destined not to be my last, for this fellow guarded me carefully
during the time I remained a captive among these green men; twice
saving my life, and never voluntarily being away from me a moment.

While Sola was away I took occasion to examine more minutely the
room in which I found myself captive. The mural painting depicted
scenes of rare and wonderful beauty; mountains, rivers, lake,
ocean, meadow, trees and flowers, winding roadways, sun-kissed
gardens--scenes which might have portrayed earthly views but for
the different colorings of the vegetation. The work had evidently
been wrought by a master hand, so subtle the atmosphere, so perfect
the technique; yet nowhere was there a representation of a living
animal, either human or brute, by which I could guess at the
likeness of these other and perhaps extinct denizens of Mars.

While I was allowing my fancy to run riot in wild conjecture on the
possible explanation of the strange anomalies which I had so far met
with on Mars, Sola returned bearing both food and drink. These she
placed on the floor beside me, and seating herself a short ways off
regarded me intently. The food consisted of about a pound of some
solid substance of the consistency of cheese and almost tasteless,
while the liquid was apparently milk from some animal. It was not
unpleasant to the taste, though slightly acid, and I learned in a
short time to prize it very highly. It came, as I later discovered,
not from an animal, as there is only one mammal on Mars and that one
very rare indeed, but from a large plant which grows practically
without water, but seems to distill its plentiful supply of milk
from the products of the soil, the moisture of the air, and the rays
of the sun. A single plant of this species will give eight or ten
quarts of milk per day.