I noted that each was armed with several other weapons in addition
to the huge spear which I have described. The weapon which caused
me to decide against an attempt at escape by flight was what was
evidently a rifle of some description, and which I felt, for some
reason, they were peculiarly efficient in handling.

These rifles were of a white metal stocked with wood, which I
learned later was a very light and intensely hard growth much prized
on Mars, and entirely unknown to us denizens of Earth. The metal of
the barrel is an alloy composed principally of aluminum and steel
which they have learned to temper to a hardness far exceeding that
of the steel with which we are familiar. The weight of these rifles
is comparatively little, and with the small caliber, explosive,
radium projectiles which they use, and the great length of the
barrel, they are deadly in the extreme and at ranges which would be
unthinkable on Earth. The theoretic effective radius of this rifle
is three hundred miles, but the best they can do in actual service
when equipped with their wireless finders and sighters is but a
trifle over two hundred miles.

This is quite far enough to imbue me with great respect for the
Martian firearm, and some telepathic force must have warned me
against an attempt to escape in broad daylight from under the
muzzles of twenty of these death-dealing machines.

The Martians, after conversing for a short time, turned and rode
away in the direction from which they had come, leaving one of their
number alone by the enclosure. When they had covered perhaps two
hundred yards they halted, and turning their mounts toward us sat
watching the warrior by the enclosure.