"Well, what do you think of it, Mark?" asked Jack Darrow, as he laid
aside a portion of a newspaper, covered with strange printed
characters. "Great; isn't it?"
"You don't mean to tell me that you believe that preposterous story, do
you, Jack?" And Mark Sampson looked across the table at his companion
in some astonishment.
"Oh, I don't know; it may be true," went on Jack, again picking up the
paper and gazing thoughtfully at it. "I wish it was."
"But think of it!" exclaimed Mark. "Why, if such a thing exists, and if
we, or some one else, should attempt to bring all those precious stones
to this earth, it would revolutionize the diamond industry of the
world. It can't be true!"
"Well, here It is, in plain print. You can read it for yourself, as you
know the Martian language as well as I do. It states that a large field
of 'Reonaris' was discovered on the moon near Mare Tranquilitatis (or
Tranquil Ocean, I suppose that could be translated), and that the men
of Mars brought back some of the Reonaris with them. Here, read it, if
you don't believe me."
"Oh, I believe you, all right--that is, I think you have translated
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that article as well as you can. But suppose you have made some error?
We didn't have much time to study the language of Mars while we were
there, and we might make some mistake in the words. That article might
be an account of a dog-fight on the red planet, instead of an account
of a trip to the moon and the discovery of a field of Reonaris; eh,
Jack?"
"Of course, I'm likely to have made an error, for it isn't easy to
translate this stuff."