We passed part of the afternoon in riding about the city. The same
language was spoken here as was used on Thorwald's side of the globe; but,
although communication was so easy, we found enough difference in the
architecture and in the general appearance of the people to make travel
interesting.

Toward night we all alighted at the door of the observatory, and the
doctor and I had the pleasure of making the acquaintance of a man of Mars
who had spent many years in studying the surface of the earth. It may be
imagined that he was glad to meet us and to get our answers to many
questions which had long perplexed him, some of which he had never hoped
to have solved.

Proctor, for this was the name by which he was introduced, was one of the
oldest men we had seen, and impressed us as one possessed of great wisdom.
His manner was so dignified, also, that it seemed quite as inappropriate
to address him without a title as it was to call our hostess plain Zenith.
But when I asked Thorwald aside what I should call him, he said:

"Call him by his name, just as you do the rest of us. We have but one name
each."

"I should think that would be confusing," said I. "For example, how are
you to be distinguished from any other Thorwald?"

"There is no other that I ever heard of. There are names enough to go all
around."

As night came on we were brought face to face with the great instrument