  “What in the world are you two doing?” Dr. Kenton asked. Ted told him the whole story of the rescue, ending up with a request that they keep the Martian animal for a pet. Ted’s father shook his head. “That’s impossible. There’s no place to keep him.” His face grew stern again. “You two did a very foolish thing going out alone near that bog. You might have fallen in. I want you to promise that you won’t go near that place again.” They promised. Ted knew it was no use arguing about keeping the color bear. When his father made up his mind, he rarely changed it. As the three walked along the hallway with the bear, Dr. Kenton said, “You kids woke me up with all that splashing in the bathroom, but, fortunately, Mom is still asleep. We must be quiet so that we won’t waken her and Jill.” The bear was reluctant to be forced out of the house through the air lock. Ted knew the animal felt no worse than he did. He had become quite attached to the little fellow in even this short time. When the bear was outside in the dark, he looked mournfully through the transparent doors at his former friends who had rejected him. Then he began wailing softly. Ted looked hopefully at his father, wishing that he would have a change of heart. But Dr. Kenton’s expression was set, and Ted knew there was no chance of the color bear coming back inside. The three of them retired to bed, but Ted was a long time getting to sleep. For almost an hour the Martian creature kept up a soft wail. Ted covered up his ears with his air-filled pillow, and he was finally able to drop off to sleep. The next morning Ted and Randy went to the front door the first thing after they rose. There was no sign of the color bear. “I guess he finally gave up,” said Ted unhappily. “I can’t understand his being alone like he was,” Randy said. “Usually the little bears travel around in families of about ten. I guess this one was an orphan.” Hearing this, Ted felt even worse. “Maybe a wild animal got him,” he murmured. “If it hasn’t already, it probably will sooner or later. By the way, what kind of wild animals do they have here?” “None of them ever come close to the colony,” Randy answered. “Hundreds of miles away, there’s the Great Martian Forest where all kinds of them live. One of the fiercest kinds are the elephant ants. Big herds of blue rovers run across the desert closer by. There are different kinds of birds here, too.” “I’ve heard of a dangerous plant in the Great Forest,” Ted said. “What’s it called?” “The whip tree,” Randy answered. “It throws tentacles around anything that’s near and draws it into its center mouth.” Realizing the dangers to the lonely little bear, Ted had not much appetite for breakfast. Neither of the boys nor Dr. Kenton had mentioned the adventure of the night before, but Mrs. Kenton had heard some noises, although they had thought she was asleep. She began asking questions and finally got the whole story. “I wish we could have kept that little animal!” Jill sighed. “He sounds wonderful!” “We can’t adopt every stray animal that comes along,” Dr. Kenton said. “I’m sure the color bear will get back to his family all right. He probably just strayed temporarily.” Dr. Kenton next said that he was going to report to the science organization this morning. He asked the children if they wanted to go along and register in school. They’d have to within the next few days anyhow. “Are the schools like they are back home?” Jill asked. “They sure are,” her father said. “Just as modern as you’ll find anywhere.” Hearing this, the children were eager to go. Schools in the twenty-first century were a combination of wholesome entertainment and instruction. No dry textbooks or cramped wooden desks with hard seats. Ted and Jill had heard about the poor children of the mid-1900’s who had to plod through school with such handicaps as these, and they felt sorry for them. Ted noticed that Dad seemed reluctant to leave Mom by herself, but she did not seem to mind. “Don’t worry about me,” Mrs. Kenton said merrily. “I’ll have plenty to do unpacking our clothes and things that they dumped in the living room yesterday. I won’t even miss you four children!” When the young folks and Dr. Kenton went outside in their space suits, Ted saw that the sun was just a little above the horizon. He had learned that men rose early on Mars to take advantage of the warmth and illumination of daylight. Dr. Kenton looked into the purple sky through which the stars gleamed. “It’s exactly six-fifteen now,” he said. “How did you know that?” Ted asked in surprise. “You didn’t look at your watch.” “I didn’t have to,” his father answered. “That little disk in the sky gives it to me.” “That’s Phobos,” Ted supplied. “Right,” his father answered. “It takes only six hours for the moon to go from one horizon to the other, so you can actually see its movement in a few minutes’ time. By judging its distance from the star around it, I can get the time.” “That sure must take a lot of knowledge of the stars to know just where each one should be at any one time!” Ted said. “It does,” the scientist replied, “but you’ll learn it in school. I’ll bet Randy knows how to do it now. How about it, Randy?” “Yes sir,” Randy replied with a grin, “but I guess I’m a little off after being away so long. I thought the time was six-thirty.” Dr. Kenton took another look, and Ted could see his face redden inside his helmet. “I’m the one who’s a little bit off, Randy!” he admitted. “It is six-thirty.” Suddenly Jill cried, “Ooo—look!” A half dozen large birds were swooping down on the boat. Dr. Kenton did not appear alarmed—only amused. “They won’t hurt us,” he said. “They’re whee birds and very friendly.” The beautiful birds folded their scarlet wings, tipped in yellow, and perched on the sides of the boat. Then they began giving out a peculiar, “Whee-whee,” as though they were enjoying the boat ride. “Don’t they sound funny!” Ted said. The birds soared away as the boat turned into Main Canal. A few minutes later, Dr. Kenton drove up to the building they had registered in the day before. But instead of docking at the building, Dr. Kenton continued along the canal beside the building in the direction of the other large building next to it. “We’re going to the science building today,” the scientist explained. “Why is that as big as the administration building?” Jill asked. The birds soared away. “Don’t forget, Jill, that science and research is our main business on Mars,” Dr. Kenton told her. “Every imaginable research project is carried on there. Your schoolroom is there, too.” Dr. Kenton docked the boat at the science building, and the four got out and entered. When they had removed their space suits, Dr. Kenton took the children to the school superintendent’s office, where he left them. The superintendent had them fill out cards, and then he took them down a hall. “We have only a hundred and fifty students enrolled, so we don’t need many classrooms,” he said, and stopped before one of the rooms, knocking on the door. A dark-haired young man opened it, and the superintendent introduced him to the children as their teacher, Mr. Garland. He assigned the newcomers seats, and since school had already begun for the day, he went on with his lesson. The room darkened, and a regular three-dimensional color movie flashed on the screen. It was a picture about the wonders of the Earth. Ted felt a lump rise in his throat as he watched. What he was looking at was the Natural Bridge in Virginia, not far from their old home. Ted looked at Jill. A stray pencil of light from the camera showed tears glistening in her eyes. Ted was feeling a wave of homesickness himself. The wonders of Mars were exciting, but there was no substitute in all the universe for their own little plot of ground on Earth where they had been born. Ted was glad when the movie was over and another subject was taken up. With slides, Mr. Garland demonstrated the geography of Mars. Ted learned that the red planet was mostly a vast stretch of desert through which ran the marvelous network of canals. Mr. Garland likened the climate of Mars to that atop a high mountain on earth—the air thin and cold. Ted was glad when the recreation period came and he could exercise. It was his first such opportunity since leaving Earth. In the boys’ gym the athletic instructor was teaching the game of basketball. Some of the students like Randy had been born on Mars and knew nothing at all about the game. Ted said that he had played a lot of it in school back on Earth and volunteered to help the instructor, who was glad of the assistance. When school was out, the young Kentons and Randy reported to the science-building office, where Dr. Kenton was waiting for them. “Did you get your assignment?” Jill asked. “Yes,” he replied. “I’ll be leaving you in a few days. We’re going on an expedition to Hellespontus, where some mysterious fossils have been discovered. They may be bones of the ancient Martians. If so, they could solve the baffling riddle of what happened to those remarkable canal builders.” After getting into space clothes, they went to their boat and started homeward. As they approached their isolated house at the end of the winding watercourse, Ted rose in his seat and pointed. “Look!” he exclaimed. “There’s the color bear again!” Sure enough, seated on the front doorstep, as though waiting for them to return, was the little Martian animal they had rescued the night before. |
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