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Rh of note," he went on, "that on the last occasion Marini approached Mars, no children, none indeed but adults, were seen to leave the latter. From this fact, our scientists are of the opinion that the people must live a certain time on that planet, or, in other words, be of a certain age before they could exist on the former; and, if this be true, there would be, of course, only a limited number take their departure at one time."

"But supposing," I observed, "that, through accident, insufficient time, or some other unforeseen occurrence, some of those willing or anxious to go were left behind?"

"In that case, I suppose," he said carelessly, "they would have to wait for the reappearance of Marini!"

"But would that not be a very long time?" I queried.

"You forget," he said, "that they are immortal. Time is nothing to them; they could live for ever on Mars."

"Have you been able to discern," I asked, "if the strange planet is peopled by human beings peculiar to itself, or only by those from Mars?"

"One of the most wonderful circumstances connected with it," he replied, "is that, when last