With a feeling of exhilaration, such as I had never before experienced,
I opened my eyes and sprang to my feet. My brain was perfectly clear,
and so active that my mind utterly failed to keep pace with the
multitude of thoughts that were crowded upon it--thoughts that were
strange to my mind, yet perfectly familiar to my brain, if this
paradoxical statement may stand. It seemed as if my mind stood, apart
and marveled at the remarkable activity and knowledge possessed by the
brain--of which knowledge my mind was entirely ignorant.

I was in another world, millions of miles away from Earth. My mind
realized that something little short of a miracle had happened, and yet
I felt absolutely familiar with all the objects about me. The glass-like
walls that surrounded me, reaching up and forming a dome several feet
above my head; the narrow passage in the center of the dome (just as the
neck of a bottle would appear if viewed from inside), through which the
spirit of Almos had passed to the chamber above; all these were
wonderfully familiar to me.

I was in the virator, but it was uncomfortable to remain inside, as the
air was oppressively warm. Moreover, dictated my brain, I must prepare
the virator for my return within five hours, and my hand instinctively
grasped a lever in the wall of the apparatus. A door opened and I
stepped out, carefully closing it behind me. Again I was astonished at
my wonderful familiarity with everything. If I had lived on Mars all my
life, I could not have had a more intimate knowledge of my surroundings.
I seemed to know exactly how to proceed, and after attending to several
important details, and carefully noting the temperature of the virator
on a thermometer placed for that purpose, I consulted a chronometer to
ascertain how long it would be safe for me to remain on Mars. I found