mechanical means of flight. Once let me get the car fixed up and we'll
give them a surprise."

"Yes, and if you had used common sense," growled Henry, nursing his
injured eye, "you would not be here fooling away your time and ours, and
risking our lives every minute, but you'd be making millions and
revolutionizing life at home."

"And where'd the Columbus of Space be then?" demanded Jack. "Hanged if
Edmund is not right! I'd rather be here meeting these doves of Venus than
grinding out dollars on the earth. And can't we go back and scoop in the
money when we get ready?"

The discussion went no further, for, by this time, two of the air ships
were close at hand. And now we perceived, for the first time, the beings
that they carried. Our surprise at the sight was even greater than that
which we had experienced upon meeting the inhabitants of the dark
hemisphere. The latter were extraordinary--but we were looking for
extraordinary things. Indeed they were, except for certain peculiarities,
much more like some members of our own race than we should have deemed
possible. How great, then, was our astonishment upon seeing the two air
ships apparently in charge of _real human beings_!

At least that was our first impression. In the midst of the strange
apparatus, which evidently fulfilled the function of wings for the air
ships, we saw decks, spacious enough to contain twenty persons, and
surmounted with deck houses, and along the railings inclosing the decks
were gathered the crews, among whom we believed that we could recognize
their officers. The two vessels had approached within a hundred yards
before being suddenly arrested. Then they settled gracefully down upon