world, so different is it from the aspect of any
other spot upon our earth.

As I stood thus meditating, I turned my gaze
from the landscape to the heavens where the
myriad stars formed a gorgeous and fitting
canopy for the wonders of the earthly scene. My
attention was quickly riveted by a large red star
close to the distant horizon. As I gazed upon it
I felt a spell of overpowering fascination -- it was
Mars, the god of war, and for me, the fighting
man, it had always held the power of irresistible
enchantment. As I gazed at it on that far-gone
night it seemed to call across the unthinkable void,
to lure me to it, to draw me as the lodestone
attracts a particle of iron.

My longing was beyond the power of opposi-
tion; I closed my eyes, stretched out my arms
toward the god of my vocation and felt myself
drawn with the suddenness of thought through the
trackless immensity of space. There was an
instant of extreme cold and utter darkness.

-21-