The fast-failing store of heat in the centre of the little world, which
had now cooled through more than half its bulk, was utilised for warming
the air of the cities, and to drive the machinery which propelled it
through the streets and squares. All work was done by electric energy
developed directly from this source, which also actuated the repulsive
engines which had prevented the _Astronef_ from descending.
In short, the inhabitants of Ganymede were engaged in a steady,
ceaseless struggle to utilise the expiring natural forces of their world
to prolong their own lives and the exquisitely refined civilisation to
which they had attained to the latest possible date. They were, indeed,
in exactly the same position in which the distant descendants of the
human race may one day be expected to find themselves.
Their domestic life, as Zaidie and Redgrave saw it while they were the
guests of their host, was the perfection of simplicity and comfort, and
their public life was characterised by a quiet but intense
intellectuality which, as Zaidie had said, made them feel very much like
children who had only just learnt to speak.
As they possessed magnificent telescopes, far surpassing any on Earth,
their guests were able to survey, not only the Solar System, but the
other systems far beyond its limits as no others of their kind had ever
been able to do before.
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