There was a goodly throng of passengers. Mars was not quite at his nearest to us just at this time, so as to give us the shortest possible voyage, but he was approaching that relative point as between his orbit and ours, and consequently the usual busy season of Marsian intercourse had set in. Of course it is at such times of the relative approach of the two worlds that there is most intercommunication. The greatly longer voyage at other times is usually too costly, both in time and money, for most traders and passengers. Keen business competition in these days keeps us to close calculations and all possible economies in this way. Young Brown and I amused ourselves for a few spare minutes in watching the scientific preparations for departure; the former, however, intermingling a business view of the case, as he was interested in certain late improvements in the more accurate projection of the protective cross-electric lines to be thrown out towards Mars, alike to guide our direction, and to indicate, warn and shelter us as to meteoric dangers.
Away we go. There is at first a constant racket and bustle as we thread our path through the travelling throng which, passing by us in all directions, occupies our lower atmosphere. Even when we had got above and outside the denser mass of all this
