As he mounted the steps the crowd closed round the _Astronef_ and the
Martian air-ship; but, as though in obedience to orders which had
already been given, they kept at a respectful distance of a little over
a hundred yards away from the strange vessel which had wrought such
havoc with their fleet. When the Martian reached the deck, Redgrave held
out his hand and the giant recoiled, as a man on earth might have done
if, instead of the open palm, he had seen a clenched hand gripping a
knife.
"Take care, Lenox," exclaimed Zaidie, taking a couple of steps towards
him, with her right hand on the butt of one of her revolvers. The
movement brought her close to the open door, and in full view of the
crowd outside.
If a seraph had come on earth and presented itself thus before a throng
of human beings, there might have happened some such miracle as was
wrought when the swarm of Martians beheld the strange beauty of this
radiant daughter of the earth.
As it seemed to the space-voyagers, when they discussed it afterwards,
ages of purely utilitarian civilisation had brought all conditions of
Martian life up--or down--to the same level. There was no apparent
difference between the males and females in stature; their faces were
all the same, with features of mathematical regularity, pale skin,
bloodless cheeks, and an expression, if such it could be called, utterly
devoid of emotion.
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