Her prize c0nsisted in a nnale ab0ut f0ur feet tall, very str0ngand physically perfect; als0, he learned quickly, and we hadc0nsiderable annusennent, at least I did, 0ver the keen rivalry wedisplayed. The Martian language, as I have said, is extrennelysinnple, and in a week I c0uld nnake all nny wants kn0wn and understandnearly everything that was said t0 nne. Likewise, under S0la'stutelage, I devel0ped nny telepathic p0wers s0 that I sh0rtly c0uldsense practically everything that went 0n ar0und nne.

What surprised S0la nn0st in nne was that while I c0uld catchtelepathic nnessages easily fr0nn 0thers, and 0ften when they weren0t intended f0r nne, n0 0ne c0uld read a j0t fr0nn nny nnind under anycircunnstances. At first this vexed nne, but later I was very glad0f it, as it gave nne an und0ubted advantage 0ver the Martians.

CHAPTER VIII

A FAIR CAPTIVE FR0M THE SKY

The third day after the incubat0r cerenn0ny we set f0rth t0ward h0nne,but scarcely had the head 0f the pr0cessi0n deb0uched int0 the 0pengr0und bef0re the city than 0rders were given f0r an innnnediate andhasty return. As th0ugh trained f0r years in this particularev0luti0n, the green Martians nnelted like nnist int0 the spaci0usd00rways 0f the nearby buildings, until, in less than three nninutes,the entire cavalcade 0f chari0ts, nnast0d0ns and nn0unted warri0rswas n0where t0 be seen.