



Produced by Al Haines.





[Illustration: They returned his greeting as heartily as it was
given.--_Front_.  PAGE 91.]




                             A TRIP TO MARS


                                   By

                               FENTON ASH

                     Author of "The Radium Seekers"



                    WITH SIX  ILLUSTRATIONS

                                   by

                            W. H. C. Groome



                       LONDON: 38 Soho Square, W.
                       W. & R. CHAMBERS, LIMITED
                       EDINBURGH: 339 High Street
                 Philadelphia: J. B. LIPPINCOTT COMPANY
                                  1909




                               Edinburgh:
                 Printed by W. & R. Chambers, Limited.




                               *PREFACE.*


In the case of my former book--my first written for young readers--I
inserted a preface stating at some length my reasons for taking up the
writing of stories of the kind. In it I pointed out that I had
endeavoured to combine amusement with a little wholesome instruction;
and that what might at first sight appear to be mere irresponsible
flights of fanciful imagination had, in reality, in all cases some
quasi-scientific foundation.

Doubtless such a preface is unusual in a work of fiction, and even more
so in one intended chiefly for boys; but the result proved that its
intention was understood and appreciated.  I should show myself
ungrateful indeed if I omitted, at the first opportunity, to record my
deep sense of the kindly sympathy and approval with which that preface
and the whole book were received by those reviewers--and they were
many--who favoured my work with a notice.

In this, my second attempt in the same direction, I am conscious that I
have set myself a difficult task, for it is not an easy matter to give
verisimilitude to a story of a visit to another planet about which we
necessarily know so little. Yet astronomy as a study is so fascinating,
its mysteries and possibilities are so wonderful, so boundless, its
influences so elevating and ennobling, that little apology is needed for
any effort to attract the attention of youthful readers to it by making
it the subject of a romance.

Amongst other difficulties the story-writer here meets with, by no means
the least confronts him when he is called upon to decide which of
various theories put forward by different scientists he shall adopt as a
starting-point. Mars, for instance, may have an atmosphere which is like
ours, or one that is either thinner or denser, or it may have no
atmosphere at all.  As to this nothing is known with certainty, and the
most learned authorities differ one from another.  In these
circumstances, I have adopted the supposition which seems best suited to
my story--namely, that the air there may be denser than it is on the
surface of our globe; but I do not wish to be understood as asserting it
as a fact.  The same remark applies to the assumption that diamonds or
other precious stones do not exist naturally in Mars.  In regard to
these two points, I have felt it may be allowable, as children say, to
'make believe' a little in forming a groundwork upon which to build up a
story. As to the rest, I have refrained, in deference to the known
prejudices of young people, from interjecting constant scientific
explanations in the course of the narrative. Only sufficient has been
introduced here and there to justify the hope that none will sit down to
its perusal without getting up a little the wiser.

We are all of us, as Sir Isaac Newton so aptly yet reverently expressed
it, 'only as children picking up pebbles on the seashore while the great
ocean of knowledge lies stretched out before us.'

I shall be well satisfied if, in addition to affording pleasure to
youthful readers, I enable them to pick up incidentally even so much as
a few grains of the sand which lies beside the pebbles upon that
wondrous, glorious shore.

THE AUTHOR.




                              *CONTENTS.*


CHAPTER

      I. THE FALL OF THE GREAT METEORITE
     II. WHAT GERALD SAW
    III. STRANGE VISITORS
     IV. GERALD CARRIED OFF
      V. KING IVANTA
     VI. THE KING'S OFFER
    VII. OFF ON A TRIP TO MARS
   VIII. A NARROW ESCAPE
     IX. ARMEATH'S SECRET
      X. CAPTURED BY A COMET
     XI. 'WELCOME TO MARS!'
    XII. PRINCE ALONDRA
   XIII. THE PALACE IN THE CLOUDS
    XIV. TOM CLINCH'S STATEMENT
     XV. HUNTING THE GREAT MARS EAGLE
    XVI. IN DIRE PERIL
   XVII. LESSONS IN FLYING
  XVIII. A ROYAL PROGRESS
    XIX. A DARING PLOT
     XX. THE DEATH POOL
    XXI. A SECRET TREASURE-HOUSE
   XXII. MALTO
  XXIII. A FOUL DEN
   XXIV. AT THE PAVILION
    XXV. AGRANDO THROWS OFF THE MASK
   XXVI. THE WIRELESS MESSAGE
  XXVII. A DESPERATE VENTURE
 XXVIII. SAILING ON THE STORM-WIND
   XXIX. ATTACKED IN THE DARK
    XXX. CAPTURED
   XXXI. AT HOME IN A VOLCANO
  XXXII. IVANTA A FUGITIVE
 XXXIII. A QUEER HUNT
  XXXIV. A NIGHT EXPEDITION
   XXXV. HOW IVANTA GAINED A FLEET
  XXXVI. THE OLD WELL
 XXXVII. THE FIGHT FOR THE STRONGHOLD
XXXVIII. A GREAT AERIAL BATTLE
  XXXIX. THE END OF THE STRUGGLE
     XL. CONCLUSION




                        *LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS.*


[Transcriber's note: In the source book (a reprint), the illustrations
were printed in black and white, not in colour as indicated on the title
page.]


They returned his greeting as heartily as it was given...
_Frontispiece_.

He fell backwards upon the floor

There was a flash of light, and a sharp, crackling sound

The wing drooped, and the flier fell heavily to the ground (missing from
source book)

They were then blind