Bearwarden, having double buckshot, killed his

bird at the first fire; but Ayrault, having only No. 1, had to

give his the second barrel, almost all damage in both cases being

in the head. On coming close to their victims they found them to

measure twelve feet from tip to tip, and to have a tremendous

thickness of feathers and down.



"From the looks of these beauties," said Bearwarden, "I should

say they probably inhabited a pretty cold place."



"They are doubtless northern birds," said Cortlandt, "that have

just come south. It is easy to believe that the depth to which

the temperature may fall in the upper air of this planet must be

something startling."



As they turned from the cranes, to which species the birds seemed

to belong, they became mute with astonishment. Every mushroom

had disappeared, but the toadstools still remained.



"Is it possible we did not see them?" gasped Ayrault.



"We must inadvertently have walked some distance since we saw

them," said Cortlandt.



"They were what I looked forward to for lunch," exclaimed

Bearwarden.



They were greatly perplexed. The mushrooms were all about them

when they shot the birds, which still lay where they had fallen.



"We must be very absent-minded," said the doctor, "or perchance

our brains are affected by the air. We must analyze it to see if

it contains our own proportion of oxygen and nitrogen. There was

a good deal of carbonic-acid gas on Jupiter, but that would

hardly confuse our senses. The strange thing is, that we all

seem to have been impressed the same way."



Concluding that they must have been mistaken, they continued on

their journey.



All about they heard a curious humming, as that of bees, or like

the murmuring of prayers in a resonant cathedral. Thinking it

was the wind in the great trees that grew singly around them,

they paid no attention to it until, emerging on an open plain and

finding that the sound continued, they stopped.



"Now," said Bearwarden, "this is more curious than anything we

found on Jupiter. Here we have an incessant and rather pleasant

sound, with no visible cause."



"It may possibly be some peculiarity of the grass," replied

Cortlandt, "though, should it continue when we reach sandy or

bare soil, I shall believe we need a dose of quinine."



"I FEEL perfectly well," said Ayrault; "how is it with you?"



Each finding that he was in a normal state, they proceeded,

determined, if possible, to discover the source from which the

sounds came. Suddenly Bearwarden raised his gun to bring down a

long-beaked hawk; but the bird flew off, and he did not shoot.

"Plague the luck!" said he; "I went blind just as I was about to

pull. A haze seemed to cover both barrels, and completely

screened the bird."



"The Callisto will soon be hidden by those trees," said

Cortlandt. "I think we had better take our bearings, for, if our

crack shot is going to miss like that, we may want canned

provisions."



Accordingly, he got out his sextant, took the altitude of the

sun, got cross-bearings and a few angles, and began to make a

rough calculation. For several minutes he worked industriously,

used the rubber at the end of his pencil, tried again, and then

scratched out. "That humming confuses me so that I cannot work

correctly," said he, "while the most irrelevant things enter my

mind in spite of me, and mix up my figures."



"I found the same thing," said Bearwarden, "but said nothing, for

fear I should not be believed. In addition to going blind, for a

moment I almost forgot what I was trying to do."



Changing their course slightly, they went towards a range of

hills, in the hope of finding rocky or sandy soil, in order to

test the sounds, and ascertain if they would cease or vary.



Having ascended a few hundred feet, they sat down near some trees

to rest, the musical hum continuing meanwhile unchanged. The

ground was strewn with large coloured crystals, apparently

rubies, sapphires, and emeralds, about the size of hens' eggs,

and also large sheets of isinglass. Picking up one of the

latter, Ayrault examined it. Points of light and shade kept

forming on its surface, from which rings radiated like the

circles spreading in all directions from a place in still water

at which a pebble is thrown. He called his companions, and the

three examined it. The isinglass was about ten inches long by

eight across, and contained but few impurities. In addition to

the spreading rings, curious forms were continually taking shape

and dissolving.



"This is more interesting," said Bearwarden, "than sounding

shells at the sea-shore. We must make a note of it as another

thing to study."



They then spread their handkerchiefs on a mound of earth, so as

to make a table, and began examining the gems.



"Does it not seem to you," asked Ayrault, a few minutes later,

addressing his companions, "as though we were not alone? I have

thought many times there was some one--or perhaps several

persons--here besides ourselves."



"The same idea has occurred to me," replied Cortlandt. "I was

convinced, a moment ago, that a shadow crossed the page on which

I was taking notes. Can it be there are objects about us we

cannot see? We know there are vibrations of both light and sound

that do not affect our senses. I wish we had brought the

magnetic eye; perchance that might tell us."



"Anything sufficiently dense to cast a shadow," said Ayrault,

"should be seen, since it would also be able to make an image on

our retinas. I believe any impressions we are receiving are

produced through our minds, as if some one were thinking very

intently about us, and that neither the magnetic eye nor a

sensitive plate could reveal anything."



They then returned to the study of the isinglass, which they were

able to split into extremely thin sheets. Suddenly a cloud

passed over the table, and almost immediately disappeared, and

then a sharpened pencil with which Ayrault had been writing began

to trace on a sheet of paper, in an even hand, and with a slight

frictional sound.



"Stop!" said Bearwarden; "let us each for himself describe in

writing what he has seen."



In a moment they had done this, and then compared notes. In each

case the vision was the same. Then they looked at the writing

made by the invisible hand. "Absorpta est mors in Victoria," it

ran.



"Gentlemen, began Bearwarden, as if addressing a meeting, "this

cannot be coincidence; we are undoubtedly and unquestionably in

the presence of a spirit or of several spirits. That they

understand Latin, we see; and, from what they say, they may have

known death. Time may show whether they have been terrestrials

like ourselves. Though the conditions of life here might make us

delirious, it is scarcely possible that different temperaments

like ours should be affected in so precisely the same way;

besides, in this writing we have tangible proof."



"It is perfectly reasonable," said Ayrault, "to conclude it was a

spirit, if we may assume that spirits have the power to move the

pencil, which is a material object. Nobody doubts nowadays that

after death we live again; that being the case, we must admit

that we live somewhere. Space, as I take it, can be no obstacle

to a spirit; therefore, why suppose they remain on earth?"



"This is a wonderful place," said Cortlandt. "We have already

seen enough to convince us of the existence of many unknown laws.

I wish the spirit would reveal itself in some other way."



As he finished speaking, the rays of the distant and cold-looking

sun were split, and the colours of the spectrum danced upon the

linen cloth, as if obtained by a prism. In astonishment, they

rose and looked closely at the table, when suddenly a shadow that

no one recognized as his own appeared upon the cover. Tracing it

to its source, their eyes met those of an old man with a white

robe and beard and a look of great intelligence on his calm face.

They knew he had not been in the little grove thirty seconds

before, and as this was surrounded by open country there was no

place from which he could have come.