"Has life ever been found on a meteoric stone?"

"Not that I know. Carbon, at all events in the state of graphite and diamond, has been got from them. They arc generally a kind of slag, containing nodules or crystals of iron, nickle, and other metals, and look to me as if they had solidified from a liquid or vapour. Are they ruins of an earlier cosmos--the crumbs of an exploded world--matter ejected from the sun--the snow of a nebulous ring--frozen spray from the fiery surge of a nebula? we cannot tell; but, according to the meteoric as distinguished from the nebular hypothesis of the solar system, the sun, planets, and comets, as well as the stars and nebula were all generated by the clash of meteorites; and not as I have supposed, of dead globes."

"Which hypothesis do you believe?"

"There may be some truth in both," replied Gazen. "The two processes might even go on together. What if meteorites are simply frozen nebula?

It is certain that the earth is still growing a little from the fall of meteoric stones, and that part of the sun's heat comes from meteoric fuel. Most of it, however, arises from the shrinkage of his bulk. Five or ten million years ago the sun was double the size he is now. Twenty or thirty million years ago he was rather a nebula than a sun. In five or ten million more he will probably be as Jupiter is now--a smoking cinder."

"And the earth--how long is it since she was crusted over?"

"Anything from ten to several hundred million years. In that time the stratified rocks have been deposited under water, the land and sea have taken their present configurations; the atmosphere has been purified; plants and animals have spread all over the surface. Man has probably been from twenty to a hundred thousand years or more on the earth, but his civilization is a thing of yesterday."

"How long will the earth continue fit for life?"

"Perhaps five or ten million years. The entire solar system is gradually losing its internal heat, and must inevitably die of sheer inanition.

The time is coming when the sun will drift through s.p.a.ce, a black star in the midst of dead worlds. Perhaps the system will fall together, perhaps it will run against a star. In either case there would probably be a 'new heaven and a new earth.'"

"Born like a phoenix from the ashes of the old," said I, feeling the justice of the well-worn simile.

"I daresay the process goes on to all eternity."

"Like enough."

The sublime idea, with its prospect of the infinite, held us for a time in silence. At length my thoughts reverted to the original question which had been forgotten.

"Now, whether should I go to Mars or Venus?" I enquired, fixing my eyes on these planets and trying to estimate their relative distances from the earth.

Gazen made a mental computation, and replied with decision,

"Venus."

"All right," I responded. "Venus let it be."

CHAPTER V.

LEAVING THE EARTH.

"Check!"

I was playing a game of chess with an old acquaintance, Viscount ----, after dinner, one evening, in the luxurious smoking-room of a fashionable club in the West End of London.

Having got his queen into a very tight corner, I sipped a gla.s.s of wine, lit a Turkish cigarette, and leaned back in my chair with an agreeable sense of triumph.

My companion, on the other hand, puffed rapidly at his cigar, and took a long drink of hot whiskey and water, then fixed his attention on the board, and stroked his beard with an air of the deepest gravity. Had you only seen his face at that moment you would have supposed that all the care of a mighty empire weighed upon his shoulders. The countenance of a grand vizier, engaged in considering an ultimatum of Lord Salisbury, were frivolous in comparison. There is little doubt that if Lord ---- had applied to the serious business of life as much earnest deliberation as he gave to the movement of a p.a.w.n, he would have made a very different figure in Society. But having been born without any effort of his own to all that most men covet--rank, wealth, and t.i.tle--he showed a rare spirit of contentment, and did his best to make the world happier by enjoying himself.

As he was a very slow player, I began to think of a matter which lay nearer to my heart than the game, I mean the project of travelling to Venus. Tests of the new flying machine, by Professor Gazen and myself, as well as our enquiries into the character of Mr. Carmichael, having proved quite satisfactory, I had signed an agreement for the construction of an ethereal ship or car, equally capable of navigating the atmosphere to distant regions of the globe, and of traversing the immense reaches of empty s.p.a.ce between the earth and the other members of the solar system.

As Miss Carmichael had determined to accompany her father, and a.s.sist him in his labours, it was built to carry three persons, with room to spare for another, and the trial trips, made secretly on foggy nights, had encouraged us to undertake the longer voyage into s.p.a.ce. I am glad to say that Professor Gazen, having taken part in one of these, had got the better of his caution, and finally made up his mind to join the expedition.

I suspect that he was influenced in his decision by the heroic example of Miss Carmichael. At all events I know he tried very hard to dissuade her from going; but all his arguments could not shake her inflexible resolution, and truly, there was something sublime in the quiet fidelity of this young woman to her aged father which commanded our admiration.

At length, all preparations for the voyage were complete, and as we did not wish to excite any remark, it was arranged that we should start on the first night that was dark enough to conceal our movements.

While these thoughts were pa.s.sing through my head, a footman, in plush, entered the smoking-room, and presented a telegram on a golden salver.

Antic.i.p.ating the contents, I tore it open, and read as follows:

"_We leave to-night. Come on at once._--CARMICHAEL."

After writing a reply to the message, I turned to the Viscount, who had never raised his eyes from the board, and said,

"You had better give me the game."

He simply stared at me, and asked,

"Why?"

"Well, make it a draw."

"Oh, dear no. Let's play it out."

"I can't. I'm sorry to say I must leave you now. I have just received a telegram making an urgent appointment. When beauty calls--"

"Oh!" replied his lordship, with an amiable smile. "In that case we'll finish it another time. I mean to win this game."

"It will take you all your time."

"I'll wager you ten to one--a thousand sovereigns to a hundred that I win."

It is not my habit to lay wagers; but I was anxious to be gone.

"All right," I responded with a laugh, as I went away. "Good-night!"

On arriving at Mr. Carmichael's cottage I found the rest of the party waiting for me. No time was lost in proceeding to the garden, where the car stood ready to mount into the air. All the lights were out, and in the darkness it might have been mistaken for a tubular boiler of a dumpy shape. It was built of aluminium steel, able to withstand the impact of a meteorite, and the interior was lined with caoutchouc, which is a non-conductor of heat, as well as air-proof. The foot or bas.e.m.e.nt contained the driving mechanism, and a small cabin for Mr. Carmichael.

The upper sh.e.l.l, or main body, of an oval contour, projected beyond the bas.e.m.e.nt, and was surmounted by an observatory and conning tower. It was divided into several compartments, that in the middle being the saloon, or common chamber. At one end there was a berth for Miss Carmichael, and at the other one for Professor Gazen and myself, with a snug little smoking cell adjoining it. Every additional cubic inch was utilised for the storage of provisions, cooking utensils, arms, books, and scientific apparatus.

The vessel was entered by a door in the middle, and a railed gallery or deck ran round it outside. The interior was lighted by ports, or scuttles, of stout gla.s.s; but electricity was also at our service. Air constantly evaporating from the liquid state would fill the rooms, and could escape through vent holes in the walls. This artificial atmosphere was supplemented by a reserve fund of pure oxygen gas compressed in steel cylinders, and a quant.i.ty of chemicals for purifying the air. It need hardly be said that we did not burden the ship with unnecessary articles, and that every piece of furniture was of the lightest and most useful kind.

I think we all felt the solemnity of the moment as we stepped into the black hull which might prove our living coffin. No friends were by to sadden us with their parting; but the old earth had grown dearer to us now that we were about to leave it, perhaps for ever. Mr. Carmichael descended by the trap into the engine room, while we others stood on the landing beside the open door, mute and expectant.

Presently, a shudder of the vessel sent a strange thrill to our hearts, and almost before we knew it, we had left the ground.

"We're off!" e.j.a.c.u.l.a.t.ed Gazen, and although a slight vibration was all the movement we could feel, we saw the earth sinking away from us. At first we rose very slowly, because the machine had to contend against the force of gravity; but as the weight of the car diminished the higher we ascended, our speed gradually augmented, and we knew that in the long run it would become prodigious. The night was moonless, and a thick mantle of clouds obscured the heavens; but the planet Venus was now an evening star, and after attaining a considerable height, we steered towards the west. Our course took us over the metropolis, which lay beneath us like a vast conflagration.

Far as the eye could see, myriads of lights glimmered like watch fires through the murk of the dismal streets, growing thicker and thicker as we approached the heart of the city, and appearing to blend their l.u.s.tres. Through the midst of the glittering expanse we could trace the black tide of the river, crossed by the sparkling lines of the bridges, and reflecting the red lanterns of the ships and barges. The princ.i.p.al squares and thoroughfares were picked out, with rows and cl.u.s.ters of gas and electric lamps, as with studs of gold and silver. The clock on the Houses of Parliament glowed like the full moon on a harvest night. Now and again the weird blaze of a furnace, or the shifting beam of an advertis.e.m.e.nt, attracted our attention. With indescribable emotion we hung over the immense panorama, and recognised the familiar streets and buildings--the Bank and Post Office, St. Paul's Cathedral and Newgate Prison, the Law Courts and Somerset House, the British Museum, the National Gallery of Arts, Trafalgar Square, and Buckingham Palace. We watched the busy mult.i.tudes swarming like ants in the glare of the pavements from the dreary slums and stalls of Whitechapel to the newspaper offices of Fleet Street; the shops and theatres of the Strand; the music halls and restaurants of Piccadilly Circus. A deep and continuous roar, a sound like that of the ocean ascended from the toiling millions below.