The Certainty of a Future Life in Mars / Being the Posthumous Papers of Bradford Torrey Dodd

ly a few days after the Dodans found me at the register, absorbed in receiving my father's message, that Miss Dodan calle

Is it true that something came from your

d promised secrecy, which I reinforced effectively by doubling their salaries. I felt I ought not to have revealed this thing to Miss Dodan, and when in the first impulse of confidenc

"I am going to ask a

tremendous fact I had related had half robbe

eved. No, I am sure it would be laughed at, and I would become in the eyes of everyone a foolish, impossible dreamer. This

the woman I loved. There was no resistance, no withdrawal; a tremor-was it pleasure?-seemed to disturb her for a moment and again I kissed her. This time with a quiet effort toward release she se

messages are erratic-fitful. I have now waited for weeks for a renewal of these strange communications and there is nothing. But in the midst of this, a distracting love for you seems to unnerve and torment me. I beg you to wait until those days may come when I can show you all the devotion I yearn now to give you, but must not, for every moment t

ddenly drawn me to her, flung her arms about my neck and placed her head where-well, I am no conn

now in my hands, and its signals sent by me came to her from the plateau. It was the simple pledge of our mutual love, a pledge that even now as I pre

the experience we had. He came running to me, a wild terror in his face, exclaiming, "It's going again, sir. Hurry! It's running slow." I sprang upstairs, and before I had reached it heard the telltale clicks. It was not altogether a sheltered position, and as I reached the table I felt the bleak and chilly air penetrating the

es I failed to get. It lasted late into the morning of the next day. The strain of taking it was somehow singularly intense upon me. I was take

the City of Light, and now

all the professors, investigators, and students in the great Academy sit at many tables. This huge dining room is at the center of the group of buildings which make up the Patenta. Corridors lead into it from the four sections of

of windows, and in each niche one noble s

, from which, at the intersection of the broad and long rafters of blue metal, hung chandeliers fo

ong, and in the commingling of forms, the bold, intellectual features of some, the more rare, delicate outlines of other faces, the flowing of the graceful tunics and robes, the pleasant, musical confusion of voices, with the quick, glancing movements of attendants, the heaped up chalices and bask

Tyndall, Berthollet, Berzelius, Priestly, Lavoisier, and Liebig; here were groups of physicists-Faraday, Volta, Galvani, Ampere, Fahrenheit, Henry, Draper, Biot, Chladini, Black, Melloni, Senarmont, Regnault, Daniells, Fresnel, Fizeau, Mariotte, Deville, Troost, Gay-Lussac, Foucault

ty impressed upon their faces, which again bespoke the eminence of their intellects, in picturesque and effective, almost pictorial groupings, this wondrous gathering filled me with new rapture. My comrade

ession, and, as I will show you, the marvels of the Universe are being more and more fully known, yet the study of the elements and the laws of matter is popular and also followed unremittingly. It is true that we know these people are from your earth; they have reported all that to the Registeries, to whom I will soon conduct you; they yet retain strong memories of the earth, though it is confined more largely to knowled

much needed, yet in the study of life our philosophers have made great strides. Your thinkers and poets, artists, composers, dramatists, musicians, come here, but of all the wonderful students of Natu

ut books or papers, they possess all the resources of conversation. Animation, pleasure, salutation, cheerfulness and joy was everywhere, the perfume of flowers filled the air, the shafts of sunlight broke

. It was so fresh and free and bewitching in its glee and ringing cadences, so consonant and accordant with the glad and illustrious feeling of the place and time, that my heart seemed to leap within me; and then it soften

as mingled with a creamy exudation in all of which was enclosed the flavor of the orange and the peach. This, with a fruit, a kind of milk, and many wines, forms the nourishment of the Martians. The fruits are most various, and every hidden or patent fancy of the gourmet seems elicited or satisfied in them.

e most ingeniously devised and ornamented glasses, napkins of the Tofa weed are used, a pale green cloth, and large bowls of acidified water in which fl

hout the city, while others living singly congregate in the numerous apartments, and enjoy these commons. The extraordinary assemblage I saw here is repeated in th

ences, entertainments, are given, and the people of the City flock in droves not infrequently accompanied by numb

ween the many noble buildings I saw many of the lambent spirits half emergent into fleshly shapes accompanied by the watchers, who are in g

inspection of the Solar system, and of the commotions, changes, births and demolition of Stars, are the sensations of Mars. These Reports are read aloud in the Halls of Announcement and Recreation. But astounding beyond belief, they

of flowers in a shrub and even in an herb can be here greatly multiplied. The windows of the houses were open and their sills crowded with blossoms. The use of the red blossoming vine was strangely extravagant. In many cases it had thrown its branches over an ent

d to be red copper. It was built upon one of the canals which here enter the city and formed one side of a long pi

They were inhabitants and watchers bringing the new incarnations to the Registeries to have their origin recorded if they could recall it. Indeed many spirits fail utterly to rememb

us Halls, borne hither-ward on the morning wind. It now seemed a long time, although but one day apparent

d. Before me was Chapman, the mechanic, workman, and photographer for Mr. Rutherford, in New York in the seventies, a man whom I knew well, from whom I had learned much, and whose skill helped so largely in the production of

dor to report a sudden confusion in Perseus. They call it here Pike. You shall go with me. I have a long leave of absence I will show you many marvels. And you can tell me everything about Tony. He was a b

of earth and I was struck with the miraculous incident that in the planet

y own voice and his in response, to realize if words were still words with the old meaning, if the intangible mutation I had undergone was a reality, if I was indeed alive, if my lungs and throat, the co

me throbbing, like a stricken animal, against the high pillars of the room we had entered

it dissolved, a fierce acridity seemed formed in m

building were the Courts, which are few, and here the rooms for the reception and storage of supplies for the C

paper. These were the Registers. The original home, planet, world, or star, from which each emigrant spirit had departed was, as far as possible, determined, and appropriately recorded. The details of their lives were inquired into, the

rriving spirits hung upon the walls, and in broad albums were gathered the portraits, in small size, of the incarnated persons. The Registeries were young men who, from long inter

stration, of these extraordinary record

he Martians in lectures, bulletins, or

an with the Martian cry, Tintotita, led me to a chair, and giving me one of the black wafers, w

e permanent than with the perishable dry plates. It is a curious thing to learn that for 100 years these records and pictures

it is a fact ascertained and recorded that in one hundred years many Martians die, while others scarcely survive the ordinary limit of our human life on earth. This gives a great interest to Martian society. Here for ages have possibly flown disembodied spirits from our earth; in their reincarnation they have assumed the features and fac

enius in some of the many great cities, and no vestige of their past remains. The system of the Registeries is scarcely a century old, and while now from the marvellous industry and persistence of th

Patenta were all well known. They had made themselves known, and not only were their earthly names and lives put down on the pages of the Registers, but all their knowledge had been as inquisitively and scrupulously impressed. Nor is this all. From many worlds an

es to combine all together and create this unique expression of social beauty, tenderness, scientific power, progress and spiritual exaltation. Marriage is here as with us, and love holds its deathless sway among the

told you, yet these things have a moral or mental, rather than physical expression. At least, in a great measure, and they are rare. No! accidents of matter pertain to Mars; its materiality is complete. As I send this to you I feel my warmth, the heat of my body, the expiration of my br

s, Registeries quickly succeed each other, since the later arrivals from the other worlds are better adapted to elicit the information needed from the new spiri

; but there are singular inexplicable arrivals from distant stars, and of these the records are in many

Registeries leaped to their feet, exclaimed with delight and embraced each other in ecstacy. 'At last! At last!' cried out all of them, while hastily calling officers of the building to them they rapidly explained my singular announcement. It seemed to run lik

we can bridge almost infinite distances with the monstrous waves of magnetic disturbances, it is possible for us to generate. We have bombarded the earth with magnetic waves, but no response, no single indication has been ret

rfected means, before leaving the Earth, to have such messages as you may deliver from Mars properly received. There is, though,' he exclaimed, as he turned to the eager, shining faces about me, 'still a grave do

was plied with questions, and then, my son, there came to me, singularly clouded in forgetfulness until t

by this motion, accompanied as it were with a g

d ever be called upon to herald a message from another world, were suddenly surprised to see and hear the register of our instrument move and sound. It was indeed animated b

and a great melodious shout arose, while cries of 'Hi mitla' echoed in the Hall, and then, carried away with an emotional impulse, these excited Martians broke into a song, a swinging chant, that brought to the doors o

by powerful arms, swung upon the shoulders of two splendid, vigorous youths. While by one impulse the throng surged through the doors in a sort of triumphal progress, I found myself moving in the midst of the excited popul

s in the streets. And amongst the great density of forms and faces I saw the phosphorescent

tervene between that speck of light on which even now I know you lament my departure, and this new home of mi

call those globes from whose lambent surface light reached the earth after the expiration of a century of years. What a beautiful exhilaration of feeling it imparted, these flushed and shining faces, the liquid eyes of the south now charged with the fires of transporting expectatio

the Martian populace, quick, responsive, inquisitive, intelligent and excitable as children. We were approaching the

ith statues, their bases clustering with marble groups, while breaking now and then the white monotony, spiral and intertwinin

cent, indescribable and transcendent street becomes a path of flame, showering upon

haps what we call that in the Earth, but an intuitive construction of meaning upon the passing of a word or a hint. Forerunners furthermore had given some account of the strange new spirit from the Earth, who had prearranged with people on the Earth itself, to return to them, if possible, messages of hi

accidental being, who falling in their world, as it were, from outside, sh

, rises still further into the bays and harbors, and brings the full tide at last to its most remote limits. So columns and stairways, ha

h colonnades of columns of the blue metal supporting its projecting roofs. I was carried as by a cataract of waters up its stairways. Already its bronze gates were swung wide open, and through them the Martian army passed with impetuous stride. Learned men, the leaders and great physicists, many of

over which were thrown pale yellow rugs or shawls; the broad ceiling was divided into deep, rectangular recesses plafonded with opalescent glass, and these recesses were made by the intersection of huge girders of the blue metal, while provisions were made throughout for

he hall, which became filled, and as it filled some unnoticed signal ushered the glow of the electric ether in the cylinders, until a glory of radiance mingled with the sunlight and il

me, and unannounced, as yet unquestioned, I rose to my full height upon a narrow rostrum in the platform, and turning from side t

essant processes of birth as quickly renew the falling ranks of life. To us on earth, the disappearance of those we love and cherish, the sundering of ties which a lifetime of love and companionship has establish

giving and desperate yearning in those who must continue. There is indeed with those on Earth a partial confidence by reason of religious faith, but strong as that seems to be, the endless succession of centuries, each crowding the viewless habitations of th

for over 50000 years, and yet from those unnumbered millions not a cry or a whisper, note,

to the shining hosts of heaven for reassurance. In them somewhere I believed the vanished soul of my companion had flown. This wonderful world was known to me, and what the wise men of the Earth said of its possible population. It was then that with my son I devised, following certain suggestions, a system of wireless telegraphy. We have both, my son and myself, felt certain that some disturbance was recorded by our instrum

upon my memory that all of it is as clear to my mind as it was before I left the Earth. Give me possession of your great instruments, let me bridge the millions of miles to our earth, and in an instant stir the populations of the Earth into fierce attention, so that from

s were swung from their heads and tossed upward, while the cheers passing out into the streets were ca

realized, and the Martians, quick to respond to any suggestion, and inflammab

t popularity. Suddenly a strong, ringing voice spoke from the gallery immediately in front of

Once outside the Hall of Attention, we hurried through some narrow corridors, up winding stairways, until at length we emerged upon a lofty platform carrying a railing about it, and so elevated above all the surrounding buildings of the Patenta that my glance s

was a large induction coil, and above it two huge plates of copper about ten feet apart. The next instant a flash passed between the elec

ll delighted. You have solved our difficulties. With this transmitter you can yourself send to th

shining line of straw shaped metallic bodies. This was raised by some

transmitter, and its mechanism was explained, he took my hand warmly, pressed i

tacies. I worked steadily until the night. And when all was over I waited until the stars came out, until again the City of Light sh

came, and it seemed indeed as if the power of

high station and through the great halls. I found my way to the charming, peaceful room above the

d the beauty of your mother reincorporated in this gay, lovely world of Mars, so full of power and light and youthful impulse. Again I sang, and it was the very air your mother so often played to me, 'Der Grüne Lauterba

try, the mines, the huge fossil ivory deposits, to sail on those

e Earth. The disturbances in Pike increase daily-flashing stars seem to emerge from nothing, meteoric showers, like a rain of sparks rush across the fields of the telescopes, gaseous disengagements from what seem like shining nuclei, shoot upward for thousands of miles from their surfaces; all is chaos, and these disturbances have been n

r. The cause is unknown, cannot even be surmised, and last night Herschell and Gauss, at the big telescopes, detected a comet charging towards us with an incredible velocity. The Council believe I should at once start for Scandor to bring the month's report, and these new excitements, to the paper Dia, while they urge that you should recount to the governors at Scandor you

th us, too? You first cared for me and brought me food and raiment.' His eyes were again bright with peace. 'No, my new friend, I cannot go now. I am waiting, waiting here at

at groups of buildings which make up the Patenta, between the flowering trees and the tulip fl

rtains. The furniture was very wonderful. A dark wood, like teak, opulently fitted with silver, formed the great table that occupied the center of the room, as also the heavy chairs on which were placed cushions of a golden yellow silk. There were no windows in the room. The light ent

ely combined, as their position required, in the portrayal of a Being of incredible benignity of expression, attired in flowing robes with an outstretched hand, his face invested with a harmonious union of power and sweetness. Beneath it upon the

whom I had seen at the breakfast in the Dining Hall the previous morning with a few others who were the first men I had seen in Mars wearing the expre

e head of the table. There I was invited to enlarge my story as given in the Hall of Attention,

the room, and the most aged of the older men arising, and

to pass that the visible universe may be bound together through the power and sympathy of language. The Council desires that at present you refrai

bserved could be transmitted to Scandor, and all their own knowledge in turn sent to us by wireless telegraphy, for reasons which we are not at liberty to explain at present, it has been thought best to send the approved diary of the Patenta to the governm

ntific thinkers who have lived upon our globe, I left the Council Chamber with my friend and Chapman, to prepare for our coming j

s lake resting in the hollow of an extinct volcano, fifty miles to the east of the City of Light, at an elevation of 5,000 feet. A great conduit or water main, as we would say, conveys the water to the garden. The Garden is built actually upon piers of concrete and ston

xtraordinary profusion the vines of the red flowered honeysuckle. You cannot see beyond the wall of green on either side in this winding way, and only a

dropped to the earth you emerge upon a great marble terrace of steps, and before you is spread a forest of geysers distributed in entrancing vistas in a lake of tumbling and scintillatin

bubble-laden cataracts of spray above them, pouring far outward like blazing showers of little lamps in the full sunlight. Many of the tubes are inclined, and the ejected shafts of water collide above them, producing explosive clouds of

is broken with waves, and the tempestuous scene with the constant excitement of the rising and flowing avalanches of water creates feelings of abounding wonder. The marble steps extend around the lake, and behind them on all sides ris

rful confusion of the spouting fountains in their chrysalids of gla

ch enters the City of Light at this point is divided into a number of branches whose confluent arms, about a mile from the City, unite into two parallel canals whose course

of a setting sun, followed by the music of the City, we passed away from the City, which, even as we left it, slowly, in the d