The Martian Part 3

He became frightened. He did not understand this confinement. Why would they not let him out?

There pa.s.sed another day, of mental torture. Would they let him die in this dark, dreary place? Had all his efforts merely led to a lonely, purposeless death?

He wondered what they would do if he went out of his own accord; and finally decided that he must do it, even at the risk of offending them.

Further inactivity he could not bear.

Within five minutes he had formed a plan of action. It was night--the best time to work; for he must work undisturbed for a time.

He made his way to the bench, and collected three of the wound wire coils, which he dropped to the floor. With a cutting tool that he found he managed to get a length of wire from the large roll. The tool was very heavy.

Next, he crawled to the corner, and selected a number of small pieces of metal. He rested for a while, studying the light bulb which hung in the center of the room. From the light it gave and the size of the filament, he roughly estimated the power of the current.

Then, with a graphite writing instrument that he had found, he drew a diagram on the floor. He took a very long time doing this, and labeled it carefully. When he had finished, the little window at the end of the room showed that dawn was breaking outside.

Hurriedly then, he set to work with the metal, the coils, and the wire,--twisting, winding, connecting and cross-connecting--constantly glancing at his diagram and at the window. Finally, when it was broad daylight outside, he gave a sigh of satisfaction.

He had achieved an ugly, jumbled apparatus, vaguely cylindrical in shape with a point of metal at one end. He laid it on the floor; and making his way to the bench, secured two more lengths of wire. He crawled under the bench to where the power line for the light ran down the wall, and there connected them. Then, securing his cup of water, he dipped into it the ends of his two wires, and observed them for a moment. Satisfied, he carried them to his cylindrical apparatus, and connected one of them at the end opposite the metal point. The other he did not immediately connect.

CHAPTER IV.

The Circus

He was breathing hard now, and his face was flushed. For a long time he sat very still and listened, but he heard no sound. At last, moving very slowly, he carried his cylinder to the door. He raised it, and placed the point against the metal lock, under the k.n.o.b. He pressed his lips tightly together, and set his jaw.... With the end of the wire which he had not connected he touched a point on the cylinder.

There was no sound. There was no movement of the cylinder. Yet the metal lock dissolved, and daylight shot through the place where it had been. A cloud of light grey dust drifted lazily to the floor.

He disconnected the wires. Carefully he hid the thing under the cushions of his bed. Then he pushed open the door, and crawled out into the sunlight. The sun felt warm and pleasant on his back.

He heard a cry, and looked up fearfully. One of the men of Toon was running towards him carrying a dish. It was the man that brought his food.

His throat was tight, and he was trembling. He knew that this was the supreme moment. He nodded his head and smiled. He raised one hand, palm upward.

The man stopped directly in front of him, and growled--then raised an arm, pointing at the door of his prison.

He made a little murmuring sound to the man; and raising his face to the sun, smiled and nodded once more. The man pushed him backwards with one foot, always pointing at the door.

He turned, and crawled back into the shed. Dully he watched the man; who stood for a long time staring at the door where the lock had been--then strode to the pile of metal and picked up a chain.

He did not move when he felt the chain around his body. He closed his eyes, and did not open them until he heard the door shut. He did not move all that day. He only watched the little window. When, finally, the little window grew black, he drew his machine from under the cushions, and connected it again at the wall. The chain was fastened to a leg of the bench, and allowed him to do this. He destroyed a portion of the chain, and loosened it from his body. He crawled to the wall farthest from the house where the people lived. Moving the machine in a slow arc, he cut a hole in the wall. Disconnecting the wires, he used them to fasten the machine around his waist. Then he went out into the night.

He did not know where he was going--except that he was going away from these beings that held him prisoner without a reason. At first they had seemed kind--but they were kind no longer. Something had changed them, he thought; but he could not guess what....

He had progressed less than a hundred yards when a sudden tumult of sound froze him with terror. It was coming at him through the dark, a hoa.r.s.e, senseless, animal cry. And bounding toward him he saw the dark shadow of a beast. He knew instinctively that here was an unreasoning creature--and all the strength went out of him. He lay flat and limp on his face. Now he heard its panting breath, and felt the heat of it on his body....

At the same time, but only semi-consciously, he heard the loud shouts of men. As in a dream, he felt himself grasped roughly and lifted from the ground. Soon he knew that he was back in the shed again. He saw a man standing above him holding his machine.

He felt strangely detached--as if he were not there at all. He saw the man look at the machine; look at the door; look at the chain; look at the hole in the wall; look at the light cord. He saw the man connecting his machine to the light cord; he felt powerless to warn the man that he might be connecting it wrong--that there were two ways: one right, one wrong....

An explosion threw the man heavily against the wall. He could see the man struggling slowly up--coming towards him--kicking him. But he could hardly feel the kick at all--and everything got dark....

When light came back it was just a small square above him. That puzzled him, until he reached out and found wooden walls all around him--very close. He was in a box. He became suddenly fully conscious of the fact.

Looking down at him from above he saw the faces of two of the men of Toon.

He cried out involuntarily, struggling to escape. One of the creatures shook a heavy piece of metal threateningly over his head. He cowered down, shuddering, at sight of the merciless gleam in its eyes. The light was blotted out, as they placed a cover over him; and he was deafened by a long and thunderous pounding.

Then began a time of horror in the darkness. His active mind had nothing to feed upon but fear. Only too clearly was it brought to him that he did not know the ways of these creatures of Toon. What was deadly fear to him might be commonplace to them. He had hoped to find them friendly, merciful--yet friendship and mercy were qualities of his own experience in a world different from theirs. Why had he thought to find them here?

He had no measure of time. For endless hours he lay there in the dark, bracing himself against the sides to protect his head and body as much as possible; for the box seemed almost constantly in motion--jolting, tilting, and b.u.mping until he was weak and breathless from the strain.

His mind, worn out by its relentless self-torture, sank at last to semi-consciousness.

Suddenly light returned, and he was dragged roughly from his prison. He was in a large room where the combination of odor, heat, and noise was overpowering. Great numbers of the men of Toon were there, hurrying in all directions, seemingly very busy. He noted immediately that their clothing was different from that which he had seen, and wondered what the significance of that might be.... He felt strangely calm, now.

Before him was an immense, bulky man, who stood with legs apart and arms folded, staring at him with wide, unwinking eyes. This man had a face that was light red in color and rounded, almost swollen-looking in shape. He nodded, and his cheeks shook loosely. He nodded several times, and seemed very pleased. He spoke sharply; and others, standing around, sprang into action.

They brought a red cloth, and tied it around the captive's loins. They forced him to crawl back and forth on the floor, while the big man looked on, nodding and chuckling. Then the big man ran hot, cushion-like hands over his head and body; pried open his mouth; grasped his hand and shook it vigorously up and down; and, with a final nod, turned and walked away.

He understood none of this, and was very unhappy.

They placed him upon a high, draped platform, where there was a small chair and nothing else. There were a number of similar platforms in the room.

It was impossible for him to maintain his previous indifference to his surroundings. Around the walls of the room were long rows of barred enclosures, containing creatures of every conceivable size, shape, and color. Some were hideous; some were strangely beautiful; all were absorbingly interesting. For a time, he forgot everything else while he watched them and listened to the sounds that they made. Certainly, he thought, a scientist of the Loten would give twenty years of his life for the opportunity to see these creatures! Some of them were amazingly like reconstructions that had been made from fossilized bones found on the Loten.

They brought him food, which he judged must be the cooked seeds of grain. It was soft, and he forced himself to eat a little, although he was not hungry. He feared that he would have to learn to eat daily, for food concentrates seemed to be unknown here.

His mind was occupied trying to understand the meaning of this place.

Great numbers of people were crowding into the room, now. Rows of them stood around his platform.

The other platforms were now occupied also. On them were beings resembling the people around them, but each one differing in some strange way from the normal. Some were enormously large, some small. And he saw one which was shaped like the men of Toon, yet was no taller than himself.

An endless stream of people surged through the room, circulating around the platforms and cages--gazing fixedly at their occupants.

He began to understand. These were exhibits--creatures strange to the crowds who came to look at them. Toon was very large; and transportation methods were poorly developed. Perhaps, therefore, these people had never seen many of the parts of their own globe.

Their staring eyes made him uncomfortable. Wherever he looked they were--staring eyes and gaping mouths. He felt suddenly ashamed. He wanted to hide himself--but they would not let him do that, he knew. How long would they keep him here, he wondered? There seemed to be no limit to the crowds. This must be a great center of population....

And in a flash he had forgotten the people, with their staring eyes, forgotten his shame, forgotten his bodily discomfort.... A center of population! Those words blazed in his mind. Once more, he knew the joy of hope.

With a sudden clear perception he realized that they could not have helped him more if they had done it consciously. He had arrived at a goal, which, a few days ago, had seemed impossible of attainment. Here, if anywhere, he would find help....

He must learn the language. That was imperative.... And again his good fortune amazed him. These people were constantly talking. His position was ideal for studying their speech. From what he already knew, it was quite simple; and it should not take long to learn enough to serve his purpose.