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They did eventually reach the peninsula into which they meant to drive the Vacationers. Every Penist was sure that, though some few Vacationers might have slipped through the meshes of the net, the majority were still in front of the Line, and bottled up on the peninsula.¹ All were in excited expectation. Every possible precaution was taken to prevent escape. The very shore was watched. The peninsula was entered, the search was made, but nothing was found! Not a single Vacationer was there!²

The Line was a huge failure, though it had some indirect benefits. The Vacationers were shown the formidable resources and resolve of the Penists, and the absolute necessity of their submission to authority.³ This, at least, is how the Penists consoled themselves in their failure. All the Martians were very hopeful beings, who made it their practice never to admit failure.

So there on the peninsula, Franklin gathered the tired and weary Penists together, and observed that although the expedition was not attended with as much success as they hoped, it at least had got them all working together, and created a strong sense of community among the Penists.⁴ And so they all traipsed back to the colony or to whatever abode they now called their own, neither blood-stained nor disgraced.⁵

What became of the Vacationers was a complete mystery. Franklin thought that the Vacationers must finally have abandoned their claims to the island and returned to the mainland. Ross said that their numbers must have been greatly exaggerated, and so the problem wasn’t nearly so grave as previously thought. But both Rae and Jane were convinced that there were still many Vacationers at large upon the island.