Fifteen Hundred Miles An Hour. Charles Dixon
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But before the Doctor could complete his toast the whole apartment was filled with a lurid flash of bluish light, and before we could recover from our surprise the vault of heaven was shaken by an appalling peal of thunder.
"The storm is on us, Doctor," exclaimed Graham, "and to all appearance it is far too close to be pleasant."
A few moments after, another and a brighter flash of lightning lit up the gloomy swamp, and almost simultaneously the thunder bellowed out in a quick succession of cracking reports, dying away in rumblings and growlings which were tossed from echo to echo in the wilderness. Then down came the rain in a drowning deluge, roaring on the foliage, and churning the surface of the sleeping lake into a torrent of bubbling, boiling foam.
Towards the end of the storm we had another surprise, which filled us with the direst alarm. An exclamation from Temple brought us all to the window of the Sirius which overlooked the lake. With blanched face, and eyes fixed intently upon the water, he pointed to the seething pool.
"Tell me if I am mad or dreaming," he shouted in his terror.
Truly, indeed, his alarm was not without cause, for there, coming slowly from the water on to the shore, and in the direction of the Sirius, was the first representative we had seen of animal life in Mars. How shall we attempt to describe this hideous amphibious monster, as it appeared lit up by the almost incessant flashes of lightning? Only its enormous head and forequarters were yet visible – a huge scaly carcase, mapped out with phosphorescent light, a square-looking head with pointed snout, and with two monstrous eyes attached to stalk-like shafts about a foot in length, which in the brief intervals of darkness shone like balls of fire. Raising its head on its long pliant neck, it sniffed the air as if in anger, and then began to crawl out of the pool, yard after yard of its repulsive body emerging, its head nearly reaching the Sirius before its tapering fish-like tail was drawn from the water. We could hear the grinding, crunching sound of its scaly body as it was slowly drawn along the swampy ground, and so near had it come to us that we could see a coarse, bushy mane hanging round its lower neck in dripping folds. The hideous reptile, for such we must call it, passed on without noticing the Sirius, although we felt its rough, scaly body rub against the sides; and as its hideous, mighty coils disappeared into the gloomy swamp, leaving a luminous, slimy track behind them we could detect huge protuberances like warts along its back, here and there varied with spiky fins, which were from time to time half-raised, as though the horrible creature were about to engage in combat.
"Doctor," said Temple, in his alarm, "if this is a fair sample of the creatures we have come to live amongst, I really think it time we began to think about getting back again. I don't like the idea of such neighbours at all. Besides, we may yet meet with monsters more terrible still, and what is of greater importance to us, we may not escape their notice so easily next time. We should require an army to protect us from such creatures as this."
"Gently, gently, Temple; you are not a naturalist, and cannot be expected to feel my enthusiasm."
No less than nine of these terrible monsters came from the lake during the hour that we watched, and all took the same beaten track into the swamps that the first had followed, and we saw them no more. Temple could scarcely conceal a shudder, as he looked at the now placid water. "Ah!" he exclaimed, "who would have dreamed that such creatures were lying beneath its surface?"
Certainly the Doctor alarmed us, when we heard him coolly bidding Sandy to seek and slaughter these loathsome creatures.
"Sandy," said he, "you must get me one of those serpents to morrow. It will be most interesting to dissect so magnificent a type of the Reptilia. I may not have another such opportunity."
"Na, na, Doctor, I could na do it – I could na do it, mon," he replied deprecatingly.
"Doctor, I am afraid, if you press your request, we shall have Sandy wanting to give us all a week's notice," said Graham, assuming an air of mock gravity as he spoke.
"I dinna want to do anything o' the kind, Mr. Graham."
"All right, Sandy my boy, I'll make a bargain with you," answered Graham, laughing. "If I kill the beastie, will you help to cut him up?"
"Na, na, Mr. Graham, it is na a joking matter. I will ha' nothing to do with it; for as sure as you do, bad luck'll be followin' us. We'd best not meddle wi' the likes o' them."
"Well, Sandy," said the Doctor, "you must have had sufficient experience of me, by this time, to know that I never ask a man to do anything I am afraid to do myself. I spoke thoughtlessly, and will do the killing myself."
By the time these reptiles had passed out of sight, the storm had well-nigh subsided. Sleep was beyond us, the sight of these reptiles alone was enough to keep us awake for a week. We longed, oh, how we longed for the dawn! But more surprises were in store for us, ere that eventful night had passed away.
The awful storm seemed to have stirred into activity the wild beasts of this lonesome marsh, and many curious cries resounded from its depths. Now a muffled yell, or a chorus of loud bellowings would be heard, as if some gigantic creatures were fighting each other to the death. Then more musical calls would break the oppressive stillness – here, there, and everywhere from the thickets they came, but the animals that produced them were invisible in the gloom. Our curiosity was excited to the utmost limits of human endurance.
It must have been about an hour before the dawn when we were terrified, beyond all description, by a crash against one of the windows of the Sirius, followed by a moan as of pain, so appalling, so unearthly, that our very blood seemed to curdle with horror. Even Doctor Hermann himself was visibly disconcerted. Perhaps it was owing to the highly wrought state of our nerves, but all of us, for the moment, were too terror-stricken to move. In the Doctor's case the alarm was only momentary, and with intrepid courage he rushed to the broken window, firing a couple of shots from his revolver at some dread shape struggling to enter the apartment. The Doctor was a poor hand with such a weapon; both bullets missed their mark; and before a third shot could be fired, the frightful creature had vanished. Moan after moan was heard; now near, then far away in the distance, sounding more like the voices of tortured souls, than of any material being. In a few moments, another of these mysterious creatures appeared, and this time we watched it approach with rapt astonishment, as it floated through the air in the full focus of the rays from our electric lamps. No creature of Earth possesses such means of locomotion. It looked like a huge dark ball, perhaps six feet in diameter; and as it came towards us, we noticed that it was revolving with enormous rapidity, forcing its way through the air, evidently on the same principle as a screw-propeller in the water.
Graham had by this time regained his self-possession, and, with his rifle in hand, as this monster approached, he said:
"Doctor, shall I fire?"
"Yes, Graham, by all means; but be absolutely sure of your aim before doing so."
Almost before the Doctor had finished speaking, the crack of Graham's rifle rang out; but the animal continued its course, and came with a crash against the Sirius. The shot had told, nevertheless, and we heard its body fall through the reeds, and drop with a heavy thud on the spongy ground.
"Well done, Mr. Graham! A splendid shot! He's doon! He's doon!" sang out Sandy at the top of his voice, evidently both pleased and comforted beyond measure, to see that these strange beings we had come amongst were not proof against earthly powder and ball.
CHAPTER VIII.
A STRANGE WORLD
In the grey dawn of morning the weather began to clear; white fogs hung low over the densest parts of the swamp, but near the Sirius the mist lifted, and the leaden-looking sky was visible. We now climbed out on to the balcony, and though nearly surrounded with the giant reeds, we had a fairly good view of the range of snow-capped mountains which extended beyond the lake. With the break of day the tumultuous carnival of the wild beasts inhabiting the marsh came to an end, and their cries gradually ceased. Buried as we were, among the dense, marshy forest, we could not be absolutely certain, but so far as we could judge, the country seemed more open beyond the lake. We had evidently descended just on the outskirts of the swamp, which was apparently connected with the lake, and formed part