Page:Robert William Cole - The Struggle for Empire; A Story of the Year 2236 (1900).djvu/42

30 it led through a park which was very refreshing in the cool of the evening. So they walked along arm-in-arm through groves of flowering zeratas that had come from Jupiter, under spreading Sirian palms, and past flower-beds covered with the luxurious blossoms of plants that had been brought from Uranus and Neptune. High over their heads were the arched branches of estinoderms that had been reared on Mars, and on the right and left, interspersed with shrubs that had come from the remotest depths of space, were pinophasts and purple mirapheas that had been brought from Mercury and Venus.

They walked by the side of artificial torrents rushing over their rocky beds, crossed lakes which teemed with the most beautiful fish that could be found in the universe, and then found themselves in a large open space. Here the air was filled with the voluptuous sounds of music, which seemed to come from above, but no performers were visible; for musical sounds