Chapter VII: Mars (1)

Mars was calling to invite us to visit their planet. We were told they knew of our condition and that we would be in need of fuel if we used much more of what we now have. If we wished to accept their invitation at this time, they would instruct the Moonalites right in this vicinity to look after our ship while we were away and they would send a ship from their planet to our landing field here on the Moon to pick us up.

This was indeed a surprise beyond our greatest hopes and an invitation we certainly do want to accept.

Johnny replied that we would like, more than anything else, to come to planet Mars but he must first contact the Earth and tell them of this unexpected trip, since he had just told them we were starting Earthward in the morning.

This he did.

The Earth people were overjoyed about our making a trip to Mars and they told us such a visit at this time would make our trip a far greater success than had been anticipated.

After contact with the Earth had been broken, Mars came in again and Johnny told them he had notified the Earth of our change in plans and we would be awaiting arrival of their ship.

"That's good. Our ship will be there for you early in the morning," was the friendly reply. "And by the way, don't worry about your fuel supply. If you should need more than you have to make your trip home to Earth, we will give you all you need. We have plenty of it. Our chemical laboratories use the same type fuel as you use in your airships, but our ships haven't used anything of that kind for thousands of years."

"We would like to bring your ship to Mars to show the people here for no one living now has ever seen one like it. But it isn't built to make such a trip. This isn't a reflection upon your intelligence when we tell you that your ship would be an antiquated curiosity to present day Martonians, belonging to a long forgotten people who were just growing into a state of civilization. We are glad you reached the Moon safely in it and we will find some other way for our people to see your ship."

After having seen so many ships from other planets, we understood what they meant and our feelings weren't hurt in the least.

This contact with Mars had hardly been broken when a large group of natives from both villages arrived on the scene to look after our ship while we were away. What method of communication they had between themselves and Mars, we don't know unless it was mental telepathy.

After again greeting our Moonalite friends, we groomed ourselves and then took a good rest for the journey just ahead.

As the first rays of the rising sun pierced the morning sky we saw a giant airship streaking out of space towards us. We knew it was the Martonian ship. It circled overhead once and then landed alongside of our ship.

As they land and start coming out of their ship, we realize these are not the same men we met in the city. The first man to leave the ship comes directly to us and shakes our hands in warm friendly greeting as he introduces himself.

He is a Martonian scientist and has been chosen as our host and guide on this trip. This man is about five feet, ten inches in height, well built but not heavy, or stout. His face is quite round with such a happy expression he seems always to be smiling. He is olive complexioned, has sparkling brown eyes and jet black hair. There is a warmth about his being which seems to so enfold us that we have not the slightest awareness of strangeness between us and these men.

After introducing himself, he introduces us to all the others who have come with him from Mars to meet us. In the group there are twelve scientists, six pilots, forty crew-men, and fourteen servants, seventy-two men in all.

After all introductions had been made and greetings had been exchanged between the Martonians and the Moonalites, we were all invited to come into the diner of their ship for a meal which had already been prepared.

In the diner the tables are all set for just the number of people there are present.

The flavor of the food defies description. Most of it is entirely different than anything we have ever eaten on Earth, but there is some kind of fowl served that is similar to Earthly chicken both in taste and appearance. The drink is delicious in flavor and non-intoxicating but we have no idea what it is.

This ship is far larger than the one we had seen in the city. During the conversation at the table, the first pilot remarked that it was in readiness to come to the Moon to meet us as an official ship from Mars when the people there knew that everything was set on the Earth for us to leave the Moon.

In surprise Johnny asked how they knew when we were leaving.

"On Mars we have a big laboratory with all sorts of instruments with which we can pick up anything in our solar system, be it human activities or natural disturbances," explained our host. "We have tried innumerable times to contact the Earth using many means, but your scientists are not well enough developed. They have too many complications in their own minds and their method is not simplified. Every time we have succeeded in reaching the Earth and our messages picked up by your crude instruments, your scientists have always named it something else like cosmic rays and many other things."

"True. There are cosmic rays in space, for each planet radiates outwardly from its own body, intermingling with its neighboring planets, plus the sun radiates to them all. Between these rays are neutral lanes so fine that they are undetectable, and through these we send our messages to Earth and to other planets. Ofttimes our messages are impregnated with these cosmic rays, as you Earth men call it, but if the Earth men had the proper instruments whereby they could screen the cosmic ray out, they would get our messages. Your crude form of transmission which you call radio, crude but good for a beginning, gets interference as you call it, from time to time which is not due to sun interference, as you think it is. It is mostly due to us using tremendous power of transmission to alert the Earth men to our messages, but even then we do not seem to be successful. Yes, there have been some stray messages caught by some of your alert radio operators as they were experimenting just to see what they could get, which were sent from us to Earth, for we can send messages to you in your own language, in your own code, since we are far enough advanced that we can master any and all tongues in our solar system. But the few messages that you have caught have been given absolutely false interpretation. And speaking of sending messages, remember when you shot the Moon with radar? You alerted the inhabitants on the Moon as well as those on every planet in our system, and we all have answered you; but we have received no answer from you, proving that people beyond the Earth are more alert than people on the Earth. However we are daily awaiting that reply which should come in the very near future, for we know that your scientists are working towards that end.

"We even commune with what you call the lower forms of life, like animals and so forth. To us there is no high nor low for all forms are creations of the Creator and are respected alike."

At this, we suddenly awakened to the realization that all this talking which we have been telling of was told to us in our own language. There was no sign language employed. And we were surprised and relieved! For we know now that we will be able to get much information direct and correctly.

Right there and then we asked why the men of the other ship had not talked to us the same so that we could have understood their words, instead of using the sign language as they had done.

The reply was, "they were not authorized to do so, but what they did tell you in relation to the telescope and other things was just as they told you."

Now we wanted to know, "how long has the Moon been so inhabited?"

And this is the story as it was told to us:

"Twenty thousand years ago the people of Mars became curious about this moon after they had already thoroughly explored their own two moons. Their interest was purely scientific since they were a people with a wondering type of mind who wanted to know what the vastness beyond their own planet was composed of."

"Their first scouting expedition brought to this Moon a few men from all the various races then on planet Mars, and a lot of supplies for their well being. From experiences on their own moons they knew they would find atmospheric conditions in which they could live and build for future development, should they find no inhabitants dwelling here."

"The spot where that first expedition landed is the site of the present city where the telescope and The House of Records have been placed somewhat as a memorial."

"At that time they found no native inhabitants on this Moon so later expeditions brought more men and women, as well as supplies to care for them until they could produce some food here through cultivation. And from that start this Moon has become inhabited as you find it today. There are still some necessities of life which the Moon does not have, but we bring these to the people here from our planet Mars."

"This seems to be one way the Supreme Intelligence has of keeping our planet from becoming too densely populated, as you asked the men of the other ship about, for you see, we have many such outposts in space."

"In that long ago, the light side of the Moon to the Earth was a steaming side, all the craters were hot water pools. Since then the water has been evaporated through heat. That is the reason you find mountains within the craters that are solid rock, for the water washed away all dirt that clung around the rock, leaving the rock standing."

"You Earth men have a wrong conception of the Moon, thinking that the craters were made by meteors. When we take the ship up we will fly over some of these craters. We will not be able to land in any of them since they are all too rugged for safe landing, but we will lower the ship over two different types of craters and with instruments which we have to look through, you will be able to see just as well as if you were walking on the bottom of them or were handling the formations in your hands. You will see the difference between a meteoric crater and a hot water crater."

With this promise our enjoyable mealtime visit was drawn to a close as all left their places at the tables and went outside again for a final look around before our takeoff. Of course the natives have all been left with our ship before, so we have no last details to take care of in that respect.

However we notice that one of the Martonian scientists has brought a small instrument that looks like a microphone with a cord attached to it out of the ship with him. This cord he is attaching to our ship, while the instrument itself he is placing in front of it, a little to one side.

As we watched this procedure we wondered what it was all about, and as if in answer to our unspoken question our host explained to us that no harm would come to the ship through this instrument. Later on we would see for ourselves the purpose of its being attached as it was.

After this was done, the Martonians and the four of us from Earth re-entered their ship and we took up very gently into the air, almost straight up. There wasn't any noise to the ship.

First thing we knew, we were over one of the craters and lowering again. The hatch was opened, the same kind of a hatch that the first Martonian ship had. Through this hatch we are observing the bottom of the crater, just as though we were walking on it; in fact a lot better than we could have done had we been walking on the ground. For from this low altitude we can see the bottom and the sides all at the same time. The lenses magnified to a certain extent and sure enough, this was a hot water crater. We can definitely see the water line, especially when it began to vanish, for it left a ring around the crater like dirty water would in a tub.

Then the hatch was closed and the ship began to rise.

Within half a mile we started lowering again over another crater. Again the hatch was opened and the bottom of this crater was just as flat as anything could be, and the sides of it showed a definite upheaval had taken place here.

Our scientist friend explained, "this is where a meteor did fall, as you men call them. There are only a few such craters on the whole Moon, while there are hundreds of the others. Notice that the bottom of this crater is absolutely flat, while the bottom of the other craters are not. They have mountains within them towering thousands of feet. If a meteor had made those craters, there would not have been any mountains in the bottom of them. The water left them."

Then the hatch was closed and we started rising again. We flew over a ledge of rugged mountains and the hatch was opened again and the scientist speaker told us to now look at these jagged peaks and rugged mountains, these were volcanic upheavals. And sure enough they were, definitely so, yet in crevices we could see moss-like vegetation growing. In some places there would be a trickle of water we could see.

We flew over a large territory of the so-called light side of the Moon. The heat upon this side was terrific, yet the ship was of normal temperature, very comfortable.

There is one thing we have noticed about these Martonians. They are so friendly and so comfortable to be with that we feel we have known them all of our lives. Dr. Johnston has been taken in by these scientists as though he was an old classmate of theirs and their ship laboratory has been opened to his use in any way he desires it. The servants are treated with the same respect as every other man in the ship was given yet they were servants in every degree. They were very attentive concerning the comforts and wishes of all, asking every few minutes if we were thirsty or desired anything.

After one such inquiry we asked if it would be proper for us to smoke in the ship. No one understood what we meant by smoking, for cigarettes were unknown to them, but we were told that if that was our pleasure, it was proper. So we smoked. They were all very much interested in the procedure and asked us what was the reason of it, and does everybody on Earth smoke?

As is customary where we came from, we offered cigarettes to all of them but only one of their scientists accepted. He didn't want to smoke but he was interested because here was something new to him. Each one of us smoked a different make cigarette, so we gave one of each make to him. He went to the back of the ship and analyzed them in his laboratory.

When he came back he looked at us with a sort of surprised expression and said, "I can't understand how you men succeeded in getting to the Moon, but I do understand why you can't get our messages if all of your men on Earth smoke these things. This weed which is wrapped up in this paper, as well as the paper itself, has a paralyzing chemical in it which dulls the brain. That is why the brain of the Earth man is not more alert: it is in a sort of stupor. We scientists on Mars could never indulge in things like these, for if we did we could never make the discoveries we have made. If our people used this weed they would be going mad and we could not have the peace and harmony which we now have throughout our planet. Instead, confusion would take the place of understanding, for a stupor brain cannot conceive things clearly."

They were not criticizing us, only analyzing differences between our habits and theirs. If we wanted to smoke, it was still all right with them. So we felt no resentment.

During all this, we were heading straight for Mars at the speed of one and a half million miles per hour, flying on her light beam and the ship kept in contact with Mars steadily.

Noting our interest in their constant communication with planet Mars, our host suggested that we might like to try contacting the Earth with their instruments.

Both Johnny and George replied with an enthusiastic, "Yes."

One of the scientists handed each of us a small disc and told us to hold it in the palm of our hands while speaking through it as we would a microphone. He would operate the sending apparatus, beaming towards the Earth.

We followed his instructions carefully but received no reply to our call.

Johnny immediately asked what frequency they were using.

"Three billion kilocycles and five million watts," he was told.

In surprise he said, "they have nothing on Earth with which they can receive that power." Then he wanted to know why they used such high frequency.

"We have to in order to keep on the lane in between two cosmic rays," the operator explained. "Even that is not always high enough. Sometimes we have to step it up much more to get our messages through to other planets. Most of the planets communicate with each other through consciousness which is faster than anything else, but we Martonians have indulged largely in our abilities to be able to make things that would work for us. However we do also use the consciousness, or what you Earthmen know as mental telepathy."

All this time the pilots of this ship were talking back and forth to Mars just as though they were right there. They had no earphones, mouthpieces or any visible instrument through which they were speaking. They must have been using something installed in their panel board. We could hear them talking but we didn't hear any replies coming to them. We don't know how they were getting it but there was so much here that we didn't understand, we couldn't ask questions about everything.

By now we have gone forty million miles distant from the Moon and another of the scientists tells us we are about to enter the neutral zone which separates the two bodies, planet Mars and the Moon, from each other.

Dr. Johnston asked him, "how wide is this neutral zone?"

"It is five million miles wide."

Bob wanted to know if the pilots will have to speed the ship up to jump the gap, as we call it.

"No," he replied. "You had to do that because you used different fuel in your ship than we use in any of ours. Since we are now using light energy as a motivating power, our ship will go through it just as if it wasn't there. The only difference between going through a neutral zone and space between it and a planet, is that certain instruments in the ship don't work while crossing the gap, while all the rest of them do. The only ones that don't work are the pressure instruments or gravitational ones, also the ship glides somewhat easier through the neutral zone for there is no resistance. There is this kind of a gap between all bodies. The width of the neutral zone as well as its distance from any body depends upon the size of the bodies between which it extends. Smaller bodies do not reach out as far with their gravitational power as larger ones, so the gap isn't always half way."

Coming from the Moon to this point we have run into a regular shower of meteors as thick as snow falling. This was for several million miles. They appeared to us as a Fourth of July affair, like so many raindrops all illuminated with various shades or colors of illumination. Some of these meteors were big and some were small, but none of them have touched the ship. This was quite mysterious to us.

Our host sensed our questioning and explained that all interplanetary space ships are protected from damage through such meteoric showers by a repulsing power built within the walls of the ship. Then he showed us the instrument which registered this power radiating out from the ship. "If it wasn't for this," he added, "we would be bombarded within a split second. No one can build a ship to withstand a steady pounding of these meteors."

As we enter the gap, or the neutral zone, we realize that this one seems to have the same kind of substance in it as the one we encountered from the Earth to the Moon, except here it is heavier.

"What is the gap made of?" queried Dr. Johnston.

"We will let you see," was the prompt reply, as one of the assistants turned on an instrument which was as though we were looking through a window. To our surprise we saw there, minute particles of dust, barely moving. It looked like almost dead stillness.

"This," our friend explained, "is the incubator of planets, suns, moons, and comets. Nothing has ever come into form except through stillness. Once a birth is given, the stillness within that particle becomes action, which then ventures out of the stillness into the outer edge of it. In doing this, it grows very fast. Finally it is thrown out of this neutral zone, or pulled away from it and allowed to speed on through interstellar space where it takes on the relationship of gravity. As it does this, it thereby forms also a neutral zone between itself and other bodies as it whirls through space, growing now vaster in size than ever. No one can tell whether it be a planet, sun, moon, or a comet in the end, until it has reached its full growth. Moons, like the one we left are female aspects, while earths or planets are male aspects and the suns are supreme and ruling powers in each system. You see, everything is paired up with a male and a female, in turn governed by a supreme power that governs them with equality."

After passing through the gap and on entering the space beyond it, we encountered another very heavy meteoric shower like the one we had passed through before entering the gap. To our surprise, we witnessed what might be a planet in the making. It was a large sized ball flying through space and we could see a meteor hit it every now and then.

Johnny asked, "don't the meteors crack it up?"

"Not this kind, they are not big enough."

And in fact as we watched closely, we noted that they did look like only so many large sparks when they hit.

"They help the planet grow to its full size," he continued, "for every time they land and hit the planet, they become part of it."

This one, being in front of our ship, indicated on our instrument a gravitational force of one thousand miles, which it had already made around itself.

Immediately the speaker exclaimed, "see what we mean, it creates its own protective field. This force becomes larger and larger as the planet becomes bigger and bigger."

"How long does it take for a planet to become a full fledged planet?" inquired Dr. Johnston, "and does it remain within the system within which it was born?"

"Sometimes it does remain within the system within which it is born," was the answer, "but more often it is the beginning of a new system."

"It takes anywhere from five million to fifty million years for a planet to attain its full growth, depending upon its size. Then it takes another five million to thirty million years before it is in a fit state for human habitation. When a new system is born, it starts out with one of these planets like in the beginning. While this planet-like ball does not break up and divide itself, it does attract conditions unto itself, and small particles slightly larger than dust eventually become other planets. For while in the state of being larger than dust, they do break up and multiply, as cells do in the body. And the fine, so-called dust, forms a boundary or a system consisting of a boundary. The boundary in turn is nothing but an influence of a system into the outer space of a given distance between itself and another system, also forming a neutral gap between its system and another system, the same as there is between two planets which may be easily called a boundary of its influence, acting as a protector against colliding one system against another."

At this point we are nearing planet Mars and are told, "we will soon be where we can explain these things a lot better. As you were told while on the Moon, we have on Mars a large telescope and space library by which we can show you in great detail the exact law operating which brings these conditions into manifestation. Then you will understand more clearly what you have been seeing during this trip."

In what seemed to be a split second from the time he spoke, due to the great speed of the ship, we were circling over one of the large cities of planet Mars. Then we lowered and landed.

This landing field is enormous. It would have to be to accommodate ships the size of these and there are quite a number of them standing by on it, some larger than this one we are in.

As the doors of the ship were opened after landing, our host led the way out. To our amazement, there is a crowd of about two million people gathered to welcome us. It seems as though the whole city has turned out to greet us.

A small group of men whom our host introduced as the leader, or head of Mars, and some of his assistants, met us at the ship, greeting us enthusiastically. Then we were taken to a slightly elevated platform from which the leader spoke in his native tongue to the people gathered there. In his speech, according to our scientist host, the leader told the people that we were the first visitors from their sister planet, Earth, to ever come to planet Mars and that we have left our ship on the Moon.

When he got through speaking, the applauding and cheering was beyond description.

After this was over, a vehicle which resembled somewhat a beautiful yacht was brought alongside of the platform and we were invited to get in. The leader and his assistants as well as our host on this trip joined us. This vehicle has no wheels, yet it glides very smoothly over the Mars earth without making any sort of noise. It feels as though we are riding on the wings of a bird.

The atmospheric pressure here is lighter than that of Earth but heavier than the Moon's, but we don't realize any difference since we have been on the Moon so long and have become accustomed to the pressure there.

The general appearance of the ground here is very much like that of Earth. This particular spot reminds us of the flat lands of Kansas for the only hills we see are far in the distance. The surface of the ground, with the exception of this wide highway over which we are travelling, is covered with a fine covering of green grassy growth with large patches here and there of beautifully colored flowers.

The distance from the airport to the city proper is quite short but the beauty along the way has been sublime. Conversation was unnecessary, so there was none. The beauty of the surroundings filled us completely.

Now we have reached the city and are stopping in front of a magnificent building towering a thousand feet into the air. Incredible as it may sound, this building appears to be made of pearls. We are spellbound by its grandeur.

As we leave our vehicle and enter the building, our host informs us that this is what we would call a civic center or community social center. Banquets and ceremonies of all sorts are held here and entertainments of all types. There are no business offices of any kind within it, but there are several floors devoted entirely to interesting displays of educational value and art.

Inside we were taken into a room and onto what appeared to be a platform that elevated us to a higher floor. From here we were taken into a very large banquet hall in which, as we later learned, one hundred thousand people could be seated at the same time. The ceiling structure of this large banquet hall has a sort of an interlocking system, thus permitting the elimination of supporters throughout the room, which would otherwise have been necessary in a building of this size.

On the ceiling as well as on the walls were beautiful murals of other planets and their inhabitants, as well as of other systems. In the east end of the building on the wall was a mural of the same Deity as we have seen in the Jupiter ship in the city of the Moon. Only, instead of being a portrait as in the ship, this mural was a full length portrayal of the Deity seated on a throne with such a majestic beauty and state of expression beyond description, yet possessing some mysterious power which really made us feel that we were in the presence of the Almighty, as we already knew we were.

When the leader of the state of Mars took his place at the head of this magnificent banquet table and the room was filled with an overflowing capacity of the citizens of that city, the leader turned to the mural. As he did this, all heads bowed and these are the words he said:

"Almighty Father of us all, creator of Thy magnificent kingdom, we give thanks unto Thee for the privilege of being the first ones to admit unto us our long lost brothers, children of our Father. May this feast be one of holiness. And may the eternal message, 'that Thine love is greater than Thine kingdom' be so retained within the hearts of these brethren, that when they return to their home which Thou hast given them to dwell therein, they may give unto their brothers, who are also our brothers, the truth as they now have received it."

And then the head of the state bowed upon his knees to the mural upon the wall, the likeness of the all Supreme Intelligence, as known upon Earth, the God of the Universe.

After this blessing, we proceeded with the feast which included everything, we might say, that was eatable upon Mars. We have never seen anything like it. Out of nowhere, it seemed, smaller banquet tables had appeared in front of the spectators, as we may call them, and they too feasted with us.

During the progress of the feast our scientist host spoke, saying:

"These Earthly brothers have come a long way to reach our home land. They have succeeded while others have failed after many disastrous attempts. There have been many civilizations upon our sister planet known as Earth who have tried to come to our planet. Each time a disaster has overtaken them. Now the all loving Father has guided these brothers to arrive safely, where others have failed."

"We are grateful for the privilege and the honor of having them among us that we may impart to them the truth as it is. Our planet of Mars, as the Earthmen call it, has been called by them a planet of conflict. Instead, for the first time, they will learn from their own brothers who are here visiting us, that we are a people and a planet of absolute peace, and of love that surpasses all understanding. They will learn that the way of life which is eternally peaceful, is everlastingly revealing the secrets and the wonders of the Father, His divine wisdom and intelligence. Those who abide by His way can never perish but they do eternally rejoice, for the gifts of our Father and the revelations of His kingdom are forever being made unto such."

"So we, the scientists of Mars, have been endowed with the responsibility of maintaining the tranquility of eternity among our people and our brothers in other lands; to bring the good tidings of love unto the children of the great Father of the Heavenly Kingdom, that the children may forever rejoice through love of their fellow beings, as through love of their eternal Father. For it is by loving our brothers, wherever they may be and whoever they may be, that we express our love for our Father, since all are His children."

"As scientists, it is our duty as humble servants to forever keep our eyes and hearts open to the guidance of our Father and watch with humility over all His children that they may all have their daily needs as one. This is why the people on planet Mars have the wonders that we so enjoy. We have served our Creator faithfully without wavering, honoring all of His creations and beyond all, His image, which we are from the beginning."

"The Earth too may in time be blessed to know and enjoy these blessings of our Father, when our brothers in the Earthly home have learned this great lesson of brotherly state and the love of the Father that put them there. Then they also will possess the wonders that we have upon Mars."

"But as scientists, as servants of the Almighty, we never impose upon others that which they may not want. The minds of the Earthly brothers must be renewed if these wonders are to be known by them. At present their minds are not only on conquering one another, but even on conquering others like those of us and many within the kingdom of our Father, including His kingdom. Yet it is not these things that they must conquer. It is themselves individually. They must conquer there, in order to realize that each is his brother's keeper."

"As we have said in the earlier part, many have tried to invade us and have met with disaster, and whoever will try again, the same fate will befall them. But all can come here, as these Earthly ones have come now, if they come as brothers and are brought here by the will of the Father."

"Many have come to our brothers on Earth to show them the way the Father wanted them to live. Each time they, too, met with disaster by the hands of those whose burdens they had come to lessen."

"This time the Earthly ones have come to us to learn from us the way we have been taught to live, and they will take this eternal truth back to their brothers on Earth."

"I, as the one scientist representing the many, shall take these brothers on a journey after the feast and show them the marvels of our Creator as He has given unto us the understanding to bring them forth. So, again we say, 'glory be unto the Father of all creation. In the most humble way we do give thanks for the privilege of having these among us.'"

When this speech was ended the feasting continued, but after hearing that talk from a great scientist, we did not know whether we were eating or dreaming for it had caused something to happen within us which made us feel very humble. At the same time we felt quite small, for within ourselves we knew that we had come to the Moon with only one purpose in mind; to find out what we could about the Moon towards the possibility of future exploration. Now we realized that we as Earthly men understood but little in the channel of life and for the first time, we felt guilty of warring against the Infinite Creator by warring against His creations.

So when we were asked to get up and say something, the best we could do was to bow in a humble manner and thank the audience and the speakers for the great love they have shown us and ask forgiveness for our wrong thoughts. It seemed like something melted within us which is indescribable.

The head of the state and our scientist host have come around the table to us and have laid their hands upon our shoulders, making us feel like little children, comforted by a great understanding Father.

The feasting has now ended and we are told we are to be taken on a tour of the city. This is the capital and largest city of Mars, with a population of twenty-two million. The total population of the planet is one and a half billion.

With the head of the state, the officials of the city, and our host we have left the banquet hall and have re-entered the gliding vehicle that brought us here from the airfield.

We are riding through the business section of the city first. Here the streets are about five hundred feet wide, paved with white coral and very smooth. Down the center of the street is a six foot strip planted with beautiful flowers of delicate shades and quite fine in texture. These are planted in designs depicting various forms of nature found on planet Mars as well as many within the universal vastness. This strip acts as a dividing lane for traffic travelling in opposite directions.

Greyish blue coral curbings frame this flowering strip and similar ones two feet wide between the sidewalks and the street.

The sidewalks, like the streets, are made of white coral. They are ten feet wide.

The buildings are masterpieces of art and engineering. Designed with modern and Mosaic architecture combined, they tower twenty-two stories and up. Some of them have flat roofs while others have spear-like towers on them, acting as standards for huge flood lights which illumine this section of the city as sunlight, when necessary.

Amazing as it may sound, both the shopping rooms and factories are housed in these large buildings, yet no noise of machinery can be heard nor is there smoke or any kind of fumes. Workers here only put in three hours each day in business, and the different industries operate at different times of the day, thereby giving all workers an opportunity to shop and have their needs fulfilled, it was explained to us.

The shop windows are filled with beautiful displays of Martonian designed clothing for all occasions, household articles to fill every need, games and amusements of all sorts, and foods for every taste.

Admiring these exquisite displays and having already been told of the short working hours, Johnny was curious to know what method of exchange was used here on Mars to enable the people to obtain these articles.

We are told that all people on the planet are considered as children of the Father, that they are equally treated as such, and all equally produced for the wealth or good of all alike. Therefore, they have an access to goods as they need them. While the servant in one of the shops serves them, he too is in need of things which are not in the shop in which he serves. So all things that serve in channels in which he has a need, give unto him. In that way, the labor of the planet is done for the good of the planet without distinction of profession, for the necessity is all that is recognized. In this way, the man who brings forth the coral rock of which the streets, sidewalks and curbings are made is as important and great as the man who paints the mural of the Creator upon the walls within the buildings and temples or the scientist who brings forth the blessings of the planet or the one who teaches the way of life unto the people. Everybody has equally with plenty of everything, so envy or wants are unknown among the people. Instead, absolute certainty, on Earth known as security, is realized by all.

For the convenience of pedestrians desiring to cross from one side of the street to the other, there are underground tunnels with conveyor system which takes them across.

Traffic is heavy in this section of the city, yet there is no congestion nor confusion and the air is permeated with the sweet fragrance of the flowers growing down the center and on each side of the streets.

On the outskirts of the business district we are stopping before a beautiful, large building which our host tells us is known as a 'House of Knowledge'. On entering, we find ourselves in a magnificent hallway on the walls of which are all sorts of murals. Directly in front of us is portrayed in infinite detail the total constellation of the heavens. On the wall at the head of the hallway is a mural of the Creator. As we pass this, our hosts bow and we do likewise.

Leaving this entrance hallway, we enter a very large room in which we see all sorts of literature in very large volumes. Our guide tells us that some of these volumes contain the history of our solar system.

In the Venetian room are murals of planet Venus and life there, as well as volumes of literature containing the history of that planet.

Next is the room of Saturn. On the walls in this room are murals of that planet and life as lived by the people there, while the volumes of literature contain the complete history of Saturn and its purpose in the system.

The grandeur of all these rooms is indescribable, for even as the fullness of life as they live it and as portrayed by these murals is inconceivable to us, so the distinctive architecture of each planet as found in the various rooms is beyond our power of word expression. Our guide tells us that within this 'House of Knowledge' there is a room for every planet within our solar system and within each of these rooms are murals and the history of its planet with the architecture in each room varying from all others according to that of the planet it portrays.

But now we are being taken into the Earth room and the pictures here look very familiar. The volumes here contain the history of the Earth and all the civilizations who have lived there and vanished, of which we on Earth have no history.

"The people of Earth have always seemed to behave as little, unruly children, never knowing what they wanted, and not too stable, very aggressive or hostile against each other. The history within this room is nothing but full of blunders," explained the leader of Mars.

Leaving the Earth room, we come into a vast sized room called the 'House of Knowing' for it contains various developments in the field of science and all phases of it; things that have been, that are, and are yet to come. We would like to spend a great deal of time here for this room is fascinating and contains some things of which we have a little understanding. There is much we could learn in this room. Yet there is much to learn everywhere here and a great deal to see, and our visit here has just begun.

We are leaving the building now to re-enter our gliding vehicle and continue our sight-seeing tour of the city.

Travelling up the highway, we are passing slowly through a park, a sort of glorified playground in which hundreds of children are playing. Many grownups are in this park also. These people are joyous and free, friendly but not curious.

Here and there throughout the park are various sizes and types of statues of great immortals whom the children are taught to honor and imitate. The lawns, flower gardens and shrubbery are beautiful and well cared for. Here, too, are large towering trees with flexible limbs, looking very much like the weeping willows of Earth; yet they are not. They appear to be festooned with a moss-like or feathery lace, a natural growth. We really know we are in another world.

There are beautiful water lanes, or pools, where children play. These have a purple bluish cast to them and the water in them, we are told, never chills below sixty-five degrees for it is automatically heated by the utilization of light.

Light seems to be the power used for all purposes, illumination, heating, refrigeration, motivation, or energy of any sort, in the home and in business.

Their temples of worship are many and these also are beyond the imagination or description by men, at least Earthly men. Noticing the number and beauty of these temples, George asked about their spiritual beings, how many forms of religion and denominations they have.

The head of Mars answered, saying, "We have but one, the Father of all, whom we honor, obey and live purely to please by doing His will, not ours. Our spiritual quality is to respect each man as if he is the Deity Himself, knowing that no form can be a form without the support of the Deity. Thus doing against a form would be doing against Deity. This is our firm belief by which we live."

Remembering that the temples on the Moon are used also as their schools, Johnny asked if this same system is used here and what is their method of teaching.

"Yes, our temples are where the fundamental laws of living are taught to the little ones from the very time of their birth," our host replied. "All are taught our ways of living. But they also are given freedom to express their abilities with which they have been endowed by the great Infinite Father. Ofttimes a great soul brings forth great things in that way. Sometimes, that soul as a form is very young, yet all look up to it for the greatness and the guidance it may have for others, enabling them to rise still higher to greater beings. On one occasion there was a great soul in the form of a child of seven years of age who brought to our people such enlightenment that it transformed their way of thought and their way of living to a greater way of living. Not only do the people accept such as a leader, but even the leaders, like the head of the state, will bow to such an enlightened soul when bestowed upon them. Our belief is firm that it is not the age that counts, but the wisdom, the understanding that might even come through a new born babe who has been granted to us by the grace of the Great Creator."

"As the children grow in age and understanding, there are other places of learning where more advanced laws of the universe are worked with. These will be shown to you later. At the same time, the temples are never outgrown for worship and study. They are never closed and people of all ages come to them whenever they desire.

"There are no nations on this planet for the people of Mars are citizens of Mars. They have no states nor divisions of any kind. The whole of Mars is just one state and the people of the planet are all governed from the central government."

"What do you mean 'central government'," asked Dr. Johnston. "What does it consist of; how is it operated; how does the head of state attain that position and does he keep it until he dies?"

Our host chuckled at such a number of questions as he answered, "the choice is made by the people regularly every year. They express themselves in favor of the one whom they feel they would want in office."

Here the head of the state spoke up, saying, "I have been chosen now three different times in succession, which is the greatest honor bestowed by the people upon anyone at any time."

His words were an explanation, completely devoid of any personal pride or boastfulness.

Our host continued, "the choosing is not made from a certain caste but from the people as a whole, for we have no castes nor divisions. At the same time a council is selected from various sections of the total planet to assist the chosen leader, as well as to serve the people. When one is chosen to be the head of the state or of a district, he is honored as you call it, in being given the right to execute the will of all the people and above all, the will of the Creator."

"In this way there is never duplication of effort nor wasted energy through friction. We have harmony and happiness throughout our planet. And it is the same with the other planets in our system. We are all unified as one in the service of our Father. Thus we have become so aware of His laws and alert to conditions throughout space, that should a hostile condition of any kind try to encroach upon our tranquility, with the united force of all, it would be repulsed, for we possess the power through the Divine Providence to reverse the law upon any intrusion so that the very things projected towards us with an idea of possession or destruction would react against the projector, instead of us. If it was a great evil it would devour him."

"We know conditions of hostility and division exist, like they do upon your Earth: yet we know them not upon our planets. Here we know no evil nor good but just to live as the Great Father of the Infinite Kingdom has meant us to live, according to the knowledge we possess, which has been given to us by our Father who is on high."

* * * * *

Today we are being taken to one of the many Houses of Science where more advanced laws of the universe are studied and worked with. These correspond a great deal to our universities. Learning here never ceases.

This House of Science is one of a group like one building of the many built on the campus grounds belonging to any large university. Entering it, we find ourselves in a vast room without windows. The light is equal to the out-of-doors but we are unable to detect its source. The air too, is fresh and clean but there is neither sound nor feel of any type of air conditioning with which we are familiar.

The floor is covered with a thick, soft covering and beautiful easy chairs are placed about for the comfort of those coming here.

On the wall directly in front of us is an immense screen.

After we were seated, our guide and host darkened the room. Then he pushed a button on the wall and to our amazement, our ship that we had left on the Moon was right there before us. This was done, we were told, by means of the little instrument which had been attached to our ship before we left the Moon for Mars. It is the same principle which we call 'television' but used with a far greater degree of advancement than we have yet learned on Earth.

"Here is something else," our friend remarked, as he pressed another button on the wall.

Our ship was gone and we were on Earth again, looking upon the airbase in the desert, a short distance out of Los Angeles, from where we had taken off on our trip to the Moon. The scene shifted and we were viewing downtown Los Angeles. The people walking along the sidewalks and crossing the streets were so clear and their individual expressions so distinct that we could easily have recognized anyone that we knew.

"You can now understand how we know so much about your Earth, what you do, how far you have progressed, and in what direction," explained our host.