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diff --git a/old/1153-h.zip b/old/1153-h.zip Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..df9e280 --- /dev/null +++ b/old/1153-h.zip diff --git a/old/1153-h/1153-h.htm b/old/1153-h/1153-h.htm new file mode 100644 index 0000000..5d69ecb --- /dev/null +++ b/old/1153-h/1153-h.htm @@ -0,0 +1,12755 @@ +<!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.01 Transitional//EN"> +<HTML> +<HEAD> + +<META HTTP-EQUIV="Content-Type" CONTENT="text/html; charset=iso-8859-1"> + +<TITLE> +The Project Gutenberg E-text of The Chessmen of Mars, by Edgar Rice Burroughs +</TITLE> + +<STYLE TYPE="text/css"> +BODY { color: Black; + background: White; + margin-right: 10%; + margin-left: 10%; + font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; + text-align: justify } + +P {text-indent: 4% } + +P.noindent {text-indent: 0% } + +P.poem {text-indent: 0%; + margin-left: 10%; + font-size: small } + +P.letter {text-indent: 0%; + font-size: small ; + margin-left: 10% ; + margin-right: 10% } + +P.footnote {font-size: 80%; + text-indent: 0% ; + margin-left: 10% ; + margin-right: 10% } + +P.transnote {font-size: small ; + text-indent: 0% ; + margin-left: 0% ; + margin-right: 0% } + +P.intro {font-size: medium ; + text-indent: -5% ; + margin-left: 5% ; + margin-right: 0% } + +P.finis { font-size: larger ; + text-align: center ; + text-indent: 0% ; + margin-left: 0% ; + margin-right: 0% } + +</STYLE> + +</HEAD> + +<BODY> + + +<pre> + +The Project Gutenberg EBook of The Chessmen of Mars, by Edgar Rice Burroughs + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: The Chessmen of Mars + +Author: Edgar Rice Burroughs + +Posting Date: January 28, 2010 [EBook #1153] +Release Date: January, 1998 +[Last update: July 28, 2012] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE CHESSMEN OF MARS *** + + + + +Produced by Judy Boss + + + + + +</pre> + + +<BR><BR> + +<H1 ALIGN="center"> +THE CHESSMEN OF MARS +</H1> + +<H2 ALIGN="center"> +by Edgar Rice Burroughs +</H2> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<H2 ALIGN="center"> +CONTENTS +</H2> + +<TABLE ALIGN="center" WIDTH="80%"> + +<TR> +<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">PRELUDE </TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#prelude">John Carter Comes to Earth</A></TD> +</TR> + +<TR> +<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">I </TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap01">Tara in a Tantrum</A></TD> +</TR> + +<TR> +<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">II </TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap02">At the Gale's Mercy</A></TD> +</TR> + +<TR> +<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">III </TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap03">The Headless Humans</A></TD> +</TR> + +<TR> +<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">IV </TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap04">Captured</A></TD> +</TR> + +<TR> +<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">V </TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap05">The Perfect Brain</A></TD> +</TR> + +<TR> +<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">VI </TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap06">In the Toils of Horror</A></TD> +</TR> + +<TR> +<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">VII </TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap07">A Repellent Sight</A></TD> +</TR> + +<TR> +<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">VIII </TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap08">Close Work</A></TD> +</TR> + +<TR> +<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">IX </TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap09">Adrift Over Strange Regions</A></TD> +</TR> + +<TR> +<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">X </TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap10">Entrapped</A></TD> +</TR> + +<TR> +<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">XI </TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap11">The Choice of Tara</A></TD> +</TR> + +<TR> +<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">XII </TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap12">Ghek Plays Pranks</A></TD> +</TR> + +<TR> +<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">XIII </TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap13">A Desperate Deed</A></TD> +</TR> + +<TR> +<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">XIV </TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap14">At Ghek's Command</A></TD> +</TR> + +<TR> +<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">XV </TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap15">The Old Man of the Pits</A></TD> +</TR> + +<TR> +<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">XVI </TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap16">Another Change of Name</A></TD> +</TR> + +<TR> +<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">XVII </TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap17">A Play to the Death</A></TD> +</TR> + +<TR> +<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">XVIII </TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap18">A Task for Loyalty</A></TD> +</TR> + +<TR> +<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">XIX </TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap19">The Menace of the Dead</A></TD> +</TR> + +<TR> +<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">XX </TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap20">The Charge of Cowardice</A></TD> +</TR> + +<TR> +<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">XXI </TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap21">A Risk for Love</A></TD> +</TR> + +<TR> +<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">XXII </TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap22">At the Moment of Marriage</A></TD> +</TR> + +</TABLE> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="prelude"></A> + +<H2 ALIGN="center"> +THE CHESSMEN OF MARS +</H2> + +<BR> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +PRELUDE +</H3> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +JOHN CARTER COMES TO EARTH +</H3> + +<P> +Shea had just beaten me at chess, as usual, and, also as usual, I had +gleaned what questionable satisfaction I might by twitting him with +this indication of failing mentality by calling his attention for the +<I>n</I>th time to that theory, propounded by certain scientists, which is +based upon the assertion that phenomenal chess players are always found +to be from the ranks of children under twelve, adults over seventy-two +or the mentally defective—a theory that is lightly ignored upon those +rare occasions that I win. Shea had gone to bed and I should have +followed suit, for we are always in the saddle here before sunrise; but +instead I sat there before the chess table in the library, idly blowing +smoke at the dishonored head of my defeated king. +</P> + +<P> +While thus profitably employed I heard the east door of the living-room +open and someone enter. I thought it was Shea returning to speak with +me on some matter of tomorrow's work; but when I raised my eyes to the +doorway that connects the two rooms I saw framed there the figure of a +bronzed giant, his otherwise naked body trapped with a jewel-encrusted +harness from which there hung at one side an ornate short-sword and at +the other a pistol of strange pattern. The black hair, the steel-gray +eyes, brave and smiling, the noble features—I recognized them at once, +and leaping to my feet I advanced with outstretched hand. +</P> + +<P> +"John Carter!" I cried. "You?" +</P> + +<P> +"None other, my son," he replied, taking my hand in one of his and +placing the other upon my shoulder. +</P> + +<P> +"And what are you doing here?" I asked. "It has been long years since +you revisited Earth, and never before in the trappings of Mars. Lord! +but it is good to see you—and not a day older in appearance than when +you trotted me on your knee in my babyhood. How do you explain it, John +Carter, Warlord of Mars, or do you try to explain it?" +</P> + +<P> +"Why attempt to explain the inexplicable?" he replied. "As I have told +you before, I am a very old man. I do not know how old I am. I recall +no childhood; but recollect only having been always as you see me now +and as you saw me first when you were five years old. You, yourself, +have aged, though not as much as most men in a corresponding number of +years, which may be accounted for by the fact that the same blood runs +in our veins; but I have not aged at all. I have discussed the question +with a noted Martian scientist, a friend of mine; but his theories are +still only theories. However, I am content with the fact—I never age, +and I love life and the vigor of youth. +</P> + +<P> +"And now as to your natural question as to what brings me to Earth +again and in this, to earthly eyes, strange habiliment. We may thank +Kar Komak, the bowman of Lothar. It was he who gave me the idea upon +which I have been experimenting until at last I have achieved success. +As you know I have long possessed the power to cross the void in +spirit, but never before have I been able to impart to inanimate things +a similar power. Now, however, you see me for the first time precisely +as my Martian fellows see me—you see the very short-sword that has +tasted the blood of many a savage foeman; the harness with the devices +of Helium and the insignia of my rank; the pistol that was presented to +me by Tars Tarkas, Jeddak of Thark. +</P> + +<P> +"Aside from seeing you, which is my principal reason for being here, +and satisfying myself that I can transport inanimate things from Mars +to Earth, and therefore animate things if I so desire, I have no +purpose. Earth is not for me. My every interest is upon Barsoom—my +wife, my children, my work; all are there. I will spend a quiet evening +with you and then back to the world I love even better than I love +life." +</P> + +<P> +As he spoke he dropped into the chair upon the opposite side of the +chess table. +</P> + +<P> +"You spoke of children," I said. "Have you more than Carthoris?" +</P> + +<P> +"A daughter," he replied, "only a little younger than Carthoris, and, +barring one, the fairest thing that ever breathed the thin air of dying +Mars. Only Dejah Thoris, her mother, could be more beautiful than Tara +of Helium." +</P> + +<P> +For a moment he fingered the chessmen idly. "We have a game on Mars +similar to chess," he said, "very similar. And there is a race there +that plays it grimly with men and naked swords. We call the game jetan. +It is played on a board like yours, except that there are a hundred +squares and we use twenty pieces on each side. I never see it played +without thinking of Tara of Helium and what befell her among the +chessmen of Barsoom. Would you like to hear her story?" +</P> + +<P> +I said that I would and so he told it to me, and now I shall try to +re-tell it for you as nearly in the words of The Warlord of Mars as I +can recall them, but in the third person. If there be inconsistencies +and errors, let the blame fall not upon John Carter, but rather upon my +faulty memory, where it belongs. It is a strange tale and utterly +Barsoomian. +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap01"></A> +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +CHAPTER I +</H3> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +TARA IN A TANTRUM +</H3> + +<P> +Tara of Helium rose from the pile of silks and soft furs upon which she +had been reclining, stretched her lithe body languidly, and crossed +toward the center of the room, where, above a large table, a bronze +disc depended from the low ceiling. Her carriage was that of health and +physical perfection—the effortless harmony of faultless coordination. +A scarf of silken gossamer crossing over one shoulder was wrapped about +her body; her black hair was piled high upon her head. With a wooden +stick she tapped upon the bronze disc, lightly, and presently the +summons was answered by a slave girl, who entered, smiling, to be +greeted similarly by her mistress. +</P> + +<P> +"Are my father's guests arriving?" asked the princess. +</P> + +<P> +"Yes, Tara of Helium, they come," replied the slave. "I have seen +Kantos Kan, Overlord of the Navy, and Prince Soran of Ptarth, and Djor +Kantos, son of Kantos Kan," she shot a roguish glance at her mistress +as she mentioned Djor Kantos' name, "and—oh, there were others, many +have come." +</P> + +<P> +"The bath, then, Uthia," said her mistress. "And why, Uthia," she +added, "do you look thus and smile when you mention the name of Djor +Kantos?" +</P> + +<P> +The slave girl laughed gaily. "It is so plain to all that he worships +you," she replied. +</P> + +<P> +"It is not plain to me," said Tara of Helium. "He is the friend of my +brother, Carthoris, and so he is here much; but not to see me. It is +his friendship for Carthoris that brings him thus often to the palace +of my father." +</P> + +<P> +"But Carthoris is hunting in the north with Talu, Jeddak of Okar," +Uthia reminded her. +</P> + +<P> +"My bath, Uthia!" cried Tara of Helium. "That tongue of yours will +bring you to some misadventure yet." +</P> + +<P> +"The bath is ready, Tara of Helium," the girl responded, her eyes still +twinkling with merriment, for she well knew that in the heart of her +mistress was no anger that could displace the love of the princess for +her slave. Preceding the daughter of The Warlord she opened the door of +an adjoining room where lay the bath—a gleaming pool of scented water +in a marble basin. Golden stanchions supported a chain of gold +encircling it and leading down into the water on either side of marble +steps. A glass dome let in the sun-light, which flooded the interior, +glancing from the polished white of the marble walls and the procession +of bathers and fishes, which, in conventional design, were inlaid with +gold in a broad band that circled the room. +</P> + +<P> +Tara of Helium removed the scarf from about her and handed it to the +slave. Slowly she descended the steps to the water, the temperature of +which she tested with a symmetrical foot, undeformed by tight shoes and +high heels—a lovely foot, as God intended that feet should be and +seldom are. Finding the water to her liking, the girl swam leisurely to +and fro about the pool. With the silken ease of the seal she swam, now +at the surface, now below, her smooth muscles rolling softly beneath +her clear skin—a wordless song of health and happiness and grace. +Presently she emerged and gave herself into the hands of the slave +girl, who rubbed the body of her mistress with a sweet smelling +semi-liquid substance contained in a golden urn, until the glowing skin +was covered with a foamy lather, then a quick plunge into the pool, a +drying with soft towels, and the bath was over. Typical of the life of +the princess was the simple elegance of her bath—no retinue of useless +slaves, no pomp, no idle waste of precious moments. In another half +hour her hair was dried and built into the strange, but becoming, +coiffure of her station; her leathern trappings, encrusted with gold +and jewels, had been adjusted to her figure and she was ready to mingle +with the guests that had been bidden to the midday function at the +palace of The Warlord. +</P> + +<P> +As she left her apartments to make her way to the gardens where the +guests were congregating, two warriors, the insignia of the House of +the Prince of Helium upon their harness, followed a few paces behind +her, grim reminders that the assassin's blade may never be ignored upon +Barsoom, where, in a measure, it counterbalances the great natural span +of human life, which is estimated at not less than a thousand years. +</P> + +<P> +As they neared the entrance to the garden another woman, similarly +guarded, approached them from another quarter of the great palace. As +she neared them Tara of Helium turned toward her with a smile and a +happy greeting, while her guards knelt with bowed heads in willing and +voluntary adoration of the beloved of Helium. Thus always, solely at +the command of their own hearts, did the warriors of Helium greet Dejah +Thoris, whose deathless beauty had more than once brought them to +bloody warfare with other nations of Barsoom. So great was the love of +the people of Helium for the mate of John Carter it amounted +practically to worship, as though she were indeed the goddess that she +looked. +</P> + +<P> +The mother and daughter exchanged the gentle, Barsoomian, "kaor" of +greeting and kissed. Then together they entered the gardens where the +guests were. A huge warrior drew his short-sword and struck his metal +shield with the flat of it, the brazen sound ringing out above the +laughter and the speech. +</P> + +<P> +"The Princess comes!" he cried. "Dejah Thoris! The Princess comes! Tara +of Helium!" Thus always is royalty announced. The guests arose; the two +women inclined their heads; the guards fell back upon either side of +the entrance-way; a number of nobles advanced to pay their respects; +the laughing and the talking were resumed and Dejah Thoris and her +daughter moved simply and naturally among their guests, no suggestion +of differing rank apparent in the bearing of any who were there, though +there was more than a single Jeddak and many common warriors whose only +title lay in brave deeds, or noble patriotism. Thus it is upon Mars +where men are judged upon their own merits rather than upon those of +their grandsires, even though pride of lineage be great. +</P> + +<P> +Tara of Helium let her slow gaze wander among the throng of guests +until presently it halted upon one she sought. Was the faint shadow of +a frown that crossed her brow an indication of displeasure at the sight +that met her eyes, or did the brilliant rays of the noonday sun +distress her? Who may say! She had been reared to believe that one day +she should wed Djor Kantos, son of her father's best friend. It had +been the dearest wish of Kantos Kan and The Warlord that this should +be, and Tara of Helium had accepted it as a matter of all but +accomplished fact. Djor Kantos had seemed to accept the matter in the +same way. They had spoken of it casually as something that would, as a +matter of course, take place in the indefinite future, as, for +instance, his promotion in the navy, in which he was now a padwar; or +the set functions of the court of her grandfather, Tardos Mors, Jeddak +of Helium; or Death. They had never spoken of love and that had puzzled +Tara of Helium upon the rare occasions she gave it thought, for she +knew that people who were to wed were usually much occupied with the +matter of love and she had all of a woman's curiosity—she wondered +what love was like. She was very fond of Djor Kantos and she knew that +he was very fond of her. They liked to be together, for they liked the +same things and the same people and the same books and their dancing +was a joy, not only to themselves but to those who watched them. She +could not imagine wanting to marry anyone other than Djor Kantos. +</P> + +<P> +So perhaps it was only the sun that made her brows contract just the +tiniest bit at the same instant that she discovered Djor Kantos sitting +in earnest conversation with Olvia Marthis, daughter of the Jed of +Hastor. It was Djor Kantos' duty immediately to pay his respects to +Dejah Thoris and Tara of Helium; but he did not do so and presently the +daughter of The Warlord frowned indeed. She looked long at Olvia +Marthis, and though she had seen her many times before and knew her +well, she looked at her today through new eyes that saw, apparently for +the first time, that the girl from Hastor was noticeably beautiful even +among those other beautiful women of Helium. Tara of Helium was +disturbed. She attempted to analyze her emotions; but found it +difficult. Olvia Marthis was her friend—she was very fond of her and +she felt no anger toward her. Was she angry with Djor Kantos? No, she +finally decided that she was not. It was merely surprise, then, that +she felt—surprise that Djor Kantos could be more interested in another +than in herself. She was about to cross the garden and join them when +she heard her father's voice directly behind her. +</P> + +<P> +"Tara of Helium!" he called, and she turned to see him approaching with +a strange warrior whose harness and metal bore devices with which she +was unfamiliar. Even among the gorgeous trappings of the men of Helium +and the visitors from distant empires those of the stranger were +remarkable for their barbaric splendor. The leather of his harness was +completely hidden beneath ornaments of platinum thickly set with +brilliant diamonds, as were the scabbards of his swords and the ornate +holster that held his long, Martian pistol. Moving through the sunlit +garden at the side of the great Warlord, the scintillant rays of his +countless gems enveloping him as in an aureole of light imparted to his +noble figure a suggestion of godliness. +</P> + +<P> +"Tara of Helium, I bring you Gahan, Jed of Gathol," said John Carter, +after the simple Barsoomian custom of presentation. +</P> + +<P> +"Kaor! Gahan, Jed of Gathol," returned Tara of Helium. +</P> + +<P> +"My sword is at your feet, Tara of Helium," said the young chieftain. +</P> + +<P> +The Warlord left them and the two seated themselves upon an ersite +bench beneath a spreading sorapus tree. +</P> + +<P> +"Far Gathol," mused the girl. "Ever in my mind has it been connected +with mystery and romance and the half-forgotten lore of the ancients. I +cannot think of Gathol as existing today, possibly because I have never +before seen a Gatholian." +</P> + +<P> +"And perhaps too because of the great distance that separates Helium +and Gathol, as well as the comparative insignificance of my little free +city, which might easily be lost in one corner of mighty Helium," added +Gahan. "But what we lack in power we make up in pride," he continued, +laughing. "We believe ours the oldest inhabited city upon Barsoom. It +is one of the few that has retained its freedom, and this despite the +fact that its ancient diamond mines are the richest known and, unlike +practically all the other fields, are today apparently as inexhaustible +as ever." +</P> + +<P> +"Tell me of Gathol," urged the girl. "The very thought fills me with +interest," nor was it likely that the handsome face of the young jed +detracted anything from the glamour of far Gathol. +</P> + +<P> +Nor did Gahan seem displeased with the excuse for further monopolizing +the society of his fair companion. His eyes seemed chained to her +exquisite features, from which they moved no further than to a rounded +breast, part hid beneath its jeweled covering, a naked shoulder or the +symmetry of a perfect arm, resplendent in bracelets of barbaric +magnificence. +</P> + +<P> +"Your ancient history has doubtless told you that Gathol was built upon +an island in Throxeus, mightiest of the five oceans of old Barsoom. As +the ocean receded Gathol crept down the sides of the mountain, the +summit of which was the island upon which she had been built, until +today she covers the slopes from summit to base, while the bowels of +the great hill are honeycombed with the galleries of her mines. +Entirely surrounding us is a great salt marsh, which protects us from +invasion by land, while the rugged and ofttimes vertical topography of +our mountain renders the landing of hostile airships a precarious +undertaking." +</P> + +<P> +"That, and your brave warriors?" suggested the girl. +</P> + +<P> +Gahan smiled. "We do not speak of that except to enemies," he said, +"and then with tongues of steel rather than of flesh." +</P> + +<P> +"But what practice in the art of war has a people which nature has thus +protected from attack?" asked Tara of Helium, who had liked the young +jed's answer to her previous question, but yet in whose mind persisted +a vague conviction of the possible effeminacy of her companion, +induced, doubtless, by the magnificence of his trappings and weapons +which carried a suggestion of splendid show rather than grim utility. +</P> + +<P> +"Our natural barriers, while they have doubtless saved us from defeat +on countless occasions, have not by any means rendered us immune from +attack," he explained, "for so great is the wealth of Gathol's diamond +treasury that there yet may be found those who will risk almost certain +defeat in an effort to loot our unconquered city; so thus we find +occasional practice in the exercise of arms; but there is more to +Gathol than the mountain city. My country extends from Polodona +(Equator) north ten karads and from the tenth karad west of Horz to the +twentieth west, including thus a million square haads, the greater +proportion of which is fine grazing land where run our great herds of +thoats and zitidars. +</P> + +<P> +"Surrounded as we are by predatory enemies our herdsmen must indeed be +warriors or we should have no herds, and you may be assured they get +plenty of fighting. Then there is our constant need of workers in the +mines. The Gatholians consider themselves a race of warriors and as +such prefer not to labor in the mines. The law is, however, that each +male Gatholian shall give an hour a day in labor to the government. +That is practically the only tax that is levied upon them. They prefer +however, to furnish a substitute to perform this labor, and as our own +people will not hire out for labor in the mines it has been necessary +to obtain slaves, and I do not need to tell you that slaves are not won +without fighting. We sell these slaves in the public market, the +proceeds going, half and half, to the government and the warriors who +bring them in. The purchasers are credited with the amount of labor +performed by their particular slaves. At the end of a year a good slave +will have performed the labor tax of his master for six years, and if +slaves are plentiful he is freed and permitted to return to his own +people." +</P> + +<P> +"You fight in platinum and diamonds?" asked Tara, indicating his +gorgeous trappings with a quizzical smile. +</P> + +<P> +Gahan laughed. "We are a vain people," he admitted, good-naturedly, +"and it is possible that we place too much value on personal +appearances. We vie with one another in the splendor of our +accoutrements when trapped for the observance of the lighter duties of +life, though when we take the field our leather is the plainest I ever +have seen worn by fighting men of Barsoom. We pride ourselves, too, +upon our physical beauty, and especially upon the beauty of our women. +May I dare to say, Tara of Helium, that I am hoping for the day when +you will visit Gathol that my people may see one who is really +beautiful?" +</P> + +<P> +"The women of Helium are taught to frown with displeasure upon the +tongue of the flatterer," rejoined the girl, but Gahan, Jed of Gathol, +observed that she smiled as she said it. +</P> + +<P> +A bugle sounded, clear and sweet, above the laughter and the talk. "The +Dance of Barsoom!" exclaimed the young warrior. "I claim you for it, +Tara of Helium." +</P> + +<P> +The girl glanced in the direction of the bench where she had last seen +Djor Kantos. He was not in sight. She inclined her head in assent to +the claim of the Gatholian. Slaves were passing among the guests, +distributing small musical instruments of a single string. Upon each +instrument were characters which indicated the pitch and length of its +tone. The instruments were of skeel, the string of gut, and were shaped +to fit the left forearm of the dancer, to which it was strapped. There +was also a ring wound with gut which was worn between the first and +second joints of the index finger of the right hand and which, when +passed over the string of the instrument, elicited the single note +required of the dancer. +</P> + +<P> +The guests had risen and were slowly making their way toward the +expanse of scarlet sward at the south end of the gardens where the +dance was to be held, when Djor Kantos came hurriedly toward Tara of +Helium. "I claim—" he exclaimed as he neared her; but she interrupted +him with a gesture. +</P> + +<P> +"You are too late, Djor Kantos," she cried in mock anger. "No laggard +may claim Tara of Helium; but haste now lest thou lose also Olvia +Marthis, whom I have never seen wait long to be claimed for this or any +other dance." +</P> + +<P> +"I have already lost her," admitted Djor Kantos ruefully. +</P> + +<P> +"And you mean to say that you came for Tara of Helium only after having +lost Olvia Marthis?" demanded the girl, still simulating displeasure. +</P> + +<P> +"Oh, Tara of Helium, you know better than that," insisted the young +man. "Was it not natural that I should assume that you would expect me, +who alone has claimed you for the Dance of Barsoom for at least twelve +times past?" +</P> + +<P> +"And sit and play with my thumbs until you saw fit to come for me?" she +questioned. "Ah, no, Djor Kantos; Tara of Helium is for no laggard," +and she threw him a sweet smile and passed on toward the assembling +dancers with Gahan, Jed of far Gathol. +</P> + +<P> +The Dance of Barsoom bears a relation similar to the more formal +dancing functions of Mars that The Grand March does to ours, though it +is infinitely more intricate and more beautiful. Before a Martian youth +of either sex may attend an important social function where there is +dancing, he must have become proficient in at least three dances—The +Dance of Barsoom, his national dance, and the dance of his city. In +these three dances the dancers furnish their own music, which never +varies; nor do the steps or figures vary, having been handed down from +time immemorial. All Barsoomian dances are stately and beautiful, but +The Dance of Barsoom is a wondrous epic of motion and harmony—there is +no grotesque posturing, no vulgar or suggestive movements. It has been +described as the interpretation of the highest ideals of a world that +aspired to grace and beauty and chastity in woman, and strength and +dignity and loyalty in man. +</P> + +<P> +Today, John Carter, Warlord of Mars, with Dejah Thoris, his mate, led +in the dancing, and if there was another couple that vied with them in +possession of the silent admiration of the guests it was the +resplendent Jed of Gathol and his beautiful partner. In the +ever-changing figures of the dance the man found himself now with the +girl's hand in his and again with an arm about the lithe body that the +jeweled harness but inadequately covered, and the girl, though she had +danced a thousand dances in the past, realized for the first time the +personal contact of a man's arm against her naked flesh. It troubled +her that she should notice it, and she looked up questioningly and +almost with displeasure at the man as though it was his fault. Their +eyes met and she saw in his that which she had never seen in the eyes +of Djor Kantos. It was at the very end of the dance and they both +stopped suddenly with the music and stood there looking straight into +each other's eyes. It was Gahan of Gathol who spoke first. +</P> + +<P> +"Tara of Helium, I love you!" he said. +</P> + +<P> +The girl drew herself to her full height. "The Jed of Gathol forgets +himself," she exclaimed haughtily. +</P> + +<P> +"The Jed of Gathol would forget everything but you, Tara of Helium," he +replied. Fiercely he pressed the soft hand that he still retained from +the last position of the dance. "I love you, Tara of Helium," he +repeated. "Why should your ears refuse to hear what your eyes but just +now did not refuse to see—and answer?" +</P> + +<P> +"What meanest thou?" she cried. "Are the men of Gathol such boors, +then?" +</P> + +<P> +"They are neither boors nor fools," he replied, quietly. "They know +when they love a woman—and when she loves them." +</P> + +<P> +Tara of Helium stamped her little foot in anger. "Go!" she said, +"before it is necessary to acquaint my father with the dishonor of his +guest." +</P> + +<P> +She turned and walked away. "Wait!" cried the man. "Just another word." +</P> + +<P> +"Of apology?" she asked. +</P> + +<P> +"Of prophecy," he said. +</P> + +<P> +"I do not care to hear it," replied Tara of Helium, and left him +standing there. She was strangely unstrung and shortly thereafter +returned to her own quarter of the palace, where she stood for a long +time by a window looking out beyond the scarlet tower of Greater Helium +toward the northwest. +</P> + +<P> +Presently she turned angrily away. "I hate him!" she exclaimed aloud. +</P> + +<P> +"Whom?" inquired the privileged Uthia. +</P> + +<P> +Tara of Helium stamped her foot. "That ill-mannered boor, the Jed of +Gathol," she replied. +</P> + +<P> +Uthia raised her slim brows. +</P> + +<P> +At the stamping of the little foot, a great beast rose from the corner +of the room and crossed to Tara of Helium where it stood looking up +into her face. She placed her hand upon the ugly head. "Dear old +Woola," she said; "no love could be deeper than yours, yet it never +offends. Would that men might pattern themselves after you!" +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap02"></A> +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +CHAPTER II +</H3> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +AT THE GALE'S MERCY +</H3> + +<P> +Tara of Helium did not return to her father's guests, but awaited in +her own apartments the word from Djor Kantos which she knew must come, +begging her to return to the gardens. She would then refuse, haughtily. +But no appeal came from Djor Kantos. At first Tara of Helium was angry, +then she was hurt, and always she was puzzled. She could not +understand. Occasionally she thought of the Jed of Gathol and then she +would stamp her foot, for she was very angry indeed with Gahan. The +presumption of the man! He had insinuated that he read love for him in +her eyes. Never had she been so insulted and humiliated. Never had she +so thoroughly hated a man. Suddenly she turned toward Uthia. +</P> + +<P> +"My flying leather!" she commanded. +</P> + +<P> +"But the guests!" exclaimed the slave girl. "Your father, The Warlord, +will expect you to return." +</P> + +<P> +"He will be disappointed," snapped Tara of Helium. +</P> + +<P> +The slave hesitated. "He does not approve of your flying alone," she +reminded her mistress. +</P> + +<P> +The young princess sprang to her feet and seized the unhappy slave by +the shoulders, shaking her. "You are becoming unbearable, Uthia," she +cried. "Soon there will be no alternative than to send you to the +public slave-market. Then possibly you will find a master to your +liking." +</P> + +<P> +Tears came to the soft eyes of the slave girl. "It is because I love +you, my princess," she said softly. Tara of Helium melted. She took the +slave in her arms and kissed her. +</P> + +<P> +"I have the disposition of a thoat, Uthia," she said. "Forgive me! I +love you and there is nothing that I would not do for you and nothing +would I do to harm you. Again, as I have so often in the past, I offer +you your freedom." +</P> + +<P> +"I do not wish my freedom if it will separate me from you, Tara of +Helium," replied Uthia. "I am happy here with you—I think that I +should die without you." +</P> + +<P> +Again the girls kissed. "And you will not fly alone, then?" questioned +the slave. +</P> + +<P> +Tara of Helium laughed and pinched her companion. "You persistent +little pest," she cried. "Of course I shall fly—does not Tara of +Helium always do that which pleases her?" +</P> + +<P> +Uthia shook her head sorrowfully. "Alas! she does," she admitted. "Iron +is the Warlord of Barsoom to the influences of all but two. In the +hands of Dejah Thoris and Tara of Helium he is as potters' clay." +</P> + +<P> +"Then run and fetch my flying leather like the sweet slave you are," +directed the mistress. +</P> + +<HR ALIGN="center" WIDTH="60%"> + +<P> +Far out across the ochre sea-bottoms beyond the twin cities of Helium +raced the swift flier of Tara of Helium. Thrilling to the speed and the +buoyancy and the obedience of the little craft the girl drove toward +the northwest. Why she should choose that direction she did not pause +to consider. Perhaps because in that direction lay the least known +areas of Barsoom, and, ergo, Romance, Mystery, and Adventure. In that +direction also lay far Gathol; but to that fact she gave no conscious +thought. +</P> + +<P> +She did, however, think occasionally of the jed of that distant +kingdom, but the reaction to these thoughts was scarcely pleasurable. +They still brought a flush of shame to her cheeks and a surge of angry +blood to her heart. She was very angry with the Jed of Gathol, and +though she should never see him again she was quite sure that hate of +him would remain fresh in her memory forever. Mostly her thoughts +revolved about another—Djor Kantos. And when she thought of him she +thought also of Olvia Marthis of Hastor. Tara of Helium thought that +she was jealous of the fair Olvia and it made her very angry to think +that. She was angry with Djor Kantos and herself, but she was not angry +at all with Olvia Marthis, whom she loved, and so of course she was not +jealous really. The trouble was, that Tara of Helium had failed for +once to have her own way. Djor Kantos had not come running like a +willing slave when she had expected him, and, ah, here was the nub of +the whole thing! Gahan, Jed of Gathol, a stranger, had been a witness +to her humiliation. He had seen her unclaimed at the beginning of a +great function and he had had to come to her rescue to save her, as he +doubtless thought, from the inglorious fate of a wall-flower. At the +recurring thought, Tara of Helium could feel her whole body burning +with scarlet shame and then she went suddenly white and cold with rage; +whereupon she turned her flier about so abruptly that she was all but +torn from her lashings upon the flat, narrow deck. She reached home +just before dark. The guests had departed. Quiet had descended upon the +palace. An hour later she joined her father and mother at the evening +meal. +</P> + +<P> +"You deserted us, Tara of Helium," said John Carter. "It is not what +the guests of John Carter should expect." +</P> + +<P> +"They did not come to see me," replied Tara of Helium. "I did not ask +them." +</P> + +<P> +"They were no less your guests," replied her father. +</P> + +<P> +The girl rose, and came and stood beside him and put her arms about his +neck. +</P> + +<P> +"My proper old Virginian," she cried, rumpling his shock of black hair. +</P> + +<P> +"In Virginia you would be turned over your father's knee and spanked," +said the man, smiling. +</P> + +<P> +She crept into his lap and kissed him. "You do not love me any more," +she announced. "No one loves me," but she could not compose her +features into a pout because bubbling laughter insisted upon breaking +through. +</P> + +<P> +"The trouble is there are too many who love you," he said. "And now +there is another." +</P> + +<P> +"Indeed!" she cried. "What do you mean?" +</P> + +<P> +"Gahan of Gathol has asked permission to woo you." +</P> + +<P> +The girl sat up very straight and tilted her chin in the air. "I would +not wed with a walking diamond-mine," she said. "I will not have him." +</P> + +<P> +"I told him as much," replied her father, "and that you were as good as +betrothed to another. He was very courteous about it; but at the same +time he gave me to understand that he was accustomed to getting what he +wanted and that he wanted you very much. I suppose it will mean another +war. Your mother's beauty kept Helium at war for many years, and—well, +Tara of Helium, if I were a young man I should doubtless be willing to +set all Barsoom afire to win you, as I still would to keep your divine +mother," and he smiled across the sorapus table and its golden service +at the undimmed beauty of Mars' most beautiful woman. +</P> + +<P> +"Our little girl should not yet be troubled with such matters," said +Dejah Thoris. "Remember, John Carter, that you are not dealing with an +Earth child, whose span of life would be more than half completed +before a daughter of Barsoom reached actual maturity." +</P> + +<P> +"But do not the daughters of Barsoom sometimes marry as early as +twenty?" he insisted. +</P> + +<P> +"Yes, but they will still be desirable in the eyes of men after forty +generations of Earth folk have returned to dust—there is no hurry, at +least, upon Barsoom. We do not fade and decay here as you tell me those +of your planet do, though you, yourself, belie your own words. When the +time seems proper Tara of Helium shall wed with Djor Kantos, and until +then let us give the matter no further thought." +</P> + +<P> +"No," said the girl, "the subject irks me, and I shall not marry Djor +Kantos, or another—I do not intend to wed." +</P> + +<P> +Her father and mother looked at her and smiled. "When Gahan of Gathol +returns he may carry you off," said the former. +</P> + +<P> +"He has gone?" asked the girl. +</P> + +<P> +"His flier departs for Gathol in the morning," John Carter replied. +</P> + +<P> +"I have seen the last of him then," remarked Tara of Helium with a sigh +of relief. +</P> + +<P> +"He says not," returned John Carter. +</P> + +<P> +The girl dismissed the subject with a shrug and the conversation passed +to other topics. A letter had arrived from Thuvia of Ptarth, who was +visiting at her father's court while Carthoris, her mate, hunted in +Okar. Word had been received that the Tharks and Warhoons were again at +war, or rather that there had been an engagement, for war was their +habitual state. In the memory of man there had been no peace between +these two savage green hordes—only a single temporary truce. Two new +battleships had been launched at Hastor. A little band of holy therns +was attempting to revive the ancient and discredited religion of Issus, +who they claimed still lived in spirit and had communicated with them. +There were rumors of war from Dusar. A scientist claimed to have +discovered human life on the further moon. A madman had attempted to +destroy the atmosphere plant. Seven people had been assassinated in +Greater Helium during the last ten zodes, (the equivalent of an Earth +day). +</P> + +<P> +Following the meal Dejah Thoris and The Warlord played at jetan, the +Barsoomian game of chess, which is played upon a board of a hundred +alternate black and orange squares. One player has twenty black pieces, +the other, twenty orange pieces. A brief description of the game may +interest those Earth readers who care for chess, and will not be lost +upon those who pursue this narrative to its conclusion, since before +they are done they will find that a knowledge of jetan will add to the +interest and the thrills that are in store for them. +</P> + +<P> +The men are placed upon the board as in chess upon the first two rows +next the players. In order from left to right on the line of squares +nearest the players, the jetan pieces are Warrior, Padwar, Dwar, Flier, +Chief, Princess, Flier, Dwar, Padwar, Warrior. In the next line all are +Panthans except the end pieces, which are called Thoats, and represent +mounted warriors. +</P> + +<P> +The Panthans, which are represented as warriors with one feather, may +move one space in any direction except backward; the Thoats, mounted +warriors with three feathers, may move one straight and one diagonal, +and may jump intervening pieces; Warriors, foot soldiers with two +feathers, straight in any direction, or diagonally, two spaces; +Padwars, lieutenants wearing two feathers, two diagonal in any +direction, or combination; Dwars, captains wearing three feathers, +three spaces straight in any direction, or combination; Fliers, +represented by a propellor with three blades, three spaces in any +direction, or combination, diagonally, and may jump intervening pieces; +the Chief, indicated by a diadem with ten jewels, three spaces in any +direction, straight, or diagonal; Princess, diadem with a single jewel, +same as Chief, and can jump intervening pieces. +</P> + +<P> +The game is won when a player places any of his pieces on the same +square with his opponent's Princess, or when a Chief takes a Chief. It +is drawn when a Chief is taken by any opposing piece other than the +opposing Chief; or when both sides have been reduced to three pieces, +or less, of equal value, and the game is not terminated in the +following ten moves, five apiece. This is but a general outline of the +game, briefly stated. +</P> + +<P> +It was this game that Dejah Thoris and John Carter were playing when +Tara of Helium bid them good night, retiring to her own quarters and +her sleeping silks and furs. "Until morning, my beloved," she called +back to them as she passed from the apartment, nor little did she +guess, nor her parents, that this might indeed be the last time that +they would ever set eyes upon her. +</P> + +<P> +The morning broke dull and gray. Ominous clouds billowed restlessly and +low. Beneath them torn fragments scudded toward the northwest. From her +window Tara of Helium looked out upon this unusual scene. Dense clouds +seldom overcast the Barsoomian sky. At this hour of the day it was her +custom to ride one of those small thoats that are the saddle animals of +the red Martians, but the sight of the billowing clouds lured her to a +new adventure. Uthia still slept and the girl did not disturb her. +Instead, she dressed quietly and went to the hangar upon the roof of +the palace directly above her quarters where her own swift flier was +housed. She had never driven through the clouds. It was an adventure +that always she had longed to experience. The wind was strong and it +was with difficulty that she maneuvered the craft from the hangar +without accident, but once away it raced swiftly out above the twin +cities. The buffeting winds caught and tossed it, and the girl laughed +aloud in sheer joy of the resultant thrills. She handled the little +ship like a veteran, though few veterans would have faced the menace of +such a storm in so light a craft. Swiftly she rose toward the clouds, +racing with the scudding streamers of the storm-swept fragments, and a +moment later she was swallowed by the dense masses billowing above. +Here was a new world, a world of chaos unpeopled except for herself; +but it was a cold, damp, lonely world and she found it depressing after +the novelty of it had been dissipated, by an overpowering sense of the +magnitude of the forces surging about her. Suddenly she felt very +lonely and very cold and very little. Hurriedly, therefore, she rose +until presently her craft broke through into the glorious sunlight that +transformed the upper surface of the somber element into rolling masses +of burnished silver. Here it was still cold, but without the dampness +of the clouds, and in the eye of the brilliant sun her spirits rose +with the mounting needle of her altimeter. Gazing at the clouds, now +far beneath, the girl experienced the sensation of hanging stationary +in mid-heaven; but the whirring of her propellor, the wind beating upon +her, the high figures that rose and fell beneath the glass of her +speedometer, these told her that her speed was terrific. It was then +that she determined to turn back. +</P> + +<P> +The first attempt she made above the clouds, but it was unsuccessful. +To her surprise she discovered that she could not even turn against the +high wind, which rocked and buffeted the frail craft. Then she dropped +swiftly to the dark and wind-swept zone between the hurtling clouds and +the gloomy surface of the shadowed ground. Here she tried again to +force the nose of the flier back toward Helium, but the tempest seized +the frail thing and hurled it remorselessly about, rolling it over and +over and tossing it as it were a cork in a cataract. At last the girl +succeeded in righting the flier, perilously close to the ground. Never +before had she been so close to death, yet she was not terrified. Her +coolness had saved her, that and the strength of the deck lashings that +held her. Traveling with the storm she was safe, but where was it +bearing her? She pictured the apprehension of her father and mother +when she failed to appear at the morning meal. They would find her +flier missing and they would guess that somewhere in the path of the +storm it lay a wrecked and tangled mass upon her dead body, and then +brave men would go out in search of her, risking their lives; and that +lives would be lost in the search, she knew, for she realized now that +never in her life-time had such a tempest raged upon Barsoom. +</P> + +<P> +She must turn back! She must reach Helium before her mad lust for +thrills had cost the sacrifice of a single courageous life! She +determined that greater safety and likelihood of success lay above the +clouds, and once again she rose through the chilling, wind-tossed +vapor. Her speed again was terrific, for the wind seemed to have +increased rather than to have lessened. She sought gradually to check +the swift flight of her craft, but though she finally succeeded in +reversing her motor the wind but carried her on as it would. Then it +was that Tara of Helium lost her temper. Had her world not always bowed +in acquiescence to her every wish? What were these elements that they +dared to thwart her? She would demonstrate to them that the daughter of +The Warlord was not to be denied! They would learn that Tara of Helium +might not be ruled even by the forces of nature! +</P> + +<P> +And so she drove her motor forward again and then with her firm, white +teeth set in grim determination she drove the steering lever far down +to port with the intention of forcing the nose of her craft straight +into the teeth of the wind, and the wind seized the frail thing and +toppled it over upon its back, and twisted and turned it and hurled it +over and over; the propellor raced for an instant in an air pocket and +then the tempest seized it again and twisted it from its shaft, leaving +the girl helpless upon an unmanageable atom that rose and fell, and +rolled and tumbled—the sport of the elements she had defied. Tara of +Helium's first sensation was one of surprise—that she had failed to +have her own way. Then she commenced to feel concern—not for her own +safety but for the anxiety of her parents and the dangers that the +inevitable searchers must face. She reproached herself for the +thoughtless selfishness that had jeopardized the peace and safety of +others. She realized her own grave danger, too; but she was still +unterrified, as befitted the daughter of Dejah Thoris and John Carter. +She knew that her buoyancy tanks might keep her afloat indefinitely, +but she had neither food nor water, and she was being borne toward the +least-known area of Barsoom. Perhaps it would be better to land +immediately and await the coming of the searchers, rather than to allow +herself to be carried still further from Helium, thus greatly reducing +the chances of early discovery; but when she dropped toward the ground +she discovered that the violence of the wind rendered an attempt to +land tantamount to destruction and she rose again, rapidly. +</P> + +<P> +Carried along a few hundred feet above the ground she was better able +to appreciate the Titanic proportions of the storm than when she had +flown in the comparative serenity of the zone above the clouds, for now +she could distinctly see the effect of the wind upon the surface of +Barsoom. The air was filled with dust and flying bits of vegetation and +when the storm carried her across an irrigated area of farm land she +saw great trees and stone walls and buildings lifted high in air and +scattered broadcast over the devastated country; and then she was +carried swiftly on to other sights that forced in upon her +consciousness a rapidly growing conviction that after all Tara of +Helium was a very small and insignificant and helpless person. It was +quite a shock to her self-pride while it lasted, and toward evening she +was ready to believe that it was going to last forever. There had been +no abatement in the ferocity of the tempest, nor was there indication +of any. She could only guess at the distance she had been carried for +she could not believe in the correctness of the high figures that had +been piled upon the record of her odometer. They seemed unbelievable +and yet, had she known it, they were quite true—in twelve hours she +had flown and been carried by the storm full seven thousand haads. Just +before dark she was carried over one of the deserted cities of ancient +Mars. It was Torquas, but she did not know it. Had she, she might +readily have been forgiven for abandoning the last vestige of hope, for +to the people of Helium Torquas seems as remote as do the South Sea +Islands to us. And still the tempest, its fury unabated, bore her on. +</P> + +<P> +All that night she hurtled through the dark beneath the clouds, or rose +to race through the moonlit void beneath the glory of Barsoom's two +satellites. She was cold and hungry and altogether miserable, but her +brave little spirit refused to admit that her plight was hopeless even +though reason proclaimed the truth. Her reply to reason, sometime +spoken aloud in sudden defiance, recalled the Spartan stubbornness of +her sire in the face of certain annihilation: "I still live!" +</P> + +<P> +That morning there had been an early visitor at the palace of The +Warlord. It was Gahan, Jed of Gathol. He had arrived shortly after the +absence of Tara of Helium had been noted, and in the excitement he had +remained unannounced until John Carter had happened upon him in the +great reception corridor of the palace as The Warlord was hurrying out +to arrange for the dispatch of ships in search of his daughter. +</P> + +<P> +Gahan read the concern upon the face of The Warlord. "Forgive me if I +intrude, John Carter," he said. "I but came to ask the indulgence of +another day since it would be fool-hardy to attempt to navigate a ship +in such a storm." +</P> + +<P> +"Remain, Gahan, a welcome guest until you choose to leave us," replied +The Warlord; "but you must forgive any seeming inattention upon the +part of Helium until my daughter is restored to us." +</P> + +<P> +"You daughter! Restored! What do you mean?" exclaimed the Gatholian. "I +do not understand." +</P> + +<P> +"She is gone, together with her light flier. That is all we know. We +can only assume that she decided to fly before the morning meal and was +caught in the clutches of the tempest. You will pardon me, Gahan, if I +leave you abruptly—I am arranging to send ships in search of her;" but +Gahan, Jed of Gathol, was already speeding in the direction of the +palace gate. There he leaped upon a waiting thoat and followed by two +warriors in the metal of Gathol, he dashed through the avenues of +Helium toward the palace that had been set aside for his entertainment. +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap03"></A> +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +CHAPTER III +</H3> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +THE HEADLESS HUMANS +</H3> + +<P> +Above the roof of the palace that housed the Jed of Gathol and his +entourage, the cruiser Vanator tore at her stout moorings. The groaning +tackle bespoke the mad fury of the gale, while the worried faces of +those members of the crew whose duties demanded their presence on the +straining craft gave corroborative evidence of the gravity of the +situation. Only stout lashings prevented these men from being swept +from the deck, while those upon the roof below were constantly +compelled to cling to rails and stanchions to save themselves from +being carried away by each new burst of meteoric fury. Upon the prow of +the Vanator was painted the device of Gathol, but no pennants were +displayed in the upper works since the storm had carried away several +in rapid succession, just as it seemed to the watching men that it must +carry away the ship itself. They could not believe that any tackle +could withstand for long this Titanic force. To each of the twelve +lashings clung a brawny warrior with drawn short-sword. Had but a +single mooring given to the power of the tempest eleven short-swords +would have cut the others; since, partially moored, the ship was +doomed, while free in the tempest it stood at least some slight chance +for life. +</P> + +<P> +"By the blood of Issus, I believe they will hold!" screamed one warrior +to another. +</P> + +<P> +"And if they do not hold may the spirits of our ancestors reward the +brave warriors upon the Vanator," replied another of those upon the +roof of the palace, "for it will not be long from the moment her cables +part before her crew dons the leather of the dead; but yet, Tanus, I +believe they will hold. Give thanks at least that we did not sail +before the tempest fell, since now each of us has a chance to live." +</P> + +<P> +"Yes," replied Tanus, "I should hate to be abroad today upon the +stoutest ship that sails the Barsoomian sky." +</P> + +<P> +It was then that Gahan the Jed appeared upon the roof. With him were +the balance of his own party and a dozen warriors of Helium. The young +chief turned to his followers. +</P> + +<P> +"I sail at once upon the Vanator," he said, "in search of Tara of +Helium who is thought to have been carried away upon a one-man flier by +the storm. I do not need to explain to you the slender chances the +Vanator has to withstand the fury of the tempest, nor will I order you +to your deaths. Let those who wish remain behind without dishonor. The +others will follow me," and he leaped for the rope ladder that lashed +wildly in the gale. +</P> + +<P> +The first man to follow him was Tanus and when the last reached the +deck of the cruiser there remained upon the palace roof only the twelve +warriors of Helium, who, with naked swords, had taken the posts of the +Gatholians at the moorings. +</P> + +<P> +Not a single warrior who had remained aboard the Vanator would leave +her now. +</P> + +<P> +"I expected no less," said Gahan, as with the help of those already on +the deck he and the others found secure lashings. The commander of the +Vanator shook his head. He loved his trim craft, the pride of her class +in the little navy of Gathol. It was of her he thought—not of himself. +He saw her lying torn and twisted upon the ochre vegetation of some +distant sea-bottom, to be presently overrun and looted by some savage, +green horde. He looked at Gahan. +</P> + +<P> +"Are you ready, San Tothis?" asked the jed. +</P> + +<P> +"All is ready." +</P> + +<P> +"Then cut away!" +</P> + +<P> +Word was passed across the deck and over the side to the Heliumetic +warriors below that at the third gun they were to cut away. Twelve keen +swords must strike simultaneously and with equal power, and each must +sever completely and instantly three strands of heavy cable that no +loose end fouling a block bring immediate disaster upon the Vanator. +</P> + +<P> +Boom! The voice of the signal gun rolled down through the screaming +wind to the twelve warriors upon the roof. Boom! Twelve swords were +raised above twelve brawny shoulders. Boom! Twelve keen edges severed +twelve complaining moorings, clean and as one. +</P> + +<P> +The Vanator, her propellors whirling, shot forward with the storm. The +tempest struck her in the stern as with a mailed fist and stood the +great ship upon her nose, and then it caught her and spun her as a +child's top spins; and upon the palace roof the twelve men looked on in +silent helplessness and prayed for the souls of the brave warriors who +were going to their death. And others saw, from Helium's lofty landing +stages and from a thousand hangars upon a thousand roofs; but only for +an instant did the preparations stop that would send other brave men +into the frightful maelstrom of that apparently hopeless search, for +such is the courage of the warriors of Barsoom. +</P> + +<P> +But the Vanator did not fall to the ground, within sight of the city at +least, though as long as the watchers could see her never for an +instant did she rest upon an even keel. Sometimes she lay upon one side +or the other, or again she hurtled along keel up, or rolled over and +over, or stood upon her nose or her tail at the caprice of the great +force that carried her along. And the watchers saw that this great ship +was merely being blown away with the other bits of debris great and +small that filled the sky. Never in the memory of man or the annals of +recorded history had such a storm raged across the face of Barsoom. +</P> + +<P> +And in another instant was the Vanator forgotten as the lofty, scarlet +tower that had marked Lesser Helium for ages crashed to ground, +carrying death and demolition upon the city beneath. Panic reigned. A +fire broke out in the ruins. The city's every force seemed crippled, +and it was then that The Warlord ordered the men that were about to set +forth in search of Tara of Helium to devote their energies to the +salvation of the city, for he too had witnessed the start of the +Vanator and realized the futility of wasting men who were needed sorely +if Lesser Helium was to be saved from utter destruction. +</P> + +<P> +Shortly after noon of the second day the storm commenced to abate, and +before the sun went down, the little craft upon which Tara of Helium +had hovered between life and death these many hours drifted slowly +before a gentle breeze above a landscape of rolling hills that once had +been lofty mountains upon a Martian continent. The girl was exhausted +from loss of sleep, from lack of food and drink, and from the nervous +reaction consequent to the terrifying experiences through which she had +passed. In the near distance, just topping an intervening hill, she +caught a momentary glimpse of what appeared to be a dome-capped tower. +Quickly she dropped the flier until the hill shut it off from the view +of the possible occupants of the structure she had seen. The tower +meant to her the habitation of man, suggesting the presence of water +and, perhaps, of food. If the tower was the deserted relic of a bygone +age she would scarcely find food there, but there was still a chance +that there might be water. If it was inhabited, then must her approach +be cautious, for only enemies might be expected to abide in so far +distant a land. Tara of Helium knew that she must be far from the twin +cities of her grandfather's empire, but had she guessed within even a +thousand haads of the reality, she had been stunned by realization of +the utter hopelessness of her state. +</P> + +<P> +Keeping the craft low, for the buoyancy tanks were still intact, the +girl skimmed the ground until the gently-moving wind had carried her to +the side of the last hill that intervened between her and the structure +she had thought a man-built tower. Here she brought the flier to the +ground among some stunted trees, and dragging it beneath one where it +might be somewhat hidden from craft passing above, she made it fast and +set forth to reconnoiter. Like most women of her class she was armed +only with a single slender blade, so that in such an emergency as now +confronted her she must depend almost solely upon her cleverness in +remaining undiscovered by enemies. With utmost caution she crept warily +toward the crest of the hill, taking advantage of every natural screen +that the landscape afforded to conceal her approach from possible +observers ahead, while momentarily she cast quick glances rearward lest +she be taken by surprise from that quarter. +</P> + +<P> +She came at last to the summit, where, from the concealment of a low +bush, she could see what lay beyond. Beneath her spread a beautiful +valley surrounded by low hills. Dotting it were numerous circular +towers, dome-capped, and surrounding each tower was a stone wall +enclosing several acres of ground. The valley appeared to be in a high +state of cultivation. Upon the opposite side of the hill and just +beneath her was a tower and enclosure. It was the roof of the former +that had first attracted her attention. In all respects it seemed +identical in construction with those further out in the valley—a high, +plastered wall of massive construction surrounding a similarly +constructed tower, upon whose gray surface was painted in vivid colors +a strange device. The towers were about forty sofads in diameter, +approximately forty earth-feet, and sixty in height to the base of the +dome. To an Earth man they would have immediately suggested the silos +in which dairy farmers store ensilage for their herds; but closer +scrutiny, revealing an occasional embrasured opening together with the +strange construction of the domes, would have altered such a +conclusion. Tara of Helium saw that the domes seemed to be faced with +innumerable prisms of glass, those that were exposed to the declining +sun scintillating so gorgeously as to remind her suddenly of the +magnificent trappings of Gahan of Gathol. As she thought of the man she +shook her head angrily, and moved cautiously forward a foot or two that +she might get a less obstructed view of the nearer tower and its +enclosure. +</P> + +<P> +As Tara of Helium looked down into the enclosure surrounding the +nearest tower, her brows contracted momentarily in frowning surprise, +and then her eyes went wide in an expression of incredulity tinged with +horror, for what she saw was a score or two of human bodies—naked and +headless. For a long moment she watched, breathless; unable to believe +the evidence of her own eyes—that these grewsome things moved and had +life! She saw them crawling about on hands and knees over and across +one another, searching about with their fingers. And she saw some of +them at troughs, for which the others seemed to be searching, and those +at the troughs were taking something from these receptacles and +apparently putting it in a hole where their necks should have been. +They were not far beneath her—she could see them distinctly and she +saw that there were the bodies of both men and women, and that they +were beautifully proportioned, and that their skin was similar to hers, +but of a slightly lighter red. At first she had thought that she was +looking upon a shambles and that the bodies, but recently decapitated, +were moving under the impulse of muscular reaction; but presently she +realized that this was their normal condition. The horror of them +fascinated her, so that she could scarce take her eyes from them. It +was evident from their groping hands that they were eyeless, and their +sluggish movements suggested a rudimentary nervous system and a +correspondingly minute brain. The girl wondered how they subsisted for +she could not, even by the wildest stretch of imagination, picture +these imperfect creatures as intelligent tillers of the soil. Yet that +the soil of the valley was tilled was evident and that these things had +food was equally so. But who tilled the soil? Who kept and fed these +unhappy things, and for what purpose? It was an enigma beyond her +powers of deduction. +</P> + +<P> +The sight of food aroused again a consciousness of her own gnawing +hunger and the thirst that parched her throat. She could see both food +and water within the enclosure; but would she dare enter even should +she find means of ingress? She doubted it, since the very thought of +possible contact with these grewsome creatures sent a shudder through +her frame. +</P> + +<P> +Then her eyes wandered again out across the valley until presently they +picked out what appeared to be a tiny stream winding its way through +the center of the farm lands—a strange sight upon Barsoom. Ah, if it +were but water! Then might she hope with a real hope, for the fields +would give her sustenance which she could gain by night, while by day +she hid among the surrounding hills, and sometime, yes, sometime she +knew, the searchers would come, for John Carter, Warlord of Barsoom, +would never cease to search for his daughter until every square haad of +the planet had been combed again and again. She knew him and she knew +the warriors of Helium and so she knew that could she but manage to +escape harm until they came, they would indeed come at last. +</P> + +<P> +She would have to wait until dark before she dare venture into the +valley, and in the meantime she thought it well to search out a place +of safety nearby where she might be reasonably safe from savage beasts. +It was possible that the district was free from carnivora, but one +might never be sure in a strange land. As she was about to withdraw +behind the brow of the hill her attention was again attracted to the +enclosure below. Two figures had emerged from the tower. Their +beautiful bodies seemed identical with those of the headless creatures +among which they moved, but the newcomers were not headless. Upon their +shoulders were heads that seemed human, yet which the girl intuitively +sensed were not human. They were just a trifle too far away for her to +see them distinctly in the waning light of the dying day, but she knew +that they were too large, they were out of proportion to the perfectly +proportioned bodies, and they were oblate in form. She could see that +the men wore some manner of harness to which were slung the customary +long-sword and short-sword of the Barsoomian warrior, and that about +their short necks were massive leather collars cut to fit closely over +the shoulders and snugly to the lower part of the head. Their features +were scarce discernible, but there was a suggestion of grotesqueness +about them that carried to her a feeling of revulsion. +</P> + +<P> +The two carried a long rope to which were fastened, at intervals of +about two sofads, what she later guessed were light manacles, for she +saw the warriors passing among the poor creatures in the enclosure and +about the right wrist of each they fastened one of the manacles. When +all had been thus fastened to the rope one of the warriors commenced to +pull and tug at the loose end as though attempting to drag the headless +company toward the tower, while the other went among them with a long, +light whip with which he flicked them upon the naked skin. Slowly, +dully, the creatures rose to their feet and between the tugging of the +warrior in front and the lashing of him behind the hopeless band was +finally herded within the tower. Tara of Helium shuddered as she turned +away. What manner of creatures were these? +</P> + +<P> +Suddenly it was night. The Barsoomian day had ended, and then the brief +period of twilight that renders the transition from daylight to +darkness almost as abrupt as the switching off of an electric light, +and Tara of Helium had found no sanctuary. But perhaps there were no +beasts to fear, or rather to avoid—Tara of Helium liked not the word +fear. She would have been glad, however, had there been a cabin, even a +very tiny cabin, upon her small flier; but there was no cabin. The +interior of the hull was completely taken up by the buoyancy tanks. Ah, +she had it! How stupid of her not to have thought of it before! She +could moor the craft to the tree beneath which it rested and let it +rise the length of the rope. Lashed to the deck rings she would then be +safe from any roaming beast of prey that chanced along. In the morning +she could drop to the ground again before the craft was discovered. +</P> + +<P> +As Tara of Helium crept over the brow of the hill down toward the +valley, her presence was hidden by the darkness of the night from the +sight of any chance observer who might be loitering by a window in the +nearby tower. Cluros, the farther moon, was just rising above the +horizon to commence his leisurely journey through the heavens. Eight +zodes later he would set—a trifle over nineteen and a half Earth +hours—and during that time Thuria, his vivacious mate, would have +circled the planet twice and be more than half way around on her third +trip. She had but just set. It would be more than three and a half +hours before she shot above the opposite horizon to hurtle, swift and +low, across the face of the dying planet. During this temporary absence +of the mad moon Tara of Helium hoped to find both food and water, and +gain again the safety of her flier's deck. +</P> + +<P> +She groped her way through the darkness, giving the tower and its +enclosure as wide a berth as possible. Sometimes she stumbled, for in +the long shadows cast by the rising Cluros objects were grotesquely +distorted though the light from the moon was still not sufficient to be +of much assistance to her. Nor, as a matter of fact, did she want +light. She could find the stream in the dark, by the simple expedient +of going down hill until she walked into it and she had seen that +bearing trees and many crops grew throughout the valley, so that she +would pass food in plenty ere she reached the stream. If the moon +showed her the way more clearly and thus saved her from an occasional +fall, he would, too, show her more clearly to the strange denizens of +the towers, and that, of course, must not be. Could she have waited +until the following night conditions would have been better, since +Cluros would not appear in the heavens at all and so, during Thuria's +absence, utter darkness would reign; but the pangs of thirst and the +gnawing of hunger could be endured no longer with food and drink both +in sight, and so she had decided to risk discovery rather than suffer +longer. +</P> + +<P> +Safely past the nearest tower, she moved as rapidly as she felt +consistent with safety, choosing her way wherever possible so that she +might take advantage of the shadows of the trees that grew at intervals +and at the same time discover those which bore fruit. In this latter +she met with almost immediate success, for the very third tree beneath +which she halted was heavy with ripe fruit. Never, thought Tara of +Helium, had aught so delicious impinged upon her palate, and yet it was +naught else than the almost tasteless usa, which is considered to be +palatable only after having been cooked and highly spiced. It grows +easily with little irrigation and the trees bear abundantly. The fruit, +which ranks high in food value, is one of the staple foods of the less +well-to-do, and because of its cheapness and nutritive value forms one +of the principal rations of both armies and navies upon Barsoom, a use +which has won for it a Martian sobriquet which, freely translated into +English, would be, The Fighting Potato. The girl was wise enough to eat +but sparingly, but she filled her pocket-pouch with the fruit before +she continued upon her way. +</P> + +<P> +Two towers she passed before she came at last to the stream, and here +again was she temperate, drinking but little and that very slowly, +contenting herself with rinsing her mouth frequently and bathing her +face, her hands, and her feet; and even though the night was cold, as +Martian nights are, the sensation of refreshment more than compensated +for the physical discomfort of the low temperature. Replacing her +sandals she sought among the growing track near the stream for whatever +edible berries or tubers might be planted there, and found a couple of +varieties that could be eaten raw. With these she replaced some of the +usa in her pocket-pouch, not only to insure a variety but because she +found them more palatable. Occasionally she returned to the stream to +drink, but each time moderately. Always were her eyes and ears alert +for the first signs of danger, but she had neither seen nor heard aught +to disturb her. And presently the time approached when she felt she +must return to her flier lest she be caught in the revealing light of +low swinging Thuria. She dreaded leaving the water for she knew that +she must become very thirsty before she could hope to come again to the +stream. If she only had some little receptacle in which to carry water, +even a small amount would tide her over until the following night; but +she had nothing and so she must content herself as best she could with +the juices of the fruit and tubers she had gathered. +</P> + +<P> +After a last drink at the stream, the longest and deepest she had +allowed herself, she rose to retrace her steps toward the hills; but +even as she did so she became suddenly tense with apprehension. What +was that? She could have sworn that she saw something move in the +shadows beneath a tree not far away. For a long minute the girl did not +move—she scarce breathed. Her eyes remained fixed upon the dense +shadows below the tree, her ears strained through the silence of the +night. A low moaning came down from the hills where her flier was +hidden. She knew it well—the weird note of the hunting banth. And the +great carnivore lay directly in her path. But he was not so close as +this other thing, hiding there in the shadows just a little way off. +What was it? It was the strain of uncertainty that weighed heaviest +upon her. Had she known the nature of the creature lurking there half +its menace would have vanished. She cast quickly about her in search of +some haven of refuge should the thing prove dangerous. +</P> + +<P> +Again arose the moaning from the hills, but this time closer. Almost +immediately it was answered from the opposite side of the valley, +behind her, and then from the distance to the right of her, and twice +upon her left. Her eyes had found a tree, quite near. Slowly, and +without taking her eyes from the shadows of that other tree, she moved +toward the overhanging branches that might afford her sanctuary in the +event of need, and at her first move a low growl rose from the spot she +had been watching and she heard the sudden moving of a big body. +Simultaneously the creature shot into the moonlight in full charge upon +her, its tail erect, its tiny ears laid flat, its great mouth with its +multiple rows of sharp and powerful fangs already yawning for its prey, +its ten legs carrying it forward in great leaps, and now from the +beast's throat issued the frightful roar with which it seeks to +paralyze its prey. It was a banth—the great, maned lion of Barsoom. +Tara of Helium saw it coming and leaped for the tree toward which she +had been moving, and the banth realized her intention and redoubled his +speed. As his hideous roar awakened the echoes in the hills, so too it +awakened echoes in the valley; but these echoes came from the living +throats of others of his kind, until it seemed to the girl that Fate +had thrown her into the midst of a countless multitude of these savage +beasts. +</P> + +<P> +Almost incredibly swift is the speed of a charging banth, and fortunate +it was that the girl had not been caught farther in the open. As it +was, her margin of safety was next to negligible, for as she swung +nimbly to the lower branches the creature in pursuit of her crashed +among the foliage almost upon her as it sprang upward to seize her. It +was only a combination of good fortune and agility that saved her. A +stout branch deflected the raking talons of the carnivore, but so close +was the call that a giant forearm brushed her flesh in the instant +before she scrambled to the higher branches. +</P> + +<P> +Baffled, the banth gave vent to his rage and disappointment in a series +of frightful roars that caused the very ground to tremble, and to these +were added the roarings and the growlings and the moanings of his +fellows as they approached from every direction, in the hope of +wresting from him whatever of his kill they could take by craft or +prowess. And now he turned snarling upon them as they circled the tree, +while the girl, huddled in a crotch above them, looked down upon the +gaunt, yellow monsters padding on noiseless feet in a restless circle +about her. She wondered now at the strange freak of fate that had +permitted her to come down this far into the valley by night unharmed, +but even more she wondered how she was to return to the hills. She knew +that she would not dare venture it by night and she guessed, too, that +by day she might be confronted by even graver perils. To depend upon +this valley for sustenance she now saw to be beyond the pale of +possibility because of the banths that would keep her from food and +water by night, while the dwellers in the towers would doubtless make +it equally impossible for her to forage by day. There was but one +solution of her difficulty and that was to return to her flier and pray +that the wind would waft her to some less terrorful land; but when +might she return to the flier? The banths gave little evidence of +relinquishing hope of her, and even if they wandered out of sight would +she dare risk the attempt? She doubted it. +</P> + +<P> +Hopeless indeed seemed her situation—hopeless it was. +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap04"></A> +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +CHAPTER IV +</H3> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +CAPTURED +</H3> + +<P> +As Thuria, swift racer of the night, shot again into the sky the scene +changed. As by magic a new aspect fell athwart the face of Nature. It +was as though in the instant one had been transported from one planet +to another. It was the age-old miracle of the Martian nights that is +always new, even to Martians—two moons resplendent in the heavens, +where one had been but now; conflicting, fast-changing shadows that +altered the very hills themselves; far Cluros, stately, majestic, +almost stationary, shedding his steady light upon the world below; +Thuria, a great and glorious orb, swinging swift across the vaulted +dome of the blue-black night, so low that she seemed to graze the +hills, a gorgeous spectacle that held the girl now beneath the spell of +its enchantment as it always had and always would. +</P> + +<P> +"Ah, Thuria, mad queen of heaven!" murmured Tara of Helium. "The hills +pass in stately procession, their bosoms rising and falling; the trees +move in restless circles; the little grasses describe their little +arcs; and all is movement, restless, mysterious movement without sound, +while Thuria passes." The girl sighed and let her gaze fall again to +the stern realities beneath. There was no mystery in the huge banths. +He who had discovered her squatted there looking hungrily up at her. +Most of the others had wandered away in search of other prey, but a few +remained hoping yet to bury their fangs in that soft body. +</P> + +<P> +The night wore on. Again Thuria left the heavens to her lord and +master, hurrying on to keep her tryst with the Sun in other skies. But +a single banth waited impatiently beneath the tree which harbored Tara +of Helium. The others had left, but their roars, and growls, and moans +thundered or rumbled, or floated back to her from near and far. What +prey found they in this little valley? There must be something that +they were accustomed to find here that they should be drawn in so great +numbers. The girl wondered what it could be. +</P> + +<P> +How long the night! Numb, cold, and exhausted, Tara of Helium clung to +the tree in growing desperation, for once she had dozed and almost +fallen. Hope was low in her brave little heart. How much more could she +endure? She asked herself the question and then, with a brave shake of +her head, she squared her shoulders. "I still live!" she said aloud. +</P> + +<P> +The banth looked up and growled. +</P> + +<P> +Came Thuria again and after awhile the great Sun—a flaming lover, +pursuing his heart's desire. And Cluros, the cold husband, continued +his serene way, as placid as before his house had been violated by this +hot Lothario. And now the Sun and both Moons rode together in the sky, +lending their far mysteries to make weird the Martian dawn. Tara of +Helium looked out across the fair valley that spread upon all sides of +her. It was rich and beautiful, but even as she looked upon it she +shuddered, for to her mind came a picture of the headless things that +the towers and the walls hid. Those by day and the banths by night! Ah, +was it any wonder that she shuddered? +</P> + +<P> +With the coming of the Sun the great Barsoomian lion rose to his feet. +He turned angry eyes upon the girl above him, voiced a single ominous +growl, and slunk away toward the hills. The girl watched him, and she +saw that he gave the towers as wide a berth as possible and that he +never took his eyes from one of them while he was passing it. Evidently +the inmates had taught these savage creatures to respect them. +Presently he passed from sight in a narrow defile, nor in any direction +that she could see was there another. Momentarily at least the +landscape was deserted. The girl wondered if she dared to attempt to +regain the hills and her flier. She dreaded the coming of the workmen +to the fields as she was sure they would come. She shrank from again +seeing the headless bodies, and found herself wondering if these things +would come out into the fields and work. She looked toward the nearest +tower. There was no sign of life there. The valley lay quiet now and +deserted. She lowered herself stiffly to the ground. Her muscles were +cramped and every move brought a twinge of pain. Pausing a moment to +drink again at the stream she felt refreshed and then turned without +more delay toward the hills. To cover the distance as quickly as +possible seemed the only plan to pursue. The trees no longer offered +concealment and so she did not go out of her way to be near them. The +hills seemed very far away. She had not thought, the night before, that +she had traveled so far. Really it had not been far, but now, with the +three towers to pass in broad daylight, the distance seemed great +indeed. +</P> + +<P> +The second tower lay almost directly in her path. To make a detour +would not lessen the chance of detection, it would only lengthen the +period of her danger, and so she laid her course straight for the hill +where her flier was, regardless of the tower. As she passed the first +enclosure she thought that she heard the sound of movement within, but +the gate did not open and she breathed more easily when it lay behind +her. She came then to the second enclosure, the outer wall of which she +must circle, as it lay across her route. As she passed close along it +she distinctly heard not only movement within, but voices. In the +world-language of Barsoom she heard a man issuing instructions—so many +were to pick usa, so many were to irrigate this field, so many to +cultivate that, and so on, as a foreman lays out the day's work for his +crew. +</P> + +<P> +Tara of Helium had just reached the gate in the outer wall. Without +warning it swung open toward her. She saw that for a moment it would +hide her from those within and in that moment she turned and ran, +keeping close to the wall, until, passing out of sight beyond the curve +of the structure, she came to the opposite side of the enclosure. Here, +panting from her exertion and from the excitement of her narrow escape, +she threw herself among some tall weeds that grew close to the foot of +the wall. There she lay trembling for some time, not even daring to +raise her head and look about. Never before had Tara of Helium felt the +paralyzing effects of terror. She was shocked and angry at herself, +that she, daughter of John Carter, Warlord of Barsoom, should exhibit +fear. Not even the fact that there had been none there to witness it +lessened her shame and anger, and the worst of it was she knew that +under similar circumstances she would again be equally as craven. It +was not the fear of death—she knew that. No, it was the thought of +those headless bodies and that she might see them and that they might +even touch her—lay hands upon her—seize her. She shuddered and +trembled at the thought. +</P> + +<P> +After a while she gained sufficient command of herself to raise her +head and look about. To her horror she discovered that everywhere she +looked she saw people working in the fields or preparing to do so. +Workmen were coming from other towers. Little bands were passing to +this field and that. There were even some already at work within thirty +ads of her—about a hundred yards. There were ten, perhaps, in the +party nearest her, both men and women, and all were beautiful of form +and grotesque of face. So meager were their trappings that they were +practically naked; a fact that was in no way remarkable among the +tillers of the fields of Mars. Each wore the peculiar, high leather +collar that completely hid the neck, and each wore sufficient other +leather to support a single sword and a pocket-pouch. The leather was +very old and worn, showing long, hard service, and was absolutely plain +with the exception of a single device upon the left shoulder. The +heads, however, were covered with ornaments of precious metals and +jewels, so that little more than eyes, nose, and mouth were +discernible. These were hideously inhuman and yet grotesquely human at +the same time. The eyes were far apart and protruding, the nose scarce +more than two small, parallel slits set vertically above a round hole +that was the mouth. The heads were peculiarly repulsive—so much so +that it seemed unbelievable to the girl that they formed an integral +part of the beautiful bodies below them. +</P> + +<P> +So fascinated was Tara of Helium that she could scarce take her eyes +from the strange creatures—a fact that was to prove her undoing, for +in order that she might see them she was forced to expose a part of her +own head and presently, to her consternation, she saw that one of the +creatures had stopped his work and was staring directly at her. She did +not dare move, for it was still possible that the thing had not seen +her, or at least was only suspicious that some creature lay hid among +the weeds. If she could allay this suspicion by remaining motionless +the creature might believe that he had been mistaken and return to his +work; but, alas, such was not to be the case. She saw the thing call +the attention of others to her and almost immediately four or five of +them started to move in her direction. +</P> + +<P> +It was impossible now to escape discovery. Her only hope lay in flight. +If she could elude them and reach the hills and the flier ahead of them +she might escape, and that could be accomplished in but one +way—flight, immediate and swift. Leaping to her feet she darted along +the base of the wall which she must skirt to the opposite side, beyond +which lay the hill that was her goal. Her act was greeted by strange +whistling sounds from the things behind her, and casting a glance over +her shoulder she saw them all in rapid pursuit. +</P> + +<P> +There were also shrill commands that she halt, but to these she paid no +attention. Before she had half circled the enclosure she discovered +that her chances for successful escape were great, since it was evident +to her that her pursuers were not so fleet as she. High indeed then +were her hopes as she came in sight of the hill, but they were soon +dashed by what lay before her, for there, in the fields that lay +between, were fully a hundred creatures similar to those behind her and +all were on the alert, evidently warned by the whistling of their +fellows. Instructions and commands were shouted to and fro, with the +result that those before her spread roughly into a great half circle to +intercept her, and when she turned to the right, hoping to elude the +net, she saw others coming from fields beyond, and to the left the same +was true. But Tara of Helium would not admit defeat. Without once +pausing she turned directly toward the center of the advancing +semi-circle, beyond which lay her single chance of escape, and as she +ran she drew her long, slim dagger. Like her valiant sire, if die she +must, she would die fighting. There were gaps in the thin line +confronting her and toward the widest of one of these she directed her +course. The things on either side of the opening guessed her intent for +they closed in to place themselves in her path. This widened the +openings on either side of them and as the girl appeared almost to rush +into their arms she turned suddenly at right angles, ran swiftly in the +new direction for a few yards, and then dashed quickly toward the hill +again. Now only a single warrior, with a wide gap on either side of +him, barred her clear way to freedom, though all the others were +speeding as rapidly as they could to intercept her. If she could pass +this one without too much delay she could escape, of that she was +certain. Her every hope hinged on this. The creature before her +realized it, too, for he moved cautiously, though swiftly, to intercept +her, as a Rugby fullback might maneuver in the realization that he +alone stood between the opposing team and a touchdown. +</P> + +<P> +At first Tara of Helium had hoped that she might dodge him, for she +could not but guess that she was not only more fleet but infinitely +more agile than these strange creatures; but soon there came to her the +realization that in the time consumed in an attempt to elude his grasp +his nearer fellows would be upon her and escape then impossible, so she +chose instead to charge straight for him, and when he guessed her +decision he stood, half crouching and with outstretched arms, awaiting +her. In one hand was his sword, but a voice arose, crying in tones of +authority. "Take her alive! Do not harm her!" Instantly the fellow +returned his sword to its scabbard and then Tara of Helium was upon +him. Straight for that beautiful body she sprang and in the instant +that the arms closed to seize her her sharp blade drove deep into the +naked chest. The impact hurled them both to the ground and as Tara of +Helium sprang to her feet again she saw, to her horror, that the +loathsome head had rolled from the body and was now crawling away from +her on six short, spider-like legs. The body struggled spasmodically +and lay still. As brief as had been the delay caused by the encounter, +it still had been of sufficient duration to undo her, for even as she +rose two more of the things fell upon her and instantly thereafter she +was surrounded. Her blade sank once more into naked flesh and once more +a head rolled free and crawled away. Then they overpowered her and in +another moment she was surrounded by fully a hundred of the creatures, +all seeking to lay hands upon her. At first she thought that they +wished to tear her to pieces in revenge for her having slain two of +their fellows, but presently she realized that they were prompted more +by curiosity than by any sinister motive. +</P> + +<P> +"Come!" said one of her captors, both of whom had retained a hold upon +her. As he spoke he tried to lead her away with him toward the nearest +tower. +</P> + +<P> +"She belongs to me," cried the other. "Did not I capture her? She will +come with me to the tower of Moak." +</P> + +<P> +"Never!" insisted the first. "She is Luud's. To Luud I will take her, +and whosoever interferes may feel the keenness of my sword—in the +head!" He almost shouted the last three words. +</P> + +<P> +"Come! Enough of this," cried one who spoke with some show of +authority. "She was captured in Luud's fields—she will go to Luud." +</P> + +<P> +"She was discovered in Moak's fields, at the very foot of the tower of +Moak," insisted he who had claimed her for Moak. +</P> + +<P> +"You have heard the Nolach speak," cried the Luud. "It shall be as he +says." +</P> + +<P> +"Not while this Moak holds a sword," replied the other. "Rather will I +cut her in twain and take my half to Moak than to relinquish her all to +Luud," and he drew his sword, or rather he laid his hand upon its hilt +in a threatening gesture; but before ever he could draw it the Luud had +whipped his out and with a fearful blow cut deep into the head of his +adversary. Instantly the big, round head collapsed, almost as a +punctured balloon collapses, as a grayish, semi-fluid matter spurted +from it. The protruding eyes, apparently lidless, merely stared, the +sphincter-like muscle of the mouth opened and closed, and then the head +toppled from the body to the ground. The body stood dully for a moment +and then slowly started to wander aimlessly about until one of the +others seized it by the arm. +</P> + +<P> +One of the two heads crawling about on the ground now approached. "This +rykor belongs to Moak," it said. "I am a Moak. I will take it," and +without further discussion it commenced to crawl up the front of the +headless body, using its six short, spiderlike legs and two stout +chelae which grew just in front of its legs and strongly resembled +those of an Earthly lobster, except that they were both of the same +size. The body in the meantime stood in passive indifference, its arms +hanging idly at its sides. The head climbed to the shoulders and +settled itself inside the leather collar that now hid its chelae and +legs. Almost immediately the body gave evidence of intelligent +animation. It raised its hands and adjusted the collar more +comfortably, it took the head between its palms and settled it in place +and when it moved around it did not wander aimlessly, but instead its +steps were firm and to some purpose. +</P> + +<P> +The girl watched all these things in growing wonder, and presently, no +other of the Moaks seeming inclined to dispute the right of the Luud to +her, she was led off by her captor toward the nearest tower. Several +accompanied them, including one who carried the loose head under his +arm. The head that was being carried conversed with the head upon the +shoulders of the thing that carried it. Tara of Helium shivered. It was +horrible! All that she had seen of these frightful creatures was +horrible. And to be a prisoner, wholly in their power. Shadow of her +first ancestor! What had she done to deserve so cruel a fate? +</P> + +<P> +At the wall enclosing the tower they paused while one opened the gate +and then they passed within the enclosure, which, to the girl's horror, +she found filled with headless bodies. The creature who carried the +bodiless head now set its burden upon the ground and the latter +immediately crawled toward one of the bodies that was lying near by. +Some wandered stupidly to and fro, but this one lay still. It was a +female. The head crawled to it and made its way to the shoulders where +it settled itself. At once the body sprang lightly erect. Another of +those who had accompanied them from the fields approached with the +harness and collar that had been taken from the dead body that the head +had formerly topped. The new body now appropriated these and the hands +deftly adjusted them. The creature was now as good as before Tara of +Helium had struck down its former body with her slim blade. But there +was a difference. Before it had been male—now it was female. That, +however, seemed to make no difference to the head. In fact, Tara of +Helium had noticed during the scramble and the fight about her that sex +differences seemed of little moment to her captors. Males and females +had taken equal part in her pursuit, both were identically harnessed +and both carried swords, and she had seen as many females as males draw +their weapons at the moment that a quarrel between the two factions +seemed imminent. +</P> + +<P> +The girl was given but brief opportunity for further observation of the +pitiful creatures in the enclosure as her captor, after having directed +the others to return to the fields, led her toward the tower, which +they entered, passing into an apartment about ten feet wide and twenty +long, in one end of which was a stairway leading to an upper level and +in the other an opening to a similar stairway leading downward. The +chamber, though on a level with the ground, was brilliantly lighted by +windows in its inner wall, the light coming from a circular court in +the center of the tower. The walls of this court appeared to be faced +with what resembled glazed, white tile and the whole interior of it was +flooded with dazzling light, a fact which immediately explained to the +girl the purpose of the glass prisms of which the domes were +constructed. The stairways themselves were sufficient to cause remark, +since in nearly all Barsoomian architecture inclined runways are +utilized for purposes of communication between different levels, and +especially is this true of the more ancient forms and of those of +remote districts where fewer changes have come to alter the customs of +antiquity. +</P> + +<P> +Down the stairway her captor led Tara of Helium. Down and down through +chambers still lighted from the brilliant well. Occasionally they +passed others going in the opposite direction and these always stopped +to examine the girl and ask questions of her captor. +</P> + +<P> +"I know nothing but that she was found in the fields and that I caught +her after a fight in which she slew two rykors and in which I slew a +Moak, and that I take her to Luud, to whom, of course, she belongs. If +Luud wishes to question her that is for Luud to do—not for me." Thus +always he answered the curious. +</P> + +<P> +Presently they reached a room from which a circular tunnel led away +from the tower, and into this the creature conducted her. The tunnel +was some seven feet in diameter and flattened on the bottom to form a +walk. For a hundred feet from the tower it was lined with the same +tile-like material of the light well and amply illuminated by reflected +light from that source. Beyond it was faced with stone of various +shapes and sizes, neatly cut and fitted together—a very fine mosaic +without a pattern. There were branches, too, and other tunnels which +crossed this, and occasionally openings not more than a foot in +diameter; these latter being usually close to the floor. Above each of +these smaller openings was painted a different device, while upon the +walls of the larger tunnels at all intersections and points of +convergence hieroglyphics appeared. These the girl could not read +though she guessed that they were the names of the tunnels, or notices +indicating the points to which they led. She tried to study some of +them out, but there was not a character that was familiar to her, which +seemed strange, since, while the written languages of the various +nations of Barsoom differ, it still is true that they have many +characters and words in common. +</P> + +<P> +She had tried to converse with her guard but he had not seemed inclined +to talk with her and she had finally desisted. She could not but note +that he had offered her no indignities, nor had he been either +unnecessarily rough or in any way cruel. The fact that she had slain +two of the bodies with her dagger had apparently aroused no animosity +or desire for revenge in the minds of the strange heads that surmounted +the bodies—even those whose bodies had been killed. She did not try to +understand it, since she could not approach the peculiar relationship +between the heads and the bodies of these creatures from the basis of +any past knowledge or experience of her own. So far their treatment of +her seemed to augur naught that might arouse her fears. Perhaps, after +all, she had been fortunate to fall into the hands of these strange +people, who might not only protect her from harm, but even aid her in +returning to Helium. That they were repulsive and uncanny she could not +forget, but if they meant her no harm she could, at least, overlook +their repulsiveness. Renewed hope aroused within her a spirit of +greater cheerfulness, and it was almost blithely now that she moved at +the side of her weird companion. She even caught herself humming a gay +little tune that was then popular in Helium. The creature at her side +turned its expressionless eyes upon her. +</P> + +<P> +"What is that noise that you are making?" it asked. +</P> + +<P> +"I was but humming an air," she replied. +</P> + +<P> +"'Humming an air,'" he repeated. "I do not know what you mean; but do +it again, I like it." +</P> + +<P> +This time she sang the words, while her companion listened intently. +His face gave no indication of what was passing in that strange head. +It was as devoid of expression as that of a spider. It reminded her of +a spider. When she had finished he turned toward her again. +</P> + +<P> +"That was different," he said. "I liked that better, even, than the +other. How do you do it?" +</P> + +<P> +"Why," she said, "it is singing. Do you not know what song is?" +</P> + +<P> +"No," he replied. "Tell me how you do it." +</P> + +<P> +"It is difficult to explain," she told him, "since any explanation of +it presupposes some knowledge of melody and of music, while your very +question indicates that you have no knowledge of either." +</P> + +<P> +"No," he said, "I do not know what you are talking about; but tell me +how you do it." +</P> + +<P> +"It is merely the melodious modulations of my voice," she explained. +"Listen!" and again she sang. +</P> + +<P> +"I do not understand," he insisted; "but I like it. Could you teach me +to do it?" +</P> + +<P> +"I do not know, but I shall be glad to try." +</P> + +<P> +"We will see what Luud does with you," he said. "If he does not want +you I will keep you and you shall teach me to make sounds like that." +</P> + +<P> +At his request she sang again as they continued their way along the +winding tunnel, which was now lighted by occasional bulbs which +appeared to be similar to the radium bulbs with which she was familiar +and which were common to all the nations of Barsoom, insofar as she +knew, having been perfected at so remote a period that their very +origin was lost in antiquity. They consist, usually, of a hemispherical +bowl of heavy glass in which is packed a compound containing what, +according to John Carter, must be radium. The bowl is then cemented +into a metal plate with a heavily insulated back and the whole affair +set in the masonry of wall or ceiling as desired, where it gives off +light of greater or less intensity, according to the composition of the +filling material, for an almost incalculable period of time. +</P> + +<P> +As they proceeded they met a greater number of the inhabitants of this +underground world, and the girl noted that among many of these the +metal and harness were more ornate than had been those of the workers +in the fields above. The heads and bodies, however, were similar, even +identical, she thought. No one offered her harm and she was now +experiencing a feeling of relief almost akin to happiness, when her +guide turned suddenly into an opening on the right side of the tunnel +and she found herself in a large, well lighted chamber. +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap05"></A> +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +CHAPTER V +</H3> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +THE PERFECT BRAIN +</H3> + +<P> +The song that had been upon her lips as she entered died there—frozen +by the sight of horror that met her eyes. In the center of the chamber +a headless body lay upon the floor—a body that had been partially +devoured—while over and upon it crawled a half a dozen heads upon +their short, spider legs, and they tore at the flesh of the woman with +their chelae and carried the bits to their awful mouths. They were +eating human flesh—eating it raw! +</P> + +<P> +Tara of Helium gasped in horror and turning away covered her eyes with +her palms. +</P> + +<P> +"Come!" said her captor. "What is the matter?" +</P> + +<P> +"They are eating the flesh of the woman," she whispered in tones of +horror. +</P> + +<P> +"Why not?" he inquired. "Did you suppose that we kept the rykor for +labor alone? Ah, no. They are delicious when kept and fattened. +Fortunate, too, are those that are bred for food, since they are never +called upon to do aught but eat." +</P> + +<P> +"It is hideous!" she cried. +</P> + +<P> +He looked at her steadily for a moment, but whether in surprise, in +anger, or in pity his expressionless face did not reveal. Then he led +her on across the room past the frightful thing, from which she turned +away her eyes. Lying about the floor near the walls were half a dozen +headless bodies in harness. These she guessed had been abandoned +temporarily by the feasting heads until they again required their +services. In the walls of this room there were many of the small, round +openings she had noticed in various parts of the tunnels, the purpose +of which she could not guess. +</P> + +<P> +They passed through another corridor and then into a second chamber, +larger than the first and more brilliantly illuminated. Within were +several of the creatures with heads and bodies assembled, while many +headless bodies lay about near the walls. Here her captor halted and +spoke to one of the occupants of the chamber. +</P> + +<P> +"I seek Luud," he said. "I bring to Luud a creature that I captured in +the fields above." +</P> + +<P> +The others crowded about to examine Tara of Helium. One of them +whistled, whereupon the girl learned something of the smaller openings +in the walls, for almost immediately there crawled from them, like +giant spiders, a score or more of the hideous heads. Each sought one of +the recumbent bodies and fastened itself in place. Immediately the +bodies reacted to the intelligent direction of the heads. They arose, +the hands adjusted the leather collars and put the balance of the +harness in order, then the creatures crossed the room to where Tara of +Helium stood. She noted that their leather was more highly ornamented +than that worn by any of the others she had previously seen, and so she +guessed that these must be higher in authority than the others. Nor was +she mistaken. The demeanor of her captor indicated it. He addressed +them as one who holds intercourse with superiors. +</P> + +<P> +Several of those who examined her felt her flesh, pinching it gently +between thumb and forefinger, a familiarity that the girl resented. She +struck down their hands. "Do not touch me!" she cried, imperiously, for +was she not a princess of Helium? The expression on those terrible +faces did not change. She could not tell whether they were angry or +amused, whether her action had filled them with respect for her, or +contempt. Only one of them spoke immediately. +</P> + +<P> +"She will have to be fattened more," he said. +</P> + +<P> +The girl's eyes went wide with horror. She turned upon her captor. "Do +these frightful creatures intend to devour me?" she cried. +</P> + +<P> +"That is for Luud to say," he replied, and then he leaned closer so +that his mouth was near her ear. "That noise you made which you called +song pleased me," he whispered, "and I will repay you by warning you +not to antagonize these kaldanes. They are very powerful. Luud listens +to them. Do not call them frightful. They are very handsome. Look at +their wonderful trappings, their gold, their jewels." +</P> + +<P> +"Thank you," she said. "You called them kaldanes—what does that mean?" +</P> + +<P> +"We are all kaldanes," he replied. +</P> + +<P> +"You, too?" and she pointed at him, her slim finger directed toward his +chest. +</P> + +<P> +"No, not this," he explained, touching his body; "this is a rykor; but +this," and he touched his head, "is a kaldane. It is the brain, the +intellect, the power that directs all things. The rykor," he indicated +his body, "is nothing. It is not so much even as the jewels upon our +harness; no, not so much as the harness itself. It carries us about. It +is true that we would find difficulty getting along without it; but it +has less value than harness or jewels because it is less difficult to +reproduce." He turned again to the other kaldanes. "Will you notify +Luud that I am here?" he asked. +</P> + +<P> +"Sept has already gone to Luud. He will tell him," replied one. "Where +did you find this rykor with the strange kaldane that cannot detach +itself?" +</P> + +<P> +The girl's captor narrated once more the story of her capture. He +stated facts just as they had occurred, without embellishment, his +voice as expressionless as his face, and his story was received in the +same manner that it was delivered. The creatures seemed totally lacking +in emotion, or, at least, the capacity to express it. It was impossible +to judge what impression the story made upon them, or even if they +heard it. Their protruding eyes simply stared and occasionally the +muscles of their mouths opened and closed. Familiarity did not lessen +the horror the girl felt for them. The more she saw of them the more +repulsive they seemed. Often her body was shaken by convulsive shudders +as she looked at the kaldanes, but when her eyes wandered to the +beautiful bodies and she could for a moment expunge the heads from her +consciousness the effect was soothing and refreshing, though when the +bodies lay, headless, upon the floor they were quite as shocking as the +heads mounted on bodies. But by far the most grewsome and uncanny sight +of all was that of the heads crawling about upon their spider legs. If +one of these should approach and touch her Tara of Helium was positive +that she should scream, while should one attempt to crawl up her +person—ugh! the very idea induced a feeling of faintness. +</P> + +<P> +Sept returned to the chamber. "Luud will see you and the captive. +Come!" he said, and turned toward a door opposite that through which +Tara of Helium had entered the chamber. "What is your name?" His +question was directed to the girl's captor. +</P> + +<P> +"I am Ghek, third foreman of the fields of Luud," he answered. +</P> + +<P> +"And hers?" +</P> + +<P> +"I do not know." +</P> + +<P> +"It makes no difference. Come!" +</P> + +<P> +The patrician brows of Tara of Helium went high. It made no difference, +indeed! She, a princess of Helium; only daughter of The Warlord of +Barsoom! +</P> + +<P> +"Wait!" she cried. "It makes much difference who I am. If you are +conducting me into the presence of your jed you may announce The +Princess Tara of Helium, daughter of John Carter, The Warlord of +Barsoom." +</P> + +<P> +"Hold your peace!" commanded Sept. "Speak when you are spoken to. Come +with me!" +</P> + +<P> +The anger of Tara of Helium all but choked her. "Come," admonished +Ghek, and took her by the arm, and Tara of Helium came. She was naught +but a prisoner. Her rank and titles meant nothing to these inhuman +monsters. They led her through a short, S-shaped passageway into a +chamber entirely lined with the white, tile-like material with which +the interior of the light wall was faced. Close to the base of the +walls were numerous smaller apertures, circular in shape, but larger +than those of similar aspect that she had noted elsewhere. The majority +of these apertures were sealed. Directly opposite the entrance was one +framed in gold, and above it a peculiar device was inlaid in the same +precious metal. +</P> + +<P> +Sept and Ghek halted just within the room, the girl between them, and +all three stood silently facing the opening in the opposite wall. On +the floor beside the aperture lay a headless male body of almost heroic +proportions, and on either side of this stood a heavily armed warrior, +with drawn sword. For perhaps five minutes the three waited and then +something appeared in the opening. It was a pair of large chelae and +immediately thereafter there crawled forth a hideous kaldane of +enormous proportions. He was half again as large as any that Tara of +Helium had yet seen and his whole aspect infinitely more terrible. The +skin of the others was a bluish gray—this one was of a little bluer +tinge and the eyes were ringed with bands of white and scarlet, as was +its mouth. +</P> + +<P> +From each nostril a band of white and one of scarlet extended outward +horizontally the width of the face. +</P> + +<P> +No one spoke or moved. The creature crawled to the prostrate body and +affixed itself to the neck. Then the two rose as one and approached the +girl. He looked at her and then he spoke to her captor. +</P> + +<P> +"You are the third foreman of the fields of Luud?" he asked. +</P> + +<P> +"Yes, Luud; I am called Ghek." +</P> + +<P> +"Tell me what you know of this," and he nodded toward Tara of Helium. +</P> + +<P> +Ghek did as he was bid and then Luud addressed the girl. +</P> + +<P> +"What were you doing within the borders of Bantoom?" he asked. +</P> + +<P> +"I was blown hither in a great storm that injured my flier and carried +me I knew not where. I came down into the valley at night for food and +drink. The banths came and drove me to the safety of a tree, and then +your people caught me as I was trying to leave the valley. I do not +know why they took me. I was doing no harm. All I ask is that you let +me go my way in peace." +</P> + +<P> +"None who enters Bantoom ever leaves," replied Luud. +</P> + +<P> +"But my people are not at war with yours. I am a princess of Helium; my +great-grandfather is a jeddak; my grandfather a jed; and my father is +Warlord of all Barsoom. You have no right to keep me and I demand that +you liberate me at once." +</P> + +<P> +"None who enters Bantoom ever leaves," repeated the creature without +expression. "I know nothing of the lesser creatures of Barsoom, of whom +you speak. There is but one high race—the race of Bantoomians. All +Nature exists to serve them. You shall do your share, but not yet—you +are too skinny. We shall have to put some fat upon it, Sept. I tire of +rykor. Perhaps this will have a different flavor. The banths are too +rank and it is seldom that any other creature enters the valley. And +you, Ghek; you shall be rewarded. I shall promote you from the fields +to the burrows. Hereafter you shall remain underground as every +Bantoomian longs to. No more shall you be forced to endure the hated +sun, or look upon the hideous sky, or the hateful growing things that +defile the surface. For the present you shall look after this thing +that you have brought me, seeing that it sleeps and eats—and does +nothing else. You understand me, Ghek; nothing else!" +</P> + +<P> +"I understand, Luud," replied the other. +</P> + +<P> +"Take it away!" commanded the creature. +</P> + +<P> +Ghek turned and led Tara of Helium from the apartment. The girl was +horrified by contemplation of the fate that awaited her—a fate from +which it seemed, there was no escape. It was only too evident that +these creatures possessed no gentle or chivalric sentiments to which +she could appeal, and that she might escape from the labyrinthine mazes +of their underground burrows appeared impossible. +</P> + +<P> +Outside the audience chamber Sept overtook them and conversed with Ghek +for a brief period, then her keeper led her through a confusing web of +winding tunnels until they came to a small apartment. +</P> + +<P> +"We are to remain here for a while. It may be that Luud will send for +you again. If he does you will probably not be fattened—he will use +you for another purpose." It was fortunate for the girl's peace of mind +that she did not realize what he meant. "Sing for me," said Ghek, +presently. +</P> + +<P> +Tara of Helium did not feel at all like singing, but she sang, +nevertheless, for there was always the hope that she might escape if +given the opportunity and if she could win the friendship of one of the +creatures, her chances would be increased proportionately. All during +the ordeal, for such it was to the overwrought girl, Ghek stood with +his eyes fixed upon her. +</P> + +<P> +"It is wonderful," he said, when she had finished; "but I did not tell +Luud—you noticed that I did not tell Luud about it. Had he known, he +would have had you sing to him and that would have resulted in your +being kept with him that he might hear you sing whenever he wished; but +now I can have you all the time." +</P> + +<P> +"How do you know he would like my singing?" she asked. +</P> + +<P> +"He would have to," replied Ghek. "If I like a thing he has to like it, +for are we not identical—all of us?" +</P> + +<P> +"The people of my race do not all like the same things," said the girl. +</P> + +<P> +"How strange!" commented Ghek. "All kaldanes like the same things and +dislike the same things. If I discover something new and like it I know +that all kaldanes will like it. That is how I know that Luud would like +your singing. You see we are all exactly alike." +</P> + +<P> +"But you do not look like Luud," said the girl. +</P> + +<P> +"Luud is king. He is larger and more gorgeously marked; but otherwise +he and I are identical, and why not? Did not Luud produce the egg from +which I hatched?" +</P> + +<P> +"What?" queried the girl; "I do not understand you." +</P> + +<P> +"Yes," explained Ghek, "all of us are from Luud's eggs, just as all the +swarm of Moak are from Moak's eggs." +</P> + +<P> +"Oh!" exclaimed Tara of Helium understandingly; "you mean that Luud has +many wives and that you are the offspring of one of them." +</P> + +<P> +"No, not that at all," replied Ghek. "Luud has no wife. He lays the +eggs himself. You do not understand." +</P> + +<P> +Tara of Helium admitted that she did not. +</P> + +<P> +"I will try to explain, then," said Ghek, "if you will promise to sing +to me later." +</P> + +<P> +"I promise," she said. +</P> + +<P> +"We are not like the rykors," he began. "They are creatures of a low +order, like yourself and the banths and such things. We have no +sex—not one of us except our king, who is bi-sexual. He produces many +eggs from which we, the workers and the warriors, are hatched; and one +in every thousand eggs is another king egg, from which a king is +hatched. Did you notice the sealed openings in the room where you saw +Luud? Sealed in each of those is another king. If one of them escaped +he would fall upon Luud and try to kill him and if he succeeded we +should have a new king; but there would be no difference. His name +would be Luud and all would go on as before, for are we not all alike? +Luud has lived a long time and has produced many kings, so he lets only +a few live that there may be a successor to him when he dies. The +others he kills." +</P> + +<P> +"Why does he keep more than one?" queried the girl. +</P> + +<P> +"Sometimes accidents occur," replied Ghek, "and all the kings that a +swarm has saved are killed. When this happens the swarm comes and +obtains another king from a neighboring swarm." +</P> + +<P> +"Are all of you the children of Luud?" she asked. +</P> + +<P> +"All but a few, who are from the eggs of the preceding king, as was +Luud; but Luud has lived a long time and not many of the others are +left." +</P> + +<P> +"You live a long time, or short?" Tara asked. +</P> + +<P> +"A very long time." +</P> + +<P> +"And the rykors, too; they live a long time?" +</P> + +<P> +"No; the rykors live for ten years, perhaps," he said, "if they remain +strong and useful. When they can no longer be of service to us, either +through age or sickness, we leave them in the fields and the banths +come at night and get them." +</P> + +<P> +"How horrible!" she exclaimed. +</P> + +<P> +"Horrible?" he repeated. "I see nothing horrible about that. The rykors +are but brainless flesh. They neither see, nor feel, nor hear. They can +scarce move but for us. If we did not bring them food they would starve +to death. They are less deserving of thought than our leather. All that +they can do for themselves is to take food from a trough and put it in +their mouths, but with us—look at them!" and he proudly exhibited the +noble figure that he surmounted, palpitant with life and energy and +feeling. +</P> + +<P> +"How do you do it?" asked Tara of Helium. "I do not understand it at +all." +</P> + +<P> +"I will show you," he said, and lay down upon the floor. Then he +detached himself from the body, which lay as a thing dead. On his +spider legs he walked toward the girl. "Now look," he admonished her. +"Do you see this thing?" and he extended what appeared to be a bundle +of tentacles from the posterior part of his head. "There is an aperture +just back of the rykor's mouth and directly over the upper end of his +spinal column. Into this aperture I insert my tentacles and seize the +spinal cord. Immediately I control every muscle of the rykor's body—it +becomes my own, just as you direct the movement of the muscles of your +body. I feel what the rykor would feel if he had a head and brain. If +he is hurt, I would suffer if I remained connected with him; but the +instant one of them is injured or becomes sick we desert it for +another. As we would suffer the pains of their physical injuries, +similarly do we enjoy the physical pleasures of the rykors. When your +body becomes fatigued you are comparatively useless; it is sick, you +are sick; if it is killed, you die. You are the slave of a mass of +stupid flesh and bone and blood. There is nothing more wonderful about +your carcass than there is about the carcass of a banth. It is only +your brain that makes you superior to the banth, but your brain is +bound by the limitations of your body. Not so, ours. With us brain is +everything. Ninety per centum of our volume is brain. We have only the +simplest of vital organs and they are very small for they do not have +to assist in the support of a complicated system of nerves, muscles, +flesh and bone. We have no lungs, for we do not require air. Far below +the levels to which we can take the rykors is a vast network of burrows +where the real life of the kaldane is lived. There the air-breathing +rykor would perish as you would perish. There we have stored vast +quantities of food in hermetically sealed chambers. It will last +forever. Far beneath the surface is water that will flow for countless +ages after the surface water is exhausted. We are preparing for the +time we know must come—the time when the last vestige of the +Barsoomian atmosphere is spent—when the waters and the food are gone. +For this purpose were we created, that there might not perish from the +planet Nature's divinest creation—the perfect brain." +</P> + +<P> +"But what purpose can you serve when that time comes?" asked the girl. +</P> + +<P> +"You do not understand," he said. "It is too big for you to grasp, but +I will try to explain it. Barsoom, the moons, the sun, the stars, were +created for a single purpose. From the beginning of time Nature has +labored arduously toward the consummation of this purpose. At the very +beginning things existed with life, but with no brain. Gradually +rudimentary nervous systems and minute brains evolved. Evolution +proceeded. The brains became larger and more powerful. In us you see +the highest development; but there are those of us who believe that +there is yet another step—that some time in the far future our race +shall develop into the super-thing—just brain. The incubus of legs and +chelae and vital organs will be removed. The future kaldane will be +nothing but a great brain. Deaf, dumb, and blind it will lie sealed in +its buried vault far beneath the surface of Barsoom—just a great, +wonderful, beautiful brain with nothing to distract it from eternal +thought." +</P> + +<P> +"You mean it will just lie there and think?" cried Tara of Helium. +</P> + +<P> +"Just that!" he exclaimed. "Could aught be more wonderful?" +</P> + +<P> +"Yes," replied the girl, "I can think of a number of things that would +be infinitely more wonderful." +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap06"></A> +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +CHAPTER VI +</H3> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +IN THE TOILS OF HORROR +</H3> + +<P> +What the creature had told her gave Tara of Helium food for thought. +She had been taught that every created thing fulfilled some useful +purpose, and she tried conscientiously to discover just what was the +rightful place of the kaldane in the universal scheme of things. She +knew that it must have its place but what that place was it was beyond +her to conceive. She had to give it up. They recalled to her mind a +little group of people in Helium who had forsworn the pleasures of life +in the pursuit of knowledge. They were rather patronizing in their +relations with those whom they thought not so intellectual. They +considered themselves quite superior. She smiled at recollection of a +remark her father had once made concerning them, to the effect that if +one of them ever dropped his egotism and broke it it would take a week +to fumigate Helium. Her father liked normal people—people who knew too +little and people who knew too much were equally a bore. Tara of Helium +was like her father in this respect and like him, too, she was both +sane and normal. +</P> + +<P> +Outside of her personal danger there was much in this strange world +that interested her. The rykors aroused her keenest pity, and vast +conjecture. How and from what form had they evolved? She asked Ghek. +</P> + +<P> +"Sing to me again and I will tell you," he said. "If Luud would let me +have you, you should never die. I should keep you always to sing to me." +</P> + +<P> +The girl marvelled at the effect her voice had upon the creature. +Somewhere in that enormous brain there was a chord that was touched by +melody. It was the sole link between herself and the brain when +detached from the rykor. When it dominated the rykor it might have +other human instincts; but these she dreaded even to think of. After +she had sung she waited for Ghek to speak. For a long time he was +silent, just looking at her through those awful eyes. +</P> + +<P> +"I wonder," he said presently, "if it might not be pleasant to be of +your race. Do you all sing?" +</P> + +<P> +"Nearly all, a little," she said; "but we do many other interesting and +enjoyable things. We dance and play and work and love and sometimes we +fight, for we are a race of warriors." +</P> + +<P> +"Love!" said the kaldane. "I think I know what you mean; but we, +fortunately, are above sentiment—when we are detached. But when we +dominate the rykor—ah, that is different, and when I hear you sing and +look at your beautiful body I know what you mean by love. I could love +you." +</P> + +<P> +The girl shrank from him. "You promised to tell me the origin of the +rykor," she reminded him. +</P> + +<P> +"Ages ago," he commenced, "our bodies were larger and our heads +smaller. Our legs were very weak and we could not travel fast or far. +There was a stupid creature that went upon four legs. It lived in a +hole in the ground, to which it brought its food, so we ran our burrows +into this hole and ate the food it brought; but it did not bring enough +for all—for itself and all the kaldanes that lived upon it, so we had +also to go abroad and get food. This was hard work for our weak legs. +Then it was that we commenced to ride upon the backs of these primitive +rykors. It took many ages, undoubtedly, but at last came the time when +the kaldane had found means to guide the rykor, until presently the +latter depended entirely upon the superior brain of his master to guide +him to food. The brain of the rykor grew smaller as time went on. His +ears went and his eyes, for he no longer had use for them—the kaldane +saw and heard for him. By similar steps the rykor came to go upon its +hind feet that the kaldane might be able to see farther. As the brain +shrank, so did the head. The mouth was the only feature of the head +that was used and so the mouth alone remains. Members of the red race +fell into the hands of our ancestors from time to time. They saw the +beauties and the advantages of the form that nature had given the red +race over that which the rykor was developing into. By intelligent +crossing the present rykor was achieved. He is really solely the +product of the super-intelligence of the kaldane—he is our body, to do +with as we see fit, just as you do what you see fit with your body, +only we have the advantage of possessing an unlimited supply of bodies. +Do you not wish that you were a kaldane?" +</P> + +<P> +For how long they kept her in the subterranean chamber Tara of Helium +did not know. It seemed a very long time. She ate and slept and watched +the interminable lines of creatures that passed the entrance to her +prison. There was a laden line passing from above carrying food, food, +food. In the other line they returned empty handed. When she saw them +she knew that it was daylight above. When they did not pass she knew it +was night, and that the banths were about devouring the rykors that had +been abandoned in the fields the previous day. She commenced to grow +pale and thin. She did not like the food they gave her—it was not +suited to her kind—nor would she have eaten overmuch palatable food, +for the fear of becoming fat. The idea of plumpness had a new +significance here—a horrible significance. +</P> + +<P> +Ghek noted that she was growing thin and white. He spoke to her about +it and she told him that she could not thrive thus beneath the +ground—that she must have fresh air and sunshine, or she would wither +and die. Evidently he carried her words to Luud, since it was not long +after that he told her that the king had ordered that she be confined +in the tower and to the tower she was taken. She had hoped against hope +that this very thing might result from her conversation with Ghek. Even +to see the sun again was something, but now there sprang to her breast +a hope that she had not dared to nurse before, while she lay in the +terrible labyrinth from which she knew she could never have found her +way to the outer world; but now there was some slight reason to hope. +At least she could see the hills and if she could see them might there +not come also the opportunity to reach them? If she could have but ten +minutes—just ten little minutes! The flier was still there—she knew +that it must be. Just ten minutes and she would be free—free forever +from this frightful place; but the days wore on and she was never +alone, not even for half of ten minutes. Many times she planned her +escape. Had it not been for the banths it had been easy of +accomplishment by night. Ghek always detached his body then and sank +into what seemed a semi-comatose condition. It could not be said that +he slept, or at least it did not appear like sleep, since his lidless +eyes were unchanged; but he lay quietly in a corner. Tara of Helium +enacted a thousand times in her mind the scene of her escape. She would +rush to the side of the rykor and seize the sword that hung in its +harness. Before Ghek knew what she purposed, she would have this and +then before he could give an alarm she would drive the blade through +his hideous head. It would take but a moment to reach the enclosure. +The rykors could not stop her, for they had no brains to tell them that +she was escaping. She had watched from her window the opening and +closing of the gate that led from the enclosure out into the fields and +she knew how the great latch operated. She would pass through and make +a quick dash for the hill. It was so near that they could not overtake +her. It was so easy! Or it would have been but for the banths! The +banths at night and the workers in the fields by day. +</P> + +<P> +Confined to the tower and without proper exercise or food, the girl +failed to show the improvement that her captors desired. Ghek +questioned her in an effort to learn why it was that she did not grow +round and plump; that she did not even look as well as when they had +captured her. His concern was prompted by repeated inquiries on the +part of Luud and finally resulted in suggesting to Tara of Helium a +plan whereby she might find a new opportunity of escape. +</P> + +<P> +"I am accustomed to walking in the fresh air and the sunlight," she +told Ghek. "I cannot become as I was before if I am to be always shut +away in this one chamber, breathing poor air and getting no proper +exercise. Permit me to go out in the fields every day and walk about +while the sun is shining. Then, I am sure, I shall become nice and fat." +</P> + +<P> +"You would run away," he said. +</P> + +<P> +"But how could I if you were always with me?" she asked. "And even if I +wished to run away where could I go? I do not know even the direction +of Helium. It must be very far. The very first night the banths would +get me, would they not?" +</P> + +<P> +"They would," said Ghek. "I will ask Luud about it." +</P> + +<P> +The following day he told her that Luud had said that she was to be +taken into the fields. He would try that for a time and see if she +improved. +</P> + +<P> +"If you do not grow fatter he will send for you anyway," said Ghek; +"but he will not use you for food." +</P> + +<P> +Tara of Helium shuddered. +</P> + +<P> +That day and for many days thereafter she was taken from the tower, +through the enclosure and out into the fields. Always was she alert for +an opportunity to escape; but Ghek was always close by her side. It was +not so much his presence that deterred her from making the attempt as +the number of workers that were always between her and the hills where +the flier lay. She could easily have eluded Ghek, but there were too +many of the others. And then, one day, Ghek told her as he accompanied +her into the open that this would be the last time. +</P> + +<P> +"Tonight you go to Luud," he said. "I am sorry as I shall not hear you +sing again." +</P> + +<P> +"Tonight!" She scarce breathed the word, yet it was vibrant with horror. +</P> + +<P> +She glanced quickly toward the hills. They were so close! Yet between +were the inevitable workers—perhaps a score of them. +</P> + +<P> +"Let us walk over there?" she said, indicating them. "I should like to +see what they are doing." +</P> + +<P> +"It is too far," said Ghek. "I hate the sun. It is much pleasanter here +where I can stand beneath the shade of this tree." +</P> + +<P> +"All right," she agreed; "then you stay here and I will walk over. It +will take me but a minute." +</P> + +<P> +"No," he answered. "I will go with you. You want to escape; but you are +not going to." +</P> + +<P> +"I cannot escape," she said. +</P> + +<P> +"I know it," agreed Ghek; "but you might try. I do not wish you to try. +Possibly it will be better if we return to the tower at once. It would +go hard with me should you escape." +</P> + +<P> +Tara of Helium saw her last chance fading into oblivion. There would +never be another after today. She cast about for some pretext to lure +him even a little nearer to the hills. +</P> + +<P> +"It is very little that I ask," she said. "Tonight you will want me to +sing to you. It will be the last time, if you do not let me go and see +what those kaldanes are doing I shall never sing to you again." +</P> + +<P> +Ghek hesitated. "I will hold you by the arm all the time, then," he +said. +</P> + +<P> +"Why, of course, if you wish," she assented. "Come!" +</P> + +<P> +The two moved toward the workers and the hills. The little party was +digging tubers from the ground. She had noted this and that nearly +always they were stooped low over their work, the hideous eyes bent +upon the upturned soil. She led Ghek quite close to them, pretending +that she wished to see exactly how they did the work, and all the time +he held her tightly by her left wrist. +</P> + +<P> +"It is very interesting," she said, with a sigh, and then, suddenly; +"Look, Ghek!" and pointed quickly back in the direction of the tower. +The kaldane, still holding her turned half away from her to look in the +direction she had indicated and simultaneously, with the quickness of a +banth, she struck him with her right fist, backed by every ounce of +strength she possessed—struck the back of the pulpy head just above +the collar. The blow was sufficient to accomplish her design, +dislodging the kaldane from its rykor and tumbling it to the ground. +Instantly the grasp upon her wrist relaxed as the body, no longer +controlled by the brain of Ghek, stumbled aimlessly about for an +instant before it sank to its knees and then rolled over on its back; +but Tara of Helium waited not to note the full results of her act. The +instant the fingers loosened upon her wrist she broke away and dashed +toward the hills. Simultaneously a warning whistle broke from Ghek's +lips and in instant response the workers leaped to their feet, one +almost in the girl's path. She dodged the outstretched arms and was +away again toward the hills and freedom, when her foot caught in one of +the hoe-like instruments with which the soil had been upturned and +which had been left, half imbedded in the ground. For an instant she +ran on, stumbling, in a mad effort to regain her equilibrium, but the +upturned furrows caught her feet—again she stumbled and this time went +down, and as she scrambled to rise again a heavy body fell upon her and +seized her arms. A moment later she was surrounded and dragged to her +feet and as she looked around she saw Ghek crawling to his prostrate +rykor. A moment later he advanced to her side. +</P> + +<P> +The hideous face, incapable of registering emotion, gave no clue to +what was passing in the enormous brain. Was he nursing thoughts of +anger, of hate, of revenge? Tara of Helium could not guess, nor did she +care. The worst had happened. She had tried to escape and she had +failed. There would never be another opportunity. +</P> + +<P> +"Come!" said Ghek. "We will return to the tower." The deadly monotone +of his voice was unbroken. It was worse than anger, for it revealed +nothing of his intentions. It but increased her horror of these great +brains that were beyond the possibility of human emotions. +</P> + +<P> +And so she was dragged back to her prison in the tower and Ghek took up +his vigil again, squatting by the doorway, but now he carried a naked +sword in his hand and did not quit his rykor, only to change to another +that he had brought to him when the first gave indications of +weariness. The girl sat looking at him. He had not been unkind to her, +but she felt no sense of gratitude, nor, on the other hand, any sense +of hatred. The brains, incapable themselves of any of the finer +sentiments, awoke none in her. She could not feel gratitude, or +affection, or hatred of them. There was only the same unceasing sense +of horror in their presence. She had heard great scientists discuss the +future of the red race and she recalled that some had maintained that +eventually the brain would entirely dominate the man. There would be no +more instinctive acts or emotions, nothing would be done on impulse; +but on the contrary reason would direct our every act. The propounder +of the theory regretted that he might never enjoy the blessings of such +a state, which, he argued, would result in the ideal life for mankind. +</P> + +<P> +Tara of Helium wished with all her heart that this learned scientist +might be here to experience to the full the practical results of the +fulfillment of his prophecy. Between the purely physical rykor and the +purely mental kaldane there was little choice; but in the happy medium +of normal, and imperfect man, as she knew him, lay the most desirable +state of existence. It would have been a splendid object lesson, she +thought, to all those idealists who seek mass perfection in any phase +of human endeavor, since here they might discover the truth that +absolute perfection is as little to be desired as is its antithesis. +</P> + +<P> +Gloomy were the thoughts that filled the mind of Tara of Helium as she +awaited the summons from Luud—the summons that could mean for her but +one thing; death. She guessed why he had sent for her and she knew that +she must find the means for self-destruction before the night was over; +but still she clung to hope and to life. She would not give up until +there was no other way. She startled Ghek once by exclaiming aloud, +almost fiercely: "I still live!" +</P> + +<P> +"What do you mean?" asked the kaldane. +</P> + +<P> +"I mean just what I say," she replied. "I still live and while I live I +may still find a way. Dead, there is no hope." +</P> + +<P> +"Find a way to what?" he asked. +</P> + +<P> +"To life and liberty and mine own people," she responded. +</P> + +<P> +"None who enters Bantoom ever leaves," he droned. +</P> + +<P> +She did not reply and after a time he spoke again. "Sing to me," he +said. +</P> + +<P> +It was while she was singing that four warriors came to take her to +Luud. They told Ghek that he was to remain where he was. +</P> + +<P> +"Why?" asked Ghek. +</P> + +<P> +"You have displeased Luud," replied one of the warriors. +</P> + +<P> +"How?" demanded Ghek. +</P> + +<P> +"You have demonstrated a lack of uncontaminated reasoning power. You +have permitted sentiment to influence you, thus demonstrating that you +are a defective. You know the fate of defectives." +</P> + +<P> +"I know the fate of defectives, but I am no defective," insisted Ghek. +</P> + +<P> +"You permitted the strange noises which issue from her throat to please +and soothe you, knowing well that their origin and purpose had nothing +whatever to do with logic or the powers of reason. This in itself +constitutes an unimpeachable indictment of weakness. Then, influenced +doubtless by an illogical feeling of sentiment, you permitted her to +walk abroad in the fields to a place where she was able to make an +almost successful attempt to escape. Your own reasoning power, were it +not defective, would convince you that you are unfit. The natural, and +reasonable, consequence is destruction. Therefore you will be destroyed +in such a way that the example will be beneficial to all other kaldanes +of the swarm of Luud. In the meantime you will remain where you are." +</P> + +<P> +"You are right," said Ghek. "I will remain here until Luud sees fit to +destroy me in the most reasonable manner." +</P> + +<P> +Tara of Helium shot a look of amazement at him as they led her from the +chamber. Over her shoulder she called back to him: "Remember, Ghek, you +still live!" Then they led her along the interminable tunnels to where +Luud awaited her. +</P> + +<P> +When she was conducted into his presence he was squatting in a corner +of the chamber upon his six spidery legs. Near the opposite wall lay +his rykor, its beautiful form trapped in gorgeous harness—a dead thing +without a guiding kaldane. Luud dismissed the warriors who had +accompanied the prisoner. Then he sat with his terrible eyes fixed upon +her and without speaking for some time. Tara of Helium could but wait. +What was to come she could only guess. When it came would be +sufficiently the time to meet it. There was no necessity for +anticipating the end. Presently Luud spoke. +</P> + +<P> +"You think to escape," he said, in the deadly, expressionless monotone +of his kind—the only possible result of orally expressing reason +uninfluenced by sentiment. "You will not escape. You are merely the +embodiment of two imperfect things—an imperfect brain and an imperfect +body. The two cannot exist together in perfection. There you see a +perfect body." He pointed toward the rykor. "It has no brain. Here," +and he raised one of his chelae to his head, "is the perfect brain. It +needs no body to function perfectly and properly as a brain. You would +pit your feeble intellect against mine! Even now you are planning to +slay me. If you are thwarted in that you expect to slay yourself. You +will learn the power of mind over matter. I am the mind. You are the +matter. What brain you have is too weak and ill-developed to deserve +the name of brain. You have permitted it to be weakened by impulsive +acts dictated by sentiment. It has no value. It has practically no +control over your existence. You will not kill me. You will not kill +yourself. When I am through with you you shall be killed if it seems +the logical thing to do. You have no conception of the possibilities +for power which lie in a perfectly developed brain. Look at that rykor. +He has no brain. He can move but slightly of his own volition. An +inherent mechanical instinct that we have permitted to remain in him +allows him to carry food to his mouth; but he could not find food for +himself. We have to place it within his reach and always in the same +place. Should we put food at his feet and leave him alone he would +starve to death. But now watch what a real brain may accomplish." +</P> + +<P> +He turned his eyes upon the rykor and squatted there glaring at the +insensate thing. Presently, to the girl's horror, the headless body +moved. It rose slowly to its feet and crossed the room to Luud; it +stooped and took the hideous head in its hands; it raised the head and +set it on its shoulders. +</P> + +<P> +"What chance have you against such power?" asked Luud. "As I did with +the rykor so can I do with you." +</P> + +<P> +Tara of Helium made no reply. Evidently no vocal reply was necessary. +</P> + +<P> +"You doubt my ability!" stated Luud, which was precisely the fact, +though the girl had only thought it—she had not said it. +</P> + +<P> +Luud crossed the room and lay down. Then he detached himself from the +body and crawled across the floor until he stood directly in front of +the circular opening through which she had seen him emerge the day that +she had first been brought to his presence. He stopped there and +fastened his terrible eyes upon her. He did not speak, but his eyes +seemed to be boring straight to the center of her brain. She felt an +almost irresistible force urging her toward the kaldane. She fought to +resist it; she tried to turn away her eyes, but she could not. They +were held as in horrid fascination upon the glittering, lidless orbs of +the great brain that faced her. Slowly, every step a painful struggle +of resistance, she moved toward the horrific monster. She tried to cry +aloud in an effort to awaken her numbing faculties, but no sound passed +her lips. If those eyes would but turn away, just for an instant, she +felt that she might regain the power to control her steps; but the eyes +never left hers. They seemed but to burn deeper and deeper, gathering +up every vestige of control of her entire nervous system. +</P> + +<P> +As she approached the thing it backed slowly away upon its spider legs. +She noticed that its chelae waved slowly to and fro before it as it +backed, backed, backed, through the round aperture in the wall. Must +she follow it there, too? What new and nameless horror lay concealed in +that hidden chamber? No! she would not do it. Yet before she reached +the wall she found herself down and crawling upon her hands and knees +straight toward the hole from which the two eyes still clung to hers. +At the very threshold of the opening she made a last, heroic stand, +battling against the force that drew her on; but in the end she +succumbed. With a gasp that ended in a sob Tara of Helium passed +through the aperture into the chamber beyond. +</P> + +<P> +The opening was but barely large enough to admit her. Upon the opposite +side she found herself in a small chamber. Before her squatted Luud. +Against the opposite wall lay a large and beautiful male rykor. He was +without harness or other trappings. +</P> + +<P> +"You see now," said Luud, "the futility of revolt." +</P> + +<P> +The words seemed to release her momentarily from the spell. Quickly she +turned away her eyes. +</P> + +<P> +"Look at me!" commanded Luud. +</P> + +<P> +Tara of Helium kept her eyes averted. She felt a new strength, or at +least a diminution of the creature's power over her. Had she stumbled +upon the secret of its uncanny domination over her will? She dared not +hope. With eyes averted she turned toward the aperture through which +those baleful eyes had drawn her. Again Luud commanded her to stop, but +the voice alone lacked all authority to influence her. It was not like +the eyes. She heard the creature whistle and knew that it was summoning +assistance, but because she did not dare look toward it she did not see +it turn and concentrate its gaze upon the great, headless body lying by +the further wall. +</P> + +<P> +The girl was still slightly under the spell of the creature's +influence—she had not regained full and independent domination of her +powers. She moved as one in the throes of some hideous +nightmare—slowly, painfully, as though each limb was hampered by a +great weight, or as she were dragging her body through a viscous fluid. +The aperture was close, ah, so close, yet, struggle as she would, she +seemed to be making no appreciable progress toward it. +</P> + +<P> +Behind her, urged on by the malevolent power of the great brain, the +headless body crawled upon all-fours toward her. At last she had +reached the aperture. Something seemed to tell her that once beyond it +the domination of the kaldane would be broken. She was almost through +into the adjoining chamber when she felt a heavy hand close upon her +ankle. The rykor had reached forth and seized her, and though she +struggled the thing dragged her back into the room with Luud. It held +her tight and drew her close, and then, to her horror, it commenced to +caress her. +</P> + +<P> +"You see now," she heard Luud's dull voice, "the futility of +revolt—and its punishment." +</P> + +<P> +Tara of Helium fought to defend herself, but pitifully weak were her +muscles against this brainless incarnation of brute power. Yet she +fought, fought on in the face of hopeless odds for the honor of the +proud name she bore—fought alone, she whom the fighting men of a +mighty empire, the flower of Martian chivalry, would gladly have lain +down their lives to save. +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap07"></A> +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +CHAPTER VII +</H3> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +A REPELLENT SIGHT +</H3> + +<P> +The cruiser Vanator careened through the tempest. That she had not been +dashed to the ground, or twisted by the force of the elements into +tangled wreckage, was due entirely to the caprice of Nature. For all +the duration of the storm she rode, a helpless derelict, upon those +storm-tossed waves of wind. But for all the dangers and vicissitudes +they underwent, she and her crew might have borne charmed lives up to +within an hour of the abating of the hurricane. It was then that the +catastrophe occurred—a catastrophe indeed to the crew of the Vanator +and the kingdom of Gathol. +</P> + +<P> +The men had been without food or drink since leaving Helium, and they +had been hurled about and buffeted in their lashings until all were +worn to exhaustion. There was a brief lull in the storm during which +one of the crew attempted to reach his quarters, after releasing the +lashings which had held him to the precarious safety of the deck. The +act in itself was a direct violation of orders and, in the eyes of the +other members of the crew, the effect, which came with startling +suddenness, took the form of a swift and terrible retribution. Scarce +had the man released the safety snaps ere a swift arm of the +storm-monster encircled the ship, rolling it over and over, with the +result that the foolhardy warrior went overboard at the first turn. +</P> + +<P> +Unloosed from their lashing by the constant turning and twisting of the +ship and the force of the wind, the boarding and landing tackle had +been trailing beneath the keel, a tangled mass of cordage and leather. +Upon the occasions that the Vanator rolled completely over, these +things would be wrapped around her until another revolution in the +opposite direction, or the wind itself, carried them once again clear +of the deck to trail, whipping in the storm, beneath the hurtling ship. +</P> + +<P> +Into this fell the body of the warrior, and as a drowning man clutches +at a straw so the fellow clutched at the tangled cordage that caught +him and arrested his fall. With the strength of desperation he clung to +the cordage, seeking frantically to entangle his legs and body in it. +With each jerk of the ship his hand holds were all but torn loose, and +though he knew that eventually they would be and that he must be dashed +to the ground beneath, yet he fought with the madness that is born of +hopelessness for the pitiful second which but prolonged his agony. +</P> + +<P> +It was upon this sight then that Gahan of Gathol looked, over the edge +of the careening deck of the Vanator, as he sought to learn the fate of +his warrior. Lashed to the gunwale close at hand a single landing +leather that had not fouled the tangled mass beneath whipped free from +the ship's side, the hook snapping at its outer end. The Jed of Gathol +grasped the situation in a single glance. Below him one of his people +looked into the eyes of Death. To the jed's hand lay the means for +succor. +</P> + +<P> +There was no instant's hesitation. Casting off his deck lashings, he +seized the landing leather and slipped over the ship's side. Swinging +like a bob upon a mad pendulum he swung far out and back again, turning +and twisting three thousand feet above the surface of Barsoom, and +then, at last, the thing he had hoped for occurred. He was carried +within reach of the cordage where the warrior still clung, though with +rapidly diminishing strength. Catching one leg on a loop of the tangled +strands Gahan pulled himself close enough to seize another quite near +to the fellow. Clinging precariously to this new hold the jed slowly +drew in the landing leather, down which he had clambered until he could +grasp the hook at its end. This he fastened to a ring in the warrior's +harness, just before the man's weakened fingers slipped from their hold +upon the cordage. +</P> + +<P> +Temporarily, at least, he had saved the life of his subject, and now he +turned his attention toward insuring his own safety. Inextricably +entangled in the mess to which he was clinging were numerous other +landing hooks such as he had attached to the warrior's harness, and +with one of these he sought to secure himself until the storm should +abate sufficiently to permit him to climb to the deck, but even as he +reached for one that swung near him the ship was caught in a renewed +burst of the storm's fury, the thrashing cordage whipped and snapped to +the lunging of the great craft and one of the heavy metal hooks, +lashing through the air, struck the Jed of Gathol fair between the eyes. +</P> + +<P> +Momentarily stunned, Gahan's fingers slipped from their hold upon the +cordage and the man shot downward through the thin air of dying Mars +toward the ground three thousand feet beneath, while upon the deck of +the rolling Vanator his faithful warriors clung to their lashings all +unconscious of the fate of their beloved leader; nor was it until more +than an hour later, after the storm had materially subsided, that they +realized he was lost, or knew the self-sacrificing heroism of the act +that had sealed his doom. The Vanator now rested upon an even keel as +she was carried along by a strong, though steady, wind. The warriors +had cast off their deck lashings and the officers were taking account +of losses and damage when a weak cry was heard from oversides, +attracting their attention to the man hanging in the cordage beneath +the keel. Strong arms hoisted him to the deck and then it was that the +crew of the Vanator learned of the heroism of their jed and his end. +How far they had traveled since his loss they could only vaguely guess, +nor could they return in search of him in the disabled condition of the +ship. It was a saddened company that drifted onward through the air +toward whatever destination Fate was to choose for them. +</P> + +<P> +And Gahan, Jed of Gathol--what of him? Plummet-like he fell for a +thousand feet and then the storm seized him in its giant clutch and +bore him far aloft again. As a bit of paper borne upon a gale he was +tossed about in mid-air, the sport and plaything of the wind. Over and +over it turned him and upward and downward it carried him, but after +each new sally of the element he was brought nearer to the ground. The +freaks of cyclonic storms are the rule of cyclonic storms, since +such storms are in themselves freaks. They uproot and demolish +giant trees, and in the same gust they transport frail infants for +miles and deposit them unharmed in their wake. +</P> + +<P> +And so it was with Gahan of Gathol. Expecting momentarily to be dashed +to destruction he presently found himself deposited gently upon the +soft, ochre moss of a dead sea-bottom, bodily no worse off for his +harrowing adventure than in the possession of a slight swelling upon +his forehead where the metal hook had struck him. Scarcely able to +believe that Fate had dealt thus gently with him, the jed arose slowly, +as though more than half convinced that he should discover crushed and +splintered bones that would not support his weight. But he was intact. +He looked about him in a vain effort at orientation. The air was filled +with flying dust and debris. The Sun was obliterated. His vision was +confined to a radius of a few hundred yards of ochre moss and +dust-filled air. Five hundred yards away in any direction there might +have arisen the walls of a great city and he not known it. It was +useless to move from where he was until the air cleared, since he could +not know in what direction he was moving, and so he stretched himself +upon the moss and waited, pondering the fate of his warriors and his +ship, but giving little thought to his own precarious situation. +</P> + +<P> +Lashed to his harness were his swords, his pistols, and a dagger, and +in his pocket-pouch a small quantity of the concentrated rations that +form a part of the equipment of the fighting men of Barsoom. These +things together with trained muscles, high courage, and an undaunted +spirit sufficed him for whatever misadventures might lie between him +and Gathol, which lay in what direction he knew not, nor at what +distance. +</P> + +<P> +The wind was falling rapidly and with it the dust that obscured the +landscape. That the storm was over he was convinced, but he chafed at +the inactivity the low visibility put upon him, nor did conditions +better materially before night fell, so that he was forced to await the +new day at the very spot at which the tempest had deposited him. +Without his sleeping silks and furs he spent a far from comfortable +night, and it was with feelings of unmixed relief that he saw the +sudden dawn burst upon him. The air was now clear and in the light of +the new day he saw an undulating plain stretching in all directions +about him, while to the northwest there were barely discernible the +outlines of low hills. Toward the southeast of Gathol was such a +country, and as Gahan surmised the direction and the velocity of the +storm to have carried him somewhere in the vicinity of the country he +thought he recognized, he assumed that Gathol lay behind the hills he +now saw, whereas, in reality, it lay far to the northeast. +</P> + +<P> +It was two days before Gahan had crossed the plain and reached the +summit of the hills from which he hoped to see his own country, only to +meet at last with disappointment. Before him stretched another plain, +of even greater proportions than that he had but just crossed, and +beyond this other hills. In one material respect this plain differed +from that behind him in that it was dotted with occasional isolated +hills. Convinced, however, that Gathol lay somewhere in the direction +of his search he descended into the valley and bent his steps toward +the northwest. +</P> + +<P> +For weeks Gahan of Gathol crossed valleys and hills in search of some +familiar landmark that might point his way toward his native land, but +the summit of each succeeding ridge revealed but another unfamiliar +view. He saw few animals and no men, until he finally came to the +belief that he had fallen upon that fabled area of ancient Barsoom +which lay under the curse of her olden gods—the once rich and fertile +country whose people in their pride and arrogance had denied the +deities, and whose punishment had been extermination. +</P> + +<P> +And then, one day, he scaled low hills and looked into an inhabited +valley—a valley of trees and cultivated fields and plots of ground +enclosed by stone walls surrounding strange towers. He saw people +working in the fields, but he did not rush down to greet them. First he +must know more of them and whether they might be assumed to be friends +or enemies. Hidden by concealing shrubbery he crawled to a vantage +point upon a hill that projected further into the valley, and here he +lay upon his belly watching the workers closest to him. They were still +quite a distance from him and he could not be quite sure of them, but +there was something verging upon the unnatural about them. Their heads +seemed out of proportion to their bodies—too large. +</P> + +<P> +For a long time he lay watching them and ever more forcibly it was +borne in upon his consciousness that they were not as he, and that it +would be rash to trust himself among them. Presently he saw a couple +appear from the nearest enclosure and slowly approach those who were +working nearest to the hill where he lay in hiding. Immediately he was +aware that one of these differed from all the others. Even at the +greater distance he noted that the head was smaller and as they +approached, he was confident that the harness of one of them was not as +the harness of its companion or of that of any of those who tilled the +fields. +</P> + +<P> +The two stopped often, apparently in argument, as though one would +proceed in the direction that they were going while the other demurred. +But each time the smaller won reluctant consent from the other, and so +they came closer and closer to the last line of workers toiling between +the enclosure from which they had come and the hill where Gahan of +Gathol lay watching, and then suddenly the smaller figure struck its +companion full in the face. Gahan, horrified, saw the latter's head +topple from its body, saw the body stagger and fall to the ground. The +man half rose from his concealment the better to view the happening in +the valley below. The creature that had felled its companion was +dashing madly in the direction of the hill upon which he was hidden, it +dodged one of the workers that sought to seize it. Gahan hoped that it +would gain its liberty, why he did not know other than at closer range +it had every appearance of being a creature of his own race. Then he +saw it stumble and go down and instantly its pursuers were upon it. +Then it was that Gahan's eyes chanced to return to the figure of the +creature the fugitive had felled. +</P> + +<P> +What horror was this that he was witnessing? Or were his eyes playing +some ghastly joke upon him? No, impossible though it was—it was +true—the head was moving slowly to the fallen body. It placed itself +upon the shoulders, the body rose, and the creature, seemingly as good +as new, ran quickly to where its fellows were dragging the hapless +captive to its feet. +</P> + +<P> +The watcher saw the creature take its prisoner by the arm and lead it +back to the enclosure, and even across the distance that separated them +from him he could note dejection and utter hopelessness in the bearing +of the prisoner, and, too, he was half convinced that it was a woman, +perhaps a red Martian of his own race. Could he be sure that this was +true he must make some effort to rescue her even though the customs of +his strange world required it only in case she was of his own country; +but he was not sure; she might not be a red Martian at all, or, if she +were, it was as possible that she sprang from an enemy people as not. +His first duty was to return to his own people with as little personal +risk as possible, and though the thought of adventure stirred his blood +he put the temptation aside with a sigh and turned away from the +peaceful and beautiful valley that he longed to enter, for it was his +intention to skirt its eastern edge and continue his search for Gathol +beyond. +</P> + +<P> +As Gahan of Gathol turned his steps along the southern slopes of the +hills that bound Bantoom upon the south and east, his attention was +attracted toward a small cluster of trees a short distance to his +right. The low sun was casting long shadows. It would soon be night. +The trees were off the path that he had chosen and he had little mind +to be diverted from his way; but as he looked again he hesitated. There +was something there besides boles of trees, and underbrush. There were +suggestions of familiar lines of the handicraft of man. Gahan stopped +and strained his eyes in the direction of the thing that had arrested +his attention. No, he must be mistaken—the branches of the trees and a +low bush had taken on an unnatural semblance in the horizontal rays of +the setting sun. He turned and continued upon his way; but as he cast +another side glance in the direction of the object of his interest, the +sun's rays were shot back into his eyes from a glistening point of +radiance among the trees. +</P> + +<P> +Gahan shook his head and walked quickly toward the mystery, determined +now to solve it. The shining object still lured him on and when he had +come closer to it his eyes went wide in surprise, for the thing they +saw was naught else than the jewel-encrusted emblem upon the prow of a +small flier. Gahan, his hand upon his short-sword, moved silently +forward, but as he neared the craft he saw that he had naught to fear, +for it was deserted. Then he turned his attention toward the emblem. As +its significance was flashed to his understanding his face paled and +his heart went cold—it was the insignia of the house of The Warlord of +Barsoom. Instantly he saw the dejected figure of the captive being led +back to her prison in the valley just beyond the hills. Tara of Helium! +And he had been so near to deserting her to her fate. The cold sweat +stood in beads upon his brow. +</P> + +<P> +A hasty examination of the deserted craft unfolded to the young jed the +whole tragic story. The same tempest that had proved his undoing had +borne Tara of Helium to this distant country. Here, doubtless, she had +landed in hope of obtaining food and water since, without a propellor, +she could not hope to reach her native city, or any other friendly +port, other than by the merest caprice of Fate. The flier seemed intact +except for the missing propellor and the fact that it had been +carefully moored in the shelter of the clump of trees indicated that +the girl had expected to return to it, while the dust and leaves upon +its deck spoke of the long days, and even weeks, since she had landed. +Mute yet eloquent proofs, these things, that Tara of Helium was a +prisoner, and that she was the very prisoner whose bold dash for +liberty he had so recently witnessed he now had not the slightest doubt. +</P> + +<P> +The question now revolved solely about her rescue. He knew to which +tower she had been taken—that much and no more. Of the number, the +kind, or the disposition of her captors he knew nothing; nor did he +care—for Tara of Helium he would face a hostile world alone. Rapidly +he considered several plans for succoring her; but the one that +appealed most strongly to him was that which offered the greatest +chance of escape for the girl should he be successful in reaching her. +His decision reached he turned his attention quickly toward the flier. +Casting off its lashings he dragged it out from beneath the trees, and, +mounting to the deck tested out the various controls. The motor started +at a touch and purred sweetly, the buoyancy tanks were well stocked, +and the ship answered perfectly to the controls which regulated her +altitude. There was nothing needed but a propellor to make her fit for +the long voyage to Helium. Gahan shrugged impatiently—there must not +be a propellor within a thousand haads. But what mattered it? The craft +even without a propellor would still answer the purpose his plan +required of it—provided the captors of Tara of Helium were a people +without ships, and he had seen nothing to suggest that they had ships. +The architecture of their towers and enclosures assured him that they +had not. +</P> + +<P> +The sudden Barsoomian night had fallen. Cluros rode majestically the +high heavens. The rumbling roar of a banth reverberated among the +hills. Gahan of Gathol let the ship rise a few feet from the ground, +then, seizing a bow rope, he dropped over the side. To tow the little +craft was now a thing of ease, and as Gahan moved rapidly toward the +brow of the hill above Bantoom the flier floated behind him as lightly +as a swan upon a quiet lake. Now down the hill toward the tower dimly +visible in the moonlight the Gatholian turned his steps. Closer behind +him sounded the roar of the hunting banth. He wondered if the beast +sought him or was following some other spoor. He could not be delayed +now by any hungry beast of prey, for what might that very instant be +befalling Tara of Helium he could not guess; and so he hastened his +steps. But closer and closer came the horrid screams of the great +carnivore, and now he heard the swift fall of padded feet upon the +hillside behind him. He glanced back just in time to see the beast +break into a rapid charge. His hand leaped to the hilt of his +long-sword, but he did not draw, for in the same instant he saw the +futility of armed resistance, since behind the first banth came a herd +of at least a dozen others. There was but a single alternative to a +futile stand and that he grasped in the instant that he saw the +overwhelming numbers of his antagonists. +</P> + +<P> +Springing lightly from the ground he swarmed up the rope toward the bow +of the flier. His weight drew the craft slightly lower and at the very +instant that the man drew himself to the deck at the bow of the vessel, +the leading banth sprang for the stern. Gahan leaped to his feet and +rushed toward the great beast in the hope of dislodging it before it +had succeeded in clambering aboard. At the same instant he saw that +others of the banths were racing toward them with the quite evident +intention of following their leader to the ship's deck. Should they +reach it in any numbers he would be lost. There was but a single hope. +Leaping for the altitude control Gahan pulled it wide. Simultaneously +three banths leaped for the deck. The craft rose swiftly. Gahan felt +the impact of a body against the keel, followed by the soft thuds of +the great bodies as they struck the ground beneath. His act had not +been an instant too soon. And now the leader had gained the deck and +stood at the stern with glaring eyes and snarling jaws. Gahan drew his +sword. The beast, possibly disconcerted by the novelty of its position, +did not charge. Instead it crept slowly toward its intended prey. The +craft was rising and Gahan placed a foot upon the control and stopped +the ascent. He did not wish to chance rising to some higher air current +that would bear him away. Already the craft was moving slowly toward +the tower, carried thither by the impetus of the banth's heavy body +leaping upon it from astern. +</P> + +<P> +The man watched the slow approach of the monster, the slavering jowls, +the malignant expression of the devilish face. The creature, finding +the deck stable, appeared to be gaining confidence, and then the man +leaped suddenly to one side of the deck and the tiny flier heeled as +suddenly in response. The banth slipped and clutched frantically at the +deck. Gahan leaped in with his naked sword; the great beast caught +itself and reared upon its hind legs to reach forth and seize this +presumptuous mortal that dared question its right to the flesh it +craved; and then the man sprang to the opposite side of the deck. The +banth toppled sideways at the same instant that it attempted to spring; +a raking talon passed close to Gahan's head at the moment that his +sword lunged through the savage heart, and as the warrior wrenched his +blade from the carcass it slipped silently over the side of the ship. +</P> + +<P> +A glance below showed that the vessel was drifting in the direction of +the tower to which Gahan had seen the prisoner led. In another moment +or two it would be directly over it. The man sprang to the control and +let the craft drop quickly toward the ground where followed the banths, +still hot for their prey. To land outside the enclosure spelled certain +death, while inside he could see many forms huddled upon the ground as +in sleep. The ship floated now but a few feet above the wall of the +enclosure. There was nothing for it but to risk all on a bold bid for +fortune, or drift helplessly past without hope of returning through the +banth-infested valley, from many points of which he could now hear the +roars and growls of these fierce Barsoomian lions. +</P> + +<P> +Slipping over the side Gahan descended by the trailing anchor-rope +until his feet touched the top of the wall, where he had no difficulty +in arresting the slow drifting of the ship. Then he drew up the anchor +and lowered it inside the enclosure. Still there was no movement upon +the part of the sleepers beneath—they lay as dead men. Dull lights +shone from openings in the tower; but there was no sign of guard or +waking inmate. Clinging to the rope Gahan lowered himself within the +enclosure, where he had his first close view of the creatures lying +there in what he had thought sleep. With a half smothered exclamation +of horror the man drew back from the headless bodies of the rykors. At +first he thought them the corpses of decapitated humans like himself, +which was quite bad enough; but when he saw them move and realized that +they were endowed with life, his horror and disgust became even greater. +</P> + +<P> +Here then was the explanation of the thing he had witnessed that +afternoon, when Tara of Helium had struck +the head from her captor and Gahan had seen the head crawl back to its body. And to +think that the pearl of Helium was in the power of such hideous things +as these. Again the man shuddered, but he hastened to make fast the +flier, clamber again to its deck and lower it to the floor of the +enclosure. Then he strode toward a door in the base of the tower, +stepping lightly over the recumbent forms of the unconscious rykors, +and crossing the threshold disappeared within. +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap08"></A> +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +CHAPTER VIII +</H3> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +CLOSE WORK +</H3> + +<P> +Ghek, in his happier days third foreman of the fields of Luud, sat +nursing his anger and his humiliation. Recently something had awakened +within him the existence of which he had never before even dreamed. Had +the influence of the strange captive woman aught to do with this unrest +and dissatisfaction? He did not know. He missed the soothing influence +of the noise she called singing. Could it be that there were other +things more desirable than cold logic and undefiled brain power? Was +well balanced imperfection more to be sought after then, than the high +development of a single characteristic? He thought of the great, +ultimate brain toward which all kaldanes were striving. It would be +deaf, and dumb, and blind. A thousand beautiful strangers might sing +and dance about it, but it could derive no pleasure from the singing or +the dancing since it would possess no perceptive faculties. Already had +the kaldanes shut themselves off from most of the gratifications of the +senses. Ghek wondered if much was to be gained by denying themselves +still further, and with the thought came a question as to the whole +fabric of their theory. After all perhaps the girl was right; what +purpose could a great brain serve sealed in the bowels of the earth? +</P> + +<P> +And he, Ghek, was to die for this theory. Luud had decreed it. The +injustice of it overwhelmed him with rage. But he was helpless. There +was no escape. Beyond the enclosure the banths awaited him; within, his +own kind, equally as merciless and ferocious. Among them there was no +such thing as love, or loyalty, or friendship—they were just brains. +He might kill Luud; but what would that profit him? Another king would +be loosed from his sealed chamber and Ghek would be killed. He did not +know it but he would not even have the poor satisfaction of satisfied +revenge, since he was not capable of feeling so abstruse a sentiment. +</P> + +<P> +Ghek, mounted upon his rykor, paced the floor of the tower chamber in +which he had been ordered to remain. Ordinarily he would have accepted +the sentence of Luud with perfect equanimity, since it was but the +logical result of reason; but now it seemed different. The stranger +woman had bewitched him. Life appeared a pleasant thing—there were +great possibilities in it. The dream of the ultimate brain had receded +into a tenuous haze far in the background of his thoughts. +</P> + +<P> +At that moment there appeared in the doorway of the chamber a red +warrior with naked sword. He was a male counterpart of the prisoner +whose sweet voice had undermined the cold, calculating reason of the +kaldane. +</P> + +<P> +"Silence!" admonished the newcomer, his straight brows gathered in an +ominous frown and the point of his longsword playing menacingly before +the eyes of the kaldane. "I seek the woman, Tara of Helium. Where is +she? If you value your life speak quickly and speak the truth." +</P> + +<P> +If he valued his life! It was a truth that Ghek had but just learned. +He thought quickly. After all, a great brain is not without its uses. +Perhaps here lay escape from the sentence of Luud. +</P> + +<P> +"You are of her kind?" he asked. "You come to rescue her?" +</P> + +<P> +"Yes." +</P> + +<P> +"Listen, then. I have befriended her, and because of this I am to die. +If I help you to liberate her, will you take me with you?" +</P> + +<P> +Gahan of Gathol eyed the weird creature from crown to foot—the perfect +body, the grotesque head, the expressionless face. Among such as these +had the beautiful daughter of Helium been held captive for days and +weeks. +</P> + +<P> +"If she lives and is unharmed," he said, "I will take you with us." +</P> + +<P> +"When they took her from me she was alive and unharmed," replied Ghek. +"I cannot say what has befallen her since. Luud sent for her." +</P> + +<P> +"Who is Luud? Where is he? Lead me to him." Gahan spoke quickly in +tones vibrant with authority. +</P> + +<P> +"Come, then," said Ghek, leading the way from the apartment and down a +stairway toward the underground burrows of the kaldanes. "Luud is my +king. I will take you to his chambers." +</P> + +<P> +"Hasten!" urged Gahan. +</P> + +<P> +"Sheathe your sword," warned Ghek, "so that should we pass others of my +kind I may say to them that you are a new prisoner with some likelihood +of winning their belief." +</P> + +<P> +Gahan did as he was bid, but warning the kaldane that his hand was ever +ready at his dagger's hilt. +</P> + +<P> +"You need have no fear of treachery," said Ghek. "My only hope of life +lies in you." +</P> + +<P> +"And if you fail me," Gahan admonished him, "I can promise you as sure +a death as even your king might guarantee you." +</P> + +<P> +Ghek made no reply, but moved rapidly through the winding subterranean +corridors until Gahan began to realize how truly was he in the hands of +this strange monster. If the fellow should prove false it would profit +Gahan nothing to slay him, since without his guidance the red man might +never hope to retrace his way to the tower and freedom. +</P> + +<P> +Twice they met and were accosted by other kaldanes; but in both +instances Ghek's simple statement that he was taking a new prisoner to +Luud appeared to allay all suspicion, and then at last they came to the +ante-chamber of the king. +</P> + +<P> +"Here, now, red man, thou must fight, if ever," whispered Ghek. "Enter +there!" and he pointed to a doorway before them. +</P> + +<P> +"And you?" asked Gahan, still fearful of treachery. +</P> + +<P> +"My rykor is powerful," replied the kaldane. "I shall accompany you and +fight at your side. As well die thus as in torture later at the will of +Luud. Come!" +</P> + +<P> +But Gahan had already crossed the room and entered the chamber beyond. +Upon the opposite side of the room was a circular opening guarded by +two warriors. Beyond this opening he could see two figures struggling +upon the floor, and the fleeting glimpse he had of one of the faces +suddenly endowed him with the strength of ten warriors and the ferocity +of a wounded banth. It was Tara of Helium, fighting for her honor or +her life. +</P> + +<P> +The warriors, startled by the unexpected appearance of a red man, stood +for a moment in dumb amazement, and in that moment Gahan of Gathol was +upon them, and one was down, a sword-thrust through its heart. +</P> + +<P> +"Strike at the heads," whispered the voice of Ghek in Gahan's ear. The +latter saw the head of the fallen warrior crawl quickly within the +aperture leading to the chamber where he had seen Tara of Helium in the +clutches of a headless body. Then the sword of Ghek struck the kaldane +of the remaining warrior from its rykor and Gahan ran his sword through +the repulsive head. +</P> + +<P> +Instantly the red warrior leaped for the aperture, while close behind +him came Ghek. +</P> + +<P> +"Look not upon the eyes of Luud," warned the kaldane, "or you are lost." +</P> + +<P> +Within the chamber Gahan saw Tara of Helium in the clutches of a mighty +body, while close to the wall upon the opposite side of the apartment +crouched the hideous, spider-like Luud. Instantly the king realized the +menace to himself and sought to fasten his eyes upon the eyes of Gahan, +and in doing so he was forced to relax his concentration upon the rykor +in whose embraces Tara struggled, so that almost immediately the girl +found herself able to tear away from the awful, headless thing. +</P> + +<P> +As she rose quickly to her feet she saw for the first time the cause of +the interruption of Luud's plans. A red warrior! Her heart leaped in +rejoicing and thanksgiving. What miracle of fate had sent him to her? +She did not recognize him, though, this travel-worn warrior in the +plain harness which showed no single jewel. How could she have guessed +him the same as the scintillant creature of platinum and diamonds that +she had seen for a brief hour under such different circumstances at the +court of her august sire? +</P> + +<P> +Luud saw Ghek following the strange warrior into the chamber. "Strike +him down, Ghek!" commanded the king. "Strike down the stranger and your +life shall be yours." +</P> + +<P> +Gahan glanced at the hideous face of the king. +</P> + +<P> +"Seek not his eyes," screamed Tara in warning; but it was too late. +Already the horrid hypnotic gaze of the king kaldane had seized upon +the eyes of Gahan. The red warrior hesitated in his stride. His sword +point drooped slowly toward the floor. Tara glanced toward Ghek. She +saw the creature glaring with his expressionless eyes upon the broad +back of the stranger. She saw the hand of the creature's rykor creeping +stealthily toward the hilt of its dagger. +</P> + +<P> +And then Tara of Helium raised her eyes aloft and poured forth the +notes of Mars' most beautiful melody, The Song of Love. +</P> + +<P> +Ghek drew his dagger from its sheath. His eyes turned toward the +singing girl. Luud's glance wavered from the eyes of the man to the +face of Tara, and the instant that the latter's song distracted his +attention from his victim, Gahan of Gathol shook himself and as with a +supreme effort of will forced his eyes to the wall above Luud's hideous +head. Ghek raised his dagger above his right shoulder, took a single +quick step forward, and struck. The girl's song ended in a stifled +scream as she leaped forward with the evident intention of frustrating +the kaldane's purpose; but she was too late, and well it was, for an +instant later she realized the purpose of Ghek's act as she saw the +dagger fly from his hand, pass Gahan's shoulder, and sink full to the +guard in the soft face of Luud. +</P> + +<P> +"Come!" cried the assassin, "we have no time to lose," and started for +the aperture through which they had entered the chamber; but in his +stride he paused as his glance was arrested by the form of the mighty +rykor lying prone upon the floor—a king's rykor; the most beautiful, +the most powerful, that the breeders of Bantoom could produce. Ghek +realized that in his escape he could take with him but a single rykor, +and there was none in Bantoom that could give him better service than +this giant lying here. Quickly he transferred himself to the shoulders +of the great, inert hulk. Instantly the latter was transformed to a +sentient creature, filled with pulsing life and alert energy. +</P> + +<P> +"Now," said the kaldane, "we are ready. Let whoso would revert to +nothingness impede me." Even as he spoke he stooped and crawled into +the chamber beyond, while Gahan, taking Tara by the arm, motioned her +to follow. The girl looked him full in the eyes for the first time. +"The Gods of my people have been kind," she said; "you came just in +time. To the thanks of Tara of Helium shall be added those of The +Warlord of Barsoom and his people. Thy reward shall surpass thy +greatest desires." +</P> + +<P> +Gahan of Gathol saw that she did not recognize him, and quickly he +checked the warm greeting that had been upon his lips. +</P> + +<P> +"Be thou Tara of Helium or another," he replied, "is immaterial, to +serve thus a red woman of Barsoom is in itself sufficient reward." +</P> + +<P> +As they spoke the girl was making her way through the aperture after +Ghek, and presently all three had quitted the apartments of Luud and +were moving rapidly along the winding corridors toward the tower. Ghek +repeatedly urged them to greater speed, but the red men of Barsoom were +never keen for retreat, and so the two that followed him moved all too +slowly for the kaldane. +</P> + +<P> +"There are none to impede our progress," urged Gahan, "so why tax the +strength of the Princess by needless haste?" +</P> + +<P> +"I fear not so much opposition ahead, for there are none there who know +the thing that has been done in Luud's chambers this night; but the +kaldane of one of the warriors who stood guard before Luud's apartment +escaped, and you may count it a truth that he lost no time in seeking +aid. That it did not come before we left is due solely to the rapidity +with which events transpired in the king's* room. Long before we reach +the tower they will be upon us from behind, and that they will come in +numbers far superior to ours and with great and powerful rykors I well +know." +</P> + +<P CLASS="footnote"> +* I have used the word king in describing the rulers or chiefs of the +Bantoomian swarms, since the word itself is unpronounceable in English, +nor does jed or jeddak of the red Martian tongue have quite the same +meaning as the Bantoomian word, which has practically the same +significance as the English word queen as applied to the leader of a +swarm of bees.—J. C. +</P> + +<BR> + +<P> +Nor was Ghek's prophecy long in fulfilment. Presently the sounds of +pursuit became audible in the distant clanking of accouterments and the +whistling call to arms of the kaldanes. +</P> + +<P> +"The tower is but a short distance now," cried Ghek. "Make haste while +yet you may, and if we can barricade it until the sun rises we may yet +escape." +</P> + +<P> +"We shall need no barricades for we shall not linger in the tower," +replied Gahan, moving more rapidly as he realized from the volume of +sound behind them the great number of their pursuers. +</P> + +<P> +"But we may not go further than the tower tonight," insisted Ghek. +"Beyond the tower await the banths and certain death." +</P> + +<P> +Gahan smiled. "Fear not the banths," he assured them. "Can we but reach +the enclosure a little ahead of our pursuers we have naught to fear +from any evil power within this accursed valley." +</P> + +<P> +Ghek made no reply, nor did his expressionless face denote either +belief or skepticism. The girl looked into the face of the man +questioningly. She did not understand. +</P> + +<P> +"Your flier," he said. "It is moored before the tower." +</P> + +<P> +Her face lighted with pleasure and relief. "You found it!" she +exclaimed. "What fortune!" +</P> + +<P> +"It was fortune indeed," he replied. "Since it not only told that you +were a prisoner here; but it saved me from the banths as I was crossing +the valley from the hills to this tower into which I saw them take you +this afternoon after your brave attempt at escape." +</P> + +<P> +"How did you know it was I?" she asked, her puzzled brows scanning his +face as though she sought to recall from past memories some scene in +which he figured. +</P> + +<P> +"Who is there but knows of the loss of the Princess Tara of Helium?" he +replied. "And when I saw the device upon your flier I knew at once, +though I had not known when I saw you among them in the fields a short +time earlier. Too great was the distance for me to make certain whether +the captive was man or woman. Had chance not divulged the hiding place +of your flier I had gone my way, Tara of Helium. I shudder to think how +close was the chance at that. But for the momentary shining of the sun +upon the emblazoned device on the prow of your craft, I had passed on +unknowing." +</P> + +<P> +The girl shuddered. "The Gods sent you," she whispered reverently. +</P> + +<P> +"The Gods sent me, Tara of Helium," he replied. +</P> + +<P> +"But I do not recognize you," she said. "I have tried to recall you, +but I have failed. Your name, what may it be?" +</P> + +<P> +"It is not strange that so great a princess should not recall the face +of every roving panthan of Barsoom," he replied with a smile. +</P> + +<P> +"But your name?" insisted the girl. +</P> + +<P> +"Call me Turan," replied the man, for it had come to him that if Tara +of Helium recognized him as the man whose impetuous avowal of love had +angered her that day in the gardens of The Warlord, her situation might +be rendered infinitely less bearable than were she to believe him a +total stranger. Then, too, as a simple panthan* he might win a greater +degree of her confidence by his loyalty and faithfulness and a place in +her esteem that seemed to have been closed to the resplendent Jed of +Gathol. +</P> + +<P CLASS="footnote"> +* Soldier of Fortune; free-lance warrior. +</P> + +<BR> + +<P> +They had reached the tower now, and as they entered it from the +subterranean corridor a backward glance revealed the van of their +pursuers—hideous kaldanes mounted upon swift and powerful rykors. As +rapidly as might be the three ascended the stairways leading to the +ground level, but after them, even more rapidly, came the minions of +Luud. Ghek led the way, grasping one of Tara's hands the more easily to +guide and assist her, while Gahan of Gathol followed a few paces in +their rear, his bared sword ready for the assault that all realized +must come upon them now before ever they reached the enclosure and the +flier. +</P> + +<P> +"Let Ghek drop behind to your side," said Tara, "and fight with you." +</P> + +<P> +"There is but room for a single blade in these narrow corridors," +replied the Gatholian. "Hasten on with Ghek and win to the deck of the +flier. Have your hand upon the control, and if I come far enough ahead +of these to reach the dangling cable you can rise at my word and I can +clamber to the deck at my leisure; but if one of them emerges first +into the enclosure you will know that I shall never come, and you will +rise quickly and trust to the Gods of our ancestors to give you a fair +breeze in the direction of a more hospitable people." +</P> + +<P> +Tara of Helium shook her head. "We will not desert you, panthan," she +said. +</P> + +<P> +Gahan, ignoring her reply, spoke above her head to Ghek. "Take her to +the craft moored within the enclosure," he commanded. "It is our only +hope. Alone, I may win to its deck; but have I to wait upon you two at +the last moment the chances are that none of us will escape. Do as I +bid." His tone was haughty and arrogant—the tone of a man who has +commanded other men from birth, and whose will has been law. Tara of +Helium was both angered and vexed. She was not accustomed to being +either commanded or ignored, but with all her royal pride she was no +fool, and she knew the man was right, that he was risking his life to +save hers, so she hastened on with Ghek as she was bid, and after the +first flush of anger she smiled, for the realization came to her that +this fellow was but a rough untutored warrior, skilled not in the finer +usages of cultured courts. His heart was right, though; a brave and +loyal heart, and gladly she forgave him the offense of his tone and +manner. But what a tone! Recollection of it gave her sudden pause. +Panthans were rough and ready men. Often they rose to positions of high +command, so it was not the note of authority in the fellow's voice that +seemed remarkable; but something else—a quality that was indefinable, +yet as distinct as it was familiar. She had heard it before when the +voice of her great-grandsire, Tardos Mors, Jeddak of Helium, had risen +in command; and in the voice of her grandfather, Mors Kajak, the jed; +and in the ringing tones of her illustrious sire, John Carter, Warlord +of Barsoom, when he addressed his warriors. +</P> + +<P> +But now she had no time to speculate upon so trivial a thing, for +behind her came the sudden clash of arms and she knew that Turan, the +panthan, had crossed swords with the first of their pursuers. As she +glanced back he was still visible beyond a turn in the stairway, so +that she could see the quick swordplay that ensued. Daughter of a +world's greatest swordsman, she knew well the finest points of the art. +She saw the clumsy attack of the kaldane and the quick, sure return of +the panthan. As she looked down from above upon his almost naked body, +trapped only in the simplest of unadorned harness, and saw the play of +the lithe muscles beneath the red-bronze skin, and witnessed the quick +and delicate play of his sword point, to her sense of obligation was +added a spontaneous admission of admiration that was but the natural +tribute of a woman to skill and bravery and, perchance, some trifle to +manly symmetry and strength. +</P> + +<P> +Three times the panthan's blade changed its position—once to fend a +savage cut; once to feint; and once to thrust. And as he withdrew it +from the last position the kaldane rolled lifeless from its stumbling +rykor and Turan sprang quickly down the steps to engage the next +behind, and then Ghek had drawn Tara upward and a turn in the stairway +shut the battling panthan from her view; but still she heard the ring +of steel on steel, the clank of accouterments and the shrill whistling +of the kaldanes. Her heart moved her to turn back to the side of her +brave defender; but her judgment told her that she could serve him best +by being ready at the control of the flier at the moment he reached the +enclosure. +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap09"></A> +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +CHAPTER IX +</H3> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +ADRIFT OVER STRANGE REGIONS +</H3> + +<P> +Presently Ghek pushed aside a door that opened from the stairway, and +before them Tara saw the moonlight flooding the walled court where the +headless rykors lay beside their feeding-troughs. She saw the perfect +bodies, muscled as the best of her father's fighting men, and the +females whose figures would have been the envy of many of Helium's most +beautiful women. Ah, if she could but endow these with the power to +act! Then indeed might the safety of the panthan be assured; but they +were only poor lumps of clay, nor had she the power to quicken them to +life. Ever must they lie thus until dominated by the cold, heartless +brain of the kaldane. The girl sighed in pity even as she shuddered in +disgust as she picked her way over and among the sprawled creatures +toward the flier. +</P> + +<P> +Quickly she and Ghek mounted to the deck after the latter had cast off +the moorings. Tara tested the control, raising and lowering the ship a +few feet within the walled space. It responded perfectly. Then she +lowered it to the ground again and waited. From the open doorway came +the sounds of conflict, now nearing them, now receding. The girl, +having witnessed her champion's skill, had little fear of the outcome. +Only a single antagonist could face him at a time upon the narrow +stairway, he had the advantage of position and of the defensive, and he +was a master of the sword while they were clumsy bunglers by +comparison. Their sole advantage was in their numbers, unless they +might find a way to come upon him from behind. +</P> + +<P> +She paled at the thought. Could she have seen him she might have been +further perturbed, for he took no advantage of many opportunities to +win nearer the enclosure. He fought coolly, but with a savage +persistence that bore little semblance to purely defensive action. +Often he clambered over the body of a fallen foe to leap against the +next behind, and once there lay five dead kaldanes behind him, so far +had he pushed back his antagonists. They did not know it; these +kaldanes that he fought, nor did the girl awaiting him upon the flier, +but Gahan of Gathol was engaged in a more alluring sport than winning +to freedom, for he was avenging the indignities that had been put upon +the woman he loved; but presently he realized that he might be +jeopardizing her safety uselessly, and so he struck down another before +him and turning leaped quickly up the stairway, while the leading +kaldanes slipped upon the brain-covered floor and stumbled in pursuit. +</P> + +<P> +Gahan reached the enclosure twenty paces ahead of them and raced toward +the flier. "Rise!" he shouted to the girl. "I will ascend the cable." +</P> + +<P> +Slowly the small craft rose from the ground as Gahan leaped the inert +bodies of the rykors lying in his path. The first of the pursuers +sprang from the tower just as Gahan seized the trailing rope. +</P> + +<P> +"Faster!" he shouted to the girl above, "or they will drag us down!" +But the ship seemed scarcely to move, though in reality she was rising +as rapidly as might have been expected of a one-man flier carrying a +load of three. Gahan swung free above the top of the wall, but the end +of the rope still dragged the ground as the kaldanes reached it. They +were pouring in a steady stream from the tower into the enclosure. The +leader seized the rope. +</P> + +<P> +"Quick!" he cried. "Lay hold and we will drag them down." +</P> + +<P> +It needed but the weight of a few to accomplish his design. The ship +was stopped in its flight and then, to the horror of the girl, she felt +it being dragged steadily downward. Gahan, too, realized the danger and +the necessity for instant action. Clinging to the rope with his left +hand, he had wound a leg about it, leaving his right hand free for his +long-sword which he had not sheathed. A downward cut clove the soft +head of a kaldane, and another severed the taut rope beneath the +panthan's feet. The girl heard a sudden renewal of the shrill whistling +of her foes, and at the same time she realized that the craft was +rising again. Slowly it drifted upward, out of reach of the enemy, and +a moment later she saw the figure of Turan clamber over the side. For +the first time in many weeks her heart was filled with the joy of +thanksgiving; but her first thought was of another. +</P> + +<P> +"You are not wounded?" she asked. +</P> + +<P> +"No, Tara of Helium," he replied. "They were scarce worth the effort of +my blade, and never were they a menace to me because of their swords." +</P> + +<P> +"They should have slain you easily," said Ghek. "So great and highly +developed is the power of reason among us that they should have known +before you struck just where, logically, you must seek to strike, and +so they should have been able to parry your every thrust and easily +find an opening to your heart." +</P> + +<P> +"But they did not, Ghek," Gahan reminded him. "Their theory of +development is wrong, for it does not tend toward a perfectly balanced +whole. You have developed the brain and neglected the body and you can +never do with the hands of another what you can do with your own hands. +Mine are trained to the sword—every muscle responds instantly and +accurately, and almost mechanically, to the need of the instant. I am +scarcely objectively aware that I think when I fight, so quickly does +my point take advantage of every opening, or spring to my defense if I +am threatened that it is almost as though the cold steel had eyes and +brains. You, with your kaldane brain and your rykor body, never could +hope to achieve in the same degree of perfection those things that I +can achieve. Development of the brain should not be the sum total of +human endeavor. The richest and happiest peoples will be those who +attain closest to well-balanced perfection of both mind and body, and +even these must always be short of perfection. In absolute and general +perfection lies stifling monotony and death. Nature must have +contrasts; she must have shadows as well as highlights; sorrow with +happiness; both wrong and right; and sin as well as virtue." +</P> + +<P> +"Always have I been taught differently," replied Ghek; "but since I +have known this woman and you, of another race, I have come to believe +that there may be other standards fully as high and desirable as those +of the kaldanes. At least I have had a glimpse of the thing you call +happiness and I realize that it may be good even though I have no means +of expressing it. I cannot laugh nor smile, and yet within me is a +sense of contentment when this woman sings—a sense that seems to open +before me wondrous vistas of beauty and unguessed pleasure that far +transcend the cold joys of a perfectly functioning brain. I would that +I had been born of thy race." +</P> + +<P> +Caught by a gentle current of air the flier was drifting slowly toward +the northeast across the valley of Bantoom. Below them lay the +cultivated fields, and one after another they passed over the strange +towers of Moak and Nolach and the other kings of the swarms that +inhabited this weird and terrible land. Within each enclosure +surrounding the towers grovelled the rykors, repellent, headless +things, beautiful yet hideous. +</P> + +<P> +"A lesson, those," remarked Gahan, indicating the rykors in an +enclosure above which they were drifting at the time, "to that +fortunately small minority of our race which worships the flesh and +makes a god of appetite. You know them, Tara of Helium; they can tell +you exactly what they had at the midday meal two weeks ago, and how the +loin of the thoat should be prepared, and what drink should be served +with the rump of the zitidar." +</P> + +<P> +Tara of Helium laughed. "But not one of them could tell you the name of +the man whose painting took the Jeddak's Award in The Temple of Beauty +this year," she said. "Like the rykors, their development has not been +balanced." +</P> + +<P> +"Fortunate indeed are those in which there is combined a little good +and a little bad, a little knowledge of many things outside their own +callings, a capacity for love and a capacity for hate, for such as +these can look with tolerance upon all, unbiased by the egotism of him +whose head is so heavy on one side that all his brains run to that +point." +</P> + +<P> +As Gahan ceased speaking Ghek made a little noise in his throat as one +does who would attract attention. "You speak as one who has thought +much upon many subjects. Is it, then, possible that you of the red race +have pleasure in thought? Do you know aught of the joys of +introspection? Do reason and logic form any part of your lives?" +</P> + +<P> +"Most assuredly," replied Gahan, "but not to the extent of occupying +all our time—at least not objectively. You, Ghek, are an example of +the egotism of which I spoke. Because you and your kind devote your +lives to the worship of mind, you believe that no other created beings +think. And possibly we do not in the sense that you do, who think only +of yourselves and your great brains. We think of many things that +concern the welfare of a world. Had it not been for the red men of +Barsoom even the kaldanes had perished from the planet, for while you +may live without air the things upon which you depend for existence +cannot, and there had been no air in sufficient quantities upon Barsoom +these many ages had not a red man planned and built the great +atmosphere plant which gave new life to a dying world. +</P> + +<P> +"What have all the brains of all the kaldanes that have ever lived done +to compare with that single idea of a single red man?" +</P> + +<P> +Ghek was stumped. Being a kaldane he knew that brains spelled the sum +total of universal achievement, but it had never occurred to him that +they should be put to use in practical and profitable ways. He turned +away and looked down upon the valley of his ancestors across which he +was slowly drifting, into what unknown world? He should be a veritable +god among the underlings, he knew; but somehow a doubt assailed him. It +was evident that these two from that other world were ready to question +his preeminence. Even through his great egotism was filtering a +suspicion that they patronized him; perhaps even pitied him. Then he +began to wonder what was to become of him. No longer would he have many +rykors to do his bidding. Only this single one and when it died there +could not be another. When it tired, Ghek must lie almost helpless +while it rested. He wished that he had never seen this red woman. She +had brought him only discontent and dishonor and now exile. Presently +Tara of Helium commenced to hum a tune and Ghek, the kaldane, was +content. +</P> + +<P> +Gently they drifted beneath the hurtling moons above the mad shadows of +a Martian night. The roaring of the banths came in diminishing volume +to their ears as their craft passed on beyond the boundaries of +Bantoom, leaving behind the terrors of that unhappy land. But to what +were they being borne? The girl looked at the man sitting cross-legged +upon the deck of the tiny flier, gazing off into the night ahead, +apparently absorbed in thought. +</P> + +<P> +"Where are we?" she asked. "Toward what are we drifting?" +</P> + +<P> +Turan shrugged his broad shoulders. "The stars tell me that we are +drifting toward the northeast," he replied, "but where we are, or what +lies in our path I cannot even guess. A week since I could have sworn +that I knew what lay behind each succeeding ridge that I approached; +but now I admit in all humility that I have no conception of what lies +a mile in any direction. Tara of Helium, I am lost, and that is all +that I can tell you." +</P> + +<P> +He was smiling and the girl smiled back at him. There was a slightly +puzzled expression on her face—there was something tantalizingly +familiar about that smile of his. She had met many a panthan—they came +and went, following the fighting of a world—but she could not place +this one. +</P> + +<P> +"From what country are you, Turan?" she asked suddenly. +</P> + +<P> +"Know you not, Tara of Helium," he countered, "that a panthan has no +country? Today he fights beneath the banner of one master, tomorrow +beneath that of another." +</P> + +<P> +"But you must own allegiance to some country when you are not +fighting," she insisted. "What banner, then, owns you now?" +</P> + +<P> +He rose and stood before her, then, bowing low. "And I am acceptable," +he said, "I serve beneath the banner of the daughter of The Warlord +now—and forever." +</P> + +<P> +She reached forth and touched his arm with a slim brown hand. "Your +services are accepted," she said; "and if ever we reach Helium I +promise that your reward shall be all that your heart could desire." +</P> + +<P> +"I shall serve faithfully, hoping for that reward," he said; but Tara +of Helium did not guess what was in his mind, thinking rather that he +was mercenary. For how could the proud daughter of The Warlord guess +that a simple panthan aspired to her hand and heart? +</P> + +<P> +The dawn found them moving rapidly over an unfamiliar landscape. The +wind had increased during the night and had borne them far from +Bantoom. The country below them was rough and inhospitable. No water +was visible and the surface of the ground was cut by deep gorges, while +nowhere was any but the most meager vegetation discernible. They saw no +life of any nature, nor was there any indication that the country could +support life. For two days they drifted over this horrid wasteland. +They were without food or water and suffered accordingly. Ghek had +temporarily abandoned his rykor after enlisting Turan's assistance in +lashing it safely to the deck. The less he used it the less would its +vitality be spent. Already it was showing the effects of privation. +Ghek crawled about the vessel like a great spider—over the side, down +beneath the keel, and up over the opposite rail. He seemed equally at +home one place as another. For his companions, however, the quarters +were cramped, for the deck of a one-man flier is not intended for three. +</P> + +<P> +Turan sought always ahead for signs of water. Water they must have, or +that water-giving plant which makes life possible upon many of the +seemingly arid areas of Mars; but there was neither the one nor the +other for these two days and now the third night was upon them. The +girl did not complain, but Turan knew that she must be suffering and +his heart was heavy within him. Ghek suffered least of all, and he +explained to them that his kind could exist for long periods without +food or water. Turan almost cursed him as he saw the form of Tara of +Helium slowly wasting away before his eyes, while the hideous kaldane +seemed as full of vitality as ever. +</P> + +<P> +"There are circumstances," remarked Ghek, "under which a gross and +material body is less desirable than a highly developed brain." +</P> + +<P> +Turan looked at him, but said nothing. Tara of Helium smiled faintly. +"One cannot blame him," she said, "were we not a bit boastful in the +pride of our superiority? When our stomachs were filled," she added. +</P> + +<P> +"Perhaps there is something to be said for their system," Turan +admitted. "If we could but lay aside our stomachs when they cried for +food and water I have no doubt but that we should do so." +</P> + +<P> +"I should never miss mine now," assented Tara; "it is mighty poor +company." +</P> + +<P> +A new day had dawned, revealing a less desolate country and renewing +again the hope that had been low within them. Suddenly Turan leaned +forward, pointing ahead. +</P> + +<P> +"Look, Tara of Helium!" he cried. "A city! As I am Ga—as I am Turan +the panthan, a city." +</P> + +<P> +Far in the distance the domes and walls and slender towers of a city +shone in the rising sun. Quickly the man seized the control and the +ship dropped rapidly behind a low range of intervening hills, for well +Turan knew that they must not be seen until they could discover whether +friend or foe inhabited the strange city. Chances were that they were +far from the abode of friends and so must the panthan move with the +utmost caution; but there was a city and where a city was, was water, +even though it were a deserted city, and food if it were inhabited. +</P> + +<P> +To the red man food and water, even in the citadel of an enemy, meant +food and drink for Tara of Helium. He would accept it from friends or +he would take it from enemies. Just so long as it was there he would +have it—and there was shown the egotism of the fighting man, though +Turan did not see it, nor Tara who came from a long line of fighting +men; but Ghek might have smiled had he known how. +</P> + +<P> +Turan permitted the flier to drift closer behind the screening hills, +and then when he could advance no farther without fear of discovery, he +dropped the craft gently to ground in a little ravine, and leaping over +the side made her fast to a stout tree. For several moments they +discussed their plans—whether it would be best to wait where they were +until darkness hid their movements and then approach the city in search +of food and water, or approach it now, taking advantage of what cover +they could, until they could glean something of the nature of its +inhabitants. +</P> + +<P> +It was Turan's plan which finally prevailed. They would approach as +close as safety dictated in the hope of finding water outside the city; +food, too, perhaps. If they did not they could at least reconnoiter the +ground by daylight, and then when night came Turan could quickly come +close to the city and in comparative safety prosecute his search for +food and drink. +</P> + +<P> +Following the ravine upward they finally topped the summit of the +ridge, from which they had an excellent view of that part of the city +which lay nearest them, though themselves hidden by the brush behind +which they crouched. Ghek had resumed his rykor, which had suffered +less than either Tara or Turan through their enforced fast. +</P> + +<P> +The first glance at the city, now much closer than when they had first +discovered it, revealed the fact that it was inhabited. Banners and +pennons broke from many a staff. People were moving about the gate +before them. The high white walls were paced by sentinels at far +intervals. Upon the roofs of higher buildings the women could be seen +airing the sleeping silks and furs. Turan watched it all in silence for +some time. +</P> + +<P> +"I do not know them," he said at last. "I cannot guess what city this +may be. But it is an ancient city. Its people have no fliers and no +firearms. It must be old indeed." +</P> + +<P> +"How do you know they have not these things?" asked the girl. +</P> + +<P> +"There are no landing-stages upon the roofs—not one that can be seen +from here; while were we looking similarly at Helium we would see +hundreds. And they have no firearms because their defenses are all +built to withstand the attack of spear and arrow, with spear and arrow. +They are an ancient people." +</P> + +<P> +"If they are ancient perhaps they are friendly," suggested the girl. +"Did we not learn as children in the history of our planet that it was +once peopled by a friendly, peace-loving race?" +</P> + +<P> +"But I fear they are not as ancient as that," replied Turan, laughing. +"It has been long ages since the men of Barsoom loved peace." +</P> + +<P> +"My father loves peace," returned the girl. +</P> + +<P> +"And yet he is always at war," said the man. +</P> + +<P> +She laughed. "But he says he likes peace." +</P> + +<P> +"We all like peace," he rejoined; "peace with honor; but our neighbors +will not let us have it, and so we must fight." +</P> + +<P> +"And to fight well men must like to fight," she added. +</P> + +<P> +"And to like to fight they must know how to fight," he said, "for no +man likes to do the thing that he does not know how to do well." +</P> + +<P> +"Or that some other man can do better than he." +</P> + +<P> +"And so always there will be wars and men will fight," he concluded, +"for always the men with hot blood in their veins will practice the art +of war." +</P> + +<P> +"We have settled a great question," said the girl, smiling; "but our +stomachs are still empty." +</P> + +<P> +"Your panthan is neglecting his duty," replied Turan; "and how can he +with the great reward always before his eyes!" +</P> + +<P> +She did not guess in what literal a sense he spoke. +</P> + +<P> +"I go forthwith," he continued, "to wrest food and drink from the +ancients." +</P> + +<P> +"No," she cried, laying a hand upon his arm, "not yet. They would slay +you or make you prisoner. You are a brave panthan and a mighty one, but +you cannot overcome a city singlehanded." +</P> + +<P> +She smiled up into his face and her hand still lay upon his arm. He +felt the thrill of hot blood coursing through his veins. He could have +seized her in his arms and crushed her to him. There was only Ghek the +kaldane there, but there was something stronger within him that +restrained his hand. Who may define it—that inherent chivalry that +renders certain men the natural protectors of women? +</P> + +<P> +From their vantage point they saw a body of armed warriors ride forth +from the gate, and winding along a well-beaten road pass from sight +about the foot of the hill from which they watched. The men were red, +like themselves, and they rode the small saddle thoats of the red race. +Their trappings were barbaric and magnificent, and in their head-dress +were many feathers as had been the custom of ancients. They were armed +with swords and long spears and they rode almost naked, their bodies +being painted in ochre and blue and white. There were, perhaps, a score +of them in the party and as they galloped away on their tireless mounts +they presented a picture at once savage and beautiful. +</P> + +<P> +"They have the appearance of splendid warriors," said Turan. "I have a +great mind to walk boldly into their city and seek service." +</P> + +<P> +Tara shook her head. "Wait," she admonished. "What would I do without +you, and if you were captured how could you collect your reward?" +</P> + +<P> +"I should escape," he said. "At any rate I shall try it," and he +started to rise. +</P> + +<P> +"You shall not," said the girl, her tone all authority. +</P> + +<P> +The man looked at her quickly—questioningly. +</P> + +<P> +"You have entered my service," she said, a trifle haughtily. +</P> + +<P> +"You have entered my service for hire and you shall do as I bid you." +</P> + +<P> +Turan sank down beside her again with a half smile upon his lips. "It +is yours to command, Princess," he said. +</P> + +<P> +The day passed. Ghek, tiring of the sunlight, had deserted his rykor +and crawled down a hole he had discovered close by. Tara and Turan +reclined beneath the scant shade of a small tree. They watched the +people coming and going through the gate. The party of horsemen did not +return. A small herd of zitidars was driven into the city during the +day, and once a caravan of broad-wheeled carts drawn by these huge +animals wound out of the distant horizon and came down to the city. It, +too, passed from their sight within the gateway. Then darkness came and +Tara of Helium bid her panthan search for food and drink; but she +cautioned him against attempting to enter the city. Before he left her +he bent and kissed her hand as a warrior may kiss the hand of his queen. +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap10"></A> +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +CHAPTER X +</H3> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +ENTRAPPED +</H3> + +<P> +Turan the panthan approached the strange city under cover of the +darkness. He entertained little hope of finding either food or water +outside the wall, but he would try and then, if he failed, he would +attempt to make his way into the city, for Tara of Helium must have +sustenance and have it soon. He saw that the walls were poorly +sentineled, but they were sufficiently high to render an attempt to +scale them foredoomed to failure. Taking advantage of underbrush and +trees, Turan managed to reach the base of the wall without detection. +Silently he moved north past the gateway which was closed by a massive +gate which effectively barred even the slightest glimpse within the +city beyond. It was Turan's hope to find upon the north side of the +city away from the hills a level plain where grew the crops of the +inhabitants, and here too water from their irrigating system, but +though he traveled far along that seemingly interminable wall he found +no fields nor any water. He searched also for some means of ingress to +the city, yet here, too, failure was his only reward, and now as he +went keen eyes watched him from above and a silent stalker kept pace +with him for a time upon the summit of the wall; but presently the +shadower descended to the pavement within and hurrying swiftly raced +ahead of the stranger without. +</P> + +<P> +He came presently to a small gate beside which was a low building and +before the doorway of the building a warrior standing guard. He spoke a +few quick words to the warrior and then entered the building only to +return almost immediately to the street, followed by fully forty +warriors. Cautiously opening the gate the fellow peered carefully along +the wall upon the outside in the direction from which he had come. +Evidently satisfied, he issued a few words of instruction to those +behind him, whereupon half the warriors returned to the interior of the +building, while the other half followed the man stealthily through the +gateway where they crouched low among the shrubbery in a half circle +just north of the gateway which they had left open. Here they waited in +utter silence, nor had they long to wait before Turan the panthan came +cautiously along the base of the wall. To the very gate he came and +when he found it and that it was open he paused for a moment, +listening; then he approached and looked within. Assured that there was +none within sight to apprehend him he stepped through the gateway into +the city. +</P> + +<P> +He found himself in a narrow street that paralleled the wall. Upon the +opposite side rose buildings of an architecture unknown to him, yet +strangely beautiful. While the buildings were packed closely together +there seemed to be no two alike and their fronts were of all shapes and +heights and of many hues. The skyline was broken by spire and dome and +minaret and tall, slender towers, while the walls supported many a +balcony and in the soft light of Cluros, the farther moon, now low in +the west, he saw, to his surprise and consternation, the figures of +people upon the balconies. Directly opposite him were two women and a +man. They sat leaning upon the rail of the balcony looking, apparently, +directly at him; but if they saw him they gave no sign. +</P> + +<P> +Turan hesitated a moment in the face of almost certain discovery and +then, assured that they must take him for one of their own people, he +moved boldly into the avenue. Having no idea of the direction in which +he might best hope to find what he sought, and not wishing to arouse +suspicion by further hesitation, he turned to the left and stepped +briskly along the pavement with the intention of placing himself as +quickly as possible beyond the observation of those nocturnal watchers. +He knew that the night must be far spent; and so he could not but +wonder why people should sit upon their balconies when they should have +been asleep among their silks and furs. At first he had thought them +the late guests of some convivial host; but the windows behind them +were shrouded in darkness and utter quiet prevailed, quite upsetting +such a theory. And as he proceeded he passed many another group sitting +silently upon other balconies. They paid no attention to him, seeming +not even to note his passing. Some leaned with a single elbow upon the +rail, their chins resting in their palms; others leaned upon both arms +across the balcony, looking down into the street, while several that he +saw held musical instruments in their hands, but their fingers moved +not upon the strings. +</P> + +<P> +And then Turan came to a point where the avenue turned to the right, to +skirt a building that jutted from the inside of the city wall, and as +he rounded the corner he came full upon two warriors standing upon +either side of the entrance to a building upon his right. It was +impossible for them not to be aware of his presence, yet neither moved, +nor gave other evidence that they had seen him. He stood there waiting, +his hand upon the hilt of his long-sword, but they neither challenged +nor halted him. Could it be that these also thought him one of their +own kind? Indeed upon no other grounds could he explain their inaction. +</P> + +<P> +As Turan had passed through the gateway into the city and taken his +unhindered way along the avenue, twenty warriors had entered the city +and closed the gate behind them, and then one had taken to the wall and +followed along its summit in the rear of Turan, and another had +followed him along the avenue, while a third had crossed the street and +entered one of the buildings upon the opposite side. +</P> + +<P> +The balance of them, with the exception of a single sentinel beside the +gate, had re-entered the building from which they had been summoned. +They were well built, strapping, painted fellows, their naked figures +covered now by gorgeous robes against the chill of night. As they spoke +of the stranger they laughed at the ease with which they had tricked +him, and were still laughing as they threw themselves upon their +sleeping silks and furs to resume their broken slumber. It was evident +that they constituted a guard detailed for the gate beside which they +slept, and it was equally evident that the gates were guarded and the +city watched much more carefully than Turan had believed. Chagrined +indeed had been the Jed of Gathol had he dreamed that he was being so +neatly tricked. +</P> + +<P> +As Turan proceeded along the avenue he passed other sentries beside +other doors but now he gave them small heed, since they neither +challenged nor otherwise outwardly noted his passing; but while at +nearly every turn of the erratic avenue he passed one or more of these +silent sentinels he could not guess that he had passed one of them many +times and that his every move was watched by silent, clever stalkers. +Scarce had he passed a certain one of these rigid guardsmen before the +fellow awoke to sudden life, bounded across the avenue, entered a +narrow opening in the outer wall where he swiftly followed a corridor +built within the wall itself until presently he emerged a little +distance ahead of Turan, where he assumed the stiff and silent attitude +of a soldier upon guard. Nor did Turan know that a second followed in +the shadows of the buildings behind him, nor of the third who hastened +ahead of him upon some urgent mission. +</P> + +<P> +And so the panthan moved through the silent streets of the strange city +in search of food and drink for the woman he loved. Men and women +looked down upon him from shadowy balconies, but spoke not; and +sentinels saw him pass and did not challenge. Presently from along the +avenue before him came the familiar sound of clanking accouterments, +the herald of marching warriors, and almost simultaneously he saw upon +his right an open doorway dimly lighted from within. It was the only +available place where he might seek to hide from the approaching +company, and while he had passed several sentries unquestioned he could +scarce hope to escape scrutiny and questioning from a patrol, as he +naturally assumed this body of men to be. +</P> + +<P> +Inside the doorway he discovered a passage turning abruptly to the +right and almost immediately thereafter to the left. There was none in +sight within and so he stepped cautiously around the second turn the +more effectually to be hidden from the street. Before him stretched a +long corridor, dimly lighted like the entrance. Waiting there he heard +the party approach the building, he heard someone at the entrance to +his hiding place, and then he heard the door past which he had come +slam to. He laid his hand upon his sword, expecting momentarily to hear +footsteps approaching along the corridor; but none came. He approached +the turn and looked around it; the corridor was empty to the closed +door. Whoever had closed it had remained upon the outside. +</P> + +<P> +Turan waited, listening. He heard no sound. Then he advanced to the +door and placed an ear against it. All was silence in the street +beyond. A sudden draft must have closed the door, or perhaps it was the +duty of the patrol to see to such things. It was immaterial. They had +evidently passed on and now he would return to the street and continue +upon his way. Somewhere there would be a public fountain where he could +obtain water, and the chance of food lay in the strings of dried +vegetables and meat which hung before the doorways of nearly every +Barsoomian home of the poorer classes that he had ever seen. It was +this district he was seeking, and it was for this reason his search had +led him away from the main gate of the city which he knew would not be +located in a poor district. +</P> + +<P> +He attempted to open the door only to find that it resisted his every +effort—it was locked upon the outside. Here indeed was a sorry +contretemps. Turan the panthan scratched his head. "Fortune frowns upon +me," he murmured; but beyond the door, Fate, in the form of a painted +warrior, stood smiling. Neatly had he tricked the unwary stranger. The +lighted doorway, the marching patrol—these had been planned and timed +to a nicety by the third warrior who had sped ahead of Turan along +another avenue, and the stranger had done precisely what the fellow had +thought he would do—no wonder, then, that he smiled. +</P> + +<P> +This exit barred to him Turan turned back into the corridor. He +followed it cautiously and silently. Occasionally there was a door on +one side or the other. These he tried only to find each securely +locked. The corridor wound more erratically the farther he advanced. A +locked door barred his way at its end, but a door upon his right opened +and he stepped into a dimly-lighted chamber, about the walls of which +were three other doors, each of which he tried in turn. Two were +locked; the other opened upon a runway leading downward. It was spiral +and he could see no farther than the first turn. A door in the corridor +he had quitted opened after he had passed, and the third warrior +stepped out and followed after him. A faint smile still lingered upon +the fellow's grim lips. +</P> + +<P> +Turan drew his short-sword and cautiously descended. At the bottom was +a short corridor with a closed door at the end. He approached the +single heavy panel and listened. No sound came to him from beyond the +mysterious portal. Gently he tried the door, which swung easily toward +him at his touch. Before him was a low-ceiled chamber with a dirt +floor. Set in its walls were several other doors and all were closed. +As Turan stepped cautiously within, the third warrior descended the +spiral runway behind him. The panthan crossed the room quickly and +tried a door. It was locked. He heard a muffled click behind him and +turned about with ready sword. He was alone; but the door through which +he had entered was closed—it was the click of its lock that he had +heard. +</P> + +<P> +With a bound he crossed the room and attempted to open it; but to no +avail. No longer did he seek silence, for he knew now that the thing +had gone beyond the sphere of chance. He threw his weight against the +wooden panel; but the thick skeel of which it was constructed would +have withstood a battering ram. From beyond came a low laugh. +</P> + +<P> +Rapidly Turan examined each of the other doors. They were all locked. A +glance about the chamber revealed a wooden table and a bench. Set in +the walls were several heavy rings to which rusty chains were +attached—all too significant of the purpose to which the room was +dedicated. In the dirt floor near the wall were two or three holes +resembling the mouths of burrows—doubtless the habitat of the giant +Martian rat. He had observed this much when suddenly the dim light was +extinguished, leaving him in darkness utter and complete. Turan, +groping about, sought the table and the bench. Placing the latter +against the wall he drew the table in front of him and sat down upon +the bench, his long-sword gripped in readiness before him. At least +they should fight before they took him. +</P> + +<P> +For some time he sat there waiting for he knew not what. No sound +penetrated to his subterranean dungeon. He slowly revolved in his mind +the incidents of the evening—the open, unguarded gate; the lighted +doorway—the only one he had seen thus open and lighted along the +avenue he had followed; the advance of the warriors at precisely the +moment that he could find no other avenue of escape or concealment; the +corridors and chambers that led past many locked doors to this +underground prison leaving no other path for him to pursue. +</P> + +<P> +"By my first ancestor!" he swore; "but it was simple and I a simpleton. +They tricked me neatly and have taken me without exposing themselves to +a scratch; but for what purpose?" +</P> + +<P> +He wished that he might answer that question and then his thoughts +turned to the girl waiting there on the hill beyond the city for +him—and he would never come. He knew the ways of the more savage +peoples of Barsoom. No, he would never come, now. He had disobeyed her. +He smiled at the sweet recollection of those words of command that had +fallen from her dear lips. He had disobeyed her and now he had lost the +reward. +</P> + +<P> +But what of her? What now would be her fate—starving before a hostile +city with only an inhuman kaldane for company? Another thought—a +horrid thought—obtruded itself upon him. She had told him of the +hideous sights she had witnessed in the burrows of the kaldanes and he +knew that they ate human flesh. Ghek was starving. Should he eat his +rykor he would be helpless; but—there was sustenance there for them +both, for the rykor and the kaldane. Turan cursed himself for a fool. +Why had he left her? Far better to have remained and died with her, +ready always to protect her, than to have left her at the mercy of the +hideous Bantoomian. +</P> + +<P> +Now Turan detected a heavy odor in the air. It oppressed him with a +feeling of drowsiness. He would have risen to fight off the creeping +lethargy, but his legs seemed weak, so that he sank again to the bench. +Presently his sword slipped from his fingers and he sprawled forward +upon the table his head resting upon his arms. +</P> + +<HR ALIGN="center" WIDTH="60%"> + +<P> +Tara of Helium, as the night wore on and Turan did not return, became +more and more uneasy, and when dawn broke with no sign of him she +guessed that he had failed. Something more than her own unhappy +predicament brought a feeling of sorrow to her heart—of sorrow and +loneliness. She realized now how she had come to depend upon this +panthan not only for protection but for companionship as well. She +missed him, and in missing him realized suddenly that he had meant more +to her than a mere hired warrior. It was as though a friend had been +taken from her—an old and valued friend. She rose from her place of +concealment that she might have a better view of the city. +</P> + +<P> +U-Dor, dwar of the 8th Utan of O-Tar, Jeddak of Manator, rode back in +the early dawn toward Manator from a brief excursion to a neighboring +village. As he was rounding the hills south of the city, his keen eyes +were attracted by a slight movement among the shrubbery close to the +summit of the nearest hill. He halted his vicious mount and watched +more closely. He saw a figure rise facing away from him and peer down +toward Manator beyond the hill. +</P> + +<P> +"Come!" he signalled to his followers, and with a word to his thoat +turned the beast at a rapid gallop up the hillside. In his wake swept +his twenty savage warriors, the padded feet of their mounts soundless +upon the soft turf. It was the rattle of sidearms and harness that +brought Tara of Helium suddenly about, facing them. She saw a score of +warriors with couched lances bearing down upon her. +</P> + +<P> +She glanced at Ghek. What would the spiderman do in this emergency? She +saw him crawl to his rykor and attach himself. Then he arose, the +beautiful body once again animated and alert. She thought that the +creature was preparing for flight. Well, it made little difference to +her. Against such as were streaming up the hill toward them a single +mediocre swordsman such as Ghek was worse than no defense at all. +</P> + +<P> +"Hurry, Ghek!" she admonished him. "Back into the hills! You may find +there a hiding-place;" but the creature only stepped between her and +the oncoming riders, drawing his long-sword. +</P> + +<P> +"It is useless, Ghek," she said, when she saw that he intended to +defend her. "What can a single sword accomplish against such odds?" +</P> + +<P> +"I can die but once," replied the kaldane. "You and your panthan saved +me from Luud and I but do what your panthan would do were he here to +protect you." +</P> + +<P> +"It is brave, but it is useless," she replied. "Sheathe your sword. +They may not intend us harm." +</P> + +<P> +Ghek let the point of his weapon drop to the ground, but he did not +sheathe it, and thus the two stood waiting as U-Dor the dwar stopped +his thoat before them while his twenty warriors formed a rough circle +about. For a long minute U-Dor sat his mount in silence, looking +searchingly first at Tara of Helium and then at her hideous companion. +</P> + +<P> +"What manner of creature are you?" he asked presently. "And what do you +before the gates of Manator?" +</P> + +<P> +"We are from far countries," replied the girl, "and we are lost and +starving. We ask only food and rest and the privilege to go our way +seeking our own homes." +</P> + +<P> +U-Dor smiled a grim smile. "Manator and the hills which guard it alone +know the age of Manator," he said; "yet in all the ages that have +rolled by since Manator first was, there be no record in the annals of +Manator of a stranger departing from Manator." +</P> + +<P> +"But I am a princess," cried the girl haughtily, "and my country is not +at war with yours. You must give me and my companions aid and assist us +to return to our own land. It is the law of Barsoom." +</P> + +<P> +"Manator knows only the laws of Manator," replied U-Dor; "but come. You +shall go with us to the city, where you, being beautiful, need have no +fear. I, myself, will protect you if O-Tar so decrees. And as for your +companion—but hold! You said 'companions'—there are others of your +party then?" +</P> + +<P> +"You see what you see," replied Tara haughtily. +</P> + +<P> +"Be that as it may," said U-Dor. "If there be more they shall not +escape Manator; but as I was saying, if your companion fights well he +too may live, for O-Tar is just, and just are the laws of Manator. +Come!" +</P> + +<P> +Ghek demurred. +</P> + +<P> +"It is useless," said the girl, seeing that he would have stood his +ground and fought them. "Let us go with them. Why pit your puny blade +against their mighty ones when there should lie in your great brain the +means to outwit them?" She spoke in a low whisper, rapidly. +</P> + +<P> +"You are right, Tara of Helium," he replied and sheathed his sword. +</P> + +<P> +And so they moved down the hillside toward the gates of Manator—Tara, +Princess of Helium, and Ghek, the kaldane of Bantoom—and surrounding +them rode the savage, painted warriors of U-Dor, dwar of the 8th Utan +of O-Tar, Jeddak of Manator. +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap11"></A> +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +CHAPTER XI +</H3> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +THE CHOICE OF TARA +</H3> + +<P> +The dazzling sunlight of Barsoom clothed Manator in an aureole of +splendor as the girl and her captors rode into the city through The +Gate of Enemies. Here the wall was some fifty feet thick, and the sides +of the passageway within the gate were covered with parallel shelves of +masonry from bottom to top. Within these shelves, or long, horizontal +niches, stood row upon row of small figures, appearing like tiny, +grotesque statuettes of men, their long, black hair falling below their +feet and sometimes trailing to the shelf beneath. The figures were +scarce a foot in height and but for their diminutive proportions might +have been the mummified bodies of once living men. The girl noticed +that as they passed, the warriors saluted the figures with their spears +after the manner of Barsoomian fighting men in extending a military +courtesy, and then they rode on into the avenue beyond, which ran, wide +and stately, through the city toward the east. +</P> + +<P> +On either side were great buildings wondrously wrought. Paintings of +great beauty and antiquity covered many of the walls, their colors +softened and blended by the suns of ages. Upon the pavement the life of +the newly-awakened city was already afoot. Women in brilliant +trappings, befeathered warriors, their bodies daubed with paint; +artisans, armed but less gaily caparisoned, took their various ways +upon the duties of the day. A giant zitidar, magnificent in rich +harness, rumbled its broad-wheeled cart along the stone pavement toward +The Gate of Enemies. Life and color and beauty wrought together a +picture that filled the eyes of Tara of Helium with wonder and with +admiration, for here was a scene out of the dead past of dying Mars. +Such had been the cities of the founders of her race before Throxeus, +mightiest of oceans, had disappeared from the face of a world. And from +balconies on either side men and women looked down in silence upon the +scene below. +</P> + +<P> +The people in the street looked at the two prisoners, especially at the +hideous Ghek, and called out in question or comment to their guard; but +the watchers upon the balconies spoke not, nor did one so much as turn +a head to note their passing. There were many balconies on each +building and not a one that did not hold its silent party of richly +trapped men and women, with here and there a child or two, but even the +children maintained the uniform silence and immobility of their elders. +As they approached the center of the city the girl saw that even the +roofs bore companies of these idle watchers, harnessed and bejeweled as +for some gala-day of laughter and music, but no laughter broke from +those silent lips, nor any music from the strings of the instruments +that many of them held in jeweled fingers. +</P> + +<P> +And now the avenue widened into an immense square, at the far end of +which rose a stately edifice gleaming white in virgin marble among the +gaily painted buildings surrounding it and its scarlet sward and +gaily-flowering, green-foliaged shrubbery. Toward this U-Dor led his +prisoners and their guard to the great arched entrance before which a +line of fifty mounted warriors barred the way. When the commander of +the guard recognized U-Dor the guardsmen fell back to either side +leaving a broad avenue through which the party passed. Directly inside +the entrance were inclined runways leading upward on either side. U-Dor +turned to the left and led them upward to the second floor and down a +long corridor. Here they passed other mounted men and in chambers upon +either side they saw more. Occasionally there was another runway +leading either up or down. A warrior, his steed at full gallop, dashed +into sight from one of these and raced swiftly past them upon some +errand. +</P> + +<P> +Nowhere as yet had Tara of Helium seen a man afoot in this great +building; but when at a turn, U-Dor led them to the third floor she +caught glimpses of chambers in which many riderless thoats were penned +and others adjoining where dismounted warriors lolled at ease or played +games of skill or chance and many there were who played at jetan, and +then the party passed into a long, wide hall of state, as magnificent +an apartment as even a princess of mighty Helium ever had seen. The +length of the room ran an arched ceiling ablaze with countless radium +bulbs. The mighty spans extended from wall to wall leaving the vast +floor unbroken by a single column. The arches were of white marble, +apparently quarried in single, huge blocks from which each arch was cut +complete. Between the arches, the ceiling was set solid about the +radium bulbs with precious stones whose scintillant fire and color and +beauty filled the whole apartment. The stones were carried down the +walls in an irregular fringe for a few feet, where they appeared to +hang like a beautiful and gorgeous drapery against the white marble of +the wall. The marble ended some six or seven feet from the floor, the +walls from that point down being wainscoted in solid gold. The floor +itself was of marble richly inlaid with gold. In that single room was a +vast treasure equal to the wealth of many a large city. +</P> + +<P> +But what riveted the girl's attention even more than the fabulous +treasure of decorations were the files of gorgeously harnessed warriors +who sat their thoats in grim silence and immobility on either side of +the central aisle, rank after rank of them to the farther walls, and as +the party passed between them she could not note so much as the flicker +of an eyelid, or the twitching of a thoat's ear. +</P> + +<P> +"The Hall of Chiefs," whispered one of her guard, evidently noting her +interest. There was a note of pride in the fellow's voice and something +of hushed awe. Then they passed through a great doorway into the +chamber beyond, a large, square room in which a dozen mounted warriors +lolled in their saddles. +</P> + +<P> +As U-Dor and his party entered the room, the warriors came quickly +erect in their saddles and formed a line before another door upon the +opposite side of the wall. The padwar commanding them saluted U-Dor +who, with his party, had halted facing the guard. +</P> + +<P> +"Send one to O-Tar announcing that U-Dor brings two prisoners worthy of +the observation of the great jeddak," said U-Dor; "one because of her +extreme beauty, the other because of his extreme ugliness." +</P> + +<P> +"O-Tar sits in council with the lesser chiefs," replied the lieutenant; +"but the words of U-Dor the dwar shall be carried to him," and he +turned and gave instructions to one who sat his thoat behind him. +</P> + +<P> +"What manner of creature is the male?" he asked of U-Dor. "It cannot be +that both are of one race." +</P> + +<P> +"They were together in the hills south of the city," explained U-Dor, +"and they say that they are lost and starving." +</P> + +<P> +"The woman is beautiful," said the padwar. "She will not long go +begging in the city of Manator," and then they spoke of other +matters—of the doings of the palace, of the expedition of U-Dor, until +the messenger returned to say that O-Tar bade them bring the prisoners +to him. +</P> + +<P> +They passed then through a massive doorway, which, when opened, +revealed the great council chamber of O-Tar, Jeddak of Manator, beyond. +A central aisle led from the doorway the full length of the great hall, +terminating at the steps of a marble dais upon which a man sat in a +great throne-chair. Upon either side of the aisle were ranged rows of +highly carved desks and chairs of skeel, a hard wood of great beauty. +Only a few of the desks were occupied—those in the front row, just +below the rostrum. +</P> + +<P> +At the entrance U-Dor dismounted with four of his followers who formed +a guard about the two prisoners who were then conducted toward the foot +of the throne, following a few paces behind U-Dor. As they halted at +the foot of the marble steps, the proud gaze of Tara of Helium rested +upon the enthroned figure of the man above her. He sat erect without +stiffness—a commanding presence trapped in the barbaric splendor that +the Barsoomian chieftain loves. He was a large man, the perfection of +whose handsome face was marred only by the hauteur of his cold eyes and +the suggestion of cruelty imparted by too thin lips. It needed no +second glance to assure the least observing that here indeed was a +ruler of men—a fighting jeddak whose people might worship but not +love, and for whose slightest favor warriors would vie with one another +to go forth and die. This was O-Tar, Jeddak of Manator, and as Tara of +Helium saw him for the first time she could not but acknowledge a +certain admiration for this savage chieftain who so virilely +personified the ancient virtues of the God of War. +</P> + +<P> +U-Dor and the jeddak interchanged the simple greetings of Barsoom, and +then the former recounted the details of the discovery and capture of +the prisoners. O-Tar scrutinized them both intently during U-Dor's +narration of events, his expression revealing naught of what passed in +the brain behind those inscrutable eyes. When the officer had finished +the jeddak fastened his gaze upon Ghek. +</P> + +<P> +"And you," he asked, "what manner of thing are you? From what country? +Why are you in Manator?" +</P> + +<P> +"I am a kaldane," replied Ghek; "the highest type of created creature +upon the face of Barsoom; I am mind, you are matter. I come from +Bantoom. I am here because we were lost and starving." +</P> + +<P> +"And you!" O-Tar turned suddenly on Tara. "You, too, are a kaldane?" +</P> + +<P> +"I am a princess of Helium," replied the girl. "I was a prisoner in +Bantoom. This kaldane and a warrior of my own race rescued me. The +warrior left us to search for food and water. He has doubtless fallen +into the hands of your people. I ask you to free him and give us food +and drink and let us go upon our way. I am a granddaughter of a jeddak, +the daughter of a jeddak of jeddaks, The Warlord of Barsoom. I ask only +the treatment that my people would accord you or yours." +</P> + +<P> +"Helium," repeated O-Tar. "I know naught of Helium, nor does the Jeddak +of Helium rule Manator. I, O-Tar, am Jeddak of Manator. I alone rule. I +protect my own. You have never seen a woman or a warrior of Manator +captive in Helium! Why should I protect the people of another jeddak? +It is his duty to protect them. If he cannot, he is weak, and his +people must fall into the hands of the strong. I, O-Tar, am strong. I +will keep you. That—" he pointed at Ghek—"can it fight?" +</P> + +<P> +"It is brave," replied Tara of Helium, "but it has not the skill at +arms which my people possess." +</P> + +<P> +"There is none then to fight for you?" asked O-Tar. "We are a just +people," he continued without waiting for a reply, "and had you one to +fight for you he might win to freedom for himself and you as well." +</P> + +<P> +"But U-Dor assured me that no stranger ever had departed from Manator," +she answered. +</P> + +<P> +O-Tar shrugged. "That does not disprove the justice of the laws of +Manator," replied O-Tar, "but rather that the warriors of Manator are +invincible. Had there come one who could defeat our warriors that one +had won to liberty." +</P> + +<P> +"And you fetch my warrior," cried Tara haughtily, "you shall see such +swordplay as doubtless the crumbling walls of your decaying city never +have witnessed, and if there be no trick in your offer we are already +as good as free." +</P> + +<P> +O-Tar smiled more broadly than before and U-Dor smiled, too, and the +chiefs and warriors who looked on nudged one another and whispered, +laughing. And Tara of Helium knew then that there was trickery in their +justice; but though her situation seemed hopeless she did not cease to +hope, for was she not the daughter of John Carter, Warlord of Barsoom, +whose famous challenge to Fate, "I still live!" remained the one +irreducible defense against despair? At thought of her noble sire the +patrician chin of Tara of Helium rose a shade higher. Ah! if he but +knew where she was there were little to fear then. The hosts of Helium +would batter at the gates of Manator, the great green warriors of John +Carter's savage allies would swarm up from the dead sea bottoms lusting +for pillage and for loot, the stately ships of her beloved navy would +soar above the unprotected towers and minarets of the doomed city which +only capitulation and heavy tribute could then save. +</P> + +<P> +But John Carter did not know! There was only one other to whom she +might hope to look—Turan the panthan; but where was he? She had seen +his sword in play and she knew that it had been wielded by a master +hand, and who should know swordplay better than Tara of Helium, who had +learned it well under the constant tutorage of John Carter himself. +Tricks she knew that discounted even far greater physical prowess than +her own, and a method of attack that might have been at once the envy +and despair of the cleverest of warriors. And so it was that her +thoughts turned to Turan the panthan, though not alone because of the +protection he might afford her. She had realized, since he had left her +in search of food, that there had grown between them a certain +comradeship that she now missed. There had been that about him which +seemed to have bridged the gulf between their stations in life. With +him she had failed to consider that he was a panthan or that she was a +princess—they had been comrades. Suddenly she realized that she missed +him for himself more than for his sword. She turned toward O-Tar. +</P> + +<P> +"Where is Turan, my warrior?" she demanded. +</P> + +<P> +"You shall not lack for warriors," replied the jeddak. "One of your +beauty will find plenty ready to fight for her. Possibly it shall not +be necessary to look farther than the jeddak of Manator. You please me, +woman. What say you to such an honor?" +</P> + +<P> +Through narrowed lids the Princess of Helium scrutinized the Jeddak of +Manator, from feathered headdress to sandaled foot and back to +feathered headdress. +</P> + +<P> +"'Honor'!" she mimicked in tones of scorn. "I please thee, do I? Then +know, swine, that thou pleaseth me not—that the daughter of John +Carter is not for such as thou!" +</P> + +<P> +A sudden, tense silence fell upon the assembled chiefs. Slowly the +blood receded from the sinister face of O-Tar, Jeddak of Manator, +leaving him a sickly purple in his wrath. His eyes narrowed to two thin +slits, his lips were compressed to a bloodless line of malevolence. For +a long moment there was no sound in the throne room of the palace at +Manator. Then the jeddak turned toward U-Dor. +</P> + +<P> +"Take her away," he said in a level voice that belied his appearance of +rage. "Take her away, and at the next games let the prisoners and the +common warriors play at Jetan for her." +</P> + +<P> +"And this?" asked U-Dor, pointing at Ghek. +</P> + +<P> +"To the pits until the next games," replied O-Tar. +</P> + +<P> +"So this is your vaunted justice!" cried Tara of Helium; "that two +strangers who have not wronged you shall be sentenced without trial? +And one of them is a woman. The swine of Manator are as just as they +are brave." +</P> + +<P> +"Away with her!" shouted O-Tar, and at a sign from U-Dor the guards +formed about the two prisoners and conducted them from the chamber. +</P> + +<P> +Outside the palace, Ghek and Tara of Helium were separated. The girl +was led through long avenues toward the center of the city and finally +into a low building, topped by lofty towers of massive construction. +Here she was turned over to a warrior who wore the insignia of a dwar, +or captain. +</P> + +<P> +"It is O-Tar's wish," explained U-Dor to this one, "that she be kept +until the next games, when the prisoners and the common warriors shall +play for her. Had she not the tongue of a thoat she had been a worthy +stake for our noblest steel," and U-Dor sighed. "Perhaps even yet I may +win a pardon for her. It were too bad to see such beauty fall to the +lot of some common fellow. I would have honored her myself." +</P> + +<P> +"If I am to be imprisoned, imprison me," said the girl. "I do not +recall that I was sentenced to listen to the insults of every low-born +boor who chanced to admire me." +</P> + +<P> +"You see, A-Kor," cried U-Dor, "the tongue that she has. Even so and +worse spoke she to O-Tar the jeddak." +</P> + +<P> +"I see," replied A-Kor, whom Tara saw was with difficulty restraining a +smile. "Come, then, with me, woman," he said, "and we shall find a safe +place within The Towers of Jetan—but stay! what ails thee?" +</P> + +<P> +The girl had staggered and would have fallen had not the man caught her +in his arms. She seemed to gather herself then and bravely sought to +stand erect without support. A-Kor glanced at U-Dor. "Knew you the +woman was ill?" he asked. +</P> + +<P> +"Possibly it is lack of food," replied the other. "She mentioned, I +believe, that she and her companions had not eaten for several days." +</P> + +<P> +"Brave are the warriors of O-Tar," sneered A-Kor; "lavish their +hospitality. U-Dor, whose riches are uncounted, and the brave O-Tar, +whose squealing thoats are stabled within marble halls and fed from +troughs of gold, can spare no crust to feed a starving girl." +</P> + +<P> +The black haired U-Dor scowled. "Thy tongue will yet pierce thy heart, +son of a slave!" he cried. "Once too often mayst thou try the patience +of the just O-Tar. Hereafter guard thy speech as well as thy towers." +</P> + +<P> +"Think not to taunt me with my mother's state," said A-Kor. "'Tis the +blood of the slave woman that fills my veins with pride, and my only +shame is that I am also the son of thy jeddak." +</P> + +<P> +"And O-Tar heard this?" queried U-Dor. +</P> + +<P> +"O-Tar has already heard it from my own lips," replied A-Kor; "this, +and more." +</P> + +<P> +He turned upon his heel, a supporting arm still around the waist of +Tara of Helium and thus he half led, half carried her into The Towers +of Jetan, while U-Dor wheeled his thoat and galloped back in the +direction of the palace. +</P> + +<P> +Within the main entrance to The Tower of Jetan lolled a half-dozen +warriors. To one of these spoke A-Kor, keeper of the towers. "Fetch +Lan-O, the slave girl, and bid her bring food and drink to the upper +level of the Thurian tower," then he lifted the half-fainting girl in +his arms and bore her along the spiral, inclined runway that led upward +within the tower. +</P> + +<P> +Somewhere in the long ascent Tara lost consciousness. When it returned +she found herself in a large, circular chamber, the stone walls of +which were pierced by windows at regular intervals about the entire +circumference of the room. She was lying upon a pile of sleeping silks +and furs while there knelt above her a young woman who was forcing +drops of some cooling beverage between her parched lips. Tara of Helium +half rose upon an elbow and looked about. In the first moments of +returning consciousness there were swept from the screen of +recollection the happenings of many weeks. She thought that she awoke +in the palace of The Warlord at Helium. Her brows knit as she +scrutinized the strange face bending over her. +</P> + +<P> +"Who are you?" she asked, and, "Where is Uthia?" +</P> + +<P> +"I am Lan-O the slave girl," replied the other. "I know none by the +name of Uthia." +</P> + +<P> +Tara of Helium sat erect and looked about her. This rough stone was not +the marble of her father's halls. "Where am I?" she asked. +</P> + +<P> +"In The Thurian Tower," replied the girl, and then seeing that the +other still did not understand she guessed the truth. "You are a +prisoner in The Towers of Jetan in the city of Manator," she explained. +"You were brought to this chamber, weak and fainting, by A-Kor, Dwar of +The Towers of Jetan, who sent me to you with food and drink, for kind +is the heart of A-Kor." +</P> + +<P> +"I remember, now," said Tara, slowly. "I remember; but where is Turan, +my warrior? Did they speak of him?" +</P> + +<P> +"I heard naught of another," replied Lan-O; "you alone were brought to +the towers. In that you are fortunate, for there be no nobler man in +Manator than A-Kor. It is his mother's blood that makes him so. She was +a slave girl from Gathol." +</P> + +<P> +"Gathol!" exclaimed Tara of Helium. "Lies Gathol close by Manator?" +</P> + +<P> +"Not close, yet still the nearest country," replied Lan-O. "About +twenty-two degrees* east, it lies." +</P> + +<P CLASS="footnote"> +* Approximately 814 Earth Miles. +</P> + +<BR> + +<P> +"Gathol!" murmured Tara, "Far Gathol!" +</P> + +<P> +"But you are not from Gathol," said the slave girl; "your harness is +not of Gathol." +</P> + +<P> +"I am from Helium," said Tara. +</P> + +<P> +"It is far from Helium to Gathol," said the slave girl, "but in our +studies we learned much of the greatness of Helium, we of Gathol, so it +seems not so far away." +</P> + +<P> +"You, too, are from Gathol?" asked Tara. +</P> + +<P> +"Many of us are from Gathol who are slaves in Manator," replied the +girl. "It is to Gathol, nearest country, that the Manatorians look for +slaves most often. They go in great numbers at intervals of three or +seven years and haunt the roads that lead to Gathol, and thus they +capture whole caravans leaving none to bear warning to Gathol of their +fate. Nor do any ever escape from Manator to carry word of us back to +Gahan our jed." +</P> + +<P> +Tara of Helium ate slowly and in silence. The girl's words aroused +memories of the last hours she had spent in her father's palace and the +great midday function at which she had met Gahan of Gathol. Even now +she flushed as she recalled his daring words. +</P> + +<P> +Upon her reveries the door opened and a burly warrior appeared in the +opening—a hulking fellow, with thick lips and an evil, leering face. +The slave girl sprang to her feet, facing him. +</P> + +<P> +"What does this mean, E-Med?" she cried, "was it not the will of A-Kor +that this woman be not disturbed?" +</P> + +<P> +"The will of A-Kor, indeed!" and the man sneered. "The will of A-Kor is +without power in The Towers of Jetan, or elsewhere, for A-Kor lies now +in the pits of O-Tar, and E-Med is dwar of the Towers." +</P> + +<P> +Tara of Helium saw the face of the slave girl pale and the terror in +her eyes. +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap12"></A> +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +CHAPTER XII +</H3> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +GHEK PLAYS PRANKS +</H3> + +<P> +While Tara of Helium was being led to The Towers of Jetan, Ghek was +escorted to the pits beneath the palace where he was imprisoned in a +dimly-lighted chamber. Here he found a bench and a table standing upon +the dirt floor near the wall, and set in the wall several rings from +which depended short lengths of chain. At the base of the walls were +several holes in the dirt floor. These, alone, of the several things he +saw, interested him. Ghek sat down upon the bench and waited in +silence, listening. Presently the lights were extinguished. If Ghek +could have smiled he would have then, for Ghek could see as well in the +dark as in the light—better, perhaps. He watched the dark openings of +the holes in the floor and waited. Presently he detected a change in +the air about him—it grew heavy with a strange odor, and once again +might Ghek have smiled, could he have smiled. +</P> + +<P> +Let them replace all the air in the chamber with their most deadly +fumes; it would be all the same to Ghek, the kaldane, who, having no +lungs, required no air. With the rykor it might be different. Deprived +of air it would die; but if only a sufficient amount of the gas was +introduced to stupefy an ordinary creature it would have no effect upon +the rykor, who had no objective mind to overcome. So long as the excess +of carbon dioxide in the blood was not sufficient to prevent heart +action, the rykor would suffer only a diminution of vitality; but would +still respond to the exciting agency of the kaldane's brain. +</P> + +<P> +Ghek caused the rykor to assume a sitting position with its back +against the wall where it might remain without direction from his +brain. Then he released his contact with its spinal cord; but remained +in position upon its shoulders, waiting and watching, for the kaldane's +curiosity was aroused. He had not long to wait before the lights were +flashed on and one of the locked doors opened to admit a half-dozen +warriors. They approached him rapidly and worked quickly. First they +removed all his weapons and then, snapping a fetter about one of the +rykor's ankles, secured him to the end of one of the chains hanging +from the walls. Next they dragged the long table to a new position and +there bolted it to the floor so that an end, instead of the middle, was +directly before the prisoner. On the table before him they set food and +water and upon the opposite end of the table they laid the key to the +fetter. Then they unlocked and opened all the doors and departed. +</P> + +<HR ALIGN="center" WIDTH="60%"> + +<P> +When Turan the panthan regained consciousness it was to the realization +of a sharp pain in one of his forearms. The effects of the gas departed +as rapidly as they had overcome him so that as he opened his eyes he +was in full possession of all his faculties. The lights were on again +and in their glow there was revealed to the man the figure of a giant +Martian rat crouching upon the table and gnawing upon his arm. +Snatching his arm away he reached for his short-sword, while the rat, +growling, sought to seize his arm again. It was then that Turan +discovered that his weapons had been removed—short-sword, long-sword, +dagger, and pistol. The rat charged him then and striking the creature +away with his hand the man rose and backed off, searching for something +with which to strike a harder blow. Again the rat charged and as Turan +stepped quickly back to avoid the menacing jaws, something seemed to +jerk suddenly upon his right ankle, and as he drew his left foot back +to regain his equilibrium his heel caught upon a taut chain and he fell +heavily backward to the floor just as the rat leaped upon his breast +and sought his throat. +</P> + +<P> +The Martian rat is a fierce and unlovely thing. It is many-legged and +hairless, its hide resembling that of a newborn mouse in repulsiveness. +In size and weight it is comparable to a large Airedale terrier. Its +eyes are small and close-set, and almost hidden in deep, fleshy +apertures. But its most ferocious and repulsive feature is its jaws, +the entire bony structure of which protrudes several inches beyond the +flesh, revealing five sharp, spadelike teeth in the upper jaw and the +same number of similar teeth in the lower, the whole suggesting the +appearance of a rotting face from which much of the flesh has sloughed +away. +</P> + +<P> +It was such a thing that leaped upon the breast of the panthan to tear +at his jugular. Twice Turan struck it away as he sought to regain his +feet, but both times it returned with increased ferocity to renew the +attack. Its only weapons are its jaws since its broad, splay feet are +armed with blunt talons. With its protruding jaws it excavates its +winding burrows and with its broad feet it pushes the dirt behind it. +To keep the jaws from his flesh then was Turan's only concern and this +he succeeded in doing until chance gave him a hold upon the creature's +throat. After that the end was but a matter of moments. Rising at last +he flung the lifeless thing from him with a shudder of disgust. +</P> + +<P> +Now he turned his attention to a hurried inventory of the new +conditions which surrounded him since the moment of his incarceration. +He realized vaguely what had happened. He had been anaesthetized and +stripped of his weapons, and as he rose to his feet he saw that one +ankle was fettered to a chain in the wall. He looked about the room. +All the doors swung wide open! His captors would render his +imprisonment the more cruel by leaving ever before him tempting +glimpses of open aisles to the freedom he could not attain. Upon the +end of the table and within easy reach was food and drink. This at +least was attainable and at sight of it his starved stomach seemed +almost to cry aloud for sustenance. It was with difficulty that he ate +and drank in moderation. +</P> + +<P> +As he devoured the food his eyes wandered about the confines of his +prison until suddenly they seized upon a thing that lay on the table at +the end farthest from him. It was a key. He raised his fettered ankle +and examined the lock. There could be no doubt of it! The key that lay +there on the table before him was the key to that very lock. A careless +warrior had laid it there and departed, forgetting. +</P> + +<P> +Hope surged high in the breast of Gahan of Gathol, of Turan the +panthan. Furtively his eyes sought the open doorways. There was no one +in sight. Ah, if he could but gain his freedom! He would find some way +from this odious city back to her side and never again would he leave +her until he had won safety for her or death for himself. +</P> + +<P> +He rose and moved cautiously toward the opposite end of the table where +lay the coveted key. The fettered ankle halted his first step, but he +stretched at full length along the table, extending eager fingers +toward the prize. They almost laid hold upon it—a little more and they +would touch it. He strained and stretched, but still the thing lay just +beyond his reach. He hurled himself forward until the iron fetter bit +deep into his flesh, but all futilely. He sat back upon the bench then +and glared at the open doors and the key, realizing now that they were +part of a well-laid scheme of refined torture, none the less +demoralizing because it inflicted no physical suffering. +</P> + +<P> +For just a moment the man gave way to useless regret and foreboding, +then he gathered himself together, his brows cleared, and he returned +to his unfinished meal. At least they should not have the satisfaction +of knowing how sorely they had hit him. As he ate it occurred to him +that by dragging the table along the floor he could bring the key +within his reach, but when he essayed to do so, he found that the table +had been securely bolted to the floor during the period of his +unconsciousness. Again Gahan smiled and shrugged and resumed his eating. +</P> + +<HR ALIGN="center" WIDTH="60%"> + +<P> +When the warriors had departed from the prison in which Ghek was +confined, the kaldane crawled from the shoulders of the rykor to the +table. Here he drank a little water and then directed the hands of the +rykor to the balance of it and to the food, upon which the brainless +thing fell with avidity. While it was thus engaged Ghek took his +spider-like way along the table to the opposite end where lay the key +to the fetter. Seizing it in a chela he leaped to the floor and +scurried rapidly toward the mouth of one of the burrows against the +wall, into which he disappeared. For long had the brain been +contemplating these burrow entrances. They appealed to his kaldanean +tastes, and further, they pointed a hiding place for the key and a lair +for the only kind of food that the kaldane relished—flesh and blood. +</P> + +<P> +Ghek had never seen an ulsio, since these great Martian rats had long +ago disappeared from Bantoom, their flesh and blood having been greatly +relished by the kaldanes; but Ghek had inherited, almost unimpaired, +every memory of every ancestor, and so he knew that ulsio inhabited +these lairs and that ulsio was good to eat, and he knew what ulsio +looked like and what his habits were, though he had never seen him nor +any picture of him. As we breed animals for the transmission of +physical attributes, so the Kaldanes breed themselves for the +transmission of attributes of the mind, including memory and the power +of recollection, and thus have they raised what we term instinct, above +the level of the threshold of the objective mind where it may be +commanded and utilized by recollection. Doubtless in our own subjective +minds lie many of the impressions and experiences of our forebears. +These may impinge upon our consciousness in dreams only, or in vague, +haunting suggestions that we have before experienced some transient +phase of our present existence. Ah, if we had but the power to recall +them! Before us would unfold the forgotten story of the lost eons that +have preceded us. We might even walk with God in the garden of His +stars while man was still but a budding idea within His mind. +</P> + +<P> +Ghek descended into the burrow at a steep incline for some ten feet, +when he found himself in an elaborate and delightful network of +burrows! The kaldane was elated. This indeed was life! He moved rapidly +and fearlessly and he went as straight to his goal as you could to the +kitchen of your own home. This goal lay at a low level in a spheroidal +cavity about the size of a large barrel. Here, in a nest of torn bits +of silk and fur lay six baby ulsios. +</P> + +<P> +When the mother returned there were but five babies and a great +spider-like creature, which she immediately sprang to attack only to be +met by powerful chelae which seized and held her so that she could not +move. Slowly they dragged her throat toward a hideous mouth and in a +little moment she was dead. +</P> + +<P> +Ghek might have remained in the nest for a long time, since there was +ample food for many days; but he did not do so. Instead he explored the +burrows. He followed them into many subterranean chambers of the city +of Manator, and upward through walls to rooms above the ground. He +found many ingeniously devised traps, and he found poisoned food and +other signs of the constant battle that the inhabitants of Manator +waged against these repulsive creatures that dwelt beneath their homes +and public buildings. +</P> + +<P> +His exploration revealed not only the vast proportions of the network +of runways that apparently traversed every portion of the city, but the +great antiquity of the majority of them. Tons upon tons of dirt must +have been removed, and for a long time he wondered where it had been +deposited, until in following downward a tunnel of great size and +length he sensed before him the thunderous rush of subterranean waters, +and presently came to the bank of a great, underground river, tumbling +onward, no doubt, the length of a world to the buried sea of Omean. +Into this torrential sewer had unthinkable generations of ulsios pushed +their few handsful of dirt in the excavating of their vast labyrinth. +</P> + +<P> +For only a moment did Ghek tarry by the river, for his seemingly +aimless wanderings were in reality prompted by a definite purpose, and +this he pursued with vigor and singleness of design. He followed such +runways as appeared to terminate in the pits or other chambers of the +inhabitants of the city, and these he explored, usually from the safety +of a burrow's mouth, until satisfied that what he sought was not there. +He moved swiftly upon his spider legs and covered remarkable distances +in short periods of time. +</P> + +<P> +His search not being rewarded with immediate success, he decided to +return to the pit where his rykor lay chained and look to its wants. As +he approached the end of the burrow that terminated in the pit he +slackened his pace, stopping just within the entrance of the runway +that he might scan the interior of the chamber before entering it. As +he did so he saw the figure of a warrior appear suddenly in an opposite +doorway. The rykor sprawled upon the table, his hands groping blindly +for more food. Ghek saw the warrior pause and gaze in sudden +astonishment at the rykor; he saw the fellow's eyes go wide and an +ashen hue replace the copper bronze of his cheek. He stepped back as +though someone had struck him in the face. For an instant only he stood +thus as in a paralysis of fear, then he uttered a smothered shriek and +turned and fled. Again was it a catastrophe that Ghek, the kaldane, +could not smile. +</P> + +<P> +Quickly entering the room he crawled to the table top and affixed +himself to the shoulders of his rykor, and there he waited; and who may +say that Ghek, though he could not smile, possessed not a sense of +humor? For a half-hour he sat there, and then there came to him the +sound of men approaching along corridors of stone. He could hear their +arms clank against the rocky walls and he knew that they came at a +rapid pace; but just before they reached the entrance to his prison +they paused and advanced more slowly. In the lead was an officer, and +just behind him, wide-eyed and perhaps still a little ashen, the +warrior who had so recently departed in haste. At the doorway they +halted and the officer turned sternly upon the warrior. With upraised +finger he pointed at Ghek. +</P> + +<P> +"There sits the creature! Didst thou dare lie, then, to thy dwar?" +</P> + +<P> +"I swear," cried the warrior, "that I spoke the truth. But a moment +since the thing groveled, headless, upon this very table! And may my +first ancestor strike me dead upon the spot if I speak other than a +true word!" +</P> + +<P> +The officer looked puzzled. The men of Mars seldom if ever lie. He +scratched his head. Then he addressed Ghek. "How long have you been +here?" he asked. +</P> + +<P> +"Who knows better than those who placed me here and chained me to a +wall?" he returned in reply. +</P> + +<P> +"Saw you this warrior enter here a few minutes since?" +</P> + +<P> +"I saw him," replied Ghek. +</P> + +<P> +"And you sat there where you sit now?" continued the officer. +</P> + +<P> +"Look thou to my chain and tell me then where else might I sit!" cried +Ghek. "Art the people of thy city all fools?" +</P> + +<P> +Three other warriors pressed behind the two in front, craning their +necks to view the prisoner while they grinned at the discomfiture of +their fellow. The officer scowled at Ghek. +</P> + +<P> +"Thy tongue is as venomous as that of the she-banth O-Tar sent to The +Towers of Jetan," he said. +</P> + +<P> +"You speak of the young woman who was captured with me?" asked Ghek, +his expressionless monotone and face revealing naught of the interest +he felt. +</P> + +<P> +"I speak of her," replied the dwar, and then turning to the warrior who +had summoned him: "return to thy quarters and remain there until the +next games. Perhaps by that time thy eyes may have learned not to +deceive thee." +</P> + +<P> +The fellow cast a venomous glance at Ghek and turned away. The officer +shook his head. "I do not understand it," he muttered. "Always has +U-Van been a true and dependable warrior. Could it be—?" he glanced +piercingly at Ghek. "Thou hast a strange head that misfits thy body, +fellow," he cried. "Our legends tell us of those ancient creatures that +placed hallucinations upon the mind of their fellows. If thou be such +then maybe U-Van suffered from thy forbidden powers. If thou be such +O-Tar will know well how to deal with thee." He wheeled about and +motioned his warriors to follow him. +</P> + +<P> +"Wait!" cried Ghek. "Unless I am to be starved, send me food." +</P> + +<P> +"You have had food," replied the warrior. +</P> + +<P> +"Am I to be fed but once a day?" asked Ghek. "I require food oftener +than that. Send me food." +</P> + +<P> +"You shall have food," replied the officer. "None may say that the +prisoners of Manator are ill-fed. Just are the laws of Manator," and he +departed. +</P> + +<P> +No sooner had the sounds of their passing died away in the distance +than Ghek clambered from the shoulders of his rykor, and scurried to +the burrow where he had hidden the key. Fetching it he unlocked the +fetter from about the creature's ankle, locked it empty and carried the +key farther down into the burrow. Then he returned to his place upon +his brainless servitor. After a while he heard footsteps approaching, +whereupon he rose and passed into another corridor from that down which +he knew the warrior was coming. Here he waited out of sight, listening. +He heard the man enter the chamber and halt. He heard a muttered +exclamation, followed by the jangle of metal dishes as a salver was +slammed upon a table; then rapidly retreating footsteps, which quickly +died away in the distance. +</P> + +<P> +Ghek lost no time in returning to the chamber, recovering the key, +relocking the rykor to his chain. Then he replaced the key in the +burrow and squatting on the table beside his headless body, directed +its hands toward the food. While the rykor ate Ghek sat listening for +the scraping sandals and clattering arms that he knew soon would come. +Nor had he long to wait. Ghek scrambled to the shoulders of his rykor +as he heard them coming. Again it was the officer who had been summoned +by U-Van and with him were three warriors. The one directly behind him +was evidently the same who had brought the food, for his eyes went wide +when he saw Ghek sitting at the table and he looked very foolish as the +dwar turned his stern glance upon him. +</P> + +<P> +"It is even as I said," he cried. "He was not here when I brought his +food." +</P> + +<P> +"But he is here now," said the officer grimly, "and his fetter is +locked about his ankle. Look! it has not been opened—but where is the +key? It should be upon the table at the end opposite him. Where is the +key, creature?" he shouted at Ghek. +</P> + +<P> +"How should I, a prisoner, know better than my jailer the whereabouts +of the key to my fetters?" he retorted. +</P> + +<P> +"But it lay here," cried the officer, pointing to the other end of the +table. +</P> + +<P> +"Did you see it?" asked Ghek. +</P> + +<P> +The officer hesitated. "No but it must have been there," he parried. +</P> + +<P> +"Did you see the key lying there?" asked Ghek, pointing to another +warrior. +</P> + +<P> +The fellow shook his head negatively. "And you? and you?" continued the +kaldane addressing the others. +</P> + +<P> +They both admitted that they never had seen the key. "And if it had +been there how could I have reached it?" he continued. +</P> + +<P> +"No, he could not have reached it," admitted the officer; "but there +shall be no more of this! I-Zav, you will remain here on guard with +this prisoner until you are relieved." +</P> + +<P> +I-Zav looked anything but happy as this intelligence was transmitted to +him, and he eyed Ghek suspiciously as the dwar and the other warriors +turned and left him to his unhappy lot. +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap13"></A> +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +CHAPTER XIII +</H3> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +A DESPERATE DEED +</H3> + +<P> +E-Med crossed the tower chamber toward Tara of Helium and the slave +girl, Lan-O. He seized the former roughly by a shoulder. "Stand!" he +commanded. Tara struck his hand from her and rising, backed away. +</P> + +<P> +"Lay not your hand upon the person of a princess of Helium, beast!" she +warned. +</P> + +<P> +E-Med laughed. "Think you that I play at jetan for you without first +knowing something of the stake for which I play?" he demanded. "Come +here!" +</P> + +<P> +The girl drew herself to her full height, folding her arms across her +breast, nor did E-Med note that the slim fingers of her right hand were +inserted beneath the broad leather strap of her harness where it passed +over her left shoulder. +</P> + +<P> +"And O-Tar learns of this you shall rue it, E-Med," cried the slave +girl; "there be no law in Manator that gives you this girl before you +shall have won her fairly." +</P> + +<P> +"What cares O-Tar for her fate?" replied E-Med. "Have I not heard? Did +she not flout the great jeddak, heaping abuse upon him? By my first +ancestor, I think O-Tar might make a jed of the man who subdued her," +and again he advanced toward Tara. +</P> + +<P> +"Wait!" said the girl in low, even tone. "Perhaps you know not what you +do. Sacred to the people of Helium are the persons of the women of +Helium. For the honor of the humblest of them would the great jeddak +himself unsheathe his sword. The greatest nations of Barsoom have +trembled to the thunders of war in defense of the person of Dejah +Thoris, my mother. We are but mortal and so may die; but we may not be +defiled. You may play at jetan for a princess of Helium, but though you +may win the match, never may you claim the reward. If thou wouldst +possess a dead body press me too far, but know, man of Manator, that +the blood of The Warlord flows not in the veins of Tara of Helium for +naught. I have spoken." +</P> + +<P> +"I know naught of Helium and O-Tar is our warlord," replied E-Med; "but +I do know that I would examine more closely the prize that I shall play +for and win. I would test the lips of her who is to be my slave after +the next games; nor is it well, woman, to drive me too far to anger." +His eyes narrowed as he spoke, his visage taking on the semblance of +that of a snarling beast. "If you doubt the truth of my words ask +Lan-O, the slave girl." +</P> + +<P> +"He speaks truly, O woman of Helium," interjected Lan-O. "Try not the +temper of E-Med, if you value your life." +</P> + +<P> +But Tara of Helium made no reply. Already had she spoken. She stood in +silence now facing the burly warrior who approached her. He came close +and then quite suddenly he seized her and, bending, tried to draw her +lips to his. +</P> + +<P> +Lan-O saw the woman from Helium half turn, and with a quick movement +jerk her right hand from where it had lain upon her breast. She saw the +hand shoot from beneath the arm of E-Med and rise behind his shoulder +and she saw in the hand a long, slim blade. The lips of the warrior +were drawing closer to those of the woman, but they never touched them, +for suddenly the man straightened, stiffly, a shriek upon his lips, and +then he crumpled like an empty fur and lay, a shrunken heap, upon the +floor. Tara of Helium stooped and wiped her blade upon his harness. +</P> + +<P> +Lan-O, wide-eyed, looked with horror upon the corpse. "For this we +shall both die," she cried. +</P> + +<P> +"And who would live a slave in Manator?" asked Tara of Helium. +</P> + +<P> +"I am not so brave as thou," said the slave girl, "and life is sweet +and there is always hope." +</P> + +<P> +"Life is sweet," agreed Tara of Helium, "but honor is sacred. But do +not fear. When they come I shall tell them the truth—that you had no +hand in this and no opportunity to prevent it." +</P> + +<P> +For a moment the slave girl seemed to be thinking deeply. Suddenly her +eyes lighted. "There is a way, perhaps," she said, "to turn suspicion +from us. He has the key to this chamber upon him. Let us open the door +and drag him out—maybe we shall find a place to hide him." +</P> + +<P> +"Good!" exclaimed Tara of Helium, and the two immediately set about the +matter Lan-O had suggested. Quickly they found the key and unlatched +the door and then, between them, they half carried, half dragged, the +corpse of E-Med from the room and down the stairway to the next level +where Lan-O said there were vacant chambers. The first door they tried +was unlatched, and through this the two bore their grisly burden into a +small room lighted by a single window. The apartment bore evidence of +having been utilized as a living-room rather than as a cell, being +furnished with a degree of comfort and even luxury. The walls were +paneled to a height of about seven feet from the floor, while the +plaster above and the ceiling were decorated with faded paintings of +another day. +</P> + +<P> +As Tara's eyes ran quickly over the interior her attention was drawn to +a section of paneling that seemed to be separated at one edge from the +piece next adjoining it. Quickly she crossed to it, discovering that +one vertical edge of an entire panel projected a half-inch beyond the +others. There was a possible explanation which piqued her curiosity, +and acting upon its suggestion she seized upon the projecting edge and +pulled outward. Slowly the panel swung toward her, revealing a dark +aperture in the wall behind. +</P> + +<P> +"Look, Lan-O!" she cried. "See what I have found—a hole in which we +may hide the thing upon the floor." +</P> + +<P> +Lan-O joined her and together the two investigated the dark aperture, +finding a small platform from which a narrow runway led downward into +Stygian darkness. Thick dust covered the floor within the doorway, +indicating that a great period of time had elapsed since human foot had +trod it—a secret way, doubtless, unknown to living Manatorians. Here +they dragged the corpse of E-Med, leaving it upon the platform, and as +they left the dark and forbidden closet Lan-O would have slammed to the +panel had not Tara prevented. +</P> + +<P> +"Wait!" she said, and fell to examining the door frame and the stile. +</P> + +<P> +"Hurry!" whispered the slave girl. "If they come we are lost." +</P> + +<P> +"It may serve us well to know how to open this place again," replied +Tara of Helium, and then suddenly she pressed a foot against a section +of the carved base at the right of the open panel. "Ah!" she breathed, +a note of satisfaction in her tone, and closed the panel until it +fitted snugly in its place. "Come!" she said and turned toward the +outer doorway of the chamber. +</P> + +<P> +They reached their own cell without detection, and closing the door +Tara locked it from the inside and placed the key in a secret pocket in +her harness. +</P> + +<P> +"Let them come," she said. "Let them question us! What could two poor +prisoners know of the whereabouts of their noble jailer? I ask you, +Lan-O, what could they?" +</P> + +<P> +"Nothing," admitted Lan-O, smiling with her companion. +</P> + +<P> +"Tell me of these men of Manator," said Tara presently. "Are they all +like E-Med, or are some of them like A-Kor, who seemed a brave and +chivalrous character?" +</P> + +<P> +"They are not unlike the peoples of other countries," replied Lan-O. +"There be among them both good and bad. They are brave warriors and +mighty. Among themselves they are not without chivalry and honor, but +in their dealings with strangers they know but one law—the law of +might. The weak and unfortunate of other lands fill them with contempt +and arouse all that is worst in their natures, which doubtless accounts +for their treatment of us, their slaves." +</P> + +<P> +"But why should they feel contempt for those who have suffered the +misfortune of falling into their hands?" queried Tara. +</P> + +<P> +"I do not know," said Lan-O; "A-Kor says that he believes that it is +because their country has never been invaded by a victorious foe. In +their stealthy raids never have they been defeated, because they have +never waited to face a powerful force; and so they have come to believe +themselves invincible, and the other peoples are held in contempt as +inferior in valor and the practice of arms." +</P> + +<P> +"Yet A-Kor is one of them," said Tara. +</P> + +<P> +"He is a son of O-Tar, the jeddak," replied Lan-O; "but his mother was +a high born Gatholian, captured and made slave by O-Tar, and A-Kor +boasts that in his veins runs only the blood of his mother, and indeed +is he different from the others. His chivalry is of a gentler form, +though not even his worst enemy has dared question his courage, while +his skill with the sword, and the spear, and the thoat is famous +throughout the length and breadth of Manator." +</P> + +<P> +"What think you they will do with him?" asked Tara of Helium. +</P> + +<P> +"Sentence him to the games," replied Lan-O. "If O-Tar be not greatly +angered he may be sentenced to but a single game, in which case he may +come out alive; but if O-Tar wishes really to dispose of him he will be +sentenced to the entire series, and no warrior has ever survived the +full ten, or rather none who was under a sentence from O-Tar." +</P> + +<P> +"What are the games? I do not understand," said Tara "I have heard them +speak of playing at jetan, but surely no one can be killed at jetan. We +play it often at home." +</P> + +<P> +"But not as they play it in the arena at Manator," replied Lan-O. "Come +to the window," and together the two approached an aperture facing +toward the east. +</P> + +<P> +Below her Tara of Helium saw a great field entirely surrounded by the +low building, and the lofty towers of which that in which she was +imprisoned was but a unit. About the arena were tiers of seats; but the +thing that caught her attention was a gigantic jetan board laid out +upon the floor of the arena in great squares of alternate orange and +black. +</P> + +<P> +"Here they play at jetan with living pieces. They play for great stakes +and usually for a woman—some slave of exceptional beauty. O-Tar +himself might have played for you had you not angered him, but now you +will be played for in an open game by slaves and criminals, and you +will belong to the side that wins—not to a single warrior, but to all +who survive the game." +</P> + +<P> +The eyes of Tara of Helium flashed, but she made no comment. +</P> + +<P> +"Those who direct the play do not necessarily take part in it," +continued the slave girl, "but sit in those two great thrones which you +see at either end of the board and direct their pieces from square to +square." +</P> + +<P> +"But where lies the danger?" asked Tara of Helium. "If a piece be taken +it is merely removed from the board—this is a rule of jetan as old +almost as the civilization of Barsoom." +</P> + +<P> +"But here in Manator, when they play in the great arena with living +men, that rule is altered," explained Lan-O. "When a warrior is moved +to a square occupied by an opposing piece, the two battle to the death +for possession of the square and the one that is successful advantages +by the move. Each is caparisoned to simulate the piece he represents +and in addition he wears that which indicates whether he be slave, a +warrior serving a sentence, or a volunteer. If serving a sentence the +number of games he must play is also indicated, and thus the one +directing the moves knows which pieces to risk and which to conserve, +and further than this, a man's chances are affected by the position +that is assigned him for the game. Those whom they wish to die are +always Panthans in the game, for the Panthan has the least chance of +surviving." +</P> + +<P> +"Do those who direct the play ever actually take part in it?" asked +Tara. +</P> + +<P> +"Oh, yes," said Lan-O. "Often when two warriors, even of the highest +class, hold a grievance against one another O-Tar compels them to +settle it upon the arena. Then it is that they take active part and +with drawn swords direct their own players from the position of Chief. +They pick their own players, usually the best of their own warriors and +slaves, if they be powerful men who possess such, or their friends may +volunteer, or they may obtain prisoners from the pits. These are games +indeed—the very best that are seen. Often the great chiefs themselves +are slain." +</P> + +<P> +"It is within this amphitheater that the justice of Manator is meted, +then?" asked Tara. +</P> + +<P> +"Very largely," replied Lan-O. +</P> + +<P> +"How, then, through such justice, could a prisoner win his liberty?" +continued the girl from Helium. +</P> + +<P> +"If a man, and he survived ten games his liberty would be his," replied +Lan-O. +</P> + +<P> +"But none ever survives?" queried Tara. "And if a woman?" +</P> + +<P> +"No stranger within the gates of Manator ever has survived ten games," +replied the slave girl. "They are permitted to offer themselves into +perpetual slavery if they prefer that to fighting at jetan. Of course +they may be called upon, as any warrior, to take part in a game, but +their chances then of surviving are increased, since they may never +again have the chance of winning to liberty." +</P> + +<P> +"But a woman," insisted Tara; "how may a woman win her freedom?" +</P> + +<P> +Lan-O laughed. "Very simply," she cried, derisively. "She has but to +find a warrior who will fight through ten consecutive games for her and +survive." +</P> + +<P> +"'Just are the laws of Manator,'" quoted Tara, scornfully. +</P> + +<P> +Then it was that they heard footsteps outside their cell and a moment +later a key turned in the lock and the door opened. A warrior faced +them. +</P> + +<P> +"Hast seen E-Med the dwar?" he asked. +</P> + +<P> +"Yes," replied Tara, "he was here some time ago." +</P> + +<P> +The man glanced quickly about the bare chamber and then searchingly +first at Tara of Helium and then at the slave girl, Lan-O. The puzzled +expression upon his face increased. He scratched his head. "It is +strange," he said. "A score of men saw him ascend into this tower; and +though there is but a single exit, and that well guarded, no man has +seen him pass out." +</P> + +<P> +Tara of Helium hid a yawn with the back of a shapely hand. "The +Princess of Helium is hungry, fellow," she drawled; "tell your master +that she would eat." +</P> + +<P> +It was an hour later that food was brought, an officer and several +warriors accompanying the bearer. The former examined the room +carefully, but there was no sign that aught amiss had occurred there. +The wound that had sent E-Med the dwar to his ancestors had not bled, +fortunately for Tara of Helium. +</P> + +<P> +"Woman," cried the officer, turning upon Tara, "you were the last to +see E-Med the dwar. Answer me now and answer me truthfully. Did you see +him leave this room?" +</P> + +<P> +"I did," answered Tara of Helium. +</P> + +<P> +"Where did he go from here?" +</P> + +<P> +"How should I know? Think you that I can pass through a locked door of +skeel?" the girl's tone was scornful. +</P> + +<P> +"Of that we do not know," said the officer. "Strange things have +happened in the cell of your companion in the pits of Manator. Perhaps +you could pass through a locked door of skeel as easily as he performs +seemingly more impossible feats." +</P> + +<P> +"Whom do you mean," she cried; "Turan the panthan? He lives, then? Tell +me, is he here in Manator unharmed?" +</P> + +<P> +"I speak of that thing which calls itself Ghek the kaldane," replied +the officer. +</P> + +<P> +"But Turan! Tell me, padwar, have you heard aught of him?" Tara's tone +was insistent and she leaned a little forward toward the officer, her +lips slightly parted in expectancy. +</P> + +<P> +Into the eyes of the slave girl, Lan-O, who was watching her, there +crept a soft light of understanding; but the officer ignored Tara's +question—what was the fate of another slave to him? "Men do not +disappear into thin air," he growled, "and if E-Med be not found soon +O-Tar himself may take a hand in this. I warn you, woman, if you be one +of those horrid Corphals that by commanding the spirits of the wicked +dead gains evil mastery over the living, as many now believe the thing +called Ghek to be, that lest you return E-Med, O-Tar will have no mercy +on you." +</P> + +<P> +"What foolishness is this?" cried the girl. "I am a princess of Helium, +as I have told you all a score of times. Even if the fabled Corphals +existed, as none but the most ignorant now believes, the lore of the +ancients tells us that they entered only into the bodies of wicked +criminals of the lowest class. Man of Manator, thou art a fool, and thy +jeddak and all his people," and she turned her royal back upon the +padwar, and gazed through the window across the Field of Jetan and the +roofs of Manator through the low hills and the rolling country and +freedom. +</P> + +<P> +"And you know so much of Corphals, then," he cried, "you know that +while no common man dare harm them they may be slain by the hand of a +jeddak with impunity!" +</P> + +<P> +The girl did not reply, nor would she speak again, for all his threats +and rage, for she knew now that none in all Manator dared harm her save +O-Tar, the jeddak, and after a while the padwar left, taking his men +with him. And after they had gone Tara stood for long looking out upon +the city of Manator, and wondering what more of cruel wrongs Fate held +in store for her. She was standing thus in silent meditation when there +rose to her the strains of martial music from the city below—the deep, +mellow tones of the long war trumpets of mounted troops, the clear, +ringing notes of foot-soldiers' music. The girl raised her head and +looked about, listening, and Lan-O, standing at an opposite window, +looking toward the west, motioned Tara to join her. Now they could see +across roofs and avenues to The Gate of Enemies, through which troops +were marching into the city. +</P> + +<P> +"The Great Jed is coming," said Lan-O, "none other dares enter thus, +with blaring trumpets, the city of Manator. It is U-Thor, Jed of +Manatos, second city of Manator. They call him The Great Jed the length +and breadth of Manator, and because the people love him, O-Tar hates +him. They say, who know, that it would need but slight provocation to +inflame the two to war. How such a war would end no one could guess; +for the people of Manator worship the great O-Tar, though they do not +love him. U-Thor they love, but he is not the jeddak," and Tara +understood, as only a Martian may, how much that simple statement +encompassed. +</P> + +<P> +The loyalty of a Martian to his jeddak is almost an instinct, and +second not even to the instinct of self-preservation at that. Nor is +this strange in a race whose religion includes ancestor worship, and +where families trace their origin back into remote ages and a jeddak +sits upon the same throne that his direct progenitors have occupied +for, perhaps, hundreds of thousands of years, and rules the descendants +of the same people that his forebears ruled. Wicked jeddaks have been +dethroned, but seldom are they replaced by other than members of the +imperial house, even though the law gives to the jeds the right to +select whom they please. +</P> + +<P> +"U-Thor is a just man and good, then?" asked Tara of Helium. +</P> + +<P> +"There be none nobler," replied Lan-O. "In Manatos none but wicked +criminals who deserve death are forced to play at jetan, and even then +the play is fair and they have their chance for freedom. Volunteers may +play, but the moves are not necessarily to the death—a wound, and even +sometimes points in swordplay, deciding the issue. There they look upon +jetan as a martial sport—here it is but butchery. And U-Thor is +opposed to the ancient slave raids and to the policy that keeps Manator +forever isolated from the other nations of Barsoom; but U-Thor is not +jeddak and so there is no change." +</P> + +<P> +The two girls watched the column moving up the broad avenue from The +Gate of Enemies toward the palace of O-Tar. A gorgeous, barbaric +procession of painted warriors in jewel-studded harness and waving +feathers; vicious, squealing thoats caparisoned in rich trappings; far +above their heads the long lances of their riders bore fluttering +pennons; foot-soldiers swinging easily along the stone pavement, their +sandals of zitidar hide giving forth no sound; and at the rear of each +utan a train of painted chariots, drawn by mammoth zitidars, carrying +the equipment of the company to which they were attached. Utan after +utan entered through the great gate, and even when the head of the +column reached the palace of O-Tar they were not all within the city. +</P> + +<P> +"I have been here many years," said the girl, Lan-O; "but never have I +seen even The Great Jed bring so many fighting men into the city of +Manator." +</P> + +<P> +Through half-closed eyes Tara of Helium watched the warriors marching +up the broad avenue, trying to imagine them the fighting men of her +beloved Helium coming to the rescue of their princess. That splendid +figure upon the great thoat might be John Carter, himself, Warlord of +Barsoom, and behind him utan after utan of the veterans of the empire, +and then the girl opened her eyes again and saw the host of painted, +befeathered barbarians, and sighed. But yet she watched, fascinated by +the martial scene, and now she noted again the groups of silent figures +upon the balconies. No waving silks; no cries of welcome; no showers of +flowers and jewels such as would have marked the entry of such a +splendid, friendly pageant into the twin cities of her birth. +</P> + +<P> +"The people do not seem friendly to the warriors of Manatos," she +remarked to Lan-O; "I have not seen a single welcoming sign from the +people on the balconies." +</P> + +<P> +The slave girl looked at her in surprise. "It cannot be that you do not +know!" she exclaimed. "Why, they are—" but she got no further. The +door swung open and an officer stood before them. +</P> + +<P> +"The slave girl, Tara, is summoned to the presence of O-Tar, the +jeddak!" he announced. +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap14"></A> +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +CHAPTER XIV +</H3> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +AT GHEK'S COMMAND +</H3> + +<P> +Turan the panthan chafed in his chains. Time dragged; silence and +monotony prolonged minutes into hours. Uncertainty of the fate of the +woman he loved turned each hour into an eternity of hell. He listened +impatiently for the sound of approaching footsteps that he might see +and speak to some living creature and learn, perchance, some word of +Tara of Helium. After torturing hours his ears were rewarded by the +rattle of harness and arms. Men were coming! He waited breathlessly. +Perhaps they were his executioners; but he would welcome them +notwithstanding. He would question them. But if they knew naught of +Tara he would not divulge the location of the hiding place in which he +had left her. +</P> + +<P> +Now they came—a half-dozen warriors and an officer, escorting an +unarmed man; a prisoner, doubtless. Of this Turan was not left long in +doubt, since they brought the newcomer and chained him to an adjoining +ring. Immediately the panthan commenced to question the officer in +charge of the guard. +</P> + +<P> +"Tell me," he demanded, "why I have been made prisoner, and if other +strangers were captured since I entered your city." +</P> + +<P> +"What other prisoners?" asked the officer. +</P> + +<P> +"A woman, and a man with a strange head," replied Turan. +</P> + +<P> +"It is possible," said the officer; "but what were their names?" +</P> + +<P> +"The woman was Tara, Princess of Helium, and the man was Ghek, a +kaldane, of Bantoom." +</P> + +<P> +"These were your friends?" asked the officer. +</P> + +<P> +"Yes," replied Turan. +</P> + +<P> +"It is what I would know," said the officer, and with a curt command to +his men to follow him he turned and left the cell. +</P> + +<P> +"Tell me of them!" cried Turan after him. "Tell me of Tara of Helium! +Is she safe?" but the man did not answer and soon the sound of their +departure died in the distance. +</P> + +<P> +"Tara of Helium was safe, but a short time since," said the prisoner +chained at Turan's side. +</P> + +<P> +The panthan turned toward the speaker, seeing a large man, handsome of +face and with a manner both stately and dignified. "You have seen her?" +he asked. "They captured her then? She is in danger?" +</P> + +<P> +"She is being held in The Towers of Jetan as a prize for the next +games," replied the stranger. +</P> + +<P> +"And who are you?" asked Turan. "And why are you here, a prisoner?" +</P> + +<P> +"I am A-Kor the dwar, keeper of The Towers of Jetan," replied the +other. "I am here because I dared speak the truth of O-Tar the jeddak, +to one of his officers." +</P> + +<P> +"And your punishment?" asked Turan. +</P> + +<P> +"I do not know. O-Tar has not yet spoken. Doubtless the games—perhaps +the full ten, for O-Tar does not love A-Kor, his son." +</P> + +<P> +"You are the jeddak's son?" asked Turan. +</P> + +<P> +"I am the son of O-Tar and of a slave, Haja of Gathol, who was a +princess in her own land." +</P> + +<P> +Turan looked searchingly at the speaker. A son of Haja of Gathol! A son +of his mother's sister, this man, then, was his own cousin. Well did +Gahan remember the mysterious disappearance of the Princess Haja and an +entire utan of her personal troops. She had been upon a visit far from +the city of Gathol and returning home had vanished with her whole +escort from the sight of man. So this was the secret of the seeming +mystery? Doubtless it explained many other similar disappearances that +extended nearly as far back as the history of Gathol. Turan scrutinized +his companion, discovering many evidences of resemblance to his +mother's people. A-Kor might have been ten years younger than he, but +such differences in age are scarce accounted among a people who seldom +or never age outwardly after maturity and whose span of life may be a +thousand years. +</P> + +<P> +"And where lies Gathol?" asked Turan. +</P> + +<P> +"Almost due east of Manator," replied A-Kor. +</P> + +<P> +"And how far?" +</P> + +<P> +"Some twenty-one degrees it is from the city of Manator to the city of +Gathol," replied A-Kor; "but little more than ten degrees between the +boundaries of the two countries. Between them, though, there lies a +country of torn rocks and yawning chasms." +</P> + +<P> +Well did Gahan know this country that bordered his upon the west—even +the ships of the air avoided it because of the treacherous currents +that rose from the deep chasms, and the almost total absence of safe +landings. He knew now where Manator lay and for the first time in long +weeks the way to his own Gathol, and here was a man, a fellow prisoner, +in whose veins flowed the blood of his own ancestors—a man who knew +Manator; its people, its customs and the country surrounding it—one +who could aid him, with advice at least, to find a plan for the rescue +of Tara of Helium and for escape. But would A-Kor—could he dare broach +the subject? He could do no less than try. +</P> + +<P> +"And O-Tar you think will sentence you to death?" he asked; "and why?" +</P> + +<P> +"He would like to," replied A-Kor, "for the people chafe beneath his +iron hand and their loyalty is but the loyalty of a people to the long +line of illustrious jeddaks from which he has sprung. He is a jealous +man and has found the means of disposing of most of those whose blood +might entitle them to a claim upon the throne, and whose place in the +affections of the people endowed them with any political significance. +The fact that I was the son of a slave relegated me to a position of +minor importance in the consideration of O-Tar, yet I am still the son +of a jeddak and might sit upon the throne of Manator with as perfect +congruity as O-Tar himself. Combined with this is the fact that of +recent years the people, and especially many of the younger warriors, +have evinced a growing affection for me, which I attribute to certain +virtues of character and training derived from my mother, but which +O-Tar assumes to be the result of an ambition upon my part to occupy +the throne of Manator. +</P> + +<P> +"And now, I am firmly convinced, he has seized upon my criticism of his +treatment of the slave girl Tara as a pretext for ridding himself of +me." +</P> + +<P> +"But if you could escape and reach Gathol," suggested Turan. +</P> + +<P> +"I have thought of that," mused A-Kor; "but how much better off would I +be? In the eyes of the Gatholians I would be, not a Gatholian; but a +stranger and doubtless they would accord me the same treatment that we +of Manator accord strangers." +</P> + +<P> +"Could you convince them that you are the son of the Princess Haja your +welcome would be assured," said Turan; "while on the other hand you +could purchase your freedom and citizenship with a brief period of +labor in the diamond mines." +</P> + +<P> +"How know you all these things?" asked A-Kor. "I thought you were from +Helium." +</P> + +<P> +"I am a panthan," replied Turan, "and I have served many countries, +among them Gathol." +</P> + +<P> +"It is what the slaves from Gathol have told me," said A-Kor, +thoughtfully, "and my mother, before O-Tar sent her to live at Manatos. +I think he must have feared her power and influence among the slaves +from Gathol and their descendants, who number perhaps a million people +throughout the land of Manator." +</P> + +<P> +"Are these slaves organized?" asked Turan. +</P> + +<P> +A-Kor looked straight into the eyes of the panthan for a long moment +before he replied. "You are a man of honor," he said; "I read it in +your face, and I am seldom mistaken in my estimate of a man; but—" and +he leaned closer to the other—"even the walls have ears," he +whispered, and Turan's question was answered. +</P> + +<P> +It was later in the evening that warriors came and unlocked the fetter +from Turan's ankle and led him away to appear before O-Tar, the jeddak. +They conducted him toward the palace along narrow, winding streets and +broad avenues; but always from the balconies there looked down upon +them in endless ranks the silent people of the city. The palace itself +was filled with life and activity. Mounted warriors galloped through +the corridors and up and down the runways connecting adjacent floors. +It seemed that no one walked within the palace other than a few slaves. +Squealing, fighting thoats were stabled in magnificent halls while +their riders, if not upon some duty of the palace, played at jetan with +small figures carved from wood. +</P> + +<P> +Turan noted the magnificence of the interior architecture of the +palace, the lavish expenditure of precious jewels and metals, the +gorgeous mural decorations which depicted almost exclusively martial +scenes, and principally duels which seemed to be fought upon jetan +boards of heroic size. The capitals of many of the columns supporting +the ceilings of the corridors and chambers through which they passed +were wrought into formal likenesses of jetan pieces—everywhere there +seemed a suggestion of the game. Along the same path that Tara of +Helium had been led Turan was conducted toward the throne room of O-Tar +the jeddak, and when he entered the Hall of Chiefs his interest turned +to wonder and admiration as he viewed the ranks of statuesque thoatmen +decked in their gorgeous, martial panoply. Never, he thought, had he +seen upon Barsoom more soldierly figures or thoats so perfectly trained +to perfection of immobility as these. Not a muscle quivered, not a tail +lashed, and the riders were as motionless as their mounts—each warlike +eye straight to the front, the great spears inclined at the same angle. +It was a picture to fill the breast of a fighting man with awe and +reverence. Nor did it fail in its effect upon Turan as they conducted +him the length of the chamber, where he waited before great doors until +he should be summoned into the presence of the ruler of Manator. +</P> + +<HR ALIGN="center" WIDTH="60%"> + +<P> +When Tara of Helium was ushered into the throne room of O-Tar she found +the great hall filled with the chiefs and officers of O-Tar and U-Thor, +the latter occupying the place of honor at the foot of the throne, as +was his due. The girl was conducted to the foot of the aisle and halted +before the jeddak, who looked down upon her from his high throne with +scowling brows and fierce, cruel eyes. +</P> + +<P> +"The laws of Manator are just," said O-Tar, addressing her; "thus is it +that you have been summoned here again to be judged by the highest +authority of Manator. Word has reached me that you are suspected of +being a Corphal. What word have you to say in refutation of the charge?" +</P> + +<P> +Tara of Helium could scarce restrain a sneer as she answered the +ridiculous accusation of witchcraft. "So ancient is the culture of my +people," she said, "that authentic history reveals no defense for that +which we know existed only in the ignorant and superstitious minds of +the most primitive peoples of the past. To those who are yet so +untutored as to believe in the existence of Corphals, there can be no +argument that will convince them of their error—only long ages of +refinement and culture can accomplish their release from the bondage of +ignorance. I have spoken." +</P> + +<P> +"Yet you do not deny the accusation," said O-Tar. +</P> + +<P> +"It is not worthy the dignity of a denial," she responded haughtily. +</P> + +<P> +"And I were you, woman," said a deep voice at her side, "I should, +nevertheless, deny it." +</P> + +<P> +Tara of Helium turned to see the eyes of U-Thor, the great jed of +Manatos, upon her. Brave eyes they were, but neither cold nor cruel. +O-Tar rapped impatiently upon the arm of his throne. "U-Thor forgets," +he cried, "that O-Tar is the jeddak." +</P> + +<P> +"U-Thor remembers," replied the jed of Manatos, "that the laws of +Manator permit any who may be accused to have advice and counsel before +their judge." +</P> + +<P> +Tara of Helium saw that for some reason this man would have assisted +her, and so she acted upon his advice. +</P> + +<P> +"I deny the charge," she said, "I am no Corphal." +</P> + +<P> +"Of that we shall learn," snapped O-Tar. "U-Dor, where are those who +have knowledge of the powers of this woman?" +</P> + +<P> +And U-Dor brought several who recounted the little that was known of +the disappearance of E-Med, and others who told of the capture of Ghek +and Tara, suggesting by deduction that having been found together they +had sufficient in common to make it reasonably certain that one was as +bad as the other, and that, therefore, it remained but to convict one +of them of Corphalism to make certain the guilt of both. And then O-Tar +called for Ghek, and immediately the hideous kaldane was dragged before +him by warriors who could not conceal the fear in which they held this +creature. +</P> + +<P> +"And you!" said O-Tar in cold accusing tones. "Already have I been told +enough of you to warrant me in passing through your heart the jeddak's +steel—of how you stole the brains from the warrior U-Van so that he +thought he saw your headless body still endowed with life; of how you +caused another to believe that you had escaped, making him to see +naught but an empty bench and a blank wall where you had been." +</P> + +<P> +"Ah, O-Tar, but that is as nothing!" cried a young padwar who had come +in command of the escort that brought Ghek. "The thing which he did to +I-Zav, here, would prove his guilt alone." +</P> + +<P> +"What did he to the warrior I-Zav?" demanded O-Tar. "Let I-Zav speak!" +</P> + +<P> +The warrior I-Zav, a great fellow of bulging muscles and thick neck, +advanced to the foot of the throne. He was pale and still trembling +visibly as from a nervous shock. +</P> + +<P> +"Let my first ancestor be my witness, O-Tar, that I speak the truth," +he began. "I was left to guard this creature, who sat upon a bench, +shackled to the wall. I stood by the open doorway at the opposite side +of the chamber. He could not reach me, yet, O-Tar, may Iss engulf me if +he did not drag me to him helpless as an unhatched egg. He dragged me +to him, greatest of jeddaks, with his eyes! With his eyes he seized +upon my eyes and dragged me to him and he made me lay my swords and +dagger upon the table and back off into a corner, and still keeping his +eyes upon my eyes his head quitted his body and crawling upon six short +legs it descended to the floor and backed part way into the hole of an +ulsio, but not so far that the eyes were not still upon me and then it +returned with the key to its fetter and after resuming its place upon +its own shoulders it unlocked the fetter and again dragged me across +the room and made me to sit upon the bench where it had been and there +it fastened the fetter about my ankle, and I could do naught for the +power of its eyes and the fact that it wore my two swords and my +dagger. And then the head disappeared down the hole of the ulsio with +the key, and when it returned, it resumed its body and stood guard over +me at the doorway until the padwar came to fetch it hither." +</P> + +<P> +"It is enough!" said O-Tar, sternly. "Both shall receive the jeddak's +steel," and rising from his throne he drew his long sword and descended +the marble steps toward them, while two brawny warriors seized Tara by +either arm and two seized Ghek, holding them facing the naked blade of +the jeddak. +</P> + +<P> +"Hold, just O-Tar!" cried U-Dor. "There be yet another to be judged. +Let us confront him who calls himself Turan with these his fellows +before they die." +</P> + +<P> +"Good!" exclaimed O-Tar, pausing half way down the steps. "Fetch Turan, +the slave!" +</P> + +<P> +When Turan had been brought into the chamber he was placed a little to +Tara's left and a step nearer the throne. O-Tar eyed him menacingly. +</P> + +<P> +"You are Turan," he asked, "friend and companion of these?" +</P> + +<P> +The panthan was about to reply when Tara of Helium spoke. "I know not +this fellow," she said. "Who dares say that he be a friend and +companion of the Princess Tara of Helium?" +</P> + +<P> +Turan and Ghek looked at her in surprise, but at Turan she did not +look, and to Ghek she passed a quick glance of warning, as to say: +"Hold thy peace." +</P> + +<P> +The panthan tried not to fathom her purpose for the head is useless +when the heart usurps its functions, and Turan knew only that the woman +he loved had denied him, and though he tried not even to think it his +foolish heart urged but a single explanation—that she refused to +recognize him lest she be involved in his difficulties. +</P> + +<P> +O-Tar looked first at one and then at another of them; but none of them +spoke. +</P> + +<P> +"Were they not captured together?" he asked of U-Dor. +</P> + +<P> +"No," replied the dwar. "He who is called Turan was found seeking +entrance to the city and was enticed to the pits. The following morning +I discovered the other two upon the hill beyond The Gate of Enemies." +</P> + +<P> +"But they are friends and companions," said a young padwar, "for this +Turan inquired of me concerning these two, calling them by name and +saying that they were his friends." +</P> + +<P> +"It is enough," stated O-Tar, "all three shall die," and he took +another step downward from the throne. +</P> + +<P> +"For what shall we die?" asked Ghek. "Your people prate of the just +laws of Manator, and yet you would slay three strangers without telling +them of what crime they are accused." +</P> + +<P> +"He is right," said a deep voice. It was the voice of U-Thor, the great +jed of Manatos. O-Tar looked at him and scowled; but there came voices +from other portions of the chamber seconding the demand for justice. +</P> + +<P> +"Then know, though you shall die anyway," cried O-Tar, "that all three +are convicted of Corphalism and that as only a jeddak may slay such as +you in safety you are about to be honored with the steel of O-Tar." +</P> + +<P> +"Fool!" cried Turan. "Know you not that in the veins of this woman +flows the blood of ten thousand jeddaks—that greater than yours is her +power in her own land? She is Tara, Princess of Helium, +great-granddaughter of Tardos Mors, daughter of John Carter, Warlord of +Barsoom. She cannot be a Corphal. Nor is this creature Ghek, nor am I. +And you would know more, I can prove my right to be heard and to be +believed if I may have word with the Princess Haja of Gathol, whose son +is my fellow prisoner in the pits of O-Tar, his father." +</P> + +<P> +At this U-Thor rose to his feet and faced O-Tar. "What means this?" he +asked. "Speaks the man the truth? Is the son of Haja a prisoner in thy +pits, O-Tar?" +</P> + +<P> +"And what is it to the jed of Manatos who be the prisoners in the pits +of his jeddak?" demanded O-Tar, angrily. +</P> + +<P> +"It is this to the jed of Manatos," replied U-Thor in a voice so low as +to be scarce more than a whisper and yet that was heard the whole +length and breadth of the great throne room of O-Tar, Jeddak of +Manator. "You gave me a slave woman, Haja, who had been a princess in +Gathol, because you feared her influence among the slaves from Gathol. +I have made of her a free woman, and I have married her and made her +thus a princess of Manatos. Her son is my son, O-Tar, and though thou +be my jeddak, I say to you that for any harm that befalls A-Kor you +shall answer to U-Thor of Manatos." +</P> + +<P> +O-Tar looked long at U-Thor, but he made no reply. Then he turned again +to Turan. "If one be a Corphal," he said, "then all of you be Corphals, +and we know well from the things that this creature has done," he +pointed at Ghek, "that he is a Corphal, for no mortal has such powers +as he. And as you are all Corphals you must all die." He took another +step downward, when Ghek spoke. +</P> + +<P> +"These two have no such powers as I," he said. "They are but ordinary, +brainless things such as yourself. I have done all the things that your +poor, ignorant warriors have told you; but this only demonstrates that +I am of a higher order than yourselves, as is indeed the fact. I am a +kaldane, not a Corphal. There is nothing supernatural or mysterious +about me, other than that to the ignorant all things which they cannot +understand are mysterious. Easily might I have eluded your warriors and +escaped your pits; but I remained in the hope that I might help these +two foolish creatures who have not the brains to escape without help. +They befriended me and saved my life. I owe them this debt. Do not slay +them—they are harmless. Slay me if you will. I offer my life if it +will appease your ignorant wrath. I cannot return to Bantoom and so I +might as well die, for there is no pleasure in intercourse with the +feeble intellects that cumber the face of the world outside the valley +of Bantoom." +</P> + +<P> +"Hideous egotist," said O-Tar, "prepare to die and assume not to +dictate to O-Tar the jeddak. He has passed sentence and all three of +you shall feel the jeddak's naked steel. I have spoken!" +</P> + +<P> +He took another step downward and then a strange thing happened. He +paused, his eyes fixed upon the eyes of Ghek. His sword slipped from +nerveless fingers, and still he stood there swaying forward and back. A +jed rose to rush to his side; but Ghek stopped him with a word. +</P> + +<P> +"Wait!" he cried. "The life of your jeddak is in my hands. You believe +me a Corphal and so you believe, too, that only the sword of a jeddak +may slay me, therefore your blades are useless against me. Offer harm +to any one of us, or seek to approach your jeddak until I have spoken, +and he shall sink lifeless to the marble. Release the two prisoners and +let them come to my side—I would speak to them, privately. Quick! do +as I say; I would as lief as not slay O-Tar. I but let him live that I +may gain freedom for my friends—obstruct me and he dies." +</P> + +<P> +The guards fell back, releasing Tara and Turan, who came close to +Ghek's side. +</P> + +<P> +"Do as I tell you and do it quickly," whispered the kaldane. "I cannot +hold this fellow long, nor could I kill him thus. There are many minds +working against mine and presently mine will tire and O-Tar will be +himself again. You must make the best of your opportunity while you +may. Behind the arras that you see hanging in the rear of the throne +above you is a secret opening. From it a corridor leads to the pits of +the palace, where there are storerooms containing food and drink. Few +people go there. From these pits lead others to all parts of the city. +Follow one that runs due west and it will bring you to The Gate of +Enemies. The rest will then lie with you. I can do no more; hurry +before my waning powers fail me—I am not as Luud, who was a king. He +could have held this creature forever. Make haste! Go!" +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap15"></A> +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +CHAPTER XV +</H3> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +THE OLD MAN OF THE PITS +</H3> + +<P> +"I shall not desert you, Ghek," said Tara of Helium, simply. +</P> + +<P> +"Go! Go!" whispered the kaldane. "You can do me no good. Go, or all I +have done is for naught." +</P> + +<P> +Tara shook her head. "I cannot," she said. +</P> + +<P> +"They will slay her," said Ghek to Turan, and the panthan, torn between +loyalty to this strange creature who had offered its life for him, and +love of the woman, hesitated but a moment, then he swept Tara from her +feet and lifting her in his arms leaped up the steps that led to the +throne of Manator. Behind the throne he parted the arras and found the +secret opening. Into this he bore the girl and down a long, narrow +corridor and winding runways that led to lower levels until they came +to the pits of the palace of O-Tar. Here was a labyrinth of passages +and chambers presenting a thousand hiding-places. +</P> + +<P> +As Turan bore Tara up the steps toward the throne a score of warriors +rose as though to rush forward to intercept them. "Stay!" cried Ghek, +"or your jeddak dies," and they halted in their tracks, waiting the +will of this strange, uncanny creature. +</P> + +<P> +Presently Ghek took his eyes from the eyes of O-Tar and the jeddak +shook himself as one who would be rid of a bad dream and straightened +up, half dazed still. +</P> + +<P> +"Look," said Ghek, then, "I have given your jeddak his life, nor have I +harmed one of those whom I might easily have slain when they were in my +power. No harm have I or my friends done in the city of Manator. Why +then should you persecute us? Give us our lives. Give us our liberty." +</P> + +<P> +O-Tar, now in command of his faculties, stooped and regained his sword. +In the room was silence as all waited to hear the jeddak's answer. +</P> + +<P> +"Just are the laws of Manator," he said at last. "Perhaps, after all, +there is truth in the words of the stranger. Return him then to the +pits and pursue the others and capture them. Through the mercy of O-Tar +they shall be permitted to win their freedom upon the Field of Jetan, +in the coming games." +</P> + +<P> +Still ashen was the face of the jeddak as Ghek was led away and his +appearance was that of a man who had been snatched from the brink of +eternity into which he has gazed, not with the composure of great +courage, but with fear. There were those in the throne room who knew +that the execution of the three prisoners had but been delayed and the +responsibility placed upon the shoulders of others, and one of those +who knew was U-Thor, the great jed of Manatos. His curling lip +betokened his scorn of the jeddak who had chosen humiliation rather +than death. He knew that O-Tar had lost more of prestige in those few +moments than he could regain in a lifetime, for the Martians are +jealous of the courage of their chiefs—there can be no evasions of +stern duty, no temporizing with honor. That there were others in the +room who shared U-Thor's belief was evidenced by the silence and the +grim scowls. +</P> + +<P> +O-Tar glanced quickly around. He must have sensed the hostility and +guessed its cause, for he went suddenly angry, and as one who seeks by +the vehemence of his words to establish the courage of his heart he +roared forth what could be considered as naught other than a challenge. +</P> + +<P> +"The will of O-Tar, the jeddak, is the law of Manator," he cried, "and +the laws of Manator are just—they cannot err. U-Dor, dispatch those +who will search the palace, the pits, and the city, and return the +fugitives to their cells. +</P> + +<P> +"And now for you, U-Thor of Manatos! Think you with impunity to +threaten your jeddak—to question his right to punish traitors and +instigators of treason? What am I to think of your own loyalty, who +takes to wife a woman I have banished from my court because of her +intrigues against the authority of her jeddak and her master? But O-Tar +is just. Make your explanations and your peace, then, before it is too +late." +</P> + +<P> +"U-Thor has nothing to explain," replied the jed of Manatos; "nor is he +at war with his jeddak; but he has the right that every jed and every +warrior enjoys, of demanding justice at the hands of the jeddak for +whomsoever he believes to be persecuted. With increasing rigor has the +jeddak of Manator persecuted the slaves from Gathol since he took to +himself the unwilling Princess Haja. If the slaves from Gathol have +harbored thoughts of vengeance and escape 'tis no more than might be +expected from a proud and courageous people. Ever have I counselled +greater fairness in our treatment of our slaves, many of whom, in their +own lands, are people of great distinction and power; but always has +O-Tar, the jeddak, flouted with arrogance my every suggestion. Though +it has been through none of my seeking that the question has arisen now +I am glad that it has, for the time was bound to come when the jeds of +Manator would demand from O-Tar the respect and consideration that is +their due from the man who holds his high office at their pleasure. +Know, then, O-Tar, that you must free A-Kor, the dwar, forthwith or +bring him to fair trial before the assembled jeds of Manator. I have +spoken." +</P> + +<P> +"You have spoken well and to the point, U-Thor," cried O-Tar, "for you +have revealed to your jeddak and your fellow jeds the depth of the +disloyalty that I have long suspected. A-Kor already has been tried and +sentenced by the supreme tribunal of Manator—O-Tar, the jeddak; and +you too shall receive justice from the same unfailing source. In the +meantime you are under arrest. To the pits with him! To the pits with +U-Thor the false jed!" He clapped his hands to summon the surrounding +warriors to do his bidding. A score leaped forward to seize U-Thor. +They were warriors of the palace, mostly; but two score leaped to +defend U-Thor, and with ringing steel they fought at the foot of the +steps to the throne of Manator where stood O-Tar, the jeddak, with +drawn sword ready to take his part in the melee. +</P> + +<P> +At the clash of steel, palace guards rushed to the scene from other +parts of the great building until those who would have defended U-Thor +were outnumbered two to one, and then the jed of Manatos slowly +withdrew with his forces, and fighting his way through the corridors +and chambers of the palace came at last to the avenue. Here he was +reinforced by the little army that had marched with him into Manator. +Slowly they retreated toward The Gate of Enemies between the rows of +silent people looking down upon them from the balconies and there, +within the city walls, they made their stand. +</P> + +<P> +In a dimly-lighted chamber beneath the palace of O-Tar the jeddak, +Turan the panthan lowered Tara of Helium from his arms and faced her. +"I am sorry, Princess," he said, "that I was forced to disobey your +commands, or to abandon Ghek; but there was no other way. Could he have +saved you I would have stayed in his place. Tell me that you forgive +me." +</P> + +<P> +"How could I do less?" she replied graciously. "But it seemed cowardly +to abandon a friend." +</P> + +<P> +"Had we been three fighting men it had been different," he said. "We +could only have remained and died together, fighting; but you know, +Tara of Helium, that we may not jeopardize a woman's safety even though +we risk the loss of honor." +</P> + +<P> +"I know that, Turan," she said; "but no one may say that you have +risked honor, who knows the honor and bravery that are yours." +</P> + +<P> +He heard her with surprise for these were the first words that she had +spoken to him that did not savor of the attitude of a princess to a +panthan—though it was more in her tone than the actual words that he +apprehended the difference. How at variance were they to her recent +repudiation of him! He could not fathom her, and so he blurted out the +question that had been in his mind since she had told O-Tar that she +did not know him. +</P> + +<P> +"Tara of Helium," he said, "your words are balm to the wound you gave +me in the throne room of O-Tar. Tell me, Princess, why you denied me." +</P> + +<P> +She turned her great, deep eyes up to his and in them was a little of +reproach. +</P> + +<P> +"You did not guess," she asked, "that it was my lips alone and not my +heart that denied you? O-Tar had ordered that I die, more because I was +a companion of Ghek than because of any evidence against me, and so I +knew that if I acknowledged you as one of us, you would be slain, too." +</P> + +<P> +"It was to save me, then?" he cried, his face suddenly lighting. +</P> + +<P> +"It was to save my brave panthan," she said in a low voice. +</P> + +<P> +"Tara of Helium," said the warrior, dropping to one knee, "your words +are as food to my hungry heart," and he took her fingers in his and +pressed them to his lips. +</P> + +<P> +Gently she raised him to his feet. "You need not tell me, kneeling," +she said, softly. +</P> + +<P> +Her hand was still in his as he rose and they were very close, and the +man was still flushed with the contact of her body since he had carried +her from the throne room of O-Tar. He felt his heart pounding in his +breast and the hot blood surging through his veins as he looked at her +beautiful face, with its downcast eyes and the half-parted lips that he +would have given a kingdom to possess, and then he swept her to him and +as he crushed her against his breast his lips smothered hers with +kisses. +</P> + +<P> +But only for an instant. Like a tigress the girl turned upon him, +striking him, and thrusting him away. She stepped back, her head high +and her eyes flashing fire. "You would dare?" she cried. "You would +dare thus defile a princess of Helium?" +</P> + +<P> +His eyes met hers squarely and there was no shame and no remorse in +them. +</P> + +<P> +"Yes, I would dare," he said. "I would dare love Tara of Helium; but I +would not dare defile her or any woman with kisses that were not +prompted by love of her alone." He stepped closer to her and laid his +hands upon her shoulders. "Look into my eyes, daughter of The Warlord," +he said, "and tell me that you do not wish the love of Turan, the +panthan." +</P> + +<P> +"I do not wish your love," she cried, pulling away. "I hate you!" and +then turning away she bent her head into the hollow of her arm, and +wept. +</P> + +<P> +The man took a step toward her as though to comfort her when he was +arrested by the sound of a crackling laugh behind him. Wheeling about, +he discovered a strange figure of a man standing in a doorway. It was +one of those rarities occasionally to be seen upon Barsoom—an old man +with the signs of age upon him. Bent and wrinkled, he had more the +appearance of a mummy than a man. +</P> + +<P> +"Love in the pits of O-Tar!" he cried, and again his thin laughter +jarred upon the silence of the subterranean vaults. "A strange place to +woo! A strange place to woo, indeed! When I was a young man we roamed +in the gardens beneath giant pimalias and stole our kisses in the brief +shadows of hurtling Thuria. We came not to the gloomy pits to speak of +love; but times have changed and ways have changed, though I had never +thought to live to see the time when the way of a man with a maid, or a +maid with a man would change. Ah, but we kissed them then! And what if +they objected, eh? What if they objected? Why, we kissed them more. Ey, +ey, those were the days!" and he cackled again. "Ey, well do I recall +the first of them I ever kissed, and I've kissed an army of them since; +she was a fine girl, but she tried to slip a dagger into me while I was +kissing her. Ey, ey, those were the days! But I kissed her. She's been +dead over a thousand years now, but she was never kissed again like +that while she lived, I'll swear, not since she's been dead, either. +And then there was that other—" but Turan, seeing a thousand or more +years of osculatory memoirs portending, interrupted. +</P> + +<P> +"Tell me, ancient one," he said, "not of thy loves but of thyself. Who +are you? What do you here in the pits of O-Tar?" +</P> + +<P> +"I might ask you the same, young man," replied the other. "Few there +are who visit the pits other than the dead, except my pupils—ey! That +is it—you are new pupils! Good! But never before have they sent a +woman to learn the great art from the greatest artist. But times have +changed. Now, in my day the women did no work—they were just for +kissing and loving. Ey, those were the women. I mind the one we +captured in the south—ey! she was a devil, but how she could love. She +had breasts of marble and a heart of fire. Why, she—" +</P> + +<P> +"Yes, yes," interrupted Turan; "we are pupils, and we are anxious to +get to work. Lead on and we will follow." +</P> + +<P> +"Ey, yes! Ey, yes! Come! All is rush and hurry as though there were not +another countless myriad of ages ahead. Ey, yes! as many as lie behind. +Two thousand years have passed since I broke my shell and always rush, +rush, rush, yet I cannot see that aught has been accomplished. Manator +is the same today as it was then—except the girls. We had the girls +then. There was one that I gained upon The Fields of Jetan. Ey, but you +should have seen—" +</P> + +<P> +"Lead on!" cried Turan. "After we are at work you shall tell us of her." +</P> + +<P> +"Ey, yes," said the old fellow and shuffled off down a dimly lighted +passage. "Follow me!" +</P> + +<P> +"You are going with him?" asked Tara. +</P> + +<P> +"Why not?" replied Turan. "We know not where we are, or the way from +these pits; for I know not east from west; but he doubtless knows and +if we are shrewd we may learn from him that which we would know. At +least we cannot afford to arouse his suspicions"; and so they followed +him—followed along winding corridors and through many chambers, until +they came at last to a room in which there were several marble slabs +raised upon pedestals some three feet above the floor and upon each +slab lay a human corpse. +</P> + +<P> +"Here we are," exclaimed the old man. "These are fresh and we shall +have to get to work upon them soon. I am working now on one for The +Gate of Enemies. He slew many of our warriors. Truly is he entitled to +a place in The Gate. Come, you shall see him." +</P> + +<P> +He led them to an adjoining apartment. Upon the floor were many fresh, +human bones and upon a marble slab a mass of shapeless flesh. +</P> + +<P> +"You will learn this later," announced the old man; "but it will not +harm you to watch me now, for there are not many thus prepared, and it +may be long before you will have the opportunity to see another +prepared for The Gate of Enemies. First, you see, I remove all the +bones, carefully that the skin may be damaged as little as possible. +The skull is the most difficult, but it can be removed by a skilful +artist. You see, I have made but a single opening. This I now sew up, +and that done, the body is hung so," and he fastened a piece of rope to +the hair of the corpse and swung the horrid thing to a ring in the +ceiling. Directly below it was a circular manhole in the floor from +which he removed the cover revealing a well partially filled with a +reddish liquid. "Now we lower it into this, the formula for which you +shall learn in due time. We fasten it thus to the bottom of the cover, +which we now replace. In a year it will be ready; but it must be +examined often in the meantime and the liquid kept above the level of +its crown. It will be a very beautiful piece, this one, when it is +ready. +</P> + +<P> +"And you are fortunate again, for there is one to come out today." He +crossed to the opposite side of the room and raised another cover, +reached in and dragged a grotesque looking figure from the hole. It was +a human body, shrunk by the action of the chemical in which it had been +immersed, to a little figure scarce a foot high. +</P> + +<P> +"Ey! is it not fine?" cried the little old man. "Tomorrow it will take +its place in The Gate of Enemies." He dried it off with cloths and +packed it away carefully in a basket. "Perhaps you would like to see +some of my life work," he suggested, and without waiting for their +assent led them to another apartment, a large chamber in which were +forty or fifty people. All were sitting or standing quietly about the +walls, with the exception of one huge warrior who bestrode a great +thoat in the very center of the room, and all were motionless. +Instantly there sprang to the minds of Tara and Turan the rows of +silent people upon the balconies that lined the avenues of the city, +and the noble array of mounted warriors in The Hall of Chiefs, and the +same explanation came to both but neither dared voice the question that +was in his mind, for fear of revealing by his ignorance the fact that +they were strangers in Manator and therefore impostors in the guise of +pupils. +</P> + +<P> +"It is very wonderful," said Turan. "It must require great skill and +patience and time." +</P> + +<P> +"That it does," replied the old man, "though having done it so long I +am quicker than most; but mine are the most natural. Why, I would defy +the wife of that warrior to say that insofar as appearances are +concerned he does not live," and he pointed at the man upon the thoat. +"Many of them, of course, are brought here wasted or badly wounded and +these I have to repair. That is where great skill is required, for +everyone wants his dead to look as they did at their best in life; but +you shall learn—to mount them and paint them and repair them and +sometimes to make an ugly one look beautiful. And it will be a great +comfort to be able to mount your own. Why, for fifteen hundred years no +one has mounted my own dead but myself. +</P> + +<P> +"I have many, my balconies are crowded with them; but I keep a great +room for my wives. I have them all, as far back as the first one, and +many is the evening I spend with them—quiet evenings and very +pleasant. And then the pleasure of preparing them and making them even +more beautiful than in life partially recompenses one for their loss. I +take my time with them, looking for a new one while I am working on the +old. When I am not sure about a new one I bring her to the chamber +where my wives are, and compare her charms with theirs, and there is +always a great satisfaction at such times in knowing that they will not +object. I love harmony." +</P> + +<P> +"Did you prepare all the warriors in The Hall of Chiefs?" asked Turan. +</P> + +<P> +"Yes, I prepare them and repair them," replied the old man. "O-Tar will +trust no other. Even now I have two in another room who were damaged in +some way and brought down to me. O-Tar does not like to have them gone +long, since it leaves two riderless thoats in the Hall; but I shall +have them ready presently. He wants them all there in the event any +momentous question arises upon which the living jeds cannot agree, or +do not agree with O-Tar. Such questions he carries to the jeds in The +Hall of Chiefs. There he shuts himself up alone with the great chiefs +who have attained wisdom through death. It is an excellent plan and +there is never any friction or misunderstandings. O-Tar has said that +it is the finest deliberative body upon Barsoom—much more intelligent +than that composed of the living jeds. But come, we must get to work; +come into the next chamber and I will begin your instruction." +</P> + +<P> +He led the way into the chamber in which lay the several corpses upon +their marble slabs, and going to a cabinet he donned a pair of huge +spectacles and commenced to select various tools from little +compartments. This done he turned again toward his two pupils. +</P> + +<P> +"Now let me have a look at you," he said. "My eyes are not what they +once were, and I need these powerful lenses for my work, or to see +distinctly the features of those around me." +</P> + +<P> +He turned his eyes upon the two before him. Turan held his breath for +he knew that now the man must discover that they wore not the harness +or insignia of Manator. He had wondered before why the old fellow had +not noticed it, for he had not known that he was half blind. The other +examined their faces, his eyes lingering long upon the beauty of Tara +of Helium, and then they drifted to the harness of the two. Turan +thought that he noted an appreciable start of surprise on the part of +the taxidermist, but if the old man noticed anything his next words did +not reveal it. +</P> + +<P> +"Come with I-Gos," he said to Turan. "I have materials in the next room +that I would have you fetch hither. Remain here, woman, we shall be +gone but a moment." +</P> + +<P> +He led the way to one of the numerous doors opening into the chamber +and entered ahead of Turan. Just inside the door he stopped, and +pointing to a bundle of silks and furs upon the opposite side of the +room directed Turan to fetch them. The latter had crossed the room and +was stooping to raise the bundle when he heard the click of a lock +behind him. Wheeling instantly he saw that he was alone in the room and +that the single door was closed. Running rapidly to it he strove to +open it, only to find that he was a prisoner. +</P> + +<P> +I-Gos, stepping out and locking the door behind him, turned toward Tara. +</P> + +<P> +"Your leather betrayed you," he said, laughing his cackling laugh. "You +sought to deceive old I-Gos, but you found that though his eyes are +weak his brain is not. But it shall not go ill with you. You are +beautiful and I-Gos loves beautiful women. I might not have you +elsewhere in Manator, but here there is none to deny old I-Gos. Few +come to the pits of the dead—only those who bring the dead and they +hasten away as fast as they can. No one will know that I-Gos has a +beautiful woman locked with his dead. I shall ask you no questions and +then I will not have to give you up, for I will not know to whom you +belong, eh? And when you die I shall mount you beautifully and place +you in the chamber with my other women. Will not that be fine, eh?" He +had approached until he stood close beside the horrified girl. "Come!" +he cried, seizing her by the wrist. "Come to I-Gos!" +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap16"></A> +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +CHAPTER XVI +</H3> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +ANOTHER CHANGE OF NAME +</H3> + +<P> +Turan dashed himself against the door of his prison in a vain effort to +break through the solid skeel to the side of Tara whom he knew to be in +grave danger, but the heavy panels held and he succeeded only in +bruising his shoulders and his arms. At last he desisted and set about +searching his prison for some other means of escape. He found no other +opening in the stone walls, but his search revealed a heterogeneous +collection of odds and ends of arms and apparel, of harness and +ornaments and insignia, and sleeping silks and furs in great +quantities. There were swords and spears and several large, two-bladed +battle-axes, the heads of which bore a striking resemblance to the +propellor of a small flier. Seizing one of these he attacked the door +once more with great fury. He expected to hear something from I-Gos at +this ruthless destruction, but no sound came to him from beyond the +door, which was, he thought, too thick for the human voice to +penetrate; but he would have wagered much that I-Gos heard him. Bits of +the hard wood splintered at each impact of the heavy axe, but it was +slow work and heavy. Presently he was compelled to rest, and so it went +for what seemed hours—working almost to the verge of exhaustion and +then resting for a few minutes; but ever the hole grew larger though he +could see nothing of the interior of the room beyond because of the +hanging that I-Gos had drawn across it after he had locked Turan within. +</P> + +<P> +At last, however, the panthan had hewn an opening through which his +body could pass, and seizing a long-sword that he had brought close to +the door for the purpose he crawled through into the next room. +Flinging aside the arras he stood ready, sword in hand, to fight his +way to the side of Tara of Helium—but she was not there. In the center +of the room lay I-Gos, dead upon the floor; but Tara of Helium was +nowhere to be seen. +</P> + +<P> +Turan was nonplussed. It must have been her hand that had struck down +the old man, yet she had made no effort to release Turan from his +prison. And then he thought of those last words of hers: "I do not want +your love! I hate you," and the truth dawned upon him—she had seized +upon this first opportunity to escape him. With downcast heart Turan +turned away. What should he do? There could be but one answer. While he +lived and she lived he must still leave no stone unturned to effect her +escape and safe return to the land of her people. But how? How was he +even to find his way from this labyrinth? How was he to find her again? +He walked to the nearest doorway. It chanced to be that which led into +the room containing the mounted dead, awaiting transportation to +balcony or grim room or whatever place was to receive them. His eyes +travelled to the great, painted warrior on the thoat and as they ran +over the splendid trappings and the serviceable arms a new light came +into the pain-dulled eyes of the panthan. With a quick step he crossed +to the side of the dead warrior and dragged him from his mount. With +equal celerity he stripped him of his harness and his arms, and tearing +off his own, donned the regalia of the dead man. Then he hastened back +to the room in which he had been trapped, for there he had seen that +which he needed to make his disguise complete. In a cabinet he found +them—pots of paint that the old taxidermist had used to place the +war-paint in its wide bands across the cold faces of dead warriors. +</P> + +<P> +A few moments later Gahan of Gathol emerged from the room a warrior of +Manator in every detail of harness, equipment, and ornamentation. He +had removed from the leather of the dead man the insignia of his house +and rank so that he might pass, with the least danger of arousing +suspicion, as a common warrior. +</P> + +<P> +To search for Tara of Helium in the vast, dim labyrinth of the pits of +O-Tar seemed to the Gatholian a hopeless quest, foredoomed to failure. +It would be wiser to seek the streets of Manator where he might hope to +learn first if she had been recaptured and, if not, then he could +return to the pits and pursue the hunt for her. To find egress from the +maze he must perforce travel a considerable distance through the +winding corridors and chambers, since he had no idea as to the location +or direction of any exit. In fact, he could not have retraced his steps +a hundred yards toward the point at which he and Tara had entered the +gloomy caverns, and so he set out in the hope that he might find by +accident either Tara of Helium or a way to the street level above. +</P> + +<P> +For a time he passed room after room filled with the cunningly +preserved dead of Manator, many of which were piled in tiers after the +manner that firewood is corded, and as he moved through corridor and +chamber he noticed hieroglyphics painted upon the walls above every +opening and at each fork or crossing of corridors, until by observation +he reached the conclusion that these indicated the designations of +passageways, so that one who understood them might travel quickly and +surely through the pits; but Turan did not understand them. Even could +he have read the language of Manator they might not materially have +aided one unfamiliar with the city; but he could not read them at all +since, though there is but one spoken language upon Barsoom, there are +as many different written languages as there are nations. One thing, +however, soon became apparent to him—the hieroglyphic of a corridor +remained the same until the corridor ended. +</P> + +<P> +It was not long before Turan realized from the distance that he had +traveled that the pits were part of a vast system undermining, +possibly, the entire city. At least he was convinced that he had passed +beyond the precincts of the palace. The corridors and chambers varied +in appearance and architecture from time to time. All were lighted, +though usually quite dimly, with radium bulbs. For a long time he saw +no signs of life other than an occasional ulsio, then quite suddenly he +came face to face with a warrior at one of the numerous crossings. The +fellow looked at him, nodded, and passed on. Turan breathed a sigh of +relief as he realized that his disguise was effective, but he was +caught in the middle of it by a hail from the warrior who had stopped +and turned toward him. The panthan was glad that a sword hung at his +side, and glad too that they were buried in the dim recesses of the +pits and that there would be but a single antagonist, for time was +precious. +</P> + +<P> +"Heard you any word of the other?" called the warrior to him. +</P> + +<P> +"No," replied Turan, who had not the faintest idea to whom or what the +fellow referred. +</P> + +<P> +"He cannot escape," continued the warrior. "The woman ran directly into +our arms, but she swore that she knew not where her companion might be +found." +</P> + +<P> +"They took her back to O-Tar?" asked Turan, for now he knew whom the +other meant, and he would know more. +</P> + +<P> +"They took her back to The Towers of Jetan," replied the warrior. +"Tomorrow the games commence and doubtless she will be played for, +though I doubt if any wants her, beautiful as she is. She fears not +even O-Tar. By Cluros! but she would make a hard slave to subdue—a +regular she-banth she is. Not for me," and he continued on his way +shaking his head. +</P> + +<P> +Turan hurried on searching for an avenue that led to the level of the +streets above when suddenly he came to the open doorway of a small +chamber in which sat a man who was chained to the wall. Turan voiced a +low exclamation of surprise and pleasure as he recognized that the man +was A-Kor, and that he had stumbled by accident upon the very cell in +which he had been imprisoned. A-Kor looked at him questioningly. It was +evident that he did not recognize his fellow prisoner. Turan crossed to +the table and leaning close to the other whispered to him. +</P> + +<P> +"I am Turan the panthan," he said, "who was chained beside you." +</P> + +<P> +A-Kor looked at him closely. "Your own mother would never know you!" he +said; "but tell me, what has transpired since they took you away?" +</P> + +<P> +Turan recounted his experiences in the throne room of O-Tar and in the +pits beneath, "and now," he continued, "I must find these Towers of +Jetan and see what may be done toward liberating the Princess of +Helium." +</P> + +<P> +A-Kor shook his head. "Long was I dwar of the Towers," he said, "and I +can say to you, stranger, that you might as well attempt to reduce +Manator, single handed, as to rescue a prisoner from The Towers of +Jetan." +</P> + +<P> +"But I must," replied Turan. +</P> + +<P> +"Are you better than a good swordsman?" asked A-Kor presently. +</P> + +<P> +"I am accounted so," replied Turan. +</P> + +<P> +"Then there is a way—sst!" he was suddenly silent and pointing toward +the base of the wall at the end of the room. +</P> + +<P> +Turan looked in the direction the other's forefinger indicated, to see +projecting from the mouth of an ulsio's burrow two large chelae and a +pair of protruding eyes. +</P> + +<P> +"Ghek!" he cried and immediately the hideous kaldane crawled out upon +the floor and approached the table. A-Kor drew back with a half-stifled +ejaculation of repulsion. "Do not fear," Turan reassured him. "It is my +friend—he whom I told you held O-Tar while Tara and I escaped." +</P> + +<P> +Ghek climbed to the table top and squatted between the two warriors. +"You are safe in assuming," he said addressing A-Kor, "that Turan the +panthan has no master in all Manator where the art of sword-play is +concerned. I overheard your conversation—go on." +</P> + +<P> +"You are his friend," continued A-Kor, "and so I may explain safely in +your presence the only plan I know whereby he may hope to rescue the +Princess of Helium. She is to be the stake of one of the games and it +is O-Tar's desire that she be won by slaves and common warriors, since +she repulsed him. Thus would he punish her. Not a single man, but all +who survive upon the winning side are to possess her. With money, +however, one may buy off the others before the game. That you could do, +and if your side won and you survived she would become your slave." +</P> + +<P> +"But how may a stranger and a hunted fugitive accomplish this?" asked +Turan. +</P> + +<P> +"No one will recognize you. You will go tomorrow to the keeper of the +Towers and enlist in that game for which the girl is to be the stake, +telling the keeper that you are from Manataj, the farthest city of +Manator. If he questions you, you may say that you saw her when she was +brought into the city after her capture. If you win her, you will find +thoats stabled at my palace and you will carry from me a token that +will place all that is mine at your disposal." +</P> + +<P> +"But how can I buy off the others in the game without money?" asked +Turan. "I have none—not even of my own country." +</P> + +<P> +A-Kor opened his pocket-pouch and drew forth a packet of Manatorian +money. +</P> + +<P> +"Here is sufficient to buy them off twice over," he said, handing a +portion of it to Turan. +</P> + +<P> +"But why do you do this for a stranger?" asked the panthan. +</P> + +<P> +"My mother was a captive princess here," replied A-Kor. "I but do for +the Princess of Helium what my mother would have me do." +</P> + +<P> +"Under the circumstances, then, Manatorian," replied Turan, "I cannot +but accept your generosity on behalf of Tara of Helium and live in hope +that some day I may do for you something in return." +</P> + +<P> +"Now you must be gone," advised A-Kor. "At any minute a guard may come +and discover you here. Go directly to the Avenue of Gates, which +circles the city just within the outer wall. There you will find many +places devoted to the lodging of strangers. You will know them by the +thoat's head carved above the doors. Say that you are here from Manataj +to witness the games. Take the name of U-Kal—it will arouse no +suspicion, nor will you if you can avoid conversation. Early in the +morning seek the keeper of The Towers of Jetan. May the strength and +fortune of all your ancestors be with you!" +</P> + +<P> +Bidding good-bye to Ghek and A-Kor, the panthan, following directions +given him by A-Kor, set out to find his way to the Avenue of Gates, nor +had he any great difficulty. On the way he met several warriors, but +beyond a nod they gave him no heed. With ease he found a lodging place +where there were many strangers from other cities of Manator. As he had +had no sleep since the previous night he threw himself among the silks +and furs of his couch to gain the rest which he must have, was he to +give the best possible account of himself in the service of Tara of +Helium the following day. +</P> + +<P> +It was already morning when he awoke, and rising he paid for his +lodgings, sought a place to eat, and a short time later was on his way +toward The Towers of Jetan, which he had no difficulty in finding owing +to the great crowds that were winding along the avenues toward the +games. The new keeper of The Towers who had succeeded E-Med was too +busy to scrutinize entries closely, for in addition to the many +volunteer players there were scores of slaves and prisoners being +forced into the games by their owners or the government. The name of +each must be recorded as well as the position he was to play and the +game or games in which he was to be entered, and then there were the +substitutes for each that was entered in more than a single game—one +for each additional game that an individual was entered for, that no +succeeding game might be delayed by the death or disablement of a +player. +</P> + +<P> +"Your name?" asked a clerk as Turan presented himself. +</P> + +<P> +"U-Kal," replied the panthan. +</P> + +<P> +"Your city?" +</P> + +<P> +"Manataj." +</P> + +<P> +The keeper, who was standing beside the clerk, looked at Turan. "You +have come a great way to play at jetan," he said. "It is seldom that +the men of Manataj attend other than the decennial games. Tell me of +O-Zar! Will he attend next year? Ah, but he was a noble fighter. If you +be half the swordsman, U-Kal, the fame of Manataj will increase this +day. But tell me, what of O-Zar?" +</P> + +<P> +"He is well," replied Turan, glibly, "and he sent greetings to his +friends in Manator." +</P> + +<P> +"Good!" exclaimed the keeper, "and now in what game would you enter?" +</P> + +<P> +"I would play for the Heliumetic princess, Tara," replied Turan. +</P> + +<P> +"But man, she is to be the stake of a game for slaves and criminals," +cried the keeper. "You would not volunteer for such a game!" +</P> + +<P> +"But I would," replied Turan. "I saw her when she was brought into the +city and even then I vowed to possess her." +</P> + +<P> +"But you will have to share her with the survivors even if your color +wins," objected the other. +</P> + +<P> +"They may be brought to reason," insisted Turan. +</P> + +<P> +"And you will chance incurring the wrath of O-Tar, who has no love for +this savage barbarian," explained the keeper. +</P> + +<P> +"And I win her O-Tar will be rid of her," said Turan. +</P> + +<P> +The keeper of The Towers of Jetan shook his head. "You are rash," he +said. "I would that I might dissuade the friend of my friend O-Zar from +such madness." +</P> + +<P> +"Would you favor the friend of O-Zar?" asked Turan. +</P> + +<P> +"Gladly!" exclaimed the other. "What may I do for him?" +</P> + +<P> +"Make me chief of the Black and give me for my pieces all slaves from +Gathol, for I understand that those be excellent warriors," replied the +panthan. +</P> + +<P> +"It is a strange request," said the keeper, "but for my friend O-Zar I +would do even more, though of course—" he hesitated—"it is customary +for one who would be chief to make some slight payment." +</P> + +<P> +"Certainly," Turan hastened to assure him; "I had not forgotten that. I +was about to ask you what the customary amount is." +</P> + +<P> +"For the friend of my friend it shall be nominal," replied the keeper, +naming a figure that Gahan, accustomed to the high price of wealthy +Gathol, thought ridiculously low. +</P> + +<P> +"Tell me," he said, handing the money to the keeper, "when the game for +the Heliumite is to be played." +</P> + +<P> +"It is the second in order of the day's games; and now if you will come +with me you may select your pieces." +</P> + +<P> +Turan followed the keeper to a large court which lay between the towers +and the jetan field, where hundreds of warriors were assembled. Already +chiefs for the games of the day were selecting their pieces and +assigning them to positions, though for the principal games these +matters had been arranged for weeks before. The keeper led Turan to a +part of the courtyard where the majority of the slaves were assembled. +</P> + +<P> +"Take your choice of those not assigned," said the keeper, "and when +you have your quota conduct them to the field. Your place will be +assigned you by an officer there, and there you will remain with your +pieces until the second game is called. I wish you luck, U-Kal, though +from what I have heard you will be more lucky to lose than to win the +slave from Helium." +</P> + +<P> +After the fellow had departed Turan approached the slaves. "I seek the +best swordsmen for the second game," he announced. "Men from Gathol I +wish, for I have heard that these be noble fighters." +</P> + +<P> +A slave rose and approached him. "It is all the same in which game we +die," he said. "I would fight for you as a panthan in the second game." +</P> + +<P> +Another came. "I am not from Gathol," he said. "I am from Helium, and I +would fight for the honor of a princess of Helium." +</P> + +<P> +"Good!" exclaimed Turan. "Art a swordsman of repute in Helium?" +</P> + +<P> +"I was a dwar under the great Warlord, and I have fought at his side in +a score of battles from The Golden Cliffs to The Carrion Caves. My name +is Val Dor. Who knows Helium, knows my prowess." +</P> + +<P> +The name was well known to Gahan, who had heard the man spoken of on +his last visit to Helium, and his mysterious disappearance discussed as +well as his renown as a fighter. +</P> + +<P> +"How could I know aught of Helium?" asked Turan; "but if you be such a +fighter as you say no position could suit you better than that of +Flier. What say you?" +</P> + +<P> +The man's eyes denoted sudden surprise. He looked keenly at Turan, his +eyes running quickly over the other's harness. Then he stepped quite +close so that his words might not be overheard. +</P> + +<P> +"Methinks you may know more of Helium than of Manator," he whispered. +</P> + +<P> +"What mean you, fellow?" demanded Turan, seeking to cudgel his brains +for the source of this man's knowledge, guess, or inspiration. +</P> + +<P> +"I mean," replied Val Dor, "that you are not of Manator and that if you +wish to hide the fact it is well that you speak not to a Manatorian as +you did just speak to me of—Fliers! There be no Fliers in Manator and +no piece in their game of Jetan bearing that name. Instead they call +him who stands next to the Chief or Princess, Odwar. The piece has the +same moves and power that the Flier has in the game as played outside +Manator. Remember this then and remember, too, that if you have a +secret it be safe in the keeping of Val Dor of Helium." +</P> + +<P> +Turan made no reply but turned to the task of selecting the remainder +of his pieces. Val Dor, the Heliumite, and Floran, the volunteer from +Gathol, were of great assistance to him, since one or the other of them +knew most of the slaves from whom his selection was to be made. The +pieces all chosen, Turan led them to the place beside the playing field +where they were to wait their turn, and here he passed the word around +that they were to fight for more than the stake he offered for the +princess should they win. This stake they accepted, so that Turan was +sure of possessing Tara if his side was victorious, but he knew that +these men would fight even more valorously for chivalry than for money, +nor was it difficult to enlist the interest even of the Gatholians in +the service of the princess. And now he held out the possibility of a +still further reward. +</P> + +<P> +"I cannot promise you," he explained, "but I may say I have heard that +this day which makes it possible that should we win this game we may +even win your freedom!" +</P> + +<P> +They leaped to their feet and crowded around him with many questions. +</P> + +<P> +"It may not be spoken of aloud," he said; "but Floran and Val Dor know +and they assure me that you may all be trusted. Listen! What I would +tell you places my life in your hands, but you must know that every man +will realize that he is fighting today the greatest battle of his +life—for the honor and the freedom of Barsoom's most wondrous princess +and for his own freedom as well—for the chance to return each to his +own country and to the woman who awaits him there. +</P> + +<P> +"First, then, is my secret. I am not of Manator. Like yourselves I am a +slave, though for the moment disguised as a Manatorian from Manataj. My +country and my identity must remain undisclosed for reasons that have +no bearing upon our game today. I, then, am one of you. I fight for the +same things that you will fight for. +</P> + +<P> +"And now for that which I have but just learned. U-Thor, the great jed +of Manatos, quarreled with O-Tar in the palace the day before yesterday +and their warriors set upon one another. U-Thor was driven as far as +The Gate of Enemies, where he now lies encamped. At any moment the +fight may be renewed; but it is thought that U-Thor has sent to Manatos +for reinforcements. Now, men of Gathol, here is the thing that +interests you. U-Thor has recently taken to wife the Princess Haja of +Gathol, who was slave to O-Tar and whose son, A-Kor, was dwar of The +Towers of Jetan. Haja's heart is filled with loyalty for Gathol and +compassion for her sons who are here enslaved, and this latter +sentiment she has to some extent transmitted to U-Thor. Aid me, +therefore, in freeing the Princess Tara of Helium and I believe that I +can aid you and her and myself to escape the city. Bend close your +ears, slaves of O-Tar, that no cruel enemy may hear my words," and +Gahan of Gathol whispered in low tones the daring plan he had +conceived. "And now," he demanded, when he had finished, "let him who +does not dare speak now." None replied. "Is there none?" +</P> + +<P> +"And it would not betray you should I cast my sword at thy feet, it had +been done ere this," said one in low tones pregnant with suppressed +feeling. +</P> + +<P> +"And I!" "And I!" "And I!" chorused the others in vibrant whispers. +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap17"></A> +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +CHAPTER XVII +</H3> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +A PLAY TO THE DEATH +</H3> + +<P> +Clear and sweet a trumpet spoke across The Fields of Jetan. From The +High Tower its cool voice floated across the city of Manator and above +the babel of human discords rising from the crowded mass that filled +the seats of the stadium below. It called the players for the first +game, and simultaneously there fluttered to the peaks of a thousand +staffs on tower and battlement and the great wall of the stadium the +rich, gay pennons of the fighting chiefs of Manator. Thus was marked +the opening of The Jeddak's Games, the most important of the year and +second only to the Grand Decennial Games. +</P> + +<P> +Gahan of Gathol watched every play with eagle eye. The match was an +unimportant one, being but to settle some petty dispute between two +chiefs, and was played with professional jetan players for points only. +No one was killed and there was but little blood spilled. It lasted +about an hour and was terminated by the chief of the losing side +deliberately permitting himself to be out-pointed, that the game might +be called a draw. +</P> + +<P> +Again the trumpet sounded, this time announcing the second and last +game of the afternoon. While this was not considered an important +match, those being reserved for the fourth and fifth days of the games, +it promised to afford sufficient excitement since it was a game to the +death. The vital difference between the game played with living men and +that in which inanimate pieces are used, lies in the fact that while in +the latter the mere placing of a piece upon a square occupied by an +opponent piece terminates the move, in the former the two pieces thus +brought together engage in a duel for possession of the square. +Therefore there enters into the former game not only the strategy of +jetan but the personal prowess and bravery of each individual piece, so +that a knowledge not only of one's own men but of each player upon the +opposing side is of vast value to a chief. +</P> + +<P> +In this respect was Gahan handicapped, though the loyalty of his +players did much to offset his ignorance of them, since they aided him +in arranging the board to the best advantage and told him honestly the +faults and virtues of each. One fought best in a losing game; another +was too slow; another too impetuous; this one had fire and a heart of +steel, but lacked endurance. Of the opponents, though, they knew little +or nothing, and now as the two sides took their places upon the black +and orange squares of the great jetan board Gahan obtained, for the +first time, a close view of those who opposed him. The Orange Chief had +not yet entered the field, but his men were all in place. Val Dor +turned to Gahan. "They are all criminals from the pits of Manator," he +said. "There is no slave among them. We shall not have to fight against +a single fellow-countryman and every life we take will be the life of +an enemy." +</P> + +<P> +"It is well," replied Gahan; "but where is their Chief, and where the +two Princesses?" +</P> + +<P> +"They are coming now, see?" and he pointed across the field to where +two women could be seen approaching under guard. +</P> + +<P> +As they came nearer Gahan saw that one was indeed Tara of Helium, but +the other he did not recognize, and then they were brought to the +center of the field midway between the two sides and there waited until +the Orange Chief arrived. +</P> + +<P> +Floran voiced an exclamation of surprise when he recognized him. "By my +first ancestor if it is not one of their great chiefs," he said, "and +we were told that slaves and criminals were to play for the stake of +this game." +</P> + +<P> +His words were interrupted by the keeper of The Towers whose duty it +was not only to announce the games and the stakes, but to act as +referee as well. +</P> + +<P> +"Of this, the second game of the first day of the Jeddak's Games in the +four hundred and thirty-third year of O-Tar, Jeddak of Manator, the +Princesses of each side shall be the sole stakes and to the survivors +of the winning side shall belong both the Princesses, to do with as +they shall see fit. The Orange Princess is the slave woman Lan-O of +Gathol; the Black Princess is the slave woman Tara, a princess of +Helium. The Black Chief is U-Kal of Manataj, a volunteer player; the +Orange Chief is the dwar U-Dor of the 8th Utan of the jeddak of +Manator, also a volunteer player. The squares shall be contested to the +death. Just are the laws of Manator! I have spoken." +</P> + +<P> +The initial move was won by U-Dor, following which the two Chiefs +escorted their respective Princesses to the square each was to occupy. +It was the first time Gahan had been alone with Tara since she had been +brought upon the field. He saw her scrutinizing him closely as he +approached to lead her to her place and wondered if she recognized him: +but if she did she gave no sign of it. He could not but remember her +last words—"I hate you!" and her desertion of him when he had been +locked in the room beneath the palace by I-Gos, the taxidermist, and so +he did not seek to enlighten her as to his identity. He meant to fight +for her—to die for her, if necessary—and if he did not die to go on +fighting to the end for her love. Gahan of Gathol was not easily to be +discouraged, but he was compelled to admit that his chances of winning +the love of Tara of Helium were remote. Already had she repulsed him +twice. Once as jed of Gathol and again as Turan the panthan. Before his +love, however, came her safety and the former must be relegated to the +background until the latter had been achieved. +</P> + +<P> +Passing among the players already at their stations the two took their +places upon their respective squares. At Tara's left was the Black +Chief, Gahan of Gathol; directly in front of her the Princess' Panthan, +Floran of Gathol; and at her right the Princess' Odwar, Val Dor of +Helium. And each of these knew the part that he was to play, win or +lose, as did each of the other Black players. As Tara took her place +Val Dor bowed low. "My sword is at your feet, Tara of Helium," he said. +</P> + +<P> +She turned and looked at him, an expression of surprise and incredulity +upon her face. "Val Dor, the dwar!" she exclaimed. "Val Dor of +Helium—one of my father's trusted captains! Can it be possible that my +eyes speak the truth?" +</P> + +<P> +"It is Val Dor, Princess," the warrior replied, "and here to die for +you if need be, as is every wearer of the Black upon this field of +jetan today. Know Princess," he whispered, "that upon this side is no +man of Manator, but each and every is an enemy of Manator." +</P> + +<P> +She cast a quick, meaning glance toward Gahan. "But what of him?" she +whispered, and then she caught her breath quickly in surprise. "Shade +of the first jeddak!" she exclaimed. "I did but just recognize him +through his disguise." +</P> + +<P> +"And you trust him?" asked Val Dor. "I know him not; but he spoke +fairly, as an honorable warrior, and we have taken him at his word." +</P> + +<P> +"You have made no mistake," replied Tara of Helium. "I would trust him +with my life—with my soul; and you, too, may trust him." +</P> + +<P> +Happy indeed would have been Gahan of Gathol could he have heard those +words; but Fate, who is usually unkind to the lover in such matters, +ordained it otherwise, and then the game was on. +</P> + +<P> +U-Dor moved his Princess' Odwar three squares diagonally to the right, +which placed the piece upon the Black Chief's Odwar's seventh. The move +was indicative of the game that U-Dor intended playing—a game of +blood, rather than of science—and evidenced his contempt for his +opponents. +</P> + +<P> +Gahan followed with his Odwar's Panthan one square straight forward, a +more scientific move, which opened up an avenue for himself through his +line of Panthans, as well as announcing to the players and spectators +that he intended having a hand in the fighting himself even before the +exigencies of the game forced it upon him. The move elicited a ripple +of applause from those sections of seats reserved for the common +warriors and their women, showing perhaps that U-Dor was none too +popular with these, and, too, it had its effect upon the morale of +Gahan's pieces. A Chief may, and often does, play almost an entire game +without leaving his own square, where, mounted upon a thoat, he may +overlook the entire field and direct each move, nor may he be +reproached for lack of courage should he elect thus to play the game +since, by the rules, were he to be slain or so badly wounded as to be +compelled to withdraw, a game that might otherwise have been won by the +science of his play and the prowess of his men would be drawn. To +invite personal combat, therefore, denotes confidence in his own +swordsmanship, and great courage, two attributes that were calculated +to fill the Black players with hope and valor when evinced by their +Chief thus early in the game. +</P> + +<P> +U-Dor's next move placed Lan-O's Odwar upon Tara's Odwar's +fourth—within striking distance of the Black Princess. +</P> + +<P> +Another move and the game would be lost to Gahan unless the Orange +Odwar was overthrown, or Tara moved to a position of safety; but to +move his Princess now would be to admit his belief in the superiority +of the Orange. In the three squares allowed him he could not place +himself squarely upon the square occupied by the Odwar of U-Dor's +Princess. There was only one player upon the Black side that might +dispute the square with the enemy and that was the Chief's Odwar, who +stood upon Gahan's left. Gahan turned upon his thoat and looked at the +man. He was a splendid looking fellow, resplendent in the gorgeous +trappings of an Odwar, the five brilliant feathers which denoted his +position rising defiantly erect from his thick, black hair. In common +with every player upon the field and every spectator in the crowded +stands he knew what was passing in his Chief's mind. He dared not +speak, the ethics of the game forbade it, but what his lips might not +voice his eyes expressed in martial fire, and eloquently: "The honor of +the Black and the safety of our Princess are secure with me!" +</P> + +<P> +Gahan hesitated no longer. "Chief's Odwar to Princess' Odwar's fourth!" +he commanded. It was the courageous move of a leader who had taken up +the gauntlet thrown down by his opponent. +</P> + +<P> +The warrior sprang forward and leaped into the square occupied by +U-Dor's piece. It was the first disputed square of the game. The eyes +of the players were fastened upon the contestants, the spectators +leaned forward in their seats after the first applause that had greeted +the move, and silence fell upon the vast assemblage. If the Black went +down to defeat, U-Dor could move his victorious piece on to the square +occupied by Tara of Helium and the game would be over—over in four +moves and lost to Gahan of Gathol. If the Orange lost U-Dor would have +sacrificed one of his most important pieces and more than lost what +advantage the first move might have given him. +</P> + +<P> +Physically the two men appeared perfectly matched and each was fighting +for his life, but from the first it was apparent that the Black Odwar +was the better swordsman, and Gahan knew that he had another and +perhaps a greater advantage over his antagonist. The latter was +fighting for his life only, without the spur of chivalry or loyalty. +The Black Odwar had these to strengthen his arm, and besides these the +knowledge of the thing that Gahan had whispered into the ears of his +players before the game, and so he fought for what is more than life to +the man of honor. +</P> + +<P> +It was a duel that held those who witnessed it in spellbound silence. +The weaving blades gleamed in the brilliant sunlight, ringing to the +parries of cut and thrust. The barbaric harness of the duelists lent +splendid color to the savage, martial scene. The Orange Odwar, forced +upon the defensive, was fighting madly for his life. The Black, with +cool and terrible efficiency, was forcing him steadily, step by step, +into a corner of the square—a position from which there could be no +escape. To abandon the square was to lose it to his opponent and win +for himself ignoble and immediate death before the jeering populace. +Spurred on by the seeming hopelessness of his plight, the Orange Odwar +burst into a sudden fury of offense that forced the Black back a half +dozen steps, and then the sword of U-Dor's piece leaped in and drew +first blood, from the shoulder of his merciless opponent. An +ill-smothered cry of encouragement went up from U-Dor's men; the Orange +Odwar, encouraged by his single success, sought to bear down the Black +by the rapidity of his attack. There was a moment in which the swords +moved with a rapidity that no man's eye might follow, and then the +Black Odwar made a lightning parry of a vicious thrust, leaned quickly +forward into the opening he had effected, and drove his sword through +the heart of the Orange Odwar—to the hilt he drove it through the body +of the Orange Odwar. +</P> + +<P> +A shout arose from the stands, for wherever may have been the favor of +the spectators, none there was who could say that it had not been a +pretty fight, or that the better man had not won. And from the Black +players came a sigh of relief as they relaxed from the tension of the +past moments. +</P> + +<P> +I shall not weary you with the details of the game—only the high +features of it are necessary to your understanding of the outcome. The +fourth move after the victory of the Black Odwar found Gahan upon +U-Dor's fourth; an Orange Panthan was on the adjoining square +diagonally to his right and the only opposing piece that could engage +him other than U-Dor himself. +</P> + +<P> +It had been apparent to both players and spectators for the past two +moves, that Gahan was moving straight across the field into the enemy's +country to seek personal combat with the Orange Chief—that he was +staking all upon his belief in the superiority of his own +swordsmanship, since if the two Chiefs engage, the outcome decides the +game. U-Dor could move out and engage Gahan, or he could move his +Princess' Panthan upon the square occupied by Gahan in the hope that the +former would defeat the Black Chief and thus draw the game, which is +the outcome if any other than a Chief slays the opposing Chief, or he +could move away and escape, temporarily, the necessity for personal +combat, or at least that is evidently what he had in mind as was +obvious to all who saw him scanning the board about him; and his +disappointment was apparent when he finally discovered that Gahan had +so placed himself that there was no square to which U-Dor could move +that it was not within Gahan's power to reach at his own next move. +</P> + +<P> +U-Dor had placed his own Princess four squares east of Gahan when her +position had been threatened, and he had hoped to lure the Black Chief +after her and away from U-Dor; but in that he had failed. He now +discovered that he might play his own Odwar into personal combat with +Gahan; but he had already lost one Odwar and could ill spare the other. +His position was a delicate one, since he did not wish to engage Gahan +personally, while it appeared that there was little likelihood of his +being able to escape. There was just one hope and that lay in his +Princess' Panthan, so, without more deliberation he ordered the piece +onto the square occupied by the Black Chief. +</P> + +<P> +The sympathies of the spectators were all with Gahan now. If he lost, +the game would be declared a draw, nor do they think better of drawn +games upon Barsoom than do Earth men. If he won, it would doubtless +mean a duel between the two Chiefs, a development for which they all +were hoping. The game already bade fair to be a short one and it would +be an angry crowd should it be decided a draw with only two men slain. +There were great, historic games on record where of the forty pieces on +the field when the game opened only three survived—the two Princesses +and the victorious Chief. +</P> + +<P> +They blamed U-Dor, though in fact he was well within his rights in +directing his play as he saw fit, nor was a refusal on his part to +engage the Black Chief necessarily an imputation of cowardice. He was a +great chief who had conceived a notion to possess the slave Tara. There +was no honor that could accrue to him from engaging in combat with +slaves and criminals, or an unknown warrior from Manataj, nor was the +stake of sufficient import to warrant the risk. +</P> + +<P> +But now the duel between Gahan and the Orange Panthan was on and the +decision of the next move was no longer in other hands than theirs. It +was the first time that these Manatorians had seen Gahan of Gathol +fight, but Tara of Helium knew that he was master of his sword. Could +he have seen the proud light in her eyes as he crossed blades with the +wearer of the Orange, he might easily have wondered if they were the +same eyes that had flashed fire and hatred at him that time he had +covered her lips with mad kisses, in the pits of the palace of O-Tar. +As she watched him she could not but compare his swordplay with that of +the greatest swordsman of two worlds—her father, John Carter, of +Virginia, a Prince of Helium, Warlord of Barsoom—and she knew that the +skill of the Black Chief suffered little by the comparison. +</P> + +<P> +Short and to the point was the duel that decided possession of the +Orange Chief's fourth. The spectators had settled themselves for an +interesting engagement of at least average duration when they were +brought almost standing by a brilliant flash of rapid swordplay that +was over ere one could catch his breath. They saw the Black Chief step +quickly back, his point upon the ground, while his opponent, his sword +slipping from his fingers, clutched his breast, sank to his knees and +then lunged forward upon his face. +</P> + +<P> +And then Gahan of Gathol turned his eyes directly upon U-Dor of +Manator, three squares away. Three squares is a Chief's move—three +squares in any direction or combination of directions, only provided +that he does not cross the same square twice in a given move. The +people saw and guessed Gahan's intention. They rose and roared forth +their approval as he moved deliberately across the intervening squares +toward the Orange Chief. +</P> + +<P> +O-Tar, in the royal enclosure, sat frowning upon the scene. O-Tar was +angry. He was angry with U-Dor for having entered this game for +possession of a slave, for whom it had been his wish only slaves and +criminals should strive. He was angry with the warrior from Manataj for +having so far out-generaled and out-fought the men from Manator. He was +angry with the populace because of their open hostility toward one who +had basked in the sunshine of his favor for long years. O-Tar the +jeddak had not enjoyed the afternoon. Those who surrounded him were +equally glum—they, too, scowled upon the field, the players, and the +people. Among them was a bent and wrinkled old man who gazed through +weak and watery eyes upon the field and the players. +</P> + +<P> +As Gahan entered his square, U-Dor leaped toward him with drawn sword +with such fury as might have overborne a less skilled and powerful +swordsman. For a minute the fighting was fast and furious and by +comparison reducing to insignificance all that had gone before. Here +indeed were two magnificent swordsmen, and here was to be a battle that +bade fair to make up for whatever the people felt they had been +defrauded of by the shortness of the game. Nor had it continued long +before many there were who would have prophesied that they were +witnessing a duel that was to become historic in the annals of jetan at +Manator. Every trick, every subterfuge, known to the art of fence these +men employed. Time and again each scored a point and brought blood to +his opponent's copper hide until both were red with gore; but neither +seemed able to administer the coup de grace. +</P> + +<P> +From her position upon the opposite side of the field Tara of Helium +watched the long-drawn battle. Always it seemed to her that the Black +Chief fought upon the defensive, or when he assumed to push his +opponent, he neglected a thousand openings that her practiced eye +beheld. Never did he seem in real danger, nor never did he appear to +exert himself to quite the pitch needful for victory. The duel already +had been long contested and the day was drawing to a close. Presently +the sudden transition from daylight to darkness which, owing to the +tenuity of the air upon Barsoom, occurs almost without the warning +twilight of Earth, would occur. Would the fight never end? Would the +game be called a draw after all? What ailed the Black Chief? +</P> + +<P> +Tara wished that she might answer at least the last of these questions +for she was sure that Turan the panthan, as she knew him, while +fighting brilliantly, was not giving of himself all that he might. She +could not believe that fear was restraining his hand, but that there +was something beside inability to push U-Dor more fiercely she was +confident. What it was, however, she could not guess. +</P> + +<P> +Once she saw Gahan glance quickly up toward the sinking sun. In thirty +minutes it would be dark. And then she saw and all those others saw a +strange transition steal over the swordplay of the Black Chief. It was +as though he had been playing with the great dwar, U-Dor, all these +hours, and now he still played with him but there was a difference. He +played with him terribly as a carnivore plays with its victim in the +instant before the kill. The Orange Chief was helpless now in the hands +of a swordsman so superior that there could be no comparison, and the +people sat in open-mouthed wonder and awe as Gahan of Gathol cut his +foe to ribbons and then struck him down with a blow that cleft him to +the chin. +</P> + +<P> +In twenty minutes the sun would set. But what of that? +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap18"></A> +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +CHAPTER XVIII +</H3> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +A TASK FOR LOYALTY +</H3> + +<P> +Long and loud was the applause that rose above the Field of Jetan at +Manator, as The Keeper of the Towers summoned the two Princesses and +the victorious Chief to the center of the field and presented to the +latter the fruits of his prowess, and then, as custom demanded, the +victorious players, headed by Gahan and the two Princesses, formed in +procession behind The Keeper of the Towers and were conducted to the +place of victory before the royal enclosure that they might receive the +commendation of the jeddak. Those who were mounted gave up their thoats +to slaves as all must be on foot for this ceremony. Directly beneath +the royal enclosure are the gates to one of the tunnels that, passing +beneath the seats, give ingress or egress to or from the Field. Before +this gate the party halted while O-Tar looked down upon them from +above. Val Dor and Floran, passing quietly ahead of the others, went +directly to the gates, where they were hidden from those who occupied +the enclosure with O-Tar. The Keeper of the Towers may have noticed +them, but so occupied was he with the formality of presenting the +victorious Chief to the jeddak that he paid no attention to them. +</P> + +<P> +"I bring you, O-Tar, Jeddak of Manator, U-Kal of Manataj," he cried in +a loud voice that might be heard by as many as possible, "victor over +the Orange in the second of the Jeddak's Games of the four hundred and +thirty-third year of O-Tar, and the slave woman Tara and the slave +woman Lan-O that you may bestow these, the stakes, upon U-Kal." +</P> + +<P> +As he spoke, a little, wrinkled, old man peered over the rail of the +enclosure down upon the three who stood directly behind The Keeper, and +strained his weak and watery eyes in an effort to satisfy the curiosity +of old age in a matter of no particular import, for what were two +slaves and a common warrior from Manataj to any who sat with O-Tar the +jeddak? +</P> + +<P> +"U-Kal of Manataj," said O-Tar, "you have deserved the stakes. Seldom +have we looked upon more noble swordplay. And you tire of Manataj there +be always here in the city of Manator a place for you in The Jeddak's +Guard." +</P> + +<P> +While the jeddak was speaking the little, old man, failing clearly to +discern the features of the Black Chief, reached into his pocket-pouch +and drew forth a pair of thick-lensed spectacles, which he placed upon +his nose. For a moment he scrutinized Gahan closely, then he leaped to +his feet and addressing O-Tar pointed a shaking finger at Gahan. As he +rose Tara of Helium clutched the Black Chief's arm. +</P> + +<P> +"Turan!" she whispered. "It is I-Gos, whom I thought to have slain in +the pits of O-Tar. It is I-Gos and he recognizes you and will—" +</P> + +<P> +But what I-Gos would do was already transpiring. In his falsetto voice +he fairly screamed: "It is the slave Turan who stole the woman Tara +from your throne room, O-Tar. He desecrated the dead chief I-Mal and +wears his harness now!" +</P> + +<P> +Instantly all was pandemonium. Warriors drew their swords and leaped to +their feet. Gahan's victorious players rushed forward in a body, +sweeping The Keeper of the Towers from his feet. Val Dor and Floran +threw open the gates beneath the royal enclosure, opening the tunnel +that led to the avenue in the city beyond the Towers. Gahan, surrounded +by his men, drew Tara and Lan-O into the passageway, and at a rapid +pace the party sought to reach the opposite end of the tunnel before +their escape could be cut off. They were successful and when they +emerged into the city the sun had set and darkness had come, relieved +only by an antiquated and ineffective lighting system, which cast but a +pale glow over the shadowy streets. +</P> + +<P> +Now it was that Tara of Helium guessed why the Black Chief had drawn +out his duel with U-Dor and realized that he might have slain his man +at almost any moment he had elected. The whole plan that Gahan had +whispered to his players before the game was thoroughly understood. +They were to make their way to The Gate of Enemies and there offer +their services to U-Thor, the great Jed of Manatos. The fact that most +of them were Gatholians and that Gahan could lead rescuers to the pit +where A-Kor, the son of U-Thor's wife, was confined, convinced the Jed +of Gathol that they would meet with no rebuff at the hands of U-Thor. +But even should he refuse them, still were they bound together to go on +toward freedom, if necessary cutting their way through the forces of +U-Thor at The Gate of Enemies—twenty men against a small army; but of +such stuff are the warriors of Barsoom. +</P> + +<P> +They had covered a considerable distance along the almost deserted +avenue before signs of pursuit developed and then there came upon them +suddenly from behind a dozen warriors mounted on thoats—a detachment, +evidently, from The Jeddak's Guard. Instantly the avenue was a +pandemonium of clashing blades, cursing warriors, and squealing thoats. +In the first onslaught life blood was spilled upon both sides. Two of +Gahan's men went down, and upon the enemies' side three riderless +thoats attested at least a portion of their casualties. +</P> + +<P> +Gahan was engaged with a fellow who appeared to have been selected to +account for him only, since he rode straight for him and sought to cut +him down without giving the slightest heed to several who slashed at +him as he passed them. The Gatholian, practiced in the art of combating +a mounted warrior from the ground, sought to reach the left side of the +fellow's thoat a little to the rider's rear, the only position in which +he would have any advantage over his antagonist, or rather the position +that would most greatly reduce the advantage of the mounted man, and, +similarly, the Manatorian strove to thwart his design. And so the +guardsman wheeled and turned his vicious, angry mount while Gahan +leaped in and out in an effort to reach the coveted vantage point, but +always seeking some other opening in his foe's defense. +</P> + +<P> +And while they jockeyed for position a rider swept swiftly past them. +As he passed behind Gahan the latter heard a cry of alarm. +</P> + +<P> +"Turan, they have me!" came to his ears in the voice of Tara of Helium. +</P> + +<P> +A quick glance across his shoulder showed him the galloping thoatman in +the act of dragging Tara to the withers of the beast, and then, with +the fury of a demon, Gahan of Gathol leaped for his own man, dragged +him from his mount and as he fell smote his head from his shoulders +with a single cut of his keen sword. Scarce had the body touched the +pavement when the Gatholian was upon the back of the dead warrior's +mount, and galloping swiftly down the avenue after the diminishing +figures of Tara and her abductor, the sounds of the fight waning in the +distance as he pursued his quarry along the avenue that passes the +palace of O-Tar and leads to The Gate of Enemies. +</P> + +<P> +Gahan's mount, carrying but a single rider, gained upon that of the +Manatorian, so that as they neared the palace Gahan was scarce a +hundred yards behind, and now, to his consternation, he saw the fellow +turn into the great entrance-way. For a moment only was he halted by +the guards and then he disappeared within. Gahan was almost upon him +then, but evidently he had warned the guards, for they leaped out to +intercept the Gatholian. But no! the fellow could not have known that +he was pursued, since he had not seen Gahan seize a mount, nor would he +have thought that pursuit would come so soon. If he had passed then, so +could Gahan pass, for did he not wear the trappings of a Manatorian? +The Gatholian thought quickly, and stopping his thoat called to the +guardsmen to let him pass, "In the name of O-Tar!" They hesitated a +moment. +</P> + +<P> +"Aside!" cried Gahan. "Must the jeddak's messenger parley for the right +to deliver his message?" +</P> + +<P> +"To whom would you deliver it?" asked the padwar of the guard. +</P> + +<P> +"Saw you not him who just entered?" cried Gahan, and without waiting +for a reply urged his thoat straight past them into the palace, and +while they were deliberating what was best to be done, it was too late +to do anything—which is not unusual. +</P> + +<P> +Along the marble corridors Gahan guided his thoat, and because he had +gone that way before, rather than because he knew which way Tara had +been taken, he followed the runways and passed through the chambers +that led to the throne room of O-Tar. On the second level he met a +slave. +</P> + +<P> +"Which way went he who carried the woman before him?" he asked. +</P> + +<P> +The slave pointed toward a nearby runway that led to the third level +and Gahan dashed rapidly on in pursuit. At the same moment a thoatman, +riding at a furious pace, approached the palace and halted his mount at +the gate. +</P> + +<P> +"Saw you aught of a warrior pursuing one who carried a woman before him +on his thoat?" he shouted to the guard. +</P> + +<P> +"He but just passed in," replied the padwar, "saying that he was +O-Tar's messenger." +</P> + +<P> +"He lied," cried the newcomer. "He was Turan, the slave, who stole the +woman from the throne room two days since. Arouse the palace! He must +be seized, and alive if possible. It is O-Tar's command." +</P> + +<P> +Instantly warriors were dispatched to search for the Gatholian and warn +the inmates of the palace to do likewise. Owing to the games there were +comparatively few retainers in the great building, but those whom they +found were immediately enlisted in the search, so that presently at +least fifty warriors were seeking through the countless chambers and +corridors of the palace of O-Tar. +</P> + +<P> +As Gahan's thoat bore him to the third Level the man glimpsed the hind +quarters of another thoat disappearing at the turn of a corridor far +ahead. Urging his own animal forward he raced swiftly in pursuit and +making the turn discovered only an empty corridor ahead. Along this he +hurried to discover near its farther end a runway to the fourth level, +which he followed upward. Here he saw that he had gained upon his +quarry who was just turning through a doorway fifty yards ahead. As +Gahan reached the opening he saw that the warrior had dismounted and +was dragging Tara toward a small door on the opposite side of the +chamber. At the same instant the clank of harness to his rear caused +him to cast a glance behind where, along the corridor he had just +traversed, he saw three warriors approaching on foot at a run. Leaping +from his thoat Gahan sprang into the chamber where Tara was struggling +to free herself from the grasp of her captor, slammed the door behind +him, shot the great bolt into its seat, and drawing his sword crossed +the room at a run to engage the Manatorian. The fellow, thus menaced, +called aloud to Gahan to halt, at the same time thrusting Tara at arm's +length and threatening her heart with the point of his short-sword. +</P> + +<P> +"Stay!" he cried, "or the woman dies, for such is the command of O-Tar, +rather than that she again fall into your hands." +</P> + +<P> +Gahan stopped. But a few feet separated him from Tara and her captor, +yet he was helpless to aid her. Slowly the warrior backed toward the +open doorway behind him, dragging Tara with him. The girl struggled and +fought, but the warrior was a powerful man and having seized her by the +harness from behind was able to hold her in a position of helplessness. +</P> + +<P> +"Save me, Turan!" she cried. "Let them not drag me to a fate worse than +death. Better that I die now while my eyes behold a brave friend than +later, fighting alone among enemies in defense of my honor." +</P> + +<P> +He took a step nearer. The warrior made a threatening gesture with his +sword close to the soft, smooth skin of the princess, and Gahan halted. +</P> + +<P> +"I cannot, Tara of Helium," he cried. "Think not ill of me that I am +weak—that I cannot see you die. Too great is my love for you, daughter +of Helium." +</P> + +<P> +The Manatorian warrior, a derisive grin upon his lips, backed steadily +away. He had almost reached the doorway when Gahan saw another warrior +in the chamber toward which Tara was being borne—a fellow who moved +silently, almost stealthily, across the marble floor as he approached +Tara's captor from behind. In his right hand he grasped a long-sword. +</P> + +<P> +"Two to one," thought Gahan, and a grim smile touched his lips, for he +had no doubt that once they had Tara safely in the adjoining chamber +the two would set upon him. If he could not save her, he could at least +die for her. +</P> + +<P> +And then, suddenly, Gahan's eyes fastened with amazement upon the +figure of the warrior behind the grinning fellow who held Tara and was +forcing her to the doorway. He saw the newcomer step almost within +arm's reach of the other. He saw him stop, an expression of malevolent +hatred upon his features. He saw the great sword swing through the arc +of a great circle, gathering swift and terrific momentum from its own +weight backed by the brawn of the steel thews that guided it; he saw it +pass through the feathered skull of the Manatorian, splitting his +sardonic grin in twain, and open him to the middle of his breast bone. +</P> + +<P> +As the dead hand relaxed its grasp upon Tara's wrist the girl leaped +forward, without a backward glance, to Gahan's side. His left arm +encircled her, nor did she draw away, as with ready sword the Gatholian +awaited Fate's next decree. Before them Tara's deliverer was wiping the +blood from his sword upon the hair of his victim. He was evidently a +Manatorian, his trappings those of the Jeddak's Guard, and so his act +was inexplicable to Gahan and to Tara. Presently he sheathed his sword +and approached them. +</P> + +<P> +"When a man chooses to hide his identity behind an assumed name," he +said, looking straight into Gahan's eyes, "whatever friend pierces the +deception were no friend if he divulged the other's secret." +</P> + +<P> +He paused as though awaiting a reply. +</P> + +<P> +"Your integrity has perceived and your lips voiced an unalterable +truth," replied Gahan, whose mind was filled with wonder if the +implication could by any possibility be true—that this Manatorian had +guessed his identity. +</P> + +<P> +"We are thus agreed," continued the other, "and I may tell you that +though I am here known as A-Sor, my real name is Tasor." He paused and +watched Gahan's face intently for any sign of the effect of this +knowledge and was rewarded with a quick, though guarded expression of +recognition. +</P> + +<P> +Tasor! Friend of his youth. The son of that great Gatholian noble who +had given his life so gloriously, however futilely, in an attempt to +defend Gahan's sire from the daggers of the assassins. Tasor an +under-padwar in the guard of O-Tar, Jeddak of Manator! It was +inconceivable—and yet it was he; there could be no doubt of it. +"Tasor," Gahan repeated aloud. "But it is no Manatorian name." The +statement was half interrogatory, for Gahan's curiosity was aroused. He +would know how his friend and loyal subject had become a Manatorian. +Long years had passed since Tasor had disappeared as mysteriously as +the Princess Haja and many other of Gahan's subjects. The Jed of Gathol +had long supposed him dead. +</P> + +<P> +"No," replied Tasor, "nor is it a Manatorian name. Come, while I search +for a hiding place for you in some forgotten chamber in one of the +untenanted portions of the palace, and as we go I will tell you briefly +how Tasor the Gatholian became A-Sor the Manatorian. +</P> + +<P> +"It befell that as I rode with a dozen of my warriors along the western +border of Gathol searching for zitidars that had strayed from my herds, +we were set upon and surrounded by a great company of Manatorians. They +overpowered us, though not before half our number was slain and the +balance helpless from wounds. And so I was brought a prisoner to +Manataj, a distant city of Manator, and there sold into slavery. A +woman bought me—a princess of Manataj whose wealth and position were +unequaled in the city of her birth. She loved me and when her husband +discovered her infatuation she beseeched me to slay him, and when I +refused she hired another to do it. Then she married me; but none would +have aught to do with her in Manataj, for they suspected her guilty +knowledge of her husband's murder. And so we set out from Manataj for +Manatos accompanied by a great caravan bearing all her worldly goods +and jewels and precious metals, and on the way she caused the rumor to +be spread that she and I had died. Then we came to Manator instead, she +taking a new name and I the name A-Sor, that we might not be traced +through our names. With her great wealth she bought me a post in The +Jeddak's Guard and none knows that I am not a Manatorian, for she is +dead. She was beautiful, but she was a devil." +</P> + +<P> +"And you never sought to return to your native city?" asked Gahan. +</P> + +<P> +"Never has the hope been absent from my heart, or my mind empty of a +plan," replied Tasor. "I dream of it by day and by night, but always +must I return to the same conclusion—that there can be but a single +means for escape. I must wait until Fortune favors me with a place in a +raiding party to Gathol. Then, once within the boundaries of my own +country, they shall see me no more." +</P> + +<P> +"Perhaps your opportunity lies already within your grasp," said Gahan, +"has not your fealty to your own Jed been undermined by years of +association with the men of Manator." The statement was half challenge. +</P> + +<P> +"And my Jed stood before me now," cried Tasor, "and my avowal could be +made without violating his confidence, I should cast my sword at his +feet and beg the high privilege of dying for him as my sire died for +his sire." +</P> + +<P> +There could be no doubt of his sincerity nor any that he was cognizant +of Gahan's identity. The Jed of Gathol smiled. "And if your Jed were +here there is little doubt but that he would command you to devote your +talents and your prowess to the rescue of the Princess Tara of Helium," +he said, meaningly. "And he possessed the knowledge I have gained +during my captivity he would say to you, 'Go, Tasor, to the pit where +A-kor, son of Haja of Gathol, is confined and set him free and with him +arouse the slaves from Gathol and march to The Gate of Enemies and +offer your services to U-Thor of Manataj, who is wed to Haja of Gathol, +and ask of him in return that he attack the palace of O-Tar and rescue +Tara of Helium and when that thing is accomplished that he free the +slaves of Gathol and furnish them with the arms and the means to return +to their own country.' That, Tasor of Gathol, is what Gahan your Jed +would demand of you." +</P> + +<P> +"And that, Turan the slave, is what I shall bend my every effort to +accomplish after I have found a safe refuge for Tara of Helium and her +panthan," replied Tasor. +</P> + +<P> +Gahan's glance carried to Tasor an intimation of his Jed's +gratification and filled him with a chivalrous determination to do the +thing required of him, or die, for he considered that he had received +from the lips of his beloved ruler a commission that placed upon his +shoulders a responsibility that encompassed not alone the life of Gahan +and Tara but the welfare, perhaps the whole future, of Gathol. And so +he hastened them onward through the musty corridors of the old palace +where the dust of ages lay undisturbed upon the marble tiles. Now and +again he tried a door until he found one that was unlocked. Opening it +he ushered them into a chamber, heavy with dust. Crumbling silks and +furs adorned the walls, with ancient weapons, and great paintings whose +colors were toned by age to wondrous softness. +</P> + +<P> +"This be as good as any place," he said. "No one comes here. Never have +I been here before, so I know no more of the other chambers than you; +but this one, at least, I can find again when I bring you food and +drink. O-Mai the Cruel occupied this portion of the palace during his +reign, five thousand years before O-Tar. In one of these apartments he +was found dead, his face contorted in an expression of fear so horrible +that it drove to madness those who looked upon it; yet there was no +mark of violence upon him. Since then the quarters of O-Mai have been +shunned for the legends have it that the ghosts of Corphals pursue the +spirit of the wicked Jeddak nightly through these chambers, shrieking +and moaning as they go. But," he added, as though to reassure himself +as well as his companions, "such things may not be countenanced by the +culture of Gathol or Helium." +</P> + +<P> +Gahan laughed. "And if all who looked upon him were driven mad, who +then was there to perform the last rites or prepare the body of the +Jeddak for them?" +</P> + +<P> +"There was none," replied Tasor. "Where they found him they left him +and there to this very day his mouldering bones lie hid in some +forgotten chamber of this forbidden suite." +</P> + +<P> +Tasor left them then assuring them that he would seek the first +opportunity to speak with A-Kor, and upon the following day he would +bring them food and drink.* +</P> + +<P CLASS="footnote"> +* Those who have read John Carter's description of the Green Martians +in A Princess of Mars will recall that these strange people could exist +for considerable periods of time without food or water, and to a lesser +degree is the same true of all Martians. +</P> + +<BR> + +<P> +After Tasor had gone Tara turned to Gahan and approaching laid a hand +upon his arm. "So swiftly have events transpired since I recognized you +beneath your disguise," she said, "that I have had no opportunity to +assure you of my gratitude and the high esteem that your valor has won +for you in my consideration. Let me now acknowledge my indebtedness; +and if promises be not vain from one whose life and liberty are in +grave jeopardy, accept my assurance of the great reward that awaits you +at the hand of my father in Helium." +</P> + +<P> +"I desire no reward," he replied, "other than the happiness of knowing +that the woman I love is happy." +</P> + +<P> +For an instant the eyes of Tara of Helium blazed as she drew herself +haughtily to her full height, and then they softened and her attitude +relaxed as she shook her head sadly. +</P> + +<P> +"I have it not in my heart to reprimand you, Turan," she said, "however +great your fault, for you have been an honorable and a loyal friend to +Tara of Helium; but you must not say what my ears must not hear." +</P> + +<P> +"You mean," he asked, "that the ears of a Princess must not listen to +words of love from a panthan?" +</P> + +<P> +"It is not that, Turan," she replied; "but rather that I may not in +honor listen to words of love from another than him to whom I am +betrothed—a fellow countryman, Djor Kantos." +</P> + +<P> +"You mean, Tara of Helium," he cried, "that were it not for that you +would—" +</P> + +<P> +"Stop!" she commanded. "You have no right to assume aught else than my +lips testify." +</P> + +<P> +"The eyes are ofttimes more eloquent than the lips, Tara," he replied; +"and in yours I have read that which is neither hatred nor contempt for +Turan the panthan, and my heart tells me that your lips bore false +witness when they cried in anger: 'I hate you!'" +</P> + +<P> +"I do not hate you, Turan, nor yet may I love you," said the girl, +simply. +</P> + +<P> +"When I broke my way out from the chamber of I-Gos I was indeed upon +the verge of believing that you did hate me," he said, "for only +hatred, it seemed to me, could account for the fact that you had gone +without making an effort to liberate me; but presently both my heart +and my judgment told me that Tara of Helium could not have deserted a +companion in distress, and though I still am in ignorance of the facts +I know that it was beyond your power to aid me." +</P> + +<P> +"It was indeed," said the girl. "Scarce had I-Gos fallen at the bite of +my dagger than I heard the approach of warriors. I ran then to hide +until they had passed, thinking to return and liberate you; but in +seeking to elude the party I had heard I ran full into the arms of +another. They questioned me as to your whereabouts, and I told them +that you had gone ahead and that I was following you and thus I led +them from you." +</P> + +<P> +"I knew," was Gahan's only comment, but his heart was glad with +elation, as a lover's must be who has heard from the lips of his +divinity an avowal of interest and loyalty, however little tinged by a +suggestion of warmer regard it may be. To be abused, even, by the +mistress of one's heart is better than to be ignored. +</P> + +<P> +As the two conversed in the ill-lit chamber, the dim bulbs of which +were encrusted with the accumulated dust of centuries, a bent and +withered figure traversed slowly the gloomy corridors without, his weak +and watery eyes peering through thick lenses at the signs of passage +written upon the dusty floor. +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap19"></A> +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +CHAPTER XIX +</H3> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +THE MENACE OF THE DEAD +</H3> + +<P> +The night was still young when there came one to the entrance of the +banquet hall where O-Tar of Manator dined with his chiefs, and brushing +past the guards entered the great room with the insolence of a +privileged character, as in truth he was. As he approached the head of +the long board O-Tar took notice of him. +</P> + +<P> +"Well, hoary one!" he cried. "What brings you out of your beloved and +stinking burrow again this day. We thought that the sight of the +multitude of living men at the games would drive you back to your +corpses as quickly as you could go." +</P> + +<P> +The cackling laugh of I-Gos acknowledged the royal sally. "Ey, ey, +O-Tar," squeaked the ancient one, "I-Gos goes out not upon pleasure +bound; but when one does ruthlessly desecrate the dead of I-Gos, +vengeance must be had!" +</P> + +<P> +"You refer to the act of the slave Turan?" demanded O-Tar. +</P> + +<P> +"Turan, yes, and the slave Tara, who slipped beneath my hide a +murderous blade. Another fraction of an inch, O-Tar, and I-Gos' ancient +and wrinkled covering were even now in some apprentice tanner's hands, +ey, ey!" +</P> + +<P> +"But they have again eluded us," cried O-Tar. "Even in the palace of +the great jeddak twice have they escaped the stupid knaves I call The +Jeddak's Guard." O-Tar had risen and was angrily emphasizing his words +with heavy blows upon the table, dealt with a golden goblet. +</P> + +<P> +"Ey, O-Tar, they elude thy guard but not the wise old calot, I-Gos." +</P> + +<P> +"What mean you? Speak!" commanded O-Tar. +</P> + +<P> +"I know where they are hid," said the ancient taxidermist. "In the dust +of unused corridors their feet have betrayed them." +</P> + +<P> +"You followed them? You have seen them?" demanded the jeddak. +</P> + +<P> +"I followed them and I heard them speaking beyond a closed door," +replied I-Gos; "but I did not see them." +</P> + +<P> +"Where is that door?" cried O-Tar. "We will send at once and fetch +them," he looked about the table as though to decide to whom he would +entrust this duty. A dozen warrior chiefs arose and laid their hands +upon their swords. +</P> + +<P> +"To the chambers of O-Mai the Cruel I traced them," squeaked I-Gos. +"There you will find them where the moaning Corphals pursue the +shrieking ghost of O-Mai; ey!" and he turned his eyes from O-Tar toward +the warriors who had arisen, only to discover that, to a man, they were +hurriedly resuming their seats. +</P> + +<P> +The cackling laughter of I-Gos broke derisively the hush that had +fallen on the room. The warriors looked sheepishly at the food upon +their plates of gold. O-Tar snapped his fingers impatiently. +</P> + +<P> +"Be there only cravens among the chiefs of Manator?" he cried. +"Repeatedly have these presumptuous slaves flouted the majesty of your +jeddak. Must I command one to go and fetch them?" +</P> + +<P> +Slowly a chief arose and two others followed his example, though with +ill-concealed reluctance. "All, then, are not cowards," commented +O-Tar. "The duty is distasteful. Therefore all three of you shall go, +taking as many warriors as you wish." +</P> + +<P> +"But do not ask for volunteers," interrupted I-Gos, "or you will go +alone." +</P> + +<P> +The three chiefs turned and left the banquet hall, walking slowly like +doomed men to their fate. +</P> + +<P> +Gahan and Tara remained in the chamber to which Tasor had led them, the +man brushing away the dust from a deep and comfortable bench where they +might rest in comparative comfort. He had found the ancient sleeping +silks and furs too far gone to be of any service, crumbling to powder +at a touch, thus removing any chance of making a comfortable bed for +the girl, and so the two sat together, talking in low tones, of the +adventures through which they already had passed and speculating upon +the future; planning means of escape and hoping Tasor would not be long +gone. They spoke of many things—of Hastor, and Helium, and Ptarth, and +finally the conversation reminded Tara of Gathol. +</P> + +<P> +"You have served there?" she asked. +</P> + +<P> +"Yes," replied Turan. +</P> + +<P> +"I met Gahan the Jed of Gathol at my father's palace," she said, "the +very day before the storm snatched me from Helium—he was a +presumptuous fellow, magnificently trapped in platinum and diamonds. +Never in my life saw I so gorgeous a harness as his, and you must well +know, Turan, that the splendor of all Barsoom passes through the court +at Helium; but in my mind I could not see so resplendent a creature +drawing that jeweled sword in mortal combat. I fear me that the Jed of +Gathol, though a pretty picture of a man, is little else." +</P> + +<P> +In the dim light Tara did not perceive the wry expression upon the +half-averted face of her companion. +</P> + +<P> +"You thought little then of the Jed of Gathol?" he asked. +</P> + +<P> +"Then or now," she replied, and with a little laugh; "how it would +pique his vanity to know, if he might, that a poor panthan had won a +higher place in the regard of Tara of Helium," and she laid her fingers +gently upon his knee. +</P> + +<P> +He seized the fingers in his and carried them to his lips. "O, Tara of +Helium," he cried. "Think you that I am a man of stone?" One arm +slipped about her shoulders and drew the yielding body toward him. +</P> + +<P> +"May my first ancestor forgive me my weakness," she cried, as her arms +stole about his neck and she raised her panting lips to his. For long +they clung there in love's first kiss and then she pushed him away, +gently. "I love you, Turan," she half sobbed; "I love you so! It is my +only poor excuse for having done this wrong to Djor Kantos, whom now I +know I never loved, who knew not the meaning of love. And if you love +me as you say, Turan, your love must protect me from greater dishonor, +for I am but as clay in your hands." +</P> + +<P> +Again he crushed her to him and then as suddenly released her, and +rising, strode rapidly to and fro across the chamber as though he +endeavored by violent exercise to master and subdue some evil spirit +that had laid hold upon him. Ringing through his brain and heart and +soul like some joyous paean were those words that had so altered the +world for Gahan of Gathol: "I love you, Turan; I love you so!" And it +had come so suddenly. He had thought that she felt for him only +gratitude for his loyalty and then, in an instant, her barriers were +all down, she was no longer a princess; but instead a—his reflections +were interrupted by a sound from beyond the closed door. His sandals of +zitidar hide had given forth no sound upon the marble floor he strode, +and as his rapid pacing carried him past the entrance to the chamber +there came faintly from the distance of the long corridor the sound of +metal on metal—the unmistakable herald of the approach of armed men. +</P> + +<P> +For a moment Gahan listened intently, close to the door, until there +could be no doubt but that a party of warriors was approaching. From +what Tasor had told him he guessed correctly that they would be coming +to this portion of the palace but for a single purpose—to search for +Tara and himself—and it behooved him therefore to seek immediate means +for eluding them. The chamber in which they were had other doorways +beside that at which they had entered, and to one of these he must look +for some safer hiding place. Crossing to Tara he acquainted her with +his suspicion, leading her to one of the doors which they found +unsecured. Beyond it lay a dimly-lighted chamber at the threshold of +which they halted in consternation, drawing back quickly into the +chamber they had just quitted, for their first glance revealed four +warriors seated around a jetan board. +</P> + +<P> +That their entrance had not been noted was attributed by Gahan to the +absorption of the two players and their friends in the game. Quietly +closing the door the fugitives moved silently to the next, which they +found locked. There was now but another door which they had not tried, +and this they approached quickly as they knew that the searching party +must be close to the chamber. To their chagrin they found this avenue +of escape barred. +</P> + +<P> +Now indeed were they in a sorry plight, for should the searchers have +information leading them to this room they were lost. Again leading +Tara to the door behind which were the jetan players Gahan drew his +sword and waited, listening. The sound of the party in the corridor +came distinctly to their ears—they must be quite close, and doubtless +they were coming in force. Beyond the door were but four warriors who +might be readily surprised. There could, then, be but one choice and +acting upon it Gahan quietly opened the door again, stepped through +into the adjoining chamber, Tara's hand in his, and closed the door +behind them. The four at the jetan board evidently failed to hear them. +One player had either just made or was contemplating a move, for his +fingers grasped a piece that still rested upon the board. The other +three were watching his move. For an instant Gahan looked at them, +playing jetan there in the dim light of this forgotten and forbidden +chamber, and then a slow smile of understanding lighted his face. +</P> + +<P> +"Come!" he said to Tara. "We have nothing to fear from these. For more +than five thousand years they have sat thus, a monument to the +handiwork of some ancient taxidermist." +</P> + +<P> +As they approached more closely they saw that the lifelike figures were +coated with dust, but that otherwise the skin was in as fine a state of +preservation as the most recent of I-Gos' groups, and then they heard +the door of the chamber they had quitted open and knew that the +searchers were close upon them. Across the room they saw the opening of +what appeared to be a corridor and which investigation proved to be a +short passageway, terminating in a chamber in the center of which was +an ornate sleeping dais. This room, like the others, was but poorly +lighted, time having dimmed the radiance of its bulbs and coated them +with dust. A glance showed that it was hung with heavy goods and +contained considerable massive furniture in addition to the sleeping +platform, a second glance at which revealed what appeared to be the +form of a man lying partially on the floor and partially on the dais. +No doorways were visible other than that at which they had entered, +though both knew that others might be concealed by the hangings. +</P> + +<P> +Gahan, his curiosity aroused by the legends surrounding this portion of +the palace, crossed to the dais to examine the figure that apparently +had fallen from it, to find the dried and shrivelled corpse of a man +lying upon his back on the floor with arms outstretched and fingers +stiffly outspread. One of his feet was doubled partially beneath him, +while the other was still entangled in the sleeping silks and furs upon +the dais. After five thousand years the expression of the withered face +and the eyeless sockets retained the aspect of horrid fear to such an +extent, that Gahan knew that he was looking upon the body of O-Mai the +Cruel. +</P> + +<P> +Suddenly Tara, who stood close beside him, clutched his arm and pointed +toward a far corner of the room. Gahan looked and looking felt the +hairs upon his neck rising. He threw his left arm about the girl and +with bared sword stood between her and the hangings that they watched, +and then slowly Gahan of Gathol backed away, for in this grim and +somber chamber, which no human foot had trod for five thousand years +and to which no breath of wind might enter, the heavy hangings in the +far corner had moved. Not gently had they moved as a draught might have +moved them had there been a draught, but suddenly they had bulged out +as though pushed against from behind. To the opposite corner backed +Gahan until they stood with their backs against the hangings there, and +then hearing the approach of their pursuers across the chamber beyond +Gahan pushed Tara through the hangings and, following her, kept open +with his left hand, which he had disengaged from the girl's grasp, a +tiny opening through which he could view the apartment and the doorway +upon the opposite side through which the pursuers would enter, if they +came this far. +</P> + +<P> +Behind the hangings there was a space of about three feet in width +between them and the wall, making a passageway entirely around the +room, broken only by the single entrance opposite them; this being a +common arrangement especially in the sleeping apartments of the rich +and powerful upon Barsoom. The purposes of this arrangement were +several. The passageway afforded a station for guards in the same room +with their master without intruding entirely upon his privacy; it +concealed secret exits from the chamber; it permitted the occupant of +the room to hide eavesdroppers and assassins for use against enemies +that he might lure to his chamber. +</P> + +<P> +The three chiefs with a dozen warriors had had no difficulty in +following the tracks of the fugitives through the dust of the corridors +and chambers they had traversed. To enter this portion of the palace at +all had required all the courage they possessed, and now that they were +within the very chambers of O-Mai their nerves were pitched to the +highest key—another turn and they would snap; for the people of +Manator are filled with weird superstitions. As they entered the outer +chamber they moved slowly, with drawn swords, no one seeming anxious to +take the lead, and the twelve warriors hanging back in unconcealed and +shameless terror, while the three chiefs, spurred on by fear of O-Tar +and by pride, pressed together for mutual encouragement as they slowly +crossed the dimly-lighted room. +</P> + +<P> +Following the tracks of Gahan and Tara they found that though each +doorway had been approached only one threshold had been crossed and +this door they gingerly opened, revealing to their astonished gaze the +four warriors at the jetan table. For a moment they were on the verge +of flight, for though they knew what they were, coming as they did upon +them in this mysterious and haunted suite, they were as startled as +though they had beheld the very ghosts of the departed. But they +presently regained their courage sufficiently to cross this chamber too +and enter the short passageway that led to the ancient sleeping +apartment of O-Mai the Cruel. They did not know that this awful chamber +lay just before them, or it were doubtful that they would have +proceeded farther; but they saw that those they sought had come this +way and so they followed, but within the gloomy interior of the chamber +they halted, the three chiefs urging their followers, in low whispers, +to close in behind them, and there just within the entrance they stood +until, their eyes becoming accustomed to the dim light, one of them +pointed suddenly to the thing lying upon the floor with one foot +tangled in the coverings of the dais. +</P> + +<P> +"Look!" he gasped. "It is the corpse of O-Mai! Ancestor of ancestors! +we are in the forbidden chamber." Simultaneously there came from behind +the hangings beyond the grewsome dead a hollow moan followed by a +piercing scream, and the hangings shook and bellied before their eyes. +</P> + +<P> +With one accord, chieftains and warriors, they turned and bolted for +the doorway; a narrow doorway, where they jammed, fighting and +screaming in an effort to escape. They threw away their swords and +clawed at one another to make a passage for escape; those behind +climbed upon the shoulders of those in front; and some fell and were +trampled upon; but at last they all got through, and, the swiftest +first, they bolted across the two intervening chambers to the outer +corridor beyond, nor did they halt their mad retreat before they +stumbled, weak and trembling, into the banquet hall of O-Tar. At sight +of them the warriors who had remained with the jeddak leaped to their +feet with drawn swords, thinking that their fellows were pursued by +many enemies; but no one followed them into the room, and the three +chieftains came and stood before O-Tar with bowed heads and trembling +knees. +</P> + +<P> +"Well?" demanded the jeddak. "What ails you? Speak!" +</P> + +<P> +"O-Tar," cried one of them when at last he could master his voice. +"When have we three failed you in battle or combat? Have our swords +been not always among the foremost in defense of your safety and your +honor?" +</P> + +<P> +"Have I denied this?" demanded O-Tar. +</P> + +<P> +"Listen, then, O Jeddak, and judge us with leniency. We followed the +two slaves to the apartments of O-Mai the Cruel. We entered the +accursed chambers and still we did not falter. We came at last to that +horrid chamber no human eye had scanned before in fifty centuries and +we looked upon the dead face of O-Mai lying as he has lain for all this +time. To the very death chamber of O-Mai the Cruel we came and yet we +were ready to go farther; when suddenly there broke upon our horrified +ears the moans and the shrieking that mark these haunted chambers and +the hangings moved and rustled in the dead air. O-Tar, it was more than +human nerves could endure. We turned and fled. We threw away our swords +and fought with one another to escape. With sorrow, but without shame, +I tell it, for there be no man in all Manator that would not have done +the same. If these slaves be Corphals they are safe among their fellow +ghosts. If they be not Corphals, then already are they dead in the +chambers of O-Mai, and there may they rot for all of me, for I would +not return to that accursed spot for the harness of a jeddak and the +half of Barsoom for an empire. I have spoken." +</P> + +<P> +O-Tar knitted his scowling brows. "Are all my chieftains cowards and +cravens?" he demanded presently in sneering tones. +</P> + +<P> +From among those who had not been of the searching party a chieftain +arose and turned a scowling face upon O-Tar. +</P> + +<P> +"The jeddak knows," he said, "that in the annals of Manator her jeddaks +have ever been accounted the bravest of her warriors. Where my jeddak +leads I will follow, nor may any jeddak call me a coward or a craven +unless I refuse to go where he dares to go. I have spoken." +</P> + +<P> +After he had resumed his seat there was a painful silence, for all knew +that the speaker had challenged the courage of O-Tar the Jeddak of +Manator and all awaited the reply of their ruler. In every mind was the +same thought—O-Tar must lead them at once to the chamber of O-Mai the +Cruel, or accept forever the stigma of cowardice, and there could be no +coward upon the throne of Manator. That they all knew and that O-Tar +knew, as well. +</P> + +<P> +But O-Tar hesitated. He looked about upon the faces of those around him +at the banquet board; but he saw only the grim visages of relentless +warriors. There was no trace of leniency in the face of any. And then +his eyes wandered to a small entrance at one side of the great chamber. +An expression of relief expunged the scowl of anxiety from his features. +</P> + +<P> +"Look!" he exclaimed. "See who has come!" +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap20"></A> +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +CHAPTER XX +</H3> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +THE CHARGE OF COWARDICE +</H3> + +<P> +Gahan, watching through the aperture between the hangings, saw the +frantic flight of their pursuers. A grim smile rested upon his lips as +he viewed the mad scramble for safety and saw them throw away their +swords and fight with one another to be first from the chamber of fear, +and when they were all gone he turned back toward Tara, the smile still +upon his lips; but the smile died the instant that he turned, for he +saw that Tara had disappeared. +</P> + +<P> +"Tara!" he called in a loud voice, for he knew that there was no danger +that their pursuers would return; but there was no response, unless it +was a faint sound as of cackling laughter from afar. Hurriedly he +searched the passageway behind the hangings finding several doors, one +of which was ajar. Through this he entered the adjoining chamber which +was lighted more brilliantly for the moment by the soft rays of +hurtling Thuria taking her mad way through the heavens. Here he found +the dust upon the floor disturbed, and the imprint of sandals. They had +come this way—Tara and whatever the creature was that had stolen her. +</P> + +<P> +But what could it have been? Gahan, a man of culture and high +intelligence, held few if any superstitions. In common with nearly all +races of Barsoom he clung, more or less inherently, to a certain +exalted form of ancestor worship, though it was rather the memory or +legends of the virtues and heroic deeds of his forebears that he +deified rather than themselves. He never expected any tangible evidence +of their existence after death; he did not believe that they had the +power either for good or for evil other than the effect that their +example while living might have had upon following generations; he did +not believe therefore in the materialization of dead spirits. If there +was a life hereafter he knew nothing of it, for he knew that science +had demonstrated the existence of some material cause for every +seemingly supernatural phenomenon of ancient religions and +superstitions. Yet he was at a loss to know what power might have +removed Tara so suddenly and mysteriously from his side in a chamber +that had not known the presence of man for five thousand years. +</P> + +<P> +In the darkness he could not see whether there were the imprints of +other sandals than Tara's—only that the dust was disturbed—and when +it led him into gloomy corridors he lost the trail altogether. A +perfect labyrinth of passages and apartments were now revealed to him +as he hurried on through the deserted quarters of O-Mai. Here was an +ancient bath—doubtless that of the jeddak himself, and again he passed +through a room in which a meal had been laid upon a table five thousand +years before—the untasted breakfast of O-Mai, perhaps. There passed +before his eyes in the brief moments that he traversed the chambers, a +wealth of ornaments and jewels and precious metals that surprised even +the Jed of Gathol whose harness was of diamonds and platinum and whose +riches were the envy of a world. But at last his search of O-Mai's +chambers ended in a small closet in the floor of which was the opening +to a spiral runway leading straight down into Stygian darkness. The +dust at the entrance of the closet had been freshly disturbed, and as +this was the only possible indication that Gahan had of the direction +taken by the abductor of Tara it seemed as well to follow on as to +search elsewhere. So, without hesitation, he descended into the utter +darkness below. Feeling with a foot before taking a forward step his +descent was necessarily slow, but Gahan was a Barsoomian and so knew +the pitfalls that might await the unwary in such dark, forbidden +portions of a jeddak's palace. +</P> + +<P> +He had descended for what he judged might be three full levels and was +pausing, as he occasionally did, to listen, when he distinctly heard a +peculiar shuffling, scraping sound approaching him from below. Whatever +the thing was it was ascending the runway at a steady pace and would +soon be near him. Gahan laid his hand upon the hilt of his sword and +drew it slowly from its scabbard that he might make no noise that would +apprise the creature of his presence. He wished that there might be +even the slightest lessening of the darkness. If he could see but the +outline of the thing that approached him he would feel that he had a +fairer chance in the meeting; but he could see nothing, and then +because he could see nothing the end of his scabbard struck the stone +side of the runway, giving off a sound that the stillness and the +narrow confines of the passage and the darkness seemed to magnify to a +terrific clatter. +</P> + +<P> +Instantly the shuffling sound of approach ceased. For a moment Gahan +stood in silent waiting, then casting aside discretion he moved on +again down the spiral. The thing, whatever it might be, gave forth no +sound now by which Gahan might locate it. At any moment it might be +upon him and so he kept his sword in readiness. Down, ever downward the +steep spiral led. The darkness and the silence of the tomb surrounded +him, yet somewhere ahead was something. He was not alone in that horrid +place—another presence that he could not hear or see hovered before +him—of that he was positive. Perhaps it was the thing that had stolen +Tara. Perhaps Tara herself, still in the clutches of some nameless +horror, was just ahead of him. He quickened his pace—it became almost +a run at the thought of the danger that threatened the woman he loved, +and then he collided with a wooden door that swung open to the impact. +Before him was a lighted corridor. On either side were chambers. He had +advanced but a short distance from the bottom of the spiral when he +recognized that he was in the pits below the palace. A moment later he +heard behind him the shuffling sound that had attracted his attention +in the spiral runway. Wheeling about he saw the author of the sound +emerging from a doorway he had just passed. It was Ghek the kaldane. +</P> + +<P> +"Ghek!" exclaimed Gahan. "It was you in the runway? Have you seen Tara +of Helium?" +</P> + +<P> +"It was I in the spiral," replied the kaldane; "but I have not seen +Tara of Helium. I have been searching for her. Where is she?" +</P> + +<P> +"I do not know," replied the Gatholian; "but we must find her and take +her from this place." +</P> + +<P> +"We may find her," said Ghek; "but I doubt our ability to take her +away. It is not so easy to leave Manator as it is to enter it. I may +come and go at will, through the ancient burrows of the ulsios; but you +are too large for that and your lungs need more air than may be found +in some of the deeper runways." +</P> + +<P> +"But U-Thor!" exclaimed Gahan. "Have you heard aught of him or his +intentions?" +</P> + +<P> +"I have heard much," replied Ghek. "He camps at The Gate of Enemies. +That spot he holds and his warriors lie just beyond The Gate; but he +has not sufficient force to enter the city and take the palace. An hour +since and you might have made your way to him; but now every avenue is +strongly guarded since O-Tar learned that A-Kor had escaped to U-Thor." +</P> + +<P> +"A-Kor has escaped and joined U-Thor!" exclaimed Gahan. +</P> + +<P> +"But little more than an hour since. I was with him when a warrior +came—a man whose name is Tasor—who brought a message from you. It was +decided that Tasor should accompany A-Kor in an attempt to reach the +camp of U-Thor, the great jed of Manatos, and exact from him the +assurances you required. Then U-Thor was to return and take food to you +and the Princess of Helium. I accompanied them. We won through easily +and found U-Thor more than willing to respect your every wish, but when +Tasor would have returned to you the way was blocked by the warriors of +O-Tar. Then it was that I volunteered to come to you and report and +find food and drink and then go forth among the Gatholian slaves of +Manator and prepare them for their part in the plan that U-Thor and +Tasor conceived." +</P> + +<P> +"And what was this plan?" +</P> + +<P> +"U-Thor has sent for reinforcements. To Manatos he has sent and to all +the outlying districts that are his. It will take a month to collect +and bring them hither and in the meantime the slaves within the city +are to organize secretly, stealing and hiding arms against the day that +the reinforcements arrive. When that day comes the forces of U-Thor +will enter the Gate of Enemies and as the warriors of O-Tar rush to +repulse them the slaves from Gathol will fall upon them from the rear +with the majority of their numbers, while the balance will assault the +palace. They hope thus to divert so many from The Gate that U-Thor will +have little difficulty in forcing an entrance to the city." +</P> + +<P> +"Perhaps they will succeed," commented Gahan; "but the warriors of +O-Tar are many, and those who fight in defense of their homes and their +jeddak have always an advantage. Ah, Ghek, would that we had the great +warships of Gathol or of Helium to pour their merciless fire into the +streets of Manator while U-Thor marched to the palace over the corpses +of the slain." He paused, deep in thought, and then turned his gaze +again upon the kaldane. "Heard you aught of the party that escaped with +me from The Field of Jetan—of Floran, Val Dor, and the others? What of +them?" +</P> + +<P> +"Ten of these won through to U-Thor at The Gate of Enemies and were +well received by him. Eight fell in the fighting upon the way. Val Dor +and Floran live, I believe, for I am sure that I heard U-Thor address +two warriors by these names." +</P> + +<P> +"Good!" exclaimed Gahan. "Go then, through the burrows of the ulsios, +to The Gate of Enemies and carry to Floran the message that I shall +write in his own language. Come, while I write the message." +</P> + +<P> +In a nearby room they found a bench and table and there Gahan sat and +wrote in the strange, stenographic characters of Martian script a +message to Floran of Gathol. "Why," he asked, when he had finished it, +"did you search for Tara through the spiral runway where we nearly met?" +</P> + +<P> +"Tasor told me where you were to be found, and as I have explored the +greater part of the palace by means of the ulsio runways and the darker +and less frequented passages I knew precisely where you were and how to +reach you. This secret spiral ascends from the pits to the roof of the +loftiest of the palace towers. It has secret openings at every level; +but there is no living Manatorian, I believe, who knows of its +existence. At least never have I met one within it and I have used it +many times. Thrice have I been in the chamber where O-Mai lies, though +I knew nothing of his identity or the story of his death until Tasor +told it to us in the camp of U-Thor." +</P> + +<P> +"You know the palace thoroughly then?" Gahan interrupted. +</P> + +<P> +"Better than O-Tar himself or any of his servants." +</P> + +<P> +"Good! And you would serve the Princess Tara, Ghek, you may serve her +best by accompanying Floran and following his instructions. I will +write them here at the close of my message to him, for the walls have +ears, Ghek, while none but a Gatholian may read what I have written to +Floran. He will transmit it to you. Can I trust you?" +</P> + +<P> +"I may never return to Bantoom," replied Ghek. "Therefore I have but +two friends in all Barsoom. What better may I do than serve them +faithfully? You may trust me, Gatholian, who with a woman of your kind +has taught me that there be finer and nobler things than perfect +mentality uninfluenced by the unreasoning tuitions of the heart. I go." +</P> + +<HR ALIGN="center" WIDTH="60%"> + +<P> +As O-Tar pointed to the little doorway all eyes turned in the direction +he indicated and surprise was writ large upon the faces of the warriors +when they recognized the two who had entered the banquet hall. There +was I-Gos, and he dragged behind him one who was gagged and whose hands +were fastened behind with a ribbon of tough silk. It was the slave +girl. I-Gos' cackling laughter rose above the silence of the room. +</P> + +<P> +"Ey, ey!" he shrilled. "What the young warriors of O-Tar cannot do, old +I-Gos does alone." +</P> + +<P> +"Only a Corphal may capture a Corphal," growled one of the chiefs who +had fled from the chambers of O-Mai. +</P> + +<P> +I-Gos laughed. "Terror turned your heart to water," he replied; "and +shame your tongue to libel. This be no Corphal, but only a woman of +Helium; her companion a warrior who can match blades with the best of +you and cut your putrid hearts. Not so in the days of I-Gos' youth. Ah, +then were there men in Manator. Well do I recall that day that I—" +</P> + +<P> +"Peace, doddering fool!" commanded O-Tar. "Where is the man?" +</P> + +<P> +"Where I found the woman—in the death chamber of O-Mai. Let your wise +and brave chieftains go thither and fetch him. I am an old man, and +could bring but one." +</P> + +<P> +"You have done well, I-Gos," O-Tar hastened to assure him, for when he +learned that Gahan might still be in the haunted chambers he wished to +appease the wrath of I-Gos, knowing well the vitriolic tongue and +temper of the ancient one. "You think she is no Corphal, then, I-Gos?" +he asked, wishing to carry the subject from the man who was still at +large. +</P> + +<P> +"No more than you," replied the ancient taxidermist. +</P> + +<P> +O-Tar looked long and searchingly at Tara of Helium. All the beauty +that was hers seemed suddenly to be carried to every fibre of his +consciousness. She was still garbed in the rich harness of a Black +Princess of Jetan, and as O-Tar the Jeddak gazed upon her he realized +that never before had his eyes rested upon a more perfect figure—a +more beautiful face. +</P> + +<P> +"She is no Corphal," he murmured to himself. "She is no Corphal and she +is a princess—a princess of Helium, and, by the golden hair of the +Holy Hekkador, she is beautiful. Take the gag from her mouth and +release her hands," he commanded aloud. "Make room for the Princess +Tara of Helium at the side of O-Tar of Manator. She shall dine as +becomes a princess." +</P> + +<P> +Slaves did as O-Tar bid and Tara of Helium stood with flashing eyes +behind the chair that was offered her. "Sit!" commanded O-Tar. +</P> + +<P> +The girl sank into the chair. "I sit as a prisoner," she said; "not as +a guest at the board of my enemy, O-Tar of Manator." +</P> + +<P> +O-Tar motioned his followers from the room. "I would speak alone with +the Princess of Helium," he said. The company and the slaves withdrew +and once more the Jeddak of Manator turned toward the girl. "O-Tar of +Manator would be your friend," he said. +</P> + +<P> +Tara of Helium sat with arms folded upon her small, firm breasts, her +eyes flashing from behind narrowed lids, nor did she deign to answer +his overture. O-Tar leaned closer to her. He noted the hostility of her +bearing and he recalled his first encounter with her. She was a +she-banth, but she was beautiful. She was by far the most desirable +woman that O-Tar had ever looked upon and he was determined to possess +her. He told her so. +</P> + +<P> +"I could take you as my slave," he said to her; "but it pleases me to +make you my wife. You shall be Jeddara of Manator. You shall have seven +days in which to prepare for the great honor that O-Tar is conferring +upon you, and at this hour of the seventh day you shall become an +empress and the wife of O-Tar in the throne room of the jeddaks of +Manator." He struck a gong that stood beside him upon the table and +when a slave appeared he bade him recall the company. Slowly the chiefs +filed in and took their places at the table. Their faces were grim and +scowling, for there was still unanswered the question of their jeddak's +courage. If O-Tar had hoped they would forget he had been mistaken in +his men. +</P> + +<P> +O-Tar arose. "In seven days," he announced, "there will be a great +feast in honor of the new Jeddara of Manator," and he waved his hand +toward Tara of Helium. "The ceremony will occur at the beginning of the +seventh zode* in the throne room. In the meantime the Princess of +Helium will be cared for in the tower of the women's quarters of the +palace. Conduct her thither, E-Thas, with a suitable guard of honor and +see to it that slaves and eunuchs be placed at her disposal, who shall +attend upon all her wants and guard her carefully from harm." +</P> + +<P CLASS="footnote"> +* About 8:30 P. M. Earth Time. +</P> + +<BR> + +<P> +Now E-Thas knew that the real meaning concealed in these fine words was +that he should conduct the prisoner under a strong guard to the women's +quarters and confine her there in the tower for seven days, placing +about her trustworthy guards who would prevent her escape or frustrate +any attempted rescue. +</P> + +<P> +As Tara was departing from the chamber with E-Thas and the guard, O-Tar +leaned close to her ear and whispered: "Consider well during these +seven days the high honor I have offered you, and—its sole +alternative." As though she had not heard him the girl passed out of +the banquet hall, her head high and her eyes straight to the front. +</P> + +<P> +After Ghek had left him Gahan roamed the pits and the ancient corridors +of the deserted portions of the palace seeking some clue to the +whereabouts or the fate of Tara of Helium. He utilized the spiral +runway in passing from level to level until he knew every foot of it +from the pits to the summit of the high tower, and into what apartments +it opened at the various levels as well as the ingenious and hidden +mechanism that operated the locks of the cleverly concealed doors +leading to it. For food he drew upon the stores he found in the pits +and when he slept he lay upon the royal couch of O-Mai in the forbidden +chamber sharing the dais with the dead foot of the ancient jeddak. +</P> + +<P> +In the palace about him seethed, all unknown to Gahan, a vast unrest. +Warriors and chieftains pursued the duties of their vocations with dour +faces, and little knots of them were collecting here and there and with +frowns of anger discussing some subject that was uppermost in the minds +of all. It was upon the fourth day following Tara's incarceration in +the tower that E-Thas, the major-domo of the palace and one of O-Tar's +creatures, came to his master upon some trivial errand. O-Tar was alone +in one of the smaller chambers of his personal suite when the +major-domo was announced, and after the matter upon which E-Thas had +come was disposed of the jeddak signed him to remain. +</P> + +<P> +"From the position of an obscure warrior I have elevated you, E-Thas, +to the honors of a chief. Within the confines of the palace your word +is second only to mine. You are not loved for this, E-Thas, and should +another jeddak ascend the throne of Manator what would become of you, +whose enemies are among the most powerful of Manator?" +</P> + +<P> +"Speak not of it, O-Tar," begged E-Thas. "These last few days I have +thought upon it much and I would forget it; but I have sought to +appease the wrath of my worst enemies. I have been very kind and +indulgent with them." +</P> + +<P> +"You, too, read the voiceless message in the air?" demanded the jeddak. +</P> + +<P> +E-Thas was palpably uneasy and he did not reply. +</P> + +<P> +"Why did you not come to me with your apprehensions?" demanded O-Tar. +"Be this loyalty?" +</P> + +<P> +"I feared, O mighty jeddak!" replied E-Thas. "I feared that you would +not understand and that you would be angry." +</P> + +<P> +"What know you? Speak the whole truth!" commanded O-Tar. +</P> + +<P> +"There is much unrest among the chieftains and the warriors," replied +E-Thas. "Even those who were your friends fear the power of those who +speak against you." +</P> + +<P> +"What say they?" growled the jeddak. +</P> + +<P> +"They say that you are afraid to enter the apartments of O-Mai in +search of the slave Turan—oh, do not be angry with me, Jeddak; it is +but what they say that I repeat. I, your loyal E-Thas, believe no such +foul slander." +</P> + +<P> +"No, no; why should I fear?" demanded O-Tar. "We do not know that he is +there. Did not my chiefs go thither and see nothing of him?" +</P> + +<P> +"But they say that you did not go," pursued E-Thas, "and that they will +have none of a coward upon the throne of Manator." +</P> + +<P> +"They said that treason?" O-Tar almost shouted. +</P> + +<P> +"They said that and more, great jeddak," answered the major-domo. "They +said that not only did you fear to enter the chambers of O-Mai, but +that you feared the slave Turan, and they blame you for your treatment +of A-Kor, whom they all believe to have been murdered at your command. +They were fond of A-Kor and there are many now who say aloud that A-Kor +would have made a wondrous jeddak." +</P> + +<P> +"They dare?" screamed O-Tar. "They dare suggest the name of a slave's +bastard for the throne of O-Tar!" +</P> + +<P> +"He is your son, O-Tar," E-Thas reminded him, "nor is there a more +beloved man in Manator—I but speak to you of facts which may not be +ignored, and I dare do so because only when you realize the truth may +you seek a cure for the ills that draw about your throne." +</P> + +<P> +O-Tar had slumped down upon his bench—suddenly he looked shrunken and +tired and old. "Cursed be the day," he cried, "that saw those three +strangers enter the city of Manator. Would that U-Dor had been spared +to me. He was strong—my enemies feared him; but he is gone—dead at +the hands of that hateful slave, Turan; may the curse of Issus be upon +him!" +</P> + +<P> +"My jeddak, what shall we do?" begged E-Thas. "Cursing the slave will +not solve your problems." +</P> + +<P> +"But the great feast and the marriage is but three days off," pleaded +O-Tar. "It shall be a great gala occasion. The warriors and the chiefs +all know that—it is the custom. Upon that day gifts and honors shall +be bestowed. Tell me, who are most bitter against me? I will send you +among them and let it be known that I am planning rewards for their +past services to the throne. We will make jeds of chiefs and chiefs of +warriors, and grant them palaces and slaves. Eh, E-Thas?" +</P> + +<P> +The other shook his head. "It will not do, O-Tar. They will have +nothing of your gifts or honors. I have heard them say as much." +</P> + +<P> +"What do they want?" demanded O-Tar. +</P> + +<P> +"They want a jeddak as brave as the bravest," replied E-Thas, though +his knees shook as he said it. +</P> + +<P> +"They think I am a coward?" cried the jeddak. +</P> + +<P> +"They say you are afraid to go to the apartments of O-mai the Cruel." +</P> + +<P> +For a long time O-Tar sat, his head sunk upon his breast, staring +blankly at the floor. +</P> + +<P> +"Tell them," he said at last in a hollow voice that sounded not at all +like the voice of a great jeddak; "tell them that I will go to the +chambers of O-Mai and search for Turan the slave." +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap21"></A> +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +CHAPTER XXI +</H3> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +A RISK FOR LOVE +</H3> + +<P> +"Ey, ey, he is a craven and he called me 'doddering fool'!" The speaker +was I-Gos and he addressed a knot of chieftains in one of the chambers +of the palace of O-Tar, Jeddak of Manator: "If A-Kor was alive there +were a jeddak for us!" +</P> + +<P> +"Who says that A-Kor is dead?" demanded one of the chiefs. +</P> + +<P> +"Where is he then?" asked I-Gos. "Have not others disappeared whom +O-Tar thought too well beloved for men so near the throne as they?" +</P> + +<P> +The chief shook his head. "And I thought that, or knew it, rather; I'd +join U-Thor at The Gate of Enemies." +</P> + +<P> +"S-s-st," cautioned one; "here comes the licker of feet," and all eyes +were turned upon the approaching E-Thas. +</P> + +<P> +"Kaor, friends!" he exclaimed as he stopped among them, but his +friendly greeting elicited naught but a few surly nods. "Have you heard +the news?" he continued, unabashed by treatment to which he was +becoming accustomed. +</P> + +<P> +"What—has O-Tar seen an ulsio and fainted?" demanded I-Gos with broad +sarcasm. +</P> + +<P> +"Men have died for less than that, ancient one," E-Thas reminded him. +</P> + +<P> +"I am safe," retorted I-Gos, "for I am not a brave and popular son of +the jeddak of Manator." +</P> + +<P> +This was indeed open treason, but E-Thas feigned not to hear it. He +ignored I-Gos and turned to the others. "O-Tar goes to the chamber of +O-Mai this night in search of Turan the slave," he said. "He sorrows +that his warriors have not the courage for so mean a duty and that +their jeddak is thus compelled to arrest a common slave," with which +taunt E-Thas passed on to spread the word in other parts of the palace. +As a matter of fact the latter part of his message was purely original +with himself, and he took great delight in delivering it to the +discomfiture of his enemies. As he was leaving the little group of men +I-Gos called after him. "At what hour does O-Tar intend visiting the +chambers of O-Mai?" he asked. +</P> + +<P> +"Toward the end of the eighth zode*," replied the major-domo, and went +his way. +</P> + +<P CLASS="footnote"> +* About 1:00 A. M. Earth Time. +</P> + +<BR> + +<P> +"We shall see," stated I-Gos. +</P> + +<P> +"What shall we see?" asked a warrior. +</P> + +<P> +"We shall see whether O-Tar visits the chamber of O-Mai." +</P> + +<P> +"How?" +</P> + +<P> +"I shall be there myself and if I see him I will know that he has been +there. If I don't see him I will know that he has not," explained the +old taxidermist. +</P> + +<P> +"Is there anything there to fill an honest man with fear?" asked a +chieftain. "What have you seen?" +</P> + +<P> +"It was not so much what I saw, though that was bad enough, as what I +heard," said I-Gos. +</P> + +<P> +"Tell us! What heard and saw you?" +</P> + +<P> +"I saw the dead O-Mai," said I-Gos. The others shuddered. +</P> + +<P> +"And you went not mad?" they asked. +</P> + +<P> +"Am I mad?" retorted I-Gos. +</P> + +<P> +"And you will go again?" +</P> + +<P> +"Yes." +</P> + +<P> +"Then indeed you are mad," cried one. +</P> + +<P> +"You saw the dead O-Mai; but what heard you that was worse?" whispered +another. +</P> + +<P> +"I saw the dead O-Mai lying upon the floor of his sleeping chamber with +one foot tangled in the sleeping silks and furs upon his couch. I heard +horrid moans and frightful screams." +</P> + +<P> +"And you are not afraid to go there again?" demanded several. +</P> + +<P> +"The dead cannot harm me," said I-Gos. "He has lain thus for five +thousand years. Nor can a sound harm me. I heard it once and live—I +can hear it again. It came from almost at my side where I hid behind +the hangings and watched the slave Turan before I snatched the woman +away from him." +</P> + +<P> +"I-Gos, you are a very brave man," said a chieftain. +</P> + +<P> +"O-Tar called me 'doddering fool' and I would face worse dangers than +lie in the forbidden chambers of O-Mai to know it if he does not visit +the chamber of O-Mai. Then indeed shall O-Tar fall!" +</P> + +<P> +The night came and the zodes dragged and the time approached when +O-Tar, Jeddak of Manator, was to visit the chamber of O-Mai in search +of the slave Turan. To us, who may doubt the existence of malignant +spirits, his fear may seem unbelievable, for he was a strong man, an +excellent swordsman, and a warrior of great repute; but the fact +remained that O-Tar of Manator was nervous with apprehension as he +strode the corridors of his palace toward the deserted halls of O-Mai +and when he stood at last with his hand upon the door that opened from +the dusty corridor to the very apartments themselves he was almost +paralyzed with terror. He had come alone for two very excellent +reasons, the first of which was that thus none might note his +terror-stricken state nor his defection should he fail at the last +moment, and the other was that should he accomplish the thing alone or +be able to make his chiefs believe that he had, the credit would be far +greater than were he to be accompanied by warriors. +</P> + +<P> +But though he had started alone he had become aware that he was being +followed, and he knew that it was because his people had no faith in +either his courage or his veracity. He did not believe that he would +find the slave Turan. He did not very much want to find him, for though +O-Tar was an excellent swordsman and a brave warrior in physical +combat, he had seen how Turan had played with U-Dor and he had no +stomach for a passage at arms with one whom he knew outclassed him. +</P> + +<P> +And so O-Tar stood with his hand upon the door—afraid to enter; afraid +not to. But at last his fear of his own warriors, watching behind him, +grew greater than the fear of the unknown behind the ancient door and +he pushed the heavy skeel aside and entered. +</P> + +<P> +Silence and gloom and the dust of centuries lay heavy upon the chamber. +From his warriors he knew the route that he must take to the horrid +chamber of O-Mai and so he forced his unwilling feet across the room +before him, across the room where the jetan players sat at their +eternal game, and came to the short corridor that led into the room of +O-Mai. His naked sword trembled in his grasp. He paused after each +forward step to listen and when he was almost at the door of the +ghost-haunted chamber, his heart stood still within his breast and the +cold sweat broke from the clammy skin of his forehead, for from within +there came to his affrighted ears the sound of muffled breathing. Then +it was that O-Tar of Manator came near to fleeing from the nameless +horror that he could not see, but that he knew lay waiting for him in +that chamber just ahead. But again came the fear of the wrath and +contempt of his warriors and his chiefs. They would degrade him and +they would slay him into the bargain. There was no doubt of what his +fate would be should he flee the apartments of O-Mai in terror. His +only hope, therefore, lay in daring the unknown in preference to the +known. +</P> + +<P> +He moved forward. A few steps took him to the doorway. The chamber +before him was darker than the corridor, so that he could just +indistinctly make out the objects in the room. He saw a sleeping dais +near the center, with a darker blotch of something lying on the marble +floor beside it. He moved a step farther into the doorway and the +scabbard of his sword scraped against the stone frame. To his horror he +saw the sleeping silks and furs upon the central dais move. He saw a +figure slowly arising to a sitting posture from the death bed of O-Mai +the Cruel. His knees shook, but he gathered all his moral forces, and +gripping his sword more tightly in his trembling fingers prepared to +leap across the chamber upon the horrid apparition. He hesitated just a +moment. He felt eyes upon him—ghoulish eyes that bored through the +darkness into his withering heart—eyes that he could not see. He +gathered himself for the rush—and then there broke from the thing upon +the couch an awful shriek, and O-Tar sank senseless to the floor. +</P> + +<P> +Gahan rose from the couch of O-Mai, smiling, only to swing quickly +about with drawn sword as the shadow of a noise impinged upon his keen +ears from the shadows behind him. Between the parted hangings he saw a +bent and wrinkled figure. It was I-Gos. +</P> + +<P> +"Sheathe your sword, Turan," said the old man. "You have naught to fear +from I-Gos." +</P> + +<P> +"What do you here?" demanded Gahan. +</P> + +<P> +"I came to make sure that the great coward did not cheat us. Ey, and he +called me 'doddering fool;' but look at him now! Stricken insensible by +terror, but, ey, one might forgive him that who had heard your uncanny +scream. It all but blasted my own courage. And it was you, then, who +moaned and screamed when the chiefs came the day that I stole Tara from +you?" +</P> + +<P> +"It was you, then, old scoundrel?" demanded Gahan, moving threateningly +toward I-Gos. +</P> + +<P> +"Come, come!" expostulated the old man; "it was I, but then I was your +enemy. I would not do it now. Conditions have changed." +</P> + +<P> +"How have they changed? What has changed them?" asked Gahan. +</P> + +<P> +"Then I did not fully realize the cowardice of my jeddak, or the +bravery of you and the girl. I am an old man from another age and I +love courage. At first I resented the girl's attack upon me, but later +I came to see the bravery of it and it won my admiration, as have all +her acts. She feared not O-Tar, she feared not me, she feared not all +the warriors of Manator. And you! Blood of a million sires! how you +fight! I am sorry that I exposed you at The Fields of Jetan. I am sorry +that I dragged the girl Tara back to O-Tar. I would make amends. I +would be your friend. Here is my sword at your feet," and drawing his +weapon I-Gos cast it to the floor in front of Gahan. +</P> + +<P> +The Gatholian knew that scarce the most abandoned of knaves would +repudiate this solemn pledge, and so he stooped, and picking up the old +man's sword returned it to him, hilt first, in acceptance of his +friendship. +</P> + +<P> +"Where is the Princess Tara of Helium?" asked Gahan. "Is she safe?" +</P> + +<P> +"She is confined in the tower of the women's quarters awaiting the +ceremony that is to make her Jeddara of Manator," replied I-Gos. +</P> + +<P> +"This thing dared think that Tara of Helium would mate with him?" +growled Gahan. "I will make short work of him if he is not already dead +from fright," and he stepped toward the fallen O-Tar to run his sword +through the jeddak's heart. +</P> + +<P> +"No!" cried I-Gos. "Slay him not and pray that he be not dead if you +would save your princess." +</P> + +<P> +"How is that?" asked Gahan. +</P> + +<P> +"If word of O-Tar's death reached the quarters of the women the +Princess Tara would be lost. They know O-Tar's intention of taking her +to wife and making her Jeddara of Manator, so you may rest assured that +they all hate her with the hate of jealous women. Only O-Tar's power +protects her now from harm. Should O-Tar die they would turn her over +to the warriors and the male slaves, for there would be none to avenge +her." +</P> + +<P> +Gahan sheathed his sword. "Your point is well taken; but what shall we +do with him?" +</P> + +<P> +"Leave him where he lies," counseled I-Gos. "He is not dead. When he +revives he will return to his quarters with a fine tale of his bravery +and there will be none to impugn his boasts—none but I-Gos. Come! he +may revive at any moment and he must not find us here." +</P> + +<P> +I-Gos crossed to the body of his jeddak, knelt beside it for an +instant, and then returned past the couch to Gahan. The two quit the +chamber of O-Mai and took their way toward the spiral runway. Here +I-Gos led Gahan to a higher level and out upon the roof of that portion +of the palace from where he pointed to a high tower quite close by. +"There," he said, "lies the Princess of Helium, and quite safe she will +be until the time of the ceremony." +</P> + +<P> +"Safe, possibly, from other hands, but not from her own," said Gahan. +"She will never become Jeddara of Manator—first will she destroy +herself." +</P> + +<P> +"She would do that?" asked I-Gos. +</P> + +<P> +"She will, unless you can get word to her that I still live and that +there is yet hope," replied Gahan. +</P> + +<P> +"I cannot get word to her," said I-Gos. "The quarters of his women +O-Tar guards with jealous hand. Here are his most trusted slaves and +warriors, yet even so, thick among them are countless spies, so that no +man knows which be which. No shadow falls within those chambers that is +not marked by a hundred eyes." +</P> + +<P> +Gahan stood gazing at the lighted windows of the high tower in the +upper chambers of which Tara of Helium was confined. "I will find a +way, I-Gos," he said. +</P> + +<P> +"There is no way," replied the old man. +</P> + +<P> +For some time they stood upon the roof beneath the brilliant stars and +hurtling moons of dying Mars, laying their plans against the time that +Tara of Helium should be brought from the high tower to the throne room +of O-Tar. It was then, and then alone, argued I-Gos, that any hope of +rescuing her might be entertained. Just how far he might trust the +other Gahan did not know, and so he kept to himself the knowledge of +the plan that he had forwarded to Floran and Val Dor by Ghek, but he +assured the ancient taxidermist that if he were sincere in his +oft-repeated declaration that O-Tar should be denounced and superseded +he would have his opportunity on the night that the jeddak sought to +wed the Heliumetic princess. +</P> + +<P> +"Your time shall come then, I-Gos," Gahan assured the other, "and if +you have any party that thinks as you do, prepare them for the +eventuality that will succeed O-Tar's presumptuous attempt to wed the +daughter of The Warlord. Where shall I see you again, and when? I go +now to speak with Tara, Princess of Helium." +</P> + +<P> +"I like your boldness," said I-Gos; "but it will avail you naught. You +will not speak with Tara, Princess of Helium, though doubtless the +blood of many Manatorians will drench the floors of the women's +quarters before you are slain." +</P> + +<P> +Gahan smiled. "I shall not be slain. Where and when shall we meet? But +you may find me in O-Mai's chamber at night. That seems the safest +retreat in all Manator for an enemy of the jeddak in whose palace it +lies. I go!" +</P> + +<P> +"And may the spirits of your ancestors surround you," said I-Gos. +</P> + +<P> +After the old man had left him Gahan made his way across the roof to +the high tower, which appeared to have been constructed of concrete and +afterward elaborately carved, its entire surface being covered with +intricate designs cut deep into the stone-like material of which it was +composed. Though wrought ages since, it was but little weather-worn +owing to the aridity of the Martian atmosphere, the infrequency of +rains, and the rarity of dust storms. To scale it, though, presented +difficulties and danger that might have deterred the bravest of +men—that would, doubtless, have deterred Gahan, had he not felt that +the life of the woman he loved depended upon his accomplishing the +hazardous feat. +</P> + +<P> +Removing his sandals and laying aside all of his harness and weapons +other than a single belt supporting a dagger, the Gatholian essayed the +dangerous ascent. Clinging to the carvings with hands and feet he +worked himself slowly aloft, avoiding the windows and keeping upon the +shadowy side of the tower, away from the light of Thuria and Cluros. +The tower rose some fifty feet above the roof of the adjacent part of +the palace, comprising five levels or floors with windows looking in +every direction. A few of the windows were balconied, and these more +than the others he sought to avoid, although, it being now near the +close of the ninth zode, there was little likelihood that many were +awake within the tower. +</P> + +<P> +His progress was noiseless and he came at last, undetected, to the +windows of the upper level. These, like several of the others he had +passed at lower levels, were heavily barred, so that there was no +possibility of his gaining ingress to the apartment where Tara was +confined. Darkness hid the interior behind the first window that he +approached. The second opened upon a lighted chamber where he could see +a guard sleeping at his post outside a door. Here also was the top of +the runway leading to the next level below. Passing still farther +around the tower Gahan approached another window, but now he clung to +that side of the tower which ended in a courtyard a hundred feet below +and in a short time the light of Thuria would reach him. He realized +that he must hasten and he prayed that behind the window he now +approached he would find Tara of Helium. +</P> + +<P> +Coming to the opening he looked in upon a small chamber dimly lighted. +In the center was a sleeping dais upon which a human form lay beneath +silks and furs. A bare arm, protruding from the coverings, lay exposed +against a black and yellow striped orluk skin—an arm of wondrous +beauty about which was clasped an armlet that Gahan knew. No other +creature was visible within the chamber, all of which was exposed to +Gahan's view. Pressing his face to the bars the Gatholian whispered her +dear name. The girl stirred, but did not awaken. Again he called, but +this time louder. Tara sat up and looked about and at the same instant +a huge eunuch leaped to his feet from where he had been lying on the +floor close by that side of the dais farthest from Gahan. +Simultaneously the brilliant light of Thuria flashed full upon the +window where Gahan clung silhouetting him plainly to the two within. +</P> + +<P> +Both sprang to their feet. The eunuch drew his sword and leaped for the +window where the helpless Gahan would have fallen an easy victim to a +single thrust of the murderous weapon the fellow bore, had not Tara of +Helium leaped upon her guard dragging him back. At the same time she +drew the slim dagger from its hiding place in her harness and even as +the eunuch sought to hurl her aside its keen point found his heart. +Without a sound he died and lunged forward to the floor. Then Tara ran +to the window. +</P> + +<P> +"Turan, my chief!" she cried. "What awful risk is this you take to seek +me here, where even your brave heart is powerless to aid me." +</P> + +<P> +"Be not so sure of that, heart of my heart," he replied. "While I bring +but words to my love, they be the forerunner of deeds, I hope, that +will give her back to me forever. I feared that you might destroy +yourself, Tara of Helium, to escape the dishonor that O-Tar would do +you, and so I came to give you new hope and to beg that you live for me +through whatever may transpire, in the knowledge that there is yet a +way and that if all goes well we shall be freed at last. Look for me in +the throne room of O-Tar the night that he would wed you. And now, how +may we dispose of this fellow?" He pointed to the dead eunuch upon the +floor. +</P> + +<P> +"We need not concern ourselves about that," she replied. "None dares +harm me for fear of the wrath of O-Tar—otherwise I should have been +dead so soon as ever I entered this portion of the palace, for the +women hate me. O-Tar alone may punish me, and what cares O-Tar for the +life of a eunuch? No, fear not upon this score." +</P> + +<P> +Their hands were clasped between the bars and now Gahan drew her nearer +to him. +</P> + +<P> +"One kiss," he said, "before I go, my princess," and the proud daughter +of Dejah Thoris, Princess of Helium, and The Warlord of Barsoom +whispered: "My chieftain!" and pressed her lips to the lips of Turan, +the common panthan. +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap22"></A> +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +CHAPTER XXII +</H3> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +AT THE MOMENT OF MARRIAGE +</H3> + +<P> +The silence of the tomb lay heavy about him as O-Tar, Jeddak of +Manator, opened his eyes in the chamber of O-Mai. Recollection of the +frightful apparition that had confronted him swept to his +consciousness. He listened, but heard naught. Within the range of his +vision there was nothing apparent that might cause alarm. Slowly he +lifted his head and looked about. Upon the floor beside the couch lay +the thing that had at first attracted his attention and his eyes closed +in terror as he recognized it for what it was; but it moved not, nor +spoke. O-Tar opened his eyes again and rose to his feet. He was +trembling in every limb. There was nothing on the dais from which he +had seen the thing arise. +</P> + +<P> +O-Tar backed slowly from the room. At last he gained the outer +corridor. It was empty. He did not know that it had emptied rapidly as +the loud scream with which his own had mingled had broken upon the +startled ears of the warriors who had been sent to spy upon him. He +looked at the timepiece set in a massive bracelet upon his left +forearm. The ninth zode was nearly half gone. O-Tar had lain for an +hour unconscious. He had spent an hour in the chamber of O-Mai and he +was not dead! He had looked upon the face of his predecessor and was +still sane! He shook himself and smiled. Rapidly he subdued his +rebelliously shaking nerves, so that by the time he reached the +tenanted portion of the palace he had gained control of himself. He +walked with chin high and something of a swagger. To the banquet hall +he went, knowing that his chiefs awaited him there and as he entered +they arose and upon the faces of many were incredulity and amaze, for +they had not thought to see O-Tar the jeddak again after what the spies +had told them of the horrid sounds issuing from the chamber of O-Mai. +Thankful was O-Tar that he had gone alone to that chamber of fright, +for now no one could deny the tale that he should tell. +</P> + +<P> +E-Thas rushed forward to greet him, for E-Thas had seen black looks +directed toward him as the tals slipped by and his benefactor failed to +return. +</P> + +<P> +"O brave and glorious jeddak!" cried the major-domo. "We rejoice at +your safe return and beg of you the story of your adventure." +</P> + +<P> +"It was naught," exclaimed O-Tar. "I searched the chambers carefully +and waited in hiding for the return of the slave, Turan, if he were +temporarily away; but he came not. He is not there and I doubt if he +ever goes there. Few men would choose to remain long in such a dismal +place." +</P> + +<P> +"You were not attacked?" asked E-Thas. "You heard no screams, nor +moans?" +</P> + +<P> +"I heard hideous noises and saw phantom figures; but they fled before +me so that never could I lay hold of one, and I looked upon the face of +O-Mai and I am not mad. I even rested in the chamber beside his corpse." +</P> + +<P> +In a far corner of the room a bent and wrinkled old man hid a smile +behind a golden goblet of strong brew. +</P> + +<P> +"Come! Let us drink!" cried O-Tar and reached for the dagger, the +pommel of which he was accustomed to use to strike the gong which +summoned slaves, but the dagger was not in its scabbard. O-Tar was +puzzled. He knew that it had been there just before he entered the +chamber of O-Mai, for he had carefully felt of all his weapons to make +sure that none was missing. He seized instead a table utensil and +struck the gong, and when the slaves came bade them bring the strongest +brew for O-Tar and his chiefs. Before the dawn broke many were the +expressions of admiration bellowed from drunken lips—admiration for +the courage of their jeddak; but some there were who still looked glum. +</P> + +<HR ALIGN="center" WIDTH="60%"> + +<P> +Came at last the day that O-Tar would take the Princess Tara of Helium +to wife. For hours slaves prepared the unwilling bride. Seven perfumed +baths occupied three long and weary hours, then her whole body was +anointed with the oil of pimalia blossoms and massaged by the deft +fingers of a slave from distant Dusar. Her harness, all new and wrought +for the occasion was of the white hide of the great white apes of +Barsoom, hung heavily with platinum and diamonds—fairly encrusted with +them. The glossy mass of her jet hair had been built into a coiffure of +stately and becoming grandeur, into which diamond-headed pins were +stuck until the whole scintillated as the stars in heaven upon a +moonless night. +</P> + +<P> +But it was a sullen and defiant bride that they led from the high tower +toward the throne room of O-Tar. The corridors were filled with slaves +and warriors, and the women of the palace and the city who had been +commanded to attend the ceremony. All the power and pride, wealth and +beauty of Manator were there. +</P> + +<P> +Slowly Tara, surrounded by a heavy guard of honor, moved along the +marble corridors filled with people. At the entrance to The Hall of +Chiefs E-Thas, the major-domo, received her. The Hall was empty except +for its ranks of dead chieftains upon their dead mounts. Through this +long chamber E-Thas escorted her to the throne room which also was +empty, the marriage ceremony in Manator differing from that of other +countries of Barsoom. Here the bride would await the groom at the foot +of the steps leading to the throne. The guests followed her in and took +their places, leaving the central aisle from The Hall of Chiefs to the +throne clear, for up this O-Tar would approach his bride alone after a +short solitary communion with the dead behind closed doors in The Hall +of Chiefs. It was the custom. +</P> + +<P> +The guests had all filed through The Hall of Chiefs; the doors at both +ends had been closed. Presently those at the lower end of the hall +opened and O-Tar entered. His black harness was ornamented with rubies +and gold; his face was covered by a grotesque mask of the precious +metal in which two enormous rubies were set for eyes, though below them +were narrow slits through which the wearer could see. His crown was a +fillet supporting carved feathers of the same metal as the mask. To the +least detail his regalia was that demanded of a royal bridegroom by the +customs of Manator, and now in accordance with that same custom he came +alone to The Hall of Chiefs to receive the blessings and the council of +the great ones of Manator who had preceded him. +</P> + +<P> +As the doors at the lower end of the Hall closed behind him O-Tar the +Jeddak stood alone with the great dead. By the dictates of ages no +mortal eye might look upon the scene enacted within that sacred +chamber. As the mighty of Manator respected the traditions of Manator, +let us, too, respect those traditions of a proud and sensitive people. +Of what concern to us the happenings in that solemn chamber of the dead? +</P> + +<P> +Five minutes passed. The bride stood silently at the foot of the +throne. The guests spoke together in low whispers until the room was +filled with the hum of many voices. At length the doors leading into +The Hall of Chiefs swung open, and the resplendent bridegroom stood +framed for a moment in the massive opening. A hush fell upon the +wedding guests. With measured and impressive step the groom approached +the bride. Tara felt the muscles of her heart contract with the +apprehension that had been growing upon her as the coils of Fate +settled more closely about her and no sign came from Turan. Where was +he? What, indeed, could he accomplish now to save her? Surrounded by +the power of O-Tar with never a friend among them, her position seemed +at last without vestige of hope. +</P> + +<P> +"I still live!" she whispered inwardly in a last brave attempt to +combat the terrible hopelessness that was overwhelming her, but her +fingers stole for reassurance to the slim blade that she had managed to +transfer, undetected, from her old harness to the new. And now the +groom was at her side and taking her hand was leading her up the steps +to the throne, before which they halted and stood facing the gathering +below. Came then, from the back of the room a procession headed by the +high dignitary whose office it was to make these two man and wife, and +directly behind him a richly-clad youth bearing a silken pillow on +which lay the golden handcuffs connected by a short length of +chain-of-gold with which the ceremony would be concluded when the +dignitary clasped a handcuff about the wrist of each symbolizing their +indissoluble union in the holy bonds of wedlock. +</P> + +<P> +Would Turan's promised succor come too late? Tara listened to the long, +monotonous intonation of the wedding service. She heard the virtues of +O-Tar extolled and the beauties of the bride. The moment was +approaching and still no sign of Turan. But what could he accomplish +should he succeed in reaching the throne room, other than to die with +her? There could be no hope of rescue. +</P> + +<P> +The dignitary lifted the golden handcuffs from the pillow upon which +they reposed. He blessed them and reached for Tara's wrist. The time +had come! The thing could go no further, for alive or dead, by all the +laws of Barsoom she would be the wife of O-Tar of Manator the instant +the two were locked together. Even should rescue come then or later she +could never dissolve those bonds and Turan would be lost to her as +surely as though death separated them. +</P> + +<P> +Her hand stole toward the hidden blade, but instantly the hand of the +groom shot out and seized her wrist. He had guessed her intention. +Through the slits in the grotesque mask she could see his eyes upon her +and she guessed the sardonic smile that the mask hid. For a tense +moment the two stood thus. The people below them kept breathless +silence for the play before the throne had not passed unnoticed. +</P> + +<P> +Dramatic as was the moment it was suddenly rendered trebly so by the +noisy opening of the doors leading to The Hall of Chiefs. All eyes +turned in the direction of the interruption to see another figure +framed in the massive opening—a half-clad figure buckling the +half-adjusted harness hurriedly in place—the figure of O-Tar, Jeddak +of Manator. +</P> + +<P> +"Stop!" he screamed, springing forward along the aisle toward the +throne. "Seize the impostor!" +</P> + +<P> +All eyes shot to the figure of the groom before the throne. They saw +him raise his hand and snatch off the golden mask, and Tara of Helium +in wide-eyed incredulity looked up into the face of Turan the panthan. +</P> + +<P> +"Turan the slave," they cried then. "Death to him! Death to him!" +</P> + +<P> +"Wait!" shouted Turan, drawing his sword, as a dozen warriors leaped +forward. +</P> + +<P> +"Wait!" screamed another voice, old and cracked, as I-Gos, the ancient +taxidermist, sprang from among the guests and reached the throne steps +ahead of the foremost warriors. +</P> + +<P> +At sight of the old man the warriors paused, for age is held in great +veneration among the peoples of Barsoom, as is true, perhaps, of all +peoples whose religion is based to any extent upon ancestor worship. +But O-Tar gave no heed to him, leaping instead swiftly toward the +throne. "Stop, coward!" cried I-Gos. +</P> + +<P> +The people looked at the little old man in amazement. "Men of Manator," +he cackled in his thin, shrill voice, "wouldst be ruled by a coward and +a liar?" +</P> + +<P> +"Down with him!" shouted O-Tar. +</P> + +<P> +"Not until I have spoken," retorted I-Gos. "It is my right. If I fail +my life is forfeit—that you all know and I know. I demand therefore to +be heard. It is my right!" +</P> + +<P> +"It is his right," echoed the voices of a score of warriors in various +parts of the chamber. +</P> + +<P> +"That O-Tar is a coward and a liar I can prove," continued I-Gos. "He +said that he faced bravely the horrors of the chamber of O-Mai and saw +nothing of the slave Turan. I was there, hiding behind the hangings, +and I saw all that transpired. Turan had been hiding in the chamber and +was even then lying upon the couch of O-Mai when O-Tar, trembling with +fear, entered the room. Turan, disturbed, arose to a sitting position +at the same time voicing a piercing shriek. O-Tar screamed and swooned." +</P> + +<P> +"It is a lie!" cried O-Tar. +</P> + +<P> +"It is not a lie and I can prove it," retorted I-Gos. "Didst notice the +night that he returned from the chambers of O-Mai and was boasting of +his exploit, that when he would summon slaves to bring wine he reached +for his dagger to strike the gong with its pommel as is always his +custom? Didst note that, any of you? And that he had no dagger? O-Tar, +where is the dagger that you carried into the chamber of O-Mai? You do +not know; but I know. While you lay in the swoon of terror I took it +from your harness and hid it among the sleeping silks upon the couch of +O-Mai. There it is even now, and if any doubt it let them go thither +and there they will find it and know the cowardice of their jeddak." +</P> + +<P> +"But what of this impostor?" demanded one. "Shall he stand with +impunity upon the throne of Manator whilst we squabble about our ruler?" +</P> + +<P> +"It is through his bravery that you have learned the cowardice of +O-Tar," replied I-Gos, "and through him you will be given a greater +jeddak." +</P> + +<P> +"We will choose our own jeddak. Seize and slay the slave!" There were +cries of approval from all parts of the room. Gahan was listening +intently, as though for some hoped-for sound. He saw the warriors +approaching the dais, where he now stood with drawn sword and with one +arm about Tara of Helium. He wondered if his plans had miscarried after +all. If they had it would mean death for him, and he knew that Tara +would take her life if he fell. Had he, then, served her so futilely +after all his efforts? +</P> + +<P> +Several warriors were urging the necessity for sending at once to the +chamber of O-Mai to search for the dagger that would prove, if found, +the cowardice of O-Tar. At last three consented to go. "You need not +fear," I-Gos assured them. "There is naught there to harm you. I have +been there often of late and Turan the slave has slept there for these +many nights. The screams and moans that frightened you and O-Tar were +voiced by Turan to drive you away from his hiding place." Shamefacedly +the three left the apartment to search for O-Tar's dagger. +</P> + +<P> +And now the others turned their attention once more to Gahan. They +approached the throne with bared swords, but they came slowly for they +had seen this slave upon the Field of Jetan and they knew the prowess +of his arm. They had reached the foot of the steps when from far above +there sounded a deep boom, and another, and another, and Turan smiled +and breathed a sigh of relief. Perhaps, after all, it had not come too +late. The warriors stopped and listened as did the others in the +chamber. Now there broke upon their ears a loud rattle of musketry and +it all came from above as though men were fighting upon the roofs of +the palace. +</P> + +<P> +"What is it?" they demanded, one of the other. +</P> + +<P> +"A great storm has broken over Manator," said one. +</P> + +<P> +"Mind not the storm until you have slain the creature who dares stand +upon the throne of your jeddak," demanded O-Tar. "Seize him!" +</P> + +<P> +Even as he ceased speaking the arras behind the throne parted and a +warrior stepped forth upon the dais. An exclamation of surprise and +dismay broke from the lips of the warriors of O-Tar. "U-Thor!" they +cried. "What treason is this?" +</P> + +<P> +"It is no treason," said U-Thor in his deep voice. "I bring you a new +jeddak for all of Manator. No lying poltroon, but a courageous man whom +you all love." +</P> + +<P> +He stepped aside then and another emerged from the corridor hidden by +the arras. It was A-Kor, and at sight of him there rose exclamations of +surprise, of pleasure, and of anger, as the various factions recognized +the coup d'état that had been arranged so cunningly. Behind A-Kor came +other warriors until the dais was crowded with them—all men of Manator +from the city of Manatos. +</P> + +<P> +O-Tar was exhorting his warriors to attack, when a bloody and +disheveled padwar burst into the chamber through a side entrance. "The +city has fallen!" he cried aloud. "The hordes of Manatos pour through +The Gate of Enemies. The slaves from Gathol have arisen and destroyed +the palace guards. Great ships are landing warriors upon the palace +roof and in the Fields of Jetan. The men of Helium and Gathol are +marching through Manator. They cry aloud for the Princess of Helium and +swear to leave Manator a blazing funeral pyre consuming the bodies of +all our people. The skies are black with ships. They come in great +processions from the east and from the south." +</P> + +<P> +And then once more the doors from The Hall of Chiefs swung wide and the +men of Manator turned to see another figure standing upon the +threshold—a mighty figure of a man with white skin, and black hair, +and gray eyes that glittered now like points of steel and behind him +The Hall of Chiefs was filled with fighting men wearing the harness of +far countries. Tara of Helium saw him and her heart leaped in +exultation, for it was John Carter, Warlord of Barsoom, come at the +head of a victorious host to the rescue of his daughter, and at his +side was Djor Kantos to whom she had been betrothed. +</P> + +<P> +The Warlord eyed the assemblage for a moment before he spoke. "Lay down +your arms, men of Manator," he said. "I see my daughter and that she +lives, and if no harm has befallen her no blood need be shed. Your city +is filled with the fighting men of U-Thor, and those from Gathol and +from Helium. The palace is in the hands of the slaves from Gathol, +beside a thousand of my own warriors who fill the halls and chambers +surrounding this room. The fate of your jeddak lies in your own hands. +I have no wish to interfere. I come only for my daughter and to free +the slaves from Gathol. I have spoken!" and without waiting for a reply +and as though the room had been filled with his own people rather than +a hostile band he strode up the broad main aisle toward Tara of Helium. +</P> + +<P> +The chiefs of Manator were stunned. They looked to O-Tar; but he could +only gaze helplessly about him as the enemy entered from The Hall of +Chiefs and circled the throne room until they had surrounded the entire +company. And then a dwar of the army of Helium entered. +</P> + +<P> +"We have captured three chiefs," he reported to The Warlord, "who beg +that they be permitted to enter the throne room and report to their +fellows some matter which they say will decide the fate of Manator." +</P> + +<P> +"Fetch them," ordered The Warlord. +</P> + +<P> +They came, heavily guarded, to the foot of the steps leading to the +throne and there they stopped and the leader turned toward the others +of Manator and raising high his right hand displayed a jeweled dagger. +"We found it," he said, "even where I-Gos said that we would find it," +and he looked menacingly upon O-Tar. +</P> + +<P> +"A-Kor, jeddak of Manator!" cried a voice, and the cry was taken up by +a hundred hoarse-throated warriors. +</P> + +<P> +"There can be but one jeddak in Manator," said the chief who held the +dagger; his eyes still fixed upon the hapless O-Tar he crossed to where +the latter stood and holding the dagger upon an outstretched palm +proffered it to the discredited ruler. "There can be but one jeddak in +Manator," he repeated meaningly. +</P> + +<P> +O-Tar took the proffered blade and drawing himself to his full height +plunged it to the guard into his breast, in that single act redeeming +himself in the esteem of his people and winning an eternal place in The +Hall of Chiefs. +</P> + +<P> +As he fell all was silence in the great room, to be broken presently by +the voice of U-Thor. "O-Tar is dead!" he cried. "Let A-Kor rule until +the chiefs of all Manator may be summoned to choose a new jeddak. What +is your answer?" +</P> + +<P> +"Let A-Kor rule! A-Kor, Jeddak of Manator!" The cries filled the room +and there was no dissenting voice. +</P> + +<P> +A-Kor raised his sword for silence. "It is the will of A-Kor," he said, +"and that of the Great Jed of Manatos, and the commander of the fleet +from Gathol, and of the illustrious John Carter, Warlord of Barsoom, +that peace lie upon the city of Manator and so I decree that the men of +Manator go forth and welcome the fighting men of these our allies as +guests and friends and show them the wonders of our ancient city and +the hospitality of Manator. I have spoken." And U-Thor and John Carter +dismissed their warriors and bade them accept the hospitality of +Manator. As the room emptied Djor Kantos reached the side of Tara of +Helium. The girl's happiness at rescue had been blighted by sight of +this man whom her virtuous heart told her she had wronged. She dreaded +the ordeal that lay before her and the dishonor that she must admit +before she could hope to be freed from the understanding that had for +long existed between them. And now Djor Kantos approached and kneeling +raised her fingers to his lips. +</P> + +<P> +"Beautiful daughter of Helium," he said, "how may I tell you the thing +that I must tell you—of the dishonor that I have all unwittingly done +you? I can but throw myself upon your generosity for forgiveness; but +if you demand it I can receive the dagger as honorably as did O-Tar." +</P> + +<P> +"What do you mean?" asked Tara of Helium. "What are you talking +about—why speak thus in riddles to one whose heart is already +breaking?" +</P> + +<P> +Her heart already breaking! The outlook was anything but promising, and +the young padwar wished that he had died before ever he had had to +speak the words he now must speak. +</P> + +<P> +"Tara of Helium," he continued, "we all thought you dead. For a long +year have you been gone from Helium. I mourned you truly and then, less +than a moon since, I wed with Olvia Marthis." He stopped and looked at +her with eyes that might have said: "Now, strike me dead!" +</P> + +<P> +"Oh, foolish man!" cried Tara. "Nothing you could have done could have +pleased me more. Djor Kantos, I could kiss you!" +</P> + +<P> +"I do not think that Olvia Marthis would mind," he said, his face now +wreathed with smiles. As they spoke a body of men had entered the +throne room and approached the dais. They were tall men trapped in +plain harness, absolutely without ornamentation. Just as their leader +reached the dais Tara had turned to Gahan, motioning him to join them. +</P> + +<P> +"Djor Kantos," she said, "I bring you Turan the panthan, whose loyalty +and bravery have won my love." +</P> + +<P> +John Carter and the leader of the new come warriors, who were standing +near, looked quickly at the little group. The former smiled an +inscrutable smile, the latter addressed the Princess of Helium. "'Turan +the panthan!'" he cried. "Know you not, fair daughter of Helium, that +this man you call panthan is Gahan, Jed of Gathol?" +</P> + +<P> +For just a moment Tara of Helium looked her surprise; and then she +shrugged her beautiful shoulders as she turned her head to cast her +eyes over one of them at Gahan of Gathol. +</P> + +<P> +"Jed or panthan," she said; "what difference does it make what one's +slave has been?" and she laughed roguishly into the smiling face of her +lover. +</P> + +<HR ALIGN="center" WIDTH="60%"> + +<P> +His story finished, John Carter rose from the chair opposite me, +stretching his giant frame like some great forest-bred lion. +</P> + +<P> +"You must go?" I cried, for I hated to see him leave and it seemed that +he had been with me but a moment. +</P> + +<P> +"The sky is already red beyond those beautiful hills of yours," he +replied, "and it will soon be day." +</P> + +<P> +"Just one question before you go," I begged. +</P> + +<P> +"Well?" he assented, good-naturedly. +</P> + +<P> +"How was Gahan able to enter the throne room garbed in O-Tar's +trappings?" I asked. +</P> + +<P> +"It was simple—for Gahan of Gathol," replied The Warlord. "With the +assistance of I-Gos he crept into The Hall of Chiefs before the +ceremony, while the throne room and Hall of Chiefs were vacated to +receive the bride. He came from the pits through the corridor that +opened behind the arras at the rear of the throne, and passing into The +Hall of Chiefs took his place upon the back of a riderless thoat, whose +warrior was in I-Gos' repair room. When O-Tar entered and came near him +Gahan fell upon him and struck him with the butt of a heavy spear. He +thought that he had killed him and was surprised when O-Tar appeared to +denounce him." +</P> + +<P> +"And Ghek? What became of Ghek?" I insisted. +</P> + +<P> +"After leading Val Dor and Floran to Tara's disabled flier which they +repaired, he accompanied them to Gathol from where a message was sent +to me in Helium. He then led a large party including A-Kor and U-Thor +from the roof, where our ships landed them, down a spiral runway into +the palace and guided them to the throne room. We took him back to +Helium with us, where he still lives, with his single rykor which we +found all but starved to death in the pits of Manator. But come! No +more questions now." +</P> + +<P> +I accompanied him to the east arcade where the red dawn was glowing +beyond the arches. +</P> + +<P> +"Good-bye!" he said. +</P> + +<P> +"I can scarce believe that it is really you," I exclaimed. "Tomorrow I +will be sure that I have dreamed all this." +</P> + +<P> +He laughed and drawing his sword scratched a rude cross upon the +concrete of one of the arches. +</P> + +<P> +"If you are in doubt tomorrow," he said, "come and see if you dreamed +this." +</P> + +<P> +A moment later he was gone. +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +JETAN, OR MARTIAN CHESS +</H3> + +<P> +For those who care for such things, and would like to try the game, I +give the rules of Jetan as they were given me by John Carter. By +writing the names and moves of the various pieces on bits of paper and +pasting them on ordinary checkermen the game may be played quite as +well as with the ornate pieces used upon Mars. +</P> + +<P CLASS="noindent"> +THE BOARD: Square board consisting of one hundred alternate black and +orange squares. +</P> + +<P CLASS="noindent"> +THE PIECES: In order, as they stand upon the board in the first row, +from left to right of each player. +</P> + +<P CLASS="noindent"> +Warrior: 2 feathers; 2 spaces straight in any direction or combination. +</P> + +<P CLASS="noindent"> +Padwar: 2 feathers; 2 spaces diagonal in any direction or combination. +</P> + +<P CLASS="noindent"> +Dwar: 3 feathers; 3 spaces straight in any direction or combination. +</P> + +<P CLASS="noindent"> +Flier: 3 bladed propellor; 3 spaces diagonal in any direction or +combination; and may jump intervening pieces. +</P> + +<P CLASS="noindent"> +Chief: Diadem with ten jewels; 3 spaces in any direction; straight or +diagonal or combination. +</P> + +<P CLASS="noindent"> +Princess: Diadem with one jewel; same as Chief, except may jump +intervening pieces. +</P> + +<P CLASS="noindent"> +Flier: See above. +</P> + +<P CLASS="noindent"> +Dwar: See above. +</P> + +<P CLASS="noindent"> +Padwar: See above. +</P> + +<P CLASS="noindent"> +Warrior: See above. +</P> + +<P> +And in the second row from left to right: +</P> + +<P CLASS="noindent"> +Thoat: Mounted warrior 2 feathers; 2 spaces, one straight and one +diagonal in any direction. +</P> + +<P CLASS="noindent"> +Panthans: (8 of them): 1 feather; 1 space, forward, side, or diagonal, +but not backward. +</P> + +<P CLASS="noindent"> +Thoat: See above. +</P> + +<P> +The game is played with twenty black pieces by one player and twenty +orange by his opponent, and is presumed to have originally represented +a battle between the Black race of the south and the Yellow race of the +north. On Mars the board is usually arranged so that the Black pieces +are played from the south and the Orange from the north. +</P> + +<P> +The game is won when any piece is placed on same square with opponent's +Princess, or a Chief takes a Chief. +</P> + +<P> +The game is drawn when either Chief is taken by a piece other than the +opposing Chief, or when both sides are reduced to three pieces, or +less, of equal value and the game is not won in the ensuing ten moves, +five apiece. +</P> + +<P> +The Princess may not move onto a threatened square, nor may she take an +opposing piece. She is entitled to one ten-space move at any time +during the game. This move is called the escape. +</P> + +<P> +Two pieces may not occupy the same square except in the final move of a +game where the Princess is taken. +</P> + +<P> +When a player, moving properly and in order, places one of his pieces +upon a square occupied by an opponent piece, the opponent piece is +considered to have been killed and is removed from the game. +</P> + +<P> +The moves explained. Straight moves mean due north, south, east, or +west; diagonal moves mean northeast, southeast, southwest, or +northwest. A Dwar might move straight north three spaces, or north one +space and east two spaces, or any similar combination of straight +moves, so long as he did not cross the same square twice in a single +move. This example explains combination moves. +</P> + +<P> +The first move may be decided in any way that is agreeable to both +players; after the first game the winner of the preceding game moves +first if he chooses, or may instruct his opponent to make the first +move. +</P> + +<P> +Gambling: The Martians gamble at Jetan in several ways. Of course the +outcome of the game indicates to whom the main stake belongs; but they +also put a price upon the head of each piece, according to its value, +and for each piece that a player loses he pays its value to his +opponent. +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR><BR> + + + + + + + + +<pre> + + + + + +End of Project Gutenberg's The Chessmen of Mars, by Edgar Rice Burroughs + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE CHESSMEN OF MARS *** + +***** This file should be named 1153-h.htm or 1153-h.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + https://www.gutenberg.org/1/1/5/1153/ + +Produced by Judy Boss + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: The Chessmen of Mars + +Author: Edgar Rice Burroughs + +Posting Date: January 28, 2010 [EBook #1153] +Release Date: January, 1998 +[Last update: July 28, 2012] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ASCII + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE CHESSMEN OF MARS *** + + + + +Produced by Judy Boss + + + + + + + + + +THE CHESSMEN OF MARS + +by Edgar Rice Burroughs + + + +CONTENTS + + PRELUDE - John Carter Comes to Earth + I Tara in a Tantrum + II At the Gale's Mercy + III The Headless Humans + IV Captured + V The Perfect Brain + VI In the Toils of Horror + VII A Repellent Sight + VIII Close Work + IX Adrift Over Strange Regions + X Entrapped + XI The Choice of Tara + XII Ghek Plays Pranks + XIII A Desperate Deed + XIV At Ghek's Command + XV The Old Man of the Pits + XVI Another Change of Name + XVII A Play to the Death + XVIII A Task for Loyalty + XIX The Menace of the Dead + XX The Charge of Cowardice + XXI A Risk for Love + XXII At the Moment of Marriage + + + + + +THE CHESSMEN OF MARS + + +PRELUDE + +JOHN CARTER COMES TO EARTH + +Shea had just beaten me at chess, as usual, and, also as usual, I had +gleaned what questionable satisfaction I might by twitting him with +this indication of failing mentality by calling his attention for the +_n_th time to that theory, propounded by certain scientists, which is +based upon the assertion that phenomenal chess players are always found +to be from the ranks of children under twelve, adults over seventy-two +or the mentally defective--a theory that is lightly ignored upon those +rare occasions that I win. Shea had gone to bed and I should have +followed suit, for we are always in the saddle here before sunrise; but +instead I sat there before the chess table in the library, idly blowing +smoke at the dishonored head of my defeated king. + +While thus profitably employed I heard the east door of the living-room +open and someone enter. I thought it was Shea returning to speak with +me on some matter of tomorrow's work; but when I raised my eyes to the +doorway that connects the two rooms I saw framed there the figure of a +bronzed giant, his otherwise naked body trapped with a jewel-encrusted +harness from which there hung at one side an ornate short-sword and at +the other a pistol of strange pattern. The black hair, the steel-gray +eyes, brave and smiling, the noble features--I recognized them at once, +and leaping to my feet I advanced with outstretched hand. + +"John Carter!" I cried. "You?" + +"None other, my son," he replied, taking my hand in one of his and +placing the other upon my shoulder. + +"And what are you doing here?" I asked. "It has been long years since +you revisited Earth, and never before in the trappings of Mars. Lord! +but it is good to see you--and not a day older in appearance than when +you trotted me on your knee in my babyhood. How do you explain it, John +Carter, Warlord of Mars, or do you try to explain it?" + +"Why attempt to explain the inexplicable?" he replied. "As I have told +you before, I am a very old man. I do not know how old I am. I recall +no childhood; but recollect only having been always as you see me now +and as you saw me first when you were five years old. You, yourself, +have aged, though not as much as most men in a corresponding number of +years, which may be accounted for by the fact that the same blood runs +in our veins; but I have not aged at all. I have discussed the question +with a noted Martian scientist, a friend of mine; but his theories are +still only theories. However, I am content with the fact--I never age, +and I love life and the vigor of youth. + +"And now as to your natural question as to what brings me to Earth +again and in this, to earthly eyes, strange habiliment. We may thank +Kar Komak, the bowman of Lothar. It was he who gave me the idea upon +which I have been experimenting until at last I have achieved success. +As you know I have long possessed the power to cross the void in +spirit, but never before have I been able to impart to inanimate things +a similar power. Now, however, you see me for the first time precisely +as my Martian fellows see me--you see the very short-sword that has +tasted the blood of many a savage foeman; the harness with the devices +of Helium and the insignia of my rank; the pistol that was presented to +me by Tars Tarkas, Jeddak of Thark. + +"Aside from seeing you, which is my principal reason for being here, +and satisfying myself that I can transport inanimate things from Mars +to Earth, and therefore animate things if I so desire, I have no +purpose. Earth is not for me. My every interest is upon Barsoom--my +wife, my children, my work; all are there. I will spend a quiet evening +with you and then back to the world I love even better than I love +life." + +As he spoke he dropped into the chair upon the opposite side of the +chess table. + +"You spoke of children," I said. "Have you more than Carthoris?" + +"A daughter," he replied, "only a little younger than Carthoris, and, +barring one, the fairest thing that ever breathed the thin air of dying +Mars. Only Dejah Thoris, her mother, could be more beautiful than Tara +of Helium." + +For a moment he fingered the chessmen idly. "We have a game on Mars +similar to chess," he said, "very similar. And there is a race there +that plays it grimly with men and naked swords. We call the game jetan. +It is played on a board like yours, except that there are a hundred +squares and we use twenty pieces on each side. I never see it played +without thinking of Tara of Helium and what befell her among the +chessmen of Barsoom. Would you like to hear her story?" + +I said that I would and so he told it to me, and now I shall try to +re-tell it for you as nearly in the words of The Warlord of Mars as I +can recall them, but in the third person. If there be inconsistencies +and errors, let the blame fall not upon John Carter, but rather upon my +faulty memory, where it belongs. It is a strange tale and utterly +Barsoomian. + + + +CHAPTER I + +TARA IN A TANTRUM + +Tara of Helium rose from the pile of silks and soft furs upon which she +had been reclining, stretched her lithe body languidly, and crossed +toward the center of the room, where, above a large table, a bronze +disc depended from the low ceiling. Her carriage was that of health and +physical perfection--the effortless harmony of faultless coordination. +A scarf of silken gossamer crossing over one shoulder was wrapped about +her body; her black hair was piled high upon her head. With a wooden +stick she tapped upon the bronze disc, lightly, and presently the +summons was answered by a slave girl, who entered, smiling, to be +greeted similarly by her mistress. + +"Are my father's guests arriving?" asked the princess. + +"Yes, Tara of Helium, they come," replied the slave. "I have seen +Kantos Kan, Overlord of the Navy, and Prince Soran of Ptarth, and Djor +Kantos, son of Kantos Kan," she shot a roguish glance at her mistress +as she mentioned Djor Kantos' name, "and--oh, there were others, many +have come." + +"The bath, then, Uthia," said her mistress. "And why, Uthia," she +added, "do you look thus and smile when you mention the name of Djor +Kantos?" + +The slave girl laughed gaily. "It is so plain to all that he worships +you," she replied. + +"It is not plain to me," said Tara of Helium. "He is the friend of my +brother, Carthoris, and so he is here much; but not to see me. It is +his friendship for Carthoris that brings him thus often to the palace +of my father." + +"But Carthoris is hunting in the north with Talu, Jeddak of Okar," +Uthia reminded her. + +"My bath, Uthia!" cried Tara of Helium. "That tongue of yours will +bring you to some misadventure yet." + +"The bath is ready, Tara of Helium," the girl responded, her eyes still +twinkling with merriment, for she well knew that in the heart of her +mistress was no anger that could displace the love of the princess for +her slave. Preceding the daughter of The Warlord she opened the door of +an adjoining room where lay the bath--a gleaming pool of scented water +in a marble basin. Golden stanchions supported a chain of gold +encircling it and leading down into the water on either side of marble +steps. A glass dome let in the sun-light, which flooded the interior, +glancing from the polished white of the marble walls and the procession +of bathers and fishes, which, in conventional design, were inlaid with +gold in a broad band that circled the room. + +Tara of Helium removed the scarf from about her and handed it to the +slave. Slowly she descended the steps to the water, the temperature of +which she tested with a symmetrical foot, undeformed by tight shoes and +high heels--a lovely foot, as God intended that feet should be and +seldom are. Finding the water to her liking, the girl swam leisurely to +and fro about the pool. With the silken ease of the seal she swam, now +at the surface, now below, her smooth muscles rolling softly beneath +her clear skin--a wordless song of health and happiness and grace. +Presently she emerged and gave herself into the hands of the slave +girl, who rubbed the body of her mistress with a sweet smelling +semi-liquid substance contained in a golden urn, until the glowing skin +was covered with a foamy lather, then a quick plunge into the pool, a +drying with soft towels, and the bath was over. Typical of the life of +the princess was the simple elegance of her bath--no retinue of useless +slaves, no pomp, no idle waste of precious moments. In another half +hour her hair was dried and built into the strange, but becoming, +coiffure of her station; her leathern trappings, encrusted with gold +and jewels, had been adjusted to her figure and she was ready to mingle +with the guests that had been bidden to the midday function at the +palace of The Warlord. + +As she left her apartments to make her way to the gardens where the +guests were congregating, two warriors, the insignia of the House of +the Prince of Helium upon their harness, followed a few paces behind +her, grim reminders that the assassin's blade may never be ignored upon +Barsoom, where, in a measure, it counterbalances the great natural span +of human life, which is estimated at not less than a thousand years. + +As they neared the entrance to the garden another woman, similarly +guarded, approached them from another quarter of the great palace. As +she neared them Tara of Helium turned toward her with a smile and a +happy greeting, while her guards knelt with bowed heads in willing and +voluntary adoration of the beloved of Helium. Thus always, solely at +the command of their own hearts, did the warriors of Helium greet Dejah +Thoris, whose deathless beauty had more than once brought them to +bloody warfare with other nations of Barsoom. So great was the love of +the people of Helium for the mate of John Carter it amounted +practically to worship, as though she were indeed the goddess that she +looked. + +The mother and daughter exchanged the gentle, Barsoomian, "kaor" of +greeting and kissed. Then together they entered the gardens where the +guests were. A huge warrior drew his short-sword and struck his metal +shield with the flat of it, the brazen sound ringing out above the +laughter and the speech. + +"The Princess comes!" he cried. "Dejah Thoris! The Princess comes! Tara +of Helium!" Thus always is royalty announced. The guests arose; the two +women inclined their heads; the guards fell back upon either side of +the entrance-way; a number of nobles advanced to pay their respects; +the laughing and the talking were resumed and Dejah Thoris and her +daughter moved simply and naturally among their guests, no suggestion +of differing rank apparent in the bearing of any who were there, though +there was more than a single Jeddak and many common warriors whose only +title lay in brave deeds, or noble patriotism. Thus it is upon Mars +where men are judged upon their own merits rather than upon those of +their grandsires, even though pride of lineage be great. + +Tara of Helium let her slow gaze wander among the throng of guests +until presently it halted upon one she sought. Was the faint shadow of +a frown that crossed her brow an indication of displeasure at the sight +that met her eyes, or did the brilliant rays of the noonday sun +distress her? Who may say! She had been reared to believe that one day +she should wed Djor Kantos, son of her father's best friend. It had +been the dearest wish of Kantos Kan and The Warlord that this should +be, and Tara of Helium had accepted it as a matter of all but +accomplished fact. Djor Kantos had seemed to accept the matter in the +same way. They had spoken of it casually as something that would, as a +matter of course, take place in the indefinite future, as, for +instance, his promotion in the navy, in which he was now a padwar; or +the set functions of the court of her grandfather, Tardos Mors, Jeddak +of Helium; or Death. They had never spoken of love and that had puzzled +Tara of Helium upon the rare occasions she gave it thought, for she +knew that people who were to wed were usually much occupied with the +matter of love and she had all of a woman's curiosity--she wondered +what love was like. She was very fond of Djor Kantos and she knew that +he was very fond of her. They liked to be together, for they liked the +same things and the same people and the same books and their dancing +was a joy, not only to themselves but to those who watched them. She +could not imagine wanting to marry anyone other than Djor Kantos. + +So perhaps it was only the sun that made her brows contract just the +tiniest bit at the same instant that she discovered Djor Kantos sitting +in earnest conversation with Olvia Marthis, daughter of the Jed of +Hastor. It was Djor Kantos' duty immediately to pay his respects to +Dejah Thoris and Tara of Helium; but he did not do so and presently the +daughter of The Warlord frowned indeed. She looked long at Olvia +Marthis, and though she had seen her many times before and knew her +well, she looked at her today through new eyes that saw, apparently for +the first time, that the girl from Hastor was noticeably beautiful even +among those other beautiful women of Helium. Tara of Helium was +disturbed. She attempted to analyze her emotions; but found it +difficult. Olvia Marthis was her friend--she was very fond of her and +she felt no anger toward her. Was she angry with Djor Kantos? No, she +finally decided that she was not. It was merely surprise, then, that +she felt--surprise that Djor Kantos could be more interested in another +than in herself. She was about to cross the garden and join them when +she heard her father's voice directly behind her. + +"Tara of Helium!" he called, and she turned to see him approaching with +a strange warrior whose harness and metal bore devices with which she +was unfamiliar. Even among the gorgeous trappings of the men of Helium +and the visitors from distant empires those of the stranger were +remarkable for their barbaric splendor. The leather of his harness was +completely hidden beneath ornaments of platinum thickly set with +brilliant diamonds, as were the scabbards of his swords and the ornate +holster that held his long, Martian pistol. Moving through the sunlit +garden at the side of the great Warlord, the scintillant rays of his +countless gems enveloping him as in an aureole of light imparted to his +noble figure a suggestion of godliness. + +"Tara of Helium, I bring you Gahan, Jed of Gathol," said John Carter, +after the simple Barsoomian custom of presentation. + +"Kaor! Gahan, Jed of Gathol," returned Tara of Helium. + +"My sword is at your feet, Tara of Helium," said the young chieftain. + +The Warlord left them and the two seated themselves upon an ersite +bench beneath a spreading sorapus tree. + +"Far Gathol," mused the girl. "Ever in my mind has it been connected +with mystery and romance and the half-forgotten lore of the ancients. I +cannot think of Gathol as existing today, possibly because I have never +before seen a Gatholian." + +"And perhaps too because of the great distance that separates Helium +and Gathol, as well as the comparative insignificance of my little free +city, which might easily be lost in one corner of mighty Helium," added +Gahan. "But what we lack in power we make up in pride," he continued, +laughing. "We believe ours the oldest inhabited city upon Barsoom. It +is one of the few that has retained its freedom, and this despite the +fact that its ancient diamond mines are the richest known and, unlike +practically all the other fields, are today apparently as inexhaustible +as ever." + +"Tell me of Gathol," urged the girl. "The very thought fills me with +interest," nor was it likely that the handsome face of the young jed +detracted anything from the glamour of far Gathol. + +Nor did Gahan seem displeased with the excuse for further monopolizing +the society of his fair companion. His eyes seemed chained to her +exquisite features, from which they moved no further than to a rounded +breast, part hid beneath its jeweled covering, a naked shoulder or the +symmetry of a perfect arm, resplendent in bracelets of barbaric +magnificence. + +"Your ancient history has doubtless told you that Gathol was built upon +an island in Throxeus, mightiest of the five oceans of old Barsoom. As +the ocean receded Gathol crept down the sides of the mountain, the +summit of which was the island upon which she had been built, until +today she covers the slopes from summit to base, while the bowels of +the great hill are honeycombed with the galleries of her mines. +Entirely surrounding us is a great salt marsh, which protects us from +invasion by land, while the rugged and ofttimes vertical topography of +our mountain renders the landing of hostile airships a precarious +undertaking." + +"That, and your brave warriors?" suggested the girl. + +Gahan smiled. "We do not speak of that except to enemies," he said, +"and then with tongues of steel rather than of flesh." + +"But what practice in the art of war has a people which nature has thus +protected from attack?" asked Tara of Helium, who had liked the young +jed's answer to her previous question, but yet in whose mind persisted +a vague conviction of the possible effeminacy of her companion, +induced, doubtless, by the magnificence of his trappings and weapons +which carried a suggestion of splendid show rather than grim utility. + +"Our natural barriers, while they have doubtless saved us from defeat +on countless occasions, have not by any means rendered us immune from +attack," he explained, "for so great is the wealth of Gathol's diamond +treasury that there yet may be found those who will risk almost certain +defeat in an effort to loot our unconquered city; so thus we find +occasional practice in the exercise of arms; but there is more to +Gathol than the mountain city. My country extends from Polodona +(Equator) north ten karads and from the tenth karad west of Horz to the +twentieth west, including thus a million square haads, the greater +proportion of which is fine grazing land where run our great herds of +thoats and zitidars. + +"Surrounded as we are by predatory enemies our herdsmen must indeed be +warriors or we should have no herds, and you may be assured they get +plenty of fighting. Then there is our constant need of workers in the +mines. The Gatholians consider themselves a race of warriors and as +such prefer not to labor in the mines. The law is, however, that each +male Gatholian shall give an hour a day in labor to the government. +That is practically the only tax that is levied upon them. They prefer +however, to furnish a substitute to perform this labor, and as our own +people will not hire out for labor in the mines it has been necessary +to obtain slaves, and I do not need to tell you that slaves are not won +without fighting. We sell these slaves in the public market, the +proceeds going, half and half, to the government and the warriors who +bring them in. The purchasers are credited with the amount of labor +performed by their particular slaves. At the end of a year a good slave +will have performed the labor tax of his master for six years, and if +slaves are plentiful he is freed and permitted to return to his own +people." + +"You fight in platinum and diamonds?" asked Tara, indicating his +gorgeous trappings with a quizzical smile. + +Gahan laughed. "We are a vain people," he admitted, good-naturedly, +"and it is possible that we place too much value on personal +appearances. We vie with one another in the splendor of our +accoutrements when trapped for the observance of the lighter duties of +life, though when we take the field our leather is the plainest I ever +have seen worn by fighting men of Barsoom. We pride ourselves, too, +upon our physical beauty, and especially upon the beauty of our women. +May I dare to say, Tara of Helium, that I am hoping for the day when +you will visit Gathol that my people may see one who is really +beautiful?" + +"The women of Helium are taught to frown with displeasure upon the +tongue of the flatterer," rejoined the girl, but Gahan, Jed of Gathol, +observed that she smiled as she said it. + +A bugle sounded, clear and sweet, above the laughter and the talk. "The +Dance of Barsoom!" exclaimed the young warrior. "I claim you for it, +Tara of Helium." + +The girl glanced in the direction of the bench where she had last seen +Djor Kantos. He was not in sight. She inclined her head in assent to +the claim of the Gatholian. Slaves were passing among the guests, +distributing small musical instruments of a single string. Upon each +instrument were characters which indicated the pitch and length of its +tone. The instruments were of skeel, the string of gut, and were shaped +to fit the left forearm of the dancer, to which it was strapped. There +was also a ring wound with gut which was worn between the first and +second joints of the index finger of the right hand and which, when +passed over the string of the instrument, elicited the single note +required of the dancer. + +The guests had risen and were slowly making their way toward the +expanse of scarlet sward at the south end of the gardens where the +dance was to be held, when Djor Kantos came hurriedly toward Tara of +Helium. "I claim--" he exclaimed as he neared her; but she interrupted +him with a gesture. + +"You are too late, Djor Kantos," she cried in mock anger. "No laggard +may claim Tara of Helium; but haste now lest thou lose also Olvia +Marthis, whom I have never seen wait long to be claimed for this or any +other dance." + +"I have already lost her," admitted Djor Kantos ruefully. + +"And you mean to say that you came for Tara of Helium only after having +lost Olvia Marthis?" demanded the girl, still simulating displeasure. + +"Oh, Tara of Helium, you know better than that," insisted the young +man. "Was it not natural that I should assume that you would expect me, +who alone has claimed you for the Dance of Barsoom for at least twelve +times past?" + +"And sit and play with my thumbs until you saw fit to come for me?" she +questioned. "Ah, no, Djor Kantos; Tara of Helium is for no laggard," +and she threw him a sweet smile and passed on toward the assembling +dancers with Gahan, Jed of far Gathol. + +The Dance of Barsoom bears a relation similar to the more formal +dancing functions of Mars that The Grand March does to ours, though it +is infinitely more intricate and more beautiful. Before a Martian youth +of either sex may attend an important social function where there is +dancing, he must have become proficient in at least three dances--The +Dance of Barsoom, his national dance, and the dance of his city. In +these three dances the dancers furnish their own music, which never +varies; nor do the steps or figures vary, having been handed down from +time immemorial. All Barsoomian dances are stately and beautiful, but +The Dance of Barsoom is a wondrous epic of motion and harmony--there is +no grotesque posturing, no vulgar or suggestive movements. It has been +described as the interpretation of the highest ideals of a world that +aspired to grace and beauty and chastity in woman, and strength and +dignity and loyalty in man. + +Today, John Carter, Warlord of Mars, with Dejah Thoris, his mate, led +in the dancing, and if there was another couple that vied with them in +possession of the silent admiration of the guests it was the +resplendent Jed of Gathol and his beautiful partner. In the +ever-changing figures of the dance the man found himself now with the +girl's hand in his and again with an arm about the lithe body that the +jeweled harness but inadequately covered, and the girl, though she had +danced a thousand dances in the past, realized for the first time the +personal contact of a man's arm against her naked flesh. It troubled +her that she should notice it, and she looked up questioningly and +almost with displeasure at the man as though it was his fault. Their +eyes met and she saw in his that which she had never seen in the eyes +of Djor Kantos. It was at the very end of the dance and they both +stopped suddenly with the music and stood there looking straight into +each other's eyes. It was Gahan of Gathol who spoke first. + +"Tara of Helium, I love you!" he said. + +The girl drew herself to her full height. "The Jed of Gathol forgets +himself," she exclaimed haughtily. + +"The Jed of Gathol would forget everything but you, Tara of Helium," he +replied. Fiercely he pressed the soft hand that he still retained from +the last position of the dance. "I love you, Tara of Helium," he +repeated. "Why should your ears refuse to hear what your eyes but just +now did not refuse to see--and answer?" + +"What meanest thou?" she cried. "Are the men of Gathol such boors, +then?" + +"They are neither boors nor fools," he replied, quietly. "They know +when they love a woman--and when she loves them." + +Tara of Helium stamped her little foot in anger. "Go!" she said, +"before it is necessary to acquaint my father with the dishonor of his +guest." + +She turned and walked away. "Wait!" cried the man. "Just another word." + +"Of apology?" she asked. + +"Of prophecy," he said. + +"I do not care to hear it," replied Tara of Helium, and left him +standing there. She was strangely unstrung and shortly thereafter +returned to her own quarter of the palace, where she stood for a long +time by a window looking out beyond the scarlet tower of Greater Helium +toward the northwest. + +Presently she turned angrily away. "I hate him!" she exclaimed aloud. + +"Whom?" inquired the privileged Uthia. + +Tara of Helium stamped her foot. "That ill-mannered boor, the Jed of +Gathol," she replied. + +Uthia raised her slim brows. + +At the stamping of the little foot, a great beast rose from the corner +of the room and crossed to Tara of Helium where it stood looking up +into her face. She placed her hand upon the ugly head. "Dear old +Woola," she said; "no love could be deeper than yours, yet it never +offends. Would that men might pattern themselves after you!" + + + +CHAPTER II + +AT THE GALE'S MERCY + +Tara of Helium did not return to her father's guests, but awaited in +her own apartments the word from Djor Kantos which she knew must come, +begging her to return to the gardens. She would then refuse, haughtily. +But no appeal came from Djor Kantos. At first Tara of Helium was angry, +then she was hurt, and always she was puzzled. She could not +understand. Occasionally she thought of the Jed of Gathol and then she +would stamp her foot, for she was very angry indeed with Gahan. The +presumption of the man! He had insinuated that he read love for him in +her eyes. Never had she been so insulted and humiliated. Never had she +so thoroughly hated a man. Suddenly she turned toward Uthia. + +"My flying leather!" she commanded. + +"But the guests!" exclaimed the slave girl. "Your father, The Warlord, +will expect you to return." + +"He will be disappointed," snapped Tara of Helium. + +The slave hesitated. "He does not approve of your flying alone," she +reminded her mistress. + +The young princess sprang to her feet and seized the unhappy slave by +the shoulders, shaking her. "You are becoming unbearable, Uthia," she +cried. "Soon there will be no alternative than to send you to the +public slave-market. Then possibly you will find a master to your +liking." + +Tears came to the soft eyes of the slave girl. "It is because I love +you, my princess," she said softly. Tara of Helium melted. She took the +slave in her arms and kissed her. + +"I have the disposition of a thoat, Uthia," she said. "Forgive me! I +love you and there is nothing that I would not do for you and nothing +would I do to harm you. Again, as I have so often in the past, I offer +you your freedom." + +"I do not wish my freedom if it will separate me from you, Tara of +Helium," replied Uthia. "I am happy here with you--I think that I +should die without you." + +Again the girls kissed. "And you will not fly alone, then?" questioned +the slave. + +Tara of Helium laughed and pinched her companion. "You persistent +little pest," she cried. "Of course I shall fly--does not Tara of +Helium always do that which pleases her?" + +Uthia shook her head sorrowfully. "Alas! she does," she admitted. "Iron +is the Warlord of Barsoom to the influences of all but two. In the +hands of Dejah Thoris and Tara of Helium he is as potters' clay." + +"Then run and fetch my flying leather like the sweet slave you are," +directed the mistress. + + * * * * * + +Far out across the ochre sea-bottoms beyond the twin cities of Helium +raced the swift flier of Tara of Helium. Thrilling to the speed and the +buoyancy and the obedience of the little craft the girl drove toward +the northwest. Why she should choose that direction she did not pause +to consider. Perhaps because in that direction lay the least known +areas of Barsoom, and, ergo, Romance, Mystery, and Adventure. In that +direction also lay far Gathol; but to that fact she gave no conscious +thought. + +She did, however, think occasionally of the jed of that distant +kingdom, but the reaction to these thoughts was scarcely pleasurable. +They still brought a flush of shame to her cheeks and a surge of angry +blood to her heart. She was very angry with the Jed of Gathol, and +though she should never see him again she was quite sure that hate of +him would remain fresh in her memory forever. Mostly her thoughts +revolved about another--Djor Kantos. And when she thought of him she +thought also of Olvia Marthis of Hastor. Tara of Helium thought that +she was jealous of the fair Olvia and it made her very angry to think +that. She was angry with Djor Kantos and herself, but she was not angry +at all with Olvia Marthis, whom she loved, and so of course she was not +jealous really. The trouble was, that Tara of Helium had failed for +once to have her own way. Djor Kantos had not come running like a +willing slave when she had expected him, and, ah, here was the nub of +the whole thing! Gahan, Jed of Gathol, a stranger, had been a witness +to her humiliation. He had seen her unclaimed at the beginning of a +great function and he had had to come to her rescue to save her, as he +doubtless thought, from the inglorious fate of a wall-flower. At the +recurring thought, Tara of Helium could feel her whole body burning +with scarlet shame and then she went suddenly white and cold with rage; +whereupon she turned her flier about so abruptly that she was all but +torn from her lashings upon the flat, narrow deck. She reached home +just before dark. The guests had departed. Quiet had descended upon the +palace. An hour later she joined her father and mother at the evening +meal. + +"You deserted us, Tara of Helium," said John Carter. "It is not what +the guests of John Carter should expect." + +"They did not come to see me," replied Tara of Helium. "I did not ask +them." + +"They were no less your guests," replied her father. + +The girl rose, and came and stood beside him and put her arms about his +neck. + +"My proper old Virginian," she cried, rumpling his shock of black hair. + +"In Virginia you would be turned over your father's knee and spanked," +said the man, smiling. + +She crept into his lap and kissed him. "You do not love me any more," +she announced. "No one loves me," but she could not compose her +features into a pout because bubbling laughter insisted upon breaking +through. + +"The trouble is there are too many who love you," he said. "And now +there is another." + +"Indeed!" she cried. "What do you mean?" + +"Gahan of Gathol has asked permission to woo you." + +The girl sat up very straight and tilted her chin in the air. "I would +not wed with a walking diamond-mine," she said. "I will not have him." + +"I told him as much," replied her father, "and that you were as good as +betrothed to another. He was very courteous about it; but at the same +time he gave me to understand that he was accustomed to getting what he +wanted and that he wanted you very much. I suppose it will mean another +war. Your mother's beauty kept Helium at war for many years, and--well, +Tara of Helium, if I were a young man I should doubtless be willing to +set all Barsoom afire to win you, as I still would to keep your divine +mother," and he smiled across the sorapus table and its golden service +at the undimmed beauty of Mars' most beautiful woman. + +"Our little girl should not yet be troubled with such matters," said +Dejah Thoris. "Remember, John Carter, that you are not dealing with an +Earth child, whose span of life would be more than half completed +before a daughter of Barsoom reached actual maturity." + +"But do not the daughters of Barsoom sometimes marry as early as +twenty?" he insisted. + +"Yes, but they will still be desirable in the eyes of men after forty +generations of Earth folk have returned to dust--there is no hurry, at +least, upon Barsoom. We do not fade and decay here as you tell me those +of your planet do, though you, yourself, belie your own words. When the +time seems proper Tara of Helium shall wed with Djor Kantos, and until +then let us give the matter no further thought." + +"No," said the girl, "the subject irks me, and I shall not marry Djor +Kantos, or another--I do not intend to wed." + +Her father and mother looked at her and smiled. "When Gahan of Gathol +returns he may carry you off," said the former. + +"He has gone?" asked the girl. + +"His flier departs for Gathol in the morning," John Carter replied. + +"I have seen the last of him then," remarked Tara of Helium with a sigh +of relief. + +"He says not," returned John Carter. + +The girl dismissed the subject with a shrug and the conversation passed +to other topics. A letter had arrived from Thuvia of Ptarth, who was +visiting at her father's court while Carthoris, her mate, hunted in +Okar. Word had been received that the Tharks and Warhoons were again at +war, or rather that there had been an engagement, for war was their +habitual state. In the memory of man there had been no peace between +these two savage green hordes--only a single temporary truce. Two new +battleships had been launched at Hastor. A little band of holy therns +was attempting to revive the ancient and discredited religion of Issus, +who they claimed still lived in spirit and had communicated with them. +There were rumors of war from Dusar. A scientist claimed to have +discovered human life on the further moon. A madman had attempted to +destroy the atmosphere plant. Seven people had been assassinated in +Greater Helium during the last ten zodes, (the equivalent of an Earth +day). + +Following the meal Dejah Thoris and The Warlord played at jetan, the +Barsoomian game of chess, which is played upon a board of a hundred +alternate black and orange squares. One player has twenty black pieces, +the other, twenty orange pieces. A brief description of the game may +interest those Earth readers who care for chess, and will not be lost +upon those who pursue this narrative to its conclusion, since before +they are done they will find that a knowledge of jetan will add to the +interest and the thrills that are in store for them. + +The men are placed upon the board as in chess upon the first two rows +next the players. In order from left to right on the line of squares +nearest the players, the jetan pieces are Warrior, Padwar, Dwar, Flier, +Chief, Princess, Flier, Dwar, Padwar, Warrior. In the next line all are +Panthans except the end pieces, which are called Thoats, and represent +mounted warriors. + +The Panthans, which are represented as warriors with one feather, may +move one space in any direction except backward; the Thoats, mounted +warriors with three feathers, may move one straight and one diagonal, +and may jump intervening pieces; Warriors, foot soldiers with two +feathers, straight in any direction, or diagonally, two spaces; +Padwars, lieutenants wearing two feathers, two diagonal in any +direction, or combination; Dwars, captains wearing three feathers, +three spaces straight in any direction, or combination; Fliers, +represented by a propellor with three blades, three spaces in any +direction, or combination, diagonally, and may jump intervening pieces; +the Chief, indicated by a diadem with ten jewels, three spaces in any +direction, straight, or diagonal; Princess, diadem with a single jewel, +same as Chief, and can jump intervening pieces. + +The game is won when a player places any of his pieces on the same +square with his opponent's Princess, or when a Chief takes a Chief. It +is drawn when a Chief is taken by any opposing piece other than the +opposing Chief; or when both sides have been reduced to three pieces, +or less, of equal value, and the game is not terminated in the +following ten moves, five apiece. This is but a general outline of the +game, briefly stated. + +It was this game that Dejah Thoris and John Carter were playing when +Tara of Helium bid them good night, retiring to her own quarters and +her sleeping silks and furs. "Until morning, my beloved," she called +back to them as she passed from the apartment, nor little did she +guess, nor her parents, that this might indeed be the last time that +they would ever set eyes upon her. + +The morning broke dull and gray. Ominous clouds billowed restlessly and +low. Beneath them torn fragments scudded toward the northwest. From her +window Tara of Helium looked out upon this unusual scene. Dense clouds +seldom overcast the Barsoomian sky. At this hour of the day it was her +custom to ride one of those small thoats that are the saddle animals of +the red Martians, but the sight of the billowing clouds lured her to a +new adventure. Uthia still slept and the girl did not disturb her. +Instead, she dressed quietly and went to the hangar upon the roof of +the palace directly above her quarters where her own swift flier was +housed. She had never driven through the clouds. It was an adventure +that always she had longed to experience. The wind was strong and it +was with difficulty that she maneuvered the craft from the hangar +without accident, but once away it raced swiftly out above the twin +cities. The buffeting winds caught and tossed it, and the girl laughed +aloud in sheer joy of the resultant thrills. She handled the little +ship like a veteran, though few veterans would have faced the menace of +such a storm in so light a craft. Swiftly she rose toward the clouds, +racing with the scudding streamers of the storm-swept fragments, and a +moment later she was swallowed by the dense masses billowing above. +Here was a new world, a world of chaos unpeopled except for herself; +but it was a cold, damp, lonely world and she found it depressing after +the novelty of it had been dissipated, by an overpowering sense of the +magnitude of the forces surging about her. Suddenly she felt very +lonely and very cold and very little. Hurriedly, therefore, she rose +until presently her craft broke through into the glorious sunlight that +transformed the upper surface of the somber element into rolling masses +of burnished silver. Here it was still cold, but without the dampness +of the clouds, and in the eye of the brilliant sun her spirits rose +with the mounting needle of her altimeter. Gazing at the clouds, now +far beneath, the girl experienced the sensation of hanging stationary +in mid-heaven; but the whirring of her propellor, the wind beating upon +her, the high figures that rose and fell beneath the glass of her +speedometer, these told her that her speed was terrific. It was then +that she determined to turn back. + +The first attempt she made above the clouds, but it was unsuccessful. +To her surprise she discovered that she could not even turn against the +high wind, which rocked and buffeted the frail craft. Then she dropped +swiftly to the dark and wind-swept zone between the hurtling clouds and +the gloomy surface of the shadowed ground. Here she tried again to +force the nose of the flier back toward Helium, but the tempest seized +the frail thing and hurled it remorselessly about, rolling it over and +over and tossing it as it were a cork in a cataract. At last the girl +succeeded in righting the flier, perilously close to the ground. Never +before had she been so close to death, yet she was not terrified. Her +coolness had saved her, that and the strength of the deck lashings that +held her. Traveling with the storm she was safe, but where was it +bearing her? She pictured the apprehension of her father and mother +when she failed to appear at the morning meal. They would find her +flier missing and they would guess that somewhere in the path of the +storm it lay a wrecked and tangled mass upon her dead body, and then +brave men would go out in search of her, risking their lives; and that +lives would be lost in the search, she knew, for she realized now that +never in her life-time had such a tempest raged upon Barsoom. + +She must turn back! She must reach Helium before her mad lust for +thrills had cost the sacrifice of a single courageous life! She +determined that greater safety and likelihood of success lay above the +clouds, and once again she rose through the chilling, wind-tossed +vapor. Her speed again was terrific, for the wind seemed to have +increased rather than to have lessened. She sought gradually to check +the swift flight of her craft, but though she finally succeeded in +reversing her motor the wind but carried her on as it would. Then it +was that Tara of Helium lost her temper. Had her world not always bowed +in acquiescence to her every wish? What were these elements that they +dared to thwart her? She would demonstrate to them that the daughter of +The Warlord was not to be denied! They would learn that Tara of Helium +might not be ruled even by the forces of nature! + +And so she drove her motor forward again and then with her firm, white +teeth set in grim determination she drove the steering lever far down +to port with the intention of forcing the nose of her craft straight +into the teeth of the wind, and the wind seized the frail thing and +toppled it over upon its back, and twisted and turned it and hurled it +over and over; the propellor raced for an instant in an air pocket and +then the tempest seized it again and twisted it from its shaft, leaving +the girl helpless upon an unmanageable atom that rose and fell, and +rolled and tumbled--the sport of the elements she had defied. Tara of +Helium's first sensation was one of surprise--that she had failed to +have her own way. Then she commenced to feel concern--not for her own +safety but for the anxiety of her parents and the dangers that the +inevitable searchers must face. She reproached herself for the +thoughtless selfishness that had jeopardized the peace and safety of +others. She realized her own grave danger, too; but she was still +unterrified, as befitted the daughter of Dejah Thoris and John Carter. +She knew that her buoyancy tanks might keep her afloat indefinitely, +but she had neither food nor water, and she was being borne toward the +least-known area of Barsoom. Perhaps it would be better to land +immediately and await the coming of the searchers, rather than to allow +herself to be carried still further from Helium, thus greatly reducing +the chances of early discovery; but when she dropped toward the ground +she discovered that the violence of the wind rendered an attempt to +land tantamount to destruction and she rose again, rapidly. + +Carried along a few hundred feet above the ground she was better able +to appreciate the Titanic proportions of the storm than when she had +flown in the comparative serenity of the zone above the clouds, for now +she could distinctly see the effect of the wind upon the surface of +Barsoom. The air was filled with dust and flying bits of vegetation and +when the storm carried her across an irrigated area of farm land she +saw great trees and stone walls and buildings lifted high in air and +scattered broadcast over the devastated country; and then she was +carried swiftly on to other sights that forced in upon her +consciousness a rapidly growing conviction that after all Tara of +Helium was a very small and insignificant and helpless person. It was +quite a shock to her self-pride while it lasted, and toward evening she +was ready to believe that it was going to last forever. There had been +no abatement in the ferocity of the tempest, nor was there indication +of any. She could only guess at the distance she had been carried for +she could not believe in the correctness of the high figures that had +been piled upon the record of her odometer. They seemed unbelievable +and yet, had she known it, they were quite true--in twelve hours she +had flown and been carried by the storm full seven thousand haads. Just +before dark she was carried over one of the deserted cities of ancient +Mars. It was Torquas, but she did not know it. Had she, she might +readily have been forgiven for abandoning the last vestige of hope, for +to the people of Helium Torquas seems as remote as do the South Sea +Islands to us. And still the tempest, its fury unabated, bore her on. + +All that night she hurtled through the dark beneath the clouds, or rose +to race through the moonlit void beneath the glory of Barsoom's two +satellites. She was cold and hungry and altogether miserable, but her +brave little spirit refused to admit that her plight was hopeless even +though reason proclaimed the truth. Her reply to reason, sometime +spoken aloud in sudden defiance, recalled the Spartan stubbornness of +her sire in the face of certain annihilation: "I still live!" + +That morning there had been an early visitor at the palace of The +Warlord. It was Gahan, Jed of Gathol. He had arrived shortly after the +absence of Tara of Helium had been noted, and in the excitement he had +remained unannounced until John Carter had happened upon him in the +great reception corridor of the palace as The Warlord was hurrying out +to arrange for the dispatch of ships in search of his daughter. + +Gahan read the concern upon the face of The Warlord. "Forgive me if I +intrude, John Carter," he said. "I but came to ask the indulgence of +another day since it would be fool-hardy to attempt to navigate a ship +in such a storm." + +"Remain, Gahan, a welcome guest until you choose to leave us," replied +The Warlord; "but you must forgive any seeming inattention upon the +part of Helium until my daughter is restored to us." + +"You daughter! Restored! What do you mean?" exclaimed the Gatholian. "I +do not understand." + +"She is gone, together with her light flier. That is all we know. We +can only assume that she decided to fly before the morning meal and was +caught in the clutches of the tempest. You will pardon me, Gahan, if I +leave you abruptly--I am arranging to send ships in search of her;" but +Gahan, Jed of Gathol, was already speeding in the direction of the +palace gate. There he leaped upon a waiting thoat and followed by two +warriors in the metal of Gathol, he dashed through the avenues of +Helium toward the palace that had been set aside for his entertainment. + + + +CHAPTER III + +THE HEADLESS HUMANS + +Above the roof of the palace that housed the Jed of Gathol and his +entourage, the cruiser Vanator tore at her stout moorings. The groaning +tackle bespoke the mad fury of the gale, while the worried faces of +those members of the crew whose duties demanded their presence on the +straining craft gave corroborative evidence of the gravity of the +situation. Only stout lashings prevented these men from being swept +from the deck, while those upon the roof below were constantly +compelled to cling to rails and stanchions to save themselves from +being carried away by each new burst of meteoric fury. Upon the prow of +the Vanator was painted the device of Gathol, but no pennants were +displayed in the upper works since the storm had carried away several +in rapid succession, just as it seemed to the watching men that it must +carry away the ship itself. They could not believe that any tackle +could withstand for long this Titanic force. To each of the twelve +lashings clung a brawny warrior with drawn short-sword. Had but a +single mooring given to the power of the tempest eleven short-swords +would have cut the others; since, partially moored, the ship was +doomed, while free in the tempest it stood at least some slight chance +for life. + +"By the blood of Issus, I believe they will hold!" screamed one warrior +to another. + +"And if they do not hold may the spirits of our ancestors reward the +brave warriors upon the Vanator," replied another of those upon the +roof of the palace, "for it will not be long from the moment her cables +part before her crew dons the leather of the dead; but yet, Tanus, I +believe they will hold. Give thanks at least that we did not sail +before the tempest fell, since now each of us has a chance to live." + +"Yes," replied Tanus, "I should hate to be abroad today upon the +stoutest ship that sails the Barsoomian sky." + +It was then that Gahan the Jed appeared upon the roof. With him were +the balance of his own party and a dozen warriors of Helium. The young +chief turned to his followers. + +"I sail at once upon the Vanator," he said, "in search of Tara of +Helium who is thought to have been carried away upon a one-man flier by +the storm. I do not need to explain to you the slender chances the +Vanator has to withstand the fury of the tempest, nor will I order you +to your deaths. Let those who wish remain behind without dishonor. The +others will follow me," and he leaped for the rope ladder that lashed +wildly in the gale. + +The first man to follow him was Tanus and when the last reached the +deck of the cruiser there remained upon the palace roof only the twelve +warriors of Helium, who, with naked swords, had taken the posts of the +Gatholians at the moorings. + +Not a single warrior who had remained aboard the Vanator would leave +her now. + +"I expected no less," said Gahan, as with the help of those already on +the deck he and the others found secure lashings. The commander of the +Vanator shook his head. He loved his trim craft, the pride of her class +in the little navy of Gathol. It was of her he thought--not of himself. +He saw her lying torn and twisted upon the ochre vegetation of some +distant sea-bottom, to be presently overrun and looted by some savage, +green horde. He looked at Gahan. + +"Are you ready, San Tothis?" asked the jed. + +"All is ready." + +"Then cut away!" + +Word was passed across the deck and over the side to the Heliumetic +warriors below that at the third gun they were to cut away. Twelve keen +swords must strike simultaneously and with equal power, and each must +sever completely and instantly three strands of heavy cable that no +loose end fouling a block bring immediate disaster upon the Vanator. + +Boom! The voice of the signal gun rolled down through the screaming +wind to the twelve warriors upon the roof. Boom! Twelve swords were +raised above twelve brawny shoulders. Boom! Twelve keen edges severed +twelve complaining moorings, clean and as one. + +The Vanator, her propellors whirling, shot forward with the storm. The +tempest struck her in the stern as with a mailed fist and stood the +great ship upon her nose, and then it caught her and spun her as a +child's top spins; and upon the palace roof the twelve men looked on in +silent helplessness and prayed for the souls of the brave warriors who +were going to their death. And others saw, from Helium's lofty landing +stages and from a thousand hangars upon a thousand roofs; but only for +an instant did the preparations stop that would send other brave men +into the frightful maelstrom of that apparently hopeless search, for +such is the courage of the warriors of Barsoom. + +But the Vanator did not fall to the ground, within sight of the city at +least, though as long as the watchers could see her never for an +instant did she rest upon an even keel. Sometimes she lay upon one side +or the other, or again she hurtled along keel up, or rolled over and +over, or stood upon her nose or her tail at the caprice of the great +force that carried her along. And the watchers saw that this great ship +was merely being blown away with the other bits of debris great and +small that filled the sky. Never in the memory of man or the annals of +recorded history had such a storm raged across the face of Barsoom. + +And in another instant was the Vanator forgotten as the lofty, scarlet +tower that had marked Lesser Helium for ages crashed to ground, +carrying death and demolition upon the city beneath. Panic reigned. A +fire broke out in the ruins. The city's every force seemed crippled, +and it was then that The Warlord ordered the men that were about to set +forth in search of Tara of Helium to devote their energies to the +salvation of the city, for he too had witnessed the start of the +Vanator and realized the futility of wasting men who were needed sorely +if Lesser Helium was to be saved from utter destruction. + +Shortly after noon of the second day the storm commenced to abate, and +before the sun went down, the little craft upon which Tara of Helium +had hovered between life and death these many hours drifted slowly +before a gentle breeze above a landscape of rolling hills that once had +been lofty mountains upon a Martian continent. The girl was exhausted +from loss of sleep, from lack of food and drink, and from the nervous +reaction consequent to the terrifying experiences through which she had +passed. In the near distance, just topping an intervening hill, she +caught a momentary glimpse of what appeared to be a dome-capped tower. +Quickly she dropped the flier until the hill shut it off from the view +of the possible occupants of the structure she had seen. The tower +meant to her the habitation of man, suggesting the presence of water +and, perhaps, of food. If the tower was the deserted relic of a bygone +age she would scarcely find food there, but there was still a chance +that there might be water. If it was inhabited, then must her approach +be cautious, for only enemies might be expected to abide in so far +distant a land. Tara of Helium knew that she must be far from the twin +cities of her grandfather's empire, but had she guessed within even a +thousand haads of the reality, she had been stunned by realization of +the utter hopelessness of her state. + +Keeping the craft low, for the buoyancy tanks were still intact, the +girl skimmed the ground until the gently-moving wind had carried her to +the side of the last hill that intervened between her and the structure +she had thought a man-built tower. Here she brought the flier to the +ground among some stunted trees, and dragging it beneath one where it +might be somewhat hidden from craft passing above, she made it fast and +set forth to reconnoiter. Like most women of her class she was armed +only with a single slender blade, so that in such an emergency as now +confronted her she must depend almost solely upon her cleverness in +remaining undiscovered by enemies. With utmost caution she crept warily +toward the crest of the hill, taking advantage of every natural screen +that the landscape afforded to conceal her approach from possible +observers ahead, while momentarily she cast quick glances rearward lest +she be taken by surprise from that quarter. + +She came at last to the summit, where, from the concealment of a low +bush, she could see what lay beyond. Beneath her spread a beautiful +valley surrounded by low hills. Dotting it were numerous circular +towers, dome-capped, and surrounding each tower was a stone wall +enclosing several acres of ground. The valley appeared to be in a high +state of cultivation. Upon the opposite side of the hill and just +beneath her was a tower and enclosure. It was the roof of the former +that had first attracted her attention. In all respects it seemed +identical in construction with those further out in the valley--a high, +plastered wall of massive construction surrounding a similarly +constructed tower, upon whose gray surface was painted in vivid colors +a strange device. The towers were about forty sofads in diameter, +approximately forty earth-feet, and sixty in height to the base of the +dome. To an Earth man they would have immediately suggested the silos +in which dairy farmers store ensilage for their herds; but closer +scrutiny, revealing an occasional embrasured opening together with the +strange construction of the domes, would have altered such a +conclusion. Tara of Helium saw that the domes seemed to be faced with +innumerable prisms of glass, those that were exposed to the declining +sun scintillating so gorgeously as to remind her suddenly of the +magnificent trappings of Gahan of Gathol. As she thought of the man she +shook her head angrily, and moved cautiously forward a foot or two that +she might get a less obstructed view of the nearer tower and its +enclosure. + +As Tara of Helium looked down into the enclosure surrounding the +nearest tower, her brows contracted momentarily in frowning surprise, +and then her eyes went wide in an expression of incredulity tinged with +horror, for what she saw was a score or two of human bodies--naked and +headless. For a long moment she watched, breathless; unable to believe +the evidence of her own eyes--that these grewsome things moved and had +life! She saw them crawling about on hands and knees over and across +one another, searching about with their fingers. And she saw some of +them at troughs, for which the others seemed to be searching, and those +at the troughs were taking something from these receptacles and +apparently putting it in a hole where their necks should have been. +They were not far beneath her--she could see them distinctly and she +saw that there were the bodies of both men and women, and that they +were beautifully proportioned, and that their skin was similar to hers, +but of a slightly lighter red. At first she had thought that she was +looking upon a shambles and that the bodies, but recently decapitated, +were moving under the impulse of muscular reaction; but presently she +realized that this was their normal condition. The horror of them +fascinated her, so that she could scarce take her eyes from them. It +was evident from their groping hands that they were eyeless, and their +sluggish movements suggested a rudimentary nervous system and a +correspondingly minute brain. The girl wondered how they subsisted for +she could not, even by the wildest stretch of imagination, picture +these imperfect creatures as intelligent tillers of the soil. Yet that +the soil of the valley was tilled was evident and that these things had +food was equally so. But who tilled the soil? Who kept and fed these +unhappy things, and for what purpose? It was an enigma beyond her +powers of deduction. + +The sight of food aroused again a consciousness of her own gnawing +hunger and the thirst that parched her throat. She could see both food +and water within the enclosure; but would she dare enter even should +she find means of ingress? She doubted it, since the very thought of +possible contact with these grewsome creatures sent a shudder through +her frame. + +Then her eyes wandered again out across the valley until presently they +picked out what appeared to be a tiny stream winding its way through +the center of the farm lands--a strange sight upon Barsoom. Ah, if it +were but water! Then might she hope with a real hope, for the fields +would give her sustenance which she could gain by night, while by day +she hid among the surrounding hills, and sometime, yes, sometime she +knew, the searchers would come, for John Carter, Warlord of Barsoom, +would never cease to search for his daughter until every square haad of +the planet had been combed again and again. She knew him and she knew +the warriors of Helium and so she knew that could she but manage to +escape harm until they came, they would indeed come at last. + +She would have to wait until dark before she dare venture into the +valley, and in the meantime she thought it well to search out a place +of safety nearby where she might be reasonably safe from savage beasts. +It was possible that the district was free from carnivora, but one +might never be sure in a strange land. As she was about to withdraw +behind the brow of the hill her attention was again attracted to the +enclosure below. Two figures had emerged from the tower. Their +beautiful bodies seemed identical with those of the headless creatures +among which they moved, but the newcomers were not headless. Upon their +shoulders were heads that seemed human, yet which the girl intuitively +sensed were not human. They were just a trifle too far away for her to +see them distinctly in the waning light of the dying day, but she knew +that they were too large, they were out of proportion to the perfectly +proportioned bodies, and they were oblate in form. She could see that +the men wore some manner of harness to which were slung the customary +long-sword and short-sword of the Barsoomian warrior, and that about +their short necks were massive leather collars cut to fit closely over +the shoulders and snugly to the lower part of the head. Their features +were scarce discernible, but there was a suggestion of grotesqueness +about them that carried to her a feeling of revulsion. + +The two carried a long rope to which were fastened, at intervals of +about two sofads, what she later guessed were light manacles, for she +saw the warriors passing among the poor creatures in the enclosure and +about the right wrist of each they fastened one of the manacles. When +all had been thus fastened to the rope one of the warriors commenced to +pull and tug at the loose end as though attempting to drag the headless +company toward the tower, while the other went among them with a long, +light whip with which he flicked them upon the naked skin. Slowly, +dully, the creatures rose to their feet and between the tugging of the +warrior in front and the lashing of him behind the hopeless band was +finally herded within the tower. Tara of Helium shuddered as she turned +away. What manner of creatures were these? + +Suddenly it was night. The Barsoomian day had ended, and then the brief +period of twilight that renders the transition from daylight to +darkness almost as abrupt as the switching off of an electric light, +and Tara of Helium had found no sanctuary. But perhaps there were no +beasts to fear, or rather to avoid--Tara of Helium liked not the word +fear. She would have been glad, however, had there been a cabin, even a +very tiny cabin, upon her small flier; but there was no cabin. The +interior of the hull was completely taken up by the buoyancy tanks. Ah, +she had it! How stupid of her not to have thought of it before! She +could moor the craft to the tree beneath which it rested and let it +rise the length of the rope. Lashed to the deck rings she would then be +safe from any roaming beast of prey that chanced along. In the morning +she could drop to the ground again before the craft was discovered. + +As Tara of Helium crept over the brow of the hill down toward the +valley, her presence was hidden by the darkness of the night from the +sight of any chance observer who might be loitering by a window in the +nearby tower. Cluros, the farther moon, was just rising above the +horizon to commence his leisurely journey through the heavens. Eight +zodes later he would set--a trifle over nineteen and a half Earth +hours--and during that time Thuria, his vivacious mate, would have +circled the planet twice and be more than half way around on her third +trip. She had but just set. It would be more than three and a half +hours before she shot above the opposite horizon to hurtle, swift and +low, across the face of the dying planet. During this temporary absence +of the mad moon Tara of Helium hoped to find both food and water, and +gain again the safety of her flier's deck. + +She groped her way through the darkness, giving the tower and its +enclosure as wide a berth as possible. Sometimes she stumbled, for in +the long shadows cast by the rising Cluros objects were grotesquely +distorted though the light from the moon was still not sufficient to be +of much assistance to her. Nor, as a matter of fact, did she want +light. She could find the stream in the dark, by the simple expedient +of going down hill until she walked into it and she had seen that +bearing trees and many crops grew throughout the valley, so that she +would pass food in plenty ere she reached the stream. If the moon +showed her the way more clearly and thus saved her from an occasional +fall, he would, too, show her more clearly to the strange denizens of +the towers, and that, of course, must not be. Could she have waited +until the following night conditions would have been better, since +Cluros would not appear in the heavens at all and so, during Thuria's +absence, utter darkness would reign; but the pangs of thirst and the +gnawing of hunger could be endured no longer with food and drink both +in sight, and so she had decided to risk discovery rather than suffer +longer. + +Safely past the nearest tower, she moved as rapidly as she felt +consistent with safety, choosing her way wherever possible so that she +might take advantage of the shadows of the trees that grew at intervals +and at the same time discover those which bore fruit. In this latter +she met with almost immediate success, for the very third tree beneath +which she halted was heavy with ripe fruit. Never, thought Tara of +Helium, had aught so delicious impinged upon her palate, and yet it was +naught else than the almost tasteless usa, which is considered to be +palatable only after having been cooked and highly spiced. It grows +easily with little irrigation and the trees bear abundantly. The fruit, +which ranks high in food value, is one of the staple foods of the less +well-to-do, and because of its cheapness and nutritive value forms one +of the principal rations of both armies and navies upon Barsoom, a use +which has won for it a Martian sobriquet which, freely translated into +English, would be, The Fighting Potato. The girl was wise enough to eat +but sparingly, but she filled her pocket-pouch with the fruit before +she continued upon her way. + +Two towers she passed before she came at last to the stream, and here +again was she temperate, drinking but little and that very slowly, +contenting herself with rinsing her mouth frequently and bathing her +face, her hands, and her feet; and even though the night was cold, as +Martian nights are, the sensation of refreshment more than compensated +for the physical discomfort of the low temperature. Replacing her +sandals she sought among the growing track near the stream for whatever +edible berries or tubers might be planted there, and found a couple of +varieties that could be eaten raw. With these she replaced some of the +usa in her pocket-pouch, not only to insure a variety but because she +found them more palatable. Occasionally she returned to the stream to +drink, but each time moderately. Always were her eyes and ears alert +for the first signs of danger, but she had neither seen nor heard aught +to disturb her. And presently the time approached when she felt she +must return to her flier lest she be caught in the revealing light of +low swinging Thuria. She dreaded leaving the water for she knew that +she must become very thirsty before she could hope to come again to the +stream. If she only had some little receptacle in which to carry water, +even a small amount would tide her over until the following night; but +she had nothing and so she must content herself as best she could with +the juices of the fruit and tubers she had gathered. + +After a last drink at the stream, the longest and deepest she had +allowed herself, she rose to retrace her steps toward the hills; but +even as she did so she became suddenly tense with apprehension. What +was that? She could have sworn that she saw something move in the +shadows beneath a tree not far away. For a long minute the girl did not +move--she scarce breathed. Her eyes remained fixed upon the dense +shadows below the tree, her ears strained through the silence of the +night. A low moaning came down from the hills where her flier was +hidden. She knew it well--the weird note of the hunting banth. And the +great carnivore lay directly in her path. But he was not so close as +this other thing, hiding there in the shadows just a little way off. +What was it? It was the strain of uncertainty that weighed heaviest +upon her. Had she known the nature of the creature lurking there half +its menace would have vanished. She cast quickly about her in search of +some haven of refuge should the thing prove dangerous. + +Again arose the moaning from the hills, but this time closer. Almost +immediately it was answered from the opposite side of the valley, +behind her, and then from the distance to the right of her, and twice +upon her left. Her eyes had found a tree, quite near. Slowly, and +without taking her eyes from the shadows of that other tree, she moved +toward the overhanging branches that might afford her sanctuary in the +event of need, and at her first move a low growl rose from the spot she +had been watching and she heard the sudden moving of a big body. +Simultaneously the creature shot into the moonlight in full charge upon +her, its tail erect, its tiny ears laid flat, its great mouth with its +multiple rows of sharp and powerful fangs already yawning for its prey, +its ten legs carrying it forward in great leaps, and now from the +beast's throat issued the frightful roar with which it seeks to +paralyze its prey. It was a banth--the great, maned lion of Barsoom. +Tara of Helium saw it coming and leaped for the tree toward which she +had been moving, and the banth realized her intention and redoubled his +speed. As his hideous roar awakened the echoes in the hills, so too it +awakened echoes in the valley; but these echoes came from the living +throats of others of his kind, until it seemed to the girl that Fate +had thrown her into the midst of a countless multitude of these savage +beasts. + +Almost incredibly swift is the speed of a charging banth, and fortunate +it was that the girl had not been caught farther in the open. As it +was, her margin of safety was next to negligible, for as she swung +nimbly to the lower branches the creature in pursuit of her crashed +among the foliage almost upon her as it sprang upward to seize her. It +was only a combination of good fortune and agility that saved her. A +stout branch deflected the raking talons of the carnivore, but so close +was the call that a giant forearm brushed her flesh in the instant +before she scrambled to the higher branches. + +Baffled, the banth gave vent to his rage and disappointment in a series +of frightful roars that caused the very ground to tremble, and to these +were added the roarings and the growlings and the moanings of his +fellows as they approached from every direction, in the hope of +wresting from him whatever of his kill they could take by craft or +prowess. And now he turned snarling upon them as they circled the tree, +while the girl, huddled in a crotch above them, looked down upon the +gaunt, yellow monsters padding on noiseless feet in a restless circle +about her. She wondered now at the strange freak of fate that had +permitted her to come down this far into the valley by night unharmed, +but even more she wondered how she was to return to the hills. She knew +that she would not dare venture it by night and she guessed, too, that +by day she might be confronted by even graver perils. To depend upon +this valley for sustenance she now saw to be beyond the pale of +possibility because of the banths that would keep her from food and +water by night, while the dwellers in the towers would doubtless make +it equally impossible for her to forage by day. There was but one +solution of her difficulty and that was to return to her flier and pray +that the wind would waft her to some less terrorful land; but when +might she return to the flier? The banths gave little evidence of +relinquishing hope of her, and even if they wandered out of sight would +she dare risk the attempt? She doubted it. + +Hopeless indeed seemed her situation--hopeless it was. + + + +CHAPTER IV + +CAPTURED + +As Thuria, swift racer of the night, shot again into the sky the scene +changed. As by magic a new aspect fell athwart the face of Nature. It +was as though in the instant one had been transported from one planet +to another. It was the age-old miracle of the Martian nights that is +always new, even to Martians--two moons resplendent in the heavens, +where one had been but now; conflicting, fast-changing shadows that +altered the very hills themselves; far Cluros, stately, majestic, +almost stationary, shedding his steady light upon the world below; +Thuria, a great and glorious orb, swinging swift across the vaulted +dome of the blue-black night, so low that she seemed to graze the +hills, a gorgeous spectacle that held the girl now beneath the spell of +its enchantment as it always had and always would. + +"Ah, Thuria, mad queen of heaven!" murmured Tara of Helium. "The hills +pass in stately procession, their bosoms rising and falling; the trees +move in restless circles; the little grasses describe their little +arcs; and all is movement, restless, mysterious movement without sound, +while Thuria passes." The girl sighed and let her gaze fall again to +the stern realities beneath. There was no mystery in the huge banths. +He who had discovered her squatted there looking hungrily up at her. +Most of the others had wandered away in search of other prey, but a few +remained hoping yet to bury their fangs in that soft body. + +The night wore on. Again Thuria left the heavens to her lord and +master, hurrying on to keep her tryst with the Sun in other skies. But +a single banth waited impatiently beneath the tree which harbored Tara +of Helium. The others had left, but their roars, and growls, and moans +thundered or rumbled, or floated back to her from near and far. What +prey found they in this little valley? There must be something that +they were accustomed to find here that they should be drawn in so great +numbers. The girl wondered what it could be. + +How long the night! Numb, cold, and exhausted, Tara of Helium clung to +the tree in growing desperation, for once she had dozed and almost +fallen. Hope was low in her brave little heart. How much more could she +endure? She asked herself the question and then, with a brave shake of +her head, she squared her shoulders. "I still live!" she said aloud. + +The banth looked up and growled. + +Came Thuria again and after awhile the great Sun--a flaming lover, +pursuing his heart's desire. And Cluros, the cold husband, continued +his serene way, as placid as before his house had been violated by this +hot Lothario. And now the Sun and both Moons rode together in the sky, +lending their far mysteries to make weird the Martian dawn. Tara of +Helium looked out across the fair valley that spread upon all sides of +her. It was rich and beautiful, but even as she looked upon it she +shuddered, for to her mind came a picture of the headless things that +the towers and the walls hid. Those by day and the banths by night! Ah, +was it any wonder that she shuddered? + +With the coming of the Sun the great Barsoomian lion rose to his feet. +He turned angry eyes upon the girl above him, voiced a single ominous +growl, and slunk away toward the hills. The girl watched him, and she +saw that he gave the towers as wide a berth as possible and that he +never took his eyes from one of them while he was passing it. Evidently +the inmates had taught these savage creatures to respect them. +Presently he passed from sight in a narrow defile, nor in any direction +that she could see was there another. Momentarily at least the +landscape was deserted. The girl wondered if she dared to attempt to +regain the hills and her flier. She dreaded the coming of the workmen +to the fields as she was sure they would come. She shrank from again +seeing the headless bodies, and found herself wondering if these things +would come out into the fields and work. She looked toward the nearest +tower. There was no sign of life there. The valley lay quiet now and +deserted. She lowered herself stiffly to the ground. Her muscles were +cramped and every move brought a twinge of pain. Pausing a moment to +drink again at the stream she felt refreshed and then turned without +more delay toward the hills. To cover the distance as quickly as +possible seemed the only plan to pursue. The trees no longer offered +concealment and so she did not go out of her way to be near them. The +hills seemed very far away. She had not thought, the night before, that +she had traveled so far. Really it had not been far, but now, with the +three towers to pass in broad daylight, the distance seemed great +indeed. + +The second tower lay almost directly in her path. To make a detour +would not lessen the chance of detection, it would only lengthen the +period of her danger, and so she laid her course straight for the hill +where her flier was, regardless of the tower. As she passed the first +enclosure she thought that she heard the sound of movement within, but +the gate did not open and she breathed more easily when it lay behind +her. She came then to the second enclosure, the outer wall of which she +must circle, as it lay across her route. As she passed close along it +she distinctly heard not only movement within, but voices. In the +world-language of Barsoom she heard a man issuing instructions--so many +were to pick usa, so many were to irrigate this field, so many to +cultivate that, and so on, as a foreman lays out the day's work for his +crew. + +Tara of Helium had just reached the gate in the outer wall. Without +warning it swung open toward her. She saw that for a moment it would +hide her from those within and in that moment she turned and ran, +keeping close to the wall, until, passing out of sight beyond the curve +of the structure, she came to the opposite side of the enclosure. Here, +panting from her exertion and from the excitement of her narrow escape, +she threw herself among some tall weeds that grew close to the foot of +the wall. There she lay trembling for some time, not even daring to +raise her head and look about. Never before had Tara of Helium felt the +paralyzing effects of terror. She was shocked and angry at herself, +that she, daughter of John Carter, Warlord of Barsoom, should exhibit +fear. Not even the fact that there had been none there to witness it +lessened her shame and anger, and the worst of it was she knew that +under similar circumstances she would again be equally as craven. It +was not the fear of death--she knew that. No, it was the thought of +those headless bodies and that she might see them and that they might +even touch her--lay hands upon her--seize her. She shuddered and +trembled at the thought. + +After a while she gained sufficient command of herself to raise her +head and look about. To her horror she discovered that everywhere she +looked she saw people working in the fields or preparing to do so. +Workmen were coming from other towers. Little bands were passing to +this field and that. There were even some already at work within thirty +ads of her--about a hundred yards. There were ten, perhaps, in the +party nearest her, both men and women, and all were beautiful of form +and grotesque of face. So meager were their trappings that they were +practically naked; a fact that was in no way remarkable among the +tillers of the fields of Mars. Each wore the peculiar, high leather +collar that completely hid the neck, and each wore sufficient other +leather to support a single sword and a pocket-pouch. The leather was +very old and worn, showing long, hard service, and was absolutely plain +with the exception of a single device upon the left shoulder. The +heads, however, were covered with ornaments of precious metals and +jewels, so that little more than eyes, nose, and mouth were +discernible. These were hideously inhuman and yet grotesquely human at +the same time. The eyes were far apart and protruding, the nose scarce +more than two small, parallel slits set vertically above a round hole +that was the mouth. The heads were peculiarly repulsive--so much so +that it seemed unbelievable to the girl that they formed an integral +part of the beautiful bodies below them. + +So fascinated was Tara of Helium that she could scarce take her eyes +from the strange creatures--a fact that was to prove her undoing, for +in order that she might see them she was forced to expose a part of her +own head and presently, to her consternation, she saw that one of the +creatures had stopped his work and was staring directly at her. She did +not dare move, for it was still possible that the thing had not seen +her, or at least was only suspicious that some creature lay hid among +the weeds. If she could allay this suspicion by remaining motionless +the creature might believe that he had been mistaken and return to his +work; but, alas, such was not to be the case. She saw the thing call +the attention of others to her and almost immediately four or five of +them started to move in her direction. + +It was impossible now to escape discovery. Her only hope lay in flight. +If she could elude them and reach the hills and the flier ahead of them +she might escape, and that could be accomplished in but one +way--flight, immediate and swift. Leaping to her feet she darted along +the base of the wall which she must skirt to the opposite side, beyond +which lay the hill that was her goal. Her act was greeted by strange +whistling sounds from the things behind her, and casting a glance over +her shoulder she saw them all in rapid pursuit. + +There were also shrill commands that she halt, but to these she paid no +attention. Before she had half circled the enclosure she discovered +that her chances for successful escape were great, since it was evident +to her that her pursuers were not so fleet as she. High indeed then +were her hopes as she came in sight of the hill, but they were soon +dashed by what lay before her, for there, in the fields that lay +between, were fully a hundred creatures similar to those behind her and +all were on the alert, evidently warned by the whistling of their +fellows. Instructions and commands were shouted to and fro, with the +result that those before her spread roughly into a great half circle to +intercept her, and when she turned to the right, hoping to elude the +net, she saw others coming from fields beyond, and to the left the same +was true. But Tara of Helium would not admit defeat. Without once +pausing she turned directly toward the center of the advancing +semi-circle, beyond which lay her single chance of escape, and as she +ran she drew her long, slim dagger. Like her valiant sire, if die she +must, she would die fighting. There were gaps in the thin line +confronting her and toward the widest of one of these she directed her +course. The things on either side of the opening guessed her intent for +they closed in to place themselves in her path. This widened the +openings on either side of them and as the girl appeared almost to rush +into their arms she turned suddenly at right angles, ran swiftly in the +new direction for a few yards, and then dashed quickly toward the hill +again. Now only a single warrior, with a wide gap on either side of +him, barred her clear way to freedom, though all the others were +speeding as rapidly as they could to intercept her. If she could pass +this one without too much delay she could escape, of that she was +certain. Her every hope hinged on this. The creature before her +realized it, too, for he moved cautiously, though swiftly, to intercept +her, as a Rugby fullback might maneuver in the realization that he +alone stood between the opposing team and a touchdown. + +At first Tara of Helium had hoped that she might dodge him, for she +could not but guess that she was not only more fleet but infinitely +more agile than these strange creatures; but soon there came to her the +realization that in the time consumed in an attempt to elude his grasp +his nearer fellows would be upon her and escape then impossible, so she +chose instead to charge straight for him, and when he guessed her +decision he stood, half crouching and with outstretched arms, awaiting +her. In one hand was his sword, but a voice arose, crying in tones of +authority. "Take her alive! Do not harm her!" Instantly the fellow +returned his sword to its scabbard and then Tara of Helium was upon +him. Straight for that beautiful body she sprang and in the instant +that the arms closed to seize her her sharp blade drove deep into the +naked chest. The impact hurled them both to the ground and as Tara of +Helium sprang to her feet again she saw, to her horror, that the +loathsome head had rolled from the body and was now crawling away from +her on six short, spider-like legs. The body struggled spasmodically +and lay still. As brief as had been the delay caused by the encounter, +it still had been of sufficient duration to undo her, for even as she +rose two more of the things fell upon her and instantly thereafter she +was surrounded. Her blade sank once more into naked flesh and once more +a head rolled free and crawled away. Then they overpowered her and in +another moment she was surrounded by fully a hundred of the creatures, +all seeking to lay hands upon her. At first she thought that they +wished to tear her to pieces in revenge for her having slain two of +their fellows, but presently she realized that they were prompted more +by curiosity than by any sinister motive. + +"Come!" said one of her captors, both of whom had retained a hold upon +her. As he spoke he tried to lead her away with him toward the nearest +tower. + +"She belongs to me," cried the other. "Did not I capture her? She will +come with me to the tower of Moak." + +"Never!" insisted the first. "She is Luud's. To Luud I will take her, +and whosoever interferes may feel the keenness of my sword--in the +head!" He almost shouted the last three words. + +"Come! Enough of this," cried one who spoke with some show of +authority. "She was captured in Luud's fields--she will go to Luud." + +"She was discovered in Moak's fields, at the very foot of the tower of +Moak," insisted he who had claimed her for Moak. + +"You have heard the Nolach speak," cried the Luud. "It shall be as he +says." + +"Not while this Moak holds a sword," replied the other. "Rather will I +cut her in twain and take my half to Moak than to relinquish her all to +Luud," and he drew his sword, or rather he laid his hand upon its hilt +in a threatening gesture; but before ever he could draw it the Luud had +whipped his out and with a fearful blow cut deep into the head of his +adversary. Instantly the big, round head collapsed, almost as a +punctured balloon collapses, as a grayish, semi-fluid matter spurted +from it. The protruding eyes, apparently lidless, merely stared, the +sphincter-like muscle of the mouth opened and closed, and then the head +toppled from the body to the ground. The body stood dully for a moment +and then slowly started to wander aimlessly about until one of the +others seized it by the arm. + +One of the two heads crawling about on the ground now approached. "This +rykor belongs to Moak," it said. "I am a Moak. I will take it," and +without further discussion it commenced to crawl up the front of the +headless body, using its six short, spiderlike legs and two stout +chelae which grew just in front of its legs and strongly resembled +those of an Earthly lobster, except that they were both of the same +size. The body in the meantime stood in passive indifference, its arms +hanging idly at its sides. The head climbed to the shoulders and +settled itself inside the leather collar that now hid its chelae and +legs. Almost immediately the body gave evidence of intelligent +animation. It raised its hands and adjusted the collar more +comfortably, it took the head between its palms and settled it in place +and when it moved around it did not wander aimlessly, but instead its +steps were firm and to some purpose. + +The girl watched all these things in growing wonder, and presently, no +other of the Moaks seeming inclined to dispute the right of the Luud to +her, she was led off by her captor toward the nearest tower. Several +accompanied them, including one who carried the loose head under his +arm. The head that was being carried conversed with the head upon the +shoulders of the thing that carried it. Tara of Helium shivered. It was +horrible! All that she had seen of these frightful creatures was +horrible. And to be a prisoner, wholly in their power. Shadow of her +first ancestor! What had she done to deserve so cruel a fate? + +At the wall enclosing the tower they paused while one opened the gate +and then they passed within the enclosure, which, to the girl's horror, +she found filled with headless bodies. The creature who carried the +bodiless head now set its burden upon the ground and the latter +immediately crawled toward one of the bodies that was lying near by. +Some wandered stupidly to and fro, but this one lay still. It was a +female. The head crawled to it and made its way to the shoulders where +it settled itself. At once the body sprang lightly erect. Another of +those who had accompanied them from the fields approached with the +harness and collar that had been taken from the dead body that the head +had formerly topped. The new body now appropriated these and the hands +deftly adjusted them. The creature was now as good as before Tara of +Helium had struck down its former body with her slim blade. But there +was a difference. Before it had been male--now it was female. That, +however, seemed to make no difference to the head. In fact, Tara of +Helium had noticed during the scramble and the fight about her that sex +differences seemed of little moment to her captors. Males and females +had taken equal part in her pursuit, both were identically harnessed +and both carried swords, and she had seen as many females as males draw +their weapons at the moment that a quarrel between the two factions +seemed imminent. + +The girl was given but brief opportunity for further observation of the +pitiful creatures in the enclosure as her captor, after having directed +the others to return to the fields, led her toward the tower, which +they entered, passing into an apartment about ten feet wide and twenty +long, in one end of which was a stairway leading to an upper level and +in the other an opening to a similar stairway leading downward. The +chamber, though on a level with the ground, was brilliantly lighted by +windows in its inner wall, the light coming from a circular court in +the center of the tower. The walls of this court appeared to be faced +with what resembled glazed, white tile and the whole interior of it was +flooded with dazzling light, a fact which immediately explained to the +girl the purpose of the glass prisms of which the domes were +constructed. The stairways themselves were sufficient to cause remark, +since in nearly all Barsoomian architecture inclined runways are +utilized for purposes of communication between different levels, and +especially is this true of the more ancient forms and of those of +remote districts where fewer changes have come to alter the customs of +antiquity. + +Down the stairway her captor led Tara of Helium. Down and down through +chambers still lighted from the brilliant well. Occasionally they +passed others going in the opposite direction and these always stopped +to examine the girl and ask questions of her captor. + +"I know nothing but that she was found in the fields and that I caught +her after a fight in which she slew two rykors and in which I slew a +Moak, and that I take her to Luud, to whom, of course, she belongs. If +Luud wishes to question her that is for Luud to do--not for me." Thus +always he answered the curious. + +Presently they reached a room from which a circular tunnel led away +from the tower, and into this the creature conducted her. The tunnel +was some seven feet in diameter and flattened on the bottom to form a +walk. For a hundred feet from the tower it was lined with the same +tile-like material of the light well and amply illuminated by reflected +light from that source. Beyond it was faced with stone of various +shapes and sizes, neatly cut and fitted together--a very fine mosaic +without a pattern. There were branches, too, and other tunnels which +crossed this, and occasionally openings not more than a foot in +diameter; these latter being usually close to the floor. Above each of +these smaller openings was painted a different device, while upon the +walls of the larger tunnels at all intersections and points of +convergence hieroglyphics appeared. These the girl could not read +though she guessed that they were the names of the tunnels, or notices +indicating the points to which they led. She tried to study some of +them out, but there was not a character that was familiar to her, which +seemed strange, since, while the written languages of the various +nations of Barsoom differ, it still is true that they have many +characters and words in common. + +She had tried to converse with her guard but he had not seemed inclined +to talk with her and she had finally desisted. She could not but note +that he had offered her no indignities, nor had he been either +unnecessarily rough or in any way cruel. The fact that she had slain +two of the bodies with her dagger had apparently aroused no animosity +or desire for revenge in the minds of the strange heads that surmounted +the bodies--even those whose bodies had been killed. She did not try to +understand it, since she could not approach the peculiar relationship +between the heads and the bodies of these creatures from the basis of +any past knowledge or experience of her own. So far their treatment of +her seemed to augur naught that might arouse her fears. Perhaps, after +all, she had been fortunate to fall into the hands of these strange +people, who might not only protect her from harm, but even aid her in +returning to Helium. That they were repulsive and uncanny she could not +forget, but if they meant her no harm she could, at least, overlook +their repulsiveness. Renewed hope aroused within her a spirit of +greater cheerfulness, and it was almost blithely now that she moved at +the side of her weird companion. She even caught herself humming a gay +little tune that was then popular in Helium. The creature at her side +turned its expressionless eyes upon her. + +"What is that noise that you are making?" it asked. + +"I was but humming an air," she replied. + +"'Humming an air,'" he repeated. "I do not know what you mean; but do +it again, I like it." + +This time she sang the words, while her companion listened intently. +His face gave no indication of what was passing in that strange head. +It was as devoid of expression as that of a spider. It reminded her of +a spider. When she had finished he turned toward her again. + +"That was different," he said. "I liked that better, even, than the +other. How do you do it?" + +"Why," she said, "it is singing. Do you not know what song is?" + +"No," he replied. "Tell me how you do it." + +"It is difficult to explain," she told him, "since any explanation of +it presupposes some knowledge of melody and of music, while your very +question indicates that you have no knowledge of either." + +"No," he said, "I do not know what you are talking about; but tell me +how you do it." + +"It is merely the melodious modulations of my voice," she explained. +"Listen!" and again she sang. + +"I do not understand," he insisted; "but I like it. Could you teach me +to do it?" + +"I do not know, but I shall be glad to try." + +"We will see what Luud does with you," he said. "If he does not want +you I will keep you and you shall teach me to make sounds like that." + +At his request she sang again as they continued their way along the +winding tunnel, which was now lighted by occasional bulbs which +appeared to be similar to the radium bulbs with which she was familiar +and which were common to all the nations of Barsoom, insofar as she +knew, having been perfected at so remote a period that their very +origin was lost in antiquity. They consist, usually, of a hemispherical +bowl of heavy glass in which is packed a compound containing what, +according to John Carter, must be radium. The bowl is then cemented +into a metal plate with a heavily insulated back and the whole affair +set in the masonry of wall or ceiling as desired, where it gives off +light of greater or less intensity, according to the composition of the +filling material, for an almost incalculable period of time. + +As they proceeded they met a greater number of the inhabitants of this +underground world, and the girl noted that among many of these the +metal and harness were more ornate than had been those of the workers +in the fields above. The heads and bodies, however, were similar, even +identical, she thought. No one offered her harm and she was now +experiencing a feeling of relief almost akin to happiness, when her +guide turned suddenly into an opening on the right side of the tunnel +and she found herself in a large, well lighted chamber. + + + +CHAPTER V + +THE PERFECT BRAIN + +The song that had been upon her lips as she entered died there--frozen +by the sight of horror that met her eyes. In the center of the chamber +a headless body lay upon the floor--a body that had been partially +devoured--while over and upon it crawled a half a dozen heads upon +their short, spider legs, and they tore at the flesh of the woman with +their chelae and carried the bits to their awful mouths. They were +eating human flesh--eating it raw! + +Tara of Helium gasped in horror and turning away covered her eyes with +her palms. + +"Come!" said her captor. "What is the matter?" + +"They are eating the flesh of the woman," she whispered in tones of +horror. + +"Why not?" he inquired. "Did you suppose that we kept the rykor for +labor alone? Ah, no. They are delicious when kept and fattened. +Fortunate, too, are those that are bred for food, since they are never +called upon to do aught but eat." + +"It is hideous!" she cried. + +He looked at her steadily for a moment, but whether in surprise, in +anger, or in pity his expressionless face did not reveal. Then he led +her on across the room past the frightful thing, from which she turned +away her eyes. Lying about the floor near the walls were half a dozen +headless bodies in harness. These she guessed had been abandoned +temporarily by the feasting heads until they again required their +services. In the walls of this room there were many of the small, round +openings she had noticed in various parts of the tunnels, the purpose +of which she could not guess. + +They passed through another corridor and then into a second chamber, +larger than the first and more brilliantly illuminated. Within were +several of the creatures with heads and bodies assembled, while many +headless bodies lay about near the walls. Here her captor halted and +spoke to one of the occupants of the chamber. + +"I seek Luud," he said. "I bring to Luud a creature that I captured in +the fields above." + +The others crowded about to examine Tara of Helium. One of them +whistled, whereupon the girl learned something of the smaller openings +in the walls, for almost immediately there crawled from them, like +giant spiders, a score or more of the hideous heads. Each sought one of +the recumbent bodies and fastened itself in place. Immediately the +bodies reacted to the intelligent direction of the heads. They arose, +the hands adjusted the leather collars and put the balance of the +harness in order, then the creatures crossed the room to where Tara of +Helium stood. She noted that their leather was more highly ornamented +than that worn by any of the others she had previously seen, and so she +guessed that these must be higher in authority than the others. Nor was +she mistaken. The demeanor of her captor indicated it. He addressed +them as one who holds intercourse with superiors. + +Several of those who examined her felt her flesh, pinching it gently +between thumb and forefinger, a familiarity that the girl resented. She +struck down their hands. "Do not touch me!" she cried, imperiously, for +was she not a princess of Helium? The expression on those terrible +faces did not change. She could not tell whether they were angry or +amused, whether her action had filled them with respect for her, or +contempt. Only one of them spoke immediately. + +"She will have to be fattened more," he said. + +The girl's eyes went wide with horror. She turned upon her captor. "Do +these frightful creatures intend to devour me?" she cried. + +"That is for Luud to say," he replied, and then he leaned closer so +that his mouth was near her ear. "That noise you made which you called +song pleased me," he whispered, "and I will repay you by warning you +not to antagonize these kaldanes. They are very powerful. Luud listens +to them. Do not call them frightful. They are very handsome. Look at +their wonderful trappings, their gold, their jewels." + +"Thank you," she said. "You called them kaldanes--what does that mean?" + +"We are all kaldanes," he replied. + +"You, too?" and she pointed at him, her slim finger directed toward his +chest. + +"No, not this," he explained, touching his body; "this is a rykor; but +this," and he touched his head, "is a kaldane. It is the brain, the +intellect, the power that directs all things. The rykor," he indicated +his body, "is nothing. It is not so much even as the jewels upon our +harness; no, not so much as the harness itself. It carries us about. It +is true that we would find difficulty getting along without it; but it +has less value than harness or jewels because it is less difficult to +reproduce." He turned again to the other kaldanes. "Will you notify +Luud that I am here?" he asked. + +"Sept has already gone to Luud. He will tell him," replied one. "Where +did you find this rykor with the strange kaldane that cannot detach +itself?" + +The girl's captor narrated once more the story of her capture. He +stated facts just as they had occurred, without embellishment, his +voice as expressionless as his face, and his story was received in the +same manner that it was delivered. The creatures seemed totally lacking +in emotion, or, at least, the capacity to express it. It was impossible +to judge what impression the story made upon them, or even if they +heard it. Their protruding eyes simply stared and occasionally the +muscles of their mouths opened and closed. Familiarity did not lessen +the horror the girl felt for them. The more she saw of them the more +repulsive they seemed. Often her body was shaken by convulsive shudders +as she looked at the kaldanes, but when her eyes wandered to the +beautiful bodies and she could for a moment expunge the heads from her +consciousness the effect was soothing and refreshing, though when the +bodies lay, headless, upon the floor they were quite as shocking as the +heads mounted on bodies. But by far the most grewsome and uncanny sight +of all was that of the heads crawling about upon their spider legs. If +one of these should approach and touch her Tara of Helium was positive +that she should scream, while should one attempt to crawl up her +person--ugh! the very idea induced a feeling of faintness. + +Sept returned to the chamber. "Luud will see you and the captive. +Come!" he said, and turned toward a door opposite that through which +Tara of Helium had entered the chamber. "What is your name?" His +question was directed to the girl's captor. + +"I am Ghek, third foreman of the fields of Luud," he answered. + +"And hers?" + +"I do not know." + +"It makes no difference. Come!" + +The patrician brows of Tara of Helium went high. It made no difference, +indeed! She, a princess of Helium; only daughter of The Warlord of +Barsoom! + +"Wait!" she cried. "It makes much difference who I am. If you are +conducting me into the presence of your jed you may announce The +Princess Tara of Helium, daughter of John Carter, The Warlord of +Barsoom." + +"Hold your peace!" commanded Sept. "Speak when you are spoken to. Come +with me!" + +The anger of Tara of Helium all but choked her. "Come," admonished +Ghek, and took her by the arm, and Tara of Helium came. She was naught +but a prisoner. Her rank and titles meant nothing to these inhuman +monsters. They led her through a short, S-shaped passageway into a +chamber entirely lined with the white, tile-like material with which +the interior of the light wall was faced. Close to the base of the +walls were numerous smaller apertures, circular in shape, but larger +than those of similar aspect that she had noted elsewhere. The majority +of these apertures were sealed. Directly opposite the entrance was one +framed in gold, and above it a peculiar device was inlaid in the same +precious metal. + +Sept and Ghek halted just within the room, the girl between them, and +all three stood silently facing the opening in the opposite wall. On +the floor beside the aperture lay a headless male body of almost heroic +proportions, and on either side of this stood a heavily armed warrior, +with drawn sword. For perhaps five minutes the three waited and then +something appeared in the opening. It was a pair of large chelae and +immediately thereafter there crawled forth a hideous kaldane of +enormous proportions. He was half again as large as any that Tara of +Helium had yet seen and his whole aspect infinitely more terrible. The +skin of the others was a bluish gray--this one was of a little bluer +tinge and the eyes were ringed with bands of white and scarlet, as was +its mouth. + +From each nostril a band of white and one of scarlet extended outward +horizontally the width of the face. + +No one spoke or moved. The creature crawled to the prostrate body and +affixed itself to the neck. Then the two rose as one and approached the +girl. He looked at her and then he spoke to her captor. + +"You are the third foreman of the fields of Luud?" he asked. + +"Yes, Luud; I am called Ghek." + +"Tell me what you know of this," and he nodded toward Tara of Helium. + +Ghek did as he was bid and then Luud addressed the girl. + +"What were you doing within the borders of Bantoom?" he asked. + +"I was blown hither in a great storm that injured my flier and carried +me I knew not where. I came down into the valley at night for food and +drink. The banths came and drove me to the safety of a tree, and then +your people caught me as I was trying to leave the valley. I do not +know why they took me. I was doing no harm. All I ask is that you let +me go my way in peace." + +"None who enters Bantoom ever leaves," replied Luud. + +"But my people are not at war with yours. I am a princess of Helium; my +great-grandfather is a jeddak; my grandfather a jed; and my father is +Warlord of all Barsoom. You have no right to keep me and I demand that +you liberate me at once." + +"None who enters Bantoom ever leaves," repeated the creature without +expression. "I know nothing of the lesser creatures of Barsoom, of whom +you speak. There is but one high race--the race of Bantoomians. All +Nature exists to serve them. You shall do your share, but not yet--you +are too skinny. We shall have to put some fat upon it, Sept. I tire of +rykor. Perhaps this will have a different flavor. The banths are too +rank and it is seldom that any other creature enters the valley. And +you, Ghek; you shall be rewarded. I shall promote you from the fields +to the burrows. Hereafter you shall remain underground as every +Bantoomian longs to. No more shall you be forced to endure the hated +sun, or look upon the hideous sky, or the hateful growing things that +defile the surface. For the present you shall look after this thing +that you have brought me, seeing that it sleeps and eats--and does +nothing else. You understand me, Ghek; nothing else!" + +"I understand, Luud," replied the other. + +"Take it away!" commanded the creature. + +Ghek turned and led Tara of Helium from the apartment. The girl was +horrified by contemplation of the fate that awaited her--a fate from +which it seemed, there was no escape. It was only too evident that +these creatures possessed no gentle or chivalric sentiments to which +she could appeal, and that she might escape from the labyrinthine mazes +of their underground burrows appeared impossible. + +Outside the audience chamber Sept overtook them and conversed with Ghek +for a brief period, then her keeper led her through a confusing web of +winding tunnels until they came to a small apartment. + +"We are to remain here for a while. It may be that Luud will send for +you again. If he does you will probably not be fattened--he will use +you for another purpose." It was fortunate for the girl's peace of mind +that she did not realize what he meant. "Sing for me," said Ghek, +presently. + +Tara of Helium did not feel at all like singing, but she sang, +nevertheless, for there was always the hope that she might escape if +given the opportunity and if she could win the friendship of one of the +creatures, her chances would be increased proportionately. All during +the ordeal, for such it was to the overwrought girl, Ghek stood with +his eyes fixed upon her. + +"It is wonderful," he said, when she had finished; "but I did not tell +Luud--you noticed that I did not tell Luud about it. Had he known, he +would have had you sing to him and that would have resulted in your +being kept with him that he might hear you sing whenever he wished; but +now I can have you all the time." + +"How do you know he would like my singing?" she asked. + +"He would have to," replied Ghek. "If I like a thing he has to like it, +for are we not identical--all of us?" + +"The people of my race do not all like the same things," said the girl. + +"How strange!" commented Ghek. "All kaldanes like the same things and +dislike the same things. If I discover something new and like it I know +that all kaldanes will like it. That is how I know that Luud would like +your singing. You see we are all exactly alike." + +"But you do not look like Luud," said the girl. + +"Luud is king. He is larger and more gorgeously marked; but otherwise +he and I are identical, and why not? Did not Luud produce the egg from +which I hatched?" + +"What?" queried the girl; "I do not understand you." + +"Yes," explained Ghek, "all of us are from Luud's eggs, just as all the +swarm of Moak are from Moak's eggs." + +"Oh!" exclaimed Tara of Helium understandingly; "you mean that Luud has +many wives and that you are the offspring of one of them." + +"No, not that at all," replied Ghek. "Luud has no wife. He lays the +eggs himself. You do not understand." + +Tara of Helium admitted that she did not. + +"I will try to explain, then," said Ghek, "if you will promise to sing +to me later." + +"I promise," she said. + +"We are not like the rykors," he began. "They are creatures of a low +order, like yourself and the banths and such things. We have no +sex--not one of us except our king, who is bi-sexual. He produces many +eggs from which we, the workers and the warriors, are hatched; and one +in every thousand eggs is another king egg, from which a king is +hatched. Did you notice the sealed openings in the room where you saw +Luud? Sealed in each of those is another king. If one of them escaped +he would fall upon Luud and try to kill him and if he succeeded we +should have a new king; but there would be no difference. His name +would be Luud and all would go on as before, for are we not all alike? +Luud has lived a long time and has produced many kings, so he lets only +a few live that there may be a successor to him when he dies. The +others he kills." + +"Why does he keep more than one?" queried the girl. + +"Sometimes accidents occur," replied Ghek, "and all the kings that a +swarm has saved are killed. When this happens the swarm comes and +obtains another king from a neighboring swarm." + +"Are all of you the children of Luud?" she asked. + +"All but a few, who are from the eggs of the preceding king, as was +Luud; but Luud has lived a long time and not many of the others are +left." + +"You live a long time, or short?" Tara asked. + +"A very long time." + +"And the rykors, too; they live a long time?" + +"No; the rykors live for ten years, perhaps," he said, "if they remain +strong and useful. When they can no longer be of service to us, either +through age or sickness, we leave them in the fields and the banths +come at night and get them." + +"How horrible!" she exclaimed. + +"Horrible?" he repeated. "I see nothing horrible about that. The rykors +are but brainless flesh. They neither see, nor feel, nor hear. They can +scarce move but for us. If we did not bring them food they would starve +to death. They are less deserving of thought than our leather. All that +they can do for themselves is to take food from a trough and put it in +their mouths, but with us--look at them!" and he proudly exhibited the +noble figure that he surmounted, palpitant with life and energy and +feeling. + +"How do you do it?" asked Tara of Helium. "I do not understand it at +all." + +"I will show you," he said, and lay down upon the floor. Then he +detached himself from the body, which lay as a thing dead. On his +spider legs he walked toward the girl. "Now look," he admonished her. +"Do you see this thing?" and he extended what appeared to be a bundle +of tentacles from the posterior part of his head. "There is an aperture +just back of the rykor's mouth and directly over the upper end of his +spinal column. Into this aperture I insert my tentacles and seize the +spinal cord. Immediately I control every muscle of the rykor's body--it +becomes my own, just as you direct the movement of the muscles of your +body. I feel what the rykor would feel if he had a head and brain. If +he is hurt, I would suffer if I remained connected with him; but the +instant one of them is injured or becomes sick we desert it for +another. As we would suffer the pains of their physical injuries, +similarly do we enjoy the physical pleasures of the rykors. When your +body becomes fatigued you are comparatively useless; it is sick, you +are sick; if it is killed, you die. You are the slave of a mass of +stupid flesh and bone and blood. There is nothing more wonderful about +your carcass than there is about the carcass of a banth. It is only +your brain that makes you superior to the banth, but your brain is +bound by the limitations of your body. Not so, ours. With us brain is +everything. Ninety per centum of our volume is brain. We have only the +simplest of vital organs and they are very small for they do not have +to assist in the support of a complicated system of nerves, muscles, +flesh and bone. We have no lungs, for we do not require air. Far below +the levels to which we can take the rykors is a vast network of burrows +where the real life of the kaldane is lived. There the air-breathing +rykor would perish as you would perish. There we have stored vast +quantities of food in hermetically sealed chambers. It will last +forever. Far beneath the surface is water that will flow for countless +ages after the surface water is exhausted. We are preparing for the +time we know must come--the time when the last vestige of the +Barsoomian atmosphere is spent--when the waters and the food are gone. +For this purpose were we created, that there might not perish from the +planet Nature's divinest creation--the perfect brain." + +"But what purpose can you serve when that time comes?" asked the girl. + +"You do not understand," he said. "It is too big for you to grasp, but +I will try to explain it. Barsoom, the moons, the sun, the stars, were +created for a single purpose. From the beginning of time Nature has +labored arduously toward the consummation of this purpose. At the very +beginning things existed with life, but with no brain. Gradually +rudimentary nervous systems and minute brains evolved. Evolution +proceeded. The brains became larger and more powerful. In us you see +the highest development; but there are those of us who believe that +there is yet another step--that some time in the far future our race +shall develop into the super-thing--just brain. The incubus of legs and +chelae and vital organs will be removed. The future kaldane will be +nothing but a great brain. Deaf, dumb, and blind it will lie sealed in +its buried vault far beneath the surface of Barsoom--just a great, +wonderful, beautiful brain with nothing to distract it from eternal +thought." + +"You mean it will just lie there and think?" cried Tara of Helium. + +"Just that!" he exclaimed. "Could aught be more wonderful?" + +"Yes," replied the girl, "I can think of a number of things that would +be infinitely more wonderful." + + + +CHAPTER VI + +IN THE TOILS OF HORROR + +What the creature had told her gave Tara of Helium food for thought. +She had been taught that every created thing fulfilled some useful +purpose, and she tried conscientiously to discover just what was the +rightful place of the kaldane in the universal scheme of things. She +knew that it must have its place but what that place was it was beyond +her to conceive. She had to give it up. They recalled to her mind a +little group of people in Helium who had forsworn the pleasures of life +in the pursuit of knowledge. They were rather patronizing in their +relations with those whom they thought not so intellectual. They +considered themselves quite superior. She smiled at recollection of a +remark her father had once made concerning them, to the effect that if +one of them ever dropped his egotism and broke it it would take a week +to fumigate Helium. Her father liked normal people--people who knew too +little and people who knew too much were equally a bore. Tara of Helium +was like her father in this respect and like him, too, she was both +sane and normal. + +Outside of her personal danger there was much in this strange world +that interested her. The rykors aroused her keenest pity, and vast +conjecture. How and from what form had they evolved? She asked Ghek. + +"Sing to me again and I will tell you," he said. "If Luud would let me +have you, you should never die. I should keep you always to sing to me." + +The girl marvelled at the effect her voice had upon the creature. +Somewhere in that enormous brain there was a chord that was touched by +melody. It was the sole link between herself and the brain when +detached from the rykor. When it dominated the rykor it might have +other human instincts; but these she dreaded even to think of. After +she had sung she waited for Ghek to speak. For a long time he was +silent, just looking at her through those awful eyes. + +"I wonder," he said presently, "if it might not be pleasant to be of +your race. Do you all sing?" + +"Nearly all, a little," she said; "but we do many other interesting and +enjoyable things. We dance and play and work and love and sometimes we +fight, for we are a race of warriors." + +"Love!" said the kaldane. "I think I know what you mean; but we, +fortunately, are above sentiment--when we are detached. But when we +dominate the rykor--ah, that is different, and when I hear you sing and +look at your beautiful body I know what you mean by love. I could love +you." + +The girl shrank from him. "You promised to tell me the origin of the +rykor," she reminded him. + +"Ages ago," he commenced, "our bodies were larger and our heads +smaller. Our legs were very weak and we could not travel fast or far. +There was a stupid creature that went upon four legs. It lived in a +hole in the ground, to which it brought its food, so we ran our burrows +into this hole and ate the food it brought; but it did not bring enough +for all--for itself and all the kaldanes that lived upon it, so we had +also to go abroad and get food. This was hard work for our weak legs. +Then it was that we commenced to ride upon the backs of these primitive +rykors. It took many ages, undoubtedly, but at last came the time when +the kaldane had found means to guide the rykor, until presently the +latter depended entirely upon the superior brain of his master to guide +him to food. The brain of the rykor grew smaller as time went on. His +ears went and his eyes, for he no longer had use for them--the kaldane +saw and heard for him. By similar steps the rykor came to go upon its +hind feet that the kaldane might be able to see farther. As the brain +shrank, so did the head. The mouth was the only feature of the head +that was used and so the mouth alone remains. Members of the red race +fell into the hands of our ancestors from time to time. They saw the +beauties and the advantages of the form that nature had given the red +race over that which the rykor was developing into. By intelligent +crossing the present rykor was achieved. He is really solely the +product of the super-intelligence of the kaldane--he is our body, to do +with as we see fit, just as you do what you see fit with your body, +only we have the advantage of possessing an unlimited supply of bodies. +Do you not wish that you were a kaldane?" + +For how long they kept her in the subterranean chamber Tara of Helium +did not know. It seemed a very long time. She ate and slept and watched +the interminable lines of creatures that passed the entrance to her +prison. There was a laden line passing from above carrying food, food, +food. In the other line they returned empty handed. When she saw them +she knew that it was daylight above. When they did not pass she knew it +was night, and that the banths were about devouring the rykors that had +been abandoned in the fields the previous day. She commenced to grow +pale and thin. She did not like the food they gave her--it was not +suited to her kind--nor would she have eaten overmuch palatable food, +for the fear of becoming fat. The idea of plumpness had a new +significance here--a horrible significance. + +Ghek noted that she was growing thin and white. He spoke to her about +it and she told him that she could not thrive thus beneath the +ground--that she must have fresh air and sunshine, or she would wither +and die. Evidently he carried her words to Luud, since it was not long +after that he told her that the king had ordered that she be confined +in the tower and to the tower she was taken. She had hoped against hope +that this very thing might result from her conversation with Ghek. Even +to see the sun again was something, but now there sprang to her breast +a hope that she had not dared to nurse before, while she lay in the +terrible labyrinth from which she knew she could never have found her +way to the outer world; but now there was some slight reason to hope. +At least she could see the hills and if she could see them might there +not come also the opportunity to reach them? If she could have but ten +minutes--just ten little minutes! The flier was still there--she knew +that it must be. Just ten minutes and she would be free--free forever +from this frightful place; but the days wore on and she was never +alone, not even for half of ten minutes. Many times she planned her +escape. Had it not been for the banths it had been easy of +accomplishment by night. Ghek always detached his body then and sank +into what seemed a semi-comatose condition. It could not be said that +he slept, or at least it did not appear like sleep, since his lidless +eyes were unchanged; but he lay quietly in a corner. Tara of Helium +enacted a thousand times in her mind the scene of her escape. She would +rush to the side of the rykor and seize the sword that hung in its +harness. Before Ghek knew what she purposed, she would have this and +then before he could give an alarm she would drive the blade through +his hideous head. It would take but a moment to reach the enclosure. +The rykors could not stop her, for they had no brains to tell them that +she was escaping. She had watched from her window the opening and +closing of the gate that led from the enclosure out into the fields and +she knew how the great latch operated. She would pass through and make +a quick dash for the hill. It was so near that they could not overtake +her. It was so easy! Or it would have been but for the banths! The +banths at night and the workers in the fields by day. + +Confined to the tower and without proper exercise or food, the girl +failed to show the improvement that her captors desired. Ghek +questioned her in an effort to learn why it was that she did not grow +round and plump; that she did not even look as well as when they had +captured her. His concern was prompted by repeated inquiries on the +part of Luud and finally resulted in suggesting to Tara of Helium a +plan whereby she might find a new opportunity of escape. + +"I am accustomed to walking in the fresh air and the sunlight," she +told Ghek. "I cannot become as I was before if I am to be always shut +away in this one chamber, breathing poor air and getting no proper +exercise. Permit me to go out in the fields every day and walk about +while the sun is shining. Then, I am sure, I shall become nice and fat." + +"You would run away," he said. + +"But how could I if you were always with me?" she asked. "And even if I +wished to run away where could I go? I do not know even the direction +of Helium. It must be very far. The very first night the banths would +get me, would they not?" + +"They would," said Ghek. "I will ask Luud about it." + +The following day he told her that Luud had said that she was to be +taken into the fields. He would try that for a time and see if she +improved. + +"If you do not grow fatter he will send for you anyway," said Ghek; +"but he will not use you for food." + +Tara of Helium shuddered. + +That day and for many days thereafter she was taken from the tower, +through the enclosure and out into the fields. Always was she alert for +an opportunity to escape; but Ghek was always close by her side. It was +not so much his presence that deterred her from making the attempt as +the number of workers that were always between her and the hills where +the flier lay. She could easily have eluded Ghek, but there were too +many of the others. And then, one day, Ghek told her as he accompanied +her into the open that this would be the last time. + +"Tonight you go to Luud," he said. "I am sorry as I shall not hear you +sing again." + +"Tonight!" She scarce breathed the word, yet it was vibrant with horror. + +She glanced quickly toward the hills. They were so close! Yet between +were the inevitable workers--perhaps a score of them. + +"Let us walk over there?" she said, indicating them. "I should like to +see what they are doing." + +"It is too far," said Ghek. "I hate the sun. It is much pleasanter here +where I can stand beneath the shade of this tree." + +"All right," she agreed; "then you stay here and I will walk over. It +will take me but a minute." + +"No," he answered. "I will go with you. You want to escape; but you are +not going to." + +"I cannot escape," she said. + +"I know it," agreed Ghek; "but you might try. I do not wish you to try. +Possibly it will be better if we return to the tower at once. It would +go hard with me should you escape." + +Tara of Helium saw her last chance fading into oblivion. There would +never be another after today. She cast about for some pretext to lure +him even a little nearer to the hills. + +"It is very little that I ask," she said. "Tonight you will want me to +sing to you. It will be the last time, if you do not let me go and see +what those kaldanes are doing I shall never sing to you again." + +Ghek hesitated. "I will hold you by the arm all the time, then," he +said. + +"Why, of course, if you wish," she assented. "Come!" + +The two moved toward the workers and the hills. The little party was +digging tubers from the ground. She had noted this and that nearly +always they were stooped low over their work, the hideous eyes bent +upon the upturned soil. She led Ghek quite close to them, pretending +that she wished to see exactly how they did the work, and all the time +he held her tightly by her left wrist. + +"It is very interesting," she said, with a sigh, and then, suddenly; +"Look, Ghek!" and pointed quickly back in the direction of the tower. +The kaldane, still holding her turned half away from her to look in the +direction she had indicated and simultaneously, with the quickness of a +banth, she struck him with her right fist, backed by every ounce of +strength she possessed--struck the back of the pulpy head just above +the collar. The blow was sufficient to accomplish her design, +dislodging the kaldane from its rykor and tumbling it to the ground. +Instantly the grasp upon her wrist relaxed as the body, no longer +controlled by the brain of Ghek, stumbled aimlessly about for an +instant before it sank to its knees and then rolled over on its back; +but Tara of Helium waited not to note the full results of her act. The +instant the fingers loosened upon her wrist she broke away and dashed +toward the hills. Simultaneously a warning whistle broke from Ghek's +lips and in instant response the workers leaped to their feet, one +almost in the girl's path. She dodged the outstretched arms and was +away again toward the hills and freedom, when her foot caught in one of +the hoe-like instruments with which the soil had been upturned and +which had been left, half imbedded in the ground. For an instant she +ran on, stumbling, in a mad effort to regain her equilibrium, but the +upturned furrows caught her feet--again she stumbled and this time went +down, and as she scrambled to rise again a heavy body fell upon her and +seized her arms. A moment later she was surrounded and dragged to her +feet and as she looked around she saw Ghek crawling to his prostrate +rykor. A moment later he advanced to her side. + +The hideous face, incapable of registering emotion, gave no clue to +what was passing in the enormous brain. Was he nursing thoughts of +anger, of hate, of revenge? Tara of Helium could not guess, nor did she +care. The worst had happened. She had tried to escape and she had +failed. There would never be another opportunity. + +"Come!" said Ghek. "We will return to the tower." The deadly monotone +of his voice was unbroken. It was worse than anger, for it revealed +nothing of his intentions. It but increased her horror of these great +brains that were beyond the possibility of human emotions. + +And so she was dragged back to her prison in the tower and Ghek took up +his vigil again, squatting by the doorway, but now he carried a naked +sword in his hand and did not quit his rykor, only to change to another +that he had brought to him when the first gave indications of +weariness. The girl sat looking at him. He had not been unkind to her, +but she felt no sense of gratitude, nor, on the other hand, any sense +of hatred. The brains, incapable themselves of any of the finer +sentiments, awoke none in her. She could not feel gratitude, or +affection, or hatred of them. There was only the same unceasing sense +of horror in their presence. She had heard great scientists discuss the +future of the red race and she recalled that some had maintained that +eventually the brain would entirely dominate the man. There would be no +more instinctive acts or emotions, nothing would be done on impulse; +but on the contrary reason would direct our every act. The propounder +of the theory regretted that he might never enjoy the blessings of such +a state, which, he argued, would result in the ideal life for mankind. + +Tara of Helium wished with all her heart that this learned scientist +might be here to experience to the full the practical results of the +fulfillment of his prophecy. Between the purely physical rykor and the +purely mental kaldane there was little choice; but in the happy medium +of normal, and imperfect man, as she knew him, lay the most desirable +state of existence. It would have been a splendid object lesson, she +thought, to all those idealists who seek mass perfection in any phase +of human endeavor, since here they might discover the truth that +absolute perfection is as little to be desired as is its antithesis. + +Gloomy were the thoughts that filled the mind of Tara of Helium as she +awaited the summons from Luud--the summons that could mean for her but +one thing; death. She guessed why he had sent for her and she knew that +she must find the means for self-destruction before the night was over; +but still she clung to hope and to life. She would not give up until +there was no other way. She startled Ghek once by exclaiming aloud, +almost fiercely: "I still live!" + +"What do you mean?" asked the kaldane. + +"I mean just what I say," she replied. "I still live and while I live I +may still find a way. Dead, there is no hope." + +"Find a way to what?" he asked. + +"To life and liberty and mine own people," she responded. + +"None who enters Bantoom ever leaves," he droned. + +She did not reply and after a time he spoke again. "Sing to me," he +said. + +It was while she was singing that four warriors came to take her to +Luud. They told Ghek that he was to remain where he was. + +"Why?" asked Ghek. + +"You have displeased Luud," replied one of the warriors. + +"How?" demanded Ghek. + +"You have demonstrated a lack of uncontaminated reasoning power. You +have permitted sentiment to influence you, thus demonstrating that you +are a defective. You know the fate of defectives." + +"I know the fate of defectives, but I am no defective," insisted Ghek. + +"You permitted the strange noises which issue from her throat to please +and soothe you, knowing well that their origin and purpose had nothing +whatever to do with logic or the powers of reason. This in itself +constitutes an unimpeachable indictment of weakness. Then, influenced +doubtless by an illogical feeling of sentiment, you permitted her to +walk abroad in the fields to a place where she was able to make an +almost successful attempt to escape. Your own reasoning power, were it +not defective, would convince you that you are unfit. The natural, and +reasonable, consequence is destruction. Therefore you will be destroyed +in such a way that the example will be beneficial to all other kaldanes +of the swarm of Luud. In the meantime you will remain where you are." + +"You are right," said Ghek. "I will remain here until Luud sees fit to +destroy me in the most reasonable manner." + +Tara of Helium shot a look of amazement at him as they led her from the +chamber. Over her shoulder she called back to him: "Remember, Ghek, you +still live!" Then they led her along the interminable tunnels to where +Luud awaited her. + +When she was conducted into his presence he was squatting in a corner +of the chamber upon his six spidery legs. Near the opposite wall lay +his rykor, its beautiful form trapped in gorgeous harness--a dead thing +without a guiding kaldane. Luud dismissed the warriors who had +accompanied the prisoner. Then he sat with his terrible eyes fixed upon +her and without speaking for some time. Tara of Helium could but wait. +What was to come she could only guess. When it came would be +sufficiently the time to meet it. There was no necessity for +anticipating the end. Presently Luud spoke. + +"You think to escape," he said, in the deadly, expressionless monotone +of his kind--the only possible result of orally expressing reason +uninfluenced by sentiment. "You will not escape. You are merely the +embodiment of two imperfect things--an imperfect brain and an imperfect +body. The two cannot exist together in perfection. There you see a +perfect body." He pointed toward the rykor. "It has no brain. Here," +and he raised one of his chelae to his head, "is the perfect brain. It +needs no body to function perfectly and properly as a brain. You would +pit your feeble intellect against mine! Even now you are planning to +slay me. If you are thwarted in that you expect to slay yourself. You +will learn the power of mind over matter. I am the mind. You are the +matter. What brain you have is too weak and ill-developed to deserve +the name of brain. You have permitted it to be weakened by impulsive +acts dictated by sentiment. It has no value. It has practically no +control over your existence. You will not kill me. You will not kill +yourself. When I am through with you you shall be killed if it seems +the logical thing to do. You have no conception of the possibilities +for power which lie in a perfectly developed brain. Look at that rykor. +He has no brain. He can move but slightly of his own volition. An +inherent mechanical instinct that we have permitted to remain in him +allows him to carry food to his mouth; but he could not find food for +himself. We have to place it within his reach and always in the same +place. Should we put food at his feet and leave him alone he would +starve to death. But now watch what a real brain may accomplish." + +He turned his eyes upon the rykor and squatted there glaring at the +insensate thing. Presently, to the girl's horror, the headless body +moved. It rose slowly to its feet and crossed the room to Luud; it +stooped and took the hideous head in its hands; it raised the head and +set it on its shoulders. + +"What chance have you against such power?" asked Luud. "As I did with +the rykor so can I do with you." + +Tara of Helium made no reply. Evidently no vocal reply was necessary. + +"You doubt my ability!" stated Luud, which was precisely the fact, +though the girl had only thought it--she had not said it. + +Luud crossed the room and lay down. Then he detached himself from the +body and crawled across the floor until he stood directly in front of +the circular opening through which she had seen him emerge the day that +she had first been brought to his presence. He stopped there and +fastened his terrible eyes upon her. He did not speak, but his eyes +seemed to be boring straight to the center of her brain. She felt an +almost irresistible force urging her toward the kaldane. She fought to +resist it; she tried to turn away her eyes, but she could not. They +were held as in horrid fascination upon the glittering, lidless orbs of +the great brain that faced her. Slowly, every step a painful struggle +of resistance, she moved toward the horrific monster. She tried to cry +aloud in an effort to awaken her numbing faculties, but no sound passed +her lips. If those eyes would but turn away, just for an instant, she +felt that she might regain the power to control her steps; but the eyes +never left hers. They seemed but to burn deeper and deeper, gathering +up every vestige of control of her entire nervous system. + +As she approached the thing it backed slowly away upon its spider legs. +She noticed that its chelae waved slowly to and fro before it as it +backed, backed, backed, through the round aperture in the wall. Must +she follow it there, too? What new and nameless horror lay concealed in +that hidden chamber? No! she would not do it. Yet before she reached +the wall she found herself down and crawling upon her hands and knees +straight toward the hole from which the two eyes still clung to hers. +At the very threshold of the opening she made a last, heroic stand, +battling against the force that drew her on; but in the end she +succumbed. With a gasp that ended in a sob Tara of Helium passed +through the aperture into the chamber beyond. + +The opening was but barely large enough to admit her. Upon the opposite +side she found herself in a small chamber. Before her squatted Luud. +Against the opposite wall lay a large and beautiful male rykor. He was +without harness or other trappings. + +"You see now," said Luud, "the futility of revolt." + +The words seemed to release her momentarily from the spell. Quickly she +turned away her eyes. + +"Look at me!" commanded Luud. + +Tara of Helium kept her eyes averted. She felt a new strength, or at +least a diminution of the creature's power over her. Had she stumbled +upon the secret of its uncanny domination over her will? She dared not +hope. With eyes averted she turned toward the aperture through which +those baleful eyes had drawn her. Again Luud commanded her to stop, but +the voice alone lacked all authority to influence her. It was not like +the eyes. She heard the creature whistle and knew that it was summoning +assistance, but because she did not dare look toward it she did not see +it turn and concentrate its gaze upon the great, headless body lying by +the further wall. + +The girl was still slightly under the spell of the creature's +influence--she had not regained full and independent domination of her +powers. She moved as one in the throes of some hideous +nightmare--slowly, painfully, as though each limb was hampered by a +great weight, or as she were dragging her body through a viscous fluid. +The aperture was close, ah, so close, yet, struggle as she would, she +seemed to be making no appreciable progress toward it. + +Behind her, urged on by the malevolent power of the great brain, the +headless body crawled upon all-fours toward her. At last she had +reached the aperture. Something seemed to tell her that once beyond it +the domination of the kaldane would be broken. She was almost through +into the adjoining chamber when she felt a heavy hand close upon her +ankle. The rykor had reached forth and seized her, and though she +struggled the thing dragged her back into the room with Luud. It held +her tight and drew her close, and then, to her horror, it commenced to +caress her. + +"You see now," she heard Luud's dull voice, "the futility of +revolt--and its punishment." + +Tara of Helium fought to defend herself, but pitifully weak were her +muscles against this brainless incarnation of brute power. Yet she +fought, fought on in the face of hopeless odds for the honor of the +proud name she bore--fought alone, she whom the fighting men of a +mighty empire, the flower of Martian chivalry, would gladly have lain +down their lives to save. + + + +CHAPTER VII + +A REPELLENT SIGHT + +The cruiser Vanator careened through the tempest. That she had not been +dashed to the ground, or twisted by the force of the elements into +tangled wreckage, was due entirely to the caprice of Nature. For all +the duration of the storm she rode, a helpless derelict, upon those +storm-tossed waves of wind. But for all the dangers and vicissitudes +they underwent, she and her crew might have borne charmed lives up to +within an hour of the abating of the hurricane. It was then that the +catastrophe occurred--a catastrophe indeed to the crew of the Vanator +and the kingdom of Gathol. + +The men had been without food or drink since leaving Helium, and they +had been hurled about and buffeted in their lashings until all were +worn to exhaustion. There was a brief lull in the storm during which +one of the crew attempted to reach his quarters, after releasing the +lashings which had held him to the precarious safety of the deck. The +act in itself was a direct violation of orders and, in the eyes of the +other members of the crew, the effect, which came with startling +suddenness, took the form of a swift and terrible retribution. Scarce +had the man released the safety snaps ere a swift arm of the +storm-monster encircled the ship, rolling it over and over, with the +result that the foolhardy warrior went overboard at the first turn. + +Unloosed from their lashing by the constant turning and twisting of the +ship and the force of the wind, the boarding and landing tackle had +been trailing beneath the keel, a tangled mass of cordage and leather. +Upon the occasions that the Vanator rolled completely over, these +things would be wrapped around her until another revolution in the +opposite direction, or the wind itself, carried them once again clear +of the deck to trail, whipping in the storm, beneath the hurtling ship. + +Into this fell the body of the warrior, and as a drowning man clutches +at a straw so the fellow clutched at the tangled cordage that caught +him and arrested his fall. With the strength of desperation he clung to +the cordage, seeking frantically to entangle his legs and body in it. +With each jerk of the ship his hand holds were all but torn loose, and +though he knew that eventually they would be and that he must be dashed +to the ground beneath, yet he fought with the madness that is born of +hopelessness for the pitiful second which but prolonged his agony. + +It was upon this sight then that Gahan of Gathol looked, over the edge +of the careening deck of the Vanator, as he sought to learn the fate of +his warrior. Lashed to the gunwale close at hand a single landing +leather that had not fouled the tangled mass beneath whipped free from +the ship's side, the hook snapping at its outer end. The Jed of Gathol +grasped the situation in a single glance. Below him one of his people +looked into the eyes of Death. To the jed's hand lay the means for +succor. + +There was no instant's hesitation. Casting off his deck lashings, he +seized the landing leather and slipped over the ship's side. Swinging +like a bob upon a mad pendulum he swung far out and back again, turning +and twisting three thousand feet above the surface of Barsoom, and +then, at last, the thing he had hoped for occurred. He was carried +within reach of the cordage where the warrior still clung, though with +rapidly diminishing strength. Catching one leg on a loop of the tangled +strands Gahan pulled himself close enough to seize another quite near +to the fellow. Clinging precariously to this new hold the jed slowly +drew in the landing leather, down which he had clambered until he could +grasp the hook at its end. This he fastened to a ring in the warrior's +harness, just before the man's weakened fingers slipped from their hold +upon the cordage. + +Temporarily, at least, he had saved the life of his subject, and now he +turned his attention toward insuring his own safety. Inextricably +entangled in the mess to which he was clinging were numerous other +landing hooks such as he had attached to the warrior's harness, and +with one of these he sought to secure himself until the storm should +abate sufficiently to permit him to climb to the deck, but even as he +reached for one that swung near him the ship was caught in a renewed +burst of the storm's fury, the thrashing cordage whipped and snapped to +the lunging of the great craft and one of the heavy metal hooks, +lashing through the air, struck the Jed of Gathol fair between the eyes. + +Momentarily stunned, Gahan's fingers slipped from their hold upon the +cordage and the man shot downward through the thin air of dying Mars +toward the ground three thousand feet beneath, while upon the deck of +the rolling Vanator his faithful warriors clung to their lashings all +unconscious of the fate of their beloved leader; nor was it until more +than an hour later, after the storm had materially subsided, that they +realized he was lost, or knew the self-sacrificing heroism of the act +that had sealed his doom. The Vanator now rested upon an even keel as +she was carried along by a strong, though steady, wind. The warriors +had cast off their deck lashings and the officers were taking account +of losses and damage when a weak cry was heard from oversides, +attracting their attention to the man hanging in the cordage beneath +the keel. Strong arms hoisted him to the deck and then it was that the +crew of the Vanator learned of the heroism of their jed and his end. +How far they had traveled since his loss they could only vaguely guess, +nor could they return in search of him in the disabled condition of the +ship. It was a saddened company that drifted onward through the air +toward whatever destination Fate was to choose for them. + +And Gahan, Jed of Gathol--what of him? Plummet-like he fell for a +thousand feet and then the storm seized him in its giant clutch and +bore him far aloft again. As a bit of paper borne upon a gale he was +tossed about in mid-air, the sport and plaything of the wind. Over and +over it turned him and upward and downward it carried him, but after +each new sally of the element he was brought nearer to the ground. The +freaks of cyclonic storms are the rule of cyclonic storms, since +such storms are in themselves freaks. They uproot and demolish +giant trees, and in the same gust they transport frail infants for +miles and deposit them unharmed in their wake. + +And so it was with Gahan of Gathol. Expecting momentarily to be dashed +to destruction he presently found himself deposited gently upon the +soft, ochre moss of a dead sea-bottom, bodily no worse off for his +harrowing adventure than in the possession of a slight swelling upon +his forehead where the metal hook had struck him. Scarcely able to +believe that Fate had dealt thus gently with him, the jed arose slowly, +as though more than half convinced that he should discover crushed and +splintered bones that would not support his weight. But he was intact. +He looked about him in a vain effort at orientation. The air was filled +with flying dust and debris. The Sun was obliterated. His vision was +confined to a radius of a few hundred yards of ochre moss and +dust-filled air. Five hundred yards away in any direction there might +have arisen the walls of a great city and he not known it. It was +useless to move from where he was until the air cleared, since he could +not know in what direction he was moving, and so he stretched himself +upon the moss and waited, pondering the fate of his warriors and his +ship, but giving little thought to his own precarious situation. + +Lashed to his harness were his swords, his pistols, and a dagger, and +in his pocket-pouch a small quantity of the concentrated rations that +form a part of the equipment of the fighting men of Barsoom. These +things together with trained muscles, high courage, and an undaunted +spirit sufficed him for whatever misadventures might lie between him +and Gathol, which lay in what direction he knew not, nor at what +distance. + +The wind was falling rapidly and with it the dust that obscured the +landscape. That the storm was over he was convinced, but he chafed at +the inactivity the low visibility put upon him, nor did conditions +better materially before night fell, so that he was forced to await the +new day at the very spot at which the tempest had deposited him. +Without his sleeping silks and furs he spent a far from comfortable +night, and it was with feelings of unmixed relief that he saw the +sudden dawn burst upon him. The air was now clear and in the light of +the new day he saw an undulating plain stretching in all directions +about him, while to the northwest there were barely discernible the +outlines of low hills. Toward the southeast of Gathol was such a +country, and as Gahan surmised the direction and the velocity of the +storm to have carried him somewhere in the vicinity of the country he +thought he recognized, he assumed that Gathol lay behind the hills he +now saw, whereas, in reality, it lay far to the northeast. + +It was two days before Gahan had crossed the plain and reached the +summit of the hills from which he hoped to see his own country, only to +meet at last with disappointment. Before him stretched another plain, +of even greater proportions than that he had but just crossed, and +beyond this other hills. In one material respect this plain differed +from that behind him in that it was dotted with occasional isolated +hills. Convinced, however, that Gathol lay somewhere in the direction +of his search he descended into the valley and bent his steps toward +the northwest. + +For weeks Gahan of Gathol crossed valleys and hills in search of some +familiar landmark that might point his way toward his native land, but +the summit of each succeeding ridge revealed but another unfamiliar +view. He saw few animals and no men, until he finally came to the +belief that he had fallen upon that fabled area of ancient Barsoom +which lay under the curse of her olden gods--the once rich and fertile +country whose people in their pride and arrogance had denied the +deities, and whose punishment had been extermination. + +And then, one day, he scaled low hills and looked into an inhabited +valley--a valley of trees and cultivated fields and plots of ground +enclosed by stone walls surrounding strange towers. He saw people +working in the fields, but he did not rush down to greet them. First he +must know more of them and whether they might be assumed to be friends +or enemies. Hidden by concealing shrubbery he crawled to a vantage +point upon a hill that projected further into the valley, and here he +lay upon his belly watching the workers closest to him. They were still +quite a distance from him and he could not be quite sure of them, but +there was something verging upon the unnatural about them. Their heads +seemed out of proportion to their bodies--too large. + +For a long time he lay watching them and ever more forcibly it was +borne in upon his consciousness that they were not as he, and that it +would be rash to trust himself among them. Presently he saw a couple +appear from the nearest enclosure and slowly approach those who were +working nearest to the hill where he lay in hiding. Immediately he was +aware that one of these differed from all the others. Even at the +greater distance he noted that the head was smaller and as they +approached, he was confident that the harness of one of them was not as +the harness of its companion or of that of any of those who tilled the +fields. + +The two stopped often, apparently in argument, as though one would +proceed in the direction that they were going while the other demurred. +But each time the smaller won reluctant consent from the other, and so +they came closer and closer to the last line of workers toiling between +the enclosure from which they had come and the hill where Gahan of +Gathol lay watching, and then suddenly the smaller figure struck its +companion full in the face. Gahan, horrified, saw the latter's head +topple from its body, saw the body stagger and fall to the ground. The +man half rose from his concealment the better to view the happening in +the valley below. The creature that had felled its companion was +dashing madly in the direction of the hill upon which he was hidden, it +dodged one of the workers that sought to seize it. Gahan hoped that it +would gain its liberty, why he did not know other than at closer range +it had every appearance of being a creature of his own race. Then he +saw it stumble and go down and instantly its pursuers were upon it. +Then it was that Gahan's eyes chanced to return to the figure of the +creature the fugitive had felled. + +What horror was this that he was witnessing? Or were his eyes playing +some ghastly joke upon him? No, impossible though it was--it was +true--the head was moving slowly to the fallen body. It placed itself +upon the shoulders, the body rose, and the creature, seemingly as good +as new, ran quickly to where its fellows were dragging the hapless +captive to its feet. + +The watcher saw the creature take its prisoner by the arm and lead it +back to the enclosure, and even across the distance that separated them +from him he could note dejection and utter hopelessness in the bearing +of the prisoner, and, too, he was half convinced that it was a woman, +perhaps a red Martian of his own race. Could he be sure that this was +true he must make some effort to rescue her even though the customs of +his strange world required it only in case she was of his own country; +but he was not sure; she might not be a red Martian at all, or, if she +were, it was as possible that she sprang from an enemy people as not. +His first duty was to return to his own people with as little personal +risk as possible, and though the thought of adventure stirred his blood +he put the temptation aside with a sigh and turned away from the +peaceful and beautiful valley that he longed to enter, for it was his +intention to skirt its eastern edge and continue his search for Gathol +beyond. + +As Gahan of Gathol turned his steps along the southern slopes of the +hills that bound Bantoom upon the south and east, his attention was +attracted toward a small cluster of trees a short distance to his +right. The low sun was casting long shadows. It would soon be night. +The trees were off the path that he had chosen and he had little mind +to be diverted from his way; but as he looked again he hesitated. There +was something there besides boles of trees, and underbrush. There were +suggestions of familiar lines of the handicraft of man. Gahan stopped +and strained his eyes in the direction of the thing that had arrested +his attention. No, he must be mistaken--the branches of the trees and a +low bush had taken on an unnatural semblance in the horizontal rays of +the setting sun. He turned and continued upon his way; but as he cast +another side glance in the direction of the object of his interest, the +sun's rays were shot back into his eyes from a glistening point of +radiance among the trees. + +Gahan shook his head and walked quickly toward the mystery, determined +now to solve it. The shining object still lured him on and when he had +come closer to it his eyes went wide in surprise, for the thing they +saw was naught else than the jewel-encrusted emblem upon the prow of a +small flier. Gahan, his hand upon his short-sword, moved silently +forward, but as he neared the craft he saw that he had naught to fear, +for it was deserted. Then he turned his attention toward the emblem. As +its significance was flashed to his understanding his face paled and +his heart went cold--it was the insignia of the house of The Warlord of +Barsoom. Instantly he saw the dejected figure of the captive being led +back to her prison in the valley just beyond the hills. Tara of Helium! +And he had been so near to deserting her to her fate. The cold sweat +stood in beads upon his brow. + +A hasty examination of the deserted craft unfolded to the young jed the +whole tragic story. The same tempest that had proved his undoing had +borne Tara of Helium to this distant country. Here, doubtless, she had +landed in hope of obtaining food and water since, without a propellor, +she could not hope to reach her native city, or any other friendly +port, other than by the merest caprice of Fate. The flier seemed intact +except for the missing propellor and the fact that it had been +carefully moored in the shelter of the clump of trees indicated that +the girl had expected to return to it, while the dust and leaves upon +its deck spoke of the long days, and even weeks, since she had landed. +Mute yet eloquent proofs, these things, that Tara of Helium was a +prisoner, and that she was the very prisoner whose bold dash for +liberty he had so recently witnessed he now had not the slightest doubt. + +The question now revolved solely about her rescue. He knew to which +tower she had been taken--that much and no more. Of the number, the +kind, or the disposition of her captors he knew nothing; nor did he +care--for Tara of Helium he would face a hostile world alone. Rapidly +he considered several plans for succoring her; but the one that +appealed most strongly to him was that which offered the greatest +chance of escape for the girl should he be successful in reaching her. +His decision reached he turned his attention quickly toward the flier. +Casting off its lashings he dragged it out from beneath the trees, and, +mounting to the deck tested out the various controls. The motor started +at a touch and purred sweetly, the buoyancy tanks were well stocked, +and the ship answered perfectly to the controls which regulated her +altitude. There was nothing needed but a propellor to make her fit for +the long voyage to Helium. Gahan shrugged impatiently--there must not +be a propellor within a thousand haads. But what mattered it? The craft +even without a propellor would still answer the purpose his plan +required of it--provided the captors of Tara of Helium were a people +without ships, and he had seen nothing to suggest that they had ships. +The architecture of their towers and enclosures assured him that they +had not. + +The sudden Barsoomian night had fallen. Cluros rode majestically the +high heavens. The rumbling roar of a banth reverberated among the +hills. Gahan of Gathol let the ship rise a few feet from the ground, +then, seizing a bow rope, he dropped over the side. To tow the little +craft was now a thing of ease, and as Gahan moved rapidly toward the +brow of the hill above Bantoom the flier floated behind him as lightly +as a swan upon a quiet lake. Now down the hill toward the tower dimly +visible in the moonlight the Gatholian turned his steps. Closer behind +him sounded the roar of the hunting banth. He wondered if the beast +sought him or was following some other spoor. He could not be delayed +now by any hungry beast of prey, for what might that very instant be +befalling Tara of Helium he could not guess; and so he hastened his +steps. But closer and closer came the horrid screams of the great +carnivore, and now he heard the swift fall of padded feet upon the +hillside behind him. He glanced back just in time to see the beast +break into a rapid charge. His hand leaped to the hilt of his +long-sword, but he did not draw, for in the same instant he saw the +futility of armed resistance, since behind the first banth came a herd +of at least a dozen others. There was but a single alternative to a +futile stand and that he grasped in the instant that he saw the +overwhelming numbers of his antagonists. + +Springing lightly from the ground he swarmed up the rope toward the bow +of the flier. His weight drew the craft slightly lower and at the very +instant that the man drew himself to the deck at the bow of the vessel, +the leading banth sprang for the stern. Gahan leaped to his feet and +rushed toward the great beast in the hope of dislodging it before it +had succeeded in clambering aboard. At the same instant he saw that +others of the banths were racing toward them with the quite evident +intention of following their leader to the ship's deck. Should they +reach it in any numbers he would be lost. There was but a single hope. +Leaping for the altitude control Gahan pulled it wide. Simultaneously +three banths leaped for the deck. The craft rose swiftly. Gahan felt +the impact of a body against the keel, followed by the soft thuds of +the great bodies as they struck the ground beneath. His act had not +been an instant too soon. And now the leader had gained the deck and +stood at the stern with glaring eyes and snarling jaws. Gahan drew his +sword. The beast, possibly disconcerted by the novelty of its position, +did not charge. Instead it crept slowly toward its intended prey. The +craft was rising and Gahan placed a foot upon the control and stopped +the ascent. He did not wish to chance rising to some higher air current +that would bear him away. Already the craft was moving slowly toward +the tower, carried thither by the impetus of the banth's heavy body +leaping upon it from astern. + +The man watched the slow approach of the monster, the slavering jowls, +the malignant expression of the devilish face. The creature, finding +the deck stable, appeared to be gaining confidence, and then the man +leaped suddenly to one side of the deck and the tiny flier heeled as +suddenly in response. The banth slipped and clutched frantically at the +deck. Gahan leaped in with his naked sword; the great beast caught +itself and reared upon its hind legs to reach forth and seize this +presumptuous mortal that dared question its right to the flesh it +craved; and then the man sprang to the opposite side of the deck. The +banth toppled sideways at the same instant that it attempted to spring; +a raking talon passed close to Gahan's head at the moment that his +sword lunged through the savage heart, and as the warrior wrenched his +blade from the carcass it slipped silently over the side of the ship. + +A glance below showed that the vessel was drifting in the direction of +the tower to which Gahan had seen the prisoner led. In another moment +or two it would be directly over it. The man sprang to the control and +let the craft drop quickly toward the ground where followed the banths, +still hot for their prey. To land outside the enclosure spelled certain +death, while inside he could see many forms huddled upon the ground as +in sleep. The ship floated now but a few feet above the wall of the +enclosure. There was nothing for it but to risk all on a bold bid for +fortune, or drift helplessly past without hope of returning through the +banth-infested valley, from many points of which he could now hear the +roars and growls of these fierce Barsoomian lions. + +Slipping over the side Gahan descended by the trailing anchor-rope +until his feet touched the top of the wall, where he had no difficulty +in arresting the slow drifting of the ship. Then he drew up the anchor +and lowered it inside the enclosure. Still there was no movement upon +the part of the sleepers beneath--they lay as dead men. Dull lights +shone from openings in the tower; but there was no sign of guard or +waking inmate. Clinging to the rope Gahan lowered himself within the +enclosure, where he had his first close view of the creatures lying +there in what he had thought sleep. With a half smothered exclamation +of horror the man drew back from the headless bodies of the rykors. At +first he thought them the corpses of decapitated humans like himself, +which was quite bad enough; but when he saw them move and realized that +they were endowed with life, his horror and disgust became even greater. + +Here then was the explanation of the thing he had witnessed that +afternoon, when Tara of Helium had struck the head from her captor and +Gahan had seen the head crawl back to its body. And to think that the +pearl of Helium was in the power of such hideous things as these. Again +the man shuddered, but he hastened to make fast the flier, clamber +again to its deck and lower it to the floor of the enclosure. Then +he strode toward a door in the base of the tower, stepping lightly +over the recumbent forms of the unconscious rykors, and crossing +the threshold disappeared within. + + + +CHAPTER VIII + +CLOSE WORK + +Ghek, in his happier days third foreman of the fields of Luud, sat +nursing his anger and his humiliation. Recently something had awakened +within him the existence of which he had never before even dreamed. Had +the influence of the strange captive woman aught to do with this unrest +and dissatisfaction? He did not know. He missed the soothing influence +of the noise she called singing. Could it be that there were other +things more desirable than cold logic and undefiled brain power? Was +well balanced imperfection more to be sought after then, than the high +development of a single characteristic? He thought of the great, +ultimate brain toward which all kaldanes were striving. It would be +deaf, and dumb, and blind. A thousand beautiful strangers might sing +and dance about it, but it could derive no pleasure from the singing or +the dancing since it would possess no perceptive faculties. Already had +the kaldanes shut themselves off from most of the gratifications of the +senses. Ghek wondered if much was to be gained by denying themselves +still further, and with the thought came a question as to the whole +fabric of their theory. After all perhaps the girl was right; what +purpose could a great brain serve sealed in the bowels of the earth? + +And he, Ghek, was to die for this theory. Luud had decreed it. The +injustice of it overwhelmed him with rage. But he was helpless. There +was no escape. Beyond the enclosure the banths awaited him; within, his +own kind, equally as merciless and ferocious. Among them there was no +such thing as love, or loyalty, or friendship--they were just brains. +He might kill Luud; but what would that profit him? Another king would +be loosed from his sealed chamber and Ghek would be killed. He did not +know it but he would not even have the poor satisfaction of satisfied +revenge, since he was not capable of feeling so abstruse a sentiment. + +Ghek, mounted upon his rykor, paced the floor of the tower chamber in +which he had been ordered to remain. Ordinarily he would have accepted +the sentence of Luud with perfect equanimity, since it was but the +logical result of reason; but now it seemed different. The stranger +woman had bewitched him. Life appeared a pleasant thing--there were +great possibilities in it. The dream of the ultimate brain had receded +into a tenuous haze far in the background of his thoughts. + +At that moment there appeared in the doorway of the chamber a red +warrior with naked sword. He was a male counterpart of the prisoner +whose sweet voice had undermined the cold, calculating reason of the +kaldane. + +"Silence!" admonished the newcomer, his straight brows gathered in an +ominous frown and the point of his longsword playing menacingly before +the eyes of the kaldane. "I seek the woman, Tara of Helium. Where is +she? If you value your life speak quickly and speak the truth." + +If he valued his life! It was a truth that Ghek had but just learned. +He thought quickly. After all, a great brain is not without its uses. +Perhaps here lay escape from the sentence of Luud. + +"You are of her kind?" he asked. "You come to rescue her?" + +"Yes." + +"Listen, then. I have befriended her, and because of this I am to die. +If I help you to liberate her, will you take me with you?" + +Gahan of Gathol eyed the weird creature from crown to foot--the perfect +body, the grotesque head, the expressionless face. Among such as these +had the beautiful daughter of Helium been held captive for days and +weeks. + +"If she lives and is unharmed," he said, "I will take you with us." + +"When they took her from me she was alive and unharmed," replied Ghek. +"I cannot say what has befallen her since. Luud sent for her." + +"Who is Luud? Where is he? Lead me to him." Gahan spoke quickly in +tones vibrant with authority. + +"Come, then," said Ghek, leading the way from the apartment and down a +stairway toward the underground burrows of the kaldanes. "Luud is my +king. I will take you to his chambers." + +"Hasten!" urged Gahan. + +"Sheathe your sword," warned Ghek, "so that should we pass others of my +kind I may say to them that you are a new prisoner with some likelihood +of winning their belief." + +Gahan did as he was bid, but warning the kaldane that his hand was ever +ready at his dagger's hilt. + +"You need have no fear of treachery," said Ghek. "My only hope of life +lies in you." + +"And if you fail me," Gahan admonished him, "I can promise you as sure +a death as even your king might guarantee you." + +Ghek made no reply, but moved rapidly through the winding subterranean +corridors until Gahan began to realize how truly was he in the hands of +this strange monster. If the fellow should prove false it would profit +Gahan nothing to slay him, since without his guidance the red man might +never hope to retrace his way to the tower and freedom. + +Twice they met and were accosted by other kaldanes; but in both +instances Ghek's simple statement that he was taking a new prisoner to +Luud appeared to allay all suspicion, and then at last they came to the +ante-chamber of the king. + +"Here, now, red man, thou must fight, if ever," whispered Ghek. "Enter +there!" and he pointed to a doorway before them. + +"And you?" asked Gahan, still fearful of treachery. + +"My rykor is powerful," replied the kaldane. "I shall accompany you and +fight at your side. As well die thus as in torture later at the will of +Luud. Come!" + +But Gahan had already crossed the room and entered the chamber beyond. +Upon the opposite side of the room was a circular opening guarded by +two warriors. Beyond this opening he could see two figures struggling +upon the floor, and the fleeting glimpse he had of one of the faces +suddenly endowed him with the strength of ten warriors and the ferocity +of a wounded banth. It was Tara of Helium, fighting for her honor or +her life. + +The warriors, startled by the unexpected appearance of a red man, stood +for a moment in dumb amazement, and in that moment Gahan of Gathol was +upon them, and one was down, a sword-thrust through its heart. + +"Strike at the heads," whispered the voice of Ghek in Gahan's ear. The +latter saw the head of the fallen warrior crawl quickly within the +aperture leading to the chamber where he had seen Tara of Helium in the +clutches of a headless body. Then the sword of Ghek struck the kaldane +of the remaining warrior from its rykor and Gahan ran his sword through +the repulsive head. + +Instantly the red warrior leaped for the aperture, while close behind +him came Ghek. + +"Look not upon the eyes of Luud," warned the kaldane, "or you are lost." + +Within the chamber Gahan saw Tara of Helium in the clutches of a mighty +body, while close to the wall upon the opposite side of the apartment +crouched the hideous, spider-like Luud. Instantly the king realized the +menace to himself and sought to fasten his eyes upon the eyes of Gahan, +and in doing so he was forced to relax his concentration upon the rykor +in whose embraces Tara struggled, so that almost immediately the girl +found herself able to tear away from the awful, headless thing. + +As she rose quickly to her feet she saw for the first time the cause of +the interruption of Luud's plans. A red warrior! Her heart leaped in +rejoicing and thanksgiving. What miracle of fate had sent him to her? +She did not recognize him, though, this travel-worn warrior in the +plain harness which showed no single jewel. How could she have guessed +him the same as the scintillant creature of platinum and diamonds that +she had seen for a brief hour under such different circumstances at the +court of her august sire? + +Luud saw Ghek following the strange warrior into the chamber. "Strike +him down, Ghek!" commanded the king. "Strike down the stranger and your +life shall be yours." + +Gahan glanced at the hideous face of the king. + +"Seek not his eyes," screamed Tara in warning; but it was too late. +Already the horrid hypnotic gaze of the king kaldane had seized upon +the eyes of Gahan. The red warrior hesitated in his stride. His sword +point drooped slowly toward the floor. Tara glanced toward Ghek. She +saw the creature glaring with his expressionless eyes upon the broad +back of the stranger. She saw the hand of the creature's rykor creeping +stealthily toward the hilt of its dagger. + +And then Tara of Helium raised her eyes aloft and poured forth the +notes of Mars' most beautiful melody, The Song of Love. + +Ghek drew his dagger from its sheath. His eyes turned toward the +singing girl. Luud's glance wavered from the eyes of the man to the +face of Tara, and the instant that the latter's song distracted his +attention from his victim, Gahan of Gathol shook himself and as with a +supreme effort of will forced his eyes to the wall above Luud's hideous +head. Ghek raised his dagger above his right shoulder, took a single +quick step forward, and struck. The girl's song ended in a stifled +scream as she leaped forward with the evident intention of frustrating +the kaldane's purpose; but she was too late, and well it was, for an +instant later she realized the purpose of Ghek's act as she saw the +dagger fly from his hand, pass Gahan's shoulder, and sink full to the +guard in the soft face of Luud. + +"Come!" cried the assassin, "we have no time to lose," and started for +the aperture through which they had entered the chamber; but in his +stride he paused as his glance was arrested by the form of the mighty +rykor lying prone upon the floor--a king's rykor; the most beautiful, +the most powerful, that the breeders of Bantoom could produce. Ghek +realized that in his escape he could take with him but a single rykor, +and there was none in Bantoom that could give him better service than +this giant lying here. Quickly he transferred himself to the shoulders +of the great, inert hulk. Instantly the latter was transformed to a +sentient creature, filled with pulsing life and alert energy. + +"Now," said the kaldane, "we are ready. Let whoso would revert to +nothingness impede me." Even as he spoke he stooped and crawled into +the chamber beyond, while Gahan, taking Tara by the arm, motioned her +to follow. The girl looked him full in the eyes for the first time. +"The Gods of my people have been kind," she said; "you came just in +time. To the thanks of Tara of Helium shall be added those of The +Warlord of Barsoom and his people. Thy reward shall surpass thy +greatest desires." + +Gahan of Gathol saw that she did not recognize him, and quickly he +checked the warm greeting that had been upon his lips. + +"Be thou Tara of Helium or another," he replied, "is immaterial, to +serve thus a red woman of Barsoom is in itself sufficient reward." + +As they spoke the girl was making her way through the aperture after +Ghek, and presently all three had quitted the apartments of Luud and +were moving rapidly along the winding corridors toward the tower. Ghek +repeatedly urged them to greater speed, but the red men of Barsoom were +never keen for retreat, and so the two that followed him moved all too +slowly for the kaldane. + +"There are none to impede our progress," urged Gahan, "so why tax the +strength of the Princess by needless haste?" + +"I fear not so much opposition ahead, for there are none there who know +the thing that has been done in Luud's chambers this night; but the +kaldane of one of the warriors who stood guard before Luud's apartment +escaped, and you may count it a truth that he lost no time in seeking +aid. That it did not come before we left is due solely to the rapidity +with which events transpired in the king's* room. Long before we reach +the tower they will be upon us from behind, and that they will come in +numbers far superior to ours and with great and powerful rykors I well +know." + +* I have used the word king in describing the rulers or chiefs of the +Bantoomian swarms, since the word itself is unpronounceable in English, +nor does jed or jeddak of the red Martian tongue have quite the same +meaning as the Bantoomian word, which has practically the same +significance as the English word queen as applied to the leader of a +swarm of bees.--J. C. + + +Nor was Ghek's prophecy long in fulfilment. Presently the sounds of +pursuit became audible in the distant clanking of accouterments and the +whistling call to arms of the kaldanes. + +"The tower is but a short distance now," cried Ghek. "Make haste while +yet you may, and if we can barricade it until the sun rises we may yet +escape." + +"We shall need no barricades for we shall not linger in the tower," +replied Gahan, moving more rapidly as he realized from the volume of +sound behind them the great number of their pursuers. + +"But we may not go further than the tower tonight," insisted Ghek. +"Beyond the tower await the banths and certain death." + +Gahan smiled. "Fear not the banths," he assured them. "Can we but reach +the enclosure a little ahead of our pursuers we have naught to fear +from any evil power within this accursed valley." + +Ghek made no reply, nor did his expressionless face denote either +belief or skepticism. The girl looked into the face of the man +questioningly. She did not understand. + +"Your flier," he said. "It is moored before the tower." + +Her face lighted with pleasure and relief. "You found it!" she +exclaimed. "What fortune!" + +"It was fortune indeed," he replied. "Since it not only told that you +were a prisoner here; but it saved me from the banths as I was crossing +the valley from the hills to this tower into which I saw them take you +this afternoon after your brave attempt at escape." + +"How did you know it was I?" she asked, her puzzled brows scanning his +face as though she sought to recall from past memories some scene in +which he figured. + +"Who is there but knows of the loss of the Princess Tara of Helium?" he +replied. "And when I saw the device upon your flier I knew at once, +though I had not known when I saw you among them in the fields a short +time earlier. Too great was the distance for me to make certain whether +the captive was man or woman. Had chance not divulged the hiding place +of your flier I had gone my way, Tara of Helium. I shudder to think how +close was the chance at that. But for the momentary shining of the sun +upon the emblazoned device on the prow of your craft, I had passed on +unknowing." + +The girl shuddered. "The Gods sent you," she whispered reverently. + +"The Gods sent me, Tara of Helium," he replied. + +"But I do not recognize you," she said. "I have tried to recall you, +but I have failed. Your name, what may it be?" + +"It is not strange that so great a princess should not recall the face +of every roving panthan of Barsoom," he replied with a smile. + +"But your name?" insisted the girl. + +"Call me Turan," replied the man, for it had come to him that if Tara +of Helium recognized him as the man whose impetuous avowal of love had +angered her that day in the gardens of The Warlord, her situation might +be rendered infinitely less bearable than were she to believe him a +total stranger. Then, too, as a simple panthan* he might win a greater +degree of her confidence by his loyalty and faithfulness and a place in +her esteem that seemed to have been closed to the resplendent Jed of +Gathol. + +* Soldier of Fortune; free-lance warrior. + + +They had reached the tower now, and as they entered it from the +subterranean corridor a backward glance revealed the van of their +pursuers--hideous kaldanes mounted upon swift and powerful rykors. As +rapidly as might be the three ascended the stairways leading to the +ground level, but after them, even more rapidly, came the minions of +Luud. Ghek led the way, grasping one of Tara's hands the more easily to +guide and assist her, while Gahan of Gathol followed a few paces in +their rear, his bared sword ready for the assault that all realized +must come upon them now before ever they reached the enclosure and the +flier. + +"Let Ghek drop behind to your side," said Tara, "and fight with you." + +"There is but room for a single blade in these narrow corridors," +replied the Gatholian. "Hasten on with Ghek and win to the deck of the +flier. Have your hand upon the control, and if I come far enough ahead +of these to reach the dangling cable you can rise at my word and I can +clamber to the deck at my leisure; but if one of them emerges first +into the enclosure you will know that I shall never come, and you will +rise quickly and trust to the Gods of our ancestors to give you a fair +breeze in the direction of a more hospitable people." + +Tara of Helium shook her head. "We will not desert you, panthan," she +said. + +Gahan, ignoring her reply, spoke above her head to Ghek. "Take her to +the craft moored within the enclosure," he commanded. "It is our only +hope. Alone, I may win to its deck; but have I to wait upon you two at +the last moment the chances are that none of us will escape. Do as I +bid." His tone was haughty and arrogant--the tone of a man who has +commanded other men from birth, and whose will has been law. Tara of +Helium was both angered and vexed. She was not accustomed to being +either commanded or ignored, but with all her royal pride she was no +fool, and she knew the man was right, that he was risking his life to +save hers, so she hastened on with Ghek as she was bid, and after the +first flush of anger she smiled, for the realization came to her that +this fellow was but a rough untutored warrior, skilled not in the finer +usages of cultured courts. His heart was right, though; a brave and +loyal heart, and gladly she forgave him the offense of his tone and +manner. But what a tone! Recollection of it gave her sudden pause. +Panthans were rough and ready men. Often they rose to positions of high +command, so it was not the note of authority in the fellow's voice that +seemed remarkable; but something else--a quality that was indefinable, +yet as distinct as it was familiar. She had heard it before when the +voice of her great-grandsire, Tardos Mors, Jeddak of Helium, had risen +in command; and in the voice of her grandfather, Mors Kajak, the jed; +and in the ringing tones of her illustrious sire, John Carter, Warlord +of Barsoom, when he addressed his warriors. + +But now she had no time to speculate upon so trivial a thing, for +behind her came the sudden clash of arms and she knew that Turan, the +panthan, had crossed swords with the first of their pursuers. As she +glanced back he was still visible beyond a turn in the stairway, so +that she could see the quick swordplay that ensued. Daughter of a +world's greatest swordsman, she knew well the finest points of the art. +She saw the clumsy attack of the kaldane and the quick, sure return of +the panthan. As she looked down from above upon his almost naked body, +trapped only in the simplest of unadorned harness, and saw the play of +the lithe muscles beneath the red-bronze skin, and witnessed the quick +and delicate play of his sword point, to her sense of obligation was +added a spontaneous admission of admiration that was but the natural +tribute of a woman to skill and bravery and, perchance, some trifle to +manly symmetry and strength. + +Three times the panthan's blade changed its position--once to fend a +savage cut; once to feint; and once to thrust. And as he withdrew it +from the last position the kaldane rolled lifeless from its stumbling +rykor and Turan sprang quickly down the steps to engage the next +behind, and then Ghek had drawn Tara upward and a turn in the stairway +shut the battling panthan from her view; but still she heard the ring +of steel on steel, the clank of accouterments and the shrill whistling +of the kaldanes. Her heart moved her to turn back to the side of her +brave defender; but her judgment told her that she could serve him best +by being ready at the control of the flier at the moment he reached the +enclosure. + + + +CHAPTER IX + +ADRIFT OVER STRANGE REGIONS + +Presently Ghek pushed aside a door that opened from the stairway, and +before them Tara saw the moonlight flooding the walled court where the +headless rykors lay beside their feeding-troughs. She saw the perfect +bodies, muscled as the best of her father's fighting men, and the +females whose figures would have been the envy of many of Helium's most +beautiful women. Ah, if she could but endow these with the power to +act! Then indeed might the safety of the panthan be assured; but they +were only poor lumps of clay, nor had she the power to quicken them to +life. Ever must they lie thus until dominated by the cold, heartless +brain of the kaldane. The girl sighed in pity even as she shuddered in +disgust as she picked her way over and among the sprawled creatures +toward the flier. + +Quickly she and Ghek mounted to the deck after the latter had cast off +the moorings. Tara tested the control, raising and lowering the ship a +few feet within the walled space. It responded perfectly. Then she +lowered it to the ground again and waited. From the open doorway came +the sounds of conflict, now nearing them, now receding. The girl, +having witnessed her champion's skill, had little fear of the outcome. +Only a single antagonist could face him at a time upon the narrow +stairway, he had the advantage of position and of the defensive, and he +was a master of the sword while they were clumsy bunglers by +comparison. Their sole advantage was in their numbers, unless they +might find a way to come upon him from behind. + +She paled at the thought. Could she have seen him she might have been +further perturbed, for he took no advantage of many opportunities to +win nearer the enclosure. He fought coolly, but with a savage +persistence that bore little semblance to purely defensive action. +Often he clambered over the body of a fallen foe to leap against the +next behind, and once there lay five dead kaldanes behind him, so far +had he pushed back his antagonists. They did not know it; these +kaldanes that he fought, nor did the girl awaiting him upon the flier, +but Gahan of Gathol was engaged in a more alluring sport than winning +to freedom, for he was avenging the indignities that had been put upon +the woman he loved; but presently he realized that he might be +jeopardizing her safety uselessly, and so he struck down another before +him and turning leaped quickly up the stairway, while the leading +kaldanes slipped upon the brain-covered floor and stumbled in pursuit. + +Gahan reached the enclosure twenty paces ahead of them and raced toward +the flier. "Rise!" he shouted to the girl. "I will ascend the cable." + +Slowly the small craft rose from the ground as Gahan leaped the inert +bodies of the rykors lying in his path. The first of the pursuers +sprang from the tower just as Gahan seized the trailing rope. + +"Faster!" he shouted to the girl above, "or they will drag us down!" +But the ship seemed scarcely to move, though in reality she was rising +as rapidly as might have been expected of a one-man flier carrying a +load of three. Gahan swung free above the top of the wall, but the end +of the rope still dragged the ground as the kaldanes reached it. They +were pouring in a steady stream from the tower into the enclosure. The +leader seized the rope. + +"Quick!" he cried. "Lay hold and we will drag them down." + +It needed but the weight of a few to accomplish his design. The ship +was stopped in its flight and then, to the horror of the girl, she felt +it being dragged steadily downward. Gahan, too, realized the danger and +the necessity for instant action. Clinging to the rope with his left +hand, he had wound a leg about it, leaving his right hand free for his +long-sword which he had not sheathed. A downward cut clove the soft +head of a kaldane, and another severed the taut rope beneath the +panthan's feet. The girl heard a sudden renewal of the shrill whistling +of her foes, and at the same time she realized that the craft was +rising again. Slowly it drifted upward, out of reach of the enemy, and +a moment later she saw the figure of Turan clamber over the side. For +the first time in many weeks her heart was filled with the joy of +thanksgiving; but her first thought was of another. + +"You are not wounded?" she asked. + +"No, Tara of Helium," he replied. "They were scarce worth the effort of +my blade, and never were they a menace to me because of their swords." + +"They should have slain you easily," said Ghek. "So great and highly +developed is the power of reason among us that they should have known +before you struck just where, logically, you must seek to strike, and +so they should have been able to parry your every thrust and easily +find an opening to your heart." + +"But they did not, Ghek," Gahan reminded him. "Their theory of +development is wrong, for it does not tend toward a perfectly balanced +whole. You have developed the brain and neglected the body and you can +never do with the hands of another what you can do with your own hands. +Mine are trained to the sword--every muscle responds instantly and +accurately, and almost mechanically, to the need of the instant. I am +scarcely objectively aware that I think when I fight, so quickly does +my point take advantage of every opening, or spring to my defense if I +am threatened that it is almost as though the cold steel had eyes and +brains. You, with your kaldane brain and your rykor body, never could +hope to achieve in the same degree of perfection those things that I +can achieve. Development of the brain should not be the sum total of +human endeavor. The richest and happiest peoples will be those who +attain closest to well-balanced perfection of both mind and body, and +even these must always be short of perfection. In absolute and general +perfection lies stifling monotony and death. Nature must have +contrasts; she must have shadows as well as highlights; sorrow with +happiness; both wrong and right; and sin as well as virtue." + +"Always have I been taught differently," replied Ghek; "but since I +have known this woman and you, of another race, I have come to believe +that there may be other standards fully as high and desirable as those +of the kaldanes. At least I have had a glimpse of the thing you call +happiness and I realize that it may be good even though I have no means +of expressing it. I cannot laugh nor smile, and yet within me is a +sense of contentment when this woman sings--a sense that seems to open +before me wondrous vistas of beauty and unguessed pleasure that far +transcend the cold joys of a perfectly functioning brain. I would that +I had been born of thy race." + +Caught by a gentle current of air the flier was drifting slowly toward +the northeast across the valley of Bantoom. Below them lay the +cultivated fields, and one after another they passed over the strange +towers of Moak and Nolach and the other kings of the swarms that +inhabited this weird and terrible land. Within each enclosure +surrounding the towers grovelled the rykors, repellent, headless +things, beautiful yet hideous. + +"A lesson, those," remarked Gahan, indicating the rykors in an +enclosure above which they were drifting at the time, "to that +fortunately small minority of our race which worships the flesh and +makes a god of appetite. You know them, Tara of Helium; they can tell +you exactly what they had at the midday meal two weeks ago, and how the +loin of the thoat should be prepared, and what drink should be served +with the rump of the zitidar." + +Tara of Helium laughed. "But not one of them could tell you the name of +the man whose painting took the Jeddak's Award in The Temple of Beauty +this year," she said. "Like the rykors, their development has not been +balanced." + +"Fortunate indeed are those in which there is combined a little good +and a little bad, a little knowledge of many things outside their own +callings, a capacity for love and a capacity for hate, for such as +these can look with tolerance upon all, unbiased by the egotism of him +whose head is so heavy on one side that all his brains run to that +point." + +As Gahan ceased speaking Ghek made a little noise in his throat as one +does who would attract attention. "You speak as one who has thought +much upon many subjects. Is it, then, possible that you of the red race +have pleasure in thought? Do you know aught of the joys of +introspection? Do reason and logic form any part of your lives?" + +"Most assuredly," replied Gahan, "but not to the extent of occupying +all our time--at least not objectively. You, Ghek, are an example of +the egotism of which I spoke. Because you and your kind devote your +lives to the worship of mind, you believe that no other created beings +think. And possibly we do not in the sense that you do, who think only +of yourselves and your great brains. We think of many things that +concern the welfare of a world. Had it not been for the red men of +Barsoom even the kaldanes had perished from the planet, for while you +may live without air the things upon which you depend for existence +cannot, and there had been no air in sufficient quantities upon Barsoom +these many ages had not a red man planned and built the great +atmosphere plant which gave new life to a dying world. + +"What have all the brains of all the kaldanes that have ever lived done +to compare with that single idea of a single red man?" + +Ghek was stumped. Being a kaldane he knew that brains spelled the sum +total of universal achievement, but it had never occurred to him that +they should be put to use in practical and profitable ways. He turned +away and looked down upon the valley of his ancestors across which he +was slowly drifting, into what unknown world? He should be a veritable +god among the underlings, he knew; but somehow a doubt assailed him. It +was evident that these two from that other world were ready to question +his preeminence. Even through his great egotism was filtering a +suspicion that they patronized him; perhaps even pitied him. Then he +began to wonder what was to become of him. No longer would he have many +rykors to do his bidding. Only this single one and when it died there +could not be another. When it tired, Ghek must lie almost helpless +while it rested. He wished that he had never seen this red woman. She +had brought him only discontent and dishonor and now exile. Presently +Tara of Helium commenced to hum a tune and Ghek, the kaldane, was +content. + +Gently they drifted beneath the hurtling moons above the mad shadows of +a Martian night. The roaring of the banths came in diminishing volume +to their ears as their craft passed on beyond the boundaries of +Bantoom, leaving behind the terrors of that unhappy land. But to what +were they being borne? The girl looked at the man sitting cross-legged +upon the deck of the tiny flier, gazing off into the night ahead, +apparently absorbed in thought. + +"Where are we?" she asked. "Toward what are we drifting?" + +Turan shrugged his broad shoulders. "The stars tell me that we are +drifting toward the northeast," he replied, "but where we are, or what +lies in our path I cannot even guess. A week since I could have sworn +that I knew what lay behind each succeeding ridge that I approached; +but now I admit in all humility that I have no conception of what lies +a mile in any direction. Tara of Helium, I am lost, and that is all +that I can tell you." + +He was smiling and the girl smiled back at him. There was a slightly +puzzled expression on her face--there was something tantalizingly +familiar about that smile of his. She had met many a panthan--they came +and went, following the fighting of a world--but she could not place +this one. + +"From what country are you, Turan?" she asked suddenly. + +"Know you not, Tara of Helium," he countered, "that a panthan has no +country? Today he fights beneath the banner of one master, tomorrow +beneath that of another." + +"But you must own allegiance to some country when you are not +fighting," she insisted. "What banner, then, owns you now?" + +He rose and stood before her, then, bowing low. "And I am acceptable," +he said, "I serve beneath the banner of the daughter of The Warlord +now--and forever." + +She reached forth and touched his arm with a slim brown hand. "Your +services are accepted," she said; "and if ever we reach Helium I +promise that your reward shall be all that your heart could desire." + +"I shall serve faithfully, hoping for that reward," he said; but Tara +of Helium did not guess what was in his mind, thinking rather that he +was mercenary. For how could the proud daughter of The Warlord guess +that a simple panthan aspired to her hand and heart? + +The dawn found them moving rapidly over an unfamiliar landscape. The +wind had increased during the night and had borne them far from +Bantoom. The country below them was rough and inhospitable. No water +was visible and the surface of the ground was cut by deep gorges, while +nowhere was any but the most meager vegetation discernible. They saw no +life of any nature, nor was there any indication that the country could +support life. For two days they drifted over this horrid wasteland. +They were without food or water and suffered accordingly. Ghek had +temporarily abandoned his rykor after enlisting Turan's assistance in +lashing it safely to the deck. The less he used it the less would its +vitality be spent. Already it was showing the effects of privation. +Ghek crawled about the vessel like a great spider--over the side, down +beneath the keel, and up over the opposite rail. He seemed equally at +home one place as another. For his companions, however, the quarters +were cramped, for the deck of a one-man flier is not intended for three. + +Turan sought always ahead for signs of water. Water they must have, or +that water-giving plant which makes life possible upon many of the +seemingly arid areas of Mars; but there was neither the one nor the +other for these two days and now the third night was upon them. The +girl did not complain, but Turan knew that she must be suffering and +his heart was heavy within him. Ghek suffered least of all, and he +explained to them that his kind could exist for long periods without +food or water. Turan almost cursed him as he saw the form of Tara of +Helium slowly wasting away before his eyes, while the hideous kaldane +seemed as full of vitality as ever. + +"There are circumstances," remarked Ghek, "under which a gross and +material body is less desirable than a highly developed brain." + +Turan looked at him, but said nothing. Tara of Helium smiled faintly. +"One cannot blame him," she said, "were we not a bit boastful in the +pride of our superiority? When our stomachs were filled," she added. + +"Perhaps there is something to be said for their system," Turan +admitted. "If we could but lay aside our stomachs when they cried for +food and water I have no doubt but that we should do so." + +"I should never miss mine now," assented Tara; "it is mighty poor +company." + +A new day had dawned, revealing a less desolate country and renewing +again the hope that had been low within them. Suddenly Turan leaned +forward, pointing ahead. + +"Look, Tara of Helium!" he cried. "A city! As I am Ga--as I am Turan +the panthan, a city." + +Far in the distance the domes and walls and slender towers of a city +shone in the rising sun. Quickly the man seized the control and the +ship dropped rapidly behind a low range of intervening hills, for well +Turan knew that they must not be seen until they could discover whether +friend or foe inhabited the strange city. Chances were that they were +far from the abode of friends and so must the panthan move with the +utmost caution; but there was a city and where a city was, was water, +even though it were a deserted city, and food if it were inhabited. + +To the red man food and water, even in the citadel of an enemy, meant +food and drink for Tara of Helium. He would accept it from friends or +he would take it from enemies. Just so long as it was there he would +have it--and there was shown the egotism of the fighting man, though +Turan did not see it, nor Tara who came from a long line of fighting +men; but Ghek might have smiled had he known how. + +Turan permitted the flier to drift closer behind the screening hills, +and then when he could advance no farther without fear of discovery, he +dropped the craft gently to ground in a little ravine, and leaping over +the side made her fast to a stout tree. For several moments they +discussed their plans--whether it would be best to wait where they were +until darkness hid their movements and then approach the city in search +of food and water, or approach it now, taking advantage of what cover +they could, until they could glean something of the nature of its +inhabitants. + +It was Turan's plan which finally prevailed. They would approach as +close as safety dictated in the hope of finding water outside the city; +food, too, perhaps. If they did not they could at least reconnoiter the +ground by daylight, and then when night came Turan could quickly come +close to the city and in comparative safety prosecute his search for +food and drink. + +Following the ravine upward they finally topped the summit of the +ridge, from which they had an excellent view of that part of the city +which lay nearest them, though themselves hidden by the brush behind +which they crouched. Ghek had resumed his rykor, which had suffered +less than either Tara or Turan through their enforced fast. + +The first glance at the city, now much closer than when they had first +discovered it, revealed the fact that it was inhabited. Banners and +pennons broke from many a staff. People were moving about the gate +before them. The high white walls were paced by sentinels at far +intervals. Upon the roofs of higher buildings the women could be seen +airing the sleeping silks and furs. Turan watched it all in silence for +some time. + +"I do not know them," he said at last. "I cannot guess what city this +may be. But it is an ancient city. Its people have no fliers and no +firearms. It must be old indeed." + +"How do you know they have not these things?" asked the girl. + +"There are no landing-stages upon the roofs--not one that can be seen +from here; while were we looking similarly at Helium we would see +hundreds. And they have no firearms because their defenses are all +built to withstand the attack of spear and arrow, with spear and arrow. +They are an ancient people." + +"If they are ancient perhaps they are friendly," suggested the girl. +"Did we not learn as children in the history of our planet that it was +once peopled by a friendly, peace-loving race?" + +"But I fear they are not as ancient as that," replied Turan, laughing. +"It has been long ages since the men of Barsoom loved peace." + +"My father loves peace," returned the girl. + +"And yet he is always at war," said the man. + +She laughed. "But he says he likes peace." + +"We all like peace," he rejoined; "peace with honor; but our neighbors +will not let us have it, and so we must fight." + +"And to fight well men must like to fight," she added. + +"And to like to fight they must know how to fight," he said, "for no +man likes to do the thing that he does not know how to do well." + +"Or that some other man can do better than he." + +"And so always there will be wars and men will fight," he concluded, +"for always the men with hot blood in their veins will practice the art +of war." + +"We have settled a great question," said the girl, smiling; "but our +stomachs are still empty." + +"Your panthan is neglecting his duty," replied Turan; "and how can he +with the great reward always before his eyes!" + +She did not guess in what literal a sense he spoke. + +"I go forthwith," he continued, "to wrest food and drink from the +ancients." + +"No," she cried, laying a hand upon his arm, "not yet. They would slay +you or make you prisoner. You are a brave panthan and a mighty one, but +you cannot overcome a city singlehanded." + +She smiled up into his face and her hand still lay upon his arm. He +felt the thrill of hot blood coursing through his veins. He could have +seized her in his arms and crushed her to him. There was only Ghek the +kaldane there, but there was something stronger within him that +restrained his hand. Who may define it--that inherent chivalry that +renders certain men the natural protectors of women? + +From their vantage point they saw a body of armed warriors ride forth +from the gate, and winding along a well-beaten road pass from sight +about the foot of the hill from which they watched. The men were red, +like themselves, and they rode the small saddle thoats of the red race. +Their trappings were barbaric and magnificent, and in their head-dress +were many feathers as had been the custom of ancients. They were armed +with swords and long spears and they rode almost naked, their bodies +being painted in ochre and blue and white. There were, perhaps, a score +of them in the party and as they galloped away on their tireless mounts +they presented a picture at once savage and beautiful. + +"They have the appearance of splendid warriors," said Turan. "I have a +great mind to walk boldly into their city and seek service." + +Tara shook her head. "Wait," she admonished. "What would I do without +you, and if you were captured how could you collect your reward?" + +"I should escape," he said. "At any rate I shall try it," and he +started to rise. + +"You shall not," said the girl, her tone all authority. + +The man looked at her quickly--questioningly. + +"You have entered my service," she said, a trifle haughtily. + +"You have entered my service for hire and you shall do as I bid you." + +Turan sank down beside her again with a half smile upon his lips. "It +is yours to command, Princess," he said. + +The day passed. Ghek, tiring of the sunlight, had deserted his rykor +and crawled down a hole he had discovered close by. Tara and Turan +reclined beneath the scant shade of a small tree. They watched the +people coming and going through the gate. The party of horsemen did not +return. A small herd of zitidars was driven into the city during the +day, and once a caravan of broad-wheeled carts drawn by these huge +animals wound out of the distant horizon and came down to the city. It, +too, passed from their sight within the gateway. Then darkness came and +Tara of Helium bid her panthan search for food and drink; but she +cautioned him against attempting to enter the city. Before he left her +he bent and kissed her hand as a warrior may kiss the hand of his queen. + + + +CHAPTER X + +ENTRAPPED + +Turan the panthan approached the strange city under cover of the +darkness. He entertained little hope of finding either food or water +outside the wall, but he would try and then, if he failed, he would +attempt to make his way into the city, for Tara of Helium must have +sustenance and have it soon. He saw that the walls were poorly +sentineled, but they were sufficiently high to render an attempt to +scale them foredoomed to failure. Taking advantage of underbrush and +trees, Turan managed to reach the base of the wall without detection. +Silently he moved north past the gateway which was closed by a massive +gate which effectively barred even the slightest glimpse within the +city beyond. It was Turan's hope to find upon the north side of the +city away from the hills a level plain where grew the crops of the +inhabitants, and here too water from their irrigating system, but +though he traveled far along that seemingly interminable wall he found +no fields nor any water. He searched also for some means of ingress to +the city, yet here, too, failure was his only reward, and now as he +went keen eyes watched him from above and a silent stalker kept pace +with him for a time upon the summit of the wall; but presently the +shadower descended to the pavement within and hurrying swiftly raced +ahead of the stranger without. + +He came presently to a small gate beside which was a low building and +before the doorway of the building a warrior standing guard. He spoke a +few quick words to the warrior and then entered the building only to +return almost immediately to the street, followed by fully forty +warriors. Cautiously opening the gate the fellow peered carefully along +the wall upon the outside in the direction from which he had come. +Evidently satisfied, he issued a few words of instruction to those +behind him, whereupon half the warriors returned to the interior of the +building, while the other half followed the man stealthily through the +gateway where they crouched low among the shrubbery in a half circle +just north of the gateway which they had left open. Here they waited in +utter silence, nor had they long to wait before Turan the panthan came +cautiously along the base of the wall. To the very gate he came and +when he found it and that it was open he paused for a moment, +listening; then he approached and looked within. Assured that there was +none within sight to apprehend him he stepped through the gateway into +the city. + +He found himself in a narrow street that paralleled the wall. Upon the +opposite side rose buildings of an architecture unknown to him, yet +strangely beautiful. While the buildings were packed closely together +there seemed to be no two alike and their fronts were of all shapes and +heights and of many hues. The skyline was broken by spire and dome and +minaret and tall, slender towers, while the walls supported many a +balcony and in the soft light of Cluros, the farther moon, now low in +the west, he saw, to his surprise and consternation, the figures of +people upon the balconies. Directly opposite him were two women and a +man. They sat leaning upon the rail of the balcony looking, apparently, +directly at him; but if they saw him they gave no sign. + +Turan hesitated a moment in the face of almost certain discovery and +then, assured that they must take him for one of their own people, he +moved boldly into the avenue. Having no idea of the direction in which +he might best hope to find what he sought, and not wishing to arouse +suspicion by further hesitation, he turned to the left and stepped +briskly along the pavement with the intention of placing himself as +quickly as possible beyond the observation of those nocturnal watchers. +He knew that the night must be far spent; and so he could not but +wonder why people should sit upon their balconies when they should have +been asleep among their silks and furs. At first he had thought them +the late guests of some convivial host; but the windows behind them +were shrouded in darkness and utter quiet prevailed, quite upsetting +such a theory. And as he proceeded he passed many another group sitting +silently upon other balconies. They paid no attention to him, seeming +not even to note his passing. Some leaned with a single elbow upon the +rail, their chins resting in their palms; others leaned upon both arms +across the balcony, looking down into the street, while several that he +saw held musical instruments in their hands, but their fingers moved +not upon the strings. + +And then Turan came to a point where the avenue turned to the right, to +skirt a building that jutted from the inside of the city wall, and as +he rounded the corner he came full upon two warriors standing upon +either side of the entrance to a building upon his right. It was +impossible for them not to be aware of his presence, yet neither moved, +nor gave other evidence that they had seen him. He stood there waiting, +his hand upon the hilt of his long-sword, but they neither challenged +nor halted him. Could it be that these also thought him one of their +own kind? Indeed upon no other grounds could he explain their inaction. + +As Turan had passed through the gateway into the city and taken his +unhindered way along the avenue, twenty warriors had entered the city +and closed the gate behind them, and then one had taken to the wall and +followed along its summit in the rear of Turan, and another had +followed him along the avenue, while a third had crossed the street and +entered one of the buildings upon the opposite side. + +The balance of them, with the exception of a single sentinel beside the +gate, had re-entered the building from which they had been summoned. +They were well built, strapping, painted fellows, their naked figures +covered now by gorgeous robes against the chill of night. As they spoke +of the stranger they laughed at the ease with which they had tricked +him, and were still laughing as they threw themselves upon their +sleeping silks and furs to resume their broken slumber. It was evident +that they constituted a guard detailed for the gate beside which they +slept, and it was equally evident that the gates were guarded and the +city watched much more carefully than Turan had believed. Chagrined +indeed had been the Jed of Gathol had he dreamed that he was being so +neatly tricked. + +As Turan proceeded along the avenue he passed other sentries beside +other doors but now he gave them small heed, since they neither +challenged nor otherwise outwardly noted his passing; but while at +nearly every turn of the erratic avenue he passed one or more of these +silent sentinels he could not guess that he had passed one of them many +times and that his every move was watched by silent, clever stalkers. +Scarce had he passed a certain one of these rigid guardsmen before the +fellow awoke to sudden life, bounded across the avenue, entered a +narrow opening in the outer wall where he swiftly followed a corridor +built within the wall itself until presently he emerged a little +distance ahead of Turan, where he assumed the stiff and silent attitude +of a soldier upon guard. Nor did Turan know that a second followed in +the shadows of the buildings behind him, nor of the third who hastened +ahead of him upon some urgent mission. + +And so the panthan moved through the silent streets of the strange city +in search of food and drink for the woman he loved. Men and women +looked down upon him from shadowy balconies, but spoke not; and +sentinels saw him pass and did not challenge. Presently from along the +avenue before him came the familiar sound of clanking accouterments, +the herald of marching warriors, and almost simultaneously he saw upon +his right an open doorway dimly lighted from within. It was the only +available place where he might seek to hide from the approaching +company, and while he had passed several sentries unquestioned he could +scarce hope to escape scrutiny and questioning from a patrol, as he +naturally assumed this body of men to be. + +Inside the doorway he discovered a passage turning abruptly to the +right and almost immediately thereafter to the left. There was none in +sight within and so he stepped cautiously around the second turn the +more effectually to be hidden from the street. Before him stretched a +long corridor, dimly lighted like the entrance. Waiting there he heard +the party approach the building, he heard someone at the entrance to +his hiding place, and then he heard the door past which he had come +slam to. He laid his hand upon his sword, expecting momentarily to hear +footsteps approaching along the corridor; but none came. He approached +the turn and looked around it; the corridor was empty to the closed +door. Whoever had closed it had remained upon the outside. + +Turan waited, listening. He heard no sound. Then he advanced to the +door and placed an ear against it. All was silence in the street +beyond. A sudden draft must have closed the door, or perhaps it was the +duty of the patrol to see to such things. It was immaterial. They had +evidently passed on and now he would return to the street and continue +upon his way. Somewhere there would be a public fountain where he could +obtain water, and the chance of food lay in the strings of dried +vegetables and meat which hung before the doorways of nearly every +Barsoomian home of the poorer classes that he had ever seen. It was +this district he was seeking, and it was for this reason his search had +led him away from the main gate of the city which he knew would not be +located in a poor district. + +He attempted to open the door only to find that it resisted his every +effort--it was locked upon the outside. Here indeed was a sorry +contretemps. Turan the panthan scratched his head. "Fortune frowns upon +me," he murmured; but beyond the door, Fate, in the form of a painted +warrior, stood smiling. Neatly had he tricked the unwary stranger. The +lighted doorway, the marching patrol--these had been planned and timed +to a nicety by the third warrior who had sped ahead of Turan along +another avenue, and the stranger had done precisely what the fellow had +thought he would do--no wonder, then, that he smiled. + +This exit barred to him Turan turned back into the corridor. He +followed it cautiously and silently. Occasionally there was a door on +one side or the other. These he tried only to find each securely +locked. The corridor wound more erratically the farther he advanced. A +locked door barred his way at its end, but a door upon his right opened +and he stepped into a dimly-lighted chamber, about the walls of which +were three other doors, each of which he tried in turn. Two were +locked; the other opened upon a runway leading downward. It was spiral +and he could see no farther than the first turn. A door in the corridor +he had quitted opened after he had passed, and the third warrior +stepped out and followed after him. A faint smile still lingered upon +the fellow's grim lips. + +Turan drew his short-sword and cautiously descended. At the bottom was +a short corridor with a closed door at the end. He approached the +single heavy panel and listened. No sound came to him from beyond the +mysterious portal. Gently he tried the door, which swung easily toward +him at his touch. Before him was a low-ceiled chamber with a dirt +floor. Set in its walls were several other doors and all were closed. +As Turan stepped cautiously within, the third warrior descended the +spiral runway behind him. The panthan crossed the room quickly and +tried a door. It was locked. He heard a muffled click behind him and +turned about with ready sword. He was alone; but the door through which +he had entered was closed--it was the click of its lock that he had +heard. + +With a bound he crossed the room and attempted to open it; but to no +avail. No longer did he seek silence, for he knew now that the thing +had gone beyond the sphere of chance. He threw his weight against the +wooden panel; but the thick skeel of which it was constructed would +have withstood a battering ram. From beyond came a low laugh. + +Rapidly Turan examined each of the other doors. They were all locked. A +glance about the chamber revealed a wooden table and a bench. Set in +the walls were several heavy rings to which rusty chains were +attached--all too significant of the purpose to which the room was +dedicated. In the dirt floor near the wall were two or three holes +resembling the mouths of burrows--doubtless the habitat of the giant +Martian rat. He had observed this much when suddenly the dim light was +extinguished, leaving him in darkness utter and complete. Turan, +groping about, sought the table and the bench. Placing the latter +against the wall he drew the table in front of him and sat down upon +the bench, his long-sword gripped in readiness before him. At least +they should fight before they took him. + +For some time he sat there waiting for he knew not what. No sound +penetrated to his subterranean dungeon. He slowly revolved in his mind +the incidents of the evening--the open, unguarded gate; the lighted +doorway--the only one he had seen thus open and lighted along the +avenue he had followed; the advance of the warriors at precisely the +moment that he could find no other avenue of escape or concealment; the +corridors and chambers that led past many locked doors to this +underground prison leaving no other path for him to pursue. + +"By my first ancestor!" he swore; "but it was simple and I a simpleton. +They tricked me neatly and have taken me without exposing themselves to +a scratch; but for what purpose?" + +He wished that he might answer that question and then his thoughts +turned to the girl waiting there on the hill beyond the city for +him--and he would never come. He knew the ways of the more savage +peoples of Barsoom. No, he would never come, now. He had disobeyed her. +He smiled at the sweet recollection of those words of command that had +fallen from her dear lips. He had disobeyed her and now he had lost the +reward. + +But what of her? What now would be her fate--starving before a hostile +city with only an inhuman kaldane for company? Another thought--a +horrid thought--obtruded itself upon him. She had told him of the +hideous sights she had witnessed in the burrows of the kaldanes and he +knew that they ate human flesh. Ghek was starving. Should he eat his +rykor he would be helpless; but--there was sustenance there for them +both, for the rykor and the kaldane. Turan cursed himself for a fool. +Why had he left her? Far better to have remained and died with her, +ready always to protect her, than to have left her at the mercy of the +hideous Bantoomian. + +Now Turan detected a heavy odor in the air. It oppressed him with a +feeling of drowsiness. He would have risen to fight off the creeping +lethargy, but his legs seemed weak, so that he sank again to the bench. +Presently his sword slipped from his fingers and he sprawled forward +upon the table his head resting upon his arms. + + * * * * * + +Tara of Helium, as the night wore on and Turan did not return, became +more and more uneasy, and when dawn broke with no sign of him she +guessed that he had failed. Something more than her own unhappy +predicament brought a feeling of sorrow to her heart--of sorrow and +loneliness. She realized now how she had come to depend upon this +panthan not only for protection but for companionship as well. She +missed him, and in missing him realized suddenly that he had meant more +to her than a mere hired warrior. It was as though a friend had been +taken from her--an old and valued friend. She rose from her place of +concealment that she might have a better view of the city. + +U-Dor, dwar of the 8th Utan of O-Tar, Jeddak of Manator, rode back in +the early dawn toward Manator from a brief excursion to a neighboring +village. As he was rounding the hills south of the city, his keen eyes +were attracted by a slight movement among the shrubbery close to the +summit of the nearest hill. He halted his vicious mount and watched +more closely. He saw a figure rise facing away from him and peer down +toward Manator beyond the hill. + +"Come!" he signalled to his followers, and with a word to his thoat +turned the beast at a rapid gallop up the hillside. In his wake swept +his twenty savage warriors, the padded feet of their mounts soundless +upon the soft turf. It was the rattle of sidearms and harness that +brought Tara of Helium suddenly about, facing them. She saw a score of +warriors with couched lances bearing down upon her. + +She glanced at Ghek. What would the spiderman do in this emergency? She +saw him crawl to his rykor and attach himself. Then he arose, the +beautiful body once again animated and alert. She thought that the +creature was preparing for flight. Well, it made little difference to +her. Against such as were streaming up the hill toward them a single +mediocre swordsman such as Ghek was worse than no defense at all. + +"Hurry, Ghek!" she admonished him. "Back into the hills! You may find +there a hiding-place;" but the creature only stepped between her and +the oncoming riders, drawing his long-sword. + +"It is useless, Ghek," she said, when she saw that he intended to +defend her. "What can a single sword accomplish against such odds?" + +"I can die but once," replied the kaldane. "You and your panthan saved +me from Luud and I but do what your panthan would do were he here to +protect you." + +"It is brave, but it is useless," she replied. "Sheathe your sword. +They may not intend us harm." + +Ghek let the point of his weapon drop to the ground, but he did not +sheathe it, and thus the two stood waiting as U-Dor the dwar stopped +his thoat before them while his twenty warriors formed a rough circle +about. For a long minute U-Dor sat his mount in silence, looking +searchingly first at Tara of Helium and then at her hideous companion. + +"What manner of creature are you?" he asked presently. "And what do you +before the gates of Manator?" + +"We are from far countries," replied the girl, "and we are lost and +starving. We ask only food and rest and the privilege to go our way +seeking our own homes." + +U-Dor smiled a grim smile. "Manator and the hills which guard it alone +know the age of Manator," he said; "yet in all the ages that have +rolled by since Manator first was, there be no record in the annals of +Manator of a stranger departing from Manator." + +"But I am a princess," cried the girl haughtily, "and my country is not +at war with yours. You must give me and my companions aid and assist us +to return to our own land. It is the law of Barsoom." + +"Manator knows only the laws of Manator," replied U-Dor; "but come. You +shall go with us to the city, where you, being beautiful, need have no +fear. I, myself, will protect you if O-Tar so decrees. And as for your +companion--but hold! You said 'companions'--there are others of your +party then?" + +"You see what you see," replied Tara haughtily. + +"Be that as it may," said U-Dor. "If there be more they shall not +escape Manator; but as I was saying, if your companion fights well he +too may live, for O-Tar is just, and just are the laws of Manator. +Come!" + +Ghek demurred. + +"It is useless," said the girl, seeing that he would have stood his +ground and fought them. "Let us go with them. Why pit your puny blade +against their mighty ones when there should lie in your great brain the +means to outwit them?" She spoke in a low whisper, rapidly. + +"You are right, Tara of Helium," he replied and sheathed his sword. + +And so they moved down the hillside toward the gates of Manator--Tara, +Princess of Helium, and Ghek, the kaldane of Bantoom--and surrounding +them rode the savage, painted warriors of U-Dor, dwar of the 8th Utan +of O-Tar, Jeddak of Manator. + + + +CHAPTER XI + +THE CHOICE OF TARA + +The dazzling sunlight of Barsoom clothed Manator in an aureole of +splendor as the girl and her captors rode into the city through The +Gate of Enemies. Here the wall was some fifty feet thick, and the sides +of the passageway within the gate were covered with parallel shelves of +masonry from bottom to top. Within these shelves, or long, horizontal +niches, stood row upon row of small figures, appearing like tiny, +grotesque statuettes of men, their long, black hair falling below their +feet and sometimes trailing to the shelf beneath. The figures were +scarce a foot in height and but for their diminutive proportions might +have been the mummified bodies of once living men. The girl noticed +that as they passed, the warriors saluted the figures with their spears +after the manner of Barsoomian fighting men in extending a military +courtesy, and then they rode on into the avenue beyond, which ran, wide +and stately, through the city toward the east. + +On either side were great buildings wondrously wrought. Paintings of +great beauty and antiquity covered many of the walls, their colors +softened and blended by the suns of ages. Upon the pavement the life of +the newly-awakened city was already afoot. Women in brilliant +trappings, befeathered warriors, their bodies daubed with paint; +artisans, armed but less gaily caparisoned, took their various ways +upon the duties of the day. A giant zitidar, magnificent in rich +harness, rumbled its broad-wheeled cart along the stone pavement toward +The Gate of Enemies. Life and color and beauty wrought together a +picture that filled the eyes of Tara of Helium with wonder and with +admiration, for here was a scene out of the dead past of dying Mars. +Such had been the cities of the founders of her race before Throxeus, +mightiest of oceans, had disappeared from the face of a world. And from +balconies on either side men and women looked down in silence upon the +scene below. + +The people in the street looked at the two prisoners, especially at the +hideous Ghek, and called out in question or comment to their guard; but +the watchers upon the balconies spoke not, nor did one so much as turn +a head to note their passing. There were many balconies on each +building and not a one that did not hold its silent party of richly +trapped men and women, with here and there a child or two, but even the +children maintained the uniform silence and immobility of their elders. +As they approached the center of the city the girl saw that even the +roofs bore companies of these idle watchers, harnessed and bejeweled as +for some gala-day of laughter and music, but no laughter broke from +those silent lips, nor any music from the strings of the instruments +that many of them held in jeweled fingers. + +And now the avenue widened into an immense square, at the far end of +which rose a stately edifice gleaming white in virgin marble among the +gaily painted buildings surrounding it and its scarlet sward and +gaily-flowering, green-foliaged shrubbery. Toward this U-Dor led his +prisoners and their guard to the great arched entrance before which a +line of fifty mounted warriors barred the way. When the commander of +the guard recognized U-Dor the guardsmen fell back to either side +leaving a broad avenue through which the party passed. Directly inside +the entrance were inclined runways leading upward on either side. U-Dor +turned to the left and led them upward to the second floor and down a +long corridor. Here they passed other mounted men and in chambers upon +either side they saw more. Occasionally there was another runway +leading either up or down. A warrior, his steed at full gallop, dashed +into sight from one of these and raced swiftly past them upon some +errand. + +Nowhere as yet had Tara of Helium seen a man afoot in this great +building; but when at a turn, U-Dor led them to the third floor she +caught glimpses of chambers in which many riderless thoats were penned +and others adjoining where dismounted warriors lolled at ease or played +games of skill or chance and many there were who played at jetan, and +then the party passed into a long, wide hall of state, as magnificent +an apartment as even a princess of mighty Helium ever had seen. The +length of the room ran an arched ceiling ablaze with countless radium +bulbs. The mighty spans extended from wall to wall leaving the vast +floor unbroken by a single column. The arches were of white marble, +apparently quarried in single, huge blocks from which each arch was cut +complete. Between the arches, the ceiling was set solid about the +radium bulbs with precious stones whose scintillant fire and color and +beauty filled the whole apartment. The stones were carried down the +walls in an irregular fringe for a few feet, where they appeared to +hang like a beautiful and gorgeous drapery against the white marble of +the wall. The marble ended some six or seven feet from the floor, the +walls from that point down being wainscoted in solid gold. The floor +itself was of marble richly inlaid with gold. In that single room was a +vast treasure equal to the wealth of many a large city. + +But what riveted the girl's attention even more than the fabulous +treasure of decorations were the files of gorgeously harnessed warriors +who sat their thoats in grim silence and immobility on either side of +the central aisle, rank after rank of them to the farther walls, and as +the party passed between them she could not note so much as the flicker +of an eyelid, or the twitching of a thoat's ear. + +"The Hall of Chiefs," whispered one of her guard, evidently noting her +interest. There was a note of pride in the fellow's voice and something +of hushed awe. Then they passed through a great doorway into the +chamber beyond, a large, square room in which a dozen mounted warriors +lolled in their saddles. + +As U-Dor and his party entered the room, the warriors came quickly +erect in their saddles and formed a line before another door upon the +opposite side of the wall. The padwar commanding them saluted U-Dor +who, with his party, had halted facing the guard. + +"Send one to O-Tar announcing that U-Dor brings two prisoners worthy of +the observation of the great jeddak," said U-Dor; "one because of her +extreme beauty, the other because of his extreme ugliness." + +"O-Tar sits in council with the lesser chiefs," replied the lieutenant; +"but the words of U-Dor the dwar shall be carried to him," and he +turned and gave instructions to one who sat his thoat behind him. + +"What manner of creature is the male?" he asked of U-Dor. "It cannot be +that both are of one race." + +"They were together in the hills south of the city," explained U-Dor, +"and they say that they are lost and starving." + +"The woman is beautiful," said the padwar. "She will not long go +begging in the city of Manator," and then they spoke of other +matters--of the doings of the palace, of the expedition of U-Dor, until +the messenger returned to say that O-Tar bade them bring the prisoners +to him. + +They passed then through a massive doorway, which, when opened, +revealed the great council chamber of O-Tar, Jeddak of Manator, beyond. +A central aisle led from the doorway the full length of the great hall, +terminating at the steps of a marble dais upon which a man sat in a +great throne-chair. Upon either side of the aisle were ranged rows of +highly carved desks and chairs of skeel, a hard wood of great beauty. +Only a few of the desks were occupied--those in the front row, just +below the rostrum. + +At the entrance U-Dor dismounted with four of his followers who formed +a guard about the two prisoners who were then conducted toward the foot +of the throne, following a few paces behind U-Dor. As they halted at +the foot of the marble steps, the proud gaze of Tara of Helium rested +upon the enthroned figure of the man above her. He sat erect without +stiffness--a commanding presence trapped in the barbaric splendor that +the Barsoomian chieftain loves. He was a large man, the perfection of +whose handsome face was marred only by the hauteur of his cold eyes and +the suggestion of cruelty imparted by too thin lips. It needed no +second glance to assure the least observing that here indeed was a +ruler of men--a fighting jeddak whose people might worship but not +love, and for whose slightest favor warriors would vie with one another +to go forth and die. This was O-Tar, Jeddak of Manator, and as Tara of +Helium saw him for the first time she could not but acknowledge a +certain admiration for this savage chieftain who so virilely +personified the ancient virtues of the God of War. + +U-Dor and the jeddak interchanged the simple greetings of Barsoom, and +then the former recounted the details of the discovery and capture of +the prisoners. O-Tar scrutinized them both intently during U-Dor's +narration of events, his expression revealing naught of what passed in +the brain behind those inscrutable eyes. When the officer had finished +the jeddak fastened his gaze upon Ghek. + +"And you," he asked, "what manner of thing are you? From what country? +Why are you in Manator?" + +"I am a kaldane," replied Ghek; "the highest type of created creature +upon the face of Barsoom; I am mind, you are matter. I come from +Bantoom. I am here because we were lost and starving." + +"And you!" O-Tar turned suddenly on Tara. "You, too, are a kaldane?" + +"I am a princess of Helium," replied the girl. "I was a prisoner in +Bantoom. This kaldane and a warrior of my own race rescued me. The +warrior left us to search for food and water. He has doubtless fallen +into the hands of your people. I ask you to free him and give us food +and drink and let us go upon our way. I am a granddaughter of a jeddak, +the daughter of a jeddak of jeddaks, The Warlord of Barsoom. I ask only +the treatment that my people would accord you or yours." + +"Helium," repeated O-Tar. "I know naught of Helium, nor does the Jeddak +of Helium rule Manator. I, O-Tar, am Jeddak of Manator. I alone rule. I +protect my own. You have never seen a woman or a warrior of Manator +captive in Helium! Why should I protect the people of another jeddak? +It is his duty to protect them. If he cannot, he is weak, and his +people must fall into the hands of the strong. I, O-Tar, am strong. I +will keep you. That--" he pointed at Ghek--"can it fight?" + +"It is brave," replied Tara of Helium, "but it has not the skill at +arms which my people possess." + +"There is none then to fight for you?" asked O-Tar. "We are a just +people," he continued without waiting for a reply, "and had you one to +fight for you he might win to freedom for himself and you as well." + +"But U-Dor assured me that no stranger ever had departed from Manator," +she answered. + +O-Tar shrugged. "That does not disprove the justice of the laws of +Manator," replied O-Tar, "but rather that the warriors of Manator are +invincible. Had there come one who could defeat our warriors that one +had won to liberty." + +"And you fetch my warrior," cried Tara haughtily, "you shall see such +swordplay as doubtless the crumbling walls of your decaying city never +have witnessed, and if there be no trick in your offer we are already +as good as free." + +O-Tar smiled more broadly than before and U-Dor smiled, too, and the +chiefs and warriors who looked on nudged one another and whispered, +laughing. And Tara of Helium knew then that there was trickery in their +justice; but though her situation seemed hopeless she did not cease to +hope, for was she not the daughter of John Carter, Warlord of Barsoom, +whose famous challenge to Fate, "I still live!" remained the one +irreducible defense against despair? At thought of her noble sire the +patrician chin of Tara of Helium rose a shade higher. Ah! if he but +knew where she was there were little to fear then. The hosts of Helium +would batter at the gates of Manator, the great green warriors of John +Carter's savage allies would swarm up from the dead sea bottoms lusting +for pillage and for loot, the stately ships of her beloved navy would +soar above the unprotected towers and minarets of the doomed city which +only capitulation and heavy tribute could then save. + +But John Carter did not know! There was only one other to whom she +might hope to look--Turan the panthan; but where was he? She had seen +his sword in play and she knew that it had been wielded by a master +hand, and who should know swordplay better than Tara of Helium, who had +learned it well under the constant tutorage of John Carter himself. +Tricks she knew that discounted even far greater physical prowess than +her own, and a method of attack that might have been at once the envy +and despair of the cleverest of warriors. And so it was that her +thoughts turned to Turan the panthan, though not alone because of the +protection he might afford her. She had realized, since he had left her +in search of food, that there had grown between them a certain +comradeship that she now missed. There had been that about him which +seemed to have bridged the gulf between their stations in life. With +him she had failed to consider that he was a panthan or that she was a +princess--they had been comrades. Suddenly she realized that she missed +him for himself more than for his sword. She turned toward O-Tar. + +"Where is Turan, my warrior?" she demanded. + +"You shall not lack for warriors," replied the jeddak. "One of your +beauty will find plenty ready to fight for her. Possibly it shall not +be necessary to look farther than the jeddak of Manator. You please me, +woman. What say you to such an honor?" + +Through narrowed lids the Princess of Helium scrutinized the Jeddak of +Manator, from feathered headdress to sandaled foot and back to +feathered headdress. + +"'Honor'!" she mimicked in tones of scorn. "I please thee, do I? Then +know, swine, that thou pleaseth me not--that the daughter of John +Carter is not for such as thou!" + +A sudden, tense silence fell upon the assembled chiefs. Slowly the +blood receded from the sinister face of O-Tar, Jeddak of Manator, +leaving him a sickly purple in his wrath. His eyes narrowed to two thin +slits, his lips were compressed to a bloodless line of malevolence. For +a long moment there was no sound in the throne room of the palace at +Manator. Then the jeddak turned toward U-Dor. + +"Take her away," he said in a level voice that belied his appearance of +rage. "Take her away, and at the next games let the prisoners and the +common warriors play at Jetan for her." + +"And this?" asked U-Dor, pointing at Ghek. + +"To the pits until the next games," replied O-Tar. + +"So this is your vaunted justice!" cried Tara of Helium; "that two +strangers who have not wronged you shall be sentenced without trial? +And one of them is a woman. The swine of Manator are as just as they +are brave." + +"Away with her!" shouted O-Tar, and at a sign from U-Dor the guards +formed about the two prisoners and conducted them from the chamber. + +Outside the palace, Ghek and Tara of Helium were separated. The girl +was led through long avenues toward the center of the city and finally +into a low building, topped by lofty towers of massive construction. +Here she was turned over to a warrior who wore the insignia of a dwar, +or captain. + +"It is O-Tar's wish," explained U-Dor to this one, "that she be kept +until the next games, when the prisoners and the common warriors shall +play for her. Had she not the tongue of a thoat she had been a worthy +stake for our noblest steel," and U-Dor sighed. "Perhaps even yet I may +win a pardon for her. It were too bad to see such beauty fall to the +lot of some common fellow. I would have honored her myself." + +"If I am to be imprisoned, imprison me," said the girl. "I do not +recall that I was sentenced to listen to the insults of every low-born +boor who chanced to admire me." + +"You see, A-Kor," cried U-Dor, "the tongue that she has. Even so and +worse spoke she to O-Tar the jeddak." + +"I see," replied A-Kor, whom Tara saw was with difficulty restraining a +smile. "Come, then, with me, woman," he said, "and we shall find a safe +place within The Towers of Jetan--but stay! what ails thee?" + +The girl had staggered and would have fallen had not the man caught her +in his arms. She seemed to gather herself then and bravely sought to +stand erect without support. A-Kor glanced at U-Dor. "Knew you the +woman was ill?" he asked. + +"Possibly it is lack of food," replied the other. "She mentioned, I +believe, that she and her companions had not eaten for several days." + +"Brave are the warriors of O-Tar," sneered A-Kor; "lavish their +hospitality. U-Dor, whose riches are uncounted, and the brave O-Tar, +whose squealing thoats are stabled within marble halls and fed from +troughs of gold, can spare no crust to feed a starving girl." + +The black haired U-Dor scowled. "Thy tongue will yet pierce thy heart, +son of a slave!" he cried. "Once too often mayst thou try the patience +of the just O-Tar. Hereafter guard thy speech as well as thy towers." + +"Think not to taunt me with my mother's state," said A-Kor. "'Tis the +blood of the slave woman that fills my veins with pride, and my only +shame is that I am also the son of thy jeddak." + +"And O-Tar heard this?" queried U-Dor. + +"O-Tar has already heard it from my own lips," replied A-Kor; "this, +and more." + +He turned upon his heel, a supporting arm still around the waist of +Tara of Helium and thus he half led, half carried her into The Towers +of Jetan, while U-Dor wheeled his thoat and galloped back in the +direction of the palace. + +Within the main entrance to The Tower of Jetan lolled a half-dozen +warriors. To one of these spoke A-Kor, keeper of the towers. "Fetch +Lan-O, the slave girl, and bid her bring food and drink to the upper +level of the Thurian tower," then he lifted the half-fainting girl in +his arms and bore her along the spiral, inclined runway that led upward +within the tower. + +Somewhere in the long ascent Tara lost consciousness. When it returned +she found herself in a large, circular chamber, the stone walls of +which were pierced by windows at regular intervals about the entire +circumference of the room. She was lying upon a pile of sleeping silks +and furs while there knelt above her a young woman who was forcing +drops of some cooling beverage between her parched lips. Tara of Helium +half rose upon an elbow and looked about. In the first moments of +returning consciousness there were swept from the screen of +recollection the happenings of many weeks. She thought that she awoke +in the palace of The Warlord at Helium. Her brows knit as she +scrutinized the strange face bending over her. + +"Who are you?" she asked, and, "Where is Uthia?" + +"I am Lan-O the slave girl," replied the other. "I know none by the +name of Uthia." + +Tara of Helium sat erect and looked about her. This rough stone was not +the marble of her father's halls. "Where am I?" she asked. + +"In The Thurian Tower," replied the girl, and then seeing that the +other still did not understand she guessed the truth. "You are a +prisoner in The Towers of Jetan in the city of Manator," she explained. +"You were brought to this chamber, weak and fainting, by A-Kor, Dwar of +The Towers of Jetan, who sent me to you with food and drink, for kind +is the heart of A-Kor." + +"I remember, now," said Tara, slowly. "I remember; but where is Turan, +my warrior? Did they speak of him?" + +"I heard naught of another," replied Lan-O; "you alone were brought to +the towers. In that you are fortunate, for there be no nobler man in +Manator than A-Kor. It is his mother's blood that makes him so. She was +a slave girl from Gathol." + +"Gathol!" exclaimed Tara of Helium. "Lies Gathol close by Manator?" + +"Not close, yet still the nearest country," replied Lan-O. "About +twenty-two degrees* east, it lies." + +* Approximately 814 Earth Miles. + + +"Gathol!" murmured Tara, "Far Gathol!" + +"But you are not from Gathol," said the slave girl; "your harness is +not of Gathol." + +"I am from Helium," said Tara. + +"It is far from Helium to Gathol," said the slave girl, "but in our +studies we learned much of the greatness of Helium, we of Gathol, so it +seems not so far away." + +"You, too, are from Gathol?" asked Tara. + +"Many of us are from Gathol who are slaves in Manator," replied the +girl. "It is to Gathol, nearest country, that the Manatorians look for +slaves most often. They go in great numbers at intervals of three or +seven years and haunt the roads that lead to Gathol, and thus they +capture whole caravans leaving none to bear warning to Gathol of their +fate. Nor do any ever escape from Manator to carry word of us back to +Gahan our jed." + +Tara of Helium ate slowly and in silence. The girl's words aroused +memories of the last hours she had spent in her father's palace and the +great midday function at which she had met Gahan of Gathol. Even now +she flushed as she recalled his daring words. + +Upon her reveries the door opened and a burly warrior appeared in the +opening--a hulking fellow, with thick lips and an evil, leering face. +The slave girl sprang to her feet, facing him. + +"What does this mean, E-Med?" she cried, "was it not the will of A-Kor +that this woman be not disturbed?" + +"The will of A-Kor, indeed!" and the man sneered. "The will of A-Kor is +without power in The Towers of Jetan, or elsewhere, for A-Kor lies now +in the pits of O-Tar, and E-Med is dwar of the Towers." + +Tara of Helium saw the face of the slave girl pale and the terror in +her eyes. + + + +CHAPTER XII + +GHEK PLAYS PRANKS + +While Tara of Helium was being led to The Towers of Jetan, Ghek was +escorted to the pits beneath the palace where he was imprisoned in a +dimly-lighted chamber. Here he found a bench and a table standing upon +the dirt floor near the wall, and set in the wall several rings from +which depended short lengths of chain. At the base of the walls were +several holes in the dirt floor. These, alone, of the several things he +saw, interested him. Ghek sat down upon the bench and waited in +silence, listening. Presently the lights were extinguished. If Ghek +could have smiled he would have then, for Ghek could see as well in the +dark as in the light--better, perhaps. He watched the dark openings of +the holes in the floor and waited. Presently he detected a change in +the air about him--it grew heavy with a strange odor, and once again +might Ghek have smiled, could he have smiled. + +Let them replace all the air in the chamber with their most deadly +fumes; it would be all the same to Ghek, the kaldane, who, having no +lungs, required no air. With the rykor it might be different. Deprived +of air it would die; but if only a sufficient amount of the gas was +introduced to stupefy an ordinary creature it would have no effect upon +the rykor, who had no objective mind to overcome. So long as the excess +of carbon dioxide in the blood was not sufficient to prevent heart +action, the rykor would suffer only a diminution of vitality; but would +still respond to the exciting agency of the kaldane's brain. + +Ghek caused the rykor to assume a sitting position with its back +against the wall where it might remain without direction from his +brain. Then he released his contact with its spinal cord; but remained +in position upon its shoulders, waiting and watching, for the kaldane's +curiosity was aroused. He had not long to wait before the lights were +flashed on and one of the locked doors opened to admit a half-dozen +warriors. They approached him rapidly and worked quickly. First they +removed all his weapons and then, snapping a fetter about one of the +rykor's ankles, secured him to the end of one of the chains hanging +from the walls. Next they dragged the long table to a new position and +there bolted it to the floor so that an end, instead of the middle, was +directly before the prisoner. On the table before him they set food and +water and upon the opposite end of the table they laid the key to the +fetter. Then they unlocked and opened all the doors and departed. + + * * * * * + +When Turan the panthan regained consciousness it was to the realization +of a sharp pain in one of his forearms. The effects of the gas departed +as rapidly as they had overcome him so that as he opened his eyes he +was in full possession of all his faculties. The lights were on again +and in their glow there was revealed to the man the figure of a giant +Martian rat crouching upon the table and gnawing upon his arm. +Snatching his arm away he reached for his short-sword, while the rat, +growling, sought to seize his arm again. It was then that Turan +discovered that his weapons had been removed--short-sword, long-sword, +dagger, and pistol. The rat charged him then and striking the creature +away with his hand the man rose and backed off, searching for something +with which to strike a harder blow. Again the rat charged and as Turan +stepped quickly back to avoid the menacing jaws, something seemed to +jerk suddenly upon his right ankle, and as he drew his left foot back +to regain his equilibrium his heel caught upon a taut chain and he fell +heavily backward to the floor just as the rat leaped upon his breast +and sought his throat. + +The Martian rat is a fierce and unlovely thing. It is many-legged and +hairless, its hide resembling that of a newborn mouse in repulsiveness. +In size and weight it is comparable to a large Airedale terrier. Its +eyes are small and close-set, and almost hidden in deep, fleshy +apertures. But its most ferocious and repulsive feature is its jaws, +the entire bony structure of which protrudes several inches beyond the +flesh, revealing five sharp, spadelike teeth in the upper jaw and the +same number of similar teeth in the lower, the whole suggesting the +appearance of a rotting face from which much of the flesh has sloughed +away. + +It was such a thing that leaped upon the breast of the panthan to tear +at his jugular. Twice Turan struck it away as he sought to regain his +feet, but both times it returned with increased ferocity to renew the +attack. Its only weapons are its jaws since its broad, splay feet are +armed with blunt talons. With its protruding jaws it excavates its +winding burrows and with its broad feet it pushes the dirt behind it. +To keep the jaws from his flesh then was Turan's only concern and this +he succeeded in doing until chance gave him a hold upon the creature's +throat. After that the end was but a matter of moments. Rising at last +he flung the lifeless thing from him with a shudder of disgust. + +Now he turned his attention to a hurried inventory of the new +conditions which surrounded him since the moment of his incarceration. +He realized vaguely what had happened. He had been anaesthetized and +stripped of his weapons, and as he rose to his feet he saw that one +ankle was fettered to a chain in the wall. He looked about the room. +All the doors swung wide open! His captors would render his +imprisonment the more cruel by leaving ever before him tempting +glimpses of open aisles to the freedom he could not attain. Upon the +end of the table and within easy reach was food and drink. This at +least was attainable and at sight of it his starved stomach seemed +almost to cry aloud for sustenance. It was with difficulty that he ate +and drank in moderation. + +As he devoured the food his eyes wandered about the confines of his +prison until suddenly they seized upon a thing that lay on the table at +the end farthest from him. It was a key. He raised his fettered ankle +and examined the lock. There could be no doubt of it! The key that lay +there on the table before him was the key to that very lock. A careless +warrior had laid it there and departed, forgetting. + +Hope surged high in the breast of Gahan of Gathol, of Turan the +panthan. Furtively his eyes sought the open doorways. There was no one +in sight. Ah, if he could but gain his freedom! He would find some way +from this odious city back to her side and never again would he leave +her until he had won safety for her or death for himself. + +He rose and moved cautiously toward the opposite end of the table where +lay the coveted key. The fettered ankle halted his first step, but he +stretched at full length along the table, extending eager fingers +toward the prize. They almost laid hold upon it--a little more and they +would touch it. He strained and stretched, but still the thing lay just +beyond his reach. He hurled himself forward until the iron fetter bit +deep into his flesh, but all futilely. He sat back upon the bench then +and glared at the open doors and the key, realizing now that they were +part of a well-laid scheme of refined torture, none the less +demoralizing because it inflicted no physical suffering. + +For just a moment the man gave way to useless regret and foreboding, +then he gathered himself together, his brows cleared, and he returned +to his unfinished meal. At least they should not have the satisfaction +of knowing how sorely they had hit him. As he ate it occurred to him +that by dragging the table along the floor he could bring the key +within his reach, but when he essayed to do so, he found that the table +had been securely bolted to the floor during the period of his +unconsciousness. Again Gahan smiled and shrugged and resumed his eating. + + * * * * * + +When the warriors had departed from the prison in which Ghek was +confined, the kaldane crawled from the shoulders of the rykor to the +table. Here he drank a little water and then directed the hands of the +rykor to the balance of it and to the food, upon which the brainless +thing fell with avidity. While it was thus engaged Ghek took his +spider-like way along the table to the opposite end where lay the key +to the fetter. Seizing it in a chela he leaped to the floor and +scurried rapidly toward the mouth of one of the burrows against the +wall, into which he disappeared. For long had the brain been +contemplating these burrow entrances. They appealed to his kaldanean +tastes, and further, they pointed a hiding place for the key and a lair +for the only kind of food that the kaldane relished--flesh and blood. + +Ghek had never seen an ulsio, since these great Martian rats had long +ago disappeared from Bantoom, their flesh and blood having been greatly +relished by the kaldanes; but Ghek had inherited, almost unimpaired, +every memory of every ancestor, and so he knew that ulsio inhabited +these lairs and that ulsio was good to eat, and he knew what ulsio +looked like and what his habits were, though he had never seen him nor +any picture of him. As we breed animals for the transmission of +physical attributes, so the Kaldanes breed themselves for the +transmission of attributes of the mind, including memory and the power +of recollection, and thus have they raised what we term instinct, above +the level of the threshold of the objective mind where it may be +commanded and utilized by recollection. Doubtless in our own subjective +minds lie many of the impressions and experiences of our forebears. +These may impinge upon our consciousness in dreams only, or in vague, +haunting suggestions that we have before experienced some transient +phase of our present existence. Ah, if we had but the power to recall +them! Before us would unfold the forgotten story of the lost eons that +have preceded us. We might even walk with God in the garden of His +stars while man was still but a budding idea within His mind. + +Ghek descended into the burrow at a steep incline for some ten feet, +when he found himself in an elaborate and delightful network of +burrows! The kaldane was elated. This indeed was life! He moved rapidly +and fearlessly and he went as straight to his goal as you could to the +kitchen of your own home. This goal lay at a low level in a spheroidal +cavity about the size of a large barrel. Here, in a nest of torn bits +of silk and fur lay six baby ulsios. + +When the mother returned there were but five babies and a great +spider-like creature, which she immediately sprang to attack only to be +met by powerful chelae which seized and held her so that she could not +move. Slowly they dragged her throat toward a hideous mouth and in a +little moment she was dead. + +Ghek might have remained in the nest for a long time, since there was +ample food for many days; but he did not do so. Instead he explored the +burrows. He followed them into many subterranean chambers of the city +of Manator, and upward through walls to rooms above the ground. He +found many ingeniously devised traps, and he found poisoned food and +other signs of the constant battle that the inhabitants of Manator +waged against these repulsive creatures that dwelt beneath their homes +and public buildings. + +His exploration revealed not only the vast proportions of the network +of runways that apparently traversed every portion of the city, but the +great antiquity of the majority of them. Tons upon tons of dirt must +have been removed, and for a long time he wondered where it had been +deposited, until in following downward a tunnel of great size and +length he sensed before him the thunderous rush of subterranean waters, +and presently came to the bank of a great, underground river, tumbling +onward, no doubt, the length of a world to the buried sea of Omean. +Into this torrential sewer had unthinkable generations of ulsios pushed +their few handsful of dirt in the excavating of their vast labyrinth. + +For only a moment did Ghek tarry by the river, for his seemingly +aimless wanderings were in reality prompted by a definite purpose, and +this he pursued with vigor and singleness of design. He followed such +runways as appeared to terminate in the pits or other chambers of the +inhabitants of the city, and these he explored, usually from the safety +of a burrow's mouth, until satisfied that what he sought was not there. +He moved swiftly upon his spider legs and covered remarkable distances +in short periods of time. + +His search not being rewarded with immediate success, he decided to +return to the pit where his rykor lay chained and look to its wants. As +he approached the end of the burrow that terminated in the pit he +slackened his pace, stopping just within the entrance of the runway +that he might scan the interior of the chamber before entering it. As +he did so he saw the figure of a warrior appear suddenly in an opposite +doorway. The rykor sprawled upon the table, his hands groping blindly +for more food. Ghek saw the warrior pause and gaze in sudden +astonishment at the rykor; he saw the fellow's eyes go wide and an +ashen hue replace the copper bronze of his cheek. He stepped back as +though someone had struck him in the face. For an instant only he stood +thus as in a paralysis of fear, then he uttered a smothered shriek and +turned and fled. Again was it a catastrophe that Ghek, the kaldane, +could not smile. + +Quickly entering the room he crawled to the table top and affixed +himself to the shoulders of his rykor, and there he waited; and who may +say that Ghek, though he could not smile, possessed not a sense of +humor? For a half-hour he sat there, and then there came to him the +sound of men approaching along corridors of stone. He could hear their +arms clank against the rocky walls and he knew that they came at a +rapid pace; but just before they reached the entrance to his prison +they paused and advanced more slowly. In the lead was an officer, and +just behind him, wide-eyed and perhaps still a little ashen, the +warrior who had so recently departed in haste. At the doorway they +halted and the officer turned sternly upon the warrior. With upraised +finger he pointed at Ghek. + +"There sits the creature! Didst thou dare lie, then, to thy dwar?" + +"I swear," cried the warrior, "that I spoke the truth. But a moment +since the thing groveled, headless, upon this very table! And may my +first ancestor strike me dead upon the spot if I speak other than a +true word!" + +The officer looked puzzled. The men of Mars seldom if ever lie. He +scratched his head. Then he addressed Ghek. "How long have you been +here?" he asked. + +"Who knows better than those who placed me here and chained me to a +wall?" he returned in reply. + +"Saw you this warrior enter here a few minutes since?" + +"I saw him," replied Ghek. + +"And you sat there where you sit now?" continued the officer. + +"Look thou to my chain and tell me then where else might I sit!" cried +Ghek. "Art the people of thy city all fools?" + +Three other warriors pressed behind the two in front, craning their +necks to view the prisoner while they grinned at the discomfiture of +their fellow. The officer scowled at Ghek. + +"Thy tongue is as venomous as that of the she-banth O-Tar sent to The +Towers of Jetan," he said. + +"You speak of the young woman who was captured with me?" asked Ghek, +his expressionless monotone and face revealing naught of the interest +he felt. + +"I speak of her," replied the dwar, and then turning to the warrior who +had summoned him: "return to thy quarters and remain there until the +next games. Perhaps by that time thy eyes may have learned not to +deceive thee." + +The fellow cast a venomous glance at Ghek and turned away. The officer +shook his head. "I do not understand it," he muttered. "Always has +U-Van been a true and dependable warrior. Could it be--?" he glanced +piercingly at Ghek. "Thou hast a strange head that misfits thy body, +fellow," he cried. "Our legends tell us of those ancient creatures that +placed hallucinations upon the mind of their fellows. If thou be such +then maybe U-Van suffered from thy forbidden powers. If thou be such +O-Tar will know well how to deal with thee." He wheeled about and +motioned his warriors to follow him. + +"Wait!" cried Ghek. "Unless I am to be starved, send me food." + +"You have had food," replied the warrior. + +"Am I to be fed but once a day?" asked Ghek. "I require food oftener +than that. Send me food." + +"You shall have food," replied the officer. "None may say that the +prisoners of Manator are ill-fed. Just are the laws of Manator," and he +departed. + +No sooner had the sounds of their passing died away in the distance +than Ghek clambered from the shoulders of his rykor, and scurried to +the burrow where he had hidden the key. Fetching it he unlocked the +fetter from about the creature's ankle, locked it empty and carried the +key farther down into the burrow. Then he returned to his place upon +his brainless servitor. After a while he heard footsteps approaching, +whereupon he rose and passed into another corridor from that down which +he knew the warrior was coming. Here he waited out of sight, listening. +He heard the man enter the chamber and halt. He heard a muttered +exclamation, followed by the jangle of metal dishes as a salver was +slammed upon a table; then rapidly retreating footsteps, which quickly +died away in the distance. + +Ghek lost no time in returning to the chamber, recovering the key, +relocking the rykor to his chain. Then he replaced the key in the +burrow and squatting on the table beside his headless body, directed +its hands toward the food. While the rykor ate Ghek sat listening for +the scraping sandals and clattering arms that he knew soon would come. +Nor had he long to wait. Ghek scrambled to the shoulders of his rykor +as he heard them coming. Again it was the officer who had been summoned +by U-Van and with him were three warriors. The one directly behind him +was evidently the same who had brought the food, for his eyes went wide +when he saw Ghek sitting at the table and he looked very foolish as the +dwar turned his stern glance upon him. + +"It is even as I said," he cried. "He was not here when I brought his +food." + +"But he is here now," said the officer grimly, "and his fetter is +locked about his ankle. Look! it has not been opened--but where is the +key? It should be upon the table at the end opposite him. Where is the +key, creature?" he shouted at Ghek. + +"How should I, a prisoner, know better than my jailer the whereabouts +of the key to my fetters?" he retorted. + +"But it lay here," cried the officer, pointing to the other end of the +table. + +"Did you see it?" asked Ghek. + +The officer hesitated. "No but it must have been there," he parried. + +"Did you see the key lying there?" asked Ghek, pointing to another +warrior. + +The fellow shook his head negatively. "And you? and you?" continued the +kaldane addressing the others. + +They both admitted that they never had seen the key. "And if it had +been there how could I have reached it?" he continued. + +"No, he could not have reached it," admitted the officer; "but there +shall be no more of this! I-Zav, you will remain here on guard with +this prisoner until you are relieved." + +I-Zav looked anything but happy as this intelligence was transmitted to +him, and he eyed Ghek suspiciously as the dwar and the other warriors +turned and left him to his unhappy lot. + + + +CHAPTER XIII + +A DESPERATE DEED + +E-Med crossed the tower chamber toward Tara of Helium and the slave +girl, Lan-O. He seized the former roughly by a shoulder. "Stand!" he +commanded. Tara struck his hand from her and rising, backed away. + +"Lay not your hand upon the person of a princess of Helium, beast!" she +warned. + +E-Med laughed. "Think you that I play at jetan for you without first +knowing something of the stake for which I play?" he demanded. "Come +here!" + +The girl drew herself to her full height, folding her arms across her +breast, nor did E-Med note that the slim fingers of her right hand were +inserted beneath the broad leather strap of her harness where it passed +over her left shoulder. + +"And O-Tar learns of this you shall rue it, E-Med," cried the slave +girl; "there be no law in Manator that gives you this girl before you +shall have won her fairly." + +"What cares O-Tar for her fate?" replied E-Med. "Have I not heard? Did +she not flout the great jeddak, heaping abuse upon him? By my first +ancestor, I think O-Tar might make a jed of the man who subdued her," +and again he advanced toward Tara. + +"Wait!" said the girl in low, even tone. "Perhaps you know not what you +do. Sacred to the people of Helium are the persons of the women of +Helium. For the honor of the humblest of them would the great jeddak +himself unsheathe his sword. The greatest nations of Barsoom have +trembled to the thunders of war in defense of the person of Dejah +Thoris, my mother. We are but mortal and so may die; but we may not be +defiled. You may play at jetan for a princess of Helium, but though you +may win the match, never may you claim the reward. If thou wouldst +possess a dead body press me too far, but know, man of Manator, that +the blood of The Warlord flows not in the veins of Tara of Helium for +naught. I have spoken." + +"I know naught of Helium and O-Tar is our warlord," replied E-Med; "but +I do know that I would examine more closely the prize that I shall play +for and win. I would test the lips of her who is to be my slave after +the next games; nor is it well, woman, to drive me too far to anger." +His eyes narrowed as he spoke, his visage taking on the semblance of +that of a snarling beast. "If you doubt the truth of my words ask +Lan-O, the slave girl." + +"He speaks truly, O woman of Helium," interjected Lan-O. "Try not the +temper of E-Med, if you value your life." + +But Tara of Helium made no reply. Already had she spoken. She stood in +silence now facing the burly warrior who approached her. He came close +and then quite suddenly he seized her and, bending, tried to draw her +lips to his. + +Lan-O saw the woman from Helium half turn, and with a quick movement +jerk her right hand from where it had lain upon her breast. She saw the +hand shoot from beneath the arm of E-Med and rise behind his shoulder +and she saw in the hand a long, slim blade. The lips of the warrior +were drawing closer to those of the woman, but they never touched them, +for suddenly the man straightened, stiffly, a shriek upon his lips, and +then he crumpled like an empty fur and lay, a shrunken heap, upon the +floor. Tara of Helium stooped and wiped her blade upon his harness. + +Lan-O, wide-eyed, looked with horror upon the corpse. "For this we +shall both die," she cried. + +"And who would live a slave in Manator?" asked Tara of Helium. + +"I am not so brave as thou," said the slave girl, "and life is sweet +and there is always hope." + +"Life is sweet," agreed Tara of Helium, "but honor is sacred. But do +not fear. When they come I shall tell them the truth--that you had no +hand in this and no opportunity to prevent it." + +For a moment the slave girl seemed to be thinking deeply. Suddenly her +eyes lighted. "There is a way, perhaps," she said, "to turn suspicion +from us. He has the key to this chamber upon him. Let us open the door +and drag him out--maybe we shall find a place to hide him." + +"Good!" exclaimed Tara of Helium, and the two immediately set about the +matter Lan-O had suggested. Quickly they found the key and unlatched +the door and then, between them, they half carried, half dragged, the +corpse of E-Med from the room and down the stairway to the next level +where Lan-O said there were vacant chambers. The first door they tried +was unlatched, and through this the two bore their grisly burden into a +small room lighted by a single window. The apartment bore evidence of +having been utilized as a living-room rather than as a cell, being +furnished with a degree of comfort and even luxury. The walls were +paneled to a height of about seven feet from the floor, while the +plaster above and the ceiling were decorated with faded paintings of +another day. + +As Tara's eyes ran quickly over the interior her attention was drawn to +a section of paneling that seemed to be separated at one edge from the +piece next adjoining it. Quickly she crossed to it, discovering that +one vertical edge of an entire panel projected a half-inch beyond the +others. There was a possible explanation which piqued her curiosity, +and acting upon its suggestion she seized upon the projecting edge and +pulled outward. Slowly the panel swung toward her, revealing a dark +aperture in the wall behind. + +"Look, Lan-O!" she cried. "See what I have found--a hole in which we +may hide the thing upon the floor." + +Lan-O joined her and together the two investigated the dark aperture, +finding a small platform from which a narrow runway led downward into +Stygian darkness. Thick dust covered the floor within the doorway, +indicating that a great period of time had elapsed since human foot had +trod it--a secret way, doubtless, unknown to living Manatorians. Here +they dragged the corpse of E-Med, leaving it upon the platform, and as +they left the dark and forbidden closet Lan-O would have slammed to the +panel had not Tara prevented. + +"Wait!" she said, and fell to examining the door frame and the stile. + +"Hurry!" whispered the slave girl. "If they come we are lost." + +"It may serve us well to know how to open this place again," replied +Tara of Helium, and then suddenly she pressed a foot against a section +of the carved base at the right of the open panel. "Ah!" she breathed, +a note of satisfaction in her tone, and closed the panel until it +fitted snugly in its place. "Come!" she said and turned toward the +outer doorway of the chamber. + +They reached their own cell without detection, and closing the door +Tara locked it from the inside and placed the key in a secret pocket in +her harness. + +"Let them come," she said. "Let them question us! What could two poor +prisoners know of the whereabouts of their noble jailer? I ask you, +Lan-O, what could they?" + +"Nothing," admitted Lan-O, smiling with her companion. + +"Tell me of these men of Manator," said Tara presently. "Are they all +like E-Med, or are some of them like A-Kor, who seemed a brave and +chivalrous character?" + +"They are not unlike the peoples of other countries," replied Lan-O. +"There be among them both good and bad. They are brave warriors and +mighty. Among themselves they are not without chivalry and honor, but +in their dealings with strangers they know but one law--the law of +might. The weak and unfortunate of other lands fill them with contempt +and arouse all that is worst in their natures, which doubtless accounts +for their treatment of us, their slaves." + +"But why should they feel contempt for those who have suffered the +misfortune of falling into their hands?" queried Tara. + +"I do not know," said Lan-O; "A-Kor says that he believes that it is +because their country has never been invaded by a victorious foe. In +their stealthy raids never have they been defeated, because they have +never waited to face a powerful force; and so they have come to believe +themselves invincible, and the other peoples are held in contempt as +inferior in valor and the practice of arms." + +"Yet A-Kor is one of them," said Tara. + +"He is a son of O-Tar, the jeddak," replied Lan-O; "but his mother was +a high born Gatholian, captured and made slave by O-Tar, and A-Kor +boasts that in his veins runs only the blood of his mother, and indeed +is he different from the others. His chivalry is of a gentler form, +though not even his worst enemy has dared question his courage, while +his skill with the sword, and the spear, and the thoat is famous +throughout the length and breadth of Manator." + +"What think you they will do with him?" asked Tara of Helium. + +"Sentence him to the games," replied Lan-O. "If O-Tar be not greatly +angered he may be sentenced to but a single game, in which case he may +come out alive; but if O-Tar wishes really to dispose of him he will be +sentenced to the entire series, and no warrior has ever survived the +full ten, or rather none who was under a sentence from O-Tar." + +"What are the games? I do not understand," said Tara "I have heard them +speak of playing at jetan, but surely no one can be killed at jetan. We +play it often at home." + +"But not as they play it in the arena at Manator," replied Lan-O. "Come +to the window," and together the two approached an aperture facing +toward the east. + +Below her Tara of Helium saw a great field entirely surrounded by the +low building, and the lofty towers of which that in which she was +imprisoned was but a unit. About the arena were tiers of seats; but the +thing that caught her attention was a gigantic jetan board laid out +upon the floor of the arena in great squares of alternate orange and +black. + +"Here they play at jetan with living pieces. They play for great stakes +and usually for a woman--some slave of exceptional beauty. O-Tar +himself might have played for you had you not angered him, but now you +will be played for in an open game by slaves and criminals, and you +will belong to the side that wins--not to a single warrior, but to all +who survive the game." + +The eyes of Tara of Helium flashed, but she made no comment. + +"Those who direct the play do not necessarily take part in it," +continued the slave girl, "but sit in those two great thrones which you +see at either end of the board and direct their pieces from square to +square." + +"But where lies the danger?" asked Tara of Helium. "If a piece be taken +it is merely removed from the board--this is a rule of jetan as old +almost as the civilization of Barsoom." + +"But here in Manator, when they play in the great arena with living +men, that rule is altered," explained Lan-O. "When a warrior is moved +to a square occupied by an opposing piece, the two battle to the death +for possession of the square and the one that is successful advantages +by the move. Each is caparisoned to simulate the piece he represents +and in addition he wears that which indicates whether he be slave, a +warrior serving a sentence, or a volunteer. If serving a sentence the +number of games he must play is also indicated, and thus the one +directing the moves knows which pieces to risk and which to conserve, +and further than this, a man's chances are affected by the position +that is assigned him for the game. Those whom they wish to die are +always Panthans in the game, for the Panthan has the least chance of +surviving." + +"Do those who direct the play ever actually take part in it?" asked +Tara. + +"Oh, yes," said Lan-O. "Often when two warriors, even of the highest +class, hold a grievance against one another O-Tar compels them to +settle it upon the arena. Then it is that they take active part and +with drawn swords direct their own players from the position of Chief. +They pick their own players, usually the best of their own warriors and +slaves, if they be powerful men who possess such, or their friends may +volunteer, or they may obtain prisoners from the pits. These are games +indeed--the very best that are seen. Often the great chiefs themselves +are slain." + +"It is within this amphitheater that the justice of Manator is meted, +then?" asked Tara. + +"Very largely," replied Lan-O. + +"How, then, through such justice, could a prisoner win his liberty?" +continued the girl from Helium. + +"If a man, and he survived ten games his liberty would be his," replied +Lan-O. + +"But none ever survives?" queried Tara. "And if a woman?" + +"No stranger within the gates of Manator ever has survived ten games," +replied the slave girl. "They are permitted to offer themselves into +perpetual slavery if they prefer that to fighting at jetan. Of course +they may be called upon, as any warrior, to take part in a game, but +their chances then of surviving are increased, since they may never +again have the chance of winning to liberty." + +"But a woman," insisted Tara; "how may a woman win her freedom?" + +Lan-O laughed. "Very simply," she cried, derisively. "She has but to +find a warrior who will fight through ten consecutive games for her and +survive." + +"'Just are the laws of Manator,'" quoted Tara, scornfully. + +Then it was that they heard footsteps outside their cell and a moment +later a key turned in the lock and the door opened. A warrior faced +them. + +"Hast seen E-Med the dwar?" he asked. + +"Yes," replied Tara, "he was here some time ago." + +The man glanced quickly about the bare chamber and then searchingly +first at Tara of Helium and then at the slave girl, Lan-O. The puzzled +expression upon his face increased. He scratched his head. "It is +strange," he said. "A score of men saw him ascend into this tower; and +though there is but a single exit, and that well guarded, no man has +seen him pass out." + +Tara of Helium hid a yawn with the back of a shapely hand. "The +Princess of Helium is hungry, fellow," she drawled; "tell your master +that she would eat." + +It was an hour later that food was brought, an officer and several +warriors accompanying the bearer. The former examined the room +carefully, but there was no sign that aught amiss had occurred there. +The wound that had sent E-Med the dwar to his ancestors had not bled, +fortunately for Tara of Helium. + +"Woman," cried the officer, turning upon Tara, "you were the last to +see E-Med the dwar. Answer me now and answer me truthfully. Did you see +him leave this room?" + +"I did," answered Tara of Helium. + +"Where did he go from here?" + +"How should I know? Think you that I can pass through a locked door of +skeel?" the girl's tone was scornful. + +"Of that we do not know," said the officer. "Strange things have +happened in the cell of your companion in the pits of Manator. Perhaps +you could pass through a locked door of skeel as easily as he performs +seemingly more impossible feats." + +"Whom do you mean," she cried; "Turan the panthan? He lives, then? Tell +me, is he here in Manator unharmed?" + +"I speak of that thing which calls itself Ghek the kaldane," replied +the officer. + +"But Turan! Tell me, padwar, have you heard aught of him?" Tara's tone +was insistent and she leaned a little forward toward the officer, her +lips slightly parted in expectancy. + +Into the eyes of the slave girl, Lan-O, who was watching her, there +crept a soft light of understanding; but the officer ignored Tara's +question--what was the fate of another slave to him? "Men do not +disappear into thin air," he growled, "and if E-Med be not found soon +O-Tar himself may take a hand in this. I warn you, woman, if you be one +of those horrid Corphals that by commanding the spirits of the wicked +dead gains evil mastery over the living, as many now believe the thing +called Ghek to be, that lest you return E-Med, O-Tar will have no mercy +on you." + +"What foolishness is this?" cried the girl. "I am a princess of Helium, +as I have told you all a score of times. Even if the fabled Corphals +existed, as none but the most ignorant now believes, the lore of the +ancients tells us that they entered only into the bodies of wicked +criminals of the lowest class. Man of Manator, thou art a fool, and thy +jeddak and all his people," and she turned her royal back upon the +padwar, and gazed through the window across the Field of Jetan and the +roofs of Manator through the low hills and the rolling country and +freedom. + +"And you know so much of Corphals, then," he cried, "you know that +while no common man dare harm them they may be slain by the hand of a +jeddak with impunity!" + +The girl did not reply, nor would she speak again, for all his threats +and rage, for she knew now that none in all Manator dared harm her save +O-Tar, the jeddak, and after a while the padwar left, taking his men +with him. And after they had gone Tara stood for long looking out upon +the city of Manator, and wondering what more of cruel wrongs Fate held +in store for her. She was standing thus in silent meditation when there +rose to her the strains of martial music from the city below--the deep, +mellow tones of the long war trumpets of mounted troops, the clear, +ringing notes of foot-soldiers' music. The girl raised her head and +looked about, listening, and Lan-O, standing at an opposite window, +looking toward the west, motioned Tara to join her. Now they could see +across roofs and avenues to The Gate of Enemies, through which troops +were marching into the city. + +"The Great Jed is coming," said Lan-O, "none other dares enter thus, +with blaring trumpets, the city of Manator. It is U-Thor, Jed of +Manatos, second city of Manator. They call him The Great Jed the length +and breadth of Manator, and because the people love him, O-Tar hates +him. They say, who know, that it would need but slight provocation to +inflame the two to war. How such a war would end no one could guess; +for the people of Manator worship the great O-Tar, though they do not +love him. U-Thor they love, but he is not the jeddak," and Tara +understood, as only a Martian may, how much that simple statement +encompassed. + +The loyalty of a Martian to his jeddak is almost an instinct, and +second not even to the instinct of self-preservation at that. Nor is +this strange in a race whose religion includes ancestor worship, and +where families trace their origin back into remote ages and a jeddak +sits upon the same throne that his direct progenitors have occupied +for, perhaps, hundreds of thousands of years, and rules the descendants +of the same people that his forebears ruled. Wicked jeddaks have been +dethroned, but seldom are they replaced by other than members of the +imperial house, even though the law gives to the jeds the right to +select whom they please. + +"U-Thor is a just man and good, then?" asked Tara of Helium. + +"There be none nobler," replied Lan-O. "In Manatos none but wicked +criminals who deserve death are forced to play at jetan, and even then +the play is fair and they have their chance for freedom. Volunteers may +play, but the moves are not necessarily to the death--a wound, and even +sometimes points in swordplay, deciding the issue. There they look upon +jetan as a martial sport--here it is but butchery. And U-Thor is +opposed to the ancient slave raids and to the policy that keeps Manator +forever isolated from the other nations of Barsoom; but U-Thor is not +jeddak and so there is no change." + +The two girls watched the column moving up the broad avenue from The +Gate of Enemies toward the palace of O-Tar. A gorgeous, barbaric +procession of painted warriors in jewel-studded harness and waving +feathers; vicious, squealing thoats caparisoned in rich trappings; far +above their heads the long lances of their riders bore fluttering +pennons; foot-soldiers swinging easily along the stone pavement, their +sandals of zitidar hide giving forth no sound; and at the rear of each +utan a train of painted chariots, drawn by mammoth zitidars, carrying +the equipment of the company to which they were attached. Utan after +utan entered through the great gate, and even when the head of the +column reached the palace of O-Tar they were not all within the city. + +"I have been here many years," said the girl, Lan-O; "but never have I +seen even The Great Jed bring so many fighting men into the city of +Manator." + +Through half-closed eyes Tara of Helium watched the warriors marching +up the broad avenue, trying to imagine them the fighting men of her +beloved Helium coming to the rescue of their princess. That splendid +figure upon the great thoat might be John Carter, himself, Warlord of +Barsoom, and behind him utan after utan of the veterans of the empire, +and then the girl opened her eyes again and saw the host of painted, +befeathered barbarians, and sighed. But yet she watched, fascinated by +the martial scene, and now she noted again the groups of silent figures +upon the balconies. No waving silks; no cries of welcome; no showers of +flowers and jewels such as would have marked the entry of such a +splendid, friendly pageant into the twin cities of her birth. + +"The people do not seem friendly to the warriors of Manatos," she +remarked to Lan-O; "I have not seen a single welcoming sign from the +people on the balconies." + +The slave girl looked at her in surprise. "It cannot be that you do not +know!" she exclaimed. "Why, they are--" but she got no further. The +door swung open and an officer stood before them. + +"The slave girl, Tara, is summoned to the presence of O-Tar, the +jeddak!" he announced. + + + +CHAPTER XIV + +AT GHEK'S COMMAND + +Turan the panthan chafed in his chains. Time dragged; silence and +monotony prolonged minutes into hours. Uncertainty of the fate of the +woman he loved turned each hour into an eternity of hell. He listened +impatiently for the sound of approaching footsteps that he might see +and speak to some living creature and learn, perchance, some word of +Tara of Helium. After torturing hours his ears were rewarded by the +rattle of harness and arms. Men were coming! He waited breathlessly. +Perhaps they were his executioners; but he would welcome them +notwithstanding. He would question them. But if they knew naught of +Tara he would not divulge the location of the hiding place in which he +had left her. + +Now they came--a half-dozen warriors and an officer, escorting an +unarmed man; a prisoner, doubtless. Of this Turan was not left long in +doubt, since they brought the newcomer and chained him to an adjoining +ring. Immediately the panthan commenced to question the officer in +charge of the guard. + +"Tell me," he demanded, "why I have been made prisoner, and if other +strangers were captured since I entered your city." + +"What other prisoners?" asked the officer. + +"A woman, and a man with a strange head," replied Turan. + +"It is possible," said the officer; "but what were their names?" + +"The woman was Tara, Princess of Helium, and the man was Ghek, a +kaldane, of Bantoom." + +"These were your friends?" asked the officer. + +"Yes," replied Turan. + +"It is what I would know," said the officer, and with a curt command to +his men to follow him he turned and left the cell. + +"Tell me of them!" cried Turan after him. "Tell me of Tara of Helium! +Is she safe?" but the man did not answer and soon the sound of their +departure died in the distance. + +"Tara of Helium was safe, but a short time since," said the prisoner +chained at Turan's side. + +The panthan turned toward the speaker, seeing a large man, handsome of +face and with a manner both stately and dignified. "You have seen her?" +he asked. "They captured her then? She is in danger?" + +"She is being held in The Towers of Jetan as a prize for the next +games," replied the stranger. + +"And who are you?" asked Turan. "And why are you here, a prisoner?" + +"I am A-Kor the dwar, keeper of The Towers of Jetan," replied the +other. "I am here because I dared speak the truth of O-Tar the jeddak, +to one of his officers." + +"And your punishment?" asked Turan. + +"I do not know. O-Tar has not yet spoken. Doubtless the games--perhaps +the full ten, for O-Tar does not love A-Kor, his son." + +"You are the jeddak's son?" asked Turan. + +"I am the son of O-Tar and of a slave, Haja of Gathol, who was a +princess in her own land." + +Turan looked searchingly at the speaker. A son of Haja of Gathol! A son +of his mother's sister, this man, then, was his own cousin. Well did +Gahan remember the mysterious disappearance of the Princess Haja and an +entire utan of her personal troops. She had been upon a visit far from +the city of Gathol and returning home had vanished with her whole +escort from the sight of man. So this was the secret of the seeming +mystery? Doubtless it explained many other similar disappearances that +extended nearly as far back as the history of Gathol. Turan scrutinized +his companion, discovering many evidences of resemblance to his +mother's people. A-Kor might have been ten years younger than he, but +such differences in age are scarce accounted among a people who seldom +or never age outwardly after maturity and whose span of life may be a +thousand years. + +"And where lies Gathol?" asked Turan. + +"Almost due east of Manator," replied A-Kor. + +"And how far?" + +"Some twenty-one degrees it is from the city of Manator to the city of +Gathol," replied A-Kor; "but little more than ten degrees between the +boundaries of the two countries. Between them, though, there lies a +country of torn rocks and yawning chasms." + +Well did Gahan know this country that bordered his upon the west--even +the ships of the air avoided it because of the treacherous currents +that rose from the deep chasms, and the almost total absence of safe +landings. He knew now where Manator lay and for the first time in long +weeks the way to his own Gathol, and here was a man, a fellow prisoner, +in whose veins flowed the blood of his own ancestors--a man who knew +Manator; its people, its customs and the country surrounding it--one +who could aid him, with advice at least, to find a plan for the rescue +of Tara of Helium and for escape. But would A-Kor--could he dare broach +the subject? He could do no less than try. + +"And O-Tar you think will sentence you to death?" he asked; "and why?" + +"He would like to," replied A-Kor, "for the people chafe beneath his +iron hand and their loyalty is but the loyalty of a people to the long +line of illustrious jeddaks from which he has sprung. He is a jealous +man and has found the means of disposing of most of those whose blood +might entitle them to a claim upon the throne, and whose place in the +affections of the people endowed them with any political significance. +The fact that I was the son of a slave relegated me to a position of +minor importance in the consideration of O-Tar, yet I am still the son +of a jeddak and might sit upon the throne of Manator with as perfect +congruity as O-Tar himself. Combined with this is the fact that of +recent years the people, and especially many of the younger warriors, +have evinced a growing affection for me, which I attribute to certain +virtues of character and training derived from my mother, but which +O-Tar assumes to be the result of an ambition upon my part to occupy +the throne of Manator. + +"And now, I am firmly convinced, he has seized upon my criticism of his +treatment of the slave girl Tara as a pretext for ridding himself of +me." + +"But if you could escape and reach Gathol," suggested Turan. + +"I have thought of that," mused A-Kor; "but how much better off would I +be? In the eyes of the Gatholians I would be, not a Gatholian; but a +stranger and doubtless they would accord me the same treatment that we +of Manator accord strangers." + +"Could you convince them that you are the son of the Princess Haja your +welcome would be assured," said Turan; "while on the other hand you +could purchase your freedom and citizenship with a brief period of +labor in the diamond mines." + +"How know you all these things?" asked A-Kor. "I thought you were from +Helium." + +"I am a panthan," replied Turan, "and I have served many countries, +among them Gathol." + +"It is what the slaves from Gathol have told me," said A-Kor, +thoughtfully, "and my mother, before O-Tar sent her to live at Manatos. +I think he must have feared her power and influence among the slaves +from Gathol and their descendants, who number perhaps a million people +throughout the land of Manator." + +"Are these slaves organized?" asked Turan. + +A-Kor looked straight into the eyes of the panthan for a long moment +before he replied. "You are a man of honor," he said; "I read it in +your face, and I am seldom mistaken in my estimate of a man; but--" and +he leaned closer to the other--"even the walls have ears," he +whispered, and Turan's question was answered. + +It was later in the evening that warriors came and unlocked the fetter +from Turan's ankle and led him away to appear before O-Tar, the jeddak. +They conducted him toward the palace along narrow, winding streets and +broad avenues; but always from the balconies there looked down upon +them in endless ranks the silent people of the city. The palace itself +was filled with life and activity. Mounted warriors galloped through +the corridors and up and down the runways connecting adjacent floors. +It seemed that no one walked within the palace other than a few slaves. +Squealing, fighting thoats were stabled in magnificent halls while +their riders, if not upon some duty of the palace, played at jetan with +small figures carved from wood. + +Turan noted the magnificence of the interior architecture of the +palace, the lavish expenditure of precious jewels and metals, the +gorgeous mural decorations which depicted almost exclusively martial +scenes, and principally duels which seemed to be fought upon jetan +boards of heroic size. The capitals of many of the columns supporting +the ceilings of the corridors and chambers through which they passed +were wrought into formal likenesses of jetan pieces--everywhere there +seemed a suggestion of the game. Along the same path that Tara of +Helium had been led Turan was conducted toward the throne room of O-Tar +the jeddak, and when he entered the Hall of Chiefs his interest turned +to wonder and admiration as he viewed the ranks of statuesque thoatmen +decked in their gorgeous, martial panoply. Never, he thought, had he +seen upon Barsoom more soldierly figures or thoats so perfectly trained +to perfection of immobility as these. Not a muscle quivered, not a tail +lashed, and the riders were as motionless as their mounts--each warlike +eye straight to the front, the great spears inclined at the same angle. +It was a picture to fill the breast of a fighting man with awe and +reverence. Nor did it fail in its effect upon Turan as they conducted +him the length of the chamber, where he waited before great doors until +he should be summoned into the presence of the ruler of Manator. + + * * * * * + +When Tara of Helium was ushered into the throne room of O-Tar she found +the great hall filled with the chiefs and officers of O-Tar and U-Thor, +the latter occupying the place of honor at the foot of the throne, as +was his due. The girl was conducted to the foot of the aisle and halted +before the jeddak, who looked down upon her from his high throne with +scowling brows and fierce, cruel eyes. + +"The laws of Manator are just," said O-Tar, addressing her; "thus is it +that you have been summoned here again to be judged by the highest +authority of Manator. Word has reached me that you are suspected of +being a Corphal. What word have you to say in refutation of the charge?" + +Tara of Helium could scarce restrain a sneer as she answered the +ridiculous accusation of witchcraft. "So ancient is the culture of my +people," she said, "that authentic history reveals no defense for that +which we know existed only in the ignorant and superstitious minds of +the most primitive peoples of the past. To those who are yet so +untutored as to believe in the existence of Corphals, there can be no +argument that will convince them of their error--only long ages of +refinement and culture can accomplish their release from the bondage of +ignorance. I have spoken." + +"Yet you do not deny the accusation," said O-Tar. + +"It is not worthy the dignity of a denial," she responded haughtily. + +"And I were you, woman," said a deep voice at her side, "I should, +nevertheless, deny it." + +Tara of Helium turned to see the eyes of U-Thor, the great jed of +Manatos, upon her. Brave eyes they were, but neither cold nor cruel. +O-Tar rapped impatiently upon the arm of his throne. "U-Thor forgets," +he cried, "that O-Tar is the jeddak." + +"U-Thor remembers," replied the jed of Manatos, "that the laws of +Manator permit any who may be accused to have advice and counsel before +their judge." + +Tara of Helium saw that for some reason this man would have assisted +her, and so she acted upon his advice. + +"I deny the charge," she said, "I am no Corphal." + +"Of that we shall learn," snapped O-Tar. "U-Dor, where are those who +have knowledge of the powers of this woman?" + +And U-Dor brought several who recounted the little that was known of +the disappearance of E-Med, and others who told of the capture of Ghek +and Tara, suggesting by deduction that having been found together they +had sufficient in common to make it reasonably certain that one was as +bad as the other, and that, therefore, it remained but to convict one +of them of Corphalism to make certain the guilt of both. And then O-Tar +called for Ghek, and immediately the hideous kaldane was dragged before +him by warriors who could not conceal the fear in which they held this +creature. + +"And you!" said O-Tar in cold accusing tones. "Already have I been told +enough of you to warrant me in passing through your heart the jeddak's +steel--of how you stole the brains from the warrior U-Van so that he +thought he saw your headless body still endowed with life; of how you +caused another to believe that you had escaped, making him to see +naught but an empty bench and a blank wall where you had been." + +"Ah, O-Tar, but that is as nothing!" cried a young padwar who had come +in command of the escort that brought Ghek. "The thing which he did to +I-Zav, here, would prove his guilt alone." + +"What did he to the warrior I-Zav?" demanded O-Tar. "Let I-Zav speak!" + +The warrior I-Zav, a great fellow of bulging muscles and thick neck, +advanced to the foot of the throne. He was pale and still trembling +visibly as from a nervous shock. + +"Let my first ancestor be my witness, O-Tar, that I speak the truth," +he began. "I was left to guard this creature, who sat upon a bench, +shackled to the wall. I stood by the open doorway at the opposite side +of the chamber. He could not reach me, yet, O-Tar, may Iss engulf me if +he did not drag me to him helpless as an unhatched egg. He dragged me +to him, greatest of jeddaks, with his eyes! With his eyes he seized +upon my eyes and dragged me to him and he made me lay my swords and +dagger upon the table and back off into a corner, and still keeping his +eyes upon my eyes his head quitted his body and crawling upon six short +legs it descended to the floor and backed part way into the hole of an +ulsio, but not so far that the eyes were not still upon me and then it +returned with the key to its fetter and after resuming its place upon +its own shoulders it unlocked the fetter and again dragged me across +the room and made me to sit upon the bench where it had been and there +it fastened the fetter about my ankle, and I could do naught for the +power of its eyes and the fact that it wore my two swords and my +dagger. And then the head disappeared down the hole of the ulsio with +the key, and when it returned, it resumed its body and stood guard over +me at the doorway until the padwar came to fetch it hither." + +"It is enough!" said O-Tar, sternly. "Both shall receive the jeddak's +steel," and rising from his throne he drew his long sword and descended +the marble steps toward them, while two brawny warriors seized Tara by +either arm and two seized Ghek, holding them facing the naked blade of +the jeddak. + +"Hold, just O-Tar!" cried U-Dor. "There be yet another to be judged. +Let us confront him who calls himself Turan with these his fellows +before they die." + +"Good!" exclaimed O-Tar, pausing half way down the steps. "Fetch Turan, +the slave!" + +When Turan had been brought into the chamber he was placed a little to +Tara's left and a step nearer the throne. O-Tar eyed him menacingly. + +"You are Turan," he asked, "friend and companion of these?" + +The panthan was about to reply when Tara of Helium spoke. "I know not +this fellow," she said. "Who dares say that he be a friend and +companion of the Princess Tara of Helium?" + +Turan and Ghek looked at her in surprise, but at Turan she did not +look, and to Ghek she passed a quick glance of warning, as to say: +"Hold thy peace." + +The panthan tried not to fathom her purpose for the head is useless +when the heart usurps its functions, and Turan knew only that the woman +he loved had denied him, and though he tried not even to think it his +foolish heart urged but a single explanation--that she refused to +recognize him lest she be involved in his difficulties. + +O-Tar looked first at one and then at another of them; but none of them +spoke. + +"Were they not captured together?" he asked of U-Dor. + +"No," replied the dwar. "He who is called Turan was found seeking +entrance to the city and was enticed to the pits. The following morning +I discovered the other two upon the hill beyond The Gate of Enemies." + +"But they are friends and companions," said a young padwar, "for this +Turan inquired of me concerning these two, calling them by name and +saying that they were his friends." + +"It is enough," stated O-Tar, "all three shall die," and he took +another step downward from the throne. + +"For what shall we die?" asked Ghek. "Your people prate of the just +laws of Manator, and yet you would slay three strangers without telling +them of what crime they are accused." + +"He is right," said a deep voice. It was the voice of U-Thor, the great +jed of Manatos. O-Tar looked at him and scowled; but there came voices +from other portions of the chamber seconding the demand for justice. + +"Then know, though you shall die anyway," cried O-Tar, "that all three +are convicted of Corphalism and that as only a jeddak may slay such as +you in safety you are about to be honored with the steel of O-Tar." + +"Fool!" cried Turan. "Know you not that in the veins of this woman +flows the blood of ten thousand jeddaks--that greater than yours is her +power in her own land? She is Tara, Princess of Helium, +great-granddaughter of Tardos Mors, daughter of John Carter, Warlord of +Barsoom. She cannot be a Corphal. Nor is this creature Ghek, nor am I. +And you would know more, I can prove my right to be heard and to be +believed if I may have word with the Princess Haja of Gathol, whose son +is my fellow prisoner in the pits of O-Tar, his father." + +At this U-Thor rose to his feet and faced O-Tar. "What means this?" he +asked. "Speaks the man the truth? Is the son of Haja a prisoner in thy +pits, O-Tar?" + +"And what is it to the jed of Manatos who be the prisoners in the pits +of his jeddak?" demanded O-Tar, angrily. + +"It is this to the jed of Manatos," replied U-Thor in a voice so low as +to be scarce more than a whisper and yet that was heard the whole +length and breadth of the great throne room of O-Tar, Jeddak of +Manator. "You gave me a slave woman, Haja, who had been a princess in +Gathol, because you feared her influence among the slaves from Gathol. +I have made of her a free woman, and I have married her and made her +thus a princess of Manatos. Her son is my son, O-Tar, and though thou +be my jeddak, I say to you that for any harm that befalls A-Kor you +shall answer to U-Thor of Manatos." + +O-Tar looked long at U-Thor, but he made no reply. Then he turned again +to Turan. "If one be a Corphal," he said, "then all of you be Corphals, +and we know well from the things that this creature has done," he +pointed at Ghek, "that he is a Corphal, for no mortal has such powers +as he. And as you are all Corphals you must all die." He took another +step downward, when Ghek spoke. + +"These two have no such powers as I," he said. "They are but ordinary, +brainless things such as yourself. I have done all the things that your +poor, ignorant warriors have told you; but this only demonstrates that +I am of a higher order than yourselves, as is indeed the fact. I am a +kaldane, not a Corphal. There is nothing supernatural or mysterious +about me, other than that to the ignorant all things which they cannot +understand are mysterious. Easily might I have eluded your warriors and +escaped your pits; but I remained in the hope that I might help these +two foolish creatures who have not the brains to escape without help. +They befriended me and saved my life. I owe them this debt. Do not slay +them--they are harmless. Slay me if you will. I offer my life if it +will appease your ignorant wrath. I cannot return to Bantoom and so I +might as well die, for there is no pleasure in intercourse with the +feeble intellects that cumber the face of the world outside the valley +of Bantoom." + +"Hideous egotist," said O-Tar, "prepare to die and assume not to +dictate to O-Tar the jeddak. He has passed sentence and all three of +you shall feel the jeddak's naked steel. I have spoken!" + +He took another step downward and then a strange thing happened. He +paused, his eyes fixed upon the eyes of Ghek. His sword slipped from +nerveless fingers, and still he stood there swaying forward and back. A +jed rose to rush to his side; but Ghek stopped him with a word. + +"Wait!" he cried. "The life of your jeddak is in my hands. You believe +me a Corphal and so you believe, too, that only the sword of a jeddak +may slay me, therefore your blades are useless against me. Offer harm +to any one of us, or seek to approach your jeddak until I have spoken, +and he shall sink lifeless to the marble. Release the two prisoners and +let them come to my side--I would speak to them, privately. Quick! do +as I say; I would as lief as not slay O-Tar. I but let him live that I +may gain freedom for my friends--obstruct me and he dies." + +The guards fell back, releasing Tara and Turan, who came close to +Ghek's side. + +"Do as I tell you and do it quickly," whispered the kaldane. "I cannot +hold this fellow long, nor could I kill him thus. There are many minds +working against mine and presently mine will tire and O-Tar will be +himself again. You must make the best of your opportunity while you +may. Behind the arras that you see hanging in the rear of the throne +above you is a secret opening. From it a corridor leads to the pits of +the palace, where there are storerooms containing food and drink. Few +people go there. From these pits lead others to all parts of the city. +Follow one that runs due west and it will bring you to The Gate of +Enemies. The rest will then lie with you. I can do no more; hurry +before my waning powers fail me--I am not as Luud, who was a king. He +could have held this creature forever. Make haste! Go!" + + + +CHAPTER XV + +THE OLD MAN OF THE PITS + +"I shall not desert you, Ghek," said Tara of Helium, simply. + +"Go! Go!" whispered the kaldane. "You can do me no good. Go, or all I +have done is for naught." + +Tara shook her head. "I cannot," she said. + +"They will slay her," said Ghek to Turan, and the panthan, torn between +loyalty to this strange creature who had offered its life for him, and +love of the woman, hesitated but a moment, then he swept Tara from her +feet and lifting her in his arms leaped up the steps that led to the +throne of Manator. Behind the throne he parted the arras and found the +secret opening. Into this he bore the girl and down a long, narrow +corridor and winding runways that led to lower levels until they came +to the pits of the palace of O-Tar. Here was a labyrinth of passages +and chambers presenting a thousand hiding-places. + +As Turan bore Tara up the steps toward the throne a score of warriors +rose as though to rush forward to intercept them. "Stay!" cried Ghek, +"or your jeddak dies," and they halted in their tracks, waiting the +will of this strange, uncanny creature. + +Presently Ghek took his eyes from the eyes of O-Tar and the jeddak +shook himself as one who would be rid of a bad dream and straightened +up, half dazed still. + +"Look," said Ghek, then, "I have given your jeddak his life, nor have I +harmed one of those whom I might easily have slain when they were in my +power. No harm have I or my friends done in the city of Manator. Why +then should you persecute us? Give us our lives. Give us our liberty." + +O-Tar, now in command of his faculties, stooped and regained his sword. +In the room was silence as all waited to hear the jeddak's answer. + +"Just are the laws of Manator," he said at last. "Perhaps, after all, +there is truth in the words of the stranger. Return him then to the +pits and pursue the others and capture them. Through the mercy of O-Tar +they shall be permitted to win their freedom upon the Field of Jetan, +in the coming games." + +Still ashen was the face of the jeddak as Ghek was led away and his +appearance was that of a man who had been snatched from the brink of +eternity into which he has gazed, not with the composure of great +courage, but with fear. There were those in the throne room who knew +that the execution of the three prisoners had but been delayed and the +responsibility placed upon the shoulders of others, and one of those +who knew was U-Thor, the great jed of Manatos. His curling lip +betokened his scorn of the jeddak who had chosen humiliation rather +than death. He knew that O-Tar had lost more of prestige in those few +moments than he could regain in a lifetime, for the Martians are +jealous of the courage of their chiefs--there can be no evasions of +stern duty, no temporizing with honor. That there were others in the +room who shared U-Thor's belief was evidenced by the silence and the +grim scowls. + +O-Tar glanced quickly around. He must have sensed the hostility and +guessed its cause, for he went suddenly angry, and as one who seeks by +the vehemence of his words to establish the courage of his heart he +roared forth what could be considered as naught other than a challenge. + +"The will of O-Tar, the jeddak, is the law of Manator," he cried, "and +the laws of Manator are just--they cannot err. U-Dor, dispatch those +who will search the palace, the pits, and the city, and return the +fugitives to their cells. + +"And now for you, U-Thor of Manatos! Think you with impunity to +threaten your jeddak--to question his right to punish traitors and +instigators of treason? What am I to think of your own loyalty, who +takes to wife a woman I have banished from my court because of her +intrigues against the authority of her jeddak and her master? But O-Tar +is just. Make your explanations and your peace, then, before it is too +late." + +"U-Thor has nothing to explain," replied the jed of Manatos; "nor is he +at war with his jeddak; but he has the right that every jed and every +warrior enjoys, of demanding justice at the hands of the jeddak for +whomsoever he believes to be persecuted. With increasing rigor has the +jeddak of Manator persecuted the slaves from Gathol since he took to +himself the unwilling Princess Haja. If the slaves from Gathol have +harbored thoughts of vengeance and escape 'tis no more than might be +expected from a proud and courageous people. Ever have I counselled +greater fairness in our treatment of our slaves, many of whom, in their +own lands, are people of great distinction and power; but always has +O-Tar, the jeddak, flouted with arrogance my every suggestion. Though +it has been through none of my seeking that the question has arisen now +I am glad that it has, for the time was bound to come when the jeds of +Manator would demand from O-Tar the respect and consideration that is +their due from the man who holds his high office at their pleasure. +Know, then, O-Tar, that you must free A-Kor, the dwar, forthwith or +bring him to fair trial before the assembled jeds of Manator. I have +spoken." + +"You have spoken well and to the point, U-Thor," cried O-Tar, "for you +have revealed to your jeddak and your fellow jeds the depth of the +disloyalty that I have long suspected. A-Kor already has been tried and +sentenced by the supreme tribunal of Manator--O-Tar, the jeddak; and +you too shall receive justice from the same unfailing source. In the +meantime you are under arrest. To the pits with him! To the pits with +U-Thor the false jed!" He clapped his hands to summon the surrounding +warriors to do his bidding. A score leaped forward to seize U-Thor. +They were warriors of the palace, mostly; but two score leaped to +defend U-Thor, and with ringing steel they fought at the foot of the +steps to the throne of Manator where stood O-Tar, the jeddak, with +drawn sword ready to take his part in the melee. + +At the clash of steel, palace guards rushed to the scene from other +parts of the great building until those who would have defended U-Thor +were outnumbered two to one, and then the jed of Manatos slowly +withdrew with his forces, and fighting his way through the corridors +and chambers of the palace came at last to the avenue. Here he was +reinforced by the little army that had marched with him into Manator. +Slowly they retreated toward The Gate of Enemies between the rows of +silent people looking down upon them from the balconies and there, +within the city walls, they made their stand. + +In a dimly-lighted chamber beneath the palace of O-Tar the jeddak, +Turan the panthan lowered Tara of Helium from his arms and faced her. +"I am sorry, Princess," he said, "that I was forced to disobey your +commands, or to abandon Ghek; but there was no other way. Could he have +saved you I would have stayed in his place. Tell me that you forgive +me." + +"How could I do less?" she replied graciously. "But it seemed cowardly +to abandon a friend." + +"Had we been three fighting men it had been different," he said. "We +could only have remained and died together, fighting; but you know, +Tara of Helium, that we may not jeopardize a woman's safety even though +we risk the loss of honor." + +"I know that, Turan," she said; "but no one may say that you have +risked honor, who knows the honor and bravery that are yours." + +He heard her with surprise for these were the first words that she had +spoken to him that did not savor of the attitude of a princess to a +panthan--though it was more in her tone than the actual words that he +apprehended the difference. How at variance were they to her recent +repudiation of him! He could not fathom her, and so he blurted out the +question that had been in his mind since she had told O-Tar that she +did not know him. + +"Tara of Helium," he said, "your words are balm to the wound you gave +me in the throne room of O-Tar. Tell me, Princess, why you denied me." + +She turned her great, deep eyes up to his and in them was a little of +reproach. + +"You did not guess," she asked, "that it was my lips alone and not my +heart that denied you? O-Tar had ordered that I die, more because I was +a companion of Ghek than because of any evidence against me, and so I +knew that if I acknowledged you as one of us, you would be slain, too." + +"It was to save me, then?" he cried, his face suddenly lighting. + +"It was to save my brave panthan," she said in a low voice. + +"Tara of Helium," said the warrior, dropping to one knee, "your words +are as food to my hungry heart," and he took her fingers in his and +pressed them to his lips. + +Gently she raised him to his feet. "You need not tell me, kneeling," +she said, softly. + +Her hand was still in his as he rose and they were very close, and the +man was still flushed with the contact of her body since he had carried +her from the throne room of O-Tar. He felt his heart pounding in his +breast and the hot blood surging through his veins as he looked at her +beautiful face, with its downcast eyes and the half-parted lips that he +would have given a kingdom to possess, and then he swept her to him and +as he crushed her against his breast his lips smothered hers with +kisses. + +But only for an instant. Like a tigress the girl turned upon him, +striking him, and thrusting him away. She stepped back, her head high +and her eyes flashing fire. "You would dare?" she cried. "You would +dare thus defile a princess of Helium?" + +His eyes met hers squarely and there was no shame and no remorse in +them. + +"Yes, I would dare," he said. "I would dare love Tara of Helium; but I +would not dare defile her or any woman with kisses that were not +prompted by love of her alone." He stepped closer to her and laid his +hands upon her shoulders. "Look into my eyes, daughter of The Warlord," +he said, "and tell me that you do not wish the love of Turan, the +panthan." + +"I do not wish your love," she cried, pulling away. "I hate you!" and +then turning away she bent her head into the hollow of her arm, and +wept. + +The man took a step toward her as though to comfort her when he was +arrested by the sound of a crackling laugh behind him. Wheeling about, +he discovered a strange figure of a man standing in a doorway. It was +one of those rarities occasionally to be seen upon Barsoom--an old man +with the signs of age upon him. Bent and wrinkled, he had more the +appearance of a mummy than a man. + +"Love in the pits of O-Tar!" he cried, and again his thin laughter +jarred upon the silence of the subterranean vaults. "A strange place to +woo! A strange place to woo, indeed! When I was a young man we roamed +in the gardens beneath giant pimalias and stole our kisses in the brief +shadows of hurtling Thuria. We came not to the gloomy pits to speak of +love; but times have changed and ways have changed, though I had never +thought to live to see the time when the way of a man with a maid, or a +maid with a man would change. Ah, but we kissed them then! And what if +they objected, eh? What if they objected? Why, we kissed them more. Ey, +ey, those were the days!" and he cackled again. "Ey, well do I recall +the first of them I ever kissed, and I've kissed an army of them since; +she was a fine girl, but she tried to slip a dagger into me while I was +kissing her. Ey, ey, those were the days! But I kissed her. She's been +dead over a thousand years now, but she was never kissed again like +that while she lived, I'll swear, not since she's been dead, either. +And then there was that other--" but Turan, seeing a thousand or more +years of osculatory memoirs portending, interrupted. + +"Tell me, ancient one," he said, "not of thy loves but of thyself. Who +are you? What do you here in the pits of O-Tar?" + +"I might ask you the same, young man," replied the other. "Few there +are who visit the pits other than the dead, except my pupils--ey! That +is it--you are new pupils! Good! But never before have they sent a +woman to learn the great art from the greatest artist. But times have +changed. Now, in my day the women did no work--they were just for +kissing and loving. Ey, those were the women. I mind the one we +captured in the south--ey! she was a devil, but how she could love. She +had breasts of marble and a heart of fire. Why, she--" + +"Yes, yes," interrupted Turan; "we are pupils, and we are anxious to +get to work. Lead on and we will follow." + +"Ey, yes! Ey, yes! Come! All is rush and hurry as though there were not +another countless myriad of ages ahead. Ey, yes! as many as lie behind. +Two thousand years have passed since I broke my shell and always rush, +rush, rush, yet I cannot see that aught has been accomplished. Manator +is the same today as it was then--except the girls. We had the girls +then. There was one that I gained upon The Fields of Jetan. Ey, but you +should have seen--" + +"Lead on!" cried Turan. "After we are at work you shall tell us of her." + +"Ey, yes," said the old fellow and shuffled off down a dimly lighted +passage. "Follow me!" + +"You are going with him?" asked Tara. + +"Why not?" replied Turan. "We know not where we are, or the way from +these pits; for I know not east from west; but he doubtless knows and +if we are shrewd we may learn from him that which we would know. At +least we cannot afford to arouse his suspicions"; and so they followed +him--followed along winding corridors and through many chambers, until +they came at last to a room in which there were several marble slabs +raised upon pedestals some three feet above the floor and upon each +slab lay a human corpse. + +"Here we are," exclaimed the old man. "These are fresh and we shall +have to get to work upon them soon. I am working now on one for The +Gate of Enemies. He slew many of our warriors. Truly is he entitled to +a place in The Gate. Come, you shall see him." + +He led them to an adjoining apartment. Upon the floor were many fresh, +human bones and upon a marble slab a mass of shapeless flesh. + +"You will learn this later," announced the old man; "but it will not +harm you to watch me now, for there are not many thus prepared, and it +may be long before you will have the opportunity to see another +prepared for The Gate of Enemies. First, you see, I remove all the +bones, carefully that the skin may be damaged as little as possible. +The skull is the most difficult, but it can be removed by a skilful +artist. You see, I have made but a single opening. This I now sew up, +and that done, the body is hung so," and he fastened a piece of rope to +the hair of the corpse and swung the horrid thing to a ring in the +ceiling. Directly below it was a circular manhole in the floor from +which he removed the cover revealing a well partially filled with a +reddish liquid. "Now we lower it into this, the formula for which you +shall learn in due time. We fasten it thus to the bottom of the cover, +which we now replace. In a year it will be ready; but it must be +examined often in the meantime and the liquid kept above the level of +its crown. It will be a very beautiful piece, this one, when it is +ready. + +"And you are fortunate again, for there is one to come out today." He +crossed to the opposite side of the room and raised another cover, +reached in and dragged a grotesque looking figure from the hole. It was +a human body, shrunk by the action of the chemical in which it had been +immersed, to a little figure scarce a foot high. + +"Ey! is it not fine?" cried the little old man. "Tomorrow it will take +its place in The Gate of Enemies." He dried it off with cloths and +packed it away carefully in a basket. "Perhaps you would like to see +some of my life work," he suggested, and without waiting for their +assent led them to another apartment, a large chamber in which were +forty or fifty people. All were sitting or standing quietly about the +walls, with the exception of one huge warrior who bestrode a great +thoat in the very center of the room, and all were motionless. +Instantly there sprang to the minds of Tara and Turan the rows of +silent people upon the balconies that lined the avenues of the city, +and the noble array of mounted warriors in The Hall of Chiefs, and the +same explanation came to both but neither dared voice the question that +was in his mind, for fear of revealing by his ignorance the fact that +they were strangers in Manator and therefore impostors in the guise of +pupils. + +"It is very wonderful," said Turan. "It must require great skill and +patience and time." + +"That it does," replied the old man, "though having done it so long I +am quicker than most; but mine are the most natural. Why, I would defy +the wife of that warrior to say that insofar as appearances are +concerned he does not live," and he pointed at the man upon the thoat. +"Many of them, of course, are brought here wasted or badly wounded and +these I have to repair. That is where great skill is required, for +everyone wants his dead to look as they did at their best in life; but +you shall learn--to mount them and paint them and repair them and +sometimes to make an ugly one look beautiful. And it will be a great +comfort to be able to mount your own. Why, for fifteen hundred years no +one has mounted my own dead but myself. + +"I have many, my balconies are crowded with them; but I keep a great +room for my wives. I have them all, as far back as the first one, and +many is the evening I spend with them--quiet evenings and very +pleasant. And then the pleasure of preparing them and making them even +more beautiful than in life partially recompenses one for their loss. I +take my time with them, looking for a new one while I am working on the +old. When I am not sure about a new one I bring her to the chamber +where my wives are, and compare her charms with theirs, and there is +always a great satisfaction at such times in knowing that they will not +object. I love harmony." + +"Did you prepare all the warriors in The Hall of Chiefs?" asked Turan. + +"Yes, I prepare them and repair them," replied the old man. "O-Tar will +trust no other. Even now I have two in another room who were damaged in +some way and brought down to me. O-Tar does not like to have them gone +long, since it leaves two riderless thoats in the Hall; but I shall +have them ready presently. He wants them all there in the event any +momentous question arises upon which the living jeds cannot agree, or +do not agree with O-Tar. Such questions he carries to the jeds in The +Hall of Chiefs. There he shuts himself up alone with the great chiefs +who have attained wisdom through death. It is an excellent plan and +there is never any friction or misunderstandings. O-Tar has said that +it is the finest deliberative body upon Barsoom--much more intelligent +than that composed of the living jeds. But come, we must get to work; +come into the next chamber and I will begin your instruction." + +He led the way into the chamber in which lay the several corpses upon +their marble slabs, and going to a cabinet he donned a pair of huge +spectacles and commenced to select various tools from little +compartments. This done he turned again toward his two pupils. + +"Now let me have a look at you," he said. "My eyes are not what they +once were, and I need these powerful lenses for my work, or to see +distinctly the features of those around me." + +He turned his eyes upon the two before him. Turan held his breath for +he knew that now the man must discover that they wore not the harness +or insignia of Manator. He had wondered before why the old fellow had +not noticed it, for he had not known that he was half blind. The other +examined their faces, his eyes lingering long upon the beauty of Tara +of Helium, and then they drifted to the harness of the two. Turan +thought that he noted an appreciable start of surprise on the part of +the taxidermist, but if the old man noticed anything his next words did +not reveal it. + +"Come with I-Gos," he said to Turan. "I have materials in the next room +that I would have you fetch hither. Remain here, woman, we shall be +gone but a moment." + +He led the way to one of the numerous doors opening into the chamber +and entered ahead of Turan. Just inside the door he stopped, and +pointing to a bundle of silks and furs upon the opposite side of the +room directed Turan to fetch them. The latter had crossed the room and +was stooping to raise the bundle when he heard the click of a lock +behind him. Wheeling instantly he saw that he was alone in the room and +that the single door was closed. Running rapidly to it he strove to +open it, only to find that he was a prisoner. + +I-Gos, stepping out and locking the door behind him, turned toward Tara. + +"Your leather betrayed you," he said, laughing his cackling laugh. "You +sought to deceive old I-Gos, but you found that though his eyes are +weak his brain is not. But it shall not go ill with you. You are +beautiful and I-Gos loves beautiful women. I might not have you +elsewhere in Manator, but here there is none to deny old I-Gos. Few +come to the pits of the dead--only those who bring the dead and they +hasten away as fast as they can. No one will know that I-Gos has a +beautiful woman locked with his dead. I shall ask you no questions and +then I will not have to give you up, for I will not know to whom you +belong, eh? And when you die I shall mount you beautifully and place +you in the chamber with my other women. Will not that be fine, eh?" He +had approached until he stood close beside the horrified girl. "Come!" +he cried, seizing her by the wrist. "Come to I-Gos!" + + + +CHAPTER XVI + +ANOTHER CHANGE OF NAME + +Turan dashed himself against the door of his prison in a vain effort to +break through the solid skeel to the side of Tara whom he knew to be in +grave danger, but the heavy panels held and he succeeded only in +bruising his shoulders and his arms. At last he desisted and set about +searching his prison for some other means of escape. He found no other +opening in the stone walls, but his search revealed a heterogeneous +collection of odds and ends of arms and apparel, of harness and +ornaments and insignia, and sleeping silks and furs in great +quantities. There were swords and spears and several large, two-bladed +battle-axes, the heads of which bore a striking resemblance to the +propellor of a small flier. Seizing one of these he attacked the door +once more with great fury. He expected to hear something from I-Gos at +this ruthless destruction, but no sound came to him from beyond the +door, which was, he thought, too thick for the human voice to +penetrate; but he would have wagered much that I-Gos heard him. Bits of +the hard wood splintered at each impact of the heavy axe, but it was +slow work and heavy. Presently he was compelled to rest, and so it went +for what seemed hours--working almost to the verge of exhaustion and +then resting for a few minutes; but ever the hole grew larger though he +could see nothing of the interior of the room beyond because of the +hanging that I-Gos had drawn across it after he had locked Turan within. + +At last, however, the panthan had hewn an opening through which his +body could pass, and seizing a long-sword that he had brought close to +the door for the purpose he crawled through into the next room. +Flinging aside the arras he stood ready, sword in hand, to fight his +way to the side of Tara of Helium--but she was not there. In the center +of the room lay I-Gos, dead upon the floor; but Tara of Helium was +nowhere to be seen. + +Turan was nonplussed. It must have been her hand that had struck down +the old man, yet she had made no effort to release Turan from his +prison. And then he thought of those last words of hers: "I do not want +your love! I hate you," and the truth dawned upon him--she had seized +upon this first opportunity to escape him. With downcast heart Turan +turned away. What should he do? There could be but one answer. While he +lived and she lived he must still leave no stone unturned to effect her +escape and safe return to the land of her people. But how? How was he +even to find his way from this labyrinth? How was he to find her again? +He walked to the nearest doorway. It chanced to be that which led into +the room containing the mounted dead, awaiting transportation to +balcony or grim room or whatever place was to receive them. His eyes +travelled to the great, painted warrior on the thoat and as they ran +over the splendid trappings and the serviceable arms a new light came +into the pain-dulled eyes of the panthan. With a quick step he crossed +to the side of the dead warrior and dragged him from his mount. With +equal celerity he stripped him of his harness and his arms, and tearing +off his own, donned the regalia of the dead man. Then he hastened back +to the room in which he had been trapped, for there he had seen that +which he needed to make his disguise complete. In a cabinet he found +them--pots of paint that the old taxidermist had used to place the +war-paint in its wide bands across the cold faces of dead warriors. + +A few moments later Gahan of Gathol emerged from the room a warrior of +Manator in every detail of harness, equipment, and ornamentation. He +had removed from the leather of the dead man the insignia of his house +and rank so that he might pass, with the least danger of arousing +suspicion, as a common warrior. + +To search for Tara of Helium in the vast, dim labyrinth of the pits of +O-Tar seemed to the Gatholian a hopeless quest, foredoomed to failure. +It would be wiser to seek the streets of Manator where he might hope to +learn first if she had been recaptured and, if not, then he could +return to the pits and pursue the hunt for her. To find egress from the +maze he must perforce travel a considerable distance through the +winding corridors and chambers, since he had no idea as to the location +or direction of any exit. In fact, he could not have retraced his steps +a hundred yards toward the point at which he and Tara had entered the +gloomy caverns, and so he set out in the hope that he might find by +accident either Tara of Helium or a way to the street level above. + +For a time he passed room after room filled with the cunningly +preserved dead of Manator, many of which were piled in tiers after the +manner that firewood is corded, and as he moved through corridor and +chamber he noticed hieroglyphics painted upon the walls above every +opening and at each fork or crossing of corridors, until by observation +he reached the conclusion that these indicated the designations of +passageways, so that one who understood them might travel quickly and +surely through the pits; but Turan did not understand them. Even could +he have read the language of Manator they might not materially have +aided one unfamiliar with the city; but he could not read them at all +since, though there is but one spoken language upon Barsoom, there are +as many different written languages as there are nations. One thing, +however, soon became apparent to him--the hieroglyphic of a corridor +remained the same until the corridor ended. + +It was not long before Turan realized from the distance that he had +traveled that the pits were part of a vast system undermining, +possibly, the entire city. At least he was convinced that he had passed +beyond the precincts of the palace. The corridors and chambers varied +in appearance and architecture from time to time. All were lighted, +though usually quite dimly, with radium bulbs. For a long time he saw +no signs of life other than an occasional ulsio, then quite suddenly he +came face to face with a warrior at one of the numerous crossings. The +fellow looked at him, nodded, and passed on. Turan breathed a sigh of +relief as he realized that his disguise was effective, but he was +caught in the middle of it by a hail from the warrior who had stopped +and turned toward him. The panthan was glad that a sword hung at his +side, and glad too that they were buried in the dim recesses of the +pits and that there would be but a single antagonist, for time was +precious. + +"Heard you any word of the other?" called the warrior to him. + +"No," replied Turan, who had not the faintest idea to whom or what the +fellow referred. + +"He cannot escape," continued the warrior. "The woman ran directly into +our arms, but she swore that she knew not where her companion might be +found." + +"They took her back to O-Tar?" asked Turan, for now he knew whom the +other meant, and he would know more. + +"They took her back to The Towers of Jetan," replied the warrior. +"Tomorrow the games commence and doubtless she will be played for, +though I doubt if any wants her, beautiful as she is. She fears not +even O-Tar. By Cluros! but she would make a hard slave to subdue--a +regular she-banth she is. Not for me," and he continued on his way +shaking his head. + +Turan hurried on searching for an avenue that led to the level of the +streets above when suddenly he came to the open doorway of a small +chamber in which sat a man who was chained to the wall. Turan voiced a +low exclamation of surprise and pleasure as he recognized that the man +was A-Kor, and that he had stumbled by accident upon the very cell in +which he had been imprisoned. A-Kor looked at him questioningly. It was +evident that he did not recognize his fellow prisoner. Turan crossed to +the table and leaning close to the other whispered to him. + +"I am Turan the panthan," he said, "who was chained beside you." + +A-Kor looked at him closely. "Your own mother would never know you!" he +said; "but tell me, what has transpired since they took you away?" + +Turan recounted his experiences in the throne room of O-Tar and in the +pits beneath, "and now," he continued, "I must find these Towers of +Jetan and see what may be done toward liberating the Princess of +Helium." + +A-Kor shook his head. "Long was I dwar of the Towers," he said, "and I +can say to you, stranger, that you might as well attempt to reduce +Manator, single handed, as to rescue a prisoner from The Towers of +Jetan." + +"But I must," replied Turan. + +"Are you better than a good swordsman?" asked A-Kor presently. + +"I am accounted so," replied Turan. + +"Then there is a way--sst!" he was suddenly silent and pointing toward +the base of the wall at the end of the room. + +Turan looked in the direction the other's forefinger indicated, to see +projecting from the mouth of an ulsio's burrow two large chelae and a +pair of protruding eyes. + +"Ghek!" he cried and immediately the hideous kaldane crawled out upon +the floor and approached the table. A-Kor drew back with a half-stifled +ejaculation of repulsion. "Do not fear," Turan reassured him. "It is my +friend--he whom I told you held O-Tar while Tara and I escaped." + +Ghek climbed to the table top and squatted between the two warriors. +"You are safe in assuming," he said addressing A-Kor, "that Turan the +panthan has no master in all Manator where the art of sword-play is +concerned. I overheard your conversation--go on." + +"You are his friend," continued A-Kor, "and so I may explain safely in +your presence the only plan I know whereby he may hope to rescue the +Princess of Helium. She is to be the stake of one of the games and it +is O-Tar's desire that she be won by slaves and common warriors, since +she repulsed him. Thus would he punish her. Not a single man, but all +who survive upon the winning side are to possess her. With money, +however, one may buy off the others before the game. That you could do, +and if your side won and you survived she would become your slave." + +"But how may a stranger and a hunted fugitive accomplish this?" asked +Turan. + +"No one will recognize you. You will go tomorrow to the keeper of the +Towers and enlist in that game for which the girl is to be the stake, +telling the keeper that you are from Manataj, the farthest city of +Manator. If he questions you, you may say that you saw her when she was +brought into the city after her capture. If you win her, you will find +thoats stabled at my palace and you will carry from me a token that +will place all that is mine at your disposal." + +"But how can I buy off the others in the game without money?" asked +Turan. "I have none--not even of my own country." + +A-Kor opened his pocket-pouch and drew forth a packet of Manatorian +money. + +"Here is sufficient to buy them off twice over," he said, handing a +portion of it to Turan. + +"But why do you do this for a stranger?" asked the panthan. + +"My mother was a captive princess here," replied A-Kor. "I but do for +the Princess of Helium what my mother would have me do." + +"Under the circumstances, then, Manatorian," replied Turan, "I cannot +but accept your generosity on behalf of Tara of Helium and live in hope +that some day I may do for you something in return." + +"Now you must be gone," advised A-Kor. "At any minute a guard may come +and discover you here. Go directly to the Avenue of Gates, which +circles the city just within the outer wall. There you will find many +places devoted to the lodging of strangers. You will know them by the +thoat's head carved above the doors. Say that you are here from Manataj +to witness the games. Take the name of U-Kal--it will arouse no +suspicion, nor will you if you can avoid conversation. Early in the +morning seek the keeper of The Towers of Jetan. May the strength and +fortune of all your ancestors be with you!" + +Bidding good-bye to Ghek and A-Kor, the panthan, following directions +given him by A-Kor, set out to find his way to the Avenue of Gates, nor +had he any great difficulty. On the way he met several warriors, but +beyond a nod they gave him no heed. With ease he found a lodging place +where there were many strangers from other cities of Manator. As he had +had no sleep since the previous night he threw himself among the silks +and furs of his couch to gain the rest which he must have, was he to +give the best possible account of himself in the service of Tara of +Helium the following day. + +It was already morning when he awoke, and rising he paid for his +lodgings, sought a place to eat, and a short time later was on his way +toward The Towers of Jetan, which he had no difficulty in finding owing +to the great crowds that were winding along the avenues toward the +games. The new keeper of The Towers who had succeeded E-Med was too +busy to scrutinize entries closely, for in addition to the many +volunteer players there were scores of slaves and prisoners being +forced into the games by their owners or the government. The name of +each must be recorded as well as the position he was to play and the +game or games in which he was to be entered, and then there were the +substitutes for each that was entered in more than a single game--one +for each additional game that an individual was entered for, that no +succeeding game might be delayed by the death or disablement of a +player. + +"Your name?" asked a clerk as Turan presented himself. + +"U-Kal," replied the panthan. + +"Your city?" + +"Manataj." + +The keeper, who was standing beside the clerk, looked at Turan. "You +have come a great way to play at jetan," he said. "It is seldom that +the men of Manataj attend other than the decennial games. Tell me of +O-Zar! Will he attend next year? Ah, but he was a noble fighter. If you +be half the swordsman, U-Kal, the fame of Manataj will increase this +day. But tell me, what of O-Zar?" + +"He is well," replied Turan, glibly, "and he sent greetings to his +friends in Manator." + +"Good!" exclaimed the keeper, "and now in what game would you enter?" + +"I would play for the Heliumetic princess, Tara," replied Turan. + +"But man, she is to be the stake of a game for slaves and criminals," +cried the keeper. "You would not volunteer for such a game!" + +"But I would," replied Turan. "I saw her when she was brought into the +city and even then I vowed to possess her." + +"But you will have to share her with the survivors even if your color +wins," objected the other. + +"They may be brought to reason," insisted Turan. + +"And you will chance incurring the wrath of O-Tar, who has no love for +this savage barbarian," explained the keeper. + +"And I win her O-Tar will be rid of her," said Turan. + +The keeper of The Towers of Jetan shook his head. "You are rash," he +said. "I would that I might dissuade the friend of my friend O-Zar from +such madness." + +"Would you favor the friend of O-Zar?" asked Turan. + +"Gladly!" exclaimed the other. "What may I do for him?" + +"Make me chief of the Black and give me for my pieces all slaves from +Gathol, for I understand that those be excellent warriors," replied the +panthan. + +"It is a strange request," said the keeper, "but for my friend O-Zar I +would do even more, though of course--" he hesitated--"it is customary +for one who would be chief to make some slight payment." + +"Certainly," Turan hastened to assure him; "I had not forgotten that. I +was about to ask you what the customary amount is." + +"For the friend of my friend it shall be nominal," replied the keeper, +naming a figure that Gahan, accustomed to the high price of wealthy +Gathol, thought ridiculously low. + +"Tell me," he said, handing the money to the keeper, "when the game for +the Heliumite is to be played." + +"It is the second in order of the day's games; and now if you will come +with me you may select your pieces." + +Turan followed the keeper to a large court which lay between the towers +and the jetan field, where hundreds of warriors were assembled. Already +chiefs for the games of the day were selecting their pieces and +assigning them to positions, though for the principal games these +matters had been arranged for weeks before. The keeper led Turan to a +part of the courtyard where the majority of the slaves were assembled. + +"Take your choice of those not assigned," said the keeper, "and when +you have your quota conduct them to the field. Your place will be +assigned you by an officer there, and there you will remain with your +pieces until the second game is called. I wish you luck, U-Kal, though +from what I have heard you will be more lucky to lose than to win the +slave from Helium." + +After the fellow had departed Turan approached the slaves. "I seek the +best swordsmen for the second game," he announced. "Men from Gathol I +wish, for I have heard that these be noble fighters." + +A slave rose and approached him. "It is all the same in which game we +die," he said. "I would fight for you as a panthan in the second game." + +Another came. "I am not from Gathol," he said. "I am from Helium, and I +would fight for the honor of a princess of Helium." + +"Good!" exclaimed Turan. "Art a swordsman of repute in Helium?" + +"I was a dwar under the great Warlord, and I have fought at his side in +a score of battles from The Golden Cliffs to The Carrion Caves. My name +is Val Dor. Who knows Helium, knows my prowess." + +The name was well known to Gahan, who had heard the man spoken of on +his last visit to Helium, and his mysterious disappearance discussed as +well as his renown as a fighter. + +"How could I know aught of Helium?" asked Turan; "but if you be such a +fighter as you say no position could suit you better than that of +Flier. What say you?" + +The man's eyes denoted sudden surprise. He looked keenly at Turan, his +eyes running quickly over the other's harness. Then he stepped quite +close so that his words might not be overheard. + +"Methinks you may know more of Helium than of Manator," he whispered. + +"What mean you, fellow?" demanded Turan, seeking to cudgel his brains +for the source of this man's knowledge, guess, or inspiration. + +"I mean," replied Val Dor, "that you are not of Manator and that if you +wish to hide the fact it is well that you speak not to a Manatorian as +you did just speak to me of--Fliers! There be no Fliers in Manator and +no piece in their game of Jetan bearing that name. Instead they call +him who stands next to the Chief or Princess, Odwar. The piece has the +same moves and power that the Flier has in the game as played outside +Manator. Remember this then and remember, too, that if you have a +secret it be safe in the keeping of Val Dor of Helium." + +Turan made no reply but turned to the task of selecting the remainder +of his pieces. Val Dor, the Heliumite, and Floran, the volunteer from +Gathol, were of great assistance to him, since one or the other of them +knew most of the slaves from whom his selection was to be made. The +pieces all chosen, Turan led them to the place beside the playing field +where they were to wait their turn, and here he passed the word around +that they were to fight for more than the stake he offered for the +princess should they win. This stake they accepted, so that Turan was +sure of possessing Tara if his side was victorious, but he knew that +these men would fight even more valorously for chivalry than for money, +nor was it difficult to enlist the interest even of the Gatholians in +the service of the princess. And now he held out the possibility of a +still further reward. + +"I cannot promise you," he explained, "but I may say I have heard that +this day which makes it possible that should we win this game we may +even win your freedom!" + +They leaped to their feet and crowded around him with many questions. + +"It may not be spoken of aloud," he said; "but Floran and Val Dor know +and they assure me that you may all be trusted. Listen! What I would +tell you places my life in your hands, but you must know that every man +will realize that he is fighting today the greatest battle of his +life--for the honor and the freedom of Barsoom's most wondrous princess +and for his own freedom as well--for the chance to return each to his +own country and to the woman who awaits him there. + +"First, then, is my secret. I am not of Manator. Like yourselves I am a +slave, though for the moment disguised as a Manatorian from Manataj. My +country and my identity must remain undisclosed for reasons that have +no bearing upon our game today. I, then, am one of you. I fight for the +same things that you will fight for. + +"And now for that which I have but just learned. U-Thor, the great jed +of Manatos, quarreled with O-Tar in the palace the day before yesterday +and their warriors set upon one another. U-Thor was driven as far as +The Gate of Enemies, where he now lies encamped. At any moment the +fight may be renewed; but it is thought that U-Thor has sent to Manatos +for reinforcements. Now, men of Gathol, here is the thing that +interests you. U-Thor has recently taken to wife the Princess Haja of +Gathol, who was slave to O-Tar and whose son, A-Kor, was dwar of The +Towers of Jetan. Haja's heart is filled with loyalty for Gathol and +compassion for her sons who are here enslaved, and this latter +sentiment she has to some extent transmitted to U-Thor. Aid me, +therefore, in freeing the Princess Tara of Helium and I believe that I +can aid you and her and myself to escape the city. Bend close your +ears, slaves of O-Tar, that no cruel enemy may hear my words," and +Gahan of Gathol whispered in low tones the daring plan he had +conceived. "And now," he demanded, when he had finished, "let him who +does not dare speak now." None replied. "Is there none?" + +"And it would not betray you should I cast my sword at thy feet, it had +been done ere this," said one in low tones pregnant with suppressed +feeling. + +"And I!" "And I!" "And I!" chorused the others in vibrant whispers. + + + +CHAPTER XVII + +A PLAY TO THE DEATH + +Clear and sweet a trumpet spoke across The Fields of Jetan. From The +High Tower its cool voice floated across the city of Manator and above +the babel of human discords rising from the crowded mass that filled +the seats of the stadium below. It called the players for the first +game, and simultaneously there fluttered to the peaks of a thousand +staffs on tower and battlement and the great wall of the stadium the +rich, gay pennons of the fighting chiefs of Manator. Thus was marked +the opening of The Jeddak's Games, the most important of the year and +second only to the Grand Decennial Games. + +Gahan of Gathol watched every play with eagle eye. The match was an +unimportant one, being but to settle some petty dispute between two +chiefs, and was played with professional jetan players for points only. +No one was killed and there was but little blood spilled. It lasted +about an hour and was terminated by the chief of the losing side +deliberately permitting himself to be out-pointed, that the game might +be called a draw. + +Again the trumpet sounded, this time announcing the second and last +game of the afternoon. While this was not considered an important +match, those being reserved for the fourth and fifth days of the games, +it promised to afford sufficient excitement since it was a game to the +death. The vital difference between the game played with living men and +that in which inanimate pieces are used, lies in the fact that while in +the latter the mere placing of a piece upon a square occupied by an +opponent piece terminates the move, in the former the two pieces thus +brought together engage in a duel for possession of the square. +Therefore there enters into the former game not only the strategy of +jetan but the personal prowess and bravery of each individual piece, so +that a knowledge not only of one's own men but of each player upon the +opposing side is of vast value to a chief. + +In this respect was Gahan handicapped, though the loyalty of his +players did much to offset his ignorance of them, since they aided him +in arranging the board to the best advantage and told him honestly the +faults and virtues of each. One fought best in a losing game; another +was too slow; another too impetuous; this one had fire and a heart of +steel, but lacked endurance. Of the opponents, though, they knew little +or nothing, and now as the two sides took their places upon the black +and orange squares of the great jetan board Gahan obtained, for the +first time, a close view of those who opposed him. The Orange Chief had +not yet entered the field, but his men were all in place. Val Dor +turned to Gahan. "They are all criminals from the pits of Manator," he +said. "There is no slave among them. We shall not have to fight against +a single fellow-countryman and every life we take will be the life of +an enemy." + +"It is well," replied Gahan; "but where is their Chief, and where the +two Princesses?" + +"They are coming now, see?" and he pointed across the field to where +two women could be seen approaching under guard. + +As they came nearer Gahan saw that one was indeed Tara of Helium, but +the other he did not recognize, and then they were brought to the +center of the field midway between the two sides and there waited until +the Orange Chief arrived. + +Floran voiced an exclamation of surprise when he recognized him. "By my +first ancestor if it is not one of their great chiefs," he said, "and +we were told that slaves and criminals were to play for the stake of +this game." + +His words were interrupted by the keeper of The Towers whose duty it +was not only to announce the games and the stakes, but to act as +referee as well. + +"Of this, the second game of the first day of the Jeddak's Games in the +four hundred and thirty-third year of O-Tar, Jeddak of Manator, the +Princesses of each side shall be the sole stakes and to the survivors +of the winning side shall belong both the Princesses, to do with as +they shall see fit. The Orange Princess is the slave woman Lan-O of +Gathol; the Black Princess is the slave woman Tara, a princess of +Helium. The Black Chief is U-Kal of Manataj, a volunteer player; the +Orange Chief is the dwar U-Dor of the 8th Utan of the jeddak of +Manator, also a volunteer player. The squares shall be contested to the +death. Just are the laws of Manator! I have spoken." + +The initial move was won by U-Dor, following which the two Chiefs +escorted their respective Princesses to the square each was to occupy. +It was the first time Gahan had been alone with Tara since she had been +brought upon the field. He saw her scrutinizing him closely as he +approached to lead her to her place and wondered if she recognized him: +but if she did she gave no sign of it. He could not but remember her +last words--"I hate you!" and her desertion of him when he had been +locked in the room beneath the palace by I-Gos, the taxidermist, and so +he did not seek to enlighten her as to his identity. He meant to fight +for her--to die for her, if necessary--and if he did not die to go on +fighting to the end for her love. Gahan of Gathol was not easily to be +discouraged, but he was compelled to admit that his chances of winning +the love of Tara of Helium were remote. Already had she repulsed him +twice. Once as jed of Gathol and again as Turan the panthan. Before his +love, however, came her safety and the former must be relegated to the +background until the latter had been achieved. + +Passing among the players already at their stations the two took their +places upon their respective squares. At Tara's left was the Black +Chief, Gahan of Gathol; directly in front of her the Princess' Panthan, +Floran of Gathol; and at her right the Princess' Odwar, Val Dor of +Helium. And each of these knew the part that he was to play, win or +lose, as did each of the other Black players. As Tara took her place +Val Dor bowed low. "My sword is at your feet, Tara of Helium," he said. + +She turned and looked at him, an expression of surprise and incredulity +upon her face. "Val Dor, the dwar!" she exclaimed. "Val Dor of +Helium--one of my father's trusted captains! Can it be possible that my +eyes speak the truth?" + +"It is Val Dor, Princess," the warrior replied, "and here to die for +you if need be, as is every wearer of the Black upon this field of +jetan today. Know Princess," he whispered, "that upon this side is no +man of Manator, but each and every is an enemy of Manator." + +She cast a quick, meaning glance toward Gahan. "But what of him?" she +whispered, and then she caught her breath quickly in surprise. "Shade +of the first jeddak!" she exclaimed. "I did but just recognize him +through his disguise." + +"And you trust him?" asked Val Dor. "I know him not; but he spoke +fairly, as an honorable warrior, and we have taken him at his word." + +"You have made no mistake," replied Tara of Helium. "I would trust him +with my life--with my soul; and you, too, may trust him." + +Happy indeed would have been Gahan of Gathol could he have heard those +words; but Fate, who is usually unkind to the lover in such matters, +ordained it otherwise, and then the game was on. + +U-Dor moved his Princess' Odwar three squares diagonally to the right, +which placed the piece upon the Black Chief's Odwar's seventh. The move +was indicative of the game that U-Dor intended playing--a game of +blood, rather than of science--and evidenced his contempt for his +opponents. + +Gahan followed with his Odwar's Panthan one square straight forward, a +more scientific move, which opened up an avenue for himself through his +line of Panthans, as well as announcing to the players and spectators +that he intended having a hand in the fighting himself even before the +exigencies of the game forced it upon him. The move elicited a ripple +of applause from those sections of seats reserved for the common +warriors and their women, showing perhaps that U-Dor was none too +popular with these, and, too, it had its effect upon the morale of +Gahan's pieces. A Chief may, and often does, play almost an entire game +without leaving his own square, where, mounted upon a thoat, he may +overlook the entire field and direct each move, nor may he be +reproached for lack of courage should he elect thus to play the game +since, by the rules, were he to be slain or so badly wounded as to be +compelled to withdraw, a game that might otherwise have been won by the +science of his play and the prowess of his men would be drawn. To +invite personal combat, therefore, denotes confidence in his own +swordsmanship, and great courage, two attributes that were calculated +to fill the Black players with hope and valor when evinced by their +Chief thus early in the game. + +U-Dor's next move placed Lan-O's Odwar upon Tara's Odwar's +fourth--within striking distance of the Black Princess. + +Another move and the game would be lost to Gahan unless the Orange +Odwar was overthrown, or Tara moved to a position of safety; but to +move his Princess now would be to admit his belief in the superiority +of the Orange. In the three squares allowed him he could not place +himself squarely upon the square occupied by the Odwar of U-Dor's +Princess. There was only one player upon the Black side that might +dispute the square with the enemy and that was the Chief's Odwar, who +stood upon Gahan's left. Gahan turned upon his thoat and looked at the +man. He was a splendid looking fellow, resplendent in the gorgeous +trappings of an Odwar, the five brilliant feathers which denoted his +position rising defiantly erect from his thick, black hair. In common +with every player upon the field and every spectator in the crowded +stands he knew what was passing in his Chief's mind. He dared not +speak, the ethics of the game forbade it, but what his lips might not +voice his eyes expressed in martial fire, and eloquently: "The honor of +the Black and the safety of our Princess are secure with me!" + +Gahan hesitated no longer. "Chief's Odwar to Princess' Odwar's fourth!" +he commanded. It was the courageous move of a leader who had taken up +the gauntlet thrown down by his opponent. + +The warrior sprang forward and leaped into the square occupied by +U-Dor's piece. It was the first disputed square of the game. The eyes +of the players were fastened upon the contestants, the spectators +leaned forward in their seats after the first applause that had greeted +the move, and silence fell upon the vast assemblage. If the Black went +down to defeat, U-Dor could move his victorious piece on to the square +occupied by Tara of Helium and the game would be over--over in four +moves and lost to Gahan of Gathol. If the Orange lost U-Dor would have +sacrificed one of his most important pieces and more than lost what +advantage the first move might have given him. + +Physically the two men appeared perfectly matched and each was fighting +for his life, but from the first it was apparent that the Black Odwar +was the better swordsman, and Gahan knew that he had another and +perhaps a greater advantage over his antagonist. The latter was +fighting for his life only, without the spur of chivalry or loyalty. +The Black Odwar had these to strengthen his arm, and besides these the +knowledge of the thing that Gahan had whispered into the ears of his +players before the game, and so he fought for what is more than life to +the man of honor. + +It was a duel that held those who witnessed it in spellbound silence. +The weaving blades gleamed in the brilliant sunlight, ringing to the +parries of cut and thrust. The barbaric harness of the duelists lent +splendid color to the savage, martial scene. The Orange Odwar, forced +upon the defensive, was fighting madly for his life. The Black, with +cool and terrible efficiency, was forcing him steadily, step by step, +into a corner of the square--a position from which there could be no +escape. To abandon the square was to lose it to his opponent and win +for himself ignoble and immediate death before the jeering populace. +Spurred on by the seeming hopelessness of his plight, the Orange Odwar +burst into a sudden fury of offense that forced the Black back a half +dozen steps, and then the sword of U-Dor's piece leaped in and drew +first blood, from the shoulder of his merciless opponent. An +ill-smothered cry of encouragement went up from U-Dor's men; the Orange +Odwar, encouraged by his single success, sought to bear down the Black +by the rapidity of his attack. There was a moment in which the swords +moved with a rapidity that no man's eye might follow, and then the +Black Odwar made a lightning parry of a vicious thrust, leaned quickly +forward into the opening he had effected, and drove his sword through +the heart of the Orange Odwar--to the hilt he drove it through the body +of the Orange Odwar. + +A shout arose from the stands, for wherever may have been the favor of +the spectators, none there was who could say that it had not been a +pretty fight, or that the better man had not won. And from the Black +players came a sigh of relief as they relaxed from the tension of the +past moments. + +I shall not weary you with the details of the game--only the high +features of it are necessary to your understanding of the outcome. The +fourth move after the victory of the Black Odwar found Gahan upon +U-Dor's fourth; an Orange Panthan was on the adjoining square +diagonally to his right and the only opposing piece that could engage +him other than U-Dor himself. + +It had been apparent to both players and spectators for the past two +moves, that Gahan was moving straight across the field into the enemy's +country to seek personal combat with the Orange Chief--that he was +staking all upon his belief in the superiority of his own +swordsmanship, since if the two Chiefs engage, the outcome decides the +game. U-Dor could move out and engage Gahan, or he could move his +Princess' Panthan upon the square occupied by Gahan in the hope that the +former would defeat the Black Chief and thus draw the game, which is +the outcome if any other than a Chief slays the opposing Chief, or he +could move away and escape, temporarily, the necessity for personal +combat, or at least that is evidently what he had in mind as was +obvious to all who saw him scanning the board about him; and his +disappointment was apparent when he finally discovered that Gahan had +so placed himself that there was no square to which U-Dor could move +that it was not within Gahan's power to reach at his own next move. + +U-Dor had placed his own Princess four squares east of Gahan when her +position had been threatened, and he had hoped to lure the Black Chief +after her and away from U-Dor; but in that he had failed. He now +discovered that he might play his own Odwar into personal combat with +Gahan; but he had already lost one Odwar and could ill spare the other. +His position was a delicate one, since he did not wish to engage Gahan +personally, while it appeared that there was little likelihood of his +being able to escape. There was just one hope and that lay in his +Princess' Panthan, so, without more deliberation he ordered the piece +onto the square occupied by the Black Chief. + +The sympathies of the spectators were all with Gahan now. If he lost, +the game would be declared a draw, nor do they think better of drawn +games upon Barsoom than do Earth men. If he won, it would doubtless +mean a duel between the two Chiefs, a development for which they all +were hoping. The game already bade fair to be a short one and it would +be an angry crowd should it be decided a draw with only two men slain. +There were great, historic games on record where of the forty pieces on +the field when the game opened only three survived--the two Princesses +and the victorious Chief. + +They blamed U-Dor, though in fact he was well within his rights in +directing his play as he saw fit, nor was a refusal on his part to +engage the Black Chief necessarily an imputation of cowardice. He was a +great chief who had conceived a notion to possess the slave Tara. There +was no honor that could accrue to him from engaging in combat with +slaves and criminals, or an unknown warrior from Manataj, nor was the +stake of sufficient import to warrant the risk. + +But now the duel between Gahan and the Orange Panthan was on and the +decision of the next move was no longer in other hands than theirs. It +was the first time that these Manatorians had seen Gahan of Gathol +fight, but Tara of Helium knew that he was master of his sword. Could +he have seen the proud light in her eyes as he crossed blades with the +wearer of the Orange, he might easily have wondered if they were the +same eyes that had flashed fire and hatred at him that time he had +covered her lips with mad kisses, in the pits of the palace of O-Tar. +As she watched him she could not but compare his swordplay with that of +the greatest swordsman of two worlds--her father, John Carter, of +Virginia, a Prince of Helium, Warlord of Barsoom--and she knew that the +skill of the Black Chief suffered little by the comparison. + +Short and to the point was the duel that decided possession of the +Orange Chief's fourth. The spectators had settled themselves for an +interesting engagement of at least average duration when they were +brought almost standing by a brilliant flash of rapid swordplay that +was over ere one could catch his breath. They saw the Black Chief step +quickly back, his point upon the ground, while his opponent, his sword +slipping from his fingers, clutched his breast, sank to his knees and +then lunged forward upon his face. + +And then Gahan of Gathol turned his eyes directly upon U-Dor of +Manator, three squares away. Three squares is a Chief's move--three +squares in any direction or combination of directions, only provided +that he does not cross the same square twice in a given move. The +people saw and guessed Gahan's intention. They rose and roared forth +their approval as he moved deliberately across the intervening squares +toward the Orange Chief. + +O-Tar, in the royal enclosure, sat frowning upon the scene. O-Tar was +angry. He was angry with U-Dor for having entered this game for +possession of a slave, for whom it had been his wish only slaves and +criminals should strive. He was angry with the warrior from Manataj for +having so far out-generaled and out-fought the men from Manator. He was +angry with the populace because of their open hostility toward one who +had basked in the sunshine of his favor for long years. O-Tar the +jeddak had not enjoyed the afternoon. Those who surrounded him were +equally glum--they, too, scowled upon the field, the players, and the +people. Among them was a bent and wrinkled old man who gazed through +weak and watery eyes upon the field and the players. + +As Gahan entered his square, U-Dor leaped toward him with drawn sword +with such fury as might have overborne a less skilled and powerful +swordsman. For a minute the fighting was fast and furious and by +comparison reducing to insignificance all that had gone before. Here +indeed were two magnificent swordsmen, and here was to be a battle that +bade fair to make up for whatever the people felt they had been +defrauded of by the shortness of the game. Nor had it continued long +before many there were who would have prophesied that they were +witnessing a duel that was to become historic in the annals of jetan at +Manator. Every trick, every subterfuge, known to the art of fence these +men employed. Time and again each scored a point and brought blood to +his opponent's copper hide until both were red with gore; but neither +seemed able to administer the coup de grace. + +From her position upon the opposite side of the field Tara of Helium +watched the long-drawn battle. Always it seemed to her that the Black +Chief fought upon the defensive, or when he assumed to push his +opponent, he neglected a thousand openings that her practiced eye +beheld. Never did he seem in real danger, nor never did he appear to +exert himself to quite the pitch needful for victory. The duel already +had been long contested and the day was drawing to a close. Presently +the sudden transition from daylight to darkness which, owing to the +tenuity of the air upon Barsoom, occurs almost without the warning +twilight of Earth, would occur. Would the fight never end? Would the +game be called a draw after all? What ailed the Black Chief? + +Tara wished that she might answer at least the last of these questions +for she was sure that Turan the panthan, as she knew him, while +fighting brilliantly, was not giving of himself all that he might. She +could not believe that fear was restraining his hand, but that there +was something beside inability to push U-Dor more fiercely she was +confident. What it was, however, she could not guess. + +Once she saw Gahan glance quickly up toward the sinking sun. In thirty +minutes it would be dark. And then she saw and all those others saw a +strange transition steal over the swordplay of the Black Chief. It was +as though he had been playing with the great dwar, U-Dor, all these +hours, and now he still played with him but there was a difference. He +played with him terribly as a carnivore plays with its victim in the +instant before the kill. The Orange Chief was helpless now in the hands +of a swordsman so superior that there could be no comparison, and the +people sat in open-mouthed wonder and awe as Gahan of Gathol cut his +foe to ribbons and then struck him down with a blow that cleft him to +the chin. + +In twenty minutes the sun would set. But what of that? + + + +CHAPTER XVIII + +A TASK FOR LOYALTY + +Long and loud was the applause that rose above the Field of Jetan at +Manator, as The Keeper of the Towers summoned the two Princesses and +the victorious Chief to the center of the field and presented to the +latter the fruits of his prowess, and then, as custom demanded, the +victorious players, headed by Gahan and the two Princesses, formed in +procession behind The Keeper of the Towers and were conducted to the +place of victory before the royal enclosure that they might receive the +commendation of the jeddak. Those who were mounted gave up their thoats +to slaves as all must be on foot for this ceremony. Directly beneath +the royal enclosure are the gates to one of the tunnels that, passing +beneath the seats, give ingress or egress to or from the Field. Before +this gate the party halted while O-Tar looked down upon them from +above. Val Dor and Floran, passing quietly ahead of the others, went +directly to the gates, where they were hidden from those who occupied +the enclosure with O-Tar. The Keeper of the Towers may have noticed +them, but so occupied was he with the formality of presenting the +victorious Chief to the jeddak that he paid no attention to them. + +"I bring you, O-Tar, Jeddak of Manator, U-Kal of Manataj," he cried in +a loud voice that might be heard by as many as possible, "victor over +the Orange in the second of the Jeddak's Games of the four hundred and +thirty-third year of O-Tar, and the slave woman Tara and the slave +woman Lan-O that you may bestow these, the stakes, upon U-Kal." + +As he spoke, a little, wrinkled, old man peered over the rail of the +enclosure down upon the three who stood directly behind The Keeper, and +strained his weak and watery eyes in an effort to satisfy the curiosity +of old age in a matter of no particular import, for what were two +slaves and a common warrior from Manataj to any who sat with O-Tar the +jeddak? + +"U-Kal of Manataj," said O-Tar, "you have deserved the stakes. Seldom +have we looked upon more noble swordplay. And you tire of Manataj there +be always here in the city of Manator a place for you in The Jeddak's +Guard." + +While the jeddak was speaking the little, old man, failing clearly to +discern the features of the Black Chief, reached into his pocket-pouch +and drew forth a pair of thick-lensed spectacles, which he placed upon +his nose. For a moment he scrutinized Gahan closely, then he leaped to +his feet and addressing O-Tar pointed a shaking finger at Gahan. As he +rose Tara of Helium clutched the Black Chief's arm. + +"Turan!" she whispered. "It is I-Gos, whom I thought to have slain in +the pits of O-Tar. It is I-Gos and he recognizes you and will--" + +But what I-Gos would do was already transpiring. In his falsetto voice +he fairly screamed: "It is the slave Turan who stole the woman Tara +from your throne room, O-Tar. He desecrated the dead chief I-Mal and +wears his harness now!" + +Instantly all was pandemonium. Warriors drew their swords and leaped to +their feet. Gahan's victorious players rushed forward in a body, +sweeping The Keeper of the Towers from his feet. Val Dor and Floran +threw open the gates beneath the royal enclosure, opening the tunnel +that led to the avenue in the city beyond the Towers. Gahan, surrounded +by his men, drew Tara and Lan-O into the passageway, and at a rapid +pace the party sought to reach the opposite end of the tunnel before +their escape could be cut off. They were successful and when they +emerged into the city the sun had set and darkness had come, relieved +only by an antiquated and ineffective lighting system, which cast but a +pale glow over the shadowy streets. + +Now it was that Tara of Helium guessed why the Black Chief had drawn +out his duel with U-Dor and realized that he might have slain his man +at almost any moment he had elected. The whole plan that Gahan had +whispered to his players before the game was thoroughly understood. +They were to make their way to The Gate of Enemies and there offer +their services to U-Thor, the great Jed of Manatos. The fact that most +of them were Gatholians and that Gahan could lead rescuers to the pit +where A-Kor, the son of U-Thor's wife, was confined, convinced the Jed +of Gathol that they would meet with no rebuff at the hands of U-Thor. +But even should he refuse them, still were they bound together to go on +toward freedom, if necessary cutting their way through the forces of +U-Thor at The Gate of Enemies--twenty men against a small army; but of +such stuff are the warriors of Barsoom. + +They had covered a considerable distance along the almost deserted +avenue before signs of pursuit developed and then there came upon them +suddenly from behind a dozen warriors mounted on thoats--a detachment, +evidently, from The Jeddak's Guard. Instantly the avenue was a +pandemonium of clashing blades, cursing warriors, and squealing thoats. +In the first onslaught life blood was spilled upon both sides. Two of +Gahan's men went down, and upon the enemies' side three riderless +thoats attested at least a portion of their casualties. + +Gahan was engaged with a fellow who appeared to have been selected to +account for him only, since he rode straight for him and sought to cut +him down without giving the slightest heed to several who slashed at +him as he passed them. The Gatholian, practiced in the art of combating +a mounted warrior from the ground, sought to reach the left side of the +fellow's thoat a little to the rider's rear, the only position in which +he would have any advantage over his antagonist, or rather the position +that would most greatly reduce the advantage of the mounted man, and, +similarly, the Manatorian strove to thwart his design. And so the +guardsman wheeled and turned his vicious, angry mount while Gahan +leaped in and out in an effort to reach the coveted vantage point, but +always seeking some other opening in his foe's defense. + +And while they jockeyed for position a rider swept swiftly past them. +As he passed behind Gahan the latter heard a cry of alarm. + +"Turan, they have me!" came to his ears in the voice of Tara of Helium. + +A quick glance across his shoulder showed him the galloping thoatman in +the act of dragging Tara to the withers of the beast, and then, with +the fury of a demon, Gahan of Gathol leaped for his own man, dragged +him from his mount and as he fell smote his head from his shoulders +with a single cut of his keen sword. Scarce had the body touched the +pavement when the Gatholian was upon the back of the dead warrior's +mount, and galloping swiftly down the avenue after the diminishing +figures of Tara and her abductor, the sounds of the fight waning in the +distance as he pursued his quarry along the avenue that passes the +palace of O-Tar and leads to The Gate of Enemies. + +Gahan's mount, carrying but a single rider, gained upon that of the +Manatorian, so that as they neared the palace Gahan was scarce a +hundred yards behind, and now, to his consternation, he saw the fellow +turn into the great entrance-way. For a moment only was he halted by +the guards and then he disappeared within. Gahan was almost upon him +then, but evidently he had warned the guards, for they leaped out to +intercept the Gatholian. But no! the fellow could not have known that +he was pursued, since he had not seen Gahan seize a mount, nor would he +have thought that pursuit would come so soon. If he had passed then, so +could Gahan pass, for did he not wear the trappings of a Manatorian? +The Gatholian thought quickly, and stopping his thoat called to the +guardsmen to let him pass, "In the name of O-Tar!" They hesitated a +moment. + +"Aside!" cried Gahan. "Must the jeddak's messenger parley for the right +to deliver his message?" + +"To whom would you deliver it?" asked the padwar of the guard. + +"Saw you not him who just entered?" cried Gahan, and without waiting +for a reply urged his thoat straight past them into the palace, and +while they were deliberating what was best to be done, it was too late +to do anything--which is not unusual. + +Along the marble corridors Gahan guided his thoat, and because he had +gone that way before, rather than because he knew which way Tara had +been taken, he followed the runways and passed through the chambers +that led to the throne room of O-Tar. On the second level he met a +slave. + +"Which way went he who carried the woman before him?" he asked. + +The slave pointed toward a nearby runway that led to the third level +and Gahan dashed rapidly on in pursuit. At the same moment a thoatman, +riding at a furious pace, approached the palace and halted his mount at +the gate. + +"Saw you aught of a warrior pursuing one who carried a woman before him +on his thoat?" he shouted to the guard. + +"He but just passed in," replied the padwar, "saying that he was +O-Tar's messenger." + +"He lied," cried the newcomer. "He was Turan, the slave, who stole the +woman from the throne room two days since. Arouse the palace! He must +be seized, and alive if possible. It is O-Tar's command." + +Instantly warriors were dispatched to search for the Gatholian and warn +the inmates of the palace to do likewise. Owing to the games there were +comparatively few retainers in the great building, but those whom they +found were immediately enlisted in the search, so that presently at +least fifty warriors were seeking through the countless chambers and +corridors of the palace of O-Tar. + +As Gahan's thoat bore him to the third Level the man glimpsed the hind +quarters of another thoat disappearing at the turn of a corridor far +ahead. Urging his own animal forward he raced swiftly in pursuit and +making the turn discovered only an empty corridor ahead. Along this he +hurried to discover near its farther end a runway to the fourth level, +which he followed upward. Here he saw that he had gained upon his +quarry who was just turning through a doorway fifty yards ahead. As +Gahan reached the opening he saw that the warrior had dismounted and +was dragging Tara toward a small door on the opposite side of the +chamber. At the same instant the clank of harness to his rear caused +him to cast a glance behind where, along the corridor he had just +traversed, he saw three warriors approaching on foot at a run. Leaping +from his thoat Gahan sprang into the chamber where Tara was struggling +to free herself from the grasp of her captor, slammed the door behind +him, shot the great bolt into its seat, and drawing his sword crossed +the room at a run to engage the Manatorian. The fellow, thus menaced, +called aloud to Gahan to halt, at the same time thrusting Tara at arm's +length and threatening her heart with the point of his short-sword. + +"Stay!" he cried, "or the woman dies, for such is the command of O-Tar, +rather than that she again fall into your hands." + +Gahan stopped. But a few feet separated him from Tara and her captor, +yet he was helpless to aid her. Slowly the warrior backed toward the +open doorway behind him, dragging Tara with him. The girl struggled and +fought, but the warrior was a powerful man and having seized her by the +harness from behind was able to hold her in a position of helplessness. + +"Save me, Turan!" she cried. "Let them not drag me to a fate worse than +death. Better that I die now while my eyes behold a brave friend than +later, fighting alone among enemies in defense of my honor." + +He took a step nearer. The warrior made a threatening gesture with his +sword close to the soft, smooth skin of the princess, and Gahan halted. + +"I cannot, Tara of Helium," he cried. "Think not ill of me that I am +weak--that I cannot see you die. Too great is my love for you, daughter +of Helium." + +The Manatorian warrior, a derisive grin upon his lips, backed steadily +away. He had almost reached the doorway when Gahan saw another warrior +in the chamber toward which Tara was being borne--a fellow who moved +silently, almost stealthily, across the marble floor as he approached +Tara's captor from behind. In his right hand he grasped a long-sword. + +"Two to one," thought Gahan, and a grim smile touched his lips, for he +had no doubt that once they had Tara safely in the adjoining chamber +the two would set upon him. If he could not save her, he could at least +die for her. + +And then, suddenly, Gahan's eyes fastened with amazement upon the +figure of the warrior behind the grinning fellow who held Tara and was +forcing her to the doorway. He saw the newcomer step almost within +arm's reach of the other. He saw him stop, an expression of malevolent +hatred upon his features. He saw the great sword swing through the arc +of a great circle, gathering swift and terrific momentum from its own +weight backed by the brawn of the steel thews that guided it; he saw it +pass through the feathered skull of the Manatorian, splitting his +sardonic grin in twain, and open him to the middle of his breast bone. + +As the dead hand relaxed its grasp upon Tara's wrist the girl leaped +forward, without a backward glance, to Gahan's side. His left arm +encircled her, nor did she draw away, as with ready sword the Gatholian +awaited Fate's next decree. Before them Tara's deliverer was wiping the +blood from his sword upon the hair of his victim. He was evidently a +Manatorian, his trappings those of the Jeddak's Guard, and so his act +was inexplicable to Gahan and to Tara. Presently he sheathed his sword +and approached them. + +"When a man chooses to hide his identity behind an assumed name," he +said, looking straight into Gahan's eyes, "whatever friend pierces the +deception were no friend if he divulged the other's secret." + +He paused as though awaiting a reply. + +"Your integrity has perceived and your lips voiced an unalterable +truth," replied Gahan, whose mind was filled with wonder if the +implication could by any possibility be true--that this Manatorian had +guessed his identity. + +"We are thus agreed," continued the other, "and I may tell you that +though I am here known as A-Sor, my real name is Tasor." He paused and +watched Gahan's face intently for any sign of the effect of this +knowledge and was rewarded with a quick, though guarded expression of +recognition. + +Tasor! Friend of his youth. The son of that great Gatholian noble who +had given his life so gloriously, however futilely, in an attempt to +defend Gahan's sire from the daggers of the assassins. Tasor an +under-padwar in the guard of O-Tar, Jeddak of Manator! It was +inconceivable--and yet it was he; there could be no doubt of it. +"Tasor," Gahan repeated aloud. "But it is no Manatorian name." The +statement was half interrogatory, for Gahan's curiosity was aroused. He +would know how his friend and loyal subject had become a Manatorian. +Long years had passed since Tasor had disappeared as mysteriously as +the Princess Haja and many other of Gahan's subjects. The Jed of Gathol +had long supposed him dead. + +"No," replied Tasor, "nor is it a Manatorian name. Come, while I search +for a hiding place for you in some forgotten chamber in one of the +untenanted portions of the palace, and as we go I will tell you briefly +how Tasor the Gatholian became A-Sor the Manatorian. + +"It befell that as I rode with a dozen of my warriors along the western +border of Gathol searching for zitidars that had strayed from my herds, +we were set upon and surrounded by a great company of Manatorians. They +overpowered us, though not before half our number was slain and the +balance helpless from wounds. And so I was brought a prisoner to +Manataj, a distant city of Manator, and there sold into slavery. A +woman bought me--a princess of Manataj whose wealth and position were +unequaled in the city of her birth. She loved me and when her husband +discovered her infatuation she beseeched me to slay him, and when I +refused she hired another to do it. Then she married me; but none would +have aught to do with her in Manataj, for they suspected her guilty +knowledge of her husband's murder. And so we set out from Manataj for +Manatos accompanied by a great caravan bearing all her worldly goods +and jewels and precious metals, and on the way she caused the rumor to +be spread that she and I had died. Then we came to Manator instead, she +taking a new name and I the name A-Sor, that we might not be traced +through our names. With her great wealth she bought me a post in The +Jeddak's Guard and none knows that I am not a Manatorian, for she is +dead. She was beautiful, but she was a devil." + +"And you never sought to return to your native city?" asked Gahan. + +"Never has the hope been absent from my heart, or my mind empty of a +plan," replied Tasor. "I dream of it by day and by night, but always +must I return to the same conclusion--that there can be but a single +means for escape. I must wait until Fortune favors me with a place in a +raiding party to Gathol. Then, once within the boundaries of my own +country, they shall see me no more." + +"Perhaps your opportunity lies already within your grasp," said Gahan, +"has not your fealty to your own Jed been undermined by years of +association with the men of Manator." The statement was half challenge. + +"And my Jed stood before me now," cried Tasor, "and my avowal could be +made without violating his confidence, I should cast my sword at his +feet and beg the high privilege of dying for him as my sire died for +his sire." + +There could be no doubt of his sincerity nor any that he was cognizant +of Gahan's identity. The Jed of Gathol smiled. "And if your Jed were +here there is little doubt but that he would command you to devote your +talents and your prowess to the rescue of the Princess Tara of Helium," +he said, meaningly. "And he possessed the knowledge I have gained +during my captivity he would say to you, 'Go, Tasor, to the pit where +A-kor, son of Haja of Gathol, is confined and set him free and with him +arouse the slaves from Gathol and march to The Gate of Enemies and +offer your services to U-Thor of Manataj, who is wed to Haja of Gathol, +and ask of him in return that he attack the palace of O-Tar and rescue +Tara of Helium and when that thing is accomplished that he free the +slaves of Gathol and furnish them with the arms and the means to return +to their own country.' That, Tasor of Gathol, is what Gahan your Jed +would demand of you." + +"And that, Turan the slave, is what I shall bend my every effort to +accomplish after I have found a safe refuge for Tara of Helium and her +panthan," replied Tasor. + +Gahan's glance carried to Tasor an intimation of his Jed's +gratification and filled him with a chivalrous determination to do the +thing required of him, or die, for he considered that he had received +from the lips of his beloved ruler a commission that placed upon his +shoulders a responsibility that encompassed not alone the life of Gahan +and Tara but the welfare, perhaps the whole future, of Gathol. And so +he hastened them onward through the musty corridors of the old palace +where the dust of ages lay undisturbed upon the marble tiles. Now and +again he tried a door until he found one that was unlocked. Opening it +he ushered them into a chamber, heavy with dust. Crumbling silks and +furs adorned the walls, with ancient weapons, and great paintings whose +colors were toned by age to wondrous softness. + +"This be as good as any place," he said. "No one comes here. Never have +I been here before, so I know no more of the other chambers than you; +but this one, at least, I can find again when I bring you food and +drink. O-Mai the Cruel occupied this portion of the palace during his +reign, five thousand years before O-Tar. In one of these apartments he +was found dead, his face contorted in an expression of fear so horrible +that it drove to madness those who looked upon it; yet there was no +mark of violence upon him. Since then the quarters of O-Mai have been +shunned for the legends have it that the ghosts of Corphals pursue the +spirit of the wicked Jeddak nightly through these chambers, shrieking +and moaning as they go. But," he added, as though to reassure himself +as well as his companions, "such things may not be countenanced by the +culture of Gathol or Helium." + +Gahan laughed. "And if all who looked upon him were driven mad, who +then was there to perform the last rites or prepare the body of the +Jeddak for them?" + +"There was none," replied Tasor. "Where they found him they left him +and there to this very day his mouldering bones lie hid in some +forgotten chamber of this forbidden suite." + +Tasor left them then assuring them that he would seek the first +opportunity to speak with A-Kor, and upon the following day he would +bring them food and drink.* + +* Those who have read John Carter's description of the Green Martians +in A Princess of Mars will recall that these strange people could exist +for considerable periods of time without food or water, and to a lesser +degree is the same true of all Martians. + + +After Tasor had gone Tara turned to Gahan and approaching laid a hand +upon his arm. "So swiftly have events transpired since I recognized you +beneath your disguise," she said, "that I have had no opportunity to +assure you of my gratitude and the high esteem that your valor has won +for you in my consideration. Let me now acknowledge my indebtedness; +and if promises be not vain from one whose life and liberty are in +grave jeopardy, accept my assurance of the great reward that awaits you +at the hand of my father in Helium." + +"I desire no reward," he replied, "other than the happiness of knowing +that the woman I love is happy." + +For an instant the eyes of Tara of Helium blazed as she drew herself +haughtily to her full height, and then they softened and her attitude +relaxed as she shook her head sadly. + +"I have it not in my heart to reprimand you, Turan," she said, "however +great your fault, for you have been an honorable and a loyal friend to +Tara of Helium; but you must not say what my ears must not hear." + +"You mean," he asked, "that the ears of a Princess must not listen to +words of love from a panthan?" + +"It is not that, Turan," she replied; "but rather that I may not in +honor listen to words of love from another than him to whom I am +betrothed--a fellow countryman, Djor Kantos." + +"You mean, Tara of Helium," he cried, "that were it not for that you +would--" + +"Stop!" she commanded. "You have no right to assume aught else than my +lips testify." + +"The eyes are ofttimes more eloquent than the lips, Tara," he replied; +"and in yours I have read that which is neither hatred nor contempt for +Turan the panthan, and my heart tells me that your lips bore false +witness when they cried in anger: 'I hate you!'" + +"I do not hate you, Turan, nor yet may I love you," said the girl, +simply. + +"When I broke my way out from the chamber of I-Gos I was indeed upon +the verge of believing that you did hate me," he said, "for only +hatred, it seemed to me, could account for the fact that you had gone +without making an effort to liberate me; but presently both my heart +and my judgment told me that Tara of Helium could not have deserted a +companion in distress, and though I still am in ignorance of the facts +I know that it was beyond your power to aid me." + +"It was indeed," said the girl. "Scarce had I-Gos fallen at the bite of +my dagger than I heard the approach of warriors. I ran then to hide +until they had passed, thinking to return and liberate you; but in +seeking to elude the party I had heard I ran full into the arms of +another. They questioned me as to your whereabouts, and I told them +that you had gone ahead and that I was following you and thus I led +them from you." + +"I knew," was Gahan's only comment, but his heart was glad with +elation, as a lover's must be who has heard from the lips of his +divinity an avowal of interest and loyalty, however little tinged by a +suggestion of warmer regard it may be. To be abused, even, by the +mistress of one's heart is better than to be ignored. + +As the two conversed in the ill-lit chamber, the dim bulbs of which +were encrusted with the accumulated dust of centuries, a bent and +withered figure traversed slowly the gloomy corridors without, his weak +and watery eyes peering through thick lenses at the signs of passage +written upon the dusty floor. + + + +CHAPTER XIX + +THE MENACE OF THE DEAD + +The night was still young when there came one to the entrance of the +banquet hall where O-Tar of Manator dined with his chiefs, and brushing +past the guards entered the great room with the insolence of a +privileged character, as in truth he was. As he approached the head of +the long board O-Tar took notice of him. + +"Well, hoary one!" he cried. "What brings you out of your beloved and +stinking burrow again this day. We thought that the sight of the +multitude of living men at the games would drive you back to your +corpses as quickly as you could go." + +The cackling laugh of I-Gos acknowledged the royal sally. "Ey, ey, +O-Tar," squeaked the ancient one, "I-Gos goes out not upon pleasure +bound; but when one does ruthlessly desecrate the dead of I-Gos, +vengeance must be had!" + +"You refer to the act of the slave Turan?" demanded O-Tar. + +"Turan, yes, and the slave Tara, who slipped beneath my hide a +murderous blade. Another fraction of an inch, O-Tar, and I-Gos' ancient +and wrinkled covering were even now in some apprentice tanner's hands, +ey, ey!" + +"But they have again eluded us," cried O-Tar. "Even in the palace of +the great jeddak twice have they escaped the stupid knaves I call The +Jeddak's Guard." O-Tar had risen and was angrily emphasizing his words +with heavy blows upon the table, dealt with a golden goblet. + +"Ey, O-Tar, they elude thy guard but not the wise old calot, I-Gos." + +"What mean you? Speak!" commanded O-Tar. + +"I know where they are hid," said the ancient taxidermist. "In the dust +of unused corridors their feet have betrayed them." + +"You followed them? You have seen them?" demanded the jeddak. + +"I followed them and I heard them speaking beyond a closed door," +replied I-Gos; "but I did not see them." + +"Where is that door?" cried O-Tar. "We will send at once and fetch +them," he looked about the table as though to decide to whom he would +entrust this duty. A dozen warrior chiefs arose and laid their hands +upon their swords. + +"To the chambers of O-Mai the Cruel I traced them," squeaked I-Gos. +"There you will find them where the moaning Corphals pursue the +shrieking ghost of O-Mai; ey!" and he turned his eyes from O-Tar toward +the warriors who had arisen, only to discover that, to a man, they were +hurriedly resuming their seats. + +The cackling laughter of I-Gos broke derisively the hush that had +fallen on the room. The warriors looked sheepishly at the food upon +their plates of gold. O-Tar snapped his fingers impatiently. + +"Be there only cravens among the chiefs of Manator?" he cried. +"Repeatedly have these presumptuous slaves flouted the majesty of your +jeddak. Must I command one to go and fetch them?" + +Slowly a chief arose and two others followed his example, though with +ill-concealed reluctance. "All, then, are not cowards," commented +O-Tar. "The duty is distasteful. Therefore all three of you shall go, +taking as many warriors as you wish." + +"But do not ask for volunteers," interrupted I-Gos, "or you will go +alone." + +The three chiefs turned and left the banquet hall, walking slowly like +doomed men to their fate. + +Gahan and Tara remained in the chamber to which Tasor had led them, the +man brushing away the dust from a deep and comfortable bench where they +might rest in comparative comfort. He had found the ancient sleeping +silks and furs too far gone to be of any service, crumbling to powder +at a touch, thus removing any chance of making a comfortable bed for +the girl, and so the two sat together, talking in low tones, of the +adventures through which they already had passed and speculating upon +the future; planning means of escape and hoping Tasor would not be long +gone. They spoke of many things--of Hastor, and Helium, and Ptarth, and +finally the conversation reminded Tara of Gathol. + +"You have served there?" she asked. + +"Yes," replied Turan. + +"I met Gahan the Jed of Gathol at my father's palace," she said, "the +very day before the storm snatched me from Helium--he was a +presumptuous fellow, magnificently trapped in platinum and diamonds. +Never in my life saw I so gorgeous a harness as his, and you must well +know, Turan, that the splendor of all Barsoom passes through the court +at Helium; but in my mind I could not see so resplendent a creature +drawing that jeweled sword in mortal combat. I fear me that the Jed of +Gathol, though a pretty picture of a man, is little else." + +In the dim light Tara did not perceive the wry expression upon the +half-averted face of her companion. + +"You thought little then of the Jed of Gathol?" he asked. + +"Then or now," she replied, and with a little laugh; "how it would +pique his vanity to know, if he might, that a poor panthan had won a +higher place in the regard of Tara of Helium," and she laid her fingers +gently upon his knee. + +He seized the fingers in his and carried them to his lips. "O, Tara of +Helium," he cried. "Think you that I am a man of stone?" One arm +slipped about her shoulders and drew the yielding body toward him. + +"May my first ancestor forgive me my weakness," she cried, as her arms +stole about his neck and she raised her panting lips to his. For long +they clung there in love's first kiss and then she pushed him away, +gently. "I love you, Turan," she half sobbed; "I love you so! It is my +only poor excuse for having done this wrong to Djor Kantos, whom now I +know I never loved, who knew not the meaning of love. And if you love +me as you say, Turan, your love must protect me from greater dishonor, +for I am but as clay in your hands." + +Again he crushed her to him and then as suddenly released her, and +rising, strode rapidly to and fro across the chamber as though he +endeavored by violent exercise to master and subdue some evil spirit +that had laid hold upon him. Ringing through his brain and heart and +soul like some joyous paean were those words that had so altered the +world for Gahan of Gathol: "I love you, Turan; I love you so!" And it +had come so suddenly. He had thought that she felt for him only +gratitude for his loyalty and then, in an instant, her barriers were +all down, she was no longer a princess; but instead a--his reflections +were interrupted by a sound from beyond the closed door. His sandals of +zitidar hide had given forth no sound upon the marble floor he strode, +and as his rapid pacing carried him past the entrance to the chamber +there came faintly from the distance of the long corridor the sound of +metal on metal--the unmistakable herald of the approach of armed men. + +For a moment Gahan listened intently, close to the door, until there +could be no doubt but that a party of warriors was approaching. From +what Tasor had told him he guessed correctly that they would be coming +to this portion of the palace but for a single purpose--to search for +Tara and himself--and it behooved him therefore to seek immediate means +for eluding them. The chamber in which they were had other doorways +beside that at which they had entered, and to one of these he must look +for some safer hiding place. Crossing to Tara he acquainted her with +his suspicion, leading her to one of the doors which they found +unsecured. Beyond it lay a dimly-lighted chamber at the threshold of +which they halted in consternation, drawing back quickly into the +chamber they had just quitted, for their first glance revealed four +warriors seated around a jetan board. + +That their entrance had not been noted was attributed by Gahan to the +absorption of the two players and their friends in the game. Quietly +closing the door the fugitives moved silently to the next, which they +found locked. There was now but another door which they had not tried, +and this they approached quickly as they knew that the searching party +must be close to the chamber. To their chagrin they found this avenue +of escape barred. + +Now indeed were they in a sorry plight, for should the searchers have +information leading them to this room they were lost. Again leading +Tara to the door behind which were the jetan players Gahan drew his +sword and waited, listening. The sound of the party in the corridor +came distinctly to their ears--they must be quite close, and doubtless +they were coming in force. Beyond the door were but four warriors who +might be readily surprised. There could, then, be but one choice and +acting upon it Gahan quietly opened the door again, stepped through +into the adjoining chamber, Tara's hand in his, and closed the door +behind them. The four at the jetan board evidently failed to hear them. +One player had either just made or was contemplating a move, for his +fingers grasped a piece that still rested upon the board. The other +three were watching his move. For an instant Gahan looked at them, +playing jetan there in the dim light of this forgotten and forbidden +chamber, and then a slow smile of understanding lighted his face. + +"Come!" he said to Tara. "We have nothing to fear from these. For more +than five thousand years they have sat thus, a monument to the +handiwork of some ancient taxidermist." + +As they approached more closely they saw that the lifelike figures were +coated with dust, but that otherwise the skin was in as fine a state of +preservation as the most recent of I-Gos' groups, and then they heard +the door of the chamber they had quitted open and knew that the +searchers were close upon them. Across the room they saw the opening of +what appeared to be a corridor and which investigation proved to be a +short passageway, terminating in a chamber in the center of which was +an ornate sleeping dais. This room, like the others, was but poorly +lighted, time having dimmed the radiance of its bulbs and coated them +with dust. A glance showed that it was hung with heavy goods and +contained considerable massive furniture in addition to the sleeping +platform, a second glance at which revealed what appeared to be the +form of a man lying partially on the floor and partially on the dais. +No doorways were visible other than that at which they had entered, +though both knew that others might be concealed by the hangings. + +Gahan, his curiosity aroused by the legends surrounding this portion of +the palace, crossed to the dais to examine the figure that apparently +had fallen from it, to find the dried and shrivelled corpse of a man +lying upon his back on the floor with arms outstretched and fingers +stiffly outspread. One of his feet was doubled partially beneath him, +while the other was still entangled in the sleeping silks and furs upon +the dais. After five thousand years the expression of the withered face +and the eyeless sockets retained the aspect of horrid fear to such an +extent, that Gahan knew that he was looking upon the body of O-Mai the +Cruel. + +Suddenly Tara, who stood close beside him, clutched his arm and pointed +toward a far corner of the room. Gahan looked and looking felt the +hairs upon his neck rising. He threw his left arm about the girl and +with bared sword stood between her and the hangings that they watched, +and then slowly Gahan of Gathol backed away, for in this grim and +somber chamber, which no human foot had trod for five thousand years +and to which no breath of wind might enter, the heavy hangings in the +far corner had moved. Not gently had they moved as a draught might have +moved them had there been a draught, but suddenly they had bulged out +as though pushed against from behind. To the opposite corner backed +Gahan until they stood with their backs against the hangings there, and +then hearing the approach of their pursuers across the chamber beyond +Gahan pushed Tara through the hangings and, following her, kept open +with his left hand, which he had disengaged from the girl's grasp, a +tiny opening through which he could view the apartment and the doorway +upon the opposite side through which the pursuers would enter, if they +came this far. + +Behind the hangings there was a space of about three feet in width +between them and the wall, making a passageway entirely around the +room, broken only by the single entrance opposite them; this being a +common arrangement especially in the sleeping apartments of the rich +and powerful upon Barsoom. The purposes of this arrangement were +several. The passageway afforded a station for guards in the same room +with their master without intruding entirely upon his privacy; it +concealed secret exits from the chamber; it permitted the occupant of +the room to hide eavesdroppers and assassins for use against enemies +that he might lure to his chamber. + +The three chiefs with a dozen warriors had had no difficulty in +following the tracks of the fugitives through the dust of the corridors +and chambers they had traversed. To enter this portion of the palace at +all had required all the courage they possessed, and now that they were +within the very chambers of O-Mai their nerves were pitched to the +highest key--another turn and they would snap; for the people of +Manator are filled with weird superstitions. As they entered the outer +chamber they moved slowly, with drawn swords, no one seeming anxious to +take the lead, and the twelve warriors hanging back in unconcealed and +shameless terror, while the three chiefs, spurred on by fear of O-Tar +and by pride, pressed together for mutual encouragement as they slowly +crossed the dimly-lighted room. + +Following the tracks of Gahan and Tara they found that though each +doorway had been approached only one threshold had been crossed and +this door they gingerly opened, revealing to their astonished gaze the +four warriors at the jetan table. For a moment they were on the verge +of flight, for though they knew what they were, coming as they did upon +them in this mysterious and haunted suite, they were as startled as +though they had beheld the very ghosts of the departed. But they +presently regained their courage sufficiently to cross this chamber too +and enter the short passageway that led to the ancient sleeping +apartment of O-Mai the Cruel. They did not know that this awful chamber +lay just before them, or it were doubtful that they would have +proceeded farther; but they saw that those they sought had come this +way and so they followed, but within the gloomy interior of the chamber +they halted, the three chiefs urging their followers, in low whispers, +to close in behind them, and there just within the entrance they stood +until, their eyes becoming accustomed to the dim light, one of them +pointed suddenly to the thing lying upon the floor with one foot +tangled in the coverings of the dais. + +"Look!" he gasped. "It is the corpse of O-Mai! Ancestor of ancestors! +we are in the forbidden chamber." Simultaneously there came from behind +the hangings beyond the grewsome dead a hollow moan followed by a +piercing scream, and the hangings shook and bellied before their eyes. + +With one accord, chieftains and warriors, they turned and bolted for +the doorway; a narrow doorway, where they jammed, fighting and +screaming in an effort to escape. They threw away their swords and +clawed at one another to make a passage for escape; those behind +climbed upon the shoulders of those in front; and some fell and were +trampled upon; but at last they all got through, and, the swiftest +first, they bolted across the two intervening chambers to the outer +corridor beyond, nor did they halt their mad retreat before they +stumbled, weak and trembling, into the banquet hall of O-Tar. At sight +of them the warriors who had remained with the jeddak leaped to their +feet with drawn swords, thinking that their fellows were pursued by +many enemies; but no one followed them into the room, and the three +chieftains came and stood before O-Tar with bowed heads and trembling +knees. + +"Well?" demanded the jeddak. "What ails you? Speak!" + +"O-Tar," cried one of them when at last he could master his voice. +"When have we three failed you in battle or combat? Have our swords +been not always among the foremost in defense of your safety and your +honor?" + +"Have I denied this?" demanded O-Tar. + +"Listen, then, O Jeddak, and judge us with leniency. We followed the +two slaves to the apartments of O-Mai the Cruel. We entered the +accursed chambers and still we did not falter. We came at last to that +horrid chamber no human eye had scanned before in fifty centuries and +we looked upon the dead face of O-Mai lying as he has lain for all this +time. To the very death chamber of O-Mai the Cruel we came and yet we +were ready to go farther; when suddenly there broke upon our horrified +ears the moans and the shrieking that mark these haunted chambers and +the hangings moved and rustled in the dead air. O-Tar, it was more than +human nerves could endure. We turned and fled. We threw away our swords +and fought with one another to escape. With sorrow, but without shame, +I tell it, for there be no man in all Manator that would not have done +the same. If these slaves be Corphals they are safe among their fellow +ghosts. If they be not Corphals, then already are they dead in the +chambers of O-Mai, and there may they rot for all of me, for I would +not return to that accursed spot for the harness of a jeddak and the +half of Barsoom for an empire. I have spoken." + +O-Tar knitted his scowling brows. "Are all my chieftains cowards and +cravens?" he demanded presently in sneering tones. + +From among those who had not been of the searching party a chieftain +arose and turned a scowling face upon O-Tar. + +"The jeddak knows," he said, "that in the annals of Manator her jeddaks +have ever been accounted the bravest of her warriors. Where my jeddak +leads I will follow, nor may any jeddak call me a coward or a craven +unless I refuse to go where he dares to go. I have spoken." + +After he had resumed his seat there was a painful silence, for all knew +that the speaker had challenged the courage of O-Tar the Jeddak of +Manator and all awaited the reply of their ruler. In every mind was the +same thought--O-Tar must lead them at once to the chamber of O-Mai the +Cruel, or accept forever the stigma of cowardice, and there could be no +coward upon the throne of Manator. That they all knew and that O-Tar +knew, as well. + +But O-Tar hesitated. He looked about upon the faces of those around him +at the banquet board; but he saw only the grim visages of relentless +warriors. There was no trace of leniency in the face of any. And then +his eyes wandered to a small entrance at one side of the great chamber. +An expression of relief expunged the scowl of anxiety from his features. + +"Look!" he exclaimed. "See who has come!" + + + +CHAPTER XX + +THE CHARGE OF COWARDICE + +Gahan, watching through the aperture between the hangings, saw the +frantic flight of their pursuers. A grim smile rested upon his lips as +he viewed the mad scramble for safety and saw them throw away their +swords and fight with one another to be first from the chamber of fear, +and when they were all gone he turned back toward Tara, the smile still +upon his lips; but the smile died the instant that he turned, for he +saw that Tara had disappeared. + +"Tara!" he called in a loud voice, for he knew that there was no danger +that their pursuers would return; but there was no response, unless it +was a faint sound as of cackling laughter from afar. Hurriedly he +searched the passageway behind the hangings finding several doors, one +of which was ajar. Through this he entered the adjoining chamber which +was lighted more brilliantly for the moment by the soft rays of +hurtling Thuria taking her mad way through the heavens. Here he found +the dust upon the floor disturbed, and the imprint of sandals. They had +come this way--Tara and whatever the creature was that had stolen her. + +But what could it have been? Gahan, a man of culture and high +intelligence, held few if any superstitions. In common with nearly all +races of Barsoom he clung, more or less inherently, to a certain +exalted form of ancestor worship, though it was rather the memory or +legends of the virtues and heroic deeds of his forebears that he +deified rather than themselves. He never expected any tangible evidence +of their existence after death; he did not believe that they had the +power either for good or for evil other than the effect that their +example while living might have had upon following generations; he did +not believe therefore in the materialization of dead spirits. If there +was a life hereafter he knew nothing of it, for he knew that science +had demonstrated the existence of some material cause for every +seemingly supernatural phenomenon of ancient religions and +superstitions. Yet he was at a loss to know what power might have +removed Tara so suddenly and mysteriously from his side in a chamber +that had not known the presence of man for five thousand years. + +In the darkness he could not see whether there were the imprints of +other sandals than Tara's--only that the dust was disturbed--and when +it led him into gloomy corridors he lost the trail altogether. A +perfect labyrinth of passages and apartments were now revealed to him +as he hurried on through the deserted quarters of O-Mai. Here was an +ancient bath--doubtless that of the jeddak himself, and again he passed +through a room in which a meal had been laid upon a table five thousand +years before--the untasted breakfast of O-Mai, perhaps. There passed +before his eyes in the brief moments that he traversed the chambers, a +wealth of ornaments and jewels and precious metals that surprised even +the Jed of Gathol whose harness was of diamonds and platinum and whose +riches were the envy of a world. But at last his search of O-Mai's +chambers ended in a small closet in the floor of which was the opening +to a spiral runway leading straight down into Stygian darkness. The +dust at the entrance of the closet had been freshly disturbed, and as +this was the only possible indication that Gahan had of the direction +taken by the abductor of Tara it seemed as well to follow on as to +search elsewhere. So, without hesitation, he descended into the utter +darkness below. Feeling with a foot before taking a forward step his +descent was necessarily slow, but Gahan was a Barsoomian and so knew +the pitfalls that might await the unwary in such dark, forbidden +portions of a jeddak's palace. + +He had descended for what he judged might be three full levels and was +pausing, as he occasionally did, to listen, when he distinctly heard a +peculiar shuffling, scraping sound approaching him from below. Whatever +the thing was it was ascending the runway at a steady pace and would +soon be near him. Gahan laid his hand upon the hilt of his sword and +drew it slowly from its scabbard that he might make no noise that would +apprise the creature of his presence. He wished that there might be +even the slightest lessening of the darkness. If he could see but the +outline of the thing that approached him he would feel that he had a +fairer chance in the meeting; but he could see nothing, and then +because he could see nothing the end of his scabbard struck the stone +side of the runway, giving off a sound that the stillness and the +narrow confines of the passage and the darkness seemed to magnify to a +terrific clatter. + +Instantly the shuffling sound of approach ceased. For a moment Gahan +stood in silent waiting, then casting aside discretion he moved on +again down the spiral. The thing, whatever it might be, gave forth no +sound now by which Gahan might locate it. At any moment it might be +upon him and so he kept his sword in readiness. Down, ever downward the +steep spiral led. The darkness and the silence of the tomb surrounded +him, yet somewhere ahead was something. He was not alone in that horrid +place--another presence that he could not hear or see hovered before +him--of that he was positive. Perhaps it was the thing that had stolen +Tara. Perhaps Tara herself, still in the clutches of some nameless +horror, was just ahead of him. He quickened his pace--it became almost +a run at the thought of the danger that threatened the woman he loved, +and then he collided with a wooden door that swung open to the impact. +Before him was a lighted corridor. On either side were chambers. He had +advanced but a short distance from the bottom of the spiral when he +recognized that he was in the pits below the palace. A moment later he +heard behind him the shuffling sound that had attracted his attention +in the spiral runway. Wheeling about he saw the author of the sound +emerging from a doorway he had just passed. It was Ghek the kaldane. + +"Ghek!" exclaimed Gahan. "It was you in the runway? Have you seen Tara +of Helium?" + +"It was I in the spiral," replied the kaldane; "but I have not seen +Tara of Helium. I have been searching for her. Where is she?" + +"I do not know," replied the Gatholian; "but we must find her and take +her from this place." + +"We may find her," said Ghek; "but I doubt our ability to take her +away. It is not so easy to leave Manator as it is to enter it. I may +come and go at will, through the ancient burrows of the ulsios; but you +are too large for that and your lungs need more air than may be found +in some of the deeper runways." + +"But U-Thor!" exclaimed Gahan. "Have you heard aught of him or his +intentions?" + +"I have heard much," replied Ghek. "He camps at The Gate of Enemies. +That spot he holds and his warriors lie just beyond The Gate; but he +has not sufficient force to enter the city and take the palace. An hour +since and you might have made your way to him; but now every avenue is +strongly guarded since O-Tar learned that A-Kor had escaped to U-Thor." + +"A-Kor has escaped and joined U-Thor!" exclaimed Gahan. + +"But little more than an hour since. I was with him when a warrior +came--a man whose name is Tasor--who brought a message from you. It was +decided that Tasor should accompany A-Kor in an attempt to reach the +camp of U-Thor, the great jed of Manatos, and exact from him the +assurances you required. Then U-Thor was to return and take food to you +and the Princess of Helium. I accompanied them. We won through easily +and found U-Thor more than willing to respect your every wish, but when +Tasor would have returned to you the way was blocked by the warriors of +O-Tar. Then it was that I volunteered to come to you and report and +find food and drink and then go forth among the Gatholian slaves of +Manator and prepare them for their part in the plan that U-Thor and +Tasor conceived." + +"And what was this plan?" + +"U-Thor has sent for reinforcements. To Manatos he has sent and to all +the outlying districts that are his. It will take a month to collect +and bring them hither and in the meantime the slaves within the city +are to organize secretly, stealing and hiding arms against the day that +the reinforcements arrive. When that day comes the forces of U-Thor +will enter the Gate of Enemies and as the warriors of O-Tar rush to +repulse them the slaves from Gathol will fall upon them from the rear +with the majority of their numbers, while the balance will assault the +palace. They hope thus to divert so many from The Gate that U-Thor will +have little difficulty in forcing an entrance to the city." + +"Perhaps they will succeed," commented Gahan; "but the warriors of +O-Tar are many, and those who fight in defense of their homes and their +jeddak have always an advantage. Ah, Ghek, would that we had the great +warships of Gathol or of Helium to pour their merciless fire into the +streets of Manator while U-Thor marched to the palace over the corpses +of the slain." He paused, deep in thought, and then turned his gaze +again upon the kaldane. "Heard you aught of the party that escaped with +me from The Field of Jetan--of Floran, Val Dor, and the others? What of +them?" + +"Ten of these won through to U-Thor at The Gate of Enemies and were +well received by him. Eight fell in the fighting upon the way. Val Dor +and Floran live, I believe, for I am sure that I heard U-Thor address +two warriors by these names." + +"Good!" exclaimed Gahan. "Go then, through the burrows of the ulsios, +to The Gate of Enemies and carry to Floran the message that I shall +write in his own language. Come, while I write the message." + +In a nearby room they found a bench and table and there Gahan sat and +wrote in the strange, stenographic characters of Martian script a +message to Floran of Gathol. "Why," he asked, when he had finished it, +"did you search for Tara through the spiral runway where we nearly met?" + +"Tasor told me where you were to be found, and as I have explored the +greater part of the palace by means of the ulsio runways and the darker +and less frequented passages I knew precisely where you were and how to +reach you. This secret spiral ascends from the pits to the roof of the +loftiest of the palace towers. It has secret openings at every level; +but there is no living Manatorian, I believe, who knows of its +existence. At least never have I met one within it and I have used it +many times. Thrice have I been in the chamber where O-Mai lies, though +I knew nothing of his identity or the story of his death until Tasor +told it to us in the camp of U-Thor." + +"You know the palace thoroughly then?" Gahan interrupted. + +"Better than O-Tar himself or any of his servants." + +"Good! And you would serve the Princess Tara, Ghek, you may serve her +best by accompanying Floran and following his instructions. I will +write them here at the close of my message to him, for the walls have +ears, Ghek, while none but a Gatholian may read what I have written to +Floran. He will transmit it to you. Can I trust you?" + +"I may never return to Bantoom," replied Ghek. "Therefore I have but +two friends in all Barsoom. What better may I do than serve them +faithfully? You may trust me, Gatholian, who with a woman of your kind +has taught me that there be finer and nobler things than perfect +mentality uninfluenced by the unreasoning tuitions of the heart. I go." + + * * * * * + +As O-Tar pointed to the little doorway all eyes turned in the direction +he indicated and surprise was writ large upon the faces of the warriors +when they recognized the two who had entered the banquet hall. There +was I-Gos, and he dragged behind him one who was gagged and whose hands +were fastened behind with a ribbon of tough silk. It was the slave +girl. I-Gos' cackling laughter rose above the silence of the room. + +"Ey, ey!" he shrilled. "What the young warriors of O-Tar cannot do, old +I-Gos does alone." + +"Only a Corphal may capture a Corphal," growled one of the chiefs who +had fled from the chambers of O-Mai. + +I-Gos laughed. "Terror turned your heart to water," he replied; "and +shame your tongue to libel. This be no Corphal, but only a woman of +Helium; her companion a warrior who can match blades with the best of +you and cut your putrid hearts. Not so in the days of I-Gos' youth. Ah, +then were there men in Manator. Well do I recall that day that I--" + +"Peace, doddering fool!" commanded O-Tar. "Where is the man?" + +"Where I found the woman--in the death chamber of O-Mai. Let your wise +and brave chieftains go thither and fetch him. I am an old man, and +could bring but one." + +"You have done well, I-Gos," O-Tar hastened to assure him, for when he +learned that Gahan might still be in the haunted chambers he wished to +appease the wrath of I-Gos, knowing well the vitriolic tongue and +temper of the ancient one. "You think she is no Corphal, then, I-Gos?" +he asked, wishing to carry the subject from the man who was still at +large. + +"No more than you," replied the ancient taxidermist. + +O-Tar looked long and searchingly at Tara of Helium. All the beauty +that was hers seemed suddenly to be carried to every fibre of his +consciousness. She was still garbed in the rich harness of a Black +Princess of Jetan, and as O-Tar the Jeddak gazed upon her he realized +that never before had his eyes rested upon a more perfect figure--a +more beautiful face. + +"She is no Corphal," he murmured to himself. "She is no Corphal and she +is a princess--a princess of Helium, and, by the golden hair of the +Holy Hekkador, she is beautiful. Take the gag from her mouth and +release her hands," he commanded aloud. "Make room for the Princess +Tara of Helium at the side of O-Tar of Manator. She shall dine as +becomes a princess." + +Slaves did as O-Tar bid and Tara of Helium stood with flashing eyes +behind the chair that was offered her. "Sit!" commanded O-Tar. + +The girl sank into the chair. "I sit as a prisoner," she said; "not as +a guest at the board of my enemy, O-Tar of Manator." + +O-Tar motioned his followers from the room. "I would speak alone with +the Princess of Helium," he said. The company and the slaves withdrew +and once more the Jeddak of Manator turned toward the girl. "O-Tar of +Manator would be your friend," he said. + +Tara of Helium sat with arms folded upon her small, firm breasts, her +eyes flashing from behind narrowed lids, nor did she deign to answer +his overture. O-Tar leaned closer to her. He noted the hostility of her +bearing and he recalled his first encounter with her. She was a +she-banth, but she was beautiful. She was by far the most desirable +woman that O-Tar had ever looked upon and he was determined to possess +her. He told her so. + +"I could take you as my slave," he said to her; "but it pleases me to +make you my wife. You shall be Jeddara of Manator. You shall have seven +days in which to prepare for the great honor that O-Tar is conferring +upon you, and at this hour of the seventh day you shall become an +empress and the wife of O-Tar in the throne room of the jeddaks of +Manator." He struck a gong that stood beside him upon the table and +when a slave appeared he bade him recall the company. Slowly the chiefs +filed in and took their places at the table. Their faces were grim and +scowling, for there was still unanswered the question of their jeddak's +courage. If O-Tar had hoped they would forget he had been mistaken in +his men. + +O-Tar arose. "In seven days," he announced, "there will be a great +feast in honor of the new Jeddara of Manator," and he waved his hand +toward Tara of Helium. "The ceremony will occur at the beginning of the +seventh zode* in the throne room. In the meantime the Princess of +Helium will be cared for in the tower of the women's quarters of the +palace. Conduct her thither, E-Thas, with a suitable guard of honor and +see to it that slaves and eunuchs be placed at her disposal, who shall +attend upon all her wants and guard her carefully from harm." + +* About 8:30 P. M. Earth Time. + + +Now E-Thas knew that the real meaning concealed in these fine words was +that he should conduct the prisoner under a strong guard to the women's +quarters and confine her there in the tower for seven days, placing +about her trustworthy guards who would prevent her escape or frustrate +any attempted rescue. + +As Tara was departing from the chamber with E-Thas and the guard, O-Tar +leaned close to her ear and whispered: "Consider well during these +seven days the high honor I have offered you, and--its sole +alternative." As though she had not heard him the girl passed out of +the banquet hall, her head high and her eyes straight to the front. + +After Ghek had left him Gahan roamed the pits and the ancient corridors +of the deserted portions of the palace seeking some clue to the +whereabouts or the fate of Tara of Helium. He utilized the spiral +runway in passing from level to level until he knew every foot of it +from the pits to the summit of the high tower, and into what apartments +it opened at the various levels as well as the ingenious and hidden +mechanism that operated the locks of the cleverly concealed doors +leading to it. For food he drew upon the stores he found in the pits +and when he slept he lay upon the royal couch of O-Mai in the forbidden +chamber sharing the dais with the dead foot of the ancient jeddak. + +In the palace about him seethed, all unknown to Gahan, a vast unrest. +Warriors and chieftains pursued the duties of their vocations with dour +faces, and little knots of them were collecting here and there and with +frowns of anger discussing some subject that was uppermost in the minds +of all. It was upon the fourth day following Tara's incarceration in +the tower that E-Thas, the major-domo of the palace and one of O-Tar's +creatures, came to his master upon some trivial errand. O-Tar was alone +in one of the smaller chambers of his personal suite when the +major-domo was announced, and after the matter upon which E-Thas had +come was disposed of the jeddak signed him to remain. + +"From the position of an obscure warrior I have elevated you, E-Thas, +to the honors of a chief. Within the confines of the palace your word +is second only to mine. You are not loved for this, E-Thas, and should +another jeddak ascend the throne of Manator what would become of you, +whose enemies are among the most powerful of Manator?" + +"Speak not of it, O-Tar," begged E-Thas. "These last few days I have +thought upon it much and I would forget it; but I have sought to +appease the wrath of my worst enemies. I have been very kind and +indulgent with them." + +"You, too, read the voiceless message in the air?" demanded the jeddak. + +E-Thas was palpably uneasy and he did not reply. + +"Why did you not come to me with your apprehensions?" demanded O-Tar. +"Be this loyalty?" + +"I feared, O mighty jeddak!" replied E-Thas. "I feared that you would +not understand and that you would be angry." + +"What know you? Speak the whole truth!" commanded O-Tar. + +"There is much unrest among the chieftains and the warriors," replied +E-Thas. "Even those who were your friends fear the power of those who +speak against you." + +"What say they?" growled the jeddak. + +"They say that you are afraid to enter the apartments of O-Mai in +search of the slave Turan--oh, do not be angry with me, Jeddak; it is +but what they say that I repeat. I, your loyal E-Thas, believe no such +foul slander." + +"No, no; why should I fear?" demanded O-Tar. "We do not know that he is +there. Did not my chiefs go thither and see nothing of him?" + +"But they say that you did not go," pursued E-Thas, "and that they will +have none of a coward upon the throne of Manator." + +"They said that treason?" O-Tar almost shouted. + +"They said that and more, great jeddak," answered the major-domo. "They +said that not only did you fear to enter the chambers of O-Mai, but +that you feared the slave Turan, and they blame you for your treatment +of A-Kor, whom they all believe to have been murdered at your command. +They were fond of A-Kor and there are many now who say aloud that A-Kor +would have made a wondrous jeddak." + +"They dare?" screamed O-Tar. "They dare suggest the name of a slave's +bastard for the throne of O-Tar!" + +"He is your son, O-Tar," E-Thas reminded him, "nor is there a more +beloved man in Manator--I but speak to you of facts which may not be +ignored, and I dare do so because only when you realize the truth may +you seek a cure for the ills that draw about your throne." + +O-Tar had slumped down upon his bench--suddenly he looked shrunken and +tired and old. "Cursed be the day," he cried, "that saw those three +strangers enter the city of Manator. Would that U-Dor had been spared +to me. He was strong--my enemies feared him; but he is gone--dead at +the hands of that hateful slave, Turan; may the curse of Issus be upon +him!" + +"My jeddak, what shall we do?" begged E-Thas. "Cursing the slave will +not solve your problems." + +"But the great feast and the marriage is but three days off," pleaded +O-Tar. "It shall be a great gala occasion. The warriors and the chiefs +all know that--it is the custom. Upon that day gifts and honors shall +be bestowed. Tell me, who are most bitter against me? I will send you +among them and let it be known that I am planning rewards for their +past services to the throne. We will make jeds of chiefs and chiefs of +warriors, and grant them palaces and slaves. Eh, E-Thas?" + +The other shook his head. "It will not do, O-Tar. They will have +nothing of your gifts or honors. I have heard them say as much." + +"What do they want?" demanded O-Tar. + +"They want a jeddak as brave as the bravest," replied E-Thas, though +his knees shook as he said it. + +"They think I am a coward?" cried the jeddak. + +"They say you are afraid to go to the apartments of O-mai the Cruel." + +For a long time O-Tar sat, his head sunk upon his breast, staring +blankly at the floor. + +"Tell them," he said at last in a hollow voice that sounded not at all +like the voice of a great jeddak; "tell them that I will go to the +chambers of O-Mai and search for Turan the slave." + + + +CHAPTER XXI + +A RISK FOR LOVE + +"Ey, ey, he is a craven and he called me 'doddering fool'!" The speaker +was I-Gos and he addressed a knot of chieftains in one of the chambers +of the palace of O-Tar, Jeddak of Manator: "If A-Kor was alive there +were a jeddak for us!" + +"Who says that A-Kor is dead?" demanded one of the chiefs. + +"Where is he then?" asked I-Gos. "Have not others disappeared whom +O-Tar thought too well beloved for men so near the throne as they?" + +The chief shook his head. "And I thought that, or knew it, rather; I'd +join U-Thor at The Gate of Enemies." + +"S-s-st," cautioned one; "here comes the licker of feet," and all eyes +were turned upon the approaching E-Thas. + +"Kaor, friends!" he exclaimed as he stopped among them, but his +friendly greeting elicited naught but a few surly nods. "Have you heard +the news?" he continued, unabashed by treatment to which he was +becoming accustomed. + +"What--has O-Tar seen an ulsio and fainted?" demanded I-Gos with broad +sarcasm. + +"Men have died for less than that, ancient one," E-Thas reminded him. + +"I am safe," retorted I-Gos, "for I am not a brave and popular son of +the jeddak of Manator." + +This was indeed open treason, but E-Thas feigned not to hear it. He +ignored I-Gos and turned to the others. "O-Tar goes to the chamber of +O-Mai this night in search of Turan the slave," he said. "He sorrows +that his warriors have not the courage for so mean a duty and that +their jeddak is thus compelled to arrest a common slave," with which +taunt E-Thas passed on to spread the word in other parts of the palace. +As a matter of fact the latter part of his message was purely original +with himself, and he took great delight in delivering it to the +discomfiture of his enemies. As he was leaving the little group of men +I-Gos called after him. "At what hour does O-Tar intend visiting the +chambers of O-Mai?" he asked. + +"Toward the end of the eighth zode*," replied the major-domo, and went +his way. + +* About 1:00 A. M. Earth Time. + + +"We shall see," stated I-Gos. + +"What shall we see?" asked a warrior. + +"We shall see whether O-Tar visits the chamber of O-Mai." + +"How?" + +"I shall be there myself and if I see him I will know that he has been +there. If I don't see him I will know that he has not," explained the +old taxidermist. + +"Is there anything there to fill an honest man with fear?" asked a +chieftain. "What have you seen?" + +"It was not so much what I saw, though that was bad enough, as what I +heard," said I-Gos. + +"Tell us! What heard and saw you?" + +"I saw the dead O-Mai," said I-Gos. The others shuddered. + +"And you went not mad?" they asked. + +"Am I mad?" retorted I-Gos. + +"And you will go again?" + +"Yes." + +"Then indeed you are mad," cried one. + +"You saw the dead O-Mai; but what heard you that was worse?" whispered +another. + +"I saw the dead O-Mai lying upon the floor of his sleeping chamber with +one foot tangled in the sleeping silks and furs upon his couch. I heard +horrid moans and frightful screams." + +"And you are not afraid to go there again?" demanded several. + +"The dead cannot harm me," said I-Gos. "He has lain thus for five +thousand years. Nor can a sound harm me. I heard it once and live--I +can hear it again. It came from almost at my side where I hid behind +the hangings and watched the slave Turan before I snatched the woman +away from him." + +"I-Gos, you are a very brave man," said a chieftain. + +"O-Tar called me 'doddering fool' and I would face worse dangers than +lie in the forbidden chambers of O-Mai to know it if he does not visit +the chamber of O-Mai. Then indeed shall O-Tar fall!" + +The night came and the zodes dragged and the time approached when +O-Tar, Jeddak of Manator, was to visit the chamber of O-Mai in search +of the slave Turan. To us, who may doubt the existence of malignant +spirits, his fear may seem unbelievable, for he was a strong man, an +excellent swordsman, and a warrior of great repute; but the fact +remained that O-Tar of Manator was nervous with apprehension as he +strode the corridors of his palace toward the deserted halls of O-Mai +and when he stood at last with his hand upon the door that opened from +the dusty corridor to the very apartments themselves he was almost +paralyzed with terror. He had come alone for two very excellent +reasons, the first of which was that thus none might note his +terror-stricken state nor his defection should he fail at the last +moment, and the other was that should he accomplish the thing alone or +be able to make his chiefs believe that he had, the credit would be far +greater than were he to be accompanied by warriors. + +But though he had started alone he had become aware that he was being +followed, and he knew that it was because his people had no faith in +either his courage or his veracity. He did not believe that he would +find the slave Turan. He did not very much want to find him, for though +O-Tar was an excellent swordsman and a brave warrior in physical +combat, he had seen how Turan had played with U-Dor and he had no +stomach for a passage at arms with one whom he knew outclassed him. + +And so O-Tar stood with his hand upon the door--afraid to enter; afraid +not to. But at last his fear of his own warriors, watching behind him, +grew greater than the fear of the unknown behind the ancient door and +he pushed the heavy skeel aside and entered. + +Silence and gloom and the dust of centuries lay heavy upon the chamber. +From his warriors he knew the route that he must take to the horrid +chamber of O-Mai and so he forced his unwilling feet across the room +before him, across the room where the jetan players sat at their +eternal game, and came to the short corridor that led into the room of +O-Mai. His naked sword trembled in his grasp. He paused after each +forward step to listen and when he was almost at the door of the +ghost-haunted chamber, his heart stood still within his breast and the +cold sweat broke from the clammy skin of his forehead, for from within +there came to his affrighted ears the sound of muffled breathing. Then +it was that O-Tar of Manator came near to fleeing from the nameless +horror that he could not see, but that he knew lay waiting for him in +that chamber just ahead. But again came the fear of the wrath and +contempt of his warriors and his chiefs. They would degrade him and +they would slay him into the bargain. There was no doubt of what his +fate would be should he flee the apartments of O-Mai in terror. His +only hope, therefore, lay in daring the unknown in preference to the +known. + +He moved forward. A few steps took him to the doorway. The chamber +before him was darker than the corridor, so that he could just +indistinctly make out the objects in the room. He saw a sleeping dais +near the center, with a darker blotch of something lying on the marble +floor beside it. He moved a step farther into the doorway and the +scabbard of his sword scraped against the stone frame. To his horror he +saw the sleeping silks and furs upon the central dais move. He saw a +figure slowly arising to a sitting posture from the death bed of O-Mai +the Cruel. His knees shook, but he gathered all his moral forces, and +gripping his sword more tightly in his trembling fingers prepared to +leap across the chamber upon the horrid apparition. He hesitated just a +moment. He felt eyes upon him--ghoulish eyes that bored through the +darkness into his withering heart--eyes that he could not see. He +gathered himself for the rush--and then there broke from the thing upon +the couch an awful shriek, and O-Tar sank senseless to the floor. + +Gahan rose from the couch of O-Mai, smiling, only to swing quickly +about with drawn sword as the shadow of a noise impinged upon his keen +ears from the shadows behind him. Between the parted hangings he saw a +bent and wrinkled figure. It was I-Gos. + +"Sheathe your sword, Turan," said the old man. "You have naught to fear +from I-Gos." + +"What do you here?" demanded Gahan. + +"I came to make sure that the great coward did not cheat us. Ey, and he +called me 'doddering fool;' but look at him now! Stricken insensible by +terror, but, ey, one might forgive him that who had heard your uncanny +scream. It all but blasted my own courage. And it was you, then, who +moaned and screamed when the chiefs came the day that I stole Tara from +you?" + +"It was you, then, old scoundrel?" demanded Gahan, moving threateningly +toward I-Gos. + +"Come, come!" expostulated the old man; "it was I, but then I was your +enemy. I would not do it now. Conditions have changed." + +"How have they changed? What has changed them?" asked Gahan. + +"Then I did not fully realize the cowardice of my jeddak, or the +bravery of you and the girl. I am an old man from another age and I +love courage. At first I resented the girl's attack upon me, but later +I came to see the bravery of it and it won my admiration, as have all +her acts. She feared not O-Tar, she feared not me, she feared not all +the warriors of Manator. And you! Blood of a million sires! how you +fight! I am sorry that I exposed you at The Fields of Jetan. I am sorry +that I dragged the girl Tara back to O-Tar. I would make amends. I +would be your friend. Here is my sword at your feet," and drawing his +weapon I-Gos cast it to the floor in front of Gahan. + +The Gatholian knew that scarce the most abandoned of knaves would +repudiate this solemn pledge, and so he stooped, and picking up the old +man's sword returned it to him, hilt first, in acceptance of his +friendship. + +"Where is the Princess Tara of Helium?" asked Gahan. "Is she safe?" + +"She is confined in the tower of the women's quarters awaiting the +ceremony that is to make her Jeddara of Manator," replied I-Gos. + +"This thing dared think that Tara of Helium would mate with him?" +growled Gahan. "I will make short work of him if he is not already dead +from fright," and he stepped toward the fallen O-Tar to run his sword +through the jeddak's heart. + +"No!" cried I-Gos. "Slay him not and pray that he be not dead if you +would save your princess." + +"How is that?" asked Gahan. + +"If word of O-Tar's death reached the quarters of the women the +Princess Tara would be lost. They know O-Tar's intention of taking her +to wife and making her Jeddara of Manator, so you may rest assured that +they all hate her with the hate of jealous women. Only O-Tar's power +protects her now from harm. Should O-Tar die they would turn her over +to the warriors and the male slaves, for there would be none to avenge +her." + +Gahan sheathed his sword. "Your point is well taken; but what shall we +do with him?" + +"Leave him where he lies," counseled I-Gos. "He is not dead. When he +revives he will return to his quarters with a fine tale of his bravery +and there will be none to impugn his boasts--none but I-Gos. Come! he +may revive at any moment and he must not find us here." + +I-Gos crossed to the body of his jeddak, knelt beside it for an +instant, and then returned past the couch to Gahan. The two quit the +chamber of O-Mai and took their way toward the spiral runway. Here +I-Gos led Gahan to a higher level and out upon the roof of that portion +of the palace from where he pointed to a high tower quite close by. +"There," he said, "lies the Princess of Helium, and quite safe she will +be until the time of the ceremony." + +"Safe, possibly, from other hands, but not from her own," said Gahan. +"She will never become Jeddara of Manator--first will she destroy +herself." + +"She would do that?" asked I-Gos. + +"She will, unless you can get word to her that I still live and that +there is yet hope," replied Gahan. + +"I cannot get word to her," said I-Gos. "The quarters of his women +O-Tar guards with jealous hand. Here are his most trusted slaves and +warriors, yet even so, thick among them are countless spies, so that no +man knows which be which. No shadow falls within those chambers that is +not marked by a hundred eyes." + +Gahan stood gazing at the lighted windows of the high tower in the +upper chambers of which Tara of Helium was confined. "I will find a +way, I-Gos," he said. + +"There is no way," replied the old man. + +For some time they stood upon the roof beneath the brilliant stars and +hurtling moons of dying Mars, laying their plans against the time that +Tara of Helium should be brought from the high tower to the throne room +of O-Tar. It was then, and then alone, argued I-Gos, that any hope of +rescuing her might be entertained. Just how far he might trust the +other Gahan did not know, and so he kept to himself the knowledge of +the plan that he had forwarded to Floran and Val Dor by Ghek, but he +assured the ancient taxidermist that if he were sincere in his +oft-repeated declaration that O-Tar should be denounced and superseded +he would have his opportunity on the night that the jeddak sought to +wed the Heliumetic princess. + +"Your time shall come then, I-Gos," Gahan assured the other, "and if +you have any party that thinks as you do, prepare them for the +eventuality that will succeed O-Tar's presumptuous attempt to wed the +daughter of The Warlord. Where shall I see you again, and when? I go +now to speak with Tara, Princess of Helium." + +"I like your boldness," said I-Gos; "but it will avail you naught. You +will not speak with Tara, Princess of Helium, though doubtless the +blood of many Manatorians will drench the floors of the women's +quarters before you are slain." + +Gahan smiled. "I shall not be slain. Where and when shall we meet? But +you may find me in O-Mai's chamber at night. That seems the safest +retreat in all Manator for an enemy of the jeddak in whose palace it +lies. I go!" + +"And may the spirits of your ancestors surround you," said I-Gos. + +After the old man had left him Gahan made his way across the roof to +the high tower, which appeared to have been constructed of concrete and +afterward elaborately carved, its entire surface being covered with +intricate designs cut deep into the stone-like material of which it was +composed. Though wrought ages since, it was but little weather-worn +owing to the aridity of the Martian atmosphere, the infrequency of +rains, and the rarity of dust storms. To scale it, though, presented +difficulties and danger that might have deterred the bravest of +men--that would, doubtless, have deterred Gahan, had he not felt that +the life of the woman he loved depended upon his accomplishing the +hazardous feat. + +Removing his sandals and laying aside all of his harness and weapons +other than a single belt supporting a dagger, the Gatholian essayed the +dangerous ascent. Clinging to the carvings with hands and feet he +worked himself slowly aloft, avoiding the windows and keeping upon the +shadowy side of the tower, away from the light of Thuria and Cluros. +The tower rose some fifty feet above the roof of the adjacent part of +the palace, comprising five levels or floors with windows looking in +every direction. A few of the windows were balconied, and these more +than the others he sought to avoid, although, it being now near the +close of the ninth zode, there was little likelihood that many were +awake within the tower. + +His progress was noiseless and he came at last, undetected, to the +windows of the upper level. These, like several of the others he had +passed at lower levels, were heavily barred, so that there was no +possibility of his gaining ingress to the apartment where Tara was +confined. Darkness hid the interior behind the first window that he +approached. The second opened upon a lighted chamber where he could see +a guard sleeping at his post outside a door. Here also was the top of +the runway leading to the next level below. Passing still farther +around the tower Gahan approached another window, but now he clung to +that side of the tower which ended in a courtyard a hundred feet below +and in a short time the light of Thuria would reach him. He realized +that he must hasten and he prayed that behind the window he now +approached he would find Tara of Helium. + +Coming to the opening he looked in upon a small chamber dimly lighted. +In the center was a sleeping dais upon which a human form lay beneath +silks and furs. A bare arm, protruding from the coverings, lay exposed +against a black and yellow striped orluk skin--an arm of wondrous +beauty about which was clasped an armlet that Gahan knew. No other +creature was visible within the chamber, all of which was exposed to +Gahan's view. Pressing his face to the bars the Gatholian whispered her +dear name. The girl stirred, but did not awaken. Again he called, but +this time louder. Tara sat up and looked about and at the same instant +a huge eunuch leaped to his feet from where he had been lying on the +floor close by that side of the dais farthest from Gahan. +Simultaneously the brilliant light of Thuria flashed full upon the +window where Gahan clung silhouetting him plainly to the two within. + +Both sprang to their feet. The eunuch drew his sword and leaped for the +window where the helpless Gahan would have fallen an easy victim to a +single thrust of the murderous weapon the fellow bore, had not Tara of +Helium leaped upon her guard dragging him back. At the same time she +drew the slim dagger from its hiding place in her harness and even as +the eunuch sought to hurl her aside its keen point found his heart. +Without a sound he died and lunged forward to the floor. Then Tara ran +to the window. + +"Turan, my chief!" she cried. "What awful risk is this you take to seek +me here, where even your brave heart is powerless to aid me." + +"Be not so sure of that, heart of my heart," he replied. "While I bring +but words to my love, they be the forerunner of deeds, I hope, that +will give her back to me forever. I feared that you might destroy +yourself, Tara of Helium, to escape the dishonor that O-Tar would do +you, and so I came to give you new hope and to beg that you live for me +through whatever may transpire, in the knowledge that there is yet a +way and that if all goes well we shall be freed at last. Look for me in +the throne room of O-Tar the night that he would wed you. And now, how +may we dispose of this fellow?" He pointed to the dead eunuch upon the +floor. + +"We need not concern ourselves about that," she replied. "None dares +harm me for fear of the wrath of O-Tar--otherwise I should have been +dead so soon as ever I entered this portion of the palace, for the +women hate me. O-Tar alone may punish me, and what cares O-Tar for the +life of a eunuch? No, fear not upon this score." + +Their hands were clasped between the bars and now Gahan drew her nearer +to him. + +"One kiss," he said, "before I go, my princess," and the proud daughter +of Dejah Thoris, Princess of Helium, and The Warlord of Barsoom +whispered: "My chieftain!" and pressed her lips to the lips of Turan, +the common panthan. + + + +CHAPTER XXII + +AT THE MOMENT OF MARRIAGE + +The silence of the tomb lay heavy about him as O-Tar, Jeddak of +Manator, opened his eyes in the chamber of O-Mai. Recollection of the +frightful apparition that had confronted him swept to his +consciousness. He listened, but heard naught. Within the range of his +vision there was nothing apparent that might cause alarm. Slowly he +lifted his head and looked about. Upon the floor beside the couch lay +the thing that had at first attracted his attention and his eyes closed +in terror as he recognized it for what it was; but it moved not, nor +spoke. O-Tar opened his eyes again and rose to his feet. He was +trembling in every limb. There was nothing on the dais from which he +had seen the thing arise. + +O-Tar backed slowly from the room. At last he gained the outer +corridor. It was empty. He did not know that it had emptied rapidly as +the loud scream with which his own had mingled had broken upon the +startled ears of the warriors who had been sent to spy upon him. He +looked at the timepiece set in a massive bracelet upon his left +forearm. The ninth zode was nearly half gone. O-Tar had lain for an +hour unconscious. He had spent an hour in the chamber of O-Mai and he +was not dead! He had looked upon the face of his predecessor and was +still sane! He shook himself and smiled. Rapidly he subdued his +rebelliously shaking nerves, so that by the time he reached the +tenanted portion of the palace he had gained control of himself. He +walked with chin high and something of a swagger. To the banquet hall +he went, knowing that his chiefs awaited him there and as he entered +they arose and upon the faces of many were incredulity and amaze, for +they had not thought to see O-Tar the jeddak again after what the spies +had told them of the horrid sounds issuing from the chamber of O-Mai. +Thankful was O-Tar that he had gone alone to that chamber of fright, +for now no one could deny the tale that he should tell. + +E-Thas rushed forward to greet him, for E-Thas had seen black looks +directed toward him as the tals slipped by and his benefactor failed to +return. + +"O brave and glorious jeddak!" cried the major-domo. "We rejoice at +your safe return and beg of you the story of your adventure." + +"It was naught," exclaimed O-Tar. "I searched the chambers carefully +and waited in hiding for the return of the slave, Turan, if he were +temporarily away; but he came not. He is not there and I doubt if he +ever goes there. Few men would choose to remain long in such a dismal +place." + +"You were not attacked?" asked E-Thas. "You heard no screams, nor +moans?" + +"I heard hideous noises and saw phantom figures; but they fled before +me so that never could I lay hold of one, and I looked upon the face of +O-Mai and I am not mad. I even rested in the chamber beside his corpse." + +In a far corner of the room a bent and wrinkled old man hid a smile +behind a golden goblet of strong brew. + +"Come! Let us drink!" cried O-Tar and reached for the dagger, the +pommel of which he was accustomed to use to strike the gong which +summoned slaves, but the dagger was not in its scabbard. O-Tar was +puzzled. He knew that it had been there just before he entered the +chamber of O-Mai, for he had carefully felt of all his weapons to make +sure that none was missing. He seized instead a table utensil and +struck the gong, and when the slaves came bade them bring the strongest +brew for O-Tar and his chiefs. Before the dawn broke many were the +expressions of admiration bellowed from drunken lips--admiration for +the courage of their jeddak; but some there were who still looked glum. + + * * * * * + +Came at last the day that O-Tar would take the Princess Tara of Helium +to wife. For hours slaves prepared the unwilling bride. Seven perfumed +baths occupied three long and weary hours, then her whole body was +anointed with the oil of pimalia blossoms and massaged by the deft +fingers of a slave from distant Dusar. Her harness, all new and wrought +for the occasion was of the white hide of the great white apes of +Barsoom, hung heavily with platinum and diamonds--fairly encrusted with +them. The glossy mass of her jet hair had been built into a coiffure of +stately and becoming grandeur, into which diamond-headed pins were +stuck until the whole scintillated as the stars in heaven upon a +moonless night. + +But it was a sullen and defiant bride that they led from the high tower +toward the throne room of O-Tar. The corridors were filled with slaves +and warriors, and the women of the palace and the city who had been +commanded to attend the ceremony. All the power and pride, wealth and +beauty of Manator were there. + +Slowly Tara, surrounded by a heavy guard of honor, moved along the +marble corridors filled with people. At the entrance to The Hall of +Chiefs E-Thas, the major-domo, received her. The Hall was empty except +for its ranks of dead chieftains upon their dead mounts. Through this +long chamber E-Thas escorted her to the throne room which also was +empty, the marriage ceremony in Manator differing from that of other +countries of Barsoom. Here the bride would await the groom at the foot +of the steps leading to the throne. The guests followed her in and took +their places, leaving the central aisle from The Hall of Chiefs to the +throne clear, for up this O-Tar would approach his bride alone after a +short solitary communion with the dead behind closed doors in The Hall +of Chiefs. It was the custom. + +The guests had all filed through The Hall of Chiefs; the doors at both +ends had been closed. Presently those at the lower end of the hall +opened and O-Tar entered. His black harness was ornamented with rubies +and gold; his face was covered by a grotesque mask of the precious +metal in which two enormous rubies were set for eyes, though below them +were narrow slits through which the wearer could see. His crown was a +fillet supporting carved feathers of the same metal as the mask. To the +least detail his regalia was that demanded of a royal bridegroom by the +customs of Manator, and now in accordance with that same custom he came +alone to The Hall of Chiefs to receive the blessings and the council of +the great ones of Manator who had preceded him. + +As the doors at the lower end of the Hall closed behind him O-Tar the +Jeddak stood alone with the great dead. By the dictates of ages no +mortal eye might look upon the scene enacted within that sacred +chamber. As the mighty of Manator respected the traditions of Manator, +let us, too, respect those traditions of a proud and sensitive people. +Of what concern to us the happenings in that solemn chamber of the dead? + +Five minutes passed. The bride stood silently at the foot of the +throne. The guests spoke together in low whispers until the room was +filled with the hum of many voices. At length the doors leading into +The Hall of Chiefs swung open, and the resplendent bridegroom stood +framed for a moment in the massive opening. A hush fell upon the +wedding guests. With measured and impressive step the groom approached +the bride. Tara felt the muscles of her heart contract with the +apprehension that had been growing upon her as the coils of Fate +settled more closely about her and no sign came from Turan. Where was +he? What, indeed, could he accomplish now to save her? Surrounded by +the power of O-Tar with never a friend among them, her position seemed +at last without vestige of hope. + +"I still live!" she whispered inwardly in a last brave attempt to +combat the terrible hopelessness that was overwhelming her, but her +fingers stole for reassurance to the slim blade that she had managed to +transfer, undetected, from her old harness to the new. And now the +groom was at her side and taking her hand was leading her up the steps +to the throne, before which they halted and stood facing the gathering +below. Came then, from the back of the room a procession headed by the +high dignitary whose office it was to make these two man and wife, and +directly behind him a richly-clad youth bearing a silken pillow on +which lay the golden handcuffs connected by a short length of +chain-of-gold with which the ceremony would be concluded when the +dignitary clasped a handcuff about the wrist of each symbolizing their +indissoluble union in the holy bonds of wedlock. + +Would Turan's promised succor come too late? Tara listened to the long, +monotonous intonation of the wedding service. She heard the virtues of +O-Tar extolled and the beauties of the bride. The moment was +approaching and still no sign of Turan. But what could he accomplish +should he succeed in reaching the throne room, other than to die with +her? There could be no hope of rescue. + +The dignitary lifted the golden handcuffs from the pillow upon which +they reposed. He blessed them and reached for Tara's wrist. The time +had come! The thing could go no further, for alive or dead, by all the +laws of Barsoom she would be the wife of O-Tar of Manator the instant +the two were locked together. Even should rescue come then or later she +could never dissolve those bonds and Turan would be lost to her as +surely as though death separated them. + +Her hand stole toward the hidden blade, but instantly the hand of the +groom shot out and seized her wrist. He had guessed her intention. +Through the slits in the grotesque mask she could see his eyes upon her +and she guessed the sardonic smile that the mask hid. For a tense +moment the two stood thus. The people below them kept breathless +silence for the play before the throne had not passed unnoticed. + +Dramatic as was the moment it was suddenly rendered trebly so by the +noisy opening of the doors leading to The Hall of Chiefs. All eyes +turned in the direction of the interruption to see another figure +framed in the massive opening--a half-clad figure buckling the +half-adjusted harness hurriedly in place--the figure of O-Tar, Jeddak +of Manator. + +"Stop!" he screamed, springing forward along the aisle toward the +throne. "Seize the impostor!" + +All eyes shot to the figure of the groom before the throne. They saw +him raise his hand and snatch off the golden mask, and Tara of Helium +in wide-eyed incredulity looked up into the face of Turan the panthan. + +"Turan the slave," they cried then. "Death to him! Death to him!" + +"Wait!" shouted Turan, drawing his sword, as a dozen warriors leaped +forward. + +"Wait!" screamed another voice, old and cracked, as I-Gos, the ancient +taxidermist, sprang from among the guests and reached the throne steps +ahead of the foremost warriors. + +At sight of the old man the warriors paused, for age is held in great +veneration among the peoples of Barsoom, as is true, perhaps, of all +peoples whose religion is based to any extent upon ancestor worship. +But O-Tar gave no heed to him, leaping instead swiftly toward the +throne. "Stop, coward!" cried I-Gos. + +The people looked at the little old man in amazement. "Men of Manator," +he cackled in his thin, shrill voice, "wouldst be ruled by a coward and +a liar?" + +"Down with him!" shouted O-Tar. + +"Not until I have spoken," retorted I-Gos. "It is my right. If I fail +my life is forfeit--that you all know and I know. I demand therefore to +be heard. It is my right!" + +"It is his right," echoed the voices of a score of warriors in various +parts of the chamber. + +"That O-Tar is a coward and a liar I can prove," continued I-Gos. "He +said that he faced bravely the horrors of the chamber of O-Mai and saw +nothing of the slave Turan. I was there, hiding behind the hangings, +and I saw all that transpired. Turan had been hiding in the chamber and +was even then lying upon the couch of O-Mai when O-Tar, trembling with +fear, entered the room. Turan, disturbed, arose to a sitting position +at the same time voicing a piercing shriek. O-Tar screamed and swooned." + +"It is a lie!" cried O-Tar. + +"It is not a lie and I can prove it," retorted I-Gos. "Didst notice the +night that he returned from the chambers of O-Mai and was boasting of +his exploit, that when he would summon slaves to bring wine he reached +for his dagger to strike the gong with its pommel as is always his +custom? Didst note that, any of you? And that he had no dagger? O-Tar, +where is the dagger that you carried into the chamber of O-Mai? You do +not know; but I know. While you lay in the swoon of terror I took it +from your harness and hid it among the sleeping silks upon the couch of +O-Mai. There it is even now, and if any doubt it let them go thither +and there they will find it and know the cowardice of their jeddak." + +"But what of this impostor?" demanded one. "Shall he stand with +impunity upon the throne of Manator whilst we squabble about our ruler?" + +"It is through his bravery that you have learned the cowardice of +O-Tar," replied I-Gos, "and through him you will be given a greater +jeddak." + +"We will choose our own jeddak. Seize and slay the slave!" There were +cries of approval from all parts of the room. Gahan was listening +intently, as though for some hoped-for sound. He saw the warriors +approaching the dais, where he now stood with drawn sword and with one +arm about Tara of Helium. He wondered if his plans had miscarried after +all. If they had it would mean death for him, and he knew that Tara +would take her life if he fell. Had he, then, served her so futilely +after all his efforts? + +Several warriors were urging the necessity for sending at once to the +chamber of O-Mai to search for the dagger that would prove, if found, +the cowardice of O-Tar. At last three consented to go. "You need not +fear," I-Gos assured them. "There is naught there to harm you. I have +been there often of late and Turan the slave has slept there for these +many nights. The screams and moans that frightened you and O-Tar were +voiced by Turan to drive you away from his hiding place." Shamefacedly +the three left the apartment to search for O-Tar's dagger. + +And now the others turned their attention once more to Gahan. They +approached the throne with bared swords, but they came slowly for they +had seen this slave upon the Field of Jetan and they knew the prowess +of his arm. They had reached the foot of the steps when from far above +there sounded a deep boom, and another, and another, and Turan smiled +and breathed a sigh of relief. Perhaps, after all, it had not come too +late. The warriors stopped and listened as did the others in the +chamber. Now there broke upon their ears a loud rattle of musketry and +it all came from above as though men were fighting upon the roofs of +the palace. + +"What is it?" they demanded, one of the other. + +"A great storm has broken over Manator," said one. + +"Mind not the storm until you have slain the creature who dares stand +upon the throne of your jeddak," demanded O-Tar. "Seize him!" + +Even as he ceased speaking the arras behind the throne parted and a +warrior stepped forth upon the dais. An exclamation of surprise and +dismay broke from the lips of the warriors of O-Tar. "U-Thor!" they +cried. "What treason is this?" + +"It is no treason," said U-Thor in his deep voice. "I bring you a new +jeddak for all of Manator. No lying poltroon, but a courageous man whom +you all love." + +He stepped aside then and another emerged from the corridor hidden by +the arras. It was A-Kor, and at sight of him there rose exclamations of +surprise, of pleasure, and of anger, as the various factions recognized +the coup d'etat that had been arranged so cunningly. Behind A-Kor came +other warriors until the dais was crowded with them--all men of Manator +from the city of Manatos. + +O-Tar was exhorting his warriors to attack, when a bloody and +disheveled padwar burst into the chamber through a side entrance. "The +city has fallen!" he cried aloud. "The hordes of Manatos pour through +The Gate of Enemies. The slaves from Gathol have arisen and destroyed +the palace guards. Great ships are landing warriors upon the palace +roof and in the Fields of Jetan. The men of Helium and Gathol are +marching through Manator. They cry aloud for the Princess of Helium and +swear to leave Manator a blazing funeral pyre consuming the bodies of +all our people. The skies are black with ships. They come in great +processions from the east and from the south." + +And then once more the doors from The Hall of Chiefs swung wide and the +men of Manator turned to see another figure standing upon the +threshold--a mighty figure of a man with white skin, and black hair, +and gray eyes that glittered now like points of steel and behind him +The Hall of Chiefs was filled with fighting men wearing the harness of +far countries. Tara of Helium saw him and her heart leaped in +exultation, for it was John Carter, Warlord of Barsoom, come at the +head of a victorious host to the rescue of his daughter, and at his +side was Djor Kantos to whom she had been betrothed. + +The Warlord eyed the assemblage for a moment before he spoke. "Lay down +your arms, men of Manator," he said. "I see my daughter and that she +lives, and if no harm has befallen her no blood need be shed. Your city +is filled with the fighting men of U-Thor, and those from Gathol and +from Helium. The palace is in the hands of the slaves from Gathol, +beside a thousand of my own warriors who fill the halls and chambers +surrounding this room. The fate of your jeddak lies in your own hands. +I have no wish to interfere. I come only for my daughter and to free +the slaves from Gathol. I have spoken!" and without waiting for a reply +and as though the room had been filled with his own people rather than +a hostile band he strode up the broad main aisle toward Tara of Helium. + +The chiefs of Manator were stunned. They looked to O-Tar; but he could +only gaze helplessly about him as the enemy entered from The Hall of +Chiefs and circled the throne room until they had surrounded the entire +company. And then a dwar of the army of Helium entered. + +"We have captured three chiefs," he reported to The Warlord, "who beg +that they be permitted to enter the throne room and report to their +fellows some matter which they say will decide the fate of Manator." + +"Fetch them," ordered The Warlord. + +They came, heavily guarded, to the foot of the steps leading to the +throne and there they stopped and the leader turned toward the others +of Manator and raising high his right hand displayed a jeweled dagger. +"We found it," he said, "even where I-Gos said that we would find it," +and he looked menacingly upon O-Tar. + +"A-Kor, jeddak of Manator!" cried a voice, and the cry was taken up by +a hundred hoarse-throated warriors. + +"There can be but one jeddak in Manator," said the chief who held the +dagger; his eyes still fixed upon the hapless O-Tar he crossed to where +the latter stood and holding the dagger upon an outstretched palm +proffered it to the discredited ruler. "There can be but one jeddak in +Manator," he repeated meaningly. + +O-Tar took the proffered blade and drawing himself to his full height +plunged it to the guard into his breast, in that single act redeeming +himself in the esteem of his people and winning an eternal place in The +Hall of Chiefs. + +As he fell all was silence in the great room, to be broken presently by +the voice of U-Thor. "O-Tar is dead!" he cried. "Let A-Kor rule until +the chiefs of all Manator may be summoned to choose a new jeddak. What +is your answer?" + +"Let A-Kor rule! A-Kor, Jeddak of Manator!" The cries filled the room +and there was no dissenting voice. + +A-Kor raised his sword for silence. "It is the will of A-Kor," he said, +"and that of the Great Jed of Manatos, and the commander of the fleet +from Gathol, and of the illustrious John Carter, Warlord of Barsoom, +that peace lie upon the city of Manator and so I decree that the men of +Manator go forth and welcome the fighting men of these our allies as +guests and friends and show them the wonders of our ancient city and +the hospitality of Manator. I have spoken." And U-Thor and John Carter +dismissed their warriors and bade them accept the hospitality of +Manator. As the room emptied Djor Kantos reached the side of Tara of +Helium. The girl's happiness at rescue had been blighted by sight of +this man whom her virtuous heart told her she had wronged. She dreaded +the ordeal that lay before her and the dishonor that she must admit +before she could hope to be freed from the understanding that had for +long existed between them. And now Djor Kantos approached and kneeling +raised her fingers to his lips. + +"Beautiful daughter of Helium," he said, "how may I tell you the thing +that I must tell you--of the dishonor that I have all unwittingly done +you? I can but throw myself upon your generosity for forgiveness; but +if you demand it I can receive the dagger as honorably as did O-Tar." + +"What do you mean?" asked Tara of Helium. "What are you talking +about--why speak thus in riddles to one whose heart is already +breaking?" + +Her heart already breaking! The outlook was anything but promising, and +the young padwar wished that he had died before ever he had had to +speak the words he now must speak. + +"Tara of Helium," he continued, "we all thought you dead. For a long +year have you been gone from Helium. I mourned you truly and then, less +than a moon since, I wed with Olvia Marthis." He stopped and looked at +her with eyes that might have said: "Now, strike me dead!" + +"Oh, foolish man!" cried Tara. "Nothing you could have done could have +pleased me more. Djor Kantos, I could kiss you!" + +"I do not think that Olvia Marthis would mind," he said, his face now +wreathed with smiles. As they spoke a body of men had entered the +throne room and approached the dais. They were tall men trapped in +plain harness, absolutely without ornamentation. Just as their leader +reached the dais Tara had turned to Gahan, motioning him to join them. + +"Djor Kantos," she said, "I bring you Turan the panthan, whose loyalty +and bravery have won my love." + +John Carter and the leader of the new come warriors, who were standing +near, looked quickly at the little group. The former smiled an +inscrutable smile, the latter addressed the Princess of Helium. "'Turan +the panthan!'" he cried. "Know you not, fair daughter of Helium, that +this man you call panthan is Gahan, Jed of Gathol?" + +For just a moment Tara of Helium looked her surprise; and then she +shrugged her beautiful shoulders as she turned her head to cast her +eyes over one of them at Gahan of Gathol. + +"Jed or panthan," she said; "what difference does it make what one's +slave has been?" and she laughed roguishly into the smiling face of her +lover. + + * * * * * + +His story finished, John Carter rose from the chair opposite me, +stretching his giant frame like some great forest-bred lion. + +"You must go?" I cried, for I hated to see him leave and it seemed that +he had been with me but a moment. + +"The sky is already red beyond those beautiful hills of yours," he +replied, "and it will soon be day." + +"Just one question before you go," I begged. + +"Well?" he assented, good-naturedly. + +"How was Gahan able to enter the throne room garbed in O-Tar's +trappings?" I asked. + +"It was simple--for Gahan of Gathol," replied The Warlord. "With the +assistance of I-Gos he crept into The Hall of Chiefs before the +ceremony, while the throne room and Hall of Chiefs were vacated to +receive the bride. He came from the pits through the corridor that +opened behind the arras at the rear of the throne, and passing into The +Hall of Chiefs took his place upon the back of a riderless thoat, whose +warrior was in I-Gos' repair room. When O-Tar entered and came near him +Gahan fell upon him and struck him with the butt of a heavy spear. He +thought that he had killed him and was surprised when O-Tar appeared to +denounce him." + +"And Ghek? What became of Ghek?" I insisted. + +"After leading Val Dor and Floran to Tara's disabled flier which they +repaired, he accompanied them to Gathol from where a message was sent +to me in Helium. He then led a large party including A-Kor and U-Thor +from the roof, where our ships landed them, down a spiral runway into +the palace and guided them to the throne room. We took him back to +Helium with us, where he still lives, with his single rykor which we +found all but starved to death in the pits of Manator. But come! No +more questions now." + +I accompanied him to the east arcade where the red dawn was glowing +beyond the arches. + +"Good-bye!" he said. + +"I can scarce believe that it is really you," I exclaimed. "Tomorrow I +will be sure that I have dreamed all this." + +He laughed and drawing his sword scratched a rude cross upon the +concrete of one of the arches. + +"If you are in doubt tomorrow," he said, "come and see if you dreamed +this." + +A moment later he was gone. + + + + +JETAN, OR MARTIAN CHESS + +For those who care for such things, and would like to try the game, I +give the rules of Jetan as they were given me by John Carter. By +writing the names and moves of the various pieces on bits of paper and +pasting them on ordinary checkermen the game may be played quite as +well as with the ornate pieces used upon Mars. + +THE BOARD: Square board consisting of one hundred alternate black and +orange squares. + +THE PIECES: In order, as they stand upon the board in the first row, +from left to right of each player. + +Warrior: 2 feathers; 2 spaces straight in any direction or combination. + +Padwar: 2 feathers; 2 spaces diagonal in any direction or combination. + +Dwar: 3 feathers; 3 spaces straight in any direction or combination. + +Flier: 3 bladed propellor; 3 spaces diagonal in any direction or +combination; and may jump intervening pieces. + +Chief: Diadem with ten jewels; 3 spaces in any direction; straight or +diagonal or combination. + +Princess: Diadem with one jewel; same as Chief, except may jump +intervening pieces. + +Flier: See above. + +Dwar: See above. + +Padwar: See above. + +Warrior: See above. + +And in the second row from left to right: + +Thoat: Mounted warrior 2 feathers; 2 spaces, one straight and one +diagonal in any direction. + +Panthans: (8 of them): 1 feather; 1 space, forward, side, or diagonal, +but not backward. + +Thoat: See above. + +The game is played with twenty black pieces by one player and twenty +orange by his opponent, and is presumed to have originally represented +a battle between the Black race of the south and the Yellow race of the +north. On Mars the board is usually arranged so that the Black pieces +are played from the south and the Orange from the north. + +The game is won when any piece is placed on same square with opponent's +Princess, or a Chief takes a Chief. + +The game is drawn when either Chief is taken by a piece other than the +opposing Chief, or when both sides are reduced to three pieces, or +less, of equal value and the game is not won in the ensuing ten moves, +five apiece. + +The Princess may not move onto a threatened square, nor may she take an +opposing piece. She is entitled to one ten-space move at any time +during the game. This move is called the escape. + +Two pieces may not occupy the same square except in the final move of a +game where the Princess is taken. + +When a player, moving properly and in order, places one of his pieces +upon a square occupied by an opponent piece, the opponent piece is +considered to have been killed and is removed from the game. + +The moves explained. Straight moves mean due north, south, east, or +west; diagonal moves mean northeast, southeast, southwest, or +northwest. A Dwar might move straight north three spaces, or north one +space and east two spaces, or any similar combination of straight +moves, so long as he did not cross the same square twice in a single +move. This example explains combination moves. + +The first move may be decided in any way that is agreeable to both +players; after the first game the winner of the preceding game moves +first if he chooses, or may instruct his opponent to make the first +move. + +Gambling: The Martians gamble at Jetan in several ways. Of course the +outcome of the game indicates to whom the main stake belongs; but they +also put a price upon the head of each piece, according to its value, +and for each piece that a player loses he pays its value to his +opponent. + + + + + + + + + +End of Project Gutenberg's The Chessmen of Mars, by Edgar Rice Burroughs + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE CHESSMEN OF MARS *** + +***** This file should be named 1153.txt or 1153.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + https://www.gutenberg.org/1/1/5/1153/ + +Produced by Judy Boss + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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FOR PUBLIC DOMAIN ETEXTS*Ver.04.29.93*END* + + + + + +This etext was prepared by Judy Boss, Omaha, NE + + + + + +THE CHESSMEN OF MARS + +Edgar Rice Burroughs + + + +CONTENTS + +PRELUDE - John Carter Comes to Earth + I Tara in a Tantrum + II At the Gale's Mercy + III The Headless Humans + IV Captured + V The Perfect Brain + VI In the Toils of Horror + VII A Repellent Sight +VIII Close Work + IX Adrift Over Strange Regions + X Entrapped + XI The Choice of Tara + XII Ghek Plays Pranks +XIII A Desperate Deed + XIV At Ghek's Command + XV The Old Man of the Pits + XVI Another Change of Name +XVII A Play to the Death +XVIII A Task for Loyalty + XIX The Menace of the Dead + XX The Charge of Cowardice + XXI A Risk for Love +XXII At the Moment of Marriage + + + + + +THE CHESSMEN OF MARS + +PRELUDE + +JOHN CARTER COMES TO EARTH + +SHEA had just beaten me at chess, as usual, and, also as usual, I +had gleaned what questionable satisfaction I might by twitting +him with this indication of failing mentality by calling his +attention to the nth time to that theory, propounded by certain +scientists, which is based upon the assertion that phenomenal +chess players are always found to be from the ranks of children +under twelve, adults over seventy-two or the mentally +defective--a theory that is lightly ignored upon those rare +occasions that I win. Shea had gone to bed and I should have +followed suit, for we are always in the saddle here before +sunrise; but instead I sat there before the chess table in the +library, idly blowing smoke at the dishonored head of my defeated +king. + +While thus profitably employed I heard the east door of the +living-room open and someone enter. I thought it was Shea +returning to speak with me on some matter of tomorrow's work; but +when I raised my eyes to the doorway that connects the two rooms +I saw framed there the figure of a bronzed giant, his otherwise +naked body trapped with a jewel-encrusted harness from which +there hung at one side an ornate short-sword and at the other a +pistol of strange pattern. The black hair, the steel-gray eyes, +brave and smiling, the noble features--I recognized them at once, +and leaping to my feet I advanced with outstretched hand. + +"John Carter!" I cried. "You?" + +"None other, my son," he replied, taking my hand in one of his +and placing the other upon my shoulder. + +"And what are you doing here?" I asked. "It has been long years +since you revisited Earth, and never before in the trappings of +Mars. Lord! but it is good to see you--and not a day older in +appearance than when you trotted me on your knee in my babyhood. +How do you explain it, John Carter, Warlord of Mars, or do you +try to explain it?" + +"Why attempt to explain the inexplicable?" he replied. "As I have +told you before, I am a very old man. I do not know how old I am. +I recall no childhood; but recollect only having been always as +you see me now and as you saw me first when you were five years +old. You, yourself, have aged, though not as much as most men in +a corresponding number of years, which may be accounted for by +the fact that the same blood runs in our veins; but I have not +aged at all. I have discussed the question with a noted Martian +scientist, a friend of mine; but his theories are still only +theories. However, I am content with the fact--I never age, and I +love life and the vigor of youth. + +"And now as to your natural question as to what brings me to +Earth again and in this, to earthly eyes, strange habiliment. We +may thank Kar Komak, the bowman of Lothar. It was he who gave me +the idea upon which I have been experimenting until at last I +have achieved success. As you know I have long possessed the +power to cross the void in spirit, but never before have I been +able to impart to inanimate things a similar power. Now, however, +you see me for the first time precisely as my Martian fellows see +me--you see the very short-sword that has tasted the blood of +many a savage foeman; the harness with the devices of Helium and +the insignia of my rank; the pistol that was presented to me by +Tars Tarkas, Jeddak of Thark. + +"Aside from seeing you, which is my principal reason for being +here, and satisfying myself that I can transport inanimate things +from Mars to Earth, and therefore animate things if I so desire, +I have no purpose. Earth is not for me. My every interest is upon +Barsoom--my wife, my children, my work; all are there. I will +spend a quiet evening with you and then back to the world I love +even better than I love life." + +As he spoke he dropped into the chair upon the opposite side of +the chess table. + +"You spoke of children," I said. "Have you more than Carthoris?" + +"A daughter," he replied, "only a little younger than Carthoris, +and, barring one, the fairest thing that ever breathed the thin +air of dying Mars. Only Dejah Thoris, her mother, could be more +beautiful than Tara of Helium." + +For a moment he fingered the chessmen idly. "We have a game on +Mars similar to chess," he said, "very similar. + +And there is a race there that plays it grimly with men and naked +swords. We call the game jetan. It is played on a board like +yours, except that there are a hundred squares and we use twenty +pieces on each side. I never see it played without thinking of +Tara of Helium and what befell her among the chessmen of Barsoom. +Would you like to hear her story?" + +I said that I would and so he told it to me, and now I shall try +to re-tell it for you as nearly in the words of The Warlord of +Mars as I can recall them, but in the third person. If there be +inconsistencies and errors, let the blame fall not upon John +Carter, but rather upon my faulty memory, where it belongs. It is +a strange tale and utterly Barsoomian. + + + +CHAPTER I + +TARA IN A TANTRUM + +TARA of Helium rose from the pile of silks and soft furs upon +which she had been reclining, stretched her lithe body languidly, +and crossed toward the center of the room, where, above a large +table, a bronze disc depended from the low ceiling. Her carriage +was that of health and physical perfection--the effortless +harmony of faultless coordination. A scarf of silken gossamer +crossing over one shoulder was wrapped about her body; her black +hair was piled high upon her head. With a wooden stick she tapped +upon the bronze disc, lightly, and presently the summons was +answered by a slave girl, who entered, smiling, to be greeted +similarly by her mistress. + +"Are my father's guests arriving?" asked the princess. + +"Yes, Tara of Helium, they come," replied the slave. "I have seen +Kantos Kan, Overlord of the Navy, and Prince Soran of Ptarth, and +Djor Kantos, son of Kantos Kan," she shot a roguish glance at her +mistress as she mentioned Djor Kantos' name, "and--oh, there were +others, many have come." + +"The bath, then, Uthia," said her mistress. "And why, Uthia," she +added, "do you look thus and smile when you mention the name of +Djor Kantos?" + +The slave girl laughed gaily. "It is so plain to all that he + +worships you," she replied. + +"It is not plain to me," said Tara of Helium. "He is the friend +of my brother, Carthoris, and so he is here much; but not to see +me. It is his friendship for Carthoris that brings him thus often +to the palace of my father." + +"But Carthoris is hunting in the north with Talu, Jeddak of +Okar," Uthia reminded her. + +"My bath, Uthia!" cried Tara of Helium. "That tongue of yours +will bring you to some misadventure yet." + +"The bath is ready, Tara of Helium," the girl responded, her eyes +still twinkling with merriment, for she well knew that in the +heart of her mistress was no anger that could displace the love +of the princess for her slave. Preceding the daughter of The +Warlord she opened the door of an adjoining room where lay the +bath--a gleaming pool of scented water in a marble basin. Golden +stanchions supported a chain of gold encircling it and leading +down into the water on either side of marble steps. A glass dome +let in the sun-light, which flooded the interior, glancing from +the polished white of the marble walls and the procession of +bathers and fishes, which, in conventional design, were inlaid +with gold in a broad band that circled the room. + +Tara of Helium removed the scarf from about her and handed it to +the slave. Slowly she descended the steps to the water, the +temperature of which she tested with a symmetrical foot, +undeformed by tight shoes and high heels--a lovely foot, as God +intended that feet should be and seldom are. Finding the water to +her liking, the girl swam leisurely to and fro about the pool. +With the silken ease of the seal she swam, now at the surface, +now below, her smooth muscles rolling softly beneath her clear +skin--a wordless song of health and happiness and grace. +Presently she emerged and gave herself into the hands of the +slave girl, who rubbed the body of her mistress with a sweet +smelling semi-liquid substance contained in a golden urn, until +the glowing skin was covered with a foamy lather, then a quick +plunge into the pool, a drying with soft towels, and the bath was +over. Typical of the life of the princess was the simple elegance +of her bath--no retinue of useless slaves, no pomp, no idle waste +of precious moments. In another half hour her hair was dried and +built into the strange, but becoming, coiffure of her station; +her leathern trappings, encrusted with gold and jewels, had been +adjusted to her figure and she was ready to mingle with the +guests that had been bidden to the midday function at the palace +of The Warlord. + +As she left her apartments to make her way to the gardens where +the guests were congregating, two warriors, the insignia of the +House of the Prince of Helium upon their harness, followed a few +paces behind her, grim reminders that the assassin's blade may +never be ignored upon Barsoom, where, in a measure, it +counterbalances the great natural span of human life, which is +estimated at not less than a thousand years. + +As they neared the entrance to the garden another woman, +similarly guarded, approached them from another quarter of the +great palace. As she neared them Tara of Helium turned toward her +with a smile and a happy greeting, while her guards knelt with +bowed heads in willing and voluntary adoration of the beloved of +Helium. Thus always, solely at the command of their own hearts, +did the warriors of Helium greet Dejah Thoris, whose deathless +beauty had more than once brought them to bloody warfare with +other nations of Barsoom. So great was the love of the people of +Helium for the mate of John Carter it amounted practically to +worship, as though she were indeed the goddess that she looked. + +The mother and daughter exhanged the gentle, Barsoomian, "kaor" +of greeting and kissed. Then together they entered the gardens +where the guests were. A huge warrior drew his short-sword and +struck his metal shield with the flat of it, the brazen sound +ringing out above the laughter and the speech. + +"The Princess comes!" he cried. "Dejah Thoris! The Princess +comes! Tara of Helium!" Thus always is royalty announced. The +guests arose; the two women inclined their heads; the guards fell +back upon either side of the entrance-way; a number of nobles +advanced to pay their respects; the laughing and the talking were +resumed and Dejah Thoris and her daughter moved simply and +naturally among their guests, no suggestion of differing rank +apparent in the bearing of any who were there, though there was +more than a single Jeddak and many common warriors whose only +title lay in brave deeds, or noble patriotism. Thus it is upon +Mars where men are judged upon their own merits rather than upon +those of their grandsires, even though pride of lineage be great. + +Tara of Helium let her slow gaze wander among the throng of +guests until presently it halted upon one she sought. Was the +faint shadow of a frown that crossed her brow an indication of +displeasure at the sight that met her eyes, or did the brilliant +rays of the noonday sun distress her? Who may say! She had been +reared to believe that one day she should wed Djor Kantos, son of +her father's best friend. It had been the dearest wish of Kantos +Kan and The Warlord that this should be, and Tara of Helium had +accepted it as a matter of all but accomplished fact. Djor Kantos +had seemed to accept the matter in the same way. They had spoken +of it casually as something that would, as a matter of course, +take place in the indefinite future, as, for instance, his +promotion in the navy, in which he was now a padwar; or the set +functions of the court of her grandfather, Tardos Mors, Jeddak of +Helium; or Death. They had never spoken of love and that had +puzzled Tara of Helium upon the rare occasions she gave it +thought, for she knew that people who were to wed were usually +much occupied with the matter of love and she had all of a +woman's curiosity--she wondered what love was like. She was very +fond of Djor Kantos and she knew that he was very fond of her. +They liked to be together, for they liked the same things and the +same people and the same books and their dancing was a joy, not +only to themselves but to those who watched them. She could not +imagine wanting to marry anyone other than Djor Kantos. + +So perhaps it was only the sun that made her brows contract just +the tiniest bit at the same instant that she discovered Djor +Kantos sitting in earnest conversation with Olvia Marthis, +daughter of the Jed of Hastor. It was Djor Kantos' duty +immediately to pay his respects to Dejah Thoris and Tara of +Helium; but he did not do so and presently the daughter of The +Warlord frowned indeed. She looked long at Olvia Marthis, and +though she had seen her many times before and knew her well, she +looked at her today through new eyes that saw, apparently for the +first time, that the girl from Hastor was noticeably beautiful +even among those other beautiful women of Helium. Tara of Helium +was disturbed. She attempted to analyze her emotions; but found +it difficult. Olvia Marthis was her friend--she was very fond of +her and she felt no anger toward her. Was she angry with Djor +Kantos? No, she finally decided that she was not. It was merely +surprise, then, that she felt--surprise that Djor Kantos could be +more interested in another than in herself. She was about to +cross the garden and join them when she heard her father's voice +directly behind her. + +"Tara of Helium!" he called, and she turned to see him +approaching with a strange warrior whose harness and metal bore +devices with which she was unfamiliar. Even among the gorgeous +trappings of the men of Helium and the visitors from distant +empires those of the stranger were remarkable for their barbaric +splendor. The leather of his harness was completely hidden +beneath ornaments of platinum thickly set with brilliant +diamonds, as were the scabbards of his swords and the ornate +holster that held his long, Martian pistol. Moving through the +sunlit garden at the side of the great Warlord, the scintillant +rays of his countless gems enveloping him as in an aureole of +light imparted to his noble figure a suggestion of godliness. + +"Tara of Helium, I bring you Gahan, Jed of Gathol," said John +Carter, after the simple Barsoomian custom of presentation. + +"Kaor! Gahan, Jed of Gathol," returned Tara of Helium. + +"My sword is at your feet, Tara of Helium," said the young +chieftain. + +The Warlord left them and the two seated themselves upon an +ersite bench beneath a spreading sorapus tree. + +"Far Gathol," mused the girl. "Ever in my mind has it been +connected with mystery and romance and the half-forgotten lore of +the ancients. I cannot think of Gathol as existing today, +possibly because I have never before seen a Gatholian." + +"And perhaps too because of the great distance that separates +Helium and Gathol, as well as the comparative insignificance of +my little free city, which might easily be lost in one corner of +mighty Helium," added Gahan. "But what we lack in power we make +up in pride," he continued, laughing. "We believe ours the oldest +inhabited city upon Barsoom. It is one of the few that has +retained its freedom, and this despite the fact that its ancient +diamond mines are the richest known and, unlike practically all +the other fields, are today apparently as inexhaustible as ever." + +"Tell me of Gathol," urged the girl. "The very thought fills me +with interest," nor was it likely that the handsome face of the +young jed detracted anything from the glamour of far Gathol. + +Nor did Gahan seem displeased with the excuse for further +monopolizing the society of his fair companion. His eyes seemed +chained to her exquisite features, from which they moved no +further than to a rounded breast, part hid beneath its jeweled +covering, a naked shoulder or the symmetry of a perfect arm, +resplendent in bracelets of barbaric magnificence. + +"Your ancient history has doubtless told you that Gathol was +built upon an island in Throxeus, mightiest of the five oceans of +old Barsoom. As the ocean receded Gathol crept down the sides of +the mountain, the summit of which was the island upon which she +had been built, until today she covers the slopes from summit to +base, while the bowels of the great hill are honeycombed with the +galleries of her mines. Entirely surrounding us is a great salt +marsh, which protects us from invasion by land, while the rugged +and ofttimes vertical topography of our mountain renders the +landing of hostile airships a precarious undertaking." + +"That, and your brave warriors?" suggested the girl. + +Gahan smiled. "We do not speak of that except to enemies," he +said, "and then with tongues of steel rather than of flesh." + +"But what practice in the art of war has a people which nature +has thus protected from attack?" asked Tara of Helium, who had +liked the young jed's answer to her previous question, but yet in +whose mind persisted a vague conviction of the possible +effeminacy of her companion, induced, doubtless, by the +magnificence of his trappings and weapons which carried a +suggestion of splendid show rather than grim utility. + +"Our natural barriers, while they have doubtless saved us from +defeat on countless occasions, have not by any means rendered us +immune from attack," he explained, "for so great is the wealth of +Gathol's diamond treasury that there yet may be found those who +will risk almost certain defeat in an effort to loot our +unconquered city; so thus we find occasional practice in the +exercise of arms; but there is more to Gathol than the mountain +city. My country extends from Polodona (Equator) north ten karads +and from the tenth karad west of Horz to the twentieth west, +including thus a million square haads, the greater proportion of +which is fine grazing land where run our great herds of thoats +and zitidars. + +"Surrounded as we are by predatory enemies our herdsmen must +indeed be warriors or we should have no herds, and you may be +assured they get plenty of fighting. Then there is our constant +need of workers in the mines. The Gatholians consider themselves +a race of warriors and as such prefer not to labor in the mines. +The law is, however, that each male Gatholian shall give an hour +a day in labor to the government. That is practically the only +tax that is levied upon them. They prefer however, to furnish a +substitute to perform this labor, and as our own people will not +hire out for labor in the mines it has been necessary to obtain +slaves, and I do not need to tell you that slaves are not won +without fighting. We sell these slaves in the public market, the +proceeds going, half and half, to the government and the warriors +who bring them in. The purchasers are credited with the amount of +labor performed by their particular slaves. At the end of a year +a good slave will have performed the labor tax of his master for +six years, and if slaves are plentiful he is freed and permitted +to return to his own people." + +"You fight in platinum and diamonds?" asked Tara, indicating his +gorgeous trappings with a quizzical smile. + +Gahan laughed. "We are a vain people," he admitted, +good-naturedly, "and it is possible that we place too much value +on personal appearances. We vie with one another in the splendor +of our accoutrements when trapped for the observance of the +lighter duties of life, though when we take the field our leather +is the plainest I ever have seen worn by fighting men of Barsoom. +We pride ourselves, too, upon our physical beauty, and especially +upon the beauty of our women. May I dare to say, Tara of Helium, +that I am hoping for the day when you will visit Gathol that my +people may see one who is really beautiful?" + +"The women of Helium are taught to frown with displeasure upon +the tongue of the flatterer," rejoined the girl, but Gahan, Jed +of Gathol, observed that she smiled as she said it. + +A bugle sounded, clear and sweet, above the laughter and the +talk. "The Dance of Barsoom!" exclaimed the young warrior. "I +claim you for it, Tara of Helium." + +The girl glanced in the direction of the bench where she had last +seen Djor Kantos. He was not in sight. She inclined her head in +assent to the claim of the Gatholian. Slaves were passing among +the guests, distributing small musical instruments of a single +string. Upon each instrument were characters which indicated the +pitch and length of its tone. The instruments were of skeel, the +string of gut, and were shaped to fit the left forearm of the +dancer, to which it was strapped. There was also a ring wound +with gut which was worn between the first and second joints of +the index finger of the right hand and which, when passed over +the string of the instrument, elicited the single note required +of the dancer. + +The guests had risen and were slowly making their way toward the +expanse of scarlet sward at the south end of the gardens where +the dance was to be held, when Djor Kantos came hurriedly toward +Tara of Helium. "I claim--" he exclaimed as he neared her; but +she interrupted him with a gesture. + +"You are too late, Djor Kantos," she cried in mock anger. "No +laggard may claim Tara of Helium; but haste now lest thou lose +also Olvia Marthis, whom I have never seen wait long to be +claimed for this or any other dance." + +"I have already lost her," admitted Djor Kantos ruefully. + +"And you mean to say that you came for Tara of Helium only after +having lost Olvia Marthis?" demanded the girl, still simulating +displeasure. + +"Oh, Tara of Helium, you know better than that," insisted the +young man. "Was it not natural that I should assume that you +would expect me, who alone has claimed you for the Dance of +Barsoom for at least twelve times past?" + +"And sit and play with my thumbs until you saw fit to come for +me?" she questioned. "Ah, no, Djor Kantos; Tara of Helium is for +no laggard," and she threw him a sweet smile and passed on toward +the assembling dancers with Gahan, Jed of far Gathol. + +The Dance of Barsoom bears a relation similar to the more formal +dancing functions of Mars that The Grand March does to ours, +though it is infinitely more intricate and more beautiful. Before +a Martian youth of either sex may attend an important social +function where there is dancing, he must have become proficient +in at least three dances--The Dance of Barsoom, his national +dance, and the dance of his city. In these three dances the +dancers furnish their own music, which never varies; nor do the +steps or figures vary, having been handed down from time +immemorial. All Barsoomian dances are stately and beautiful, but +The Dance of Barsoom is a wondrous epic of motion and +harmony--there is no grotesque posturing, no vulgar or suggestive +movements. It has been described as the interpretation of the +highest ideals of a world that aspired to grace and beauty and +chastity in woman, and strength and dignity and loyalty in man. + +Today, John Carter, Warlord of Mars, with Dejah Thoris, his mate, +led in the dancing, and if there was another couple that vied +with them in possession of the silent admiration of the guests it +was the resplendent Jed of Gathol and his beautiful partner. In +the ever-changing figures of the dance the man found himself now +with the girl's hand in his and again with an arm about the lithe +body that the jeweled harness but inadequately covered, and the +girl, though she had danced a thousand dances in the past, +realized for the first time the personal contact of a man's arm +against her naked flesh. It troubled her that she should notice +it, and she looked up questioningly and almost with displeasure +at the man as though it was his fault. Their eyes met and she saw +in his that which she had never seen in the eyes of Djor Kantos. +It was at the very end of the dance and they both stopped +suddenly with the music and stood there looking straight into +each other's eyes. It was Gahan of Gathol who spoke first. + +"Tara of Helium, I love you!" he said. + +The girl drew herself to her full height. "The Jed of Gathol +forgets himself," she exclaimed haughtily. + +"The Jed of Gathol would forget everything but you, Tara of +Helium," he replied. Fiercely he pressed the soft hand that he +still retained from the last position of the dance. "I love you, +Tara of Helium," he repeated. "Why should your ears refuse to +hear what your eyes but just now did not refuse to see--and +answer?" + +"What meanest thou?" she cried. "Are the men of Gathol such +boors, then?" + +"They are neither boors nor fools," he replied, quietly. "They +know when they love a woman--and when she loves them." + +Tara of Helium stamped her little foot in anger. "Go!" she said, +"before it is necessary to acquaint my father with the dishonor +of his guest." + +She turned and walked away. "Wait!" cried the man. "Just another +word." + +"Of apology?" she asked. + +"Of prophecy," he said. + +"I do not care to hear it," replied Tara of Helium, and left + +him standing there. She was strangely unstrung and shortly +thereafter returned to her own quarter of the palace, where she +stood for a long time by a window looking out beyond the scarlet +tower of Greater Helium toward the northwest. + +Presently she turned angrily away. "I hate him!" she exclaimed +aloud. + +"Whom?" inquired the privileged Uthia. + +Tara of Helium stamped her foot. "That ill-mannered boor, the Jed +of Gathol," she replied. + +Uthia raised her slim brows. + +At the stamping of the little foot, a great beast rose from the +corner of the room and crossed to Tara of Helium where it stood +looking up into her face. She placed her hand upon the ugly head. +"Dear old Woola," she said; "no love could be deeper than yours, +yet it never offends. Would that men might pattern themselves +after you!" + + + +CHAPTER II + +AT THE GALE'S MERCY + +TARA of Helium did not return to her father's guests, but awaited +in her own apartments the word from Djor Kantos which she knew +must come, begging her to return to the gardens. She would then +refuse, haughtily. But no appeal came from Djor Kantos. At first +Tara of Helium was angry, then she was hurt, and always she was +puzzled. She could not understand. Occasionally she thought of +the Jed of Gathol and then she would stamp her foot, for she was +very angry indeed with Gahan. The presumption of the man! He had +insinuated that he read love for him in her eyes. Never had she +been so insulted and humiliated. Never had she so thoroughly +hated a man. Suddenly she turned toward Uthia. + +"My flying leather!" she commanded. + +"But the guests!" exclaimed the slave girl. "Your father, The +Warlord, will expect you to return." + +"He will be disappointed," snapped Tara of Helium. + +The slave hesitated. "He does not approve of your flying alone," +she reminded her mistress. + +The young princess sprang to her feet and seized the unhappy +slave by the shoulders, shaking her. "You are becoming +unbearable, Uthia," she cried. "Soon there will be no alternative +than to send you to the public slave-market. Then possibly you +will find a master to your liking." + +Tears came to the soft eyes of the slave girl. "It is because I +love you, my princess," she said softly. Tara of Helium melted. +She took the slave in her arms and kissed her. + +"I have the disposition of a thoat, Uthia," she said. "Forgive +me! I love you and there is nothing that I would not do for you +and nothing would I do to harm you. Again, as I have so often in +the past, I offer you your freedom." + +"I do not wish my freedom if it will separate me from you, Tara +of Helium," replied Uthia. "I am happy here with you--I think +that I should die without you." + +Again the girls kissed. "And you will not fly alone, then?" +questioned the slave. + +Tara of Helium laughed and pinched her companion. "You persistent +little pest," she cried. "Of course I shall fly--does not Tara of +Helium always do that which pleases her?" + +Uthia shook her head sorrowfully. "Alas! she does," she admitted. +"Iron is the Warlord of Barsoom to the influences of all but two. +In the hands of Dejah Thoris and Tara of Helium he is as potters' +clay." + +"Then run and fetch my flying leather like the sweet slave you +are," directed the mistress. + + +Far out across the ochre sea-bottoms beyond the twin cities of +Helium raced the swift flier of Tara of Helium. Thrilling to the +speed and the buoyancy and the obedience of the little craft the +girl drove toward the northwest. Why she should choose that +direction she did not pause to consider. Perhaps because in that +direction lay the least known areas of Barsoom, and, ergo, +Romance, Mystery, and Adventure. In that direction also lay far +Gathol; but to that fact she gave no conscious thought. + +She did, however, think occasionally of the jed of that distant +kingdom, but the reaction to these thoughts was scarcely +pleasurable. They still brought a flush of shame to her cheeks +and a surge of angry blood to her heart. She was very angry with +the Jed of Gathol, and though she should never see him again she +was quite sure that hate of him would remain fresh in her memory +forever. Mostly her thoughts revolved about another--Djor Kantos. +And when she thought of him she thought also of Olvia Marthis of +Hastor. Tara of Helium thought that she was jealous of the fair +Olvia and it made her very angry to think that. She was angry +with Djor Kantos and herself, but she was not angry at all with +Olvia Marthis, whom she loved, and so of course she was not +jealous really. The trouble was, that Tara of Helium had failed +for once to have her own way. Djor Kantos had not come running +like a willing slave when she had expected him, and, ah, here was +the nub of the whole thing! Gahan, Jed of Gathol, a stranger, had +been a witness to her humiliation. He had seen her unclaimed at +the beginning of a great function and he had had to come to her +rescue to save her, as he doubtless thought, from the inglorious +fate of a wall-flower. At the recurring thought, Tara of Helium +could feel her whole body burning with scarlet shame and then she +went suddenly white and cold with rage; whereupon she turned her +flier about so abruptly that she was all but torn from her +lashings upon the flat, narrow deck. She reached home just before +dark. The guests had departed. Quiet had descended upon the +palace. An hour later she joined her father and mother at the +evening meal. + +"You deserted us, Tara of Helium," said John Carter. "It is not +what the guests of John Carter should expect." + +"They did not come to see me," replied Tara of Helium. "I did not +ask them." + +"They were no less your guests," replied her father. + +The girl rose, and came and stood beside him and put her arms +about his neck. + +"My proper old Virginian," she cried, rumpling his shock of black +hair. + +"In Virginia you would be turned over your father's knee and +spanked," said the man, smiling. + +She crept into his lap and kissed him. "You do not love me any +more," she announced. "No one loves me," but she could not +compose her features into a pout because bubbling laughter +insisted upon breaking through. + +"The trouble is there are too many who love you," he said. "And +now there is another." + +"Indeed!" she cried. "What do you mean?" + +"Gahan of Gathol has asked permission to woo you." + +The girl sat up very straight and tilted her chin in the air. "I +would not wed with a walking diamond-mine," she said. "I will not +have him." + +"I told him as much," replied her father, "and that you were as +good as betrothed to another. He was very courteous about it; but +at the same time he gave me to understand that he was accustomed +to getting what he wanted and that he wanted you very much. I +suppose it will mean another war. Your mother's beauty kept +Helium at war for many years, and--well, Tara of Helium, if I +were a young man I should doubtless be willing to set all Barsoom +afire to win you, as I still would to keep your divine mother," +and he smiled across the sorapus table and its golden service at +the undimmed beauty of Mars' most beautiful woman. + +"Our little girl should not yet be troubled with such matters," +said Dejah Thoris. "Remember, John Carter, that you are not +dealing with an Earth child, whose span of life would be more +than half completed before a daughter of Barsoom reached actual +maturity." + +"But do not the daughters of Barsoom sometimes marry as early as +twenty?" he insisted. + +"Yes, but they will still be desirable in the eyes of men after +forty generations of Earth folk have returned to dust--there is +no hurry, at least, upon Barsoom. We do not fade and decay here +as you tell me those of your planet do, though you, yourself, +belie your own words. When the time seems proper Tara of Helium +shall wed with Djor Kantos, and until then let us give the matter +no further thought." + +"No," said the girl, "the subject irks me, and I shall not marry +Djor Kantos, or another--I do not intend to wed." + +Her father and mother looked at her and smiled. "When Gahan of +Gathol returns he may carry you off," said the former. + +"He has gone?" asked the girl. + +"His flier departs for Gathol in the morning," John Carter +replied. + +"I have seen the last of him then," remarked Tara of Helium with +a sigh of relief. + +"He says not," returned John Carter. + +The girl dismissed the subject with a shrug and the conversation +passed to other topics. A letter had arrived from Thuvia of +Ptarth, who was visiting at her father's court while Carthoris, +her mate, hunted in Okar. Word had been received that the Tharks +and Warhoons were again at war, or rather that there had been an +engagement, for war was their habitual state. In the memory of +man there had been no peace between these two savage green +hordes--only a single temporary truce. Two new battleships had +been launched at Hastor. A little band of holy therns was +attempting to revive the ancient and discredited religion of +Issus, who they claimed still lived in spirit and had +communicated with them. There were rumors of war from Dusar. A +scientist claimed to have discovered human life on the further +moon. A madman had attempted to destroy the atmosphere plant. +Seven people had been assassinated in Greater Helium during the +last ten zodes, (the equivalent of an Earth day.) + +Following the meal Dejah Thoris and The Warlord played at jetan, +the Barsoomian game of chess, which is played upon a board of a +hundred alternate black and orange squares. One player has twenty +black pieces, the other, twenty orange pieces. A brief +description of the game may interest those Earth readers who care +for chess, and will not be lost upon those who pursue this +narrative to its conclusion, since before they are done they will +find that a knowledge of jetan will add to the interest and the +thrills that are in store for them. + +The men are placed upon the board as in chess upon the first two +rows next the players. In order from left to right on the line of +squares nearest the players, the jetan pieces are Warrior, +Padwar, Dwar, Flier, Chief, Princess, Flier, Dwar, Padwar, +Warrior. In the next line all are Panthans except the end pieces, +which are called Thoats, and represent mounted warriors. + +The Panthans, which are represented as warriors with one feather, +may move one space in any direction except backward; the Thoats, +mounted warriors with three feathers, may move one straight and +one diagonal, and may jump intervening pieces; Warriors, foot +soldiers with two feathers, straight in any direction, or +diagonally, two spaces; Padwars, lieutenants wearing two +feathers, two diagonal in any direction, or combination; Dwars, +captains wearing three feathers, three spaces straight in any +direction, or combination; Fliers, represented by a propellor +with three blades, three spaces in any direction, or combination, +diagonally, and may jump intervening pieces; the Chief, indicated +by a diadem with ten jewels, three spaces in any direction, +straight, or diagonal; Princess, diadem with a single jewel, same +as Chief, and can jump intervening pieces. + +The game is won when a player places any of his pieces on the +same square with his opponent's Princess, or when a Chief takes a +Chief. It is drawn when a Chief is taken by any opposing piece +other than the opposing Chief; or when both sides have been +reduced to three pieces, or less, of equal value, and the game is +not terminated in the following ten moves, five apiece. This is +but a general outline of the game, briefly stated. + +It was this game that Dejah Thoris and John Carter were playing +when Tara of Helium bid them good night, retiring to her own +quarters and her sleeping silks and furs. "Until morning, my +beloved," she called back to them as she passed from the +apartment, nor little did she guess, nor her parents, that this +might indeed be the last time that they would ever set eyes upon +her. + +The morning broke dull and gray. Ominous clouds billowed +restlessly and low. Beneath them torn fragments scudded toward +the northwest. From her window Tara of Helium looked out upon +this unusual scene. Dense clouds seldom overcast the Barsoomian +sky. At this hour of the day it was her custom to ride one of +those small thoats that are the saddle animals of the red +Martians, but the sight of the billowing clouds lured her to a +new adventure. Uthia still slept and the girl did not disturb +her. Instead, she dressed quietly and went to the hangar upon the +roof of the palace directly above her quarters where her own +swift flier was housed. She had never driven through the clouds. +It was an adventure that always she had longed to experience. The +wind was strong and it was with difficulty that she maneuvered +the craft from the hangar without accident, but once away it +raced swiftly out above the twin cities. The buffeting winds +caught and tossed it, and the girl laughed aloud in sheer joy of +the resultant thrills. She handled the little ship like a +veteran, though few veterans would have faced the menace of such +a storm in so light a craft. Swiftly she rose toward the clouds, +racing with the scudding streamers of the storm-swept fragments, +and a moment later she was swallowed by the dense masses +billowing above. Here was a new world, a world of chaos unpeopled +except for herself; but it was a cold, damp, lonely world and she +found it depressing after the novelty of it had been dissipated, +by an overpowering sense of the magnitude of the forces surging +about her. Suddenly she felt very lonely and very cold and very +little. Hurriedly, therefore, she rose until presently her craft +broke through into the glorious sunlight that transformed the +upper surface of the somber element into rolling masses of +burnished silver. Here it was still cold, but without the +dampness of the clouds, and in the eye of the brilliant sun her +spirits rose with the mounting needle of her altimeter. Gazing at +the clouds, now far beneath, the girl experienced the sensation +of hanging stationary in mid-heaven; but the whirring of her +propellor, the wind beating upon her, the high figures that rose +and fell beneath the glass of her speedometer, these told her +that her speed was terrific. It was then that she determined to +turn back. + +The first attempt she made above the clouds, but it was +unsuccessful. To her surprise she discovered that she could not +even turn against the high wind, which rocked and buffeted the +frail craft. Then she dropped swiftly to the dark and wind-swept +zone between the hurtling clouds and the gloomy surface of the +shadowed ground. Here she tried again to force the nose of the +flier back toward Helium, but the tempest seized the frail thing +and hurled it remorselessly about, rolling it over and over and +tossing it as it were a cork in a cataract. At last the girl +succeeded in righting the flier, perilously close to the ground. +Never before had she been so close to death, yet she was not +terrified. Her coolness had saved her, that and the strength of +the deck lashings that held her. Traveling with the storm she was +safe, but where was it bearing her? She pictured the apprehension +of her father and mother when she failed to appear at the morning +meal. They would find her flier missing and they would guess that +somewhere in the path of the storm it lay a wrecked and tangled +mass upon her dead body, and then brave men would go out in +search of her, risking their lives; and that lives would be lost +in the search, she knew, for she realized now that never in her +life-time had such a tempest raged upon Barsoom. + +She must turn back! She must reach Helium before her mad lust for +thrills had cost the sacrifice of a single courageous life! She +determined that greater safety and likelihood of success lay +above the clouds, and once again she rose through the chilling, +wind-tossed vapor. Her speed again was terrific, for the wind +seemed to have increased rather than to have lessened. She sought +gradually to check the swift flight of her craft, but though she +finally succeeded in reversing her motor the wind but carried her +on as it would. Then it was that Tara of Helium lost her temper. +Had her world not always bowed in acquiescence to her every wish? +What were these elements that they dared to thwart her? She would +demonstrate to them that the daughter of The Warlord was not to +be denied! They would learn that Tara of Helium might not be +ruled even by the forces of nature! + +And so she drove her motor forward again and then with her firm, +white teeth set in grim determination she drove the steering +lever far down to port with the intention of forcing the nose of +her craft straight into the teeth of the wind, and the wind +seized the frail thing and toppled it over upon its back, and +twisted and turned it and hurled it over and over; the propellor +raced for an instant in an air pocket and then the tempest seized +it again and twisted it from its shaft, leaving the girl helpless +upon an unmanageable atom that rose and fell, and rolled and +tumbled--the sport of the elements she had defied. Tara of +Helium's first sensation was one of surprise--that she had failed +to have her own way. Then she commenced to feel concern--not for +her own safety but for the anxiety of her parents and the dangers +that the inevitable searchers must face. She reproached herself +for the thoughtless selfishness that had jeopardized the peace +and safety of others. She realized her own grave danger, too; but +she was still unterrified, as befitted the daughter of Dejah +Thoris and John Carter. She knew that her buoyancy tanks might +keep her afloat indefinitely, but she had neither food nor water, +and she was being borne toward the least-known area of Barsoom. +Perhaps it would be better to land immediately and await the +coming of the searchers, rather than to allow herself to be +carried still further from Helium, thus greatly reducing the +chances of early discovery; but when she dropped toward the +ground she discovered that the violence of the wind rendered an +attempt to land tantamount to destruction and she rose again, +rapidly. + +Carried along a few hundred feet above the ground she was better +able to appreciate the Titanic proportions of the storm than when +she had flown in the comparative serenity of the zone above the +clouds, for now she could distinctly see the effect of the wind +upon the surface of Barsoom. The air was filled with dust and +flying bits of vegetation and when the storm carried her across +an irrigated area of farm land she saw great trees and stone +walls and buildings lifted high in air and scattered broadcast +over the devastated country; and then she was carried swiftly on +to other sights that forced in upon her consciousness a rapidly +growing conviction that after all Tara of Helium was a very small +and insignificant and helpless person. It was quite a shock to +her self-pride while it lasted, and toward evening she was ready +to believe that it was going to last forever. There had been no +abatement in the ferocity of the tempest, nor was there +indication of any. She could only guess at the distance she had +been carried for she could not believe in the correctness of the +high figures that had been piled upon the record of her odometer. +They seemed unbelievable and yet, had she known it, they were +quite true--in twelve hours she had flown and been carried by the +storm full seven thousand haads. Just before dark she was carried +over one of the deserted cities of ancient Mars. It was Torquas, +but she did not know it. Had she, she might readily have been +forgiven for abandoning the last vestige of hope, for to the +people of Helium Torquas seems as remote as do the South Sea +Islands to us. And still the tempest, its fury unabated, bore her +on. + +All that night she hurtled through the dark beneath the clouds, +or rose to race through the moonlit void beneath the glory of +Barsoom's two satellites. She was cold and hungry and altogether +miserable, but her brave little spirit refused to admit that her +plight was hopeless even though reason proclaimed the truth. Her +reply to reason, sometime spoken aloud in sudden defiance, +recalled the Spartan stubbornness of her sire in the face of +certain annihilation: "I still live!" + +That morning there had been an early visitor at the palace of The +Warlord. It was Gahan, Jed of Gathol. He had arrived shortly +after the absence of Tara of Helium had been noted, and in the +excitement he had remained unannounced until John Carter had +happened upon him in the great reception corridor of the palace +as The Warlord was hurrying out to arrange for the dispatch of +ships in search of his daughter. + +Gahan read the concern upon the face of The Warlord. "Forgive me +if I intrude, John Carter," he said. "I but came to ask the +indulgence of another day since it would be fool-hardy to attempt +to navigate a ship in such a storm." + +"Remain, Gahan, a welcome guest until you choose to leave us," +replied The Warlord; "but you must forgive any seeming +inattention upon the part of Helium until my daughter is restored +to us." + +"You daughter! Restored! What do you mean?" exclaimed the +Gatholian. "I do not understand." + +"She is gone, together with her light flier. That is all we know. +We can only assume that she decided to fly before the morning +meal and was caught in the clutches of the tempest. You will +pardon me, Gahan, if I leave you abruptly--I am arranging to send +ships in search of her;" but Gahan, Jed of Gathol, was already +speeding in the direction of the palace gate. There he leaped +upon a waiting thoat and followed by two warriors in the metal of +Gathol, he dashed through the avenues of Helium toward the palace +that had been set aside for his entertainment. + + + +CHAPTER III + +THE HEADLESS HUMANS + +ABOVE the roof of the palace that housed the Jed of Gathol and +his entourage, the cruiser Vanator tore at her stout moorings. +The groaning tackle bespoke the mad fury of the gale, while the +worried faces of those members of the crew whose duties demanded +their presence on the straining craft gave corroborative evidence +of the gravity of the situation. Only stout lashings prevented +these men from being swept from the deck, while those upon the +roof below were constantly compelled to cling to rails and +stanchions to save themselves from being carried away by each new +burst of meteoric fury. Upon the prow of the Vanator was painted +the device of Gathol, but no pennants were displayed in the upper +works since the storm had carried away several in rapid +succession, just as it seemed to the watching men that it must +carry away the ship itself. They could not believe that any +tackle could withstand for long this Titanic force. To each of +the twelve lashings clung a brawny warrior with drawn +short-sword. Had but a single mooring given to the power of the +tempest eleven short-swords would have cut the others; since, +partially moored, the ship was doomed, while free in the tempest +it stood at least some slight chance for life. + +"By the blood of Issus, I believe they will hold!" screamed one +warrior to another. + +"And if they do not hold may the spirits of our ancestors reward +the brave warriors upon the Vanator," replied another of those +upon the roof of the palace, "for it will not be long from the +moment her cables part before her crew dons the leather of the +dead; but yet, Tanus, I believe they will hold. Give thanks at +least that we did not sail before the tempest fell, since now +each of us has a chance to live." + +"Yes," replied Tanus, "I should hate to be abroad today upon the +stoutest ship that sails the Barsoomian sky." + +It was then that Gahan the Jed appeared upon the roof. With him +were the balance of his own party and a dozen warriors of Helium. +The young chief turned to his followers. + +"I sail at once upon the Vanator," he said, "in search of Tara of +Helium who is thought to have been carried away upon a one-man +flier by the storm. I do not need to explain to you the slender +chances the Vanator has to withstand the fury of the tempest, nor +will I order you to your deaths. Let those who wish remain behind +without dishonor. The others will follow me," and he leaped for +the rope ladder that lashed wildly in the gale. + +The first man to follow him was Tanus and when the last reached +the deck of the cruiser there remained upon the palace roof only +the twelve warriors of Helium, who, with naked swords, had taken +the posts of the Gatholians at the moorings. + +Not a single warrior who had remained aboard the Vanator would +leave her now. + +"I expected no less," said Gahan, as with the help of those +already on the deck he and the others found secure lashings. The +commander of the Vanator shook his head. He loved his trim craft, +the pride of her class in the little navy of Gathol. It was of +her he thought--not of himself. He saw her lying torn and twisted +upon the ochre vegetation of some distant sea-bottom, to be +presently overrun and looted by some savage, green horde. He +looked at Gahan. + +"Are you ready, San Tothis?" asked the jed. + +"All is ready." + +"Then cut away!" + +Word was passed across the deck and over the side to the +Heliumetic warriors below that at the third gun they were to cut +away. Twelve keen swords must strike simultaneously and with +equal power, and each must sever completely and instantly three +strands of heavy cable that no loose end fouling a block bring +immediate disaster upon the Vanator. + +Boom! The voice of the signal gun rolled down through the +screaming wind to the twelve warriors upon the roof. Boom! Twelve +swords were raised above twelve brawny shoulders. Boom! Twelve +keen edges severed twelve complaining moorings, clean and as one. + +The Vanator, her propellors whirling, shot forward with the +storm. The tempest struck her in the stern as with a mailed fist +and stood the great ship upon her nose, and then it caught her +and spun her as a child's top spins; and upon the palace roof the +twelve men looked on in silent helplessness and prayed for the +souls of the brave warriors who were going to their death. And +others saw, from Helium's lofty landing stages and from a +thousand hangars upon a thousand roofs; but only for an instant +did the preparations stop that would send other brave men into +the frightful maelstrom of that apparently hopeless search, for +such is the courage of the warriors of Barsoom. + +But the Vanator did not fall to the ground, within sight of the +city at least, though as long as the watchers could see her never +for an instant did she rest upon an even keel. Sometimes she lay +upon one side or the other, or again she hurtled along keel up, +or rolled over and over, or stood upon her nose or her tail at +the caprice of the great force that carried her along. And the +watchers saw that this great ship was merely being blown away +with the other bits of debris great and small that filled the +sky. Never in the memory of man or the annals of recorded history +had such a storm raged across the face of Barsoom. + +And in another instant was the Vanator forgotten as the lofty, +scarlet tower that had marked Lesser Helium for ages crashed to +ground, carrying death and demolition upon the city beneath. +Panic reigned. A fire broke out in the ruins. The city's every +force seemed crippled, and it was then that The Warlord ordered +the men that were about to set forth in search of Tara of Helium +to devote their energies to the salvation of the city, for he too +had witnessed the start of the Vanator and realized the futility +of wasting men who were needed sorely if Lesser Helium was to be +saved from utter destruction. + +Shortly after noon of the second day the storm commenced to +abate, and before the sun went down, the little craft upon which +Tara of Helium had hovered between life and death these many +hours drifted slowly before a gentle breeze above a landscape of +rolling hills that once had been lofty mountains upon a Martian +continent. The girl was exhausted from loss of sleep, from lack +of food and drink, and from the nervous reaction consequent to +the terrifying experiences through which she had passed. In the +near distance, just topping an intervening hill, she caught a +momentary glimpse of what appeared to be a dome-capped tower. +Quickly she dropped the flier until the hill shut it off from the +view of the possible occupants of the structure she had seen. The +tower meant to her the habitation of man, suggesting the presence +of water and, perhaps, of food. If the tower was the deserted +relic of a bygone age she would scarcely find food there, but +there was still a chance that there might be water. If it was +inhabited, then must her approach be cautious, for only enemies +might be expected to abide in so far distant a land. Tara of +Helium knew that she must be far from the twin cities of her +grandfather's empire, but had she guessed within even a thousand +haads of the reality, she had been stunned by realization of the +utter hopelessness of her state. + +Keeping the craft low, for the buoyancy tanks were still intact, +the girl skimmed the ground until the gently-moving wind had +carried her to the side of the last hill that intervened between +her and the structure she had thought a man-built tower. Here she +brought the flier to the ground among some stunted trees, and +dragging it beneath one where it might be somewhat hidden from +craft passing above, she made it fast and set forth to +reconnoiter. Like most women of her class she was armed only with +a single slender blade, so that in such an emergency as now +confronted her she must depend almost solely upon her cleverness +in remaining undiscovered by enemies. With utmost caution she +crept warily toward the crest of the hill, taking advantage of +every natural screen that the landscape afforded to conceal her +approach from possible observers ahead, while momentarily she +cast quick glances rearward lest she be taken by surprise from +that quarter. + +She came at last to the summit, where, from the concealment of a +low bush, she could see what lay beyond. Beneath her spread a +beautiful valley surrounded by low hills. Dotting it were +numerous circular towers, dome-capped, and surrounding each tower +was a stone wall enclosing several acres of ground. The valley +appeared to be in a high state of cultivation. Upon the opposite +side of the hill and just beneath her was a tower and enclosure. +It was the roof of the former that had first attracted her +attention. In all respects it seemed identical in construction +with those further out in the valley--a high, plastered wall of +massive construction surrounding a similarly constructed tower, +upon whose gray surface was painted in vivid colors a strange +device. The towers were about forty sofads in diameter, +approximately forty earth-feet, and sixty in height to the base +of the dome. To an Earth man they would have immediately +suggested the silos in which dairy farmers store ensilage for +their herds; but closer scrutiny, revealing an occasional +embrasured opening together with the strange construction of the +domes, would have altered such a conclusion. Tara of Helium saw +that the domes seemed to be faced with innumerable prisms of +glass, those that were exposed to the declining sun scintillating +so gorgeously as to remind her suddenly of the magnificent +trappings of Gahan of Gathol. As she thought of the man she shook +her head angrily, and moved cautiously forward a foot or two that +she might get a less obstructed view of the nearer tower and its +enclosure. + +As Tara of Helium looked down into the enclosure surrounding the +nearest tower, her brows contracted momentarily in frowning +surprise, and then her eyes went wide in an expression of +incredulity tinged with horror, for what she saw was a score or +two of human bodies--naked and headless. For a long moment she +watched, breathless; unable to believe the evidence of her own +eyes--that these grewsome things moved and had life! She saw them +crawling about on hands and knees over and across one another, +searching about with their fingers. And she saw some of them at +troughs, for which the others seemed to be searching, and those +at the troughs were taking something from these receptacles and +apparently putting it in a hole where their necks should have +been. They were not far beneath her--she could see them +distinctly and she saw that there were the bodies of both men and +women, and that they were beautifully proportioned, and that +their skin was similar to hers, but of a slightly lighter red. At +first she had thought that she was looking upon a shambles and +that the bodies, but recently decapitated, were moving under the +impulse of muscular reaction; but presently she realized that +this was their normal condition. The horror of them fascinated +her, so that she could scarce take her eyes from them. It was +evident from their groping hands that they were eyeless, and +their sluggish movements suggested a rudimentary nervous system +and a correspondingly minute brain. The girl wondered how they +subsisted for she could not, even by the wildest stretch of +imagination, picture these imperfect creatures as intelligent +tillers of the soil. Yet that the soil of the valley was tilled +was evident and that these things had food was equally so. But +who tilled the soil? Who kept and fed these unhappy things, and +for what purpose? It was an enigma beyond her powers of +deduction. + +The sight of food aroused again a consciousness of her own +gnawing hunger and the thirst that parched her throat. She could +see both food and water within the enclosure; but would she dare +enter even should she find means of ingress? She doubted it, +since the very thought of possible contact with these grewsome +creatures sent a shudder through her frame. + +Then her eyes wandered again out across the valley until +presently they picked out what appeared to be a tiny stream +winding its way through the center of the farm lands--a strange +sight upon Barsoom. Ah, if it were but water! Then might she hope +with a real hope, for the fields would give her sustenance which +she could gain by night, while by day she hid among the +surrounding hills, and sometime, yes, sometime she knew, the +searchers would come, for John Carter, Warlord of Barsoom, would +never cease to search for his daughter until every square haad of +the planet had been combed again and again. She knew him and she +knew the warriors of Helium and so she knew that could she but +manage to escape harm until they came, they would indeed come at +last. + +She would have to wait until dark before she dare venture into +the valley, and in the meantime she thought it well to search out +a place of safety nearby where she might be reasonably safe from +savage beasts. It was possible that the district was free from +carnivora, but one might never be sure in a strange land. As she +was about to withdraw be hind the brow of the hill her attention +was again attracted to the enclosure below. Two figures had +emerged from the tower. Their beautiful bodies seemed identical +with those of the headless creatures among which they moved, but +the newcomers were not headless. Upon their shoulders were heads +that seemed human, yet which the girl intuitively sensed were not +human. They were just a trifle too far away for her to see them +distinctly in the waning light of the dying day, but she knew +that they were too large, they were out of proportion to the +perfectly proportioned bodies, and they were oblate in form. She +could see that the men wore some manner of harness to which were +slung the customary long-sword and short-sword of the Barsoomian +warrior, and that about their short necks were massive leather +collars cut to fit closely over the shoulders and snugly to the +lower part of the head. Their features were scarce discernible, +but there was a suggestion of grotesqueness about them that +carried to her a feeling of revulsion. + +The two carried a long rope to which were fastened, at intervals +of about two sofads, what she later guessed were light manacles, +for she saw the warriors passing among the poor creatures in the +enclosure and about the right wrist of each they fastened one of +the manacles. When all had been thus fastened to the rope one of +the warriors commenced to pull and tug at the loose end as though +attempting to drag the headless company toward the tower, while +the other went among them with a long, light whip with which he +flicked them upon the naked skin. Slowly, dully, the creatures +rose to their feet and between the tugging of the warrior in +front and the lashing of him behind the hopeless band was finally +herded within the tower. Tara of Helium shuddered as she turned +away. What manner of creatures were these? + +Suddenly it was night. The Barsoomian day had ended, and then the +brief period of twilight that renders the transition from +daylight to darkness almost as abrupt as the switching off of an +electric light, and Tara of Helium had found no sanctuary. But +perhaps there were no beasts to fear, or rather to avoid--Tara of +Helium liked not the word fear. She would have been glad, +however, had there been a cabin, even a very tiny cabin, upon her +small flier; but there was no cabin. The interior of the hull was +completely taken up by the buoyancy tanks. Ah, she had it! How +stupid of her not to have thought of it before! She could moor +the craft to the tree beneath which it rested and let it rise the +length of the rope. Lashed to the deck rings she would then be +safe from any roaming beast of prey that chanced along. In the +morning she could drop to the ground again before the craft was +discovered. + +As Tara of Helium crept over the brow of the hill down toward the +valley, her presence was hidden by the darkness of the night from +the sight of any chance observer who might be loitering by a +window in the nearby tower. Cluros, the farther moon, was just +rising above the horizon to commence his leisurely journey +through the heavens. Eight zodes later he would set--a trifle +over nineteen and a half Earth hours--and during that time +Thuria, his vivacious mate, would have circled the planet twice +and be more than half way around on her third trip. She had but +just set. It would be more than three and a half hours before she +shot above the opposite horizon to hurtle, swift and low, across +the face of the dying planet. During this temporary absence of +the mad moon Tara of Helium hoped to find both food and water, +and gain again the safety of her flier's deck. + +She groped her way through the darkness, giving the tower and its +enclosure as wide a berth as possible. Sometimes she stumbled, +for in the long shadows cast by the rising Cluros objects were +grotesquely distorted though the light from the moon was still +not sufficient to be of much assistance to her. Nor, as a matter +of fact, did she want light. She could find the stream in the +dark, by the simple expedient of going down hill until she walked +into it and she had seen that bearing trees and many crops grew +throughout the valley, so that she would pass food in plenty ere +she reached the stream. If the moon showed her the way more +clearly and thus saved her from an occasional fall, he would, +too, show her more clearly to the strange denizens of the towers, +and that, of course, must not be. Could she have waited until the +following night conditions would have been better, since Cluros +would not appear in the heavens at all and so, during Thuria's +absence, utter darkness would reign; but the pangs of thirst and +the gnawing of hunger could be endured no longer with food and +drink both in sight, and so she had decided to risk discovery +rather than suffer longer. + +Safely past the nearest tower, she moved as rapidly as she felt +consistent with safety, choosing her way wherever possible so +that she might take advantage of the shadows of the trees that +grew at intervals and at the same time discover those which bore +fruit. In this latter she met with almost immediate success, for +the very third tree beneath which she halted was heavy with ripe +fruit. Never, thought Tara of Helium, had aught so delicious +impinged upon her palate, and yet it was naught else than the +almost tasteless usa, which is considered to be palatable only +after having been cooked and highly spiced. It grows easily with +little irrigation and the trees bear abundantly. The fruit, which +ranks high in food value, is one of the staple foods of the less +well-to-do, and because of its cheapness and nutritive value +forms one of the principal rations of both armies and navies upon +Barsoom, a use which has won for it a Martian sobriquet which, +freely translated into English, would be, The Fighting Potato. +The girl was wise enough to eat but sparingly, but she filled her +pocket-pouch with the fruit before she continued upon her way. + +Two towers she passed before she came at last to the stream, and +here again was she temperate, drinking but little and that very +slowly, contenting herself with rinsing her mouth frequently and +bathing her face, her hands, and her feet; and even though the +night was cold, as Martian nights are, the sensation of +refreshment more than compensated for the physical discomfort of +the low temperature. Replacing her sandals she sought among the +growing track near the stream for whatever edible berries or +tubers might be planted there, and found a couple of varieties +that could be eaten raw. With these she replaced some of the usa +in her pocket-pouch, not only to insure a variety but because she +found them more palatable. Occasionally she returned to the +stream to drink, but each time moderately. Always were her eyes +and ears alert for the first signs of danger, but she had neither +seen nor heard aught to disturb her. And presently the time +approached when she felt she must return to her flier lest she be +caught in the revealing light of low swinging Thuria. She dreaded +leaving the water for she knew that she must become very thirsty +before she could hope to come again to the stream. If she only +had some little receptacle in which to carry water, even a small +amount would tide her over until the following night; but she had +nothing and so she must content herself as best she could with +the juices of the fruit and tubers she had gathered. + +After a last drink at the stream, the longest and deepest she had +allowed herself, she rose to retrace her steps toward the hills; +but even as she did so she became suddenly tense with +apprehension. What was that? She could have sworn that she saw +something move in the shadows beneath a tree not far away. For a +long minute the girl did not move--she scarce breathed. Her eyes +remained fixed upon the dense shadows below the tree, her ears +strained through the silence of the night. A low moaning came +down from the hills where her flier was hidden. She knew it +well--the weird note of the hunting banth. And the great +carnivore lay directly in her path. But he was not so close as +this other thing, hiding there in the shadows just a little way +off. What was it? It was the strain of uncertainty that weighed +heaviest upon her. Had she known the nature of the creature +lurking there half its meanace would have vanished. She cast +quickly about her in search of some haven of refuge should the +thing prove dangerous. + +Again arose the moaning from the hills, but this time closer. +Almost immediately it was answered from the opposite side of the +valley, behind her, and then from the distance to the right of +her, and twice upon her left. Her eyes had found a tree, quite +near. Slowly, and without taking her eyes from the shadows of +that other tree, she moved toward the overhanging branches that +might afford her sanctuary in the event of need, and at her first +move a low growl rose from the spot she had been watching and she +heard the sudden moving of a big body. Simultaneously the +creature shot into the moonlight in full charge upon her, its +tail erect, its tiny ears laid flat, its great mouth with its +multiple rows of sharp and powerful fangs already yawning for its +prey, its ten legs carrying it forward in great leaps, and now +from the beast's throat issued the frightful roar with which it +seeks to paralyze its prey. It was a banth--the great, maned lion +of Barsoom. Tara of Helium saw it coming and leaped for the tree +toward which she had been moving, and the banth realized her +intention and redoubled his speed. As his hideous roar awakened +the echoes in the hills, so too it awakened echoes in the valley; +but these echoes came from the living throats of others of his +kind, until it seemed to the girl that Fate had thrown her into +the midst of a countless multitude of these savage beasts. + +Almost incredbily swift is the speed of a charging banth, and +fortunate it was that the girl had not been caught farther in the +open. As it was, her margin of safety was next to negligible, for +as she swung nimbly to the lower branches the creature in pursuit +of her crashed among the foliage almost upon her as it sprang +upward to seize her. It was only a combination of good fortune +and agility that saved her. A stout branch deflected the raking +talons of the carnivore, but so close was the call that a giant +forearm brushed her flesh in the instant before she scrambled to +the higher branches. + +Baffled, the banth gave vent to his rage and disappointment in a +series of frightful roars that caused the very ground to tremble, +and to these were added the roarings and the growlings and the +moanings of his fellows as they approached from every direction, +in the hope of wresting from him whatever of his kill they could +take by craft or prowess. And now he turned snarling upon them as +they circled the tree, while the girl, huddled in a crotch above +them, looked down upon the gaunt, yellow monsters padding on +noiseless feet in a restless circle about her. She wondered now +at the strange freak of fate that had permitted her to come down +this far into the valley by night unharmed, but even more she +wondered how she was to return to the hills. She knew that she +would not dare venture it by night and she guessed, too, that by +day she might be confronted by even graver perils. To depend upon +this valley for sustenance she now saw to be beyond the pale of +possibility because of the banths that would keep her from food +and water by night, while the dwellers in the towers would +doubtless make it equally impossible for her to forage by day. +There was but one solution of her difficulty and that was to +return to her flier and pray that the wind would waft her to some +less terrorful land; but when might she return to the flier? The +banths gave little evidence of relinquishing hope of her, andeven +if they wandered out of sight would she dare risk the attempt? +She doubted it. + +Hopeless indeed seemed her situation--hopeless it was. + + + +CHAPTER IV + +CAPTURED + +AS THURIA, swift racer of the night, shot again into the sky the +scene changed. As by magic a new aspect fell athwart the face of +Nature. It was as though in the instant one had been transported +from one planet to another. It was the age-old miracle of the +Martian nights that is always new, even to Martians--two moons +resplendent in the heavens, where one had been but now; +conflicting, fast-changing shadows that altered the very hills +themselves; far Cluros, stately, majestic, almost stationary, +shedding his steady light upon the world below; Thuria, a great +and glorious orb, swinging swift across the vaulted dome of the +blue-black night, so low that she seemed to graze the hills, a +gorgeous spectacle that held the girl now beneath the spell of +its enchantment as it always had and always would. + +"Ah, Thuria, mad queen of heaven!" murmured Tara of Helium. "The +hills pass in stately procession, their bosoms rising and +falling; the trees move in restless circles; the little grasses +describe their little arcs; and all is movement, restless, +mysterious movement without sound, while Thuria passes." The girl +sighed and let her gaze fall again to the stern realities +beneath. There was no mystery in the huge banths. He who had +discovered her squatted there looking hungrily up at her. Most of +the others had wandered away in search of other prey, but a few +remained hoping yet to bury their fangs in that soft body. + +The night wore on. Again Thuria left the heavens to her lord and +master, hurrying on to keep her tryst with the Sun in other +skies. But a single banth waited impatiently beneath the tree +which harbored Tara of Helium. The others had left, but their +roars, and growls, and moans thundered or rumbled, or floated +back to her from near and far. What prey found they in this +little valley? There must be something that they were accustomed +to find here that they should be drawn in so great numbers. The +girl wondered what it could be. + +How long the night! Numb, cold, and exhausted, Tara of Helium +clung to the tree in growing desperation, for once she had dozed +and almost fallen. Hope was low in her brave little heart. How +much more could she endure? She asked herself the question and +then, with a brave shake of her head, she squared her shoulders. +"I still live!" she said aloud. + +The banth looked up and growled. + +Came Thuria again and after awhile the great Sun--a flaming +lover, pursuing his heart's desire. And Cluros, the cold husband, +continued his serene way, as placid as before his house had been +violated by this hot Lothario. And now the Sun and both Moons +rode together in the sky, lending their far mysteries to make +weird the Martian dawn. Tara of Helium looked out across the fair +valley that spread upon all sides of her. It was rich and +beautiful, but even as she looked upon it she shuddered, for to +her mind came a picture of the headless things that the towers +and the walls hid. Those by day and the banths by night! Ah, was +it any wonder that she shuddered? + +With the coming of the Sun the great Barsoomian lion rose to his +feet. He turned angry eyes upon the girl above him, voiced a +single ominous growl, and slunk away toward the hills. The girl +watched him, and she saw that he gave the towers as wide a berth +as possible and that he never took his eyes from one of them +while he was passing it. Evidently the inmates had taught these +savage creatures to respect them. Presently he passed from sight +in a narrow defile, nor in any direction that she could see was +there another. Momentarily at least the landscape was deserted. +The girl wondered if she dared to attempt to regain the hills and +her flier. She dreaded the coming of the workmen to the fields as +she was sure they would come. She shrank from again seeing the +headless bodies, and found herself wondering if these things +would come out into the fields and work. She looked toward the +nearest tower. There was no sign of life there. The valley lay +quiet now and deserted. She lowered herself stiffly to the +ground. Her muscles were cramped and every move brought a twinge +of pain. Pausing a moment to drink again at the stream she felt +refreshed and then turned without more delay toward the hills. To +cover the distance as quickly as possible seemed the only plan to +pursue. The trees no longer offered concealment and so she did +not go out of her way to be near them. The hills seemed very far +away. She had not thought, the night before, that she had +traveled so far. Really it had not been far, but now, with the +three towers to pass in broad daylight, the distance seemed great +indeed. + +The second tower lay almost directly in her path. To make a +detour would not lessen the chance of detection, it would only +lengthen the period of her danger, and so she laid her course +straight for the hill where her flier was, regardless of the +tower. As she passed the first enclosure she thought that she +heard the sound of movement within, but the gate did not open and +she breathed more easily when it lay behind her. She came then to +the second enclosure, the outer wall of which she must circle, as +it lay across her route. As she passed close along it she +distinctly heard not only movement within, but voices. In the +world-language of Barsoom she heard a man issuing +instructions--so many were to pick usa, so many were to irrigate +this field, so many to cultivate that, and so on, as a foreman +lay out the day's work for his crew. + +Tara of Helium had just reached the gate in the outer wall. +Without warning it swung open toward her. She saw that for a +moment it would hide her from those within and in that moment she +turned and ran, keeping close to the wall, until, passing out of +sight beyond the curve of the structure, she came to the opposite +side of the enclosure. Here, panting from her exertion and from +the excitement of her narrow escape, she threw herself among some +tall weeds that grew close to the foot of the wall. There she lay +trembling for some time, not even daring to raise her head and +look about. Never before had Tara of Helium felt the paralyzing +effects of terror. She was shocked and angry at herself, that +she, daughter of John Carter, Warlord of Barsoom, should exhibit +fear. Not even the fact that there had been none there to witness +it lessened her shame and anger, and the worst of it was she knew +that under similar circumstances she would again be equally as +craven. It was not the fear of death--she knew that. No, it was +the thought of those headless bodies and that she might see them +and that they might even touch her--lay hands upon her--seize +her. She shuddered and trembled at the thought. + +After a while she gained sufficient command of herself to raise +her head and look about. To her horror she discovered that +everywhere she looked she saw people working in the fields or +preparing to do so. Workmen were coming from other towers. Little +bands were passing to this field and that. They were even some +already at work within thirty ads of her--about a hundred yards. +There were ten, perhaps, in the party nearest her, both men and +women, and all were beautiful of form and grotesque of face. So +meager were their trappings that they were practically naked; a +fact that was in no way remarkable among the tillers of the +fields of Mars. Each wore the peculiar, high leather collar that +completely hid the neck, and each wore sufficient other leather +to support a single sword and a pocket-pouch. The leather was +very old and worn, showing long, hard service, and was absolutely +plain with the exception of a single device upon the left +shoulder. The heads, however, were covered with ornaments of +precious metals and jewels, so that little more than eyes, nose, +and mouth were discernible. These were hideously inhuman and yet +grotesquely human at the same time. The eyes were far apart and +protruding, the nose scarce more than two small, parallel slits +set vertically above a round hole that was the mouth. The heads +were peculiarly repulsive--so much so that it seemed unbelievable +to the girl that they formed an integral part of the beautiful +bodies below them. + +So fascinated was Tara of Helium that she could scarce take her +eyes from the strange creatures--a fact that was to prove her +undoing, for in order that she might see them she was forced to +expose a part of her own head and presently, to her +consternation, she saw that one of the creatures had stopped his +work and was staring directly at her. She did not dare move, for +it was still possible that the thing had not seen her, or at +least was only suspicious that some creature lay hid among the +weeds. If she could allay this suspicion by remaining motionless +the creature might believe that he had been mistaken and return +to his work; but, alas, such was not to be the case. She saw the +thing call the attention of others to her and almost immediately +four or five of them started to move in her direction. + +It was impossible now to escape discovery. Her only hope lay in +flight. If she could elude them and reach the hills and the flier +ahead of them she might escape, and that could be accomplished in +but one way--flight, immediate and swift. Leaping to her feet she +darted along the base of the wall which she must skirt to the +opposite side, beyond which lay the hill that was her goal. Her +act was greeted by strange whistling sounds from the things +behind her, and casting a glance over her shoulder she saw them +all in rapid pursuit. + +There were also shrill commands that she halt, but to these she +paid no attention. Before she had half circled the enclosure she +discovered that her chances for successful escape were great, +since it was evident to her that her pursuers were not so fleet +as she. High indeed then were her hopes as she came in sight of +the hill, but they were soon dashed by what lay before her, for +there, in the fields that lay between, were fully a hundred +creatures similar to those behind her and all were on the alert, +evidently warned by the whistling of their fellows. Instructions +and commands were shouted to and fro, with the result that those +before her spread roughly into a great half circle to intercept +her, and when she turned to the right, hoping to elude the net, +she saw others coming from fields beyond, and to the left the +same was true. But Tara of Helium would not admit defeat. Without +once pausing she turned directly toward the center of the +advancing semi-circle, beyond which lay her single chance of +escape, and as she ran she drew her long, slim dagger. Like her +valiant sire, if die she must, she would die fighting. There were +gaps in the thin line confronting her and toward the widest of +one of these she directed her course. The things on either side +of the opening guessed her intent for they closed in to place +themselves in her path. This widened the openings on either side +of them and as the girl appeared almost to rush into their arms +she turned suddenly at right angles, ran swiftly in the new +direction for a few yards, and then dashed quickly toward the +hill again. Now only a single warrior, with a wide gap on either +side of him, barred her clear way to freedom, though all the +others were speeding as rapidly as they could to intercept her. +If she could pass this one without too much delay she could +escape, of that she was certain. Her every hope hinged on this. +The creature before her realized it, too, for he moved +cautiously, though swiftly, to intercept her, as a Rugby fullback +might maneuver in the realization that he alone stood between the +opposing team and a touchdown. + +At first Tara of Helium had hoped that she might dodge him, for +she could not but guess that she was not only more fleet but +infinitely more agile than these strange creatures; but soon +there came to her the realization that in the time consumed in an +attempt to elude his grasp his nearer fellows would be upon her +and escape then impossible, so she chose instead to charge +straight for him, and when he guessed her decision he stood, half +crouching and with outstretched arms, awaiting her. In one hand +was his sword, but a voice arose, crying in tones of authority. +"Take her alive! Do not harm her!" Instantly the fellow returned +his sword to its scabbard and then Tara of Helium was upon him. +Straight for that beautiful body she sprang and in the instant +that the arms closed to seize her her sharp blade drove deep into +the naked chest. The impact hurled them both to the ground and as +Tara of Helium sprang to her feet again she saw, to her horror, +that the loathsome head had rolled from the body and was now +crawling away from her on six short, spider-]ike legs. The body +struggled spasmodically and lay still. As brief as had been the +delay caused by the encounter, it still had been of sufficient +duration to undo her, for even as she rose two more of the things +fell upon her and instantly thereafter she was surrounded. Her +blade sank once more into naked flesh and once more a head rolled +free and crawled away. Then they overpowered her and in another +moment she was surrounded by fully a hundred of the creatures, +all seeking to lay hands upon her. At first she thought that they +wished to tear her to pieces in revenge for her having slain two +of their fellows, but presently she realized that they were +prompted more by curiosity than by any sinister motive. + +"Come!" said one of her captors, both of whom had retained a hold +upon her. As he spoke he tried to lead her away with him toward +the nearest tower. + +"She belongs to me," cried the other. "Did not I capture her? She +will come with me to the tower of Moak." + +"Never!" insisted the first. "She is Luud's. To Luud I will take +her, and whosoever interferes may feel the keenness of my +sword--in the head!" He almost shouted the last three words. + +"Come! Enough of this," cried one who spoke with some show of +authority. "She was captured in Luud's fields--she will go to +Luud." + +"She was discovered in Moak's fields, at the very foot of the +tower of Moak," insisted he who had claimed her for Moak. + +"You have heard the Nolach speak," cried the Luud. "It shall be +as he says." + +"Not while this Moak holds a sword," replied the other. "Rather +will I cut her in twain and take my half to Moak than to +relinquish her all to Luud," and he drew his sword, or rather he +laid his hand upon its hilt in a threatening gesture; but before +ever he could draw it the Luud had whipped his out and with a +fearful blow cut deep into the head of his adversary. Instantly +the big, round head collapsed, almost as a punctured balloon +collapses, as a grayish, semi-fluid matter spurted from it. The +protruding eyes, apparently lidless, merely stared, the +sphincter-like muscle of the mouth opened and closed, and then +the head toppled from the body to the ground. The body stood +dully for a moment and then slowly started to wander aimlessly +about until one of the others seized it by the arm. + +One of the two heads crawling about on the ground now approached. +"This rykor belongs to Moak," it said. "I am a Moak. I will take +it," and without further discussion it commenced to crawl up the +front of the headless body, using its six short, spiderlike legs +and two stout chelae which grew just in front of its legs and +strongly resembled those of an Earthly lobster, except that they +were both of the same size. The body in the meantime stood in +passive indifference, its arms hanging idly at its sides. The +head climbed to the shoulders and settled itself inside the +leather collar that now hid its chelae and legs. Almost +immediately the body gave evidence of intelligent animation. It +raised its hands and adjusted the collar more comfortably, it +took the head between its palms and settled it in place and when +it moved around it did not wander aimlessly, but instead its +steps were firm and to some purpose. + +The girl watched all these things in growing wonder, and +presently, no other of the Moaks seeming inclined to dispute the +right of the Luud to her, she was led off by her captor toward +the nearest tower. Several accompanied them, including one who +carried the loose head under his arm. The head that was being +carried conversed with the head upon the shoulders of the thing +that carried it. Tara of Helium shivered. It was horrible! All +that she had seen of these frightful creatures was horrible. And +to be a prisoner, wholly in their power. Shadow of her first +ancestor! What had she done to deserve so cruel a fate? + +At the wall enclosing the tower they paused while one opened the +gate and then they passed within the enclosure, which, to the +girl's horror, she found filled with headless bodies. The +creature who carried the bodiless head now set its burden upon +the ground and the latter immediately crawled toward one of the +bodies that was lying near by. Some wandered stupidly to and fro, +but this one lay still. It was a female. The head crawled to it +and made its way to the shoulders where it settled itself. At +once the body sprang lightly erect. Another of those who had +accompanied them from the fields approached with the harness and +collar that had been taken from the dead body that the head had +formerly topped. The new body now appropriated these and the +hands deftly adjusted them. The creature was now as good as +before Tara of Helium had struck down its former body with her +slim blade. But there was a difference. Before it had been +male--now it was female. That, however, seemed to make no +difference to the head. In fact, Tara of Helium had noticed +during the scramble and the fight about her that sex differences +seemed of little moment to her captors. Males and females had +taken equal part in her pursuit, both were identically harnessed +and both carried swords, and she had seen as many females as +males draw their weapons at the moment that a quarrel between the +two factions seemed imminent. + +The girl was given but brief opportunity for further observation +of the pitiful creatures in the enclosure as her captor, after +having directed the others to return to the fields, led her +toward the tower, which they entered, passing into an apartment +about ten feet wide and twenty long, in one end of which was a +stairway leading to an upper level and in the other an opening to +a similar stairway leading downward. The chamber, though on a +level with the ground, was brilliantly lighted by windows in its +inner wall, the light coming from a circular court in the center +of the tower. The walls of this court appeared to be faced with +what resembled glazed, white tile and the whole interior of it +was flooded with dazzling light, a fact which immediately +explained to the girl the purpose of the glass prisms of which +the domes were constructed. The stairways themselves were +sufficient to cause remark, since in nearly all Barsoomian +architecture inclined runways are utilized for purposes of +communication between different levels, and especially is this +true of the more ancient forms and of those of remote districts +where fewer changes have come to alter the customs of antiquity. + +Down the stairway her captor led Tara of Helium. Down and down +through chambers still lighted from the brilliant well. +Occasionally they passed others going in the opposite direction +and these always stopped to examine the girl and ask questions of +her captor. + +"I know nothing but that she was found in the fields and that I +caught her after a fight in which she slew two rykors and in +which I slew a Moak, and that I take her to Luud, to whom, of +course, she belongs. If Luud wishes to question her that is for +Luud to do--not for me." Thus always he answered the curious. + +Presently they reached a room from which a circular tunnel led +away from the tower, and into this the creature conducted her. +The tunnel was some seven feet in diameter and flattened on the +bottom to form a walk. For a hundred feet from the tower it was +lined with the same tile-like material of the light well and +amply illuminated by reflected light from that source. Beyond it +was faced with stone of various shapes and sizes, neatly cut and +fitted together--a very fine mosaic without a pattern. There were +branches, too, and other tunnels which crossed this, and +occasionally openings not more than a foot in diameter; these +latter being usually close to the floor. Above each of these +smaller openings was painted a different device, while upon the +walls of the larger tunnels at all intersections and points of +convergence hieroglyphics appeared. These the girl could not read +though she guessed that they were the names of the tunnels, or +notices indicating the points to which they led. She tried to +study some of them out, but there was not a character that was +familiar to her, which seemed strange, since, while the written +languages of the various nations of Barsoom differ, it still is +true that they have many characters and words in common. + +She had tried to converse with her guard but he had not seemed +inclined to talk with her and she had finally desisted. She could +not but note that he had offered her no indignities, nor had he +been either unnecessarily rough or in any way cruel. The fact +that she had slain two of the bodies with her dagger had +apparently aroused no animosity or desire for revenge in the +minds of the strange heads that surmounted the bodies--even those +whose bodies had been killed. She did not try to understand it, +since she could not approach the peculiar relationship between +the heads and the bodies of these creatures from the basis of any +past knowledge or experience of her own. So far their treatment +of her seemed to augur naught that might arouse her fears. +Perhaps, after all, she had been fortunate to fall into the hands +of these strange people, who might not only protect her from +harm, but even aid her in returning to Helium. That they were +repulsive and uncanny she could not forget, but if they meant her +no harm she could, at least, overlook their repulsiveness. +Renewed hope aroused within her a spirit of greater cheerfulness, +and it was almost blithely now that she moved at the side of her +weird companion. She even caught herself humming a gay little +tune that was then popular in Helium. The creature at her side +turned its expressionless eyes upon her. + +"What is that noise that you are making?" it asked. + +"I was but humming an air," she replied. + +"'Humming an air,'" he repeated. "I do not know what you mean; +but do it again, I like it." + +This time she sang the words, while her companion listened +intently. His face gave no indication of what was passing in that +strange head. It was as devoid of expression as that of a spider. +It reminded her of a spider. When she had finished he turned +toward her again. + +"That was different," he said. "I liked that better, even, than +the other. How do you do it?" + +"Why," she said, "it is singing. Do you not know what song is?" + +"No," he replied. "Tell me how you do it." + +"It is difficult to explain," she told him. "since any +explanation of it presupposes some knowledge of melody and of +music, while your very question indicates that you have no +knowledge of either." + +"No," he said, "I do not know what you are talking about; but +tell me how you do it." + +"It is merely the melodious modulations of my voice," she +explained. "Listen!" and again she sang. + +"I do not understand," he insisted; "but I like it. Could you +teach me to do it?" + +"I do not know, but I shall be glad to try." + +"We will see what Luud does with you," he said. "If he does not +want you I will keep you and you shall teach me to make sounds +like that." + +At his request she sang again as they continued their way along +the winding tunnel, which was now lighted by occasional bulbs +which appeared to be similar to the radium bulbs with which she +was familiar and which were common to all the nations of Barsoom, +insofar as she knew, having been perfected at so remote a period +that their very origin was lost in antiquity. They consist, +usually, of a hemispherical bowl of heavy glass in which is +packed a compound containing what, according to John Carter, must +be radium. The bowl is then cemented into a metal plate with a +heavily insulated back and the whole affair set in the masonry of +wall or ceiling as desired, where it gives off light of greater +or less intensity, according to the composition of the filling +material, for an almost incalculable period of time. + +As they proceeded they met a greater number of the inhabitants of +this underground world, and the girl noted that among many of +these the metal and harness were more ornate than had been those +of the workers in the fields above. The heads and bodies, +however, were similar, even identical, she thought. No one +offered her harm and she was now experiencing a feeling of relief +almost akin to happiness, when her guide turned suddenly into an +opening on the right side of the tunnel and she found herself in +a large, well lighted chamber. + + + +CHAPTER V + +THE PERFECT BRAIN + +THE song that had been upon her lips as she entered died +there--frozen by the sight of horror that met her eyes. In the +center of the chamber a headless body lay upon the floor--a body +that had been partially devoured--while over and upon it crawled +a half a dozen heads upon their short, spider legs, and they tore +at the flesh of the woman with their chelae and carried the bits +to their awful mouths. They were eating human flesh--eating it +raw! + +Tara of Helium gasped in horror and turning away covered her eyes +with her palms. + +"Come!" said her captor. "What is the matter?" + +"They are eating the flesh of the woman," she whispered in tones +of horror. + +"Why not?" he inquired. "Did you suppose that we kept the rykor +for labor alone? Ah, no. They are delicious when kept and +fattened. Fortunate, too, are those that are bred for food, since +they are never called upon to do aught but eat." + +"It is hideous!" she cried. + +He looked at her steadily for a moment, but whether in surprise, +in anger, or in pity his expressionless face did not reveal. Then +he led her on across the room past the frightful thing, from +which she turned away her eyes. Lying about the floor near the +walls were half a dozen headless bodies in harness. These she +guessed had been abandoned temporarily by the feasting heads +until they again required their services. In the walls of this +room there were many of the small, round openings she had noticed +in various parts of the tunnels, the purpose of which she could +not guess. + +They passed through another corridor and then into a second +chamber, larger than the first and more brilliantly illuminated. +Within were several of the creatures with heads and bodies +assembled, while many headless bodies lay about near the walls. +Here her captor halted and spoke to one of the occupants of the +chamber. + +"I seek Luud," he said. "I bring to Luud a creature that I +captured in the fields above." + +The others crowded about to examine Tara of Helium. One of them +whistled, whereupon the girl learned something of the smaller +openings in the walls, for almost immediately there crawled from +them, like giant spiders, a score or more of the hideous heads. +Each sought one of the recumbent bodies and fastened itself in +place. Immediately the bodies reacted to the intelligent +direction of the heads. They arose, the hands adjusted the +leather collars and put the balance of the harness in order, then +the creatures crossed the room to where Tara of Helium stood. She +noted that their leather was more highly ornamented than that +worn by any of the others she had previously seen, and so she +guessed that these must be higher in authority than the others. +Nor was she mistaken. The demeanor of her captor indicated it. He +addressed them as one who holds intercourse with superiors. + +Several of those who examined her felt her flesh, pinching it +gently between thumb and forefinger, a familiarity that the girl +resented. She struck down their hands. "Do not touch me!" she +cried, imperiously, for was she not a princess of Helium? The +expression on those terrible faces did not change. She could not +tell whether they were angry or amused, whether her action had +filled them with respect for her, or contempt. Only one of them +spoke immediately. + +"She will have to be fattened more," he said. + +The girl's eyes went wide with horror. She turned upon her +captor. "Do these frightful creatures intend to devour me?" she +cried. + +"That is for Luud to say," he replied, and then he leaned closer +so that his mouth was near her ear. "That noise you made which +you called song pleased me," he whispered, "and I will repay you +by warning you not to antagonize these kaldanes. They are very +powerful. Luud listens to them. Do not call them frightful. They +are very handsome. Look at their wonderful trappings, their gold, +their jewels." + +"Thank you," she said. "You called them kaldanes--what does that +mean?" + +"We are all kaldanes," he replied. + +"You, too?" and she pointed at him, her slim finger directed +toward his chest. + +"No, not this," he explained, touching his body; "this is a +rykor; but this," and he touched his head, "is a kaldane. It is +the brain, the intellect, the power that directs all things. The +rykor," he indicated his body, "is nothing. It is not so much +even as the jewels upon our harness; no, not so much as the +harness itself. It carries us about. It is true that we would +find difficulty getting along without it; but it has less value +than harness or jewels because it is less difficult to +reproduce." He turned again to the other kaldanes. "Will you +notify Luud that I am here?" he asked. + +"Sept has already gone to Luud. He will tell him," replied one. +"Where did you find this rykor with the strange kaldane that +cannot detach itself?" + +The girl's captor narrated once more the story of her capture. He +stated facts just as they had occurred, without embellishment, +his voice as expressionless as his face, and his story was +received in the same manner that it was delivered. The creatures +seemed totally lacking in emotion, or, at least, the capacity to +express it. It was impossible to judge what impression the story +made upon them, or even if they heard it. Their protruding eyes +simply stared and occasionally the muscles of their mouths opened +and closed. Familiarity did not lessen the horror the girl felt +for them. The more she saw of them the more repulsive they +seemed. Often her body was shaken by convulsive shudders as she +looked at the kaldanes, but when her eyes wandered to the +beautiful bodies and she could for a moment expunge the heads +from her consciousness the effect was soothing and refreshing, +though when the bodies lay, headless, upon the floor they were +quite as shocking as the heads mounted on bodies. But by far the +most grewsome and uncanny sight of all was that of the heads +crawling about upon their spider legs. If one of these should +approach and touch her Tara of Helium was positive that she +should scream, while should one attempt to crawl up her +person--ugh! the very idea induced a feeling of faintness. + +Sept returned to the chamber. "Luud will see you and the captive. +Come!" he said, and turned toward a door opposite that through +which Tara of Helium had entered the chamber. "What is your +name?" His question was directed to the girl's captor. + +"I am Ghek, third foreman of the fields of Luud," he answered. + +"And hers?" + +"I do not know." + +"It makes no difference. Come!" + +The patrician brows of Tara of Helium went high. It made no +difference, indeed! She, a princess of Helium; only daughter of +The Warlord of Barsoom! + +"Wait!" she cried. "It makes much difference who I am. If you are +conducting me into the presence of your jed you may announce The +Princess Tara of Helium, daughter of John Carter, The Warlord of +Barsoom." + +"Hold your peace!" commanded Sept. "Speak when you are spoken to. +Come with me!" + +The anger of Tara of Helium all but choked her. "Come," +admonished Ghek, and took her by the arm, and Tara of Helium +came. She was naught but a prisoner. Her rank and titles meant +nothing to these inhuman monsters. They led her through a short, +S-shaped passageway into a chamber entirely lined with the white, +tile-like material with which the interior of the light wall was +faced. Close to the base of the walls were numerous smaller +apertures, circular in shape, but larger than those of similar +aspect that she had noted elsewhere. The majority of these +apertures were sealed. Directly opposite the entrance was one +framed in gold, and above it a peculiar device was inlaid in the +same precious metal. + +Sept and Ghek halted just within the room, the girl between them, +and all three stood silently facing the opening in the opposite +wall. On the floor beside the aperture lay a headless male body +of almost heroic proportions, and on either side of this stood a +heavily armed warrior, with drawn sword. For perhaps five minutes +the three waited and then something appeared in the opening. It +was a pair of large chelae and immediately thereafter there +crawled forth a hideous kaldane of enormous proportions. He was +half again as large as any that Tara of Helium had yet seen and +his whole aspect infinitely more terrible. The skin of the others +was a bluish gray--this one was of a little bluer tinge and the +eyes were ringed with bands of white and scarlet, as was its +mouth. + +From each nostril a band of white and one of scarlet extended +outward horizontally the width of the face. + +No one spoke or moved. The creature crawled to the prostrate body +and affixed itself to the neck. Then the two rose as one and +approached the girl. He looked at her and then he spoke to her +captor. + +"You are the third foreman of the fields of Luud?" he asked. + +"Yes, Luud; I am called Ghek." + +"Tell me what you know of this," and he nodded toward Tara of +Helium. + +Ghek did as he was bid and then Luud addressed the girl. + +"What were you doing within the borders of Bantoom?" he asked. + +"I was blown hither in a great storm that injured my flier and +carried me I knew not where. I came down into the valley at night +for food and drink. The banths came and drove me to the safety of +a tree, and then your people caught me as I was trying to leave +the valley. I do not know why they took me. I was doing no harm. +All I ask is that you let me go my way in peace." + +"None who enters Bantoom ever leaves," replied Luud. + +"But my people are not at war with yours. I am a princess of +Helium; my great-grandfather is a jeddak; my grandfather a jed; +and my father is Warlord of all Barsoom. You have no right to +keep me and I demand that you liberate me at once." + +"None who enters Bantoom ever leaves," repeated the creature +without expression. "I know nothing of the lesser creatures of +Barsoom, of whom you speak. There is but one high race--the race +of Bantoomians. All Nature exists to serve them. You shall do +your share, but not yet--you are too skinny. We shall have to put +some fat upon it, Sept. I tire of rykor. Perhaps this will have a +different flavor. The banths are too rank and it is seldom that +any other creature enters the valley. And you, Ghek; you shall be +rewarded. I shall promote you from the fields to the burrows. +Hereafter you shall remain underground as every Bantoomian longs +to. No more shall you be forced to endure the hated sun, or look +upon the hideous sky, or the hateful growing things that defile +the surface. For the present you shall look after this thing that +you have brought me, seeing that it sleeps and eats--and does +nothing else. You understand me, Ghek; nothing else!" + +"I understand, Luud," replied the other. + +"Take it away!" commanded the creature. + +Ghek turned and led Tara of Helium from the apartment. The girl +was horrified by contemplation of the fate that awaited her--a +fate from which it seemed, there was no escape. It was only too +evident that these creatures possessed no gentle or chivalric +sentiments to which she could appeal, and that she might escape +from the labyrinthine mazes of their underground burrows appeared +impossible. + +Outside the audience chamber Sept overtook them and conversed +with Ghek for a brief period, then her keeper led her through a +confusing web of winding tunnels until they came to a small +apartment. + +"We are to remain here for a while. It may be that Luud will send +for you again. If he does you will probably not be fattened--he +will use you for another purpose." It was fortunate for the +girl's peace of mind that she did not realize what he meant. +"Sing for me," said Ghek, presently. + +Tara of Helium did not feel at all like singing, but she sang, +nevertheless, for there was always the hope that she might escape +if given the opportuntiy and if she could win the friendship of +one of the creatures, her chances would be increased +proportionately. All during the ordeal, for such it was to the +overwrought girl, Ghek stood with his eyes fixed upon her. + +"It is wonderful," he said, when she had finished; "but I did not +tell Luud--you noticed that I did not tell Luud about it. Had he +known, he would have had you sing to him and that would have +resulted in your being kept with him that he might hear you sing +whenever he wished; but now I can have you all the time." + +"How do you know he would like my singing?" she asked. + +"He would have to," replied Ghek. "If I like a thing he has to +like it, for are we not identical--all of us?" + +"The people of my race do not all like the same things," said the +girl. + +"How strange!" commented Ghek. "All kaldanes like the same things +and dislike the same things. If I discover something new and like +it I know that all kaldanes will like it. That is how I know that +Luud would like your singing. You see we are all exactly alike." + +"But you do not look like Luud," said the girl. + +"Luud is king. He is larger and more gorgeously marked; but +otherwise he and I are identical, and why not? Did not Luud +produce the egg from which I hatched?" + +"What?" queried the girl; "I do not understand you." + +"Yes," explained Ghek, "all of us are from Luud's eggs, just as +all the swarm of Moak are from Moak's eggs." + +"Oh!" exclaimed Tara of Helium understandingly; "you mean that +Luud has many wives and that you are the offspring of one of +them." + +"No, not that at all," replied Ghek. "Luud has no wife. He lays +the eggs himself. You do not understand." + +Tara of Helium admitted that she did not. + +"I will try to explain, then," said Ghek, "if you will promise to +sing to me later." + +"I promise," she said. + +"We are not like the rykors," he began. "They are creatures of a +low order, like yourself and the banths and such things. We have +no sex--not one of us except our king, who is bi-sexual. He +produces many eggs from which we, the workers and the warriors, +are hatched; and one in every thousand eggs is another king egg, +from which a king is hatched. Did you notice the sealed openings +in the room where you saw Luud? Sealed in each of those is +another king. If one of them escaped he would fall upon Luud and +try to kill him and if he succeeded we should have a new king; +but there would be no difference. His name would be Luud and all +would go on as before, for are we not all alike? Luud has lived a +long time and has produced many kings, so he lets only a few live +that there may be a successor to him when he dies. The others he +kills." + +"Why does he keep more than one?" queried the girl. + +"Sometimes accidents occur," replied Ghek, "and all the kings +that a swarm has saved are killed. When this happens the swarm +comes and obtains another king from a neighboring swarm." + +"Are all of you the children of Luud?" she asked. + +"All but a few, who are from the eggs of the preceding king, as +was Luud; but Luud has lived a long time and not many of the +others are left." + +"You live a long time, or short?" Tara asked. + +"A very long time." + +"And the rykors, too; they live a long time?" + +"No; the rykors live for ten years, perhaps," he said, "if they +remain strong and useful. When they can no longer be of service +to us, either through age or sickness, we leave them in the +fields and the banths come at night and get them." + +"How horrible!" she exclaimed. + +"Horrible?" he repeated. "I see nothing horrible about that. + +The rykors are but brainless flesh. They neither see, nor feel, +nor hear. They can scarce move but for us. If we did not bring +them food they would starve to death. They are less deserving of +thought than our leather. All that they can do for themselves is +to take food from a trough and put it in their mouths, but with +us--look at them!" and he proudly exhibited the noble figure that +he surmounted, palpitant with life and energy and feeling. + +"How do you do it?" asked Tara of Helium. "I do not understand it +at all." + +"I will show you," he said, and lay down upon the floor. Then he +detached himself from the body, which lay as a thing dead. On his +spider legs he walked toward the girl. "Now look," he admonished +her. "Do you see this thing?" and he extended what appeared to be +a bundle of tentacles from the posterior part of his head. "There +is an aperture just back of the rykor's mouth and directly over +the upper end of his spinal column. Into this aperture I insert +my tentacles and seize the spinal cord. Immediately I control +every muscle of the rykor's body--it becomes my own, just as you +direct the movement of the muscles of your body. I feel what the +rykor would feel if he had a head and brain. If he is hurt, I +would suffer if I remained connected with him; but the instant +one of them is injured or becomes sick we desert it for another. +As we would suffer the pains of their physical injuries, +similarly do we enjoy the physical pleasures of the rykors. When +your body becomes fatigued you are comparatively useless; it is +sick, you are sick; if it is killed, you die. You are the slave +of a mass of stupid flesh and bone and blood. There is nothing +more wonderful about your carcass than there is about the carcass +of a banth. It is only your brain that makes you superior to the +banth, but your brain is bound by the limitations of your body. +Not so, ours. With us brain is everything. Ninety per centum of +our volume is brain. We have only the simplest of vital organs +and they are very small for they do not have to assist in the +support of a complicated system of nerves, muscles, flesh and +bone. We have no lungs, for we do not require air. Far below the +levels to which we can take the rykors is a vast network of +burrows where the real life of the kaldane is lived. There the +air-breathing rykor would perish as you would perish. There we +have stored vast quantities of food in hermetically sealed +chambers. It will last forever. Far beneath the surface is water +that will flow for countless ages after the surface water is +exhausted. We are preparing for the time we know must come--the +time when the last vestige of the Barsoomian atmosphere is +spent--when the waters and the food are gone. For this purpose +were we created, that there might not perish from the planet +Nature's divinest creation--the perfect brain." + +"But what purpose can you serve when that time comes?" asked the +girl. + +"You do not understand," he said. "It is too big for you to +grasp, but I will try to explain it. Barsoom, the moons, the sun, +the stars, were created for a single purpose. From the beginning +of time Nature has labored arduously toward the consummation of +this purpose. At the very beginning things existed with life, but +with no brain. Gradually rudimentary nervous systems and minute +brains evolved. Evolution proceeded. The brains became larger and +more powerful. In us you see the highest development; but there +are those of us who believe that there is yet another step--that +some time in the far future our race shall develop into the +super-thing--just brain. The incubus of legs and chelae and vital +organs will be removed. The future kaldane will be nothing but a +great brain. Deaf, dumb, and blind it will lie sealed in its +buried vault far beneath the surface of Barsoom--just a great, +wonderful, beautiful brain with nothing to distract it from +eternal thought." + +"You mean it will just lie there and think?" cried Tara of +Helium. + +"Just that!" he exclaimed. "Could aught be more wonderful?" + +"Yes," replied the girl, "I can think of a number of things that +would be infinitely more wonderful." + + + +CHAPTER VI + +IN THE TOILS OF HORROR + +WHAT the creature had told her gave Tara of Helium food for +thought. She had been taught that every created thing fulfilled +some useful purpose, and she tried conscientiously to discover +just what was the rightful place of the kaldane in the universal +scheme of things. She knew that it must have its place but what +that place was it was beyond her to conceive. She had to give it +up. They recalled to her mind a little group of people in Helium +who had forsworn the pleasures of life in the pursuit of +knowledge. They were rather patronizing in their relations with +those whom they thought not so intellectual. They considered +themselves quite superior. She smiled at recollection of a remark +her father had once made concerning them, to the effect that if +one of them ever dropped his egotism and broke it it would take a +week to fumigate Helium. Her father liked normal people--people +who knew too little and people who knew too much were equally a +bore. Tara of Helium was like her father in this respect and like +him, too, she was both sane and normal. + +Outside of her personal danger there was much in this strange +world that interested her. The rykors aroused her keenest pity, +and vast conjecture. How and from what form had they evolved? She +asked Ghek. + +"Sing to me again and I will tell you," he said. "If Luud would +let me have you, you should never die. I should keep you always +to sing to me." + +The girl marvelled at the effect her voice had upon the creature. +Somewhere in that enormous brain there was a chord that was +touched by melody. It was the sole link between herself and the +brain when detatched from the rykor. When it dominated the rykor +it might have other human instincts; but these she dreaded even +to think of. After she had sung she waited for Ghek to speak. For +a long time he was silent, just looking at her through those +awful eyes. + +"I wonder," he said presently, "if it might not be pleasant to be +of your race. Do you all sing?" + +"Nearly all, a little," she said; "but we do many other +interesting and enjoyable things. We dance and play and work and +love and sometimes we fight, for we are a race of warriors." + +"Love!" said the kaldane. "I think I know what you mean; but we, +fortunately, are above sentiment--when we are detached. But when +we dominate the rykor--ah, that is different, and when I hear you +sing and look at your beautiful body I know what you mean by +love. I could love you." + +The girl shrank from him. "You promised to tell me the origin of +the rykor," she reminded him. + +"Ages ago," he commenced, "our bodies were larger and our heads +smaller. Our legs were very weak and we could not travel fast or +far. There was a stupid creature that went upon four legs. It +lived in a hole in the ground, to which it brought its food, so +we ran our burrows into this hole and ate the food it brought; +but it did not bring enough for all--for itself and all the +kaldanes that lived upon it, so we had also to go abroad and get +food. This was hard work for our weak legs. Then it was that we +commenced to ride upon the backs of these primitive rykors. It +took many ages, undoubtedly, but at last came the time when the +kaldane had found means to guide the rykor, until presently the +latter depended entirely upon the superior brain of his master to +guide him to food. The brain of the rykor grew smaller as time +went on. His ears went and his eyes, for he no longer had use for +them--the kaldane saw and heard for him. By similar steps the +rykor came to go upon its hind feet that the kaldane might be +able to see farther. As the brain shrank, so did the head. The +mouth was the only feature of the head that was used and so the +mouth alone remains. Members of the red race fell into the hands +of our ancestors from time to time. They saw the beauties and the +advantages of the form that nature had given the red race over +that which the rykor was developing into. By intelligent crossing +the present rykor was achieved. He is really solely the product +of the super-intelligence of the kaldane--he is our body, to do +with as we see fit, just as you do what you see fit with your +body, only we have the advantage of possessing an unlimited +supply of bodies. Do you not wish that you were a kaldane?" + +For how long they kept her in the subterranean chamber Tara of +Helium did not know. It seemed a very long time. She ate and +slept and watched the interminable lines of creatures that passed +the entrance to her prison. There was a laden line passing from +above carrying food, food, food. In the other line they returned +empty handed. When she saw them she knew that it was daylight +above. When they did not pass she knew it was night, and that the +banths were about devouring the rykors that had been abandoned in +the fields the previous day. She commenced to grow pale and thin. +She did not like the food they gave her--it was not suited to her +kind--nor would she have eaten overmuch palatable food, for the +fear of becoming fat. The idea of plumpness had a new +significance here--a horrible significance. + +Ghek noted that she was growing thin and white. He spoke to her +about it and she told him that she could not thrive thus beneath +the ground--that she must have fresh air and sunshine, or she +would wither and die. Evidently he carried her words to Luud, +since it was not long after that he told her that the king had +ordered that she be confined in the tower and to the tower she +was taken. She had hoped against hope that this very thing might +result from her conversation with Ghek. Even to see the sun again +was something, but now there sprang to her breast a hope that she +had not dared to nurse before, while she lay in the terrible +labyrinth from which she knew she could never have found her way +to the outer world; but now there was some slight reason to hope. +At least she could see the hills and if she could see them might +there not come also the opportunity to reach them? If she could +have but ten minutes--just ten little minutes! The flier was +still there--she knew that it must be. Just ten minutes and she +would be free--free forever from this frightful place; but the +days wore on and she was never alone, not even for half of ten +minutes. Many times she planned her escape. Had it not been for +the banths it had been easy of accomplishment by night. Ghek +always detached his body then and sank into what seemed a +semi-comatose condition. It could not be said that he slept, or +at least it did not appear like sleep, since his lidless eyes +were unchanged; but he lay quietly in a corner. Tara of Helium +enacted a thousand times in her mind the scene of her escape. She +would rush to the side of the rykor and seize the sword that hung +in its harness. Before Ghek knew what she purposed, she would +have this and then before he could give an alarm she would drive +the blade through his hideous head. It would take but a moment to +reach the enclosure. The rykors could not stop her, for they had +no brains to tell them that she was escaping. She had watched +from her window the opening and closing of the gate that led from +the enclosure out into the fields and she knew how the great +latch operated. She would pass through and make a quick dash for +the hill. It was so near that they could not overtake her. It was +so easy! Or it would have been but for the banths! The banths at +night and the workers in the fields by day. + +Confined to the tower and without proper exercise or food, the +girl failed to show the improvement that her captors desired. +Ghek questioned her in an effort to learn why it was that she did +not grow round and plump; that she did not even look as well as +when they had captured her. His concern was prompted by repeated +inquiries on the part of Luud and finally resulted in suggesting +to Tara of Helium a plan whereby she might find a new opportunity +of escape. + +"I am accustomed to walking in the fresh air and the sunlight," +she told Ghek. "I cannot become as I was before if I am to be +always shut away in this one chamber, breathing poor air and +getting no proper exercise. Permit me to go out in the fields +every day and walk about while the sun is shining. Then, I am +sure, I shall become nice and fat." + +"You would run away," he said. + +"But how could I if you were always with me?" she asked. "And +even if I wished to run away where could I go? I do not know even +the direction of Helium. It must be very far. The very first +night the banths would get me, would they not?" + +"They would," said Ghek. "I will ask Luud about it." + +The following day he told her that Luud had said that she was to +be taken into the fields. He would try that for a time and see if +she improved. + +"If you do not grow fatter he will send for you anyway," said +Ghek; "but he will not use you for food." + +Tara of Helium shuddered. + +That day and for many days thereafter she was taken from the +tower, through the enclosure and out into the fields. Always was +she alert for an opportunity to escape; but Ghek was always close +by her side. It was not so much his presence that deterred her +from making the attempt as the number of workers that were always +between her and the hills where the flier lay. She could easily +have eluded Ghek, but there were too many of the others. And +then, one day, Ghek told her as he accompanied her into the open +that this would be the last time. + +"Tonight you go to Luud," he said. "I am sorry as I shall not +hear you sing again." + +"Tonight!" She scarce breathed the word, yet it was vibrant with +horror. + +She glanced quickly toward the hills. They were so dose! Yet +between were the inevitable workers--perhaps a score of them. + +"Let us walk over there?" she said, indicating them. "I should +like to see what they are doing." + +"It is too far," said Ghek. "I hate the sun. It is much +pleasanter here where I can stand beneath the shade of this +tree." + +"All right," she agreed; "then you stay here and I will walk +over. It will take me but a minute." + +"No," he answered. "I will go with you. You want to escape; but +you are not going to." + +"I cannot escape," she said. + +"I know it," agreed Ghek; "but you might try. I do not wish you +to try. Possibly it will be better if we return to the tower at +once. It would go hard with me should you escape." + +Tara of Helium saw her last chance fading into oblivion. There +would never be another after today. She cast about for some +pretext to lure him even a little nearer to the hills. + +"It is very little that I ask," she said. "Tonight you will want +me to sing to you. It will be the last time, if you do not let me +go and see what those kaldanes are doing I shall never sing to +you again." + +Ghek hesitated. "I will hold you by the arm all the time, then," +he said. + +"Why, of course, if you wish," she assented. "Come!" + +The two moved toward the workers and the hills. The little party +was digging tubers from the ground. She had noted this and that +nearly always they were stooped low over their work, the hideous +eyes bent upon the upturned soil. She led Ghek quite close to +them, pretending that she wished to see exactly how they did the +work, and all the time he held her tightly by her left wrist. + +"It is very interesting," she said, with a sigh, and then, +suddenly; "Look, Ghek!" and pointed quickly back in the direction +of the tower. The kaldane, still holding her turned half away +from her to look in the direction she had indicated and +simultaneously, with the quickness of a banth, she struck him +with her right fist, backed by every ounce of strength she +possessed--struck the back of the pulpy head just above the +collar. The blow was sufficient to accomplish her design, +dislodging the kaldane from its rykor and tumbling it to the +ground. Instantly the grasp upon her wrist relaxed as the body, +no longer controlled by the brain of Ghek, stumbled aimlessly +about for an instant before it sank to its knees and then rolled +over on its back; but Tara of Helium waited not to note the full +results of her act. The instant the fingers loosened upon her +wrist she broke away and dashed toward the hills. Simultaneously +a warning whistle broke from Ghek's lips and in instant response +the workers leaped to their feet, one almost in the girl's path. +She dodged the outstretched arms and was away again toward the +hills and freedom, when her foot caught in one of the hoe-like +instruments with which the soil had been upturned and which had +been left, half imbedded in the ground. For an instant she ran +on, stumbling, in a mad effort to regain her equilibrium, but the +upturned furrows caught her feet--again she stumbled and this +time went down, and as she scrambled to rise again a heavy body +fell upon her and seized her arms. A moment later she was +surrounded and dragged to her feet and as she looked around she +saw Ghek crawling to his prostrate rykor. A moment later he +advanced to her side. + +The hideous face, incapable of registering emotion, gave no clue +to what was passing in the enormous brain. Was he nursing +thoughts of anger, of hate, of revenge? Tara of Helium could not +guess, nor did she care. The worst had happened. She had tried to +escape and she had failed. There would never be another +opportunity. + +"Come!" said Ghek. "We will return to the tower." The deadly +monotone of his voice was unbroken. It was worse than anger, for +it revealed nothing of his intentions. It but increased her +horror of these great brains that were beyond the possibility of +human emotions. + +And so she was dragged back to her prison in the tower and Ghek +took up his vigil again, squatting by the doorway, but now he +carried a naked sword in his hand and did not quit his rykor, +only to change to another that be had brought to him when the +first gave indications of weariness. The girl sat looking at him. +He had not been unkind to her, but she felt no sense of +gratitude, nor, on the other hand, any sense of hatred. The +brains, incapable themselves of any of the finer sentiments, +awoke none in her. She could not feel gratitude, or affection, or +hatred of them. There was only the same unceasing sense of horror +in their presence. She had heard great scientists discuss the +future of the red race and she recalled that some had maintained +that eventually the brain would entirely dominate the man. There +would be no more instinctive acts or emotions, nothing would be +done on impulse; but on the contrary reason would direct our +every act. The propounder of the theory regretted that he might +never enjoy the blessings of such a state, which, he argued, +would result in the ideal life for mankind. + +Tara of Helium wished with all her heart that this learned +scientist might be here to experience to the full the practical +results of the fulfillment of his prophecy. Between the purely +physical rykor and the purely mental kaldane there was little +choice; but in the happy medium of normal, and imperfect man, as +she knew him, lay the most desirable state of existence. It would +have been a splendid object lesson, she thought, to all those +idealists who seek mass perfection in any phase of human +endeavor, since here they might discover the truth that absolute +perfection is as little to be desired as is its antithesis. + +Gloomy were the thoughts that filled the mind of Tara of Helium +as she awaited the summons from Luud--the summons that could mean +for her but one thing; death. She guessed why he had sent for her +and she knew that she must find the means for self-destruction +before the night was over; but still she clung to hope and to +life. She would not give up until there was no other way. She +startled Ghek once by exclaiming aloud, almost fiercely: "I still +live!" + +"What do you mean?" asked the kaldane. + +"I mean just what I say," she replied. "I still live and while I +live I may still find a way. Dead, there is no hope." + +"Find a way to what?" he asked. + +"To life and liberty and mine own people," she responded. + +"None who enters Bantoom ever leaves," he droned. + +She did not reply and after a time he spoke again. "Sing to me," +he said. + +It was while she was singing that four warriors came to take her +to Luud. They told Ghek that he was to remain where he was. + +"Why?" asked Ghek. + +"You have displeased Luud," replied one of the warriors. + +"How?" demanded Ghek. + +"You have demonstrated a lack of uncontaminated reasoning power. +You have permitted sentiment to influence you, thus demonstrating +that you are a defective. You know the fate of defectives." + +"I know the fate of defectives, but I am no defective," insisted +Ghek. + +"You permitted the strange noises which issue from her throat to +please and soothe you, knowing well that their origin and purpose +had nothing whatever to do with logic or the powers of reason. +This in itself constitutes an unimpeachable indictment of +weakness, Then, influenced doubtless by an illogical feeling of +sentiment, you permitted her to walk abroad in the fields to a +place where she was able to make an almost successful attmept to +escape. Your own reasoning power, were it not defective, would +convince you that you are unfit. The natural, and reasonable, +consequence is destruction. Therefore you will be destroyed in +such a way that the example will be beneficial to all other +kaldanes of the swarm of Luud. In the meantime you will remain +where you are." + +"You are right," said Ghek. "I will remain here until Luud sees +fit to destroy me in the most reasonable manner." + +Tara of Helium shot a look of amazement at him as they led her +from the chamber. Over her shoulder she called back to him: +"Remember, Ghek, you still live!" Then they led her along the +interminable tunnels to where Luud awaited her. + +When she was conducted into his presence he was squatting in a +corner of the chamber upon his six spidery legs. Near the +opposite wall lay his rykor, its beautiful form trapped in +gorgeous harness--a dead thing without a guiding kaldane. Luud +dismissed the warriors who had accompanied the prisoner. Then he +sat with his terrible eyes fixed upon her and without speaking +for some time. Tara of Helium could but wait. What was to come +she could only guess. When it came would be sufficiently the time +to meet it. There was no neccessity for anticipating the end. +Presently Luud spoke. + +"You think to escape," he said, in the deadly, expressionless +monotone of his kind--the only possible result of orally +expressing reason uninfluenced by sentiment. "You will not +escape. You are merely the embodiment of two imperfect things--an +imperfect brain and an imperfect body. The two cannot exist +together in perfection. There you see a perfect body." He pointed +toward the rykor. "It has no brain. Here," and he raised one of +his chelae to his head, "is the perfect brain. It needs no body +to function perfectly and properly as a brain. You would pit your +feeble intellect against mine! Even now you are planning to slay +me. If you are thwarted in that you expect to slay yourself. You +will learn the power of mind over matter. I am the mind. You are +the matter. What brain you have is too weak and ill-developed to +deserve the name of brain. You have permitted it to be weakened +by impulsive acts dictated by sentiment. It has no value. It has +practically no control over your existence. You will not kill me. +You will not kill yourself. When I am through with you you shall +be killed if it seems the logical thing to do. You have no +conception of the possibilities for power which lie in a +perfectly developed brain. Look at that rykor. He has no brain. +He can move but slightly of his own volition. An inherent +mechanical instinct that we have permitted to remain in him +allows him to carry food to his mouth; but he could not find food +for himself. We have to place it within his reach and always in +the same place. Should we put food at his feet and leave him +alone he would starve to death. But now watch what a real brain +may accomplish." + +He turned his eyes upon the rykor and squatted there glaring at +the insensate thing. Presently, to the girl's horror, the +headless body moved. It rose slowly to its feet and crossed the +room to Luud; it stooped and took the hideous head in its hands; +it raised the head and set it on its shoulders. + +"What chance have you against such power?" asked Luud. "As I did +with the rykor so can I do with you." + +Tara of Helium made no reply. Evidently no vocal reply was +necessary. + +"You doubt my ability!" stated Luud, which was precisely the +fact, though the girl had only thought it--she had not said it. + +Luud crossed the room and lay down. Then he detached himself from +the body and crawled across the floor until he stood directly in +front of the circular opening through which she had seen him +emerge the day that she had first been brought to his presence. +He stopped there and fastened his terrible eyes upon her. He did +not speak, but his eyes seemed to be boring straight to the +center of her brain. She felt an almost irresistible force urging +her toward the kaldane. She fought to resist it; she tried to +turn away her eyes, but she could not. They were held as in +horrid fascination upon the glittering, lidless orbs of the great +brain that faced her. Slowly, every step a painful struggle of +resistance, she moved toward the horrific monster. She tried to +cry aloud in an effort to awaken her numbing faculties, but no +sound passed her lips. If those eyes would but turn away, just +for an instant, she felt that she might regain the power to +control her steps; but the eyes never left hers. They seemed but +to burn deeper and deeper, gathering up every vestige of control +of her entire nervous system. + +As she approached the thing it backed slowly away upon its spider +legs. She noticed that its chelae waved slowly to and fro before +it as it backed, backed, backed, through the round aperture in +the wall. Must she follow it there, too? What new and nameless +horror lay concealed in that hidden chamber? No! she would not do +it. Yet before she reached the wall she found herself down and +crawling upon her hands and knees straight toward the hole from +which the two eyes still clung to hers. At the very threshold of +the opening she made a last, heroic stand, battling against the +force that drew her on; but in the end she succumbed. With a gasp +that ended in a sob Tara of Helium passed through the aperture +into the chamber beyond. + +The opening was but barely large enough to admit her. Upon the +opposite side she found herself in a small chamber. Before her +squatted Luud. Against the opposite wall lay a large and +beautiful male rykor. He was without harness or other trappings. + +"You see now," said Luud, "the futility of revolt." + +The words seemed to release her momentarily from the spell. +Quickly she turned away her eyes. + +"Look at me!" commanded Luud. + +Tara of Helium kept her eyes averted. She felt a new strength, or +at least a diminution of the creature's power over her. Had she +stumbled upon the secret of its uncanny domination over her will? +She dared not hope. With eyes averted she turned toward the +aperture through which those baleful eyes had drawn her. Again +Luud commanded her to stop, but the voice alone lacked all +authority to influence her. It was not like the eyes. She heard +the creature whistle and knew that it was summoning assistance, +but because she did not dare look toward it she did not see it +turn and concentrate its gaze upon the great, headless body lying +by the further wall. + +The girl was still slightly under the spell of the creature's +influence--she had not regained full and independent domination +of her powers. She moved as one in the throes of some hideous +nightmare--slowly, painfully, as though each limb was hampered by +a great weight, or as she were dragging her body through a +viscous fluid. The aperture was close, ah, so close, yet, +struggle as she would, she seemed to be making no appreciable +progress toward it. + +Behind her, urged on by the malevolent power of the great brain, +the headless body crawled upon all-fours toward her. At last she +had reached the aperture. Something seemed to tell her that once +beyond it the domination of the kaldane would be broken. She was +almost through into the adjoining chamber when she felt a heavy +hand close upon her ankle. The rykor had reached forth and seized +her, and though she struggled the thing dragged her back into the +room with Luud. It held her tight and drew her close, and then, +to her horror, it commenced to caress her. + +"You see now," she heard Luud's dull voice, "the futility of +revolt--and its punishment." + +Tara of Helium fought to defend herself, but pitifully weak were +her muscles against this brainless incarnation of brute power. +Yet she fought, fought on in the face of hopeless odds for the +honor of the proud name she bore--fought alone, she whom the +fighting men of a mighty empire, the flower of Martian chivalry, +would gladly have lain down their lives to save. + + + +CHAPTER VII + +A REPELLENT SIGHT + +THE cruiser Vanator careened through the tempest That she had not +been dashed to the ground, or twisted by the force of the +elements into tangled wreckage, was due entirely to the caprice +of Nature. For all the duration of the storm she rode, a helpless +derelict, upon those storm-tossed waves of wind. But for all the +dangers and vicissitudes they underwent, she and her crew might +have borne charmed lives up to within an hour of the abating of +the hurricane. It was then that the catastrophe occurred--a +catastrophe indeed to the crew of the Vanator and the kingdom of +Gathol. + +The men had been without food or drink since leaving Helium, and +they had been hurled about and buffeted in their lashings until +all were worn to exhaustion. There was a brief lull in the storm +during which one of the crew attempted to reach his quarters, +after releasing the lashings which had held him to the precarious +safety of the deck. The act in itself was a direct violation of +orders and, in the eyes of the other members of the crew, the +effect, which came with startling suddenness, took the form of a +swift and terrible retribution. Scarce had the man released the +safety snaps ere a swift arm of the storm-monster encircled the +ship, rolling it over and over, with the result that the +foolhardy warrior went overboard at the first turn. + +Unloosed from their lashing by the constant turning and twisting +of the ship and the force of the wind, the boarding and landing +tackle had been trailing beneath the keel, a tangled mass of +cordage and leather. Upon the occasions that the Vanator rolled +completely over, these things would be wrapped around her until +another revolution in the opposite direction, or the wind itself, +carried them once again clear of the deck to trail, whipping in +the storm, beneath the hurtling ship. + +Into this fell the body of the warrior, and as a drowning man +clutches at a straw so the fellow clutched at the tangled cordage +that caught him and arrested his fall. With the strength of +desperation he clung to the cordage, seeking frantically to +entangle his legs and body in it. With each jerk of the ship his +hand holds were all but torn loose, and though he knew that +eventually they would be and that he must be dashed to the ground +beneath, yet he fought with the madness that is born of +hopelessness for the pitiful second which but prolonged his +agony. + +It was upon this sight then that Gahan of Gathol looked, over the +edge of the careening deck of the Vanator, as he sought to learn +the fate of his warrior. Lashed to the gunwale close at hand a +single landing leather that had not fouled the tangled mass +beneath whipped free from the ship's side, the hook snapping at +its outer end. The Jed of Gathol grasped the situation in a +single glance. Below him one of his people looked into the eyes +of Death. To the jed's hand lay the means for succor. + +There was no instant's hesitation. Casting off his deck lashings, +he seized the landing leather and slipped over the ship's side. +Swinging like a bob upon a mad pendulum he swung far out and back +again, turning and twisting three thousand feet above the surface +of Barsoom, and then, at last, the thing he had hoped for +occurred. He was carried within reach of the cordage where the +warrior still clung, though with rapidly diminishing strength. +Catching one leg on a loop of the tangled strands Gahan pulled +himself close enough to seize another quite near to the fellow. +Clinging precariously to this new hold the jed slowly drew in the +landing leather, down which he had clambered until he could grasp +the hook at its end. This he fastened to a ring in the warrior's +harness, just before the man's weakened fingers slipped from +their hold upon the cordage. + +Temporarily, at least, he had saved the life of his subject, + +and now he turned his attention toward insuring his own safety. +Inextricably entangled in the mess to which he was clinging were +numerous other landing hooks such as he had attached to the +warrior's harness, and with one of these he sought to secure +himself until the storm should abate sufficiently to permit him +to climb to the deck, but even as he reached for one that swung +near him the ship was caught in a renewed burst of the storm's +fury, the thrashing cordage whipped and snapped to the lunging of +the great craft and one of the heavy metal hooks, lashing through +the air, struck the Jed of Gathol fair between the eyes. + +Momentarily stunned, Gahan's fingers slipped from their hold upon +the cordage and the man shot downward through the thin air of +dying Mars toward the ground three thousand feet beneath, while +upon the deck of the rolling Vanator his faithful warriors clung +to their lashings all unconscious of the fate of their beloved +leader; nor was it until more than an hour later, after the storm +had materially subsided, that they realized he was lost, or knew +the self-sacrificing heroism of the act that had sealed his doom. +The Vanator now rested upon an even keel as she was carried along +by a strong, though steady, wind. The warriors had cast off their +deck lashings and the officers were taking account of losses and +damage when a weak cry was heard from oversides, attracting their +attention to the man hanging in the cordage beneath the keel. +Strongs arms hoisted him to the deck and then it was that the +crew of the Vanator learned of the heroism of their jed and his +end. How far they had traveled since his loss they could only +vaguely guess, nor could they return in search of him in the +disabled condition of the ship. It was a saddened company that +drifted onward through the air toward whatever destination Fate +was to choose for them. + +And Gahan, Jed of Gathol--what of him? Plummet-like he fell for a +thousand feet and then the storm seized him in its giant clutch +and bore him far aloft again. As a bit of paper borne upon a gale +he was tossed about in mid-air, the sport and plaything of the +wind. Over and over it turned him and upward and downward it +carried him, but after each new sally of the element he was +brought nearer to the ground. The freaks of cyclonic storms are +the rule of cyclonic storms, demolish giant trees, and in the +same gust they transport frail infants for miles and deposit them +unharmed in their wake. + +And so it was with Gahan of Gathol. Expecting momentarily to be +dashed to destruction he presently found himself deposited gently +upon the soft, ochre moss of a dead sea-bottom, bodily no worse +off for his harrowing adventure than in the possession of a +slight swelling upon his forehead where the metal hook had struck +him. Scarcely able to believe that Fate had dealt thus gently +with him, the jed arose slowly, as though more than half +convinced that he should discover crushed and splintered bones +that would not support his weight. But he was intact. He looked +about him in a vain effort at orientation. The air was filled +with flying dust and debris. The Sun was obliterated. His vision +was confined to a radius of a few hundred yards of ochre moss and +dust-filled air. Five hundred yards away in any direction there +might have arisen the walls of a great city and he not known it. +It was useless to move from where he was until the air cleared, +since he could not know in what direction he was moving, and so +he stretched himself upon the moss and waited, pondering the fate +of his warriors and his ship, but giving little thought to his +own precarious situation. + +Lashed to his harness were his swords, his pistols, and a dagger, +and in his pocket-pouch a small quantity of the concentrated +rations that form a part of the equipment of the fighting men of +Barsoom. These things together with trained muscles, high +courage, and an undaunted spirit sufficed him for whatever +misadventures might lie between him and Gathol, which lay in what +direction he knew not, nor at what distance. + +The wind was falling rapidly and with it the dust that obscured +the landscape. That the storm was over he was convinced, but he +chafed at the inactivity the low visibility put upon him, nor did +conditions better materially before night fell, so that he was +forced to await the new day at the very spot at which the tempest +had deposited him. Without his sleeping silks and furs he spent a +far from comfortable night, and it was with feelings of unmixed +relief that he saw the sudden dawn burst upon him. The air was +now clear and in the light of the new day he saw an undulating +plain stretching in all directions about him, while to the +northwest there were barely discernible the outlines of low +hills. Toward the southeast of Gathol was such a country, and as +Gahan surmised the direction and the velocity of the storm to +have carried him somewhere in the vicinity of the country he +thought he recognized, he assumed that Gathol lay behind the +hills he now saw, whereas, in reality, it lay far to the +northeast. + +It was two days before Gahan had crossed the plain and reached +the summit of the hills from which he hoped to see his own +country, only to meet at last with disappointment. Before him +stretched another plain, of even greater proportions than that he +had but just crossed, and beyond this other hills. In one +material respect this plain differed from that behind him in that +it was dotted with occasional isolated hills. Convinced, however, +that Gathol lay somewhere in the direction of his search he +descended into the valley and bent his steps toward the +northwest. + +For weeks Gahan of Gathol crossed valleys and hills in search of +some familiar landmark that might point his way toward his native +land, but the summit of each succeeding ridge revealed but +another unfamiliar view. He saw few animals and no men, until he +finally came to the belief that he had fallen upon that fabled +area of ancient Barsoom which lay under the curse of her olden +gods--the once rich and fertile country whose people in their +pride and arrogance had denied the deities, and whose punishment +had been extermination. + +And then, one day, he scaled low hills and looked into an +inhabited valley--a valley of trees and cultivated fields and +plots of ground enclosed by stone walls surrounding strange +towers. He saw people working in the fields, but he did not rush +down to greet them. First he must know more of them and whether +they might be assumed to be friends or enemies. Hidden by +concealing shrubbery he crawled to a vantage point upon a hill +that projected further into the valley, + +and here he lay upon his belly watching the workers closest to +him. They were still quite a distance from him and he could not +be quite sure of them, but there was something verging upon the +unnatural about them. Their heads seemed out of proportion to +their bodies--too large. + +For a long time he lay watching them and ever more forcibly it +was borne in upon his consciousness that they were not as he, and +that it would be rash to trust himself among them. Presently he +saw a couple appear from the nearest enclosure and slowly +approach those who were working nearest to the hill where he lay +in hiding. Immediately he was aware that one of these differed +from all the others. Even at the greater distance he noted that +the head was smaller and as they approached, he was confident +that the harness of one of them was not as the harness of its +companion or of that of any of those who tilled the fields. + +The two stopped often, apparently in argument, as though one +would proceed in the direction that they were going while the +other demurred. But each time the smaller won reluctant consent +from the other, and so they came closer and closer to the last +line of workers toiling between the enclosure from which they had +come and the hill where Gahan of Gathol lay watching, and then +suddenly the smaller figure struck its companion full in the +face. Gahan, horrified, saw the latter's head topple from its +body, saw the body stagger and fall to the ground. The man half +rose from his concealment the better to view the happening in the +valley below. The creature that had felled its companion was +dashing madly in the direction of the hill upon which he was +hidden, it dodged one of the workers that sought to seize it. +Gahan hoped that it would gain its liberty, why he did not know +other than at closer range it had every appearance of being a +creature of his own race. Then he saw it stumble and go down and +instantly its pursuers were upon it. Then it was that Gahan's +eyes chanced to return to the figure of the creature the fugitive +had felled. + +What horror was this that he was witnessing? Or were his eyes +playing some ghastly joke upon him? No, impossible though it +was--it was true--the head was moving slowly to the fallen body. +It placed itself upon the shoulders, the body rose, and the +creature, seemingly as good as new, ran quickly to where its +fellows were dragging the hapless captive to its feet. + +The watcher saw the creature take its prisoner by the arm and +lead it back to the enclosure, and even across the distance that +separated them from him he could note dejection and utter +hopelessness in the bearing of the prisoner, and, too, he was +half convinced that it was a woman, perhaps a red Martian of his +own race. Could he be sure that this was true he must make some +effort to rescue her even though the customs of his strange world +required it only in case she was of his own country; but he was +not sure; she might not be a red Martian at all, or, if she were, +it was as possible that she sprang from an enemy people as not. +His first duty was to return to his own people with as little +personal risk as possible, and though the thought of adventure +stirred his blood he put the temptation aside with a sigh and +turned away from the peaceful and beautiful valley that he longed +to enter, for it was his intention to skirt its eastern edge and +continue his search for Gathol beyond. + +As Gahan of Gathol turned his steps along the southern slopes of +the hills that bound Bantoom upon the south and east, his +attention was attracted toward a small cluster of trees a short +distance to his right. The low sun was casting long shadows. It +would soon be night. The trees were off the path that he had +chosen and he had little mind to be diverted from his way; but as +he looked again he hesitated. There was something there besides +boles of trees, and underbrush. There were suggestions of +familiar lines of the handicraft of man. Gahan stopped and +strained his eyes in the direction of the thing that had arrested +his attention. No, he must be mistaken--the branches of the trees +and a low bush had taken on an unnatural semblance in the +horizontal rays of the setting sun. He turned and continued upon +his way; but as he cast another side glance in the direction of +the object of his interest, the sun's rays were shot back into +his eyes from a glistening point of radiance among the trees. + +Gahan shook his head and walked quickly toward the mystery, +determined now to solve it. The shining object still lured him on +and when he had come closer to it his eyes went wide in surprise, +for the thing they saw was naught else than the jewel-encrusted +emblem upon the prow of a small flier. Gahan, his hand upon his +short-sword, moved silently forward, but as he neared the craft +he saw that he had naught to fear, for it was deserted. Then he +turned his attention toward the emblem. As its significance was +flashed to his understanding his face paled and his heart went +cold --it was the insignia of the house of The Warlord of +Barsoom. Instantly he saw the dejected figure of the captive +being led back to her prison in the valley just beyond the hills. +Tara of Helium! And he had been so near to deserting her to her +fate. The cold sweat stood in beads upon his brow. + +A hasty examination of the deserted craft unfolded to the young +jed the whole tragic story. The same tempest that had proved his +undoing had borne Tara of Helium to this distant country. Here, +doubtless, she had landed in hope of obtaining food and water +since, without a propellor, she could not hope to reach her +native city, or any other friendly port, other than by the merest +caprice of Fate. The flier seemed intact except for the missing +propellor and the fact that it had been carefully moored in the +shelter of the clump of trees indicated that the girl had +expected to return to it, while the dust and leaves upon its deck +spoke of the long days, and even weeks, since she had landed. +Mute yet eloquent proofs, these things, that Tara of Helium was a +prisoner, and that she was the very prisoner whose bold dash for +liberty he had so recently witnessed he now had not the slightest +doubt. + +The question now revolved solely about her rescue. He knew to +which tower she had been taken--that much and no more. Of the +number, the kind, or the disposition of her captors he renew +nothing; nor did he care--for Tara of Helium he would face a +hostile world alone. Rapidly he considered several plans for +succoring her; but the one that appealed most strongly to him was +that which offered the greatest chance of escape for the girl +should he be successful in reaching her. His decision reached he +turned his attention quickly toward the flier. Casting off its +lashings he dragged it out from beneath the trees, and, mounting +to the deck tested out the various controls. The motor started at +a touch and purred sweetly, the buoyancy tanks were well stocked, +and the ship answered perfectly to the controls which regulated +her altitude. There was nothing needed but a propellor to make +her fit for the long voyage to Helium. Gahan shrugged +impatiently--there must not be a propellor within a thousand +haads. But what mattered it? The craft even without a propellor +would still answer the purpose his plan required of it--provided +the captors of Tara of Helium were a people without ships, and he +had seen nothing to suggest that they had ships. The architecture +of their towers and enclosures assured him that they had not. + +The sudden Barsoomian night had fallen. Cluros rode majestically +the high heavens. The rumbling roar of a banth reverberated among +the hills. Gahan of Gathol let the ship rise a few feet from the +ground, then, seizing a bow rope, he dropped over the side. To +tow the little craft was now a thing of ease, and as Gahan moved +rapidly toward the brow of the hill above Bantoom the flier +floated behind him as lightly as a swan upon a quiet lake. Now +down the hill toward the tower dimly visible in the moonlight the +Gatholian turned his steps. Closer behind him sounded the roar of +the hunting banth. He wondered if the beast sought him or was +following some other spoor. He could not be delayed now by any +hungry beast of prey, for what might that very instant be +befalling Tara of Helium he could not guess; and so he hastened +his steps. But closer and closer came the horrid screams of the +great carnivore, and now he heard the swift fall of padded feet +upon the hillside behind him. He glanced back just in time to see +the beast break into a rapid charge. His hand leaped to the hilt +of his long-sword, but he did not draw, for in the same instant +he saw the futility of armed resistance, since behind the first +banth came a herd of at least a dozen others. There was but a +single alternative to a futile stand and that he grasped in the +instant that he saw the overwhelming numbers of his antagonists. + +Springing lightly from the ground he swarmed up the rope toward +the bow of the flier. His weight drew the craft slightly lower +and at the very instant that the man drew himself to the deck at +the bow of the vessel, the leading banth sprang for the stern. +Gahan leaped to his feet and rushed toward the great beast in the +hope of dislodging it before it had succeeded in clambering +aboard. At the same instant he saw that others of the banths were +racing toward them with the quite evident intention of following +their leader to the ship's deck. Should they reach it in any +numbers he would be lost. There was but a single hope. Leaping +for the altitude control Gahan pulled it wide. Simultaneously +three banths leaped for the deck. The craft rose swiftly. Gahan +felt the impact of a body against the keel, followed by the soft +thuds of the great bodies as they struck the ground beneath. His +act had not been an instant too soon. And now the leader had +gained the deck and stood at the stern with glaring eyes and +snarling jaws. Gahan drew his sword. The beast, possibly +disconcerted by the novelty of its position, did not charge. +Instead it crept slowly toward its intended prey. The craft was +rising and Gahan placed a foot upon the control and stopped the +ascent. He did not wish to chance rising to some higher air +current that would bear him away. Already the craft was moving +slowly toward the tower, carried thither by the impetus of the +banth's heavy body leaping upon it from astern. + +The man watched the slow approach of the monster, the slavering +jowls, the malignant expression of the devilish face. The +creature, finding the deck stable, appeared to be gaining +confidence, and then the man leaped suddenly to one side of the +deck and the tiny flier heeled as suddenly in response. The banth +slipped and clutched frantically at the deck. Gahan leaped in +with his naked sword; the great beast caught itself and reared +upon its hind legs to reach forth and seize this presumptuous +mortal that dared question its right to the flesh it craved; and +then the man sprang to the opposite side of the deck. The banth +toppled sideways at the same instant that it attempted to spring; +a raking talon passed close to Gahan's head at the moment that +his sword lunged through the savage heart, and as the warrior +wrenched his blade from the carcass it slipped silently over the +side of the ship. + +A glance below showed that the vessel was drifting in the +direction of the tower to which Gahan had seen the prisoner led. +In another moment or two it would be directly over it. The man +sprang to the control and let the craft drop quickly toward the +ground where followed the banths, still hot for their prey. To +land outside the enclosure spelled certain death, while inside he +could see many forms huddled upon the ground as in sleep. The +ship floated now but a few feet above the wall of the enclosure. +There was nothing for it but to risk all on a bold bid for +fortune, or drift helplessly past without hope of returning +through the banth-infested valley, from many points of which he +could now hear the roars and growls of these fierce Barsoomian +lions. + +Slipping over the side Gahan descended by the trailing +anchor-rope until his feet touched the top of the wall, where he +had no difficulty in arresting the slow drifting of the ship. +Then he drew up the anchor and lowered it inside the enclosure. +Still there was no movement upon the part of the sleepers +beneath--they lay as dead men. Dull lights shone from openings in +the tower; but there was no sign of guard or waking inmate. +Clinging to the rope Gahan lowered himself within the enclosure, +where he had his first close view of the creatures lying there in +what he had thought sleep. With a half smothered exclamation of +horror the man drew back from the headless bodies of the rykors. +At first he thought them the corpses of decapitated humans like +himself, which was quite bad enough; but when he saw them move +and realized that they were endowed with life, his horror and +disgust became even greater. + +Here then was the explanation of the thing he had witnessed that +afternoon, when Tara of Helium had struck the back to its body. +And to think that the pearl of Helium was in the power of such +hideous things as these. Again the man shuddered, but he hastened +to make fast the flier, clamber again to its deck and lower it to +the floor of the enclosure. Then he strode toward a door in the +base of the tower, stepping lightly over the recumbent forms of +the unconscious rykors, and crossing the threshold disappeared +within. + + + +CHAPTER VIII + +CLOSE WORK + +GHEK, in his happier days third foreman of the fields of Luud, +sat nursing his anger and his humiliation. Recently something had +awakened within him the existence of which he had never before +even dreamed. Had the influence of the strange captive woman +aught to do with this unrest and dissatisfaction? He did not +know. He missed the soothing influence of the noise she called +singing. Could it be that there were other things more desirable +than cold logic and undefiled brain power? Was well balanced +imperfection more to be sought after then, than the high +development of a single characteristic? He thought of the great, +ultimate brain toward which all kaldanes were striving. It would +be deaf, and dumb, and blind. A thousand beautiful strangers +might sing and dance about it, but it could derive no pleasure +from the singing or the dancing since it would possess no +perceptive faculties. Already had the kaldanes shut themselves +off from most of the gratifications of the senses. Ghek wondered +if much was to be gained by denying themselves still further, and +with the thought came a question as to the whole fabric of their +theory. After all perhaps the girl was right; what purpose could +a great brain serve sealed in the bowels of the earth? + +And he, Ghek, was to die for this theory. Luud had decreed it. +The injustice of it overwhelmed him with rage. But he was +helpless. There was no escape. Beyond the enclosure the banths +awaited him; within, his own kind, equally as merciless and +ferocious. Among them there was no such thing as love, or +loyalty, or friendship--they were just brains. He might kill +Luud; but what would that profit him? Another king would be +loosed from his sealed chamber and Ghek would be killed. He did +not know it but he would not even have the poor satisfaction of +satisfied revenge, since he was not capable of feeling so +abstruse a sentiment. + +Ghek, mounted upon his rykor, paced the floor of the tower +chamber in which he had been ordered to remain. Ordinarily he +would have accepted the sentence of Luud with perfect equanimity, +since it was but the logical result of reason; but now it seemed +different. The stranger woman had bewitched him. Life appeared a +pleasant thing--there were great possibilities in it. The dream +of the ultimate brain had receded into a tenuous haze far in the +background of his thoughts. + +At that moment there appeared in the doorway of the chamber a red +warrior with naked sword. He was a male counterpart of the +prisoner whose sweet voice had undermined the cold, calculating +reason of the kaldane. + +"Silence!" admonished the newcomer, his straight brows gathered +in an ominous frown and the point of his longsword playing +menacingly before the eyes of the kaldane. "I seek the woman, +Tara of Helium. Where is she? If you value your life speak +quickly and speak the truth." + +If he valued his life! It was a truth that Ghek had but just +learned. He thought quickly. After all, a great brain is not +without its uses. Perhaps here lay escape from the sentence of +Luud. + +"You are of her kind?" he asked. "You come to rescue her?" + +"Yes." + +"Listen, then. I have befriended her, and because of this I am to +die. If I help you to liberate her, will you take me with you?" + +Gahan of Gathol eyed the weird creature from crown to foot--the +perfect body, the grotesque head, the expressionless face. Among +such as these had the beautiful daughter of Helium been held +captive for days and weeks. + +"If she lives and is unharmed," he said, "I will take you with +us." + +"When they took her from me she was alive and unharmed," replied +Ghek. "I cannot say what has befallen her since. Luud sent for +her." + +"Who is Luud? Where is he? Lead me to him." Gahan spoke quickly +in tones vibrant with authority. + +"Come, then," said Ghek, leading the way from the apartment and +down a stairway toward the underground burrows of the kaldanes. +"Luud is my king. I will take you to his chambers." + +"Hasten!" urged Gahan. + +"Sheathe your sword," warned Ghek, "so that should we pass others +of my kind I may say to them that you are a new prisoner with +some likelihood of winning their belief." + +Gahan did as he was bid, but warning the kaldane that his hand +was ever ready at his dagger's hilt. + +"You need have no fear of treachery," said Ghek "My only hope of +life lies in you." + +"And if you fail me," Gahan admonished him, "I can promise you as +sure a death as even your king might guarantee you." + +Ghek made no reply, but moved rapidly through the winding +subterranean corridors until Gahan began to realize how truly was +he in the hands of this strange monster. If the fellow should +prove false it would profit Gahan nothing to slay him, since +without his guidance the red man might never hope to retrace his +way to the tower and freedom. + +Twice they met and were accosted by other kaldanes; but in both +instances Ghek's simple statement that he was taking a new +prisoner to Luud appeared to allay all suspicion, and then at +last they came to the ante-chamber of the king. + +"Here, now, red man, thou must fight, if ever," whispered Ghek. +"Enter there!" and he pointed to a doorway before them. + +"And you?" asked Gahan, still fearful of treachery. + +"My rykor is powerful," replied the kaldane. "I shall accompany +you and fight at your side. As well die thus as in torture later +at the will of Luud. Come!" + +But Gahan had already crossed the room and entered the chamber +beyond. Upon the opposite side of the room was a circular opening +guarded by two warriors. Beyond this opening he could see two +figures struggling upon the floor, and the fleeting glimpse he +had of one of the faces suddenly endowed him with the strength of +ten warriors and the ferocity of a wounded banth. It was Tara of +Helium, fighting for her honor or her life. + +The warriors, startled by the unexpected appearance of a red man, +stood for a moment in dumb amazement, and in that moment Gahan of +Gathol was upon them, and one was down, a sword-thrust through +its heart. + +"Strike at the heads," whispered the voice of Ghek in Gahan's +ear. The latter saw the head of the fallen warrior crawl quickly +within the aperture leading to the chamber where he had seen Tara +of Helium in the clutches of a headless body. Then the sword of +Ghek struck the kaldane of the remaining warrior from its rykor +and Gahan ran his sword through the repulsive head. + +Instantly the red warrior leaped for the aperture, while close +behind him came Ghek. + +"Look not upon the eyes of Luud," warned the kaldane, "or you are +lost." + +Within the chamber Gahan saw Tara of Helium in the clutches of a +mighty body, while close to the wall upon the opposite side of +the apartment crouched the hideous, spider-like Luud. Instantly +the king realized the menace to himself and sought to fasten his +eyes upon the eyes of Gahan, and in doing so he was forced to +relax his concentration upon the rykor in whose embraces Tara +struggled, so that almost immediately the girl found herself able +to tear away from the awful, headless thing. + +As she rose quickly to her feet she saw for the first time the +cause of the interruption of Luud's plans. A red warrior! Her +heart leaped in rejoicing and thanksgiving. What miracle of fate +had sent him to her? She did not recognize him, though, this +travel-worn warrior in the plain harness which showed no single +jewel. How could she have guessed him the same as the scintillant +creature of platinum and diamonds that she had seen for a brief +hour under such different circumstances at the court of her +august sire? + +Luud saw Ghek following the strange warrior into the chamber. +"Strike him down, Ghek!" commanded the king. "Strike down the +stranger and your life shall be yours." + +Gahan glanced at the hideous face of the king. + +"Seek not his eyes," screamed Tara in warning; but it was too +late. Already the horrid hypnotic gaze of the king kaldane had +seized upon the eyes of Gahan. The red warrior hesitated in his +stride. His sword point drooped slowly toward the floor. Tara +glanced toward Ghek. She saw the creature glaring with his +expressionless eyes upon the broad back of the stranger. She saw +the hand of the creature's rykor creeping stealthily toward the +hilt of its dagger. + +And then Tara of Helium raised her eyes aloft and poured forth +the notes of Mars' most beautiful melody, The Song of Love. + +Ghek drew his dagger from its sheath. His eyes turned toward the +singing girl. Luud's glance wavered from the eyes of the man to +the face of Tara, and the instant that the latter's song +distracted his attention from his victim, Gahan of Gathol shook +himself and as with a supreme effort of will forced his eyes to +the wall above Luud's hideous head. Ghek raised his dagger above +his right shoulder, took a single quick step forward, and struck. +The girl's song ended in a stifled scream as she leaped forward +with the evident intention of frustrating the kaldane's purpose; +but she was too late, and well it was, for an instant later she +realized the purpose of Ghek's act as she saw the dagger fly from +his hand, pass Gahan's shoulder, and sink full to the guard in +the soft face of Luud. + +"Come!" cried the assassin, "we have no time to lose," and +started for the aperture through which they had entered the +chamber; but in his stride he paused as his glance was arrested +by the form of the mighty rykor Iying prone upon the floor--a +king's rykor; the most beautiful, the most powerful, that the +breeders of Bantoom could produce. Ghek realized that in his +escape he could take with him but a single rykor, and there was +none in Bantoom that could give him better service than this +giant Iying here. Quickly he transferred himself to the shoulders +of the great, inert hulk. Instantly the latter was transformed to +a sentient creature, filled with pulsing life and alert energy. + +"Now," said the kaldane, "we are ready. Let whoso would revert to +nothingness impede me." Even as he spoke he stooped and crawled +into the chamber beyond, while Gahan, taking Tara by the arm, +motioned her to follow. The girl looked him full in the eyes for +the first time. "The Gods of my people have been kind," she said; +"you came just in time. To the thanks of Tara of Helium shall be +added those of The Warlord of Barsoom and his people. Thy reward +shall surpass thy greatest desires." + +Gahan of Gathol saw that she did not recognize him, and quickly +he checked the warm greeting that had been upon his lips. + +"Be thou Tara of Helium or another," he replied, "is immaterial, +to serve thus a red woman of Barsoom is in itself sufficient +reward." + +As they spoke the girl was making her way through the aperture +after Ghek, and presently all three had quitted the apartments of +Luud and were moving rapidly along the winding corridors toward +the tower. Ghek repeatedly urged them to greater speed, but the +red men of Barsoom were never keen for retreat, and so the two +that followed him moved all too slowly for the kaldane. + +"There are none to impede our progress," urged Gahan, "so why tax +the strength of the Princess by needless haste?" + +"I fear not so much opposition ahead, for there are none there +who know the thing that has been done in Luud's chambers this +night; but the kaldane of one of the warriors who stood guard +before Luud's apartment escaped, and you may count it a truth +that he lost no time in seeking aid. That it did not come before +we left is due solely to the rapidity with which events +transpired in the king's* room. Long before we reach the tower +they will be upon us from behind, and that they will come in +numbers far superior to ours and with great and powerful rykors I +well know." + +* I have used the word king in describing the rulers or chiefs of +the Bantoomian swarms, since the word itself is unpronounceable +in English, nor does jed or jeddak of the red Martian tongue have +quite the same meaning as the Bantoomian word, which has +practically the same significance as the English word queen as +applied to the leader of a swarm of bees.--J. C. + + +Nor was Ghek's prophecy long in fulfilment. Presently the sounds +of pursuit became audible in the distant clanking of +accouterments and the whistling call to arms of the kaldanes. + +"The tower is but a short distance now," cried Ghek. "Make haste +while yet you may, and if we can barricade it until the sun rises +we may yet escape." + +"We shall need no barricades for we shall not linger in the +tower," replied Gahan, moving more rapidly as he realized from +the volume of sound behind them the great number of their +pursuers. + +"But we may not go further than the tower tonight," insisted +Ghek. "Beyond the tower await the banths and certain death." + +Gahan smiled. "Fear not the banths," he assured them. "Can we but +reach the enclosure a little ahead of our pursuers we have naught +to fear from any evil power within this accursed valley." + +Ghek made no reply, nor did his expressionless face denote either +belief or skepticism. The girl looked into the face of the man +questioningly. She did not understand. + +"Your flier," he said. "It is moored before the tower." + +Her face lighted with pleasure and relief. "You found it!" she +exclaimed. "What fortune!" + +"It was fortune indeed," he replied. "Since it not only told that +you were a prisoner here; but it saved me from the banths as I +was crossing the valley from the hills to this tower into which I +saw them take you this afternoon after your brave attempt at +escape." + +"How did you know it was I?" she asked, her puzzled brows +scanning his face as though she sought to recall from past +memories some scene in which he figured. + +"Who is there but knows of the loss of the Princess Tara of +Helium?" he replied. "And when I saw the device upon your flier I +knew at once, though I had not known when I saw you among them in +the fields a short time earlier. Too great was the distance for +me to make certain whether the captive was man or woman. Had +chance not divulged the hiding place of your flier I had gone my +way, Tara of Helium. I shudder to think how close was the chance +at that. But for the momentary shining of the sun upon the +emblazoned device on the prow of your craft, I had passed on +unknowing." + +The girl shuddered. "The Gods sent you," she whispered +reverently. + +"The Gods sent me, Tara of Helium," he replied. + +"But I do not recognize you," she said. "I have tried to recall +you, but I have failed. Your name, what may it be?" + +"It is not strange that so great a princess should not recall the +face of every roving panthan of Barsoom," he replied with a +smile. + +"But your name?" insisted the girt + +"Call me Turan," replied the man, for it had come to him that if +Tara of Helium recognized him as the man whose impetuous avowal +of love had angered her that day in the gardens of The Warlord, +her situation might be rendered infinitely less bearable than +were she to believe him a total stranger. Then, too, as a simple +panthan* he might win a greater degree of her confidence by his +loyalty and faithfulness and a place in her esteem that seemed to +have been closed to the resplendent Jed of Gathol. + +* Soldier of Fortune; free-lance warrior. + + +They had reached the tower now, and as they entered it from the +subterranean corridor a backward glance revealed the van of their +pursuers--hideous kaldanes mounted upon swift and powerful +rykors. As rapidly as might be the three ascended the stairways +leading to the ground level, but after them, even more rapidly, +came the minions of Luud. Ghek led the way, grasping one of +Tara's hands the more easily to guide and assist her, while Gahan +of Gathol followed a few paces in their rear, his bared sword +ready for the assault that all realized must come upon them now +before ever they reached the enclosure and the flier. + +"Let Ghek drop behind to your side," said Tara, "and fight with +you." + +"There is but room for a single blade in these narrow corridors," +replied the Gatholian. "Hasten on with Ghek and win to the deck +of the flier. Have your hand upon the control, and if I come far +enough ahead of these to reach the dangling cable you can rise at +my word and I can clamber to the deck at my leisure; but if one +of them emerges first into the enclosure you will know that I +shall never come, and you will rise quickly and trust to the Gods +of our ancestors to give you a fair breeze in the direction of a +more hospitable people." + +Tara of Helium shook her head. "We will not desert you, panthan," +she said. + +Gahan, ignoring her reply, spoke above her head to Ghek. "Take +her to the craft moored within the enclosure," he commanded. "It +is our only hope. Alone, I may win to its deck; but have I to +wait upon you two at the last moment the chances are that none of +us will escape. Do as I bid." His tone was haughty and +arrogant--the tone of a man who has commanded other men from +birth, and whose will has been law. Tara of Helium was both +angered and vexed. She was not accustomed to being either +commanded or ignored, but with all her royal pride she was no +fool, and she knew the man was right, that he was risking his +life to save hers, so she hastened on with Ghek as she was bid, +and after the first flush of anger she smiled, for the +realization came to her that this fellow was but a rough +untutored warrior, skilled not in the finer usages of cultured +courts. His heart was right, though; a brave and loyal heart, and +gladly she forgave him the offense of his tone and manner. But +what a tone! Recollection of it gave her sudden pause. Panthans +were rough and ready men. Often they rose to positions of high +command, so it was not the note of authority in the fellow's +voice that seemed remarkable; but something else--a quality that +was indefinable, yet as distinct as it was familiar. She had +heard it before when the voice of her great-grandsire, Tardos +Mors, Jeddak of Helium, had risen in command; and in the voice of +her grandfather, Mors Kajak, the jed; and in the ringing tones of +her illustrious sire, John Carter, Warlord of Barsoom, when he +addressed his warriors. + +But now she had no time to speculate upon so trivial a thing, for +behind her came the sudden clash of arms and she knew that Turan, +the panthan, had crossed swords with the first of their pursuers. +As she glanced back he was still visible + +beyond a turn in the stairway, so that she could see the quick +swordplay that ensued. Daughter of a world's greatest swordsman, +she knew well the finest points of the art. She saw the clumsy +attack of the kaldane and the quick, sure return of the panthan. +As she looked down from above upon his almost naked body, trapped +only in the simplest of unadorned harness, and saw the play of +the lithe muscles beneath the red-bronze skin, and witnessed the +quick and delicate play of his sword point, to her sense of +obligation was added a spontaneous admission of admiration that +was but the natural tribute of a woman to skill and bravery and, +perchance, some trifle to manly symmetry and strength. + +Three times the panthan's blade changed its position--once to +fend a savage cut; once to feint; and once to thrust. And as he +withdrew it from the last position the kaldane rolled lifeless +from its stumbling rykor and Turan sprang quickly down the steps +to engage the next behind, and then Ghek had drawn Tara upward +and a turn in the stairway shut the battling panthan from her +view; but still she heard the ring of steel on steel, the clank +of accouterments and the shrill whistling of the kaldanes. Her +heart moved her to turn back to the side of her brave defender; +but her judgment told her that she could serve him best by being +ready at the control of the flier at the moment he reached the +enclosure. + + + +CHAPTER IX + +ADRIFT OVER STRANGE REGIONS + +PRESENTLY Ghek pushed aside a door that opened from the stairway, +and before them Tara saw the moonlight flooding the walled court +where the headless rykors lay beside their feeding-troughs. She +saw the perfect bodies, muscled as the best of her father's +fighting men, and the females whose figures would have been the +envy of many of Helium's most beautiful women. Ah, if she could +but endow these with the power to act! Then indeed might the +safety of the panthan be assured; but they were only poor lumps +of clay, nor had she the power to quicken them to life. Ever must +they lie thus until dominated by the cold, heartless brain of the +kaldane. The girl sighed in pity even as she shuddered in disgust +as she picked her way over and among the sprawled creatures +toward the flier. + +Quickly she and Ghek mounted to the deck after the latter had +cast off the moorings. Tara tested the control, raising and +lowering the ship a few feet within the walled space. It +responded perfectly. Then she lowered it to the ground again and +waited. From the open doorway came the sounds of conflict, now +nearing them, now receding. The girl, having witnessed her +champion's skill, had little fear of the outcome. Only a single +antagonist could face him at a time upon the narrow stairway, he +had the advantage of position and of the defensive, and he was a +master of the sword while they were clumsy bunglers by +comparison. Their sole advantage was in their numbers, unless +they might find a way to come upon him from behind. + +She paled at the thought. Could she have seen him she might have +been further perturbed, for he took no advantage of many +opportunities to win nearer the enclosure. He fought coolly, but +with a savage persistence that bore little semblance to purely +defensive action. Often he clambered over the body of a fallen +foe to leap against the next behind, and once there lay five dead +kaldanes behind him, so far had he pushed back his antagonists. +They did not know it; these kaldanes that he fought, nor did the +girl awaiting him upon the flier, but Gahan of Gathol was engaged +in a more alluring sport than winning to freedom, for he was +avenging the indignities that had been put upon the woman he +loved; but presently he realized that he might be jeopardizing +her safety uselessly, and so he struck down another before him +and turning leaped quickly up the stairway, while the leading +kaldanes slipped upon the brain-covered floor and stumbled in +pursuit. + +Gahan reached the enclosure twenty paces ahead of them and raced +toward the flier. "Rise!" he shouted to the girl. "I will ascend +the cable." + +Slowly the small craft rose from the ground as Gahan leaped the +inert bodies of the rykors lying in his path. The first of the +pursuers sprang from the tower just as Gahan seized the trailing +rope. + +"Faster!" he shouted to the girl above, "or they will drag us +down!" But the ship seemed scarcely to move, though in reality +she was rising as rapidly as might have been expected of a +one-man flier carrying a load of three. Gahan swung free above +the top of the wall, but the end of the rope still dragged the +ground as the kaldanes reached it. They were pouring in a steady +stream from the tower into the enclosure. The leader seized the +rope. + +"Quick!" he cried. "Lay hold and we will drag them down." + +It needed but the weight of a few to accomplish his design. The +ship was stopped in its flight and then, to the horror of the +girl, she felt it being dragged steadily downward. Gahan, too, +realized the danger and the necessity for instant action. +Clinging to the rope with his left hand, he had wound a leg about +it, leaving his right hand free for his long-sword which he had +not sheathed. A downward cut clove the soft head of a kaldane, +and another severed the taut rope beneath the panthan's feet. The +girl heard a sudden renewal of the shrill whistling of her foes, +and at the same time she realized that the craft was rising +again. Slowly it drifted upward, out of reach of the enemy, and a +moment later she saw the figure of Turan clamber over the side. +For the first time in many weeks her heart was filled with the +joy of thanksgiving; but her first thought was of another. + +"You are not wounded?" she asked. + +'No, Tara of Helium," he replied. "They were scarce worth the +effort of my blade, and never were they a menace to me because of +their swords." + +"They should have slain you easily," said Ghek. "So great and +highly developed is the power of reason among us that they should +have known before you struck just where, logically, you must seek +to strike, and so they should have been able to parry your every +thrust and easily find an opening to your heart." + +"But they did not, Ghek," Gahan reminded him. "Their theory of +development is wrong, for it does not tend toward a perfectly +balanced whole. You have developed the brain and neglected the +body and you can never do with the hands of another what you can +do with your own hands. Mine are trained to the sword--every +muscle responds instantly and accurately, and almost +mechanically, to the need of the instant. I am scarcely +objectively aware that I think when I fight, so quickly does my +point take advantage of every opening, or spring to my defense if +I am threatened that it is almost as though the cold steel had +eyes and brains. You, with your kaldane brain and your rykor +body, never could hope to achieve in the same degree of +perfection those things that I can achieve. Development of the +brain should not be the sum total of human endeavor. The richest +and happiest peoples will be those who attain closest to +well-balanced perfection of both mind and body, and even these +must always be short of perfection. In absolute and general +perfection lies stifling monotony and death. Nature must have +contrasts; she must have shadows as well as high lights; sorrow +with happiness; both wrong and right; and sin as well as virtue." + +"Always have I been taught differently," replied Ghek; "but since +I have known this woman and you, of another race, I have come to +believe that there may be other standards fully as high and +desirable as those of the kaldanes. At least I have had a glimpse +of the thing you call happiness and I realize that it may be good +even though I have no means of expressing it. I cannot laugh nor +smile, and yet within me is a sense of contentment when this +woman sings--a sense that seems to open before me wondrous vistas +of beauty and unguessed pleasure that far transcend the cold joys +of a perfectly functioning brain. I would that I had been born of +thy race." + +Caught by a gentle current of air the flier was drifting slowly +toward the northeast across the valley of Bantoom. Below them lay +the cultivated fields, and one after another they passed over the +strange towers of Moak and Nolach and the other kings of the +swarms that inhabited this weird and terrible land. Within each +enclosure surrounding the towers grovelled the rykors, repellent, +headless things, beautiful yet hideous. + +"A lesson, those," remarked Gahan, indicating the rykors in an +enclosure above which they were drifting at the time, "to that +fortunately small minority of our race which worships the flesh +and makes a god of appetite. You know them, Tara of Helium; they +can tell you exactly what they had at the midday meal two weeks +ago, and how the loin of the thoat should be prepared, and what +drink should be served with the rump of the zitidar." + +Tara of Helium laughed. "But not one of them could tell you the +name of the man whose painting took the Jeddak's Award in The +Temple of Beauty this year," she said. "Like the rykors, their +development has not been balanced." + +"Fortunate indeed are those in which there is combined a little +good and a little bad, a little knowledge of many things outside +their own callings, a capacity for love and a capacity for hate, +for such as these can look with tolerance upon all, unbiased by +the egotism of him whose head is so heavy on one side that all +his brains run to that point." + +As Gahan ceased speaking Ghek made a little noise in his throat +as one does who would attract attention. "You speak as one who +has thought much upon many subjects. Is it, then, possible that +you of the red race have pleasure in thought? Do you know aught +of the joys of introspection? Do reason and logic form any part +of your lives?" + +"Most assuredly," replied Gahan, "but not to the extent of +occupying all our time--at least not objectively. You, Ghek, are +an example of the egotism of which I spoke. Because you and your +kind devote your lives to the worship of mind, you believe that +no other created beings think. And possibly we do not in the +sense that you do, who think only of yourselves and your great +brains. We think of many things that concern the welfare of a +world. Had it not been for the red men of Barsoom even the +kaldanes had perished from the planet, for while you may live +without air the things upon which you depend for existence +cannot, and there had been no air in sufficient quantities upon +Barsoom these many ages had not a red man planned and built the +great atmosphere plant which gave new life to a dying world. + +"What have all the brains of all the kaldanes that have ever + +lived done to compare with that single idea of a single red man?" + +Ghek was stumped. Being a kaldane he knew that brains spelled the +sum total of universal achievement, but it had never occurred to +him that they should be put to use in practical and profitable +ways. He turned away and looked down upon the valley of his +ancestors across which he was slowly drifting, into what unknown +world? He should be a veritable god among the underlings, he +knew; but somehow a doubt assailed him. It was evident that these +two from that other world were ready to question his preeminence. +Even through his great egotism was filtering a suspicion that +they patronized him; perhaps even pitied him. Then he began to +wonder what was to become of him. No longer would he have many +rykors to do his bidding. Only this single one and when it died +there could not be another. When it tired, Ghek must lie almost +helpless while it rested. He wished that he had never seen this +red woman. She had brought him only discontent and dishonor and +now exile. Presently Tara of Helium commenced to hum a tune and +Ghek, the kaldane, was content. + +Gently they drifted beneath the hurtling moons above the mad +shadows of a Martian night. The roaring of the banths came in +diminishing volume to their ears as their craft passed on beyond +the boundaries of Bantoom, leaving behind the terrors of that +unhappy land. But to what were they being borne? The girl looked +at the man sitting cross-legged upon the deck of the tiny flier, +gazing off into the night ahead, apparently absorbed in thought. + +"Where are we?" she asked. "Toward what are we drifting?" + +Turan shrugged his broad shoulders. "The stars tell me that we +are drifting toward the northeast," he replied, "but where we +are, or what lies in our path I cannot even guess. A week since I +could have sworn that I knew what lay behind each succeeding +ridge that I approached; but now I admit in all humility that I +have no conception of what lies a mile in any direction. Tara of +Helium, I am lost, and that is all that I can tell you." + +He was smiling and the girl smiled back at him. There was a +slightly puzzled expression on her face--there was something +tantalizingly familiar about that smile of his. She had met many +a panthan--they came and went, following the fighting of a +world--but she could not place this one. + +"From what country are you, Turan?" she asked suddenly. + +"Know you not, Tara of Helium," he countered, "that a panthan has +no country? Today he fights beneath the banner of one master, +tomorrow beneath that of another." + +"But you must own allegiance to some country when you are not +fighting," she insisted. "What banner, then, owns you now?" + +He rose and stood before her, then, bowing low. "And I am +acceptable," he said, "I serve beneath the banner of the daughter +of The Warlord now--and forever." + +She reached forth and touched his arm with a slim brown hand. +"Your services are accepted," she said; "and if ever we reach +Helium I promise that your reward shall be all that your heart +could desire." + +"I shall serve faithfully, hoping for that reward," he said; + +but Tara of Helium did not guess what was in his mind, thinking +rather that he was mercenary. For how could the proud daughter of +The Warlord guess that a simple panthan aspired to her hand and +heart? + +The dawn found them moving rapidly over an unfamiliar landscape. +The wind had increased during the night and had borne them far +from Bantoom. The country below them was rough and inhospitable. +No water was visible and the surface of the ground was cut by +deep gorges, while nowhere was any but the most meager vegetation +discernible. They saw no life of any nature, nor was there any +indication that the country could support life. For two days they +drifted over this horrid wasteland. They were without food or +water and suffered accordingly. Ghek had temporarily abandoned +his rykor after enlisting Turan's assistance in lashing it safely +to the deck. The less he used it the less would its vitality be +spent. Already it was showing the effects of privation. Ghek +crawled about the vessel like a great spider--over the side, down +beneath the keel, and up over the opposite rail. He seemed +equally at home one place as another. For his companions, +however, the quarters were cramped, for the deck of a one-man +flier is not intended for three. + +Turan sought always ahead for signs of water. Water they must +have, or that water-giving plant which makes life possible upon +many of the seemingly arid areas of Mars; but there was neither +the one nor the other for these two days and now the third night +was upon them. The girl did not complain, but Turan knew that she +must be suffering and his heart was heavy within him. Ghek +suffered least of all, and he explained to them that his kind +could exist for long periods without food or water. Turan almost +cursed him as he saw the form of Tara of Helium slowly wasting +away before his eyes, while the hideous kaldane seemed as full of +vitality as ever. + +"There are circumstances," remarked Ghek, "under which a gross +and material body is less desirable than a highly developed +brain." + +Turan looked at him, but said nothing. Tara of Helium smiled +faintly. "One cannot blame him," she said, "were we not a bit +boastful in the pride of our superiority? When our stomachs were +filled," she added. + +"Perhaps there is something to be said for their system," Turan +admitted. "If we could but lay aside our stomachs when they cried +for food and water I have no doubt but that we should do so." + +"I should never miss mine now," assented Tara; "it is mighty poor +company." + +A new day had dawned, revealing a less desolate country and +renewing again the hope that had been low within them. Suddenly +Turan leaned forward, pointing ahead. + +"Look, Tara of Helium!" he cried. "A city! As I am Ga--as I am +Turan the panthan, a city." + +Far in the distance the domes and walls and slender towers of a +city shone in the rising sun. Quickly the man seized the control +and the ship dropped rapidly behind a low range of intervening +hills, for well Turan knew that they must not be seen until they +could discover whether friend or foe inhabited the strange city. +Chances were that they were far from the abode of friends and so +must the panthan move with the utmost caution; but there was a +city and where a city was, was water, even though it were a +deserted city, and food if it were inhabited. + +To the red man food and water, even in the citadel of an enemy, +meant food and drink for Tara of Helium. He would accept it from +friends or he would take it from enemies. Just so long as it was +there he would have it--and there was shown the egotism of the +fighting man, though Turan did not see it, nor Tara who came from +a long line of fighting men; but Ghek might have smiled had he +known how. + +Turan permitted the flier to drift closer behind the screening +hills, and then when he could advance no farther without fear of +discovery, he dropped the craft gently to ground in a little +ravine, and leaping over the side made her fast to a stout tree. +For several moments they discussed their plans--whether it would +be best to wait where they were until darkness hid their +movements and then approach the city in search of food and water, +or approach it now, taking advantage of what cover they could, +until they could glean something of the nature of its +inhabitants. + +It was Turan's plan which finally prevailed. They would approach +as close as safety dictated in the hope of finding water outside +the city; food, too, perhaps. If they did not they could at least +reconnoiter the ground by daylight, and then when night came +Turan could quickly come close to the city and in comparative +safety prosecute his search for food and drink. + +Following the ravine upward they finally topped the summit of the +ridge, from which they had an excellent view of that part of the +city which lay nearest them, though themselves hidden by the +brush behind which they crouched. Ghek had resumed his rykor, +which had suffered less than either Tara or Turan through their +enforced fast. + +The first glance at the city, now much closer than when they had +first discovered it, revealed the fact that it was inhabited. +Banners and pennons broke from many a staff. People were moving +about the gate before them. The high white walls were paced by +sentinels at far intervals. Upon the roofs of higher buildings +the women could be seen airing the sleeping silks and furs. Turan +watched it all in silence for some time. + +"I do not know them," he said at last. "I cannot guess what city +this may be. But it is an ancient city. Its people have no fliers +and no firearms. It must be old indeed." + +"How do you know they have not these things?" asked the girl. + +"There are no landing-stages upon the roofs--not one that can be +seen from here; while were we looking similarly at Helium we +would see hundreds. And they have no firearms because their +defenses are all built to withstand the attack of spear and +arrow, with spear and arrow. They are an ancient people." + +"If they are ancient perhaps they are friendly," suggested the +girl. "Did we not learn as children in the history of our planet +that it was once peopled by a friendly, peace-loving race?" + +"But I fear they are not as ancient as that," replied Turan, + +laughing. "It has been long ages since the men of Barsoom loved +peace." + +"My father loves peace," returned the girl. + +"And yet he is always at war," said the man. + +She laughed. "But he says he likes peace." + +"We all like peace," he rejoined; "peace with honor; but our +neighbors will not let us have it, and so we must fight." + +"And to fight well men must like to fight," she added. + +"And to like to fight they must know how to fight," he said, "for +no man likes to do the thing that he does not know how to do +well." + +"Or that some other man can do better than he." + +"And so always there will be wars and men will fight," he +concluded, "for always the men with hot blood in their veins will +practice the art of war." + +"We have settled a great question," said the girl, smiling; "but +our stomachs are still empty." + +"Your panthan is neglecting his duty," replied Turan; "and how +can he with the great reward always before his eyes!" + +She did not guess in what literal a sense he spoke. + +"I go forthwith," he continued, "to wrest food and drink from the +ancients." + +"No," she cried, laying a hand upon his arm, "not yet. They would +slay you or make you prisoner. You are a brave panthan and a +mighty one, but you cannot overcome a city singlehanded." + +She smiled up into his face and her hand still lay upon his arm. +He felt the thrill of hot blood coursing through his veins. He +could have seized her in his arms and crushed her to him. There +was only Ghek the kaldane there, but there was something stronger +within him that restrained his hand. Who may define it--that +inherent chivalry that renders certain men the natural protectors +of women? + +From their vantage point they saw a body of armed warriors ride +forth from the gate, and winding along a well-beaten road pass +from sight about the foot of the hill from which they watched. +The men were red, like themselves, and they rode the small saddle +thoats of the red race. Their trappings were barbaric and +magnificent, and in their head-dress were many feathers as had +been the custom of ancients. They were armed with swords and long +spears and they rode almost naked, their bodies being painted in +ochre and blue and white. There were, perhaps, a score of them in +the party and as they galloped away on their tireless mounts they +presented a picture at once savage and beautiful. + +"They have the appearance of splendid warriors," said Turan. "I +have a great mind to walk boldly into their city and seek +service." + +Tara shook her head. "Wait," she admonished. "What would I do +without you, and if you were captured how could you collect your +reward?" + +"I should escape," he said. "At any rate I shall try it," and he +started to rise. + +"You shall not," said the girl, her tone all authority. + +The man looked at her quickly--questioningly. + +"You have entered my service," she said, a trifle haughtily. + +"You have entered my service for hire and you shall do as I bid +you." + +Turan sank down beside her again with a half smile upon his lips. +"It is yours to command, Princess," he said. + +The day passed. Ghek, tiring of the sunlight, had deserted his +rykor and crawled down a hole he had discovered close by. Tara +and Turan reclined beneath the scant shade of a small tree. They +watched the people coming and going through the gate. The party +of horsemen did not return. A small herd of zitidars was driven +into the city during the day, and once a caravan of broad-wheeled +carts drawn by these huge animals wound out of the distant +horizon and came down to the city. It, too, passed from their +sight within the gateway. Then darkness came and Tara of Helium +bid her panthan search for food and drink; but she cautioned him +against attempting to enter the city. Before he left her he bent +and kissed her hand as a warrior may kiss the hand of his queen. + + + +CHAPTER X + +ENTRAPPED + +TURAN the panthan approached the strange city under cover of the +darkness. He entertained little hope of finding either food or +water outside the wall, but he would try and then, if he failed, +he would attempt to make his way into the city, for Tara of +Helium must have sustenance and have it soon. He saw that the +walls were poorly sentineled, but they were sufficiently high to +render an attempt to scale them foredoomed to failure. Taking +advantage of underbrush and trees, Turan managed to reach the +base of the wall without detection. Silently he moved north past +the gateway which was closed by a massive gate which effectively +barred even the slightest glimpse within the city beyond. It was +Turan's hope to find upon the north side of the city away from +the hills a level plain where grew the crops of the inhabitants, +and here too water from their irrigating system, but though he +traveled far along that seemingly interminable wall he found no +fields nor any water. He searched also for some means of ingress +to the city, yet here, too, failure was his only reward, and now +as he went keen eyes watched him from above and a silent stalker +kept pace with him for a time upon the summit of the wall; but +presently the shadower descended to the pavement within and +hurrying swiftly raced ahead of the stranger without. + +He came presently to a small gate beside which was a low building +and before the doorway of the building a warrior standing guard. +He spoke a few quick words to the warrior and then entered the +building only to return almost immediately to the street, +followed by fully forty warriors. Cautiously opening the gate the +fellow peered carefully along the wall upon the outside in the +direction from which he had come. Evidently satisfied, he issued +a few words of instruction to those behind him, whereupon half +the warriors returned to the interior of the building, while the +other half followed the man stealthily through the gateway where +they crouched low among the shrubbery in a half circle just north +of the gateway which they had left open. Here they waited in +utter silence, nor had they long to wait before Turan the panthan +came cautiously along the base of the wall. To the very gate he +came and when he found it and that it was open he paused for a +moment, listening; then he approached and looked within. Assured +that there was none within sight to apprehend him he stepped +through the gateway into the city. + +He found himself in a narrow street that paralleled the wall. +Upon the opposite side rose buildings of an architecture unknown +to him, yet strangely beautiful. While the buildings were packed +closely together there seemed to be no two alike and their fronts +were of all shapes and heights and of many hues. The skyline was +broken by spire and dome and minaret and tall, slender towers, +while the walls supported many a balcony and in the soft light of +Cluros, the farther moon, now low in the west, he saw, to his +surprise and consternation, the figures of people upon the +balconies. Directly opposite him were two women and a man. They +sat leaning upon the rail of the balcony looking, apparently, +directly at him; but if they saw him they gave no sign. + +Turan hesitated a moment in the face of almost certain discovery +and then, assured that they must take him for one of their own +people, he moved boldly into the avenue. Having no idea of the +direction in which he might best hope to find what he sought, and +not wishing to arouse suspicion by further hesitation, he turned +to the left and stepped briskly along the pavement with the +intention of placing himself as quickly as possible beyond the +observation of those nocturnal watchers. He knew that the night +must be far spent; and so he could not but wonder why people +should sit upon their balconies when they should have been asleep +among their silks and furs. At first he had thought them the late +guests of some convivial host; but the windows behind them were +shrouded in darkness and utter quiet prevailed, quite upsetting +such a theory. And as he proceeded he passed many another group +sitting silently upon other balconies. They paid no attention to +him, seeming not even to note his passing. Some leaned with a +single elbow upon the rail, their chins resting in their palms; +others leaned upon both arms across the balcony, looking down +into the street, while several that he saw held musical +instruments in their hands, but their fingers moved not upon the +strings. + +And then Turan came to a point where the avenue turned to the +right, to skirt a building that jutted from the inside of the +city wall, and as he rounded the corner he came full upon two +warriors standing upon either side of the entrance to a building +upon his right. It was impossible for them not to be aware of his +presence, yet neither moved, nor gave other evidence that they +had seen him. He stood there waiting, his hand upon the hilt of +his long-sword, but they neither challenged nor halted him. Could +it be that these also thought him one of their own kind? Indeed +upon no other grounds could he explain their inaction. + +As Turan had passed through the gateway into the city and taken +his unhindered way along the avenue, twenty warriors had entered +the city and closed the gate behind them, and then one had taken +to the wall and followed along its summit in the rear of Turan, +and another had followed him along the avenue, while a third had +crossed the street and entered one of the buildings upon the +opposite side. + +The balance of them, with the exception of a single sentinel +beside the gate, had re-entered the building from which they had +been summoned. They were well built, strapping, painted fellows, +their naked figures covered now by gorgeous robes against the +chill of night. As they spoke of the stranger they laughed at the +ease with which they had tricked him, and were still laughing as +they threw themselves upon their sleeping silks and furs to +resume their broken slumber. It was evident that they constituted +a guard detailed for the gate beside which they slept, and it was +equally evident that the gates were guarded and the city watched +much more carefully than Turan had believed. Chagrined indeed had +been the Jed of Gathol had he dreamed that he was being so neatly +tricked. + +As Turan proceeded along the avenue he passed other sentries +beside other doors but now he gave them small heed, since they +neither challenged nor otherwise outwardly noted his passing; but +while at nearly every turn of the erratic avenue he passed one or +more of these silent sentinels he could not guess that he had +passed one of them many times and that his every move was watched +by silent, clever stalkers. Scarce had he passed a certain one of +these rigid guardsmen before the fellow awoke to sudden life, +bounded across the avenue, entered a narrow opening in the outer +wall where he swiftly followed a corridor built within the wall +itself until presently he emerged a little distance ahead of +Turan, where he assumed the stiff and silent attitude of a +soldier upon guard. Nor did Turan know that a second followed in +the shadows of the buildings behind him, nor of the third who +hastened ahead of him upon some urgent mission. + +And so the panthan moved through the silent streets of the +strange city in search of food and drink for the woman he loved. +Men and women looked down upon him from shadowy balconies, but +spoke not; and sentinels saw him pass and did not challenge. +Presently from along the avenue before him came the familiar +sound of clanking accouterments, the herald of marching warriors, +and almost simultaneously he saw upon his right an open doorway +dimly lighted from within. It was the only available place where +he might seek to hide from the approaching company, and while he +had passed several sentries unquestioned he could scarce hope to +escape scrutiny and questioning from a patrol, as he naturally +assumed this body of men to be. + +Inside the doorway he discovered a passage turning abruptly to +the right and almost immediately thereafter to the left. There +was none in sight within and so he stepped cautiously around the +second turn the more effectually to be hidden from the street. +Before him stretched a long corridor, dimly lighted like the +entrance. Waiting there he heard the party approach the building, +he heard someone at the entrance to his hiding place, and then he +heard the door past which he had come slam to. He laid his hand +upon his sword, expecting momentarily to hear footsteps +approaching along the corridor; but none came. He approached the +turn and looked around it; the corridor was empty to the closed +door. Whoever had closed it had remained upon the outside. + +Turan waited, listening. He heard no sound. Then he advanced to +the door and placed an ear against it. All was silence in the +street beyond. A sudden draft must have closed the door, or +perhaps it was the duty of the patrol to see to such things. It +was immaterial. They had evidently passed on and now he would +return to the street and continue upon his way. Somewhere there +would be a public fountain where he could obtain water, and the +chance of food lay in the strings of dried vegetables and meat +which hung before the doorways of nearly every Barsoomian home of +the poorer classes that he had ever seen. It was this district he +was seeking, and it was for this reason his search had led him +away from the main gate of the city which he knew would not be +located in a poor district. + +He attempted to open the door only to find that it resisted his +every effort--it was locked upon the outside. Here indeed was a +sorry contretemps. Turan the panthan scratched his head. "Fortune +frowns upon me," he murmured; but beyond the door, Fate, in the +form of a painted warrior, stood smiling. Neatly had he tricked +the unwary stranger. The lighted doorway, the marching +patrol--these had been planned and timed to a nicety by the third +warrior who had sped ahead of Turan along another avenue, and the +stranger had done precisely what the fellow had thought he would +do--no wonder, then, that he smiled. + +This exit barred to him Turan turned back into the corridor. He +followed it cautiously and silently. Occasionally there was a +door on one side or the other. These he tried only to find each +securely locked. The corridor wound more erratically the farther +he advanced. A locked door barred his way at its end, but a door +upon his right opened and he stepped into a dimly-lighted +chamber, about the walls of which were three other doors, each of +which he tried in turn. Two were locked; the other opened upon a +runway leading downward. It was spiral and he could see no +farther than the first turn. A door in the corridor he had +quitted opened after he had passed, and the third warrior stepped +out and followed after him. A faint smile still lingered upon the +fellow's grim lips. + +Turan drew his short-sword and cautiously descended. At the +bottom was a short corridor with a closed door at the end. He +approached the single heavy panel and listened. No sound came to +him from beyond the mysterious portal. Gently he tried the door, +which swung easily toward him at his touch. Before him was a +low-ceiled chamber with a dirt floor. Set in its walls were +several other doors and all were closed. As Turan stepped +cautiously within, the third warrior descended the spiral runway +behind him. The panthan crossed the room quickly and tried a +door. It was locked. He heard a muffled click behind him and +turned about with ready sword. He was alone; but the door through +which he had entered was closed--it was the click of its lock +that he had heard. + +With a bound he crossed the room and attempted to open it; but to +no avail. No longer did he seek silence, for he knew now that the +thing had gone beyond the sphere of chance. He threw his weight +against the wooden panel; but the thick skeel of which it was +constructed would have withstood a battering ram. From beyond +came a low laugh. + +Rapidly Turan examined each of the other doors. They were all +locked. A glance about the chamber revealed a wooden table and a +bench. Set in the walls were several heavy rings to which rusty +chains were attached--all too significant of the purpose to which +the room was dedicated. In the dirt floor near the wall were two +or three holes resembling the mouths of burrows--doubtless the +habitat of the giant Martian rat. He had observed this much when +suddenly the dim light was extinguished, leaving him in darkness +utter and complete. Turan, groping about, sought the table and +the bench. Placing the latter against the wall he drew the table +in front of him and sat down upon the bench, his long-sword +gripped in readiness before him. At least they should fight +before they took him. + +For some time he sat there waiting for he knew not what. No sound +penetrated to his subterranean dungeon. He slowly revolved in his +mind the incidents of the evening--the open, unguarded gate; the +lighted doorway--the only one he had seen thus open and lighted +along the avenue he had followed; the advance of the warriors at +precisely the moment that he could find no other avenue of escape +or concealment; the corridors and chambers that led past many +locked doors to this underground prison leaving no other path for +him to pursue. + +"By my first ancestor!" he swore; "but it was simple and I a +simpleton. They tricked me neatly and have taken me without +exposing themselves to a scratch; but for what purpose?" + +He wished that he might answer that question and then his +thoughts turned to the girl waiting there on the hill beyond the +city for him--and he would never come. He knew the ways of the +more savage peoples of Barsoom. No, he would never come, now. He +had disobeyed her. He smiled at the sweet recollection of those +words of command that had fallen from her dear lips. He had +disobeyed her and now he had lost the reward. + +But what of her? What now would be her fate--starving before a +hostile city with only an inhuman kaldane for company? Another +thought--a horrid thought--obtruded itself upon him. She had told +him of the hideous sights she had witnessed in the burrows of the +kaldanes and he knew that they ate human flesh. Ghek was +starving. Should he eat his rykor he would be helpless; +but--there was sustenance there for them both, for the rykor and +the kaldane. Turan cursed himself for a fool. Why had he left +her? Far better to have remained and died with her, ready always +to protect her, than to have left her at the mercy of the hideous +Bantoomian. + +Now Turan detected a heavy odor in the air. It oppressed him with +a feeling of drowsiness. He would have risen to fight off the +creeping lethargy, but his legs seemed weak, so that he sank +again to the bench. Presently his sword slipped from his fingers +and he sprawled forward upon the table his head resting upon his +arms. + + +Tara of Helium, as the night wore on and Turan did not return, +became more and more uneasy, and when dawn broke with no sign of +him she guessed that he had failed. Something more than her own +unhappy predicament brought a feeling of sorrow to her heart--of +sorrow and loneliness. She realized now how she had come to +depend upon this panthan not only for protection but for +companionship as well. She missed him, and in missing him +realized suddenly that he had meant more to her than a mere hired +warrior. It was as though a friend had been taken from her--an +old and valued friend. She rose from her place of concealment +that she might have a better view of the city. + +U-Dor, dwar of the 8th Utan of O-Tar, Jeddak of Manator, rode +back in the early dawn toward Manator from a brief excursion to a +neighboring village. As he was rounding the hills south of the +city, his keen eyes were attracted by a slight movement among the +shrubbery close to the summit of the nearest hill. He halted his +vicious mount and watched more closely. He saw a figure rise +facing away from him and peer down toward Manator beyond the +hill. + +"Come!" he signalled to his followers, and with a word to this +thoat turned the beast at a rapid gallop up the hillside. In his +wake swept his twenty savage warriors, the padded feet of their +mounts soundless upon the soft turf. It was the rattle of +sidearms and harness that brought Tara of Helium suddenly about, +facing them. She saw a score of warriors with couched lances +bearing down upon her. + +She glanced at Ghek. What would the spiderman do in this +emergency? She saw him crawl to his rykor and attach himself. +Then he arose, the beautiful body once again animated and alert. +She thought that the creature was preparing for flight. Well, it +made little difference to her. Against such as were streaming up +the hill toward them a single mediocre swordsman such as Ghek was +worse than no defense at all. + +"Hurry, Ghek!" she admonished him. "Back into the hills! You may +find there a hiding-place;" but the creature only stepped between +her and the oncoming riders, drawing his long-sword. + +"It is useless, Ghek," she said, when she saw that he intended to +defend her. "What can a single sword accomplish against such +odds?" + +"I can die but once," replied the kaldane. "You and your panthan +saved me from Luud and I but do what your panthan would do were +he here to protect you." + +"It is brave, but it is useless," she replied. "Sheathe your +sword. They may not intend us harm." + +Ghek let the point of his weapon drop to the ground, but he did +not sheathe it, and thus the two stood waiting as U-Dor the dwar +stopped his thoat before them while his twenty warriors formed a +rough circle about. For a long minute U-Dor sat his mount in +silence, looking searchingly first at Tara of Helium and then at +her hideous companion. + +"What manner of creature are you?" he asked presently. "And what +do you before the gates of Manator?" + +"We are from far countries," replied the girl, "and we are lost +and starving. We ask only food and rest and the privilege to go +our way seeking our own homes." + +U-Dor smiled a grim smile. "Manator and the hills which guard it +alone know the age of Manator," he said; "yet in all the ages +that have rolled by since Manator first was, there be no record +in the annals of Manator of a stranger departing from Manator." + +"But I am a princess," cried the girl haughtily, "and my country +is not at war with yours. You must give me and my companions aid +and assist us to return to our own land. It is the law of +Barsoom." + +"Manator knows only the laws of Manator," replied U-Dor; "but +come. You shall go with us to the city, where you, being +beautiful, need have no fear. I, myself, will protect you if +O-Tar so decrees. And as for your companion--but hold! You said +'companions'--there are others of your party then?" + +"You see what you see," replied Tara haughtily. + +"Be that as it may," said U-Dor. "If there be more they shall not +escape Manator; but as I was saying, if your companion fights +well he too may live, for O-Tar is just, and just are the laws of +Manator. Come!" + +Ghek demurred. + + "It is useless," said the girl, seeing that he would have stood +his ground and fought them. "Let us go with them. Why pit your +puny blade against their mighty ones when there should lie in +your great brain the means to outwit them?" She spoke in a low +whisper, rapidly. + +"You are right, Tara of Helium," he replied and sheathed his +sword. + +And so they moved down the hillside toward the gates of +Manator--Tara, Princess of Helium, and Ghek, the kaldane of +Bantoom--and surrounding them rode the savage, painted warriors +of U-Dor, dwar of the 8th Utan of O-Tar, Jeddak of Manator. + + + +CHAPTER XI + +THE CHOICE OF TARA + +THE dazzling sunlight of Barsoom clothed Manator in an aureole of +splendor as the girl and her captors rode into the city through +The Gate of Enemies. Here the wall was some fifty feet thick, and +the sides of the passageway within the gate were covered with +parallel shelves of masonry from bottom to top. Within these +shelves, or long, horizontal niches, stood row upon row of small +figures, appearing like tiny, grotesque statuettes of men, their +long, black hair falling below their feet and sometimes trailing +to the shelf beneath. The figures were scarce a foot in height +and but for their diminutive proportions might have been the +mummified bodies of once living men. The girl noticed that as +they passed, the warriors saluted the figures with their spears +after the manner of Barsoomian fighting men in extending a +military courtesy, and then they rode on into the avenue beyond, +which ran, wide and stately, through the city toward the east. + +On either side were great buildings wondrously wrought. Paintings +of great beauty and antiquity covered many of the walls, their +colors softened and blended by the suns of ages. Upon the +pavement the life of the newly-awakened city was already afoot. +Women in brilliant trappings, befeathered warriors, their bodies +daubed with paint; artisans, armed but less gaily caparisoned, +took their various ways upon the duties of the day. A giant +zitidar, magnificent in rich harness, rumbled its broad-wheeled +cart along the stone pavement toward The Gate of Enemies. Life +and color and beauty wrought together a picture that filled the +eyes of Tara of Helium with wonder and with admiration, for here +was a scene out of the dead past of dying Mars. Such had been the +cities of the founders of her race before Throxeus, mightiest of +oceans, had disappeared from the face of a world. And from +balconies on either side men and women looked down in silence +upon the scene below. + +The people in the street looked at the two prisoners, especially +at the hideous Ghek, and called out in question or comment to +their guard; but the watchers upon the balconies spoke not, nor +did one so much as turn a head to note their passing. There were +many balconies on each building and not a one that did not hold +its silent party of richly trapped men and women, with here and +there a child or two, but even the children maintained the +uniform silence and immobility of their elders. As they +approached the center of the city the girl saw that even the +roofs bore companies of these idle watchers, harnessed and +bejeweled as for some gala-day of laughter and music, but no +laughter broke from those silent lips, nor any music from the +strings of the instruments that many of them held in jeweled +fingers. + +And now the avenue widened into an immense square, at the far end +of which rose a stately edifice gleaming white in virgin marble +among the gaily painted buildings surrounding it and its scarlet +sward and gaily-flowering, green-foliaged shrubbery. Toward this +U-Dor led his prisoners and their guard to the great arched +entrance before which a line of fifty mounted warriors barred the +way. When the commander of the guard recognized U-Dor the +guardsmen fell back to either side leaving a broad avenue through +which the party passed. Directly inside the entrance were +inclined runways leading upward on either side. U-Dor turned to +the left and led them upward to the second floor and down a long +corridor. Here they passed other mounted men and in chambers upon +either side they saw more. Occasionally there was another runway +leading either up or down. A warrior, his steed at full gallop, +dashed into sight from one of these and raced swiftly past them +upon some errand. + +Nowhere as yet had Tara of Helium seen a man afoot in this great +building; but when at a turn, U-Dor led them to the third floor +she caught glimpses of chambers in which many riderless thoats +were penned and others adjoining where dismounted warriors lolled +at ease or played games of skill or chance and many there were +who played at jetan, and then the party passed into a long, wide +hall of state, as magnificent an apartment as even a princess of +mighty Helium ever had seen. The length of the room ran an arched +ceiling ablaze with countless radium bulbs. The mighty spans +extended from wall to wall leaving the vast floor unbroken by a +single column. The arches were of white marble, apparently +quarried in single, huge blocks from which each arch was cut +complete. Between the arches, the ceiling was set solid about the +radium bulbs with precious stones whose scintillant fire and +color and beauty filled the whole apartment. The stones were +carried down the walls in an irregular fringe for a few feet, +where they appeared to hang like a beautiful and gorgeous drapery +against the white marble of the wall. The marble ended some six +or seven feet from the floor, the walls from that point down +being wainscoted in solid gold. The floor itself was of marble +richly inlaid with gold. In that single room was a vast treasure +equal to the wealth of many a large city. + +But what riveted the girl's attention even more than the fabulous +treasure of decorations were the files of gorgeously harnessed +warriors who sat their thoats in grim silence and immobility on +either side of the central aisle, rank after rank of them to the +farther walls, and as the party passed between them she could not +note so much as the flicker of an eyelid, or the twitching of a +thoat's ear. + +"The Hall of Chiefs," whispered one of her guard, evidently +noting her interest. There was a note of pride in the fellow's +voice and something of hushed awe. Then they passed through a +great doorway into the chamber beyond, a large, square room in +which a dozen mounted warriors lolled in their saddles. + +As U-Dor and his party entered the room, the warriors came +quickly erect in their saddles and formed a line before another +door upon the opposite side of the wall. The padwar commanding +them saluted U-Dor who, with his party, had halted facing the +guard. + +"Send one to O-Tar announcing that U-Dor brings two prisoners +worthy of the observation of the great jeddak," said U-Dor; "one +because of her extreme beauty, the other because of his extreme +ugliness." + +"O-Tar sits in council with the lesser chiefs," replied the +lieutenant; "but the words of U-Dor the dwar shall be carried to +him," and he turned and gave instructions to one who sat his +thoat behind him. + +"What manner of creature is the male?" he asked of U-Dor. "It +cannot be that both are of one race." + +"They were together in the hills south of the city," explained +U-Dor, "and they say that they are lost and starving." + +"The woman is beautiful," said the padwar. "She will not long go +begging in the city of Manator," and then they spoke of other +matters--of the doings of the palace, of the expedition of U-Dor, +until the messenger returned to say that O-Tar bade them bring +the prisoners to him. + +They passed then through a massive doorway, which, when opened, +revealed the great council chamber of O-Tar, Jeddak of Manator, +beyond. A central aisle led from the doorway the full length of +the great hall, terminating at the steps of a marble dais upon +which a man sat in a great throne-chair. Upon either side of the +aisle were ranged rows of highly carved desks and chairs of skeel +a hard wood of great beauty. Only a few of the desks were +occupied--those in the front row, just below the rostrum. + +At the entrance U-Dor dismounted with four of his followers who +formed a guard about the two prisoners who were then conducted +toward the foot of the throne, following a few paces behind +U-Dor. As they halted at the foot of the marble steps, the proud +gaze of Tara of Helium rested upon the enthroned figure of the +man above her. He sat erect without stiffness--a commanding +presence trapped in the barbaric splendor that the Barsoomian +chieftain loves. He was a large man, the perfection of whose +handsome face was marred only by the hauteur of his cold eyes and +the suggestion of cruelty imparted by too thin lips. It needed no +second glance to assure the least observing that here indeed was +a ruler of. men--a fighting jeddak whose people might worship but +not love, and for whose slightest favor warriors would vie with +one another to go forth and die. This was O-Tar, Jeddak of +Manator, and as Tara of Helium saw him for the first time she +could not but acknowledge a certain admiration for this savage +chieftain who so virilely personified the ancient virtues of the +God of War. + +U-Dor and the jeddak interchanged the simple greetings of +Barsoom, and then the former recounted the details of the +discovery and capture of the prisoners. O-Tar scrutinized them +both intently during U-Dor's narration of events, his expression +revealing naught of what passed in the brain behind those +inscrutable eyes. When the officer had finished the jeddak +fastened his gaze upon Ghek. + +"And you," he asked, "what manner of thing are you? From what +country? Why are you in Manator?" + +"I am a kaldane," replied Ghek; "the highest type of created +creature upon the face of Barsoom; I am mind, you are matter. I +come from Bantoom. I am here because we were lost and starving." + +"And you!" O-Tar turned suddenly on Tara "You, too, are a +kaldane?" + +"I am a princess of Helium," replied the girl. "I was a prisoner +in Bantoom. This kaldane and a warrior of my own race rescued me. +The warrior left us to search for food and water. He has +doubtless fallen into the hands of your people. I ask you to free +him and give us food and drink and let us go upon our way. I am a +granddaughter of a jeddak, the daughter of a jeddak of jeddaks, +The Warlord of Barsoom. I ask only the treatment that my people +would accord you or yours." + +"Helium," repeated O-Tar. "I know naught of Helium, nor does the +Jeddak of Helium rule Manator. I, O-Tar, am Jeddak of Manator. I +alone rule. I protect my own. You have never seen a woman or a +warrior of Manator captive in Helium! Why should I protect the +people of another jeddak? It is his duty to protect them. If he +cannot, he is weak, and his people must fall into the hands of +the strong. I, O-Tar, am strong. I will keep you. That --" he +pointed at Ghek--"can it fight?" + +"It is brave," replied Tara of Helium, "but it has not the skill +at arms which my people possess." + +"There is none then to fight for you?" asked O-Tar. "We are a +just people," he continued without waiting for a reply, "and had +you one to fight for you he might win to freedom for himself and +you as well." + +"But U-Dor assured me that no stranger ever had departed from +Manator," she answered. + +O-Tar shrugged. "That does not disprove the justice of the laws +of Manator," replied O-Tar, "but rather that the warriors of +Manator are invincible. Had there come one who could defeat our +warriors that one had won to liberty." + +"And you fetch my warrior," cried Tara haughtily, "you shall see +such swordplay as doubtless the crumbling walls of your decaying +city never have witnessed, and if there be no trick in your offer +we are already as good as free." + +O-Tar smiled more broadly than before and U-Dor smiled, too, and +the chiefs and warriors who looked on nudged one another and +whispered, laughing. And Tara of Helium knew then that there was +trickery in their justice; but though her situation seemed +hopeless she did not cease to hope, for was she not the daughter +of John Carter, Warlord of Barsoom, whose famous challenge to +Fate, "I still live!" remained the one irreducible defense +against despair? At thought of her noble sire the patrician chin +of Tara of Helium rose a shade higher. Ah! if he but knew where +she was there were little to fear then. The hosts of Helium would +batter at the gates of Manator, the great green warriors of John +Carter's savage allies would swarm up from the dead sea bottoms +lusting for pillage and for loot, the stately ships of her +beloved navy would soar above the unprotected towers and minarets +of the doomed city which only capitulation and heavy tribute +could then save. + +But John Carter did not know! There was only one other to whom +she might hope to look--Turan the panthan; but where was he? She +had seen his sword in play and she knew that it had been wielded +by a master hand, and who should know swordplay better than Tara +of Helium, who had learned it well under the constant tutorage of +John Carter himself. Tricks she knew that discounted even far +greater physical prowess than her own, and a method of attack +that might have been at once the envy and despair of the +cleverest of warriors. And so it was that her thoughts turned to +Turan the panthan, though not alone because of the protection he +might afford her. She had realized, since he had left her in +search of food, that there had grown between them a certain +comradeship that she now missed. There had been that about him +which seemed to have bridged the gulf between their stations in +life. With him she had failed to consider that he was a panthan +or that she was a princess--they had been comrades. Suddenly she +realized that she missed him for himself more than for his sword. +She turned toward O-Tar. + +"Where is Turan, my warrior?" she demanded. + +"You shall not lack for warriors," replied the jeddak. "One of +your beauty will find plenty ready to fight for her. Possibly it +shall not be necessary to look farther than the jeddak of +Manator. You please me, woman. What say you to such an honor?" + +Through narrowed lids the Princess of Helium scrutinized the +Jeddak of Manator, from feathered headdress to sandaled foot and +back to feathered headdress. + +"'Honor'!" she mimicked in tones of scorn. "I please thee, do I? +Then know, swine, that thou pleaseth me not--that the daughter of +John Carter is not for such as thou!" + +A sudden, tense silence fell upon the assembled chiefs. Slowly +the blood receded from the sinister face of O-Tar, Jeddak of +Manator, leaving him a sickly purple in his wrath. His eyes +narrowed to two thin slits, his lips were compressed to a +bloodless line of malevolence. For a long moment there was no +sound in the throne room of the palace at Manator. Then the +jeddak turned toward U-Dor. + +"Take her away," he said in a level voice that belied his +appearance of rage. "Take her away, and at the next games let the +prisoners and the common warriors play at Jetan for her." + +"And this?" asked U-Dor, pointing at Ghek. + +"To the pits until the next games," replied O-Tar. + +"So this is your vaunted justice!" cried Tara of Helium; "that +two strangers who have not wronged you shall be sentenced without +trial? And one of them is a woman. The swine of Manator are as +just as they are brave." + +"Away with her!" shouted O-Tar, and at a sign from U-Dor the +guards formed about the two prisoners and conducted them from the +chamber. + +Outside the palace, Ghek and Tara of Helium were separated. The +girl was led through long avenues toward the center of the city +and finally into a low building, topped by lofty towers of +massive construction. Here she was turned over to a warrior who +wore the insignia of a dwar, or captain. + +"It is O-Tar's wish," explained U-Dor to this one, "that she be +kept until the next games, when the prisoners and the common +warriors shall play for her. Had she not the tongue of a thoat +she had been a worthy stake for our noblest steel," and U-Dor +sighed. "Perhaps even yet I may win a pardon for her. It were too +bad to see such beauty fall to the lot of some common fellow. I +would have honored her myself." + +"If I am to be imprisoned, imprison me," said the girl. "I do not +recall that I was sentenced to listen to the insults of every +low-born boor who chanced to admire me." + +"You see, A-Kor," cried U-Dor, "the tongue that she has. Even so +and worse spoke she to O-Tar the jeddak." + +"I see," replied A-Kor, whom Tara saw was with difficulty +restraining a smile. "Come, then, with me, woman," he said, "and +we shall find a safe place within The Towers of Jetan--but stay! +what ails thee?" + +The girl had staggered and would have fallen had not the man +caught her in his arms. She seemed to gather herself then and +bravely sought to stand erect without support. A-Kor glanced at +U-Dor. "Knew you the woman was ill?" he asked. + +"Possibly it is lack of food," replied the other. "She mentioned, +I believe, that she and her companions had not eaten for several +days." + +"Brave are the warriors of O-Tar," sneered A-Kor; "lavish their +hospitality. U-Dor, whose riches are uncounted, and the brave +O-Tar, whose squealing thoats are stabled within marble halls and +fed from troughs of gold, can spare no crust to feed a starving +girl." + +The black haired U-Dor. scowled. "Thy tongue will yet pierce thy +heart, son of a slave!" he cried. "Once too often mayst thus try +the patience of the just O-Tar. Hereafter guard thy speech as +well as thy towers." + +"Think not to taunt me with my mother's state," said A-Kor. "'Tis +the blood of the slave woman that fills my veins with pride, and +my only shame is that I am also the son of thy jeddak." + +"And O-Tar heard this?" queried U-Dor. + +"O-Tar has already heard it from my own lips," replied A-Kor; +"this, and more." + +He turned upon his heel, a supporting arm still around the waist +of Tara of Helium and thus he half led, half carried her into The +Towers of Jetan, while U-Dor wheeled his thoat and galloped back +in the direction of the palace. + +Within the main entrance to The Tower of Jetan lolled a +half-dozen warriors. To one of these spoke A-Kor, keeper of the +towers. "Fetch Lan-O, the slave girl, and bid her bring food and +drink to the upper level of the Thurian tower," then he lifted +the half-fainting girl in his arms and bore her along the spiral, +inclined runway that led upward within the tower. + +Somewhere in the long ascent Tara lost consciousness. When it +returned she found herself in a large, circular chamber, the +stone walls of which were pierced by windows at regular intervals +about the entire circumference of the room. She was lying upon a +pile of sleeping silks and furs while there knelt above her a +young woman who was forcing drops of some cooling beverage +between her parched lips. Tara of Helium half rose upon an elbow +and looked about. In the first moments of returning consciousness +there were swept from the screen of recollection the happenings +of many weeks. She thought that she awoke in the palace of The +Warlord at Helium. Her brows knit as she scrutinized the strange +face bending over her. + +"Who are you?" she asked, and, "Where is Uthia?" + +"I am Lan-O the slave girl," replied the other. "I know none by +the name of Uthia." + +Tara of Helium sat erect and looked about her. This rough stone +was not the marble of her father's halls. "Where am I?" she +asked. + +"In The Thurian Tower," replied the girl, and then seeing that +the other still did not understand she guessed the truth. "You +are a prisoner in The Towers of Jetan in the city of Manator," +she explained. "You were brought to this chamber, weak and +fainting, by A-Kor, Dwar of The Towers of Jetan, who sent me to +you with food and drink, for kind is the heart of A-Kor." + +"I remember, now," said Tara, slowly. "I remember; but where is +Turan, my warrior? Did they speak of him?" + +"I heard naught of another," replied Lan-O; "you alone were +brought to the towers. In that you are fortunate, for there be no +nobler man in Manator than A-Kor. It is his mother's blood that +makes him so. She was a slave girl from Gathol." + +"Gathol!" exclaimed Tara of Helium. "Lies Gathol close by +Manator?" + +"Not close, yet still the nearest country," replied Lan-O. "About +twenty-two degrees* east, it lies." + +* Approximately 814 Earth Miles. + + +"Gathol!" murmured Tara, "Far Gathol!" + +"But you are not from Gathol," said the slave girl; "your harness +is not of Gathol." + +"I am from Helium," said Tara + +"It is far from Helium to Gathol;" said the slave girl, "but + +in our studies we learned much of the greatness of Helium, we of +Gathol, so it seems not so far away." + +"You, too, are from Gathol?" asked Tara. + +"Many of us are from Gathol who are slaves in Manator," replied +the girl. "It is to Gathol, nearest country, that the Manatorians +look for slaves most often. They go in great numbers at intervals +of three or seven years and haunt the roads that lead to Gathol, +and thus they capture whole caravans leaving none to bear warning +to Gathol of their fate. Nor do any ever escape from Manator to +carry word of us back to Gahan our jed." + +Tara of Helium ate slowly and in silence. The girl's words +aroused memories of the last hours she had spent in her father's +palace and the great midday function at which she had met Gahan +of Gathol. Even now she flushed as she recalled his daring words. + +Upon her reveries the door opened and a burly warrior appeared in +the opening--a hulking fellow, with thick lips and an evil, +leering face. The slave girl sprang to her feet, facing him. + +"What does this mean, E-Med?" she cried, "was it not the will of +A-Kor that this woman be not disturbed?" + +"The will of A-Kor, indeed!" and the man sneered. "The will of +A-Kor is without power in The Towers of Jetan, or elsewhere, for +A-Kor lies now in the pits of O-Tar, and E-Med is dwar of the +Towers." + +Tara of Helium saw the face of the slave girl pale and the terror +in her eyes. + + + +CHAPTER XII + +GHEK PLAYS PRANKS + +WHILE Tara of Helium was being led to The Towers of Jetan, Ghek +was escorted to the pits beneath the palace where he was +imprisoned in a dimly-lighted chamber. Here he found a bench and +a table standing upon the dirt floor near the wall, and set in +the wall several rings from which depended short lengths of +chain. At the base of the walls were several holes in the dirt +floor. These, alone, of the several things he saw, interested +him. Ghek sat down upon the bench and waited in silence, +listening. Presently the lights were extinguished. If Ghek could +have smiled he would have then, for Ghek could see as well in the +dark as in the light--better, perhaps. He watched the dark +openings of the holes in the floor and waited. Presently he +detected a change in the air about him--it grew heavy with a +strange odor, and once again might Ghek have smiled, could he +have smiled. + +Let them replace all the air in the chamber with their most +deadly fumes; it would be all the same to Ghek, the kaldane, who, +having no lungs, required no air. With the rykor it might be +different. Deprived of air it would die; but if only a sufficient +amount of the gas was introduced to stupefy an ordinary creature +it would have no effect upon the rykor, who had no objective mind +to overcome. So long as the excess of carbon dioxide in the blood +was not sufficient to prevent heart action, the rykor would +suffer only a diminution of vitality; but would still respond to +the exciting agency of the kaldane's brain. + +Ghek caused the rykor to assume a sitting position with its back +against the wall where it might remain without direction from his +brain. Then he released his contact with its spinal cord; but +remained in position upon its shoulders, waiting and watching, +for the kaldane's curiosity was aroused. He had not long to wait +before the lights were flashed on arid one of the locked doors +opened to admit a half-dozen warriors. They approached him +rapidly and worked quickly. First they removed all his weapons +and then, snapping a fetter about one of the rykor's ankles, +secured him to the end of one of the chains hanging from the +walls. Next they dragged the long table to a new position and +there bolted it to the floor so that an end, instead of the +middle, was directly before the prisoner. On the table before him +they set food and water and upon the opposite end of the table +they laid the key to the fetter. Then they unlocked and opened +all the doors and departed. + + +When Turan the panthan regained consciousness it was to the +realization of a sharp pain in one of his forearms. The effects +of the gas departed as rapidly as they had overcome him so that +as he opened his eyes he was in full possession of all his +faculties. The lights were on again and in their glow there was +revealed to the man the figure of a giant Martian rat crouching +upon the table and gnawing upon his arm. Snatching his arm away +he reached for his short-sword, while the rat, growling, sought +to seize his arm again. It was then that Turan discovered that +his weapons had been removed--short-sword, long-sword, dagger, +and pistol. The rat charged him then and striking the creature +away with his hand the man rose and backed off, searching for +something with which to strike a harder blow. Again the rat +charged and as Turan stepped quickly back to avoid the menacing +jaws, something seemed to jerk suddenly upon his right ankle, and +as he drew his left foot back to regain his equilibrium his heel +caught upon a taut chain and he fell heavily backward to the +floor just as the rat leaped upon his breast and sought his +throat. + +The Martian rat is a fierce and unlovely thing. It is many-legged +and hairless, its hide resembling that of a newborn mouse in +repulsiveness. In size and weight it is comparable to a large +Airedale terrier. Its eyes are small and close-set, and almost +hidden in deep, fleshy apertures. But its most ferocious and +repulsive feature is its jaws, the entire bony structure of which +protrudes several inches beyond the flesh, revealing five sharp, +spadelike teeth in the upper jaw and the same number of similar +teeth in the lower, the whole suggesting the appearance of a +rotting face from which much of the flesh has sloughed away. + +It was such a thing that leaped upon the breast of the panthan to +tear at his jugular. Twice Turan struck it away as he sought to +regain his feet, but both times it returned with increased +ferocity to renew the attack. Its only weapons are its jaws since +its broad, splay feet are armed with blunt talons. With its +protruding jaws it excavates its winding burrows and with its +broad feet it pushes the dirt behind it. To keep the jaws from +his flesh then was Turan's only concern and this he succeeded in +doing until chance gave him a hold upon the creature's throat. +After that the end was but a matter of moments. Rising at last he +flung the lifeless thing from him with a shudder of disgust. + +Now he turned his attention to a hurried inventory of the new +conditions which surrounded him since the moment of his +incarceration. He realized vaguely what had happened. He had been +anaesthetized and stripped of his weapons, and as he rose to his +feet he saw that one ankle was fettered to a chain in the wall. +He looked about the room. All the doors swung wide open! His +captors would render his imprisonment the more cruel by leaving +ever before him tempting glimpses of open aisles to the freedom +he could not attain. Upon the end of the table and within easy +reach was food and drink. This at least was attainable and at +sight of it his starved stomach seemed almost to cry aloud for +sustenance. It was with difficulty that he ate and drank in +moderation. + +As he devoured the food his eyes wandered about the confines of +his prison until suddenly they seized upon a thing that lay on +the table at the end farthest from him. It was a key. He raised +his fettered ankle and examined the lock. There could be no doubt +of it! The key that lay there on the table before him was the key +to that very lock. A careless warrior had laid it there and +departed, forgetting. + +Hope surged high in the breast of Gahan of Gathol, of Turan the +panthan. Furtively his eyes sought the open doorways. There was +no one in sight. Ah, if he could but gain his freedom! He would +find some way from this odious city back to her side and never +again would he leave her until he had won safety for her or death +for himself. + +He rose and moved cautiously toward the opposite end of the table +where lay the coveted key. The fettered ankle halted his first +step, but he stretched at full length along the table, extending +eager fingers toward the prize. They almost laid hold upon it--a +little more and they would touch it. He strained and stretched, +but still the thing lay just beyond his reach. He hurled himself +forward until the iron fetter bit deep into his flesh, but all +futilely. He sat back upon the bench then and glared at the open +doors and the key, realizing now that they were part of a +well-laid scheme of refined torture, none the less demoralizing +because it inflicted no physical suffering. + +For just a moment the man gave way to useless regret and +foreboding, then he gathered himself together, his brows cleared, +and he returned to his unfinished meal. At least they should not +have the satisfaction of knowing how sorely they had hit him. As +he ate it occurred to him that by dragging the table along the +floor he could bring the key within his reach, but when he +essayed to do so, he found that the table had been securely +bolted to the floor during the period of his unconsciousness, +Again Gahan smiled and shrugged and resumed his eating. + + +When the warriors had departed from the prison in which Ghek was +confined, the kaldane crawled from the shoulders of the rykor to +the table. Here he drank a little water and then directed the +hands of the rykor to the balance of it and to the food, upon +which the brainless thing fell with avidity. While it was thus +engaged Ghek took his spider-like way along the table to the +opposite end where lay the key to the fetter. Seizing it in a +chela he leaped to the floor and scurried rapidly toward the +mouth of one of the burrows against the wall, into which he +disappeared. For long had the brain been contemplating these +burrow entrances. They appealed to his kaldanean tastes, and +further, they pointed a hiding place for the key and a lair for +the only kind of food that the kaldane relished--flesh and blood. + +Ghek had never seen an ulsio, since these great Martian rats had +long ago disappeared from Bantoom, their flesh and blood having +been greatly relished by the kaldanes; but Ghek had inherited, +almost unimpaired, every memory of every ancestor, and so he knew +that ulsio inhabited these lairs and that ulsio was good to eat, +and he knew what ulsio looked like and what his habits were, +though he had never seen him nor any picture of him. As we breed +animals for the transmission of physical attributes, so the +Kaldanes breed themselves for the transmission of attributes of +the mind, including memory and the power of recollection, and +thus have they raised what we term instinct, above the level of +the threshold of the objective mind where it may be commanded and +utilized by recollection. Doubtless in our own subjective minds +lie many of the impressions and experiences of our forebears. +These may impinge upon our consciousness in dreams only, or in +vague, haunting suggestions that we have before experienced some +transient phase of our present existence. Ah, if we had but the +power to recall them! Before us would unfold the forgotten story +of the lost eons that have preceded us. We might even walk with +God in the garden of His stars while man was still but a budding +idea within His mind. + +Ghek descended into the burrow at a steep incline for some ten +feet, when he found himself in an elaborate and delightful +network of burrows! The kaldane was elated. This indeed was life! +He moved rapidly and fearlessly and he went as straight to his +goal as you could to the kitchen of your own home. This goal lay +at a low level in a spheroidal cavity about the size of a large +barrel. Here, in a nest of torn bits of silk and fur lay six baby +ulsios. + +When the mother returned there were but five babies and a great +spider-like creature, which she immediately sprang to attack only +to be met by powerful chelae which seized and held her so that +she could not move. Slowly they dragged her throat toward a +hideous mouth and in a little moment she was dead. + +Ghek might have remained in the nest for a long time, since there +was ample food for many days; but he did not do so. Instead he +explored the burrows. He followed them into many subterranean +chambers of the city of Manator, and upward through walls to +rooms above the ground. He found many ingeniously devised traps, +and he found poisoned food and other signs of the constant battle +that the inhabitants of Manator waged against these repulsive +creatures that dwelt beneath their homes and public buildings. + +His exploration revealed not only the vast proportions of the +net-work of runways that apparently traversed every portion of +the city, but the great antiquity of the majority of them. Tons +upon tons of dirt must have been removed, and for a long time he +wondered where it had been deposited, until in following downward +a tunnel of great size and length he sensed before him the +thunderous rush of subterranean waters, and presently came to the +bank of a great, underground river, tumbling onward, no doubt, +the length of a world to the buried sea of Omean. Into this +torrential sewer had unthinkable generations of ulsios pushed +their few handsful of dirt in the excavating of their vast +labyrinth. + +For only a moment did Ghek tarry by the river, for his seemingly +aimless wanderings were in reality prompted by a definite +purpose, and this he pursued with vigor and singleness of design. +He followed such runways as appeared to terminate in the pits or +other chambers of the inhabitants of the city, and these he +explored, usually from the safety of a burrow's mouth, until +satisfied that what he sought was not there. He moved swiftly +upon his spider legs and covered remarkable distances in short +periods of time. + +His search not being rewarded with immediate success, he decided +to return to the pit where his rykor lay chained and look to its +wants. As he approached the end of the burrow that terminated in +the pit he slackened his pace, stopping just within the entrance +of the runway that he might scan the interior of the chamber +before entering it. As he did so he saw the figure of a warrior +appear suddenly in an opposite doorway. The rykor sprawled upon +the table, his hands groping blindly for more food. Ghek saw the +warrior pause and gaze in sudden astonishment at the rykor; he +saw the fellow's eyes go wide and an ashen hue replace the copper +bronze of his cheek. He stepped back as though someone had struck +him in the face. For an instant only he stood thus as in a +paralysis of fear, then he uttered a smothered shriek and turned +and fled. Again was it a catastrophe that Ghek, the kaldane, +could not smile. + +Quickly entering the room he crawled to the table top and affixed +himself to the shoulders of his rykor, and there he waited; and +who may say that Ghek, though he could not smile, possessed not a +sense of humor? For a half-hour he sat there, and then there came +to him the sound of men approaching along corridors of stone. He +could hear their arms clank against the rocky walls and he knew +that they came at a rapid pace; but just before they reached the +entrance to his prison they paused and advanced more slowly. In +the lead was an officer, and just behind him, wide-eyed and +perhaps still a little ashen, the warrior who had so recently +departed in haste. At the doorway they halted and the officer +turned sternly upon the warrior. With upraised finger he pointed +at Ghek. + +"There sits the creature! Didst thou dare lie, then, to thy +dwar?" + +"I swear," cried the warrior, "that I spoke the truth. But a +moment since the thing groveled, headless, upon this very table! +And may my first ancestor strike me dead upon the spot if I speak +other than a true word!" + +The officer looked puzzled. The men of Mars seldom if ever lie. +He scratched his head. Then he addressed Ghek. "How long have you +been here?" he asked. + +"Who knows better than those who placed me here and chained me to +a wall?" he returned in reply. + +"Saw you this warrior enter here a few minutes since?" + +"I saw him," replied Ghek. + +"And you sat there where you sit now?" continued the officer. + +"Look thou to my chain and tell me then where else might I sit!" +cried Ghek. "Art the people of thy city all fools?" + +Three other warriors pressed behind the two in front, craning +their necks to view the prisoner while they grinned at the +discomfiture of their fellow. The officer scowled at Ghek. + +"Thy tongue is as venomous as that of the she-banth O-Tar sent to +The Towers of Jetan," he said. + +You speak of the young woman who was captured with me?" asked +Ghek, his expressionless monotone and face revealing naught of +the interest he felt. + +"I speak of her," replied the dwar, and then turning to the +warrior who had summoned him: "return to thy quarters and remain +there until the next games. Perhaps by that time thy eyes may +have learned not to deceive thee." + +The fellow cast a venomous glance at Ghek and turned away. The +officer shook his head. "I do not understand it," he muttered. +"Always has U-Van been a true and dependable warrior. Could it +be--?" he glanced piercingly at Ghek. "Thou hast a strange head +that misfits thy body, fellow," he cried. "Our legends tell us of +those ancient creatures that placed hallucinations upon the mind +of their fellows. If thou be such then maybe U-Van suffered from +thy forbidden powers. If thou be such O-Tar will know well how to +deal with thee." He wheeled about and motioned his warriors to +follow him. + +"Wait!" cried Ghek. "Unless I am to be starved, send me food." + +"You have had food," replied the warrior. + +"Am I to be fed but once a day?" asked Ghek. "I require food +oftener than that. Send me food." + +"You shall have food," replied the officer. "None may say that +the prisoners of Manator are ill-fed. Just are the laws of +Manator," and he departed. + +No sooner had the sounds of their passing died away in the +distance than Ghek clambered from the shoulders of his rykor, and +scurried to the burrow where he had hidden the key. Fetching it +he unlocked the fetter from about the creature's ankle, locked it +empty and carried the key farther down into the burrow. Then he +returned to his place upon his brainless servitor. After a while +he heard footsteps approaching, whereupon he rose and passed into +another corridor from that down which he knew the warrior was +coming. Here he waited out of sight, listening. He heard the man +enter the chamber and halt. He heard a muttered exclamation, +followed by the jangle of metal dishes as a salver was slammed +upon a table; then rapidly retreating footsteps, which quickly +died away in the distance. + +Ghek lost no time in returning to the chamber, recovering the +key, relocking the rykor to his chain. Then he replaced the key +in the burrow and squatting on the table beside his headless +body, directed its hands toward the food. While the rykor ate +Ghek sat listening for the scraping sandals and clattering arms +that he knew soon would come. Nor had he long to wait. Ghek +scrambled to the shoulders of his rykor as he heard them coming. +Again it was the officer who had been summoned by U-Van and with +him were three warriors. The one directly behind him was +evidently the same who had brought the food, for his eyes went +wide when he saw Ghek sitting at the table and he looked very +foolish as the dwar turned his stern glance upon him. + +"It is even as I said," he cried. "He was not here when I brought +his food." + +"But he is here now," said the officer grimly, "and his fetter is +locked about his ankle. Look! it has not been opened--but where +is the key? It should be upon the table at the end opposite him. +Where is the key, creature?" he shouted at Ghek. + +"How should I, a prisoner, know better than my jailer the +whereabouts of the key to my fetters?" he retorted. + +"But it lay here," cried the officer, pointing to the other end +of the table. + +"Did you see it?" asked Ghek. + +The officer hesitated. "No but it must have been there," he +parried. + +"Did you see the key lying there?" asked Ghek, pointing to +another warrior. + +The fellow shook his head negatively. "And you? and you?" +continued the kaldane addressing the others. + +They both admitted that they never had seen the key. "And if it +had been there how could I have reached it?" he continued. + +"No, he could not have reached it," admitted the officer; "but +there shall be no more of this! I-Zav, you will remain here on +guard with this prisoner until you are relieved." + +I-Zav looked anything but happy as this intelligence was +transmitted to him, and he eyed Ghek suspiciously as the dwar and +the other warriors turned and left him to his unhappy lot. + + + +CHAPTER XIII + +A DESPERATE DEED + +E-MED crossed the tower chamber toward Tara of Helium and the +slave girl, Lan-O. He seized the former roughly by a shoulder. +"Stand!" he commanded. Tara struck his hand from her and rising, +backed away. + +"Lay not your hand upon the person of a princess of Helium, +beast!" she warned. + +E-Med laughed. "Think you that I play at jetan for you without +first knowing something of the stake for which I play?" he +demanded. "Come here!" + +The girl drew herself to her full height, folding her arms across +her breast, nor did E-Med note that the slim fingers of her right +hand were inserted beneath the broad leather strap of her harness +where it passed over her left shoulder. + +"And O-Tar learns of this you shall rue it, E-Med," cried the +slave girl; "there be no law in Manator that gives you this girl +before you shall have won her fairly." + +"What cares O-Tar for her fate?" replied E-Med. "Have I not +heard? Did she not flout the great jeddak, heaping abuse upon +him? By my first ancestor, I think O-Tar might make a jed of the +man who subdued her," and again he advanced toward Tara. + +"Wait!" said the girl in low, even tone. "Perhaps you know not +what you do. Sacred to the people of Helium are the persons of +the women of Helium. For the honor of the humblest of them would +the great jeddak himself unsheathe his sword. The greatest +nations of Barsoom have trembled to the thunders of war in +defense of the person of Dejah Thoris, my mother. We are but +mortal and so may die; but we may not be defiled. You may play at +jetan for a princess of Helium, but though you may win the match, +never may you claim the reward. If thou wouldst possess a dead +body press me too far, but know, man of Manator, that the blood +of The Warlord flows not in the veins of Tara of Helium for +naught. I have spoken." + +"I know naught of Helium and O-Tar is our warlord," replied +E-Med; "but I do know that I would examine more closely the prize +that I shall play for and win. I would test the lips of her who +is to be my slave after the next games; nor is it well, woman, to +drive me too far to anger." His eyes narrowed as he spoke, his +visage taking on the semblance of that of a snarling beast. "If +you doubt the truth of my words ask Lan-O, the slave girl." + +"He speaks truly, O woman of Helium," interjected Lan-O. "Try not +the temper of E-Med, if you value your life." + +But Tara of Helium made no reply. Already had she spoken. She +stood in silence now facing the burly warrior who approached her. +He came close and then quite suddenly he seized her and, bending, +tried to draw her lips to his. + +Lan-O saw the woman from Helium half turn, and with a quick +movement jerk her right hand from where it had lain upon her +breast. She saw the hand shoot from beneath the arm of E-Med and +rise behind his shoulder and she saw in the hand a long, slim +blade. The lips of the warrior were drawing closer to those of +the woman, but they never touched them, for suddenly the man +straightened, stiffly, a shriek upon his lips, and then he +crumpled like an empty fur and lay, a shrunken heap, upon the +floor. Tara of Helium stooped and wiped her blade upon his +harness. + +Lan-O, wide-eyed, looked with horror upon the corpse. "For this +we shall both die," she cried. + +"And who would live a slave in Manator?" asked Tara of Helium. + +"I am not so brave as thou," said the slave girl, "and life is +sweet and there is always hope." + +"Life is sweet," agreed Tara of Helium, "but honor is sacred. But +do not fear. When they come I shall tell them the truth--that you +had no hand in this and no opportunity to prevent it." + +For a moment the slave girl seemed to be thinking deeply. +Suddenly her eyes lighted. "There is a way, perhaps," she said, +"to turn suspicion from us. He has the key to this chamber upon +him. Let us open the door and drag him out--maybe we shall find a +place to hide him." + +"Good!" exclaimed Tara of Helium, and the two immediately set +about the matter Lan-O had suggested. Quickly they found the key +and unlatched the door and then, between them, they half carried, +half dragged, the corpse of E-Med from the room and down the +stairway to the next level where Lan-O said there were vacant +chambers. The first door they tried was unlatched, and through +this the two bore their grisly burden into a small room lighted +by a single window. The apartment bore evidence of having been +utilized as a living-room rather than as a cell, being furnished +with a degree of comfort and even luxury. The walls were paneled +to a height of about seven feet from the floor, while the plaster +above and the ceiling were decorated with faded paintings of +another day. + +As Tara's eyes ran quickly over the interior her attention was +drawn to a section of paneling that seemed to be separated at one +edge from the piece next adjoining it. Quickly she crossed to it, +discovering that one vertical edge of an entire panel projected a +half-inch beyond the others. There was a possible explanation +which piqued her curiosity, and acting upon its suggestion she +seized upon the projecting edge and pulled outward. Slowly the +panel swung toward her, revealing a dark aperture in the wall +behind. + +"Look, Lan-O!" she cried. "See what I have found--a hole in which +we may hide the thing upon the floor." + +Lan-O joined her and together the two investigated the dark +aperture, finding a small platform from which a narrow runway led +downward into Stygian darkness. Thick dust covered the floor +within the doorway, indicating that a great period of time had +elapsed since human foot had trod it--a secret way, doubtless, +unknown to living Manatorians. Here they dragged the corpse of +E-Med, leaving it upon the platform, and as they left the dark +and forbidden closet Lan-O would have slammed to the panel had +not Tara prevented. + +"Wait!" she said, and fell to examining the door frame and the +stile. + +"Hurry!" whispered the slave girl. "If they come we are lost." + +"It may serve us well to know how to open this place again," +replied Tara of Helium, and then suddenly she pressed a foot +against a section of the carved base at the right of the open +panel. "Ah!" she breathed, a note of satisfaction in her tone, +and closed the panel until it fitted snugly in its place. "Come!" +she said and turned toward the outer doorway of the chamber. + +They reached their own cell without detection, and closing the +door Tara locked it from the inside and placed the key in a +secret pocket in her harness. + +"Let them come," she said. "Let them question us! What could two +poor prisoners know of the whereabouts of their noble jailer? I +ask you, Lan-O, what could they?" + +"Nothing," admitted Lan-O, smiling with her companion. + +"Tell me of these men of Manator," said Tara presently. "Are they +all like E-Med, or are some of them like A-Kor, who seemed a +brave and chivalrous character?" + +"They are not unlike the peoples of other countries," replied +Lan-O. "There be among them both good and bad. They are brave +warriors and mighty. Among themselves they are not without +chivalry and honor, but in their dealings with strangers they +know but one law--the law of might. The weak and unfortunate of +other lands fill them with contempt and arouse all that is worst +in their natures, which doubtless accounts for their treatment of +us, their slaves." + +"But why should they feel contempt for those who have suffered +the misfortune of falling into their hands?" queried Tara. + +"I do not know," said Lan-O; "A-Kor says that he believes that it +is because their country has never been invaded by a victorious +foe. In their stealthy raids never have they been defeated, +because they have never waited to face a powerful force; and so +they have come to believe themselves invincible, and the other +peoples are held in contempt as inferior in valor and the +practice of arms." + +"Yet A-Kor is one of them," said Tara. + +"He is a son of O-Tar, the jeddak," replied Lan-O; "but his +mother was a high born Gatholian, captured and made slave by +O-Tar, and A-Kor boasts that in his veins runs only the blood of +his mother, and indeed is he different from the others. His +chivalry is of a gentler form, though not even his worst enemy +has dared question his courage, while his skill with the sword, +and the spear, and the thoat is famous throughout the length and +breadth of Manator." + +"What think you they will do with him?" asked Tara of Helium. + +"Sentence him to the games," replied Lan-O. "If O-Tar be not +greatly angered he may be sentenced to but a single game, in +which case he may come out alive; but if O-Tar wishes really to +dispose of him he will be sentenced to the entire series, and no +warrior has ever survived the full ten, or rather none who was +under a sentence from O-Tar." + +"What are the games? I do not understand," said Tara "I have +heard them speak of playing at jetan, but surely no one can be +killed at jetan. We play it often at home." + +"But not as they play it in the arena at Manator," replied Lan-O. +"Come to the window," and together the two approached an aperture +facing toward the east. + +Below her Tara of Helium saw a great field entirely surrounded by +the low building, and the lofty towers of which that in which she +was imprisoned was but a unit. About the arena were tiers of +seats; but the a thing that caught her attention was a gigantic +jetan board laid out upon the floor of the arena in great squares +of alternate orange and black. + +"Here they play at jetan with living pieces. They play for great +stakes and usually for a woman--some slave of exceptional beauty. +O-Tar himself might have played for you had you not angered him, +but now you will be played for in an open game by slaves and +criminals, and you will belong to the side that wins--not to a +single warrior, but to all who survive the game." + +The eyes of Tara of Helium flashed, but she made no comment. + +"Those who direct the play do not necessarily take part in it," +continued the slave girl, "but sit in those two great thrones +which you see at either end of the board and direct their pieces +from square to square." + +"But where lies the danger?" asked Tara of Helium. "If a piece be +taken it is merely removed from the board--this is a rule of +jetan as old almost as the civilization of Barsoom." + +"But here in Manator, when they play in the great arena with +living men, that rule is altered," explained Lan-O. "When a +warrior is moved to a square occupied by an opposing piece, the +two battle to the death for possession of the square and the one +that is successful advantages by the move. Each is caparisoned to +simulate the piece he represents and in addition he wears that +which indicates whether he be slave, a warrior serving a +sentence, or a volunteer. If serving a sentence the number of +games he must play is also indicated, and thus the one directing +the moves knows which pieces to risk and which to conserve, and +further than this, a man's chances are affected by the position +that is assigned him for the game. Those whom they wish to die +are always Panthans in the game, for the Panthan has the least +chance of surviving." + +"Do those who direct the play ever actually take part in it?" +asked Tara. + +"Oh, yes," said Lan-O. "Often when two warriors, even of the +highest class, hold a grievance against one another O-Tar compels +them to settle it upon the arena. Then it is that they take +active part and with drawn swords direct their own players from +the position of Chief. They pick their own players, usually the +best of their own warriors and slaves, if they be powerful men +who possess such, or their friends may volunteer, or they may +obtain prisoners from the pits. These are games indeed--the very +best that are seen. Often the great chiefs themselves are slain." + +"It is within this amphitheater that the justice of Manator is +meted, then?" asked Tara. + +"Very largely," replied Lan-O. + +"How, then, through such justice, could a prisoner win his +liberty?" continued the girl from Helium. + +"If a man, and he survived ten games his liberty would be his," +replied Lan-O. + +"But none ever survives?" queried Tara. "And if a woman?" + +"No stranger within the gates of Manator ever has survived ten +games," replied the slave girl. "They are permitted to offer +themselves into perpetual slavery if they prefer that to fighting +at jetan. Of course they may be called upon, as any warrior, to +take part in a game, but their chances then of surviving are +increased, since they may never again have the chance of winning +to liberty." + +"But a woman," insisted Tara; "how may a woman win her freedom?" + +Lan-O laughed. "Very simply," she cried. derisively. "She has but +to find a warrior who will fight through ten consecutive games +for her and survive." + +"'Just are the laws of Manator,'" quoted Tara, scornfully. + +Then it was that they heard footsteps outside their cell and a +moment later a key turned in the lock and the door opened. A +warrior faced them. + +"Hast seen E-Med the dwar?" he asked. + +"Yes," replied Tara, "he was here some time ago." + +The man glanced quickly about the bare chamber and then +searchingly first at Tara of Helium and then at the slave girl, +Lan-O. The puzzled expression upon his face increased. He +scratched his head. "It is strange," he said. "A score of men saw +him ascend into this tower; and though there is but a single +exit, and that well guarded, no man has seen him pass out." + +Tara of Helium hid a yawn with the back of a shapely hand. "The +Princess of Helium is hungry, fellow," she drawled; "tell your +master that she would eat." + +It was an hour later that food was brought, an officer and +several warriors accompanying the bearer. The former examined the +room carefully, but there was no sign that aught amiss had +occurred there. The wound that had sent E-Med the dwar to his +ancestors had not bled, fortunately for Tara of Helium. + +"Woman," cried the officer, turning upon Tara, "you were the last +to see E-Med the dwar. Answer me now and answer me truthfully. +Did you see him leave this room?" + +"I did," answered Tara of Helium. + +"Where did he go from here?" + +"How should I know? Think you that I can pass through a locked +door of skeel?" the girl's tone was scornful. + +"Of that we do not know," said the officer. "Strange things have +happened in the cell of your companion in the pits of Manator. +Perhaps you could pass through a locked door of skeel as easily +as he performs seemingly more impossible feats." + +"Whom do you mean," she cried; "Turan the panthan? He lives, +then? Tell me, is he here in Manator unharmed?" + +"I speak of that thing which calls itself Ghek the kaldane," + +replied the officer. + +"But Turan! Tell me, padwar, have you heard aught of him?" Tara's +tone was insistent and she leaned a little forward toward the +officer, her lips slightly parted in expectancy. + +Into the eyes of the slave girl, Lan-O, who was watching her, +there crept a soft light of understanding; but the officer +ignored Tara's question--what was the fate of another slave to +him? "Men do not disappear into thin air," he growled, "and if +E-Med be not found soon O-Tar himself may take a hand in this. I +warn you, woman, if you be one of those horrid Corphals that by +commanding the spirits of the wicked dead gains evil mastery over +the living, as many now believe the thing called Ghek to be, that +lest you return E-Med, O-Tar will have no mercy on you." + +"What foolishness is this?" cried the girl. "I am a princess + +of Helium, as I have told you all a score of times. Even if the +fabled Corphals existed, as none but the most ignorant now +believes, the lore of the ancients tells us that they entered +only into the bodies of wicked criminals of the lowest class. Man +of Manator, thou art a fool, and thy jeddak and all his people," +and she turned her royal back upon the padwar, and gazed through +the window across the Field of Jetan and the roofs of Manator +through the low hills and the rolling country and freedom. + +"And you know so much of Corphals, then," he cried, "you know +that while no common man dare harm them they may be slain by the +hand of a jeddak with impunity!" + +The girl did not reply, nor would she speak again, for all his +threats and rage, for she knew now that none in all Manator dared +harm her save O-Tar, the jeddak, and after a while the padwar +left, taking his men with him. And after they had gone Tara stood +for long looking out upon the city of Manator, and wondering what +more of cruel wrongs Fate held in store for her. She was standing +thus in silent meditation when there rose to her the strains of +martial music from the city below--the deep, mellow tones of the +long war trumpets of mounted troops, the clear, ringing notes of +foot-soldiers' music. The girl raised her head and looked about, +listening, and Lan-O, standing at an opposite window, looking +toward the west, motioned Tara to join her. Now they could see +across roofs and avenues to The Gate of Enemies, through which +troops were marching into the city. + +"The Great Jed is coming," said Lan-O, "none other dares enter +thus, with blaring trumpets, the city of Manator. It is U-Thor, +Jed of Manatos, second city of Manator. They call him The Great +Jed the length and breadth of Manator, and because the people +love him, O-Tar hates him. They say, who know, that it would need +but slight provocation to inflame the two to war. How such a war +would end no one could guess; for the people of Manator worship +the great O-Tar, though they do not love him. U-Thor they love, +but he is not the jeddak," and Tara understood, as only a Martian +may, how much that simple statement encompassed. + +The loyalty of a Martian to his jeddak is almost an instinct, and +second not even to the instinct of self-preservation at that. Nor +is this strange in a race whose religion includes ancestor +worship, and where families trace their origin back into remote +ages and a jeddak sits upon the same throne that his direct +progenitors have occupied for, perhaps, hundreds of thousands of +years, and rules the descendants of the same people that his +forebears ruled. Wicked jeddaks have been dethroned, but seldom +are they replaced by other than members of the imperial house, +even though the law gives to the jeds the right to select whom +they please. + +"U-Thor is a just man and good, then?" asked Tara of Helium. + +"There be none nobler," replied Lan-O. "In Manatos none but +wicked criminals who deserve death are forced to play at jetan, +and even then the play is fair and they have their chance for +freedom. Volunteers may play, but the moves are not necessarily +to the death--a wound, and even sometimes points in swordplay, +deciding the issue. There they look upon jetan as a martial +sport--here it is but butchery. And U-Thor is opposed to the +ancient slave raids and to the policy that keeps Manator forever +isolated from the other nations of Barsoom; but U-Thor is not +jeddak and so there is no change." + +The two girls watched the column moving up the broad avenue from +The Gate of Enemies toward the palace of O-Tar. A gorgeous, +barbaric procession of painted warriors in jewel-studded harness +and waving feathers; vicious, squealing thoats caparisoned in +rich trappings; far above their heads the long lances of their +riders bore fluttering pennons; foot-soldiers swinging easily +along the stone pavement, their sandals of zitidar hide giving +forth no sound; and at the rear of each utan a train of painted +chariots, drawn by mammoth zitidars, carrying the equipment of +the company to which they were attached. Utan after utan entered +through the great gate, and even when the head of the column +reached the palace of O-Tar they were not all within the city. + +"I have been here many years," said the girl, Lan-O; "but never +have I seen even The Great Jed bring so many fighting men into +the city of Manator." + +Through half-closed eyes Tara of Helium watched the warriors +marching up the broad avenue, trying to imagine them the fighting +men of her beloved Helium coming to the rescue of their princess. +That splendid figure upon the great thoat might be John Carter, +himself, Warlord of Barsoom, and behind him utan after utan of +the veterans of the empire, and then the girl opened her eyes +again and saw the host of painted, befeathered barbarians, and +sighed. But yet she watched, fascinated by the martial scene, and +now she noted again the groups of silent figures upon the +balconies. No waving silks; no cries of welcome; no showers of +flowers and jewels such as would have marked the entry of such a +splendid, friendly pageant into the twin cities of her birth. + +"The people do not seem friendly to the warriors of Manatos," she +remarked to Lan-O; "I have not seen a single welcoming sign from +the people on the balconies." + +The slave girl looked at her in surprise. "It cannot be that you +do not know!" she exclaimed. "Why, they are--" but she got no +further. The door swung open and an officer stood before them. + +"The slave girl, Tara, is summoned to the presence of O-Tar, the +jeddak!" he announced. + + + +CHAPTER XIV + +AT GHEK'S COMMAND + +TURAN the panthan chafed in his chains. Time dragged; silence and +monotony prolonged minutes into hours. Uncertainty of the fate of +the woman he loved turned each hour into an eternity of hell. He +listened impatiently for the sound of approaching footsteps that +he might see and speak to some living creature and learn, +perchance, some word of Tara of Helium. After torturing hours his +ears were rewarded by the rattle of harness and arms. Men were +coming! He waited breathlessly. Perhaps they were his +executioners; but he would welcome them notwithstanding. He would +question them. But if they knew naught of Tara he would not +divulge the location of the hiding place in which he had left +her. + +Now they came--a half-dozen warriors and an officer, escorting an +unarmed man; a prisoner, doubtless. Of this Turan was not left +long in doubt, since they brought the newcomer and chained him to +an adjoining ring. Immediately the panthan commenced to question +the officer in charge of the guard. + +"Tell me," he demanded, "why I have been made prisoner, and if +other strangers were captured since I entered your city." + +"What other prisoners?" asked the officer. + +"A woman, and a man with a strange head," replied Turan. + +"It is possible," said the officer; "but what were their names?" + +"The woman was Tara, Princess of Helium, and the man was Ghek, a +kaldane, of Bantoom." + +"These were your friends?" asked the officer. + +"Yes," replied Turan. + +"It is what I would know," said the officer, and with a curt +command to his men to follow him he turned and left the cell. + +"Tell me of them!" cried Turan after him. "Tell me of Tara of +Helium! Is she safe?" but the man did not answer and soon the +sound of their departure died in the distance. + +"Tara of Helium was safe, but a short time since," said the +prisoner chained at Turan's side. + +The panthan turned toward the speaker, seeing a large man, +handsome of face and with a manner both stately and dignified. +"You have seen her?" he asked. "They captured her then? She is in +danger?" + +"She is being held in The Towers of Jetan as a prize for the next +games," replied the stranger. + +"And who are you?" asked Turan. "And why are you here, a +prisoner?" + +"I am A-Kor the dwar, keeper of The Towers of Jetan," replied the +other. "I am here because I dared speak the truth of O-Tar the +jeddak, to one of his officers." + +"And your punishment?" asked Turan. + +"I do not know. O-Tar has not yet spoken. Doubtless the +games--perhaps the full ten, for O-Tar does not love A-Kor, his +son." + +"You are the jeddak's son?" asked Turan. + +"I am the son of O-Tar and of a slave, Haja of Gathol, who was a +princess in her own land." + +Turan looked searchingly at the speaker. A son of Haja of Gathol! +A son of his mother's sister, this man, then, was his own cousin. +Well did Gahan remember the mysterious disappearance of the +Princess Haja and an entire utan of her personal troops. She had +been upon a visit far from the city of Gathol and returning home +had vanished with her whole escort from the sight of man. So this +was the secret of the seeming mystery? Doubtless it explained +many other similar disappearances that extended nearly as far +back as the history of Gathol. Turan scrutinized his companion, +discovering many evidences of resemblance to his mother's people. +A-Kor might have been ten years younger than he, but such +differences in age are scarce accounted among a people who seldom +or never age outwardly after maturity and whose span of life may +be a thousand years. + +"And where lies Gathol?" asked Turan. + +"Almost due east of Manator," replied A-Kor. + +"And how far?" + +"Some twenty-one degrees it is from the city of Manator to the +city of Gathol," replied A-Kor; "but little more than ten degrees +between the boundaries of the two countries. Between them, +though, there lies a country of torn rocks and yawning chasms." + +Well did Gahan know this country that bordered his upon the +west--even the ships of the air avoided it because of the +treacherous currents that rose from the deep chasms, and the +almost total absence of safe landings. He knew now where Manator +lay and for the first time in long weeks the way to his own +Gathol, and here was a man, a fellow prisoner, in whose veins +flowed the blood of his own ancestors--a man who knew Manator; +its people, its customs and the country surrounding it--one who +could aid him, with advice at least, to find a plan for the +rescue of Tara of Helium and for escape. But would A-Kor--could +he dare broach the subject? He could do no less than try. + +"And O-Tar you think will sentence you to death?" he asked; "and +why?" + +"He would like to," replied A-Kor, "for the people chafe beneath +his iron hand and their loyalty is but the loyalty of a people to +the long line of illustrious jeddaks from which he has sprung. He +is a jealous man and has found the means of disposing of most of +those whose blood might entitle them to a claim upon the throne, +and whose place in the affections of the people endowed them with +any political significance. The fact that I was the son of a +slave relegated me to a position of minor importance in the +consideration of O-Tar, yet I am still the son of a jeddak and +might sit upon the throne of Manator with as perfect congruity as +O-Tar himself. Combined with this is the fact that of recent +years the people, and especially many of the younger warriors, +have evinced a growing affection for me, which I attribute to +certain virtues of character and training derived from my mother, +but which O-Tar assumes to be the result of an ambition upon my +part to occupy the throne of Manator. + +"And now, I am firmly convinced, he has seized upon my criticism +of his treatment of the slave girl Tara as a pretext for ridding +himself of me." + +"But if you could escape and reach Gathol," suggested Turan. + +"I have thought of that," mused A-Kor; "but how much better off +would I be? In the eyes of the Gatholians I would be, not a +Gatholian; but a stranger and doubtless they would accord me the +same treatment that we of Manator accord strangers." + +"Could you convince them that you are the son of the Princess +Haja your welcome would be assured," said Turan; "while on the +other hand you could purchase your freedom and citizenship with a +brief period of labor in the diamond mines." + +"How know you all these things?" asked A-Kor. "I thought you were +from Helium." + +"I am a panthan," replied Turan, "and I have served many +countries, among them Gathol." + +"It is what the slaves from Gathol have told me," said A-Kor, +thoughtfully, "and my mother, before O-Tar sent her to live at +Manatos. I think he must have feared her power and influence +among the slaves from Gathol and their descendants, who number +perhaps a million people throughout the land of Manator." + +"Are these slaves organized?" asked Turan. + +A-Kor looked straight into the eyes of the panthan for a long +moment before he replied. "You are a man of honor," he said; "I +read it in your face, and I am seldom mistaken in my estimate of +a man; but--" and he leaned closer to the other--"even the walls +have ears," he whispered, and Turan's question was answered. + +It was later in the evening that warriors came and unlocked the +fetter from Turan's ankle and led him away to appear before +O-Tar, the jeddak. They conducted him toward the palace along +narrow, winding streets and broad avenues; but always from the +balconies there looked down upon them in endless ranks the silent +people of the city. The palace itself was filled with life and +activity. Mounted warriors galloped through the corridors and up +and down the runways connecting adjacent floors. It seemed that +no one walked within the palace other than a few slaves. +Squealing, fighting thoats were stabled in magnificent halls +while their riders, if not upon some duty of the palace, played +at jetan with small figures carved from wood. + +Turan noted the magnificence of the interior architecture of the +palace, the lavish expenditure of precious jewels and metals, the +gorgeous mural decorations which depicted almost exclusively +martial scenes, and principally duels which seemed to be fought +upon jetan boards of heroic size. The capitals of many of the +columns supporting the ceilings of the corridors and chambers +through which they passed were wrought into formal likenesses of +jetan pieces--everywhere there seemed a suggestion of the game. +Along the same path that Tara of Helium had been led Turan was +conducted toward the throne room of O-Tar the jeddak, and when he +entered the Hall of Chiefs his interest turned to wonder and +admiration as he viewed the ranks of statuesque thoatmen decked +in their gorgeous, martial panoply. Never, he thought, had he +seen upon Barsoom more soldierly figures or thoats so perfectly +trained to perfection of immobility as these. Not a muscle +quivered, not a tail lashed, and the riders were as motionless as +their mounts--each warlike eye straight to the front, the great +spears inclined at the same angle. It was a picture to fill the +breast of a fighting man with awe and reverence. Nor did it fail +in its effect upon Turan as they conducted him the length of the +chamber, where he waited before great doors until he should be +summoned into the presence of the ruler of Manator. + + +When Tara of Helium was ushered into the throne room of O-Tar she +found the great hall filled with the chiefs and officers of O-Tar +and U-Thor, the latter occupying the place of honor at the foot +of the throne, as was his due. The girl was conducted to the foot +of the aisle and halted before the jeddak, who looked down upon +her from his high throne with scowling brows and fierce, cruel +eyes. + +"The laws of Manator are just," said O-Tar, addressing her; "thus +is it that you have been summoned here again to be judged by the +highest authority of Manator. Word has reached me that you are +suspected of being a Corphal. What word have you to say in +refutation of the charge?" + +Tara of Helium could scarce restrain a sneer as she answered the +ridiculous accusation of witchcraft. "So ancient is the culture +of my people," she said, "that authentic history reveals no +defense for that which we know existed only in the ignorant and +superstitious minds of the most primitive peoples of the past. To +those who are yet so untutored as to believe in the existence of +Corphals, there can be no argument that will convince them of +their error--only long ages of refinement and culture can +accomplish their release from the bondage of ignorance. I have +spoken." + +"Yet you do not deny the accusation," said O-Tar. + +"It is not worthy the dignity of a denial," she responded +haughtily. + +"And I were you, woman," said a deep voice at her side, "I +should, nevertheless, deny it." + +Tara of Helium turned to see the eyes of U-Thor, the great jed of +Manatos, upon her. Brave eyes they were, but neither cold nor +cruel. O-Tar rapped impatiently upon the arm of his throne. +"U-Thor forgets," he cried, "that O-Tar is the jeddak." + +"U-Thor remembers," replied the jed of Manatos, "that the laws of +Manator permit any who may be accused to have advice and counsel +before their judge." + +Tara of Helium saw that for some reason this man would have +assisted her, and so she acted upon his advice. + +"I deny the charge," she said, "I am no Corphal." + +"Of that we shall learn," snapped O-Tar. "U-Dor, where are those +who have knowledge of the powers of this woman?" + +And U-Dor brought several who recounted the little that was known +of the disappearance of E-Med, and others who told of the capture +of Ghek and Tara, suggesting by deduction that having been found +together they had sufficient in common to make it reasonably +certain that one was as bad as the other, and that, therefore, it +remained but to convict one of them of Corphalism to make certain +the guilt of both. And then O-Tar called for Ghek, and +immediately the hideous kaldane was dragged before him by +warriors who could not conceal the fear in which they held this +creature. + +"And you!" said O-Tar in cold accusing tones. "Already have I +been told enough of you to warrant me in passing through your +heart the jeddak's steel--of how you stole the brains from the +warrior U-Van so that he thought he saw your headless body still +endowed with life; of how you caused another to believe that you +had escaped, making him to see naught but an empty bench and a +blank wall where you had been." + +"Ah, O-Tar, but that is as nothing!" cried a young padwar who had +come in command of the escort that brought Ghek. "The thing which +he did to I-Zav, here, would prove his guilt alone." + +"What did he to the warrior I-Zav?" demanded O-Tar. "Let I-Zav +speak!" + +The warrior I-Zav, a great fellow of bulging muscles and thick +neck, advanced to the foot of the throne. He was pale and still +trembling visibly as from a nervous shock. + +"Let my first ancestor be my witness, O-Tar, that I speak the +truth," he began. "I was left to guard this creature, who sat +upon a bench, shackled to the wall. I stood by the open doorway +at the opposite side of the chamber. He could not reach me, yet, +O-Tar, may Iss engulf me if he did not drag me to him helpless as +an unhatched egg. He dragged me to him, greatest of jeddaks, with +his eyes! With his eyes he seized upon my eyes and dragged me to +him and he made me lay my swords and dagger upon the table and +back off into a corner, and still keeping his eyes upon my eyes +his head quitted his body and crawling upon six short legs it +descended to the floor and backed part way into the hole of an +ulsio, but not so far that the eyes were not still upon me and +then it returned with the key to its fetter and after resuming +its place upon its own shoulders it unlocked the fetter and again +dragged me across the room and made me to sit upon the bench +where it had been and there it fastened the fetter about my +ankle, and I could do naught for the power of its eyes and the +fact that it wore my two swords and my dagger. And then the head +disappeared down the hole of the ulsio with the key, and when it +returned, it resumed its body and stood guard over me at the +doorway until the padwar came to fetch it hither." + +"It is enough!" said O-Tar, sternly. "Both shall receive the + +jeddak's steel," and rising from his throne he drew his long +sword and descended the marble steps toward them, while two +brawny warriors seized Tara by either arm and two seized Ghek, +holding them facing the naked blade of the jeddak. + +"Hold, just O-Tar!" cried U-Dor. "There be yet another to be +judged. Let us confront him who calls himself Turan with these +his fellows before they die." + +"Good!" exclaimed O-Tar, pausing half way down the steps. "Fetch +Turan, the slave!" + +When Turan had been brought into the chamber he was placed a +little to Tara's left and a step nearer the throne. O-Tar eyed +him menacingly. + +"You are Turan," he asked, "friend and companion of these?" + +The panthan was about to reply when Tara of Helium spoke. "I know +not this fellow," she said. "Who dares say that he be a friend +and companion of the Princess Tara of Helium?" + +Turan and Ghek looked at her in surprise, but at Turan she did +not look, and to Ghek she passed a quick glance of warning, as to +say: "Hold thy peace." + +The panthan tried not to fathom her purpose for the head is +useless when the heart usurps its functions, and Turan knew only +that the woman he loved had denied him, and though he tried not +even to think it his foolish heart urged but a single +explanation--that she refused to recognize him lest she be +involved in his difficulties. + +O-Tar looked first at one and then at another of them; but none +of them spoke. + +"Were they not captured together?" he asked of U-Dor. + +"No," replied the dwar. "He who is called Turan was found seeking +entrance to the city and was enticed to the pits. The following +morning I discovered the other two upon the hill beyond The Gate +of Enemies." + +"But they are friends and companions," said a young padwar, "for +this Turan inquired of me concerning these two, calling them by +name and saying that they were his friends." + +"It is enough," stated O-Tar, "all three shall die," and he took +another step downward from the throne. + +"For what shall we die?" asked Ghek. "Your people prate of the +just laws of Manator, and yet you would slay three strangers +without telling them of what crime they are accused." + +"He is right," said a deep voice. It was the voice of U-Thor, the +great jed of Manatos. O-Tar looked at him and scowled; but there +came voices from other portions of the chamber seconding the +demand for justice. + +"Then know, though you shall die anyway," cried O-Tar, "that all +three are convicted of Corphalism and that as only a jeddak may +slay such as you in safety you are about to be honored with the +steel of O-Tar." + +"Fool!" cried Turan. "Know you not that in the veins of this +woman flows the blood of ten thousand jeddaks--that greater than +yours is her power in her own land? She is Tara, Princess of +Helium, great-granddaughter of Tardos Mors, daughter of John +Carter, Warlord of Barsoom. She cannot be a Corphal. Nor is this +creature Ghek, nor am I. And you would know more, I can prove my +right to be heard and to be believed if I may have word with the +Princess Haja of Gathol, whose son is my fellow prisoner in the +pits of O-Tar, his father." + +At this U-Thor rose to his feet and faced O-Tar. "What means +this?" he asked. "Speaks the man the truth? Is the son of Haja a +prisoner in thy pits, O-Tar?" + +"And what is it to the jed of Manatos who be the prisoners in the +pits of his jeddak?" demanded O-Tar, angrily. + +"It is this to the jed of Manatos," replied U-Thor in a voice so +low as to be scarce more than a whisper and yet that was heard +the whole length and breadth of the great throne room of O-Tar, +Jeddak of Manator. "You gave me a slave woman, Haja, who had been +a princess in Gathol, because you feared her influence among the +slaves from Gathol. I have made of her a free woman, and I have +married her and made her thus a princess of Manatos. Her son is +my son, O-Tar, and though thou be my jeddak, I say to you that +for any harm that befalls A-Kor you shall answer to U-Thor of +Manatos." + +O-Tar looked long at U-Thor, but he made no reply. Then he turned +again to Turan. "If one be a Corphal," he said, "then all of you +be Corphals, and we know well from the things that this creature +has done," he pointed at Ghek, "that he is a Corphal, for no +mortal has such powers as he. And as you are all Corphals you +must all die." He took another step downward, when Ghek spoke. + +"These two have no such powers as I," he said. "They are but +ordinary, brainless things such as yourself. I have done all the +things that your poor, ignorant warriors have told you; but this +only demonstrates that I am of a higher order than yourselves, as +is indeed the fact. I am a kaldane, not a Corphal. There is +nothing supernatural or mysterious about me, other than that to +the ignorant all things which they cannot understand are +mysterious. Easily might I have eluded your warriors and escaped +your pits; but I remained in the hope that I might help these two +foolish creatures who have not the brains to escape without help. +They befriended me and saved my life. I owe them this debt. Do +not slay them--they are harmless. Slay me if you will. I offer my +life if it will appease your ignorant wrath. I cannot return to +Bantoom and so I might as well die, for there is no pleasure in +intercourse with the feeble intellects that cumber the face of +the world outside the valley of Bantoom." + +"Hideous egotist," said O-Tar, "prepare to die and assume not to +dictate to O-Tar the jeddak. He has passed sentence and all three +of you shall feel the jeddak's naked steel. I have spoken!" + +He took another step downward and then a strange thing happened. +He paused, his eyes fixed upon the eyes of Ghek. His sword +slipped from nerveless fingers, and still he stood there swaying +forward and back. A jed rose to rush to his side; but Ghek +stopped him with a word. + +"Wait!" he cried. "The life of your jeddak is in my hands. You +believe me a Corphal and so you believe, too, that only the sword +of a jeddak may slay me, therefore your blades are useless +against me. Offer harm to any one of us, or seek to approach your +jeddak until I have spoken, and he shall sink lifeless to the +marble. Release the two prisoners and let them come to my side--I +would speak to them, privately. Quick! do as I say; I would as +lief as not slay O-Tar. I but let him live that I may gain +freedom for my friends--obstruct me and he dies." + +The guards fell back, releasing Tara and Turan, who came close to +Ghek's side. + +"Do as I tell you and do it quickly," whispered the kaldane. "I +cannot hold this fellow long, nor could I kill him thus. There +are many minds working against mine and presently mine will tire +and O-Tar will be himself again. You must make the best of your +opportunity while you may. Behind the arras that you see hanging +in the rear of the throne above you is a secret opening. Prom it +a corridor leads to the pits of the palace, where there are +storerooms containing food and drink. Few people go there. From +these pits lead others to all parts of the city. Follow one that +runs due west and it will bring you to The Gate of Enemies. The +rest will then lie with you. I can do no more; hurry before my +waning powers fail me--I am not as Luud, who was a king. He could +have held this creature forever. Make haste! Go!" + + + +CHAPTER XV + +THE OLD MAN OF THE PITS + +"I SHALL not desert you, Ghek," said Tara of Helium, simply. + +"Go! Go!" whispered the kaldane. "You can do me no good. Go, or +all I have done is for naught." + +Tara shook her head. "I cannot," she said. + +"They will slay her," said Ghek to Turan, and the panthan, torn +between loyalty to this strange creature who had offered its life +for him, and love of the woman, hesitated but a moment, then he +swept Tara from her feet and lifting her in his arms leaped up +the steps that led to the throne of Manator. Behind the throne he +parted the arras and found the secret opening. Into this he bore +the girl and down a long, narrow corridor and winding runways +that led to lower levels until they came to the pits of the +palace of O-Tar. Here was a labyrinth of passages and chambers +presenting a thousand hiding-places. + +As Turan bore Tara up the steps toward the throne a score of +warriors rose as though to rush forward to intercept them. +"Stay!" cried Ghek, "or your jeddak dies," and they halted in +their tracks, waiting the will of this strange, uncanny creature. + +Presently Ghek took his eyes from the eyes of O-Tar and the +jeddak shook himself as one who would be rid of a bad dream and +straightened up, half dazed still. + +"Look," said Ghek, then, "I have given your jeddak his life, + +nor have I harmed one of those whom I might easily have slain +when they were in my power. No harm have I or my friends done in +the city of Manator. Why then should you persecute us? Give us +our lives. Give us our liberty." + +O-Tar, now in command of his faculties, stooped and regained his +sword. In the room was silence as all waited to hear the jeddak's +answer. + +"Just are the laws of Manator," he said at last. "Perhaps, after +all, there is truth in the words of the stranger. Return him then +to the pits and pursue the others and capture them. Through the +mercy of O-Tar they shall be permitted to win their freedom upon +the Field of Jetan, in the coming games." + +Still ashen was the face of the jeddak as Ghek was led away and +his appearance was that of a man who had been snatched from the +brink of eternity into which he has gazed, not with the composure +of great courage, but with fear. There were those in the throne +room who knew that the execution of the three prisoners had but +been delayed and the responsibility placed upon the shoulders of +others, and one of those who knew was U-Thor, the great jed of +Manatos. His curling lip betokened his scorn of the jeddak who +had chosen humiliation rather than death. He knew that O-Tar had +lost more of prestige in those few moments than he could regain +in a lifetime, for the Martians are jealous of the courage of +their chiefs--there can be no evasions of stern duty, no +temporizing with honor. That there were others in the room who +shared U-Thor's belief was evidenced by the silence and the grim +scowls. + +O-Tar glanced quickly around. He must have sensed the hostility +and guessed its cause, for he went suddenly angry, and as one who +seeks by the vehemence of his words to establish the courage of +his heart he roared forth what could be considered as naught +other than a challenge. + +"The will of O-Tar, the jeddak, is the law of Manator," he cried, +"and the laws of Manator are just--they cannot err. U-Dor, +dispatch those who will search the palace, the pits, and the +city, and return the fugitives to their cells. + +"And now for you, U-Thor of Manatos! Think you with impunity to +threaten your jeddak--to question his right to punish traitors +and instigators of treason? What am I to think of your own +loyalty, who takes to wife a woman I have banished from my court +because of her intrigues against the authority of her jeddak and +her master? But O-Tar is just. Make your explanations and your +peace, then, before it is too late." + +"U-Thor has nothing to explain," replied the jed of Manatos; "nor +is he at war with his jeddak; but he has the right that every jed +and every warrior enjoys, of demanding justice at the hands of +the jeddak for whomsoever he believes to be persecuted. With +increasing rigor has the jeddak of Manator persecuted the slaves +from Gathol since he took to himself the unwilling Princess Haja. +If the slaves from Gathol have harbored thoughts of vengeance and +escape 'tis no more than might be expected from a proud and +courageous people Ever have I counselled greater fairness in our +treatment of our slaves, many of whom, in their own lands, are +people of great distinction and power; but always has O-Tar, the +jeddak, flouted with arrogance my every suggestion. Though it has +been through none of my seeking that the question has arisen now +I am glad that it has, for the time was bound to come when the +jeds of Manator would demand from O-Tar the respect and +consideration that is their due from the man who holds his high +office at their pleasure. Know, then, O-Tar, that you must free +A-Kor, the dwar, forthwith or bring him to fair trial before the +assembled jeds of Manator. I have spoken." + +"You have spoken well and to the point, U-Thor," cried O-Tar, +"for you have revealed to your jeddak and your fellow jeds the +depth of the disloyalty that I have long suspected. A-Kor already +has been tried and sentenced by the supreme tribunal of +Manator--O-Tar, the jeddak; and you too shall receive justice +from the same unfailing source. In the meantime you are under +arrest. To the pits with him! To the pits with U-Thor the false +jed!" He clapped his hands to summon the surrounding warriors to +do his bidding. A score leaped forward to seize U-Thor. They were +warriors of the palace, mostly; but two score leaped to defend +U-Thor, and with ringing steel they fought at the foot of the +steps to the throne of Manator where stood O-Tar, the jeddak, +with drawn sword ready to take his part in the +mêlée. + +At the clash of steel, palace guards rushed to the scene from +other parts of the great building until those who would have +defended U-Thor were outnumbered two to one, and then the jed of +Manatos slowly withdrew with his forces, and fighting his way +through the corridors and chambers of the palace came at last to +the avenue. Here he was reinforced by the little army that had +marched with him into Manator. Slowly they retreated toward The +Gate of Enemies between the rows of silent people looking down +upon them from the balconies and there, within the city walls, +they made their stand. + +In a dimly-lighted chamber beneath the palace of O-Tar the +jeddak, Turan the panthan lowered Tara of Helium from his arms +and faced her. "I am sorry, Princess," he said, "that I was +forced to disobey your commands, or to abandon Ghek; but there +was no other way. Could he have saved you I would have stayed in +his place. Tell me that you forgive me." + +"How could I do less?" she replied graciously. "But it seemed +cowardly to abandon a friend." + +"Had we been three fighting men it had been different," he said. +"We could only have remained and died together, fighting; but you +know, Tara of Helium, that we may not jeopardize a woman's safety +even though we risk the loss of honor." + +"I know that, Turan," she said; "but no one may say that you have +risked honor, who knows the honor and bravery that are yours." + +He heard her with surprise for these were the first words that +she had spoken to him that did not savor of the attitude of a +princess to a panthan--though it was more in her tone than the +actual words that he apprehended the difference. How at variance +were they to her recent repudiation of him! He could not fathom +her, and so he blurted out the question that had been in his mind +since she had told O-Tar that she did not know him. + +"Tara of Helium," he said, "your words are balm to the wound you +gave me in the throne room of O-Tar. Tell me, Princess, why you +denied me." + +She turned her great, deep eyes up to his and in them was a +little of reproach. + +"You did not guess," she asked, "that it was my lips alone and +not my heart that denied you? O-Tar had ordered that I die, more +because I was a companion of Ghek than because of any evidence +against me, and so I knew that if I acknowledged you as one of +us, you would be slain, too." + +"It was to save me, then?" he cried, his face suddenly lighting. + +"It was to save my brave panthan," she said in a low voice. + +"Tara of Helium," said the warrior, dropping to one knee, "your +words are as food to my hungry heart," and he took her fingers in +his and pressed them to his lips. + +Gently she raised him to his feet. "You need not tell me, +kneeling," she said, softly. + +Her hand was still in his as he rose and they were very close, +and the man was still flushed with the contact of her body since +he had carried her from the throne room of O-Tar. He felt his +heart pounding in his breast and the hot blood surging through +his veins as he looked at her beautiful face, with its downcast +eyes and the half-parted lips that he would have given a kingdom +to possess, and then he swept her to him and as he crushed her +against his breast his lips smothered hers with kisses. + +But only for an instant. Like a tigress the girl turned upon + +him, striking him, and thrusting him away. She stepped back, her +head high and her eyes flashing fire. "You would dare?" she +cried. "You would dare thus defile a princess of Helium?" + +His eyes met hers squarely and there was no shame and no remorse +in them. + +"Yes, I would dare," he said. "I would dare love Tara of Helium; +but I would not dare defile her or any woman with kisses that +were not prompted by love of her alone." He stepped closer to her +and laid his hands upon her shoulders. "Look into my eyes, +daughter of The Warlord," he said, "and tell me that you do not +wish the love of Turan, the panthan." + +"I do not wish your love," she cried, pulling away. "I hate you!" +and then turning away she bent her head into the hollow of her +arm, and wept. + +The man took a step toward her as though to comfort her when he +was arrested by the sound of a crackling laugh behind him. +Wheeling about, he discovered a strange figure of a man standing +in a doorway. It was one of those rarities occasionally to be +seen upon Barsoom--an old man with the signs of age upon him. +Bent and wrinkled, he had more the appearance of a mummy than a +man. + +"Love in the pits of O-Tar!" he cried, and again his thin +laughter jarred upon the silence of the subterranean vaults. "A +strange place to woo! A strange place to woo, indeed! When I was +a young man we roamed in the gardens beneath giant pimalias and +stole our kisses in the brief shadows of hurtling Thuria. We came +not to the gloomy pits to speak of love; but times have changed +and ways have changed, though I had never thought to live to see +the time when the way of a man with a maid, or a maid with a man +would change. Ah, but we kissed them then! And what if they +objected, eh? What if they objected? Why, we kissed them more. +Ey, ey, those were the days!" and he cackled again. "Ey, well do +I recall the first of them I ever kissed, and I've kissed an army +of them since; she was a fine girl, but she tried to slip a +dagger into me while I was kissing her. Ey, ey, those were the +days! But I kissed her. She's been dead over a thousand years +now, but she was never kissed again like that while she lived, +I'll swear, not since she's been dead, either. And then there was +that other --" but Turan, seeing a thousand or more years of +osculatory memoirs portending, interrupted. + +"Tell me, ancient one," he said, "not of thy loves but of +thyself. Who are you? What do you here in the pits of O-Tar?" + +"I might ask you the same, young man," replied the other. "Few +there are who visit the pits other than the dead, except my +pupils--ey! That is it--you are new pupils! Good! But never +before have they sent a woman to learn the great art from the +greatest artist. But times have changed. Now, in my day the women +did no work--they were just for kissing and loving. Ey, those +were the women. I mind the one we captured in the south--ey! she +was a devil, but how she could love. She had breasts of marble +and a heart of fire. Why, she --" + +"Yes, yes," interrupted Turan; "we are pupils, and we are anxious +to get to work. Lead on and we will follow." + +"Ey, yes! Ey, yes! Come! All is rush and hurry as though there +were not another countless myriad of ages ahead. Ey, yes! as many +as lie behind. Two thousand years have passed since I broke my +shell and always rush, rush, rush, yet I cannot see that aught +has been accomplished. Manator is the same today as it was +then--except the girls. We had the girls then. There was one that +I gained upon The Fields of Jetan. Ey, but you should have seen +--" + +"Lead on!" cried Turan. "After we are at work you shall tell us +of her." + +"Ey, yes," said the old fellow and shuffled off down a dimly + +lighted passage. "Follow me!" + +"You are going with him?" asked Tara. + +"Why not?" replied Turan. "We know not where we are, or the way +from these pits; for I know not east from west; but he doubtless +knows and if we are shrewd we may learn from him that which we +would know. At least we cannot afford to arouse his suspicions"; +and so they followed him--followed along winding corridors and +through many chambers, until they came at last to a room in which +there were several marble slabs raised upon pedestals some three +feet above the floor and upon each slab lay a human corpse. + +"Here we are," exclaimed the old man. "These are fresh and we +shall have to get to work upon them soon. I am working now on one +for The Gate of Enemies. He slew many of our warriors. Truly is +he entitled to a place in The Gate. Come, you shall see him." + +He led them to an adjoining apartment. Upon the floor were many +fresh, human bones and upon a marble slab a mass of shapeless +flesh. + +"You will learn this later," announced the old man; "but it will +not harm you to watch me now, for there are not many thus +prepared, and it may be long before you will have the opportunity +to see another prepared for The Gate of Enemies. First, you see, +I remove all the bones, carefully that the skin may be damaged as +little as possible. The skull is the most difficult, but it can +be removed by a skilful artist. You see, I have made but a single +opening. This I now sew up, and that done, the body is hung so," +and he fastened a piece of rope to the hair of the corpse and +swung the horrid thing to a ring in the ceiling. Directly below +it was a circular manhole in the floor from which he removed the +cover revealing a well partially filled with a reddish liquid. +"Now we lower it into this, the formula for which you shall learn +in due time. We fasten it thus to the bottom of the cover, which +we now replace. In a year it will be ready; but it must be +examined often in the meantime and the liquid kept above the +level of its crown. It will be a very beautiful piece, this one, +when it is ready. + +"And you are fortunate again, for there is one to come out +today." He crossed to the opposite side of the room and raised +another cover, reached in and dragged a grotesque looking figure +from the hole. It was a human body, shrunk by the action of the +chemical in which it had been immersed, to a little figure scarce +a foot high. + +"Ey! is it not fine?" cried the little old man. "Tomorrow it will +take its place in The Gate of Enemies." He dried it off with +cloths and packed it away carefully in a basket. "Perhaps you +would like to see some of my life work," he suggested, and +without waiting for their assent led them to another apartment, a +large chamber in which were forty or fifty people. All were +sitting or standing quietly about the walls, with the exception +of one huge warrior who bestrode a great thoat in the very center +of the room, and all were motionless. Instantly there sprang to +the minds of Tara and Turan the rows of silent people upon the +balconies that lined the avenues of the city, and the noble array +of mounted warriors in The Hall of Chiefs, and the same +explanation came to both but neither dared voice the question +that was in his mind, for fear of revealing by his ignorance the +fact that they were strangers in Manator and therefore impostors +in the guise of pupils. + +"It is very wonderful," said Turan. "It must require great skill +and patience and time." + +"That it does," replied the old man, "though having done it so +long I am quicker than most; but mine are the most natural. Why, +I would defy the wife of that warrior to say that insofar as +appearances are concerned he does not live," and he pointed at +the man upon the thoat. "Many of them, of course, are brought +here wasted or badly wounded and these I have to repair. That is +where great skill is required, for everyone wants his dead to +look as they did at their best in life; but you shall learn--to +mount them and paint them and repair them and sometimes to make +an ugly one look beautiful. And it will be a great comfort to be +able to mount your own. Why, for fifteen hundred years no one has +mounted my own dead but myself. + +"I have many, my balconies are crowded with them; but I keep a +great room for my wives. I have them all, as far back as the +first one, and many is the evening I spend with them--quiet +evenings and very pleasant. And then the pleasure of preparing +them and making them even more beautiful than in life partially +recompenses one for their loss. I take my time with them, looking +for a new one while I am working on the old. When I am not sure +about a new one I bring her to the chamber where my wives are, +and compare her charms with theirs, and there is always a great +satisfaction at such times in knowing that they will not object. +I love harmony." + +"Did you prepare all the warriors in The Hall of Chiefs?" asked +Turan. + +"Yes, I prepare them and repair them," replied the old man. +"O-Tar will trust no other. Even now I have two in another room +who were damaged in some way and brought down to me. O-Tar does +not like to have them gone long, since it leaves two riderless +thoats in the Hall; but I shall have them ready presently. He +wants them all there in the event any momentous question arises +upon which the living jeds cannot agree, or do not agree with +O-Tar. Such questions he carries to the jeds in The Hall of +Chiefs. There he shuts himself up alone with the great chiefs who +have attained wisdom through death. It is an excellent plan and +there is never any friction or misunderstandings. O-Tar has said +that it is the finest deliberative body upon Barsoom--much more +intelligent than that composed of the living jeds. But come, we +must get to work; come into the next chamber and I will begin +your instruction." + +He led the way into the chamber in which lay the several corpses +upon their marble slabs, and going to a cabinet he donned a pair +of huge spectacles and commenced to select various tools from +little compartments. This done he turned again toward his two +pupils. + +"Now let me have a look at you," he said. "My eyes are not what +they once were, and I need these powerful lenses for my work, or +to see distinctly the features of those around me." + +He turned his eyes upon the two before him. Turan held his breath +for he knew that now the man must discover that they wore not the +harness or insignia of Manator. He had wondered before why the +old fellow had not noticed it, for he had not known that he was +half blind. The other examined their faces, his eyes lingering +long upon the beauty of Tara of Helium, and then they drifted to +the harness of the two. Turan thought that he noted an +appreciable start of surprise on the part of the taxidermist, but +if the old man noticed anything his next words did not reveal it. + +"Come with I-Gos," he said to Turan, "I have materials in the +next room that I would have you fetch hither. Remain here, woman, +we shall be gone but a moment." + +He led the way to one of the numerous doors opening into the +chamber and entered ahead of Turan. Just inside the door he +stopped, and pointing to a bundle of silks and furs upon the +opposite side of the room directed Turan to fetch them. The +latter had crossed the room and was stooping to raise the bundle +when he heard the click of a lock behind him. Wheeling instantly +he saw that he was alone in the room and that the single door was +closed. Running rapidly to it he strove to open it, only to find +that he was a prisoner. + +I-Gos, stepping out and locking the door behind him, turned +toward Tara. + +"Your leather betrayed you," he said, laughing his cackling +laugh. "You sought to deceive old I-Gos, but you found that +though his eyes are weak his brain is not. But it shall not go +ill with you. You are beautiful and I-Gos loves beautiful women. +I might not have you elsewhere in Manator, but here there is none +to deny old I-Gos. Few come to the pits of the dead--only those +who bang the dead and they hasten away as fast as they can. No +one will know that I-Gos has a beautiful woman locked with his +dead. I shall ask you no questions and then I will not have to +give you up, for I will not know to whom you belong, eh? And when +you die I shall mount you beautifully and place you in the +chamber with my other women. Will not that be fine, eh?" He had +approached until he stood close beside the horrified girl. +"Come!" he cried, seizing her by the wrist. "Come to I-Gos!" + + + +CHAPTER XVI + +ANOTHER CHANGE OF NAME + +TURAN dashed himself against the door of his prison in a vain +effort to break through the solid skeel to the side of Tara whom +he knew to be in grave danger, but the heavy panels held and he +succeeded only in bruising his shoulders and his arms. At last he +desisted and set about searching his prison for some other means +of escape. He found no other opening in the stone walls, but his +search revealed a heterogeneous collection of odds and ends of +arms and apparel, of harness and ornaments and insignia, and +sleeping silks and furs in great quantities. There were swords +and spears and several large, two-bladed battle-axes, the heads +of which bore a striking resemblance to the propellor of a small +flier. Seizing one of these he attacked the door once more with +great fury. He expected to hear something from I-Gos at this +ruthless destruction, but no sound came to him from beyond the +door, which was, he thought, too thick for the human voice to +penetrate; but he would have wagered much that I-Gos heard him. +Bits of the hard wood splintered at each impact of the heavy axe, +but it was slow work and heavy. Presently he was compelled to +rest, and so it went for what seemed hours--working almost to the +verge of exhaustion and then resting for a few minutes; but ever +the hole grew larger though he could see nothing of the interior +of the room beyond because of the hanging that I-Gos had drawn +across it after he had locked Turan within. + +At last, however, the panthan had hewn an opening through which +his body could pass, and seizing a long-sword that he had brought +close to the door for the purpose he crawled through into the +next room. Flinging aside the arras he stood ready, sword in +hand, to fight his way to the side of Tara of Helium--but she was +not there. In the center of the room lay I-Gos, dead upon the +floor; but Tara of Helium was nowhere to be seen. + +Turan was nonplussed. It must have been her hand that had struck +down the old man, yet she had made no effort to release Turan +from his prison. And then he thought of those last words of hers: +"I do not want your love! I hate you," and the truth dawned upon +him--she had seized upon this first opportunity to escape him. +With downcast heart Turan turned away. What should he do? There +could be but one answer. While he lived and she lived he must +still leave no stone unturned to effect her escape and safe +return to the land of her people. But how? How was he even to +find his way from this labyrinth? How was he to find her again? +He walked to the nearest doorway. It chanced to be that which led +into the room containing the mounted dead, awaiting +transportation to balcony or grim room or whatever place was to +receive them. His eyes travelled to the great, painted warrior on +the thoat and as they ran over the splendid trappings and the +serviceable arms a new light came into the pain-dulled eyes of +the panthan. With a quick step he crossed to the side of the dead +warrior and dragged him from his mount. With equal celerity he +stripped him of his harness and his arms, and tearing off his +own, donned the regalia of the dead man. Then he hastened back to +the room in which he had been trapped, for there he had seen that +which he needed to make his disguise complete. In a cabinet he +found them--pots of paint that the old taxidermist had used to +place the war-paint in its wide bands across the cold faces of +dead warriors. + +A few moments later Gahan of Gathol emerged from the room a +warrior of Manator in every detail of harness, equipment, and +ornamentation. He had removed from the leather of the dead man +the insignia of his house and rank so that he might pass, with +the least danger of arousing suspicion, as a common warrior. + +To search for Tara of Helium in the vast, dim labyrinth of the +pits of O-Tar seemed to the Gatholian a hopeless quest, +foredoomed to failure. It would be wiser to seek the streets of +Manator where he might hope to learn first if she had been +recaptured and, if not, then he could return to the pits and +pursue the hunt for her. To find egress from the maze he must +perforce travel a considerable distance through the winding +corridors and chambers, since he had no idea as to the location +or direction of any exit. In fact, he could not have retraced his +steps a hundred yards toward the point at which he and Tara had +entered the gloomy caverns, and so he set out in the hope that he +might find by accident either Tara of Helium or a way to the +street level above. + +For a time he passed room after room filled with the cunningly +preserved dead of Manator, many of which were piled in tiers +after the manner that firewood is corded, and as he moved through +corridor and chamber he noticed hieroglyphics painted upon the +walls above every opening and at each fork or crossing of +corridors, until by observation he reached the conclusion that +these indicated the designations of passageways, so that one who +understood them might travel quickly and surely through the pits; +but Turan did not understand them. Even could he have read the +language of Manator they might not materially have aided one +unfamiliar with the city; but he could not read them at all +since, though there is but one spoken language upon Barsoom, +there are as many different written languages as there are +nations. One thing, however, soon became apparent to him--the +hieroglyphic of a corridor remained the same until the corridor +ended. + +It was not long before Turan realized from the distance that he +had traveled that the pits were part of a vast system +undermining, possibly, the entire city. At least he was convinced +that he had passed beyond the precincts of the palace. The +corridors and chambers varied in appearance and architecture from +time to time. All were lighted, though usually quite dimly, with +radium bulbs. For a long time he saw no signs of life other than +an occasional ulsio, then quite suddenly he came face to face +with a warrior at one of the numerous crossings. The fellow +looked at him, nodded, and passed on. Turan breathed a sigh of +relief as he realized that his disguise was effective, but he was +caught in the middle of it by a hail from the warrior who had +stopped and turned toward him. The panthan was glad that a sword +hung at his side, and glad too that they were buried in the dim +recesses of the pits and that there would be but a single +antagonist, for time was precious. + +"Heard you any word of the other?'' called the warrior to him. + +"No," replied Turan, who had not the faintest idea to whom or +what the fellow referred. + +"He cannot escape," continued the warrior. "The woman ran +directly into our arms, but she swore that she knew not where her +companion might be found." + +"They took her back to O-Tar?" asked Turan, for now he knew whom +the other meant, and he would know more. + +"They took her back to The Towers of Jetan," replied the warrior. +"Tomorrow the games commence and doubtless she will be played +for, though I doubt if any wants her, beautiful as she is. She +fears not even O-Tar. By Cluros! but she would make a hard slave +to subdue--a regular she-banth she is. Not for me," and he +continued on his way shaking his head. + +Turan hurried on searching for an avenue that led to the level of +the streets above when suddenly he came to the open doorway of a +small chamber in which sat a man who was chained to the wall. +Turan voiced a low exclamation of surprise and pleasure as he +recognized that the man was A-Kor, and that he had stumbled by +accident upon the very cell in which he had been imprisoned. +A-Kor looked at him questioningly. It was evident that he did not +recognize his fellow prisoner. Turan crossed to the table and +leaning close to the other whispered to him. + +"I am Turan the panthan," he said, "who was chained beside you." + +A-Kor looked at him closely. "Your own mother would never know +you!" he said; "but tell me, what has transpired since they took +you away?" + +Turan recounted his experiences in the throne room of O-Tar and +in the pits beneath, "and now," he continued, "I must find these +Towers of Jetan and see what may be done toward liberating the +Princess of Helium." + +A-Kor shook his head. "Long was I dwar of the Towers," he said, +"and I can say to you, stranger, that you might as well attempt +to reduce Manator, single handed, as to rescue a prisoner from +The Towers of Jetan." + +"But I must," replied Turan. + +"Are you better than a good swordsman?" asked A-Kor presently. + +"I am accounted so," replied Turan. + +"Then there is a way--sst!" he was suddenly silent and pointing +toward the base of the wall at the end of the room. + +Turan looked in the direction the other's forefinger indicated, +to see projecting from the mouth of an ulsio's burrow two large +chelae and a pair of protruding eyes. + +"Ghek!" he cried and immediately the hideous kaldane crawled out +upon the floor and approached the table. A-Kor drew back with a +half-stifled ejaculation of repulsion. "Do not fear," Turan +reassured him. "It is my friend--he whom I told you held O-Tar +while Tara and I escaped." + +Ghek climbed to the table top and squatted between the two +warriors. "You are safe in assuming," he said addressing A-Kor, +"that Turan the panthan has no master in all Manator where the +art of sword-play is concerned. I overheard your conversation--go +on." + +"You are his friend," continued A-Kor, "and so I may explain +safely in your presence the only plan I know whereby he may hope +to rescue the Princess of Helium. She is to be the stake of one +of the games and it is O-Tar's desire that she be won by slaves +and common warriors, since she repulsed him. Thus would he punish +her. Not a single man, but all who survive upon the winning side +are to possess her. With money, however, one may buy off the +others before the game. That you could do, and if your side won +and you survived she would become your slave." + +"But how may a stranger and a hunted fugitive accomplish this?" +asked Turan. + +"No one will recognize you. You will go tomorrow to the keeper of +the Towers and enlist in that game for which the girl is to be +the stake, telling the keeper that you are from Manataj, the +farthest city of Manator. If he questions you, you may say that +you saw her when she was brought into the city after her capture. +If you win her, you will find thoats stabled at my palace and you +will carry from me a token that will place all that is mine at +your disposal." + +"But how can I buy off the others in the game without money?" +asked Turan. "I have none--not even of my own country." + +A-Kor opened his pocket-pouch and drew forth a packet of +Manatorian money. + +"Here is sufficient to buy them off twice over," he said, handing +a portion of it to Turan. + +"But why do you do this for a stranger?" asked the panthan. + +"My mother was a captive princess here," replied A-Kor. "I but do +for the Princess of Helium what my mother would have me do." + +"Under the circumstances, then, Manatorian," replied Turan, "I +cannot but accept your generosity on behalf of Tara of Helium and +live in hope that some day I may do for you something in return." + +"Now you must be gone," advised A-Kor. "At any minute a guard may +come and discover you here. Go directly to the Avenue of Gates, +which circles the city just within the outer wall. There you will +find many places devoted to the lodging of strangers. You will +know them by the thoat's head carved above the doors. Say that +you are here from Manataj to witness the games. Take the name of +U-Kal--it will arouse no suspicion, nor will you if you can avoid +conversation. Early in the morning seek the keeper of The Towers +of Jetan. May the strength and fortune of all your ancestors be +with you!" + +Bidding good-bye to Ghek and A-Kor, the panthan, following +directions given him by A-Kor, set out to find his way to the +Avenue of Gates, nor had he any great difficulty. On the way he +met several warriors, but beyond a nod they gave him no heed. +With ease he found a lodging place where there were many +strangers from other cities of Manator. As he had had no sleep +since the previous night he threw himself among the silks and +furs of his couch to gain the rest which he must have, was he to +give the best possible account of himself in the service of Tara +of Helium the following day. + +It was already morning when he awoke, and rising he paid for his +lodgings, sought a place to eat, and a short time later was on +his way toward The Towers of Jetan, which he had no difficulty in +finding owing to the great crowds that were winding along the +avenues toward the games. The new keeper of The Towers who had +succeeded E-Med was too busy to scrutinize entries closely, for +in addition to the many volunteer players there were scores of +slaves and prisoners being forced into the games by their owners +or the government. The name of each must be recorded as well as +the position he was to play and the game or games in which he was +to be entered, and then there were the substitutes for each that +was entered in more than a single game--one for each additional +game that an individual was entered for, that no succeeding game +might be delayed by the death or disablement of a player. + +"Your name?" asked a clerk as Turan presented himself. + +"U-Kal," replied the panthan. + +"Your city?" + +"Manataj." + +The keeper, who was standing beside the clerk, looked at Turan. +"You have come a great way to play at jetan," he said. "It is +seldom that the men of Manataj attend other than the decennial +games. Tell me of O-Zar! Will he attend next year? Ah, but he was +a noble fighter. If you be half the swordsman, U-Kal, the fame of +Manataj will increase this day. But tell me, what of O-Zar?" + +"He is well," replied Turan, glibly, "and he sent greetings to +his friends in Manator." + +"Good!" exclaimed the keeper, "and now in what game would you +enter?" + +"I would play for the Heliumetic princess, Tara," replied Turan. + +"But man, she is to be the stake of a game for slaves and +criminals," cried the keeper. "You would not volunteer for such a +game!" + +"But I would," replied Turan. "I saw here when she was brought +into the city and even then I vowed to possess her." + +"But you will have to share her with the survivors even if your +color wins," objected the other. + +"They may be brought to reason," insisted Turan. + +"And you will chance incurring the wrath of O-Tar, who has no +love for this savage barbarian," explained the keeper. + +"And I win her O-Tar will be rid of her," said Turan. + +The keeper of The Towers of Jetan shook his head. "You are rash," +he said. "I would that I might dissuade the friend of my friend +O-Zar from such madness." + +"Would you favor the friend of O-Zar?" asked Turan. + +"Gladly!" exclaimed the other. "What may I do for him?" + +"Make me chief of the Black and give me for my pieces all slaves +from Gathol, for I understand that those be excellent warriors," +replied the panthan. + +"It is a strange request," said the keeper, "but for my friend +O-Zar I would do even more, though of course --" he +hesitated--"it is customary for one who would be chief to make +some slight payment." + +"Certainly," Turan hastened to assure him; "I had not forgotten +that. I was about to ask you what the customary amount is." + +"For the friend of my friend it shall be nominal," replied the +keeper, naming a figure that Gahan, accustomed to the high price +of wealthy Gathol, thought ridiculously low. + +"Tell me," he said, handing the money to the keeper, "when the +game for the Heliumite is to be played." + +"It is the second in order of the day's games; and now if you +will come with me you may select your pieces." + +Turan followed the keeper to a large court which lay between the +towers and the jetan field, where hundreds of warriors were +assembled. Already chiefs for the games of the day were selecting +their pieces and assigning them to positions, though for the +principal games these matters had been arranged for weeks before. +The keeper led Turan to a part of the courtyard where the +majority of the slaves were assembled. + +"Take your choice of those not assigned," said the keeper, "and +when you have your quota conduct them to the field. Your place +will be assigned you by an officer there, and there you will +remain with your pieces until the second game is called. I wish +you luck, U-Kal, though from what I have heard you will be more +lucky to lose than to win the slave from Helium." + +After the fellow had departed Turan approached the slaves. "I +seek the best swordsmen for the second game," he announced. "Men +from Gathol I wish, for I have heard that these be noble +fighters." + +A slave rose and approached him. "It is all the same in which +game we die," he said. "I would fight for you as a panthan in the +second game." + +Another came. "I am not from Gathol," he said. "I am from Helium, +and I would fight for the honor of a princess of Helium." + +"Good!" exclaimed Turan. "Art a swordsman of repute in Helium?" + +"I was a dwar under the great Warlord, and I have fought at his +side in a score of battles from The Golden Cliffs to The Carrion +Caves. My name is Val Dor. Who knows Helium, knows my prowess." + +The name was well known to Gahan, who had heard the man spoken of +on his last visit to Helium, and his mysterious disappearance +discussed as well as his renown as a fighter. + +"How could I know aught of Helium?" asked Turan; "but if you be +such a fighter as you say no position could suit you better than +that of Flier. What say you?" + +The man's eyes denoted sudden surprise. He looked keenly at +Turan, his eyes running quickly over the other's harness. Then he +stepped quite close so that his words might not be overheard. + +"Methinks you may know more of Helium than of Manator," he +whispered. + +"What mean you, fellow?" demanded Turan, seeking to cudgel his +brains for the source of this man's knowledge, guess, or +inspiration. + +"I mean," replied Val Dor, "that you are not of Manator and that +if you wish to hide the fact it is well that you speak not to a +Manatorian as you did just speak to me of--Fliers! There be no +Fliers in Manator and no piece in their game of Jetan bearing +that name. Instead they call him who stands next to the Chief or +Princess, Odwar. The piece has the same moves and power that the +Flier has in the game as played outside Manator. Remember this +then and remember, too, that if you have a secret it be safe in +the keeping of Val Dor of Helium." + +Turan made no reply but turned to the task of selecting the +remainder of his pieces. Val Dor, the Heliumite, and Floran, the +volunteer from Gathol, were of great assistance to him, since one +or the other of them knew most of the slaves from whom his +selection was to be made. The pieces all chosen, Turan led them +to the place beside the playing field where they were to wait +their turn, and here he passed the word around that they were to +fight for more than the stake he offered for the princess should +they win. This stake they accepted, so that Turan was sure of +possessing Tara if his side was victorious, but he knew that +these men would fight even more valorously for chivalry than for +money, nor was it difficult to enlist the interest even of the +Gatholians in the service of the princess. And now he held out +the possibility of a still further reward. + +"I cannot promise you," he explained, "but I may say I have heard +that this day which makes it possible that should we win this +game we may even win your freedom!" + +They leaped to their feet and crowded around him with many +questions. + +"It may not be spoken of aloud," he said; "but Floran and Val Dor +know and they assure me that you may all be trusted. Listen! What +I would tell you places my life in your hands, but you must know +that every man will realize that he is fighting today the +greatest battle of his life--for the honor and the freedom of +Barsoom's most wondrous princess and for his own freedom as +well--for the chance to return each to his own country and to the +woman who awaits him there. + +"First, then, is my secret. I am not of Manator. Like yourselves +I am a slave, though for the moment disguised as a Manatorian +from Manataj. My country and my identity must remain undisclosed +for reasons that have no bearing upon our game today. I, then, am +one of you. I fight for the same things that you will fight for. + +"And now for that which I have but just learned. U-Thor, the +great jed of Manatos, quarreled with O-Tar in the palace the day +before yesterday and their warriors set upon one another. U-Thor +was driven as far as The Gate of Enemies, where he now lies +encamped. At any moment the fight may be renewed; but it is +thought that U-Thor has sent to Manatos for reinforcements. Now, +men of Gathol, here is the thing that interests you. U-Thor has +recently taken to wife the Princess Haja of Gathol, who was slave +to O-Tar and whose son, A-Kor, was dwar of The Towers of Jetan. +Haja's heart is filled with loyalty for Gathol and compassion for +her sons who are here enslaved, and this latter sentiment she has +to some extent transmitted to U-Thor. Aid me, therefore, in +freeing the Princess Tara of Helium and I believe that I can aid +you and her and myself to escape the city. Bend close your ears, +slaves of O-Tar, that no cruel enemy may hear my words," and +Gahan of Gathol whispered in low tones the daring plan he had +conceived. "And now," he demanded, when he had finished, "let him +who does not dare speak now." None replied. "Is there none?" + +"And it would not betray you should I cast my sword at thy feet, +it had been done ere this," said one in low tones pregnant with +suppressed feeling. + +"And I!" "And I!" "And I!" chorused the others in vibrant +whispers. + + + +CHAPTER XVII + +A PLAY TO THE DEATH + +CLEAR and sweet a trumpet spoke across The Fields of Jetan. From +The High Tower its cool voice floated across the city of Manator +and above the babel of human discords rising from the crowded +mass that filled the seats of the stadium below. It called the +players for the first game, and simultaneously there fluttered to +the peaks of a thousand staffs on tower and battlement and the +great wall of the stadium the rich, gay pennons of the fighting +chiefs of Manator. Thus was marked the opening of The Jeddak's +Games, the most important of the year and second only to the +Grand Decennial Games. + +Gahan of Gathol watched every play with eagle eye. The match was +an unimportant one, being but to settle some petty dispute +between two chiefs, and was played with professional jetan +players for points only. No one was killed and there was but +little blood spilled. It lasted about an hour and was terminated +by the chief of the losing side deliberately permitting himself +to be out-pointed, that the game might be called a draw. + +Again the trumpet sounded, this time announcing the second and +last game of the afternoon. While this was not considered an +important match, those being reserved for the fourth and fifth +days of the games, it promised to afford sufficient excitement +since it was a game to the death. The vital difference between +the game played with living men and that in which inanimate +pieces are used, lies in the fact that while in the latter the +mere placing of a piece upon a square occupied by an opponent +piece terminates the move, in the former the two pieces thus +brought together engage in a duel for possession of the square. +Therefore there enters into the former game not only the strategy +of jetan but the personal prowess and bravery of each individual +piece, so that a knowledge not only of one's own men but of each +player upon the opposing side is of vast value to a chief. + +In this respect was Gahan handicapped, though the loyalty of his +players did much to offset his ignorance of them, since they +aided him in arranging the board to the best advantage and told +him honestly the faults and virtues of each. One fought best in a +losing game; another was too slow; another too impetuous; this +one had fire and a heart of steel, but lacked endurance. Of the +opponents, though, they knew little or nothing, and now as the +two sides took their places upon the black and orange squares of +the great jetan board Gahan obtained, for the first time, a close +view of those who opposed him. The Orange Chief had not yet +entered the field, but his men were all in place. Val Dor turned +to Gahan. "They are all criminals from the pits of Manator," he +said. "There is no slave among them. We shall not have to fight +against a single fellow-countryman and every life we take will be +the life of an enemy." + +"It is well," replied Gahan; "but where is their Chief, and where +the two Princesses?" + +"They are coming now, see?" and he pointed across the field to +where two women could be seen approaching under guard. + +As they came nearer Gahan saw that one was indeed Tara of Helium, +but the other he did not recognize, and then they were brought to +the center of the field midway between the two sides and there +waited until the Orange Chief arrived. + +Floran voiced an exclamation of surprise when he recognized him. +"By my first ancestor if it is not one of their great chiefs," he +said, "and we were told that slaves and criminals were to play +for the stake of this game." + +His words were interrupted by the keeper of The Towers whose duty +it was not only to announce the games and the stakes, but to act +as referee as well. + +"Of this, the second game of the first day of the Jeddak's Games +in the four hundred and thirty-third year of O-Tar, Jeddak of +Manator, the Princesses of each side shall be the sole stakes and +to the survivors of the winning side shall belong both the +Princesses, to do with as they shall see fit. The Orange Princess +is the slave woman Lan-O of Gathol; the Black Princess is the +slave woman Tara, a princess of Helium. The Black Chief is U-Kal +of Manataj, a volunteer player; the Orange Chief is the dwar +U-Dor of the 8th Utan of the jeddak of Manator, also a volunteer +player. The squares shall be contested to the death. Just are the +laws of Manator! I have spoken." + +The initial move was won by U-Dor, following which the two Chiefs +escorted their respective Princesses to the square each was to +occupy. It was the first time Gahan had been alone with Tara +since she had been brought upon the field. He saw her +scrutinizing him closely as he approached to lead her to her +place and wondered if she recognized him: but if she did she gave +no sign of it. He could not but remember her last words--"I hate +you!" and her desertion of him when he had been locked in the +room beneath the palace by I-Gos, the taxidermist, and so he did +not seek to enlighten her as to his identity. He meant to fight +for her--to die for her, if necessary--and if he did not die to +go on fighting to the end for her love. Gahan of Gathol was not +easily to be discouraged, but he was compelled to admit that his +chances of winning the love of Tara of Helium were remote. +Already had she repulsed him twice. Once as jed of Gathol and +again as Turan the panthan. Before his love, however, came her +safety and the former must be relegated to the background until +the latter had been achieved. + +Passing among the players already at their stations the two took +their places upon their respective squares. At Tara's left was +the Black Chief, Gahan of Gathol; directly in front of her the +Princess' Panthan, Floran of Gathol; and at her right the +Princess' Odwar, Val Dor of Helium. And each of these knew the +part that he was to play, win or lose, as did each of the other +Black players. As Tara took her place Val Dor bowed low. "My +sword is at your feet, Tara of Helium," he said. + +She turned and looked at him, an expression of surprise and +incredulity upon her face. "Val Dor, the dwar!" she exclaimed. +"Val Dor of Helium--one of my father's trusted captains! Can it +be possible that my eyes speak the truth?" + +"It is Val Dor, Princess," the warrior replied, "and here to die +for you if need be, as is every wearer of the Black upon this +field of jetan today. Know Princess," he whispered, "that upon +this side is no man of Manator, but each and every is an enemy of +Manator." + +She cast a quick, meaning glance toward Gahan. "But what of him?" +she whispered, and then she caught her breath quickly in +surprise. "Shade of the first jeddak!" she exclaimed. "I did but +just recognize him through his disguise." + +"And you trust him?" asked Val Dor. "I know him not; but he spoke +fairly, as an honorable warrior, and we have taken him at his +word." + +"You have made no mistake," replied Tara of Helium. "I would +trust him with my life--with my soul; and you, too, may trust +him." + +Happy indeed would have been Gahan of Gathol could he have heard +those words; but Fate, who is usually unkind to the lover in such +matters, ordained it otherwise, and then the game was on. + +U-Dor moved his Princess' Odwar three squares diagonally to the +right, which placed the piece upon the Black Chief's Odwar's +seventh. The move was indicative of the game that U-Dor intended +playing--a game of blood, rather than of science--and evidenced +his contempt for his opponents. + +Gahan followed with his Odwar's Panthan one square straight +forward, a more scientific move, which opened up an avenue for +himself through his line of Panthans, as well as announcing to +the players and spectators that he intended having a hand in the +fighting himself even before the exigencies of the game forced it +upon him. The move elicited a ripple of applause from those +sections of seats reserved for the common warriors and their +women, showing perhaps that U-Dor was none too popular with +these, and, too, it had its effect upon the morale of Gahan's +pieces. A Chief may, and often does, play almost an entire game +without leaving his own square, where, mounted upon a thoat, he +may overlook the entire field and direct each move, nor may he be +reproached for lack of courage should he elect thus to play the +game since, by the rules, were he to be slain or so badly wounded +as to be compelled to withdraw, a game that might otherwise have +been won by the science of his play and the prowess of his men +would be drawn. To invite personal combat, therefore, denotes +confidence in his own swordsmanship, and great courage, two +attributes that were calculated to fill the Black players with +hope and valor when evinced by their Chief thus early in the +game. + +U-Dor's next move placed Lan-O's Odwar upon Tara's Odwar's +fourth--within striking distance of the Black Princess. + +Another move and the game would be lost to Gahan unless the +Orange Odwar was overthrown, or Tara moved to a position of +safety; but to move his Princess now would be to admit his belief +in the superiority of the Orange. In the three squares allowed +him he could not place himself squarely upon the square occupied +by the Odwar of U-Dor's Princess. There was only one player upon +the Black side that might dispute the square with the enemy and +that was the Chief's Odwar, who stood upon Gahan's left. Gahan +turned upon his thoat and looked at the man. He was a splendid +looking fellow, resplendent in the gorgeous trappings of an +Odwar, the five brilliant feathers which denoted his position +rising defiantly erect from his thick, black hair. In common with +every player upon the field and every spectator in the crowded +stands he knew what was passing in his Chief's mind. He dared not +speak, the ethics of the game forbade it, but what his lips might +not voice his eyes expressed in martial fire, and eloquently: +"The honor of the Black and the safety of our Princess are secure +with me!" + +Gahan hesitated no longer. "Chief's Odwar to Princess' Odwar's +fourth!" he commanded. It was the courageous move of a leader who +had taken up the gauntlet thrown down by his opponent. + +The warrior sprang forward and leaped into the square occupied by +U-Dor's piece. It was the first disputed square of the game. The +eyes of the players were fastened upon the contestants, the +spectators leaned forward in their seats after the first applause +that had greeted the move, and silence fell upon the vast +assemblage. If the Black went down to defeat, U-Dor could move +his victorious piece on to the square occupied by Tara of Helium +and the game would be over--over in four moves and lost to Gahan +of Gathol. If the Orange lost U-Dor would have sacrificed one of +his most important pieces and more than lost what advantage the +first move might have given him. + +Physically the two men appeared perfectly matched and each was +fighting for his life, but from the first it was apparent that +the Black Odwar was the better swordsman, and Gahan knew that he +had another and perhaps a greater advantage over his antagonist. +The latter was fighting for his life only, without the spur of +chivalry or loyalty. The Black Odwar had these to strengthen his +arm, and besides these the knowledge of the thing that Gahan had +whispered into the ears of his players before the game, and so he +fought for what is more than life to the man of honor. + +It was a duel that held those who witnessed it in spellbound +silence. The weaving blades gleamed in the brilliant sunlight, +ringing to the parries of cut and thrust. The barbaric harness of +the duelists lent splendid color to the savage, martial scene. +The Orange Odwar, forced upon the defensive, was fighting madly +for his life. The Black, with cool and terrible efficiency, was +forcing him steadily, step by step, into a corner of the +square--a position from which there could be no escape. To +abandon the square was to lose it to his opponent and win for +himself ignoble and immediate death before the jeering populace. +Spurred on by the seeming hopelessness of his plight, the Orange +Odwar burst into a sudden fury of offense that forced the Black +back a half dozen steps, and then the sword of U-Dor's piece +leaped in and drew first blood, from the shoulder of his +merciless opponent. An ill-smothered cry of encouragement went up +from U-Dor's men; the Orange Odwar, encouraged by his single +success, sought to bear down the Black by the rapidity of his +attack. There was a moment in which the swords moved with a +rapidity that no man's eye might follow, and then the Black Odwar +made a lightning parry of a vicious thrust, leaned quickly +forward into the opening he had effected, and drove his sword +through the heart of the Orange Odwar--to the hilt he drove it +through the body of the Orange Odwar. + +A shout arose from the stands, for wherever may have been the +favor of the spectators, none there was who could say that it had +not been a pretty fight, or that the better man had not won. And +from the Black players came a sigh of relief as they relaxed from +the tension of the past moments. + +I shall not weary you with the details of the game--only the high +features of it are necessary to your understanding of the +outcome. The fourth move after the victory of the Black Odwar +found Gahan upon U-Dor's fourth; an Orange Panthan was on the +adjoining square diagonally to his right and the only opposing +piece that could engage him other than U-Dor himself. + +It had been apparent to both players and spectators for the past +two moves, that Gahan was moving straight across the field into +the enemy's country to seek personal combat with the Orange +Chief--that he was staking all upon his belief in the superiority +of his own swordsmanship, since if the two Chiefs engage, the +outcome decides the game. U-Dor could move out and engage Gahan, +or he could move his Princess' Panthan upon the square occupied +by Gahan in he hope that the former would defeat the Black Chief +and thus draw the game, which is the outcome if any other than a +Chief slays the opposing Chief, or he could move away and escape, +temporarily, the necessity for personal combat, or at least that +is evidently what he had in mind as was obvious to all who saw +him scanning the board about him; and his disappointment was +apparent when he finally discovered that Gahan had so placed +himself that there was no square to which U-Dor could move that +it was not within Gahan's power to reach at his own next move. + +U-Dor had placed his own Princess four squares east of Gahan when +her position had been threatened, and he had hoped to lure the +Black Chief after her and away from U-Dor; but in that he had +failed. He now discovered that he might play his own Odwar into +personal combat with Gahan; but he had already lost one Odwar and +could ill spare the other. His position was a delicate one, since +he did not wish to engage Gahan personally, while it appeared +that there was little likelihood of his being able to escape. +There was just one hope and that lay in his Princess' Panthan, +so, without more deliberation he ordered the piece onto the +square occupied by the Black Chief. + +The sympathies of the spectators were all with Gahan now. If he +lost, the game would be declared a draw, nor do they think better +of drawn games upon Barsoom than do Earth men. If he won, it +would doubtless mean a duel between the two Chiefs, a development +for which they all were hoping. The game already bade fair to be +a short one and it would be an angry crowd should it be decided a +draw with only two men slain. There were great, historic games on +record where of the forty pieces on the field when the game +opened only three survived--the two Princesses and the victorious +Chief. + +They blamed U-Dor, though in fact he was well within his rights +in directing his play as he saw fit, nor was a refusal on his +part to engage the Black Chief necessarily an imputation of +cowardice. He was a great chief who had conceived a notion to +possess the slave Tara. There was no honor that could accrue to +him from engaging in combat with slaves and criminals, or an +unknown warrior from Manataj, nor was the stake of sufficient +import to warrant the risk. + +But now the duel between Gahan and the Orange Panthan was on and +the decision of the next move was no longer in other hands than +theirs. It was the first time that these Mana-Atorians had seen +Gahan of Gathol fight, but Tara of Helium knew that he was master +of his sword. Could he have seen the proud light in her eyes as +he crossed blades with the wearer of the Orange, he might easily +have wondered if they were the same eyes that had flashed fire +and hatred at him that time he had covered her lips with mad +kisses, in the pits of the palace of O-Tar. As she watched him +she could not but compare his swordplay with that of the greatest +swordsman of two worlds--her father, John Carter, of Virginia, a, +Prince of Helium, Warlord of Barsoom--and she knew that the skill +of the Black Chief suffered little by the comparison. + +Short and to the point was the duel that decided possession of +the Orange Chief's fourth. The spectators had settled themselves +for an interesting engagement of at least average duration when +they were brought almost standing by a brilliant flash of rapid +swordplay that was over ere one could catch his breath. They saw +the Black Chief step quickly back, his point upon the ground, +while his opponent, his sword slipping from his fingers, clutched +his breast, sank to his knees and then lunged forward upon his +face. + +And then Gahan of Gathol turned his eyes directly upon U-Dor of +Manator, three squares away. Three squares is a Chief's +move--three squares in any direction or combination of +directions, only provided that he does not cross the same square +twice in a given move. The people saw and guessed Gahan's +intention. They rose and roared forth their approval as he moved +deliberately across the intervening squares toward the Orange +Chief. + +O-Tar, in the royal enclosure, sat frowning upon the scene. O-Tar +was angry. He was angry with U-Dor for having entered this game +for possession of a slave, for whom it had been his wish only +slaves and criminals should strive. He was angry with the warrior +from Manataj for having so far out-generaled and out-fought the +men from Manator. He was angry with the populace because of their +open hostility toward one who had basked in the sunshine of his +favor for long years. O-Tar the jeddak had not enjoyed the +afternoon. Those who surrounded him were equally glum--they, too, +scowled upon the field, the players, and the people. Among them +was a bent and wrinkled old man who gazed through weak and watery +eyes upon the field and the players. + +As Gahan entered his square, U-Dor leaped toward him with drawn +sword with such fury as might have overborne a less skilled and +powerful swordsman. For a minute the fighting was fast and +furious and by comparison reducing to insignificance all that had +gone before. Here indeed were two magnificent swordsmen, and here +was to be a battle that bade fair to make up for whatever the +people felt they had been defrauded of by the shortness of the +game. Nor had it continued long before many there were who would +have prophesied that they were witnessing a duel that was to +become historic in the annals of jetan at Manator. Every trick, +every subterfuge, known to the art of fence these men employed. +Time and again each scored a point and brought blood to his +opponent's copper hide until both were red with gore; but neither +seemed able to administer the coup de grace. + +From her position upon the opposite side of the field Tara of +Helium watched the long-drawn battle. Always it seemed to her +that the Black Chief fought upon the defensive, or when he +assumed to push his opponent, he neglected a thousand openings +that her practiced eye beheld. Never did he seem in real danger, +nor never did he appear to exert himself to quite the pitch +needful for victory. The duel already had been long contested and +the day was drawing to a close. Presently the sudden transition +from daylight to darkness which, owing to the tenuity of the air +upon Barsoom, occurs almost without the warning twilight of +Earth, would occur. Would the fight never end? Would the game be +called a draw after all? What ailed the Black Chief? + +Tara wished that she might answer at least the last of these +questions for she was sure that Turan the panthan, as she knew +him, while fighting brilliantly, was not giving of himself all +that he might. She could not believe that fear was restraining +his hand, but that there was something beside inability to push +U-Dor more fiercely she was confident. What it was, however, she +could not guess. + +Once she saw Gahan glance quickly up toward the sinking sun. In +thirty minutes it would be dark. And then she saw and all those +others saw a strange transition steal over the swordplay of the +Black Chief. It was as though he had been playing with the great +dwar, U-Dor, all these hours, and now he still played with him +but there was a difference. He played with him terribly as a +carnivore plays with its victim in the instant before the kill. +The Orange Chief was helpless now in the hands of a swordsman so +superior that there could be no comparison, and the people sat in +open-mouthed wonder and awe as Gahan of Gathol cut his foe to +ribbons and then struck him down with a blow that cleft him to +the chin. + +In twenty minutes the sun would set. But what of that? + + + +CHAPTER XVIII + +A TASK FOR LOYALTY + +LONG and loud was the applause that rose above the Field of Jetan +at Manator, as The Keeper of the Towers summoned the two +Princesses and the victorious Chief to the center of the field +and presented to the latter the fruits of his prowess, and then, +as custom demanded, the victorious players, headed by Gahan and +the two Princesses, formed in procession behind The Keeper of the +Towers and were conducted to the place of victory before the +royal enclosure that they might receive the commendation of the +jeddak. Those who were mounted gave up their thoats to slaves as +all must be on foot for this ceremony. Directly beneath the royal +enclosure are the gates to one of the tunnels that, passing +beneath the seats, give ingress or egress to or from the Field. +Before this gate the party halted while O-Tar looked down upon +them from above. Val Dor and Floran, passing quietly ahead of the +others, went directly to the gates, where they were hidden from +those who occupied the enclosure with O-Tar. The Keeper of the +Towers may have noticed them, but so occupied was he with the +formality of presenting the victorious Chief to the jeddak that +he paid no attention to them. + +"I bring you, O-Tar, Jeddak of Manator, U-Kal of Manataj," he +cried in a loud voice that might be heard by as many as possible, +"victor over the Orange in the second of the Jeddak's Games of +the four hundred and thirty-third year of O-Tar, and the slave +woman Tara and the slave woman Lan-O that you may bestow these, +the stakes, upon U-Kal." + +As he spoke, a little, wrinkled, old man peered over the rail of +the enclosure down upon the three who stood directly behind The +Keeper, and strained his weak and watery eyes in an effort to +satisfy the curiosity of old age in a matter of no particular +import, for what were two slaves and a common warrior from +Manataj to any who sat with O-Tar the jeddak? + +"U-Kal of Manataj," said O-Tar, "you have deserved the stakes. +Seldom have we looked upon more noble swordplay. And you tire of +Manataj there be always here in the city of Manator a place for +you in The Jeddak's Guard." + +While the jeddak was speaking the little, old man, failing +clearly to discern the features of the Black Chief, reached into +his pocket-pouch and drew forth a pair of thick-lensed +spectacles, which he placed upon his nose. For a moment he +scrutinized Gahan closely, then he leaped to his feet and +addressing O-Tar pointed a shaking finger it Gahan. As he rose +Tara of Helium clutched the Black Chief's arm. + +"Turan!" she whispered. "It is I-Gos, whom I thought to have +slain in the pits of O-Tar. It is I-Gos and he recognizes you and +will --" + +But what I-Gos would do was already transpiring. In his falsetto +voice he fairly screamed: "It is the slave Turan who stole the +woman Tara from your throne room, O-Tar. He desecrated the dead +chief I-Mal and wears his harness now!" + +Instantly all was pandemonium. Warriors drew their swords and +leaped to their feet. Gahan's victorious players rushed forward +in a body, sweeping The Keeper of the Towers from his feet. Val +Dor and Floran threw open the gates beneath the royal enclosure, +opening the tunnel that led to the avenue in the city beyond the +Towers. Gahan, surrounded by his men, drew Tara and Lan-O into +the passageway, and at a rapid pace the party sought to reach the +opposite end of the tunnel before their escape could be cut off. +They were successful and when they emerged into the city the sun +had set and darkness had come, relieved only by an antiquated and +ineffective lighting system, which cast but a pale glow over the +shadowy streets. + +Now it was that Tara of Helium guessed why the Black Chief had +drawn out his duel with U-Dor and realized that he might have +slain his man at almost any moment he had elected. The whole plan +that Gahan had whispered to his players before the game was +thoroughly understood. They were to make their way to The Gate of +Enemies and there offer their services to U-Thor, the great Jed +of Manatos. The fact that most of them were Gatholians and that +Gahan could lead rescuers to the pit where A-Kor, the son of +U-Thor's wife, was confined, convinced the Jed of Gathol that +they would meet with no rebuff at the hands of U-Thor. But even +should he refuse them, still were they bound together to go on +toward freedom, if necessary cutting their way through the forces +of U-Thor at The Gate of Enemies--twenty men against a small +army; but of such stuff are the warriors of Barsoom. + +They had covered a considerable distance along the almost +deserted avenue before signs of pursuit developed and then there +came upon them suddenly from behind a dozen warriors mounted on +thoats--a detachment, evidently, from The Jeddak's Guard. +Instantly the avenue was a pandemonium of clashing blades, +cursing warriors, and squealing thoats. In the first onslaught +life blood was spilled upon both sides. Two of Gahan's men went +down, and upon the enemies' side three riderless thoats attested +at least a portion of their casualties. + +Gahan was engaged with a fellow who appeared to have been +selected to account for him only, since he rode straight for him +and sought to cut him down without giving the slightest heed to +several who slashed at him as he passed them. The Gatholian, +practiced in the art of combating a mounted warrior from the +ground, sought to reach the left side of the fellow's thoat a +little to the rider's rear, the only position in which he would +have any advantage over his antagonist, or rather the position +that would most greatly reduce the advantage of the mounted man, +and, similarly, the Manatorian strove to thwart his design. And +so the guardsman wheeled and turned his vicious, angry mount +while Gahan leaped in and out in an effort to reach the coveted +vantage point, but always seeking some other opening in his foe's +defense. + +And while they jockeyed for position a rider swept swiftly past +them. As he passed behind Gahan the latter heard a cry of alarm. + +"Turan, they have me!" came to his ears in the voice of Tara of +Helium. + +A quick glance across his shoulder showed him the galloping +thoatman in the act of dragging Tara to the withers of the beast, +and then, with the fury of a demon, Gahan of Gathol leaped for +his own man, dragged him from his mount and as he fell smote his +head from his shoulders with a single cut of his keen sword. +Scarce had the body touched the pavement when the Gatholian was +upon the back of the dead warrior's mount, and galloping swiftly +down the avenue after the diminishing figures of Tara and her +abductor, the sounds of the fight waning in the distance as he +pursued his quarry along the avenue that passes the palace of +O-Tar and leads to The Gate of Enemies. + +Gahan's mount, carrying but a single rider, gained upon that of +the Manatorian, so that as they neared the palace Gahan was +scarce a hundred yards behind, and now, to his consternation, he +saw the fellow turn into the great entrance-way. For a moment +only was he halted by the guards and then he disappeared within. +Gahan was almost upon him then, but evidently he had warned the +guards, for they leaped out to intercept the Gatholian. But no! +the fellow could not have known that he was pursued, since he had +not seen Gahan seize a mount, nor would he have thought that +pursuit would come so soon. If he had passed then, so could Gahan +pass, for did he not wear the trappings of a Manatorian? The +Gatholian thought quickly, and stopping his thoat called to the +guardsmen to let him pass, "In the name of O-Tar!" They hesitated +a moment. + +"Aside!" cried Gahan. "Must the jeddak's messenger parley for the +right to deliver his message?" + +"To whom would you deliver it?" asked the padwar of the guard. + +"Saw you not him who just entered?" cried Gahan, and without +waiting for a reply urged his thoat straight past them into the +palace, and while they were deliberating what was best to be +done, it was too late to do anything--which is not unusual. + +Along the marble corridors Gahan guided his thoat, and because he +had gone that way before, rather than because he knew which way +Tara had been taken, he followed the runways and passed through +the chambers that led to the throne room of O-Tar. On the second +level he met a slave. + +"Which way went he who carried the woman before him?" he asked. + +The slave pointed toward a nearby runway that led to the third +level and Gahan dashed rapidly on in pursuit. At the same moment +a thoatman, riding at a furious pace, approached the palace and +halted his mount at the gate. + +"Saw you aught of a warrior pursuing one who carried a woman +before him on his thoat?" he shouted to the guard. + +"He but just passed in," replied the padwar, "saying that he was +O-Tar's messenger." + +"He lied," cried the newcomer. "He was Turan, the slave, who +stole the woman from the throne room two days since. + +Arouse the palace! He must be seized, and alive if possible. It +is O-Tar's command." + +Instantly warriors were dispatched to search for the Gatholian +and warn the inmates of the palace to do likewise. Owing to the +games there were comparatively few retainers in the great +building, but those whom they found were immediately enlisted in +the search, so that presently at least fifty warriors were +seeking through the countless chambers and corridors of the +palace of O-Tar. + +As Gahan's thoat bore him to the third Level the man glimpsed the +hind quarters of another thoat disappearing at the turn of a +corridor far ahead. Urging his own animal forward he raced +swiftly in pursuit and making the turn discovered only an empty +corridor ahead. Along this he hurried to discover near its +farther end a runway to the fourth level, which he followed +upward. Here he saw that he had gained upon his quarry who was +just turning through a doorway fifty yards ahead. As Gahan +reached the opening he saw that the warrior had dismounted and +was dragging Tara toward a small door on the opposite side of the +chamber. At the same instant the clank of harness to his rear +caused him to cast a glance behind where, along the corridor he +had just traversed, he saw three warriors approaching on foot at +a run. Leaping from his thoat Gahan sprang into the chamber where +Tara was struggling to free herself from the grasp of her captor, +slammed the door behind him, shot the great bolt into its seat, +and drawing his sword crossed the room at a run to engage the +Manatorian. The fellow, thus menaced, called aloud to Gahan to +halt, at the same time thrusting Tara at arm's length and +threatening her heart with the point of his short-sword. + +"Stay!" he cried, "or the woman dies, for such is the command of +O-Tar, rather than that she again fall into your hands." + +Gahan stopped. But a few feet separated him from Tara and her +captor, yet he was helpless to aid her. Slowly the warrior backed +toward the open doorway behind him, dragging Tara with him. The +girl struggled and fought, but the warrior was a powerful man and +having seized her by the harness from behind was able to hold her +in a position of helplessness. + +"Save me, Turan!" she cried. "Let them not drag me to a fate +worse than death. Better that I die now while my eyes behold a +brave friend than later, fighting alone among enemies in defense +of my honor." + +He took a step nearer. The warrior made a threatening gesture +with his sword close to the soft, smooth skin of the princess, +and Gahan halted. + +"I cannot, Tara of Helium," he cried. "Think not ill of me that I +am weak--that I cannot see you die. Too great is my love for you, +daughter of Helium." + +The Manatorian warrior, a derisive grin upon his lips, backed +steadily away. He had almost reached the doorway when Gahan saw +another warrior in the chamber toward which Tara was being +borne--a fellow who moved silently, almost stealthily, across the +marble floor as he approached Tara's captor from behind. In his +right hand he grasped a long-sword. + +"Two to one," thought Gahan, and a grim smile touched his lips, +for he had no doubt that once they had Tara safely in the +adjoining chamber the two would set upon him. If he could not +save her, he could at least die for her. + +And then, suddenly, Gahan's eyes fastened with amazement upon the +figure of the warrior behind the grinning fellow who held Tara +and was forcing her to the doorway. He saw the newcomer step +almost within arm's reach of the other. He saw him stop, an +expression of malevolent hatred upon his features. He saw the +great sword swing through the arc of a great circle, gathering +swift and terrific momentum from its own weight backed by the +brawn of the steel thews that guided it; he saw it pass through +the feathered skull of the Manatorian, splitting his sardonic +grin in twain, and open him to the middle of his breast bone. + +As the dead hand relaxed its grasp upon Tara's wrist the girl +leaped forward, without a backward glance, to Gahan's side. His +left arm encircled her, nor did she draw away, as with ready +sword the Gatholian awaited Fate's next decree. Before them +Tara's deliverer was wiping the blood from his sword upon the +hair of his victim. He was evidently a Manatorian, his trappings +those of the Jeddak's Guard, and so his act was inexplicable to +Gahan and to Tara. Presently he sheathed his sword and approached +them. + +"When a man chooses to hide his identity behind an assumed name," +he said, looking straight into Gahan's eyes, "whatever friend +pierces the deception were no friend if he divulged the other's +secret." + +He paused as though awaiting a reply. + +"Your integrity has perceived and your lips voiced an unalterable +truth," replied Gahan, whose mind was filled with wonder if the +implication could by any possibility be true--that this +Manatorian had guessed his identity. + +"We are thus agreed," continued the other, "and I may tell you +that though I am here known as A-Sor, my real name is Tasor." He +paused and watched Gahan's face intently for any sign of the +effect of this knowledge and was rewarded with a quick, though +guarded expression of recognition. + +Tasor! Friend of his youth. The son of that great Gatholian noble +who had given his life so gloriously, however futilely, in an +attempt to defend Gahan's sire from the daggers of the assassins. +Tasor an under-padwar in the guard of O-Tar, Jeddak of Manator! +It was inconceivable--and yet it was he; there could be no doubt +of it. "Tasor," Gahan repeated aloud. "But it is no Manatorian +name." The statement was half interrogatory, for Gahan's +curiosity was aroused. He would know how his friend and loyal +subject had become a Manatorian. Long years had passed since +Tasor had disappeared as mysteriously as the Princess Haja and +many other of Gahan's subjects. The Jed of Gathol had long +supposed him dead. + +"No," replied Tasor, "nor is it a Manatorian name. Come, while I +search for a hiding place for you in some forgotten chamber in +one of the untenanted portions of the palace, and as we go I will +tell you briefly how Tasor the Gatholian became A-Sor the +Manatorian. + +"It befell that as I rode with a dozen of my warriors along the +western border of Gathol searching for zitidars that had strayed +from my herds, we were set upon and surrounded by a great company +of Manatorians. They overpowered us, though not before half our +number was slain and the balance helpless from wounds. And so I +was brought a prisoner to Manataj, a distant city of Manator, and +there sold into slavery. A woman bought me--a princess of Manataj +whose wealth and position were unequaled in the city of her +birth. She loved me and when her husband discovered her +infatuation she beseeched me to slay him, and when I refused she +hired another to do it. Then she married me; but none would have +aught to do with her in Manataj, for they suspected her guilty +knowledge of her husband's murder. And so we set out from Manataj +for Manatos accompanied by a great caravan bearing all her +worldly goods and jewels and precious metals, and on the way she +caused the rumor to be spread that she and I had died. Then we +came to Manator instead, she taking a new name and I the name +A-Sor, that we might not be traced through our names. With her +great wealth she bought me a post in The Jeddak's Guard and none +knows that I am not a Manatorian, for she is dead. She was +beautiful, but she was a devil." + +"And you never sought to return to your native city?" asked +Gahan. + +"Never has the hope been absent from my heart, or my mind empty +of a plan," replied Tasor. "I dream of it by day and by night, +but always must I return to the same conclusion--that there can +be but a single means for escape. I must wait until Fortune +favors me with a place in a raiding party to Gathol. Then, once +within the boundaries of my own country, they shall see me no +more." + +"Perhaps your opportunity lies already within your grasp," said +Gahan, "has not your fealty to your own Jed been undermined by +years of association with the men of Manator." The statement was +half challenge. + +"And my Jed stood before me now," cried Tasor, "and my avowal +could be made without violating his confidence, I should cast my +sword at his feet and beg the high privilege of dying for him as +my sire died for his sire." + +There could be no doubt of his sincerity nor any that he was +cognizant of Gahan's identity. The Jed of Gathol smiled. "And if +your Jed were here there is little doubt but that he would +command you to devote your talents and your prowess to the rescue +of the Princess Tara of Helium," he said, meaningly. "And he +possessed the knowledge I have gained during my captivity he +would say to you, 'Go, Tasor, to the pit where A-kor, son of Haja +of Gathol, is confined and set him free and with him arouse the +slaves from Gathol and march to The Gate of Enemies and offer +your services to U-Thor of Manataj, who is wed to Haja of Gathol, +and ask of him in return that he attack the palace of O-Tar and +rescue Tara of Helium and when that thing is accomplished that he +free the slaves of Gathol and furnish them with the arms and the +means to return to their own country.' That, Tasor of Gathol, is +what Gahan your Jed would demand of you." + +"And that, Turan the slave, is what I shall bend my every effort +to accomplish after I have found a safe refuge for Tara of Helium +and her panthan," replied Tasor. + +Gahan's glance carried to Tasor an intimation of his Jed's +gratification and filled him with a chivalrous determination to +do the thing required of him, or die, for he considered that he +had received from the lips of his beloved ruler a commission that +placed upon his shoulders a responsibility that encompassed not +alone the life of Gahan and Tara but the welfare, perhaps the +whole future, of Gathol. And so he hastened them onward through +the musty corridors of the old palace where the dust of ages lay +undisturbed upon the marble tiles. Now and again he tried a door +until he found one that was unlocked. Opening it he ushered them +into a chamber, heavy with dust. Crumbling silks and furs adorned +the walls, with ancient weapons, and great paintings whose colors +were toned by age to wondrous softness. + +"This be as good as any place," he said. "No one comes here. +Never have I been here before, so I know no more of the other +chambers than you; but this one, at least, I can find again when +I bring you food and drink. O-Mai the Cruel occupied this portion +of the palace during his reign, five thousand years before O-Tar. +In one of these apartments he was found dead, his face contorted +in an expression of fear so horrible that it drove to madness +those who looked upon it; yet there was no mark of violence upon +him Since then the quarters of O-Mai have been shunned for the +legends have it that the ghosts of Corphals pursue the spirit of +the wicked Jeddak nightly through these chambers, shrieking and +moaning as they go. But," he added, as though to reassure himself +as well as his companions, "such things may not be countenanced +by the culture of Gathol or Helium." + +Gahan laughed. "And if all who looked upon him were driven mad, +who then was there to perform the last rites or prepare the body +of the Jeddak for them?" + +"There was none," replied Tasor. "Where they found him they left +him and there to this very day his mouldering bones lie hid in +some forgotten chamber of this forbidden suite." + +Tasor left them then assuring them that he would seek the first +opportunity to speak with A-Kor, and upon the following day he +would bring them food and drink.* + +* Those who have read John Carter's description of the Green +Martians in A Princess of Mars will recall that these strange +people could exist for considerable periods of time without food +or water, and to a lesser degree is the same true of all +Martians. + + +After Tasor had gone Tara turned to Gahan and approaching laid a +hand upon his arm. "So swiftly have events transpired since I +recognized you beneath your disguise," she said, "that I have had +no opportunity to assure you of my gratitude and the high esteem +that your valor has won for you in my consideration. Let me now +acknowledge my indebtedness; and if promises be not vain from one +whose life and liberty are in grave jeopardy, accept my assurance +of the great reward that awaits you at the hand of my father in +Helium." + +"I desire no reward," he replied, "other than the happiness of +knowing that the woman I love is happy." + +For an instant the eyes of Tara of Helium blazed as she drew +herself haughtily to her full height, and then they softened and +her attitude relaxed as she shook her head sadly. + +"I have it not in my heart to reprimand you, Turan," she said, +"however great your fault, for you have been an honorable and a +loyal friend to Tara of Helium; but you must not say what my ears +must not hear." + +"You mean," he asked, "that the ears of a Princess must not +listen to words of love from a panthan?" + +"It is not that, Turan," she replied; "but rather that I may + +not in honor listen to words of love from another than him to +whom I am betrothed--a fellow countryman, Djor Kantos." + +"You mean, Tara of Helium," he cried, "that were it not for that +you would --" + +"Stop!" she commanded. "You have no right to assume aught else +than my lips testify." + +"The eyes are ofttimes more eloquent than the lips, Tara," he +replied; "and in yours I have read that which is neither hatred +nor contempt for Turan the panthan, and my heart tells me that +your lips bore false witness when they cried in anger: 'I hate +you!'" + +"I do not hate you, Turan, nor yet may I love you," said the +girl, simply. + +"When I broke my way out from the chamber of I-Gos I was indeed +upon the verge of believing that you did hate me," he said, "for +only hatred, it seemed to me, could account for the fact that you +had gone without making an effort to liberate me; but presently +both my heart and my judgment told me that Tara of Helium could +not have deserted a companion in distress, and though I still am +in ignorance of the facts I know that it was beyond your power to +aid me." + +"It was indeed," said the girl. "Scarce had I-Gos fallen at the +bite of my dagger than I heard the approach of warriors. I ran +then to hide until they had passed, thinking to return and +liberate you; but in seeking to elude the party I had heard I ran +full into the arms of another. They questioned me as to your +whereabouts, and I told them that you had gone ahead and that I +was following you and thus I led them from you." + +"I knew," was Gahan's only comment, but his heart was glad with +elation, as a lover's must be who has heard from the lips of his +divinity an avowal of interest and loyalty, however little tinged +by a suggestion of warmer regard it may be. To be abused, even, +by the mistress of one's heart is better than to be ignored. + +As the two conversed in the ill-lit chamber, the dim bulbs of +which were encrusted with the accumulated dust of centuries, a +bent and withered figure traversed slowly the gloomy corridors +without, his weak and watery eyes peering through thick lenses at +the signs of passage written upon the dusty floor. + + + +CHAPTER XIX + +THE MENACE OF THE DEAD + +THE night was still young when there came one to the entrance of +the banquet hall where O-Tar of Manator dined with his chiefs, +and brushing past the guards entered the great room with the +insolence of a privileged character, as in truth he was. As he +approached the head of the long board O-Tar took notice of him. + +"Well, hoary one!" he cried. "What brings you out of your beloved +and stinking burrow again this day. We thought that the sight of +the multitude of living men at the games would drive you back to +your corpses as quickly as you could go." + +The cackling laugh of I-Gos acknowledged the royal sally. "Ey, +ey, O-Tar," squeaked the ancient one, "I-Gos goes out not upon +pleasure bound; but when one does ruthlessly desecrate the dead +of I-Gos, vengeance must be had!" + +"You refer to the act of the slave Turan?" demanded O-Tar. + +"Turan, yes, and the slave Tara, who slipped beneath my hide a +murderous blade. Another fraction of an inch, O-Tar, and I-Gos' +ancient and wrinkled covering were even now in some apprentice +tanner's hands, ey, ey!" + +"But they have again eluded us," cried O-Tar. "Even in the palace +of the great jeddak twice have they escaped the stupid knaves I +call The Jeddak's Guard." O-Tar had risen and was angrily +emphasizing his words with heavy blows upon the table, dealt with +a golden goblet. + +"Ey, O-Tar, they elude thy guard but not the wise old calot, +I-Gos." + +"What mean you? Speak!" commanded O-Tar. + +"I know where they are hid," said the ancient taxidermist. "In +the dust of unused corridors their feet have betrayed them." + +"You followed them? You have seen them?" demanded the jeddak. + +"I followed them and I heard them speaking beyond a closed door," +replied I-Gos; "but I did not see them." + +"Where is that door?" cried O-Tar. "We will send at once and +fetch them," he looked about the table as though to decide to +whom he would entrust this duty. A dozen warrior chiefs arose and +laid their hands upon their swords. + +"To the chambers of O-Mai the Cruel I traced them," squeaked +I-Gos. "There you will find them where the moaning Corphals +pursue the shrieking ghost of O-Mai; ey!" and he turned his eyes +from O-Tar toward the warriors who had arisen, only to discover +that, to a man, they were hurriedly resuming their seats. + +The cackling laughter of I-Gos broke derisively the hush that had +fallen on the room. The warriors looked sheepishly at the food +upon their plates of gold. O-Tar snapped his fingers impatiently. + +"Be there only cravens among the chiefs of Manator?" he cried. +"Repeatedly have these presumptuous slaves flouted the majesty of +your jeddak. Must I command one to go and fetch them?" + +Slowly a chief arose and two others followed his example, though +with ill-concealed reluctance. "All, then, are not cowards," +commented O-Tar. "The duty is distasteful. Therefore all three of +you shall go, taking as many warriors as you wish." + +"But do not ask for volunteers," interrupted I-Gos, "or you will +go alone." + +The three chiefs turned and left the banquet hall, walking slowly +like doomed men to their fate. + +Gahan and Tara remained in the chamber to which Tasor had led +them, the man brushing away the dust from a deep and comfortable +bench where they might rest in comparative comfort. He had found +the ancient sleeping silks and furs too far gone to be of any +service, crumbling to powder at a touch, thus removing any chance +of making a comfortable bed for the girl, and so the two sat +together, talking in low tones, of the adventures through which +they already had passed and speculating upon the future; planning +means of escape and hoping Tasor would not be long gone. They +spoke of many things--of Hastor, and Helium, and Ptarth, and +finally the conversation reminded Tara of Gathol. + +"You have served there?" she asked. + +"Yes," replied Turan. + +"I met Gahan the Jed of Gathol at my father's palace," she said, +"the very day before the storm snatched me from Helium--he was a +presumptuous fellow, magnificently trapped in platinum and +diamonds. Never in my life saw I so gorgeous a harness as his, +and you must well know, Turan, that the splendor of all Barsoom +passes through the court at Helium; but in my mind I could not +see so resplendent a creature drawing that jeweled sword in +mortal combat. I fear me that the Jed of Gathol, though a pretty +picture of a man, is little else." + +In the dim light Tara did not perceive the wry expression upon +the half-averted face of her companion. + +"You thought little then of the Jed of Gathol?" he asked. + +"Then or now," she replied, and with a little laugh; "how it +would pique his vanity to know, if he might, that a poor panthan +had won a higher place in the regard of Tara of Helium," and she +laid her fingers gently upon his knee. + +He seized the fingers in his and carried them to his lips. "O, +Tara of Helium," he cried. "Think you that I am a man of stone?" +One arm slipped about her shoulders and drew the yielding body +toward him. + +"May my first ancestor forgive me my weakness," she cried, as her +arms stole about his neck and she raised her panting lips to his. +For long they clung there in love's first kiss and then she +pushed him away, gently. "I love you, Turan," she half sobbed; "I +love you so! It is my only poor excuse for having done this wrong +to Djor Kantos, whom now I know I never loved, who knew not the +meaning of love. And if you love me as you say, Turan, your love +must protect me from greater dishonor, for I am but as clay in +your hands." + +Again he crushed her to him and then as suddenly released her, +and rising, strode rapidly to and fro across the chamber as +though he endeavored by violent exercise to master and subdue +some evil spirit that had laid hold upon him. Ringing through his +brain and heart and soul like some joyous paean were those words +that had so altered the world for Gahan of Gathol: "I love you, +Turan; I love you so!" And it had come so suddenly. He had +thought that she felt for him only gratitude for his loyalty and +then, in an instant, her barriers were all down, she was no +longer a princess; but instead a--his reflections were +interrupted by a sound from beyond the closed door. His sandals +of zitidar hide had given forth no sound upon the marble floor he +strode, and as his rapid pacing carried him past the entrance to +the chamber there came faintly from the distance of the long +corridor the sound of metal on metal--the unmistakable herald of +the approach of armed men. + +For a moment Gahan listened intently, close to the door, until +there could be no doubt but that a party of warriors was +approaching. From what Tasor had told him he guessed correctly +that they would be coming to this portion of the palace but for a +single purpose--to search for Tara and himself--and it behooved +him therefore to seek immediate means for eluding them. The +chamber in which they were had other doorways beside that at +which they had entered, and to one of these he must look for some +safer hiding place. Crossing to Tara he acquainted her with his +suspicion, leading her to one of the doors which they found +unsecured. Beyond it lay a dimly-lighted chamber at the threshold +of which they halted in consternation, drawing back quickly into +the chamber they had just quitted, for their first glance +revealed four warriors seated around a jetan board. + +That their entrance had not been noted was attributed by Gahan to +the absorption of the two players and their friends in the game. +Quietly closing the door the fugitives moved silently to the +next, which they found locked. There was now but another door +which they had not tried, and this they approached quickly as +they knew that the searching party must be close to the chamber. +To their chagrin they found this avenue of escape barred. + +Now indeed were they in a sorry plight, for should the searchers +have information leading them to this room they were lost. Again +leading Tara to the door behind which were the jetan players +Gahan drew his sword and waited, listening. The sound of the +party in the corridor came distinctly to their ears--they must be +quite close, and doubtless they were coming in force. Beyond the +door were but four warriors who might be readily surprised. There +could, then, be but one choice and acting upon it Gahan quietly +opened the door again, stepped through into the adjoining +chamber, Tara's hand in his, and closed the door behind them. The +four at the jetan board evidently failed to hear them. One player +had either just made or was contemplating a move, for his fingers +grasped a piece that still rested upon the board. The other three +were watching his move. For an instant Gahan looked at them, +playing jetan there in the dim light of this forgotten and +forbidden chamber, and then a slow smile of understanding lighted +his face. + +"Come!" he said to Tara. "We have nothing to fear from these. For +more than five thousand years they have sat thus, a monument to +the handiwork of some ancient taxidermist." + +As they approached more closely they saw that the lifelike +figures were coated with dust, but that otherwise the skin was in +as fine a state of preservation as the most recent of I-Gos' +groups, and then they heard the door of the chamber they had +quitted open and knew that the searchers were close upon them. +Across the room they saw the opening of what appeared to be a +corridor and which investigation proved to be a short passageway, +terminating in a chamber in the center of which was an ornate +sleeping dais. This room, like the others, was but poorly +lighted, time having dimmed the radiance of its bulbs and coated +them with dust. A glance showed that it was hung with heavy goods +and contained considerable massive furniture in addition to the +sleeping platform, a second glance at which revealed what +appeared to be the form of a man lying partially on the floor and +partially on the dais. No doorways were visible other than that +at which they had entered, though both knew that others might be +concealed by the hangings. + +Gahan, his curiosity aroused by the legends surrounding this +portion of the palace, crossed to the dais to examine the figure +that apparently had fallen from it, to find the dried and +shrivelled corpse of a man lying upon his back on the floor with +arms outstretched and fingers stiffly outspread. One of his feet +was doubled partially beneath him, while the other was still +entangled in the sleeping silks and furs upon the dais. After +five thousand years the expression of the withered face and the +eyeless sockets retained the aspect of horrid fear to such an +extent, that Gahan knew that he was looking upon the body of +O-Mai the Cruel. + +Suddenly Tara, who stood close beside him, clutched his arm and +pointed toward a far corner of the room. Gahan looked and looking +felt the hairs upon his neck rising. He threw his left arm about +the girl and with bared sword stood between her and the hangings +that they watched, and then slowly Gahan of Gathol backed away, +for in this grim and somber chamber, which no human foot had trod +for five thousand years and to which no breath of wind might +enter, the heavy hangings in the far corner had moved. Not gently +had they moved as a draught might have moved them had there been +a draught, but suddenly they had bulged out as though pushed +against from behind. To the opposite corner backed Gahan until +they stood with their backs against the hangings there, and then +hearing the approach of their pursuers across the chamber beyond +Gahan pushed Tara through the hangings and, following her, kept +open with his left hand, which he had disengaged from the girl's +grasp, a tiny opening through which he could view the apartment +and the doorway upon the opposite side through which the pursuers +would enter, if they came this far. + +Behind the hangings there was a space of about three feet in +width between them and the wall, making a passageway entirely +around the room, broken only by the single entrance opposite +them; this being a common arrangement especially in the sleeping +apartments of the rich and powerful upon Barsoom. The purposes of +this arrangement were several. The passageway afforded a station +for guards in the same room with their master without intruding +entirely upon his privacy; it concealed secret exits from the +chamber; it permitted the occupant of the room to hide +eavesdroppers and assassins for use against enemies that he might +lure to his chamber. + +The three chiefs with a dozen warriors had had no difficulty in +following the tracks of the fugitives through the dust of the +corridors and chambers they had traversed. To enter this portion +of the palace at all had required all the courage they possessed, +and now that they were within the very chambers of O-Mai their +nerves were pitched to the highest key--another turn and they +would snap; for the people of Manator are filled with weird +superstitions. As they entered the outer chamber they moved +slowly, with drawn swords, no one seeming anxious to take the +lead, and the twelve warriors hanging back in unconcealed and +shameless terror, while the three chiefs, spurred on by fear of +O-Tar and by pride, pressed together for mutual encouragement as +they slowly crossed the dimly-lighted room. + +Following the tracks of Gahan and Tara they found that though +each doorway had been approached only one threshold had been +crossed and this door they gingerly opened, revealing to their +astonished gaze the four warriors at the jetan table. For a +moment they were on the verge of flight, for though they knew +what they were, coming as they did upon them in this mysterious +and haunted suite, they were as startled as though they had +beheld the very ghosts of the departed. But they presently +regained their courage sufficiently to cross this chamber too and +enter the short passageway that led to the ancient sleeping +apartment of O-Mai the Cruel. They did not know that this awful +chamber lay just before them, or it were doubtful that they would +have proceeded farther; but they saw that those they sought had +come this way and so they followed, but within the gloomy +interior of the chamber they halted, the three chiefs urging +their followers, in low whispers, to close in behind them, and +there just within the entrance they stood until, their eyes +becoming accustomed to the dim light, one of them pointed +suddenly to the thing lying upon the floor with one foot tangled +in the coverings of the dais. + +"Look!" he gasped. "It is the corpse of O-Mai! Ancestor of +ancestors! we are in the forbidden chamber." Simultaneously there +came from behind the hangings beyond the grewsome dead a hollow +moan followed by a piercing scream, and the hangings shook and +bellied before their eyes. + +With one accord, chieftains and warriors, they turned and bolted +for the doorway; a narrow doorway, where they jammed, fighting +and screaming in an effort to escape. They threw away their +swords and clawed at one another to make a passage for escape; +those behind climbed upon the shoulders of those in front; and +some fell and were trampled upon; but at last they all got +through, and, the swiftest first, they bolted across the two +intervening chambers to the outer corridor beyond, nor did they +halt their mad retreat before they stumbled, weak and trembling, +into the banquet hall of O-Tar. At sight of them the warriors who +had remained with the jeddak leaped to their feet with drawn +swords, thinking that their fellows were pursued by many enemies; +but no one followed them into the room, and the three chieftains +came and stood before O-Tar with bowed heads and trembling knees. + +"Well?" demanded the jeddak. "What ails you? Speak!" + +"O-Tar," cried one of them when at last he could master his +voice. "When have we three failed you in battle or combat? Have +our swords been not always among the foremost in defense of your +safety and your honor?" + +"Have I denied this?" demanded O-Tar. + +"Listen, then, O Jeddak, and judge us with leniency. We followed +the two slaves to the apartments of O-Mai the Cruel. We entered +the accursed chambers and still we did not falter. We came at +last to that horrid chamber no human eye had scanned before in +fifty centuries and we looked upon the dead face of O-Mai lying +as he has lain for all this time. To the very death chamber of +O-Mai the Cruel we came and yet we were ready to go farther; when +suddenly there broke upon our horrified ears the moans and the +shrieking that mark these haunted chambers and the hangings moved +and rustled in the dead air. O-Tar, it was more than human nerves +could endure. We turned and fled. We threw away our swords and +fought with one another to escape. With sorrow, but without +shame, I tell it, for there be no man in all Manator that would +not have done the same. If these slaves be Corphals they are safe +among their fellow ghosts. If they be not Corphals, then already +are they dead in the chambers of O-Mai, and there may they rot +for all of me, for I would not return to that accursed spot for +the harness of a jeddak and the half of Barsoom for an empire. I +have spoken." + +O-Tar knitted his scowling brows. "Are all my chieftains cowards +and cravens?" he demanded presently in sneering tones. + +From among those who had not been of the searching party a +chieftain arose and turned a scowling face upon O-Tar. + +"The jeddak knows,'' he said, "that in the annals of Manator her +jeddaks have ever been accounted the bravest of her warriors. +Where my jeddak leads I will follow, nor may any jeddak call me a +coward or a craven unless I refuse to go where he dares to go. I +have spoken." + +After he had resumed his seat there was a painful silence, for +all knew that the speaker had challenged the courage of O-Tar the +Jeddak of Manator and all awaited the reply of their ruler. In +every mind was the same thought--O-Tar must lead them at once to +the chamber of O-Mai the Cruel, or accept forever the stigma of +cowardice, and there could be no coward upon the throne of +Manator. That they all knew and that O-Tar knew, as well. + +But O-Tar hesitated. He looked about upon the faces of those +around him at the banquet board; but he saw only the grim visages +of relentless warriors. There was no trace of leniency in the +face of any. And then his eyes wandered to a small entrance at +one side of the great chamber. An expression of relief expunged +the scowl of anxiety from his features. + +"Look!" he exclaimed. "See who has come!" + + + +CHAPTER XX + +THE CHARGE OF COWARDICE + +GAHAN, watching through the aperture between the hangings, saw +the frantic flight of their pursuers. A grim smile rested upon +his lips as he viewed the mad scramble for safety and saw them +throw away their swords and fight with one another to be first +from the chamber of fear, and when they were all gone he turned +back toward Tara, the smile still upon his lips; but the smile +died the instant that he turned, for he saw that Tara had +disappeared. + +"Tara!" he called in a loud voice, for he knew that there was no +danger that their pursuers would return; but there was no +response, unless it was a faint sound as of cackling laughter +from afar. Hurriedly he searched the passageway behind the +hangings finding several doors, one of which was ajar. Through +this he entered the adjoining chamber which was lighted more +brilliantly for the moment by the soft rays of hurtling Thuria +taking her mad way through the heavens. Here he found the dust +upon the floor disturbed, and the imprint of sandals. They had +come this way--Tara and whatever the creature was that had stolen +her. + +But what could it have been? Gahan, a man of culture and high +intelligence, held few if any superstitions. In common with +nearly all races of Barsoom he clung, more or less inherently, to +a certain exalted form of ancestor worship, though it was rather +the memory or legends of the virtues and heroic deeds of his +forebears that he deified rather than themselves. He never +expected any tangible evidence of their existence after death; he +did not believe that they had the power either for good or for +evil other than the effect that their example while living might +have had upon following generations; he did not believe therefore +in the materialization of dead spirits. If there was a life +hereafter he knew nothing of it, for he knew that science had +demonstrated the existence of some material cause for every +seemingly supernatural phenomenon of ancient religions and +superstitions. Yet he was at a loss to know what power might have +removed Tara so suddenly and mysteriously from his side in a +chamber that had not known the presence of man for five thousand +years. + +In the darkness he could not see whether there were the imprints +of other sandals than Tara's--only that the dust was +disturbed--and when it led him into gloomy corridors he lost the +trail altogether. A perfect labyrinth of passages and apartments +were now revealed to him as he hurried on through the deserted +quarters of O-Mai. Here was an ancient bath--doubtless that of +the jeddak himself, and again he passed through a room in which a +meal had been laid upon a table five thousand years before--the +untasted breakfast of O-Mai, perhaps. There passed before his +eyes in the brief moments that he traversed the chambers, a +wealth of ornaments and jewels and precious metals that surprised +even the Jed of Gathol whose harness was of diamonds and platinum +and whose riches were the envy of a world. But at last his search +of O-Mai's chambers ended in a small closet in the floor of which +was the opening to a spiral runway leading straight down into +Stygian darkness. The dust at the entrance of the closet had been +freshly disturbed, and as this was the only possible indication +that Gahan had of the direction taken by the abductor of Tara it +seemed as well to follow on as to search elsewhere. So, without +hesitation, he descended into the utter darkness below. Feeling +with a foot before taking a forward step his descent was +necessarily slow, but Gahan was a Barsoomian and so knew the +pitfalls that might await the unwary in such dark, forbidden +portions of a jeddak's palace. + +He had descended for what he judged might be three full levels +and was pausing, as he occasionally did, to listen, when he +distinctly heard a peculiar shuffling, scraping sound approaching +him from below. Whatever the thing was it was ascending the +runway at a steady pace and would soon be near him. Gahan laid +his hand upon the hilt of his sword and drew it slowly from its +scabbard that he might make no noise that would apprise the +creature of his presence. He wished that there might be even the +slightest lessening of the darkness. If he could see but the +outline of the thing that approached him he would feel that he +had a fairer chance in the meeting; but he could see nothing, and +then because he could see nothing the end of his scabbard struck +the stone side of the runway, giving off a sound that the +stillness and the narrow confines of the passage and the darkness +seemed to magnify to a terrific clatter. + +Instantly the shuffling sound of approach ceased. For a moment +Gahan stood in silent waiting, then casting aside discretion he +moved on again down the spiral. The thing, whatever it might be, +gave forth no sound now by which Gahan might locate it. At any +moment it might be upon him and so he kept his sword in +readiness. Down, ever downward the steep spiral led. The darkness +and the silence of the tomb surrounded him, yet somewhere ahead +was something. He was not alone in that horrid place--another +presence that he could not hear or see hovered before him--of +that he was positive. Perhaps it was the thing that had stolen +Tara. Perhaps Tara herself, still in the clutches of some +nameless horror, was just ahead of him. He quickened his pace--it +became almost a run at the thought of the danger that threatened +the woman he loved, and then he collided with a wooden door that +swung open to the impact. Before him was a lighted corridor. On +either side were chambers. He had advanced but a short distance +from the bottom of the spiral when he recognized that he was in +the pits below the palace. A moment later he heard behind him the +shuffling sound that had attracted his attention in the spiral +runway. Wheeling about he saw the author of the sound emerging +from a doorway he had just passed. It was Ghek the kaldane. + +"Ghek!" exclaimed Gahan. "It was you in the runway? Have you seen +Tara of Helium?" + +"It was I in the spiral," replied the kaldane; "but I have not +seen Tara of Helium. I have been searching for her. Where is +she?" + +"I do not know," replied the Gatholian; "but we must find her and +take her from this place." + +"We may find her," said Ghek; "but I doubt our ability to take +her away. It is not so easy to leave Manator as it is to enter +it. I may come and go at will, through the ancient burrows of the +ulsios; but you are too large for that and your lungs need more +air than may be found in some of the deeper runways." + +"But U-Thor!" exclaimed Gahan. "Have you heard aught of him or +his intentions?" + +"I have heard much," replied Ghek. "He camps at The Gate of +Enemies. That spot he holds and his warriors lie just beyond The +Gate; but he has not sufficient force to enter the city and take +the palace. An hour since and you might have made your way to +him; but now every avenue is strongly guarded since O-Tar learned +that A-Kor had escaped to U-Thor." + +"A-Kor has escaped and joined U-Thor!" exclaimed Gahan. + +"But little more than an hour since. I was with him when a +warrior came--a man whose name is Tasor--who brought a message +from you. It was decided that Tasor should accompany A-Kor in an +attempt to reach the camp of U-Thor, the great jed of Manatos, +and exact from him the assurances you required. Then U-Thor was +to return and take food to you and the Princess of Helium. I +accompanied them. We won through easily and found U-Thor more +than willing to respect your every wish, but when Tasor would +have returned to you the way was blocked by the warriors of +O-Tar. Then it was that I volunteered to come to you and report +and find food and drink and then go forth among the Gatholian +slaves of Manator and prepare them for their part in the plan +that U-Thor and Tasor conceived." + +"And what was this plan?" + +"U-Thor has sent for reinforcements. To Manatos he has sent and +to all the outlying districts that are his. It will take + +a month to collect and bring them hither and in the meantime the +slaves within the city are to organize secretly, stealing and +hiding arms against the day that the reinforcements arrive. When +that day comes the forces of U-Thor will enter the Gate of +Enemies and as the warriors of O-Tar rush to repulse them the +slaves from Gathol will fall upon them from the rear with the +majority of their numbers, while the balance will assault the +palace. They hope thus to divert so many from The Gate that +U-Thor will have little difficulty in forcing an entrance to the +city." + +"Perhaps they will succeed," commented Gahan; "but the warriors +of O-Tar are many, and those who fight in defense of their homes +and their jeddak have always an advantage. Ah, Ghek, would that +we had the great warships of Gathol or of Helium to pour their +merciless fire into the streets of Manator while U-Thor marched +to the palace over the corpses of the slain." He paused, deep in +thought, and then turned his gaze again upon the kaldane. "Heard +you aught of the party that escaped with me from The Field of +Jetan--of Floran, Val Dor, and the others? What of them?" + +"Ten of these won through to U-Thor at The Gate of Enemies and +were well received by him. Eight fell in the fighting upon the +way. Val Dor and Floran live, I believe, for I am sure that I +heard U-Thor address two warriors by these names." + +"Good!" exclaimed Gahan. "Go then, through the burrows of the +ulsios, to The Gate of Enemies and carry to Floran the message +that I shall write in his own language. Come, while I write the +message." + +In a nearby room they found a bench and table and there Gahan sat +and wrote in the strange, stenographic characters of Martian +script a message to Floran of Gathol. "Why," he asked, when he +had finished it, "did you search for Tara through the spiral +runway where we nearly met?" + +"Tasor told me where you were to be found, and as I have explored +the greater part of the palace by means of the ulsio runways and +the darker and less frequented passages I knew precisely where +you were and how to reach you. This secret spiral ascends from +the pits to the roof of the loftiest of the palace towers. It has +secret openings at every level; but there is no living +Manatorian, I believe, who knows of its existence. At least never +have I met one within it and I have used it many times. Thrice +have I been in the chamber where O-Mai lies, though I knew +nothing of his identity or the story of his death until Tasor +told it to us in the camp of U-Thor." + +"You know the palace thoroughly then?" Gahan interrupted. + +"Better than O-Tar himself or any of his servants." + +"Good! And you would serve the Princess Tara, Ghek, you may serve +her best by accompanying Floran and following his instructions. I +will write them here at the close of my message to him, for the +walls have ears, Ghek, while none but a Gatholian may read what I +have written to Floran. He will transmit it to you. Can I trust +you?" + +"I may never return to Bantoom," replied Ghek. "Therefore I have +but two friends in all Barsoom. What better may I do than serve +them faithfully? You may trust me, Gatholian, who with a woman of +your kind has taught me that there be finer and nobler things +than perfect mentality uninfluenced by the unreasoning tuitions +of the heart. I go." + + +As O-Tar pointed to the little doorway all eyes turned in the +direction he indicated and surprise was writ large upon the faces +of the warriors when they recognized the two who had entered the +banquet hall. There was I-Gos, and he dragged behind him one who +was gagged and whose hands were fastened behind with a ribbon of +tough silk. It was the slave girl. I-Gos' cackling laughter rose +above the silence of the room. + +"Ey, ey!" he shrilled. "What the young warriors of O-Tar cannot +do, old I-Gos does alone." + +"Only a Corphal may capture a Corphal," growled one of the chiefs +who had fled from the chambers of O-Mai. + +I-Gos laughed. "Terror turned your heart to water," he replied; +"and shame your tongue to libel. This be no Corphal, but only a +woman of Helium; her companion a warrior who can match blades +with the best of you and cut your putrid hearts. Not so in the +days of I-Gos' youth. Ah, then were there men in Manator. Well do +I recall that day that I --" + +"Peace, doddering fool!" commanded O-Tar. "Where is the man?" + +"Where I found the woman--in the death chamber of O-Mai. Let your +wise and brave chieftains go thither and fetch him. I am an old +man, and could bring but one." + +"You have done well, I-Gos," O-Tar hastened to assure him, for +when he learned that Gahan might still be in the haunted chambers +he wished to appease the wrath of I-Gos, knowing well the +vitriolic tongue and temper of the ancient one. "You think she is +no Corphal, then, I-Gos?" he asked, wishing to carry the subject +from the man who was still at large. + +"No more than you," replied the ancient taxidermist. + +O-Tar looked long and searchingly at Tara of Helium. All the +beauty that was hers seemed suddenly to be carried to every fibre +of his consciousness. She was still garbed in the rich harness of +a Black Princess of Jetan, and as O-Tar the Jeddak gazed upon her +he realized that never before had his eyes rested upon a more +perfect figure--a more beautiful face. + +"She is no Corphal," he murmured to himself. "She is no Corphal +and she is a princess--a princess of Helium, and, by the golden +hair of the Holy Hekkador, she is beautiful. Take the gag from +her mouth and release her hands," he commanded aloud. "Make room +for the Princess Tara of Helium at the side of O-Tar of Manator. +She shall dine as becomes a princess." + +Slaves did as O-Tar bid and Tara of Helium stood with flashing +eyes behind the chair that was offered her. "Sit!" commanded +O-Tar. + +The girl sank into the chair. "I sit as a prisoner," she said; +"not as a guest at the board of my enemy, O-Tar of Manator." + +O-Tar motioned his followers from the room. "I would speak alone +with the Princess of Helium," he said. The company and the slaves +withdrew and once more the Jeddak of Manator turned toward the +girl. "O-Tar of Manator would be your friend," he said. + +Tara of Helium sat with arms folded upon her small, firm breasts, +her eyes flashing from behind narrowed lids, nor did she deign to +answer his overture. O-Tar leaned closer to her. He noted the +hostility of her bearing and he recalled his first encounter with +her. She was a she-banth, but she was beautiful. She was by far +the most desirable woman that O-Tar had ever looked upon and he +was determined to possess her. He told her so. + +"I could take you as my slave," he said to her; "but it pleases +me to make you my wife. You shall be Jeddara of Manator. You +shall have seven days in which to prepare for the great honor +that O-Tar is conferring upon you, and at this hour of the +seventh day you shall become an empress and the wife of O-Tar in +the throne room of the jeddaks of Manator." He struck a gong that +stood beside him upon the table and when a slave appeared he bade +him recall the company. Slowly the chiefs filed in and took their +places at the table. Their faces were grim and scowling, for +there was still unanswered the question of their jeddak's +courage. If O-Tar had hoped they would forget he had been +mistaken in his men. + +O-Tar arose. "In seven days," he announced, "there will be a +great feast in honor of the new Jeddara of Manator," and he waved +his hand toward Tara of Helium. "The ceremony will occur at the +beginning of the seventh zode* in the throne room. In the +meantime the Princess of Helium will be cared for in the tower of +the women's quarters of the palace. Conduct her thither, E-Thas, +with a suitable guard of honor and see to it that slaves and +eunuchs be placed at her disposal, who shall attend upon all her +wants and guard her carefully from harm." + +* About 8:30 P. M. Earth Time. + + +Now E-Thas knew that the real meaning concealed in these fine +words was that he should conduct the prisoner under a strong +guard to the women's quarters and confine her there in the tower +for seven days, placing about her trustworthy guards who would +prevent her escape or frustrate any attempted rescue. + +As Tara was departing from the chamber with E-Thas and the guard, +O-Tar leaned close to her ear and whispered: "Consider well +during these seven days the high honor I have offered you, +and--its sole alternative." As though she had not heard him the +girl passed out of the banquet hall, her head high and her eyes +straight to the front. + +After Ghek had left him Gahan roamed the pits and the ancient +corridors of the deserted portions of the palace seeking some +clue to the whereabouts or the fate of Tara of Helium. He +utilized the spiral runway in passing from level to level until +he knew every foot of it from the pits to the summit of the high +tower, and into what apartments it opened at the various levels +as well as the ingenious and hidden mechanism that operated the +locks of the cleverly concealed doors leading to it. For food he +drew upon the stores he found in the pits and when he slept he +lay upon the royal couch of O-Mai in the forbidden chamber +sharing the dais with the dead foot of the ancient jeddak. + +In the palace about him seethed, all unknown to Gahan, a vast +unrest. Warriors and chieftains pursued the duties of their +vocations with dour faces, and little knots of them were +collecting here and there and with frowns of anger discussing +some subject that was uppermost in the minds of all. It was upon +the fourth day following Tara's incarceration in the tower that +E-Thas, the major-domo of the palace and one of O-Tar's +creatures, came to his master upon some trivial errand. O-Tar was +alone in one of the smaller chambers of his personal suite when +the major-domo was announced, and after the matter upon which +E-Thas had come was disposed of the jeddak signed him to remain. + +"From the position of an obscure warrior I have elevated you, +E-Thas, to the honors of a chief. Within the confines of the +palace your word is second only to mine. You are not loved for +this, E-Thas, and should another jeddak ascend the throne of +Manator what would become of you, whose enemies are among the +most powerful of Manator?" + +"Speak not of it, O-Tar," begged E-Thas. "These last few days I +have thought upon it much and I would forget it; but I have +sought to appease the wrath of. my worst enemies. I have been +very kind and indulgent with them." + +"You, too, read the voiceless message in the air?" demanded the +jeddak. + +E-Thas was palpably uneasy and he did not reply. + +"Why did you not come to me with your apprehensions?" demanded +O-Tar. "Be this loyalty?" + +"I feared, O mighty jeddak!" replied E-Thas. "I feared that you +would not understand and that you would be angry." + +"What know you? Speak the whole truth!" commanded O-Tar. + +"There is much unrest among the chieftains and the warriors," +replied E-Thas. "Even those who were your friends fear the power +of those who speak against you." + +"What say they?" growled the jeddak. + +"They say that you are afraid to enter the apartments of O-Mai in +search of the slave Turan--oh, do not be angry with me, Jeddak; +it is but what they say that I repeat. I, your loyal E-Thas, +believe no such foul slander." + +"No, no; why should I fear?" demanded O-Tar. "We do not know that +he is there. Did not my chiefs go thither and see nothing of +him?" + +"But they say that you did not go," pursued E-Thas, "and that +they will have none of a coward upon the throne of Manator." + +"They said that treason?" O-Tar almost shouted. + +"They said that and more, great jeddak," answered the major-domo. +"They said that not only did you fear to enter the chambers of +O-Mai, but that you feared the slave Turan, and they blame you +for your treatment of A-Kor, whom they all believe to have been +murdered at your command. They were fond of A-Kor and there are +many now who say aloud that A-Kor would have made a wondrous +jeddak." + +"They dare?" screamed O-Tar. "They dare suggest the name of a +slave's bastard for the throne of O-Tar!" + +"He is your son, O-Tar," E-Thas reminded him, "nor is there a +more beloved man in Manator--I but speak to you of facts which +may not be ignored, and I dare do so because only when you +realize the truth may you seek a cure for the ills that draw +about your throne." + +O-Tar had slumped down upon his bench--suddenly he looked +shrunken and tired and old. "Cursed be the day," he cried, "that +saw those three strangers enter the city of Manator. Would that +U-Dor had been spared to me. He was strong--my enemies feared +him; but he is gone--dead at the hands of that hateful slave, +Turan; may the curse of Issus be upon him!" + +"My jeddak, what shall we do?" begged E-Thas. "Cursing the slave +will not solve your problems." + +"But the great feast and the marriage is but three days off," +plead O-Tar. "It shall be a great gala occasion. The warriors and +the chiefs all know that--it is the custom. Upon that day gifts +and honors shall be bestowed. Tell me, who are most bitter +against me? I will send you among them and let it be known that I +am planning rewards for their past services to the throne. We +will make jeds of chiefs and chiefs of warriors, and grant them +palaces and slaves. Eh, E-Thas?" + +The other shook his head. "It will not do, O-Tar. They will have +nothing of your gifts or honors. I have heard them say as much." + +"What do they want?" demanded O-Tar. + +"They want a jeddak as brave as the bravest," replied E-Thas, +though his knees shook as he said it. + +"They think I am a coward?" cried the jeddak. + +"They say you are afraid to go to the apartments of O-mai the +Cruel." + +For a long time O-Tar sat, his head sunk upon his breast, staring +blankly at the floor. + +"Tell them," he said at last in a hollow voice that sounded not +at all like the voice of a great jeddak; "tell them that I will +go to the chambers of O-Mai and search for Turan the slave." + + + +CHAPTER XXI + +A RISK FOR LOVE + +"EY, ey, he is a craven and he called me 'doddering fool'!" The +speaker was I-Gos and he addressed a knot of chieftains in one of +the chambers of the palace of O-Tar, Jeddak of Manator: "If A-Kor +was alive there were a jeddak for us!" + +"Who says that A-Kor is dead?" demanded one of the chiefs. + +"Where is he then?" asked I-Gos. "Have not others disappeared +whom O-Tar thought too well beloved for men so near the throne as +they?" + +The chief shook his head. "And I thought that, or knew it, +rather; I'd join U-Thor at The Gate of Enemies." + +"S-s-st," cautioned one; "here comes the licker of feet," and all +eyes were turned upon the approaching E-Thas. + +"Kaor, friends!" he exclaimed as he stopped among them, but his +friendly greeting elicited naught but a few surly nods. "Have you +heard the news?" he continued, unabashed by treatment to which he +was becoming accustomed. + +"What--has O-Tar seen an ulsio and fainted?" demanded I-Gos with +broad sarcasm. + +"Men have died for less than that, ancient one," E-Thas reminded +him. + +"I am safe," retorted I-Gos, "for I am not a brave and popular +son of the jeddak of Manator." + +This was indeed open treason, but E-Thas feigned not to hear it. +He ignored I-Gos and turned to the others. "O-Tar goes to the +chamber of O-Mai this night in search of Turan the slave," he +said. "He sorrows that his warriors have not the courage for so +mean a duty and that their jeddak is thus compelled to arrest a +common slave," with which taunt E-Thas passed on to spread the +word in other parts of the palace. As a matter of fact the latter +part of his message was purely original with himself, and he took +great delight in delivering it to the discomfiture of his +enemies. As he was leaving the little group of men I-Gos called +after him. "At what hour does O-Tar intend visiting the chambers +of O-Mai?" he asked. + +"Toward the end of the eighth zode*," replied the major-domo, and +went his way. + +* About 1:00 A. M. Earth Time. + + +"We shall see," stated I-Gos. + +"What shall we see?" asked a warrior. + +"We shall see whether O-Tar visits the chamber of O-Mai." + +"How?" + +"I shall be there myself and if I see him I will know that he has +been there. If I don't see him I will know that he has not," +explained the old taxidermist. + +"Is there anything there to fill an honest man with fear?" asked +a chieftain. "What have you seen?" + +"It was not so much what I saw, though that was bad enough, as +what I heard," said I-Gos. + +"Tell us! What heard and saw you?" + +"I saw the dead O-Mai," said I-Gos. The others shuddered. + +"And you went not mad?" they asked. + +"Am I mad?" retorted I-Gos. + +"And you will go again?" + +"Yes." + +"Then indeed you are mad," cried one. + +"You saw the dead O-Mai; but what heard you that was worse?" +whispered another. + +"I saw the dead O-Mai lying upon the floor of his sleeping +chamber with one foot tangled in the sleeping silks and furs upon +his couch. I heard horrid moans and frightful screams." + +"And you are not afraid to go there again?" demanded several. + +"The dead cannot harm me," said I-Gos. "He has lain thus for five +thousand years. Nor can a sound harm me. I heard it once and +live--I can hear it again. It came from almost at my side where I +hid behind the hangings and watched the slave Turan before I +snatched the woman away from him." + +"I-Gos, you are a very brave man," said a chieftain. + +"O-Tar called me 'doddering fool' and I would face worse dangers +than lie in the forbidden chambers of O-Mai to know it if he does +not visit the chamber of O-Mai. Then indeed shall O-Tar fall!" + +The night came and the zodes dragged and the time approached when +O-Tar, Jeddak of Manator, was to visit the chamber of O-Mai in +search of the slave Turan. To us, who may doubt the existence of +malignant spirits, his fear may seem unbelievable, for he was a +strong man, an excellent swordsman, and a warrior of great +repute; but the fact remained that O-Tar of Manator was nervous +with apprehension as he strode the corridors of his palace toward +the deserted halls of O-Mai and when he stood at last with his +hand upon the door that opened from the dusty corridor to the +very apartments themselves he was almost paralyzed with terror. +He had come alone for two very excellent reasons, the first of +which was that thus none might note his terror-stricken state nor +his defection should he fail at the last moment, and the other +was that should he accomplish the thing alone or be able to make +his chiefs believe that he had, the credit would be far greater +than were he to be accompanied by warriors. + +But though he had started alone he had become aware that he was +being followed, and he knew that it was because his people had no +faith in either his courage or his veracity. He did not believe +that he would find the slave Turan. He did not very much want to +find him, for though O-Tar was an excellent swordsman and a brave +warrior in physical combat, he had seen how Turan had played with +U-Dor and he had no stomach for a passage at arms with one whom +he knew outclassed him. + +And so O-Tar stood with his hand upon the door--afraid to enter; +afraid not to. But at last his fear of his own warriors, watching +behind him, grew greater than the fear of the unknown behind the +ancient door and he pushed the heavy skeel aside and entered. + +Silence and gloom and the dust of centuries lay heavy upon the +chamber. From his warriors he knew the route that he must take to +the horrid chamber of O-Mai and so he forced his unwilling feet +across the room before him, across the room where the jetan +players sat at their eternal game, and came to the short corridor +that led into the room of O-Mai. His naked sword trembled in his +grasp. He paused after each forward step to listen and when he +was almost at the door of the ghost-haunted chamber, his heart +stood still within his breast and the cold sweat broke from the +clammy skin of his forehead, for from within there came to his +affrighted ears the sound of muffled breathing. Then it was that +O-Tar of Manator came near to fleeing from the nameless horror +that he could not see, but that he knew lay waiting for him in +that chamber just ahead. But again came the fear of the wrath and +contempt of his warriors and his chiefs. They would degrade him +and they would slay him into the bargain. There was no doubt of +what his fate would be should he flee the apartments of O-Mai in +terror. His only hope, therefore, lay in daring the unknown in +preference to the known. + +He moved forward. A few steps took him to the doorway. The +chamber before him was darker than the corridor, so that he could +just indistinctly make out the objects in the room. He saw a +sleeping dais near the center, with a darker blotch of something +lying on the marble floor beside it. He moved a step farther into +the doorway and the scabbard of his sword scraped against the +stone frame. To his horror he saw the sleeping silks and furs +upon the central dais move. He saw a figure slowly arising to a +sitting posture from the death bed of O-Mai the Cruel. His knees +shook, but he gathered all his moral forces, and gripping his +sword more tightly in his trembling fingers prepared to leap +across the chamber upon the horrid apparition. He hesitated just +a moment. He felt eyes upon him--ghoulish eyes that bored through +the darkness into his withering heart--eyes that he could not +see. He gathered himself for the rush--and then there broke from +the thing upon the couch an awful shriek, and O-Tar sank +senseless to the floor. + +Gahan rose from the couch of O-Mai, smiling, only to swing +quickly about with drawn sword as the shadow of a noise impinged +upon his keen ears from the shadows behind him. Between the +parted hangings he saw a bent and wrinkled figure. It was I-Gos. + +"Sheathe your sword, Turan," said the old man. "You have naught +to fear from I-Gos." + +"What do you here?" demanded Gahan. + +"I came to make sure that the great coward did not cheat us. Ey, +and he called me 'doddering fool;' but look at him now! Stricken +insensible by terror, but, ey, one might forgive him that who had +heard your uncanny scream. It all but blasted my own courage. And +it was you, then, who moaned and screamed when the chiefs came +the day that I stole Tara from you?" + +"It was you, then, old scoundrel?" demanded Gahan, moving +threateningly toward I-Gos. + +"Come, come!" expostulated the old man; "it was I, but then I was +your enemy. I would not do it now. Conditions have changed." + +"How have they changed? What has changed them?" asked Gahan. + +"Then I did not fully realize the cowardice of my jeddak, or the +bravery of you and the girl. I am an old man from another age and +I love courage. At first I resented the girl's attack upon me, +but later I came to see the bravery of it and it won my +admiration, as have all her acts. She feared not O-tar, she +feared not me, she feared not all the warriors of Manator. And +you! Blood of a million sires! how you fight! I am sorry that I +exposed you at The Fields of Jetan. I am sorry that I dragged the +girl Tara back to O-Tar. I would make amends. I would be your +friend. Here is my sword at your feet," and drawing his weapon +I-Gos cast it to the floor in front of Gahan. + +The Gatholian knew that scarce the most abandoned of knaves would +repudiate this solemn pledge, and so he stooped, and picking up +the old man's sword returned it to him, hilt first, in acceptance +of his friendship. + +"Where is the Princess Tara of Helium?" asked Gahan. "Is she +safe?" + +"She is confined in the tower of the women's quarters awaiting +the ceremony that is to make her Jeddara of Manator," replied +I-Gos. + +"This thing dared think that Tara of Helium would mate with him?" +growled Gahan. "I will make short work of him if he is not +already dead from fright," and he stepped toward the fallen O-Tar +to run his sword through the jeddak's heart. + +"No!" cried I-Gos. "Slay him not and pray that he be not dead if +you would save your princess." + +"How is that?" asked Gahan. + +"If word of O-Tar's death reached the quarters of the women the +Princess Tara would be lost. They know O-Tar's intention of +taking her to wife and making her Jeddara of Manator, so you may +rest assured that they all hate her with the hate of jealous +women. Only O-Tar's power protects her now from harm. Should +O-Tar die they would turn her over to the warriors and the male +slaves, for there would be none to avenge her." + +Gahan sheathed his sword. "Your point is well taken; but what +shall we do with him?" + +"Leave him where he lies," counseled I-Gos. "He is not dead. When +he revives he will return to his quarters with a fine tale of his +bravery and there will be none to impugn his boasts--none but +I-Gos. Come! he may revive at any moment and he must not find us +here." + +I-Gos crossed to the body of his jeddak, knelt beside it for an +instant, and then returned past the couch to Gahan. The two quit +the chamber of O-Mai and took their way toward the spiral runway. +Here I-Gos led Gahan to a higher level and out upon the roof of +that portion of the palace from where he pointed to a high tower +quite close by. "There," he said, "lies the Princess of Helium, +and quite safe she will be until the time of the ceremony." + +"Safe, possibly, from other hands, but not from her own," said +Gahan. "She will never become Jeddara of Manator--first will she +destroy herself." + +"She would do that?" asked I-Gos. + +"She will, unless you can get word to her that I still live and +that there is yet hope," replied Gahan. + +"I cannot get word to her," said I-Gos. "The quarters of his +women O-Tar guards with jealous hand. Here are his most trusted +slaves and warriors, yet even so, thick among them are countless +spies, so that no man knows which be which. No shadow falls +within those chambers that is not marked by a hundred eyes." + +Gahan stood gazing at the lighted windows of the high tower in +the upper chambers of which Tara of Helium was confined. "I will +find a way, I-Gos," he said. + +"There is no way," replied the old man. + +For some time they stood upon the roof beneath the brilliant +stars and hurtling moons of dying Mars, laying their plans +against the time that Tara of Helium should be brought from the +high tower to the throne room of O-Tar. It was then, and then +alone, argued I-Gos, that any hope of rescuing her might be +entertained. Just how far he might trust the other Gahan did not +know, and so he kept to himself the knowledge of the plan that he +had forwarded to Floran and Val Dor by Ghek, but he assured the +ancient taxidermist that if he were sincere in his oft-repeated +declaration that O-Tar should be denounced and superseded he +would have his opportunity on the night that the jeddak sought to +wed the Heliumetic princess. + +"Your time shall come then, I-Gos," Gahan assured the other, "and +if you have any party that thinks as you do, prepare them for the +eventuality that will succeed O-Tar's presumptuous attempt to wed +the daughter of The Warlord. Where shall I see you again, and +when? I go now to speak with Tara, Princess of Helium." + +"I like your boldness," said I-Gos; "but it will avail you +naught. You will not speak with Tara, Princess of Helium, though +doubtless the blood of many Manatorians will drench the floors of +the women's quarters before you are slain." + +Gahan smiled. "I shall not be slain. Where and when shall we +meet? But you may find me in O-Mai's chamber at night. That seems +the safest retreat in all Manator for an enemy of the jeddak in +whose palace it lies. I go!" + +"And may the spirits of your ancestors surround you," said I-Gos. + +After the old man had left him Gahan made his way across the roof +to the high tower, which appeared to have been constructed of +concrete and afterward elaborately carved, its entire surface +being covered with intricate designs cut deep into the stone-like +material of which it was composed. Though wrought ages since, it +was but little weather-worn owing to the aridity of the Martian +atmosphere, the infrequency of rains, and the rarity of dust +storms. To scale it, though, presented difficulties and danger +that might have deterred the bravest of men--that would, +doubtless, have deterred Gahan, had he not felt that the life of +the woman he loved depended upon his accomplishing the hazardous +feat. + +Removing his sandals and laying aside all of his harness and +weapons other than a single belt supporting a dagger, the +Gatholian essayed the dangerous ascent. Clinging to the carvings +with hands and feet he worked himself slowly aloft, avoiding the +windows and keeping upon the shadowy side of the tower, away from +the light of Thuria and Cluros. The tower rose some fifty feet +above the roof of the adjacent part of the palace, comprising +five levels or floors with windows looking in every direction. A +few of the windows were balconied, and these more than the others +he sought to avoid, although, it being now near the close of the +ninth zode, there was little likelihood that many were awake +within the tower. + +His progress was noiseless and he came at last, undetected, to +the windows of the upper level. These, like several of the others +he had passed at lower levels, were heavily barred, so that there +was no possibility of his gaining ingress to the apartment where +Tara was confined. Darkness hid the interior behind the first +window that he approached. The second opened upon a lighted +chamber where he could see a guard sleeping at his post outside a +door. Here also was the top of the runway leading to the next +level below. Passing still farther around the tower Gahan +approached another window, but now he clung to that side of the +tower which ended in a courtyard a hundred feet below and in a +short time the light of Thuria would reach him. He realized that +he must hasten and he prayed that behind the window he now +approached he would find Tara of Helium. + +Coming to the opening he looked in upon a small chamber dimly +lighted. In the center was a sleeping dais upon which a human +form lay beneath silks and furs. A bare arm, protruding from the +coverings, lay exposed against a black and yellow striped orluk +skin--an arm of wondrous beauty about which was clasped an armlet +that Gahan knew. No other creature was visible within the +chamber, all of which was exposed to Gahan's view. Pressing his +face to the bars the Gatholian whispered her dear name. The girl +stirred, but did not awaken. Again he called, but this time +louder. Tara sat up and looked about and at the same instant a +huge eunuch leaped to his feet from where he had been lying on +the floor close by that side of the dais farthest from Gahan. +Simultaneously the brilliant light of Thuria flashed full upon +the window where Gahan clung silhouetting him plainly to the two +within. + +Both sprang to their feet. The eunuch drew his sword and leaped +for the window where the helpless Gahan would have fallen an easy +victim to a single thrust of the murderous weapon the fellow +bore, had not Tara of Helium leaped upon her guard dragging him +back. At the same time she drew the slim dagger from its hiding +place in her harness and even as the eunuch sought to hurl her +aside its keen point found his heart. Without a sound he died and +lunged forward to the floor. Then Tara ran to the window. + +"Turan, my chief!" she cried. "What awful risk is this you take +to seek me here, where even your brave heart is powerless to aid +me." + +"Be not so sure of that, heart of my heart," he replied. "While I +bring but words to my love, they be the forerunner of deeds, I +hope, that will give her back to me forever. I feared that you +might destroy yourself, Tara of Helium, to escape the dishonor +that O-Tar would do you, and so I came to give you new hope and +to beg that you live for me through whatever may transpire, in +the knowledge that there is yet a way and that if all goes well +we shall be freed at last. Look for me in the throne room of +O-Tar the night that he would wed you. And now, how may we +dispose of this fellow?" He pointed to the dead eunuch upon the +floor. + +"We need not concern ourselves about that," she replied. "None +dares harm me for fear of the wrath of O-Tar--otherwise I should +have been dead so soon as ever I entered this portion of the +palace, for the women hate me. O-Tar alone may punish me, and +what cares O-Tar for the life of a eunuch? No, fear not upon this +score." + +Their hands were clasped between the bars and now Gahan drew her +nearer to him. + +"One kiss," he said, "before I go, my princess," and the proud +daughter of Dejah Thoris, Princess of Helium, and The Warlord of +Barsoom whispered: "My chieftain!" and pressed her lips to the +lips of Turan, the common panthan. + + + +CHAPTER XXII + +AT THE MOMENT OF MARRIAGE + +THE silence of the tomb lay heavy about him as O-Tar, Jeddak of +Manator, opened his eyes in the chamber of O-Mai. Recollection of +the frightful apparition that had confronted him swept to his +consciousness. He listened, but heard naught. Within the range of +his vision there was nothing apparent that might cause alarm. +Slowly he lifted his head and looked about. Upon the floor beside +the couch lay the thing that had at first attracted his attention +and his eyes closed in terror as he recognized it for what it +was; but it moved not, nor spoke. O-Tar opened his eyes again and +rose to his feet. He was trembling in every limb. There was +nothing on the dais from which he had seen the thing arise. + +O-Tar backed slowly from the room. At last he gained the outer +corridor. It was empty. He did not know that it had emptied +rapidly as the loud scream with which his own had mingled had +broken upon the startled ears of the warriors who had been sent +to spy upon him. He looked at the timepiece set in a massive +bracelet upon his left forearm. The ninth zode was nearly half +gone. O-Tar had lain for an hour unconscious. He had spent an +hour in the chamber of O-Mai and he was not dead! He had looked +upon the face of his predecessor and was still sane! He shook +himself and smiled. Rapidly he subdued his rebelliously shaking +nerves, so that by the time he reached the tenanted portion of +the palace he had gained control of himself. He walked with chin +high and something of a swagger. To the banquet hall he went, +knowing that his chiefs awaited him there and as he entered they +arose and upon the faces of many were incredulity and amaze, for +they had not thought to see O-Tar the jeddak again after what the +spies had told them of the horrid sounds issuing from the chamber +of O-Mai. Thankful was O-Tar that he had gone alone to that +chamber of fright, for now no one could deny the tale that he +should tell. + +E-Thas rushed forward to greet him, for E-Thas had seen black +looks directed toward him as the tals slipped by and his +benefactor failed to return. + +"O brave and glorious jeddak!" cried the major-domo. "We rejoice +at your safe return and beg of you the story of your adventure." + +"It was naught," exclaimed O-Tar. "I searched the chambers +carefully and waited in hiding for the return of the slave, +Turan, if he were temporarily away; but he came not. He is not +there and I doubt if he ever goes there. Few men would choose to +remain long in such a dismal place." + +"You were not attacked?" asked E-Thas. "You heard no screams, nor +moans?" + +"I heard hideous noises and saw phantom figures; but they fled +before me so that never could I lay hold of one, and I looked +upon the face of O-Mai and I am not mad. I even rested in the +chamber beside his corpse." + +In a far corner of the room a bent and wrinkled old man hid a +smile behind a golden goblet of strong brew. + +"Come! Let us drink!" cried O-Tar and reached for the dagger, the +pommel of which he was accustomed to use to strike the gong which +summoned slaves, but the dagger was not in its scabbard. O-Tar +was puzzled. He knew that it had been there just before he +entered the chamber of O-Mai, for he had carefully felt of all +his weapons to make sure that none was missing. He seized instead +a table utensil and struck the gong, and when the slaves came +bade them bring the strongest brew for O-Tar and his chiefs. +Before the dawn broke many were the expressions of admiration +bellowed from drunken lips--admiration for the courage of their +jeddak; but some there were who still looked glum. + + +Came at last the day that O-Tar would take the Princess Tara of +Helium to wife. For hours slaves prepared the unwilling bride. +Seven perfumed baths occupied three long and weary hours, then +her whole body was anointed with the oil of pimalia blossoms and +massaged by the deft fingers of a slave from distant Dusar. Her +harness, all new and wrought for the occasion was of the white +hide of the great white apes of Barsoom, hung heavily with +platinum and diamonds--fairly encrusted with them. The glossy +mass of her jet hair had been built into a coiffure of stately +and becoming grandeur, into which diamond-headed pins were stuck +until the whole scintillated as the stars in heaven upon a +moonless night. + +But it was a sullen and defiant bride that they led from the high +tower toward the throne room of O-Tar. The corridors were filled +with slaves and warriors, and the women of the palace and the +city who had been commanded to attend the ceremony. All the power +and pride, wealth and beauty of Manator were there. + +Slowly Tara, surrounded by a heavy guard of honor, moved along +the marble corridors filled with people. At the entrance to The +Hall of Chiefs E-Thas, the major-domo, received her. The Hall was +empty except for its ranks of dead chieftains upon their dead +mounts. Through this long chamber E-Thas escorted her to the +throne room which also was empty, the marriage ceremony in +Manator differing from that of other countries of Barsoom. Here +the bride would await the groom at the foot of the steps leading +to the throne. The guests followed her in and took their places, +leaving the central aisle from The Hall of Chiefs to the throne +clear, for up this O-Tar would approach his bride alone after a +short solitary communion with the dead behind closed doors in The +Hall of Chiefs. It was the custom. + +The guests had all filed through The Hall of Chiefs; the doors at +both ends had been closed. Presently those at the lower end of +the hall opened and O-Tar entered. His black harness was +ornamented with rubies and gold; his face was covered by a +grotesque mask of the precious metal in which two enormous rubies +were set for eyes, though below them were narrow slits through +which the wearer could see. His crown was a fillet supporting +carved feathers of the same metal as the mask. To the least +detail his regalia was that demanded of a royal bridegroom by the +customs of Manator, and now in accordance with that same custom +he came alone to The Hall of Chiefs to receive the blessings and +the council of the great ones of Manator who had preceded him. + +As the doors at the lower end of the Hall closed behind him O-Tar +the Jeddak stood alone with the great dead. By the dictates of +ages no mortal eye might look upon the scene enacted within that +sacred chamber. As the mighty of Manator respected the traditions +of Manator, let us, too, respect those traditions of a proud and +sensitive people. Of what concern to us the happenings in that +solemn chamber of the dead? + +Five minutes passed. The bride stood silently at the foot of the +throne. The guests spoke together in low whispers until the room +was filled with the hum of many voices. At length the doors +leading into The Hall of Chiefs swung open, and the resplendent +bridegroom stood framed for a moment in the massive opening. A +hush fell upon the wedding guests. With measured and impressive +step the groom approached the bride. Tara felt the muscles of her +heart contract with the apprehension that had been growing upon +her as the coils of Fate settled more closely about her and no +sign came from Turan. Where was he? What, indeed, could he +accomplish now to save her? Surrounded by the power of O-Tar with +never a friend among them, her position seemed at last without +vestige of hope. + +"I still live!" she whispered inwardly in a last brave attempt to +combat the terrible hopelessness that was overwhelming her, but +her fingers stole for reassurance to the slim blade that she had +managed to transfer, undetected, from her old harness to the new. +And now the groom was at her side and taking her hand was leading +her up the steps to the throne, before which they halted and +stood facing the gathering below. Came then, from the back of the +room a procession headed by the high dignitary whose office it +was to make these two man and wife, and directly behind him a +richly-clad youth bearing a silken pillow on which lay the golden +handcuffs connected by a short length of chain-of-gold with which +the ceremony would be concluded when the dignitary clasped a +handcuff about the wrist of each symbolizing their indissoluble +union in the holy bonds of wedlock. + +Would Turan's promised succor come too late? Tara listened to the +long, monotonous intonation of the wedding service. She heard the +virtues of O-Tar extolled and the beauties of the bride. The +moment was approaching and still no sign of Turan. But what could +he accomplish should he succeed in reaching the throne room, +other than to die with her? There could be no hope of rescue. + +The dignitary lifted the golden handcuffs from the pillow upon +which they reposed. He blessed them and reached for Tara's wrist. +The time had come! The thing could go no further, for alive or +dead, by all the laws of Barsoom she would be the wife of O-Tar +of Manator the instant the two were locked together. Even should +rescue come then or later she could never dissolve those bonds +and Turan would be lost to her as surely as though death +separated them. + +Her hand stole toward the hidden blade, but instantly the hand of +the groom shot out and seized her wrist. He had guessed her +intention. Through the slits in the grotesque mask she could see +his eyes upon her and she guessed the sardonic smile that the +mask hid. For a tense moment the two stood thus. The people below +them kept breathless silence for the play before the throne had +not passed un-noticed. + +Dramatic as was the moment it was suddenly rendered trebly so by +the noisy opening of the doors leading to The Hall of Chiefs. All +eyes turned in the direction of the interruption to see another +figure framed in the massive opening--a half-clad figure buckling +the half-adjusted harness hurriedly in place--the figure of +O-Tar, Jeddak of Manator. + +"Stop!" he screamed, springing forward along the aisle toward the +throne. "Seize the impostor!" + +All eyes shot to the figure of the groom before the throne. They +saw him raise his hand and snatch off the golden mask, and Tara +of Helium in wide-eyed incredulity looked up into the face of +Turan the panthan. + +"Turan the slave," they cried then. "Death to him! Death to him!" + +"Wait!" shouted Turan, drawing his sword, as a dozen warriors +leaped forward. + +"Wait!" screamed another voice, old and cracked, as I-Gos, the +ancient taxidermist, sprang from among the guests and reached the +throne steps ahead of the foremost warriors. + +At sight of the old man the warriors paused, for age is held in +great veneration among the peoples of Barsoom, as is true, +perhaps, of all peoples whose religion is based to any extent +upon ancestor worship. But O-Tar gave no heed to him, leaping +instead swiftly toward the throne. "Stop, coward!" cried I-Gos. + +The people looked at the little old man in amazement. "Men of +Manator," he cackled in his thin, shrill voice, "wouldst be ruled +by a coward and a liar?" + +"Down with him!" shouted O-Tar. + +"Not until I have spoken," retorted I-Gos. "It is my right. If I +fail my life is forfeit--that you all know and I know. I demand +therefore to be heard. It is my right!" + +"It is his right," echoed the voices of a score of warriors in +various parts of the chamber. + +"That O-Tar is a coward and a liar I can prove," continued I-Gos. +"He said that he faced bravely the horrors of the chamber of +O-Mai and saw nothing of the slave Turan. I was there, hiding +behind the hangings, and I saw all that transpired. Turan had +been hiding in the chamber and was even then lying upon the couch +of O-Mai when O-Tar, trembling with fear, entered the room. +Turan, disturbed, arose to a sitting position at the same time +voicing a piercing shriek. O-Tar screamed and swooned." + +"It is a lie!" cried O-Tar. + +"It is not a lie and I can prove it," retorted I-Gos. "Didst +notice the night that he returned from the chambers of O-Mai and +was boasting of his exploit, that when he would summon slaves to +bring wine he reached for his dagger to strike the gong with its +pommel as is always his custom? Didst note that, any of you? And +that he had no dagger? O-Tar, where is the dagger that you +carried into the chamber of O-Mai? You do not know; but I know. +While you lay in the swoon of terror I took it from your harness +and hid it among the sleeping silks upon the couch of O-Mai. +There it is even now, and if any doubt it let them go thither and +there they will find it and know the cowardice of their jeddak." + +"But what of this impostor?" demanded one. "Shall he stand with +impunity upon the throne of Manator whilst we squabble about our +ruler?" + +"It is through his bravery that you have learned the cowardice of +O-Tar," replied I-Gos, "and through him you will be given a +greater jeddak." + +"We will choose our own jeddak. Seize and slay the slave!" There +were cries of approval from all parts of the room. Gahan was +listening intently, as though for some hoped-for sound. He saw +the warriors approaching the dais, where he now stood with drawn +sword and with one arm about Tara of Helium. He wondered if his +plans had miscarried after all. If they had it would mean death +for him, and he knew that Tara would take her life if he fell. +Had he, then, served her so futilely after all his efforts? + +Several warriors were urging the necessity for sending at once to +the chamber of O-Mai to search for the dagger that would prove, +if found, the cowardice of O-Tar. At last three consented to go. +"You need not fear," I-Gos assured them. "There is naught there +to harm you. I have been there often of late and Turan the slave +has slept there for these many nights. The screams and moans that +frightened you and O-Tar were voiced by Turan to drive you away +from his hiding place." Shamefacedly the three left the apartment +to search for O-Tar's dagger. + +And now the others turned their attention once more to Gahan. +They approached the throne with bared swords, but they came +slowly for they had seen this slave upon the Field of Jetan and +they knew the prowess of his arm. They had reached the foot of +the steps when from far above there sounded a deep boom, and +another, and another, and Turan smiled and breathed a sigh of +relief. Perhaps, after all, it had not come too late. The +warriors stopped and listened as did the others in the chamber. +Now there broke upon their ears a loud rattle of musketry and it +all came from above as though men were fighting upon the roofs of +the palace. + +"What is it?" they demanded, one of the other. + +"A great storm has broken over Manator," said one. + +"Mind not the storm until you have slain the creature who dares +stand upon the throne of your jeddak," demanded O-Tar. "Seize +him!" + +Even as he ceased speaking the arras behind the throne parted and +a warrior stepped forth upon the dais. An exclamation of surprise +and dismay broke from the lips of the warriors of O-Tar. +"U-Thor!" they cried. "What treason is this?" + +"It is no treason," said U-Thor in his deep voice. "I bring you a +new jeddak for all of Manator. No lying poltroon, but a +courageous man whom you all love." + +He stepped aside then and another emerged from the corridor +hidden by the arras. It was A-Kor, and at sight of him there rose +exclamations of surprise, of pleasure, and of anger, as the +various factions recognized the coup d'etat that had been +arranged so cunningly. Behind A-Kor came other warriors until the +dais was crowded with them--all men of Manator from the city of +Manatos. + +O-Tar was exhorting his warriors to attack, when a bloody and +disheveled padwar burst into the chamber through a side entrance. +"The city has fallen!" he cried aloud. "The hordes of Manatos +pour through The Gate of Enemies. The slaves from Gathol have +arisen and destroyed the palace guards. Great ships are landing +warriors upon the palace roof and in the Fields of Jetan. The men +of Helium and Gathol are marching through Manator. They cry aloud +for the Princess of Helium and swear to leave Manator a blazing +funeral pyre consuming the bodies of all our people. The skies +are black with ships. They come in great processions from the +east and from the south." + +And then once more the doors from The Hall of Chiefs swung wide +and the men of Manator turned to see another figure standing upon +the threshold--a mighty figure of a man with white skin, and +black hair, and gray eyes that glittered now like points of steel +and behind him The Hall of Chiefs was filled with fighting men +wearing the harness of far countries. Tara of Helium saw him and +her heart leaped in exultation, for it was John Carter, Warlord +of Barsoom, come at the head of a victorious host to the rescue +of his daughter, and at his side was Djor Kantos to whom she had +been betrothed. + +The Warlord eyed the assemblage for a moment before he spoke. +"Lay down your arms, men of Manator," he said. "I see my daughter +and that she lives, and if no harm has befallen her no blood need +be shed. Your city is filled with the fighting men of U-Thor, and +those from Gathol and from Helium. The palace is in the hands of +the slaves from Gathol, beside a thousand of my own warriors who +fill the halls and chambers surrounding this room. The fate of +your jeddak lies in your own hands. I have no wish to interfere. +I come only for my daughter and to free the slaves from Gathol. I +have spoken!" and without waiting for a reply and as though the +room had been filled with his own people rather than a hostile +band he strode up the broad main aisle toward Tara of Helium. + +The chiefs of Manator were stunned. They looked to O-Tar; but he +could only gaze helplessly about him as the enemy entered from +The Hall of Chiefs and circled the throne room until they had +surrounded the entire company. And then a dwar of the army of +Helium entered. + +"We have captured three chiefs," he reported to The Warlord, "who +beg that they be permitted to enter the throne room and report to +their fellows some matter which they say will decide the fate of +Manator." + +"Fetch them," ordered The Warlord. + +They came, heavily guarded, to the foot of the steps leading to +the throne and there they stopped and the leader turned toward +the others of Manator and raising high his right hand displayed a +jeweled dagger. "We found it," he said, "even where I-Gos said +that we would find it," and he looked menacingly upon O-Tar. + +"A-Kor, jeddak of Manator!" cried a voice, and the cry was taken +up by a hundred hoarse-throated warriors. + +"There can be but one jeddak in Manator," said the chief who held +the dagger; his eyes still fixed upon the hapless O-Tar he +crossed to where the latter stood and holding the dagger upon an +outstretched palm proffered it to the discredited ruler. "There +can be but one jeddak in Manator," he repeated meaningly. + +O-Tar took the proffered blade and drawing himself to his full +height plunged it to the guard into his breast, in that single +act redeeming himself in the esteem of his people and winning an +eternal place in The Hall of Chiefs. + +As he fell all was silence in the great room, to be broken +presently by the voice of U-Thor. "O-Tar is dead!" he cried. "Let +A-Kor rule until the chiefs of all Manator may be summoned to +choose a new jeddak. What is your answer?" + +"Let A-Kor rule! A-Kor, Jeddak of Manator!" The cries filled the +room and there was no dissenting voice. + +A-Kor raised his sword for silence. "It is the will of A-Kor," he +said, "and that of the Great Jed of Manatos, and the commander of +the fleet from Gathol, and of the illustrious John Carter, +Warlord of Barsoom, that peace lie upon the city of Manator and +so I decree that the men of Manator go forth and welcome the +fighting men of these our allies as guests and friends and show +them the wonders of our ancient city and the hospitality of +Manator. I have spoken." And U-Thor and John Carter dismissed +their warriors and bade them accept the hospitality of Manator. +As the room emptied Djor Kantos reached the side of Tara of +Helium. The girl's happiness at rescue had been blighted by sight +of this man whom her virtuous heart told her she had wronged. She +dreaded the ordeal that lay before her and the dishonor that she +must admit before she could hope to be freed from the +understanding that had for long existed between them. And now +Djor Kantos approached and kneeling raised her fingers to his +lips. + +"Beautiful daughter of Helium," he said, "how may I tell you the +thing that I must tell you--of the dishonor that I have all +unwittingly done you? I can but throw myself upon your generosity +for forgiveness; but if you demand it I can receive the dagger as +honorably as did O-Tar." + +"What do you mean?" asked Tara of Helium. "What are you talking +about--why speak thus in riddles to one whose heart is already +breaking?" + +Her heart already breaking! The outlook was anything but +promising, and the young padwar wished that he had died before +ever he had had to speak the words he now must speak. + +"Tara of Helium," he continued, "we all thought you dead. For a +long year have you been gone from Helium. I mourned you truly and +then, less than a moon since, I wed with Olvia Marthis." He +stopped and looked at her with eyes that might have said: "Now, +strike me dead!" + +"Oh, foolish man!" cried Tara. "Nothing you could have done could +have pleased me more. Djor Kantos, I could kiss you!" + +"I do not think that Olvia Marthis would mind," he said, his face +now wreathed with smiles. As they spoke a body of men had entered +the throne room and approached the dais. They were tall men +trapped in plain harness, absolutely without ornamentation. Just +as their leader reached the dais Tara had turned to Gahan, +motioning him to join them. + +"Djor Kantos," she said, "I bring you Turan the panthan, whose +loyalty and bravery have won my love." + +John Carter and the leader of the new come warriors, who were +standing near, looked quickly at the little group. The former +smiled an inscrutable smile, the latter addressed the Princess of +Helium. "'Turan the panthan!'" he cried. "Know you not, fair +daughter of Helium, that this man you call panthan is Gahan, Jed +of Gathol?" + +For just a moment Tara of Helium looked her surprise; and then +she shrugged her beautiful shoulders as she turned her head to +cast her eyes over one of them at Gahan of Gathol. + +"Jed or panthan," she said; "what difference does it make what +one's slave has been?" and she laughed roguishly into the smiling +face of her lover. + + +His story finished, John Carter rose from the chair opposite me, +stretching his giant frame like some great forest-bred lion. + +"You must go?" I cried, for I hated to see him leave and it +seemed that he had been with me but a moment. + +"The sky is already red beyond those beautiful hills of yours," +he replied, "and it will soon be day." + +"Just one question before you go," I begged. + +"Well?" he assented, good-naturedly. + +"How was Gahan able to enter the throne room garbed in O-Tar's +trappings?" I asked. + +"It was simple--for Gahan of Gathol," replied The Warlord. "With +the assistance of I-Gos he crept into The Hall of Chiefs before +the ceremony, while the throne room and Hall of Chiefs were +vacated to receive the bride. He came from the pits through the +corridor that opened behind the arras at the rear of the throne, +and passing into The Hall of Chiefs took his place upon the back +of a riderless thoat, whose warrior was in I-Gos' repair room. +When O-Tar entered and came near him Gahan fell upon him and +struck him with the butt of a heavy spear. He thought that he had +killed him and was surprised when O-Tar appeared to denounce +him." + +"And Ghek? What became of Ghek?" I insisted. + +"After leading Val Dor and Floran to Tara's disabled flier which +they repaired, he accompanied them to Gathol from where a message +was sent to me in Helium. He then led a large party including +A-Kor and U-Thor from the roof, where our ships landed them, down +a spiral runway into the palace and guided them to the throne +room. We took him back to Helium with us, where he still lives, +with his single rykor which we found all but starved to death in +the pits of Manator. But come! No more questions now." + +I accompanied him to the east arcade where the red dawn was +glowing beyond the arches. + +"Good-bye!" he said. + +"I can scarce believe that it is really you," I exclaimed. +"Tomorrow I will be sure that I have dreamed all this." + + He laughed and drawing his sword scratched a rude cross upon the +concrete of one of the arches. + +"If you are in doubt tomorrow," he said, "come and see if you +dreamed this." + +A moment later he was gone. + + + + +JETAN, OR MARTIAN CHESS + +FOR those who care for such things, and would like to try the +game, I give the rules of Jetan as they were given me by John +Carter. By writing the names and moves of the various pieces on +bits of paper and pasting them on ordinary checkermen the game +may be played quite as well as with the ornate pieces used upon +Mars. + +THE BOARD: Square board consisting of one hundred alternate black +and orange squares. + +THE PIECES: In order, as they stand upon the board in the first +row, from left to right of each player. + +Warrior: 2 feathers; 2 spaces straight in any direction or +combination. + +Padwar: 2 feathers; 2 spaces diagonal in any direction or +combination. + +Dwar: 3 feathers; 3 spaces straight in any direction or +combination. + +Flier: 3 bladed propellor; 3 spaces diagonal in any direction or +combination; and may jump intervening pieces. + +Chief: Diadem with ten jewels; 3 spaces in any direction; +straight or diagonal or combination. + +Princess: Diadem with one jewel; same as Chief, except may jump +intervening pieces. + +Flier: See above. + +Dwar: See above. + +Padwar: See above. + +Warrior: See above. + +And in the second row from left to right: + +Thoat: Mounted warrior 2 feathers; 2 spaces, one straight and one +diagonal in any direction. + +Panthans: (8 of them): 1 feather; 1 space, forward, side, or +diagonal, but not backward. + +Thoat: See above. + +The game is played with twenty black pieces by one player and +twenty orange by his opponent, and is presumed to have originally +represented a battle between the Black race of the south and the +Yellow race of the north. On Mars the board is usually arranged +so that the Black pieces are played from the south and the Orange +from the north. + +The game is won when any piece is placed on same square with +opponent's Princess, or a Chief takes a Chief. + +The game is drawn when either Chief is taken by a piece other +than the opposing Chief, or when both sides are reduced to three +pieces, or less, of equal value and the game is not won in the +ensuing ten moves, five apiece. + +The Princess may not move onto a threatened square, nor may she +take an opposing piece. She is entitled to one ten-space move at +any time during the game. This move is called the escape. + +Two pieces may not occupy the same square except in the final +move of a game where the Princess is taken. + +When a player, moving properly and in order, places one of his +pieces upon a square occupied by an opponent piece, the opponent +piece is considered to have been killed and is removed from the +game. + +The moves explained. Straight moves mean due north, south, east, +or west; diagonal moves mean northeast, southeast, southwest, or +northwest. A Dwar might move straight north three spaces, or +north one space and east two spaces, or any similar combination +of straight moves, so long as he did not cross the same square +twice in a single move. This example explains combination moves. + +The first move may be decided in any way that is agreeable to +both players; after the first game the winner of the preceding +game moves first if he chooses, or may instruct his opponent to +make the first move. + +Gambling: The Martians gamble at Jetan in several ways. Of course +the outcome of the game indicates to whom the main stake belongs; +but they also put a price upon the head of each piece, according +to its value, and for each piece that a player loses he pays its +value to his opponent. + + + + + +End of The Project Gutenberg Etext of The Chessmen of Mars by Burroughs + diff --git a/old/old/cmars10.zip b/old/old/cmars10.zip Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..d09a9e9 --- /dev/null +++ b/old/old/cmars10.zip diff --git a/old/old/cmars11.txt b/old/old/cmars11.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..8f969da --- /dev/null +++ b/old/old/cmars11.txt @@ -0,0 +1,10157 @@ +The Project Gutenberg Etext of The Chessmen of Mars by Burroughs +#11 in our series by Edgar Rice Burroughs + +Copyright laws are changing all over the world, be sure to check +the copyright laws for your country before posting these files!! + +Please take a look at the important information in this header. +We encourage you to keep this file on your own disk, keeping an +electronic path open for the next readers. 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FOR PUBLIC DOMAIN ETEXTS*Ver.04.29.93*END* + + + + + +This etext was prepared by Judy Boss, Omaha, NE + + + + + +THE CHESSMEN OF MARS + +by Edgar Rice Burroughs + + + +CONTENTS + +PRELUDE - John Carter Comes to Earth + I Tara in a Tantrum + II At the Gale's Mercy + III The Headless Humans + IV Captured + V The Perfect Brain + VI In the Toils of Horror + VII A Repellent Sight +VIII Close Work + IX Adrift Over Strange Regions + X Entrapped + XI The Choice of Tara + XII Ghek Plays Pranks +XIII A Desperate Deed + XIV At Ghek's Command + XV The Old Man of the Pits + XVI Another Change of Name +XVII A Play to the Death +XVIII A Task for Loyalty + XIX The Menace of the Dead + XX The Charge of Cowardice + XXI A Risk for Love +XXII At the Moment of Marriage + + + + + +THE CHESSMEN OF MARS + +PRELUDE + +JOHN CARTER COMES TO EARTH + +SHEA had just beaten me at chess, as usual, and, also as usual, I +had gleaned what questionable satisfaction I might by twitting +him with this indication of failing mentality by calling his +attention to the nth time to that theory, propounded by certain +scientists, which is based upon the assertion that phenomenal +chess players are always found to be from the ranks of children +under twelve, adults over seventy-two or the mentally +defective--a theory that is lightly ignored upon those rare +occasions that I win. Shea had gone to bed and I should have +followed suit, for we are always in the saddle here before +sunrise; but instead I sat there before the chess table in the +library, idly blowing smoke at the dishonored head of my defeated +king. + +While thus profitably employed I heard the east door of the +living-room open and someone enter. I thought it was Shea +returning to speak with me on some matter of tomorrow's work; but +when I raised my eyes to the doorway that connects the two rooms +I saw framed there the figure of a bronzed giant, his otherwise +naked body trapped with a jewel-encrusted harness from which +there hung at one side an ornate short-sword and at the other a +pistol of strange pattern. The black hair, the steel-gray eyes, +brave and smiling, the noble features--I recognized them at once, +and leaping to my feet I advanced with outstretched hand. + +"John Carter!" I cried. "You?" + +"None other, my son," he replied, taking my hand in one of his +and placing the other upon my shoulder. + +"And what are you doing here?" I asked. "It has been long years +since you revisited Earth, and never before in the trappings of +Mars. Lord! but it is good to see you--and not a day older in +appearance than when you trotted me on your knee in my babyhood. +How do you explain it, John Carter, Warlord of Mars, or do you +try to explain it?" + +"Why attempt to explain the inexplicable?" he replied. "As I have +told you before, I am a very old man. I do not know how old I am. +I recall no childhood; but recollect only having been always as +you see me now and as you saw me first when you were five years +old. You, yourself, have aged, though not as much as most men in +a corresponding number of years, which may be accounted for by +the fact that the same blood runs in our veins; but I have not +aged at all. I have discussed the question with a noted Martian +scientist, a friend of mine; but his theories are still only +theories. However, I am content with the fact--I never age, and I +love life and the vigor of youth. + +"And now as to your natural question as to what brings me to +Earth again and in this, to earthly eyes, strange habiliment. We +may thank Kar Komak, the bowman of Lothar. It was he who gave me +the idea upon which I have been experimenting until at last I +have achieved success. As you know I have long possessed the +power to cross the void in spirit, but never before have I been +able to impart to inanimate things a similar power. Now, however, +you see me for the first time precisely as my Martian fellows see +me--you see the very short-sword that has tasted the blood of +many a savage foeman; the harness with the devices of Helium and +the insignia of my rank; the pistol that was presented to me by +Tars Tarkas, Jeddak of Thark. + +"Aside from seeing you, which is my principal reason for being +here, and satisfying myself that I can transport inanimate things +from Mars to Earth, and therefore animate things if I so desire, +I have no purpose. Earth is not for me. My every interest is upon +Barsoom--my wife, my children, my work; all are there. I will +spend a quiet evening with you and then back to the world I love +even better than I love life." + +As he spoke he dropped into the chair upon the opposite side of +the chess table. + +"You spoke of children," I said. "Have you more than Carthoris?" + +"A daughter," he replied, "only a little younger than Carthoris, +and, barring one, the fairest thing that ever breathed the thin +air of dying Mars. Only Dejah Thoris, her mother, could be more +beautiful than Tara of Helium." + +For a moment he fingered the chessmen idly. "We have a game on +Mars similar to chess," he said, "very similar. + +And there is a race there that plays it grimly with men and naked +swords. We call the game jetan. It is played on a board like +yours, except that there are a hundred squares and we use twenty +pieces on each side. I never see it played without thinking of +Tara of Helium and what befell her among the chessmen of Barsoom. +Would you like to hear her story?" + +I said that I would and so he told it to me, and now I shall try +to re-tell it for you as nearly in the words of The Warlord of +Mars as I can recall them, but in the third person. If there be +inconsistencies and errors, let the blame fall not upon John +Carter, but rather upon my faulty memory, where it belongs. It is +a strange tale and utterly Barsoomian. + + + +CHAPTER I + +TARA IN A TANTRUM + +TARA of Helium rose from the pile of silks and soft furs upon +which she had been reclining, stretched her lithe body languidly, +and crossed toward the center of the room, where, above a large +table, a bronze disc depended from the low ceiling. Her carriage +was that of health and physical perfection--the effortless +harmony of faultless coordination. A scarf of silken gossamer +crossing over one shoulder was wrapped about her body; her black +hair was piled high upon her head. With a wooden stick she tapped +upon the bronze disc, lightly, and presently the summons was +answered by a slave girl, who entered, smiling, to be greeted +similarly by her mistress. + +"Are my father's guests arriving?" asked the princess. + +"Yes, Tara of Helium, they come," replied the slave. "I have seen +Kantos Kan, Overlord of the Navy, and Prince Soran of Ptarth, and +Djor Kantos, son of Kantos Kan," she shot a roguish glance at her +mistress as she mentioned Djor Kantos' name, "and--oh, there were +others, many have come." + +"The bath, then, Uthia," said her mistress. "And why, Uthia," she +added, "do you look thus and smile when you mention the name of +Djor Kantos?" + +The slave girl laughed gaily. "It is so plain to all that he +worships you," she replied. + +"It is not plain to me," said Tara of Helium. "He is the friend +of my brother, Carthoris, and so he is here much; but not to see +me. It is his friendship for Carthoris that brings him thus often +to the palace of my father." + +"But Carthoris is hunting in the north with Talu, Jeddak of +Okar," Uthia reminded her. + +"My bath, Uthia!" cried Tara of Helium. "That tongue of yours +will bring you to some misadventure yet." + +"The bath is ready, Tara of Helium," the girl responded, her eyes +still twinkling with merriment, for she well knew that in the +heart of her mistress was no anger that could displace the love +of the princess for her slave. Preceding the daughter of The +Warlord she opened the door of an adjoining room where lay the +bath--a gleaming pool of scented water in a marble basin. Golden +stanchions supported a chain of gold encircling it and leading +down into the water on either side of marble steps. A glass dome +let in the sun-light, which flooded the interior, glancing from +the polished white of the marble walls and the procession of +bathers and fishes, which, in conventional design, were inlaid +with gold in a broad band that circled the room. + +Tara of Helium removed the scarf from about her and handed it to +the slave. Slowly she descended the steps to the water, the +temperature of which she tested with a symmetrical foot, +undeformed by tight shoes and high heels--a lovely foot, as God +intended that feet should be and seldom are. Finding the water to +her liking, the girl swam leisurely to and fro about the pool. +With the silken ease of the seal she swam, now at the surface, +now below, her smooth muscles rolling softly beneath her clear +skin--a wordless song of health and happiness and grace. +Presently she emerged and gave herself into the hands of the +slave girl, who rubbed the body of her mistress with a sweet +smelling semi-liquid substance contained in a golden urn, until +the glowing skin was covered with a foamy lather, then a quick +plunge into the pool, a drying with soft towels, and the bath was +over. Typical of the life of the princess was the simple elegance +of her bath--no retinue of useless slaves, no pomp, no idle waste +of precious moments. In another half hour her hair was dried and +built into the strange, but becoming, coiffure of her station; +her leathern trappings, encrusted with gold and jewels, had been +adjusted to her figure and she was ready to mingle with the +guests that had been bidden to the midday function at the palace +of The Warlord. + +As she left her apartments to make her way to the gardens where +the guests were congregating, two warriors, the insignia of the +House of the Prince of Helium upon their harness, followed a few +paces behind her, grim reminders that the assassin's blade may +never be ignored upon Barsoom, where, in a measure, it +counterbalances the great natural span of human life, which is +estimated at not less than a thousand years. + +As they neared the entrance to the garden another woman, +similarly guarded, approached them from another quarter of the +great palace. As she neared them Tara of Helium turned toward her +with a smile and a happy greeting, while her guards knelt with +bowed heads in willing and voluntary adoration of the beloved of +Helium. Thus always, solely at the command of their own hearts, +did the warriors of Helium greet Dejah Thoris, whose deathless +beauty had more than once brought them to bloody warfare with +other nations of Barsoom. So great was the love of the people of +Helium for the mate of John Carter it amounted practically to +worship, as though she were indeed the goddess that she looked. + +The mother and daughter exhanged the gentle, Barsoomian, "kaor" +of greeting and kissed. Then together they entered the gardens +where the guests were. A huge warrior drew his short-sword and +struck his metal shield with the flat of it, the brazen sound +ringing out above the laughter and the speech. + +"The Princess comes!" he cried. "Dejah Thoris! The Princess +comes! Tara of Helium!" Thus always is royalty announced. The +guests arose; the two women inclined their heads; the guards fell +back upon either side of the entrance-way; a number of nobles +advanced to pay their respects; the laughing and the talking were +resumed and Dejah Thoris and her daughter moved simply and +naturally among their guests, no suggestion of differing rank +apparent in the bearing of any who were there, though there was +more than a single Jeddak and many common warriors whose only +title lay in brave deeds, or noble patriotism. Thus it is upon +Mars where men are judged upon their own merits rather than upon +those of their grandsires, even though pride of lineage be great. + +Tara of Helium let her slow gaze wander among the throng of +guests until presently it halted upon one she sought. Was the +faint shadow of a frown that crossed her brow an indication of +displeasure at the sight that met her eyes, or did the brilliant +rays of the noonday sun distress her? Who may say! She had been +reared to believe that one day she should wed Djor Kantos, son of +her father's best friend. It had been the dearest wish of Kantos +Kan and The Warlord that this should be, and Tara of Helium had +accepted it as a matter of all but accomplished fact. Djor Kantos +had seemed to accept the matter in the same way. They had spoken +of it casually as something that would, as a matter of course, +take place in the indefinite future, as, for instance, his +promotion in the navy, in which he was now a padwar; or the set +functions of the court of her grandfather, Tardos Mors, Jeddak of +Helium; or Death. They had never spoken of love and that had +puzzled Tara of Helium upon the rare occasions she gave it +thought, for she knew that people who were to wed were usually +much occupied with the matter of love and she had all of a +woman's curiosity--she wondered what love was like. She was very +fond of Djor Kantos and she knew that he was very fond of her. +They liked to be together, for they liked the same things and the +same people and the same books and their dancing was a joy, not +only to themselves but to those who watched them. She could not +imagine wanting to marry anyone other than Djor Kantos. + +So perhaps it was only the sun that made her brows contract just +the tiniest bit at the same instant that she discovered Djor +Kantos sitting in earnest conversation with Olvia Marthis, +daughter of the Jed of Hastor. It was Djor Kantos' duty +immediately to pay his respects to Dejah Thoris and Tara of +Helium; but he did not do so and presently the daughter of The +Warlord frowned indeed. She looked long at Olvia Marthis, and +though she had seen her many times before and knew her well, she +looked at her today through new eyes that saw, apparently for the +first time, that the girl from Hastor was noticeably beautiful +even among those other beautiful women of Helium. Tara of Helium +was disturbed. She attempted to analyze her emotions; but found +it difficult. Olvia Marthis was her friend--she was very fond of +her and she felt no anger toward her. Was she angry with Djor +Kantos? No, she finally decided that she was not. It was merely +surprise, then, that she felt--surprise that Djor Kantos could be +more interested in another than in herself. She was about to +cross the garden and join them when she heard her father's voice +directly behind her. + +"Tara of Helium!" he called, and she turned to see him +approaching with a strange warrior whose harness and metal bore +devices with which she was unfamiliar. Even among the gorgeous +trappings of the men of Helium and the visitors from distant +empires those of the stranger were remarkable for their barbaric +splendor. The leather of his harness was completely hidden +beneath ornaments of platinum thickly set with brilliant +diamonds, as were the scabbards of his swords and the ornate +holster that held his long, Martian pistol. Moving through the +sunlit garden at the side of the great Warlord, the scintillant +rays of his countless gems enveloping him as in an aureole of +light imparted to his noble figure a suggestion of godliness. + +"Tara of Helium, I bring you Gahan, Jed of Gathol," said John +Carter, after the simple Barsoomian custom of presentation. + +"Kaor! Gahan, Jed of Gathol," returned Tara of Helium. + +"My sword is at your feet, Tara of Helium," said the young +chieftain. + +The Warlord left them and the two seated themselves upon an +ersite bench beneath a spreading sorapus tree. + +"Far Gathol," mused the girl. "Ever in my mind has it been +connected with mystery and romance and the half-forgotten lore of +the ancients. I cannot think of Gathol as existing today, +possibly because I have never before seen a Gatholian." + +"And perhaps too because of the great distance that separates +Helium and Gathol, as well as the comparative insignificance of +my little free city, which might easily be lost in one corner of +mighty Helium," added Gahan. "But what we lack in power we make +up in pride," he continued, laughing. "We believe ours the oldest +inhabited city upon Barsoom. It is one of the few that has +retained its freedom, and this despite the fact that its ancient +diamond mines are the richest known and, unlike practically all +the other fields, are today apparently as inexhaustible as ever." + +"Tell me of Gathol," urged the girl. "The very thought fills me +with interest," nor was it likely that the handsome face of the +young jed detracted anything from the glamour of far Gathol. + +Nor did Gahan seem displeased with the excuse for further +monopolizing the society of his fair companion. His eyes seemed +chained to her exquisite features, from which they moved no +further than to a rounded breast, part hid beneath its jeweled +covering, a naked shoulder or the symmetry of a perfect arm, +resplendent in bracelets of barbaric magnificence. + +"Your ancient history has doubtless told you that Gathol was +built upon an island in Throxeus, mightiest of the five oceans of +old Barsoom. As the ocean receded Gathol crept down the sides of +the mountain, the summit of which was the island upon which she +had been built, until today she covers the slopes from summit to +base, while the bowels of the great hill are honeycombed with the +galleries of her mines. Entirely surrounding us is a great salt +marsh, which protects us from invasion by land, while the rugged +and ofttimes vertical topography of our mountain renders the +landing of hostile airships a precarious undertaking." + +"That, and your brave warriors?" suggested the girl. + +Gahan smiled. "We do not speak of that except to enemies," he +said, "and then with tongues of steel rather than of flesh." + +"But what practice in the art of war has a people which nature +has thus protected from attack?" asked Tara of Helium, who had +liked the young jed's answer to her previous question, but yet in +whose mind persisted a vague conviction of the possible +effeminacy of her companion, induced, doubtless, by the +magnificence of his trappings and weapons which carried a +suggestion of splendid show rather than grim utility. + +"Our natural barriers, while they have doubtless saved us from +defeat on countless occasions, have not by any means rendered us +immune from attack," he explained, "for so great is the wealth of +Gathol's diamond treasury that there yet may be found those who +will risk almost certain defeat in an effort to loot our +unconquered city; so thus we find occasional practice in the +exercise of arms; but there is more to Gathol than the mountain +city. My country extends from Polodona (Equator) north ten karads +and from the tenth karad west of Horz to the twentieth west, +including thus a million square haads, the greater proportion of +which is fine grazing land where run our great herds of thoats +and zitidars. + +"Surrounded as we are by predatory enemies our herdsmen must +indeed be warriors or we should have no herds, and you may be +assured they get plenty of fighting. Then there is our constant +need of workers in the mines. The Gatholians consider themselves +a race of warriors and as such prefer not to labor in the mines. +The law is, however, that each male Gatholian shall give an hour +a day in labor to the government. That is practically the only +tax that is levied upon them. They prefer however, to furnish a +substitute to perform this labor, and as our own people will not +hire out for labor in the mines it has been necessary to obtain +slaves, and I do not need to tell you that slaves are not won +without fighting. We sell these slaves in the public market, the +proceeds going, half and half, to the government and the warriors +who bring them in. The purchasers are credited with the amount of +labor performed by their particular slaves. At the end of a year +a good slave will have performed the labor tax of his master for +six years, and if slaves are plentiful he is freed and permitted +to return to his own people." + +"You fight in platinum and diamonds?" asked Tara, indicating his +gorgeous trappings with a quizzical smile. + +Gahan laughed. "We are a vain people," he admitted, +good-naturedly, "and it is possible that we place too much value +on personal appearances. We vie with one another in the splendor +of our accoutrements when trapped for the observance of the +lighter duties of life, though when we take the field our leather +is the plainest I ever have seen worn by fighting men of Barsoom. +We pride ourselves, too, upon our physical beauty, and especially +upon the beauty of our women. May I dare to say, Tara of Helium, +that I am hoping for the day when you will visit Gathol that my +people may see one who is really beautiful?" + +"The women of Helium are taught to frown with displeasure upon +the tongue of the flatterer," rejoined the girl, but Gahan, Jed +of Gathol, observed that she smiled as she said it. + +A bugle sounded, clear and sweet, above the laughter and the +talk. "The Dance of Barsoom!" exclaimed the young warrior. "I +claim you for it, Tara of Helium." + +The girl glanced in the direction of the bench where she had last +seen Djor Kantos. He was not in sight. She inclined her head in +assent to the claim of the Gatholian. Slaves were passing among +the guests, distributing small musical instruments of a single +string. Upon each instrument were characters which indicated the +pitch and length of its tone. The instruments were of skeel, the +string of gut, and were shaped to fit the left forearm of the +dancer, to which it was strapped. There was also a ring wound +with gut which was worn between the first and second joints of +the index finger of the right hand and which, when passed over +the string of the instrument, elicited the single note required +of the dancer. + +The guests had risen and were slowly making their way toward the +expanse of scarlet sward at the south end of the gardens where +the dance was to be held, when Djor Kantos came hurriedly toward +Tara of Helium. "I claim--" he exclaimed as he neared her; but +she interrupted him with a gesture. + +"You are too late, Djor Kantos," she cried in mock anger. "No +laggard may claim Tara of Helium; but haste now lest thou lose +also Olvia Marthis, whom I have never seen wait long to be +claimed for this or any other dance." + +"I have already lost her," admitted Djor Kantos ruefully. + +"And you mean to say that you came for Tara of Helium only after +having lost Olvia Marthis?" demanded the girl, still simulating +displeasure. + +"Oh, Tara of Helium, you know better than that," insisted the +young man. "Was it not natural that I should assume that you +would expect me, who alone has claimed you for the Dance of +Barsoom for at least twelve times past?" + +"And sit and play with my thumbs until you saw fit to come for +me?" she questioned. "Ah, no, Djor Kantos; Tara of Helium is for +no laggard," and she threw him a sweet smile and passed on toward +the assembling dancers with Gahan, Jed of far Gathol. + +The Dance of Barsoom bears a relation similar to the more formal +dancing functions of Mars that The Grand March does to ours, +though it is infinitely more intricate and more beautiful. Before +a Martian youth of either sex may attend an important social +function where there is dancing, he must have become proficient +in at least three dances--The Dance of Barsoom, his national +dance, and the dance of his city. In these three dances the +dancers furnish their own music, which never varies; nor do the +steps or figures vary, having been handed down from time +immemorial. All Barsoomian dances are stately and beautiful, but +The Dance of Barsoom is a wondrous epic of motion and +harmony--there is no grotesque posturing, no vulgar or suggestive +movements. It has been described as the interpretation of the +highest ideals of a world that aspired to grace and beauty and +chastity in woman, and strength and dignity and loyalty in man. + +Today, John Carter, Warlord of Mars, with Dejah Thoris, his mate, +led in the dancing, and if there was another couple that vied +with them in possession of the silent admiration of the guests it +was the resplendent Jed of Gathol and his beautiful partner. In +the ever-changing figures of the dance the man found himself now +with the girl's hand in his and again with an arm about the lithe +body that the jeweled harness but inadequately covered, and the +girl, though she had danced a thousand dances in the past, +realized for the first time the personal contact of a man's arm +against her naked flesh. It troubled her that she should notice +it, and she looked up questioningly and almost with displeasure +at the man as though it was his fault. Their eyes met and she saw +in his that which she had never seen in the eyes of Djor Kantos. +It was at the very end of the dance and they both stopped +suddenly with the music and stood there looking straight into +each other's eyes. It was Gahan of Gathol who spoke first. + +"Tara of Helium, I love you!" he said. + +The girl drew herself to her full height. "The Jed of Gathol +forgets himself," she exclaimed haughtily. + +"The Jed of Gathol would forget everything but you, Tara of +Helium," he replied. Fiercely he pressed the soft hand that he +still retained from the last position of the dance. "I love you, +Tara of Helium," he repeated. "Why should your ears refuse to +hear what your eyes but just now did not refuse to see--and +answer?" + +"What meanest thou?" she cried. "Are the men of Gathol such +boors, then?" + +"They are neither boors nor fools," he replied, quietly. "They +know when they love a woman--and when she loves them." + +Tara of Helium stamped her little foot in anger. "Go!" she said, +"before it is necessary to acquaint my father with the dishonor +of his guest." + +She turned and walked away. "Wait!" cried the man. "Just another +word." + +"Of apology?" she asked. + +"Of prophecy," he said. + +"I do not care to hear it," replied Tara of Helium, and left +him standing there. She was strangely unstrung and shortly +thereafter returned to her own quarter of the palace, where she +stood for a long time by a window looking out beyond the scarlet +tower of Greater Helium toward the northwest. + +Presently she turned angrily away. "I hate him!" she exclaimed +aloud. + +"Whom?" inquired the privileged Uthia. + +Tara of Helium stamped her foot. "That ill-mannered boor, the Jed +of Gathol," she replied. + +Uthia raised her slim brows. + +At the stamping of the little foot, a great beast rose from the +corner of the room and crossed to Tara of Helium where it stood +looking up into her face. She placed her hand upon the ugly head. +"Dear old Woola," she said; "no love could be deeper than yours, +yet it never offends. Would that men might pattern themselves +after you!" + + + +CHAPTER II + +AT THE GALE'S MERCY + +TARA of Helium did not return to her father's guests, but awaited +in her own apartments the word from Djor Kantos which she knew +must come, begging her to return to the gardens. She would then +refuse, haughtily. But no appeal came from Djor Kantos. At first +Tara of Helium was angry, then she was hurt, and always she was +puzzled. She could not understand. Occasionally she thought of +the Jed of Gathol and then she would stamp her foot, for she was +very angry indeed with Gahan. The presumption of the man! He had +insinuated that he read love for him in her eyes. Never had she +been so insulted and humiliated. Never had she so thoroughly +hated a man. Suddenly she turned toward Uthia. + +"My flying leather!" she commanded. + +"But the guests!" exclaimed the slave girl. "Your father, The +Warlord, will expect you to return." + +"He will be disappointed," snapped Tara of Helium. + +The slave hesitated. "He does not approve of your flying alone," +she reminded her mistress. + +The young princess sprang to her feet and seized the unhappy +slave by the shoulders, shaking her. "You are becoming +unbearable, Uthia," she cried. "Soon there will be no alternative +than to send you to the public slave-market. Then possibly you +will find a master to your liking." + +Tears came to the soft eyes of the slave girl. "It is because I +love you, my princess," she said softly. Tara of Helium melted. +She took the slave in her arms and kissed her. + +"I have the disposition of a thoat, Uthia," she said. "Forgive +me! I love you and there is nothing that I would not do for you +and nothing would I do to harm you. Again, as I have so often in +the past, I offer you your freedom." + +"I do not wish my freedom if it will separate me from you, Tara +of Helium," replied Uthia. "I am happy here with you--I think +that I should die without you." + +Again the girls kissed. "And you will not fly alone, then?" +questioned the slave. + +Tara of Helium laughed and pinched her companion. "You persistent +little pest," she cried. "Of course I shall fly--does not Tara of +Helium always do that which pleases her?" + +Uthia shook her head sorrowfully. "Alas! she does," she admitted. +"Iron is the Warlord of Barsoom to the influences of all but two. +In the hands of Dejah Thoris and Tara of Helium he is as potters' +clay." + +"Then run and fetch my flying leather like the sweet slave you +are," directed the mistress. + + +Far out across the ochre sea-bottoms beyond the twin cities of +Helium raced the swift flier of Tara of Helium. Thrilling to the +speed and the buoyancy and the obedience of the little craft the +girl drove toward the northwest. Why she should choose that +direction she did not pause to consider. Perhaps because in that +direction lay the least known areas of Barsoom, and, ergo, +Romance, Mystery, and Adventure. In that direction also lay far +Gathol; but to that fact she gave no conscious thought. + +She did, however, think occasionally of the jed of that distant +kingdom, but the reaction to these thoughts was scarcely +pleasurable. They still brought a flush of shame to her cheeks +and a surge of angry blood to her heart. She was very angry with +the Jed of Gathol, and though she should never see him again she +was quite sure that hate of him would remain fresh in her memory +forever. Mostly her thoughts revolved about another--Djor Kantos. +And when she thought of him she thought also of Olvia Marthis of +Hastor. Tara of Helium thought that she was jealous of the fair +Olvia and it made her very angry to think that. She was angry +with Djor Kantos and herself, but she was not angry at all with +Olvia Marthis, whom she loved, and so of course she was not +jealous really. The trouble was, that Tara of Helium had failed +for once to have her own way. Djor Kantos had not come running +like a willing slave when she had expected him, and, ah, here was +the nub of the whole thing! Gahan, Jed of Gathol, a stranger, had +been a witness to her humiliation. He had seen her unclaimed at +the beginning of a great function and he had had to come to her +rescue to save her, as he doubtless thought, from the inglorious +fate of a wall-flower. At the recurring thought, Tara of Helium +could feel her whole body burning with scarlet shame and then she +went suddenly white and cold with rage; whereupon she turned her +flier about so abruptly that she was all but torn from her +lashings upon the flat, narrow deck. She reached home just before +dark. The guests had departed. Quiet had descended upon the +palace. An hour later she joined her father and mother at the +evening meal. + +"You deserted us, Tara of Helium," said John Carter. "It is not +what the guests of John Carter should expect." + +"They did not come to see me," replied Tara of Helium. "I did not +ask them." + +"They were no less your guests," replied her father. + +The girl rose, and came and stood beside him and put her arms +about his neck. + +"My proper old Virginian," she cried, rumpling his shock of black +hair. + +"In Virginia you would be turned over your father's knee and +spanked," said the man, smiling. + +She crept into his lap and kissed him. "You do not love me any +more," she announced. "No one loves me," but she could not +compose her features into a pout because bubbling laughter +insisted upon breaking through. + +"The trouble is there are too many who love you," he said. "And +now there is another." + +"Indeed!" she cried. "What do you mean?" + +"Gahan of Gathol has asked permission to woo you." + +The girl sat up very straight and tilted her chin in the air. "I +would not wed with a walking diamond-mine," she said. "I will not +have him." + +"I told him as much," replied her father, "and that you were as +good as betrothed to another. He was very courteous about it; but +at the same time he gave me to understand that he was accustomed +to getting what he wanted and that he wanted you very much. I +suppose it will mean another war. Your mother's beauty kept +Helium at war for many years, and--well, Tara of Helium, if I +were a young man I should doubtless be willing to set all Barsoom +afire to win you, as I still would to keep your divine mother," +and he smiled across the sorapus table and its golden service at +the undimmed beauty of Mars' most beautiful woman. + +"Our little girl should not yet be troubled with such matters," +said Dejah Thoris. "Remember, John Carter, that you are not +dealing with an Earth child, whose span of life would be more +than half completed before a daughter of Barsoom reached actual +maturity." + +"But do not the daughters of Barsoom sometimes marry as early as +twenty?" he insisted. + +"Yes, but they will still be desirable in the eyes of men after +forty generations of Earth folk have returned to dust--there is +no hurry, at least, upon Barsoom. We do not fade and decay here +as you tell me those of your planet do, though you, yourself, +belie your own words. When the time seems proper Tara of Helium +shall wed with Djor Kantos, and until then let us give the matter +no further thought." + +"No," said the girl, "the subject irks me, and I shall not marry +Djor Kantos, or another--I do not intend to wed." + +Her father and mother looked at her and smiled. "When Gahan of +Gathol returns he may carry you off," said the former. + +"He has gone?" asked the girl. + +"His flier departs for Gathol in the morning," John Carter +replied. + +"I have seen the last of him then," remarked Tara of Helium with +a sigh of relief. + +"He says not," returned John Carter. + +The girl dismissed the subject with a shrug and the conversation +passed to other topics. A letter had arrived from Thuvia of +Ptarth, who was visiting at her father's court while Carthoris, +her mate, hunted in Okar. Word had been received that the Tharks +and Warhoons were again at war, or rather that there had been an +engagement, for war was their habitual state. In the memory of +man there had been no peace between these two savage green +hordes--only a single temporary truce. Two new battleships had +been launched at Hastor. A little band of holy therns was +attempting to revive the ancient and discredited religion of +Issus, who they claimed still lived in spirit and had +communicated with them. There were rumors of war from Dusar. A +scientist claimed to have discovered human life on the further +moon. A madman had attempted to destroy the atmosphere plant. +Seven people had been assassinated in Greater Helium during the +last ten zodes, (the equivalent of an Earth day.) + +Following the meal Dejah Thoris and The Warlord played at jetan, +the Barsoomian game of chess, which is played upon a board of a +hundred alternate black and orange squares. One player has twenty +black pieces, the other, twenty orange pieces. A brief +description of the game may interest those Earth readers who care +for chess, and will not be lost upon those who pursue this +narrative to its conclusion, since before they are done they will +find that a knowledge of jetan will add to the interest and the +thrills that are in store for them. + +The men are placed upon the board as in chess upon the first two +rows next the players. In order from left to right on the line of +squares nearest the players, the jetan pieces are Warrior, +Padwar, Dwar, Flier, Chief, Princess, Flier, Dwar, Padwar, +Warrior. In the next line all are Panthans except the end pieces, +which are called Thoats, and represent mounted warriors. + +The Panthans, which are represented as warriors with one feather, +may move one space in any direction except backward; the Thoats, +mounted warriors with three feathers, may move one straight and +one diagonal, and may jump intervening pieces; Warriors, foot +soldiers with two feathers, straight in any direction, or +diagonally, two spaces; Padwars, lieutenants wearing two +feathers, two diagonal in any direction, or combination; Dwars, +captains wearing three feathers, three spaces straight in any +direction, or combination; Fliers, represented by a propellor +with three blades, three spaces in any direction, or combination, +diagonally, and may jump intervening pieces; the Chief, indicated +by a diadem with ten jewels, three spaces in any direction, +straight, or diagonal; Princess, diadem with a single jewel, same +as Chief, and can jump intervening pieces. + +The game is won when a player places any of his pieces on the +same square with his opponent's Princess, or when a Chief takes a +Chief. It is drawn when a Chief is taken by any opposing piece +other than the opposing Chief; or when both sides have been +reduced to three pieces, or less, of equal value, and the game is +not terminated in the following ten moves, five apiece. This is +but a general outline of the game, briefly stated. + +It was this game that Dejah Thoris and John Carter were playing +when Tara of Helium bid them good night, retiring to her own +quarters and her sleeping silks and furs. "Until morning, my +beloved," she called back to them as she passed from the +apartment, nor little did she guess, nor her parents, that this +might indeed be the last time that they would ever set eyes upon +her. + +The morning broke dull and gray. Ominous clouds billowed +restlessly and low. Beneath them torn fragments scudded toward +the northwest. From her window Tara of Helium looked out upon +this unusual scene. Dense clouds seldom overcast the Barsoomian +sky. At this hour of the day it was her custom to ride one of +those small thoats that are the saddle animals of the red +Martians, but the sight of the billowing clouds lured her to a +new adventure. Uthia still slept and the girl did not disturb +her. Instead, she dressed quietly and went to the hangar upon the +roof of the palace directly above her quarters where her own +swift flier was housed. She had never driven through the clouds. +It was an adventure that always she had longed to experience. The +wind was strong and it was with difficulty that she maneuvered +the craft from the hangar without accident, but once away it +raced swiftly out above the twin cities. The buffeting winds +caught and tossed it, and the girl laughed aloud in sheer joy of +the resultant thrills. She handled the little ship like a +veteran, though few veterans would have faced the menace of such +a storm in so light a craft. Swiftly she rose toward the clouds, +racing with the scudding streamers of the storm-swept fragments, +and a moment later she was swallowed by the dense masses +billowing above. Here was a new world, a world of chaos unpeopled +except for herself; but it was a cold, damp, lonely world and she +found it depressing after the novelty of it had been dissipated, +by an overpowering sense of the magnitude of the forces surging +about her. Suddenly she felt very lonely and very cold and very +little. Hurriedly, therefore, she rose until presently her craft +broke through into the glorious sunlight that transformed the +upper surface of the somber element into rolling masses of +burnished silver. Here it was still cold, but without the +dampness of the clouds, and in the eye of the brilliant sun her +spirits rose with the mounting needle of her altimeter. Gazing at +the clouds, now far beneath, the girl experienced the sensation +of hanging stationary in mid-heaven; but the whirring of her +propellor, the wind beating upon her, the high figures that rose +and fell beneath the glass of her speedometer, these told her +that her speed was terrific. It was then that she determined to +turn back. + +The first attempt she made above the clouds, but it was +unsuccessful. To her surprise she discovered that she could not +even turn against the high wind, which rocked and buffeted the +frail craft. Then she dropped swiftly to the dark and wind-swept +zone between the hurtling clouds and the gloomy surface of the +shadowed ground. Here she tried again to force the nose of the +flier back toward Helium, but the tempest seized the frail thing +and hurled it remorselessly about, rolling it over and over and +tossing it as it were a cork in a cataract. At last the girl +succeeded in righting the flier, perilously close to the ground. +Never before had she been so close to death, yet she was not +terrified. Her coolness had saved her, that and the strength of +the deck lashings that held her. Traveling with the storm she was +safe, but where was it bearing her? She pictured the apprehension +of her father and mother when she failed to appear at the morning +meal. They would find her flier missing and they would guess that +somewhere in the path of the storm it lay a wrecked and tangled +mass upon her dead body, and then brave men would go out in +search of her, risking their lives; and that lives would be lost +in the search, she knew, for she realized now that never in her +life-time had such a tempest raged upon Barsoom. + +She must turn back! She must reach Helium before her mad lust for +thrills had cost the sacrifice of a single courageous life! She +determined that greater safety and likelihood of success lay +above the clouds, and once again she rose through the chilling, +wind-tossed vapor. Her speed again was terrific, for the wind +seemed to have increased rather than to have lessened. She sought +gradually to check the swift flight of her craft, but though she +finally succeeded in reversing her motor the wind but carried her +on as it would. Then it was that Tara of Helium lost her temper. +Had her world not always bowed in acquiescence to her every wish? +What were these elements that they dared to thwart her? She would +demonstrate to them that the daughter of The Warlord was not to +be denied! They would learn that Tara of Helium might not be +ruled even by the forces of nature! + +And so she drove her motor forward again and then with her firm, +white teeth set in grim determination she drove the steering +lever far down to port with the intention of forcing the nose of +her craft straight into the teeth of the wind, and the wind +seized the frail thing and toppled it over upon its back, and +twisted and turned it and hurled it over and over; the propellor +raced for an instant in an air pocket and then the tempest seized +it again and twisted it from its shaft, leaving the girl helpless +upon an unmanageable atom that rose and fell, and rolled and +tumbled--the sport of the elements she had defied. Tara of +Helium's first sensation was one of surprise--that she had failed +to have her own way. Then she commenced to feel concern--not for +her own safety but for the anxiety of her parents and the dangers +that the inevitable searchers must face. She reproached herself +for the thoughtless selfishness that had jeopardized the peace +and safety of others. She realized her own grave danger, too; but +she was still unterrified, as befitted the daughter of Dejah +Thoris and John Carter. She knew that her buoyancy tanks might +keep her afloat indefinitely, but she had neither food nor water, +and she was being borne toward the least-known area of Barsoom. +Perhaps it would be better to land immediately and await the +coming of the searchers, rather than to allow herself to be +carried still further from Helium, thus greatly reducing the +chances of early discovery; but when she dropped toward the +ground she discovered that the violence of the wind rendered an +attempt to land tantamount to destruction and she rose again, +rapidly. + +Carried along a few hundred feet above the ground she was better +able to appreciate the Titanic proportions of the storm than when +she had flown in the comparative serenity of the zone above the +clouds, for now she could distinctly see the effect of the wind +upon the surface of Barsoom. The air was filled with dust and +flying bits of vegetation and when the storm carried her across +an irrigated area of farm land she saw great trees and stone +walls and buildings lifted high in air and scattered broadcast +over the devastated country; and then she was carried swiftly on +to other sights that forced in upon her consciousness a rapidly +growing conviction that after all Tara of Helium was a very small +and insignificant and helpless person. It was quite a shock to +her self-pride while it lasted, and toward evening she was ready +to believe that it was going to last forever. There had been no +abatement in the ferocity of the tempest, nor was there +indication of any. She could only guess at the distance she had +been carried for she could not believe in the correctness of the +high figures that had been piled upon the record of her odometer. +They seemed unbelievable and yet, had she known it, they were +quite true--in twelve hours she had flown and been carried by the +storm full seven thousand haads. Just before dark she was carried +over one of the deserted cities of ancient Mars. It was Torquas, +but she did not know it. Had she, she might readily have been +forgiven for abandoning the last vestige of hope, for to the +people of Helium Torquas seems as remote as do the South Sea +Islands to us. And still the tempest, its fury unabated, bore her +on. + +All that night she hurtled through the dark beneath the clouds, +or rose to race through the moonlit void beneath the glory of +Barsoom's two satellites. She was cold and hungry and altogether +miserable, but her brave little spirit refused to admit that her +plight was hopeless even though reason proclaimed the truth. Her +reply to reason, sometime spoken aloud in sudden defiance, +recalled the Spartan stubbornness of her sire in the face of +certain annihilation: "I still live!" + +That morning there had been an early visitor at the palace of The +Warlord. It was Gahan, Jed of Gathol. He had arrived shortly +after the absence of Tara of Helium had been noted, and in the +excitement he had remained unannounced until John Carter had +happened upon him in the great reception corridor of the palace +as The Warlord was hurrying out to arrange for the dispatch of +ships in search of his daughter. + +Gahan read the concern upon the face of The Warlord. "Forgive me +if I intrude, John Carter," he said. "I but came to ask the +indulgence of another day since it would be fool-hardy to attempt +to navigate a ship in such a storm." + +"Remain, Gahan, a welcome guest until you choose to leave us," +replied The Warlord; "but you must forgive any seeming +inattention upon the part of Helium until my daughter is restored +to us." + +"You daughter! Restored! What do you mean?" exclaimed the +Gatholian. "I do not understand." + +"She is gone, together with her light flier. That is all we know. +We can only assume that she decided to fly before the morning +meal and was caught in the clutches of the tempest. You will +pardon me, Gahan, if I leave you abruptly--I am arranging to send +ships in search of her;" but Gahan, Jed of Gathol, was already +speeding in the direction of the palace gate. There he leaped +upon a waiting thoat and followed by two warriors in the metal of +Gathol, he dashed through the avenues of Helium toward the palace +that had been set aside for his entertainment. + + + +CHAPTER III + +THE HEADLESS HUMANS + +ABOVE the roof of the palace that housed the Jed of Gathol and +his entourage, the cruiser Vanator tore at her stout moorings. +The groaning tackle bespoke the mad fury of the gale, while the +worried faces of those members of the crew whose duties demanded +their presence on the straining craft gave corroborative evidence +of the gravity of the situation. Only stout lashings prevented +these men from being swept from the deck, while those upon the +roof below were constantly compelled to cling to rails and +stanchions to save themselves from being carried away by each new +burst of meteoric fury. Upon the prow of the Vanator was painted +the device of Gathol, but no pennants were displayed in the upper +works since the storm had carried away several in rapid +succession, just as it seemed to the watching men that it must +carry away the ship itself. They could not believe that any +tackle could withstand for long this Titanic force. To each of +the twelve lashings clung a brawny warrior with drawn +short-sword. Had but a single mooring given to the power of the +tempest eleven short-swords would have cut the others; since, +partially moored, the ship was doomed, while free in the tempest +it stood at least some slight chance for life. + +"By the blood of Issus, I believe they will hold!" screamed one +warrior to another. + +"And if they do not hold may the spirits of our ancestors reward +the brave warriors upon the Vanator," replied another of those +upon the roof of the palace, "for it will not be long from the +moment her cables part before her crew dons the leather of the +dead; but yet, Tanus, I believe they will hold. Give thanks at +least that we did not sail before the tempest fell, since now +each of us has a chance to live." + +"Yes," replied Tanus, "I should hate to be abroad today upon the +stoutest ship that sails the Barsoomian sky." + +It was then that Gahan the Jed appeared upon the roof. With him +were the balance of his own party and a dozen warriors of Helium. +The young chief turned to his followers. + +"I sail at once upon the Vanator," he said, "in search of Tara of +Helium who is thought to have been carried away upon a one-man +flier by the storm. I do not need to explain to you the slender +chances the Vanator has to withstand the fury of the tempest, nor +will I order you to your deaths. Let those who wish remain behind +without dishonor. The others will follow me," and he leaped for +the rope ladder that lashed wildly in the gale. + +The first man to follow him was Tanus and when the last reached +the deck of the cruiser there remained upon the palace roof only +the twelve warriors of Helium, who, with naked swords, had taken +the posts of the Gatholians at the moorings. + +Not a single warrior who had remained aboard the Vanator would +leave her now. + +"I expected no less," said Gahan, as with the help of those +already on the deck he and the others found secure lashings. The +commander of the Vanator shook his head. He loved his trim craft, +the pride of her class in the little navy of Gathol. It was of +her he thought--not of himself. He saw her lying torn and twisted +upon the ochre vegetation of some distant sea-bottom, to be +presently overrun and looted by some savage, green horde. He +looked at Gahan. + +"Are you ready, San Tothis?" asked the jed. + +"All is ready." + +"Then cut away!" + +Word was passed across the deck and over the side to the +Heliumetic warriors below that at the third gun they were to cut +away. Twelve keen swords must strike simultaneously and with +equal power, and each must sever completely and instantly three +strands of heavy cable that no loose end fouling a block bring +immediate disaster upon the Vanator. + +Boom! The voice of the signal gun rolled down through the +screaming wind to the twelve warriors upon the roof. Boom! Twelve +swords were raised above twelve brawny shoulders. Boom! Twelve +keen edges severed twelve complaining moorings, clean and as one. + +The Vanator, her propellors whirling, shot forward with the +storm. The tempest struck her in the stern as with a mailed fist +and stood the great ship upon her nose, and then it caught her +and spun her as a child's top spins; and upon the palace roof the +twelve men looked on in silent helplessness and prayed for the +souls of the brave warriors who were going to their death. And +others saw, from Helium's lofty landing stages and from a +thousand hangars upon a thousand roofs; but only for an instant +did the preparations stop that would send other brave men into +the frightful maelstrom of that apparently hopeless search, for +such is the courage of the warriors of Barsoom. + +But the Vanator did not fall to the ground, within sight of the +city at least, though as long as the watchers could see her never +for an instant did she rest upon an even keel. Sometimes she lay +upon one side or the other, or again she hurtled along keel up, +or rolled over and over, or stood upon her nose or her tail at +the caprice of the great force that carried her along. And the +watchers saw that this great ship was merely being blown away +with the other bits of debris great and small that filled the +sky. Never in the memory of man or the annals of recorded history +had such a storm raged across the face of Barsoom. + +And in another instant was the Vanator forgotten as the lofty, +scarlet tower that had marked Lesser Helium for ages crashed to +ground, carrying death and demolition upon the city beneath. +Panic reigned. A fire broke out in the ruins. The city's every +force seemed crippled, and it was then that The Warlord ordered +the men that were about to set forth in search of Tara of Helium +to devote their energies to the salvation of the city, for he too +had witnessed the start of the Vanator and realized the futility +of wasting men who were needed sorely if Lesser Helium was to be +saved from utter destruction. + +Shortly after noon of the second day the storm commenced to +abate, and before the sun went down, the little craft upon which +Tara of Helium had hovered between life and death these many +hours drifted slowly before a gentle breeze above a landscape of +rolling hills that once had been lofty mountains upon a Martian +continent. The girl was exhausted from loss of sleep, from lack +of food and drink, and from the nervous reaction consequent to +the terrifying experiences through which she had passed. In the +near distance, just topping an intervening hill, she caught a +momentary glimpse of what appeared to be a dome-capped tower. +Quickly she dropped the flier until the hill shut it off from the +view of the possible occupants of the structure she had seen. The +tower meant to her the habitation of man, suggesting the presence +of water and, perhaps, of food. If the tower was the deserted +relic of a bygone age she would scarcely find food there, but +there was still a chance that there might be water. If it was +inhabited, then must her approach be cautious, for only enemies +might be expected to abide in so far distant a land. Tara of +Helium knew that she must be far from the twin cities of her +grandfather's empire, but had she guessed within even a thousand +haads of the reality, she had been stunned by realization of the +utter hopelessness of her state. + +Keeping the craft low, for the buoyancy tanks were still intact, +the girl skimmed the ground until the gently-moving wind had +carried her to the side of the last hill that intervened between +her and the structure she had thought a man-built tower. Here she +brought the flier to the ground among some stunted trees, and +dragging it beneath one where it might be somewhat hidden from +craft passing above, she made it fast and set forth to +reconnoiter. Like most women of her class she was armed only with +a single slender blade, so that in such an emergency as now +confronted her she must depend almost solely upon her cleverness +in remaining undiscovered by enemies. With utmost caution she +crept warily toward the crest of the hill, taking advantage of +every natural screen that the landscape afforded to conceal her +approach from possible observers ahead, while momentarily she +cast quick glances rearward lest she be taken by surprise from +that quarter. + +She came at last to the summit, where, from the concealment of a +low bush, she could see what lay beyond. Beneath her spread a +beautiful valley surrounded by low hills. Dotting it were +numerous circular towers, dome-capped, and surrounding each tower +was a stone wall enclosing several acres of ground. The valley +appeared to be in a high state of cultivation. Upon the opposite +side of the hill and just beneath her was a tower and enclosure. +It was the roof of the former that had first attracted her +attention. In all respects it seemed identical in construction +with those further out in the valley--a high, plastered wall of +massive construction surrounding a similarly constructed tower, +upon whose gray surface was painted in vivid colors a strange +device. The towers were about forty sofads in diameter, +approximately forty earth-feet, and sixty in height to the base +of the dome. To an Earth man they would have immediately +suggested the silos in which dairy farmers store ensilage for +their herds; but closer scrutiny, revealing an occasional +embrasured opening together with the strange construction of the +domes, would have altered such a conclusion. Tara of Helium saw +that the domes seemed to be faced with innumerable prisms of +glass, those that were exposed to the declining sun scintillating +so gorgeously as to remind her suddenly of the magnificent +trappings of Gahan of Gathol. As she thought of the man she shook +her head angrily, and moved cautiously forward a foot or two that +she might get a less obstructed view of the nearer tower and its +enclosure. + +As Tara of Helium looked down into the enclosure surrounding the +nearest tower, her brows contracted momentarily in frowning +surprise, and then her eyes went wide in an expression of +incredulity tinged with horror, for what she saw was a score or +two of human bodies--naked and headless. For a long moment she +watched, breathless; unable to believe the evidence of her own +eyes--that these grewsome things moved and had life! She saw them +crawling about on hands and knees over and across one another, +searching about with their fingers. And she saw some of them at +troughs, for which the others seemed to be searching, and those +at the troughs were taking something from these receptacles and +apparently putting it in a hole where their necks should have +been. They were not far beneath her--she could see them +distinctly and she saw that there were the bodies of both men and +women, and that they were beautifully proportioned, and that +their skin was similar to hers, but of a slightly lighter red. At +first she had thought that she was looking upon a shambles and +that the bodies, but recently decapitated, were moving under the +impulse of muscular reaction; but presently she realized that +this was their normal condition. The horror of them fascinated +her, so that she could scarce take her eyes from them. It was +evident from their groping hands that they were eyeless, and +their sluggish movements suggested a rudimentary nervous system +and a correspondingly minute brain. The girl wondered how they +subsisted for she could not, even by the wildest stretch of +imagination, picture these imperfect creatures as intelligent +tillers of the soil. Yet that the soil of the valley was tilled +was evident and that these things had food was equally so. But +who tilled the soil? Who kept and fed these unhappy things, and +for what purpose? It was an enigma beyond her powers of +deduction. + +The sight of food aroused again a consciousness of her own +gnawing hunger and the thirst that parched her throat. She could +see both food and water within the enclosure; but would she dare +enter even should she find means of ingress? She doubted it, +since the very thought of possible contact with these grewsome +creatures sent a shudder through her frame. + +Then her eyes wandered again out across the valley until +presently they picked out what appeared to be a tiny stream +winding its way through the center of the farm lands--a strange +sight upon Barsoom. Ah, if it were but water! Then might she hope +with a real hope, for the fields would give her sustenance which +she could gain by night, while by day she hid among the +surrounding hills, and sometime, yes, sometime she knew, the +searchers would come, for John Carter, Warlord of Barsoom, would +never cease to search for his daughter until every square haad of +the planet had been combed again and again. She knew him and she +knew the warriors of Helium and so she knew that could she but +manage to escape harm until they came, they would indeed come at +last. + +She would have to wait until dark before she dare venture into +the valley, and in the meantime she thought it well to search out +a place of safety nearby where she might be reasonably safe from +savage beasts. It was possible that the district was free from +carnivora, but one might never be sure in a strange land. As she +was about to withdraw be hind the brow of the hill her attention +was again attracted to the enclosure below. Two figures had +emerged from the tower. Their beautiful bodies seemed identical +with those of the headless creatures among which they moved, but +the newcomers were not headless. Upon their shoulders were heads +that seemed human, yet which the girl intuitively sensed were not +human. They were just a trifle too far away for her to see them +distinctly in the waning light of the dying day, but she knew +that they were too large, they were out of proportion to the +perfectly proportioned bodies, and they were oblate in form. She +could see that the men wore some manner of harness to which were +slung the customary long-sword and short-sword of the Barsoomian +warrior, and that about their short necks were massive leather +collars cut to fit closely over the shoulders and snugly to the +lower part of the head. Their features were scarce discernible, +but there was a suggestion of grotesqueness about them that +carried to her a feeling of revulsion. + +The two carried a long rope to which were fastened, at intervals +of about two sofads, what she later guessed were light manacles, +for she saw the warriors passing among the poor creatures in the +enclosure and about the right wrist of each they fastened one of +the manacles. When all had been thus fastened to the rope one of +the warriors commenced to pull and tug at the loose end as though +attempting to drag the headless company toward the tower, while +the other went among them with a long, light whip with which he +flicked them upon the naked skin. Slowly, dully, the creatures +rose to their feet and between the tugging of the warrior in +front and the lashing of him behind the hopeless band was finally +herded within the tower. Tara of Helium shuddered as she turned +away. What manner of creatures were these? + +Suddenly it was night. The Barsoomian day had ended, and then the +brief period of twilight that renders the transition from +daylight to darkness almost as abrupt as the switching off of an +electric light, and Tara of Helium had found no sanctuary. But +perhaps there were no beasts to fear, or rather to avoid--Tara of +Helium liked not the word fear. She would have been glad, +however, had there been a cabin, even a very tiny cabin, upon her +small flier; but there was no cabin. The interior of the hull was +completely taken up by the buoyancy tanks. Ah, she had it! How +stupid of her not to have thought of it before! She could moor +the craft to the tree beneath which it rested and let it rise the +length of the rope. Lashed to the deck rings she would then be +safe from any roaming beast of prey that chanced along. In the +morning she could drop to the ground again before the craft was +discovered. + +As Tara of Helium crept over the brow of the hill down toward the +valley, her presence was hidden by the darkness of the night from +the sight of any chance observer who might be loitering by a +window in the nearby tower. Cluros, the farther moon, was just +rising above the horizon to commence his leisurely journey +through the heavens. Eight zodes later he would set--a trifle +over nineteen and a half Earth hours--and during that time +Thuria, his vivacious mate, would have circled the planet twice +and be more than half way around on her third trip. She had but +just set. It would be more than three and a half hours before she +shot above the opposite horizon to hurtle, swift and low, across +the face of the dying planet. During this temporary absence of +the mad moon Tara of Helium hoped to find both food and water, +and gain again the safety of her flier's deck. + +She groped her way through the darkness, giving the tower and its +enclosure as wide a berth as possible. Sometimes she stumbled, +for in the long shadows cast by the rising Cluros objects were +grotesquely distorted though the light from the moon was still +not sufficient to be of much assistance to her. Nor, as a matter +of fact, did she want light. She could find the stream in the +dark, by the simple expedient of going down hill until she walked +into it and she had seen that bearing trees and many crops grew +throughout the valley, so that she would pass food in plenty ere +she reached the stream. If the moon showed her the way more +clearly and thus saved her from an occasional fall, he would, +too, show her more clearly to the strange denizens of the towers, +and that, of course, must not be. Could she have waited until the +following night conditions would have been better, since Cluros +would not appear in the heavens at all and so, during Thuria's +absence, utter darkness would reign; but the pangs of thirst and +the gnawing of hunger could be endured no longer with food and +drink both in sight, and so she had decided to risk discovery +rather than suffer longer. + +Safely past the nearest tower, she moved as rapidly as she felt +consistent with safety, choosing her way wherever possible so +that she might take advantage of the shadows of the trees that +grew at intervals and at the same time discover those which bore +fruit. In this latter she met with almost immediate success, for +the very third tree beneath which she halted was heavy with ripe +fruit. Never, thought Tara of Helium, had aught so delicious +impinged upon her palate, and yet it was naught else than the +almost tasteless usa, which is considered to be palatable only +after having been cooked and highly spiced. It grows easily with +little irrigation and the trees bear abundantly. The fruit, which +ranks high in food value, is one of the staple foods of the less +well-to-do, and because of its cheapness and nutritive value +forms one of the principal rations of both armies and navies upon +Barsoom, a use which has won for it a Martian sobriquet which, +freely translated into English, would be, The Fighting Potato. +The girl was wise enough to eat but sparingly, but she filled her +pocket-pouch with the fruit before she continued upon her way. + +Two towers she passed before she came at last to the stream, and +here again was she temperate, drinking but little and that very +slowly, contenting herself with rinsing her mouth frequently and +bathing her face, her hands, and her feet; and even though the +night was cold, as Martian nights are, the sensation of +refreshment more than compensated for the physical discomfort of +the low temperature. Replacing her sandals she sought among the +growing track near the stream for whatever edible berries or +tubers might be planted there, and found a couple of varieties +that could be eaten raw. With these she replaced some of the usa +in her pocket-pouch, not only to insure a variety but because she +found them more palatable. Occasionally she returned to the +stream to drink, but each time moderately. Always were her eyes +and ears alert for the first signs of danger, but she had neither +seen nor heard aught to disturb her. And presently the time +approached when she felt she must return to her flier lest she be +caught in the revealing light of low swinging Thuria. She dreaded +leaving the water for she knew that she must become very thirsty +before she could hope to come again to the stream. If she only +had some little receptacle in which to carry water, even a small +amount would tide her over until the following night; but she had +nothing and so she must content herself as best she could with +the juices of the fruit and tubers she had gathered. + +After a last drink at the stream, the longest and deepest she had +allowed herself, she rose to retrace her steps toward the hills; +but even as she did so she became suddenly tense with +apprehension. What was that? She could have sworn that she saw +something move in the shadows beneath a tree not far away. For a +long minute the girl did not move--she scarce breathed. Her eyes +remained fixed upon the dense shadows below the tree, her ears +strained through the silence of the night. A low moaning came +down from the hills where her flier was hidden. She knew it +well--the weird note of the hunting banth. And the great +carnivore lay directly in her path. But he was not so close as +this other thing, hiding there in the shadows just a little way +off. What was it? It was the strain of uncertainty that weighed +heaviest upon her. Had she known the nature of the creature +lurking there half its meanace would have vanished. She cast +quickly about her in search of some haven of refuge should the +thing prove dangerous. + +Again arose the moaning from the hills, but this time closer. +Almost immediately it was answered from the opposite side of the +valley, behind her, and then from the distance to the right of +her, and twice upon her left. Her eyes had found a tree, quite +near. Slowly, and without taking her eyes from the shadows of +that other tree, she moved toward the overhanging branches that +might afford her sanctuary in the event of need, and at her first +move a low growl rose from the spot she had been watching and she +heard the sudden moving of a big body. Simultaneously the +creature shot into the moonlight in full charge upon her, its +tail erect, its tiny ears laid flat, its great mouth with its +multiple rows of sharp and powerful fangs already yawning for its +prey, its ten legs carrying it forward in great leaps, and now +from the beast's throat issued the frightful roar with which it +seeks to paralyze its prey. It was a banth--the great, maned lion +of Barsoom. Tara of Helium saw it coming and leaped for the tree +toward which she had been moving, and the banth realized her +intention and redoubled his speed. As his hideous roar awakened +the echoes in the hills, so too it awakened echoes in the valley; +but these echoes came from the living throats of others of his +kind, until it seemed to the girl that Fate had thrown her into +the midst of a countless multitude of these savage beasts. + +Almost incredbily swift is the speed of a charging banth, and +fortunate it was that the girl had not been caught farther in the +open. As it was, her margin of safety was next to negligible, for +as she swung nimbly to the lower branches the creature in pursuit +of her crashed among the foliage almost upon her as it sprang +upward to seize her. It was only a combination of good fortune +and agility that saved her. A stout branch deflected the raking +talons of the carnivore, but so close was the call that a giant +forearm brushed her flesh in the instant before she scrambled to +the higher branches. + +Baffled, the banth gave vent to his rage and disappointment in a +series of frightful roars that caused the very ground to tremble, +and to these were added the roarings and the growlings and the +moanings of his fellows as they approached from every direction, +in the hope of wresting from him whatever of his kill they could +take by craft or prowess. And now he turned snarling upon them as +they circled the tree, while the girl, huddled in a crotch above +them, looked down upon the gaunt, yellow monsters padding on +noiseless feet in a restless circle about her. She wondered now +at the strange freak of fate that had permitted her to come down +this far into the valley by night unharmed, but even more she +wondered how she was to return to the hills. She knew that she +would not dare venture it by night and she guessed, too, that by +day she might be confronted by even graver perils. To depend upon +this valley for sustenance she now saw to be beyond the pale of +possibility because of the banths that would keep her from food +and water by night, while the dwellers in the towers would +doubtless make it equally impossible for her to forage by day. +There was but one solution of her difficulty and that was to +return to her flier and pray that the wind would waft her to some +less terrorful land; but when might she return to the flier? The +banths gave little evidence of relinquishing hope of her, andeven +if they wandered out of sight would she dare risk the attempt? +She doubted it. + +Hopeless indeed seemed her situation--hopeless it was. + + + +CHAPTER IV + +CAPTURED + +AS THURIA, swift racer of the night, shot again into the sky the +scene changed. As by magic a new aspect fell athwart the face of +Nature. It was as though in the instant one had been transported +from one planet to another. It was the age-old miracle of the +Martian nights that is always new, even to Martians--two moons +resplendent in the heavens, where one had been but now; +conflicting, fast-changing shadows that altered the very hills +themselves; far Cluros, stately, majestic, almost stationary, +shedding his steady light upon the world below; Thuria, a great +and glorious orb, swinging swift across the vaulted dome of the +blue-black night, so low that she seemed to graze the hills, a +gorgeous spectacle that held the girl now beneath the spell of +its enchantment as it always had and always would. + +"Ah, Thuria, mad queen of heaven!" murmured Tara of Helium. "The +hills pass in stately procession, their bosoms rising and +falling; the trees move in restless circles; the little grasses +describe their little arcs; and all is movement, restless, +mysterious movement without sound, while Thuria passes." The girl +sighed and let her gaze fall again to the stern realities +beneath. There was no mystery in the huge banths. He who had +discovered her squatted there looking hungrily up at her. Most of +the others had wandered away in search of other prey, but a few +remained hoping yet to bury their fangs in that soft body. + +The night wore on. Again Thuria left the heavens to her lord and +master, hurrying on to keep her tryst with the Sun in other +skies. But a single banth waited impatiently beneath the tree +which harbored Tara of Helium. The others had left, but their +roars, and growls, and moans thundered or rumbled, or floated +back to her from near and far. What prey found they in this +little valley? There must be something that they were accustomed +to find here that they should be drawn in so great numbers. The +girl wondered what it could be. + +How long the night! Numb, cold, and exhausted, Tara of Helium +clung to the tree in growing desperation, for once she had dozed +and almost fallen. Hope was low in her brave little heart. How +much more could she endure? She asked herself the question and +then, with a brave shake of her head, she squared her shoulders. +"I still live!" she said aloud. + +The banth looked up and growled. + +Came Thuria again and after awhile the great Sun--a flaming +lover, pursuing his heart's desire. And Cluros, the cold husband, +continued his serene way, as placid as before his house had been +violated by this hot Lothario. And now the Sun and both Moons +rode together in the sky, lending their far mysteries to make +weird the Martian dawn. Tara of Helium looked out across the fair +valley that spread upon all sides of her. It was rich and +beautiful, but even as she looked upon it she shuddered, for to +her mind came a picture of the headless things that the towers +and the walls hid. Those by day and the banths by night! Ah, was +it any wonder that she shuddered? + +With the coming of the Sun the great Barsoomian lion rose to his +feet. He turned angry eyes upon the girl above him, voiced a +single ominous growl, and slunk away toward the hills. The girl +watched him, and she saw that he gave the towers as wide a berth +as possible and that he never took his eyes from one of them +while he was passing it. Evidently the inmates had taught these +savage creatures to respect them. Presently he passed from sight +in a narrow defile, nor in any direction that she could see was +there another. Momentarily at least the landscape was deserted. +The girl wondered if she dared to attempt to regain the hills and +her flier. She dreaded the coming of the workmen to the fields as +she was sure they would come. She shrank from again seeing the +headless bodies, and found herself wondering if these things +would come out into the fields and work. She looked toward the +nearest tower. There was no sign of life there. The valley lay +quiet now and deserted. She lowered herself stiffly to the +ground. Her muscles were cramped and every move brought a twinge +of pain. Pausing a moment to drink again at the stream she felt +refreshed and then turned without more delay toward the hills. To +cover the distance as quickly as possible seemed the only plan to +pursue. The trees no longer offered concealment and so she did +not go out of her way to be near them. The hills seemed very far +away. She had not thought, the night before, that she had +traveled so far. Really it had not been far, but now, with the +three towers to pass in broad daylight, the distance seemed great +indeed. + +The second tower lay almost directly in her path. To make a +detour would not lessen the chance of detection, it would only +lengthen the period of her danger, and so she laid her course +straight for the hill where her flier was, regardless of the +tower. As she passed the first enclosure she thought that she +heard the sound of movement within, but the gate did not open and +she breathed more easily when it lay behind her. She came then to +the second enclosure, the outer wall of which she must circle, as +it lay across her route. As she passed close along it she +distinctly heard not only movement within, but voices. In the +world-language of Barsoom she heard a man issuing +instructions--so many were to pick usa, so many were to irrigate +this field, so many to cultivate that, and so on, as a foreman +lay out the day's work for his crew. + +Tara of Helium had just reached the gate in the outer wall. +Without warning it swung open toward her. She saw that for a +moment it would hide her from those within and in that moment she +turned and ran, keeping close to the wall, until, passing out of +sight beyond the curve of the structure, she came to the opposite +side of the enclosure. Here, panting from her exertion and from +the excitement of her narrow escape, she threw herself among some +tall weeds that grew close to the foot of the wall. There she lay +trembling for some time, not even daring to raise her head and +look about. Never before had Tara of Helium felt the paralyzing +effects of terror. She was shocked and angry at herself, that +she, daughter of John Carter, Warlord of Barsoom, should exhibit +fear. Not even the fact that there had been none there to witness +it lessened her shame and anger, and the worst of it was she knew +that under similar circumstances she would again be equally as +craven. It was not the fear of death--she knew that. No, it was +the thought of those headless bodies and that she might see them +and that they might even touch her--lay hands upon her--seize +her. She shuddered and trembled at the thought. + +After a while she gained sufficient command of herself to raise +her head and look about. To her horror she discovered that +everywhere she looked she saw people working in the fields or +preparing to do so. Workmen were coming from other towers. Little +bands were passing to this field and that. They were even some +already at work within thirty ads of her--about a hundred yards. +There were ten, perhaps, in the party nearest her, both men and +women, and all were beautiful of form and grotesque of face. So +meager were their trappings that they were practically naked; a +fact that was in no way remarkable among the tillers of the +fields of Mars. Each wore the peculiar, high leather collar that +completely hid the neck, and each wore sufficient other leather +to support a single sword and a pocket-pouch. The leather was +very old and worn, showing long, hard service, and was absolutely +plain with the exception of a single device upon the left +shoulder. The heads, however, were covered with ornaments of +precious metals and jewels, so that little more than eyes, nose, +and mouth were discernible. These were hideously inhuman and yet +grotesquely human at the same time. The eyes were far apart and +protruding, the nose scarce more than two small, parallel slits +set vertically above a round hole that was the mouth. The heads +were peculiarly repulsive--so much so that it seemed unbelievable +to the girl that they formed an integral part of the beautiful +bodies below them. + +So fascinated was Tara of Helium that she could scarce take her +eyes from the strange creatures--a fact that was to prove her +undoing, for in order that she might see them she was forced to +expose a part of her own head and presently, to her +consternation, she saw that one of the creatures had stopped his +work and was staring directly at her. She did not dare move, for +it was still possible that the thing had not seen her, or at +least was only suspicious that some creature lay hid among the +weeds. If she could allay this suspicion by remaining motionless +the creature might believe that he had been mistaken and return +to his work; but, alas, such was not to be the case. She saw the +thing call the attention of others to her and almost immediately +four or five of them started to move in her direction. + +It was impossible now to escape discovery. Her only hope lay in +flight. If she could elude them and reach the hills and the flier +ahead of them she might escape, and that could be accomplished in +but one way--flight, immediate and swift. Leaping to her feet she +darted along the base of the wall which she must skirt to the +opposite side, beyond which lay the hill that was her goal. Her +act was greeted by strange whistling sounds from the things +behind her, and casting a glance over her shoulder she saw them +all in rapid pursuit. + +There were also shrill commands that she halt, but to these she +paid no attention. Before she had half circled the enclosure she +discovered that her chances for successful escape were great, +since it was evident to her that her pursuers were not so fleet +as she. High indeed then were her hopes as she came in sight of +the hill, but they were soon dashed by what lay before her, for +there, in the fields that lay between, were fully a hundred +creatures similar to those behind her and all were on the alert, +evidently warned by the whistling of their fellows. Instructions +and commands were shouted to and fro, with the result that those +before her spread roughly into a great half circle to intercept +her, and when she turned to the right, hoping to elude the net, +she saw others coming from fields beyond, and to the left the +same was true. But Tara of Helium would not admit defeat. Without +once pausing she turned directly toward the center of the +advancing semi-circle, beyond which lay her single chance of +escape, and as she ran she drew her long, slim dagger. Like her +valiant sire, if die she must, she would die fighting. There were +gaps in the thin line confronting her and toward the widest of +one of these she directed her course. The things on either side +of the opening guessed her intent for they closed in to place +themselves in her path. This widened the openings on either side +of them and as the girl appeared almost to rush into their arms +she turned suddenly at right angles, ran swiftly in the new +direction for a few yards, and then dashed quickly toward the +hill again. Now only a single warrior, with a wide gap on either +side of him, barred her clear way to freedom, though all the +others were speeding as rapidly as they could to intercept her. +If she could pass this one without too much delay she could +escape, of that she was certain. Her every hope hinged on this. +The creature before her realized it, too, for he moved +cautiously, though swiftly, to intercept her, as a Rugby fullback +might maneuver in the realization that he alone stood between the +opposing team and a touchdown. + +At first Tara of Helium had hoped that she might dodge him, for +she could not but guess that she was not only more fleet but +infinitely more agile than these strange creatures; but soon +there came to her the realization that in the time consumed in an +attempt to elude his grasp his nearer fellows would be upon her +and escape then impossible, so she chose instead to charge +straight for him, and when he guessed her decision he stood, half +crouching and with outstretched arms, awaiting her. In one hand +was his sword, but a voice arose, crying in tones of authority. +"Take her alive! Do not harm her!" Instantly the fellow returned +his sword to its scabbard and then Tara of Helium was upon him. +Straight for that beautiful body she sprang and in the instant +that the arms closed to seize her her sharp blade drove deep into +the naked chest. The impact hurled them both to the ground and as +Tara of Helium sprang to her feet again she saw, to her horror, +that the loathsome head had rolled from the body and was now +crawling away from her on six short, spider-]ike legs. The body +struggled spasmodically and lay still. As brief as had been the +delay caused by the encounter, it still had been of sufficient +duration to undo her, for even as she rose two more of the things +fell upon her and instantly thereafter she was surrounded. Her +blade sank once more into naked flesh and once more a head rolled +free and crawled away. Then they overpowered her and in another +moment she was surrounded by fully a hundred of the creatures, +all seeking to lay hands upon her. At first she thought that they +wished to tear her to pieces in revenge for her having slain two +of their fellows, but presently she realized that they were +prompted more by curiosity than by any sinister motive. + +"Come!" said one of her captors, both of whom had retained a hold +upon her. As he spoke he tried to lead her away with him toward +the nearest tower. + +"She belongs to me," cried the other. "Did not I capture her? She +will come with me to the tower of Moak." + +"Never!" insisted the first. "She is Luud's. To Luud I will take +her, and whosoever interferes may feel the keenness of my +sword--in the head!" He almost shouted the last three words. + +"Come! Enough of this," cried one who spoke with some show of +authority. "She was captured in Luud's fields--she will go to +Luud." + +"She was discovered in Moak's fields, at the very foot of the +tower of Moak," insisted he who had claimed her for Moak. + +"You have heard the Nolach speak," cried the Luud. "It shall be +as he says." + +"Not while this Moak holds a sword," replied the other. "Rather +will I cut her in twain and take my half to Moak than to +relinquish her all to Luud," and he drew his sword, or rather he +laid his hand upon its hilt in a threatening gesture; but before +ever he could draw it the Luud had whipped his out and with a +fearful blow cut deep into the head of his adversary. Instantly +the big, round head collapsed, almost as a punctured balloon +collapses, as a grayish, semi-fluid matter spurted from it. The +protruding eyes, apparently lidless, merely stared, the +sphincter-like muscle of the mouth opened and closed, and then +the head toppled from the body to the ground. The body stood +dully for a moment and then slowly started to wander aimlessly +about until one of the others seized it by the arm. + +One of the two heads crawling about on the ground now approached. +"This rykor belongs to Moak," it said. "I am a Moak. I will take +it," and without further discussion it commenced to crawl up the +front of the headless body, using its six short, spiderlike legs +and two stout chelae which grew just in front of its legs and +strongly resembled those of an Earthly lobster, except that they +were both of the same size. The body in the meantime stood in +passive indifference, its arms hanging idly at its sides. The +head climbed to the shoulders and settled itself inside the +leather collar that now hid its chelae and legs. Almost +immediately the body gave evidence of intelligent animation. It +raised its hands and adjusted the collar more comfortably, it +took the head between its palms and settled it in place and when +it moved around it did not wander aimlessly, but instead its +steps were firm and to some purpose. + +The girl watched all these things in growing wonder, and +presently, no other of the Moaks seeming inclined to dispute the +right of the Luud to her, she was led off by her captor toward +the nearest tower. Several accompanied them, including one who +carried the loose head under his arm. The head that was being +carried conversed with the head upon the shoulders of the thing +that carried it. Tara of Helium shivered. It was horrible! All +that she had seen of these frightful creatures was horrible. And +to be a prisoner, wholly in their power. Shadow of her first +ancestor! What had she done to deserve so cruel a fate? + +At the wall enclosing the tower they paused while one opened the +gate and then they passed within the enclosure, which, to the +girl's horror, she found filled with headless bodies. The +creature who carried the bodiless head now set its burden upon +the ground and the latter immediately crawled toward one of the +bodies that was lying near by. Some wandered stupidly to and fro, +but this one lay still. It was a female. The head crawled to it +and made its way to the shoulders where it settled itself. At +once the body sprang lightly erect. Another of those who had +accompanied them from the fields approached with the harness and +collar that had been taken from the dead body that the head had +formerly topped. The new body now appropriated these and the +hands deftly adjusted them. The creature was now as good as +before Tara of Helium had struck down its former body with her +slim blade. But there was a difference. Before it had been +male--now it was female. That, however, seemed to make no +difference to the head. In fact, Tara of Helium had noticed +during the scramble and the fight about her that sex differences +seemed of little moment to her captors. Males and females had +taken equal part in her pursuit, both were identically harnessed +and both carried swords, and she had seen as many females as +males draw their weapons at the moment that a quarrel between the +two factions seemed imminent. + +The girl was given but brief opportunity for further observation +of the pitiful creatures in the enclosure as her captor, after +having directed the others to return to the fields, led her +toward the tower, which they entered, passing into an apartment +about ten feet wide and twenty long, in one end of which was a +stairway leading to an upper level and in the other an opening to +a similar stairway leading downward. The chamber, though on a +level with the ground, was brilliantly lighted by windows in its +inner wall, the light coming from a circular court in the center +of the tower. The walls of this court appeared to be faced with +what resembled glazed, white tile and the whole interior of it +was flooded with dazzling light, a fact which immediately +explained to the girl the purpose of the glass prisms of which +the domes were constructed. The stairways themselves were +sufficient to cause remark, since in nearly all Barsoomian +architecture inclined runways are utilized for purposes of +communication between different levels, and especially is this +true of the more ancient forms and of those of remote districts +where fewer changes have come to alter the customs of antiquity. + +Down the stairway her captor led Tara of Helium. Down and down +through chambers still lighted from the brilliant well. +Occasionally they passed others going in the opposite direction +and these always stopped to examine the girl and ask questions of +her captor. + +"I know nothing but that she was found in the fields and that I +caught her after a fight in which she slew two rykors and in +which I slew a Moak, and that I take her to Luud, to whom, of +course, she belongs. If Luud wishes to question her that is for +Luud to do--not for me." Thus always he answered the curious. + +Presently they reached a room from which a circular tunnel led +away from the tower, and into this the creature conducted her. +The tunnel was some seven feet in diameter and flattened on the +bottom to form a walk. For a hundred feet from the tower it was +lined with the same tile-like material of the light well and +amply illuminated by reflected light from that source. Beyond it +was faced with stone of various shapes and sizes, neatly cut and +fitted together--a very fine mosaic without a pattern. There were +branches, too, and other tunnels which crossed this, and +occasionally openings not more than a foot in diameter; these +latter being usually close to the floor. Above each of these +smaller openings was painted a different device, while upon the +walls of the larger tunnels at all intersections and points of +convergence hieroglyphics appeared. These the girl could not read +though she guessed that they were the names of the tunnels, or +notices indicating the points to which they led. She tried to +study some of them out, but there was not a character that was +familiar to her, which seemed strange, since, while the written +languages of the various nations of Barsoom differ, it still is +true that they have many characters and words in common. + +She had tried to converse with her guard but he had not seemed +inclined to talk with her and she had finally desisted. She could +not but note that he had offered her no indignities, nor had he +been either unnecessarily rough or in any way cruel. The fact +that she had slain two of the bodies with her dagger had +apparently aroused no animosity or desire for revenge in the +minds of the strange heads that surmounted the bodies--even those +whose bodies had been killed. She did not try to understand it, +since she could not approach the peculiar relationship between +the heads and the bodies of these creatures from the basis of any +past knowledge or experience of her own. So far their treatment +of her seemed to augur naught that might arouse her fears. +Perhaps, after all, she had been fortunate to fall into the hands +of these strange people, who might not only protect her from +harm, but even aid her in returning to Helium. That they were +repulsive and uncanny she could not forget, but if they meant her +no harm she could, at least, overlook their repulsiveness. +Renewed hope aroused within her a spirit of greater cheerfulness, +and it was almost blithely now that she moved at the side of her +weird companion. She even caught herself humming a gay little +tune that was then popular in Helium. The creature at her side +turned its expressionless eyes upon her. + +"What is that noise that you are making?" it asked. + +"I was but humming an air," she replied. + +"'Humming an air,'" he repeated. "I do not know what you mean; +but do it again, I like it." + +This time she sang the words, while her companion listened +intently. His face gave no indication of what was passing in that +strange head. It was as devoid of expression as that of a spider. +It reminded her of a spider. When she had finished he turned +toward her again. + +"That was different," he said. "I liked that better, even, than +the other. How do you do it?" + +"Why," she said, "it is singing. Do you not know what song is?" + +"No," he replied. "Tell me how you do it." + +"It is difficult to explain," she told him. "since any +explanation of it presupposes some knowledge of melody and of +music, while your very question indicates that you have no +knowledge of either." + +"No," he said, "I do not know what you are talking about; but +tell me how you do it." + +"It is merely the melodious modulations of my voice," she +explained. "Listen!" and again she sang. + +"I do not understand," he insisted; "but I like it. Could you +teach me to do it?" + +"I do not know, but I shall be glad to try." + +"We will see what Luud does with you," he said. "If he does not +want you I will keep you and you shall teach me to make sounds +like that." + +At his request she sang again as they continued their way along +the winding tunnel, which was now lighted by occasional bulbs +which appeared to be similar to the radium bulbs with which she +was familiar and which were common to all the nations of Barsoom, +insofar as she knew, having been perfected at so remote a period +that their very origin was lost in antiquity. They consist, +usually, of a hemispherical bowl of heavy glass in which is +packed a compound containing what, according to John Carter, must +be radium. The bowl is then cemented into a metal plate with a +heavily insulated back and the whole affair set in the masonry of +wall or ceiling as desired, where it gives off light of greater +or less intensity, according to the composition of the filling +material, for an almost incalculable period of time. + +As they proceeded they met a greater number of the inhabitants of +this underground world, and the girl noted that among many of +these the metal and harness were more ornate than had been those +of the workers in the fields above. The heads and bodies, +however, were similar, even identical, she thought. No one +offered her harm and she was now experiencing a feeling of relief +almost akin to happiness, when her guide turned suddenly into an +opening on the right side of the tunnel and she found herself in +a large, well lighted chamber. + + + +CHAPTER V + +THE PERFECT BRAIN + +THE song that had been upon her lips as she entered died +there--frozen by the sight of horror that met her eyes. In the +center of the chamber a headless body lay upon the floor--a body +that had been partially devoured--while over and upon it crawled +a half a dozen heads upon their short, spider legs, and they tore +at the flesh of the woman with their chelae and carried the bits +to their awful mouths. They were eating human flesh--eating it +raw! + +Tara of Helium gasped in horror and turning away covered her eyes +with her palms. + +"Come!" said her captor. "What is the matter?" + +"They are eating the flesh of the woman," she whispered in tones +of horror. + +"Why not?" he inquired. "Did you suppose that we kept the rykor +for labor alone? Ah, no. They are delicious when kept and +fattened. Fortunate, too, are those that are bred for food, since +they are never called upon to do aught but eat." + +"It is hideous!" she cried. + +He looked at her steadily for a moment, but whether in surprise, +in anger, or in pity his expressionless face did not reveal. Then +he led her on across the room past the frightful thing, from +which she turned away her eyes. Lying about the floor near the +walls were half a dozen headless bodies in harness. These she +guessed had been abandoned temporarily by the feasting heads +until they again required their services. In the walls of this +room there were many of the small, round openings she had noticed +in various parts of the tunnels, the purpose of which she could +not guess. + +They passed through another corridor and then into a second +chamber, larger than the first and more brilliantly illuminated. +Within were several of the creatures with heads and bodies +assembled, while many headless bodies lay about near the walls. +Here her captor halted and spoke to one of the occupants of the +chamber. + +"I seek Luud," he said. "I bring to Luud a creature that I +captured in the fields above." + +The others crowded about to examine Tara of Helium. One of them +whistled, whereupon the girl learned something of the smaller +openings in the walls, for almost immediately there crawled from +them, like giant spiders, a score or more of the hideous heads. +Each sought one of the recumbent bodies and fastened itself in +place. Immediately the bodies reacted to the intelligent +direction of the heads. They arose, the hands adjusted the +leather collars and put the balance of the harness in order, then +the creatures crossed the room to where Tara of Helium stood. She +noted that their leather was more highly ornamented than that +worn by any of the others she had previously seen, and so she +guessed that these must be higher in authority than the others. +Nor was she mistaken. The demeanor of her captor indicated it. He +addressed them as one who holds intercourse with superiors. + +Several of those who examined her felt her flesh, pinching it +gently between thumb and forefinger, a familiarity that the girl +resented. She struck down their hands. "Do not touch me!" she +cried, imperiously, for was she not a princess of Helium? The +expression on those terrible faces did not change. She could not +tell whether they were angry or amused, whether her action had +filled them with respect for her, or contempt. Only one of them +spoke immediately. + +"She will have to be fattened more," he said. + +The girl's eyes went wide with horror. She turned upon her +captor. "Do these frightful creatures intend to devour me?" she +cried. + +"That is for Luud to say," he replied, and then he leaned closer +so that his mouth was near her ear. "That noise you made which +you called song pleased me," he whispered, "and I will repay you +by warning you not to antagonize these kaldanes. They are very +powerful. Luud listens to them. Do not call them frightful. They +are very handsome. Look at their wonderful trappings, their gold, +their jewels." + +"Thank you," she said. "You called them kaldanes--what does that +mean?" + +"We are all kaldanes," he replied. + +"You, too?" and she pointed at him, her slim finger directed +toward his chest. + +"No, not this," he explained, touching his body; "this is a +rykor; but this," and he touched his head, "is a kaldane. It is +the brain, the intellect, the power that directs all things. The +rykor," he indicated his body, "is nothing. It is not so much +even as the jewels upon our harness; no, not so much as the +harness itself. It carries us about. It is true that we would +find difficulty getting along without it; but it has less value +than harness or jewels because it is less difficult to +reproduce." He turned again to the other kaldanes. "Will you +notify Luud that I am here?" he asked. + +"Sept has already gone to Luud. He will tell him," replied one. +"Where did you find this rykor with the strange kaldane that +cannot detach itself?" + +The girl's captor narrated once more the story of her capture. He +stated facts just as they had occurred, without embellishment, +his voice as expressionless as his face, and his story was +received in the same manner that it was delivered. The creatures +seemed totally lacking in emotion, or, at least, the capacity to +express it. It was impossible to judge what impression the story +made upon them, or even if they heard it. Their protruding eyes +simply stared and occasionally the muscles of their mouths opened +and closed. Familiarity did not lessen the horror the girl felt +for them. The more she saw of them the more repulsive they +seemed. Often her body was shaken by convulsive shudders as she +looked at the kaldanes, but when her eyes wandered to the +beautiful bodies and she could for a moment expunge the heads +from her consciousness the effect was soothing and refreshing, +though when the bodies lay, headless, upon the floor they were +quite as shocking as the heads mounted on bodies. But by far the +most grewsome and uncanny sight of all was that of the heads +crawling about upon their spider legs. If one of these should +approach and touch her Tara of Helium was positive that she +should scream, while should one attempt to crawl up her +person--ugh! the very idea induced a feeling of faintness. + +Sept returned to the chamber. "Luud will see you and the captive. +Come!" he said, and turned toward a door opposite that through +which Tara of Helium had entered the chamber. "What is your +name?" His question was directed to the girl's captor. + +"I am Ghek, third foreman of the fields of Luud," he answered. + +"And hers?" + +"I do not know." + +"It makes no difference. Come!" + +The patrician brows of Tara of Helium went high. It made no +difference, indeed! She, a princess of Helium; only daughter of +The Warlord of Barsoom! + +"Wait!" she cried. "It makes much difference who I am. If you are +conducting me into the presence of your jed you may announce The +Princess Tara of Helium, daughter of John Carter, The Warlord of +Barsoom." + +"Hold your peace!" commanded Sept. "Speak when you are spoken to. +Come with me!" + +The anger of Tara of Helium all but choked her. "Come," +admonished Ghek, and took her by the arm, and Tara of Helium +came. She was naught but a prisoner. Her rank and titles meant +nothing to these inhuman monsters. They led her through a short, +S-shaped passageway into a chamber entirely lined with the white, +tile-like material with which the interior of the light wall was +faced. Close to the base of the walls were numerous smaller +apertures, circular in shape, but larger than those of similar +aspect that she had noted elsewhere. The majority of these +apertures were sealed. Directly opposite the entrance was one +framed in gold, and above it a peculiar device was inlaid in the +same precious metal. + +Sept and Ghek halted just within the room, the girl between them, +and all three stood silently facing the opening in the opposite +wall. On the floor beside the aperture lay a headless male body +of almost heroic proportions, and on either side of this stood a +heavily armed warrior, with drawn sword. For perhaps five minutes +the three waited and then something appeared in the opening. It +was a pair of large chelae and immediately thereafter there +crawled forth a hideous kaldane of enormous proportions. He was +half again as large as any that Tara of Helium had yet seen and +his whole aspect infinitely more terrible. The skin of the others +was a bluish gray--this one was of a little bluer tinge and the +eyes were ringed with bands of white and scarlet, as was its +mouth. + +From each nostril a band of white and one of scarlet extended +outward horizontally the width of the face. + +No one spoke or moved. The creature crawled to the prostrate body +and affixed itself to the neck. Then the two rose as one and +approached the girl. He looked at her and then he spoke to her +captor. + +"You are the third foreman of the fields of Luud?" he asked. + +"Yes, Luud; I am called Ghek." + +"Tell me what you know of this," and he nodded toward Tara of +Helium. + +Ghek did as he was bid and then Luud addressed the girl. + +"What were you doing within the borders of Bantoom?" he asked. + +"I was blown hither in a great storm that injured my flier and +carried me I knew not where. I came down into the valley at night +for food and drink. The banths came and drove me to the safety of +a tree, and then your people caught me as I was trying to leave +the valley. I do not know why they took me. I was doing no harm. +All I ask is that you let me go my way in peace." + +"None who enters Bantoom ever leaves," replied Luud. + +"But my people are not at war with yours. I am a princess of +Helium; my great-grandfather is a jeddak; my grandfather a jed; +and my father is Warlord of all Barsoom. You have no right to +keep me and I demand that you liberate me at once." + +"None who enters Bantoom ever leaves," repeated the creature +without expression. "I know nothing of the lesser creatures of +Barsoom, of whom you speak. There is but one high race--the race +of Bantoomians. All Nature exists to serve them. You shall do +your share, but not yet--you are too skinny. We shall have to put +some fat upon it, Sept. I tire of rykor. Perhaps this will have a +different flavor. The banths are too rank and it is seldom that +any other creature enters the valley. And you, Ghek; you shall be +rewarded. I shall promote you from the fields to the burrows. +Hereafter you shall remain underground as every Bantoomian longs +to. No more shall you be forced to endure the hated sun, or look +upon the hideous sky, or the hateful growing things that defile +the surface. For the present you shall look after this thing that +you have brought me, seeing that it sleeps and eats--and does +nothing else. You understand me, Ghek; nothing else!" + +"I understand, Luud," replied the other. + +"Take it away!" commanded the creature. + +Ghek turned and led Tara of Helium from the apartment. The girl +was horrified by contemplation of the fate that awaited her--a +fate from which it seemed, there was no escape. It was only too +evident that these creatures possessed no gentle or chivalric +sentiments to which she could appeal, and that she might escape +from the labyrinthine mazes of their underground burrows appeared +impossible. + +Outside the audience chamber Sept overtook them and conversed +with Ghek for a brief period, then her keeper led her through a +confusing web of winding tunnels until they came to a small +apartment. + +"We are to remain here for a while. It may be that Luud will send +for you again. If he does you will probably not be fattened--he +will use you for another purpose." It was fortunate for the +girl's peace of mind that she did not realize what he meant. +"Sing for me," said Ghek, presently. + +Tara of Helium did not feel at all like singing, but she sang, +nevertheless, for there was always the hope that she might escape +if given the opportuntiy and if she could win the friendship of +one of the creatures, her chances would be increased +proportionately. All during the ordeal, for such it was to the +overwrought girl, Ghek stood with his eyes fixed upon her. + +"It is wonderful," he said, when she had finished; "but I did not +tell Luud--you noticed that I did not tell Luud about it. Had he +known, he would have had you sing to him and that would have +resulted in your being kept with him that he might hear you sing +whenever he wished; but now I can have you all the time." + +"How do you know he would like my singing?" she asked. + +"He would have to," replied Ghek. "If I like a thing he has to +like it, for are we not identical--all of us?" + +"The people of my race do not all like the same things," said the +girl. + +"How strange!" commented Ghek. "All kaldanes like the same things +and dislike the same things. If I discover something new and like +it I know that all kaldanes will like it. That is how I know that +Luud would like your singing. You see we are all exactly alike." + +"But you do not look like Luud," said the girl. + +"Luud is king. He is larger and more gorgeously marked; but +otherwise he and I are identical, and why not? Did not Luud +produce the egg from which I hatched?" + +"What?" queried the girl; "I do not understand you." + +"Yes," explained Ghek, "all of us are from Luud's eggs, just as +all the swarm of Moak are from Moak's eggs." + +"Oh!" exclaimed Tara of Helium understandingly; "you mean that +Luud has many wives and that you are the offspring of one of +them." + +"No, not that at all," replied Ghek. "Luud has no wife. He lays +the eggs himself. You do not understand." + +Tara of Helium admitted that she did not. + +"I will try to explain, then," said Ghek, "if you will promise to +sing to me later." + +"I promise," she said. + +"We are not like the rykors," he began. "They are creatures of a +low order, like yourself and the banths and such things. We have +no sex--not one of us except our king, who is bi-sexual. He +produces many eggs from which we, the workers and the warriors, +are hatched; and one in every thousand eggs is another king egg, +from which a king is hatched. Did you notice the sealed openings +in the room where you saw Luud? Sealed in each of those is +another king. If one of them escaped he would fall upon Luud and +try to kill him and if he succeeded we should have a new king; +but there would be no difference. His name would be Luud and all +would go on as before, for are we not all alike? Luud has lived a +long time and has produced many kings, so he lets only a few live +that there may be a successor to him when he dies. The others he +kills." + +"Why does he keep more than one?" queried the girl. + +"Sometimes accidents occur," replied Ghek, "and all the kings +that a swarm has saved are killed. When this happens the swarm +comes and obtains another king from a neighboring swarm." + +"Are all of you the children of Luud?" she asked. + +"All but a few, who are from the eggs of the preceding king, as +was Luud; but Luud has lived a long time and not many of the +others are left." + +"You live a long time, or short?" Tara asked. + +"A very long time." + +"And the rykors, too; they live a long time?" + +"No; the rykors live for ten years, perhaps," he said, "if they +remain strong and useful. When they can no longer be of service +to us, either through age or sickness, we leave them in the +fields and the banths come at night and get them." + +"How horrible!" she exclaimed. + +"Horrible?" he repeated. "I see nothing horrible about that. + +The rykors are but brainless flesh. They neither see, nor feel, +nor hear. They can scarce move but for us. If we did not bring +them food they would starve to death. They are less deserving of +thought than our leather. All that they can do for themselves is +to take food from a trough and put it in their mouths, but with +us--look at them!" and he proudly exhibited the noble figure that +he surmounted, palpitant with life and energy and feeling. + +"How do you do it?" asked Tara of Helium. "I do not understand it +at all." + +"I will show you," he said, and lay down upon the floor. Then he +detached himself from the body, which lay as a thing dead. On his +spider legs he walked toward the girl. "Now look," he admonished +her. "Do you see this thing?" and he extended what appeared to be +a bundle of tentacles from the posterior part of his head. "There +is an aperture just back of the rykor's mouth and directly over +the upper end of his spinal column. Into this aperture I insert +my tentacles and seize the spinal cord. Immediately I control +every muscle of the rykor's body--it becomes my own, just as you +direct the movement of the muscles of your body. I feel what the +rykor would feel if he had a head and brain. If he is hurt, I +would suffer if I remained connected with him; but the instant +one of them is injured or becomes sick we desert it for another. +As we would suffer the pains of their physical injuries, +similarly do we enjoy the physical pleasures of the rykors. When +your body becomes fatigued you are comparatively useless; it is +sick, you are sick; if it is killed, you die. You are the slave +of a mass of stupid flesh and bone and blood. There is nothing +more wonderful about your carcass than there is about the carcass +of a banth. It is only your brain that makes you superior to the +banth, but your brain is bound by the limitations of your body. +Not so, ours. With us brain is everything. Ninety per centum of +our volume is brain. We have only the simplest of vital organs +and they are very small for they do not have to assist in the +support of a complicated system of nerves, muscles, flesh and +bone. We have no lungs, for we do not require air. Far below the +levels to which we can take the rykors is a vast network of +burrows where the real life of the kaldane is lived. There the +air-breathing rykor would perish as you would perish. There we +have stored vast quantities of food in hermetically sealed +chambers. It will last forever. Far beneath the surface is water +that will flow for countless ages after the surface water is +exhausted. We are preparing for the time we know must come--the +time when the last vestige of the Barsoomian atmosphere is +spent--when the waters and the food are gone. For this purpose +were we created, that there might not perish from the planet +Nature's divinest creation--the perfect brain." + +"But what purpose can you serve when that time comes?" asked the +girl. + +"You do not understand," he said. "It is too big for you to +grasp, but I will try to explain it. Barsoom, the moons, the sun, +the stars, were created for a single purpose. From the beginning +of time Nature has labored arduously toward the consummation of +this purpose. At the very beginning things existed with life, but +with no brain. Gradually rudimentary nervous systems and minute +brains evolved. Evolution proceeded. The brains became larger and +more powerful. In us you see the highest development; but there +are those of us who believe that there is yet another step--that +some time in the far future our race shall develop into the +super-thing--just brain. The incubus of legs and chelae and vital +organs will be removed. The future kaldane will be nothing but a +great brain. Deaf, dumb, and blind it will lie sealed in its +buried vault far beneath the surface of Barsoom--just a great, +wonderful, beautiful brain with nothing to distract it from +eternal thought." + +"You mean it will just lie there and think?" cried Tara of +Helium. + +"Just that!" he exclaimed. "Could aught be more wonderful?" + +"Yes," replied the girl, "I can think of a number of things that +would be infinitely more wonderful." + + + +CHAPTER VI + +IN THE TOILS OF HORROR + +WHAT the creature had told her gave Tara of Helium food for +thought. She had been taught that every created thing fulfilled +some useful purpose, and she tried conscientiously to discover +just what was the rightful place of the kaldane in the universal +scheme of things. She knew that it must have its place but what +that place was it was beyond her to conceive. She had to give it +up. They recalled to her mind a little group of people in Helium +who had forsworn the pleasures of life in the pursuit of +knowledge. They were rather patronizing in their relations with +those whom they thought not so intellectual. They considered +themselves quite superior. She smiled at recollection of a remark +her father had once made concerning them, to the effect that if +one of them ever dropped his egotism and broke it it would take a +week to fumigate Helium. Her father liked normal people--people +who knew too little and people who knew too much were equally a +bore. Tara of Helium was like her father in this respect and like +him, too, she was both sane and normal. + +Outside of her personal danger there was much in this strange +world that interested her. The rykors aroused her keenest pity, +and vast conjecture. How and from what form had they evolved? She +asked Ghek. + +"Sing to me again and I will tell you," he said. "If Luud would +let me have you, you should never die. I should keep you always +to sing to me." + +The girl marvelled at the effect her voice had upon the creature. +Somewhere in that enormous brain there was a chord that was +touched by melody. It was the sole link between herself and the +brain when detatched from the rykor. When it dominated the rykor +it might have other human instincts; but these she dreaded even +to think of. After she had sung she waited for Ghek to speak. For +a long time he was silent, just looking at her through those +awful eyes. + +"I wonder," he said presently, "if it might not be pleasant to be +of your race. Do you all sing?" + +"Nearly all, a little," she said; "but we do many other +interesting and enjoyable things. We dance and play and work and +love and sometimes we fight, for we are a race of warriors." + +"Love!" said the kaldane. "I think I know what you mean; but we, +fortunately, are above sentiment--when we are detached. But when +we dominate the rykor--ah, that is different, and when I hear you +sing and look at your beautiful body I know what you mean by +love. I could love you." + +The girl shrank from him. "You promised to tell me the origin of +the rykor," she reminded him. + +"Ages ago," he commenced, "our bodies were larger and our heads +smaller. Our legs were very weak and we could not travel fast or +far. There was a stupid creature that went upon four legs. It +lived in a hole in the ground, to which it brought its food, so +we ran our burrows into this hole and ate the food it brought; +but it did not bring enough for all--for itself and all the +kaldanes that lived upon it, so we had also to go abroad and get +food. This was hard work for our weak legs. Then it was that we +commenced to ride upon the backs of these primitive rykors. It +took many ages, undoubtedly, but at last came the time when the +kaldane had found means to guide the rykor, until presently the +latter depended entirely upon the superior brain of his master to +guide him to food. The brain of the rykor grew smaller as time +went on. His ears went and his eyes, for he no longer had use for +them--the kaldane saw and heard for him. By similar steps the +rykor came to go upon its hind feet that the kaldane might be +able to see farther. As the brain shrank, so did the head. The +mouth was the only feature of the head that was used and so the +mouth alone remains. Members of the red race fell into the hands +of our ancestors from time to time. They saw the beauties and the +advantages of the form that nature had given the red race over +that which the rykor was developing into. By intelligent crossing +the present rykor was achieved. He is really solely the product +of the super-intelligence of the kaldane--he is our body, to do +with as we see fit, just as you do what you see fit with your +body, only we have the advantage of possessing an unlimited +supply of bodies. Do you not wish that you were a kaldane?" + +For how long they kept her in the subterranean chamber Tara of +Helium did not know. It seemed a very long time. She ate and +slept and watched the interminable lines of creatures that passed +the entrance to her prison. There was a laden line passing from +above carrying food, food, food. In the other line they returned +empty handed. When she saw them she knew that it was daylight +above. When they did not pass she knew it was night, and that the +banths were about devouring the rykors that had been abandoned in +the fields the previous day. She commenced to grow pale and thin. +She did not like the food they gave her--it was not suited to her +kind--nor would she have eaten overmuch palatable food, for the +fear of becoming fat. The idea of plumpness had a new +significance here--a horrible significance. + +Ghek noted that she was growing thin and white. He spoke to her +about it and she told him that she could not thrive thus beneath +the ground--that she must have fresh air and sunshine, or she +would wither and die. Evidently he carried her words to Luud, +since it was not long after that he told her that the king had +ordered that she be confined in the tower and to the tower she +was taken. She had hoped against hope that this very thing might +result from her conversation with Ghek. Even to see the sun again +was something, but now there sprang to her breast a hope that she +had not dared to nurse before, while she lay in the terrible +labyrinth from which she knew she could never have found her way +to the outer world; but now there was some slight reason to hope. +At least she could see the hills and if she could see them might +there not come also the opportunity to reach them? If she could +have but ten minutes--just ten little minutes! The flier was +still there--she knew that it must be. Just ten minutes and she +would be free--free forever from this frightful place; but the +days wore on and she was never alone, not even for half of ten +minutes. Many times she planned her escape. Had it not been for +the banths it had been easy of accomplishment by night. Ghek +always detached his body then and sank into what seemed a +semi-comatose condition. It could not be said that he slept, or +at least it did not appear like sleep, since his lidless eyes +were unchanged; but he lay quietly in a corner. Tara of Helium +enacted a thousand times in her mind the scene of her escape. She +would rush to the side of the rykor and seize the sword that hung +in its harness. Before Ghek knew what she purposed, she would +have this and then before he could give an alarm she would drive +the blade through his hideous head. It would take but a moment to +reach the enclosure. The rykors could not stop her, for they had +no brains to tell them that she was escaping. She had watched +from her window the opening and closing of the gate that led from +the enclosure out into the fields and she knew how the great +latch operated. She would pass through and make a quick dash for +the hill. It was so near that they could not overtake her. It was +so easy! Or it would have been but for the banths! The banths at +night and the workers in the fields by day. + +Confined to the tower and without proper exercise or food, the +girl failed to show the improvement that her captors desired. +Ghek questioned her in an effort to learn why it was that she did +not grow round and plump; that she did not even look as well as +when they had captured her. His concern was prompted by repeated +inquiries on the part of Luud and finally resulted in suggesting +to Tara of Helium a plan whereby she might find a new opportunity +of escape. + +"I am accustomed to walking in the fresh air and the sunlight," +she told Ghek. "I cannot become as I was before if I am to be +always shut away in this one chamber, breathing poor air and +getting no proper exercise. Permit me to go out in the fields +every day and walk about while the sun is shining. Then, I am +sure, I shall become nice and fat." + +"You would run away," he said. + +"But how could I if you were always with me?" she asked. "And +even if I wished to run away where could I go? I do not know even +the direction of Helium. It must be very far. The very first +night the banths would get me, would they not?" + +"They would," said Ghek. "I will ask Luud about it." + +The following day he told her that Luud had said that she was to +be taken into the fields. He would try that for a time and see if +she improved. + +"If you do not grow fatter he will send for you anyway," said +Ghek; "but he will not use you for food." + +Tara of Helium shuddered. + +That day and for many days thereafter she was taken from the +tower, through the enclosure and out into the fields. Always was +she alert for an opportunity to escape; but Ghek was always close +by her side. It was not so much his presence that deterred her +from making the attempt as the number of workers that were always +between her and the hills where the flier lay. She could easily +have eluded Ghek, but there were too many of the others. And +then, one day, Ghek told her as he accompanied her into the open +that this would be the last time. + +"Tonight you go to Luud," he said. "I am sorry as I shall not +hear you sing again." + +"Tonight!" She scarce breathed the word, yet it was vibrant with +horror. + +She glanced quickly toward the hills. They were so dose! Yet +between were the inevitable workers--perhaps a score of them. + +"Let us walk over there?" she said, indicating them. "I should +like to see what they are doing." + +"It is too far," said Ghek. "I hate the sun. It is much +pleasanter here where I can stand beneath the shade of this +tree." + +"All right," she agreed; "then you stay here and I will walk +over. It will take me but a minute." + +"No," he answered. "I will go with you. You want to escape; but +you are not going to." + +"I cannot escape," she said. + +"I know it," agreed Ghek; "but you might try. I do not wish you +to try. Possibly it will be better if we return to the tower at +once. It would go hard with me should you escape." + +Tara of Helium saw her last chance fading into oblivion. There +would never be another after today. She cast about for some +pretext to lure him even a little nearer to the hills. + +"It is very little that I ask," she said. "Tonight you will want +me to sing to you. It will be the last time, if you do not let me +go and see what those kaldanes are doing I shall never sing to +you again." + +Ghek hesitated. "I will hold you by the arm all the time, then," +he said. + +"Why, of course, if you wish," she assented. "Come!" + +The two moved toward the workers and the hills. The little party +was digging tubers from the ground. She had noted this and that +nearly always they were stooped low over their work, the hideous +eyes bent upon the upturned soil. She led Ghek quite close to +them, pretending that she wished to see exactly how they did the +work, and all the time he held her tightly by her left wrist. + +"It is very interesting," she said, with a sigh, and then, +suddenly; "Look, Ghek!" and pointed quickly back in the direction +of the tower. The kaldane, still holding her turned half away +from her to look in the direction she had indicated and +simultaneously, with the quickness of a banth, she struck him +with her right fist, backed by every ounce of strength she +possessed--struck the back of the pulpy head just above the +collar. The blow was sufficient to accomplish her design, +dislodging the kaldane from its rykor and tumbling it to the +ground. Instantly the grasp upon her wrist relaxed as the body, +no longer controlled by the brain of Ghek, stumbled aimlessly +about for an instant before it sank to its knees and then rolled +over on its back; but Tara of Helium waited not to note the full +results of her act. The instant the fingers loosened upon her +wrist she broke away and dashed toward the hills. Simultaneously +a warning whistle broke from Ghek's lips and in instant response +the workers leaped to their feet, one almost in the girl's path. +She dodged the outstretched arms and was away again toward the +hills and freedom, when her foot caught in one of the hoe-like +instruments with which the soil had been upturned and which had +been left, half imbedded in the ground. For an instant she ran +on, stumbling, in a mad effort to regain her equilibrium, but the +upturned furrows caught her feet--again she stumbled and this +time went down, and as she scrambled to rise again a heavy body +fell upon her and seized her arms. A moment later she was +surrounded and dragged to her feet and as she looked around she +saw Ghek crawling to his prostrate rykor. A moment later he +advanced to her side. + +The hideous face, incapable of registering emotion, gave no clue +to what was passing in the enormous brain. Was he nursing +thoughts of anger, of hate, of revenge? Tara of Helium could not +guess, nor did she care. The worst had happened. She had tried to +escape and she had failed. There would never be another +opportunity. + +"Come!" said Ghek. "We will return to the tower." The deadly +monotone of his voice was unbroken. It was worse than anger, for +it revealed nothing of his intentions. It but increased her +horror of these great brains that were beyond the possibility of +human emotions. + +And so she was dragged back to her prison in the tower and Ghek +took up his vigil again, squatting by the doorway, but now he +carried a naked sword in his hand and did not quit his rykor, +only to change to another that be had brought to him when the +first gave indications of weariness. The girl sat looking at him. +He had not been unkind to her, but she felt no sense of +gratitude, nor, on the other hand, any sense of hatred. The +brains, incapable themselves of any of the finer sentiments, +awoke none in her. She could not feel gratitude, or affection, or +hatred of them. There was only the same unceasing sense of horror +in their presence. She had heard great scientists discuss the +future of the red race and she recalled that some had maintained +that eventually the brain would entirely dominate the man. There +would be no more instinctive acts or emotions, nothing would be +done on impulse; but on the contrary reason would direct our +every act. The propounder of the theory regretted that he might +never enjoy the blessings of such a state, which, he argued, +would result in the ideal life for mankind. + +Tara of Helium wished with all her heart that this learned +scientist might be here to experience to the full the practical +results of the fulfillment of his prophecy. Between the purely +physical rykor and the purely mental kaldane there was little +choice; but in the happy medium of normal, and imperfect man, as +she knew him, lay the most desirable state of existence. It would +have been a splendid object lesson, she thought, to all those +idealists who seek mass perfection in any phase of human +endeavor, since here they might discover the truth that absolute +perfection is as little to be desired as is its antithesis. + +Gloomy were the thoughts that filled the mind of Tara of Helium +as she awaited the summons from Luud--the summons that could mean +for her but one thing; death. She guessed why he had sent for her +and she knew that she must find the means for self-destruction +before the night was over; but still she clung to hope and to +life. She would not give up until there was no other way. She +startled Ghek once by exclaiming aloud, almost fiercely: "I still +live!" + +"What do you mean?" asked the kaldane. + +"I mean just what I say," she replied. "I still live and while I +live I may still find a way. Dead, there is no hope." + +"Find a way to what?" he asked. + +"To life and liberty and mine own people," she responded. + +"None who enters Bantoom ever leaves," he droned. + +She did not reply and after a time he spoke again. "Sing to me," +he said. + +It was while she was singing that four warriors came to take her +to Luud. They told Ghek that he was to remain where he was. + +"Why?" asked Ghek. + +"You have displeased Luud," replied one of the warriors. + +"How?" demanded Ghek. + +"You have demonstrated a lack of uncontaminated reasoning power. +You have permitted sentiment to influence you, thus demonstrating +that you are a defective. You know the fate of defectives." + +"I know the fate of defectives, but I am no defective," insisted +Ghek. + +"You permitted the strange noises which issue from her throat to +please and soothe you, knowing well that their origin and purpose +had nothing whatever to do with logic or the powers of reason. +This in itself constitutes an unimpeachable indictment of +weakness, Then, influenced doubtless by an illogical feeling of +sentiment, you permitted her to walk abroad in the fields to a +place where she was able to make an almost successful attmept to +escape. Your own reasoning power, were it not defective, would +convince you that you are unfit. The natural, and reasonable, +consequence is destruction. Therefore you will be destroyed in +such a way that the example will be beneficial to all other +kaldanes of the swarm of Luud. In the meantime you will remain +where you are." + +"You are right," said Ghek. "I will remain here until Luud sees +fit to destroy me in the most reasonable manner." + +Tara of Helium shot a look of amazement at him as they led her +from the chamber. Over her shoulder she called back to him: +"Remember, Ghek, you still live!" Then they led her along the +interminable tunnels to where Luud awaited her. + +When she was conducted into his presence he was squatting in a +corner of the chamber upon his six spidery legs. Near the +opposite wall lay his rykor, its beautiful form trapped in +gorgeous harness--a dead thing without a guiding kaldane. Luud +dismissed the warriors who had accompanied the prisoner. Then he +sat with his terrible eyes fixed upon her and without speaking +for some time. Tara of Helium could but wait. What was to come +she could only guess. When it came would be sufficiently the time +to meet it. There was no neccessity for anticipating the end. +Presently Luud spoke. + +"You think to escape," he said, in the deadly, expressionless +monotone of his kind--the only possible result of orally +expressing reason uninfluenced by sentiment. "You will not +escape. You are merely the embodiment of two imperfect things--an +imperfect brain and an imperfect body. The two cannot exist +together in perfection. There you see a perfect body." He pointed +toward the rykor. "It has no brain. Here," and he raised one of +his chelae to his head, "is the perfect brain. It needs no body +to function perfectly and properly as a brain. You would pit your +feeble intellect against mine! Even now you are planning to slay +me. If you are thwarted in that you expect to slay yourself. You +will learn the power of mind over matter. I am the mind. You are +the matter. What brain you have is too weak and ill-developed to +deserve the name of brain. You have permitted it to be weakened +by impulsive acts dictated by sentiment. It has no value. It has +practically no control over your existence. You will not kill me. +You will not kill yourself. When I am through with you you shall +be killed if it seems the logical thing to do. You have no +conception of the possibilities for power which lie in a +perfectly developed brain. Look at that rykor. He has no brain. +He can move but slightly of his own volition. An inherent +mechanical instinct that we have permitted to remain in him +allows him to carry food to his mouth; but he could not find food +for himself. We have to place it within his reach and always in +the same place. Should we put food at his feet and leave him +alone he would starve to death. But now watch what a real brain +may accomplish." + +He turned his eyes upon the rykor and squatted there glaring at +the insensate thing. Presently, to the girl's horror, the +headless body moved. It rose slowly to its feet and crossed the +room to Luud; it stooped and took the hideous head in its hands; +it raised the head and set it on its shoulders. + +"What chance have you against such power?" asked Luud. "As I did +with the rykor so can I do with you." + +Tara of Helium made no reply. Evidently no vocal reply was +necessary. + +"You doubt my ability!" stated Luud, which was precisely the +fact, though the girl had only thought it--she had not said it. + +Luud crossed the room and lay down. Then he detached himself from +the body and crawled across the floor until he stood directly in +front of the circular opening through which she had seen him +emerge the day that she had first been brought to his presence. +He stopped there and fastened his terrible eyes upon her. He did +not speak, but his eyes seemed to be boring straight to the +center of her brain. She felt an almost irresistible force urging +her toward the kaldane. She fought to resist it; she tried to +turn away her eyes, but she could not. They were held as in +horrid fascination upon the glittering, lidless orbs of the great +brain that faced her. Slowly, every step a painful struggle of +resistance, she moved toward the horrific monster. She tried to +cry aloud in an effort to awaken her numbing faculties, but no +sound passed her lips. If those eyes would but turn away, just +for an instant, she felt that she might regain the power to +control her steps; but the eyes never left hers. They seemed but +to burn deeper and deeper, gathering up every vestige of control +of her entire nervous system. + +As she approached the thing it backed slowly away upon its spider +legs. She noticed that its chelae waved slowly to and fro before +it as it backed, backed, backed, through the round aperture in +the wall. Must she follow it there, too? What new and nameless +horror lay concealed in that hidden chamber? No! she would not do +it. Yet before she reached the wall she found herself down and +crawling upon her hands and knees straight toward the hole from +which the two eyes still clung to hers. At the very threshold of +the opening she made a last, heroic stand, battling against the +force that drew her on; but in the end she succumbed. With a gasp +that ended in a sob Tara of Helium passed through the aperture +into the chamber beyond. + +The opening was but barely large enough to admit her. Upon the +opposite side she found herself in a small chamber. Before her +squatted Luud. Against the opposite wall lay a large and +beautiful male rykor. He was without harness or other trappings. + +"You see now," said Luud, "the futility of revolt." + +The words seemed to release her momentarily from the spell. +Quickly she turned away her eyes. + +"Look at me!" commanded Luud. + +Tara of Helium kept her eyes averted. She felt a new strength, or +at least a diminution of the creature's power over her. Had she +stumbled upon the secret of its uncanny domination over her will? +She dared not hope. With eyes averted she turned toward the +aperture through which those baleful eyes had drawn her. Again +Luud commanded her to stop, but the voice alone lacked all +authority to influence her. It was not like the eyes. She heard +the creature whistle and knew that it was summoning assistance, +but because she did not dare look toward it she did not see it +turn and concentrate its gaze upon the great, headless body lying +by the further wall. + +The girl was still slightly under the spell of the creature's +influence--she had not regained full and independent domination +of her powers. She moved as one in the throes of some hideous +nightmare--slowly, painfully, as though each limb was hampered by +a great weight, or as she were dragging her body through a +viscous fluid. The aperture was close, ah, so close, yet, +struggle as she would, she seemed to be making no appreciable +progress toward it. + +Behind her, urged on by the malevolent power of the great brain, +the headless body crawled upon all-fours toward her. At last she +had reached the aperture. Something seemed to tell her that once +beyond it the domination of the kaldane would be broken. She was +almost through into the adjoining chamber when she felt a heavy +hand close upon her ankle. The rykor had reached forth and seized +her, and though she struggled the thing dragged her back into the +room with Luud. It held her tight and drew her close, and then, +to her horror, it commenced to caress her. + +"You see now," she heard Luud's dull voice, "the futility of +revolt--and its punishment." + +Tara of Helium fought to defend herself, but pitifully weak were +her muscles against this brainless incarnation of brute power. +Yet she fought, fought on in the face of hopeless odds for the +honor of the proud name she bore--fought alone, she whom the +fighting men of a mighty empire, the flower of Martian chivalry, +would gladly have lain down their lives to save. + + + +CHAPTER VII + +A REPELLENT SIGHT + +THE cruiser Vanator careened through the tempest That she had not +been dashed to the ground, or twisted by the force of the +elements into tangled wreckage, was due entirely to the caprice +of Nature. For all the duration of the storm she rode, a helpless +derelict, upon those storm-tossed waves of wind. But for all the +dangers and vicissitudes they underwent, she and her crew might +have borne charmed lives up to within an hour of the abating of +the hurricane. It was then that the catastrophe occurred--a +catastrophe indeed to the crew of the Vanator and the kingdom of +Gathol. + +The men had been without food or drink since leaving Helium, and +they had been hurled about and buffeted in their lashings until +all were worn to exhaustion. There was a brief lull in the storm +during which one of the crew attempted to reach his quarters, +after releasing the lashings which had held him to the precarious +safety of the deck. The act in itself was a direct violation of +orders and, in the eyes of the other members of the crew, the +effect, which came with startling suddenness, took the form of a +swift and terrible retribution. Scarce had the man released the +safety snaps ere a swift arm of the storm-monster encircled the +ship, rolling it over and over, with the result that the +foolhardy warrior went overboard at the first turn. + +Unloosed from their lashing by the constant turning and twisting +of the ship and the force of the wind, the boarding and landing +tackle had been trailing beneath the keel, a tangled mass of +cordage and leather. Upon the occasions that the Vanator rolled +completely over, these things would be wrapped around her until +another revolution in the opposite direction, or the wind itself, +carried them once again clear of the deck to trail, whipping in +the storm, beneath the hurtling ship. + +Into this fell the body of the warrior, and as a drowning man +clutches at a straw so the fellow clutched at the tangled cordage +that caught him and arrested his fall. With the strength of +desperation he clung to the cordage, seeking frantically to +entangle his legs and body in it. With each jerk of the ship his +hand holds were all but torn loose, and though he knew that +eventually they would be and that he must be dashed to the ground +beneath, yet he fought with the madness that is born of +hopelessness for the pitiful second which but prolonged his +agony. + +It was upon this sight then that Gahan of Gathol looked, over the +edge of the careening deck of the Vanator, as he sought to learn +the fate of his warrior. Lashed to the gunwale close at hand a +single landing leather that had not fouled the tangled mass +beneath whipped free from the ship's side, the hook snapping at +its outer end. The Jed of Gathol grasped the situation in a +single glance. Below him one of his people looked into the eyes +of Death. To the jed's hand lay the means for succor. + +There was no instant's hesitation. Casting off his deck lashings, +he seized the landing leather and slipped over the ship's side. +Swinging like a bob upon a mad pendulum he swung far out and back +again, turning and twisting three thousand feet above the surface +of Barsoom, and then, at last, the thing he had hoped for +occurred. He was carried within reach of the cordage where the +warrior still clung, though with rapidly diminishing strength. +Catching one leg on a loop of the tangled strands Gahan pulled +himself close enough to seize another quite near to the fellow. +Clinging precariously to this new hold the jed slowly drew in the +landing leather, down which he had clambered until he could grasp +the hook at its end. This he fastened to a ring in the warrior's +harness, just before the man's weakened fingers slipped from +their hold upon the cordage. + +Temporarily, at least, he had saved the life of his subject, + +and now he turned his attention toward insuring his own safety. +Inextricably entangled in the mess to which he was clinging were +numerous other landing hooks such as he had attached to the +warrior's harness, and with one of these he sought to secure +himself until the storm should abate sufficiently to permit him +to climb to the deck, but even as he reached for one that swung +near him the ship was caught in a renewed burst of the storm's +fury, the thrashing cordage whipped and snapped to the lunging of +the great craft and one of the heavy metal hooks, lashing through +the air, struck the Jed of Gathol fair between the eyes. + +Momentarily stunned, Gahan's fingers slipped from their hold upon +the cordage and the man shot downward through the thin air of +dying Mars toward the ground three thousand feet beneath, while +upon the deck of the rolling Vanator his faithful warriors clung +to their lashings all unconscious of the fate of their beloved +leader; nor was it until more than an hour later, after the storm +had materially subsided, that they realized he was lost, or knew +the self-sacrificing heroism of the act that had sealed his doom. +The Vanator now rested upon an even keel as she was carried along +by a strong, though steady, wind. The warriors had cast off their +deck lashings and the officers were taking account of losses and +damage when a weak cry was heard from oversides, attracting their +attention to the man hanging in the cordage beneath the keel. +Strongs arms hoisted him to the deck and then it was that the +crew of the Vanator learned of the heroism of their jed and his +end. How far they had traveled since his loss they could only +vaguely guess, nor could they return in search of him in the +disabled condition of the ship. It was a saddened company that +drifted onward through the air toward whatever destination Fate +was to choose for them. + +And Gahan, Jed of Gathol--what of him? Plummet-like he fell for a +thousand feet and then the storm seized him in its giant clutch +and bore him far aloft again. As a bit of paper borne upon a gale +he was tossed about in mid-air, the sport and plaything of the +wind. Over and over it turned him and upward and downward it +carried him, but after each new sally of the element he was +brought nearer to the ground. The freaks of cyclonic storms are +the rule of cyclonic storms, demolish giant trees, and in the +same gust they transport frail infants for miles and deposit them +unharmed in their wake. + +And so it was with Gahan of Gathol. Expecting momentarily to be +dashed to destruction he presently found himself deposited gently +upon the soft, ochre moss of a dead sea-bottom, bodily no worse +off for his harrowing adventure than in the possession of a +slight swelling upon his forehead where the metal hook had struck +him. Scarcely able to believe that Fate had dealt thus gently +with him, the jed arose slowly, as though more than half +convinced that he should discover crushed and splintered bones +that would not support his weight. But he was intact. He looked +about him in a vain effort at orientation. The air was filled +with flying dust and debris. The Sun was obliterated. His vision +was confined to a radius of a few hundred yards of ochre moss and +dust-filled air. Five hundred yards away in any direction there +might have arisen the walls of a great city and he not known it. +It was useless to move from where he was until the air cleared, +since he could not know in what direction he was moving, and so +he stretched himself upon the moss and waited, pondering the fate +of his warriors and his ship, but giving little thought to his +own precarious situation. + +Lashed to his harness were his swords, his pistols, and a dagger, +and in his pocket-pouch a small quantity of the concentrated +rations that form a part of the equipment of the fighting men of +Barsoom. These things together with trained muscles, high +courage, and an undaunted spirit sufficed him for whatever +misadventures might lie between him and Gathol, which lay in what +direction he knew not, nor at what distance. + +The wind was falling rapidly and with it the dust that obscured +the landscape. That the storm was over he was convinced, but he +chafed at the inactivity the low visibility put upon him, nor did +conditions better materially before night fell, so that he was +forced to await the new day at the very spot at which the tempest +had deposited him. Without his sleeping silks and furs he spent a +far from comfortable night, and it was with feelings of unmixed +relief that he saw the sudden dawn burst upon him. The air was +now clear and in the light of the new day he saw an undulating +plain stretching in all directions about him, while to the +northwest there were barely discernible the outlines of low +hills. Toward the southeast of Gathol was such a country, and as +Gahan surmised the direction and the velocity of the storm to +have carried him somewhere in the vicinity of the country he +thought he recognized, he assumed that Gathol lay behind the +hills he now saw, whereas, in reality, it lay far to the +northeast. + +It was two days before Gahan had crossed the plain and reached +the summit of the hills from which he hoped to see his own +country, only to meet at last with disappointment. Before him +stretched another plain, of even greater proportions than that he +had but just crossed, and beyond this other hills. In one +material respect this plain differed from that behind him in that +it was dotted with occasional isolated hills. Convinced, however, +that Gathol lay somewhere in the direction of his search he +descended into the valley and bent his steps toward the +northwest. + +For weeks Gahan of Gathol crossed valleys and hills in search of +some familiar landmark that might point his way toward his native +land, but the summit of each succeeding ridge revealed but +another unfamiliar view. He saw few animals and no men, until he +finally came to the belief that he had fallen upon that fabled +area of ancient Barsoom which lay under the curse of her olden +gods--the once rich and fertile country whose people in their +pride and arrogance had denied the deities, and whose punishment +had been extermination. + +And then, one day, he scaled low hills and looked into an +inhabited valley--a valley of trees and cultivated fields and +plots of ground enclosed by stone walls surrounding strange +towers. He saw people working in the fields, but he did not rush +down to greet them. First he must know more of them and whether +they might be assumed to be friends or enemies. Hidden by +concealing shrubbery he crawled to a vantage point upon a hill +that projected further into the valley, + +and here he lay upon his belly watching the workers closest to +him. They were still quite a distance from him and he could not +be quite sure of them, but there was something verging upon the +unnatural about them. Their heads seemed out of proportion to +their bodies--too large. + +For a long time he lay watching them and ever more forcibly it +was borne in upon his consciousness that they were not as he, and +that it would be rash to trust himself among them. Presently he +saw a couple appear from the nearest enclosure and slowly +approach those who were working nearest to the hill where he lay +in hiding. Immediately he was aware that one of these differed +from all the others. Even at the greater distance he noted that +the head was smaller and as they approached, he was confident +that the harness of one of them was not as the harness of its +companion or of that of any of those who tilled the fields. + +The two stopped often, apparently in argument, as though one +would proceed in the direction that they were going while the +other demurred. But each time the smaller won reluctant consent +from the other, and so they came closer and closer to the last +line of workers toiling between the enclosure from which they had +come and the hill where Gahan of Gathol lay watching, and then +suddenly the smaller figure struck its companion full in the +face. Gahan, horrified, saw the latter's head topple from its +body, saw the body stagger and fall to the ground. The man half +rose from his concealment the better to view the happening in the +valley below. The creature that had felled its companion was +dashing madly in the direction of the hill upon which he was +hidden, it dodged one of the workers that sought to seize it. +Gahan hoped that it would gain its liberty, why he did not know +other than at closer range it had every appearance of being a +creature of his own race. Then he saw it stumble and go down and +instantly its pursuers were upon it. Then it was that Gahan's +eyes chanced to return to the figure of the creature the fugitive +had felled. + +What horror was this that he was witnessing? Or were his eyes +playing some ghastly joke upon him? No, impossible though it +was--it was true--the head was moving slowly to the fallen body. +It placed itself upon the shoulders, the body rose, and the +creature, seemingly as good as new, ran quickly to where its +fellows were dragging the hapless captive to its feet. + +The watcher saw the creature take its prisoner by the arm and +lead it back to the enclosure, and even across the distance that +separated them from him he could note dejection and utter +hopelessness in the bearing of the prisoner, and, too, he was +half convinced that it was a woman, perhaps a red Martian of his +own race. Could he be sure that this was true he must make some +effort to rescue her even though the customs of his strange world +required it only in case she was of his own country; but he was +not sure; she might not be a red Martian at all, or, if she were, +it was as possible that she sprang from an enemy people as not. +His first duty was to return to his own people with as little +personal risk as possible, and though the thought of adventure +stirred his blood he put the temptation aside with a sigh and +turned away from the peaceful and beautiful valley that he longed +to enter, for it was his intention to skirt its eastern edge and +continue his search for Gathol beyond. + +As Gahan of Gathol turned his steps along the southern slopes of +the hills that bound Bantoom upon the south and east, his +attention was attracted toward a small cluster of trees a short +distance to his right. The low sun was casting long shadows. It +would soon be night. The trees were off the path that he had +chosen and he had little mind to be diverted from his way; but as +he looked again he hesitated. There was something there besides +boles of trees, and underbrush. There were suggestions of +familiar lines of the handicraft of man. Gahan stopped and +strained his eyes in the direction of the thing that had arrested +his attention. No, he must be mistaken--the branches of the trees +and a low bush had taken on an unnatural semblance in the +horizontal rays of the setting sun. He turned and continued upon +his way; but as he cast another side glance in the direction of +the object of his interest, the sun's rays were shot back into +his eyes from a glistening point of radiance among the trees. + +Gahan shook his head and walked quickly toward the mystery, +determined now to solve it. The shining object still lured him on +and when he had come closer to it his eyes went wide in surprise, +for the thing they saw was naught else than the jewel-encrusted +emblem upon the prow of a small flier. Gahan, his hand upon his +short-sword, moved silently forward, but as he neared the craft +he saw that he had naught to fear, for it was deserted. Then he +turned his attention toward the emblem. As its significance was +flashed to his understanding his face paled and his heart went +cold--it was the insignia of the house of The Warlord of +Barsoom. Instantly he saw the dejected figure of the captive +being led back to her prison in the valley just beyond the hills. +Tara of Helium! And he had been so near to deserting her to her +fate. The cold sweat stood in beads upon his brow. + +A hasty examination of the deserted craft unfolded to the young +jed the whole tragic story. The same tempest that had proved his +undoing had borne Tara of Helium to this distant country. Here, +doubtless, she had landed in hope of obtaining food and water +since, without a propellor, she could not hope to reach her +native city, or any other friendly port, other than by the merest +caprice of Fate. The flier seemed intact except for the missing +propellor and the fact that it had been carefully moored in the +shelter of the clump of trees indicated that the girl had +expected to return to it, while the dust and leaves upon its deck +spoke of the long days, and even weeks, since she had landed. +Mute yet eloquent proofs, these things, that Tara of Helium was a +prisoner, and that she was the very prisoner whose bold dash for +liberty he had so recently witnessed he now had not the slightest +doubt. + +The question now revolved solely about her rescue. He knew to +which tower she had been taken--that much and no more. Of the +number, the kind, or the disposition of her captors he renew +nothing; nor did he care--for Tara of Helium he would face a +hostile world alone. Rapidly he considered several plans for +succoring her; but the one that appealed most strongly to him was +that which offered the greatest chance of escape for the girl +should he be successful in reaching her. His decision reached he +turned his attention quickly toward the flier. Casting off its +lashings he dragged it out from beneath the trees, and, mounting +to the deck tested out the various controls. The motor started at +a touch and purred sweetly, the buoyancy tanks were well stocked, +and the ship answered perfectly to the controls which regulated +her altitude. There was nothing needed but a propellor to make +her fit for the long voyage to Helium. Gahan shrugged +impatiently--there must not be a propellor within a thousand +haads. But what mattered it? The craft even without a propellor +would still answer the purpose his plan required of it--provided +the captors of Tara of Helium were a people without ships, and he +had seen nothing to suggest that they had ships. The architecture +of their towers and enclosures assured him that they had not. + +The sudden Barsoomian night had fallen. Cluros rode majestically +the high heavens. The rumbling roar of a banth reverberated among +the hills. Gahan of Gathol let the ship rise a few feet from the +ground, then, seizing a bow rope, he dropped over the side. To +tow the little craft was now a thing of ease, and as Gahan moved +rapidly toward the brow of the hill above Bantoom the flier +floated behind him as lightly as a swan upon a quiet lake. Now +down the hill toward the tower dimly visible in the moonlight the +Gatholian turned his steps. Closer behind him sounded the roar of +the hunting banth. He wondered if the beast sought him or was +following some other spoor. He could not be delayed now by any +hungry beast of prey, for what might that very instant be +befalling Tara of Helium he could not guess; and so he hastened +his steps. But closer and closer came the horrid screams of the +great carnivore, and now he heard the swift fall of padded feet +upon the hillside behind him. He glanced back just in time to see +the beast break into a rapid charge. His hand leaped to the hilt +of his long-sword, but he did not draw, for in the same instant +he saw the futility of armed resistance, since behind the first +banth came a herd of at least a dozen others. There was but a +single alternative to a futile stand and that he grasped in the +instant that he saw the overwhelming numbers of his antagonists. + +Springing lightly from the ground he swarmed up the rope toward +the bow of the flier. His weight drew the craft slightly lower +and at the very instant that the man drew himself to the deck at +the bow of the vessel, the leading banth sprang for the stern. +Gahan leaped to his feet and rushed toward the great beast in the +hope of dislodging it before it had succeeded in clambering +aboard. At the same instant he saw that others of the banths were +racing toward them with the quite evident intention of following +their leader to the ship's deck. Should they reach it in any +numbers he would be lost. There was but a single hope. Leaping +for the altitude control Gahan pulled it wide. Simultaneously +three banths leaped for the deck. The craft rose swiftly. Gahan +felt the impact of a body against the keel, followed by the soft +thuds of the great bodies as they struck the ground beneath. His +act had not been an instant too soon. And now the leader had +gained the deck and stood at the stern with glaring eyes and +snarling jaws. Gahan drew his sword. The beast, possibly +disconcerted by the novelty of its position, did not charge. +Instead it crept slowly toward its intended prey. The craft was +rising and Gahan placed a foot upon the control and stopped the +ascent. He did not wish to chance rising to some higher air +current that would bear him away. Already the craft was moving +slowly toward the tower, carried thither by the impetus of the +banth's heavy body leaping upon it from astern. + +The man watched the slow approach of the monster, the slavering +jowls, the malignant expression of the devilish face. The +creature, finding the deck stable, appeared to be gaining +confidence, and then the man leaped suddenly to one side of the +deck and the tiny flier heeled as suddenly in response. The banth +slipped and clutched frantically at the deck. Gahan leaped in +with his naked sword; the great beast caught itself and reared +upon its hind legs to reach forth and seize this presumptuous +mortal that dared question its right to the flesh it craved; and +then the man sprang to the opposite side of the deck. The banth +toppled sideways at the same instant that it attempted to spring; +a raking talon passed close to Gahan's head at the moment that +his sword lunged through the savage heart, and as the warrior +wrenched his blade from the carcass it slipped silently over the +side of the ship. + +A glance below showed that the vessel was drifting in the +direction of the tower to which Gahan had seen the prisoner led. +In another moment or two it would be directly over it. The man +sprang to the control and let the craft drop quickly toward the +ground where followed the banths, still hot for their prey. To +land outside the enclosure spelled certain death, while inside he +could see many forms huddled upon the ground as in sleep. The +ship floated now but a few feet above the wall of the enclosure. +There was nothing for it but to risk all on a bold bid for +fortune, or drift helplessly past without hope of returning +through the banth-infested valley, from many points of which he +could now hear the roars and growls of these fierce Barsoomian +lions. + +Slipping over the side Gahan descended by the trailing +anchor-rope until his feet touched the top of the wall, where he +had no difficulty in arresting the slow drifting of the ship. +Then he drew up the anchor and lowered it inside the enclosure. +Still there was no movement upon the part of the sleepers +beneath--they lay as dead men. Dull lights shone from openings in +the tower; but there was no sign of guard or waking inmate. +Clinging to the rope Gahan lowered himself within the enclosure, +where he had his first close view of the creatures lying there in +what he had thought sleep. With a half smothered exclamation of +horror the man drew back from the headless bodies of the rykors. +At first he thought them the corpses of decapitated humans like +himself, which was quite bad enough; but when he saw them move +and realized that they were endowed with life, his horror and +disgust became even greater. + +Here then was the explanation of the thing he had witnessed that +afternoon, when Tara of Helium had struck the back to its body. +And to think that the pearl of Helium was in the power of such +hideous things as these. Again the man shuddered, but he hastened +to make fast the flier, clamber again to its deck and lower it to +the floor of the enclosure. Then he strode toward a door in the +base of the tower, stepping lightly over the recumbent forms of +the unconscious rykors, and crossing the threshold disappeared +within. + + + +CHAPTER VIII + +CLOSE WORK + +GHEK, in his happier days third foreman of the fields of Luud, +sat nursing his anger and his humiliation. Recently something had +awakened within him the existence of which he had never before +even dreamed. Had the influence of the strange captive woman +aught to do with this unrest and dissatisfaction? He did not +know. He missed the soothing influence of the noise she called +singing. Could it be that there were other things more desirable +than cold logic and undefiled brain power? Was well balanced +imperfection more to be sought after then, than the high +development of a single characteristic? He thought of the great, +ultimate brain toward which all kaldanes were striving. It would +be deaf, and dumb, and blind. A thousand beautiful strangers +might sing and dance about it, but it could derive no pleasure +from the singing or the dancing since it would possess no +perceptive faculties. Already had the kaldanes shut themselves +off from most of the gratifications of the senses. Ghek wondered +if much was to be gained by denying themselves still further, and +with the thought came a question as to the whole fabric of their +theory. After all perhaps the girl was right; what purpose could +a great brain serve sealed in the bowels of the earth? + +And he, Ghek, was to die for this theory. Luud had decreed it. +The injustice of it overwhelmed him with rage. But he was +helpless. There was no escape. Beyond the enclosure the banths +awaited him; within, his own kind, equally as merciless and +ferocious. Among them there was no such thing as love, or +loyalty, or friendship--they were just brains. He might kill +Luud; but what would that profit him? Another king would be +loosed from his sealed chamber and Ghek would be killed. He did +not know it but he would not even have the poor satisfaction of +satisfied revenge, since he was not capable of feeling so +abstruse a sentiment. + +Ghek, mounted upon his rykor, paced the floor of the tower +chamber in which he had been ordered to remain. Ordinarily he +would have accepted the sentence of Luud with perfect equanimity, +since it was but the logical result of reason; but now it seemed +different. The stranger woman had bewitched him. Life appeared a +pleasant thing--there were great possibilities in it. The dream +of the ultimate brain had receded into a tenuous haze far in the +background of his thoughts. + +At that moment there appeared in the doorway of the chamber a red +warrior with naked sword. He was a male counterpart of the +prisoner whose sweet voice had undermined the cold, calculating +reason of the kaldane. + +"Silence!" admonished the newcomer, his straight brows gathered +in an ominous frown and the point of his longsword playing +menacingly before the eyes of the kaldane. "I seek the woman, +Tara of Helium. Where is she? If you value your life speak +quickly and speak the truth." + +If he valued his life! It was a truth that Ghek had but just +learned. He thought quickly. After all, a great brain is not +without its uses. Perhaps here lay escape from the sentence of +Luud. + +"You are of her kind?" he asked. "You come to rescue her?" + +"Yes." + +"Listen, then. I have befriended her, and because of this I am to +die. If I help you to liberate her, will you take me with you?" + +Gahan of Gathol eyed the weird creature from crown to foot--the +perfect body, the grotesque head, the expressionless face. Among +such as these had the beautiful daughter of Helium been held +captive for days and weeks. + +"If she lives and is unharmed," he said, "I will take you with +us." + +"When they took her from me she was alive and unharmed," replied +Ghek. "I cannot say what has befallen her since. Luud sent for +her." + +"Who is Luud? Where is he? Lead me to him." Gahan spoke quickly +in tones vibrant with authority. + +"Come, then," said Ghek, leading the way from the apartment and +down a stairway toward the underground burrows of the kaldanes. +"Luud is my king. I will take you to his chambers." + +"Hasten!" urged Gahan. + +"Sheathe your sword," warned Ghek, "so that should we pass others +of my kind I may say to them that you are a new prisoner with +some likelihood of winning their belief." + +Gahan did as he was bid, but warning the kaldane that his hand +was ever ready at his dagger's hilt. + +"You need have no fear of treachery," said Ghek "My only hope of +life lies in you." + +"And if you fail me," Gahan admonished him, "I can promise you as +sure a death as even your king might guarantee you." + +Ghek made no reply, but moved rapidly through the winding +subterranean corridors until Gahan began to realize how truly was +he in the hands of this strange monster. If the fellow should +prove false it would profit Gahan nothing to slay him, since +without his guidance the red man might never hope to retrace his +way to the tower and freedom. + +Twice they met and were accosted by other kaldanes; but in both +instances Ghek's simple statement that he was taking a new +prisoner to Luud appeared to allay all suspicion, and then at +last they came to the ante-chamber of the king. + +"Here, now, red man, thou must fight, if ever," whispered Ghek. +"Enter there!" and he pointed to a doorway before them. + +"And you?" asked Gahan, still fearful of treachery. + +"My rykor is powerful," replied the kaldane. "I shall accompany +you and fight at your side. As well die thus as in torture later +at the will of Luud. Come!" + +But Gahan had already crossed the room and entered the chamber +beyond. Upon the opposite side of the room was a circular opening +guarded by two warriors. Beyond this opening he could see two +figures struggling upon the floor, and the fleeting glimpse he +had of one of the faces suddenly endowed him with the strength of +ten warriors and the ferocity of a wounded banth. It was Tara of +Helium, fighting for her honor or her life. + +The warriors, startled by the unexpected appearance of a red man, +stood for a moment in dumb amazement, and in that moment Gahan of +Gathol was upon them, and one was down, a sword-thrust through +its heart. + +"Strike at the heads," whispered the voice of Ghek in Gahan's +ear. The latter saw the head of the fallen warrior crawl quickly +within the aperture leading to the chamber where he had seen Tara +of Helium in the clutches of a headless body. Then the sword of +Ghek struck the kaldane of the remaining warrior from its rykor +and Gahan ran his sword through the repulsive head. + +Instantly the red warrior leaped for the aperture, while close +behind him came Ghek. + +"Look not upon the eyes of Luud," warned the kaldane, "or you are +lost." + +Within the chamber Gahan saw Tara of Helium in the clutches of a +mighty body, while close to the wall upon the opposite side of +the apartment crouched the hideous, spider-like Luud. Instantly +the king realized the menace to himself and sought to fasten his +eyes upon the eyes of Gahan, and in doing so he was forced to +relax his concentration upon the rykor in whose embraces Tara +struggled, so that almost immediately the girl found herself able +to tear away from the awful, headless thing. + +As she rose quickly to her feet she saw for the first time the +cause of the interruption of Luud's plans. A red warrior! Her +heart leaped in rejoicing and thanksgiving. What miracle of fate +had sent him to her? She did not recognize him, though, this +travel-worn warrior in the plain harness which showed no single +jewel. How could she have guessed him the same as the scintillant +creature of platinum and diamonds that she had seen for a brief +hour under such different circumstances at the court of her +august sire? + +Luud saw Ghek following the strange warrior into the chamber. +"Strike him down, Ghek!" commanded the king. "Strike down the +stranger and your life shall be yours." + +Gahan glanced at the hideous face of the king. + +"Seek not his eyes," screamed Tara in warning; but it was too +late. Already the horrid hypnotic gaze of the king kaldane had +seized upon the eyes of Gahan. The red warrior hesitated in his +stride. His sword point drooped slowly toward the floor. Tara +glanced toward Ghek. She saw the creature glaring with his +expressionless eyes upon the broad back of the stranger. She saw +the hand of the creature's rykor creeping stealthily toward the +hilt of its dagger. + +And then Tara of Helium raised her eyes aloft and poured forth +the notes of Mars' most beautiful melody, The Song of Love. + +Ghek drew his dagger from its sheath. His eyes turned toward the +singing girl. Luud's glance wavered from the eyes of the man to +the face of Tara, and the instant that the latter's song +distracted his attention from his victim, Gahan of Gathol shook +himself and as with a supreme effort of will forced his eyes to +the wall above Luud's hideous head. Ghek raised his dagger above +his right shoulder, took a single quick step forward, and struck. +The girl's song ended in a stifled scream as she leaped forward +with the evident intention of frustrating the kaldane's purpose; +but she was too late, and well it was, for an instant later she +realized the purpose of Ghek's act as she saw the dagger fly from +his hand, pass Gahan's shoulder, and sink full to the guard in +the soft face of Luud. + +"Come!" cried the assassin, "we have no time to lose," and +started for the aperture through which they had entered the +chamber; but in his stride he paused as his glance was arrested +by the form of the mighty rykor Iying prone upon the floor--a +king's rykor; the most beautiful, the most powerful, that the +breeders of Bantoom could produce. Ghek realized that in his +escape he could take with him but a single rykor, and there was +none in Bantoom that could give him better service than this +giant Iying here. Quickly he transferred himself to the shoulders +of the great, inert hulk. Instantly the latter was transformed to +a sentient creature, filled with pulsing life and alert energy. + +"Now," said the kaldane, "we are ready. Let whoso would revert to +nothingness impede me." Even as he spoke he stooped and crawled +into the chamber beyond, while Gahan, taking Tara by the arm, +motioned her to follow. The girl looked him full in the eyes for +the first time. "The Gods of my people have been kind," she said; +"you came just in time. To the thanks of Tara of Helium shall be +added those of The Warlord of Barsoom and his people. Thy reward +shall surpass thy greatest desires." + +Gahan of Gathol saw that she did not recognize him, and quickly +he checked the warm greeting that had been upon his lips. + +"Be thou Tara of Helium or another," he replied, "is immaterial, +to serve thus a red woman of Barsoom is in itself sufficient +reward." + +As they spoke the girl was making her way through the aperture +after Ghek, and presently all three had quitted the apartments of +Luud and were moving rapidly along the winding corridors toward +the tower. Ghek repeatedly urged them to greater speed, but the +red men of Barsoom were never keen for retreat, and so the two +that followed him moved all too slowly for the kaldane. + +"There are none to impede our progress," urged Gahan, "so why tax +the strength of the Princess by needless haste?" + +"I fear not so much opposition ahead, for there are none there +who know the thing that has been done in Luud's chambers this +night; but the kaldane of one of the warriors who stood guard +before Luud's apartment escaped, and you may count it a truth +that he lost no time in seeking aid. That it did not come before +we left is due solely to the rapidity with which events +transpired in the king's* room. Long before we reach the tower +they will be upon us from behind, and that they will come in +numbers far superior to ours and with great and powerful rykors I +well know." + +* I have used the word king in describing the rulers or chiefs of +the Bantoomian swarms, since the word itself is unpronounceable +in English, nor does jed or jeddak of the red Martian tongue have +quite the same meaning as the Bantoomian word, which has +practically the same significance as the English word queen as +applied to the leader of a swarm of bees.--J. C. + + +Nor was Ghek's prophecy long in fulfilment. Presently the sounds +of pursuit became audible in the distant clanking of +accouterments and the whistling call to arms of the kaldanes. + +"The tower is but a short distance now," cried Ghek. "Make haste +while yet you may, and if we can barricade it until the sun rises +we may yet escape." + +"We shall need no barricades for we shall not linger in the +tower," replied Gahan, moving more rapidly as he realized from +the volume of sound behind them the great number of their +pursuers. + +"But we may not go further than the tower tonight," insisted +Ghek. "Beyond the tower await the banths and certain death." + +Gahan smiled. "Fear not the banths," he assured them. "Can we but +reach the enclosure a little ahead of our pursuers we have naught +to fear from any evil power within this accursed valley." + +Ghek made no reply, nor did his expressionless face denote either +belief or skepticism. The girl looked into the face of the man +questioningly. She did not understand. + +"Your flier," he said. "It is moored before the tower." + +Her face lighted with pleasure and relief. "You found it!" she +exclaimed. "What fortune!" + +"It was fortune indeed," he replied. "Since it not only told that +you were a prisoner here; but it saved me from the banths as I +was crossing the valley from the hills to this tower into which I +saw them take you this afternoon after your brave attempt at +escape." + +"How did you know it was I?" she asked, her puzzled brows +scanning his face as though she sought to recall from past +memories some scene in which he figured. + +"Who is there but knows of the loss of the Princess Tara of +Helium?" he replied. "And when I saw the device upon your flier I +knew at once, though I had not known when I saw you among them in +the fields a short time earlier. Too great was the distance for +me to make certain whether the captive was man or woman. Had +chance not divulged the hiding place of your flier I had gone my +way, Tara of Helium. I shudder to think how close was the chance +at that. But for the momentary shining of the sun upon the +emblazoned device on the prow of your craft, I had passed on +unknowing." + +The girl shuddered. "The Gods sent you," she whispered +reverently. + +"The Gods sent me, Tara of Helium," he replied. + +"But I do not recognize you," she said. "I have tried to recall +you, but I have failed. Your name, what may it be?" + +"It is not strange that so great a princess should not recall the +face of every roving panthan of Barsoom," he replied with a +smile. + +"But your name?" insisted the girt + +"Call me Turan," replied the man, for it had come to him that if +Tara of Helium recognized him as the man whose impetuous avowal +of love had angered her that day in the gardens of The Warlord, +her situation might be rendered infinitely less bearable than +were she to believe him a total stranger. Then, too, as a simple +panthan* he might win a greater degree of her confidence by his +loyalty and faithfulness and a place in her esteem that seemed to +have been closed to the resplendent Jed of Gathol. + +* Soldier of Fortune; free-lance warrior. + + +They had reached the tower now, and as they entered it from the +subterranean corridor a backward glance revealed the van of their +pursuers--hideous kaldanes mounted upon swift and powerful +rykors. As rapidly as might be the three ascended the stairways +leading to the ground level, but after them, even more rapidly, +came the minions of Luud. Ghek led the way, grasping one of +Tara's hands the more easily to guide and assist her, while Gahan +of Gathol followed a few paces in their rear, his bared sword +ready for the assault that all realized must come upon them now +before ever they reached the enclosure and the flier. + +"Let Ghek drop behind to your side," said Tara, "and fight with +you." + +"There is but room for a single blade in these narrow corridors," +replied the Gatholian. "Hasten on with Ghek and win to the deck +of the flier. Have your hand upon the control, and if I come far +enough ahead of these to reach the dangling cable you can rise at +my word and I can clamber to the deck at my leisure; but if one +of them emerges first into the enclosure you will know that I +shall never come, and you will rise quickly and trust to the Gods +of our ancestors to give you a fair breeze in the direction of a +more hospitable people." + +Tara of Helium shook her head. "We will not desert you, panthan," +she said. + +Gahan, ignoring her reply, spoke above her head to Ghek. "Take +her to the craft moored within the enclosure," he commanded. "It +is our only hope. Alone, I may win to its deck; but have I to +wait upon you two at the last moment the chances are that none of +us will escape. Do as I bid." His tone was haughty and +arrogant--the tone of a man who has commanded other men from +birth, and whose will has been law. Tara of Helium was both +angered and vexed. She was not accustomed to being either +commanded or ignored, but with all her royal pride she was no +fool, and she knew the man was right, that he was risking his +life to save hers, so she hastened on with Ghek as she was bid, +and after the first flush of anger she smiled, for the +realization came to her that this fellow was but a rough +untutored warrior, skilled not in the finer usages of cultured +courts. His heart was right, though; a brave and loyal heart, and +gladly she forgave him the offense of his tone and manner. But +what a tone! Recollection of it gave her sudden pause. Panthans +were rough and ready men. Often they rose to positions of high +command, so it was not the note of authority in the fellow's +voice that seemed remarkable; but something else--a quality that +was indefinable, yet as distinct as it was familiar. She had +heard it before when the voice of her great-grandsire, Tardos +Mors, Jeddak of Helium, had risen in command; and in the voice of +her grandfather, Mors Kajak, the jed; and in the ringing tones of +her illustrious sire, John Carter, Warlord of Barsoom, when he +addressed his warriors. + +But now she had no time to speculate upon so trivial a thing, for +behind her came the sudden clash of arms and she knew that Turan, +the panthan, had crossed swords with the first of their pursuers. +As she glanced back he was still visible beyond a turn in the +stairway, so that she could see the quick swordplay that ensued. +Daughter of a world's greatest swordsman, she knew well the +finest points of the art. She saw the clumsy attack of the +kaldane and the quick, sure return of the panthan. As she looked +down from above upon his almost naked body, trapped only in the +simplest of unadorned harness, and saw the play of the lithe +muscles beneath the red-bronze skin, and witnessed the quick and +delicate play of his sword point, to her sense of obligation was +added a spontaneous admission of admiration that was but the +natural tribute of a woman to skill and bravery and, perchance, +some trifle to manly symmetry and strength. + +Three times the panthan's blade changed its position--once to +fend a savage cut; once to feint; and once to thrust. And as he +withdrew it from the last position the kaldane rolled lifeless +from its stumbling rykor and Turan sprang quickly down the steps +to engage the next behind, and then Ghek had drawn Tara upward +and a turn in the stairway shut the battling panthan from her +view; but still she heard the ring of steel on steel, the clank +of accouterments and the shrill whistling of the kaldanes. Her +heart moved her to turn back to the side of her brave defender; +but her judgment told her that she could serve him best by being +ready at the control of the flier at the moment he reached the +enclosure. + + + +CHAPTER IX + +ADRIFT OVER STRANGE REGIONS + +PRESENTLY Ghek pushed aside a door that opened from the stairway, +and before them Tara saw the moonlight flooding the walled court +where the headless rykors lay beside their feeding-troughs. She +saw the perfect bodies, muscled as the best of her father's +fighting men, and the females whose figures would have been the +envy of many of Helium's most beautiful women. Ah, if she could +but endow these with the power to act! Then indeed might the +safety of the panthan be assured; but they were only poor lumps +of clay, nor had she the power to quicken them to life. Ever must +they lie thus until dominated by the cold, heartless brain of the +kaldane. The girl sighed in pity even as she shuddered in disgust +as she picked her way over and among the sprawled creatures +toward the flier. + +Quickly she and Ghek mounted to the deck after the latter had +cast off the moorings. Tara tested the control, raising and +lowering the ship a few feet within the walled space. It +responded perfectly. Then she lowered it to the ground again and +waited. From the open doorway came the sounds of conflict, now +nearing them, now receding. The girl, having witnessed her +champion's skill, had little fear of the outcome. Only a single +antagonist could face him at a time upon the narrow stairway, he +had the advantage of position and of the defensive, and he was a +master of the sword while they were clumsy bunglers by +comparison. Their sole advantage was in their numbers, unless +they might find a way to come upon him from behind. + +She paled at the thought. Could she have seen him she might have +been further perturbed, for he took no advantage of many +opportunities to win nearer the enclosure. He fought coolly, but +with a savage persistence that bore little semblance to purely +defensive action. Often he clambered over the body of a fallen +foe to leap against the next behind, and once there lay five dead +kaldanes behind him, so far had he pushed back his antagonists. +They did not know it; these kaldanes that he fought, nor did the +girl awaiting him upon the flier, but Gahan of Gathol was engaged +in a more alluring sport than winning to freedom, for he was +avenging the indignities that had been put upon the woman he +loved; but presently he realized that he might be jeopardizing +her safety uselessly, and so he struck down another before him +and turning leaped quickly up the stairway, while the leading +kaldanes slipped upon the brain-covered floor and stumbled in +pursuit. + +Gahan reached the enclosure twenty paces ahead of them and raced +toward the flier. "Rise!" he shouted to the girl. "I will ascend +the cable." + +Slowly the small craft rose from the ground as Gahan leaped the +inert bodies of the rykors lying in his path. The first of the +pursuers sprang from the tower just as Gahan seized the trailing +rope. + +"Faster!" he shouted to the girl above, "or they will drag us +down!" But the ship seemed scarcely to move, though in reality +she was rising as rapidly as might have been expected of a +one-man flier carrying a load of three. Gahan swung free above +the top of the wall, but the end of the rope still dragged the +ground as the kaldanes reached it. They were pouring in a steady +stream from the tower into the enclosure. The leader seized the +rope. + +"Quick!" he cried. "Lay hold and we will drag them down." + +It needed but the weight of a few to accomplish his design. The +ship was stopped in its flight and then, to the horror of the +girl, she felt it being dragged steadily downward. Gahan, too, +realized the danger and the necessity for instant action. +Clinging to the rope with his left hand, he had wound a leg about +it, leaving his right hand free for his long-sword which he had +not sheathed. A downward cut clove the soft head of a kaldane, +and another severed the taut rope beneath the panthan's feet. The +girl heard a sudden renewal of the shrill whistling of her foes, +and at the same time she realized that the craft was rising +again. Slowly it drifted upward, out of reach of the enemy, and a +moment later she saw the figure of Turan clamber over the side. +For the first time in many weeks her heart was filled with the +joy of thanksgiving; but her first thought was of another. + +"You are not wounded?" she asked. + +'No, Tara of Helium," he replied. "They were scarce worth the +effort of my blade, and never were they a menace to me because of +their swords." + +"They should have slain you easily," said Ghek. "So great and +highly developed is the power of reason among us that they should +have known before you struck just where, logically, you must seek +to strike, and so they should have been able to parry your every +thrust and easily find an opening to your heart." + +"But they did not, Ghek," Gahan reminded him. "Their theory of +development is wrong, for it does not tend toward a perfectly +balanced whole. You have developed the brain and neglected the +body and you can never do with the hands of another what you can +do with your own hands. Mine are trained to the sword--every +muscle responds instantly and accurately, and almost +mechanically, to the need of the instant. I am scarcely +objectively aware that I think when I fight, so quickly does my +point take advantage of every opening, or spring to my defense if +I am threatened that it is almost as though the cold steel had +eyes and brains. You, with your kaldane brain and your rykor +body, never could hope to achieve in the same degree of +perfection those things that I can achieve. Development of the +brain should not be the sum total of human endeavor. The richest +and happiest peoples will be those who attain closest to +well-balanced perfection of both mind and body, and even these +must always be short of perfection. In absolute and general +perfection lies stifling monotony and death. Nature must have +contrasts; she must have shadows as well as high lights; sorrow +with happiness; both wrong and right; and sin as well as virtue." + +"Always have I been taught differently," replied Ghek; "but since +I have known this woman and you, of another race, I have come to +believe that there may be other standards fully as high and +desirable as those of the kaldanes. At least I have had a glimpse +of the thing you call happiness and I realize that it may be good +even though I have no means of expressing it. I cannot laugh nor +smile, and yet within me is a sense of contentment when this +woman sings--a sense that seems to open before me wondrous vistas +of beauty and unguessed pleasure that far transcend the cold joys +of a perfectly functioning brain. I would that I had been born of +thy race." + +Caught by a gentle current of air the flier was drifting slowly +toward the northeast across the valley of Bantoom. Below them lay +the cultivated fields, and one after another they passed over the +strange towers of Moak and Nolach and the other kings of the +swarms that inhabited this weird and terrible land. Within each +enclosure surrounding the towers grovelled the rykors, repellent, +headless things, beautiful yet hideous. + +"A lesson, those," remarked Gahan, indicating the rykors in an +enclosure above which they were drifting at the time, "to that +fortunately small minority of our race which worships the flesh +and makes a god of appetite. You know them, Tara of Helium; they +can tell you exactly what they had at the midday meal two weeks +ago, and how the loin of the thoat should be prepared, and what +drink should be served with the rump of the zitidar." + +Tara of Helium laughed. "But not one of them could tell you the +name of the man whose painting took the Jeddak's Award in The +Temple of Beauty this year," she said. "Like the rykors, their +development has not been balanced." + +"Fortunate indeed are those in which there is combined a little +good and a little bad, a little knowledge of many things outside +their own callings, a capacity for love and a capacity for hate, +for such as these can look with tolerance upon all, unbiased by +the egotism of him whose head is so heavy on one side that all +his brains run to that point." + +As Gahan ceased speaking Ghek made a little noise in his throat +as one does who would attract attention. "You speak as one who +has thought much upon many subjects. Is it, then, possible that +you of the red race have pleasure in thought? Do you know aught +of the joys of introspection? Do reason and logic form any part +of your lives?" + +"Most assuredly," replied Gahan, "but not to the extent of +occupying all our time--at least not objectively. You, Ghek, are +an example of the egotism of which I spoke. Because you and your +kind devote your lives to the worship of mind, you believe that +no other created beings think. And possibly we do not in the +sense that you do, who think only of yourselves and your great +brains. We think of many things that concern the welfare of a +world. Had it not been for the red men of Barsoom even the +kaldanes had perished from the planet, for while you may live +without air the things upon which you depend for existence +cannot, and there had been no air in sufficient quantities upon +Barsoom these many ages had not a red man planned and built the +great atmosphere plant which gave new life to a dying world. + +"What have all the brains of all the kaldanes that have ever + +lived done to compare with that single idea of a single red man?" + +Ghek was stumped. Being a kaldane he knew that brains spelled the +sum total of universal achievement, but it had never occurred to +him that they should be put to use in practical and profitable +ways. He turned away and looked down upon the valley of his +ancestors across which he was slowly drifting, into what unknown +world? He should be a veritable god among the underlings, he +knew; but somehow a doubt assailed him. It was evident that these +two from that other world were ready to question his preeminence. +Even through his great egotism was filtering a suspicion that +they patronized him; perhaps even pitied him. Then he began to +wonder what was to become of him. No longer would he have many +rykors to do his bidding. Only this single one and when it died +there could not be another. When it tired, Ghek must lie almost +helpless while it rested. He wished that he had never seen this +red woman. She had brought him only discontent and dishonor and +now exile. Presently Tara of Helium commenced to hum a tune and +Ghek, the kaldane, was content. + +Gently they drifted beneath the hurtling moons above the mad +shadows of a Martian night. The roaring of the banths came in +diminishing volume to their ears as their craft passed on beyond +the boundaries of Bantoom, leaving behind the terrors of that +unhappy land. But to what were they being borne? The girl looked +at the man sitting cross-legged upon the deck of the tiny flier, +gazing off into the night ahead, apparently absorbed in thought. + +"Where are we?" she asked. "Toward what are we drifting?" + +Turan shrugged his broad shoulders. "The stars tell me that we +are drifting toward the northeast," he replied, "but where we +are, or what lies in our path I cannot even guess. A week since I +could have sworn that I knew what lay behind each succeeding +ridge that I approached; but now I admit in all humility that I +have no conception of what lies a mile in any direction. Tara of +Helium, I am lost, and that is all that I can tell you." + +He was smiling and the girl smiled back at him. There was a +slightly puzzled expression on her face--there was something +tantalizingly familiar about that smile of his. She had met many +a panthan--they came and went, following the fighting of a +world--but she could not place this one. + +"From what country are you, Turan?" she asked suddenly. + +"Know you not, Tara of Helium," he countered, "that a panthan has +no country? Today he fights beneath the banner of one master, +tomorrow beneath that of another." + +"But you must own allegiance to some country when you are not +fighting," she insisted. "What banner, then, owns you now?" + +He rose and stood before her, then, bowing low. "And I am +acceptable," he said, "I serve beneath the banner of the daughter +of The Warlord now--and forever." + +She reached forth and touched his arm with a slim brown hand. +"Your services are accepted," she said; "and if ever we reach +Helium I promise that your reward shall be all that your heart +could desire." + +"I shall serve faithfully, hoping for that reward," he said; +but Tara of Helium did not guess what was in his mind, thinking +rather that he was mercenary. For how could the proud daughter of +The Warlord guess that a simple panthan aspired to her hand and +heart? + +The dawn found them moving rapidly over an unfamiliar landscape. +The wind had increased during the night and had borne them far +from Bantoom. The country below them was rough and inhospitable. +No water was visible and the surface of the ground was cut by +deep gorges, while nowhere was any but the most meager vegetation +discernible. They saw no life of any nature, nor was there any +indication that the country could support life. For two days they +drifted over this horrid wasteland. They were without food or +water and suffered accordingly. Ghek had temporarily abandoned +his rykor after enlisting Turan's assistance in lashing it safely +to the deck. The less he used it the less would its vitality be +spent. Already it was showing the effects of privation. Ghek +crawled about the vessel like a great spider--over the side, down +beneath the keel, and up over the opposite rail. He seemed +equally at home one place as another. For his companions, +however, the quarters were cramped, for the deck of a one-man +flier is not intended for three. + +Turan sought always ahead for signs of water. Water they must +have, or that water-giving plant which makes life possible upon +many of the seemingly arid areas of Mars; but there was neither +the one nor the other for these two days and now the third night +was upon them. The girl did not complain, but Turan knew that she +must be suffering and his heart was heavy within him. Ghek +suffered least of all, and he explained to them that his kind +could exist for long periods without food or water. Turan almost +cursed him as he saw the form of Tara of Helium slowly wasting +away before his eyes, while the hideous kaldane seemed as full of +vitality as ever. + +"There are circumstances," remarked Ghek, "under which a gross +and material body is less desirable than a highly developed +brain." + +Turan looked at him, but said nothing. Tara of Helium smiled +faintly. "One cannot blame him," she said, "were we not a bit +boastful in the pride of our superiority? When our stomachs were +filled," she added. + +"Perhaps there is something to be said for their system," Turan +admitted. "If we could but lay aside our stomachs when they cried +for food and water I have no doubt but that we should do so." + +"I should never miss mine now," assented Tara; "it is mighty poor +company." + +A new day had dawned, revealing a less desolate country and +renewing again the hope that had been low within them. Suddenly +Turan leaned forward, pointing ahead. + +"Look, Tara of Helium!" he cried. "A city! As I am Ga--as I am +Turan the panthan, a city." + +Far in the distance the domes and walls and slender towers of a +city shone in the rising sun. Quickly the man seized the control +and the ship dropped rapidly behind a low range of intervening +hills, for well Turan knew that they must not be seen until they +could discover whether friend or foe inhabited the strange city. +Chances were that they were far from the abode of friends and so +must the panthan move with the utmost caution; but there was a +city and where a city was, was water, even though it were a +deserted city, and food if it were inhabited. + +To the red man food and water, even in the citadel of an enemy, +meant food and drink for Tara of Helium. He would accept it from +friends or he would take it from enemies. Just so long as it was +there he would have it--and there was shown the egotism of the +fighting man, though Turan did not see it, nor Tara who came from +a long line of fighting men; but Ghek might have smiled had he +known how. + +Turan permitted the flier to drift closer behind the screening +hills, and then when he could advance no farther without fear of +discovery, he dropped the craft gently to ground in a little +ravine, and leaping over the side made her fast to a stout tree. +For several moments they discussed their plans--whether it would +be best to wait where they were until darkness hid their +movements and then approach the city in search of food and water, +or approach it now, taking advantage of what cover they could, +until they could glean something of the nature of its +inhabitants. + +It was Turan's plan which finally prevailed. They would approach +as close as safety dictated in the hope of finding water outside +the city; food, too, perhaps. If they did not they could at least +reconnoiter the ground by daylight, and then when night came +Turan could quickly come close to the city and in comparative +safety prosecute his search for food and drink. + +Following the ravine upward they finally topped the summit of the +ridge, from which they had an excellent view of that part of the +city which lay nearest them, though themselves hidden by the +brush behind which they crouched. Ghek had resumed his rykor, +which had suffered less than either Tara or Turan through their +enforced fast. + +The first glance at the city, now much closer than when they had +first discovered it, revealed the fact that it was inhabited. +Banners and pennons broke from many a staff. People were moving +about the gate before them. The high white walls were paced by +sentinels at far intervals. Upon the roofs of higher buildings +the women could be seen airing the sleeping silks and furs. Turan +watched it all in silence for some time. + +"I do not know them," he said at last. "I cannot guess what city +this may be. But it is an ancient city. Its people have no fliers +and no firearms. It must be old indeed." + +"How do you know they have not these things?" asked the girl. + +"There are no landing-stages upon the roofs--not one that can be +seen from here; while were we looking similarly at Helium we +would see hundreds. And they have no firearms because their +defenses are all built to withstand the attack of spear and +arrow, with spear and arrow. They are an ancient people." + +"If they are ancient perhaps they are friendly," suggested the +girl. "Did we not learn as children in the history of our planet +that it was once peopled by a friendly, peace-loving race?" + +"But I fear they are not as ancient as that," replied Turan, + +laughing. "It has been long ages since the men of Barsoom loved +peace." + +"My father loves peace," returned the girl. + +"And yet he is always at war," said the man. + +She laughed. "But he says he likes peace." + +"We all like peace," he rejoined; "peace with honor; but our +neighbors will not let us have it, and so we must fight." + +"And to fight well men must like to fight," she added. + +"And to like to fight they must know how to fight," he said, "for +no man likes to do the thing that he does not know how to do +well." + +"Or that some other man can do better than he." + +"And so always there will be wars and men will fight," he +concluded, "for always the men with hot blood in their veins will +practice the art of war." + +"We have settled a great question," said the girl, smiling; "but +our stomachs are still empty." + +"Your panthan is neglecting his duty," replied Turan; "and how +can he with the great reward always before his eyes!" + +She did not guess in what literal a sense he spoke. + +"I go forthwith," he continued, "to wrest food and drink from the +ancients." + +"No," she cried, laying a hand upon his arm, "not yet. They would +slay you or make you prisoner. You are a brave panthan and a +mighty one, but you cannot overcome a city singlehanded." + +She smiled up into his face and her hand still lay upon his arm. +He felt the thrill of hot blood coursing through his veins. He +could have seized her in his arms and crushed her to him. There +was only Ghek the kaldane there, but there was something stronger +within him that restrained his hand. Who may define it--that +inherent chivalry that renders certain men the natural protectors +of women? + +From their vantage point they saw a body of armed warriors ride +forth from the gate, and winding along a well-beaten road pass +from sight about the foot of the hill from which they watched. +The men were red, like themselves, and they rode the small saddle +thoats of the red race. Their trappings were barbaric and +magnificent, and in their head-dress were many feathers as had +been the custom of ancients. They were armed with swords and long +spears and they rode almost naked, their bodies being painted in +ochre and blue and white. There were, perhaps, a score of them in +the party and as they galloped away on their tireless mounts they +presented a picture at once savage and beautiful. + +"They have the appearance of splendid warriors," said Turan. "I +have a great mind to walk boldly into their city and seek +service." + +Tara shook her head. "Wait," she admonished. "What would I do +without you, and if you were captured how could you collect your +reward?" + +"I should escape," he said. "At any rate I shall try it," and he +started to rise. + +"You shall not," said the girl, her tone all authority. + +The man looked at her quickly--questioningly. + +"You have entered my service," she said, a trifle haughtily. + +"You have entered my service for hire and you shall do as I bid +you." + +Turan sank down beside her again with a half smile upon his lips. +"It is yours to command, Princess," he said. + +The day passed. Ghek, tiring of the sunlight, had deserted his +rykor and crawled down a hole he had discovered close by. Tara +and Turan reclined beneath the scant shade of a small tree. They +watched the people coming and going through the gate. The party +of horsemen did not return. A small herd of zitidars was driven +into the city during the day, and once a caravan of broad-wheeled +carts drawn by these huge animals wound out of the distant +horizon and came down to the city. It, too, passed from their +sight within the gateway. Then darkness came and Tara of Helium +bid her panthan search for food and drink; but she cautioned him +against attempting to enter the city. Before he left her he bent +and kissed her hand as a warrior may kiss the hand of his queen. + + + +CHAPTER X + +ENTRAPPED + +TURAN the panthan approached the strange city under cover of the +darkness. He entertained little hope of finding either food or +water outside the wall, but he would try and then, if he failed, +he would attempt to make his way into the city, for Tara of +Helium must have sustenance and have it soon. He saw that the +walls were poorly sentineled, but they were sufficiently high to +render an attempt to scale them foredoomed to failure. Taking +advantage of underbrush and trees, Turan managed to reach the +base of the wall without detection. Silently he moved north past +the gateway which was closed by a massive gate which effectively +barred even the slightest glimpse within the city beyond. It was +Turan's hope to find upon the north side of the city away from +the hills a level plain where grew the crops of the inhabitants, +and here too water from their irrigating system, but though he +traveled far along that seemingly interminable wall he found no +fields nor any water. He searched also for some means of ingress +to the city, yet here, too, failure was his only reward, and now +as he went keen eyes watched him from above and a silent stalker +kept pace with him for a time upon the summit of the wall; but +presently the shadower descended to the pavement within and +hurrying swiftly raced ahead of the stranger without. + +He came presently to a small gate beside which was a low building +and before the doorway of the building a warrior standing guard. +He spoke a few quick words to the warrior and then entered the +building only to return almost immediately to the street, +followed by fully forty warriors. Cautiously opening the gate the +fellow peered carefully along the wall upon the outside in the +direction from which he had come. Evidently satisfied, he issued +a few words of instruction to those behind him, whereupon half +the warriors returned to the interior of the building, while the +other half followed the man stealthily through the gateway where +they crouched low among the shrubbery in a half circle just north +of the gateway which they had left open. Here they waited in +utter silence, nor had they long to wait before Turan the panthan +came cautiously along the base of the wall. To the very gate he +came and when he found it and that it was open he paused for a +moment, listening; then he approached and looked within. Assured +that there was none within sight to apprehend him he stepped +through the gateway into the city. + +He found himself in a narrow street that paralleled the wall. +Upon the opposite side rose buildings of an architecture unknown +to him, yet strangely beautiful. While the buildings were packed +closely together there seemed to be no two alike and their fronts +were of all shapes and heights and of many hues. The skyline was +broken by spire and dome and minaret and tall, slender towers, +while the walls supported many a balcony and in the soft light of +Cluros, the farther moon, now low in the west, he saw, to his +surprise and consternation, the figures of people upon the +balconies. Directly opposite him were two women and a man. They +sat leaning upon the rail of the balcony looking, apparently, +directly at him; but if they saw him they gave no sign. + +Turan hesitated a moment in the face of almost certain discovery +and then, assured that they must take him for one of their own +people, he moved boldly into the avenue. Having no idea of the +direction in which he might best hope to find what he sought, and +not wishing to arouse suspicion by further hesitation, he turned +to the left and stepped briskly along the pavement with the +intention of placing himself as quickly as possible beyond the +observation of those nocturnal watchers. He knew that the night +must be far spent; and so he could not but wonder why people +should sit upon their balconies when they should have been asleep +among their silks and furs. At first he had thought them the late +guests of some convivial host; but the windows behind them were +shrouded in darkness and utter quiet prevailed, quite upsetting +such a theory. And as he proceeded he passed many another group +sitting silently upon other balconies. They paid no attention to +him, seeming not even to note his passing. Some leaned with a +single elbow upon the rail, their chins resting in their palms; +others leaned upon both arms across the balcony, looking down +into the street, while several that he saw held musical +instruments in their hands, but their fingers moved not upon the +strings. + +And then Turan came to a point where the avenue turned to the +right, to skirt a building that jutted from the inside of the +city wall, and as he rounded the corner he came full upon two +warriors standing upon either side of the entrance to a building +upon his right. It was impossible for them not to be aware of his +presence, yet neither moved, nor gave other evidence that they +had seen him. He stood there waiting, his hand upon the hilt of +his long-sword, but they neither challenged nor halted him. Could +it be that these also thought him one of their own kind? Indeed +upon no other grounds could he explain their inaction. + +As Turan had passed through the gateway into the city and taken +his unhindered way along the avenue, twenty warriors had entered +the city and closed the gate behind them, and then one had taken +to the wall and followed along its summit in the rear of Turan, +and another had followed him along the avenue, while a third had +crossed the street and entered one of the buildings upon the +opposite side. + +The balance of them, with the exception of a single sentinel +beside the gate, had re-entered the building from which they had +been summoned. They were well built, strapping, painted fellows, +their naked figures covered now by gorgeous robes against the +chill of night. As they spoke of the stranger they laughed at the +ease with which they had tricked him, and were still laughing as +they threw themselves upon their sleeping silks and furs to +resume their broken slumber. It was evident that they constituted +a guard detailed for the gate beside which they slept, and it was +equally evident that the gates were guarded and the city watched +much more carefully than Turan had believed. Chagrined indeed had +been the Jed of Gathol had he dreamed that he was being so neatly +tricked. + +As Turan proceeded along the avenue he passed other sentries +beside other doors but now he gave them small heed, since they +neither challenged nor otherwise outwardly noted his passing; but +while at nearly every turn of the erratic avenue he passed one or +more of these silent sentinels he could not guess that he had +passed one of them many times and that his every move was watched +by silent, clever stalkers. Scarce had he passed a certain one of +these rigid guardsmen before the fellow awoke to sudden life, +bounded across the avenue, entered a narrow opening in the outer +wall where he swiftly followed a corridor built within the wall +itself until presently he emerged a little distance ahead of +Turan, where he assumed the stiff and silent attitude of a +soldier upon guard. Nor did Turan know that a second followed in +the shadows of the buildings behind him, nor of the third who +hastened ahead of him upon some urgent mission. + +And so the panthan moved through the silent streets of the +strange city in search of food and drink for the woman he loved. +Men and women looked down upon him from shadowy balconies, but +spoke not; and sentinels saw him pass and did not challenge. +Presently from along the avenue before him came the familiar +sound of clanking accouterments, the herald of marching warriors, +and almost simultaneously he saw upon his right an open doorway +dimly lighted from within. It was the only available place where +he might seek to hide from the approaching company, and while he +had passed several sentries unquestioned he could scarce hope to +escape scrutiny and questioning from a patrol, as he naturally +assumed this body of men to be. + +Inside the doorway he discovered a passage turning abruptly to +the right and almost immediately thereafter to the left. There +was none in sight within and so he stepped cautiously around the +second turn the more effectually to be hidden from the street. +Before him stretched a long corridor, dimly lighted like the +entrance. Waiting there he heard the party approach the building, +he heard someone at the entrance to his hiding place, and then he +heard the door past which he had come slam to. He laid his hand +upon his sword, expecting momentarily to hear footsteps +approaching along the corridor; but none came. He approached the +turn and looked around it; the corridor was empty to the closed +door. Whoever had closed it had remained upon the outside. + +Turan waited, listening. He heard no sound. Then he advanced to +the door and placed an ear against it. All was silence in the +street beyond. A sudden draft must have closed the door, or +perhaps it was the duty of the patrol to see to such things. It +was immaterial. They had evidently passed on and now he would +return to the street and continue upon his way. Somewhere there +would be a public fountain where he could obtain water, and the +chance of food lay in the strings of dried vegetables and meat +which hung before the doorways of nearly every Barsoomian home of +the poorer classes that he had ever seen. It was this district he +was seeking, and it was for this reason his search had led him +away from the main gate of the city which he knew would not be +located in a poor district. + +He attempted to open the door only to find that it resisted his +every effort--it was locked upon the outside. Here indeed was a +sorry contretemps. Turan the panthan scratched his head. "Fortune +frowns upon me," he murmured; but beyond the door, Fate, in the +form of a painted warrior, stood smiling. Neatly had he tricked +the unwary stranger. The lighted doorway, the marching +patrol--these had been planned and timed to a nicety by the third +warrior who had sped ahead of Turan along another avenue, and the +stranger had done precisely what the fellow had thought he would +do--no wonder, then, that he smiled. + +This exit barred to him Turan turned back into the corridor. He +followed it cautiously and silently. Occasionally there was a +door on one side or the other. These he tried only to find each +securely locked. The corridor wound more erratically the farther +he advanced. A locked door barred his way at its end, but a door +upon his right opened and he stepped into a dimly-lighted +chamber, about the walls of which were three other doors, each of +which he tried in turn. Two were locked; the other opened upon a +runway leading downward. It was spiral and he could see no +farther than the first turn. A door in the corridor he had +quitted opened after he had passed, and the third warrior stepped +out and followed after him. A faint smile still lingered upon the +fellow's grim lips. + +Turan drew his short-sword and cautiously descended. At the +bottom was a short corridor with a closed door at the end. He +approached the single heavy panel and listened. No sound came to +him from beyond the mysterious portal. Gently he tried the door, +which swung easily toward him at his touch. Before him was a +low-ceiled chamber with a dirt floor. Set in its walls were +several other doors and all were closed. As Turan stepped +cautiously within, the third warrior descended the spiral runway +behind him. The panthan crossed the room quickly and tried a +door. It was locked. He heard a muffled click behind him and +turned about with ready sword. He was alone; but the door through +which he had entered was closed--it was the click of its lock +that he had heard. + +With a bound he crossed the room and attempted to open it; but to +no avail. No longer did he seek silence, for he knew now that the +thing had gone beyond the sphere of chance. He threw his weight +against the wooden panel; but the thick skeel of which it was +constructed would have withstood a battering ram. From beyond +came a low laugh. + +Rapidly Turan examined each of the other doors. They were all +locked. A glance about the chamber revealed a wooden table and a +bench. Set in the walls were several heavy rings to which rusty +chains were attached--all too significant of the purpose to which +the room was dedicated. In the dirt floor near the wall were two +or three holes resembling the mouths of burrows--doubtless the +habitat of the giant Martian rat. He had observed this much when +suddenly the dim light was extinguished, leaving him in darkness +utter and complete. Turan, groping about, sought the table and +the bench. Placing the latter against the wall he drew the table +in front of him and sat down upon the bench, his long-sword +gripped in readiness before him. At least they should fight +before they took him. + +For some time he sat there waiting for he knew not what. No sound +penetrated to his subterranean dungeon. He slowly revolved in his +mind the incidents of the evening--the open, unguarded gate; the +lighted doorway--the only one he had seen thus open and lighted +along the avenue he had followed; the advance of the warriors at +precisely the moment that he could find no other avenue of escape +or concealment; the corridors and chambers that led past many +locked doors to this underground prison leaving no other path for +him to pursue. + +"By my first ancestor!" he swore; "but it was simple and I a +simpleton. They tricked me neatly and have taken me without +exposing themselves to a scratch; but for what purpose?" + +He wished that he might answer that question and then his +thoughts turned to the girl waiting there on the hill beyond the +city for him--and he would never come. He knew the ways of the +more savage peoples of Barsoom. No, he would never come, now. He +had disobeyed her. He smiled at the sweet recollection of those +words of command that had fallen from her dear lips. He had +disobeyed her and now he had lost the reward. + +But what of her? What now would be her fate--starving before a +hostile city with only an inhuman kaldane for company? Another +thought--a horrid thought--obtruded itself upon him. She had told +him of the hideous sights she had witnessed in the burrows of the +kaldanes and he knew that they ate human flesh. Ghek was +starving. Should he eat his rykor he would be helpless; +but--there was sustenance there for them both, for the rykor and +the kaldane. Turan cursed himself for a fool. Why had he left +her? Far better to have remained and died with her, ready always +to protect her, than to have left her at the mercy of the hideous +Bantoomian. + +Now Turan detected a heavy odor in the air. It oppressed him with +a feeling of drowsiness. He would have risen to fight off the +creeping lethargy, but his legs seemed weak, so that he sank +again to the bench. Presently his sword slipped from his fingers +and he sprawled forward upon the table his head resting upon his +arms. + + +Tara of Helium, as the night wore on and Turan did not return, +became more and more uneasy, and when dawn broke with no sign of +him she guessed that he had failed. Something more than her own +unhappy predicament brought a feeling of sorrow to her heart--of +sorrow and loneliness. She realized now how she had come to +depend upon this panthan not only for protection but for +companionship as well. She missed him, and in missing him +realized suddenly that he had meant more to her than a mere hired +warrior. It was as though a friend had been taken from her--an +old and valued friend. She rose from her place of concealment +that she might have a better view of the city. + +U-Dor, dwar of the 8th Utan of O-Tar, Jeddak of Manator, rode +back in the early dawn toward Manator from a brief excursion to a +neighboring village. As he was rounding the hills south of the +city, his keen eyes were attracted by a slight movement among the +shrubbery close to the summit of the nearest hill. He halted his +vicious mount and watched more closely. He saw a figure rise +facing away from him and peer down toward Manator beyond the +hill. + +"Come!" he signalled to his followers, and with a word to this +thoat turned the beast at a rapid gallop up the hillside. In his +wake swept his twenty savage warriors, the padded feet of their +mounts soundless upon the soft turf. It was the rattle of +sidearms and harness that brought Tara of Helium suddenly about, +facing them. She saw a score of warriors with couched lances +bearing down upon her. + +She glanced at Ghek. What would the spiderman do in this +emergency? She saw him crawl to his rykor and attach himself. +Then he arose, the beautiful body once again animated and alert. +She thought that the creature was preparing for flight. Well, it +made little difference to her. Against such as were streaming up +the hill toward them a single mediocre swordsman such as Ghek was +worse than no defense at all. + +"Hurry, Ghek!" she admonished him. "Back into the hills! You may +find there a hiding-place;" but the creature only stepped between +her and the oncoming riders, drawing his long-sword. + +"It is useless, Ghek," she said, when she saw that he intended to +defend her. "What can a single sword accomplish against such +odds?" + +"I can die but once," replied the kaldane. "You and your panthan +saved me from Luud and I but do what your panthan would do were +he here to protect you." + +"It is brave, but it is useless," she replied. "Sheathe your +sword. They may not intend us harm." + +Ghek let the point of his weapon drop to the ground, but he did +not sheathe it, and thus the two stood waiting as U-Dor the dwar +stopped his thoat before them while his twenty warriors formed a +rough circle about. For a long minute U-Dor sat his mount in +silence, looking searchingly first at Tara of Helium and then at +her hideous companion. + +"What manner of creature are you?" he asked presently. "And what +do you before the gates of Manator?" + +"We are from far countries," replied the girl, "and we are lost +and starving. We ask only food and rest and the privilege to go +our way seeking our own homes." + +U-Dor smiled a grim smile. "Manator and the hills which guard it +alone know the age of Manator," he said; "yet in all the ages +that have rolled by since Manator first was, there be no record +in the annals of Manator of a stranger departing from Manator." + +"But I am a princess," cried the girl haughtily, "and my country +is not at war with yours. You must give me and my companions aid +and assist us to return to our own land. It is the law of +Barsoom." + +"Manator knows only the laws of Manator," replied U-Dor; "but +come. You shall go with us to the city, where you, being +beautiful, need have no fear. I, myself, will protect you if +O-Tar so decrees. And as for your companion--but hold! You said +'companions'--there are others of your party then?" + +"You see what you see," replied Tara haughtily. + +"Be that as it may," said U-Dor. "If there be more they shall not +escape Manator; but as I was saying, if your companion fights +well he too may live, for O-Tar is just, and just are the laws of +Manator. Come!" + +Ghek demurred. + + "It is useless," said the girl, seeing that he would have stood +his ground and fought them. "Let us go with them. Why pit your +puny blade against their mighty ones when there should lie in +your great brain the means to outwit them?" She spoke in a low +whisper, rapidly. + +"You are right, Tara of Helium," he replied and sheathed his +sword. + +And so they moved down the hillside toward the gates of +Manator--Tara, Princess of Helium, and Ghek, the kaldane of +Bantoom--and surrounding them rode the savage, painted warriors +of U-Dor, dwar of the 8th Utan of O-Tar, Jeddak of Manator. + + + +CHAPTER XI + +THE CHOICE OF TARA + +THE dazzling sunlight of Barsoom clothed Manator in an aureole of +splendor as the girl and her captors rode into the city through +The Gate of Enemies. Here the wall was some fifty feet thick, and +the sides of the passageway within the gate were covered with +parallel shelves of masonry from bottom to top. Within these +shelves, or long, horizontal niches, stood row upon row of small +figures, appearing like tiny, grotesque statuettes of men, their +long, black hair falling below their feet and sometimes trailing +to the shelf beneath. The figures were scarce a foot in height +and but for their diminutive proportions might have been the +mummified bodies of once living men. The girl noticed that as +they passed, the warriors saluted the figures with their spears +after the manner of Barsoomian fighting men in extending a +military courtesy, and then they rode on into the avenue beyond, +which ran, wide and stately, through the city toward the east. + +On either side were great buildings wondrously wrought. Paintings +of great beauty and antiquity covered many of the walls, their +colors softened and blended by the suns of ages. Upon the +pavement the life of the newly-awakened city was already afoot. +Women in brilliant trappings, befeathered warriors, their bodies +daubed with paint; artisans, armed but less gaily caparisoned, +took their various ways upon the duties of the day. A giant +zitidar, magnificent in rich harness, rumbled its broad-wheeled +cart along the stone pavement toward The Gate of Enemies. Life +and color and beauty wrought together a picture that filled the +eyes of Tara of Helium with wonder and with admiration, for here +was a scene out of the dead past of dying Mars. Such had been the +cities of the founders of her race before Throxeus, mightiest of +oceans, had disappeared from the face of a world. And from +balconies on either side men and women looked down in silence +upon the scene below. + +The people in the street looked at the two prisoners, especially +at the hideous Ghek, and called out in question or comment to +their guard; but the watchers upon the balconies spoke not, nor +did one so much as turn a head to note their passing. There were +many balconies on each building and not a one that did not hold +its silent party of richly trapped men and women, with here and +there a child or two, but even the children maintained the +uniform silence and immobility of their elders. As they +approached the center of the city the girl saw that even the +roofs bore companies of these idle watchers, harnessed and +bejeweled as for some gala-day of laughter and music, but no +laughter broke from those silent lips, nor any music from the +strings of the instruments that many of them held in jeweled +fingers. + +And now the avenue widened into an immense square, at the far end +of which rose a stately edifice gleaming white in virgin marble +among the gaily painted buildings surrounding it and its scarlet +sward and gaily-flowering, green-foliaged shrubbery. Toward this +U-Dor led his prisoners and their guard to the great arched +entrance before which a line of fifty mounted warriors barred the +way. When the commander of the guard recognized U-Dor the +guardsmen fell back to either side leaving a broad avenue through +which the party passed. Directly inside the entrance were +inclined runways leading upward on either side. U-Dor turned to +the left and led them upward to the second floor and down a long +corridor. Here they passed other mounted men and in chambers upon +either side they saw more. Occasionally there was another runway +leading either up or down. A warrior, his steed at full gallop, +dashed into sight from one of these and raced swiftly past them +upon some errand. + +Nowhere as yet had Tara of Helium seen a man afoot in this great +building; but when at a turn, U-Dor led them to the third floor +she caught glimpses of chambers in which many riderless thoats +were penned and others adjoining where dismounted warriors lolled +at ease or played games of skill or chance and many there were +who played at jetan, and then the party passed into a long, wide +hall of state, as magnificent an apartment as even a princess of +mighty Helium ever had seen. The length of the room ran an arched +ceiling ablaze with countless radium bulbs. The mighty spans +extended from wall to wall leaving the vast floor unbroken by a +single column. The arches were of white marble, apparently +quarried in single, huge blocks from which each arch was cut +complete. Between the arches, the ceiling was set solid about the +radium bulbs with precious stones whose scintillant fire and +color and beauty filled the whole apartment. The stones were +carried down the walls in an irregular fringe for a few feet, +where they appeared to hang like a beautiful and gorgeous drapery +against the white marble of the wall. The marble ended some six +or seven feet from the floor, the walls from that point down +being wainscoted in solid gold. The floor itself was of marble +richly inlaid with gold. In that single room was a vast treasure +equal to the wealth of many a large city. + +But what riveted the girl's attention even more than the fabulous +treasure of decorations were the files of gorgeously harnessed +warriors who sat their thoats in grim silence and immobility on +either side of the central aisle, rank after rank of them to the +farther walls, and as the party passed between them she could not +note so much as the flicker of an eyelid, or the twitching of a +thoat's ear. + +"The Hall of Chiefs," whispered one of her guard, evidently +noting her interest. There was a note of pride in the fellow's +voice and something of hushed awe. Then they passed through a +great doorway into the chamber beyond, a large, square room in +which a dozen mounted warriors lolled in their saddles. + +As U-Dor and his party entered the room, the warriors came +quickly erect in their saddles and formed a line before another +door upon the opposite side of the wall. The padwar commanding +them saluted U-Dor who, with his party, had halted facing the +guard. + +"Send one to O-Tar announcing that U-Dor brings two prisoners +worthy of the observation of the great jeddak," said U-Dor; "one +because of her extreme beauty, the other because of his extreme +ugliness." + +"O-Tar sits in council with the lesser chiefs," replied the +lieutenant; "but the words of U-Dor the dwar shall be carried to +him," and he turned and gave instructions to one who sat his +thoat behind him. + +"What manner of creature is the male?" he asked of U-Dor. "It +cannot be that both are of one race." + +"They were together in the hills south of the city," explained +U-Dor, "and they say that they are lost and starving." + +"The woman is beautiful," said the padwar. "She will not long go +begging in the city of Manator," and then they spoke of other +matters--of the doings of the palace, of the expedition of U-Dor, +until the messenger returned to say that O-Tar bade them bring +the prisoners to him. + +They passed then through a massive doorway, which, when opened, +revealed the great council chamber of O-Tar, Jeddak of Manator, +beyond. A central aisle led from the doorway the full length of +the great hall, terminating at the steps of a marble dais upon +which a man sat in a great throne-chair. Upon either side of the +aisle were ranged rows of highly carved desks and chairs of skeel +a hard wood of great beauty. Only a few of the desks were +occupied--those in the front row, just below the rostrum. + +At the entrance U-Dor dismounted with four of his followers who +formed a guard about the two prisoners who were then conducted +toward the foot of the throne, following a few paces behind +U-Dor. As they halted at the foot of the marble steps, the proud +gaze of Tara of Helium rested upon the enthroned figure of the +man above her. He sat erect without stiffness--a commanding +presence trapped in the barbaric splendor that the Barsoomian +chieftain loves. He was a large man, the perfection of whose +handsome face was marred only by the hauteur of his cold eyes and +the suggestion of cruelty imparted by too thin lips. It needed no +second glance to assure the least observing that here indeed was +a ruler of men--a fighting jeddak whose people might worship but +not love, and for whose slightest favor warriors would vie with +one another to go forth and die. This was O-Tar, Jeddak of +Manator, and as Tara of Helium saw him for the first time she +could not but acknowledge a certain admiration for this savage +chieftain who so virilely personified the ancient virtues of the +God of War. + +U-Dor and the jeddak interchanged the simple greetings of +Barsoom, and then the former recounted the details of the +discovery and capture of the prisoners. O-Tar scrutinized them +both intently during U-Dor's narration of events, his expression +revealing naught of what passed in the brain behind those +inscrutable eyes. When the officer had finished the jeddak +fastened his gaze upon Ghek. + +"And you," he asked, "what manner of thing are you? From what +country? Why are you in Manator?" + +"I am a kaldane," replied Ghek; "the highest type of created +creature upon the face of Barsoom; I am mind, you are matter. I +come from Bantoom. I am here because we were lost and starving." + +"And you!" O-Tar turned suddenly on Tara "You, too, are a +kaldane?" + +"I am a princess of Helium," replied the girl. "I was a prisoner +in Bantoom. This kaldane and a warrior of my own race rescued me. +The warrior left us to search for food and water. He has +doubtless fallen into the hands of your people. I ask you to free +him and give us food and drink and let us go upon our way. I am a +granddaughter of a jeddak, the daughter of a jeddak of jeddaks, +The Warlord of Barsoom. I ask only the treatment that my people +would accord you or yours." + +"Helium," repeated O-Tar. "I know naught of Helium, nor does the +Jeddak of Helium rule Manator. I, O-Tar, am Jeddak of Manator. I +alone rule. I protect my own. You have never seen a woman or a +warrior of Manator captive in Helium! Why should I protect the +people of another jeddak? It is his duty to protect them. If he +cannot, he is weak, and his people must fall into the hands of +the strong. I, O-Tar, am strong. I will keep you. That--" he +pointed at Ghek--"can it fight?" + +"It is brave," replied Tara of Helium, "but it has not the skill +at arms which my people possess." + +"There is none then to fight for you?" asked O-Tar. "We are a +just people," he continued without waiting for a reply, "and had +you one to fight for you he might win to freedom for himself and +you as well." + +"But U-Dor assured me that no stranger ever had departed from +Manator," she answered. + +O-Tar shrugged. "That does not disprove the justice of the laws +of Manator," replied O-Tar, "but rather that the warriors of +Manator are invincible. Had there come one who could defeat our +warriors that one had won to liberty." + +"And you fetch my warrior," cried Tara haughtily, "you shall see +such swordplay as doubtless the crumbling walls of your decaying +city never have witnessed, and if there be no trick in your offer +we are already as good as free." + +O-Tar smiled more broadly than before and U-Dor smiled, too, and +the chiefs and warriors who looked on nudged one another and +whispered, laughing. And Tara of Helium knew then that there was +trickery in their justice; but though her situation seemed +hopeless she did not cease to hope, for was she not the daughter +of John Carter, Warlord of Barsoom, whose famous challenge to +Fate, "I still live!" remained the one irreducible defense +against despair? At thought of her noble sire the patrician chin +of Tara of Helium rose a shade higher. Ah! if he but knew where +she was there were little to fear then. The hosts of Helium would +batter at the gates of Manator, the great green warriors of John +Carter's savage allies would swarm up from the dead sea bottoms +lusting for pillage and for loot, the stately ships of her +beloved navy would soar above the unprotected towers and minarets +of the doomed city which only capitulation and heavy tribute +could then save. + +But John Carter did not know! There was only one other to whom +she might hope to look--Turan the panthan; but where was he? She +had seen his sword in play and she knew that it had been wielded +by a master hand, and who should know swordplay better than Tara +of Helium, who had learned it well under the constant tutorage of +John Carter himself. Tricks she knew that discounted even far +greater physical prowess than her own, and a method of attack +that might have been at once the envy and despair of the +cleverest of warriors. And so it was that her thoughts turned to +Turan the panthan, though not alone because of the protection he +might afford her. She had realized, since he had left her in +search of food, that there had grown between them a certain +comradeship that she now missed. There had been that about him +which seemed to have bridged the gulf between their stations in +life. With him she had failed to consider that he was a panthan +or that she was a princess--they had been comrades. Suddenly she +realized that she missed him for himself more than for his sword. +She turned toward O-Tar. + +"Where is Turan, my warrior?" she demanded. + +"You shall not lack for warriors," replied the jeddak. "One of +your beauty will find plenty ready to fight for her. Possibly it +shall not be necessary to look farther than the jeddak of +Manator. You please me, woman. What say you to such an honor?" + +Through narrowed lids the Princess of Helium scrutinized the +Jeddak of Manator, from feathered headdress to sandaled foot and +back to feathered headdress. + +"'Honor'!" she mimicked in tones of scorn. "I please thee, do I? +Then know, swine, that thou pleaseth me not--that the daughter of +John Carter is not for such as thou!" + +A sudden, tense silence fell upon the assembled chiefs. Slowly +the blood receded from the sinister face of O-Tar, Jeddak of +Manator, leaving him a sickly purple in his wrath. His eyes +narrowed to two thin slits, his lips were compressed to a +bloodless line of malevolence. For a long moment there was no +sound in the throne room of the palace at Manator. Then the +jeddak turned toward U-Dor. + +"Take her away," he said in a level voice that belied his +appearance of rage. "Take her away, and at the next games let the +prisoners and the common warriors play at Jetan for her." + +"And this?" asked U-Dor, pointing at Ghek. + +"To the pits until the next games," replied O-Tar. + +"So this is your vaunted justice!" cried Tara of Helium; "that +two strangers who have not wronged you shall be sentenced without +trial? And one of them is a woman. The swine of Manator are as +just as they are brave." + +"Away with her!" shouted O-Tar, and at a sign from U-Dor the +guards formed about the two prisoners and conducted them from the +chamber. + +Outside the palace, Ghek and Tara of Helium were separated. The +girl was led through long avenues toward the center of the city +and finally into a low building, topped by lofty towers of +massive construction. Here she was turned over to a warrior who +wore the insignia of a dwar, or captain. + +"It is O-Tar's wish," explained U-Dor to this one, "that she be +kept until the next games, when the prisoners and the common +warriors shall play for her. Had she not the tongue of a thoat +she had been a worthy stake for our noblest steel," and U-Dor +sighed. "Perhaps even yet I may win a pardon for her. It were too +bad to see such beauty fall to the lot of some common fellow. I +would have honored her myself." + +"If I am to be imprisoned, imprison me," said the girl. "I do not +recall that I was sentenced to listen to the insults of every +low-born boor who chanced to admire me." + +"You see, A-Kor," cried U-Dor, "the tongue that she has. Even so +and worse spoke she to O-Tar the jeddak." + +"I see," replied A-Kor, whom Tara saw was with difficulty +restraining a smile. "Come, then, with me, woman," he said, "and +we shall find a safe place within The Towers of Jetan--but stay! +what ails thee?" + +The girl had staggered and would have fallen had not the man +caught her in his arms. She seemed to gather herself then and +bravely sought to stand erect without support. A-Kor glanced at +U-Dor. "Knew you the woman was ill?" he asked. + +"Possibly it is lack of food," replied the other. "She mentioned, +I believe, that she and her companions had not eaten for several +days." + +"Brave are the warriors of O-Tar," sneered A-Kor; "lavish their +hospitality. U-Dor, whose riches are uncounted, and the brave +O-Tar, whose squealing thoats are stabled within marble halls and +fed from troughs of gold, can spare no crust to feed a starving +girl." + +The black haired U-Dor. scowled. "Thy tongue will yet pierce thy +heart, son of a slave!" he cried. "Once too often mayst thus try +the patience of the just O-Tar. Hereafter guard thy speech as +well as thy towers." + +"Think not to taunt me with my mother's state," said A-Kor. "'Tis +the blood of the slave woman that fills my veins with pride, and +my only shame is that I am also the son of thy jeddak." + +"And O-Tar heard this?" queried U-Dor. + +"O-Tar has already heard it from my own lips," replied A-Kor; +"this, and more." + +He turned upon his heel, a supporting arm still around the waist +of Tara of Helium and thus he half led, half carried her into The +Towers of Jetan, while U-Dor wheeled his thoat and galloped back +in the direction of the palace. + +Within the main entrance to The Tower of Jetan lolled a +half-dozen warriors. To one of these spoke A-Kor, keeper of the +towers. "Fetch Lan-O, the slave girl, and bid her bring food and +drink to the upper level of the Thurian tower," then he lifted +the half-fainting girl in his arms and bore her along the spiral, +inclined runway that led upward within the tower. + +Somewhere in the long ascent Tara lost consciousness. When it +returned she found herself in a large, circular chamber, the +stone walls of which were pierced by windows at regular intervals +about the entire circumference of the room. She was lying upon a +pile of sleeping silks and furs while there knelt above her a +young woman who was forcing drops of some cooling beverage +between her parched lips. Tara of Helium half rose upon an elbow +and looked about. In the first moments of returning consciousness +there were swept from the screen of recollection the happenings +of many weeks. She thought that she awoke in the palace of The +Warlord at Helium. Her brows knit as she scrutinized the strange +face bending over her. + +"Who are you?" she asked, and, "Where is Uthia?" + +"I am Lan-O the slave girl," replied the other. "I know none by +the name of Uthia." + +Tara of Helium sat erect and looked about her. This rough stone +was not the marble of her father's halls. "Where am I?" she +asked. + +"In The Thurian Tower," replied the girl, and then seeing that +the other still did not understand she guessed the truth. "You +are a prisoner in The Towers of Jetan in the city of Manator," +she explained. "You were brought to this chamber, weak and +fainting, by A-Kor, Dwar of The Towers of Jetan, who sent me to +you with food and drink, for kind is the heart of A-Kor." + +"I remember, now," said Tara, slowly. "I remember; but where is +Turan, my warrior? Did they speak of him?" + +"I heard naught of another," replied Lan-O; "you alone were +brought to the towers. In that you are fortunate, for there be no +nobler man in Manator than A-Kor. It is his mother's blood that +makes him so. She was a slave girl from Gathol." + +"Gathol!" exclaimed Tara of Helium. "Lies Gathol close by +Manator?" + +"Not close, yet still the nearest country," replied Lan-O. "About +twenty-two degrees* east, it lies." + +* Approximately 814 Earth Miles. + + +"Gathol!" murmured Tara, "Far Gathol!" + +"But you are not from Gathol," said the slave girl; "your harness +is not of Gathol." + +"I am from Helium," said Tara + +"It is far from Helium to Gathol;" said the slave girl, "but +in our studies we learned much of the greatness of Helium, we of +Gathol, so it seems not so far away." + +"You, too, are from Gathol?" asked Tara. + +"Many of us are from Gathol who are slaves in Manator," replied +the girl. "It is to Gathol, nearest country, that the Manatorians +look for slaves most often. They go in great numbers at intervals +of three or seven years and haunt the roads that lead to Gathol, +and thus they capture whole caravans leaving none to bear warning +to Gathol of their fate. Nor do any ever escape from Manator to +carry word of us back to Gahan our jed." + +Tara of Helium ate slowly and in silence. The girl's words +aroused memories of the last hours she had spent in her father's +palace and the great midday function at which she had met Gahan +of Gathol. Even now she flushed as she recalled his daring words. + +Upon her reveries the door opened and a burly warrior appeared in +the opening--a hulking fellow, with thick lips and an evil, +leering face. The slave girl sprang to her feet, facing him. + +"What does this mean, E-Med?" she cried, "was it not the will of +A-Kor that this woman be not disturbed?" + +"The will of A-Kor, indeed!" and the man sneered. "The will of +A-Kor is without power in The Towers of Jetan, or elsewhere, for +A-Kor lies now in the pits of O-Tar, and E-Med is dwar of the +Towers." + +Tara of Helium saw the face of the slave girl pale and the terror +in her eyes. + + + +CHAPTER XII + +GHEK PLAYS PRANKS + +WHILE Tara of Helium was being led to The Towers of Jetan, Ghek +was escorted to the pits beneath the palace where he was +imprisoned in a dimly-lighted chamber. Here he found a bench and +a table standing upon the dirt floor near the wall, and set in +the wall several rings from which depended short lengths of +chain. At the base of the walls were several holes in the dirt +floor. These, alone, of the several things he saw, interested +him. Ghek sat down upon the bench and waited in silence, +listening. Presently the lights were extinguished. If Ghek could +have smiled he would have then, for Ghek could see as well in the +dark as in the light--better, perhaps. He watched the dark +openings of the holes in the floor and waited. Presently he +detected a change in the air about him--it grew heavy with a +strange odor, and once again might Ghek have smiled, could he +have smiled. + +Let them replace all the air in the chamber with their most +deadly fumes; it would be all the same to Ghek, the kaldane, who, +having no lungs, required no air. With the rykor it might be +different. Deprived of air it would die; but if only a sufficient +amount of the gas was introduced to stupefy an ordinary creature +it would have no effect upon the rykor, who had no objective mind +to overcome. So long as the excess of carbon dioxide in the blood +was not sufficient to prevent heart action, the rykor would +suffer only a diminution of vitality; but would still respond to +the exciting agency of the kaldane's brain. + +Ghek caused the rykor to assume a sitting position with its back +against the wall where it might remain without direction from his +brain. Then he released his contact with its spinal cord; but +remained in position upon its shoulders, waiting and watching, +for the kaldane's curiosity was aroused. He had not long to wait +before the lights were flashed on arid one of the locked doors +opened to admit a half-dozen warriors. They approached him +rapidly and worked quickly. First they removed all his weapons +and then, snapping a fetter about one of the rykor's ankles, +secured him to the end of one of the chains hanging from the +walls. Next they dragged the long table to a new position and +there bolted it to the floor so that an end, instead of the +middle, was directly before the prisoner. On the table before him +they set food and water and upon the opposite end of the table +they laid the key to the fetter. Then they unlocked and opened +all the doors and departed. + + +When Turan the panthan regained consciousness it was to the +realization of a sharp pain in one of his forearms. The effects +of the gas departed as rapidly as they had overcome him so that +as he opened his eyes he was in full possession of all his +faculties. The lights were on again and in their glow there was +revealed to the man the figure of a giant Martian rat crouching +upon the table and gnawing upon his arm. Snatching his arm away +he reached for his short-sword, while the rat, growling, sought +to seize his arm again. It was then that Turan discovered that +his weapons had been removed--short-sword, long-sword, dagger, +and pistol. The rat charged him then and striking the creature +away with his hand the man rose and backed off, searching for +something with which to strike a harder blow. Again the rat +charged and as Turan stepped quickly back to avoid the menacing +jaws, something seemed to jerk suddenly upon his right ankle, and +as he drew his left foot back to regain his equilibrium his heel +caught upon a taut chain and he fell heavily backward to the +floor just as the rat leaped upon his breast and sought his +throat. + +The Martian rat is a fierce and unlovely thing. It is many-legged +and hairless, its hide resembling that of a newborn mouse in +repulsiveness. In size and weight it is comparable to a large +Airedale terrier. Its eyes are small and close-set, and almost +hidden in deep, fleshy apertures. But its most ferocious and +repulsive feature is its jaws, the entire bony structure of which +protrudes several inches beyond the flesh, revealing five sharp, +spadelike teeth in the upper jaw and the same number of similar +teeth in the lower, the whole suggesting the appearance of a +rotting face from which much of the flesh has sloughed away. + +It was such a thing that leaped upon the breast of the panthan to +tear at his jugular. Twice Turan struck it away as he sought to +regain his feet, but both times it returned with increased +ferocity to renew the attack. Its only weapons are its jaws since +its broad, splay feet are armed with blunt talons. With its +protruding jaws it excavates its winding burrows and with its +broad feet it pushes the dirt behind it. To keep the jaws from +his flesh then was Turan's only concern and this he succeeded in +doing until chance gave him a hold upon the creature's throat. +After that the end was but a matter of moments. Rising at last he +flung the lifeless thing from him with a shudder of disgust. + +Now he turned his attention to a hurried inventory of the new +conditions which surrounded him since the moment of his +incarceration. He realized vaguely what had happened. He had been +anaesthetized and stripped of his weapons, and as he rose to his +feet he saw that one ankle was fettered to a chain in the wall. +He looked about the room. All the doors swung wide open! His +captors would render his imprisonment the more cruel by leaving +ever before him tempting glimpses of open aisles to the freedom +he could not attain. Upon the end of the table and within easy +reach was food and drink. This at least was attainable and at +sight of it his starved stomach seemed almost to cry aloud for +sustenance. It was with difficulty that he ate and drank in +moderation. + +As he devoured the food his eyes wandered about the confines of +his prison until suddenly they seized upon a thing that lay on +the table at the end farthest from him. It was a key. He raised +his fettered ankle and examined the lock. There could be no doubt +of it! The key that lay there on the table before him was the key +to that very lock. A careless warrior had laid it there and +departed, forgetting. + +Hope surged high in the breast of Gahan of Gathol, of Turan the +panthan. Furtively his eyes sought the open doorways. There was +no one in sight. Ah, if he could but gain his freedom! He would +find some way from this odious city back to her side and never +again would he leave her until he had won safety for her or death +for himself. + +He rose and moved cautiously toward the opposite end of the table +where lay the coveted key. The fettered ankle halted his first +step, but he stretched at full length along the table, extending +eager fingers toward the prize. They almost laid hold upon it--a +little more and they would touch it. He strained and stretched, +but still the thing lay just beyond his reach. He hurled himself +forward until the iron fetter bit deep into his flesh, but all +futilely. He sat back upon the bench then and glared at the open +doors and the key, realizing now that they were part of a +well-laid scheme of refined torture, none the less demoralizing +because it inflicted no physical suffering. + +For just a moment the man gave way to useless regret and +foreboding, then he gathered himself together, his brows cleared, +and he returned to his unfinished meal. At least they should not +have the satisfaction of knowing how sorely they had hit him. As +he ate it occurred to him that by dragging the table along the +floor he could bring the key within his reach, but when he +essayed to do so, he found that the table had been securely +bolted to the floor during the period of his unconsciousness, +Again Gahan smiled and shrugged and resumed his eating. + + +When the warriors had departed from the prison in which Ghek was +confined, the kaldane crawled from the shoulders of the rykor to +the table. Here he drank a little water and then directed the +hands of the rykor to the balance of it and to the food, upon +which the brainless thing fell with avidity. While it was thus +engaged Ghek took his spider-like way along the table to the +opposite end where lay the key to the fetter. Seizing it in a +chela he leaped to the floor and scurried rapidly toward the +mouth of one of the burrows against the wall, into which he +disappeared. For long had the brain been contemplating these +burrow entrances. They appealed to his kaldanean tastes, and +further, they pointed a hiding place for the key and a lair for +the only kind of food that the kaldane relished--flesh and blood. + +Ghek had never seen an ulsio, since these great Martian rats had +long ago disappeared from Bantoom, their flesh and blood having +been greatly relished by the kaldanes; but Ghek had inherited, +almost unimpaired, every memory of every ancestor, and so he knew +that ulsio inhabited these lairs and that ulsio was good to eat, +and he knew what ulsio looked like and what his habits were, +though he had never seen him nor any picture of him. As we breed +animals for the transmission of physical attributes, so the +Kaldanes breed themselves for the transmission of attributes of +the mind, including memory and the power of recollection, and +thus have they raised what we term instinct, above the level of +the threshold of the objective mind where it may be commanded and +utilized by recollection. Doubtless in our own subjective minds +lie many of the impressions and experiences of our forebears. +These may impinge upon our consciousness in dreams only, or in +vague, haunting suggestions that we have before experienced some +transient phase of our present existence. Ah, if we had but the +power to recall them! Before us would unfold the forgotten story +of the lost eons that have preceded us. We might even walk with +God in the garden of His stars while man was still but a budding +idea within His mind. + +Ghek descended into the burrow at a steep incline for some ten +feet, when he found himself in an elaborate and delightful +network of burrows! The kaldane was elated. This indeed was life! +He moved rapidly and fearlessly and he went as straight to his +goal as you could to the kitchen of your own home. This goal lay +at a low level in a spheroidal cavity about the size of a large +barrel. Here, in a nest of torn bits of silk and fur lay six baby +ulsios. + +When the mother returned there were but five babies and a great +spider-like creature, which she immediately sprang to attack only +to be met by powerful chelae which seized and held her so that +she could not move. Slowly they dragged her throat toward a +hideous mouth and in a little moment she was dead. + +Ghek might have remained in the nest for a long time, since there +was ample food for many days; but he did not do so. Instead he +explored the burrows. He followed them into many subterranean +chambers of the city of Manator, and upward through walls to +rooms above the ground. He found many ingeniously devised traps, +and he found poisoned food and other signs of the constant battle +that the inhabitants of Manator waged against these repulsive +creatures that dwelt beneath their homes and public buildings. + +His exploration revealed not only the vast proportions of the +net-work of runways that apparently traversed every portion of +the city, but the great antiquity of the majority of them. Tons +upon tons of dirt must have been removed, and for a long time he +wondered where it had been deposited, until in following downward +a tunnel of great size and length he sensed before him the +thunderous rush of subterranean waters, and presently came to the +bank of a great, underground river, tumbling onward, no doubt, +the length of a world to the buried sea of Omean. Into this +torrential sewer had unthinkable generations of ulsios pushed +their few handsful of dirt in the excavating of their vast +labyrinth. + +For only a moment did Ghek tarry by the river, for his seemingly +aimless wanderings were in reality prompted by a definite +purpose, and this he pursued with vigor and singleness of design. +He followed such runways as appeared to terminate in the pits or +other chambers of the inhabitants of the city, and these he +explored, usually from the safety of a burrow's mouth, until +satisfied that what he sought was not there. He moved swiftly +upon his spider legs and covered remarkable distances in short +periods of time. + +His search not being rewarded with immediate success, he decided +to return to the pit where his rykor lay chained and look to its +wants. As he approached the end of the burrow that terminated in +the pit he slackened his pace, stopping just within the entrance +of the runway that he might scan the interior of the chamber +before entering it. As he did so he saw the figure of a warrior +appear suddenly in an opposite doorway. The rykor sprawled upon +the table, his hands groping blindly for more food. Ghek saw the +warrior pause and gaze in sudden astonishment at the rykor; he +saw the fellow's eyes go wide and an ashen hue replace the copper +bronze of his cheek. He stepped back as though someone had struck +him in the face. For an instant only he stood thus as in a +paralysis of fear, then he uttered a smothered shriek and turned +and fled. Again was it a catastrophe that Ghek, the kaldane, +could not smile. + +Quickly entering the room he crawled to the table top and affixed +himself to the shoulders of his rykor, and there he waited; and +who may say that Ghek, though he could not smile, possessed not a +sense of humor? For a half-hour he sat there, and then there came +to him the sound of men approaching along corridors of stone. He +could hear their arms clank against the rocky walls and he knew +that they came at a rapid pace; but just before they reached the +entrance to his prison they paused and advanced more slowly. In +the lead was an officer, and just behind him, wide-eyed and +perhaps still a little ashen, the warrior who had so recently +departed in haste. At the doorway they halted and the officer +turned sternly upon the warrior. With upraised finger he pointed +at Ghek. + +"There sits the creature! Didst thou dare lie, then, to thy +dwar?" + +"I swear," cried the warrior, "that I spoke the truth. But a +moment since the thing groveled, headless, upon this very table! +And may my first ancestor strike me dead upon the spot if I speak +other than a true word!" + +The officer looked puzzled. The men of Mars seldom if ever lie. +He scratched his head. Then he addressed Ghek. "How long have you +been here?" he asked. + +"Who knows better than those who placed me here and chained me to +a wall?" he returned in reply. + +"Saw you this warrior enter here a few minutes since?" + +"I saw him," replied Ghek. + +"And you sat there where you sit now?" continued the officer. + +"Look thou to my chain and tell me then where else might I sit!" +cried Ghek. "Art the people of thy city all fools?" + +Three other warriors pressed behind the two in front, craning +their necks to view the prisoner while they grinned at the +discomfiture of their fellow. The officer scowled at Ghek. + +"Thy tongue is as venomous as that of the she-banth O-Tar sent to +The Towers of Jetan," he said. + +You speak of the young woman who was captured with me?" asked +Ghek, his expressionless monotone and face revealing naught of +the interest he felt. + +"I speak of her," replied the dwar, and then turning to the +warrior who had summoned him: "return to thy quarters and remain +there until the next games. Perhaps by that time thy eyes may +have learned not to deceive thee." + +The fellow cast a venomous glance at Ghek and turned away. The +officer shook his head. "I do not understand it," he muttered. +"Always has U-Van been a true and dependable warrior. Could it +be--?" he glanced piercingly at Ghek. "Thou hast a strange head +that misfits thy body, fellow," he cried. "Our legends tell us of +those ancient creatures that placed hallucinations upon the mind +of their fellows. If thou be such then maybe U-Van suffered from +thy forbidden powers. If thou be such O-Tar will know well how to +deal with thee." He wheeled about and motioned his warriors to +follow him. + +"Wait!" cried Ghek. "Unless I am to be starved, send me food." + +"You have had food," replied the warrior. + +"Am I to be fed but once a day?" asked Ghek. "I require food +oftener than that. Send me food." + +"You shall have food," replied the officer. "None may say that +the prisoners of Manator are ill-fed. Just are the laws of +Manator," and he departed. + +No sooner had the sounds of their passing died away in the +distance than Ghek clambered from the shoulders of his rykor, and +scurried to the burrow where he had hidden the key. Fetching it +he unlocked the fetter from about the creature's ankle, locked it +empty and carried the key farther down into the burrow. Then he +returned to his place upon his brainless servitor. After a while +he heard footsteps approaching, whereupon he rose and passed into +another corridor from that down which he knew the warrior was +coming. Here he waited out of sight, listening. He heard the man +enter the chamber and halt. He heard a muttered exclamation, +followed by the jangle of metal dishes as a salver was slammed +upon a table; then rapidly retreating footsteps, which quickly +died away in the distance. + +Ghek lost no time in returning to the chamber, recovering the +key, relocking the rykor to his chain. Then he replaced the key +in the burrow and squatting on the table beside his headless +body, directed its hands toward the food. While the rykor ate +Ghek sat listening for the scraping sandals and clattering arms +that he knew soon would come. Nor had he long to wait. Ghek +scrambled to the shoulders of his rykor as he heard them coming. +Again it was the officer who had been summoned by U-Van and with +him were three warriors. The one directly behind him was +evidently the same who had brought the food, for his eyes went +wide when he saw Ghek sitting at the table and he looked very +foolish as the dwar turned his stern glance upon him. + +"It is even as I said," he cried. "He was not here when I brought +his food." + +"But he is here now," said the officer grimly, "and his fetter is +locked about his ankle. Look! it has not been opened--but where +is the key? It should be upon the table at the end opposite him. +Where is the key, creature?" he shouted at Ghek. + +"How should I, a prisoner, know better than my jailer the +whereabouts of the key to my fetters?" he retorted. + +"But it lay here," cried the officer, pointing to the other end +of the table. + +"Did you see it?" asked Ghek. + +The officer hesitated. "No but it must have been there," he +parried. + +"Did you see the key lying there?" asked Ghek, pointing to +another warrior. + +The fellow shook his head negatively. "And you? and you?" +continued the kaldane addressing the others. + +They both admitted that they never had seen the key. "And if it +had been there how could I have reached it?" he continued. + +"No, he could not have reached it," admitted the officer; "but +there shall be no more of this! I-Zav, you will remain here on +guard with this prisoner until you are relieved." + +I-Zav looked anything but happy as this intelligence was +transmitted to him, and he eyed Ghek suspiciously as the dwar and +the other warriors turned and left him to his unhappy lot. + + + +CHAPTER XIII + +A DESPERATE DEED + +E-MED crossed the tower chamber toward Tara of Helium and the +slave girl, Lan-O. He seized the former roughly by a shoulder. +"Stand!" he commanded. Tara struck his hand from her and rising, +backed away. + +"Lay not your hand upon the person of a princess of Helium, +beast!" she warned. + +E-Med laughed. "Think you that I play at jetan for you without +first knowing something of the stake for which I play?" he +demanded. "Come here!" + +The girl drew herself to her full height, folding her arms across +her breast, nor did E-Med note that the slim fingers of her right +hand were inserted beneath the broad leather strap of her harness +where it passed over her left shoulder. + +"And O-Tar learns of this you shall rue it, E-Med," cried the +slave girl; "there be no law in Manator that gives you this girl +before you shall have won her fairly." + +"What cares O-Tar for her fate?" replied E-Med. "Have I not +heard? Did she not flout the great jeddak, heaping abuse upon +him? By my first ancestor, I think O-Tar might make a jed of the +man who subdued her," and again he advanced toward Tara. + +"Wait!" said the girl in low, even tone. "Perhaps you know not +what you do. Sacred to the people of Helium are the persons of +the women of Helium. For the honor of the humblest of them would +the great jeddak himself unsheathe his sword. The greatest +nations of Barsoom have trembled to the thunders of war in +defense of the person of Dejah Thoris, my mother. We are but +mortal and so may die; but we may not be defiled. You may play at +jetan for a princess of Helium, but though you may win the match, +never may you claim the reward. If thou wouldst possess a dead +body press me too far, but know, man of Manator, that the blood +of The Warlord flows not in the veins of Tara of Helium for +naught. I have spoken." + +"I know naught of Helium and O-Tar is our warlord," replied +E-Med; "but I do know that I would examine more closely the prize +that I shall play for and win. I would test the lips of her who +is to be my slave after the next games; nor is it well, woman, to +drive me too far to anger." His eyes narrowed as he spoke, his +visage taking on the semblance of that of a snarling beast. "If +you doubt the truth of my words ask Lan-O, the slave girl." + +"He speaks truly, O woman of Helium," interjected Lan-O. "Try not +the temper of E-Med, if you value your life." + +But Tara of Helium made no reply. Already had she spoken. She +stood in silence now facing the burly warrior who approached her. +He came close and then quite suddenly he seized her and, bending, +tried to draw her lips to his. + +Lan-O saw the woman from Helium half turn, and with a quick +movement jerk her right hand from where it had lain upon her +breast. She saw the hand shoot from beneath the arm of E-Med and +rise behind his shoulder and she saw in the hand a long, slim +blade. The lips of the warrior were drawing closer to those of +the woman, but they never touched them, for suddenly the man +straightened, stiffly, a shriek upon his lips, and then he +crumpled like an empty fur and lay, a shrunken heap, upon the +floor. Tara of Helium stooped and wiped her blade upon his +harness. + +Lan-O, wide-eyed, looked with horror upon the corpse. "For this +we shall both die," she cried. + +"And who would live a slave in Manator?" asked Tara of Helium. + +"I am not so brave as thou," said the slave girl, "and life is +sweet and there is always hope." + +"Life is sweet," agreed Tara of Helium, "but honor is sacred. But +do not fear. When they come I shall tell them the truth--that you +had no hand in this and no opportunity to prevent it." + +For a moment the slave girl seemed to be thinking deeply. +Suddenly her eyes lighted. "There is a way, perhaps," she said, +"to turn suspicion from us. He has the key to this chamber upon +him. Let us open the door and drag him out--maybe we shall find a +place to hide him." + +"Good!" exclaimed Tara of Helium, and the two immediately set +about the matter Lan-O had suggested. Quickly they found the key +and unlatched the door and then, between them, they half carried, +half dragged, the corpse of E-Med from the room and down the +stairway to the next level where Lan-O said there were vacant +chambers. The first door they tried was unlatched, and through +this the two bore their grisly burden into a small room lighted +by a single window. The apartment bore evidence of having been +utilized as a living-room rather than as a cell, being furnished +with a degree of comfort and even luxury. The walls were paneled +to a height of about seven feet from the floor, while the plaster +above and the ceiling were decorated with faded paintings of +another day. + +As Tara's eyes ran quickly over the interior her attention was +drawn to a section of paneling that seemed to be separated at one +edge from the piece next adjoining it. Quickly she crossed to it, +discovering that one vertical edge of an entire panel projected a +half-inch beyond the others. There was a possible explanation +which piqued her curiosity, and acting upon its suggestion she +seized upon the projecting edge and pulled outward. Slowly the +panel swung toward her, revealing a dark aperture in the wall +behind. + +"Look, Lan-O!" she cried. "See what I have found--a hole in which +we may hide the thing upon the floor." + +Lan-O joined her and together the two investigated the dark +aperture, finding a small platform from which a narrow runway led +downward into Stygian darkness. Thick dust covered the floor +within the doorway, indicating that a great period of time had +elapsed since human foot had trod it--a secret way, doubtless, +unknown to living Manatorians. Here they dragged the corpse of +E-Med, leaving it upon the platform, and as they left the dark +and forbidden closet Lan-O would have slammed to the panel had +not Tara prevented. + +"Wait!" she said, and fell to examining the door frame and the +stile. + +"Hurry!" whispered the slave girl. "If they come we are lost." + +"It may serve us well to know how to open this place again," +replied Tara of Helium, and then suddenly she pressed a foot +against a section of the carved base at the right of the open +panel. "Ah!" she breathed, a note of satisfaction in her tone, +and closed the panel until it fitted snugly in its place. "Come!" +she said and turned toward the outer doorway of the chamber. + +They reached their own cell without detection, and closing the +door Tara locked it from the inside and placed the key in a +secret pocket in her harness. + +"Let them come," she said. "Let them question us! What could two +poor prisoners know of the whereabouts of their noble jailer? I +ask you, Lan-O, what could they?" + +"Nothing," admitted Lan-O, smiling with her companion. + +"Tell me of these men of Manator," said Tara presently. "Are they +all like E-Med, or are some of them like A-Kor, who seemed a +brave and chivalrous character?" + +"They are not unlike the peoples of other countries," replied +Lan-O. "There be among them both good and bad. They are brave +warriors and mighty. Among themselves they are not without +chivalry and honor, but in their dealings with strangers they +know but one law--the law of might. The weak and unfortunate of +other lands fill them with contempt and arouse all that is worst +in their natures, which doubtless accounts for their treatment of +us, their slaves." + +"But why should they feel contempt for those who have suffered +the misfortune of falling into their hands?" queried Tara. + +"I do not know," said Lan-O; "A-Kor says that he believes that it +is because their country has never been invaded by a victorious +foe. In their stealthy raids never have they been defeated, +because they have never waited to face a powerful force; and so +they have come to believe themselves invincible, and the other +peoples are held in contempt as inferior in valor and the +practice of arms." + +"Yet A-Kor is one of them," said Tara. + +"He is a son of O-Tar, the jeddak," replied Lan-O; "but his +mother was a high born Gatholian, captured and made slave by +O-Tar, and A-Kor boasts that in his veins runs only the blood of +his mother, and indeed is he different from the others. His +chivalry is of a gentler form, though not even his worst enemy +has dared question his courage, while his skill with the sword, +and the spear, and the thoat is famous throughout the length and +breadth of Manator." + +"What think you they will do with him?" asked Tara of Helium. + +"Sentence him to the games," replied Lan-O. "If O-Tar be not +greatly angered he may be sentenced to but a single game, in +which case he may come out alive; but if O-Tar wishes really to +dispose of him he will be sentenced to the entire series, and no +warrior has ever survived the full ten, or rather none who was +under a sentence from O-Tar." + +"What are the games? I do not understand," said Tara "I have +heard them speak of playing at jetan, but surely no one can be +killed at jetan. We play it often at home." + +"But not as they play it in the arena at Manator," replied Lan-O. +"Come to the window," and together the two approached an aperture +facing toward the east. + +Below her Tara of Helium saw a great field entirely surrounded by +the low building, and the lofty towers of which that in which she +was imprisoned was but a unit. About the arena were tiers of +seats; but the a thing that caught her attention was a gigantic +jetan board laid out upon the floor of the arena in great squares +of alternate orange and black. + +"Here they play at jetan with living pieces. They play for great +stakes and usually for a woman--some slave of exceptional beauty. +O-Tar himself might have played for you had you not angered him, +but now you will be played for in an open game by slaves and +criminals, and you will belong to the side that wins--not to a +single warrior, but to all who survive the game." + +The eyes of Tara of Helium flashed, but she made no comment. + +"Those who direct the play do not necessarily take part in it," +continued the slave girl, "but sit in those two great thrones +which you see at either end of the board and direct their pieces +from square to square." + +"But where lies the danger?" asked Tara of Helium. "If a piece be +taken it is merely removed from the board--this is a rule of +jetan as old almost as the civilization of Barsoom." + +"But here in Manator, when they play in the great arena with +living men, that rule is altered," explained Lan-O. "When a +warrior is moved to a square occupied by an opposing piece, the +two battle to the death for possession of the square and the one +that is successful advantages by the move. Each is caparisoned to +simulate the piece he represents and in addition he wears that +which indicates whether he be slave, a warrior serving a +sentence, or a volunteer. If serving a sentence the number of +games he must play is also indicated, and thus the one directing +the moves knows which pieces to risk and which to conserve, and +further than this, a man's chances are affected by the position +that is assigned him for the game. Those whom they wish to die +are always Panthans in the game, for the Panthan has the least +chance of surviving." + +"Do those who direct the play ever actually take part in it?" +asked Tara. + +"Oh, yes," said Lan-O. "Often when two warriors, even of the +highest class, hold a grievance against one another O-Tar compels +them to settle it upon the arena. Then it is that they take +active part and with drawn swords direct their own players from +the position of Chief. They pick their own players, usually the +best of their own warriors and slaves, if they be powerful men +who possess such, or their friends may volunteer, or they may +obtain prisoners from the pits. These are games indeed--the very +best that are seen. Often the great chiefs themselves are slain." + +"It is within this amphitheater that the justice of Manator is +meted, then?" asked Tara. + +"Very largely," replied Lan-O. + +"How, then, through such justice, could a prisoner win his +liberty?" continued the girl from Helium. + +"If a man, and he survived ten games his liberty would be his," +replied Lan-O. + +"But none ever survives?" queried Tara. "And if a woman?" + +"No stranger within the gates of Manator ever has survived ten +games," replied the slave girl. "They are permitted to offer +themselves into perpetual slavery if they prefer that to fighting +at jetan. Of course they may be called upon, as any warrior, to +take part in a game, but their chances then of surviving are +increased, since they may never again have the chance of winning +to liberty." + +"But a woman," insisted Tara; "how may a woman win her freedom?" + +Lan-O laughed. "Very simply," she cried. derisively. "She has but +to find a warrior who will fight through ten consecutive games +for her and survive." + +"'Just are the laws of Manator,'" quoted Tara, scornfully. + +Then it was that they heard footsteps outside their cell and a +moment later a key turned in the lock and the door opened. A +warrior faced them. + +"Hast seen E-Med the dwar?" he asked. + +"Yes," replied Tara, "he was here some time ago." + +The man glanced quickly about the bare chamber and then +searchingly first at Tara of Helium and then at the slave girl, +Lan-O. The puzzled expression upon his face increased. He +scratched his head. "It is strange," he said. "A score of men saw +him ascend into this tower; and though there is but a single +exit, and that well guarded, no man has seen him pass out." + +Tara of Helium hid a yawn with the back of a shapely hand. "The +Princess of Helium is hungry, fellow," she drawled; "tell your +master that she would eat." + +It was an hour later that food was brought, an officer and +several warriors accompanying the bearer. The former examined the +room carefully, but there was no sign that aught amiss had +occurred there. The wound that had sent E-Med the dwar to his +ancestors had not bled, fortunately for Tara of Helium. + +"Woman," cried the officer, turning upon Tara, "you were the last +to see E-Med the dwar. Answer me now and answer me truthfully. +Did you see him leave this room?" + +"I did," answered Tara of Helium. + +"Where did he go from here?" + +"How should I know? Think you that I can pass through a locked +door of skeel?" the girl's tone was scornful. + +"Of that we do not know," said the officer. "Strange things have +happened in the cell of your companion in the pits of Manator. +Perhaps you could pass through a locked door of skeel as easily +as he performs seemingly more impossible feats." + +"Whom do you mean," she cried; "Turan the panthan? He lives, +then? Tell me, is he here in Manator unharmed?" + +"I speak of that thing which calls itself Ghek the kaldane," +replied the officer. + +"But Turan! Tell me, padwar, have you heard aught of him?" Tara's +tone was insistent and she leaned a little forward toward the +officer, her lips slightly parted in expectancy. + +Into the eyes of the slave girl, Lan-O, who was watching her, +there crept a soft light of understanding; but the officer +ignored Tara's question--what was the fate of another slave to +him? "Men do not disappear into thin air," he growled, "and if +E-Med be not found soon O-Tar himself may take a hand in this. I +warn you, woman, if you be one of those horrid Corphals that by +commanding the spirits of the wicked dead gains evil mastery over +the living, as many now believe the thing called Ghek to be, that +lest you return E-Med, O-Tar will have no mercy on you." + +"What foolishness is this?" cried the girl. "I am a princess +of Helium, as I have told you all a score of times. Even if the +fabled Corphals existed, as none but the most ignorant now +believes, the lore of the ancients tells us that they entered +only into the bodies of wicked criminals of the lowest class. Man +of Manator, thou art a fool, and thy jeddak and all his people," +and she turned her royal back upon the padwar, and gazed through +the window across the Field of Jetan and the roofs of Manator +through the low hills and the rolling country and freedom. + +"And you know so much of Corphals, then," he cried, "you know +that while no common man dare harm them they may be slain by the +hand of a jeddak with impunity!" + +The girl did not reply, nor would she speak again, for all his +threats and rage, for she knew now that none in all Manator dared +harm her save O-Tar, the jeddak, and after a while the padwar +left, taking his men with him. And after they had gone Tara stood +for long looking out upon the city of Manator, and wondering what +more of cruel wrongs Fate held in store for her. She was standing +thus in silent meditation when there rose to her the strains of +martial music from the city below--the deep, mellow tones of the +long war trumpets of mounted troops, the clear, ringing notes of +foot-soldiers' music. The girl raised her head and looked about, +listening, and Lan-O, standing at an opposite window, looking +toward the west, motioned Tara to join her. Now they could see +across roofs and avenues to The Gate of Enemies, through which +troops were marching into the city. + +"The Great Jed is coming," said Lan-O, "none other dares enter +thus, with blaring trumpets, the city of Manator. It is U-Thor, +Jed of Manatos, second city of Manator. They call him The Great +Jed the length and breadth of Manator, and because the people +love him, O-Tar hates him. They say, who know, that it would need +but slight provocation to inflame the two to war. How such a war +would end no one could guess; for the people of Manator worship +the great O-Tar, though they do not love him. U-Thor they love, +but he is not the jeddak," and Tara understood, as only a Martian +may, how much that simple statement encompassed. + +The loyalty of a Martian to his jeddak is almost an instinct, and +second not even to the instinct of self-preservation at that. Nor +is this strange in a race whose religion includes ancestor +worship, and where families trace their origin back into remote +ages and a jeddak sits upon the same throne that his direct +progenitors have occupied for, perhaps, hundreds of thousands of +years, and rules the descendants of the same people that his +forebears ruled. Wicked jeddaks have been dethroned, but seldom +are they replaced by other than members of the imperial house, +even though the law gives to the jeds the right to select whom +they please. + +"U-Thor is a just man and good, then?" asked Tara of Helium. + +"There be none nobler," replied Lan-O. "In Manatos none but +wicked criminals who deserve death are forced to play at jetan, +and even then the play is fair and they have their chance for +freedom. Volunteers may play, but the moves are not necessarily +to the death--a wound, and even sometimes points in swordplay, +deciding the issue. There they look upon jetan as a martial +sport--here it is but butchery. And U-Thor is opposed to the +ancient slave raids and to the policy that keeps Manator forever +isolated from the other nations of Barsoom; but U-Thor is not +jeddak and so there is no change." + +The two girls watched the column moving up the broad avenue from +The Gate of Enemies toward the palace of O-Tar. A gorgeous, +barbaric procession of painted warriors in jewel-studded harness +and waving feathers; vicious, squealing thoats caparisoned in +rich trappings; far above their heads the long lances of their +riders bore fluttering pennons; foot-soldiers swinging easily +along the stone pavement, their sandals of zitidar hide giving +forth no sound; and at the rear of each utan a train of painted +chariots, drawn by mammoth zitidars, carrying the equipment of +the company to which they were attached. Utan after utan entered +through the great gate, and even when the head of the column +reached the palace of O-Tar they were not all within the city. + +"I have been here many years," said the girl, Lan-O; "but never +have I seen even The Great Jed bring so many fighting men into +the city of Manator." + +Through half-closed eyes Tara of Helium watched the warriors +marching up the broad avenue, trying to imagine them the fighting +men of her beloved Helium coming to the rescue of their princess. +That splendid figure upon the great thoat might be John Carter, +himself, Warlord of Barsoom, and behind him utan after utan of +the veterans of the empire, and then the girl opened her eyes +again and saw the host of painted, befeathered barbarians, and +sighed. But yet she watched, fascinated by the martial scene, and +now she noted again the groups of silent figures upon the +balconies. No waving silks; no cries of welcome; no showers of +flowers and jewels such as would have marked the entry of such a +splendid, friendly pageant into the twin cities of her birth. + +"The people do not seem friendly to the warriors of Manatos," she +remarked to Lan-O; "I have not seen a single welcoming sign from +the people on the balconies." + +The slave girl looked at her in surprise. "It cannot be that you +do not know!" she exclaimed. "Why, they are--" but she got no +further. The door swung open and an officer stood before them. + +"The slave girl, Tara, is summoned to the presence of O-Tar, the +jeddak!" he announced. + + + +CHAPTER XIV + +AT GHEK'S COMMAND + +TURAN the panthan chafed in his chains. Time dragged; silence and +monotony prolonged minutes into hours. Uncertainty of the fate of +the woman he loved turned each hour into an eternity of hell. He +listened impatiently for the sound of approaching footsteps that +he might see and speak to some living creature and learn, +perchance, some word of Tara of Helium. After torturing hours his +ears were rewarded by the rattle of harness and arms. Men were +coming! He waited breathlessly. Perhaps they were his +executioners; but he would welcome them notwithstanding. He would +question them. But if they knew naught of Tara he would not +divulge the location of the hiding place in which he had left +her. + +Now they came--a half-dozen warriors and an officer, escorting an +unarmed man; a prisoner, doubtless. Of this Turan was not left +long in doubt, since they brought the newcomer and chained him to +an adjoining ring. Immediately the panthan commenced to question +the officer in charge of the guard. + +"Tell me," he demanded, "why I have been made prisoner, and if +other strangers were captured since I entered your city." + +"What other prisoners?" asked the officer. + +"A woman, and a man with a strange head," replied Turan. + +"It is possible," said the officer; "but what were their names?" + +"The woman was Tara, Princess of Helium, and the man was Ghek, a +kaldane, of Bantoom." + +"These were your friends?" asked the officer. + +"Yes," replied Turan. + +"It is what I would know," said the officer, and with a curt +command to his men to follow him he turned and left the cell. + +"Tell me of them!" cried Turan after him. "Tell me of Tara of +Helium! Is she safe?" but the man did not answer and soon the +sound of their departure died in the distance. + +"Tara of Helium was safe, but a short time since," said the +prisoner chained at Turan's side. + +The panthan turned toward the speaker, seeing a large man, +handsome of face and with a manner both stately and dignified. +"You have seen her?" he asked. "They captured her then? She is in +danger?" + +"She is being held in The Towers of Jetan as a prize for the next +games," replied the stranger. + +"And who are you?" asked Turan. "And why are you here, a +prisoner?" + +"I am A-Kor the dwar, keeper of The Towers of Jetan," replied the +other. "I am here because I dared speak the truth of O-Tar the +jeddak, to one of his officers." + +"And your punishment?" asked Turan. + +"I do not know. O-Tar has not yet spoken. Doubtless the +games--perhaps the full ten, for O-Tar does not love A-Kor, his +son." + +"You are the jeddak's son?" asked Turan. + +"I am the son of O-Tar and of a slave, Haja of Gathol, who was a +princess in her own land." + +Turan looked searchingly at the speaker. A son of Haja of Gathol! +A son of his mother's sister, this man, then, was his own cousin. +Well did Gahan remember the mysterious disappearance of the +Princess Haja and an entire utan of her personal troops. She had +been upon a visit far from the city of Gathol and returning home +had vanished with her whole escort from the sight of man. So this +was the secret of the seeming mystery? Doubtless it explained +many other similar disappearances that extended nearly as far +back as the history of Gathol. Turan scrutinized his companion, +discovering many evidences of resemblance to his mother's people. +A-Kor might have been ten years younger than he, but such +differences in age are scarce accounted among a people who seldom +or never age outwardly after maturity and whose span of life may +be a thousand years. + +"And where lies Gathol?" asked Turan. + +"Almost due east of Manator," replied A-Kor. + +"And how far?" + +"Some twenty-one degrees it is from the city of Manator to the +city of Gathol," replied A-Kor; "but little more than ten degrees +between the boundaries of the two countries. Between them, +though, there lies a country of torn rocks and yawning chasms." + +Well did Gahan know this country that bordered his upon the +west--even the ships of the air avoided it because of the +treacherous currents that rose from the deep chasms, and the +almost total absence of safe landings. He knew now where Manator +lay and for the first time in long weeks the way to his own +Gathol, and here was a man, a fellow prisoner, in whose veins +flowed the blood of his own ancestors--a man who knew Manator; +its people, its customs and the country surrounding it--one who +could aid him, with advice at least, to find a plan for the +rescue of Tara of Helium and for escape. But would A-Kor--could +he dare broach the subject? He could do no less than try. + +"And O-Tar you think will sentence you to death?" he asked; "and +why?" + +"He would like to," replied A-Kor, "for the people chafe beneath +his iron hand and their loyalty is but the loyalty of a people to +the long line of illustrious jeddaks from which he has sprung. He +is a jealous man and has found the means of disposing of most of +those whose blood might entitle them to a claim upon the throne, +and whose place in the affections of the people endowed them with +any political significance. The fact that I was the son of a +slave relegated me to a position of minor importance in the +consideration of O-Tar, yet I am still the son of a jeddak and +might sit upon the throne of Manator with as perfect congruity as +O-Tar himself. Combined with this is the fact that of recent +years the people, and especially many of the younger warriors, +have evinced a growing affection for me, which I attribute to +certain virtues of character and training derived from my mother, +but which O-Tar assumes to be the result of an ambition upon my +part to occupy the throne of Manator. + +"And now, I am firmly convinced, he has seized upon my criticism +of his treatment of the slave girl Tara as a pretext for ridding +himself of me." + +"But if you could escape and reach Gathol," suggested Turan. + +"I have thought of that," mused A-Kor; "but how much better off +would I be? In the eyes of the Gatholians I would be, not a +Gatholian; but a stranger and doubtless they would accord me the +same treatment that we of Manator accord strangers." + +"Could you convince them that you are the son of the Princess +Haja your welcome would be assured," said Turan; "while on the +other hand you could purchase your freedom and citizenship with a +brief period of labor in the diamond mines." + +"How know you all these things?" asked A-Kor. "I thought you were +from Helium." + +"I am a panthan," replied Turan, "and I have served many +countries, among them Gathol." + +"It is what the slaves from Gathol have told me," said A-Kor, +thoughtfully, "and my mother, before O-Tar sent her to live at +Manatos. I think he must have feared her power and influence +among the slaves from Gathol and their descendants, who number +perhaps a million people throughout the land of Manator." + +"Are these slaves organized?" asked Turan. + +A-Kor looked straight into the eyes of the panthan for a long +moment before he replied. "You are a man of honor," he said; "I +read it in your face, and I am seldom mistaken in my estimate of +a man; but--" and he leaned closer to the other--"even the walls +have ears," he whispered, and Turan's question was answered. + +It was later in the evening that warriors came and unlocked the +fetter from Turan's ankle and led him away to appear before +O-Tar, the jeddak. They conducted him toward the palace along +narrow, winding streets and broad avenues; but always from the +balconies there looked down upon them in endless ranks the silent +people of the city. The palace itself was filled with life and +activity. Mounted warriors galloped through the corridors and up +and down the runways connecting adjacent floors. It seemed that +no one walked within the palace other than a few slaves. +Squealing, fighting thoats were stabled in magnificent halls +while their riders, if not upon some duty of the palace, played +at jetan with small figures carved from wood. + +Turan noted the magnificence of the interior architecture of the +palace, the lavish expenditure of precious jewels and metals, the +gorgeous mural decorations which depicted almost exclusively +martial scenes, and principally duels which seemed to be fought +upon jetan boards of heroic size. The capitals of many of the +columns supporting the ceilings of the corridors and chambers +through which they passed were wrought into formal likenesses of +jetan pieces--everywhere there seemed a suggestion of the game. +Along the same path that Tara of Helium had been led Turan was +conducted toward the throne room of O-Tar the jeddak, and when he +entered the Hall of Chiefs his interest turned to wonder and +admiration as he viewed the ranks of statuesque thoatmen decked +in their gorgeous, martial panoply. Never, he thought, had he +seen upon Barsoom more soldierly figures or thoats so perfectly +trained to perfection of immobility as these. Not a muscle +quivered, not a tail lashed, and the riders were as motionless as +their mounts--each warlike eye straight to the front, the great +spears inclined at the same angle. It was a picture to fill the +breast of a fighting man with awe and reverence. Nor did it fail +in its effect upon Turan as they conducted him the length of the +chamber, where he waited before great doors until he should be +summoned into the presence of the ruler of Manator. + + +When Tara of Helium was ushered into the throne room of O-Tar she +found the great hall filled with the chiefs and officers of O-Tar +and U-Thor, the latter occupying the place of honor at the foot +of the throne, as was his due. The girl was conducted to the foot +of the aisle and halted before the jeddak, who looked down upon +her from his high throne with scowling brows and fierce, cruel +eyes. + +"The laws of Manator are just," said O-Tar, addressing her; "thus +is it that you have been summoned here again to be judged by the +highest authority of Manator. Word has reached me that you are +suspected of being a Corphal. What word have you to say in +refutation of the charge?" + +Tara of Helium could scarce restrain a sneer as she answered the +ridiculous accusation of witchcraft. "So ancient is the culture +of my people," she said, "that authentic history reveals no +defense for that which we know existed only in the ignorant and +superstitious minds of the most primitive peoples of the past. To +those who are yet so untutored as to believe in the existence of +Corphals, there can be no argument that will convince them of +their error--only long ages of refinement and culture can +accomplish their release from the bondage of ignorance. I have +spoken." + +"Yet you do not deny the accusation," said O-Tar. + +"It is not worthy the dignity of a denial," she responded +haughtily. + +"And I were you, woman," said a deep voice at her side, "I +should, nevertheless, deny it." + +Tara of Helium turned to see the eyes of U-Thor, the great jed of +Manatos, upon her. Brave eyes they were, but neither cold nor +cruel. O-Tar rapped impatiently upon the arm of his throne. +"U-Thor forgets," he cried, "that O-Tar is the jeddak." + +"U-Thor remembers," replied the jed of Manatos, "that the laws of +Manator permit any who may be accused to have advice and counsel +before their judge." + +Tara of Helium saw that for some reason this man would have +assisted her, and so she acted upon his advice. + +"I deny the charge," she said, "I am no Corphal." + +"Of that we shall learn," snapped O-Tar. "U-Dor, where are those +who have knowledge of the powers of this woman?" + +And U-Dor brought several who recounted the little that was known +of the disappearance of E-Med, and others who told of the capture +of Ghek and Tara, suggesting by deduction that having been found +together they had sufficient in common to make it reasonably +certain that one was as bad as the other, and that, therefore, it +remained but to convict one of them of Corphalism to make certain +the guilt of both. And then O-Tar called for Ghek, and +immediately the hideous kaldane was dragged before him by +warriors who could not conceal the fear in which they held this +creature. + +"And you!" said O-Tar in cold accusing tones. "Already have I +been told enough of you to warrant me in passing through your +heart the jeddak's steel--of how you stole the brains from the +warrior U-Van so that he thought he saw your headless body still +endowed with life; of how you caused another to believe that you +had escaped, making him to see naught but an empty bench and a +blank wall where you had been." + +"Ah, O-Tar, but that is as nothing!" cried a young padwar who had +come in command of the escort that brought Ghek. "The thing which +he did to I-Zav, here, would prove his guilt alone." + +"What did he to the warrior I-Zav?" demanded O-Tar. "Let I-Zav +speak!" + +The warrior I-Zav, a great fellow of bulging muscles and thick +neck, advanced to the foot of the throne. He was pale and still +trembling visibly as from a nervous shock. + +"Let my first ancestor be my witness, O-Tar, that I speak the +truth," he began. "I was left to guard this creature, who sat +upon a bench, shackled to the wall. I stood by the open doorway +at the opposite side of the chamber. He could not reach me, yet, +O-Tar, may Iss engulf me if he did not drag me to him helpless as +an unhatched egg. He dragged me to him, greatest of jeddaks, with +his eyes! With his eyes he seized upon my eyes and dragged me to +him and he made me lay my swords and dagger upon the table and +back off into a corner, and still keeping his eyes upon my eyes +his head quitted his body and crawling upon six short legs it +descended to the floor and backed part way into the hole of an +ulsio, but not so far that the eyes were not still upon me and +then it returned with the key to its fetter and after resuming +its place upon its own shoulders it unlocked the fetter and again +dragged me across the room and made me to sit upon the bench +where it had been and there it fastened the fetter about my +ankle, and I could do naught for the power of its eyes and the +fact that it wore my two swords and my dagger. And then the head +disappeared down the hole of the ulsio with the key, and when it +returned, it resumed its body and stood guard over me at the +doorway until the padwar came to fetch it hither." + +"It is enough!" said O-Tar, sternly. "Both shall receive the +jeddak's steel," and rising from his throne he drew his long +sword and descended the marble steps toward them, while two +brawny warriors seized Tara by either arm and two seized Ghek, +holding them facing the naked blade of the jeddak. + +"Hold, just O-Tar!" cried U-Dor. "There be yet another to be +judged. Let us confront him who calls himself Turan with these +his fellows before they die." + +"Good!" exclaimed O-Tar, pausing half way down the steps. "Fetch +Turan, the slave!" + +When Turan had been brought into the chamber he was placed a +little to Tara's left and a step nearer the throne. O-Tar eyed +him menacingly. + +"You are Turan," he asked, "friend and companion of these?" + +The panthan was about to reply when Tara of Helium spoke. "I know +not this fellow," she said. "Who dares say that he be a friend +and companion of the Princess Tara of Helium?" + +Turan and Ghek looked at her in surprise, but at Turan she did +not look, and to Ghek she passed a quick glance of warning, as to +say: "Hold thy peace." + +The panthan tried not to fathom her purpose for the head is +useless when the heart usurps its functions, and Turan knew only +that the woman he loved had denied him, and though he tried not +even to think it his foolish heart urged but a single +explanation--that she refused to recognize him lest she be +involved in his difficulties. + +O-Tar looked first at one and then at another of them; but none +of them spoke. + +"Were they not captured together?" he asked of U-Dor. + +"No," replied the dwar. "He who is called Turan was found seeking +entrance to the city and was enticed to the pits. The following +morning I discovered the other two upon the hill beyond The Gate +of Enemies." + +"But they are friends and companions," said a young padwar, "for +this Turan inquired of me concerning these two, calling them by +name and saying that they were his friends." + +"It is enough," stated O-Tar, "all three shall die," and he took +another step downward from the throne. + +"For what shall we die?" asked Ghek. "Your people prate of the +just laws of Manator, and yet you would slay three strangers +without telling them of what crime they are accused." + +"He is right," said a deep voice. It was the voice of U-Thor, the +great jed of Manatos. O-Tar looked at him and scowled; but there +came voices from other portions of the chamber seconding the +demand for justice. + +"Then know, though you shall die anyway," cried O-Tar, "that all +three are convicted of Corphalism and that as only a jeddak may +slay such as you in safety you are about to be honored with the +steel of O-Tar." + +"Fool!" cried Turan. "Know you not that in the veins of this +woman flows the blood of ten thousand jeddaks--that greater than +yours is her power in her own land? She is Tara, Princess of +Helium, great-granddaughter of Tardos Mors, daughter of John +Carter, Warlord of Barsoom. She cannot be a Corphal. Nor is this +creature Ghek, nor am I. And you would know more, I can prove my +right to be heard and to be believed if I may have word with the +Princess Haja of Gathol, whose son is my fellow prisoner in the +pits of O-Tar, his father." + +At this U-Thor rose to his feet and faced O-Tar. "What means +this?" he asked. "Speaks the man the truth? Is the son of Haja a +prisoner in thy pits, O-Tar?" + +"And what is it to the jed of Manatos who be the prisoners in the +pits of his jeddak?" demanded O-Tar, angrily. + +"It is this to the jed of Manatos," replied U-Thor in a voice so +low as to be scarce more than a whisper and yet that was heard +the whole length and breadth of the great throne room of O-Tar, +Jeddak of Manator. "You gave me a slave woman, Haja, who had been +a princess in Gathol, because you feared her influence among the +slaves from Gathol. I have made of her a free woman, and I have +married her and made her thus a princess of Manatos. Her son is +my son, O-Tar, and though thou be my jeddak, I say to you that +for any harm that befalls A-Kor you shall answer to U-Thor of +Manatos." + +O-Tar looked long at U-Thor, but he made no reply. Then he turned +again to Turan. "If one be a Corphal," he said, "then all of you +be Corphals, and we know well from the things that this creature +has done," he pointed at Ghek, "that he is a Corphal, for no +mortal has such powers as he. And as you are all Corphals you +must all die." He took another step downward, when Ghek spoke. + +"These two have no such powers as I," he said. "They are but +ordinary, brainless things such as yourself. I have done all the +things that your poor, ignorant warriors have told you; but this +only demonstrates that I am of a higher order than yourselves, as +is indeed the fact. I am a kaldane, not a Corphal. There is +nothing supernatural or mysterious about me, other than that to +the ignorant all things which they cannot understand are +mysterious. Easily might I have eluded your warriors and escaped +your pits; but I remained in the hope that I might help these two +foolish creatures who have not the brains to escape without help. +They befriended me and saved my life. I owe them this debt. Do +not slay them--they are harmless. Slay me if you will. I offer my +life if it will appease your ignorant wrath. I cannot return to +Bantoom and so I might as well die, for there is no pleasure in +intercourse with the feeble intellects that cumber the face of +the world outside the valley of Bantoom." + +"Hideous egotist," said O-Tar, "prepare to die and assume not to +dictate to O-Tar the jeddak. He has passed sentence and all three +of you shall feel the jeddak's naked steel. I have spoken!" + +He took another step downward and then a strange thing happened. +He paused, his eyes fixed upon the eyes of Ghek. His sword +slipped from nerveless fingers, and still he stood there swaying +forward and back. A jed rose to rush to his side; but Ghek +stopped him with a word. + +"Wait!" he cried. "The life of your jeddak is in my hands. You +believe me a Corphal and so you believe, too, that only the sword +of a jeddak may slay me, therefore your blades are useless +against me. Offer harm to any one of us, or seek to approach your +jeddak until I have spoken, and he shall sink lifeless to the +marble. Release the two prisoners and let them come to my side--I +would speak to them, privately. Quick! do as I say; I would as +lief as not slay O-Tar. I but let him live that I may gain +freedom for my friends--obstruct me and he dies." + +The guards fell back, releasing Tara and Turan, who came close to +Ghek's side. + +"Do as I tell you and do it quickly," whispered the kaldane. "I +cannot hold this fellow long, nor could I kill him thus. There +are many minds working against mine and presently mine will tire +and O-Tar will be himself again. You must make the best of your +opportunity while you may. Behind the arras that you see hanging +in the rear of the throne above you is a secret opening. Prom it +a corridor leads to the pits of the palace, where there are +storerooms containing food and drink. Few people go there. From +these pits lead others to all parts of the city. Follow one that +runs due west and it will bring you to The Gate of Enemies. The +rest will then lie with you. I can do no more; hurry before my +waning powers fail me--I am not as Luud, who was a king. He could +have held this creature forever. Make haste! Go!" + + + +CHAPTER XV + +THE OLD MAN OF THE PITS + +"I SHALL not desert you, Ghek," said Tara of Helium, simply. + +"Go! Go!" whispered the kaldane. "You can do me no good. Go, or +all I have done is for naught." + +Tara shook her head. "I cannot," she said. + +"They will slay her," said Ghek to Turan, and the panthan, torn +between loyalty to this strange creature who had offered its life +for him, and love of the woman, hesitated but a moment, then he +swept Tara from her feet and lifting her in his arms leaped up +the steps that led to the throne of Manator. Behind the throne he +parted the arras and found the secret opening. Into this he bore +the girl and down a long, narrow corridor and winding runways +that led to lower levels until they came to the pits of the +palace of O-Tar. Here was a labyrinth of passages and chambers +presenting a thousand hiding-places. + +As Turan bore Tara up the steps toward the throne a score of +warriors rose as though to rush forward to intercept them. +"Stay!" cried Ghek, "or your jeddak dies," and they halted in +their tracks, waiting the will of this strange, uncanny creature. + +Presently Ghek took his eyes from the eyes of O-Tar and the +jeddak shook himself as one who would be rid of a bad dream and +straightened up, half dazed still. + +"Look," said Ghek, then, "I have given your jeddak his life, +nor have I harmed one of those whom I might easily have slain +when they were in my power. No harm have I or my friends done in +the city of Manator. Why then should you persecute us? Give us +our lives. Give us our liberty." + +O-Tar, now in command of his faculties, stooped and regained his +sword. In the room was silence as all waited to hear the jeddak's +answer. + +"Just are the laws of Manator," he said at last. "Perhaps, after +all, there is truth in the words of the stranger. Return him then +to the pits and pursue the others and capture them. Through the +mercy of O-Tar they shall be permitted to win their freedom upon +the Field of Jetan, in the coming games." + +Still ashen was the face of the jeddak as Ghek was led away and +his appearance was that of a man who had been snatched from the +brink of eternity into which he has gazed, not with the composure +of great courage, but with fear. There were those in the throne +room who knew that the execution of the three prisoners had but +been delayed and the responsibility placed upon the shoulders of +others, and one of those who knew was U-Thor, the great jed of +Manatos. His curling lip betokened his scorn of the jeddak who +had chosen humiliation rather than death. He knew that O-Tar had +lost more of prestige in those few moments than he could regain +in a lifetime, for the Martians are jealous of the courage of +their chiefs--there can be no evasions of stern duty, no +temporizing with honor. That there were others in the room who +shared U-Thor's belief was evidenced by the silence and the grim +scowls. + +O-Tar glanced quickly around. He must have sensed the hostility +and guessed its cause, for he went suddenly angry, and as one who +seeks by the vehemence of his words to establish the courage of +his heart he roared forth what could be considered as naught +other than a challenge. + +"The will of O-Tar, the jeddak, is the law of Manator," he cried, +"and the laws of Manator are just--they cannot err. U-Dor, +dispatch those who will search the palace, the pits, and the +city, and return the fugitives to their cells. + +"And now for you, U-Thor of Manatos! Think you with impunity to +threaten your jeddak--to question his right to punish traitors +and instigators of treason? What am I to think of your own +loyalty, who takes to wife a woman I have banished from my court +because of her intrigues against the authority of her jeddak and +her master? But O-Tar is just. Make your explanations and your +peace, then, before it is too late." + +"U-Thor has nothing to explain," replied the jed of Manatos; "nor +is he at war with his jeddak; but he has the right that every jed +and every warrior enjoys, of demanding justice at the hands of +the jeddak for whomsoever he believes to be persecuted. With +increasing rigor has the jeddak of Manator persecuted the slaves +from Gathol since he took to himself the unwilling Princess Haja. +If the slaves from Gathol have harbored thoughts of vengeance and +escape 'tis no more than might be expected from a proud and +courageous people Ever have I counselled greater fairness in our +treatment of our slaves, many of whom, in their own lands, are +people of great distinction and power; but always has O-Tar, the +jeddak, flouted with arrogance my every suggestion. Though it has +been through none of my seeking that the question has arisen now +I am glad that it has, for the time was bound to come when the +jeds of Manator would demand from O-Tar the respect and +consideration that is their due from the man who holds his high +office at their pleasure. Know, then, O-Tar, that you must free +A-Kor, the dwar, forthwith or bring him to fair trial before the +assembled jeds of Manator. I have spoken." + +"You have spoken well and to the point, U-Thor," cried O-Tar, +"for you have revealed to your jeddak and your fellow jeds the +depth of the disloyalty that I have long suspected. A-Kor already +has been tried and sentenced by the supreme tribunal of +Manator--O-Tar, the jeddak; and you too shall receive justice +from the same unfailing source. In the meantime you are under +arrest. To the pits with him! To the pits with U-Thor the false +jed!" He clapped his hands to summon the surrounding warriors to +do his bidding. A score leaped forward to seize U-Thor. They were +warriors of the palace, mostly; but two score leaped to defend +U-Thor, and with ringing steel they fought at the foot of the +steps to the throne of Manator where stood O-Tar, the jeddak, +with drawn sword ready to take his part in the +mêlée. + +At the clash of steel, palace guards rushed to the scene from +other parts of the great building until those who would have +defended U-Thor were outnumbered two to one, and then the jed of +Manatos slowly withdrew with his forces, and fighting his way +through the corridors and chambers of the palace came at last to +the avenue. Here he was reinforced by the little army that had +marched with him into Manator. Slowly they retreated toward The +Gate of Enemies between the rows of silent people looking down +upon them from the balconies and there, within the city walls, +they made their stand. + +In a dimly-lighted chamber beneath the palace of O-Tar the +jeddak, Turan the panthan lowered Tara of Helium from his arms +and faced her. "I am sorry, Princess," he said, "that I was +forced to disobey your commands, or to abandon Ghek; but there +was no other way. Could he have saved you I would have stayed in +his place. Tell me that you forgive me." + +"How could I do less?" she replied graciously. "But it seemed +cowardly to abandon a friend." + +"Had we been three fighting men it had been different," he said. +"We could only have remained and died together, fighting; but you +know, Tara of Helium, that we may not jeopardize a woman's safety +even though we risk the loss of honor." + +"I know that, Turan," she said; "but no one may say that you have +risked honor, who knows the honor and bravery that are yours." + +He heard her with surprise for these were the first words that +she had spoken to him that did not savor of the attitude of a +princess to a panthan--though it was more in her tone than the +actual words that he apprehended the difference. How at variance +were they to her recent repudiation of him! He could not fathom +her, and so he blurted out the question that had been in his mind +since she had told O-Tar that she did not know him. + +"Tara of Helium," he said, "your words are balm to the wound you +gave me in the throne room of O-Tar. Tell me, Princess, why you +denied me." + +She turned her great, deep eyes up to his and in them was a +little of reproach. + +"You did not guess," she asked, "that it was my lips alone and +not my heart that denied you? O-Tar had ordered that I die, more +because I was a companion of Ghek than because of any evidence +against me, and so I knew that if I acknowledged you as one of +us, you would be slain, too." + +"It was to save me, then?" he cried, his face suddenly lighting. + +"It was to save my brave panthan," she said in a low voice. + +"Tara of Helium," said the warrior, dropping to one knee, "your +words are as food to my hungry heart," and he took her fingers in +his and pressed them to his lips. + +Gently she raised him to his feet. "You need not tell me, +kneeling," she said, softly. + +Her hand was still in his as he rose and they were very close, +and the man was still flushed with the contact of her body since +he had carried her from the throne room of O-Tar. He felt his +heart pounding in his breast and the hot blood surging through +his veins as he looked at her beautiful face, with its downcast +eyes and the half-parted lips that he would have given a kingdom +to possess, and then he swept her to him and as he crushed her +against his breast his lips smothered hers with kisses. + +But only for an instant. Like a tigress the girl turned upon +him, striking him, and thrusting him away. She stepped back, her +head high and her eyes flashing fire. "You would dare?" she +cried. "You would dare thus defile a princess of Helium?" + +His eyes met hers squarely and there was no shame and no remorse +in them. + +"Yes, I would dare," he said. "I would dare love Tara of Helium; +but I would not dare defile her or any woman with kisses that +were not prompted by love of her alone." He stepped closer to her +and laid his hands upon her shoulders. "Look into my eyes, +daughter of The Warlord," he said, "and tell me that you do not +wish the love of Turan, the panthan." + +"I do not wish your love," she cried, pulling away. "I hate you!" +and then turning away she bent her head into the hollow of her +arm, and wept. + +The man took a step toward her as though to comfort her when he +was arrested by the sound of a crackling laugh behind him. +Wheeling about, he discovered a strange figure of a man standing +in a doorway. It was one of those rarities occasionally to be +seen upon Barsoom--an old man with the signs of age upon him. +Bent and wrinkled, he had more the appearance of a mummy than a +man. + +"Love in the pits of O-Tar!" he cried, and again his thin +laughter jarred upon the silence of the subterranean vaults. "A +strange place to woo! A strange place to woo, indeed! When I was +a young man we roamed in the gardens beneath giant pimalias and +stole our kisses in the brief shadows of hurtling Thuria. We came +not to the gloomy pits to speak of love; but times have changed +and ways have changed, though I had never thought to live to see +the time when the way of a man with a maid, or a maid with a man +would change. Ah, but we kissed them then! And what if they +objected, eh? What if they objected? Why, we kissed them more. +Ey, ey, those were the days!" and he cackled again. "Ey, well do +I recall the first of them I ever kissed, and I've kissed an army +of them since; she was a fine girl, but she tried to slip a +dagger into me while I was kissing her. Ey, ey, those were the +days! But I kissed her. She's been dead over a thousand years +now, but she was never kissed again like that while she lived, +I'll swear, not since she's been dead, either. And then there was +that other--" but Turan, seeing a thousand or more years of +osculatory memoirs portending, interrupted. + +"Tell me, ancient one," he said, "not of thy loves but of +thyself. Who are you? What do you here in the pits of O-Tar?" + +"I might ask you the same, young man," replied the other. "Few +there are who visit the pits other than the dead, except my +pupils--ey! That is it--you are new pupils! Good! But never +before have they sent a woman to learn the great art from the +greatest artist. But times have changed. Now, in my day the women +did no work--they were just for kissing and loving. Ey, those +were the women. I mind the one we captured in the south--ey! she +was a devil, but how she could love. She had breasts of marble +and a heart of fire. Why, she--" + +"Yes, yes," interrupted Turan; "we are pupils, and we are anxious +to get to work. Lead on and we will follow." + +"Ey, yes! Ey, yes! Come! All is rush and hurry as though there +were not another countless myriad of ages ahead. Ey, yes! as many +as lie behind. Two thousand years have passed since I broke my +shell and always rush, rush, rush, yet I cannot see that aught +has been accomplished. Manator is the same today as it was +then--except the girls. We had the girls then. There was one that +I gained upon The Fields of Jetan. Ey, but you should have seen +--" + +"Lead on!" cried Turan. "After we are at work you shall tell us +of her." + +"Ey, yes," said the old fellow and shuffled off down a dimly +lighted passage. "Follow me!" + +"You are going with him?" asked Tara. + +"Why not?" replied Turan. "We know not where we are, or the way +from these pits; for I know not east from west; but he doubtless +knows and if we are shrewd we may learn from him that which we +would know. At least we cannot afford to arouse his suspicions"; +and so they followed him--followed along winding corridors and +through many chambers, until they came at last to a room in which +there were several marble slabs raised upon pedestals some three +feet above the floor and upon each slab lay a human corpse. + +"Here we are," exclaimed the old man. "These are fresh and we +shall have to get to work upon them soon. I am working now on one +for The Gate of Enemies. He slew many of our warriors. Truly is +he entitled to a place in The Gate. Come, you shall see him." + +He led them to an adjoining apartment. Upon the floor were many +fresh, human bones and upon a marble slab a mass of shapeless +flesh. + +"You will learn this later," announced the old man; "but it will +not harm you to watch me now, for there are not many thus +prepared, and it may be long before you will have the opportunity +to see another prepared for The Gate of Enemies. First, you see, +I remove all the bones, carefully that the skin may be damaged as +little as possible. The skull is the most difficult, but it can +be removed by a skilful artist. You see, I have made but a single +opening. This I now sew up, and that done, the body is hung so," +and he fastened a piece of rope to the hair of the corpse and +swung the horrid thing to a ring in the ceiling. Directly below +it was a circular manhole in the floor from which he removed the +cover revealing a well partially filled with a reddish liquid. +"Now we lower it into this, the formula for which you shall learn +in due time. We fasten it thus to the bottom of the cover, which +we now replace. In a year it will be ready; but it must be +examined often in the meantime and the liquid kept above the +level of its crown. It will be a very beautiful piece, this one, +when it is ready. + +"And you are fortunate again, for there is one to come out +today." He crossed to the opposite side of the room and raised +another cover, reached in and dragged a grotesque looking figure +from the hole. It was a human body, shrunk by the action of the +chemical in which it had been immersed, to a little figure scarce +a foot high. + +"Ey! is it not fine?" cried the little old man. "Tomorrow it will +take its place in The Gate of Enemies." He dried it off with +cloths and packed it away carefully in a basket. "Perhaps you +would like to see some of my life work," he suggested, and +without waiting for their assent led them to another apartment, a +large chamber in which were forty or fifty people. All were +sitting or standing quietly about the walls, with the exception +of one huge warrior who bestrode a great thoat in the very center +of the room, and all were motionless. Instantly there sprang to +the minds of Tara and Turan the rows of silent people upon the +balconies that lined the avenues of the city, and the noble array +of mounted warriors in The Hall of Chiefs, and the same +explanation came to both but neither dared voice the question +that was in his mind, for fear of revealing by his ignorance the +fact that they were strangers in Manator and therefore impostors +in the guise of pupils. + +"It is very wonderful," said Turan. "It must require great skill +and patience and time." + +"That it does," replied the old man, "though having done it so +long I am quicker than most; but mine are the most natural. Why, +I would defy the wife of that warrior to say that insofar as +appearances are concerned he does not live," and he pointed at +the man upon the thoat. "Many of them, of course, are brought +here wasted or badly wounded and these I have to repair. That is +where great skill is required, for everyone wants his dead to +look as they did at their best in life; but you shall learn--to +mount them and paint them and repair them and sometimes to make +an ugly one look beautiful. And it will be a great comfort to be +able to mount your own. Why, for fifteen hundred years no one has +mounted my own dead but myself. + +"I have many, my balconies are crowded with them; but I keep a +great room for my wives. I have them all, as far back as the +first one, and many is the evening I spend with them--quiet +evenings and very pleasant. And then the pleasure of preparing +them and making them even more beautiful than in life partially +recompenses one for their loss. I take my time with them, looking +for a new one while I am working on the old. When I am not sure +about a new one I bring her to the chamber where my wives are, +and compare her charms with theirs, and there is always a great +satisfaction at such times in knowing that they will not object. +I love harmony." + +"Did you prepare all the warriors in The Hall of Chiefs?" asked +Turan. + +"Yes, I prepare them and repair them," replied the old man. +"O-Tar will trust no other. Even now I have two in another room +who were damaged in some way and brought down to me. O-Tar does +not like to have them gone long, since it leaves two riderless +thoats in the Hall; but I shall have them ready presently. He +wants them all there in the event any momentous question arises +upon which the living jeds cannot agree, or do not agree with +O-Tar. Such questions he carries to the jeds in The Hall of +Chiefs. There he shuts himself up alone with the great chiefs who +have attained wisdom through death. It is an excellent plan and +there is never any friction or misunderstandings. O-Tar has said +that it is the finest deliberative body upon Barsoom--much more +intelligent than that composed of the living jeds. But come, we +must get to work; come into the next chamber and I will begin +your instruction." + +He led the way into the chamber in which lay the several corpses +upon their marble slabs, and going to a cabinet he donned a pair +of huge spectacles and commenced to select various tools from +little compartments. This done he turned again toward his two +pupils. + +"Now let me have a look at you," he said. "My eyes are not what +they once were, and I need these powerful lenses for my work, or +to see distinctly the features of those around me." + +He turned his eyes upon the two before him. Turan held his breath +for he knew that now the man must discover that they wore not the +harness or insignia of Manator. He had wondered before why the +old fellow had not noticed it, for he had not known that he was +half blind. The other examined their faces, his eyes lingering +long upon the beauty of Tara of Helium, and then they drifted to +the harness of the two. Turan thought that he noted an +appreciable start of surprise on the part of the taxidermist, but +if the old man noticed anything his next words did not reveal it. + +"Come with I-Gos," he said to Turan, "I have materials in the +next room that I would have you fetch hither. Remain here, woman, +we shall be gone but a moment." + +He led the way to one of the numerous doors opening into the +chamber and entered ahead of Turan. Just inside the door he +stopped, and pointing to a bundle of silks and furs upon the +opposite side of the room directed Turan to fetch them. The +latter had crossed the room and was stooping to raise the bundle +when he heard the click of a lock behind him. Wheeling instantly +he saw that he was alone in the room and that the single door was +closed. Running rapidly to it he strove to open it, only to find +that he was a prisoner. + +I-Gos, stepping out and locking the door behind him, turned +toward Tara. + +"Your leather betrayed you," he said, laughing his cackling +laugh. "You sought to deceive old I-Gos, but you found that +though his eyes are weak his brain is not. But it shall not go +ill with you. You are beautiful and I-Gos loves beautiful women. +I might not have you elsewhere in Manator, but here there is none +to deny old I-Gos. Few come to the pits of the dead--only those +who bang the dead and they hasten away as fast as they can. No +one will know that I-Gos has a beautiful woman locked with his +dead. I shall ask you no questions and then I will not have to +give you up, for I will not know to whom you belong, eh? And when +you die I shall mount you beautifully and place you in the +chamber with my other women. Will not that be fine, eh?" He had +approached until he stood close beside the horrified girl. +"Come!" he cried, seizing her by the wrist. "Come to I-Gos!" + + + +CHAPTER XVI + +ANOTHER CHANGE OF NAME + +TURAN dashed himself against the door of his prison in a vain +effort to break through the solid skeel to the side of Tara whom +he knew to be in grave danger, but the heavy panels held and he +succeeded only in bruising his shoulders and his arms. At last he +desisted and set about searching his prison for some other means +of escape. He found no other opening in the stone walls, but his +search revealed a heterogeneous collection of odds and ends of +arms and apparel, of harness and ornaments and insignia, and +sleeping silks and furs in great quantities. There were swords +and spears and several large, two-bladed battle-axes, the heads +of which bore a striking resemblance to the propellor of a small +flier. Seizing one of these he attacked the door once more with +great fury. He expected to hear something from I-Gos at this +ruthless destruction, but no sound came to him from beyond the +door, which was, he thought, too thick for the human voice to +penetrate; but he would have wagered much that I-Gos heard him. +Bits of the hard wood splintered at each impact of the heavy axe, +but it was slow work and heavy. Presently he was compelled to +rest, and so it went for what seemed hours--working almost to the +verge of exhaustion and then resting for a few minutes; but ever +the hole grew larger though he could see nothing of the interior +of the room beyond because of the hanging that I-Gos had drawn +across it after he had locked Turan within. + +At last, however, the panthan had hewn an opening through which +his body could pass, and seizing a long-sword that he had brought +close to the door for the purpose he crawled through into the +next room. Flinging aside the arras he stood ready, sword in +hand, to fight his way to the side of Tara of Helium--but she was +not there. In the center of the room lay I-Gos, dead upon the +floor; but Tara of Helium was nowhere to be seen. + +Turan was nonplussed. It must have been her hand that had struck +down the old man, yet she had made no effort to release Turan +from his prison. And then he thought of those last words of hers: +"I do not want your love! I hate you," and the truth dawned upon +him--she had seized upon this first opportunity to escape him. +With downcast heart Turan turned away. What should he do? There +could be but one answer. While he lived and she lived he must +still leave no stone unturned to effect her escape and safe +return to the land of her people. But how? How was he even to +find his way from this labyrinth? How was he to find her again? +He walked to the nearest doorway. It chanced to be that which led +into the room containing the mounted dead, awaiting +transportation to balcony or grim room or whatever place was to +receive them. His eyes travelled to the great, painted warrior on +the thoat and as they ran over the splendid trappings and the +serviceable arms a new light came into the pain-dulled eyes of +the panthan. With a quick step he crossed to the side of the dead +warrior and dragged him from his mount. With equal celerity he +stripped him of his harness and his arms, and tearing off his +own, donned the regalia of the dead man. Then he hastened back to +the room in which he had been trapped, for there he had seen that +which he needed to make his disguise complete. In a cabinet he +found them--pots of paint that the old taxidermist had used to +place the war-paint in its wide bands across the cold faces of +dead warriors. + +A few moments later Gahan of Gathol emerged from the room a +warrior of Manator in every detail of harness, equipment, and +ornamentation. He had removed from the leather of the dead man +the insignia of his house and rank so that he might pass, with +the least danger of arousing suspicion, as a common warrior. + +To search for Tara of Helium in the vast, dim labyrinth of the +pits of O-Tar seemed to the Gatholian a hopeless quest, +foredoomed to failure. It would be wiser to seek the streets of +Manator where he might hope to learn first if she had been +recaptured and, if not, then he could return to the pits and +pursue the hunt for her. To find egress from the maze he must +perforce travel a considerable distance through the winding +corridors and chambers, since he had no idea as to the location +or direction of any exit. In fact, he could not have retraced his +steps a hundred yards toward the point at which he and Tara had +entered the gloomy caverns, and so he set out in the hope that he +might find by accident either Tara of Helium or a way to the +street level above. + +For a time he passed room after room filled with the cunningly +preserved dead of Manator, many of which were piled in tiers +after the manner that firewood is corded, and as he moved through +corridor and chamber he noticed hieroglyphics painted upon the +walls above every opening and at each fork or crossing of +corridors, until by observation he reached the conclusion that +these indicated the designations of passageways, so that one who +understood them might travel quickly and surely through the pits; +but Turan did not understand them. Even could he have read the +language of Manator they might not materially have aided one +unfamiliar with the city; but he could not read them at all +since, though there is but one spoken language upon Barsoom, +there are as many different written languages as there are +nations. One thing, however, soon became apparent to him--the +hieroglyphic of a corridor remained the same until the corridor +ended. + +It was not long before Turan realized from the distance that he +had traveled that the pits were part of a vast system +undermining, possibly, the entire city. At least he was convinced +that he had passed beyond the precincts of the palace. The +corridors and chambers varied in appearance and architecture from +time to time. All were lighted, though usually quite dimly, with +radium bulbs. For a long time he saw no signs of life other than +an occasional ulsio, then quite suddenly he came face to face +with a warrior at one of the numerous crossings. The fellow +looked at him, nodded, and passed on. Turan breathed a sigh of +relief as he realized that his disguise was effective, but he was +caught in the middle of it by a hail from the warrior who had +stopped and turned toward him. The panthan was glad that a sword +hung at his side, and glad too that they were buried in the dim +recesses of the pits and that there would be but a single +antagonist, for time was precious. + +"Heard you any word of the other?'' called the warrior to him. + +"No," replied Turan, who had not the faintest idea to whom or +what the fellow referred. + +"He cannot escape," continued the warrior. "The woman ran +directly into our arms, but she swore that she knew not where her +companion might be found." + +"They took her back to O-Tar?" asked Turan, for now he knew whom +the other meant, and he would know more. + +"They took her back to The Towers of Jetan," replied the warrior. +"Tomorrow the games commence and doubtless she will be played +for, though I doubt if any wants her, beautiful as she is. She +fears not even O-Tar. By Cluros! but she would make a hard slave +to subdue--a regular she-banth she is. Not for me," and he +continued on his way shaking his head. + +Turan hurried on searching for an avenue that led to the level of +the streets above when suddenly he came to the open doorway of a +small chamber in which sat a man who was chained to the wall. +Turan voiced a low exclamation of surprise and pleasure as he +recognized that the man was A-Kor, and that he had stumbled by +accident upon the very cell in which he had been imprisoned. +A-Kor looked at him questioningly. It was evident that he did not +recognize his fellow prisoner. Turan crossed to the table and +leaning close to the other whispered to him. + +"I am Turan the panthan," he said, "who was chained beside you." + +A-Kor looked at him closely. "Your own mother would never know +you!" he said; "but tell me, what has transpired since they took +you away?" + +Turan recounted his experiences in the throne room of O-Tar and +in the pits beneath, "and now," he continued, "I must find these +Towers of Jetan and see what may be done toward liberating the +Princess of Helium." + +A-Kor shook his head. "Long was I dwar of the Towers," he said, +"and I can say to you, stranger, that you might as well attempt +to reduce Manator, single handed, as to rescue a prisoner from +The Towers of Jetan." + +"But I must," replied Turan. + +"Are you better than a good swordsman?" asked A-Kor presently. + +"I am accounted so," replied Turan. + +"Then there is a way--sst!" he was suddenly silent and pointing +toward the base of the wall at the end of the room. + +Turan looked in the direction the other's forefinger indicated, +to see projecting from the mouth of an ulsio's burrow two large +chelae and a pair of protruding eyes. + +"Ghek!" he cried and immediately the hideous kaldane crawled out +upon the floor and approached the table. A-Kor drew back with a +half-stifled ejaculation of repulsion. "Do not fear," Turan +reassured him. "It is my friend--he whom I told you held O-Tar +while Tara and I escaped." + +Ghek climbed to the table top and squatted between the two +warriors. "You are safe in assuming," he said addressing A-Kor, +"that Turan the panthan has no master in all Manator where the +art of sword-play is concerned. I overheard your conversation--go +on." + +"You are his friend," continued A-Kor, "and so I may explain +safely in your presence the only plan I know whereby he may hope +to rescue the Princess of Helium. She is to be the stake of one +of the games and it is O-Tar's desire that she be won by slaves +and common warriors, since she repulsed him. Thus would he punish +her. Not a single man, but all who survive upon the winning side +are to possess her. With money, however, one may buy off the +others before the game. That you could do, and if your side won +and you survived she would become your slave." + +"But how may a stranger and a hunted fugitive accomplish this?" +asked Turan. + +"No one will recognize you. You will go tomorrow to the keeper of +the Towers and enlist in that game for which the girl is to be +the stake, telling the keeper that you are from Manataj, the +farthest city of Manator. If he questions you, you may say that +you saw her when she was brought into the city after her capture. +If you win her, you will find thoats stabled at my palace and you +will carry from me a token that will place all that is mine at +your disposal." + +"But how can I buy off the others in the game without money?" +asked Turan. "I have none--not even of my own country." + +A-Kor opened his pocket-pouch and drew forth a packet of +Manatorian money. + +"Here is sufficient to buy them off twice over," he said, handing +a portion of it to Turan. + +"But why do you do this for a stranger?" asked the panthan. + +"My mother was a captive princess here," replied A-Kor. "I but do +for the Princess of Helium what my mother would have me do." + +"Under the circumstances, then, Manatorian," replied Turan, "I +cannot but accept your generosity on behalf of Tara of Helium and +live in hope that some day I may do for you something in return." + +"Now you must be gone," advised A-Kor. "At any minute a guard may +come and discover you here. Go directly to the Avenue of Gates, +which circles the city just within the outer wall. There you will +find many places devoted to the lodging of strangers. You will +know them by the thoat's head carved above the doors. Say that +you are here from Manataj to witness the games. Take the name of +U-Kal--it will arouse no suspicion, nor will you if you can avoid +conversation. Early in the morning seek the keeper of The Towers +of Jetan. May the strength and fortune of all your ancestors be +with you!" + +Bidding good-bye to Ghek and A-Kor, the panthan, following +directions given him by A-Kor, set out to find his way to the +Avenue of Gates, nor had he any great difficulty. On the way he +met several warriors, but beyond a nod they gave him no heed. +With ease he found a lodging place where there were many +strangers from other cities of Manator. As he had had no sleep +since the previous night he threw himself among the silks and +furs of his couch to gain the rest which he must have, was he to +give the best possible account of himself in the service of Tara +of Helium the following day. + +It was already morning when he awoke, and rising he paid for his +lodgings, sought a place to eat, and a short time later was on +his way toward The Towers of Jetan, which he had no difficulty in +finding owing to the great crowds that were winding along the +avenues toward the games. The new keeper of The Towers who had +succeeded E-Med was too busy to scrutinize entries closely, for +in addition to the many volunteer players there were scores of +slaves and prisoners being forced into the games by their owners +or the government. The name of each must be recorded as well as +the position he was to play and the game or games in which he was +to be entered, and then there were the substitutes for each that +was entered in more than a single game--one for each additional +game that an individual was entered for, that no succeeding game +might be delayed by the death or disablement of a player. + +"Your name?" asked a clerk as Turan presented himself. + +"U-Kal," replied the panthan. + +"Your city?" + +"Manataj." + +The keeper, who was standing beside the clerk, looked at Turan. +"You have come a great way to play at jetan," he said. "It is +seldom that the men of Manataj attend other than the decennial +games. Tell me of O-Zar! Will he attend next year? Ah, but he was +a noble fighter. If you be half the swordsman, U-Kal, the fame of +Manataj will increase this day. But tell me, what of O-Zar?" + +"He is well," replied Turan, glibly, "and he sent greetings to +his friends in Manator." + +"Good!" exclaimed the keeper, "and now in what game would you +enter?" + +"I would play for the Heliumetic princess, Tara," replied Turan. + +"But man, she is to be the stake of a game for slaves and +criminals," cried the keeper. "You would not volunteer for such a +game!" + +"But I would," replied Turan. "I saw here when she was brought +into the city and even then I vowed to possess her." + +"But you will have to share her with the survivors even if your +color wins," objected the other. + +"They may be brought to reason," insisted Turan. + +"And you will chance incurring the wrath of O-Tar, who has no +love for this savage barbarian," explained the keeper. + +"And I win her O-Tar will be rid of her," said Turan. + +The keeper of The Towers of Jetan shook his head. "You are rash," +he said. "I would that I might dissuade the friend of my friend +O-Zar from such madness." + +"Would you favor the friend of O-Zar?" asked Turan. + +"Gladly!" exclaimed the other. "What may I do for him?" + +"Make me chief of the Black and give me for my pieces all slaves +from Gathol, for I understand that those be excellent warriors," +replied the panthan. + +"It is a strange request," said the keeper, "but for my friend +O-Zar I would do even more, though of course--" he +hesitated--"it is customary for one who would be chief to make +some slight payment." + +"Certainly," Turan hastened to assure him; "I had not forgotten +that. I was about to ask you what the customary amount is." + +"For the friend of my friend it shall be nominal," replied the +keeper, naming a figure that Gahan, accustomed to the high price +of wealthy Gathol, thought ridiculously low. + +"Tell me," he said, handing the money to the keeper, "when the +game for the Heliumite is to be played." + +"It is the second in order of the day's games; and now if you +will come with me you may select your pieces." + +Turan followed the keeper to a large court which lay between the +towers and the jetan field, where hundreds of warriors were +assembled. Already chiefs for the games of the day were selecting +their pieces and assigning them to positions, though for the +principal games these matters had been arranged for weeks before. +The keeper led Turan to a part of the courtyard where the +majority of the slaves were assembled. + +"Take your choice of those not assigned," said the keeper, "and +when you have your quota conduct them to the field. Your place +will be assigned you by an officer there, and there you will +remain with your pieces until the second game is called. I wish +you luck, U-Kal, though from what I have heard you will be more +lucky to lose than to win the slave from Helium." + +After the fellow had departed Turan approached the slaves. "I +seek the best swordsmen for the second game," he announced. "Men +from Gathol I wish, for I have heard that these be noble +fighters." + +A slave rose and approached him. "It is all the same in which +game we die," he said. "I would fight for you as a panthan in the +second game." + +Another came. "I am not from Gathol," he said. "I am from Helium, +and I would fight for the honor of a princess of Helium." + +"Good!" exclaimed Turan. "Art a swordsman of repute in Helium?" + +"I was a dwar under the great Warlord, and I have fought at his +side in a score of battles from The Golden Cliffs to The Carrion +Caves. My name is Val Dor. Who knows Helium, knows my prowess." + +The name was well known to Gahan, who had heard the man spoken of +on his last visit to Helium, and his mysterious disappearance +discussed as well as his renown as a fighter. + +"How could I know aught of Helium?" asked Turan; "but if you be +such a fighter as you say no position could suit you better than +that of Flier. What say you?" + +The man's eyes denoted sudden surprise. He looked keenly at +Turan, his eyes running quickly over the other's harness. Then he +stepped quite close so that his words might not be overheard. + +"Methinks you may know more of Helium than of Manator," he +whispered. + +"What mean you, fellow?" demanded Turan, seeking to cudgel his +brains for the source of this man's knowledge, guess, or +inspiration. + +"I mean," replied Val Dor, "that you are not of Manator and that +if you wish to hide the fact it is well that you speak not to a +Manatorian as you did just speak to me of--Fliers! There be no +Fliers in Manator and no piece in their game of Jetan bearing +that name. Instead they call him who stands next to the Chief or +Princess, Odwar. The piece has the same moves and power that the +Flier has in the game as played outside Manator. Remember this +then and remember, too, that if you have a secret it be safe in +the keeping of Val Dor of Helium." + +Turan made no reply but turned to the task of selecting the +remainder of his pieces. Val Dor, the Heliumite, and Floran, the +volunteer from Gathol, were of great assistance to him, since one +or the other of them knew most of the slaves from whom his +selection was to be made. The pieces all chosen, Turan led them +to the place beside the playing field where they were to wait +their turn, and here he passed the word around that they were to +fight for more than the stake he offered for the princess should +they win. This stake they accepted, so that Turan was sure of +possessing Tara if his side was victorious, but he knew that +these men would fight even more valorously for chivalry than for +money, nor was it difficult to enlist the interest even of the +Gatholians in the service of the princess. And now he held out +the possibility of a still further reward. + +"I cannot promise you," he explained, "but I may say I have heard +that this day which makes it possible that should we win this +game we may even win your freedom!" + +They leaped to their feet and crowded around him with many +questions. + +"It may not be spoken of aloud," he said; "but Floran and Val Dor +know and they assure me that you may all be trusted. Listen! What +I would tell you places my life in your hands, but you must know +that every man will realize that he is fighting today the +greatest battle of his life--for the honor and the freedom of +Barsoom's most wondrous princess and for his own freedom as +well--for the chance to return each to his own country and to the +woman who awaits him there. + +"First, then, is my secret. I am not of Manator. Like yourselves +I am a slave, though for the moment disguised as a Manatorian +from Manataj. My country and my identity must remain undisclosed +for reasons that have no bearing upon our game today. I, then, am +one of you. I fight for the same things that you will fight for. + +"And now for that which I have but just learned. U-Thor, the +great jed of Manatos, quarreled with O-Tar in the palace the day +before yesterday and their warriors set upon one another. U-Thor +was driven as far as The Gate of Enemies, where he now lies +encamped. At any moment the fight may be renewed; but it is +thought that U-Thor has sent to Manatos for reinforcements. Now, +men of Gathol, here is the thing that interests you. U-Thor has +recently taken to wife the Princess Haja of Gathol, who was slave +to O-Tar and whose son, A-Kor, was dwar of The Towers of Jetan. +Haja's heart is filled with loyalty for Gathol and compassion for +her sons who are here enslaved, and this latter sentiment she has +to some extent transmitted to U-Thor. Aid me, therefore, in +freeing the Princess Tara of Helium and I believe that I can aid +you and her and myself to escape the city. Bend close your ears, +slaves of O-Tar, that no cruel enemy may hear my words," and +Gahan of Gathol whispered in low tones the daring plan he had +conceived. "And now," he demanded, when he had finished, "let him +who does not dare speak now." None replied. "Is there none?" + +"And it would not betray you should I cast my sword at thy feet, +it had been done ere this," said one in low tones pregnant with +suppressed feeling. + +"And I!" "And I!" "And I!" chorused the others in vibrant +whispers. + + + +CHAPTER XVII + +A PLAY TO THE DEATH + +CLEAR and sweet a trumpet spoke across The Fields of Jetan. From +The High Tower its cool voice floated across the city of Manator +and above the babel of human discords rising from the crowded +mass that filled the seats of the stadium below. It called the +players for the first game, and simultaneously there fluttered to +the peaks of a thousand staffs on tower and battlement and the +great wall of the stadium the rich, gay pennons of the fighting +chiefs of Manator. Thus was marked the opening of The Jeddak's +Games, the most important of the year and second only to the +Grand Decennial Games. + +Gahan of Gathol watched every play with eagle eye. The match was +an unimportant one, being but to settle some petty dispute +between two chiefs, and was played with professional jetan +players for points only. No one was killed and there was but +little blood spilled. It lasted about an hour and was terminated +by the chief of the losing side deliberately permitting himself +to be out-pointed, that the game might be called a draw. + +Again the trumpet sounded, this time announcing the second and +last game of the afternoon. While this was not considered an +important match, those being reserved for the fourth and fifth +days of the games, it promised to afford sufficient excitement +since it was a game to the death. The vital difference between +the game played with living men and that in which inanimate +pieces are used, lies in the fact that while in the latter the +mere placing of a piece upon a square occupied by an opponent +piece terminates the move, in the former the two pieces thus +brought together engage in a duel for possession of the square. +Therefore there enters into the former game not only the strategy +of jetan but the personal prowess and bravery of each individual +piece, so that a knowledge not only of one's own men but of each +player upon the opposing side is of vast value to a chief. + +In this respect was Gahan handicapped, though the loyalty of his +players did much to offset his ignorance of them, since they +aided him in arranging the board to the best advantage and told +him honestly the faults and virtues of each. One fought best in a +losing game; another was too slow; another too impetuous; this +one had fire and a heart of steel, but lacked endurance. Of the +opponents, though, they knew little or nothing, and now as the +two sides took their places upon the black and orange squares of +the great jetan board Gahan obtained, for the first time, a close +view of those who opposed him. The Orange Chief had not yet +entered the field, but his men were all in place. Val Dor turned +to Gahan. "They are all criminals from the pits of Manator," he +said. "There is no slave among them. We shall not have to fight +against a single fellow-countryman and every life we take will be +the life of an enemy." + +"It is well," replied Gahan; "but where is their Chief, and where +the two Princesses?" + +"They are coming now, see?" and he pointed across the field to +where two women could be seen approaching under guard. + +As they came nearer Gahan saw that one was indeed Tara of Helium, +but the other he did not recognize, and then they were brought to +the center of the field midway between the two sides and there +waited until the Orange Chief arrived. + +Floran voiced an exclamation of surprise when he recognized him. +"By my first ancestor if it is not one of their great chiefs," he +said, "and we were told that slaves and criminals were to play +for the stake of this game." + +His words were interrupted by the keeper of The Towers whose duty +it was not only to announce the games and the stakes, but to act +as referee as well. + +"Of this, the second game of the first day of the Jeddak's Games +in the four hundred and thirty-third year of O-Tar, Jeddak of +Manator, the Princesses of each side shall be the sole stakes and +to the survivors of the winning side shall belong both the +Princesses, to do with as they shall see fit. The Orange Princess +is the slave woman Lan-O of Gathol; the Black Princess is the +slave woman Tara, a princess of Helium. The Black Chief is U-Kal +of Manataj, a volunteer player; the Orange Chief is the dwar +U-Dor of the 8th Utan of the jeddak of Manator, also a volunteer +player. The squares shall be contested to the death. Just are the +laws of Manator! I have spoken." + +The initial move was won by U-Dor, following which the two Chiefs +escorted their respective Princesses to the square each was to +occupy. It was the first time Gahan had been alone with Tara +since she had been brought upon the field. He saw her +scrutinizing him closely as he approached to lead her to her +place and wondered if she recognized him: but if she did she gave +no sign of it. He could not but remember her last words--"I hate +you!" and her desertion of him when he had been locked in the +room beneath the palace by I-Gos, the taxidermist, and so he did +not seek to enlighten her as to his identity. He meant to fight +for her--to die for her, if necessary--and if he did not die to +go on fighting to the end for her love. Gahan of Gathol was not +easily to be discouraged, but he was compelled to admit that his +chances of winning the love of Tara of Helium were remote. +Already had she repulsed him twice. Once as jed of Gathol and +again as Turan the panthan. Before his love, however, came her +safety and the former must be relegated to the background until +the latter had been achieved. + +Passing among the players already at their stations the two took +their places upon their respective squares. At Tara's left was +the Black Chief, Gahan of Gathol; directly in front of her the +Princess' Panthan, Floran of Gathol; and at her right the +Princess' Odwar, Val Dor of Helium. And each of these knew the +part that he was to play, win or lose, as did each of the other +Black players. As Tara took her place Val Dor bowed low. "My +sword is at your feet, Tara of Helium," he said. + +She turned and looked at him, an expression of surprise and +incredulity upon her face. "Val Dor, the dwar!" she exclaimed. +"Val Dor of Helium--one of my father's trusted captains! Can it +be possible that my eyes speak the truth?" + +"It is Val Dor, Princess," the warrior replied, "and here to die +for you if need be, as is every wearer of the Black upon this +field of jetan today. Know Princess," he whispered, "that upon +this side is no man of Manator, but each and every is an enemy of +Manator." + +She cast a quick, meaning glance toward Gahan. "But what of him?" +she whispered, and then she caught her breath quickly in +surprise. "Shade of the first jeddak!" she exclaimed. "I did but +just recognize him through his disguise." + +"And you trust him?" asked Val Dor. "I know him not; but he spoke +fairly, as an honorable warrior, and we have taken him at his +word." + +"You have made no mistake," replied Tara of Helium. "I would +trust him with my life--with my soul; and you, too, may trust +him." + +Happy indeed would have been Gahan of Gathol could he have heard +those words; but Fate, who is usually unkind to the lover in such +matters, ordained it otherwise, and then the game was on. + +U-Dor moved his Princess' Odwar three squares diagonally to the +right, which placed the piece upon the Black Chief's Odwar's +seventh. The move was indicative of the game that U-Dor intended +playing--a game of blood, rather than of science--and evidenced +his contempt for his opponents. + +Gahan followed with his Odwar's Panthan one square straight +forward, a more scientific move, which opened up an avenue for +himself through his line of Panthans, as well as announcing to +the players and spectators that he intended having a hand in the +fighting himself even before the exigencies of the game forced it +upon him. The move elicited a ripple of applause from those +sections of seats reserved for the common warriors and their +women, showing perhaps that U-Dor was none too popular with +these, and, too, it had its effect upon the morale of Gahan's +pieces. A Chief may, and often does, play almost an entire game +without leaving his own square, where, mounted upon a thoat, he +may overlook the entire field and direct each move, nor may he be +reproached for lack of courage should he elect thus to play the +game since, by the rules, were he to be slain or so badly wounded +as to be compelled to withdraw, a game that might otherwise have +been won by the science of his play and the prowess of his men +would be drawn. To invite personal combat, therefore, denotes +confidence in his own swordsmanship, and great courage, two +attributes that were calculated to fill the Black players with +hope and valor when evinced by their Chief thus early in the +game. + +U-Dor's next move placed Lan-O's Odwar upon Tara's Odwar's +fourth--within striking distance of the Black Princess. + +Another move and the game would be lost to Gahan unless the +Orange Odwar was overthrown, or Tara moved to a position of +safety; but to move his Princess now would be to admit his belief +in the superiority of the Orange. In the three squares allowed +him he could not place himself squarely upon the square occupied +by the Odwar of U-Dor's Princess. There was only one player upon +the Black side that might dispute the square with the enemy and +that was the Chief's Odwar, who stood upon Gahan's left. Gahan +turned upon his thoat and looked at the man. He was a splendid +looking fellow, resplendent in the gorgeous trappings of an +Odwar, the five brilliant feathers which denoted his position +rising defiantly erect from his thick, black hair. In common with +every player upon the field and every spectator in the crowded +stands he knew what was passing in his Chief's mind. He dared not +speak, the ethics of the game forbade it, but what his lips might +not voice his eyes expressed in martial fire, and eloquently: +"The honor of the Black and the safety of our Princess are secure +with me!" + +Gahan hesitated no longer. "Chief's Odwar to Princess' Odwar's +fourth!" he commanded. It was the courageous move of a leader who +had taken up the gauntlet thrown down by his opponent. + +The warrior sprang forward and leaped into the square occupied by +U-Dor's piece. It was the first disputed square of the game. The +eyes of the players were fastened upon the contestants, the +spectators leaned forward in their seats after the first applause +that had greeted the move, and silence fell upon the vast +assemblage. If the Black went down to defeat, U-Dor could move +his victorious piece on to the square occupied by Tara of Helium +and the game would be over--over in four moves and lost to Gahan +of Gathol. If the Orange lost U-Dor would have sacrificed one of +his most important pieces and more than lost what advantage the +first move might have given him. + +Physically the two men appeared perfectly matched and each was +fighting for his life, but from the first it was apparent that +the Black Odwar was the better swordsman, and Gahan knew that he +had another and perhaps a greater advantage over his antagonist. +The latter was fighting for his life only, without the spur of +chivalry or loyalty. The Black Odwar had these to strengthen his +arm, and besides these the knowledge of the thing that Gahan had +whispered into the ears of his players before the game, and so he +fought for what is more than life to the man of honor. + +It was a duel that held those who witnessed it in spellbound +silence. The weaving blades gleamed in the brilliant sunlight, +ringing to the parries of cut and thrust. The barbaric harness of +the duelists lent splendid color to the savage, martial scene. +The Orange Odwar, forced upon the defensive, was fighting madly +for his life. The Black, with cool and terrible efficiency, was +forcing him steadily, step by step, into a corner of the +square--a position from which there could be no escape. To +abandon the square was to lose it to his opponent and win for +himself ignoble and immediate death before the jeering populace. +Spurred on by the seeming hopelessness of his plight, the Orange +Odwar burst into a sudden fury of offense that forced the Black +back a half dozen steps, and then the sword of U-Dor's piece +leaped in and drew first blood, from the shoulder of his +merciless opponent. An ill-smothered cry of encouragement went up +from U-Dor's men; the Orange Odwar, encouraged by his single +success, sought to bear down the Black by the rapidity of his +attack. There was a moment in which the swords moved with a +rapidity that no man's eye might follow, and then the Black Odwar +made a lightning parry of a vicious thrust, leaned quickly +forward into the opening he had effected, and drove his sword +through the heart of the Orange Odwar--to the hilt he drove it +through the body of the Orange Odwar. + +A shout arose from the stands, for wherever may have been the +favor of the spectators, none there was who could say that it had +not been a pretty fight, or that the better man had not won. And +from the Black players came a sigh of relief as they relaxed from +the tension of the past moments. + +I shall not weary you with the details of the game--only the high +features of it are necessary to your understanding of the +outcome. The fourth move after the victory of the Black Odwar +found Gahan upon U-Dor's fourth; an Orange Panthan was on the +adjoining square diagonally to his right and the only opposing +piece that could engage him other than U-Dor himself. + +It had been apparent to both players and spectators for the past +two moves, that Gahan was moving straight across the field into +the enemy's country to seek personal combat with the Orange +Chief--that he was staking all upon his belief in the superiority +of his own swordsmanship, since if the two Chiefs engage, the +outcome decides the game. U-Dor could move out and engage Gahan, +or he could move his Princess' Panthan upon the square occupied +by Gahan in he hope that the former would defeat the Black Chief +and thus draw the game, which is the outcome if any other than a +Chief slays the opposing Chief, or he could move away and escape, +temporarily, the necessity for personal combat, or at least that +is evidently what he had in mind as was obvious to all who saw +him scanning the board about him; and his disappointment was +apparent when he finally discovered that Gahan had so placed +himself that there was no square to which U-Dor could move that +it was not within Gahan's power to reach at his own next move. + +U-Dor had placed his own Princess four squares east of Gahan when +her position had been threatened, and he had hoped to lure the +Black Chief after her and away from U-Dor; but in that he had +failed. He now discovered that he might play his own Odwar into +personal combat with Gahan; but he had already lost one Odwar and +could ill spare the other. His position was a delicate one, since +he did not wish to engage Gahan personally, while it appeared +that there was little likelihood of his being able to escape. +There was just one hope and that lay in his Princess' Panthan, +so, without more deliberation he ordered the piece onto the +square occupied by the Black Chief. + +The sympathies of the spectators were all with Gahan now. If he +lost, the game would be declared a draw, nor do they think better +of drawn games upon Barsoom than do Earth men. If he won, it +would doubtless mean a duel between the two Chiefs, a development +for which they all were hoping. The game already bade fair to be +a short one and it would be an angry crowd should it be decided a +draw with only two men slain. There were great, historic games on +record where of the forty pieces on the field when the game +opened only three survived--the two Princesses and the victorious +Chief. + +They blamed U-Dor, though in fact he was well within his rights +in directing his play as he saw fit, nor was a refusal on his +part to engage the Black Chief necessarily an imputation of +cowardice. He was a great chief who had conceived a notion to +possess the slave Tara. There was no honor that could accrue to +him from engaging in combat with slaves and criminals, or an +unknown warrior from Manataj, nor was the stake of sufficient +import to warrant the risk. + +But now the duel between Gahan and the Orange Panthan was on and +the decision of the next move was no longer in other hands than +theirs. It was the first time that these Mana-Atorians had seen +Gahan of Gathol fight, but Tara of Helium knew that he was master +of his sword. Could he have seen the proud light in her eyes as +he crossed blades with the wearer of the Orange, he might easily +have wondered if they were the same eyes that had flashed fire +and hatred at him that time he had covered her lips with mad +kisses, in the pits of the palace of O-Tar. As she watched him +she could not but compare his swordplay with that of the greatest +swordsman of two worlds--her father, John Carter, of Virginia, a, +Prince of Helium, Warlord of Barsoom--and she knew that the skill +of the Black Chief suffered little by the comparison. + +Short and to the point was the duel that decided possession of +the Orange Chief's fourth. The spectators had settled themselves +for an interesting engagement of at least average duration when +they were brought almost standing by a brilliant flash of rapid +swordplay that was over ere one could catch his breath. They saw +the Black Chief step quickly back, his point upon the ground, +while his opponent, his sword slipping from his fingers, clutched +his breast, sank to his knees and then lunged forward upon his +face. + +And then Gahan of Gathol turned his eyes directly upon U-Dor of +Manator, three squares away. Three squares is a Chief's +move--three squares in any direction or combination of +directions, only provided that he does not cross the same square +twice in a given move. The people saw and guessed Gahan's +intention. They rose and roared forth their approval as he moved +deliberately across the intervening squares toward the Orange +Chief. + +O-Tar, in the royal enclosure, sat frowning upon the scene. O-Tar +was angry. He was angry with U-Dor for having entered this game +for possession of a slave, for whom it had been his wish only +slaves and criminals should strive. He was angry with the warrior +from Manataj for having so far out-generaled and out-fought the +men from Manator. He was angry with the populace because of their +open hostility toward one who had basked in the sunshine of his +favor for long years. O-Tar the jeddak had not enjoyed the +afternoon. Those who surrounded him were equally glum--they, too, +scowled upon the field, the players, and the people. Among them +was a bent and wrinkled old man who gazed through weak and watery +eyes upon the field and the players. + +As Gahan entered his square, U-Dor leaped toward him with drawn +sword with such fury as might have overborne a less skilled and +powerful swordsman. For a minute the fighting was fast and +furious and by comparison reducing to insignificance all that had +gone before. Here indeed were two magnificent swordsmen, and here +was to be a battle that bade fair to make up for whatever the +people felt they had been defrauded of by the shortness of the +game. Nor had it continued long before many there were who would +have prophesied that they were witnessing a duel that was to +become historic in the annals of jetan at Manator. Every trick, +every subterfuge, known to the art of fence these men employed. +Time and again each scored a point and brought blood to his +opponent's copper hide until both were red with gore; but neither +seemed able to administer the coup de grace. + +From her position upon the opposite side of the field Tara of +Helium watched the long-drawn battle. Always it seemed to her +that the Black Chief fought upon the defensive, or when he +assumed to push his opponent, he neglected a thousand openings +that her practiced eye beheld. Never did he seem in real danger, +nor never did he appear to exert himself to quite the pitch +needful for victory. The duel already had been long contested and +the day was drawing to a close. Presently the sudden transition +from daylight to darkness which, owing to the tenuity of the air +upon Barsoom, occurs almost without the warning twilight of +Earth, would occur. Would the fight never end? Would the game be +called a draw after all? What ailed the Black Chief? + +Tara wished that she might answer at least the last of these +questions for she was sure that Turan the panthan, as she knew +him, while fighting brilliantly, was not giving of himself all +that he might. She could not believe that fear was restraining +his hand, but that there was something beside inability to push +U-Dor more fiercely she was confident. What it was, however, she +could not guess. + +Once she saw Gahan glance quickly up toward the sinking sun. In +thirty minutes it would be dark. And then she saw and all those +others saw a strange transition steal over the swordplay of the +Black Chief. It was as though he had been playing with the great +dwar, U-Dor, all these hours, and now he still played with him +but there was a difference. He played with him terribly as a +carnivore plays with its victim in the instant before the kill. +The Orange Chief was helpless now in the hands of a swordsman so +superior that there could be no comparison, and the people sat in +open-mouthed wonder and awe as Gahan of Gathol cut his foe to +ribbons and then struck him down with a blow that cleft him to +the chin. + +In twenty minutes the sun would set. But what of that? + + + +CHAPTER XVIII + +A TASK FOR LOYALTY + +LONG and loud was the applause that rose above the Field of Jetan +at Manator, as The Keeper of the Towers summoned the two +Princesses and the victorious Chief to the center of the field +and presented to the latter the fruits of his prowess, and then, +as custom demanded, the victorious players, headed by Gahan and +the two Princesses, formed in procession behind The Keeper of the +Towers and were conducted to the place of victory before the +royal enclosure that they might receive the commendation of the +jeddak. Those who were mounted gave up their thoats to slaves as +all must be on foot for this ceremony. Directly beneath the royal +enclosure are the gates to one of the tunnels that, passing +beneath the seats, give ingress or egress to or from the Field. +Before this gate the party halted while O-Tar looked down upon +them from above. Val Dor and Floran, passing quietly ahead of the +others, went directly to the gates, where they were hidden from +those who occupied the enclosure with O-Tar. The Keeper of the +Towers may have noticed them, but so occupied was he with the +formality of presenting the victorious Chief to the jeddak that +he paid no attention to them. + +"I bring you, O-Tar, Jeddak of Manator, U-Kal of Manataj," he +cried in a loud voice that might be heard by as many as possible, +"victor over the Orange in the second of the Jeddak's Games of +the four hundred and thirty-third year of O-Tar, and the slave +woman Tara and the slave woman Lan-O that you may bestow these, +the stakes, upon U-Kal." + +As he spoke, a little, wrinkled, old man peered over the rail of +the enclosure down upon the three who stood directly behind The +Keeper, and strained his weak and watery eyes in an effort to +satisfy the curiosity of old age in a matter of no particular +import, for what were two slaves and a common warrior from +Manataj to any who sat with O-Tar the jeddak? + +"U-Kal of Manataj," said O-Tar, "you have deserved the stakes. +Seldom have we looked upon more noble swordplay. And you tire of +Manataj there be always here in the city of Manator a place for +you in The Jeddak's Guard." + +While the jeddak was speaking the little, old man, failing +clearly to discern the features of the Black Chief, reached into +his pocket-pouch and drew forth a pair of thick-lensed +spectacles, which he placed upon his nose. For a moment he +scrutinized Gahan closely, then he leaped to his feet and +addressing O-Tar pointed a shaking finger it Gahan. As he rose +Tara of Helium clutched the Black Chief's arm. + +"Turan!" she whispered. "It is I-Gos, whom I thought to have +slain in the pits of O-Tar. It is I-Gos and he recognizes you and +will--" + +But what I-Gos would do was already transpiring. In his falsetto +voice he fairly screamed: "It is the slave Turan who stole the +woman Tara from your throne room, O-Tar. He desecrated the dead +chief I-Mal and wears his harness now!" + +Instantly all was pandemonium. Warriors drew their swords and +leaped to their feet. Gahan's victorious players rushed forward +in a body, sweeping The Keeper of the Towers from his feet. Val +Dor and Floran threw open the gates beneath the royal enclosure, +opening the tunnel that led to the avenue in the city beyond the +Towers. Gahan, surrounded by his men, drew Tara and Lan-O into +the passageway, and at a rapid pace the party sought to reach the +opposite end of the tunnel before their escape could be cut off. +They were successful and when they emerged into the city the sun +had set and darkness had come, relieved only by an antiquated and +ineffective lighting system, which cast but a pale glow over the +shadowy streets. + +Now it was that Tara of Helium guessed why the Black Chief had +drawn out his duel with U-Dor and realized that he might have +slain his man at almost any moment he had elected. The whole plan +that Gahan had whispered to his players before the game was +thoroughly understood. They were to make their way to The Gate of +Enemies and there offer their services to U-Thor, the great Jed +of Manatos. The fact that most of them were Gatholians and that +Gahan could lead rescuers to the pit where A-Kor, the son of +U-Thor's wife, was confined, convinced the Jed of Gathol that +they would meet with no rebuff at the hands of U-Thor. But even +should he refuse them, still were they bound together to go on +toward freedom, if necessary cutting their way through the forces +of U-Thor at The Gate of Enemies--twenty men against a small +army; but of such stuff are the warriors of Barsoom. + +They had covered a considerable distance along the almost +deserted avenue before signs of pursuit developed and then there +came upon them suddenly from behind a dozen warriors mounted on +thoats--a detachment, evidently, from The Jeddak's Guard. +Instantly the avenue was a pandemonium of clashing blades, +cursing warriors, and squealing thoats. In the first onslaught +life blood was spilled upon both sides. Two of Gahan's men went +down, and upon the enemies' side three riderless thoats attested +at least a portion of their casualties. + +Gahan was engaged with a fellow who appeared to have been +selected to account for him only, since he rode straight for him +and sought to cut him down without giving the slightest heed to +several who slashed at him as he passed them. The Gatholian, +practiced in the art of combating a mounted warrior from the +ground, sought to reach the left side of the fellow's thoat a +little to the rider's rear, the only position in which he would +have any advantage over his antagonist, or rather the position +that would most greatly reduce the advantage of the mounted man, +and, similarly, the Manatorian strove to thwart his design. And +so the guardsman wheeled and turned his vicious, angry mount +while Gahan leaped in and out in an effort to reach the coveted +vantage point, but always seeking some other opening in his foe's +defense. + +And while they jockeyed for position a rider swept swiftly past +them. As he passed behind Gahan the latter heard a cry of alarm. + +"Turan, they have me!" came to his ears in the voice of Tara of +Helium. + +A quick glance across his shoulder showed him the galloping +thoatman in the act of dragging Tara to the withers of the beast, +and then, with the fury of a demon, Gahan of Gathol leaped for +his own man, dragged him from his mount and as he fell smote his +head from his shoulders with a single cut of his keen sword. +Scarce had the body touched the pavement when the Gatholian was +upon the back of the dead warrior's mount, and galloping swiftly +down the avenue after the diminishing figures of Tara and her +abductor, the sounds of the fight waning in the distance as he +pursued his quarry along the avenue that passes the palace of +O-Tar and leads to The Gate of Enemies. + +Gahan's mount, carrying but a single rider, gained upon that of +the Manatorian, so that as they neared the palace Gahan was +scarce a hundred yards behind, and now, to his consternation, he +saw the fellow turn into the great entrance-way. For a moment +only was he halted by the guards and then he disappeared within. +Gahan was almost upon him then, but evidently he had warned the +guards, for they leaped out to intercept the Gatholian. But no! +the fellow could not have known that he was pursued, since he had +not seen Gahan seize a mount, nor would he have thought that +pursuit would come so soon. If he had passed then, so could Gahan +pass, for did he not wear the trappings of a Manatorian? The +Gatholian thought quickly, and stopping his thoat called to the +guardsmen to let him pass, "In the name of O-Tar!" They hesitated +a moment. + +"Aside!" cried Gahan. "Must the jeddak's messenger parley for the +right to deliver his message?" + +"To whom would you deliver it?" asked the padwar of the guard. + +"Saw you not him who just entered?" cried Gahan, and without +waiting for a reply urged his thoat straight past them into the +palace, and while they were deliberating what was best to be +done, it was too late to do anything--which is not unusual. + +Along the marble corridors Gahan guided his thoat, and because he +had gone that way before, rather than because he knew which way +Tara had been taken, he followed the runways and passed through +the chambers that led to the throne room of O-Tar. On the second +level he met a slave. + +"Which way went he who carried the woman before him?" he asked. + +The slave pointed toward a nearby runway that led to the third +level and Gahan dashed rapidly on in pursuit. At the same moment +a thoatman, riding at a furious pace, approached the palace and +halted his mount at the gate. + +"Saw you aught of a warrior pursuing one who carried a woman +before him on his thoat?" he shouted to the guard. + +"He but just passed in," replied the padwar, "saying that he was +O-Tar's messenger." + +"He lied," cried the newcomer. "He was Turan, the slave, who +stole the woman from the throne room two days since. + +Arouse the palace! He must be seized, and alive if possible. It +is O-Tar's command." + +Instantly warriors were dispatched to search for the Gatholian +and warn the inmates of the palace to do likewise. Owing to the +games there were comparatively few retainers in the great +building, but those whom they found were immediately enlisted in +the search, so that presently at least fifty warriors were +seeking through the countless chambers and corridors of the +palace of O-Tar. + +As Gahan's thoat bore him to the third Level the man glimpsed the +hind quarters of another thoat disappearing at the turn of a +corridor far ahead. Urging his own animal forward he raced +swiftly in pursuit and making the turn discovered only an empty +corridor ahead. Along this he hurried to discover near its +farther end a runway to the fourth level, which he followed +upward. Here he saw that he had gained upon his quarry who was +just turning through a doorway fifty yards ahead. As Gahan +reached the opening he saw that the warrior had dismounted and +was dragging Tara toward a small door on the opposite side of the +chamber. At the same instant the clank of harness to his rear +caused him to cast a glance behind where, along the corridor he +had just traversed, he saw three warriors approaching on foot at +a run. Leaping from his thoat Gahan sprang into the chamber where +Tara was struggling to free herself from the grasp of her captor, +slammed the door behind him, shot the great bolt into its seat, +and drawing his sword crossed the room at a run to engage the +Manatorian. The fellow, thus menaced, called aloud to Gahan to +halt, at the same time thrusting Tara at arm's length and +threatening her heart with the point of his short-sword. + +"Stay!" he cried, "or the woman dies, for such is the command of +O-Tar, rather than that she again fall into your hands." + +Gahan stopped. But a few feet separated him from Tara and her +captor, yet he was helpless to aid her. Slowly the warrior backed +toward the open doorway behind him, dragging Tara with him. The +girl struggled and fought, but the warrior was a powerful man and +having seized her by the harness from behind was able to hold her +in a position of helplessness. + +"Save me, Turan!" she cried. "Let them not drag me to a fate +worse than death. Better that I die now while my eyes behold a +brave friend than later, fighting alone among enemies in defense +of my honor." + +He took a step nearer. The warrior made a threatening gesture +with his sword close to the soft, smooth skin of the princess, +and Gahan halted. + +"I cannot, Tara of Helium," he cried. "Think not ill of me that I +am weak--that I cannot see you die. Too great is my love for you, +daughter of Helium." + +The Manatorian warrior, a derisive grin upon his lips, backed +steadily away. He had almost reached the doorway when Gahan saw +another warrior in the chamber toward which Tara was being +borne--a fellow who moved silently, almost stealthily, across the +marble floor as he approached Tara's captor from behind. In his +right hand he grasped a long-sword. + +"Two to one," thought Gahan, and a grim smile touched his lips, +for he had no doubt that once they had Tara safely in the +adjoining chamber the two would set upon him. If he could not +save her, he could at least die for her. + +And then, suddenly, Gahan's eyes fastened with amazement upon the +figure of the warrior behind the grinning fellow who held Tara +and was forcing her to the doorway. He saw the newcomer step +almost within arm's reach of the other. He saw him stop, an +expression of malevolent hatred upon his features. He saw the +great sword swing through the arc of a great circle, gathering +swift and terrific momentum from its own weight backed by the +brawn of the steel thews that guided it; he saw it pass through +the feathered skull of the Manatorian, splitting his sardonic +grin in twain, and open him to the middle of his breast bone. + +As the dead hand relaxed its grasp upon Tara's wrist the girl +leaped forward, without a backward glance, to Gahan's side. His +left arm encircled her, nor did she draw away, as with ready +sword the Gatholian awaited Fate's next decree. Before them +Tara's deliverer was wiping the blood from his sword upon the +hair of his victim. He was evidently a Manatorian, his trappings +those of the Jeddak's Guard, and so his act was inexplicable to +Gahan and to Tara. Presently he sheathed his sword and approached +them. + +"When a man chooses to hide his identity behind an assumed name," +he said, looking straight into Gahan's eyes, "whatever friend +pierces the deception were no friend if he divulged the other's +secret." + +He paused as though awaiting a reply. + +"Your integrity has perceived and your lips voiced an unalterable +truth," replied Gahan, whose mind was filled with wonder if the +implication could by any possibility be true--that this +Manatorian had guessed his identity. + +"We are thus agreed," continued the other, "and I may tell you +that though I am here known as A-Sor, my real name is Tasor." He +paused and watched Gahan's face intently for any sign of the +effect of this knowledge and was rewarded with a quick, though +guarded expression of recognition. + +Tasor! Friend of his youth. The son of that great Gatholian noble +who had given his life so gloriously, however futilely, in an +attempt to defend Gahan's sire from the daggers of the assassins. +Tasor an under-padwar in the guard of O-Tar, Jeddak of Manator! +It was inconceivable--and yet it was he; there could be no doubt +of it. "Tasor," Gahan repeated aloud. "But it is no Manatorian +name." The statement was half interrogatory, for Gahan's +curiosity was aroused. He would know how his friend and loyal +subject had become a Manatorian. Long years had passed since +Tasor had disappeared as mysteriously as the Princess Haja and +many other of Gahan's subjects. The Jed of Gathol had long +supposed him dead. + +"No," replied Tasor, "nor is it a Manatorian name. Come, while I +search for a hiding place for you in some forgotten chamber in +one of the untenanted portions of the palace, and as we go I will +tell you briefly how Tasor the Gatholian became A-Sor the +Manatorian. + +"It befell that as I rode with a dozen of my warriors along the +western border of Gathol searching for zitidars that had strayed +from my herds, we were set upon and surrounded by a great company +of Manatorians. They overpowered us, though not before half our +number was slain and the balance helpless from wounds. And so I +was brought a prisoner to Manataj, a distant city of Manator, and +there sold into slavery. A woman bought me--a princess of Manataj +whose wealth and position were unequaled in the city of her +birth. She loved me and when her husband discovered her +infatuation she beseeched me to slay him, and when I refused she +hired another to do it. Then she married me; but none would have +aught to do with her in Manataj, for they suspected her guilty +knowledge of her husband's murder. And so we set out from Manataj +for Manatos accompanied by a great caravan bearing all her +worldly goods and jewels and precious metals, and on the way she +caused the rumor to be spread that she and I had died. Then we +came to Manator instead, she taking a new name and I the name +A-Sor, that we might not be traced through our names. With her +great wealth she bought me a post in The Jeddak's Guard and none +knows that I am not a Manatorian, for she is dead. She was +beautiful, but she was a devil." + +"And you never sought to return to your native city?" asked +Gahan. + +"Never has the hope been absent from my heart, or my mind empty +of a plan," replied Tasor. "I dream of it by day and by night, +but always must I return to the same conclusion--that there can +be but a single means for escape. I must wait until Fortune +favors me with a place in a raiding party to Gathol. Then, once +within the boundaries of my own country, they shall see me no +more." + +"Perhaps your opportunity lies already within your grasp," said +Gahan, "has not your fealty to your own Jed been undermined by +years of association with the men of Manator." The statement was +half challenge. + +"And my Jed stood before me now," cried Tasor, "and my avowal +could be made without violating his confidence, I should cast my +sword at his feet and beg the high privilege of dying for him as +my sire died for his sire." + +There could be no doubt of his sincerity nor any that he was +cognizant of Gahan's identity. The Jed of Gathol smiled. "And if +your Jed were here there is little doubt but that he would +command you to devote your talents and your prowess to the rescue +of the Princess Tara of Helium," he said, meaningly. "And he +possessed the knowledge I have gained during my captivity he +would say to you, 'Go, Tasor, to the pit where A-kor, son of Haja +of Gathol, is confined and set him free and with him arouse the +slaves from Gathol and march to The Gate of Enemies and offer +your services to U-Thor of Manataj, who is wed to Haja of Gathol, +and ask of him in return that he attack the palace of O-Tar and +rescue Tara of Helium and when that thing is accomplished that he +free the slaves of Gathol and furnish them with the arms and the +means to return to their own country.' That, Tasor of Gathol, is +what Gahan your Jed would demand of you." + +"And that, Turan the slave, is what I shall bend my every effort +to accomplish after I have found a safe refuge for Tara of Helium +and her panthan," replied Tasor. + +Gahan's glance carried to Tasor an intimation of his Jed's +gratification and filled him with a chivalrous determination to +do the thing required of him, or die, for he considered that he +had received from the lips of his beloved ruler a commission that +placed upon his shoulders a responsibility that encompassed not +alone the life of Gahan and Tara but the welfare, perhaps the +whole future, of Gathol. And so he hastened them onward through +the musty corridors of the old palace where the dust of ages lay +undisturbed upon the marble tiles. Now and again he tried a door +until he found one that was unlocked. Opening it he ushered them +into a chamber, heavy with dust. Crumbling silks and furs adorned +the walls, with ancient weapons, and great paintings whose colors +were toned by age to wondrous softness. + +"This be as good as any place," he said. "No one comes here. +Never have I been here before, so I know no more of the other +chambers than you; but this one, at least, I can find again when +I bring you food and drink. O-Mai the Cruel occupied this portion +of the palace during his reign, five thousand years before O-Tar. +In one of these apartments he was found dead, his face contorted +in an expression of fear so horrible that it drove to madness +those who looked upon it; yet there was no mark of violence upon +him Since then the quarters of O-Mai have been shunned for the +legends have it that the ghosts of Corphals pursue the spirit of +the wicked Jeddak nightly through these chambers, shrieking and +moaning as they go. But," he added, as though to reassure himself +as well as his companions, "such things may not be countenanced +by the culture of Gathol or Helium." + +Gahan laughed. "And if all who looked upon him were driven mad, +who then was there to perform the last rites or prepare the body +of the Jeddak for them?" + +"There was none," replied Tasor. "Where they found him they left +him and there to this very day his mouldering bones lie hid in +some forgotten chamber of this forbidden suite." + +Tasor left them then assuring them that he would seek the first +opportunity to speak with A-Kor, and upon the following day he +would bring them food and drink.* + +* Those who have read John Carter's description of the Green +Martians in A Princess of Mars will recall that these strange +people could exist for considerable periods of time without food +or water, and to a lesser degree is the same true of all +Martians. + + +After Tasor had gone Tara turned to Gahan and approaching laid a +hand upon his arm. "So swiftly have events transpired since I +recognized you beneath your disguise," she said, "that I have had +no opportunity to assure you of my gratitude and the high esteem +that your valor has won for you in my consideration. Let me now +acknowledge my indebtedness; and if promises be not vain from one +whose life and liberty are in grave jeopardy, accept my assurance +of the great reward that awaits you at the hand of my father in +Helium." + +"I desire no reward," he replied, "other than the happiness of +knowing that the woman I love is happy." + +For an instant the eyes of Tara of Helium blazed as she drew +herself haughtily to her full height, and then they softened and +her attitude relaxed as she shook her head sadly. + +"I have it not in my heart to reprimand you, Turan," she said, +"however great your fault, for you have been an honorable and a +loyal friend to Tara of Helium; but you must not say what my ears +must not hear." + +"You mean," he asked, "that the ears of a Princess must not +listen to words of love from a panthan?" + +"It is not that, Turan," she replied; "but rather that I may +not in honor listen to words of love from another than him to +whom I am betrothed--a fellow countryman, Djor Kantos." + +"You mean, Tara of Helium," he cried, "that were it not for that +you would--" + +"Stop!" she commanded. "You have no right to assume aught else +than my lips testify." + +"The eyes are ofttimes more eloquent than the lips, Tara," he +replied; "and in yours I have read that which is neither hatred +nor contempt for Turan the panthan, and my heart tells me that +your lips bore false witness when they cried in anger: 'I hate +you!'" + +"I do not hate you, Turan, nor yet may I love you," said the +girl, simply. + +"When I broke my way out from the chamber of I-Gos I was indeed +upon the verge of believing that you did hate me," he said, "for +only hatred, it seemed to me, could account for the fact that you +had gone without making an effort to liberate me; but presently +both my heart and my judgment told me that Tara of Helium could +not have deserted a companion in distress, and though I still am +in ignorance of the facts I know that it was beyond your power to +aid me." + +"It was indeed," said the girl. "Scarce had I-Gos fallen at the +bite of my dagger than I heard the approach of warriors. I ran +then to hide until they had passed, thinking to return and +liberate you; but in seeking to elude the party I had heard I ran +full into the arms of another. They questioned me as to your +whereabouts, and I told them that you had gone ahead and that I +was following you and thus I led them from you." + +"I knew," was Gahan's only comment, but his heart was glad with +elation, as a lover's must be who has heard from the lips of his +divinity an avowal of interest and loyalty, however little tinged +by a suggestion of warmer regard it may be. To be abused, even, +by the mistress of one's heart is better than to be ignored. + +As the two conversed in the ill-lit chamber, the dim bulbs of +which were encrusted with the accumulated dust of centuries, a +bent and withered figure traversed slowly the gloomy corridors +without, his weak and watery eyes peering through thick lenses at +the signs of passage written upon the dusty floor. + + + +CHAPTER XIX + +THE MENACE OF THE DEAD + +THE night was still young when there came one to the entrance of +the banquet hall where O-Tar of Manator dined with his chiefs, +and brushing past the guards entered the great room with the +insolence of a privileged character, as in truth he was. As he +approached the head of the long board O-Tar took notice of him. + +"Well, hoary one!" he cried. "What brings you out of your beloved +and stinking burrow again this day. We thought that the sight of +the multitude of living men at the games would drive you back to +your corpses as quickly as you could go." + +The cackling laugh of I-Gos acknowledged the royal sally. "Ey, +ey, O-Tar," squeaked the ancient one, "I-Gos goes out not upon +pleasure bound; but when one does ruthlessly desecrate the dead +of I-Gos, vengeance must be had!" + +"You refer to the act of the slave Turan?" demanded O-Tar. + +"Turan, yes, and the slave Tara, who slipped beneath my hide a +murderous blade. Another fraction of an inch, O-Tar, and I-Gos' +ancient and wrinkled covering were even now in some apprentice +tanner's hands, ey, ey!" + +"But they have again eluded us," cried O-Tar. "Even in the palace +of the great jeddak twice have they escaped the stupid knaves I +call The Jeddak's Guard." O-Tar had risen and was angrily +emphasizing his words with heavy blows upon the table, dealt with +a golden goblet. + +"Ey, O-Tar, they elude thy guard but not the wise old calot, +I-Gos." + +"What mean you? Speak!" commanded O-Tar. + +"I know where they are hid," said the ancient taxidermist. "In +the dust of unused corridors their feet have betrayed them." + +"You followed them? You have seen them?" demanded the jeddak. + +"I followed them and I heard them speaking beyond a closed door," +replied I-Gos; "but I did not see them." + +"Where is that door?" cried O-Tar. "We will send at once and +fetch them," he looked about the table as though to decide to +whom he would entrust this duty. A dozen warrior chiefs arose and +laid their hands upon their swords. + +"To the chambers of O-Mai the Cruel I traced them," squeaked +I-Gos. "There you will find them where the moaning Corphals +pursue the shrieking ghost of O-Mai; ey!" and he turned his eyes +from O-Tar toward the warriors who had arisen, only to discover +that, to a man, they were hurriedly resuming their seats. + +The cackling laughter of I-Gos broke derisively the hush that had +fallen on the room. The warriors looked sheepishly at the food +upon their plates of gold. O-Tar snapped his fingers impatiently. + +"Be there only cravens among the chiefs of Manator?" he cried. +"Repeatedly have these presumptuous slaves flouted the majesty of +your jeddak. Must I command one to go and fetch them?" + +Slowly a chief arose and two others followed his example, though +with ill-concealed reluctance. "All, then, are not cowards," +commented O-Tar. "The duty is distasteful. Therefore all three of +you shall go, taking as many warriors as you wish." + +"But do not ask for volunteers," interrupted I-Gos, "or you will +go alone." + +The three chiefs turned and left the banquet hall, walking slowly +like doomed men to their fate. + +Gahan and Tara remained in the chamber to which Tasor had led +them, the man brushing away the dust from a deep and comfortable +bench where they might rest in comparative comfort. He had found +the ancient sleeping silks and furs too far gone to be of any +service, crumbling to powder at a touch, thus removing any chance +of making a comfortable bed for the girl, and so the two sat +together, talking in low tones, of the adventures through which +they already had passed and speculating upon the future; planning +means of escape and hoping Tasor would not be long gone. They +spoke of many things--of Hastor, and Helium, and Ptarth, and +finally the conversation reminded Tara of Gathol. + +"You have served there?" she asked. + +"Yes," replied Turan. + +"I met Gahan the Jed of Gathol at my father's palace," she said, +"the very day before the storm snatched me from Helium--he was a +presumptuous fellow, magnificently trapped in platinum and +diamonds. Never in my life saw I so gorgeous a harness as his, +and you must well know, Turan, that the splendor of all Barsoom +passes through the court at Helium; but in my mind I could not +see so resplendent a creature drawing that jeweled sword in +mortal combat. I fear me that the Jed of Gathol, though a pretty +picture of a man, is little else." + +In the dim light Tara did not perceive the wry expression upon +the half-averted face of her companion. + +"You thought little then of the Jed of Gathol?" he asked. + +"Then or now," she replied, and with a little laugh; "how it +would pique his vanity to know, if he might, that a poor panthan +had won a higher place in the regard of Tara of Helium," and she +laid her fingers gently upon his knee. + +He seized the fingers in his and carried them to his lips. "O, +Tara of Helium," he cried. "Think you that I am a man of stone?" +One arm slipped about her shoulders and drew the yielding body +toward him. + +"May my first ancestor forgive me my weakness," she cried, as her +arms stole about his neck and she raised her panting lips to his. +For long they clung there in love's first kiss and then she +pushed him away, gently. "I love you, Turan," she half sobbed; "I +love you so! It is my only poor excuse for having done this wrong +to Djor Kantos, whom now I know I never loved, who knew not the +meaning of love. And if you love me as you say, Turan, your love +must protect me from greater dishonor, for I am but as clay in +your hands." + +Again he crushed her to him and then as suddenly released her, +and rising, strode rapidly to and fro across the chamber as +though he endeavored by violent exercise to master and subdue +some evil spirit that had laid hold upon him. Ringing through his +brain and heart and soul like some joyous paean were those words +that had so altered the world for Gahan of Gathol: "I love you, +Turan; I love you so!" And it had come so suddenly. He had +thought that she felt for him only gratitude for his loyalty and +then, in an instant, her barriers were all down, she was no +longer a princess; but instead a--his reflections were +interrupted by a sound from beyond the closed door. His sandals +of zitidar hide had given forth no sound upon the marble floor he +strode, and as his rapid pacing carried him past the entrance to +the chamber there came faintly from the distance of the long +corridor the sound of metal on metal--the unmistakable herald of +the approach of armed men. + +For a moment Gahan listened intently, close to the door, until +there could be no doubt but that a party of warriors was +approaching. From what Tasor had told him he guessed correctly +that they would be coming to this portion of the palace but for a +single purpose--to search for Tara and himself--and it behooved +him therefore to seek immediate means for eluding them. The +chamber in which they were had other doorways beside that at +which they had entered, and to one of these he must look for some +safer hiding place. Crossing to Tara he acquainted her with his +suspicion, leading her to one of the doors which they found +unsecured. Beyond it lay a dimly-lighted chamber at the threshold +of which they halted in consternation, drawing back quickly into +the chamber they had just quitted, for their first glance +revealed four warriors seated around a jetan board. + +That their entrance had not been noted was attributed by Gahan to +the absorption of the two players and their friends in the game. +Quietly closing the door the fugitives moved silently to the +next, which they found locked. There was now but another door +which they had not tried, and this they approached quickly as +they knew that the searching party must be close to the chamber. +To their chagrin they found this avenue of escape barred. + +Now indeed were they in a sorry plight, for should the searchers +have information leading them to this room they were lost. Again +leading Tara to the door behind which were the jetan players +Gahan drew his sword and waited, listening. The sound of the +party in the corridor came distinctly to their ears--they must be +quite close, and doubtless they were coming in force. Beyond the +door were but four warriors who might be readily surprised. There +could, then, be but one choice and acting upon it Gahan quietly +opened the door again, stepped through into the adjoining +chamber, Tara's hand in his, and closed the door behind them. The +four at the jetan board evidently failed to hear them. One player +had either just made or was contemplating a move, for his fingers +grasped a piece that still rested upon the board. The other three +were watching his move. For an instant Gahan looked at them, +playing jetan there in the dim light of this forgotten and +forbidden chamber, and then a slow smile of understanding lighted +his face. + +"Come!" he said to Tara. "We have nothing to fear from these. For +more than five thousand years they have sat thus, a monument to +the handiwork of some ancient taxidermist." + +As they approached more closely they saw that the lifelike +figures were coated with dust, but that otherwise the skin was in +as fine a state of preservation as the most recent of I-Gos' +groups, and then they heard the door of the chamber they had +quitted open and knew that the searchers were close upon them. +Across the room they saw the opening of what appeared to be a +corridor and which investigation proved to be a short passageway, +terminating in a chamber in the center of which was an ornate +sleeping dais. This room, like the others, was but poorly +lighted, time having dimmed the radiance of its bulbs and coated +them with dust. A glance showed that it was hung with heavy goods +and contained considerable massive furniture in addition to the +sleeping platform, a second glance at which revealed what +appeared to be the form of a man lying partially on the floor and +partially on the dais. No doorways were visible other than that +at which they had entered, though both knew that others might be +concealed by the hangings. + +Gahan, his curiosity aroused by the legends surrounding this +portion of the palace, crossed to the dais to examine the figure +that apparently had fallen from it, to find the dried and +shrivelled corpse of a man lying upon his back on the floor with +arms outstretched and fingers stiffly outspread. One of his feet +was doubled partially beneath him, while the other was still +entangled in the sleeping silks and furs upon the dais. After +five thousand years the expression of the withered face and the +eyeless sockets retained the aspect of horrid fear to such an +extent, that Gahan knew that he was looking upon the body of +O-Mai the Cruel. + +Suddenly Tara, who stood close beside him, clutched his arm and +pointed toward a far corner of the room. Gahan looked and looking +felt the hairs upon his neck rising. He threw his left arm about +the girl and with bared sword stood between her and the hangings +that they watched, and then slowly Gahan of Gathol backed away, +for in this grim and somber chamber, which no human foot had trod +for five thousand years and to which no breath of wind might +enter, the heavy hangings in the far corner had moved. Not gently +had they moved as a draught might have moved them had there been +a draught, but suddenly they had bulged out as though pushed +against from behind. To the opposite corner backed Gahan until +they stood with their backs against the hangings there, and then +hearing the approach of their pursuers across the chamber beyond +Gahan pushed Tara through the hangings and, following her, kept +open with his left hand, which he had disengaged from the girl's +grasp, a tiny opening through which he could view the apartment +and the doorway upon the opposite side through which the pursuers +would enter, if they came this far. + +Behind the hangings there was a space of about three feet in +width between them and the wall, making a passageway entirely +around the room, broken only by the single entrance opposite +them; this being a common arrangement especially in the sleeping +apartments of the rich and powerful upon Barsoom. The purposes of +this arrangement were several. The passageway afforded a station +for guards in the same room with their master without intruding +entirely upon his privacy; it concealed secret exits from the +chamber; it permitted the occupant of the room to hide +eavesdroppers and assassins for use against enemies that he might +lure to his chamber. + +The three chiefs with a dozen warriors had had no difficulty in +following the tracks of the fugitives through the dust of the +corridors and chambers they had traversed. To enter this portion +of the palace at all had required all the courage they possessed, +and now that they were within the very chambers of O-Mai their +nerves were pitched to the highest key--another turn and they +would snap; for the people of Manator are filled with weird +superstitions. As they entered the outer chamber they moved +slowly, with drawn swords, no one seeming anxious to take the +lead, and the twelve warriors hanging back in unconcealed and +shameless terror, while the three chiefs, spurred on by fear of +O-Tar and by pride, pressed together for mutual encouragement as +they slowly crossed the dimly-lighted room. + +Following the tracks of Gahan and Tara they found that though +each doorway had been approached only one threshold had been +crossed and this door they gingerly opened, revealing to their +astonished gaze the four warriors at the jetan table. For a +moment they were on the verge of flight, for though they knew +what they were, coming as they did upon them in this mysterious +and haunted suite, they were as startled as though they had +beheld the very ghosts of the departed. But they presently +regained their courage sufficiently to cross this chamber too and +enter the short passageway that led to the ancient sleeping +apartment of O-Mai the Cruel. They did not know that this awful +chamber lay just before them, or it were doubtful that they would +have proceeded farther; but they saw that those they sought had +come this way and so they followed, but within the gloomy +interior of the chamber they halted, the three chiefs urging +their followers, in low whispers, to close in behind them, and +there just within the entrance they stood until, their eyes +becoming accustomed to the dim light, one of them pointed +suddenly to the thing lying upon the floor with one foot tangled +in the coverings of the dais. + +"Look!" he gasped. "It is the corpse of O-Mai! Ancestor of +ancestors! we are in the forbidden chamber." Simultaneously there +came from behind the hangings beyond the grewsome dead a hollow +moan followed by a piercing scream, and the hangings shook and +bellied before their eyes. + +With one accord, chieftains and warriors, they turned and bolted +for the doorway; a narrow doorway, where they jammed, fighting +and screaming in an effort to escape. They threw away their +swords and clawed at one another to make a passage for escape; +those behind climbed upon the shoulders of those in front; and +some fell and were trampled upon; but at last they all got +through, and, the swiftest first, they bolted across the two +intervening chambers to the outer corridor beyond, nor did they +halt their mad retreat before they stumbled, weak and trembling, +into the banquet hall of O-Tar. At sight of them the warriors who +had remained with the jeddak leaped to their feet with drawn +swords, thinking that their fellows were pursued by many enemies; +but no one followed them into the room, and the three chieftains +came and stood before O-Tar with bowed heads and trembling knees. + +"Well?" demanded the jeddak. "What ails you? Speak!" + +"O-Tar," cried one of them when at last he could master his +voice. "When have we three failed you in battle or combat? Have +our swords been not always among the foremost in defense of your +safety and your honor?" + +"Have I denied this?" demanded O-Tar. + +"Listen, then, O Jeddak, and judge us with leniency. We followed +the two slaves to the apartments of O-Mai the Cruel. We entered +the accursed chambers and still we did not falter. We came at +last to that horrid chamber no human eye had scanned before in +fifty centuries and we looked upon the dead face of O-Mai lying +as he has lain for all this time. To the very death chamber of +O-Mai the Cruel we came and yet we were ready to go farther; when +suddenly there broke upon our horrified ears the moans and the +shrieking that mark these haunted chambers and the hangings moved +and rustled in the dead air. O-Tar, it was more than human nerves +could endure. We turned and fled. We threw away our swords and +fought with one another to escape. With sorrow, but without +shame, I tell it, for there be no man in all Manator that would +not have done the same. If these slaves be Corphals they are safe +among their fellow ghosts. If they be not Corphals, then already +are they dead in the chambers of O-Mai, and there may they rot +for all of me, for I would not return to that accursed spot for +the harness of a jeddak and the half of Barsoom for an empire. I +have spoken." + +O-Tar knitted his scowling brows. "Are all my chieftains cowards +and cravens?" he demanded presently in sneering tones. + +From among those who had not been of the searching party a +chieftain arose and turned a scowling face upon O-Tar. + +"The jeddak knows," he said, "that in the annals of Manator her +jeddaks have ever been accounted the bravest of her warriors. +Where my jeddak leads I will follow, nor may any jeddak call me a +coward or a craven unless I refuse to go where he dares to go. I +have spoken." + +After he had resumed his seat there was a painful silence, for +all knew that the speaker had challenged the courage of O-Tar the +Jeddak of Manator and all awaited the reply of their ruler. In +every mind was the same thought--O-Tar must lead them at once to +the chamber of O-Mai the Cruel, or accept forever the stigma of +cowardice, and there could be no coward upon the throne of +Manator. That they all knew and that O-Tar knew, as well. + +But O-Tar hesitated. He looked about upon the faces of those +around him at the banquet board; but he saw only the grim visages +of relentless warriors. There was no trace of leniency in the +face of any. And then his eyes wandered to a small entrance at +one side of the great chamber. An expression of relief expunged +the scowl of anxiety from his features. + +"Look!" he exclaimed. "See who has come!" + + + +CHAPTER XX + +THE CHARGE OF COWARDICE + +GAHAN, watching through the aperture between the hangings, saw +the frantic flight of their pursuers. A grim smile rested upon +his lips as he viewed the mad scramble for safety and saw them +throw away their swords and fight with one another to be first +from the chamber of fear, and when they were all gone he turned +back toward Tara, the smile still upon his lips; but the smile +died the instant that he turned, for he saw that Tara had +disappeared. + +"Tara!" he called in a loud voice, for he knew that there was no +danger that their pursuers would return; but there was no +response, unless it was a faint sound as of cackling laughter +from afar. Hurriedly he searched the passageway behind the +hangings finding several doors, one of which was ajar. Through +this he entered the adjoining chamber which was lighted more +brilliantly for the moment by the soft rays of hurtling Thuria +taking her mad way through the heavens. Here he found the dust +upon the floor disturbed, and the imprint of sandals. They had +come this way--Tara and whatever the creature was that had stolen +her. + +But what could it have been? Gahan, a man of culture and high +intelligence, held few if any superstitions. In common with +nearly all races of Barsoom he clung, more or less inherently, to +a certain exalted form of ancestor worship, though it was rather +the memory or legends of the virtues and heroic deeds of his +forebears that he deified rather than themselves. He never +expected any tangible evidence of their existence after death; he +did not believe that they had the power either for good or for +evil other than the effect that their example while living might +have had upon following generations; he did not believe therefore +in the materialization of dead spirits. If there was a life +hereafter he knew nothing of it, for he knew that science had +demonstrated the existence of some material cause for every +seemingly supernatural phenomenon of ancient religions and +superstitions. Yet he was at a loss to know what power might have +removed Tara so suddenly and mysteriously from his side in a +chamber that had not known the presence of man for five thousand +years. + +In the darkness he could not see whether there were the imprints +of other sandals than Tara's--only that the dust was +disturbed--and when it led him into gloomy corridors he lost the +trail altogether. A perfect labyrinth of passages and apartments +were now revealed to him as he hurried on through the deserted +quarters of O-Mai. Here was an ancient bath--doubtless that of +the jeddak himself, and again he passed through a room in which a +meal had been laid upon a table five thousand years before--the +untasted breakfast of O-Mai, perhaps. There passed before his +eyes in the brief moments that he traversed the chambers, a +wealth of ornaments and jewels and precious metals that surprised +even the Jed of Gathol whose harness was of diamonds and platinum +and whose riches were the envy of a world. But at last his search +of O-Mai's chambers ended in a small closet in the floor of which +was the opening to a spiral runway leading straight down into +Stygian darkness. The dust at the entrance of the closet had been +freshly disturbed, and as this was the only possible indication +that Gahan had of the direction taken by the abductor of Tara it +seemed as well to follow on as to search elsewhere. So, without +hesitation, he descended into the utter darkness below. Feeling +with a foot before taking a forward step his descent was +necessarily slow, but Gahan was a Barsoomian and so knew the +pitfalls that might await the unwary in such dark, forbidden +portions of a jeddak's palace. + +He had descended for what he judged might be three full levels +and was pausing, as he occasionally did, to listen, when he +distinctly heard a peculiar shuffling, scraping sound approaching +him from below. Whatever the thing was it was ascending the +runway at a steady pace and would soon be near him. Gahan laid +his hand upon the hilt of his sword and drew it slowly from its +scabbard that he might make no noise that would apprise the +creature of his presence. He wished that there might be even the +slightest lessening of the darkness. If he could see but the +outline of the thing that approached him he would feel that he +had a fairer chance in the meeting; but he could see nothing, and +then because he could see nothing the end of his scabbard struck +the stone side of the runway, giving off a sound that the +stillness and the narrow confines of the passage and the darkness +seemed to magnify to a terrific clatter. + +Instantly the shuffling sound of approach ceased. For a moment +Gahan stood in silent waiting, then casting aside discretion he +moved on again down the spiral. The thing, whatever it might be, +gave forth no sound now by which Gahan might locate it. At any +moment it might be upon him and so he kept his sword in +readiness. Down, ever downward the steep spiral led. The darkness +and the silence of the tomb surrounded him, yet somewhere ahead +was something. He was not alone in that horrid place--another +presence that he could not hear or see hovered before him--of +that he was positive. Perhaps it was the thing that had stolen +Tara. Perhaps Tara herself, still in the clutches of some +nameless horror, was just ahead of him. He quickened his pace--it +became almost a run at the thought of the danger that threatened +the woman he loved, and then he collided with a wooden door that +swung open to the impact. Before him was a lighted corridor. On +either side were chambers. He had advanced but a short distance +from the bottom of the spiral when he recognized that he was in +the pits below the palace. A moment later he heard behind him the +shuffling sound that had attracted his attention in the spiral +runway. Wheeling about he saw the author of the sound emerging +from a doorway he had just passed. It was Ghek the kaldane. + +"Ghek!" exclaimed Gahan. "It was you in the runway? Have you seen +Tara of Helium?" + +"It was I in the spiral," replied the kaldane; "but I have not +seen Tara of Helium. I have been searching for her. Where is +she?" + +"I do not know," replied the Gatholian; "but we must find her and +take her from this place." + +"We may find her," said Ghek; "but I doubt our ability to take +her away. It is not so easy to leave Manator as it is to enter +it. I may come and go at will, through the ancient burrows of the +ulsios; but you are too large for that and your lungs need more +air than may be found in some of the deeper runways." + +"But U-Thor!" exclaimed Gahan. "Have you heard aught of him or +his intentions?" + +"I have heard much," replied Ghek. "He camps at The Gate of +Enemies. That spot he holds and his warriors lie just beyond The +Gate; but he has not sufficient force to enter the city and take +the palace. An hour since and you might have made your way to +him; but now every avenue is strongly guarded since O-Tar learned +that A-Kor had escaped to U-Thor." + +"A-Kor has escaped and joined U-Thor!" exclaimed Gahan. + +"But little more than an hour since. I was with him when a +warrior came--a man whose name is Tasor--who brought a message +from you. It was decided that Tasor should accompany A-Kor in an +attempt to reach the camp of U-Thor, the great jed of Manatos, +and exact from him the assurances you required. Then U-Thor was +to return and take food to you and the Princess of Helium. I +accompanied them. We won through easily and found U-Thor more +than willing to respect your every wish, but when Tasor would +have returned to you the way was blocked by the warriors of +O-Tar. Then it was that I volunteered to come to you and report +and find food and drink and then go forth among the Gatholian +slaves of Manator and prepare them for their part in the plan +that U-Thor and Tasor conceived." + +"And what was this plan?" + +"U-Thor has sent for reinforcements. To Manatos he has sent and +to all the outlying districts that are his. It will take +a month to collect and bring them hither and in the meantime the +slaves within the city are to organize secretly, stealing and +hiding arms against the day that the reinforcements arrive. When +that day comes the forces of U-Thor will enter the Gate of +Enemies and as the warriors of O-Tar rush to repulse them the +slaves from Gathol will fall upon them from the rear with the +majority of their numbers, while the balance will assault the +palace. They hope thus to divert so many from The Gate that +U-Thor will have little difficulty in forcing an entrance to the +city." + +"Perhaps they will succeed," commented Gahan; "but the warriors +of O-Tar are many, and those who fight in defense of their homes +and their jeddak have always an advantage. Ah, Ghek, would that +we had the great warships of Gathol or of Helium to pour their +merciless fire into the streets of Manator while U-Thor marched +to the palace over the corpses of the slain." He paused, deep in +thought, and then turned his gaze again upon the kaldane. "Heard +you aught of the party that escaped with me from The Field of +Jetan--of Floran, Val Dor, and the others? What of them?" + +"Ten of these won through to U-Thor at The Gate of Enemies and +were well received by him. Eight fell in the fighting upon the +way. Val Dor and Floran live, I believe, for I am sure that I +heard U-Thor address two warriors by these names." + +"Good!" exclaimed Gahan. "Go then, through the burrows of the +ulsios, to The Gate of Enemies and carry to Floran the message +that I shall write in his own language. Come, while I write the +message." + +In a nearby room they found a bench and table and there Gahan sat +and wrote in the strange, stenographic characters of Martian +script a message to Floran of Gathol. "Why," he asked, when he +had finished it, "did you search for Tara through the spiral +runway where we nearly met?" + +"Tasor told me where you were to be found, and as I have explored +the greater part of the palace by means of the ulsio runways and +the darker and less frequented passages I knew precisely where +you were and how to reach you. This secret spiral ascends from +the pits to the roof of the loftiest of the palace towers. It has +secret openings at every level; but there is no living +Manatorian, I believe, who knows of its existence. At least never +have I met one within it and I have used it many times. Thrice +have I been in the chamber where O-Mai lies, though I knew +nothing of his identity or the story of his death until Tasor +told it to us in the camp of U-Thor." + +"You know the palace thoroughly then?" Gahan interrupted. + +"Better than O-Tar himself or any of his servants." + +"Good! And you would serve the Princess Tara, Ghek, you may serve +her best by accompanying Floran and following his instructions. I +will write them here at the close of my message to him, for the +walls have ears, Ghek, while none but a Gatholian may read what I +have written to Floran. He will transmit it to you. Can I trust +you?" + +"I may never return to Bantoom," replied Ghek. "Therefore I have +but two friends in all Barsoom. What better may I do than serve +them faithfully? You may trust me, Gatholian, who with a woman of +your kind has taught me that there be finer and nobler things +than perfect mentality uninfluenced by the unreasoning tuitions +of the heart. I go." + + +As O-Tar pointed to the little doorway all eyes turned in the +direction he indicated and surprise was writ large upon the faces +of the warriors when they recognized the two who had entered the +banquet hall. There was I-Gos, and he dragged behind him one who +was gagged and whose hands were fastened behind with a ribbon of +tough silk. It was the slave girl. I-Gos' cackling laughter rose +above the silence of the room. + +"Ey, ey!" he shrilled. "What the young warriors of O-Tar cannot +do, old I-Gos does alone." + +"Only a Corphal may capture a Corphal," growled one of the chiefs +who had fled from the chambers of O-Mai. + +I-Gos laughed. "Terror turned your heart to water," he replied; +"and shame your tongue to libel. This be no Corphal, but only a +woman of Helium; her companion a warrior who can match blades +with the best of you and cut your putrid hearts. Not so in the +days of I-Gos' youth. Ah, then were there men in Manator. Well do +I recall that day that I--" + +"Peace, doddering fool!" commanded O-Tar. "Where is the man?" + +"Where I found the woman--in the death chamber of O-Mai. Let your +wise and brave chieftains go thither and fetch him. I am an old +man, and could bring but one." + +"You have done well, I-Gos," O-Tar hastened to assure him, for +when he learned that Gahan might still be in the haunted chambers +he wished to appease the wrath of I-Gos, knowing well the +vitriolic tongue and temper of the ancient one. "You think she is +no Corphal, then, I-Gos?" he asked, wishing to carry the subject +from the man who was still at large. + +"No more than you," replied the ancient taxidermist. + +O-Tar looked long and searchingly at Tara of Helium. All the +beauty that was hers seemed suddenly to be carried to every fibre +of his consciousness. She was still garbed in the rich harness of +a Black Princess of Jetan, and as O-Tar the Jeddak gazed upon her +he realized that never before had his eyes rested upon a more +perfect figure--a more beautiful face. + +"She is no Corphal," he murmured to himself. "She is no Corphal +and she is a princess--a princess of Helium, and, by the golden +hair of the Holy Hekkador, she is beautiful. Take the gag from +her mouth and release her hands," he commanded aloud. "Make room +for the Princess Tara of Helium at the side of O-Tar of Manator. +She shall dine as becomes a princess." + +Slaves did as O-Tar bid and Tara of Helium stood with flashing +eyes behind the chair that was offered her. "Sit!" commanded +O-Tar. + +The girl sank into the chair. "I sit as a prisoner," she said; +"not as a guest at the board of my enemy, O-Tar of Manator." + +O-Tar motioned his followers from the room. "I would speak alone +with the Princess of Helium," he said. The company and the slaves +withdrew and once more the Jeddak of Manator turned toward the +girl. "O-Tar of Manator would be your friend," he said. + +Tara of Helium sat with arms folded upon her small, firm breasts, +her eyes flashing from behind narrowed lids, nor did she deign to +answer his overture. O-Tar leaned closer to her. He noted the +hostility of her bearing and he recalled his first encounter with +her. She was a she-banth, but she was beautiful. She was by far +the most desirable woman that O-Tar had ever looked upon and he +was determined to possess her. He told her so. + +"I could take you as my slave," he said to her; "but it pleases +me to make you my wife. You shall be Jeddara of Manator. You +shall have seven days in which to prepare for the great honor +that O-Tar is conferring upon you, and at this hour of the +seventh day you shall become an empress and the wife of O-Tar in +the throne room of the jeddaks of Manator." He struck a gong that +stood beside him upon the table and when a slave appeared he bade +him recall the company. Slowly the chiefs filed in and took their +places at the table. Their faces were grim and scowling, for +there was still unanswered the question of their jeddak's +courage. If O-Tar had hoped they would forget he had been +mistaken in his men. + +O-Tar arose. "In seven days," he announced, "there will be a +great feast in honor of the new Jeddara of Manator," and he waved +his hand toward Tara of Helium. "The ceremony will occur at the +beginning of the seventh zode* in the throne room. In the +meantime the Princess of Helium will be cared for in the tower of +the women's quarters of the palace. Conduct her thither, E-Thas, +with a suitable guard of honor and see to it that slaves and +eunuchs be placed at her disposal, who shall attend upon all her +wants and guard her carefully from harm." + +* About 8:30 P. M. Earth Time. + + +Now E-Thas knew that the real meaning concealed in these fine +words was that he should conduct the prisoner under a strong +guard to the women's quarters and confine her there in the tower +for seven days, placing about her trustworthy guards who would +prevent her escape or frustrate any attempted rescue. + +As Tara was departing from the chamber with E-Thas and the guard, +O-Tar leaned close to her ear and whispered: "Consider well +during these seven days the high honor I have offered you, +and--its sole alternative." As though she had not heard him the +girl passed out of the banquet hall, her head high and her eyes +straight to the front. + +After Ghek had left him Gahan roamed the pits and the ancient +corridors of the deserted portions of the palace seeking some +clue to the whereabouts or the fate of Tara of Helium. He +utilized the spiral runway in passing from level to level until +he knew every foot of it from the pits to the summit of the high +tower, and into what apartments it opened at the various levels +as well as the ingenious and hidden mechanism that operated the +locks of the cleverly concealed doors leading to it. For food he +drew upon the stores he found in the pits and when he slept he +lay upon the royal couch of O-Mai in the forbidden chamber +sharing the dais with the dead foot of the ancient jeddak. + +In the palace about him seethed, all unknown to Gahan, a vast +unrest. Warriors and chieftains pursued the duties of their +vocations with dour faces, and little knots of them were +collecting here and there and with frowns of anger discussing +some subject that was uppermost in the minds of all. It was upon +the fourth day following Tara's incarceration in the tower that +E-Thas, the major-domo of the palace and one of O-Tar's +creatures, came to his master upon some trivial errand. O-Tar was +alone in one of the smaller chambers of his personal suite when +the major-domo was announced, and after the matter upon which +E-Thas had come was disposed of the jeddak signed him to remain. + +"From the position of an obscure warrior I have elevated you, +E-Thas, to the honors of a chief. Within the confines of the +palace your word is second only to mine. You are not loved for +this, E-Thas, and should another jeddak ascend the throne of +Manator what would become of you, whose enemies are among the +most powerful of Manator?" + +"Speak not of it, O-Tar," begged E-Thas. "These last few days I +have thought upon it much and I would forget it; but I have +sought to appease the wrath of my worst enemies. I have been +very kind and indulgent with them." + +"You, too, read the voiceless message in the air?" demanded the +jeddak. + +E-Thas was palpably uneasy and he did not reply. + +"Why did you not come to me with your apprehensions?" demanded +O-Tar. "Be this loyalty?" + +"I feared, O mighty jeddak!" replied E-Thas. "I feared that you +would not understand and that you would be angry." + +"What know you? Speak the whole truth!" commanded O-Tar. + +"There is much unrest among the chieftains and the warriors," +replied E-Thas. "Even those who were your friends fear the power +of those who speak against you." + +"What say they?" growled the jeddak. + +"They say that you are afraid to enter the apartments of O-Mai in +search of the slave Turan--oh, do not be angry with me, Jeddak; +it is but what they say that I repeat. I, your loyal E-Thas, +believe no such foul slander." + +"No, no; why should I fear?" demanded O-Tar. "We do not know that +he is there. Did not my chiefs go thither and see nothing of +him?" + +"But they say that you did not go," pursued E-Thas, "and that +they will have none of a coward upon the throne of Manator." + +"They said that treason?" O-Tar almost shouted. + +"They said that and more, great jeddak," answered the major-domo. +"They said that not only did you fear to enter the chambers of +O-Mai, but that you feared the slave Turan, and they blame you +for your treatment of A-Kor, whom they all believe to have been +murdered at your command. They were fond of A-Kor and there are +many now who say aloud that A-Kor would have made a wondrous +jeddak." + +"They dare?" screamed O-Tar. "They dare suggest the name of a +slave's bastard for the throne of O-Tar!" + +"He is your son, O-Tar," E-Thas reminded him, "nor is there a +more beloved man in Manator--I but speak to you of facts which +may not be ignored, and I dare do so because only when you +realize the truth may you seek a cure for the ills that draw +about your throne." + +O-Tar had slumped down upon his bench--suddenly he looked +shrunken and tired and old. "Cursed be the day," he cried, "that +saw those three strangers enter the city of Manator. Would that +U-Dor had been spared to me. He was strong--my enemies feared +him; but he is gone--dead at the hands of that hateful slave, +Turan; may the curse of Issus be upon him!" + +"My jeddak, what shall we do?" begged E-Thas. "Cursing the slave +will not solve your problems." + +"But the great feast and the marriage is but three days off," +plead O-Tar. "It shall be a great gala occasion. The warriors and +the chiefs all know that--it is the custom. Upon that day gifts +and honors shall be bestowed. Tell me, who are most bitter +against me? I will send you among them and let it be known that I +am planning rewards for their past services to the throne. We +will make jeds of chiefs and chiefs of warriors, and grant them +palaces and slaves. Eh, E-Thas?" + +The other shook his head. "It will not do, O-Tar. They will have +nothing of your gifts or honors. I have heard them say as much." + +"What do they want?" demanded O-Tar. + +"They want a jeddak as brave as the bravest," replied E-Thas, +though his knees shook as he said it. + +"They think I am a coward?" cried the jeddak. + +"They say you are afraid to go to the apartments of O-mai the +Cruel." + +For a long time O-Tar sat, his head sunk upon his breast, staring +blankly at the floor. + +"Tell them," he said at last in a hollow voice that sounded not +at all like the voice of a great jeddak; "tell them that I will +go to the chambers of O-Mai and search for Turan the slave." + + + +CHAPTER XXI + +A RISK FOR LOVE + +"EY, ey, he is a craven and he called me 'doddering fool'!" The +speaker was I-Gos and he addressed a knot of chieftains in one of +the chambers of the palace of O-Tar, Jeddak of Manator: "If A-Kor +was alive there were a jeddak for us!" + +"Who says that A-Kor is dead?" demanded one of the chiefs. + +"Where is he then?" asked I-Gos. "Have not others disappeared +whom O-Tar thought too well beloved for men so near the throne as +they?" + +The chief shook his head. "And I thought that, or knew it, +rather; I'd join U-Thor at The Gate of Enemies." + +"S-s-st," cautioned one; "here comes the licker of feet," and all +eyes were turned upon the approaching E-Thas. + +"Kaor, friends!" he exclaimed as he stopped among them, but his +friendly greeting elicited naught but a few surly nods. "Have you +heard the news?" he continued, unabashed by treatment to which he +was becoming accustomed. + +"What--has O-Tar seen an ulsio and fainted?" demanded I-Gos with +broad sarcasm. + +"Men have died for less than that, ancient one," E-Thas reminded +him. + +"I am safe," retorted I-Gos, "for I am not a brave and popular +son of the jeddak of Manator." + +This was indeed open treason, but E-Thas feigned not to hear it. +He ignored I-Gos and turned to the others. "O-Tar goes to the +chamber of O-Mai this night in search of Turan the slave," he +said. "He sorrows that his warriors have not the courage for so +mean a duty and that their jeddak is thus compelled to arrest a +common slave," with which taunt E-Thas passed on to spread the +word in other parts of the palace. As a matter of fact the latter +part of his message was purely original with himself, and he took +great delight in delivering it to the discomfiture of his +enemies. As he was leaving the little group of men I-Gos called +after him. "At what hour does O-Tar intend visiting the chambers +of O-Mai?" he asked. + +"Toward the end of the eighth zode*," replied the major-domo, and +went his way. + +* About 1:00 A. M. Earth Time. + + +"We shall see," stated I-Gos. + +"What shall we see?" asked a warrior. + +"We shall see whether O-Tar visits the chamber of O-Mai." + +"How?" + +"I shall be there myself and if I see him I will know that he has +been there. If I don't see him I will know that he has not," +explained the old taxidermist. + +"Is there anything there to fill an honest man with fear?" asked +a chieftain. "What have you seen?" + +"It was not so much what I saw, though that was bad enough, as +what I heard," said I-Gos. + +"Tell us! What heard and saw you?" + +"I saw the dead O-Mai," said I-Gos. The others shuddered. + +"And you went not mad?" they asked. + +"Am I mad?" retorted I-Gos. + +"And you will go again?" + +"Yes." + +"Then indeed you are mad," cried one. + +"You saw the dead O-Mai; but what heard you that was worse?" +whispered another. + +"I saw the dead O-Mai lying upon the floor of his sleeping +chamber with one foot tangled in the sleeping silks and furs upon +his couch. I heard horrid moans and frightful screams." + +"And you are not afraid to go there again?" demanded several. + +"The dead cannot harm me," said I-Gos. "He has lain thus for five +thousand years. Nor can a sound harm me. I heard it once and +live--I can hear it again. It came from almost at my side where I +hid behind the hangings and watched the slave Turan before I +snatched the woman away from him." + +"I-Gos, you are a very brave man," said a chieftain. + +"O-Tar called me 'doddering fool' and I would face worse dangers +than lie in the forbidden chambers of O-Mai to know it if he does +not visit the chamber of O-Mai. Then indeed shall O-Tar fall!" + +The night came and the zodes dragged and the time approached when +O-Tar, Jeddak of Manator, was to visit the chamber of O-Mai in +search of the slave Turan. To us, who may doubt the existence of +malignant spirits, his fear may seem unbelievable, for he was a +strong man, an excellent swordsman, and a warrior of great +repute; but the fact remained that O-Tar of Manator was nervous +with apprehension as he strode the corridors of his palace toward +the deserted halls of O-Mai and when he stood at last with his +hand upon the door that opened from the dusty corridor to the +very apartments themselves he was almost paralyzed with terror. +He had come alone for two very excellent reasons, the first of +which was that thus none might note his terror-stricken state nor +his defection should he fail at the last moment, and the other +was that should he accomplish the thing alone or be able to make +his chiefs believe that he had, the credit would be far greater +than were he to be accompanied by warriors. + +But though he had started alone he had become aware that he was +being followed, and he knew that it was because his people had no +faith in either his courage or his veracity. He did not believe +that he would find the slave Turan. He did not very much want to +find him, for though O-Tar was an excellent swordsman and a brave +warrior in physical combat, he had seen how Turan had played with +U-Dor and he had no stomach for a passage at arms with one whom +he knew outclassed him. + +And so O-Tar stood with his hand upon the door--afraid to enter; +afraid not to. But at last his fear of his own warriors, watching +behind him, grew greater than the fear of the unknown behind the +ancient door and he pushed the heavy skeel aside and entered. + +Silence and gloom and the dust of centuries lay heavy upon the +chamber. From his warriors he knew the route that he must take to +the horrid chamber of O-Mai and so he forced his unwilling feet +across the room before him, across the room where the jetan +players sat at their eternal game, and came to the short corridor +that led into the room of O-Mai. His naked sword trembled in his +grasp. He paused after each forward step to listen and when he +was almost at the door of the ghost-haunted chamber, his heart +stood still within his breast and the cold sweat broke from the +clammy skin of his forehead, for from within there came to his +affrighted ears the sound of muffled breathing. Then it was that +O-Tar of Manator came near to fleeing from the nameless horror +that he could not see, but that he knew lay waiting for him in +that chamber just ahead. But again came the fear of the wrath and +contempt of his warriors and his chiefs. They would degrade him +and they would slay him into the bargain. There was no doubt of +what his fate would be should he flee the apartments of O-Mai in +terror. His only hope, therefore, lay in daring the unknown in +preference to the known. + +He moved forward. A few steps took him to the doorway. The +chamber before him was darker than the corridor, so that he could +just indistinctly make out the objects in the room. He saw a +sleeping dais near the center, with a darker blotch of something +lying on the marble floor beside it. He moved a step farther into +the doorway and the scabbard of his sword scraped against the +stone frame. To his horror he saw the sleeping silks and furs +upon the central dais move. He saw a figure slowly arising to a +sitting posture from the death bed of O-Mai the Cruel. His knees +shook, but he gathered all his moral forces, and gripping his +sword more tightly in his trembling fingers prepared to leap +across the chamber upon the horrid apparition. He hesitated just +a moment. He felt eyes upon him--ghoulish eyes that bored through +the darkness into his withering heart--eyes that he could not +see. He gathered himself for the rush--and then there broke from +the thing upon the couch an awful shriek, and O-Tar sank +senseless to the floor. + +Gahan rose from the couch of O-Mai, smiling, only to swing +quickly about with drawn sword as the shadow of a noise impinged +upon his keen ears from the shadows behind him. Between the +parted hangings he saw a bent and wrinkled figure. It was I-Gos. + +"Sheathe your sword, Turan," said the old man. "You have naught +to fear from I-Gos." + +"What do you here?" demanded Gahan. + +"I came to make sure that the great coward did not cheat us. Ey, +and he called me 'doddering fool;' but look at him now! Stricken +insensible by terror, but, ey, one might forgive him that who had +heard your uncanny scream. It all but blasted my own courage. And +it was you, then, who moaned and screamed when the chiefs came +the day that I stole Tara from you?" + +"It was you, then, old scoundrel?" demanded Gahan, moving +threateningly toward I-Gos. + +"Come, come!" expostulated the old man; "it was I, but then I was +your enemy. I would not do it now. Conditions have changed." + +"How have they changed? What has changed them?" asked Gahan. + +"Then I did not fully realize the cowardice of my jeddak, or the +bravery of you and the girl. I am an old man from another age and +I love courage. At first I resented the girl's attack upon me, +but later I came to see the bravery of it and it won my +admiration, as have all her acts. She feared not O-tar, she +feared not me, she feared not all the warriors of Manator. And +you! Blood of a million sires! how you fight! I am sorry that I +exposed you at The Fields of Jetan. I am sorry that I dragged the +girl Tara back to O-Tar. I would make amends. I would be your +friend. Here is my sword at your feet," and drawing his weapon +I-Gos cast it to the floor in front of Gahan. + +The Gatholian knew that scarce the most abandoned of knaves would +repudiate this solemn pledge, and so he stooped, and picking up +the old man's sword returned it to him, hilt first, in acceptance +of his friendship. + +"Where is the Princess Tara of Helium?" asked Gahan. "Is she +safe?" + +"She is confined in the tower of the women's quarters awaiting +the ceremony that is to make her Jeddara of Manator," replied +I-Gos. + +"This thing dared think that Tara of Helium would mate with him?" +growled Gahan. "I will make short work of him if he is not +already dead from fright," and he stepped toward the fallen O-Tar +to run his sword through the jeddak's heart. + +"No!" cried I-Gos. "Slay him not and pray that he be not dead if +you would save your princess." + +"How is that?" asked Gahan. + +"If word of O-Tar's death reached the quarters of the women the +Princess Tara would be lost. They know O-Tar's intention of +taking her to wife and making her Jeddara of Manator, so you may +rest assured that they all hate her with the hate of jealous +women. Only O-Tar's power protects her now from harm. Should +O-Tar die they would turn her over to the warriors and the male +slaves, for there would be none to avenge her." + +Gahan sheathed his sword. "Your point is well taken; but what +shall we do with him?" + +"Leave him where he lies," counseled I-Gos. "He is not dead. When +he revives he will return to his quarters with a fine tale of his +bravery and there will be none to impugn his boasts--none but +I-Gos. Come! he may revive at any moment and he must not find us +here." + +I-Gos crossed to the body of his jeddak, knelt beside it for an +instant, and then returned past the couch to Gahan. The two quit +the chamber of O-Mai and took their way toward the spiral runway. +Here I-Gos led Gahan to a higher level and out upon the roof of +that portion of the palace from where he pointed to a high tower +quite close by. "There," he said, "lies the Princess of Helium, +and quite safe she will be until the time of the ceremony." + +"Safe, possibly, from other hands, but not from her own," said +Gahan. "She will never become Jeddara of Manator--first will she +destroy herself." + +"She would do that?" asked I-Gos. + +"She will, unless you can get word to her that I still live and +that there is yet hope," replied Gahan. + +"I cannot get word to her," said I-Gos. "The quarters of his +women O-Tar guards with jealous hand. Here are his most trusted +slaves and warriors, yet even so, thick among them are countless +spies, so that no man knows which be which. No shadow falls +within those chambers that is not marked by a hundred eyes." + +Gahan stood gazing at the lighted windows of the high tower in +the upper chambers of which Tara of Helium was confined. "I will +find a way, I-Gos," he said. + +"There is no way," replied the old man. + +For some time they stood upon the roof beneath the brilliant +stars and hurtling moons of dying Mars, laying their plans +against the time that Tara of Helium should be brought from the +high tower to the throne room of O-Tar. It was then, and then +alone, argued I-Gos, that any hope of rescuing her might be +entertained. Just how far he might trust the other Gahan did not +know, and so he kept to himself the knowledge of the plan that he +had forwarded to Floran and Val Dor by Ghek, but he assured the +ancient taxidermist that if he were sincere in his oft-repeated +declaration that O-Tar should be denounced and superseded he +would have his opportunity on the night that the jeddak sought to +wed the Heliumetic princess. + +"Your time shall come then, I-Gos," Gahan assured the other, "and +if you have any party that thinks as you do, prepare them for the +eventuality that will succeed O-Tar's presumptuous attempt to wed +the daughter of The Warlord. Where shall I see you again, and +when? I go now to speak with Tara, Princess of Helium." + +"I like your boldness," said I-Gos; "but it will avail you +naught. You will not speak with Tara, Princess of Helium, though +doubtless the blood of many Manatorians will drench the floors of +the women's quarters before you are slain." + +Gahan smiled. "I shall not be slain. Where and when shall we +meet? But you may find me in O-Mai's chamber at night. That seems +the safest retreat in all Manator for an enemy of the jeddak in +whose palace it lies. I go!" + +"And may the spirits of your ancestors surround you," said I-Gos. + +After the old man had left him Gahan made his way across the roof +to the high tower, which appeared to have been constructed of +concrete and afterward elaborately carved, its entire surface +being covered with intricate designs cut deep into the stone-like +material of which it was composed. Though wrought ages since, it +was but little weather-worn owing to the aridity of the Martian +atmosphere, the infrequency of rains, and the rarity of dust +storms. To scale it, though, presented difficulties and danger +that might have deterred the bravest of men--that would, +doubtless, have deterred Gahan, had he not felt that the life of +the woman he loved depended upon his accomplishing the hazardous +feat. + +Removing his sandals and laying aside all of his harness and +weapons other than a single belt supporting a dagger, the +Gatholian essayed the dangerous ascent. Clinging to the carvings +with hands and feet he worked himself slowly aloft, avoiding the +windows and keeping upon the shadowy side of the tower, away from +the light of Thuria and Cluros. The tower rose some fifty feet +above the roof of the adjacent part of the palace, comprising +five levels or floors with windows looking in every direction. A +few of the windows were balconied, and these more than the others +he sought to avoid, although, it being now near the close of the +ninth zode, there was little likelihood that many were awake +within the tower. + +His progress was noiseless and he came at last, undetected, to +the windows of the upper level. These, like several of the others +he had passed at lower levels, were heavily barred, so that there +was no possibility of his gaining ingress to the apartment where +Tara was confined. Darkness hid the interior behind the first +window that he approached. The second opened upon a lighted +chamber where he could see a guard sleeping at his post outside a +door. Here also was the top of the runway leading to the next +level below. Passing still farther around the tower Gahan +approached another window, but now he clung to that side of the +tower which ended in a courtyard a hundred feet below and in a +short time the light of Thuria would reach him. He realized that +he must hasten and he prayed that behind the window he now +approached he would find Tara of Helium. + +Coming to the opening he looked in upon a small chamber dimly +lighted. In the center was a sleeping dais upon which a human +form lay beneath silks and furs. A bare arm, protruding from the +coverings, lay exposed against a black and yellow striped orluk +skin--an arm of wondrous beauty about which was clasped an armlet +that Gahan knew. No other creature was visible within the +chamber, all of which was exposed to Gahan's view. Pressing his +face to the bars the Gatholian whispered her dear name. The girl +stirred, but did not awaken. Again he called, but this time +louder. Tara sat up and looked about and at the same instant a +huge eunuch leaped to his feet from where he had been lying on +the floor close by that side of the dais farthest from Gahan. +Simultaneously the brilliant light of Thuria flashed full upon +the window where Gahan clung silhouetting him plainly to the two +within. + +Both sprang to their feet. The eunuch drew his sword and leaped +for the window where the helpless Gahan would have fallen an easy +victim to a single thrust of the murderous weapon the fellow +bore, had not Tara of Helium leaped upon her guard dragging him +back. At the same time she drew the slim dagger from its hiding +place in her harness and even as the eunuch sought to hurl her +aside its keen point found his heart. Without a sound he died and +lunged forward to the floor. Then Tara ran to the window. + +"Turan, my chief!" she cried. "What awful risk is this you take +to seek me here, where even your brave heart is powerless to aid +me." + +"Be not so sure of that, heart of my heart," he replied. "While I +bring but words to my love, they be the forerunner of deeds, I +hope, that will give her back to me forever. I feared that you +might destroy yourself, Tara of Helium, to escape the dishonor +that O-Tar would do you, and so I came to give you new hope and +to beg that you live for me through whatever may transpire, in +the knowledge that there is yet a way and that if all goes well +we shall be freed at last. Look for me in the throne room of +O-Tar the night that he would wed you. And now, how may we +dispose of this fellow?" He pointed to the dead eunuch upon the +floor. + +"We need not concern ourselves about that," she replied. "None +dares harm me for fear of the wrath of O-Tar--otherwise I should +have been dead so soon as ever I entered this portion of the +palace, for the women hate me. O-Tar alone may punish me, and +what cares O-Tar for the life of a eunuch? No, fear not upon this +score." + +Their hands were clasped between the bars and now Gahan drew her +nearer to him. + +"One kiss," he said, "before I go, my princess," and the proud +daughter of Dejah Thoris, Princess of Helium, and The Warlord of +Barsoom whispered: "My chieftain!" and pressed her lips to the +lips of Turan, the common panthan. + + + +CHAPTER XXII + +AT THE MOMENT OF MARRIAGE + +THE silence of the tomb lay heavy about him as O-Tar, Jeddak of +Manator, opened his eyes in the chamber of O-Mai. Recollection of +the frightful apparition that had confronted him swept to his +consciousness. He listened, but heard naught. Within the range of +his vision there was nothing apparent that might cause alarm. +Slowly he lifted his head and looked about. Upon the floor beside +the couch lay the thing that had at first attracted his attention +and his eyes closed in terror as he recognized it for what it +was; but it moved not, nor spoke. O-Tar opened his eyes again and +rose to his feet. He was trembling in every limb. There was +nothing on the dais from which he had seen the thing arise. + +O-Tar backed slowly from the room. At last he gained the outer +corridor. It was empty. He did not know that it had emptied +rapidly as the loud scream with which his own had mingled had +broken upon the startled ears of the warriors who had been sent +to spy upon him. He looked at the timepiece set in a massive +bracelet upon his left forearm. The ninth zode was nearly half +gone. O-Tar had lain for an hour unconscious. He had spent an +hour in the chamber of O-Mai and he was not dead! He had looked +upon the face of his predecessor and was still sane! He shook +himself and smiled. Rapidly he subdued his rebelliously shaking +nerves, so that by the time he reached the tenanted portion of +the palace he had gained control of himself. He walked with chin +high and something of a swagger. To the banquet hall he went, +knowing that his chiefs awaited him there and as he entered they +arose and upon the faces of many were incredulity and amaze, for +they had not thought to see O-Tar the jeddak again after what the +spies had told them of the horrid sounds issuing from the chamber +of O-Mai. Thankful was O-Tar that he had gone alone to that +chamber of fright, for now no one could deny the tale that he +should tell. + +E-Thas rushed forward to greet him, for E-Thas had seen black +looks directed toward him as the tals slipped by and his +benefactor failed to return. + +"O brave and glorious jeddak!" cried the major-domo. "We rejoice +at your safe return and beg of you the story of your adventure." + +"It was naught," exclaimed O-Tar. "I searched the chambers +carefully and waited in hiding for the return of the slave, +Turan, if he were temporarily away; but he came not. He is not +there and I doubt if he ever goes there. Few men would choose to +remain long in such a dismal place." + +"You were not attacked?" asked E-Thas. "You heard no screams, nor +moans?" + +"I heard hideous noises and saw phantom figures; but they fled +before me so that never could I lay hold of one, and I looked +upon the face of O-Mai and I am not mad. I even rested in the +chamber beside his corpse." + +In a far corner of the room a bent and wrinkled old man hid a +smile behind a golden goblet of strong brew. + +"Come! Let us drink!" cried O-Tar and reached for the dagger, the +pommel of which he was accustomed to use to strike the gong which +summoned slaves, but the dagger was not in its scabbard. O-Tar +was puzzled. He knew that it had been there just before he +entered the chamber of O-Mai, for he had carefully felt of all +his weapons to make sure that none was missing. He seized instead +a table utensil and struck the gong, and when the slaves came +bade them bring the strongest brew for O-Tar and his chiefs. +Before the dawn broke many were the expressions of admiration +bellowed from drunken lips--admiration for the courage of their +jeddak; but some there were who still looked glum. + + +Came at last the day that O-Tar would take the Princess Tara of +Helium to wife. For hours slaves prepared the unwilling bride. +Seven perfumed baths occupied three long and weary hours, then +her whole body was anointed with the oil of pimalia blossoms and +massaged by the deft fingers of a slave from distant Dusar. Her +harness, all new and wrought for the occasion was of the white +hide of the great white apes of Barsoom, hung heavily with +platinum and diamonds--fairly encrusted with them. The glossy +mass of her jet hair had been built into a coiffure of stately +and becoming grandeur, into which diamond-headed pins were stuck +until the whole scintillated as the stars in heaven upon a +moonless night. + +But it was a sullen and defiant bride that they led from the high +tower toward the throne room of O-Tar. The corridors were filled +with slaves and warriors, and the women of the palace and the +city who had been commanded to attend the ceremony. All the power +and pride, wealth and beauty of Manator were there. + +Slowly Tara, surrounded by a heavy guard of honor, moved along +the marble corridors filled with people. At the entrance to The +Hall of Chiefs E-Thas, the major-domo, received her. The Hall was +empty except for its ranks of dead chieftains upon their dead +mounts. Through this long chamber E-Thas escorted her to the +throne room which also was empty, the marriage ceremony in +Manator differing from that of other countries of Barsoom. Here +the bride would await the groom at the foot of the steps leading +to the throne. The guests followed her in and took their places, +leaving the central aisle from The Hall of Chiefs to the throne +clear, for up this O-Tar would approach his bride alone after a +short solitary communion with the dead behind closed doors in The +Hall of Chiefs. It was the custom. + +The guests had all filed through The Hall of Chiefs; the doors at +both ends had been closed. Presently those at the lower end of +the hall opened and O-Tar entered. His black harness was +ornamented with rubies and gold; his face was covered by a +grotesque mask of the precious metal in which two enormous rubies +were set for eyes, though below them were narrow slits through +which the wearer could see. His crown was a fillet supporting +carved feathers of the same metal as the mask. To the least +detail his regalia was that demanded of a royal bridegroom by the +customs of Manator, and now in accordance with that same custom +he came alone to The Hall of Chiefs to receive the blessings and +the council of the great ones of Manator who had preceded him. + +As the doors at the lower end of the Hall closed behind him O-Tar +the Jeddak stood alone with the great dead. By the dictates of +ages no mortal eye might look upon the scene enacted within that +sacred chamber. As the mighty of Manator respected the traditions +of Manator, let us, too, respect those traditions of a proud and +sensitive people. Of what concern to us the happenings in that +solemn chamber of the dead? + +Five minutes passed. The bride stood silently at the foot of the +throne. The guests spoke together in low whispers until the room +was filled with the hum of many voices. At length the doors +leading into The Hall of Chiefs swung open, and the resplendent +bridegroom stood framed for a moment in the massive opening. A +hush fell upon the wedding guests. With measured and impressive +step the groom approached the bride. Tara felt the muscles of her +heart contract with the apprehension that had been growing upon +her as the coils of Fate settled more closely about her and no +sign came from Turan. Where was he? What, indeed, could he +accomplish now to save her? Surrounded by the power of O-Tar with +never a friend among them, her position seemed at last without +vestige of hope. + +"I still live!" she whispered inwardly in a last brave attempt to +combat the terrible hopelessness that was overwhelming her, but +her fingers stole for reassurance to the slim blade that she had +managed to transfer, undetected, from her old harness to the new. +And now the groom was at her side and taking her hand was leading +her up the steps to the throne, before which they halted and +stood facing the gathering below. Came then, from the back of the +room a procession headed by the high dignitary whose office it +was to make these two man and wife, and directly behind him a +richly-clad youth bearing a silken pillow on which lay the golden +handcuffs connected by a short length of chain-of-gold with which +the ceremony would be concluded when the dignitary clasped a +handcuff about the wrist of each symbolizing their indissoluble +union in the holy bonds of wedlock. + +Would Turan's promised succor come too late? Tara listened to the +long, monotonous intonation of the wedding service. She heard the +virtues of O-Tar extolled and the beauties of the bride. The +moment was approaching and still no sign of Turan. But what could +he accomplish should he succeed in reaching the throne room, +other than to die with her? There could be no hope of rescue. + +The dignitary lifted the golden handcuffs from the pillow upon +which they reposed. He blessed them and reached for Tara's wrist. +The time had come! The thing could go no further, for alive or +dead, by all the laws of Barsoom she would be the wife of O-Tar +of Manator the instant the two were locked together. Even should +rescue come then or later she could never dissolve those bonds +and Turan would be lost to her as surely as though death +separated them. + +Her hand stole toward the hidden blade, but instantly the hand of +the groom shot out and seized her wrist. He had guessed her +intention. Through the slits in the grotesque mask she could see +his eyes upon her and she guessed the sardonic smile that the +mask hid. For a tense moment the two stood thus. The people below +them kept breathless silence for the play before the throne had +not passed un-noticed. + +Dramatic as was the moment it was suddenly rendered trebly so by +the noisy opening of the doors leading to The Hall of Chiefs. All +eyes turned in the direction of the interruption to see another +figure framed in the massive opening--a half-clad figure buckling +the half-adjusted harness hurriedly in place--the figure of +O-Tar, Jeddak of Manator. + +"Stop!" he screamed, springing forward along the aisle toward the +throne. "Seize the impostor!" + +All eyes shot to the figure of the groom before the throne. They +saw him raise his hand and snatch off the golden mask, and Tara +of Helium in wide-eyed incredulity looked up into the face of +Turan the panthan. + +"Turan the slave," they cried then. "Death to him! Death to him!" + +"Wait!" shouted Turan, drawing his sword, as a dozen warriors +leaped forward. + +"Wait!" screamed another voice, old and cracked, as I-Gos, the +ancient taxidermist, sprang from among the guests and reached the +throne steps ahead of the foremost warriors. + +At sight of the old man the warriors paused, for age is held in +great veneration among the peoples of Barsoom, as is true, +perhaps, of all peoples whose religion is based to any extent +upon ancestor worship. But O-Tar gave no heed to him, leaping +instead swiftly toward the throne. "Stop, coward!" cried I-Gos. + +The people looked at the little old man in amazement. "Men of +Manator," he cackled in his thin, shrill voice, "wouldst be ruled +by a coward and a liar?" + +"Down with him!" shouted O-Tar. + +"Not until I have spoken," retorted I-Gos. "It is my right. If I +fail my life is forfeit--that you all know and I know. I demand +therefore to be heard. It is my right!" + +"It is his right," echoed the voices of a score of warriors in +various parts of the chamber. + +"That O-Tar is a coward and a liar I can prove," continued I-Gos. +"He said that he faced bravely the horrors of the chamber of +O-Mai and saw nothing of the slave Turan. I was there, hiding +behind the hangings, and I saw all that transpired. Turan had +been hiding in the chamber and was even then lying upon the couch +of O-Mai when O-Tar, trembling with fear, entered the room. +Turan, disturbed, arose to a sitting position at the same time +voicing a piercing shriek. O-Tar screamed and swooned." + +"It is a lie!" cried O-Tar. + +"It is not a lie and I can prove it," retorted I-Gos. "Didst +notice the night that he returned from the chambers of O-Mai and +was boasting of his exploit, that when he would summon slaves to +bring wine he reached for his dagger to strike the gong with its +pommel as is always his custom? Didst note that, any of you? And +that he had no dagger? O-Tar, where is the dagger that you +carried into the chamber of O-Mai? You do not know; but I know. +While you lay in the swoon of terror I took it from your harness +and hid it among the sleeping silks upon the couch of O-Mai. +There it is even now, and if any doubt it let them go thither and +there they will find it and know the cowardice of their jeddak." + +"But what of this impostor?" demanded one. "Shall he stand with +impunity upon the throne of Manator whilst we squabble about our +ruler?" + +"It is through his bravery that you have learned the cowardice of +O-Tar," replied I-Gos, "and through him you will be given a +greater jeddak." + +"We will choose our own jeddak. Seize and slay the slave!" There +were cries of approval from all parts of the room. Gahan was +listening intently, as though for some hoped-for sound. He saw +the warriors approaching the dais, where he now stood with drawn +sword and with one arm about Tara of Helium. He wondered if his +plans had miscarried after all. If they had it would mean death +for him, and he knew that Tara would take her life if he fell. +Had he, then, served her so futilely after all his efforts? + +Several warriors were urging the necessity for sending at once to +the chamber of O-Mai to search for the dagger that would prove, +if found, the cowardice of O-Tar. At last three consented to go. +"You need not fear," I-Gos assured them. "There is naught there +to harm you. I have been there often of late and Turan the slave +has slept there for these many nights. The screams and moans that +frightened you and O-Tar were voiced by Turan to drive you away +from his hiding place." Shamefacedly the three left the apartment +to search for O-Tar's dagger. + +And now the others turned their attention once more to Gahan. +They approached the throne with bared swords, but they came +slowly for they had seen this slave upon the Field of Jetan and +they knew the prowess of his arm. They had reached the foot of +the steps when from far above there sounded a deep boom, and +another, and another, and Turan smiled and breathed a sigh of +relief. Perhaps, after all, it had not come too late. The +warriors stopped and listened as did the others in the chamber. +Now there broke upon their ears a loud rattle of musketry and it +all came from above as though men were fighting upon the roofs of +the palace. + +"What is it?" they demanded, one of the other. + +"A great storm has broken over Manator," said one. + +"Mind not the storm until you have slain the creature who dares +stand upon the throne of your jeddak," demanded O-Tar. "Seize +him!" + +Even as he ceased speaking the arras behind the throne parted and +a warrior stepped forth upon the dais. An exclamation of surprise +and dismay broke from the lips of the warriors of O-Tar. +"U-Thor!" they cried. "What treason is this?" + +"It is no treason," said U-Thor in his deep voice. "I bring you a +new jeddak for all of Manator. No lying poltroon, but a +courageous man whom you all love." + +He stepped aside then and another emerged from the corridor +hidden by the arras. It was A-Kor, and at sight of him there rose +exclamations of surprise, of pleasure, and of anger, as the +various factions recognized the coup d'etat that had been +arranged so cunningly. Behind A-Kor came other warriors until the +dais was crowded with them--all men of Manator from the city of +Manatos. + +O-Tar was exhorting his warriors to attack, when a bloody and +disheveled padwar burst into the chamber through a side entrance. +"The city has fallen!" he cried aloud. "The hordes of Manatos +pour through The Gate of Enemies. The slaves from Gathol have +arisen and destroyed the palace guards. Great ships are landing +warriors upon the palace roof and in the Fields of Jetan. The men +of Helium and Gathol are marching through Manator. They cry aloud +for the Princess of Helium and swear to leave Manator a blazing +funeral pyre consuming the bodies of all our people. The skies +are black with ships. They come in great processions from the +east and from the south." + +And then once more the doors from The Hall of Chiefs swung wide +and the men of Manator turned to see another figure standing upon +the threshold--a mighty figure of a man with white skin, and +black hair, and gray eyes that glittered now like points of steel +and behind him The Hall of Chiefs was filled with fighting men +wearing the harness of far countries. Tara of Helium saw him and +her heart leaped in exultation, for it was John Carter, Warlord +of Barsoom, come at the head of a victorious host to the rescue +of his daughter, and at his side was Djor Kantos to whom she had +been betrothed. + +The Warlord eyed the assemblage for a moment before he spoke. +"Lay down your arms, men of Manator," he said. "I see my daughter +and that she lives, and if no harm has befallen her no blood need +be shed. Your city is filled with the fighting men of U-Thor, and +those from Gathol and from Helium. The palace is in the hands of +the slaves from Gathol, beside a thousand of my own warriors who +fill the halls and chambers surrounding this room. The fate of +your jeddak lies in your own hands. I have no wish to interfere. +I come only for my daughter and to free the slaves from Gathol. I +have spoken!" and without waiting for a reply and as though the +room had been filled with his own people rather than a hostile +band he strode up the broad main aisle toward Tara of Helium. + +The chiefs of Manator were stunned. They looked to O-Tar; but he +could only gaze helplessly about him as the enemy entered from +The Hall of Chiefs and circled the throne room until they had +surrounded the entire company. And then a dwar of the army of +Helium entered. + +"We have captured three chiefs," he reported to The Warlord, "who +beg that they be permitted to enter the throne room and report to +their fellows some matter which they say will decide the fate of +Manator." + +"Fetch them," ordered The Warlord. + +They came, heavily guarded, to the foot of the steps leading to +the throne and there they stopped and the leader turned toward +the others of Manator and raising high his right hand displayed a +jeweled dagger. "We found it," he said, "even where I-Gos said +that we would find it," and he looked menacingly upon O-Tar. + +"A-Kor, jeddak of Manator!" cried a voice, and the cry was taken +up by a hundred hoarse-throated warriors. + +"There can be but one jeddak in Manator," said the chief who held +the dagger; his eyes still fixed upon the hapless O-Tar he +crossed to where the latter stood and holding the dagger upon an +outstretched palm proffered it to the discredited ruler. "There +can be but one jeddak in Manator," he repeated meaningly. + +O-Tar took the proffered blade and drawing himself to his full +height plunged it to the guard into his breast, in that single +act redeeming himself in the esteem of his people and winning an +eternal place in The Hall of Chiefs. + +As he fell all was silence in the great room, to be broken +presently by the voice of U-Thor. "O-Tar is dead!" he cried. "Let +A-Kor rule until the chiefs of all Manator may be summoned to +choose a new jeddak. What is your answer?" + +"Let A-Kor rule! A-Kor, Jeddak of Manator!" The cries filled the +room and there was no dissenting voice. + +A-Kor raised his sword for silence. "It is the will of A-Kor," he +said, "and that of the Great Jed of Manatos, and the commander of +the fleet from Gathol, and of the illustrious John Carter, +Warlord of Barsoom, that peace lie upon the city of Manator and +so I decree that the men of Manator go forth and welcome the +fighting men of these our allies as guests and friends and show +them the wonders of our ancient city and the hospitality of +Manator. I have spoken." And U-Thor and John Carter dismissed +their warriors and bade them accept the hospitality of Manator. +As the room emptied Djor Kantos reached the side of Tara of +Helium. The girl's happiness at rescue had been blighted by sight +of this man whom her virtuous heart told her she had wronged. She +dreaded the ordeal that lay before her and the dishonor that she +must admit before she could hope to be freed from the +understanding that had for long existed between them. And now +Djor Kantos approached and kneeling raised her fingers to his +lips. + +"Beautiful daughter of Helium," he said, "how may I tell you the +thing that I must tell you--of the dishonor that I have all +unwittingly done you? I can but throw myself upon your generosity +for forgiveness; but if you demand it I can receive the dagger as +honorably as did O-Tar." + +"What do you mean?" asked Tara of Helium. "What are you talking +about--why speak thus in riddles to one whose heart is already +breaking?" + +Her heart already breaking! The outlook was anything but +promising, and the young padwar wished that he had died before +ever he had had to speak the words he now must speak. + +"Tara of Helium," he continued, "we all thought you dead. For a +long year have you been gone from Helium. I mourned you truly and +then, less than a moon since, I wed with Olvia Marthis." He +stopped and looked at her with eyes that might have said: "Now, +strike me dead!" + +"Oh, foolish man!" cried Tara. "Nothing you could have done could +have pleased me more. Djor Kantos, I could kiss you!" + +"I do not think that Olvia Marthis would mind," he said, his face +now wreathed with smiles. As they spoke a body of men had entered +the throne room and approached the dais. They were tall men +trapped in plain harness, absolutely without ornamentation. Just +as their leader reached the dais Tara had turned to Gahan, +motioning him to join them. + +"Djor Kantos," she said, "I bring you Turan the panthan, whose +loyalty and bravery have won my love." + +John Carter and the leader of the new come warriors, who were +standing near, looked quickly at the little group. The former +smiled an inscrutable smile, the latter addressed the Princess of +Helium. "'Turan the panthan!'" he cried. "Know you not, fair +daughter of Helium, that this man you call panthan is Gahan, Jed +of Gathol?" + +For just a moment Tara of Helium looked her surprise; and then +she shrugged her beautiful shoulders as she turned her head to +cast her eyes over one of them at Gahan of Gathol. + +"Jed or panthan," she said; "what difference does it make what +one's slave has been?" and she laughed roguishly into the smiling +face of her lover. + + +His story finished, John Carter rose from the chair opposite me, +stretching his giant frame like some great forest-bred lion. + +"You must go?" I cried, for I hated to see him leave and it +seemed that he had been with me but a moment. + +"The sky is already red beyond those beautiful hills of yours," +he replied, "and it will soon be day." + +"Just one question before you go," I begged. + +"Well?" he assented, good-naturedly. + +"How was Gahan able to enter the throne room garbed in O-Tar's +trappings?" I asked. + +"It was simple--for Gahan of Gathol," replied The Warlord. "With +the assistance of I-Gos he crept into The Hall of Chiefs before +the ceremony, while the throne room and Hall of Chiefs were +vacated to receive the bride. He came from the pits through the +corridor that opened behind the arras at the rear of the throne, +and passing into The Hall of Chiefs took his place upon the back +of a riderless thoat, whose warrior was in I-Gos' repair room. +When O-Tar entered and came near him Gahan fell upon him and +struck him with the butt of a heavy spear. He thought that he had +killed him and was surprised when O-Tar appeared to denounce +him." + +"And Ghek? What became of Ghek?" I insisted. + +"After leading Val Dor and Floran to Tara's disabled flier which +they repaired, he accompanied them to Gathol from where a message +was sent to me in Helium. He then led a large party including +A-Kor and U-Thor from the roof, where our ships landed them, down +a spiral runway into the palace and guided them to the throne +room. We took him back to Helium with us, where he still lives, +with his single rykor which we found all but starved to death in +the pits of Manator. But come! No more questions now." + +I accompanied him to the east arcade where the red dawn was +glowing beyond the arches. + +"Good-bye!" he said. + +"I can scarce believe that it is really you," I exclaimed. +"Tomorrow I will be sure that I have dreamed all this." + + He laughed and drawing his sword scratched a rude cross upon the +concrete of one of the arches. + +"If you are in doubt tomorrow," he said, "come and see if you +dreamed this." + +A moment later he was gone. + + + + +JETAN, OR MARTIAN CHESS + +FOR those who care for such things, and would like to try the +game, I give the rules of Jetan as they were given me by John +Carter. By writing the names and moves of the various pieces on +bits of paper and pasting them on ordinary checkermen the game +may be played quite as well as with the ornate pieces used upon +Mars. + +THE BOARD: Square board consisting of one hundred alternate black +and orange squares. + +THE PIECES: In order, as they stand upon the board in the first +row, from left to right of each player. + +Warrior: 2 feathers; 2 spaces straight in any direction or +combination. + +Padwar: 2 feathers; 2 spaces diagonal in any direction or +combination. + +Dwar: 3 feathers; 3 spaces straight in any direction or +combination. + +Flier: 3 bladed propellor; 3 spaces diagonal in any direction or +combination; and may jump intervening pieces. + +Chief: Diadem with ten jewels; 3 spaces in any direction; +straight or diagonal or combination. + +Princess: Diadem with one jewel; same as Chief, except may jump +intervening pieces. + +Flier: See above. + +Dwar: See above. + +Padwar: See above. + +Warrior: See above. + +And in the second row from left to right: + +Thoat: Mounted warrior 2 feathers; 2 spaces, one straight and one +diagonal in any direction. + +Panthans: (8 of them): 1 feather; 1 space, forward, side, or +diagonal, but not backward. + +Thoat: See above. + +The game is played with twenty black pieces by one player and +twenty orange by his opponent, and is presumed to have originally +represented a battle between the Black race of the south and the +Yellow race of the north. On Mars the board is usually arranged +so that the Black pieces are played from the south and the Orange +from the north. + +The game is won when any piece is placed on same square with +opponent's Princess, or a Chief takes a Chief. + +The game is drawn when either Chief is taken by a piece other +than the opposing Chief, or when both sides are reduced to three +pieces, or less, of equal value and the game is not won in the +ensuing ten moves, five apiece. + +The Princess may not move onto a threatened square, nor may she +take an opposing piece. She is entitled to one ten-space move at +any time during the game. This move is called the escape. + +Two pieces may not occupy the same square except in the final +move of a game where the Princess is taken. + +When a player, moving properly and in order, places one of his +pieces upon a square occupied by an opponent piece, the opponent +piece is considered to have been killed and is removed from the +game. + +The moves explained. Straight moves mean due north, south, east, +or west; diagonal moves mean northeast, southeast, southwest, or +northwest. A Dwar might move straight north three spaces, or +north one space and east two spaces, or any similar combination +of straight moves, so long as he did not cross the same square +twice in a single move. This example explains combination moves. + +The first move may be decided in any way that is agreeable to +both players; after the first game the winner of the preceding +game moves first if he chooses, or may instruct his opponent to +make the first move. + +Gambling: The Martians gamble at Jetan in several ways. Of course +the outcome of the game indicates to whom the main stake belongs; +but they also put a price upon the head of each piece, according +to its value, and for each piece that a player loses he pays its +value to his opponent. + + + + + +End of The Project Gutenberg Etext of The Chessmen of Mars by Burroughs + diff --git a/old/old/cmars11.zip b/old/old/cmars11.zip Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..70b848a --- /dev/null +++ b/old/old/cmars11.zip diff --git a/old/old/cmars12.txt b/old/old/cmars12.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..7fa4cfa --- /dev/null +++ b/old/old/cmars12.txt @@ -0,0 +1,10152 @@ +The Project Gutenberg Etext of The Chessmen of Mars by Burroughs +#11 in our series by Edgar Rice Burroughs + +Copyright laws are changing all over the world, be sure to check +the copyright laws for your country before posting these files!! + +Please take a look at the important information in this header. +We encourage you to keep this file on your own disk, keeping an +electronic path open for the next readers. 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FOR PUBLIC DOMAIN ETEXTS*Ver.04.29.93*END* + + + + + +This etext was prepared by Judy Boss, Omaha, NE + + + + + +THE CHESSMEN OF MARS + +by Edgar Rice Burroughs + + + +CONTENTS + +PRELUDE - John Carter Comes to Earth + I Tara in a Tantrum + II At the Gale's Mercy + III The Headless Humans + IV Captured + V The Perfect Brain + VI In the Toils of Horror + VII A Repellent Sight +VIII Close Work + IX Adrift Over Strange Regions + X Entrapped + XI The Choice of Tara + XII Ghek Plays Pranks +XIII A Desperate Deed + XIV At Ghek's Command + XV The Old Man of the Pits + XVI Another Change of Name +XVII A Play to the Death +XVIII A Task for Loyalty + XIX The Menace of the Dead + XX The Charge of Cowardice + XXI A Risk for Love +XXII At the Moment of Marriage + + + + + +THE CHESSMEN OF MARS + +PRELUDE + +JOHN CARTER COMES TO EARTH + +SHEA had just beaten me at chess, as usual, and, also as usual, I +had gleaned what questionable satisfaction I might by twitting +him with this indication of failing mentality by calling his +attention to the nth time to that theory, propounded by certain +scientists, which is based upon the assertion that phenomenal +chess players are always found to be from the ranks of children +under twelve, adults over seventy-two or the mentally +defective--a theory that is lightly ignored upon those rare +occasions that I win. Shea had gone to bed and I should have +followed suit, for we are always in the saddle here before +sunrise; but instead I sat there before the chess table in the +library, idly blowing smoke at the dishonored head of my defeated +king. + +While thus profitably employed I heard the east door of the +living-room open and someone enter. I thought it was Shea +returning to speak with me on some matter of tomorrow's work; but +when I raised my eyes to the doorway that connects the two rooms +I saw framed there the figure of a bronzed giant, his otherwise +naked body trapped with a jewel-encrusted harness from which +there hung at one side an ornate short-sword and at the other a +pistol of strange pattern. The black hair, the steel-gray eyes, +brave and smiling, the noble features--I recognized them at once, +and leaping to my feet I advanced with outstretched hand. + +"John Carter!" I cried. "You?" + +"None other, my son," he replied, taking my hand in one of his +and placing the other upon my shoulder. + +"And what are you doing here?" I asked. "It has been long years +since you revisited Earth, and never before in the trappings of +Mars. Lord! but it is good to see you--and not a day older in +appearance than when you trotted me on your knee in my babyhood. +How do you explain it, John Carter, Warlord of Mars, or do you +try to explain it?" + +"Why attempt to explain the inexplicable?" he replied. "As I have +told you before, I am a very old man. I do not know how old I am. +I recall no childhood; but recollect only having been always as +you see me now and as you saw me first when you were five years +old. You, yourself, have aged, though not as much as most men in +a corresponding number of years, which may be accounted for by +the fact that the same blood runs in our veins; but I have not +aged at all. I have discussed the question with a noted Martian +scientist, a friend of mine; but his theories are still only +theories. However, I am content with the fact--I never age, and I +love life and the vigor of youth. + +"And now as to your natural question as to what brings me to +Earth again and in this, to earthly eyes, strange habiliment. We +may thank Kar Komak, the bowman of Lothar. It was he who gave me +the idea upon which I have been experimenting until at last I +have achieved success. As you know I have long possessed the +power to cross the void in spirit, but never before have I been +able to impart to inanimate things a similar power. Now, however, +you see me for the first time precisely as my Martian fellows see +me--you see the very short-sword that has tasted the blood of +many a savage foeman; the harness with the devices of Helium and +the insignia of my rank; the pistol that was presented to me by +Tars Tarkas, Jeddak of Thark. + +"Aside from seeing you, which is my principal reason for being +here, and satisfying myself that I can transport inanimate things +from Mars to Earth, and therefore animate things if I so desire, +I have no purpose. Earth is not for me. My every interest is upon +Barsoom--my wife, my children, my work; all are there. I will +spend a quiet evening with you and then back to the world I love +even better than I love life." + +As he spoke he dropped into the chair upon the opposite side of +the chess table. + +"You spoke of children," I said. "Have you more than Carthoris?" + +"A daughter," he replied, "only a little younger than Carthoris, +and, barring one, the fairest thing that ever breathed the thin +air of dying Mars. Only Dejah Thoris, her mother, could be more +beautiful than Tara of Helium." + +For a moment he fingered the chessmen idly. "We have a game on +Mars similar to chess," he said, "very similar. + +And there is a race there that plays it grimly with men and naked +swords. We call the game jetan. It is played on a board like +yours, except that there are a hundred squares and we use twenty +pieces on each side. I never see it played without thinking of +Tara of Helium and what befell her among the chessmen of Barsoom. +Would you like to hear her story?" + +I said that I would and so he told it to me, and now I shall try +to re-tell it for you as nearly in the words of The Warlord of +Mars as I can recall them, but in the third person. If there be +inconsistencies and errors, let the blame fall not upon John +Carter, but rather upon my faulty memory, where it belongs. It is +a strange tale and utterly Barsoomian. + + + +CHAPTER I + +TARA IN A TANTRUM + +TARA of Helium rose from the pile of silks and soft furs upon +which she had been reclining, stretched her lithe body languidly, +and crossed toward the center of the room, where, above a large +table, a bronze disc depended from the low ceiling. Her carriage +was that of health and physical perfection--the effortless +harmony of faultless coordination. A scarf of silken gossamer +crossing over one shoulder was wrapped about her body; her black +hair was piled high upon her head. With a wooden stick she tapped +upon the bronze disc, lightly, and presently the summons was +answered by a slave girl, who entered, smiling, to be greeted +similarly by her mistress. + +"Are my father's guests arriving?" asked the princess. + +"Yes, Tara of Helium, they come," replied the slave. "I have seen +Kantos Kan, Overlord of the Navy, and Prince Soran of Ptarth, and +Djor Kantos, son of Kantos Kan," she shot a roguish glance at her +mistress as she mentioned Djor Kantos' name, "and--oh, there were +others, many have come." + +"The bath, then, Uthia," said her mistress. "And why, Uthia," she +added, "do you look thus and smile when you mention the name of +Djor Kantos?" + +The slave girl laughed gaily. "It is so plain to all that he +worships you," she replied. + +"It is not plain to me," said Tara of Helium. "He is the friend +of my brother, Carthoris, and so he is here much; but not to see +me. It is his friendship for Carthoris that brings him thus often +to the palace of my father." + +"But Carthoris is hunting in the north with Talu, Jeddak of +Okar," Uthia reminded her. + +"My bath, Uthia!" cried Tara of Helium. "That tongue of yours +will bring you to some misadventure yet." + +"The bath is ready, Tara of Helium," the girl responded, her eyes +still twinkling with merriment, for she well knew that in the +heart of her mistress was no anger that could displace the love +of the princess for her slave. Preceding the daughter of The +Warlord she opened the door of an adjoining room where lay the +bath--a gleaming pool of scented water in a marble basin. Golden +stanchions supported a chain of gold encircling it and leading +down into the water on either side of marble steps. A glass dome +let in the sun-light, which flooded the interior, glancing from +the polished white of the marble walls and the procession of +bathers and fishes, which, in conventional design, were inlaid +with gold in a broad band that circled the room. + +Tara of Helium removed the scarf from about her and handed it to +the slave. Slowly she descended the steps to the water, the +temperature of which she tested with a symmetrical foot, +undeformed by tight shoes and high heels--a lovely foot, as God +intended that feet should be and seldom are. Finding the water to +her liking, the girl swam leisurely to and fro about the pool. +With the silken ease of the seal she swam, now at the surface, +now below, her smooth muscles rolling softly beneath her clear +skin--a wordless song of health and happiness and grace. +Presently she emerged and gave herself into the hands of the +slave girl, who rubbed the body of her mistress with a sweet +smelling semi-liquid substance contained in a golden urn, until +the glowing skin was covered with a foamy lather, then a quick +plunge into the pool, a drying with soft towels, and the bath was +over. Typical of the life of the princess was the simple elegance +of her bath--no retinue of useless slaves, no pomp, no idle waste +of precious moments. In another half hour her hair was dried and +built into the strange, but becoming, coiffure of her station; +her leathern trappings, encrusted with gold and jewels, had been +adjusted to her figure and she was ready to mingle with the +guests that had been bidden to the midday function at the palace +of The Warlord. + +As she left her apartments to make her way to the gardens where +the guests were congregating, two warriors, the insignia of the +House of the Prince of Helium upon their harness, followed a few +paces behind her, grim reminders that the assassin's blade may +never be ignored upon Barsoom, where, in a measure, it +counterbalances the great natural span of human life, which is +estimated at not less than a thousand years. + +As they neared the entrance to the garden another woman, +similarly guarded, approached them from another quarter of the +great palace. As she neared them Tara of Helium turned toward her +with a smile and a happy greeting, while her guards knelt with +bowed heads in willing and voluntary adoration of the beloved of +Helium. Thus always, solely at the command of their own hearts, +did the warriors of Helium greet Dejah Thoris, whose deathless +beauty had more than once brought them to bloody warfare with +other nations of Barsoom. So great was the love of the people of +Helium for the mate of John Carter it amounted practically to +worship, as though she were indeed the goddess that she looked. + +The mother and daughter exhanged the gentle, Barsoomian, "kaor" +of greeting and kissed. Then together they entered the gardens +where the guests were. A huge warrior drew his short-sword and +struck his metal shield with the flat of it, the brazen sound +ringing out above the laughter and the speech. + +"The Princess comes!" he cried. "Dejah Thoris! The Princess +comes! Tara of Helium!" Thus always is royalty announced. The +guests arose; the two women inclined their heads; the guards fell +back upon either side of the entrance-way; a number of nobles +advanced to pay their respects; the laughing and the talking were +resumed and Dejah Thoris and her daughter moved simply and +naturally among their guests, no suggestion of differing rank +apparent in the bearing of any who were there, though there was +more than a single Jeddak and many common warriors whose only +title lay in brave deeds, or noble patriotism. Thus it is upon +Mars where men are judged upon their own merits rather than upon +those of their grandsires, even though pride of lineage be great. + +Tara of Helium let her slow gaze wander among the throng of +guests until presently it halted upon one she sought. Was the +faint shadow of a frown that crossed her brow an indication of +displeasure at the sight that met her eyes, or did the brilliant +rays of the noonday sun distress her? Who may say! She had been +reared to believe that one day she should wed Djor Kantos, son of +her father's best friend. It had been the dearest wish of Kantos +Kan and The Warlord that this should be, and Tara of Helium had +accepted it as a matter of all but accomplished fact. Djor Kantos +had seemed to accept the matter in the same way. They had spoken +of it casually as something that would, as a matter of course, +take place in the indefinite future, as, for instance, his +promotion in the navy, in which he was now a padwar; or the set +functions of the court of her grandfather, Tardos Mors, Jeddak of +Helium; or Death. They had never spoken of love and that had +puzzled Tara of Helium upon the rare occasions she gave it +thought, for she knew that people who were to wed were usually +much occupied with the matter of love and she had all of a +woman's curiosity--she wondered what love was like. She was very +fond of Djor Kantos and she knew that he was very fond of her. +They liked to be together, for they liked the same things and the +same people and the same books and their dancing was a joy, not +only to themselves but to those who watched them. She could not +imagine wanting to marry anyone other than Djor Kantos. + +So perhaps it was only the sun that made her brows contract just +the tiniest bit at the same instant that she discovered Djor +Kantos sitting in earnest conversation with Olvia Marthis, +daughter of the Jed of Hastor. It was Djor Kantos' duty +immediately to pay his respects to Dejah Thoris and Tara of +Helium; but he did not do so and presently the daughter of The +Warlord frowned indeed. She looked long at Olvia Marthis, and +though she had seen her many times before and knew her well, she +looked at her today through new eyes that saw, apparently for the +first time, that the girl from Hastor was noticeably beautiful +even among those other beautiful women of Helium. Tara of Helium +was disturbed. She attempted to analyze her emotions; but found +it difficult. Olvia Marthis was her friend--she was very fond of +her and she felt no anger toward her. Was she angry with Djor +Kantos? No, she finally decided that she was not. It was merely +surprise, then, that she felt--surprise that Djor Kantos could be +more interested in another than in herself. She was about to +cross the garden and join them when she heard her father's voice +directly behind her. + +"Tara of Helium!" he called, and she turned to see him +approaching with a strange warrior whose harness and metal bore +devices with which she was unfamiliar. Even among the gorgeous +trappings of the men of Helium and the visitors from distant +empires those of the stranger were remarkable for their barbaric +splendor. The leather of his harness was completely hidden +beneath ornaments of platinum thickly set with brilliant +diamonds, as were the scabbards of his swords and the ornate +holster that held his long, Martian pistol. Moving through the +sunlit garden at the side of the great Warlord, the scintillant +rays of his countless gems enveloping him as in an aureole of +light imparted to his noble figure a suggestion of godliness. + +"Tara of Helium, I bring you Gahan, Jed of Gathol," said John +Carter, after the simple Barsoomian custom of presentation. + +"Kaor! Gahan, Jed of Gathol," returned Tara of Helium. + +"My sword is at your feet, Tara of Helium," said the young +chieftain. + +The Warlord left them and the two seated themselves upon an +ersite bench beneath a spreading sorapus tree. + +"Far Gathol," mused the girl. "Ever in my mind has it been +connected with mystery and romance and the half-forgotten lore of +the ancients. I cannot think of Gathol as existing today, +possibly because I have never before seen a Gatholian." + +"And perhaps too because of the great distance that separates +Helium and Gathol, as well as the comparative insignificance of +my little free city, which might easily be lost in one corner of +mighty Helium," added Gahan. "But what we lack in power we make +up in pride," he continued, laughing. "We believe ours the oldest +inhabited city upon Barsoom. It is one of the few that has +retained its freedom, and this despite the fact that its ancient +diamond mines are the richest known and, unlike practically all +the other fields, are today apparently as inexhaustible as ever." + +"Tell me of Gathol," urged the girl. "The very thought fills me +with interest," nor was it likely that the handsome face of the +young jed detracted anything from the glamour of far Gathol. + +Nor did Gahan seem displeased with the excuse for further +monopolizing the society of his fair companion. His eyes seemed +chained to her exquisite features, from which they moved no +further than to a rounded breast, part hid beneath its jeweled +covering, a naked shoulder or the symmetry of a perfect arm, +resplendent in bracelets of barbaric magnificence. + +"Your ancient history has doubtless told you that Gathol was +built upon an island in Throxeus, mightiest of the five oceans of +old Barsoom. As the ocean receded Gathol crept down the sides of +the mountain, the summit of which was the island upon which she +had been built, until today she covers the slopes from summit to +base, while the bowels of the great hill are honeycombed with the +galleries of her mines. Entirely surrounding us is a great salt +marsh, which protects us from invasion by land, while the rugged +and ofttimes vertical topography of our mountain renders the +landing of hostile airships a precarious undertaking." + +"That, and your brave warriors?" suggested the girl. + +Gahan smiled. "We do not speak of that except to enemies," he +said, "and then with tongues of steel rather than of flesh." + +"But what practice in the art of war has a people which nature +has thus protected from attack?" asked Tara of Helium, who had +liked the young jed's answer to her previous question, but yet in +whose mind persisted a vague conviction of the possible +effeminacy of her companion, induced, doubtless, by the +magnificence of his trappings and weapons which carried a +suggestion of splendid show rather than grim utility. + +"Our natural barriers, while they have doubtless saved us from +defeat on countless occasions, have not by any means rendered us +immune from attack," he explained, "for so great is the wealth of +Gathol's diamond treasury that there yet may be found those who +will risk almost certain defeat in an effort to loot our +unconquered city; so thus we find occasional practice in the +exercise of arms; but there is more to Gathol than the mountain +city. My country extends from Polodona (Equator) north ten karads +and from the tenth karad west of Horz to the twentieth west, +including thus a million square haads, the greater proportion of +which is fine grazing land where run our great herds of thoats +and zitidars. + +"Surrounded as we are by predatory enemies our herdsmen must +indeed be warriors or we should have no herds, and you may be +assured they get plenty of fighting. Then there is our constant +need of workers in the mines. The Gatholians consider themselves +a race of warriors and as such prefer not to labor in the mines. +The law is, however, that each male Gatholian shall give an hour +a day in labor to the government. That is practically the only +tax that is levied upon them. They prefer however, to furnish a +substitute to perform this labor, and as our own people will not +hire out for labor in the mines it has been necessary to obtain +slaves, and I do not need to tell you that slaves are not won +without fighting. We sell these slaves in the public market, the +proceeds going, half and half, to the government and the warriors +who bring them in. The purchasers are credited with the amount of +labor performed by their particular slaves. At the end of a year +a good slave will have performed the labor tax of his master for +six years, and if slaves are plentiful he is freed and permitted +to return to his own people." + +"You fight in platinum and diamonds?" asked Tara, indicating his +gorgeous trappings with a quizzical smile. + +Gahan laughed. "We are a vain people," he admitted, +good-naturedly, "and it is possible that we place too much value +on personal appearances. We vie with one another in the splendor +of our accoutrements when trapped for the observance of the +lighter duties of life, though when we take the field our leather +is the plainest I ever have seen worn by fighting men of Barsoom. +We pride ourselves, too, upon our physical beauty, and especially +upon the beauty of our women. May I dare to say, Tara of Helium, +that I am hoping for the day when you will visit Gathol that my +people may see one who is really beautiful?" + +"The women of Helium are taught to frown with displeasure upon +the tongue of the flatterer," rejoined the girl, but Gahan, Jed +of Gathol, observed that she smiled as she said it. + +A bugle sounded, clear and sweet, above the laughter and the +talk. "The Dance of Barsoom!" exclaimed the young warrior. "I +claim you for it, Tara of Helium." + +The girl glanced in the direction of the bench where she had last +seen Djor Kantos. He was not in sight. She inclined her head in +assent to the claim of the Gatholian. Slaves were passing among +the guests, distributing small musical instruments of a single +string. Upon each instrument were characters which indicated the +pitch and length of its tone. The instruments were of skeel, the +string of gut, and were shaped to fit the left forearm of the +dancer, to which it was strapped. There was also a ring wound +with gut which was worn between the first and second joints of +the index finger of the right hand and which, when passed over +the string of the instrument, elicited the single note required +of the dancer. + +The guests had risen and were slowly making their way toward the +expanse of scarlet sward at the south end of the gardens where +the dance was to be held, when Djor Kantos came hurriedly toward +Tara of Helium. "I claim--" he exclaimed as he neared her; but +she interrupted him with a gesture. + +"You are too late, Djor Kantos," she cried in mock anger. "No +laggard may claim Tara of Helium; but haste now lest thou lose +also Olvia Marthis, whom I have never seen wait long to be +claimed for this or any other dance." + +"I have already lost her," admitted Djor Kantos ruefully. + +"And you mean to say that you came for Tara of Helium only after +having lost Olvia Marthis?" demanded the girl, still simulating +displeasure. + +"Oh, Tara of Helium, you know better than that," insisted the +young man. "Was it not natural that I should assume that you +would expect me, who alone has claimed you for the Dance of +Barsoom for at least twelve times past?" + +"And sit and play with my thumbs until you saw fit to come for +me?" she questioned. "Ah, no, Djor Kantos; Tara of Helium is for +no laggard," and she threw him a sweet smile and passed on toward +the assembling dancers with Gahan, Jed of far Gathol. + +The Dance of Barsoom bears a relation similar to the more formal +dancing functions of Mars that The Grand March does to ours, +though it is infinitely more intricate and more beautiful. Before +a Martian youth of either sex may attend an important social +function where there is dancing, he must have become proficient +in at least three dances--The Dance of Barsoom, his national +dance, and the dance of his city. In these three dances the +dancers furnish their own music, which never varies; nor do the +steps or figures vary, having been handed down from time +immemorial. All Barsoomian dances are stately and beautiful, but +The Dance of Barsoom is a wondrous epic of motion and +harmony--there is no grotesque posturing, no vulgar or suggestive +movements. It has been described as the interpretation of the +highest ideals of a world that aspired to grace and beauty and +chastity in woman, and strength and dignity and loyalty in man. + +Today, John Carter, Warlord of Mars, with Dejah Thoris, his mate, +led in the dancing, and if there was another couple that vied +with them in possession of the silent admiration of the guests it +was the resplendent Jed of Gathol and his beautiful partner. In +the ever-changing figures of the dance the man found himself now +with the girl's hand in his and again with an arm about the lithe +body that the jeweled harness but inadequately covered, and the +girl, though she had danced a thousand dances in the past, +realized for the first time the personal contact of a man's arm +against her naked flesh. It troubled her that she should notice +it, and she looked up questioningly and almost with displeasure +at the man as though it was his fault. Their eyes met and she saw +in his that which she had never seen in the eyes of Djor Kantos. +It was at the very end of the dance and they both stopped +suddenly with the music and stood there looking straight into +each other's eyes. It was Gahan of Gathol who spoke first. + +"Tara of Helium, I love you!" he said. + +The girl drew herself to her full height. "The Jed of Gathol +forgets himself," she exclaimed haughtily. + +"The Jed of Gathol would forget everything but you, Tara of +Helium," he replied. Fiercely he pressed the soft hand that he +still retained from the last position of the dance. "I love you, +Tara of Helium," he repeated. "Why should your ears refuse to +hear what your eyes but just now did not refuse to see--and +answer?" + +"What meanest thou?" she cried. "Are the men of Gathol such +boors, then?" + +"They are neither boors nor fools," he replied, quietly. "They +know when they love a woman--and when she loves them." + +Tara of Helium stamped her little foot in anger. "Go!" she said, +"before it is necessary to acquaint my father with the dishonor +of his guest." + +She turned and walked away. "Wait!" cried the man. "Just another +word." + +"Of apology?" she asked. + +"Of prophecy," he said. + +"I do not care to hear it," replied Tara of Helium, and left +him standing there. She was strangely unstrung and shortly +thereafter returned to her own quarter of the palace, where she +stood for a long time by a window looking out beyond the scarlet +tower of Greater Helium toward the northwest. + +Presently she turned angrily away. "I hate him!" she exclaimed +aloud. + +"Whom?" inquired the privileged Uthia. + +Tara of Helium stamped her foot. "That ill-mannered boor, the Jed +of Gathol," she replied. + +Uthia raised her slim brows. + +At the stamping of the little foot, a great beast rose from the +corner of the room and crossed to Tara of Helium where it stood +looking up into her face. She placed her hand upon the ugly head. +"Dear old Woola," she said; "no love could be deeper than yours, +yet it never offends. Would that men might pattern themselves +after you!" + + + +CHAPTER II + +AT THE GALE'S MERCY + +TARA of Helium did not return to her father's guests, but awaited +in her own apartments the word from Djor Kantos which she knew +must come, begging her to return to the gardens. She would then +refuse, haughtily. But no appeal came from Djor Kantos. At first +Tara of Helium was angry, then she was hurt, and always she was +puzzled. She could not understand. Occasionally she thought of +the Jed of Gathol and then she would stamp her foot, for she was +very angry indeed with Gahan. The presumption of the man! He had +insinuated that he read love for him in her eyes. Never had she +been so insulted and humiliated. Never had she so thoroughly +hated a man. Suddenly she turned toward Uthia. + +"My flying leather!" she commanded. + +"But the guests!" exclaimed the slave girl. "Your father, The +Warlord, will expect you to return." + +"He will be disappointed," snapped Tara of Helium. + +The slave hesitated. "He does not approve of your flying alone," +she reminded her mistress. + +The young princess sprang to her feet and seized the unhappy +slave by the shoulders, shaking her. "You are becoming +unbearable, Uthia," she cried. "Soon there will be no alternative +than to send you to the public slave-market. Then possibly you +will find a master to your liking." + +Tears came to the soft eyes of the slave girl. "It is because I +love you, my princess," she said softly. Tara of Helium melted. +She took the slave in her arms and kissed her. + +"I have the disposition of a thoat, Uthia," she said. "Forgive +me! I love you and there is nothing that I would not do for you +and nothing would I do to harm you. Again, as I have so often in +the past, I offer you your freedom." + +"I do not wish my freedom if it will separate me from you, Tara +of Helium," replied Uthia. "I am happy here with you--I think +that I should die without you." + +Again the girls kissed. "And you will not fly alone, then?" +questioned the slave. + +Tara of Helium laughed and pinched her companion. "You persistent +little pest," she cried. "Of course I shall fly--does not Tara of +Helium always do that which pleases her?" + +Uthia shook her head sorrowfully. "Alas! she does," she admitted. +"Iron is the Warlord of Barsoom to the influences of all but two. +In the hands of Dejah Thoris and Tara of Helium he is as potters' +clay." + +"Then run and fetch my flying leather like the sweet slave you +are," directed the mistress. + + +Far out across the ochre sea-bottoms beyond the twin cities of +Helium raced the swift flier of Tara of Helium. Thrilling to the +speed and the buoyancy and the obedience of the little craft the +girl drove toward the northwest. Why she should choose that +direction she did not pause to consider. Perhaps because in that +direction lay the least known areas of Barsoom, and, ergo, +Romance, Mystery, and Adventure. In that direction also lay far +Gathol; but to that fact she gave no conscious thought. + +She did, however, think occasionally of the jed of that distant +kingdom, but the reaction to these thoughts was scarcely +pleasurable. They still brought a flush of shame to her cheeks +and a surge of angry blood to her heart. She was very angry with +the Jed of Gathol, and though she should never see him again she +was quite sure that hate of him would remain fresh in her memory +forever. Mostly her thoughts revolved about another--Djor Kantos. +And when she thought of him she thought also of Olvia Marthis of +Hastor. Tara of Helium thought that she was jealous of the fair +Olvia and it made her very angry to think that. She was angry +with Djor Kantos and herself, but she was not angry at all with +Olvia Marthis, whom she loved, and so of course she was not +jealous really. The trouble was, that Tara of Helium had failed +for once to have her own way. Djor Kantos had not come running +like a willing slave when she had expected him, and, ah, here was +the nub of the whole thing! Gahan, Jed of Gathol, a stranger, had +been a witness to her humiliation. He had seen her unclaimed at +the beginning of a great function and he had had to come to her +rescue to save her, as he doubtless thought, from the inglorious +fate of a wall-flower. At the recurring thought, Tara of Helium +could feel her whole body burning with scarlet shame and then she +went suddenly white and cold with rage; whereupon she turned her +flier about so abruptly that she was all but torn from her +lashings upon the flat, narrow deck. She reached home just before +dark. The guests had departed. Quiet had descended upon the +palace. An hour later she joined her father and mother at the +evening meal. + +"You deserted us, Tara of Helium," said John Carter. "It is not +what the guests of John Carter should expect." + +"They did not come to see me," replied Tara of Helium. "I did not +ask them." + +"They were no less your guests," replied her father. + +The girl rose, and came and stood beside him and put her arms +about his neck. + +"My proper old Virginian," she cried, rumpling his shock of black +hair. + +"In Virginia you would be turned over your father's knee and +spanked," said the man, smiling. + +She crept into his lap and kissed him. "You do not love me any +more," she announced. "No one loves me," but she could not +compose her features into a pout because bubbling laughter +insisted upon breaking through. + +"The trouble is there are too many who love you," he said. "And +now there is another." + +"Indeed!" she cried. "What do you mean?" + +"Gahan of Gathol has asked permission to woo you." + +The girl sat up very straight and tilted her chin in the air. "I +would not wed with a walking diamond-mine," she said. "I will not +have him." + +"I told him as much," replied her father, "and that you were as +good as betrothed to another. He was very courteous about it; but +at the same time he gave me to understand that he was accustomed +to getting what he wanted and that he wanted you very much. I +suppose it will mean another war. Your mother's beauty kept +Helium at war for many years, and--well, Tara of Helium, if I +were a young man I should doubtless be willing to set all Barsoom +afire to win you, as I still would to keep your divine mother," +and he smiled across the sorapus table and its golden service at +the undimmed beauty of Mars' most beautiful woman. + +"Our little girl should not yet be troubled with such matters," +said Dejah Thoris. "Remember, John Carter, that you are not +dealing with an Earth child, whose span of life would be more +than half completed before a daughter of Barsoom reached actual +maturity." + +"But do not the daughters of Barsoom sometimes marry as early as +twenty?" he insisted. + +"Yes, but they will still be desirable in the eyes of men after +forty generations of Earth folk have returned to dust--there is +no hurry, at least, upon Barsoom. We do not fade and decay here +as you tell me those of your planet do, though you, yourself, +belie your own words. When the time seems proper Tara of Helium +shall wed with Djor Kantos, and until then let us give the matter +no further thought." + +"No," said the girl, "the subject irks me, and I shall not marry +Djor Kantos, or another--I do not intend to wed." + +Her father and mother looked at her and smiled. "When Gahan of +Gathol returns he may carry you off," said the former. + +"He has gone?" asked the girl. + +"His flier departs for Gathol in the morning," John Carter +replied. + +"I have seen the last of him then," remarked Tara of Helium with +a sigh of relief. + +"He says not," returned John Carter. + +The girl dismissed the subject with a shrug and the conversation +passed to other topics. A letter had arrived from Thuvia of +Ptarth, who was visiting at her father's court while Carthoris, +her mate, hunted in Okar. Word had been received that the Tharks +and Warhoons were again at war, or rather that there had been an +engagement, for war was their habitual state. In the memory of +man there had been no peace between these two savage green +hordes--only a single temporary truce. Two new battleships had +been launched at Hastor. A little band of holy therns was +attempting to revive the ancient and discredited religion of +Issus, who they claimed still lived in spirit and had +communicated with them. There were rumors of war from Dusar. A +scientist claimed to have discovered human life on the further +moon. A madman had attempted to destroy the atmosphere plant. +Seven people had been assassinated in Greater Helium during the +last ten zodes, (the equivalent of an Earth day). + +Following the meal Dejah Thoris and The Warlord played at jetan, +the Barsoomian game of chess, which is played upon a board of a +hundred alternate black and orange squares. One player has twenty +black pieces, the other, twenty orange pieces. A brief +description of the game may interest those Earth readers who care +for chess, and will not be lost upon those who pursue this +narrative to its conclusion, since before they are done they will +find that a knowledge of jetan will add to the interest and the +thrills that are in store for them. + +The men are placed upon the board as in chess upon the first two +rows next the players. In order from left to right on the line of +squares nearest the players, the jetan pieces are Warrior, +Padwar, Dwar, Flier, Chief, Princess, Flier, Dwar, Padwar, +Warrior. In the next line all are Panthans except the end pieces, +which are called Thoats, and represent mounted warriors. + +The Panthans, which are represented as warriors with one feather, +may move one space in any direction except backward; the Thoats, +mounted warriors with three feathers, may move one straight and +one diagonal, and may jump intervening pieces; Warriors, foot +soldiers with two feathers, straight in any direction, or +diagonally, two spaces; Padwars, lieutenants wearing two +feathers, two diagonal in any direction, or combination; Dwars, +captains wearing three feathers, three spaces straight in any +direction, or combination; Fliers, represented by a propellor +with three blades, three spaces in any direction, or combination, +diagonally, and may jump intervening pieces; the Chief, indicated +by a diadem with ten jewels, three spaces in any direction, +straight, or diagonal; Princess, diadem with a single jewel, same +as Chief, and can jump intervening pieces. + +The game is won when a player places any of his pieces on the +same square with his opponent's Princess, or when a Chief takes a +Chief. It is drawn when a Chief is taken by any opposing piece +other than the opposing Chief; or when both sides have been +reduced to three pieces, or less, of equal value, and the game is +not terminated in the following ten moves, five apiece. This is +but a general outline of the game, briefly stated. + +It was this game that Dejah Thoris and John Carter were playing +when Tara of Helium bid them good night, retiring to her own +quarters and her sleeping silks and furs. "Until morning, my +beloved," she called back to them as she passed from the +apartment, nor little did she guess, nor her parents, that this +might indeed be the last time that they would ever set eyes upon +her. + +The morning broke dull and gray. Ominous clouds billowed +restlessly and low. Beneath them torn fragments scudded toward +the northwest. From her window Tara of Helium looked out upon +this unusual scene. Dense clouds seldom overcast the Barsoomian +sky. At this hour of the day it was her custom to ride one of +those small thoats that are the saddle animals of the red +Martians, but the sight of the billowing clouds lured her to a +new adventure. Uthia still slept and the girl did not disturb +her. Instead, she dressed quietly and went to the hangar upon the +roof of the palace directly above her quarters where her own +swift flier was housed. She had never driven through the clouds. +It was an adventure that always she had longed to experience. The +wind was strong and it was with difficulty that she maneuvered +the craft from the hangar without accident, but once away it +raced swiftly out above the twin cities. The buffeting winds +caught and tossed it, and the girl laughed aloud in sheer joy of +the resultant thrills. She handled the little ship like a +veteran, though few veterans would have faced the menace of such +a storm in so light a craft. Swiftly she rose toward the clouds, +racing with the scudding streamers of the storm-swept fragments, +and a moment later she was swallowed by the dense masses +billowing above. Here was a new world, a world of chaos unpeopled +except for herself; but it was a cold, damp, lonely world and she +found it depressing after the novelty of it had been dissipated, +by an overpowering sense of the magnitude of the forces surging +about her. Suddenly she felt very lonely and very cold and very +little. Hurriedly, therefore, she rose until presently her craft +broke through into the glorious sunlight that transformed the +upper surface of the somber element into rolling masses of +burnished silver. Here it was still cold, but without the +dampness of the clouds, and in the eye of the brilliant sun her +spirits rose with the mounting needle of her altimeter. Gazing at +the clouds, now far beneath, the girl experienced the sensation +of hanging stationary in mid-heaven; but the whirring of her +propellor, the wind beating upon her, the high figures that rose +and fell beneath the glass of her speedometer, these told her +that her speed was terrific. It was then that she determined to +turn back. + +The first attempt she made above the clouds, but it was +unsuccessful. To her surprise she discovered that she could not +even turn against the high wind, which rocked and buffeted the +frail craft. Then she dropped swiftly to the dark and wind-swept +zone between the hurtling clouds and the gloomy surface of the +shadowed ground. Here she tried again to force the nose of the +flier back toward Helium, but the tempest seized the frail thing +and hurled it remorselessly about, rolling it over and over and +tossing it as it were a cork in a cataract. At last the girl +succeeded in righting the flier, perilously close to the ground. +Never before had she been so close to death, yet she was not +terrified. Her coolness had saved her, that and the strength of +the deck lashings that held her. Traveling with the storm she was +safe, but where was it bearing her? She pictured the apprehension +of her father and mother when she failed to appear at the morning +meal. They would find her flier missing and they would guess that +somewhere in the path of the storm it lay a wrecked and tangled +mass upon her dead body, and then brave men would go out in +search of her, risking their lives; and that lives would be lost +in the search, she knew, for she realized now that never in her +life-time had such a tempest raged upon Barsoom. + +She must turn back! She must reach Helium before her mad lust for +thrills had cost the sacrifice of a single courageous life! She +determined that greater safety and likelihood of success lay +above the clouds, and once again she rose through the chilling, +wind-tossed vapor. Her speed again was terrific, for the wind +seemed to have increased rather than to have lessened. She sought +gradually to check the swift flight of her craft, but though she +finally succeeded in reversing her motor the wind but carried her +on as it would. Then it was that Tara of Helium lost her temper. +Had her world not always bowed in acquiescence to her every wish? +What were these elements that they dared to thwart her? She would +demonstrate to them that the daughter of The Warlord was not to +be denied! They would learn that Tara of Helium might not be +ruled even by the forces of nature! + +And so she drove her motor forward again and then with her firm, +white teeth set in grim determination she drove the steering +lever far down to port with the intention of forcing the nose of +her craft straight into the teeth of the wind, and the wind +seized the frail thing and toppled it over upon its back, and +twisted and turned it and hurled it over and over; the propellor +raced for an instant in an air pocket and then the tempest seized +it again and twisted it from its shaft, leaving the girl helpless +upon an unmanageable atom that rose and fell, and rolled and +tumbled--the sport of the elements she had defied. Tara of +Helium's first sensation was one of surprise--that she had failed +to have her own way. Then she commenced to feel concern--not for +her own safety but for the anxiety of her parents and the dangers +that the inevitable searchers must face. She reproached herself +for the thoughtless selfishness that had jeopardized the peace +and safety of others. She realized her own grave danger, too; but +she was still unterrified, as befitted the daughter of Dejah +Thoris and John Carter. She knew that her buoyancy tanks might +keep her afloat indefinitely, but she had neither food nor water, +and she was being borne toward the least-known area of Barsoom. +Perhaps it would be better to land immediately and await the +coming of the searchers, rather than to allow herself to be +carried still further from Helium, thus greatly reducing the +chances of early discovery; but when she dropped toward the +ground she discovered that the violence of the wind rendered an +attempt to land tantamount to destruction and she rose again, +rapidly. + +Carried along a few hundred feet above the ground she was better +able to appreciate the Titanic proportions of the storm than when +she had flown in the comparative serenity of the zone above the +clouds, for now she could distinctly see the effect of the wind +upon the surface of Barsoom. The air was filled with dust and +flying bits of vegetation and when the storm carried her across +an irrigated area of farm land she saw great trees and stone +walls and buildings lifted high in air and scattered broadcast +over the devastated country; and then she was carried swiftly on +to other sights that forced in upon her consciousness a rapidly +growing conviction that after all Tara of Helium was a very small +and insignificant and helpless person. It was quite a shock to +her self-pride while it lasted, and toward evening she was ready +to believe that it was going to last forever. There had been no +abatement in the ferocity of the tempest, nor was there +indication of any. She could only guess at the distance she had +been carried for she could not believe in the correctness of the +high figures that had been piled upon the record of her odometer. +They seemed unbelievable and yet, had she known it, they were +quite true--in twelve hours she had flown and been carried by the +storm full seven thousand haads. Just before dark she was carried +over one of the deserted cities of ancient Mars. It was Torquas, +but she did not know it. Had she, she might readily have been +forgiven for abandoning the last vestige of hope, for to the +people of Helium Torquas seems as remote as do the South Sea +Islands to us. And still the tempest, its fury unabated, bore her +on. + +All that night she hurtled through the dark beneath the clouds, +or rose to race through the moonlit void beneath the glory of +Barsoom's two satellites. She was cold and hungry and altogether +miserable, but her brave little spirit refused to admit that her +plight was hopeless even though reason proclaimed the truth. Her +reply to reason, sometime spoken aloud in sudden defiance, +recalled the Spartan stubbornness of her sire in the face of +certain annihilation: "I still live!" + +That morning there had been an early visitor at the palace of The +Warlord. It was Gahan, Jed of Gathol. He had arrived shortly +after the absence of Tara of Helium had been noted, and in the +excitement he had remained unannounced until John Carter had +happened upon him in the great reception corridor of the palace +as The Warlord was hurrying out to arrange for the dispatch of +ships in search of his daughter. + +Gahan read the concern upon the face of The Warlord. "Forgive me +if I intrude, John Carter," he said. "I but came to ask the +indulgence of another day since it would be fool-hardy to attempt +to navigate a ship in such a storm." + +"Remain, Gahan, a welcome guest until you choose to leave us," +replied The Warlord; "but you must forgive any seeming +inattention upon the part of Helium until my daughter is restored +to us." + +"You daughter! Restored! What do you mean?" exclaimed the +Gatholian. "I do not understand." + +"She is gone, together with her light flier. That is all we know. +We can only assume that she decided to fly before the morning +meal and was caught in the clutches of the tempest. You will +pardon me, Gahan, if I leave you abruptly--I am arranging to send +ships in search of her;" but Gahan, Jed of Gathol, was already +speeding in the direction of the palace gate. There he leaped +upon a waiting thoat and followed by two warriors in the metal of +Gathol, he dashed through the avenues of Helium toward the palace +that had been set aside for his entertainment. + + + +CHAPTER III + +THE HEADLESS HUMANS + +ABOVE the roof of the palace that housed the Jed of Gathol and +his entourage, the cruiser Vanator tore at her stout moorings. +The groaning tackle bespoke the mad fury of the gale, while the +worried faces of those members of the crew whose duties demanded +their presence on the straining craft gave corroborative evidence +of the gravity of the situation. Only stout lashings prevented +these men from being swept from the deck, while those upon the +roof below were constantly compelled to cling to rails and +stanchions to save themselves from being carried away by each new +burst of meteoric fury. Upon the prow of the Vanator was painted +the device of Gathol, but no pennants were displayed in the upper +works since the storm had carried away several in rapid +succession, just as it seemed to the watching men that it must +carry away the ship itself. They could not believe that any +tackle could withstand for long this Titanic force. To each of +the twelve lashings clung a brawny warrior with drawn +short-sword. Had but a single mooring given to the power of the +tempest eleven short-swords would have cut the others; since, +partially moored, the ship was doomed, while free in the tempest +it stood at least some slight chance for life. + +"By the blood of Issus, I believe they will hold!" screamed one +warrior to another. + +"And if they do not hold may the spirits of our ancestors reward +the brave warriors upon the Vanator," replied another of those +upon the roof of the palace, "for it will not be long from the +moment her cables part before her crew dons the leather of the +dead; but yet, Tanus, I believe they will hold. Give thanks at +least that we did not sail before the tempest fell, since now +each of us has a chance to live." + +"Yes," replied Tanus, "I should hate to be abroad today upon the +stoutest ship that sails the Barsoomian sky." + +It was then that Gahan the Jed appeared upon the roof. With him +were the balance of his own party and a dozen warriors of Helium. +The young chief turned to his followers. + +"I sail at once upon the Vanator," he said, "in search of Tara of +Helium who is thought to have been carried away upon a one-man +flier by the storm. I do not need to explain to you the slender +chances the Vanator has to withstand the fury of the tempest, nor +will I order you to your deaths. Let those who wish remain behind +without dishonor. The others will follow me," and he leaped for +the rope ladder that lashed wildly in the gale. + +The first man to follow him was Tanus and when the last reached +the deck of the cruiser there remained upon the palace roof only +the twelve warriors of Helium, who, with naked swords, had taken +the posts of the Gatholians at the moorings. + +Not a single warrior who had remained aboard the Vanator would +leave her now. + +"I expected no less," said Gahan, as with the help of those +already on the deck he and the others found secure lashings. The +commander of the Vanator shook his head. He loved his trim craft, +the pride of her class in the little navy of Gathol. It was of +her he thought--not of himself. He saw her lying torn and twisted +upon the ochre vegetation of some distant sea-bottom, to be +presently overrun and looted by some savage, green horde. He +looked at Gahan. + +"Are you ready, San Tothis?" asked the jed. + +"All is ready." + +"Then cut away!" + +Word was passed across the deck and over the side to the +Heliumetic warriors below that at the third gun they were to cut +away. Twelve keen swords must strike simultaneously and with +equal power, and each must sever completely and instantly three +strands of heavy cable that no loose end fouling a block bring +immediate disaster upon the Vanator. + +Boom! The voice of the signal gun rolled down through the +screaming wind to the twelve warriors upon the roof. Boom! Twelve +swords were raised above twelve brawny shoulders. Boom! Twelve +keen edges severed twelve complaining moorings, clean and as one. + +The Vanator, her propellors whirling, shot forward with the +storm. The tempest struck her in the stern as with a mailed fist +and stood the great ship upon her nose, and then it caught her +and spun her as a child's top spins; and upon the palace roof the +twelve men looked on in silent helplessness and prayed for the +souls of the brave warriors who were going to their death. And +others saw, from Helium's lofty landing stages and from a +thousand hangars upon a thousand roofs; but only for an instant +did the preparations stop that would send other brave men into +the frightful maelstrom of that apparently hopeless search, for +such is the courage of the warriors of Barsoom. + +But the Vanator did not fall to the ground, within sight of the +city at least, though as long as the watchers could see her never +for an instant did she rest upon an even keel. Sometimes she lay +upon one side or the other, or again she hurtled along keel up, +or rolled over and over, or stood upon her nose or her tail at +the caprice of the great force that carried her along. And the +watchers saw that this great ship was merely being blown away +with the other bits of debris great and small that filled the +sky. Never in the memory of man or the annals of recorded history +had such a storm raged across the face of Barsoom. + +And in another instant was the Vanator forgotten as the lofty, +scarlet tower that had marked Lesser Helium for ages crashed to +ground, carrying death and demolition upon the city beneath. +Panic reigned. A fire broke out in the ruins. The city's every +force seemed crippled, and it was then that The Warlord ordered +the men that were about to set forth in search of Tara of Helium +to devote their energies to the salvation of the city, for he too +had witnessed the start of the Vanator and realized the futility +of wasting men who were needed sorely if Lesser Helium was to be +saved from utter destruction. + +Shortly after noon of the second day the storm commenced to +abate, and before the sun went down, the little craft upon which +Tara of Helium had hovered between life and death these many +hours drifted slowly before a gentle breeze above a landscape of +rolling hills that once had been lofty mountains upon a Martian +continent. The girl was exhausted from loss of sleep, from lack +of food and drink, and from the nervous reaction consequent to +the terrifying experiences through which she had passed. In the +near distance, just topping an intervening hill, she caught a +momentary glimpse of what appeared to be a dome-capped tower. +Quickly she dropped the flier until the hill shut it off from the +view of the possible occupants of the structure she had seen. The +tower meant to her the habitation of man, suggesting the presence +of water and, perhaps, of food. If the tower was the deserted +relic of a bygone age she would scarcely find food there, but +there was still a chance that there might be water. If it was +inhabited, then must her approach be cautious, for only enemies +might be expected to abide in so far distant a land. Tara of +Helium knew that she must be far from the twin cities of her +grandfather's empire, but had she guessed within even a thousand +haads of the reality, she had been stunned by realization of the +utter hopelessness of her state. + +Keeping the craft low, for the buoyancy tanks were still intact, +the girl skimmed the ground until the gently-moving wind had +carried her to the side of the last hill that intervened between +her and the structure she had thought a man-built tower. Here she +brought the flier to the ground among some stunted trees, and +dragging it beneath one where it might be somewhat hidden from +craft passing above, she made it fast and set forth to +reconnoiter. Like most women of her class she was armed only with +a single slender blade, so that in such an emergency as now +confronted her she must depend almost solely upon her cleverness +in remaining undiscovered by enemies. With utmost caution she +crept warily toward the crest of the hill, taking advantage of +every natural screen that the landscape afforded to conceal her +approach from possible observers ahead, while momentarily she +cast quick glances rearward lest she be taken by surprise from +that quarter. + +She came at last to the summit, where, from the concealment of a +low bush, she could see what lay beyond. Beneath her spread a +beautiful valley surrounded by low hills. Dotting it were +numerous circular towers, dome-capped, and surrounding each tower +was a stone wall enclosing several acres of ground. The valley +appeared to be in a high state of cultivation. Upon the opposite +side of the hill and just beneath her was a tower and enclosure. +It was the roof of the former that had first attracted her +attention. In all respects it seemed identical in construction +with those further out in the valley--a high, plastered wall of +massive construction surrounding a similarly constructed tower, +upon whose gray surface was painted in vivid colors a strange +device. The towers were about forty sofads in diameter, +approximately forty earth-feet, and sixty in height to the base +of the dome. To an Earth man they would have immediately +suggested the silos in which dairy farmers store ensilage for +their herds; but closer scrutiny, revealing an occasional +embrasured opening together with the strange construction of the +domes, would have altered such a conclusion. Tara of Helium saw +that the domes seemed to be faced with innumerable prisms of +glass, those that were exposed to the declining sun scintillating +so gorgeously as to remind her suddenly of the magnificent +trappings of Gahan of Gathol. As she thought of the man she shook +her head angrily, and moved cautiously forward a foot or two that +she might get a less obstructed view of the nearer tower and its +enclosure. + +As Tara of Helium looked down into the enclosure surrounding the +nearest tower, her brows contracted momentarily in frowning +surprise, and then her eyes went wide in an expression of +incredulity tinged with horror, for what she saw was a score or +two of human bodies--naked and headless. For a long moment she +watched, breathless; unable to believe the evidence of her own +eyes--that these grewsome things moved and had life! She saw them +crawling about on hands and knees over and across one another, +searching about with their fingers. And she saw some of them at +troughs, for which the others seemed to be searching, and those +at the troughs were taking something from these receptacles and +apparently putting it in a hole where their necks should have +been. They were not far beneath her--she could see them +distinctly and she saw that there were the bodies of both men and +women, and that they were beautifully proportioned, and that +their skin was similar to hers, but of a slightly lighter red. At +first she had thought that she was looking upon a shambles and +that the bodies, but recently decapitated, were moving under the +impulse of muscular reaction; but presently she realized that +this was their normal condition. The horror of them fascinated +her, so that she could scarce take her eyes from them. It was +evident from their groping hands that they were eyeless, and +their sluggish movements suggested a rudimentary nervous system +and a correspondingly minute brain. The girl wondered how they +subsisted for she could not, even by the wildest stretch of +imagination, picture these imperfect creatures as intelligent +tillers of the soil. Yet that the soil of the valley was tilled +was evident and that these things had food was equally so. But +who tilled the soil? Who kept and fed these unhappy things, and +for what purpose? It was an enigma beyond her powers of +deduction. + +The sight of food aroused again a consciousness of her own +gnawing hunger and the thirst that parched her throat. She could +see both food and water within the enclosure; but would she dare +enter even should she find means of ingress? She doubted it, +since the very thought of possible contact with these grewsome +creatures sent a shudder through her frame. + +Then her eyes wandered again out across the valley until +presently they picked out what appeared to be a tiny stream +winding its way through the center of the farm lands--a strange +sight upon Barsoom. Ah, if it were but water! Then might she hope +with a real hope, for the fields would give her sustenance which +she could gain by night, while by day she hid among the +surrounding hills, and sometime, yes, sometime she knew, the +searchers would come, for John Carter, Warlord of Barsoom, would +never cease to search for his daughter until every square haad of +the planet had been combed again and again. She knew him and she +knew the warriors of Helium and so she knew that could she but +manage to escape harm until they came, they would indeed come at +last. + +She would have to wait until dark before she dare venture into +the valley, and in the meantime she thought it well to search out +a place of safety nearby where she might be reasonably safe from +savage beasts. It was possible that the district was free from +carnivora, but one might never be sure in a strange land. As she +was about to withdraw be hind the brow of the hill her attention +was again attracted to the enclosure below. Two figures had +emerged from the tower. Their beautiful bodies seemed identical +with those of the headless creatures among which they moved, but +the newcomers were not headless. Upon their shoulders were heads +that seemed human, yet which the girl intuitively sensed were not +human. They were just a trifle too far away for her to see them +distinctly in the waning light of the dying day, but she knew +that they were too large, they were out of proportion to the +perfectly proportioned bodies, and they were oblate in form. She +could see that the men wore some manner of harness to which were +slung the customary long-sword and short-sword of the Barsoomian +warrior, and that about their short necks were massive leather +collars cut to fit closely over the shoulders and snugly to the +lower part of the head. Their features were scarce discernible, +but there was a suggestion of grotesqueness about them that +carried to her a feeling of revulsion. + +The two carried a long rope to which were fastened, at intervals +of about two sofads, what she later guessed were light manacles, +for she saw the warriors passing among the poor creatures in the +enclosure and about the right wrist of each they fastened one of +the manacles. When all had been thus fastened to the rope one of +the warriors commenced to pull and tug at the loose end as though +attempting to drag the headless company toward the tower, while +the other went among them with a long, light whip with which he +flicked them upon the naked skin. Slowly, dully, the creatures +rose to their feet and between the tugging of the warrior in +front and the lashing of him behind the hopeless band was finally +herded within the tower. Tara of Helium shuddered as she turned +away. What manner of creatures were these? + +Suddenly it was night. The Barsoomian day had ended, and then the +brief period of twilight that renders the transition from +daylight to darkness almost as abrupt as the switching off of an +electric light, and Tara of Helium had found no sanctuary. But +perhaps there were no beasts to fear, or rather to avoid--Tara of +Helium liked not the word fear. She would have been glad, +however, had there been a cabin, even a very tiny cabin, upon her +small flier; but there was no cabin. The interior of the hull was +completely taken up by the buoyancy tanks. Ah, she had it! How +stupid of her not to have thought of it before! She could moor +the craft to the tree beneath which it rested and let it rise the +length of the rope. Lashed to the deck rings she would then be +safe from any roaming beast of prey that chanced along. In the +morning she could drop to the ground again before the craft was +discovered. + +As Tara of Helium crept over the brow of the hill down toward the +valley, her presence was hidden by the darkness of the night from +the sight of any chance observer who might be loitering by a +window in the nearby tower. Cluros, the farther moon, was just +rising above the horizon to commence his leisurely journey +through the heavens. Eight zodes later he would set--a trifle +over nineteen and a half Earth hours--and during that time +Thuria, his vivacious mate, would have circled the planet twice +and be more than half way around on her third trip. She had but +just set. It would be more than three and a half hours before she +shot above the opposite horizon to hurtle, swift and low, across +the face of the dying planet. During this temporary absence of +the mad moon Tara of Helium hoped to find both food and water, +and gain again the safety of her flier's deck. + +She groped her way through the darkness, giving the tower and its +enclosure as wide a berth as possible. Sometimes she stumbled, +for in the long shadows cast by the rising Cluros objects were +grotesquely distorted though the light from the moon was still +not sufficient to be of much assistance to her. Nor, as a matter +of fact, did she want light. She could find the stream in the +dark, by the simple expedient of going down hill until she walked +into it and she had seen that bearing trees and many crops grew +throughout the valley, so that she would pass food in plenty ere +she reached the stream. If the moon showed her the way more +clearly and thus saved her from an occasional fall, he would, +too, show her more clearly to the strange denizens of the towers, +and that, of course, must not be. Could she have waited until the +following night conditions would have been better, since Cluros +would not appear in the heavens at all and so, during Thuria's +absence, utter darkness would reign; but the pangs of thirst and +the gnawing of hunger could be endured no longer with food and +drink both in sight, and so she had decided to risk discovery +rather than suffer longer. + +Safely past the nearest tower, she moved as rapidly as she felt +consistent with safety, choosing her way wherever possible so +that she might take advantage of the shadows of the trees that +grew at intervals and at the same time discover those which bore +fruit. In this latter she met with almost immediate success, for +the very third tree beneath which she halted was heavy with ripe +fruit. Never, thought Tara of Helium, had aught so delicious +impinged upon her palate, and yet it was naught else than the +almost tasteless usa, which is considered to be palatable only +after having been cooked and highly spiced. It grows easily with +little irrigation and the trees bear abundantly. The fruit, which +ranks high in food value, is one of the staple foods of the less +well-to-do, and because of its cheapness and nutritive value +forms one of the principal rations of both armies and navies upon +Barsoom, a use which has won for it a Martian sobriquet which, +freely translated into English, would be, The Fighting Potato. +The girl was wise enough to eat but sparingly, but she filled her +pocket-pouch with the fruit before she continued upon her way. + +Two towers she passed before she came at last to the stream, and +here again was she temperate, drinking but little and that very +slowly, contenting herself with rinsing her mouth frequently and +bathing her face, her hands, and her feet; and even though the +night was cold, as Martian nights are, the sensation of +refreshment more than compensated for the physical discomfort of +the low temperature. Replacing her sandals she sought among the +growing track near the stream for whatever edible berries or +tubers might be planted there, and found a couple of varieties +that could be eaten raw. With these she replaced some of the usa +in her pocket-pouch, not only to insure a variety but because she +found them more palatable. Occasionally she returned to the +stream to drink, but each time moderately. Always were her eyes +and ears alert for the first signs of danger, but she had neither +seen nor heard aught to disturb her. And presently the time +approached when she felt she must return to her flier lest she be +caught in the revealing light of low swinging Thuria. She dreaded +leaving the water for she knew that she must become very thirsty +before she could hope to come again to the stream. If she only +had some little receptacle in which to carry water, even a small +amount would tide her over until the following night; but she had +nothing and so she must content herself as best she could with +the juices of the fruit and tubers she had gathered. + +After a last drink at the stream, the longest and deepest she had +allowed herself, she rose to retrace her steps toward the hills; +but even as she did so she became suddenly tense with +apprehension. What was that? She could have sworn that she saw +something move in the shadows beneath a tree not far away. For a +long minute the girl did not move--she scarce breathed. Her eyes +remained fixed upon the dense shadows below the tree, her ears +strained through the silence of the night. A low moaning came +down from the hills where her flier was hidden. She knew it +well--the weird note of the hunting banth. And the great +carnivore lay directly in her path. But he was not so close as +this other thing, hiding there in the shadows just a little way +off. What was it? It was the strain of uncertainty that weighed +heaviest upon her. Had she known the nature of the creature +lurking there half its meanace would have vanished. She cast +quickly about her in search of some haven of refuge should the +thing prove dangerous. + +Again arose the moaning from the hills, but this time closer. +Almost immediately it was answered from the opposite side of the +valley, behind her, and then from the distance to the right of +her, and twice upon her left. Her eyes had found a tree, quite +near. Slowly, and without taking her eyes from the shadows of +that other tree, she moved toward the overhanging branches that +might afford her sanctuary in the event of need, and at her first +move a low growl rose from the spot she had been watching and she +heard the sudden moving of a big body. Simultaneously the +creature shot into the moonlight in full charge upon her, its +tail erect, its tiny ears laid flat, its great mouth with its +multiple rows of sharp and powerful fangs already yawning for its +prey, its ten legs carrying it forward in great leaps, and now +from the beast's throat issued the frightful roar with which it +seeks to paralyze its prey. It was a banth--the great, maned lion +of Barsoom. Tara of Helium saw it coming and leaped for the tree +toward which she had been moving, and the banth realized her +intention and redoubled his speed. As his hideous roar awakened +the echoes in the hills, so too it awakened echoes in the valley; +but these echoes came from the living throats of others of his +kind, until it seemed to the girl that Fate had thrown her into +the midst of a countless multitude of these savage beasts. + +Almost incredbily swift is the speed of a charging banth, and +fortunate it was that the girl had not been caught farther in the +open. As it was, her margin of safety was next to negligible, for +as she swung nimbly to the lower branches the creature in pursuit +of her crashed among the foliage almost upon her as it sprang +upward to seize her. It was only a combination of good fortune +and agility that saved her. A stout branch deflected the raking +talons of the carnivore, but so close was the call that a giant +forearm brushed her flesh in the instant before she scrambled to +the higher branches. + +Baffled, the banth gave vent to his rage and disappointment in a +series of frightful roars that caused the very ground to tremble, +and to these were added the roarings and the growlings and the +moanings of his fellows as they approached from every direction, +in the hope of wresting from him whatever of his kill they could +take by craft or prowess. And now he turned snarling upon them as +they circled the tree, while the girl, huddled in a crotch above +them, looked down upon the gaunt, yellow monsters padding on +noiseless feet in a restless circle about her. She wondered now +at the strange freak of fate that had permitted her to come down +this far into the valley by night unharmed, but even more she +wondered how she was to return to the hills. She knew that she +would not dare venture it by night and she guessed, too, that by +day she might be confronted by even graver perils. To depend upon +this valley for sustenance she now saw to be beyond the pale of +possibility because of the banths that would keep her from food +and water by night, while the dwellers in the towers would +doubtless make it equally impossible for her to forage by day. +There was but one solution of her difficulty and that was to +return to her flier and pray that the wind would waft her to some +less terrorful land; but when might she return to the flier? The +banths gave little evidence of relinquishing hope of her, and even +if they wandered out of sight would she dare risk the attempt? +She doubted it. + +Hopeless indeed seemed her situation--hopeless it was. + + + +CHAPTER IV + +CAPTURED + +AS THURIA, swift racer of the night, shot again into the sky the +scene changed. As by magic a new aspect fell athwart the face of +Nature. It was as though in the instant one had been transported +from one planet to another. It was the age-old miracle of the +Martian nights that is always new, even to Martians--two moons +resplendent in the heavens, where one had been but now; +conflicting, fast-changing shadows that altered the very hills +themselves; far Cluros, stately, majestic, almost stationary, +shedding his steady light upon the world below; Thuria, a great +and glorious orb, swinging swift across the vaulted dome of the +blue-black night, so low that she seemed to graze the hills, a +gorgeous spectacle that held the girl now beneath the spell of +its enchantment as it always had and always would. + +"Ah, Thuria, mad queen of heaven!" murmured Tara of Helium. "The +hills pass in stately procession, their bosoms rising and +falling; the trees move in restless circles; the little grasses +describe their little arcs; and all is movement, restless, +mysterious movement without sound, while Thuria passes." The girl +sighed and let her gaze fall again to the stern realities +beneath. There was no mystery in the huge banths. He who had +discovered her squatted there looking hungrily up at her. Most of +the others had wandered away in search of other prey, but a few +remained hoping yet to bury their fangs in that soft body. + +The night wore on. Again Thuria left the heavens to her lord and +master, hurrying on to keep her tryst with the Sun in other +skies. But a single banth waited impatiently beneath the tree +which harbored Tara of Helium. The others had left, but their +roars, and growls, and moans thundered or rumbled, or floated +back to her from near and far. What prey found they in this +little valley? There must be something that they were accustomed +to find here that they should be drawn in so great numbers. The +girl wondered what it could be. + +How long the night! Numb, cold, and exhausted, Tara of Helium +clung to the tree in growing desperation, for once she had dozed +and almost fallen. Hope was low in her brave little heart. How +much more could she endure? She asked herself the question and +then, with a brave shake of her head, she squared her shoulders. +"I still live!" she said aloud. + +The banth looked up and growled. + +Came Thuria again and after awhile the great Sun--a flaming +lover, pursuing his heart's desire. And Cluros, the cold husband, +continued his serene way, as placid as before his house had been +violated by this hot Lothario. And now the Sun and both Moons +rode together in the sky, lending their far mysteries to make +weird the Martian dawn. Tara of Helium looked out across the fair +valley that spread upon all sides of her. It was rich and +beautiful, but even as she looked upon it she shuddered, for to +her mind came a picture of the headless things that the towers +and the walls hid. Those by day and the banths by night! Ah, was +it any wonder that she shuddered? + +With the coming of the Sun the great Barsoomian lion rose to his +feet. He turned angry eyes upon the girl above him, voiced a +single ominous growl, and slunk away toward the hills. The girl +watched him, and she saw that he gave the towers as wide a berth +as possible and that he never took his eyes from one of them +while he was passing it. Evidently the inmates had taught these +savage creatures to respect them. Presently he passed from sight +in a narrow defile, nor in any direction that she could see was +there another. Momentarily at least the landscape was deserted. +The girl wondered if she dared to attempt to regain the hills and +her flier. She dreaded the coming of the workmen to the fields as +she was sure they would come. She shrank from again seeing the +headless bodies, and found herself wondering if these things +would come out into the fields and work. She looked toward the +nearest tower. There was no sign of life there. The valley lay +quiet now and deserted. She lowered herself stiffly to the +ground. Her muscles were cramped and every move brought a twinge +of pain. Pausing a moment to drink again at the stream she felt +refreshed and then turned without more delay toward the hills. To +cover the distance as quickly as possible seemed the only plan to +pursue. The trees no longer offered concealment and so she did +not go out of her way to be near them. The hills seemed very far +away. She had not thought, the night before, that she had +traveled so far. Really it had not been far, but now, with the +three towers to pass in broad daylight, the distance seemed great +indeed. + +The second tower lay almost directly in her path. To make a +detour would not lessen the chance of detection, it would only +lengthen the period of her danger, and so she laid her course +straight for the hill where her flier was, regardless of the +tower. As she passed the first enclosure she thought that she +heard the sound of movement within, but the gate did not open and +she breathed more easily when it lay behind her. She came then to +the second enclosure, the outer wall of which she must circle, as +it lay across her route. As she passed close along it she +distinctly heard not only movement within, but voices. In the +world-language of Barsoom she heard a man issuing +instructions--so many were to pick usa, so many were to irrigate +this field, so many to cultivate that, and so on, as a foreman +lay out the day's work for his crew. + +Tara of Helium had just reached the gate in the outer wall. +Without warning it swung open toward her. She saw that for a +moment it would hide her from those within and in that moment she +turned and ran, keeping close to the wall, until, passing out of +sight beyond the curve of the structure, she came to the opposite +side of the enclosure. Here, panting from her exertion and from +the excitement of her narrow escape, she threw herself among some +tall weeds that grew close to the foot of the wall. There she lay +trembling for some time, not even daring to raise her head and +look about. Never before had Tara of Helium felt the paralyzing +effects of terror. She was shocked and angry at herself, that +she, daughter of John Carter, Warlord of Barsoom, should exhibit +fear. Not even the fact that there had been none there to witness +it lessened her shame and anger, and the worst of it was she knew +that under similar circumstances she would again be equally as +craven. It was not the fear of death--she knew that. No, it was +the thought of those headless bodies and that she might see them +and that they might even touch her--lay hands upon her--seize +her. She shuddered and trembled at the thought. + +After a while she gained sufficient command of herself to raise +her head and look about. To her horror she discovered that +everywhere she looked she saw people working in the fields or +preparing to do so. Workmen were coming from other towers. Little +bands were passing to this field and that. They were even some +already at work within thirty ads of her--about a hundred yards. +There were ten, perhaps, in the party nearest her, both men and +women, and all were beautiful of form and grotesque of face. So +meager were their trappings that they were practically naked; a +fact that was in no way remarkable among the tillers of the +fields of Mars. Each wore the peculiar, high leather collar that +completely hid the neck, and each wore sufficient other leather +to support a single sword and a pocket-pouch. The leather was +very old and worn, showing long, hard service, and was absolutely +plain with the exception of a single device upon the left +shoulder. The heads, however, were covered with ornaments of +precious metals and jewels, so that little more than eyes, nose, +and mouth were discernible. These were hideously inhuman and yet +grotesquely human at the same time. The eyes were far apart and +protruding, the nose scarce more than two small, parallel slits +set vertically above a round hole that was the mouth. The heads +were peculiarly repulsive--so much so that it seemed unbelievable +to the girl that they formed an integral part of the beautiful +bodies below them. + +So fascinated was Tara of Helium that she could scarce take her +eyes from the strange creatures--a fact that was to prove her +undoing, for in order that she might see them she was forced to +expose a part of her own head and presently, to her +consternation, she saw that one of the creatures had stopped his +work and was staring directly at her. She did not dare move, for +it was still possible that the thing had not seen her, or at +least was only suspicious that some creature lay hid among the +weeds. If she could allay this suspicion by remaining motionless +the creature might believe that he had been mistaken and return +to his work; but, alas, such was not to be the case. She saw the +thing call the attention of others to her and almost immediately +four or five of them started to move in her direction. + +It was impossible now to escape discovery. Her only hope lay in +flight. If she could elude them and reach the hills and the flier +ahead of them she might escape, and that could be accomplished in +but one way--flight, immediate and swift. Leaping to her feet she +darted along the base of the wall which she must skirt to the +opposite side, beyond which lay the hill that was her goal. Her +act was greeted by strange whistling sounds from the things +behind her, and casting a glance over her shoulder she saw them +all in rapid pursuit. + +There were also shrill commands that she halt, but to these she +paid no attention. Before she had half circled the enclosure she +discovered that her chances for successful escape were great, +since it was evident to her that her pursuers were not so fleet +as she. High indeed then were her hopes as she came in sight of +the hill, but they were soon dashed by what lay before her, for +there, in the fields that lay between, were fully a hundred +creatures similar to those behind her and all were on the alert, +evidently warned by the whistling of their fellows. Instructions +and commands were shouted to and fro, with the result that those +before her spread roughly into a great half circle to intercept +her, and when she turned to the right, hoping to elude the net, +she saw others coming from fields beyond, and to the left the +same was true. But Tara of Helium would not admit defeat. Without +once pausing she turned directly toward the center of the +advancing semi-circle, beyond which lay her single chance of +escape, and as she ran she drew her long, slim dagger. Like her +valiant sire, if die she must, she would die fighting. There were +gaps in the thin line confronting her and toward the widest of +one of these she directed her course. The things on either side +of the opening guessed her intent for they closed in to place +themselves in her path. This widened the openings on either side +of them and as the girl appeared almost to rush into their arms +she turned suddenly at right angles, ran swiftly in the new +direction for a few yards, and then dashed quickly toward the +hill again. Now only a single warrior, with a wide gap on either +side of him, barred her clear way to freedom, though all the +others were speeding as rapidly as they could to intercept her. +If she could pass this one without too much delay she could +escape, of that she was certain. Her every hope hinged on this. +The creature before her realized it, too, for he moved +cautiously, though swiftly, to intercept her, as a Rugby fullback +might maneuver in the realization that he alone stood between the +opposing team and a touchdown. + +At first Tara of Helium had hoped that she might dodge him, for +she could not but guess that she was not only more fleet but +infinitely more agile than these strange creatures; but soon +there came to her the realization that in the time consumed in an +attempt to elude his grasp his nearer fellows would be upon her +and escape then impossible, so she chose instead to charge +straight for him, and when he guessed her decision he stood, half +crouching and with outstretched arms, awaiting her. In one hand +was his sword, but a voice arose, crying in tones of authority. +"Take her alive! Do not harm her!" Instantly the fellow returned +his sword to its scabbard and then Tara of Helium was upon him. +Straight for that beautiful body she sprang and in the instant +that the arms closed to seize her her sharp blade drove deep into +the naked chest. The impact hurled them both to the ground and as +Tara of Helium sprang to her feet again she saw, to her horror, +that the loathsome head had rolled from the body and was now +crawling away from her on six short, spider-]ike legs. The body +struggled spasmodically and lay still. As brief as had been the +delay caused by the encounter, it still had been of sufficient +duration to undo her, for even as she rose two more of the things +fell upon her and instantly thereafter she was surrounded. Her +blade sank once more into naked flesh and once more a head rolled +free and crawled away. Then they overpowered her and in another +moment she was surrounded by fully a hundred of the creatures, +all seeking to lay hands upon her. At first she thought that they +wished to tear her to pieces in revenge for her having slain two +of their fellows, but presently she realized that they were +prompted more by curiosity than by any sinister motive. + +"Come!" said one of her captors, both of whom had retained a hold +upon her. As he spoke he tried to lead her away with him toward +the nearest tower. + +"She belongs to me," cried the other. "Did not I capture her? She +will come with me to the tower of Moak." + +"Never!" insisted the first. "She is Luud's. To Luud I will take +her, and whosoever interferes may feel the keenness of my +sword--in the head!" He almost shouted the last three words. + +"Come! Enough of this," cried one who spoke with some show of +authority. "She was captured in Luud's fields--she will go to +Luud." + +"She was discovered in Moak's fields, at the very foot of the +tower of Moak," insisted he who had claimed her for Moak. + +"You have heard the Nolach speak," cried the Luud. "It shall be +as he says." + +"Not while this Moak holds a sword," replied the other. "Rather +will I cut her in twain and take my half to Moak than to +relinquish her all to Luud," and he drew his sword, or rather he +laid his hand upon its hilt in a threatening gesture; but before +ever he could draw it the Luud had whipped his out and with a +fearful blow cut deep into the head of his adversary. Instantly +the big, round head collapsed, almost as a punctured balloon +collapses, as a grayish, semi-fluid matter spurted from it. The +protruding eyes, apparently lidless, merely stared, the +sphincter-like muscle of the mouth opened and closed, and then +the head toppled from the body to the ground. The body stood +dully for a moment and then slowly started to wander aimlessly +about until one of the others seized it by the arm. + +One of the two heads crawling about on the ground now approached. +"This rykor belongs to Moak," it said. "I am a Moak. I will take +it," and without further discussion it commenced to crawl up the +front of the headless body, using its six short, spiderlike legs +and two stout chelae which grew just in front of its legs and +strongly resembled those of an Earthly lobster, except that they +were both of the same size. The body in the meantime stood in +passive indifference, its arms hanging idly at its sides. The +head climbed to the shoulders and settled itself inside the +leather collar that now hid its chelae and legs. Almost +immediately the body gave evidence of intelligent animation. It +raised its hands and adjusted the collar more comfortably, it +took the head between its palms and settled it in place and when +it moved around it did not wander aimlessly, but instead its +steps were firm and to some purpose. + +The girl watched all these things in growing wonder, and +presently, no other of the Moaks seeming inclined to dispute the +right of the Luud to her, she was led off by her captor toward +the nearest tower. Several accompanied them, including one who +carried the loose head under his arm. The head that was being +carried conversed with the head upon the shoulders of the thing +that carried it. Tara of Helium shivered. It was horrible! All +that she had seen of these frightful creatures was horrible. And +to be a prisoner, wholly in their power. Shadow of her first +ancestor! What had she done to deserve so cruel a fate? + +At the wall enclosing the tower they paused while one opened the +gate and then they passed within the enclosure, which, to the +girl's horror, she found filled with headless bodies. The +creature who carried the bodiless head now set its burden upon +the ground and the latter immediately crawled toward one of the +bodies that was lying near by. Some wandered stupidly to and fro, +but this one lay still. It was a female. The head crawled to it +and made its way to the shoulders where it settled itself. At +once the body sprang lightly erect. Another of those who had +accompanied them from the fields approached with the harness and +collar that had been taken from the dead body that the head had +formerly topped. The new body now appropriated these and the +hands deftly adjusted them. The creature was now as good as +before Tara of Helium had struck down its former body with her +slim blade. But there was a difference. Before it had been +male--now it was female. That, however, seemed to make no +difference to the head. In fact, Tara of Helium had noticed +during the scramble and the fight about her that sex differences +seemed of little moment to her captors. Males and females had +taken equal part in her pursuit, both were identically harnessed +and both carried swords, and she had seen as many females as +males draw their weapons at the moment that a quarrel between the +two factions seemed imminent. + +The girl was given but brief opportunity for further observation +of the pitiful creatures in the enclosure as her captor, after +having directed the others to return to the fields, led her +toward the tower, which they entered, passing into an apartment +about ten feet wide and twenty long, in one end of which was a +stairway leading to an upper level and in the other an opening to +a similar stairway leading downward. The chamber, though on a +level with the ground, was brilliantly lighted by windows in its +inner wall, the light coming from a circular court in the center +of the tower. The walls of this court appeared to be faced with +what resembled glazed, white tile and the whole interior of it +was flooded with dazzling light, a fact which immediately +explained to the girl the purpose of the glass prisms of which +the domes were constructed. The stairways themselves were +sufficient to cause remark, since in nearly all Barsoomian +architecture inclined runways are utilized for purposes of +communication between different levels, and especially is this +true of the more ancient forms and of those of remote districts +where fewer changes have come to alter the customs of antiquity. + +Down the stairway her captor led Tara of Helium. Down and down +through chambers still lighted from the brilliant well. +Occasionally they passed others going in the opposite direction +and these always stopped to examine the girl and ask questions of +her captor. + +"I know nothing but that she was found in the fields and that I +caught her after a fight in which she slew two rykors and in +which I slew a Moak, and that I take her to Luud, to whom, of +course, she belongs. If Luud wishes to question her that is for +Luud to do--not for me." Thus always he answered the curious. + +Presently they reached a room from which a circular tunnel led +away from the tower, and into this the creature conducted her. +The tunnel was some seven feet in diameter and flattened on the +bottom to form a walk. For a hundred feet from the tower it was +lined with the same tile-like material of the light well and +amply illuminated by reflected light from that source. Beyond it +was faced with stone of various shapes and sizes, neatly cut and +fitted together--a very fine mosaic without a pattern. There were +branches, too, and other tunnels which crossed this, and +occasionally openings not more than a foot in diameter; these +latter being usually close to the floor. Above each of these +smaller openings was painted a different device, while upon the +walls of the larger tunnels at all intersections and points of +convergence hieroglyphics appeared. These the girl could not read +though she guessed that they were the names of the tunnels, or +notices indicating the points to which they led. She tried to +study some of them out, but there was not a character that was +familiar to her, which seemed strange, since, while the written +languages of the various nations of Barsoom differ, it still is +true that they have many characters and words in common. + +She had tried to converse with her guard but he had not seemed +inclined to talk with her and she had finally desisted. She could +not but note that he had offered her no indignities, nor had he +been either unnecessarily rough or in any way cruel. The fact +that she had slain two of the bodies with her dagger had +apparently aroused no animosity or desire for revenge in the +minds of the strange heads that surmounted the bodies--even those +whose bodies had been killed. She did not try to understand it, +since she could not approach the peculiar relationship between +the heads and the bodies of these creatures from the basis of any +past knowledge or experience of her own. So far their treatment +of her seemed to augur naught that might arouse her fears. +Perhaps, after all, she had been fortunate to fall into the hands +of these strange people, who might not only protect her from +harm, but even aid her in returning to Helium. That they were +repulsive and uncanny she could not forget, but if they meant her +no harm she could, at least, overlook their repulsiveness. +Renewed hope aroused within her a spirit of greater cheerfulness, +and it was almost blithely now that she moved at the side of her +weird companion. She even caught herself humming a gay little +tune that was then popular in Helium. The creature at her side +turned its expressionless eyes upon her. + +"What is that noise that you are making?" it asked. + +"I was but humming an air," she replied. + +"'Humming an air,'" he repeated. "I do not know what you mean; +but do it again, I like it." + +This time she sang the words, while her companion listened +intently. His face gave no indication of what was passing in that +strange head. It was as devoid of expression as that of a spider. +It reminded her of a spider. When she had finished he turned +toward her again. + +"That was different," he said. "I liked that better, even, than +the other. How do you do it?" + +"Why," she said, "it is singing. Do you not know what song is?" + +"No," he replied. "Tell me how you do it." + +"It is difficult to explain," she told him. "since any +explanation of it presupposes some knowledge of melody and of +music, while your very question indicates that you have no +knowledge of either." + +"No," he said, "I do not know what you are talking about; but +tell me how you do it." + +"It is merely the melodious modulations of my voice," she +explained. "Listen!" and again she sang. + +"I do not understand," he insisted; "but I like it. Could you +teach me to do it?" + +"I do not know, but I shall be glad to try." + +"We will see what Luud does with you," he said. "If he does not +want you I will keep you and you shall teach me to make sounds +like that." + +At his request she sang again as they continued their way along +the winding tunnel, which was now lighted by occasional bulbs +which appeared to be similar to the radium bulbs with which she +was familiar and which were common to all the nations of Barsoom, +insofar as she knew, having been perfected at so remote a period +that their very origin was lost in antiquity. They consist, +usually, of a hemispherical bowl of heavy glass in which is +packed a compound containing what, according to John Carter, must +be radium. The bowl is then cemented into a metal plate with a +heavily insulated back and the whole affair set in the masonry of +wall or ceiling as desired, where it gives off light of greater +or less intensity, according to the composition of the filling +material, for an almost incalculable period of time. + +As they proceeded they met a greater number of the inhabitants of +this underground world, and the girl noted that among many of +these the metal and harness were more ornate than had been those +of the workers in the fields above. The heads and bodies, +however, were similar, even identical, she thought. No one +offered her harm and she was now experiencing a feeling of relief +almost akin to happiness, when her guide turned suddenly into an +opening on the right side of the tunnel and she found herself in +a large, well lighted chamber. + + + +CHAPTER V + +THE PERFECT BRAIN + +THE song that had been upon her lips as she entered died +there--frozen by the sight of horror that met her eyes. In the +center of the chamber a headless body lay upon the floor--a body +that had been partially devoured--while over and upon it crawled +a half a dozen heads upon their short, spider legs, and they tore +at the flesh of the woman with their chelae and carried the bits +to their awful mouths. They were eating human flesh--eating it +raw! + +Tara of Helium gasped in horror and turning away covered her eyes +with her palms. + +"Come!" said her captor. "What is the matter?" + +"They are eating the flesh of the woman," she whispered in tones +of horror. + +"Why not?" he inquired. "Did you suppose that we kept the rykor +for labor alone? Ah, no. They are delicious when kept and +fattened. Fortunate, too, are those that are bred for food, since +they are never called upon to do aught but eat." + +"It is hideous!" she cried. + +He looked at her steadily for a moment, but whether in surprise, +in anger, or in pity his expressionless face did not reveal. Then +he led her on across the room past the frightful thing, from +which she turned away her eyes. Lying about the floor near the +walls were half a dozen headless bodies in harness. These she +guessed had been abandoned temporarily by the feasting heads +until they again required their services. In the walls of this +room there were many of the small, round openings she had noticed +in various parts of the tunnels, the purpose of which she could +not guess. + +They passed through another corridor and then into a second +chamber, larger than the first and more brilliantly illuminated. +Within were several of the creatures with heads and bodies +assembled, while many headless bodies lay about near the walls. +Here her captor halted and spoke to one of the occupants of the +chamber. + +"I seek Luud," he said. "I bring to Luud a creature that I +captured in the fields above." + +The others crowded about to examine Tara of Helium. One of them +whistled, whereupon the girl learned something of the smaller +openings in the walls, for almost immediately there crawled from +them, like giant spiders, a score or more of the hideous heads. +Each sought one of the recumbent bodies and fastened itself in +place. Immediately the bodies reacted to the intelligent +direction of the heads. They arose, the hands adjusted the +leather collars and put the balance of the harness in order, then +the creatures crossed the room to where Tara of Helium stood. She +noted that their leather was more highly ornamented than that +worn by any of the others she had previously seen, and so she +guessed that these must be higher in authority than the others. +Nor was she mistaken. The demeanor of her captor indicated it. He +addressed them as one who holds intercourse with superiors. + +Several of those who examined her felt her flesh, pinching it +gently between thumb and forefinger, a familiarity that the girl +resented. She struck down their hands. "Do not touch me!" she +cried, imperiously, for was she not a princess of Helium? The +expression on those terrible faces did not change. She could not +tell whether they were angry or amused, whether her action had +filled them with respect for her, or contempt. Only one of them +spoke immediately. + +"She will have to be fattened more," he said. + +The girl's eyes went wide with horror. She turned upon her +captor. "Do these frightful creatures intend to devour me?" she +cried. + +"That is for Luud to say," he replied, and then he leaned closer +so that his mouth was near her ear. "That noise you made which +you called song pleased me," he whispered, "and I will repay you +by warning you not to antagonize these kaldanes. They are very +powerful. Luud listens to them. Do not call them frightful. They +are very handsome. Look at their wonderful trappings, their gold, +their jewels." + +"Thank you," she said. "You called them kaldanes--what does that +mean?" + +"We are all kaldanes," he replied. + +"You, too?" and she pointed at him, her slim finger directed +toward his chest. + +"No, not this," he explained, touching his body; "this is a +rykor; but this," and he touched his head, "is a kaldane. It is +the brain, the intellect, the power that directs all things. The +rykor," he indicated his body, "is nothing. It is not so much +even as the jewels upon our harness; no, not so much as the +harness itself. It carries us about. It is true that we would +find difficulty getting along without it; but it has less value +than harness or jewels because it is less difficult to +reproduce." He turned again to the other kaldanes. "Will you +notify Luud that I am here?" he asked. + +"Sept has already gone to Luud. He will tell him," replied one. +"Where did you find this rykor with the strange kaldane that +cannot detach itself?" + +The girl's captor narrated once more the story of her capture. He +stated facts just as they had occurred, without embellishment, +his voice as expressionless as his face, and his story was +received in the same manner that it was delivered. The creatures +seemed totally lacking in emotion, or, at least, the capacity to +express it. It was impossible to judge what impression the story +made upon them, or even if they heard it. Their protruding eyes +simply stared and occasionally the muscles of their mouths opened +and closed. Familiarity did not lessen the horror the girl felt +for them. The more she saw of them the more repulsive they +seemed. Often her body was shaken by convulsive shudders as she +looked at the kaldanes, but when her eyes wandered to the +beautiful bodies and she could for a moment expunge the heads +from her consciousness the effect was soothing and refreshing, +though when the bodies lay, headless, upon the floor they were +quite as shocking as the heads mounted on bodies. But by far the +most grewsome and uncanny sight of all was that of the heads +crawling about upon their spider legs. If one of these should +approach and touch her Tara of Helium was positive that she +should scream, while should one attempt to crawl up her +person--ugh! the very idea induced a feeling of faintness. + +Sept returned to the chamber. "Luud will see you and the captive. +Come!" he said, and turned toward a door opposite that through +which Tara of Helium had entered the chamber. "What is your +name?" His question was directed to the girl's captor. + +"I am Ghek, third foreman of the fields of Luud," he answered. + +"And hers?" + +"I do not know." + +"It makes no difference. Come!" + +The patrician brows of Tara of Helium went high. It made no +difference, indeed! She, a princess of Helium; only daughter of +The Warlord of Barsoom! + +"Wait!" she cried. "It makes much difference who I am. If you are +conducting me into the presence of your jed you may announce The +Princess Tara of Helium, daughter of John Carter, The Warlord of +Barsoom." + +"Hold your peace!" commanded Sept. "Speak when you are spoken to. +Come with me!" + +The anger of Tara of Helium all but choked her. "Come," +admonished Ghek, and took her by the arm, and Tara of Helium +came. She was naught but a prisoner. Her rank and titles meant +nothing to these inhuman monsters. They led her through a short, +S-shaped passageway into a chamber entirely lined with the white, +tile-like material with which the interior of the light wall was +faced. Close to the base of the walls were numerous smaller +apertures, circular in shape, but larger than those of similar +aspect that she had noted elsewhere. The majority of these +apertures were sealed. Directly opposite the entrance was one +framed in gold, and above it a peculiar device was inlaid in the +same precious metal. + +Sept and Ghek halted just within the room, the girl between them, +and all three stood silently facing the opening in the opposite +wall. On the floor beside the aperture lay a headless male body +of almost heroic proportions, and on either side of this stood a +heavily armed warrior, with drawn sword. For perhaps five minutes +the three waited and then something appeared in the opening. It +was a pair of large chelae and immediately thereafter there +crawled forth a hideous kaldane of enormous proportions. He was +half again as large as any that Tara of Helium had yet seen and +his whole aspect infinitely more terrible. The skin of the others +was a bluish gray--this one was of a little bluer tinge and the +eyes were ringed with bands of white and scarlet, as was its +mouth. + +From each nostril a band of white and one of scarlet extended +outward horizontally the width of the face. + +No one spoke or moved. The creature crawled to the prostrate body +and affixed itself to the neck. Then the two rose as one and +approached the girl. He looked at her and then he spoke to her +captor. + +"You are the third foreman of the fields of Luud?" he asked. + +"Yes, Luud; I am called Ghek." + +"Tell me what you know of this," and he nodded toward Tara of +Helium. + +Ghek did as he was bid and then Luud addressed the girl. + +"What were you doing within the borders of Bantoom?" he asked. + +"I was blown hither in a great storm that injured my flier and +carried me I knew not where. I came down into the valley at night +for food and drink. The banths came and drove me to the safety of +a tree, and then your people caught me as I was trying to leave +the valley. I do not know why they took me. I was doing no harm. +All I ask is that you let me go my way in peace." + +"None who enters Bantoom ever leaves," replied Luud. + +"But my people are not at war with yours. I am a princess of +Helium; my great-grandfather is a jeddak; my grandfather a jed; +and my father is Warlord of all Barsoom. You have no right to +keep me and I demand that you liberate me at once." + +"None who enters Bantoom ever leaves," repeated the creature +without expression. "I know nothing of the lesser creatures of +Barsoom, of whom you speak. There is but one high race--the race +of Bantoomians. All Nature exists to serve them. You shall do +your share, but not yet--you are too skinny. We shall have to put +some fat upon it, Sept. I tire of rykor. Perhaps this will have a +different flavor. The banths are too rank and it is seldom that +any other creature enters the valley. And you, Ghek; you shall be +rewarded. I shall promote you from the fields to the burrows. +Hereafter you shall remain underground as every Bantoomian longs +to. No more shall you be forced to endure the hated sun, or look +upon the hideous sky, or the hateful growing things that defile +the surface. For the present you shall look after this thing that +you have brought me, seeing that it sleeps and eats--and does +nothing else. You understand me, Ghek; nothing else!" + +"I understand, Luud," replied the other. + +"Take it away!" commanded the creature. + +Ghek turned and led Tara of Helium from the apartment. The girl +was horrified by contemplation of the fate that awaited her--a +fate from which it seemed, there was no escape. It was only too +evident that these creatures possessed no gentle or chivalric +sentiments to which she could appeal, and that she might escape +from the labyrinthine mazes of their underground burrows appeared +impossible. + +Outside the audience chamber Sept overtook them and conversed +with Ghek for a brief period, then her keeper led her through a +confusing web of winding tunnels until they came to a small +apartment. + +"We are to remain here for a while. It may be that Luud will send +for you again. If he does you will probably not be fattened--he +will use you for another purpose." It was fortunate for the +girl's peace of mind that she did not realize what he meant. +"Sing for me," said Ghek, presently. + +Tara of Helium did not feel at all like singing, but she sang, +nevertheless, for there was always the hope that she might escape +if given the opportuntiy and if she could win the friendship of +one of the creatures, her chances would be increased +proportionately. All during the ordeal, for such it was to the +overwrought girl, Ghek stood with his eyes fixed upon her. + +"It is wonderful," he said, when she had finished; "but I did not +tell Luud--you noticed that I did not tell Luud about it. Had he +known, he would have had you sing to him and that would have +resulted in your being kept with him that he might hear you sing +whenever he wished; but now I can have you all the time." + +"How do you know he would like my singing?" she asked. + +"He would have to," replied Ghek. "If I like a thing he has to +like it, for are we not identical--all of us?" + +"The people of my race do not all like the same things," said the +girl. + +"How strange!" commented Ghek. "All kaldanes like the same things +and dislike the same things. If I discover something new and like +it I know that all kaldanes will like it. That is how I know that +Luud would like your singing. You see we are all exactly alike." + +"But you do not look like Luud," said the girl. + +"Luud is king. He is larger and more gorgeously marked; but +otherwise he and I are identical, and why not? Did not Luud +produce the egg from which I hatched?" + +"What?" queried the girl; "I do not understand you." + +"Yes," explained Ghek, "all of us are from Luud's eggs, just as +all the swarm of Moak are from Moak's eggs." + +"Oh!" exclaimed Tara of Helium understandingly; "you mean that +Luud has many wives and that you are the offspring of one of +them." + +"No, not that at all," replied Ghek. "Luud has no wife. He lays +the eggs himself. You do not understand." + +Tara of Helium admitted that she did not. + +"I will try to explain, then," said Ghek, "if you will promise to +sing to me later." + +"I promise," she said. + +"We are not like the rykors," he began. "They are creatures of a +low order, like yourself and the banths and such things. We have +no sex--not one of us except our king, who is bi-sexual. He +produces many eggs from which we, the workers and the warriors, +are hatched; and one in every thousand eggs is another king egg, +from which a king is hatched. Did you notice the sealed openings +in the room where you saw Luud? Sealed in each of those is +another king. If one of them escaped he would fall upon Luud and +try to kill him and if he succeeded we should have a new king; +but there would be no difference. His name would be Luud and all +would go on as before, for are we not all alike? Luud has lived a +long time and has produced many kings, so he lets only a few live +that there may be a successor to him when he dies. The others he +kills." + +"Why does he keep more than one?" queried the girl. + +"Sometimes accidents occur," replied Ghek, "and all the kings +that a swarm has saved are killed. When this happens the swarm +comes and obtains another king from a neighboring swarm." + +"Are all of you the children of Luud?" she asked. + +"All but a few, who are from the eggs of the preceding king, as +was Luud; but Luud has lived a long time and not many of the +others are left." + +"You live a long time, or short?" Tara asked. + +"A very long time." + +"And the rykors, too; they live a long time?" + +"No; the rykors live for ten years, perhaps," he said, "if they +remain strong and useful. When they can no longer be of service +to us, either through age or sickness, we leave them in the +fields and the banths come at night and get them." + +"How horrible!" she exclaimed. + +"Horrible?" he repeated. "I see nothing horrible about that. + +The rykors are but brainless flesh. They neither see, nor feel, +nor hear. They can scarce move but for us. If we did not bring +them food they would starve to death. They are less deserving of +thought than our leather. All that they can do for themselves is +to take food from a trough and put it in their mouths, but with +us--look at them!" and he proudly exhibited the noble figure that +he surmounted, palpitant with life and energy and feeling. + +"How do you do it?" asked Tara of Helium. "I do not understand it +at all." + +"I will show you," he said, and lay down upon the floor. Then he +detached himself from the body, which lay as a thing dead. On his +spider legs he walked toward the girl. "Now look," he admonished +her. "Do you see this thing?" and he extended what appeared to be +a bundle of tentacles from the posterior part of his head. "There +is an aperture just back of the rykor's mouth and directly over +the upper end of his spinal column. Into this aperture I insert +my tentacles and seize the spinal cord. Immediately I control +every muscle of the rykor's body--it becomes my own, just as you +direct the movement of the muscles of your body. I feel what the +rykor would feel if he had a head and brain. If he is hurt, I +would suffer if I remained connected with him; but the instant +one of them is injured or becomes sick we desert it for another. +As we would suffer the pains of their physical injuries, +similarly do we enjoy the physical pleasures of the rykors. When +your body becomes fatigued you are comparatively useless; it is +sick, you are sick; if it is killed, you die. You are the slave +of a mass of stupid flesh and bone and blood. There is nothing +more wonderful about your carcass than there is about the carcass +of a banth. It is only your brain that makes you superior to the +banth, but your brain is bound by the limitations of your body. +Not so, ours. With us brain is everything. Ninety per centum of +our volume is brain. We have only the simplest of vital organs +and they are very small for they do not have to assist in the +support of a complicated system of nerves, muscles, flesh and +bone. We have no lungs, for we do not require air. Far below the +levels to which we can take the rykors is a vast network of +burrows where the real life of the kaldane is lived. There the +air-breathing rykor would perish as you would perish. There we +have stored vast quantities of food in hermetically sealed +chambers. It will last forever. Far beneath the surface is water +that will flow for countless ages after the surface water is +exhausted. We are preparing for the time we know must come--the +time when the last vestige of the Barsoomian atmosphere is +spent--when the waters and the food are gone. For this purpose +were we created, that there might not perish from the planet +Nature's divinest creation--the perfect brain." + +"But what purpose can you serve when that time comes?" asked the +girl. + +"You do not understand," he said. "It is too big for you to +grasp, but I will try to explain it. Barsoom, the moons, the sun, +the stars, were created for a single purpose. From the beginning +of time Nature has labored arduously toward the consummation of +this purpose. At the very beginning things existed with life, but +with no brain. Gradually rudimentary nervous systems and minute +brains evolved. Evolution proceeded. The brains became larger and +more powerful. In us you see the highest development; but there +are those of us who believe that there is yet another step--that +some time in the far future our race shall develop into the +super-thing--just brain. The incubus of legs and chelae and vital +organs will be removed. The future kaldane will be nothing but a +great brain. Deaf, dumb, and blind it will lie sealed in its +buried vault far beneath the surface of Barsoom--just a great, +wonderful, beautiful brain with nothing to distract it from +eternal thought." + +"You mean it will just lie there and think?" cried Tara of +Helium. + +"Just that!" he exclaimed. "Could aught be more wonderful?" + +"Yes," replied the girl, "I can think of a number of things that +would be infinitely more wonderful." + + + +CHAPTER VI + +IN THE TOILS OF HORROR + +WHAT the creature had told her gave Tara of Helium food for +thought. She had been taught that every created thing fulfilled +some useful purpose, and she tried conscientiously to discover +just what was the rightful place of the kaldane in the universal +scheme of things. She knew that it must have its place but what +that place was it was beyond her to conceive. She had to give it +up. They recalled to her mind a little group of people in Helium +who had forsworn the pleasures of life in the pursuit of +knowledge. They were rather patronizing in their relations with +those whom they thought not so intellectual. They considered +themselves quite superior. She smiled at recollection of a remark +her father had once made concerning them, to the effect that if +one of them ever dropped his egotism and broke it it would take a +week to fumigate Helium. Her father liked normal people--people +who knew too little and people who knew too much were equally a +bore. Tara of Helium was like her father in this respect and like +him, too, she was both sane and normal. + +Outside of her personal danger there was much in this strange +world that interested her. The rykors aroused her keenest pity, +and vast conjecture. How and from what form had they evolved? She +asked Ghek. + +"Sing to me again and I will tell you," he said. "If Luud would +let me have you, you should never die. I should keep you always +to sing to me." + +The girl marvelled at the effect her voice had upon the creature. +Somewhere in that enormous brain there was a chord that was +touched by melody. It was the sole link between herself and the +brain when detatched from the rykor. When it dominated the rykor +it might have other human instincts; but these she dreaded even +to think of. After she had sung she waited for Ghek to speak. For +a long time he was silent, just looking at her through those +awful eyes. + +"I wonder," he said presently, "if it might not be pleasant to be +of your race. Do you all sing?" + +"Nearly all, a little," she said; "but we do many other +interesting and enjoyable things. We dance and play and work and +love and sometimes we fight, for we are a race of warriors." + +"Love!" said the kaldane. "I think I know what you mean; but we, +fortunately, are above sentiment--when we are detached. But when +we dominate the rykor--ah, that is different, and when I hear you +sing and look at your beautiful body I know what you mean by +love. I could love you." + +The girl shrank from him. "You promised to tell me the origin of +the rykor," she reminded him. + +"Ages ago," he commenced, "our bodies were larger and our heads +smaller. Our legs were very weak and we could not travel fast or +far. There was a stupid creature that went upon four legs. It +lived in a hole in the ground, to which it brought its food, so +we ran our burrows into this hole and ate the food it brought; +but it did not bring enough for all--for itself and all the +kaldanes that lived upon it, so we had also to go abroad and get +food. This was hard work for our weak legs. Then it was that we +commenced to ride upon the backs of these primitive rykors. It +took many ages, undoubtedly, but at last came the time when the +kaldane had found means to guide the rykor, until presently the +latter depended entirely upon the superior brain of his master to +guide him to food. The brain of the rykor grew smaller as time +went on. His ears went and his eyes, for he no longer had use for +them--the kaldane saw and heard for him. By similar steps the +rykor came to go upon its hind feet that the kaldane might be +able to see farther. As the brain shrank, so did the head. The +mouth was the only feature of the head that was used and so the +mouth alone remains. Members of the red race fell into the hands +of our ancestors from time to time. They saw the beauties and the +advantages of the form that nature had given the red race over +that which the rykor was developing into. By intelligent crossing +the present rykor was achieved. He is really solely the product +of the super-intelligence of the kaldane--he is our body, to do +with as we see fit, just as you do what you see fit with your +body, only we have the advantage of possessing an unlimited +supply of bodies. Do you not wish that you were a kaldane?" + +For how long they kept her in the subterranean chamber Tara of +Helium did not know. It seemed a very long time. She ate and +slept and watched the interminable lines of creatures that passed +the entrance to her prison. There was a laden line passing from +above carrying food, food, food. In the other line they returned +empty handed. When she saw them she knew that it was daylight +above. When they did not pass she knew it was night, and that the +banths were about devouring the rykors that had been abandoned in +the fields the previous day. She commenced to grow pale and thin. +She did not like the food they gave her--it was not suited to her +kind--nor would she have eaten overmuch palatable food, for the +fear of becoming fat. The idea of plumpness had a new +significance here--a horrible significance. + +Ghek noted that she was growing thin and white. He spoke to her +about it and she told him that she could not thrive thus beneath +the ground--that she must have fresh air and sunshine, or she +would wither and die. Evidently he carried her words to Luud, +since it was not long after that he told her that the king had +ordered that she be confined in the tower and to the tower she +was taken. She had hoped against hope that this very thing might +result from her conversation with Ghek. Even to see the sun again +was something, but now there sprang to her breast a hope that she +had not dared to nurse before, while she lay in the terrible +labyrinth from which she knew she could never have found her way +to the outer world; but now there was some slight reason to hope. +At least she could see the hills and if she could see them might +there not come also the opportunity to reach them? If she could +have but ten minutes--just ten little minutes! The flier was +still there--she knew that it must be. Just ten minutes and she +would be free--free forever from this frightful place; but the +days wore on and she was never alone, not even for half of ten +minutes. Many times she planned her escape. Had it not been for +the banths it had been easy of accomplishment by night. Ghek +always detached his body then and sank into what seemed a +semi-comatose condition. It could not be said that he slept, or +at least it did not appear like sleep, since his lidless eyes +were unchanged; but he lay quietly in a corner. Tara of Helium +enacted a thousand times in her mind the scene of her escape. She +would rush to the side of the rykor and seize the sword that hung +in its harness. Before Ghek knew what she purposed, she would +have this and then before he could give an alarm she would drive +the blade through his hideous head. It would take but a moment to +reach the enclosure. The rykors could not stop her, for they had +no brains to tell them that she was escaping. She had watched +from her window the opening and closing of the gate that led from +the enclosure out into the fields and she knew how the great +latch operated. She would pass through and make a quick dash for +the hill. It was so near that they could not overtake her. It was +so easy! Or it would have been but for the banths! The banths at +night and the workers in the fields by day. + +Confined to the tower and without proper exercise or food, the +girl failed to show the improvement that her captors desired. +Ghek questioned her in an effort to learn why it was that she did +not grow round and plump; that she did not even look as well as +when they had captured her. His concern was prompted by repeated +inquiries on the part of Luud and finally resulted in suggesting +to Tara of Helium a plan whereby she might find a new opportunity +of escape. + +"I am accustomed to walking in the fresh air and the sunlight," +she told Ghek. "I cannot become as I was before if I am to be +always shut away in this one chamber, breathing poor air and +getting no proper exercise. Permit me to go out in the fields +every day and walk about while the sun is shining. Then, I am +sure, I shall become nice and fat." + +"You would run away," he said. + +"But how could I if you were always with me?" she asked. "And +even if I wished to run away where could I go? I do not know even +the direction of Helium. It must be very far. The very first +night the banths would get me, would they not?" + +"They would," said Ghek. "I will ask Luud about it." + +The following day he told her that Luud had said that she was to +be taken into the fields. He would try that for a time and see if +she improved. + +"If you do not grow fatter he will send for you anyway," said +Ghek; "but he will not use you for food." + +Tara of Helium shuddered. + +That day and for many days thereafter she was taken from the +tower, through the enclosure and out into the fields. Always was +she alert for an opportunity to escape; but Ghek was always close +by her side. It was not so much his presence that deterred her +from making the attempt as the number of workers that were always +between her and the hills where the flier lay. She could easily +have eluded Ghek, but there were too many of the others. And +then, one day, Ghek told her as he accompanied her into the open +that this would be the last time. + +"Tonight you go to Luud," he said. "I am sorry as I shall not +hear you sing again." + +"Tonight!" She scarce breathed the word, yet it was vibrant with +horror. + +She glanced quickly toward the hills. They were so close! Yet +between were the inevitable workers--perhaps a score of them. + +"Let us walk over there?" she said, indicating them. "I should +like to see what they are doing." + +"It is too far," said Ghek. "I hate the sun. It is much +pleasanter here where I can stand beneath the shade of this +tree." + +"All right," she agreed; "then you stay here and I will walk +over. It will take me but a minute." + +"No," he answered. "I will go with you. You want to escape; but +you are not going to." + +"I cannot escape," she said. + +"I know it," agreed Ghek; "but you might try. I do not wish you +to try. Possibly it will be better if we return to the tower at +once. It would go hard with me should you escape." + +Tara of Helium saw her last chance fading into oblivion. There +would never be another after today. She cast about for some +pretext to lure him even a little nearer to the hills. + +"It is very little that I ask," she said. "Tonight you will want +me to sing to you. It will be the last time, if you do not let me +go and see what those kaldanes are doing I shall never sing to +you again." + +Ghek hesitated. "I will hold you by the arm all the time, then," +he said. + +"Why, of course, if you wish," she assented. "Come!" + +The two moved toward the workers and the hills. The little party +was digging tubers from the ground. She had noted this and that +nearly always they were stooped low over their work, the hideous +eyes bent upon the upturned soil. She led Ghek quite close to +them, pretending that she wished to see exactly how they did the +work, and all the time he held her tightly by her left wrist. + +"It is very interesting," she said, with a sigh, and then, +suddenly; "Look, Ghek!" and pointed quickly back in the direction +of the tower. The kaldane, still holding her turned half away +from her to look in the direction she had indicated and +simultaneously, with the quickness of a banth, she struck him +with her right fist, backed by every ounce of strength she +possessed--struck the back of the pulpy head just above the +collar. The blow was sufficient to accomplish her design, +dislodging the kaldane from its rykor and tumbling it to the +ground. Instantly the grasp upon her wrist relaxed as the body, +no longer controlled by the brain of Ghek, stumbled aimlessly +about for an instant before it sank to its knees and then rolled +over on its back; but Tara of Helium waited not to note the full +results of her act. The instant the fingers loosened upon her +wrist she broke away and dashed toward the hills. Simultaneously +a warning whistle broke from Ghek's lips and in instant response +the workers leaped to their feet, one almost in the girl's path. +She dodged the outstretched arms and was away again toward the +hills and freedom, when her foot caught in one of the hoe-like +instruments with which the soil had been upturned and which had +been left, half imbedded in the ground. For an instant she ran +on, stumbling, in a mad effort to regain her equilibrium, but the +upturned furrows caught her feet--again she stumbled and this +time went down, and as she scrambled to rise again a heavy body +fell upon her and seized her arms. A moment later she was +surrounded and dragged to her feet and as she looked around she +saw Ghek crawling to his prostrate rykor. A moment later he +advanced to her side. + +The hideous face, incapable of registering emotion, gave no clue +to what was passing in the enormous brain. Was he nursing +thoughts of anger, of hate, of revenge? Tara of Helium could not +guess, nor did she care. The worst had happened. She had tried to +escape and she had failed. There would never be another +opportunity. + +"Come!" said Ghek. "We will return to the tower." The deadly +monotone of his voice was unbroken. It was worse than anger, for +it revealed nothing of his intentions. It but increased her +horror of these great brains that were beyond the possibility of +human emotions. + +And so she was dragged back to her prison in the tower and Ghek +took up his vigil again, squatting by the doorway, but now he +carried a naked sword in his hand and did not quit his rykor, +only to change to another that be had brought to him when the +first gave indications of weariness. The girl sat looking at him. +He had not been unkind to her, but she felt no sense of +gratitude, nor, on the other hand, any sense of hatred. The +brains, incapable themselves of any of the finer sentiments, +awoke none in her. She could not feel gratitude, or affection, or +hatred of them. There was only the same unceasing sense of horror +in their presence. She had heard great scientists discuss the +future of the red race and she recalled that some had maintained +that eventually the brain would entirely dominate the man. There +would be no more instinctive acts or emotions, nothing would be +done on impulse; but on the contrary reason would direct our +every act. The propounder of the theory regretted that he might +never enjoy the blessings of such a state, which, he argued, +would result in the ideal life for mankind. + +Tara of Helium wished with all her heart that this learned +scientist might be here to experience to the full the practical +results of the fulfillment of his prophecy. Between the purely +physical rykor and the purely mental kaldane there was little +choice; but in the happy medium of normal, and imperfect man, as +she knew him, lay the most desirable state of existence. It would +have been a splendid object lesson, she thought, to all those +idealists who seek mass perfection in any phase of human +endeavor, since here they might discover the truth that absolute +perfection is as little to be desired as is its antithesis. + +Gloomy were the thoughts that filled the mind of Tara of Helium +as she awaited the summons from Luud--the summons that could mean +for her but one thing; death. She guessed why he had sent for her +and she knew that she must find the means for self-destruction +before the night was over; but still she clung to hope and to +life. She would not give up until there was no other way. She +startled Ghek once by exclaiming aloud, almost fiercely: "I still +live!" + +"What do you mean?" asked the kaldane. + +"I mean just what I say," she replied. "I still live and while I +live I may still find a way. Dead, there is no hope." + +"Find a way to what?" he asked. + +"To life and liberty and mine own people," she responded. + +"None who enters Bantoom ever leaves," he droned. + +She did not reply and after a time he spoke again. "Sing to me," +he said. + +It was while she was singing that four warriors came to take her +to Luud. They told Ghek that he was to remain where he was. + +"Why?" asked Ghek. + +"You have displeased Luud," replied one of the warriors. + +"How?" demanded Ghek. + +"You have demonstrated a lack of uncontaminated reasoning power. +You have permitted sentiment to influence you, thus demonstrating +that you are a defective. You know the fate of defectives." + +"I know the fate of defectives, but I am no defective," insisted +Ghek. + +"You permitted the strange noises which issue from her throat to +please and soothe you, knowing well that their origin and purpose +had nothing whatever to do with logic or the powers of reason. +This in itself constitutes an unimpeachable indictment of +weakness, Then, influenced doubtless by an illogical feeling of +sentiment, you permitted her to walk abroad in the fields to a +place where she was able to make an almost successful attmept to +escape. Your own reasoning power, were it not defective, would +convince you that you are unfit. The natural, and reasonable, +consequence is destruction. Therefore you will be destroyed in +such a way that the example will be beneficial to all other +kaldanes of the swarm of Luud. In the meantime you will remain +where you are." + +"You are right," said Ghek. "I will remain here until Luud sees +fit to destroy me in the most reasonable manner." + +Tara of Helium shot a look of amazement at him as they led her +from the chamber. Over her shoulder she called back to him: +"Remember, Ghek, you still live!" Then they led her along the +interminable tunnels to where Luud awaited her. + +When she was conducted into his presence he was squatting in a +corner of the chamber upon his six spidery legs. Near the +opposite wall lay his rykor, its beautiful form trapped in +gorgeous harness--a dead thing without a guiding kaldane. Luud +dismissed the warriors who had accompanied the prisoner. Then he +sat with his terrible eyes fixed upon her and without speaking +for some time. Tara of Helium could but wait. What was to come +she could only guess. When it came would be sufficiently the time +to meet it. There was no neccessity for anticipating the end. +Presently Luud spoke. + +"You think to escape," he said, in the deadly, expressionless +monotone of his kind--the only possible result of orally +expressing reason uninfluenced by sentiment. "You will not +escape. You are merely the embodiment of two imperfect things--an +imperfect brain and an imperfect body. The two cannot exist +together in perfection. There you see a perfect body." He pointed +toward the rykor. "It has no brain. Here," and he raised one of +his chelae to his head, "is the perfect brain. It needs no body +to function perfectly and properly as a brain. You would pit your +feeble intellect against mine! Even now you are planning to slay +me. If you are thwarted in that you expect to slay yourself. You +will learn the power of mind over matter. I am the mind. You are +the matter. What brain you have is too weak and ill-developed to +deserve the name of brain. You have permitted it to be weakened +by impulsive acts dictated by sentiment. It has no value. It has +practically no control over your existence. You will not kill me. +You will not kill yourself. When I am through with you you shall +be killed if it seems the logical thing to do. You have no +conception of the possibilities for power which lie in a +perfectly developed brain. Look at that rykor. He has no brain. +He can move but slightly of his own volition. An inherent +mechanical instinct that we have permitted to remain in him +allows him to carry food to his mouth; but he could not find food +for himself. We have to place it within his reach and always in +the same place. Should we put food at his feet and leave him +alone he would starve to death. But now watch what a real brain +may accomplish." + +He turned his eyes upon the rykor and squatted there glaring at +the insensate thing. Presently, to the girl's horror, the +headless body moved. It rose slowly to its feet and crossed the +room to Luud; it stooped and took the hideous head in its hands; +it raised the head and set it on its shoulders. + +"What chance have you against such power?" asked Luud. "As I did +with the rykor so can I do with you." + +Tara of Helium made no reply. Evidently no vocal reply was +necessary. + +"You doubt my ability!" stated Luud, which was precisely the +fact, though the girl had only thought it--she had not said it. + +Luud crossed the room and lay down. Then he detached himself from +the body and crawled across the floor until he stood directly in +front of the circular opening through which she had seen him +emerge the day that she had first been brought to his presence. +He stopped there and fastened his terrible eyes upon her. He did +not speak, but his eyes seemed to be boring straight to the +center of her brain. She felt an almost irresistible force urging +her toward the kaldane. She fought to resist it; she tried to +turn away her eyes, but she could not. They were held as in +horrid fascination upon the glittering, lidless orbs of the great +brain that faced her. Slowly, every step a painful struggle of +resistance, she moved toward the horrific monster. She tried to +cry aloud in an effort to awaken her numbing faculties, but no +sound passed her lips. If those eyes would but turn away, just +for an instant, she felt that she might regain the power to +control her steps; but the eyes never left hers. They seemed but +to burn deeper and deeper, gathering up every vestige of control +of her entire nervous system. + +As she approached the thing it backed slowly away upon its spider +legs. She noticed that its chelae waved slowly to and fro before +it as it backed, backed, backed, through the round aperture in +the wall. Must she follow it there, too? What new and nameless +horror lay concealed in that hidden chamber? No! she would not do +it. Yet before she reached the wall she found herself down and +crawling upon her hands and knees straight toward the hole from +which the two eyes still clung to hers. At the very threshold of +the opening she made a last, heroic stand, battling against the +force that drew her on; but in the end she succumbed. With a gasp +that ended in a sob Tara of Helium passed through the aperture +into the chamber beyond. + +The opening was but barely large enough to admit her. Upon the +opposite side she found herself in a small chamber. Before her +squatted Luud. Against the opposite wall lay a large and +beautiful male rykor. He was without harness or other trappings. + +"You see now," said Luud, "the futility of revolt." + +The words seemed to release her momentarily from the spell. +Quickly she turned away her eyes. + +"Look at me!" commanded Luud. + +Tara of Helium kept her eyes averted. She felt a new strength, or +at least a diminution of the creature's power over her. Had she +stumbled upon the secret of its uncanny domination over her will? +She dared not hope. With eyes averted she turned toward the +aperture through which those baleful eyes had drawn her. Again +Luud commanded her to stop, but the voice alone lacked all +authority to influence her. It was not like the eyes. She heard +the creature whistle and knew that it was summoning assistance, +but because she did not dare look toward it she did not see it +turn and concentrate its gaze upon the great, headless body lying +by the further wall. + +The girl was still slightly under the spell of the creature's +influence--she had not regained full and independent domination +of her powers. She moved as one in the throes of some hideous +nightmare--slowly, painfully, as though each limb was hampered by +a great weight, or as she were dragging her body through a +viscous fluid. The aperture was close, ah, so close, yet, +struggle as she would, she seemed to be making no appreciable +progress toward it. + +Behind her, urged on by the malevolent power of the great brain, +the headless body crawled upon all-fours toward her. At last she +had reached the aperture. Something seemed to tell her that once +beyond it the domination of the kaldane would be broken. She was +almost through into the adjoining chamber when she felt a heavy +hand close upon her ankle. The rykor had reached forth and seized +her, and though she struggled the thing dragged her back into the +room with Luud. It held her tight and drew her close, and then, +to her horror, it commenced to caress her. + +"You see now," she heard Luud's dull voice, "the futility of +revolt--and its punishment." + +Tara of Helium fought to defend herself, but pitifully weak were +her muscles against this brainless incarnation of brute power. +Yet she fought, fought on in the face of hopeless odds for the +honor of the proud name she bore--fought alone, she whom the +fighting men of a mighty empire, the flower of Martian chivalry, +would gladly have lain down their lives to save. + + + +CHAPTER VII + +A REPELLENT SIGHT + +THE cruiser Vanator careened through the tempest That she had not +been dashed to the ground, or twisted by the force of the +elements into tangled wreckage, was due entirely to the caprice +of Nature. For all the duration of the storm she rode, a helpless +derelict, upon those storm-tossed waves of wind. But for all the +dangers and vicissitudes they underwent, she and her crew might +have borne charmed lives up to within an hour of the abating of +the hurricane. It was then that the catastrophe occurred--a +catastrophe indeed to the crew of the Vanator and the kingdom of +Gathol. + +The men had been without food or drink since leaving Helium, and +they had been hurled about and buffeted in their lashings until +all were worn to exhaustion. There was a brief lull in the storm +during which one of the crew attempted to reach his quarters, +after releasing the lashings which had held him to the precarious +safety of the deck. The act in itself was a direct violation of +orders and, in the eyes of the other members of the crew, the +effect, which came with startling suddenness, took the form of a +swift and terrible retribution. Scarce had the man released the +safety snaps ere a swift arm of the storm-monster encircled the +ship, rolling it over and over, with the result that the +foolhardy warrior went overboard at the first turn. + +Unloosed from their lashing by the constant turning and twisting +of the ship and the force of the wind, the boarding and landing +tackle had been trailing beneath the keel, a tangled mass of +cordage and leather. Upon the occasions that the Vanator rolled +completely over, these things would be wrapped around her until +another revolution in the opposite direction, or the wind itself, +carried them once again clear of the deck to trail, whipping in +the storm, beneath the hurtling ship. + +Into this fell the body of the warrior, and as a drowning man +clutches at a straw so the fellow clutched at the tangled cordage +that caught him and arrested his fall. With the strength of +desperation he clung to the cordage, seeking frantically to +entangle his legs and body in it. With each jerk of the ship his +hand holds were all but torn loose, and though he knew that +eventually they would be and that he must be dashed to the ground +beneath, yet he fought with the madness that is born of +hopelessness for the pitiful second which but prolonged his +agony. + +It was upon this sight then that Gahan of Gathol looked, over the +edge of the careening deck of the Vanator, as he sought to learn +the fate of his warrior. Lashed to the gunwale close at hand a +single landing leather that had not fouled the tangled mass +beneath whipped free from the ship's side, the hook snapping at +its outer end. The Jed of Gathol grasped the situation in a +single glance. Below him one of his people looked into the eyes +of Death. To the jed's hand lay the means for succor. + +There was no instant's hesitation. Casting off his deck lashings, +he seized the landing leather and slipped over the ship's side. +Swinging like a bob upon a mad pendulum he swung far out and back +again, turning and twisting three thousand feet above the surface +of Barsoom, and then, at last, the thing he had hoped for +occurred. He was carried within reach of the cordage where the +warrior still clung, though with rapidly diminishing strength. +Catching one leg on a loop of the tangled strands Gahan pulled +himself close enough to seize another quite near to the fellow. +Clinging precariously to this new hold the jed slowly drew in the +landing leather, down which he had clambered until he could grasp +the hook at its end. This he fastened to a ring in the warrior's +harness, just before the man's weakened fingers slipped from +their hold upon the cordage. + +Temporarily, at least, he had saved the life of his subject, +and now he turned his attention toward insuring his own safety. +Inextricably entangled in the mess to which he was clinging were +numerous other landing hooks such as he had attached to the +warrior's harness, and with one of these he sought to secure +himself until the storm should abate sufficiently to permit him +to climb to the deck, but even as he reached for one that swung +near him the ship was caught in a renewed burst of the storm's +fury, the thrashing cordage whipped and snapped to the lunging of +the great craft and one of the heavy metal hooks, lashing through +the air, struck the Jed of Gathol fair between the eyes. + +Momentarily stunned, Gahan's fingers slipped from their hold upon +the cordage and the man shot downward through the thin air of +dying Mars toward the ground three thousand feet beneath, while +upon the deck of the rolling Vanator his faithful warriors clung +to their lashings all unconscious of the fate of their beloved +leader; nor was it until more than an hour later, after the storm +had materially subsided, that they realized he was lost, or knew +the self-sacrificing heroism of the act that had sealed his doom. +The Vanator now rested upon an even keel as she was carried along +by a strong, though steady, wind. The warriors had cast off their +deck lashings and the officers were taking account of losses and +damage when a weak cry was heard from oversides, attracting their +attention to the man hanging in the cordage beneath the keel. +Strongs arms hoisted him to the deck and then it was that the +crew of the Vanator learned of the heroism of their jed and his +end. How far they had traveled since his loss they could only +vaguely guess, nor could they return in search of him in the +disabled condition of the ship. It was a saddened company that +drifted onward through the air toward whatever destination Fate +was to choose for them. + +And Gahan, Jed of Gathol--what of him? Plummet-like he fell for a +thousand feet and then the storm seized him in its giant clutch +and bore him far aloft again. As a bit of paper borne upon a gale +he was tossed about in mid-air, the sport and plaything of the +wind. Over and over it turned him and upward and downward it +carried him, but after each new sally of the element he was +brought nearer to the ground. The freaks of cyclonic storms are +the rule of cyclonic storms, demolish giant trees, and in the +same gust they transport frail infants for miles and deposit them +unharmed in their wake. + +And so it was with Gahan of Gathol. Expecting momentarily to be +dashed to destruction he presently found himself deposited gently +upon the soft, ochre moss of a dead sea-bottom, bodily no worse +off for his harrowing adventure than in the possession of a +slight swelling upon his forehead where the metal hook had struck +him. Scarcely able to believe that Fate had dealt thus gently +with him, the jed arose slowly, as though more than half +convinced that he should discover crushed and splintered bones +that would not support his weight. But he was intact. He looked +about him in a vain effort at orientation. The air was filled +with flying dust and debris. The Sun was obliterated. His vision +was confined to a radius of a few hundred yards of ochre moss and +dust-filled air. Five hundred yards away in any direction there +might have arisen the walls of a great city and he not known it. +It was useless to move from where he was until the air cleared, +since he could not know in what direction he was moving, and so +he stretched himself upon the moss and waited, pondering the fate +of his warriors and his ship, but giving little thought to his +own precarious situation. + +Lashed to his harness were his swords, his pistols, and a dagger, +and in his pocket-pouch a small quantity of the concentrated +rations that form a part of the equipment of the fighting men of +Barsoom. These things together with trained muscles, high +courage, and an undaunted spirit sufficed him for whatever +misadventures might lie between him and Gathol, which lay in what +direction he knew not, nor at what distance. + +The wind was falling rapidly and with it the dust that obscured +the landscape. That the storm was over he was convinced, but he +chafed at the inactivity the low visibility put upon him, nor did +conditions better materially before night fell, so that he was +forced to await the new day at the very spot at which the tempest +had deposited him. Without his sleeping silks and furs he spent a +far from comfortable night, and it was with feelings of unmixed +relief that he saw the sudden dawn burst upon him. The air was +now clear and in the light of the new day he saw an undulating +plain stretching in all directions about him, while to the +northwest there were barely discernible the outlines of low +hills. Toward the southeast of Gathol was such a country, and as +Gahan surmised the direction and the velocity of the storm to +have carried him somewhere in the vicinity of the country he +thought he recognized, he assumed that Gathol lay behind the +hills he now saw, whereas, in reality, it lay far to the +northeast. + +It was two days before Gahan had crossed the plain and reached +the summit of the hills from which he hoped to see his own +country, only to meet at last with disappointment. Before him +stretched another plain, of even greater proportions than that he +had but just crossed, and beyond this other hills. In one +material respect this plain differed from that behind him in that +it was dotted with occasional isolated hills. Convinced, however, +that Gathol lay somewhere in the direction of his search he +descended into the valley and bent his steps toward the +northwest. + +For weeks Gahan of Gathol crossed valleys and hills in search of +some familiar landmark that might point his way toward his native +land, but the summit of each succeeding ridge revealed but +another unfamiliar view. He saw few animals and no men, until he +finally came to the belief that he had fallen upon that fabled +area of ancient Barsoom which lay under the curse of her olden +gods--the once rich and fertile country whose people in their +pride and arrogance had denied the deities, and whose punishment +had been extermination. + +And then, one day, he scaled low hills and looked into an +inhabited valley--a valley of trees and cultivated fields and +plots of ground enclosed by stone walls surrounding strange +towers. He saw people working in the fields, but he did not rush +down to greet them. First he must know more of them and whether +they might be assumed to be friends or enemies. Hidden by +concealing shrubbery he crawled to a vantage point upon a hill +that projected further into the valley, and here he lay upon +his belly watching the workers closest to him. They were still +quite a distance from him and he could not be quite sure of them, +but there was something verging upon the unnatural about them. +Their heads seemed out of proportion to their bodies--too large. + +For a long time he lay watching them and ever more forcibly it +was borne in upon his consciousness that they were not as he, and +that it would be rash to trust himself among them. Presently he +saw a couple appear from the nearest enclosure and slowly +approach those who were working nearest to the hill where he lay +in hiding. Immediately he was aware that one of these differed +from all the others. Even at the greater distance he noted that +the head was smaller and as they approached, he was confident +that the harness of one of them was not as the harness of its +companion or of that of any of those who tilled the fields. + +The two stopped often, apparently in argument, as though one +would proceed in the direction that they were going while the +other demurred. But each time the smaller won reluctant consent +from the other, and so they came closer and closer to the last +line of workers toiling between the enclosure from which they had +come and the hill where Gahan of Gathol lay watching, and then +suddenly the smaller figure struck its companion full in the +face. Gahan, horrified, saw the latter's head topple from its +body, saw the body stagger and fall to the ground. The man half +rose from his concealment the better to view the happening in the +valley below. The creature that had felled its companion was +dashing madly in the direction of the hill upon which he was +hidden, it dodged one of the workers that sought to seize it. +Gahan hoped that it would gain its liberty, why he did not know +other than at closer range it had every appearance of being a +creature of his own race. Then he saw it stumble and go down and +instantly its pursuers were upon it. Then it was that Gahan's +eyes chanced to return to the figure of the creature the fugitive +had felled. + +What horror was this that he was witnessing? Or were his eyes +playing some ghastly joke upon him? No, impossible though it +was--it was true--the head was moving slowly to the fallen body. +It placed itself upon the shoulders, the body rose, and the +creature, seemingly as good as new, ran quickly to where its +fellows were dragging the hapless captive to its feet. + +The watcher saw the creature take its prisoner by the arm and +lead it back to the enclosure, and even across the distance that +separated them from him he could note dejection and utter +hopelessness in the bearing of the prisoner, and, too, he was +half convinced that it was a woman, perhaps a red Martian of his +own race. Could he be sure that this was true he must make some +effort to rescue her even though the customs of his strange world +required it only in case she was of his own country; but he was +not sure; she might not be a red Martian at all, or, if she were, +it was as possible that she sprang from an enemy people as not. +His first duty was to return to his own people with as little +personal risk as possible, and though the thought of adventure +stirred his blood he put the temptation aside with a sigh and +turned away from the peaceful and beautiful valley that he longed +to enter, for it was his intention to skirt its eastern edge and +continue his search for Gathol beyond. + +As Gahan of Gathol turned his steps along the southern slopes of +the hills that bound Bantoom upon the south and east, his +attention was attracted toward a small cluster of trees a short +distance to his right. The low sun was casting long shadows. It +would soon be night. The trees were off the path that he had +chosen and he had little mind to be diverted from his way; but as +he looked again he hesitated. There was something there besides +boles of trees, and underbrush. There were suggestions of +familiar lines of the handicraft of man. Gahan stopped and +strained his eyes in the direction of the thing that had arrested +his attention. No, he must be mistaken--the branches of the trees +and a low bush had taken on an unnatural semblance in the +horizontal rays of the setting sun. He turned and continued upon +his way; but as he cast another side glance in the direction of +the object of his interest, the sun's rays were shot back into +his eyes from a glistening point of radiance among the trees. + +Gahan shook his head and walked quickly toward the mystery, +determined now to solve it. The shining object still lured him on +and when he had come closer to it his eyes went wide in surprise, +for the thing they saw was naught else than the jewel-encrusted +emblem upon the prow of a small flier. Gahan, his hand upon his +short-sword, moved silently forward, but as he neared the craft +he saw that he had naught to fear, for it was deserted. Then he +turned his attention toward the emblem. As its significance was +flashed to his understanding his face paled and his heart went +cold--it was the insignia of the house of The Warlord of +Barsoom. Instantly he saw the dejected figure of the captive +being led back to her prison in the valley just beyond the hills. +Tara of Helium! And he had been so near to deserting her to her +fate. The cold sweat stood in beads upon his brow. + +A hasty examination of the deserted craft unfolded to the young +jed the whole tragic story. The same tempest that had proved his +undoing had borne Tara of Helium to this distant country. Here, +doubtless, she had landed in hope of obtaining food and water +since, without a propellor, she could not hope to reach her +native city, or any other friendly port, other than by the merest +caprice of Fate. The flier seemed intact except for the missing +propellor and the fact that it had been carefully moored in the +shelter of the clump of trees indicated that the girl had +expected to return to it, while the dust and leaves upon its deck +spoke of the long days, and even weeks, since she had landed. +Mute yet eloquent proofs, these things, that Tara of Helium was a +prisoner, and that she was the very prisoner whose bold dash for +liberty he had so recently witnessed he now had not the slightest +doubt. + +The question now revolved solely about her rescue. He knew to +which tower she had been taken--that much and no more. Of the +number, the kind, or the disposition of her captors he renew +nothing; nor did he care--for Tara of Helium he would face a +hostile world alone. Rapidly he considered several plans for +succoring her; but the one that appealed most strongly to him was +that which offered the greatest chance of escape for the girl +should he be successful in reaching her. His decision reached he +turned his attention quickly toward the flier. Casting off its +lashings he dragged it out from beneath the trees, and, mounting +to the deck tested out the various controls. The motor started at +a touch and purred sweetly, the buoyancy tanks were well stocked, +and the ship answered perfectly to the controls which regulated +her altitude. There was nothing needed but a propellor to make +her fit for the long voyage to Helium. Gahan shrugged +impatiently--there must not be a propellor within a thousand +haads. But what mattered it? The craft even without a propellor +would still answer the purpose his plan required of it--provided +the captors of Tara of Helium were a people without ships, and he +had seen nothing to suggest that they had ships. The architecture +of their towers and enclosures assured him that they had not. + +The sudden Barsoomian night had fallen. Cluros rode majestically +the high heavens. The rumbling roar of a banth reverberated among +the hills. Gahan of Gathol let the ship rise a few feet from the +ground, then, seizing a bow rope, he dropped over the side. To +tow the little craft was now a thing of ease, and as Gahan moved +rapidly toward the brow of the hill above Bantoom the flier +floated behind him as lightly as a swan upon a quiet lake. Now +down the hill toward the tower dimly visible in the moonlight the +Gatholian turned his steps. Closer behind him sounded the roar of +the hunting banth. He wondered if the beast sought him or was +following some other spoor. He could not be delayed now by any +hungry beast of prey, for what might that very instant be +befalling Tara of Helium he could not guess; and so he hastened +his steps. But closer and closer came the horrid screams of the +great carnivore, and now he heard the swift fall of padded feet +upon the hillside behind him. He glanced back just in time to see +the beast break into a rapid charge. His hand leaped to the hilt +of his long-sword, but he did not draw, for in the same instant +he saw the futility of armed resistance, since behind the first +banth came a herd of at least a dozen others. There was but a +single alternative to a futile stand and that he grasped in the +instant that he saw the overwhelming numbers of his antagonists. + +Springing lightly from the ground he swarmed up the rope toward +the bow of the flier. His weight drew the craft slightly lower +and at the very instant that the man drew himself to the deck at +the bow of the vessel, the leading banth sprang for the stern. +Gahan leaped to his feet and rushed toward the great beast in the +hope of dislodging it before it had succeeded in clambering +aboard. At the same instant he saw that others of the banths were +racing toward them with the quite evident intention of following +their leader to the ship's deck. Should they reach it in any +numbers he would be lost. There was but a single hope. Leaping +for the altitude control Gahan pulled it wide. Simultaneously +three banths leaped for the deck. The craft rose swiftly. Gahan +felt the impact of a body against the keel, followed by the soft +thuds of the great bodies as they struck the ground beneath. His +act had not been an instant too soon. And now the leader had +gained the deck and stood at the stern with glaring eyes and +snarling jaws. Gahan drew his sword. The beast, possibly +disconcerted by the novelty of its position, did not charge. +Instead it crept slowly toward its intended prey. The craft was +rising and Gahan placed a foot upon the control and stopped the +ascent. He did not wish to chance rising to some higher air +current that would bear him away. Already the craft was moving +slowly toward the tower, carried thither by the impetus of the +banth's heavy body leaping upon it from astern. + +The man watched the slow approach of the monster, the slavering +jowls, the malignant expression of the devilish face. The +creature, finding the deck stable, appeared to be gaining +confidence, and then the man leaped suddenly to one side of the +deck and the tiny flier heeled as suddenly in response. The banth +slipped and clutched frantically at the deck. Gahan leaped in +with his naked sword; the great beast caught itself and reared +upon its hind legs to reach forth and seize this presumptuous +mortal that dared question its right to the flesh it craved; and +then the man sprang to the opposite side of the deck. The banth +toppled sideways at the same instant that it attempted to spring; +a raking talon passed close to Gahan's head at the moment that +his sword lunged through the savage heart, and as the warrior +wrenched his blade from the carcass it slipped silently over the +side of the ship. + +A glance below showed that the vessel was drifting in the +direction of the tower to which Gahan had seen the prisoner led. +In another moment or two it would be directly over it. The man +sprang to the control and let the craft drop quickly toward the +ground where followed the banths, still hot for their prey. To +land outside the enclosure spelled certain death, while inside he +could see many forms huddled upon the ground as in sleep. The +ship floated now but a few feet above the wall of the enclosure. +There was nothing for it but to risk all on a bold bid for +fortune, or drift helplessly past without hope of returning +through the banth-infested valley, from many points of which he +could now hear the roars and growls of these fierce Barsoomian +lions. + +Slipping over the side Gahan descended by the trailing +anchor-rope until his feet touched the top of the wall, where he +had no difficulty in arresting the slow drifting of the ship. +Then he drew up the anchor and lowered it inside the enclosure. +Still there was no movement upon the part of the sleepers +beneath--they lay as dead men. Dull lights shone from openings in +the tower; but there was no sign of guard or waking inmate. +Clinging to the rope Gahan lowered himself within the enclosure, +where he had his first close view of the creatures lying there in +what he had thought sleep. With a half smothered exclamation of +horror the man drew back from the headless bodies of the rykors. +At first he thought them the corpses of decapitated humans like +himself, which was quite bad enough; but when he saw them move +and realized that they were endowed with life, his horror and +disgust became even greater. + +Here then was the explanation of the thing he had witnessed that +afternoon, when Tara of Helium had struck the back to its body. +And to think that the pearl of Helium was in the power of such +hideous things as these. Again the man shuddered, but he hastened +to make fast the flier, clamber again to its deck and lower it to +the floor of the enclosure. Then he strode toward a door in the +base of the tower, stepping lightly over the recumbent forms of +the unconscious rykors, and crossing the threshold disappeared +within. + + + +CHAPTER VIII + +CLOSE WORK + +GHEK, in his happier days third foreman of the fields of Luud, +sat nursing his anger and his humiliation. Recently something had +awakened within him the existence of which he had never before +even dreamed. Had the influence of the strange captive woman +aught to do with this unrest and dissatisfaction? He did not +know. He missed the soothing influence of the noise she called +singing. Could it be that there were other things more desirable +than cold logic and undefiled brain power? Was well balanced +imperfection more to be sought after then, than the high +development of a single characteristic? He thought of the great, +ultimate brain toward which all kaldanes were striving. It would +be deaf, and dumb, and blind. A thousand beautiful strangers +might sing and dance about it, but it could derive no pleasure +from the singing or the dancing since it would possess no +perceptive faculties. Already had the kaldanes shut themselves +off from most of the gratifications of the senses. Ghek wondered +if much was to be gained by denying themselves still further, and +with the thought came a question as to the whole fabric of their +theory. After all perhaps the girl was right; what purpose could +a great brain serve sealed in the bowels of the earth? + +And he, Ghek, was to die for this theory. Luud had decreed it. +The injustice of it overwhelmed him with rage. But he was +helpless. There was no escape. Beyond the enclosure the banths +awaited him; within, his own kind, equally as merciless and +ferocious. Among them there was no such thing as love, or +loyalty, or friendship--they were just brains. He might kill +Luud; but what would that profit him? Another king would be +loosed from his sealed chamber and Ghek would be killed. He did +not know it but he would not even have the poor satisfaction of +satisfied revenge, since he was not capable of feeling so +abstruse a sentiment. + +Ghek, mounted upon his rykor, paced the floor of the tower +chamber in which he had been ordered to remain. Ordinarily he +would have accepted the sentence of Luud with perfect equanimity, +since it was but the logical result of reason; but now it seemed +different. The stranger woman had bewitched him. Life appeared a +pleasant thing--there were great possibilities in it. The dream +of the ultimate brain had receded into a tenuous haze far in the +background of his thoughts. + +At that moment there appeared in the doorway of the chamber a red +warrior with naked sword. He was a male counterpart of the +prisoner whose sweet voice had undermined the cold, calculating +reason of the kaldane. + +"Silence!" admonished the newcomer, his straight brows gathered +in an ominous frown and the point of his longsword playing +menacingly before the eyes of the kaldane. "I seek the woman, +Tara of Helium. Where is she? If you value your life speak +quickly and speak the truth." + +If he valued his life! It was a truth that Ghek had but just +learned. He thought quickly. After all, a great brain is not +without its uses. Perhaps here lay escape from the sentence of +Luud. + +"You are of her kind?" he asked. "You come to rescue her?" + +"Yes." + +"Listen, then. I have befriended her, and because of this I am to +die. If I help you to liberate her, will you take me with you?" + +Gahan of Gathol eyed the weird creature from crown to foot--the +perfect body, the grotesque head, the expressionless face. Among +such as these had the beautiful daughter of Helium been held +captive for days and weeks. + +"If she lives and is unharmed," he said, "I will take you with +us." + +"When they took her from me she was alive and unharmed," replied +Ghek. "I cannot say what has befallen her since. Luud sent for +her." + +"Who is Luud? Where is he? Lead me to him." Gahan spoke quickly +in tones vibrant with authority. + +"Come, then," said Ghek, leading the way from the apartment and +down a stairway toward the underground burrows of the kaldanes. +"Luud is my king. I will take you to his chambers." + +"Hasten!" urged Gahan. + +"Sheathe your sword," warned Ghek, "so that should we pass others +of my kind I may say to them that you are a new prisoner with +some likelihood of winning their belief." + +Gahan did as he was bid, but warning the kaldane that his hand +was ever ready at his dagger's hilt. + +"You need have no fear of treachery," said Ghek "My only hope of +life lies in you." + +"And if you fail me," Gahan admonished him, "I can promise you as +sure a death as even your king might guarantee you." + +Ghek made no reply, but moved rapidly through the winding +subterranean corridors until Gahan began to realize how truly was +he in the hands of this strange monster. If the fellow should +prove false it would profit Gahan nothing to slay him, since +without his guidance the red man might never hope to retrace his +way to the tower and freedom. + +Twice they met and were accosted by other kaldanes; but in both +instances Ghek's simple statement that he was taking a new +prisoner to Luud appeared to allay all suspicion, and then at +last they came to the ante-chamber of the king. + +"Here, now, red man, thou must fight, if ever," whispered Ghek. +"Enter there!" and he pointed to a doorway before them. + +"And you?" asked Gahan, still fearful of treachery. + +"My rykor is powerful," replied the kaldane. "I shall accompany +you and fight at your side. As well die thus as in torture later +at the will of Luud. Come!" + +But Gahan had already crossed the room and entered the chamber +beyond. Upon the opposite side of the room was a circular opening +guarded by two warriors. Beyond this opening he could see two +figures struggling upon the floor, and the fleeting glimpse he +had of one of the faces suddenly endowed him with the strength of +ten warriors and the ferocity of a wounded banth. It was Tara of +Helium, fighting for her honor or her life. + +The warriors, startled by the unexpected appearance of a red man, +stood for a moment in dumb amazement, and in that moment Gahan of +Gathol was upon them, and one was down, a sword-thrust through +its heart. + +"Strike at the heads," whispered the voice of Ghek in Gahan's +ear. The latter saw the head of the fallen warrior crawl quickly +within the aperture leading to the chamber where he had seen Tara +of Helium in the clutches of a headless body. Then the sword of +Ghek struck the kaldane of the remaining warrior from its rykor +and Gahan ran his sword through the repulsive head. + +Instantly the red warrior leaped for the aperture, while close +behind him came Ghek. + +"Look not upon the eyes of Luud," warned the kaldane, "or you are +lost." + +Within the chamber Gahan saw Tara of Helium in the clutches of a +mighty body, while close to the wall upon the opposite side of +the apartment crouched the hideous, spider-like Luud. Instantly +the king realized the menace to himself and sought to fasten his +eyes upon the eyes of Gahan, and in doing so he was forced to +relax his concentration upon the rykor in whose embraces Tara +struggled, so that almost immediately the girl found herself able +to tear away from the awful, headless thing. + +As she rose quickly to her feet she saw for the first time the +cause of the interruption of Luud's plans. A red warrior! Her +heart leaped in rejoicing and thanksgiving. What miracle of fate +had sent him to her? She did not recognize him, though, this +travel-worn warrior in the plain harness which showed no single +jewel. How could she have guessed him the same as the scintillant +creature of platinum and diamonds that she had seen for a brief +hour under such different circumstances at the court of her +august sire? + +Luud saw Ghek following the strange warrior into the chamber. +"Strike him down, Ghek!" commanded the king. "Strike down the +stranger and your life shall be yours." + +Gahan glanced at the hideous face of the king. + +"Seek not his eyes," screamed Tara in warning; but it was too +late. Already the horrid hypnotic gaze of the king kaldane had +seized upon the eyes of Gahan. The red warrior hesitated in his +stride. His sword point drooped slowly toward the floor. Tara +glanced toward Ghek. She saw the creature glaring with his +expressionless eyes upon the broad back of the stranger. She saw +the hand of the creature's rykor creeping stealthily toward the +hilt of its dagger. + +And then Tara of Helium raised her eyes aloft and poured forth +the notes of Mars' most beautiful melody, The Song of Love. + +Ghek drew his dagger from its sheath. His eyes turned toward the +singing girl. Luud's glance wavered from the eyes of the man to +the face of Tara, and the instant that the latter's song +distracted his attention from his victim, Gahan of Gathol shook +himself and as with a supreme effort of will forced his eyes to +the wall above Luud's hideous head. Ghek raised his dagger above +his right shoulder, took a single quick step forward, and struck. +The girl's song ended in a stifled scream as she leaped forward +with the evident intention of frustrating the kaldane's purpose; +but she was too late, and well it was, for an instant later she +realized the purpose of Ghek's act as she saw the dagger fly from +his hand, pass Gahan's shoulder, and sink full to the guard in +the soft face of Luud. + +"Come!" cried the assassin, "we have no time to lose," and +started for the aperture through which they had entered the +chamber; but in his stride he paused as his glance was arrested +by the form of the mighty rykor Iying prone upon the floor--a +king's rykor; the most beautiful, the most powerful, that the +breeders of Bantoom could produce. Ghek realized that in his +escape he could take with him but a single rykor, and there was +none in Bantoom that could give him better service than this +giant Iying here. Quickly he transferred himself to the shoulders +of the great, inert hulk. Instantly the latter was transformed to +a sentient creature, filled with pulsing life and alert energy. + +"Now," said the kaldane, "we are ready. Let whoso would revert to +nothingness impede me." Even as he spoke he stooped and crawled +into the chamber beyond, while Gahan, taking Tara by the arm, +motioned her to follow. The girl looked him full in the eyes for +the first time. "The Gods of my people have been kind," she said; +"you came just in time. To the thanks of Tara of Helium shall be +added those of The Warlord of Barsoom and his people. Thy reward +shall surpass thy greatest desires." + +Gahan of Gathol saw that she did not recognize him, and quickly +he checked the warm greeting that had been upon his lips. + +"Be thou Tara of Helium or another," he replied, "is immaterial, +to serve thus a red woman of Barsoom is in itself sufficient +reward." + +As they spoke the girl was making her way through the aperture +after Ghek, and presently all three had quitted the apartments of +Luud and were moving rapidly along the winding corridors toward +the tower. Ghek repeatedly urged them to greater speed, but the +red men of Barsoom were never keen for retreat, and so the two +that followed him moved all too slowly for the kaldane. + +"There are none to impede our progress," urged Gahan, "so why tax +the strength of the Princess by needless haste?" + +"I fear not so much opposition ahead, for there are none there +who know the thing that has been done in Luud's chambers this +night; but the kaldane of one of the warriors who stood guard +before Luud's apartment escaped, and you may count it a truth +that he lost no time in seeking aid. That it did not come before +we left is due solely to the rapidity with which events +transpired in the king's* room. Long before we reach the tower +they will be upon us from behind, and that they will come in +numbers far superior to ours and with great and powerful rykors I +well know." + +* I have used the word king in describing the rulers or chiefs of +the Bantoomian swarms, since the word itself is unpronounceable +in English, nor does jed or jeddak of the red Martian tongue have +quite the same meaning as the Bantoomian word, which has +practically the same significance as the English word queen as +applied to the leader of a swarm of bees.--J. C. + + +Nor was Ghek's prophecy long in fulfilment. Presently the sounds +of pursuit became audible in the distant clanking of +accouterments and the whistling call to arms of the kaldanes. + +"The tower is but a short distance now," cried Ghek. "Make haste +while yet you may, and if we can barricade it until the sun rises +we may yet escape." + +"We shall need no barricades for we shall not linger in the +tower," replied Gahan, moving more rapidly as he realized from +the volume of sound behind them the great number of their +pursuers. + +"But we may not go further than the tower tonight," insisted +Ghek. "Beyond the tower await the banths and certain death." + +Gahan smiled. "Fear not the banths," he assured them. "Can we but +reach the enclosure a little ahead of our pursuers we have naught +to fear from any evil power within this accursed valley." + +Ghek made no reply, nor did his expressionless face denote either +belief or skepticism. The girl looked into the face of the man +questioningly. She did not understand. + +"Your flier," he said. "It is moored before the tower." + +Her face lighted with pleasure and relief. "You found it!" she +exclaimed. "What fortune!" + +"It was fortune indeed," he replied. "Since it not only told that +you were a prisoner here; but it saved me from the banths as I +was crossing the valley from the hills to this tower into which I +saw them take you this afternoon after your brave attempt at +escape." + +"How did you know it was I?" she asked, her puzzled brows +scanning his face as though she sought to recall from past +memories some scene in which he figured. + +"Who is there but knows of the loss of the Princess Tara of +Helium?" he replied. "And when I saw the device upon your flier I +knew at once, though I had not known when I saw you among them in +the fields a short time earlier. Too great was the distance for +me to make certain whether the captive was man or woman. Had +chance not divulged the hiding place of your flier I had gone my +way, Tara of Helium. I shudder to think how close was the chance +at that. But for the momentary shining of the sun upon the +emblazoned device on the prow of your craft, I had passed on +unknowing." + +The girl shuddered. "The Gods sent you," she whispered +reverently. + +"The Gods sent me, Tara of Helium," he replied. + +"But I do not recognize you," she said. "I have tried to recall +you, but I have failed. Your name, what may it be?" + +"It is not strange that so great a princess should not recall the +face of every roving panthan of Barsoom," he replied with a +smile. + +"But your name?" insisted the girl. + +"Call me Turan," replied the man, for it had come to him that if +Tara of Helium recognized him as the man whose impetuous avowal +of love had angered her that day in the gardens of The Warlord, +her situation might be rendered infinitely less bearable than +were she to believe him a total stranger. Then, too, as a simple +panthan* he might win a greater degree of her confidence by his +loyalty and faithfulness and a place in her esteem that seemed to +have been closed to the resplendent Jed of Gathol. + +* Soldier of Fortune; free-lance warrior. + + +They had reached the tower now, and as they entered it from the +subterranean corridor a backward glance revealed the van of their +pursuers--hideous kaldanes mounted upon swift and powerful +rykors. As rapidly as might be the three ascended the stairways +leading to the ground level, but after them, even more rapidly, +came the minions of Luud. Ghek led the way, grasping one of +Tara's hands the more easily to guide and assist her, while Gahan +of Gathol followed a few paces in their rear, his bared sword +ready for the assault that all realized must come upon them now +before ever they reached the enclosure and the flier. + +"Let Ghek drop behind to your side," said Tara, "and fight with +you." + +"There is but room for a single blade in these narrow corridors," +replied the Gatholian. "Hasten on with Ghek and win to the deck +of the flier. Have your hand upon the control, and if I come far +enough ahead of these to reach the dangling cable you can rise at +my word and I can clamber to the deck at my leisure; but if one +of them emerges first into the enclosure you will know that I +shall never come, and you will rise quickly and trust to the Gods +of our ancestors to give you a fair breeze in the direction of a +more hospitable people." + +Tara of Helium shook her head. "We will not desert you, panthan," +she said. + +Gahan, ignoring her reply, spoke above her head to Ghek. "Take +her to the craft moored within the enclosure," he commanded. "It +is our only hope. Alone, I may win to its deck; but have I to +wait upon you two at the last moment the chances are that none of +us will escape. Do as I bid." His tone was haughty and +arrogant--the tone of a man who has commanded other men from +birth, and whose will has been law. Tara of Helium was both +angered and vexed. She was not accustomed to being either +commanded or ignored, but with all her royal pride she was no +fool, and she knew the man was right, that he was risking his +life to save hers, so she hastened on with Ghek as she was bid, +and after the first flush of anger she smiled, for the +realization came to her that this fellow was but a rough +untutored warrior, skilled not in the finer usages of cultured +courts. His heart was right, though; a brave and loyal heart, and +gladly she forgave him the offense of his tone and manner. But +what a tone! Recollection of it gave her sudden pause. Panthans +were rough and ready men. Often they rose to positions of high +command, so it was not the note of authority in the fellow's +voice that seemed remarkable; but something else--a quality that +was indefinable, yet as distinct as it was familiar. She had +heard it before when the voice of her great-grandsire, Tardos +Mors, Jeddak of Helium, had risen in command; and in the voice of +her grandfather, Mors Kajak, the jed; and in the ringing tones of +her illustrious sire, John Carter, Warlord of Barsoom, when he +addressed his warriors. + +But now she had no time to speculate upon so trivial a thing, for +behind her came the sudden clash of arms and she knew that Turan, +the panthan, had crossed swords with the first of their pursuers. +As she glanced back he was still visible beyond a turn in the +stairway, so that she could see the quick swordplay that ensued. +Daughter of a world's greatest swordsman, she knew well the +finest points of the art. She saw the clumsy attack of the +kaldane and the quick, sure return of the panthan. As she looked +down from above upon his almost naked body, trapped only in the +simplest of unadorned harness, and saw the play of the lithe +muscles beneath the red-bronze skin, and witnessed the quick and +delicate play of his sword point, to her sense of obligation was +added a spontaneous admission of admiration that was but the +natural tribute of a woman to skill and bravery and, perchance, +some trifle to manly symmetry and strength. + +Three times the panthan's blade changed its position--once to +fend a savage cut; once to feint; and once to thrust. And as he +withdrew it from the last position the kaldane rolled lifeless +from its stumbling rykor and Turan sprang quickly down the steps +to engage the next behind, and then Ghek had drawn Tara upward +and a turn in the stairway shut the battling panthan from her +view; but still she heard the ring of steel on steel, the clank +of accouterments and the shrill whistling of the kaldanes. Her +heart moved her to turn back to the side of her brave defender; +but her judgment told her that she could serve him best by being +ready at the control of the flier at the moment he reached the +enclosure. + + + +CHAPTER IX + +ADRIFT OVER STRANGE REGIONS + +PRESENTLY Ghek pushed aside a door that opened from the stairway, +and before them Tara saw the moonlight flooding the walled court +where the headless rykors lay beside their feeding-troughs. She +saw the perfect bodies, muscled as the best of her father's +fighting men, and the females whose figures would have been the +envy of many of Helium's most beautiful women. Ah, if she could +but endow these with the power to act! Then indeed might the +safety of the panthan be assured; but they were only poor lumps +of clay, nor had she the power to quicken them to life. Ever must +they lie thus until dominated by the cold, heartless brain of the +kaldane. The girl sighed in pity even as she shuddered in disgust +as she picked her way over and among the sprawled creatures +toward the flier. + +Quickly she and Ghek mounted to the deck after the latter had +cast off the moorings. Tara tested the control, raising and +lowering the ship a few feet within the walled space. It +responded perfectly. Then she lowered it to the ground again and +waited. From the open doorway came the sounds of conflict, now +nearing them, now receding. The girl, having witnessed her +champion's skill, had little fear of the outcome. Only a single +antagonist could face him at a time upon the narrow stairway, he +had the advantage of position and of the defensive, and he was a +master of the sword while they were clumsy bunglers by +comparison. Their sole advantage was in their numbers, unless +they might find a way to come upon him from behind. + +She paled at the thought. Could she have seen him she might have +been further perturbed, for he took no advantage of many +opportunities to win nearer the enclosure. He fought coolly, but +with a savage persistence that bore little semblance to purely +defensive action. Often he clambered over the body of a fallen +foe to leap against the next behind, and once there lay five dead +kaldanes behind him, so far had he pushed back his antagonists. +They did not know it; these kaldanes that he fought, nor did the +girl awaiting him upon the flier, but Gahan of Gathol was engaged +in a more alluring sport than winning to freedom, for he was +avenging the indignities that had been put upon the woman he +loved; but presently he realized that he might be jeopardizing +her safety uselessly, and so he struck down another before him +and turning leaped quickly up the stairway, while the leading +kaldanes slipped upon the brain-covered floor and stumbled in +pursuit. + +Gahan reached the enclosure twenty paces ahead of them and raced +toward the flier. "Rise!" he shouted to the girl. "I will ascend +the cable." + +Slowly the small craft rose from the ground as Gahan leaped the +inert bodies of the rykors lying in his path. The first of the +pursuers sprang from the tower just as Gahan seized the trailing +rope. + +"Faster!" he shouted to the girl above, "or they will drag us +down!" But the ship seemed scarcely to move, though in reality +she was rising as rapidly as might have been expected of a +one-man flier carrying a load of three. Gahan swung free above +the top of the wall, but the end of the rope still dragged the +ground as the kaldanes reached it. They were pouring in a steady +stream from the tower into the enclosure. The leader seized the +rope. + +"Quick!" he cried. "Lay hold and we will drag them down." + +It needed but the weight of a few to accomplish his design. The +ship was stopped in its flight and then, to the horror of the +girl, she felt it being dragged steadily downward. Gahan, too, +realized the danger and the necessity for instant action. +Clinging to the rope with his left hand, he had wound a leg about +it, leaving his right hand free for his long-sword which he had +not sheathed. A downward cut clove the soft head of a kaldane, +and another severed the taut rope beneath the panthan's feet. The +girl heard a sudden renewal of the shrill whistling of her foes, +and at the same time she realized that the craft was rising +again. Slowly it drifted upward, out of reach of the enemy, and a +moment later she saw the figure of Turan clamber over the side. +For the first time in many weeks her heart was filled with the +joy of thanksgiving; but her first thought was of another. + +"You are not wounded?" she asked. + +'No, Tara of Helium," he replied. "They were scarce worth the +effort of my blade, and never were they a menace to me because of +their swords." + +"They should have slain you easily," said Ghek. "So great and +highly developed is the power of reason among us that they should +have known before you struck just where, logically, you must seek +to strike, and so they should have been able to parry your every +thrust and easily find an opening to your heart." + +"But they did not, Ghek," Gahan reminded him. "Their theory of +development is wrong, for it does not tend toward a perfectly +balanced whole. You have developed the brain and neglected the +body and you can never do with the hands of another what you can +do with your own hands. Mine are trained to the sword--every +muscle responds instantly and accurately, and almost +mechanically, to the need of the instant. I am scarcely +objectively aware that I think when I fight, so quickly does my +point take advantage of every opening, or spring to my defense if +I am threatened that it is almost as though the cold steel had +eyes and brains. You, with your kaldane brain and your rykor +body, never could hope to achieve in the same degree of +perfection those things that I can achieve. Development of the +brain should not be the sum total of human endeavor. The richest +and happiest peoples will be those who attain closest to +well-balanced perfection of both mind and body, and even these +must always be short of perfection. In absolute and general +perfection lies stifling monotony and death. Nature must have +contrasts; she must have shadows as well as high lights; sorrow +with happiness; both wrong and right; and sin as well as virtue." + +"Always have I been taught differently," replied Ghek; "but since +I have known this woman and you, of another race, I have come to +believe that there may be other standards fully as high and +desirable as those of the kaldanes. At least I have had a glimpse +of the thing you call happiness and I realize that it may be good +even though I have no means of expressing it. I cannot laugh nor +smile, and yet within me is a sense of contentment when this +woman sings--a sense that seems to open before me wondrous vistas +of beauty and unguessed pleasure that far transcend the cold joys +of a perfectly functioning brain. I would that I had been born of +thy race." + +Caught by a gentle current of air the flier was drifting slowly +toward the northeast across the valley of Bantoom. Below them lay +the cultivated fields, and one after another they passed over the +strange towers of Moak and Nolach and the other kings of the +swarms that inhabited this weird and terrible land. Within each +enclosure surrounding the towers grovelled the rykors, repellent, +headless things, beautiful yet hideous. + +"A lesson, those," remarked Gahan, indicating the rykors in an +enclosure above which they were drifting at the time, "to that +fortunately small minority of our race which worships the flesh +and makes a god of appetite. You know them, Tara of Helium; they +can tell you exactly what they had at the midday meal two weeks +ago, and how the loin of the thoat should be prepared, and what +drink should be served with the rump of the zitidar." + +Tara of Helium laughed. "But not one of them could tell you the +name of the man whose painting took the Jeddak's Award in The +Temple of Beauty this year," she said. "Like the rykors, their +development has not been balanced." + +"Fortunate indeed are those in which there is combined a little +good and a little bad, a little knowledge of many things outside +their own callings, a capacity for love and a capacity for hate, +for such as these can look with tolerance upon all, unbiased by +the egotism of him whose head is so heavy on one side that all +his brains run to that point." + +As Gahan ceased speaking Ghek made a little noise in his throat +as one does who would attract attention. "You speak as one who +has thought much upon many subjects. Is it, then, possible that +you of the red race have pleasure in thought? Do you know aught +of the joys of introspection? Do reason and logic form any part +of your lives?" + +"Most assuredly," replied Gahan, "but not to the extent of +occupying all our time--at least not objectively. You, Ghek, are +an example of the egotism of which I spoke. Because you and your +kind devote your lives to the worship of mind, you believe that +no other created beings think. And possibly we do not in the +sense that you do, who think only of yourselves and your great +brains. We think of many things that concern the welfare of a +world. Had it not been for the red men of Barsoom even the +kaldanes had perished from the planet, for while you may live +without air the things upon which you depend for existence +cannot, and there had been no air in sufficient quantities upon +Barsoom these many ages had not a red man planned and built the +great atmosphere plant which gave new life to a dying world. + +"What have all the brains of all the kaldanes that have ever +lived done to compare with that single idea of a single red man?" + +Ghek was stumped. Being a kaldane he knew that brains spelled the +sum total of universal achievement, but it had never occurred to +him that they should be put to use in practical and profitable +ways. He turned away and looked down upon the valley of his +ancestors across which he was slowly drifting, into what unknown +world? He should be a veritable god among the underlings, he +knew; but somehow a doubt assailed him. It was evident that these +two from that other world were ready to question his preeminence. +Even through his great egotism was filtering a suspicion that +they patronized him; perhaps even pitied him. Then he began to +wonder what was to become of him. No longer would he have many +rykors to do his bidding. Only this single one and when it died +there could not be another. When it tired, Ghek must lie almost +helpless while it rested. He wished that he had never seen this +red woman. She had brought him only discontent and dishonor and +now exile. Presently Tara of Helium commenced to hum a tune and +Ghek, the kaldane, was content. + +Gently they drifted beneath the hurtling moons above the mad +shadows of a Martian night. The roaring of the banths came in +diminishing volume to their ears as their craft passed on beyond +the boundaries of Bantoom, leaving behind the terrors of that +unhappy land. But to what were they being borne? The girl looked +at the man sitting cross-legged upon the deck of the tiny flier, +gazing off into the night ahead, apparently absorbed in thought. + +"Where are we?" she asked. "Toward what are we drifting?" + +Turan shrugged his broad shoulders. "The stars tell me that we +are drifting toward the northeast," he replied, "but where we +are, or what lies in our path I cannot even guess. A week since I +could have sworn that I knew what lay behind each succeeding +ridge that I approached; but now I admit in all humility that I +have no conception of what lies a mile in any direction. Tara of +Helium, I am lost, and that is all that I can tell you." + +He was smiling and the girl smiled back at him. There was a +slightly puzzled expression on her face--there was something +tantalizingly familiar about that smile of his. She had met many +a panthan--they came and went, following the fighting of a +world--but she could not place this one. + +"From what country are you, Turan?" she asked suddenly. + +"Know you not, Tara of Helium," he countered, "that a panthan has +no country? Today he fights beneath the banner of one master, +tomorrow beneath that of another." + +"But you must own allegiance to some country when you are not +fighting," she insisted. "What banner, then, owns you now?" + +He rose and stood before her, then, bowing low. "And I am +acceptable," he said, "I serve beneath the banner of the daughter +of The Warlord now--and forever." + +She reached forth and touched his arm with a slim brown hand. +"Your services are accepted," she said; "and if ever we reach +Helium I promise that your reward shall be all that your heart +could desire." + +"I shall serve faithfully, hoping for that reward," he said; +but Tara of Helium did not guess what was in his mind, thinking +rather that he was mercenary. For how could the proud daughter of +The Warlord guess that a simple panthan aspired to her hand and +heart? + +The dawn found them moving rapidly over an unfamiliar landscape. +The wind had increased during the night and had borne them far +from Bantoom. The country below them was rough and inhospitable. +No water was visible and the surface of the ground was cut by +deep gorges, while nowhere was any but the most meager vegetation +discernible. They saw no life of any nature, nor was there any +indication that the country could support life. For two days they +drifted over this horrid wasteland. They were without food or +water and suffered accordingly. Ghek had temporarily abandoned +his rykor after enlisting Turan's assistance in lashing it safely +to the deck. The less he used it the less would its vitality be +spent. Already it was showing the effects of privation. Ghek +crawled about the vessel like a great spider--over the side, down +beneath the keel, and up over the opposite rail. He seemed +equally at home one place as another. For his companions, +however, the quarters were cramped, for the deck of a one-man +flier is not intended for three. + +Turan sought always ahead for signs of water. Water they must +have, or that water-giving plant which makes life possible upon +many of the seemingly arid areas of Mars; but there was neither +the one nor the other for these two days and now the third night +was upon them. The girl did not complain, but Turan knew that she +must be suffering and his heart was heavy within him. Ghek +suffered least of all, and he explained to them that his kind +could exist for long periods without food or water. Turan almost +cursed him as he saw the form of Tara of Helium slowly wasting +away before his eyes, while the hideous kaldane seemed as full of +vitality as ever. + +"There are circumstances," remarked Ghek, "under which a gross +and material body is less desirable than a highly developed +brain." + +Turan looked at him, but said nothing. Tara of Helium smiled +faintly. "One cannot blame him," she said, "were we not a bit +boastful in the pride of our superiority? When our stomachs were +filled," she added. + +"Perhaps there is something to be said for their system," Turan +admitted. "If we could but lay aside our stomachs when they cried +for food and water I have no doubt but that we should do so." + +"I should never miss mine now," assented Tara; "it is mighty poor +company." + +A new day had dawned, revealing a less desolate country and +renewing again the hope that had been low within them. Suddenly +Turan leaned forward, pointing ahead. + +"Look, Tara of Helium!" he cried. "A city! As I am Ga--as I am +Turan the panthan, a city." + +Far in the distance the domes and walls and slender towers of a +city shone in the rising sun. Quickly the man seized the control +and the ship dropped rapidly behind a low range of intervening +hills, for well Turan knew that they must not be seen until they +could discover whether friend or foe inhabited the strange city. +Chances were that they were far from the abode of friends and so +must the panthan move with the utmost caution; but there was a +city and where a city was, was water, even though it were a +deserted city, and food if it were inhabited. + +To the red man food and water, even in the citadel of an enemy, +meant food and drink for Tara of Helium. He would accept it from +friends or he would take it from enemies. Just so long as it was +there he would have it--and there was shown the egotism of the +fighting man, though Turan did not see it, nor Tara who came from +a long line of fighting men; but Ghek might have smiled had he +known how. + +Turan permitted the flier to drift closer behind the screening +hills, and then when he could advance no farther without fear of +discovery, he dropped the craft gently to ground in a little +ravine, and leaping over the side made her fast to a stout tree. +For several moments they discussed their plans--whether it would +be best to wait where they were until darkness hid their +movements and then approach the city in search of food and water, +or approach it now, taking advantage of what cover they could, +until they could glean something of the nature of its +inhabitants. + +It was Turan's plan which finally prevailed. They would approach +as close as safety dictated in the hope of finding water outside +the city; food, too, perhaps. If they did not they could at least +reconnoiter the ground by daylight, and then when night came +Turan could quickly come close to the city and in comparative +safety prosecute his search for food and drink. + +Following the ravine upward they finally topped the summit of the +ridge, from which they had an excellent view of that part of the +city which lay nearest them, though themselves hidden by the +brush behind which they crouched. Ghek had resumed his rykor, +which had suffered less than either Tara or Turan through their +enforced fast. + +The first glance at the city, now much closer than when they had +first discovered it, revealed the fact that it was inhabited. +Banners and pennons broke from many a staff. People were moving +about the gate before them. The high white walls were paced by +sentinels at far intervals. Upon the roofs of higher buildings +the women could be seen airing the sleeping silks and furs. Turan +watched it all in silence for some time. + +"I do not know them," he said at last. "I cannot guess what city +this may be. But it is an ancient city. Its people have no fliers +and no firearms. It must be old indeed." + +"How do you know they have not these things?" asked the girl. + +"There are no landing-stages upon the roofs--not one that can be +seen from here; while were we looking similarly at Helium we +would see hundreds. And they have no firearms because their +defenses are all built to withstand the attack of spear and +arrow, with spear and arrow. They are an ancient people." + +"If they are ancient perhaps they are friendly," suggested the +girl. "Did we not learn as children in the history of our planet +that it was once peopled by a friendly, peace-loving race?" + +"But I fear they are not as ancient as that," replied Turan, +laughing. "It has been long ages since the men of Barsoom loved +peace." + +"My father loves peace," returned the girl. + +"And yet he is always at war," said the man. + +She laughed. "But he says he likes peace." + +"We all like peace," he rejoined; "peace with honor; but our +neighbors will not let us have it, and so we must fight." + +"And to fight well men must like to fight," she added. + +"And to like to fight they must know how to fight," he said, "for +no man likes to do the thing that he does not know how to do +well." + +"Or that some other man can do better than he." + +"And so always there will be wars and men will fight," he +concluded, "for always the men with hot blood in their veins will +practice the art of war." + +"We have settled a great question," said the girl, smiling; "but +our stomachs are still empty." + +"Your panthan is neglecting his duty," replied Turan; "and how +can he with the great reward always before his eyes!" + +She did not guess in what literal a sense he spoke. + +"I go forthwith," he continued, "to wrest food and drink from the +ancients." + +"No," she cried, laying a hand upon his arm, "not yet. They would +slay you or make you prisoner. You are a brave panthan and a +mighty one, but you cannot overcome a city singlehanded." + +She smiled up into his face and her hand still lay upon his arm. +He felt the thrill of hot blood coursing through his veins. He +could have seized her in his arms and crushed her to him. There +was only Ghek the kaldane there, but there was something stronger +within him that restrained his hand. Who may define it--that +inherent chivalry that renders certain men the natural protectors +of women? + +From their vantage point they saw a body of armed warriors ride +forth from the gate, and winding along a well-beaten road pass +from sight about the foot of the hill from which they watched. +The men were red, like themselves, and they rode the small saddle +thoats of the red race. Their trappings were barbaric and +magnificent, and in their head-dress were many feathers as had +been the custom of ancients. They were armed with swords and long +spears and they rode almost naked, their bodies being painted in +ochre and blue and white. There were, perhaps, a score of them in +the party and as they galloped away on their tireless mounts they +presented a picture at once savage and beautiful. + +"They have the appearance of splendid warriors," said Turan. "I +have a great mind to walk boldly into their city and seek +service." + +Tara shook her head. "Wait," she admonished. "What would I do +without you, and if you were captured how could you collect your +reward?" + +"I should escape," he said. "At any rate I shall try it," and he +started to rise. + +"You shall not," said the girl, her tone all authority. + +The man looked at her quickly--questioningly. + +"You have entered my service," she said, a trifle haughtily. + +"You have entered my service for hire and you shall do as I bid +you." + +Turan sank down beside her again with a half smile upon his lips. +"It is yours to command, Princess," he said. + +The day passed. Ghek, tiring of the sunlight, had deserted his +rykor and crawled down a hole he had discovered close by. Tara +and Turan reclined beneath the scant shade of a small tree. They +watched the people coming and going through the gate. The party +of horsemen did not return. A small herd of zitidars was driven +into the city during the day, and once a caravan of broad-wheeled +carts drawn by these huge animals wound out of the distant +horizon and came down to the city. It, too, passed from their +sight within the gateway. Then darkness came and Tara of Helium +bid her panthan search for food and drink; but she cautioned him +against attempting to enter the city. Before he left her he bent +and kissed her hand as a warrior may kiss the hand of his queen. + + + +CHAPTER X + +ENTRAPPED + +TURAN the panthan approached the strange city under cover of the +darkness. He entertained little hope of finding either food or +water outside the wall, but he would try and then, if he failed, +he would attempt to make his way into the city, for Tara of +Helium must have sustenance and have it soon. He saw that the +walls were poorly sentineled, but they were sufficiently high to +render an attempt to scale them foredoomed to failure. Taking +advantage of underbrush and trees, Turan managed to reach the +base of the wall without detection. Silently he moved north past +the gateway which was closed by a massive gate which effectively +barred even the slightest glimpse within the city beyond. It was +Turan's hope to find upon the north side of the city away from +the hills a level plain where grew the crops of the inhabitants, +and here too water from their irrigating system, but though he +traveled far along that seemingly interminable wall he found no +fields nor any water. He searched also for some means of ingress +to the city, yet here, too, failure was his only reward, and now +as he went keen eyes watched him from above and a silent stalker +kept pace with him for a time upon the summit of the wall; but +presently the shadower descended to the pavement within and +hurrying swiftly raced ahead of the stranger without. + +He came presently to a small gate beside which was a low building +and before the doorway of the building a warrior standing guard. +He spoke a few quick words to the warrior and then entered the +building only to return almost immediately to the street, +followed by fully forty warriors. Cautiously opening the gate the +fellow peered carefully along the wall upon the outside in the +direction from which he had come. Evidently satisfied, he issued +a few words of instruction to those behind him, whereupon half +the warriors returned to the interior of the building, while the +other half followed the man stealthily through the gateway where +they crouched low among the shrubbery in a half circle just north +of the gateway which they had left open. Here they waited in +utter silence, nor had they long to wait before Turan the panthan +came cautiously along the base of the wall. To the very gate he +came and when he found it and that it was open he paused for a +moment, listening; then he approached and looked within. Assured +that there was none within sight to apprehend him he stepped +through the gateway into the city. + +He found himself in a narrow street that paralleled the wall. +Upon the opposite side rose buildings of an architecture unknown +to him, yet strangely beautiful. While the buildings were packed +closely together there seemed to be no two alike and their fronts +were of all shapes and heights and of many hues. The skyline was +broken by spire and dome and minaret and tall, slender towers, +while the walls supported many a balcony and in the soft light of +Cluros, the farther moon, now low in the west, he saw, to his +surprise and consternation, the figures of people upon the +balconies. Directly opposite him were two women and a man. They +sat leaning upon the rail of the balcony looking, apparently, +directly at him; but if they saw him they gave no sign. + +Turan hesitated a moment in the face of almost certain discovery +and then, assured that they must take him for one of their own +people, he moved boldly into the avenue. Having no idea of the +direction in which he might best hope to find what he sought, and +not wishing to arouse suspicion by further hesitation, he turned +to the left and stepped briskly along the pavement with the +intention of placing himself as quickly as possible beyond the +observation of those nocturnal watchers. He knew that the night +must be far spent; and so he could not but wonder why people +should sit upon their balconies when they should have been asleep +among their silks and furs. At first he had thought them the late +guests of some convivial host; but the windows behind them were +shrouded in darkness and utter quiet prevailed, quite upsetting +such a theory. And as he proceeded he passed many another group +sitting silently upon other balconies. They paid no attention to +him, seeming not even to note his passing. Some leaned with a +single elbow upon the rail, their chins resting in their palms; +others leaned upon both arms across the balcony, looking down +into the street, while several that he saw held musical +instruments in their hands, but their fingers moved not upon the +strings. + +And then Turan came to a point where the avenue turned to the +right, to skirt a building that jutted from the inside of the +city wall, and as he rounded the corner he came full upon two +warriors standing upon either side of the entrance to a building +upon his right. It was impossible for them not to be aware of his +presence, yet neither moved, nor gave other evidence that they +had seen him. He stood there waiting, his hand upon the hilt of +his long-sword, but they neither challenged nor halted him. Could +it be that these also thought him one of their own kind? Indeed +upon no other grounds could he explain their inaction. + +As Turan had passed through the gateway into the city and taken +his unhindered way along the avenue, twenty warriors had entered +the city and closed the gate behind them, and then one had taken +to the wall and followed along its summit in the rear of Turan, +and another had followed him along the avenue, while a third had +crossed the street and entered one of the buildings upon the +opposite side. + +The balance of them, with the exception of a single sentinel +beside the gate, had re-entered the building from which they had +been summoned. They were well built, strapping, painted fellows, +their naked figures covered now by gorgeous robes against the +chill of night. As they spoke of the stranger they laughed at the +ease with which they had tricked him, and were still laughing as +they threw themselves upon their sleeping silks and furs to +resume their broken slumber. It was evident that they constituted +a guard detailed for the gate beside which they slept, and it was +equally evident that the gates were guarded and the city watched +much more carefully than Turan had believed. Chagrined indeed had +been the Jed of Gathol had he dreamed that he was being so neatly +tricked. + +As Turan proceeded along the avenue he passed other sentries +beside other doors but now he gave them small heed, since they +neither challenged nor otherwise outwardly noted his passing; but +while at nearly every turn of the erratic avenue he passed one or +more of these silent sentinels he could not guess that he had +passed one of them many times and that his every move was watched +by silent, clever stalkers. Scarce had he passed a certain one of +these rigid guardsmen before the fellow awoke to sudden life, +bounded across the avenue, entered a narrow opening in the outer +wall where he swiftly followed a corridor built within the wall +itself until presently he emerged a little distance ahead of +Turan, where he assumed the stiff and silent attitude of a +soldier upon guard. Nor did Turan know that a second followed in +the shadows of the buildings behind him, nor of the third who +hastened ahead of him upon some urgent mission. + +And so the panthan moved through the silent streets of the +strange city in search of food and drink for the woman he loved. +Men and women looked down upon him from shadowy balconies, but +spoke not; and sentinels saw him pass and did not challenge. +Presently from along the avenue before him came the familiar +sound of clanking accouterments, the herald of marching warriors, +and almost simultaneously he saw upon his right an open doorway +dimly lighted from within. It was the only available place where +he might seek to hide from the approaching company, and while he +had passed several sentries unquestioned he could scarce hope to +escape scrutiny and questioning from a patrol, as he naturally +assumed this body of men to be. + +Inside the doorway he discovered a passage turning abruptly to +the right and almost immediately thereafter to the left. There +was none in sight within and so he stepped cautiously around the +second turn the more effectually to be hidden from the street. +Before him stretched a long corridor, dimly lighted like the +entrance. Waiting there he heard the party approach the building, +he heard someone at the entrance to his hiding place, and then he +heard the door past which he had come slam to. He laid his hand +upon his sword, expecting momentarily to hear footsteps +approaching along the corridor; but none came. He approached the +turn and looked around it; the corridor was empty to the closed +door. Whoever had closed it had remained upon the outside. + +Turan waited, listening. He heard no sound. Then he advanced to +the door and placed an ear against it. All was silence in the +street beyond. A sudden draft must have closed the door, or +perhaps it was the duty of the patrol to see to such things. It +was immaterial. They had evidently passed on and now he would +return to the street and continue upon his way. Somewhere there +would be a public fountain where he could obtain water, and the +chance of food lay in the strings of dried vegetables and meat +which hung before the doorways of nearly every Barsoomian home of +the poorer classes that he had ever seen. It was this district he +was seeking, and it was for this reason his search had led him +away from the main gate of the city which he knew would not be +located in a poor district. + +He attempted to open the door only to find that it resisted his +every effort--it was locked upon the outside. Here indeed was a +sorry contretemps. Turan the panthan scratched his head. "Fortune +frowns upon me," he murmured; but beyond the door, Fate, in the +form of a painted warrior, stood smiling. Neatly had he tricked +the unwary stranger. The lighted doorway, the marching +patrol--these had been planned and timed to a nicety by the third +warrior who had sped ahead of Turan along another avenue, and the +stranger had done precisely what the fellow had thought he would +do--no wonder, then, that he smiled. + +This exit barred to him Turan turned back into the corridor. He +followed it cautiously and silently. Occasionally there was a +door on one side or the other. These he tried only to find each +securely locked. The corridor wound more erratically the farther +he advanced. A locked door barred his way at its end, but a door +upon his right opened and he stepped into a dimly-lighted +chamber, about the walls of which were three other doors, each of +which he tried in turn. Two were locked; the other opened upon a +runway leading downward. It was spiral and he could see no +farther than the first turn. A door in the corridor he had +quitted opened after he had passed, and the third warrior stepped +out and followed after him. A faint smile still lingered upon the +fellow's grim lips. + +Turan drew his short-sword and cautiously descended. At the +bottom was a short corridor with a closed door at the end. He +approached the single heavy panel and listened. No sound came to +him from beyond the mysterious portal. Gently he tried the door, +which swung easily toward him at his touch. Before him was a +low-ceiled chamber with a dirt floor. Set in its walls were +several other doors and all were closed. As Turan stepped +cautiously within, the third warrior descended the spiral runway +behind him. The panthan crossed the room quickly and tried a +door. It was locked. He heard a muffled click behind him and +turned about with ready sword. He was alone; but the door through +which he had entered was closed--it was the click of its lock +that he had heard. + +With a bound he crossed the room and attempted to open it; but to +no avail. No longer did he seek silence, for he knew now that the +thing had gone beyond the sphere of chance. He threw his weight +against the wooden panel; but the thick skeel of which it was +constructed would have withstood a battering ram. From beyond +came a low laugh. + +Rapidly Turan examined each of the other doors. They were all +locked. A glance about the chamber revealed a wooden table and a +bench. Set in the walls were several heavy rings to which rusty +chains were attached--all too significant of the purpose to which +the room was dedicated. In the dirt floor near the wall were two +or three holes resembling the mouths of burrows--doubtless the +habitat of the giant Martian rat. He had observed this much when +suddenly the dim light was extinguished, leaving him in darkness +utter and complete. Turan, groping about, sought the table and +the bench. Placing the latter against the wall he drew the table +in front of him and sat down upon the bench, his long-sword +gripped in readiness before him. At least they should fight +before they took him. + +For some time he sat there waiting for he knew not what. No sound +penetrated to his subterranean dungeon. He slowly revolved in his +mind the incidents of the evening--the open, unguarded gate; the +lighted doorway--the only one he had seen thus open and lighted +along the avenue he had followed; the advance of the warriors at +precisely the moment that he could find no other avenue of escape +or concealment; the corridors and chambers that led past many +locked doors to this underground prison leaving no other path for +him to pursue. + +"By my first ancestor!" he swore; "but it was simple and I a +simpleton. They tricked me neatly and have taken me without +exposing themselves to a scratch; but for what purpose?" + +He wished that he might answer that question and then his +thoughts turned to the girl waiting there on the hill beyond the +city for him--and he would never come. He knew the ways of the +more savage peoples of Barsoom. No, he would never come, now. He +had disobeyed her. He smiled at the sweet recollection of those +words of command that had fallen from her dear lips. He had +disobeyed her and now he had lost the reward. + +But what of her? What now would be her fate--starving before a +hostile city with only an inhuman kaldane for company? Another +thought--a horrid thought--obtruded itself upon him. She had told +him of the hideous sights she had witnessed in the burrows of the +kaldanes and he knew that they ate human flesh. Ghek was +starving. Should he eat his rykor he would be helpless; +but--there was sustenance there for them both, for the rykor and +the kaldane. Turan cursed himself for a fool. Why had he left +her? Far better to have remained and died with her, ready always +to protect her, than to have left her at the mercy of the hideous +Bantoomian. + +Now Turan detected a heavy odor in the air. It oppressed him with +a feeling of drowsiness. He would have risen to fight off the +creeping lethargy, but his legs seemed weak, so that he sank +again to the bench. Presently his sword slipped from his fingers +and he sprawled forward upon the table his head resting upon his +arms. + + +Tara of Helium, as the night wore on and Turan did not return, +became more and more uneasy, and when dawn broke with no sign of +him she guessed that he had failed. Something more than her own +unhappy predicament brought a feeling of sorrow to her heart--of +sorrow and loneliness. She realized now how she had come to +depend upon this panthan not only for protection but for +companionship as well. She missed him, and in missing him +realized suddenly that he had meant more to her than a mere hired +warrior. It was as though a friend had been taken from her--an +old and valued friend. She rose from her place of concealment +that she might have a better view of the city. + +U-Dor, dwar of the 8th Utan of O-Tar, Jeddak of Manator, rode +back in the early dawn toward Manator from a brief excursion to a +neighboring village. As he was rounding the hills south of the +city, his keen eyes were attracted by a slight movement among the +shrubbery close to the summit of the nearest hill. He halted his +vicious mount and watched more closely. He saw a figure rise +facing away from him and peer down toward Manator beyond the +hill. + +"Come!" he signalled to his followers, and with a word to this +thoat turned the beast at a rapid gallop up the hillside. In his +wake swept his twenty savage warriors, the padded feet of their +mounts soundless upon the soft turf. It was the rattle of +sidearms and harness that brought Tara of Helium suddenly about, +facing them. She saw a score of warriors with couched lances +bearing down upon her. + +She glanced at Ghek. What would the spiderman do in this +emergency? She saw him crawl to his rykor and attach himself. +Then he arose, the beautiful body once again animated and alert. +She thought that the creature was preparing for flight. Well, it +made little difference to her. Against such as were streaming up +the hill toward them a single mediocre swordsman such as Ghek was +worse than no defense at all. + +"Hurry, Ghek!" she admonished him. "Back into the hills! You may +find there a hiding-place;" but the creature only stepped between +her and the oncoming riders, drawing his long-sword. + +"It is useless, Ghek," she said, when she saw that he intended to +defend her. "What can a single sword accomplish against such +odds?" + +"I can die but once," replied the kaldane. "You and your panthan +saved me from Luud and I but do what your panthan would do were +he here to protect you." + +"It is brave, but it is useless," she replied. "Sheathe your +sword. They may not intend us harm." + +Ghek let the point of his weapon drop to the ground, but he did +not sheathe it, and thus the two stood waiting as U-Dor the dwar +stopped his thoat before them while his twenty warriors formed a +rough circle about. For a long minute U-Dor sat his mount in +silence, looking searchingly first at Tara of Helium and then at +her hideous companion. + +"What manner of creature are you?" he asked presently. "And what +do you before the gates of Manator?" + +"We are from far countries," replied the girl, "and we are lost +and starving. We ask only food and rest and the privilege to go +our way seeking our own homes." + +U-Dor smiled a grim smile. "Manator and the hills which guard it +alone know the age of Manator," he said; "yet in all the ages +that have rolled by since Manator first was, there be no record +in the annals of Manator of a stranger departing from Manator." + +"But I am a princess," cried the girl haughtily, "and my country +is not at war with yours. You must give me and my companions aid +and assist us to return to our own land. It is the law of +Barsoom." + +"Manator knows only the laws of Manator," replied U-Dor; "but +come. You shall go with us to the city, where you, being +beautiful, need have no fear. I, myself, will protect you if +O-Tar so decrees. And as for your companion--but hold! You said +'companions'--there are others of your party then?" + +"You see what you see," replied Tara haughtily. + +"Be that as it may," said U-Dor. "If there be more they shall not +escape Manator; but as I was saying, if your companion fights +well he too may live, for O-Tar is just, and just are the laws of +Manator. Come!" + +Ghek demurred. + + "It is useless," said the girl, seeing that he would have stood +his ground and fought them. "Let us go with them. Why pit your +puny blade against their mighty ones when there should lie in +your great brain the means to outwit them?" She spoke in a low +whisper, rapidly. + +"You are right, Tara of Helium," he replied and sheathed his +sword. + +And so they moved down the hillside toward the gates of +Manator--Tara, Princess of Helium, and Ghek, the kaldane of +Bantoom--and surrounding them rode the savage, painted warriors +of U-Dor, dwar of the 8th Utan of O-Tar, Jeddak of Manator. + + + +CHAPTER XI + +THE CHOICE OF TARA + +THE dazzling sunlight of Barsoom clothed Manator in an aureole of +splendor as the girl and her captors rode into the city through +The Gate of Enemies. Here the wall was some fifty feet thick, and +the sides of the passageway within the gate were covered with +parallel shelves of masonry from bottom to top. Within these +shelves, or long, horizontal niches, stood row upon row of small +figures, appearing like tiny, grotesque statuettes of men, their +long, black hair falling below their feet and sometimes trailing +to the shelf beneath. The figures were scarce a foot in height +and but for their diminutive proportions might have been the +mummified bodies of once living men. The girl noticed that as +they passed, the warriors saluted the figures with their spears +after the manner of Barsoomian fighting men in extending a +military courtesy, and then they rode on into the avenue beyond, +which ran, wide and stately, through the city toward the east. + +On either side were great buildings wondrously wrought. Paintings +of great beauty and antiquity covered many of the walls, their +colors softened and blended by the suns of ages. Upon the +pavement the life of the newly-awakened city was already afoot. +Women in brilliant trappings, befeathered warriors, their bodies +daubed with paint; artisans, armed but less gaily caparisoned, +took their various ways upon the duties of the day. A giant +zitidar, magnificent in rich harness, rumbled its broad-wheeled +cart along the stone pavement toward The Gate of Enemies. Life +and color and beauty wrought together a picture that filled the +eyes of Tara of Helium with wonder and with admiration, for here +was a scene out of the dead past of dying Mars. Such had been the +cities of the founders of her race before Throxeus, mightiest of +oceans, had disappeared from the face of a world. And from +balconies on either side men and women looked down in silence +upon the scene below. + +The people in the street looked at the two prisoners, especially +at the hideous Ghek, and called out in question or comment to +their guard; but the watchers upon the balconies spoke not, nor +did one so much as turn a head to note their passing. There were +many balconies on each building and not a one that did not hold +its silent party of richly trapped men and women, with here and +there a child or two, but even the children maintained the +uniform silence and immobility of their elders. As they +approached the center of the city the girl saw that even the +roofs bore companies of these idle watchers, harnessed and +bejeweled as for some gala-day of laughter and music, but no +laughter broke from those silent lips, nor any music from the +strings of the instruments that many of them held in jeweled +fingers. + +And now the avenue widened into an immense square, at the far end +of which rose a stately edifice gleaming white in virgin marble +among the gaily painted buildings surrounding it and its scarlet +sward and gaily-flowering, green-foliaged shrubbery. Toward this +U-Dor led his prisoners and their guard to the great arched +entrance before which a line of fifty mounted warriors barred the +way. When the commander of the guard recognized U-Dor the +guardsmen fell back to either side leaving a broad avenue through +which the party passed. Directly inside the entrance were +inclined runways leading upward on either side. U-Dor turned to +the left and led them upward to the second floor and down a long +corridor. Here they passed other mounted men and in chambers upon +either side they saw more. Occasionally there was another runway +leading either up or down. A warrior, his steed at full gallop, +dashed into sight from one of these and raced swiftly past them +upon some errand. + +Nowhere as yet had Tara of Helium seen a man afoot in this great +building; but when at a turn, U-Dor led them to the third floor +she caught glimpses of chambers in which many riderless thoats +were penned and others adjoining where dismounted warriors lolled +at ease or played games of skill or chance and many there were +who played at jetan, and then the party passed into a long, wide +hall of state, as magnificent an apartment as even a princess of +mighty Helium ever had seen. The length of the room ran an arched +ceiling ablaze with countless radium bulbs. The mighty spans +extended from wall to wall leaving the vast floor unbroken by a +single column. The arches were of white marble, apparently +quarried in single, huge blocks from which each arch was cut +complete. Between the arches, the ceiling was set solid about the +radium bulbs with precious stones whose scintillant fire and +color and beauty filled the whole apartment. The stones were +carried down the walls in an irregular fringe for a few feet, +where they appeared to hang like a beautiful and gorgeous drapery +against the white marble of the wall. The marble ended some six +or seven feet from the floor, the walls from that point down +being wainscoted in solid gold. The floor itself was of marble +richly inlaid with gold. In that single room was a vast treasure +equal to the wealth of many a large city. + +But what riveted the girl's attention even more than the fabulous +treasure of decorations were the files of gorgeously harnessed +warriors who sat their thoats in grim silence and immobility on +either side of the central aisle, rank after rank of them to the +farther walls, and as the party passed between them she could not +note so much as the flicker of an eyelid, or the twitching of a +thoat's ear. + +"The Hall of Chiefs," whispered one of her guard, evidently +noting her interest. There was a note of pride in the fellow's +voice and something of hushed awe. Then they passed through a +great doorway into the chamber beyond, a large, square room in +which a dozen mounted warriors lolled in their saddles. + +As U-Dor and his party entered the room, the warriors came +quickly erect in their saddles and formed a line before another +door upon the opposite side of the wall. The padwar commanding +them saluted U-Dor who, with his party, had halted facing the +guard. + +"Send one to O-Tar announcing that U-Dor brings two prisoners +worthy of the observation of the great jeddak," said U-Dor; "one +because of her extreme beauty, the other because of his extreme +ugliness." + +"O-Tar sits in council with the lesser chiefs," replied the +lieutenant; "but the words of U-Dor the dwar shall be carried to +him," and he turned and gave instructions to one who sat his +thoat behind him. + +"What manner of creature is the male?" he asked of U-Dor. "It +cannot be that both are of one race." + +"They were together in the hills south of the city," explained +U-Dor, "and they say that they are lost and starving." + +"The woman is beautiful," said the padwar. "She will not long go +begging in the city of Manator," and then they spoke of other +matters--of the doings of the palace, of the expedition of U-Dor, +until the messenger returned to say that O-Tar bade them bring +the prisoners to him. + +They passed then through a massive doorway, which, when opened, +revealed the great council chamber of O-Tar, Jeddak of Manator, +beyond. A central aisle led from the doorway the full length of +the great hall, terminating at the steps of a marble dais upon +which a man sat in a great throne-chair. Upon either side of the +aisle were ranged rows of highly carved desks and chairs of skeel +a hard wood of great beauty. Only a few of the desks were +occupied--those in the front row, just below the rostrum. + +At the entrance U-Dor dismounted with four of his followers who +formed a guard about the two prisoners who were then conducted +toward the foot of the throne, following a few paces behind +U-Dor. As they halted at the foot of the marble steps, the proud +gaze of Tara of Helium rested upon the enthroned figure of the +man above her. He sat erect without stiffness--a commanding +presence trapped in the barbaric splendor that the Barsoomian +chieftain loves. He was a large man, the perfection of whose +handsome face was marred only by the hauteur of his cold eyes and +the suggestion of cruelty imparted by too thin lips. It needed no +second glance to assure the least observing that here indeed was +a ruler of men--a fighting jeddak whose people might worship but +not love, and for whose slightest favor warriors would vie with +one another to go forth and die. This was O-Tar, Jeddak of +Manator, and as Tara of Helium saw him for the first time she +could not but acknowledge a certain admiration for this savage +chieftain who so virilely personified the ancient virtues of the +God of War. + +U-Dor and the jeddak interchanged the simple greetings of +Barsoom, and then the former recounted the details of the +discovery and capture of the prisoners. O-Tar scrutinized them +both intently during U-Dor's narration of events, his expression +revealing naught of what passed in the brain behind those +inscrutable eyes. When the officer had finished the jeddak +fastened his gaze upon Ghek. + +"And you," he asked, "what manner of thing are you? From what +country? Why are you in Manator?" + +"I am a kaldane," replied Ghek; "the highest type of created +creature upon the face of Barsoom; I am mind, you are matter. I +come from Bantoom. I am here because we were lost and starving." + +"And you!" O-Tar turned suddenly on Tara "You, too, are a +kaldane?" + +"I am a princess of Helium," replied the girl. "I was a prisoner +in Bantoom. This kaldane and a warrior of my own race rescued me. +The warrior left us to search for food and water. He has +doubtless fallen into the hands of your people. I ask you to free +him and give us food and drink and let us go upon our way. I am a +granddaughter of a jeddak, the daughter of a jeddak of jeddaks, +The Warlord of Barsoom. I ask only the treatment that my people +would accord you or yours." + +"Helium," repeated O-Tar. "I know naught of Helium, nor does the +Jeddak of Helium rule Manator. I, O-Tar, am Jeddak of Manator. I +alone rule. I protect my own. You have never seen a woman or a +warrior of Manator captive in Helium! Why should I protect the +people of another jeddak? It is his duty to protect them. If he +cannot, he is weak, and his people must fall into the hands of +the strong. I, O-Tar, am strong. I will keep you. That--" he +pointed at Ghek--"can it fight?" + +"It is brave," replied Tara of Helium, "but it has not the skill +at arms which my people possess." + +"There is none then to fight for you?" asked O-Tar. "We are a +just people," he continued without waiting for a reply, "and had +you one to fight for you he might win to freedom for himself and +you as well." + +"But U-Dor assured me that no stranger ever had departed from +Manator," she answered. + +O-Tar shrugged. "That does not disprove the justice of the laws +of Manator," replied O-Tar, "but rather that the warriors of +Manator are invincible. Had there come one who could defeat our +warriors that one had won to liberty." + +"And you fetch my warrior," cried Tara haughtily, "you shall see +such swordplay as doubtless the crumbling walls of your decaying +city never have witnessed, and if there be no trick in your offer +we are already as good as free." + +O-Tar smiled more broadly than before and U-Dor smiled, too, and +the chiefs and warriors who looked on nudged one another and +whispered, laughing. And Tara of Helium knew then that there was +trickery in their justice; but though her situation seemed +hopeless she did not cease to hope, for was she not the daughter +of John Carter, Warlord of Barsoom, whose famous challenge to +Fate, "I still live!" remained the one irreducible defense +against despair? At thought of her noble sire the patrician chin +of Tara of Helium rose a shade higher. Ah! if he but knew where +she was there were little to fear then. The hosts of Helium would +batter at the gates of Manator, the great green warriors of John +Carter's savage allies would swarm up from the dead sea bottoms +lusting for pillage and for loot, the stately ships of her +beloved navy would soar above the unprotected towers and minarets +of the doomed city which only capitulation and heavy tribute +could then save. + +But John Carter did not know! There was only one other to whom +she might hope to look--Turan the panthan; but where was he? She +had seen his sword in play and she knew that it had been wielded +by a master hand, and who should know swordplay better than Tara +of Helium, who had learned it well under the constant tutorage of +John Carter himself. Tricks she knew that discounted even far +greater physical prowess than her own, and a method of attack +that might have been at once the envy and despair of the +cleverest of warriors. And so it was that her thoughts turned to +Turan the panthan, though not alone because of the protection he +might afford her. She had realized, since he had left her in +search of food, that there had grown between them a certain +comradeship that she now missed. There had been that about him +which seemed to have bridged the gulf between their stations in +life. With him she had failed to consider that he was a panthan +or that she was a princess--they had been comrades. Suddenly she +realized that she missed him for himself more than for his sword. +She turned toward O-Tar. + +"Where is Turan, my warrior?" she demanded. + +"You shall not lack for warriors," replied the jeddak. "One of +your beauty will find plenty ready to fight for her. Possibly it +shall not be necessary to look farther than the jeddak of +Manator. You please me, woman. What say you to such an honor?" + +Through narrowed lids the Princess of Helium scrutinized the +Jeddak of Manator, from feathered headdress to sandaled foot and +back to feathered headdress. + +"'Honor'!" she mimicked in tones of scorn. "I please thee, do I? +Then know, swine, that thou pleaseth me not--that the daughter of +John Carter is not for such as thou!" + +A sudden, tense silence fell upon the assembled chiefs. Slowly +the blood receded from the sinister face of O-Tar, Jeddak of +Manator, leaving him a sickly purple in his wrath. His eyes +narrowed to two thin slits, his lips were compressed to a +bloodless line of malevolence. For a long moment there was no +sound in the throne room of the palace at Manator. Then the +jeddak turned toward U-Dor. + +"Take her away," he said in a level voice that belied his +appearance of rage. "Take her away, and at the next games let the +prisoners and the common warriors play at Jetan for her." + +"And this?" asked U-Dor, pointing at Ghek. + +"To the pits until the next games," replied O-Tar. + +"So this is your vaunted justice!" cried Tara of Helium; "that +two strangers who have not wronged you shall be sentenced without +trial? And one of them is a woman. The swine of Manator are as +just as they are brave." + +"Away with her!" shouted O-Tar, and at a sign from U-Dor the +guards formed about the two prisoners and conducted them from the +chamber. + +Outside the palace, Ghek and Tara of Helium were separated. The +girl was led through long avenues toward the center of the city +and finally into a low building, topped by lofty towers of +massive construction. Here she was turned over to a warrior who +wore the insignia of a dwar, or captain. + +"It is O-Tar's wish," explained U-Dor to this one, "that she be +kept until the next games, when the prisoners and the common +warriors shall play for her. Had she not the tongue of a thoat +she had been a worthy stake for our noblest steel," and U-Dor +sighed. "Perhaps even yet I may win a pardon for her. It were too +bad to see such beauty fall to the lot of some common fellow. I +would have honored her myself." + +"If I am to be imprisoned, imprison me," said the girl. "I do not +recall that I was sentenced to listen to the insults of every +low-born boor who chanced to admire me." + +"You see, A-Kor," cried U-Dor, "the tongue that she has. Even so +and worse spoke she to O-Tar the jeddak." + +"I see," replied A-Kor, whom Tara saw was with difficulty +restraining a smile. "Come, then, with me, woman," he said, "and +we shall find a safe place within The Towers of Jetan--but stay! +what ails thee?" + +The girl had staggered and would have fallen had not the man +caught her in his arms. She seemed to gather herself then and +bravely sought to stand erect without support. A-Kor glanced at +U-Dor. "Knew you the woman was ill?" he asked. + +"Possibly it is lack of food," replied the other. "She mentioned, +I believe, that she and her companions had not eaten for several +days." + +"Brave are the warriors of O-Tar," sneered A-Kor; "lavish their +hospitality. U-Dor, whose riches are uncounted, and the brave +O-Tar, whose squealing thoats are stabled within marble halls and +fed from troughs of gold, can spare no crust to feed a starving +girl." + +The black haired U-Dor. scowled. "Thy tongue will yet pierce thy +heart, son of a slave!" he cried. "Once too often mayst thus try +the patience of the just O-Tar. Hereafter guard thy speech as +well as thy towers." + +"Think not to taunt me with my mother's state," said A-Kor. "'Tis +the blood of the slave woman that fills my veins with pride, and +my only shame is that I am also the son of thy jeddak." + +"And O-Tar heard this?" queried U-Dor. + +"O-Tar has already heard it from my own lips," replied A-Kor; +"this, and more." + +He turned upon his heel, a supporting arm still around the waist +of Tara of Helium and thus he half led, half carried her into The +Towers of Jetan, while U-Dor wheeled his thoat and galloped back +in the direction of the palace. + +Within the main entrance to The Tower of Jetan lolled a +half-dozen warriors. To one of these spoke A-Kor, keeper of the +towers. "Fetch Lan-O, the slave girl, and bid her bring food and +drink to the upper level of the Thurian tower," then he lifted +the half-fainting girl in his arms and bore her along the spiral, +inclined runway that led upward within the tower. + +Somewhere in the long ascent Tara lost consciousness. When it +returned she found herself in a large, circular chamber, the +stone walls of which were pierced by windows at regular intervals +about the entire circumference of the room. She was lying upon a +pile of sleeping silks and furs while there knelt above her a +young woman who was forcing drops of some cooling beverage +between her parched lips. Tara of Helium half rose upon an elbow +and looked about. In the first moments of returning consciousness +there were swept from the screen of recollection the happenings +of many weeks. She thought that she awoke in the palace of The +Warlord at Helium. Her brows knit as she scrutinized the strange +face bending over her. + +"Who are you?" she asked, and, "Where is Uthia?" + +"I am Lan-O the slave girl," replied the other. "I know none by +the name of Uthia." + +Tara of Helium sat erect and looked about her. This rough stone +was not the marble of her father's halls. "Where am I?" she +asked. + +"In The Thurian Tower," replied the girl, and then seeing that +the other still did not understand she guessed the truth. "You +are a prisoner in The Towers of Jetan in the city of Manator," +she explained. "You were brought to this chamber, weak and +fainting, by A-Kor, Dwar of The Towers of Jetan, who sent me to +you with food and drink, for kind is the heart of A-Kor." + +"I remember, now," said Tara, slowly. "I remember; but where is +Turan, my warrior? Did they speak of him?" + +"I heard naught of another," replied Lan-O; "you alone were +brought to the towers. In that you are fortunate, for there be no +nobler man in Manator than A-Kor. It is his mother's blood that +makes him so. She was a slave girl from Gathol." + +"Gathol!" exclaimed Tara of Helium. "Lies Gathol close by +Manator?" + +"Not close, yet still the nearest country," replied Lan-O. "About +twenty-two degrees* east, it lies." + +* Approximately 814 Earth Miles. + + +"Gathol!" murmured Tara, "Far Gathol!" + +"But you are not from Gathol," said the slave girl; "your harness +is not of Gathol." + +"I am from Helium," said Tara + +"It is far from Helium to Gathol;" said the slave girl, "but +in our studies we learned much of the greatness of Helium, we of +Gathol, so it seems not so far away." + +"You, too, are from Gathol?" asked Tara. + +"Many of us are from Gathol who are slaves in Manator," replied +the girl. "It is to Gathol, nearest country, that the Manatorians +look for slaves most often. They go in great numbers at intervals +of three or seven years and haunt the roads that lead to Gathol, +and thus they capture whole caravans leaving none to bear warning +to Gathol of their fate. Nor do any ever escape from Manator to +carry word of us back to Gahan our jed." + +Tara of Helium ate slowly and in silence. The girl's words +aroused memories of the last hours she had spent in her father's +palace and the great midday function at which she had met Gahan +of Gathol. Even now she flushed as she recalled his daring words. + +Upon her reveries the door opened and a burly warrior appeared in +the opening--a hulking fellow, with thick lips and an evil, +leering face. The slave girl sprang to her feet, facing him. + +"What does this mean, E-Med?" she cried, "was it not the will of +A-Kor that this woman be not disturbed?" + +"The will of A-Kor, indeed!" and the man sneered. "The will of +A-Kor is without power in The Towers of Jetan, or elsewhere, for +A-Kor lies now in the pits of O-Tar, and E-Med is dwar of the +Towers." + +Tara of Helium saw the face of the slave girl pale and the terror +in her eyes. + + + +CHAPTER XII + +GHEK PLAYS PRANKS + +WHILE Tara of Helium was being led to The Towers of Jetan, Ghek +was escorted to the pits beneath the palace where he was +imprisoned in a dimly-lighted chamber. Here he found a bench and +a table standing upon the dirt floor near the wall, and set in +the wall several rings from which depended short lengths of +chain. At the base of the walls were several holes in the dirt +floor. These, alone, of the several things he saw, interested +him. Ghek sat down upon the bench and waited in silence, +listening. Presently the lights were extinguished. If Ghek could +have smiled he would have then, for Ghek could see as well in the +dark as in the light--better, perhaps. He watched the dark +openings of the holes in the floor and waited. Presently he +detected a change in the air about him--it grew heavy with a +strange odor, and once again might Ghek have smiled, could he +have smiled. + +Let them replace all the air in the chamber with their most +deadly fumes; it would be all the same to Ghek, the kaldane, who, +having no lungs, required no air. With the rykor it might be +different. Deprived of air it would die; but if only a sufficient +amount of the gas was introduced to stupefy an ordinary creature +it would have no effect upon the rykor, who had no objective mind +to overcome. So long as the excess of carbon dioxide in the blood +was not sufficient to prevent heart action, the rykor would +suffer only a diminution of vitality; but would still respond to +the exciting agency of the kaldane's brain. + +Ghek caused the rykor to assume a sitting position with its back +against the wall where it might remain without direction from his +brain. Then he released his contact with its spinal cord; but +remained in position upon its shoulders, waiting and watching, +for the kaldane's curiosity was aroused. He had not long to wait +before the lights were flashed on arid one of the locked doors +opened to admit a half-dozen warriors. They approached him +rapidly and worked quickly. First they removed all his weapons +and then, snapping a fetter about one of the rykor's ankles, +secured him to the end of one of the chains hanging from the +walls. Next they dragged the long table to a new position and +there bolted it to the floor so that an end, instead of the +middle, was directly before the prisoner. On the table before him +they set food and water and upon the opposite end of the table +they laid the key to the fetter. Then they unlocked and opened +all the doors and departed. + + +When Turan the panthan regained consciousness it was to the +realization of a sharp pain in one of his forearms. The effects +of the gas departed as rapidly as they had overcome him so that +as he opened his eyes he was in full possession of all his +faculties. The lights were on again and in their glow there was +revealed to the man the figure of a giant Martian rat crouching +upon the table and gnawing upon his arm. Snatching his arm away +he reached for his short-sword, while the rat, growling, sought +to seize his arm again. It was then that Turan discovered that +his weapons had been removed--short-sword, long-sword, dagger, +and pistol. The rat charged him then and striking the creature +away with his hand the man rose and backed off, searching for +something with which to strike a harder blow. Again the rat +charged and as Turan stepped quickly back to avoid the menacing +jaws, something seemed to jerk suddenly upon his right ankle, and +as he drew his left foot back to regain his equilibrium his heel +caught upon a taut chain and he fell heavily backward to the +floor just as the rat leaped upon his breast and sought his +throat. + +The Martian rat is a fierce and unlovely thing. It is many-legged +and hairless, its hide resembling that of a newborn mouse in +repulsiveness. In size and weight it is comparable to a large +Airedale terrier. Its eyes are small and close-set, and almost +hidden in deep, fleshy apertures. But its most ferocious and +repulsive feature is its jaws, the entire bony structure of which +protrudes several inches beyond the flesh, revealing five sharp, +spadelike teeth in the upper jaw and the same number of similar +teeth in the lower, the whole suggesting the appearance of a +rotting face from which much of the flesh has sloughed away. + +It was such a thing that leaped upon the breast of the panthan to +tear at his jugular. Twice Turan struck it away as he sought to +regain his feet, but both times it returned with increased +ferocity to renew the attack. Its only weapons are its jaws since +its broad, splay feet are armed with blunt talons. With its +protruding jaws it excavates its winding burrows and with its +broad feet it pushes the dirt behind it. To keep the jaws from +his flesh then was Turan's only concern and this he succeeded in +doing until chance gave him a hold upon the creature's throat. +After that the end was but a matter of moments. Rising at last he +flung the lifeless thing from him with a shudder of disgust. + +Now he turned his attention to a hurried inventory of the new +conditions which surrounded him since the moment of his +incarceration. He realized vaguely what had happened. He had been +anaesthetized and stripped of his weapons, and as he rose to his +feet he saw that one ankle was fettered to a chain in the wall. +He looked about the room. All the doors swung wide open! His +captors would render his imprisonment the more cruel by leaving +ever before him tempting glimpses of open aisles to the freedom +he could not attain. Upon the end of the table and within easy +reach was food and drink. This at least was attainable and at +sight of it his starved stomach seemed almost to cry aloud for +sustenance. It was with difficulty that he ate and drank in +moderation. + +As he devoured the food his eyes wandered about the confines of +his prison until suddenly they seized upon a thing that lay on +the table at the end farthest from him. It was a key. He raised +his fettered ankle and examined the lock. There could be no doubt +of it! The key that lay there on the table before him was the key +to that very lock. A careless warrior had laid it there and +departed, forgetting. + +Hope surged high in the breast of Gahan of Gathol, of Turan the +panthan. Furtively his eyes sought the open doorways. There was +no one in sight. Ah, if he could but gain his freedom! He would +find some way from this odious city back to her side and never +again would he leave her until he had won safety for her or death +for himself. + +He rose and moved cautiously toward the opposite end of the table +where lay the coveted key. The fettered ankle halted his first +step, but he stretched at full length along the table, extending +eager fingers toward the prize. They almost laid hold upon it--a +little more and they would touch it. He strained and stretched, +but still the thing lay just beyond his reach. He hurled himself +forward until the iron fetter bit deep into his flesh, but all +futilely. He sat back upon the bench then and glared at the open +doors and the key, realizing now that they were part of a +well-laid scheme of refined torture, none the less demoralizing +because it inflicted no physical suffering. + +For just a moment the man gave way to useless regret and +foreboding, then he gathered himself together, his brows cleared, +and he returned to his unfinished meal. At least they should not +have the satisfaction of knowing how sorely they had hit him. As +he ate it occurred to him that by dragging the table along the +floor he could bring the key within his reach, but when he +essayed to do so, he found that the table had been securely +bolted to the floor during the period of his unconsciousness, +Again Gahan smiled and shrugged and resumed his eating. + + +When the warriors had departed from the prison in which Ghek was +confined, the kaldane crawled from the shoulders of the rykor to +the table. Here he drank a little water and then directed the +hands of the rykor to the balance of it and to the food, upon +which the brainless thing fell with avidity. While it was thus +engaged Ghek took his spider-like way along the table to the +opposite end where lay the key to the fetter. Seizing it in a +chela he leaped to the floor and scurried rapidly toward the +mouth of one of the burrows against the wall, into which he +disappeared. For long had the brain been contemplating these +burrow entrances. They appealed to his kaldanean tastes, and +further, they pointed a hiding place for the key and a lair for +the only kind of food that the kaldane relished--flesh and blood. + +Ghek had never seen an ulsio, since these great Martian rats had +long ago disappeared from Bantoom, their flesh and blood having +been greatly relished by the kaldanes; but Ghek had inherited, +almost unimpaired, every memory of every ancestor, and so he knew +that ulsio inhabited these lairs and that ulsio was good to eat, +and he knew what ulsio looked like and what his habits were, +though he had never seen him nor any picture of him. As we breed +animals for the transmission of physical attributes, so the +Kaldanes breed themselves for the transmission of attributes of +the mind, including memory and the power of recollection, and +thus have they raised what we term instinct, above the level of +the threshold of the objective mind where it may be commanded and +utilized by recollection. Doubtless in our own subjective minds +lie many of the impressions and experiences of our forebears. +These may impinge upon our consciousness in dreams only, or in +vague, haunting suggestions that we have before experienced some +transient phase of our present existence. Ah, if we had but the +power to recall them! Before us would unfold the forgotten story +of the lost eons that have preceded us. We might even walk with +God in the garden of His stars while man was still but a budding +idea within His mind. + +Ghek descended into the burrow at a steep incline for some ten +feet, when he found himself in an elaborate and delightful +network of burrows! The kaldane was elated. This indeed was life! +He moved rapidly and fearlessly and he went as straight to his +goal as you could to the kitchen of your own home. This goal lay +at a low level in a spheroidal cavity about the size of a large +barrel. Here, in a nest of torn bits of silk and fur lay six baby +ulsios. + +When the mother returned there were but five babies and a great +spider-like creature, which she immediately sprang to attack only +to be met by powerful chelae which seized and held her so that +she could not move. Slowly they dragged her throat toward a +hideous mouth and in a little moment she was dead. + +Ghek might have remained in the nest for a long time, since there +was ample food for many days; but he did not do so. Instead he +explored the burrows. He followed them into many subterranean +chambers of the city of Manator, and upward through walls to +rooms above the ground. He found many ingeniously devised traps, +and he found poisoned food and other signs of the constant battle +that the inhabitants of Manator waged against these repulsive +creatures that dwelt beneath their homes and public buildings. + +His exploration revealed not only the vast proportions of the +net-work of runways that apparently traversed every portion of +the city, but the great antiquity of the majority of them. Tons +upon tons of dirt must have been removed, and for a long time he +wondered where it had been deposited, until in following downward +a tunnel of great size and length he sensed before him the +thunderous rush of subterranean waters, and presently came to the +bank of a great, underground river, tumbling onward, no doubt, +the length of a world to the buried sea of Omean. Into this +torrential sewer had unthinkable generations of ulsios pushed +their few handsful of dirt in the excavating of their vast +labyrinth. + +For only a moment did Ghek tarry by the river, for his seemingly +aimless wanderings were in reality prompted by a definite +purpose, and this he pursued with vigor and singleness of design. +He followed such runways as appeared to terminate in the pits or +other chambers of the inhabitants of the city, and these he +explored, usually from the safety of a burrow's mouth, until +satisfied that what he sought was not there. He moved swiftly +upon his spider legs and covered remarkable distances in short +periods of time. + +His search not being rewarded with immediate success, he decided +to return to the pit where his rykor lay chained and look to its +wants. As he approached the end of the burrow that terminated in +the pit he slackened his pace, stopping just within the entrance +of the runway that he might scan the interior of the chamber +before entering it. As he did so he saw the figure of a warrior +appear suddenly in an opposite doorway. The rykor sprawled upon +the table, his hands groping blindly for more food. Ghek saw the +warrior pause and gaze in sudden astonishment at the rykor; he +saw the fellow's eyes go wide and an ashen hue replace the copper +bronze of his cheek. He stepped back as though someone had struck +him in the face. For an instant only he stood thus as in a +paralysis of fear, then he uttered a smothered shriek and turned +and fled. Again was it a catastrophe that Ghek, the kaldane, +could not smile. + +Quickly entering the room he crawled to the table top and affixed +himself to the shoulders of his rykor, and there he waited; and +who may say that Ghek, though he could not smile, possessed not a +sense of humor? For a half-hour he sat there, and then there came +to him the sound of men approaching along corridors of stone. He +could hear their arms clank against the rocky walls and he knew +that they came at a rapid pace; but just before they reached the +entrance to his prison they paused and advanced more slowly. In +the lead was an officer, and just behind him, wide-eyed and +perhaps still a little ashen, the warrior who had so recently +departed in haste. At the doorway they halted and the officer +turned sternly upon the warrior. With upraised finger he pointed +at Ghek. + +"There sits the creature! Didst thou dare lie, then, to thy +dwar?" + +"I swear," cried the warrior, "that I spoke the truth. But a +moment since the thing groveled, headless, upon this very table! +And may my first ancestor strike me dead upon the spot if I speak +other than a true word!" + +The officer looked puzzled. The men of Mars seldom if ever lie. +He scratched his head. Then he addressed Ghek. "How long have you +been here?" he asked. + +"Who knows better than those who placed me here and chained me to +a wall?" he returned in reply. + +"Saw you this warrior enter here a few minutes since?" + +"I saw him," replied Ghek. + +"And you sat there where you sit now?" continued the officer. + +"Look thou to my chain and tell me then where else might I sit!" +cried Ghek. "Art the people of thy city all fools?" + +Three other warriors pressed behind the two in front, craning +their necks to view the prisoner while they grinned at the +discomfiture of their fellow. The officer scowled at Ghek. + +"Thy tongue is as venomous as that of the she-banth O-Tar sent to +The Towers of Jetan," he said. + +You speak of the young woman who was captured with me?" asked +Ghek, his expressionless monotone and face revealing naught of +the interest he felt. + +"I speak of her," replied the dwar, and then turning to the +warrior who had summoned him: "return to thy quarters and remain +there until the next games. Perhaps by that time thy eyes may +have learned not to deceive thee." + +The fellow cast a venomous glance at Ghek and turned away. The +officer shook his head. "I do not understand it," he muttered. +"Always has U-Van been a true and dependable warrior. Could it +be--?" he glanced piercingly at Ghek. "Thou hast a strange head +that misfits thy body, fellow," he cried. "Our legends tell us of +those ancient creatures that placed hallucinations upon the mind +of their fellows. If thou be such then maybe U-Van suffered from +thy forbidden powers. If thou be such O-Tar will know well how to +deal with thee." He wheeled about and motioned his warriors to +follow him. + +"Wait!" cried Ghek. "Unless I am to be starved, send me food." + +"You have had food," replied the warrior. + +"Am I to be fed but once a day?" asked Ghek. "I require food +oftener than that. Send me food." + +"You shall have food," replied the officer. "None may say that +the prisoners of Manator are ill-fed. Just are the laws of +Manator," and he departed. + +No sooner had the sounds of their passing died away in the +distance than Ghek clambered from the shoulders of his rykor, and +scurried to the burrow where he had hidden the key. Fetching it +he unlocked the fetter from about the creature's ankle, locked it +empty and carried the key farther down into the burrow. Then he +returned to his place upon his brainless servitor. After a while +he heard footsteps approaching, whereupon he rose and passed into +another corridor from that down which he knew the warrior was +coming. Here he waited out of sight, listening. He heard the man +enter the chamber and halt. He heard a muttered exclamation, +followed by the jangle of metal dishes as a salver was slammed +upon a table; then rapidly retreating footsteps, which quickly +died away in the distance. + +Ghek lost no time in returning to the chamber, recovering the +key, relocking the rykor to his chain. Then he replaced the key +in the burrow and squatting on the table beside his headless +body, directed its hands toward the food. While the rykor ate +Ghek sat listening for the scraping sandals and clattering arms +that he knew soon would come. Nor had he long to wait. Ghek +scrambled to the shoulders of his rykor as he heard them coming. +Again it was the officer who had been summoned by U-Van and with +him were three warriors. The one directly behind him was +evidently the same who had brought the food, for his eyes went +wide when he saw Ghek sitting at the table and he looked very +foolish as the dwar turned his stern glance upon him. + +"It is even as I said," he cried. "He was not here when I brought +his food." + +"But he is here now," said the officer grimly, "and his fetter is +locked about his ankle. Look! it has not been opened--but where +is the key? It should be upon the table at the end opposite him. +Where is the key, creature?" he shouted at Ghek. + +"How should I, a prisoner, know better than my jailer the +whereabouts of the key to my fetters?" he retorted. + +"But it lay here," cried the officer, pointing to the other end +of the table. + +"Did you see it?" asked Ghek. + +The officer hesitated. "No but it must have been there," he +parried. + +"Did you see the key lying there?" asked Ghek, pointing to +another warrior. + +The fellow shook his head negatively. "And you? and you?" +continued the kaldane addressing the others. + +They both admitted that they never had seen the key. "And if it +had been there how could I have reached it?" he continued. + +"No, he could not have reached it," admitted the officer; "but +there shall be no more of this! I-Zav, you will remain here on +guard with this prisoner until you are relieved." + +I-Zav looked anything but happy as this intelligence was +transmitted to him, and he eyed Ghek suspiciously as the dwar and +the other warriors turned and left him to his unhappy lot. + + + +CHAPTER XIII + +A DESPERATE DEED + +E-MED crossed the tower chamber toward Tara of Helium and the +slave girl, Lan-O. He seized the former roughly by a shoulder. +"Stand!" he commanded. Tara struck his hand from her and rising, +backed away. + +"Lay not your hand upon the person of a princess of Helium, +beast!" she warned. + +E-Med laughed. "Think you that I play at jetan for you without +first knowing something of the stake for which I play?" he +demanded. "Come here!" + +The girl drew herself to her full height, folding her arms across +her breast, nor did E-Med note that the slim fingers of her right +hand were inserted beneath the broad leather strap of her harness +where it passed over her left shoulder. + +"And O-Tar learns of this you shall rue it, E-Med," cried the +slave girl; "there be no law in Manator that gives you this girl +before you shall have won her fairly." + +"What cares O-Tar for her fate?" replied E-Med. "Have I not +heard? Did she not flout the great jeddak, heaping abuse upon +him? By my first ancestor, I think O-Tar might make a jed of the +man who subdued her," and again he advanced toward Tara. + +"Wait!" said the girl in low, even tone. "Perhaps you know not +what you do. Sacred to the people of Helium are the persons of +the women of Helium. For the honor of the humblest of them would +the great jeddak himself unsheathe his sword. The greatest +nations of Barsoom have trembled to the thunders of war in +defense of the person of Dejah Thoris, my mother. We are but +mortal and so may die; but we may not be defiled. You may play at +jetan for a princess of Helium, but though you may win the match, +never may you claim the reward. If thou wouldst possess a dead +body press me too far, but know, man of Manator, that the blood +of The Warlord flows not in the veins of Tara of Helium for +naught. I have spoken." + +"I know naught of Helium and O-Tar is our warlord," replied +E-Med; "but I do know that I would examine more closely the prize +that I shall play for and win. I would test the lips of her who +is to be my slave after the next games; nor is it well, woman, to +drive me too far to anger." His eyes narrowed as he spoke, his +visage taking on the semblance of that of a snarling beast. "If +you doubt the truth of my words ask Lan-O, the slave girl." + +"He speaks truly, O woman of Helium," interjected Lan-O. "Try not +the temper of E-Med, if you value your life." + +But Tara of Helium made no reply. Already had she spoken. She +stood in silence now facing the burly warrior who approached her. +He came close and then quite suddenly he seized her and, bending, +tried to draw her lips to his. + +Lan-O saw the woman from Helium half turn, and with a quick +movement jerk her right hand from where it had lain upon her +breast. She saw the hand shoot from beneath the arm of E-Med and +rise behind his shoulder and she saw in the hand a long, slim +blade. The lips of the warrior were drawing closer to those of +the woman, but they never touched them, for suddenly the man +straightened, stiffly, a shriek upon his lips, and then he +crumpled like an empty fur and lay, a shrunken heap, upon the +floor. Tara of Helium stooped and wiped her blade upon his +harness. + +Lan-O, wide-eyed, looked with horror upon the corpse. "For this +we shall both die," she cried. + +"And who would live a slave in Manator?" asked Tara of Helium. + +"I am not so brave as thou," said the slave girl, "and life is +sweet and there is always hope." + +"Life is sweet," agreed Tara of Helium, "but honor is sacred. But +do not fear. When they come I shall tell them the truth--that you +had no hand in this and no opportunity to prevent it." + +For a moment the slave girl seemed to be thinking deeply. +Suddenly her eyes lighted. "There is a way, perhaps," she said, +"to turn suspicion from us. He has the key to this chamber upon +him. Let us open the door and drag him out--maybe we shall find a +place to hide him." + +"Good!" exclaimed Tara of Helium, and the two immediately set +about the matter Lan-O had suggested. Quickly they found the key +and unlatched the door and then, between them, they half carried, +half dragged, the corpse of E-Med from the room and down the +stairway to the next level where Lan-O said there were vacant +chambers. The first door they tried was unlatched, and through +this the two bore their grisly burden into a small room lighted +by a single window. The apartment bore evidence of having been +utilized as a living-room rather than as a cell, being furnished +with a degree of comfort and even luxury. The walls were paneled +to a height of about seven feet from the floor, while the plaster +above and the ceiling were decorated with faded paintings of +another day. + +As Tara's eyes ran quickly over the interior her attention was +drawn to a section of paneling that seemed to be separated at one +edge from the piece next adjoining it. Quickly she crossed to it, +discovering that one vertical edge of an entire panel projected a +half-inch beyond the others. There was a possible explanation +which piqued her curiosity, and acting upon its suggestion she +seized upon the projecting edge and pulled outward. Slowly the +panel swung toward her, revealing a dark aperture in the wall +behind. + +"Look, Lan-O!" she cried. "See what I have found--a hole in which +we may hide the thing upon the floor." + +Lan-O joined her and together the two investigated the dark +aperture, finding a small platform from which a narrow runway led +downward into Stygian darkness. Thick dust covered the floor +within the doorway, indicating that a great period of time had +elapsed since human foot had trod it--a secret way, doubtless, +unknown to living Manatorians. Here they dragged the corpse of +E-Med, leaving it upon the platform, and as they left the dark +and forbidden closet Lan-O would have slammed to the panel had +not Tara prevented. + +"Wait!" she said, and fell to examining the door frame and the +stile. + +"Hurry!" whispered the slave girl. "If they come we are lost." + +"It may serve us well to know how to open this place again," +replied Tara of Helium, and then suddenly she pressed a foot +against a section of the carved base at the right of the open +panel. "Ah!" she breathed, a note of satisfaction in her tone, +and closed the panel until it fitted snugly in its place. "Come!" +she said and turned toward the outer doorway of the chamber. + +They reached their own cell without detection, and closing the +door Tara locked it from the inside and placed the key in a +secret pocket in her harness. + +"Let them come," she said. "Let them question us! What could two +poor prisoners know of the whereabouts of their noble jailer? I +ask you, Lan-O, what could they?" + +"Nothing," admitted Lan-O, smiling with her companion. + +"Tell me of these men of Manator," said Tara presently. "Are they +all like E-Med, or are some of them like A-Kor, who seemed a +brave and chivalrous character?" + +"They are not unlike the peoples of other countries," replied +Lan-O. "There be among them both good and bad. They are brave +warriors and mighty. Among themselves they are not without +chivalry and honor, but in their dealings with strangers they +know but one law--the law of might. The weak and unfortunate of +other lands fill them with contempt and arouse all that is worst +in their natures, which doubtless accounts for their treatment of +us, their slaves." + +"But why should they feel contempt for those who have suffered +the misfortune of falling into their hands?" queried Tara. + +"I do not know," said Lan-O; "A-Kor says that he believes that it +is because their country has never been invaded by a victorious +foe. In their stealthy raids never have they been defeated, +because they have never waited to face a powerful force; and so +they have come to believe themselves invincible, and the other +peoples are held in contempt as inferior in valor and the +practice of arms." + +"Yet A-Kor is one of them," said Tara. + +"He is a son of O-Tar, the jeddak," replied Lan-O; "but his +mother was a high born Gatholian, captured and made slave by +O-Tar, and A-Kor boasts that in his veins runs only the blood of +his mother, and indeed is he different from the others. His +chivalry is of a gentler form, though not even his worst enemy +has dared question his courage, while his skill with the sword, +and the spear, and the thoat is famous throughout the length and +breadth of Manator." + +"What think you they will do with him?" asked Tara of Helium. + +"Sentence him to the games," replied Lan-O. "If O-Tar be not +greatly angered he may be sentenced to but a single game, in +which case he may come out alive; but if O-Tar wishes really to +dispose of him he will be sentenced to the entire series, and no +warrior has ever survived the full ten, or rather none who was +under a sentence from O-Tar." + +"What are the games? I do not understand," said Tara "I have +heard them speak of playing at jetan, but surely no one can be +killed at jetan. We play it often at home." + +"But not as they play it in the arena at Manator," replied Lan-O. +"Come to the window," and together the two approached an aperture +facing toward the east. + +Below her Tara of Helium saw a great field entirely surrounded by +the low building, and the lofty towers of which that in which she +was imprisoned was but a unit. About the arena were tiers of +seats; but the a thing that caught her attention was a gigantic +jetan board laid out upon the floor of the arena in great squares +of alternate orange and black. + +"Here they play at jetan with living pieces. They play for great +stakes and usually for a woman--some slave of exceptional beauty. +O-Tar himself might have played for you had you not angered him, +but now you will be played for in an open game by slaves and +criminals, and you will belong to the side that wins--not to a +single warrior, but to all who survive the game." + +The eyes of Tara of Helium flashed, but she made no comment. + +"Those who direct the play do not necessarily take part in it," +continued the slave girl, "but sit in those two great thrones +which you see at either end of the board and direct their pieces +from square to square." + +"But where lies the danger?" asked Tara of Helium. "If a piece be +taken it is merely removed from the board--this is a rule of +jetan as old almost as the civilization of Barsoom." + +"But here in Manator, when they play in the great arena with +living men, that rule is altered," explained Lan-O. "When a +warrior is moved to a square occupied by an opposing piece, the +two battle to the death for possession of the square and the one +that is successful advantages by the move. Each is caparisoned to +simulate the piece he represents and in addition he wears that +which indicates whether he be slave, a warrior serving a +sentence, or a volunteer. If serving a sentence the number of +games he must play is also indicated, and thus the one directing +the moves knows which pieces to risk and which to conserve, and +further than this, a man's chances are affected by the position +that is assigned him for the game. Those whom they wish to die +are always Panthans in the game, for the Panthan has the least +chance of surviving." + +"Do those who direct the play ever actually take part in it?" +asked Tara. + +"Oh, yes," said Lan-O. "Often when two warriors, even of the +highest class, hold a grievance against one another O-Tar compels +them to settle it upon the arena. Then it is that they take +active part and with drawn swords direct their own players from +the position of Chief. They pick their own players, usually the +best of their own warriors and slaves, if they be powerful men +who possess such, or their friends may volunteer, or they may +obtain prisoners from the pits. These are games indeed--the very +best that are seen. Often the great chiefs themselves are slain." + +"It is within this amphitheater that the justice of Manator is +meted, then?" asked Tara. + +"Very largely," replied Lan-O. + +"How, then, through such justice, could a prisoner win his +liberty?" continued the girl from Helium. + +"If a man, and he survived ten games his liberty would be his," +replied Lan-O. + +"But none ever survives?" queried Tara. "And if a woman?" + +"No stranger within the gates of Manator ever has survived ten +games," replied the slave girl. "They are permitted to offer +themselves into perpetual slavery if they prefer that to fighting +at jetan. Of course they may be called upon, as any warrior, to +take part in a game, but their chances then of surviving are +increased, since they may never again have the chance of winning +to liberty." + +"But a woman," insisted Tara; "how may a woman win her freedom?" + +Lan-O laughed. "Very simply," she cried. derisively. "She has but +to find a warrior who will fight through ten consecutive games +for her and survive." + +"'Just are the laws of Manator,'" quoted Tara, scornfully. + +Then it was that they heard footsteps outside their cell and a +moment later a key turned in the lock and the door opened. A +warrior faced them. + +"Hast seen E-Med the dwar?" he asked. + +"Yes," replied Tara, "he was here some time ago." + +The man glanced quickly about the bare chamber and then +searchingly first at Tara of Helium and then at the slave girl, +Lan-O. The puzzled expression upon his face increased. He +scratched his head. "It is strange," he said. "A score of men saw +him ascend into this tower; and though there is but a single +exit, and that well guarded, no man has seen him pass out." + +Tara of Helium hid a yawn with the back of a shapely hand. "The +Princess of Helium is hungry, fellow," she drawled; "tell your +master that she would eat." + +It was an hour later that food was brought, an officer and +several warriors accompanying the bearer. The former examined the +room carefully, but there was no sign that aught amiss had +occurred there. The wound that had sent E-Med the dwar to his +ancestors had not bled, fortunately for Tara of Helium. + +"Woman," cried the officer, turning upon Tara, "you were the last +to see E-Med the dwar. Answer me now and answer me truthfully. +Did you see him leave this room?" + +"I did," answered Tara of Helium. + +"Where did he go from here?" + +"How should I know? Think you that I can pass through a locked +door of skeel?" the girl's tone was scornful. + +"Of that we do not know," said the officer. "Strange things have +happened in the cell of your companion in the pits of Manator. +Perhaps you could pass through a locked door of skeel as easily +as he performs seemingly more impossible feats." + +"Whom do you mean," she cried; "Turan the panthan? He lives, +then? Tell me, is he here in Manator unharmed?" + +"I speak of that thing which calls itself Ghek the kaldane," +replied the officer. + +"But Turan! Tell me, padwar, have you heard aught of him?" Tara's +tone was insistent and she leaned a little forward toward the +officer, her lips slightly parted in expectancy. + +Into the eyes of the slave girl, Lan-O, who was watching her, +there crept a soft light of understanding; but the officer +ignored Tara's question--what was the fate of another slave to +him? "Men do not disappear into thin air," he growled, "and if +E-Med be not found soon O-Tar himself may take a hand in this. I +warn you, woman, if you be one of those horrid Corphals that by +commanding the spirits of the wicked dead gains evil mastery over +the living, as many now believe the thing called Ghek to be, that +lest you return E-Med, O-Tar will have no mercy on you." + +"What foolishness is this?" cried the girl. "I am a princess +of Helium, as I have told you all a score of times. Even if the +fabled Corphals existed, as none but the most ignorant now +believes, the lore of the ancients tells us that they entered +only into the bodies of wicked criminals of the lowest class. Man +of Manator, thou art a fool, and thy jeddak and all his people," +and she turned her royal back upon the padwar, and gazed through +the window across the Field of Jetan and the roofs of Manator +through the low hills and the rolling country and freedom. + +"And you know so much of Corphals, then," he cried, "you know +that while no common man dare harm them they may be slain by the +hand of a jeddak with impunity!" + +The girl did not reply, nor would she speak again, for all his +threats and rage, for she knew now that none in all Manator dared +harm her save O-Tar, the jeddak, and after a while the padwar +left, taking his men with him. And after they had gone Tara stood +for long looking out upon the city of Manator, and wondering what +more of cruel wrongs Fate held in store for her. She was standing +thus in silent meditation when there rose to her the strains of +martial music from the city below--the deep, mellow tones of the +long war trumpets of mounted troops, the clear, ringing notes of +foot-soldiers' music. The girl raised her head and looked about, +listening, and Lan-O, standing at an opposite window, looking +toward the west, motioned Tara to join her. Now they could see +across roofs and avenues to The Gate of Enemies, through which +troops were marching into the city. + +"The Great Jed is coming," said Lan-O, "none other dares enter +thus, with blaring trumpets, the city of Manator. It is U-Thor, +Jed of Manatos, second city of Manator. They call him The Great +Jed the length and breadth of Manator, and because the people +love him, O-Tar hates him. They say, who know, that it would need +but slight provocation to inflame the two to war. How such a war +would end no one could guess; for the people of Manator worship +the great O-Tar, though they do not love him. U-Thor they love, +but he is not the jeddak," and Tara understood, as only a Martian +may, how much that simple statement encompassed. + +The loyalty of a Martian to his jeddak is almost an instinct, and +second not even to the instinct of self-preservation at that. Nor +is this strange in a race whose religion includes ancestor +worship, and where families trace their origin back into remote +ages and a jeddak sits upon the same throne that his direct +progenitors have occupied for, perhaps, hundreds of thousands of +years, and rules the descendants of the same people that his +forebears ruled. Wicked jeddaks have been dethroned, but seldom +are they replaced by other than members of the imperial house, +even though the law gives to the jeds the right to select whom +they please. + +"U-Thor is a just man and good, then?" asked Tara of Helium. + +"There be none nobler," replied Lan-O. "In Manatos none but +wicked criminals who deserve death are forced to play at jetan, +and even then the play is fair and they have their chance for +freedom. Volunteers may play, but the moves are not necessarily +to the death--a wound, and even sometimes points in swordplay, +deciding the issue. There they look upon jetan as a martial +sport--here it is but butchery. And U-Thor is opposed to the +ancient slave raids and to the policy that keeps Manator forever +isolated from the other nations of Barsoom; but U-Thor is not +jeddak and so there is no change." + +The two girls watched the column moving up the broad avenue from +The Gate of Enemies toward the palace of O-Tar. A gorgeous, +barbaric procession of painted warriors in jewel-studded harness +and waving feathers; vicious, squealing thoats caparisoned in +rich trappings; far above their heads the long lances of their +riders bore fluttering pennons; foot-soldiers swinging easily +along the stone pavement, their sandals of zitidar hide giving +forth no sound; and at the rear of each utan a train of painted +chariots, drawn by mammoth zitidars, carrying the equipment of +the company to which they were attached. Utan after utan entered +through the great gate, and even when the head of the column +reached the palace of O-Tar they were not all within the city. + +"I have been here many years," said the girl, Lan-O; "but never +have I seen even The Great Jed bring so many fighting men into +the city of Manator." + +Through half-closed eyes Tara of Helium watched the warriors +marching up the broad avenue, trying to imagine them the fighting +men of her beloved Helium coming to the rescue of their princess. +That splendid figure upon the great thoat might be John Carter, +himself, Warlord of Barsoom, and behind him utan after utan of +the veterans of the empire, and then the girl opened her eyes +again and saw the host of painted, befeathered barbarians, and +sighed. But yet she watched, fascinated by the martial scene, and +now she noted again the groups of silent figures upon the +balconies. No waving silks; no cries of welcome; no showers of +flowers and jewels such as would have marked the entry of such a +splendid, friendly pageant into the twin cities of her birth. + +"The people do not seem friendly to the warriors of Manatos," she +remarked to Lan-O; "I have not seen a single welcoming sign from +the people on the balconies." + +The slave girl looked at her in surprise. "It cannot be that you +do not know!" she exclaimed. "Why, they are--" but she got no +further. The door swung open and an officer stood before them. + +"The slave girl, Tara, is summoned to the presence of O-Tar, the +jeddak!" he announced. + + + +CHAPTER XIV + +AT GHEK'S COMMAND + +TURAN the panthan chafed in his chains. Time dragged; silence and +monotony prolonged minutes into hours. Uncertainty of the fate of +the woman he loved turned each hour into an eternity of hell. He +listened impatiently for the sound of approaching footsteps that +he might see and speak to some living creature and learn, +perchance, some word of Tara of Helium. After torturing hours his +ears were rewarded by the rattle of harness and arms. Men were +coming! He waited breathlessly. Perhaps they were his +executioners; but he would welcome them notwithstanding. He would +question them. But if they knew naught of Tara he would not +divulge the location of the hiding place in which he had left +her. + +Now they came--a half-dozen warriors and an officer, escorting an +unarmed man; a prisoner, doubtless. Of this Turan was not left +long in doubt, since they brought the newcomer and chained him to +an adjoining ring. Immediately the panthan commenced to question +the officer in charge of the guard. + +"Tell me," he demanded, "why I have been made prisoner, and if +other strangers were captured since I entered your city." + +"What other prisoners?" asked the officer. + +"A woman, and a man with a strange head," replied Turan. + +"It is possible," said the officer; "but what were their names?" + +"The woman was Tara, Princess of Helium, and the man was Ghek, a +kaldane, of Bantoom." + +"These were your friends?" asked the officer. + +"Yes," replied Turan. + +"It is what I would know," said the officer, and with a curt +command to his men to follow him he turned and left the cell. + +"Tell me of them!" cried Turan after him. "Tell me of Tara of +Helium! Is she safe?" but the man did not answer and soon the +sound of their departure died in the distance. + +"Tara of Helium was safe, but a short time since," said the +prisoner chained at Turan's side. + +The panthan turned toward the speaker, seeing a large man, +handsome of face and with a manner both stately and dignified. +"You have seen her?" he asked. "They captured her then? She is in +danger?" + +"She is being held in The Towers of Jetan as a prize for the next +games," replied the stranger. + +"And who are you?" asked Turan. "And why are you here, a +prisoner?" + +"I am A-Kor the dwar, keeper of The Towers of Jetan," replied the +other. "I am here because I dared speak the truth of O-Tar the +jeddak, to one of his officers." + +"And your punishment?" asked Turan. + +"I do not know. O-Tar has not yet spoken. Doubtless the +games--perhaps the full ten, for O-Tar does not love A-Kor, his +son." + +"You are the jeddak's son?" asked Turan. + +"I am the son of O-Tar and of a slave, Haja of Gathol, who was a +princess in her own land." + +Turan looked searchingly at the speaker. A son of Haja of Gathol! +A son of his mother's sister, this man, then, was his own cousin. +Well did Gahan remember the mysterious disappearance of the +Princess Haja and an entire utan of her personal troops. She had +been upon a visit far from the city of Gathol and returning home +had vanished with her whole escort from the sight of man. So this +was the secret of the seeming mystery? Doubtless it explained +many other similar disappearances that extended nearly as far +back as the history of Gathol. Turan scrutinized his companion, +discovering many evidences of resemblance to his mother's people. +A-Kor might have been ten years younger than he, but such +differences in age are scarce accounted among a people who seldom +or never age outwardly after maturity and whose span of life may +be a thousand years. + +"And where lies Gathol?" asked Turan. + +"Almost due east of Manator," replied A-Kor. + +"And how far?" + +"Some twenty-one degrees it is from the city of Manator to the +city of Gathol," replied A-Kor; "but little more than ten degrees +between the boundaries of the two countries. Between them, +though, there lies a country of torn rocks and yawning chasms." + +Well did Gahan know this country that bordered his upon the +west--even the ships of the air avoided it because of the +treacherous currents that rose from the deep chasms, and the +almost total absence of safe landings. He knew now where Manator +lay and for the first time in long weeks the way to his own +Gathol, and here was a man, a fellow prisoner, in whose veins +flowed the blood of his own ancestors--a man who knew Manator; +its people, its customs and the country surrounding it--one who +could aid him, with advice at least, to find a plan for the +rescue of Tara of Helium and for escape. But would A-Kor--could +he dare broach the subject? He could do no less than try. + +"And O-Tar you think will sentence you to death?" he asked; "and +why?" + +"He would like to," replied A-Kor, "for the people chafe beneath +his iron hand and their loyalty is but the loyalty of a people to +the long line of illustrious jeddaks from which he has sprung. He +is a jealous man and has found the means of disposing of most of +those whose blood might entitle them to a claim upon the throne, +and whose place in the affections of the people endowed them with +any political significance. The fact that I was the son of a +slave relegated me to a position of minor importance in the +consideration of O-Tar, yet I am still the son of a jeddak and +might sit upon the throne of Manator with as perfect congruity as +O-Tar himself. Combined with this is the fact that of recent +years the people, and especially many of the younger warriors, +have evinced a growing affection for me, which I attribute to +certain virtues of character and training derived from my mother, +but which O-Tar assumes to be the result of an ambition upon my +part to occupy the throne of Manator. + +"And now, I am firmly convinced, he has seized upon my criticism +of his treatment of the slave girl Tara as a pretext for ridding +himself of me." + +"But if you could escape and reach Gathol," suggested Turan. + +"I have thought of that," mused A-Kor; "but how much better off +would I be? In the eyes of the Gatholians I would be, not a +Gatholian; but a stranger and doubtless they would accord me the +same treatment that we of Manator accord strangers." + +"Could you convince them that you are the son of the Princess +Haja your welcome would be assured," said Turan; "while on the +other hand you could purchase your freedom and citizenship with a +brief period of labor in the diamond mines." + +"How know you all these things?" asked A-Kor. "I thought you were +from Helium." + +"I am a panthan," replied Turan, "and I have served many +countries, among them Gathol." + +"It is what the slaves from Gathol have told me," said A-Kor, +thoughtfully, "and my mother, before O-Tar sent her to live at +Manatos. I think he must have feared her power and influence +among the slaves from Gathol and their descendants, who number +perhaps a million people throughout the land of Manator." + +"Are these slaves organized?" asked Turan. + +A-Kor looked straight into the eyes of the panthan for a long +moment before he replied. "You are a man of honor," he said; "I +read it in your face, and I am seldom mistaken in my estimate of +a man; but--" and he leaned closer to the other--"even the walls +have ears," he whispered, and Turan's question was answered. + +It was later in the evening that warriors came and unlocked the +fetter from Turan's ankle and led him away to appear before +O-Tar, the jeddak. They conducted him toward the palace along +narrow, winding streets and broad avenues; but always from the +balconies there looked down upon them in endless ranks the silent +people of the city. The palace itself was filled with life and +activity. Mounted warriors galloped through the corridors and up +and down the runways connecting adjacent floors. It seemed that +no one walked within the palace other than a few slaves. +Squealing, fighting thoats were stabled in magnificent halls +while their riders, if not upon some duty of the palace, played +at jetan with small figures carved from wood. + +Turan noted the magnificence of the interior architecture of the +palace, the lavish expenditure of precious jewels and metals, the +gorgeous mural decorations which depicted almost exclusively +martial scenes, and principally duels which seemed to be fought +upon jetan boards of heroic size. The capitals of many of the +columns supporting the ceilings of the corridors and chambers +through which they passed were wrought into formal likenesses of +jetan pieces--everywhere there seemed a suggestion of the game. +Along the same path that Tara of Helium had been led Turan was +conducted toward the throne room of O-Tar the jeddak, and when he +entered the Hall of Chiefs his interest turned to wonder and +admiration as he viewed the ranks of statuesque thoatmen decked +in their gorgeous, martial panoply. Never, he thought, had he +seen upon Barsoom more soldierly figures or thoats so perfectly +trained to perfection of immobility as these. Not a muscle +quivered, not a tail lashed, and the riders were as motionless as +their mounts--each warlike eye straight to the front, the great +spears inclined at the same angle. It was a picture to fill the +breast of a fighting man with awe and reverence. Nor did it fail +in its effect upon Turan as they conducted him the length of the +chamber, where he waited before great doors until he should be +summoned into the presence of the ruler of Manator. + + +When Tara of Helium was ushered into the throne room of O-Tar she +found the great hall filled with the chiefs and officers of O-Tar +and U-Thor, the latter occupying the place of honor at the foot +of the throne, as was his due. The girl was conducted to the foot +of the aisle and halted before the jeddak, who looked down upon +her from his high throne with scowling brows and fierce, cruel +eyes. + +"The laws of Manator are just," said O-Tar, addressing her; "thus +is it that you have been summoned here again to be judged by the +highest authority of Manator. Word has reached me that you are +suspected of being a Corphal. What word have you to say in +refutation of the charge?" + +Tara of Helium could scarce restrain a sneer as she answered the +ridiculous accusation of witchcraft. "So ancient is the culture +of my people," she said, "that authentic history reveals no +defense for that which we know existed only in the ignorant and +superstitious minds of the most primitive peoples of the past. To +those who are yet so untutored as to believe in the existence of +Corphals, there can be no argument that will convince them of +their error--only long ages of refinement and culture can +accomplish their release from the bondage of ignorance. I have +spoken." + +"Yet you do not deny the accusation," said O-Tar. + +"It is not worthy the dignity of a denial," she responded +haughtily. + +"And I were you, woman," said a deep voice at her side, "I +should, nevertheless, deny it." + +Tara of Helium turned to see the eyes of U-Thor, the great jed of +Manatos, upon her. Brave eyes they were, but neither cold nor +cruel. O-Tar rapped impatiently upon the arm of his throne. +"U-Thor forgets," he cried, "that O-Tar is the jeddak." + +"U-Thor remembers," replied the jed of Manatos, "that the laws of +Manator permit any who may be accused to have advice and counsel +before their judge." + +Tara of Helium saw that for some reason this man would have +assisted her, and so she acted upon his advice. + +"I deny the charge," she said, "I am no Corphal." + +"Of that we shall learn," snapped O-Tar. "U-Dor, where are those +who have knowledge of the powers of this woman?" + +And U-Dor brought several who recounted the little that was known +of the disappearance of E-Med, and others who told of the capture +of Ghek and Tara, suggesting by deduction that having been found +together they had sufficient in common to make it reasonably +certain that one was as bad as the other, and that, therefore, it +remained but to convict one of them of Corphalism to make certain +the guilt of both. And then O-Tar called for Ghek, and +immediately the hideous kaldane was dragged before him by +warriors who could not conceal the fear in which they held this +creature. + +"And you!" said O-Tar in cold accusing tones. "Already have I +been told enough of you to warrant me in passing through your +heart the jeddak's steel--of how you stole the brains from the +warrior U-Van so that he thought he saw your headless body still +endowed with life; of how you caused another to believe that you +had escaped, making him to see naught but an empty bench and a +blank wall where you had been." + +"Ah, O-Tar, but that is as nothing!" cried a young padwar who had +come in command of the escort that brought Ghek. "The thing which +he did to I-Zav, here, would prove his guilt alone." + +"What did he to the warrior I-Zav?" demanded O-Tar. "Let I-Zav +speak!" + +The warrior I-Zav, a great fellow of bulging muscles and thick +neck, advanced to the foot of the throne. He was pale and still +trembling visibly as from a nervous shock. + +"Let my first ancestor be my witness, O-Tar, that I speak the +truth," he began. "I was left to guard this creature, who sat +upon a bench, shackled to the wall. I stood by the open doorway +at the opposite side of the chamber. He could not reach me, yet, +O-Tar, may Iss engulf me if he did not drag me to him helpless as +an unhatched egg. He dragged me to him, greatest of jeddaks, with +his eyes! With his eyes he seized upon my eyes and dragged me to +him and he made me lay my swords and dagger upon the table and +back off into a corner, and still keeping his eyes upon my eyes +his head quitted his body and crawling upon six short legs it +descended to the floor and backed part way into the hole of an +ulsio, but not so far that the eyes were not still upon me and +then it returned with the key to its fetter and after resuming +its place upon its own shoulders it unlocked the fetter and again +dragged me across the room and made me to sit upon the bench +where it had been and there it fastened the fetter about my +ankle, and I could do naught for the power of its eyes and the +fact that it wore my two swords and my dagger. And then the head +disappeared down the hole of the ulsio with the key, and when it +returned, it resumed its body and stood guard over me at the +doorway until the padwar came to fetch it hither." + +"It is enough!" said O-Tar, sternly. "Both shall receive the +jeddak's steel," and rising from his throne he drew his long +sword and descended the marble steps toward them, while two +brawny warriors seized Tara by either arm and two seized Ghek, +holding them facing the naked blade of the jeddak. + +"Hold, just O-Tar!" cried U-Dor. "There be yet another to be +judged. Let us confront him who calls himself Turan with these +his fellows before they die." + +"Good!" exclaimed O-Tar, pausing half way down the steps. "Fetch +Turan, the slave!" + +When Turan had been brought into the chamber he was placed a +little to Tara's left and a step nearer the throne. O-Tar eyed +him menacingly. + +"You are Turan," he asked, "friend and companion of these?" + +The panthan was about to reply when Tara of Helium spoke. "I know +not this fellow," she said. "Who dares say that he be a friend +and companion of the Princess Tara of Helium?" + +Turan and Ghek looked at her in surprise, but at Turan she did +not look, and to Ghek she passed a quick glance of warning, as to +say: "Hold thy peace." + +The panthan tried not to fathom her purpose for the head is +useless when the heart usurps its functions, and Turan knew only +that the woman he loved had denied him, and though he tried not +even to think it his foolish heart urged but a single +explanation--that she refused to recognize him lest she be +involved in his difficulties. + +O-Tar looked first at one and then at another of them; but none +of them spoke. + +"Were they not captured together?" he asked of U-Dor. + +"No," replied the dwar. "He who is called Turan was found seeking +entrance to the city and was enticed to the pits. The following +morning I discovered the other two upon the hill beyond The Gate +of Enemies." + +"But they are friends and companions," said a young padwar, "for +this Turan inquired of me concerning these two, calling them by +name and saying that they were his friends." + +"It is enough," stated O-Tar, "all three shall die," and he took +another step downward from the throne. + +"For what shall we die?" asked Ghek. "Your people prate of the +just laws of Manator, and yet you would slay three strangers +without telling them of what crime they are accused." + +"He is right," said a deep voice. It was the voice of U-Thor, the +great jed of Manatos. O-Tar looked at him and scowled; but there +came voices from other portions of the chamber seconding the +demand for justice. + +"Then know, though you shall die anyway," cried O-Tar, "that all +three are convicted of Corphalism and that as only a jeddak may +slay such as you in safety you are about to be honored with the +steel of O-Tar." + +"Fool!" cried Turan. "Know you not that in the veins of this +woman flows the blood of ten thousand jeddaks--that greater than +yours is her power in her own land? She is Tara, Princess of +Helium, great-granddaughter of Tardos Mors, daughter of John +Carter, Warlord of Barsoom. She cannot be a Corphal. Nor is this +creature Ghek, nor am I. And you would know more, I can prove my +right to be heard and to be believed if I may have word with the +Princess Haja of Gathol, whose son is my fellow prisoner in the +pits of O-Tar, his father." + +At this U-Thor rose to his feet and faced O-Tar. "What means +this?" he asked. "Speaks the man the truth? Is the son of Haja a +prisoner in thy pits, O-Tar?" + +"And what is it to the jed of Manatos who be the prisoners in the +pits of his jeddak?" demanded O-Tar, angrily. + +"It is this to the jed of Manatos," replied U-Thor in a voice so +low as to be scarce more than a whisper and yet that was heard +the whole length and breadth of the great throne room of O-Tar, +Jeddak of Manator. "You gave me a slave woman, Haja, who had been +a princess in Gathol, because you feared her influence among the +slaves from Gathol. I have made of her a free woman, and I have +married her and made her thus a princess of Manatos. Her son is +my son, O-Tar, and though thou be my jeddak, I say to you that +for any harm that befalls A-Kor you shall answer to U-Thor of +Manatos." + +O-Tar looked long at U-Thor, but he made no reply. Then he turned +again to Turan. "If one be a Corphal," he said, "then all of you +be Corphals, and we know well from the things that this creature +has done," he pointed at Ghek, "that he is a Corphal, for no +mortal has such powers as he. And as you are all Corphals you +must all die." He took another step downward, when Ghek spoke. + +"These two have no such powers as I," he said. "They are but +ordinary, brainless things such as yourself. I have done all the +things that your poor, ignorant warriors have told you; but this +only demonstrates that I am of a higher order than yourselves, as +is indeed the fact. I am a kaldane, not a Corphal. There is +nothing supernatural or mysterious about me, other than that to +the ignorant all things which they cannot understand are +mysterious. Easily might I have eluded your warriors and escaped +your pits; but I remained in the hope that I might help these two +foolish creatures who have not the brains to escape without help. +They befriended me and saved my life. I owe them this debt. Do +not slay them--they are harmless. Slay me if you will. I offer my +life if it will appease your ignorant wrath. I cannot return to +Bantoom and so I might as well die, for there is no pleasure in +intercourse with the feeble intellects that cumber the face of +the world outside the valley of Bantoom." + +"Hideous egotist," said O-Tar, "prepare to die and assume not to +dictate to O-Tar the jeddak. He has passed sentence and all three +of you shall feel the jeddak's naked steel. I have spoken!" + +He took another step downward and then a strange thing happened. +He paused, his eyes fixed upon the eyes of Ghek. His sword +slipped from nerveless fingers, and still he stood there swaying +forward and back. A jed rose to rush to his side; but Ghek +stopped him with a word. + +"Wait!" he cried. "The life of your jeddak is in my hands. You +believe me a Corphal and so you believe, too, that only the sword +of a jeddak may slay me, therefore your blades are useless +against me. Offer harm to any one of us, or seek to approach your +jeddak until I have spoken, and he shall sink lifeless to the +marble. Release the two prisoners and let them come to my side--I +would speak to them, privately. Quick! do as I say; I would as +lief as not slay O-Tar. I but let him live that I may gain +freedom for my friends--obstruct me and he dies." + +The guards fell back, releasing Tara and Turan, who came close to +Ghek's side. + +"Do as I tell you and do it quickly," whispered the kaldane. "I +cannot hold this fellow long, nor could I kill him thus. There +are many minds working against mine and presently mine will tire +and O-Tar will be himself again. You must make the best of your +opportunity while you may. Behind the arras that you see hanging +in the rear of the throne above you is a secret opening. From it +a corridor leads to the pits of the palace, where there are +storerooms containing food and drink. Few people go there. From +these pits lead others to all parts of the city. Follow one that +runs due west and it will bring you to The Gate of Enemies. The +rest will then lie with you. I can do no more; hurry before my +waning powers fail me--I am not as Luud, who was a king. He could +have held this creature forever. Make haste! Go!" + + + +CHAPTER XV + +THE OLD MAN OF THE PITS + +"I SHALL not desert you, Ghek," said Tara of Helium, simply. + +"Go! Go!" whispered the kaldane. "You can do me no good. Go, or +all I have done is for naught." + +Tara shook her head. "I cannot," she said. + +"They will slay her," said Ghek to Turan, and the panthan, torn +between loyalty to this strange creature who had offered its life +for him, and love of the woman, hesitated but a moment, then he +swept Tara from her feet and lifting her in his arms leaped up +the steps that led to the throne of Manator. Behind the throne he +parted the arras and found the secret opening. Into this he bore +the girl and down a long, narrow corridor and winding runways +that led to lower levels until they came to the pits of the +palace of O-Tar. Here was a labyrinth of passages and chambers +presenting a thousand hiding-places. + +As Turan bore Tara up the steps toward the throne a score of +warriors rose as though to rush forward to intercept them. +"Stay!" cried Ghek, "or your jeddak dies," and they halted in +their tracks, waiting the will of this strange, uncanny creature. + +Presently Ghek took his eyes from the eyes of O-Tar and the +jeddak shook himself as one who would be rid of a bad dream and +straightened up, half dazed still. + +"Look," said Ghek, then, "I have given your jeddak his life, +nor have I harmed one of those whom I might easily have slain +when they were in my power. No harm have I or my friends done in +the city of Manator. Why then should you persecute us? Give us +our lives. Give us our liberty." + +O-Tar, now in command of his faculties, stooped and regained his +sword. In the room was silence as all waited to hear the jeddak's +answer. + +"Just are the laws of Manator," he said at last. "Perhaps, after +all, there is truth in the words of the stranger. Return him then +to the pits and pursue the others and capture them. Through the +mercy of O-Tar they shall be permitted to win their freedom upon +the Field of Jetan, in the coming games." + +Still ashen was the face of the jeddak as Ghek was led away and +his appearance was that of a man who had been snatched from the +brink of eternity into which he has gazed, not with the composure +of great courage, but with fear. There were those in the throne +room who knew that the execution of the three prisoners had but +been delayed and the responsibility placed upon the shoulders of +others, and one of those who knew was U-Thor, the great jed of +Manatos. His curling lip betokened his scorn of the jeddak who +had chosen humiliation rather than death. He knew that O-Tar had +lost more of prestige in those few moments than he could regain +in a lifetime, for the Martians are jealous of the courage of +their chiefs--there can be no evasions of stern duty, no +temporizing with honor. That there were others in the room who +shared U-Thor's belief was evidenced by the silence and the grim +scowls. + +O-Tar glanced quickly around. He must have sensed the hostility +and guessed its cause, for he went suddenly angry, and as one who +seeks by the vehemence of his words to establish the courage of +his heart he roared forth what could be considered as naught +other than a challenge. + +"The will of O-Tar, the jeddak, is the law of Manator," he cried, +"and the laws of Manator are just--they cannot err. U-Dor, +dispatch those who will search the palace, the pits, and the +city, and return the fugitives to their cells. + +"And now for you, U-Thor of Manatos! Think you with impunity to +threaten your jeddak--to question his right to punish traitors +and instigators of treason? What am I to think of your own +loyalty, who takes to wife a woman I have banished from my court +because of her intrigues against the authority of her jeddak and +her master? But O-Tar is just. Make your explanations and your +peace, then, before it is too late." + +"U-Thor has nothing to explain," replied the jed of Manatos; "nor +is he at war with his jeddak; but he has the right that every jed +and every warrior enjoys, of demanding justice at the hands of +the jeddak for whomsoever he believes to be persecuted. With +increasing rigor has the jeddak of Manator persecuted the slaves +from Gathol since he took to himself the unwilling Princess Haja. +If the slaves from Gathol have harbored thoughts of vengeance and +escape 'tis no more than might be expected from a proud and +courageous people Ever have I counselled greater fairness in our +treatment of our slaves, many of whom, in their own lands, are +people of great distinction and power; but always has O-Tar, the +jeddak, flouted with arrogance my every suggestion. Though it has +been through none of my seeking that the question has arisen now +I am glad that it has, for the time was bound to come when the +jeds of Manator would demand from O-Tar the respect and +consideration that is their due from the man who holds his high +office at their pleasure. Know, then, O-Tar, that you must free +A-Kor, the dwar, forthwith or bring him to fair trial before the +assembled jeds of Manator. I have spoken." + +"You have spoken well and to the point, U-Thor," cried O-Tar, +"for you have revealed to your jeddak and your fellow jeds the +depth of the disloyalty that I have long suspected. A-Kor already +has been tried and sentenced by the supreme tribunal of +Manator--O-Tar, the jeddak; and you too shall receive justice +from the same unfailing source. In the meantime you are under +arrest. To the pits with him! To the pits with U-Thor the false +jed!" He clapped his hands to summon the surrounding warriors to +do his bidding. A score leaped forward to seize U-Thor. They were +warriors of the palace, mostly; but two score leaped to defend +U-Thor, and with ringing steel they fought at the foot of the +steps to the throne of Manator where stood O-Tar, the jeddak, +with drawn sword ready to take his part in the +melee. + +At the clash of steel, palace guards rushed to the scene from +other parts of the great building until those who would have +defended U-Thor were outnumbered two to one, and then the jed of +Manatos slowly withdrew with his forces, and fighting his way +through the corridors and chambers of the palace came at last to +the avenue. Here he was reinforced by the little army that had +marched with him into Manator. Slowly they retreated toward The +Gate of Enemies between the rows of silent people looking down +upon them from the balconies and there, within the city walls, +they made their stand. + +In a dimly-lighted chamber beneath the palace of O-Tar the +jeddak, Turan the panthan lowered Tara of Helium from his arms +and faced her. "I am sorry, Princess," he said, "that I was +forced to disobey your commands, or to abandon Ghek; but there +was no other way. Could he have saved you I would have stayed in +his place. Tell me that you forgive me." + +"How could I do less?" she replied graciously. "But it seemed +cowardly to abandon a friend." + +"Had we been three fighting men it had been different," he said. +"We could only have remained and died together, fighting; but you +know, Tara of Helium, that we may not jeopardize a woman's safety +even though we risk the loss of honor." + +"I know that, Turan," she said; "but no one may say that you have +risked honor, who knows the honor and bravery that are yours." + +He heard her with surprise for these were the first words that +she had spoken to him that did not savor of the attitude of a +princess to a panthan--though it was more in her tone than the +actual words that he apprehended the difference. How at variance +were they to her recent repudiation of him! He could not fathom +her, and so he blurted out the question that had been in his mind +since she had told O-Tar that she did not know him. + +"Tara of Helium," he said, "your words are balm to the wound you +gave me in the throne room of O-Tar. Tell me, Princess, why you +denied me." + +She turned her great, deep eyes up to his and in them was a +little of reproach. + +"You did not guess," she asked, "that it was my lips alone and +not my heart that denied you? O-Tar had ordered that I die, more +because I was a companion of Ghek than because of any evidence +against me, and so I knew that if I acknowledged you as one of +us, you would be slain, too." + +"It was to save me, then?" he cried, his face suddenly lighting. + +"It was to save my brave panthan," she said in a low voice. + +"Tara of Helium," said the warrior, dropping to one knee, "your +words are as food to my hungry heart," and he took her fingers in +his and pressed them to his lips. + +Gently she raised him to his feet. "You need not tell me, +kneeling," she said, softly. + +Her hand was still in his as he rose and they were very close, +and the man was still flushed with the contact of her body since +he had carried her from the throne room of O-Tar. He felt his +heart pounding in his breast and the hot blood surging through +his veins as he looked at her beautiful face, with its downcast +eyes and the half-parted lips that he would have given a kingdom +to possess, and then he swept her to him and as he crushed her +against his breast his lips smothered hers with kisses. + +But only for an instant. Like a tigress the girl turned upon +him, striking him, and thrusting him away. She stepped back, her +head high and her eyes flashing fire. "You would dare?" she +cried. "You would dare thus defile a princess of Helium?" + +His eyes met hers squarely and there was no shame and no remorse +in them. + +"Yes, I would dare," he said. "I would dare love Tara of Helium; +but I would not dare defile her or any woman with kisses that +were not prompted by love of her alone." He stepped closer to her +and laid his hands upon her shoulders. "Look into my eyes, +daughter of The Warlord," he said, "and tell me that you do not +wish the love of Turan, the panthan." + +"I do not wish your love," she cried, pulling away. "I hate you!" +and then turning away she bent her head into the hollow of her +arm, and wept. + +The man took a step toward her as though to comfort her when he +was arrested by the sound of a crackling laugh behind him. +Wheeling about, he discovered a strange figure of a man standing +in a doorway. It was one of those rarities occasionally to be +seen upon Barsoom--an old man with the signs of age upon him. +Bent and wrinkled, he had more the appearance of a mummy than a +man. + +"Love in the pits of O-Tar!" he cried, and again his thin +laughter jarred upon the silence of the subterranean vaults. "A +strange place to woo! A strange place to woo, indeed! When I was +a young man we roamed in the gardens beneath giant pimalias and +stole our kisses in the brief shadows of hurtling Thuria. We came +not to the gloomy pits to speak of love; but times have changed +and ways have changed, though I had never thought to live to see +the time when the way of a man with a maid, or a maid with a man +would change. Ah, but we kissed them then! And what if they +objected, eh? What if they objected? Why, we kissed them more. +Ey, ey, those were the days!" and he cackled again. "Ey, well do +I recall the first of them I ever kissed, and I've kissed an army +of them since; she was a fine girl, but she tried to slip a +dagger into me while I was kissing her. Ey, ey, those were the +days! But I kissed her. She's been dead over a thousand years +now, but she was never kissed again like that while she lived, +I'll swear, not since she's been dead, either. And then there was +that other--" but Turan, seeing a thousand or more years of +osculatory memoirs portending, interrupted. + +"Tell me, ancient one," he said, "not of thy loves but of +thyself. Who are you? What do you here in the pits of O-Tar?" + +"I might ask you the same, young man," replied the other. "Few +there are who visit the pits other than the dead, except my +pupils--ey! That is it--you are new pupils! Good! But never +before have they sent a woman to learn the great art from the +greatest artist. But times have changed. Now, in my day the women +did no work--they were just for kissing and loving. Ey, those +were the women. I mind the one we captured in the south--ey! she +was a devil, but how she could love. She had breasts of marble +and a heart of fire. Why, she--" + +"Yes, yes," interrupted Turan; "we are pupils, and we are anxious +to get to work. Lead on and we will follow." + +"Ey, yes! Ey, yes! Come! All is rush and hurry as though there +were not another countless myriad of ages ahead. Ey, yes! as many +as lie behind. Two thousand years have passed since I broke my +shell and always rush, rush, rush, yet I cannot see that aught +has been accomplished. Manator is the same today as it was +then--except the girls. We had the girls then. There was one that +I gained upon The Fields of Jetan. Ey, but you should have seen +--" + +"Lead on!" cried Turan. "After we are at work you shall tell us +of her." + +"Ey, yes," said the old fellow and shuffled off down a dimly +lighted passage. "Follow me!" + +"You are going with him?" asked Tara. + +"Why not?" replied Turan. "We know not where we are, or the way +from these pits; for I know not east from west; but he doubtless +knows and if we are shrewd we may learn from him that which we +would know. At least we cannot afford to arouse his suspicions"; +and so they followed him--followed along winding corridors and +through many chambers, until they came at last to a room in which +there were several marble slabs raised upon pedestals some three +feet above the floor and upon each slab lay a human corpse. + +"Here we are," exclaimed the old man. "These are fresh and we +shall have to get to work upon them soon. I am working now on one +for The Gate of Enemies. He slew many of our warriors. Truly is +he entitled to a place in The Gate. Come, you shall see him." + +He led them to an adjoining apartment. Upon the floor were many +fresh, human bones and upon a marble slab a mass of shapeless +flesh. + +"You will learn this later," announced the old man; "but it will +not harm you to watch me now, for there are not many thus +prepared, and it may be long before you will have the opportunity +to see another prepared for The Gate of Enemies. First, you see, +I remove all the bones, carefully that the skin may be damaged as +little as possible. The skull is the most difficult, but it can +be removed by a skilful artist. You see, I have made but a single +opening. This I now sew up, and that done, the body is hung so," +and he fastened a piece of rope to the hair of the corpse and +swung the horrid thing to a ring in the ceiling. Directly below +it was a circular manhole in the floor from which he removed the +cover revealing a well partially filled with a reddish liquid. +"Now we lower it into this, the formula for which you shall learn +in due time. We fasten it thus to the bottom of the cover, which +we now replace. In a year it will be ready; but it must be +examined often in the meantime and the liquid kept above the +level of its crown. It will be a very beautiful piece, this one, +when it is ready. + +"And you are fortunate again, for there is one to come out +today." He crossed to the opposite side of the room and raised +another cover, reached in and dragged a grotesque looking figure +from the hole. It was a human body, shrunk by the action of the +chemical in which it had been immersed, to a little figure scarce +a foot high. + +"Ey! is it not fine?" cried the little old man. "Tomorrow it will +take its place in The Gate of Enemies." He dried it off with +cloths and packed it away carefully in a basket. "Perhaps you +would like to see some of my life work," he suggested, and +without waiting for their assent led them to another apartment, a +large chamber in which were forty or fifty people. All were +sitting or standing quietly about the walls, with the exception +of one huge warrior who bestrode a great thoat in the very center +of the room, and all were motionless. Instantly there sprang to +the minds of Tara and Turan the rows of silent people upon the +balconies that lined the avenues of the city, and the noble array +of mounted warriors in The Hall of Chiefs, and the same +explanation came to both but neither dared voice the question +that was in his mind, for fear of revealing by his ignorance the +fact that they were strangers in Manator and therefore impostors +in the guise of pupils. + +"It is very wonderful," said Turan. "It must require great skill +and patience and time." + +"That it does," replied the old man, "though having done it so +long I am quicker than most; but mine are the most natural. Why, +I would defy the wife of that warrior to say that insofar as +appearances are concerned he does not live," and he pointed at +the man upon the thoat. "Many of them, of course, are brought +here wasted or badly wounded and these I have to repair. That is +where great skill is required, for everyone wants his dead to +look as they did at their best in life; but you shall learn--to +mount them and paint them and repair them and sometimes to make +an ugly one look beautiful. And it will be a great comfort to be +able to mount your own. Why, for fifteen hundred years no one has +mounted my own dead but myself. + +"I have many, my balconies are crowded with them; but I keep a +great room for my wives. I have them all, as far back as the +first one, and many is the evening I spend with them--quiet +evenings and very pleasant. And then the pleasure of preparing +them and making them even more beautiful than in life partially +recompenses one for their loss. I take my time with them, looking +for a new one while I am working on the old. When I am not sure +about a new one I bring her to the chamber where my wives are, +and compare her charms with theirs, and there is always a great +satisfaction at such times in knowing that they will not object. +I love harmony." + +"Did you prepare all the warriors in The Hall of Chiefs?" asked +Turan. + +"Yes, I prepare them and repair them," replied the old man. +"O-Tar will trust no other. Even now I have two in another room +who were damaged in some way and brought down to me. O-Tar does +not like to have them gone long, since it leaves two riderless +thoats in the Hall; but I shall have them ready presently. He +wants them all there in the event any momentous question arises +upon which the living jeds cannot agree, or do not agree with +O-Tar. Such questions he carries to the jeds in The Hall of +Chiefs. There he shuts himself up alone with the great chiefs who +have attained wisdom through death. It is an excellent plan and +there is never any friction or misunderstandings. O-Tar has said +that it is the finest deliberative body upon Barsoom--much more +intelligent than that composed of the living jeds. But come, we +must get to work; come into the next chamber and I will begin +your instruction." + +He led the way into the chamber in which lay the several corpses +upon their marble slabs, and going to a cabinet he donned a pair +of huge spectacles and commenced to select various tools from +little compartments. This done he turned again toward his two +pupils. + +"Now let me have a look at you," he said. "My eyes are not what +they once were, and I need these powerful lenses for my work, or +to see distinctly the features of those around me." + +He turned his eyes upon the two before him. Turan held his breath +for he knew that now the man must discover that they wore not the +harness or insignia of Manator. He had wondered before why the +old fellow had not noticed it, for he had not known that he was +half blind. The other examined their faces, his eyes lingering +long upon the beauty of Tara of Helium, and then they drifted to +the harness of the two. Turan thought that he noted an +appreciable start of surprise on the part of the taxidermist, but +if the old man noticed anything his next words did not reveal it. + +"Come with I-Gos," he said to Turan, "I have materials in the +next room that I would have you fetch hither. Remain here, woman, +we shall be gone but a moment." + +He led the way to one of the numerous doors opening into the +chamber and entered ahead of Turan. Just inside the door he +stopped, and pointing to a bundle of silks and furs upon the +opposite side of the room directed Turan to fetch them. The +latter had crossed the room and was stooping to raise the bundle +when he heard the click of a lock behind him. Wheeling instantly +he saw that he was alone in the room and that the single door was +closed. Running rapidly to it he strove to open it, only to find +that he was a prisoner. + +I-Gos, stepping out and locking the door behind him, turned +toward Tara. + +"Your leather betrayed you," he said, laughing his cackling +laugh. "You sought to deceive old I-Gos, but you found that +though his eyes are weak his brain is not. But it shall not go +ill with you. You are beautiful and I-Gos loves beautiful women. +I might not have you elsewhere in Manator, but here there is none +to deny old I-Gos. Few come to the pits of the dead--only those +who bang the dead and they hasten away as fast as they can. No +one will know that I-Gos has a beautiful woman locked with his +dead. I shall ask you no questions and then I will not have to +give you up, for I will not know to whom you belong, eh? And when +you die I shall mount you beautifully and place you in the +chamber with my other women. Will not that be fine, eh?" He had +approached until he stood close beside the horrified girl. +"Come!" he cried, seizing her by the wrist. "Come to I-Gos!" + + + +CHAPTER XVI + +ANOTHER CHANGE OF NAME + +TURAN dashed himself against the door of his prison in a vain +effort to break through the solid skeel to the side of Tara whom +he knew to be in grave danger, but the heavy panels held and he +succeeded only in bruising his shoulders and his arms. At last he +desisted and set about searching his prison for some other means +of escape. He found no other opening in the stone walls, but his +search revealed a heterogeneous collection of odds and ends of +arms and apparel, of harness and ornaments and insignia, and +sleeping silks and furs in great quantities. There were swords +and spears and several large, two-bladed battle-axes, the heads +of which bore a striking resemblance to the propellor of a small +flier. Seizing one of these he attacked the door once more with +great fury. He expected to hear something from I-Gos at this +ruthless destruction, but no sound came to him from beyond the +door, which was, he thought, too thick for the human voice to +penetrate; but he would have wagered much that I-Gos heard him. +Bits of the hard wood splintered at each impact of the heavy axe, +but it was slow work and heavy. Presently he was compelled to +rest, and so it went for what seemed hours--working almost to the +verge of exhaustion and then resting for a few minutes; but ever +the hole grew larger though he could see nothing of the interior +of the room beyond because of the hanging that I-Gos had drawn +across it after he had locked Turan within. + +At last, however, the panthan had hewn an opening through which +his body could pass, and seizing a long-sword that he had brought +close to the door for the purpose he crawled through into the +next room. Flinging aside the arras he stood ready, sword in +hand, to fight his way to the side of Tara of Helium--but she was +not there. In the center of the room lay I-Gos, dead upon the +floor; but Tara of Helium was nowhere to be seen. + +Turan was nonplussed. It must have been her hand that had struck +down the old man, yet she had made no effort to release Turan +from his prison. And then he thought of those last words of hers: +"I do not want your love! I hate you," and the truth dawned upon +him--she had seized upon this first opportunity to escape him. +With downcast heart Turan turned away. What should he do? There +could be but one answer. While he lived and she lived he must +still leave no stone unturned to effect her escape and safe +return to the land of her people. But how? How was he even to +find his way from this labyrinth? How was he to find her again? +He walked to the nearest doorway. It chanced to be that which led +into the room containing the mounted dead, awaiting +transportation to balcony or grim room or whatever place was to +receive them. His eyes travelled to the great, painted warrior on +the thoat and as they ran over the splendid trappings and the +serviceable arms a new light came into the pain-dulled eyes of +the panthan. With a quick step he crossed to the side of the dead +warrior and dragged him from his mount. With equal celerity he +stripped him of his harness and his arms, and tearing off his +own, donned the regalia of the dead man. Then he hastened back to +the room in which he had been trapped, for there he had seen that +which he needed to make his disguise complete. In a cabinet he +found them--pots of paint that the old taxidermist had used to +place the war-paint in its wide bands across the cold faces of +dead warriors. + +A few moments later Gahan of Gathol emerged from the room a +warrior of Manator in every detail of harness, equipment, and +ornamentation. He had removed from the leather of the dead man +the insignia of his house and rank so that he might pass, with +the least danger of arousing suspicion, as a common warrior. + +To search for Tara of Helium in the vast, dim labyrinth of the +pits of O-Tar seemed to the Gatholian a hopeless quest, +foredoomed to failure. It would be wiser to seek the streets of +Manator where he might hope to learn first if she had been +recaptured and, if not, then he could return to the pits and +pursue the hunt for her. To find egress from the maze he must +perforce travel a considerable distance through the winding +corridors and chambers, since he had no idea as to the location +or direction of any exit. In fact, he could not have retraced his +steps a hundred yards toward the point at which he and Tara had +entered the gloomy caverns, and so he set out in the hope that he +might find by accident either Tara of Helium or a way to the +street level above. + +For a time he passed room after room filled with the cunningly +preserved dead of Manator, many of which were piled in tiers +after the manner that firewood is corded, and as he moved through +corridor and chamber he noticed hieroglyphics painted upon the +walls above every opening and at each fork or crossing of +corridors, until by observation he reached the conclusion that +these indicated the designations of passageways, so that one who +understood them might travel quickly and surely through the pits; +but Turan did not understand them. Even could he have read the +language of Manator they might not materially have aided one +unfamiliar with the city; but he could not read them at all +since, though there is but one spoken language upon Barsoom, +there are as many different written languages as there are +nations. One thing, however, soon became apparent to him--the +hieroglyphic of a corridor remained the same until the corridor +ended. + +It was not long before Turan realized from the distance that he +had traveled that the pits were part of a vast system +undermining, possibly, the entire city. At least he was convinced +that he had passed beyond the precincts of the palace. The +corridors and chambers varied in appearance and architecture from +time to time. All were lighted, though usually quite dimly, with +radium bulbs. For a long time he saw no signs of life other than +an occasional ulsio, then quite suddenly he came face to face +with a warrior at one of the numerous crossings. The fellow +looked at him, nodded, and passed on. Turan breathed a sigh of +relief as he realized that his disguise was effective, but he was +caught in the middle of it by a hail from the warrior who had +stopped and turned toward him. The panthan was glad that a sword +hung at his side, and glad too that they were buried in the dim +recesses of the pits and that there would be but a single +antagonist, for time was precious. + +"Heard you any word of the other?" called the warrior to him. + +"No," replied Turan, who had not the faintest idea to whom or +what the fellow referred. + +"He cannot escape," continued the warrior. "The woman ran +directly into our arms, but she swore that she knew not where her +companion might be found." + +"They took her back to O-Tar?" asked Turan, for now he knew whom +the other meant, and he would know more. + +"They took her back to The Towers of Jetan," replied the warrior. +"Tomorrow the games commence and doubtless she will be played +for, though I doubt if any wants her, beautiful as she is. She +fears not even O-Tar. By Cluros! but she would make a hard slave +to subdue--a regular she-banth she is. Not for me," and he +continued on his way shaking his head. + +Turan hurried on searching for an avenue that led to the level of +the streets above when suddenly he came to the open doorway of a +small chamber in which sat a man who was chained to the wall. +Turan voiced a low exclamation of surprise and pleasure as he +recognized that the man was A-Kor, and that he had stumbled by +accident upon the very cell in which he had been imprisoned. +A-Kor looked at him questioningly. It was evident that he did not +recognize his fellow prisoner. Turan crossed to the table and +leaning close to the other whispered to him. + +"I am Turan the panthan," he said, "who was chained beside you." + +A-Kor looked at him closely. "Your own mother would never know +you!" he said; "but tell me, what has transpired since they took +you away?" + +Turan recounted his experiences in the throne room of O-Tar and +in the pits beneath, "and now," he continued, "I must find these +Towers of Jetan and see what may be done toward liberating the +Princess of Helium." + +A-Kor shook his head. "Long was I dwar of the Towers," he said, +"and I can say to you, stranger, that you might as well attempt +to reduce Manator, single handed, as to rescue a prisoner from +The Towers of Jetan." + +"But I must," replied Turan. + +"Are you better than a good swordsman?" asked A-Kor presently. + +"I am accounted so," replied Turan. + +"Then there is a way--sst!" he was suddenly silent and pointing +toward the base of the wall at the end of the room. + +Turan looked in the direction the other's forefinger indicated, +to see projecting from the mouth of an ulsio's burrow two large +chelae and a pair of protruding eyes. + +"Ghek!" he cried and immediately the hideous kaldane crawled out +upon the floor and approached the table. A-Kor drew back with a +half-stifled ejaculation of repulsion. "Do not fear," Turan +reassured him. "It is my friend--he whom I told you held O-Tar +while Tara and I escaped." + +Ghek climbed to the table top and squatted between the two +warriors. "You are safe in assuming," he said addressing A-Kor, +"that Turan the panthan has no master in all Manator where the +art of sword-play is concerned. I overheard your conversation--go +on." + +"You are his friend," continued A-Kor, "and so I may explain +safely in your presence the only plan I know whereby he may hope +to rescue the Princess of Helium. She is to be the stake of one +of the games and it is O-Tar's desire that she be won by slaves +and common warriors, since she repulsed him. Thus would he punish +her. Not a single man, but all who survive upon the winning side +are to possess her. With money, however, one may buy off the +others before the game. That you could do, and if your side won +and you survived she would become your slave." + +"But how may a stranger and a hunted fugitive accomplish this?" +asked Turan. + +"No one will recognize you. You will go tomorrow to the keeper of +the Towers and enlist in that game for which the girl is to be +the stake, telling the keeper that you are from Manataj, the +farthest city of Manator. If he questions you, you may say that +you saw her when she was brought into the city after her capture. +If you win her, you will find thoats stabled at my palace and you +will carry from me a token that will place all that is mine at +your disposal." + +"But how can I buy off the others in the game without money?" +asked Turan. "I have none--not even of my own country." + +A-Kor opened his pocket-pouch and drew forth a packet of +Manatorian money. + +"Here is sufficient to buy them off twice over," he said, handing +a portion of it to Turan. + +"But why do you do this for a stranger?" asked the panthan. + +"My mother was a captive princess here," replied A-Kor. "I but do +for the Princess of Helium what my mother would have me do." + +"Under the circumstances, then, Manatorian," replied Turan, "I +cannot but accept your generosity on behalf of Tara of Helium and +live in hope that some day I may do for you something in return." + +"Now you must be gone," advised A-Kor. "At any minute a guard may +come and discover you here. Go directly to the Avenue of Gates, +which circles the city just within the outer wall. There you will +find many places devoted to the lodging of strangers. You will +know them by the thoat's head carved above the doors. Say that +you are here from Manataj to witness the games. Take the name of +U-Kal--it will arouse no suspicion, nor will you if you can avoid +conversation. Early in the morning seek the keeper of The Towers +of Jetan. May the strength and fortune of all your ancestors be +with you!" + +Bidding good-bye to Ghek and A-Kor, the panthan, following +directions given him by A-Kor, set out to find his way to the +Avenue of Gates, nor had he any great difficulty. On the way he +met several warriors, but beyond a nod they gave him no heed. +With ease he found a lodging place where there were many +strangers from other cities of Manator. As he had had no sleep +since the previous night he threw himself among the silks and +furs of his couch to gain the rest which he must have, was he to +give the best possible account of himself in the service of Tara +of Helium the following day. + +It was already morning when he awoke, and rising he paid for his +lodgings, sought a place to eat, and a short time later was on +his way toward The Towers of Jetan, which he had no difficulty in +finding owing to the great crowds that were winding along the +avenues toward the games. The new keeper of The Towers who had +succeeded E-Med was too busy to scrutinize entries closely, for +in addition to the many volunteer players there were scores of +slaves and prisoners being forced into the games by their owners +or the government. The name of each must be recorded as well as +the position he was to play and the game or games in which he was +to be entered, and then there were the substitutes for each that +was entered in more than a single game--one for each additional +game that an individual was entered for, that no succeeding game +might be delayed by the death or disablement of a player. + +"Your name?" asked a clerk as Turan presented himself. + +"U-Kal," replied the panthan. + +"Your city?" + +"Manataj." + +The keeper, who was standing beside the clerk, looked at Turan. +"You have come a great way to play at jetan," he said. "It is +seldom that the men of Manataj attend other than the decennial +games. Tell me of O-Zar! Will he attend next year? Ah, but he was +a noble fighter. If you be half the swordsman, U-Kal, the fame of +Manataj will increase this day. But tell me, what of O-Zar?" + +"He is well," replied Turan, glibly, "and he sent greetings to +his friends in Manator." + +"Good!" exclaimed the keeper, "and now in what game would you +enter?" + +"I would play for the Heliumetic princess, Tara," replied Turan. + +"But man, she is to be the stake of a game for slaves and +criminals," cried the keeper. "You would not volunteer for such a +game!" + +"But I would," replied Turan. "I saw here when she was brought +into the city and even then I vowed to possess her." + +"But you will have to share her with the survivors even if your +color wins," objected the other. + +"They may be brought to reason," insisted Turan. + +"And you will chance incurring the wrath of O-Tar, who has no +love for this savage barbarian," explained the keeper. + +"And I win her O-Tar will be rid of her," said Turan. + +The keeper of The Towers of Jetan shook his head. "You are rash," +he said. "I would that I might dissuade the friend of my friend +O-Zar from such madness." + +"Would you favor the friend of O-Zar?" asked Turan. + +"Gladly!" exclaimed the other. "What may I do for him?" + +"Make me chief of the Black and give me for my pieces all slaves +from Gathol, for I understand that those be excellent warriors," +replied the panthan. + +"It is a strange request," said the keeper, "but for my friend +O-Zar I would do even more, though of course--" he +hesitated--"it is customary for one who would be chief to make +some slight payment." + +"Certainly," Turan hastened to assure him; "I had not forgotten +that. I was about to ask you what the customary amount is." + +"For the friend of my friend it shall be nominal," replied the +keeper, naming a figure that Gahan, accustomed to the high price +of wealthy Gathol, thought ridiculously low. + +"Tell me," he said, handing the money to the keeper, "when the +game for the Heliumite is to be played." + +"It is the second in order of the day's games; and now if you +will come with me you may select your pieces." + +Turan followed the keeper to a large court which lay between the +towers and the jetan field, where hundreds of warriors were +assembled. Already chiefs for the games of the day were selecting +their pieces and assigning them to positions, though for the +principal games these matters had been arranged for weeks before. +The keeper led Turan to a part of the courtyard where the +majority of the slaves were assembled. + +"Take your choice of those not assigned," said the keeper, "and +when you have your quota conduct them to the field. Your place +will be assigned you by an officer there, and there you will +remain with your pieces until the second game is called. I wish +you luck, U-Kal, though from what I have heard you will be more +lucky to lose than to win the slave from Helium." + +After the fellow had departed Turan approached the slaves. "I +seek the best swordsmen for the second game," he announced. "Men +from Gathol I wish, for I have heard that these be noble +fighters." + +A slave rose and approached him. "It is all the same in which +game we die," he said. "I would fight for you as a panthan in the +second game." + +Another came. "I am not from Gathol," he said. "I am from Helium, +and I would fight for the honor of a princess of Helium." + +"Good!" exclaimed Turan. "Art a swordsman of repute in Helium?" + +"I was a dwar under the great Warlord, and I have fought at his +side in a score of battles from The Golden Cliffs to The Carrion +Caves. My name is Val Dor. Who knows Helium, knows my prowess." + +The name was well known to Gahan, who had heard the man spoken of +on his last visit to Helium, and his mysterious disappearance +discussed as well as his renown as a fighter. + +"How could I know aught of Helium?" asked Turan; "but if you be +such a fighter as you say no position could suit you better than +that of Flier. What say you?" + +The man's eyes denoted sudden surprise. He looked keenly at +Turan, his eyes running quickly over the other's harness. Then he +stepped quite close so that his words might not be overheard. + +"Methinks you may know more of Helium than of Manator," he +whispered. + +"What mean you, fellow?" demanded Turan, seeking to cudgel his +brains for the source of this man's knowledge, guess, or +inspiration. + +"I mean," replied Val Dor, "that you are not of Manator and that +if you wish to hide the fact it is well that you speak not to a +Manatorian as you did just speak to me of--Fliers! There be no +Fliers in Manator and no piece in their game of Jetan bearing +that name. Instead they call him who stands next to the Chief or +Princess, Odwar. The piece has the same moves and power that the +Flier has in the game as played outside Manator. Remember this +then and remember, too, that if you have a secret it be safe in +the keeping of Val Dor of Helium." + +Turan made no reply but turned to the task of selecting the +remainder of his pieces. Val Dor, the Heliumite, and Floran, the +volunteer from Gathol, were of great assistance to him, since one +or the other of them knew most of the slaves from whom his +selection was to be made. The pieces all chosen, Turan led them +to the place beside the playing field where they were to wait +their turn, and here he passed the word around that they were to +fight for more than the stake he offered for the princess should +they win. This stake they accepted, so that Turan was sure of +possessing Tara if his side was victorious, but he knew that +these men would fight even more valorously for chivalry than for +money, nor was it difficult to enlist the interest even of the +Gatholians in the service of the princess. And now he held out +the possibility of a still further reward. + +"I cannot promise you," he explained, "but I may say I have heard +that this day which makes it possible that should we win this +game we may even win your freedom!" + +They leaped to their feet and crowded around him with many +questions. + +"It may not be spoken of aloud," he said; "but Floran and Val Dor +know and they assure me that you may all be trusted. Listen! What +I would tell you places my life in your hands, but you must know +that every man will realize that he is fighting today the +greatest battle of his life--for the honor and the freedom of +Barsoom's most wondrous princess and for his own freedom as +well--for the chance to return each to his own country and to the +woman who awaits him there. + +"First, then, is my secret. I am not of Manator. Like yourselves +I am a slave, though for the moment disguised as a Manatorian +from Manataj. My country and my identity must remain undisclosed +for reasons that have no bearing upon our game today. I, then, am +one of you. I fight for the same things that you will fight for. + +"And now for that which I have but just learned. U-Thor, the +great jed of Manatos, quarreled with O-Tar in the palace the day +before yesterday and their warriors set upon one another. U-Thor +was driven as far as The Gate of Enemies, where he now lies +encamped. At any moment the fight may be renewed; but it is +thought that U-Thor has sent to Manatos for reinforcements. Now, +men of Gathol, here is the thing that interests you. U-Thor has +recently taken to wife the Princess Haja of Gathol, who was slave +to O-Tar and whose son, A-Kor, was dwar of The Towers of Jetan. +Haja's heart is filled with loyalty for Gathol and compassion for +her sons who are here enslaved, and this latter sentiment she has +to some extent transmitted to U-Thor. Aid me, therefore, in +freeing the Princess Tara of Helium and I believe that I can aid +you and her and myself to escape the city. Bend close your ears, +slaves of O-Tar, that no cruel enemy may hear my words," and +Gahan of Gathol whispered in low tones the daring plan he had +conceived. "And now," he demanded, when he had finished, "let him +who does not dare speak now." None replied. "Is there none?" + +"And it would not betray you should I cast my sword at thy feet, +it had been done ere this," said one in low tones pregnant with +suppressed feeling. + +"And I!" "And I!" "And I!" chorused the others in vibrant +whispers. + + + +CHAPTER XVII + +A PLAY TO THE DEATH + +CLEAR and sweet a trumpet spoke across The Fields of Jetan. From +The High Tower its cool voice floated across the city of Manator +and above the babel of human discords rising from the crowded +mass that filled the seats of the stadium below. It called the +players for the first game, and simultaneously there fluttered to +the peaks of a thousand staffs on tower and battlement and the +great wall of the stadium the rich, gay pennons of the fighting +chiefs of Manator. Thus was marked the opening of The Jeddak's +Games, the most important of the year and second only to the +Grand Decennial Games. + +Gahan of Gathol watched every play with eagle eye. The match was +an unimportant one, being but to settle some petty dispute +between two chiefs, and was played with professional jetan +players for points only. No one was killed and there was but +little blood spilled. It lasted about an hour and was terminated +by the chief of the losing side deliberately permitting himself +to be out-pointed, that the game might be called a draw. + +Again the trumpet sounded, this time announcing the second and +last game of the afternoon. While this was not considered an +important match, those being reserved for the fourth and fifth +days of the games, it promised to afford sufficient excitement +since it was a game to the death. The vital difference between +the game played with living men and that in which inanimate +pieces are used, lies in the fact that while in the latter the +mere placing of a piece upon a square occupied by an opponent +piece terminates the move, in the former the two pieces thus +brought together engage in a duel for possession of the square. +Therefore there enters into the former game not only the strategy +of jetan but the personal prowess and bravery of each individual +piece, so that a knowledge not only of one's own men but of each +player upon the opposing side is of vast value to a chief. + +In this respect was Gahan handicapped, though the loyalty of his +players did much to offset his ignorance of them, since they +aided him in arranging the board to the best advantage and told +him honestly the faults and virtues of each. One fought best in a +losing game; another was too slow; another too impetuous; this +one had fire and a heart of steel, but lacked endurance. Of the +opponents, though, they knew little or nothing, and now as the +two sides took their places upon the black and orange squares of +the great jetan board Gahan obtained, for the first time, a close +view of those who opposed him. The Orange Chief had not yet +entered the field, but his men were all in place. Val Dor turned +to Gahan. "They are all criminals from the pits of Manator," he +said. "There is no slave among them. We shall not have to fight +against a single fellow-countryman and every life we take will be +the life of an enemy." + +"It is well," replied Gahan; "but where is their Chief, and where +the two Princesses?" + +"They are coming now, see?" and he pointed across the field to +where two women could be seen approaching under guard. + +As they came nearer Gahan saw that one was indeed Tara of Helium, +but the other he did not recognize, and then they were brought to +the center of the field midway between the two sides and there +waited until the Orange Chief arrived. + +Floran voiced an exclamation of surprise when he recognized him. +"By my first ancestor if it is not one of their great chiefs," he +said, "and we were told that slaves and criminals were to play +for the stake of this game." + +His words were interrupted by the keeper of The Towers whose duty +it was not only to announce the games and the stakes, but to act +as referee as well. + +"Of this, the second game of the first day of the Jeddak's Games +in the four hundred and thirty-third year of O-Tar, Jeddak of +Manator, the Princesses of each side shall be the sole stakes and +to the survivors of the winning side shall belong both the +Princesses, to do with as they shall see fit. The Orange Princess +is the slave woman Lan-O of Gathol; the Black Princess is the +slave woman Tara, a princess of Helium. The Black Chief is U-Kal +of Manataj, a volunteer player; the Orange Chief is the dwar +U-Dor of the 8th Utan of the jeddak of Manator, also a volunteer +player. The squares shall be contested to the death. Just are the +laws of Manator! I have spoken." + +The initial move was won by U-Dor, following which the two Chiefs +escorted their respective Princesses to the square each was to +occupy. It was the first time Gahan had been alone with Tara +since she had been brought upon the field. He saw her +scrutinizing him closely as he approached to lead her to her +place and wondered if she recognized him: but if she did she gave +no sign of it. He could not but remember her last words--"I hate +you!" and her desertion of him when he had been locked in the +room beneath the palace by I-Gos, the taxidermist, and so he did +not seek to enlighten her as to his identity. He meant to fight +for her--to die for her, if necessary--and if he did not die to +go on fighting to the end for her love. Gahan of Gathol was not +easily to be discouraged, but he was compelled to admit that his +chances of winning the love of Tara of Helium were remote. +Already had she repulsed him twice. Once as jed of Gathol and +again as Turan the panthan. Before his love, however, came her +safety and the former must be relegated to the background until +the latter had been achieved. + +Passing among the players already at their stations the two took +their places upon their respective squares. At Tara's left was +the Black Chief, Gahan of Gathol; directly in front of her the +Princess' Panthan, Floran of Gathol; and at her right the +Princess' Odwar, Val Dor of Helium. And each of these knew the +part that he was to play, win or lose, as did each of the other +Black players. As Tara took her place Val Dor bowed low. "My +sword is at your feet, Tara of Helium," he said. + +She turned and looked at him, an expression of surprise and +incredulity upon her face. "Val Dor, the dwar!" she exclaimed. +"Val Dor of Helium--one of my father's trusted captains! Can it +be possible that my eyes speak the truth?" + +"It is Val Dor, Princess," the warrior replied, "and here to die +for you if need be, as is every wearer of the Black upon this +field of jetan today. Know Princess," he whispered, "that upon +this side is no man of Manator, but each and every is an enemy of +Manator." + +She cast a quick, meaning glance toward Gahan. "But what of him?" +she whispered, and then she caught her breath quickly in +surprise. "Shade of the first jeddak!" she exclaimed. "I did but +just recognize him through his disguise." + +"And you trust him?" asked Val Dor. "I know him not; but he spoke +fairly, as an honorable warrior, and we have taken him at his +word." + +"You have made no mistake," replied Tara of Helium. "I would +trust him with my life--with my soul; and you, too, may trust +him." + +Happy indeed would have been Gahan of Gathol could he have heard +those words; but Fate, who is usually unkind to the lover in such +matters, ordained it otherwise, and then the game was on. + +U-Dor moved his Princess' Odwar three squares diagonally to the +right, which placed the piece upon the Black Chief's Odwar's +seventh. The move was indicative of the game that U-Dor intended +playing--a game of blood, rather than of science--and evidenced +his contempt for his opponents. + +Gahan followed with his Odwar's Panthan one square straight +forward, a more scientific move, which opened up an avenue for +himself through his line of Panthans, as well as announcing to +the players and spectators that he intended having a hand in the +fighting himself even before the exigencies of the game forced it +upon him. The move elicited a ripple of applause from those +sections of seats reserved for the common warriors and their +women, showing perhaps that U-Dor was none too popular with +these, and, too, it had its effect upon the morale of Gahan's +pieces. A Chief may, and often does, play almost an entire game +without leaving his own square, where, mounted upon a thoat, he +may overlook the entire field and direct each move, nor may he be +reproached for lack of courage should he elect thus to play the +game since, by the rules, were he to be slain or so badly wounded +as to be compelled to withdraw, a game that might otherwise have +been won by the science of his play and the prowess of his men +would be drawn. To invite personal combat, therefore, denotes +confidence in his own swordsmanship, and great courage, two +attributes that were calculated to fill the Black players with +hope and valor when evinced by their Chief thus early in the +game. + +U-Dor's next move placed Lan-O's Odwar upon Tara's Odwar's +fourth--within striking distance of the Black Princess. + +Another move and the game would be lost to Gahan unless the +Orange Odwar was overthrown, or Tara moved to a position of +safety; but to move his Princess now would be to admit his belief +in the superiority of the Orange. In the three squares allowed +him he could not place himself squarely upon the square occupied +by the Odwar of U-Dor's Princess. There was only one player upon +the Black side that might dispute the square with the enemy and +that was the Chief's Odwar, who stood upon Gahan's left. Gahan +turned upon his thoat and looked at the man. He was a splendid +looking fellow, resplendent in the gorgeous trappings of an +Odwar, the five brilliant feathers which denoted his position +rising defiantly erect from his thick, black hair. In common with +every player upon the field and every spectator in the crowded +stands he knew what was passing in his Chief's mind. He dared not +speak, the ethics of the game forbade it, but what his lips might +not voice his eyes expressed in martial fire, and eloquently: +"The honor of the Black and the safety of our Princess are secure +with me!" + +Gahan hesitated no longer. "Chief's Odwar to Princess' Odwar's +fourth!" he commanded. It was the courageous move of a leader who +had taken up the gauntlet thrown down by his opponent. + +The warrior sprang forward and leaped into the square occupied by +U-Dor's piece. It was the first disputed square of the game. The +eyes of the players were fastened upon the contestants, the +spectators leaned forward in their seats after the first applause +that had greeted the move, and silence fell upon the vast +assemblage. If the Black went down to defeat, U-Dor could move +his victorious piece on to the square occupied by Tara of Helium +and the game would be over--over in four moves and lost to Gahan +of Gathol. If the Orange lost U-Dor would have sacrificed one of +his most important pieces and more than lost what advantage the +first move might have given him. + +Physically the two men appeared perfectly matched and each was +fighting for his life, but from the first it was apparent that +the Black Odwar was the better swordsman, and Gahan knew that he +had another and perhaps a greater advantage over his antagonist. +The latter was fighting for his life only, without the spur of +chivalry or loyalty. The Black Odwar had these to strengthen his +arm, and besides these the knowledge of the thing that Gahan had +whispered into the ears of his players before the game, and so he +fought for what is more than life to the man of honor. + +It was a duel that held those who witnessed it in spellbound +silence. The weaving blades gleamed in the brilliant sunlight, +ringing to the parries of cut and thrust. The barbaric harness of +the duelists lent splendid color to the savage, martial scene. +The Orange Odwar, forced upon the defensive, was fighting madly +for his life. The Black, with cool and terrible efficiency, was +forcing him steadily, step by step, into a corner of the +square--a position from which there could be no escape. To +abandon the square was to lose it to his opponent and win for +himself ignoble and immediate death before the jeering populace. +Spurred on by the seeming hopelessness of his plight, the Orange +Odwar burst into a sudden fury of offense that forced the Black +back a half dozen steps, and then the sword of U-Dor's piece +leaped in and drew first blood, from the shoulder of his +merciless opponent. An ill-smothered cry of encouragement went up +from U-Dor's men; the Orange Odwar, encouraged by his single +success, sought to bear down the Black by the rapidity of his +attack. There was a moment in which the swords moved with a +rapidity that no man's eye might follow, and then the Black Odwar +made a lightning parry of a vicious thrust, leaned quickly +forward into the opening he had effected, and drove his sword +through the heart of the Orange Odwar--to the hilt he drove it +through the body of the Orange Odwar. + +A shout arose from the stands, for wherever may have been the +favor of the spectators, none there was who could say that it had +not been a pretty fight, or that the better man had not won. And +from the Black players came a sigh of relief as they relaxed from +the tension of the past moments. + +I shall not weary you with the details of the game--only the high +features of it are necessary to your understanding of the +outcome. The fourth move after the victory of the Black Odwar +found Gahan upon U-Dor's fourth; an Orange Panthan was on the +adjoining square diagonally to his right and the only opposing +piece that could engage him other than U-Dor himself. + +It had been apparent to both players and spectators for the past +two moves, that Gahan was moving straight across the field into +the enemy's country to seek personal combat with the Orange +Chief--that he was staking all upon his belief in the superiority +of his own swordsmanship, since if the two Chiefs engage, the +outcome decides the game. U-Dor could move out and engage Gahan, +or he could move his Princess' Panthan upon the square occupied +by Gahan in he hope that the former would defeat the Black Chief +and thus draw the game, which is the outcome if any other than a +Chief slays the opposing Chief, or he could move away and escape, +temporarily, the necessity for personal combat, or at least that +is evidently what he had in mind as was obvious to all who saw +him scanning the board about him; and his disappointment was +apparent when he finally discovered that Gahan had so placed +himself that there was no square to which U-Dor could move that +it was not within Gahan's power to reach at his own next move. + +U-Dor had placed his own Princess four squares east of Gahan when +her position had been threatened, and he had hoped to lure the +Black Chief after her and away from U-Dor; but in that he had +failed. He now discovered that he might play his own Odwar into +personal combat with Gahan; but he had already lost one Odwar and +could ill spare the other. His position was a delicate one, since +he did not wish to engage Gahan personally, while it appeared +that there was little likelihood of his being able to escape. +There was just one hope and that lay in his Princess' Panthan, +so, without more deliberation he ordered the piece onto the +square occupied by the Black Chief. + +The sympathies of the spectators were all with Gahan now. If he +lost, the game would be declared a draw, nor do they think better +of drawn games upon Barsoom than do Earth men. If he won, it +would doubtless mean a duel between the two Chiefs, a development +for which they all were hoping. The game already bade fair to be +a short one and it would be an angry crowd should it be decided a +draw with only two men slain. There were great, historic games on +record where of the forty pieces on the field when the game +opened only three survived--the two Princesses and the victorious +Chief. + +They blamed U-Dor, though in fact he was well within his rights +in directing his play as he saw fit, nor was a refusal on his +part to engage the Black Chief necessarily an imputation of +cowardice. He was a great chief who had conceived a notion to +possess the slave Tara. There was no honor that could accrue to +him from engaging in combat with slaves and criminals, or an +unknown warrior from Manataj, nor was the stake of sufficient +import to warrant the risk. + +But now the duel between Gahan and the Orange Panthan was on and +the decision of the next move was no longer in other hands than +theirs. It was the first time that these Mana-Atorians had seen +Gahan of Gathol fight, but Tara of Helium knew that he was master +of his sword. Could he have seen the proud light in her eyes as +he crossed blades with the wearer of the Orange, he might easily +have wondered if they were the same eyes that had flashed fire +and hatred at him that time he had covered her lips with mad +kisses, in the pits of the palace of O-Tar. As she watched him +she could not but compare his swordplay with that of the greatest +swordsman of two worlds--her father, John Carter, of Virginia, a, +Prince of Helium, Warlord of Barsoom--and she knew that the skill +of the Black Chief suffered little by the comparison. + +Short and to the point was the duel that decided possession of +the Orange Chief's fourth. The spectators had settled themselves +for an interesting engagement of at least average duration when +they were brought almost standing by a brilliant flash of rapid +swordplay that was over ere one could catch his breath. They saw +the Black Chief step quickly back, his point upon the ground, +while his opponent, his sword slipping from his fingers, clutched +his breast, sank to his knees and then lunged forward upon his +face. + +And then Gahan of Gathol turned his eyes directly upon U-Dor of +Manator, three squares away. Three squares is a Chief's +move--three squares in any direction or combination of +directions, only provided that he does not cross the same square +twice in a given move. The people saw and guessed Gahan's +intention. They rose and roared forth their approval as he moved +deliberately across the intervening squares toward the Orange +Chief. + +O-Tar, in the royal enclosure, sat frowning upon the scene. O-Tar +was angry. He was angry with U-Dor for having entered this game +for possession of a slave, for whom it had been his wish only +slaves and criminals should strive. He was angry with the warrior +from Manataj for having so far out-generaled and out-fought the +men from Manator. He was angry with the populace because of their +open hostility toward one who had basked in the sunshine of his +favor for long years. O-Tar the jeddak had not enjoyed the +afternoon. Those who surrounded him were equally glum--they, too, +scowled upon the field, the players, and the people. Among them +was a bent and wrinkled old man who gazed through weak and watery +eyes upon the field and the players. + +As Gahan entered his square, U-Dor leaped toward him with drawn +sword with such fury as might have overborne a less skilled and +powerful swordsman. For a minute the fighting was fast and +furious and by comparison reducing to insignificance all that had +gone before. Here indeed were two magnificent swordsmen, and here +was to be a battle that bade fair to make up for whatever the +people felt they had been defrauded of by the shortness of the +game. Nor had it continued long before many there were who would +have prophesied that they were witnessing a duel that was to +become historic in the annals of jetan at Manator. Every trick, +every subterfuge, known to the art of fence these men employed. +Time and again each scored a point and brought blood to his +opponent's copper hide until both were red with gore; but neither +seemed able to administer the coup de grace. + +From her position upon the opposite side of the field Tara of +Helium watched the long-drawn battle. Always it seemed to her +that the Black Chief fought upon the defensive, or when he +assumed to push his opponent, he neglected a thousand openings +that her practiced eye beheld. Never did he seem in real danger, +nor never did he appear to exert himself to quite the pitch +needful for victory. The duel already had been long contested and +the day was drawing to a close. Presently the sudden transition +from daylight to darkness which, owing to the tenuity of the air +upon Barsoom, occurs almost without the warning twilight of +Earth, would occur. Would the fight never end? Would the game be +called a draw after all? What ailed the Black Chief? + +Tara wished that she might answer at least the last of these +questions for she was sure that Turan the panthan, as she knew +him, while fighting brilliantly, was not giving of himself all +that he might. She could not believe that fear was restraining +his hand, but that there was something beside inability to push +U-Dor more fiercely she was confident. What it was, however, she +could not guess. + +Once she saw Gahan glance quickly up toward the sinking sun. In +thirty minutes it would be dark. And then she saw and all those +others saw a strange transition steal over the swordplay of the +Black Chief. It was as though he had been playing with the great +dwar, U-Dor, all these hours, and now he still played with him +but there was a difference. He played with him terribly as a +carnivore plays with its victim in the instant before the kill. +The Orange Chief was helpless now in the hands of a swordsman so +superior that there could be no comparison, and the people sat in +open-mouthed wonder and awe as Gahan of Gathol cut his foe to +ribbons and then struck him down with a blow that cleft him to +the chin. + +In twenty minutes the sun would set. But what of that? + + + +CHAPTER XVIII + +A TASK FOR LOYALTY + +LONG and loud was the applause that rose above the Field of Jetan +at Manator, as The Keeper of the Towers summoned the two +Princesses and the victorious Chief to the center of the field +and presented to the latter the fruits of his prowess, and then, +as custom demanded, the victorious players, headed by Gahan and +the two Princesses, formed in procession behind The Keeper of the +Towers and were conducted to the place of victory before the +royal enclosure that they might receive the commendation of the +jeddak. Those who were mounted gave up their thoats to slaves as +all must be on foot for this ceremony. Directly beneath the royal +enclosure are the gates to one of the tunnels that, passing +beneath the seats, give ingress or egress to or from the Field. +Before this gate the party halted while O-Tar looked down upon +them from above. Val Dor and Floran, passing quietly ahead of the +others, went directly to the gates, where they were hidden from +those who occupied the enclosure with O-Tar. The Keeper of the +Towers may have noticed them, but so occupied was he with the +formality of presenting the victorious Chief to the jeddak that +he paid no attention to them. + +"I bring you, O-Tar, Jeddak of Manator, U-Kal of Manataj," he +cried in a loud voice that might be heard by as many as possible, +"victor over the Orange in the second of the Jeddak's Games of +the four hundred and thirty-third year of O-Tar, and the slave +woman Tara and the slave woman Lan-O that you may bestow these, +the stakes, upon U-Kal." + +As he spoke, a little, wrinkled, old man peered over the rail of +the enclosure down upon the three who stood directly behind The +Keeper, and strained his weak and watery eyes in an effort to +satisfy the curiosity of old age in a matter of no particular +import, for what were two slaves and a common warrior from +Manataj to any who sat with O-Tar the jeddak? + +"U-Kal of Manataj," said O-Tar, "you have deserved the stakes. +Seldom have we looked upon more noble swordplay. And you tire of +Manataj there be always here in the city of Manator a place for +you in The Jeddak's Guard." + +While the jeddak was speaking the little, old man, failing +clearly to discern the features of the Black Chief, reached into +his pocket-pouch and drew forth a pair of thick-lensed +spectacles, which he placed upon his nose. For a moment he +scrutinized Gahan closely, then he leaped to his feet and +addressing O-Tar pointed a shaking finger it Gahan. As he rose +Tara of Helium clutched the Black Chief's arm. + +"Turan!" she whispered. "It is I-Gos, whom I thought to have +slain in the pits of O-Tar. It is I-Gos and he recognizes you and +will--" + +But what I-Gos would do was already transpiring. In his falsetto +voice he fairly screamed: "It is the slave Turan who stole the +woman Tara from your throne room, O-Tar. He desecrated the dead +chief I-Mal and wears his harness now!" + +Instantly all was pandemonium. Warriors drew their swords and +leaped to their feet. Gahan's victorious players rushed forward +in a body, sweeping The Keeper of the Towers from his feet. Val +Dor and Floran threw open the gates beneath the royal enclosure, +opening the tunnel that led to the avenue in the city beyond the +Towers. Gahan, surrounded by his men, drew Tara and Lan-O into +the passageway, and at a rapid pace the party sought to reach the +opposite end of the tunnel before their escape could be cut off. +They were successful and when they emerged into the city the sun +had set and darkness had come, relieved only by an antiquated and +ineffective lighting system, which cast but a pale glow over the +shadowy streets. + +Now it was that Tara of Helium guessed why the Black Chief had +drawn out his duel with U-Dor and realized that he might have +slain his man at almost any moment he had elected. The whole plan +that Gahan had whispered to his players before the game was +thoroughly understood. They were to make their way to The Gate of +Enemies and there offer their services to U-Thor, the great Jed +of Manatos. The fact that most of them were Gatholians and that +Gahan could lead rescuers to the pit where A-Kor, the son of +U-Thor's wife, was confined, convinced the Jed of Gathol that +they would meet with no rebuff at the hands of U-Thor. But even +should he refuse them, still were they bound together to go on +toward freedom, if necessary cutting their way through the forces +of U-Thor at The Gate of Enemies--twenty men against a small +army; but of such stuff are the warriors of Barsoom. + +They had covered a considerable distance along the almost +deserted avenue before signs of pursuit developed and then there +came upon them suddenly from behind a dozen warriors mounted on +thoats--a detachment, evidently, from The Jeddak's Guard. +Instantly the avenue was a pandemonium of clashing blades, +cursing warriors, and squealing thoats. In the first onslaught +life blood was spilled upon both sides. Two of Gahan's men went +down, and upon the enemies' side three riderless thoats attested +at least a portion of their casualties. + +Gahan was engaged with a fellow who appeared to have been +selected to account for him only, since he rode straight for him +and sought to cut him down without giving the slightest heed to +several who slashed at him as he passed them. The Gatholian, +practiced in the art of combating a mounted warrior from the +ground, sought to reach the left side of the fellow's thoat a +little to the rider's rear, the only position in which he would +have any advantage over his antagonist, or rather the position +that would most greatly reduce the advantage of the mounted man, +and, similarly, the Manatorian strove to thwart his design. And +so the guardsman wheeled and turned his vicious, angry mount +while Gahan leaped in and out in an effort to reach the coveted +vantage point, but always seeking some other opening in his foe's +defense. + +And while they jockeyed for position a rider swept swiftly past +them. As he passed behind Gahan the latter heard a cry of alarm. + +"Turan, they have me!" came to his ears in the voice of Tara of +Helium. + +A quick glance across his shoulder showed him the galloping +thoatman in the act of dragging Tara to the withers of the beast, +and then, with the fury of a demon, Gahan of Gathol leaped for +his own man, dragged him from his mount and as he fell smote his +head from his shoulders with a single cut of his keen sword. +Scarce had the body touched the pavement when the Gatholian was +upon the back of the dead warrior's mount, and galloping swiftly +down the avenue after the diminishing figures of Tara and her +abductor, the sounds of the fight waning in the distance as he +pursued his quarry along the avenue that passes the palace of +O-Tar and leads to The Gate of Enemies. + +Gahan's mount, carrying but a single rider, gained upon that of +the Manatorian, so that as they neared the palace Gahan was +scarce a hundred yards behind, and now, to his consternation, he +saw the fellow turn into the great entrance-way. For a moment +only was he halted by the guards and then he disappeared within. +Gahan was almost upon him then, but evidently he had warned the +guards, for they leaped out to intercept the Gatholian. But no! +the fellow could not have known that he was pursued, since he had +not seen Gahan seize a mount, nor would he have thought that +pursuit would come so soon. If he had passed then, so could Gahan +pass, for did he not wear the trappings of a Manatorian? The +Gatholian thought quickly, and stopping his thoat called to the +guardsmen to let him pass, "In the name of O-Tar!" They hesitated +a moment. + +"Aside!" cried Gahan. "Must the jeddak's messenger parley for the +right to deliver his message?" + +"To whom would you deliver it?" asked the padwar of the guard. + +"Saw you not him who just entered?" cried Gahan, and without +waiting for a reply urged his thoat straight past them into the +palace, and while they were deliberating what was best to be +done, it was too late to do anything--which is not unusual. + +Along the marble corridors Gahan guided his thoat, and because he +had gone that way before, rather than because he knew which way +Tara had been taken, he followed the runways and passed through +the chambers that led to the throne room of O-Tar. On the second +level he met a slave. + +"Which way went he who carried the woman before him?" he asked. + +The slave pointed toward a nearby runway that led to the third +level and Gahan dashed rapidly on in pursuit. At the same moment +a thoatman, riding at a furious pace, approached the palace and +halted his mount at the gate. + +"Saw you aught of a warrior pursuing one who carried a woman +before him on his thoat?" he shouted to the guard. + +"He but just passed in," replied the padwar, "saying that he was +O-Tar's messenger." + +"He lied," cried the newcomer. "He was Turan, the slave, who +stole the woman from the throne room two days since. + +Arouse the palace! He must be seized, and alive if possible. It +is O-Tar's command." + +Instantly warriors were dispatched to search for the Gatholian +and warn the inmates of the palace to do likewise. Owing to the +games there were comparatively few retainers in the great +building, but those whom they found were immediately enlisted in +the search, so that presently at least fifty warriors were +seeking through the countless chambers and corridors of the +palace of O-Tar. + +As Gahan's thoat bore him to the third Level the man glimpsed the +hind quarters of another thoat disappearing at the turn of a +corridor far ahead. Urging his own animal forward he raced +swiftly in pursuit and making the turn discovered only an empty +corridor ahead. Along this he hurried to discover near its +farther end a runway to the fourth level, which he followed +upward. Here he saw that he had gained upon his quarry who was +just turning through a doorway fifty yards ahead. As Gahan +reached the opening he saw that the warrior had dismounted and +was dragging Tara toward a small door on the opposite side of the +chamber. At the same instant the clank of harness to his rear +caused him to cast a glance behind where, along the corridor he +had just traversed, he saw three warriors approaching on foot at +a run. Leaping from his thoat Gahan sprang into the chamber where +Tara was struggling to free herself from the grasp of her captor, +slammed the door behind him, shot the great bolt into its seat, +and drawing his sword crossed the room at a run to engage the +Manatorian. The fellow, thus menaced, called aloud to Gahan to +halt, at the same time thrusting Tara at arm's length and +threatening her heart with the point of his short-sword. + +"Stay!" he cried, "or the woman dies, for such is the command of +O-Tar, rather than that she again fall into your hands." + +Gahan stopped. But a few feet separated him from Tara and her +captor, yet he was helpless to aid her. Slowly the warrior backed +toward the open doorway behind him, dragging Tara with him. The +girl struggled and fought, but the warrior was a powerful man and +having seized her by the harness from behind was able to hold her +in a position of helplessness. + +"Save me, Turan!" she cried. "Let them not drag me to a fate +worse than death. Better that I die now while my eyes behold a +brave friend than later, fighting alone among enemies in defense +of my honor." + +He took a step nearer. The warrior made a threatening gesture +with his sword close to the soft, smooth skin of the princess, +and Gahan halted. + +"I cannot, Tara of Helium," he cried. "Think not ill of me that I +am weak--that I cannot see you die. Too great is my love for you, +daughter of Helium." + +The Manatorian warrior, a derisive grin upon his lips, backed +steadily away. He had almost reached the doorway when Gahan saw +another warrior in the chamber toward which Tara was being +borne--a fellow who moved silently, almost stealthily, across the +marble floor as he approached Tara's captor from behind. In his +right hand he grasped a long-sword. + +"Two to one," thought Gahan, and a grim smile touched his lips, +for he had no doubt that once they had Tara safely in the +adjoining chamber the two would set upon him. If he could not +save her, he could at least die for her. + +And then, suddenly, Gahan's eyes fastened with amazement upon the +figure of the warrior behind the grinning fellow who held Tara +and was forcing her to the doorway. He saw the newcomer step +almost within arm's reach of the other. He saw him stop, an +expression of malevolent hatred upon his features. He saw the +great sword swing through the arc of a great circle, gathering +swift and terrific momentum from its own weight backed by the +brawn of the steel thews that guided it; he saw it pass through +the feathered skull of the Manatorian, splitting his sardonic +grin in twain, and open him to the middle of his breast bone. + +As the dead hand relaxed its grasp upon Tara's wrist the girl +leaped forward, without a backward glance, to Gahan's side. His +left arm encircled her, nor did she draw away, as with ready +sword the Gatholian awaited Fate's next decree. Before them +Tara's deliverer was wiping the blood from his sword upon the +hair of his victim. He was evidently a Manatorian, his trappings +those of the Jeddak's Guard, and so his act was inexplicable to +Gahan and to Tara. Presently he sheathed his sword and approached +them. + +"When a man chooses to hide his identity behind an assumed name," +he said, looking straight into Gahan's eyes, "whatever friend +pierces the deception were no friend if he divulged the other's +secret." + +He paused as though awaiting a reply. + +"Your integrity has perceived and your lips voiced an unalterable +truth," replied Gahan, whose mind was filled with wonder if the +implication could by any possibility be true--that this +Manatorian had guessed his identity. + +"We are thus agreed," continued the other, "and I may tell you +that though I am here known as A-Sor, my real name is Tasor." He +paused and watched Gahan's face intently for any sign of the +effect of this knowledge and was rewarded with a quick, though +guarded expression of recognition. + +Tasor! Friend of his youth. The son of that great Gatholian noble +who had given his life so gloriously, however futilely, in an +attempt to defend Gahan's sire from the daggers of the assassins. +Tasor an under-padwar in the guard of O-Tar, Jeddak of Manator! +It was inconceivable--and yet it was he; there could be no doubt +of it. "Tasor," Gahan repeated aloud. "But it is no Manatorian +name." The statement was half interrogatory, for Gahan's +curiosity was aroused. He would know how his friend and loyal +subject had become a Manatorian. Long years had passed since +Tasor had disappeared as mysteriously as the Princess Haja and +many other of Gahan's subjects. The Jed of Gathol had long +supposed him dead. + +"No," replied Tasor, "nor is it a Manatorian name. Come, while I +search for a hiding place for you in some forgotten chamber in +one of the untenanted portions of the palace, and as we go I will +tell you briefly how Tasor the Gatholian became A-Sor the +Manatorian. + +"It befell that as I rode with a dozen of my warriors along the +western border of Gathol searching for zitidars that had strayed +from my herds, we were set upon and surrounded by a great company +of Manatorians. They overpowered us, though not before half our +number was slain and the balance helpless from wounds. And so I +was brought a prisoner to Manataj, a distant city of Manator, and +there sold into slavery. A woman bought me--a princess of Manataj +whose wealth and position were unequaled in the city of her +birth. She loved me and when her husband discovered her +infatuation she beseeched me to slay him, and when I refused she +hired another to do it. Then she married me; but none would have +aught to do with her in Manataj, for they suspected her guilty +knowledge of her husband's murder. And so we set out from Manataj +for Manatos accompanied by a great caravan bearing all her +worldly goods and jewels and precious metals, and on the way she +caused the rumor to be spread that she and I had died. Then we +came to Manator instead, she taking a new name and I the name +A-Sor, that we might not be traced through our names. With her +great wealth she bought me a post in The Jeddak's Guard and none +knows that I am not a Manatorian, for she is dead. She was +beautiful, but she was a devil." + +"And you never sought to return to your native city?" asked +Gahan. + +"Never has the hope been absent from my heart, or my mind empty +of a plan," replied Tasor. "I dream of it by day and by night, +but always must I return to the same conclusion--that there can +be but a single means for escape. I must wait until Fortune +favors me with a place in a raiding party to Gathol. Then, once +within the boundaries of my own country, they shall see me no +more." + +"Perhaps your opportunity lies already within your grasp," said +Gahan, "has not your fealty to your own Jed been undermined by +years of association with the men of Manator." The statement was +half challenge. + +"And my Jed stood before me now," cried Tasor, "and my avowal +could be made without violating his confidence, I should cast my +sword at his feet and beg the high privilege of dying for him as +my sire died for his sire." + +There could be no doubt of his sincerity nor any that he was +cognizant of Gahan's identity. The Jed of Gathol smiled. "And if +your Jed were here there is little doubt but that he would +command you to devote your talents and your prowess to the rescue +of the Princess Tara of Helium," he said, meaningly. "And he +possessed the knowledge I have gained during my captivity he +would say to you, 'Go, Tasor, to the pit where A-kor, son of Haja +of Gathol, is confined and set him free and with him arouse the +slaves from Gathol and march to The Gate of Enemies and offer +your services to U-Thor of Manataj, who is wed to Haja of Gathol, +and ask of him in return that he attack the palace of O-Tar and +rescue Tara of Helium and when that thing is accomplished that he +free the slaves of Gathol and furnish them with the arms and the +means to return to their own country.' That, Tasor of Gathol, is +what Gahan your Jed would demand of you." + +"And that, Turan the slave, is what I shall bend my every effort +to accomplish after I have found a safe refuge for Tara of Helium +and her panthan," replied Tasor. + +Gahan's glance carried to Tasor an intimation of his Jed's +gratification and filled him with a chivalrous determination to +do the thing required of him, or die, for he considered that he +had received from the lips of his beloved ruler a commission that +placed upon his shoulders a responsibility that encompassed not +alone the life of Gahan and Tara but the welfare, perhaps the +whole future, of Gathol. And so he hastened them onward through +the musty corridors of the old palace where the dust of ages lay +undisturbed upon the marble tiles. Now and again he tried a door +until he found one that was unlocked. Opening it he ushered them +into a chamber, heavy with dust. Crumbling silks and furs adorned +the walls, with ancient weapons, and great paintings whose colors +were toned by age to wondrous softness. + +"This be as good as any place," he said. "No one comes here. +Never have I been here before, so I know no more of the other +chambers than you; but this one, at least, I can find again when +I bring you food and drink. O-Mai the Cruel occupied this portion +of the palace during his reign, five thousand years before O-Tar. +In one of these apartments he was found dead, his face contorted +in an expression of fear so horrible that it drove to madness +those who looked upon it; yet there was no mark of violence upon +him Since then the quarters of O-Mai have been shunned for the +legends have it that the ghosts of Corphals pursue the spirit of +the wicked Jeddak nightly through these chambers, shrieking and +moaning as they go. But," he added, as though to reassure himself +as well as his companions, "such things may not be countenanced +by the culture of Gathol or Helium." + +Gahan laughed. "And if all who looked upon him were driven mad, +who then was there to perform the last rites or prepare the body +of the Jeddak for them?" + +"There was none," replied Tasor. "Where they found him they left +him and there to this very day his mouldering bones lie hid in +some forgotten chamber of this forbidden suite." + +Tasor left them then assuring them that he would seek the first +opportunity to speak with A-Kor, and upon the following day he +would bring them food and drink.* + +* Those who have read John Carter's description of the Green +Martians in A Princess of Mars will recall that these strange +people could exist for considerable periods of time without food +or water, and to a lesser degree is the same true of all +Martians. + + +After Tasor had gone Tara turned to Gahan and approaching laid a +hand upon his arm. "So swiftly have events transpired since I +recognized you beneath your disguise," she said, "that I have had +no opportunity to assure you of my gratitude and the high esteem +that your valor has won for you in my consideration. Let me now +acknowledge my indebtedness; and if promises be not vain from one +whose life and liberty are in grave jeopardy, accept my assurance +of the great reward that awaits you at the hand of my father in +Helium." + +"I desire no reward," he replied, "other than the happiness of +knowing that the woman I love is happy." + +For an instant the eyes of Tara of Helium blazed as she drew +herself haughtily to her full height, and then they softened and +her attitude relaxed as she shook her head sadly. + +"I have it not in my heart to reprimand you, Turan," she said, +"however great your fault, for you have been an honorable and a +loyal friend to Tara of Helium; but you must not say what my ears +must not hear." + +"You mean," he asked, "that the ears of a Princess must not +listen to words of love from a panthan?" + +"It is not that, Turan," she replied; "but rather that I may +not in honor listen to words of love from another than him to +whom I am betrothed--a fellow countryman, Djor Kantos." + +"You mean, Tara of Helium," he cried, "that were it not for that +you would--" + +"Stop!" she commanded. "You have no right to assume aught else +than my lips testify." + +"The eyes are ofttimes more eloquent than the lips, Tara," he +replied; "and in yours I have read that which is neither hatred +nor contempt for Turan the panthan, and my heart tells me that +your lips bore false witness when they cried in anger: 'I hate +you!'" + +"I do not hate you, Turan, nor yet may I love you," said the +girl, simply. + +"When I broke my way out from the chamber of I-Gos I was indeed +upon the verge of believing that you did hate me," he said, "for +only hatred, it seemed to me, could account for the fact that you +had gone without making an effort to liberate me; but presently +both my heart and my judgment told me that Tara of Helium could +not have deserted a companion in distress, and though I still am +in ignorance of the facts I know that it was beyond your power to +aid me." + +"It was indeed," said the girl. "Scarce had I-Gos fallen at the +bite of my dagger than I heard the approach of warriors. I ran +then to hide until they had passed, thinking to return and +liberate you; but in seeking to elude the party I had heard I ran +full into the arms of another. They questioned me as to your +whereabouts, and I told them that you had gone ahead and that I +was following you and thus I led them from you." + +"I knew," was Gahan's only comment, but his heart was glad with +elation, as a lover's must be who has heard from the lips of his +divinity an avowal of interest and loyalty, however little tinged +by a suggestion of warmer regard it may be. To be abused, even, +by the mistress of one's heart is better than to be ignored. + +As the two conversed in the ill-lit chamber, the dim bulbs of +which were encrusted with the accumulated dust of centuries, a +bent and withered figure traversed slowly the gloomy corridors +without, his weak and watery eyes peering through thick lenses at +the signs of passage written upon the dusty floor. + + + +CHAPTER XIX + +THE MENACE OF THE DEAD + +THE night was still young when there came one to the entrance of +the banquet hall where O-Tar of Manator dined with his chiefs, +and brushing past the guards entered the great room with the +insolence of a privileged character, as in truth he was. As he +approached the head of the long board O-Tar took notice of him. + +"Well, hoary one!" he cried. "What brings you out of your beloved +and stinking burrow again this day. We thought that the sight of +the multitude of living men at the games would drive you back to +your corpses as quickly as you could go." + +The cackling laugh of I-Gos acknowledged the royal sally. "Ey, +ey, O-Tar," squeaked the ancient one, "I-Gos goes out not upon +pleasure bound; but when one does ruthlessly desecrate the dead +of I-Gos, vengeance must be had!" + +"You refer to the act of the slave Turan?" demanded O-Tar. + +"Turan, yes, and the slave Tara, who slipped beneath my hide a +murderous blade. Another fraction of an inch, O-Tar, and I-Gos' +ancient and wrinkled covering were even now in some apprentice +tanner's hands, ey, ey!" + +"But they have again eluded us," cried O-Tar. "Even in the palace +of the great jeddak twice have they escaped the stupid knaves I +call The Jeddak's Guard." O-Tar had risen and was angrily +emphasizing his words with heavy blows upon the table, dealt with +a golden goblet. + +"Ey, O-Tar, they elude thy guard but not the wise old calot, +I-Gos." + +"What mean you? Speak!" commanded O-Tar. + +"I know where they are hid," said the ancient taxidermist. "In +the dust of unused corridors their feet have betrayed them." + +"You followed them? You have seen them?" demanded the jeddak. + +"I followed them and I heard them speaking beyond a closed door," +replied I-Gos; "but I did not see them." + +"Where is that door?" cried O-Tar. "We will send at once and +fetch them," he looked about the table as though to decide to +whom he would entrust this duty. A dozen warrior chiefs arose and +laid their hands upon their swords. + +"To the chambers of O-Mai the Cruel I traced them," squeaked +I-Gos. "There you will find them where the moaning Corphals +pursue the shrieking ghost of O-Mai; ey!" and he turned his eyes +from O-Tar toward the warriors who had arisen, only to discover +that, to a man, they were hurriedly resuming their seats. + +The cackling laughter of I-Gos broke derisively the hush that had +fallen on the room. The warriors looked sheepishly at the food +upon their plates of gold. O-Tar snapped his fingers impatiently. + +"Be there only cravens among the chiefs of Manator?" he cried. +"Repeatedly have these presumptuous slaves flouted the majesty of +your jeddak. Must I command one to go and fetch them?" + +Slowly a chief arose and two others followed his example, though +with ill-concealed reluctance. "All, then, are not cowards," +commented O-Tar. "The duty is distasteful. Therefore all three of +you shall go, taking as many warriors as you wish." + +"But do not ask for volunteers," interrupted I-Gos, "or you will +go alone." + +The three chiefs turned and left the banquet hall, walking slowly +like doomed men to their fate. + +Gahan and Tara remained in the chamber to which Tasor had led +them, the man brushing away the dust from a deep and comfortable +bench where they might rest in comparative comfort. He had found +the ancient sleeping silks and furs too far gone to be of any +service, crumbling to powder at a touch, thus removing any chance +of making a comfortable bed for the girl, and so the two sat +together, talking in low tones, of the adventures through which +they already had passed and speculating upon the future; planning +means of escape and hoping Tasor would not be long gone. They +spoke of many things--of Hastor, and Helium, and Ptarth, and +finally the conversation reminded Tara of Gathol. + +"You have served there?" she asked. + +"Yes," replied Turan. + +"I met Gahan the Jed of Gathol at my father's palace," she said, +"the very day before the storm snatched me from Helium--he was a +presumptuous fellow, magnificently trapped in platinum and +diamonds. Never in my life saw I so gorgeous a harness as his, +and you must well know, Turan, that the splendor of all Barsoom +passes through the court at Helium; but in my mind I could not +see so resplendent a creature drawing that jeweled sword in +mortal combat. I fear me that the Jed of Gathol, though a pretty +picture of a man, is little else." + +In the dim light Tara did not perceive the wry expression upon +the half-averted face of her companion. + +"You thought little then of the Jed of Gathol?" he asked. + +"Then or now," she replied, and with a little laugh; "how it +would pique his vanity to know, if he might, that a poor panthan +had won a higher place in the regard of Tara of Helium," and she +laid her fingers gently upon his knee. + +He seized the fingers in his and carried them to his lips. "O, +Tara of Helium," he cried. "Think you that I am a man of stone?" +One arm slipped about her shoulders and drew the yielding body +toward him. + +"May my first ancestor forgive me my weakness," she cried, as her +arms stole about his neck and she raised her panting lips to his. +For long they clung there in love's first kiss and then she +pushed him away, gently. "I love you, Turan," she half sobbed; "I +love you so! It is my only poor excuse for having done this wrong +to Djor Kantos, whom now I know I never loved, who knew not the +meaning of love. And if you love me as you say, Turan, your love +must protect me from greater dishonor, for I am but as clay in +your hands." + +Again he crushed her to him and then as suddenly released her, +and rising, strode rapidly to and fro across the chamber as +though he endeavored by violent exercise to master and subdue +some evil spirit that had laid hold upon him. Ringing through his +brain and heart and soul like some joyous paean were those words +that had so altered the world for Gahan of Gathol: "I love you, +Turan; I love you so!" And it had come so suddenly. He had +thought that she felt for him only gratitude for his loyalty and +then, in an instant, her barriers were all down, she was no +longer a princess; but instead a--his reflections were +interrupted by a sound from beyond the closed door. His sandals +of zitidar hide had given forth no sound upon the marble floor he +strode, and as his rapid pacing carried him past the entrance to +the chamber there came faintly from the distance of the long +corridor the sound of metal on metal--the unmistakable herald of +the approach of armed men. + +For a moment Gahan listened intently, close to the door, until +there could be no doubt but that a party of warriors was +approaching. From what Tasor had told him he guessed correctly +that they would be coming to this portion of the palace but for a +single purpose--to search for Tara and himself--and it behooved +him therefore to seek immediate means for eluding them. The +chamber in which they were had other doorways beside that at +which they had entered, and to one of these he must look for some +safer hiding place. Crossing to Tara he acquainted her with his +suspicion, leading her to one of the doors which they found +unsecured. Beyond it lay a dimly-lighted chamber at the threshold +of which they halted in consternation, drawing back quickly into +the chamber they had just quitted, for their first glance +revealed four warriors seated around a jetan board. + +That their entrance had not been noted was attributed by Gahan to +the absorption of the two players and their friends in the game. +Quietly closing the door the fugitives moved silently to the +next, which they found locked. There was now but another door +which they had not tried, and this they approached quickly as +they knew that the searching party must be close to the chamber. +To their chagrin they found this avenue of escape barred. + +Now indeed were they in a sorry plight, for should the searchers +have information leading them to this room they were lost. Again +leading Tara to the door behind which were the jetan players +Gahan drew his sword and waited, listening. The sound of the +party in the corridor came distinctly to their ears--they must be +quite close, and doubtless they were coming in force. Beyond the +door were but four warriors who might be readily surprised. There +could, then, be but one choice and acting upon it Gahan quietly +opened the door again, stepped through into the adjoining +chamber, Tara's hand in his, and closed the door behind them. The +four at the jetan board evidently failed to hear them. One player +had either just made or was contemplating a move, for his fingers +grasped a piece that still rested upon the board. The other three +were watching his move. For an instant Gahan looked at them, +playing jetan there in the dim light of this forgotten and +forbidden chamber, and then a slow smile of understanding lighted +his face. + +"Come!" he said to Tara. "We have nothing to fear from these. For +more than five thousand years they have sat thus, a monument to +the handiwork of some ancient taxidermist." + +As they approached more closely they saw that the lifelike +figures were coated with dust, but that otherwise the skin was in +as fine a state of preservation as the most recent of I-Gos' +groups, and then they heard the door of the chamber they had +quitted open and knew that the searchers were close upon them. +Across the room they saw the opening of what appeared to be a +corridor and which investigation proved to be a short passageway, +terminating in a chamber in the center of which was an ornate +sleeping dais. This room, like the others, was but poorly +lighted, time having dimmed the radiance of its bulbs and coated +them with dust. A glance showed that it was hung with heavy goods +and contained considerable massive furniture in addition to the +sleeping platform, a second glance at which revealed what +appeared to be the form of a man lying partially on the floor and +partially on the dais. No doorways were visible other than that +at which they had entered, though both knew that others might be +concealed by the hangings. + +Gahan, his curiosity aroused by the legends surrounding this +portion of the palace, crossed to the dais to examine the figure +that apparently had fallen from it, to find the dried and +shrivelled corpse of a man lying upon his back on the floor with +arms outstretched and fingers stiffly outspread. One of his feet +was doubled partially beneath him, while the other was still +entangled in the sleeping silks and furs upon the dais. After +five thousand years the expression of the withered face and the +eyeless sockets retained the aspect of horrid fear to such an +extent, that Gahan knew that he was looking upon the body of +O-Mai the Cruel. + +Suddenly Tara, who stood close beside him, clutched his arm and +pointed toward a far corner of the room. Gahan looked and looking +felt the hairs upon his neck rising. He threw his left arm about +the girl and with bared sword stood between her and the hangings +that they watched, and then slowly Gahan of Gathol backed away, +for in this grim and somber chamber, which no human foot had trod +for five thousand years and to which no breath of wind might +enter, the heavy hangings in the far corner had moved. Not gently +had they moved as a draught might have moved them had there been +a draught, but suddenly they had bulged out as though pushed +against from behind. To the opposite corner backed Gahan until +they stood with their backs against the hangings there, and then +hearing the approach of their pursuers across the chamber beyond +Gahan pushed Tara through the hangings and, following her, kept +open with his left hand, which he had disengaged from the girl's +grasp, a tiny opening through which he could view the apartment +and the doorway upon the opposite side through which the pursuers +would enter, if they came this far. + +Behind the hangings there was a space of about three feet in +width between them and the wall, making a passageway entirely +around the room, broken only by the single entrance opposite +them; this being a common arrangement especially in the sleeping +apartments of the rich and powerful upon Barsoom. The purposes of +this arrangement were several. The passageway afforded a station +for guards in the same room with their master without intruding +entirely upon his privacy; it concealed secret exits from the +chamber; it permitted the occupant of the room to hide +eavesdroppers and assassins for use against enemies that he might +lure to his chamber. + +The three chiefs with a dozen warriors had had no difficulty in +following the tracks of the fugitives through the dust of the +corridors and chambers they had traversed. To enter this portion +of the palace at all had required all the courage they possessed, +and now that they were within the very chambers of O-Mai their +nerves were pitched to the highest key--another turn and they +would snap; for the people of Manator are filled with weird +superstitions. As they entered the outer chamber they moved +slowly, with drawn swords, no one seeming anxious to take the +lead, and the twelve warriors hanging back in unconcealed and +shameless terror, while the three chiefs, spurred on by fear of +O-Tar and by pride, pressed together for mutual encouragement as +they slowly crossed the dimly-lighted room. + +Following the tracks of Gahan and Tara they found that though +each doorway had been approached only one threshold had been +crossed and this door they gingerly opened, revealing to their +astonished gaze the four warriors at the jetan table. For a +moment they were on the verge of flight, for though they knew +what they were, coming as they did upon them in this mysterious +and haunted suite, they were as startled as though they had +beheld the very ghosts of the departed. But they presently +regained their courage sufficiently to cross this chamber too and +enter the short passageway that led to the ancient sleeping +apartment of O-Mai the Cruel. They did not know that this awful +chamber lay just before them, or it were doubtful that they would +have proceeded farther; but they saw that those they sought had +come this way and so they followed, but within the gloomy +interior of the chamber they halted, the three chiefs urging +their followers, in low whispers, to close in behind them, and +there just within the entrance they stood until, their eyes +becoming accustomed to the dim light, one of them pointed +suddenly to the thing lying upon the floor with one foot tangled +in the coverings of the dais. + +"Look!" he gasped. "It is the corpse of O-Mai! Ancestor of +ancestors! we are in the forbidden chamber." Simultaneously there +came from behind the hangings beyond the grewsome dead a hollow +moan followed by a piercing scream, and the hangings shook and +bellied before their eyes. + +With one accord, chieftains and warriors, they turned and bolted +for the doorway; a narrow doorway, where they jammed, fighting +and screaming in an effort to escape. They threw away their +swords and clawed at one another to make a passage for escape; +those behind climbed upon the shoulders of those in front; and +some fell and were trampled upon; but at last they all got +through, and, the swiftest first, they bolted across the two +intervening chambers to the outer corridor beyond, nor did they +halt their mad retreat before they stumbled, weak and trembling, +into the banquet hall of O-Tar. At sight of them the warriors who +had remained with the jeddak leaped to their feet with drawn +swords, thinking that their fellows were pursued by many enemies; +but no one followed them into the room, and the three chieftains +came and stood before O-Tar with bowed heads and trembling knees. + +"Well?" demanded the jeddak. "What ails you? Speak!" + +"O-Tar," cried one of them when at last he could master his +voice. "When have we three failed you in battle or combat? Have +our swords been not always among the foremost in defense of your +safety and your honor?" + +"Have I denied this?" demanded O-Tar. + +"Listen, then, O Jeddak, and judge us with leniency. We followed +the two slaves to the apartments of O-Mai the Cruel. We entered +the accursed chambers and still we did not falter. We came at +last to that horrid chamber no human eye had scanned before in +fifty centuries and we looked upon the dead face of O-Mai lying +as he has lain for all this time. To the very death chamber of +O-Mai the Cruel we came and yet we were ready to go farther; when +suddenly there broke upon our horrified ears the moans and the +shrieking that mark these haunted chambers and the hangings moved +and rustled in the dead air. O-Tar, it was more than human nerves +could endure. We turned and fled. We threw away our swords and +fought with one another to escape. With sorrow, but without +shame, I tell it, for there be no man in all Manator that would +not have done the same. If these slaves be Corphals they are safe +among their fellow ghosts. If they be not Corphals, then already +are they dead in the chambers of O-Mai, and there may they rot +for all of me, for I would not return to that accursed spot for +the harness of a jeddak and the half of Barsoom for an empire. I +have spoken." + +O-Tar knitted his scowling brows. "Are all my chieftains cowards +and cravens?" he demanded presently in sneering tones. + +From among those who had not been of the searching party a +chieftain arose and turned a scowling face upon O-Tar. + +"The jeddak knows," he said, "that in the annals of Manator her +jeddaks have ever been accounted the bravest of her warriors. +Where my jeddak leads I will follow, nor may any jeddak call me a +coward or a craven unless I refuse to go where he dares to go. I +have spoken." + +After he had resumed his seat there was a painful silence, for +all knew that the speaker had challenged the courage of O-Tar the +Jeddak of Manator and all awaited the reply of their ruler. In +every mind was the same thought--O-Tar must lead them at once to +the chamber of O-Mai the Cruel, or accept forever the stigma of +cowardice, and there could be no coward upon the throne of +Manator. That they all knew and that O-Tar knew, as well. + +But O-Tar hesitated. He looked about upon the faces of those +around him at the banquet board; but he saw only the grim visages +of relentless warriors. There was no trace of leniency in the +face of any. And then his eyes wandered to a small entrance at +one side of the great chamber. An expression of relief expunged +the scowl of anxiety from his features. + +"Look!" he exclaimed. "See who has come!" + + + +CHAPTER XX + +THE CHARGE OF COWARDICE + +GAHAN, watching through the aperture between the hangings, saw +the frantic flight of their pursuers. A grim smile rested upon +his lips as he viewed the mad scramble for safety and saw them +throw away their swords and fight with one another to be first +from the chamber of fear, and when they were all gone he turned +back toward Tara, the smile still upon his lips; but the smile +died the instant that he turned, for he saw that Tara had +disappeared. + +"Tara!" he called in a loud voice, for he knew that there was no +danger that their pursuers would return; but there was no +response, unless it was a faint sound as of cackling laughter +from afar. Hurriedly he searched the passageway behind the +hangings finding several doors, one of which was ajar. Through +this he entered the adjoining chamber which was lighted more +brilliantly for the moment by the soft rays of hurtling Thuria +taking her mad way through the heavens. Here he found the dust +upon the floor disturbed, and the imprint of sandals. They had +come this way--Tara and whatever the creature was that had stolen +her. + +But what could it have been? Gahan, a man of culture and high +intelligence, held few if any superstitions. In common with +nearly all races of Barsoom he clung, more or less inherently, to +a certain exalted form of ancestor worship, though it was rather +the memory or legends of the virtues and heroic deeds of his +forebears that he deified rather than themselves. He never +expected any tangible evidence of their existence after death; he +did not believe that they had the power either for good or for +evil other than the effect that their example while living might +have had upon following generations; he did not believe therefore +in the materialization of dead spirits. If there was a life +hereafter he knew nothing of it, for he knew that science had +demonstrated the existence of some material cause for every +seemingly supernatural phenomenon of ancient religions and +superstitions. Yet he was at a loss to know what power might have +removed Tara so suddenly and mysteriously from his side in a +chamber that had not known the presence of man for five thousand +years. + +In the darkness he could not see whether there were the imprints +of other sandals than Tara's--only that the dust was +disturbed--and when it led him into gloomy corridors he lost the +trail altogether. A perfect labyrinth of passages and apartments +were now revealed to him as he hurried on through the deserted +quarters of O-Mai. Here was an ancient bath--doubtless that of +the jeddak himself, and again he passed through a room in which a +meal had been laid upon a table five thousand years before--the +untasted breakfast of O-Mai, perhaps. There passed before his +eyes in the brief moments that he traversed the chambers, a +wealth of ornaments and jewels and precious metals that surprised +even the Jed of Gathol whose harness was of diamonds and platinum +and whose riches were the envy of a world. But at last his search +of O-Mai's chambers ended in a small closet in the floor of which +was the opening to a spiral runway leading straight down into +Stygian darkness. The dust at the entrance of the closet had been +freshly disturbed, and as this was the only possible indication +that Gahan had of the direction taken by the abductor of Tara it +seemed as well to follow on as to search elsewhere. So, without +hesitation, he descended into the utter darkness below. Feeling +with a foot before taking a forward step his descent was +necessarily slow, but Gahan was a Barsoomian and so knew the +pitfalls that might await the unwary in such dark, forbidden +portions of a jeddak's palace. + +He had descended for what he judged might be three full levels +and was pausing, as he occasionally did, to listen, when he +distinctly heard a peculiar shuffling, scraping sound approaching +him from below. Whatever the thing was it was ascending the +runway at a steady pace and would soon be near him. Gahan laid +his hand upon the hilt of his sword and drew it slowly from its +scabbard that he might make no noise that would apprise the +creature of his presence. He wished that there might be even the +slightest lessening of the darkness. If he could see but the +outline of the thing that approached him he would feel that he +had a fairer chance in the meeting; but he could see nothing, and +then because he could see nothing the end of his scabbard struck +the stone side of the runway, giving off a sound that the +stillness and the narrow confines of the passage and the darkness +seemed to magnify to a terrific clatter. + +Instantly the shuffling sound of approach ceased. For a moment +Gahan stood in silent waiting, then casting aside discretion he +moved on again down the spiral. The thing, whatever it might be, +gave forth no sound now by which Gahan might locate it. At any +moment it might be upon him and so he kept his sword in +readiness. Down, ever downward the steep spiral led. The darkness +and the silence of the tomb surrounded him, yet somewhere ahead +was something. He was not alone in that horrid place--another +presence that he could not hear or see hovered before him--of +that he was positive. Perhaps it was the thing that had stolen +Tara. Perhaps Tara herself, still in the clutches of some +nameless horror, was just ahead of him. He quickened his pace--it +became almost a run at the thought of the danger that threatened +the woman he loved, and then he collided with a wooden door that +swung open to the impact. Before him was a lighted corridor. On +either side were chambers. He had advanced but a short distance +from the bottom of the spiral when he recognized that he was in +the pits below the palace. A moment later he heard behind him the +shuffling sound that had attracted his attention in the spiral +runway. Wheeling about he saw the author of the sound emerging +from a doorway he had just passed. It was Ghek the kaldane. + +"Ghek!" exclaimed Gahan. "It was you in the runway? Have you seen +Tara of Helium?" + +"It was I in the spiral," replied the kaldane; "but I have not +seen Tara of Helium. I have been searching for her. Where is +she?" + +"I do not know," replied the Gatholian; "but we must find her and +take her from this place." + +"We may find her," said Ghek; "but I doubt our ability to take +her away. It is not so easy to leave Manator as it is to enter +it. I may come and go at will, through the ancient burrows of the +ulsios; but you are too large for that and your lungs need more +air than may be found in some of the deeper runways." + +"But U-Thor!" exclaimed Gahan. "Have you heard aught of him or +his intentions?" + +"I have heard much," replied Ghek. "He camps at The Gate of +Enemies. That spot he holds and his warriors lie just beyond The +Gate; but he has not sufficient force to enter the city and take +the palace. An hour since and you might have made your way to +him; but now every avenue is strongly guarded since O-Tar learned +that A-Kor had escaped to U-Thor." + +"A-Kor has escaped and joined U-Thor!" exclaimed Gahan. + +"But little more than an hour since. I was with him when a +warrior came--a man whose name is Tasor--who brought a message +from you. It was decided that Tasor should accompany A-Kor in an +attempt to reach the camp of U-Thor, the great jed of Manatos, +and exact from him the assurances you required. Then U-Thor was +to return and take food to you and the Princess of Helium. I +accompanied them. We won through easily and found U-Thor more +than willing to respect your every wish, but when Tasor would +have returned to you the way was blocked by the warriors of +O-Tar. Then it was that I volunteered to come to you and report +and find food and drink and then go forth among the Gatholian +slaves of Manator and prepare them for their part in the plan +that U-Thor and Tasor conceived." + +"And what was this plan?" + +"U-Thor has sent for reinforcements. To Manatos he has sent and +to all the outlying districts that are his. It will take +a month to collect and bring them hither and in the meantime the +slaves within the city are to organize secretly, stealing and +hiding arms against the day that the reinforcements arrive. When +that day comes the forces of U-Thor will enter the Gate of +Enemies and as the warriors of O-Tar rush to repulse them the +slaves from Gathol will fall upon them from the rear with the +majority of their numbers, while the balance will assault the +palace. They hope thus to divert so many from The Gate that +U-Thor will have little difficulty in forcing an entrance to the +city." + +"Perhaps they will succeed," commented Gahan; "but the warriors +of O-Tar are many, and those who fight in defense of their homes +and their jeddak have always an advantage. Ah, Ghek, would that +we had the great warships of Gathol or of Helium to pour their +merciless fire into the streets of Manator while U-Thor marched +to the palace over the corpses of the slain." He paused, deep in +thought, and then turned his gaze again upon the kaldane. "Heard +you aught of the party that escaped with me from The Field of +Jetan--of Floran, Val Dor, and the others? What of them?" + +"Ten of these won through to U-Thor at The Gate of Enemies and +were well received by him. Eight fell in the fighting upon the +way. Val Dor and Floran live, I believe, for I am sure that I +heard U-Thor address two warriors by these names." + +"Good!" exclaimed Gahan. "Go then, through the burrows of the +ulsios, to The Gate of Enemies and carry to Floran the message +that I shall write in his own language. Come, while I write the +message." + +In a nearby room they found a bench and table and there Gahan sat +and wrote in the strange, stenographic characters of Martian +script a message to Floran of Gathol. "Why," he asked, when he +had finished it, "did you search for Tara through the spiral +runway where we nearly met?" + +"Tasor told me where you were to be found, and as I have explored +the greater part of the palace by means of the ulsio runways and +the darker and less frequented passages I knew precisely where +you were and how to reach you. This secret spiral ascends from +the pits to the roof of the loftiest of the palace towers. It has +secret openings at every level; but there is no living +Manatorian, I believe, who knows of its existence. At least never +have I met one within it and I have used it many times. Thrice +have I been in the chamber where O-Mai lies, though I knew +nothing of his identity or the story of his death until Tasor +told it to us in the camp of U-Thor." + +"You know the palace thoroughly then?" Gahan interrupted. + +"Better than O-Tar himself or any of his servants." + +"Good! And you would serve the Princess Tara, Ghek, you may serve +her best by accompanying Floran and following his instructions. I +will write them here at the close of my message to him, for the +walls have ears, Ghek, while none but a Gatholian may read what I +have written to Floran. He will transmit it to you. Can I trust +you?" + +"I may never return to Bantoom," replied Ghek. "Therefore I have +but two friends in all Barsoom. What better may I do than serve +them faithfully? You may trust me, Gatholian, who with a woman of +your kind has taught me that there be finer and nobler things +than perfect mentality uninfluenced by the unreasoning tuitions +of the heart. I go." + + +As O-Tar pointed to the little doorway all eyes turned in the +direction he indicated and surprise was writ large upon the faces +of the warriors when they recognized the two who had entered the +banquet hall. There was I-Gos, and he dragged behind him one who +was gagged and whose hands were fastened behind with a ribbon of +tough silk. It was the slave girl. I-Gos' cackling laughter rose +above the silence of the room. + +"Ey, ey!" he shrilled. "What the young warriors of O-Tar cannot +do, old I-Gos does alone." + +"Only a Corphal may capture a Corphal," growled one of the chiefs +who had fled from the chambers of O-Mai. + +I-Gos laughed. "Terror turned your heart to water," he replied; +"and shame your tongue to libel. This be no Corphal, but only a +woman of Helium; her companion a warrior who can match blades +with the best of you and cut your putrid hearts. Not so in the +days of I-Gos' youth. Ah, then were there men in Manator. Well do +I recall that day that I--" + +"Peace, doddering fool!" commanded O-Tar. "Where is the man?" + +"Where I found the woman--in the death chamber of O-Mai. Let your +wise and brave chieftains go thither and fetch him. I am an old +man, and could bring but one." + +"You have done well, I-Gos," O-Tar hastened to assure him, for +when he learned that Gahan might still be in the haunted chambers +he wished to appease the wrath of I-Gos, knowing well the +vitriolic tongue and temper of the ancient one. "You think she is +no Corphal, then, I-Gos?" he asked, wishing to carry the subject +from the man who was still at large. + +"No more than you," replied the ancient taxidermist. + +O-Tar looked long and searchingly at Tara of Helium. All the +beauty that was hers seemed suddenly to be carried to every fibre +of his consciousness. She was still garbed in the rich harness of +a Black Princess of Jetan, and as O-Tar the Jeddak gazed upon her +he realized that never before had his eyes rested upon a more +perfect figure--a more beautiful face. + +"She is no Corphal," he murmured to himself. "She is no Corphal +and she is a princess--a princess of Helium, and, by the golden +hair of the Holy Hekkador, she is beautiful. Take the gag from +her mouth and release her hands," he commanded aloud. "Make room +for the Princess Tara of Helium at the side of O-Tar of Manator. +She shall dine as becomes a princess." + +Slaves did as O-Tar bid and Tara of Helium stood with flashing +eyes behind the chair that was offered her. "Sit!" commanded +O-Tar. + +The girl sank into the chair. "I sit as a prisoner," she said; +"not as a guest at the board of my enemy, O-Tar of Manator." + +O-Tar motioned his followers from the room. "I would speak alone +with the Princess of Helium," he said. The company and the slaves +withdrew and once more the Jeddak of Manator turned toward the +girl. "O-Tar of Manator would be your friend," he said. + +Tara of Helium sat with arms folded upon her small, firm breasts, +her eyes flashing from behind narrowed lids, nor did she deign to +answer his overture. O-Tar leaned closer to her. He noted the +hostility of her bearing and he recalled his first encounter with +her. She was a she-banth, but she was beautiful. She was by far +the most desirable woman that O-Tar had ever looked upon and he +was determined to possess her. He told her so. + +"I could take you as my slave," he said to her; "but it pleases +me to make you my wife. You shall be Jeddara of Manator. You +shall have seven days in which to prepare for the great honor +that O-Tar is conferring upon you, and at this hour of the +seventh day you shall become an empress and the wife of O-Tar in +the throne room of the jeddaks of Manator." He struck a gong that +stood beside him upon the table and when a slave appeared he bade +him recall the company. Slowly the chiefs filed in and took their +places at the table. Their faces were grim and scowling, for +there was still unanswered the question of their jeddak's +courage. If O-Tar had hoped they would forget he had been +mistaken in his men. + +O-Tar arose. "In seven days," he announced, "there will be a +great feast in honor of the new Jeddara of Manator," and he waved +his hand toward Tara of Helium. "The ceremony will occur at the +beginning of the seventh zode* in the throne room. In the +meantime the Princess of Helium will be cared for in the tower of +the women's quarters of the palace. Conduct her thither, E-Thas, +with a suitable guard of honor and see to it that slaves and +eunuchs be placed at her disposal, who shall attend upon all her +wants and guard her carefully from harm." + +* About 8:30 P. M. Earth Time. + + +Now E-Thas knew that the real meaning concealed in these fine +words was that he should conduct the prisoner under a strong +guard to the women's quarters and confine her there in the tower +for seven days, placing about her trustworthy guards who would +prevent her escape or frustrate any attempted rescue. + +As Tara was departing from the chamber with E-Thas and the guard, +O-Tar leaned close to her ear and whispered: "Consider well +during these seven days the high honor I have offered you, +and--its sole alternative." As though she had not heard him the +girl passed out of the banquet hall, her head high and her eyes +straight to the front. + +After Ghek had left him Gahan roamed the pits and the ancient +corridors of the deserted portions of the palace seeking some +clue to the whereabouts or the fate of Tara of Helium. He +utilized the spiral runway in passing from level to level until +he knew every foot of it from the pits to the summit of the high +tower, and into what apartments it opened at the various levels +as well as the ingenious and hidden mechanism that operated the +locks of the cleverly concealed doors leading to it. For food he +drew upon the stores he found in the pits and when he slept he +lay upon the royal couch of O-Mai in the forbidden chamber +sharing the dais with the dead foot of the ancient jeddak. + +In the palace about him seethed, all unknown to Gahan, a vast +unrest. Warriors and chieftains pursued the duties of their +vocations with dour faces, and little knots of them were +collecting here and there and with frowns of anger discussing +some subject that was uppermost in the minds of all. It was upon +the fourth day following Tara's incarceration in the tower that +E-Thas, the major-domo of the palace and one of O-Tar's +creatures, came to his master upon some trivial errand. O-Tar was +alone in one of the smaller chambers of his personal suite when +the major-domo was announced, and after the matter upon which +E-Thas had come was disposed of the jeddak signed him to remain. + +"From the position of an obscure warrior I have elevated you, +E-Thas, to the honors of a chief. Within the confines of the +palace your word is second only to mine. You are not loved for +this, E-Thas, and should another jeddak ascend the throne of +Manator what would become of you, whose enemies are among the +most powerful of Manator?" + +"Speak not of it, O-Tar," begged E-Thas. "These last few days I +have thought upon it much and I would forget it; but I have +sought to appease the wrath of my worst enemies. I have been +very kind and indulgent with them." + +"You, too, read the voiceless message in the air?" demanded the +jeddak. + +E-Thas was palpably uneasy and he did not reply. + +"Why did you not come to me with your apprehensions?" demanded +O-Tar. "Be this loyalty?" + +"I feared, O mighty jeddak!" replied E-Thas. "I feared that you +would not understand and that you would be angry." + +"What know you? Speak the whole truth!" commanded O-Tar. + +"There is much unrest among the chieftains and the warriors," +replied E-Thas. "Even those who were your friends fear the power +of those who speak against you." + +"What say they?" growled the jeddak. + +"They say that you are afraid to enter the apartments of O-Mai in +search of the slave Turan--oh, do not be angry with me, Jeddak; +it is but what they say that I repeat. I, your loyal E-Thas, +believe no such foul slander." + +"No, no; why should I fear?" demanded O-Tar. "We do not know that +he is there. Did not my chiefs go thither and see nothing of +him?" + +"But they say that you did not go," pursued E-Thas, "and that +they will have none of a coward upon the throne of Manator." + +"They said that treason?" O-Tar almost shouted. + +"They said that and more, great jeddak," answered the major-domo. +"They said that not only did you fear to enter the chambers of +O-Mai, but that you feared the slave Turan, and they blame you +for your treatment of A-Kor, whom they all believe to have been +murdered at your command. They were fond of A-Kor and there are +many now who say aloud that A-Kor would have made a wondrous +jeddak." + +"They dare?" screamed O-Tar. "They dare suggest the name of a +slave's bastard for the throne of O-Tar!" + +"He is your son, O-Tar," E-Thas reminded him, "nor is there a +more beloved man in Manator--I but speak to you of facts which +may not be ignored, and I dare do so because only when you +realize the truth may you seek a cure for the ills that draw +about your throne." + +O-Tar had slumped down upon his bench--suddenly he looked +shrunken and tired and old. "Cursed be the day," he cried, "that +saw those three strangers enter the city of Manator. Would that +U-Dor had been spared to me. He was strong--my enemies feared +him; but he is gone--dead at the hands of that hateful slave, +Turan; may the curse of Issus be upon him!" + +"My jeddak, what shall we do?" begged E-Thas. "Cursing the slave +will not solve your problems." + +"But the great feast and the marriage is but three days off," +plead O-Tar. "It shall be a great gala occasion. The warriors and +the chiefs all know that--it is the custom. Upon that day gifts +and honors shall be bestowed. Tell me, who are most bitter +against me? I will send you among them and let it be known that I +am planning rewards for their past services to the throne. We +will make jeds of chiefs and chiefs of warriors, and grant them +palaces and slaves. Eh, E-Thas?" + +The other shook his head. "It will not do, O-Tar. They will have +nothing of your gifts or honors. I have heard them say as much." + +"What do they want?" demanded O-Tar. + +"They want a jeddak as brave as the bravest," replied E-Thas, +though his knees shook as he said it. + +"They think I am a coward?" cried the jeddak. + +"They say you are afraid to go to the apartments of O-mai the +Cruel." + +For a long time O-Tar sat, his head sunk upon his breast, staring +blankly at the floor. + +"Tell them," he said at last in a hollow voice that sounded not +at all like the voice of a great jeddak; "tell them that I will +go to the chambers of O-Mai and search for Turan the slave." + + + +CHAPTER XXI + +A RISK FOR LOVE + +"EY, ey, he is a craven and he called me 'doddering fool'!" The +speaker was I-Gos and he addressed a knot of chieftains in one of +the chambers of the palace of O-Tar, Jeddak of Manator: "If A-Kor +was alive there were a jeddak for us!" + +"Who says that A-Kor is dead?" demanded one of the chiefs. + +"Where is he then?" asked I-Gos. "Have not others disappeared +whom O-Tar thought too well beloved for men so near the throne as +they?" + +The chief shook his head. "And I thought that, or knew it, +rather; I'd join U-Thor at The Gate of Enemies." + +"S-s-st," cautioned one; "here comes the licker of feet," and all +eyes were turned upon the approaching E-Thas. + +"Kaor, friends!" he exclaimed as he stopped among them, but his +friendly greeting elicited naught but a few surly nods. "Have you +heard the news?" he continued, unabashed by treatment to which he +was becoming accustomed. + +"What--has O-Tar seen an ulsio and fainted?" demanded I-Gos with +broad sarcasm. + +"Men have died for less than that, ancient one," E-Thas reminded +him. + +"I am safe," retorted I-Gos, "for I am not a brave and popular +son of the jeddak of Manator." + +This was indeed open treason, but E-Thas feigned not to hear it. +He ignored I-Gos and turned to the others. "O-Tar goes to the +chamber of O-Mai this night in search of Turan the slave," he +said. "He sorrows that his warriors have not the courage for so +mean a duty and that their jeddak is thus compelled to arrest a +common slave," with which taunt E-Thas passed on to spread the +word in other parts of the palace. As a matter of fact the latter +part of his message was purely original with himself, and he took +great delight in delivering it to the discomfiture of his +enemies. As he was leaving the little group of men I-Gos called +after him. "At what hour does O-Tar intend visiting the chambers +of O-Mai?" he asked. + +"Toward the end of the eighth zode*," replied the major-domo, and +went his way. + +* About 1:00 A. M. Earth Time. + + +"We shall see," stated I-Gos. + +"What shall we see?" asked a warrior. + +"We shall see whether O-Tar visits the chamber of O-Mai." + +"How?" + +"I shall be there myself and if I see him I will know that he has +been there. If I don't see him I will know that he has not," +explained the old taxidermist. + +"Is there anything there to fill an honest man with fear?" asked +a chieftain. "What have you seen?" + +"It was not so much what I saw, though that was bad enough, as +what I heard," said I-Gos. + +"Tell us! What heard and saw you?" + +"I saw the dead O-Mai," said I-Gos. The others shuddered. + +"And you went not mad?" they asked. + +"Am I mad?" retorted I-Gos. + +"And you will go again?" + +"Yes." + +"Then indeed you are mad," cried one. + +"You saw the dead O-Mai; but what heard you that was worse?" +whispered another. + +"I saw the dead O-Mai lying upon the floor of his sleeping +chamber with one foot tangled in the sleeping silks and furs upon +his couch. I heard horrid moans and frightful screams." + +"And you are not afraid to go there again?" demanded several. + +"The dead cannot harm me," said I-Gos. "He has lain thus for five +thousand years. Nor can a sound harm me. I heard it once and +live--I can hear it again. It came from almost at my side where I +hid behind the hangings and watched the slave Turan before I +snatched the woman away from him." + +"I-Gos, you are a very brave man," said a chieftain. + +"O-Tar called me 'doddering fool' and I would face worse dangers +than lie in the forbidden chambers of O-Mai to know it if he does +not visit the chamber of O-Mai. Then indeed shall O-Tar fall!" + +The night came and the zodes dragged and the time approached when +O-Tar, Jeddak of Manator, was to visit the chamber of O-Mai in +search of the slave Turan. To us, who may doubt the existence of +malignant spirits, his fear may seem unbelievable, for he was a +strong man, an excellent swordsman, and a warrior of great +repute; but the fact remained that O-Tar of Manator was nervous +with apprehension as he strode the corridors of his palace toward +the deserted halls of O-Mai and when he stood at last with his +hand upon the door that opened from the dusty corridor to the +very apartments themselves he was almost paralyzed with terror. +He had come alone for two very excellent reasons, the first of +which was that thus none might note his terror-stricken state nor +his defection should he fail at the last moment, and the other +was that should he accomplish the thing alone or be able to make +his chiefs believe that he had, the credit would be far greater +than were he to be accompanied by warriors. + +But though he had started alone he had become aware that he was +being followed, and he knew that it was because his people had no +faith in either his courage or his veracity. He did not believe +that he would find the slave Turan. He did not very much want to +find him, for though O-Tar was an excellent swordsman and a brave +warrior in physical combat, he had seen how Turan had played with +U-Dor and he had no stomach for a passage at arms with one whom +he knew outclassed him. + +And so O-Tar stood with his hand upon the door--afraid to enter; +afraid not to. But at last his fear of his own warriors, watching +behind him, grew greater than the fear of the unknown behind the +ancient door and he pushed the heavy skeel aside and entered. + +Silence and gloom and the dust of centuries lay heavy upon the +chamber. From his warriors he knew the route that he must take to +the horrid chamber of O-Mai and so he forced his unwilling feet +across the room before him, across the room where the jetan +players sat at their eternal game, and came to the short corridor +that led into the room of O-Mai. His naked sword trembled in his +grasp. He paused after each forward step to listen and when he +was almost at the door of the ghost-haunted chamber, his heart +stood still within his breast and the cold sweat broke from the +clammy skin of his forehead, for from within there came to his +affrighted ears the sound of muffled breathing. Then it was that +O-Tar of Manator came near to fleeing from the nameless horror +that he could not see, but that he knew lay waiting for him in +that chamber just ahead. But again came the fear of the wrath and +contempt of his warriors and his chiefs. They would degrade him +and they would slay him into the bargain. There was no doubt of +what his fate would be should he flee the apartments of O-Mai in +terror. His only hope, therefore, lay in daring the unknown in +preference to the known. + +He moved forward. A few steps took him to the doorway. The +chamber before him was darker than the corridor, so that he could +just indistinctly make out the objects in the room. He saw a +sleeping dais near the center, with a darker blotch of something +lying on the marble floor beside it. He moved a step farther into +the doorway and the scabbard of his sword scraped against the +stone frame. To his horror he saw the sleeping silks and furs +upon the central dais move. He saw a figure slowly arising to a +sitting posture from the death bed of O-Mai the Cruel. His knees +shook, but he gathered all his moral forces, and gripping his +sword more tightly in his trembling fingers prepared to leap +across the chamber upon the horrid apparition. He hesitated just +a moment. He felt eyes upon him--ghoulish eyes that bored through +the darkness into his withering heart--eyes that he could not +see. He gathered himself for the rush--and then there broke from +the thing upon the couch an awful shriek, and O-Tar sank +senseless to the floor. + +Gahan rose from the couch of O-Mai, smiling, only to swing +quickly about with drawn sword as the shadow of a noise impinged +upon his keen ears from the shadows behind him. Between the +parted hangings he saw a bent and wrinkled figure. It was I-Gos. + +"Sheathe your sword, Turan," said the old man. "You have naught +to fear from I-Gos." + +"What do you here?" demanded Gahan. + +"I came to make sure that the great coward did not cheat us. Ey, +and he called me 'doddering fool;' but look at him now! Stricken +insensible by terror, but, ey, one might forgive him that who had +heard your uncanny scream. It all but blasted my own courage. And +it was you, then, who moaned and screamed when the chiefs came +the day that I stole Tara from you?" + +"It was you, then, old scoundrel?" demanded Gahan, moving +threateningly toward I-Gos. + +"Come, come!" expostulated the old man; "it was I, but then I was +your enemy. I would not do it now. Conditions have changed." + +"How have they changed? What has changed them?" asked Gahan. + +"Then I did not fully realize the cowardice of my jeddak, or the +bravery of you and the girl. I am an old man from another age and +I love courage. At first I resented the girl's attack upon me, +but later I came to see the bravery of it and it won my +admiration, as have all her acts. She feared not O-tar, she +feared not me, she feared not all the warriors of Manator. And +you! Blood of a million sires! how you fight! I am sorry that I +exposed you at The Fields of Jetan. I am sorry that I dragged the +girl Tara back to O-Tar. I would make amends. I would be your +friend. Here is my sword at your feet," and drawing his weapon +I-Gos cast it to the floor in front of Gahan. + +The Gatholian knew that scarce the most abandoned of knaves would +repudiate this solemn pledge, and so he stooped, and picking up +the old man's sword returned it to him, hilt first, in acceptance +of his friendship. + +"Where is the Princess Tara of Helium?" asked Gahan. "Is she +safe?" + +"She is confined in the tower of the women's quarters awaiting +the ceremony that is to make her Jeddara of Manator," replied +I-Gos. + +"This thing dared think that Tara of Helium would mate with him?" +growled Gahan. "I will make short work of him if he is not +already dead from fright," and he stepped toward the fallen O-Tar +to run his sword through the jeddak's heart. + +"No!" cried I-Gos. "Slay him not and pray that he be not dead if +you would save your princess." + +"How is that?" asked Gahan. + +"If word of O-Tar's death reached the quarters of the women the +Princess Tara would be lost. They know O-Tar's intention of +taking her to wife and making her Jeddara of Manator, so you may +rest assured that they all hate her with the hate of jealous +women. Only O-Tar's power protects her now from harm. Should +O-Tar die they would turn her over to the warriors and the male +slaves, for there would be none to avenge her." + +Gahan sheathed his sword. "Your point is well taken; but what +shall we do with him?" + +"Leave him where he lies," counseled I-Gos. "He is not dead. When +he revives he will return to his quarters with a fine tale of his +bravery and there will be none to impugn his boasts--none but +I-Gos. Come! he may revive at any moment and he must not find us +here." + +I-Gos crossed to the body of his jeddak, knelt beside it for an +instant, and then returned past the couch to Gahan. The two quit +the chamber of O-Mai and took their way toward the spiral runway. +Here I-Gos led Gahan to a higher level and out upon the roof of +that portion of the palace from where he pointed to a high tower +quite close by. "There," he said, "lies the Princess of Helium, +and quite safe she will be until the time of the ceremony." + +"Safe, possibly, from other hands, but not from her own," said +Gahan. "She will never become Jeddara of Manator--first will she +destroy herself." + +"She would do that?" asked I-Gos. + +"She will, unless you can get word to her that I still live and +that there is yet hope," replied Gahan. + +"I cannot get word to her," said I-Gos. "The quarters of his +women O-Tar guards with jealous hand. Here are his most trusted +slaves and warriors, yet even so, thick among them are countless +spies, so that no man knows which be which. No shadow falls +within those chambers that is not marked by a hundred eyes." + +Gahan stood gazing at the lighted windows of the high tower in +the upper chambers of which Tara of Helium was confined. "I will +find a way, I-Gos," he said. + +"There is no way," replied the old man. + +For some time they stood upon the roof beneath the brilliant +stars and hurtling moons of dying Mars, laying their plans +against the time that Tara of Helium should be brought from the +high tower to the throne room of O-Tar. It was then, and then +alone, argued I-Gos, that any hope of rescuing her might be +entertained. Just how far he might trust the other Gahan did not +know, and so he kept to himself the knowledge of the plan that he +had forwarded to Floran and Val Dor by Ghek, but he assured the +ancient taxidermist that if he were sincere in his oft-repeated +declaration that O-Tar should be denounced and superseded he +would have his opportunity on the night that the jeddak sought to +wed the Heliumetic princess. + +"Your time shall come then, I-Gos," Gahan assured the other, "and +if you have any party that thinks as you do, prepare them for the +eventuality that will succeed O-Tar's presumptuous attempt to wed +the daughter of The Warlord. Where shall I see you again, and +when? I go now to speak with Tara, Princess of Helium." + +"I like your boldness," said I-Gos; "but it will avail you +naught. You will not speak with Tara, Princess of Helium, though +doubtless the blood of many Manatorians will drench the floors of +the women's quarters before you are slain." + +Gahan smiled. "I shall not be slain. Where and when shall we +meet? But you may find me in O-Mai's chamber at night. That seems +the safest retreat in all Manator for an enemy of the jeddak in +whose palace it lies. I go!" + +"And may the spirits of your ancestors surround you," said I-Gos. + +After the old man had left him Gahan made his way across the roof +to the high tower, which appeared to have been constructed of +concrete and afterward elaborately carved, its entire surface +being covered with intricate designs cut deep into the stone-like +material of which it was composed. Though wrought ages since, it +was but little weather-worn owing to the aridity of the Martian +atmosphere, the infrequency of rains, and the rarity of dust +storms. To scale it, though, presented difficulties and danger +that might have deterred the bravest of men--that would, +doubtless, have deterred Gahan, had he not felt that the life of +the woman he loved depended upon his accomplishing the hazardous +feat. + +Removing his sandals and laying aside all of his harness and +weapons other than a single belt supporting a dagger, the +Gatholian essayed the dangerous ascent. Clinging to the carvings +with hands and feet he worked himself slowly aloft, avoiding the +windows and keeping upon the shadowy side of the tower, away from +the light of Thuria and Cluros. The tower rose some fifty feet +above the roof of the adjacent part of the palace, comprising +five levels or floors with windows looking in every direction. A +few of the windows were balconied, and these more than the others +he sought to avoid, although, it being now near the close of the +ninth zode, there was little likelihood that many were awake +within the tower. + +His progress was noiseless and he came at last, undetected, to +the windows of the upper level. These, like several of the others +he had passed at lower levels, were heavily barred, so that there +was no possibility of his gaining ingress to the apartment where +Tara was confined. Darkness hid the interior behind the first +window that he approached. The second opened upon a lighted +chamber where he could see a guard sleeping at his post outside a +door. Here also was the top of the runway leading to the next +level below. Passing still farther around the tower Gahan +approached another window, but now he clung to that side of the +tower which ended in a courtyard a hundred feet below and in a +short time the light of Thuria would reach him. He realized that +he must hasten and he prayed that behind the window he now +approached he would find Tara of Helium. + +Coming to the opening he looked in upon a small chamber dimly +lighted. In the center was a sleeping dais upon which a human +form lay beneath silks and furs. A bare arm, protruding from the +coverings, lay exposed against a black and yellow striped orluk +skin--an arm of wondrous beauty about which was clasped an armlet +that Gahan knew. No other creature was visible within the +chamber, all of which was exposed to Gahan's view. Pressing his +face to the bars the Gatholian whispered her dear name. The girl +stirred, but did not awaken. Again he called, but this time +louder. Tara sat up and looked about and at the same instant a +huge eunuch leaped to his feet from where he had been lying on +the floor close by that side of the dais farthest from Gahan. +Simultaneously the brilliant light of Thuria flashed full upon +the window where Gahan clung silhouetting him plainly to the two +within. + +Both sprang to their feet. The eunuch drew his sword and leaped +for the window where the helpless Gahan would have fallen an easy +victim to a single thrust of the murderous weapon the fellow +bore, had not Tara of Helium leaped upon her guard dragging him +back. At the same time she drew the slim dagger from its hiding +place in her harness and even as the eunuch sought to hurl her +aside its keen point found his heart. Without a sound he died and +lunged forward to the floor. Then Tara ran to the window. + +"Turan, my chief!" she cried. "What awful risk is this you take +to seek me here, where even your brave heart is powerless to aid +me." + +"Be not so sure of that, heart of my heart," he replied. "While I +bring but words to my love, they be the forerunner of deeds, I +hope, that will give her back to me forever. I feared that you +might destroy yourself, Tara of Helium, to escape the dishonor +that O-Tar would do you, and so I came to give you new hope and +to beg that you live for me through whatever may transpire, in +the knowledge that there is yet a way and that if all goes well +we shall be freed at last. Look for me in the throne room of +O-Tar the night that he would wed you. And now, how may we +dispose of this fellow?" He pointed to the dead eunuch upon the +floor. + +"We need not concern ourselves about that," she replied. "None +dares harm me for fear of the wrath of O-Tar--otherwise I should +have been dead so soon as ever I entered this portion of the +palace, for the women hate me. O-Tar alone may punish me, and +what cares O-Tar for the life of a eunuch? No, fear not upon this +score." + +Their hands were clasped between the bars and now Gahan drew her +nearer to him. + +"One kiss," he said, "before I go, my princess," and the proud +daughter of Dejah Thoris, Princess of Helium, and The Warlord of +Barsoom whispered: "My chieftain!" and pressed her lips to the +lips of Turan, the common panthan. + + + +CHAPTER XXII + +AT THE MOMENT OF MARRIAGE + +THE silence of the tomb lay heavy about him as O-Tar, Jeddak of +Manator, opened his eyes in the chamber of O-Mai. Recollection of +the frightful apparition that had confronted him swept to his +consciousness. He listened, but heard naught. Within the range of +his vision there was nothing apparent that might cause alarm. +Slowly he lifted his head and looked about. Upon the floor beside +the couch lay the thing that had at first attracted his attention +and his eyes closed in terror as he recognized it for what it +was; but it moved not, nor spoke. O-Tar opened his eyes again and +rose to his feet. He was trembling in every limb. There was +nothing on the dais from which he had seen the thing arise. + +O-Tar backed slowly from the room. At last he gained the outer +corridor. It was empty. He did not know that it had emptied +rapidly as the loud scream with which his own had mingled had +broken upon the startled ears of the warriors who had been sent +to spy upon him. He looked at the timepiece set in a massive +bracelet upon his left forearm. The ninth zode was nearly half +gone. O-Tar had lain for an hour unconscious. He had spent an +hour in the chamber of O-Mai and he was not dead! He had looked +upon the face of his predecessor and was still sane! He shook +himself and smiled. Rapidly he subdued his rebelliously shaking +nerves, so that by the time he reached the tenanted portion of +the palace he had gained control of himself. He walked with chin +high and something of a swagger. To the banquet hall he went, +knowing that his chiefs awaited him there and as he entered they +arose and upon the faces of many were incredulity and amaze, for +they had not thought to see O-Tar the jeddak again after what the +spies had told them of the horrid sounds issuing from the chamber +of O-Mai. Thankful was O-Tar that he had gone alone to that +chamber of fright, for now no one could deny the tale that he +should tell. + +E-Thas rushed forward to greet him, for E-Thas had seen black +looks directed toward him as the tals slipped by and his +benefactor failed to return. + +"O brave and glorious jeddak!" cried the major-domo. "We rejoice +at your safe return and beg of you the story of your adventure." + +"It was naught," exclaimed O-Tar. "I searched the chambers +carefully and waited in hiding for the return of the slave, +Turan, if he were temporarily away; but he came not. He is not +there and I doubt if he ever goes there. Few men would choose to +remain long in such a dismal place." + +"You were not attacked?" asked E-Thas. "You heard no screams, nor +moans?" + +"I heard hideous noises and saw phantom figures; but they fled +before me so that never could I lay hold of one, and I looked +upon the face of O-Mai and I am not mad. I even rested in the +chamber beside his corpse." + +In a far corner of the room a bent and wrinkled old man hid a +smile behind a golden goblet of strong brew. + +"Come! Let us drink!" cried O-Tar and reached for the dagger, the +pommel of which he was accustomed to use to strike the gong which +summoned slaves, but the dagger was not in its scabbard. O-Tar +was puzzled. He knew that it had been there just before he +entered the chamber of O-Mai, for he had carefully felt of all +his weapons to make sure that none was missing. He seized instead +a table utensil and struck the gong, and when the slaves came +bade them bring the strongest brew for O-Tar and his chiefs. +Before the dawn broke many were the expressions of admiration +bellowed from drunken lips--admiration for the courage of their +jeddak; but some there were who still looked glum. + + +Came at last the day that O-Tar would take the Princess Tara of +Helium to wife. For hours slaves prepared the unwilling bride. +Seven perfumed baths occupied three long and weary hours, then +her whole body was anointed with the oil of pimalia blossoms and +massaged by the deft fingers of a slave from distant Dusar. Her +harness, all new and wrought for the occasion was of the white +hide of the great white apes of Barsoom, hung heavily with +platinum and diamonds--fairly encrusted with them. The glossy +mass of her jet hair had been built into a coiffure of stately +and becoming grandeur, into which diamond-headed pins were stuck +until the whole scintillated as the stars in heaven upon a +moonless night. + +But it was a sullen and defiant bride that they led from the high +tower toward the throne room of O-Tar. The corridors were filled +with slaves and warriors, and the women of the palace and the +city who had been commanded to attend the ceremony. All the power +and pride, wealth and beauty of Manator were there. + +Slowly Tara, surrounded by a heavy guard of honor, moved along +the marble corridors filled with people. At the entrance to The +Hall of Chiefs E-Thas, the major-domo, received her. The Hall was +empty except for its ranks of dead chieftains upon their dead +mounts. Through this long chamber E-Thas escorted her to the +throne room which also was empty, the marriage ceremony in +Manator differing from that of other countries of Barsoom. Here +the bride would await the groom at the foot of the steps leading +to the throne. The guests followed her in and took their places, +leaving the central aisle from The Hall of Chiefs to the throne +clear, for up this O-Tar would approach his bride alone after a +short solitary communion with the dead behind closed doors in The +Hall of Chiefs. It was the custom. + +The guests had all filed through The Hall of Chiefs; the doors at +both ends had been closed. Presently those at the lower end of +the hall opened and O-Tar entered. His black harness was +ornamented with rubies and gold; his face was covered by a +grotesque mask of the precious metal in which two enormous rubies +were set for eyes, though below them were narrow slits through +which the wearer could see. His crown was a fillet supporting +carved feathers of the same metal as the mask. To the least +detail his regalia was that demanded of a royal bridegroom by the +customs of Manator, and now in accordance with that same custom +he came alone to The Hall of Chiefs to receive the blessings and +the council of the great ones of Manator who had preceded him. + +As the doors at the lower end of the Hall closed behind him O-Tar +the Jeddak stood alone with the great dead. By the dictates of +ages no mortal eye might look upon the scene enacted within that +sacred chamber. As the mighty of Manator respected the traditions +of Manator, let us, too, respect those traditions of a proud and +sensitive people. Of what concern to us the happenings in that +solemn chamber of the dead? + +Five minutes passed. The bride stood silently at the foot of the +throne. The guests spoke together in low whispers until the room +was filled with the hum of many voices. At length the doors +leading into The Hall of Chiefs swung open, and the resplendent +bridegroom stood framed for a moment in the massive opening. A +hush fell upon the wedding guests. With measured and impressive +step the groom approached the bride. Tara felt the muscles of her +heart contract with the apprehension that had been growing upon +her as the coils of Fate settled more closely about her and no +sign came from Turan. Where was he? What, indeed, could he +accomplish now to save her? Surrounded by the power of O-Tar with +never a friend among them, her position seemed at last without +vestige of hope. + +"I still live!" she whispered inwardly in a last brave attempt to +combat the terrible hopelessness that was overwhelming her, but +her fingers stole for reassurance to the slim blade that she had +managed to transfer, undetected, from her old harness to the new. +And now the groom was at her side and taking her hand was leading +her up the steps to the throne, before which they halted and +stood facing the gathering below. Came then, from the back of the +room a procession headed by the high dignitary whose office it +was to make these two man and wife, and directly behind him a +richly-clad youth bearing a silken pillow on which lay the golden +handcuffs connected by a short length of chain-of-gold with which +the ceremony would be concluded when the dignitary clasped a +handcuff about the wrist of each symbolizing their indissoluble +union in the holy bonds of wedlock. + +Would Turan's promised succor come too late? Tara listened to the +long, monotonous intonation of the wedding service. She heard the +virtues of O-Tar extolled and the beauties of the bride. The +moment was approaching and still no sign of Turan. But what could +he accomplish should he succeed in reaching the throne room, +other than to die with her? There could be no hope of rescue. + +The dignitary lifted the golden handcuffs from the pillow upon +which they reposed. He blessed them and reached for Tara's wrist. +The time had come! The thing could go no further, for alive or +dead, by all the laws of Barsoom she would be the wife of O-Tar +of Manator the instant the two were locked together. Even should +rescue come then or later she could never dissolve those bonds +and Turan would be lost to her as surely as though death +separated them. + +Her hand stole toward the hidden blade, but instantly the hand of +the groom shot out and seized her wrist. He had guessed her +intention. Through the slits in the grotesque mask she could see +his eyes upon her and she guessed the sardonic smile that the +mask hid. For a tense moment the two stood thus. The people below +them kept breathless silence for the play before the throne had +not passed un-noticed. + +Dramatic as was the moment it was suddenly rendered trebly so by +the noisy opening of the doors leading to The Hall of Chiefs. All +eyes turned in the direction of the interruption to see another +figure framed in the massive opening--a half-clad figure buckling +the half-adjusted harness hurriedly in place--the figure of +O-Tar, Jeddak of Manator. + +"Stop!" he screamed, springing forward along the aisle toward the +throne. "Seize the impostor!" + +All eyes shot to the figure of the groom before the throne. They +saw him raise his hand and snatch off the golden mask, and Tara +of Helium in wide-eyed incredulity looked up into the face of +Turan the panthan. + +"Turan the slave," they cried then. "Death to him! Death to him!" + +"Wait!" shouted Turan, drawing his sword, as a dozen warriors +leaped forward. + +"Wait!" screamed another voice, old and cracked, as I-Gos, the +ancient taxidermist, sprang from among the guests and reached the +throne steps ahead of the foremost warriors. + +At sight of the old man the warriors paused, for age is held in +great veneration among the peoples of Barsoom, as is true, +perhaps, of all peoples whose religion is based to any extent +upon ancestor worship. But O-Tar gave no heed to him, leaping +instead swiftly toward the throne. "Stop, coward!" cried I-Gos. + +The people looked at the little old man in amazement. "Men of +Manator," he cackled in his thin, shrill voice, "wouldst be ruled +by a coward and a liar?" + +"Down with him!" shouted O-Tar. + +"Not until I have spoken," retorted I-Gos. "It is my right. If I +fail my life is forfeit--that you all know and I know. I demand +therefore to be heard. It is my right!" + +"It is his right," echoed the voices of a score of warriors in +various parts of the chamber. + +"That O-Tar is a coward and a liar I can prove," continued I-Gos. +"He said that he faced bravely the horrors of the chamber of +O-Mai and saw nothing of the slave Turan. I was there, hiding +behind the hangings, and I saw all that transpired. Turan had +been hiding in the chamber and was even then lying upon the couch +of O-Mai when O-Tar, trembling with fear, entered the room. +Turan, disturbed, arose to a sitting position at the same time +voicing a piercing shriek. O-Tar screamed and swooned." + +"It is a lie!" cried O-Tar. + +"It is not a lie and I can prove it," retorted I-Gos. "Didst +notice the night that he returned from the chambers of O-Mai and +was boasting of his exploit, that when he would summon slaves to +bring wine he reached for his dagger to strike the gong with its +pommel as is always his custom? Didst note that, any of you? And +that he had no dagger? O-Tar, where is the dagger that you +carried into the chamber of O-Mai? You do not know; but I know. +While you lay in the swoon of terror I took it from your harness +and hid it among the sleeping silks upon the couch of O-Mai. +There it is even now, and if any doubt it let them go thither and +there they will find it and know the cowardice of their jeddak." + +"But what of this impostor?" demanded one. "Shall he stand with +impunity upon the throne of Manator whilst we squabble about our +ruler?" + +"It is through his bravery that you have learned the cowardice of +O-Tar," replied I-Gos, "and through him you will be given a +greater jeddak." + +"We will choose our own jeddak. Seize and slay the slave!" There +were cries of approval from all parts of the room. Gahan was +listening intently, as though for some hoped-for sound. He saw +the warriors approaching the dais, where he now stood with drawn +sword and with one arm about Tara of Helium. He wondered if his +plans had miscarried after all. If they had it would mean death +for him, and he knew that Tara would take her life if he fell. +Had he, then, served her so futilely after all his efforts? + +Several warriors were urging the necessity for sending at once to +the chamber of O-Mai to search for the dagger that would prove, +if found, the cowardice of O-Tar. At last three consented to go. +"You need not fear," I-Gos assured them. "There is naught there +to harm you. I have been there often of late and Turan the slave +has slept there for these many nights. The screams and moans that +frightened you and O-Tar were voiced by Turan to drive you away +from his hiding place." Shamefacedly the three left the apartment +to search for O-Tar's dagger. + +And now the others turned their attention once more to Gahan. +They approached the throne with bared swords, but they came +slowly for they had seen this slave upon the Field of Jetan and +they knew the prowess of his arm. They had reached the foot of +the steps when from far above there sounded a deep boom, and +another, and another, and Turan smiled and breathed a sigh of +relief. Perhaps, after all, it had not come too late. The +warriors stopped and listened as did the others in the chamber. +Now there broke upon their ears a loud rattle of musketry and it +all came from above as though men were fighting upon the roofs of +the palace. + +"What is it?" they demanded, one of the other. + +"A great storm has broken over Manator," said one. + +"Mind not the storm until you have slain the creature who dares +stand upon the throne of your jeddak," demanded O-Tar. "Seize +him!" + +Even as he ceased speaking the arras behind the throne parted and +a warrior stepped forth upon the dais. An exclamation of surprise +and dismay broke from the lips of the warriors of O-Tar. +"U-Thor!" they cried. "What treason is this?" + +"It is no treason," said U-Thor in his deep voice. "I bring you a +new jeddak for all of Manator. No lying poltroon, but a +courageous man whom you all love." + +He stepped aside then and another emerged from the corridor +hidden by the arras. It was A-Kor, and at sight of him there rose +exclamations of surprise, of pleasure, and of anger, as the +various factions recognized the coup d'etat that had been +arranged so cunningly. Behind A-Kor came other warriors until the +dais was crowded with them--all men of Manator from the city of +Manatos. + +O-Tar was exhorting his warriors to attack, when a bloody and +disheveled padwar burst into the chamber through a side entrance. +"The city has fallen!" he cried aloud. "The hordes of Manatos +pour through The Gate of Enemies. The slaves from Gathol have +arisen and destroyed the palace guards. Great ships are landing +warriors upon the palace roof and in the Fields of Jetan. The men +of Helium and Gathol are marching through Manator. They cry aloud +for the Princess of Helium and swear to leave Manator a blazing +funeral pyre consuming the bodies of all our people. The skies +are black with ships. They come in great processions from the +east and from the south." + +And then once more the doors from The Hall of Chiefs swung wide +and the men of Manator turned to see another figure standing upon +the threshold--a mighty figure of a man with white skin, and +black hair, and gray eyes that glittered now like points of steel +and behind him The Hall of Chiefs was filled with fighting men +wearing the harness of far countries. Tara of Helium saw him and +her heart leaped in exultation, for it was John Carter, Warlord +of Barsoom, come at the head of a victorious host to the rescue +of his daughter, and at his side was Djor Kantos to whom she had +been betrothed. + +The Warlord eyed the assemblage for a moment before he spoke. +"Lay down your arms, men of Manator," he said. "I see my daughter +and that she lives, and if no harm has befallen her no blood need +be shed. Your city is filled with the fighting men of U-Thor, and +those from Gathol and from Helium. The palace is in the hands of +the slaves from Gathol, beside a thousand of my own warriors who +fill the halls and chambers surrounding this room. The fate of +your jeddak lies in your own hands. I have no wish to interfere. +I come only for my daughter and to free the slaves from Gathol. I +have spoken!" and without waiting for a reply and as though the +room had been filled with his own people rather than a hostile +band he strode up the broad main aisle toward Tara of Helium. + +The chiefs of Manator were stunned. They looked to O-Tar; but he +could only gaze helplessly about him as the enemy entered from +The Hall of Chiefs and circled the throne room until they had +surrounded the entire company. And then a dwar of the army of +Helium entered. + +"We have captured three chiefs," he reported to The Warlord, "who +beg that they be permitted to enter the throne room and report to +their fellows some matter which they say will decide the fate of +Manator." + +"Fetch them," ordered The Warlord. + +They came, heavily guarded, to the foot of the steps leading to +the throne and there they stopped and the leader turned toward +the others of Manator and raising high his right hand displayed a +jeweled dagger. "We found it," he said, "even where I-Gos said +that we would find it," and he looked menacingly upon O-Tar. + +"A-Kor, jeddak of Manator!" cried a voice, and the cry was taken +up by a hundred hoarse-throated warriors. + +"There can be but one jeddak in Manator," said the chief who held +the dagger; his eyes still fixed upon the hapless O-Tar he +crossed to where the latter stood and holding the dagger upon an +outstretched palm proffered it to the discredited ruler. "There +can be but one jeddak in Manator," he repeated meaningly. + +O-Tar took the proffered blade and drawing himself to his full +height plunged it to the guard into his breast, in that single +act redeeming himself in the esteem of his people and winning an +eternal place in The Hall of Chiefs. + +As he fell all was silence in the great room, to be broken +presently by the voice of U-Thor. "O-Tar is dead!" he cried. "Let +A-Kor rule until the chiefs of all Manator may be summoned to +choose a new jeddak. What is your answer?" + +"Let A-Kor rule! A-Kor, Jeddak of Manator!" The cries filled the +room and there was no dissenting voice. + +A-Kor raised his sword for silence. "It is the will of A-Kor," he +said, "and that of the Great Jed of Manatos, and the commander of +the fleet from Gathol, and of the illustrious John Carter, +Warlord of Barsoom, that peace lie upon the city of Manator and +so I decree that the men of Manator go forth and welcome the +fighting men of these our allies as guests and friends and show +them the wonders of our ancient city and the hospitality of +Manator. I have spoken." And U-Thor and John Carter dismissed +their warriors and bade them accept the hospitality of Manator. +As the room emptied Djor Kantos reached the side of Tara of +Helium. The girl's happiness at rescue had been blighted by sight +of this man whom her virtuous heart told her she had wronged. She +dreaded the ordeal that lay before her and the dishonor that she +must admit before she could hope to be freed from the +understanding that had for long existed between them. And now +Djor Kantos approached and kneeling raised her fingers to his +lips. + +"Beautiful daughter of Helium," he said, "how may I tell you the +thing that I must tell you--of the dishonor that I have all +unwittingly done you? I can but throw myself upon your generosity +for forgiveness; but if you demand it I can receive the dagger as +honorably as did O-Tar." + +"What do you mean?" asked Tara of Helium. "What are you talking +about--why speak thus in riddles to one whose heart is already +breaking?" + +Her heart already breaking! The outlook was anything but +promising, and the young padwar wished that he had died before +ever he had had to speak the words he now must speak. + +"Tara of Helium," he continued, "we all thought you dead. For a +long year have you been gone from Helium. I mourned you truly and +then, less than a moon since, I wed with Olvia Marthis." He +stopped and looked at her with eyes that might have said: "Now, +strike me dead!" + +"Oh, foolish man!" cried Tara. "Nothing you could have done could +have pleased me more. Djor Kantos, I could kiss you!" + +"I do not think that Olvia Marthis would mind," he said, his face +now wreathed with smiles. As they spoke a body of men had entered +the throne room and approached the dais. They were tall men +trapped in plain harness, absolutely without ornamentation. Just +as their leader reached the dais Tara had turned to Gahan, +motioning him to join them. + +"Djor Kantos," she said, "I bring you Turan the panthan, whose +loyalty and bravery have won my love." + +John Carter and the leader of the new come warriors, who were +standing near, looked quickly at the little group. The former +smiled an inscrutable smile, the latter addressed the Princess of +Helium. "'Turan the panthan!'" he cried. "Know you not, fair +daughter of Helium, that this man you call panthan is Gahan, Jed +of Gathol?" + +For just a moment Tara of Helium looked her surprise; and then +she shrugged her beautiful shoulders as she turned her head to +cast her eyes over one of them at Gahan of Gathol. + +"Jed or panthan," she said; "what difference does it make what +one's slave has been?" and she laughed roguishly into the smiling +face of her lover. + + +His story finished, John Carter rose from the chair opposite me, +stretching his giant frame like some great forest-bred lion. + +"You must go?" I cried, for I hated to see him leave and it +seemed that he had been with me but a moment. + +"The sky is already red beyond those beautiful hills of yours," +he replied, "and it will soon be day." + +"Just one question before you go," I begged. + +"Well?" he assented, good-naturedly. + +"How was Gahan able to enter the throne room garbed in O-Tar's +trappings?" I asked. + +"It was simple--for Gahan of Gathol," replied The Warlord. "With +the assistance of I-Gos he crept into The Hall of Chiefs before +the ceremony, while the throne room and Hall of Chiefs were +vacated to receive the bride. He came from the pits through the +corridor that opened behind the arras at the rear of the throne, +and passing into The Hall of Chiefs took his place upon the back +of a riderless thoat, whose warrior was in I-Gos' repair room. +When O-Tar entered and came near him Gahan fell upon him and +struck him with the butt of a heavy spear. He thought that he had +killed him and was surprised when O-Tar appeared to denounce +him." + +"And Ghek? What became of Ghek?" I insisted. + +"After leading Val Dor and Floran to Tara's disabled flier which +they repaired, he accompanied them to Gathol from where a message +was sent to me in Helium. He then led a large party including +A-Kor and U-Thor from the roof, where our ships landed them, down +a spiral runway into the palace and guided them to the throne +room. We took him back to Helium with us, where he still lives, +with his single rykor which we found all but starved to death in +the pits of Manator. But come! No more questions now." + +I accompanied him to the east arcade where the red dawn was +glowing beyond the arches. + +"Good-bye!" he said. + +"I can scarce believe that it is really you," I exclaimed. +"Tomorrow I will be sure that I have dreamed all this." + + He laughed and drawing his sword scratched a rude cross upon the +concrete of one of the arches. + +"If you are in doubt tomorrow," he said, "come and see if you +dreamed this." + +A moment later he was gone. + + + + +JETAN, OR MARTIAN CHESS + +FOR those who care for such things, and would like to try the +game, I give the rules of Jetan as they were given me by John +Carter. By writing the names and moves of the various pieces on +bits of paper and pasting them on ordinary checkermen the game +may be played quite as well as with the ornate pieces used upon +Mars. + +THE BOARD: Square board consisting of one hundred alternate black +and orange squares. + +THE PIECES: In order, as they stand upon the board in the first +row, from left to right of each player. + +Warrior: 2 feathers; 2 spaces straight in any direction or +combination. + +Padwar: 2 feathers; 2 spaces diagonal in any direction or +combination. + +Dwar: 3 feathers; 3 spaces straight in any direction or +combination. + +Flier: 3 bladed propellor; 3 spaces diagonal in any direction or +combination; and may jump intervening pieces. + +Chief: Diadem with ten jewels; 3 spaces in any direction; +straight or diagonal or combination. + +Princess: Diadem with one jewel; same as Chief, except may jump +intervening pieces. + +Flier: See above. + +Dwar: See above. + +Padwar: See above. + +Warrior: See above. + +And in the second row from left to right: + +Thoat: Mounted warrior 2 feathers; 2 spaces, one straight and one +diagonal in any direction. + +Panthans: (8 of them): 1 feather; 1 space, forward, side, or +diagonal, but not backward. + +Thoat: See above. + +The game is played with twenty black pieces by one player and +twenty orange by his opponent, and is presumed to have originally +represented a battle between the Black race of the south and the +Yellow race of the north. On Mars the board is usually arranged +so that the Black pieces are played from the south and the Orange +from the north. + +The game is won when any piece is placed on same square with +opponent's Princess, or a Chief takes a Chief. + +The game is drawn when either Chief is taken by a piece other +than the opposing Chief, or when both sides are reduced to three +pieces, or less, of equal value and the game is not won in the +ensuing ten moves, five apiece. + +The Princess may not move onto a threatened square, nor may she +take an opposing piece. She is entitled to one ten-space move at +any time during the game. This move is called the escape. + +Two pieces may not occupy the same square except in the final +move of a game where the Princess is taken. + +When a player, moving properly and in order, places one of his +pieces upon a square occupied by an opponent piece, the opponent +piece is considered to have been killed and is removed from the +game. + +The moves explained. Straight moves mean due north, south, east, +or west; diagonal moves mean northeast, southeast, southwest, or +northwest. A Dwar might move straight north three spaces, or +north one space and east two spaces, or any similar combination +of straight moves, so long as he did not cross the same square +twice in a single move. This example explains combination moves. + +The first move may be decided in any way that is agreeable to +both players; after the first game the winner of the preceding +game moves first if he chooses, or may instruct his opponent to +make the first move. + +Gambling: The Martians gamble at Jetan in several ways. Of course +the outcome of the game indicates to whom the main stake belongs; +but they also put a price upon the head of each piece, according +to its value, and for each piece that a player loses he pays its +value to his opponent. + + + + + +End of The Project Gutenberg Etext of The Chessmen of Mars by Burroughs + diff --git a/old/old/cmars12.zip b/old/old/cmars12.zip Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..da276cf --- /dev/null +++ b/old/old/cmars12.zip diff --git a/old/old/cmars12h.htm b/old/old/cmars12h.htm new file mode 100644 index 0000000..719691b --- /dev/null +++ b/old/old/cmars12h.htm @@ -0,0 +1,10212 @@ +<!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.01 Transitional//EN"> +<html> +<head> +<title>The Chessmen of Mars</title> +<meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content= +"text/html; charset=iso-8859-1"> +<style type="text/css"> +<!-- +body {margin:10%; text-align:justify} +blockquote {font-size:14pt} +P {font-size:14pt} +--> +</style> +</head> +<body> +<p>The Project Gutenberg Etext of The Chessmen of Mars by +Burroughs #11 in our series by Edgar Rice Burroughs<br> +</p> + +<p>Copyright laws are changing all over the world, be sure to +check the copyright laws for your country before posting these +files!!<br> +</p> + +Please take a look at the important information in this header. +We encourage you to keep this file on your own disk, keeping an +electronic path open for the next readers. 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FOR PUBLIC DOMAIN +ETEXTS*Ver.04.29.93*END*<br> +</p> + +<br> +<p><br> +</p> + +This etext was prepared by Judy Boss, Omaha, NE <br> +<p><br> +</p> +<br><br><br> +<br> + +<h1>THE CHESSMEN OF MARS</h1><br> +<br><br> + + +<h2>by Edgar Rice Burroughs</h2> <br> + +<br><br><br><br> + +<h2 id="ref_1">PRELUDE<br> +</h2> + +<p>JOHN CARTER COMES TO EARTH<br> +</p> + +SHEA had just beaten me at chess, as usual, and, also as usual, I +had gleaned what questionable satisfaction I might by twitting +him with this indication of failing mentality by calling his +attention to the nth time to that theory, propounded by certain +scientists, which is based upon the assertion that phenomenal +chess players are always found to be from the ranks of children +under twelve, adults over seventy-two or the mentally +defective--a theory that is lightly ignored upon those rare +occasions that I win. Shea had gone to bed and I should have +followed suit, for we are always in the saddle here before +sunrise; but instead I sat there before the chess table in the +library, idly blowing smoke at the dishonored head of my defeated +king. <br> +<p>While thus profitably employed I heard the east door of the +living-room open and someone enter. I thought it was Shea +returning to speak with me on some matter of tomorrow's work; but +when I raised my eyes to the doorway that connects the two rooms +I saw framed there the figure of a bronzed giant, his otherwise +naked body trapped with a jewel-encrusted harness from which +there hung at one side an ornate short-sword and at the other a +pistol of strange pattern. The black hair, the steel-gray eyes, +brave and smiling, the noble features--I recognized them at once, +and leaping to my feet I advanced with outstretched hand.<br> +</p> + +"John Carter!" I cried. "You?" <br> +<p>"None other, my son," he replied, taking my hand in one of his +and placing the other upon my shoulder.<br> +</p> + +"And what are you doing here?" I asked. "It has been long years +since you revisited Earth, and never before in the trappings of +Mars. Lord! but it is good to see you--and not a day older in +appearance than when you trotted me on your knee in my babyhood. +How do you explain it, John Carter, Warlord of Mars, or do you +try to explain it?" <br> +<p>"Why attempt to explain the inexplicable?" he replied. "As I +have told you before, I am a very old man. I do not know how old +I am. I recall no childhood; but recollect only having been +always as you see me now and as you saw me first when you were +five years old. You, yourself, have aged, though not as much as +most men in a corresponding number of years, which may be +accounted for by the fact that the same blood runs in our veins; +but I have not aged at all. I have discussed the question with a +noted Martian scientist, a friend of mine; but his theories are +still only theories. However, I am content with the fact--I never +age, and I love life and the vigor of youth.<br> +</p> + +"And now as to your natural question as to what brings me to +Earth again and in this, to earthly eyes, strange habiliment. We +may thank Kar Komak, the bowman of Lothar. It was he who gave me +the idea upon which I have been experimenting until at last I +have achieved success. As you know I have long possessed the +power to cross the void in spirit, but never before have I been +able to impart to inanimate things a similar power. Now, however, +you see me for the first time precisely as my Martian fellows see +me--you see the very short-sword that has tasted the blood of +many a savage foeman; the harness with the devices of Helium and +the insignia of my rank; the pistol that was presented to me by +Tars Tarkas, Jeddak of Thark. <br> +<p>"Aside from seeing you, which is my principal reason for being +here, and satisfying myself that I can transport inanimate things +from Mars to Earth, and therefore animate things if I so desire, +I have no purpose. Earth is not for me. My every interest is upon +Barsoom--my wife, my children, my work; all are there. I will +spend a quiet evening with you and then back to the world I love +even better than I love life."<br> +</p> + +As he spoke he dropped into the chair upon the opposite side of +the chess table. <br> +<p>"You spoke of children," I said. "Have you more than +Carthoris?"<br> +</p> + +"A daughter," he replied, "only a little younger than Carthoris, +and, barring one, the fairest thing that ever breathed the thin +air of dying Mars. Only Dejah Thoris, her mother, could be more +beautiful than Tara of Helium." <br> +<p>For a moment he fingered the chessmen idly. "We have a game on +Mars similar to chess," he said, "very similar.<br> +</p> + +And there is a race there that plays it grimly with men and naked +swords. We call the game jetan. It is played on a board like +yours, except that there are a hundred squares and we use twenty +pieces on each side. I never see it played without thinking of +Tara of Helium and what befell her among the chessmen of Barsoom. +Would you like to hear her story?" <br> +<p>I said that I would and so he told it to me, and now I shall +try to re-tell it for you as nearly in the words of The Warlord +of Mars as I can recall them, but in the third person. If there +be inconsistencies and errors, let the blame fall not upon John +Carter, but rather upon my faulty memory, where it belongs. It is +a strange tale and utterly Barsoomian.<br> +</p> + +<br> +<h1 id="ref_2">CHAPTER I</h1> + +TARA IN A TANTRUM <br> +TARA of Helium rose from the pile of silks and soft furs upon +which she had been reclining, stretched her lithe body languidly, +and crossed toward the center of the room, where, above a large +table, a bronze disc depended from the low ceiling. Her carriage +was that of health and physical perfection--the effortless +harmony of faultless coordination. A scarf of silken gossamer +crossing over one shoulder was wrapped about her body; her black +hair was piled high upon her head. With a wooden stick she tapped +upon the bronze disc, lightly, and presently the summons was +answered by a slave girl, who entered, smiling, to be greeted +similarly by her mistress. <br> +<p>"Are my father's guests arriving?" asked the princess.<br> +</p> + +"Yes, Tara of Helium, they come," replied the slave. "I have seen +Kantos Kan, Overlord of the Navy, and Prince Soran of Ptarth, and +Djor Kantos, son of Kantos Kan," she shot a roguish glance at her +mistress as she mentioned Djor Kantos' name, "and--oh, there were +others, many have come." <br> +<p>"The bath, then, Uthia," said her mistress. "And why, Uthia," +she added, "do you look thus and smile when you mention the name +of Djor Kantos?"<br> +</p> + +The slave girl laughed gaily. "It is so plain to all that he +worships you," she replied. <br> +<p>"It is not plain to me," said Tara of Helium. "He is the +friend of my brother, Carthoris, and so he is here much; but not +to see me. It is his friendship for Carthoris that brings him +thus often to the palace of my father."<br> +</p> + +"But Carthoris is hunting in the north with Talu, Jeddak of +Okar," Uthia reminded her. <br> +<p>"My bath, Uthia!" cried Tara of Helium. "That tongue of yours +will bring you to some misadventure yet."<br> +</p> + +"The bath is ready, Tara of Helium," the girl responded, her eyes +still twinkling with merriment, for she well knew that in the +heart of her mistress was no anger that could displace the love +of the princess for her slave. Preceding the daughter of The +Warlord she opened the door of an adjoining room where lay the +bath--a gleaming pool of scented water in a marble basin. Golden +stanchions supported a chain of gold encircling it and leading +down into the water on either side of marble steps. A glass dome +let in the sun-light, which flooded the interior, glancing from +the polished white of the marble walls and the procession of +bathers and fishes, which, in conventional design, were inlaid +with gold in a broad band that circled the room. <br> +<p>Tara of Helium removed the scarf from about her and handed it +to the slave. Slowly she descended the steps to the water, the +temperature of which she tested with a symmetrical foot, +undeformed by tight shoes and high heels--a lovely foot, as God +intended that feet should be and seldom are. Finding the water to +her liking, the girl swam leisurely to and fro about the pool. +With the silken ease of the seal she swam, now at the surface, +now below, her smooth muscles rolling softly beneath her clear +skin--a wordless song of health and happiness and grace. +Presently she emerged and gave herself into the hands of the +slave girl, who rubbed the body of her mistress with a sweet +smelling semi-liquid substance contained in a golden urn, until +the glowing skin was covered with a foamy lather, then a quick +plunge into the pool, a drying with soft towels, and the bath was +over. Typical of the life of the princess was the simple elegance +of her bath--no retinue of useless slaves, no pomp, no idle waste +of precious moments. In another half hour her hair was dried and +built into the strange, but becoming, coiffure of her station; +her leathern trappings, encrusted with gold and jewels, had been +adjusted to her figure and she was ready to mingle with the +guests that had been bidden to the midday function at the palace +of The Warlord.<br> +</p> + +As she left her apartments to make her way to the gardens where +the guests were congregating, two warriors, the insignia of the +House of the Prince of Helium upon their harness, followed a few +paces behind her, grim reminders that the assassin's blade may +never be ignored upon Barsoom, where, in a measure, it +counterbalances the great natural span of human life, which is +estimated at not less than a thousand years. <br> +<p>As they neared the entrance to the garden another woman, +similarly guarded, approached them from another quarter of the +great palace. As she neared them Tara of Helium turned toward her +with a smile and a happy greeting, while her guards knelt with +bowed heads in willing and voluntary adoration of the beloved of +Helium. Thus always, solely at the command of their own hearts, +did the warriors of Helium greet Dejah Thoris, whose deathless +beauty had more than once brought them to bloody warfare with +other nations of Barsoom. So great was the love of the people of +Helium for the mate of John Carter it amounted practically to +worship, as though she were indeed the goddess that she +looked.<br> +</p> + +The mother and daughter exhanged the gentle, Barsoomian, "kaor" +of greeting and kissed. Then together they entered the gardens +where the guests were. A huge warrior drew his short-sword and +struck his metal shield with the flat of it, the brazen sound +ringing out above the laughter and the speech. <br> +<p>"The Princess comes!" he cried. "Dejah Thoris! The Princess +comes! Tara of Helium!" Thus always is royalty announced. The +guests arose; the two women inclined their heads; the guards fell +back upon either side of the entrance-way; a number of nobles +advanced to pay their respects; the laughing and the talking were +resumed and Dejah Thoris and her daughter moved simply and +naturally among their guests, no suggestion of differing rank +apparent in the bearing of any who were there, though there was +more than a single Jeddak and many common warriors whose only +title lay in brave deeds, or noble patriotism. Thus it is upon +Mars where men are judged upon their own merits rather than upon +those of their grandsires, even though pride of lineage be +great.<br> +</p> + +Tara of Helium let her slow gaze wander among the throng of +guests until presently it halted upon one she sought. Was the +faint shadow of a frown that crossed her brow an indication of +displeasure at the sight that met her eyes, or did the brilliant +rays of the noonday sun distress her? Who may say! She had been +reared to believe that one day she should wed Djor Kantos, son of +her father's best friend. It had been the dearest wish of Kantos +Kan and The Warlord that this should be, and Tara of Helium had +accepted it as a matter of all but accomplished fact. Djor Kantos +had seemed to accept the matter in the same way. They had spoken +of it casually as something that would, as a matter of course, +take place in the indefinite future, as, for instance, his +promotion in the navy, in which he was now a padwar; or the set +functions of the court of her grandfather, Tardos Mors, Jeddak of +Helium; or Death. They had never spoken of love and that had +puzzled Tara of Helium upon the rare occasions she gave it +thought, for she knew that people who were to wed were usually +much occupied with the matter of love and she had all of a +woman's curiosity--she wondered what love was like. She was very +fond of Djor Kantos and she knew that he was very fond of her. +They liked to be together, for they liked the same things and the +same people and the same books and their dancing was a joy, not +only to themselves but to those who watched them. She could not +imagine wanting to marry anyone other than Djor Kantos. <br> +<p>So perhaps it was only the sun that made her brows contract +just the tiniest bit at the same instant that she discovered Djor +Kantos sitting in earnest conversation with Olvia Marthis, +daughter of the Jed of Hastor. It was Djor Kantos' duty +immediately to pay his respects to Dejah Thoris and Tara of +Helium; but he did not do so and presently the daughter of The +Warlord frowned indeed. She looked long at Olvia Marthis, and +though she had seen her many times before and knew her well, she +looked at her today through new eyes that saw, apparently for the +first time, that the girl from Hastor was noticeably beautiful +even among those other beautiful women of Helium. Tara of Helium +was disturbed. She attempted to analyze her emotions; but found +it difficult. Olvia Marthis was her friend--she was very fond of +her and she felt no anger toward her. Was she angry with Djor +Kantos? No, she finally decided that she was not. It was merely +surprise, then, that she felt--surprise that Djor Kantos could be +more interested in another than in herself. She was about to +cross the garden and join them when she heard her father's voice +directly behind her.<br> +</p> + +"Tara of Helium!" he called, and she turned to see him +approaching with a strange warrior whose harness and metal bore +devices with which she was unfamiliar. Even among the gorgeous +trappings of the men of Helium and the visitors from distant +empires those of the stranger were remarkable for their barbaric +splendor. The leather of his harness was completely hidden +beneath ornaments of platinum thickly set with brilliant +diamonds, as were the scabbards of his swords and the ornate +holster that held his long, Martian pistol. Moving through the +sunlit garden at the side of the great Warlord, the scintillant +rays of his countless gems enveloping him as in an aureole of +light imparted to his noble figure a suggestion of godliness. +<br> +<p>"Tara of Helium, I bring you Gahan, Jed of Gathol," said John +Carter, after the simple Barsoomian custom of presentation.<br> +</p> + +"Kaor! Gahan, Jed of Gathol," returned Tara of Helium. <br> +<p>"My sword is at your feet, Tara of Helium," said the young +chieftain.<br> +</p> + +The Warlord left them and the two seated themselves upon an +ersite bench beneath a spreading sorapus tree. <br> +<p>"Far Gathol," mused the girl. "Ever in my mind has it been +connected with mystery and romance and the half-forgotten lore of +the ancients. I cannot think of Gathol as existing today, +possibly because I have never before seen a Gatholian."<br> +</p> + +"And perhaps too because of the great distance that separates +Helium and Gathol, as well as the comparative insignificance of +my little free city, which might easily be lost in one corner of +mighty Helium," added Gahan. "But what we lack in power we make +up in pride," he continued, laughing. "We believe ours the oldest +inhabited city upon Barsoom. It is one of the few that has +retained its freedom, and this despite the fact that its ancient +diamond mines are the richest known and, unlike practically all +the other fields, are today apparently as inexhaustible as ever." +<br> +<p>"Tell me of Gathol," urged the girl. "The very thought fills +me with interest," nor was it likely that the handsome face of +the young jed detracted anything from the glamour of far +Gathol.<br> +</p> + +Nor did Gahan seem displeased with the excuse for further +monopolizing the society of his fair companion. His eyes seemed +chained to her exquisite features, from which they moved no +further than to a rounded breast, part hid beneath its jeweled +covering, a naked shoulder or the symmetry of a perfect arm, +resplendent in bracelets of barbaric magnificence. <br> +<p>"Your ancient history has doubtless told you that Gathol was +built upon an island in Throxeus, mightiest of the five oceans of +old Barsoom. As the ocean receded Gathol crept down the sides of +the mountain, the summit of which was the island upon which she +had been built, until today she covers the slopes from summit to +base, while the bowels of the great hill are honeycombed with the +galleries of her mines. Entirely surrounding us is a great salt +marsh, which protects us from invasion by land, while the rugged +and ofttimes vertical topography of our mountain renders the +landing of hostile airships a precarious undertaking."<br> +</p> + +"That, and your brave warriors?" suggested the girl. <br> +<p>Gahan smiled. "We do not speak of that except to enemies," he +said, "and then with tongues of steel rather than of flesh."<br> +</p> + +"But what practice in the art of war has a people which nature +has thus protected from attack?" asked Tara of Helium, who had +liked the young jed's answer to her previous question, but yet in +whose mind persisted a vague conviction of the possible +effeminacy of her companion, induced, doubtless, by the +magnificence of his trappings and weapons which carried a +suggestion of splendid show rather than grim utility. <br> +<p>"Our natural barriers, while they have doubtless saved us from +defeat on countless occasions, have not by any means rendered us +immune from attack," he explained, "for so great is the wealth of +Gathol's diamond treasury that there yet may be found those who +will risk almost certain defeat in an effort to loot our +unconquered city; so thus we find occasional practice in the +exercise of arms; but there is more to Gathol than the mountain +city. My country extends from Polodona (Equator) north ten karads +and from the tenth karad west of Horz to the twentieth west, +including thus a million square haads, the greater proportion of +which is fine grazing land where run our great herds of thoats +and zitidars.<br> +</p> + +"Surrounded as we are by predatory enemies our herdsmen must +indeed be warriors or we should have no herds, and you may be +assured they get plenty of fighting. Then there is our constant +need of workers in the mines. The Gatholians consider themselves +a race of warriors and as such prefer not to labor in the mines. +The law is, however, that each male Gatholian shall give an hour +a day in labor to the government. That is practically the only +tax that is levied upon them. They prefer however, to furnish a +substitute to perform this labor, and as our own people will not +hire out for labor in the mines it has been necessary to obtain +slaves, and I do not need to tell you that slaves are not won +without fighting. We sell these slaves in the public market, the +proceeds going, half and half, to the government and the warriors +who bring them in. The purchasers are credited with the amount of +labor performed by their particular slaves. At the end of a year +a good slave will have performed the labor tax of his master for +six years, and if slaves are plentiful he is freed and permitted +to return to his own people." <br> +<p>"You fight in platinum and diamonds?" asked Tara, indicating +his gorgeous trappings with a quizzical smile.<br> +</p> + +Gahan laughed. "We are a vain people," he admitted, +good-naturedly, "and it is possible that we place too much value +on personal appearances. We vie with one another in the splendor +of our accoutrements when trapped for the observance of the +lighter duties of life, though when we take the field our leather +is the plainest I ever have seen worn by fighting men of Barsoom. +We pride ourselves, too, upon our physical beauty, and especially +upon the beauty of our women. May I dare to say, Tara of Helium, +that I am hoping for the day when you will visit Gathol that my +people may see one who is really beautiful?" <br> +<p>"The women of Helium are taught to frown with displeasure upon +the tongue of the flatterer," rejoined the girl, but Gahan, Jed +of Gathol, observed that she smiled as she said it.<br> +</p> + +A bugle sounded, clear and sweet, above the laughter and the +talk. "The Dance of Barsoom!" exclaimed the young warrior. "I +claim you for it, Tara of Helium." <br> +<p>The girl glanced in the direction of the bench where she had +last seen Djor Kantos. He was not in sight. She inclined her head +in assent to the claim of the Gatholian. Slaves were passing +among the guests, distributing small musical instruments of a +single string. Upon each instrument were characters which +indicated the pitch and length of its tone. The instruments were +of skeel, the string of gut, and were shaped to fit the left +forearm of the dancer, to which it was strapped. There was also a +ring wound with gut which was worn between the first and second +joints of the index finger of the right hand and which, when +passed over the string of the instrument, elicited the single +note required of the dancer.<br> +</p> + +The guests had risen and were slowly making their way toward the +expanse of scarlet sward at the south end of the gardens where +the dance was to be held, when Djor Kantos came hurriedly toward +Tara of Helium. "I claim--" he exclaimed as he neared her; but +she interrupted him with a gesture. <br> +<p>"You are too late, Djor Kantos," she cried in mock anger. "No +laggard may claim Tara of Helium; but haste now lest thou lose +also Olvia Marthis, whom I have never seen wait long to be +claimed for this or any other dance."<br> +</p> + +"I have already lost her," admitted Djor Kantos ruefully. <br> +<p>"And you mean to say that you came for Tara of Helium only +after having lost Olvia Marthis?" demanded the girl, still +simulating displeasure.<br> +</p> + +"Oh, Tara of Helium, you know better than that," insisted the +young man. "Was it not natural that I should assume that you +would expect me, who alone has claimed you for the Dance of +Barsoom for at least twelve times past?" <br> +<p>"And sit and play with my thumbs until you saw fit to come for +me?" she questioned. "Ah, no, Djor Kantos; Tara of Helium is for +no laggard," and she threw him a sweet smile and passed on toward +the assembling dancers with Gahan, Jed of far Gathol.<br> +</p> + +The Dance of Barsoom bears a relation similar to the more formal +dancing functions of Mars that The Grand March does to ours, +though it is infinitely more intricate and more beautiful. Before +a Martian youth of either sex may attend an important social +function where there is dancing, he must have become proficient +in at least three dances--The Dance of Barsoom, his national +dance, and the dance of his city. In these three dances the +dancers furnish their own music, which never varies; nor do the +steps or figures vary, having been handed down from time +immemorial. All Barsoomian dances are stately and beautiful, but +The Dance of Barsoom is a wondrous epic of motion and +harmony--there is no grotesque posturing, no vulgar or suggestive +movements. It has been described as the interpretation of the +highest ideals of a world that aspired to grace and beauty and +chastity in woman, and strength and dignity and loyalty in man. +<br> +<p>Today, John Carter, Warlord of Mars, with Dejah Thoris, his +mate, led in the dancing, and if there was another couple that +vied with them in possession of the silent admiration of the +guests it was the resplendent Jed of Gathol and his beautiful +partner. In the ever-changing figures of the dance the man found +himself now with the girl's hand in his and again with an arm +about the lithe body that the jeweled harness but inadequately +covered, and the girl, though she had danced a thousand dances in +the past, realized for the first time the personal contact of a +man's arm against her naked flesh. It troubled her that she +should notice it, and she looked up questioningly and almost with +displeasure at the man as though it was his fault. Their eyes met +and she saw in his that which she had never seen in the eyes of +Djor Kantos. It was at the very end of the dance and they both +stopped suddenly with the music and stood there looking straight +into each other's eyes. It was Gahan of Gathol who spoke +first.<br> +</p> + +"Tara of Helium, I love you!" he said. <br> +<p>The girl drew herself to her full height. "The Jed of Gathol +forgets himself," she exclaimed haughtily.<br> +</p> + +"The Jed of Gathol would forget everything but you, Tara of +Helium," he replied. Fiercely he pressed the soft hand that he +still retained from the last position of the dance. "I love you, +Tara of Helium," he repeated. "Why should your ears refuse to +hear what your eyes but just now did not refuse to see--and +answer?" <br> +<p>"What meanest thou?" she cried. "Are the men of Gathol such +boors, then?"<br> +</p> + +"They are neither boors nor fools," he replied, quietly. "They +know when they love a woman--and when she loves them." <br> +<p>Tara of Helium stamped her little foot in anger. "Go!" she +said, "before it is necessary to acquaint my father with the +dishonor of his guest."<br> +</p> + +She turned and walked away. "Wait!" cried the man. "Just another +word." <br> +<p>"Of apology?" she asked.<br> +</p> + +"Of prophecy," he said. <br> +<p>"I do not care to hear it," replied Tara of Helium, and left +him standing there. She was strangely unstrung and shortly +thereafter returned to her own quarter of the palace, where she +stood for a long time by a window looking out beyond the scarlet +tower of Greater Helium toward the northwest.<br> +</p> + +Presently she turned angrily away. "I hate him!" she exclaimed +aloud. <br> +<p>"Whom?" inquired the privileged Uthia.<br> +</p> + +Tara of Helium stamped her foot. "That ill-mannered boor, the Jed +of Gathol," she replied. <br> +<p>Uthia raised her slim brows.<br> +</p> + +At the stamping of the little foot, a great beast rose from the +corner of the room and crossed to Tara of Helium where it stood +looking up into her face. She placed her hand upon the ugly head. +"Dear old Woola," she said; "no love could be deeper than yours, +yet it never offends. Would that men might pattern themselves +after you!" <br> +<p><br> +</p> + +<h1 id="ref_3">CHAPTER II</h1> + +AT THE GALE'S MERCY <br> +<p>TARA of Helium did not return to her father's guests, but +awaited in her own apartments the word from Djor Kantos which she +knew must come, begging her to return to the gardens. She would +then refuse, haughtily. But no appeal came from Djor Kantos. At +first Tara of Helium was angry, then she was hurt, and always she +was puzzled. She could not understand. Occasionally she thought +of the Jed of Gathol and then she would stamp her foot, for she +was very angry indeed with Gahan. The presumption of the man! He +had insinuated that he read love for him in her eyes. Never had +she been so insulted and humiliated. Never had she so thoroughly +hated a man. Suddenly she turned toward Uthia.<br> +</p> + +"My flying leather!" she commanded. <br> +<p>"But the guests!" exclaimed the slave girl. "Your father, The +Warlord, will expect you to return."<br> +</p> + +"He will be disappointed," snapped Tara of Helium. <br> +<p>The slave hesitated. "He does not approve of your flying +alone," she reminded her mistress.<br> +</p> + +The young princess sprang to her feet and seized the unhappy +slave by the shoulders, shaking her. "You are becoming +unbearable, Uthia," she cried. "Soon there will be no alternative +than to send you to the public slave-market. Then possibly you +will find a master to your liking." <br> +<p>Tears came to the soft eyes of the slave girl. "It is because +I love you, my princess," she said softly. Tara of Helium melted. +She took the slave in her arms and kissed her.<br> +</p> + +"I have the disposition of a thoat, Uthia," she said. "Forgive +me! I love you and there is nothing that I would not do for you +and nothing would I do to harm you. Again, as I have so often in +the past, I offer you your freedom." <br> +<p>"I do not wish my freedom if it will separate me from you, +Tara of Helium," replied Uthia. "I am happy here with you--I +think that I should die without you."<br> +</p> + +Again the girls kissed. "And you will not fly alone, then?" +questioned the slave. <br> +<p>Tara of Helium laughed and pinched her companion. "You +persistent little pest," she cried. "Of course I shall fly--does +not Tara of Helium always do that which pleases her?"<br> +</p> + +Uthia shook her head sorrowfully. "Alas! she does," she admitted. +"Iron is the Warlord of Barsoom to the influences of all but two. +In the hands of Dejah Thoris and Tara of Helium he is as potters' +clay." <br> +<p>"Then run and fetch my flying leather like the sweet slave you +are," directed the mistress.<br> +</p> + +Far out across the ochre sea-bottoms beyond the twin cities of +Helium raced the swift flier of Tara of Helium. Thrilling to the +speed and the buoyancy and the obedience of the little craft the +girl drove toward the northwest. Why she should choose that +direction she did not pause to consider. Perhaps because in that +direction lay the least known areas of Barsoom, and, ergo, +Romance, Mystery, and Adventure. In that direction also lay far +Gathol; but to that fact she gave no conscious thought. <br> +<p>She did, however, think occasionally of the jed of that +distant kingdom, but the reaction to these thoughts was scarcely +pleasurable. They still brought a flush of shame to her cheeks +and a surge of angry blood to her heart. She was very angry with +the Jed of Gathol, and though she should never see him again she +was quite sure that hate of him would remain fresh in her memory +forever. Mostly her thoughts revolved about another--Djor Kantos. +And when she thought of him she thought also of Olvia Marthis of +Hastor. Tara of Helium thought that she was jealous of the fair +Olvia and it made her very angry to think that. She was angry +with Djor Kantos and herself, but she was not angry at all with +Olvia Marthis, whom she loved, and so of course she was not +jealous really. The trouble was, that Tara of Helium had failed +for once to have her own way. Djor Kantos had not come running +like a willing slave when she had expected him, and, ah, here was +the nub of the whole thing! Gahan, Jed of Gathol, a stranger, had +been a witness to her humiliation. He had seen her unclaimed at +the beginning of a great function and he had had to come to her +rescue to save her, as he doubtless thought, from the inglorious +fate of a wall-flower. At the recurring thought, Tara of Helium +could feel her whole body burning with scarlet shame and then she +went suddenly white and cold with rage; whereupon she turned her +flier about so abruptly that she was all but torn from her +lashings upon the flat, narrow deck. She reached home just before +dark. The guests had departed. Quiet had descended upon the +palace. An hour later she joined her father and mother at the +evening meal.<br> +</p> + +"You deserted us, Tara of Helium," said John Carter. "It is not +what the guests of John Carter should expect." <br> +<p>"They did not come to see me," replied Tara of Helium. "I did +not ask them."<br> +</p> + +"They were no less your guests," replied her father. <br> +<p>The girl rose, and came and stood beside him and put her arms +about his neck.<br> +</p> + +"My proper old Virginian," she cried, rumpling his shock of black +hair. <br> +<p>"In Virginia you would be turned over your father's knee and +spanked," said the man, smiling.<br> +</p> + +She crept into his lap and kissed him. "You do not love me any +more," she announced. "No one loves me," but she could not +compose her features into a pout because bubbling laughter +insisted upon breaking through. <br> +<p>"The trouble is there are too many who love you," he said. +"And now there is another."<br> +</p> + +"Indeed!" she cried. "What do you mean?" <br> +<p>"Gahan of Gathol has asked permission to woo you."<br> +</p> + +The girl sat up very straight and tilted her chin in the air. "I +would not wed with a walking diamond-mine," she said. "I will not +have him." <br> +<p>"I told him as much," replied her father, "and that you were +as good as betrothed to another. He was very courteous about it; +but at the same time he gave me to understand that he was +accustomed to getting what he wanted and that he wanted you very +much. I suppose it will mean another war. Your mother's beauty +kept Helium at war for many years, and--well, Tara of Helium, if +I were a young man I should doubtless be willing to set all +Barsoom afire to win you, as I still would to keep your divine +mother," and he smiled across the sorapus table and its golden +service at the undimmed beauty of Mars' most beautiful woman.<br> +</p> + +"Our little girl should not yet be troubled with such matters," +said Dejah Thoris. "Remember, John Carter, that you are not +dealing with an Earth child, whose span of life would be more +than half completed before a daughter of Barsoom reached actual +maturity." <br> +<p>"But do not the daughters of Barsoom sometimes marry as early +as twenty?" he insisted.<br> +</p> + +"Yes, but they will still be desirable in the eyes of men after +forty generations of Earth folk have returned to dust--there is +no hurry, at least, upon Barsoom. We do not fade and decay here +as you tell me those of your planet do, though you, yourself, +belie your own words. When the time seems proper Tara of Helium +shall wed with Djor Kantos, and until then let us give the matter +no further thought." <br> +<p>"No," said the girl, "the subject irks me, and I shall not +marry Djor Kantos, or another--I do not intend to wed."<br> +</p> + +Her father and mother looked at her and smiled. "When Gahan of +Gathol returns he may carry you off," said the former. <br> +<p>"He has gone?" asked the girl.<br> +</p> + +"His flier departs for Gathol in the morning," John Carter +replied. <br> +<p>"I have seen the last of him then," remarked Tara of Helium +with a sigh of relief.<br> +</p> + +"He says not," returned John Carter. <br> +<p>The girl dismissed the subject with a shrug and the +conversation passed to other topics. A letter had arrived from +Thuvia of Ptarth, who was visiting at her father's court while +Carthoris, her mate, hunted in Okar. Word had been received that +the Tharks and Warhoons were again at war, or rather that there +had been an engagement, for war was their habitual state. In the +memory of man there had been no peace between these two savage +green hordes--only a single temporary truce. Two new battleships +had been launched at Hastor. A little band of holy therns was +attempting to revive the ancient and discredited religion of +Issus, who they claimed still lived in spirit and had +communicated with them. There were rumors of war from Dusar. A +scientist claimed to have discovered human life on the further +moon. A madman had attempted to destroy the atmosphere plant. +Seven people had been assassinated in Greater Helium during the +last ten zodes, (the equivalent of an Earth day).<br> +</p> + +Following the meal Dejah Thoris and The Warlord played at jetan, +the Barsoomian game of chess, which is played upon a board of a +hundred alternate black and orange squares. One player has twenty +black pieces, the other, twenty orange pieces. A brief +description of the game may interest those Earth readers who care +for chess, and will not be lost upon those who pursue this +narrative to its conclusion, since before they are done they will +find that a knowledge of jetan will add to the interest and the +thrills that are in store for them. <br> +<p>The men are placed upon the board as in chess upon the first +two rows next the players. In order from left to right on the +line of squares nearest the players, the jetan pieces are +Warrior, Padwar, Dwar, Flier, Chief, Princess, Flier, Dwar, +Padwar, Warrior. In the next line all are Panthans except the end +pieces, which are called Thoats, and represent mounted +warriors.<br> +</p> + +The Panthans, which are represented as warriors with one feather, +may move one space in any direction except backward; the Thoats, +mounted warriors with three feathers, may move one straight and +one diagonal, and may jump intervening pieces; Warriors, foot +soldiers with two feathers, straight in any direction, or +diagonally, two spaces; Padwars, lieutenants wearing two +feathers, two diagonal in any direction, or combination; Dwars, +captains wearing three feathers, three spaces straight in any +direction, or combination; Fliers, represented by a propellor +with three blades, three spaces in any direction, or combination, +diagonally, and may jump intervening pieces; the Chief, indicated +by a diadem with ten jewels, three spaces in any direction, +straight, or diagonal; Princess, diadem with a single jewel, same +as Chief, and can jump intervening pieces. <br> +<p>The game is won when a player places any of his pieces on the +same square with his opponent's Princess, or when a Chief takes a +Chief. It is drawn when a Chief is taken by any opposing piece +other than the opposing Chief; or when both sides have been +reduced to three pieces, or less, of equal value, and the game is +not terminated in the following ten moves, five apiece. This is +but a general outline of the game, briefly stated.<br> +</p> + +It was this game that Dejah Thoris and John Carter were playing +when Tara of Helium bid them good night, retiring to her own +quarters and her sleeping silks and furs. "Until morning, my +beloved," she called back to them as she passed from the +apartment, nor little did she guess, nor her parents, that this +might indeed be the last time that they would ever set eyes upon +her. <br> +<p>The morning broke dull and gray. Ominous clouds billowed +restlessly and low. Beneath them torn fragments scudded toward +the northwest. From her window Tara of Helium looked out upon +this unusual scene. Dense clouds seldom overcast the Barsoomian +sky. At this hour of the day it was her custom to ride one of +those small thoats that are the saddle animals of the red +Martians, but the sight of the billowing clouds lured her to a +new adventure. Uthia still slept and the girl did not disturb +her. Instead, she dressed quietly and went to the hangar upon the +roof of the palace directly above her quarters where her own +swift flier was housed. She had never driven through the clouds. +It was an adventure that always she had longed to experience. The +wind was strong and it was with difficulty that she maneuvered +the craft from the hangar without accident, but once away it +raced swiftly out above the twin cities. The buffeting winds +caught and tossed it, and the girl laughed aloud in sheer joy of +the resultant thrills. She handled the little ship like a +veteran, though few veterans would have faced the menace of such +a storm in so light a craft. Swiftly she rose toward the clouds, +racing with the scudding streamers of the storm-swept fragments, +and a moment later she was swallowed by the dense masses +billowing above. Here was a new world, a world of chaos unpeopled +except for herself; but it was a cold, damp, lonely world and she +found it depressing after the novelty of it had been dissipated, +by an overpowering sense of the magnitude of the forces surging +about her. Suddenly she felt very lonely and very cold and very +little. Hurriedly, therefore, she rose until presently her craft +broke through into the glorious sunlight that transformed the +upper surface of the somber element into rolling masses of +burnished silver. Here it was still cold, but without the +dampness of the clouds, and in the eye of the brilliant sun her +spirits rose with the mounting needle of her altimeter. Gazing at +the clouds, now far beneath, the girl experienced the sensation +of hanging stationary in mid-heaven; but the whirring of her +propellor, the wind beating upon her, the high figures that rose +and fell beneath the glass of her speedometer, these told her +that her speed was terrific. It was then that she determined to +turn back.<br> +</p> + +The first attempt she made above the clouds, but it was +unsuccessful. To her surprise she discovered that she could not +even turn against the high wind, which rocked and buffeted the +frail craft. Then she dropped swiftly to the dark and wind-swept +zone between the hurtling clouds and the gloomy surface of the +shadowed ground. Here she tried again to force the nose of the +flier back toward Helium, but the tempest seized the frail thing +and hurled it remorselessly about, rolling it over and over and +tossing it as it were a cork in a cataract. At last the girl +succeeded in righting the flier, perilously close to the ground. +Never before had she been so close to death, yet she was not +terrified. Her coolness had saved her, that and the strength of +the deck lashings that held her. Traveling with the storm she was +safe, but where was it bearing her? She pictured the apprehension +of her father and mother when she failed to appear at the morning +meal. They would find her flier missing and they would guess that +somewhere in the path of the storm it lay a wrecked and tangled +mass upon her dead body, and then brave men would go out in +search of her, risking their lives; and that lives would be lost +in the search, she knew, for she realized now that never in her +life-time had such a tempest raged upon Barsoom. <br> +<p>She must turn back! She must reach Helium before her mad lust +for thrills had cost the sacrifice of a single courageous life! +She determined that greater safety and likelihood of success lay +above the clouds, and once again she rose through the chilling, +wind-tossed vapor. Her speed again was terrific, for the wind +seemed to have increased rather than to have lessened. She sought +gradually to check the swift flight of her craft, but though she +finally succeeded in reversing her motor the wind but carried her +on as it would. Then it was that Tara of Helium lost her temper. +Had her world not always bowed in acquiescence to her every wish? +What were these elements that they dared to thwart her? She would +demonstrate to them that the daughter of The Warlord was not to +be denied! They would learn that Tara of Helium might not be +ruled even by the forces of nature!<br> +</p> + +And so she drove her motor forward again and then with her firm, +white teeth set in grim determination she drove the steering +lever far down to port with the intention of forcing the nose of +her craft straight into the teeth of the wind, and the wind +seized the frail thing and toppled it over upon its back, and +twisted and turned it and hurled it over and over; the propellor +raced for an instant in an air pocket and then the tempest seized +it again and twisted it from its shaft, leaving the girl helpless +upon an unmanageable atom that rose and fell, and rolled and +tumbled--the sport of the elements she had defied. Tara of +Helium's first sensation was one of surprise--that she had failed +to have her own way. Then she commenced to feel concern--not for +her own safety but for the anxiety of her parents and the dangers +that the inevitable searchers must face. She reproached herself +for the thoughtless selfishness that had jeopardized the peace +and safety of others. She realized her own grave danger, too; but +she was still unterrified, as befitted the daughter of Dejah +Thoris and John Carter. She knew that her buoyancy tanks might +keep her afloat indefinitely, but she had neither food nor water, +and she was being borne toward the least-known area of Barsoom. +Perhaps it would be better to land immediately and await the +coming of the searchers, rather than to allow herself to be +carried still further from Helium, thus greatly reducing the +chances of early discovery; but when she dropped toward the +ground she discovered that the violence of the wind rendered an +attempt to land tantamount to destruction and she rose again, +rapidly. <br> +<p>Carried along a few hundred feet above the ground she was +better able to appreciate the Titanic proportions of the storm +than when she had flown in the comparative serenity of the zone +above the clouds, for now she could distinctly see the effect of +the wind upon the surface of Barsoom. The air was filled with +dust and flying bits of vegetation and when the storm carried her +across an irrigated area of farm land she saw great trees and +stone walls and buildings lifted high in air and scattered +broadcast over the devastated country; and then she was carried +swiftly on to other sights that forced in upon her consciousness +a rapidly growing conviction that after all Tara of Helium was a +very small and insignificant and helpless person. It was quite a +shock to her self-pride while it lasted, and toward evening she +was ready to believe that it was going to last forever. There had +been no abatement in the ferocity of the tempest, nor was there +indication of any. She could only guess at the distance she had +been carried for she could not believe in the correctness of the +high figures that had been piled upon the record of her odometer. +They seemed unbelievable and yet, had she known it, they were +quite true--in twelve hours she had flown and been carried by the +storm full seven thousand haads. Just before dark she was carried +over one of the deserted cities of ancient Mars. It was Torquas, +but she did not know it. Had she, she might readily have been +forgiven for abandoning the last vestige of hope, for to the +people of Helium Torquas seems as remote as do the South Sea +Islands to us. And still the tempest, its fury unabated, bore her +on.<br> +</p> + +All that night she hurtled through the dark beneath the clouds, +or rose to race through the moonlit void beneath the glory of +Barsoom's two satellites. She was cold and hungry and altogether +miserable, but her brave little spirit refused to admit that her +plight was hopeless even though reason proclaimed the truth. Her +reply to reason, sometime spoken aloud in sudden defiance, +recalled the Spartan stubbornness of her sire in the face of +certain annihilation: "I still live!" <br> +<p>That morning there had been an early visitor at the palace of +The Warlord. It was Gahan, Jed of Gathol. He had arrived shortly +after the absence of Tara of Helium had been noted, and in the +excitement he had remained unannounced until John Carter had +happened upon him in the great reception corridor of the palace +as The Warlord was hurrying out to arrange for the dispatch of +ships in search of his daughter.<br> +</p> + +Gahan read the concern upon the face of The Warlord. "Forgive me +if I intrude, John Carter," he said. "I but came to ask the +indulgence of another day since it would be fool-hardy to attempt +to navigate a ship in such a storm." <br> +<p>"Remain, Gahan, a welcome guest until you choose to leave us," +replied The Warlord; "but you must forgive any seeming +inattention upon the part of Helium until my daughter is restored +to us."<br> +</p> + +"You daughter! Restored! What do you mean?" exclaimed the +Gatholian. "I do not understand." <br> +<p>"She is gone, together with her light flier. That is all we +know. We can only assume that she decided to fly before the +morning meal and was caught in the clutches of the tempest. You +will pardon me, Gahan, if I leave you abruptly--I am arranging to +send ships in search of her;" but Gahan, Jed of Gathol, was +already speeding in the direction of the palace gate. There he +leaped upon a waiting thoat and followed by two warriors in the +metal of Gathol, he dashed through the avenues of Helium toward +the palace that had been set aside for his entertainment.<br> +</p> + +<br> +<h1 id="ref_4">CHAPTER III</h1> + +THE HEADLESS HUMANS <br> +ABOVE the roof of the palace that housed the Jed of Gathol and +his entourage, the cruiser Vanator tore at her stout moorings. +The groaning tackle bespoke the mad fury of the gale, while the +worried faces of those members of the crew whose duties demanded +their presence on the straining craft gave corroborative evidence +of the gravity of the situation. Only stout lashings prevented +these men from being swept from the deck, while those upon the +roof below were constantly compelled to cling to rails and +stanchions to save themselves from being carried away by each new +burst of meteoric fury. Upon the prow of the Vanator was painted +the device of Gathol, but no pennants were displayed in the upper +works since the storm had carried away several in rapid +succession, just as it seemed to the watching men that it must +carry away the ship itself. They could not believe that any +tackle could withstand for long this Titanic force. To each of +the twelve lashings clung a brawny warrior with drawn +short-sword. Had but a single mooring given to the power of the +tempest eleven short-swords would have cut the others; since, +partially moored, the ship was doomed, while free in the tempest +it stood at least some slight chance for life. <br> +<p>"By the blood of Issus, I believe they will hold!" screamed +one warrior to another.<br> +</p> + +"And if they do not hold may the spirits of our ancestors reward +the brave warriors upon the Vanator," replied another of those +upon the roof of the palace, "for it will not be long from the +moment her cables part before her crew dons the leather of the +dead; but yet, Tanus, I believe they will hold. Give thanks at +least that we did not sail before the tempest fell, since now +each of us has a chance to live." <br> +<p>"Yes," replied Tanus, "I should hate to be abroad today upon +the stoutest ship that sails the Barsoomian sky."<br> +</p> + +It was then that Gahan the Jed appeared upon the roof. With him +were the balance of his own party and a dozen warriors of Helium. +The young chief turned to his followers. <br> +<p>"I sail at once upon the Vanator," he said, "in search of Tara +of Helium who is thought to have been carried away upon a one-man +flier by the storm. I do not need to explain to you the slender +chances the Vanator has to withstand the fury of the tempest, nor +will I order you to your deaths. Let those who wish remain behind +without dishonor. The others will follow me," and he leaped for +the rope ladder that lashed wildly in the gale.<br> +</p> + +The first man to follow him was Tanus and when the last reached +the deck of the cruiser there remained upon the palace roof only +the twelve warriors of Helium, who, with naked swords, had taken +the posts of the Gatholians at the moorings. <br> +<p>Not a single warrior who had remained aboard the Vanator would +leave her now.<br> +</p> + +"I expected no less," said Gahan, as with the help of those +already on the deck he and the others found secure lashings. The +commander of the Vanator shook his head. He loved his trim craft, +the pride of her class in the little navy of Gathol. It was of +her he thought--not of himself. He saw her lying torn and twisted +upon the ochre vegetation of some distant sea-bottom, to be +presently overrun and looted by some savage, green horde. He +looked at Gahan. <br> +<p>"Are you ready, San Tothis?" asked the jed.<br> +</p> + +"All is ready." <br> +<p>"Then cut away!"<br> +</p> + +Word was passed across the deck and over the side to the +Heliumetic warriors below that at the third gun they were to cut +away. Twelve keen swords must strike simultaneously and with +equal power, and each must sever completely and instantly three +strands of heavy cable that no loose end fouling a block bring +immediate disaster upon the Vanator. <br> +<p>Boom! The voice of the signal gun rolled down through the +screaming wind to the twelve warriors upon the roof. Boom! Twelve +swords were raised above twelve brawny shoulders. Boom! Twelve +keen edges severed twelve complaining moorings, clean and as +one.<br> +</p> + +The Vanator, her propellors whirling, shot forward with the +storm. The tempest struck her in the stern as with a mailed fist +and stood the great ship upon her nose, and then it caught her +and spun her as a child's top spins; and upon the palace roof the +twelve men looked on in silent helplessness and prayed for the +souls of the brave warriors who were going to their death. And +others saw, from Helium's lofty landing stages and from a +thousand hangars upon a thousand roofs; but only for an instant +did the preparations stop that would send other brave men into +the frightful maelstrom of that apparently hopeless search, for +such is the courage of the warriors of Barsoom. <br> +<p>But the Vanator did not fall to the ground, within sight of +the city at least, though as long as the watchers could see her +never for an instant did she rest upon an even keel. Sometimes +she lay upon one side or the other, or again she hurtled along +keel up, or rolled over and over, or stood upon her nose or her +tail at the caprice of the great force that carried her along. +And the watchers saw that this great ship was merely being blown +away with the other bits of debris great and small that filled +the sky. Never in the memory of man or the annals of recorded +history had such a storm raged across the face of Barsoom.<br> +</p> + +And in another instant was the Vanator forgotten as the lofty, +scarlet tower that had marked Lesser Helium for ages crashed to +ground, carrying death and demolition upon the city beneath. +Panic reigned. A fire broke out in the ruins. The city's every +force seemed crippled, and it was then that The Warlord ordered +the men that were about to set forth in search of Tara of Helium +to devote their energies to the salvation of the city, for he too +had witnessed the start of the Vanator and realized the futility +of wasting men who were needed sorely if Lesser Helium was to be +saved from utter destruction. <br> +<p>Shortly after noon of the second day the storm commenced to +abate, and before the sun went down, the little craft upon which +Tara of Helium had hovered between life and death these many +hours drifted slowly before a gentle breeze above a landscape of +rolling hills that once had been lofty mountains upon a Martian +continent. The girl was exhausted from loss of sleep, from lack +of food and drink, and from the nervous reaction consequent to +the terrifying experiences through which she had passed. In the +near distance, just topping an intervening hill, she caught a +momentary glimpse of what appeared to be a dome-capped tower. +Quickly she dropped the flier until the hill shut it off from the +view of the possible occupants of the structure she had seen. The +tower meant to her the habitation of man, suggesting the presence +of water and, perhaps, of food. If the tower was the deserted +relic of a bygone age she would scarcely find food there, but +there was still a chance that there might be water. If it was +inhabited, then must her approach be cautious, for only enemies +might be expected to abide in so far distant a land. Tara of +Helium knew that she must be far from the twin cities of her +grandfather's empire, but had she guessed within even a thousand +haads of the reality, she had been stunned by realization of the +utter hopelessness of her state.<br> +</p> + +Keeping the craft low, for the buoyancy tanks were still intact, +the girl skimmed the ground until the gently-moving wind had +carried her to the side of the last hill that intervened between +her and the structure she had thought a man-built tower. Here she +brought the flier to the ground among some stunted trees, and +dragging it beneath one where it might be somewhat hidden from +craft passing above, she made it fast and set forth to +reconnoiter. Like most women of her class she was armed only with +a single slender blade, so that in such an emergency as now +confronted her she must depend almost solely upon her cleverness +in remaining undiscovered by enemies. With utmost caution she +crept warily toward the crest of the hill, taking advantage of +every natural screen that the landscape afforded to conceal her +approach from possible observers ahead, while momentarily she +cast quick glances rearward lest she be taken by surprise from +that quarter. <br> +<p>She came at last to the summit, where, from the concealment of +a low bush, she could see what lay beyond. Beneath her spread a +beautiful valley surrounded by low hills. Dotting it were +numerous circular towers, dome-capped, and surrounding each tower +was a stone wall enclosing several acres of ground. The valley +appeared to be in a high state of cultivation. Upon the opposite +side of the hill and just beneath her was a tower and enclosure. +It was the roof of the former that had first attracted her +attention. In all respects it seemed identical in construction +with those further out in the valley--a high, plastered wall of +massive construction surrounding a similarly constructed tower, +upon whose gray surface was painted in vivid colors a strange +device. The towers were about forty sofads in diameter, +approximately forty earth-feet, and sixty in height to the base +of the dome. To an Earth man they would have immediately +suggested the silos in which dairy farmers store ensilage for +their herds; but closer scrutiny, revealing an occasional +embrasured opening together with the strange construction of the +domes, would have altered such a conclusion. Tara of Helium saw +that the domes seemed to be faced with innumerable prisms of +glass, those that were exposed to the declining sun scintillating +so gorgeously as to remind her suddenly of the magnificent +trappings of Gahan of Gathol. As she thought of the man she shook +her head angrily, and moved cautiously forward a foot or two that +she might get a less obstructed view of the nearer tower and its +enclosure.<br> +</p> + +As Tara of Helium looked down into the enclosure surrounding the +nearest tower, her brows contracted momentarily in frowning +surprise, and then her eyes went wide in an expression of +incredulity tinged with horror, for what she saw was a score or +two of human bodies--naked and headless. For a long moment she +watched, breathless; unable to believe the evidence of her own +eyes--that these grewsome things moved and had life! She saw them +crawling about on hands and knees over and across one another, +searching about with their fingers. And she saw some of them at +troughs, for which the others seemed to be searching, and those +at the troughs were taking something from these receptacles and +apparently putting it in a hole where their necks should have +been. They were not far beneath her--she could see them +distinctly and she saw that there were the bodies of both men and +women, and that they were beautifully proportioned, and that +their skin was similar to hers, but of a slightly lighter red. At +first she had thought that she was looking upon a shambles and +that the bodies, but recently decapitated, were moving under the +impulse of muscular reaction; but presently she realized that +this was their normal condition. The horror of them fascinated +her, so that she could scarce take her eyes from them. It was +evident from their groping hands that they were eyeless, and +their sluggish movements suggested a rudimentary nervous system +and a correspondingly minute brain. The girl wondered how they +subsisted for she could not, even by the wildest stretch of +imagination, picture these imperfect creatures as intelligent +tillers of the soil. Yet that the soil of the valley was tilled +was evident and that these things had food was equally so. But +who tilled the soil? Who kept and fed these unhappy things, and +for what purpose? It was an enigma beyond her powers of +deduction. <br> +<p>The sight of food aroused again a consciousness of her own +gnawing hunger and the thirst that parched her throat. She could +see both food and water within the enclosure; but would she dare +enter even should she find means of ingress? She doubted it, +since the very thought of possible contact with these grewsome +creatures sent a shudder through her frame.<br> +</p> + +Then her eyes wandered again out across the valley until +presently they picked out what appeared to be a tiny stream +winding its way through the center of the farm lands--a strange +sight upon Barsoom. Ah, if it were but water! Then might she hope +with a real hope, for the fields would give her sustenance which +she could gain by night, while by day she hid among the +surrounding hills, and sometime, yes, sometime she knew, the +searchers would come, for John Carter, Warlord of Barsoom, would +never cease to search for his daughter until every square haad of +the planet had been combed again and again. She knew him and she +knew the warriors of Helium and so she knew that could she but +manage to escape harm until they came, they would indeed come at +last. <br> +<p>She would have to wait until dark before she dare venture into +the valley, and in the meantime she thought it well to search out +a place of safety nearby where she might be reasonably safe from +savage beasts. It was possible that the district was free from +carnivora, but one might never be sure in a strange land. As she +was about to withdraw be hind the brow of the hill her attention +was again attracted to the enclosure below. Two figures had +emerged from the tower. Their beautiful bodies seemed identical +with those of the headless creatures among which they moved, but +the newcomers were not headless. Upon their shoulders were heads +that seemed human, yet which the girl intuitively sensed were not +human. They were just a trifle too far away for her to see them +distinctly in the waning light of the dying day, but she knew +that they were too large, they were out of proportion to the +perfectly proportioned bodies, and they were oblate in form. She +could see that the men wore some manner of harness to which were +slung the customary long-sword and short-sword of the Barsoomian +warrior, and that about their short necks were massive leather +collars cut to fit closely over the shoulders and snugly to the +lower part of the head. Their features were scarce discernible, +but there was a suggestion of grotesqueness about them that +carried to her a feeling of revulsion.<br> +</p> + +The two carried a long rope to which were fastened, at intervals +of about two sofads, what she later guessed were light manacles, +for she saw the warriors passing among the poor creatures in the +enclosure and about the right wrist of each they fastened one of +the manacles. When all had been thus fastened to the rope one of +the warriors commenced to pull and tug at the loose end as though +attempting to drag the headless company toward the tower, while +the other went among them with a long, light whip with which he +flicked them upon the naked skin. Slowly, dully, the creatures +rose to their feet and between the tugging of the warrior in +front and the lashing of him behind the hopeless band was finally +herded within the tower. Tara of Helium shuddered as she turned +away. What manner of creatures were these? <br> +<p>Suddenly it was night. The Barsoomian day had ended, and then +the brief period of twilight that renders the transition from +daylight to darkness almost as abrupt as the switching off of an +electric light, and Tara of Helium had found no sanctuary. But +perhaps there were no beasts to fear, or rather to avoid--Tara of +Helium liked not the word fear. She would have been glad, +however, had there been a cabin, even a very tiny cabin, upon her +small flier; but there was no cabin. The interior of the hull was +completely taken up by the buoyancy tanks. Ah, she had it! How +stupid of her not to have thought of it before! She could moor +the craft to the tree beneath which it rested and let it rise the +length of the rope. Lashed to the deck rings she would then be +safe from any roaming beast of prey that chanced along. In the +morning she could drop to the ground again before the craft was +discovered.<br> +</p> + +As Tara of Helium crept over the brow of the hill down toward the +valley, her presence was hidden by the darkness of the night from +the sight of any chance observer who might be loitering by a +window in the nearby tower. Cluros, the farther moon, was just +rising above the horizon to commence his leisurely journey +through the heavens. Eight zodes later he would set--a trifle +over nineteen and a half Earth hours--and during that time +Thuria, his vivacious mate, would have circled the planet twice +and be more than half way around on her third trip. She had but +just set. It would be more than three and a half hours before she +shot above the opposite horizon to hurtle, swift and low, across +the face of the dying planet. During this temporary absence of +the mad moon Tara of Helium hoped to find both food and water, +and gain again the safety of her flier's deck. <br> +<p>She groped her way through the darkness, giving the tower and +its enclosure as wide a berth as possible. Sometimes she +stumbled, for in the long shadows cast by the rising Cluros +objects were grotesquely distorted though the light from the moon +was still not sufficient to be of much assistance to her. Nor, as +a matter of fact, did she want light. She could find the stream +in the dark, by the simple expedient of going down hill until she +walked into it and she had seen that bearing trees and many crops +grew throughout the valley, so that she would pass food in plenty +ere she reached the stream. If the moon showed her the way more +clearly and thus saved her from an occasional fall, he would, +too, show her more clearly to the strange denizens of the towers, +and that, of course, must not be. Could she have waited until the +following night conditions would have been better, since Cluros +would not appear in the heavens at all and so, during Thuria's +absence, utter darkness would reign; but the pangs of thirst and +the gnawing of hunger could be endured no longer with food and +drink both in sight, and so she had decided to risk discovery +rather than suffer longer.<br> +</p> + +Safely past the nearest tower, she moved as rapidly as she felt +consistent with safety, choosing her way wherever possible so +that she might take advantage of the shadows of the trees that +grew at intervals and at the same time discover those which bore +fruit. In this latter she met with almost immediate success, for +the very third tree beneath which she halted was heavy with ripe +fruit. Never, thought Tara of Helium, had aught so delicious +impinged upon her palate, and yet it was naught else than the +almost tasteless usa, which is considered to be palatable only +after having been cooked and highly spiced. It grows easily with +little irrigation and the trees bear abundantly. The fruit, which +ranks high in food value, is one of the staple foods of the less +well-to-do, and because of its cheapness and nutritive value +forms one of the principal rations of both armies and navies upon +Barsoom, a use which has won for it a Martian sobriquet which, +freely translated into English, would be, The Fighting Potato. +The girl was wise enough to eat but sparingly, but she filled her +pocket-pouch with the fruit before she continued upon her way. +<br> +<p>Two towers she passed before she came at last to the stream, +and here again was she temperate, drinking but little and that +very slowly, contenting herself with rinsing her mouth frequently +and bathing her face, her hands, and her feet; and even though +the night was cold, as Martian nights are, the sensation of +refreshment more than compensated for the physical discomfort of +the low temperature. Replacing her sandals she sought among the +growing track near the stream for whatever edible berries or +tubers might be planted there, and found a couple of varieties +that could be eaten raw. With these she replaced some of the usa +in her pocket-pouch, not only to insure a variety but because she +found them more palatable. Occasionally she returned to the +stream to drink, but each time moderately. Always were her eyes +and ears alert for the first signs of danger, but she had neither +seen nor heard aught to disturb her. And presently the time +approached when she felt she must return to her flier lest she be +caught in the revealing light of low swinging Thuria. She dreaded +leaving the water for she knew that she must become very thirsty +before she could hope to come again to the stream. If she only +had some little receptacle in which to carry water, even a small +amount would tide her over until the following night; but she had +nothing and so she must content herself as best she could with +the juices of the fruit and tubers she had gathered.<br> +</p> + +After a last drink at the stream, the longest and deepest she had +allowed herself, she rose to retrace her steps toward the hills; +but even as she did so she became suddenly tense with +apprehension. What was that? She could have sworn that she saw +something move in the shadows beneath a tree not far away. For a +long minute the girl did not move--she scarce breathed. Her eyes +remained fixed upon the dense shadows below the tree, her ears +strained through the silence of the night. A low moaning came +down from the hills where her flier was hidden. She knew it +well--the weird note of the hunting banth. And the great +carnivore lay directly in her path. But he was not so close as +this other thing, hiding there in the shadows just a little way +off. What was it? It was the strain of uncertainty that weighed +heaviest upon her. Had she known the nature of the creature +lurking there half its meanace would have vanished. She cast +quickly about her in search of some haven of refuge should the +thing prove dangerous. <br> +<p>Again arose the moaning from the hills, but this time closer. +Almost immediately it was answered from the opposite side of the +valley, behind her, and then from the distance to the right of +her, and twice upon her left. Her eyes had found a tree, quite +near. Slowly, and without taking her eyes from the shadows of +that other tree, she moved toward the overhanging branches that +might afford her sanctuary in the event of need, and at her first +move a low growl rose from the spot she had been watching and she +heard the sudden moving of a big body. Simultaneously the +creature shot into the moonlight in full charge upon her, its +tail erect, its tiny ears laid flat, its great mouth with its +multiple rows of sharp and powerful fangs already yawning for its +prey, its ten legs carrying it forward in great leaps, and now +from the beast's throat issued the frightful roar with which it +seeks to paralyze its prey. It was a banth--the great, maned lion +of Barsoom. Tara of Helium saw it coming and leaped for the tree +toward which she had been moving, and the banth realized her +intention and redoubled his speed. As his hideous roar awakened +the echoes in the hills, so too it awakened echoes in the valley; +but these echoes came from the living throats of others of his +kind, until it seemed to the girl that Fate had thrown her into +the midst of a countless multitude of these savage beasts.<br> +</p> + +Almost incredbily swift is the speed of a charging banth, and +fortunate it was that the girl had not been caught farther in the +open. As it was, her margin of safety was next to negligible, for +as she swung nimbly to the lower branches the creature in pursuit +of her crashed among the foliage almost upon her as it sprang +upward to seize her. It was only a combination of good fortune +and agility that saved her. A stout branch deflected the raking +talons of the carnivore, but so close was the call that a giant +forearm brushed her flesh in the instant before she scrambled to +the higher branches. <br> +<p>Baffled, the banth gave vent to his rage and disappointment in +a series of frightful roars that caused the very ground to +tremble, and to these were added the roarings and the growlings +and the moanings of his fellows as they approached from every +direction, in the hope of wresting from him whatever of his kill +they could take by craft or prowess. And now he turned snarling +upon them as they circled the tree, while the girl, huddled in a +crotch above them, looked down upon the gaunt, yellow monsters +padding on noiseless feet in a restless circle about her. She +wondered now at the strange freak of fate that had permitted her +to come down this far into the valley by night unharmed, but even +more she wondered how she was to return to the hills. She knew +that she would not dare venture it by night and she guessed, too, +that by day she might be confronted by even graver perils. To +depend upon this valley for sustenance she now saw to be beyond +the pale of possibility because of the banths that would keep her +from food and water by night, while the dwellers in the towers +would doubtless make it equally impossible for her to forage by +day. There was but one solution of her difficulty and that was to +return to her flier and pray that the wind would waft her to some +less terrorful land; but when might she return to the flier? The +banths gave little evidence of relinquishing hope of her, and +even if they wandered out of sight would she dare risk the +attempt? She doubted it.<br> +</p> + +Hopeless indeed seemed her situation--hopeless it was. <br> +<p><br> +</p> + +<h1 id="ref_5">CHAPTER IV</h1> + +CAPTURED <br> +<p>AS THURIA, swift racer of the night, shot again into the sky +the scene changed. As by magic a new aspect fell athwart the face +of Nature. It was as though in the instant one had been +transported from one planet to another. It was the age-old +miracle of the Martian nights that is always new, even to +Martians--two moons resplendent in the heavens, where one had +been but now; conflicting, fast-changing shadows that altered the +very hills themselves; far Cluros, stately, majestic, almost +stationary, shedding his steady light upon the world below; +Thuria, a great and glorious orb, swinging swift across the +vaulted dome of the blue-black night, so low that she seemed to +graze the hills, a gorgeous spectacle that held the girl now +beneath the spell of its enchantment as it always had and always +would.<br> +</p> + +"Ah, Thuria, mad queen of heaven!" murmured Tara of Helium. "The +hills pass in stately procession, their bosoms rising and +falling; the trees move in restless circles; the little grasses +describe their little arcs; and all is movement, restless, +mysterious movement without sound, while Thuria passes." The girl +sighed and let her gaze fall again to the stern realities +beneath. There was no mystery in the huge banths. He who had +discovered her squatted there looking hungrily up at her. Most of +the others had wandered away in search of other prey, but a few +remained hoping yet to bury their fangs in that soft body. <br> +<p>The night wore on. Again Thuria left the heavens to her lord +and master, hurrying on to keep her tryst with the Sun in other +skies. But a single banth waited impatiently beneath the tree +which harbored Tara of Helium. The others had left, but their +roars, and growls, and moans thundered or rumbled, or floated +back to her from near and far. What prey found they in this +little valley? There must be something that they were accustomed +to find here that they should be drawn in so great numbers. The +girl wondered what it could be.<br> +</p> + +How long the night! Numb, cold, and exhausted, Tara of Helium +clung to the tree in growing desperation, for once she had dozed +and almost fallen. Hope was low in her brave little heart. How +much more could she endure? She asked herself the question and +then, with a brave shake of her head, she squared her shoulders. +"I still live!" she said aloud. <br> +<p>The banth looked up and growled.<br> +</p> + +Came Thuria again and after awhile the great Sun--a flaming +lover, pursuing his heart's desire. And Cluros, the cold husband, +continued his serene way, as placid as before his house had been +violated by this hot Lothario. And now the Sun and both Moons +rode together in the sky, lending their far mysteries to make +weird the Martian dawn. Tara of Helium looked out across the fair +valley that spread upon all sides of her. It was rich and +beautiful, but even as she looked upon it she shuddered, for to +her mind came a picture of the headless things that the towers +and the walls hid. Those by day and the banths by night! Ah, was +it any wonder that she shuddered? <br> +<p>With the coming of the Sun the great Barsoomian lion rose to +his feet. He turned angry eyes upon the girl above him, voiced a +single ominous growl, and slunk away toward the hills. The girl +watched him, and she saw that he gave the towers as wide a berth +as possible and that he never took his eyes from one of them +while he was passing it. Evidently the inmates had taught these +savage creatures to respect them. Presently he passed from sight +in a narrow defile, nor in any direction that she could see was +there another. Momentarily at least the landscape was deserted. +The girl wondered if she dared to attempt to regain the hills and +her flier. She dreaded the coming of the workmen to the fields as +she was sure they would come. She shrank from again seeing the +headless bodies, and found herself wondering if these things +would come out into the fields and work. She looked toward the +nearest tower. There was no sign of life there. The valley lay +quiet now and deserted. She lowered herself stiffly to the +ground. Her muscles were cramped and every move brought a twinge +of pain. Pausing a moment to drink again at the stream she felt +refreshed and then turned without more delay toward the hills. To +cover the distance as quickly as possible seemed the only plan to +pursue. The trees no longer offered concealment and so she did +not go out of her way to be near them. The hills seemed very far +away. She had not thought, the night before, that she had +traveled so far. Really it had not been far, but now, with the +three towers to pass in broad daylight, the distance seemed great +indeed.<br> +</p> + +The second tower lay almost directly in her path. To make a +detour would not lessen the chance of detection, it would only +lengthen the period of her danger, and so she laid her course +straight for the hill where her flier was, regardless of the +tower. As she passed the first enclosure she thought that she +heard the sound of movement within, but the gate did not open and +she breathed more easily when it lay behind her. She came then to +the second enclosure, the outer wall of which she must circle, as +it lay across her route. As she passed close along it she +distinctly heard not only movement within, but voices. In the +world-language of Barsoom she heard a man issuing +instructions--so many were to pick usa, so many were to irrigate +this field, so many to cultivate that, and so on, as a foreman +lay out the day's work for his crew. <br> +<p>Tara of Helium had just reached the gate in the outer wall. +Without warning it swung open toward her. She saw that for a +moment it would hide her from those within and in that moment she +turned and ran, keeping close to the wall, until, passing out of +sight beyond the curve of the structure, she came to the opposite +side of the enclosure. Here, panting from her exertion and from +the excitement of her narrow escape, she threw herself among some +tall weeds that grew close to the foot of the wall. There she lay +trembling for some time, not even daring to raise her head and +look about. Never before had Tara of Helium felt the paralyzing +effects of terror. She was shocked and angry at herself, that +she, daughter of John Carter, Warlord of Barsoom, should exhibit +fear. Not even the fact that there had been none there to witness +it lessened her shame and anger, and the worst of it was she knew +that under similar circumstances she would again be equally as +craven. It was not the fear of death--she knew that. No, it was +the thought of those headless bodies and that she might see them +and that they might even touch her--lay hands upon her--seize +her. She shuddered and trembled at the thought.<br> +</p> + +After a while she gained sufficient command of herself to raise +her head and look about. To her horror she discovered that +everywhere she looked she saw people working in the fields or +preparing to do so. Workmen were coming from other towers. Little +bands were passing to this field and that. They were even some +already at work within thirty ads of her--about a hundred yards. +There were ten, perhaps, in the party nearest her, both men and +women, and all were beautiful of form and grotesque of face. So +meager were their trappings that they were practically naked; a +fact that was in no way remarkable among the tillers of the +fields of Mars. Each wore the peculiar, high leather collar that +completely hid the neck, and each wore sufficient other leather +to support a single sword and a pocket-pouch. The leather was +very old and worn, showing long, hard service, and was absolutely +plain with the exception of a single device upon the left +shoulder. The heads, however, were covered with ornaments of +precious metals and jewels, so that little more than eyes, nose, +and mouth were discernible. These were hideously inhuman and yet +grotesquely human at the same time. The eyes were far apart and +protruding, the nose scarce more than two small, parallel slits +set vertically above a round hole that was the mouth. The heads +were peculiarly repulsive--so much so that it seemed unbelievable +to the girl that they formed an integral part of the beautiful +bodies below them. <br> +<p>So fascinated was Tara of Helium that she could scarce take +her eyes from the strange creatures--a fact that was to prove her +undoing, for in order that she might see them she was forced to +expose a part of her own head and presently, to her +consternation, she saw that one of the creatures had stopped his +work and was staring directly at her. She did not dare move, for +it was still possible that the thing had not seen her, or at +least was only suspicious that some creature lay hid among the +weeds. If she could allay this suspicion by remaining motionless +the creature might believe that he had been mistaken and return +to his work; but, alas, such was not to be the case. She saw the +thing call the attention of others to her and almost immediately +four or five of them started to move in her direction.<br> +</p> + +It was impossible now to escape discovery. Her only hope lay in +flight. If she could elude them and reach the hills and the flier +ahead of them she might escape, and that could be accomplished in +but one way--flight, immediate and swift. Leaping to her feet she +darted along the base of the wall which she must skirt to the +opposite side, beyond which lay the hill that was her goal. Her +act was greeted by strange whistling sounds from the things +behind her, and casting a glance over her shoulder she saw them +all in rapid pursuit. <br> +<p>There were also shrill commands that she halt, but to these +she paid no attention. Before she had half circled the enclosure +she discovered that her chances for successful escape were great, +since it was evident to her that her pursuers were not so fleet +as she. High indeed then were her hopes as she came in sight of +the hill, but they were soon dashed by what lay before her, for +there, in the fields that lay between, were fully a hundred +creatures similar to those behind her and all were on the alert, +evidently warned by the whistling of their fellows. Instructions +and commands were shouted to and fro, with the result that those +before her spread roughly into a great half circle to intercept +her, and when she turned to the right, hoping to elude the net, +she saw others coming from fields beyond, and to the left the +same was true. But Tara of Helium would not admit defeat. Without +once pausing she turned directly toward the center of the +advancing semi-circle, beyond which lay her single chance of +escape, and as she ran she drew her long, slim dagger. Like her +valiant sire, if die she must, she would die fighting. There were +gaps in the thin line confronting her and toward the widest of +one of these she directed her course. The things on either side +of the opening guessed her intent for they closed in to place +themselves in her path. This widened the openings on either side +of them and as the girl appeared almost to rush into their arms +she turned suddenly at right angles, ran swiftly in the new +direction for a few yards, and then dashed quickly toward the +hill again. Now only a single warrior, with a wide gap on either +side of him, barred her clear way to freedom, though all the +others were speeding as rapidly as they could to intercept her. +If she could pass this one without too much delay she could +escape, of that she was certain. Her every hope hinged on this. +The creature before her realized it, too, for he moved +cautiously, though swiftly, to intercept her, as a Rugby fullback +might maneuver in the realization that he alone stood between the +opposing team and a touchdown.<br> +</p> + +At first Tara of Helium had hoped that she might dodge him, for +she could not but guess that she was not only more fleet but +infinitely more agile than these strange creatures; but soon +there came to her the realization that in the time consumed in an +attempt to elude his grasp his nearer fellows would be upon her +and escape then impossible, so she chose instead to charge +straight for him, and when he guessed her decision he stood, half +crouching and with outstretched arms, awaiting her. In one hand +was his sword, but a voice arose, crying in tones of authority. +"Take her alive! Do not harm her!" Instantly the fellow returned +his sword to its scabbard and then Tara of Helium was upon him. +Straight for that beautiful body she sprang and in the instant +that the arms closed to seize her her sharp blade drove deep into +the naked chest. The impact hurled them both to the ground and as +Tara of Helium sprang to her feet again she saw, to her horror, +that the loathsome head had rolled from the body and was now +crawling away from her on six short, spider-]ike legs. The body +struggled spasmodically and lay still. As brief as had been the +delay caused by the encounter, it still had been of sufficient +duration to undo her, for even as she rose two more of the things +fell upon her and instantly thereafter she was surrounded. Her +blade sank once more into naked flesh and once more a head rolled +free and crawled away. Then they overpowered her and in another +moment she was surrounded by fully a hundred of the creatures, +all seeking to lay hands upon her. At first she thought that they +wished to tear her to pieces in revenge for her having slain two +of their fellows, but presently she realized that they were +prompted more by curiosity than by any sinister motive. <br> +<p>"Come!" said one of her captors, both of whom had retained a +hold upon her. As he spoke he tried to lead her away with him +toward the nearest tower.<br> +</p> + +"She belongs to me," cried the other. "Did not I capture her? She +will come with me to the tower of Moak." <br> +<p>"Never!" insisted the first. "She is Luud's. To Luud I will +take her, and whosoever interferes may feel the keenness of my +sword--in the head!" He almost shouted the last three words.<br> +</p> + +"Come! Enough of this," cried one who spoke with some show of +authority. "She was captured in Luud's fields--she will go to +Luud." <br> +<p>"She was discovered in Moak's fields, at the very foot of the +tower of Moak," insisted he who had claimed her for Moak.<br> +</p> + +"You have heard the Nolach speak," cried the Luud. "It shall be +as he says." <br> +<p>"Not while this Moak holds a sword," replied the other. +"Rather will I cut her in twain and take my half to Moak than to +relinquish her all to Luud," and he drew his sword, or rather he +laid his hand upon its hilt in a threatening gesture; but before +ever he could draw it the Luud had whipped his out and with a +fearful blow cut deep into the head of his adversary. Instantly +the big, round head collapsed, almost as a punctured balloon +collapses, as a grayish, semi-fluid matter spurted from it. The +protruding eyes, apparently lidless, merely stared, the +sphincter-like muscle of the mouth opened and closed, and then +the head toppled from the body to the ground. The body stood +dully for a moment and then slowly started to wander aimlessly +about until one of the others seized it by the arm.<br> +</p> + +One of the two heads crawling about on the ground now approached. +"This rykor belongs to Moak," it said. "I am a Moak. I will take +it," and without further discussion it commenced to crawl up the +front of the headless body, using its six short, spiderlike legs +and two stout chelae which grew just in front of its legs and +strongly resembled those of an Earthly lobster, except that they +were both of the same size. The body in the meantime stood in +passive indifference, its arms hanging idly at its sides. The +head climbed to the shoulders and settled itself inside the +leather collar that now hid its chelae and legs. Almost +immediately the body gave evidence of intelligent animation. It +raised its hands and adjusted the collar more comfortably, it +took the head between its palms and settled it in place and when +it moved around it did not wander aimlessly, but instead its +steps were firm and to some purpose. <br> +<p>The girl watched all these things in growing wonder, and +presently, no other of the Moaks seeming inclined to dispute the +right of the Luud to her, she was led off by her captor toward +the nearest tower. Several accompanied them, including one who +carried the loose head under his arm. The head that was being +carried conversed with the head upon the shoulders of the thing +that carried it. Tara of Helium shivered. It was horrible! All +that she had seen of these frightful creatures was horrible. And +to be a prisoner, wholly in their power. Shadow of her first +ancestor! What had she done to deserve so cruel a fate?<br> +</p> + +At the wall enclosing the tower they paused while one opened the +gate and then they passed within the enclosure, which, to the +girl's horror, she found filled with headless bodies. The +creature who carried the bodiless head now set its burden upon +the ground and the latter immediately crawled toward one of the +bodies that was lying near by. Some wandered stupidly to and fro, +but this one lay still. It was a female. The head crawled to it +and made its way to the shoulders where it settled itself. At +once the body sprang lightly erect. Another of those who had +accompanied them from the fields approached with the harness and +collar that had been taken from the dead body that the head had +formerly topped. The new body now appropriated these and the +hands deftly adjusted them. The creature was now as good as +before Tara of Helium had struck down its former body with her +slim blade. But there was a difference. Before it had been +male--now it was female. That, however, seemed to make no +difference to the head. In fact, Tara of Helium had noticed +during the scramble and the fight about her that sex differences +seemed of little moment to her captors. Males and females had +taken equal part in her pursuit, both were identically harnessed +and both carried swords, and she had seen as many females as +males draw their weapons at the moment that a quarrel between the +two factions seemed imminent. <br> +<p>The girl was given but brief opportunity for further +observation of the pitiful creatures in the enclosure as her +captor, after having directed the others to return to the fields, +led her toward the tower, which they entered, passing into an +apartment about ten feet wide and twenty long, in one end of +which was a stairway leading to an upper level and in the other +an opening to a similar stairway leading downward. The chamber, +though on a level with the ground, was brilliantly lighted by +windows in its inner wall, the light coming from a circular court +in the center of the tower. The walls of this court appeared to +be faced with what resembled glazed, white tile and the whole +interior of it was flooded with dazzling light, a fact which +immediately explained to the girl the purpose of the glass prisms +of which the domes were constructed. The stairways themselves +were sufficient to cause remark, since in nearly all Barsoomian +architecture inclined runways are utilized for purposes of +communication between different levels, and especially is this +true of the more ancient forms and of those of remote districts +where fewer changes have come to alter the customs of +antiquity.<br> +</p> + +Down the stairway her captor led Tara of Helium. Down and down +through chambers still lighted from the brilliant well. +Occasionally they passed others going in the opposite direction +and these always stopped to examine the girl and ask questions of +her captor. <br> +<p>"I know nothing but that she was found in the fields and that +I caught her after a fight in which she slew two rykors and in +which I slew a Moak, and that I take her to Luud, to whom, of +course, she belongs. If Luud wishes to question her that is for +Luud to do--not for me." Thus always he answered the curious.<br> +</p> + +Presently they reached a room from which a circular tunnel led +away from the tower, and into this the creature conducted her. +The tunnel was some seven feet in diameter and flattened on the +bottom to form a walk. For a hundred feet from the tower it was +lined with the same tile-like material of the light well and +amply illuminated by reflected light from that source. Beyond it +was faced with stone of various shapes and sizes, neatly cut and +fitted together--a very fine mosaic without a pattern. There were +branches, too, and other tunnels which crossed this, and +occasionally openings not more than a foot in diameter; these +latter being usually close to the floor. Above each of these +smaller openings was painted a different device, while upon the +walls of the larger tunnels at all intersections and points of +convergence hieroglyphics appeared. These the girl could not read +though she guessed that they were the names of the tunnels, or +notices indicating the points to which they led. She tried to +study some of them out, but there was not a character that was +familiar to her, which seemed strange, since, while the written +languages of the various nations of Barsoom differ, it still is +true that they have many characters and words in common. <br> +<p>She had tried to converse with her guard but he had not seemed +inclined to talk with her and she had finally desisted. She could +not but note that he had offered her no indignities, nor had he +been either unnecessarily rough or in any way cruel. The fact +that she had slain two of the bodies with her dagger had +apparently aroused no animosity or desire for revenge in the +minds of the strange heads that surmounted the bodies--even those +whose bodies had been killed. She did not try to understand it, +since she could not approach the peculiar relationship between +the heads and the bodies of these creatures from the basis of any +past knowledge or experience of her own. So far their treatment +of her seemed to augur naught that might arouse her fears. +Perhaps, after all, she had been fortunate to fall into the hands +of these strange people, who might not only protect her from +harm, but even aid her in returning to Helium. That they were +repulsive and uncanny she could not forget, but if they meant her +no harm she could, at least, overlook their repulsiveness. +Renewed hope aroused within her a spirit of greater cheerfulness, +and it was almost blithely now that she moved at the side of her +weird companion. She even caught herself humming a gay little +tune that was then popular in Helium. The creature at her side +turned its expressionless eyes upon her.<br> +</p> + +"What is that noise that you are making?" it asked. <br> +<p>"I was but humming an air," she replied.<br> +</p> + +"'Humming an air,'" he repeated. "I do not know what you mean; +but do it again, I like it." <br> +<p>This time she sang the words, while her companion listened +intently. His face gave no indication of what was passing in that +strange head. It was as devoid of expression as that of a spider. +It reminded her of a spider. When she had finished he turned +toward her again.<br> +</p> + +"That was different," he said. "I liked that better, even, than +the other. How do you do it?" <br> +<p>"Why," she said, "it is singing. Do you not know what song +is?"<br> +</p> + +"No," he replied. "Tell me how you do it." <br> +<p>"It is difficult to explain," she told him. "since any +explanation of it presupposes some knowledge of melody and of +music, while your very question indicates that you have no +knowledge of either."<br> +</p> + +"No," he said, "I do not know what you are talking about; but +tell me how you do it." <br> +<p>"It is merely the melodious modulations of my voice," she +explained. "Listen!" and again she sang.<br> +</p> + +"I do not understand," he insisted; "but I like it. Could you +teach me to do it?" <br> +<p>"I do not know, but I shall be glad to try."<br> +</p> + +"We will see what Luud does with you," he said. "If he does not +want you I will keep you and you shall teach me to make sounds +like that." <br> +<p>At his request she sang again as they continued their way +along the winding tunnel, which was now lighted by occasional +bulbs which appeared to be similar to the radium bulbs with which +she was familiar and which were common to all the nations of +Barsoom, insofar as she knew, having been perfected at so remote +a period that their very origin was lost in antiquity. They +consist, usually, of a hemispherical bowl of heavy glass in which +is packed a compound containing what, according to John Carter, +must be radium. The bowl is then cemented into a metal plate with +a heavily insulated back and the whole affair set in the masonry +of wall or ceiling as desired, where it gives off light of +greater or less intensity, according to the composition of the +filling material, for an almost incalculable period of time.<br> +</p> + +As they proceeded they met a greater number of the inhabitants of +this underground world, and the girl noted that among many of +these the metal and harness were more ornate than had been those +of the workers in the fields above. The heads and bodies, +however, were similar, even identical, she thought. No one +offered her harm and she was now experiencing a feeling of relief +almost akin to happiness, when her guide turned suddenly into an +opening on the right side of the tunnel and she found herself in +a large, well lighted chamber. <br> +<p><br> +</p> + +<h1 id="ref_6">CHAPTER V</h1> + +THE PERFECT BRAIN <br> +<p>THE song that had been upon her lips as she entered died +there--frozen by the sight of horror that met her eyes. In the +center of the chamber a headless body lay upon the floor--a body +that had been partially devoured--while over and upon it crawled +a half a dozen heads upon their short, spider legs, and they tore +at the flesh of the woman with their chelae and carried the bits +to their awful mouths. They were eating human flesh--eating it +raw!<br> +</p> + +Tara of Helium gasped in horror and turning away covered her eyes +with her palms. <br> +<p>"Come!" said her captor. "What is the matter?"<br> +</p> + +"They are eating the flesh of the woman," she whispered in tones +of horror. <br> +<p>"Why not?" he inquired. "Did you suppose that we kept the +rykor for labor alone? Ah, no. They are delicious when kept and +fattened. Fortunate, too, are those that are bred for food, since +they are never called upon to do aught but eat."<br> +</p> + +"It is hideous!" she cried. <br> +<p>He looked at her steadily for a moment, but whether in +surprise, in anger, or in pity his expressionless face did not +reveal. Then he led her on across the room past the frightful +thing, from which she turned away her eyes. Lying about the floor +near the walls were half a dozen headless bodies in harness. +These she guessed had been abandoned temporarily by the feasting +heads until they again required their services. In the walls of +this room there were many of the small, round openings she had +noticed in various parts of the tunnels, the purpose of which she +could not guess.<br> +</p> + +They passed through another corridor and then into a second +chamber, larger than the first and more brilliantly illuminated. +Within were several of the creatures with heads and bodies +assembled, while many headless bodies lay about near the walls. +Here her captor halted and spoke to one of the occupants of the +chamber. <br> +<p>"I seek Luud," he said. "I bring to Luud a creature that I +captured in the fields above."<br> +</p> + +The others crowded about to examine Tara of Helium. One of them +whistled, whereupon the girl learned something of the smaller +openings in the walls, for almost immediately there crawled from +them, like giant spiders, a score or more of the hideous heads. +Each sought one of the recumbent bodies and fastened itself in +place. Immediately the bodies reacted to the intelligent +direction of the heads. They arose, the hands adjusted the +leather collars and put the balance of the harness in order, then +the creatures crossed the room to where Tara of Helium stood. She +noted that their leather was more highly ornamented than that +worn by any of the others she had previously seen, and so she +guessed that these must be higher in authority than the others. +Nor was she mistaken. The demeanor of her captor indicated it. He +addressed them as one who holds intercourse with superiors. <br> +<p>Several of those who examined her felt her flesh, pinching it +gently between thumb and forefinger, a familiarity that the girl +resented. She struck down their hands. "Do not touch me!" she +cried, imperiously, for was she not a princess of Helium? The +expression on those terrible faces did not change. She could not +tell whether they were angry or amused, whether her action had +filled them with respect for her, or contempt. Only one of them +spoke immediately.<br> +</p> + +"She will have to be fattened more," he said. <br> +<p>The girl's eyes went wide with horror. She turned upon her +captor. "Do these frightful creatures intend to devour me?" she +cried.<br> +</p> + +"That is for Luud to say," he replied, and then he leaned closer +so that his mouth was near her ear. "That noise you made which +you called song pleased me," he whispered, "and I will repay you +by warning you not to antagonize these kaldanes. They are very +powerful. Luud listens to them. Do not call them frightful. They +are very handsome. Look at their wonderful trappings, their gold, +their jewels." <br> +<p>"Thank you," she said. "You called them kaldanes--what does +that mean?"<br> +</p> + +"We are all kaldanes," he replied. <br> +<p>"You, too?" and she pointed at him, her slim finger directed +toward his chest.<br> +</p> + +"No, not this," he explained, touching his body; "this is a +rykor; but this," and he touched his head, "is a kaldane. It is +the brain, the intellect, the power that directs all things. The +rykor," he indicated his body, "is nothing. It is not so much +even as the jewels upon our harness; no, not so much as the +harness itself. It carries us about. It is true that we would +find difficulty getting along without it; but it has less value +than harness or jewels because it is less difficult to +reproduce." He turned again to the other kaldanes. "Will you +notify Luud that I am here?" he asked. <br> +<p>"Sept has already gone to Luud. He will tell him," replied +one. "Where did you find this rykor with the strange kaldane that +cannot detach itself?"<br> +</p> + +The girl's captor narrated once more the story of her capture. He +stated facts just as they had occurred, without embellishment, +his voice as expressionless as his face, and his story was +received in the same manner that it was delivered. The creatures +seemed totally lacking in emotion, or, at least, the capacity to +express it. It was impossible to judge what impression the story +made upon them, or even if they heard it. Their protruding eyes +simply stared and occasionally the muscles of their mouths opened +and closed. Familiarity did not lessen the horror the girl felt +for them. The more she saw of them the more repulsive they +seemed. Often her body was shaken by convulsive shudders as she +looked at the kaldanes, but when her eyes wandered to the +beautiful bodies and she could for a moment expunge the heads +from her consciousness the effect was soothing and refreshing, +though when the bodies lay, headless, upon the floor they were +quite as shocking as the heads mounted on bodies. But by far the +most grewsome and uncanny sight of all was that of the heads +crawling about upon their spider legs. If one of these should +approach and touch her Tara of Helium was positive that she +should scream, while should one attempt to crawl up her +person--ugh! the very idea induced a feeling of faintness. <br> +<p>Sept returned to the chamber. "Luud will see you and the +captive. Come!" he said, and turned toward a door opposite that +through which Tara of Helium had entered the chamber. "What is +your name?" His question was directed to the girl's captor.<br> +</p> + +"I am Ghek, third foreman of the fields of Luud," he answered. +<br> +<p>"And hers?"<br> +</p> + +"I do not know." <br> +<p>"It makes no difference. Come!"<br> +</p> + +The patrician brows of Tara of Helium went high. It made no +difference, indeed! She, a princess of Helium; only daughter of +The Warlord of Barsoom! <br> +<p>"Wait!" she cried. "It makes much difference who I am. If you +are conducting me into the presence of your jed you may announce +The Princess Tara of Helium, daughter of John Carter, The Warlord +of Barsoom."<br> +</p> + +"Hold your peace!" commanded Sept. "Speak when you are spoken to. +Come with me!" <br> +<p>The anger of Tara of Helium all but choked her. "Come," +admonished Ghek, and took her by the arm, and Tara of Helium +came. She was naught but a prisoner. Her rank and titles meant +nothing to these inhuman monsters. They led her through a short, +S-shaped passageway into a chamber entirely lined with the white, +tile-like material with which the interior of the light wall was +faced. Close to the base of the walls were numerous smaller +apertures, circular in shape, but larger than those of similar +aspect that she had noted elsewhere. The majority of these +apertures were sealed. Directly opposite the entrance was one +framed in gold, and above it a peculiar device was inlaid in the +same precious metal.<br> +</p> + +Sept and Ghek halted just within the room, the girl between them, +and all three stood silently facing the opening in the opposite +wall. On the floor beside the aperture lay a headless male body +of almost heroic proportions, and on either side of this stood a +heavily armed warrior, with drawn sword. For perhaps five minutes +the three waited and then something appeared in the opening. It +was a pair of large chelae and immediately thereafter there +crawled forth a hideous kaldane of enormous proportions. He was +half again as large as any that Tara of Helium had yet seen and +his whole aspect infinitely more terrible. The skin of the others +was a bluish gray--this one was of a little bluer tinge and the +eyes were ringed with bands of white and scarlet, as was its +mouth. <br> +<p>From each nostril a band of white and one of scarlet extended +outward horizontally the width of the face.<br> +</p> + +No one spoke or moved. The creature crawled to the prostrate body +and affixed itself to the neck. Then the two rose as one and +approached the girl. He looked at her and then he spoke to her +captor. <br> +<p>"You are the third foreman of the fields of Luud?" he +asked.<br> +</p> + +"Yes, Luud; I am called Ghek." <br> +<p>"Tell me what you know of this," and he nodded toward Tara of +Helium.<br> +</p> + +Ghek did as he was bid and then Luud addressed the girl. <br> +<p>"What were you doing within the borders of Bantoom?" he +asked.<br> +</p> + +"I was blown hither in a great storm that injured my flier and +carried me I knew not where. I came down into the valley at night +for food and drink. The banths came and drove me to the safety of +a tree, and then your people caught me as I was trying to leave +the valley. I do not know why they took me. I was doing no harm. +All I ask is that you let me go my way in peace." <br> +<p>"None who enters Bantoom ever leaves," replied Luud.<br> +</p> + +"But my people are not at war with yours. I am a princess of +Helium; my great-grandfather is a jeddak; my grandfather a jed; +and my father is Warlord of all Barsoom. You have no right to +keep me and I demand that you liberate me at once." <br> +<p>"None who enters Bantoom ever leaves," repeated the creature +without expression. "I know nothing of the lesser creatures of +Barsoom, of whom you speak. There is but one high race--the race +of Bantoomians. All Nature exists to serve them. You shall do +your share, but not yet--you are too skinny. We shall have to put +some fat upon it, Sept. I tire of rykor. Perhaps this will have a +different flavor. The banths are too rank and it is seldom that +any other creature enters the valley. And you, Ghek; you shall be +rewarded. I shall promote you from the fields to the burrows. +Hereafter you shall remain underground as every Bantoomian longs +to. No more shall you be forced to endure the hated sun, or look +upon the hideous sky, or the hateful growing things that defile +the surface. For the present you shall look after this thing that +you have brought me, seeing that it sleeps and eats--and does +nothing else. You understand me, Ghek; nothing else!"<br> +</p> + +"I understand, Luud," replied the other. <br> +<p>"Take it away!" commanded the creature.<br> +</p> + +Ghek turned and led Tara of Helium from the apartment. The girl +was horrified by contemplation of the fate that awaited her--a +fate from which it seemed, there was no escape. It was only too +evident that these creatures possessed no gentle or chivalric +sentiments to which she could appeal, and that she might escape +from the labyrinthine mazes of their underground burrows appeared +impossible. <br> +<p>Outside the audience chamber Sept overtook them and conversed +with Ghek for a brief period, then her keeper led her through a +confusing web of winding tunnels until they came to a small +apartment.<br> +</p> + +"We are to remain here for a while. It may be that Luud will send +for you again. If he does you will probably not be fattened--he +will use you for another purpose." It was fortunate for the +girl's peace of mind that she did not realize what he meant. +"Sing for me," said Ghek, presently. <br> +<p>Tara of Helium did not feel at all like singing, but she sang, +nevertheless, for there was always the hope that she might escape +if given the opportuntiy and if she could win the friendship of +one of the creatures, her chances would be increased +proportionately. All during the ordeal, for such it was to the +overwrought girl, Ghek stood with his eyes fixed upon her.<br> +</p> + +"It is wonderful," he said, when she had finished; "but I did not +tell Luud--you noticed that I did not tell Luud about it. Had he +known, he would have had you sing to him and that would have +resulted in your being kept with him that he might hear you sing +whenever he wished; but now I can have you all the time." <br> +<p>"How do you know he would like my singing?" she asked.<br> +</p> + +"He would have to," replied Ghek. "If I like a thing he has to +like it, for are we not identical--all of us?" <br> +<p>"The people of my race do not all like the same things," said +the girl.<br> +</p> + +"How strange!" commented Ghek. "All kaldanes like the same things +and dislike the same things. If I discover something new and like +it I know that all kaldanes will like it. That is how I know that +Luud would like your singing. You see we are all exactly alike." +<br> +<p>"But you do not look like Luud," said the girl.<br> +</p> + +"Luud is king. He is larger and more gorgeously marked; but +otherwise he and I are identical, and why not? Did not Luud +produce the egg from which I hatched?" <br> +<p>"What?" queried the girl; "I do not understand you."<br> +</p> + +"Yes," explained Ghek, "all of us are from Luud's eggs, just as +all the swarm of Moak are from Moak's eggs." <br> +<p>"Oh!" exclaimed Tara of Helium understandingly; "you mean that +Luud has many wives and that you are the offspring of one of +them."<br> +</p> + +"No, not that at all," replied Ghek. "Luud has no wife. He lays +the eggs himself. You do not understand." <br> +<p>Tara of Helium admitted that she did not.<br> +</p> + +"I will try to explain, then," said Ghek, "if you will promise to +sing to me later." <br> +<p>"I promise," she said.<br> +</p> + +"We are not like the rykors," he began. "They are creatures of a +low order, like yourself and the banths and such things. We have +no sex--not one of us except our king, who is bi-sexual. He +produces many eggs from which we, the workers and the warriors, +are hatched; and one in every thousand eggs is another king egg, +from which a king is hatched. Did you notice the sealed openings +in the room where you saw Luud? Sealed in each of those is +another king. If one of them escaped he would fall upon Luud and +try to kill him and if he succeeded we should have a new king; +but there would be no difference. His name would be Luud and all +would go on as before, for are we not all alike? Luud has lived a +long time and has produced many kings, so he lets only a few live +that there may be a successor to him when he dies. The others he +kills." <br> +<p>"Why does he keep more than one?" queried the girl.<br> +</p> + +"Sometimes accidents occur," replied Ghek, "and all the kings +that a swarm has saved are killed. When this happens the swarm +comes and obtains another king from a neighboring swarm." <br> +<p>"Are all of you the children of Luud?" she asked.<br> +</p> + +"All but a few, who are from the eggs of the preceding king, as +was Luud; but Luud has lived a long time and not many of the +others are left." <br> +<p>"You live a long time, or short?" Tara asked.<br> +</p> + +"A very long time." <br> +<p>"And the rykors, too; they live a long time?"<br> +</p> + +"No; the rykors live for ten years, perhaps," he said, "if they +remain strong and useful. When they can no longer be of service +to us, either through age or sickness, we leave them in the +fields and the banths come at night and get them." <br> +<p>"How horrible!" she exclaimed.<br> +</p> + +"Horrible?" he repeated. "I see nothing horrible about that. <br> +<p>The rykors are but brainless flesh. They neither see, nor +feel, nor hear. They can scarce move but for us. If we did not +bring them food they would starve to death. They are less +deserving of thought than our leather. All that they can do for +themselves is to take food from a trough and put it in their +mouths, but with us--look at them!" and he proudly exhibited the +noble figure that he surmounted, palpitant with life and energy +and feeling.<br> +</p> + +"How do you do it?" asked Tara of Helium. "I do not understand it +at all." <br> +<p>"I will show you," he said, and lay down upon the floor. Then +he detached himself from the body, which lay as a thing dead. On +his spider legs he walked toward the girl. "Now look," he +admonished her. "Do you see this thing?" and he extended what +appeared to be a bundle of tentacles from the posterior part of +his head. "There is an aperture just back of the rykor's mouth +and directly over the upper end of his spinal column. Into this +aperture I insert my tentacles and seize the spinal cord. +Immediately I control every muscle of the rykor's body--it +becomes my own, just as you direct the movement of the muscles of +your body. I feel what the rykor would feel if he had a head and +brain. If he is hurt, I would suffer if I remained connected with +him; but the instant one of them is injured or becomes sick we +desert it for another. As we would suffer the pains of their +physical injuries, similarly do we enjoy the physical pleasures +of the rykors. When your body becomes fatigued you are +comparatively useless; it is sick, you are sick; if it is killed, +you die. You are the slave of a mass of stupid flesh and bone and +blood. There is nothing more wonderful about your carcass than +there is about the carcass of a banth. It is only your brain that +makes you superior to the banth, but your brain is bound by the +limitations of your body. Not so, ours. With us brain is +everything. Ninety per centum of our volume is brain. We have +only the simplest of vital organs and they are very small for +they do not have to assist in the support of a complicated system +of nerves, muscles, flesh and bone. We have no lungs, for we do +not require air. Far below the levels to which we can take the +rykors is a vast network of burrows where the real life of the +kaldane is lived. There the air-breathing rykor would perish as +you would perish. There we have stored vast quantities of food in +hermetically sealed chambers. It will last forever. Far beneath +the surface is water that will flow for countless ages after the +surface water is exhausted. We are preparing for the time we know +must come--the time when the last vestige of the Barsoomian +atmosphere is spent--when the waters and the food are gone. For +this purpose were we created, that there might not perish from +the planet Nature's divinest creation--the perfect brain."<br> +</p> + +"But what purpose can you serve when that time comes?" asked the +girl. <br> +<p>"You do not understand," he said. "It is too big for you to +grasp, but I will try to explain it. Barsoom, the moons, the sun, +the stars, were created for a single purpose. From the beginning +of time Nature has labored arduously toward the consummation of +this purpose. At the very beginning things existed with life, but +with no brain. Gradually rudimentary nervous systems and minute +brains evolved. Evolution proceeded. The brains became larger and +more powerful. In us you see the highest development; but there +are those of us who believe that there is yet another step--that +some time in the far future our race shall develop into the +super-thing--just brain. The incubus of legs and chelae and vital +organs will be removed. The future kaldane will be nothing but a +great brain. Deaf, dumb, and blind it will lie sealed in its +buried vault far beneath the surface of Barsoom--just a great, +wonderful, beautiful brain with nothing to distract it from +eternal thought."<br> +</p> + +"You mean it will just lie there and think?" cried Tara of +Helium. <br> +<p>"Just that!" he exclaimed. "Could aught be more +wonderful?"<br> +</p> + +"Yes," replied the girl, "I can think of a number of things that +would be infinitely more wonderful." <br> +<p><br> +</p> + +<h1 id="ref_7">CHAPTER VI</h1> + +IN THE TOILS OF HORROR <br> +<p>WHAT the creature had told her gave Tara of Helium food for +thought. She had been taught that every created thing fulfilled +some useful purpose, and she tried conscientiously to discover +just what was the rightful place of the kaldane in the universal +scheme of things. She knew that it must have its place but what +that place was it was beyond her to conceive. She had to give it +up. They recalled to her mind a little group of people in Helium +who had forsworn the pleasures of life in the pursuit of +knowledge. They were rather patronizing in their relations with +those whom they thought not so intellectual. They considered +themselves quite superior. She smiled at recollection of a remark +her father had once made concerning them, to the effect that if +one of them ever dropped his egotism and broke it it would take a +week to fumigate Helium. Her father liked normal people--people +who knew too little and people who knew too much were equally a +bore. Tara of Helium was like her father in this respect and like +him, too, she was both sane and normal.<br> +</p> + +Outside of her personal danger there was much in this strange +world that interested her. The rykors aroused her keenest pity, +and vast conjecture. How and from what form had they evolved? She +asked Ghek. <br> +<p>"Sing to me again and I will tell you," he said. "If Luud +would let me have you, you should never die. I should keep you +always to sing to me."<br> +</p> + +The girl marvelled at the effect her voice had upon the creature. +Somewhere in that enormous brain there was a chord that was +touched by melody. It was the sole link between herself and the +brain when detatched from the rykor. When it dominated the rykor +it might have other human instincts; but these she dreaded even +to think of. After she had sung she waited for Ghek to speak. For +a long time he was silent, just looking at her through those +awful eyes. <br> +<p>"I wonder," he said presently, "if it might not be pleasant to +be of your race. Do you all sing?"<br> +</p> + +"Nearly all, a little," she said; "but we do many other +interesting and enjoyable things. We dance and play and work and +love and sometimes we fight, for we are a race of warriors." <br> +<p>"Love!" said the kaldane. "I think I know what you mean; but +we, fortunately, are above sentiment--when we are detached. But +when we dominate the rykor--ah, that is different, and when I +hear you sing and look at your beautiful body I know what you +mean by love. I could love you."<br> +</p> + +The girl shrank from him. "You promised to tell me the origin of +the rykor," she reminded him. <br> +<p>"Ages ago," he commenced, "our bodies were larger and our +heads smaller. Our legs were very weak and we could not travel +fast or far. There was a stupid creature that went upon four +legs. It lived in a hole in the ground, to which it brought its +food, so we ran our burrows into this hole and ate the food it +brought; but it did not bring enough for all--for itself and all +the kaldanes that lived upon it, so we had also to go abroad and +get food. This was hard work for our weak legs. Then it was that +we commenced to ride upon the backs of these primitive rykors. It +took many ages, undoubtedly, but at last came the time when the +kaldane had found means to guide the rykor, until presently the +latter depended entirely upon the superior brain of his master to +guide him to food. The brain of the rykor grew smaller as time +went on. His ears went and his eyes, for he no longer had use for +them--the kaldane saw and heard for him. By similar steps the +rykor came to go upon its hind feet that the kaldane might be +able to see farther. As the brain shrank, so did the head. The +mouth was the only feature of the head that was used and so the +mouth alone remains. Members of the red race fell into the hands +of our ancestors from time to time. They saw the beauties and the +advantages of the form that nature had given the red race over +that which the rykor was developing into. By intelligent crossing +the present rykor was achieved. He is really solely the product +of the super-intelligence of the kaldane--he is our body, to do +with as we see fit, just as you do what you see fit with your +body, only we have the advantage of possessing an unlimited +supply of bodies. Do you not wish that you were a kaldane?"<br> +</p> + +For how long they kept her in the subterranean chamber Tara of +Helium did not know. It seemed a very long time. She ate and +slept and watched the interminable lines of creatures that passed +the entrance to her prison. There was a laden line passing from +above carrying food, food, food. In the other line they returned +empty handed. When she saw them she knew that it was daylight +above. When they did not pass she knew it was night, and that the +banths were about devouring the rykors that had been abandoned in +the fields the previous day. She commenced to grow pale and thin. +She did not like the food they gave her--it was not suited to her +kind--nor would she have eaten overmuch palatable food, for the +fear of becoming fat. The idea of plumpness had a new +significance here--a horrible significance. <br> +<p>Ghek noted that she was growing thin and white. He spoke to +her about it and she told him that she could not thrive thus +beneath the ground--that she must have fresh air and sunshine, or +she would wither and die. Evidently he carried her words to Luud, +since it was not long after that he told her that the king had +ordered that she be confined in the tower and to the tower she +was taken. She had hoped against hope that this very thing might +result from her conversation with Ghek. Even to see the sun again +was something, but now there sprang to her breast a hope that she +had not dared to nurse before, while she lay in the terrible +labyrinth from which she knew she could never have found her way +to the outer world; but now there was some slight reason to hope. +At least she could see the hills and if she could see them might +there not come also the opportunity to reach them? If she could +have but ten minutes--just ten little minutes! The flier was +still there--she knew that it must be. Just ten minutes and she +would be free--free forever from this frightful place; but the +days wore on and she was never alone, not even for half of ten +minutes. Many times she planned her escape. Had it not been for +the banths it had been easy of accomplishment by night. Ghek +always detached his body then and sank into what seemed a +semi-comatose condition. It could not be said that he slept, or +at least it did not appear like sleep, since his lidless eyes +were unchanged; but he lay quietly in a corner. Tara of Helium +enacted a thousand times in her mind the scene of her escape. She +would rush to the side of the rykor and seize the sword that hung +in its harness. Before Ghek knew what she purposed, she would +have this and then before he could give an alarm she would drive +the blade through his hideous head. It would take but a moment to +reach the enclosure. The rykors could not stop her, for they had +no brains to tell them that she was escaping. She had watched +from her window the opening and closing of the gate that led from +the enclosure out into the fields and she knew how the great +latch operated. She would pass through and make a quick dash for +the hill. It was so near that they could not overtake her. It was +so easy! Or it would have been but for the banths! The banths at +night and the workers in the fields by day.<br> +</p> + +Confined to the tower and without proper exercise or food, the +girl failed to show the improvement that her captors desired. +Ghek questioned her in an effort to learn why it was that she did +not grow round and plump; that she did not even look as well as +when they had captured her. His concern was prompted by repeated +inquiries on the part of Luud and finally resulted in suggesting +to Tara of Helium a plan whereby she might find a new opportunity +of escape. <br> +<p>"I am accustomed to walking in the fresh air and the +sunlight," she told Ghek. "I cannot become as I was before if I +am to be always shut away in this one chamber, breathing poor air +and getting no proper exercise. Permit me to go out in the fields +every day and walk about while the sun is shining. Then, I am +sure, I shall become nice and fat."<br> +</p> + +"You would run away," he said. <br> +<p>"But how could I if you were always with me?" she asked. "And +even if I wished to run away where could I go? I do not know even +the direction of Helium. It must be very far. The very first +night the banths would get me, would they not?"<br> +</p> + +"They would," said Ghek. "I will ask Luud about it." <br> +<p>The following day he told her that Luud had said that she was +to be taken into the fields. He would try that for a time and see +if she improved.<br> +</p> + +"If you do not grow fatter he will send for you anyway," said +Ghek; "but he will not use you for food." <br> +<p>Tara of Helium shuddered.<br> +</p> + +That day and for many days thereafter she was taken from the +tower, through the enclosure and out into the fields. Always was +she alert for an opportunity to escape; but Ghek was always close +by her side. It was not so much his presence that deterred her +from making the attempt as the number of workers that were always +between her and the hills where the flier lay. She could easily +have eluded Ghek, but there were too many of the others. And +then, one day, Ghek told her as he accompanied her into the open +that this would be the last time. <br> +<p>"Tonight you go to Luud," he said. "I am sorry as I shall not +hear you sing again."<br> +</p> + +"Tonight!" She scarce breathed the word, yet it was vibrant with +horror. <br> +<p>She glanced quickly toward the hills. They were so close! Yet +between were the inevitable workers--perhaps a score of them.<br> +</p> + +"Let us walk over there?" she said, indicating them. "I should +like to see what they are doing." <br> +<p>"It is too far," said Ghek. "I hate the sun. It is much +pleasanter here where I can stand beneath the shade of this +tree."<br> +</p> + +"All right," she agreed; "then you stay here and I will walk +over. It will take me but a minute." <br> +<p>"No," he answered. "I will go with you. You want to escape; +but you are not going to."<br> +</p> + +"I cannot escape," she said. <br> +<p>"I know it," agreed Ghek; "but you might try. I do not wish +you to try. Possibly it will be better if we return to the tower +at once. It would go hard with me should you escape."<br> +</p> + +Tara of Helium saw her last chance fading into oblivion. There +would never be another after today. She cast about for some +pretext to lure him even a little nearer to the hills. <br> +<p>"It is very little that I ask," she said. "Tonight you will +want me to sing to you. It will be the last time, if you do not +let me go and see what those kaldanes are doing I shall never +sing to you again."<br> +</p> + +Ghek hesitated. "I will hold you by the arm all the time, then," +he said. <br> +<p>"Why, of course, if you wish," she assented. "Come!"<br> +</p> + +The two moved toward the workers and the hills. The little party +was digging tubers from the ground. She had noted this and that +nearly always they were stooped low over their work, the hideous +eyes bent upon the upturned soil. She led Ghek quite close to +them, pretending that she wished to see exactly how they did the +work, and all the time he held her tightly by her left wrist. +<br> +<p>"It is very interesting," she said, with a sigh, and then, +suddenly; "Look, Ghek!" and pointed quickly back in the direction +of the tower. The kaldane, still holding her turned half away +from her to look in the direction she had indicated and +simultaneously, with the quickness of a banth, she struck him +with her right fist, backed by every ounce of strength she +possessed--struck the back of the pulpy head just above the +collar. The blow was sufficient to accomplish her design, +dislodging the kaldane from its rykor and tumbling it to the +ground. Instantly the grasp upon her wrist relaxed as the body, +no longer controlled by the brain of Ghek, stumbled aimlessly +about for an instant before it sank to its knees and then rolled +over on its back; but Tara of Helium waited not to note the full +results of her act. The instant the fingers loosened upon her +wrist she broke away and dashed toward the hills. Simultaneously +a warning whistle broke from Ghek's lips and in instant response +the workers leaped to their feet, one almost in the girl's path. +She dodged the outstretched arms and was away again toward the +hills and freedom, when her foot caught in one of the hoe-like +instruments with which the soil had been upturned and which had +been left, half imbedded in the ground. For an instant she ran +on, stumbling, in a mad effort to regain her equilibrium, but the +upturned furrows caught her feet--again she stumbled and this +time went down, and as she scrambled to rise again a heavy body +fell upon her and seized her arms. A moment later she was +surrounded and dragged to her feet and as she looked around she +saw Ghek crawling to his prostrate rykor. A moment later he +advanced to her side.<br> +</p> + +The hideous face, incapable of registering emotion, gave no clue +to what was passing in the enormous brain. Was he nursing +thoughts of anger, of hate, of revenge? Tara of Helium could not +guess, nor did she care. The worst had happened. She had tried to +escape and she had failed. There would never be another +opportunity. <br> +<p>"Come!" said Ghek. "We will return to the tower." The deadly +monotone of his voice was unbroken. It was worse than anger, for +it revealed nothing of his intentions. It but increased her +horror of these great brains that were beyond the possibility of +human emotions.<br> +</p> + +And so she was dragged back to her prison in the tower and Ghek +took up his vigil again, squatting by the doorway, but now he +carried a naked sword in his hand and did not quit his rykor, +only to change to another that be had brought to him when the +first gave indications of weariness. The girl sat looking at him. +He had not been unkind to her, but she felt no sense of +gratitude, nor, on the other hand, any sense of hatred. The +brains, incapable themselves of any of the finer sentiments, +awoke none in her. She could not feel gratitude, or affection, or +hatred of them. There was only the same unceasing sense of horror +in their presence. She had heard great scientists discuss the +future of the red race and she recalled that some had maintained +that eventually the brain would entirely dominate the man. There +would be no more instinctive acts or emotions, nothing would be +done on impulse; but on the contrary reason would direct our +every act. The propounder of the theory regretted that he might +never enjoy the blessings of such a state, which, he argued, +would result in the ideal life for mankind. <br> +<p>Tara of Helium wished with all her heart that this learned +scientist might be here to experience to the full the practical +results of the fulfillment of his prophecy. Between the purely +physical rykor and the purely mental kaldane there was little +choice; but in the happy medium of normal, and imperfect man, as +she knew him, lay the most desirable state of existence. It would +have been a splendid object lesson, she thought, to all those +idealists who seek mass perfection in any phase of human +endeavor, since here they might discover the truth that absolute +perfection is as little to be desired as is its antithesis.<br> +</p> + +Gloomy were the thoughts that filled the mind of Tara of Helium +as she awaited the summons from Luud--the summons that could mean +for her but one thing; death. She guessed why he had sent for her +and she knew that she must find the means for self-destruction +before the night was over; but still she clung to hope and to +life. She would not give up until there was no other way. She +startled Ghek once by exclaiming aloud, almost fiercely: "I still +live!" <br> +<p>"What do you mean?" asked the kaldane.<br> +</p> + +"I mean just what I say," she replied. "I still live and while I +live I may still find a way. Dead, there is no hope." <br> +<p>"Find a way to what?" he asked.<br> +</p> + +"To life and liberty and mine own people," she responded. <br> +<p>"None who enters Bantoom ever leaves," he droned.<br> +</p> + +She did not reply and after a time he spoke again. "Sing to me," +he said. <br> +<p>It was while she was singing that four warriors came to take +her to Luud. They told Ghek that he was to remain where he +was.<br> +</p> + +"Why?" asked Ghek. <br> +<p>"You have displeased Luud," replied one of the warriors.<br> +</p> + +"How?" demanded Ghek. <br> +<p>"You have demonstrated a lack of uncontaminated reasoning +power. You have permitted sentiment to influence you, thus +demonstrating that you are a defective. You know the fate of +defectives."<br> +</p> + +"I know the fate of defectives, but I am no defective," insisted +Ghek. <br> +<p>"You permitted the strange noises which issue from her throat +to please and soothe you, knowing well that their origin and +purpose had nothing whatever to do with logic or the powers of +reason. This in itself constitutes an unimpeachable indictment of +weakness, Then, influenced doubtless by an illogical feeling of +sentiment, you permitted her to walk abroad in the fields to a +place where she was able to make an almost successful attmept to +escape. Your own reasoning power, were it not defective, would +convince you that you are unfit. The natural, and reasonable, +consequence is destruction. Therefore you will be destroyed in +such a way that the example will be beneficial to all other +kaldanes of the swarm of Luud. In the meantime you will remain +where you are."<br> +</p> + +"You are right," said Ghek. "I will remain here until Luud sees +fit to destroy me in the most reasonable manner." <br> +<p>Tara of Helium shot a look of amazement at him as they led her +from the chamber. Over her shoulder she called back to him: +"Remember, Ghek, you still live!" Then they led her along the +interminable tunnels to where Luud awaited her.<br> +</p> + +When she was conducted into his presence he was squatting in a +corner of the chamber upon his six spidery legs. Near the +opposite wall lay his rykor, its beautiful form trapped in +gorgeous harness--a dead thing without a guiding kaldane. Luud +dismissed the warriors who had accompanied the prisoner. Then he +sat with his terrible eyes fixed upon her and without speaking +for some time. Tara of Helium could but wait. What was to come +she could only guess. When it came would be sufficiently the time +to meet it. There was no neccessity for anticipating the end. +Presently Luud spoke. <br> +<p>"You think to escape," he said, in the deadly, expressionless +monotone of his kind--the only possible result of orally +expressing reason uninfluenced by sentiment. "You will not +escape. You are merely the embodiment of two imperfect things--an +imperfect brain and an imperfect body. The two cannot exist +together in perfection. There you see a perfect body." He pointed +toward the rykor. "It has no brain. Here," and he raised one of +his chelae to his head, "is the perfect brain. It needs no body +to function perfectly and properly as a brain. You would pit your +feeble intellect against mine! Even now you are planning to slay +me. If you are thwarted in that you expect to slay yourself. You +will learn the power of mind over matter. I am the mind. You are +the matter. What brain you have is too weak and ill-developed to +deserve the name of brain. You have permitted it to be weakened +by impulsive acts dictated by sentiment. It has no value. It has +practically no control over your existence. You will not kill me. +You will not kill yourself. When I am through with you you shall +be killed if it seems the logical thing to do. You have no +conception of the possibilities for power which lie in a +perfectly developed brain. Look at that rykor. He has no brain. +He can move but slightly of his own volition. An inherent +mechanical instinct that we have permitted to remain in him +allows him to carry food to his mouth; but he could not find food +for himself. We have to place it within his reach and always in +the same place. Should we put food at his feet and leave him +alone he would starve to death. But now watch what a real brain +may accomplish."<br> +</p> + +He turned his eyes upon the rykor and squatted there glaring at +the insensate thing. Presently, to the girl's horror, the +headless body moved. It rose slowly to its feet and crossed the +room to Luud; it stooped and took the hideous head in its hands; +it raised the head and set it on its shoulders. <br> +<p>"What chance have you against such power?" asked Luud. "As I +did with the rykor so can I do with you."<br> +</p> + +Tara of Helium made no reply. Evidently no vocal reply was +necessary. <br> +<p>"You doubt my ability!" stated Luud, which was precisely the +fact, though the girl had only thought it--she had not said +it.<br> +</p> + +Luud crossed the room and lay down. Then he detached himself from +the body and crawled across the floor until he stood directly in +front of the circular opening through which she had seen him +emerge the day that she had first been brought to his presence. +He stopped there and fastened his terrible eyes upon her. He did +not speak, but his eyes seemed to be boring straight to the +center of her brain. She felt an almost irresistible force urging +her toward the kaldane. She fought to resist it; she tried to +turn away her eyes, but she could not. They were held as in +horrid fascination upon the glittering, lidless orbs of the great +brain that faced her. Slowly, every step a painful struggle of +resistance, she moved toward the horrific monster. She tried to +cry aloud in an effort to awaken her numbing faculties, but no +sound passed her lips. If those eyes would but turn away, just +for an instant, she felt that she might regain the power to +control her steps; but the eyes never left hers. They seemed but +to burn deeper and deeper, gathering up every vestige of control +of her entire nervous system. <br> +<p>As she approached the thing it backed slowly away upon its +spider legs. She noticed that its chelae waved slowly to and fro +before it as it backed, backed, backed, through the round +aperture in the wall. Must she follow it there, too? What new and +nameless horror lay concealed in that hidden chamber? No! she +would not do it. Yet before she reached the wall she found +herself down and crawling upon her hands and knees straight +toward the hole from which the two eyes still clung to hers. At +the very threshold of the opening she made a last, heroic stand, +battling against the force that drew her on; but in the end she +succumbed. With a gasp that ended in a sob Tara of Helium passed +through the aperture into the chamber beyond.<br> +</p> + +The opening was but barely large enough to admit her. Upon the +opposite side she found herself in a small chamber. Before her +squatted Luud. Against the opposite wall lay a large and +beautiful male rykor. He was without harness or other trappings. +<br> +<p>"You see now," said Luud, "the futility of revolt."<br> +</p> + +The words seemed to release her momentarily from the spell. +Quickly she turned away her eyes. <br> +<p>"Look at me!" commanded Luud.<br> +</p> + +Tara of Helium kept her eyes averted. She felt a new strength, or +at least a diminution of the creature's power over her. Had she +stumbled upon the secret of its uncanny domination over her will? +She dared not hope. With eyes averted she turned toward the +aperture through which those baleful eyes had drawn her. Again +Luud commanded her to stop, but the voice alone lacked all +authority to influence her. It was not like the eyes. She heard +the creature whistle and knew that it was summoning assistance, +but because she did not dare look toward it she did not see it +turn and concentrate its gaze upon the great, headless body lying +by the further wall. <br> +<p>The girl was still slightly under the spell of the creature's +influence--she had not regained full and independent domination +of her powers. She moved as one in the throes of some hideous +nightmare--slowly, painfully, as though each limb was hampered by +a great weight, or as she were dragging her body through a +viscous fluid. The aperture was close, ah, so close, yet, +struggle as she would, she seemed to be making no appreciable +progress toward it.<br> +</p> + +Behind her, urged on by the malevolent power of the great brain, +the headless body crawled upon all-fours toward her. At last she +had reached the aperture. Something seemed to tell her that once +beyond it the domination of the kaldane would be broken. She was +almost through into the adjoining chamber when she felt a heavy +hand close upon her ankle. The rykor had reached forth and seized +her, and though she struggled the thing dragged her back into the +room with Luud. It held her tight and drew her close, and then, +to her horror, it commenced to caress her. <br> +<p>"You see now," she heard Luud's dull voice, "the futility of +revolt--and its punishment."<br> +</p> + +Tara of Helium fought to defend herself, but pitifully weak were +her muscles against this brainless incarnation of brute power. +Yet she fought, fought on in the face of hopeless odds for the +honor of the proud name she bore--fought alone, she whom the +fighting men of a mighty empire, the flower of Martian chivalry, +would gladly have lain down their lives to save. <br> +<p><br> +</p> + +<h1 id="ref_8">CHAPTER VII</h1> + +A REPELLENT SIGHT <br> +<p>THE cruiser Vanator careened through the tempest That she had +not been dashed to the ground, or twisted by the force of the +elements into tangled wreckage, was due entirely to the caprice +of Nature. For all the duration of the storm she rode, a helpless +derelict, upon those storm-tossed waves of wind. But for all the +dangers and vicissitudes they underwent, she and her crew might +have borne charmed lives up to within an hour of the abating of +the hurricane. It was then that the catastrophe occurred--a +catastrophe indeed to the crew of the Vanator and the kingdom of +Gathol.<br> +</p> + +The men had been without food or drink since leaving Helium, and +they had been hurled about and buffeted in their lashings until +all were worn to exhaustion. There was a brief lull in the storm +during which one of the crew attempted to reach his quarters, +after releasing the lashings which had held him to the precarious +safety of the deck. The act in itself was a direct violation of +orders and, in the eyes of the other members of the crew, the +effect, which came with startling suddenness, took the form of a +swift and terrible retribution. Scarce had the man released the +safety snaps ere a swift arm of the storm-monster encircled the +ship, rolling it over and over, with the result that the +foolhardy warrior went overboard at the first turn. <br> +<p>Unloosed from their lashing by the constant turning and +twisting of the ship and the force of the wind, the boarding and +landing tackle had been trailing beneath the keel, a tangled mass +of cordage and leather. Upon the occasions that the Vanator +rolled completely over, these things would be wrapped around her +until another revolution in the opposite direction, or the wind +itself, carried them once again clear of the deck to trail, +whipping in the storm, beneath the hurtling ship.<br> +</p> + +Into this fell the body of the warrior, and as a drowning man +clutches at a straw so the fellow clutched at the tangled cordage +that caught him and arrested his fall. With the strength of +desperation he clung to the cordage, seeking frantically to +entangle his legs and body in it. With each jerk of the ship his +hand holds were all but torn loose, and though he knew that +eventually they would be and that he must be dashed to the ground +beneath, yet he fought with the madness that is born of +hopelessness for the pitiful second which but prolonged his +agony. <br> +<p>It was upon this sight then that Gahan of Gathol looked, over +the edge of the careening deck of the Vanator, as he sought to +learn the fate of his warrior. Lashed to the gunwale close at +hand a single landing leather that had not fouled the tangled +mass beneath whipped free from the ship's side, the hook snapping +at its outer end. The Jed of Gathol grasped the situation in a +single glance. Below him one of his people looked into the eyes +of Death. To the jed's hand lay the means for succor.<br> +</p> + +There was no instant's hesitation. Casting off his deck lashings, +he seized the landing leather and slipped over the ship's side. +Swinging like a bob upon a mad pendulum he swung far out and back +again, turning and twisting three thousand feet above the surface +of Barsoom, and then, at last, the thing he had hoped for +occurred. He was carried within reach of the cordage where the +warrior still clung, though with rapidly diminishing strength. +Catching one leg on a loop of the tangled strands Gahan pulled +himself close enough to seize another quite near to the fellow. +Clinging precariously to this new hold the jed slowly drew in the +landing leather, down which he had clambered until he could grasp +the hook at its end. This he fastened to a ring in the warrior's +harness, just before the man's weakened fingers slipped from +their hold upon the cordage. <br> +<p>Temporarily, at least, he had saved the life of his subject, +and now he turned his attention toward insuring his own safety. +Inextricably entangled in the mess to which he was clinging were +numerous other landing hooks such as he had attached to the +warrior's harness, and with one of these he sought to secure +himself until the storm should abate sufficiently to permit him +to climb to the deck, but even as he reached for one that swung +near him the ship was caught in a renewed burst of the storm's +fury, the thrashing cordage whipped and snapped to the lunging of +the great craft and one of the heavy metal hooks, lashing through +the air, struck the Jed of Gathol fair between the eyes.<br> +</p> + +Momentarily stunned, Gahan's fingers slipped from their hold upon +the cordage and the man shot downward through the thin air of +dying Mars toward the ground three thousand feet beneath, while +upon the deck of the rolling Vanator his faithful warriors clung +to their lashings all unconscious of the fate of their beloved +leader; nor was it until more than an hour later, after the storm +had materially subsided, that they realized he was lost, or knew +the self-sacrificing heroism of the act that had sealed his doom. +The Vanator now rested upon an even keel as she was carried along +by a strong, though steady, wind. The warriors had cast off their +deck lashings and the officers were taking account of losses and +damage when a weak cry was heard from oversides, attracting their +attention to the man hanging in the cordage beneath the keel. +Strongs arms hoisted him to the deck and then it was that the +crew of the Vanator learned of the heroism of their jed and his +end. How far they had traveled since his loss they could only +vaguely guess, nor could they return in search of him in the +disabled condition of the ship. It was a saddened company that +drifted onward through the air toward whatever destination Fate +was to choose for them. <br> +<p>And Gahan, Jed of Gathol--what of him? Plummet-like he fell +for a thousand feet and then the storm seized him in its giant +clutch and bore him far aloft again. As a bit of paper borne upon +a gale he was tossed about in mid-air, the sport and plaything of +the wind. Over and over it turned him and upward and downward it +carried him, but after each new sally of the element he was +brought nearer to the ground. The freaks of cyclonic storms are +the rule of cyclonic storms, demolish giant trees, and in the +same gust they transport frail infants for miles and deposit them +unharmed in their wake.<br> +</p> + +And so it was with Gahan of Gathol. Expecting momentarily to be +dashed to destruction he presently found himself deposited gently +upon the soft, ochre moss of a dead sea-bottom, bodily no worse +off for his harrowing adventure than in the possession of a +slight swelling upon his forehead where the metal hook had struck +him. Scarcely able to believe that Fate had dealt thus gently +with him, the jed arose slowly, as though more than half +convinced that he should discover crushed and splintered bones +that would not support his weight. But he was intact. He looked +about him in a vain effort at orientation. The air was filled +with flying dust and debris. The Sun was obliterated. His vision +was confined to a radius of a few hundred yards of ochre moss and +dust-filled air. Five hundred yards away in any direction there +might have arisen the walls of a great city and he not known it. +It was useless to move from where he was until the air cleared, +since he could not know in what direction he was moving, and so +he stretched himself upon the moss and waited, pondering the fate +of his warriors and his ship, but giving little thought to his +own precarious situation. <br> +<p>Lashed to his harness were his swords, his pistols, and a +dagger, and in his pocket-pouch a small quantity of the +concentrated rations that form a part of the equipment of the +fighting men of Barsoom. These things together with trained +muscles, high courage, and an undaunted spirit sufficed him for +whatever misadventures might lie between him and Gathol, which +lay in what direction he knew not, nor at what distance.<br> +</p> + +The wind was falling rapidly and with it the dust that obscured +the landscape. That the storm was over he was convinced, but he +chafed at the inactivity the low visibility put upon him, nor did +conditions better materially before night fell, so that he was +forced to await the new day at the very spot at which the tempest +had deposited him. Without his sleeping silks and furs he spent a +far from comfortable night, and it was with feelings of unmixed +relief that he saw the sudden dawn burst upon him. The air was +now clear and in the light of the new day he saw an undulating +plain stretching in all directions about him, while to the +northwest there were barely discernible the outlines of low +hills. Toward the southeast of Gathol was such a country, and as +Gahan surmised the direction and the velocity of the storm to +have carried him somewhere in the vicinity of the country he +thought he recognized, he assumed that Gathol lay behind the +hills he now saw, whereas, in reality, it lay far to the +northeast. <br> +<p>It was two days before Gahan had crossed the plain and reached +the summit of the hills from which he hoped to see his own +country, only to meet at last with disappointment. Before him +stretched another plain, of even greater proportions than that he +had but just crossed, and beyond this other hills. In one +material respect this plain differed from that behind him in that +it was dotted with occasional isolated hills. Convinced, however, +that Gathol lay somewhere in the direction of his search he +descended into the valley and bent his steps toward the +northwest.<br> +</p> + +For weeks Gahan of Gathol crossed valleys and hills in search of +some familiar landmark that might point his way toward his native +land, but the summit of each succeeding ridge revealed but +another unfamiliar view. He saw few animals and no men, until he +finally came to the belief that he had fallen upon that fabled +area of ancient Barsoom which lay under the curse of her olden +gods--the once rich and fertile country whose people in their +pride and arrogance had denied the deities, and whose punishment +had been extermination. <br> +<p>And then, one day, he scaled low hills and looked into an +inhabited valley--a valley of trees and cultivated fields and +plots of ground enclosed by stone walls surrounding strange +towers. He saw people working in the fields, but he did not rush +down to greet them. First he must know more of them and whether +they might be assumed to be friends or enemies. Hidden by +concealing shrubbery he crawled to a vantage point upon a hill +that projected further into the valley, and here he lay upon his +belly watching the workers closest to him. They were still quite +a distance from him and he could not be quite sure of them, but +there was something verging upon the unnatural about them. Their +heads seemed out of proportion to their bodies--too large.<br> +</p> + +For a long time he lay watching them and ever more forcibly it +was borne in upon his consciousness that they were not as he, and +that it would be rash to trust himself among them. Presently he +saw a couple appear from the nearest enclosure and slowly +approach those who were working nearest to the hill where he lay +in hiding. Immediately he was aware that one of these differed +from all the others. Even at the greater distance he noted that +the head was smaller and as they approached, he was confident +that the harness of one of them was not as the harness of its +companion or of that of any of those who tilled the fields. <br> +<p>The two stopped often, apparently in argument, as though one +would proceed in the direction that they were going while the +other demurred. But each time the smaller won reluctant consent +from the other, and so they came closer and closer to the last +line of workers toiling between the enclosure from which they had +come and the hill where Gahan of Gathol lay watching, and then +suddenly the smaller figure struck its companion full in the +face. Gahan, horrified, saw the latter's head topple from its +body, saw the body stagger and fall to the ground. The man half +rose from his concealment the better to view the happening in the +valley below. The creature that had felled its companion was +dashing madly in the direction of the hill upon which he was +hidden, it dodged one of the workers that sought to seize it. +Gahan hoped that it would gain its liberty, why he did not know +other than at closer range it had every appearance of being a +creature of his own race. Then he saw it stumble and go down and +instantly its pursuers were upon it. Then it was that Gahan's +eyes chanced to return to the figure of the creature the fugitive +had felled.<br> +</p> + +What horror was this that he was witnessing? Or were his eyes +playing some ghastly joke upon him? No, impossible though it +was--it was true--the head was moving slowly to the fallen body. +It placed itself upon the shoulders, the body rose, and the +creature, seemingly as good as new, ran quickly to where its +fellows were dragging the hapless captive to its feet. <br> +<p>The watcher saw the creature take its prisoner by the arm and +lead it back to the enclosure, and even across the distance that +separated them from him he could note dejection and utter +hopelessness in the bearing of the prisoner, and, too, he was +half convinced that it was a woman, perhaps a red Martian of his +own race. Could he be sure that this was true he must make some +effort to rescue her even though the customs of his strange world +required it only in case she was of his own country; but he was +not sure; she might not be a red Martian at all, or, if she were, +it was as possible that she sprang from an enemy people as not. +His first duty was to return to his own people with as little +personal risk as possible, and though the thought of adventure +stirred his blood he put the temptation aside with a sigh and +turned away from the peaceful and beautiful valley that he longed +to enter, for it was his intention to skirt its eastern edge and +continue his search for Gathol beyond.<br> +</p> + +As Gahan of Gathol turned his steps along the southern slopes of +the hills that bound Bantoom upon the south and east, his +attention was attracted toward a small cluster of trees a short +distance to his right. The low sun was casting long shadows. It +would soon be night. The trees were off the path that he had +chosen and he had little mind to be diverted from his way; but as +he looked again he hesitated. There was something there besides +boles of trees, and underbrush. There were suggestions of +familiar lines of the handicraft of man. Gahan stopped and +strained his eyes in the direction of the thing that had arrested +his attention. No, he must be mistaken--the branches of the trees +and a low bush had taken on an unnatural semblance in the +horizontal rays of the setting sun. He turned and continued upon +his way; but as he cast another side glance in the direction of +the object of his interest, the sun's rays were shot back into +his eyes from a glistening point of radiance among the trees. +<br> +<p>Gahan shook his head and walked quickly toward the mystery, +determined now to solve it. The shining object still lured him on +and when he had come closer to it his eyes went wide in surprise, +for the thing they saw was naught else than the jewel-encrusted +emblem upon the prow of a small flier. Gahan, his hand upon his +short-sword, moved silently forward, but as he neared the craft +he saw that he had naught to fear, for it was deserted. Then he +turned his attention toward the emblem. As its significance was +flashed to his understanding his face paled and his heart went +cold--it was the insignia of the house of The Warlord of Barsoom. +Instantly he saw the dejected figure of the captive being led +back to her prison in the valley just beyond the hills. Tara of +Helium! And he had been so near to deserting her to her fate. The +cold sweat stood in beads upon his brow.<br> +</p> + +A hasty examination of the deserted craft unfolded to the young +jed the whole tragic story. The same tempest that had proved his +undoing had borne Tara of Helium to this distant country. Here, +doubtless, she had landed in hope of obtaining food and water +since, without a propellor, she could not hope to reach her +native city, or any other friendly port, other than by the merest +caprice of Fate. The flier seemed intact except for the missing +propellor and the fact that it had been carefully moored in the +shelter of the clump of trees indicated that the girl had +expected to return to it, while the dust and leaves upon its deck +spoke of the long days, and even weeks, since she had landed. +Mute yet eloquent proofs, these things, that Tara of Helium was a +prisoner, and that she was the very prisoner whose bold dash for +liberty he had so recently witnessed he now had not the slightest +doubt. <br> +<p>The question now revolved solely about her rescue. He knew to +which tower she had been taken--that much and no more. Of the +number, the kind, or the disposition of her captors he renew +nothing; nor did he care--for Tara of Helium he would face a +hostile world alone. Rapidly he considered several plans for +succoring her; but the one that appealed most strongly to him was +that which offered the greatest chance of escape for the girl +should he be successful in reaching her. His decision reached he +turned his attention quickly toward the flier. Casting off its +lashings he dragged it out from beneath the trees, and, mounting +to the deck tested out the various controls. The motor started at +a touch and purred sweetly, the buoyancy tanks were well stocked, +and the ship answered perfectly to the controls which regulated +her altitude. There was nothing needed but a propellor to make +her fit for the long voyage to Helium. Gahan shrugged +impatiently--there must not be a propellor within a thousand +haads. But what mattered it? The craft even without a propellor +would still answer the purpose his plan required of it--provided +the captors of Tara of Helium were a people without ships, and he +had seen nothing to suggest that they had ships. The architecture +of their towers and enclosures assured him that they had not.<br> +</p> + +The sudden Barsoomian night had fallen. Cluros rode majestically +the high heavens. The rumbling roar of a banth reverberated among +the hills. Gahan of Gathol let the ship rise a few feet from the +ground, then, seizing a bow rope, he dropped over the side. To +tow the little craft was now a thing of ease, and as Gahan moved +rapidly toward the brow of the hill above Bantoom the flier +floated behind him as lightly as a swan upon a quiet lake. Now +down the hill toward the tower dimly visible in the moonlight the +Gatholian turned his steps. Closer behind him sounded the roar of +the hunting banth. He wondered if the beast sought him or was +following some other spoor. He could not be delayed now by any +hungry beast of prey, for what might that very instant be +befalling Tara of Helium he could not guess; and so he hastened +his steps. But closer and closer came the horrid screams of the +great carnivore, and now he heard the swift fall of padded feet +upon the hillside behind him. He glanced back just in time to see +the beast break into a rapid charge. His hand leaped to the hilt +of his long-sword, but he did not draw, for in the same instant +he saw the futility of armed resistance, since behind the first +banth came a herd of at least a dozen others. There was but a +single alternative to a futile stand and that he grasped in the +instant that he saw the overwhelming numbers of his antagonists. +<br> +<p>Springing lightly from the ground he swarmed up the rope +toward the bow of the flier. His weight drew the craft slightly +lower and at the very instant that the man drew himself to the +deck at the bow of the vessel, the leading banth sprang for the +stern. Gahan leaped to his feet and rushed toward the great beast +in the hope of dislodging it before it had succeeded in +clambering aboard. At the same instant he saw that others of the +banths were racing toward them with the quite evident intention +of following their leader to the ship's deck. Should they reach +it in any numbers he would be lost. There was but a single hope. +Leaping for the altitude control Gahan pulled it wide. +Simultaneously three banths leaped for the deck. The craft rose +swiftly. Gahan felt the impact of a body against the keel, +followed by the soft thuds of the great bodies as they struck the +ground beneath. His act had not been an instant too soon. And now +the leader had gained the deck and stood at the stern with +glaring eyes and snarling jaws. Gahan drew his sword. The beast, +possibly disconcerted by the novelty of its position, did not +charge. Instead it crept slowly toward its intended prey. The +craft was rising and Gahan placed a foot upon the control and +stopped the ascent. He did not wish to chance rising to some +higher air current that would bear him away. Already the craft +was moving slowly toward the tower, carried thither by the +impetus of the banth's heavy body leaping upon it from +astern.<br> +</p> + +The man watched the slow approach of the monster, the slavering +jowls, the malignant expression of the devilish face. The +creature, finding the deck stable, appeared to be gaining +confidence, and then the man leaped suddenly to one side of the +deck and the tiny flier heeled as suddenly in response. The banth +slipped and clutched frantically at the deck. Gahan leaped in +with his naked sword; the great beast caught itself and reared +upon its hind legs to reach forth and seize this presumptuous +mortal that dared question its right to the flesh it craved; and +then the man sprang to the opposite side of the deck. The banth +toppled sideways at the same instant that it attempted to spring; +a raking talon passed close to Gahan's head at the moment that +his sword lunged through the savage heart, and as the warrior +wrenched his blade from the carcass it slipped silently over the +side of the ship. <br> +<p>A glance below showed that the vessel was drifting in the +direction of the tower to which Gahan had seen the prisoner led. +In another moment or two it would be directly over it. The man +sprang to the control and let the craft drop quickly toward the +ground where followed the banths, still hot for their prey. To +land outside the enclosure spelled certain death, while inside he +could see many forms huddled upon the ground as in sleep. The +ship floated now but a few feet above the wall of the enclosure. +There was nothing for it but to risk all on a bold bid for +fortune, or drift helplessly past without hope of returning +through the banth-infested valley, from many points of which he +could now hear the roars and growls of these fierce Barsoomian +lions.<br> +</p> + +Slipping over the side Gahan descended by the trailing +anchor-rope until his feet touched the top of the wall, where he +had no difficulty in arresting the slow drifting of the ship. +Then he drew up the anchor and lowered it inside the enclosure. +Still there was no movement upon the part of the sleepers +beneath--they lay as dead men. Dull lights shone from openings in +the tower; but there was no sign of guard or waking inmate. +Clinging to the rope Gahan lowered himself within the enclosure, +where he had his first close view of the creatures lying there in +what he had thought sleep. With a half smothered exclamation of +horror the man drew back from the headless bodies of the rykors. +At first he thought them the corpses of decapitated humans like +himself, which was quite bad enough; but when he saw them move +and realized that they were endowed with life, his horror and +disgust became even greater. <br> +<p>Here then was the explanation of the thing he had witnessed +that afternoon, when Tara of Helium had struck the back to its +body. And to think that the pearl of Helium was in the power of +such hideous things as these. Again the man shuddered, but he +hastened to make fast the flier, clamber again to its deck and +lower it to the floor of the enclosure. Then he strode toward a +door in the base of the tower, stepping lightly over the +recumbent forms of the unconscious rykors, and crossing the +threshold disappeared within.<br> +</p> + +<br> +<h1 id="ref_9">CHAPTER VIII</h1> + +CLOSE WORK <br> +GHEK, in his happier days third foreman of the fields of Luud, +sat nursing his anger and his humiliation. Recently something had +awakened within him the existence of which he had never before +even dreamed. Had the influence of the strange captive woman +aught to do with this unrest and dissatisfaction? He did not +know. He missed the soothing influence of the noise she called +singing. Could it be that there were other things more desirable +than cold logic and undefiled brain power? Was well balanced +imperfection more to be sought after then, than the high +development of a single characteristic? He thought of the great, +ultimate brain toward which all kaldanes were striving. It would +be deaf, and dumb, and blind. A thousand beautiful strangers +might sing and dance about it, but it could derive no pleasure +from the singing or the dancing since it would possess no +perceptive faculties. Already had the kaldanes shut themselves +off from most of the gratifications of the senses. Ghek wondered +if much was to be gained by denying themselves still further, and +with the thought came a question as to the whole fabric of their +theory. After all perhaps the girl was right; what purpose could +a great brain serve sealed in the bowels of the earth? <br> +<p>And he, Ghek, was to die for this theory. Luud had decreed it. +The injustice of it overwhelmed him with rage. But he was +helpless. There was no escape. Beyond the enclosure the banths +awaited him; within, his own kind, equally as merciless and +ferocious. Among them there was no such thing as love, or +loyalty, or friendship--they were just brains. He might kill +Luud; but what would that profit him? Another king would be +loosed from his sealed chamber and Ghek would be killed. He did +not know it but he would not even have the poor satisfaction of +satisfied revenge, since he was not capable of feeling so +abstruse a sentiment.<br> +</p> + +Ghek, mounted upon his rykor, paced the floor of the tower +chamber in which he had been ordered to remain. Ordinarily he +would have accepted the sentence of Luud with perfect equanimity, +since it was but the logical result of reason; but now it seemed +different. The stranger woman had bewitched him. Life appeared a +pleasant thing--there were great possibilities in it. The dream +of the ultimate brain had receded into a tenuous haze far in the +background of his thoughts. <br> +<p>At that moment there appeared in the doorway of the chamber a +red warrior with naked sword. He was a male counterpart of the +prisoner whose sweet voice had undermined the cold, calculating +reason of the kaldane.<br> +</p> + +"Silence!" admonished the newcomer, his straight brows gathered +in an ominous frown and the point of his longsword playing +menacingly before the eyes of the kaldane. "I seek the woman, +Tara of Helium. Where is she? If you value your life speak +quickly and speak the truth." <br> +<p>If he valued his life! It was a truth that Ghek had but just +learned. He thought quickly. After all, a great brain is not +without its uses. Perhaps here lay escape from the sentence of +Luud.<br> +</p> + +"You are of her kind?" he asked. "You come to rescue her?" <br> +<p>"Yes."<br> +</p> + +"Listen, then. I have befriended her, and because of this I am to +die. If I help you to liberate her, will you take me with you?" +<br> +<p>Gahan of Gathol eyed the weird creature from crown to +foot--the perfect body, the grotesque head, the expressionless +face. Among such as these had the beautiful daughter of Helium +been held captive for days and weeks.<br> +</p> + +"If she lives and is unharmed," he said, "I will take you with +us." <br> +<p>"When they took her from me she was alive and unharmed," +replied Ghek. "I cannot say what has befallen her since. Luud +sent for her."<br> +</p> + +"Who is Luud? Where is he? Lead me to him." Gahan spoke quickly +in tones vibrant with authority. <br> +<p>"Come, then," said Ghek, leading the way from the apartment +and down a stairway toward the underground burrows of the +kaldanes. "Luud is my king. I will take you to his chambers."<br> +</p> + +"Hasten!" urged Gahan. <br> +<p>"Sheathe your sword," warned Ghek, "so that should we pass +others of my kind I may say to them that you are a new prisoner +with some likelihood of winning their belief."<br> +</p> + +Gahan did as he was bid, but warning the kaldane that his hand +was ever ready at his dagger's hilt. <br> +<p>"You need have no fear of treachery," said Ghek "My only hope +of life lies in you."<br> +</p> + +"And if you fail me," Gahan admonished him, "I can promise you as +sure a death as even your king might guarantee you." <br> +<p>Ghek made no reply, but moved rapidly through the winding +subterranean corridors until Gahan began to realize how truly was +he in the hands of this strange monster. If the fellow should +prove false it would profit Gahan nothing to slay him, since +without his guidance the red man might never hope to retrace his +way to the tower and freedom.<br> +</p> + +Twice they met and were accosted by other kaldanes; but in both +instances Ghek's simple statement that he was taking a new +prisoner to Luud appeared to allay all suspicion, and then at +last they came to the ante-chamber of the king. <br> +<p>"Here, now, red man, thou must fight, if ever," whispered +Ghek. "Enter there!" and he pointed to a doorway before them.<br> +</p> + +"And you?" asked Gahan, still fearful of treachery. <br> +<p>"My rykor is powerful," replied the kaldane. "I shall +accompany you and fight at your side. As well die thus as in +torture later at the will of Luud. Come!"<br> +</p> + +But Gahan had already crossed the room and entered the chamber +beyond. Upon the opposite side of the room was a circular opening +guarded by two warriors. Beyond this opening he could see two +figures struggling upon the floor, and the fleeting glimpse he +had of one of the faces suddenly endowed him with the strength of +ten warriors and the ferocity of a wounded banth. It was Tara of +Helium, fighting for her honor or her life. <br> +<p>The warriors, startled by the unexpected appearance of a red +man, stood for a moment in dumb amazement, and in that moment +Gahan of Gathol was upon them, and one was down, a sword-thrust +through its heart.<br> +</p> + +"Strike at the heads," whispered the voice of Ghek in Gahan's +ear. The latter saw the head of the fallen warrior crawl quickly +within the aperture leading to the chamber where he had seen Tara +of Helium in the clutches of a headless body. Then the sword of +Ghek struck the kaldane of the remaining warrior from its rykor +and Gahan ran his sword through the repulsive head. <br> +<p>Instantly the red warrior leaped for the aperture, while close +behind him came Ghek.<br> +</p> + +"Look not upon the eyes of Luud," warned the kaldane, "or you are +lost." <br> +<p>Within the chamber Gahan saw Tara of Helium in the clutches of +a mighty body, while close to the wall upon the opposite side of +the apartment crouched the hideous, spider-like Luud. Instantly +the king realized the menace to himself and sought to fasten his +eyes upon the eyes of Gahan, and in doing so he was forced to +relax his concentration upon the rykor in whose embraces Tara +struggled, so that almost immediately the girl found herself able +to tear away from the awful, headless thing.<br> +</p> + +As she rose quickly to her feet she saw for the first time the +cause of the interruption of Luud's plans. A red warrior! Her +heart leaped in rejoicing and thanksgiving. What miracle of fate +had sent him to her? She did not recognize him, though, this +travel-worn warrior in the plain harness which showed no single +jewel. How could she have guessed him the same as the scintillant +creature of platinum and diamonds that she had seen for a brief +hour under such different circumstances at the court of her +august sire? <br> +<p>Luud saw Ghek following the strange warrior into the chamber. +"Strike him down, Ghek!" commanded the king. "Strike down the +stranger and your life shall be yours."<br> +</p> + +Gahan glanced at the hideous face of the king. <br> +<p>"Seek not his eyes," screamed Tara in warning; but it was too +late. Already the horrid hypnotic gaze of the king kaldane had +seized upon the eyes of Gahan. The red warrior hesitated in his +stride. His sword point drooped slowly toward the floor. Tara +glanced toward Ghek. She saw the creature glaring with his +expressionless eyes upon the broad back of the stranger. She saw +the hand of the creature's rykor creeping stealthily toward the +hilt of its dagger.<br> +</p> + +And then Tara of Helium raised her eyes aloft and poured forth +the notes of Mars' most beautiful melody, The Song of Love. <br> +<p>Ghek drew his dagger from its sheath. His eyes turned toward +the singing girl. Luud's glance wavered from the eyes of the man +to the face of Tara, and the instant that the latter's song +distracted his attention from his victim, Gahan of Gathol shook +himself and as with a supreme effort of will forced his eyes to +the wall above Luud's hideous head. Ghek raised his dagger above +his right shoulder, took a single quick step forward, and struck. +The girl's song ended in a stifled scream as she leaped forward +with the evident intention of frustrating the kaldane's purpose; +but she was too late, and well it was, for an instant later she +realized the purpose of Ghek's act as she saw the dagger fly from +his hand, pass Gahan's shoulder, and sink full to the guard in +the soft face of Luud.<br> +</p> + +"Come!" cried the assassin, "we have no time to lose," and +started for the aperture through which they had entered the +chamber; but in his stride he paused as his glance was arrested +by the form of the mighty rykor Iying prone upon the floor--a +king's rykor; the most beautiful, the most powerful, that the +breeders of Bantoom could produce. Ghek realized that in his +escape he could take with him but a single rykor, and there was +none in Bantoom that could give him better service than this +giant Iying here. Quickly he transferred himself to the shoulders +of the great, inert hulk. Instantly the latter was transformed to +a sentient creature, filled with pulsing life and alert energy. +<br> +<p>"Now," said the kaldane, "we are ready. Let whoso would revert +to nothingness impede me." Even as he spoke he stooped and +crawled into the chamber beyond, while Gahan, taking Tara by the +arm, motioned her to follow. The girl looked him full in the eyes +for the first time. "The Gods of my people have been kind," she +said; "you came just in time. To the thanks of Tara of Helium +shall be added those of The Warlord of Barsoom and his people. +Thy reward shall surpass thy greatest desires."<br> +</p> + +Gahan of Gathol saw that she did not recognize him, and quickly +he checked the warm greeting that had been upon his lips. <br> +<p>"Be thou Tara of Helium or another," he replied, "is +immaterial, to serve thus a red woman of Barsoom is in itself +sufficient reward."<br> +</p> + +As they spoke the girl was making her way through the aperture +after Ghek, and presently all three had quitted the apartments of +Luud and were moving rapidly along the winding corridors toward +the tower. Ghek repeatedly urged them to greater speed, but the +red men of Barsoom were never keen for retreat, and so the two +that followed him moved all too slowly for the kaldane. <br> +<p>"There are none to impede our progress," urged Gahan, "so why +tax the strength of the Princess by needless haste?"<br> +</p> + +"I fear not so much opposition ahead, for there are none there +who know the thing that has been done in Luud's chambers this +night; but the kaldane of one of the warriors who stood guard +before Luud's apartment escaped, and you may count it a truth +that he lost no time in seeking aid. That it did not come before +we left is due solely to the rapidity with which events +transpired in the king's* room. Long before we reach the tower +they will be upon us from behind, and that they will come in +numbers far superior to ours and with great and powerful rykors I +well know." <br> +<p>* I have used the word king in describing the rulers or chiefs +of the Bantoomian swarms, since the word itself is +unpronounceable in English, nor does jed or jeddak of the red +Martian tongue have quite the same meaning as the Bantoomian +word, which has practically the same significance as the English +word queen as applied to the leader of a swarm of bees.--J. +C.<br> +</p> + +Nor was Ghek's prophecy long in fulfilment. Presently the sounds +of pursuit became audible in the distant clanking of +accouterments and the whistling call to arms of the kaldanes. +<br> +<p>"The tower is but a short distance now," cried Ghek. "Make +haste while yet you may, and if we can barricade it until the sun +rises we may yet escape."<br> +</p> + +"We shall need no barricades for we shall not linger in the +tower," replied Gahan, moving more rapidly as he realized from +the volume of sound behind them the great number of their +pursuers. <br> +<p>"But we may not go further than the tower tonight," insisted +Ghek. "Beyond the tower await the banths and certain death."<br> +</p> + +Gahan smiled. "Fear not the banths," he assured them. "Can we but +reach the enclosure a little ahead of our pursuers we have naught +to fear from any evil power within this accursed valley." <br> +<p>Ghek made no reply, nor did his expressionless face denote +either belief or skepticism. The girl looked into the face of the +man questioningly. She did not understand.<br> +</p> + +"Your flier," he said. "It is moored before the tower." <br> +<p>Her face lighted with pleasure and relief. "You found it!" she +exclaimed. "What fortune!"<br> +</p> + +"It was fortune indeed," he replied. "Since it not only told that +you were a prisoner here; but it saved me from the banths as I +was crossing the valley from the hills to this tower into which I +saw them take you this afternoon after your brave attempt at +escape." <br> +<p>"How did you know it was I?" she asked, her puzzled brows +scanning his face as though she sought to recall from past +memories some scene in which he figured.<br> +</p> + +"Who is there but knows of the loss of the Princess Tara of +Helium?" he replied. "And when I saw the device upon your flier I +knew at once, though I had not known when I saw you among them in +the fields a short time earlier. Too great was the distance for +me to make certain whether the captive was man or woman. Had +chance not divulged the hiding place of your flier I had gone my +way, Tara of Helium. I shudder to think how close was the chance +at that. But for the momentary shining of the sun upon the +emblazoned device on the prow of your craft, I had passed on +unknowing." <br> +<p>The girl shuddered. "The Gods sent you," she whispered +reverently.<br> +</p> + +"The Gods sent me, Tara of Helium," he replied. <br> +<p>"But I do not recognize you," she said. "I have tried to +recall you, but I have failed. Your name, what may it be?"<br> +</p> + +"It is not strange that so great a princess should not recall the +face of every roving panthan of Barsoom," he replied with a +smile. <br> +<p>"But your name?" insisted the girl.<br> +</p> + +"Call me Turan," replied the man, for it had come to him that if +Tara of Helium recognized him as the man whose impetuous avowal +of love had angered her that day in the gardens of The Warlord, +her situation might be rendered infinitely less bearable than +were she to believe him a total stranger. Then, too, as a simple +panthan* he might win a greater degree of her confidence by his +loyalty and faithfulness and a place in her esteem that seemed to +have been closed to the resplendent Jed of Gathol. <br> +<p>* Soldier of Fortune; free-lance warrior.<br> +</p> + +They had reached the tower now, and as they entered it from the +subterranean corridor a backward glance revealed the van of their +pursuers--hideous kaldanes mounted upon swift and powerful +rykors. As rapidly as might be the three ascended the stairways +leading to the ground level, but after them, even more rapidly, +came the minions of Luud. Ghek led the way, grasping one of +Tara's hands the more easily to guide and assist her, while Gahan +of Gathol followed a few paces in their rear, his bared sword +ready for the assault that all realized must come upon them now +before ever they reached the enclosure and the flier. <br> +<p>"Let Ghek drop behind to your side," said Tara, "and fight +with you."<br> +</p> + +"There is but room for a single blade in these narrow corridors," +replied the Gatholian. "Hasten on with Ghek and win to the deck +of the flier. Have your hand upon the control, and if I come far +enough ahead of these to reach the dangling cable you can rise at +my word and I can clamber to the deck at my leisure; but if one +of them emerges first into the enclosure you will know that I +shall never come, and you will rise quickly and trust to the Gods +of our ancestors to give you a fair breeze in the direction of a +more hospitable people." <br> +<p>Tara of Helium shook her head. "We will not desert you, +panthan," she said.<br> +</p> + +Gahan, ignoring her reply, spoke above her head to Ghek. "Take +her to the craft moored within the enclosure," he commanded. "It +is our only hope. Alone, I may win to its deck; but have I to +wait upon you two at the last moment the chances are that none of +us will escape. Do as I bid." His tone was haughty and +arrogant--the tone of a man who has commanded other men from +birth, and whose will has been law. Tara of Helium was both +angered and vexed. She was not accustomed to being either +commanded or ignored, but with all her royal pride she was no +fool, and she knew the man was right, that he was risking his +life to save hers, so she hastened on with Ghek as she was bid, +and after the first flush of anger she smiled, for the +realization came to her that this fellow was but a rough +untutored warrior, skilled not in the finer usages of cultured +courts. His heart was right, though; a brave and loyal heart, and +gladly she forgave him the offense of his tone and manner. But +what a tone! Recollection of it gave her sudden pause. Panthans +were rough and ready men. Often they rose to positions of high +command, so it was not the note of authority in the fellow's +voice that seemed remarkable; but something else--a quality that +was indefinable, yet as distinct as it was familiar. She had +heard it before when the voice of her great-grandsire, Tardos +Mors, Jeddak of Helium, had risen in command; and in the voice of +her grandfather, Mors Kajak, the jed; and in the ringing tones of +her illustrious sire, John Carter, Warlord of Barsoom, when he +addressed his warriors. <br> +<p>But now she had no time to speculate upon so trivial a thing, +for behind her came the sudden clash of arms and she knew that +Turan, the panthan, had crossed swords with the first of their +pursuers. As she glanced back he was still visible beyond a turn +in the stairway, so that she could see the quick swordplay that +ensued. Daughter of a world's greatest swordsman, she knew well +the finest points of the art. She saw the clumsy attack of the +kaldane and the quick, sure return of the panthan. As she looked +down from above upon his almost naked body, trapped only in the +simplest of unadorned harness, and saw the play of the lithe +muscles beneath the red-bronze skin, and witnessed the quick and +delicate play of his sword point, to her sense of obligation was +added a spontaneous admission of admiration that was but the +natural tribute of a woman to skill and bravery and, perchance, +some trifle to manly symmetry and strength.<br> +</p> + +Three times the panthan's blade changed its position--once to +fend a savage cut; once to feint; and once to thrust. And as he +withdrew it from the last position the kaldane rolled lifeless +from its stumbling rykor and Turan sprang quickly down the steps +to engage the next behind, and then Ghek had drawn Tara upward +and a turn in the stairway shut the battling panthan from her +view; but still she heard the ring of steel on steel, the clank +of accouterments and the shrill whistling of the kaldanes. Her +heart moved her to turn back to the side of her brave defender; +but her judgment told her that she could serve him best by being +ready at the control of the flier at the moment he reached the +enclosure. <br> +<p><br> +</p> + +<h1 id="ref_10">CHAPTER IX</h1> + +ADRIFT OVER STRANGE REGIONS <br> +<p>PRESENTLY Ghek pushed aside a door that opened from the +stairway, and before them Tara saw the moonlight flooding the +walled court where the headless rykors lay beside their +feeding-troughs. She saw the perfect bodies, muscled as the best +of her father's fighting men, and the females whose figures would +have been the envy of many of Helium's most beautiful women. Ah, +if she could but endow these with the power to act! Then indeed +might the safety of the panthan be assured; but they were only +poor lumps of clay, nor had she the power to quicken them to +life. Ever must they lie thus until dominated by the cold, +heartless brain of the kaldane. The girl sighed in pity even as +she shuddered in disgust as she picked her way over and among the +sprawled creatures toward the flier.<br> +</p> + +Quickly she and Ghek mounted to the deck after the latter had +cast off the moorings. Tara tested the control, raising and +lowering the ship a few feet within the walled space. It +responded perfectly. Then she lowered it to the ground again and +waited. From the open doorway came the sounds of conflict, now +nearing them, now receding. The girl, having witnessed her +champion's skill, had little fear of the outcome. Only a single +antagonist could face him at a time upon the narrow stairway, he +had the advantage of position and of the defensive, and he was a +master of the sword while they were clumsy bunglers by +comparison. Their sole advantage was in their numbers, unless +they might find a way to come upon him from behind. <br> +<p>She paled at the thought. Could she have seen him she might +have been further perturbed, for he took no advantage of many +opportunities to win nearer the enclosure. He fought coolly, but +with a savage persistence that bore little semblance to purely +defensive action. Often he clambered over the body of a fallen +foe to leap against the next behind, and once there lay five dead +kaldanes behind him, so far had he pushed back his antagonists. +They did not know it; these kaldanes that he fought, nor did the +girl awaiting him upon the flier, but Gahan of Gathol was engaged +in a more alluring sport than winning to freedom, for he was +avenging the indignities that had been put upon the woman he +loved; but presently he realized that he might be jeopardizing +her safety uselessly, and so he struck down another before him +and turning leaped quickly up the stairway, while the leading +kaldanes slipped upon the brain-covered floor and stumbled in +pursuit.<br> +</p> + +Gahan reached the enclosure twenty paces ahead of them and raced +toward the flier. "Rise!" he shouted to the girl. "I will ascend +the cable." <br> +<p>Slowly the small craft rose from the ground as Gahan leaped +the inert bodies of the rykors lying in his path. The first of +the pursuers sprang from the tower just as Gahan seized the +trailing rope.<br> +</p> + +"Faster!" he shouted to the girl above, "or they will drag us +down!" But the ship seemed scarcely to move, though in reality +she was rising as rapidly as might have been expected of a +one-man flier carrying a load of three. Gahan swung free above +the top of the wall, but the end of the rope still dragged the +ground as the kaldanes reached it. They were pouring in a steady +stream from the tower into the enclosure. The leader seized the +rope. <br> +<p>"Quick!" he cried. "Lay hold and we will drag them down."<br> +</p> + +It needed but the weight of a few to accomplish his design. The +ship was stopped in its flight and then, to the horror of the +girl, she felt it being dragged steadily downward. Gahan, too, +realized the danger and the necessity for instant action. +Clinging to the rope with his left hand, he had wound a leg about +it, leaving his right hand free for his long-sword which he had +not sheathed. A downward cut clove the soft head of a kaldane, +and another severed the taut rope beneath the panthan's feet. The +girl heard a sudden renewal of the shrill whistling of her foes, +and at the same time she realized that the craft was rising +again. Slowly it drifted upward, out of reach of the enemy, and a +moment later she saw the figure of Turan clamber over the side. +For the first time in many weeks her heart was filled with the +joy of thanksgiving; but her first thought was of another. <br> +<p>"You are not wounded?" she asked.<br> +</p> + +'No, Tara of Helium," he replied. "They were scarce worth the +effort of my blade, and never were they a menace to me because of +their swords." <br> +<p>"They should have slain you easily," said Ghek. "So great and +highly developed is the power of reason among us that they should +have known before you struck just where, logically, you must seek +to strike, and so they should have been able to parry your every +thrust and easily find an opening to your heart."<br> +</p> + +"But they did not, Ghek," Gahan reminded him. "Their theory of +development is wrong, for it does not tend toward a perfectly +balanced whole. You have developed the brain and neglected the +body and you can never do with the hands of another what you can +do with your own hands. Mine are trained to the sword--every +muscle responds instantly and accurately, and almost +mechanically, to the need of the instant. I am scarcely +objectively aware that I think when I fight, so quickly does my +point take advantage of every opening, or spring to my defense if +I am threatened that it is almost as though the cold steel had +eyes and brains. You, with your kaldane brain and your rykor +body, never could hope to achieve in the same degree of +perfection those things that I can achieve. Development of the +brain should not be the sum total of human endeavor. The richest +and happiest peoples will be those who attain closest to +well-balanced perfection of both mind and body, and even these +must always be short of perfection. In absolute and general +perfection lies stifling monotony and death. Nature must have +contrasts; she must have shadows as well as high lights; sorrow +with happiness; both wrong and right; and sin as well as virtue." +<br> +<p>"Always have I been taught differently," replied Ghek; "but +since I have known this woman and you, of another race, I have +come to believe that there may be other standards fully as high +and desirable as those of the kaldanes. At least I have had a +glimpse of the thing you call happiness and I realize that it may +be good even though I have no means of expressing it. I cannot +laugh nor smile, and yet within me is a sense of contentment when +this woman sings--a sense that seems to open before me wondrous +vistas of beauty and unguessed pleasure that far transcend the +cold joys of a perfectly functioning brain. I would that I had +been born of thy race."<br> +</p> + +Caught by a gentle current of air the flier was drifting slowly +toward the northeast across the valley of Bantoom. Below them lay +the cultivated fields, and one after another they passed over the +strange towers of Moak and Nolach and the other kings of the +swarms that inhabited this weird and terrible land. Within each +enclosure surrounding the towers grovelled the rykors, repellent, +headless things, beautiful yet hideous. <br> +<p>"A lesson, those," remarked Gahan, indicating the rykors in an +enclosure above which they were drifting at the time, "to that +fortunately small minority of our race which worships the flesh +and makes a god of appetite. You know them, Tara of Helium; they +can tell you exactly what they had at the midday meal two weeks +ago, and how the loin of the thoat should be prepared, and what +drink should be served with the rump of the zitidar."<br> +</p> + +Tara of Helium laughed. "But not one of them could tell you the +name of the man whose painting took the Jeddak's Award in The +Temple of Beauty this year," she said. "Like the rykors, their +development has not been balanced." <br> +<p>"Fortunate indeed are those in which there is combined a +little good and a little bad, a little knowledge of many things +outside their own callings, a capacity for love and a capacity +for hate, for such as these can look with tolerance upon all, +unbiased by the egotism of him whose head is so heavy on one side +that all his brains run to that point."<br> +</p> + +As Gahan ceased speaking Ghek made a little noise in his throat +as one does who would attract attention. "You speak as one who +has thought much upon many subjects. Is it, then, possible that +you of the red race have pleasure in thought? Do you know aught +of the joys of introspection? Do reason and logic form any part +of your lives?" <br> +<p>"Most assuredly," replied Gahan, "but not to the extent of +occupying all our time--at least not objectively. You, Ghek, are +an example of the egotism of which I spoke. Because you and your +kind devote your lives to the worship of mind, you believe that +no other created beings think. And possibly we do not in the +sense that you do, who think only of yourselves and your great +brains. We think of many things that concern the welfare of a +world. Had it not been for the red men of Barsoom even the +kaldanes had perished from the planet, for while you may live +without air the things upon which you depend for existence +cannot, and there had been no air in sufficient quantities upon +Barsoom these many ages had not a red man planned and built the +great atmosphere plant which gave new life to a dying world.<br> +</p> + +"What have all the brains of all the kaldanes that have ever +lived done to compare with that single idea of a single red man?" +<br> +<p>Ghek was stumped. Being a kaldane he knew that brains spelled +the sum total of universal achievement, but it had never occurred +to him that they should be put to use in practical and profitable +ways. He turned away and looked down upon the valley of his +ancestors across which he was slowly drifting, into what unknown +world? He should be a veritable god among the underlings, he +knew; but somehow a doubt assailed him. It was evident that these +two from that other world were ready to question his preeminence. +Even through his great egotism was filtering a suspicion that +they patronized him; perhaps even pitied him. Then he began to +wonder what was to become of him. No longer would he have many +rykors to do his bidding. Only this single one and when it died +there could not be another. When it tired, Ghek must lie almost +helpless while it rested. He wished that he had never seen this +red woman. She had brought him only discontent and dishonor and +now exile. Presently Tara of Helium commenced to hum a tune and +Ghek, the kaldane, was content.<br> +</p> + +Gently they drifted beneath the hurtling moons above the mad +shadows of a Martian night. The roaring of the banths came in +diminishing volume to their ears as their craft passed on beyond +the boundaries of Bantoom, leaving behind the terrors of that +unhappy land. But to what were they being borne? The girl looked +at the man sitting cross-legged upon the deck of the tiny flier, +gazing off into the night ahead, apparently absorbed in thought. +<br> +<p>"Where are we?" she asked. "Toward what are we drifting?"<br> +</p> + +Turan shrugged his broad shoulders. "The stars tell me that we +are drifting toward the northeast," he replied, "but where we +are, or what lies in our path I cannot even guess. A week since I +could have sworn that I knew what lay behind each succeeding +ridge that I approached; but now I admit in all humility that I +have no conception of what lies a mile in any direction. Tara of +Helium, I am lost, and that is all that I can tell you." <br> +<p>He was smiling and the girl smiled back at him. There was a +slightly puzzled expression on her face--there was something +tantalizingly familiar about that smile of his. She had met many +a panthan--they came and went, following the fighting of a +world--but she could not place this one.<br> +</p> + +"From what country are you, Turan?" she asked suddenly. <br> +<p>"Know you not, Tara of Helium," he countered, "that a panthan +has no country? Today he fights beneath the banner of one master, +tomorrow beneath that of another."<br> +</p> + +"But you must own allegiance to some country when you are not +fighting," she insisted. "What banner, then, owns you now?" <br> +<p>He rose and stood before her, then, bowing low. "And I am +acceptable," he said, "I serve beneath the banner of the daughter +of The Warlord now--and forever."<br> +</p> + +She reached forth and touched his arm with a slim brown hand. +"Your services are accepted," she said; "and if ever we reach +Helium I promise that your reward shall be all that your heart +could desire." <br> +<p>"I shall serve faithfully, hoping for that reward," he said; +but Tara of Helium did not guess what was in his mind, thinking +rather that he was mercenary. For how could the proud daughter of +The Warlord guess that a simple panthan aspired to her hand and +heart?<br> +</p> + +The dawn found them moving rapidly over an unfamiliar landscape. +The wind had increased during the night and had borne them far +from Bantoom. The country below them was rough and inhospitable. +No water was visible and the surface of the ground was cut by +deep gorges, while nowhere was any but the most meager vegetation +discernible. They saw no life of any nature, nor was there any +indication that the country could support life. For two days they +drifted over this horrid wasteland. They were without food or +water and suffered accordingly. Ghek had temporarily abandoned +his rykor after enlisting Turan's assistance in lashing it safely +to the deck. The less he used it the less would its vitality be +spent. Already it was showing the effects of privation. Ghek +crawled about the vessel like a great spider--over the side, down +beneath the keel, and up over the opposite rail. He seemed +equally at home one place as another. For his companions, +however, the quarters were cramped, for the deck of a one-man +flier is not intended for three. <br> +<p>Turan sought always ahead for signs of water. Water they must +have, or that water-giving plant which makes life possible upon +many of the seemingly arid areas of Mars; but there was neither +the one nor the other for these two days and now the third night +was upon them. The girl did not complain, but Turan knew that she +must be suffering and his heart was heavy within him. Ghek +suffered least of all, and he explained to them that his kind +could exist for long periods without food or water. Turan almost +cursed him as he saw the form of Tara of Helium slowly wasting +away before his eyes, while the hideous kaldane seemed as full of +vitality as ever.<br> +</p> + +"There are circumstances," remarked Ghek, "under which a gross +and material body is less desirable than a highly developed +brain." <br> +<p>Turan looked at him, but said nothing. Tara of Helium smiled +faintly. "One cannot blame him," she said, "were we not a bit +boastful in the pride of our superiority? When our stomachs were +filled," she added.<br> +</p> + +"Perhaps there is something to be said for their system," Turan +admitted. "If we could but lay aside our stomachs when they cried +for food and water I have no doubt but that we should do so." +<br> +<p>"I should never miss mine now," assented Tara; "it is mighty +poor company."<br> +</p> + +A new day had dawned, revealing a less desolate country and +renewing again the hope that had been low within them. Suddenly +Turan leaned forward, pointing ahead. <br> +<p>"Look, Tara of Helium!" he cried. "A city! As I am Ga--as I am +Turan the panthan, a city."<br> +</p> + +Far in the distance the domes and walls and slender towers of a +city shone in the rising sun. Quickly the man seized the control +and the ship dropped rapidly behind a low range of intervening +hills, for well Turan knew that they must not be seen until they +could discover whether friend or foe inhabited the strange city. +Chances were that they were far from the abode of friends and so +must the panthan move with the utmost caution; but there was a +city and where a city was, was water, even though it were a +deserted city, and food if it were inhabited. <br> +<p>To the red man food and water, even in the citadel of an +enemy, meant food and drink for Tara of Helium. He would accept +it from friends or he would take it from enemies. Just so long as +it was there he would have it--and there was shown the egotism of +the fighting man, though Turan did not see it, nor Tara who came +from a long line of fighting men; but Ghek might have smiled had +he known how.<br> +</p> + +Turan permitted the flier to drift closer behind the screening +hills, and then when he could advance no farther without fear of +discovery, he dropped the craft gently to ground in a little +ravine, and leaping over the side made her fast to a stout tree. +For several moments they discussed their plans--whether it would +be best to wait where they were until darkness hid their +movements and then approach the city in search of food and water, +or approach it now, taking advantage of what cover they could, +until they could glean something of the nature of its +inhabitants. <br> +<p>It was Turan's plan which finally prevailed. They would +approach as close as safety dictated in the hope of finding water +outside the city; food, too, perhaps. If they did not they could +at least reconnoiter the ground by daylight, and then when night +came Turan could quickly come close to the city and in +comparative safety prosecute his search for food and drink.<br> +</p> + +Following the ravine upward they finally topped the summit of the +ridge, from which they had an excellent view of that part of the +city which lay nearest them, though themselves hidden by the +brush behind which they crouched. Ghek had resumed his rykor, +which had suffered less than either Tara or Turan through their +enforced fast. <br> +<p>The first glance at the city, now much closer than when they +had first discovered it, revealed the fact that it was inhabited. +Banners and pennons broke from many a staff. People were moving +about the gate before them. The high white walls were paced by +sentinels at far intervals. Upon the roofs of higher buildings +the women could be seen airing the sleeping silks and furs. Turan +watched it all in silence for some time.<br> +</p> + +"I do not know them," he said at last. "I cannot guess what city +this may be. But it is an ancient city. Its people have no fliers +and no firearms. It must be old indeed." <br> +<p>"How do you know they have not these things?" asked the +girl.<br> +</p> + +"There are no landing-stages upon the roofs--not one that can be +seen from here; while were we looking similarly at Helium we +would see hundreds. And they have no firearms because their +defenses are all built to withstand the attack of spear and +arrow, with spear and arrow. They are an ancient people." <br> +<p>"If they are ancient perhaps they are friendly," suggested the +girl. "Did we not learn as children in the history of our planet +that it was once peopled by a friendly, peace-loving race?"<br> +</p> + +"But I fear they are not as ancient as that," replied Turan, +laughing. "It has been long ages since the men of Barsoom loved +peace." <br> +<p>"My father loves peace," returned the girl.<br> +</p> + +"And yet he is always at war," said the man. <br> +<p>She laughed. "But he says he likes peace."<br> +</p> + +"We all like peace," he rejoined; "peace with honor; but our +neighbors will not let us have it, and so we must fight." <br> +<p>"And to fight well men must like to fight," she added.<br> +</p> + +"And to like to fight they must know how to fight," he said, "for +no man likes to do the thing that he does not know how to do +well." <br> +<p>"Or that some other man can do better than he."<br> +</p> + +"And so always there will be wars and men will fight," he +concluded, "for always the men with hot blood in their veins will +practice the art of war." <br> +<p>"We have settled a great question," said the girl, smiling; +"but our stomachs are still empty."<br> +</p> + +"Your panthan is neglecting his duty," replied Turan; "and how +can he with the great reward always before his eyes!" <br> +<p>She did not guess in what literal a sense he spoke.<br> +</p> + +"I go forthwith," he continued, "to wrest food and drink from the +ancients." <br> +<p>"No," she cried, laying a hand upon his arm, "not yet. They +would slay you or make you prisoner. You are a brave panthan and +a mighty one, but you cannot overcome a city singlehanded."<br> +</p> + +She smiled up into his face and her hand still lay upon his arm. +He felt the thrill of hot blood coursing through his veins. He +could have seized her in his arms and crushed her to him. There +was only Ghek the kaldane there, but there was something stronger +within him that restrained his hand. Who may define it--that +inherent chivalry that renders certain men the natural protectors +of women? <br> +<p>From their vantage point they saw a body of armed warriors +ride forth from the gate, and winding along a well-beaten road +pass from sight about the foot of the hill from which they +watched. The men were red, like themselves, and they rode the +small saddle thoats of the red race. Their trappings were +barbaric and magnificent, and in their head-dress were many +feathers as had been the custom of ancients. They were armed with +swords and long spears and they rode almost naked, their bodies +being painted in ochre and blue and white. There were, perhaps, a +score of them in the party and as they galloped away on their +tireless mounts they presented a picture at once savage and +beautiful.<br> +</p> + +"They have the appearance of splendid warriors," said Turan. "I +have a great mind to walk boldly into their city and seek +service." <br> +<p>Tara shook her head. "Wait," she admonished. "What would I do +without you, and if you were captured how could you collect your +reward?"<br> +</p> + +"I should escape," he said. "At any rate I shall try it," and he +started to rise. <br> +<p>"You shall not," said the girl, her tone all authority.<br> +</p> + +The man looked at her quickly--questioningly. <br> +<p>"You have entered my service," she said, a trifle +haughtily.<br> +</p> + +"You have entered my service for hire and you shall do as I bid +you." <br> +<p>Turan sank down beside her again with a half smile upon his +lips. "It is yours to command, Princess," he said.<br> +</p> + +The day passed. Ghek, tiring of the sunlight, had deserted his +rykor and crawled down a hole he had discovered close by. Tara +and Turan reclined beneath the scant shade of a small tree. They +watched the people coming and going through the gate. The party +of horsemen did not return. A small herd of zitidars was driven +into the city during the day, and once a caravan of broad-wheeled +carts drawn by these huge animals wound out of the distant +horizon and came down to the city. It, too, passed from their +sight within the gateway. Then darkness came and Tara of Helium +bid her panthan search for food and drink; but she cautioned him +against attempting to enter the city. Before he left her he bent +and kissed her hand as a warrior may kiss the hand of his queen. +<br> +<p><br> +</p> + +<h1 id="ref_11">CHAPTER X</h1> + +ENTRAPPED <br> +<p>TURAN the panthan approached the strange city under cover of +the darkness. He entertained little hope of finding either food +or water outside the wall, but he would try and then, if he +failed, he would attempt to make his way into the city, for Tara +of Helium must have sustenance and have it soon. He saw that the +walls were poorly sentineled, but they were sufficiently high to +render an attempt to scale them foredoomed to failure. Taking +advantage of underbrush and trees, Turan managed to reach the +base of the wall without detection. Silently he moved north past +the gateway which was closed by a massive gate which effectively +barred even the slightest glimpse within the city beyond. It was +Turan's hope to find upon the north side of the city away from +the hills a level plain where grew the crops of the inhabitants, +and here too water from their irrigating system, but though he +traveled far along that seemingly interminable wall he found no +fields nor any water. He searched also for some means of ingress +to the city, yet here, too, failure was his only reward, and now +as he went keen eyes watched him from above and a silent stalker +kept pace with him for a time upon the summit of the wall; but +presently the shadower descended to the pavement within and +hurrying swiftly raced ahead of the stranger without.<br> +</p> + +He came presently to a small gate beside which was a low building +and before the doorway of the building a warrior standing guard. +He spoke a few quick words to the warrior and then entered the +building only to return almost immediately to the street, +followed by fully forty warriors. Cautiously opening the gate the +fellow peered carefully along the wall upon the outside in the +direction from which he had come. Evidently satisfied, he issued +a few words of instruction to those behind him, whereupon half +the warriors returned to the interior of the building, while the +other half followed the man stealthily through the gateway where +they crouched low among the shrubbery in a half circle just north +of the gateway which they had left open. Here they waited in +utter silence, nor had they long to wait before Turan the panthan +came cautiously along the base of the wall. To the very gate he +came and when he found it and that it was open he paused for a +moment, listening; then he approached and looked within. Assured +that there was none within sight to apprehend him he stepped +through the gateway into the city. <br> +<p>He found himself in a narrow street that paralleled the wall. +Upon the opposite side rose buildings of an architecture unknown +to him, yet strangely beautiful. While the buildings were packed +closely together there seemed to be no two alike and their fronts +were of all shapes and heights and of many hues. The skyline was +broken by spire and dome and minaret and tall, slender towers, +while the walls supported many a balcony and in the soft light of +Cluros, the farther moon, now low in the west, he saw, to his +surprise and consternation, the figures of people upon the +balconies. Directly opposite him were two women and a man. They +sat leaning upon the rail of the balcony looking, apparently, +directly at him; but if they saw him they gave no sign.<br> +</p> + +Turan hesitated a moment in the face of almost certain discovery +and then, assured that they must take him for one of their own +people, he moved boldly into the avenue. Having no idea of the +direction in which he might best hope to find what he sought, and +not wishing to arouse suspicion by further hesitation, he turned +to the left and stepped briskly along the pavement with the +intention of placing himself as quickly as possible beyond the +observation of those nocturnal watchers. He knew that the night +must be far spent; and so he could not but wonder why people +should sit upon their balconies when they should have been asleep +among their silks and furs. At first he had thought them the late +guests of some convivial host; but the windows behind them were +shrouded in darkness and utter quiet prevailed, quite upsetting +such a theory. And as he proceeded he passed many another group +sitting silently upon other balconies. They paid no attention to +him, seeming not even to note his passing. Some leaned with a +single elbow upon the rail, their chins resting in their palms; +others leaned upon both arms across the balcony, looking down +into the street, while several that he saw held musical +instruments in their hands, but their fingers moved not upon the +strings. <br> +<p>And then Turan came to a point where the avenue turned to the +right, to skirt a building that jutted from the inside of the +city wall, and as he rounded the corner he came full upon two +warriors standing upon either side of the entrance to a building +upon his right. It was impossible for them not to be aware of his +presence, yet neither moved, nor gave other evidence that they +had seen him. He stood there waiting, his hand upon the hilt of +his long-sword, but they neither challenged nor halted him. Could +it be that these also thought him one of their own kind? Indeed +upon no other grounds could he explain their inaction.<br> +</p> + +As Turan had passed through the gateway into the city and taken +his unhindered way along the avenue, twenty warriors had entered +the city and closed the gate behind them, and then one had taken +to the wall and followed along its summit in the rear of Turan, +and another had followed him along the avenue, while a third had +crossed the street and entered one of the buildings upon the +opposite side. <br> +<p>The balance of them, with the exception of a single sentinel +beside the gate, had re-entered the building from which they had +been summoned. They were well built, strapping, painted fellows, +their naked figures covered now by gorgeous robes against the +chill of night. As they spoke of the stranger they laughed at the +ease with which they had tricked him, and were still laughing as +they threw themselves upon their sleeping silks and furs to +resume their broken slumber. It was evident that they constituted +a guard detailed for the gate beside which they slept, and it was +equally evident that the gates were guarded and the city watched +much more carefully than Turan had believed. Chagrined indeed had +been the Jed of Gathol had he dreamed that he was being so neatly +tricked.<br> +</p> + +As Turan proceeded along the avenue he passed other sentries +beside other doors but now he gave them small heed, since they +neither challenged nor otherwise outwardly noted his passing; but +while at nearly every turn of the erratic avenue he passed one or +more of these silent sentinels he could not guess that he had +passed one of them many times and that his every move was watched +by silent, clever stalkers. Scarce had he passed a certain one of +these rigid guardsmen before the fellow awoke to sudden life, +bounded across the avenue, entered a narrow opening in the outer +wall where he swiftly followed a corridor built within the wall +itself until presently he emerged a little distance ahead of +Turan, where he assumed the stiff and silent attitude of a +soldier upon guard. Nor did Turan know that a second followed in +the shadows of the buildings behind him, nor of the third who +hastened ahead of him upon some urgent mission. <br> +<p>And so the panthan moved through the silent streets of the +strange city in search of food and drink for the woman he loved. +Men and women looked down upon him from shadowy balconies, but +spoke not; and sentinels saw him pass and did not challenge. +Presently from along the avenue before him came the familiar +sound of clanking accouterments, the herald of marching warriors, +and almost simultaneously he saw upon his right an open doorway +dimly lighted from within. It was the only available place where +he might seek to hide from the approaching company, and while he +had passed several sentries unquestioned he could scarce hope to +escape scrutiny and questioning from a patrol, as he naturally +assumed this body of men to be.<br> +</p> + +Inside the doorway he discovered a passage turning abruptly to +the right and almost immediately thereafter to the left. There +was none in sight within and so he stepped cautiously around the +second turn the more effectually to be hidden from the street. +Before him stretched a long corridor, dimly lighted like the +entrance. Waiting there he heard the party approach the building, +he heard someone at the entrance to his hiding place, and then he +heard the door past which he had come slam to. He laid his hand +upon his sword, expecting momentarily to hear footsteps +approaching along the corridor; but none came. He approached the +turn and looked around it; the corridor was empty to the closed +door. Whoever had closed it had remained upon the outside. <br> +<p>Turan waited, listening. He heard no sound. Then he advanced +to the door and placed an ear against it. All was silence in the +street beyond. A sudden draft must have closed the door, or +perhaps it was the duty of the patrol to see to such things. It +was immaterial. They had evidently passed on and now he would +return to the street and continue upon his way. Somewhere there +would be a public fountain where he could obtain water, and the +chance of food lay in the strings of dried vegetables and meat +which hung before the doorways of nearly every Barsoomian home of +the poorer classes that he had ever seen. It was this district he +was seeking, and it was for this reason his search had led him +away from the main gate of the city which he knew would not be +located in a poor district.<br> +</p> + +He attempted to open the door only to find that it resisted his +every effort--it was locked upon the outside. Here indeed was a +sorry contretemps. Turan the panthan scratched his head. "Fortune +frowns upon me," he murmured; but beyond the door, Fate, in the +form of a painted warrior, stood smiling. Neatly had he tricked +the unwary stranger. The lighted doorway, the marching +patrol--these had been planned and timed to a nicety by the third +warrior who had sped ahead of Turan along another avenue, and the +stranger had done precisely what the fellow had thought he would +do--no wonder, then, that he smiled. <br> +<p>This exit barred to him Turan turned back into the corridor. +He followed it cautiously and silently. Occasionally there was a +door on one side or the other. These he tried only to find each +securely locked. The corridor wound more erratically the farther +he advanced. A locked door barred his way at its end, but a door +upon his right opened and he stepped into a dimly-lighted +chamber, about the walls of which were three other doors, each of +which he tried in turn. Two were locked; the other opened upon a +runway leading downward. It was spiral and he could see no +farther than the first turn. A door in the corridor he had +quitted opened after he had passed, and the third warrior stepped +out and followed after him. A faint smile still lingered upon the +fellow's grim lips.<br> +</p> + +Turan drew his short-sword and cautiously descended. At the +bottom was a short corridor with a closed door at the end. He +approached the single heavy panel and listened. No sound came to +him from beyond the mysterious portal. Gently he tried the door, +which swung easily toward him at his touch. Before him was a +low-ceiled chamber with a dirt floor. Set in its walls were +several other doors and all were closed. As Turan stepped +cautiously within, the third warrior descended the spiral runway +behind him. The panthan crossed the room quickly and tried a +door. It was locked. He heard a muffled click behind him and +turned about with ready sword. He was alone; but the door through +which he had entered was closed--it was the click of its lock +that he had heard. <br> +<p>With a bound he crossed the room and attempted to open it; but +to no avail. No longer did he seek silence, for he knew now that +the thing had gone beyond the sphere of chance. He threw his +weight against the wooden panel; but the thick skeel of which it +was constructed would have withstood a battering ram. From beyond +came a low laugh.<br> +</p> + +Rapidly Turan examined each of the other doors. They were all +locked. A glance about the chamber revealed a wooden table and a +bench. Set in the walls were several heavy rings to which rusty +chains were attached--all too significant of the purpose to which +the room was dedicated. In the dirt floor near the wall were two +or three holes resembling the mouths of burrows--doubtless the +habitat of the giant Martian rat. He had observed this much when +suddenly the dim light was extinguished, leaving him in darkness +utter and complete. Turan, groping about, sought the table and +the bench. Placing the latter against the wall he drew the table +in front of him and sat down upon the bench, his long-sword +gripped in readiness before him. At least they should fight +before they took him. <br> +<p>For some time he sat there waiting for he knew not what. No +sound penetrated to his subterranean dungeon. He slowly revolved +in his mind the incidents of the evening--the open, unguarded +gate; the lighted doorway--the only one he had seen thus open and +lighted along the avenue he had followed; the advance of the +warriors at precisely the moment that he could find no other +avenue of escape or concealment; the corridors and chambers that +led past many locked doors to this underground prison leaving no +other path for him to pursue.<br> +</p> + +"By my first ancestor!" he swore; "but it was simple and I a +simpleton. They tricked me neatly and have taken me without +exposing themselves to a scratch; but for what purpose?" <br> +<p>He wished that he might answer that question and then his +thoughts turned to the girl waiting there on the hill beyond the +city for him--and he would never come. He knew the ways of the +more savage peoples of Barsoom. No, he would never come, now. He +had disobeyed her. He smiled at the sweet recollection of those +words of command that had fallen from her dear lips. He had +disobeyed her and now he had lost the reward.<br> +</p> + +But what of her? What now would be her fate--starving before a +hostile city with only an inhuman kaldane for company? Another +thought--a horrid thought--obtruded itself upon him. She had told +him of the hideous sights she had witnessed in the burrows of the +kaldanes and he knew that they ate human flesh. Ghek was +starving. Should he eat his rykor he would be helpless; +but--there was sustenance there for them both, for the rykor and +the kaldane. Turan cursed himself for a fool. Why had he left +her? Far better to have remained and died with her, ready always +to protect her, than to have left her at the mercy of the hideous +Bantoomian. <br> +<p>Now Turan detected a heavy odor in the air. It oppressed him +with a feeling of drowsiness. He would have risen to fight off +the creeping lethargy, but his legs seemed weak, so that he sank +again to the bench. Presently his sword slipped from his fingers +and he sprawled forward upon the table his head resting upon his +arms.<br> +</p> + +Tara of Helium, as the night wore on and Turan did not return, +became more and more uneasy, and when dawn broke with no sign of +him she guessed that he had failed. Something more than her own +unhappy predicament brought a feeling of sorrow to her heart--of +sorrow and loneliness. She realized now how she had come to +depend upon this panthan not only for protection but for +companionship as well. She missed him, and in missing him +realized suddenly that he had meant more to her than a mere hired +warrior. It was as though a friend had been taken from her--an +old and valued friend. She rose from her place of concealment +that she might have a better view of the city. <br> +<p>U-Dor, dwar of the 8th Utan of O-Tar, Jeddak of Manator, rode +back in the early dawn toward Manator from a brief excursion to a +neighboring village. As he was rounding the hills south of the +city, his keen eyes were attracted by a slight movement among the +shrubbery close to the summit of the nearest hill. He halted his +vicious mount and watched more closely. He saw a figure rise +facing away from him and peer down toward Manator beyond the +hill.<br> +</p> + +"Come!" he signalled to his followers, and with a word to this +thoat turned the beast at a rapid gallop up the hillside. In his +wake swept his twenty savage warriors, the padded feet of their +mounts soundless upon the soft turf. It was the rattle of +sidearms and harness that brought Tara of Helium suddenly about, +facing them. She saw a score of warriors with couched lances +bearing down upon her. <br> +<p>She glanced at Ghek. What would the spiderman do in this +emergency? She saw him crawl to his rykor and attach himself. +Then he arose, the beautiful body once again animated and alert. +She thought that the creature was preparing for flight. Well, it +made little difference to her. Against such as were streaming up +the hill toward them a single mediocre swordsman such as Ghek was +worse than no defense at all.<br> +</p> + +"Hurry, Ghek!" she admonished him. "Back into the hills! You may +find there a hiding-place;" but the creature only stepped between +her and the oncoming riders, drawing his long-sword. <br> +<p>"It is useless, Ghek," she said, when she saw that he intended +to defend her. "What can a single sword accomplish against such +odds?"<br> +</p> + +"I can die but once," replied the kaldane. "You and your panthan +saved me from Luud and I but do what your panthan would do were +he here to protect you." <br> +<p>"It is brave, but it is useless," she replied. "Sheathe your +sword. They may not intend us harm."<br> +</p> + +Ghek let the point of his weapon drop to the ground, but he did +not sheathe it, and thus the two stood waiting as U-Dor the dwar +stopped his thoat before them while his twenty warriors formed a +rough circle about. For a long minute U-Dor sat his mount in +silence, looking searchingly first at Tara of Helium and then at +her hideous companion. <br> +<p>"What manner of creature are you?" he asked presently. "And +what do you before the gates of Manator?"<br> +</p> + +"We are from far countries," replied the girl, "and we are lost +and starving. We ask only food and rest and the privilege to go +our way seeking our own homes." <br> +<p>U-Dor smiled a grim smile. "Manator and the hills which guard +it alone know the age of Manator," he said; "yet in all the ages +that have rolled by since Manator first was, there be no record +in the annals of Manator of a stranger departing from +Manator."<br> +</p> + +"But I am a princess," cried the girl haughtily, "and my country +is not at war with yours. You must give me and my companions aid +and assist us to return to our own land. It is the law of +Barsoom." <br> +<p>"Manator knows only the laws of Manator," replied U-Dor; "but +come. You shall go with us to the city, where you, being +beautiful, need have no fear. I, myself, will protect you if +O-Tar so decrees. And as for your companion--but hold! You said +'companions'--there are others of your party then?"<br> +</p> + +"You see what you see," replied Tara haughtily. <br> +<p>"Be that as it may," said U-Dor. "If there be more they shall +not escape Manator; but as I was saying, if your companion fights +well he too may live, for O-Tar is just, and just are the laws of +Manator. Come!"<br> +</p> + +Ghek demurred. <br> +<p>"It is useless," said the girl, seeing that he would have +stood his ground and fought them. "Let us go with them. Why pit +your puny blade against their mighty ones when there should lie +in your great brain the means to outwit them?" She spoke in a low +whisper, rapidly.<br> +</p> + +"You are right, Tara of Helium," he replied and sheathed his +sword. <br> +<p>And so they moved down the hillside toward the gates of +Manator--Tara, Princess of Helium, and Ghek, the kaldane of +Bantoom--and surrounding them rode the savage, painted warriors +of U-Dor, dwar of the 8th Utan of O-Tar, Jeddak of Manator.<br> +</p> + +<br> +<h1 id="ref_12">CHAPTER XI</h1> + +THE CHOICE OF TARA <br> +THE dazzling sunlight of Barsoom clothed Manator in an aureole of +splendor as the girl and her captors rode into the city through +The Gate of Enemies. Here the wall was some fifty feet thick, and +the sides of the passageway within the gate were covered with +parallel shelves of masonry from bottom to top. Within these +shelves, or long, horizontal niches, stood row upon row of small +figures, appearing like tiny, grotesque statuettes of men, their +long, black hair falling below their feet and sometimes trailing +to the shelf beneath. The figures were scarce a foot in height +and but for their diminutive proportions might have been the +mummified bodies of once living men. The girl noticed that as +they passed, the warriors saluted the figures with their spears +after the manner of Barsoomian fighting men in extending a +military courtesy, and then they rode on into the avenue beyond, +which ran, wide and stately, through the city toward the east. +<br> +<p>On either side were great buildings wondrously wrought. +Paintings of great beauty and antiquity covered many of the +walls, their colors softened and blended by the suns of ages. +Upon the pavement the life of the newly-awakened city was already +afoot. Women in brilliant trappings, befeathered warriors, their +bodies daubed with paint; artisans, armed but less gaily +caparisoned, took their various ways upon the duties of the day. +A giant zitidar, magnificent in rich harness, rumbled its +broad-wheeled cart along the stone pavement toward The Gate of +Enemies. Life and color and beauty wrought together a picture +that filled the eyes of Tara of Helium with wonder and with +admiration, for here was a scene out of the dead past of dying +Mars. Such had been the cities of the founders of her race before +Throxeus, mightiest of oceans, had disappeared from the face of a +world. And from balconies on either side men and women looked +down in silence upon the scene below.<br> +</p> + +The people in the street looked at the two prisoners, especially +at the hideous Ghek, and called out in question or comment to +their guard; but the watchers upon the balconies spoke not, nor +did one so much as turn a head to note their passing. There were +many balconies on each building and not a one that did not hold +its silent party of richly trapped men and women, with here and +there a child or two, but even the children maintained the +uniform silence and immobility of their elders. As they +approached the center of the city the girl saw that even the +roofs bore companies of these idle watchers, harnessed and +bejeweled as for some gala-day of laughter and music, but no +laughter broke from those silent lips, nor any music from the +strings of the instruments that many of them held in jeweled +fingers. <br> +<p>And now the avenue widened into an immense square, at the far +end of which rose a stately edifice gleaming white in virgin +marble among the gaily painted buildings surrounding it and its +scarlet sward and gaily-flowering, green-foliaged shrubbery. +Toward this U-Dor led his prisoners and their guard to the great +arched entrance before which a line of fifty mounted warriors +barred the way. When the commander of the guard recognized U-Dor +the guardsmen fell back to either side leaving a broad avenue +through which the party passed. Directly inside the entrance were +inclined runways leading upward on either side. U-Dor turned to +the left and led them upward to the second floor and down a long +corridor. Here they passed other mounted men and in chambers upon +either side they saw more. Occasionally there was another runway +leading either up or down. A warrior, his steed at full gallop, +dashed into sight from one of these and raced swiftly past them +upon some errand.<br> +</p> + +Nowhere as yet had Tara of Helium seen a man afoot in this great +building; but when at a turn, U-Dor led them to the third floor +she caught glimpses of chambers in which many riderless thoats +were penned and others adjoining where dismounted warriors lolled +at ease or played games of skill or chance and many there were +who played at jetan, and then the party passed into a long, wide +hall of state, as magnificent an apartment as even a princess of +mighty Helium ever had seen. The length of the room ran an arched +ceiling ablaze with countless radium bulbs. The mighty spans +extended from wall to wall leaving the vast floor unbroken by a +single column. The arches were of white marble, apparently +quarried in single, huge blocks from which each arch was cut +complete. Between the arches, the ceiling was set solid about the +radium bulbs with precious stones whose scintillant fire and +color and beauty filled the whole apartment. The stones were +carried down the walls in an irregular fringe for a few feet, +where they appeared to hang like a beautiful and gorgeous drapery +against the white marble of the wall. The marble ended some six +or seven feet from the floor, the walls from that point down +being wainscoted in solid gold. The floor itself was of marble +richly inlaid with gold. In that single room was a vast treasure +equal to the wealth of many a large city. <br> +<p>But what riveted the girl's attention even more than the +fabulous treasure of decorations were the files of gorgeously +harnessed warriors who sat their thoats in grim silence and +immobility on either side of the central aisle, rank after rank +of them to the farther walls, and as the party passed between +them she could not note so much as the flicker of an eyelid, or +the twitching of a thoat's ear.<br> +</p> + +"The Hall of Chiefs," whispered one of her guard, evidently +noting her interest. There was a note of pride in the fellow's +voice and something of hushed awe. Then they passed through a +great doorway into the chamber beyond, a large, square room in +which a dozen mounted warriors lolled in their saddles. <br> +<p>As U-Dor and his party entered the room, the warriors came +quickly erect in their saddles and formed a line before another +door upon the opposite side of the wall. The padwar commanding +them saluted U-Dor who, with his party, had halted facing the +guard.<br> +</p> + +"Send one to O-Tar announcing that U-Dor brings two prisoners +worthy of the observation of the great jeddak," said U-Dor; "one +because of her extreme beauty, the other because of his extreme +ugliness." <br> +<p>"O-Tar sits in council with the lesser chiefs," replied the +lieutenant; "but the words of U-Dor the dwar shall be carried to +him," and he turned and gave instructions to one who sat his +thoat behind him.<br> +</p> + +"What manner of creature is the male?" he asked of U-Dor. "It +cannot be that both are of one race." <br> +<p>"They were together in the hills south of the city," explained +U-Dor, "and they say that they are lost and starving."<br> +</p> + +"The woman is beautiful," said the padwar. "She will not long go +begging in the city of Manator," and then they spoke of other +matters--of the doings of the palace, of the expedition of U-Dor, +until the messenger returned to say that O-Tar bade them bring +the prisoners to him. <br> +<p>They passed then through a massive doorway, which, when +opened, revealed the great council chamber of O-Tar, Jeddak of +Manator, beyond. A central aisle led from the doorway the full +length of the great hall, terminating at the steps of a marble +dais upon which a man sat in a great throne-chair. Upon either +side of the aisle were ranged rows of highly carved desks and +chairs of skeel a hard wood of great beauty. Only a few of the +desks were occupied--those in the front row, just below the +rostrum.<br> +</p> + +At the entrance U-Dor dismounted with four of his followers who +formed a guard about the two prisoners who were then conducted +toward the foot of the throne, following a few paces behind +U-Dor. As they halted at the foot of the marble steps, the proud +gaze of Tara of Helium rested upon the enthroned figure of the +man above her. He sat erect without stiffness--a commanding +presence trapped in the barbaric splendor that the Barsoomian +chieftain loves. He was a large man, the perfection of whose +handsome face was marred only by the hauteur of his cold eyes and +the suggestion of cruelty imparted by too thin lips. It needed no +second glance to assure the least observing that here indeed was +a ruler of men--a fighting jeddak whose people might worship but +not love, and for whose slightest favor warriors would vie with +one another to go forth and die. This was O-Tar, Jeddak of +Manator, and as Tara of Helium saw him for the first time she +could not but acknowledge a certain admiration for this savage +chieftain who so virilely personified the ancient virtues of the +God of War. <br> +<p>U-Dor and the jeddak interchanged the simple greetings of +Barsoom, and then the former recounted the details of the +discovery and capture of the prisoners. O-Tar scrutinized them +both intently during U-Dor's narration of events, his expression +revealing naught of what passed in the brain behind those +inscrutable eyes. When the officer had finished the jeddak +fastened his gaze upon Ghek.<br> +</p> + +"And you," he asked, "what manner of thing are you? From what +country? Why are you in Manator?" <br> +<p>"I am a kaldane," replied Ghek; "the highest type of created +creature upon the face of Barsoom; I am mind, you are matter. I +come from Bantoom. I am here because we were lost and +starving."<br> +</p> + +"And you!" O-Tar turned suddenly on Tara "You, too, are a +kaldane?" <br> +<p>"I am a princess of Helium," replied the girl. "I was a +prisoner in Bantoom. This kaldane and a warrior of my own race +rescued me. The warrior left us to search for food and water. He +has doubtless fallen into the hands of your people. I ask you to +free him and give us food and drink and let us go upon our way. I +am a granddaughter of a jeddak, the daughter of a jeddak of +jeddaks, The Warlord of Barsoom. I ask only the treatment that my +people would accord you or yours."<br> +</p> + +"Helium," repeated O-Tar. "I know naught of Helium, nor does the +Jeddak of Helium rule Manator. I, O-Tar, am Jeddak of Manator. I +alone rule. I protect my own. You have never seen a woman or a +warrior of Manator captive in Helium! Why should I protect the +people of another jeddak? It is his duty to protect them. If he +cannot, he is weak, and his people must fall into the hands of +the strong. I, O-Tar, am strong. I will keep you. That--" he +pointed at Ghek--"can it fight?" <br> +<p>"It is brave," replied Tara of Helium, "but it has not the +skill at arms which my people possess."<br> +</p> + +"There is none then to fight for you?" asked O-Tar. "We are a +just people," he continued without waiting for a reply, "and had +you one to fight for you he might win to freedom for himself and +you as well." <br> +<p>"But U-Dor assured me that no stranger ever had departed from +Manator," she answered.<br> +</p> + +O-Tar shrugged. "That does not disprove the justice of the laws +of Manator," replied O-Tar, "but rather that the warriors of +Manator are invincible. Had there come one who could defeat our +warriors that one had won to liberty." <br> +<p>"And you fetch my warrior," cried Tara haughtily, "you shall +see such swordplay as doubtless the crumbling walls of your +decaying city never have witnessed, and if there be no trick in +your offer we are already as good as free."<br> +</p> + +O-Tar smiled more broadly than before and U-Dor smiled, too, and +the chiefs and warriors who looked on nudged one another and +whispered, laughing. And Tara of Helium knew then that there was +trickery in their justice; but though her situation seemed +hopeless she did not cease to hope, for was she not the daughter +of John Carter, Warlord of Barsoom, whose famous challenge to +Fate, "I still live!" remained the one irreducible defense +against despair? At thought of her noble sire the patrician chin +of Tara of Helium rose a shade higher. Ah! if he but knew where +she was there were little to fear then. The hosts of Helium would +batter at the gates of Manator, the great green warriors of John +Carter's savage allies would swarm up from the dead sea bottoms +lusting for pillage and for loot, the stately ships of her +beloved navy would soar above the unprotected towers and minarets +of the doomed city which only capitulation and heavy tribute +could then save. <br> +<p>But John Carter did not know! There was only one other to whom +she might hope to look--Turan the panthan; but where was he? She +had seen his sword in play and she knew that it had been wielded +by a master hand, and who should know swordplay better than Tara +of Helium, who had learned it well under the constant tutorage of +John Carter himself. Tricks she knew that discounted even far +greater physical prowess than her own, and a method of attack +that might have been at once the envy and despair of the +cleverest of warriors. And so it was that her thoughts turned to +Turan the panthan, though not alone because of the protection he +might afford her. She had realized, since he had left her in +search of food, that there had grown between them a certain +comradeship that she now missed. There had been that about him +which seemed to have bridged the gulf between their stations in +life. With him she had failed to consider that he was a panthan +or that she was a princess--they had been comrades. Suddenly she +realized that she missed him for himself more than for his sword. +She turned toward O-Tar.<br> +</p> + +"Where is Turan, my warrior?" she demanded. <br> +<p>"You shall not lack for warriors," replied the jeddak. "One of +your beauty will find plenty ready to fight for her. Possibly it +shall not be necessary to look farther than the jeddak of +Manator. You please me, woman. What say you to such an +honor?"<br> +</p> + +Through narrowed lids the Princess of Helium scrutinized the +Jeddak of Manator, from feathered headdress to sandaled foot and +back to feathered headdress. <br> +<p>"'Honor'!" she mimicked in tones of scorn. "I please thee, do +I? Then know, swine, that thou pleaseth me not--that the daughter +of John Carter is not for such as thou!"<br> +</p> + +A sudden, tense silence fell upon the assembled chiefs. Slowly +the blood receded from the sinister face of O-Tar, Jeddak of +Manator, leaving him a sickly purple in his wrath. His eyes +narrowed to two thin slits, his lips were compressed to a +bloodless line of malevolence. For a long moment there was no +sound in the throne room of the palace at Manator. Then the +jeddak turned toward U-Dor. <br> +<p>"Take her away," he said in a level voice that belied his +appearance of rage. "Take her away, and at the next games let the +prisoners and the common warriors play at Jetan for her."<br> +</p> + +"And this?" asked U-Dor, pointing at Ghek. <br> +<p>"To the pits until the next games," replied O-Tar.<br> +</p> + +"So this is your vaunted justice!" cried Tara of Helium; "that +two strangers who have not wronged you shall be sentenced without +trial? And one of them is a woman. The swine of Manator are as +just as they are brave." <br> +<p>"Away with her!" shouted O-Tar, and at a sign from U-Dor the +guards formed about the two prisoners and conducted them from the +chamber.<br> +</p> + +Outside the palace, Ghek and Tara of Helium were separated. The +girl was led through long avenues toward the center of the city +and finally into a low building, topped by lofty towers of +massive construction. Here she was turned over to a warrior who +wore the insignia of a dwar, or captain. <br> +<p>"It is O-Tar's wish," explained U-Dor to this one, "that she +be kept until the next games, when the prisoners and the common +warriors shall play for her. Had she not the tongue of a thoat +she had been a worthy stake for our noblest steel," and U-Dor +sighed. "Perhaps even yet I may win a pardon for her. It were too +bad to see such beauty fall to the lot of some common fellow. I +would have honored her myself."<br> +</p> + +"If I am to be imprisoned, imprison me," said the girl. "I do not +recall that I was sentenced to listen to the insults of every +low-born boor who chanced to admire me." <br> +<p>"You see, A-Kor," cried U-Dor, "the tongue that she has. Even +so and worse spoke she to O-Tar the jeddak."<br> +</p> + +"I see," replied A-Kor, whom Tara saw was with difficulty +restraining a smile. "Come, then, with me, woman," he said, "and +we shall find a safe place within The Towers of Jetan--but stay! +what ails thee?" <br> +<p>The girl had staggered and would have fallen had not the man +caught her in his arms. She seemed to gather herself then and +bravely sought to stand erect without support. A-Kor glanced at +U-Dor. "Knew you the woman was ill?" he asked.<br> +</p> + +"Possibly it is lack of food," replied the other. "She mentioned, +I believe, that she and her companions had not eaten for several +days." <br> +<p>"Brave are the warriors of O-Tar," sneered A-Kor; "lavish +their hospitality. U-Dor, whose riches are uncounted, and the +brave O-Tar, whose squealing thoats are stabled within marble +halls and fed from troughs of gold, can spare no crust to feed a +starving girl."<br> +</p> + +The black haired U-Dor. scowled. "Thy tongue will yet pierce thy +heart, son of a slave!" he cried. "Once too often mayst thus try +the patience of the just O-Tar. Hereafter guard thy speech as +well as thy towers." <br> +<p>"Think not to taunt me with my mother's state," said A-Kor. +"'Tis the blood of the slave woman that fills my veins with +pride, and my only shame is that I am also the son of thy +jeddak."<br> +</p> + +"And O-Tar heard this?" queried U-Dor. <br> +<p>"O-Tar has already heard it from my own lips," replied A-Kor; +"this, and more."<br> +</p> + +He turned upon his heel, a supporting arm still around the waist +of Tara of Helium and thus he half led, half carried her into The +Towers of Jetan, while U-Dor wheeled his thoat and galloped back +in the direction of the palace. <br> +<p>Within the main entrance to The Tower of Jetan lolled a +half-dozen warriors. To one of these spoke A-Kor, keeper of the +towers. "Fetch Lan-O, the slave girl, and bid her bring food and +drink to the upper level of the Thurian tower," then he lifted +the half-fainting girl in his arms and bore her along the spiral, +inclined runway that led upward within the tower.<br> +</p> + +Somewhere in the long ascent Tara lost consciousness. When it +returned she found herself in a large, circular chamber, the +stone walls of which were pierced by windows at regular intervals +about the entire circumference of the room. She was lying upon a +pile of sleeping silks and furs while there knelt above her a +young woman who was forcing drops of some cooling beverage +between her parched lips. Tara of Helium half rose upon an elbow +and looked about. In the first moments of returning consciousness +there were swept from the screen of recollection the happenings +of many weeks. She thought that she awoke in the palace of The +Warlord at Helium. Her brows knit as she scrutinized the strange +face bending over her. <br> +<p>"Who are you?" she asked, and, "Where is Uthia?"<br> +</p> + +"I am Lan-O the slave girl," replied the other. "I know none by +the name of Uthia." <br> +<p>Tara of Helium sat erect and looked about her. This rough +stone was not the marble of her father's halls. "Where am I?" she +asked.<br> +</p> + +"In The Thurian Tower," replied the girl, and then seeing that +the other still did not understand she guessed the truth. "You +are a prisoner in The Towers of Jetan in the city of Manator," +she explained. "You were brought to this chamber, weak and +fainting, by A-Kor, Dwar of The Towers of Jetan, who sent me to +you with food and drink, for kind is the heart of A-Kor." <br> +<p>"I remember, now," said Tara, slowly. "I remember; but where +is Turan, my warrior? Did they speak of him?"<br> +</p> + +"I heard naught of another," replied Lan-O; "you alone were +brought to the towers. In that you are fortunate, for there be no +nobler man in Manator than A-Kor. It is his mother's blood that +makes him so. She was a slave girl from Gathol." <br> +<p>"Gathol!" exclaimed Tara of Helium. "Lies Gathol close by +Manator?"<br> +</p> + +"Not close, yet still the nearest country," replied Lan-O. "About +twenty-two degrees* east, it lies." <br> +<p>* Approximately 814 Earth Miles.<br> +</p> + +"Gathol!" murmured Tara, "Far Gathol!" <br> +<p>"But you are not from Gathol," said the slave girl; "your +harness is not of Gathol."<br> +</p> + +"I am from Helium," said Tara <br> +<p>"It is far from Helium to Gathol;" said the slave girl, "but +in our studies we learned much of the greatness of Helium, we of +Gathol, so it seems not so far away."<br> +</p> + +"You, too, are from Gathol?" asked Tara. <br> +<p>"Many of us are from Gathol who are slaves in Manator," +replied the girl. "It is to Gathol, nearest country, that the +Manatorians look for slaves most often. They go in great numbers +at intervals of three or seven years and haunt the roads that +lead to Gathol, and thus they capture whole caravans leaving none +to bear warning to Gathol of their fate. Nor do any ever escape +from Manator to carry word of us back to Gahan our jed."<br> +</p> + +Tara of Helium ate slowly and in silence. The girl's words +aroused memories of the last hours she had spent in her father's +palace and the great midday function at which she had met Gahan +of Gathol. Even now she flushed as she recalled his daring words. +<br> +<p>Upon her reveries the door opened and a burly warrior appeared +in the opening--a hulking fellow, with thick lips and an evil, +leering face. The slave girl sprang to her feet, facing him.<br> +</p> + +"What does this mean, E-Med?" she cried, "was it not the will of +A-Kor that this woman be not disturbed?" <br> +<p>"The will of A-Kor, indeed!" and the man sneered. "The will of +A-Kor is without power in The Towers of Jetan, or elsewhere, for +A-Kor lies now in the pits of O-Tar, and E-Med is dwar of the +Towers."<br> +</p> + +Tara of Helium saw the face of the slave girl pale and the terror +in her eyes. <br> +<p><br> +</p> + +<h1 id="ref_13">CHAPTER XII</h1> + +GHEK PLAYS PRANKS <br> +<p>WHILE Tara of Helium was being led to The Towers of Jetan, +Ghek was escorted to the pits beneath the palace where he was +imprisoned in a dimly-lighted chamber. Here he found a bench and +a table standing upon the dirt floor near the wall, and set in +the wall several rings from which depended short lengths of +chain. At the base of the walls were several holes in the dirt +floor. These, alone, of the several things he saw, interested +him. Ghek sat down upon the bench and waited in silence, +listening. Presently the lights were extinguished. If Ghek could +have smiled he would have then, for Ghek could see as well in the +dark as in the light--better, perhaps. He watched the dark +openings of the holes in the floor and waited. Presently he +detected a change in the air about him--it grew heavy with a +strange odor, and once again might Ghek have smiled, could he +have smiled.<br> +</p> + +Let them replace all the air in the chamber with their most +deadly fumes; it would be all the same to Ghek, the kaldane, who, +having no lungs, required no air. With the rykor it might be +different. Deprived of air it would die; but if only a sufficient +amount of the gas was introduced to stupefy an ordinary creature +it would have no effect upon the rykor, who had no objective mind +to overcome. So long as the excess of carbon dioxide in the blood +was not sufficient to prevent heart action, the rykor would +suffer only a diminution of vitality; but would still respond to +the exciting agency of the kaldane's brain. <br> +<p>Ghek caused the rykor to assume a sitting position with its +back against the wall where it might remain without direction +from his brain. Then he released his contact with its spinal +cord; but remained in position upon its shoulders, waiting and +watching, for the kaldane's curiosity was aroused. He had not +long to wait before the lights were flashed on arid one of the +locked doors opened to admit a half-dozen warriors. They +approached him rapidly and worked quickly. First they removed all +his weapons and then, snapping a fetter about one of the rykor's +ankles, secured him to the end of one of the chains hanging from +the walls. Next they dragged the long table to a new position and +there bolted it to the floor so that an end, instead of the +middle, was directly before the prisoner. On the table before him +they set food and water and upon the opposite end of the table +they laid the key to the fetter. Then they unlocked and opened +all the doors and departed.<br> +</p> + +When Turan the panthan regained consciousness it was to the +realization of a sharp pain in one of his forearms. The effects +of the gas departed as rapidly as they had overcome him so that +as he opened his eyes he was in full possession of all his +faculties. The lights were on again and in their glow there was +revealed to the man the figure of a giant Martian rat crouching +upon the table and gnawing upon his arm. Snatching his arm away +he reached for his short-sword, while the rat, growling, sought +to seize his arm again. It was then that Turan discovered that +his weapons had been removed--short-sword, long-sword, dagger, +and pistol. The rat charged him then and striking the creature +away with his hand the man rose and backed off, searching for +something with which to strike a harder blow. Again the rat +charged and as Turan stepped quickly back to avoid the menacing +jaws, something seemed to jerk suddenly upon his right ankle, and +as he drew his left foot back to regain his equilibrium his heel +caught upon a taut chain and he fell heavily backward to the +floor just as the rat leaped upon his breast and sought his +throat. <br> +<p>The Martian rat is a fierce and unlovely thing. It is +many-legged and hairless, its hide resembling that of a newborn +mouse in repulsiveness. In size and weight it is comparable to a +large Airedale terrier. Its eyes are small and close-set, and +almost hidden in deep, fleshy apertures. But its most ferocious +and repulsive feature is its jaws, the entire bony structure of +which protrudes several inches beyond the flesh, revealing five +sharp, spadelike teeth in the upper jaw and the same number of +similar teeth in the lower, the whole suggesting the appearance +of a rotting face from which much of the flesh has sloughed +away.<br> +</p> + +It was such a thing that leaped upon the breast of the panthan to +tear at his jugular. Twice Turan struck it away as he sought to +regain his feet, but both times it returned with increased +ferocity to renew the attack. Its only weapons are its jaws since +its broad, splay feet are armed with blunt talons. With its +protruding jaws it excavates its winding burrows and with its +broad feet it pushes the dirt behind it. To keep the jaws from +his flesh then was Turan's only concern and this he succeeded in +doing until chance gave him a hold upon the creature's throat. +After that the end was but a matter of moments. Rising at last he +flung the lifeless thing from him with a shudder of disgust. <br> +<p>Now he turned his attention to a hurried inventory of the new +conditions which surrounded him since the moment of his +incarceration. He realized vaguely what had happened. He had been +anaesthetized and stripped of his weapons, and as he rose to his +feet he saw that one ankle was fettered to a chain in the wall. +He looked about the room. All the doors swung wide open! His +captors would render his imprisonment the more cruel by leaving +ever before him tempting glimpses of open aisles to the freedom +he could not attain. Upon the end of the table and within easy +reach was food and drink. This at least was attainable and at +sight of it his starved stomach seemed almost to cry aloud for +sustenance. It was with difficulty that he ate and drank in +moderation.<br> +</p> + +As he devoured the food his eyes wandered about the confines of +his prison until suddenly they seized upon a thing that lay on +the table at the end farthest from him. It was a key. He raised +his fettered ankle and examined the lock. There could be no doubt +of it! The key that lay there on the table before him was the key +to that very lock. A careless warrior had laid it there and +departed, forgetting. <br> +<p>Hope surged high in the breast of Gahan of Gathol, of Turan +the panthan. Furtively his eyes sought the open doorways. There +was no one in sight. Ah, if he could but gain his freedom! He +would find some way from this odious city back to her side and +never again would he leave her until he had won safety for her or +death for himself.<br> +</p> + +He rose and moved cautiously toward the opposite end of the table +where lay the coveted key. The fettered ankle halted his first +step, but he stretched at full length along the table, extending +eager fingers toward the prize. They almost laid hold upon it--a +little more and they would touch it. He strained and stretched, +but still the thing lay just beyond his reach. He hurled himself +forward until the iron fetter bit deep into his flesh, but all +futilely. He sat back upon the bench then and glared at the open +doors and the key, realizing now that they were part of a +well-laid scheme of refined torture, none the less demoralizing +because it inflicted no physical suffering. <br> +<p>For just a moment the man gave way to useless regret and +foreboding, then he gathered himself together, his brows cleared, +and he returned to his unfinished meal. At least they should not +have the satisfaction of knowing how sorely they had hit him. As +he ate it occurred to him that by dragging the table along the +floor he could bring the key within his reach, but when he +essayed to do so, he found that the table had been securely +bolted to the floor during the period of his unconsciousness, +Again Gahan smiled and shrugged and resumed his eating.<br> +</p> + +When the warriors had departed from the prison in which Ghek was +confined, the kaldane crawled from the shoulders of the rykor to +the table. Here he drank a little water and then directed the +hands of the rykor to the balance of it and to the food, upon +which the brainless thing fell with avidity. While it was thus +engaged Ghek took his spider-like way along the table to the +opposite end where lay the key to the fetter. Seizing it in a +chela he leaped to the floor and scurried rapidly toward the +mouth of one of the burrows against the wall, into which he +disappeared. For long had the brain been contemplating these +burrow entrances. They appealed to his kaldanean tastes, and +further, they pointed a hiding place for the key and a lair for +the only kind of food that the kaldane relished--flesh and blood. +<br> +<p>Ghek had never seen an ulsio, since these great Martian rats +had long ago disappeared from Bantoom, their flesh and blood +having been greatly relished by the kaldanes; but Ghek had +inherited, almost unimpaired, every memory of every ancestor, and +so he knew that ulsio inhabited these lairs and that ulsio was +good to eat, and he knew what ulsio looked like and what his +habits were, though he had never seen him nor any picture of him. +As we breed animals for the transmission of physical attributes, +so the Kaldanes breed themselves for the transmission of +attributes of the mind, including memory and the power of +recollection, and thus have they raised what we term instinct, +above the level of the threshold of the objective mind where it +may be commanded and utilized by recollection. Doubtless in our +own subjective minds lie many of the impressions and experiences +of our forebears. These may impinge upon our consciousness in +dreams only, or in vague, haunting suggestions that we have +before experienced some transient phase of our present existence. +Ah, if we had but the power to recall them! Before us would +unfold the forgotten story of the lost eons that have preceded +us. We might even walk with God in the garden of His stars while +man was still but a budding idea within His mind.<br> +</p> + +Ghek descended into the burrow at a steep incline for some ten +feet, when he found himself in an elaborate and delightful +network of burrows! The kaldane was elated. This indeed was life! +He moved rapidly and fearlessly and he went as straight to his +goal as you could to the kitchen of your own home. This goal lay +at a low level in a spheroidal cavity about the size of a large +barrel. Here, in a nest of torn bits of silk and fur lay six baby +ulsios. <br> +<p>When the mother returned there were but five babies and a +great spider-like creature, which she immediately sprang to +attack only to be met by powerful chelae which seized and held +her so that she could not move. Slowly they dragged her throat +toward a hideous mouth and in a little moment she was dead.<br> +</p> + +Ghek might have remained in the nest for a long time, since there +was ample food for many days; but he did not do so. Instead he +explored the burrows. He followed them into many subterranean +chambers of the city of Manator, and upward through walls to +rooms above the ground. He found many ingeniously devised traps, +and he found poisoned food and other signs of the constant battle +that the inhabitants of Manator waged against these repulsive +creatures that dwelt beneath their homes and public buildings. +<br> +<p>His exploration revealed not only the vast proportions of the +net-work of runways that apparently traversed every portion of +the city, but the great antiquity of the majority of them. Tons +upon tons of dirt must have been removed, and for a long time he +wondered where it had been deposited, until in following downward +a tunnel of great size and length he sensed before him the +thunderous rush of subterranean waters, and presently came to the +bank of a great, underground river, tumbling onward, no doubt, +the length of a world to the buried sea of Omean. Into this +torrential sewer had unthinkable generations of ulsios pushed +their few handsful of dirt in the excavating of their vast +labyrinth.<br> +</p> + +For only a moment did Ghek tarry by the river, for his seemingly +aimless wanderings were in reality prompted by a definite +purpose, and this he pursued with vigor and singleness of design. +He followed such runways as appeared to terminate in the pits or +other chambers of the inhabitants of the city, and these he +explored, usually from the safety of a burrow's mouth, until +satisfied that what he sought was not there. He moved swiftly +upon his spider legs and covered remarkable distances in short +periods of time. <br> +<p>His search not being rewarded with immediate success, he +decided to return to the pit where his rykor lay chained and look +to its wants. As he approached the end of the burrow that +terminated in the pit he slackened his pace, stopping just within +the entrance of the runway that he might scan the interior of the +chamber before entering it. As he did so he saw the figure of a +warrior appear suddenly in an opposite doorway. The rykor +sprawled upon the table, his hands groping blindly for more food. +Ghek saw the warrior pause and gaze in sudden astonishment at the +rykor; he saw the fellow's eyes go wide and an ashen hue replace +the copper bronze of his cheek. He stepped back as though someone +had struck him in the face. For an instant only he stood thus as +in a paralysis of fear, then he uttered a smothered shriek and +turned and fled. Again was it a catastrophe that Ghek, the +kaldane, could not smile.<br> +</p> + +Quickly entering the room he crawled to the table top and affixed +himself to the shoulders of his rykor, and there he waited; and +who may say that Ghek, though he could not smile, possessed not a +sense of humor? For a half-hour he sat there, and then there came +to him the sound of men approaching along corridors of stone. He +could hear their arms clank against the rocky walls and he knew +that they came at a rapid pace; but just before they reached the +entrance to his prison they paused and advanced more slowly. In +the lead was an officer, and just behind him, wide-eyed and +perhaps still a little ashen, the warrior who had so recently +departed in haste. At the doorway they halted and the officer +turned sternly upon the warrior. With upraised finger he pointed +at Ghek. <br> +<p>"There sits the creature! Didst thou dare lie, then, to thy +dwar?"<br> +</p> + +"I swear," cried the warrior, "that I spoke the truth. But a +moment since the thing groveled, headless, upon this very table! +And may my first ancestor strike me dead upon the spot if I speak +other than a true word!" <br> +<p>The officer looked puzzled. The men of Mars seldom if ever +lie. He scratched his head. Then he addressed Ghek. "How long +have you been here?" he asked.<br> +</p> + +"Who knows better than those who placed me here and chained me to +a wall?" he returned in reply. <br> +<p>"Saw you this warrior enter here a few minutes since?"<br> +</p> + +"I saw him," replied Ghek. <br> +<p>"And you sat there where you sit now?" continued the +officer.<br> +</p> + +"Look thou to my chain and tell me then where else might I sit!" +cried Ghek. "Art the people of thy city all fools?" <br> +<p>Three other warriors pressed behind the two in front, craning +their necks to view the prisoner while they grinned at the +discomfiture of their fellow. The officer scowled at Ghek.<br> +</p> + +"Thy tongue is as venomous as that of the she-banth O-Tar sent to +The Towers of Jetan," he said. <br> +<p>You speak of the young woman who was captured with me?" asked +Ghek, his expressionless monotone and face revealing naught of +the interest he felt.<br> +</p> + +"I speak of her," replied the dwar, and then turning to the +warrior who had summoned him: "return to thy quarters and remain +there until the next games. Perhaps by that time thy eyes may +have learned not to deceive thee." <br> +<p>The fellow cast a venomous glance at Ghek and turned away. The +officer shook his head. "I do not understand it," he muttered. +"Always has U-Van been a true and dependable warrior. Could it +be--?" he glanced piercingly at Ghek. "Thou hast a strange head +that misfits thy body, fellow," he cried. "Our legends tell us of +those ancient creatures that placed hallucinations upon the mind +of their fellows. If thou be such then maybe U-Van suffered from +thy forbidden powers. If thou be such O-Tar will know well how to +deal with thee." He wheeled about and motioned his warriors to +follow him.<br> +</p> + +"Wait!" cried Ghek. "Unless I am to be starved, send me food." +<br> +<p>"You have had food," replied the warrior.<br> +</p> + +"Am I to be fed but once a day?" asked Ghek. "I require food +oftener than that. Send me food." <br> +<p>"You shall have food," replied the officer. "None may say that +the prisoners of Manator are ill-fed. Just are the laws of +Manator," and he departed.<br> +</p> + +No sooner had the sounds of their passing died away in the +distance than Ghek clambered from the shoulders of his rykor, and +scurried to the burrow where he had hidden the key. Fetching it +he unlocked the fetter from about the creature's ankle, locked it +empty and carried the key farther down into the burrow. Then he +returned to his place upon his brainless servitor. After a while +he heard footsteps approaching, whereupon he rose and passed into +another corridor from that down which he knew the warrior was +coming. Here he waited out of sight, listening. He heard the man +enter the chamber and halt. He heard a muttered exclamation, +followed by the jangle of metal dishes as a salver was slammed +upon a table; then rapidly retreating footsteps, which quickly +died away in the distance. <br> +<p>Ghek lost no time in returning to the chamber, recovering the +key, relocking the rykor to his chain. Then he replaced the key +in the burrow and squatting on the table beside his headless +body, directed its hands toward the food. While the rykor ate +Ghek sat listening for the scraping sandals and clattering arms +that he knew soon would come. Nor had he long to wait. Ghek +scrambled to the shoulders of his rykor as he heard them coming. +Again it was the officer who had been summoned by U-Van and with +him were three warriors. The one directly behind him was +evidently the same who had brought the food, for his eyes went +wide when he saw Ghek sitting at the table and he looked very +foolish as the dwar turned his stern glance upon him.<br> +</p> + +"It is even as I said," he cried. "He was not here when I brought +his food." <br> +<p>"But he is here now," said the officer grimly, "and his fetter +is locked about his ankle. Look! it has not been opened--but +where is the key? It should be upon the table at the end opposite +him. Where is the key, creature?" he shouted at Ghek.<br> +</p> + +"How should I, a prisoner, know better than my jailer the +whereabouts of the key to my fetters?" he retorted. <br> +<p>"But it lay here," cried the officer, pointing to the other +end of the table.<br> +</p> + +"Did you see it?" asked Ghek. <br> +<p>The officer hesitated. "No but it must have been there," he +parried.<br> +</p> + +"Did you see the key lying there?" asked Ghek, pointing to +another warrior. <br> +<p>The fellow shook his head negatively. "And you? and you?" +continued the kaldane addressing the others.<br> +</p> + +They both admitted that they never had seen the key. "And if it +had been there how could I have reached it?" he continued. <br> +<p>"No, he could not have reached it," admitted the officer; "but +there shall be no more of this! I-Zav, you will remain here on +guard with this prisoner until you are relieved."<br> +</p> + +I-Zav looked anything but happy as this intelligence was +transmitted to him, and he eyed Ghek suspiciously as the dwar and +the other warriors turned and left him to his unhappy lot. <br> +<p><br> +</p> + +<h1 id="ref_14">CHAPTER XIII</h1> + +A DESPERATE DEED <br> +<p>E-MED crossed the tower chamber toward Tara of Helium and the +slave girl, Lan-O. He seized the former roughly by a shoulder. +"Stand!" he commanded. Tara struck his hand from her and rising, +backed away.<br> +</p> + +"Lay not your hand upon the person of a princess of Helium, +beast!" she warned. <br> +<p>E-Med laughed. "Think you that I play at jetan for you without +first knowing something of the stake for which I play?" he +demanded. "Come here!"<br> +</p> + +The girl drew herself to her full height, folding her arms across +her breast, nor did E-Med note that the slim fingers of her right +hand were inserted beneath the broad leather strap of her harness +where it passed over her left shoulder. <br> +<p>"And O-Tar learns of this you shall rue it, E-Med," cried the +slave girl; "there be no law in Manator that gives you this girl +before you shall have won her fairly."<br> +</p> + +"What cares O-Tar for her fate?" replied E-Med. "Have I not +heard? Did she not flout the great jeddak, heaping abuse upon +him? By my first ancestor, I think O-Tar might make a jed of the +man who subdued her," and again he advanced toward Tara. <br> +<p>"Wait!" said the girl in low, even tone. "Perhaps you know not +what you do. Sacred to the people of Helium are the persons of +the women of Helium. For the honor of the humblest of them would +the great jeddak himself unsheathe his sword. The greatest +nations of Barsoom have trembled to the thunders of war in +defense of the person of Dejah Thoris, my mother. We are but +mortal and so may die; but we may not be defiled. You may play at +jetan for a princess of Helium, but though you may win the match, +never may you claim the reward. If thou wouldst possess a dead +body press me too far, but know, man of Manator, that the blood +of The Warlord flows not in the veins of Tara of Helium for +naught. I have spoken."<br> +</p> + +"I know naught of Helium and O-Tar is our warlord," replied +E-Med; "but I do know that I would examine more closely the prize +that I shall play for and win. I would test the lips of her who +is to be my slave after the next games; nor is it well, woman, to +drive me too far to anger." His eyes narrowed as he spoke, his +visage taking on the semblance of that of a snarling beast. "If +you doubt the truth of my words ask Lan-O, the slave girl." <br> +<p>"He speaks truly, O woman of Helium," interjected Lan-O. "Try +not the temper of E-Med, if you value your life."<br> +</p> + +But Tara of Helium made no reply. Already had she spoken. She +stood in silence now facing the burly warrior who approached her. +He came close and then quite suddenly he seized her and, bending, +tried to draw her lips to his. <br> +<p>Lan-O saw the woman from Helium half turn, and with a quick +movement jerk her right hand from where it had lain upon her +breast. She saw the hand shoot from beneath the arm of E-Med and +rise behind his shoulder and she saw in the hand a long, slim +blade. The lips of the warrior were drawing closer to those of +the woman, but they never touched them, for suddenly the man +straightened, stiffly, a shriek upon his lips, and then he +crumpled like an empty fur and lay, a shrunken heap, upon the +floor. Tara of Helium stooped and wiped her blade upon his +harness.<br> +</p> + +Lan-O, wide-eyed, looked with horror upon the corpse. "For this +we shall both die," she cried. <br> +<p>"And who would live a slave in Manator?" asked Tara of +Helium.<br> +</p> + +"I am not so brave as thou," said the slave girl, "and life is +sweet and there is always hope." <br> +<p>"Life is sweet," agreed Tara of Helium, "but honor is sacred. +But do not fear. When they come I shall tell them the truth--that +you had no hand in this and no opportunity to prevent it."<br> +</p> + +For a moment the slave girl seemed to be thinking deeply. +Suddenly her eyes lighted. "There is a way, perhaps," she said, +"to turn suspicion from us. He has the key to this chamber upon +him. Let us open the door and drag him out--maybe we shall find a +place to hide him." <br> +<p>"Good!" exclaimed Tara of Helium, and the two immediately set +about the matter Lan-O had suggested. Quickly they found the key +and unlatched the door and then, between them, they half carried, +half dragged, the corpse of E-Med from the room and down the +stairway to the next level where Lan-O said there were vacant +chambers. The first door they tried was unlatched, and through +this the two bore their grisly burden into a small room lighted +by a single window. The apartment bore evidence of having been +utilized as a living-room rather than as a cell, being furnished +with a degree of comfort and even luxury. The walls were paneled +to a height of about seven feet from the floor, while the plaster +above and the ceiling were decorated with faded paintings of +another day.<br> +</p> + +As Tara's eyes ran quickly over the interior her attention was +drawn to a section of paneling that seemed to be separated at one +edge from the piece next adjoining it. Quickly she crossed to it, +discovering that one vertical edge of an entire panel projected a +half-inch beyond the others. There was a possible explanation +which piqued her curiosity, and acting upon its suggestion she +seized upon the projecting edge and pulled outward. Slowly the +panel swung toward her, revealing a dark aperture in the wall +behind. <br> +<p>"Look, Lan-O!" she cried. "See what I have found--a hole in +which we may hide the thing upon the floor."<br> +</p> + +Lan-O joined her and together the two investigated the dark +aperture, finding a small platform from which a narrow runway led +downward into Stygian darkness. Thick dust covered the floor +within the doorway, indicating that a great period of time had +elapsed since human foot had trod it--a secret way, doubtless, +unknown to living Manatorians. Here they dragged the corpse of +E-Med, leaving it upon the platform, and as they left the dark +and forbidden closet Lan-O would have slammed to the panel had +not Tara prevented. <br> +<p>"Wait!" she said, and fell to examining the door frame and the +stile.<br> +</p> + +"Hurry!" whispered the slave girl. "If they come we are lost." +<br> +<p>"It may serve us well to know how to open this place again," +replied Tara of Helium, and then suddenly she pressed a foot +against a section of the carved base at the right of the open +panel. "Ah!" she breathed, a note of satisfaction in her tone, +and closed the panel until it fitted snugly in its place. "Come!" +she said and turned toward the outer doorway of the chamber.<br> +</p> + +They reached their own cell without detection, and closing the +door Tara locked it from the inside and placed the key in a +secret pocket in her harness. <br> +<p>"Let them come," she said. "Let them question us! What could +two poor prisoners know of the whereabouts of their noble jailer? +I ask you, Lan-O, what could they?"<br> +</p> + +"Nothing," admitted Lan-O, smiling with her companion. <br> +<p>"Tell me of these men of Manator," said Tara presently. "Are +they all like E-Med, or are some of them like A-Kor, who seemed a +brave and chivalrous character?"<br> +</p> + +"They are not unlike the peoples of other countries," replied +Lan-O. "There be among them both good and bad. They are brave +warriors and mighty. Among themselves they are not without +chivalry and honor, but in their dealings with strangers they +know but one law--the law of might. The weak and unfortunate of +other lands fill them with contempt and arouse all that is worst +in their natures, which doubtless accounts for their treatment of +us, their slaves." <br> +<p>"But why should they feel contempt for those who have suffered +the misfortune of falling into their hands?" queried Tara.<br> +</p> + +"I do not know," said Lan-O; "A-Kor says that he believes that it +is because their country has never been invaded by a victorious +foe. In their stealthy raids never have they been defeated, +because they have never waited to face a powerful force; and so +they have come to believe themselves invincible, and the other +peoples are held in contempt as inferior in valor and the +practice of arms." <br> +<p>"Yet A-Kor is one of them," said Tara.<br> +</p> + +"He is a son of O-Tar, the jeddak," replied Lan-O; "but his +mother was a high born Gatholian, captured and made slave by +O-Tar, and A-Kor boasts that in his veins runs only the blood of +his mother, and indeed is he different from the others. His +chivalry is of a gentler form, though not even his worst enemy +has dared question his courage, while his skill with the sword, +and the spear, and the thoat is famous throughout the length and +breadth of Manator." <br> +<p>"What think you they will do with him?" asked Tara of +Helium.<br> +</p> + +"Sentence him to the games," replied Lan-O. "If O-Tar be not +greatly angered he may be sentenced to but a single game, in +which case he may come out alive; but if O-Tar wishes really to +dispose of him he will be sentenced to the entire series, and no +warrior has ever survived the full ten, or rather none who was +under a sentence from O-Tar." <br> +<p>"What are the games? I do not understand," said Tara "I have +heard them speak of playing at jetan, but surely no one can be +killed at jetan. We play it often at home."<br> +</p> + +"But not as they play it in the arena at Manator," replied Lan-O. +"Come to the window," and together the two approached an aperture +facing toward the east. <br> +<p>Below her Tara of Helium saw a great field entirely surrounded +by the low building, and the lofty towers of which that in which +she was imprisoned was but a unit. About the arena were tiers of +seats; but the a thing that caught her attention was a gigantic +jetan board laid out upon the floor of the arena in great squares +of alternate orange and black.<br> +</p> + +"Here they play at jetan with living pieces. They play for great +stakes and usually for a woman--some slave of exceptional beauty. +O-Tar himself might have played for you had you not angered him, +but now you will be played for in an open game by slaves and +criminals, and you will belong to the side that wins--not to a +single warrior, but to all who survive the game." <br> +<p>The eyes of Tara of Helium flashed, but she made no +comment.<br> +</p> + +"Those who direct the play do not necessarily take part in it," +continued the slave girl, "but sit in those two great thrones +which you see at either end of the board and direct their pieces +from square to square." <br> +<p>"But where lies the danger?" asked Tara of Helium. "If a piece +be taken it is merely removed from the board--this is a rule of +jetan as old almost as the civilization of Barsoom."<br> +</p> + +"But here in Manator, when they play in the great arena with +living men, that rule is altered," explained Lan-O. "When a +warrior is moved to a square occupied by an opposing piece, the +two battle to the death for possession of the square and the one +that is successful advantages by the move. Each is caparisoned to +simulate the piece he represents and in addition he wears that +which indicates whether he be slave, a warrior serving a +sentence, or a volunteer. If serving a sentence the number of +games he must play is also indicated, and thus the one directing +the moves knows which pieces to risk and which to conserve, and +further than this, a man's chances are affected by the position +that is assigned him for the game. Those whom they wish to die +are always Panthans in the game, for the Panthan has the least +chance of surviving." <br> +<p>"Do those who direct the play ever actually take part in it?" +asked Tara.<br> +</p> + +"Oh, yes," said Lan-O. "Often when two warriors, even of the +highest class, hold a grievance against one another O-Tar compels +them to settle it upon the arena. Then it is that they take +active part and with drawn swords direct their own players from +the position of Chief. They pick their own players, usually the +best of their own warriors and slaves, if they be powerful men +who possess such, or their friends may volunteer, or they may +obtain prisoners from the pits. These are games indeed--the very +best that are seen. Often the great chiefs themselves are slain." +<br> +<p>"It is within this amphitheater that the justice of Manator is +meted, then?" asked Tara.<br> +</p> + +"Very largely," replied Lan-O. <br> +<p>"How, then, through such justice, could a prisoner win his +liberty?" continued the girl from Helium.<br> +</p> + +"If a man, and he survived ten games his liberty would be his," +replied Lan-O. <br> +<p>"But none ever survives?" queried Tara. "And if a woman?"<br> +</p> + +"No stranger within the gates of Manator ever has survived ten +games," replied the slave girl. "They are permitted to offer +themselves into perpetual slavery if they prefer that to fighting +at jetan. Of course they may be called upon, as any warrior, to +take part in a game, but their chances then of surviving are +increased, since they may never again have the chance of winning +to liberty." <br> +<p>"But a woman," insisted Tara; "how may a woman win her +freedom?"<br> +</p> + +Lan-O laughed. "Very simply," she cried. derisively. "She has but +to find a warrior who will fight through ten consecutive games +for her and survive." <br> +<p>"'Just are the laws of Manator,'" quoted Tara, scornfully.<br> +</p> + +Then it was that they heard footsteps outside their cell and a +moment later a key turned in the lock and the door opened. A +warrior faced them. <br> +<p>"Hast seen E-Med the dwar?" he asked.<br> +</p> + +"Yes," replied Tara, "he was here some time ago." <br> +<p>The man glanced quickly about the bare chamber and then +searchingly first at Tara of Helium and then at the slave girl, +Lan-O. The puzzled expression upon his face increased. He +scratched his head. "It is strange," he said. "A score of men saw +him ascend into this tower; and though there is but a single +exit, and that well guarded, no man has seen him pass out."<br> +</p> + +Tara of Helium hid a yawn with the back of a shapely hand. "The +Princess of Helium is hungry, fellow," she drawled; "tell your +master that she would eat." <br> +<p>It was an hour later that food was brought, an officer and +several warriors accompanying the bearer. The former examined the +room carefully, but there was no sign that aught amiss had +occurred there. The wound that had sent E-Med the dwar to his +ancestors had not bled, fortunately for Tara of Helium.<br> +</p> + +"Woman," cried the officer, turning upon Tara, "you were the last +to see E-Med the dwar. Answer me now and answer me truthfully. +Did you see him leave this room?" <br> +<p>"I did," answered Tara of Helium.<br> +</p> + +"Where did he go from here?" <br> +<p>"How should I know? Think you that I can pass through a locked +door of skeel?" the girl's tone was scornful.<br> +</p> + +"Of that we do not know," said the officer. "Strange things have +happened in the cell of your companion in the pits of Manator. +Perhaps you could pass through a locked door of skeel as easily +as he performs seemingly more impossible feats." <br> +<p>"Whom do you mean," she cried; "Turan the panthan? He lives, +then? Tell me, is he here in Manator unharmed?"<br> +</p> + +"I speak of that thing which calls itself Ghek the kaldane," +replied the officer. <br> +<p>"But Turan! Tell me, padwar, have you heard aught of him?" +Tara's tone was insistent and she leaned a little forward toward +the officer, her lips slightly parted in expectancy.<br> +</p> + +Into the eyes of the slave girl, Lan-O, who was watching her, +there crept a soft light of understanding; but the officer +ignored Tara's question--what was the fate of another slave to +him? "Men do not disappear into thin air," he growled, "and if +E-Med be not found soon O-Tar himself may take a hand in this. I +warn you, woman, if you be one of those horrid Corphals that by +commanding the spirits of the wicked dead gains evil mastery over +the living, as many now believe the thing called Ghek to be, that +lest you return E-Med, O-Tar will have no mercy on you." <br> +<p>"What foolishness is this?" cried the girl. "I am a princess +of Helium, as I have told you all a score of times. Even if the +fabled Corphals existed, as none but the most ignorant now +believes, the lore of the ancients tells us that they entered +only into the bodies of wicked criminals of the lowest class. Man +of Manator, thou art a fool, and thy jeddak and all his people," +and she turned her royal back upon the padwar, and gazed through +the window across the Field of Jetan and the roofs of Manator +through the low hills and the rolling country and freedom.<br> +</p> + +"And you know so much of Corphals, then," he cried, "you know +that while no common man dare harm them they may be slain by the +hand of a jeddak with impunity!" <br> +<p>The girl did not reply, nor would she speak again, for all his +threats and rage, for she knew now that none in all Manator dared +harm her save O-Tar, the jeddak, and after a while the padwar +left, taking his men with him. And after they had gone Tara stood +for long looking out upon the city of Manator, and wondering what +more of cruel wrongs Fate held in store for her. She was standing +thus in silent meditation when there rose to her the strains of +martial music from the city below--the deep, mellow tones of the +long war trumpets of mounted troops, the clear, ringing notes of +foot-soldiers' music. The girl raised her head and looked about, +listening, and Lan-O, standing at an opposite window, looking +toward the west, motioned Tara to join her. Now they could see +across roofs and avenues to The Gate of Enemies, through which +troops were marching into the city.<br> +</p> + +"The Great Jed is coming," said Lan-O, "none other dares enter +thus, with blaring trumpets, the city of Manator. It is U-Thor, +Jed of Manatos, second city of Manator. They call him The Great +Jed the length and breadth of Manator, and because the people +love him, O-Tar hates him. They say, who know, that it would need +but slight provocation to inflame the two to war. How such a war +would end no one could guess; for the people of Manator worship +the great O-Tar, though they do not love him. U-Thor they love, +but he is not the jeddak," and Tara understood, as only a Martian +may, how much that simple statement encompassed. <br> +<p>The loyalty of a Martian to his jeddak is almost an instinct, +and second not even to the instinct of self-preservation at that. +Nor is this strange in a race whose religion includes ancestor +worship, and where families trace their origin back into remote +ages and a jeddak sits upon the same throne that his direct +progenitors have occupied for, perhaps, hundreds of thousands of +years, and rules the descendants of the same people that his +forebears ruled. Wicked jeddaks have been dethroned, but seldom +are they replaced by other than members of the imperial house, +even though the law gives to the jeds the right to select whom +they please.<br> +</p> + +"U-Thor is a just man and good, then?" asked Tara of Helium. <br> +<p>"There be none nobler," replied Lan-O. "In Manatos none but +wicked criminals who deserve death are forced to play at jetan, +and even then the play is fair and they have their chance for +freedom. Volunteers may play, but the moves are not necessarily +to the death--a wound, and even sometimes points in swordplay, +deciding the issue. There they look upon jetan as a martial +sport--here it is but butchery. And U-Thor is opposed to the +ancient slave raids and to the policy that keeps Manator forever +isolated from the other nations of Barsoom; but U-Thor is not +jeddak and so there is no change."<br> +</p> + +The two girls watched the column moving up the broad avenue from +The Gate of Enemies toward the palace of O-Tar. A gorgeous, +barbaric procession of painted warriors in jewel-studded harness +and waving feathers; vicious, squealing thoats caparisoned in +rich trappings; far above their heads the long lances of their +riders bore fluttering pennons; foot-soldiers swinging easily +along the stone pavement, their sandals of zitidar hide giving +forth no sound; and at the rear of each utan a train of painted +chariots, drawn by mammoth zitidars, carrying the equipment of +the company to which they were attached. Utan after utan entered +through the great gate, and even when the head of the column +reached the palace of O-Tar they were not all within the city. +<br> +<p>"I have been here many years," said the girl, Lan-O; "but +never have I seen even The Great Jed bring so many fighting men +into the city of Manator."<br> +</p> + +Through half-closed eyes Tara of Helium watched the warriors +marching up the broad avenue, trying to imagine them the fighting +men of her beloved Helium coming to the rescue of their princess. +That splendid figure upon the great thoat might be John Carter, +himself, Warlord of Barsoom, and behind him utan after utan of +the veterans of the empire, and then the girl opened her eyes +again and saw the host of painted, befeathered barbarians, and +sighed. But yet she watched, fascinated by the martial scene, and +now she noted again the groups of silent figures upon the +balconies. No waving silks; no cries of welcome; no showers of +flowers and jewels such as would have marked the entry of such a +splendid, friendly pageant into the twin cities of her birth. +<br> +<p>"The people do not seem friendly to the warriors of Manatos," +she remarked to Lan-O; "I have not seen a single welcoming sign +from the people on the balconies."<br> +</p> + +The slave girl looked at her in surprise. "It cannot be that you +do not know!" she exclaimed. "Why, they are--" but she got no +further. The door swung open and an officer stood before them. +<br> +<p>"The slave girl, Tara, is summoned to the presence of O-Tar, +the jeddak!" he announced.<br> +</p> + +<br> +<h1 id="ref_15">CHAPTER XIV</h1> + +AT GHEK'S COMMAND <br> +TURAN the panthan chafed in his chains. Time dragged; silence and +monotony prolonged minutes into hours. Uncertainty of the fate of +the woman he loved turned each hour into an eternity of hell. He +listened impatiently for the sound of approaching footsteps that +he might see and speak to some living creature and learn, +perchance, some word of Tara of Helium. After torturing hours his +ears were rewarded by the rattle of harness and arms. Men were +coming! He waited breathlessly. Perhaps they were his +executioners; but he would welcome them notwithstanding. He would +question them. But if they knew naught of Tara he would not +divulge the location of the hiding place in which he had left +her. <br> +<p>Now they came--a half-dozen warriors and an officer, escorting +an unarmed man; a prisoner, doubtless. Of this Turan was not left +long in doubt, since they brought the newcomer and chained him to +an adjoining ring. Immediately the panthan commenced to question +the officer in charge of the guard.<br> +</p> + +"Tell me," he demanded, "why I have been made prisoner, and if +other strangers were captured since I entered your city." <br> +<p>"What other prisoners?" asked the officer.<br> +</p> + +"A woman, and a man with a strange head," replied Turan. <br> +<p>"It is possible," said the officer; "but what were their +names?"<br> +</p> + +"The woman was Tara, Princess of Helium, and the man was Ghek, a +kaldane, of Bantoom." <br> +<p>"These were your friends?" asked the officer.<br> +</p> + +"Yes," replied Turan. <br> +<p>"It is what I would know," said the officer, and with a curt +command to his men to follow him he turned and left the cell.<br> +</p> + +"Tell me of them!" cried Turan after him. "Tell me of Tara of +Helium! Is she safe?" but the man did not answer and soon the +sound of their departure died in the distance. <br> +<p>"Tara of Helium was safe, but a short time since," said the +prisoner chained at Turan's side.<br> +</p> + +The panthan turned toward the speaker, seeing a large man, +handsome of face and with a manner both stately and dignified. +"You have seen her?" he asked. "They captured her then? She is in +danger?" <br> +<p>"She is being held in The Towers of Jetan as a prize for the +next games," replied the stranger.<br> +</p> + +"And who are you?" asked Turan. "And why are you here, a +prisoner?" <br> +<p>"I am A-Kor the dwar, keeper of The Towers of Jetan," replied +the other. "I am here because I dared speak the truth of O-Tar +the jeddak, to one of his officers."<br> +</p> + +"And your punishment?" asked Turan. <br> +<p>"I do not know. O-Tar has not yet spoken. Doubtless the +games--perhaps the full ten, for O-Tar does not love A-Kor, his +son."<br> +</p> + +"You are the jeddak's son?" asked Turan. <br> +<p>"I am the son of O-Tar and of a slave, Haja of Gathol, who was +a princess in her own land."<br> +</p> + +Turan looked searchingly at the speaker. A son of Haja of Gathol! +A son of his mother's sister, this man, then, was his own cousin. +Well did Gahan remember the mysterious disappearance of the +Princess Haja and an entire utan of her personal troops. She had +been upon a visit far from the city of Gathol and returning home +had vanished with her whole escort from the sight of man. So this +was the secret of the seeming mystery? Doubtless it explained +many other similar disappearances that extended nearly as far +back as the history of Gathol. Turan scrutinized his companion, +discovering many evidences of resemblance to his mother's people. +A-Kor might have been ten years younger than he, but such +differences in age are scarce accounted among a people who seldom +or never age outwardly after maturity and whose span of life may +be a thousand years. <br> +<p>"And where lies Gathol?" asked Turan.<br> +</p> + +"Almost due east of Manator," replied A-Kor. <br> +<p>"And how far?"<br> +</p> + +"Some twenty-one degrees it is from the city of Manator to the +city of Gathol," replied A-Kor; "but little more than ten degrees +between the boundaries of the two countries. Between them, +though, there lies a country of torn rocks and yawning chasms." +<br> +<p>Well did Gahan know this country that bordered his upon the +west--even the ships of the air avoided it because of the +treacherous currents that rose from the deep chasms, and the +almost total absence of safe landings. He knew now where Manator +lay and for the first time in long weeks the way to his own +Gathol, and here was a man, a fellow prisoner, in whose veins +flowed the blood of his own ancestors--a man who knew Manator; +its people, its customs and the country surrounding it--one who +could aid him, with advice at least, to find a plan for the +rescue of Tara of Helium and for escape. But would A-Kor--could +he dare broach the subject? He could do no less than try.<br> +</p> + +"And O-Tar you think will sentence you to death?" he asked; "and +why?" <br> +<p>"He would like to," replied A-Kor, "for the people chafe +beneath his iron hand and their loyalty is but the loyalty of a +people to the long line of illustrious jeddaks from which he has +sprung. He is a jealous man and has found the means of disposing +of most of those whose blood might entitle them to a claim upon +the throne, and whose place in the affections of the people +endowed them with any political significance. The fact that I was +the son of a slave relegated me to a position of minor importance +in the consideration of O-Tar, yet I am still the son of a jeddak +and might sit upon the throne of Manator with as perfect +congruity as O-Tar himself. Combined with this is the fact that +of recent years the people, and especially many of the younger +warriors, have evinced a growing affection for me, which I +attribute to certain virtues of character and training derived +from my mother, but which O-Tar assumes to be the result of an +ambition upon my part to occupy the throne of Manator.<br> +</p> + +"And now, I am firmly convinced, he has seized upon my criticism +of his treatment of the slave girl Tara as a pretext for ridding +himself of me." <br> +<p>"But if you could escape and reach Gathol," suggested +Turan.<br> +</p> + +"I have thought of that," mused A-Kor; "but how much better off +would I be? In the eyes of the Gatholians I would be, not a +Gatholian; but a stranger and doubtless they would accord me the +same treatment that we of Manator accord strangers." <br> +<p>"Could you convince them that you are the son of the Princess +Haja your welcome would be assured," said Turan; "while on the +other hand you could purchase your freedom and citizenship with a +brief period of labor in the diamond mines."<br> +</p> + +"How know you all these things?" asked A-Kor. "I thought you were +from Helium." <br> +<p>"I am a panthan," replied Turan, "and I have served many +countries, among them Gathol."<br> +</p> + +"It is what the slaves from Gathol have told me," said A-Kor, +thoughtfully, "and my mother, before O-Tar sent her to live at +Manatos. I think he must have feared her power and influence +among the slaves from Gathol and their descendants, who number +perhaps a million people throughout the land of Manator." <br> +<p>"Are these slaves organized?" asked Turan.<br> +</p> + +A-Kor looked straight into the eyes of the panthan for a long +moment before he replied. "You are a man of honor," he said; "I +read it in your face, and I am seldom mistaken in my estimate of +a man; but--" and he leaned closer to the other--"even the walls +have ears," he whispered, and Turan's question was answered. <br> +<p>It was later in the evening that warriors came and unlocked +the fetter from Turan's ankle and led him away to appear before +O-Tar, the jeddak. They conducted him toward the palace along +narrow, winding streets and broad avenues; but always from the +balconies there looked down upon them in endless ranks the silent +people of the city. The palace itself was filled with life and +activity. Mounted warriors galloped through the corridors and up +and down the runways connecting adjacent floors. It seemed that +no one walked within the palace other than a few slaves. +Squealing, fighting thoats were stabled in magnificent halls +while their riders, if not upon some duty of the palace, played +at jetan with small figures carved from wood.<br> +</p> + +Turan noted the magnificence of the interior architecture of the +palace, the lavish expenditure of precious jewels and metals, the +gorgeous mural decorations which depicted almost exclusively +martial scenes, and principally duels which seemed to be fought +upon jetan boards of heroic size. The capitals of many of the +columns supporting the ceilings of the corridors and chambers +through which they passed were wrought into formal likenesses of +jetan pieces--everywhere there seemed a suggestion of the game. +Along the same path that Tara of Helium had been led Turan was +conducted toward the throne room of O-Tar the jeddak, and when he +entered the Hall of Chiefs his interest turned to wonder and +admiration as he viewed the ranks of statuesque thoatmen decked +in their gorgeous, martial panoply. Never, he thought, had he +seen upon Barsoom more soldierly figures or thoats so perfectly +trained to perfection of immobility as these. Not a muscle +quivered, not a tail lashed, and the riders were as motionless as +their mounts--each warlike eye straight to the front, the great +spears inclined at the same angle. It was a picture to fill the +breast of a fighting man with awe and reverence. Nor did it fail +in its effect upon Turan as they conducted him the length of the +chamber, where he waited before great doors until he should be +summoned into the presence of the ruler of Manator. <br> +<p>When Tara of Helium was ushered into the throne room of O-Tar +she found the great hall filled with the chiefs and officers of +O-Tar and U-Thor, the latter occupying the place of honor at the +foot of the throne, as was his due. The girl was conducted to the +foot of the aisle and halted before the jeddak, who looked down +upon her from his high throne with scowling brows and fierce, +cruel eyes.<br> +</p> + +"The laws of Manator are just," said O-Tar, addressing her; "thus +is it that you have been summoned here again to be judged by the +highest authority of Manator. Word has reached me that you are +suspected of being a Corphal. What word have you to say in +refutation of the charge?" <br> +<p>Tara of Helium could scarce restrain a sneer as she answered +the ridiculous accusation of witchcraft. "So ancient is the +culture of my people," she said, "that authentic history reveals +no defense for that which we know existed only in the ignorant +and superstitious minds of the most primitive peoples of the +past. To those who are yet so untutored as to believe in the +existence of Corphals, there can be no argument that will +convince them of their error--only long ages of refinement and +culture can accomplish their release from the bondage of +ignorance. I have spoken."<br> +</p> + +"Yet you do not deny the accusation," said O-Tar. <br> +<p>"It is not worthy the dignity of a denial," she responded +haughtily.<br> +</p> + +"And I were you, woman," said a deep voice at her side, "I +should, nevertheless, deny it." <br> +<p>Tara of Helium turned to see the eyes of U-Thor, the great jed +of Manatos, upon her. Brave eyes they were, but neither cold nor +cruel. O-Tar rapped impatiently upon the arm of his throne. +"U-Thor forgets," he cried, "that O-Tar is the jeddak."<br> +</p> + +"U-Thor remembers," replied the jed of Manatos, "that the laws of +Manator permit any who may be accused to have advice and counsel +before their judge." <br> +<p>Tara of Helium saw that for some reason this man would have +assisted her, and so she acted upon his advice.<br> +</p> + +"I deny the charge," she said, "I am no Corphal." <br> +<p>"Of that we shall learn," snapped O-Tar. "U-Dor, where are +those who have knowledge of the powers of this woman?"<br> +</p> + +And U-Dor brought several who recounted the little that was known +of the disappearance of E-Med, and others who told of the capture +of Ghek and Tara, suggesting by deduction that having been found +together they had sufficient in common to make it reasonably +certain that one was as bad as the other, and that, therefore, it +remained but to convict one of them of Corphalism to make certain +the guilt of both. And then O-Tar called for Ghek, and +immediately the hideous kaldane was dragged before him by +warriors who could not conceal the fear in which they held this +creature. <br> +<p>"And you!" said O-Tar in cold accusing tones. "Already have I +been told enough of you to warrant me in passing through your +heart the jeddak's steel--of how you stole the brains from the +warrior U-Van so that he thought he saw your headless body still +endowed with life; of how you caused another to believe that you +had escaped, making him to see naught but an empty bench and a +blank wall where you had been."<br> +</p> + +"Ah, O-Tar, but that is as nothing!" cried a young padwar who had +come in command of the escort that brought Ghek. "The thing which +he did to I-Zav, here, would prove his guilt alone." <br> +<p>"What did he to the warrior I-Zav?" demanded O-Tar. "Let I-Zav +speak!"<br> +</p> + +The warrior I-Zav, a great fellow of bulging muscles and thick +neck, advanced to the foot of the throne. He was pale and still +trembling visibly as from a nervous shock. <br> +<p>"Let my first ancestor be my witness, O-Tar, that I speak the +truth," he began. "I was left to guard this creature, who sat +upon a bench, shackled to the wall. I stood by the open doorway +at the opposite side of the chamber. He could not reach me, yet, +O-Tar, may Iss engulf me if he did not drag me to him helpless as +an unhatched egg. He dragged me to him, greatest of jeddaks, with +his eyes! With his eyes he seized upon my eyes and dragged me to +him and he made me lay my swords and dagger upon the table and +back off into a corner, and still keeping his eyes upon my eyes +his head quitted his body and crawling upon six short legs it +descended to the floor and backed part way into the hole of an +ulsio, but not so far that the eyes were not still upon me and +then it returned with the key to its fetter and after resuming +its place upon its own shoulders it unlocked the fetter and again +dragged me across the room and made me to sit upon the bench +where it had been and there it fastened the fetter about my +ankle, and I could do naught for the power of its eyes and the +fact that it wore my two swords and my dagger. And then the head +disappeared down the hole of the ulsio with the key, and when it +returned, it resumed its body and stood guard over me at the +doorway until the padwar came to fetch it hither."<br> +</p> + +"It is enough!" said O-Tar, sternly. "Both shall receive the +jeddak's steel," and rising from his throne he drew his long +sword and descended the marble steps toward them, while two +brawny warriors seized Tara by either arm and two seized Ghek, +holding them facing the naked blade of the jeddak. <br> +<p>"Hold, just O-Tar!" cried U-Dor. "There be yet another to be +judged. Let us confront him who calls himself Turan with these +his fellows before they die."<br> +</p> + +"Good!" exclaimed O-Tar, pausing half way down the steps. "Fetch +Turan, the slave!" <br> +<p>When Turan had been brought into the chamber he was placed a +little to Tara's left and a step nearer the throne. O-Tar eyed +him menacingly.<br> +</p> + +"You are Turan," he asked, "friend and companion of these?" <br> +<p>The panthan was about to reply when Tara of Helium spoke. "I +know not this fellow," she said. "Who dares say that he be a +friend and companion of the Princess Tara of Helium?"<br> +</p> + +Turan and Ghek looked at her in surprise, but at Turan she did +not look, and to Ghek she passed a quick glance of warning, as to +say: "Hold thy peace." <br> +<p>The panthan tried not to fathom her purpose for the head is +useless when the heart usurps its functions, and Turan knew only +that the woman he loved had denied him, and though he tried not +even to think it his foolish heart urged but a single +explanation--that she refused to recognize him lest she be +involved in his difficulties.<br> +</p> + +O-Tar looked first at one and then at another of them; but none +of them spoke. <br> +<p>"Were they not captured together?" he asked of U-Dor.<br> +</p> + +"No," replied the dwar. "He who is called Turan was found seeking +entrance to the city and was enticed to the pits. The following +morning I discovered the other two upon the hill beyond The Gate +of Enemies." <br> +<p>"But they are friends and companions," said a young padwar, +"for this Turan inquired of me concerning these two, calling them +by name and saying that they were his friends."<br> +</p> + +"It is enough," stated O-Tar, "all three shall die," and he took +another step downward from the throne. <br> +<p>"For what shall we die?" asked Ghek. "Your people prate of the +just laws of Manator, and yet you would slay three strangers +without telling them of what crime they are accused."<br> +</p> + +"He is right," said a deep voice. It was the voice of U-Thor, the +great jed of Manatos. O-Tar looked at him and scowled; but there +came voices from other portions of the chamber seconding the +demand for justice. <br> +<p>"Then know, though you shall die anyway," cried O-Tar, "that +all three are convicted of Corphalism and that as only a jeddak +may slay such as you in safety you are about to be honored with +the steel of O-Tar."<br> +</p> + +"Fool!" cried Turan. "Know you not that in the veins of this +woman flows the blood of ten thousand jeddaks--that greater than +yours is her power in her own land? She is Tara, Princess of +Helium, great-granddaughter of Tardos Mors, daughter of John +Carter, Warlord of Barsoom. She cannot be a Corphal. Nor is this +creature Ghek, nor am I. And you would know more, I can prove my +right to be heard and to be believed if I may have word with the +Princess Haja of Gathol, whose son is my fellow prisoner in the +pits of O-Tar, his father." <br> +<p>At this U-Thor rose to his feet and faced O-Tar. "What means +this?" he asked. "Speaks the man the truth? Is the son of Haja a +prisoner in thy pits, O-Tar?"<br> +</p> + +"And what is it to the jed of Manatos who be the prisoners in the +pits of his jeddak?" demanded O-Tar, angrily. <br> +<p>"It is this to the jed of Manatos," replied U-Thor in a voice +so low as to be scarce more than a whisper and yet that was heard +the whole length and breadth of the great throne room of O-Tar, +Jeddak of Manator. "You gave me a slave woman, Haja, who had been +a princess in Gathol, because you feared her influence among the +slaves from Gathol. I have made of her a free woman, and I have +married her and made her thus a princess of Manatos. Her son is +my son, O-Tar, and though thou be my jeddak, I say to you that +for any harm that befalls A-Kor you shall answer to U-Thor of +Manatos."<br> +</p> + +O-Tar looked long at U-Thor, but he made no reply. Then he turned +again to Turan. "If one be a Corphal," he said, "then all of you +be Corphals, and we know well from the things that this creature +has done," he pointed at Ghek, "that he is a Corphal, for no +mortal has such powers as he. And as you are all Corphals you +must all die." He took another step downward, when Ghek spoke. +<br> +<p>"These two have no such powers as I," he said. "They are but +ordinary, brainless things such as yourself. I have done all the +things that your poor, ignorant warriors have told you; but this +only demonstrates that I am of a higher order than yourselves, as +is indeed the fact. I am a kaldane, not a Corphal. There is +nothing supernatural or mysterious about me, other than that to +the ignorant all things which they cannot understand are +mysterious. Easily might I have eluded your warriors and escaped +your pits; but I remained in the hope that I might help these two +foolish creatures who have not the brains to escape without help. +They befriended me and saved my life. I owe them this debt. Do +not slay them--they are harmless. Slay me if you will. I offer my +life if it will appease your ignorant wrath. I cannot return to +Bantoom and so I might as well die, for there is no pleasure in +intercourse with the feeble intellects that cumber the face of +the world outside the valley of Bantoom."<br> +</p> + +"Hideous egotist," said O-Tar, "prepare to die and assume not to +dictate to O-Tar the jeddak. He has passed sentence and all three +of you shall feel the jeddak's naked steel. I have spoken!" <br> +<p>He took another step downward and then a strange thing +happened. He paused, his eyes fixed upon the eyes of Ghek. His +sword slipped from nerveless fingers, and still he stood there +swaying forward and back. A jed rose to rush to his side; but +Ghek stopped him with a word.<br> +</p> + +"Wait!" he cried. "The life of your jeddak is in my hands. You +believe me a Corphal and so you believe, too, that only the sword +of a jeddak may slay me, therefore your blades are useless +against me. Offer harm to any one of us, or seek to approach your +jeddak until I have spoken, and he shall sink lifeless to the +marble. Release the two prisoners and let them come to my side--I +would speak to them, privately. Quick! do as I say; I would as +lief as not slay O-Tar. I but let him live that I may gain +freedom for my friends--obstruct me and he dies." <br> +<p>The guards fell back, releasing Tara and Turan, who came close +to Ghek's side.<br> +</p> + +"Do as I tell you and do it quickly," whispered the kaldane. "I +cannot hold this fellow long, nor could I kill him thus. There +are many minds working against mine and presently mine will tire +and O-Tar will be himself again. You must make the best of your +opportunity while you may. Behind the arras that you see hanging +in the rear of the throne above you is a secret opening. From it +a corridor leads to the pits of the palace, where there are +storerooms containing food and drink. Few people go there. From +these pits lead others to all parts of the city. Follow one that +runs due west and it will bring you to The Gate of Enemies. The +rest will then lie with you. I can do no more; hurry before my +waning powers fail me--I am not as Luud, who was a king. He could +have held this creature forever. Make haste! Go!" <br> +<p><br> +</p> + +<h1 id="ref_16">CHAPTER XV</h1> + +THE OLD MAN OF THE PITS <br> +<p>"I SHALL not desert you, Ghek," said Tara of Helium, +simply.<br> +</p> + +"Go! Go!" whispered the kaldane. "You can do me no good. Go, or +all I have done is for naught." <br> +<p>Tara shook her head. "I cannot," she said.<br> +</p> + +"They will slay her," said Ghek to Turan, and the panthan, torn +between loyalty to this strange creature who had offered its life +for him, and love of the woman, hesitated but a moment, then he +swept Tara from her feet and lifting her in his arms leaped up +the steps that led to the throne of Manator. Behind the throne he +parted the arras and found the secret opening. Into this he bore +the girl and down a long, narrow corridor and winding runways +that led to lower levels until they came to the pits of the +palace of O-Tar. Here was a labyrinth of passages and chambers +presenting a thousand hiding-places. <br> +<p>As Turan bore Tara up the steps toward the throne a score of +warriors rose as though to rush forward to intercept them. +"Stay!" cried Ghek, "or your jeddak dies," and they halted in +their tracks, waiting the will of this strange, uncanny +creature.<br> +</p> + +Presently Ghek took his eyes from the eyes of O-Tar and the +jeddak shook himself as one who would be rid of a bad dream and +straightened up, half dazed still. <br> +<p>"Look," said Ghek, then, "I have given your jeddak his life, +nor have I harmed one of those whom I might easily have slain +when they were in my power. No harm have I or my friends done in +the city of Manator. Why then should you persecute us? Give us +our lives. Give us our liberty."<br> +</p> + +O-Tar, now in command of his faculties, stooped and regained his +sword. In the room was silence as all waited to hear the jeddak's +answer. <br> +<p>"Just are the laws of Manator," he said at last. "Perhaps, +after all, there is truth in the words of the stranger. Return +him then to the pits and pursue the others and capture them. +Through the mercy of O-Tar they shall be permitted to win their +freedom upon the Field of Jetan, in the coming games."<br> +</p> + +Still ashen was the face of the jeddak as Ghek was led away and +his appearance was that of a man who had been snatched from the +brink of eternity into which he has gazed, not with the composure +of great courage, but with fear. There were those in the throne +room who knew that the execution of the three prisoners had but +been delayed and the responsibility placed upon the shoulders of +others, and one of those who knew was U-Thor, the great jed of +Manatos. His curling lip betokened his scorn of the jeddak who +had chosen humiliation rather than death. He knew that O-Tar had +lost more of prestige in those few moments than he could regain +in a lifetime, for the Martians are jealous of the courage of +their chiefs--there can be no evasions of stern duty, no +temporizing with honor. That there were others in the room who +shared U-Thor's belief was evidenced by the silence and the grim +scowls. <br> +<p>O-Tar glanced quickly around. He must have sensed the +hostility and guessed its cause, for he went suddenly angry, and +as one who seeks by the vehemence of his words to establish the +courage of his heart he roared forth what could be considered as +naught other than a challenge.<br> +</p> + +"The will of O-Tar, the jeddak, is the law of Manator," he cried, +"and the laws of Manator are just--they cannot err. U-Dor, +dispatch those who will search the palace, the pits, and the +city, and return the fugitives to their cells. <br> +<p>"And now for you, U-Thor of Manatos! Think you with impunity +to threaten your jeddak--to question his right to punish traitors +and instigators of treason? What am I to think of your own +loyalty, who takes to wife a woman I have banished from my court +because of her intrigues against the authority of her jeddak and +her master? But O-Tar is just. Make your explanations and your +peace, then, before it is too late."<br> +</p> + +"U-Thor has nothing to explain," replied the jed of Manatos; "nor +is he at war with his jeddak; but he has the right that every jed +and every warrior enjoys, of demanding justice at the hands of +the jeddak for whomsoever he believes to be persecuted. With +increasing rigor has the jeddak of Manator persecuted the slaves +from Gathol since he took to himself the unwilling Princess Haja. +If the slaves from Gathol have harbored thoughts of vengeance and +escape 'tis no more than might be expected from a proud and +courageous people Ever have I counselled greater fairness in our +treatment of our slaves, many of whom, in their own lands, are +people of great distinction and power; but always has O-Tar, the +jeddak, flouted with arrogance my every suggestion. Though it has +been through none of my seeking that the question has arisen now +I am glad that it has, for the time was bound to come when the +jeds of Manator would demand from O-Tar the respect and +consideration that is their due from the man who holds his high +office at their pleasure. Know, then, O-Tar, that you must free +A-Kor, the dwar, forthwith or bring him to fair trial before the +assembled jeds of Manator. I have spoken." <br> +<p>"You have spoken well and to the point, U-Thor," cried O-Tar, +"for you have revealed to your jeddak and your fellow jeds the +depth of the disloyalty that I have long suspected. A-Kor already +has been tried and sentenced by the supreme tribunal of +Manator--O-Tar, the jeddak; and you too shall receive justice +from the same unfailing source. In the meantime you are under +arrest. To the pits with him! To the pits with U-Thor the false +jed!" He clapped his hands to summon the surrounding warriors to +do his bidding. A score leaped forward to seize U-Thor. They were +warriors of the palace, mostly; but two score leaped to defend +U-Thor, and with ringing steel they fought at the foot of the +steps to the throne of Manator where stood O-Tar, the jeddak, +with drawn sword ready to take his part in the melee.<br> +</p> + +At the clash of steel, palace guards rushed to the scene from +other parts of the great building until those who would have +defended U-Thor were outnumbered two to one, and then the jed of +Manatos slowly withdrew with his forces, and fighting his way +through the corridors and chambers of the palace came at last to +the avenue. Here he was reinforced by the little army that had +marched with him into Manator. Slowly they retreated toward The +Gate of Enemies between the rows of silent people looking down +upon them from the balconies and there, within the city walls, +they made their stand. <br> +<p>In a dimly-lighted chamber beneath the palace of O-Tar the +jeddak, Turan the panthan lowered Tara of Helium from his arms +and faced her. "I am sorry, Princess," he said, "that I was +forced to disobey your commands, or to abandon Ghek; but there +was no other way. Could he have saved you I would have stayed in +his place. Tell me that you forgive me."<br> +</p> + +"How could I do less?" she replied graciously. "But it seemed +cowardly to abandon a friend." <br> +<p>"Had we been three fighting men it had been different," he +said. "We could only have remained and died together, fighting; +but you know, Tara of Helium, that we may not jeopardize a +woman's safety even though we risk the loss of honor."<br> +</p> + +"I know that, Turan," she said; "but no one may say that you have +risked honor, who knows the honor and bravery that are yours." +<br> +<p>He heard her with surprise for these were the first words that +she had spoken to him that did not savor of the attitude of a +princess to a panthan--though it was more in her tone than the +actual words that he apprehended the difference. How at variance +were they to her recent repudiation of him! He could not fathom +her, and so he blurted out the question that had been in his mind +since she had told O-Tar that she did not know him.<br> +</p> + +"Tara of Helium," he said, "your words are balm to the wound you +gave me in the throne room of O-Tar. Tell me, Princess, why you +denied me." <br> +<p>She turned her great, deep eyes up to his and in them was a +little of reproach.<br> +</p> + +"You did not guess," she asked, "that it was my lips alone and +not my heart that denied you? O-Tar had ordered that I die, more +because I was a companion of Ghek than because of any evidence +against me, and so I knew that if I acknowledged you as one of +us, you would be slain, too." <br> +<p>"It was to save me, then?" he cried, his face suddenly +lighting.<br> +</p> + +"It was to save my brave panthan," she said in a low voice. <br> +<p>"Tara of Helium," said the warrior, dropping to one knee, +"your words are as food to my hungry heart," and he took her +fingers in his and pressed them to his lips.<br> +</p> + +Gently she raised him to his feet. "You need not tell me, +kneeling," she said, softly. <br> +<p>Her hand was still in his as he rose and they were very close, +and the man was still flushed with the contact of her body since +he had carried her from the throne room of O-Tar. He felt his +heart pounding in his breast and the hot blood surging through +his veins as he looked at her beautiful face, with its downcast +eyes and the half-parted lips that he would have given a kingdom +to possess, and then he swept her to him and as he crushed her +against his breast his lips smothered hers with kisses.<br> +</p> + +But only for an instant. Like a tigress the girl turned upon him, +striking him, and thrusting him away. She stepped back, her head +high and her eyes flashing fire. "You would dare?" she cried. +"You would dare thus defile a princess of Helium?" <br> +<p>His eyes met hers squarely and there was no shame and no +remorse in them.<br> +</p> + +"Yes, I would dare," he said. "I would dare love Tara of Helium; +but I would not dare defile her or any woman with kisses that +were not prompted by love of her alone." He stepped closer to her +and laid his hands upon her shoulders. "Look into my eyes, +daughter of The Warlord," he said, "and tell me that you do not +wish the love of Turan, the panthan." <br> +<p>"I do not wish your love," she cried, pulling away. "I hate +you!" and then turning away she bent her head into the hollow of +her arm, and wept.<br> +</p> + +The man took a step toward her as though to comfort her when he +was arrested by the sound of a crackling laugh behind him. +Wheeling about, he discovered a strange figure of a man standing +in a doorway. It was one of those rarities occasionally to be +seen upon Barsoom--an old man with the signs of age upon him. +Bent and wrinkled, he had more the appearance of a mummy than a +man. <br> +<p>"Love in the pits of O-Tar!" he cried, and again his thin +laughter jarred upon the silence of the subterranean vaults. "A +strange place to woo! A strange place to woo, indeed! When I was +a young man we roamed in the gardens beneath giant pimalias and +stole our kisses in the brief shadows of hurtling Thuria. We came +not to the gloomy pits to speak of love; but times have changed +and ways have changed, though I had never thought to live to see +the time when the way of a man with a maid, or a maid with a man +would change. Ah, but we kissed them then! And what if they +objected, eh? What if they objected? Why, we kissed them more. +Ey, ey, those were the days!" and he cackled again. "Ey, well do +I recall the first of them I ever kissed, and I've kissed an army +of them since; she was a fine girl, but she tried to slip a +dagger into me while I was kissing her. Ey, ey, those were the +days! But I kissed her. She's been dead over a thousand years +now, but she was never kissed again like that while she lived, +I'll swear, not since she's been dead, either. And then there was +that other--" but Turan, seeing a thousand or more years of +osculatory memoirs portending, interrupted.<br> +</p> + +"Tell me, ancient one," he said, "not of thy loves but of +thyself. Who are you? What do you here in the pits of O-Tar?" +<br> +<p>"I might ask you the same, young man," replied the other. "Few +there are who visit the pits other than the dead, except my +pupils--ey! That is it--you are new pupils! Good! But never +before have they sent a woman to learn the great art from the +greatest artist. But times have changed. Now, in my day the women +did no work--they were just for kissing and loving. Ey, those +were the women. I mind the one we captured in the south--ey! she +was a devil, but how she could love. She had breasts of marble +and a heart of fire. Why, she--"<br> +</p> + +"Yes, yes," interrupted Turan; "we are pupils, and we are anxious +to get to work. Lead on and we will follow." <br> +<p>"Ey, yes! Ey, yes! Come! All is rush and hurry as though there +were not another countless myriad of ages ahead. Ey, yes! as many +as lie behind. Two thousand years have passed since I broke my +shell and always rush, rush, rush, yet I cannot see that aught +has been accomplished. Manator is the same today as it was +then--except the girls. We had the girls then. There was one that +I gained upon The Fields of Jetan. Ey, but you should have seen +--"<br> +</p> + +"Lead on!" cried Turan. "After we are at work you shall tell us +of her." <br> +<p>"Ey, yes," said the old fellow and shuffled off down a dimly +lighted passage. "Follow me!"<br> +</p> + +"You are going with him?" asked Tara. <br> +<p>"Why not?" replied Turan. "We know not where we are, or the +way from these pits; for I know not east from west; but he +doubtless knows and if we are shrewd we may learn from him that +which we would know. At least we cannot afford to arouse his +suspicions"; and so they followed him--followed along winding +corridors and through many chambers, until they came at last to a +room in which there were several marble slabs raised upon +pedestals some three feet above the floor and upon each slab lay +a human corpse.<br> +</p> + +"Here we are," exclaimed the old man. "These are fresh and we +shall have to get to work upon them soon. I am working now on one +for The Gate of Enemies. He slew many of our warriors. Truly is +he entitled to a place in The Gate. Come, you shall see him." +<br> +<p>He led them to an adjoining apartment. Upon the floor were +many fresh, human bones and upon a marble slab a mass of +shapeless flesh.<br> +</p> + +"You will learn this later," announced the old man; "but it will +not harm you to watch me now, for there are not many thus +prepared, and it may be long before you will have the opportunity +to see another prepared for The Gate of Enemies. First, you see, +I remove all the bones, carefully that the skin may be damaged as +little as possible. The skull is the most difficult, but it can +be removed by a skilful artist. You see, I have made but a single +opening. This I now sew up, and that done, the body is hung so," +and he fastened a piece of rope to the hair of the corpse and +swung the horrid thing to a ring in the ceiling. Directly below +it was a circular manhole in the floor from which he removed the +cover revealing a well partially filled with a reddish liquid. +"Now we lower it into this, the formula for which you shall learn +in due time. We fasten it thus to the bottom of the cover, which +we now replace. In a year it will be ready; but it must be +examined often in the meantime and the liquid kept above the +level of its crown. It will be a very beautiful piece, this one, +when it is ready. <br> +<p>"And you are fortunate again, for there is one to come out +today." He crossed to the opposite side of the room and raised +another cover, reached in and dragged a grotesque looking figure +from the hole. It was a human body, shrunk by the action of the +chemical in which it had been immersed, to a little figure scarce +a foot high.<br> +</p> + +"Ey! is it not fine?" cried the little old man. "Tomorrow it will +take its place in The Gate of Enemies." He dried it off with +cloths and packed it away carefully in a basket. "Perhaps you +would like to see some of my life work," he suggested, and +without waiting for their assent led them to another apartment, a +large chamber in which were forty or fifty people. All were +sitting or standing quietly about the walls, with the exception +of one huge warrior who bestrode a great thoat in the very center +of the room, and all were motionless. Instantly there sprang to +the minds of Tara and Turan the rows of silent people upon the +balconies that lined the avenues of the city, and the noble array +of mounted warriors in The Hall of Chiefs, and the same +explanation came to both but neither dared voice the question +that was in his mind, for fear of revealing by his ignorance the +fact that they were strangers in Manator and therefore impostors +in the guise of pupils. <br> +<p>"It is very wonderful," said Turan. "It must require great +skill and patience and time."<br> +</p> + +"That it does," replied the old man, "though having done it so +long I am quicker than most; but mine are the most natural. Why, +I would defy the wife of that warrior to say that insofar as +appearances are concerned he does not live," and he pointed at +the man upon the thoat. "Many of them, of course, are brought +here wasted or badly wounded and these I have to repair. That is +where great skill is required, for everyone wants his dead to +look as they did at their best in life; but you shall learn--to +mount them and paint them and repair them and sometimes to make +an ugly one look beautiful. And it will be a great comfort to be +able to mount your own. Why, for fifteen hundred years no one has +mounted my own dead but myself. <br> +<p>"I have many, my balconies are crowded with them; but I keep a +great room for my wives. I have them all, as far back as the +first one, and many is the evening I spend with them--quiet +evenings and very pleasant. And then the pleasure of preparing +them and making them even more beautiful than in life partially +recompenses one for their loss. I take my time with them, looking +for a new one while I am working on the old. When I am not sure +about a new one I bring her to the chamber where my wives are, +and compare her charms with theirs, and there is always a great +satisfaction at such times in knowing that they will not object. +I love harmony."<br> +</p> + +"Did you prepare all the warriors in The Hall of Chiefs?" asked +Turan. <br> +<p>"Yes, I prepare them and repair them," replied the old man. +"O-Tar will trust no other. Even now I have two in another room +who were damaged in some way and brought down to me. O-Tar does +not like to have them gone long, since it leaves two riderless +thoats in the Hall; but I shall have them ready presently. He +wants them all there in the event any momentous question arises +upon which the living jeds cannot agree, or do not agree with +O-Tar. Such questions he carries to the jeds in The Hall of +Chiefs. There he shuts himself up alone with the great chiefs who +have attained wisdom through death. It is an excellent plan and +there is never any friction or misunderstandings. O-Tar has said +that it is the finest deliberative body upon Barsoom--much more +intelligent than that composed of the living jeds. But come, we +must get to work; come into the next chamber and I will begin +your instruction."<br> +</p> + +He led the way into the chamber in which lay the several corpses +upon their marble slabs, and going to a cabinet he donned a pair +of huge spectacles and commenced to select various tools from +little compartments. This done he turned again toward his two +pupils. <br> +<p>"Now let me have a look at you," he said. "My eyes are not +what they once were, and I need these powerful lenses for my +work, or to see distinctly the features of those around me."<br> +</p> + +He turned his eyes upon the two before him. Turan held his breath +for he knew that now the man must discover that they wore not the +harness or insignia of Manator. He had wondered before why the +old fellow had not noticed it, for he had not known that he was +half blind. The other examined their faces, his eyes lingering +long upon the beauty of Tara of Helium, and then they drifted to +the harness of the two. Turan thought that he noted an +appreciable start of surprise on the part of the taxidermist, but +if the old man noticed anything his next words did not reveal it. +<br> +<p>"Come with I-Gos," he said to Turan, "I have materials in the +next room that I would have you fetch hither. Remain here, woman, +we shall be gone but a moment."<br> +</p> + +He led the way to one of the numerous doors opening into the +chamber and entered ahead of Turan. Just inside the door he +stopped, and pointing to a bundle of silks and furs upon the +opposite side of the room directed Turan to fetch them. The +latter had crossed the room and was stooping to raise the bundle +when he heard the click of a lock behind him. Wheeling instantly +he saw that he was alone in the room and that the single door was +closed. Running rapidly to it he strove to open it, only to find +that he was a prisoner. <br> +<p>I-Gos, stepping out and locking the door behind him, turned +toward Tara.<br> +</p> + +"Your leather betrayed you," he said, laughing his cackling +laugh. "You sought to deceive old I-Gos, but you found that +though his eyes are weak his brain is not. But it shall not go +ill with you. You are beautiful and I-Gos loves beautiful women. +I might not have you elsewhere in Manator, but here there is none +to deny old I-Gos. Few come to the pits of the dead--only those +who bang the dead and they hasten away as fast as they can. No +one will know that I-Gos has a beautiful woman locked with his +dead. I shall ask you no questions and then I will not have to +give you up, for I will not know to whom you belong, eh? And when +you die I shall mount you beautifully and place you in the +chamber with my other women. Will not that be fine, eh?" He had +approached until he stood close beside the horrified girl. +"Come!" he cried, seizing her by the wrist. "Come to I-Gos!" <br> +<p><br> +</p> + +<h1 id="ref_17">CHAPTER XVI</h1> + +ANOTHER CHANGE OF NAME <br> +<p>TURAN dashed himself against the door of his prison in a vain +effort to break through the solid skeel to the side of Tara whom +he knew to be in grave danger, but the heavy panels held and he +succeeded only in bruising his shoulders and his arms. At last he +desisted and set about searching his prison for some other means +of escape. He found no other opening in the stone walls, but his +search revealed a heterogeneous collection of odds and ends of +arms and apparel, of harness and ornaments and insignia, and +sleeping silks and furs in great quantities. There were swords +and spears and several large, two-bladed battle-axes, the heads +of which bore a striking resemblance to the propellor of a small +flier. Seizing one of these he attacked the door once more with +great fury. He expected to hear something from I-Gos at this +ruthless destruction, but no sound came to him from beyond the +door, which was, he thought, too thick for the human voice to +penetrate; but he would have wagered much that I-Gos heard him. +Bits of the hard wood splintered at each impact of the heavy axe, +but it was slow work and heavy. Presently he was compelled to +rest, and so it went for what seemed hours--working almost to the +verge of exhaustion and then resting for a few minutes; but ever +the hole grew larger though he could see nothing of the interior +of the room beyond because of the hanging that I-Gos had drawn +across it after he had locked Turan within.<br> +</p> + +At last, however, the panthan had hewn an opening through which +his body could pass, and seizing a long-sword that he had brought +close to the door for the purpose he crawled through into the +next room. Flinging aside the arras he stood ready, sword in +hand, to fight his way to the side of Tara of Helium--but she was +not there. In the center of the room lay I-Gos, dead upon the +floor; but Tara of Helium was nowhere to be seen. <br> +<p>Turan was nonplussed. It must have been her hand that had +struck down the old man, yet she had made no effort to release +Turan from his prison. And then he thought of those last words of +hers: "I do not want your love! I hate you," and the truth dawned +upon him--she had seized upon this first opportunity to escape +him. With downcast heart Turan turned away. What should he do? +There could be but one answer. While he lived and she lived he +must still leave no stone unturned to effect her escape and safe +return to the land of her people. But how? How was he even to +find his way from this labyrinth? How was he to find her again? +He walked to the nearest doorway. It chanced to be that which led +into the room containing the mounted dead, awaiting +transportation to balcony or grim room or whatever place was to +receive them. His eyes travelled to the great, painted warrior on +the thoat and as they ran over the splendid trappings and the +serviceable arms a new light came into the pain-dulled eyes of +the panthan. With a quick step he crossed to the side of the dead +warrior and dragged him from his mount. With equal celerity he +stripped him of his harness and his arms, and tearing off his +own, donned the regalia of the dead man. Then he hastened back to +the room in which he had been trapped, for there he had seen that +which he needed to make his disguise complete. In a cabinet he +found them--pots of paint that the old taxidermist had used to +place the war-paint in its wide bands across the cold faces of +dead warriors.<br> +</p> + +A few moments later Gahan of Gathol emerged from the room a +warrior of Manator in every detail of harness, equipment, and +ornamentation. He had removed from the leather of the dead man +the insignia of his house and rank so that he might pass, with +the least danger of arousing suspicion, as a common warrior. <br> +<p>To search for Tara of Helium in the vast, dim labyrinth of the +pits of O-Tar seemed to the Gatholian a hopeless quest, +foredoomed to failure. It would be wiser to seek the streets of +Manator where he might hope to learn first if she had been +recaptured and, if not, then he could return to the pits and +pursue the hunt for her. To find egress from the maze he must +perforce travel a considerable distance through the winding +corridors and chambers, since he had no idea as to the location +or direction of any exit. In fact, he could not have retraced his +steps a hundred yards toward the point at which he and Tara had +entered the gloomy caverns, and so he set out in the hope that he +might find by accident either Tara of Helium or a way to the +street level above.<br> +</p> + +For a time he passed room after room filled with the cunningly +preserved dead of Manator, many of which were piled in tiers +after the manner that firewood is corded, and as he moved through +corridor and chamber he noticed hieroglyphics painted upon the +walls above every opening and at each fork or crossing of +corridors, until by observation he reached the conclusion that +these indicated the designations of passageways, so that one who +understood them might travel quickly and surely through the pits; +but Turan did not understand them. Even could he have read the +language of Manator they might not materially have aided one +unfamiliar with the city; but he could not read them at all +since, though there is but one spoken language upon Barsoom, +there are as many different written languages as there are +nations. One thing, however, soon became apparent to him--the +hieroglyphic of a corridor remained the same until the corridor +ended. <br> +<p>It was not long before Turan realized from the distance that +he had traveled that the pits were part of a vast system +undermining, possibly, the entire city. At least he was convinced +that he had passed beyond the precincts of the palace. The +corridors and chambers varied in appearance and architecture from +time to time. All were lighted, though usually quite dimly, with +radium bulbs. For a long time he saw no signs of life other than +an occasional ulsio, then quite suddenly he came face to face +with a warrior at one of the numerous crossings. The fellow +looked at him, nodded, and passed on. Turan breathed a sigh of +relief as he realized that his disguise was effective, but he was +caught in the middle of it by a hail from the warrior who had +stopped and turned toward him. The panthan was glad that a sword +hung at his side, and glad too that they were buried in the dim +recesses of the pits and that there would be but a single +antagonist, for time was precious.<br> +</p> + +"Heard you any word of the other?" called the warrior to him. +<br> +<p>"No," replied Turan, who had not the faintest idea to whom or +what the fellow referred.<br> +</p> + +"He cannot escape," continued the warrior. "The woman ran +directly into our arms, but she swore that she knew not where her +companion might be found." <br> +<p>"They took her back to O-Tar?" asked Turan, for now he knew +whom the other meant, and he would know more.<br> +</p> + +"They took her back to The Towers of Jetan," replied the warrior. +"Tomorrow the games commence and doubtless she will be played +for, though I doubt if any wants her, beautiful as she is. She +fears not even O-Tar. By Cluros! but she would make a hard slave +to subdue--a regular she-banth she is. Not for me," and he +continued on his way shaking his head. <br> +<p>Turan hurried on searching for an avenue that led to the level +of the streets above when suddenly he came to the open doorway of +a small chamber in which sat a man who was chained to the wall. +Turan voiced a low exclamation of surprise and pleasure as he +recognized that the man was A-Kor, and that he had stumbled by +accident upon the very cell in which he had been imprisoned. +A-Kor looked at him questioningly. It was evident that he did not +recognize his fellow prisoner. Turan crossed to the table and +leaning close to the other whispered to him.<br> +</p> + +"I am Turan the panthan," he said, "who was chained beside you." +<br> +<p>A-Kor looked at him closely. "Your own mother would never know +you!" he said; "but tell me, what has transpired since they took +you away?"<br> +</p> + +Turan recounted his experiences in the throne room of O-Tar and +in the pits beneath, "and now," he continued, "I must find these +Towers of Jetan and see what may be done toward liberating the +Princess of Helium." <br> +<p>A-Kor shook his head. "Long was I dwar of the Towers," he +said, "and I can say to you, stranger, that you might as well +attempt to reduce Manator, single handed, as to rescue a prisoner +from The Towers of Jetan."<br> +</p> + +"But I must," replied Turan. <br> +<p>"Are you better than a good swordsman?" asked A-Kor +presently.<br> +</p> + +"I am accounted so," replied Turan. <br> +<p>"Then there is a way--sst!" he was suddenly silent and +pointing toward the base of the wall at the end of the room.<br> +</p> + +Turan looked in the direction the other's forefinger indicated, +to see projecting from the mouth of an ulsio's burrow two large +chelae and a pair of protruding eyes. <br> +<p>"Ghek!" he cried and immediately the hideous kaldane crawled +out upon the floor and approached the table. A-Kor drew back with +a half-stifled ejaculation of repulsion. "Do not fear," Turan +reassured him. "It is my friend--he whom I told you held O-Tar +while Tara and I escaped."<br> +</p> + +Ghek climbed to the table top and squatted between the two +warriors. "You are safe in assuming," he said addressing A-Kor, +"that Turan the panthan has no master in all Manator where the +art of sword-play is concerned. I overheard your conversation--go +on." <br> +<p>"You are his friend," continued A-Kor, "and so I may explain +safely in your presence the only plan I know whereby he may hope +to rescue the Princess of Helium. She is to be the stake of one +of the games and it is O-Tar's desire that she be won by slaves +and common warriors, since she repulsed him. Thus would he punish +her. Not a single man, but all who survive upon the winning side +are to possess her. With money, however, one may buy off the +others before the game. That you could do, and if your side won +and you survived she would become your slave."<br> +</p> + +"But how may a stranger and a hunted fugitive accomplish this?" +asked Turan. <br> +<p>"No one will recognize you. You will go tomorrow to the keeper +of the Towers and enlist in that game for which the girl is to be +the stake, telling the keeper that you are from Manataj, the +farthest city of Manator. If he questions you, you may say that +you saw her when she was brought into the city after her capture. +If you win her, you will find thoats stabled at my palace and you +will carry from me a token that will place all that is mine at +your disposal."<br> +</p> + +"But how can I buy off the others in the game without money?" +asked Turan. "I have none--not even of my own country." <br> +<p>A-Kor opened his pocket-pouch and drew forth a packet of +Manatorian money.<br> +</p> + +"Here is sufficient to buy them off twice over," he said, handing +a portion of it to Turan. <br> +<p>"But why do you do this for a stranger?" asked the +panthan.<br> +</p> + +"My mother was a captive princess here," replied A-Kor. "I but do +for the Princess of Helium what my mother would have me do." <br> +<p>"Under the circumstances, then, Manatorian," replied Turan, "I +cannot but accept your generosity on behalf of Tara of Helium and +live in hope that some day I may do for you something in +return."<br> +</p> + +"Now you must be gone," advised A-Kor. "At any minute a guard may +come and discover you here. Go directly to the Avenue of Gates, +which circles the city just within the outer wall. There you will +find many places devoted to the lodging of strangers. You will +know them by the thoat's head carved above the doors. Say that +you are here from Manataj to witness the games. Take the name of +U-Kal--it will arouse no suspicion, nor will you if you can avoid +conversation. Early in the morning seek the keeper of The Towers +of Jetan. May the strength and fortune of all your ancestors be +with you!" <br> +<p>Bidding good-bye to Ghek and A-Kor, the panthan, following +directions given him by A-Kor, set out to find his way to the +Avenue of Gates, nor had he any great difficulty. On the way he +met several warriors, but beyond a nod they gave him no heed. +With ease he found a lodging place where there were many +strangers from other cities of Manator. As he had had no sleep +since the previous night he threw himself among the silks and +furs of his couch to gain the rest which he must have, was he to +give the best possible account of himself in the service of Tara +of Helium the following day.<br> +</p> + +It was already morning when he awoke, and rising he paid for his +lodgings, sought a place to eat, and a short time later was on +his way toward The Towers of Jetan, which he had no difficulty in +finding owing to the great crowds that were winding along the +avenues toward the games. The new keeper of The Towers who had +succeeded E-Med was too busy to scrutinize entries closely, for +in addition to the many volunteer players there were scores of +slaves and prisoners being forced into the games by their owners +or the government. The name of each must be recorded as well as +the position he was to play and the game or games in which he was +to be entered, and then there were the substitutes for each that +was entered in more than a single game--one for each additional +game that an individual was entered for, that no succeeding game +might be delayed by the death or disablement of a player. <br> +<p>"Your name?" asked a clerk as Turan presented himself.<br> +</p> + +"U-Kal," replied the panthan. <br> +<p>"Your city?"<br> +</p> + +"Manataj." <br> +<p>The keeper, who was standing beside the clerk, looked at +Turan. "You have come a great way to play at jetan," he said. "It +is seldom that the men of Manataj attend other than the decennial +games. Tell me of O-Zar! Will he attend next year? Ah, but he was +a noble fighter. If you be half the swordsman, U-Kal, the fame of +Manataj will increase this day. But tell me, what of O-Zar?"<br> +</p> + +"He is well," replied Turan, glibly, "and he sent greetings to +his friends in Manator." <br> +<p>"Good!" exclaimed the keeper, "and now in what game would you +enter?"<br> +</p> + +"I would play for the Heliumetic princess, Tara," replied Turan. +<br> +<p>"But man, she is to be the stake of a game for slaves and +criminals," cried the keeper. "You would not volunteer for such a +game!"<br> +</p> + +"But I would," replied Turan. "I saw here when she was brought +into the city and even then I vowed to possess her." <br> +<p>"But you will have to share her with the survivors even if +your color wins," objected the other.<br> +</p> + +"They may be brought to reason," insisted Turan. <br> +<p>"And you will chance incurring the wrath of O-Tar, who has no +love for this savage barbarian," explained the keeper.<br> +</p> + +"And I win her O-Tar will be rid of her," said Turan. <br> +<p>The keeper of The Towers of Jetan shook his head. "You are +rash," he said. "I would that I might dissuade the friend of my +friend O-Zar from such madness."<br> +</p> + +"Would you favor the friend of O-Zar?" asked Turan. <br> +<p>"Gladly!" exclaimed the other. "What may I do for him?"<br> +</p> + +"Make me chief of the Black and give me for my pieces all slaves +from Gathol, for I understand that those be excellent warriors," +replied the panthan. <br> +<p>"It is a strange request," said the keeper, "but for my friend +O-Zar I would do even more, though of course--" he hesitated--"it +is customary for one who would be chief to make some slight +payment."<br> +</p> + +"Certainly," Turan hastened to assure him; "I had not forgotten +that. I was about to ask you what the customary amount is." <br> +<p>"For the friend of my friend it shall be nominal," replied the +keeper, naming a figure that Gahan, accustomed to the high price +of wealthy Gathol, thought ridiculously low.<br> +</p> + +"Tell me," he said, handing the money to the keeper, "when the +game for the Heliumite is to be played." <br> +<p>"It is the second in order of the day's games; and now if you +will come with me you may select your pieces."<br> +</p> + +Turan followed the keeper to a large court which lay between the +towers and the jetan field, where hundreds of warriors were +assembled. Already chiefs for the games of the day were selecting +their pieces and assigning them to positions, though for the +principal games these matters had been arranged for weeks before. +The keeper led Turan to a part of the courtyard where the +majority of the slaves were assembled. <br> +<p>"Take your choice of those not assigned," said the keeper, +"and when you have your quota conduct them to the field. Your +place will be assigned you by an officer there, and there you +will remain with your pieces until the second game is called. I +wish you luck, U-Kal, though from what I have heard you will be +more lucky to lose than to win the slave from Helium."<br> +</p> + +After the fellow had departed Turan approached the slaves. "I +seek the best swordsmen for the second game," he announced. "Men +from Gathol I wish, for I have heard that these be noble +fighters." <br> +<p>A slave rose and approached him. "It is all the same in which +game we die," he said. "I would fight for you as a panthan in the +second game."<br> +</p> + +Another came. "I am not from Gathol," he said. "I am from Helium, +and I would fight for the honor of a princess of Helium." <br> +<p>"Good!" exclaimed Turan. "Art a swordsman of repute in +Helium?"<br> +</p> + +"I was a dwar under the great Warlord, and I have fought at his +side in a score of battles from The Golden Cliffs to The Carrion +Caves. My name is Val Dor. Who knows Helium, knows my prowess." +<br> +<p>The name was well known to Gahan, who had heard the man spoken +of on his last visit to Helium, and his mysterious disappearance +discussed as well as his renown as a fighter.<br> +</p> + +"How could I know aught of Helium?" asked Turan; "but if you be +such a fighter as you say no position could suit you better than +that of Flier. What say you?" <br> +<p>The man's eyes denoted sudden surprise. He looked keenly at +Turan, his eyes running quickly over the other's harness. Then he +stepped quite close so that his words might not be overheard.<br> +</p> + +"Methinks you may know more of Helium than of Manator," he +whispered. <br> +<p>"What mean you, fellow?" demanded Turan, seeking to cudgel his +brains for the source of this man's knowledge, guess, or +inspiration.<br> +</p> + +"I mean," replied Val Dor, "that you are not of Manator and that +if you wish to hide the fact it is well that you speak not to a +Manatorian as you did just speak to me of--Fliers! There be no +Fliers in Manator and no piece in their game of Jetan bearing +that name. Instead they call him who stands next to the Chief or +Princess, Odwar. The piece has the same moves and power that the +Flier has in the game as played outside Manator. Remember this +then and remember, too, that if you have a secret it be safe in +the keeping of Val Dor of Helium." <br> +<p>Turan made no reply but turned to the task of selecting the +remainder of his pieces. Val Dor, the Heliumite, and Floran, the +volunteer from Gathol, were of great assistance to him, since one +or the other of them knew most of the slaves from whom his +selection was to be made. The pieces all chosen, Turan led them +to the place beside the playing field where they were to wait +their turn, and here he passed the word around that they were to +fight for more than the stake he offered for the princess should +they win. This stake they accepted, so that Turan was sure of +possessing Tara if his side was victorious, but he knew that +these men would fight even more valorously for chivalry than for +money, nor was it difficult to enlist the interest even of the +Gatholians in the service of the princess. And now he held out +the possibility of a still further reward.<br> +</p> + +"I cannot promise you," he explained, "but I may say I have heard +that this day which makes it possible that should we win this +game we may even win your freedom!" <br> +<p>They leaped to their feet and crowded around him with many +questions.<br> +</p> + +"It may not be spoken of aloud," he said; "but Floran and Val Dor +know and they assure me that you may all be trusted. Listen! What +I would tell you places my life in your hands, but you must know +that every man will realize that he is fighting today the +greatest battle of his life--for the honor and the freedom of +Barsoom's most wondrous princess and for his own freedom as +well--for the chance to return each to his own country and to the +woman who awaits him there. <br> +<p>"First, then, is my secret. I am not of Manator. Like +yourselves I am a slave, though for the moment disguised as a +Manatorian from Manataj. My country and my identity must remain +undisclosed for reasons that have no bearing upon our game today. +I, then, am one of you. I fight for the same things that you will +fight for.<br> +</p> + +"And now for that which I have but just learned. U-Thor, the +great jed of Manatos, quarreled with O-Tar in the palace the day +before yesterday and their warriors set upon one another. U-Thor +was driven as far as The Gate of Enemies, where he now lies +encamped. At any moment the fight may be renewed; but it is +thought that U-Thor has sent to Manatos for reinforcements. Now, +men of Gathol, here is the thing that interests you. U-Thor has +recently taken to wife the Princess Haja of Gathol, who was slave +to O-Tar and whose son, A-Kor, was dwar of The Towers of Jetan. +Haja's heart is filled with loyalty for Gathol and compassion for +her sons who are here enslaved, and this latter sentiment she has +to some extent transmitted to U-Thor. Aid me, therefore, in +freeing the Princess Tara of Helium and I believe that I can aid +you and her and myself to escape the city. Bend close your ears, +slaves of O-Tar, that no cruel enemy may hear my words," and +Gahan of Gathol whispered in low tones the daring plan he had +conceived. "And now," he demanded, when he had finished, "let him +who does not dare speak now." None replied. "Is there none?" <br> +<p>"And it would not betray you should I cast my sword at thy +feet, it had been done ere this," said one in low tones pregnant +with suppressed feeling.<br> +</p> + +"And I!" "And I!" "And I!" chorused the others in vibrant +whispers. <br> +<p><br> +</p> + +<h1 id="ref_18">CHAPTER XVII</h1> + +A PLAY TO THE DEATH <br> +<p>CLEAR and sweet a trumpet spoke across The Fields of Jetan. +From The High Tower its cool voice floated across the city of +Manator and above the babel of human discords rising from the +crowded mass that filled the seats of the stadium below. It +called the players for the first game, and simultaneously there +fluttered to the peaks of a thousand staffs on tower and +battlement and the great wall of the stadium the rich, gay +pennons of the fighting chiefs of Manator. Thus was marked the +opening of The Jeddak's Games, the most important of the year and +second only to the Grand Decennial Games.<br> +</p> + +Gahan of Gathol watched every play with eagle eye. The match was +an unimportant one, being but to settle some petty dispute +between two chiefs, and was played with professional jetan +players for points only. No one was killed and there was but +little blood spilled. It lasted about an hour and was terminated +by the chief of the losing side deliberately permitting himself +to be out-pointed, that the game might be called a draw. <br> +<p>Again the trumpet sounded, this time announcing the second and +last game of the afternoon. While this was not considered an +important match, those being reserved for the fourth and fifth +days of the games, it promised to afford sufficient excitement +since it was a game to the death. The vital difference between +the game played with living men and that in which inanimate +pieces are used, lies in the fact that while in the latter the +mere placing of a piece upon a square occupied by an opponent +piece terminates the move, in the former the two pieces thus +brought together engage in a duel for possession of the square. +Therefore there enters into the former game not only the strategy +of jetan but the personal prowess and bravery of each individual +piece, so that a knowledge not only of one's own men but of each +player upon the opposing side is of vast value to a chief.<br> +</p> + +In this respect was Gahan handicapped, though the loyalty of his +players did much to offset his ignorance of them, since they +aided him in arranging the board to the best advantage and told +him honestly the faults and virtues of each. One fought best in a +losing game; another was too slow; another too impetuous; this +one had fire and a heart of steel, but lacked endurance. Of the +opponents, though, they knew little or nothing, and now as the +two sides took their places upon the black and orange squares of +the great jetan board Gahan obtained, for the first time, a close +view of those who opposed him. The Orange Chief had not yet +entered the field, but his men were all in place. Val Dor turned +to Gahan. "They are all criminals from the pits of Manator," he +said. "There is no slave among them. We shall not have to fight +against a single fellow-countryman and every life we take will be +the life of an enemy." <br> +<p>"It is well," replied Gahan; "but where is their Chief, and +where the two Princesses?"<br> +</p> + +"They are coming now, see?" and he pointed across the field to +where two women could be seen approaching under guard. <br> +<p>As they came nearer Gahan saw that one was indeed Tara of +Helium, but the other he did not recognize, and then they were +brought to the center of the field midway between the two sides +and there waited until the Orange Chief arrived.<br> +</p> + +Floran voiced an exclamation of surprise when he recognized him. +"By my first ancestor if it is not one of their great chiefs," he +said, "and we were told that slaves and criminals were to play +for the stake of this game." <br> +<p>His words were interrupted by the keeper of The Towers whose +duty it was not only to announce the games and the stakes, but to +act as referee as well.<br> +</p> + +"Of this, the second game of the first day of the Jeddak's Games +in the four hundred and thirty-third year of O-Tar, Jeddak of +Manator, the Princesses of each side shall be the sole stakes and +to the survivors of the winning side shall belong both the +Princesses, to do with as they shall see fit. The Orange Princess +is the slave woman Lan-O of Gathol; the Black Princess is the +slave woman Tara, a princess of Helium. The Black Chief is U-Kal +of Manataj, a volunteer player; the Orange Chief is the dwar +U-Dor of the 8th Utan of the jeddak of Manator, also a volunteer +player. The squares shall be contested to the death. Just are the +laws of Manator! I have spoken." <br> +<p>The initial move was won by U-Dor, following which the two +Chiefs escorted their respective Princesses to the square each +was to occupy. It was the first time Gahan had been alone with +Tara since she had been brought upon the field. He saw her +scrutinizing him closely as he approached to lead her to her +place and wondered if she recognized him: but if she did she gave +no sign of it. He could not but remember her last words--"I hate +you!" and her desertion of him when he had been locked in the +room beneath the palace by I-Gos, the taxidermist, and so he did +not seek to enlighten her as to his identity. He meant to fight +for her--to die for her, if necessary--and if he did not die to +go on fighting to the end for her love. Gahan of Gathol was not +easily to be discouraged, but he was compelled to admit that his +chances of winning the love of Tara of Helium were remote. +Already had she repulsed him twice. Once as jed of Gathol and +again as Turan the panthan. Before his love, however, came her +safety and the former must be relegated to the background until +the latter had been achieved.<br> +</p> + +Passing among the players already at their stations the two took +their places upon their respective squares. At Tara's left was +the Black Chief, Gahan of Gathol; directly in front of her the +Princess' Panthan, Floran of Gathol; and at her right the +Princess' Odwar, Val Dor of Helium. And each of these knew the +part that he was to play, win or lose, as did each of the other +Black players. As Tara took her place Val Dor bowed low. "My +sword is at your feet, Tara of Helium," he said. <br> +<p>She turned and looked at him, an expression of surprise and +incredulity upon her face. "Val Dor, the dwar!" she exclaimed. +"Val Dor of Helium--one of my father's trusted captains! Can it +be possible that my eyes speak the truth?"<br> +</p> + +"It is Val Dor, Princess," the warrior replied, "and here to die +for you if need be, as is every wearer of the Black upon this +field of jetan today. Know Princess," he whispered, "that upon +this side is no man of Manator, but each and every is an enemy of +Manator." <br> +<p>She cast a quick, meaning glance toward Gahan. "But what of +him?" she whispered, and then she caught her breath quickly in +surprise. "Shade of the first jeddak!" she exclaimed. "I did but +just recognize him through his disguise."<br> +</p> + +"And you trust him?" asked Val Dor. "I know him not; but he spoke +fairly, as an honorable warrior, and we have taken him at his +word." <br> +<p>"You have made no mistake," replied Tara of Helium. "I would +trust him with my life--with my soul; and you, too, may trust +him."<br> +</p> + +Happy indeed would have been Gahan of Gathol could he have heard +those words; but Fate, who is usually unkind to the lover in such +matters, ordained it otherwise, and then the game was on. <br> +<p>U-Dor moved his Princess' Odwar three squares diagonally to +the right, which placed the piece upon the Black Chief's Odwar's +seventh. The move was indicative of the game that U-Dor intended +playing--a game of blood, rather than of science--and evidenced +his contempt for his opponents.<br> +</p> + +Gahan followed with his Odwar's Panthan one square straight +forward, a more scientific move, which opened up an avenue for +himself through his line of Panthans, as well as announcing to +the players and spectators that he intended having a hand in the +fighting himself even before the exigencies of the game forced it +upon him. The move elicited a ripple of applause from those +sections of seats reserved for the common warriors and their +women, showing perhaps that U-Dor was none too popular with +these, and, too, it had its effect upon the morale of Gahan's +pieces. A Chief may, and often does, play almost an entire game +without leaving his own square, where, mounted upon a thoat, he +may overlook the entire field and direct each move, nor may he be +reproached for lack of courage should he elect thus to play the +game since, by the rules, were he to be slain or so badly wounded +as to be compelled to withdraw, a game that might otherwise have +been won by the science of his play and the prowess of his men +would be drawn. To invite personal combat, therefore, denotes +confidence in his own swordsmanship, and great courage, two +attributes that were calculated to fill the Black players with +hope and valor when evinced by their Chief thus early in the +game. <br> +<p>U-Dor's next move placed Lan-O's Odwar upon Tara's Odwar's +fourth--within striking distance of the Black Princess.<br> +</p> + +Another move and the game would be lost to Gahan unless the +Orange Odwar was overthrown, or Tara moved to a position of +safety; but to move his Princess now would be to admit his belief +in the superiority of the Orange. In the three squares allowed +him he could not place himself squarely upon the square occupied +by the Odwar of U-Dor's Princess. There was only one player upon +the Black side that might dispute the square with the enemy and +that was the Chief's Odwar, who stood upon Gahan's left. Gahan +turned upon his thoat and looked at the man. He was a splendid +looking fellow, resplendent in the gorgeous trappings of an +Odwar, the five brilliant feathers which denoted his position +rising defiantly erect from his thick, black hair. In common with +every player upon the field and every spectator in the crowded +stands he knew what was passing in his Chief's mind. He dared not +speak, the ethics of the game forbade it, but what his lips might +not voice his eyes expressed in martial fire, and eloquently: +"The honor of the Black and the safety of our Princess are secure +with me!" <br> +<p>Gahan hesitated no longer. "Chief's Odwar to Princess' Odwar's +fourth!" he commanded. It was the courageous move of a leader who +had taken up the gauntlet thrown down by his opponent.<br> +</p> + +The warrior sprang forward and leaped into the square occupied by +U-Dor's piece. It was the first disputed square of the game. The +eyes of the players were fastened upon the contestants, the +spectators leaned forward in their seats after the first applause +that had greeted the move, and silence fell upon the vast +assemblage. If the Black went down to defeat, U-Dor could move +his victorious piece on to the square occupied by Tara of Helium +and the game would be over--over in four moves and lost to Gahan +of Gathol. If the Orange lost U-Dor would have sacrificed one of +his most important pieces and more than lost what advantage the +first move might have given him. <br> +<p>Physically the two men appeared perfectly matched and each was +fighting for his life, but from the first it was apparent that +the Black Odwar was the better swordsman, and Gahan knew that he +had another and perhaps a greater advantage over his antagonist. +The latter was fighting for his life only, without the spur of +chivalry or loyalty. The Black Odwar had these to strengthen his +arm, and besides these the knowledge of the thing that Gahan had +whispered into the ears of his players before the game, and so he +fought for what is more than life to the man of honor.<br> +</p> + +It was a duel that held those who witnessed it in spellbound +silence. The weaving blades gleamed in the brilliant sunlight, +ringing to the parries of cut and thrust. The barbaric harness of +the duelists lent splendid color to the savage, martial scene. +The Orange Odwar, forced upon the defensive, was fighting madly +for his life. The Black, with cool and terrible efficiency, was +forcing him steadily, step by step, into a corner of the +square--a position from which there could be no escape. To +abandon the square was to lose it to his opponent and win for +himself ignoble and immediate death before the jeering populace. +Spurred on by the seeming hopelessness of his plight, the Orange +Odwar burst into a sudden fury of offense that forced the Black +back a half dozen steps, and then the sword of U-Dor's piece +leaped in and drew first blood, from the shoulder of his +merciless opponent. An ill-smothered cry of encouragement went up +from U-Dor's men; the Orange Odwar, encouraged by his single +success, sought to bear down the Black by the rapidity of his +attack. There was a moment in which the swords moved with a +rapidity that no man's eye might follow, and then the Black Odwar +made a lightning parry of a vicious thrust, leaned quickly +forward into the opening he had effected, and drove his sword +through the heart of the Orange Odwar--to the hilt he drove it +through the body of the Orange Odwar. <br> +<p>A shout arose from the stands, for wherever may have been the +favor of the spectators, none there was who could say that it had +not been a pretty fight, or that the better man had not won. And +from the Black players came a sigh of relief as they relaxed from +the tension of the past moments.<br> +</p> + +I shall not weary you with the details of the game--only the high +features of it are necessary to your understanding of the +outcome. The fourth move after the victory of the Black Odwar +found Gahan upon U-Dor's fourth; an Orange Panthan was on the +adjoining square diagonally to his right and the only opposing +piece that could engage him other than U-Dor himself. <br> +<p>It had been apparent to both players and spectators for the +past two moves, that Gahan was moving straight across the field +into the enemy's country to seek personal combat with the Orange +Chief--that he was staking all upon his belief in the superiority +of his own swordsmanship, since if the two Chiefs engage, the +outcome decides the game. U-Dor could move out and engage Gahan, +or he could move his Princess' Panthan upon the square occupied +by Gahan in he hope that the former would defeat the Black Chief +and thus draw the game, which is the outcome if any other than a +Chief slays the opposing Chief, or he could move away and escape, +temporarily, the necessity for personal combat, or at least that +is evidently what he had in mind as was obvious to all who saw +him scanning the board about him; and his disappointment was +apparent when he finally discovered that Gahan had so placed +himself that there was no square to which U-Dor could move that +it was not within Gahan's power to reach at his own next +move.<br> +</p> + +U-Dor had placed his own Princess four squares east of Gahan when +her position had been threatened, and he had hoped to lure the +Black Chief after her and away from U-Dor; but in that he had +failed. He now discovered that he might play his own Odwar into +personal combat with Gahan; but he had already lost one Odwar and +could ill spare the other. His position was a delicate one, since +he did not wish to engage Gahan personally, while it appeared +that there was little likelihood of his being able to escape. +There was just one hope and that lay in his Princess' Panthan, +so, without more deliberation he ordered the piece onto the +square occupied by the Black Chief. <br> +<p>The sympathies of the spectators were all with Gahan now. If +he lost, the game would be declared a draw, nor do they think +better of drawn games upon Barsoom than do Earth men. If he won, +it would doubtless mean a duel between the two Chiefs, a +development for which they all were hoping. The game already bade +fair to be a short one and it would be an angry crowd should it +be decided a draw with only two men slain. There were great, +historic games on record where of the forty pieces on the field +when the game opened only three survived--the two Princesses and +the victorious Chief.<br> +</p> + +They blamed U-Dor, though in fact he was well within his rights +in directing his play as he saw fit, nor was a refusal on his +part to engage the Black Chief necessarily an imputation of +cowardice. He was a great chief who had conceived a notion to +possess the slave Tara. There was no honor that could accrue to +him from engaging in combat with slaves and criminals, or an +unknown warrior from Manataj, nor was the stake of sufficient +import to warrant the risk. <br> +<p>But now the duel between Gahan and the Orange Panthan was on +and the decision of the next move was no longer in other hands +than theirs. It was the first time that these Mana-Atorians had +seen Gahan of Gathol fight, but Tara of Helium knew that he was +master of his sword. Could he have seen the proud light in her +eyes as he crossed blades with the wearer of the Orange, he might +easily have wondered if they were the same eyes that had flashed +fire and hatred at him that time he had covered her lips with mad +kisses, in the pits of the palace of O-Tar. As she watched him +she could not but compare his swordplay with that of the greatest +swordsman of two worlds--her father, John Carter, of Virginia, a, +Prince of Helium, Warlord of Barsoom--and she knew that the skill +of the Black Chief suffered little by the comparison.<br> +</p> + +Short and to the point was the duel that decided possession of +the Orange Chief's fourth. The spectators had settled themselves +for an interesting engagement of at least average duration when +they were brought almost standing by a brilliant flash of rapid +swordplay that was over ere one could catch his breath. They saw +the Black Chief step quickly back, his point upon the ground, +while his opponent, his sword slipping from his fingers, clutched +his breast, sank to his knees and then lunged forward upon his +face. <br> +<p>And then Gahan of Gathol turned his eyes directly upon U-Dor +of Manator, three squares away. Three squares is a Chief's +move--three squares in any direction or combination of +directions, only provided that he does not cross the same square +twice in a given move. The people saw and guessed Gahan's +intention. They rose and roared forth their approval as he moved +deliberately across the intervening squares toward the Orange +Chief.<br> +</p> + +O-Tar, in the royal enclosure, sat frowning upon the scene. O-Tar +was angry. He was angry with U-Dor for having entered this game +for possession of a slave, for whom it had been his wish only +slaves and criminals should strive. He was angry with the warrior +from Manataj for having so far out-generaled and out-fought the +men from Manator. He was angry with the populace because of their +open hostility toward one who had basked in the sunshine of his +favor for long years. O-Tar the jeddak had not enjoyed the +afternoon. Those who surrounded him were equally glum--they, too, +scowled upon the field, the players, and the people. Among them +was a bent and wrinkled old man who gazed through weak and watery +eyes upon the field and the players. <br> +<p>As Gahan entered his square, U-Dor leaped toward him with +drawn sword with such fury as might have overborne a less skilled +and powerful swordsman. For a minute the fighting was fast and +furious and by comparison reducing to insignificance all that had +gone before. Here indeed were two magnificent swordsmen, and here +was to be a battle that bade fair to make up for whatever the +people felt they had been defrauded of by the shortness of the +game. Nor had it continued long before many there were who would +have prophesied that they were witnessing a duel that was to +become historic in the annals of jetan at Manator. Every trick, +every subterfuge, known to the art of fence these men employed. +Time and again each scored a point and brought blood to his +opponent's copper hide until both were red with gore; but neither +seemed able to administer the coup de grace.<br> +</p> + +From her position upon the opposite side of the field Tara of +Helium watched the long-drawn battle. Always it seemed to her +that the Black Chief fought upon the defensive, or when he +assumed to push his opponent, he neglected a thousand openings +that her practiced eye beheld. Never did he seem in real danger, +nor never did he appear to exert himself to quite the pitch +needful for victory. The duel already had been long contested and +the day was drawing to a close. Presently the sudden transition +from daylight to darkness which, owing to the tenuity of the air +upon Barsoom, occurs almost without the warning twilight of +Earth, would occur. Would the fight never end? Would the game be +called a draw after all? What ailed the Black Chief? <br> +<p>Tara wished that she might answer at least the last of these +questions for she was sure that Turan the panthan, as she knew +him, while fighting brilliantly, was not giving of himself all +that he might. She could not believe that fear was restraining +his hand, but that there was something beside inability to push +U-Dor more fiercely she was confident. What it was, however, she +could not guess.<br> +</p> + +Once she saw Gahan glance quickly up toward the sinking sun. In +thirty minutes it would be dark. And then she saw and all those +others saw a strange transition steal over the swordplay of the +Black Chief. It was as though he had been playing with the great +dwar, U-Dor, all these hours, and now he still played with him +but there was a difference. He played with him terribly as a +carnivore plays with its victim in the instant before the kill. +The Orange Chief was helpless now in the hands of a swordsman so +superior that there could be no comparison, and the people sat in +open-mouthed wonder and awe as Gahan of Gathol cut his foe to +ribbons and then struck him down with a blow that cleft him to +the chin. <br> +<p>In twenty minutes the sun would set. But what of that?<br> +</p> + +<br> +<h1 id="ref_19">CHAPTER XVIII</h1> + +A TASK FOR LOYALTY <br> +LONG and loud was the applause that rose above the Field of Jetan +at Manator, as The Keeper of the Towers summoned the two +Princesses and the victorious Chief to the center of the field +and presented to the latter the fruits of his prowess, and then, +as custom demanded, the victorious players, headed by Gahan and +the two Princesses, formed in procession behind The Keeper of the +Towers and were conducted to the place of victory before the +royal enclosure that they might receive the commendation of the +jeddak. Those who were mounted gave up their thoats to slaves as +all must be on foot for this ceremony. Directly beneath the royal +enclosure are the gates to one of the tunnels that, passing +beneath the seats, give ingress or egress to or from the Field. +Before this gate the party halted while O-Tar looked down upon +them from above. Val Dor and Floran, passing quietly ahead of the +others, went directly to the gates, where they were hidden from +those who occupied the enclosure with O-Tar. The Keeper of the +Towers may have noticed them, but so occupied was he with the +formality of presenting the victorious Chief to the jeddak that +he paid no attention to them. <br> +<p>"I bring you, O-Tar, Jeddak of Manator, U-Kal of Manataj," he +cried in a loud voice that might be heard by as many as possible, +"victor over the Orange in the second of the Jeddak's Games of +the four hundred and thirty-third year of O-Tar, and the slave +woman Tara and the slave woman Lan-O that you may bestow these, +the stakes, upon U-Kal."<br> +</p> + +As he spoke, a little, wrinkled, old man peered over the rail of +the enclosure down upon the three who stood directly behind The +Keeper, and strained his weak and watery eyes in an effort to +satisfy the curiosity of old age in a matter of no particular +import, for what were two slaves and a common warrior from +Manataj to any who sat with O-Tar the jeddak? <br> +<p>"U-Kal of Manataj," said O-Tar, "you have deserved the stakes. +Seldom have we looked upon more noble swordplay. And you tire of +Manataj there be always here in the city of Manator a place for +you in The Jeddak's Guard."<br> +</p> + +While the jeddak was speaking the little, old man, failing +clearly to discern the features of the Black Chief, reached into +his pocket-pouch and drew forth a pair of thick-lensed +spectacles, which he placed upon his nose. For a moment he +scrutinized Gahan closely, then he leaped to his feet and +addressing O-Tar pointed a shaking finger it Gahan. As he rose +Tara of Helium clutched the Black Chief's arm. <br> +<p>"Turan!" she whispered. "It is I-Gos, whom I thought to have +slain in the pits of O-Tar. It is I-Gos and he recognizes you and +will--"<br> +</p> + +But what I-Gos would do was already transpiring. In his falsetto +voice he fairly screamed: "It is the slave Turan who stole the +woman Tara from your throne room, O-Tar. He desecrated the dead +chief I-Mal and wears his harness now!" <br> +<p>Instantly all was pandemonium. Warriors drew their swords and +leaped to their feet. Gahan's victorious players rushed forward +in a body, sweeping The Keeper of the Towers from his feet. Val +Dor and Floran threw open the gates beneath the royal enclosure, +opening the tunnel that led to the avenue in the city beyond the +Towers. Gahan, surrounded by his men, drew Tara and Lan-O into +the passageway, and at a rapid pace the party sought to reach the +opposite end of the tunnel before their escape could be cut off. +They were successful and when they emerged into the city the sun +had set and darkness had come, relieved only by an antiquated and +ineffective lighting system, which cast but a pale glow over the +shadowy streets.<br> +</p> + +Now it was that Tara of Helium guessed why the Black Chief had +drawn out his duel with U-Dor and realized that he might have +slain his man at almost any moment he had elected. The whole plan +that Gahan had whispered to his players before the game was +thoroughly understood. They were to make their way to The Gate of +Enemies and there offer their services to U-Thor, the great Jed +of Manatos. The fact that most of them were Gatholians and that +Gahan could lead rescuers to the pit where A-Kor, the son of +U-Thor's wife, was confined, convinced the Jed of Gathol that +they would meet with no rebuff at the hands of U-Thor. But even +should he refuse them, still were they bound together to go on +toward freedom, if necessary cutting their way through the forces +of U-Thor at The Gate of Enemies--twenty men against a small +army; but of such stuff are the warriors of Barsoom. <br> +<p>They had covered a considerable distance along the almost +deserted avenue before signs of pursuit developed and then there +came upon them suddenly from behind a dozen warriors mounted on +thoats--a detachment, evidently, from The Jeddak's Guard. +Instantly the avenue was a pandemonium of clashing blades, +cursing warriors, and squealing thoats. In the first onslaught +life blood was spilled upon both sides. Two of Gahan's men went +down, and upon the enemies' side three riderless thoats attested +at least a portion of their casualties.<br> +</p> + +Gahan was engaged with a fellow who appeared to have been +selected to account for him only, since he rode straight for him +and sought to cut him down without giving the slightest heed to +several who slashed at him as he passed them. The Gatholian, +practiced in the art of combating a mounted warrior from the +ground, sought to reach the left side of the fellow's thoat a +little to the rider's rear, the only position in which he would +have any advantage over his antagonist, or rather the position +that would most greatly reduce the advantage of the mounted man, +and, similarly, the Manatorian strove to thwart his design. And +so the guardsman wheeled and turned his vicious, angry mount +while Gahan leaped in and out in an effort to reach the coveted +vantage point, but always seeking some other opening in his foe's +defense. <br> +<p>And while they jockeyed for position a rider swept swiftly +past them. As he passed behind Gahan the latter heard a cry of +alarm.<br> +</p> + +"Turan, they have me!" came to his ears in the voice of Tara of +Helium. <br> +<p>A quick glance across his shoulder showed him the galloping +thoatman in the act of dragging Tara to the withers of the beast, +and then, with the fury of a demon, Gahan of Gathol leaped for +his own man, dragged him from his mount and as he fell smote his +head from his shoulders with a single cut of his keen sword. +Scarce had the body touched the pavement when the Gatholian was +upon the back of the dead warrior's mount, and galloping swiftly +down the avenue after the diminishing figures of Tara and her +abductor, the sounds of the fight waning in the distance as he +pursued his quarry along the avenue that passes the palace of +O-Tar and leads to The Gate of Enemies.<br> +</p> + +Gahan's mount, carrying but a single rider, gained upon that of +the Manatorian, so that as they neared the palace Gahan was +scarce a hundred yards behind, and now, to his consternation, he +saw the fellow turn into the great entrance-way. For a moment +only was he halted by the guards and then he disappeared within. +Gahan was almost upon him then, but evidently he had warned the +guards, for they leaped out to intercept the Gatholian. But no! +the fellow could not have known that he was pursued, since he had +not seen Gahan seize a mount, nor would he have thought that +pursuit would come so soon. If he had passed then, so could Gahan +pass, for did he not wear the trappings of a Manatorian? The +Gatholian thought quickly, and stopping his thoat called to the +guardsmen to let him pass, "In the name of O-Tar!" They hesitated +a moment. <br> +<p>"Aside!" cried Gahan. "Must the jeddak's messenger parley for +the right to deliver his message?"<br> +</p> + +"To whom would you deliver it?" asked the padwar of the guard. +<br> +<p>"Saw you not him who just entered?" cried Gahan, and without +waiting for a reply urged his thoat straight past them into the +palace, and while they were deliberating what was best to be +done, it was too late to do anything--which is not unusual.<br> +</p> + +Along the marble corridors Gahan guided his thoat, and because he +had gone that way before, rather than because he knew which way +Tara had been taken, he followed the runways and passed through +the chambers that led to the throne room of O-Tar. On the second +level he met a slave. <br> +<p>"Which way went he who carried the woman before him?" he +asked.<br> +</p> + +The slave pointed toward a nearby runway that led to the third +level and Gahan dashed rapidly on in pursuit. At the same moment +a thoatman, riding at a furious pace, approached the palace and +halted his mount at the gate. <br> +<p>"Saw you aught of a warrior pursuing one who carried a woman +before him on his thoat?" he shouted to the guard.<br> +</p> + +"He but just passed in," replied the padwar, "saying that he was +O-Tar's messenger." <br> +<p>"He lied," cried the newcomer. "He was Turan, the slave, who +stole the woman from the throne room two days since.<br> +</p> + +Arouse the palace! He must be seized, and alive if possible. It +is O-Tar's command." <br> +<p>Instantly warriors were dispatched to search for the Gatholian +and warn the inmates of the palace to do likewise. Owing to the +games there were comparatively few retainers in the great +building, but those whom they found were immediately enlisted in +the search, so that presently at least fifty warriors were +seeking through the countless chambers and corridors of the +palace of O-Tar.<br> +</p> + +As Gahan's thoat bore him to the third Level the man glimpsed the +hind quarters of another thoat disappearing at the turn of a +corridor far ahead. Urging his own animal forward he raced +swiftly in pursuit and making the turn discovered only an empty +corridor ahead. Along this he hurried to discover near its +farther end a runway to the fourth level, which he followed +upward. Here he saw that he had gained upon his quarry who was +just turning through a doorway fifty yards ahead. As Gahan +reached the opening he saw that the warrior had dismounted and +was dragging Tara toward a small door on the opposite side of the +chamber. At the same instant the clank of harness to his rear +caused him to cast a glance behind where, along the corridor he +had just traversed, he saw three warriors approaching on foot at +a run. Leaping from his thoat Gahan sprang into the chamber where +Tara was struggling to free herself from the grasp of her captor, +slammed the door behind him, shot the great bolt into its seat, +and drawing his sword crossed the room at a run to engage the +Manatorian. The fellow, thus menaced, called aloud to Gahan to +halt, at the same time thrusting Tara at arm's length and +threatening her heart with the point of his short-sword. <br> +<p>"Stay!" he cried, "or the woman dies, for such is the command +of O-Tar, rather than that she again fall into your hands."<br> +</p> + +Gahan stopped. But a few feet separated him from Tara and her +captor, yet he was helpless to aid her. Slowly the warrior backed +toward the open doorway behind him, dragging Tara with him. The +girl struggled and fought, but the warrior was a powerful man and +having seized her by the harness from behind was able to hold her +in a position of helplessness. <br> +<p>"Save me, Turan!" she cried. "Let them not drag me to a fate +worse than death. Better that I die now while my eyes behold a +brave friend than later, fighting alone among enemies in defense +of my honor."<br> +</p> + +He took a step nearer. The warrior made a threatening gesture +with his sword close to the soft, smooth skin of the princess, +and Gahan halted. <br> +<p>"I cannot, Tara of Helium," he cried. "Think not ill of me +that I am weak--that I cannot see you die. Too great is my love +for you, daughter of Helium."<br> +</p> + +The Manatorian warrior, a derisive grin upon his lips, backed +steadily away. He had almost reached the doorway when Gahan saw +another warrior in the chamber toward which Tara was being +borne--a fellow who moved silently, almost stealthily, across the +marble floor as he approached Tara's captor from behind. In his +right hand he grasped a long-sword. <br> +<p>"Two to one," thought Gahan, and a grim smile touched his +lips, for he had no doubt that once they had Tara safely in the +adjoining chamber the two would set upon him. If he could not +save her, he could at least die for her.<br> +</p> + +And then, suddenly, Gahan's eyes fastened with amazement upon the +figure of the warrior behind the grinning fellow who held Tara +and was forcing her to the doorway. He saw the newcomer step +almost within arm's reach of the other. He saw him stop, an +expression of malevolent hatred upon his features. He saw the +great sword swing through the arc of a great circle, gathering +swift and terrific momentum from its own weight backed by the +brawn of the steel thews that guided it; he saw it pass through +the feathered skull of the Manatorian, splitting his sardonic +grin in twain, and open him to the middle of his breast bone. +<br> +<p>As the dead hand relaxed its grasp upon Tara's wrist the girl +leaped forward, without a backward glance, to Gahan's side. His +left arm encircled her, nor did she draw away, as with ready +sword the Gatholian awaited Fate's next decree. Before them +Tara's deliverer was wiping the blood from his sword upon the +hair of his victim. He was evidently a Manatorian, his trappings +those of the Jeddak's Guard, and so his act was inexplicable to +Gahan and to Tara. Presently he sheathed his sword and approached +them.<br> +</p> + +"When a man chooses to hide his identity behind an assumed name," +he said, looking straight into Gahan's eyes, "whatever friend +pierces the deception were no friend if he divulged the other's +secret." <br> +<p>He paused as though awaiting a reply.<br> +</p> + +"Your integrity has perceived and your lips voiced an unalterable +truth," replied Gahan, whose mind was filled with wonder if the +implication could by any possibility be true--that this +Manatorian had guessed his identity. <br> +<p>"We are thus agreed," continued the other, "and I may tell you +that though I am here known as A-Sor, my real name is Tasor." He +paused and watched Gahan's face intently for any sign of the +effect of this knowledge and was rewarded with a quick, though +guarded expression of recognition.<br> +</p> + +Tasor! Friend of his youth. The son of that great Gatholian noble +who had given his life so gloriously, however futilely, in an +attempt to defend Gahan's sire from the daggers of the assassins. +Tasor an under-padwar in the guard of O-Tar, Jeddak of Manator! +It was inconceivable--and yet it was he; there could be no doubt +of it. "Tasor," Gahan repeated aloud. "But it is no Manatorian +name." The statement was half interrogatory, for Gahan's +curiosity was aroused. He would know how his friend and loyal +subject had become a Manatorian. Long years had passed since +Tasor had disappeared as mysteriously as the Princess Haja and +many other of Gahan's subjects. The Jed of Gathol had long +supposed him dead. <br> +<p>"No," replied Tasor, "nor is it a Manatorian name. Come, while +I search for a hiding place for you in some forgotten chamber in +one of the untenanted portions of the palace, and as we go I will +tell you briefly how Tasor the Gatholian became A-Sor the +Manatorian.<br> +</p> + +"It befell that as I rode with a dozen of my warriors along the +western border of Gathol searching for zitidars that had strayed +from my herds, we were set upon and surrounded by a great company +of Manatorians. They overpowered us, though not before half our +number was slain and the balance helpless from wounds. And so I +was brought a prisoner to Manataj, a distant city of Manator, and +there sold into slavery. A woman bought me--a princess of Manataj +whose wealth and position were unequaled in the city of her +birth. She loved me and when her husband discovered her +infatuation she beseeched me to slay him, and when I refused she +hired another to do it. Then she married me; but none would have +aught to do with her in Manataj, for they suspected her guilty +knowledge of her husband's murder. And so we set out from Manataj +for Manatos accompanied by a great caravan bearing all her +worldly goods and jewels and precious metals, and on the way she +caused the rumor to be spread that she and I had died. Then we +came to Manator instead, she taking a new name and I the name +A-Sor, that we might not be traced through our names. With her +great wealth she bought me a post in The Jeddak's Guard and none +knows that I am not a Manatorian, for she is dead. She was +beautiful, but she was a devil." <br> +<p>"And you never sought to return to your native city?" asked +Gahan.<br> +</p> + +"Never has the hope been absent from my heart, or my mind empty +of a plan," replied Tasor. "I dream of it by day and by night, +but always must I return to the same conclusion--that there can +be but a single means for escape. I must wait until Fortune +favors me with a place in a raiding party to Gathol. Then, once +within the boundaries of my own country, they shall see me no +more." <br> +<p>"Perhaps your opportunity lies already within your grasp," +said Gahan, "has not your fealty to your own Jed been undermined +by years of association with the men of Manator." The statement +was half challenge.<br> +</p> + +"And my Jed stood before me now," cried Tasor, "and my avowal +could be made without violating his confidence, I should cast my +sword at his feet and beg the high privilege of dying for him as +my sire died for his sire." <br> +<p>There could be no doubt of his sincerity nor any that he was +cognizant of Gahan's identity. The Jed of Gathol smiled. "And if +your Jed were here there is little doubt but that he would +command you to devote your talents and your prowess to the rescue +of the Princess Tara of Helium," he said, meaningly. "And he +possessed the knowledge I have gained during my captivity he +would say to you, 'Go, Tasor, to the pit where A-kor, son of Haja +of Gathol, is confined and set him free and with him arouse the +slaves from Gathol and march to The Gate of Enemies and offer +your services to U-Thor of Manataj, who is wed to Haja of Gathol, +and ask of him in return that he attack the palace of O-Tar and +rescue Tara of Helium and when that thing is accomplished that he +free the slaves of Gathol and furnish them with the arms and the +means to return to their own country.' That, Tasor of Gathol, is +what Gahan your Jed would demand of you."<br> +</p> + +"And that, Turan the slave, is what I shall bend my every effort +to accomplish after I have found a safe refuge for Tara of Helium +and her panthan," replied Tasor. <br> +<p>Gahan's glance carried to Tasor an intimation of his Jed's +gratification and filled him with a chivalrous determination to +do the thing required of him, or die, for he considered that he +had received from the lips of his beloved ruler a commission that +placed upon his shoulders a responsibility that encompassed not +alone the life of Gahan and Tara but the welfare, perhaps the +whole future, of Gathol. And so he hastened them onward through +the musty corridors of the old palace where the dust of ages lay +undisturbed upon the marble tiles. Now and again he tried a door +until he found one that was unlocked. Opening it he ushered them +into a chamber, heavy with dust. Crumbling silks and furs adorned +the walls, with ancient weapons, and great paintings whose colors +were toned by age to wondrous softness.<br> +</p> + +"This be as good as any place," he said. "No one comes here. +Never have I been here before, so I know no more of the other +chambers than you; but this one, at least, I can find again when +I bring you food and drink. O-Mai the Cruel occupied this portion +of the palace during his reign, five thousand years before O-Tar. +In one of these apartments he was found dead, his face contorted +in an expression of fear so horrible that it drove to madness +those who looked upon it; yet there was no mark of violence upon +him Since then the quarters of O-Mai have been shunned for the +legends have it that the ghosts of Corphals pursue the spirit of +the wicked Jeddak nightly through these chambers, shrieking and +moaning as they go. But," he added, as though to reassure himself +as well as his companions, "such things may not be countenanced +by the culture of Gathol or Helium." <br> +<p>Gahan laughed. "And if all who looked upon him were driven +mad, who then was there to perform the last rites or prepare the +body of the Jeddak for them?"<br> +</p> + +"There was none," replied Tasor. "Where they found him they left +him and there to this very day his mouldering bones lie hid in +some forgotten chamber of this forbidden suite." <br> +<p>Tasor left them then assuring them that he would seek the +first opportunity to speak with A-Kor, and upon the following day +he would bring them food and drink.*<br> +</p> + +* Those who have read John Carter's description of the Green +Martians in A Princess of Mars will recall that these strange +people could exist for considerable periods of time without food +or water, and to a lesser degree is the same true of all +Martians. <br> +<p>After Tasor had gone Tara turned to Gahan and approaching laid +a hand upon his arm. "So swiftly have events transpired since I +recognized you beneath your disguise," she said, "that I have had +no opportunity to assure you of my gratitude and the high esteem +that your valor has won for you in my consideration. Let me now +acknowledge my indebtedness; and if promises be not vain from one +whose life and liberty are in grave jeopardy, accept my assurance +of the great reward that awaits you at the hand of my father in +Helium."<br> +</p> + +"I desire no reward," he replied, "other than the happiness of +knowing that the woman I love is happy." <br> +<p>For an instant the eyes of Tara of Helium blazed as she drew +herself haughtily to her full height, and then they softened and +her attitude relaxed as she shook her head sadly.<br> +</p> + +"I have it not in my heart to reprimand you, Turan," she said, +"however great your fault, for you have been an honorable and a +loyal friend to Tara of Helium; but you must not say what my ears +must not hear." <br> +<p>"You mean," he asked, "that the ears of a Princess must not +listen to words of love from a panthan?"<br> +</p> + +"It is not that, Turan," she replied; "but rather that I may not +in honor listen to words of love from another than him to whom I +am betrothed--a fellow countryman, Djor Kantos." <br> +<p>"You mean, Tara of Helium," he cried, "that were it not for +that you would--"<br> +</p> + +"Stop!" she commanded. "You have no right to assume aught else +than my lips testify." <br> +<p>"The eyes are ofttimes more eloquent than the lips, Tara," he +replied; "and in yours I have read that which is neither hatred +nor contempt for Turan the panthan, and my heart tells me that +your lips bore false witness when they cried in anger: 'I hate +you!'"<br> +</p> + +"I do not hate you, Turan, nor yet may I love you," said the +girl, simply. <br> +<p>"When I broke my way out from the chamber of I-Gos I was +indeed upon the verge of believing that you did hate me," he +said, "for only hatred, it seemed to me, could account for the +fact that you had gone without making an effort to liberate me; +but presently both my heart and my judgment told me that Tara of +Helium could not have deserted a companion in distress, and +though I still am in ignorance of the facts I know that it was +beyond your power to aid me."<br> +</p> + +"It was indeed," said the girl. "Scarce had I-Gos fallen at the +bite of my dagger than I heard the approach of warriors. I ran +then to hide until they had passed, thinking to return and +liberate you; but in seeking to elude the party I had heard I ran +full into the arms of another. They questioned me as to your +whereabouts, and I told them that you had gone ahead and that I +was following you and thus I led them from you." <br> +<p>"I knew," was Gahan's only comment, but his heart was glad +with elation, as a lover's must be who has heard from the lips of +his divinity an avowal of interest and loyalty, however little +tinged by a suggestion of warmer regard it may be. To be abused, +even, by the mistress of one's heart is better than to be +ignored.<br> +</p> + +As the two conversed in the ill-lit chamber, the dim bulbs of +which were encrusted with the accumulated dust of centuries, a +bent and withered figure traversed slowly the gloomy corridors +without, his weak and watery eyes peering through thick lenses at +the signs of passage written upon the dusty floor. <br> +<p><br> +</p> + +<h1 id="ref_20">CHAPTER XIX</h1> + +THE MENACE OF THE DEAD <br> +<p>THE night was still young when there came one to the entrance +of the banquet hall where O-Tar of Manator dined with his chiefs, +and brushing past the guards entered the great room with the +insolence of a privileged character, as in truth he was. As he +approached the head of the long board O-Tar took notice of +him.<br> +</p> + +"Well, hoary one!" he cried. "What brings you out of your beloved +and stinking burrow again this day. We thought that the sight of +the multitude of living men at the games would drive you back to +your corpses as quickly as you could go." <br> +<p>The cackling laugh of I-Gos acknowledged the royal sally. "Ey, +ey, O-Tar," squeaked the ancient one, "I-Gos goes out not upon +pleasure bound; but when one does ruthlessly desecrate the dead +of I-Gos, vengeance must be had!"<br> +</p> + +"You refer to the act of the slave Turan?" demanded O-Tar. <br> +<p>"Turan, yes, and the slave Tara, who slipped beneath my hide a +murderous blade. Another fraction of an inch, O-Tar, and I-Gos' +ancient and wrinkled covering were even now in some apprentice +tanner's hands, ey, ey!"<br> +</p> + +"But they have again eluded us," cried O-Tar. "Even in the palace +of the great jeddak twice have they escaped the stupid knaves I +call The Jeddak's Guard." O-Tar had risen and was angrily +emphasizing his words with heavy blows upon the table, dealt with +a golden goblet. <br> +<p>"Ey, O-Tar, they elude thy guard but not the wise old calot, +I-Gos."<br> +</p> + +"What mean you? Speak!" commanded O-Tar. <br> +<p>"I know where they are hid," said the ancient taxidermist. "In +the dust of unused corridors their feet have betrayed them."<br> +</p> + +"You followed them? You have seen them?" demanded the jeddak. +<br> +<p>"I followed them and I heard them speaking beyond a closed +door," replied I-Gos; "but I did not see them."<br> +</p> + +"Where is that door?" cried O-Tar. "We will send at once and +fetch them," he looked about the table as though to decide to +whom he would entrust this duty. A dozen warrior chiefs arose and +laid their hands upon their swords. <br> +<p>"To the chambers of O-Mai the Cruel I traced them," squeaked +I-Gos. "There you will find them where the moaning Corphals +pursue the shrieking ghost of O-Mai; ey!" and he turned his eyes +from O-Tar toward the warriors who had arisen, only to discover +that, to a man, they were hurriedly resuming their seats.<br> +</p> + +The cackling laughter of I-Gos broke derisively the hush that had +fallen on the room. The warriors looked sheepishly at the food +upon their plates of gold. O-Tar snapped his fingers impatiently. +<br> +<p>"Be there only cravens among the chiefs of Manator?" he cried. +"Repeatedly have these presumptuous slaves flouted the majesty of +your jeddak. Must I command one to go and fetch them?"<br> +</p> + +Slowly a chief arose and two others followed his example, though +with ill-concealed reluctance. "All, then, are not cowards," +commented O-Tar. "The duty is distasteful. Therefore all three of +you shall go, taking as many warriors as you wish." <br> +<p>"But do not ask for volunteers," interrupted I-Gos, "or you +will go alone."<br> +</p> + +The three chiefs turned and left the banquet hall, walking slowly +like doomed men to their fate. <br> +<p>Gahan and Tara remained in the chamber to which Tasor had led +them, the man brushing away the dust from a deep and comfortable +bench where they might rest in comparative comfort. He had found +the ancient sleeping silks and furs too far gone to be of any +service, crumbling to powder at a touch, thus removing any chance +of making a comfortable bed for the girl, and so the two sat +together, talking in low tones, of the adventures through which +they already had passed and speculating upon the future; planning +means of escape and hoping Tasor would not be long gone. They +spoke of many things--of Hastor, and Helium, and Ptarth, and +finally the conversation reminded Tara of Gathol.<br> +</p> + +"You have served there?" she asked. <br> +<p>"Yes," replied Turan.<br> +</p> + +"I met Gahan the Jed of Gathol at my father's palace," she said, +"the very day before the storm snatched me from Helium--he was a +presumptuous fellow, magnificently trapped in platinum and +diamonds. Never in my life saw I so gorgeous a harness as his, +and you must well know, Turan, that the splendor of all Barsoom +passes through the court at Helium; but in my mind I could not +see so resplendent a creature drawing that jeweled sword in +mortal combat. I fear me that the Jed of Gathol, though a pretty +picture of a man, is little else." <br> +<p>In the dim light Tara did not perceive the wry expression upon +the half-averted face of her companion.<br> +</p> + +"You thought little then of the Jed of Gathol?" he asked. <br> +<p>"Then or now," she replied, and with a little laugh; "how it +would pique his vanity to know, if he might, that a poor panthan +had won a higher place in the regard of Tara of Helium," and she +laid her fingers gently upon his knee.<br> +</p> + +He seized the fingers in his and carried them to his lips. "O, +Tara of Helium," he cried. "Think you that I am a man of stone?" +One arm slipped about her shoulders and drew the yielding body +toward him. <br> +<p>"May my first ancestor forgive me my weakness," she cried, as +her arms stole about his neck and she raised her panting lips to +his. For long they clung there in love's first kiss and then she +pushed him away, gently. "I love you, Turan," she half sobbed; "I +love you so! It is my only poor excuse for having done this wrong +to Djor Kantos, whom now I know I never loved, who knew not the +meaning of love. And if you love me as you say, Turan, your love +must protect me from greater dishonor, for I am but as clay in +your hands."<br> +</p> + +Again he crushed her to him and then as suddenly released her, +and rising, strode rapidly to and fro across the chamber as +though he endeavored by violent exercise to master and subdue +some evil spirit that had laid hold upon him. Ringing through his +brain and heart and soul like some joyous paean were those words +that had so altered the world for Gahan of Gathol: "I love you, +Turan; I love you so!" And it had come so suddenly. He had +thought that she felt for him only gratitude for his loyalty and +then, in an instant, her barriers were all down, she was no +longer a princess; but instead a--his reflections were +interrupted by a sound from beyond the closed door. His sandals +of zitidar hide had given forth no sound upon the marble floor he +strode, and as his rapid pacing carried him past the entrance to +the chamber there came faintly from the distance of the long +corridor the sound of metal on metal--the unmistakable herald of +the approach of armed men. <br> +<p>For a moment Gahan listened intently, close to the door, until +there could be no doubt but that a party of warriors was +approaching. From what Tasor had told him he guessed correctly +that they would be coming to this portion of the palace but for a +single purpose--to search for Tara and himself--and it behooved +him therefore to seek immediate means for eluding them. The +chamber in which they were had other doorways beside that at +which they had entered, and to one of these he must look for some +safer hiding place. Crossing to Tara he acquainted her with his +suspicion, leading her to one of the doors which they found +unsecured. Beyond it lay a dimly-lighted chamber at the threshold +of which they halted in consternation, drawing back quickly into +the chamber they had just quitted, for their first glance +revealed four warriors seated around a jetan board.<br> +</p> + +That their entrance had not been noted was attributed by Gahan to +the absorption of the two players and their friends in the game. +Quietly closing the door the fugitives moved silently to the +next, which they found locked. There was now but another door +which they had not tried, and this they approached quickly as +they knew that the searching party must be close to the chamber. +To their chagrin they found this avenue of escape barred. <br> +<p>Now indeed were they in a sorry plight, for should the +searchers have information leading them to this room they were +lost. Again leading Tara to the door behind which were the jetan +players Gahan drew his sword and waited, listening. The sound of +the party in the corridor came distinctly to their ears--they +must be quite close, and doubtless they were coming in force. +Beyond the door were but four warriors who might be readily +surprised. There could, then, be but one choice and acting upon +it Gahan quietly opened the door again, stepped through into the +adjoining chamber, Tara's hand in his, and closed the door behind +them. The four at the jetan board evidently failed to hear them. +One player had either just made or was contemplating a move, for +his fingers grasped a piece that still rested upon the board. The +other three were watching his move. For an instant Gahan looked +at them, playing jetan there in the dim light of this forgotten +and forbidden chamber, and then a slow smile of understanding +lighted his face.<br> +</p> + +"Come!" he said to Tara. "We have nothing to fear from these. For +more than five thousand years they have sat thus, a monument to +the handiwork of some ancient taxidermist." <br> +<p>As they approached more closely they saw that the lifelike +figures were coated with dust, but that otherwise the skin was in +as fine a state of preservation as the most recent of I-Gos' +groups, and then they heard the door of the chamber they had +quitted open and knew that the searchers were close upon them. +Across the room they saw the opening of what appeared to be a +corridor and which investigation proved to be a short passageway, +terminating in a chamber in the center of which was an ornate +sleeping dais. This room, like the others, was but poorly +lighted, time having dimmed the radiance of its bulbs and coated +them with dust. A glance showed that it was hung with heavy goods +and contained considerable massive furniture in addition to the +sleeping platform, a second glance at which revealed what +appeared to be the form of a man lying partially on the floor and +partially on the dais. No doorways were visible other than that +at which they had entered, though both knew that others might be +concealed by the hangings.<br> +</p> + +Gahan, his curiosity aroused by the legends surrounding this +portion of the palace, crossed to the dais to examine the figure +that apparently had fallen from it, to find the dried and +shrivelled corpse of a man lying upon his back on the floor with +arms outstretched and fingers stiffly outspread. One of his feet +was doubled partially beneath him, while the other was still +entangled in the sleeping silks and furs upon the dais. After +five thousand years the expression of the withered face and the +eyeless sockets retained the aspect of horrid fear to such an +extent, that Gahan knew that he was looking upon the body of +O-Mai the Cruel. <br> +<p>Suddenly Tara, who stood close beside him, clutched his arm +and pointed toward a far corner of the room. Gahan looked and +looking felt the hairs upon his neck rising. He threw his left +arm about the girl and with bared sword stood between her and the +hangings that they watched, and then slowly Gahan of Gathol +backed away, for in this grim and somber chamber, which no human +foot had trod for five thousand years and to which no breath of +wind might enter, the heavy hangings in the far corner had moved. +Not gently had they moved as a draught might have moved them had +there been a draught, but suddenly they had bulged out as though +pushed against from behind. To the opposite corner backed Gahan +until they stood with their backs against the hangings there, and +then hearing the approach of their pursuers across the chamber +beyond Gahan pushed Tara through the hangings and, following her, +kept open with his left hand, which he had disengaged from the +girl's grasp, a tiny opening through which he could view the +apartment and the doorway upon the opposite side through which +the pursuers would enter, if they came this far.<br> +</p> + +Behind the hangings there was a space of about three feet in +width between them and the wall, making a passageway entirely +around the room, broken only by the single entrance opposite +them; this being a common arrangement especially in the sleeping +apartments of the rich and powerful upon Barsoom. The purposes of +this arrangement were several. The passageway afforded a station +for guards in the same room with their master without intruding +entirely upon his privacy; it concealed secret exits from the +chamber; it permitted the occupant of the room to hide +eavesdroppers and assassins for use against enemies that he might +lure to his chamber. <br> +<p>The three chiefs with a dozen warriors had had no difficulty +in following the tracks of the fugitives through the dust of the +corridors and chambers they had traversed. To enter this portion +of the palace at all had required all the courage they possessed, +and now that they were within the very chambers of O-Mai their +nerves were pitched to the highest key--another turn and they +would snap; for the people of Manator are filled with weird +superstitions. As they entered the outer chamber they moved +slowly, with drawn swords, no one seeming anxious to take the +lead, and the twelve warriors hanging back in unconcealed and +shameless terror, while the three chiefs, spurred on by fear of +O-Tar and by pride, pressed together for mutual encouragement as +they slowly crossed the dimly-lighted room.<br> +</p> + +Following the tracks of Gahan and Tara they found that though +each doorway had been approached only one threshold had been +crossed and this door they gingerly opened, revealing to their +astonished gaze the four warriors at the jetan table. For a +moment they were on the verge of flight, for though they knew +what they were, coming as they did upon them in this mysterious +and haunted suite, they were as startled as though they had +beheld the very ghosts of the departed. But they presently +regained their courage sufficiently to cross this chamber too and +enter the short passageway that led to the ancient sleeping +apartment of O-Mai the Cruel. They did not know that this awful +chamber lay just before them, or it were doubtful that they would +have proceeded farther; but they saw that those they sought had +come this way and so they followed, but within the gloomy +interior of the chamber they halted, the three chiefs urging +their followers, in low whispers, to close in behind them, and +there just within the entrance they stood until, their eyes +becoming accustomed to the dim light, one of them pointed +suddenly to the thing lying upon the floor with one foot tangled +in the coverings of the dais. <br> +<p>"Look!" he gasped. "It is the corpse of O-Mai! Ancestor of +ancestors! we are in the forbidden chamber." Simultaneously there +came from behind the hangings beyond the grewsome dead a hollow +moan followed by a piercing scream, and the hangings shook and +bellied before their eyes.<br> +</p> + +With one accord, chieftains and warriors, they turned and bolted +for the doorway; a narrow doorway, where they jammed, fighting +and screaming in an effort to escape. They threw away their +swords and clawed at one another to make a passage for escape; +those behind climbed upon the shoulders of those in front; and +some fell and were trampled upon; but at last they all got +through, and, the swiftest first, they bolted across the two +intervening chambers to the outer corridor beyond, nor did they +halt their mad retreat before they stumbled, weak and trembling, +into the banquet hall of O-Tar. At sight of them the warriors who +had remained with the jeddak leaped to their feet with drawn +swords, thinking that their fellows were pursued by many enemies; +but no one followed them into the room, and the three chieftains +came and stood before O-Tar with bowed heads and trembling knees. +<br> +<p>"Well?" demanded the jeddak. "What ails you? Speak!"<br> +</p> + +"O-Tar," cried one of them when at last he could master his +voice. "When have we three failed you in battle or combat? Have +our swords been not always among the foremost in defense of your +safety and your honor?" <br> +<p>"Have I denied this?" demanded O-Tar.<br> +</p> + +"Listen, then, O Jeddak, and judge us with leniency. We followed +the two slaves to the apartments of O-Mai the Cruel. We entered +the accursed chambers and still we did not falter. We came at +last to that horrid chamber no human eye had scanned before in +fifty centuries and we looked upon the dead face of O-Mai lying +as he has lain for all this time. To the very death chamber of +O-Mai the Cruel we came and yet we were ready to go farther; when +suddenly there broke upon our horrified ears the moans and the +shrieking that mark these haunted chambers and the hangings moved +and rustled in the dead air. O-Tar, it was more than human nerves +could endure. We turned and fled. We threw away our swords and +fought with one another to escape. With sorrow, but without +shame, I tell it, for there be no man in all Manator that would +not have done the same. If these slaves be Corphals they are safe +among their fellow ghosts. If they be not Corphals, then already +are they dead in the chambers of O-Mai, and there may they rot +for all of me, for I would not return to that accursed spot for +the harness of a jeddak and the half of Barsoom for an empire. I +have spoken." <br> +<p>O-Tar knitted his scowling brows. "Are all my chieftains +cowards and cravens?" he demanded presently in sneering +tones.<br> +</p> + +From among those who had not been of the searching party a +chieftain arose and turned a scowling face upon O-Tar. <br> +<p>"The jeddak knows," he said, "that in the annals of Manator +her jeddaks have ever been accounted the bravest of her warriors. +Where my jeddak leads I will follow, nor may any jeddak call me a +coward or a craven unless I refuse to go where he dares to go. I +have spoken."<br> +</p> + +After he had resumed his seat there was a painful silence, for +all knew that the speaker had challenged the courage of O-Tar the +Jeddak of Manator and all awaited the reply of their ruler. In +every mind was the same thought--O-Tar must lead them at once to +the chamber of O-Mai the Cruel, or accept forever the stigma of +cowardice, and there could be no coward upon the throne of +Manator. That they all knew and that O-Tar knew, as well. <br> +<p>But O-Tar hesitated. He looked about upon the faces of those +around him at the banquet board; but he saw only the grim visages +of relentless warriors. There was no trace of leniency in the +face of any. And then his eyes wandered to a small entrance at +one side of the great chamber. An expression of relief expunged +the scowl of anxiety from his features.<br> +</p> + +"Look!" he exclaimed. "See who has come!" <br> +<p><br> +</p> + +<h1 id="ref_21">CHAPTER XX</h1> + +THE CHARGE OF COWARDICE <br> +<p>GAHAN, watching through the aperture between the hangings, saw +the frantic flight of their pursuers. A grim smile rested upon +his lips as he viewed the mad scramble for safety and saw them +throw away their swords and fight with one another to be first +from the chamber of fear, and when they were all gone he turned +back toward Tara, the smile still upon his lips; but the smile +died the instant that he turned, for he saw that Tara had +disappeared.<br> +</p> + +"Tara!" he called in a loud voice, for he knew that there was no +danger that their pursuers would return; but there was no +response, unless it was a faint sound as of cackling laughter +from afar. Hurriedly he searched the passageway behind the +hangings finding several doors, one of which was ajar. Through +this he entered the adjoining chamber which was lighted more +brilliantly for the moment by the soft rays of hurtling Thuria +taking her mad way through the heavens. Here he found the dust +upon the floor disturbed, and the imprint of sandals. They had +come this way--Tara and whatever the creature was that had stolen +her. <br> +<p>But what could it have been? Gahan, a man of culture and high +intelligence, held few if any superstitions. In common with +nearly all races of Barsoom he clung, more or less inherently, to +a certain exalted form of ancestor worship, though it was rather +the memory or legends of the virtues and heroic deeds of his +forebears that he deified rather than themselves. He never +expected any tangible evidence of their existence after death; he +did not believe that they had the power either for good or for +evil other than the effect that their example while living might +have had upon following generations; he did not believe therefore +in the materialization of dead spirits. If there was a life +hereafter he knew nothing of it, for he knew that science had +demonstrated the existence of some material cause for every +seemingly supernatural phenomenon of ancient religions and +superstitions. Yet he was at a loss to know what power might have +removed Tara so suddenly and mysteriously from his side in a +chamber that had not known the presence of man for five thousand +years.<br> +</p> + +In the darkness he could not see whether there were the imprints +of other sandals than Tara's--only that the dust was +disturbed--and when it led him into gloomy corridors he lost the +trail altogether. A perfect labyrinth of passages and apartments +were now revealed to him as he hurried on through the deserted +quarters of O-Mai. Here was an ancient bath--doubtless that of +the jeddak himself, and again he passed through a room in which a +meal had been laid upon a table five thousand years before--the +untasted breakfast of O-Mai, perhaps. There passed before his +eyes in the brief moments that he traversed the chambers, a +wealth of ornaments and jewels and precious metals that surprised +even the Jed of Gathol whose harness was of diamonds and platinum +and whose riches were the envy of a world. But at last his search +of O-Mai's chambers ended in a small closet in the floor of which +was the opening to a spiral runway leading straight down into +Stygian darkness. The dust at the entrance of the closet had been +freshly disturbed, and as this was the only possible indication +that Gahan had of the direction taken by the abductor of Tara it +seemed as well to follow on as to search elsewhere. So, without +hesitation, he descended into the utter darkness below. Feeling +with a foot before taking a forward step his descent was +necessarily slow, but Gahan was a Barsoomian and so knew the +pitfalls that might await the unwary in such dark, forbidden +portions of a jeddak's palace. <br> +<p>He had descended for what he judged might be three full levels +and was pausing, as he occasionally did, to listen, when he +distinctly heard a peculiar shuffling, scraping sound approaching +him from below. Whatever the thing was it was ascending the +runway at a steady pace and would soon be near him. Gahan laid +his hand upon the hilt of his sword and drew it slowly from its +scabbard that he might make no noise that would apprise the +creature of his presence. He wished that there might be even the +slightest lessening of the darkness. If he could see but the +outline of the thing that approached him he would feel that he +had a fairer chance in the meeting; but he could see nothing, and +then because he could see nothing the end of his scabbard struck +the stone side of the runway, giving off a sound that the +stillness and the narrow confines of the passage and the darkness +seemed to magnify to a terrific clatter.<br> +</p> + +Instantly the shuffling sound of approach ceased. For a moment +Gahan stood in silent waiting, then casting aside discretion he +moved on again down the spiral. The thing, whatever it might be, +gave forth no sound now by which Gahan might locate it. At any +moment it might be upon him and so he kept his sword in +readiness. Down, ever downward the steep spiral led. The darkness +and the silence of the tomb surrounded him, yet somewhere ahead +was something. He was not alone in that horrid place--another +presence that he could not hear or see hovered before him--of +that he was positive. Perhaps it was the thing that had stolen +Tara. Perhaps Tara herself, still in the clutches of some +nameless horror, was just ahead of him. He quickened his pace--it +became almost a run at the thought of the danger that threatened +the woman he loved, and then he collided with a wooden door that +swung open to the impact. Before him was a lighted corridor. On +either side were chambers. He had advanced but a short distance +from the bottom of the spiral when he recognized that he was in +the pits below the palace. A moment later he heard behind him the +shuffling sound that had attracted his attention in the spiral +runway. Wheeling about he saw the author of the sound emerging +from a doorway he had just passed. It was Ghek the kaldane. <br> +<p>"Ghek!" exclaimed Gahan. "It was you in the runway? Have you +seen Tara of Helium?"<br> +</p> + +"It was I in the spiral," replied the kaldane; "but I have not +seen Tara of Helium. I have been searching for her. Where is +she?" <br> +<p>"I do not know," replied the Gatholian; "but we must find her +and take her from this place."<br> +</p> + +"We may find her," said Ghek; "but I doubt our ability to take +her away. It is not so easy to leave Manator as it is to enter +it. I may come and go at will, through the ancient burrows of the +ulsios; but you are too large for that and your lungs need more +air than may be found in some of the deeper runways." <br> +<p>"But U-Thor!" exclaimed Gahan. "Have you heard aught of him or +his intentions?"<br> +</p> + +"I have heard much," replied Ghek. "He camps at The Gate of +Enemies. That spot he holds and his warriors lie just beyond The +Gate; but he has not sufficient force to enter the city and take +the palace. An hour since and you might have made your way to +him; but now every avenue is strongly guarded since O-Tar learned +that A-Kor had escaped to U-Thor." <br> +<p>"A-Kor has escaped and joined U-Thor!" exclaimed Gahan.<br> +</p> + +"But little more than an hour since. I was with him when a +warrior came--a man whose name is Tasor--who brought a message +from you. It was decided that Tasor should accompany A-Kor in an +attempt to reach the camp of U-Thor, the great jed of Manatos, +and exact from him the assurances you required. Then U-Thor was +to return and take food to you and the Princess of Helium. I +accompanied them. We won through easily and found U-Thor more +than willing to respect your every wish, but when Tasor would +have returned to you the way was blocked by the warriors of +O-Tar. Then it was that I volunteered to come to you and report +and find food and drink and then go forth among the Gatholian +slaves of Manator and prepare them for their part in the plan +that U-Thor and Tasor conceived." <br> +<p>"And what was this plan?"<br> +</p> + +"U-Thor has sent for reinforcements. To Manatos he has sent and +to all the outlying districts that are his. It will take a month +to collect and bring them hither and in the meantime the slaves +within the city are to organize secretly, stealing and hiding +arms against the day that the reinforcements arrive. When that +day comes the forces of U-Thor will enter the Gate of Enemies and +as the warriors of O-Tar rush to repulse them the slaves from +Gathol will fall upon them from the rear with the majority of +their numbers, while the balance will assault the palace. They +hope thus to divert so many from The Gate that U-Thor will have +little difficulty in forcing an entrance to the city." <br> +<p>"Perhaps they will succeed," commented Gahan; "but the +warriors of O-Tar are many, and those who fight in defense of +their homes and their jeddak have always an advantage. Ah, Ghek, +would that we had the great warships of Gathol or of Helium to +pour their merciless fire into the streets of Manator while +U-Thor marched to the palace over the corpses of the slain." He +paused, deep in thought, and then turned his gaze again upon the +kaldane. "Heard you aught of the party that escaped with me from +The Field of Jetan--of Floran, Val Dor, and the others? What of +them?"<br> +</p> + +"Ten of these won through to U-Thor at The Gate of Enemies and +were well received by him. Eight fell in the fighting upon the +way. Val Dor and Floran live, I believe, for I am sure that I +heard U-Thor address two warriors by these names." <br> +<p>"Good!" exclaimed Gahan. "Go then, through the burrows of the +ulsios, to The Gate of Enemies and carry to Floran the message +that I shall write in his own language. Come, while I write the +message."<br> +</p> + +In a nearby room they found a bench and table and there Gahan sat +and wrote in the strange, stenographic characters of Martian +script a message to Floran of Gathol. "Why," he asked, when he +had finished it, "did you search for Tara through the spiral +runway where we nearly met?" <br> +<p>"Tasor told me where you were to be found, and as I have +explored the greater part of the palace by means of the ulsio +runways and the darker and less frequented passages I knew +precisely where you were and how to reach you. This secret spiral +ascends from the pits to the roof of the loftiest of the palace +towers. It has secret openings at every level; but there is no +living Manatorian, I believe, who knows of its existence. At +least never have I met one within it and I have used it many +times. Thrice have I been in the chamber where O-Mai lies, though +I knew nothing of his identity or the story of his death until +Tasor told it to us in the camp of U-Thor."<br> +</p> + +"You know the palace thoroughly then?" Gahan interrupted. <br> +<p>"Better than O-Tar himself or any of his servants."<br> +</p> + +"Good! And you would serve the Princess Tara, Ghek, you may serve +her best by accompanying Floran and following his instructions. I +will write them here at the close of my message to him, for the +walls have ears, Ghek, while none but a Gatholian may read what I +have written to Floran. He will transmit it to you. Can I trust +you?" <br> +<p>"I may never return to Bantoom," replied Ghek. "Therefore I +have but two friends in all Barsoom. What better may I do than +serve them faithfully? You may trust me, Gatholian, who with a +woman of your kind has taught me that there be finer and nobler +things than perfect mentality uninfluenced by the unreasoning +tuitions of the heart. I go."<br> +</p> + +As O-Tar pointed to the little doorway all eyes turned in the +direction he indicated and surprise was writ large upon the faces +of the warriors when they recognized the two who had entered the +banquet hall. There was I-Gos, and he dragged behind him one who +was gagged and whose hands were fastened behind with a ribbon of +tough silk. It was the slave girl. I-Gos' cackling laughter rose +above the silence of the room. <br> +<p>"Ey, ey!" he shrilled. "What the young warriors of O-Tar +cannot do, old I-Gos does alone."<br> +</p> + +"Only a Corphal may capture a Corphal," growled one of the chiefs +who had fled from the chambers of O-Mai. <br> +<p>I-Gos laughed. "Terror turned your heart to water," he +replied; "and shame your tongue to libel. This be no Corphal, but +only a woman of Helium; her companion a warrior who can match +blades with the best of you and cut your putrid hearts. Not so in +the days of I-Gos' youth. Ah, then were there men in Manator. +Well do I recall that day that I--"<br> +</p> + +"Peace, doddering fool!" commanded O-Tar. "Where is the man?" +<br> +<p>"Where I found the woman--in the death chamber of O-Mai. Let +your wise and brave chieftains go thither and fetch him. I am an +old man, and could bring but one."<br> +</p> + +"You have done well, I-Gos," O-Tar hastened to assure him, for +when he learned that Gahan might still be in the haunted chambers +he wished to appease the wrath of I-Gos, knowing well the +vitriolic tongue and temper of the ancient one. "You think she is +no Corphal, then, I-Gos?" he asked, wishing to carry the subject +from the man who was still at large. <br> +<p>"No more than you," replied the ancient taxidermist.<br> +</p> + +O-Tar looked long and searchingly at Tara of Helium. All the +beauty that was hers seemed suddenly to be carried to every fibre +of his consciousness. She was still garbed in the rich harness of +a Black Princess of Jetan, and as O-Tar the Jeddak gazed upon her +he realized that never before had his eyes rested upon a more +perfect figure--a more beautiful face. <br> +<p>"She is no Corphal," he murmured to himself. "She is no +Corphal and she is a princess--a princess of Helium, and, by the +golden hair of the Holy Hekkador, she is beautiful. Take the gag +from her mouth and release her hands," he commanded aloud. "Make +room for the Princess Tara of Helium at the side of O-Tar of +Manator. She shall dine as becomes a princess."<br> +</p> + +Slaves did as O-Tar bid and Tara of Helium stood with flashing +eyes behind the chair that was offered her. "Sit!" commanded +O-Tar. <br> +<p>The girl sank into the chair. "I sit as a prisoner," she said; +"not as a guest at the board of my enemy, O-Tar of Manator."<br> +</p> + +O-Tar motioned his followers from the room. "I would speak alone +with the Princess of Helium," he said. The company and the slaves +withdrew and once more the Jeddak of Manator turned toward the +girl. "O-Tar of Manator would be your friend," he said. <br> +<p>Tara of Helium sat with arms folded upon her small, firm +breasts, her eyes flashing from behind narrowed lids, nor did she +deign to answer his overture. O-Tar leaned closer to her. He +noted the hostility of her bearing and he recalled his first +encounter with her. She was a she-banth, but she was beautiful. +She was by far the most desirable woman that O-Tar had ever +looked upon and he was determined to possess her. He told her +so.<br> +</p> + +"I could take you as my slave," he said to her; "but it pleases +me to make you my wife. You shall be Jeddara of Manator. You +shall have seven days in which to prepare for the great honor +that O-Tar is conferring upon you, and at this hour of the +seventh day you shall become an empress and the wife of O-Tar in +the throne room of the jeddaks of Manator." He struck a gong that +stood beside him upon the table and when a slave appeared he bade +him recall the company. Slowly the chiefs filed in and took their +places at the table. Their faces were grim and scowling, for +there was still unanswered the question of their jeddak's +courage. If O-Tar had hoped they would forget he had been +mistaken in his men. <br> +<p>O-Tar arose. "In seven days," he announced, "there will be a +great feast in honor of the new Jeddara of Manator," and he waved +his hand toward Tara of Helium. "The ceremony will occur at the +beginning of the seventh zode* in the throne room. In the +meantime the Princess of Helium will be cared for in the tower of +the women's quarters of the palace. Conduct her thither, E-Thas, +with a suitable guard of honor and see to it that slaves and +eunuchs be placed at her disposal, who shall attend upon all her +wants and guard her carefully from harm."<br> +</p> + +* About 8:30 P. M. Earth Time. <br> +<p>Now E-Thas knew that the real meaning concealed in these fine +words was that he should conduct the prisoner under a strong +guard to the women's quarters and confine her there in the tower +for seven days, placing about her trustworthy guards who would +prevent her escape or frustrate any attempted rescue.<br> +</p> + +As Tara was departing from the chamber with E-Thas and the guard, +O-Tar leaned close to her ear and whispered: "Consider well +during these seven days the high honor I have offered you, +and--its sole alternative." As though she had not heard him the +girl passed out of the banquet hall, her head high and her eyes +straight to the front. <br> +<p>After Ghek had left him Gahan roamed the pits and the ancient +corridors of the deserted portions of the palace seeking some +clue to the whereabouts or the fate of Tara of Helium. He +utilized the spiral runway in passing from level to level until +he knew every foot of it from the pits to the summit of the high +tower, and into what apartments it opened at the various levels +as well as the ingenious and hidden mechanism that operated the +locks of the cleverly concealed doors leading to it. For food he +drew upon the stores he found in the pits and when he slept he +lay upon the royal couch of O-Mai in the forbidden chamber +sharing the dais with the dead foot of the ancient jeddak.<br> +</p> + +In the palace about him seethed, all unknown to Gahan, a vast +unrest. Warriors and chieftains pursued the duties of their +vocations with dour faces, and little knots of them were +collecting here and there and with frowns of anger discussing +some subject that was uppermost in the minds of all. It was upon +the fourth day following Tara's incarceration in the tower that +E-Thas, the major-domo of the palace and one of O-Tar's +creatures, came to his master upon some trivial errand. O-Tar was +alone in one of the smaller chambers of his personal suite when +the major-domo was announced, and after the matter upon which +E-Thas had come was disposed of the jeddak signed him to remain. +<br> +<p>"From the position of an obscure warrior I have elevated you, +E-Thas, to the honors of a chief. Within the confines of the +palace your word is second only to mine. You are not loved for +this, E-Thas, and should another jeddak ascend the throne of +Manator what would become of you, whose enemies are among the +most powerful of Manator?"<br> +</p> + +"Speak not of it, O-Tar," begged E-Thas. "These last few days I +have thought upon it much and I would forget it; but I have +sought to appease the wrath of my worst enemies. I have been very +kind and indulgent with them." <br> +<p>"You, too, read the voiceless message in the air?" demanded +the jeddak.<br> +</p> + +E-Thas was palpably uneasy and he did not reply. <br> +<p>"Why did you not come to me with your apprehensions?" demanded +O-Tar. "Be this loyalty?"<br> +</p> + +"I feared, O mighty jeddak!" replied E-Thas. "I feared that you +would not understand and that you would be angry." <br> +<p>"What know you? Speak the whole truth!" commanded O-Tar.<br> +</p> + +"There is much unrest among the chieftains and the warriors," +replied E-Thas. "Even those who were your friends fear the power +of those who speak against you." <br> +<p>"What say they?" growled the jeddak.<br> +</p> + +"They say that you are afraid to enter the apartments of O-Mai in +search of the slave Turan--oh, do not be angry with me, Jeddak; +it is but what they say that I repeat. I, your loyal E-Thas, +believe no such foul slander." <br> +<p>"No, no; why should I fear?" demanded O-Tar. "We do not know +that he is there. Did not my chiefs go thither and see nothing of +him?"<br> +</p> + +"But they say that you did not go," pursued E-Thas, "and that +they will have none of a coward upon the throne of Manator." <br> +<p>"They said that treason?" O-Tar almost shouted.<br> +</p> + +"They said that and more, great jeddak," answered the major-domo. +"They said that not only did you fear to enter the chambers of +O-Mai, but that you feared the slave Turan, and they blame you +for your treatment of A-Kor, whom they all believe to have been +murdered at your command. They were fond of A-Kor and there are +many now who say aloud that A-Kor would have made a wondrous +jeddak." <br> +<p>"They dare?" screamed O-Tar. "They dare suggest the name of a +slave's bastard for the throne of O-Tar!"<br> +</p> + +"He is your son, O-Tar," E-Thas reminded him, "nor is there a +more beloved man in Manator--I but speak to you of facts which +may not be ignored, and I dare do so because only when you +realize the truth may you seek a cure for the ills that draw +about your throne." <br> +<p>O-Tar had slumped down upon his bench--suddenly he looked +shrunken and tired and old. "Cursed be the day," he cried, "that +saw those three strangers enter the city of Manator. Would that +U-Dor had been spared to me. He was strong--my enemies feared +him; but he is gone--dead at the hands of that hateful slave, +Turan; may the curse of Issus be upon him!"<br> +</p> + +"My jeddak, what shall we do?" begged E-Thas. "Cursing the slave +will not solve your problems." <br> +<p>"But the great feast and the marriage is but three days off," +plead O-Tar. "It shall be a great gala occasion. The warriors and +the chiefs all know that--it is the custom. Upon that day gifts +and honors shall be bestowed. Tell me, who are most bitter +against me? I will send you among them and let it be known that I +am planning rewards for their past services to the throne. We +will make jeds of chiefs and chiefs of warriors, and grant them +palaces and slaves. Eh, E-Thas?"<br> +</p> + +The other shook his head. "It will not do, O-Tar. They will have +nothing of your gifts or honors. I have heard them say as much." +<br> +<p>"What do they want?" demanded O-Tar.<br> +</p> + +"They want a jeddak as brave as the bravest," replied E-Thas, +though his knees shook as he said it. <br> +<p>"They think I am a coward?" cried the jeddak.<br> +</p> + +"They say you are afraid to go to the apartments of O-mai the +Cruel." <br> +<p>For a long time O-Tar sat, his head sunk upon his breast, +staring blankly at the floor.<br> +</p> + +"Tell them," he said at last in a hollow voice that sounded not +at all like the voice of a great jeddak; "tell them that I will +go to the chambers of O-Mai and search for Turan the slave." <br> +<p><br> +</p> + +<h1 id="ref_22">CHAPTER XXI</h1> + +A RISK FOR LOVE <br> +<p>"EY, ey, he is a craven and he called me 'doddering fool'!" +The speaker was I-Gos and he addressed a knot of chieftains in +one of the chambers of the palace of O-Tar, Jeddak of Manator: +"If A-Kor was alive there were a jeddak for us!"<br> +</p> + +"Who says that A-Kor is dead?" demanded one of the chiefs. <br> +<p>"Where is he then?" asked I-Gos. "Have not others disappeared +whom O-Tar thought too well beloved for men so near the throne as +they?"<br> +</p> + +The chief shook his head. "And I thought that, or knew it, +rather; I'd join U-Thor at The Gate of Enemies." <br> +<p>"S-s-st," cautioned one; "here comes the licker of feet," and +all eyes were turned upon the approaching E-Thas.<br> +</p> + +"Kaor, friends!" he exclaimed as he stopped among them, but his +friendly greeting elicited naught but a few surly nods. "Have you +heard the news?" he continued, unabashed by treatment to which he +was becoming accustomed. <br> +<p>"What--has O-Tar seen an ulsio and fainted?" demanded I-Gos +with broad sarcasm.<br> +</p> + +"Men have died for less than that, ancient one," E-Thas reminded +him. <br> +<p>"I am safe," retorted I-Gos, "for I am not a brave and popular +son of the jeddak of Manator."<br> +</p> + +This was indeed open treason, but E-Thas feigned not to hear it. +He ignored I-Gos and turned to the others. "O-Tar goes to the +chamber of O-Mai this night in search of Turan the slave," he +said. "He sorrows that his warriors have not the courage for so +mean a duty and that their jeddak is thus compelled to arrest a +common slave," with which taunt E-Thas passed on to spread the +word in other parts of the palace. As a matter of fact the latter +part of his message was purely original with himself, and he took +great delight in delivering it to the discomfiture of his +enemies. As he was leaving the little group of men I-Gos called +after him. "At what hour does O-Tar intend visiting the chambers +of O-Mai?" he asked. <br> +<p>"Toward the end of the eighth zode*," replied the major-domo, +and went his way.<br> +</p> + +* About 1:00 A. M. Earth Time. <br> +<p>"We shall see," stated I-Gos.<br> +</p> + +"What shall we see?" asked a warrior. <br> +<p>"We shall see whether O-Tar visits the chamber of O-Mai."<br> +</p> + +"How?" <br> +<p>"I shall be there myself and if I see him I will know that he +has been there. If I don't see him I will know that he has not," +explained the old taxidermist.<br> +</p> + +"Is there anything there to fill an honest man with fear?" asked +a chieftain. "What have you seen?" <br> +<p>"It was not so much what I saw, though that was bad enough, as +what I heard," said I-Gos.<br> +</p> + +"Tell us! What heard and saw you?" <br> +<p>"I saw the dead O-Mai," said I-Gos. The others shuddered.<br> +</p> + +"And you went not mad?" they asked. <br> +<p>"Am I mad?" retorted I-Gos.<br> +</p> + +"And you will go again?" <br> +<p>"Yes."<br> +</p> + +"Then indeed you are mad," cried one. <br> +<p>"You saw the dead O-Mai; but what heard you that was worse?" +whispered another.<br> +</p> + +"I saw the dead O-Mai lying upon the floor of his sleeping +chamber with one foot tangled in the sleeping silks and furs upon +his couch. I heard horrid moans and frightful screams." <br> +<p>"And you are not afraid to go there again?" demanded +several.<br> +</p> + +"The dead cannot harm me," said I-Gos. "He has lain thus for five +thousand years. Nor can a sound harm me. I heard it once and +live--I can hear it again. It came from almost at my side where I +hid behind the hangings and watched the slave Turan before I +snatched the woman away from him." <br> +<p>"I-Gos, you are a very brave man," said a chieftain.<br> +</p> + +"O-Tar called me 'doddering fool' and I would face worse dangers +than lie in the forbidden chambers of O-Mai to know it if he does +not visit the chamber of O-Mai. Then indeed shall O-Tar fall!" +<br> +<p>The night came and the zodes dragged and the time approached +when O-Tar, Jeddak of Manator, was to visit the chamber of O-Mai +in search of the slave Turan. To us, who may doubt the existence +of malignant spirits, his fear may seem unbelievable, for he was +a strong man, an excellent swordsman, and a warrior of great +repute; but the fact remained that O-Tar of Manator was nervous +with apprehension as he strode the corridors of his palace toward +the deserted halls of O-Mai and when he stood at last with his +hand upon the door that opened from the dusty corridor to the +very apartments themselves he was almost paralyzed with terror. +He had come alone for two very excellent reasons, the first of +which was that thus none might note his terror-stricken state nor +his defection should he fail at the last moment, and the other +was that should he accomplish the thing alone or be able to make +his chiefs believe that he had, the credit would be far greater +than were he to be accompanied by warriors.<br> +</p> + +But though he had started alone he had become aware that he was +being followed, and he knew that it was because his people had no +faith in either his courage or his veracity. He did not believe +that he would find the slave Turan. He did not very much want to +find him, for though O-Tar was an excellent swordsman and a brave +warrior in physical combat, he had seen how Turan had played with +U-Dor and he had no stomach for a passage at arms with one whom +he knew outclassed him. <br> +<p>And so O-Tar stood with his hand upon the door--afraid to +enter; afraid not to. But at last his fear of his own warriors, +watching behind him, grew greater than the fear of the unknown +behind the ancient door and he pushed the heavy skeel aside and +entered.<br> +</p> + +Silence and gloom and the dust of centuries lay heavy upon the +chamber. From his warriors he knew the route that he must take to +the horrid chamber of O-Mai and so he forced his unwilling feet +across the room before him, across the room where the jetan +players sat at their eternal game, and came to the short corridor +that led into the room of O-Mai. His naked sword trembled in his +grasp. He paused after each forward step to listen and when he +was almost at the door of the ghost-haunted chamber, his heart +stood still within his breast and the cold sweat broke from the +clammy skin of his forehead, for from within there came to his +affrighted ears the sound of muffled breathing. Then it was that +O-Tar of Manator came near to fleeing from the nameless horror +that he could not see, but that he knew lay waiting for him in +that chamber just ahead. But again came the fear of the wrath and +contempt of his warriors and his chiefs. They would degrade him +and they would slay him into the bargain. There was no doubt of +what his fate would be should he flee the apartments of O-Mai in +terror. His only hope, therefore, lay in daring the unknown in +preference to the known. <br> +<p>He moved forward. A few steps took him to the doorway. The +chamber before him was darker than the corridor, so that he could +just indistinctly make out the objects in the room. He saw a +sleeping dais near the center, with a darker blotch of something +lying on the marble floor beside it. He moved a step farther into +the doorway and the scabbard of his sword scraped against the +stone frame. To his horror he saw the sleeping silks and furs +upon the central dais move. He saw a figure slowly arising to a +sitting posture from the death bed of O-Mai the Cruel. His knees +shook, but he gathered all his moral forces, and gripping his +sword more tightly in his trembling fingers prepared to leap +across the chamber upon the horrid apparition. He hesitated just +a moment. He felt eyes upon him--ghoulish eyes that bored through +the darkness into his withering heart--eyes that he could not +see. He gathered himself for the rush--and then there broke from +the thing upon the couch an awful shriek, and O-Tar sank +senseless to the floor.<br> +</p> + +Gahan rose from the couch of O-Mai, smiling, only to swing +quickly about with drawn sword as the shadow of a noise impinged +upon his keen ears from the shadows behind him. Between the +parted hangings he saw a bent and wrinkled figure. It was I-Gos. +<br> +<p>"Sheathe your sword, Turan," said the old man. "You have +naught to fear from I-Gos."<br> +</p> + +"What do you here?" demanded Gahan. <br> +<p>"I came to make sure that the great coward did not cheat us. +Ey, and he called me 'doddering fool;' but look at him now! +Stricken insensible by terror, but, ey, one might forgive him +that who had heard your uncanny scream. It all but blasted my own +courage. And it was you, then, who moaned and screamed when the +chiefs came the day that I stole Tara from you?"<br> +</p> + +"It was you, then, old scoundrel?" demanded Gahan, moving +threateningly toward I-Gos. <br> +<p>"Come, come!" expostulated the old man; "it was I, but then I +was your enemy. I would not do it now. Conditions have +changed."<br> +</p> + +"How have they changed? What has changed them?" asked Gahan. <br> +<p>"Then I did not fully realize the cowardice of my jeddak, or +the bravery of you and the girl. I am an old man from another age +and I love courage. At first I resented the girl's attack upon +me, but later I came to see the bravery of it and it won my +admiration, as have all her acts. She feared not O-tar, she +feared not me, she feared not all the warriors of Manator. And +you! Blood of a million sires! how you fight! I am sorry that I +exposed you at The Fields of Jetan. I am sorry that I dragged the +girl Tara back to O-Tar. I would make amends. I would be your +friend. Here is my sword at your feet," and drawing his weapon +I-Gos cast it to the floor in front of Gahan.<br> +</p> + +The Gatholian knew that scarce the most abandoned of knaves would +repudiate this solemn pledge, and so he stooped, and picking up +the old man's sword returned it to him, hilt first, in acceptance +of his friendship. <br> +<p>"Where is the Princess Tara of Helium?" asked Gahan. "Is she +safe?"<br> +</p> + +"She is confined in the tower of the women's quarters awaiting +the ceremony that is to make her Jeddara of Manator," replied +I-Gos. <br> +<p>"This thing dared think that Tara of Helium would mate with +him?" growled Gahan. "I will make short work of him if he is not +already dead from fright," and he stepped toward the fallen O-Tar +to run his sword through the jeddak's heart.<br> +</p> + +"No!" cried I-Gos. "Slay him not and pray that he be not dead if +you would save your princess." <br> +<p>"How is that?" asked Gahan.<br> +</p> + +"If word of O-Tar's death reached the quarters of the women the +Princess Tara would be lost. They know O-Tar's intention of +taking her to wife and making her Jeddara of Manator, so you may +rest assured that they all hate her with the hate of jealous +women. Only O-Tar's power protects her now from harm. Should +O-Tar die they would turn her over to the warriors and the male +slaves, for there would be none to avenge her." <br> +<p>Gahan sheathed his sword. "Your point is well taken; but what +shall we do with him?"<br> +</p> + +"Leave him where he lies," counseled I-Gos. "He is not dead. When +he revives he will return to his quarters with a fine tale of his +bravery and there will be none to impugn his boasts--none but +I-Gos. Come! he may revive at any moment and he must not find us +here." <br> +<p>I-Gos crossed to the body of his jeddak, knelt beside it for +an instant, and then returned past the couch to Gahan. The two +quit the chamber of O-Mai and took their way toward the spiral +runway. Here I-Gos led Gahan to a higher level and out upon the +roof of that portion of the palace from where he pointed to a +high tower quite close by. "There," he said, "lies the Princess +of Helium, and quite safe she will be until the time of the +ceremony."<br> +</p> + +"Safe, possibly, from other hands, but not from her own," said +Gahan. "She will never become Jeddara of Manator--first will she +destroy herself." <br> +<p>"She would do that?" asked I-Gos.<br> +</p> + +"She will, unless you can get word to her that I still live and +that there is yet hope," replied Gahan. <br> +<p>"I cannot get word to her," said I-Gos. "The quarters of his +women O-Tar guards with jealous hand. Here are his most trusted +slaves and warriors, yet even so, thick among them are countless +spies, so that no man knows which be which. No shadow falls +within those chambers that is not marked by a hundred eyes."<br> +</p> + +Gahan stood gazing at the lighted windows of the high tower in +the upper chambers of which Tara of Helium was confined. "I will +find a way, I-Gos," he said. <br> +<p>"There is no way," replied the old man.<br> +</p> + +For some time they stood upon the roof beneath the brilliant +stars and hurtling moons of dying Mars, laying their plans +against the time that Tara of Helium should be brought from the +high tower to the throne room of O-Tar. It was then, and then +alone, argued I-Gos, that any hope of rescuing her might be +entertained. Just how far he might trust the other Gahan did not +know, and so he kept to himself the knowledge of the plan that he +had forwarded to Floran and Val Dor by Ghek, but he assured the +ancient taxidermist that if he were sincere in his oft-repeated +declaration that O-Tar should be denounced and superseded he +would have his opportunity on the night that the jeddak sought to +wed the Heliumetic princess. <br> +<p>"Your time shall come then, I-Gos," Gahan assured the other, +"and if you have any party that thinks as you do, prepare them +for the eventuality that will succeed O-Tar's presumptuous +attempt to wed the daughter of The Warlord. Where shall I see you +again, and when? I go now to speak with Tara, Princess of +Helium."<br> +</p> + +"I like your boldness," said I-Gos; "but it will avail you +naught. You will not speak with Tara, Princess of Helium, though +doubtless the blood of many Manatorians will drench the floors of +the women's quarters before you are slain." <br> +<p>Gahan smiled. "I shall not be slain. Where and when shall we +meet? But you may find me in O-Mai's chamber at night. That seems +the safest retreat in all Manator for an enemy of the jeddak in +whose palace it lies. I go!"<br> +</p> + +"And may the spirits of your ancestors surround you," said I-Gos. +<br> +<p>After the old man had left him Gahan made his way across the +roof to the high tower, which appeared to have been constructed +of concrete and afterward elaborately carved, its entire surface +being covered with intricate designs cut deep into the stone-like +material of which it was composed. Though wrought ages since, it +was but little weather-worn owing to the aridity of the Martian +atmosphere, the infrequency of rains, and the rarity of dust +storms. To scale it, though, presented difficulties and danger +that might have deterred the bravest of men--that would, +doubtless, have deterred Gahan, had he not felt that the life of +the woman he loved depended upon his accomplishing the hazardous +feat.<br> +</p> + +Removing his sandals and laying aside all of his harness and +weapons other than a single belt supporting a dagger, the +Gatholian essayed the dangerous ascent. Clinging to the carvings +with hands and feet he worked himself slowly aloft, avoiding the +windows and keeping upon the shadowy side of the tower, away from +the light of Thuria and Cluros. The tower rose some fifty feet +above the roof of the adjacent part of the palace, comprising +five levels or floors with windows looking in every direction. A +few of the windows were balconied, and these more than the others +he sought to avoid, although, it being now near the close of the +ninth zode, there was little likelihood that many were awake +within the tower. <br> +<p>His progress was noiseless and he came at last, undetected, to +the windows of the upper level. These, like several of the others +he had passed at lower levels, were heavily barred, so that there +was no possibility of his gaining ingress to the apartment where +Tara was confined. Darkness hid the interior behind the first +window that he approached. The second opened upon a lighted +chamber where he could see a guard sleeping at his post outside a +door. Here also was the top of the runway leading to the next +level below. Passing still farther around the tower Gahan +approached another window, but now he clung to that side of the +tower which ended in a courtyard a hundred feet below and in a +short time the light of Thuria would reach him. He realized that +he must hasten and he prayed that behind the window he now +approached he would find Tara of Helium.<br> +</p> + +Coming to the opening he looked in upon a small chamber dimly +lighted. In the center was a sleeping dais upon which a human +form lay beneath silks and furs. A bare arm, protruding from the +coverings, lay exposed against a black and yellow striped orluk +skin--an arm of wondrous beauty about which was clasped an armlet +that Gahan knew. No other creature was visible within the +chamber, all of which was exposed to Gahan's view. Pressing his +face to the bars the Gatholian whispered her dear name. The girl +stirred, but did not awaken. Again he called, but this time +louder. Tara sat up and looked about and at the same instant a +huge eunuch leaped to his feet from where he had been lying on +the floor close by that side of the dais farthest from Gahan. +Simultaneously the brilliant light of Thuria flashed full upon +the window where Gahan clung silhouetting him plainly to the two +within. <br> +<p>Both sprang to their feet. The eunuch drew his sword and +leaped for the window where the helpless Gahan would have fallen +an easy victim to a single thrust of the murderous weapon the +fellow bore, had not Tara of Helium leaped upon her guard +dragging him back. At the same time she drew the slim dagger from +its hiding place in her harness and even as the eunuch sought to +hurl her aside its keen point found his heart. Without a sound he +died and lunged forward to the floor. Then Tara ran to the +window.<br> +</p> + +"Turan, my chief!" she cried. "What awful risk is this you take +to seek me here, where even your brave heart is powerless to aid +me." <br> +<p>"Be not so sure of that, heart of my heart," he replied. +"While I bring but words to my love, they be the forerunner of +deeds, I hope, that will give her back to me forever. I feared +that you might destroy yourself, Tara of Helium, to escape the +dishonor that O-Tar would do you, and so I came to give you new +hope and to beg that you live for me through whatever may +transpire, in the knowledge that there is yet a way and that if +all goes well we shall be freed at last. Look for me in the +throne room of O-Tar the night that he would wed you. And now, +how may we dispose of this fellow?" He pointed to the dead eunuch +upon the floor.<br> +</p> + +"We need not concern ourselves about that," she replied. "None +dares harm me for fear of the wrath of O-Tar--otherwise I should +have been dead so soon as ever I entered this portion of the +palace, for the women hate me. O-Tar alone may punish me, and +what cares O-Tar for the life of a eunuch? No, fear not upon this +score." <br> +<p>Their hands were clasped between the bars and now Gahan drew +her nearer to him.<br> +</p> + +"One kiss," he said, "before I go, my princess," and the proud +daughter of Dejah Thoris, Princess of Helium, and The Warlord of +Barsoom whispered: "My chieftain!" and pressed her lips to the +lips of Turan, the common panthan. <br> +<p><br> +</p> + +<h1 id="ref_23">CHAPTER XXII</h1> + +AT THE MOMENT OF MARRIAGE <br> +<p>THE silence of the tomb lay heavy about him as O-Tar, Jeddak +of Manator, opened his eyes in the chamber of O-Mai. Recollection +of the frightful apparition that had confronted him swept to his +consciousness. He listened, but heard naught. Within the range of +his vision there was nothing apparent that might cause alarm. +Slowly he lifted his head and looked about. Upon the floor beside +the couch lay the thing that had at first attracted his attention +and his eyes closed in terror as he recognized it for what it +was; but it moved not, nor spoke. O-Tar opened his eyes again and +rose to his feet. He was trembling in every limb. There was +nothing on the dais from which he had seen the thing arise.<br> +</p> + +O-Tar backed slowly from the room. At last he gained the outer +corridor. It was empty. He did not know that it had emptied +rapidly as the loud scream with which his own had mingled had +broken upon the startled ears of the warriors who had been sent +to spy upon him. He looked at the timepiece set in a massive +bracelet upon his left forearm. The ninth zode was nearly half +gone. O-Tar had lain for an hour unconscious. He had spent an +hour in the chamber of O-Mai and he was not dead! He had looked +upon the face of his predecessor and was still sane! He shook +himself and smiled. Rapidly he subdued his rebelliously shaking +nerves, so that by the time he reached the tenanted portion of +the palace he had gained control of himself. He walked with chin +high and something of a swagger. To the banquet hall he went, +knowing that his chiefs awaited him there and as he entered they +arose and upon the faces of many were incredulity and amaze, for +they had not thought to see O-Tar the jeddak again after what the +spies had told them of the horrid sounds issuing from the chamber +of O-Mai. Thankful was O-Tar that he had gone alone to that +chamber of fright, for now no one could deny the tale that he +should tell. <br> +<p>E-Thas rushed forward to greet him, for E-Thas had seen black +looks directed toward him as the tals slipped by and his +benefactor failed to return.<br> +</p> + +"O brave and glorious jeddak!" cried the major-domo. "We rejoice +at your safe return and beg of you the story of your adventure." +<br> +<p>"It was naught," exclaimed O-Tar. "I searched the chambers +carefully and waited in hiding for the return of the slave, +Turan, if he were temporarily away; but he came not. He is not +there and I doubt if he ever goes there. Few men would choose to +remain long in such a dismal place."<br> +</p> + +"You were not attacked?" asked E-Thas. "You heard no screams, nor +moans?" <br> +<p>"I heard hideous noises and saw phantom figures; but they fled +before me so that never could I lay hold of one, and I looked +upon the face of O-Mai and I am not mad. I even rested in the +chamber beside his corpse."<br> +</p> + +In a far corner of the room a bent and wrinkled old man hid a +smile behind a golden goblet of strong brew. <br> +<p>"Come! Let us drink!" cried O-Tar and reached for the dagger, +the pommel of which he was accustomed to use to strike the gong +which summoned slaves, but the dagger was not in its scabbard. +O-Tar was puzzled. He knew that it had been there just before he +entered the chamber of O-Mai, for he had carefully felt of all +his weapons to make sure that none was missing. He seized instead +a table utensil and struck the gong, and when the slaves came +bade them bring the strongest brew for O-Tar and his chiefs. +Before the dawn broke many were the expressions of admiration +bellowed from drunken lips--admiration for the courage of their +jeddak; but some there were who still looked glum.<br> +</p> + +Came at last the day that O-Tar would take the Princess Tara of +Helium to wife. For hours slaves prepared the unwilling bride. +Seven perfumed baths occupied three long and weary hours, then +her whole body was anointed with the oil of pimalia blossoms and +massaged by the deft fingers of a slave from distant Dusar. Her +harness, all new and wrought for the occasion was of the white +hide of the great white apes of Barsoom, hung heavily with +platinum and diamonds--fairly encrusted with them. The glossy +mass of her jet hair had been built into a coiffure of stately +and becoming grandeur, into which diamond-headed pins were stuck +until the whole scintillated as the stars in heaven upon a +moonless night. <br> +<p>But it was a sullen and defiant bride that they led from the +high tower toward the throne room of O-Tar. The corridors were +filled with slaves and warriors, and the women of the palace and +the city who had been commanded to attend the ceremony. All the +power and pride, wealth and beauty of Manator were there.<br> +</p> + +Slowly Tara, surrounded by a heavy guard of honor, moved along +the marble corridors filled with people. At the entrance to The +Hall of Chiefs E-Thas, the major-domo, received her. The Hall was +empty except for its ranks of dead chieftains upon their dead +mounts. Through this long chamber E-Thas escorted her to the +throne room which also was empty, the marriage ceremony in +Manator differing from that of other countries of Barsoom. Here +the bride would await the groom at the foot of the steps leading +to the throne. The guests followed her in and took their places, +leaving the central aisle from The Hall of Chiefs to the throne +clear, for up this O-Tar would approach his bride alone after a +short solitary communion with the dead behind closed doors in The +Hall of Chiefs. It was the custom. <br> +<p>The guests had all filed through The Hall of Chiefs; the doors +at both ends had been closed. Presently those at the lower end of +the hall opened and O-Tar entered. His black harness was +ornamented with rubies and gold; his face was covered by a +grotesque mask of the precious metal in which two enormous rubies +were set for eyes, though below them were narrow slits through +which the wearer could see. His crown was a fillet supporting +carved feathers of the same metal as the mask. To the least +detail his regalia was that demanded of a royal bridegroom by the +customs of Manator, and now in accordance with that same custom +he came alone to The Hall of Chiefs to receive the blessings and +the council of the great ones of Manator who had preceded +him.<br> +</p> + +As the doors at the lower end of the Hall closed behind him O-Tar +the Jeddak stood alone with the great dead. By the dictates of +ages no mortal eye might look upon the scene enacted within that +sacred chamber. As the mighty of Manator respected the traditions +of Manator, let us, too, respect those traditions of a proud and +sensitive people. Of what concern to us the happenings in that +solemn chamber of the dead? <br> +<p>Five minutes passed. The bride stood silently at the foot of +the throne. The guests spoke together in low whispers until the +room was filled with the hum of many voices. At length the doors +leading into The Hall of Chiefs swung open, and the resplendent +bridegroom stood framed for a moment in the massive opening. A +hush fell upon the wedding guests. With measured and impressive +step the groom approached the bride. Tara felt the muscles of her +heart contract with the apprehension that had been growing upon +her as the coils of Fate settled more closely about her and no +sign came from Turan. Where was he? What, indeed, could he +accomplish now to save her? Surrounded by the power of O-Tar with +never a friend among them, her position seemed at last without +vestige of hope.<br> +</p> + +"I still live!" she whispered inwardly in a last brave attempt to +combat the terrible hopelessness that was overwhelming her, but +her fingers stole for reassurance to the slim blade that she had +managed to transfer, undetected, from her old harness to the new. +And now the groom was at her side and taking her hand was leading +her up the steps to the throne, before which they halted and +stood facing the gathering below. Came then, from the back of the +room a procession headed by the high dignitary whose office it +was to make these two man and wife, and directly behind him a +richly-clad youth bearing a silken pillow on which lay the golden +handcuffs connected by a short length of chain-of-gold with which +the ceremony would be concluded when the dignitary clasped a +handcuff about the wrist of each symbolizing their indissoluble +union in the holy bonds of wedlock. <br> +<p>Would Turan's promised succor come too late? Tara listened to +the long, monotonous intonation of the wedding service. She heard +the virtues of O-Tar extolled and the beauties of the bride. The +moment was approaching and still no sign of Turan. But what could +he accomplish should he succeed in reaching the throne room, +other than to die with her? There could be no hope of rescue.<br> +</p> + +The dignitary lifted the golden handcuffs from the pillow upon +which they reposed. He blessed them and reached for Tara's wrist. +The time had come! The thing could go no further, for alive or +dead, by all the laws of Barsoom she would be the wife of O-Tar +of Manator the instant the two were locked together. Even should +rescue come then or later she could never dissolve those bonds +and Turan would be lost to her as surely as though death +separated them. <br> +<p>Her hand stole toward the hidden blade, but instantly the hand +of the groom shot out and seized her wrist. He had guessed her +intention. Through the slits in the grotesque mask she could see +his eyes upon her and she guessed the sardonic smile that the +mask hid. For a tense moment the two stood thus. The people below +them kept breathless silence for the play before the throne had +not passed un-noticed.<br> +</p> + +Dramatic as was the moment it was suddenly rendered trebly so by +the noisy opening of the doors leading to The Hall of Chiefs. All +eyes turned in the direction of the interruption to see another +figure framed in the massive opening--a half-clad figure buckling +the half-adjusted harness hurriedly in place--the figure of +O-Tar, Jeddak of Manator. <br> +<p>"Stop!" he screamed, springing forward along the aisle toward +the throne. "Seize the impostor!"<br> +</p> + +All eyes shot to the figure of the groom before the throne. They +saw him raise his hand and snatch off the golden mask, and Tara +of Helium in wide-eyed incredulity looked up into the face of +Turan the panthan. <br> +<p>"Turan the slave," they cried then. "Death to him! Death to +him!"<br> +</p> + +"Wait!" shouted Turan, drawing his sword, as a dozen warriors +leaped forward. <br> +<p>"Wait!" screamed another voice, old and cracked, as I-Gos, the +ancient taxidermist, sprang from among the guests and reached the +throne steps ahead of the foremost warriors.<br> +</p> + +At sight of the old man the warriors paused, for age is held in +great veneration among the peoples of Barsoom, as is true, +perhaps, of all peoples whose religion is based to any extent +upon ancestor worship. But O-Tar gave no heed to him, leaping +instead swiftly toward the throne. "Stop, coward!" cried I-Gos. +<br> +<p>The people looked at the little old man in amazement. "Men of +Manator," he cackled in his thin, shrill voice, "wouldst be ruled +by a coward and a liar?"<br> +</p> + +"Down with him!" shouted O-Tar. <br> +<p>"Not until I have spoken," retorted I-Gos. "It is my right. If +I fail my life is forfeit--that you all know and I know. I demand +therefore to be heard. It is my right!"<br> +</p> + +"It is his right," echoed the voices of a score of warriors in +various parts of the chamber. <br> +<p>"That O-Tar is a coward and a liar I can prove," continued +I-Gos. "He said that he faced bravely the horrors of the chamber +of O-Mai and saw nothing of the slave Turan. I was there, hiding +behind the hangings, and I saw all that transpired. Turan had +been hiding in the chamber and was even then lying upon the couch +of O-Mai when O-Tar, trembling with fear, entered the room. +Turan, disturbed, arose to a sitting position at the same time +voicing a piercing shriek. O-Tar screamed and swooned."<br> +</p> + +"It is a lie!" cried O-Tar. <br> +<p>"It is not a lie and I can prove it," retorted I-Gos. "Didst +notice the night that he returned from the chambers of O-Mai and +was boasting of his exploit, that when he would summon slaves to +bring wine he reached for his dagger to strike the gong with its +pommel as is always his custom? Didst note that, any of you? And +that he had no dagger? O-Tar, where is the dagger that you +carried into the chamber of O-Mai? You do not know; but I know. +While you lay in the swoon of terror I took it from your harness +and hid it among the sleeping silks upon the couch of O-Mai. +There it is even now, and if any doubt it let them go thither and +there they will find it and know the cowardice of their +jeddak."<br> +</p> + +"But what of this impostor?" demanded one. "Shall he stand with +impunity upon the throne of Manator whilst we squabble about our +ruler?" <br> +<p>"It is through his bravery that you have learned the cowardice +of O-Tar," replied I-Gos, "and through him you will be given a +greater jeddak."<br> +</p> + +"We will choose our own jeddak. Seize and slay the slave!" There +were cries of approval from all parts of the room. Gahan was +listening intently, as though for some hoped-for sound. He saw +the warriors approaching the dais, where he now stood with drawn +sword and with one arm about Tara of Helium. He wondered if his +plans had miscarried after all. If they had it would mean death +for him, and he knew that Tara would take her life if he fell. +Had he, then, served her so futilely after all his efforts? <br> +<p>Several warriors were urging the necessity for sending at once +to the chamber of O-Mai to search for the dagger that would +prove, if found, the cowardice of O-Tar. At last three consented +to go. "You need not fear," I-Gos assured them. "There is naught +there to harm you. I have been there often of late and Turan the +slave has slept there for these many nights. The screams and +moans that frightened you and O-Tar were voiced by Turan to drive +you away from his hiding place." Shamefacedly the three left the +apartment to search for O-Tar's dagger.<br> +</p> + +And now the others turned their attention once more to Gahan. +They approached the throne with bared swords, but they came +slowly for they had seen this slave upon the Field of Jetan and +they knew the prowess of his arm. They had reached the foot of +the steps when from far above there sounded a deep boom, and +another, and another, and Turan smiled and breathed a sigh of +relief. Perhaps, after all, it had not come too late. The +warriors stopped and listened as did the others in the chamber. +Now there broke upon their ears a loud rattle of musketry and it +all came from above as though men were fighting upon the roofs of +the palace. <br> +<p>"What is it?" they demanded, one of the other.<br> +</p> + +"A great storm has broken over Manator," said one. <br> +<p>"Mind not the storm until you have slain the creature who +dares stand upon the throne of your jeddak," demanded O-Tar. +"Seize him!"<br> +</p> + +Even as he ceased speaking the arras behind the throne parted and +a warrior stepped forth upon the dais. An exclamation of surprise +and dismay broke from the lips of the warriors of O-Tar. +"U-Thor!" they cried. "What treason is this?" <br> +<p>"It is no treason," said U-Thor in his deep voice. "I bring +you a new jeddak for all of Manator. No lying poltroon, but a +courageous man whom you all love."<br> +</p> + +He stepped aside then and another emerged from the corridor +hidden by the arras. It was A-Kor, and at sight of him there rose +exclamations of surprise, of pleasure, and of anger, as the +various factions recognized the coup d'etat that had been +arranged so cunningly. Behind A-Kor came other warriors until the +dais was crowded with them--all men of Manator from the city of +Manatos. <br> +<p>O-Tar was exhorting his warriors to attack, when a bloody and +disheveled padwar burst into the chamber through a side entrance. +"The city has fallen!" he cried aloud. "The hordes of Manatos +pour through The Gate of Enemies. The slaves from Gathol have +arisen and destroyed the palace guards. Great ships are landing +warriors upon the palace roof and in the Fields of Jetan. The men +of Helium and Gathol are marching through Manator. They cry aloud +for the Princess of Helium and swear to leave Manator a blazing +funeral pyre consuming the bodies of all our people. The skies +are black with ships. They come in great processions from the +east and from the south."<br> +</p> + +And then once more the doors from The Hall of Chiefs swung wide +and the men of Manator turned to see another figure standing upon +the threshold--a mighty figure of a man with white skin, and +black hair, and gray eyes that glittered now like points of steel +and behind him The Hall of Chiefs was filled with fighting men +wearing the harness of far countries. Tara of Helium saw him and +her heart leaped in exultation, for it was John Carter, Warlord +of Barsoom, come at the head of a victorious host to the rescue +of his daughter, and at his side was Djor Kantos to whom she had +been betrothed. <br> +<p>The Warlord eyed the assemblage for a moment before he spoke. +"Lay down your arms, men of Manator," he said. "I see my daughter +and that she lives, and if no harm has befallen her no blood need +be shed. Your city is filled with the fighting men of U-Thor, and +those from Gathol and from Helium. The palace is in the hands of +the slaves from Gathol, beside a thousand of my own warriors who +fill the halls and chambers surrounding this room. The fate of +your jeddak lies in your own hands. I have no wish to interfere. +I come only for my daughter and to free the slaves from Gathol. I +have spoken!" and without waiting for a reply and as though the +room had been filled with his own people rather than a hostile +band he strode up the broad main aisle toward Tara of Helium.<br> +</p> + +The chiefs of Manator were stunned. They looked to O-Tar; but he +could only gaze helplessly about him as the enemy entered from +The Hall of Chiefs and circled the throne room until they had +surrounded the entire company. And then a dwar of the army of +Helium entered. <br> +<p>"We have captured three chiefs," he reported to The Warlord, +"who beg that they be permitted to enter the throne room and +report to their fellows some matter which they say will decide +the fate of Manator."<br> +</p> + +"Fetch them," ordered The Warlord. <br> +<p>They came, heavily guarded, to the foot of the steps leading +to the throne and there they stopped and the leader turned toward +the others of Manator and raising high his right hand displayed a +jeweled dagger. "We found it," he said, "even where I-Gos said +that we would find it," and he looked menacingly upon O-Tar.<br> +</p> + +"A-Kor, jeddak of Manator!" cried a voice, and the cry was taken +up by a hundred hoarse-throated warriors. <br> +<p>"There can be but one jeddak in Manator," said the chief who +held the dagger; his eyes still fixed upon the hapless O-Tar he +crossed to where the latter stood and holding the dagger upon an +outstretched palm proffered it to the discredited ruler. "There +can be but one jeddak in Manator," he repeated meaningly.<br> +</p> + +O-Tar took the proffered blade and drawing himself to his full +height plunged it to the guard into his breast, in that single +act redeeming himself in the esteem of his people and winning an +eternal place in The Hall of Chiefs. <br> +<p>As he fell all was silence in the great room, to be broken +presently by the voice of U-Thor. "O-Tar is dead!" he cried. "Let +A-Kor rule until the chiefs of all Manator may be summoned to +choose a new jeddak. What is your answer?"<br> +</p> + +"Let A-Kor rule! A-Kor, Jeddak of Manator!" The cries filled the +room and there was no dissenting voice. <br> +<p>A-Kor raised his sword for silence. "It is the will of A-Kor," +he said, "and that of the Great Jed of Manatos, and the commander +of the fleet from Gathol, and of the illustrious John Carter, +Warlord of Barsoom, that peace lie upon the city of Manator and +so I decree that the men of Manator go forth and welcome the +fighting men of these our allies as guests and friends and show +them the wonders of our ancient city and the hospitality of +Manator. I have spoken." And U-Thor and John Carter dismissed +their warriors and bade them accept the hospitality of Manator. +As the room emptied Djor Kantos reached the side of Tara of +Helium. The girl's happiness at rescue had been blighted by sight +of this man whom her virtuous heart told her she had wronged. She +dreaded the ordeal that lay before her and the dishonor that she +must admit before she could hope to be freed from the +understanding that had for long existed between them. And now +Djor Kantos approached and kneeling raised her fingers to his +lips.<br> +</p> + +"Beautiful daughter of Helium," he said, "how may I tell you the +thing that I must tell you--of the dishonor that I have all +unwittingly done you? I can but throw myself upon your generosity +for forgiveness; but if you demand it I can receive the dagger as +honorably as did O-Tar." <br> +<p>"What do you mean?" asked Tara of Helium. "What are you +talking about--why speak thus in riddles to one whose heart is +already breaking?"<br> +</p> + +Her heart already breaking! The outlook was anything but +promising, and the young padwar wished that he had died before +ever he had had to speak the words he now must speak. <br> +<p>"Tara of Helium," he continued, "we all thought you dead. For +a long year have you been gone from Helium. I mourned you truly +and then, less than a moon since, I wed with Olvia Marthis." He +stopped and looked at her with eyes that might have said: "Now, +strike me dead!"<br> +</p> + +"Oh, foolish man!" cried Tara. "Nothing you could have done could +have pleased me more. Djor Kantos, I could kiss you!" <br> +<p>"I do not think that Olvia Marthis would mind," he said, his +face now wreathed with smiles. As they spoke a body of men had +entered the throne room and approached the dais. They were tall +men trapped in plain harness, absolutely without ornamentation. +Just as their leader reached the dais Tara had turned to Gahan, +motioning him to join them.<br> +</p> + +"Djor Kantos," she said, "I bring you Turan the panthan, whose +loyalty and bravery have won my love." <br> +<p>John Carter and the leader of the new come warriors, who were +standing near, looked quickly at the little group. The former +smiled an inscrutable smile, the latter addressed the Princess of +Helium. "'Turan the panthan!'" he cried. "Know you not, fair +daughter of Helium, that this man you call panthan is Gahan, Jed +of Gathol?"<br> +</p> + +For just a moment Tara of Helium looked her surprise; and then +she shrugged her beautiful shoulders as she turned her head to +cast her eyes over one of them at Gahan of Gathol. <br> +<p>"Jed or panthan," she said; "what difference does it make what +one's slave has been?" and she laughed roguishly into the smiling +face of her lover.<br> +</p> + +His story finished, John Carter rose from the chair opposite me, +stretching his giant frame like some great forest-bred lion. <br> +<p>"You must go?" I cried, for I hated to see him leave and it +seemed that he had been with me but a moment.<br> +</p> + +"The sky is already red beyond those beautiful hills of yours," +he replied, "and it will soon be day." <br> +<p>"Just one question before you go," I begged.<br> +</p> + +"Well?" he assented, good-naturedly. <br> +<p>"How was Gahan able to enter the throne room garbed in O-Tar's +trappings?" I asked.<br> +</p> + +"It was simple--for Gahan of Gathol," replied The Warlord. "With +the assistance of I-Gos he crept into The Hall of Chiefs before +the ceremony, while the throne room and Hall of Chiefs were +vacated to receive the bride. He came from the pits through the +corridor that opened behind the arras at the rear of the throne, +and passing into The Hall of Chiefs took his place upon the back +of a riderless thoat, whose warrior was in I-Gos' repair room. +When O-Tar entered and came near him Gahan fell upon him and +struck him with the butt of a heavy spear. He thought that he had +killed him and was surprised when O-Tar appeared to denounce +him." <br> +<p>"And Ghek? What became of Ghek?" I insisted.<br> +</p> + +"After leading Val Dor and Floran to Tara's disabled flier which +they repaired, he accompanied them to Gathol from where a message +was sent to me in Helium. He then led a large party including +A-Kor and U-Thor from the roof, where our ships landed them, down +a spiral runway into the palace and guided them to the throne +room. We took him back to Helium with us, where he still lives, +with his single rykor which we found all but starved to death in +the pits of Manator. But come! No more questions now." <br> +<p>I accompanied him to the east arcade where the red dawn was +glowing beyond the arches.<br> +</p> + +"Good-bye!" he said. <br> +<p>"I can scarce believe that it is really you," I exclaimed. +"Tomorrow I will be sure that I have dreamed all this."<br> +</p> + +He laughed and drawing his sword scratched a rude cross upon the +concrete of one of the arches. <br> +<p>"If you are in doubt tomorrow," he said, "come and see if you +dreamed this."<br> +</p> + +A moment later he was gone. <br> +<p><br> +</p> + +JETAN, OR MARTIAN CHESS <br> +<p>FOR those who care for such things, and would like to try the +game, I give the rules of Jetan as they were given me by John +Carter. By writing the names and moves of the various pieces on +bits of paper and pasting them on ordinary checkermen the game +may be played quite as well as with the ornate pieces used upon +Mars.<br> +</p> + +THE BOARD: Square board consisting of one hundred alternate black +and orange squares. <br> +<p>THE PIECES: In order, as they stand upon the board in the +first row, from left to right of each player.<br> +</p> + +Warrior: 2 feathers; 2 spaces straight in any direction or +combination. <br> +<p>Padwar: 2 feathers; 2 spaces diagonal in any direction or +combination.<br> +</p> + +Dwar: 3 feathers; 3 spaces straight in any direction or +combination. <br> +<p>Flier: 3 bladed propellor; 3 spaces diagonal in any direction +or combination; and may jump intervening pieces.<br> +</p> + +Chief: Diadem with ten jewels; 3 spaces in any direction; +straight or diagonal or combination. <br> +<p>Princess: Diadem with one jewel; same as Chief, except may +jump intervening pieces.<br> +</p> + +Flier: See above. <br> +<p>Dwar: See above.<br> +</p> + +Padwar: See above. <br> +<p>Warrior: See above.<br> +</p> + +And in the second row from left to right: <br> +<p>Thoat: Mounted warrior 2 feathers; 2 spaces, one straight and +one diagonal in any direction.<br> +</p> + +Panthans: (8 of them): 1 feather; 1 space, forward, side, or +diagonal, but not backward. <br> +<p>Thoat: See above.<br> +</p> + +The game is played with twenty black pieces by one player and +twenty orange by his opponent, and is presumed to have originally +represented a battle between the Black race of the south and the +Yellow race of the north. On Mars the board is usually arranged +so that the Black pieces are played from the south and the Orange +from the north. <br> +<p>The game is won when any piece is placed on same square with +opponent's Princess, or a Chief takes a Chief.<br> +</p> + +The game is drawn when either Chief is taken by a piece other +than the opposing Chief, or when both sides are reduced to three +pieces, or less, of equal value and the game is not won in the +ensuing ten moves, five apiece. <br> +<p>The Princess may not move onto a threatened square, nor may +she take an opposing piece. She is entitled to one ten-space move +at any time during the game. This move is called the escape.<br> +</p> + +Two pieces may not occupy the same square except in the final +move of a game where the Princess is taken. <br> +<p>When a player, moving properly and in order, places one of his +pieces upon a square occupied by an opponent piece, the opponent +piece is considered to have been killed and is removed from the +game.<br> +</p> + +The moves explained. Straight moves mean due north, south, east, +or west; diagonal moves mean northeast, southeast, southwest, or +northwest. A Dwar might move straight north three spaces, or +north one space and east two spaces, or any similar combination +of straight moves, so long as he did not cross the same square +twice in a single move. This example explains combination moves. +<br> +<p>The first move may be decided in any way that is agreeable to +both players; after the first game the winner of the preceding +game moves first if he chooses, or may instruct his opponent to +make the first move.<br> +</p> + +Gambling: The Martians gamble at Jetan in several ways. Of course +the outcome of the game indicates to whom the main stake belongs; +but they also put a price upon the head of each piece, according +to its value, and for each piece that a player loses he pays its +value to his opponent. <br> +<p><br> +</p> + +<br> +<p>End of The Project Gutenberg Etext of The Chessmen of Mars by +Burroughs<br> +</p> +</body> +</html> + + diff --git a/old/old/cmars12h.zip b/old/old/cmars12h.zip Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..a0c32e7 --- /dev/null +++ b/old/old/cmars12h.zip diff --git a/old/old/cmars12l.lit b/old/old/cmars12l.lit Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..1f9a4ee --- /dev/null +++ b/old/old/cmars12l.lit diff --git a/old/old/cmars12l.zip b/old/old/cmars12l.zip Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..5e3e001 --- /dev/null +++ b/old/old/cmars12l.zip diff --git a/old/old/cmars12p.prc b/old/old/cmars12p.prc Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..be59a54 --- /dev/null +++ b/old/old/cmars12p.prc diff --git a/old/old/cmars12p.zip b/old/old/cmars12p.zip Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..f024151 --- /dev/null +++ b/old/old/cmars12p.zip diff --git a/old/old/cmars13.txt b/old/old/cmars13.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..f9e5271 --- /dev/null +++ b/old/old/cmars13.txt @@ -0,0 +1,10334 @@ +The Project Gutenberg EBook of The Chessmen of Mars, by Edgar Rice Burroughs +#11 in our series by Edgar Rice Burroughs + +Copyright laws are changing all over the world. Be sure to check the +copyright laws for your country before downloading or redistributing +this or any other Project Gutenberg eBook. + +This header should be the first thing seen when viewing this Project +Gutenberg file. Please do not remove it. Do not change or edit the +header without written permission. + +Please read the "legal small print," and other information about the +eBook and Project Gutenberg at the bottom of this file. Included is +important information about your specific rights and restrictions in +how the file may be used. You can also find out about how to make a +donation to Project Gutenberg, and how to get involved. + + +**Welcome To The World of Free Plain Vanilla Electronic Texts** + +**eBooks Readable By Both Humans and By Computers, Since 1971** + +*****These eBooks Were Prepared By Thousands of Volunteers!***** + + +Title: The Chessmen of Mars + +Author: Edgar Rice Burroughs + +Release Date: January, 1998 [EBook #1153] +[This file was last updated on April 15, 2004] + +Edition: 13 + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ASCII + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE CHESSMEN OF MARS *** + + + + +This etext was prepared by Judy Boss, Omaha, NE + + + + + +THE CHESSMEN OF MARS + +by Edgar Rice Burroughs + + + +CONTENTS + +PRELUDE - John Carter Comes to Earth + I Tara in a Tantrum + II At the Gale's Mercy + III The Headless Humans + IV Captured + V The Perfect Brain + VI In the Toils of Horror + VII A Repellent Sight +VIII Close Work + IX Adrift Over Strange Regions + X Entrapped + XI The Choice of Tara + XII Ghek Plays Pranks +XIII A Desperate Deed + XIV At Ghek's Command + XV The Old Man of the Pits + XVI Another Change of Name +XVII A Play to the Death +XVIII A Task for Loyalty + XIX The Menace of the Dead + XX The Charge of Cowardice + XXI A Risk for Love +XXII At the Moment of Marriage + + + + + +THE CHESSMEN OF MARS + +PRELUDE + +JOHN CARTER COMES TO EARTH + +Shea had just beaten me at chess, as usual, and, also as usual, I +had gleaned what questionable satisfaction I might by twitting +him with this indication of failing mentality by calling his +attention to the nth time to that theory, propounded by certain +scientists, which is based upon the assertion that phenomenal +chess players are always found to be from the ranks of children +under twelve, adults over seventy-two or the mentally +defective--a theory that is lightly ignored upon those rare +occasions that I win. Shea had gone to bed and I should have +followed suit, for we are always in the saddle here before +sunrise; but instead I sat there before the chess table in the +library, idly blowing smoke at the dishonored head of my defeated +king. + +While thus profitably employed I heard the east door of the +living-room open and someone enter. I thought it was Shea +returning to speak with me on some matter of tomorrow's work; but +when I raised my eyes to the doorway that connects the two rooms +I saw framed there the figure of a bronzed giant, his otherwise +naked body trapped with a jewel-encrusted harness from which +there hung at one side an ornate short-sword and at the other a +pistol of strange pattern. The black hair, the steel-gray eyes, +brave and smiling, the noble features--I recognized them at once, +and leaping to my feet I advanced with outstretched hand. + +"John Carter!" I cried. "You?" + +"None other, my son," he replied, taking my hand in one of his +and placing the other upon my shoulder. + +"And what are you doing here?" I asked. "It has been long years +since you revisited Earth, and never before in the trappings of +Mars. Lord! but it is good to see you--and not a day older in +appearance than when you trotted me on your knee in my babyhood. +How do you explain it, John Carter, Warlord of Mars, or do you +try to explain it?" + +"Why attempt to explain the inexplicable?" he replied. "As I have +told you before, I am a very old man. I do not know how old I am. +I recall no childhood; but recollect only having been always as +you see me now and as you saw me first when you were five years +old. You, yourself, have aged, though not as much as most men in +a corresponding number of years, which may be accounted for by +the fact that the same blood runs in our veins; but I have not +aged at all. I have discussed the question with a noted Martian +scientist, a friend of mine; but his theories are still only +theories. However, I am content with the fact--I never age, and I +love life and the vigor of youth. + +"And now as to your natural question as to what brings me to +Earth again and in this, to earthly eyes, strange habiliment. We +may thank Kar Komak, the bowman of Lothar. It was he who gave me +the idea upon which I have been experimenting until at last I +have achieved success. As you know I have long possessed the +power to cross the void in spirit, but never before have I been +able to impart to inanimate things a similar power. Now, however, +you see me for the first time precisely as my Martian fellows see +me--you see the very short-sword that has tasted the blood of +many a savage foeman; the harness with the devices of Helium and +the insignia of my rank; the pistol that was presented to me by +Tars Tarkas, Jeddak of Thark. + +"Aside from seeing you, which is my principal reason for being +here, and satisfying myself that I can transport inanimate things +from Mars to Earth, and therefore animate things if I so desire, +I have no purpose. Earth is not for me. My every interest is upon +Barsoom--my wife, my children, my work; all are there. I will +spend a quiet evening with you and then back to the world I love +even better than I love life." + +As he spoke he dropped into the chair upon the opposite side of +the chess table. + +"You spoke of children," I said. "Have you more than Carthoris?" + +"A daughter," he replied, "only a little younger than Carthoris, +and, barring one, the fairest thing that ever breathed the thin +air of dying Mars. Only Dejah Thoris, her mother, could be more +beautiful than Tara of Helium." + +For a moment he fingered the chessmen idly. "We have a game on +Mars similar to chess," he said, "very similar. And there is a +race there that plays it grimly with men and naked swords. We +call the game jetan. It is played on a board like yours, except +that there are a hundred squares and we use twenty pieces on +each side. I never see it played without thinking of Tara of +Helium and what befell her among the chessmen of Barsoom. +Would you like to hear her story?" + +I said that I would and so he told it to me, and now I shall try +to re-tell it for you as nearly in the words of The Warlord of +Mars as I can recall them, but in the third person. If there be +inconsistencies and errors, let the blame fall not upon John +Carter, but rather upon my faulty memory, where it belongs. It is +a strange tale and utterly Barsoomian. + + + +CHAPTER I + +TARA IN A TANTRUM + +Tara of Helium rose from the pile of silks and soft furs upon +which she had been reclining, stretched her lithe body languidly, +and crossed toward the center of the room, where, above a large +table, a bronze disc depended from the low ceiling. Her carriage +was that of health and physical perfection--the effortless +harmony of faultless coordination. A scarf of silken gossamer +crossing over one shoulder was wrapped about her body; her black +hair was piled high upon her head. With a wooden stick she tapped +upon the bronze disc, lightly, and presently the summons was +answered by a slave girl, who entered, smiling, to be greeted +similarly by her mistress. + +"Are my father's guests arriving?" asked the princess. + +"Yes, Tara of Helium, they come," replied the slave. "I have seen +Kantos Kan, Overlord of the Navy, and Prince Soran of Ptarth, and +Djor Kantos, son of Kantos Kan," she shot a roguish glance at her +mistress as she mentioned Djor Kantos' name, "and--oh, there were +others, many have come." + +"The bath, then, Uthia," said her mistress. "And why, Uthia," she +added, "do you look thus and smile when you mention the name of +Djor Kantos?" + +The slave girl laughed gaily. "It is so plain to all that he +worships you," she replied. + +"It is not plain to me," said Tara of Helium. "He is the friend +of my brother, Carthoris, and so he is here much; but not to see +me. It is his friendship for Carthoris that brings him thus often +to the palace of my father." + +"But Carthoris is hunting in the north with Talu, Jeddak of +Okar," Uthia reminded her. + +"My bath, Uthia!" cried Tara of Helium. "That tongue of yours +will bring you to some misadventure yet." + +"The bath is ready, Tara of Helium," the girl responded, her eyes +still twinkling with merriment, for she well knew that in the +heart of her mistress was no anger that could displace the love +of the princess for her slave. Preceding the daughter of The +Warlord she opened the door of an adjoining room where lay the +bath--a gleaming pool of scented water in a marble basin. Golden +stanchions supported a chain of gold encircling it and leading +down into the water on either side of marble steps. A glass dome +let in the sun-light, which flooded the interior, glancing from +the polished white of the marble walls and the procession of +bathers and fishes, which, in conventional design, were inlaid +with gold in a broad band that circled the room. + +Tara of Helium removed the scarf from about her and handed it to +the slave. Slowly she descended the steps to the water, the +temperature of which she tested with a symmetrical foot, +undeformed by tight shoes and high heels--a lovely foot, as God +intended that feet should be and seldom are. Finding the water to +her liking, the girl swam leisurely to and fro about the pool. +With the silken ease of the seal she swam, now at the surface, +now below, her smooth muscles rolling softly beneath her clear +skin--a wordless song of health and happiness and grace. +Presently she emerged and gave herself into the hands of the +slave girl, who rubbed the body of her mistress with a sweet +smelling semi-liquid substance contained in a golden urn, until +the glowing skin was covered with a foamy lather, then a quick +plunge into the pool, a drying with soft towels, and the bath was +over. Typical of the life of the princess was the simple elegance +of her bath--no retinue of useless slaves, no pomp, no idle waste +of precious moments. In another half hour her hair was dried and +built into the strange, but becoming, coiffure of her station; +her leathern trappings, encrusted with gold and jewels, had been +adjusted to her figure and she was ready to mingle with the +guests that had been bidden to the midday function at the palace +of The Warlord. + +As she left her apartments to make her way to the gardens where +the guests were congregating, two warriors, the insignia of the +House of the Prince of Helium upon their harness, followed a few +paces behind her, grim reminders that the assassin's blade may +never be ignored upon Barsoom, where, in a measure, it +counterbalances the great natural span of human life, which is +estimated at not less than a thousand years. + +As they neared the entrance to the garden another woman, +similarly guarded, approached them from another quarter of the +great palace. As she neared them Tara of Helium turned toward her +with a smile and a happy greeting, while her guards knelt with +bowed heads in willing and voluntary adoration of the beloved of +Helium. Thus always, solely at the command of their own hearts, +did the warriors of Helium greet Dejah Thoris, whose deathless +beauty had more than once brought them to bloody warfare with +other nations of Barsoom. So great was the love of the people of +Helium for the mate of John Carter it amounted practically to +worship, as though she were indeed the goddess that she looked. + +The mother and daughter exchanged the gentle, Barsoomian, "kaor" +of greeting and kissed. Then together they entered the gardens +where the guests were. A huge warrior drew his short-sword and +struck his metal shield with the flat of it, the brazen sound +ringing out above the laughter and the speech. + +"The Princess comes!" he cried. "Dejah Thoris! The Princess +comes! Tara of Helium!" Thus always is royalty announced. The +guests arose; the two women inclined their heads; the guards fell +back upon either side of the entrance-way; a number of nobles +advanced to pay their respects; the laughing and the talking were +resumed and Dejah Thoris and her daughter moved simply and +naturally among their guests, no suggestion of differing rank +apparent in the bearing of any who were there, though there was +more than a single Jeddak and many common warriors whose only +title lay in brave deeds, or noble patriotism. Thus it is upon +Mars where men are judged upon their own merits rather than upon +those of their grandsires, even though pride of lineage be great. + +Tara of Helium let her slow gaze wander among the throng of +guests until presently it halted upon one she sought. Was the +faint shadow of a frown that crossed her brow an indication of +displeasure at the sight that met her eyes, or did the brilliant +rays of the noonday sun distress her? Who may say! She had been +reared to believe that one day she should wed Djor Kantos, son of +her father's best friend. It had been the dearest wish of Kantos +Kan and The Warlord that this should be, and Tara of Helium had +accepted it as a matter of all but accomplished fact. Djor Kantos +had seemed to accept the matter in the same way. They had spoken +of it casually as something that would, as a matter of course, +take place in the indefinite future, as, for instance, his +promotion in the navy, in which he was now a padwar; or the set +functions of the court of her grandfather, Tardos Mors, Jeddak of +Helium; or Death. They had never spoken of love and that had +puzzled Tara of Helium upon the rare occasions she gave it +thought, for she knew that people who were to wed were usually +much occupied with the matter of love and she had all of a +woman's curiosity--she wondered what love was like. She was very +fond of Djor Kantos and she knew that he was very fond of her. +They liked to be together, for they liked the same things and the +same people and the same books and their dancing was a joy, not +only to themselves but to those who watched them. She could not +imagine wanting to marry anyone other than Djor Kantos. + +So perhaps it was only the sun that made her brows contract just +the tiniest bit at the same instant that she discovered Djor +Kantos sitting in earnest conversation with Olvia Marthis, +daughter of the Jed of Hastor. It was Djor Kantos' duty +immediately to pay his respects to Dejah Thoris and Tara of +Helium; but he did not do so and presently the daughter of The +Warlord frowned indeed. She looked long at Olvia Marthis, and +though she had seen her many times before and knew her well, she +looked at her today through new eyes that saw, apparently for the +first time, that the girl from Hastor was noticeably beautiful +even among those other beautiful women of Helium. Tara of Helium +was disturbed. She attempted to analyze her emotions; but found +it difficult. Olvia Marthis was her friend--she was very fond of +her and she felt no anger toward her. Was she angry with Djor +Kantos? No, she finally decided that she was not. It was merely +surprise, then, that she felt--surprise that Djor Kantos could be +more interested in another than in herself. She was about to +cross the garden and join them when she heard her father's voice +directly behind her. + +"Tara of Helium!" he called, and she turned to see him +approaching with a strange warrior whose harness and metal bore +devices with which she was unfamiliar. Even among the gorgeous +trappings of the men of Helium and the visitors from distant +empires those of the stranger were remarkable for their barbaric +splendor. The leather of his harness was completely hidden +beneath ornaments of platinum thickly set with brilliant +diamonds, as were the scabbards of his swords and the ornate +holster that held his long, Martian pistol. Moving through the +sunlit garden at the side of the great Warlord, the scintillant +rays of his countless gems enveloping him as in an aureole of +light imparted to his noble figure a suggestion of godliness. + +"Tara of Helium, I bring you Gahan, Jed of Gathol," said John +Carter, after the simple Barsoomian custom of presentation. + +"Kaor! Gahan, Jed of Gathol," returned Tara of Helium. + +"My sword is at your feet, Tara of Helium," said the young +chieftain. + +The Warlord left them and the two seated themselves upon an +ersite bench beneath a spreading sorapus tree. + +"Far Gathol," mused the girl. "Ever in my mind has it been +connected with mystery and romance and the half-forgotten lore of +the ancients. I cannot think of Gathol as existing today, +possibly because I have never before seen a Gatholian." + +"And perhaps too because of the great distance that separates +Helium and Gathol, as well as the comparative insignificance of +my little free city, which might easily be lost in one corner of +mighty Helium," added Gahan. "But what we lack in power we make +up in pride," he continued, laughing. "We believe ours the oldest +inhabited city upon Barsoom. It is one of the few that has +retained its freedom, and this despite the fact that its ancient +diamond mines are the richest known and, unlike practically all +the other fields, are today apparently as inexhaustible as ever." + +"Tell me of Gathol," urged the girl. "The very thought fills me +with interest," nor was it likely that the handsome face of the +young jed detracted anything from the glamour of far Gathol. + +Nor did Gahan seem displeased with the excuse for further +monopolizing the society of his fair companion. His eyes seemed +chained to her exquisite features, from which they moved no +further than to a rounded breast, part hid beneath its jeweled +covering, a naked shoulder or the symmetry of a perfect arm, +resplendent in bracelets of barbaric magnificence. + +"Your ancient history has doubtless told you that Gathol was +built upon an island in Throxeus, mightiest of the five oceans of +old Barsoom. As the ocean receded Gathol crept down the sides of +the mountain, the summit of which was the island upon which she +had been built, until today she covers the slopes from summit to +base, while the bowels of the great hill are honeycombed with the +galleries of her mines. Entirely surrounding us is a great salt +marsh, which protects us from invasion by land, while the rugged +and ofttimes vertical topography of our mountain renders the +landing of hostile airships a precarious undertaking." + +"That, and your brave warriors?" suggested the girl. + +Gahan smiled. "We do not speak of that except to enemies," he +said, "and then with tongues of steel rather than of flesh." + +"But what practice in the art of war has a people which nature +has thus protected from attack?" asked Tara of Helium, who had +liked the young jed's answer to her previous question, but yet in +whose mind persisted a vague conviction of the possible +effeminacy of her companion, induced, doubtless, by the +magnificence of his trappings and weapons which carried a +suggestion of splendid show rather than grim utility. + +"Our natural barriers, while they have doubtless saved us from +defeat on countless occasions, have not by any means rendered us +immune from attack," he explained, "for so great is the wealth of +Gathol's diamond treasury that there yet may be found those who +will risk almost certain defeat in an effort to loot our +unconquered city; so thus we find occasional practice in the +exercise of arms; but there is more to Gathol than the mountain +city. My country extends from Polodona (Equator) north ten karads +and from the tenth karad west of Horz to the twentieth west, +including thus a million square haads, the greater proportion of +which is fine grazing land where run our great herds of thoats +and zitidars. + +"Surrounded as we are by predatory enemies our herdsmen must +indeed be warriors or we should have no herds, and you may be +assured they get plenty of fighting. Then there is our constant +need of workers in the mines. The Gatholians consider themselves +a race of warriors and as such prefer not to labor in the mines. +The law is, however, that each male Gatholian shall give an hour +a day in labor to the government. That is practically the only +tax that is levied upon them. They prefer however, to furnish a +substitute to perform this labor, and as our own people will not +hire out for labor in the mines it has been necessary to obtain +slaves, and I do not need to tell you that slaves are not won +without fighting. We sell these slaves in the public market, the +proceeds going, half and half, to the government and the warriors +who bring them in. The purchasers are credited with the amount of +labor performed by their particular slaves. At the end of a year +a good slave will have performed the labor tax of his master for +six years, and if slaves are plentiful he is freed and permitted +to return to his own people." + +"You fight in platinum and diamonds?" asked Tara, indicating his +gorgeous trappings with a quizzical smile. + +Gahan laughed. "We are a vain people," he admitted, +good-naturedly, "and it is possible that we place too much value +on personal appearances. We vie with one another in the splendor +of our accoutrements when trapped for the observance of the +lighter duties of life, though when we take the field our leather +is the plainest I ever have seen worn by fighting men of Barsoom. +We pride ourselves, too, upon our physical beauty, and especially +upon the beauty of our women. May I dare to say, Tara of Helium, +that I am hoping for the day when you will visit Gathol that my +people may see one who is really beautiful?" + +"The women of Helium are taught to frown with displeasure upon +the tongue of the flatterer," rejoined the girl, but Gahan, Jed +of Gathol, observed that she smiled as she said it. + +A bugle sounded, clear and sweet, above the laughter and the +talk. "The Dance of Barsoom!" exclaimed the young warrior. "I +claim you for it, Tara of Helium." + +The girl glanced in the direction of the bench where she had last +seen Djor Kantos. He was not in sight. She inclined her head in +assent to the claim of the Gatholian. Slaves were passing among +the guests, distributing small musical instruments of a single +string. Upon each instrument were characters which indicated the +pitch and length of its tone. The instruments were of skeel, the +string of gut, and were shaped to fit the left forearm of the +dancer, to which it was strapped. There was also a ring wound +with gut which was worn between the first and second joints of +the index finger of the right hand and which, when passed over +the string of the instrument, elicited the single note required +of the dancer. + +The guests had risen and were slowly making their way toward the +expanse of scarlet sward at the south end of the gardens where +the dance was to be held, when Djor Kantos came hurriedly toward +Tara of Helium. "I claim--" he exclaimed as he neared her; but +she interrupted him with a gesture. + +"You are too late, Djor Kantos," she cried in mock anger. "No +laggard may claim Tara of Helium; but haste now lest thou lose +also Olvia Marthis, whom I have never seen wait long to be +claimed for this or any other dance." + +"I have already lost her," admitted Djor Kantos ruefully. + +"And you mean to say that you came for Tara of Helium only after +having lost Olvia Marthis?" demanded the girl, still simulating +displeasure. + +"Oh, Tara of Helium, you know better than that," insisted the +young man. "Was it not natural that I should assume that you +would expect me, who alone has claimed you for the Dance of +Barsoom for at least twelve times past?" + +"And sit and play with my thumbs until you saw fit to come for +me?" she questioned. "Ah, no, Djor Kantos; Tara of Helium is for +no laggard," and she threw him a sweet smile and passed on toward +the assembling dancers with Gahan, Jed of far Gathol. + +The Dance of Barsoom bears a relation similar to the more formal +dancing functions of Mars that The Grand March does to ours, +though it is infinitely more intricate and more beautiful. Before +a Martian youth of either sex may attend an important social +function where there is dancing, he must have become proficient +in at least three dances--The Dance of Barsoom, his national +dance, and the dance of his city. In these three dances the +dancers furnish their own music, which never varies; nor do the +steps or figures vary, having been handed down from time +immemorial. All Barsoomian dances are stately and beautiful, but +The Dance of Barsoom is a wondrous epic of motion and +harmony--there is no grotesque posturing, no vulgar or suggestive +movements. It has been described as the interpretation of the +highest ideals of a world that aspired to grace and beauty and +chastity in woman, and strength and dignity and loyalty in man. + +Today, John Carter, Warlord of Mars, with Dejah Thoris, his mate, +led in the dancing, and if there was another couple that vied +with them in possession of the silent admiration of the guests it +was the resplendent Jed of Gathol and his beautiful partner. In +the ever-changing figures of the dance the man found himself now +with the girl's hand in his and again with an arm about the lithe +body that the jeweled harness but inadequately covered, and the +girl, though she had danced a thousand dances in the past, +realized for the first time the personal contact of a man's arm +against her naked flesh. It troubled her that she should notice +it, and she looked up questioningly and almost with displeasure +at the man as though it was his fault. Their eyes met and she saw +in his that which she had never seen in the eyes of Djor Kantos. +It was at the very end of the dance and they both stopped +suddenly with the music and stood there looking straight into +each other's eyes. It was Gahan of Gathol who spoke first. + +"Tara of Helium, I love you!" he said. + +The girl drew herself to her full height. "The Jed of Gathol +forgets himself," she exclaimed haughtily. + +"The Jed of Gathol would forget everything but you, Tara of +Helium," he replied. Fiercely he pressed the soft hand that he +still retained from the last position of the dance. "I love you, +Tara of Helium," he repeated. "Why should your ears refuse to +hear what your eyes but just now did not refuse to see--and +answer?" + +"What meanest thou?" she cried. "Are the men of Gathol such +boors, then?" + +"They are neither boors nor fools," he replied, quietly. "They +know when they love a woman--and when she loves them." + +Tara of Helium stamped her little foot in anger. "Go!" she said, +"before it is necessary to acquaint my father with the dishonor +of his guest." + +She turned and walked away. "Wait!" cried the man. "Just another +word." + +"Of apology?" she asked. + +"Of prophecy," he said. + +"I do not care to hear it," replied Tara of Helium, and left +him standing there. She was strangely unstrung and shortly +thereafter returned to her own quarter of the palace, where she +stood for a long time by a window looking out beyond the scarlet +tower of Greater Helium toward the northwest. + +Presently she turned angrily away. "I hate him!" she exclaimed +aloud. + +"Whom?" inquired the privileged Uthia. + +Tara of Helium stamped her foot. "That ill-mannered boor, the Jed +of Gathol," she replied. + +Uthia raised her slim brows. + +At the stamping of the little foot, a great beast rose from the +corner of the room and crossed to Tara of Helium where it stood +looking up into her face. She placed her hand upon the ugly head. +"Dear old Woola," she said; "no love could be deeper than yours, +yet it never offends. Would that men might pattern themselves +after you!" + + + +CHAPTER II + +AT THE GALE'S MERCY + +Tara of Helium did not return to her father's guests, but awaited +in her own apartments the word from Djor Kantos which she knew +must come, begging her to return to the gardens. She would then +refuse, haughtily. But no appeal came from Djor Kantos. At first +Tara of Helium was angry, then she was hurt, and always she was +puzzled. She could not understand. Occasionally she thought of +the Jed of Gathol and then she would stamp her foot, for she was +very angry indeed with Gahan. The presumption of the man! He had +insinuated that he read love for him in her eyes. Never had she +been so insulted and humiliated. Never had she so thoroughly +hated a man. Suddenly she turned toward Uthia. + +"My flying leather!" she commanded. + +"But the guests!" exclaimed the slave girl. "Your father, The +Warlord, will expect you to return." + +"He will be disappointed," snapped Tara of Helium. + +The slave hesitated. "He does not approve of your flying alone," +she reminded her mistress. + +The young princess sprang to her feet and seized the unhappy +slave by the shoulders, shaking her. "You are becoming +unbearable, Uthia," she cried. "Soon there will be no alternative +than to send you to the public slave-market. Then possibly you +will find a master to your liking." + +Tears came to the soft eyes of the slave girl. "It is because I +love you, my princess," she said softly. Tara of Helium melted. +She took the slave in her arms and kissed her. + +"I have the disposition of a thoat, Uthia," she said. "Forgive +me! I love you and there is nothing that I would not do for you +and nothing would I do to harm you. Again, as I have so often in +the past, I offer you your freedom." + +"I do not wish my freedom if it will separate me from you, Tara +of Helium," replied Uthia. "I am happy here with you--I think +that I should die without you." + +Again the girls kissed. "And you will not fly alone, then?" +questioned the slave. + +Tara of Helium laughed and pinched her companion. "You persistent +little pest," she cried. "Of course I shall fly--does not Tara of +Helium always do that which pleases her?" + +Uthia shook her head sorrowfully. "Alas! she does," she admitted. +"Iron is the Warlord of Barsoom to the influences of all but two. +In the hands of Dejah Thoris and Tara of Helium he is as potters' +clay." + +"Then run and fetch my flying leather like the sweet slave you +are," directed the mistress. + + * * * * * + +Far out across the ochre sea-bottoms beyond the twin cities of +Helium raced the swift flier of Tara of Helium. Thrilling to the +speed and the buoyancy and the obedience of the little craft the +girl drove toward the northwest. Why she should choose that +direction she did not pause to consider. Perhaps because in that +direction lay the least known areas of Barsoom, and, ergo, +Romance, Mystery, and Adventure. In that direction also lay far +Gathol; but to that fact she gave no conscious thought. + +She did, however, think occasionally of the jed of that distant +kingdom, but the reaction to these thoughts was scarcely +pleasurable. They still brought a flush of shame to her cheeks +and a surge of angry blood to her heart. She was very angry with +the Jed of Gathol, and though she should never see him again she +was quite sure that hate of him would remain fresh in her memory +forever. Mostly her thoughts revolved about another--Djor Kantos. +And when she thought of him she thought also of Olvia Marthis of +Hastor. Tara of Helium thought that she was jealous of the fair +Olvia and it made her very angry to think that. She was angry +with Djor Kantos and herself, but she was not angry at all with +Olvia Marthis, whom she loved, and so of course she was not +jealous really. The trouble was, that Tara of Helium had failed +for once to have her own way. Djor Kantos had not come running +like a willing slave when she had expected him, and, ah, here was +the nub of the whole thing! Gahan, Jed of Gathol, a stranger, had +been a witness to her humiliation. He had seen her unclaimed at +the beginning of a great function and he had had to come to her +rescue to save her, as he doubtless thought, from the inglorious +fate of a wall-flower. At the recurring thought, Tara of Helium +could feel her whole body burning with scarlet shame and then she +went suddenly white and cold with rage; whereupon she turned her +flier about so abruptly that she was all but torn from her +lashings upon the flat, narrow deck. She reached home just before +dark. The guests had departed. Quiet had descended upon the +palace. An hour later she joined her father and mother at the +evening meal. + +"You deserted us, Tara of Helium," said John Carter. "It is not +what the guests of John Carter should expect." + +"They did not come to see me," replied Tara of Helium. "I did not +ask them." + +"They were no less your guests," replied her father. + +The girl rose, and came and stood beside him and put her arms +about his neck. + +"My proper old Virginian," she cried, rumpling his shock of black +hair. + +"In Virginia you would be turned over your father's knee and +spanked," said the man, smiling. + +She crept into his lap and kissed him. "You do not love me any +more," she announced. "No one loves me," but she could not +compose her features into a pout because bubbling laughter +insisted upon breaking through. + +"The trouble is there are too many who love you," he said. "And +now there is another." + +"Indeed!" she cried. "What do you mean?" + +"Gahan of Gathol has asked permission to woo you." + +The girl sat up very straight and tilted her chin in the air. "I +would not wed with a walking diamond-mine," she said. "I will not +have him." + +"I told him as much," replied her father, "and that you were as +good as betrothed to another. He was very courteous about it; but +at the same time he gave me to understand that he was accustomed +to getting what he wanted and that he wanted you very much. I +suppose it will mean another war. Your mother's beauty kept +Helium at war for many years, and--well, Tara of Helium, if I +were a young man I should doubtless be willing to set all Barsoom +afire to win you, as I still would to keep your divine mother," +and he smiled across the sorapus table and its golden service at +the undimmed beauty of Mars' most beautiful woman. + +"Our little girl should not yet be troubled with such matters," +said Dejah Thoris. "Remember, John Carter, that you are not +dealing with an Earth child, whose span of life would be more +than half completed before a daughter of Barsoom reached actual +maturity." + +"But do not the daughters of Barsoom sometimes marry as early as +twenty?" he insisted. + +"Yes, but they will still be desirable in the eyes of men after +forty generations of Earth folk have returned to dust--there is +no hurry, at least, upon Barsoom. We do not fade and decay here +as you tell me those of your planet do, though you, yourself, +belie your own words. When the time seems proper Tara of Helium +shall wed with Djor Kantos, and until then let us give the matter +no further thought." + +"No," said the girl, "the subject irks me, and I shall not marry +Djor Kantos, or another--I do not intend to wed." + +Her father and mother looked at her and smiled. "When Gahan of +Gathol returns he may carry you off," said the former. + +"He has gone?" asked the girl. + +"His flier departs for Gathol in the morning," John Carter +replied. + +"I have seen the last of him then," remarked Tara of Helium with +a sigh of relief. + +"He says not," returned John Carter. + +The girl dismissed the subject with a shrug and the conversation +passed to other topics. A letter had arrived from Thuvia of +Ptarth, who was visiting at her father's court while Carthoris, +her mate, hunted in Okar. Word had been received that the Tharks +and Warhoons were again at war, or rather that there had been an +engagement, for war was their habitual state. In the memory of +man there had been no peace between these two savage green +hordes--only a single temporary truce. Two new battleships had +been launched at Hastor. A little band of holy therns was +attempting to revive the ancient and discredited religion of +Issus, who they claimed still lived in spirit and had +communicated with them. There were rumors of war from Dusar. A +scientist claimed to have discovered human life on the further +moon. A madman had attempted to destroy the atmosphere plant. +Seven people had been assassinated in Greater Helium during the +last ten zodes, (the equivalent of an Earth day). + +Following the meal Dejah Thoris and The Warlord played at jetan, +the Barsoomian game of chess, which is played upon a board of a +hundred alternate black and orange squares. One player has twenty +black pieces, the other, twenty orange pieces. A brief +description of the game may interest those Earth readers who care +for chess, and will not be lost upon those who pursue this +narrative to its conclusion, since before they are done they will +find that a knowledge of jetan will add to the interest and the +thrills that are in store for them. + +The men are placed upon the board as in chess upon the first two +rows next the players. In order from left to right on the line of +squares nearest the players, the jetan pieces are Warrior, +Padwar, Dwar, Flier, Chief, Princess, Flier, Dwar, Padwar, +Warrior. In the next line all are Panthans except the end pieces, +which are called Thoats, and represent mounted warriors. + +The Panthans, which are represented as warriors with one feather, +may move one space in any direction except backward; the Thoats, +mounted warriors with three feathers, may move one straight and +one diagonal, and may jump intervening pieces; Warriors, foot +soldiers with two feathers, straight in any direction, or +diagonally, two spaces; Padwars, lieutenants wearing two +feathers, two diagonal in any direction, or combination; Dwars, +captains wearing three feathers, three spaces straight in any +direction, or combination; Fliers, represented by a propellor +with three blades, three spaces in any direction, or combination, +diagonally, and may jump intervening pieces; the Chief, indicated +by a diadem with ten jewels, three spaces in any direction, +straight, or diagonal; Princess, diadem with a single jewel, same +as Chief, and can jump intervening pieces. + +The game is won when a player places any of his pieces on the +same square with his opponent's Princess, or when a Chief takes a +Chief. It is drawn when a Chief is taken by any opposing piece +other than the opposing Chief; or when both sides have been +reduced to three pieces, or less, of equal value, and the game is +not terminated in the following ten moves, five apiece. This is +but a general outline of the game, briefly stated. + +It was this game that Dejah Thoris and John Carter were playing +when Tara of Helium bid them good night, retiring to her own +quarters and her sleeping silks and furs. "Until morning, my +beloved," she called back to them as she passed from the +apartment, nor little did she guess, nor her parents, that this +might indeed be the last time that they would ever set eyes upon +her. + +The morning broke dull and gray. Ominous clouds billowed +restlessly and low. Beneath them torn fragments scudded toward +the northwest. From her window Tara of Helium looked out upon +this unusual scene. Dense clouds seldom overcast the Barsoomian +sky. At this hour of the day it was her custom to ride one of +those small thoats that are the saddle animals of the red +Martians, but the sight of the billowing clouds lured her to a +new adventure. Uthia still slept and the girl did not disturb +her. Instead, she dressed quietly and went to the hangar upon the +roof of the palace directly above her quarters where her own +swift flier was housed. She had never driven through the clouds. +It was an adventure that always she had longed to experience. The +wind was strong and it was with difficulty that she maneuvered +the craft from the hangar without accident, but once away it +raced swiftly out above the twin cities. The buffeting winds +caught and tossed it, and the girl laughed aloud in sheer joy of +the resultant thrills. She handled the little ship like a +veteran, though few veterans would have faced the menace of such +a storm in so light a craft. Swiftly she rose toward the clouds, +racing with the scudding streamers of the storm-swept fragments, +and a moment later she was swallowed by the dense masses +billowing above. Here was a new world, a world of chaos unpeopled +except for herself; but it was a cold, damp, lonely world and she +found it depressing after the novelty of it had been dissipated, +by an overpowering sense of the magnitude of the forces surging +about her. Suddenly she felt very lonely and very cold and very +little. Hurriedly, therefore, she rose until presently her craft +broke through into the glorious sunlight that transformed the +upper surface of the somber element into rolling masses of +burnished silver. Here it was still cold, but without the +dampness of the clouds, and in the eye of the brilliant sun her +spirits rose with the mounting needle of her altimeter. Gazing at +the clouds, now far beneath, the girl experienced the sensation +of hanging stationary in mid-heaven; but the whirring of her +propellor, the wind beating upon her, the high figures that rose +and fell beneath the glass of her speedometer, these told her +that her speed was terrific. It was then that she determined to +turn back. + +The first attempt she made above the clouds, but it was +unsuccessful. To her surprise she discovered that she could not +even turn against the high wind, which rocked and buffeted the +frail craft. Then she dropped swiftly to the dark and wind-swept +zone between the hurtling clouds and the gloomy surface of the +shadowed ground. Here she tried again to force the nose of the +flier back toward Helium, but the tempest seized the frail thing +and hurled it remorselessly about, rolling it over and over and +tossing it as it were a cork in a cataract. At last the girl +succeeded in righting the flier, perilously close to the ground. +Never before had she been so close to death, yet she was not +terrified. Her coolness had saved her, that and the strength of +the deck lashings that held her. Traveling with the storm she was +safe, but where was it bearing her? She pictured the apprehension +of her father and mother when she failed to appear at the morning +meal. They would find her flier missing and they would guess that +somewhere in the path of the storm it lay a wrecked and tangled +mass upon her dead body, and then brave men would go out in +search of her, risking their lives; and that lives would be lost +in the search, she knew, for she realized now that never in her +life-time had such a tempest raged upon Barsoom. + +She must turn back! She must reach Helium before her mad lust for +thrills had cost the sacrifice of a single courageous life! She +determined that greater safety and likelihood of success lay +above the clouds, and once again she rose through the chilling, +wind-tossed vapor. Her speed again was terrific, for the wind +seemed to have increased rather than to have lessened. She sought +gradually to check the swift flight of her craft, but though she +finally succeeded in reversing her motor the wind but carried her +on as it would. Then it was that Tara of Helium lost her temper. +Had her world not always bowed in acquiescence to her every wish? +What were these elements that they dared to thwart her? She would +demonstrate to them that the daughter of The Warlord was not to +be denied! They would learn that Tara of Helium might not be +ruled even by the forces of nature! + +And so she drove her motor forward again and then with her firm, +white teeth set in grim determination she drove the steering +lever far down to port with the intention of forcing the nose of +her craft straight into the teeth of the wind, and the wind +seized the frail thing and toppled it over upon its back, and +twisted and turned it and hurled it over and over; the propellor +raced for an instant in an air pocket and then the tempest seized +it again and twisted it from its shaft, leaving the girl helpless +upon an unmanageable atom that rose and fell, and rolled and +tumbled--the sport of the elements she had defied. Tara of +Helium's first sensation was one of surprise--that she had failed +to have her own way. Then she commenced to feel concern--not for +her own safety but for the anxiety of her parents and the dangers +that the inevitable searchers must face. She reproached herself +for the thoughtless selfishness that had jeopardized the peace +and safety of others. She realized her own grave danger, too; but +she was still unterrified, as befitted the daughter of Dejah +Thoris and John Carter. She knew that her buoyancy tanks might +keep her afloat indefinitely, but she had neither food nor water, +and she was being borne toward the least-known area of Barsoom. +Perhaps it would be better to land immediately and await the +coming of the searchers, rather than to allow herself to be +carried still further from Helium, thus greatly reducing the +chances of early discovery; but when she dropped toward the +ground she discovered that the violence of the wind rendered an +attempt to land tantamount to destruction and she rose again, +rapidly. + +Carried along a few hundred feet above the ground she was better +able to appreciate the Titanic proportions of the storm than when +she had flown in the comparative serenity of the zone above the +clouds, for now she could distinctly see the effect of the wind +upon the surface of Barsoom. The air was filled with dust and +flying bits of vegetation and when the storm carried her across +an irrigated area of farm land she saw great trees and stone +walls and buildings lifted high in air and scattered broadcast +over the devastated country; and then she was carried swiftly on +to other sights that forced in upon her consciousness a rapidly +growing conviction that after all Tara of Helium was a very small +and insignificant and helpless person. It was quite a shock to +her self-pride while it lasted, and toward evening she was ready +to believe that it was going to last forever. There had been no +abatement in the ferocity of the tempest, nor was there +indication of any. She could only guess at the distance she had +been carried for she could not believe in the correctness of the +high figures that had been piled upon the record of her odometer. +They seemed unbelievable and yet, had she known it, they were +quite true--in twelve hours she had flown and been carried by the +storm full seven thousand haads. Just before dark she was carried +over one of the deserted cities of ancient Mars. It was Torquas, +but she did not know it. Had she, she might readily have been +forgiven for abandoning the last vestige of hope, for to the +people of Helium Torquas seems as remote as do the South Sea +Islands to us. And still the tempest, its fury unabated, bore her +on. + +All that night she hurtled through the dark beneath the clouds, +or rose to race through the moonlit void beneath the glory of +Barsoom's two satellites. She was cold and hungry and altogether +miserable, but her brave little spirit refused to admit that her +plight was hopeless even though reason proclaimed the truth. Her +reply to reason, sometime spoken aloud in sudden defiance, +recalled the Spartan stubbornness of her sire in the face of +certain annihilation: "I still live!" + +That morning there had been an early visitor at the palace of The +Warlord. It was Gahan, Jed of Gathol. He had arrived shortly +after the absence of Tara of Helium had been noted, and in the +excitement he had remained unannounced until John Carter had +happened upon him in the great reception corridor of the palace +as The Warlord was hurrying out to arrange for the dispatch of +ships in search of his daughter. + +Gahan read the concern upon the face of The Warlord. "Forgive me +if I intrude, John Carter," he said. "I but came to ask the +indulgence of another day since it would be fool-hardy to attempt +to navigate a ship in such a storm." + +"Remain, Gahan, a welcome guest until you choose to leave us," +replied The Warlord; "but you must forgive any seeming +inattention upon the part of Helium until my daughter is restored +to us." + +"You daughter! Restored! What do you mean?" exclaimed the +Gatholian. "I do not understand." + +"She is gone, together with her light flier. That is all we know. +We can only assume that she decided to fly before the morning +meal and was caught in the clutches of the tempest. You will +pardon me, Gahan, if I leave you abruptly--I am arranging to send +ships in search of her;" but Gahan, Jed of Gathol, was already +speeding in the direction of the palace gate. There he leaped +upon a waiting thoat and followed by two warriors in the metal of +Gathol, he dashed through the avenues of Helium toward the palace +that had been set aside for his entertainment. + + + +CHAPTER III + +THE HEADLESS HUMANS + +Above the roof of the palace that housed the Jed of Gathol and +his entourage, the cruiser Vanator tore at her stout moorings. +The groaning tackle bespoke the mad fury of the gale, while the +worried faces of those members of the crew whose duties demanded +their presence on the straining craft gave corroborative evidence +of the gravity of the situation. Only stout lashings prevented +these men from being swept from the deck, while those upon the +roof below were constantly compelled to cling to rails and +stanchions to save themselves from being carried away by each new +burst of meteoric fury. Upon the prow of the Vanator was painted +the device of Gathol, but no pennants were displayed in the upper +works since the storm had carried away several in rapid +succession, just as it seemed to the watching men that it must +carry away the ship itself. They could not believe that any +tackle could withstand for long this Titanic force. To each of +the twelve lashings clung a brawny warrior with drawn +short-sword. Had but a single mooring given to the power of the +tempest eleven short-swords would have cut the others; since, +partially moored, the ship was doomed, while free in the tempest +it stood at least some slight chance for life. + +"By the blood of Issus, I believe they will hold!" screamed one +warrior to another. + +"And if they do not hold may the spirits of our ancestors reward +the brave warriors upon the Vanator," replied another of those +upon the roof of the palace, "for it will not be long from the +moment her cables part before her crew dons the leather of the +dead; but yet, Tanus, I believe they will hold. Give thanks at +least that we did not sail before the tempest fell, since now +each of us has a chance to live." + +"Yes," replied Tanus, "I should hate to be abroad today upon the +stoutest ship that sails the Barsoomian sky." + +It was then that Gahan the Jed appeared upon the roof. With him +were the balance of his own party and a dozen warriors of Helium. +The young chief turned to his followers. + +"I sail at once upon the Vanator," he said, "in search of Tara of +Helium who is thought to have been carried away upon a one-man +flier by the storm. I do not need to explain to you the slender +chances the Vanator has to withstand the fury of the tempest, nor +will I order you to your deaths. Let those who wish remain behind +without dishonor. The others will follow me," and he leaped for +the rope ladder that lashed wildly in the gale. + +The first man to follow him was Tanus and when the last reached +the deck of the cruiser there remained upon the palace roof only +the twelve warriors of Helium, who, with naked swords, had taken +the posts of the Gatholians at the moorings. + +Not a single warrior who had remained aboard the Vanator would +leave her now. + +"I expected no less," said Gahan, as with the help of those +already on the deck he and the others found secure lashings. The +commander of the Vanator shook his head. He loved his trim craft, +the pride of her class in the little navy of Gathol. It was of +her he thought--not of himself. He saw her lying torn and twisted +upon the ochre vegetation of some distant sea-bottom, to be +presently overrun and looted by some savage, green horde. He +looked at Gahan. + +"Are you ready, San Tothis?" asked the jed. + +"All is ready." + +"Then cut away!" + +Word was passed across the deck and over the side to the +Heliumetic warriors below that at the third gun they were to cut +away. Twelve keen swords must strike simultaneously and with +equal power, and each must sever completely and instantly three +strands of heavy cable that no loose end fouling a block bring +immediate disaster upon the Vanator. + +Boom! The voice of the signal gun rolled down through the +screaming wind to the twelve warriors upon the roof. Boom! Twelve +swords were raised above twelve brawny shoulders. Boom! Twelve +keen edges severed twelve complaining moorings, clean and as one. + +The Vanator, her propellors whirling, shot forward with the +storm. The tempest struck her in the stern as with a mailed fist +and stood the great ship upon her nose, and then it caught her +and spun her as a child's top spins; and upon the palace roof the +twelve men looked on in silent helplessness and prayed for the +souls of the brave warriors who were going to their death. And +others saw, from Helium's lofty landing stages and from a +thousand hangars upon a thousand roofs; but only for an instant +did the preparations stop that would send other brave men into +the frightful maelstrom of that apparently hopeless search, for +such is the courage of the warriors of Barsoom. + +But the Vanator did not fall to the ground, within sight of the +city at least, though as long as the watchers could see her never +for an instant did she rest upon an even keel. Sometimes she lay +upon one side or the other, or again she hurtled along keel up, +or rolled over and over, or stood upon her nose or her tail at +the caprice of the great force that carried her along. And the +watchers saw that this great ship was merely being blown away +with the other bits of debris great and small that filled the +sky. Never in the memory of man or the annals of recorded history +had such a storm raged across the face of Barsoom. + +And in another instant was the Vanator forgotten as the lofty, +scarlet tower that had marked Lesser Helium for ages crashed to +ground, carrying death and demolition upon the city beneath. +Panic reigned. A fire broke out in the ruins. The city's every +force seemed crippled, and it was then that The Warlord ordered +the men that were about to set forth in search of Tara of Helium +to devote their energies to the salvation of the city, for he too +had witnessed the start of the Vanator and realized the futility +of wasting men who were needed sorely if Lesser Helium was to be +saved from utter destruction. + +Shortly after noon of the second day the storm commenced to +abate, and before the sun went down, the little craft upon which +Tara of Helium had hovered between life and death these many +hours drifted slowly before a gentle breeze above a landscape of +rolling hills that once had been lofty mountains upon a Martian +continent. The girl was exhausted from loss of sleep, from lack +of food and drink, and from the nervous reaction consequent to +the terrifying experiences through which she had passed. In the +near distance, just topping an intervening hill, she caught a +momentary glimpse of what appeared to be a dome-capped tower. +Quickly she dropped the flier until the hill shut it off from the +view of the possible occupants of the structure she had seen. The +tower meant to her the habitation of man, suggesting the presence +of water and, perhaps, of food. If the tower was the deserted +relic of a bygone age she would scarcely find food there, but +there was still a chance that there might be water. If it was +inhabited, then must her approach be cautious, for only enemies +might be expected to abide in so far distant a land. Tara of +Helium knew that she must be far from the twin cities of her +grandfather's empire, but had she guessed within even a thousand +haads of the reality, she had been stunned by realization of the +utter hopelessness of her state. + +Keeping the craft low, for the buoyancy tanks were still intact, +the girl skimmed the ground until the gently-moving wind had +carried her to the side of the last hill that intervened between +her and the structure she had thought a man-built tower. Here she +brought the flier to the ground among some stunted trees, and +dragging it beneath one where it might be somewhat hidden from +craft passing above, she made it fast and set forth to +reconnoiter. Like most women of her class she was armed only with +a single slender blade, so that in such an emergency as now +confronted her she must depend almost solely upon her cleverness +in remaining undiscovered by enemies. With utmost caution she +crept warily toward the crest of the hill, taking advantage of +every natural screen that the landscape afforded to conceal her +approach from possible observers ahead, while momentarily she +cast quick glances rearward lest she be taken by surprise from +that quarter. + +She came at last to the summit, where, from the concealment of a +low bush, she could see what lay beyond. Beneath her spread a +beautiful valley surrounded by low hills. Dotting it were +numerous circular towers, dome-capped, and surrounding each tower +was a stone wall enclosing several acres of ground. The valley +appeared to be in a high state of cultivation. Upon the opposite +side of the hill and just beneath her was a tower and enclosure. +It was the roof of the former that had first attracted her +attention. In all respects it seemed identical in construction +with those further out in the valley--a high, plastered wall of +massive construction surrounding a similarly constructed tower, +upon whose gray surface was painted in vivid colors a strange +device. The towers were about forty sofads in diameter, +approximately forty earth-feet, and sixty in height to the base +of the dome. To an Earth man they would have immediately +suggested the silos in which dairy farmers store ensilage for +their herds; but closer scrutiny, revealing an occasional +embrasured opening together with the strange construction of the +domes, would have altered such a conclusion. Tara of Helium saw +that the domes seemed to be faced with innumerable prisms of +glass, those that were exposed to the declining sun scintillating +so gorgeously as to remind her suddenly of the magnificent +trappings of Gahan of Gathol. As she thought of the man she shook +her head angrily, and moved cautiously forward a foot or two that +she might get a less obstructed view of the nearer tower and its +enclosure. + +As Tara of Helium looked down into the enclosure surrounding the +nearest tower, her brows contracted momentarily in frowning +surprise, and then her eyes went wide in an expression of +incredulity tinged with horror, for what she saw was a score or +two of human bodies--naked and headless. For a long moment she +watched, breathless; unable to believe the evidence of her own +eyes--that these grewsome things moved and had life! She saw them +crawling about on hands and knees over and across one another, +searching about with their fingers. And she saw some of them at +troughs, for which the others seemed to be searching, and those +at the troughs were taking something from these receptacles and +apparently putting it in a hole where their necks should have +been. They were not far beneath her--she could see them +distinctly and she saw that there were the bodies of both men and +women, and that they were beautifully proportioned, and that +their skin was similar to hers, but of a slightly lighter red. At +first she had thought that she was looking upon a shambles and +that the bodies, but recently decapitated, were moving under the +impulse of muscular reaction; but presently she realized that +this was their normal condition. The horror of them fascinated +her, so that she could scarce take her eyes from them. It was +evident from their groping hands that they were eyeless, and +their sluggish movements suggested a rudimentary nervous system +and a correspondingly minute brain. The girl wondered how they +subsisted for she could not, even by the wildest stretch of +imagination, picture these imperfect creatures as intelligent +tillers of the soil. Yet that the soil of the valley was tilled +was evident and that these things had food was equally so. But +who tilled the soil? Who kept and fed these unhappy things, and +for what purpose? It was an enigma beyond her powers of +deduction. + +The sight of food aroused again a consciousness of her own +gnawing hunger and the thirst that parched her throat. She could +see both food and water within the enclosure; but would she dare +enter even should she find means of ingress? She doubted it, +since the very thought of possible contact with these grewsome +creatures sent a shudder through her frame. + +Then her eyes wandered again out across the valley until +presently they picked out what appeared to be a tiny stream +winding its way through the center of the farm lands--a strange +sight upon Barsoom. Ah, if it were but water! Then might she hope +with a real hope, for the fields would give her sustenance which +she could gain by night, while by day she hid among the +surrounding hills, and sometime, yes, sometime she knew, the +searchers would come, for John Carter, Warlord of Barsoom, would +never cease to search for his daughter until every square haad of +the planet had been combed again and again. She knew him and she +knew the warriors of Helium and so she knew that could she but +manage to escape harm until they came, they would indeed come at +last. + +She would have to wait until dark before she dare venture into +the valley, and in the meantime she thought it well to search out +a place of safety nearby where she might be reasonably safe from +savage beasts. It was possible that the district was free from +carnivora, but one might never be sure in a strange land. As she +was about to withdraw be hind the brow of the hill her attention +was again attracted to the enclosure below. Two figures had +emerged from the tower. Their beautiful bodies seemed identical +with those of the headless creatures among which they moved, but +the newcomers were not headless. Upon their shoulders were heads +that seemed human, yet which the girl intuitively sensed were not +human. They were just a trifle too far away for her to see them +distinctly in the waning light of the dying day, but she knew +that they were too large, they were out of proportion to the +perfectly proportioned bodies, and they were oblate in form. She +could see that the men wore some manner of harness to which were +slung the customary long-sword and short-sword of the Barsoomian +warrior, and that about their short necks were massive leather +collars cut to fit closely over the shoulders and snugly to the +lower part of the head. Their features were scarce discernible, +but there was a suggestion of grotesqueness about them that +carried to her a feeling of revulsion. + +The two carried a long rope to which were fastened, at intervals +of about two sofads, what she later guessed were light manacles, +for she saw the warriors passing among the poor creatures in the +enclosure and about the right wrist of each they fastened one of +the manacles. When all had been thus fastened to the rope one of +the warriors commenced to pull and tug at the loose end as though +attempting to drag the headless company toward the tower, while +the other went among them with a long, light whip with which he +flicked them upon the naked skin. Slowly, dully, the creatures +rose to their feet and between the tugging of the warrior in +front and the lashing of him behind the hopeless band was finally +herded within the tower. Tara of Helium shuddered as she turned +away. What manner of creatures were these? + +Suddenly it was night. The Barsoomian day had ended, and then the +brief period of twilight that renders the transition from +daylight to darkness almost as abrupt as the switching off of an +electric light, and Tara of Helium had found no sanctuary. But +perhaps there were no beasts to fear, or rather to avoid--Tara of +Helium liked not the word fear. She would have been glad, +however, had there been a cabin, even a very tiny cabin, upon her +small flier; but there was no cabin. The interior of the hull was +completely taken up by the buoyancy tanks. Ah, she had it! How +stupid of her not to have thought of it before! She could moor +the craft to the tree beneath which it rested and let it rise the +length of the rope. Lashed to the deck rings she would then be +safe from any roaming beast of prey that chanced along. In the +morning she could drop to the ground again before the craft was +discovered. + +As Tara of Helium crept over the brow of the hill down toward the +valley, her presence was hidden by the darkness of the night from +the sight of any chance observer who might be loitering by a +window in the nearby tower. Cluros, the farther moon, was just +rising above the horizon to commence his leisurely journey +through the heavens. Eight zodes later he would set--a trifle +over nineteen and a half Earth hours--and during that time +Thuria, his vivacious mate, would have circled the planet twice +and be more than half way around on her third trip. She had but +just set. It would be more than three and a half hours before she +shot above the opposite horizon to hurtle, swift and low, across +the face of the dying planet. During this temporary absence of +the mad moon Tara of Helium hoped to find both food and water, +and gain again the safety of her flier's deck. + +She groped her way through the darkness, giving the tower and its +enclosure as wide a berth as possible. Sometimes she stumbled, +for in the long shadows cast by the rising Cluros objects were +grotesquely distorted though the light from the moon was still +not sufficient to be of much assistance to her. Nor, as a matter +of fact, did she want light. She could find the stream in the +dark, by the simple expedient of going down hill until she walked +into it and she had seen that bearing trees and many crops grew +throughout the valley, so that she would pass food in plenty ere +she reached the stream. If the moon showed her the way more +clearly and thus saved her from an occasional fall, he would, +too, show her more clearly to the strange denizens of the towers, +and that, of course, must not be. Could she have waited until the +following night conditions would have been better, since Cluros +would not appear in the heavens at all and so, during Thuria's +absence, utter darkness would reign; but the pangs of thirst and +the gnawing of hunger could be endured no longer with food and +drink both in sight, and so she had decided to risk discovery +rather than suffer longer. + +Safely past the nearest tower, she moved as rapidly as she felt +consistent with safety, choosing her way wherever possible so +that she might take advantage of the shadows of the trees that +grew at intervals and at the same time discover those which bore +fruit. In this latter she met with almost immediate success, for +the very third tree beneath which she halted was heavy with ripe +fruit. Never, thought Tara of Helium, had aught so delicious +impinged upon her palate, and yet it was naught else than the +almost tasteless usa, which is considered to be palatable only +after having been cooked and highly spiced. It grows easily with +little irrigation and the trees bear abundantly. The fruit, which +ranks high in food value, is one of the staple foods of the less +well-to-do, and because of its cheapness and nutritive value +forms one of the principal rations of both armies and navies upon +Barsoom, a use which has won for it a Martian sobriquet which, +freely translated into English, would be, The Fighting Potato. +The girl was wise enough to eat but sparingly, but she filled her +pocket-pouch with the fruit before she continued upon her way. + +Two towers she passed before she came at last to the stream, and +here again was she temperate, drinking but little and that very +slowly, contenting herself with rinsing her mouth frequently and +bathing her face, her hands, and her feet; and even though the +night was cold, as Martian nights are, the sensation of +refreshment more than compensated for the physical discomfort of +the low temperature. Replacing her sandals she sought among the +growing track near the stream for whatever edible berries or +tubers might be planted there, and found a couple of varieties +that could be eaten raw. With these she replaced some of the usa +in her pocket-pouch, not only to insure a variety but because she +found them more palatable. Occasionally she returned to the +stream to drink, but each time moderately. Always were her eyes +and ears alert for the first signs of danger, but she had neither +seen nor heard aught to disturb her. And presently the time +approached when she felt she must return to her flier lest she be +caught in the revealing light of low swinging Thuria. She dreaded +leaving the water for she knew that she must become very thirsty +before she could hope to come again to the stream. If she only +had some little receptacle in which to carry water, even a small +amount would tide her over until the following night; but she had +nothing and so she must content herself as best she could with +the juices of the fruit and tubers she had gathered. + +After a last drink at the stream, the longest and deepest she had +allowed herself, she rose to retrace her steps toward the hills; +but even as she did so she became suddenly tense with +apprehension. What was that? She could have sworn that she saw +something move in the shadows beneath a tree not far away. For a +long minute the girl did not move--she scarce breathed. Her eyes +remained fixed upon the dense shadows below the tree, her ears +strained through the silence of the night. A low moaning came +down from the hills where her flier was hidden. She knew it +well--the weird note of the hunting banth. And the great +carnivore lay directly in her path. But he was not so close as +this other thing, hiding there in the shadows just a little way +off. What was it? It was the strain of uncertainty that weighed +heaviest upon her. Had she known the nature of the creature +lurking there half its menace would have vanished. She cast +quickly about her in search of some haven of refuge should the +thing prove dangerous. + +Again arose the moaning from the hills, but this time closer. +Almost immediately it was answered from the opposite side of the +valley, behind her, and then from the distance to the right of +her, and twice upon her left. Her eyes had found a tree, quite +near. Slowly, and without taking her eyes from the shadows of +that other tree, she moved toward the overhanging branches that +might afford her sanctuary in the event of need, and at her first +move a low growl rose from the spot she had been watching and she +heard the sudden moving of a big body. Simultaneously the +creature shot into the moonlight in full charge upon her, its +tail erect, its tiny ears laid flat, its great mouth with its +multiple rows of sharp and powerful fangs already yawning for its +prey, its ten legs carrying it forward in great leaps, and now +from the beast's throat issued the frightful roar with which it +seeks to paralyze its prey. It was a banth--the great, maned lion +of Barsoom. Tara of Helium saw it coming and leaped for the tree +toward which she had been moving, and the banth realized her +intention and redoubled his speed. As his hideous roar awakened +the echoes in the hills, so too it awakened echoes in the valley; +but these echoes came from the living throats of others of his +kind, until it seemed to the girl that Fate had thrown her into +the midst of a countless multitude of these savage beasts. + +Almost incredibly swift is the speed of a charging banth, and +fortunate it was that the girl had not been caught farther in the +open. As it was, her margin of safety was next to negligible, for +as she swung nimbly to the lower branches the creature in pursuit +of her crashed among the foliage almost upon her as it sprang +upward to seize her. It was only a combination of good fortune +and agility that saved her. A stout branch deflected the raking +talons of the carnivore, but so close was the call that a giant +forearm brushed her flesh in the instant before she scrambled to +the higher branches. + +Baffled, the banth gave vent to his rage and disappointment in a +series of frightful roars that caused the very ground to tremble, +and to these were added the roarings and the growlings and the +moanings of his fellows as they approached from every direction, +in the hope of wresting from him whatever of his kill they could +take by craft or prowess. And now he turned snarling upon them as +they circled the tree, while the girl, huddled in a crotch above +them, looked down upon the gaunt, yellow monsters padding on +noiseless feet in a restless circle about her. She wondered now +at the strange freak of fate that had permitted her to come down +this far into the valley by night unharmed, but even more she +wondered how she was to return to the hills. She knew that she +would not dare venture it by night and she guessed, too, that by +day she might be confronted by even graver perils. To depend upon +this valley for sustenance she now saw to be beyond the pale of +possibility because of the banths that would keep her from food +and water by night, while the dwellers in the towers would +doubtless make it equally impossible for her to forage by day. +There was but one solution of her difficulty and that was to +return to her flier and pray that the wind would waft her to some +less terrorful land; but when might she return to the flier? The +banths gave little evidence of relinquishing hope of her, and even +if they wandered out of sight would she dare risk the attempt? +She doubted it. + +Hopeless indeed seemed her situation--hopeless it was. + + + +CHAPTER IV + +CAPTURED + +As Thuria, swift racer of the night, shot again into the sky the +scene changed. As by magic a new aspect fell athwart the face of +Nature. It was as though in the instant one had been transported +from one planet to another. It was the age-old miracle of the +Martian nights that is always new, even to Martians--two moons +resplendent in the heavens, where one had been but now; +conflicting, fast-changing shadows that altered the very hills +themselves; far Cluros, stately, majestic, almost stationary, +shedding his steady light upon the world below; Thuria, a great +and glorious orb, swinging swift across the vaulted dome of the +blue-black night, so low that she seemed to graze the hills, a +gorgeous spectacle that held the girl now beneath the spell of +its enchantment as it always had and always would. + +"Ah, Thuria, mad queen of heaven!" murmured Tara of Helium. "The +hills pass in stately procession, their bosoms rising and +falling; the trees move in restless circles; the little grasses +describe their little arcs; and all is movement, restless, +mysterious movement without sound, while Thuria passes." The girl +sighed and let her gaze fall again to the stern realities +beneath. There was no mystery in the huge banths. He who had +discovered her squatted there looking hungrily up at her. Most of +the others had wandered away in search of other prey, but a few +remained hoping yet to bury their fangs in that soft body. + +The night wore on. Again Thuria left the heavens to her lord and +master, hurrying on to keep her tryst with the Sun in other +skies. But a single banth waited impatiently beneath the tree +which harbored Tara of Helium. The others had left, but their +roars, and growls, and moans thundered or rumbled, or floated +back to her from near and far. What prey found they in this +little valley? There must be something that they were accustomed +to find here that they should be drawn in so great numbers. The +girl wondered what it could be. + +How long the night! Numb, cold, and exhausted, Tara of Helium +clung to the tree in growing desperation, for once she had dozed +and almost fallen. Hope was low in her brave little heart. How +much more could she endure? She asked herself the question and +then, with a brave shake of her head, she squared her shoulders. +"I still live!" she said aloud. + +The banth looked up and growled. + +Came Thuria again and after awhile the great Sun--a flaming +lover, pursuing his heart's desire. And Cluros, the cold husband, +continued his serene way, as placid as before his house had been +violated by this hot Lothario. And now the Sun and both Moons +rode together in the sky, lending their far mysteries to make +weird the Martian dawn. Tara of Helium looked out across the fair +valley that spread upon all sides of her. It was rich and +beautiful, but even as she looked upon it she shuddered, for to +her mind came a picture of the headless things that the towers +and the walls hid. Those by day and the banths by night! Ah, was +it any wonder that she shuddered? + +With the coming of the Sun the great Barsoomian lion rose to his +feet. He turned angry eyes upon the girl above him, voiced a +single ominous growl, and slunk away toward the hills. The girl +watched him, and she saw that he gave the towers as wide a berth +as possible and that he never took his eyes from one of them +while he was passing it. Evidently the inmates had taught these +savage creatures to respect them. Presently he passed from sight +in a narrow defile, nor in any direction that she could see was +there another. Momentarily at least the landscape was deserted. +The girl wondered if she dared to attempt to regain the hills and +her flier. She dreaded the coming of the workmen to the fields as +she was sure they would come. She shrank from again seeing the +headless bodies, and found herself wondering if these things +would come out into the fields and work. She looked toward the +nearest tower. There was no sign of life there. The valley lay +quiet now and deserted. She lowered herself stiffly to the +ground. Her muscles were cramped and every move brought a twinge +of pain. Pausing a moment to drink again at the stream she felt +refreshed and then turned without more delay toward the hills. To +cover the distance as quickly as possible seemed the only plan to +pursue. The trees no longer offered concealment and so she did +not go out of her way to be near them. The hills seemed very far +away. She had not thought, the night before, that she had +traveled so far. Really it had not been far, but now, with the +three towers to pass in broad daylight, the distance seemed great +indeed. + +The second tower lay almost directly in her path. To make a +detour would not lessen the chance of detection, it would only +lengthen the period of her danger, and so she laid her course +straight for the hill where her flier was, regardless of the +tower. As she passed the first enclosure she thought that she +heard the sound of movement within, but the gate did not open and +she breathed more easily when it lay behind her. She came then to +the second enclosure, the outer wall of which she must circle, as +it lay across her route. As she passed close along it she +distinctly heard not only movement within, but voices. In the +world-language of Barsoom she heard a man issuing +instructions--so many were to pick usa, so many were to irrigate +this field, so many to cultivate that, and so on, as a foreman +lay out the day's work for his crew. + +Tara of Helium had just reached the gate in the outer wall. +Without warning it swung open toward her. She saw that for a +moment it would hide her from those within and in that moment she +turned and ran, keeping close to the wall, until, passing out of +sight beyond the curve of the structure, she came to the opposite +side of the enclosure. Here, panting from her exertion and from +the excitement of her narrow escape, she threw herself among some +tall weeds that grew close to the foot of the wall. There she lay +trembling for some time, not even daring to raise her head and +look about. Never before had Tara of Helium felt the paralyzing +effects of terror. She was shocked and angry at herself, that +she, daughter of John Carter, Warlord of Barsoom, should exhibit +fear. Not even the fact that there had been none there to witness +it lessened her shame and anger, and the worst of it was she knew +that under similar circumstances she would again be equally as +craven. It was not the fear of death--she knew that. No, it was +the thought of those headless bodies and that she might see them +and that they might even touch her--lay hands upon her--seize +her. She shuddered and trembled at the thought. + +After a while she gained sufficient command of herself to raise +her head and look about. To her horror she discovered that +everywhere she looked she saw people working in the fields or +preparing to do so. Workmen were coming from other towers. Little +bands were passing to this field and that. They were even some +already at work within thirty ads of her--about a hundred yards. +There were ten, perhaps, in the party nearest her, both men and +women, and all were beautiful of form and grotesque of face. So +meager were their trappings that they were practically naked; a +fact that was in no way remarkable among the tillers of the +fields of Mars. Each wore the peculiar, high leather collar that +completely hid the neck, and each wore sufficient other leather +to support a single sword and a pocket-pouch. The leather was +very old and worn, showing long, hard service, and was absolutely +plain with the exception of a single device upon the left +shoulder. The heads, however, were covered with ornaments of +precious metals and jewels, so that little more than eyes, nose, +and mouth were discernible. These were hideously inhuman and yet +grotesquely human at the same time. The eyes were far apart and +protruding, the nose scarce more than two small, parallel slits +set vertically above a round hole that was the mouth. The heads +were peculiarly repulsive--so much so that it seemed unbelievable +to the girl that they formed an integral part of the beautiful +bodies below them. + +So fascinated was Tara of Helium that she could scarce take her +eyes from the strange creatures--a fact that was to prove her +undoing, for in order that she might see them she was forced to +expose a part of her own head and presently, to her +consternation, she saw that one of the creatures had stopped his +work and was staring directly at her. She did not dare move, for +it was still possible that the thing had not seen her, or at +least was only suspicious that some creature lay hid among the +weeds. If she could allay this suspicion by remaining motionless +the creature might believe that he had been mistaken and return +to his work; but, alas, such was not to be the case. She saw the +thing call the attention of others to her and almost immediately +four or five of them started to move in her direction. + +It was impossible now to escape discovery. Her only hope lay in +flight. If she could elude them and reach the hills and the flier +ahead of them she might escape, and that could be accomplished in +but one way--flight, immediate and swift. Leaping to her feet she +darted along the base of the wall which she must skirt to the +opposite side, beyond which lay the hill that was her goal. Her +act was greeted by strange whistling sounds from the things +behind her, and casting a glance over her shoulder she saw them +all in rapid pursuit. + +There were also shrill commands that she halt, but to these she +paid no attention. Before she had half circled the enclosure she +discovered that her chances for successful escape were great, +since it was evident to her that her pursuers were not so fleet +as she. High indeed then were her hopes as she came in sight of +the hill, but they were soon dashed by what lay before her, for +there, in the fields that lay between, were fully a hundred +creatures similar to those behind her and all were on the alert, +evidently warned by the whistling of their fellows. Instructions +and commands were shouted to and fro, with the result that those +before her spread roughly into a great half circle to intercept +her, and when she turned to the right, hoping to elude the net, +she saw others coming from fields beyond, and to the left the +same was true. But Tara of Helium would not admit defeat. Without +once pausing she turned directly toward the center of the +advancing semi-circle, beyond which lay her single chance of +escape, and as she ran she drew her long, slim dagger. Like her +valiant sire, if die she must, she would die fighting. There were +gaps in the thin line confronting her and toward the widest of +one of these she directed her course. The things on either side +of the opening guessed her intent for they closed in to place +themselves in her path. This widened the openings on either side +of them and as the girl appeared almost to rush into their arms +she turned suddenly at right angles, ran swiftly in the new +direction for a few yards, and then dashed quickly toward the +hill again. Now only a single warrior, with a wide gap on either +side of him, barred her clear way to freedom, though all the +others were speeding as rapidly as they could to intercept her. +If she could pass this one without too much delay she could +escape, of that she was certain. Her every hope hinged on this. +The creature before her realized it, too, for he moved +cautiously, though swiftly, to intercept her, as a Rugby fullback +might maneuver in the realization that he alone stood between the +opposing team and a touchdown. + +At first Tara of Helium had hoped that she might dodge him, for +she could not but guess that she was not only more fleet but +infinitely more agile than these strange creatures; but soon +there came to her the realization that in the time consumed in an +attempt to elude his grasp his nearer fellows would be upon her +and escape then impossible, so she chose instead to charge +straight for him, and when he guessed her decision he stood, half +crouching and with outstretched arms, awaiting her. In one hand +was his sword, but a voice arose, crying in tones of authority. +"Take her alive! Do not harm her!" Instantly the fellow returned +his sword to its scabbard and then Tara of Helium was upon him. +Straight for that beautiful body she sprang and in the instant +that the arms closed to seize her her sharp blade drove deep into +the naked chest. The impact hurled them both to the ground and as +Tara of Helium sprang to her feet again she saw, to her horror, +that the loathsome head had rolled from the body and was now +crawling away from her on six short, spider-like legs. The body +struggled spasmodically and lay still. As brief as had been the +delay caused by the encounter, it still had been of sufficient +duration to undo her, for even as she rose two more of the things +fell upon her and instantly thereafter she was surrounded. Her +blade sank once more into naked flesh and once more a head rolled +free and crawled away. Then they overpowered her and in another +moment she was surrounded by fully a hundred of the creatures, +all seeking to lay hands upon her. At first she thought that they +wished to tear her to pieces in revenge for her having slain two +of their fellows, but presently she realized that they were +prompted more by curiosity than by any sinister motive. + +"Come!" said one of her captors, both of whom had retained a hold +upon her. As he spoke he tried to lead her away with him toward +the nearest tower. + +"She belongs to me," cried the other. "Did not I capture her? She +will come with me to the tower of Moak." + +"Never!" insisted the first. "She is Luud's. To Luud I will take +her, and whosoever interferes may feel the keenness of my +sword--in the head!" He almost shouted the last three words. + +"Come! Enough of this," cried one who spoke with some show of +authority. "She was captured in Luud's fields--she will go to +Luud." + +"She was discovered in Moak's fields, at the very foot of the +tower of Moak," insisted he who had claimed her for Moak. + +"You have heard the Nolach speak," cried the Luud. "It shall be +as he says." + +"Not while this Moak holds a sword," replied the other. "Rather +will I cut her in twain and take my half to Moak than to +relinquish her all to Luud," and he drew his sword, or rather he +laid his hand upon its hilt in a threatening gesture; but before +ever he could draw it the Luud had whipped his out and with a +fearful blow cut deep into the head of his adversary. Instantly +the big, round head collapsed, almost as a punctured balloon +collapses, as a grayish, semi-fluid matter spurted from it. The +protruding eyes, apparently lidless, merely stared, the +sphincter-like muscle of the mouth opened and closed, and then +the head toppled from the body to the ground. The body stood +dully for a moment and then slowly started to wander aimlessly +about until one of the others seized it by the arm. + +One of the two heads crawling about on the ground now approached. +"This rykor belongs to Moak," it said. "I am a Moak. I will take +it," and without further discussion it commenced to crawl up the +front of the headless body, using its six short, spiderlike legs +and two stout chelae which grew just in front of its legs and +strongly resembled those of an Earthly lobster, except that they +were both of the same size. The body in the meantime stood in +passive indifference, its arms hanging idly at its sides. The +head climbed to the shoulders and settled itself inside the +leather collar that now hid its chelae and legs. Almost +immediately the body gave evidence of intelligent animation. It +raised its hands and adjusted the collar more comfortably, it +took the head between its palms and settled it in place and when +it moved around it did not wander aimlessly, but instead its +steps were firm and to some purpose. + +The girl watched all these things in growing wonder, and +presently, no other of the Moaks seeming inclined to dispute the +right of the Luud to her, she was led off by her captor toward +the nearest tower. Several accompanied them, including one who +carried the loose head under his arm. The head that was being +carried conversed with the head upon the shoulders of the thing +that carried it. Tara of Helium shivered. It was horrible! All +that she had seen of these frightful creatures was horrible. And +to be a prisoner, wholly in their power. Shadow of her first +ancestor! What had she done to deserve so cruel a fate? + +At the wall enclosing the tower they paused while one opened the +gate and then they passed within the enclosure, which, to the +girl's horror, she found filled with headless bodies. The +creature who carried the bodiless head now set its burden upon +the ground and the latter immediately crawled toward one of the +bodies that was lying near by. Some wandered stupidly to and fro, +but this one lay still. It was a female. The head crawled to it +and made its way to the shoulders where it settled itself. At +once the body sprang lightly erect. Another of those who had +accompanied them from the fields approached with the harness and +collar that had been taken from the dead body that the head had +formerly topped. The new body now appropriated these and the +hands deftly adjusted them. The creature was now as good as +before Tara of Helium had struck down its former body with her +slim blade. But there was a difference. Before it had been +male--now it was female. That, however, seemed to make no +difference to the head. In fact, Tara of Helium had noticed +during the scramble and the fight about her that sex differences +seemed of little moment to her captors. Males and females had +taken equal part in her pursuit, both were identically harnessed +and both carried swords, and she had seen as many females as +males draw their weapons at the moment that a quarrel between the +two factions seemed imminent. + +The girl was given but brief opportunity for further observation +of the pitiful creatures in the enclosure as her captor, after +having directed the others to return to the fields, led her +toward the tower, which they entered, passing into an apartment +about ten feet wide and twenty long, in one end of which was a +stairway leading to an upper level and in the other an opening to +a similar stairway leading downward. The chamber, though on a +level with the ground, was brilliantly lighted by windows in its +inner wall, the light coming from a circular court in the center +of the tower. The walls of this court appeared to be faced with +what resembled glazed, white tile and the whole interior of it +was flooded with dazzling light, a fact which immediately +explained to the girl the purpose of the glass prisms of which +the domes were constructed. The stairways themselves were +sufficient to cause remark, since in nearly all Barsoomian +architecture inclined runways are utilized for purposes of +communication between different levels, and especially is this +true of the more ancient forms and of those of remote districts +where fewer changes have come to alter the customs of antiquity. + +Down the stairway her captor led Tara of Helium. Down and down +through chambers still lighted from the brilliant well. +Occasionally they passed others going in the opposite direction +and these always stopped to examine the girl and ask questions of +her captor. + +"I know nothing but that she was found in the fields and that I +caught her after a fight in which she slew two rykors and in +which I slew a Moak, and that I take her to Luud, to whom, of +course, she belongs. If Luud wishes to question her that is for +Luud to do--not for me." Thus always he answered the curious. + +Presently they reached a room from which a circular tunnel led +away from the tower, and into this the creature conducted her. +The tunnel was some seven feet in diameter and flattened on the +bottom to form a walk. For a hundred feet from the tower it was +lined with the same tile-like material of the light well and +amply illuminated by reflected light from that source. Beyond it +was faced with stone of various shapes and sizes, neatly cut and +fitted together--a very fine mosaic without a pattern. There were +branches, too, and other tunnels which crossed this, and +occasionally openings not more than a foot in diameter; these +latter being usually close to the floor. Above each of these +smaller openings was painted a different device, while upon the +walls of the larger tunnels at all intersections and points of +convergence hieroglyphics appeared. These the girl could not read +though she guessed that they were the names of the tunnels, or +notices indicating the points to which they led. She tried to +study some of them out, but there was not a character that was +familiar to her, which seemed strange, since, while the written +languages of the various nations of Barsoom differ, it still is +true that they have many characters and words in common. + +She had tried to converse with her guard but he had not seemed +inclined to talk with her and she had finally desisted. She could +not but note that he had offered her no indignities, nor had he +been either unnecessarily rough or in any way cruel. The fact +that she had slain two of the bodies with her dagger had +apparently aroused no animosity or desire for revenge in the +minds of the strange heads that surmounted the bodies--even those +whose bodies had been killed. She did not try to understand it, +since she could not approach the peculiar relationship between +the heads and the bodies of these creatures from the basis of any +past knowledge or experience of her own. So far their treatment +of her seemed to augur naught that might arouse her fears. +Perhaps, after all, she had been fortunate to fall into the hands +of these strange people, who might not only protect her from +harm, but even aid her in returning to Helium. That they were +repulsive and uncanny she could not forget, but if they meant her +no harm she could, at least, overlook their repulsiveness. +Renewed hope aroused within her a spirit of greater cheerfulness, +and it was almost blithely now that she moved at the side of her +weird companion. She even caught herself humming a gay little +tune that was then popular in Helium. The creature at her side +turned its expressionless eyes upon her. + +"What is that noise that you are making?" it asked. + +"I was but humming an air," she replied. + +"'Humming an air,'" he repeated. "I do not know what you mean; +but do it again, I like it." + +This time she sang the words, while her companion listened +intently. His face gave no indication of what was passing in that +strange head. It was as devoid of expression as that of a spider. +It reminded her of a spider. When she had finished he turned +toward her again. + +"That was different," he said. "I liked that better, even, than +the other. How do you do it?" + +"Why," she said, "it is singing. Do you not know what song is?" + +"No," he replied. "Tell me how you do it." + +"It is difficult to explain," she told him, "since any +explanation of it presupposes some knowledge of melody and of +music, while your very question indicates that you have no +knowledge of either." + +"No," he said, "I do not know what you are talking about; but +tell me how you do it." + +"It is merely the melodious modulations of my voice," she +explained. "Listen!" and again she sang. + +"I do not understand," he insisted; "but I like it. Could you +teach me to do it?" + +"I do not know, but I shall be glad to try." + +"We will see what Luud does with you," he said. "If he does not +want you I will keep you and you shall teach me to make sounds +like that." + +At his request she sang again as they continued their way along +the winding tunnel, which was now lighted by occasional bulbs +which appeared to be similar to the radium bulbs with which she +was familiar and which were common to all the nations of Barsoom, +insofar as she knew, having been perfected at so remote a period +that their very origin was lost in antiquity. They consist, +usually, of a hemispherical bowl of heavy glass in which is +packed a compound containing what, according to John Carter, must +be radium. The bowl is then cemented into a metal plate with a +heavily insulated back and the whole affair set in the masonry of +wall or ceiling as desired, where it gives off light of greater +or less intensity, according to the composition of the filling +material, for an almost incalculable period of time. + +As they proceeded they met a greater number of the inhabitants of +this underground world, and the girl noted that among many of +these the metal and harness were more ornate than had been those +of the workers in the fields above. The heads and bodies, +however, were similar, even identical, she thought. No one +offered her harm and she was now experiencing a feeling of relief +almost akin to happiness, when her guide turned suddenly into an +opening on the right side of the tunnel and she found herself in +a large, well lighted chamber. + + + +CHAPTER V + +THE PERFECT BRAIN + +The song that had been upon her lips as she entered died +there--frozen by the sight of horror that met her eyes. In the +center of the chamber a headless body lay upon the floor--a body +that had been partially devoured--while over and upon it crawled +a half a dozen heads upon their short, spider legs, and they tore +at the flesh of the woman with their chelae and carried the bits +to their awful mouths. They were eating human flesh--eating it +raw! + +Tara of Helium gasped in horror and turning away covered her eyes +with her palms. + +"Come!" said her captor. "What is the matter?" + +"They are eating the flesh of the woman," she whispered in tones +of horror. + +"Why not?" he inquired. "Did you suppose that we kept the rykor +for labor alone? Ah, no. They are delicious when kept and +fattened. Fortunate, too, are those that are bred for food, since +they are never called upon to do aught but eat." + +"It is hideous!" she cried. + +He looked at her steadily for a moment, but whether in surprise, +in anger, or in pity his expressionless face did not reveal. Then +he led her on across the room past the frightful thing, from +which she turned away her eyes. Lying about the floor near the +walls were half a dozen headless bodies in harness. These she +guessed had been abandoned temporarily by the feasting heads +until they again required their services. In the walls of this +room there were many of the small, round openings she had noticed +in various parts of the tunnels, the purpose of which she could +not guess. + +They passed through another corridor and then into a second +chamber, larger than the first and more brilliantly illuminated. +Within were several of the creatures with heads and bodies +assembled, while many headless bodies lay about near the walls. +Here her captor halted and spoke to one of the occupants of the +chamber. + +"I seek Luud," he said. "I bring to Luud a creature that I +captured in the fields above." + +The others crowded about to examine Tara of Helium. One of them +whistled, whereupon the girl learned something of the smaller +openings in the walls, for almost immediately there crawled from +them, like giant spiders, a score or more of the hideous heads. +Each sought one of the recumbent bodies and fastened itself in +place. Immediately the bodies reacted to the intelligent +direction of the heads. They arose, the hands adjusted the +leather collars and put the balance of the harness in order, then +the creatures crossed the room to where Tara of Helium stood. She +noted that their leather was more highly ornamented than that +worn by any of the others she had previously seen, and so she +guessed that these must be higher in authority than the others. +Nor was she mistaken. The demeanor of her captor indicated it. He +addressed them as one who holds intercourse with superiors. + +Several of those who examined her felt her flesh, pinching it +gently between thumb and forefinger, a familiarity that the girl +resented. She struck down their hands. "Do not touch me!" she +cried, imperiously, for was she not a princess of Helium? The +expression on those terrible faces did not change. She could not +tell whether they were angry or amused, whether her action had +filled them with respect for her, or contempt. Only one of them +spoke immediately. + +"She will have to be fattened more," he said. + +The girl's eyes went wide with horror. She turned upon her +captor. "Do these frightful creatures intend to devour me?" she +cried. + +"That is for Luud to say," he replied, and then he leaned closer +so that his mouth was near her ear. "That noise you made which +you called song pleased me," he whispered, "and I will repay you +by warning you not to antagonize these kaldanes. They are very +powerful. Luud listens to them. Do not call them frightful. They +are very handsome. Look at their wonderful trappings, their gold, +their jewels." + +"Thank you," she said. "You called them kaldanes--what does that +mean?" + +"We are all kaldanes," he replied. + +"You, too?" and she pointed at him, her slim finger directed +toward his chest. + +"No, not this," he explained, touching his body; "this is a +rykor; but this," and he touched his head, "is a kaldane. It is +the brain, the intellect, the power that directs all things. The +rykor," he indicated his body, "is nothing. It is not so much +even as the jewels upon our harness; no, not so much as the +harness itself. It carries us about. It is true that we would +find difficulty getting along without it; but it has less value +than harness or jewels because it is less difficult to +reproduce." He turned again to the other kaldanes. "Will you +notify Luud that I am here?" he asked. + +"Sept has already gone to Luud. He will tell him," replied one. +"Where did you find this rykor with the strange kaldane that +cannot detach itself?" + +The girl's captor narrated once more the story of her capture. He +stated facts just as they had occurred, without embellishment, +his voice as expressionless as his face, and his story was +received in the same manner that it was delivered. The creatures +seemed totally lacking in emotion, or, at least, the capacity to +express it. It was impossible to judge what impression the story +made upon them, or even if they heard it. Their protruding eyes +simply stared and occasionally the muscles of their mouths opened +and closed. Familiarity did not lessen the horror the girl felt +for them. The more she saw of them the more repulsive they +seemed. Often her body was shaken by convulsive shudders as she +looked at the kaldanes, but when her eyes wandered to the +beautiful bodies and she could for a moment expunge the heads +from her consciousness the effect was soothing and refreshing, +though when the bodies lay, headless, upon the floor they were +quite as shocking as the heads mounted on bodies. But by far the +most grewsome and uncanny sight of all was that of the heads +crawling about upon their spider legs. If one of these should +approach and touch her Tara of Helium was positive that she +should scream, while should one attempt to crawl up her +person--ugh! the very idea induced a feeling of faintness. + +Sept returned to the chamber. "Luud will see you and the captive. +Come!" he said, and turned toward a door opposite that through +which Tara of Helium had entered the chamber. "What is your +name?" His question was directed to the girl's captor. + +"I am Ghek, third foreman of the fields of Luud," he answered. + +"And hers?" + +"I do not know." + +"It makes no difference. Come!" + +The patrician brows of Tara of Helium went high. It made no +difference, indeed! She, a princess of Helium; only daughter of +The Warlord of Barsoom! + +"Wait!" she cried. "It makes much difference who I am. If you are +conducting me into the presence of your jed you may announce The +Princess Tara of Helium, daughter of John Carter, The Warlord of +Barsoom." + +"Hold your peace!" commanded Sept. "Speak when you are spoken to. +Come with me!" + +The anger of Tara of Helium all but choked her. "Come," +admonished Ghek, and took her by the arm, and Tara of Helium +came. She was naught but a prisoner. Her rank and titles meant +nothing to these inhuman monsters. They led her through a short, +S-shaped passageway into a chamber entirely lined with the white, +tile-like material with which the interior of the light wall was +faced. Close to the base of the walls were numerous smaller +apertures, circular in shape, but larger than those of similar +aspect that she had noted elsewhere. The majority of these +apertures were sealed. Directly opposite the entrance was one +framed in gold, and above it a peculiar device was inlaid in the +same precious metal. + +Sept and Ghek halted just within the room, the girl between them, +and all three stood silently facing the opening in the opposite +wall. On the floor beside the aperture lay a headless male body +of almost heroic proportions, and on either side of this stood a +heavily armed warrior, with drawn sword. For perhaps five minutes +the three waited and then something appeared in the opening. It +was a pair of large chelae and immediately thereafter there +crawled forth a hideous kaldane of enormous proportions. He was +half again as large as any that Tara of Helium had yet seen and +his whole aspect infinitely more terrible. The skin of the others +was a bluish gray--this one was of a little bluer tinge and the +eyes were ringed with bands of white and scarlet, as was its +mouth. + +From each nostril a band of white and one of scarlet extended +outward horizontally the width of the face. + +No one spoke or moved. The creature crawled to the prostrate body +and affixed itself to the neck. Then the two rose as one and +approached the girl. He looked at her and then he spoke to her +captor. + +"You are the third foreman of the fields of Luud?" he asked. + +"Yes, Luud; I am called Ghek." + +"Tell me what you know of this," and he nodded toward Tara of +Helium. + +Ghek did as he was bid and then Luud addressed the girl. + +"What were you doing within the borders of Bantoom?" he asked. + +"I was blown hither in a great storm that injured my flier and +carried me I knew not where. I came down into the valley at night +for food and drink. The banths came and drove me to the safety of +a tree, and then your people caught me as I was trying to leave +the valley. I do not know why they took me. I was doing no harm. +All I ask is that you let me go my way in peace." + +"None who enters Bantoom ever leaves," replied Luud. + +"But my people are not at war with yours. I am a princess of +Helium; my great-grandfather is a jeddak; my grandfather a jed; +and my father is Warlord of all Barsoom. You have no right to +keep me and I demand that you liberate me at once." + +"None who enters Bantoom ever leaves," repeated the creature +without expression. "I know nothing of the lesser creatures of +Barsoom, of whom you speak. There is but one high race--the race +of Bantoomians. All Nature exists to serve them. You shall do +your share, but not yet--you are too skinny. We shall have to put +some fat upon it, Sept. I tire of rykor. Perhaps this will have a +different flavor. The banths are too rank and it is seldom that +any other creature enters the valley. And you, Ghek; you shall be +rewarded. I shall promote you from the fields to the burrows. +Hereafter you shall remain underground as every Bantoomian longs +to. No more shall you be forced to endure the hated sun, or look +upon the hideous sky, or the hateful growing things that defile +the surface. For the present you shall look after this thing that +you have brought me, seeing that it sleeps and eats--and does +nothing else. You understand me, Ghek; nothing else!" + +"I understand, Luud," replied the other. + +"Take it away!" commanded the creature. + +Ghek turned and led Tara of Helium from the apartment. The girl +was horrified by contemplation of the fate that awaited her--a +fate from which it seemed, there was no escape. It was only too +evident that these creatures possessed no gentle or chivalric +sentiments to which she could appeal, and that she might escape +from the labyrinthine mazes of their underground burrows appeared +impossible. + +Outside the audience chamber Sept overtook them and conversed +with Ghek for a brief period, then her keeper led her through a +confusing web of winding tunnels until they came to a small +apartment. + +"We are to remain here for a while. It may be that Luud will send +for you again. If he does you will probably not be fattened--he +will use you for another purpose." It was fortunate for the +girl's peace of mind that she did not realize what he meant. +"Sing for me," said Ghek, presently. + +Tara of Helium did not feel at all like singing, but she sang, +nevertheless, for there was always the hope that she might escape +if given the opportunity and if she could win the friendship of +one of the creatures, her chances would be increased +proportionately. All during the ordeal, for such it was to the +overwrought girl, Ghek stood with his eyes fixed upon her. + +"It is wonderful," he said, when she had finished; "but I did not +tell Luud--you noticed that I did not tell Luud about it. Had he +known, he would have had you sing to him and that would have +resulted in your being kept with him that he might hear you sing +whenever he wished; but now I can have you all the time." + +"How do you know he would like my singing?" she asked. + +"He would have to," replied Ghek. "If I like a thing he has to +like it, for are we not identical--all of us?" + +"The people of my race do not all like the same things," said the +girl. + +"How strange!" commented Ghek. "All kaldanes like the same things +and dislike the same things. If I discover something new and like +it I know that all kaldanes will like it. That is how I know that +Luud would like your singing. You see we are all exactly alike." + +"But you do not look like Luud," said the girl. + +"Luud is king. He is larger and more gorgeously marked; but +otherwise he and I are identical, and why not? Did not Luud +produce the egg from which I hatched?" + +"What?" queried the girl; "I do not understand you." + +"Yes," explained Ghek, "all of us are from Luud's eggs, just as +all the swarm of Moak are from Moak's eggs." + +"Oh!" exclaimed Tara of Helium understandingly; "you mean that +Luud has many wives and that you are the offspring of one of +them." + +"No, not that at all," replied Ghek. "Luud has no wife. He lays +the eggs himself. You do not understand." + +Tara of Helium admitted that she did not. + +"I will try to explain, then," said Ghek, "if you will promise to +sing to me later." + +"I promise," she said. + +"We are not like the rykors," he began. "They are creatures of a +low order, like yourself and the banths and such things. We have +no sex--not one of us except our king, who is bi-sexual. He +produces many eggs from which we, the workers and the warriors, +are hatched; and one in every thousand eggs is another king egg, +from which a king is hatched. Did you notice the sealed openings +in the room where you saw Luud? Sealed in each of those is +another king. If one of them escaped he would fall upon Luud and +try to kill him and if he succeeded we should have a new king; +but there would be no difference. His name would be Luud and all +would go on as before, for are we not all alike? Luud has lived a +long time and has produced many kings, so he lets only a few live +that there may be a successor to him when he dies. The others he +kills." + +"Why does he keep more than one?" queried the girl. + +"Sometimes accidents occur," replied Ghek, "and all the kings +that a swarm has saved are killed. When this happens the swarm +comes and obtains another king from a neighboring swarm." + +"Are all of you the children of Luud?" she asked. + +"All but a few, who are from the eggs of the preceding king, as +was Luud; but Luud has lived a long time and not many of the +others are left." + +"You live a long time, or short?" Tara asked. + +"A very long time." + +"And the rykors, too; they live a long time?" + +"No; the rykors live for ten years, perhaps," he said, "if they +remain strong and useful. When they can no longer be of service +to us, either through age or sickness, we leave them in the +fields and the banths come at night and get them." + +"How horrible!" she exclaimed. + +"Horrible?" he repeated. "I see nothing horrible about that. +The rykors are but brainless flesh. They neither see, nor feel, +nor hear. They can scarce move but for us. If we did not bring +them food they would starve to death. They are less deserving of +thought than our leather. All that they can do for themselves is +to take food from a trough and put it in their mouths, but with +us--look at them!" and he proudly exhibited the noble figure that +he surmounted, palpitant with life and energy and feeling. + +"How do you do it?" asked Tara of Helium. "I do not understand it +at all." + +"I will show you," he said, and lay down upon the floor. Then he +detached himself from the body, which lay as a thing dead. On his +spider legs he walked toward the girl. "Now look," he admonished +her. "Do you see this thing?" and he extended what appeared to be +a bundle of tentacles from the posterior part of his head. "There +is an aperture just back of the rykor's mouth and directly over +the upper end of his spinal column. Into this aperture I insert +my tentacles and seize the spinal cord. Immediately I control +every muscle of the rykor's body--it becomes my own, just as you +direct the movement of the muscles of your body. I feel what the +rykor would feel if he had a head and brain. If he is hurt, I +would suffer if I remained connected with him; but the instant +one of them is injured or becomes sick we desert it for another. +As we would suffer the pains of their physical injuries, +similarly do we enjoy the physical pleasures of the rykors. When +your body becomes fatigued you are comparatively useless; it is +sick, you are sick; if it is killed, you die. You are the slave +of a mass of stupid flesh and bone and blood. There is nothing +more wonderful about your carcass than there is about the carcass +of a banth. It is only your brain that makes you superior to the +banth, but your brain is bound by the limitations of your body. +Not so, ours. With us brain is everything. Ninety per centum of +our volume is brain. We have only the simplest of vital organs +and they are very small for they do not have to assist in the +support of a complicated system of nerves, muscles, flesh and +bone. We have no lungs, for we do not require air. Far below the +levels to which we can take the rykors is a vast network of +burrows where the real life of the kaldane is lived. There the +air-breathing rykor would perish as you would perish. There we +have stored vast quantities of food in hermetically sealed +chambers. It will last forever. Far beneath the surface is water +that will flow for countless ages after the surface water is +exhausted. We are preparing for the time we know must come--the +time when the last vestige of the Barsoomian atmosphere is +spent--when the waters and the food are gone. For this purpose +were we created, that there might not perish from the planet +Nature's divinest creation--the perfect brain." + +"But what purpose can you serve when that time comes?" asked the +girl. + +"You do not understand," he said. "It is too big for you to +grasp, but I will try to explain it. Barsoom, the moons, the sun, +the stars, were created for a single purpose. From the beginning +of time Nature has labored arduously toward the consummation of +this purpose. At the very beginning things existed with life, but +with no brain. Gradually rudimentary nervous systems and minute +brains evolved. Evolution proceeded. The brains became larger and +more powerful. In us you see the highest development; but there +are those of us who believe that there is yet another step--that +some time in the far future our race shall develop into the +super-thing--just brain. The incubus of legs and chelae and vital +organs will be removed. The future kaldane will be nothing but a +great brain. Deaf, dumb, and blind it will lie sealed in its +buried vault far beneath the surface of Barsoom--just a great, +wonderful, beautiful brain with nothing to distract it from +eternal thought." + +"You mean it will just lie there and think?" cried Tara of +Helium. + +"Just that!" he exclaimed. "Could aught be more wonderful?" + +"Yes," replied the girl, "I can think of a number of things that +would be infinitely more wonderful." + + + +CHAPTER VI + +IN THE TOILS OF HORROR + +What the creature had told her gave Tara of Helium food for +thought. She had been taught that every created thing fulfilled +some useful purpose, and she tried conscientiously to discover +just what was the rightful place of the kaldane in the universal +scheme of things. She knew that it must have its place but what +that place was it was beyond her to conceive. She had to give it +up. They recalled to her mind a little group of people in Helium +who had forsworn the pleasures of life in the pursuit of +knowledge. They were rather patronizing in their relations with +those whom they thought not so intellectual. They considered +themselves quite superior. She smiled at recollection of a remark +her father had once made concerning them, to the effect that if +one of them ever dropped his egotism and broke it it would take a +week to fumigate Helium. Her father liked normal people--people +who knew too little and people who knew too much were equally a +bore. Tara of Helium was like her father in this respect and like +him, too, she was both sane and normal. + +Outside of her personal danger there was much in this strange +world that interested her. The rykors aroused her keenest pity, +and vast conjecture. How and from what form had they evolved? She +asked Ghek. + +"Sing to me again and I will tell you," he said. "If Luud would +let me have you, you should never die. I should keep you always +to sing to me." + +The girl marvelled at the effect her voice had upon the creature. +Somewhere in that enormous brain there was a chord that was +touched by melody. It was the sole link between herself and the +brain when detached from the rykor. When it dominated the rykor +it might have other human instincts; but these she dreaded even +to think of. After she had sung she waited for Ghek to speak. For +a long time he was silent, just looking at her through those +awful eyes. + +"I wonder," he said presently, "if it might not be pleasant to be +of your race. Do you all sing?" + +"Nearly all, a little," she said; "but we do many other +interesting and enjoyable things. We dance and play and work and +love and sometimes we fight, for we are a race of warriors." + +"Love!" said the kaldane. "I think I know what you mean; but we, +fortunately, are above sentiment--when we are detached. But when +we dominate the rykor--ah, that is different, and when I hear you +sing and look at your beautiful body I know what you mean by +love. I could love you." + +The girl shrank from him. "You promised to tell me the origin of +the rykor," she reminded him. + +"Ages ago," he commenced, "our bodies were larger and our heads +smaller. Our legs were very weak and we could not travel fast or +far. There was a stupid creature that went upon four legs. It +lived in a hole in the ground, to which it brought its food, so +we ran our burrows into this hole and ate the food it brought; +but it did not bring enough for all--for itself and all the +kaldanes that lived upon it, so we had also to go abroad and get +food. This was hard work for our weak legs. Then it was that we +commenced to ride upon the backs of these primitive rykors. It +took many ages, undoubtedly, but at last came the time when the +kaldane had found means to guide the rykor, until presently the +latter depended entirely upon the superior brain of his master to +guide him to food. The brain of the rykor grew smaller as time +went on. His ears went and his eyes, for he no longer had use for +them--the kaldane saw and heard for him. By similar steps the +rykor came to go upon its hind feet that the kaldane might be +able to see farther. As the brain shrank, so did the head. The +mouth was the only feature of the head that was used and so the +mouth alone remains. Members of the red race fell into the hands +of our ancestors from time to time. They saw the beauties and the +advantages of the form that nature had given the red race over +that which the rykor was developing into. By intelligent crossing +the present rykor was achieved. He is really solely the product +of the super-intelligence of the kaldane--he is our body, to do +with as we see fit, just as you do what you see fit with your +body, only we have the advantage of possessing an unlimited +supply of bodies. Do you not wish that you were a kaldane?" + +For how long they kept her in the subterranean chamber Tara of +Helium did not know. It seemed a very long time. She ate and +slept and watched the interminable lines of creatures that passed +the entrance to her prison. There was a laden line passing from +above carrying food, food, food. In the other line they returned +empty handed. When she saw them she knew that it was daylight +above. When they did not pass she knew it was night, and that the +banths were about devouring the rykors that had been abandoned in +the fields the previous day. She commenced to grow pale and thin. +She did not like the food they gave her--it was not suited to her +kind--nor would she have eaten overmuch palatable food, for the +fear of becoming fat. The idea of plumpness had a new +significance here--a horrible significance. + +Ghek noted that she was growing thin and white. He spoke to her +about it and she told him that she could not thrive thus beneath +the ground--that she must have fresh air and sunshine, or she +would wither and die. Evidently he carried her words to Luud, +since it was not long after that he told her that the king had +ordered that she be confined in the tower and to the tower she +was taken. She had hoped against hope that this very thing might +result from her conversation with Ghek. Even to see the sun again +was something, but now there sprang to her breast a hope that she +had not dared to nurse before, while she lay in the terrible +labyrinth from which she knew she could never have found her way +to the outer world; but now there was some slight reason to hope. +At least she could see the hills and if she could see them might +there not come also the opportunity to reach them? If she could +have but ten minutes--just ten little minutes! The flier was +still there--she knew that it must be. Just ten minutes and she +would be free--free forever from this frightful place; but the +days wore on and she was never alone, not even for half of ten +minutes. Many times she planned her escape. Had it not been for +the banths it had been easy of accomplishment by night. Ghek +always detached his body then and sank into what seemed a +semi-comatose condition. It could not be said that he slept, or +at least it did not appear like sleep, since his lidless eyes +were unchanged; but he lay quietly in a corner. Tara of Helium +enacted a thousand times in her mind the scene of her escape. She +would rush to the side of the rykor and seize the sword that hung +in its harness. Before Ghek knew what she purposed, she would +have this and then before he could give an alarm she would drive +the blade through his hideous head. It would take but a moment to +reach the enclosure. The rykors could not stop her, for they had +no brains to tell them that she was escaping. She had watched +from her window the opening and closing of the gate that led from +the enclosure out into the fields and she knew how the great +latch operated. She would pass through and make a quick dash for +the hill. It was so near that they could not overtake her. It was +so easy! Or it would have been but for the banths! The banths at +night and the workers in the fields by day. + +Confined to the tower and without proper exercise or food, the +girl failed to show the improvement that her captors desired. +Ghek questioned her in an effort to learn why it was that she did +not grow round and plump; that she did not even look as well as +when they had captured her. His concern was prompted by repeated +inquiries on the part of Luud and finally resulted in suggesting +to Tara of Helium a plan whereby she might find a new opportunity +of escape. + +"I am accustomed to walking in the fresh air and the sunlight," +she told Ghek. "I cannot become as I was before if I am to be +always shut away in this one chamber, breathing poor air and +getting no proper exercise. Permit me to go out in the fields +every day and walk about while the sun is shining. Then, I am +sure, I shall become nice and fat." + +"You would run away," he said. + +"But how could I if you were always with me?" she asked. "And +even if I wished to run away where could I go? I do not know even +the direction of Helium. It must be very far. The very first +night the banths would get me, would they not?" + +"They would," said Ghek. "I will ask Luud about it." + +The following day he told her that Luud had said that she was to +be taken into the fields. He would try that for a time and see if +she improved. + +"If you do not grow fatter he will send for you anyway," said +Ghek; "but he will not use you for food." + +Tara of Helium shuddered. + +That day and for many days thereafter she was taken from the +tower, through the enclosure and out into the fields. Always was +she alert for an opportunity to escape; but Ghek was always close +by her side. It was not so much his presence that deterred her +from making the attempt as the number of workers that were always +between her and the hills where the flier lay. She could easily +have eluded Ghek, but there were too many of the others. And +then, one day, Ghek told her as he accompanied her into the open +that this would be the last time. + +"Tonight you go to Luud," he said. "I am sorry as I shall not +hear you sing again." + +"Tonight!" She scarce breathed the word, yet it was vibrant with +horror. + +She glanced quickly toward the hills. They were so close! Yet +between were the inevitable workers--perhaps a score of them. + +"Let us walk over there?" she said, indicating them. "I should +like to see what they are doing." + +"It is too far," said Ghek. "I hate the sun. It is much +pleasanter here where I can stand beneath the shade of this +tree." + +"All right," she agreed; "then you stay here and I will walk +over. It will take me but a minute." + +"No," he answered. "I will go with you. You want to escape; but +you are not going to." + +"I cannot escape," she said. + +"I know it," agreed Ghek; "but you might try. I do not wish you +to try. Possibly it will be better if we return to the tower at +once. It would go hard with me should you escape." + +Tara of Helium saw her last chance fading into oblivion. There +would never be another after today. She cast about for some +pretext to lure him even a little nearer to the hills. + +"It is very little that I ask," she said. "Tonight you will want +me to sing to you. It will be the last time, if you do not let me +go and see what those kaldanes are doing I shall never sing to +you again." + +Ghek hesitated. "I will hold you by the arm all the time, then," +he said. + +"Why, of course, if you wish," she assented. "Come!" + +The two moved toward the workers and the hills. The little party +was digging tubers from the ground. She had noted this and that +nearly always they were stooped low over their work, the hideous +eyes bent upon the upturned soil. She led Ghek quite close to +them, pretending that she wished to see exactly how they did the +work, and all the time he held her tightly by her left wrist. + +"It is very interesting," she said, with a sigh, and then, +suddenly; "Look, Ghek!" and pointed quickly back in the direction +of the tower. The kaldane, still holding her turned half away +from her to look in the direction she had indicated and +simultaneously, with the quickness of a banth, she struck him +with her right fist, backed by every ounce of strength she +possessed--struck the back of the pulpy head just above the +collar. The blow was sufficient to accomplish her design, +dislodging the kaldane from its rykor and tumbling it to the +ground. Instantly the grasp upon her wrist relaxed as the body, +no longer controlled by the brain of Ghek, stumbled aimlessly +about for an instant before it sank to its knees and then rolled +over on its back; but Tara of Helium waited not to note the full +results of her act. The instant the fingers loosened upon her +wrist she broke away and dashed toward the hills. Simultaneously +a warning whistle broke from Ghek's lips and in instant response +the workers leaped to their feet, one almost in the girl's path. +She dodged the outstretched arms and was away again toward the +hills and freedom, when her foot caught in one of the hoe-like +instruments with which the soil had been upturned and which had +been left, half imbedded in the ground. For an instant she ran +on, stumbling, in a mad effort to regain her equilibrium, but the +upturned furrows caught her feet--again she stumbled and this +time went down, and as she scrambled to rise again a heavy body +fell upon her and seized her arms. A moment later she was +surrounded and dragged to her feet and as she looked around she +saw Ghek crawling to his prostrate rykor. A moment later he +advanced to her side. + +The hideous face, incapable of registering emotion, gave no clue +to what was passing in the enormous brain. Was he nursing +thoughts of anger, of hate, of revenge? Tara of Helium could not +guess, nor did she care. The worst had happened. She had tried to +escape and she had failed. There would never be another +opportunity. + +"Come!" said Ghek. "We will return to the tower." The deadly +monotone of his voice was unbroken. It was worse than anger, for +it revealed nothing of his intentions. It but increased her +horror of these great brains that were beyond the possibility of +human emotions. + +And so she was dragged back to her prison in the tower and Ghek +took up his vigil again, squatting by the doorway, but now he +carried a naked sword in his hand and did not quit his rykor, +only to change to another that he had brought to him when the +first gave indications of weariness. The girl sat looking at him. +He had not been unkind to her, but she felt no sense of +gratitude, nor, on the other hand, any sense of hatred. The +brains, incapable themselves of any of the finer sentiments, +awoke none in her. She could not feel gratitude, or affection, or +hatred of them. There was only the same unceasing sense of horror +in their presence. She had heard great scientists discuss the +future of the red race and she recalled that some had maintained +that eventually the brain would entirely dominate the man. There +would be no more instinctive acts or emotions, nothing would be +done on impulse; but on the contrary reason would direct our +every act. The propounder of the theory regretted that he might +never enjoy the blessings of such a state, which, he argued, +would result in the ideal life for mankind. + +Tara of Helium wished with all her heart that this learned +scientist might be here to experience to the full the practical +results of the fulfillment of his prophecy. Between the purely +physical rykor and the purely mental kaldane there was little +choice; but in the happy medium of normal, and imperfect man, as +she knew him, lay the most desirable state of existence. It would +have been a splendid object lesson, she thought, to all those +idealists who seek mass perfection in any phase of human +endeavor, since here they might discover the truth that absolute +perfection is as little to be desired as is its antithesis. + +Gloomy were the thoughts that filled the mind of Tara of Helium +as she awaited the summons from Luud--the summons that could mean +for her but one thing; death. She guessed why he had sent for her +and she knew that she must find the means for self-destruction +before the night was over; but still she clung to hope and to +life. She would not give up until there was no other way. She +startled Ghek once by exclaiming aloud, almost fiercely: "I still +live!" + +"What do you mean?" asked the kaldane. + +"I mean just what I say," she replied. "I still live and while I +live I may still find a way. Dead, there is no hope." + +"Find a way to what?" he asked. + +"To life and liberty and mine own people," she responded. + +"None who enters Bantoom ever leaves," he droned. + +She did not reply and after a time he spoke again. "Sing to me," +he said. + +It was while she was singing that four warriors came to take her +to Luud. They told Ghek that he was to remain where he was. + +"Why?" asked Ghek. + +"You have displeased Luud," replied one of the warriors. + +"How?" demanded Ghek. + +"You have demonstrated a lack of uncontaminated reasoning power. +You have permitted sentiment to influence you, thus demonstrating +that you are a defective. You know the fate of defectives." + +"I know the fate of defectives, but I am no defective," insisted +Ghek. + +"You permitted the strange noises which issue from her throat to +please and soothe you, knowing well that their origin and purpose +had nothing whatever to do with logic or the powers of reason. +This in itself constitutes an unimpeachable indictment of +weakness. Then, influenced doubtless by an illogical feeling of +sentiment, you permitted her to walk abroad in the fields to a +place where she was able to make an almost successful attempt to +escape. Your own reasoning power, were it not defective, would +convince you that you are unfit. The natural, and reasonable, +consequence is destruction. Therefore you will be destroyed in +such a way that the example will be beneficial to all other +kaldanes of the swarm of Luud. In the meantime you will remain +where you are." + +"You are right," said Ghek. "I will remain here until Luud sees +fit to destroy me in the most reasonable manner." + +Tara of Helium shot a look of amazement at him as they led her +from the chamber. Over her shoulder she called back to him: +"Remember, Ghek, you still live!" Then they led her along the +interminable tunnels to where Luud awaited her. + +When she was conducted into his presence he was squatting in a +corner of the chamber upon his six spidery legs. Near the +opposite wall lay his rykor, its beautiful form trapped in +gorgeous harness--a dead thing without a guiding kaldane. Luud +dismissed the warriors who had accompanied the prisoner. Then he +sat with his terrible eyes fixed upon her and without speaking +for some time. Tara of Helium could but wait. What was to come +she could only guess. When it came would be sufficiently the time +to meet it. There was no necessity for anticipating the end. +Presently Luud spoke. + +"You think to escape," he said, in the deadly, expressionless +monotone of his kind--the only possible result of orally +expressing reason uninfluenced by sentiment. "You will not +escape. You are merely the embodiment of two imperfect things--an +imperfect brain and an imperfect body. The two cannot exist +together in perfection. There you see a perfect body." He pointed +toward the rykor. "It has no brain. Here," and he raised one of +his chelae to his head, "is the perfect brain. It needs no body +to function perfectly and properly as a brain. You would pit your +feeble intellect against mine! Even now you are planning to slay +me. If you are thwarted in that you expect to slay yourself. You +will learn the power of mind over matter. I am the mind. You are +the matter. What brain you have is too weak and ill-developed to +deserve the name of brain. You have permitted it to be weakened +by impulsive acts dictated by sentiment. It has no value. It has +practically no control over your existence. You will not kill me. +You will not kill yourself. When I am through with you you shall +be killed if it seems the logical thing to do. You have no +conception of the possibilities for power which lie in a +perfectly developed brain. Look at that rykor. He has no brain. +He can move but slightly of his own volition. An inherent +mechanical instinct that we have permitted to remain in him +allows him to carry food to his mouth; but he could not find food +for himself. We have to place it within his reach and always in +the same place. Should we put food at his feet and leave him +alone he would starve to death. But now watch what a real brain +may accomplish." + +He turned his eyes upon the rykor and squatted there glaring at +the insensate thing. Presently, to the girl's horror, the +headless body moved. It rose slowly to its feet and crossed the +room to Luud; it stooped and took the hideous head in its hands; +it raised the head and set it on its shoulders. + +"What chance have you against such power?" asked Luud. "As I did +with the rykor so can I do with you." + +Tara of Helium made no reply. Evidently no vocal reply was +necessary. + +"You doubt my ability!" stated Luud, which was precisely the +fact, though the girl had only thought it--she had not said it. + +Luud crossed the room and lay down. Then he detached himself from +the body and crawled across the floor until he stood directly in +front of the circular opening through which she had seen him +emerge the day that she had first been brought to his presence. +He stopped there and fastened his terrible eyes upon her. He did +not speak, but his eyes seemed to be boring straight to the +center of her brain. She felt an almost irresistible force urging +her toward the kaldane. She fought to resist it; she tried to +turn away her eyes, but she could not. They were held as in +horrid fascination upon the glittering, lidless orbs of the great +brain that faced her. Slowly, every step a painful struggle of +resistance, she moved toward the horrific monster. She tried to +cry aloud in an effort to awaken her numbing faculties, but no +sound passed her lips. If those eyes would but turn away, just +for an instant, she felt that she might regain the power to +control her steps; but the eyes never left hers. They seemed but +to burn deeper and deeper, gathering up every vestige of control +of her entire nervous system. + +As she approached the thing it backed slowly away upon its spider +legs. She noticed that its chelae waved slowly to and fro before +it as it backed, backed, backed, through the round aperture in +the wall. Must she follow it there, too? What new and nameless +horror lay concealed in that hidden chamber? No! she would not do +it. Yet before she reached the wall she found herself down and +crawling upon her hands and knees straight toward the hole from +which the two eyes still clung to hers. At the very threshold of +the opening she made a last, heroic stand, battling against the +force that drew her on; but in the end she succumbed. With a gasp +that ended in a sob Tara of Helium passed through the aperture +into the chamber beyond. + +The opening was but barely large enough to admit her. Upon the +opposite side she found herself in a small chamber. Before her +squatted Luud. Against the opposite wall lay a large and +beautiful male rykor. He was without harness or other trappings. + +"You see now," said Luud, "the futility of revolt." + +The words seemed to release her momentarily from the spell. +Quickly she turned away her eyes. + +"Look at me!" commanded Luud. + +Tara of Helium kept her eyes averted. She felt a new strength, or +at least a diminution of the creature's power over her. Had she +stumbled upon the secret of its uncanny domination over her will? +She dared not hope. With eyes averted she turned toward the +aperture through which those baleful eyes had drawn her. Again +Luud commanded her to stop, but the voice alone lacked all +authority to influence her. It was not like the eyes. She heard +the creature whistle and knew that it was summoning assistance, +but because she did not dare look toward it she did not see it +turn and concentrate its gaze upon the great, headless body lying +by the further wall. + +The girl was still slightly under the spell of the creature's +influence--she had not regained full and independent domination +of her powers. She moved as one in the throes of some hideous +nightmare--slowly, painfully, as though each limb was hampered by +a great weight, or as she were dragging her body through a +viscous fluid. The aperture was close, ah, so close, yet, +struggle as she would, she seemed to be making no appreciable +progress toward it. + +Behind her, urged on by the malevolent power of the great brain, +the headless body crawled upon all-fours toward her. At last she +had reached the aperture. Something seemed to tell her that once +beyond it the domination of the kaldane would be broken. She was +almost through into the adjoining chamber when she felt a heavy +hand close upon her ankle. The rykor had reached forth and seized +her, and though she struggled the thing dragged her back into the +room with Luud. It held her tight and drew her close, and then, +to her horror, it commenced to caress her. + +"You see now," she heard Luud's dull voice, "the futility of +revolt--and its punishment." + +Tara of Helium fought to defend herself, but pitifully weak were +her muscles against this brainless incarnation of brute power. +Yet she fought, fought on in the face of hopeless odds for the +honor of the proud name she bore--fought alone, she whom the +fighting men of a mighty empire, the flower of Martian chivalry, +would gladly have lain down their lives to save. + + + +CHAPTER VII + +A REPELLENT SIGHT + +The cruiser Vanator careened through the tempest. That she had not +been dashed to the ground, or twisted by the force of the +elements into tangled wreckage, was due entirely to the caprice +of Nature. For all the duration of the storm she rode, a helpless +derelict, upon those storm-tossed waves of wind. But for all the +dangers and vicissitudes they underwent, she and her crew might +have borne charmed lives up to within an hour of the abating of +the hurricane. It was then that the catastrophe occurred--a +catastrophe indeed to the crew of the Vanator and the kingdom of +Gathol. + +The men had been without food or drink since leaving Helium, and +they had been hurled about and buffeted in their lashings until +all were worn to exhaustion. There was a brief lull in the storm +during which one of the crew attempted to reach his quarters, +after releasing the lashings which had held him to the precarious +safety of the deck. The act in itself was a direct violation of +orders and, in the eyes of the other members of the crew, the +effect, which came with startling suddenness, took the form of a +swift and terrible retribution. Scarce had the man released the +safety snaps ere a swift arm of the storm-monster encircled the +ship, rolling it over and over, with the result that the +foolhardy warrior went overboard at the first turn. + +Unloosed from their lashing by the constant turning and twisting +of the ship and the force of the wind, the boarding and landing +tackle had been trailing beneath the keel, a tangled mass of +cordage and leather. Upon the occasions that the Vanator rolled +completely over, these things would be wrapped around her until +another revolution in the opposite direction, or the wind itself, +carried them once again clear of the deck to trail, whipping in +the storm, beneath the hurtling ship. + +Into this fell the body of the warrior, and as a drowning man +clutches at a straw so the fellow clutched at the tangled cordage +that caught him and arrested his fall. With the strength of +desperation he clung to the cordage, seeking frantically to +entangle his legs and body in it. With each jerk of the ship his +hand holds were all but torn loose, and though he knew that +eventually they would be and that he must be dashed to the ground +beneath, yet he fought with the madness that is born of +hopelessness for the pitiful second which but prolonged his +agony. + +It was upon this sight then that Gahan of Gathol looked, over the +edge of the careening deck of the Vanator, as he sought to learn +the fate of his warrior. Lashed to the gunwale close at hand a +single landing leather that had not fouled the tangled mass +beneath whipped free from the ship's side, the hook snapping at +its outer end. The Jed of Gathol grasped the situation in a +single glance. Below him one of his people looked into the eyes +of Death. To the jed's hand lay the means for succor. + +There was no instant's hesitation. Casting off his deck lashings, +he seized the landing leather and slipped over the ship's side. +Swinging like a bob upon a mad pendulum he swung far out and back +again, turning and twisting three thousand feet above the surface +of Barsoom, and then, at last, the thing he had hoped for +occurred. He was carried within reach of the cordage where the +warrior still clung, though with rapidly diminishing strength. +Catching one leg on a loop of the tangled strands Gahan pulled +himself close enough to seize another quite near to the fellow. +Clinging precariously to this new hold the jed slowly drew in the +landing leather, down which he had clambered until he could grasp +the hook at its end. This he fastened to a ring in the warrior's +harness, just before the man's weakened fingers slipped from +their hold upon the cordage. + +Temporarily, at least, he had saved the life of his subject, +and now he turned his attention toward insuring his own safety. +Inextricably entangled in the mess to which he was clinging were +numerous other landing hooks such as he had attached to the +warrior's harness, and with one of these he sought to secure +himself until the storm should abate sufficiently to permit him +to climb to the deck, but even as he reached for one that swung +near him the ship was caught in a renewed burst of the storm's +fury, the thrashing cordage whipped and snapped to the lunging of +the great craft and one of the heavy metal hooks, lashing through +the air, struck the Jed of Gathol fair between the eyes. + +Momentarily stunned, Gahan's fingers slipped from their hold upon +the cordage and the man shot downward through the thin air of +dying Mars toward the ground three thousand feet beneath, while +upon the deck of the rolling Vanator his faithful warriors clung +to their lashings all unconscious of the fate of their beloved +leader; nor was it until more than an hour later, after the storm +had materially subsided, that they realized he was lost, or knew +the self-sacrificing heroism of the act that had sealed his doom. +The Vanator now rested upon an even keel as she was carried along +by a strong, though steady, wind. The warriors had cast off their +deck lashings and the officers were taking account of losses and +damage when a weak cry was heard from oversides, attracting their +attention to the man hanging in the cordage beneath the keel. +Strong arms hoisted him to the deck and then it was that the +crew of the Vanator learned of the heroism of their jed and his +end. How far they had traveled since his loss they could only +vaguely guess, nor could they return in search of him in the +disabled condition of the ship. It was a saddened company that +drifted onward through the air toward whatever destination Fate +was to choose for them. + +And Gahan, Jed of Gathol--what of him? Plummet-like he fell for a +thousand feet and then the storm seized him in its giant clutch +and bore him far aloft again. As a bit of paper borne upon a gale +he was tossed about in mid-air, the sport and plaything of the +wind. Over and over it turned him and upward and downward it +carried him, but after each new sally of the element he was +brought nearer to the ground. The freaks of cyclonic storms are +the rule of cyclonic storms, demolish giant trees, and in the +same gust they transport frail infants for miles and deposit them +unharmed in their wake. + +And so it was with Gahan of Gathol. Expecting momentarily to be +dashed to destruction he presently found himself deposited gently +upon the soft, ochre moss of a dead sea-bottom, bodily no worse +off for his harrowing adventure than in the possession of a +slight swelling upon his forehead where the metal hook had struck +him. Scarcely able to believe that Fate had dealt thus gently +with him, the jed arose slowly, as though more than half +convinced that he should discover crushed and splintered bones +that would not support his weight. But he was intact. He looked +about him in a vain effort at orientation. The air was filled +with flying dust and debris. The Sun was obliterated. His vision +was confined to a radius of a few hundred yards of ochre moss and +dust-filled air. Five hundred yards away in any direction there +might have arisen the walls of a great city and he not known it. +It was useless to move from where he was until the air cleared, +since he could not know in what direction he was moving, and so +he stretched himself upon the moss and waited, pondering the fate +of his warriors and his ship, but giving little thought to his +own precarious situation. + +Lashed to his harness were his swords, his pistols, and a dagger, +and in his pocket-pouch a small quantity of the concentrated +rations that form a part of the equipment of the fighting men of +Barsoom. These things together with trained muscles, high +courage, and an undaunted spirit sufficed him for whatever +misadventures might lie between him and Gathol, which lay in what +direction he knew not, nor at what distance. + +The wind was falling rapidly and with it the dust that obscured +the landscape. That the storm was over he was convinced, but he +chafed at the inactivity the low visibility put upon him, nor did +conditions better materially before night fell, so that he was +forced to await the new day at the very spot at which the tempest +had deposited him. Without his sleeping silks and furs he spent a +far from comfortable night, and it was with feelings of unmixed +relief that he saw the sudden dawn burst upon him. The air was +now clear and in the light of the new day he saw an undulating +plain stretching in all directions about him, while to the +northwest there were barely discernible the outlines of low +hills. Toward the southeast of Gathol was such a country, and as +Gahan surmised the direction and the velocity of the storm to +have carried him somewhere in the vicinity of the country he +thought he recognized, he assumed that Gathol lay behind the +hills he now saw, whereas, in reality, it lay far to the +northeast. + +It was two days before Gahan had crossed the plain and reached +the summit of the hills from which he hoped to see his own +country, only to meet at last with disappointment. Before him +stretched another plain, of even greater proportions than that he +had but just crossed, and beyond this other hills. In one +material respect this plain differed from that behind him in that +it was dotted with occasional isolated hills. Convinced, however, +that Gathol lay somewhere in the direction of his search he +descended into the valley and bent his steps toward the +northwest. + +For weeks Gahan of Gathol crossed valleys and hills in search of +some familiar landmark that might point his way toward his native +land, but the summit of each succeeding ridge revealed but +another unfamiliar view. He saw few animals and no men, until he +finally came to the belief that he had fallen upon that fabled +area of ancient Barsoom which lay under the curse of her olden +gods--the once rich and fertile country whose people in their +pride and arrogance had denied the deities, and whose punishment +had been extermination. + +And then, one day, he scaled low hills and looked into an +inhabited valley--a valley of trees and cultivated fields and +plots of ground enclosed by stone walls surrounding strange +towers. He saw people working in the fields, but he did not rush +down to greet them. First he must know more of them and whether +they might be assumed to be friends or enemies. Hidden by +concealing shrubbery he crawled to a vantage point upon a hill +that projected further into the valley, and here he lay upon +his belly watching the workers closest to him. They were still +quite a distance from him and he could not be quite sure of them, +but there was something verging upon the unnatural about them. +Their heads seemed out of proportion to their bodies--too large. + +For a long time he lay watching them and ever more forcibly it +was borne in upon his consciousness that they were not as he, and +that it would be rash to trust himself among them. Presently he +saw a couple appear from the nearest enclosure and slowly +approach those who were working nearest to the hill where he lay +in hiding. Immediately he was aware that one of these differed +from all the others. Even at the greater distance he noted that +the head was smaller and as they approached, he was confident +that the harness of one of them was not as the harness of its +companion or of that of any of those who tilled the fields. + +The two stopped often, apparently in argument, as though one +would proceed in the direction that they were going while the +other demurred. But each time the smaller won reluctant consent +from the other, and so they came closer and closer to the last +line of workers toiling between the enclosure from which they had +come and the hill where Gahan of Gathol lay watching, and then +suddenly the smaller figure struck its companion full in the +face. Gahan, horrified, saw the latter's head topple from its +body, saw the body stagger and fall to the ground. The man half +rose from his concealment the better to view the happening in the +valley below. The creature that had felled its companion was +dashing madly in the direction of the hill upon which he was +hidden, it dodged one of the workers that sought to seize it. +Gahan hoped that it would gain its liberty, why he did not know +other than at closer range it had every appearance of being a +creature of his own race. Then he saw it stumble and go down and +instantly its pursuers were upon it. Then it was that Gahan's +eyes chanced to return to the figure of the creature the fugitive +had felled. + +What horror was this that he was witnessing? Or were his eyes +playing some ghastly joke upon him? No, impossible though it +was--it was true--the head was moving slowly to the fallen body. +It placed itself upon the shoulders, the body rose, and the +creature, seemingly as good as new, ran quickly to where its +fellows were dragging the hapless captive to its feet. + +The watcher saw the creature take its prisoner by the arm and +lead it back to the enclosure, and even across the distance that +separated them from him he could note dejection and utter +hopelessness in the bearing of the prisoner, and, too, he was +half convinced that it was a woman, perhaps a red Martian of his +own race. Could he be sure that this was true he must make some +effort to rescue her even though the customs of his strange world +required it only in case she was of his own country; but he was +not sure; she might not be a red Martian at all, or, if she were, +it was as possible that she sprang from an enemy people as not. +His first duty was to return to his own people with as little +personal risk as possible, and though the thought of adventure +stirred his blood he put the temptation aside with a sigh and +turned away from the peaceful and beautiful valley that he longed +to enter, for it was his intention to skirt its eastern edge and +continue his search for Gathol beyond. + +As Gahan of Gathol turned his steps along the southern slopes of +the hills that bound Bantoom upon the south and east, his +attention was attracted toward a small cluster of trees a short +distance to his right. The low sun was casting long shadows. It +would soon be night. The trees were off the path that he had +chosen and he had little mind to be diverted from his way; but as +he looked again he hesitated. There was something there besides +boles of trees, and underbrush. There were suggestions of +familiar lines of the handicraft of man. Gahan stopped and +strained his eyes in the direction of the thing that had arrested +his attention. No, he must be mistaken--the branches of the trees +and a low bush had taken on an unnatural semblance in the +horizontal rays of the setting sun. He turned and continued upon +his way; but as he cast another side glance in the direction of +the object of his interest, the sun's rays were shot back into +his eyes from a glistening point of radiance among the trees. + +Gahan shook his head and walked quickly toward the mystery, +determined now to solve it. The shining object still lured him on +and when he had come closer to it his eyes went wide in surprise, +for the thing they saw was naught else than the jewel-encrusted +emblem upon the prow of a small flier. Gahan, his hand upon his +short-sword, moved silently forward, but as he neared the craft +he saw that he had naught to fear, for it was deserted. Then he +turned his attention toward the emblem. As its significance was +flashed to his understanding his face paled and his heart went +cold--it was the insignia of the house of The Warlord of +Barsoom. Instantly he saw the dejected figure of the captive +being led back to her prison in the valley just beyond the hills. +Tara of Helium! And he had been so near to deserting her to her +fate. The cold sweat stood in beads upon his brow. + +A hasty examination of the deserted craft unfolded to the young +jed the whole tragic story. The same tempest that had proved his +undoing had borne Tara of Helium to this distant country. Here, +doubtless, she had landed in hope of obtaining food and water +since, without a propellor, she could not hope to reach her +native city, or any other friendly port, other than by the merest +caprice of Fate. The flier seemed intact except for the missing +propellor and the fact that it had been carefully moored in the +shelter of the clump of trees indicated that the girl had +expected to return to it, while the dust and leaves upon its deck +spoke of the long days, and even weeks, since she had landed. +Mute yet eloquent proofs, these things, that Tara of Helium was a +prisoner, and that she was the very prisoner whose bold dash for +liberty he had so recently witnessed he now had not the slightest +doubt. + +The question now revolved solely about her rescue. He knew to +which tower she had been taken--that much and no more. Of the +number, the kind, or the disposition of her captors he knew +nothing; nor did he care--for Tara of Helium he would face a +hostile world alone. Rapidly he considered several plans for +succoring her; but the one that appealed most strongly to him was +that which offered the greatest chance of escape for the girl +should he be successful in reaching her. His decision reached he +turned his attention quickly toward the flier. Casting off its +lashings he dragged it out from beneath the trees, and, mounting +to the deck tested out the various controls. The motor started at +a touch and purred sweetly, the buoyancy tanks were well stocked, +and the ship answered perfectly to the controls which regulated +her altitude. There was nothing needed but a propellor to make +her fit for the long voyage to Helium. Gahan shrugged +impatiently--there must not be a propellor within a thousand +haads. But what mattered it? The craft even without a propellor +would still answer the purpose his plan required of it--provided +the captors of Tara of Helium were a people without ships, and he +had seen nothing to suggest that they had ships. The architecture +of their towers and enclosures assured him that they had not. + +The sudden Barsoomian night had fallen. Cluros rode majestically +the high heavens. The rumbling roar of a banth reverberated among +the hills. Gahan of Gathol let the ship rise a few feet from the +ground, then, seizing a bow rope, he dropped over the side. To +tow the little craft was now a thing of ease, and as Gahan moved +rapidly toward the brow of the hill above Bantoom the flier +floated behind him as lightly as a swan upon a quiet lake. Now +down the hill toward the tower dimly visible in the moonlight the +Gatholian turned his steps. Closer behind him sounded the roar of +the hunting banth. He wondered if the beast sought him or was +following some other spoor. He could not be delayed now by any +hungry beast of prey, for what might that very instant be +befalling Tara of Helium he could not guess; and so he hastened +his steps. But closer and closer came the horrid screams of the +great carnivore, and now he heard the swift fall of padded feet +upon the hillside behind him. He glanced back just in time to see +the beast break into a rapid charge. His hand leaped to the hilt +of his long-sword, but he did not draw, for in the same instant +he saw the futility of armed resistance, since behind the first +banth came a herd of at least a dozen others. There was but a +single alternative to a futile stand and that he grasped in the +instant that he saw the overwhelming numbers of his antagonists. + +Springing lightly from the ground he swarmed up the rope toward +the bow of the flier. His weight drew the craft slightly lower +and at the very instant that the man drew himself to the deck at +the bow of the vessel, the leading banth sprang for the stern. +Gahan leaped to his feet and rushed toward the great beast in the +hope of dislodging it before it had succeeded in clambering +aboard. At the same instant he saw that others of the banths were +racing toward them with the quite evident intention of following +their leader to the ship's deck. Should they reach it in any +numbers he would be lost. There was but a single hope. Leaping +for the altitude control Gahan pulled it wide. Simultaneously +three banths leaped for the deck. The craft rose swiftly. Gahan +felt the impact of a body against the keel, followed by the soft +thuds of the great bodies as they struck the ground beneath. His +act had not been an instant too soon. And now the leader had +gained the deck and stood at the stern with glaring eyes and +snarling jaws. Gahan drew his sword. The beast, possibly +disconcerted by the novelty of its position, did not charge. +Instead it crept slowly toward its intended prey. The craft was +rising and Gahan placed a foot upon the control and stopped the +ascent. He did not wish to chance rising to some higher air +current that would bear him away. Already the craft was moving +slowly toward the tower, carried thither by the impetus of the +banth's heavy body leaping upon it from astern. + +The man watched the slow approach of the monster, the slavering +jowls, the malignant expression of the devilish face. The +creature, finding the deck stable, appeared to be gaining +confidence, and then the man leaped suddenly to one side of the +deck and the tiny flier heeled as suddenly in response. The banth +slipped and clutched frantically at the deck. Gahan leaped in +with his naked sword; the great beast caught itself and reared +upon its hind legs to reach forth and seize this presumptuous +mortal that dared question its right to the flesh it craved; and +then the man sprang to the opposite side of the deck. The banth +toppled sideways at the same instant that it attempted to spring; +a raking talon passed close to Gahan's head at the moment that +his sword lunged through the savage heart, and as the warrior +wrenched his blade from the carcass it slipped silently over the +side of the ship. + +A glance below showed that the vessel was drifting in the +direction of the tower to which Gahan had seen the prisoner led. +In another moment or two it would be directly over it. The man +sprang to the control and let the craft drop quickly toward the +ground where followed the banths, still hot for their prey. To +land outside the enclosure spelled certain death, while inside he +could see many forms huddled upon the ground as in sleep. The +ship floated now but a few feet above the wall of the enclosure. +There was nothing for it but to risk all on a bold bid for +fortune, or drift helplessly past without hope of returning +through the banth-infested valley, from many points of which he +could now hear the roars and growls of these fierce Barsoomian +lions. + +Slipping over the side Gahan descended by the trailing +anchor-rope until his feet touched the top of the wall, where he +had no difficulty in arresting the slow drifting of the ship. +Then he drew up the anchor and lowered it inside the enclosure. +Still there was no movement upon the part of the sleepers +beneath--they lay as dead men. Dull lights shone from openings in +the tower; but there was no sign of guard or waking inmate. +Clinging to the rope Gahan lowered himself within the enclosure, +where he had his first close view of the creatures lying there in +what he had thought sleep. With a half smothered exclamation of +horror the man drew back from the headless bodies of the rykors. +At first he thought them the corpses of decapitated humans like +himself, which was quite bad enough; but when he saw them move +and realized that they were endowed with life, his horror and +disgust became even greater. + +Here then was the explanation of the thing he had witnessed that +afternoon, when Tara of Helium had struck the back to its body. +And to think that the pearl of Helium was in the power of such +hideous things as these. Again the man shuddered, but he hastened +to make fast the flier, clamber again to its deck and lower it to +the floor of the enclosure. Then he strode toward a door in the +base of the tower, stepping lightly over the recumbent forms of +the unconscious rykors, and crossing the threshold disappeared +within. + + + +CHAPTER VIII + +CLOSE WORK + +Ghek, in his happier days third foreman of the fields of Luud, +sat nursing his anger and his humiliation. Recently something had +awakened within him the existence of which he had never before +even dreamed. Had the influence of the strange captive woman +aught to do with this unrest and dissatisfaction? He did not +know. He missed the soothing influence of the noise she called +singing. Could it be that there were other things more desirable +than cold logic and undefiled brain power? Was well balanced +imperfection more to be sought after then, than the high +development of a single characteristic? He thought of the great, +ultimate brain toward which all kaldanes were striving. It would +be deaf, and dumb, and blind. A thousand beautiful strangers +might sing and dance about it, but it could derive no pleasure +from the singing or the dancing since it would possess no +perceptive faculties. Already had the kaldanes shut themselves +off from most of the gratifications of the senses. Ghek wondered +if much was to be gained by denying themselves still further, and +with the thought came a question as to the whole fabric of their +theory. After all perhaps the girl was right; what purpose could +a great brain serve sealed in the bowels of the earth? + +And he, Ghek, was to die for this theory. Luud had decreed it. +The injustice of it overwhelmed him with rage. But he was +helpless. There was no escape. Beyond the enclosure the banths +awaited him; within, his own kind, equally as merciless and +ferocious. Among them there was no such thing as love, or +loyalty, or friendship--they were just brains. He might kill +Luud; but what would that profit him? Another king would be +loosed from his sealed chamber and Ghek would be killed. He did +not know it but he would not even have the poor satisfaction of +satisfied revenge, since he was not capable of feeling so +abstruse a sentiment. + +Ghek, mounted upon his rykor, paced the floor of the tower +chamber in which he had been ordered to remain. Ordinarily he +would have accepted the sentence of Luud with perfect equanimity, +since it was but the logical result of reason; but now it seemed +different. The stranger woman had bewitched him. Life appeared a +pleasant thing--there were great possibilities in it. The dream +of the ultimate brain had receded into a tenuous haze far in the +background of his thoughts. + +At that moment there appeared in the doorway of the chamber a red +warrior with naked sword. He was a male counterpart of the +prisoner whose sweet voice had undermined the cold, calculating +reason of the kaldane. + +"Silence!" admonished the newcomer, his straight brows gathered +in an ominous frown and the point of his longsword playing +menacingly before the eyes of the kaldane. "I seek the woman, +Tara of Helium. Where is she? If you value your life speak +quickly and speak the truth." + +If he valued his life! It was a truth that Ghek had but just +learned. He thought quickly. After all, a great brain is not +without its uses. Perhaps here lay escape from the sentence of +Luud. + +"You are of her kind?" he asked. "You come to rescue her?" + +"Yes." + +"Listen, then. I have befriended her, and because of this I am to +die. If I help you to liberate her, will you take me with you?" + +Gahan of Gathol eyed the weird creature from crown to foot--the +perfect body, the grotesque head, the expressionless face. Among +such as these had the beautiful daughter of Helium been held +captive for days and weeks. + +"If she lives and is unharmed," he said, "I will take you with +us." + +"When they took her from me she was alive and unharmed," replied +Ghek. "I cannot say what has befallen her since. Luud sent for +her." + +"Who is Luud? Where is he? Lead me to him." Gahan spoke quickly +in tones vibrant with authority. + +"Come, then," said Ghek, leading the way from the apartment and +down a stairway toward the underground burrows of the kaldanes. +"Luud is my king. I will take you to his chambers." + +"Hasten!" urged Gahan. + +"Sheathe your sword," warned Ghek, "so that should we pass others +of my kind I may say to them that you are a new prisoner with +some likelihood of winning their belief." + +Gahan did as he was bid, but warning the kaldane that his hand +was ever ready at his dagger's hilt. + +"You need have no fear of treachery," said Ghek "My only hope of +life lies in you." + +"And if you fail me," Gahan admonished him, "I can promise you as +sure a death as even your king might guarantee you." + +Ghek made no reply, but moved rapidly through the winding +subterranean corridors until Gahan began to realize how truly was +he in the hands of this strange monster. If the fellow should +prove false it would profit Gahan nothing to slay him, since +without his guidance the red man might never hope to retrace his +way to the tower and freedom. + +Twice they met and were accosted by other kaldanes; but in both +instances Ghek's simple statement that he was taking a new +prisoner to Luud appeared to allay all suspicion, and then at +last they came to the ante-chamber of the king. + +"Here, now, red man, thou must fight, if ever," whispered Ghek. +"Enter there!" and he pointed to a doorway before them. + +"And you?" asked Gahan, still fearful of treachery. + +"My rykor is powerful," replied the kaldane. "I shall accompany +you and fight at your side. As well die thus as in torture later +at the will of Luud. Come!" + +But Gahan had already crossed the room and entered the chamber +beyond. Upon the opposite side of the room was a circular opening +guarded by two warriors. Beyond this opening he could see two +figures struggling upon the floor, and the fleeting glimpse he +had of one of the faces suddenly endowed him with the strength of +ten warriors and the ferocity of a wounded banth. It was Tara of +Helium, fighting for her honor or her life. + +The warriors, startled by the unexpected appearance of a red man, +stood for a moment in dumb amazement, and in that moment Gahan of +Gathol was upon them, and one was down, a sword-thrust through +its heart. + +"Strike at the heads," whispered the voice of Ghek in Gahan's +ear. The latter saw the head of the fallen warrior crawl quickly +within the aperture leading to the chamber where he had seen Tara +of Helium in the clutches of a headless body. Then the sword of +Ghek struck the kaldane of the remaining warrior from its rykor +and Gahan ran his sword through the repulsive head. + +Instantly the red warrior leaped for the aperture, while close +behind him came Ghek. + +"Look not upon the eyes of Luud," warned the kaldane, "or you are +lost." + +Within the chamber Gahan saw Tara of Helium in the clutches of a +mighty body, while close to the wall upon the opposite side of +the apartment crouched the hideous, spider-like Luud. Instantly +the king realized the menace to himself and sought to fasten his +eyes upon the eyes of Gahan, and in doing so he was forced to +relax his concentration upon the rykor in whose embraces Tara +struggled, so that almost immediately the girl found herself able +to tear away from the awful, headless thing. + +As she rose quickly to her feet she saw for the first time the +cause of the interruption of Luud's plans. A red warrior! Her +heart leaped in rejoicing and thanksgiving. What miracle of fate +had sent him to her? She did not recognize him, though, this +travel-worn warrior in the plain harness which showed no single +jewel. How could she have guessed him the same as the scintillant +creature of platinum and diamonds that she had seen for a brief +hour under such different circumstances at the court of her +august sire? + +Luud saw Ghek following the strange warrior into the chamber. +"Strike him down, Ghek!" commanded the king. "Strike down the +stranger and your life shall be yours." + +Gahan glanced at the hideous face of the king. + +"Seek not his eyes," screamed Tara in warning; but it was too +late. Already the horrid hypnotic gaze of the king kaldane had +seized upon the eyes of Gahan. The red warrior hesitated in his +stride. His sword point drooped slowly toward the floor. Tara +glanced toward Ghek. She saw the creature glaring with his +expressionless eyes upon the broad back of the stranger. She saw +the hand of the creature's rykor creeping stealthily toward the +hilt of its dagger. + +And then Tara of Helium raised her eyes aloft and poured forth +the notes of Mars' most beautiful melody, The Song of Love. + +Ghek drew his dagger from its sheath. His eyes turned toward the +singing girl. Luud's glance wavered from the eyes of the man to +the face of Tara, and the instant that the latter's song +distracted his attention from his victim, Gahan of Gathol shook +himself and as with a supreme effort of will forced his eyes to +the wall above Luud's hideous head. Ghek raised his dagger above +his right shoulder, took a single quick step forward, and struck. +The girl's song ended in a stifled scream as she leaped forward +with the evident intention of frustrating the kaldane's purpose; +but she was too late, and well it was, for an instant later she +realized the purpose of Ghek's act as she saw the dagger fly from +his hand, pass Gahan's shoulder, and sink full to the guard in +the soft face of Luud. + +"Come!" cried the assassin, "we have no time to lose," and +started for the aperture through which they had entered the +chamber; but in his stride he paused as his glance was arrested +by the form of the mighty rykor lying prone upon the floor--a +king's rykor; the most beautiful, the most powerful, that the +breeders of Bantoom could produce. Ghek realized that in his +escape he could take with him but a single rykor, and there was +none in Bantoom that could give him better service than this +giant lying here. Quickly he transferred himself to the shoulders +of the great, inert hulk. Instantly the latter was transformed to +a sentient creature, filled with pulsing life and alert energy. + +"Now," said the kaldane, "we are ready. Let whoso would revert to +nothingness impede me." Even as he spoke he stooped and crawled +into the chamber beyond, while Gahan, taking Tara by the arm, +motioned her to follow. The girl looked him full in the eyes for +the first time. "The Gods of my people have been kind," she said; +"you came just in time. To the thanks of Tara of Helium shall be +added those of The Warlord of Barsoom and his people. Thy reward +shall surpass thy greatest desires." + +Gahan of Gathol saw that she did not recognize him, and quickly +he checked the warm greeting that had been upon his lips. + +"Be thou Tara of Helium or another," he replied, "is immaterial, +to serve thus a red woman of Barsoom is in itself sufficient +reward." + +As they spoke the girl was making her way through the aperture +after Ghek, and presently all three had quitted the apartments of +Luud and were moving rapidly along the winding corridors toward +the tower. Ghek repeatedly urged them to greater speed, but the +red men of Barsoom were never keen for retreat, and so the two +that followed him moved all too slowly for the kaldane. + +"There are none to impede our progress," urged Gahan, "so why tax +the strength of the Princess by needless haste?" + +"I fear not so much opposition ahead, for there are none there +who know the thing that has been done in Luud's chambers this +night; but the kaldane of one of the warriors who stood guard +before Luud's apartment escaped, and you may count it a truth +that he lost no time in seeking aid. That it did not come before +we left is due solely to the rapidity with which events +transpired in the king's* room. Long before we reach the tower +they will be upon us from behind, and that they will come in +numbers far superior to ours and with great and powerful rykors I +well know." + +* I have used the word king in describing the rulers or chiefs of +the Bantoomian swarms, since the word itself is unpronounceable +in English, nor does jed or jeddak of the red Martian tongue have +quite the same meaning as the Bantoomian word, which has +practically the same significance as the English word queen as +applied to the leader of a swarm of bees.--J. C. + + +Nor was Ghek's prophecy long in fulfilment. Presently the sounds +of pursuit became audible in the distant clanking of +accouterments and the whistling call to arms of the kaldanes. + +"The tower is but a short distance now," cried Ghek. "Make haste +while yet you may, and if we can barricade it until the sun rises +we may yet escape." + +"We shall need no barricades for we shall not linger in the +tower," replied Gahan, moving more rapidly as he realized from +the volume of sound behind them the great number of their +pursuers. + +"But we may not go further than the tower tonight," insisted +Ghek. "Beyond the tower await the banths and certain death." + +Gahan smiled. "Fear not the banths," he assured them. "Can we but +reach the enclosure a little ahead of our pursuers we have naught +to fear from any evil power within this accursed valley." + +Ghek made no reply, nor did his expressionless face denote either +belief or skepticism. The girl looked into the face of the man +questioningly. She did not understand. + +"Your flier," he said. "It is moored before the tower." + +Her face lighted with pleasure and relief. "You found it!" she +exclaimed. "What fortune!" + +"It was fortune indeed," he replied. "Since it not only told that +you were a prisoner here; but it saved me from the banths as I +was crossing the valley from the hills to this tower into which I +saw them take you this afternoon after your brave attempt at +escape." + +"How did you know it was I?" she asked, her puzzled brows +scanning his face as though she sought to recall from past +memories some scene in which he figured. + +"Who is there but knows of the loss of the Princess Tara of +Helium?" he replied. "And when I saw the device upon your flier I +knew at once, though I had not known when I saw you among them in +the fields a short time earlier. Too great was the distance for +me to make certain whether the captive was man or woman. Had +chance not divulged the hiding place of your flier I had gone my +way, Tara of Helium. I shudder to think how close was the chance +at that. But for the momentary shining of the sun upon the +emblazoned device on the prow of your craft, I had passed on +unknowing." + +The girl shuddered. "The Gods sent you," she whispered +reverently. + +"The Gods sent me, Tara of Helium," he replied. + +"But I do not recognize you," she said. "I have tried to recall +you, but I have failed. Your name, what may it be?" + +"It is not strange that so great a princess should not recall the +face of every roving panthan of Barsoom," he replied with a +smile. + +"But your name?" insisted the girl. + +"Call me Turan," replied the man, for it had come to him that if +Tara of Helium recognized him as the man whose impetuous avowal +of love had angered her that day in the gardens of The Warlord, +her situation might be rendered infinitely less bearable than +were she to believe him a total stranger. Then, too, as a simple +panthan* he might win a greater degree of her confidence by his +loyalty and faithfulness and a place in her esteem that seemed to +have been closed to the resplendent Jed of Gathol. + +* Soldier of Fortune; free-lance warrior. + + +They had reached the tower now, and as they entered it from the +subterranean corridor a backward glance revealed the van of their +pursuers--hideous kaldanes mounted upon swift and powerful +rykors. As rapidly as might be the three ascended the stairways +leading to the ground level, but after them, even more rapidly, +came the minions of Luud. Ghek led the way, grasping one of +Tara's hands the more easily to guide and assist her, while Gahan +of Gathol followed a few paces in their rear, his bared sword +ready for the assault that all realized must come upon them now +before ever they reached the enclosure and the flier. + +"Let Ghek drop behind to your side," said Tara, "and fight with +you." + +"There is but room for a single blade in these narrow corridors," +replied the Gatholian. "Hasten on with Ghek and win to the deck +of the flier. Have your hand upon the control, and if I come far +enough ahead of these to reach the dangling cable you can rise at +my word and I can clamber to the deck at my leisure; but if one +of them emerges first into the enclosure you will know that I +shall never come, and you will rise quickly and trust to the Gods +of our ancestors to give you a fair breeze in the direction of a +more hospitable people." + +Tara of Helium shook her head. "We will not desert you, panthan," +she said. + +Gahan, ignoring her reply, spoke above her head to Ghek. "Take +her to the craft moored within the enclosure," he commanded. "It +is our only hope. Alone, I may win to its deck; but have I to +wait upon you two at the last moment the chances are that none of +us will escape. Do as I bid." His tone was haughty and +arrogant--the tone of a man who has commanded other men from +birth, and whose will has been law. Tara of Helium was both +angered and vexed. She was not accustomed to being either +commanded or ignored, but with all her royal pride she was no +fool, and she knew the man was right, that he was risking his +life to save hers, so she hastened on with Ghek as she was bid, +and after the first flush of anger she smiled, for the +realization came to her that this fellow was but a rough +untutored warrior, skilled not in the finer usages of cultured +courts. His heart was right, though; a brave and loyal heart, and +gladly she forgave him the offense of his tone and manner. But +what a tone! Recollection of it gave her sudden pause. Panthans +were rough and ready men. Often they rose to positions of high +command, so it was not the note of authority in the fellow's +voice that seemed remarkable; but something else--a quality that +was indefinable, yet as distinct as it was familiar. She had +heard it before when the voice of her great-grandsire, Tardos +Mors, Jeddak of Helium, had risen in command; and in the voice of +her grandfather, Mors Kajak, the jed; and in the ringing tones of +her illustrious sire, John Carter, Warlord of Barsoom, when he +addressed his warriors. + +But now she had no time to speculate upon so trivial a thing, for +behind her came the sudden clash of arms and she knew that Turan, +the panthan, had crossed swords with the first of their pursuers. +As she glanced back he was still visible beyond a turn in the +stairway, so that she could see the quick swordplay that ensued. +Daughter of a world's greatest swordsman, she knew well the +finest points of the art. She saw the clumsy attack of the +kaldane and the quick, sure return of the panthan. As she looked +down from above upon his almost naked body, trapped only in the +simplest of unadorned harness, and saw the play of the lithe +muscles beneath the red-bronze skin, and witnessed the quick and +delicate play of his sword point, to her sense of obligation was +added a spontaneous admission of admiration that was but the +natural tribute of a woman to skill and bravery and, perchance, +some trifle to manly symmetry and strength. + +Three times the panthan's blade changed its position--once to +fend a savage cut; once to feint; and once to thrust. And as he +withdrew it from the last position the kaldane rolled lifeless +from its stumbling rykor and Turan sprang quickly down the steps +to engage the next behind, and then Ghek had drawn Tara upward +and a turn in the stairway shut the battling panthan from her +view; but still she heard the ring of steel on steel, the clank +of accouterments and the shrill whistling of the kaldanes. Her +heart moved her to turn back to the side of her brave defender; +but her judgment told her that she could serve him best by being +ready at the control of the flier at the moment he reached the +enclosure. + + + +CHAPTER IX + +ADRIFT OVER STRANGE REGIONS + +Presently Ghek pushed aside a door that opened from the stairway, +and before them Tara saw the moonlight flooding the walled court +where the headless rykors lay beside their feeding-troughs. She +saw the perfect bodies, muscled as the best of her father's +fighting men, and the females whose figures would have been the +envy of many of Helium's most beautiful women. Ah, if she could +but endow these with the power to act! Then indeed might the +safety of the panthan be assured; but they were only poor lumps +of clay, nor had she the power to quicken them to life. Ever must +they lie thus until dominated by the cold, heartless brain of the +kaldane. The girl sighed in pity even as she shuddered in disgust +as she picked her way over and among the sprawled creatures +toward the flier. + +Quickly she and Ghek mounted to the deck after the latter had +cast off the moorings. Tara tested the control, raising and +lowering the ship a few feet within the walled space. It +responded perfectly. Then she lowered it to the ground again and +waited. From the open doorway came the sounds of conflict, now +nearing them, now receding. The girl, having witnessed her +champion's skill, had little fear of the outcome. Only a single +antagonist could face him at a time upon the narrow stairway, he +had the advantage of position and of the defensive, and he was a +master of the sword while they were clumsy bunglers by +comparison. Their sole advantage was in their numbers, unless +they might find a way to come upon him from behind. + +She paled at the thought. Could she have seen him she might have +been further perturbed, for he took no advantage of many +opportunities to win nearer the enclosure. He fought coolly, but +with a savage persistence that bore little semblance to purely +defensive action. Often he clambered over the body of a fallen +foe to leap against the next behind, and once there lay five dead +kaldanes behind him, so far had he pushed back his antagonists. +They did not know it; these kaldanes that he fought, nor did the +girl awaiting him upon the flier, but Gahan of Gathol was engaged +in a more alluring sport than winning to freedom, for he was +avenging the indignities that had been put upon the woman he +loved; but presently he realized that he might be jeopardizing +her safety uselessly, and so he struck down another before him +and turning leaped quickly up the stairway, while the leading +kaldanes slipped upon the brain-covered floor and stumbled in +pursuit. + +Gahan reached the enclosure twenty paces ahead of them and raced +toward the flier. "Rise!" he shouted to the girl. "I will ascend +the cable." + +Slowly the small craft rose from the ground as Gahan leaped the +inert bodies of the rykors lying in his path. The first of the +pursuers sprang from the tower just as Gahan seized the trailing +rope. + +"Faster!" he shouted to the girl above, "or they will drag us +down!" But the ship seemed scarcely to move, though in reality +she was rising as rapidly as might have been expected of a +one-man flier carrying a load of three. Gahan swung free above +the top of the wall, but the end of the rope still dragged the +ground as the kaldanes reached it. They were pouring in a steady +stream from the tower into the enclosure. The leader seized the +rope. + +"Quick!" he cried. "Lay hold and we will drag them down." + +It needed but the weight of a few to accomplish his design. The +ship was stopped in its flight and then, to the horror of the +girl, she felt it being dragged steadily downward. Gahan, too, +realized the danger and the necessity for instant action. +Clinging to the rope with his left hand, he had wound a leg about +it, leaving his right hand free for his long-sword which he had +not sheathed. A downward cut clove the soft head of a kaldane, +and another severed the taut rope beneath the panthan's feet. The +girl heard a sudden renewal of the shrill whistling of her foes, +and at the same time she realized that the craft was rising +again. Slowly it drifted upward, out of reach of the enemy, and a +moment later she saw the figure of Turan clamber over the side. +For the first time in many weeks her heart was filled with the +joy of thanksgiving; but her first thought was of another. + +"You are not wounded?" she asked. + +"No, Tara of Helium," he replied. "They were scarce worth the +effort of my blade, and never were they a menace to me because of +their swords." + +"They should have slain you easily," said Ghek. "So great and +highly developed is the power of reason among us that they should +have known before you struck just where, logically, you must seek +to strike, and so they should have been able to parry your every +thrust and easily find an opening to your heart." + +"But they did not, Ghek," Gahan reminded him. "Their theory of +development is wrong, for it does not tend toward a perfectly +balanced whole. You have developed the brain and neglected the +body and you can never do with the hands of another what you can +do with your own hands. Mine are trained to the sword--every +muscle responds instantly and accurately, and almost +mechanically, to the need of the instant. I am scarcely +objectively aware that I think when I fight, so quickly does my +point take advantage of every opening, or spring to my defense if +I am threatened that it is almost as though the cold steel had +eyes and brains. You, with your kaldane brain and your rykor +body, never could hope to achieve in the same degree of +perfection those things that I can achieve. Development of the +brain should not be the sum total of human endeavor. The richest +and happiest peoples will be those who attain closest to +well-balanced perfection of both mind and body, and even these +must always be short of perfection. In absolute and general +perfection lies stifling monotony and death. Nature must have +contrasts; she must have shadows as well as highlights; sorrow +with happiness; both wrong and right; and sin as well as virtue." + +"Always have I been taught differently," replied Ghek; "but since +I have known this woman and you, of another race, I have come to +believe that there may be other standards fully as high and +desirable as those of the kaldanes. At least I have had a glimpse +of the thing you call happiness and I realize that it may be good +even though I have no means of expressing it. I cannot laugh nor +smile, and yet within me is a sense of contentment when this +woman sings--a sense that seems to open before me wondrous vistas +of beauty and unguessed pleasure that far transcend the cold joys +of a perfectly functioning brain. I would that I had been born of +thy race." + +Caught by a gentle current of air the flier was drifting slowly +toward the northeast across the valley of Bantoom. Below them lay +the cultivated fields, and one after another they passed over the +strange towers of Moak and Nolach and the other kings of the +swarms that inhabited this weird and terrible land. Within each +enclosure surrounding the towers grovelled the rykors, repellent, +headless things, beautiful yet hideous. + +"A lesson, those," remarked Gahan, indicating the rykors in an +enclosure above which they were drifting at the time, "to that +fortunately small minority of our race which worships the flesh +and makes a god of appetite. You know them, Tara of Helium; they +can tell you exactly what they had at the midday meal two weeks +ago, and how the loin of the thoat should be prepared, and what +drink should be served with the rump of the zitidar." + +Tara of Helium laughed. "But not one of them could tell you the +name of the man whose painting took the Jeddak's Award in The +Temple of Beauty this year," she said. "Like the rykors, their +development has not been balanced." + +"Fortunate indeed are those in which there is combined a little +good and a little bad, a little knowledge of many things outside +their own callings, a capacity for love and a capacity for hate, +for such as these can look with tolerance upon all, unbiased by +the egotism of him whose head is so heavy on one side that all +his brains run to that point." + +As Gahan ceased speaking Ghek made a little noise in his throat +as one does who would attract attention. "You speak as one who +has thought much upon many subjects. Is it, then, possible that +you of the red race have pleasure in thought? Do you know aught +of the joys of introspection? Do reason and logic form any part +of your lives?" + +"Most assuredly," replied Gahan, "but not to the extent of +occupying all our time--at least not objectively. You, Ghek, are +an example of the egotism of which I spoke. Because you and your +kind devote your lives to the worship of mind, you believe that +no other created beings think. And possibly we do not in the +sense that you do, who think only of yourselves and your great +brains. We think of many things that concern the welfare of a +world. Had it not been for the red men of Barsoom even the +kaldanes had perished from the planet, for while you may live +without air the things upon which you depend for existence +cannot, and there had been no air in sufficient quantities upon +Barsoom these many ages had not a red man planned and built the +great atmosphere plant which gave new life to a dying world. + +"What have all the brains of all the kaldanes that have ever +lived done to compare with that single idea of a single red man?" + +Ghek was stumped. Being a kaldane he knew that brains spelled the +sum total of universal achievement, but it had never occurred to +him that they should be put to use in practical and profitable +ways. He turned away and looked down upon the valley of his +ancestors across which he was slowly drifting, into what unknown +world? He should be a veritable god among the underlings, he +knew; but somehow a doubt assailed him. It was evident that these +two from that other world were ready to question his preeminence. +Even through his great egotism was filtering a suspicion that +they patronized him; perhaps even pitied him. Then he began to +wonder what was to become of him. No longer would he have many +rykors to do his bidding. Only this single one and when it died +there could not be another. When it tired, Ghek must lie almost +helpless while it rested. He wished that he had never seen this +red woman. She had brought him only discontent and dishonor and +now exile. Presently Tara of Helium commenced to hum a tune and +Ghek, the kaldane, was content. + +Gently they drifted beneath the hurtling moons above the mad +shadows of a Martian night. The roaring of the banths came in +diminishing volume to their ears as their craft passed on beyond +the boundaries of Bantoom, leaving behind the terrors of that +unhappy land. But to what were they being borne? The girl looked +at the man sitting cross-legged upon the deck of the tiny flier, +gazing off into the night ahead, apparently absorbed in thought. + +"Where are we?" she asked. "Toward what are we drifting?" + +Turan shrugged his broad shoulders. "The stars tell me that we +are drifting toward the northeast," he replied, "but where we +are, or what lies in our path I cannot even guess. A week since I +could have sworn that I knew what lay behind each succeeding +ridge that I approached; but now I admit in all humility that I +have no conception of what lies a mile in any direction. Tara of +Helium, I am lost, and that is all that I can tell you." + +He was smiling and the girl smiled back at him. There was a +slightly puzzled expression on her face--there was something +tantalizingly familiar about that smile of his. She had met many +a panthan--they came and went, following the fighting of a +world--but she could not place this one. + +"From what country are you, Turan?" she asked suddenly. + +"Know you not, Tara of Helium," he countered, "that a panthan has +no country? Today he fights beneath the banner of one master, +tomorrow beneath that of another." + +"But you must own allegiance to some country when you are not +fighting," she insisted. "What banner, then, owns you now?" + +He rose and stood before her, then, bowing low. "And I am +acceptable," he said, "I serve beneath the banner of the daughter +of The Warlord now--and forever." + +She reached forth and touched his arm with a slim brown hand. +"Your services are accepted," she said; "and if ever we reach +Helium I promise that your reward shall be all that your heart +could desire." + +"I shall serve faithfully, hoping for that reward," he said; +but Tara of Helium did not guess what was in his mind, thinking +rather that he was mercenary. For how could the proud daughter of +The Warlord guess that a simple panthan aspired to her hand and +heart? + +The dawn found them moving rapidly over an unfamiliar landscape. +The wind had increased during the night and had borne them far +from Bantoom. The country below them was rough and inhospitable. +No water was visible and the surface of the ground was cut by +deep gorges, while nowhere was any but the most meager vegetation +discernible. They saw no life of any nature, nor was there any +indication that the country could support life. For two days they +drifted over this horrid wasteland. They were without food or +water and suffered accordingly. Ghek had temporarily abandoned +his rykor after enlisting Turan's assistance in lashing it safely +to the deck. The less he used it the less would its vitality be +spent. Already it was showing the effects of privation. Ghek +crawled about the vessel like a great spider--over the side, down +beneath the keel, and up over the opposite rail. He seemed +equally at home one place as another. For his companions, +however, the quarters were cramped, for the deck of a one-man +flier is not intended for three. + +Turan sought always ahead for signs of water. Water they must +have, or that water-giving plant which makes life possible upon +many of the seemingly arid areas of Mars; but there was neither +the one nor the other for these two days and now the third night +was upon them. The girl did not complain, but Turan knew that she +must be suffering and his heart was heavy within him. Ghek +suffered least of all, and he explained to them that his kind +could exist for long periods without food or water. Turan almost +cursed him as he saw the form of Tara of Helium slowly wasting +away before his eyes, while the hideous kaldane seemed as full of +vitality as ever. + +"There are circumstances," remarked Ghek, "under which a gross +and material body is less desirable than a highly developed +brain." + +Turan looked at him, but said nothing. Tara of Helium smiled +faintly. "One cannot blame him," she said, "were we not a bit +boastful in the pride of our superiority? When our stomachs were +filled," she added. + +"Perhaps there is something to be said for their system," Turan +admitted. "If we could but lay aside our stomachs when they cried +for food and water I have no doubt but that we should do so." + +"I should never miss mine now," assented Tara; "it is mighty poor +company." + +A new day had dawned, revealing a less desolate country and +renewing again the hope that had been low within them. Suddenly +Turan leaned forward, pointing ahead. + +"Look, Tara of Helium!" he cried. "A city! As I am Ga--as I am +Turan the panthan, a city." + +Far in the distance the domes and walls and slender towers of a +city shone in the rising sun. Quickly the man seized the control +and the ship dropped rapidly behind a low range of intervening +hills, for well Turan knew that they must not be seen until they +could discover whether friend or foe inhabited the strange city. +Chances were that they were far from the abode of friends and so +must the panthan move with the utmost caution; but there was a +city and where a city was, was water, even though it were a +deserted city, and food if it were inhabited. + +To the red man food and water, even in the citadel of an enemy, +meant food and drink for Tara of Helium. He would accept it from +friends or he would take it from enemies. Just so long as it was +there he would have it--and there was shown the egotism of the +fighting man, though Turan did not see it, nor Tara who came from +a long line of fighting men; but Ghek might have smiled had he +known how. + +Turan permitted the flier to drift closer behind the screening +hills, and then when he could advance no farther without fear of +discovery, he dropped the craft gently to ground in a little +ravine, and leaping over the side made her fast to a stout tree. +For several moments they discussed their plans--whether it would +be best to wait where they were until darkness hid their +movements and then approach the city in search of food and water, +or approach it now, taking advantage of what cover they could, +until they could glean something of the nature of its +inhabitants. + +It was Turan's plan which finally prevailed. They would approach +as close as safety dictated in the hope of finding water outside +the city; food, too, perhaps. If they did not they could at least +reconnoiter the ground by daylight, and then when night came +Turan could quickly come close to the city and in comparative +safety prosecute his search for food and drink. + +Following the ravine upward they finally topped the summit of the +ridge, from which they had an excellent view of that part of the +city which lay nearest them, though themselves hidden by the +brush behind which they crouched. Ghek had resumed his rykor, +which had suffered less than either Tara or Turan through their +enforced fast. + +The first glance at the city, now much closer than when they had +first discovered it, revealed the fact that it was inhabited. +Banners and pennons broke from many a staff. People were moving +about the gate before them. The high white walls were paced by +sentinels at far intervals. Upon the roofs of higher buildings +the women could be seen airing the sleeping silks and furs. Turan +watched it all in silence for some time. + +"I do not know them," he said at last. "I cannot guess what city +this may be. But it is an ancient city. Its people have no fliers +and no firearms. It must be old indeed." + +"How do you know they have not these things?" asked the girl. + +"There are no landing-stages upon the roofs--not one that can be +seen from here; while were we looking similarly at Helium we +would see hundreds. And they have no firearms because their +defenses are all built to withstand the attack of spear and +arrow, with spear and arrow. They are an ancient people." + +"If they are ancient perhaps they are friendly," suggested the +girl. "Did we not learn as children in the history of our planet +that it was once peopled by a friendly, peace-loving race?" + +"But I fear they are not as ancient as that," replied Turan, +laughing. "It has been long ages since the men of Barsoom loved +peace." + +"My father loves peace," returned the girl. + +"And yet he is always at war," said the man. + +She laughed. "But he says he likes peace." + +"We all like peace," he rejoined; "peace with honor; but our +neighbors will not let us have it, and so we must fight." + +"And to fight well men must like to fight," she added. + +"And to like to fight they must know how to fight," he said, "for +no man likes to do the thing that he does not know how to do +well." + +"Or that some other man can do better than he." + +"And so always there will be wars and men will fight," he +concluded, "for always the men with hot blood in their veins will +practice the art of war." + +"We have settled a great question," said the girl, smiling; "but +our stomachs are still empty." + +"Your panthan is neglecting his duty," replied Turan; "and how +can he with the great reward always before his eyes!" + +She did not guess in what literal a sense he spoke. + +"I go forthwith," he continued, "to wrest food and drink from the +ancients." + +"No," she cried, laying a hand upon his arm, "not yet. They would +slay you or make you prisoner. You are a brave panthan and a +mighty one, but you cannot overcome a city singlehanded." + +She smiled up into his face and her hand still lay upon his arm. +He felt the thrill of hot blood coursing through his veins. He +could have seized her in his arms and crushed her to him. There +was only Ghek the kaldane there, but there was something stronger +within him that restrained his hand. Who may define it--that +inherent chivalry that renders certain men the natural protectors +of women? + +From their vantage point they saw a body of armed warriors ride +forth from the gate, and winding along a well-beaten road pass +from sight about the foot of the hill from which they watched. +The men were red, like themselves, and they rode the small saddle +thoats of the red race. Their trappings were barbaric and +magnificent, and in their head-dress were many feathers as had +been the custom of ancients. They were armed with swords and long +spears and they rode almost naked, their bodies being painted in +ochre and blue and white. There were, perhaps, a score of them in +the party and as they galloped away on their tireless mounts they +presented a picture at once savage and beautiful. + +"They have the appearance of splendid warriors," said Turan. "I +have a great mind to walk boldly into their city and seek +service." + +Tara shook her head. "Wait," she admonished. "What would I do +without you, and if you were captured how could you collect your +reward?" + +"I should escape," he said. "At any rate I shall try it," and he +started to rise. + +"You shall not," said the girl, her tone all authority. + +The man looked at her quickly--questioningly. + +"You have entered my service," she said, a trifle haughtily. + +"You have entered my service for hire and you shall do as I bid +you." + +Turan sank down beside her again with a half smile upon his lips. +"It is yours to command, Princess," he said. + +The day passed. Ghek, tiring of the sunlight, had deserted his +rykor and crawled down a hole he had discovered close by. Tara +and Turan reclined beneath the scant shade of a small tree. They +watched the people coming and going through the gate. The party +of horsemen did not return. A small herd of zitidars was driven +into the city during the day, and once a caravan of broad-wheeled +carts drawn by these huge animals wound out of the distant +horizon and came down to the city. It, too, passed from their +sight within the gateway. Then darkness came and Tara of Helium +bid her panthan search for food and drink; but she cautioned him +against attempting to enter the city. Before he left her he bent +and kissed her hand as a warrior may kiss the hand of his queen. + + + +CHAPTER X + +ENTRAPPED + +Turan the panthan approached the strange city under cover of the +darkness. He entertained little hope of finding either food or +water outside the wall, but he would try and then, if he failed, +he would attempt to make his way into the city, for Tara of +Helium must have sustenance and have it soon. He saw that the +walls were poorly sentineled, but they were sufficiently high to +render an attempt to scale them foredoomed to failure. Taking +advantage of underbrush and trees, Turan managed to reach the +base of the wall without detection. Silently he moved north past +the gateway which was closed by a massive gate which effectively +barred even the slightest glimpse within the city beyond. It was +Turan's hope to find upon the north side of the city away from +the hills a level plain where grew the crops of the inhabitants, +and here too water from their irrigating system, but though he +traveled far along that seemingly interminable wall he found no +fields nor any water. He searched also for some means of ingress +to the city, yet here, too, failure was his only reward, and now +as he went keen eyes watched him from above and a silent stalker +kept pace with him for a time upon the summit of the wall; but +presently the shadower descended to the pavement within and +hurrying swiftly raced ahead of the stranger without. + +He came presently to a small gate beside which was a low building +and before the doorway of the building a warrior standing guard. +He spoke a few quick words to the warrior and then entered the +building only to return almost immediately to the street, +followed by fully forty warriors. Cautiously opening the gate the +fellow peered carefully along the wall upon the outside in the +direction from which he had come. Evidently satisfied, he issued +a few words of instruction to those behind him, whereupon half +the warriors returned to the interior of the building, while the +other half followed the man stealthily through the gateway where +they crouched low among the shrubbery in a half circle just north +of the gateway which they had left open. Here they waited in +utter silence, nor had they long to wait before Turan the panthan +came cautiously along the base of the wall. To the very gate he +came and when he found it and that it was open he paused for a +moment, listening; then he approached and looked within. Assured +that there was none within sight to apprehend him he stepped +through the gateway into the city. + +He found himself in a narrow street that paralleled the wall. +Upon the opposite side rose buildings of an architecture unknown +to him, yet strangely beautiful. While the buildings were packed +closely together there seemed to be no two alike and their fronts +were of all shapes and heights and of many hues. The skyline was +broken by spire and dome and minaret and tall, slender towers, +while the walls supported many a balcony and in the soft light of +Cluros, the farther moon, now low in the west, he saw, to his +surprise and consternation, the figures of people upon the +balconies. Directly opposite him were two women and a man. They +sat leaning upon the rail of the balcony looking, apparently, +directly at him; but if they saw him they gave no sign. + +Turan hesitated a moment in the face of almost certain discovery +and then, assured that they must take him for one of their own +people, he moved boldly into the avenue. Having no idea of the +direction in which he might best hope to find what he sought, and +not wishing to arouse suspicion by further hesitation, he turned +to the left and stepped briskly along the pavement with the +intention of placing himself as quickly as possible beyond the +observation of those nocturnal watchers. He knew that the night +must be far spent; and so he could not but wonder why people +should sit upon their balconies when they should have been asleep +among their silks and furs. At first he had thought them the late +guests of some convivial host; but the windows behind them were +shrouded in darkness and utter quiet prevailed, quite upsetting +such a theory. And as he proceeded he passed many another group +sitting silently upon other balconies. They paid no attention to +him, seeming not even to note his passing. Some leaned with a +single elbow upon the rail, their chins resting in their palms; +others leaned upon both arms across the balcony, looking down +into the street, while several that he saw held musical +instruments in their hands, but their fingers moved not upon the +strings. + +And then Turan came to a point where the avenue turned to the +right, to skirt a building that jutted from the inside of the +city wall, and as he rounded the corner he came full upon two +warriors standing upon either side of the entrance to a building +upon his right. It was impossible for them not to be aware of his +presence, yet neither moved, nor gave other evidence that they +had seen him. He stood there waiting, his hand upon the hilt of +his long-sword, but they neither challenged nor halted him. Could +it be that these also thought him one of their own kind? Indeed +upon no other grounds could he explain their inaction. + +As Turan had passed through the gateway into the city and taken +his unhindered way along the avenue, twenty warriors had entered +the city and closed the gate behind them, and then one had taken +to the wall and followed along its summit in the rear of Turan, +and another had followed him along the avenue, while a third had +crossed the street and entered one of the buildings upon the +opposite side. + +The balance of them, with the exception of a single sentinel +beside the gate, had re-entered the building from which they had +been summoned. They were well built, strapping, painted fellows, +their naked figures covered now by gorgeous robes against the +chill of night. As they spoke of the stranger they laughed at the +ease with which they had tricked him, and were still laughing as +they threw themselves upon their sleeping silks and furs to +resume their broken slumber. It was evident that they constituted +a guard detailed for the gate beside which they slept, and it was +equally evident that the gates were guarded and the city watched +much more carefully than Turan had believed. Chagrined indeed had +been the Jed of Gathol had he dreamed that he was being so neatly +tricked. + +As Turan proceeded along the avenue he passed other sentries +beside other doors but now he gave them small heed, since they +neither challenged nor otherwise outwardly noted his passing; but +while at nearly every turn of the erratic avenue he passed one or +more of these silent sentinels he could not guess that he had +passed one of them many times and that his every move was watched +by silent, clever stalkers. Scarce had he passed a certain one of +these rigid guardsmen before the fellow awoke to sudden life, +bounded across the avenue, entered a narrow opening in the outer +wall where he swiftly followed a corridor built within the wall +itself until presently he emerged a little distance ahead of +Turan, where he assumed the stiff and silent attitude of a +soldier upon guard. Nor did Turan know that a second followed in +the shadows of the buildings behind him, nor of the third who +hastened ahead of him upon some urgent mission. + +And so the panthan moved through the silent streets of the +strange city in search of food and drink for the woman he loved. +Men and women looked down upon him from shadowy balconies, but +spoke not; and sentinels saw him pass and did not challenge. +Presently from along the avenue before him came the familiar +sound of clanking accouterments, the herald of marching warriors, +and almost simultaneously he saw upon his right an open doorway +dimly lighted from within. It was the only available place where +he might seek to hide from the approaching company, and while he +had passed several sentries unquestioned he could scarce hope to +escape scrutiny and questioning from a patrol, as he naturally +assumed this body of men to be. + +Inside the doorway he discovered a passage turning abruptly to +the right and almost immediately thereafter to the left. There +was none in sight within and so he stepped cautiously around the +second turn the more effectually to be hidden from the street. +Before him stretched a long corridor, dimly lighted like the +entrance. Waiting there he heard the party approach the building, +he heard someone at the entrance to his hiding place, and then he +heard the door past which he had come slam to. He laid his hand +upon his sword, expecting momentarily to hear footsteps +approaching along the corridor; but none came. He approached the +turn and looked around it; the corridor was empty to the closed +door. Whoever had closed it had remained upon the outside. + +Turan waited, listening. He heard no sound. Then he advanced to +the door and placed an ear against it. All was silence in the +street beyond. A sudden draft must have closed the door, or +perhaps it was the duty of the patrol to see to such things. It +was immaterial. They had evidently passed on and now he would +return to the street and continue upon his way. Somewhere there +would be a public fountain where he could obtain water, and the +chance of food lay in the strings of dried vegetables and meat +which hung before the doorways of nearly every Barsoomian home of +the poorer classes that he had ever seen. It was this district he +was seeking, and it was for this reason his search had led him +away from the main gate of the city which he knew would not be +located in a poor district. + +He attempted to open the door only to find that it resisted his +every effort--it was locked upon the outside. Here indeed was a +sorry contretemps. Turan the panthan scratched his head. "Fortune +frowns upon me," he murmured; but beyond the door, Fate, in the +form of a painted warrior, stood smiling. Neatly had he tricked +the unwary stranger. The lighted doorway, the marching +patrol--these had been planned and timed to a nicety by the third +warrior who had sped ahead of Turan along another avenue, and the +stranger had done precisely what the fellow had thought he would +do--no wonder, then, that he smiled. + +This exit barred to him Turan turned back into the corridor. He +followed it cautiously and silently. Occasionally there was a +door on one side or the other. These he tried only to find each +securely locked. The corridor wound more erratically the farther +he advanced. A locked door barred his way at its end, but a door +upon his right opened and he stepped into a dimly-lighted +chamber, about the walls of which were three other doors, each of +which he tried in turn. Two were locked; the other opened upon a +runway leading downward. It was spiral and he could see no +farther than the first turn. A door in the corridor he had +quitted opened after he had passed, and the third warrior stepped +out and followed after him. A faint smile still lingered upon the +fellow's grim lips. + +Turan drew his short-sword and cautiously descended. At the +bottom was a short corridor with a closed door at the end. He +approached the single heavy panel and listened. No sound came to +him from beyond the mysterious portal. Gently he tried the door, +which swung easily toward him at his touch. Before him was a +low-ceiled chamber with a dirt floor. Set in its walls were +several other doors and all were closed. As Turan stepped +cautiously within, the third warrior descended the spiral runway +behind him. The panthan crossed the room quickly and tried a +door. It was locked. He heard a muffled click behind him and +turned about with ready sword. He was alone; but the door through +which he had entered was closed--it was the click of its lock +that he had heard. + +With a bound he crossed the room and attempted to open it; but to +no avail. No longer did he seek silence, for he knew now that the +thing had gone beyond the sphere of chance. He threw his weight +against the wooden panel; but the thick skeel of which it was +constructed would have withstood a battering ram. From beyond +came a low laugh. + +Rapidly Turan examined each of the other doors. They were all +locked. A glance about the chamber revealed a wooden table and a +bench. Set in the walls were several heavy rings to which rusty +chains were attached--all too significant of the purpose to which +the room was dedicated. In the dirt floor near the wall were two +or three holes resembling the mouths of burrows--doubtless the +habitat of the giant Martian rat. He had observed this much when +suddenly the dim light was extinguished, leaving him in darkness +utter and complete. Turan, groping about, sought the table and +the bench. Placing the latter against the wall he drew the table +in front of him and sat down upon the bench, his long-sword +gripped in readiness before him. At least they should fight +before they took him. + +For some time he sat there waiting for he knew not what. No sound +penetrated to his subterranean dungeon. He slowly revolved in his +mind the incidents of the evening--the open, unguarded gate; the +lighted doorway--the only one he had seen thus open and lighted +along the avenue he had followed; the advance of the warriors at +precisely the moment that he could find no other avenue of escape +or concealment; the corridors and chambers that led past many +locked doors to this underground prison leaving no other path for +him to pursue. + +"By my first ancestor!" he swore; "but it was simple and I a +simpleton. They tricked me neatly and have taken me without +exposing themselves to a scratch; but for what purpose?" + +He wished that he might answer that question and then his +thoughts turned to the girl waiting there on the hill beyond the +city for him--and he would never come. He knew the ways of the +more savage peoples of Barsoom. No, he would never come, now. He +had disobeyed her. He smiled at the sweet recollection of those +words of command that had fallen from her dear lips. He had +disobeyed her and now he had lost the reward. + +But what of her? What now would be her fate--starving before a +hostile city with only an inhuman kaldane for company? Another +thought--a horrid thought--obtruded itself upon him. She had told +him of the hideous sights she had witnessed in the burrows of the +kaldanes and he knew that they ate human flesh. Ghek was +starving. Should he eat his rykor he would be helpless; +but--there was sustenance there for them both, for the rykor and +the kaldane. Turan cursed himself for a fool. Why had he left +her? Far better to have remained and died with her, ready always +to protect her, than to have left her at the mercy of the hideous +Bantoomian. + +Now Turan detected a heavy odor in the air. It oppressed him with +a feeling of drowsiness. He would have risen to fight off the +creeping lethargy, but his legs seemed weak, so that he sank +again to the bench. Presently his sword slipped from his fingers +and he sprawled forward upon the table his head resting upon his +arms. + + * * * * * + +Tara of Helium, as the night wore on and Turan did not return, +became more and more uneasy, and when dawn broke with no sign of +him she guessed that he had failed. Something more than her own +unhappy predicament brought a feeling of sorrow to her heart--of +sorrow and loneliness. She realized now how she had come to +depend upon this panthan not only for protection but for +companionship as well. She missed him, and in missing him +realized suddenly that he had meant more to her than a mere hired +warrior. It was as though a friend had been taken from her--an +old and valued friend. She rose from her place of concealment +that she might have a better view of the city. + +U-Dor, dwar of the 8th Utan of O-Tar, Jeddak of Manator, rode +back in the early dawn toward Manator from a brief excursion to a +neighboring village. As he was rounding the hills south of the +city, his keen eyes were attracted by a slight movement among the +shrubbery close to the summit of the nearest hill. He halted his +vicious mount and watched more closely. He saw a figure rise +facing away from him and peer down toward Manator beyond the +hill. + +"Come!" he signalled to his followers, and with a word to this +thoat turned the beast at a rapid gallop up the hillside. In his +wake swept his twenty savage warriors, the padded feet of their +mounts soundless upon the soft turf. It was the rattle of +sidearms and harness that brought Tara of Helium suddenly about, +facing them. She saw a score of warriors with couched lances +bearing down upon her. + +She glanced at Ghek. What would the spiderman do in this +emergency? She saw him crawl to his rykor and attach himself. +Then he arose, the beautiful body once again animated and alert. +She thought that the creature was preparing for flight. Well, it +made little difference to her. Against such as were streaming up +the hill toward them a single mediocre swordsman such as Ghek was +worse than no defense at all. + +"Hurry, Ghek!" she admonished him. "Back into the hills! You may +find there a hiding-place;" but the creature only stepped between +her and the oncoming riders, drawing his long-sword. + +"It is useless, Ghek," she said, when she saw that he intended to +defend her. "What can a single sword accomplish against such +odds?" + +"I can die but once," replied the kaldane. "You and your panthan +saved me from Luud and I but do what your panthan would do were +he here to protect you." + +"It is brave, but it is useless," she replied. "Sheathe your +sword. They may not intend us harm." + +Ghek let the point of his weapon drop to the ground, but he did +not sheathe it, and thus the two stood waiting as U-Dor the dwar +stopped his thoat before them while his twenty warriors formed a +rough circle about. For a long minute U-Dor sat his mount in +silence, looking searchingly first at Tara of Helium and then at +her hideous companion. + +"What manner of creature are you?" he asked presently. "And what +do you before the gates of Manator?" + +"We are from far countries," replied the girl, "and we are lost +and starving. We ask only food and rest and the privilege to go +our way seeking our own homes." + +U-Dor smiled a grim smile. "Manator and the hills which guard it +alone know the age of Manator," he said; "yet in all the ages +that have rolled by since Manator first was, there be no record +in the annals of Manator of a stranger departing from Manator." + +"But I am a princess," cried the girl haughtily, "and my country +is not at war with yours. You must give me and my companions aid +and assist us to return to our own land. It is the law of +Barsoom." + +"Manator knows only the laws of Manator," replied U-Dor; "but +come. You shall go with us to the city, where you, being +beautiful, need have no fear. I, myself, will protect you if +O-Tar so decrees. And as for your companion--but hold! You said +'companions'--there are others of your party then?" + +"You see what you see," replied Tara haughtily. + +"Be that as it may," said U-Dor. "If there be more they shall not +escape Manator; but as I was saying, if your companion fights +well he too may live, for O-Tar is just, and just are the laws of +Manator. Come!" + +Ghek demurred. + +"It is useless," said the girl, seeing that he would have stood +his ground and fought them. "Let us go with them. Why pit your +puny blade against their mighty ones when there should lie in +your great brain the means to outwit them?" She spoke in a low +whisper, rapidly. + +"You are right, Tara of Helium," he replied and sheathed his +sword. + +And so they moved down the hillside toward the gates of +Manator--Tara, Princess of Helium, and Ghek, the kaldane of +Bantoom--and surrounding them rode the savage, painted warriors +of U-Dor, dwar of the 8th Utan of O-Tar, Jeddak of Manator. + + + +CHAPTER XI + +THE CHOICE OF TARA + +The dazzling sunlight of Barsoom clothed Manator in an aureole of +splendor as the girl and her captors rode into the city through +The Gate of Enemies. Here the wall was some fifty feet thick, and +the sides of the passageway within the gate were covered with +parallel shelves of masonry from bottom to top. Within these +shelves, or long, horizontal niches, stood row upon row of small +figures, appearing like tiny, grotesque statuettes of men, their +long, black hair falling below their feet and sometimes trailing +to the shelf beneath. The figures were scarce a foot in height +and but for their diminutive proportions might have been the +mummified bodies of once living men. The girl noticed that as +they passed, the warriors saluted the figures with their spears +after the manner of Barsoomian fighting men in extending a +military courtesy, and then they rode on into the avenue beyond, +which ran, wide and stately, through the city toward the east. + +On either side were great buildings wondrously wrought. Paintings +of great beauty and antiquity covered many of the walls, their +colors softened and blended by the suns of ages. Upon the +pavement the life of the newly-awakened city was already afoot. +Women in brilliant trappings, befeathered warriors, their bodies +daubed with paint; artisans, armed but less gaily caparisoned, +took their various ways upon the duties of the day. A giant +zitidar, magnificent in rich harness, rumbled its broad-wheeled +cart along the stone pavement toward The Gate of Enemies. Life +and color and beauty wrought together a picture that filled the +eyes of Tara of Helium with wonder and with admiration, for here +was a scene out of the dead past of dying Mars. Such had been the +cities of the founders of her race before Throxeus, mightiest of +oceans, had disappeared from the face of a world. And from +balconies on either side men and women looked down in silence +upon the scene below. + +The people in the street looked at the two prisoners, especially +at the hideous Ghek, and called out in question or comment to +their guard; but the watchers upon the balconies spoke not, nor +did one so much as turn a head to note their passing. There were +many balconies on each building and not a one that did not hold +its silent party of richly trapped men and women, with here and +there a child or two, but even the children maintained the +uniform silence and immobility of their elders. As they +approached the center of the city the girl saw that even the +roofs bore companies of these idle watchers, harnessed and +bejeweled as for some gala-day of laughter and music, but no +laughter broke from those silent lips, nor any music from the +strings of the instruments that many of them held in jeweled +fingers. + +And now the avenue widened into an immense square, at the far end +of which rose a stately edifice gleaming white in virgin marble +among the gaily painted buildings surrounding it and its scarlet +sward and gaily-flowering, green-foliaged shrubbery. Toward this +U-Dor led his prisoners and their guard to the great arched +entrance before which a line of fifty mounted warriors barred the +way. When the commander of the guard recognized U-Dor the +guardsmen fell back to either side leaving a broad avenue through +which the party passed. Directly inside the entrance were +inclined runways leading upward on either side. U-Dor turned to +the left and led them upward to the second floor and down a long +corridor. Here they passed other mounted men and in chambers upon +either side they saw more. Occasionally there was another runway +leading either up or down. A warrior, his steed at full gallop, +dashed into sight from one of these and raced swiftly past them +upon some errand. + +Nowhere as yet had Tara of Helium seen a man afoot in this great +building; but when at a turn, U-Dor led them to the third floor +she caught glimpses of chambers in which many riderless thoats +were penned and others adjoining where dismounted warriors lolled +at ease or played games of skill or chance and many there were +who played at jetan, and then the party passed into a long, wide +hall of state, as magnificent an apartment as even a princess of +mighty Helium ever had seen. The length of the room ran an arched +ceiling ablaze with countless radium bulbs. The mighty spans +extended from wall to wall leaving the vast floor unbroken by a +single column. The arches were of white marble, apparently +quarried in single, huge blocks from which each arch was cut +complete. Between the arches, the ceiling was set solid about the +radium bulbs with precious stones whose scintillant fire and +color and beauty filled the whole apartment. The stones were +carried down the walls in an irregular fringe for a few feet, +where they appeared to hang like a beautiful and gorgeous drapery +against the white marble of the wall. The marble ended some six +or seven feet from the floor, the walls from that point down +being wainscoted in solid gold. The floor itself was of marble +richly inlaid with gold. In that single room was a vast treasure +equal to the wealth of many a large city. + +But what riveted the girl's attention even more than the fabulous +treasure of decorations were the files of gorgeously harnessed +warriors who sat their thoats in grim silence and immobility on +either side of the central aisle, rank after rank of them to the +farther walls, and as the party passed between them she could not +note so much as the flicker of an eyelid, or the twitching of a +thoat's ear. + +"The Hall of Chiefs," whispered one of her guard, evidently +noting her interest. There was a note of pride in the fellow's +voice and something of hushed awe. Then they passed through a +great doorway into the chamber beyond, a large, square room in +which a dozen mounted warriors lolled in their saddles. + +As U-Dor and his party entered the room, the warriors came +quickly erect in their saddles and formed a line before another +door upon the opposite side of the wall. The padwar commanding +them saluted U-Dor who, with his party, had halted facing the +guard. + +"Send one to O-Tar announcing that U-Dor brings two prisoners +worthy of the observation of the great jeddak," said U-Dor; "one +because of her extreme beauty, the other because of his extreme +ugliness." + +"O-Tar sits in council with the lesser chiefs," replied the +lieutenant; "but the words of U-Dor the dwar shall be carried to +him," and he turned and gave instructions to one who sat his +thoat behind him. + +"What manner of creature is the male?" he asked of U-Dor. "It +cannot be that both are of one race." + +"They were together in the hills south of the city," explained +U-Dor, "and they say that they are lost and starving." + +"The woman is beautiful," said the padwar. "She will not long go +begging in the city of Manator," and then they spoke of other +matters--of the doings of the palace, of the expedition of U-Dor, +until the messenger returned to say that O-Tar bade them bring +the prisoners to him. + +They passed then through a massive doorway, which, when opened, +revealed the great council chamber of O-Tar, Jeddak of Manator, +beyond. A central aisle led from the doorway the full length of +the great hall, terminating at the steps of a marble dais upon +which a man sat in a great throne-chair. Upon either side of the +aisle were ranged rows of highly carved desks and chairs of skeel, +a hard wood of great beauty. Only a few of the desks were +occupied--those in the front row, just below the rostrum. + +At the entrance U-Dor dismounted with four of his followers who +formed a guard about the two prisoners who were then conducted +toward the foot of the throne, following a few paces behind +U-Dor. As they halted at the foot of the marble steps, the proud +gaze of Tara of Helium rested upon the enthroned figure of the +man above her. He sat erect without stiffness--a commanding +presence trapped in the barbaric splendor that the Barsoomian +chieftain loves. He was a large man, the perfection of whose +handsome face was marred only by the hauteur of his cold eyes and +the suggestion of cruelty imparted by too thin lips. It needed no +second glance to assure the least observing that here indeed was +a ruler of men--a fighting jeddak whose people might worship but +not love, and for whose slightest favor warriors would vie with +one another to go forth and die. This was O-Tar, Jeddak of +Manator, and as Tara of Helium saw him for the first time she +could not but acknowledge a certain admiration for this savage +chieftain who so virilely personified the ancient virtues of the +God of War. + +U-Dor and the jeddak interchanged the simple greetings of +Barsoom, and then the former recounted the details of the +discovery and capture of the prisoners. O-Tar scrutinized them +both intently during U-Dor's narration of events, his expression +revealing naught of what passed in the brain behind those +inscrutable eyes. When the officer had finished the jeddak +fastened his gaze upon Ghek. + +"And you," he asked, "what manner of thing are you? From what +country? Why are you in Manator?" + +"I am a kaldane," replied Ghek; "the highest type of created +creature upon the face of Barsoom; I am mind, you are matter. I +come from Bantoom. I am here because we were lost and starving." + +"And you!" O-Tar turned suddenly on Tara. "You, too, are a +kaldane?" + +"I am a princess of Helium," replied the girl. "I was a prisoner +in Bantoom. This kaldane and a warrior of my own race rescued me. +The warrior left us to search for food and water. He has +doubtless fallen into the hands of your people. I ask you to free +him and give us food and drink and let us go upon our way. I am a +granddaughter of a jeddak, the daughter of a jeddak of jeddaks, +The Warlord of Barsoom. I ask only the treatment that my people +would accord you or yours." + +"Helium," repeated O-Tar. "I know naught of Helium, nor does the +Jeddak of Helium rule Manator. I, O-Tar, am Jeddak of Manator. I +alone rule. I protect my own. You have never seen a woman or a +warrior of Manator captive in Helium! Why should I protect the +people of another jeddak? It is his duty to protect them. If he +cannot, he is weak, and his people must fall into the hands of +the strong. I, O-Tar, am strong. I will keep you. That--" he +pointed at Ghek--"can it fight?" + +"It is brave," replied Tara of Helium, "but it has not the skill +at arms which my people possess." + +"There is none then to fight for you?" asked O-Tar. "We are a +just people," he continued without waiting for a reply, "and had +you one to fight for you he might win to freedom for himself and +you as well." + +"But U-Dor assured me that no stranger ever had departed from +Manator," she answered. + +O-Tar shrugged. "That does not disprove the justice of the laws +of Manator," replied O-Tar, "but rather that the warriors of +Manator are invincible. Had there come one who could defeat our +warriors that one had won to liberty." + +"And you fetch my warrior," cried Tara haughtily, "you shall see +such swordplay as doubtless the crumbling walls of your decaying +city never have witnessed, and if there be no trick in your offer +we are already as good as free." + +O-Tar smiled more broadly than before and U-Dor smiled, too, and +the chiefs and warriors who looked on nudged one another and +whispered, laughing. And Tara of Helium knew then that there was +trickery in their justice; but though her situation seemed +hopeless she did not cease to hope, for was she not the daughter +of John Carter, Warlord of Barsoom, whose famous challenge to +Fate, "I still live!" remained the one irreducible defense +against despair? At thought of her noble sire the patrician chin +of Tara of Helium rose a shade higher. Ah! if he but knew where +she was there were little to fear then. The hosts of Helium would +batter at the gates of Manator, the great green warriors of John +Carter's savage allies would swarm up from the dead sea bottoms +lusting for pillage and for loot, the stately ships of her +beloved navy would soar above the unprotected towers and minarets +of the doomed city which only capitulation and heavy tribute +could then save. + +But John Carter did not know! There was only one other to whom +she might hope to look--Turan the panthan; but where was he? She +had seen his sword in play and she knew that it had been wielded +by a master hand, and who should know swordplay better than Tara +of Helium, who had learned it well under the constant tutorage of +John Carter himself. Tricks she knew that discounted even far +greater physical prowess than her own, and a method of attack +that might have been at once the envy and despair of the +cleverest of warriors. And so it was that her thoughts turned to +Turan the panthan, though not alone because of the protection he +might afford her. She had realized, since he had left her in +search of food, that there had grown between them a certain +comradeship that she now missed. There had been that about him +which seemed to have bridged the gulf between their stations in +life. With him she had failed to consider that he was a panthan +or that she was a princess--they had been comrades. Suddenly she +realized that she missed him for himself more than for his sword. +She turned toward O-Tar. + +"Where is Turan, my warrior?" she demanded. + +"You shall not lack for warriors," replied the jeddak. "One of +your beauty will find plenty ready to fight for her. Possibly it +shall not be necessary to look farther than the jeddak of +Manator. You please me, woman. What say you to such an honor?" + +Through narrowed lids the Princess of Helium scrutinized the +Jeddak of Manator, from feathered headdress to sandaled foot and +back to feathered headdress. + +"'Honor'!" she mimicked in tones of scorn. "I please thee, do I? +Then know, swine, that thou pleaseth me not--that the daughter of +John Carter is not for such as thou!" + +A sudden, tense silence fell upon the assembled chiefs. Slowly +the blood receded from the sinister face of O-Tar, Jeddak of +Manator, leaving him a sickly purple in his wrath. His eyes +narrowed to two thin slits, his lips were compressed to a +bloodless line of malevolence. For a long moment there was no +sound in the throne room of the palace at Manator. Then the +jeddak turned toward U-Dor. + +"Take her away," he said in a level voice that belied his +appearance of rage. "Take her away, and at the next games let the +prisoners and the common warriors play at Jetan for her." + +"And this?" asked U-Dor, pointing at Ghek. + +"To the pits until the next games," replied O-Tar. + +"So this is your vaunted justice!" cried Tara of Helium; "that +two strangers who have not wronged you shall be sentenced without +trial? And one of them is a woman. The swine of Manator are as +just as they are brave." + +"Away with her!" shouted O-Tar, and at a sign from U-Dor the +guards formed about the two prisoners and conducted them from the +chamber. + +Outside the palace, Ghek and Tara of Helium were separated. The +girl was led through long avenues toward the center of the city +and finally into a low building, topped by lofty towers of +massive construction. Here she was turned over to a warrior who +wore the insignia of a dwar, or captain. + +"It is O-Tar's wish," explained U-Dor to this one, "that she be +kept until the next games, when the prisoners and the common +warriors shall play for her. Had she not the tongue of a thoat +she had been a worthy stake for our noblest steel," and U-Dor +sighed. "Perhaps even yet I may win a pardon for her. It were too +bad to see such beauty fall to the lot of some common fellow. I +would have honored her myself." + +"If I am to be imprisoned, imprison me," said the girl. "I do not +recall that I was sentenced to listen to the insults of every +low-born boor who chanced to admire me." + +"You see, A-Kor," cried U-Dor, "the tongue that she has. Even so +and worse spoke she to O-Tar the jeddak." + +"I see," replied A-Kor, whom Tara saw was with difficulty +restraining a smile. "Come, then, with me, woman," he said, "and +we shall find a safe place within The Towers of Jetan--but stay! +what ails thee?" + +The girl had staggered and would have fallen had not the man +caught her in his arms. She seemed to gather herself then and +bravely sought to stand erect without support. A-Kor glanced at +U-Dor. "Knew you the woman was ill?" he asked. + +"Possibly it is lack of food," replied the other. "She mentioned, +I believe, that she and her companions had not eaten for several +days." + +"Brave are the warriors of O-Tar," sneered A-Kor; "lavish their +hospitality. U-Dor, whose riches are uncounted, and the brave +O-Tar, whose squealing thoats are stabled within marble halls and +fed from troughs of gold, can spare no crust to feed a starving +girl." + +The black haired U-Dor scowled. "Thy tongue will yet pierce thy +heart, son of a slave!" he cried. "Once too often mayst thus try +the patience of the just O-Tar. Hereafter guard thy speech as +well as thy towers." + +"Think not to taunt me with my mother's state," said A-Kor. "'Tis +the blood of the slave woman that fills my veins with pride, and +my only shame is that I am also the son of thy jeddak." + +"And O-Tar heard this?" queried U-Dor. + +"O-Tar has already heard it from my own lips," replied A-Kor; +"this, and more." + +He turned upon his heel, a supporting arm still around the waist +of Tara of Helium and thus he half led, half carried her into The +Towers of Jetan, while U-Dor wheeled his thoat and galloped back +in the direction of the palace. + +Within the main entrance to The Tower of Jetan lolled a +half-dozen warriors. To one of these spoke A-Kor, keeper of the +towers. "Fetch Lan-O, the slave girl, and bid her bring food and +drink to the upper level of the Thurian tower," then he lifted +the half-fainting girl in his arms and bore her along the spiral, +inclined runway that led upward within the tower. + +Somewhere in the long ascent Tara lost consciousness. When it +returned she found herself in a large, circular chamber, the +stone walls of which were pierced by windows at regular intervals +about the entire circumference of the room. She was lying upon a +pile of sleeping silks and furs while there knelt above her a +young woman who was forcing drops of some cooling beverage +between her parched lips. Tara of Helium half rose upon an elbow +and looked about. In the first moments of returning consciousness +there were swept from the screen of recollection the happenings +of many weeks. She thought that she awoke in the palace of The +Warlord at Helium. Her brows knit as she scrutinized the strange +face bending over her. + +"Who are you?" she asked, and, "Where is Uthia?" + +"I am Lan-O the slave girl," replied the other. "I know none by +the name of Uthia." + +Tara of Helium sat erect and looked about her. This rough stone +was not the marble of her father's halls. "Where am I?" she +asked. + +"In The Thurian Tower," replied the girl, and then seeing that +the other still did not understand she guessed the truth. "You +are a prisoner in The Towers of Jetan in the city of Manator," +she explained. "You were brought to this chamber, weak and +fainting, by A-Kor, Dwar of The Towers of Jetan, who sent me to +you with food and drink, for kind is the heart of A-Kor." + +"I remember, now," said Tara, slowly. "I remember; but where is +Turan, my warrior? Did they speak of him?" + +"I heard naught of another," replied Lan-O; "you alone were +brought to the towers. In that you are fortunate, for there be no +nobler man in Manator than A-Kor. It is his mother's blood that +makes him so. She was a slave girl from Gathol." + +"Gathol!" exclaimed Tara of Helium. "Lies Gathol close by +Manator?" + +"Not close, yet still the nearest country," replied Lan-O. "About +twenty-two degrees* east, it lies." + +* Approximately 814 Earth Miles. + + +"Gathol!" murmured Tara, "Far Gathol!" + +"But you are not from Gathol," said the slave girl; "your harness +is not of Gathol." + +"I am from Helium," said Tara + +"It is far from Helium to Gathol;" said the slave girl, "but +in our studies we learned much of the greatness of Helium, we of +Gathol, so it seems not so far away." + +"You, too, are from Gathol?" asked Tara. + +"Many of us are from Gathol who are slaves in Manator," replied +the girl. "It is to Gathol, nearest country, that the Manatorians +look for slaves most often. They go in great numbers at intervals +of three or seven years and haunt the roads that lead to Gathol, +and thus they capture whole caravans leaving none to bear warning +to Gathol of their fate. Nor do any ever escape from Manator to +carry word of us back to Gahan our jed." + +Tara of Helium ate slowly and in silence. The girl's words +aroused memories of the last hours she had spent in her father's +palace and the great midday function at which she had met Gahan +of Gathol. Even now she flushed as she recalled his daring words. + +Upon her reveries the door opened and a burly warrior appeared in +the opening--a hulking fellow, with thick lips and an evil, +leering face. The slave girl sprang to her feet, facing him. + +"What does this mean, E-Med?" she cried, "was it not the will of +A-Kor that this woman be not disturbed?" + +"The will of A-Kor, indeed!" and the man sneered. "The will of +A-Kor is without power in The Towers of Jetan, or elsewhere, for +A-Kor lies now in the pits of O-Tar, and E-Med is dwar of the +Towers." + +Tara of Helium saw the face of the slave girl pale and the terror +in her eyes. + + + +CHAPTER XII + +GHEK PLAYS PRANKS + +While Tara of Helium was being led to The Towers of Jetan, Ghek +was escorted to the pits beneath the palace where he was +imprisoned in a dimly-lighted chamber. Here he found a bench and +a table standing upon the dirt floor near the wall, and set in +the wall several rings from which depended short lengths of +chain. At the base of the walls were several holes in the dirt +floor. These, alone, of the several things he saw, interested +him. Ghek sat down upon the bench and waited in silence, +listening. Presently the lights were extinguished. If Ghek could +have smiled he would have then, for Ghek could see as well in the +dark as in the light--better, perhaps. He watched the dark +openings of the holes in the floor and waited. Presently he +detected a change in the air about him--it grew heavy with a +strange odor, and once again might Ghek have smiled, could he +have smiled. + +Let them replace all the air in the chamber with their most +deadly fumes; it would be all the same to Ghek, the kaldane, who, +having no lungs, required no air. With the rykor it might be +different. Deprived of air it would die; but if only a sufficient +amount of the gas was introduced to stupefy an ordinary creature +it would have no effect upon the rykor, who had no objective mind +to overcome. So long as the excess of carbon dioxide in the blood +was not sufficient to prevent heart action, the rykor would +suffer only a diminution of vitality; but would still respond to +the exciting agency of the kaldane's brain. + +Ghek caused the rykor to assume a sitting position with its back +against the wall where it might remain without direction from his +brain. Then he released his contact with its spinal cord; but +remained in position upon its shoulders, waiting and watching, +for the kaldane's curiosity was aroused. He had not long to wait +before the lights were flashed on and one of the locked doors +opened to admit a half-dozen warriors. They approached him +rapidly and worked quickly. First they removed all his weapons +and then, snapping a fetter about one of the rykor's ankles, +secured him to the end of one of the chains hanging from the +walls. Next they dragged the long table to a new position and +there bolted it to the floor so that an end, instead of the +middle, was directly before the prisoner. On the table before him +they set food and water and upon the opposite end of the table +they laid the key to the fetter. Then they unlocked and opened +all the doors and departed. + + * * * * * + +When Turan the panthan regained consciousness it was to the +realization of a sharp pain in one of his forearms. The effects +of the gas departed as rapidly as they had overcome him so that +as he opened his eyes he was in full possession of all his +faculties. The lights were on again and in their glow there was +revealed to the man the figure of a giant Martian rat crouching +upon the table and gnawing upon his arm. Snatching his arm away +he reached for his short-sword, while the rat, growling, sought +to seize his arm again. It was then that Turan discovered that +his weapons had been removed--short-sword, long-sword, dagger, +and pistol. The rat charged him then and striking the creature +away with his hand the man rose and backed off, searching for +something with which to strike a harder blow. Again the rat +charged and as Turan stepped quickly back to avoid the menacing +jaws, something seemed to jerk suddenly upon his right ankle, and +as he drew his left foot back to regain his equilibrium his heel +caught upon a taut chain and he fell heavily backward to the +floor just as the rat leaped upon his breast and sought his +throat. + +The Martian rat is a fierce and unlovely thing. It is many-legged +and hairless, its hide resembling that of a newborn mouse in +repulsiveness. In size and weight it is comparable to a large +Airedale terrier. Its eyes are small and close-set, and almost +hidden in deep, fleshy apertures. But its most ferocious and +repulsive feature is its jaws, the entire bony structure of which +protrudes several inches beyond the flesh, revealing five sharp, +spadelike teeth in the upper jaw and the same number of similar +teeth in the lower, the whole suggesting the appearance of a +rotting face from which much of the flesh has sloughed away. + +It was such a thing that leaped upon the breast of the panthan to +tear at his jugular. Twice Turan struck it away as he sought to +regain his feet, but both times it returned with increased +ferocity to renew the attack. Its only weapons are its jaws since +its broad, splay feet are armed with blunt talons. With its +protruding jaws it excavates its winding burrows and with its +broad feet it pushes the dirt behind it. To keep the jaws from +his flesh then was Turan's only concern and this he succeeded in +doing until chance gave him a hold upon the creature's throat. +After that the end was but a matter of moments. Rising at last he +flung the lifeless thing from him with a shudder of disgust. + +Now he turned his attention to a hurried inventory of the new +conditions which surrounded him since the moment of his +incarceration. He realized vaguely what had happened. He had been +anaesthetized and stripped of his weapons, and as he rose to his +feet he saw that one ankle was fettered to a chain in the wall. +He looked about the room. All the doors swung wide open! His +captors would render his imprisonment the more cruel by leaving +ever before him tempting glimpses of open aisles to the freedom +he could not attain. Upon the end of the table and within easy +reach was food and drink. This at least was attainable and at +sight of it his starved stomach seemed almost to cry aloud for +sustenance. It was with difficulty that he ate and drank in +moderation. + +As he devoured the food his eyes wandered about the confines of +his prison until suddenly they seized upon a thing that lay on +the table at the end farthest from him. It was a key. He raised +his fettered ankle and examined the lock. There could be no doubt +of it! The key that lay there on the table before him was the key +to that very lock. A careless warrior had laid it there and +departed, forgetting. + +Hope surged high in the breast of Gahan of Gathol, of Turan the +panthan. Furtively his eyes sought the open doorways. There was +no one in sight. Ah, if he could but gain his freedom! He would +find some way from this odious city back to her side and never +again would he leave her until he had won safety for her or death +for himself. + +He rose and moved cautiously toward the opposite end of the table +where lay the coveted key. The fettered ankle halted his first +step, but he stretched at full length along the table, extending +eager fingers toward the prize. They almost laid hold upon it--a +little more and they would touch it. He strained and stretched, +but still the thing lay just beyond his reach. He hurled himself +forward until the iron fetter bit deep into his flesh, but all +futilely. He sat back upon the bench then and glared at the open +doors and the key, realizing now that they were part of a +well-laid scheme of refined torture, none the less demoralizing +because it inflicted no physical suffering. + +For just a moment the man gave way to useless regret and +foreboding, then he gathered himself together, his brows cleared, +and he returned to his unfinished meal. At least they should not +have the satisfaction of knowing how sorely they had hit him. As +he ate it occurred to him that by dragging the table along the +floor he could bring the key within his reach, but when he +essayed to do so, he found that the table had been securely +bolted to the floor during the period of his unconsciousness. +Again Gahan smiled and shrugged and resumed his eating. + + * * * * * + +When the warriors had departed from the prison in which Ghek was +confined, the kaldane crawled from the shoulders of the rykor to +the table. Here he drank a little water and then directed the +hands of the rykor to the balance of it and to the food, upon +which the brainless thing fell with avidity. While it was thus +engaged Ghek took his spider-like way along the table to the +opposite end where lay the key to the fetter. Seizing it in a +chela he leaped to the floor and scurried rapidly toward the +mouth of one of the burrows against the wall, into which he +disappeared. For long had the brain been contemplating these +burrow entrances. They appealed to his kaldanean tastes, and +further, they pointed a hiding place for the key and a lair for +the only kind of food that the kaldane relished--flesh and blood. + +Ghek had never seen an ulsio, since these great Martian rats had +long ago disappeared from Bantoom, their flesh and blood having +been greatly relished by the kaldanes; but Ghek had inherited, +almost unimpaired, every memory of every ancestor, and so he knew +that ulsio inhabited these lairs and that ulsio was good to eat, +and he knew what ulsio looked like and what his habits were, +though he had never seen him nor any picture of him. As we breed +animals for the transmission of physical attributes, so the +Kaldanes breed themselves for the transmission of attributes of +the mind, including memory and the power of recollection, and +thus have they raised what we term instinct, above the level of +the threshold of the objective mind where it may be commanded and +utilized by recollection. Doubtless in our own subjective minds +lie many of the impressions and experiences of our forebears. +These may impinge upon our consciousness in dreams only, or in +vague, haunting suggestions that we have before experienced some +transient phase of our present existence. Ah, if we had but the +power to recall them! Before us would unfold the forgotten story +of the lost eons that have preceded us. We might even walk with +God in the garden of His stars while man was still but a budding +idea within His mind. + +Ghek descended into the burrow at a steep incline for some ten +feet, when he found himself in an elaborate and delightful +network of burrows! The kaldane was elated. This indeed was life! +He moved rapidly and fearlessly and he went as straight to his +goal as you could to the kitchen of your own home. This goal lay +at a low level in a spheroidal cavity about the size of a large +barrel. Here, in a nest of torn bits of silk and fur lay six baby +ulsios. + +When the mother returned there were but five babies and a great +spider-like creature, which she immediately sprang to attack only +to be met by powerful chelae which seized and held her so that +she could not move. Slowly they dragged her throat toward a +hideous mouth and in a little moment she was dead. + +Ghek might have remained in the nest for a long time, since there +was ample food for many days; but he did not do so. Instead he +explored the burrows. He followed them into many subterranean +chambers of the city of Manator, and upward through walls to +rooms above the ground. He found many ingeniously devised traps, +and he found poisoned food and other signs of the constant battle +that the inhabitants of Manator waged against these repulsive +creatures that dwelt beneath their homes and public buildings. + +His exploration revealed not only the vast proportions of the +network of runways that apparently traversed every portion of +the city, but the great antiquity of the majority of them. Tons +upon tons of dirt must have been removed, and for a long time he +wondered where it had been deposited, until in following downward +a tunnel of great size and length he sensed before him the +thunderous rush of subterranean waters, and presently came to the +bank of a great, underground river, tumbling onward, no doubt, +the length of a world to the buried sea of Omean. Into this +torrential sewer had unthinkable generations of ulsios pushed +their few handsful of dirt in the excavating of their vast +labyrinth. + +For only a moment did Ghek tarry by the river, for his seemingly +aimless wanderings were in reality prompted by a definite +purpose, and this he pursued with vigor and singleness of design. +He followed such runways as appeared to terminate in the pits or +other chambers of the inhabitants of the city, and these he +explored, usually from the safety of a burrow's mouth, until +satisfied that what he sought was not there. He moved swiftly +upon his spider legs and covered remarkable distances in short +periods of time. + +His search not being rewarded with immediate success, he decided +to return to the pit where his rykor lay chained and look to its +wants. As he approached the end of the burrow that terminated in +the pit he slackened his pace, stopping just within the entrance +of the runway that he might scan the interior of the chamber +before entering it. As he did so he saw the figure of a warrior +appear suddenly in an opposite doorway. The rykor sprawled upon +the table, his hands groping blindly for more food. Ghek saw the +warrior pause and gaze in sudden astonishment at the rykor; he +saw the fellow's eyes go wide and an ashen hue replace the copper +bronze of his cheek. He stepped back as though someone had struck +him in the face. For an instant only he stood thus as in a +paralysis of fear, then he uttered a smothered shriek and turned +and fled. Again was it a catastrophe that Ghek, the kaldane, +could not smile. + +Quickly entering the room he crawled to the table top and affixed +himself to the shoulders of his rykor, and there he waited; and +who may say that Ghek, though he could not smile, possessed not a +sense of humor? For a half-hour he sat there, and then there came +to him the sound of men approaching along corridors of stone. He +could hear their arms clank against the rocky walls and he knew +that they came at a rapid pace; but just before they reached the +entrance to his prison they paused and advanced more slowly. In +the lead was an officer, and just behind him, wide-eyed and +perhaps still a little ashen, the warrior who had so recently +departed in haste. At the doorway they halted and the officer +turned sternly upon the warrior. With upraised finger he pointed +at Ghek. + +"There sits the creature! Didst thou dare lie, then, to thy +dwar?" + +"I swear," cried the warrior, "that I spoke the truth. But a +moment since the thing groveled, headless, upon this very table! +And may my first ancestor strike me dead upon the spot if I speak +other than a true word!" + +The officer looked puzzled. The men of Mars seldom if ever lie. +He scratched his head. Then he addressed Ghek. "How long have you +been here?" he asked. + +"Who knows better than those who placed me here and chained me to +a wall?" he returned in reply. + +"Saw you this warrior enter here a few minutes since?" + +"I saw him," replied Ghek. + +"And you sat there where you sit now?" continued the officer. + +"Look thou to my chain and tell me then where else might I sit!" +cried Ghek. "Art the people of thy city all fools?" + +Three other warriors pressed behind the two in front, craning +their necks to view the prisoner while they grinned at the +discomfiture of their fellow. The officer scowled at Ghek. + +"Thy tongue is as venomous as that of the she-banth O-Tar sent to +The Towers of Jetan," he said. + +"You speak of the young woman who was captured with me?" asked +Ghek, his expressionless monotone and face revealing naught of +the interest he felt. + +"I speak of her," replied the dwar, and then turning to the +warrior who had summoned him: "return to thy quarters and remain +there until the next games. Perhaps by that time thy eyes may +have learned not to deceive thee." + +The fellow cast a venomous glance at Ghek and turned away. The +officer shook his head. "I do not understand it," he muttered. +"Always has U-Van been a true and dependable warrior. Could it +be--?" he glanced piercingly at Ghek. "Thou hast a strange head +that misfits thy body, fellow," he cried. "Our legends tell us of +those ancient creatures that placed hallucinations upon the mind +of their fellows. If thou be such then maybe U-Van suffered from +thy forbidden powers. If thou be such O-Tar will know well how to +deal with thee." He wheeled about and motioned his warriors to +follow him. + +"Wait!" cried Ghek. "Unless I am to be starved, send me food." + +"You have had food," replied the warrior. + +"Am I to be fed but once a day?" asked Ghek. "I require food +oftener than that. Send me food." + +"You shall have food," replied the officer. "None may say that +the prisoners of Manator are ill-fed. Just are the laws of +Manator," and he departed. + +No sooner had the sounds of their passing died away in the +distance than Ghek clambered from the shoulders of his rykor, and +scurried to the burrow where he had hidden the key. Fetching it +he unlocked the fetter from about the creature's ankle, locked it +empty and carried the key farther down into the burrow. Then he +returned to his place upon his brainless servitor. After a while +he heard footsteps approaching, whereupon he rose and passed into +another corridor from that down which he knew the warrior was +coming. Here he waited out of sight, listening. He heard the man +enter the chamber and halt. He heard a muttered exclamation, +followed by the jangle of metal dishes as a salver was slammed +upon a table; then rapidly retreating footsteps, which quickly +died away in the distance. + +Ghek lost no time in returning to the chamber, recovering the +key, relocking the rykor to his chain. Then he replaced the key +in the burrow and squatting on the table beside his headless +body, directed its hands toward the food. While the rykor ate +Ghek sat listening for the scraping sandals and clattering arms +that he knew soon would come. Nor had he long to wait. Ghek +scrambled to the shoulders of his rykor as he heard them coming. +Again it was the officer who had been summoned by U-Van and with +him were three warriors. The one directly behind him was +evidently the same who had brought the food, for his eyes went +wide when he saw Ghek sitting at the table and he looked very +foolish as the dwar turned his stern glance upon him. + +"It is even as I said," he cried. "He was not here when I brought +his food." + +"But he is here now," said the officer grimly, "and his fetter is +locked about his ankle. Look! it has not been opened--but where +is the key? It should be upon the table at the end opposite him. +Where is the key, creature?" he shouted at Ghek. + +"How should I, a prisoner, know better than my jailer the +whereabouts of the key to my fetters?" he retorted. + +"But it lay here," cried the officer, pointing to the other end +of the table. + +"Did you see it?" asked Ghek. + +The officer hesitated. "No but it must have been there," he +parried. + +"Did you see the key lying there?" asked Ghek, pointing to +another warrior. + +The fellow shook his head negatively. "And you? and you?" +continued the kaldane addressing the others. + +They both admitted that they never had seen the key. "And if it +had been there how could I have reached it?" he continued. + +"No, he could not have reached it," admitted the officer; "but +there shall be no more of this! I-Zav, you will remain here on +guard with this prisoner until you are relieved." + +I-Zav looked anything but happy as this intelligence was +transmitted to him, and he eyed Ghek suspiciously as the dwar and +the other warriors turned and left him to his unhappy lot. + + + +CHAPTER XIII + +A DESPERATE DEED + +E-Med crossed the tower chamber toward Tara of Helium and the +slave girl, Lan-O. He seized the former roughly by a shoulder. +"Stand!" he commanded. Tara struck his hand from her and rising, +backed away. + +"Lay not your hand upon the person of a princess of Helium, +beast!" she warned. + +E-Med laughed. "Think you that I play at jetan for you without +first knowing something of the stake for which I play?" he +demanded. "Come here!" + +The girl drew herself to her full height, folding her arms across +her breast, nor did E-Med note that the slim fingers of her right +hand were inserted beneath the broad leather strap of her harness +where it passed over her left shoulder. + +"And O-Tar learns of this you shall rue it, E-Med," cried the +slave girl; "there be no law in Manator that gives you this girl +before you shall have won her fairly." + +"What cares O-Tar for her fate?" replied E-Med. "Have I not +heard? Did she not flout the great jeddak, heaping abuse upon +him? By my first ancestor, I think O-Tar might make a jed of the +man who subdued her," and again he advanced toward Tara. + +"Wait!" said the girl in low, even tone. "Perhaps you know not +what you do. Sacred to the people of Helium are the persons of +the women of Helium. For the honor of the humblest of them would +the great jeddak himself unsheathe his sword. The greatest +nations of Barsoom have trembled to the thunders of war in +defense of the person of Dejah Thoris, my mother. We are but +mortal and so may die; but we may not be defiled. You may play at +jetan for a princess of Helium, but though you may win the match, +never may you claim the reward. If thou wouldst possess a dead +body press me too far, but know, man of Manator, that the blood +of The Warlord flows not in the veins of Tara of Helium for +naught. I have spoken." + +"I know naught of Helium and O-Tar is our warlord," replied +E-Med; "but I do know that I would examine more closely the prize +that I shall play for and win. I would test the lips of her who +is to be my slave after the next games; nor is it well, woman, to +drive me too far to anger." His eyes narrowed as he spoke, his +visage taking on the semblance of that of a snarling beast. "If +you doubt the truth of my words ask Lan-O, the slave girl." + +"He speaks truly, O woman of Helium," interjected Lan-O. "Try not +the temper of E-Med, if you value your life." + +But Tara of Helium made no reply. Already had she spoken. She +stood in silence now facing the burly warrior who approached her. +He came close and then quite suddenly he seized her and, bending, +tried to draw her lips to his. + +Lan-O saw the woman from Helium half turn, and with a quick +movement jerk her right hand from where it had lain upon her +breast. She saw the hand shoot from beneath the arm of E-Med and +rise behind his shoulder and she saw in the hand a long, slim +blade. The lips of the warrior were drawing closer to those of +the woman, but they never touched them, for suddenly the man +straightened, stiffly, a shriek upon his lips, and then he +crumpled like an empty fur and lay, a shrunken heap, upon the +floor. Tara of Helium stooped and wiped her blade upon his +harness. + +Lan-O, wide-eyed, looked with horror upon the corpse. "For this +we shall both die," she cried. + +"And who would live a slave in Manator?" asked Tara of Helium. + +"I am not so brave as thou," said the slave girl, "and life is +sweet and there is always hope." + +"Life is sweet," agreed Tara of Helium, "but honor is sacred. But +do not fear. When they come I shall tell them the truth--that you +had no hand in this and no opportunity to prevent it." + +For a moment the slave girl seemed to be thinking deeply. +Suddenly her eyes lighted. "There is a way, perhaps," she said, +"to turn suspicion from us. He has the key to this chamber upon +him. Let us open the door and drag him out--maybe we shall find a +place to hide him." + +"Good!" exclaimed Tara of Helium, and the two immediately set +about the matter Lan-O had suggested. Quickly they found the key +and unlatched the door and then, between them, they half carried, +half dragged, the corpse of E-Med from the room and down the +stairway to the next level where Lan-O said there were vacant +chambers. The first door they tried was unlatched, and through +this the two bore their grisly burden into a small room lighted +by a single window. The apartment bore evidence of having been +utilized as a living-room rather than as a cell, being furnished +with a degree of comfort and even luxury. The walls were paneled +to a height of about seven feet from the floor, while the plaster +above and the ceiling were decorated with faded paintings of +another day. + +As Tara's eyes ran quickly over the interior her attention was +drawn to a section of paneling that seemed to be separated at one +edge from the piece next adjoining it. Quickly she crossed to it, +discovering that one vertical edge of an entire panel projected a +half-inch beyond the others. There was a possible explanation +which piqued her curiosity, and acting upon its suggestion she +seized upon the projecting edge and pulled outward. Slowly the +panel swung toward her, revealing a dark aperture in the wall +behind. + +"Look, Lan-O!" she cried. "See what I have found--a hole in which +we may hide the thing upon the floor." + +Lan-O joined her and together the two investigated the dark +aperture, finding a small platform from which a narrow runway led +downward into Stygian darkness. Thick dust covered the floor +within the doorway, indicating that a great period of time had +elapsed since human foot had trod it--a secret way, doubtless, +unknown to living Manatorians. Here they dragged the corpse of +E-Med, leaving it upon the platform, and as they left the dark +and forbidden closet Lan-O would have slammed to the panel had +not Tara prevented. + +"Wait!" she said, and fell to examining the door frame and the +stile. + +"Hurry!" whispered the slave girl. "If they come we are lost." + +"It may serve us well to know how to open this place again," +replied Tara of Helium, and then suddenly she pressed a foot +against a section of the carved base at the right of the open +panel. "Ah!" she breathed, a note of satisfaction in her tone, +and closed the panel until it fitted snugly in its place. "Come!" +she said and turned toward the outer doorway of the chamber. + +They reached their own cell without detection, and closing the +door Tara locked it from the inside and placed the key in a +secret pocket in her harness. + +"Let them come," she said. "Let them question us! What could two +poor prisoners know of the whereabouts of their noble jailer? I +ask you, Lan-O, what could they?" + +"Nothing," admitted Lan-O, smiling with her companion. + +"Tell me of these men of Manator," said Tara presently. "Are they +all like E-Med, or are some of them like A-Kor, who seemed a +brave and chivalrous character?" + +"They are not unlike the peoples of other countries," replied +Lan-O. "There be among them both good and bad. They are brave +warriors and mighty. Among themselves they are not without +chivalry and honor, but in their dealings with strangers they +know but one law--the law of might. The weak and unfortunate of +other lands fill them with contempt and arouse all that is worst +in their natures, which doubtless accounts for their treatment of +us, their slaves." + +"But why should they feel contempt for those who have suffered +the misfortune of falling into their hands?" queried Tara. + +"I do not know," said Lan-O; "A-Kor says that he believes that it +is because their country has never been invaded by a victorious +foe. In their stealthy raids never have they been defeated, +because they have never waited to face a powerful force; and so +they have come to believe themselves invincible, and the other +peoples are held in contempt as inferior in valor and the +practice of arms." + +"Yet A-Kor is one of them," said Tara. + +"He is a son of O-Tar, the jeddak," replied Lan-O; "but his +mother was a high born Gatholian, captured and made slave by +O-Tar, and A-Kor boasts that in his veins runs only the blood of +his mother, and indeed is he different from the others. His +chivalry is of a gentler form, though not even his worst enemy +has dared question his courage, while his skill with the sword, +and the spear, and the thoat is famous throughout the length and +breadth of Manator." + +"What think you they will do with him?" asked Tara of Helium. + +"Sentence him to the games," replied Lan-O. "If O-Tar be not +greatly angered he may be sentenced to but a single game, in +which case he may come out alive; but if O-Tar wishes really to +dispose of him he will be sentenced to the entire series, and no +warrior has ever survived the full ten, or rather none who was +under a sentence from O-Tar." + +"What are the games? I do not understand," said Tara "I have +heard them speak of playing at jetan, but surely no one can be +killed at jetan. We play it often at home." + +"But not as they play it in the arena at Manator," replied Lan-O. +"Come to the window," and together the two approached an aperture +facing toward the east. + +Below her Tara of Helium saw a great field entirely surrounded by +the low building, and the lofty towers of which that in which she +was imprisoned was but a unit. About the arena were tiers of +seats; but the a thing that caught her attention was a gigantic +jetan board laid out upon the floor of the arena in great squares +of alternate orange and black. + +"Here they play at jetan with living pieces. They play for great +stakes and usually for a woman--some slave of exceptional beauty. +O-Tar himself might have played for you had you not angered him, +but now you will be played for in an open game by slaves and +criminals, and you will belong to the side that wins--not to a +single warrior, but to all who survive the game." + +The eyes of Tara of Helium flashed, but she made no comment. + +"Those who direct the play do not necessarily take part in it," +continued the slave girl, "but sit in those two great thrones +which you see at either end of the board and direct their pieces +from square to square." + +"But where lies the danger?" asked Tara of Helium. "If a piece be +taken it is merely removed from the board--this is a rule of +jetan as old almost as the civilization of Barsoom." + +"But here in Manator, when they play in the great arena with +living men, that rule is altered," explained Lan-O. "When a +warrior is moved to a square occupied by an opposing piece, the +two battle to the death for possession of the square and the one +that is successful advantages by the move. Each is caparisoned to +simulate the piece he represents and in addition he wears that +which indicates whether he be slave, a warrior serving a +sentence, or a volunteer. If serving a sentence the number of +games he must play is also indicated, and thus the one directing +the moves knows which pieces to risk and which to conserve, and +further than this, a man's chances are affected by the position +that is assigned him for the game. Those whom they wish to die +are always Panthans in the game, for the Panthan has the least +chance of surviving." + +"Do those who direct the play ever actually take part in it?" +asked Tara. + +"Oh, yes," said Lan-O. "Often when two warriors, even of the +highest class, hold a grievance against one another O-Tar compels +them to settle it upon the arena. Then it is that they take +active part and with drawn swords direct their own players from +the position of Chief. They pick their own players, usually the +best of their own warriors and slaves, if they be powerful men +who possess such, or their friends may volunteer, or they may +obtain prisoners from the pits. These are games indeed--the very +best that are seen. Often the great chiefs themselves are slain." + +"It is within this amphitheater that the justice of Manator is +meted, then?" asked Tara. + +"Very largely," replied Lan-O. + +"How, then, through such justice, could a prisoner win his +liberty?" continued the girl from Helium. + +"If a man, and he survived ten games his liberty would be his," +replied Lan-O. + +"But none ever survives?" queried Tara. "And if a woman?" + +"No stranger within the gates of Manator ever has survived ten +games," replied the slave girl. "They are permitted to offer +themselves into perpetual slavery if they prefer that to fighting +at jetan. Of course they may be called upon, as any warrior, to +take part in a game, but their chances then of surviving are +increased, since they may never again have the chance of winning +to liberty." + +"But a woman," insisted Tara; "how may a woman win her freedom?" + +Lan-O laughed. "Very simply," she cried, derisively. "She has but +to find a warrior who will fight through ten consecutive games +for her and survive." + +"'Just are the laws of Manator,'" quoted Tara, scornfully. + +Then it was that they heard footsteps outside their cell and a +moment later a key turned in the lock and the door opened. A +warrior faced them. + +"Hast seen E-Med the dwar?" he asked. + +"Yes," replied Tara, "he was here some time ago." + +The man glanced quickly about the bare chamber and then +searchingly first at Tara of Helium and then at the slave girl, +Lan-O. The puzzled expression upon his face increased. He +scratched his head. "It is strange," he said. "A score of men saw +him ascend into this tower; and though there is but a single +exit, and that well guarded, no man has seen him pass out." + +Tara of Helium hid a yawn with the back of a shapely hand. "The +Princess of Helium is hungry, fellow," she drawled; "tell your +master that she would eat." + +It was an hour later that food was brought, an officer and +several warriors accompanying the bearer. The former examined the +room carefully, but there was no sign that aught amiss had +occurred there. The wound that had sent E-Med the dwar to his +ancestors had not bled, fortunately for Tara of Helium. + +"Woman," cried the officer, turning upon Tara, "you were the last +to see E-Med the dwar. Answer me now and answer me truthfully. +Did you see him leave this room?" + +"I did," answered Tara of Helium. + +"Where did he go from here?" + +"How should I know? Think you that I can pass through a locked +door of skeel?" the girl's tone was scornful. + +"Of that we do not know," said the officer. "Strange things have +happened in the cell of your companion in the pits of Manator. +Perhaps you could pass through a locked door of skeel as easily +as he performs seemingly more impossible feats." + +"Whom do you mean," she cried; "Turan the panthan? He lives, +then? Tell me, is he here in Manator unharmed?" + +"I speak of that thing which calls itself Ghek the kaldane," +replied the officer. + +"But Turan! Tell me, padwar, have you heard aught of him?" Tara's +tone was insistent and she leaned a little forward toward the +officer, her lips slightly parted in expectancy. + +Into the eyes of the slave girl, Lan-O, who was watching her, +there crept a soft light of understanding; but the officer +ignored Tara's question--what was the fate of another slave to +him? "Men do not disappear into thin air," he growled, "and if +E-Med be not found soon O-Tar himself may take a hand in this. I +warn you, woman, if you be one of those horrid Corphals that by +commanding the spirits of the wicked dead gains evil mastery over +the living, as many now believe the thing called Ghek to be, that +lest you return E-Med, O-Tar will have no mercy on you." + +"What foolishness is this?" cried the girl. "I am a princess +of Helium, as I have told you all a score of times. Even if the +fabled Corphals existed, as none but the most ignorant now +believes, the lore of the ancients tells us that they entered +only into the bodies of wicked criminals of the lowest class. Man +of Manator, thou art a fool, and thy jeddak and all his people," +and she turned her royal back upon the padwar, and gazed through +the window across the Field of Jetan and the roofs of Manator +through the low hills and the rolling country and freedom. + +"And you know so much of Corphals, then," he cried, "you know +that while no common man dare harm them they may be slain by the +hand of a jeddak with impunity!" + +The girl did not reply, nor would she speak again, for all his +threats and rage, for she knew now that none in all Manator dared +harm her save O-Tar, the jeddak, and after a while the padwar +left, taking his men with him. And after they had gone Tara stood +for long looking out upon the city of Manator, and wondering what +more of cruel wrongs Fate held in store for her. She was standing +thus in silent meditation when there rose to her the strains of +martial music from the city below--the deep, mellow tones of the +long war trumpets of mounted troops, the clear, ringing notes of +foot-soldiers' music. The girl raised her head and looked about, +listening, and Lan-O, standing at an opposite window, looking +toward the west, motioned Tara to join her. Now they could see +across roofs and avenues to The Gate of Enemies, through which +troops were marching into the city. + +"The Great Jed is coming," said Lan-O, "none other dares enter +thus, with blaring trumpets, the city of Manator. It is U-Thor, +Jed of Manatos, second city of Manator. They call him The Great +Jed the length and breadth of Manator, and because the people +love him, O-Tar hates him. They say, who know, that it would need +but slight provocation to inflame the two to war. How such a war +would end no one could guess; for the people of Manator worship +the great O-Tar, though they do not love him. U-Thor they love, +but he is not the jeddak," and Tara understood, as only a Martian +may, how much that simple statement encompassed. + +The loyalty of a Martian to his jeddak is almost an instinct, and +second not even to the instinct of self-preservation at that. Nor +is this strange in a race whose religion includes ancestor +worship, and where families trace their origin back into remote +ages and a jeddak sits upon the same throne that his direct +progenitors have occupied for, perhaps, hundreds of thousands of +years, and rules the descendants of the same people that his +forebears ruled. Wicked jeddaks have been dethroned, but seldom +are they replaced by other than members of the imperial house, +even though the law gives to the jeds the right to select whom +they please. + +"U-Thor is a just man and good, then?" asked Tara of Helium. + +"There be none nobler," replied Lan-O. "In Manatos none but +wicked criminals who deserve death are forced to play at jetan, +and even then the play is fair and they have their chance for +freedom. Volunteers may play, but the moves are not necessarily +to the death--a wound, and even sometimes points in swordplay, +deciding the issue. There they look upon jetan as a martial +sport--here it is but butchery. And U-Thor is opposed to the +ancient slave raids and to the policy that keeps Manator forever +isolated from the other nations of Barsoom; but U-Thor is not +jeddak and so there is no change." + +The two girls watched the column moving up the broad avenue from +The Gate of Enemies toward the palace of O-Tar. A gorgeous, +barbaric procession of painted warriors in jewel-studded harness +and waving feathers; vicious, squealing thoats caparisoned in +rich trappings; far above their heads the long lances of their +riders bore fluttering pennons; foot-soldiers swinging easily +along the stone pavement, their sandals of zitidar hide giving +forth no sound; and at the rear of each utan a train of painted +chariots, drawn by mammoth zitidars, carrying the equipment of +the company to which they were attached. Utan after utan entered +through the great gate, and even when the head of the column +reached the palace of O-Tar they were not all within the city. + +"I have been here many years," said the girl, Lan-O; "but never +have I seen even The Great Jed bring so many fighting men into +the city of Manator." + +Through half-closed eyes Tara of Helium watched the warriors +marching up the broad avenue, trying to imagine them the fighting +men of her beloved Helium coming to the rescue of their princess. +That splendid figure upon the great thoat might be John Carter, +himself, Warlord of Barsoom, and behind him utan after utan of +the veterans of the empire, and then the girl opened her eyes +again and saw the host of painted, befeathered barbarians, and +sighed. But yet she watched, fascinated by the martial scene, and +now she noted again the groups of silent figures upon the +balconies. No waving silks; no cries of welcome; no showers of +flowers and jewels such as would have marked the entry of such a +splendid, friendly pageant into the twin cities of her birth. + +"The people do not seem friendly to the warriors of Manatos," she +remarked to Lan-O; "I have not seen a single welcoming sign from +the people on the balconies." + +The slave girl looked at her in surprise. "It cannot be that you +do not know!" she exclaimed. "Why, they are--" but she got no +further. The door swung open and an officer stood before them. + +"The slave girl, Tara, is summoned to the presence of O-Tar, the +jeddak!" he announced. + + + +CHAPTER XIV + +AT GHEK'S COMMAND + +Turan the panthan chafed in his chains. Time dragged; silence and +monotony prolonged minutes into hours. Uncertainty of the fate of +the woman he loved turned each hour into an eternity of hell. He +listened impatiently for the sound of approaching footsteps that +he might see and speak to some living creature and learn, +perchance, some word of Tara of Helium. After torturing hours his +ears were rewarded by the rattle of harness and arms. Men were +coming! He waited breathlessly. Perhaps they were his +executioners; but he would welcome them notwithstanding. He would +question them. But if they knew naught of Tara he would not +divulge the location of the hiding place in which he had left +her. + +Now they came--a half-dozen warriors and an officer, escorting an +unarmed man; a prisoner, doubtless. Of this Turan was not left +long in doubt, since they brought the newcomer and chained him to +an adjoining ring. Immediately the panthan commenced to question +the officer in charge of the guard. + +"Tell me," he demanded, "why I have been made prisoner, and if +other strangers were captured since I entered your city." + +"What other prisoners?" asked the officer. + +"A woman, and a man with a strange head," replied Turan. + +"It is possible," said the officer; "but what were their names?" + +"The woman was Tara, Princess of Helium, and the man was Ghek, a +kaldane, of Bantoom." + +"These were your friends?" asked the officer. + +"Yes," replied Turan. + +"It is what I would know," said the officer, and with a curt +command to his men to follow him he turned and left the cell. + +"Tell me of them!" cried Turan after him. "Tell me of Tara of +Helium! Is she safe?" but the man did not answer and soon the +sound of their departure died in the distance. + +"Tara of Helium was safe, but a short time since," said the +prisoner chained at Turan's side. + +The panthan turned toward the speaker, seeing a large man, +handsome of face and with a manner both stately and dignified. +"You have seen her?" he asked. "They captured her then? She is in +danger?" + +"She is being held in The Towers of Jetan as a prize for the next +games," replied the stranger. + +"And who are you?" asked Turan. "And why are you here, a +prisoner?" + +"I am A-Kor the dwar, keeper of The Towers of Jetan," replied the +other. "I am here because I dared speak the truth of O-Tar the +jeddak, to one of his officers." + +"And your punishment?" asked Turan. + +"I do not know. O-Tar has not yet spoken. Doubtless the +games--perhaps the full ten, for O-Tar does not love A-Kor, his +son." + +"You are the jeddak's son?" asked Turan. + +"I am the son of O-Tar and of a slave, Haja of Gathol, who was a +princess in her own land." + +Turan looked searchingly at the speaker. A son of Haja of Gathol! +A son of his mother's sister, this man, then, was his own cousin. +Well did Gahan remember the mysterious disappearance of the +Princess Haja and an entire utan of her personal troops. She had +been upon a visit far from the city of Gathol and returning home +had vanished with her whole escort from the sight of man. So this +was the secret of the seeming mystery? Doubtless it explained +many other similar disappearances that extended nearly as far +back as the history of Gathol. Turan scrutinized his companion, +discovering many evidences of resemblance to his mother's people. +A-Kor might have been ten years younger than he, but such +differences in age are scarce accounted among a people who seldom +or never age outwardly after maturity and whose span of life may +be a thousand years. + +"And where lies Gathol?" asked Turan. + +"Almost due east of Manator," replied A-Kor. + +"And how far?" + +"Some twenty-one degrees it is from the city of Manator to the +city of Gathol," replied A-Kor; "but little more than ten degrees +between the boundaries of the two countries. Between them, +though, there lies a country of torn rocks and yawning chasms." + +Well did Gahan know this country that bordered his upon the +west--even the ships of the air avoided it because of the +treacherous currents that rose from the deep chasms, and the +almost total absence of safe landings. He knew now where Manator +lay and for the first time in long weeks the way to his own +Gathol, and here was a man, a fellow prisoner, in whose veins +flowed the blood of his own ancestors--a man who knew Manator; +its people, its customs and the country surrounding it--one who +could aid him, with advice at least, to find a plan for the +rescue of Tara of Helium and for escape. But would A-Kor--could +he dare broach the subject? He could do no less than try. + +"And O-Tar you think will sentence you to death?" he asked; "and +why?" + +"He would like to," replied A-Kor, "for the people chafe beneath +his iron hand and their loyalty is but the loyalty of a people to +the long line of illustrious jeddaks from which he has sprung. He +is a jealous man and has found the means of disposing of most of +those whose blood might entitle them to a claim upon the throne, +and whose place in the affections of the people endowed them with +any political significance. The fact that I was the son of a +slave relegated me to a position of minor importance in the +consideration of O-Tar, yet I am still the son of a jeddak and +might sit upon the throne of Manator with as perfect congruity as +O-Tar himself. Combined with this is the fact that of recent +years the people, and especially many of the younger warriors, +have evinced a growing affection for me, which I attribute to +certain virtues of character and training derived from my mother, +but which O-Tar assumes to be the result of an ambition upon my +part to occupy the throne of Manator. + +"And now, I am firmly convinced, he has seized upon my criticism +of his treatment of the slave girl Tara as a pretext for ridding +himself of me." + +"But if you could escape and reach Gathol," suggested Turan. + +"I have thought of that," mused A-Kor; "but how much better off +would I be? In the eyes of the Gatholians I would be, not a +Gatholian; but a stranger and doubtless they would accord me the +same treatment that we of Manator accord strangers." + +"Could you convince them that you are the son of the Princess +Haja your welcome would be assured," said Turan; "while on the +other hand you could purchase your freedom and citizenship with a +brief period of labor in the diamond mines." + +"How know you all these things?" asked A-Kor. "I thought you were +from Helium." + +"I am a panthan," replied Turan, "and I have served many +countries, among them Gathol." + +"It is what the slaves from Gathol have told me," said A-Kor, +thoughtfully, "and my mother, before O-Tar sent her to live at +Manatos. I think he must have feared her power and influence +among the slaves from Gathol and their descendants, who number +perhaps a million people throughout the land of Manator." + +"Are these slaves organized?" asked Turan. + +A-Kor looked straight into the eyes of the panthan for a long +moment before he replied. "You are a man of honor," he said; "I +read it in your face, and I am seldom mistaken in my estimate of +a man; but--" and he leaned closer to the other--"even the walls +have ears," he whispered, and Turan's question was answered. + +It was later in the evening that warriors came and unlocked the +fetter from Turan's ankle and led him away to appear before +O-Tar, the jeddak. They conducted him toward the palace along +narrow, winding streets and broad avenues; but always from the +balconies there looked down upon them in endless ranks the silent +people of the city. The palace itself was filled with life and +activity. Mounted warriors galloped through the corridors and up +and down the runways connecting adjacent floors. It seemed that +no one walked within the palace other than a few slaves. +Squealing, fighting thoats were stabled in magnificent halls +while their riders, if not upon some duty of the palace, played +at jetan with small figures carved from wood. + +Turan noted the magnificence of the interior architecture of the +palace, the lavish expenditure of precious jewels and metals, the +gorgeous mural decorations which depicted almost exclusively +martial scenes, and principally duels which seemed to be fought +upon jetan boards of heroic size. The capitals of many of the +columns supporting the ceilings of the corridors and chambers +through which they passed were wrought into formal likenesses of +jetan pieces--everywhere there seemed a suggestion of the game. +Along the same path that Tara of Helium had been led Turan was +conducted toward the throne room of O-Tar the jeddak, and when he +entered the Hall of Chiefs his interest turned to wonder and +admiration as he viewed the ranks of statuesque thoatmen decked +in their gorgeous, martial panoply. Never, he thought, had he +seen upon Barsoom more soldierly figures or thoats so perfectly +trained to perfection of immobility as these. Not a muscle +quivered, not a tail lashed, and the riders were as motionless as +their mounts--each warlike eye straight to the front, the great +spears inclined at the same angle. It was a picture to fill the +breast of a fighting man with awe and reverence. Nor did it fail +in its effect upon Turan as they conducted him the length of the +chamber, where he waited before great doors until he should be +summoned into the presence of the ruler of Manator. + + * * * * * + +When Tara of Helium was ushered into the throne room of O-Tar she +found the great hall filled with the chiefs and officers of O-Tar +and U-Thor, the latter occupying the place of honor at the foot +of the throne, as was his due. The girl was conducted to the foot +of the aisle and halted before the jeddak, who looked down upon +her from his high throne with scowling brows and fierce, cruel +eyes. + +"The laws of Manator are just," said O-Tar, addressing her; "thus +is it that you have been summoned here again to be judged by the +highest authority of Manator. Word has reached me that you are +suspected of being a Corphal. What word have you to say in +refutation of the charge?" + +Tara of Helium could scarce restrain a sneer as she answered the +ridiculous accusation of witchcraft. "So ancient is the culture +of my people," she said, "that authentic history reveals no +defense for that which we know existed only in the ignorant and +superstitious minds of the most primitive peoples of the past. To +those who are yet so untutored as to believe in the existence of +Corphals, there can be no argument that will convince them of +their error--only long ages of refinement and culture can +accomplish their release from the bondage of ignorance. I have +spoken." + +"Yet you do not deny the accusation," said O-Tar. + +"It is not worthy the dignity of a denial," she responded +haughtily. + +"And I were you, woman," said a deep voice at her side, "I +should, nevertheless, deny it." + +Tara of Helium turned to see the eyes of U-Thor, the great jed of +Manatos, upon her. Brave eyes they were, but neither cold nor +cruel. O-Tar rapped impatiently upon the arm of his throne. +"U-Thor forgets," he cried, "that O-Tar is the jeddak." + +"U-Thor remembers," replied the jed of Manatos, "that the laws of +Manator permit any who may be accused to have advice and counsel +before their judge." + +Tara of Helium saw that for some reason this man would have +assisted her, and so she acted upon his advice. + +"I deny the charge," she said, "I am no Corphal." + +"Of that we shall learn," snapped O-Tar. "U-Dor, where are those +who have knowledge of the powers of this woman?" + +And U-Dor brought several who recounted the little that was known +of the disappearance of E-Med, and others who told of the capture +of Ghek and Tara, suggesting by deduction that having been found +together they had sufficient in common to make it reasonably +certain that one was as bad as the other, and that, therefore, it +remained but to convict one of them of Corphalism to make certain +the guilt of both. And then O-Tar called for Ghek, and +immediately the hideous kaldane was dragged before him by +warriors who could not conceal the fear in which they held this +creature. + +"And you!" said O-Tar in cold accusing tones. "Already have I +been told enough of you to warrant me in passing through your +heart the jeddak's steel--of how you stole the brains from the +warrior U-Van so that he thought he saw your headless body still +endowed with life; of how you caused another to believe that you +had escaped, making him to see naught but an empty bench and a +blank wall where you had been." + +"Ah, O-Tar, but that is as nothing!" cried a young padwar who had +come in command of the escort that brought Ghek. "The thing which +he did to I-Zav, here, would prove his guilt alone." + +"What did he to the warrior I-Zav?" demanded O-Tar. "Let I-Zav +speak!" + +The warrior I-Zav, a great fellow of bulging muscles and thick +neck, advanced to the foot of the throne. He was pale and still +trembling visibly as from a nervous shock. + +"Let my first ancestor be my witness, O-Tar, that I speak the +truth," he began. "I was left to guard this creature, who sat +upon a bench, shackled to the wall. I stood by the open doorway +at the opposite side of the chamber. He could not reach me, yet, +O-Tar, may Iss engulf me if he did not drag me to him helpless as +an unhatched egg. He dragged me to him, greatest of jeddaks, with +his eyes! With his eyes he seized upon my eyes and dragged me to +him and he made me lay my swords and dagger upon the table and +back off into a corner, and still keeping his eyes upon my eyes +his head quitted his body and crawling upon six short legs it +descended to the floor and backed part way into the hole of an +ulsio, but not so far that the eyes were not still upon me and +then it returned with the key to its fetter and after resuming +its place upon its own shoulders it unlocked the fetter and again +dragged me across the room and made me to sit upon the bench +where it had been and there it fastened the fetter about my +ankle, and I could do naught for the power of its eyes and the +fact that it wore my two swords and my dagger. And then the head +disappeared down the hole of the ulsio with the key, and when it +returned, it resumed its body and stood guard over me at the +doorway until the padwar came to fetch it hither." + +"It is enough!" said O-Tar, sternly. "Both shall receive the +jeddak's steel," and rising from his throne he drew his long +sword and descended the marble steps toward them, while two +brawny warriors seized Tara by either arm and two seized Ghek, +holding them facing the naked blade of the jeddak. + +"Hold, just O-Tar!" cried U-Dor. "There be yet another to be +judged. Let us confront him who calls himself Turan with these +his fellows before they die." + +"Good!" exclaimed O-Tar, pausing half way down the steps. "Fetch +Turan, the slave!" + +When Turan had been brought into the chamber he was placed a +little to Tara's left and a step nearer the throne. O-Tar eyed +him menacingly. + +"You are Turan," he asked, "friend and companion of these?" + +The panthan was about to reply when Tara of Helium spoke. "I know +not this fellow," she said. "Who dares say that he be a friend +and companion of the Princess Tara of Helium?" + +Turan and Ghek looked at her in surprise, but at Turan she did +not look, and to Ghek she passed a quick glance of warning, as to +say: "Hold thy peace." + +The panthan tried not to fathom her purpose for the head is +useless when the heart usurps its functions, and Turan knew only +that the woman he loved had denied him, and though he tried not +even to think it his foolish heart urged but a single +explanation--that she refused to recognize him lest she be +involved in his difficulties. + +O-Tar looked first at one and then at another of them; but none +of them spoke. + +"Were they not captured together?" he asked of U-Dor. + +"No," replied the dwar. "He who is called Turan was found seeking +entrance to the city and was enticed to the pits. The following +morning I discovered the other two upon the hill beyond The Gate +of Enemies." + +"But they are friends and companions," said a young padwar, "for +this Turan inquired of me concerning these two, calling them by +name and saying that they were his friends." + +"It is enough," stated O-Tar, "all three shall die," and he took +another step downward from the throne. + +"For what shall we die?" asked Ghek. "Your people prate of the +just laws of Manator, and yet you would slay three strangers +without telling them of what crime they are accused." + +"He is right," said a deep voice. It was the voice of U-Thor, the +great jed of Manatos. O-Tar looked at him and scowled; but there +came voices from other portions of the chamber seconding the +demand for justice. + +"Then know, though you shall die anyway," cried O-Tar, "that all +three are convicted of Corphalism and that as only a jeddak may +slay such as you in safety you are about to be honored with the +steel of O-Tar." + +"Fool!" cried Turan. "Know you not that in the veins of this +woman flows the blood of ten thousand jeddaks--that greater than +yours is her power in her own land? She is Tara, Princess of +Helium, great-granddaughter of Tardos Mors, daughter of John +Carter, Warlord of Barsoom. She cannot be a Corphal. Nor is this +creature Ghek, nor am I. And you would know more, I can prove my +right to be heard and to be believed if I may have word with the +Princess Haja of Gathol, whose son is my fellow prisoner in the +pits of O-Tar, his father." + +At this U-Thor rose to his feet and faced O-Tar. "What means +this?" he asked. "Speaks the man the truth? Is the son of Haja a +prisoner in thy pits, O-Tar?" + +"And what is it to the jed of Manatos who be the prisoners in the +pits of his jeddak?" demanded O-Tar, angrily. + +"It is this to the jed of Manatos," replied U-Thor in a voice so +low as to be scarce more than a whisper and yet that was heard +the whole length and breadth of the great throne room of O-Tar, +Jeddak of Manator. "You gave me a slave woman, Haja, who had been +a princess in Gathol, because you feared her influence among the +slaves from Gathol. I have made of her a free woman, and I have +married her and made her thus a princess of Manatos. Her son is +my son, O-Tar, and though thou be my jeddak, I say to you that +for any harm that befalls A-Kor you shall answer to U-Thor of +Manatos." + +O-Tar looked long at U-Thor, but he made no reply. Then he turned +again to Turan. "If one be a Corphal," he said, "then all of you +be Corphals, and we know well from the things that this creature +has done," he pointed at Ghek, "that he is a Corphal, for no +mortal has such powers as he. And as you are all Corphals you +must all die." He took another step downward, when Ghek spoke. + +"These two have no such powers as I," he said. "They are but +ordinary, brainless things such as yourself. I have done all the +things that your poor, ignorant warriors have told you; but this +only demonstrates that I am of a higher order than yourselves, as +is indeed the fact. I am a kaldane, not a Corphal. There is +nothing supernatural or mysterious about me, other than that to +the ignorant all things which they cannot understand are +mysterious. Easily might I have eluded your warriors and escaped +your pits; but I remained in the hope that I might help these two +foolish creatures who have not the brains to escape without help. +They befriended me and saved my life. I owe them this debt. Do +not slay them--they are harmless. Slay me if you will. I offer my +life if it will appease your ignorant wrath. I cannot return to +Bantoom and so I might as well die, for there is no pleasure in +intercourse with the feeble intellects that cumber the face of +the world outside the valley of Bantoom." + +"Hideous egotist," said O-Tar, "prepare to die and assume not to +dictate to O-Tar the jeddak. He has passed sentence and all three +of you shall feel the jeddak's naked steel. I have spoken!" + +He took another step downward and then a strange thing happened. +He paused, his eyes fixed upon the eyes of Ghek. His sword +slipped from nerveless fingers, and still he stood there swaying +forward and back. A jed rose to rush to his side; but Ghek +stopped him with a word. + +"Wait!" he cried. "The life of your jeddak is in my hands. You +believe me a Corphal and so you believe, too, that only the sword +of a jeddak may slay me, therefore your blades are useless +against me. Offer harm to any one of us, or seek to approach your +jeddak until I have spoken, and he shall sink lifeless to the +marble. Release the two prisoners and let them come to my side--I +would speak to them, privately. Quick! do as I say; I would as +lief as not slay O-Tar. I but let him live that I may gain +freedom for my friends--obstruct me and he dies." + +The guards fell back, releasing Tara and Turan, who came close to +Ghek's side. + +"Do as I tell you and do it quickly," whispered the kaldane. "I +cannot hold this fellow long, nor could I kill him thus. There +are many minds working against mine and presently mine will tire +and O-Tar will be himself again. You must make the best of your +opportunity while you may. Behind the arras that you see hanging +in the rear of the throne above you is a secret opening. From it +a corridor leads to the pits of the palace, where there are +storerooms containing food and drink. Few people go there. From +these pits lead others to all parts of the city. Follow one that +runs due west and it will bring you to The Gate of Enemies. The +rest will then lie with you. I can do no more; hurry before my +waning powers fail me--I am not as Luud, who was a king. He could +have held this creature forever. Make haste! Go!" + + + +CHAPTER XV + +THE OLD MAN OF THE PITS + +"I shall not desert you, Ghek," said Tara of Helium, simply. + +"Go! Go!" whispered the kaldane. "You can do me no good. Go, or +all I have done is for naught." + +Tara shook her head. "I cannot," she said. + +"They will slay her," said Ghek to Turan, and the panthan, torn +between loyalty to this strange creature who had offered its life +for him, and love of the woman, hesitated but a moment, then he +swept Tara from her feet and lifting her in his arms leaped up +the steps that led to the throne of Manator. Behind the throne he +parted the arras and found the secret opening. Into this he bore +the girl and down a long, narrow corridor and winding runways +that led to lower levels until they came to the pits of the +palace of O-Tar. Here was a labyrinth of passages and chambers +presenting a thousand hiding-places. + +As Turan bore Tara up the steps toward the throne a score of +warriors rose as though to rush forward to intercept them. +"Stay!" cried Ghek, "or your jeddak dies," and they halted in +their tracks, waiting the will of this strange, uncanny creature. + +Presently Ghek took his eyes from the eyes of O-Tar and the +jeddak shook himself as one who would be rid of a bad dream and +straightened up, half dazed still. + +"Look," said Ghek, then, "I have given your jeddak his life, +nor have I harmed one of those whom I might easily have slain +when they were in my power. No harm have I or my friends done in +the city of Manator. Why then should you persecute us? Give us +our lives. Give us our liberty." + +O-Tar, now in command of his faculties, stooped and regained his +sword. In the room was silence as all waited to hear the jeddak's +answer. + +"Just are the laws of Manator," he said at last. "Perhaps, after +all, there is truth in the words of the stranger. Return him then +to the pits and pursue the others and capture them. Through the +mercy of O-Tar they shall be permitted to win their freedom upon +the Field of Jetan, in the coming games." + +Still ashen was the face of the jeddak as Ghek was led away and +his appearance was that of a man who had been snatched from the +brink of eternity into which he has gazed, not with the composure +of great courage, but with fear. There were those in the throne +room who knew that the execution of the three prisoners had but +been delayed and the responsibility placed upon the shoulders of +others, and one of those who knew was U-Thor, the great jed of +Manatos. His curling lip betokened his scorn of the jeddak who +had chosen humiliation rather than death. He knew that O-Tar had +lost more of prestige in those few moments than he could regain +in a lifetime, for the Martians are jealous of the courage of +their chiefs--there can be no evasions of stern duty, no +temporizing with honor. That there were others in the room who +shared U-Thor's belief was evidenced by the silence and the grim +scowls. + +O-Tar glanced quickly around. He must have sensed the hostility +and guessed its cause, for he went suddenly angry, and as one who +seeks by the vehemence of his words to establish the courage of +his heart he roared forth what could be considered as naught +other than a challenge. + +"The will of O-Tar, the jeddak, is the law of Manator," he cried, +"and the laws of Manator are just--they cannot err. U-Dor, +dispatch those who will search the palace, the pits, and the +city, and return the fugitives to their cells. + +"And now for you, U-Thor of Manatos! Think you with impunity to +threaten your jeddak--to question his right to punish traitors +and instigators of treason? What am I to think of your own +loyalty, who takes to wife a woman I have banished from my court +because of her intrigues against the authority of her jeddak and +her master? But O-Tar is just. Make your explanations and your +peace, then, before it is too late." + +"U-Thor has nothing to explain," replied the jed of Manatos; "nor +is he at war with his jeddak; but he has the right that every jed +and every warrior enjoys, of demanding justice at the hands of +the jeddak for whomsoever he believes to be persecuted. With +increasing rigor has the jeddak of Manator persecuted the slaves +from Gathol since he took to himself the unwilling Princess Haja. +If the slaves from Gathol have harbored thoughts of vengeance and +escape 'tis no more than might be expected from a proud and +courageous people. Ever have I counselled greater fairness in our +treatment of our slaves, many of whom, in their own lands, are +people of great distinction and power; but always has O-Tar, the +jeddak, flouted with arrogance my every suggestion. Though it has +been through none of my seeking that the question has arisen now +I am glad that it has, for the time was bound to come when the +jeds of Manator would demand from O-Tar the respect and +consideration that is their due from the man who holds his high +office at their pleasure. Know, then, O-Tar, that you must free +A-Kor, the dwar, forthwith or bring him to fair trial before the +assembled jeds of Manator. I have spoken." + +"You have spoken well and to the point, U-Thor," cried O-Tar, +"for you have revealed to your jeddak and your fellow jeds the +depth of the disloyalty that I have long suspected. A-Kor already +has been tried and sentenced by the supreme tribunal of +Manator--O-Tar, the jeddak; and you too shall receive justice +from the same unfailing source. In the meantime you are under +arrest. To the pits with him! To the pits with U-Thor the false +jed!" He clapped his hands to summon the surrounding warriors to +do his bidding. A score leaped forward to seize U-Thor. They were +warriors of the palace, mostly; but two score leaped to defend +U-Thor, and with ringing steel they fought at the foot of the +steps to the throne of Manator where stood O-Tar, the jeddak, +with drawn sword ready to take his part in the +melee. + +At the clash of steel, palace guards rushed to the scene from +other parts of the great building until those who would have +defended U-Thor were outnumbered two to one, and then the jed of +Manatos slowly withdrew with his forces, and fighting his way +through the corridors and chambers of the palace came at last to +the avenue. Here he was reinforced by the little army that had +marched with him into Manator. Slowly they retreated toward The +Gate of Enemies between the rows of silent people looking down +upon them from the balconies and there, within the city walls, +they made their stand. + +In a dimly-lighted chamber beneath the palace of O-Tar the +jeddak, Turan the panthan lowered Tara of Helium from his arms +and faced her. "I am sorry, Princess," he said, "that I was +forced to disobey your commands, or to abandon Ghek; but there +was no other way. Could he have saved you I would have stayed in +his place. Tell me that you forgive me." + +"How could I do less?" she replied graciously. "But it seemed +cowardly to abandon a friend." + +"Had we been three fighting men it had been different," he said. +"We could only have remained and died together, fighting; but you +know, Tara of Helium, that we may not jeopardize a woman's safety +even though we risk the loss of honor." + +"I know that, Turan," she said; "but no one may say that you have +risked honor, who knows the honor and bravery that are yours." + +He heard her with surprise for these were the first words that +she had spoken to him that did not savor of the attitude of a +princess to a panthan--though it was more in her tone than the +actual words that he apprehended the difference. How at variance +were they to her recent repudiation of him! He could not fathom +her, and so he blurted out the question that had been in his mind +since she had told O-Tar that she did not know him. + +"Tara of Helium," he said, "your words are balm to the wound you +gave me in the throne room of O-Tar. Tell me, Princess, why you +denied me." + +She turned her great, deep eyes up to his and in them was a +little of reproach. + +"You did not guess," she asked, "that it was my lips alone and +not my heart that denied you? O-Tar had ordered that I die, more +because I was a companion of Ghek than because of any evidence +against me, and so I knew that if I acknowledged you as one of +us, you would be slain, too." + +"It was to save me, then?" he cried, his face suddenly lighting. + +"It was to save my brave panthan," she said in a low voice. + +"Tara of Helium," said the warrior, dropping to one knee, "your +words are as food to my hungry heart," and he took her fingers in +his and pressed them to his lips. + +Gently she raised him to his feet. "You need not tell me, +kneeling," she said, softly. + +Her hand was still in his as he rose and they were very close, +and the man was still flushed with the contact of her body since +he had carried her from the throne room of O-Tar. He felt his +heart pounding in his breast and the hot blood surging through +his veins as he looked at her beautiful face, with its downcast +eyes and the half-parted lips that he would have given a kingdom +to possess, and then he swept her to him and as he crushed her +against his breast his lips smothered hers with kisses. + +But only for an instant. Like a tigress the girl turned upon +him, striking him, and thrusting him away. She stepped back, her +head high and her eyes flashing fire. "You would dare?" she +cried. "You would dare thus defile a princess of Helium?" + +His eyes met hers squarely and there was no shame and no remorse +in them. + +"Yes, I would dare," he said. "I would dare love Tara of Helium; +but I would not dare defile her or any woman with kisses that +were not prompted by love of her alone." He stepped closer to her +and laid his hands upon her shoulders. "Look into my eyes, +daughter of The Warlord," he said, "and tell me that you do not +wish the love of Turan, the panthan." + +"I do not wish your love," she cried, pulling away. "I hate you!" +and then turning away she bent her head into the hollow of her +arm, and wept. + +The man took a step toward her as though to comfort her when he +was arrested by the sound of a crackling laugh behind him. +Wheeling about, he discovered a strange figure of a man standing +in a doorway. It was one of those rarities occasionally to be +seen upon Barsoom--an old man with the signs of age upon him. +Bent and wrinkled, he had more the appearance of a mummy than a +man. + +"Love in the pits of O-Tar!" he cried, and again his thin +laughter jarred upon the silence of the subterranean vaults. "A +strange place to woo! A strange place to woo, indeed! When I was +a young man we roamed in the gardens beneath giant pimalias and +stole our kisses in the brief shadows of hurtling Thuria. We came +not to the gloomy pits to speak of love; but times have changed +and ways have changed, though I had never thought to live to see +the time when the way of a man with a maid, or a maid with a man +would change. Ah, but we kissed them then! And what if they +objected, eh? What if they objected? Why, we kissed them more. +Ey, ey, those were the days!" and he cackled again. "Ey, well do +I recall the first of them I ever kissed, and I've kissed an army +of them since; she was a fine girl, but she tried to slip a +dagger into me while I was kissing her. Ey, ey, those were the +days! But I kissed her. She's been dead over a thousand years +now, but she was never kissed again like that while she lived, +I'll swear, not since she's been dead, either. And then there was +that other--" but Turan, seeing a thousand or more years of +osculatory memoirs portending, interrupted. + +"Tell me, ancient one," he said, "not of thy loves but of +thyself. Who are you? What do you here in the pits of O-Tar?" + +"I might ask you the same, young man," replied the other. "Few +there are who visit the pits other than the dead, except my +pupils--ey! That is it--you are new pupils! Good! But never +before have they sent a woman to learn the great art from the +greatest artist. But times have changed. Now, in my day the women +did no work--they were just for kissing and loving. Ey, those +were the women. I mind the one we captured in the south--ey! she +was a devil, but how she could love. She had breasts of marble +and a heart of fire. Why, she--" + +"Yes, yes," interrupted Turan; "we are pupils, and we are anxious +to get to work. Lead on and we will follow." + +"Ey, yes! Ey, yes! Come! All is rush and hurry as though there +were not another countless myriad of ages ahead. Ey, yes! as many +as lie behind. Two thousand years have passed since I broke my +shell and always rush, rush, rush, yet I cannot see that aught +has been accomplished. Manator is the same today as it was +then--except the girls. We had the girls then. There was one that +I gained upon The Fields of Jetan. Ey, but you should have seen +--" + +"Lead on!" cried Turan. "After we are at work you shall tell us +of her." + +"Ey, yes," said the old fellow and shuffled off down a dimly +lighted passage. "Follow me!" + +"You are going with him?" asked Tara. + +"Why not?" replied Turan. "We know not where we are, or the way +from these pits; for I know not east from west; but he doubtless +knows and if we are shrewd we may learn from him that which we +would know. At least we cannot afford to arouse his suspicions"; +and so they followed him--followed along winding corridors and +through many chambers, until they came at last to a room in which +there were several marble slabs raised upon pedestals some three +feet above the floor and upon each slab lay a human corpse. + +"Here we are," exclaimed the old man. "These are fresh and we +shall have to get to work upon them soon. I am working now on one +for The Gate of Enemies. He slew many of our warriors. Truly is +he entitled to a place in The Gate. Come, you shall see him." + +He led them to an adjoining apartment. Upon the floor were many +fresh, human bones and upon a marble slab a mass of shapeless +flesh. + +"You will learn this later," announced the old man; "but it will +not harm you to watch me now, for there are not many thus +prepared, and it may be long before you will have the opportunity +to see another prepared for The Gate of Enemies. First, you see, +I remove all the bones, carefully that the skin may be damaged as +little as possible. The skull is the most difficult, but it can +be removed by a skilful artist. You see, I have made but a single +opening. This I now sew up, and that done, the body is hung so," +and he fastened a piece of rope to the hair of the corpse and +swung the horrid thing to a ring in the ceiling. Directly below +it was a circular manhole in the floor from which he removed the +cover revealing a well partially filled with a reddish liquid. +"Now we lower it into this, the formula for which you shall learn +in due time. We fasten it thus to the bottom of the cover, which +we now replace. In a year it will be ready; but it must be +examined often in the meantime and the liquid kept above the +level of its crown. It will be a very beautiful piece, this one, +when it is ready. + +"And you are fortunate again, for there is one to come out +today." He crossed to the opposite side of the room and raised +another cover, reached in and dragged a grotesque looking figure +from the hole. It was a human body, shrunk by the action of the +chemical in which it had been immersed, to a little figure scarce +a foot high. + +"Ey! is it not fine?" cried the little old man. "Tomorrow it will +take its place in The Gate of Enemies." He dried it off with +cloths and packed it away carefully in a basket. "Perhaps you +would like to see some of my life work," he suggested, and +without waiting for their assent led them to another apartment, a +large chamber in which were forty or fifty people. All were +sitting or standing quietly about the walls, with the exception +of one huge warrior who bestrode a great thoat in the very center +of the room, and all were motionless. Instantly there sprang to +the minds of Tara and Turan the rows of silent people upon the +balconies that lined the avenues of the city, and the noble array +of mounted warriors in The Hall of Chiefs, and the same +explanation came to both but neither dared voice the question +that was in his mind, for fear of revealing by his ignorance the +fact that they were strangers in Manator and therefore impostors +in the guise of pupils. + +"It is very wonderful," said Turan. "It must require great skill +and patience and time." + +"That it does," replied the old man, "though having done it so +long I am quicker than most; but mine are the most natural. Why, +I would defy the wife of that warrior to say that insofar as +appearances are concerned he does not live," and he pointed at +the man upon the thoat. "Many of them, of course, are brought +here wasted or badly wounded and these I have to repair. That is +where great skill is required, for everyone wants his dead to +look as they did at their best in life; but you shall learn--to +mount them and paint them and repair them and sometimes to make +an ugly one look beautiful. And it will be a great comfort to be +able to mount your own. Why, for fifteen hundred years no one has +mounted my own dead but myself. + +"I have many, my balconies are crowded with them; but I keep a +great room for my wives. I have them all, as far back as the +first one, and many is the evening I spend with them--quiet +evenings and very pleasant. And then the pleasure of preparing +them and making them even more beautiful than in life partially +recompenses one for their loss. I take my time with them, looking +for a new one while I am working on the old. When I am not sure +about a new one I bring her to the chamber where my wives are, +and compare her charms with theirs, and there is always a great +satisfaction at such times in knowing that they will not object. +I love harmony." + +"Did you prepare all the warriors in The Hall of Chiefs?" asked +Turan. + +"Yes, I prepare them and repair them," replied the old man. +"O-Tar will trust no other. Even now I have two in another room +who were damaged in some way and brought down to me. O-Tar does +not like to have them gone long, since it leaves two riderless +thoats in the Hall; but I shall have them ready presently. He +wants them all there in the event any momentous question arises +upon which the living jeds cannot agree, or do not agree with +O-Tar. Such questions he carries to the jeds in The Hall of +Chiefs. There he shuts himself up alone with the great chiefs who +have attained wisdom through death. It is an excellent plan and +there is never any friction or misunderstandings. O-Tar has said +that it is the finest deliberative body upon Barsoom--much more +intelligent than that composed of the living jeds. But come, we +must get to work; come into the next chamber and I will begin +your instruction." + +He led the way into the chamber in which lay the several corpses +upon their marble slabs, and going to a cabinet he donned a pair +of huge spectacles and commenced to select various tools from +little compartments. This done he turned again toward his two +pupils. + +"Now let me have a look at you," he said. "My eyes are not what +they once were, and I need these powerful lenses for my work, or +to see distinctly the features of those around me." + +He turned his eyes upon the two before him. Turan held his breath +for he knew that now the man must discover that they wore not the +harness or insignia of Manator. He had wondered before why the +old fellow had not noticed it, for he had not known that he was +half blind. The other examined their faces, his eyes lingering +long upon the beauty of Tara of Helium, and then they drifted to +the harness of the two. Turan thought that he noted an +appreciable start of surprise on the part of the taxidermist, but +if the old man noticed anything his next words did not reveal it. + +"Come with I-Gos," he said to Turan, "I have materials in the +next room that I would have you fetch hither. Remain here, woman, +we shall be gone but a moment." + +He led the way to one of the numerous doors opening into the +chamber and entered ahead of Turan. Just inside the door he +stopped, and pointing to a bundle of silks and furs upon the +opposite side of the room directed Turan to fetch them. The +latter had crossed the room and was stooping to raise the bundle +when he heard the click of a lock behind him. Wheeling instantly +he saw that he was alone in the room and that the single door was +closed. Running rapidly to it he strove to open it, only to find +that he was a prisoner. + +I-Gos, stepping out and locking the door behind him, turned +toward Tara. + +"Your leather betrayed you," he said, laughing his cackling +laugh. "You sought to deceive old I-Gos, but you found that +though his eyes are weak his brain is not. But it shall not go +ill with you. You are beautiful and I-Gos loves beautiful women. +I might not have you elsewhere in Manator, but here there is none +to deny old I-Gos. Few come to the pits of the dead--only those +who bang the dead and they hasten away as fast as they can. No +one will know that I-Gos has a beautiful woman locked with his +dead. I shall ask you no questions and then I will not have to +give you up, for I will not know to whom you belong, eh? And when +you die I shall mount you beautifully and place you in the +chamber with my other women. Will not that be fine, eh?" He had +approached until he stood close beside the horrified girl. +"Come!" he cried, seizing her by the wrist. "Come to I-Gos!" + + + +CHAPTER XVI + +ANOTHER CHANGE OF NAME + +Turan dashed himself against the door of his prison in a vain +effort to break through the solid skeel to the side of Tara whom +he knew to be in grave danger, but the heavy panels held and he +succeeded only in bruising his shoulders and his arms. At last he +desisted and set about searching his prison for some other means +of escape. He found no other opening in the stone walls, but his +search revealed a heterogeneous collection of odds and ends of +arms and apparel, of harness and ornaments and insignia, and +sleeping silks and furs in great quantities. There were swords +and spears and several large, two-bladed battle-axes, the heads +of which bore a striking resemblance to the propellor of a small +flier. Seizing one of these he attacked the door once more with +great fury. He expected to hear something from I-Gos at this +ruthless destruction, but no sound came to him from beyond the +door, which was, he thought, too thick for the human voice to +penetrate; but he would have wagered much that I-Gos heard him. +Bits of the hard wood splintered at each impact of the heavy axe, +but it was slow work and heavy. Presently he was compelled to +rest, and so it went for what seemed hours--working almost to the +verge of exhaustion and then resting for a few minutes; but ever +the hole grew larger though he could see nothing of the interior +of the room beyond because of the hanging that I-Gos had drawn +across it after he had locked Turan within. + +At last, however, the panthan had hewn an opening through which +his body could pass, and seizing a long-sword that he had brought +close to the door for the purpose he crawled through into the +next room. Flinging aside the arras he stood ready, sword in +hand, to fight his way to the side of Tara of Helium--but she was +not there. In the center of the room lay I-Gos, dead upon the +floor; but Tara of Helium was nowhere to be seen. + +Turan was nonplussed. It must have been her hand that had struck +down the old man, yet she had made no effort to release Turan +from his prison. And then he thought of those last words of hers: +"I do not want your love! I hate you," and the truth dawned upon +him--she had seized upon this first opportunity to escape him. +With downcast heart Turan turned away. What should he do? There +could be but one answer. While he lived and she lived he must +still leave no stone unturned to effect her escape and safe +return to the land of her people. But how? How was he even to +find his way from this labyrinth? How was he to find her again? +He walked to the nearest doorway. It chanced to be that which led +into the room containing the mounted dead, awaiting +transportation to balcony or grim room or whatever place was to +receive them. His eyes travelled to the great, painted warrior on +the thoat and as they ran over the splendid trappings and the +serviceable arms a new light came into the pain-dulled eyes of +the panthan. With a quick step he crossed to the side of the dead +warrior and dragged him from his mount. With equal celerity he +stripped him of his harness and his arms, and tearing off his +own, donned the regalia of the dead man. Then he hastened back to +the room in which he had been trapped, for there he had seen that +which he needed to make his disguise complete. In a cabinet he +found them--pots of paint that the old taxidermist had used to +place the war-paint in its wide bands across the cold faces of +dead warriors. + +A few moments later Gahan of Gathol emerged from the room a +warrior of Manator in every detail of harness, equipment, and +ornamentation. He had removed from the leather of the dead man +the insignia of his house and rank so that he might pass, with +the least danger of arousing suspicion, as a common warrior. + +To search for Tara of Helium in the vast, dim labyrinth of the +pits of O-Tar seemed to the Gatholian a hopeless quest, +foredoomed to failure. It would be wiser to seek the streets of +Manator where he might hope to learn first if she had been +recaptured and, if not, then he could return to the pits and +pursue the hunt for her. To find egress from the maze he must +perforce travel a considerable distance through the winding +corridors and chambers, since he had no idea as to the location +or direction of any exit. In fact, he could not have retraced his +steps a hundred yards toward the point at which he and Tara had +entered the gloomy caverns, and so he set out in the hope that he +might find by accident either Tara of Helium or a way to the +street level above. + +For a time he passed room after room filled with the cunningly +preserved dead of Manator, many of which were piled in tiers +after the manner that firewood is corded, and as he moved through +corridor and chamber he noticed hieroglyphics painted upon the +walls above every opening and at each fork or crossing of +corridors, until by observation he reached the conclusion that +these indicated the designations of passageways, so that one who +understood them might travel quickly and surely through the pits; +but Turan did not understand them. Even could he have read the +language of Manator they might not materially have aided one +unfamiliar with the city; but he could not read them at all +since, though there is but one spoken language upon Barsoom, +there are as many different written languages as there are +nations. One thing, however, soon became apparent to him--the +hieroglyphic of a corridor remained the same until the corridor +ended. + +It was not long before Turan realized from the distance that he +had traveled that the pits were part of a vast system +undermining, possibly, the entire city. At least he was convinced +that he had passed beyond the precincts of the palace. The +corridors and chambers varied in appearance and architecture from +time to time. All were lighted, though usually quite dimly, with +radium bulbs. For a long time he saw no signs of life other than +an occasional ulsio, then quite suddenly he came face to face +with a warrior at one of the numerous crossings. The fellow +looked at him, nodded, and passed on. Turan breathed a sigh of +relief as he realized that his disguise was effective, but he was +caught in the middle of it by a hail from the warrior who had +stopped and turned toward him. The panthan was glad that a sword +hung at his side, and glad too that they were buried in the dim +recesses of the pits and that there would be but a single +antagonist, for time was precious. + +"Heard you any word of the other?" called the warrior to him. + +"No," replied Turan, who had not the faintest idea to whom or +what the fellow referred. + +"He cannot escape," continued the warrior. "The woman ran +directly into our arms, but she swore that she knew not where her +companion might be found." + +"They took her back to O-Tar?" asked Turan, for now he knew whom +the other meant, and he would know more. + +"They took her back to The Towers of Jetan," replied the warrior. +"Tomorrow the games commence and doubtless she will be played +for, though I doubt if any wants her, beautiful as she is. She +fears not even O-Tar. By Cluros! but she would make a hard slave +to subdue--a regular she-banth she is. Not for me," and he +continued on his way shaking his head. + +Turan hurried on searching for an avenue that led to the level of +the streets above when suddenly he came to the open doorway of a +small chamber in which sat a man who was chained to the wall. +Turan voiced a low exclamation of surprise and pleasure as he +recognized that the man was A-Kor, and that he had stumbled by +accident upon the very cell in which he had been imprisoned. +A-Kor looked at him questioningly. It was evident that he did not +recognize his fellow prisoner. Turan crossed to the table and +leaning close to the other whispered to him. + +"I am Turan the panthan," he said, "who was chained beside you." + +A-Kor looked at him closely. "Your own mother would never know +you!" he said; "but tell me, what has transpired since they took +you away?" + +Turan recounted his experiences in the throne room of O-Tar and +in the pits beneath, "and now," he continued, "I must find these +Towers of Jetan and see what may be done toward liberating the +Princess of Helium." + +A-Kor shook his head. "Long was I dwar of the Towers," he said, +"and I can say to you, stranger, that you might as well attempt +to reduce Manator, single handed, as to rescue a prisoner from +The Towers of Jetan." + +"But I must," replied Turan. + +"Are you better than a good swordsman?" asked A-Kor presently. + +"I am accounted so," replied Turan. + +"Then there is a way--sst!" he was suddenly silent and pointing +toward the base of the wall at the end of the room. + +Turan looked in the direction the other's forefinger indicated, +to see projecting from the mouth of an ulsio's burrow two large +chelae and a pair of protruding eyes. + +"Ghek!" he cried and immediately the hideous kaldane crawled out +upon the floor and approached the table. A-Kor drew back with a +half-stifled ejaculation of repulsion. "Do not fear," Turan +reassured him. "It is my friend--he whom I told you held O-Tar +while Tara and I escaped." + +Ghek climbed to the table top and squatted between the two +warriors. "You are safe in assuming," he said addressing A-Kor, +"that Turan the panthan has no master in all Manator where the +art of sword-play is concerned. I overheard your conversation--go +on." + +"You are his friend," continued A-Kor, "and so I may explain +safely in your presence the only plan I know whereby he may hope +to rescue the Princess of Helium. She is to be the stake of one +of the games and it is O-Tar's desire that she be won by slaves +and common warriors, since she repulsed him. Thus would he punish +her. Not a single man, but all who survive upon the winning side +are to possess her. With money, however, one may buy off the +others before the game. That you could do, and if your side won +and you survived she would become your slave." + +"But how may a stranger and a hunted fugitive accomplish this?" +asked Turan. + +"No one will recognize you. You will go tomorrow to the keeper of +the Towers and enlist in that game for which the girl is to be +the stake, telling the keeper that you are from Manataj, the +farthest city of Manator. If he questions you, you may say that +you saw her when she was brought into the city after her capture. +If you win her, you will find thoats stabled at my palace and you +will carry from me a token that will place all that is mine at +your disposal." + +"But how can I buy off the others in the game without money?" +asked Turan. "I have none--not even of my own country." + +A-Kor opened his pocket-pouch and drew forth a packet of +Manatorian money. + +"Here is sufficient to buy them off twice over," he said, handing +a portion of it to Turan. + +"But why do you do this for a stranger?" asked the panthan. + +"My mother was a captive princess here," replied A-Kor. "I but do +for the Princess of Helium what my mother would have me do." + +"Under the circumstances, then, Manatorian," replied Turan, "I +cannot but accept your generosity on behalf of Tara of Helium and +live in hope that some day I may do for you something in return." + +"Now you must be gone," advised A-Kor. "At any minute a guard may +come and discover you here. Go directly to the Avenue of Gates, +which circles the city just within the outer wall. There you will +find many places devoted to the lodging of strangers. You will +know them by the thoat's head carved above the doors. Say that +you are here from Manataj to witness the games. Take the name of +U-Kal--it will arouse no suspicion, nor will you if you can avoid +conversation. Early in the morning seek the keeper of The Towers +of Jetan. May the strength and fortune of all your ancestors be +with you!" + +Bidding good-bye to Ghek and A-Kor, the panthan, following +directions given him by A-Kor, set out to find his way to the +Avenue of Gates, nor had he any great difficulty. On the way he +met several warriors, but beyond a nod they gave him no heed. +With ease he found a lodging place where there were many +strangers from other cities of Manator. As he had had no sleep +since the previous night he threw himself among the silks and +furs of his couch to gain the rest which he must have, was he to +give the best possible account of himself in the service of Tara +of Helium the following day. + +It was already morning when he awoke, and rising he paid for his +lodgings, sought a place to eat, and a short time later was on +his way toward The Towers of Jetan, which he had no difficulty in +finding owing to the great crowds that were winding along the +avenues toward the games. The new keeper of The Towers who had +succeeded E-Med was too busy to scrutinize entries closely, for +in addition to the many volunteer players there were scores of +slaves and prisoners being forced into the games by their owners +or the government. The name of each must be recorded as well as +the position he was to play and the game or games in which he was +to be entered, and then there were the substitutes for each that +was entered in more than a single game--one for each additional +game that an individual was entered for, that no succeeding game +might be delayed by the death or disablement of a player. + +"Your name?" asked a clerk as Turan presented himself. + +"U-Kal," replied the panthan. + +"Your city?" + +"Manataj." + +The keeper, who was standing beside the clerk, looked at Turan. +"You have come a great way to play at jetan," he said. "It is +seldom that the men of Manataj attend other than the decennial +games. Tell me of O-Zar! Will he attend next year? Ah, but he was +a noble fighter. If you be half the swordsman, U-Kal, the fame of +Manataj will increase this day. But tell me, what of O-Zar?" + +"He is well," replied Turan, glibly, "and he sent greetings to +his friends in Manator." + +"Good!" exclaimed the keeper, "and now in what game would you +enter?" + +"I would play for the Heliumetic princess, Tara," replied Turan. + +"But man, she is to be the stake of a game for slaves and +criminals," cried the keeper. "You would not volunteer for such a +game!" + +"But I would," replied Turan. "I saw here when she was brought +into the city and even then I vowed to possess her." + +"But you will have to share her with the survivors even if your +color wins," objected the other. + +"They may be brought to reason," insisted Turan. + +"And you will chance incurring the wrath of O-Tar, who has no +love for this savage barbarian," explained the keeper. + +"And I win her O-Tar will be rid of her," said Turan. + +The keeper of The Towers of Jetan shook his head. "You are rash," +he said. "I would that I might dissuade the friend of my friend +O-Zar from such madness." + +"Would you favor the friend of O-Zar?" asked Turan. + +"Gladly!" exclaimed the other. "What may I do for him?" + +"Make me chief of the Black and give me for my pieces all slaves +from Gathol, for I understand that those be excellent warriors," +replied the panthan. + +"It is a strange request," said the keeper, "but for my friend +O-Zar I would do even more, though of course--" he +hesitated--"it is customary for one who would be chief to make +some slight payment." + +"Certainly," Turan hastened to assure him; "I had not forgotten +that. I was about to ask you what the customary amount is." + +"For the friend of my friend it shall be nominal," replied the +keeper, naming a figure that Gahan, accustomed to the high price +of wealthy Gathol, thought ridiculously low. + +"Tell me," he said, handing the money to the keeper, "when the +game for the Heliumite is to be played." + +"It is the second in order of the day's games; and now if you +will come with me you may select your pieces." + +Turan followed the keeper to a large court which lay between the +towers and the jetan field, where hundreds of warriors were +assembled. Already chiefs for the games of the day were selecting +their pieces and assigning them to positions, though for the +principal games these matters had been arranged for weeks before. +The keeper led Turan to a part of the courtyard where the +majority of the slaves were assembled. + +"Take your choice of those not assigned," said the keeper, "and +when you have your quota conduct them to the field. Your place +will be assigned you by an officer there, and there you will +remain with your pieces until the second game is called. I wish +you luck, U-Kal, though from what I have heard you will be more +lucky to lose than to win the slave from Helium." + +After the fellow had departed Turan approached the slaves. "I +seek the best swordsmen for the second game," he announced. "Men +from Gathol I wish, for I have heard that these be noble +fighters." + +A slave rose and approached him. "It is all the same in which +game we die," he said. "I would fight for you as a panthan in the +second game." + +Another came. "I am not from Gathol," he said. "I am from Helium, +and I would fight for the honor of a princess of Helium." + +"Good!" exclaimed Turan. "Art a swordsman of repute in Helium?" + +"I was a dwar under the great Warlord, and I have fought at his +side in a score of battles from The Golden Cliffs to The Carrion +Caves. My name is Val Dor. Who knows Helium, knows my prowess." + +The name was well known to Gahan, who had heard the man spoken of +on his last visit to Helium, and his mysterious disappearance +discussed as well as his renown as a fighter. + +"How could I know aught of Helium?" asked Turan; "but if you be +such a fighter as you say no position could suit you better than +that of Flier. What say you?" + +The man's eyes denoted sudden surprise. He looked keenly at +Turan, his eyes running quickly over the other's harness. Then he +stepped quite close so that his words might not be overheard. + +"Methinks you may know more of Helium than of Manator," he +whispered. + +"What mean you, fellow?" demanded Turan, seeking to cudgel his +brains for the source of this man's knowledge, guess, or +inspiration. + +"I mean," replied Val Dor, "that you are not of Manator and that +if you wish to hide the fact it is well that you speak not to a +Manatorian as you did just speak to me of--Fliers! There be no +Fliers in Manator and no piece in their game of Jetan bearing +that name. Instead they call him who stands next to the Chief or +Princess, Odwar. The piece has the same moves and power that the +Flier has in the game as played outside Manator. Remember this +then and remember, too, that if you have a secret it be safe in +the keeping of Val Dor of Helium." + +Turan made no reply but turned to the task of selecting the +remainder of his pieces. Val Dor, the Heliumite, and Floran, the +volunteer from Gathol, were of great assistance to him, since one +or the other of them knew most of the slaves from whom his +selection was to be made. The pieces all chosen, Turan led them +to the place beside the playing field where they were to wait +their turn, and here he passed the word around that they were to +fight for more than the stake he offered for the princess should +they win. This stake they accepted, so that Turan was sure of +possessing Tara if his side was victorious, but he knew that +these men would fight even more valorously for chivalry than for +money, nor was it difficult to enlist the interest even of the +Gatholians in the service of the princess. And now he held out +the possibility of a still further reward. + +"I cannot promise you," he explained, "but I may say I have heard +that this day which makes it possible that should we win this +game we may even win your freedom!" + +They leaped to their feet and crowded around him with many +questions. + +"It may not be spoken of aloud," he said; "but Floran and Val Dor +know and they assure me that you may all be trusted. Listen! What +I would tell you places my life in your hands, but you must know +that every man will realize that he is fighting today the +greatest battle of his life--for the honor and the freedom of +Barsoom's most wondrous princess and for his own freedom as +well--for the chance to return each to his own country and to the +woman who awaits him there. + +"First, then, is my secret. I am not of Manator. Like yourselves +I am a slave, though for the moment disguised as a Manatorian +from Manataj. My country and my identity must remain undisclosed +for reasons that have no bearing upon our game today. I, then, am +one of you. I fight for the same things that you will fight for. + +"And now for that which I have but just learned. U-Thor, the +great jed of Manatos, quarreled with O-Tar in the palace the day +before yesterday and their warriors set upon one another. U-Thor +was driven as far as The Gate of Enemies, where he now lies +encamped. At any moment the fight may be renewed; but it is +thought that U-Thor has sent to Manatos for reinforcements. Now, +men of Gathol, here is the thing that interests you. U-Thor has +recently taken to wife the Princess Haja of Gathol, who was slave +to O-Tar and whose son, A-Kor, was dwar of The Towers of Jetan. +Haja's heart is filled with loyalty for Gathol and compassion for +her sons who are here enslaved, and this latter sentiment she has +to some extent transmitted to U-Thor. Aid me, therefore, in +freeing the Princess Tara of Helium and I believe that I can aid +you and her and myself to escape the city. Bend close your ears, +slaves of O-Tar, that no cruel enemy may hear my words," and +Gahan of Gathol whispered in low tones the daring plan he had +conceived. "And now," he demanded, when he had finished, "let him +who does not dare speak now." None replied. "Is there none?" + +"And it would not betray you should I cast my sword at thy feet, +it had been done ere this," said one in low tones pregnant with +suppressed feeling. + +"And I!" "And I!" "And I!" chorused the others in vibrant +whispers. + + + +CHAPTER XVII + +A PLAY TO THE DEATH + +Clear and sweet a trumpet spoke across The Fields of Jetan. From +The High Tower its cool voice floated across the city of Manator +and above the babel of human discords rising from the crowded +mass that filled the seats of the stadium below. It called the +players for the first game, and simultaneously there fluttered to +the peaks of a thousand staffs on tower and battlement and the +great wall of the stadium the rich, gay pennons of the fighting +chiefs of Manator. Thus was marked the opening of The Jeddak's +Games, the most important of the year and second only to the +Grand Decennial Games. + +Gahan of Gathol watched every play with eagle eye. The match was +an unimportant one, being but to settle some petty dispute +between two chiefs, and was played with professional jetan +players for points only. No one was killed and there was but +little blood spilled. It lasted about an hour and was terminated +by the chief of the losing side deliberately permitting himself +to be out-pointed, that the game might be called a draw. + +Again the trumpet sounded, this time announcing the second and +last game of the afternoon. While this was not considered an +important match, those being reserved for the fourth and fifth +days of the games, it promised to afford sufficient excitement +since it was a game to the death. The vital difference between +the game played with living men and that in which inanimate +pieces are used, lies in the fact that while in the latter the +mere placing of a piece upon a square occupied by an opponent +piece terminates the move, in the former the two pieces thus +brought together engage in a duel for possession of the square. +Therefore there enters into the former game not only the strategy +of jetan but the personal prowess and bravery of each individual +piece, so that a knowledge not only of one's own men but of each +player upon the opposing side is of vast value to a chief. + +In this respect was Gahan handicapped, though the loyalty of his +players did much to offset his ignorance of them, since they +aided him in arranging the board to the best advantage and told +him honestly the faults and virtues of each. One fought best in a +losing game; another was too slow; another too impetuous; this +one had fire and a heart of steel, but lacked endurance. Of the +opponents, though, they knew little or nothing, and now as the +two sides took their places upon the black and orange squares of +the great jetan board Gahan obtained, for the first time, a close +view of those who opposed him. The Orange Chief had not yet +entered the field, but his men were all in place. Val Dor turned +to Gahan. "They are all criminals from the pits of Manator," he +said. "There is no slave among them. We shall not have to fight +against a single fellow-countryman and every life we take will be +the life of an enemy." + +"It is well," replied Gahan; "but where is their Chief, and where +the two Princesses?" + +"They are coming now, see?" and he pointed across the field to +where two women could be seen approaching under guard. + +As they came nearer Gahan saw that one was indeed Tara of Helium, +but the other he did not recognize, and then they were brought to +the center of the field midway between the two sides and there +waited until the Orange Chief arrived. + +Floran voiced an exclamation of surprise when he recognized him. +"By my first ancestor if it is not one of their great chiefs," he +said, "and we were told that slaves and criminals were to play +for the stake of this game." + +His words were interrupted by the keeper of The Towers whose duty +it was not only to announce the games and the stakes, but to act +as referee as well. + +"Of this, the second game of the first day of the Jeddak's Games +in the four hundred and thirty-third year of O-Tar, Jeddak of +Manator, the Princesses of each side shall be the sole stakes and +to the survivors of the winning side shall belong both the +Princesses, to do with as they shall see fit. The Orange Princess +is the slave woman Lan-O of Gathol; the Black Princess is the +slave woman Tara, a princess of Helium. The Black Chief is U-Kal +of Manataj, a volunteer player; the Orange Chief is the dwar +U-Dor of the 8th Utan of the jeddak of Manator, also a volunteer +player. The squares shall be contested to the death. Just are the +laws of Manator! I have spoken." + +The initial move was won by U-Dor, following which the two Chiefs +escorted their respective Princesses to the square each was to +occupy. It was the first time Gahan had been alone with Tara +since she had been brought upon the field. He saw her +scrutinizing him closely as he approached to lead her to her +place and wondered if she recognized him: but if she did she gave +no sign of it. He could not but remember her last words--"I hate +you!" and her desertion of him when he had been locked in the +room beneath the palace by I-Gos, the taxidermist, and so he did +not seek to enlighten her as to his identity. He meant to fight +for her--to die for her, if necessary--and if he did not die to +go on fighting to the end for her love. Gahan of Gathol was not +easily to be discouraged, but he was compelled to admit that his +chances of winning the love of Tara of Helium were remote. +Already had she repulsed him twice. Once as jed of Gathol and +again as Turan the panthan. Before his love, however, came her +safety and the former must be relegated to the background until +the latter had been achieved. + +Passing among the players already at their stations the two took +their places upon their respective squares. At Tara's left was +the Black Chief, Gahan of Gathol; directly in front of her the +Princess' Panthan, Floran of Gathol; and at her right the +Princess' Odwar, Val Dor of Helium. And each of these knew the +part that he was to play, win or lose, as did each of the other +Black players. As Tara took her place Val Dor bowed low. "My +sword is at your feet, Tara of Helium," he said. + +She turned and looked at him, an expression of surprise and +incredulity upon her face. "Val Dor, the dwar!" she exclaimed. +"Val Dor of Helium--one of my father's trusted captains! Can it +be possible that my eyes speak the truth?" + +"It is Val Dor, Princess," the warrior replied, "and here to die +for you if need be, as is every wearer of the Black upon this +field of jetan today. Know Princess," he whispered, "that upon +this side is no man of Manator, but each and every is an enemy of +Manator." + +She cast a quick, meaning glance toward Gahan. "But what of him?" +she whispered, and then she caught her breath quickly in +surprise. "Shade of the first jeddak!" she exclaimed. "I did but +just recognize him through his disguise." + +"And you trust him?" asked Val Dor. "I know him not; but he spoke +fairly, as an honorable warrior, and we have taken him at his +word." + +"You have made no mistake," replied Tara of Helium. "I would +trust him with my life--with my soul; and you, too, may trust +him." + +Happy indeed would have been Gahan of Gathol could he have heard +those words; but Fate, who is usually unkind to the lover in such +matters, ordained it otherwise, and then the game was on. + +U-Dor moved his Princess' Odwar three squares diagonally to the +right, which placed the piece upon the Black Chief's Odwar's +seventh. The move was indicative of the game that U-Dor intended +playing--a game of blood, rather than of science--and evidenced +his contempt for his opponents. + +Gahan followed with his Odwar's Panthan one square straight +forward, a more scientific move, which opened up an avenue for +himself through his line of Panthans, as well as announcing to +the players and spectators that he intended having a hand in the +fighting himself even before the exigencies of the game forced it +upon him. The move elicited a ripple of applause from those +sections of seats reserved for the common warriors and their +women, showing perhaps that U-Dor was none too popular with +these, and, too, it had its effect upon the morale of Gahan's +pieces. A Chief may, and often does, play almost an entire game +without leaving his own square, where, mounted upon a thoat, he +may overlook the entire field and direct each move, nor may he be +reproached for lack of courage should he elect thus to play the +game since, by the rules, were he to be slain or so badly wounded +as to be compelled to withdraw, a game that might otherwise have +been won by the science of his play and the prowess of his men +would be drawn. To invite personal combat, therefore, denotes +confidence in his own swordsmanship, and great courage, two +attributes that were calculated to fill the Black players with +hope and valor when evinced by their Chief thus early in the +game. + +U-Dor's next move placed Lan-O's Odwar upon Tara's Odwar's +fourth--within striking distance of the Black Princess. + +Another move and the game would be lost to Gahan unless the +Orange Odwar was overthrown, or Tara moved to a position of +safety; but to move his Princess now would be to admit his belief +in the superiority of the Orange. In the three squares allowed +him he could not place himself squarely upon the square occupied +by the Odwar of U-Dor's Princess. There was only one player upon +the Black side that might dispute the square with the enemy and +that was the Chief's Odwar, who stood upon Gahan's left. Gahan +turned upon his thoat and looked at the man. He was a splendid +looking fellow, resplendent in the gorgeous trappings of an +Odwar, the five brilliant feathers which denoted his position +rising defiantly erect from his thick, black hair. In common with +every player upon the field and every spectator in the crowded +stands he knew what was passing in his Chief's mind. He dared not +speak, the ethics of the game forbade it, but what his lips might +not voice his eyes expressed in martial fire, and eloquently: +"The honor of the Black and the safety of our Princess are secure +with me!" + +Gahan hesitated no longer. "Chief's Odwar to Princess' Odwar's +fourth!" he commanded. It was the courageous move of a leader who +had taken up the gauntlet thrown down by his opponent. + +The warrior sprang forward and leaped into the square occupied by +U-Dor's piece. It was the first disputed square of the game. The +eyes of the players were fastened upon the contestants, the +spectators leaned forward in their seats after the first applause +that had greeted the move, and silence fell upon the vast +assemblage. If the Black went down to defeat, U-Dor could move +his victorious piece on to the square occupied by Tara of Helium +and the game would be over--over in four moves and lost to Gahan +of Gathol. If the Orange lost U-Dor would have sacrificed one of +his most important pieces and more than lost what advantage the +first move might have given him. + +Physically the two men appeared perfectly matched and each was +fighting for his life, but from the first it was apparent that +the Black Odwar was the better swordsman, and Gahan knew that he +had another and perhaps a greater advantage over his antagonist. +The latter was fighting for his life only, without the spur of +chivalry or loyalty. The Black Odwar had these to strengthen his +arm, and besides these the knowledge of the thing that Gahan had +whispered into the ears of his players before the game, and so he +fought for what is more than life to the man of honor. + +It was a duel that held those who witnessed it in spellbound +silence. The weaving blades gleamed in the brilliant sunlight, +ringing to the parries of cut and thrust. The barbaric harness of +the duelists lent splendid color to the savage, martial scene. +The Orange Odwar, forced upon the defensive, was fighting madly +for his life. The Black, with cool and terrible efficiency, was +forcing him steadily, step by step, into a corner of the +square--a position from which there could be no escape. To +abandon the square was to lose it to his opponent and win for +himself ignoble and immediate death before the jeering populace. +Spurred on by the seeming hopelessness of his plight, the Orange +Odwar burst into a sudden fury of offense that forced the Black +back a half dozen steps, and then the sword of U-Dor's piece +leaped in and drew first blood, from the shoulder of his +merciless opponent. An ill-smothered cry of encouragement went up +from U-Dor's men; the Orange Odwar, encouraged by his single +success, sought to bear down the Black by the rapidity of his +attack. There was a moment in which the swords moved with a +rapidity that no man's eye might follow, and then the Black Odwar +made a lightning parry of a vicious thrust, leaned quickly +forward into the opening he had effected, and drove his sword +through the heart of the Orange Odwar--to the hilt he drove it +through the body of the Orange Odwar. + +A shout arose from the stands, for wherever may have been the +favor of the spectators, none there was who could say that it had +not been a pretty fight, or that the better man had not won. And +from the Black players came a sigh of relief as they relaxed from +the tension of the past moments. + +I shall not weary you with the details of the game--only the high +features of it are necessary to your understanding of the +outcome. The fourth move after the victory of the Black Odwar +found Gahan upon U-Dor's fourth; an Orange Panthan was on the +adjoining square diagonally to his right and the only opposing +piece that could engage him other than U-Dor himself. + +It had been apparent to both players and spectators for the past +two moves, that Gahan was moving straight across the field into +the enemy's country to seek personal combat with the Orange +Chief--that he was staking all upon his belief in the superiority +of his own swordsmanship, since if the two Chiefs engage, the +outcome decides the game. U-Dor could move out and engage Gahan, +or he could move his Princess' Panthan upon the square occupied +by Gahan in he hope that the former would defeat the Black Chief +and thus draw the game, which is the outcome if any other than a +Chief slays the opposing Chief, or he could move away and escape, +temporarily, the necessity for personal combat, or at least that +is evidently what he had in mind as was obvious to all who saw +him scanning the board about him; and his disappointment was +apparent when he finally discovered that Gahan had so placed +himself that there was no square to which U-Dor could move that +it was not within Gahan's power to reach at his own next move. + +U-Dor had placed his own Princess four squares east of Gahan when +her position had been threatened, and he had hoped to lure the +Black Chief after her and away from U-Dor; but in that he had +failed. He now discovered that he might play his own Odwar into +personal combat with Gahan; but he had already lost one Odwar and +could ill spare the other. His position was a delicate one, since +he did not wish to engage Gahan personally, while it appeared +that there was little likelihood of his being able to escape. +There was just one hope and that lay in his Princess' Panthan, +so, without more deliberation he ordered the piece onto the +square occupied by the Black Chief. + +The sympathies of the spectators were all with Gahan now. If he +lost, the game would be declared a draw, nor do they think better +of drawn games upon Barsoom than do Earth men. If he won, it +would doubtless mean a duel between the two Chiefs, a development +for which they all were hoping. The game already bade fair to be +a short one and it would be an angry crowd should it be decided a +draw with only two men slain. There were great, historic games on +record where of the forty pieces on the field when the game +opened only three survived--the two Princesses and the victorious +Chief. + +They blamed U-Dor, though in fact he was well within his rights +in directing his play as he saw fit, nor was a refusal on his +part to engage the Black Chief necessarily an imputation of +cowardice. He was a great chief who had conceived a notion to +possess the slave Tara. There was no honor that could accrue to +him from engaging in combat with slaves and criminals, or an +unknown warrior from Manataj, nor was the stake of sufficient +import to warrant the risk. + +But now the duel between Gahan and the Orange Panthan was on and +the decision of the next move was no longer in other hands than +theirs. It was the first time that these Manatorians had seen +Gahan of Gathol fight, but Tara of Helium knew that he was master +of his sword. Could he have seen the proud light in her eyes as +he crossed blades with the wearer of the Orange, he might easily +have wondered if they were the same eyes that had flashed fire +and hatred at him that time he had covered her lips with mad +kisses, in the pits of the palace of O-Tar. As she watched him +she could not but compare his swordplay with that of the greatest +swordsman of two worlds--her father, John Carter, of Virginia, a +Prince of Helium, Warlord of Barsoom--and she knew that the skill +of the Black Chief suffered little by the comparison. + +Short and to the point was the duel that decided possession of +the Orange Chief's fourth. The spectators had settled themselves +for an interesting engagement of at least average duration when +they were brought almost standing by a brilliant flash of rapid +swordplay that was over ere one could catch his breath. They saw +the Black Chief step quickly back, his point upon the ground, +while his opponent, his sword slipping from his fingers, clutched +his breast, sank to his knees and then lunged forward upon his +face. + +And then Gahan of Gathol turned his eyes directly upon U-Dor of +Manator, three squares away. Three squares is a Chief's +move--three squares in any direction or combination of +directions, only provided that he does not cross the same square +twice in a given move. The people saw and guessed Gahan's +intention. They rose and roared forth their approval as he moved +deliberately across the intervening squares toward the Orange +Chief. + +O-Tar, in the royal enclosure, sat frowning upon the scene. O-Tar +was angry. He was angry with U-Dor for having entered this game +for possession of a slave, for whom it had been his wish only +slaves and criminals should strive. He was angry with the warrior +from Manataj for having so far out-generaled and out-fought the +men from Manator. He was angry with the populace because of their +open hostility toward one who had basked in the sunshine of his +favor for long years. O-Tar the jeddak had not enjoyed the +afternoon. Those who surrounded him were equally glum--they, too, +scowled upon the field, the players, and the people. Among them +was a bent and wrinkled old man who gazed through weak and watery +eyes upon the field and the players. + +As Gahan entered his square, U-Dor leaped toward him with drawn +sword with such fury as might have overborne a less skilled and +powerful swordsman. For a minute the fighting was fast and +furious and by comparison reducing to insignificance all that had +gone before. Here indeed were two magnificent swordsmen, and here +was to be a battle that bade fair to make up for whatever the +people felt they had been defrauded of by the shortness of the +game. Nor had it continued long before many there were who would +have prophesied that they were witnessing a duel that was to +become historic in the annals of jetan at Manator. Every trick, +every subterfuge, known to the art of fence these men employed. +Time and again each scored a point and brought blood to his +opponent's copper hide until both were red with gore; but neither +seemed able to administer the coup de grace. + +From her position upon the opposite side of the field Tara of +Helium watched the long-drawn battle. Always it seemed to her +that the Black Chief fought upon the defensive, or when he +assumed to push his opponent, he neglected a thousand openings +that her practiced eye beheld. Never did he seem in real danger, +nor never did he appear to exert himself to quite the pitch +needful for victory. The duel already had been long contested and +the day was drawing to a close. Presently the sudden transition +from daylight to darkness which, owing to the tenuity of the air +upon Barsoom, occurs almost without the warning twilight of +Earth, would occur. Would the fight never end? Would the game be +called a draw after all? What ailed the Black Chief? + +Tara wished that she might answer at least the last of these +questions for she was sure that Turan the panthan, as she knew +him, while fighting brilliantly, was not giving of himself all +that he might. She could not believe that fear was restraining +his hand, but that there was something beside inability to push +U-Dor more fiercely she was confident. What it was, however, she +could not guess. + +Once she saw Gahan glance quickly up toward the sinking sun. In +thirty minutes it would be dark. And then she saw and all those +others saw a strange transition steal over the swordplay of the +Black Chief. It was as though he had been playing with the great +dwar, U-Dor, all these hours, and now he still played with him +but there was a difference. He played with him terribly as a +carnivore plays with its victim in the instant before the kill. +The Orange Chief was helpless now in the hands of a swordsman so +superior that there could be no comparison, and the people sat in +open-mouthed wonder and awe as Gahan of Gathol cut his foe to +ribbons and then struck him down with a blow that cleft him to +the chin. + +In twenty minutes the sun would set. But what of that? + + + +CHAPTER XVIII + +A TASK FOR LOYALTY + +Long and loud was the applause that rose above the Field of Jetan +at Manator, as The Keeper of the Towers summoned the two +Princesses and the victorious Chief to the center of the field +and presented to the latter the fruits of his prowess, and then, +as custom demanded, the victorious players, headed by Gahan and +the two Princesses, formed in procession behind The Keeper of the +Towers and were conducted to the place of victory before the +royal enclosure that they might receive the commendation of the +jeddak. Those who were mounted gave up their thoats to slaves as +all must be on foot for this ceremony. Directly beneath the royal +enclosure are the gates to one of the tunnels that, passing +beneath the seats, give ingress or egress to or from the Field. +Before this gate the party halted while O-Tar looked down upon +them from above. Val Dor and Floran, passing quietly ahead of the +others, went directly to the gates, where they were hidden from +those who occupied the enclosure with O-Tar. The Keeper of the +Towers may have noticed them, but so occupied was he with the +formality of presenting the victorious Chief to the jeddak that +he paid no attention to them. + +"I bring you, O-Tar, Jeddak of Manator, U-Kal of Manataj," he +cried in a loud voice that might be heard by as many as possible, +"victor over the Orange in the second of the Jeddak's Games of +the four hundred and thirty-third year of O-Tar, and the slave +woman Tara and the slave woman Lan-O that you may bestow these, +the stakes, upon U-Kal." + +As he spoke, a little, wrinkled, old man peered over the rail of +the enclosure down upon the three who stood directly behind The +Keeper, and strained his weak and watery eyes in an effort to +satisfy the curiosity of old age in a matter of no particular +import, for what were two slaves and a common warrior from +Manataj to any who sat with O-Tar the jeddak? + +"U-Kal of Manataj," said O-Tar, "you have deserved the stakes. +Seldom have we looked upon more noble swordplay. And you tire of +Manataj there be always here in the city of Manator a place for +you in The Jeddak's Guard." + +While the jeddak was speaking the little, old man, failing +clearly to discern the features of the Black Chief, reached into +his pocket-pouch and drew forth a pair of thick-lensed +spectacles, which he placed upon his nose. For a moment he +scrutinized Gahan closely, then he leaped to his feet and +addressing O-Tar pointed a shaking finger it Gahan. As he rose +Tara of Helium clutched the Black Chief's arm. + +"Turan!" she whispered. "It is I-Gos, whom I thought to have +slain in the pits of O-Tar. It is I-Gos and he recognizes you and +will--" + +But what I-Gos would do was already transpiring. In his falsetto +voice he fairly screamed: "It is the slave Turan who stole the +woman Tara from your throne room, O-Tar. He desecrated the dead +chief I-Mal and wears his harness now!" + +Instantly all was pandemonium. Warriors drew their swords and +leaped to their feet. Gahan's victorious players rushed forward +in a body, sweeping The Keeper of the Towers from his feet. Val +Dor and Floran threw open the gates beneath the royal enclosure, +opening the tunnel that led to the avenue in the city beyond the +Towers. Gahan, surrounded by his men, drew Tara and Lan-O into +the passageway, and at a rapid pace the party sought to reach the +opposite end of the tunnel before their escape could be cut off. +They were successful and when they emerged into the city the sun +had set and darkness had come, relieved only by an antiquated and +ineffective lighting system, which cast but a pale glow over the +shadowy streets. + +Now it was that Tara of Helium guessed why the Black Chief had +drawn out his duel with U-Dor and realized that he might have +slain his man at almost any moment he had elected. The whole plan +that Gahan had whispered to his players before the game was +thoroughly understood. They were to make their way to The Gate of +Enemies and there offer their services to U-Thor, the great Jed +of Manatos. The fact that most of them were Gatholians and that +Gahan could lead rescuers to the pit where A-Kor, the son of +U-Thor's wife, was confined, convinced the Jed of Gathol that +they would meet with no rebuff at the hands of U-Thor. But even +should he refuse them, still were they bound together to go on +toward freedom, if necessary cutting their way through the forces +of U-Thor at The Gate of Enemies--twenty men against a small +army; but of such stuff are the warriors of Barsoom. + +They had covered a considerable distance along the almost +deserted avenue before signs of pursuit developed and then there +came upon them suddenly from behind a dozen warriors mounted on +thoats--a detachment, evidently, from The Jeddak's Guard. +Instantly the avenue was a pandemonium of clashing blades, +cursing warriors, and squealing thoats. In the first onslaught +life blood was spilled upon both sides. Two of Gahan's men went +down, and upon the enemies' side three riderless thoats attested +at least a portion of their casualties. + +Gahan was engaged with a fellow who appeared to have been +selected to account for him only, since he rode straight for him +and sought to cut him down without giving the slightest heed to +several who slashed at him as he passed them. The Gatholian, +practiced in the art of combating a mounted warrior from the +ground, sought to reach the left side of the fellow's thoat a +little to the rider's rear, the only position in which he would +have any advantage over his antagonist, or rather the position +that would most greatly reduce the advantage of the mounted man, +and, similarly, the Manatorian strove to thwart his design. And +so the guardsman wheeled and turned his vicious, angry mount +while Gahan leaped in and out in an effort to reach the coveted +vantage point, but always seeking some other opening in his foe's +defense. + +And while they jockeyed for position a rider swept swiftly past +them. As he passed behind Gahan the latter heard a cry of alarm. + +"Turan, they have me!" came to his ears in the voice of Tara of +Helium. + +A quick glance across his shoulder showed him the galloping +thoatman in the act of dragging Tara to the withers of the beast, +and then, with the fury of a demon, Gahan of Gathol leaped for +his own man, dragged him from his mount and as he fell smote his +head from his shoulders with a single cut of his keen sword. +Scarce had the body touched the pavement when the Gatholian was +upon the back of the dead warrior's mount, and galloping swiftly +down the avenue after the diminishing figures of Tara and her +abductor, the sounds of the fight waning in the distance as he +pursued his quarry along the avenue that passes the palace of +O-Tar and leads to The Gate of Enemies. + +Gahan's mount, carrying but a single rider, gained upon that of +the Manatorian, so that as they neared the palace Gahan was +scarce a hundred yards behind, and now, to his consternation, he +saw the fellow turn into the great entrance-way. For a moment +only was he halted by the guards and then he disappeared within. +Gahan was almost upon him then, but evidently he had warned the +guards, for they leaped out to intercept the Gatholian. But no! +the fellow could not have known that he was pursued, since he had +not seen Gahan seize a mount, nor would he have thought that +pursuit would come so soon. If he had passed then, so could Gahan +pass, for did he not wear the trappings of a Manatorian? The +Gatholian thought quickly, and stopping his thoat called to the +guardsmen to let him pass, "In the name of O-Tar!" They hesitated +a moment. + +"Aside!" cried Gahan. "Must the jeddak's messenger parley for the +right to deliver his message?" + +"To whom would you deliver it?" asked the padwar of the guard. + +"Saw you not him who just entered?" cried Gahan, and without +waiting for a reply urged his thoat straight past them into the +palace, and while they were deliberating what was best to be +done, it was too late to do anything--which is not unusual. + +Along the marble corridors Gahan guided his thoat, and because he +had gone that way before, rather than because he knew which way +Tara had been taken, he followed the runways and passed through +the chambers that led to the throne room of O-Tar. On the second +level he met a slave. + +"Which way went he who carried the woman before him?" he asked. + +The slave pointed toward a nearby runway that led to the third +level and Gahan dashed rapidly on in pursuit. At the same moment +a thoatman, riding at a furious pace, approached the palace and +halted his mount at the gate. + +"Saw you aught of a warrior pursuing one who carried a woman +before him on his thoat?" he shouted to the guard. + +"He but just passed in," replied the padwar, "saying that he was +O-Tar's messenger." + +"He lied," cried the newcomer. "He was Turan, the slave, who +stole the woman from the throne room two days since. Arouse +the palace! He must be seized, and alive if possible. It is +O-Tar's command." + +Instantly warriors were dispatched to search for the Gatholian +and warn the inmates of the palace to do likewise. Owing to the +games there were comparatively few retainers in the great +building, but those whom they found were immediately enlisted in +the search, so that presently at least fifty warriors were +seeking through the countless chambers and corridors of the +palace of O-Tar. + +As Gahan's thoat bore him to the third Level the man glimpsed the +hind quarters of another thoat disappearing at the turn of a +corridor far ahead. Urging his own animal forward he raced +swiftly in pursuit and making the turn discovered only an empty +corridor ahead. Along this he hurried to discover near its +farther end a runway to the fourth level, which he followed +upward. Here he saw that he had gained upon his quarry who was +just turning through a doorway fifty yards ahead. As Gahan +reached the opening he saw that the warrior had dismounted and +was dragging Tara toward a small door on the opposite side of the +chamber. At the same instant the clank of harness to his rear +caused him to cast a glance behind where, along the corridor he +had just traversed, he saw three warriors approaching on foot at +a run. Leaping from his thoat Gahan sprang into the chamber where +Tara was struggling to free herself from the grasp of her captor, +slammed the door behind him, shot the great bolt into its seat, +and drawing his sword crossed the room at a run to engage the +Manatorian. The fellow, thus menaced, called aloud to Gahan to +halt, at the same time thrusting Tara at arm's length and +threatening her heart with the point of his short-sword. + +"Stay!" he cried, "or the woman dies, for such is the command of +O-Tar, rather than that she again fall into your hands." + +Gahan stopped. But a few feet separated him from Tara and her +captor, yet he was helpless to aid her. Slowly the warrior backed +toward the open doorway behind him, dragging Tara with him. The +girl struggled and fought, but the warrior was a powerful man and +having seized her by the harness from behind was able to hold her +in a position of helplessness. + +"Save me, Turan!" she cried. "Let them not drag me to a fate +worse than death. Better that I die now while my eyes behold a +brave friend than later, fighting alone among enemies in defense +of my honor." + +He took a step nearer. The warrior made a threatening gesture +with his sword close to the soft, smooth skin of the princess, +and Gahan halted. + +"I cannot, Tara of Helium," he cried. "Think not ill of me that I +am weak--that I cannot see you die. Too great is my love for you, +daughter of Helium." + +The Manatorian warrior, a derisive grin upon his lips, backed +steadily away. He had almost reached the doorway when Gahan saw +another warrior in the chamber toward which Tara was being +borne--a fellow who moved silently, almost stealthily, across the +marble floor as he approached Tara's captor from behind. In his +right hand he grasped a long-sword. + +"Two to one," thought Gahan, and a grim smile touched his lips, +for he had no doubt that once they had Tara safely in the +adjoining chamber the two would set upon him. If he could not +save her, he could at least die for her. + +And then, suddenly, Gahan's eyes fastened with amazement upon the +figure of the warrior behind the grinning fellow who held Tara +and was forcing her to the doorway. He saw the newcomer step +almost within arm's reach of the other. He saw him stop, an +expression of malevolent hatred upon his features. He saw the +great sword swing through the arc of a great circle, gathering +swift and terrific momentum from its own weight backed by the +brawn of the steel thews that guided it; he saw it pass through +the feathered skull of the Manatorian, splitting his sardonic +grin in twain, and open him to the middle of his breast bone. + +As the dead hand relaxed its grasp upon Tara's wrist the girl +leaped forward, without a backward glance, to Gahan's side. His +left arm encircled her, nor did she draw away, as with ready +sword the Gatholian awaited Fate's next decree. Before them +Tara's deliverer was wiping the blood from his sword upon the +hair of his victim. He was evidently a Manatorian, his trappings +those of the Jeddak's Guard, and so his act was inexplicable to +Gahan and to Tara. Presently he sheathed his sword and approached +them. + +"When a man chooses to hide his identity behind an assumed name," +he said, looking straight into Gahan's eyes, "whatever friend +pierces the deception were no friend if he divulged the other's +secret." + +He paused as though awaiting a reply. + +"Your integrity has perceived and your lips voiced an unalterable +truth," replied Gahan, whose mind was filled with wonder if the +implication could by any possibility be true--that this +Manatorian had guessed his identity. + +"We are thus agreed," continued the other, "and I may tell you +that though I am here known as A-Sor, my real name is Tasor." He +paused and watched Gahan's face intently for any sign of the +effect of this knowledge and was rewarded with a quick, though +guarded expression of recognition. + +Tasor! Friend of his youth. The son of that great Gatholian noble +who had given his life so gloriously, however futilely, in an +attempt to defend Gahan's sire from the daggers of the assassins. +Tasor an under-padwar in the guard of O-Tar, Jeddak of Manator! +It was inconceivable--and yet it was he; there could be no doubt +of it. "Tasor," Gahan repeated aloud. "But it is no Manatorian +name." The statement was half interrogatory, for Gahan's +curiosity was aroused. He would know how his friend and loyal +subject had become a Manatorian. Long years had passed since +Tasor had disappeared as mysteriously as the Princess Haja and +many other of Gahan's subjects. The Jed of Gathol had long +supposed him dead. + +"No," replied Tasor, "nor is it a Manatorian name. Come, while I +search for a hiding place for you in some forgotten chamber in +one of the untenanted portions of the palace, and as we go I will +tell you briefly how Tasor the Gatholian became A-Sor the +Manatorian. + +"It befell that as I rode with a dozen of my warriors along the +western border of Gathol searching for zitidars that had strayed +from my herds, we were set upon and surrounded by a great company +of Manatorians. They overpowered us, though not before half our +number was slain and the balance helpless from wounds. And so I +was brought a prisoner to Manataj, a distant city of Manator, and +there sold into slavery. A woman bought me--a princess of Manataj +whose wealth and position were unequaled in the city of her +birth. She loved me and when her husband discovered her +infatuation she beseeched me to slay him, and when I refused she +hired another to do it. Then she married me; but none would have +aught to do with her in Manataj, for they suspected her guilty +knowledge of her husband's murder. And so we set out from Manataj +for Manatos accompanied by a great caravan bearing all her +worldly goods and jewels and precious metals, and on the way she +caused the rumor to be spread that she and I had died. Then we +came to Manator instead, she taking a new name and I the name +A-Sor, that we might not be traced through our names. With her +great wealth she bought me a post in The Jeddak's Guard and none +knows that I am not a Manatorian, for she is dead. She was +beautiful, but she was a devil." + +"And you never sought to return to your native city?" asked +Gahan. + +"Never has the hope been absent from my heart, or my mind empty +of a plan," replied Tasor. "I dream of it by day and by night, +but always must I return to the same conclusion--that there can +be but a single means for escape. I must wait until Fortune +favors me with a place in a raiding party to Gathol. Then, once +within the boundaries of my own country, they shall see me no +more." + +"Perhaps your opportunity lies already within your grasp," said +Gahan, "has not your fealty to your own Jed been undermined by +years of association with the men of Manator." The statement was +half challenge. + +"And my Jed stood before me now," cried Tasor, "and my avowal +could be made without violating his confidence, I should cast my +sword at his feet and beg the high privilege of dying for him as +my sire died for his sire." + +There could be no doubt of his sincerity nor any that he was +cognizant of Gahan's identity. The Jed of Gathol smiled. "And if +your Jed were here there is little doubt but that he would +command you to devote your talents and your prowess to the rescue +of the Princess Tara of Helium," he said, meaningly. "And he +possessed the knowledge I have gained during my captivity he +would say to you, 'Go, Tasor, to the pit where A-kor, son of Haja +of Gathol, is confined and set him free and with him arouse the +slaves from Gathol and march to The Gate of Enemies and offer +your services to U-Thor of Manataj, who is wed to Haja of Gathol, +and ask of him in return that he attack the palace of O-Tar and +rescue Tara of Helium and when that thing is accomplished that he +free the slaves of Gathol and furnish them with the arms and the +means to return to their own country.' That, Tasor of Gathol, is +what Gahan your Jed would demand of you." + +"And that, Turan the slave, is what I shall bend my every effort +to accomplish after I have found a safe refuge for Tara of Helium +and her panthan," replied Tasor. + +Gahan's glance carried to Tasor an intimation of his Jed's +gratification and filled him with a chivalrous determination to +do the thing required of him, or die, for he considered that he +had received from the lips of his beloved ruler a commission that +placed upon his shoulders a responsibility that encompassed not +alone the life of Gahan and Tara but the welfare, perhaps the +whole future, of Gathol. And so he hastened them onward through +the musty corridors of the old palace where the dust of ages lay +undisturbed upon the marble tiles. Now and again he tried a door +until he found one that was unlocked. Opening it he ushered them +into a chamber, heavy with dust. Crumbling silks and furs adorned +the walls, with ancient weapons, and great paintings whose colors +were toned by age to wondrous softness. + +"This be as good as any place," he said. "No one comes here. +Never have I been here before, so I know no more of the other +chambers than you; but this one, at least, I can find again when +I bring you food and drink. O-Mai the Cruel occupied this portion +of the palace during his reign, five thousand years before O-Tar. +In one of these apartments he was found dead, his face contorted +in an expression of fear so horrible that it drove to madness +those who looked upon it; yet there was no mark of violence upon +him. Since then the quarters of O-Mai have been shunned for the +legends have it that the ghosts of Corphals pursue the spirit of +the wicked Jeddak nightly through these chambers, shrieking and +moaning as they go. But," he added, as though to reassure himself +as well as his companions, "such things may not be countenanced +by the culture of Gathol or Helium." + +Gahan laughed. "And if all who looked upon him were driven mad, +who then was there to perform the last rites or prepare the body +of the Jeddak for them?" + +"There was none," replied Tasor. "Where they found him they left +him and there to this very day his mouldering bones lie hid in +some forgotten chamber of this forbidden suite." + +Tasor left them then assuring them that he would seek the first +opportunity to speak with A-Kor, and upon the following day he +would bring them food and drink.* + +* Those who have read John Carter's description of the Green +Martians in A Princess of Mars will recall that these strange +people could exist for considerable periods of time without food +or water, and to a lesser degree is the same true of all +Martians. + + +After Tasor had gone Tara turned to Gahan and approaching laid a +hand upon his arm. "So swiftly have events transpired since I +recognized you beneath your disguise," she said, "that I have had +no opportunity to assure you of my gratitude and the high esteem +that your valor has won for you in my consideration. Let me now +acknowledge my indebtedness; and if promises be not vain from one +whose life and liberty are in grave jeopardy, accept my assurance +of the great reward that awaits you at the hand of my father in +Helium." + +"I desire no reward," he replied, "other than the happiness of +knowing that the woman I love is happy." + +For an instant the eyes of Tara of Helium blazed as she drew +herself haughtily to her full height, and then they softened and +her attitude relaxed as she shook her head sadly. + +"I have it not in my heart to reprimand you, Turan," she said, +"however great your fault, for you have been an honorable and a +loyal friend to Tara of Helium; but you must not say what my ears +must not hear." + +"You mean," he asked, "that the ears of a Princess must not +listen to words of love from a panthan?" + +"It is not that, Turan," she replied; "but rather that I may +not in honor listen to words of love from another than him to +whom I am betrothed--a fellow countryman, Djor Kantos." + +"You mean, Tara of Helium," he cried, "that were it not for that +you would--" + +"Stop!" she commanded. "You have no right to assume aught else +than my lips testify." + +"The eyes are ofttimes more eloquent than the lips, Tara," he +replied; "and in yours I have read that which is neither hatred +nor contempt for Turan the panthan, and my heart tells me that +your lips bore false witness when they cried in anger: 'I hate +you!'" + +"I do not hate you, Turan, nor yet may I love you," said the +girl, simply. + +"When I broke my way out from the chamber of I-Gos I was indeed +upon the verge of believing that you did hate me," he said, "for +only hatred, it seemed to me, could account for the fact that you +had gone without making an effort to liberate me; but presently +both my heart and my judgment told me that Tara of Helium could +not have deserted a companion in distress, and though I still am +in ignorance of the facts I know that it was beyond your power to +aid me." + +"It was indeed," said the girl. "Scarce had I-Gos fallen at the +bite of my dagger than I heard the approach of warriors. I ran +then to hide until they had passed, thinking to return and +liberate you; but in seeking to elude the party I had heard I ran +full into the arms of another. They questioned me as to your +whereabouts, and I told them that you had gone ahead and that I +was following you and thus I led them from you." + +"I knew," was Gahan's only comment, but his heart was glad with +elation, as a lover's must be who has heard from the lips of his +divinity an avowal of interest and loyalty, however little tinged +by a suggestion of warmer regard it may be. To be abused, even, +by the mistress of one's heart is better than to be ignored. + +As the two conversed in the ill-lit chamber, the dim bulbs of +which were encrusted with the accumulated dust of centuries, a +bent and withered figure traversed slowly the gloomy corridors +without, his weak and watery eyes peering through thick lenses at +the signs of passage written upon the dusty floor. + + + +CHAPTER XIX + +THE MENACE OF THE DEAD + +The night was still young when there came one to the entrance of +the banquet hall where O-Tar of Manator dined with his chiefs, +and brushing past the guards entered the great room with the +insolence of a privileged character, as in truth he was. As he +approached the head of the long board O-Tar took notice of him. + +"Well, hoary one!" he cried. "What brings you out of your beloved +and stinking burrow again this day. We thought that the sight of +the multitude of living men at the games would drive you back to +your corpses as quickly as you could go." + +The cackling laugh of I-Gos acknowledged the royal sally. "Ey, +ey, O-Tar," squeaked the ancient one, "I-Gos goes out not upon +pleasure bound; but when one does ruthlessly desecrate the dead +of I-Gos, vengeance must be had!" + +"You refer to the act of the slave Turan?" demanded O-Tar. + +"Turan, yes, and the slave Tara, who slipped beneath my hide a +murderous blade. Another fraction of an inch, O-Tar, and I-Gos' +ancient and wrinkled covering were even now in some apprentice +tanner's hands, ey, ey!" + +"But they have again eluded us," cried O-Tar. "Even in the palace +of the great jeddak twice have they escaped the stupid knaves I +call The Jeddak's Guard." O-Tar had risen and was angrily +emphasizing his words with heavy blows upon the table, dealt with +a golden goblet. + +"Ey, O-Tar, they elude thy guard but not the wise old calot, +I-Gos." + +"What mean you? Speak!" commanded O-Tar. + +"I know where they are hid," said the ancient taxidermist. "In +the dust of unused corridors their feet have betrayed them." + +"You followed them? You have seen them?" demanded the jeddak. + +"I followed them and I heard them speaking beyond a closed door," +replied I-Gos; "but I did not see them." + +"Where is that door?" cried O-Tar. "We will send at once and +fetch them," he looked about the table as though to decide to +whom he would entrust this duty. A dozen warrior chiefs arose and +laid their hands upon their swords. + +"To the chambers of O-Mai the Cruel I traced them," squeaked +I-Gos. "There you will find them where the moaning Corphals +pursue the shrieking ghost of O-Mai; ey!" and he turned his eyes +from O-Tar toward the warriors who had arisen, only to discover +that, to a man, they were hurriedly resuming their seats. + +The cackling laughter of I-Gos broke derisively the hush that had +fallen on the room. The warriors looked sheepishly at the food +upon their plates of gold. O-Tar snapped his fingers impatiently. + +"Be there only cravens among the chiefs of Manator?" he cried. +"Repeatedly have these presumptuous slaves flouted the majesty of +your jeddak. Must I command one to go and fetch them?" + +Slowly a chief arose and two others followed his example, though +with ill-concealed reluctance. "All, then, are not cowards," +commented O-Tar. "The duty is distasteful. Therefore all three of +you shall go, taking as many warriors as you wish." + +"But do not ask for volunteers," interrupted I-Gos, "or you will +go alone." + +The three chiefs turned and left the banquet hall, walking slowly +like doomed men to their fate. + +Gahan and Tara remained in the chamber to which Tasor had led +them, the man brushing away the dust from a deep and comfortable +bench where they might rest in comparative comfort. He had found +the ancient sleeping silks and furs too far gone to be of any +service, crumbling to powder at a touch, thus removing any chance +of making a comfortable bed for the girl, and so the two sat +together, talking in low tones, of the adventures through which +they already had passed and speculating upon the future; planning +means of escape and hoping Tasor would not be long gone. They +spoke of many things--of Hastor, and Helium, and Ptarth, and +finally the conversation reminded Tara of Gathol. + +"You have served there?" she asked. + +"Yes," replied Turan. + +"I met Gahan the Jed of Gathol at my father's palace," she said, +"the very day before the storm snatched me from Helium--he was a +presumptuous fellow, magnificently trapped in platinum and +diamonds. Never in my life saw I so gorgeous a harness as his, +and you must well know, Turan, that the splendor of all Barsoom +passes through the court at Helium; but in my mind I could not +see so resplendent a creature drawing that jeweled sword in +mortal combat. I fear me that the Jed of Gathol, though a pretty +picture of a man, is little else." + +In the dim light Tara did not perceive the wry expression upon +the half-averted face of her companion. + +"You thought little then of the Jed of Gathol?" he asked. + +"Then or now," she replied, and with a little laugh; "how it +would pique his vanity to know, if he might, that a poor panthan +had won a higher place in the regard of Tara of Helium," and she +laid her fingers gently upon his knee. + +He seized the fingers in his and carried them to his lips. "O, +Tara of Helium," he cried. "Think you that I am a man of stone?" +One arm slipped about her shoulders and drew the yielding body +toward him. + +"May my first ancestor forgive me my weakness," she cried, as her +arms stole about his neck and she raised her panting lips to his. +For long they clung there in love's first kiss and then she +pushed him away, gently. "I love you, Turan," she half sobbed; "I +love you so! It is my only poor excuse for having done this wrong +to Djor Kantos, whom now I know I never loved, who knew not the +meaning of love. And if you love me as you say, Turan, your love +must protect me from greater dishonor, for I am but as clay in +your hands." + +Again he crushed her to him and then as suddenly released her, +and rising, strode rapidly to and fro across the chamber as +though he endeavored by violent exercise to master and subdue +some evil spirit that had laid hold upon him. Ringing through his +brain and heart and soul like some joyous paean were those words +that had so altered the world for Gahan of Gathol: "I love you, +Turan; I love you so!" And it had come so suddenly. He had +thought that she felt for him only gratitude for his loyalty and +then, in an instant, her barriers were all down, she was no +longer a princess; but instead a--his reflections were +interrupted by a sound from beyond the closed door. His sandals +of zitidar hide had given forth no sound upon the marble floor he +strode, and as his rapid pacing carried him past the entrance to +the chamber there came faintly from the distance of the long +corridor the sound of metal on metal--the unmistakable herald of +the approach of armed men. + +For a moment Gahan listened intently, close to the door, until +there could be no doubt but that a party of warriors was +approaching. From what Tasor had told him he guessed correctly +that they would be coming to this portion of the palace but for a +single purpose--to search for Tara and himself--and it behooved +him therefore to seek immediate means for eluding them. The +chamber in which they were had other doorways beside that at +which they had entered, and to one of these he must look for some +safer hiding place. Crossing to Tara he acquainted her with his +suspicion, leading her to one of the doors which they found +unsecured. Beyond it lay a dimly-lighted chamber at the threshold +of which they halted in consternation, drawing back quickly into +the chamber they had just quitted, for their first glance +revealed four warriors seated around a jetan board. + +That their entrance had not been noted was attributed by Gahan to +the absorption of the two players and their friends in the game. +Quietly closing the door the fugitives moved silently to the +next, which they found locked. There was now but another door +which they had not tried, and this they approached quickly as +they knew that the searching party must be close to the chamber. +To their chagrin they found this avenue of escape barred. + +Now indeed were they in a sorry plight, for should the searchers +have information leading them to this room they were lost. Again +leading Tara to the door behind which were the jetan players +Gahan drew his sword and waited, listening. The sound of the +party in the corridor came distinctly to their ears--they must be +quite close, and doubtless they were coming in force. Beyond the +door were but four warriors who might be readily surprised. There +could, then, be but one choice and acting upon it Gahan quietly +opened the door again, stepped through into the adjoining +chamber, Tara's hand in his, and closed the door behind them. The +four at the jetan board evidently failed to hear them. One player +had either just made or was contemplating a move, for his fingers +grasped a piece that still rested upon the board. The other three +were watching his move. For an instant Gahan looked at them, +playing jetan there in the dim light of this forgotten and +forbidden chamber, and then a slow smile of understanding lighted +his face. + +"Come!" he said to Tara. "We have nothing to fear from these. For +more than five thousand years they have sat thus, a monument to +the handiwork of some ancient taxidermist." + +As they approached more closely they saw that the lifelike +figures were coated with dust, but that otherwise the skin was in +as fine a state of preservation as the most recent of I-Gos' +groups, and then they heard the door of the chamber they had +quitted open and knew that the searchers were close upon them. +Across the room they saw the opening of what appeared to be a +corridor and which investigation proved to be a short passageway, +terminating in a chamber in the center of which was an ornate +sleeping dais. This room, like the others, was but poorly +lighted, time having dimmed the radiance of its bulbs and coated +them with dust. A glance showed that it was hung with heavy goods +and contained considerable massive furniture in addition to the +sleeping platform, a second glance at which revealed what +appeared to be the form of a man lying partially on the floor and +partially on the dais. No doorways were visible other than that +at which they had entered, though both knew that others might be +concealed by the hangings. + +Gahan, his curiosity aroused by the legends surrounding this +portion of the palace, crossed to the dais to examine the figure +that apparently had fallen from it, to find the dried and +shrivelled corpse of a man lying upon his back on the floor with +arms outstretched and fingers stiffly outspread. One of his feet +was doubled partially beneath him, while the other was still +entangled in the sleeping silks and furs upon the dais. After +five thousand years the expression of the withered face and the +eyeless sockets retained the aspect of horrid fear to such an +extent, that Gahan knew that he was looking upon the body of +O-Mai the Cruel. + +Suddenly Tara, who stood close beside him, clutched his arm and +pointed toward a far corner of the room. Gahan looked and looking +felt the hairs upon his neck rising. He threw his left arm about +the girl and with bared sword stood between her and the hangings +that they watched, and then slowly Gahan of Gathol backed away, +for in this grim and somber chamber, which no human foot had trod +for five thousand years and to which no breath of wind might +enter, the heavy hangings in the far corner had moved. Not gently +had they moved as a draught might have moved them had there been +a draught, but suddenly they had bulged out as though pushed +against from behind. To the opposite corner backed Gahan until +they stood with their backs against the hangings there, and then +hearing the approach of their pursuers across the chamber beyond +Gahan pushed Tara through the hangings and, following her, kept +open with his left hand, which he had disengaged from the girl's +grasp, a tiny opening through which he could view the apartment +and the doorway upon the opposite side through which the pursuers +would enter, if they came this far. + +Behind the hangings there was a space of about three feet in +width between them and the wall, making a passageway entirely +around the room, broken only by the single entrance opposite +them; this being a common arrangement especially in the sleeping +apartments of the rich and powerful upon Barsoom. The purposes of +this arrangement were several. The passageway afforded a station +for guards in the same room with their master without intruding +entirely upon his privacy; it concealed secret exits from the +chamber; it permitted the occupant of the room to hide +eavesdroppers and assassins for use against enemies that he might +lure to his chamber. + +The three chiefs with a dozen warriors had had no difficulty in +following the tracks of the fugitives through the dust of the +corridors and chambers they had traversed. To enter this portion +of the palace at all had required all the courage they possessed, +and now that they were within the very chambers of O-Mai their +nerves were pitched to the highest key--another turn and they +would snap; for the people of Manator are filled with weird +superstitions. As they entered the outer chamber they moved +slowly, with drawn swords, no one seeming anxious to take the +lead, and the twelve warriors hanging back in unconcealed and +shameless terror, while the three chiefs, spurred on by fear of +O-Tar and by pride, pressed together for mutual encouragement as +they slowly crossed the dimly-lighted room. + +Following the tracks of Gahan and Tara they found that though +each doorway had been approached only one threshold had been +crossed and this door they gingerly opened, revealing to their +astonished gaze the four warriors at the jetan table. For a +moment they were on the verge of flight, for though they knew +what they were, coming as they did upon them in this mysterious +and haunted suite, they were as startled as though they had +beheld the very ghosts of the departed. But they presently +regained their courage sufficiently to cross this chamber too and +enter the short passageway that led to the ancient sleeping +apartment of O-Mai the Cruel. They did not know that this awful +chamber lay just before them, or it were doubtful that they would +have proceeded farther; but they saw that those they sought had +come this way and so they followed, but within the gloomy +interior of the chamber they halted, the three chiefs urging +their followers, in low whispers, to close in behind them, and +there just within the entrance they stood until, their eyes +becoming accustomed to the dim light, one of them pointed +suddenly to the thing lying upon the floor with one foot tangled +in the coverings of the dais. + +"Look!" he gasped. "It is the corpse of O-Mai! Ancestor of +ancestors! we are in the forbidden chamber." Simultaneously there +came from behind the hangings beyond the grewsome dead a hollow +moan followed by a piercing scream, and the hangings shook and +bellied before their eyes. + +With one accord, chieftains and warriors, they turned and bolted +for the doorway; a narrow doorway, where they jammed, fighting +and screaming in an effort to escape. They threw away their +swords and clawed at one another to make a passage for escape; +those behind climbed upon the shoulders of those in front; and +some fell and were trampled upon; but at last they all got +through, and, the swiftest first, they bolted across the two +intervening chambers to the outer corridor beyond, nor did they +halt their mad retreat before they stumbled, weak and trembling, +into the banquet hall of O-Tar. At sight of them the warriors who +had remained with the jeddak leaped to their feet with drawn +swords, thinking that their fellows were pursued by many enemies; +but no one followed them into the room, and the three chieftains +came and stood before O-Tar with bowed heads and trembling knees. + +"Well?" demanded the jeddak. "What ails you? Speak!" + +"O-Tar," cried one of them when at last he could master his +voice. "When have we three failed you in battle or combat? Have +our swords been not always among the foremost in defense of your +safety and your honor?" + +"Have I denied this?" demanded O-Tar. + +"Listen, then, O Jeddak, and judge us with leniency. We followed +the two slaves to the apartments of O-Mai the Cruel. We entered +the accursed chambers and still we did not falter. We came at +last to that horrid chamber no human eye had scanned before in +fifty centuries and we looked upon the dead face of O-Mai lying +as he has lain for all this time. To the very death chamber of +O-Mai the Cruel we came and yet we were ready to go farther; when +suddenly there broke upon our horrified ears the moans and the +shrieking that mark these haunted chambers and the hangings moved +and rustled in the dead air. O-Tar, it was more than human nerves +could endure. We turned and fled. We threw away our swords and +fought with one another to escape. With sorrow, but without +shame, I tell it, for there be no man in all Manator that would +not have done the same. If these slaves be Corphals they are safe +among their fellow ghosts. If they be not Corphals, then already +are they dead in the chambers of O-Mai, and there may they rot +for all of me, for I would not return to that accursed spot for +the harness of a jeddak and the half of Barsoom for an empire. I +have spoken." + +O-Tar knitted his scowling brows. "Are all my chieftains cowards +and cravens?" he demanded presently in sneering tones. + +From among those who had not been of the searching party a +chieftain arose and turned a scowling face upon O-Tar. + +"The jeddak knows," he said, "that in the annals of Manator her +jeddaks have ever been accounted the bravest of her warriors. +Where my jeddak leads I will follow, nor may any jeddak call me a +coward or a craven unless I refuse to go where he dares to go. I +have spoken." + +After he had resumed his seat there was a painful silence, for +all knew that the speaker had challenged the courage of O-Tar the +Jeddak of Manator and all awaited the reply of their ruler. In +every mind was the same thought--O-Tar must lead them at once to +the chamber of O-Mai the Cruel, or accept forever the stigma of +cowardice, and there could be no coward upon the throne of +Manator. That they all knew and that O-Tar knew, as well. + +But O-Tar hesitated. He looked about upon the faces of those +around him at the banquet board; but he saw only the grim visages +of relentless warriors. There was no trace of leniency in the +face of any. And then his eyes wandered to a small entrance at +one side of the great chamber. An expression of relief expunged +the scowl of anxiety from his features. + +"Look!" he exclaimed. "See who has come!" + + + +CHAPTER XX + +THE CHARGE OF COWARDICE + +Gahan, watching through the aperture between the hangings, saw +the frantic flight of their pursuers. A grim smile rested upon +his lips as he viewed the mad scramble for safety and saw them +throw away their swords and fight with one another to be first +from the chamber of fear, and when they were all gone he turned +back toward Tara, the smile still upon his lips; but the smile +died the instant that he turned, for he saw that Tara had +disappeared. + +"Tara!" he called in a loud voice, for he knew that there was no +danger that their pursuers would return; but there was no +response, unless it was a faint sound as of cackling laughter +from afar. Hurriedly he searched the passageway behind the +hangings finding several doors, one of which was ajar. Through +this he entered the adjoining chamber which was lighted more +brilliantly for the moment by the soft rays of hurtling Thuria +taking her mad way through the heavens. Here he found the dust +upon the floor disturbed, and the imprint of sandals. They had +come this way--Tara and whatever the creature was that had stolen +her. + +But what could it have been? Gahan, a man of culture and high +intelligence, held few if any superstitions. In common with +nearly all races of Barsoom he clung, more or less inherently, to +a certain exalted form of ancestor worship, though it was rather +the memory or legends of the virtues and heroic deeds of his +forebears that he deified rather than themselves. He never +expected any tangible evidence of their existence after death; he +did not believe that they had the power either for good or for +evil other than the effect that their example while living might +have had upon following generations; he did not believe therefore +in the materialization of dead spirits. If there was a life +hereafter he knew nothing of it, for he knew that science had +demonstrated the existence of some material cause for every +seemingly supernatural phenomenon of ancient religions and +superstitions. Yet he was at a loss to know what power might have +removed Tara so suddenly and mysteriously from his side in a +chamber that had not known the presence of man for five thousand +years. + +In the darkness he could not see whether there were the imprints +of other sandals than Tara's--only that the dust was +disturbed--and when it led him into gloomy corridors he lost the +trail altogether. A perfect labyrinth of passages and apartments +were now revealed to him as he hurried on through the deserted +quarters of O-Mai. Here was an ancient bath--doubtless that of +the jeddak himself, and again he passed through a room in which a +meal had been laid upon a table five thousand years before--the +untasted breakfast of O-Mai, perhaps. There passed before his +eyes in the brief moments that he traversed the chambers, a +wealth of ornaments and jewels and precious metals that surprised +even the Jed of Gathol whose harness was of diamonds and platinum +and whose riches were the envy of a world. But at last his search +of O-Mai's chambers ended in a small closet in the floor of which +was the opening to a spiral runway leading straight down into +Stygian darkness. The dust at the entrance of the closet had been +freshly disturbed, and as this was the only possible indication +that Gahan had of the direction taken by the abductor of Tara it +seemed as well to follow on as to search elsewhere. So, without +hesitation, he descended into the utter darkness below. Feeling +with a foot before taking a forward step his descent was +necessarily slow, but Gahan was a Barsoomian and so knew the +pitfalls that might await the unwary in such dark, forbidden +portions of a jeddak's palace. + +He had descended for what he judged might be three full levels +and was pausing, as he occasionally did, to listen, when he +distinctly heard a peculiar shuffling, scraping sound approaching +him from below. Whatever the thing was it was ascending the +runway at a steady pace and would soon be near him. Gahan laid +his hand upon the hilt of his sword and drew it slowly from its +scabbard that he might make no noise that would apprise the +creature of his presence. He wished that there might be even the +slightest lessening of the darkness. If he could see but the +outline of the thing that approached him he would feel that he +had a fairer chance in the meeting; but he could see nothing, and +then because he could see nothing the end of his scabbard struck +the stone side of the runway, giving off a sound that the +stillness and the narrow confines of the passage and the darkness +seemed to magnify to a terrific clatter. + +Instantly the shuffling sound of approach ceased. For a moment +Gahan stood in silent waiting, then casting aside discretion he +moved on again down the spiral. The thing, whatever it might be, +gave forth no sound now by which Gahan might locate it. At any +moment it might be upon him and so he kept his sword in +readiness. Down, ever downward the steep spiral led. The darkness +and the silence of the tomb surrounded him, yet somewhere ahead +was something. He was not alone in that horrid place--another +presence that he could not hear or see hovered before him--of +that he was positive. Perhaps it was the thing that had stolen +Tara. Perhaps Tara herself, still in the clutches of some +nameless horror, was just ahead of him. He quickened his pace--it +became almost a run at the thought of the danger that threatened +the woman he loved, and then he collided with a wooden door that +swung open to the impact. Before him was a lighted corridor. On +either side were chambers. He had advanced but a short distance +from the bottom of the spiral when he recognized that he was in +the pits below the palace. A moment later he heard behind him the +shuffling sound that had attracted his attention in the spiral +runway. Wheeling about he saw the author of the sound emerging +from a doorway he had just passed. It was Ghek the kaldane. + +"Ghek!" exclaimed Gahan. "It was you in the runway? Have you seen +Tara of Helium?" + +"It was I in the spiral," replied the kaldane; "but I have not +seen Tara of Helium. I have been searching for her. Where is +she?" + +"I do not know," replied the Gatholian; "but we must find her and +take her from this place." + +"We may find her," said Ghek; "but I doubt our ability to take +her away. It is not so easy to leave Manator as it is to enter +it. I may come and go at will, through the ancient burrows of the +ulsios; but you are too large for that and your lungs need more +air than may be found in some of the deeper runways." + +"But U-Thor!" exclaimed Gahan. "Have you heard aught of him or +his intentions?" + +"I have heard much," replied Ghek. "He camps at The Gate of +Enemies. That spot he holds and his warriors lie just beyond The +Gate; but he has not sufficient force to enter the city and take +the palace. An hour since and you might have made your way to +him; but now every avenue is strongly guarded since O-Tar learned +that A-Kor had escaped to U-Thor." + +"A-Kor has escaped and joined U-Thor!" exclaimed Gahan. + +"But little more than an hour since. I was with him when a +warrior came--a man whose name is Tasor--who brought a message +from you. It was decided that Tasor should accompany A-Kor in an +attempt to reach the camp of U-Thor, the great jed of Manatos, +and exact from him the assurances you required. Then U-Thor was +to return and take food to you and the Princess of Helium. I +accompanied them. We won through easily and found U-Thor more +than willing to respect your every wish, but when Tasor would +have returned to you the way was blocked by the warriors of +O-Tar. Then it was that I volunteered to come to you and report +and find food and drink and then go forth among the Gatholian +slaves of Manator and prepare them for their part in the plan +that U-Thor and Tasor conceived." + +"And what was this plan?" + +"U-Thor has sent for reinforcements. To Manatos he has sent and +to all the outlying districts that are his. It will take +a month to collect and bring them hither and in the meantime the +slaves within the city are to organize secretly, stealing and +hiding arms against the day that the reinforcements arrive. When +that day comes the forces of U-Thor will enter the Gate of +Enemies and as the warriors of O-Tar rush to repulse them the +slaves from Gathol will fall upon them from the rear with the +majority of their numbers, while the balance will assault the +palace. They hope thus to divert so many from The Gate that +U-Thor will have little difficulty in forcing an entrance to the +city." + +"Perhaps they will succeed," commented Gahan; "but the warriors +of O-Tar are many, and those who fight in defense of their homes +and their jeddak have always an advantage. Ah, Ghek, would that +we had the great warships of Gathol or of Helium to pour their +merciless fire into the streets of Manator while U-Thor marched +to the palace over the corpses of the slain." He paused, deep in +thought, and then turned his gaze again upon the kaldane. "Heard +you aught of the party that escaped with me from The Field of +Jetan--of Floran, Val Dor, and the others? What of them?" + +"Ten of these won through to U-Thor at The Gate of Enemies and +were well received by him. Eight fell in the fighting upon the +way. Val Dor and Floran live, I believe, for I am sure that I +heard U-Thor address two warriors by these names." + +"Good!" exclaimed Gahan. "Go then, through the burrows of the +ulsios, to The Gate of Enemies and carry to Floran the message +that I shall write in his own language. Come, while I write the +message." + +In a nearby room they found a bench and table and there Gahan sat +and wrote in the strange, stenographic characters of Martian +script a message to Floran of Gathol. "Why," he asked, when he +had finished it, "did you search for Tara through the spiral +runway where we nearly met?" + +"Tasor told me where you were to be found, and as I have explored +the greater part of the palace by means of the ulsio runways and +the darker and less frequented passages I knew precisely where +you were and how to reach you. This secret spiral ascends from +the pits to the roof of the loftiest of the palace towers. It has +secret openings at every level; but there is no living +Manatorian, I believe, who knows of its existence. At least never +have I met one within it and I have used it many times. Thrice +have I been in the chamber where O-Mai lies, though I knew +nothing of his identity or the story of his death until Tasor +told it to us in the camp of U-Thor." + +"You know the palace thoroughly then?" Gahan interrupted. + +"Better than O-Tar himself or any of his servants." + +"Good! And you would serve the Princess Tara, Ghek, you may serve +her best by accompanying Floran and following his instructions. I +will write them here at the close of my message to him, for the +walls have ears, Ghek, while none but a Gatholian may read what I +have written to Floran. He will transmit it to you. Can I trust +you?" + +"I may never return to Bantoom," replied Ghek. "Therefore I have +but two friends in all Barsoom. What better may I do than serve +them faithfully? You may trust me, Gatholian, who with a woman of +your kind has taught me that there be finer and nobler things +than perfect mentality uninfluenced by the unreasoning tuitions +of the heart. I go." + + * * * * * + +As O-Tar pointed to the little doorway all eyes turned in the +direction he indicated and surprise was writ large upon the faces +of the warriors when they recognized the two who had entered the +banquet hall. There was I-Gos, and he dragged behind him one who +was gagged and whose hands were fastened behind with a ribbon of +tough silk. It was the slave girl. I-Gos' cackling laughter rose +above the silence of the room. + +"Ey, ey!" he shrilled. "What the young warriors of O-Tar cannot +do, old I-Gos does alone." + +"Only a Corphal may capture a Corphal," growled one of the chiefs +who had fled from the chambers of O-Mai. + +I-Gos laughed. "Terror turned your heart to water," he replied; +"and shame your tongue to libel. This be no Corphal, but only a +woman of Helium; her companion a warrior who can match blades +with the best of you and cut your putrid hearts. Not so in the +days of I-Gos' youth. Ah, then were there men in Manator. Well do +I recall that day that I--" + +"Peace, doddering fool!" commanded O-Tar. "Where is the man?" + +"Where I found the woman--in the death chamber of O-Mai. Let your +wise and brave chieftains go thither and fetch him. I am an old +man, and could bring but one." + +"You have done well, I-Gos," O-Tar hastened to assure him, for +when he learned that Gahan might still be in the haunted chambers +he wished to appease the wrath of I-Gos, knowing well the +vitriolic tongue and temper of the ancient one. "You think she is +no Corphal, then, I-Gos?" he asked, wishing to carry the subject +from the man who was still at large. + +"No more than you," replied the ancient taxidermist. + +O-Tar looked long and searchingly at Tara of Helium. All the +beauty that was hers seemed suddenly to be carried to every fibre +of his consciousness. She was still garbed in the rich harness of +a Black Princess of Jetan, and as O-Tar the Jeddak gazed upon her +he realized that never before had his eyes rested upon a more +perfect figure--a more beautiful face. + +"She is no Corphal," he murmured to himself. "She is no Corphal +and she is a princess--a princess of Helium, and, by the golden +hair of the Holy Hekkador, she is beautiful. Take the gag from +her mouth and release her hands," he commanded aloud. "Make room +for the Princess Tara of Helium at the side of O-Tar of Manator. +She shall dine as becomes a princess." + +Slaves did as O-Tar bid and Tara of Helium stood with flashing +eyes behind the chair that was offered her. "Sit!" commanded +O-Tar. + +The girl sank into the chair. "I sit as a prisoner," she said; +"not as a guest at the board of my enemy, O-Tar of Manator." + +O-Tar motioned his followers from the room. "I would speak alone +with the Princess of Helium," he said. The company and the slaves +withdrew and once more the Jeddak of Manator turned toward the +girl. "O-Tar of Manator would be your friend," he said. + +Tara of Helium sat with arms folded upon her small, firm breasts, +her eyes flashing from behind narrowed lids, nor did she deign to +answer his overture. O-Tar leaned closer to her. He noted the +hostility of her bearing and he recalled his first encounter with +her. She was a she-banth, but she was beautiful. She was by far +the most desirable woman that O-Tar had ever looked upon and he +was determined to possess her. He told her so. + +"I could take you as my slave," he said to her; "but it pleases +me to make you my wife. You shall be Jeddara of Manator. You +shall have seven days in which to prepare for the great honor +that O-Tar is conferring upon you, and at this hour of the +seventh day you shall become an empress and the wife of O-Tar in +the throne room of the jeddaks of Manator." He struck a gong that +stood beside him upon the table and when a slave appeared he bade +him recall the company. Slowly the chiefs filed in and took their +places at the table. Their faces were grim and scowling, for +there was still unanswered the question of their jeddak's +courage. If O-Tar had hoped they would forget he had been +mistaken in his men. + +O-Tar arose. "In seven days," he announced, "there will be a +great feast in honor of the new Jeddara of Manator," and he waved +his hand toward Tara of Helium. "The ceremony will occur at the +beginning of the seventh zode* in the throne room. In the +meantime the Princess of Helium will be cared for in the tower of +the women's quarters of the palace. Conduct her thither, E-Thas, +with a suitable guard of honor and see to it that slaves and +eunuchs be placed at her disposal, who shall attend upon all her +wants and guard her carefully from harm." + +* About 8:30 P. M. Earth Time. + + +Now E-Thas knew that the real meaning concealed in these fine +words was that he should conduct the prisoner under a strong +guard to the women's quarters and confine her there in the tower +for seven days, placing about her trustworthy guards who would +prevent her escape or frustrate any attempted rescue. + +As Tara was departing from the chamber with E-Thas and the guard, +O-Tar leaned close to her ear and whispered: "Consider well +during these seven days the high honor I have offered you, +and--its sole alternative." As though she had not heard him the +girl passed out of the banquet hall, her head high and her eyes +straight to the front. + +After Ghek had left him Gahan roamed the pits and the ancient +corridors of the deserted portions of the palace seeking some +clue to the whereabouts or the fate of Tara of Helium. He +utilized the spiral runway in passing from level to level until +he knew every foot of it from the pits to the summit of the high +tower, and into what apartments it opened at the various levels +as well as the ingenious and hidden mechanism that operated the +locks of the cleverly concealed doors leading to it. For food he +drew upon the stores he found in the pits and when he slept he +lay upon the royal couch of O-Mai in the forbidden chamber +sharing the dais with the dead foot of the ancient jeddak. + +In the palace about him seethed, all unknown to Gahan, a vast +unrest. Warriors and chieftains pursued the duties of their +vocations with dour faces, and little knots of them were +collecting here and there and with frowns of anger discussing +some subject that was uppermost in the minds of all. It was upon +the fourth day following Tara's incarceration in the tower that +E-Thas, the major-domo of the palace and one of O-Tar's +creatures, came to his master upon some trivial errand. O-Tar was +alone in one of the smaller chambers of his personal suite when +the major-domo was announced, and after the matter upon which +E-Thas had come was disposed of the jeddak signed him to remain. + +"From the position of an obscure warrior I have elevated you, +E-Thas, to the honors of a chief. Within the confines of the +palace your word is second only to mine. You are not loved for +this, E-Thas, and should another jeddak ascend the throne of +Manator what would become of you, whose enemies are among the +most powerful of Manator?" + +"Speak not of it, O-Tar," begged E-Thas. "These last few days I +have thought upon it much and I would forget it; but I have +sought to appease the wrath of my worst enemies. I have been +very kind and indulgent with them." + +"You, too, read the voiceless message in the air?" demanded the +jeddak. + +E-Thas was palpably uneasy and he did not reply. + +"Why did you not come to me with your apprehensions?" demanded +O-Tar. "Be this loyalty?" + +"I feared, O mighty jeddak!" replied E-Thas. "I feared that you +would not understand and that you would be angry." + +"What know you? Speak the whole truth!" commanded O-Tar. + +"There is much unrest among the chieftains and the warriors," +replied E-Thas. "Even those who were your friends fear the power +of those who speak against you." + +"What say they?" growled the jeddak. + +"They say that you are afraid to enter the apartments of O-Mai in +search of the slave Turan--oh, do not be angry with me, Jeddak; +it is but what they say that I repeat. I, your loyal E-Thas, +believe no such foul slander." + +"No, no; why should I fear?" demanded O-Tar. "We do not know that +he is there. Did not my chiefs go thither and see nothing of +him?" + +"But they say that you did not go," pursued E-Thas, "and that +they will have none of a coward upon the throne of Manator." + +"They said that treason?" O-Tar almost shouted. + +"They said that and more, great jeddak," answered the major-domo. +"They said that not only did you fear to enter the chambers of +O-Mai, but that you feared the slave Turan, and they blame you +for your treatment of A-Kor, whom they all believe to have been +murdered at your command. They were fond of A-Kor and there are +many now who say aloud that A-Kor would have made a wondrous +jeddak." + +"They dare?" screamed O-Tar. "They dare suggest the name of a +slave's bastard for the throne of O-Tar!" + +"He is your son, O-Tar," E-Thas reminded him, "nor is there a +more beloved man in Manator--I but speak to you of facts which +may not be ignored, and I dare do so because only when you +realize the truth may you seek a cure for the ills that draw +about your throne." + +O-Tar had slumped down upon his bench--suddenly he looked +shrunken and tired and old. "Cursed be the day," he cried, "that +saw those three strangers enter the city of Manator. Would that +U-Dor had been spared to me. He was strong--my enemies feared +him; but he is gone--dead at the hands of that hateful slave, +Turan; may the curse of Issus be upon him!" + +"My jeddak, what shall we do?" begged E-Thas. "Cursing the slave +will not solve your problems." + +"But the great feast and the marriage is but three days off," +plead O-Tar. "It shall be a great gala occasion. The warriors and +the chiefs all know that--it is the custom. Upon that day gifts +and honors shall be bestowed. Tell me, who are most bitter +against me? I will send you among them and let it be known that I +am planning rewards for their past services to the throne. We +will make jeds of chiefs and chiefs of warriors, and grant them +palaces and slaves. Eh, E-Thas?" + +The other shook his head. "It will not do, O-Tar. They will have +nothing of your gifts or honors. I have heard them say as much." + +"What do they want?" demanded O-Tar. + +"They want a jeddak as brave as the bravest," replied E-Thas, +though his knees shook as he said it. + +"They think I am a coward?" cried the jeddak. + +"They say you are afraid to go to the apartments of O-mai the +Cruel." + +For a long time O-Tar sat, his head sunk upon his breast, staring +blankly at the floor. + +"Tell them," he said at last in a hollow voice that sounded not +at all like the voice of a great jeddak; "tell them that I will +go to the chambers of O-Mai and search for Turan the slave." + + + +CHAPTER XXI + +A RISK FOR LOVE + +"Ey, ey, he is a craven and he called me 'doddering fool'!" The +speaker was I-Gos and he addressed a knot of chieftains in one of +the chambers of the palace of O-Tar, Jeddak of Manator: "If A-Kor +was alive there were a jeddak for us!" + +"Who says that A-Kor is dead?" demanded one of the chiefs. + +"Where is he then?" asked I-Gos. "Have not others disappeared +whom O-Tar thought too well beloved for men so near the throne as +they?" + +The chief shook his head. "And I thought that, or knew it, +rather; I'd join U-Thor at The Gate of Enemies." + +"S-s-st," cautioned one; "here comes the licker of feet," and all +eyes were turned upon the approaching E-Thas. + +"Kaor, friends!" he exclaimed as he stopped among them, but his +friendly greeting elicited naught but a few surly nods. "Have you +heard the news?" he continued, unabashed by treatment to which he +was becoming accustomed. + +"What--has O-Tar seen an ulsio and fainted?" demanded I-Gos with +broad sarcasm. + +"Men have died for less than that, ancient one," E-Thas reminded +him. + +"I am safe," retorted I-Gos, "for I am not a brave and popular +son of the jeddak of Manator." + +This was indeed open treason, but E-Thas feigned not to hear it. +He ignored I-Gos and turned to the others. "O-Tar goes to the +chamber of O-Mai this night in search of Turan the slave," he +said. "He sorrows that his warriors have not the courage for so +mean a duty and that their jeddak is thus compelled to arrest a +common slave," with which taunt E-Thas passed on to spread the +word in other parts of the palace. As a matter of fact the latter +part of his message was purely original with himself, and he took +great delight in delivering it to the discomfiture of his +enemies. As he was leaving the little group of men I-Gos called +after him. "At what hour does O-Tar intend visiting the chambers +of O-Mai?" he asked. + +"Toward the end of the eighth zode*," replied the major-domo, and +went his way. + +* About 1:00 A. M. Earth Time. + + +"We shall see," stated I-Gos. + +"What shall we see?" asked a warrior. + +"We shall see whether O-Tar visits the chamber of O-Mai." + +"How?" + +"I shall be there myself and if I see him I will know that he has +been there. If I don't see him I will know that he has not," +explained the old taxidermist. + +"Is there anything there to fill an honest man with fear?" asked +a chieftain. "What have you seen?" + +"It was not so much what I saw, though that was bad enough, as +what I heard," said I-Gos. + +"Tell us! What heard and saw you?" + +"I saw the dead O-Mai," said I-Gos. The others shuddered. + +"And you went not mad?" they asked. + +"Am I mad?" retorted I-Gos. + +"And you will go again?" + +"Yes." + +"Then indeed you are mad," cried one. + +"You saw the dead O-Mai; but what heard you that was worse?" +whispered another. + +"I saw the dead O-Mai lying upon the floor of his sleeping +chamber with one foot tangled in the sleeping silks and furs upon +his couch. I heard horrid moans and frightful screams." + +"And you are not afraid to go there again?" demanded several. + +"The dead cannot harm me," said I-Gos. "He has lain thus for five +thousand years. Nor can a sound harm me. I heard it once and +live--I can hear it again. It came from almost at my side where I +hid behind the hangings and watched the slave Turan before I +snatched the woman away from him." + +"I-Gos, you are a very brave man," said a chieftain. + +"O-Tar called me 'doddering fool' and I would face worse dangers +than lie in the forbidden chambers of O-Mai to know it if he does +not visit the chamber of O-Mai. Then indeed shall O-Tar fall!" + +The night came and the zodes dragged and the time approached when +O-Tar, Jeddak of Manator, was to visit the chamber of O-Mai in +search of the slave Turan. To us, who may doubt the existence of +malignant spirits, his fear may seem unbelievable, for he was a +strong man, an excellent swordsman, and a warrior of great +repute; but the fact remained that O-Tar of Manator was nervous +with apprehension as he strode the corridors of his palace toward +the deserted halls of O-Mai and when he stood at last with his +hand upon the door that opened from the dusty corridor to the +very apartments themselves he was almost paralyzed with terror. +He had come alone for two very excellent reasons, the first of +which was that thus none might note his terror-stricken state nor +his defection should he fail at the last moment, and the other +was that should he accomplish the thing alone or be able to make +his chiefs believe that he had, the credit would be far greater +than were he to be accompanied by warriors. + +But though he had started alone he had become aware that he was +being followed, and he knew that it was because his people had no +faith in either his courage or his veracity. He did not believe +that he would find the slave Turan. He did not very much want to +find him, for though O-Tar was an excellent swordsman and a brave +warrior in physical combat, he had seen how Turan had played with +U-Dor and he had no stomach for a passage at arms with one whom +he knew outclassed him. + +And so O-Tar stood with his hand upon the door--afraid to enter; +afraid not to. But at last his fear of his own warriors, watching +behind him, grew greater than the fear of the unknown behind the +ancient door and he pushed the heavy skeel aside and entered. + +Silence and gloom and the dust of centuries lay heavy upon the +chamber. From his warriors he knew the route that he must take to +the horrid chamber of O-Mai and so he forced his unwilling feet +across the room before him, across the room where the jetan +players sat at their eternal game, and came to the short corridor +that led into the room of O-Mai. His naked sword trembled in his +grasp. He paused after each forward step to listen and when he +was almost at the door of the ghost-haunted chamber, his heart +stood still within his breast and the cold sweat broke from the +clammy skin of his forehead, for from within there came to his +affrighted ears the sound of muffled breathing. Then it was that +O-Tar of Manator came near to fleeing from the nameless horror +that he could not see, but that he knew lay waiting for him in +that chamber just ahead. But again came the fear of the wrath and +contempt of his warriors and his chiefs. They would degrade him +and they would slay him into the bargain. There was no doubt of +what his fate would be should he flee the apartments of O-Mai in +terror. His only hope, therefore, lay in daring the unknown in +preference to the known. + +He moved forward. A few steps took him to the doorway. The +chamber before him was darker than the corridor, so that he could +just indistinctly make out the objects in the room. He saw a +sleeping dais near the center, with a darker blotch of something +lying on the marble floor beside it. He moved a step farther into +the doorway and the scabbard of his sword scraped against the +stone frame. To his horror he saw the sleeping silks and furs +upon the central dais move. He saw a figure slowly arising to a +sitting posture from the death bed of O-Mai the Cruel. His knees +shook, but he gathered all his moral forces, and gripping his +sword more tightly in his trembling fingers prepared to leap +across the chamber upon the horrid apparition. He hesitated just +a moment. He felt eyes upon him--ghoulish eyes that bored through +the darkness into his withering heart--eyes that he could not +see. He gathered himself for the rush--and then there broke from +the thing upon the couch an awful shriek, and O-Tar sank +senseless to the floor. + +Gahan rose from the couch of O-Mai, smiling, only to swing +quickly about with drawn sword as the shadow of a noise impinged +upon his keen ears from the shadows behind him. Between the +parted hangings he saw a bent and wrinkled figure. It was I-Gos. + +"Sheathe your sword, Turan," said the old man. "You have naught +to fear from I-Gos." + +"What do you here?" demanded Gahan. + +"I came to make sure that the great coward did not cheat us. Ey, +and he called me 'doddering fool;' but look at him now! Stricken +insensible by terror, but, ey, one might forgive him that who had +heard your uncanny scream. It all but blasted my own courage. And +it was you, then, who moaned and screamed when the chiefs came +the day that I stole Tara from you?" + +"It was you, then, old scoundrel?" demanded Gahan, moving +threateningly toward I-Gos. + +"Come, come!" expostulated the old man; "it was I, but then I was +your enemy. I would not do it now. Conditions have changed." + +"How have they changed? What has changed them?" asked Gahan. + +"Then I did not fully realize the cowardice of my jeddak, or the +bravery of you and the girl. I am an old man from another age and +I love courage. At first I resented the girl's attack upon me, +but later I came to see the bravery of it and it won my +admiration, as have all her acts. She feared not O-tar, she +feared not me, she feared not all the warriors of Manator. And +you! Blood of a million sires! how you fight! I am sorry that I +exposed you at The Fields of Jetan. I am sorry that I dragged the +girl Tara back to O-Tar. I would make amends. I would be your +friend. Here is my sword at your feet," and drawing his weapon +I-Gos cast it to the floor in front of Gahan. + +The Gatholian knew that scarce the most abandoned of knaves would +repudiate this solemn pledge, and so he stooped, and picking up +the old man's sword returned it to him, hilt first, in acceptance +of his friendship. + +"Where is the Princess Tara of Helium?" asked Gahan. "Is she +safe?" + +"She is confined in the tower of the women's quarters awaiting +the ceremony that is to make her Jeddara of Manator," replied +I-Gos. + +"This thing dared think that Tara of Helium would mate with him?" +growled Gahan. "I will make short work of him if he is not +already dead from fright," and he stepped toward the fallen O-Tar +to run his sword through the jeddak's heart. + +"No!" cried I-Gos. "Slay him not and pray that he be not dead if +you would save your princess." + +"How is that?" asked Gahan. + +"If word of O-Tar's death reached the quarters of the women the +Princess Tara would be lost. They know O-Tar's intention of +taking her to wife and making her Jeddara of Manator, so you may +rest assured that they all hate her with the hate of jealous +women. Only O-Tar's power protects her now from harm. Should +O-Tar die they would turn her over to the warriors and the male +slaves, for there would be none to avenge her." + +Gahan sheathed his sword. "Your point is well taken; but what +shall we do with him?" + +"Leave him where he lies," counseled I-Gos. "He is not dead. When +he revives he will return to his quarters with a fine tale of his +bravery and there will be none to impugn his boasts--none but +I-Gos. Come! he may revive at any moment and he must not find us +here." + +I-Gos crossed to the body of his jeddak, knelt beside it for an +instant, and then returned past the couch to Gahan. The two quit +the chamber of O-Mai and took their way toward the spiral runway. +Here I-Gos led Gahan to a higher level and out upon the roof of +that portion of the palace from where he pointed to a high tower +quite close by. "There," he said, "lies the Princess of Helium, +and quite safe she will be until the time of the ceremony." + +"Safe, possibly, from other hands, but not from her own," said +Gahan. "She will never become Jeddara of Manator--first will she +destroy herself." + +"She would do that?" asked I-Gos. + +"She will, unless you can get word to her that I still live and +that there is yet hope," replied Gahan. + +"I cannot get word to her," said I-Gos. "The quarters of his +women O-Tar guards with jealous hand. Here are his most trusted +slaves and warriors, yet even so, thick among them are countless +spies, so that no man knows which be which. No shadow falls +within those chambers that is not marked by a hundred eyes." + +Gahan stood gazing at the lighted windows of the high tower in +the upper chambers of which Tara of Helium was confined. "I will +find a way, I-Gos," he said. + +"There is no way," replied the old man. + +For some time they stood upon the roof beneath the brilliant +stars and hurtling moons of dying Mars, laying their plans +against the time that Tara of Helium should be brought from the +high tower to the throne room of O-Tar. It was then, and then +alone, argued I-Gos, that any hope of rescuing her might be +entertained. Just how far he might trust the other Gahan did not +know, and so he kept to himself the knowledge of the plan that he +had forwarded to Floran and Val Dor by Ghek, but he assured the +ancient taxidermist that if he were sincere in his oft-repeated +declaration that O-Tar should be denounced and superseded he +would have his opportunity on the night that the jeddak sought to +wed the Heliumetic princess. + +"Your time shall come then, I-Gos," Gahan assured the other, "and +if you have any party that thinks as you do, prepare them for the +eventuality that will succeed O-Tar's presumptuous attempt to wed +the daughter of The Warlord. Where shall I see you again, and +when? I go now to speak with Tara, Princess of Helium." + +"I like your boldness," said I-Gos; "but it will avail you +naught. You will not speak with Tara, Princess of Helium, though +doubtless the blood of many Manatorians will drench the floors of +the women's quarters before you are slain." + +Gahan smiled. "I shall not be slain. Where and when shall we +meet? But you may find me in O-Mai's chamber at night. That seems +the safest retreat in all Manator for an enemy of the jeddak in +whose palace it lies. I go!" + +"And may the spirits of your ancestors surround you," said I-Gos. + +After the old man had left him Gahan made his way across the roof +to the high tower, which appeared to have been constructed of +concrete and afterward elaborately carved, its entire surface +being covered with intricate designs cut deep into the stone-like +material of which it was composed. Though wrought ages since, it +was but little weather-worn owing to the aridity of the Martian +atmosphere, the infrequency of rains, and the rarity of dust +storms. To scale it, though, presented difficulties and danger +that might have deterred the bravest of men--that would, +doubtless, have deterred Gahan, had he not felt that the life of +the woman he loved depended upon his accomplishing the hazardous +feat. + +Removing his sandals and laying aside all of his harness and +weapons other than a single belt supporting a dagger, the +Gatholian essayed the dangerous ascent. Clinging to the carvings +with hands and feet he worked himself slowly aloft, avoiding the +windows and keeping upon the shadowy side of the tower, away from +the light of Thuria and Cluros. The tower rose some fifty feet +above the roof of the adjacent part of the palace, comprising +five levels or floors with windows looking in every direction. A +few of the windows were balconied, and these more than the others +he sought to avoid, although, it being now near the close of the +ninth zode, there was little likelihood that many were awake +within the tower. + +His progress was noiseless and he came at last, undetected, to +the windows of the upper level. These, like several of the others +he had passed at lower levels, were heavily barred, so that there +was no possibility of his gaining ingress to the apartment where +Tara was confined. Darkness hid the interior behind the first +window that he approached. The second opened upon a lighted +chamber where he could see a guard sleeping at his post outside a +door. Here also was the top of the runway leading to the next +level below. Passing still farther around the tower Gahan +approached another window, but now he clung to that side of the +tower which ended in a courtyard a hundred feet below and in a +short time the light of Thuria would reach him. He realized that +he must hasten and he prayed that behind the window he now +approached he would find Tara of Helium. + +Coming to the opening he looked in upon a small chamber dimly +lighted. In the center was a sleeping dais upon which a human +form lay beneath silks and furs. A bare arm, protruding from the +coverings, lay exposed against a black and yellow striped orluk +skin--an arm of wondrous beauty about which was clasped an armlet +that Gahan knew. No other creature was visible within the +chamber, all of which was exposed to Gahan's view. Pressing his +face to the bars the Gatholian whispered her dear name. The girl +stirred, but did not awaken. Again he called, but this time +louder. Tara sat up and looked about and at the same instant a +huge eunuch leaped to his feet from where he had been lying on +the floor close by that side of the dais farthest from Gahan. +Simultaneously the brilliant light of Thuria flashed full upon +the window where Gahan clung silhouetting him plainly to the two +within. + +Both sprang to their feet. The eunuch drew his sword and leaped +for the window where the helpless Gahan would have fallen an easy +victim to a single thrust of the murderous weapon the fellow +bore, had not Tara of Helium leaped upon her guard dragging him +back. At the same time she drew the slim dagger from its hiding +place in her harness and even as the eunuch sought to hurl her +aside its keen point found his heart. Without a sound he died and +lunged forward to the floor. Then Tara ran to the window. + +"Turan, my chief!" she cried. "What awful risk is this you take +to seek me here, where even your brave heart is powerless to aid +me." + +"Be not so sure of that, heart of my heart," he replied. "While I +bring but words to my love, they be the forerunner of deeds, I +hope, that will give her back to me forever. I feared that you +might destroy yourself, Tara of Helium, to escape the dishonor +that O-Tar would do you, and so I came to give you new hope and +to beg that you live for me through whatever may transpire, in +the knowledge that there is yet a way and that if all goes well +we shall be freed at last. Look for me in the throne room of +O-Tar the night that he would wed you. And now, how may we +dispose of this fellow?" He pointed to the dead eunuch upon the +floor. + +"We need not concern ourselves about that," she replied. "None +dares harm me for fear of the wrath of O-Tar--otherwise I should +have been dead so soon as ever I entered this portion of the +palace, for the women hate me. O-Tar alone may punish me, and +what cares O-Tar for the life of a eunuch? No, fear not upon this +score." + +Their hands were clasped between the bars and now Gahan drew her +nearer to him. + +"One kiss," he said, "before I go, my princess," and the proud +daughter of Dejah Thoris, Princess of Helium, and The Warlord of +Barsoom whispered: "My chieftain!" and pressed her lips to the +lips of Turan, the common panthan. + + + +CHAPTER XXII + +AT THE MOMENT OF MARRIAGE + +The silence of the tomb lay heavy about him as O-Tar, Jeddak of +Manator, opened his eyes in the chamber of O-Mai. Recollection of +the frightful apparition that had confronted him swept to his +consciousness. He listened, but heard naught. Within the range of +his vision there was nothing apparent that might cause alarm. +Slowly he lifted his head and looked about. Upon the floor beside +the couch lay the thing that had at first attracted his attention +and his eyes closed in terror as he recognized it for what it +was; but it moved not, nor spoke. O-Tar opened his eyes again and +rose to his feet. He was trembling in every limb. There was +nothing on the dais from which he had seen the thing arise. + +O-Tar backed slowly from the room. At last he gained the outer +corridor. It was empty. He did not know that it had emptied +rapidly as the loud scream with which his own had mingled had +broken upon the startled ears of the warriors who had been sent +to spy upon him. He looked at the timepiece set in a massive +bracelet upon his left forearm. The ninth zode was nearly half +gone. O-Tar had lain for an hour unconscious. He had spent an +hour in the chamber of O-Mai and he was not dead! He had looked +upon the face of his predecessor and was still sane! He shook +himself and smiled. Rapidly he subdued his rebelliously shaking +nerves, so that by the time he reached the tenanted portion of +the palace he had gained control of himself. He walked with chin +high and something of a swagger. To the banquet hall he went, +knowing that his chiefs awaited him there and as he entered they +arose and upon the faces of many were incredulity and amaze, for +they had not thought to see O-Tar the jeddak again after what the +spies had told them of the horrid sounds issuing from the chamber +of O-Mai. Thankful was O-Tar that he had gone alone to that +chamber of fright, for now no one could deny the tale that he +should tell. + +E-Thas rushed forward to greet him, for E-Thas had seen black +looks directed toward him as the tals slipped by and his +benefactor failed to return. + +"O brave and glorious jeddak!" cried the major-domo. "We rejoice +at your safe return and beg of you the story of your adventure." + +"It was naught," exclaimed O-Tar. "I searched the chambers +carefully and waited in hiding for the return of the slave, +Turan, if he were temporarily away; but he came not. He is not +there and I doubt if he ever goes there. Few men would choose to +remain long in such a dismal place." + +"You were not attacked?" asked E-Thas. "You heard no screams, nor +moans?" + +"I heard hideous noises and saw phantom figures; but they fled +before me so that never could I lay hold of one, and I looked +upon the face of O-Mai and I am not mad. I even rested in the +chamber beside his corpse." + +In a far corner of the room a bent and wrinkled old man hid a +smile behind a golden goblet of strong brew. + +"Come! Let us drink!" cried O-Tar and reached for the dagger, the +pommel of which he was accustomed to use to strike the gong which +summoned slaves, but the dagger was not in its scabbard. O-Tar +was puzzled. He knew that it had been there just before he +entered the chamber of O-Mai, for he had carefully felt of all +his weapons to make sure that none was missing. He seized instead +a table utensil and struck the gong, and when the slaves came +bade them bring the strongest brew for O-Tar and his chiefs. +Before the dawn broke many were the expressions of admiration +bellowed from drunken lips--admiration for the courage of their +jeddak; but some there were who still looked glum. + + * * * * * + +Came at last the day that O-Tar would take the Princess Tara of +Helium to wife. For hours slaves prepared the unwilling bride. +Seven perfumed baths occupied three long and weary hours, then +her whole body was anointed with the oil of pimalia blossoms and +massaged by the deft fingers of a slave from distant Dusar. Her +harness, all new and wrought for the occasion was of the white +hide of the great white apes of Barsoom, hung heavily with +platinum and diamonds--fairly encrusted with them. The glossy +mass of her jet hair had been built into a coiffure of stately +and becoming grandeur, into which diamond-headed pins were stuck +until the whole scintillated as the stars in heaven upon a +moonless night. + +But it was a sullen and defiant bride that they led from the high +tower toward the throne room of O-Tar. The corridors were filled +with slaves and warriors, and the women of the palace and the +city who had been commanded to attend the ceremony. All the power +and pride, wealth and beauty of Manator were there. + +Slowly Tara, surrounded by a heavy guard of honor, moved along +the marble corridors filled with people. At the entrance to The +Hall of Chiefs E-Thas, the major-domo, received her. The Hall was +empty except for its ranks of dead chieftains upon their dead +mounts. Through this long chamber E-Thas escorted her to the +throne room which also was empty, the marriage ceremony in +Manator differing from that of other countries of Barsoom. Here +the bride would await the groom at the foot of the steps leading +to the throne. The guests followed her in and took their places, +leaving the central aisle from The Hall of Chiefs to the throne +clear, for up this O-Tar would approach his bride alone after a +short solitary communion with the dead behind closed doors in The +Hall of Chiefs. It was the custom. + +The guests had all filed through The Hall of Chiefs; the doors at +both ends had been closed. Presently those at the lower end of +the hall opened and O-Tar entered. His black harness was +ornamented with rubies and gold; his face was covered by a +grotesque mask of the precious metal in which two enormous rubies +were set for eyes, though below them were narrow slits through +which the wearer could see. His crown was a fillet supporting +carved feathers of the same metal as the mask. To the least +detail his regalia was that demanded of a royal bridegroom by the +customs of Manator, and now in accordance with that same custom +he came alone to The Hall of Chiefs to receive the blessings and +the council of the great ones of Manator who had preceded him. + +As the doors at the lower end of the Hall closed behind him O-Tar +the Jeddak stood alone with the great dead. By the dictates of +ages no mortal eye might look upon the scene enacted within that +sacred chamber. As the mighty of Manator respected the traditions +of Manator, let us, too, respect those traditions of a proud and +sensitive people. Of what concern to us the happenings in that +solemn chamber of the dead? + +Five minutes passed. The bride stood silently at the foot of the +throne. The guests spoke together in low whispers until the room +was filled with the hum of many voices. At length the doors +leading into The Hall of Chiefs swung open, and the resplendent +bridegroom stood framed for a moment in the massive opening. A +hush fell upon the wedding guests. With measured and impressive +step the groom approached the bride. Tara felt the muscles of her +heart contract with the apprehension that had been growing upon +her as the coils of Fate settled more closely about her and no +sign came from Turan. Where was he? What, indeed, could he +accomplish now to save her? Surrounded by the power of O-Tar with +never a friend among them, her position seemed at last without +vestige of hope. + +"I still live!" she whispered inwardly in a last brave attempt to +combat the terrible hopelessness that was overwhelming her, but +her fingers stole for reassurance to the slim blade that she had +managed to transfer, undetected, from her old harness to the new. +And now the groom was at her side and taking her hand was leading +her up the steps to the throne, before which they halted and +stood facing the gathering below. Came then, from the back of the +room a procession headed by the high dignitary whose office it +was to make these two man and wife, and directly behind him a +richly-clad youth bearing a silken pillow on which lay the golden +handcuffs connected by a short length of chain-of-gold with which +the ceremony would be concluded when the dignitary clasped a +handcuff about the wrist of each symbolizing their indissoluble +union in the holy bonds of wedlock. + +Would Turan's promised succor come too late? Tara listened to the +long, monotonous intonation of the wedding service. She heard the +virtues of O-Tar extolled and the beauties of the bride. The +moment was approaching and still no sign of Turan. But what could +he accomplish should he succeed in reaching the throne room, +other than to die with her? There could be no hope of rescue. + +The dignitary lifted the golden handcuffs from the pillow upon +which they reposed. He blessed them and reached for Tara's wrist. +The time had come! The thing could go no further, for alive or +dead, by all the laws of Barsoom she would be the wife of O-Tar +of Manator the instant the two were locked together. Even should +rescue come then or later she could never dissolve those bonds +and Turan would be lost to her as surely as though death +separated them. + +Her hand stole toward the hidden blade, but instantly the hand of +the groom shot out and seized her wrist. He had guessed her +intention. Through the slits in the grotesque mask she could see +his eyes upon her and she guessed the sardonic smile that the +mask hid. For a tense moment the two stood thus. The people below +them kept breathless silence for the play before the throne had +not passed un-noticed. + +Dramatic as was the moment it was suddenly rendered trebly so by +the noisy opening of the doors leading to The Hall of Chiefs. All +eyes turned in the direction of the interruption to see another +figure framed in the massive opening--a half-clad figure buckling +the half-adjusted harness hurriedly in place--the figure of +O-Tar, Jeddak of Manator. + +"Stop!" he screamed, springing forward along the aisle toward the +throne. "Seize the impostor!" + +All eyes shot to the figure of the groom before the throne. They +saw him raise his hand and snatch off the golden mask, and Tara +of Helium in wide-eyed incredulity looked up into the face of +Turan the panthan. + +"Turan the slave," they cried then. "Death to him! Death to him!" + +"Wait!" shouted Turan, drawing his sword, as a dozen warriors +leaped forward. + +"Wait!" screamed another voice, old and cracked, as I-Gos, the +ancient taxidermist, sprang from among the guests and reached the +throne steps ahead of the foremost warriors. + +At sight of the old man the warriors paused, for age is held in +great veneration among the peoples of Barsoom, as is true, +perhaps, of all peoples whose religion is based to any extent +upon ancestor worship. But O-Tar gave no heed to him, leaping +instead swiftly toward the throne. "Stop, coward!" cried I-Gos. + +The people looked at the little old man in amazement. "Men of +Manator," he cackled in his thin, shrill voice, "wouldst be ruled +by a coward and a liar?" + +"Down with him!" shouted O-Tar. + +"Not until I have spoken," retorted I-Gos. "It is my right. If I +fail my life is forfeit--that you all know and I know. I demand +therefore to be heard. It is my right!" + +"It is his right," echoed the voices of a score of warriors in +various parts of the chamber. + +"That O-Tar is a coward and a liar I can prove," continued I-Gos. +"He said that he faced bravely the horrors of the chamber of +O-Mai and saw nothing of the slave Turan. I was there, hiding +behind the hangings, and I saw all that transpired. Turan had +been hiding in the chamber and was even then lying upon the couch +of O-Mai when O-Tar, trembling with fear, entered the room. +Turan, disturbed, arose to a sitting position at the same time +voicing a piercing shriek. O-Tar screamed and swooned." + +"It is a lie!" cried O-Tar. + +"It is not a lie and I can prove it," retorted I-Gos. "Didst +notice the night that he returned from the chambers of O-Mai and +was boasting of his exploit, that when he would summon slaves to +bring wine he reached for his dagger to strike the gong with its +pommel as is always his custom? Didst note that, any of you? And +that he had no dagger? O-Tar, where is the dagger that you +carried into the chamber of O-Mai? You do not know; but I know. +While you lay in the swoon of terror I took it from your harness +and hid it among the sleeping silks upon the couch of O-Mai. +There it is even now, and if any doubt it let them go thither and +there they will find it and know the cowardice of their jeddak." + +"But what of this impostor?" demanded one. "Shall he stand with +impunity upon the throne of Manator whilst we squabble about our +ruler?" + +"It is through his bravery that you have learned the cowardice of +O-Tar," replied I-Gos, "and through him you will be given a +greater jeddak." + +"We will choose our own jeddak. Seize and slay the slave!" There +were cries of approval from all parts of the room. Gahan was +listening intently, as though for some hoped-for sound. He saw +the warriors approaching the dais, where he now stood with drawn +sword and with one arm about Tara of Helium. He wondered if his +plans had miscarried after all. If they had it would mean death +for him, and he knew that Tara would take her life if he fell. +Had he, then, served her so futilely after all his efforts? + +Several warriors were urging the necessity for sending at once to +the chamber of O-Mai to search for the dagger that would prove, +if found, the cowardice of O-Tar. At last three consented to go. +"You need not fear," I-Gos assured them. "There is naught there +to harm you. I have been there often of late and Turan the slave +has slept there for these many nights. The screams and moans that +frightened you and O-Tar were voiced by Turan to drive you away +from his hiding place." Shamefacedly the three left the apartment +to search for O-Tar's dagger. + +And now the others turned their attention once more to Gahan. +They approached the throne with bared swords, but they came +slowly for they had seen this slave upon the Field of Jetan and +they knew the prowess of his arm. They had reached the foot of +the steps when from far above there sounded a deep boom, and +another, and another, and Turan smiled and breathed a sigh of +relief. Perhaps, after all, it had not come too late. The +warriors stopped and listened as did the others in the chamber. +Now there broke upon their ears a loud rattle of musketry and it +all came from above as though men were fighting upon the roofs of +the palace. + +"What is it?" they demanded, one of the other. + +"A great storm has broken over Manator," said one. + +"Mind not the storm until you have slain the creature who dares +stand upon the throne of your jeddak," demanded O-Tar. "Seize +him!" + +Even as he ceased speaking the arras behind the throne parted and +a warrior stepped forth upon the dais. An exclamation of surprise +and dismay broke from the lips of the warriors of O-Tar. +"U-Thor!" they cried. "What treason is this?" + +"It is no treason," said U-Thor in his deep voice. "I bring you a +new jeddak for all of Manator. No lying poltroon, but a +courageous man whom you all love." + +He stepped aside then and another emerged from the corridor +hidden by the arras. It was A-Kor, and at sight of him there rose +exclamations of surprise, of pleasure, and of anger, as the +various factions recognized the coup d'etat that had been +arranged so cunningly. Behind A-Kor came other warriors until the +dais was crowded with them--all men of Manator from the city of +Manatos. + +O-Tar was exhorting his warriors to attack, when a bloody and +disheveled padwar burst into the chamber through a side entrance. +"The city has fallen!" he cried aloud. "The hordes of Manatos +pour through The Gate of Enemies. The slaves from Gathol have +arisen and destroyed the palace guards. Great ships are landing +warriors upon the palace roof and in the Fields of Jetan. The men +of Helium and Gathol are marching through Manator. They cry aloud +for the Princess of Helium and swear to leave Manator a blazing +funeral pyre consuming the bodies of all our people. The skies +are black with ships. They come in great processions from the +east and from the south." + +And then once more the doors from The Hall of Chiefs swung wide +and the men of Manator turned to see another figure standing upon +the threshold--a mighty figure of a man with white skin, and +black hair, and gray eyes that glittered now like points of steel +and behind him The Hall of Chiefs was filled with fighting men +wearing the harness of far countries. Tara of Helium saw him and +her heart leaped in exultation, for it was John Carter, Warlord +of Barsoom, come at the head of a victorious host to the rescue +of his daughter, and at his side was Djor Kantos to whom she had +been betrothed. + +The Warlord eyed the assemblage for a moment before he spoke. +"Lay down your arms, men of Manator," he said. "I see my daughter +and that she lives, and if no harm has befallen her no blood need +be shed. Your city is filled with the fighting men of U-Thor, and +those from Gathol and from Helium. The palace is in the hands of +the slaves from Gathol, beside a thousand of my own warriors who +fill the halls and chambers surrounding this room. The fate of +your jeddak lies in your own hands. I have no wish to interfere. +I come only for my daughter and to free the slaves from Gathol. I +have spoken!" and without waiting for a reply and as though the +room had been filled with his own people rather than a hostile +band he strode up the broad main aisle toward Tara of Helium. + +The chiefs of Manator were stunned. They looked to O-Tar; but he +could only gaze helplessly about him as the enemy entered from +The Hall of Chiefs and circled the throne room until they had +surrounded the entire company. And then a dwar of the army of +Helium entered. + +"We have captured three chiefs," he reported to The Warlord, "who +beg that they be permitted to enter the throne room and report to +their fellows some matter which they say will decide the fate of +Manator." + +"Fetch them," ordered The Warlord. + +They came, heavily guarded, to the foot of the steps leading to +the throne and there they stopped and the leader turned toward +the others of Manator and raising high his right hand displayed a +jeweled dagger. "We found it," he said, "even where I-Gos said +that we would find it," and he looked menacingly upon O-Tar. + +"A-Kor, jeddak of Manator!" cried a voice, and the cry was taken +up by a hundred hoarse-throated warriors. + +"There can be but one jeddak in Manator," said the chief who held +the dagger; his eyes still fixed upon the hapless O-Tar he +crossed to where the latter stood and holding the dagger upon an +outstretched palm proffered it to the discredited ruler. "There +can be but one jeddak in Manator," he repeated meaningly. + +O-Tar took the proffered blade and drawing himself to his full +height plunged it to the guard into his breast, in that single +act redeeming himself in the esteem of his people and winning an +eternal place in The Hall of Chiefs. + +As he fell all was silence in the great room, to be broken +presently by the voice of U-Thor. "O-Tar is dead!" he cried. "Let +A-Kor rule until the chiefs of all Manator may be summoned to +choose a new jeddak. What is your answer?" + +"Let A-Kor rule! A-Kor, Jeddak of Manator!" The cries filled the +room and there was no dissenting voice. + +A-Kor raised his sword for silence. "It is the will of A-Kor," he +said, "and that of the Great Jed of Manatos, and the commander of +the fleet from Gathol, and of the illustrious John Carter, +Warlord of Barsoom, that peace lie upon the city of Manator and +so I decree that the men of Manator go forth and welcome the +fighting men of these our allies as guests and friends and show +them the wonders of our ancient city and the hospitality of +Manator. I have spoken." And U-Thor and John Carter dismissed +their warriors and bade them accept the hospitality of Manator. +As the room emptied Djor Kantos reached the side of Tara of +Helium. The girl's happiness at rescue had been blighted by sight +of this man whom her virtuous heart told her she had wronged. She +dreaded the ordeal that lay before her and the dishonor that she +must admit before she could hope to be freed from the +understanding that had for long existed between them. And now +Djor Kantos approached and kneeling raised her fingers to his +lips. + +"Beautiful daughter of Helium," he said, "how may I tell you the +thing that I must tell you--of the dishonor that I have all +unwittingly done you? I can but throw myself upon your generosity +for forgiveness; but if you demand it I can receive the dagger as +honorably as did O-Tar." + +"What do you mean?" asked Tara of Helium. "What are you talking +about--why speak thus in riddles to one whose heart is already +breaking?" + +Her heart already breaking! The outlook was anything but +promising, and the young padwar wished that he had died before +ever he had had to speak the words he now must speak. + +"Tara of Helium," he continued, "we all thought you dead. For a +long year have you been gone from Helium. I mourned you truly and +then, less than a moon since, I wed with Olvia Marthis." He +stopped and looked at her with eyes that might have said: "Now, +strike me dead!" + +"Oh, foolish man!" cried Tara. "Nothing you could have done could +have pleased me more. Djor Kantos, I could kiss you!" + +"I do not think that Olvia Marthis would mind," he said, his face +now wreathed with smiles. As they spoke a body of men had entered +the throne room and approached the dais. They were tall men +trapped in plain harness, absolutely without ornamentation. Just +as their leader reached the dais Tara had turned to Gahan, +motioning him to join them. + +"Djor Kantos," she said, "I bring you Turan the panthan, whose +loyalty and bravery have won my love." + +John Carter and the leader of the new come warriors, who were +standing near, looked quickly at the little group. The former +smiled an inscrutable smile, the latter addressed the Princess of +Helium. "'Turan the panthan!'" he cried. "Know you not, fair +daughter of Helium, that this man you call panthan is Gahan, Jed +of Gathol?" + +For just a moment Tara of Helium looked her surprise; and then +she shrugged her beautiful shoulders as she turned her head to +cast her eyes over one of them at Gahan of Gathol. + +"Jed or panthan," she said; "what difference does it make what +one's slave has been?" and she laughed roguishly into the smiling +face of her lover. + + * * * * * + +His story finished, John Carter rose from the chair opposite me, +stretching his giant frame like some great forest-bred lion. + +"You must go?" I cried, for I hated to see him leave and it +seemed that he had been with me but a moment. + +"The sky is already red beyond those beautiful hills of yours," +he replied, "and it will soon be day." + +"Just one question before you go," I begged. + +"Well?" he assented, good-naturedly. + +"How was Gahan able to enter the throne room garbed in O-Tar's +trappings?" I asked. + +"It was simple--for Gahan of Gathol," replied The Warlord. "With +the assistance of I-Gos he crept into The Hall of Chiefs before +the ceremony, while the throne room and Hall of Chiefs were +vacated to receive the bride. He came from the pits through the +corridor that opened behind the arras at the rear of the throne, +and passing into The Hall of Chiefs took his place upon the back +of a riderless thoat, whose warrior was in I-Gos' repair room. +When O-Tar entered and came near him Gahan fell upon him and +struck him with the butt of a heavy spear. He thought that he had +killed him and was surprised when O-Tar appeared to denounce +him." + +"And Ghek? What became of Ghek?" I insisted. + +"After leading Val Dor and Floran to Tara's disabled flier which +they repaired, he accompanied them to Gathol from where a message +was sent to me in Helium. He then led a large party including +A-Kor and U-Thor from the roof, where our ships landed them, down +a spiral runway into the palace and guided them to the throne +room. We took him back to Helium with us, where he still lives, +with his single rykor which we found all but starved to death in +the pits of Manator. But come! No more questions now." + +I accompanied him to the east arcade where the red dawn was +glowing beyond the arches. + +"Good-bye!" he said. + +"I can scarce believe that it is really you," I exclaimed. +"Tomorrow I will be sure that I have dreamed all this." + +He laughed and drawing his sword scratched a rude cross upon the +concrete of one of the arches. + +"If you are in doubt tomorrow," he said, "come and see if you +dreamed this." + +A moment later he was gone. + + + + +JETAN, OR MARTIAN CHESS + +For those who care for such things, and would like to try the +game, I give the rules of Jetan as they were given me by John +Carter. By writing the names and moves of the various pieces on +bits of paper and pasting them on ordinary checkermen the game +may be played quite as well as with the ornate pieces used upon +Mars. + +THE BOARD: Square board consisting of one hundred alternate black +and orange squares. + +THE PIECES: In order, as they stand upon the board in the first +row, from left to right of each player. + +Warrior: 2 feathers; 2 spaces straight in any direction or +combination. + +Padwar: 2 feathers; 2 spaces diagonal in any direction or +combination. + +Dwar: 3 feathers; 3 spaces straight in any direction or +combination. + +Flier: 3 bladed propellor; 3 spaces diagonal in any direction or +combination; and may jump intervening pieces. + +Chief: Diadem with ten jewels; 3 spaces in any direction; +straight or diagonal or combination. + +Princess: Diadem with one jewel; same as Chief, except may jump +intervening pieces. + +Flier: See above. + +Dwar: See above. + +Padwar: See above. + +Warrior: See above. + +And in the second row from left to right: + +Thoat: Mounted warrior 2 feathers; 2 spaces, one straight and one +diagonal in any direction. + +Panthans: (8 of them): 1 feather; 1 space, forward, side, or +diagonal, but not backward. + +Thoat: See above. + +The game is played with twenty black pieces by one player and +twenty orange by his opponent, and is presumed to have originally +represented a battle between the Black race of the south and the +Yellow race of the north. On Mars the board is usually arranged +so that the Black pieces are played from the south and the Orange +from the north. + +The game is won when any piece is placed on same square with +opponent's Princess, or a Chief takes a Chief. + +The game is drawn when either Chief is taken by a piece other +than the opposing Chief, or when both sides are reduced to three +pieces, or less, of equal value and the game is not won in the +ensuing ten moves, five apiece. + +The Princess may not move onto a threatened square, nor may she +take an opposing piece. She is entitled to one ten-space move at +any time during the game. This move is called the escape. + +Two pieces may not occupy the same square except in the final +move of a game where the Princess is taken. + +When a player, moving properly and in order, places one of his +pieces upon a square occupied by an opponent piece, the opponent +piece is considered to have been killed and is removed from the +game. + +The moves explained. Straight moves mean due north, south, east, +or west; diagonal moves mean northeast, southeast, southwest, or +northwest. A Dwar might move straight north three spaces, or +north one space and east two spaces, or any similar combination +of straight moves, so long as he did not cross the same square +twice in a single move. This example explains combination moves. + +The first move may be decided in any way that is agreeable to +both players; after the first game the winner of the preceding +game moves first if he chooses, or may instruct his opponent to +make the first move. + +Gambling: The Martians gamble at Jetan in several ways. Of course +the outcome of the game indicates to whom the main stake belongs; +but they also put a price upon the head of each piece, according +to its value, and for each piece that a player loses he pays its +value to his opponent. + + + + + + + +End of Project Gutenberg's The Chessmen of Mars, by Edgar Rice Burroughs + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE CHESSMEN OF MARS *** + +This file should be named cmars13.txt or cmars13.zip +Corrected EDITIONS of our eBooks get a new NUMBER, cmars14.txt +VERSIONS based on separate sources get new LETTER, cmars13a.txt + +This etext was prepared by Judy Boss, Omaha, NE + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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Be sure to check the +copyright laws for your country before downloading or redistributing +this or any other Project Gutenberg eBook. + +This header should be the first thing seen when viewing this Project +Gutenberg file. Please do not remove it. Do not change or edit the +header without written permission. + +Please read the "legal small print," and other information about the +eBook and Project Gutenberg at the bottom of this file. Included is +important information about your specific rights and restrictions in +how the file may be used. You can also find out about how to make a +donation to Project Gutenberg, and how to get involved. + + +**Welcome To The World of Free Plain Vanilla Electronic Texts** + +**eBooks Readable By Both Humans and By Computers, Since 1971** + +*****These eBooks Were Prepared By Thousands of Volunteers!***** + + +Title: The Chessmen of Mars + +Author: Edgar Rice Burroughs + +Release Date: January, 1998 [EBook #1153] +[This file was last updated on April 15, 2004] + +Edition: 13 + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ASCII + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE CHESSMEN OF MARS *** + + + + +This etext was prepared by Judy Boss, Omaha, NE + + + + +</pre> + +<hr class="long" /> + +<h1>THE CHESSMEN OF MARS</h1> + +<h2>By Edgar Rice Burroughs</h2> + +<hr class="long" /> + +<h3>CONTENTS</h3> + +<table border="0" cellpadding="4" cellspacing="2" width="50%" summary="Contents"> +<tr><td align='right'>PRELUDE</td> <td><a href="#PRELUDE">John Carter Comes to Earth</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='right'>I</td> <td><a href="#CHAPTER_I">Tara in a Tantrum</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='right'>II</td> <td><a href="#CHAPTER_II">At the Gale's Mercy</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='right'>III</td> <td><a href="#CHAPTER_III">The Headless Humans</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='right'>IV</td> <td><a href="#CHAPTER_IV">Captured</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='right'>V</td> <td><a href="#CHAPTER_V">The Perfect Brain</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='right'>VI</td> <td><a href="#CHAPTER_VI">In the Toils of Horror</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='right'>VII</td> <td><a href="#CHAPTER_VII">A Repellent Sight</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='right'>VIII</td> <td><a href="#CHAPTER_VIII">Close Work</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='right'>IX</td> <td><a href="#CHAPTER_IX">Adrift Over Strange Regions</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='right'>X</td> <td><a href="#CHAPTER_X">Entrapped</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='right'>XI</td> <td><a href="#CHAPTER_XI">The Choice of Tara</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='right'>XII</td> <td><a href="#CHAPTER_XII">Ghek Plays Pranks</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='right'>XIII</td> <td><a href="#CHAPTER_XIII">A Desperate Deed</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='right'>XIV</td> <td><a href="#CHAPTER_XIV">At Ghek's Command</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='right'>XV</td> <td><a href="#CHAPTER_XV">The Old Man of the Pits</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='right'>XVI</td> <td><a href="#CHAPTER_XVI">Another Change of Name</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='right'>XVII</td> <td><a href="#CHAPTER_XVII">A Play to the Death</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='right'>XVIII</td> <td><a href="#CHAPTER_XVIII">A Task for Loyalty</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='right'>XIX</td> <td><a href="#CHAPTER_XIX">The Menace of the Dead</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='right'>XX</td> <td><a href="#CHAPTER_XX">The Charge of Cowardice</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='right'>XXI</td> <td><a href="#CHAPTER_XXI">A Risk for Love</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='right'>XXII</td> <td><a href="#CHAPTER_XXII">At the Moment of Marriage</a></td></tr> +<tr><td colspan="2" align='center'> <a href="#JETAN">Jetan, or Martian Chess</a></td></tr> +</table> + +<hr class="long" /> + + + +<h2>THE CHESSMEN OF MARS</h2> + +<div style="height: 4em;"><br /><br /><br /><br /></div> + + + +<h2><a name="PRELUDE" id="PRELUDE" />PRELUDE</h2> + +<h2>JOHN CARTER COMES TO EARTH</h2> + +<p>Shea had just beaten me at chess, as usual, and, also as usual, I +had gleaned what questionable satisfaction I might by twitting +him with this indication of failing mentality by calling his +attention to the nth time to that theory, propounded by certain +scientists, which is based upon the assertion that phenomenal +chess players are always found to be from the ranks of children +under twelve, adults over seventy-two or the mentally +defective—a theory that is lightly ignored upon those rare +occasions that I win. Shea had gone to bed and I should have +followed suit, for we are always in the saddle here before +sunrise; but instead I sat there before the chess table in the +library, idly blowing smoke at the dishonored head of my defeated +king.</p> + +<p>While thus profitably employed I heard the east door of the +living-room open and someone enter. I thought it was Shea +returning to speak with me on some matter of tomorrow's work; but +when I raised my eyes to the doorway that connects the two rooms +I saw framed there the figure of a bronzed giant, his otherwise +naked body trapped with a jewel-encrusted harness from which +there hung at one side an ornate short-sword and at the other a +pistol of strange pattern. The black hair, the steel-gray eyes, +brave and smiling, the noble features—I recognized them at once, +and leaping to my feet I advanced with outstretched hand.</p> + +<p>"John Carter!" I cried. "You?"</p> + +<p>"None other, my son," he replied, taking my hand in one of his +and placing the other upon my shoulder.</p> + +<p>"And what are you doing here?" I asked. "It has been long years +since you revisited Earth, and never before in the trappings of +Mars. Lord! but it is good to see you—and not a day older in +appearance than when you trotted me on your knee in my babyhood. +How do you explain it, John Carter, Warlord of Mars, or do you +try to explain it?"</p> + +<p>"Why attempt to explain the inexplicable?" he replied. "As I have +told you before, I am a very old man. I do not know how old I am. +I recall no childhood; but recollect only having been always as +you see me now and as you saw me first when you were five years +old. You, yourself, have aged, though not as much as most men in +a corresponding number of years, which may be accounted for by +the fact that the same blood runs in our veins; but I have not +aged at all. I have discussed the question with a noted Martian +scientist, a friend of mine; but his theories are still only +theories. However, I am content with the fact—I never age, and I +love life and the vigor of youth.</p> + +<p>"And now as to your natural question as to what brings me to +Earth again and in this, to earthly eyes, strange habiliment. We +may thank Kar Komak, the bowman of Lothar. It was he who gave me +the idea upon which I have been experimenting until at last I +have achieved success. As you know I have long possessed the +power to cross the void in spirit, but never before have I been +able to impart to inanimate things a similar power. Now, however, +you see me for the first time precisely as my Martian fellows see +me—you see the very short-sword that has tasted the blood of +many a savage foeman; the harness with the devices of Helium and +the insignia of my rank; the pistol that was presented to me by +Tars Tarkas, Jeddak of Thark.</p> + +<p>"Aside from seeing you, which is my principal reason for being +here, and satisfying myself that I can transport inanimate things +from Mars to Earth, and therefore animate things if I so desire, +I have no purpose. Earth is not for me. My every interest is upon +Barsoom—my wife, my children, my work; all are there. I will +spend a quiet evening with you and then back to the world I love +even better than I love life."</p> + +<p>As he spoke he dropped into the chair upon the opposite side of +the chess table.</p> + +<p>"You spoke of children," I said. "Have you more than Carthoris?"</p> + +<p>"A daughter," he replied, "only a little younger than Carthoris, +and, barring one, the fairest thing that ever breathed the thin +air of dying Mars. Only Dejah Thoris, her mother, could be more +beautiful than Tara of Helium."</p> + +<p>For a moment he fingered the chessmen idly. "We have a game on +Mars similar to chess," he said, "very similar. And there is a +race there that plays it grimly with men and naked swords. We +call the game jetan. It is played on a board like yours, except +that there are a hundred squares and we use twenty pieces on +each side. I never see it played without thinking of Tara of +Helium and what befell her among the chessmen of Barsoom. +Would you like to hear her story?"</p> + +<p>I said that I would and so he told it to me, and now I shall try +to re-tell it for you as nearly in the words of The Warlord of +Mars as I can recall them, but in the third person. If there be +inconsistencies and errors, let the blame fall not upon John +Carter, but rather upon my faulty memory, where it belongs. It is +a strange tale and utterly Barsoomian.</p> + +<div style="height: 4em;"><br /><br /><br /><br /></div> + + + +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_I" id="CHAPTER_I" />CHAPTER I</h2> + +<h2>TARA IN A TANTRUM</h2> + +<p>Tara of Helium rose from the pile of silks and soft furs upon +which she had been reclining, stretched her lithe body languidly, +and crossed toward the center of the room, where, above a large +table, a bronze disc depended from the low ceiling. Her carriage +was that of health and physical perfection—the effortless +harmony of faultless coordination. A scarf of silken gossamer +crossing over one shoulder was wrapped about her body; her black +hair was piled high upon her head. With a wooden stick she tapped +upon the bronze disc, lightly, and presently the summons was +answered by a slave girl, who entered, smiling, to be greeted +similarly by her mistress.</p> + +<p>"Are my father's guests arriving?" asked the princess.</p> + +<p>"Yes, Tara of Helium, they come," replied the slave. "I have seen +Kantos Kan, Overlord of the Navy, and Prince Soran of Ptarth, and +Djor Kantos, son of Kantos Kan," she shot a roguish glance at her +mistress as she mentioned Djor Kantos' name, "and—oh, there were +others, many have come."</p> + +<p>"The bath, then, Uthia," said her mistress. "And why, Uthia," she +added, "do you look thus and smile when you mention the name of +Djor Kantos?"</p> + +<p>The slave girl laughed gaily. "It is so plain to all that he +worships you," she replied.</p> + +<p>"It is not plain to me," said Tara of Helium. "He is the friend +of my brother, Carthoris, and so he is here much; but not to see +me. It is his friendship for Carthoris that brings him thus often +to the palace of my father."</p> + +<p>"But Carthoris is hunting in the north with Talu, Jeddak of +Okar," Uthia reminded her.</p> + +<p>"My bath, Uthia!" cried Tara of Helium. "That tongue of yours +will bring you to some misadventure yet."</p> + +<p>"The bath is ready, Tara of Helium," the girl responded, her eyes +still twinkling with merriment, for she well knew that in the +heart of her mistress was no anger that could displace the love +of the princess for her slave. Preceding the daughter of The +Warlord she opened the door of an adjoining room where lay the +bath—a gleaming pool of scented water in a marble basin. Golden +stanchions supported a chain of gold encircling it and leading +down into the water on either side of marble steps. A glass dome +let in the sun-light, which flooded the interior, glancing from +the polished white of the marble walls and the procession of +bathers and fishes, which, in conventional design, were inlaid +with gold in a broad band that circled the room.</p> + +<p>Tara of Helium removed the scarf from about her and handed it to +the slave. Slowly she descended the steps to the water, the +temperature of which she tested with a symmetrical foot, +undeformed by tight shoes and high heels—a lovely foot, as God +intended that feet should be and seldom are. Finding the water to +her liking, the girl swam leisurely to and fro about the pool. +With the silken ease of the seal she swam, now at the surface, +now below, her smooth muscles rolling softly beneath her clear +skin—a wordless song of health and happiness and grace. +Presently she emerged and gave herself into the hands of the +slave girl, who rubbed the body of her mistress with a sweet +smelling semi-liquid substance contained in a golden urn, until +the glowing skin was covered with a foamy lather, then a quick +plunge into the pool, a drying with soft towels, and the bath was +over. Typical of the life of the princess was the simple elegance +of her bath—no retinue of useless slaves, no pomp, no idle waste +of precious moments. In another half hour her hair was dried and +built into the strange, but becoming, coiffure of her station; +her leathern trappings, encrusted with gold and jewels, had been +adjusted to her figure and she was ready to mingle with the +guests that had been bidden to the midday function at the palace +of The Warlord.</p> + +<p>As she left her apartments to make her way to the gardens where +the guests were congregating, two warriors, the insignia of the +House of the Prince of Helium upon their harness, followed a few +paces behind her, grim reminders that the assassin's blade may +never be ignored upon Barsoom, where, in a measure, it +counterbalances the great natural span of human life, which is +estimated at not less than a thousand years.</p> + +<p>As they neared the entrance to the garden another woman, +similarly guarded, approached them from another quarter of the +great palace. As she neared them Tara of Helium turned toward her +with a smile and a happy greeting, while her guards knelt with +bowed heads in willing and voluntary adoration of the beloved of +Helium. Thus always, solely at the command of their own hearts, +did the warriors of Helium greet Dejah Thoris, whose deathless +beauty had more than once brought them to bloody warfare with +other nations of Barsoom. So great was the love of the people of +Helium for the mate of John Carter it amounted practically to +worship, as though she were indeed the goddess that she looked.</p> + +<p>The mother and daughter exchanged the gentle, Barsoomian, "kaor" +of greeting and kissed. Then together they entered the gardens +where the guests were. A huge warrior drew his short-sword and +struck his metal shield with the flat of it, the brazen sound +ringing out above the laughter and the speech.</p> + +<p>"The Princess comes!" he cried. "Dejah Thoris! The Princess +comes! Tara of Helium!" Thus always is royalty announced. The +guests arose; the two women inclined their heads; the guards fell +back upon either side of the entrance-way; a number of nobles +advanced to pay their respects; the laughing and the talking were +resumed and Dejah Thoris and her daughter moved simply and +naturally among their guests, no suggestion of differing rank +apparent in the bearing of any who were there, though there was +more than a single Jeddak and many common warriors whose only +title lay in brave deeds, or noble patriotism. Thus it is upon +Mars where men are judged upon their own merits rather than upon +those of their grandsires, even though pride of lineage be great.</p> + +<p>Tara of Helium let her slow gaze wander among the throng of +guests until presently it halted upon one she sought. Was the +faint shadow of a frown that crossed her brow an indication of +displeasure at the sight that met her eyes, or did the brilliant +rays of the noonday sun distress her? Who may say! She had been +reared to believe that one day she should wed Djor Kantos, son of +her father's best friend. It had been the dearest wish of Kantos +Kan and The Warlord that this should be, and Tara of Helium had +accepted it as a matter of all but accomplished fact. Djor Kantos +had seemed to accept the matter in the same way. They had spoken +of it casually as something that would, as a matter of course, +take place in the indefinite future, as, for instance, his +promotion in the navy, in which he was now a padwar; or the set +functions of the court of her grandfather, Tardos Mors, Jeddak of +Helium; or Death. They had never spoken of love and that had +puzzled Tara of Helium upon the rare occasions she gave it +thought, for she knew that people who were to wed were usually +much occupied with the matter of love and she had all of a +woman's curiosity—she wondered what love was like. She was very +fond of Djor Kantos and she knew that he was very fond of her. +They liked to be together, for they liked the same things and the +same people and the same books and their dancing was a joy, not +only to themselves but to those who watched them. She could not +imagine wanting to marry anyone other than Djor Kantos.</p> + +<p>So perhaps it was only the sun that made her brows contract just +the tiniest bit at the same instant that she discovered Djor +Kantos sitting in earnest conversation with Olvia Marthis, +daughter of the Jed of Hastor. It was Djor Kantos' duty +immediately to pay his respects to Dejah Thoris and Tara of +Helium; but he did not do so and presently the daughter of The +Warlord frowned indeed. She looked long at Olvia Marthis, and +though she had seen her many times before and knew her well, she +looked at her today through new eyes that saw, apparently for the +first time, that the girl from Hastor was noticeably beautiful +even among those other beautiful women of Helium. Tara of Helium +was disturbed. She attempted to analyze her emotions; but found +it difficult. Olvia Marthis was her friend—she was very fond of +her and she felt no anger toward her. Was she angry with Djor +Kantos? No, she finally decided that she was not. It was merely +surprise, then, that she felt—surprise that Djor Kantos could be +more interested in another than in herself. She was about to +cross the garden and join them when she heard her father's voice +directly behind her.</p> + +<p>"Tara of Helium!" he called, and she turned to see him +approaching with a strange warrior whose harness and metal bore +devices with which she was unfamiliar. Even among the gorgeous +trappings of the men of Helium and the visitors from distant +empires those of the stranger were remarkable for their barbaric +splendor. The leather of his harness was completely hidden +beneath ornaments of platinum thickly set with brilliant +diamonds, as were the scabbards of his swords and the ornate +holster that held his long, Martian pistol. Moving through the +sunlit garden at the side of the great Warlord, the scintillant +rays of his countless gems enveloping him as in an aureole of +light imparted to his noble figure a suggestion of godliness.</p> + +<p>"Tara of Helium, I bring you Gahan, Jed of Gathol," said John +Carter, after the simple Barsoomian custom of presentation.</p> + +<p>"Kaor! Gahan, Jed of Gathol," returned Tara of Helium.</p> + +<p>"My sword is at your feet, Tara of Helium," said the young +chieftain.</p> + +<p>The Warlord left them and the two seated themselves upon an +ersite bench beneath a spreading sorapus tree.</p> + +<p>"Far Gathol," mused the girl. "Ever in my mind has it been +connected with mystery and romance and the half-forgotten lore of +the ancients. I cannot think of Gathol as existing today, +possibly because I have never before seen a Gatholian."</p> + +<p>"And perhaps too because of the great distance that separates +Helium and Gathol, as well as the comparative insignificance of +my little free city, which might easily be lost in one corner of +mighty Helium," added Gahan. "But what we lack in power we make +up in pride," he continued, laughing. "We believe ours the oldest +inhabited city upon Barsoom. It is one of the few that has +retained its freedom, and this despite the fact that its ancient +diamond mines are the richest known and, unlike practically all +the other fields, are today apparently as inexhaustible as ever."</p> + +<p>"Tell me of Gathol," urged the girl. "The very thought fills me +with interest," nor was it likely that the handsome face of the +young jed detracted anything from the glamour of far Gathol.</p> + +<p>Nor did Gahan seem displeased with the excuse for further +monopolizing the society of his fair companion. His eyes seemed +chained to her exquisite features, from which they moved no +further than to a rounded breast, part hid beneath its jeweled +covering, a naked shoulder or the symmetry of a perfect arm, +resplendent in bracelets of barbaric magnificence.</p> + +<p>"Your ancient history has doubtless told you that Gathol was +built upon an island in Throxeus, mightiest of the five oceans of +old Barsoom. As the ocean receded Gathol crept down the sides of +the mountain, the summit of which was the island upon which she +had been built, until today she covers the slopes from summit to +base, while the bowels of the great hill are honeycombed with the +galleries of her mines. Entirely surrounding us is a great salt +marsh, which protects us from invasion by land, while the rugged +and ofttimes vertical topography of our mountain renders the +landing of hostile airships a precarious undertaking."</p> + +<p>"That, and your brave warriors?" suggested the girl.</p> + +<p>Gahan smiled. "We do not speak of that except to enemies," he +said, "and then with tongues of steel rather than of flesh."</p> + +<p>"But what practice in the art of war has a people which nature +has thus protected from attack?" asked Tara of Helium, who had +liked the young jed's answer to her previous question, but yet in +whose mind persisted a vague conviction of the possible +effeminacy of her companion, induced, doubtless, by the +magnificence of his trappings and weapons which carried a +suggestion of splendid show rather than grim utility.</p> + +<p>"Our natural barriers, while they have doubtless saved us from +defeat on countless occasions, have not by any means rendered us +immune from attack," he explained, "for so great is the wealth of +Gathol's diamond treasury that there yet may be found those who +will risk almost certain defeat in an effort to loot our +unconquered city; so thus we find occasional practice in the +exercise of arms; but there is more to Gathol than the mountain +city. My country extends from Polodona (Equator) north ten karads +and from the tenth karad west of Horz to the twentieth west, +including thus a million square haads, the greater proportion of +which is fine grazing land where run our great herds of thoats +and zitidars.</p> + +<p>"Surrounded as we are by predatory enemies our herdsmen must +indeed be warriors or we should have no herds, and you may be +assured they get plenty of fighting. Then there is our constant +need of workers in the mines. The Gatholians consider themselves +a race of warriors and as such prefer not to labor in the mines. +The law is, however, that each male Gatholian shall give an hour +a day in labor to the government. That is practically the only +tax that is levied upon them. They prefer however, to furnish a +substitute to perform this labor, and as our own people will not +hire out for labor in the mines it has been necessary to obtain +slaves, and I do not need to tell you that slaves are not won +without fighting. We sell these slaves in the public market, the +proceeds going, half and half, to the government and the warriors +who bring them in. The purchasers are credited with the amount of +labor performed by their particular slaves. At the end of a year +a good slave will have performed the labor tax of his master for +six years, and if slaves are plentiful he is freed and permitted +to return to his own people."</p> + +<p>"You fight in platinum and diamonds?" asked Tara, indicating his +gorgeous trappings with a quizzical smile.</p> + +<p>Gahan laughed. "We are a vain people," he admitted, +good-naturedly, "and it is possible that we place too much value +on personal appearances. We vie with one another in the splendor +of our accoutrements when trapped for the observance of the +lighter duties of life, though when we take the field our leather +is the plainest I ever have seen worn by fighting men of Barsoom. +We pride ourselves, too, upon our physical beauty, and especially +upon the beauty of our women. May I dare to say, Tara of Helium, +that I am hoping for the day when you will visit Gathol that my +people may see one who is really beautiful?"</p> + +<p>"The women of Helium are taught to frown with displeasure upon +the tongue of the flatterer," rejoined the girl, but Gahan, Jed +of Gathol, observed that she smiled as she said it.</p> + +<p>A bugle sounded, clear and sweet, above the laughter and the +talk. "The Dance of Barsoom!" exclaimed the young warrior. "I +claim you for it, Tara of Helium."</p> + +<p>The girl glanced in the direction of the bench where she had last +seen Djor Kantos. He was not in sight. She inclined her head in +assent to the claim of the Gatholian. Slaves were passing among +the guests, distributing small musical instruments of a single +string. Upon each instrument were characters which indicated the +pitch and length of its tone. The instruments were of skeel, the +string of gut, and were shaped to fit the left forearm of the +dancer, to which it was strapped. There was also a ring wound +with gut which was worn between the first and second joints of +the index finger of the right hand and which, when passed over +the string of the instrument, elicited the single note required +of the dancer.</p> + +<p>The guests had risen and were slowly making their way toward the +expanse of scarlet sward at the south end of the gardens where +the dance was to be held, when Djor Kantos came hurriedly toward +Tara of Helium. "I claim—" he exclaimed as he neared her; but +she interrupted him with a gesture.</p> + +<p>"You are too late, Djor Kantos," she cried in mock anger. "No +laggard may claim Tara of Helium; but haste now lest thou lose +also Olvia Marthis, whom I have never seen wait long to be +claimed for this or any other dance."</p> + +<p>"I have already lost her," admitted Djor Kantos ruefully.</p> + +<p>"And you mean to say that you came for Tara of Helium only after +having lost Olvia Marthis?" demanded the girl, still simulating +displeasure.</p> + +<p>"Oh, Tara of Helium, you know better than that," insisted the +young man. "Was it not natural that I should assume that you +would expect me, who alone has claimed you for the Dance of +Barsoom for at least twelve times past?"</p> + +<p>"And sit and play with my thumbs until you saw fit to come for +me?" she questioned. "Ah, no, Djor Kantos; Tara of Helium is for +no laggard," and she threw him a sweet smile and passed on toward +the assembling dancers with Gahan, Jed of far Gathol.</p> + +<p>The Dance of Barsoom bears a relation similar to the more formal +dancing functions of Mars that The Grand March does to ours, +though it is infinitely more intricate and more beautiful. Before +a Martian youth of either sex may attend an important social +function where there is dancing, he must have become proficient +in at least three dances—The Dance of Barsoom, his national +dance, and the dance of his city. In these three dances the +dancers furnish their own music, which never varies; nor do the +steps or figures vary, having been handed down from time +immemorial. All Barsoomian dances are stately and beautiful, but +The Dance of Barsoom is a wondrous epic of motion and +harmony—there is no grotesque posturing, no vulgar or suggestive +movements. It has been described as the interpretation of the +highest ideals of a world that aspired to grace and beauty and +chastity in woman, and strength and dignity and loyalty in man.</p> + +<p>Today, John Carter, Warlord of Mars, with Dejah Thoris, his mate, +led in the dancing, and if there was another couple that vied +with them in possession of the silent admiration of the guests it +was the resplendent Jed of Gathol and his beautiful partner. In +the ever-changing figures of the dance the man found himself now +with the girl's hand in his and again with an arm about the lithe +body that the jeweled harness but inadequately covered, and the +girl, though she had danced a thousand dances in the past, +realized for the first time the personal contact of a man's arm +against her naked flesh. It troubled her that she should notice +it, and she looked up questioningly and almost with displeasure +at the man as though it was his fault. Their eyes met and she saw +in his that which she had never seen in the eyes of Djor Kantos. +It was at the very end of the dance and they both stopped +suddenly with the music and stood there looking straight into +each other's eyes. It was Gahan of Gathol who spoke first.</p> + +<p>"Tara of Helium, I love you!" he said.</p> + +<p>The girl drew herself to her full height. "The Jed of Gathol +forgets himself," she exclaimed haughtily.</p> + +<p>"The Jed of Gathol would forget everything but you, Tara of +Helium," he replied. Fiercely he pressed the soft hand that he +still retained from the last position of the dance. "I love you, +Tara of Helium," he repeated. "Why should your ears refuse to +hear what your eyes but just now did not refuse to see—and +answer?"</p> + +<p>"What meanest thou?" she cried. "Are the men of Gathol such +boors, then?"</p> + +<p>"They are neither boors nor fools," he replied, quietly. "They +know when they love a woman—and when she loves them."</p> + +<p>Tara of Helium stamped her little foot in anger. "Go!" she said, +"before it is necessary to acquaint my father with the dishonor +of his guest."</p> + +<p>She turned and walked away. "Wait!" cried the man. "Just another +word."</p> + +<p>"Of apology?" she asked.</p> + +<p>"Of prophecy," he said.</p> + +<p>"I do not care to hear it," replied Tara of Helium, and left +him standing there. She was strangely unstrung and shortly +thereafter returned to her own quarter of the palace, where she +stood for a long time by a window looking out beyond the scarlet +tower of Greater Helium toward the northwest.</p> + +<p>Presently she turned angrily away. "I hate him!" she exclaimed +aloud.</p> + +<p>"Whom?" inquired the privileged Uthia.</p> + +<p>Tara of Helium stamped her foot. "That ill-mannered boor, the Jed +of Gathol," she replied.</p> + +<p>Uthia raised her slim brows.</p> + +<p>At the stamping of the little foot, a great beast rose from the +corner of the room and crossed to Tara of Helium where it stood +looking up into her face. She placed her hand upon the ugly head. +"Dear old Woola," she said; "no love could be deeper than yours, +yet it never offends. Would that men might pattern themselves +after you!"</p> + +<div style="height: 4em;"><br /><br /><br /><br /></div> + +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_II" id="CHAPTER_II" />CHAPTER II</h2> + +<h2>AT THE GALE'S MERCY</h2> + +<p>Tara of Helium did not return to her father's guests, but awaited +in her own apartments the word from Djor Kantos which she knew +must come, begging her to return to the gardens. She would then +refuse, haughtily. But no appeal came from Djor Kantos. At first +Tara of Helium was angry, then she was hurt, and always she was +puzzled. She could not understand. Occasionally she thought of +the Jed of Gathol and then she would stamp her foot, for she was +very angry indeed with Gahan. The presumption of the man! He had +insinuated that he read love for him in her eyes. Never had she +been so insulted and humiliated. Never had she so thoroughly +hated a man. Suddenly she turned toward Uthia.</p> + +<p>"My flying leather!" she commanded.</p> + +<p>"But the guests!" exclaimed the slave girl. "Your father, The +Warlord, will expect you to return."</p> + +<p>"He will be disappointed," snapped Tara of Helium.</p> + +<p>The slave hesitated. "He does not approve of your flying alone," +she reminded her mistress.</p> + +<p>The young princess sprang to her feet and seized the unhappy +slave by the shoulders, shaking her. "You are becoming +unbearable, Uthia," she cried. "Soon there will be no alternative +than to send you to the public slave-market. Then possibly you +will find a master to your liking."</p> + +<p>Tears came to the soft eyes of the slave girl. "It is because I +love you, my princess," she said softly. Tara of Helium melted. +She took the slave in her arms and kissed her.</p> + +<p>"I have the disposition of a thoat, Uthia," she said. "Forgive +me! I love you and there is nothing that I would not do for you +and nothing would I do to harm you. Again, as I have so often in +the past, I offer you your freedom."</p> + +<p>"I do not wish my freedom if it will separate me from you, Tara +of Helium," replied Uthia. "I am happy here with you—I think +that I should die without you."</p> + +<p>Again the girls kissed. "And you will not fly alone, then?" +questioned the slave.</p> + +<p>Tara of Helium laughed and pinched her companion. "You persistent +little pest," she cried. "Of course I shall fly—does not Tara of +Helium always do that which pleases her?"</p> + +<p>Uthia shook her head sorrowfully. "Alas! she does," she admitted. +"Iron is the Warlord of Barsoom to the influences of all but two. +In the hands of Dejah Thoris and Tara of Helium he is as potters' +clay."</p> + +<p>"Then run and fetch my flying leather like the sweet slave you +are," directed the mistress.</p> + + <hr /> + +<p>Far out across the ochre sea-bottoms beyond the twin cities of +Helium raced the swift flier of Tara of Helium. Thrilling to the +speed and the buoyancy and the obedience of the little craft the +girl drove toward the northwest. Why she should choose that +direction she did not pause to consider. Perhaps because in that +direction lay the least known areas of Barsoom, and, ergo, +Romance, Mystery, and Adventure. In that direction also lay far +Gathol; but to that fact she gave no conscious thought.</p> + +<p>She did, however, think occasionally of the jed of that distant +kingdom, but the reaction to these thoughts was scarcely +pleasurable. They still brought a flush of shame to her cheeks +and a surge of angry blood to her heart. She was very angry with +the Jed of Gathol, and though she should never see him again she +was quite sure that hate of him would remain fresh in her memory +forever. Mostly her thoughts revolved about another—Djor Kantos. +And when she thought of him she thought also of Olvia Marthis of +Hastor. Tara of Helium thought that she was jealous of the fair +Olvia and it made her very angry to think that. She was angry +with Djor Kantos and herself, but she was not angry at all with +Olvia Marthis, whom she loved, and so of course she was not +jealous really. The trouble was, that Tara of Helium had failed +for once to have her own way. Djor Kantos had not come running +like a willing slave when she had expected him, and, ah, here was +the nub of the whole thing! Gahan, Jed of Gathol, a stranger, had +been a witness to her humiliation. He had seen her unclaimed at +the beginning of a great function and he had had to come to her +rescue to save her, as he doubtless thought, from the inglorious +fate of a wall-flower. At the recurring thought, Tara of Helium +could feel her whole body burning with scarlet shame and then she +went suddenly white and cold with rage; whereupon she turned her +flier about so abruptly that she was all but torn from her +lashings upon the flat, narrow deck. She reached home just before +dark. The guests had departed. Quiet had descended upon the +palace. An hour later she joined her father and mother at the +evening meal.</p> + +<p>"You deserted us, Tara of Helium," said John Carter. "It is not +what the guests of John Carter should expect."</p> + +<p>"They did not come to see me," replied Tara of Helium. "I did not +ask them."</p> + +<p>"They were no less your guests," replied her father.</p> + +<p>The girl rose, and came and stood beside him and put her arms +about his neck.</p> + +<p>"My proper old Virginian," she cried, rumpling his shock of black +hair.</p> + +<p>"In Virginia you would be turned over your father's knee and +spanked," said the man, smiling.</p> + +<p>She crept into his lap and kissed him. "You do not love me any +more," she announced. "No one loves me," but she could not +compose her features into a pout because bubbling laughter +insisted upon breaking through.</p> + +<p>"The trouble is there are too many who love you," he said. "And +now there is another."</p> + +<p>"Indeed!" she cried. "What do you mean?"</p> + +<p>"Gahan of Gathol has asked permission to woo you."</p> + +<p>The girl sat up very straight and tilted her chin in the air. "I +would not wed with a walking diamond-mine," she said. "I will not +have him."</p> + +<p>"I told him as much," replied her father, "and that you were as +good as betrothed to another. He was very courteous about it; but +at the same time he gave me to understand that he was accustomed +to getting what he wanted and that he wanted you very much. I +suppose it will mean another war. Your mother's beauty kept +Helium at war for many years, and—well, Tara of Helium, if I +were a young man I should doubtless be willing to set all Barsoom +afire to win you, as I still would to keep your divine mother," +and he smiled across the sorapus table and its golden service at +the undimmed beauty of Mars' most beautiful woman.</p> + +<p>"Our little girl should not yet be troubled with such matters," +said Dejah Thoris. "Remember, John Carter, that you are not +dealing with an Earth child, whose span of life would be more +than half completed before a daughter of Barsoom reached actual +maturity."</p> + +<p>"But do not the daughters of Barsoom sometimes marry as early as +twenty?" he insisted.</p> + +<p>"Yes, but they will still be desirable in the eyes of men after +forty generations of Earth folk have returned to dust—there is +no hurry, at least, upon Barsoom. We do not fade and decay here +as you tell me those of your planet do, though you, yourself, +belie your own words. When the time seems proper Tara of Helium +shall wed with Djor Kantos, and until then let us give the matter +no further thought."</p> + +<p>"No," said the girl, "the subject irks me, and I shall not marry +Djor Kantos, or another—I do not intend to wed."</p> + +<p>Her father and mother looked at her and smiled. "When Gahan of +Gathol returns he may carry you off," said the former.</p> + +<p>"He has gone?" asked the girl.</p> + +<p>"His flier departs for Gathol in the morning," John Carter +replied.</p> + +<p>"I have seen the last of him then," remarked Tara of Helium with +a sigh of relief.</p> + +<p>"He says not," returned John Carter.</p> + +<p>The girl dismissed the subject with a shrug and the conversation +passed to other topics. A letter had arrived from Thuvia of +Ptarth, who was visiting at her father's court while Carthoris, +her mate, hunted in Okar. Word had been received that the Tharks +and Warhoons were again at war, or rather that there had been an +engagement, for war was their habitual state. In the memory of +man there had been no peace between these two savage green +hordes—only a single temporary truce. Two new battleships had +been launched at Hastor. A little band of holy therns was +attempting to revive the ancient and discredited religion of +Issus, who they claimed still lived in spirit and had +communicated with them. There were rumors of war from Dusar. A +scientist claimed to have discovered human life on the further +moon. A madman had attempted to destroy the atmosphere plant. +Seven people had been assassinated in Greater Helium during the +last ten zodes, (the equivalent of an Earth day).</p> + +<p>Following the meal Dejah Thoris and The Warlord played at jetan, +the Barsoomian game of chess, which is played upon a board of a +hundred alternate black and orange squares. One player has twenty +black pieces, the other, twenty orange pieces. A brief +description of the game may interest those Earth readers who care +for chess, and will not be lost upon those who pursue this +narrative to its conclusion, since before they are done they will +find that a knowledge of jetan will add to the interest and the +thrills that are in store for them.</p> + +<p>The men are placed upon the board as in chess upon the first two +rows next the players. In order from left to right on the line of +squares nearest the players, the jetan pieces are Warrior, +Padwar, Dwar, Flier, Chief, Princess, Flier, Dwar, Padwar, +Warrior. In the next line all are Panthans except the end pieces, +which are called Thoats, and represent mounted warriors.</p> + +<p>The Panthans, which are represented as warriors with one feather, +may move one space in any direction except backward; the Thoats, +mounted warriors with three feathers, may move one straight and +one diagonal, and may jump intervening pieces; Warriors, foot +soldiers with two feathers, straight in any direction, or +diagonally, two spaces; Padwars, lieutenants wearing two +feathers, two diagonal in any direction, or combination; Dwars, +captains wearing three feathers, three spaces straight in any +direction, or combination; Fliers, represented by a propellor +with three blades, three spaces in any direction, or combination, +diagonally, and may jump intervening pieces; the Chief, indicated +by a diadem with ten jewels, three spaces in any direction, +straight, or diagonal; Princess, diadem with a single jewel, same +as Chief, and can jump intervening pieces.</p> + +<p>The game is won when a player places any of his pieces on the +same square with his opponent's Princess, or when a Chief takes a +Chief. It is drawn when a Chief is taken by any opposing piece +other than the opposing Chief; or when both sides have been +reduced to three pieces, or less, of equal value, and the game is +not terminated in the following ten moves, five apiece. This is +but a general outline of the game, briefly stated.</p> + +<p>It was this game that Dejah Thoris and John Carter were playing +when Tara of Helium bid them good night, retiring to her own +quarters and her sleeping silks and furs. "Until morning, my +beloved," she called back to them as she passed from the +apartment, nor little did she guess, nor her parents, that this +might indeed be the last time that they would ever set eyes upon +her.</p> + +<p>The morning broke dull and gray. Ominous clouds billowed +restlessly and low. Beneath them torn fragments scudded toward +the northwest. From her window Tara of Helium looked out upon +this unusual scene. Dense clouds seldom overcast the Barsoomian +sky. At this hour of the day it was her custom to ride one of +those small thoats that are the saddle animals of the red +Martians, but the sight of the billowing clouds lured her to a +new adventure. Uthia still slept and the girl did not disturb +her. Instead, she dressed quietly and went to the hangar upon the +roof of the palace directly above her quarters where her own +swift flier was housed. She had never driven through the clouds. +It was an adventure that always she had longed to experience. The +wind was strong and it was with difficulty that she maneuvered +the craft from the hangar without accident, but once away it +raced swiftly out above the twin cities. The buffeting winds +caught and tossed it, and the girl laughed aloud in sheer joy of +the resultant thrills. She handled the little ship like a +veteran, though few veterans would have faced the menace of such +a storm in so light a craft. Swiftly she rose toward the clouds, +racing with the scudding streamers of the storm-swept fragments, +and a moment later she was swallowed by the dense masses +billowing above. Here was a new world, a world of chaos unpeopled +except for herself; but it was a cold, damp, lonely world and she +found it depressing after the novelty of it had been dissipated, +by an overpowering sense of the magnitude of the forces surging +about her. Suddenly she felt very lonely and very cold and very +little. Hurriedly, therefore, she rose until presently her craft +broke through into the glorious sunlight that transformed the +upper surface of the somber element into rolling masses of +burnished silver. Here it was still cold, but without the +dampness of the clouds, and in the eye of the brilliant sun her +spirits rose with the mounting needle of her altimeter. Gazing at +the clouds, now far beneath, the girl experienced the sensation +of hanging stationary in mid-heaven; but the whirring of her +propellor, the wind beating upon her, the high figures that rose +and fell beneath the glass of her speedometer, these told her +that her speed was terrific. It was then that she determined to +turn back.</p> + +<p>The first attempt she made above the clouds, but it was +unsuccessful. To her surprise she discovered that she could not +even turn against the high wind, which rocked and buffeted the +frail craft. Then she dropped swiftly to the dark and wind-swept +zone between the hurtling clouds and the gloomy surface of the +shadowed ground. Here she tried again to force the nose of the +flier back toward Helium, but the tempest seized the frail thing +and hurled it remorselessly about, rolling it over and over and +tossing it as it were a cork in a cataract. At last the girl +succeeded in righting the flier, perilously close to the ground. +Never before had she been so close to death, yet she was not +terrified. Her coolness had saved her, that and the strength of +the deck lashings that held her. Traveling with the storm she was +safe, but where was it bearing her? She pictured the apprehension +of her father and mother when she failed to appear at the morning +meal. They would find her flier missing and they would guess that +somewhere in the path of the storm it lay a wrecked and tangled +mass upon her dead body, and then brave men would go out in +search of her, risking their lives; and that lives would be lost +in the search, she knew, for she realized now that never in her +life-time had such a tempest raged upon Barsoom.</p> + +<p>She must turn back! She must reach Helium before her mad lust for +thrills had cost the sacrifice of a single courageous life! She +determined that greater safety and likelihood of success lay +above the clouds, and once again she rose through the chilling, +wind-tossed vapor. Her speed again was terrific, for the wind +seemed to have increased rather than to have lessened. She sought +gradually to check the swift flight of her craft, but though she +finally succeeded in reversing her motor the wind but carried her +on as it would. Then it was that Tara of Helium lost her temper. +Had her world not always bowed in acquiescence to her every wish? +What were these elements that they dared to thwart her? She would +demonstrate to them that the daughter of The Warlord was not to +be denied! They would learn that Tara of Helium might not be +ruled even by the forces of nature!</p> + +<p>And so she drove her motor forward again and then with her firm, +white teeth set in grim determination she drove the steering +lever far down to port with the intention of forcing the nose of +her craft straight into the teeth of the wind, and the wind +seized the frail thing and toppled it over upon its back, and +twisted and turned it and hurled it over and over; the propellor +raced for an instant in an air pocket and then the tempest seized +it again and twisted it from its shaft, leaving the girl helpless +upon an unmanageable atom that rose and fell, and rolled and +tumbled—the sport of the elements she had defied. Tara of +Helium's first sensation was one of surprise—that she had failed +to have her own way. Then she commenced to feel concern—not for +her own safety but for the anxiety of her parents and the dangers +that the inevitable searchers must face. She reproached herself +for the thoughtless selfishness that had jeopardized the peace +and safety of others. She realized her own grave danger, too; but +she was still unterrified, as befitted the daughter of Dejah +Thoris and John Carter. She knew that her buoyancy tanks might +keep her afloat indefinitely, but she had neither food nor water, +and she was being borne toward the least-known area of Barsoom. +Perhaps it would be better to land immediately and await the +coming of the searchers, rather than to allow herself to be +carried still further from Helium, thus greatly reducing the +chances of early discovery; but when she dropped toward the +ground she discovered that the violence of the wind rendered an +attempt to land tantamount to destruction and she rose again, +rapidly.</p> + +<p>Carried along a few hundred feet above the ground she was better +able to appreciate the Titanic proportions of the storm than when +she had flown in the comparative serenity of the zone above the +clouds, for now she could distinctly see the effect of the wind +upon the surface of Barsoom. The air was filled with dust and +flying bits of vegetation and when the storm carried her across +an irrigated area of farm land she saw great trees and stone +walls and buildings lifted high in air and scattered broadcast +over the devastated country; and then she was carried swiftly on +to other sights that forced in upon her consciousness a rapidly +growing conviction that after all Tara of Helium was a very small +and insignificant and helpless person. It was quite a shock to +her self-pride while it lasted, and toward evening she was ready +to believe that it was going to last forever. There had been no +abatement in the ferocity of the tempest, nor was there +indication of any. She could only guess at the distance she had +been carried for she could not believe in the correctness of the +high figures that had been piled upon the record of her odometer. +They seemed unbelievable and yet, had she known it, they were +quite true—in twelve hours she had flown and been carried by the +storm full seven thousand haads. Just before dark she was carried +over one of the deserted cities of ancient Mars. It was Torquas, +but she did not know it. Had she, she might readily have been +forgiven for abandoning the last vestige of hope, for to the +people of Helium Torquas seems as remote as do the South Sea +Islands to us. And still the tempest, its fury unabated, bore her +on.</p> + +<p>All that night she hurtled through the dark beneath the clouds, +or rose to race through the moonlit void beneath the glory of +Barsoom's two satellites. She was cold and hungry and altogether +miserable, but her brave little spirit refused to admit that her +plight was hopeless even though reason proclaimed the truth. Her +reply to reason, sometime spoken aloud in sudden defiance, +recalled the Spartan stubbornness of her sire in the face of +certain annihilation: "I still live!"</p> + +<p>That morning there had been an early visitor at the palace of The +Warlord. It was Gahan, Jed of Gathol. He had arrived shortly +after the absence of Tara of Helium had been noted, and in the +excitement he had remained unannounced until John Carter had +happened upon him in the great reception corridor of the palace +as The Warlord was hurrying out to arrange for the dispatch of +ships in search of his daughter.</p> + +<p>Gahan read the concern upon the face of The Warlord. "Forgive me +if I intrude, John Carter," he said. "I but came to ask the +indulgence of another day since it would be fool-hardy to attempt +to navigate a ship in such a storm."</p> + +<p>"Remain, Gahan, a welcome guest until you choose to leave us," +replied The Warlord; "but you must forgive any seeming +inattention upon the part of Helium until my daughter is restored +to us."</p> + +<p>"You daughter! Restored! What do you mean?" exclaimed the +Gatholian. "I do not understand."</p> + +<p>"She is gone, together with her light flier. That is all we know. +We can only assume that she decided to fly before the morning +meal and was caught in the clutches of the tempest. You will +pardon me, Gahan, if I leave you abruptly—I am arranging to send +ships in search of her;" but Gahan, Jed of Gathol, was already +speeding in the direction of the palace gate. There he leaped +upon a waiting thoat and followed by two warriors in the metal of +Gathol, he dashed through the avenues of Helium toward the palace +that had been set aside for his entertainment.</p> + +<div style="height: 4em;"><br /><br /><br /><br /></div> + + +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_III" id="CHAPTER_III" />CHAPTER III</h2> + +<h2>THE HEADLESS HUMANS</h2> + +<p>Above the roof of the palace that housed the Jed of Gathol and +his entourage, the cruiser Vanator tore at her stout moorings. +The groaning tackle bespoke the mad fury of the gale, while the +worried faces of those members of the crew whose duties demanded +their presence on the straining craft gave corroborative evidence +of the gravity of the situation. Only stout lashings prevented +these men from being swept from the deck, while those upon the +roof below were constantly compelled to cling to rails and +stanchions to save themselves from being carried away by each new +burst of meteoric fury. Upon the prow of the Vanator was painted +the device of Gathol, but no pennants were displayed in the upper +works since the storm had carried away several in rapid +succession, just as it seemed to the watching men that it must +carry away the ship itself. They could not believe that any +tackle could withstand for long this Titanic force. To each of +the twelve lashings clung a brawny warrior with drawn +short-sword. Had but a single mooring given to the power of the +tempest eleven short-swords would have cut the others; since, +partially moored, the ship was doomed, while free in the tempest +it stood at least some slight chance for life.</p> + +<p>"By the blood of Issus, I believe they will hold!" screamed one +warrior to another.</p> + +<p>"And if they do not hold may the spirits of our ancestors reward +the brave warriors upon the Vanator," replied another of those +upon the roof of the palace, "for it will not be long from the +moment her cables part before her crew dons the leather of the +dead; but yet, Tanus, I believe they will hold. Give thanks at +least that we did not sail before the tempest fell, since now +each of us has a chance to live."</p> + +<p>"Yes," replied Tanus, "I should hate to be abroad today upon the +stoutest ship that sails the Barsoomian sky."</p> + +<p>It was then that Gahan the Jed appeared upon the roof. With him +were the balance of his own party and a dozen warriors of Helium. +The young chief turned to his followers.</p> + +<p>"I sail at once upon the Vanator," he said, "in search of Tara of +Helium who is thought to have been carried away upon a one-man +flier by the storm. I do not need to explain to you the slender +chances the Vanator has to withstand the fury of the tempest, nor +will I order you to your deaths. Let those who wish remain behind +without dishonor. The others will follow me," and he leaped for +the rope ladder that lashed wildly in the gale.</p> + +<p>The first man to follow him was Tanus and when the last reached +the deck of the cruiser there remained upon the palace roof only +the twelve warriors of Helium, who, with naked swords, had taken +the posts of the Gatholians at the moorings.</p> + +<p>Not a single warrior who had remained aboard the Vanator would +leave her now.</p> + +<p>"I expected no less," said Gahan, as with the help of those +already on the deck he and the others found secure lashings. The +commander of the Vanator shook his head. He loved his trim craft, +the pride of her class in the little navy of Gathol. It was of +her he thought—not of himself. He saw her lying torn and twisted +upon the ochre vegetation of some distant sea-bottom, to be +presently overrun and looted by some savage, green horde. He +looked at Gahan.</p> + +<p>"Are you ready, San Tothis?" asked the jed.</p> + +<p>"All is ready."</p> + +<p>"Then cut away!"</p> + +<p>Word was passed across the deck and over the side to the +Heliumetic warriors below that at the third gun they were to cut +away. Twelve keen swords must strike simultaneously and with +equal power, and each must sever completely and instantly three +strands of heavy cable that no loose end fouling a block bring +immediate disaster upon the Vanator.</p> + +<p>Boom! The voice of the signal gun rolled down through the +screaming wind to the twelve warriors upon the roof. Boom! Twelve +swords were raised above twelve brawny shoulders. Boom! Twelve +keen edges severed twelve complaining moorings, clean and as one.</p> + +<p>The Vanator, her propellors whirling, shot forward with the +storm. The tempest struck her in the stern as with a mailed fist +and stood the great ship upon her nose, and then it caught her +and spun her as a child's top spins; and upon the palace roof the +twelve men looked on in silent helplessness and prayed for the +souls of the brave warriors who were going to their death. And +others saw, from Helium's lofty landing stages and from a +thousand hangars upon a thousand roofs; but only for an instant +did the preparations stop that would send other brave men into +the frightful maelstrom of that apparently hopeless search, for +such is the courage of the warriors of Barsoom.</p> + +<p>But the Vanator did not fall to the ground, within sight of the +city at least, though as long as the watchers could see her never +for an instant did she rest upon an even keel. Sometimes she lay +upon one side or the other, or again she hurtled along keel up, +or rolled over and over, or stood upon her nose or her tail at +the caprice of the great force that carried her along. And the +watchers saw that this great ship was merely being blown away +with the other bits of debris great and small that filled the +sky. Never in the memory of man or the annals of recorded history +had such a storm raged across the face of Barsoom.</p> + +<p>And in another instant was the Vanator forgotten as the lofty, +scarlet tower that had marked Lesser Helium for ages crashed to +ground, carrying death and demolition upon the city beneath. +Panic reigned. A fire broke out in the ruins. The city's every +force seemed crippled, and it was then that The Warlord ordered +the men that were about to set forth in search of Tara of Helium +to devote their energies to the salvation of the city, for he too +had witnessed the start of the Vanator and realized the futility +of wasting men who were needed sorely if Lesser Helium was to be +saved from utter destruction.</p> + +<p>Shortly after noon of the second day the storm commenced to +abate, and before the sun went down, the little craft upon which +Tara of Helium had hovered between life and death these many +hours drifted slowly before a gentle breeze above a landscape of +rolling hills that once had been lofty mountains upon a Martian +continent. The girl was exhausted from loss of sleep, from lack +of food and drink, and from the nervous reaction consequent to +the terrifying experiences through which she had passed. In the +near distance, just topping an intervening hill, she caught a +momentary glimpse of what appeared to be a dome-capped tower. +Quickly she dropped the flier until the hill shut it off from the +view of the possible occupants of the structure she had seen. The +tower meant to her the habitation of man, suggesting the presence +of water and, perhaps, of food. If the tower was the deserted +relic of a bygone age she would scarcely find food there, but +there was still a chance that there might be water. If it was +inhabited, then must her approach be cautious, for only enemies +might be expected to abide in so far distant a land. Tara of +Helium knew that she must be far from the twin cities of her +grandfather's empire, but had she guessed within even a thousand +haads of the reality, she had been stunned by realization of the +utter hopelessness of her state.</p> + +<p>Keeping the craft low, for the buoyancy tanks were still intact, +the girl skimmed the ground until the gently-moving wind had +carried her to the side of the last hill that intervened between +her and the structure she had thought a man-built tower. Here she +brought the flier to the ground among some stunted trees, and +dragging it beneath one where it might be somewhat hidden from +craft passing above, she made it fast and set forth to +reconnoiter. Like most women of her class she was armed only with +a single slender blade, so that in such an emergency as now +confronted her she must depend almost solely upon her cleverness +in remaining undiscovered by enemies. With utmost caution she +crept warily toward the crest of the hill, taking advantage of +every natural screen that the landscape afforded to conceal her +approach from possible observers ahead, while momentarily she +cast quick glances rearward lest she be taken by surprise from +that quarter.</p> + +<p>She came at last to the summit, where, from the concealment of a +low bush, she could see what lay beyond. Beneath her spread a +beautiful valley surrounded by low hills. Dotting it were +numerous circular towers, dome-capped, and surrounding each tower +was a stone wall enclosing several acres of ground. The valley +appeared to be in a high state of cultivation. Upon the opposite +side of the hill and just beneath her was a tower and enclosure. +It was the roof of the former that had first attracted her +attention. In all respects it seemed identical in construction +with those further out in the valley—a high, plastered wall of +massive construction surrounding a similarly constructed tower, +upon whose gray surface was painted in vivid colors a strange +device. The towers were about forty sofads in diameter, +approximately forty earth-feet, and sixty in height to the base +of the dome. To an Earth man they would have immediately +suggested the silos in which dairy farmers store ensilage for +their herds; but closer scrutiny, revealing an occasional +embrasured opening together with the strange construction of the +domes, would have altered such a conclusion. Tara of Helium saw +that the domes seemed to be faced with innumerable prisms of +glass, those that were exposed to the declining sun scintillating +so gorgeously as to remind her suddenly of the magnificent +trappings of Gahan of Gathol. As she thought of the man she shook +her head angrily, and moved cautiously forward a foot or two that +she might get a less obstructed view of the nearer tower and its +enclosure.</p> + +<p>As Tara of Helium looked down into the enclosure surrounding the +nearest tower, her brows contracted momentarily in frowning +surprise, and then her eyes went wide in an expression of +incredulity tinged with horror, for what she saw was a score or +two of human bodies—naked and headless. For a long moment she +watched, breathless; unable to believe the evidence of her own +eyes—that these grewsome things moved and had life! She saw them +crawling about on hands and knees over and across one another, +searching about with their fingers. And she saw some of them at +troughs, for which the others seemed to be searching, and those +at the troughs were taking something from these receptacles and +apparently putting it in a hole where their necks should have +been. They were not far beneath her—she could see them +distinctly and she saw that there were the bodies of both men and +women, and that they were beautifully proportioned, and that +their skin was similar to hers, but of a slightly lighter red. At +first she had thought that she was looking upon a shambles and +that the bodies, but recently decapitated, were moving under the +impulse of muscular reaction; but presently she realized that +this was their normal condition. The horror of them fascinated +her, so that she could scarce take her eyes from them. It was +evident from their groping hands that they were eyeless, and +their sluggish movements suggested a rudimentary nervous system +and a correspondingly minute brain. The girl wondered how they +subsisted for she could not, even by the wildest stretch of +imagination, picture these imperfect creatures as intelligent +tillers of the soil. Yet that the soil of the valley was tilled +was evident and that these things had food was equally so. But +who tilled the soil? Who kept and fed these unhappy things, and +for what purpose? It was an enigma beyond her powers of +deduction.</p> + +<p>The sight of food aroused again a consciousness of her own +gnawing hunger and the thirst that parched her throat. She could +see both food and water within the enclosure; but would she dare +enter even should she find means of ingress? She doubted it, +since the very thought of possible contact with these grewsome +creatures sent a shudder through her frame.</p> + +<p>Then her eyes wandered again out across the valley until +presently they picked out what appeared to be a tiny stream +winding its way through the center of the farm lands—a strange +sight upon Barsoom. Ah, if it were but water! Then might she hope +with a real hope, for the fields would give her sustenance which +she could gain by night, while by day she hid among the +surrounding hills, and sometime, yes, sometime she knew, the +searchers would come, for John Carter, Warlord of Barsoom, would +never cease to search for his daughter until every square haad of +the planet had been combed again and again. She knew him and she +knew the warriors of Helium and so she knew that could she but +manage to escape harm until they came, they would indeed come at +last.</p> + +<p>She would have to wait until dark before she dare venture into +the valley, and in the meantime she thought it well to search out +a place of safety nearby where she might be reasonably safe from +savage beasts. It was possible that the district was free from +carnivora, but one might never be sure in a strange land. As she +was about to withdraw be hind the brow of the hill her attention +was again attracted to the enclosure below. Two figures had +emerged from the tower. Their beautiful bodies seemed identical +with those of the headless creatures among which they moved, but +the newcomers were not headless. Upon their shoulders were heads +that seemed human, yet which the girl intuitively sensed were not +human. They were just a trifle too far away for her to see them +distinctly in the waning light of the dying day, but she knew +that they were too large, they were out of proportion to the +perfectly proportioned bodies, and they were oblate in form. She +could see that the men wore some manner of harness to which were +slung the customary long-sword and short-sword of the Barsoomian +warrior, and that about their short necks were massive leather +collars cut to fit closely over the shoulders and snugly to the +lower part of the head. Their features were scarce discernible, +but there was a suggestion of grotesqueness about them that +carried to her a feeling of revulsion.</p> + +<p>The two carried a long rope to which were fastened, at intervals +of about two sofads, what she later guessed were light manacles, +for she saw the warriors passing among the poor creatures in the +enclosure and about the right wrist of each they fastened one of +the manacles. When all had been thus fastened to the rope one of +the warriors commenced to pull and tug at the loose end as though +attempting to drag the headless company toward the tower, while +the other went among them with a long, light whip with which he +flicked them upon the naked skin. Slowly, dully, the creatures +rose to their feet and between the tugging of the warrior in +front and the lashing of him behind the hopeless band was finally +herded within the tower. Tara of Helium shuddered as she turned +away. What manner of creatures were these?</p> + +<p>Suddenly it was night. The Barsoomian day had ended, and then the +brief period of twilight that renders the transition from +daylight to darkness almost as abrupt as the switching off of an +electric light, and Tara of Helium had found no sanctuary. But +perhaps there were no beasts to fear, or rather to avoid—Tara of +Helium liked not the word fear. She would have been glad, +however, had there been a cabin, even a very tiny cabin, upon her +small flier; but there was no cabin. The interior of the hull was +completely taken up by the buoyancy tanks. Ah, she had it! How +stupid of her not to have thought of it before! She could moor +the craft to the tree beneath which it rested and let it rise the +length of the rope. Lashed to the deck rings she would then be +safe from any roaming beast of prey that chanced along. In the +morning she could drop to the ground again before the craft was +discovered.</p> + +<p>As Tara of Helium crept over the brow of the hill down toward the +valley, her presence was hidden by the darkness of the night from +the sight of any chance observer who might be loitering by a +window in the nearby tower. Cluros, the farther moon, was just +rising above the horizon to commence his leisurely journey +through the heavens. Eight zodes later he would set—a trifle +over nineteen and a half Earth hours—and during that time +Thuria, his vivacious mate, would have circled the planet twice +and be more than half way around on her third trip. She had but +just set. It would be more than three and a half hours before she +shot above the opposite horizon to hurtle, swift and low, across +the face of the dying planet. During this temporary absence of +the mad moon Tara of Helium hoped to find both food and water, +and gain again the safety of her flier's deck.</p> + +<p>She groped her way through the darkness, giving the tower and its +enclosure as wide a berth as possible. Sometimes she stumbled, +for in the long shadows cast by the rising Cluros objects were +grotesquely distorted though the light from the moon was still +not sufficient to be of much assistance to her. Nor, as a matter +of fact, did she want light. She could find the stream in the +dark, by the simple expedient of going down hill until she walked +into it and she had seen that bearing trees and many crops grew +throughout the valley, so that she would pass food in plenty ere +she reached the stream. If the moon showed her the way more +clearly and thus saved her from an occasional fall, he would, +too, show her more clearly to the strange denizens of the towers, +and that, of course, must not be. Could she have waited until the +following night conditions would have been better, since Cluros +would not appear in the heavens at all and so, during Thuria's +absence, utter darkness would reign; but the pangs of thirst and +the gnawing of hunger could be endured no longer with food and +drink both in sight, and so she had decided to risk discovery +rather than suffer longer.</p> + +<p>Safely past the nearest tower, she moved as rapidly as she felt +consistent with safety, choosing her way wherever possible so +that she might take advantage of the shadows of the trees that +grew at intervals and at the same time discover those which bore +fruit. In this latter she met with almost immediate success, for +the very third tree beneath which she halted was heavy with ripe +fruit. Never, thought Tara of Helium, had aught so delicious +impinged upon her palate, and yet it was naught else than the +almost tasteless usa, which is considered to be palatable only +after having been cooked and highly spiced. It grows easily with +little irrigation and the trees bear abundantly. The fruit, which +ranks high in food value, is one of the staple foods of the less +well-to-do, and because of its cheapness and nutritive value +forms one of the principal rations of both armies and navies upon +Barsoom, a use which has won for it a Martian sobriquet which, +freely translated into English, would be, The Fighting Potato. +The girl was wise enough to eat but sparingly, but she filled her +pocket-pouch with the fruit before she continued upon her way.</p> + +<p>Two towers she passed before she came at last to the stream, and +here again was she temperate, drinking but little and that very +slowly, contenting herself with rinsing her mouth frequently and +bathing her face, her hands, and her feet; and even though the +night was cold, as Martian nights are, the sensation of +refreshment more than compensated for the physical discomfort of +the low temperature. Replacing her sandals she sought among the +growing track near the stream for whatever edible berries or +tubers might be planted there, and found a couple of varieties +that could be eaten raw. With these she replaced some of the usa +in her pocket-pouch, not only to insure a variety but because she +found them more palatable. Occasionally she returned to the +stream to drink, but each time moderately. Always were her eyes +and ears alert for the first signs of danger, but she had neither +seen nor heard aught to disturb her. And presently the time +approached when she felt she must return to her flier lest she be +caught in the revealing light of low swinging Thuria. She dreaded +leaving the water for she knew that she must become very thirsty +before she could hope to come again to the stream. If she only +had some little receptacle in which to carry water, even a small +amount would tide her over until the following night; but she had +nothing and so she must content herself as best she could with +the juices of the fruit and tubers she had gathered.</p> + +<p>After a last drink at the stream, the longest and deepest she had +allowed herself, she rose to retrace her steps toward the hills; +but even as she did so she became suddenly tense with +apprehension. What was that? She could have sworn that she saw +something move in the shadows beneath a tree not far away. For a +long minute the girl did not move—she scarce breathed. Her eyes +remained fixed upon the dense shadows below the tree, her ears +strained through the silence of the night. A low moaning came +down from the hills where her flier was hidden. She knew it +well—the weird note of the hunting banth. And the great +carnivore lay directly in her path. But he was not so close as +this other thing, hiding there in the shadows just a little way +off. What was it? It was the strain of uncertainty that weighed +heaviest upon her. Had she known the nature of the creature +lurking there half its menace would have vanished. She cast +quickly about her in search of some haven of refuge should the +thing prove dangerous.</p> + +<p>Again arose the moaning from the hills, but this time closer. +Almost immediately it was answered from the opposite side of the +valley, behind her, and then from the distance to the right of +her, and twice upon her left. Her eyes had found a tree, quite +near. Slowly, and without taking her eyes from the shadows of +that other tree, she moved toward the overhanging branches that +might afford her sanctuary in the event of need, and at her first +move a low growl rose from the spot she had been watching and she +heard the sudden moving of a big body. Simultaneously the +creature shot into the moonlight in full charge upon her, its +tail erect, its tiny ears laid flat, its great mouth with its +multiple rows of sharp and powerful fangs already yawning for its +prey, its ten legs carrying it forward in great leaps, and now +from the beast's throat issued the frightful roar with which it +seeks to paralyze its prey. It was a banth—the great, maned lion +of Barsoom. Tara of Helium saw it coming and leaped for the tree +toward which she had been moving, and the banth realized her +intention and redoubled his speed. As his hideous roar awakened +the echoes in the hills, so too it awakened echoes in the valley; +but these echoes came from the living throats of others of his +kind, until it seemed to the girl that Fate had thrown her into +the midst of a countless multitude of these savage beasts.</p> + +<p>Almost incredibly swift is the speed of a charging banth, and +fortunate it was that the girl had not been caught farther in the +open. As it was, her margin of safety was next to negligible, for +as she swung nimbly to the lower branches the creature in pursuit +of her crashed among the foliage almost upon her as it sprang +upward to seize her. It was only a combination of good fortune +and agility that saved her. A stout branch deflected the raking +talons of the carnivore, but so close was the call that a giant +forearm brushed her flesh in the instant before she scrambled to +the higher branches.</p> + +<p>Baffled, the banth gave vent to his rage and disappointment in a +series of frightful roars that caused the very ground to tremble, +and to these were added the roarings and the growlings and the +moanings of his fellows as they approached from every direction, +in the hope of wresting from him whatever of his kill they could +take by craft or prowess. And now he turned snarling upon them as +they circled the tree, while the girl, huddled in a crotch above +them, looked down upon the gaunt, yellow monsters padding on +noiseless feet in a restless circle about her. She wondered now +at the strange freak of fate that had permitted her to come down +this far into the valley by night unharmed, but even more she +wondered how she was to return to the hills. She knew that she +would not dare venture it by night and she guessed, too, that by +day she might be confronted by even graver perils. To depend upon +this valley for sustenance she now saw to be beyond the pale of +possibility because of the banths that would keep her from food +and water by night, while the dwellers in the towers would +doubtless make it equally impossible for her to forage by day. +There was but one solution of her difficulty and that was to +return to her flier and pray that the wind would waft her to some +less terrorful land; but when might she return to the flier? The +banths gave little evidence of relinquishing hope of her, and even +if they wandered out of sight would she dare risk the attempt? +She doubted it.</p> + +<p>Hopeless indeed seemed her situation—hopeless it was.</p> + + +<div style="height: 4em;"><br /><br /><br /><br /></div> + + +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_IV" id="CHAPTER_IV" />CHAPTER IV</h2> + +<h2>CAPTURED</h2> + +<p>As Thuria, swift racer of the night, shot again into the sky the +scene changed. As by magic a new aspect fell athwart the face of +Nature. It was as though in the instant one had been transported +from one planet to another. It was the age-old miracle of the +Martian nights that is always new, even to Martians—two moons +resplendent in the heavens, where one had been but now; +conflicting, fast-changing shadows that altered the very hills +themselves; far Cluros, stately, majestic, almost stationary, +shedding his steady light upon the world below; Thuria, a great +and glorious orb, swinging swift across the vaulted dome of the +blue-black night, so low that she seemed to graze the hills, a +gorgeous spectacle that held the girl now beneath the spell of +its enchantment as it always had and always would.</p> + +<p>"Ah, Thuria, mad queen of heaven!" murmured Tara of Helium. "The +hills pass in stately procession, their bosoms rising and +falling; the trees move in restless circles; the little grasses +describe their little arcs; and all is movement, restless, +mysterious movement without sound, while Thuria passes." The girl +sighed and let her gaze fall again to the stern realities +beneath. There was no mystery in the huge banths. He who had +discovered her squatted there looking hungrily up at her. Most of +the others had wandered away in search of other prey, but a few +remained hoping yet to bury their fangs in that soft body.</p> + +<p>The night wore on. Again Thuria left the heavens to her lord and +master, hurrying on to keep her tryst with the Sun in other +skies. But a single banth waited impatiently beneath the tree +which harbored Tara of Helium. The others had left, but their +roars, and growls, and moans thundered or rumbled, or floated +back to her from near and far. What prey found they in this +little valley? There must be something that they were accustomed +to find here that they should be drawn in so great numbers. The +girl wondered what it could be.</p> + +<p>How long the night! Numb, cold, and exhausted, Tara of Helium +clung to the tree in growing desperation, for once she had dozed +and almost fallen. Hope was low in her brave little heart. How +much more could she endure? She asked herself the question and +then, with a brave shake of her head, she squared her shoulders. +"I still live!" she said aloud.</p> + +<p>The banth looked up and growled.</p> + +<p>Came Thuria again and after awhile the great Sun—a flaming +lover, pursuing his heart's desire. And Cluros, the cold husband, +continued his serene way, as placid as before his house had been +violated by this hot Lothario. And now the Sun and both Moons +rode together in the sky, lending their far mysteries to make +weird the Martian dawn. Tara of Helium looked out across the fair +valley that spread upon all sides of her. It was rich and +beautiful, but even as she looked upon it she shuddered, for to +her mind came a picture of the headless things that the towers +and the walls hid. Those by day and the banths by night! Ah, was +it any wonder that she shuddered?</p> + +<p>With the coming of the Sun the great Barsoomian lion rose to his +feet. He turned angry eyes upon the girl above him, voiced a +single ominous growl, and slunk away toward the hills. The girl +watched him, and she saw that he gave the towers as wide a berth +as possible and that he never took his eyes from one of them +while he was passing it. Evidently the inmates had taught these +savage creatures to respect them. Presently he passed from sight +in a narrow defile, nor in any direction that she could see was +there another. Momentarily at least the landscape was deserted. +The girl wondered if she dared to attempt to regain the hills and +her flier. She dreaded the coming of the workmen to the fields as +she was sure they would come. She shrank from again seeing the +headless bodies, and found herself wondering if these things +would come out into the fields and work. She looked toward the +nearest tower. There was no sign of life there. The valley lay +quiet now and deserted. She lowered herself stiffly to the +ground. Her muscles were cramped and every move brought a twinge +of pain. Pausing a moment to drink again at the stream she felt +refreshed and then turned without more delay toward the hills. To +cover the distance as quickly as possible seemed the only plan to +pursue. The trees no longer offered concealment and so she did +not go out of her way to be near them. The hills seemed very far +away. She had not thought, the night before, that she had +traveled so far. Really it had not been far, but now, with the +three towers to pass in broad daylight, the distance seemed great +indeed.</p> + +<p>The second tower lay almost directly in her path. To make a +detour would not lessen the chance of detection, it would only +lengthen the period of her danger, and so she laid her course +straight for the hill where her flier was, regardless of the +tower. As she passed the first enclosure she thought that she +heard the sound of movement within, but the gate did not open and +she breathed more easily when it lay behind her. She came then to +the second enclosure, the outer wall of which she must circle, as +it lay across her route. As she passed close along it she +distinctly heard not only movement within, but voices. In the +world-language of Barsoom she heard a man issuing +instructions—so many were to pick usa, so many were to irrigate +this field, so many to cultivate that, and so on, as a foreman +lay out the day's work for his crew.</p> + +<p>Tara of Helium had just reached the gate in the outer wall. +Without warning it swung open toward her. She saw that for a +moment it would hide her from those within and in that moment she +turned and ran, keeping close to the wall, until, passing out of +sight beyond the curve of the structure, she came to the opposite +side of the enclosure. Here, panting from her exertion and from +the excitement of her narrow escape, she threw herself among some +tall weeds that grew close to the foot of the wall. There she lay +trembling for some time, not even daring to raise her head and +look about. Never before had Tara of Helium felt the paralyzing +effects of terror. She was shocked and angry at herself, that +she, daughter of John Carter, Warlord of Barsoom, should exhibit +fear. Not even the fact that there had been none there to witness +it lessened her shame and anger, and the worst of it was she knew +that under similar circumstances she would again be equally as +craven. It was not the fear of death—she knew that. No, it was +the thought of those headless bodies and that she might see them +and that they might even touch her—lay hands upon her—seize +her. She shuddered and trembled at the thought.</p> + +<p>After a while she gained sufficient command of herself to raise +her head and look about. To her horror she discovered that +everywhere she looked she saw people working in the fields or +preparing to do so. Workmen were coming from other towers. Little +bands were passing to this field and that. They were even some +already at work within thirty ads of her—about a hundred yards. +There were ten, perhaps, in the party nearest her, both men and +women, and all were beautiful of form and grotesque of face. So +meager were their trappings that they were practically naked; a +fact that was in no way remarkable among the tillers of the +fields of Mars. Each wore the peculiar, high leather collar that +completely hid the neck, and each wore sufficient other leather +to support a single sword and a pocket-pouch. The leather was +very old and worn, showing long, hard service, and was absolutely +plain with the exception of a single device upon the left +shoulder. The heads, however, were covered with ornaments of +precious metals and jewels, so that little more than eyes, nose, +and mouth were discernible. These were hideously inhuman and yet +grotesquely human at the same time. The eyes were far apart and +protruding, the nose scarce more than two small, parallel slits +set vertically above a round hole that was the mouth. The heads +were peculiarly repulsive—so much so that it seemed unbelievable +to the girl that they formed an integral part of the beautiful +bodies below them.</p> + +<p>So fascinated was Tara of Helium that she could scarce take her +eyes from the strange creatures—a fact that was to prove her +undoing, for in order that she might see them she was forced to +expose a part of her own head and presently, to her +consternation, she saw that one of the creatures had stopped his +work and was staring directly at her. She did not dare move, for +it was still possible that the thing had not seen her, or at +least was only suspicious that some creature lay hid among the +weeds. If she could allay this suspicion by remaining motionless +the creature might believe that he had been mistaken and return +to his work; but, alas, such was not to be the case. She saw the +thing call the attention of others to her and almost immediately +four or five of them started to move in her direction.</p> + +<p>It was impossible now to escape discovery. Her only hope lay in +flight. If she could elude them and reach the hills and the flier +ahead of them she might escape, and that could be accomplished in +but one way—flight, immediate and swift. Leaping to her feet she +darted along the base of the wall which she must skirt to the +opposite side, beyond which lay the hill that was her goal. Her +act was greeted by strange whistling sounds from the things +behind her, and casting a glance over her shoulder she saw them +all in rapid pursuit.</p> + +<p>There were also shrill commands that she halt, but to these she +paid no attention. Before she had half circled the enclosure she +discovered that her chances for successful escape were great, +since it was evident to her that her pursuers were not so fleet +as she. High indeed then were her hopes as she came in sight of +the hill, but they were soon dashed by what lay before her, for +there, in the fields that lay between, were fully a hundred +creatures similar to those behind her and all were on the alert, +evidently warned by the whistling of their fellows. Instructions +and commands were shouted to and fro, with the result that those +before her spread roughly into a great half circle to intercept +her, and when she turned to the right, hoping to elude the net, +she saw others coming from fields beyond, and to the left the +same was true. But Tara of Helium would not admit defeat. Without +once pausing she turned directly toward the center of the +advancing semi-circle, beyond which lay her single chance of +escape, and as she ran she drew her long, slim dagger. Like her +valiant sire, if die she must, she would die fighting. There were +gaps in the thin line confronting her and toward the widest of +one of these she directed her course. The things on either side +of the opening guessed her intent for they closed in to place +themselves in her path. This widened the openings on either side +of them and as the girl appeared almost to rush into their arms +she turned suddenly at right angles, ran swiftly in the new +direction for a few yards, and then dashed quickly toward the +hill again. Now only a single warrior, with a wide gap on either +side of him, barred her clear way to freedom, though all the +others were speeding as rapidly as they could to intercept her. +If she could pass this one without too much delay she could +escape, of that she was certain. Her every hope hinged on this. +The creature before her realized it, too, for he moved +cautiously, though swiftly, to intercept her, as a Rugby fullback +might maneuver in the realization that he alone stood between the +opposing team and a touchdown.</p> + +<p>At first Tara of Helium had hoped that she might dodge him, for +she could not but guess that she was not only more fleet but +infinitely more agile than these strange creatures; but soon +there came to her the realization that in the time consumed in an +attempt to elude his grasp his nearer fellows would be upon her +and escape then impossible, so she chose instead to charge +straight for him, and when he guessed her decision he stood, half +crouching and with outstretched arms, awaiting her. In one hand +was his sword, but a voice arose, crying in tones of authority. +"Take her alive! Do not harm her!" Instantly the fellow returned +his sword to its scabbard and then Tara of Helium was upon him. +Straight for that beautiful body she sprang and in the instant +that the arms closed to seize her her sharp blade drove deep into +the naked chest. The impact hurled them both to the ground and as +Tara of Helium sprang to her feet again she saw, to her horror, +that the loathsome head had rolled from the body and was now +crawling away from her on six short, spider-like legs. The body +struggled spasmodically and lay still. As brief as had been the +delay caused by the encounter, it still had been of sufficient +duration to undo her, for even as she rose two more of the things +fell upon her and instantly thereafter she was surrounded. Her +blade sank once more into naked flesh and once more a head rolled +free and crawled away. Then they overpowered her and in another +moment she was surrounded by fully a hundred of the creatures, +all seeking to lay hands upon her. At first she thought that they +wished to tear her to pieces in revenge for her having slain two +of their fellows, but presently she realized that they were +prompted more by curiosity than by any sinister motive.</p> + +<p>"Come!" said one of her captors, both of whom had retained a hold +upon her. As he spoke he tried to lead her away with him toward +the nearest tower.</p> + +<p>"She belongs to me," cried the other. "Did not I capture her? She +will come with me to the tower of Moak."</p> + +<p>"Never!" insisted the first. "She is Luud's. To Luud I will take +her, and whosoever interferes may feel the keenness of my +sword—in the head!" He almost shouted the last three words.</p> + +<p>"Come! Enough of this," cried one who spoke with some show of +authority. "She was captured in Luud's fields—she will go to +Luud."</p> + +<p>"She was discovered in Moak's fields, at the very foot of the +tower of Moak," insisted he who had claimed her for Moak.</p> + +<p>"You have heard the Nolach speak," cried the Luud. "It shall be +as he says."</p> + +<p>"Not while this Moak holds a sword," replied the other. "Rather +will I cut her in twain and take my half to Moak than to +relinquish her all to Luud," and he drew his sword, or rather he +laid his hand upon its hilt in a threatening gesture; but before +ever he could draw it the Luud had whipped his out and with a +fearful blow cut deep into the head of his adversary. Instantly +the big, round head collapsed, almost as a punctured balloon +collapses, as a grayish, semi-fluid matter spurted from it. The +protruding eyes, apparently lidless, merely stared, the +sphincter-like muscle of the mouth opened and closed, and then +the head toppled from the body to the ground. The body stood +dully for a moment and then slowly started to wander aimlessly +about until one of the others seized it by the arm.</p> + +<p>One of the two heads crawling about on the ground now approached. +"This rykor belongs to Moak," it said. "I am a Moak. I will take +it," and without further discussion it commenced to crawl up the +front of the headless body, using its six short, spiderlike legs +and two stout chelae which grew just in front of its legs and +strongly resembled those of an Earthly lobster, except that they +were both of the same size. The body in the meantime stood in +passive indifference, its arms hanging idly at its sides. The +head climbed to the shoulders and settled itself inside the +leather collar that now hid its chelae and legs. Almost +immediately the body gave evidence of intelligent animation. It +raised its hands and adjusted the collar more comfortably, it +took the head between its palms and settled it in place and when +it moved around it did not wander aimlessly, but instead its +steps were firm and to some purpose.</p> + +<p>The girl watched all these things in growing wonder, and +presently, no other of the Moaks seeming inclined to dispute the +right of the Luud to her, she was led off by her captor toward +the nearest tower. Several accompanied them, including one who +carried the loose head under his arm. The head that was being +carried conversed with the head upon the shoulders of the thing +that carried it. Tara of Helium shivered. It was horrible! All +that she had seen of these frightful creatures was horrible. And +to be a prisoner, wholly in their power. Shadow of her first +ancestor! What had she done to deserve so cruel a fate?</p> + +<p>At the wall enclosing the tower they paused while one opened the +gate and then they passed within the enclosure, which, to the +girl's horror, she found filled with headless bodies. The +creature who carried the bodiless head now set its burden upon +the ground and the latter immediately crawled toward one of the +bodies that was lying near by. Some wandered stupidly to and fro, +but this one lay still. It was a female. The head crawled to it +and made its way to the shoulders where it settled itself. At +once the body sprang lightly erect. Another of those who had +accompanied them from the fields approached with the harness and +collar that had been taken from the dead body that the head had +formerly topped. The new body now appropriated these and the +hands deftly adjusted them. The creature was now as good as +before Tara of Helium had struck down its former body with her +slim blade. But there was a difference. Before it had been +male—now it was female. That, however, seemed to make no +difference to the head. In fact, Tara of Helium had noticed +during the scramble and the fight about her that sex differences +seemed of little moment to her captors. Males and females had +taken equal part in her pursuit, both were identically harnessed +and both carried swords, and she had seen as many females as +males draw their weapons at the moment that a quarrel between the +two factions seemed imminent.</p> + +<p>The girl was given but brief opportunity for further observation +of the pitiful creatures in the enclosure as her captor, after +having directed the others to return to the fields, led her +toward the tower, which they entered, passing into an apartment +about ten feet wide and twenty long, in one end of which was a +stairway leading to an upper level and in the other an opening to +a similar stairway leading downward. The chamber, though on a +level with the ground, was brilliantly lighted by windows in its +inner wall, the light coming from a circular court in the center +of the tower. The walls of this court appeared to be faced with +what resembled glazed, white tile and the whole interior of it +was flooded with dazzling light, a fact which immediately +explained to the girl the purpose of the glass prisms of which +the domes were constructed. The stairways themselves were +sufficient to cause remark, since in nearly all Barsoomian +architecture inclined runways are utilized for purposes of +communication between different levels, and especially is this +true of the more ancient forms and of those of remote districts +where fewer changes have come to alter the customs of antiquity.</p> + +<p>Down the stairway her captor led Tara of Helium. Down and down +through chambers still lighted from the brilliant well. +Occasionally they passed others going in the opposite direction +and these always stopped to examine the girl and ask questions of +her captor.</p> + +<p>"I know nothing but that she was found in the fields and that I +caught her after a fight in which she slew two rykors and in +which I slew a Moak, and that I take her to Luud, to whom, of +course, she belongs. If Luud wishes to question her that is for +Luud to do—not for me." Thus always he answered the curious.</p> + +<p>Presently they reached a room from which a circular tunnel led +away from the tower, and into this the creature conducted her. +The tunnel was some seven feet in diameter and flattened on the +bottom to form a walk. For a hundred feet from the tower it was +lined with the same tile-like material of the light well and +amply illuminated by reflected light from that source. Beyond it +was faced with stone of various shapes and sizes, neatly cut and +fitted together—a very fine mosaic without a pattern. There were +branches, too, and other tunnels which crossed this, and +occasionally openings not more than a foot in diameter; these +latter being usually close to the floor. Above each of these +smaller openings was painted a different device, while upon the +walls of the larger tunnels at all intersections and points of +convergence hieroglyphics appeared. These the girl could not read +though she guessed that they were the names of the tunnels, or +notices indicating the points to which they led. She tried to +study some of them out, but there was not a character that was +familiar to her, which seemed strange, since, while the written +languages of the various nations of Barsoom differ, it still is +true that they have many characters and words in common.</p> + +<p>She had tried to converse with her guard but he had not seemed +inclined to talk with her and she had finally desisted. She could +not but note that he had offered her no indignities, nor had he +been either unnecessarily rough or in any way cruel. The fact +that she had slain two of the bodies with her dagger had +apparently aroused no animosity or desire for revenge in the +minds of the strange heads that surmounted the bodies—even those +whose bodies had been killed. She did not try to understand it, +since she could not approach the peculiar relationship between +the heads and the bodies of these creatures from the basis of any +past knowledge or experience of her own. So far their treatment +of her seemed to augur naught that might arouse her fears. +Perhaps, after all, she had been fortunate to fall into the hands +of these strange people, who might not only protect her from +harm, but even aid her in returning to Helium. That they were +repulsive and uncanny she could not forget, but if they meant her +no harm she could, at least, overlook their repulsiveness. +Renewed hope aroused within her a spirit of greater cheerfulness, +and it was almost blithely now that she moved at the side of her +weird companion. She even caught herself humming a gay little +tune that was then popular in Helium. The creature at her side +turned its expressionless eyes upon her.</p> + +<p>"What is that noise that you are making?" it asked.</p> + +<p>"I was but humming an air," she replied.</p> + +<p>"'Humming an air,'" he repeated. "I do not know what you mean; +but do it again, I like it."</p> + +<p>This time she sang the words, while her companion listened +intently. His face gave no indication of what was passing in that +strange head. It was as devoid of expression as that of a spider. +It reminded her of a spider. When she had finished he turned +toward her again.</p> + +<p>"That was different," he said. "I liked that better, even, than +the other. How do you do it?"</p> + +<p>"Why," she said, "it is singing. Do you not know what song is?"</p> + +<p>"No," he replied. "Tell me how you do it."</p> + +<p>"It is difficult to explain," she told him, "since any +explanation of it presupposes some knowledge of melody and of +music, while your very question indicates that you have no +knowledge of either."</p> + +<p>"No," he said, "I do not know what you are talking about; but +tell me how you do it."</p> + +<p>"It is merely the melodious modulations of my voice," she +explained. "Listen!" and again she sang.</p> + +<p>"I do not understand," he insisted; "but I like it. Could you +teach me to do it?"</p> + +<p>"I do not know, but I shall be glad to try."</p> + +<p>"We will see what Luud does with you," he said. "If he does not +want you I will keep you and you shall teach me to make sounds +like that."</p> + +<p>At his request she sang again as they continued their way along +the winding tunnel, which was now lighted by occasional bulbs +which appeared to be similar to the radium bulbs with which she +was familiar and which were common to all the nations of Barsoom, +insofar as she knew, having been perfected at so remote a period +that their very origin was lost in antiquity. They consist, +usually, of a hemispherical bowl of heavy glass in which is +packed a compound containing what, according to John Carter, must +be radium. The bowl is then cemented into a metal plate with a +heavily insulated back and the whole affair set in the masonry of +wall or ceiling as desired, where it gives off light of greater +or less intensity, according to the composition of the filling +material, for an almost incalculable period of time.</p> + +<p>As they proceeded they met a greater number of the inhabitants of +this underground world, and the girl noted that among many of +these the metal and harness were more ornate than had been those +of the workers in the fields above. The heads and bodies, +however, were similar, even identical, she thought. No one +offered her harm and she was now experiencing a feeling of relief +almost akin to happiness, when her guide turned suddenly into an +opening on the right side of the tunnel and she found herself in +a large, well lighted chamber.</p> + +<div style="height: 4em;"><br /><br /><br /><br /></div> + + +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_V" id="CHAPTER_V" />CHAPTER V</h2> + +<h2>THE PERFECT BRAIN</h2> + +<p>The song that had been upon her lips as she entered died +there—frozen by the sight of horror that met her eyes. In the +center of the chamber a headless body lay upon the floor—a body +that had been partially devoured—while over and upon it crawled +a half a dozen heads upon their short, spider legs, and they tore +at the flesh of the woman with their chelae and carried the bits +to their awful mouths. They were eating human flesh—eating it +raw!</p> + +<p>Tara of Helium gasped in horror and turning away covered her eyes +with her palms.</p> + +<p>"Come!" said her captor. "What is the matter?"</p> + +<p>"They are eating the flesh of the woman," she whispered in tones +of horror.</p> + +<p>"Why not?" he inquired. "Did you suppose that we kept the rykor +for labor alone? Ah, no. They are delicious when kept and +fattened. Fortunate, too, are those that are bred for food, since +they are never called upon to do aught but eat."</p> + +<p>"It is hideous!" she cried.</p> + +<p>He looked at her steadily for a moment, but whether in surprise, +in anger, or in pity his expressionless face did not reveal. Then +he led her on across the room past the frightful thing, from +which she turned away her eyes. Lying about the floor near the +walls were half a dozen headless bodies in harness. These she +guessed had been abandoned temporarily by the feasting heads +until they again required their services. In the walls of this +room there were many of the small, round openings she had noticed +in various parts of the tunnels, the purpose of which she could +not guess.</p> + +<p>They passed through another corridor and then into a second +chamber, larger than the first and more brilliantly illuminated. +Within were several of the creatures with heads and bodies +assembled, while many headless bodies lay about near the walls. +Here her captor halted and spoke to one of the occupants of the +chamber.</p> + +<p>"I seek Luud," he said. "I bring to Luud a creature that I +captured in the fields above."</p> + +<p>The others crowded about to examine Tara of Helium. One of them +whistled, whereupon the girl learned something of the smaller +openings in the walls, for almost immediately there crawled from +them, like giant spiders, a score or more of the hideous heads. +Each sought one of the recumbent bodies and fastened itself in +place. Immediately the bodies reacted to the intelligent +direction of the heads. They arose, the hands adjusted the +leather collars and put the balance of the harness in order, then +the creatures crossed the room to where Tara of Helium stood. She +noted that their leather was more highly ornamented than that +worn by any of the others she had previously seen, and so she +guessed that these must be higher in authority than the others. +Nor was she mistaken. The demeanor of her captor indicated it. He +addressed them as one who holds intercourse with superiors.</p> + +<p>Several of those who examined her felt her flesh, pinching it +gently between thumb and forefinger, a familiarity that the girl +resented. She struck down their hands. "Do not touch me!" she +cried, imperiously, for was she not a princess of Helium? The +expression on those terrible faces did not change. She could not +tell whether they were angry or amused, whether her action had +filled them with respect for her, or contempt. Only one of them +spoke immediately.</p> + +<p>"She will have to be fattened more," he said.</p> + +<p>The girl's eyes went wide with horror. She turned upon her +captor. "Do these frightful creatures intend to devour me?" she +cried.</p> + +<p>"That is for Luud to say," he replied, and then he leaned closer +so that his mouth was near her ear. "That noise you made which +you called song pleased me," he whispered, "and I will repay you +by warning you not to antagonize these kaldanes. They are very +powerful. Luud listens to them. Do not call them frightful. They +are very handsome. Look at their wonderful trappings, their gold, +their jewels."</p> + +<p>"Thank you," she said. "You called them kaldanes—what does that +mean?"</p> + +<p>"We are all kaldanes," he replied.</p> + +<p>"You, too?" and she pointed at him, her slim finger directed +toward his chest.</p> + +<p>"No, not this," he explained, touching his body; "this is a +rykor; but this," and he touched his head, "is a kaldane. It is +the brain, the intellect, the power that directs all things. The +rykor," he indicated his body, "is nothing. It is not so much +even as the jewels upon our harness; no, not so much as the +harness itself. It carries us about. It is true that we would +find difficulty getting along without it; but it has less value +than harness or jewels because it is less difficult to +reproduce." He turned again to the other kaldanes. "Will you +notify Luud that I am here?" he asked.</p> + +<p>"Sept has already gone to Luud. He will tell him," replied one. +"Where did you find this rykor with the strange kaldane that +cannot detach itself?"</p> + +<p>The girl's captor narrated once more the story of her capture. He +stated facts just as they had occurred, without embellishment, +his voice as expressionless as his face, and his story was +received in the same manner that it was delivered. The creatures +seemed totally lacking in emotion, or, at least, the capacity to +express it. It was impossible to judge what impression the story +made upon them, or even if they heard it. Their protruding eyes +simply stared and occasionally the muscles of their mouths opened +and closed. Familiarity did not lessen the horror the girl felt +for them. The more she saw of them the more repulsive they +seemed. Often her body was shaken by convulsive shudders as she +looked at the kaldanes, but when her eyes wandered to the +beautiful bodies and she could for a moment expunge the heads +from her consciousness the effect was soothing and refreshing, +though when the bodies lay, headless, upon the floor they were +quite as shocking as the heads mounted on bodies. But by far the +most grewsome and uncanny sight of all was that of the heads +crawling about upon their spider legs. If one of these should +approach and touch her Tara of Helium was positive that she +should scream, while should one attempt to crawl up her +person—ugh! the very idea induced a feeling of faintness.</p> + +<p>Sept returned to the chamber. "Luud will see you and the captive. +Come!" he said, and turned toward a door opposite that through +which Tara of Helium had entered the chamber. "What is your +name?" His question was directed to the girl's captor.</p> + +<p>"I am Ghek, third foreman of the fields of Luud," he answered.</p> + +<p>"And hers?"</p> + +<p>"I do not know."</p> + +<p>"It makes no difference. Come!"</p> + +<p>The patrician brows of Tara of Helium went high. It made no +difference, indeed! She, a princess of Helium; only daughter of +The Warlord of Barsoom!</p> + +<p>"Wait!" she cried. "It makes much difference who I am. If you are +conducting me into the presence of your jed you may announce The +Princess Tara of Helium, daughter of John Carter, The Warlord of +Barsoom."</p> + +<p>"Hold your peace!" commanded Sept. "Speak when you are spoken to. +Come with me!"</p> + +<p>The anger of Tara of Helium all but choked her. "Come," +admonished Ghek, and took her by the arm, and Tara of Helium +came. She was naught but a prisoner. Her rank and titles meant +nothing to these inhuman monsters. They led her through a short, +S-shaped passageway into a chamber entirely lined with the white, +tile-like material with which the interior of the light wall was +faced. Close to the base of the walls were numerous smaller +apertures, circular in shape, but larger than those of similar +aspect that she had noted elsewhere. The majority of these +apertures were sealed. Directly opposite the entrance was one +framed in gold, and above it a peculiar device was inlaid in the +same precious metal.</p> + +<p>Sept and Ghek halted just within the room, the girl between them, +and all three stood silently facing the opening in the opposite +wall. On the floor beside the aperture lay a headless male body +of almost heroic proportions, and on either side of this stood a +heavily armed warrior, with drawn sword. For perhaps five minutes +the three waited and then something appeared in the opening. It +was a pair of large chelae and immediately thereafter there +crawled forth a hideous kaldane of enormous proportions. He was +half again as large as any that Tara of Helium had yet seen and +his whole aspect infinitely more terrible. The skin of the others +was a bluish gray—this one was of a little bluer tinge and the +eyes were ringed with bands of white and scarlet, as was its +mouth.</p> + +<p>From each nostril a band of white and one of scarlet extended +outward horizontally the width of the face.</p> + +<p>No one spoke or moved. The creature crawled to the prostrate body +and affixed itself to the neck. Then the two rose as one and +approached the girl. He looked at her and then he spoke to her +captor.</p> + +<p>"You are the third foreman of the fields of Luud?" he asked.</p> + +<p>"Yes, Luud; I am called Ghek."</p> + +<p>"Tell me what you know of this," and he nodded toward Tara of +Helium.</p> + +<p>Ghek did as he was bid and then Luud addressed the girl.</p> + +<p>"What were you doing within the borders of Bantoom?" he asked.</p> + +<p>"I was blown hither in a great storm that injured my flier and +carried me I knew not where. I came down into the valley at night +for food and drink. The banths came and drove me to the safety of +a tree, and then your people caught me as I was trying to leave +the valley. I do not know why they took me. I was doing no harm. +All I ask is that you let me go my way in peace."</p> + +<p>"None who enters Bantoom ever leaves," replied Luud.</p> + +<p>"But my people are not at war with yours. I am a princess of +Helium; my great-grandfather is a jeddak; my grandfather a jed; +and my father is Warlord of all Barsoom. You have no right to +keep me and I demand that you liberate me at once."</p> + +<p>"None who enters Bantoom ever leaves," repeated the creature +without expression. "I know nothing of the lesser creatures of +Barsoom, of whom you speak. There is but one high race—the race +of Bantoomians. All Nature exists to serve them. You shall do +your share, but not yet—you are too skinny. We shall have to put +some fat upon it, Sept. I tire of rykor. Perhaps this will have a +different flavor. The banths are too rank and it is seldom that +any other creature enters the valley. And you, Ghek; you shall be +rewarded. I shall promote you from the fields to the burrows. +Hereafter you shall remain underground as every Bantoomian longs +to. No more shall you be forced to endure the hated sun, or look +upon the hideous sky, or the hateful growing things that defile +the surface. For the present you shall look after this thing that +you have brought me, seeing that it sleeps and eats—and does +nothing else. You understand me, Ghek; nothing else!"</p> + +<p>"I understand, Luud," replied the other.</p> + +<p>"Take it away!" commanded the creature.</p> + +<p>Ghek turned and led Tara of Helium from the apartment. The girl +was horrified by contemplation of the fate that awaited her—a +fate from which it seemed, there was no escape. It was only too +evident that these creatures possessed no gentle or chivalric +sentiments to which she could appeal, and that she might escape +from the labyrinthine mazes of their underground burrows appeared +impossible.</p> + +<p>Outside the audience chamber Sept overtook them and conversed +with Ghek for a brief period, then her keeper led her through a +confusing web of winding tunnels until they came to a small +apartment.</p> + +<p>"We are to remain here for a while. It may be that Luud will send +for you again. If he does you will probably not be fattened—he +will use you for another purpose." It was fortunate for the +girl's peace of mind that she did not realize what he meant. +"Sing for me," said Ghek, presently.</p> + +<p>Tara of Helium did not feel at all like singing, but she sang, +nevertheless, for there was always the hope that she might escape +if given the opportunity and if she could win the friendship of +one of the creatures, her chances would be increased +proportionately. All during the ordeal, for such it was to the +overwrought girl, Ghek stood with his eyes fixed upon her.</p> + +<p>"It is wonderful," he said, when she had finished; "but I did not +tell Luud—you noticed that I did not tell Luud about it. Had he +known, he would have had you sing to him and that would have +resulted in your being kept with him that he might hear you sing +whenever he wished; but now I can have you all the time."</p> + +<p>"How do you know he would like my singing?" she asked.</p> + +<p>"He would have to," replied Ghek. "If I like a thing he has to +like it, for are we not identical—all of us?"</p> + +<p>"The people of my race do not all like the same things," said the +girl.</p> + +<p>"How strange!" commented Ghek. "All kaldanes like the same things +and dislike the same things. If I discover something new and like +it I know that all kaldanes will like it. That is how I know that +Luud would like your singing. You see we are all exactly alike."</p> + +<p>"But you do not look like Luud," said the girl.</p> + +<p>"Luud is king. He is larger and more gorgeously marked; but +otherwise he and I are identical, and why not? Did not Luud +produce the egg from which I hatched?"</p> + +<p>"What?" queried the girl; "I do not understand you."</p> + +<p>"Yes," explained Ghek, "all of us are from Luud's eggs, just as +all the swarm of Moak are from Moak's eggs."</p> + +<p>"Oh!" exclaimed Tara of Helium understandingly; "you mean that +Luud has many wives and that you are the offspring of one of +them."</p> + +<p>"No, not that at all," replied Ghek. "Luud has no wife. He lays +the eggs himself. You do not understand."</p> + +<p>Tara of Helium admitted that she did not.</p> + +<p>"I will try to explain, then," said Ghek, "if you will promise to +sing to me later."</p> + +<p>"I promise," she said.</p> + +<p>"We are not like the rykors," he began. "They are creatures of a +low order, like yourself and the banths and such things. We have +no sex—not one of us except our king, who is bi-sexual. He +produces many eggs from which we, the workers and the warriors, +are hatched; and one in every thousand eggs is another king egg, +from which a king is hatched. Did you notice the sealed openings +in the room where you saw Luud? Sealed in each of those is +another king. If one of them escaped he would fall upon Luud and +try to kill him and if he succeeded we should have a new king; +but there would be no difference. His name would be Luud and all +would go on as before, for are we not all alike? Luud has lived a +long time and has produced many kings, so he lets only a few live +that there may be a successor to him when he dies. The others he +kills."</p> + +<p>"Why does he keep more than one?" queried the girl.</p> + +<p>"Sometimes accidents occur," replied Ghek, "and all the kings +that a swarm has saved are killed. When this happens the swarm +comes and obtains another king from a neighboring swarm."</p> + +<p>"Are all of you the children of Luud?" she asked.</p> + +<p>"All but a few, who are from the eggs of the preceding king, as +was Luud; but Luud has lived a long time and not many of the +others are left."</p> + +<p>"You live a long time, or short?" Tara asked.</p> + +<p>"A very long time."</p> + +<p>"And the rykors, too; they live a long time?"</p> + +<p>"No; the rykors live for ten years, perhaps," he said, "if they +remain strong and useful. When they can no longer be of service +to us, either through age or sickness, we leave them in the +fields and the banths come at night and get them."</p> + +<p>"How horrible!" she exclaimed.</p> + +<p>"Horrible?" he repeated. "I see nothing horrible about that. +The rykors are but brainless flesh. They neither see, nor feel, +nor hear. They can scarce move but for us. If we did not bring +them food they would starve to death. They are less deserving of +thought than our leather. All that they can do for themselves is +to take food from a trough and put it in their mouths, but with +us—look at them!" and he proudly exhibited the noble figure that +he surmounted, palpitant with life and energy and feeling.</p> + +<p>"How do you do it?" asked Tara of Helium. "I do not understand it +at all."</p> + +<p>"I will show you," he said, and lay down upon the floor. Then he +detached himself from the body, which lay as a thing dead. On his +spider legs he walked toward the girl. "Now look," he admonished +her. "Do you see this thing?" and he extended what appeared to be +a bundle of tentacles from the posterior part of his head. "There +is an aperture just back of the rykor's mouth and directly over +the upper end of his spinal column. Into this aperture I insert +my tentacles and seize the spinal cord. Immediately I control +every muscle of the rykor's body—it becomes my own, just as you +direct the movement of the muscles of your body. I feel what the +rykor would feel if he had a head and brain. If he is hurt, I +would suffer if I remained connected with him; but the instant +one of them is injured or becomes sick we desert it for another. +As we would suffer the pains of their physical injuries, +similarly do we enjoy the physical pleasures of the rykors. When +your body becomes fatigued you are comparatively useless; it is +sick, you are sick; if it is killed, you die. You are the slave +of a mass of stupid flesh and bone and blood. There is nothing +more wonderful about your carcass than there is about the carcass +of a banth. It is only your brain that makes you superior to the +banth, but your brain is bound by the limitations of your body. +Not so, ours. With us brain is everything. Ninety per centum of +our volume is brain. We have only the simplest of vital organs +and they are very small for they do not have to assist in the +support of a complicated system of nerves, muscles, flesh and +bone. We have no lungs, for we do not require air. Far below the +levels to which we can take the rykors is a vast network of +burrows where the real life of the kaldane is lived. There the +air-breathing rykor would perish as you would perish. There we +have stored vast quantities of food in hermetically sealed +chambers. It will last forever. Far beneath the surface is water +that will flow for countless ages after the surface water is +exhausted. We are preparing for the time we know must come—the +time when the last vestige of the Barsoomian atmosphere is +spent—when the waters and the food are gone. For this purpose +were we created, that there might not perish from the planet +Nature's divinest creation—the perfect brain."</p> + +<p>"But what purpose can you serve when that time comes?" asked the +girl.</p> + +<p>"You do not understand," he said. "It is too big for you to +grasp, but I will try to explain it. Barsoom, the moons, the sun, +the stars, were created for a single purpose. From the beginning +of time Nature has labored arduously toward the consummation of +this purpose. At the very beginning things existed with life, but +with no brain. Gradually rudimentary nervous systems and minute +brains evolved. Evolution proceeded. The brains became larger and +more powerful. In us you see the highest development; but there +are those of us who believe that there is yet another step—that +some time in the far future our race shall develop into the +super-thing—just brain. The incubus of legs and chelae and vital +organs will be removed. The future kaldane will be nothing but a +great brain. Deaf, dumb, and blind it will lie sealed in its +buried vault far beneath the surface of Barsoom—just a great, +wonderful, beautiful brain with nothing to distract it from +eternal thought."</p> + +<p>"You mean it will just lie there and think?" cried Tara of +Helium.</p> + +<p>"Just that!" he exclaimed. "Could aught be more wonderful?"</p> + +<p>"Yes," replied the girl, "I can think of a number of things that +would be infinitely more wonderful."</p> + +<div style="height: 4em;"><br /><br /><br /><br /></div> + + +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_VI" id="CHAPTER_VI" />CHAPTER VI</h2> + +<h2>IN THE TOILS OF HORROR</h2> + +<p>What the creature had told her gave Tara of Helium food for +thought. She had been taught that every created thing fulfilled +some useful purpose, and she tried conscientiously to discover +just what was the rightful place of the kaldane in the universal +scheme of things. She knew that it must have its place but what +that place was it was beyond her to conceive. She had to give it +up. They recalled to her mind a little group of people in Helium +who had forsworn the pleasures of life in the pursuit of +knowledge. They were rather patronizing in their relations with +those whom they thought not so intellectual. They considered +themselves quite superior. She smiled at recollection of a remark +her father had once made concerning them, to the effect that if +one of them ever dropped his egotism and broke it it would take a +week to fumigate Helium. Her father liked normal people—people +who knew too little and people who knew too much were equally a +bore. Tara of Helium was like her father in this respect and like +him, too, she was both sane and normal.</p> + +<p>Outside of her personal danger there was much in this strange +world that interested her. The rykors aroused her keenest pity, +and vast conjecture. How and from what form had they evolved? She +asked Ghek.</p> + +<p>"Sing to me again and I will tell you," he said. "If Luud would +let me have you, you should never die. I should keep you always +to sing to me."</p> + +<p>The girl marvelled at the effect her voice had upon the creature. +Somewhere in that enormous brain there was a chord that was +touched by melody. It was the sole link between herself and the +brain when detached from the rykor. When it dominated the rykor +it might have other human instincts; but these she dreaded even +to think of. After she had sung she waited for Ghek to speak. For +a long time he was silent, just looking at her through those +awful eyes.</p> + +<p>"I wonder," he said presently, "if it might not be pleasant to be +of your race. Do you all sing?"</p> + +<p>"Nearly all, a little," she said; "but we do many other +interesting and enjoyable things. We dance and play and work and +love and sometimes we fight, for we are a race of warriors."</p> + +<p>"Love!" said the kaldane. "I think I know what you mean; but we, +fortunately, are above sentiment—when we are detached. But when +we dominate the rykor—ah, that is different, and when I hear you +sing and look at your beautiful body I know what you mean by +love. I could love you."</p> + +<p>The girl shrank from him. "You promised to tell me the origin of +the rykor," she reminded him.</p> + +<p>"Ages ago," he commenced, "our bodies were larger and our heads +smaller. Our legs were very weak and we could not travel fast or +far. There was a stupid creature that went upon four legs. It +lived in a hole in the ground, to which it brought its food, so +we ran our burrows into this hole and ate the food it brought; +but it did not bring enough for all—for itself and all the +kaldanes that lived upon it, so we had also to go abroad and get +food. This was hard work for our weak legs. Then it was that we +commenced to ride upon the backs of these primitive rykors. It +took many ages, undoubtedly, but at last came the time when the +kaldane had found means to guide the rykor, until presently the +latter depended entirely upon the superior brain of his master to +guide him to food. The brain of the rykor grew smaller as time +went on. His ears went and his eyes, for he no longer had use for +them—the kaldane saw and heard for him. By similar steps the +rykor came to go upon its hind feet that the kaldane might be +able to see farther. As the brain shrank, so did the head. The +mouth was the only feature of the head that was used and so the +mouth alone remains. Members of the red race fell into the hands +of our ancestors from time to time. They saw the beauties and the +advantages of the form that nature had given the red race over +that which the rykor was developing into. By intelligent crossing +the present rykor was achieved. He is really solely the product +of the super-intelligence of the kaldane—he is our body, to do +with as we see fit, just as you do what you see fit with your +body, only we have the advantage of possessing an unlimited +supply of bodies. Do you not wish that you were a kaldane?"</p> + +<p>For how long they kept her in the subterranean chamber Tara of +Helium did not know. It seemed a very long time. She ate and +slept and watched the interminable lines of creatures that passed +the entrance to her prison. There was a laden line passing from +above carrying food, food, food. In the other line they returned +empty handed. When she saw them she knew that it was daylight +above. When they did not pass she knew it was night, and that the +banths were about devouring the rykors that had been abandoned in +the fields the previous day. She commenced to grow pale and thin. +She did not like the food they gave her—it was not suited to her +kind—nor would she have eaten overmuch palatable food, for the +fear of becoming fat. The idea of plumpness had a new +significance here—a horrible significance.</p> + +<p>Ghek noted that she was growing thin and white. He spoke to her +about it and she told him that she could not thrive thus beneath +the ground—that she must have fresh air and sunshine, or she +would wither and die. Evidently he carried her words to Luud, +since it was not long after that he told her that the king had +ordered that she be confined in the tower and to the tower she +was taken. She had hoped against hope that this very thing might +result from her conversation with Ghek. Even to see the sun again +was something, but now there sprang to her breast a hope that she +had not dared to nurse before, while she lay in the terrible +labyrinth from which she knew she could never have found her way +to the outer world; but now there was some slight reason to hope. +At least she could see the hills and if she could see them might +there not come also the opportunity to reach them? If she could +have but ten minutes—just ten little minutes! The flier was +still there—she knew that it must be. Just ten minutes and she +would be free—free forever from this frightful place; but the +days wore on and she was never alone, not even for half of ten +minutes. Many times she planned her escape. Had it not been for +the banths it had been easy of accomplishment by night. Ghek +always detached his body then and sank into what seemed a +semi-comatose condition. It could not be said that he slept, or +at least it did not appear like sleep, since his lidless eyes +were unchanged; but he lay quietly in a corner. Tara of Helium +enacted a thousand times in her mind the scene of her escape. She +would rush to the side of the rykor and seize the sword that hung +in its harness. Before Ghek knew what she purposed, she would +have this and then before he could give an alarm she would drive +the blade through his hideous head. It would take but a moment to +reach the enclosure. The rykors could not stop her, for they had +no brains to tell them that she was escaping. She had watched +from her window the opening and closing of the gate that led from +the enclosure out into the fields and she knew how the great +latch operated. She would pass through and make a quick dash for +the hill. It was so near that they could not overtake her. It was +so easy! Or it would have been but for the banths! The banths at +night and the workers in the fields by day.</p> + +<p>Confined to the tower and without proper exercise or food, the +girl failed to show the improvement that her captors desired. +Ghek questioned her in an effort to learn why it was that she did +not grow round and plump; that she did not even look as well as +when they had captured her. His concern was prompted by repeated +inquiries on the part of Luud and finally resulted in suggesting +to Tara of Helium a plan whereby she might find a new opportunity +of escape.</p> + +<p>"I am accustomed to walking in the fresh air and the sunlight," +she told Ghek. "I cannot become as I was before if I am to be +always shut away in this one chamber, breathing poor air and +getting no proper exercise. Permit me to go out in the fields +every day and walk about while the sun is shining. Then, I am +sure, I shall become nice and fat."</p> + +<p>"You would run away," he said.</p> + +<p>"But how could I if you were always with me?" she asked. "And +even if I wished to run away where could I go? I do not know even +the direction of Helium. It must be very far. The very first +night the banths would get me, would they not?"</p> + +<p>"They would," said Ghek. "I will ask Luud about it."</p> + +<p>The following day he told her that Luud had said that she was to +be taken into the fields. He would try that for a time and see if +she improved.</p> + +<p>"If you do not grow fatter he will send for you anyway," said +Ghek; "but he will not use you for food."</p> + +<p>Tara of Helium shuddered.</p> + +<p>That day and for many days thereafter she was taken from the +tower, through the enclosure and out into the fields. Always was +she alert for an opportunity to escape; but Ghek was always close +by her side. It was not so much his presence that deterred her +from making the attempt as the number of workers that were always +between her and the hills where the flier lay. She could easily +have eluded Ghek, but there were too many of the others. And +then, one day, Ghek told her as he accompanied her into the open +that this would be the last time.</p> + +<p>"Tonight you go to Luud," he said. "I am sorry as I shall not +hear you sing again."</p> + +<p>"Tonight!" She scarce breathed the word, yet it was vibrant with +horror.</p> + +<p>She glanced quickly toward the hills. They were so close! Yet +between were the inevitable workers—perhaps a score of them.</p> + +<p>"Let us walk over there?" she said, indicating them. "I should +like to see what they are doing."</p> + +<p>"It is too far," said Ghek. "I hate the sun. It is much +pleasanter here where I can stand beneath the shade of this +tree."</p> + +<p>"All right," she agreed; "then you stay here and I will walk +over. It will take me but a minute."</p> + +<p>"No," he answered. "I will go with you. You want to escape; but +you are not going to."</p> + +<p>"I cannot escape," she said.</p> + +<p>"I know it," agreed Ghek; "but you might try. I do not wish you +to try. Possibly it will be better if we return to the tower at +once. It would go hard with me should you escape."</p> + +<p>Tara of Helium saw her last chance fading into oblivion. There +would never be another after today. She cast about for some +pretext to lure him even a little nearer to the hills.</p> + +<p>"It is very little that I ask," she said. "Tonight you will want +me to sing to you. It will be the last time, if you do not let me +go and see what those kaldanes are doing I shall never sing to +you again."</p> + +<p>Ghek hesitated. "I will hold you by the arm all the time, then," +he said.</p> + +<p>"Why, of course, if you wish," she assented. "Come!"</p> + +<p>The two moved toward the workers and the hills. The little party +was digging tubers from the ground. She had noted this and that +nearly always they were stooped low over their work, the hideous +eyes bent upon the upturned soil. She led Ghek quite close to +them, pretending that she wished to see exactly how they did the +work, and all the time he held her tightly by her left wrist.</p> + +<p>"It is very interesting," she said, with a sigh, and then, +suddenly; "Look, Ghek!" and pointed quickly back in the direction +of the tower. The kaldane, still holding her turned half away +from her to look in the direction she had indicated and +simultaneously, with the quickness of a banth, she struck him +with her right fist, backed by every ounce of strength she +possessed—struck the back of the pulpy head just above the +collar. The blow was sufficient to accomplish her design, +dislodging the kaldane from its rykor and tumbling it to the +ground. Instantly the grasp upon her wrist relaxed as the body, +no longer controlled by the brain of Ghek, stumbled aimlessly +about for an instant before it sank to its knees and then rolled +over on its back; but Tara of Helium waited not to note the full +results of her act. The instant the fingers loosened upon her +wrist she broke away and dashed toward the hills. Simultaneously +a warning whistle broke from Ghek's lips and in instant response +the workers leaped to their feet, one almost in the girl's path. +She dodged the outstretched arms and was away again toward the +hills and freedom, when her foot caught in one of the hoe-like +instruments with which the soil had been upturned and which had +been left, half imbedded in the ground. For an instant she ran +on, stumbling, in a mad effort to regain her equilibrium, but the +upturned furrows caught her feet—again she stumbled and this +time went down, and as she scrambled to rise again a heavy body +fell upon her and seized her arms. A moment later she was +surrounded and dragged to her feet and as she looked around she +saw Ghek crawling to his prostrate rykor. A moment later he +advanced to her side.</p> + +<p>The hideous face, incapable of registering emotion, gave no clue +to what was passing in the enormous brain. Was he nursing +thoughts of anger, of hate, of revenge? Tara of Helium could not +guess, nor did she care. The worst had happened. She had tried to +escape and she had failed. There would never be another +opportunity.</p> + +<p>"Come!" said Ghek. "We will return to the tower." The deadly +monotone of his voice was unbroken. It was worse than anger, for +it revealed nothing of his intentions. It but increased her +horror of these great brains that were beyond the possibility of +human emotions.</p> + +<p>And so she was dragged back to her prison in the tower and Ghek +took up his vigil again, squatting by the doorway, but now he +carried a naked sword in his hand and did not quit his rykor, +only to change to another that he had brought to him when the +first gave indications of weariness. The girl sat looking at him. +He had not been unkind to her, but she felt no sense of +gratitude, nor, on the other hand, any sense of hatred. The +brains, incapable themselves of any of the finer sentiments, +awoke none in her. She could not feel gratitude, or affection, or +hatred of them. There was only the same unceasing sense of horror +in their presence. She had heard great scientists discuss the +future of the red race and she recalled that some had maintained +that eventually the brain would entirely dominate the man. There +would be no more instinctive acts or emotions, nothing would be +done on impulse; but on the contrary reason would direct our +every act. The propounder of the theory regretted that he might +never enjoy the blessings of such a state, which, he argued, +would result in the ideal life for mankind.</p> + +<p>Tara of Helium wished with all her heart that this learned +scientist might be here to experience to the full the practical +results of the fulfillment of his prophecy. Between the purely +physical rykor and the purely mental kaldane there was little +choice; but in the happy medium of normal, and imperfect man, as +she knew him, lay the most desirable state of existence. It would +have been a splendid object lesson, she thought, to all those +idealists who seek mass perfection in any phase of human +endeavor, since here they might discover the truth that absolute +perfection is as little to be desired as is its antithesis.</p> + +<p>Gloomy were the thoughts that filled the mind of Tara of Helium +as she awaited the summons from Luud—the summons that could mean +for her but one thing; death. She guessed why he had sent for her +and she knew that she must find the means for self-destruction +before the night was over; but still she clung to hope and to +life. She would not give up until there was no other way. She +startled Ghek once by exclaiming aloud, almost fiercely: "I still +live!"</p> + +<p>"What do you mean?" asked the kaldane.</p> + +<p>"I mean just what I say," she replied. "I still live and while I +live I may still find a way. Dead, there is no hope."</p> + +<p>"Find a way to what?" he asked.</p> + +<p>"To life and liberty and mine own people," she responded.</p> + +<p>"None who enters Bantoom ever leaves," he droned.</p> + +<p>She did not reply and after a time he spoke again. "Sing to me," +he said.</p> + +<p>It was while she was singing that four warriors came to take her +to Luud. They told Ghek that he was to remain where he was.</p> + +<p>"Why?" asked Ghek.</p> + +<p>"You have displeased Luud," replied one of the warriors.</p> + +<p>"How?" demanded Ghek.</p> + +<p>"You have demonstrated a lack of uncontaminated reasoning power. +You have permitted sentiment to influence you, thus demonstrating +that you are a defective. You know the fate of defectives."</p> + +<p>"I know the fate of defectives, but I am no defective," insisted +Ghek.</p> + +<p>"You permitted the strange noises which issue from her throat to +please and soothe you, knowing well that their origin and purpose +had nothing whatever to do with logic or the powers of reason. +This in itself constitutes an unimpeachable indictment of +weakness. Then, influenced doubtless by an illogical feeling of +sentiment, you permitted her to walk abroad in the fields to a +place where she was able to make an almost successful attempt to +escape. Your own reasoning power, were it not defective, would +convince you that you are unfit. The natural, and reasonable, +consequence is destruction. Therefore you will be destroyed in +such a way that the example will be beneficial to all other +kaldanes of the swarm of Luud. In the meantime you will remain +where you are."</p> + +<p>"You are right," said Ghek. "I will remain here until Luud sees +fit to destroy me in the most reasonable manner."</p> + +<p>Tara of Helium shot a look of amazement at him as they led her +from the chamber. Over her shoulder she called back to him: +"Remember, Ghek, you still live!" Then they led her along the +interminable tunnels to where Luud awaited her.</p> + +<p>When she was conducted into his presence he was squatting in a +corner of the chamber upon his six spidery legs. Near the +opposite wall lay his rykor, its beautiful form trapped in +gorgeous harness—a dead thing without a guiding kaldane. Luud +dismissed the warriors who had accompanied the prisoner. Then he +sat with his terrible eyes fixed upon her and without speaking +for some time. Tara of Helium could but wait. What was to come +she could only guess. When it came would be sufficiently the time +to meet it. There was no necessity for anticipating the end. +Presently Luud spoke.</p> + +<p>"You think to escape," he said, in the deadly, expressionless +monotone of his kind—the only possible result of orally +expressing reason uninfluenced by sentiment. "You will not +escape. You are merely the embodiment of two imperfect things—an +imperfect brain and an imperfect body. The two cannot exist +together in perfection. There you see a perfect body." He pointed +toward the rykor. "It has no brain. Here," and he raised one of +his chelae to his head, "is the perfect brain. It needs no body +to function perfectly and properly as a brain. You would pit your +feeble intellect against mine! Even now you are planning to slay +me. If you are thwarted in that you expect to slay yourself. You +will learn the power of mind over matter. I am the mind. You are +the matter. What brain you have is too weak and ill-developed to +deserve the name of brain. You have permitted it to be weakened +by impulsive acts dictated by sentiment. It has no value. It has +practically no control over your existence. You will not kill me. +You will not kill yourself. When I am through with you you shall +be killed if it seems the logical thing to do. You have no +conception of the possibilities for power which lie in a +perfectly developed brain. Look at that rykor. He has no brain. +He can move but slightly of his own volition. An inherent +mechanical instinct that we have permitted to remain in him +allows him to carry food to his mouth; but he could not find food +for himself. We have to place it within his reach and always in +the same place. Should we put food at his feet and leave him +alone he would starve to death. But now watch what a real brain +may accomplish."</p> + +<p>He turned his eyes upon the rykor and squatted there glaring at +the insensate thing. Presently, to the girl's horror, the +headless body moved. It rose slowly to its feet and crossed the +room to Luud; it stooped and took the hideous head in its hands; +it raised the head and set it on its shoulders.</p> + +<p>"What chance have you against such power?" asked Luud. "As I did +with the rykor so can I do with you."</p> + +<p>Tara of Helium made no reply. Evidently no vocal reply was +necessary.</p> + +<p>"You doubt my ability!" stated Luud, which was precisely the +fact, though the girl had only thought it—she had not said it.</p> + +<p>Luud crossed the room and lay down. Then he detached himself from +the body and crawled across the floor until he stood directly in +front of the circular opening through which she had seen him +emerge the day that she had first been brought to his presence. +He stopped there and fastened his terrible eyes upon her. He did +not speak, but his eyes seemed to be boring straight to the +center of her brain. She felt an almost irresistible force urging +her toward the kaldane. She fought to resist it; she tried to +turn away her eyes, but she could not. They were held as in +horrid fascination upon the glittering, lidless orbs of the great +brain that faced her. Slowly, every step a painful struggle of +resistance, she moved toward the horrific monster. She tried to +cry aloud in an effort to awaken her numbing faculties, but no +sound passed her lips. If those eyes would but turn away, just +for an instant, she felt that she might regain the power to +control her steps; but the eyes never left hers. They seemed but +to burn deeper and deeper, gathering up every vestige of control +of her entire nervous system.</p> + +<p>As she approached the thing it backed slowly away upon its spider +legs. She noticed that its chelae waved slowly to and fro before +it as it backed, backed, backed, through the round aperture in +the wall. Must she follow it there, too? What new and nameless +horror lay concealed in that hidden chamber? No! she would not do +it. Yet before she reached the wall she found herself down and +crawling upon her hands and knees straight toward the hole from +which the two eyes still clung to hers. At the very threshold of +the opening she made a last, heroic stand, battling against the +force that drew her on; but in the end she succumbed. With a gasp +that ended in a sob Tara of Helium passed through the aperture +into the chamber beyond.</p> + +<p>The opening was but barely large enough to admit her. Upon the +opposite side she found herself in a small chamber. Before her +squatted Luud. Against the opposite wall lay a large and +beautiful male rykor. He was without harness or other trappings.</p> + +<p>"You see now," said Luud, "the futility of revolt."</p> + +<p>The words seemed to release her momentarily from the spell. +Quickly she turned away her eyes.</p> + +<p>"Look at me!" commanded Luud.</p> + +<p>Tara of Helium kept her eyes averted. She felt a new strength, or +at least a diminution of the creature's power over her. Had she +stumbled upon the secret of its uncanny domination over her will? +She dared not hope. With eyes averted she turned toward the +aperture through which those baleful eyes had drawn her. Again +Luud commanded her to stop, but the voice alone lacked all +authority to influence her. It was not like the eyes. She heard +the creature whistle and knew that it was summoning assistance, +but because she did not dare look toward it she did not see it +turn and concentrate its gaze upon the great, headless body lying +by the further wall.</p> + +<p>The girl was still slightly under the spell of the creature's +influence—she had not regained full and independent domination +of her powers. She moved as one in the throes of some hideous +nightmare—slowly, painfully, as though each limb was hampered by +a great weight, or as she were dragging her body through a +viscous fluid. The aperture was close, ah, so close, yet, +struggle as she would, she seemed to be making no appreciable +progress toward it.</p> + +<p>Behind her, urged on by the malevolent power of the great brain, +the headless body crawled upon all-fours toward her. At last she +had reached the aperture. Something seemed to tell her that once +beyond it the domination of the kaldane would be broken. She was +almost through into the adjoining chamber when she felt a heavy +hand close upon her ankle. The rykor had reached forth and seized +her, and though she struggled the thing dragged her back into the +room with Luud. It held her tight and drew her close, and then, +to her horror, it commenced to caress her.</p> + +<p>"You see now," she heard Luud's dull voice, "the futility of +revolt—and its punishment."</p> + +<p>Tara of Helium fought to defend herself, but pitifully weak were +her muscles against this brainless incarnation of brute power. +Yet she fought, fought on in the face of hopeless odds for the +honor of the proud name she bore—fought alone, she whom the +fighting men of a mighty empire, the flower of Martian chivalry, +would gladly have lain down their lives to save.</p> + +<div style="height: 4em;"><br /><br /><br /><br /></div> + +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_VII" id="CHAPTER_VII" />CHAPTER VII</h2> + +<h2>A REPELLENT SIGHT</h2> + +<p>The cruiser Vanator careened through the tempest. That she had not +been dashed to the ground, or twisted by the force of the +elements into tangled wreckage, was due entirely to the caprice +of Nature. For all the duration of the storm she rode, a helpless +derelict, upon those storm-tossed waves of wind. But for all the +dangers and vicissitudes they underwent, she and her crew might +have borne charmed lives up to within an hour of the abating of +the hurricane. It was then that the catastrophe occurred—a +catastrophe indeed to the crew of the Vanator and the kingdom of +Gathol.</p> + +<p>The men had been without food or drink since leaving Helium, and +they had been hurled about and buffeted in their lashings until +all were worn to exhaustion. There was a brief lull in the storm +during which one of the crew attempted to reach his quarters, +after releasing the lashings which had held him to the precarious +safety of the deck. The act in itself was a direct violation of +orders and, in the eyes of the other members of the crew, the +effect, which came with startling suddenness, took the form of a +swift and terrible retribution. Scarce had the man released the +safety snaps ere a swift arm of the storm-monster encircled the +ship, rolling it over and over, with the result that the +foolhardy warrior went overboard at the first turn.</p> + +<p>Unloosed from their lashing by the constant turning and twisting +of the ship and the force of the wind, the boarding and landing +tackle had been trailing beneath the keel, a tangled mass of +cordage and leather. Upon the occasions that the Vanator rolled +completely over, these things would be wrapped around her until +another revolution in the opposite direction, or the wind itself, +carried them once again clear of the deck to trail, whipping in +the storm, beneath the hurtling ship.</p> + +<p>Into this fell the body of the warrior, and as a drowning man +clutches at a straw so the fellow clutched at the tangled cordage +that caught him and arrested his fall. With the strength of +desperation he clung to the cordage, seeking frantically to +entangle his legs and body in it. With each jerk of the ship his +hand holds were all but torn loose, and though he knew that +eventually they would be and that he must be dashed to the ground +beneath, yet he fought with the madness that is born of +hopelessness for the pitiful second which but prolonged his +agony.</p> + +<p>It was upon this sight then that Gahan of Gathol looked, over the +edge of the careening deck of the Vanator, as he sought to learn +the fate of his warrior. Lashed to the gunwale close at hand a +single landing leather that had not fouled the tangled mass +beneath whipped free from the ship's side, the hook snapping at +its outer end. The Jed of Gathol grasped the situation in a +single glance. Below him one of his people looked into the eyes +of Death. To the jed's hand lay the means for succor.</p> + +<p>There was no instant's hesitation. Casting off his deck lashings, +he seized the landing leather and slipped over the ship's side. +Swinging like a bob upon a mad pendulum he swung far out and back +again, turning and twisting three thousand feet above the surface +of Barsoom, and then, at last, the thing he had hoped for +occurred. He was carried within reach of the cordage where the +warrior still clung, though with rapidly diminishing strength. +Catching one leg on a loop of the tangled strands Gahan pulled +himself close enough to seize another quite near to the fellow. +Clinging precariously to this new hold the jed slowly drew in the +landing leather, down which he had clambered until he could grasp +the hook at its end. This he fastened to a ring in the warrior's +harness, just before the man's weakened fingers slipped from +their hold upon the cordage.</p> + +<p>Temporarily, at least, he had saved the life of his subject, +and now he turned his attention toward insuring his own safety. +Inextricably entangled in the mess to which he was clinging were +numerous other landing hooks such as he had attached to the +warrior's harness, and with one of these he sought to secure +himself until the storm should abate sufficiently to permit him +to climb to the deck, but even as he reached for one that swung +near him the ship was caught in a renewed burst of the storm's +fury, the thrashing cordage whipped and snapped to the lunging of +the great craft and one of the heavy metal hooks, lashing through +the air, struck the Jed of Gathol fair between the eyes.</p> + +<p>Momentarily stunned, Gahan's fingers slipped from their hold upon +the cordage and the man shot downward through the thin air of +dying Mars toward the ground three thousand feet beneath, while +upon the deck of the rolling Vanator his faithful warriors clung +to their lashings all unconscious of the fate of their beloved +leader; nor was it until more than an hour later, after the storm +had materially subsided, that they realized he was lost, or knew +the self-sacrificing heroism of the act that had sealed his doom. +The Vanator now rested upon an even keel as she was carried along +by a strong, though steady, wind. The warriors had cast off their +deck lashings and the officers were taking account of losses and +damage when a weak cry was heard from oversides, attracting their +attention to the man hanging in the cordage beneath the keel. +Strong arms hoisted him to the deck and then it was that the +crew of the Vanator learned of the heroism of their jed and his +end. How far they had traveled since his loss they could only +vaguely guess, nor could they return in search of him in the +disabled condition of the ship. It was a saddened company that +drifted onward through the air toward whatever destination Fate +was to choose for them.</p> + +<p>And Gahan, Jed of Gathol—what of him? Plummet-like he fell for a +thousand feet and then the storm seized him in its giant clutch +and bore him far aloft again. As a bit of paper borne upon a gale +he was tossed about in mid-air, the sport and plaything of the +wind. Over and over it turned him and upward and downward it +carried him, but after each new sally of the element he was +brought nearer to the ground. The freaks of cyclonic storms are +the rule of cyclonic storms, demolish giant trees, and in the +same gust they transport frail infants for miles and deposit them +unharmed in their wake.</p> + +<p>And so it was with Gahan of Gathol. Expecting momentarily to be +dashed to destruction he presently found himself deposited gently +upon the soft, ochre moss of a dead sea-bottom, bodily no worse +off for his harrowing adventure than in the possession of a +slight swelling upon his forehead where the metal hook had struck +him. Scarcely able to believe that Fate had dealt thus gently +with him, the jed arose slowly, as though more than half +convinced that he should discover crushed and splintered bones +that would not support his weight. But he was intact. He looked +about him in a vain effort at orientation. The air was filled +with flying dust and debris. The Sun was obliterated. His vision +was confined to a radius of a few hundred yards of ochre moss and +dust-filled air. Five hundred yards away in any direction there +might have arisen the walls of a great city and he not known it. +It was useless to move from where he was until the air cleared, +since he could not know in what direction he was moving, and so +he stretched himself upon the moss and waited, pondering the fate +of his warriors and his ship, but giving little thought to his +own precarious situation.</p> + +<p>Lashed to his harness were his swords, his pistols, and a dagger, +and in his pocket-pouch a small quantity of the concentrated +rations that form a part of the equipment of the fighting men of +Barsoom. These things together with trained muscles, high +courage, and an undaunted spirit sufficed him for whatever +misadventures might lie between him and Gathol, which lay in what +direction he knew not, nor at what distance.</p> + +<p>The wind was falling rapidly and with it the dust that obscured +the landscape. That the storm was over he was convinced, but he +chafed at the inactivity the low visibility put upon him, nor did +conditions better materially before night fell, so that he was +forced to await the new day at the very spot at which the tempest +had deposited him. Without his sleeping silks and furs he spent a +far from comfortable night, and it was with feelings of unmixed +relief that he saw the sudden dawn burst upon him. The air was +now clear and in the light of the new day he saw an undulating +plain stretching in all directions about him, while to the +northwest there were barely discernible the outlines of low +hills. Toward the southeast of Gathol was such a country, and as +Gahan surmised the direction and the velocity of the storm to +have carried him somewhere in the vicinity of the country he +thought he recognized, he assumed that Gathol lay behind the +hills he now saw, whereas, in reality, it lay far to the +northeast.</p> + +<p>It was two days before Gahan had crossed the plain and reached +the summit of the hills from which he hoped to see his own +country, only to meet at last with disappointment. Before him +stretched another plain, of even greater proportions than that he +had but just crossed, and beyond this other hills. In one +material respect this plain differed from that behind him in that +it was dotted with occasional isolated hills. Convinced, however, +that Gathol lay somewhere in the direction of his search he +descended into the valley and bent his steps toward the +northwest.</p> + +<p>For weeks Gahan of Gathol crossed valleys and hills in search of +some familiar landmark that might point his way toward his native +land, but the summit of each succeeding ridge revealed but +another unfamiliar view. He saw few animals and no men, until he +finally came to the belief that he had fallen upon that fabled +area of ancient Barsoom which lay under the curse of her olden +gods—the once rich and fertile country whose people in their +pride and arrogance had denied the deities, and whose punishment +had been extermination.</p> + +<p>And then, one day, he scaled low hills and looked into an +inhabited valley—a valley of trees and cultivated fields and +plots of ground enclosed by stone walls surrounding strange +towers. He saw people working in the fields, but he did not rush +down to greet them. First he must know more of them and whether +they might be assumed to be friends or enemies. Hidden by +concealing shrubbery he crawled to a vantage point upon a hill +that projected further into the valley, and here he lay upon +his belly watching the workers closest to him. They were still +quite a distance from him and he could not be quite sure of them, +but there was something verging upon the unnatural about them. +Their heads seemed out of proportion to their bodies—too large.</p> + +<p>For a long time he lay watching them and ever more forcibly it +was borne in upon his consciousness that they were not as he, and +that it would be rash to trust himself among them. Presently he +saw a couple appear from the nearest enclosure and slowly +approach those who were working nearest to the hill where he lay +in hiding. Immediately he was aware that one of these differed +from all the others. Even at the greater distance he noted that +the head was smaller and as they approached, he was confident +that the harness of one of them was not as the harness of its +companion or of that of any of those who tilled the fields.</p> + +<p>The two stopped often, apparently in argument, as though one +would proceed in the direction that they were going while the +other demurred. But each time the smaller won reluctant consent +from the other, and so they came closer and closer to the last +line of workers toiling between the enclosure from which they had +come and the hill where Gahan of Gathol lay watching, and then +suddenly the smaller figure struck its companion full in the +face. Gahan, horrified, saw the latter's head topple from its +body, saw the body stagger and fall to the ground. The man half +rose from his concealment the better to view the happening in the +valley below. The creature that had felled its companion was +dashing madly in the direction of the hill upon which he was +hidden, it dodged one of the workers that sought to seize it. +Gahan hoped that it would gain its liberty, why he did not know +other than at closer range it had every appearance of being a +creature of his own race. Then he saw it stumble and go down and +instantly its pursuers were upon it. Then it was that Gahan's +eyes chanced to return to the figure of the creature the fugitive +had felled.</p> + +<p>What horror was this that he was witnessing? Or were his eyes +playing some ghastly joke upon him? No, impossible though it +was—it was true—the head was moving slowly to the fallen body. +It placed itself upon the shoulders, the body rose, and the +creature, seemingly as good as new, ran quickly to where its +fellows were dragging the hapless captive to its feet.</p> + +<p>The watcher saw the creature take its prisoner by the arm and +lead it back to the enclosure, and even across the distance that +separated them from him he could note dejection and utter +hopelessness in the bearing of the prisoner, and, too, he was +half convinced that it was a woman, perhaps a red Martian of his +own race. Could he be sure that this was true he must make some +effort to rescue her even though the customs of his strange world +required it only in case she was of his own country; but he was +not sure; she might not be a red Martian at all, or, if she were, +it was as possible that she sprang from an enemy people as not. +His first duty was to return to his own people with as little +personal risk as possible, and though the thought of adventure +stirred his blood he put the temptation aside with a sigh and +turned away from the peaceful and beautiful valley that he longed +to enter, for it was his intention to skirt its eastern edge and +continue his search for Gathol beyond.</p> + +<p>As Gahan of Gathol turned his steps along the southern slopes of +the hills that bound Bantoom upon the south and east, his +attention was attracted toward a small cluster of trees a short +distance to his right. The low sun was casting long shadows. It +would soon be night. The trees were off the path that he had +chosen and he had little mind to be diverted from his way; but as +he looked again he hesitated. There was something there besides +boles of trees, and underbrush. There were suggestions of +familiar lines of the handicraft of man. Gahan stopped and +strained his eyes in the direction of the thing that had arrested +his attention. No, he must be mistaken—the branches of the trees +and a low bush had taken on an unnatural semblance in the +horizontal rays of the setting sun. He turned and continued upon +his way; but as he cast another side glance in the direction of +the object of his interest, the sun's rays were shot back into +his eyes from a glistening point of radiance among the trees.</p> + +<p>Gahan shook his head and walked quickly toward the mystery, +determined now to solve it. The shining object still lured him on +and when he had come closer to it his eyes went wide in surprise, +for the thing they saw was naught else than the jewel-encrusted +emblem upon the prow of a small flier. Gahan, his hand upon his +short-sword, moved silently forward, but as he neared the craft +he saw that he had naught to fear, for it was deserted. Then he +turned his attention toward the emblem. As its significance was +flashed to his understanding his face paled and his heart went +cold—it was the insignia of the house of The Warlord of +Barsoom. Instantly he saw the dejected figure of the captive +being led back to her prison in the valley just beyond the hills. +Tara of Helium! And he had been so near to deserting her to her +fate. The cold sweat stood in beads upon his brow.</p> + +<p>A hasty examination of the deserted craft unfolded to the young +jed the whole tragic story. The same tempest that had proved his +undoing had borne Tara of Helium to this distant country. Here, +doubtless, she had landed in hope of obtaining food and water +since, without a propellor, she could not hope to reach her +native city, or any other friendly port, other than by the merest +caprice of Fate. The flier seemed intact except for the missing +propellor and the fact that it had been carefully moored in the +shelter of the clump of trees indicated that the girl had +expected to return to it, while the dust and leaves upon its deck +spoke of the long days, and even weeks, since she had landed. +Mute yet eloquent proofs, these things, that Tara of Helium was a +prisoner, and that she was the very prisoner whose bold dash for +liberty he had so recently witnessed he now had not the slightest +doubt.</p> + +<p>The question now revolved solely about her rescue. He knew to +which tower she had been taken—that much and no more. Of the +number, the kind, or the disposition of her captors he knew +nothing; nor did he care—for Tara of Helium he would face a +hostile world alone. Rapidly he considered several plans for +succoring her; but the one that appealed most strongly to him was +that which offered the greatest chance of escape for the girl +should he be successful in reaching her. His decision reached he +turned his attention quickly toward the flier. Casting off its +lashings he dragged it out from beneath the trees, and, mounting +to the deck tested out the various controls. The motor started at +a touch and purred sweetly, the buoyancy tanks were well stocked, +and the ship answered perfectly to the controls which regulated +her altitude. There was nothing needed but a propellor to make +her fit for the long voyage to Helium. Gahan shrugged +impatiently—there must not be a propellor within a thousand +haads. But what mattered it? The craft even without a propellor +would still answer the purpose his plan required of it—provided +the captors of Tara of Helium were a people without ships, and he +had seen nothing to suggest that they had ships. The architecture +of their towers and enclosures assured him that they had not.</p> + +<p>The sudden Barsoomian night had fallen. Cluros rode majestically +the high heavens. The rumbling roar of a banth reverberated among +the hills. Gahan of Gathol let the ship rise a few feet from the +ground, then, seizing a bow rope, he dropped over the side. To +tow the little craft was now a thing of ease, and as Gahan moved +rapidly toward the brow of the hill above Bantoom the flier +floated behind him as lightly as a swan upon a quiet lake. Now +down the hill toward the tower dimly visible in the moonlight the +Gatholian turned his steps. Closer behind him sounded the roar of +the hunting banth. He wondered if the beast sought him or was +following some other spoor. He could not be delayed now by any +hungry beast of prey, for what might that very instant be +befalling Tara of Helium he could not guess; and so he hastened +his steps. But closer and closer came the horrid screams of the +great carnivore, and now he heard the swift fall of padded feet +upon the hillside behind him. He glanced back just in time to see +the beast break into a rapid charge. His hand leaped to the hilt +of his long-sword, but he did not draw, for in the same instant +he saw the futility of armed resistance, since behind the first +banth came a herd of at least a dozen others. There was but a +single alternative to a futile stand and that he grasped in the +instant that he saw the overwhelming numbers of his antagonists.</p> + +<p>Springing lightly from the ground he swarmed up the rope toward +the bow of the flier. His weight drew the craft slightly lower +and at the very instant that the man drew himself to the deck at +the bow of the vessel, the leading banth sprang for the stern. +Gahan leaped to his feet and rushed toward the great beast in the +hope of dislodging it before it had succeeded in clambering +aboard. At the same instant he saw that others of the banths were +racing toward them with the quite evident intention of following +their leader to the ship's deck. Should they reach it in any +numbers he would be lost. There was but a single hope. Leaping +for the altitude control Gahan pulled it wide. Simultaneously +three banths leaped for the deck. The craft rose swiftly. Gahan +felt the impact of a body against the keel, followed by the soft +thuds of the great bodies as they struck the ground beneath. His +act had not been an instant too soon. And now the leader had +gained the deck and stood at the stern with glaring eyes and +snarling jaws. Gahan drew his sword. The beast, possibly +disconcerted by the novelty of its position, did not charge. +Instead it crept slowly toward its intended prey. The craft was +rising and Gahan placed a foot upon the control and stopped the +ascent. He did not wish to chance rising to some higher air +current that would bear him away. Already the craft was moving +slowly toward the tower, carried thither by the impetus of the +banth's heavy body leaping upon it from astern.</p> + +<p>The man watched the slow approach of the monster, the slavering +jowls, the malignant expression of the devilish face. The +creature, finding the deck stable, appeared to be gaining +confidence, and then the man leaped suddenly to one side of the +deck and the tiny flier heeled as suddenly in response. The banth +slipped and clutched frantically at the deck. Gahan leaped in +with his naked sword; the great beast caught itself and reared +upon its hind legs to reach forth and seize this presumptuous +mortal that dared question its right to the flesh it craved; and +then the man sprang to the opposite side of the deck. The banth +toppled sideways at the same instant that it attempted to spring; +a raking talon passed close to Gahan's head at the moment that +his sword lunged through the savage heart, and as the warrior +wrenched his blade from the carcass it slipped silently over the +side of the ship.</p> + +<p>A glance below showed that the vessel was drifting in the +direction of the tower to which Gahan had seen the prisoner led. +In another moment or two it would be directly over it. The man +sprang to the control and let the craft drop quickly toward the +ground where followed the banths, still hot for their prey. To +land outside the enclosure spelled certain death, while inside he +could see many forms huddled upon the ground as in sleep. The +ship floated now but a few feet above the wall of the enclosure. +There was nothing for it but to risk all on a bold bid for +fortune, or drift helplessly past without hope of returning +through the banth-infested valley, from many points of which he +could now hear the roars and growls of these fierce Barsoomian +lions.</p> + +<p>Slipping over the side Gahan descended by the trailing +anchor-rope until his feet touched the top of the wall, where he +had no difficulty in arresting the slow drifting of the ship. +Then he drew up the anchor and lowered it inside the enclosure. +Still there was no movement upon the part of the sleepers +beneath—they lay as dead men. Dull lights shone from openings in +the tower; but there was no sign of guard or waking inmate. +Clinging to the rope Gahan lowered himself within the enclosure, +where he had his first close view of the creatures lying there in +what he had thought sleep. With a half smothered exclamation of +horror the man drew back from the headless bodies of the rykors. +At first he thought them the corpses of decapitated humans like +himself, which was quite bad enough; but when he saw them move +and realized that they were endowed with life, his horror and +disgust became even greater.</p> + +<p>Here then was the explanation of the thing he had witnessed that +afternoon, when Tara of Helium had struck the back to its body. +And to think that the pearl of Helium was in the power of such +hideous things as these. Again the man shuddered, but he hastened +to make fast the flier, clamber again to its deck and lower it to +the floor of the enclosure. Then he strode toward a door in the +base of the tower, stepping lightly over the recumbent forms of +the unconscious rykors, and crossing the threshold disappeared +within.</p> + +<div style="height: 4em;"><br /><br /><br /><br /></div> + + +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_VIII" id="CHAPTER_VIII" />CHAPTER VIII</h2> + +<h2>CLOSE WORK</h2> + +<p>Ghek, in his happier days third foreman of the fields of Luud, +sat nursing his anger and his humiliation. Recently something had +awakened within him the existence of which he had never before +even dreamed. Had the influence of the strange captive woman +aught to do with this unrest and dissatisfaction? He did not +know. He missed the soothing influence of the noise she called +singing. Could it be that there were other things more desirable +than cold logic and undefiled brain power? Was well balanced +imperfection more to be sought after then, than the high +development of a single characteristic? He thought of the great, +ultimate brain toward which all kaldanes were striving. It would +be deaf, and dumb, and blind. A thousand beautiful strangers +might sing and dance about it, but it could derive no pleasure +from the singing or the dancing since it would possess no +perceptive faculties. Already had the kaldanes shut themselves +off from most of the gratifications of the senses. Ghek wondered +if much was to be gained by denying themselves still further, and +with the thought came a question as to the whole fabric of their +theory. After all perhaps the girl was right; what purpose could +a great brain serve sealed in the bowels of the earth?</p> + +<p>And he, Ghek, was to die for this theory. Luud had decreed it. +The injustice of it overwhelmed him with rage. But he was +helpless. There was no escape. Beyond the enclosure the banths +awaited him; within, his own kind, equally as merciless and +ferocious. Among them there was no such thing as love, or +loyalty, or friendship—they were just brains. He might kill +Luud; but what would that profit him? Another king would be +loosed from his sealed chamber and Ghek would be killed. He did +not know it but he would not even have the poor satisfaction of +satisfied revenge, since he was not capable of feeling so +abstruse a sentiment.</p> + +<p>Ghek, mounted upon his rykor, paced the floor of the tower +chamber in which he had been ordered to remain. Ordinarily he +would have accepted the sentence of Luud with perfect equanimity, +since it was but the logical result of reason; but now it seemed +different. The stranger woman had bewitched him. Life appeared a +pleasant thing—there were great possibilities in it. The dream +of the ultimate brain had receded into a tenuous haze far in the +background of his thoughts.</p> + +<p>At that moment there appeared in the doorway of the chamber a red +warrior with naked sword. He was a male counterpart of the +prisoner whose sweet voice had undermined the cold, calculating +reason of the kaldane.</p> + +<p>"Silence!" admonished the newcomer, his straight brows gathered +in an ominous frown and the point of his longsword playing +menacingly before the eyes of the kaldane. "I seek the woman, +Tara of Helium. Where is she? If you value your life speak +quickly and speak the truth."</p> + +<p>If he valued his life! It was a truth that Ghek had but just +learned. He thought quickly. After all, a great brain is not +without its uses. Perhaps here lay escape from the sentence of +Luud.</p> + +<p>"You are of her kind?" he asked. "You come to rescue her?"</p> + +<p>"Yes."</p> + +<p>"Listen, then. I have befriended her, and because of this I am to +die. If I help you to liberate her, will you take me with you?"</p> + +<p>Gahan of Gathol eyed the weird creature from crown to foot—the +perfect body, the grotesque head, the expressionless face. Among +such as these had the beautiful daughter of Helium been held +captive for days and weeks.</p> + +<p>"If she lives and is unharmed," he said, "I will take you with +us."</p> + +<p>"When they took her from me she was alive and unharmed," replied +Ghek. "I cannot say what has befallen her since. Luud sent for +her."</p> + +<p>"Who is Luud? Where is he? Lead me to him." Gahan spoke quickly +in tones vibrant with authority.</p> + +<p>"Come, then," said Ghek, leading the way from the apartment and +down a stairway toward the underground burrows of the kaldanes. +"Luud is my king. I will take you to his chambers."</p> + +<p>"Hasten!" urged Gahan.</p> + +<p>"Sheathe your sword," warned Ghek, "so that should we pass others +of my kind I may say to them that you are a new prisoner with +some likelihood of winning their belief."</p> + +<p>Gahan did as he was bid, but warning the kaldane that his hand +was ever ready at his dagger's hilt.</p> + +<p>"You need have no fear of treachery," said Ghek "My only hope of +life lies in you."</p> + +<p>"And if you fail me," Gahan admonished him, "I can promise you as +sure a death as even your king might guarantee you."</p> + +<p>Ghek made no reply, but moved rapidly through the winding +subterranean corridors until Gahan began to realize how truly was +he in the hands of this strange monster. If the fellow should +prove false it would profit Gahan nothing to slay him, since +without his guidance the red man might never hope to retrace his +way to the tower and freedom.</p> + +<p>Twice they met and were accosted by other kaldanes; but in both +instances Ghek's simple statement that he was taking a new +prisoner to Luud appeared to allay all suspicion, and then at +last they came to the ante-chamber of the king.</p> + +<p>"Here, now, red man, thou must fight, if ever," whispered Ghek. +"Enter there!" and he pointed to a doorway before them.</p> + +<p>"And you?" asked Gahan, still fearful of treachery.</p> + +<p>"My rykor is powerful," replied the kaldane. "I shall accompany +you and fight at your side. As well die thus as in torture later +at the will of Luud. Come!"</p> + +<p>But Gahan had already crossed the room and entered the chamber +beyond. Upon the opposite side of the room was a circular opening +guarded by two warriors. Beyond this opening he could see two +figures struggling upon the floor, and the fleeting glimpse he +had of one of the faces suddenly endowed him with the strength of +ten warriors and the ferocity of a wounded banth. It was Tara of +Helium, fighting for her honor or her life.</p> + +<p>The warriors, startled by the unexpected appearance of a red man, +stood for a moment in dumb amazement, and in that moment Gahan of +Gathol was upon them, and one was down, a sword-thrust through +its heart.</p> + +<p>"Strike at the heads," whispered the voice of Ghek in Gahan's +ear. The latter saw the head of the fallen warrior crawl quickly +within the aperture leading to the chamber where he had seen Tara +of Helium in the clutches of a headless body. Then the sword of +Ghek struck the kaldane of the remaining warrior from its rykor +and Gahan ran his sword through the repulsive head.</p> + +<p>Instantly the red warrior leaped for the aperture, while close +behind him came Ghek.</p> + +<p>"Look not upon the eyes of Luud," warned the kaldane, "or you are +lost."</p> + +<p>Within the chamber Gahan saw Tara of Helium in the clutches of a +mighty body, while close to the wall upon the opposite side of +the apartment crouched the hideous, spider-like Luud. Instantly +the king realized the menace to himself and sought to fasten his +eyes upon the eyes of Gahan, and in doing so he was forced to +relax his concentration upon the rykor in whose embraces Tara +struggled, so that almost immediately the girl found herself able +to tear away from the awful, headless thing.</p> + +<p>As she rose quickly to her feet she saw for the first time the +cause of the interruption of Luud's plans. A red warrior! Her +heart leaped in rejoicing and thanksgiving. What miracle of fate +had sent him to her? She did not recognize him, though, this +travel-worn warrior in the plain harness which showed no single +jewel. How could she have guessed him the same as the scintillant +creature of platinum and diamonds that she had seen for a brief +hour under such different circumstances at the court of her +august sire?</p> + +<p>Luud saw Ghek following the strange warrior into the chamber. +"Strike him down, Ghek!" commanded the king. "Strike down the +stranger and your life shall be yours."</p> + +<p>Gahan glanced at the hideous face of the king.</p> + +<p>"Seek not his eyes," screamed Tara in warning; but it was too +late. Already the horrid hypnotic gaze of the king kaldane had +seized upon the eyes of Gahan. The red warrior hesitated in his +stride. His sword point drooped slowly toward the floor. Tara +glanced toward Ghek. She saw the creature glaring with his +expressionless eyes upon the broad back of the stranger. She saw +the hand of the creature's rykor creeping stealthily toward the +hilt of its dagger.</p> + +<p>And then Tara of Helium raised her eyes aloft and poured forth +the notes of Mars' most beautiful melody, The Song of Love.</p> + +<p>Ghek drew his dagger from its sheath. His eyes turned toward the +singing girl. Luud's glance wavered from the eyes of the man to +the face of Tara, and the instant that the latter's song +distracted his attention from his victim, Gahan of Gathol shook +himself and as with a supreme effort of will forced his eyes to +the wall above Luud's hideous head. Ghek raised his dagger above +his right shoulder, took a single quick step forward, and struck. +The girl's song ended in a stifled scream as she leaped forward +with the evident intention of frustrating the kaldane's purpose; +but she was too late, and well it was, for an instant later she +realized the purpose of Ghek's act as she saw the dagger fly from +his hand, pass Gahan's shoulder, and sink full to the guard in +the soft face of Luud.</p> + +<p>"Come!" cried the assassin, "we have no time to lose," and +started for the aperture through which they had entered the +chamber; but in his stride he paused as his glance was arrested +by the form of the mighty rykor lying prone upon the floor—a +king's rykor; the most beautiful, the most powerful, that the +breeders of Bantoom could produce. Ghek realized that in his +escape he could take with him but a single rykor, and there was +none in Bantoom that could give him better service than this +giant lying here. Quickly he transferred himself to the shoulders +of the great, inert hulk. Instantly the latter was transformed to +a sentient creature, filled with pulsing life and alert energy.</p> + +<p>"Now," said the kaldane, "we are ready. Let whoso would revert to +nothingness impede me." Even as he spoke he stooped and crawled +into the chamber beyond, while Gahan, taking Tara by the arm, +motioned her to follow. The girl looked him full in the eyes for +the first time. "The Gods of my people have been kind," she said; +"you came just in time. To the thanks of Tara of Helium shall be +added those of The Warlord of Barsoom and his people. Thy reward +shall surpass thy greatest desires."</p> + +<p>Gahan of Gathol saw that she did not recognize him, and quickly +he checked the warm greeting that had been upon his lips.</p> + +<p>"Be thou Tara of Helium or another," he replied, "is immaterial, +to serve thus a red woman of Barsoom is in itself sufficient +reward."</p> + +<p>As they spoke the girl was making her way through the aperture +after Ghek, and presently all three had quitted the apartments of +Luud and were moving rapidly along the winding corridors toward +the tower. Ghek repeatedly urged them to greater speed, but the +red men of Barsoom were never keen for retreat, and so the two +that followed him moved all too slowly for the kaldane.</p> + +<p>"There are none to impede our progress," urged Gahan, "so why tax +the strength of the Princess by needless haste?"</p> + +<p>"I fear not so much opposition ahead, for there are none there +who know the thing that has been done in Luud's chambers this +night; but the kaldane of one of the warriors who stood guard +before Luud's apartment escaped, and you may count it a truth +that he lost no time in seeking aid. That it did not come before +we left is due solely to the rapidity with which events +transpired in the king's<a href="#f1">*</a> room. Long before we reach the tower +they will be upon us from behind, and that they will come in +numbers far superior to ours and with great and powerful rykors I +well know."</p> + +<p class="foot"><a name="f1" />* I have used the word king in describing the rulers or chiefs of +the Bantoomian swarms, since the word itself is unpronounceable +in English, nor does jed or jeddak of the red Martian tongue have +quite the same meaning as the Bantoomian word, which has +practically the same significance as the English word queen as +applied to the leader of a swarm of bees.—J. C.</p> + + +<p>Nor was Ghek's prophecy long in fulfilment. Presently the sounds +of pursuit became audible in the distant clanking of +accouterments and the whistling call to arms of the kaldanes.</p> + +<p>"The tower is but a short distance now," cried Ghek. "Make haste +while yet you may, and if we can barricade it until the sun rises +we may yet escape."</p> + +<p>"We shall need no barricades for we shall not linger in the +tower," replied Gahan, moving more rapidly as he realized from +the volume of sound behind them the great number of their +pursuers.</p> + +<p>"But we may not go further than the tower tonight," insisted +Ghek. "Beyond the tower await the banths and certain death."</p> + +<p>Gahan smiled. "Fear not the banths," he assured them. "Can we but +reach the enclosure a little ahead of our pursuers we have naught +to fear from any evil power within this accursed valley."</p> + +<p>Ghek made no reply, nor did his expressionless face denote either +belief or skepticism. The girl looked into the face of the man +questioningly. She did not understand.</p> + +<p>"Your flier," he said. "It is moored before the tower."</p> + +<p>Her face lighted with pleasure and relief. "You found it!" she +exclaimed. "What fortune!"</p> + +<p>"It was fortune indeed," he replied. "Since it not only told that +you were a prisoner here; but it saved me from the banths as I +was crossing the valley from the hills to this tower into which I +saw them take you this afternoon after your brave attempt at +escape."</p> + +<p>"How did you know it was I?" she asked, her puzzled brows +scanning his face as though she sought to recall from past +memories some scene in which he figured.</p> + +<p>"Who is there but knows of the loss of the Princess Tara of +Helium?" he replied. "And when I saw the device upon your flier I +knew at once, though I had not known when I saw you among them in +the fields a short time earlier. Too great was the distance for +me to make certain whether the captive was man or woman. Had +chance not divulged the hiding place of your flier I had gone my +way, Tara of Helium. I shudder to think how close was the chance +at that. But for the momentary shining of the sun upon the +emblazoned device on the prow of your craft, I had passed on +unknowing."</p> + +<p>The girl shuddered. "The Gods sent you," she whispered +reverently.</p> + +<p>"The Gods sent me, Tara of Helium," he replied.</p> + +<p>"But I do not recognize you," she said. "I have tried to recall +you, but I have failed. Your name, what may it be?"</p> + +<p>"It is not strange that so great a princess should not recall the +face of every roving panthan of Barsoom," he replied with a +smile.</p> + +<p>"But your name?" insisted the girl.</p> + +<p>"Call me Turan," replied the man, for it had come to him that if +Tara of Helium recognized him as the man whose impetuous avowal +of love had angered her that day in the gardens of The Warlord, +her situation might be rendered infinitely less bearable than +were she to believe him a total stranger. Then, too, as a simple +panthan<a href="#f2">*</a> he might win a greater degree of her confidence by his +loyalty and faithfulness and a place in her esteem that seemed to +have been closed to the resplendent Jed of Gathol.</p> + +<p class="foot"><a name="f2" />* Soldier of Fortune; free-lance warrior.</p> + + +<p>They had reached the tower now, and as they entered it from the +subterranean corridor a backward glance revealed the van of their +pursuers—hideous kaldanes mounted upon swift and powerful +rykors. As rapidly as might be the three ascended the stairways +leading to the ground level, but after them, even more rapidly, +came the minions of Luud. Ghek led the way, grasping one of +Tara's hands the more easily to guide and assist her, while Gahan +of Gathol followed a few paces in their rear, his bared sword +ready for the assault that all realized must come upon them now +before ever they reached the enclosure and the flier.</p> + +<p>"Let Ghek drop behind to your side," said Tara, "and fight with +you."</p> + +<p>"There is but room for a single blade in these narrow corridors," +replied the Gatholian. "Hasten on with Ghek and win to the deck +of the flier. Have your hand upon the control, and if I come far +enough ahead of these to reach the dangling cable you can rise at +my word and I can clamber to the deck at my leisure; but if one +of them emerges first into the enclosure you will know that I +shall never come, and you will rise quickly and trust to the Gods +of our ancestors to give you a fair breeze in the direction of a +more hospitable people."</p> + +<p>Tara of Helium shook her head. "We will not desert you, panthan," +she said.</p> + +<p>Gahan, ignoring her reply, spoke above her head to Ghek. "Take +her to the craft moored within the enclosure," he commanded. "It +is our only hope. Alone, I may win to its deck; but have I to +wait upon you two at the last moment the chances are that none of +us will escape. Do as I bid." His tone was haughty and +arrogant—the tone of a man who has commanded other men from +birth, and whose will has been law. Tara of Helium was both +angered and vexed. She was not accustomed to being either +commanded or ignored, but with all her royal pride she was no +fool, and she knew the man was right, that he was risking his +life to save hers, so she hastened on with Ghek as she was bid, +and after the first flush of anger she smiled, for the +realization came to her that this fellow was but a rough +untutored warrior, skilled not in the finer usages of cultured +courts. His heart was right, though; a brave and loyal heart, and +gladly she forgave him the offense of his tone and manner. But +what a tone! Recollection of it gave her sudden pause. Panthans +were rough and ready men. Often they rose to positions of high +command, so it was not the note of authority in the fellow's +voice that seemed remarkable; but something else—a quality that +was indefinable, yet as distinct as it was familiar. She had +heard it before when the voice of her great-grandsire, Tardos +Mors, Jeddak of Helium, had risen in command; and in the voice of +her grandfather, Mors Kajak, the jed; and in the ringing tones of +her illustrious sire, John Carter, Warlord of Barsoom, when he +addressed his warriors.</p> + +<p>But now she had no time to speculate upon so trivial a thing, for +behind her came the sudden clash of arms and she knew that Turan, +the panthan, had crossed swords with the first of their pursuers. +As she glanced back he was still visible beyond a turn in the +stairway, so that she could see the quick swordplay that ensued. +Daughter of a world's greatest swordsman, she knew well the +finest points of the art. She saw the clumsy attack of the +kaldane and the quick, sure return of the panthan. As she looked +down from above upon his almost naked body, trapped only in the +simplest of unadorned harness, and saw the play of the lithe +muscles beneath the red-bronze skin, and witnessed the quick and +delicate play of his sword point, to her sense of obligation was +added a spontaneous admission of admiration that was but the +natural tribute of a woman to skill and bravery and, perchance, +some trifle to manly symmetry and strength.</p> + +<p>Three times the panthan's blade changed its position—once to +fend a savage cut; once to feint; and once to thrust. And as he +withdrew it from the last position the kaldane rolled lifeless +from its stumbling rykor and Turan sprang quickly down the steps +to engage the next behind, and then Ghek had drawn Tara upward +and a turn in the stairway shut the battling panthan from her +view; but still she heard the ring of steel on steel, the clank +of accouterments and the shrill whistling of the kaldanes. Her +heart moved her to turn back to the side of her brave defender; +but her judgment told her that she could serve him best by being +ready at the control of the flier at the moment he reached the +enclosure.</p> + + +<div style="height: 4em;"><br /><br /><br /><br /></div> + + +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_IX" id="CHAPTER_IX" />CHAPTER IX</h2> + +<h2>ADRIFT OVER STRANGE REGIONS</h2> + +<p>Presently Ghek pushed aside a door that opened from the stairway, +and before them Tara saw the moonlight flooding the walled court +where the headless rykors lay beside their feeding-troughs. She +saw the perfect bodies, muscled as the best of her father's +fighting men, and the females whose figures would have been the +envy of many of Helium's most beautiful women. Ah, if she could +but endow these with the power to act! Then indeed might the +safety of the panthan be assured; but they were only poor lumps +of clay, nor had she the power to quicken them to life. Ever must +they lie thus until dominated by the cold, heartless brain of the +kaldane. The girl sighed in pity even as she shuddered in disgust +as she picked her way over and among the sprawled creatures +toward the flier.</p> + +<p>Quickly she and Ghek mounted to the deck after the latter had +cast off the moorings. Tara tested the control, raising and +lowering the ship a few feet within the walled space. It +responded perfectly. Then she lowered it to the ground again and +waited. From the open doorway came the sounds of conflict, now +nearing them, now receding. The girl, having witnessed her +champion's skill, had little fear of the outcome. Only a single +antagonist could face him at a time upon the narrow stairway, he +had the advantage of position and of the defensive, and he was a +master of the sword while they were clumsy bunglers by +comparison. Their sole advantage was in their numbers, unless +they might find a way to come upon him from behind.</p> + +<p>She paled at the thought. Could she have seen him she might have +been further perturbed, for he took no advantage of many +opportunities to win nearer the enclosure. He fought coolly, but +with a savage persistence that bore little semblance to purely +defensive action. Often he clambered over the body of a fallen +foe to leap against the next behind, and once there lay five dead +kaldanes behind him, so far had he pushed back his antagonists. +They did not know it; these kaldanes that he fought, nor did the +girl awaiting him upon the flier, but Gahan of Gathol was engaged +in a more alluring sport than winning to freedom, for he was +avenging the indignities that had been put upon the woman he +loved; but presently he realized that he might be jeopardizing +her safety uselessly, and so he struck down another before him +and turning leaped quickly up the stairway, while the leading +kaldanes slipped upon the brain-covered floor and stumbled in +pursuit.</p> + +<p>Gahan reached the enclosure twenty paces ahead of them and raced +toward the flier. "Rise!" he shouted to the girl. "I will ascend +the cable."</p> + +<p>Slowly the small craft rose from the ground as Gahan leaped the +inert bodies of the rykors lying in his path. The first of the +pursuers sprang from the tower just as Gahan seized the trailing +rope.</p> + +<p>"Faster!" he shouted to the girl above, "or they will drag us +down!" But the ship seemed scarcely to move, though in reality +she was rising as rapidly as might have been expected of a +one-man flier carrying a load of three. Gahan swung free above +the top of the wall, but the end of the rope still dragged the +ground as the kaldanes reached it. They were pouring in a steady +stream from the tower into the enclosure. The leader seized the +rope.</p> + +<p>"Quick!" he cried. "Lay hold and we will drag them down."</p> + +<p>It needed but the weight of a few to accomplish his design. The +ship was stopped in its flight and then, to the horror of the +girl, she felt it being dragged steadily downward. Gahan, too, +realized the danger and the necessity for instant action. +Clinging to the rope with his left hand, he had wound a leg about +it, leaving his right hand free for his long-sword which he had +not sheathed. A downward cut clove the soft head of a kaldane, +and another severed the taut rope beneath the panthan's feet. The +girl heard a sudden renewal of the shrill whistling of her foes, +and at the same time she realized that the craft was rising +again. Slowly it drifted upward, out of reach of the enemy, and a +moment later she saw the figure of Turan clamber over the side. +For the first time in many weeks her heart was filled with the +joy of thanksgiving; but her first thought was of another.</p> + +<p>"You are not wounded?" she asked.</p> + +<p>"No, Tara of Helium," he replied. "They were scarce worth the +effort of my blade, and never were they a menace to me because of +their swords."</p> + +<p>"They should have slain you easily," said Ghek. "So great and +highly developed is the power of reason among us that they should +have known before you struck just where, logically, you must seek +to strike, and so they should have been able to parry your every +thrust and easily find an opening to your heart."</p> + +<p>"But they did not, Ghek," Gahan reminded him. "Their theory of +development is wrong, for it does not tend toward a perfectly +balanced whole. You have developed the brain and neglected the +body and you can never do with the hands of another what you can +do with your own hands. Mine are trained to the sword—every +muscle responds instantly and accurately, and almost +mechanically, to the need of the instant. I am scarcely +objectively aware that I think when I fight, so quickly does my +point take advantage of every opening, or spring to my defense if +I am threatened that it is almost as though the cold steel had +eyes and brains. You, with your kaldane brain and your rykor +body, never could hope to achieve in the same degree of +perfection those things that I can achieve. Development of the +brain should not be the sum total of human endeavor. The richest +and happiest peoples will be those who attain closest to +well-balanced perfection of both mind and body, and even these +must always be short of perfection. In absolute and general +perfection lies stifling monotony and death. Nature must have +contrasts; she must have shadows as well as highlights; sorrow +with happiness; both wrong and right; and sin as well as virtue."</p> + +<p>"Always have I been taught differently," replied Ghek; "but since +I have known this woman and you, of another race, I have come to +believe that there may be other standards fully as high and +desirable as those of the kaldanes. At least I have had a glimpse +of the thing you call happiness and I realize that it may be good +even though I have no means of expressing it. I cannot laugh nor +smile, and yet within me is a sense of contentment when this +woman sings—a sense that seems to open before me wondrous vistas +of beauty and unguessed pleasure that far transcend the cold joys +of a perfectly functioning brain. I would that I had been born of +thy race."</p> + +<p>Caught by a gentle current of air the flier was drifting slowly +toward the northeast across the valley of Bantoom. Below them lay +the cultivated fields, and one after another they passed over the +strange towers of Moak and Nolach and the other kings of the +swarms that inhabited this weird and terrible land. Within each +enclosure surrounding the towers grovelled the rykors, repellent, +headless things, beautiful yet hideous.</p> + +<p>"A lesson, those," remarked Gahan, indicating the rykors in an +enclosure above which they were drifting at the time, "to that +fortunately small minority of our race which worships the flesh +and makes a god of appetite. You know them, Tara of Helium; they +can tell you exactly what they had at the midday meal two weeks +ago, and how the loin of the thoat should be prepared, and what +drink should be served with the rump of the zitidar."</p> + +<p>Tara of Helium laughed. "But not one of them could tell you the +name of the man whose painting took the Jeddak's Award in The +Temple of Beauty this year," she said. "Like the rykors, their +development has not been balanced."</p> + +<p>"Fortunate indeed are those in which there is combined a little +good and a little bad, a little knowledge of many things outside +their own callings, a capacity for love and a capacity for hate, +for such as these can look with tolerance upon all, unbiased by +the egotism of him whose head is so heavy on one side that all +his brains run to that point."</p> + +<p>As Gahan ceased speaking Ghek made a little noise in his throat +as one does who would attract attention. "You speak as one who +has thought much upon many subjects. Is it, then, possible that +you of the red race have pleasure in thought? Do you know aught +of the joys of introspection? Do reason and logic form any part +of your lives?"</p> + +<p>"Most assuredly," replied Gahan, "but not to the extent of +occupying all our time—at least not objectively. You, Ghek, are +an example of the egotism of which I spoke. Because you and your +kind devote your lives to the worship of mind, you believe that +no other created beings think. And possibly we do not in the +sense that you do, who think only of yourselves and your great +brains. We think of many things that concern the welfare of a +world. Had it not been for the red men of Barsoom even the +kaldanes had perished from the planet, for while you may live +without air the things upon which you depend for existence +cannot, and there had been no air in sufficient quantities upon +Barsoom these many ages had not a red man planned and built the +great atmosphere plant which gave new life to a dying world.</p> + +<p>"What have all the brains of all the kaldanes that have ever +lived done to compare with that single idea of a single red man?"</p> + +<p>Ghek was stumped. Being a kaldane he knew that brains spelled the +sum total of universal achievement, but it had never occurred to +him that they should be put to use in practical and profitable +ways. He turned away and looked down upon the valley of his +ancestors across which he was slowly drifting, into what unknown +world? He should be a veritable god among the underlings, he +knew; but somehow a doubt assailed him. It was evident that these +two from that other world were ready to question his preeminence. +Even through his great egotism was filtering a suspicion that +they patronized him; perhaps even pitied him. Then he began to +wonder what was to become of him. No longer would he have many +rykors to do his bidding. Only this single one and when it died +there could not be another. When it tired, Ghek must lie almost +helpless while it rested. He wished that he had never seen this +red woman. She had brought him only discontent and dishonor and +now exile. Presently Tara of Helium commenced to hum a tune and +Ghek, the kaldane, was content.</p> + +<p>Gently they drifted beneath the hurtling moons above the mad +shadows of a Martian night. The roaring of the banths came in +diminishing volume to their ears as their craft passed on beyond +the boundaries of Bantoom, leaving behind the terrors of that +unhappy land. But to what were they being borne? The girl looked +at the man sitting cross-legged upon the deck of the tiny flier, +gazing off into the night ahead, apparently absorbed in thought.</p> + +<p>"Where are we?" she asked. "Toward what are we drifting?"</p> + +<p>Turan shrugged his broad shoulders. "The stars tell me that we +are drifting toward the northeast," he replied, "but where we +are, or what lies in our path I cannot even guess. A week since I +could have sworn that I knew what lay behind each succeeding +ridge that I approached; but now I admit in all humility that I +have no conception of what lies a mile in any direction. Tara of +Helium, I am lost, and that is all that I can tell you."</p> + +<p>He was smiling and the girl smiled back at him. There was a +slightly puzzled expression on her face—there was something +tantalizingly familiar about that smile of his. She had met many +a panthan—they came and went, following the fighting of a +world—but she could not place this one.</p> + +<p>"From what country are you, Turan?" she asked suddenly.</p> + +<p>"Know you not, Tara of Helium," he countered, "that a panthan has +no country? Today he fights beneath the banner of one master, +tomorrow beneath that of another."</p> + +<p>"But you must own allegiance to some country when you are not +fighting," she insisted. "What banner, then, owns you now?"</p> + +<p>He rose and stood before her, then, bowing low. "And I am +acceptable," he said, "I serve beneath the banner of the daughter +of The Warlord now—and forever."</p> + +<p>She reached forth and touched his arm with a slim brown hand. +"Your services are accepted," she said; "and if ever we reach +Helium I promise that your reward shall be all that your heart +could desire."</p> + +<p>"I shall serve faithfully, hoping for that reward," he said; +but Tara of Helium did not guess what was in his mind, thinking +rather that he was mercenary. For how could the proud daughter of +The Warlord guess that a simple panthan aspired to her hand and +heart?</p> + +<p>The dawn found them moving rapidly over an unfamiliar landscape. +The wind had increased during the night and had borne them far +from Bantoom. The country below them was rough and inhospitable. +No water was visible and the surface of the ground was cut by +deep gorges, while nowhere was any but the most meager vegetation +discernible. They saw no life of any nature, nor was there any +indication that the country could support life. For two days they +drifted over this horrid wasteland. They were without food or +water and suffered accordingly. Ghek had temporarily abandoned +his rykor after enlisting Turan's assistance in lashing it safely +to the deck. The less he used it the less would its vitality be +spent. Already it was showing the effects of privation. Ghek +crawled about the vessel like a great spider—over the side, down +beneath the keel, and up over the opposite rail. He seemed +equally at home one place as another. For his companions, +however, the quarters were cramped, for the deck of a one-man +flier is not intended for three.</p> + +<p>Turan sought always ahead for signs of water. Water they must +have, or that water-giving plant which makes life possible upon +many of the seemingly arid areas of Mars; but there was neither +the one nor the other for these two days and now the third night +was upon them. The girl did not complain, but Turan knew that she +must be suffering and his heart was heavy within him. Ghek +suffered least of all, and he explained to them that his kind +could exist for long periods without food or water. Turan almost +cursed him as he saw the form of Tara of Helium slowly wasting +away before his eyes, while the hideous kaldane seemed as full of +vitality as ever.</p> + +<p>"There are circumstances," remarked Ghek, "under which a gross +and material body is less desirable than a highly developed +brain."</p> + +<p>Turan looked at him, but said nothing. Tara of Helium smiled +faintly. "One cannot blame him," she said, "were we not a bit +boastful in the pride of our superiority? When our stomachs were +filled," she added.</p> + +<p>"Perhaps there is something to be said for their system," Turan +admitted. "If we could but lay aside our stomachs when they cried +for food and water I have no doubt but that we should do so."</p> + +<p>"I should never miss mine now," assented Tara; "it is mighty poor +company."</p> + +<p>A new day had dawned, revealing a less desolate country and +renewing again the hope that had been low within them. Suddenly +Turan leaned forward, pointing ahead.</p> + +<p>"Look, Tara of Helium!" he cried. "A city! As I am Ga—as I am +Turan the panthan, a city."</p> + +<p>Far in the distance the domes and walls and slender towers of a +city shone in the rising sun. Quickly the man seized the control +and the ship dropped rapidly behind a low range of intervening +hills, for well Turan knew that they must not be seen until they +could discover whether friend or foe inhabited the strange city. +Chances were that they were far from the abode of friends and so +must the panthan move with the utmost caution; but there was a +city and where a city was, was water, even though it were a +deserted city, and food if it were inhabited.</p> + +<p>To the red man food and water, even in the citadel of an enemy, +meant food and drink for Tara of Helium. He would accept it from +friends or he would take it from enemies. Just so long as it was +there he would have it—and there was shown the egotism of the +fighting man, though Turan did not see it, nor Tara who came from +a long line of fighting men; but Ghek might have smiled had he +known how.</p> + +<p>Turan permitted the flier to drift closer behind the screening +hills, and then when he could advance no farther without fear of +discovery, he dropped the craft gently to ground in a little +ravine, and leaping over the side made her fast to a stout tree. +For several moments they discussed their plans—whether it would +be best to wait where they were until darkness hid their +movements and then approach the city in search of food and water, +or approach it now, taking advantage of what cover they could, +until they could glean something of the nature of its +inhabitants.</p> + +<p>It was Turan's plan which finally prevailed. They would approach +as close as safety dictated in the hope of finding water outside +the city; food, too, perhaps. If they did not they could at least +reconnoiter the ground by daylight, and then when night came +Turan could quickly come close to the city and in comparative +safety prosecute his search for food and drink.</p> + +<p>Following the ravine upward they finally topped the summit of the +ridge, from which they had an excellent view of that part of the +city which lay nearest them, though themselves hidden by the +brush behind which they crouched. Ghek had resumed his rykor, +which had suffered less than either Tara or Turan through their +enforced fast.</p> + +<p>The first glance at the city, now much closer than when they had +first discovered it, revealed the fact that it was inhabited. +Banners and pennons broke from many a staff. People were moving +about the gate before them. The high white walls were paced by +sentinels at far intervals. Upon the roofs of higher buildings +the women could be seen airing the sleeping silks and furs. Turan +watched it all in silence for some time.</p> + +<p>"I do not know them," he said at last. "I cannot guess what city +this may be. But it is an ancient city. Its people have no fliers +and no firearms. It must be old indeed."</p> + +<p>"How do you know they have not these things?" asked the girl.</p> + +<p>"There are no landing-stages upon the roofs—not one that can be +seen from here; while were we looking similarly at Helium we +would see hundreds. And they have no firearms because their +defenses are all built to withstand the attack of spear and +arrow, with spear and arrow. They are an ancient people."</p> + +<p>"If they are ancient perhaps they are friendly," suggested the +girl. "Did we not learn as children in the history of our planet +that it was once peopled by a friendly, peace-loving race?"</p> + +<p>"But I fear they are not as ancient as that," replied Turan, +laughing. "It has been long ages since the men of Barsoom loved +peace."</p> + +<p>"My father loves peace," returned the girl.</p> + +<p>"And yet he is always at war," said the man.</p> + +<p>She laughed. "But he says he likes peace."</p> + +<p>"We all like peace," he rejoined; "peace with honor; but our +neighbors will not let us have it, and so we must fight."</p> + +<p>"And to fight well men must like to fight," she added.</p> + +<p>"And to like to fight they must know how to fight," he said, "for +no man likes to do the thing that he does not know how to do +well."</p> + +<p>"Or that some other man can do better than he."</p> + +<p>"And so always there will be wars and men will fight," he +concluded, "for always the men with hot blood in their veins will +practice the art of war."</p> + +<p>"We have settled a great question," said the girl, smiling; "but +our stomachs are still empty."</p> + +<p>"Your panthan is neglecting his duty," replied Turan; "and how +can he with the great reward always before his eyes!"</p> + +<p>She did not guess in what literal a sense he spoke.</p> + +<p>"I go forthwith," he continued, "to wrest food and drink from the +ancients."</p> + +<p>"No," she cried, laying a hand upon his arm, "not yet. They would +slay you or make you prisoner. You are a brave panthan and a +mighty one, but you cannot overcome a city singlehanded."</p> + +<p>She smiled up into his face and her hand still lay upon his arm. +He felt the thrill of hot blood coursing through his veins. He +could have seized her in his arms and crushed her to him. There +was only Ghek the kaldane there, but there was something stronger +within him that restrained his hand. Who may define it—that +inherent chivalry that renders certain men the natural protectors +of women?</p> + +<p>From their vantage point they saw a body of armed warriors ride +forth from the gate, and winding along a well-beaten road pass +from sight about the foot of the hill from which they watched. +The men were red, like themselves, and they rode the small saddle +thoats of the red race. Their trappings were barbaric and +magnificent, and in their head-dress were many feathers as had +been the custom of ancients. They were armed with swords and long +spears and they rode almost naked, their bodies being painted in +ochre and blue and white. There were, perhaps, a score of them in +the party and as they galloped away on their tireless mounts they +presented a picture at once savage and beautiful.</p> + +<p>"They have the appearance of splendid warriors," said Turan. "I +have a great mind to walk boldly into their city and seek +service."</p> + +<p>Tara shook her head. "Wait," she admonished. "What would I do +without you, and if you were captured how could you collect your +reward?"</p> + +<p>"I should escape," he said. "At any rate I shall try it," and he +started to rise.</p> + +<p>"You shall not," said the girl, her tone all authority.</p> + +<p>The man looked at her quickly—questioningly.</p> + +<p>"You have entered my service," she said, a trifle haughtily.</p> + +<p>"You have entered my service for hire and you shall do as I bid +you."</p> + +<p>Turan sank down beside her again with a half smile upon his lips. +"It is yours to command, Princess," he said.</p> + +<p>The day passed. Ghek, tiring of the sunlight, had deserted his +rykor and crawled down a hole he had discovered close by. Tara +and Turan reclined beneath the scant shade of a small tree. They +watched the people coming and going through the gate. The party +of horsemen did not return. A small herd of zitidars was driven +into the city during the day, and once a caravan of broad-wheeled +carts drawn by these huge animals wound out of the distant +horizon and came down to the city. It, too, passed from their +sight within the gateway. Then darkness came and Tara of Helium +bid her panthan search for food and drink; but she cautioned him +against attempting to enter the city. Before he left her he bent +and kissed her hand as a warrior may kiss the hand of his queen.</p> + +<div style="height: 4em;"><br /><br /><br /><br /></div> + + +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_X" id="CHAPTER_X" />CHAPTER X</h2> + +<h2>ENTRAPPED</h2> + +<p>Turan the panthan approached the strange city under cover of the +darkness. He entertained little hope of finding either food or +water outside the wall, but he would try and then, if he failed, +he would attempt to make his way into the city, for Tara of +Helium must have sustenance and have it soon. He saw that the +walls were poorly sentineled, but they were sufficiently high to +render an attempt to scale them foredoomed to failure. Taking +advantage of underbrush and trees, Turan managed to reach the +base of the wall without detection. Silently he moved north past +the gateway which was closed by a massive gate which effectively +barred even the slightest glimpse within the city beyond. It was +Turan's hope to find upon the north side of the city away from +the hills a level plain where grew the crops of the inhabitants, +and here too water from their irrigating system, but though he +traveled far along that seemingly interminable wall he found no +fields nor any water. He searched also for some means of ingress +to the city, yet here, too, failure was his only reward, and now +as he went keen eyes watched him from above and a silent stalker +kept pace with him for a time upon the summit of the wall; but +presently the shadower descended to the pavement within and +hurrying swiftly raced ahead of the stranger without.</p> + +<p>He came presently to a small gate beside which was a low building +and before the doorway of the building a warrior standing guard. +He spoke a few quick words to the warrior and then entered the +building only to return almost immediately to the street, +followed by fully forty warriors. Cautiously opening the gate the +fellow peered carefully along the wall upon the outside in the +direction from which he had come. Evidently satisfied, he issued +a few words of instruction to those behind him, whereupon half +the warriors returned to the interior of the building, while the +other half followed the man stealthily through the gateway where +they crouched low among the shrubbery in a half circle just north +of the gateway which they had left open. Here they waited in +utter silence, nor had they long to wait before Turan the panthan +came cautiously along the base of the wall. To the very gate he +came and when he found it and that it was open he paused for a +moment, listening; then he approached and looked within. Assured +that there was none within sight to apprehend him he stepped +through the gateway into the city.</p> + +<p>He found himself in a narrow street that paralleled the wall. +Upon the opposite side rose buildings of an architecture unknown +to him, yet strangely beautiful. While the buildings were packed +closely together there seemed to be no two alike and their fronts +were of all shapes and heights and of many hues. The skyline was +broken by spire and dome and minaret and tall, slender towers, +while the walls supported many a balcony and in the soft light of +Cluros, the farther moon, now low in the west, he saw, to his +surprise and consternation, the figures of people upon the +balconies. Directly opposite him were two women and a man. They +sat leaning upon the rail of the balcony looking, apparently, +directly at him; but if they saw him they gave no sign.</p> + +<p>Turan hesitated a moment in the face of almost certain discovery +and then, assured that they must take him for one of their own +people, he moved boldly into the avenue. Having no idea of the +direction in which he might best hope to find what he sought, and +not wishing to arouse suspicion by further hesitation, he turned +to the left and stepped briskly along the pavement with the +intention of placing himself as quickly as possible beyond the +observation of those nocturnal watchers. He knew that the night +must be far spent; and so he could not but wonder why people +should sit upon their balconies when they should have been asleep +among their silks and furs. At first he had thought them the late +guests of some convivial host; but the windows behind them were +shrouded in darkness and utter quiet prevailed, quite upsetting +such a theory. And as he proceeded he passed many another group +sitting silently upon other balconies. They paid no attention to +him, seeming not even to note his passing. Some leaned with a +single elbow upon the rail, their chins resting in their palms; +others leaned upon both arms across the balcony, looking down +into the street, while several that he saw held musical +instruments in their hands, but their fingers moved not upon the +strings.</p> + +<p>And then Turan came to a point where the avenue turned to the +right, to skirt a building that jutted from the inside of the +city wall, and as he rounded the corner he came full upon two +warriors standing upon either side of the entrance to a building +upon his right. It was impossible for them not to be aware of his +presence, yet neither moved, nor gave other evidence that they +had seen him. He stood there waiting, his hand upon the hilt of +his long-sword, but they neither challenged nor halted him. Could +it be that these also thought him one of their own kind? Indeed +upon no other grounds could he explain their inaction.</p> + +<p>As Turan had passed through the gateway into the city and taken +his unhindered way along the avenue, twenty warriors had entered +the city and closed the gate behind them, and then one had taken +to the wall and followed along its summit in the rear of Turan, +and another had followed him along the avenue, while a third had +crossed the street and entered one of the buildings upon the +opposite side.</p> + +<p>The balance of them, with the exception of a single sentinel +beside the gate, had re-entered the building from which they had +been summoned. They were well built, strapping, painted fellows, +their naked figures covered now by gorgeous robes against the +chill of night. As they spoke of the stranger they laughed at the +ease with which they had tricked him, and were still laughing as +they threw themselves upon their sleeping silks and furs to +resume their broken slumber. It was evident that they constituted +a guard detailed for the gate beside which they slept, and it was +equally evident that the gates were guarded and the city watched +much more carefully than Turan had believed. Chagrined indeed had +been the Jed of Gathol had he dreamed that he was being so neatly +tricked.</p> + +<p>As Turan proceeded along the avenue he passed other sentries +beside other doors but now he gave them small heed, since they +neither challenged nor otherwise outwardly noted his passing; but +while at nearly every turn of the erratic avenue he passed one or +more of these silent sentinels he could not guess that he had +passed one of them many times and that his every move was watched +by silent, clever stalkers. Scarce had he passed a certain one of +these rigid guardsmen before the fellow awoke to sudden life, +bounded across the avenue, entered a narrow opening in the outer +wall where he swiftly followed a corridor built within the wall +itself until presently he emerged a little distance ahead of +Turan, where he assumed the stiff and silent attitude of a +soldier upon guard. Nor did Turan know that a second followed in +the shadows of the buildings behind him, nor of the third who +hastened ahead of him upon some urgent mission.</p> + +<p>And so the panthan moved through the silent streets of the +strange city in search of food and drink for the woman he loved. +Men and women looked down upon him from shadowy balconies, but +spoke not; and sentinels saw him pass and did not challenge. +Presently from along the avenue before him came the familiar +sound of clanking accouterments, the herald of marching warriors, +and almost simultaneously he saw upon his right an open doorway +dimly lighted from within. It was the only available place where +he might seek to hide from the approaching company, and while he +had passed several sentries unquestioned he could scarce hope to +escape scrutiny and questioning from a patrol, as he naturally +assumed this body of men to be.</p> + +<p>Inside the doorway he discovered a passage turning abruptly to +the right and almost immediately thereafter to the left. There +was none in sight within and so he stepped cautiously around the +second turn the more effectually to be hidden from the street. +Before him stretched a long corridor, dimly lighted like the +entrance. Waiting there he heard the party approach the building, +he heard someone at the entrance to his hiding place, and then he +heard the door past which he had come slam to. He laid his hand +upon his sword, expecting momentarily to hear footsteps +approaching along the corridor; but none came. He approached the +turn and looked around it; the corridor was empty to the closed +door. Whoever had closed it had remained upon the outside.</p> + +<p>Turan waited, listening. He heard no sound. Then he advanced to +the door and placed an ear against it. All was silence in the +street beyond. A sudden draft must have closed the door, or +perhaps it was the duty of the patrol to see to such things. It +was immaterial. They had evidently passed on and now he would +return to the street and continue upon his way. Somewhere there +would be a public fountain where he could obtain water, and the +chance of food lay in the strings of dried vegetables and meat +which hung before the doorways of nearly every Barsoomian home of +the poorer classes that he had ever seen. It was this district he +was seeking, and it was for this reason his search had led him +away from the main gate of the city which he knew would not be +located in a poor district.</p> + +<p>He attempted to open the door only to find that it resisted his +every effort—it was locked upon the outside. Here indeed was a +sorry contretemps. Turan the panthan scratched his head. "Fortune +frowns upon me," he murmured; but beyond the door, Fate, in the +form of a painted warrior, stood smiling. Neatly had he tricked +the unwary stranger. The lighted doorway, the marching +patrol—these had been planned and timed to a nicety by the third +warrior who had sped ahead of Turan along another avenue, and the +stranger had done precisely what the fellow had thought he would +do—no wonder, then, that he smiled.</p> + +<p>This exit barred to him Turan turned back into the corridor. He +followed it cautiously and silently. Occasionally there was a +door on one side or the other. These he tried only to find each +securely locked. The corridor wound more erratically the farther +he advanced. A locked door barred his way at its end, but a door +upon his right opened and he stepped into a dimly-lighted +chamber, about the walls of which were three other doors, each of +which he tried in turn. Two were locked; the other opened upon a +runway leading downward. It was spiral and he could see no +farther than the first turn. A door in the corridor he had +quitted opened after he had passed, and the third warrior stepped +out and followed after him. A faint smile still lingered upon the +fellow's grim lips.</p> + +<p>Turan drew his short-sword and cautiously descended. At the +bottom was a short corridor with a closed door at the end. He +approached the single heavy panel and listened. No sound came to +him from beyond the mysterious portal. Gently he tried the door, +which swung easily toward him at his touch. Before him was a +low-ceiled chamber with a dirt floor. Set in its walls were +several other doors and all were closed. As Turan stepped +cautiously within, the third warrior descended the spiral runway +behind him. The panthan crossed the room quickly and tried a +door. It was locked. He heard a muffled click behind him and +turned about with ready sword. He was alone; but the door through +which he had entered was closed—it was the click of its lock +that he had heard.</p> + +<p>With a bound he crossed the room and attempted to open it; but to +no avail. No longer did he seek silence, for he knew now that the +thing had gone beyond the sphere of chance. He threw his weight +against the wooden panel; but the thick skeel of which it was +constructed would have withstood a battering ram. From beyond +came a low laugh.</p> + +<p>Rapidly Turan examined each of the other doors. They were all +locked. A glance about the chamber revealed a wooden table and a +bench. Set in the walls were several heavy rings to which rusty +chains were attached—all too significant of the purpose to which +the room was dedicated. In the dirt floor near the wall were two +or three holes resembling the mouths of burrows—doubtless the +habitat of the giant Martian rat. He had observed this much when +suddenly the dim light was extinguished, leaving him in darkness +utter and complete. Turan, groping about, sought the table and +the bench. Placing the latter against the wall he drew the table +in front of him and sat down upon the bench, his long-sword +gripped in readiness before him. At least they should fight +before they took him.</p> + +<p>For some time he sat there waiting for he knew not what. No sound +penetrated to his subterranean dungeon. He slowly revolved in his +mind the incidents of the evening—the open, unguarded gate; the +lighted doorway—the only one he had seen thus open and lighted +along the avenue he had followed; the advance of the warriors at +precisely the moment that he could find no other avenue of escape +or concealment; the corridors and chambers that led past many +locked doors to this underground prison leaving no other path for +him to pursue.</p> + +<p>"By my first ancestor!" he swore; "but it was simple and I a +simpleton. They tricked me neatly and have taken me without +exposing themselves to a scratch; but for what purpose?"</p> + +<p>He wished that he might answer that question and then his +thoughts turned to the girl waiting there on the hill beyond the +city for him—and he would never come. He knew the ways of the +more savage peoples of Barsoom. No, he would never come, now. He +had disobeyed her. He smiled at the sweet recollection of those +words of command that had fallen from her dear lips. He had +disobeyed her and now he had lost the reward.</p> + +<p>But what of her? What now would be her fate—starving before a +hostile city with only an inhuman kaldane for company? Another +thought—a horrid thought—obtruded itself upon him. She had told +him of the hideous sights she had witnessed in the burrows of the +kaldanes and he knew that they ate human flesh. Ghek was +starving. Should he eat his rykor he would be helpless; +but—there was sustenance there for them both, for the rykor and +the kaldane. Turan cursed himself for a fool. Why had he left +her? Far better to have remained and died with her, ready always +to protect her, than to have left her at the mercy of the hideous +Bantoomian.</p> + +<p>Now Turan detected a heavy odor in the air. It oppressed him with +a feeling of drowsiness. He would have risen to fight off the +creeping lethargy, but his legs seemed weak, so that he sank +again to the bench. Presently his sword slipped from his fingers +and he sprawled forward upon the table his head resting upon his +arms.</p> + + <hr /> + +<p>Tara of Helium, as the night wore on and Turan did not return, +became more and more uneasy, and when dawn broke with no sign of +him she guessed that he had failed. Something more than her own +unhappy predicament brought a feeling of sorrow to her heart—of +sorrow and loneliness. She realized now how she had come to +depend upon this panthan not only for protection but for +companionship as well. She missed him, and in missing him +realized suddenly that he had meant more to her than a mere hired +warrior. It was as though a friend had been taken from her—an +old and valued friend. She rose from her place of concealment +that she might have a better view of the city.</p> + +<p>U-Dor, dwar of the 8th Utan of O-Tar, Jeddak of Manator, rode +back in the early dawn toward Manator from a brief excursion to a +neighboring village. As he was rounding the hills south of the +city, his keen eyes were attracted by a slight movement among the +shrubbery close to the summit of the nearest hill. He halted his +vicious mount and watched more closely. He saw a figure rise +facing away from him and peer down toward Manator beyond the +hill.</p> + +<p>"Come!" he signalled to his followers, and with a word to this +thoat turned the beast at a rapid gallop up the hillside. In his +wake swept his twenty savage warriors, the padded feet of their +mounts soundless upon the soft turf. It was the rattle of +sidearms and harness that brought Tara of Helium suddenly about, +facing them. She saw a score of warriors with couched lances +bearing down upon her.</p> + +<p>She glanced at Ghek. What would the spiderman do in this +emergency? She saw him crawl to his rykor and attach himself. +Then he arose, the beautiful body once again animated and alert. +She thought that the creature was preparing for flight. Well, it +made little difference to her. Against such as were streaming up +the hill toward them a single mediocre swordsman such as Ghek was +worse than no defense at all.</p> + +<p>"Hurry, Ghek!" she admonished him. "Back into the hills! You may +find there a hiding-place;" but the creature only stepped between +her and the oncoming riders, drawing his long-sword.</p> + +<p>"It is useless, Ghek," she said, when she saw that he intended to +defend her. "What can a single sword accomplish against such +odds?"</p> + +<p>"I can die but once," replied the kaldane. "You and your panthan +saved me from Luud and I but do what your panthan would do were +he here to protect you."</p> + +<p>"It is brave, but it is useless," she replied. "Sheathe your +sword. They may not intend us harm."</p> + +<p>Ghek let the point of his weapon drop to the ground, but he did +not sheathe it, and thus the two stood waiting as U-Dor the dwar +stopped his thoat before them while his twenty warriors formed a +rough circle about. For a long minute U-Dor sat his mount in +silence, looking searchingly first at Tara of Helium and then at +her hideous companion.</p> + +<p>"What manner of creature are you?" he asked presently. "And what +do you before the gates of Manator?"</p> + +<p>"We are from far countries," replied the girl, "and we are lost +and starving. We ask only food and rest and the privilege to go +our way seeking our own homes."</p> + +<p>U-Dor smiled a grim smile. "Manator and the hills which guard it +alone know the age of Manator," he said; "yet in all the ages +that have rolled by since Manator first was, there be no record +in the annals of Manator of a stranger departing from Manator."</p> + +<p>"But I am a princess," cried the girl haughtily, "and my country +is not at war with yours. You must give me and my companions aid +and assist us to return to our own land. It is the law of +Barsoom."</p> + +<p>"Manator knows only the laws of Manator," replied U-Dor; "but +come. You shall go with us to the city, where you, being +beautiful, need have no fear. I, myself, will protect you if +O-Tar so decrees. And as for your companion—but hold! You said +'companions'—there are others of your party then?"</p> + +<p>"You see what you see," replied Tara haughtily.</p> + +<p>"Be that as it may," said U-Dor. "If there be more they shall not +escape Manator; but as I was saying, if your companion fights +well he too may live, for O-Tar is just, and just are the laws of +Manator. Come!"</p> + +<p>Ghek demurred.</p> + +<p>"It is useless," said the girl, seeing that he would have stood +his ground and fought them. "Let us go with them. Why pit your +puny blade against their mighty ones when there should lie in +your great brain the means to outwit them?" She spoke in a low +whisper, rapidly.</p> + +<p>"You are right, Tara of Helium," he replied and sheathed his +sword.</p> + +<p>And so they moved down the hillside toward the gates of +Manator—Tara, Princess of Helium, and Ghek, the kaldane of +Bantoom—and surrounding them rode the savage, painted warriors +of U-Dor, dwar of the 8th Utan of O-Tar, Jeddak of Manator.</p> + +<div style="height: 4em;"><br /><br /><br /><br /></div> + + +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XI" id="CHAPTER_XI" />CHAPTER XI</h2> + +<h2>THE CHOICE OF TARA</h2> + +<p>The dazzling sunlight of Barsoom clothed Manator in an aureole of +splendor as the girl and her captors rode into the city through +The Gate of Enemies. Here the wall was some fifty feet thick, and +the sides of the passageway within the gate were covered with +parallel shelves of masonry from bottom to top. Within these +shelves, or long, horizontal niches, stood row upon row of small +figures, appearing like tiny, grotesque statuettes of men, their +long, black hair falling below their feet and sometimes trailing +to the shelf beneath. The figures were scarce a foot in height +and but for their diminutive proportions might have been the +mummified bodies of once living men. The girl noticed that as +they passed, the warriors saluted the figures with their spears +after the manner of Barsoomian fighting men in extending a +military courtesy, and then they rode on into the avenue beyond, +which ran, wide and stately, through the city toward the east.</p> + +<p>On either side were great buildings wondrously wrought. Paintings +of great beauty and antiquity covered many of the walls, their +colors softened and blended by the suns of ages. Upon the +pavement the life of the newly-awakened city was already afoot. +Women in brilliant trappings, befeathered warriors, their bodies +daubed with paint; artisans, armed but less gaily caparisoned, +took their various ways upon the duties of the day. A giant +zitidar, magnificent in rich harness, rumbled its broad-wheeled +cart along the stone pavement toward The Gate of Enemies. Life +and color and beauty wrought together a picture that filled the +eyes of Tara of Helium with wonder and with admiration, for here +was a scene out of the dead past of dying Mars. Such had been the +cities of the founders of her race before Throxeus, mightiest of +oceans, had disappeared from the face of a world. And from +balconies on either side men and women looked down in silence +upon the scene below.</p> + +<p>The people in the street looked at the two prisoners, especially +at the hideous Ghek, and called out in question or comment to +their guard; but the watchers upon the balconies spoke not, nor +did one so much as turn a head to note their passing. There were +many balconies on each building and not a one that did not hold +its silent party of richly trapped men and women, with here and +there a child or two, but even the children maintained the +uniform silence and immobility of their elders. As they +approached the center of the city the girl saw that even the +roofs bore companies of these idle watchers, harnessed and +bejeweled as for some gala-day of laughter and music, but no +laughter broke from those silent lips, nor any music from the +strings of the instruments that many of them held in jeweled +fingers.</p> + +<p>And now the avenue widened into an immense square, at the far end +of which rose a stately edifice gleaming white in virgin marble +among the gaily painted buildings surrounding it and its scarlet +sward and gaily-flowering, green-foliaged shrubbery. Toward this +U-Dor led his prisoners and their guard to the great arched +entrance before which a line of fifty mounted warriors barred the +way. When the commander of the guard recognized U-Dor the +guardsmen fell back to either side leaving a broad avenue through +which the party passed. Directly inside the entrance were +inclined runways leading upward on either side. U-Dor turned to +the left and led them upward to the second floor and down a long +corridor. Here they passed other mounted men and in chambers upon +either side they saw more. Occasionally there was another runway +leading either up or down. A warrior, his steed at full gallop, +dashed into sight from one of these and raced swiftly past them +upon some errand.</p> + +<p>Nowhere as yet had Tara of Helium seen a man afoot in this great +building; but when at a turn, U-Dor led them to the third floor +she caught glimpses of chambers in which many riderless thoats +were penned and others adjoining where dismounted warriors lolled +at ease or played games of skill or chance and many there were +who played at jetan, and then the party passed into a long, wide +hall of state, as magnificent an apartment as even a princess of +mighty Helium ever had seen. The length of the room ran an arched +ceiling ablaze with countless radium bulbs. The mighty spans +extended from wall to wall leaving the vast floor unbroken by a +single column. The arches were of white marble, apparently +quarried in single, huge blocks from which each arch was cut +complete. Between the arches, the ceiling was set solid about the +radium bulbs with precious stones whose scintillant fire and +color and beauty filled the whole apartment. The stones were +carried down the walls in an irregular fringe for a few feet, +where they appeared to hang like a beautiful and gorgeous drapery +against the white marble of the wall. The marble ended some six +or seven feet from the floor, the walls from that point down +being wainscoted in solid gold. The floor itself was of marble +richly inlaid with gold. In that single room was a vast treasure +equal to the wealth of many a large city.</p> + +<p>But what riveted the girl's attention even more than the fabulous +treasure of decorations were the files of gorgeously harnessed +warriors who sat their thoats in grim silence and immobility on +either side of the central aisle, rank after rank of them to the +farther walls, and as the party passed between them she could not +note so much as the flicker of an eyelid, or the twitching of a +thoat's ear.</p> + +<p>"The Hall of Chiefs," whispered one of her guard, evidently +noting her interest. There was a note of pride in the fellow's +voice and something of hushed awe. Then they passed through a +great doorway into the chamber beyond, a large, square room in +which a dozen mounted warriors lolled in their saddles.</p> + +<p>As U-Dor and his party entered the room, the warriors came +quickly erect in their saddles and formed a line before another +door upon the opposite side of the wall. The padwar commanding +them saluted U-Dor who, with his party, had halted facing the +guard.</p> + +<p>"Send one to O-Tar announcing that U-Dor brings two prisoners +worthy of the observation of the great jeddak," said U-Dor; "one +because of her extreme beauty, the other because of his extreme +ugliness."</p> + +<p>"O-Tar sits in council with the lesser chiefs," replied the +lieutenant; "but the words of U-Dor the dwar shall be carried to +him," and he turned and gave instructions to one who sat his +thoat behind him.</p> + +<p>"What manner of creature is the male?" he asked of U-Dor. "It +cannot be that both are of one race."</p> + +<p>"They were together in the hills south of the city," explained +U-Dor, "and they say that they are lost and starving."</p> + +<p>"The woman is beautiful," said the padwar. "She will not long go +begging in the city of Manator," and then they spoke of other +matters—of the doings of the palace, of the expedition of U-Dor, +until the messenger returned to say that O-Tar bade them bring +the prisoners to him.</p> + +<p>They passed then through a massive doorway, which, when opened, +revealed the great council chamber of O-Tar, Jeddak of Manator, +beyond. A central aisle led from the doorway the full length of +the great hall, terminating at the steps of a marble dais upon +which a man sat in a great throne-chair. Upon either side of the +aisle were ranged rows of highly carved desks and chairs of skeel, +a hard wood of great beauty. Only a few of the desks were +occupied—those in the front row, just below the rostrum.</p> + +<p>At the entrance U-Dor dismounted with four of his followers who +formed a guard about the two prisoners who were then conducted +toward the foot of the throne, following a few paces behind +U-Dor. As they halted at the foot of the marble steps, the proud +gaze of Tara of Helium rested upon the enthroned figure of the +man above her. He sat erect without stiffness—a commanding +presence trapped in the barbaric splendor that the Barsoomian +chieftain loves. He was a large man, the perfection of whose +handsome face was marred only by the hauteur of his cold eyes and +the suggestion of cruelty imparted by too thin lips. It needed no +second glance to assure the least observing that here indeed was +a ruler of men—a fighting jeddak whose people might worship but +not love, and for whose slightest favor warriors would vie with +one another to go forth and die. This was O-Tar, Jeddak of +Manator, and as Tara of Helium saw him for the first time she +could not but acknowledge a certain admiration for this savage +chieftain who so virilely personified the ancient virtues of the +God of War.</p> + +<p>U-Dor and the jeddak interchanged the simple greetings of +Barsoom, and then the former recounted the details of the +discovery and capture of the prisoners. O-Tar scrutinized them +both intently during U-Dor's narration of events, his expression +revealing naught of what passed in the brain behind those +inscrutable eyes. When the officer had finished the jeddak +fastened his gaze upon Ghek.</p> + +<p>"And you," he asked, "what manner of thing are you? From what +country? Why are you in Manator?"</p> + +<p>"I am a kaldane," replied Ghek; "the highest type of created +creature upon the face of Barsoom; I am mind, you are matter. I +come from Bantoom. I am here because we were lost and starving."</p> + +<p>"And you!" O-Tar turned suddenly on Tara. "You, too, are a +kaldane?"</p> + +<p>"I am a princess of Helium," replied the girl. "I was a prisoner +in Bantoom. This kaldane and a warrior of my own race rescued me. +The warrior left us to search for food and water. He has +doubtless fallen into the hands of your people. I ask you to free +him and give us food and drink and let us go upon our way. I am a +granddaughter of a jeddak, the daughter of a jeddak of jeddaks, +The Warlord of Barsoom. I ask only the treatment that my people +would accord you or yours."</p> + +<p>"Helium," repeated O-Tar. "I know naught of Helium, nor does the +Jeddak of Helium rule Manator. I, O-Tar, am Jeddak of Manator. I +alone rule. I protect my own. You have never seen a woman or a +warrior of Manator captive in Helium! Why should I protect the +people of another jeddak? It is his duty to protect them. If he +cannot, he is weak, and his people must fall into the hands of +the strong. I, O-Tar, am strong. I will keep you. That—" he +pointed at Ghek—"can it fight?"</p> + +<p>"It is brave," replied Tara of Helium, "but it has not the skill +at arms which my people possess."</p> + +<p>"There is none then to fight for you?" asked O-Tar. "We are a +just people," he continued without waiting for a reply, "and had +you one to fight for you he might win to freedom for himself and +you as well."</p> + +<p>"But U-Dor assured me that no stranger ever had departed from +Manator," she answered.</p> + +<p>O-Tar shrugged. "That does not disprove the justice of the laws +of Manator," replied O-Tar, "but rather that the warriors of +Manator are invincible. Had there come one who could defeat our +warriors that one had won to liberty."</p> + +<p>"And you fetch my warrior," cried Tara haughtily, "you shall see +such swordplay as doubtless the crumbling walls of your decaying +city never have witnessed, and if there be no trick in your offer +we are already as good as free."</p> + +<p>O-Tar smiled more broadly than before and U-Dor smiled, too, and +the chiefs and warriors who looked on nudged one another and +whispered, laughing. And Tara of Helium knew then that there was +trickery in their justice; but though her situation seemed +hopeless she did not cease to hope, for was she not the daughter +of John Carter, Warlord of Barsoom, whose famous challenge to +Fate, "I still live!" remained the one irreducible defense +against despair? At thought of her noble sire the patrician chin +of Tara of Helium rose a shade higher. Ah! if he but knew where +she was there were little to fear then. The hosts of Helium would +batter at the gates of Manator, the great green warriors of John +Carter's savage allies would swarm up from the dead sea bottoms +lusting for pillage and for loot, the stately ships of her +beloved navy would soar above the unprotected towers and minarets +of the doomed city which only capitulation and heavy tribute +could then save.</p> + +<p>But John Carter did not know! There was only one other to whom +she might hope to look—Turan the panthan; but where was he? She +had seen his sword in play and she knew that it had been wielded +by a master hand, and who should know swordplay better than Tara +of Helium, who had learned it well under the constant tutorage of +John Carter himself. Tricks she knew that discounted even far +greater physical prowess than her own, and a method of attack +that might have been at once the envy and despair of the +cleverest of warriors. And so it was that her thoughts turned to +Turan the panthan, though not alone because of the protection he +might afford her. She had realized, since he had left her in +search of food, that there had grown between them a certain +comradeship that she now missed. There had been that about him +which seemed to have bridged the gulf between their stations in +life. With him she had failed to consider that he was a panthan +or that she was a princess—they had been comrades. Suddenly she +realized that she missed him for himself more than for his sword. +She turned toward O-Tar.</p> + +<p>"Where is Turan, my warrior?" she demanded.</p> + +<p>"You shall not lack for warriors," replied the jeddak. "One of +your beauty will find plenty ready to fight for her. Possibly it +shall not be necessary to look farther than the jeddak of +Manator. You please me, woman. What say you to such an honor?"</p> + +<p>Through narrowed lids the Princess of Helium scrutinized the +Jeddak of Manator, from feathered headdress to sandaled foot and +back to feathered headdress.</p> + +<p>"'Honor'!" she mimicked in tones of scorn. "I please thee, do I? +Then know, swine, that thou pleaseth me not—that the daughter of +John Carter is not for such as thou!"</p> + +<p>A sudden, tense silence fell upon the assembled chiefs. Slowly +the blood receded from the sinister face of O-Tar, Jeddak of +Manator, leaving him a sickly purple in his wrath. His eyes +narrowed to two thin slits, his lips were compressed to a +bloodless line of malevolence. For a long moment there was no +sound in the throne room of the palace at Manator. Then the +jeddak turned toward U-Dor.</p> + +<p>"Take her away," he said in a level voice that belied his +appearance of rage. "Take her away, and at the next games let the +prisoners and the common warriors play at Jetan for her."</p> + +<p>"And this?" asked U-Dor, pointing at Ghek.</p> + +<p>"To the pits until the next games," replied O-Tar.</p> + +<p>"So this is your vaunted justice!" cried Tara of Helium; "that +two strangers who have not wronged you shall be sentenced without +trial? And one of them is a woman. The swine of Manator are as +just as they are brave."</p> + +<p>"Away with her!" shouted O-Tar, and at a sign from U-Dor the +guards formed about the two prisoners and conducted them from the +chamber.</p> + +<p>Outside the palace, Ghek and Tara of Helium were separated. The +girl was led through long avenues toward the center of the city +and finally into a low building, topped by lofty towers of +massive construction. Here she was turned over to a warrior who +wore the insignia of a dwar, or captain.</p> + +<p>"It is O-Tar's wish," explained U-Dor to this one, "that she be +kept until the next games, when the prisoners and the common +warriors shall play for her. Had she not the tongue of a thoat +she had been a worthy stake for our noblest steel," and U-Dor +sighed. "Perhaps even yet I may win a pardon for her. It were too +bad to see such beauty fall to the lot of some common fellow. I +would have honored her myself."</p> + +<p>"If I am to be imprisoned, imprison me," said the girl. "I do not +recall that I was sentenced to listen to the insults of every +low-born boor who chanced to admire me."</p> + +<p>"You see, A-Kor," cried U-Dor, "the tongue that she has. Even so +and worse spoke she to O-Tar the jeddak."</p> + +<p>"I see," replied A-Kor, whom Tara saw was with difficulty +restraining a smile. "Come, then, with me, woman," he said, "and +we shall find a safe place within The Towers of Jetan—but stay! +what ails thee?"</p> + +<p>The girl had staggered and would have fallen had not the man +caught her in his arms. She seemed to gather herself then and +bravely sought to stand erect without support. A-Kor glanced at +U-Dor. "Knew you the woman was ill?" he asked.</p> + +<p>"Possibly it is lack of food," replied the other. "She mentioned, +I believe, that she and her companions had not eaten for several +days."</p> + +<p>"Brave are the warriors of O-Tar," sneered A-Kor; "lavish their +hospitality. U-Dor, whose riches are uncounted, and the brave +O-Tar, whose squealing thoats are stabled within marble halls and +fed from troughs of gold, can spare no crust to feed a starving +girl."</p> + +<p>The black haired U-Dor scowled. "Thy tongue will yet pierce thy +heart, son of a slave!" he cried. "Once too often mayst thus try +the patience of the just O-Tar. Hereafter guard thy speech as +well as thy towers."</p> + +<p>"Think not to taunt me with my mother's state," said A-Kor. "'Tis +the blood of the slave woman that fills my veins with pride, and +my only shame is that I am also the son of thy jeddak."</p> + +<p>"And O-Tar heard this?" queried U-Dor.</p> + +<p>"O-Tar has already heard it from my own lips," replied A-Kor; +"this, and more."</p> + +<p>He turned upon his heel, a supporting arm still around the waist +of Tara of Helium and thus he half led, half carried her into The +Towers of Jetan, while U-Dor wheeled his thoat and galloped back +in the direction of the palace.</p> + +<p>Within the main entrance to The Tower of Jetan lolled a +half-dozen warriors. To one of these spoke A-Kor, keeper of the +towers. "Fetch Lan-O, the slave girl, and bid her bring food and +drink to the upper level of the Thurian tower," then he lifted +the half-fainting girl in his arms and bore her along the spiral, +inclined runway that led upward within the tower.</p> + +<p>Somewhere in the long ascent Tara lost consciousness. When it +returned she found herself in a large, circular chamber, the +stone walls of which were pierced by windows at regular intervals +about the entire circumference of the room. She was lying upon a +pile of sleeping silks and furs while there knelt above her a +young woman who was forcing drops of some cooling beverage +between her parched lips. Tara of Helium half rose upon an elbow +and looked about. In the first moments of returning consciousness +there were swept from the screen of recollection the happenings +of many weeks. She thought that she awoke in the palace of The +Warlord at Helium. Her brows knit as she scrutinized the strange +face bending over her.</p> + +<p>"Who are you?" she asked, and, "Where is Uthia?"</p> + +<p>"I am Lan-O the slave girl," replied the other. "I know none by +the name of Uthia."</p> + +<p>Tara of Helium sat erect and looked about her. This rough stone +was not the marble of her father's halls. "Where am I?" she +asked.</p> + +<p>"In The Thurian Tower," replied the girl, and then seeing that +the other still did not understand she guessed the truth. "You +are a prisoner in The Towers of Jetan in the city of Manator," +she explained. "You were brought to this chamber, weak and +fainting, by A-Kor, Dwar of The Towers of Jetan, who sent me to +you with food and drink, for kind is the heart of A-Kor."</p> + +<p>"I remember, now," said Tara, slowly. "I remember; but where is +Turan, my warrior? Did they speak of him?"</p> + +<p>"I heard naught of another," replied Lan-O; "you alone were +brought to the towers. In that you are fortunate, for there be no +nobler man in Manator than A-Kor. It is his mother's blood that +makes him so. She was a slave girl from Gathol."</p> + +<p>"Gathol!" exclaimed Tara of Helium. "Lies Gathol close by +Manator?"</p> + +<p>"Not close, yet still the nearest country," replied Lan-O. "About +twenty-two degrees<a href="#f3">*</a> east, it lies."</p> + +<p class="foot"><a name="f3" />* Approximately 814 Earth Miles.</p> + + +<p>"Gathol!" murmured Tara, "Far Gathol!"</p> + +<p>"But you are not from Gathol," said the slave girl; "your harness +is not of Gathol."</p> + +<p>"I am from Helium," said Tara</p> + +<p>"It is far from Helium to Gathol;" said the slave girl, "but +in our studies we learned much of the greatness of Helium, we of +Gathol, so it seems not so far away."</p> + +<p>"You, too, are from Gathol?" asked Tara.</p> + +<p>"Many of us are from Gathol who are slaves in Manator," replied +the girl. "It is to Gathol, nearest country, that the Manatorians +look for slaves most often. They go in great numbers at intervals +of three or seven years and haunt the roads that lead to Gathol, +and thus they capture whole caravans leaving none to bear warning +to Gathol of their fate. Nor do any ever escape from Manator to +carry word of us back to Gahan our jed."</p> + +<p>Tara of Helium ate slowly and in silence. The girl's words +aroused memories of the last hours she had spent in her father's +palace and the great midday function at which she had met Gahan +of Gathol. Even now she flushed as she recalled his daring words.</p> + +<p>Upon her reveries the door opened and a burly warrior appeared in +the opening—a hulking fellow, with thick lips and an evil, +leering face. The slave girl sprang to her feet, facing him.</p> + +<p>"What does this mean, E-Med?" she cried, "was it not the will of +A-Kor that this woman be not disturbed?"</p> + +<p>"The will of A-Kor, indeed!" and the man sneered. "The will of +A-Kor is without power in The Towers of Jetan, or elsewhere, for +A-Kor lies now in the pits of O-Tar, and E-Med is dwar of the +Towers."</p> + +<p>Tara of Helium saw the face of the slave girl pale and the terror +in her eyes.</p> + + +<div style="height: 4em;"><br /><br /><br /><br /></div> + + +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XII" id="CHAPTER_XII" />CHAPTER XII</h2> + +<h2>GHEK PLAYS PRANKS</h2> + +<p>While Tara of Helium was being led to The Towers of Jetan, Ghek +was escorted to the pits beneath the palace where he was +imprisoned in a dimly-lighted chamber. Here he found a bench and +a table standing upon the dirt floor near the wall, and set in +the wall several rings from which depended short lengths of +chain. At the base of the walls were several holes in the dirt +floor. These, alone, of the several things he saw, interested +him. Ghek sat down upon the bench and waited in silence, +listening. Presently the lights were extinguished. If Ghek could +have smiled he would have then, for Ghek could see as well in the +dark as in the light—better, perhaps. He watched the dark +openings of the holes in the floor and waited. Presently he +detected a change in the air about him—it grew heavy with a +strange odor, and once again might Ghek have smiled, could he +have smiled.</p> + +<p>Let them replace all the air in the chamber with their most +deadly fumes; it would be all the same to Ghek, the kaldane, who, +having no lungs, required no air. With the rykor it might be +different. Deprived of air it would die; but if only a sufficient +amount of the gas was introduced to stupefy an ordinary creature +it would have no effect upon the rykor, who had no objective mind +to overcome. So long as the excess of carbon dioxide in the blood +was not sufficient to prevent heart action, the rykor would +suffer only a diminution of vitality; but would still respond to +the exciting agency of the kaldane's brain.</p> + +<p>Ghek caused the rykor to assume a sitting position with its back +against the wall where it might remain without direction from his +brain. Then he released his contact with its spinal cord; but +remained in position upon its shoulders, waiting and watching, +for the kaldane's curiosity was aroused. He had not long to wait +before the lights were flashed on and one of the locked doors +opened to admit a half-dozen warriors. They approached him +rapidly and worked quickly. First they removed all his weapons +and then, snapping a fetter about one of the rykor's ankles, +secured him to the end of one of the chains hanging from the +walls. Next they dragged the long table to a new position and +there bolted it to the floor so that an end, instead of the +middle, was directly before the prisoner. On the table before him +they set food and water and upon the opposite end of the table +they laid the key to the fetter. Then they unlocked and opened +all the doors and departed.</p> + + <hr /> + +<p>When Turan the panthan regained consciousness it was to the +realization of a sharp pain in one of his forearms. The effects +of the gas departed as rapidly as they had overcome him so that +as he opened his eyes he was in full possession of all his +faculties. The lights were on again and in their glow there was +revealed to the man the figure of a giant Martian rat crouching +upon the table and gnawing upon his arm. Snatching his arm away +he reached for his short-sword, while the rat, growling, sought +to seize his arm again. It was then that Turan discovered that +his weapons had been removed—short-sword, long-sword, dagger, +and pistol. The rat charged him then and striking the creature +away with his hand the man rose and backed off, searching for +something with which to strike a harder blow. Again the rat +charged and as Turan stepped quickly back to avoid the menacing +jaws, something seemed to jerk suddenly upon his right ankle, and +as he drew his left foot back to regain his equilibrium his heel +caught upon a taut chain and he fell heavily backward to the +floor just as the rat leaped upon his breast and sought his +throat.</p> + +<p>The Martian rat is a fierce and unlovely thing. It is many-legged +and hairless, its hide resembling that of a newborn mouse in +repulsiveness. In size and weight it is comparable to a large +Airedale terrier. Its eyes are small and close-set, and almost +hidden in deep, fleshy apertures. But its most ferocious and +repulsive feature is its jaws, the entire bony structure of which +protrudes several inches beyond the flesh, revealing five sharp, +spadelike teeth in the upper jaw and the same number of similar +teeth in the lower, the whole suggesting the appearance of a +rotting face from which much of the flesh has sloughed away.</p> + +<p>It was such a thing that leaped upon the breast of the panthan to +tear at his jugular. Twice Turan struck it away as he sought to +regain his feet, but both times it returned with increased +ferocity to renew the attack. Its only weapons are its jaws since +its broad, splay feet are armed with blunt talons. With its +protruding jaws it excavates its winding burrows and with its +broad feet it pushes the dirt behind it. To keep the jaws from +his flesh then was Turan's only concern and this he succeeded in +doing until chance gave him a hold upon the creature's throat. +After that the end was but a matter of moments. Rising at last he +flung the lifeless thing from him with a shudder of disgust.</p> + +<p>Now he turned his attention to a hurried inventory of the new +conditions which surrounded him since the moment of his +incarceration. He realized vaguely what had happened. He had been +anaesthetized and stripped of his weapons, and as he rose to his +feet he saw that one ankle was fettered to a chain in the wall. +He looked about the room. All the doors swung wide open! His +captors would render his imprisonment the more cruel by leaving +ever before him tempting glimpses of open aisles to the freedom +he could not attain. Upon the end of the table and within easy +reach was food and drink. This at least was attainable and at +sight of it his starved stomach seemed almost to cry aloud for +sustenance. It was with difficulty that he ate and drank in +moderation.</p> + +<p>As he devoured the food his eyes wandered about the confines of +his prison until suddenly they seized upon a thing that lay on +the table at the end farthest from him. It was a key. He raised +his fettered ankle and examined the lock. There could be no doubt +of it! The key that lay there on the table before him was the key +to that very lock. A careless warrior had laid it there and +departed, forgetting.</p> + +<p>Hope surged high in the breast of Gahan of Gathol, of Turan the +panthan. Furtively his eyes sought the open doorways. There was +no one in sight. Ah, if he could but gain his freedom! He would +find some way from this odious city back to her side and never +again would he leave her until he had won safety for her or death +for himself.</p> + +<p>He rose and moved cautiously toward the opposite end of the table +where lay the coveted key. The fettered ankle halted his first +step, but he stretched at full length along the table, extending +eager fingers toward the prize. They almost laid hold upon it—a +little more and they would touch it. He strained and stretched, +but still the thing lay just beyond his reach. He hurled himself +forward until the iron fetter bit deep into his flesh, but all +futilely. He sat back upon the bench then and glared at the open +doors and the key, realizing now that they were part of a +well-laid scheme of refined torture, none the less demoralizing +because it inflicted no physical suffering.</p> + +<p>For just a moment the man gave way to useless regret and +foreboding, then he gathered himself together, his brows cleared, +and he returned to his unfinished meal. At least they should not +have the satisfaction of knowing how sorely they had hit him. As +he ate it occurred to him that by dragging the table along the +floor he could bring the key within his reach, but when he +essayed to do so, he found that the table had been securely +bolted to the floor during the period of his unconsciousness. +Again Gahan smiled and shrugged and resumed his eating.</p> + + <hr /> + +<p>When the warriors had departed from the prison in which Ghek was +confined, the kaldane crawled from the shoulders of the rykor to +the table. Here he drank a little water and then directed the +hands of the rykor to the balance of it and to the food, upon +which the brainless thing fell with avidity. While it was thus +engaged Ghek took his spider-like way along the table to the +opposite end where lay the key to the fetter. Seizing it in a +chela he leaped to the floor and scurried rapidly toward the +mouth of one of the burrows against the wall, into which he +disappeared. For long had the brain been contemplating these +burrow entrances. They appealed to his kaldanean tastes, and +further, they pointed a hiding place for the key and a lair for +the only kind of food that the kaldane relished—flesh and blood.</p> + +<p>Ghek had never seen an ulsio, since these great Martian rats had +long ago disappeared from Bantoom, their flesh and blood having +been greatly relished by the kaldanes; but Ghek had inherited, +almost unimpaired, every memory of every ancestor, and so he knew +that ulsio inhabited these lairs and that ulsio was good to eat, +and he knew what ulsio looked like and what his habits were, +though he had never seen him nor any picture of him. As we breed +animals for the transmission of physical attributes, so the +Kaldanes breed themselves for the transmission of attributes of +the mind, including memory and the power of recollection, and +thus have they raised what we term instinct, above the level of +the threshold of the objective mind where it may be commanded and +utilized by recollection. Doubtless in our own subjective minds +lie many of the impressions and experiences of our forebears. +These may impinge upon our consciousness in dreams only, or in +vague, haunting suggestions that we have before experienced some +transient phase of our present existence. Ah, if we had but the +power to recall them! Before us would unfold the forgotten story +of the lost eons that have preceded us. We might even walk with +God in the garden of His stars while man was still but a budding +idea within His mind.</p> + +<p>Ghek descended into the burrow at a steep incline for some ten +feet, when he found himself in an elaborate and delightful +network of burrows! The kaldane was elated. This indeed was life! +He moved rapidly and fearlessly and he went as straight to his +goal as you could to the kitchen of your own home. This goal lay +at a low level in a spheroidal cavity about the size of a large +barrel. Here, in a nest of torn bits of silk and fur lay six baby +ulsios.</p> + +<p>When the mother returned there were but five babies and a great +spider-like creature, which she immediately sprang to attack only +to be met by powerful chelae which seized and held her so that +she could not move. Slowly they dragged her throat toward a +hideous mouth and in a little moment she was dead.</p> + +<p>Ghek might have remained in the nest for a long time, since there +was ample food for many days; but he did not do so. Instead he +explored the burrows. He followed them into many subterranean +chambers of the city of Manator, and upward through walls to +rooms above the ground. He found many ingeniously devised traps, +and he found poisoned food and other signs of the constant battle +that the inhabitants of Manator waged against these repulsive +creatures that dwelt beneath their homes and public buildings.</p> + +<p>His exploration revealed not only the vast proportions of the +network of runways that apparently traversed every portion of +the city, but the great antiquity of the majority of them. Tons +upon tons of dirt must have been removed, and for a long time he +wondered where it had been deposited, until in following downward +a tunnel of great size and length he sensed before him the +thunderous rush of subterranean waters, and presently came to the +bank of a great, underground river, tumbling onward, no doubt, +the length of a world to the buried sea of Omean. Into this +torrential sewer had unthinkable generations of ulsios pushed +their few handsful of dirt in the excavating of their vast +labyrinth.</p> + +<p>For only a moment did Ghek tarry by the river, for his seemingly +aimless wanderings were in reality prompted by a definite +purpose, and this he pursued with vigor and singleness of design. +He followed such runways as appeared to terminate in the pits or +other chambers of the inhabitants of the city, and these he +explored, usually from the safety of a burrow's mouth, until +satisfied that what he sought was not there. He moved swiftly +upon his spider legs and covered remarkable distances in short +periods of time.</p> + +<p>His search not being rewarded with immediate success, he decided +to return to the pit where his rykor lay chained and look to its +wants. As he approached the end of the burrow that terminated in +the pit he slackened his pace, stopping just within the entrance +of the runway that he might scan the interior of the chamber +before entering it. As he did so he saw the figure of a warrior +appear suddenly in an opposite doorway. The rykor sprawled upon +the table, his hands groping blindly for more food. Ghek saw the +warrior pause and gaze in sudden astonishment at the rykor; he +saw the fellow's eyes go wide and an ashen hue replace the copper +bronze of his cheek. He stepped back as though someone had struck +him in the face. For an instant only he stood thus as in a +paralysis of fear, then he uttered a smothered shriek and turned +and fled. Again was it a catastrophe that Ghek, the kaldane, +could not smile.</p> + +<p>Quickly entering the room he crawled to the table top and affixed +himself to the shoulders of his rykor, and there he waited; and +who may say that Ghek, though he could not smile, possessed not a +sense of humor? For a half-hour he sat there, and then there came +to him the sound of men approaching along corridors of stone. He +could hear their arms clank against the rocky walls and he knew +that they came at a rapid pace; but just before they reached the +entrance to his prison they paused and advanced more slowly. In +the lead was an officer, and just behind him, wide-eyed and +perhaps still a little ashen, the warrior who had so recently +departed in haste. At the doorway they halted and the officer +turned sternly upon the warrior. With upraised finger he pointed +at Ghek.</p> + +<p>"There sits the creature! Didst thou dare lie, then, to thy +dwar?"</p> + +<p>"I swear," cried the warrior, "that I spoke the truth. But a +moment since the thing groveled, headless, upon this very table! +And may my first ancestor strike me dead upon the spot if I speak +other than a true word!"</p> + +<p>The officer looked puzzled. The men of Mars seldom if ever lie. +He scratched his head. Then he addressed Ghek. "How long have you +been here?" he asked.</p> + +<p>"Who knows better than those who placed me here and chained me to +a wall?" he returned in reply.</p> + +<p>"Saw you this warrior enter here a few minutes since?"</p> + +<p>"I saw him," replied Ghek.</p> + +<p>"And you sat there where you sit now?" continued the officer.</p> + +<p>"Look thou to my chain and tell me then where else might I sit!" +cried Ghek. "Art the people of thy city all fools?"</p> + +<p>Three other warriors pressed behind the two in front, craning +their necks to view the prisoner while they grinned at the +discomfiture of their fellow. The officer scowled at Ghek.</p> + +<p>"Thy tongue is as venomous as that of the she-banth O-Tar sent to +The Towers of Jetan," he said.</p> + +<p>"You speak of the young woman who was captured with me?" asked +Ghek, his expressionless monotone and face revealing naught of +the interest he felt.</p> + +<p>"I speak of her," replied the dwar, and then turning to the +warrior who had summoned him: "return to thy quarters and remain +there until the next games. Perhaps by that time thy eyes may +have learned not to deceive thee."</p> + +<p>The fellow cast a venomous glance at Ghek and turned away. The +officer shook his head. "I do not understand it," he muttered. +"Always has U-Van been a true and dependable warrior. Could it +be—?" he glanced piercingly at Ghek. "Thou hast a strange head +that misfits thy body, fellow," he cried. "Our legends tell us of +those ancient creatures that placed hallucinations upon the mind +of their fellows. If thou be such then maybe U-Van suffered from +thy forbidden powers. If thou be such O-Tar will know well how to +deal with thee." He wheeled about and motioned his warriors to +follow him.</p> + +<p>"Wait!" cried Ghek. "Unless I am to be starved, send me food."</p> + +<p>"You have had food," replied the warrior.</p> + +<p>"Am I to be fed but once a day?" asked Ghek. "I require food +oftener than that. Send me food."</p> + +<p>"You shall have food," replied the officer. "None may say that +the prisoners of Manator are ill-fed. Just are the laws of +Manator," and he departed.</p> + +<p>No sooner had the sounds of their passing died away in the +distance than Ghek clambered from the shoulders of his rykor, and +scurried to the burrow where he had hidden the key. Fetching it +he unlocked the fetter from about the creature's ankle, locked it +empty and carried the key farther down into the burrow. Then he +returned to his place upon his brainless servitor. After a while +he heard footsteps approaching, whereupon he rose and passed into +another corridor from that down which he knew the warrior was +coming. Here he waited out of sight, listening. He heard the man +enter the chamber and halt. He heard a muttered exclamation, +followed by the jangle of metal dishes as a salver was slammed +upon a table; then rapidly retreating footsteps, which quickly +died away in the distance.</p> + +<p>Ghek lost no time in returning to the chamber, recovering the +key, relocking the rykor to his chain. Then he replaced the key +in the burrow and squatting on the table beside his headless +body, directed its hands toward the food. While the rykor ate +Ghek sat listening for the scraping sandals and clattering arms +that he knew soon would come. Nor had he long to wait. Ghek +scrambled to the shoulders of his rykor as he heard them coming. +Again it was the officer who had been summoned by U-Van and with +him were three warriors. The one directly behind him was +evidently the same who had brought the food, for his eyes went +wide when he saw Ghek sitting at the table and he looked very +foolish as the dwar turned his stern glance upon him.</p> + +<p>"It is even as I said," he cried. "He was not here when I brought +his food."</p> + +<p>"But he is here now," said the officer grimly, "and his fetter is +locked about his ankle. Look! it has not been opened—but where +is the key? It should be upon the table at the end opposite him. +Where is the key, creature?" he shouted at Ghek.</p> + +<p>"How should I, a prisoner, know better than my jailer the +whereabouts of the key to my fetters?" he retorted.</p> + +<p>"But it lay here," cried the officer, pointing to the other end +of the table.</p> + +<p>"Did you see it?" asked Ghek.</p> + +<p>The officer hesitated. "No but it must have been there," he +parried.</p> + +<p>"Did you see the key lying there?" asked Ghek, pointing to +another warrior.</p> + +<p>The fellow shook his head negatively. "And you? and you?" +continued the kaldane addressing the others.</p> + +<p>They both admitted that they never had seen the key. "And if it +had been there how could I have reached it?" he continued.</p> + +<p>"No, he could not have reached it," admitted the officer; "but +there shall be no more of this! I-Zav, you will remain here on +guard with this prisoner until you are relieved."</p> + +<p>I-Zav looked anything but happy as this intelligence was +transmitted to him, and he eyed Ghek suspiciously as the dwar and +the other warriors turned and left him to his unhappy lot.</p> + + +<div style="height: 4em;"><br /><br /><br /><br /></div> + + +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XIII" id="CHAPTER_XIII" />CHAPTER XIII</h2> + +<h2>A DESPERATE DEED</h2> + +<p>E-Med crossed the tower chamber toward Tara of Helium and the +slave girl, Lan-O. He seized the former roughly by a shoulder. +"Stand!" he commanded. Tara struck his hand from her and rising, +backed away.</p> + +<p>"Lay not your hand upon the person of a princess of Helium, +beast!" she warned.</p> + +<p>E-Med laughed. "Think you that I play at jetan for you without +first knowing something of the stake for which I play?" he +demanded. "Come here!"</p> + +<p>The girl drew herself to her full height, folding her arms across +her breast, nor did E-Med note that the slim fingers of her right +hand were inserted beneath the broad leather strap of her harness +where it passed over her left shoulder.</p> + +<p>"And O-Tar learns of this you shall rue it, E-Med," cried the +slave girl; "there be no law in Manator that gives you this girl +before you shall have won her fairly."</p> + +<p>"What cares O-Tar for her fate?" replied E-Med. "Have I not +heard? Did she not flout the great jeddak, heaping abuse upon +him? By my first ancestor, I think O-Tar might make a jed of the +man who subdued her," and again he advanced toward Tara.</p> + +<p>"Wait!" said the girl in low, even tone. "Perhaps you know not +what you do. Sacred to the people of Helium are the persons of +the women of Helium. For the honor of the humblest of them would +the great jeddak himself unsheathe his sword. The greatest +nations of Barsoom have trembled to the thunders of war in +defense of the person of Dejah Thoris, my mother. We are but +mortal and so may die; but we may not be defiled. You may play at +jetan for a princess of Helium, but though you may win the match, +never may you claim the reward. If thou wouldst possess a dead +body press me too far, but know, man of Manator, that the blood +of The Warlord flows not in the veins of Tara of Helium for +naught. I have spoken."</p> + +<p>"I know naught of Helium and O-Tar is our warlord," replied +E-Med; "but I do know that I would examine more closely the prize +that I shall play for and win. I would test the lips of her who +is to be my slave after the next games; nor is it well, woman, to +drive me too far to anger." His eyes narrowed as he spoke, his +visage taking on the semblance of that of a snarling beast. "If +you doubt the truth of my words ask Lan-O, the slave girl."</p> + +<p>"He speaks truly, O woman of Helium," interjected Lan-O. "Try not +the temper of E-Med, if you value your life."</p> + +<p>But Tara of Helium made no reply. Already had she spoken. She +stood in silence now facing the burly warrior who approached her. +He came close and then quite suddenly he seized her and, bending, +tried to draw her lips to his.</p> + +<p>Lan-O saw the woman from Helium half turn, and with a quick +movement jerk her right hand from where it had lain upon her +breast. She saw the hand shoot from beneath the arm of E-Med and +rise behind his shoulder and she saw in the hand a long, slim +blade. The lips of the warrior were drawing closer to those of +the woman, but they never touched them, for suddenly the man +straightened, stiffly, a shriek upon his lips, and then he +crumpled like an empty fur and lay, a shrunken heap, upon the +floor. Tara of Helium stooped and wiped her blade upon his +harness.</p> + +<p>Lan-O, wide-eyed, looked with horror upon the corpse. "For this +we shall both die," she cried.</p> + +<p>"And who would live a slave in Manator?" asked Tara of Helium.</p> + +<p>"I am not so brave as thou," said the slave girl, "and life is +sweet and there is always hope."</p> + +<p>"Life is sweet," agreed Tara of Helium, "but honor is sacred. But +do not fear. When they come I shall tell them the truth—that you +had no hand in this and no opportunity to prevent it."</p> + +<p>For a moment the slave girl seemed to be thinking deeply. +Suddenly her eyes lighted. "There is a way, perhaps," she said, +"to turn suspicion from us. He has the key to this chamber upon +him. Let us open the door and drag him out—maybe we shall find a +place to hide him."</p> + +<p>"Good!" exclaimed Tara of Helium, and the two immediately set +about the matter Lan-O had suggested. Quickly they found the key +and unlatched the door and then, between them, they half carried, +half dragged, the corpse of E-Med from the room and down the +stairway to the next level where Lan-O said there were vacant +chambers. The first door they tried was unlatched, and through +this the two bore their grisly burden into a small room lighted +by a single window. The apartment bore evidence of having been +utilized as a living-room rather than as a cell, being furnished +with a degree of comfort and even luxury. The walls were paneled +to a height of about seven feet from the floor, while the plaster +above and the ceiling were decorated with faded paintings of +another day.</p> + +<p>As Tara's eyes ran quickly over the interior her attention was +drawn to a section of paneling that seemed to be separated at one +edge from the piece next adjoining it. Quickly she crossed to it, +discovering that one vertical edge of an entire panel projected a +half-inch beyond the others. There was a possible explanation +which piqued her curiosity, and acting upon its suggestion she +seized upon the projecting edge and pulled outward. Slowly the +panel swung toward her, revealing a dark aperture in the wall +behind.</p> + +<p>"Look, Lan-O!" she cried. "See what I have found—a hole in which +we may hide the thing upon the floor."</p> + +<p>Lan-O joined her and together the two investigated the dark +aperture, finding a small platform from which a narrow runway led +downward into Stygian darkness. Thick dust covered the floor +within the doorway, indicating that a great period of time had +elapsed since human foot had trod it—a secret way, doubtless, +unknown to living Manatorians. Here they dragged the corpse of +E-Med, leaving it upon the platform, and as they left the dark +and forbidden closet Lan-O would have slammed to the panel had +not Tara prevented.</p> + +<p>"Wait!" she said, and fell to examining the door frame and the +stile.</p> + +<p>"Hurry!" whispered the slave girl. "If they come we are lost."</p> + +<p>"It may serve us well to know how to open this place again," +replied Tara of Helium, and then suddenly she pressed a foot +against a section of the carved base at the right of the open +panel. "Ah!" she breathed, a note of satisfaction in her tone, +and closed the panel until it fitted snugly in its place. "Come!" +she said and turned toward the outer doorway of the chamber.</p> + +<p>They reached their own cell without detection, and closing the +door Tara locked it from the inside and placed the key in a +secret pocket in her harness.</p> + +<p>"Let them come," she said. "Let them question us! What could two +poor prisoners know of the whereabouts of their noble jailer? I +ask you, Lan-O, what could they?"</p> + +<p>"Nothing," admitted Lan-O, smiling with her companion.</p> + +<p>"Tell me of these men of Manator," said Tara presently. "Are they +all like E-Med, or are some of them like A-Kor, who seemed a +brave and chivalrous character?"</p> + +<p>"They are not unlike the peoples of other countries," replied +Lan-O. "There be among them both good and bad. They are brave +warriors and mighty. Among themselves they are not without +chivalry and honor, but in their dealings with strangers they +know but one law—the law of might. The weak and unfortunate of +other lands fill them with contempt and arouse all that is worst +in their natures, which doubtless accounts for their treatment of +us, their slaves."</p> + +<p>"But why should they feel contempt for those who have suffered +the misfortune of falling into their hands?" queried Tara.</p> + +<p>"I do not know," said Lan-O; "A-Kor says that he believes that it +is because their country has never been invaded by a victorious +foe. In their stealthy raids never have they been defeated, +because they have never waited to face a powerful force; and so +they have come to believe themselves invincible, and the other +peoples are held in contempt as inferior in valor and the +practice of arms."</p> + +<p>"Yet A-Kor is one of them," said Tara.</p> + +<p>"He is a son of O-Tar, the jeddak," replied Lan-O; "but his +mother was a high born Gatholian, captured and made slave by +O-Tar, and A-Kor boasts that in his veins runs only the blood of +his mother, and indeed is he different from the others. His +chivalry is of a gentler form, though not even his worst enemy +has dared question his courage, while his skill with the sword, +and the spear, and the thoat is famous throughout the length and +breadth of Manator."</p> + +<p>"What think you they will do with him?" asked Tara of Helium.</p> + +<p>"Sentence him to the games," replied Lan-O. "If O-Tar be not +greatly angered he may be sentenced to but a single game, in +which case he may come out alive; but if O-Tar wishes really to +dispose of him he will be sentenced to the entire series, and no +warrior has ever survived the full ten, or rather none who was +under a sentence from O-Tar."</p> + +<p>"What are the games? I do not understand," said Tara "I have +heard them speak of playing at jetan, but surely no one can be +killed at jetan. We play it often at home."</p> + +<p>"But not as they play it in the arena at Manator," replied Lan-O. +"Come to the window," and together the two approached an aperture +facing toward the east.</p> + +<p>Below her Tara of Helium saw a great field entirely surrounded by +the low building, and the lofty towers of which that in which she +was imprisoned was but a unit. About the arena were tiers of +seats; but the a thing that caught her attention was a gigantic +jetan board laid out upon the floor of the arena in great squares +of alternate orange and black.</p> + +<p>"Here they play at jetan with living pieces. They play for great +stakes and usually for a woman—some slave of exceptional beauty. +O-Tar himself might have played for you had you not angered him, +but now you will be played for in an open game by slaves and +criminals, and you will belong to the side that wins—not to a +single warrior, but to all who survive the game."</p> + +<p>The eyes of Tara of Helium flashed, but she made no comment.</p> + +<p>"Those who direct the play do not necessarily take part in it," +continued the slave girl, "but sit in those two great thrones +which you see at either end of the board and direct their pieces +from square to square."</p> + +<p>"But where lies the danger?" asked Tara of Helium. "If a piece be +taken it is merely removed from the board—this is a rule of +jetan as old almost as the civilization of Barsoom."</p> + +<p>"But here in Manator, when they play in the great arena with +living men, that rule is altered," explained Lan-O. "When a +warrior is moved to a square occupied by an opposing piece, the +two battle to the death for possession of the square and the one +that is successful advantages by the move. Each is caparisoned to +simulate the piece he represents and in addition he wears that +which indicates whether he be slave, a warrior serving a +sentence, or a volunteer. If serving a sentence the number of +games he must play is also indicated, and thus the one directing +the moves knows which pieces to risk and which to conserve, and +further than this, a man's chances are affected by the position +that is assigned him for the game. Those whom they wish to die +are always Panthans in the game, for the Panthan has the least +chance of surviving."</p> + +<p>"Do those who direct the play ever actually take part in it?" +asked Tara.</p> + +<p>"Oh, yes," said Lan-O. "Often when two warriors, even of the +highest class, hold a grievance against one another O-Tar compels +them to settle it upon the arena. Then it is that they take +active part and with drawn swords direct their own players from +the position of Chief. They pick their own players, usually the +best of their own warriors and slaves, if they be powerful men +who possess such, or their friends may volunteer, or they may +obtain prisoners from the pits. These are games indeed—the very +best that are seen. Often the great chiefs themselves are slain."</p> + +<p>"It is within this amphitheater that the justice of Manator is +meted, then?" asked Tara.</p> + +<p>"Very largely," replied Lan-O.</p> + +<p>"How, then, through such justice, could a prisoner win his +liberty?" continued the girl from Helium.</p> + +<p>"If a man, and he survived ten games his liberty would be his," +replied Lan-O.</p> + +<p>"But none ever survives?" queried Tara. "And if a woman?"</p> + +<p>"No stranger within the gates of Manator ever has survived ten +games," replied the slave girl. "They are permitted to offer +themselves into perpetual slavery if they prefer that to fighting +at jetan. Of course they may be called upon, as any warrior, to +take part in a game, but their chances then of surviving are +increased, since they may never again have the chance of winning +to liberty."</p> + +<p>"But a woman," insisted Tara; "how may a woman win her freedom?"</p> + +<p>Lan-O laughed. "Very simply," she cried, derisively. "She has but +to find a warrior who will fight through ten consecutive games +for her and survive."</p> + +<p>"'Just are the laws of Manator,'" quoted Tara, scornfully.</p> + +<p>Then it was that they heard footsteps outside their cell and a +moment later a key turned in the lock and the door opened. A +warrior faced them.</p> + +<p>"Hast seen E-Med the dwar?" he asked.</p> + +<p>"Yes," replied Tara, "he was here some time ago."</p> + +<p>The man glanced quickly about the bare chamber and then +searchingly first at Tara of Helium and then at the slave girl, +Lan-O. The puzzled expression upon his face increased. He +scratched his head. "It is strange," he said. "A score of men saw +him ascend into this tower; and though there is but a single +exit, and that well guarded, no man has seen him pass out."</p> + +<p>Tara of Helium hid a yawn with the back of a shapely hand. "The +Princess of Helium is hungry, fellow," she drawled; "tell your +master that she would eat."</p> + +<p>It was an hour later that food was brought, an officer and +several warriors accompanying the bearer. The former examined the +room carefully, but there was no sign that aught amiss had +occurred there. The wound that had sent E-Med the dwar to his +ancestors had not bled, fortunately for Tara of Helium.</p> + +<p>"Woman," cried the officer, turning upon Tara, "you were the last +to see E-Med the dwar. Answer me now and answer me truthfully. +Did you see him leave this room?"</p> + +<p>"I did," answered Tara of Helium.</p> + +<p>"Where did he go from here?"</p> + +<p>"How should I know? Think you that I can pass through a locked +door of skeel?" the girl's tone was scornful.</p> + +<p>"Of that we do not know," said the officer. "Strange things have +happened in the cell of your companion in the pits of Manator. +Perhaps you could pass through a locked door of skeel as easily +as he performs seemingly more impossible feats."</p> + +<p>"Whom do you mean," she cried; "Turan the panthan? He lives, +then? Tell me, is he here in Manator unharmed?"</p> + +<p>"I speak of that thing which calls itself Ghek the kaldane," +replied the officer.</p> + +<p>"But Turan! Tell me, padwar, have you heard aught of him?" Tara's +tone was insistent and she leaned a little forward toward the +officer, her lips slightly parted in expectancy.</p> + +<p>Into the eyes of the slave girl, Lan-O, who was watching her, +there crept a soft light of understanding; but the officer +ignored Tara's question—what was the fate of another slave to +him? "Men do not disappear into thin air," he growled, "and if +E-Med be not found soon O-Tar himself may take a hand in this. I +warn you, woman, if you be one of those horrid Corphals that by +commanding the spirits of the wicked dead gains evil mastery over +the living, as many now believe the thing called Ghek to be, that +lest you return E-Med, O-Tar will have no mercy on you."</p> + +<p>"What foolishness is this?" cried the girl. "I am a princess +of Helium, as I have told you all a score of times. Even if the +fabled Corphals existed, as none but the most ignorant now +believes, the lore of the ancients tells us that they entered +only into the bodies of wicked criminals of the lowest class. Man +of Manator, thou art a fool, and thy jeddak and all his people," +and she turned her royal back upon the padwar, and gazed through +the window across the Field of Jetan and the roofs of Manator +through the low hills and the rolling country and freedom.</p> + +<p>"And you know so much of Corphals, then," he cried, "you know +that while no common man dare harm them they may be slain by the +hand of a jeddak with impunity!"</p> + +<p>The girl did not reply, nor would she speak again, for all his +threats and rage, for she knew now that none in all Manator dared +harm her save O-Tar, the jeddak, and after a while the padwar +left, taking his men with him. And after they had gone Tara stood +for long looking out upon the city of Manator, and wondering what +more of cruel wrongs Fate held in store for her. She was standing +thus in silent meditation when there rose to her the strains of +martial music from the city below—the deep, mellow tones of the +long war trumpets of mounted troops, the clear, ringing notes of +foot-soldiers' music. The girl raised her head and looked about, +listening, and Lan-O, standing at an opposite window, looking +toward the west, motioned Tara to join her. Now they could see +across roofs and avenues to The Gate of Enemies, through which +troops were marching into the city.</p> + +<p>"The Great Jed is coming," said Lan-O, "none other dares enter +thus, with blaring trumpets, the city of Manator. It is U-Thor, +Jed of Manatos, second city of Manator. They call him The Great +Jed the length and breadth of Manator, and because the people +love him, O-Tar hates him. They say, who know, that it would need +but slight provocation to inflame the two to war. How such a war +would end no one could guess; for the people of Manator worship +the great O-Tar, though they do not love him. U-Thor they love, +but he is not the jeddak," and Tara understood, as only a Martian +may, how much that simple statement encompassed.</p> + +<p>The loyalty of a Martian to his jeddak is almost an instinct, and +second not even to the instinct of self-preservation at that. Nor +is this strange in a race whose religion includes ancestor +worship, and where families trace their origin back into remote +ages and a jeddak sits upon the same throne that his direct +progenitors have occupied for, perhaps, hundreds of thousands of +years, and rules the descendants of the same people that his +forebears ruled. Wicked jeddaks have been dethroned, but seldom +are they replaced by other than members of the imperial house, +even though the law gives to the jeds the right to select whom +they please.</p> + +<p>"U-Thor is a just man and good, then?" asked Tara of Helium.</p> + +<p>"There be none nobler," replied Lan-O. "In Manatos none but +wicked criminals who deserve death are forced to play at jetan, +and even then the play is fair and they have their chance for +freedom. Volunteers may play, but the moves are not necessarily +to the death—a wound, and even sometimes points in swordplay, +deciding the issue. There they look upon jetan as a martial +sport—here it is but butchery. And U-Thor is opposed to the +ancient slave raids and to the policy that keeps Manator forever +isolated from the other nations of Barsoom; but U-Thor is not +jeddak and so there is no change."</p> + +<p>The two girls watched the column moving up the broad avenue from +The Gate of Enemies toward the palace of O-Tar. A gorgeous, +barbaric procession of painted warriors in jewel-studded harness +and waving feathers; vicious, squealing thoats caparisoned in +rich trappings; far above their heads the long lances of their +riders bore fluttering pennons; foot-soldiers swinging easily +along the stone pavement, their sandals of zitidar hide giving +forth no sound; and at the rear of each utan a train of painted +chariots, drawn by mammoth zitidars, carrying the equipment of +the company to which they were attached. Utan after utan entered +through the great gate, and even when the head of the column +reached the palace of O-Tar they were not all within the city.</p> + +<p>"I have been here many years," said the girl, Lan-O; "but never +have I seen even The Great Jed bring so many fighting men into +the city of Manator."</p> + +<p>Through half-closed eyes Tara of Helium watched the warriors +marching up the broad avenue, trying to imagine them the fighting +men of her beloved Helium coming to the rescue of their princess. +That splendid figure upon the great thoat might be John Carter, +himself, Warlord of Barsoom, and behind him utan after utan of +the veterans of the empire, and then the girl opened her eyes +again and saw the host of painted, befeathered barbarians, and +sighed. But yet she watched, fascinated by the martial scene, and +now she noted again the groups of silent figures upon the +balconies. No waving silks; no cries of welcome; no showers of +flowers and jewels such as would have marked the entry of such a +splendid, friendly pageant into the twin cities of her birth.</p> + +<p>"The people do not seem friendly to the warriors of Manatos," she +remarked to Lan-O; "I have not seen a single welcoming sign from +the people on the balconies."</p> + +<p>The slave girl looked at her in surprise. "It cannot be that you +do not know!" she exclaimed. "Why, they are—" but she got no +further. The door swung open and an officer stood before them.</p> + +<p>"The slave girl, Tara, is summoned to the presence of O-Tar, the +jeddak!" he announced.</p> + + +<div style="height: 4em;"><br /><br /><br /><br /></div> + + +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XIV" id="CHAPTER_XIV" />CHAPTER XIV</h2> + +<h2>AT GHEK'S COMMAND</h2> + +<p>Turan the panthan chafed in his chains. Time dragged; silence and +monotony prolonged minutes into hours. Uncertainty of the fate of +the woman he loved turned each hour into an eternity of hell. He +listened impatiently for the sound of approaching footsteps that +he might see and speak to some living creature and learn, +perchance, some word of Tara of Helium. After torturing hours his +ears were rewarded by the rattle of harness and arms. Men were +coming! He waited breathlessly. Perhaps they were his +executioners; but he would welcome them notwithstanding. He would +question them. But if they knew naught of Tara he would not +divulge the location of the hiding place in which he had left +her.</p> + +<p>Now they came—a half-dozen warriors and an officer, escorting an +unarmed man; a prisoner, doubtless. Of this Turan was not left +long in doubt, since they brought the newcomer and chained him to +an adjoining ring. Immediately the panthan commenced to question +the officer in charge of the guard.</p> + +<p>"Tell me," he demanded, "why I have been made prisoner, and if +other strangers were captured since I entered your city."</p> + +<p>"What other prisoners?" asked the officer.</p> + +<p>"A woman, and a man with a strange head," replied Turan.</p> + +<p>"It is possible," said the officer; "but what were their names?"</p> + +<p>"The woman was Tara, Princess of Helium, and the man was Ghek, a +kaldane, of Bantoom."</p> + +<p>"These were your friends?" asked the officer.</p> + +<p>"Yes," replied Turan.</p> + +<p>"It is what I would know," said the officer, and with a curt +command to his men to follow him he turned and left the cell.</p> + +<p>"Tell me of them!" cried Turan after him. "Tell me of Tara of +Helium! Is she safe?" but the man did not answer and soon the +sound of their departure died in the distance.</p> + +<p>"Tara of Helium was safe, but a short time since," said the +prisoner chained at Turan's side.</p> + +<p>The panthan turned toward the speaker, seeing a large man, +handsome of face and with a manner both stately and dignified. +"You have seen her?" he asked. "They captured her then? She is in +danger?"</p> + +<p>"She is being held in The Towers of Jetan as a prize for the next +games," replied the stranger.</p> + +<p>"And who are you?" asked Turan. "And why are you here, a +prisoner?"</p> + +<p>"I am A-Kor the dwar, keeper of The Towers of Jetan," replied the +other. "I am here because I dared speak the truth of O-Tar the +jeddak, to one of his officers."</p> + +<p>"And your punishment?" asked Turan.</p> + +<p>"I do not know. O-Tar has not yet spoken. Doubtless the +games—perhaps the full ten, for O-Tar does not love A-Kor, his +son."</p> + +<p>"You are the jeddak's son?" asked Turan.</p> + +<p>"I am the son of O-Tar and of a slave, Haja of Gathol, who was a +princess in her own land."</p> + +<p>Turan looked searchingly at the speaker. A son of Haja of Gathol! +A son of his mother's sister, this man, then, was his own cousin. +Well did Gahan remember the mysterious disappearance of the +Princess Haja and an entire utan of her personal troops. She had +been upon a visit far from the city of Gathol and returning home +had vanished with her whole escort from the sight of man. So this +was the secret of the seeming mystery? Doubtless it explained +many other similar disappearances that extended nearly as far +back as the history of Gathol. Turan scrutinized his companion, +discovering many evidences of resemblance to his mother's people. +A-Kor might have been ten years younger than he, but such +differences in age are scarce accounted among a people who seldom +or never age outwardly after maturity and whose span of life may +be a thousand years.</p> + +<p>"And where lies Gathol?" asked Turan.</p> + +<p>"Almost due east of Manator," replied A-Kor.</p> + +<p>"And how far?"</p> + +<p>"Some twenty-one degrees it is from the city of Manator to the +city of Gathol," replied A-Kor; "but little more than ten degrees +between the boundaries of the two countries. Between them, +though, there lies a country of torn rocks and yawning chasms."</p> + +<p>Well did Gahan know this country that bordered his upon the +west—even the ships of the air avoided it because of the +treacherous currents that rose from the deep chasms, and the +almost total absence of safe landings. He knew now where Manator +lay and for the first time in long weeks the way to his own +Gathol, and here was a man, a fellow prisoner, in whose veins +flowed the blood of his own ancestors—a man who knew Manator; +its people, its customs and the country surrounding it—one who +could aid him, with advice at least, to find a plan for the +rescue of Tara of Helium and for escape. But would A-Kor—could +he dare broach the subject? He could do no less than try.</p> + +<p>"And O-Tar you think will sentence you to death?" he asked; "and +why?"</p> + +<p>"He would like to," replied A-Kor, "for the people chafe beneath +his iron hand and their loyalty is but the loyalty of a people to +the long line of illustrious jeddaks from which he has sprung. He +is a jealous man and has found the means of disposing of most of +those whose blood might entitle them to a claim upon the throne, +and whose place in the affections of the people endowed them with +any political significance. The fact that I was the son of a +slave relegated me to a position of minor importance in the +consideration of O-Tar, yet I am still the son of a jeddak and +might sit upon the throne of Manator with as perfect congruity as +O-Tar himself. Combined with this is the fact that of recent +years the people, and especially many of the younger warriors, +have evinced a growing affection for me, which I attribute to +certain virtues of character and training derived from my mother, +but which O-Tar assumes to be the result of an ambition upon my +part to occupy the throne of Manator.</p> + +<p>"And now, I am firmly convinced, he has seized upon my criticism +of his treatment of the slave girl Tara as a pretext for ridding +himself of me."</p> + +<p>"But if you could escape and reach Gathol," suggested Turan.</p> + +<p>"I have thought of that," mused A-Kor; "but how much better off +would I be? In the eyes of the Gatholians I would be, not a +Gatholian; but a stranger and doubtless they would accord me the +same treatment that we of Manator accord strangers."</p> + +<p>"Could you convince them that you are the son of the Princess +Haja your welcome would be assured," said Turan; "while on the +other hand you could purchase your freedom and citizenship with a +brief period of labor in the diamond mines."</p> + +<p>"How know you all these things?" asked A-Kor. "I thought you were +from Helium."</p> + +<p>"I am a panthan," replied Turan, "and I have served many +countries, among them Gathol."</p> + +<p>"It is what the slaves from Gathol have told me," said A-Kor, +thoughtfully, "and my mother, before O-Tar sent her to live at +Manatos. I think he must have feared her power and influence +among the slaves from Gathol and their descendants, who number +perhaps a million people throughout the land of Manator."</p> + +<p>"Are these slaves organized?" asked Turan.</p> + +<p>A-Kor looked straight into the eyes of the panthan for a long +moment before he replied. "You are a man of honor," he said; "I +read it in your face, and I am seldom mistaken in my estimate of +a man; but—" and he leaned closer to the other—"even the walls +have ears," he whispered, and Turan's question was answered.</p> + +<p>It was later in the evening that warriors came and unlocked the +fetter from Turan's ankle and led him away to appear before +O-Tar, the jeddak. They conducted him toward the palace along +narrow, winding streets and broad avenues; but always from the +balconies there looked down upon them in endless ranks the silent +people of the city. The palace itself was filled with life and +activity. Mounted warriors galloped through the corridors and up +and down the runways connecting adjacent floors. It seemed that +no one walked within the palace other than a few slaves. +Squealing, fighting thoats were stabled in magnificent halls +while their riders, if not upon some duty of the palace, played +at jetan with small figures carved from wood.</p> + +<p>Turan noted the magnificence of the interior architecture of the +palace, the lavish expenditure of precious jewels and metals, the +gorgeous mural decorations which depicted almost exclusively +martial scenes, and principally duels which seemed to be fought +upon jetan boards of heroic size. The capitals of many of the +columns supporting the ceilings of the corridors and chambers +through which they passed were wrought into formal likenesses of +jetan pieces—everywhere there seemed a suggestion of the game. +Along the same path that Tara of Helium had been led Turan was +conducted toward the throne room of O-Tar the jeddak, and when he +entered the Hall of Chiefs his interest turned to wonder and +admiration as he viewed the ranks of statuesque thoatmen decked +in their gorgeous, martial panoply. Never, he thought, had he +seen upon Barsoom more soldierly figures or thoats so perfectly +trained to perfection of immobility as these. Not a muscle +quivered, not a tail lashed, and the riders were as motionless as +their mounts—each warlike eye straight to the front, the great +spears inclined at the same angle. It was a picture to fill the +breast of a fighting man with awe and reverence. Nor did it fail +in its effect upon Turan as they conducted him the length of the +chamber, where he waited before great doors until he should be +summoned into the presence of the ruler of Manator.</p> + +<hr /> + +<p>When Tara of Helium was ushered into the throne room of O-Tar she +found the great hall filled with the chiefs and officers of O-Tar +and U-Thor, the latter occupying the place of honor at the foot +of the throne, as was his due. The girl was conducted to the foot +of the aisle and halted before the jeddak, who looked down upon +her from his high throne with scowling brows and fierce, cruel +eyes.</p> + +<p>"The laws of Manator are just," said O-Tar, addressing her; "thus +is it that you have been summoned here again to be judged by the +highest authority of Manator. Word has reached me that you are +suspected of being a Corphal. What word have you to say in +refutation of the charge?"</p> + +<p>Tara of Helium could scarce restrain a sneer as she answered the +ridiculous accusation of witchcraft. "So ancient is the culture +of my people," she said, "that authentic history reveals no +defense for that which we know existed only in the ignorant and +superstitious minds of the most primitive peoples of the past. To +those who are yet so untutored as to believe in the existence of +Corphals, there can be no argument that will convince them of +their error—only long ages of refinement and culture can +accomplish their release from the bondage of ignorance. I have +spoken."</p> + +<p>"Yet you do not deny the accusation," said O-Tar.</p> + +<p>"It is not worthy the dignity of a denial," she responded +haughtily.</p> + +<p>"And I were you, woman," said a deep voice at her side, "I +should, nevertheless, deny it."</p> + +<p>Tara of Helium turned to see the eyes of U-Thor, the great jed of +Manatos, upon her. Brave eyes they were, but neither cold nor +cruel. O-Tar rapped impatiently upon the arm of his throne. +"U-Thor forgets," he cried, "that O-Tar is the jeddak."</p> + +<p>"U-Thor remembers," replied the jed of Manatos, "that the laws of +Manator permit any who may be accused to have advice and counsel +before their judge."</p> + +<p>Tara of Helium saw that for some reason this man would have +assisted her, and so she acted upon his advice.</p> + +<p>"I deny the charge," she said, "I am no Corphal."</p> + +<p>"Of that we shall learn," snapped O-Tar. "U-Dor, where are those +who have knowledge of the powers of this woman?"</p> + +<p>And U-Dor brought several who recounted the little that was known +of the disappearance of E-Med, and others who told of the capture +of Ghek and Tara, suggesting by deduction that having been found +together they had sufficient in common to make it reasonably +certain that one was as bad as the other, and that, therefore, it +remained but to convict one of them of Corphalism to make certain +the guilt of both. And then O-Tar called for Ghek, and +immediately the hideous kaldane was dragged before him by +warriors who could not conceal the fear in which they held this +creature.</p> + +<p>"And you!" said O-Tar in cold accusing tones. "Already have I +been told enough of you to warrant me in passing through your +heart the jeddak's steel—of how you stole the brains from the +warrior U-Van so that he thought he saw your headless body still +endowed with life; of how you caused another to believe that you +had escaped, making him to see naught but an empty bench and a +blank wall where you had been."</p> + +<p>"Ah, O-Tar, but that is as nothing!" cried a young padwar who had +come in command of the escort that brought Ghek. "The thing which +he did to I-Zav, here, would prove his guilt alone."</p> + +<p>"What did he to the warrior I-Zav?" demanded O-Tar. "Let I-Zav +speak!"</p> + +<p>The warrior I-Zav, a great fellow of bulging muscles and thick +neck, advanced to the foot of the throne. He was pale and still +trembling visibly as from a nervous shock.</p> + +<p>"Let my first ancestor be my witness, O-Tar, that I speak the +truth," he began. "I was left to guard this creature, who sat +upon a bench, shackled to the wall. I stood by the open doorway +at the opposite side of the chamber. He could not reach me, yet, +O-Tar, may Iss engulf me if he did not drag me to him helpless as +an unhatched egg. He dragged me to him, greatest of jeddaks, with +his eyes! With his eyes he seized upon my eyes and dragged me to +him and he made me lay my swords and dagger upon the table and +back off into a corner, and still keeping his eyes upon my eyes +his head quitted his body and crawling upon six short legs it +descended to the floor and backed part way into the hole of an +ulsio, but not so far that the eyes were not still upon me and +then it returned with the key to its fetter and after resuming +its place upon its own shoulders it unlocked the fetter and again +dragged me across the room and made me to sit upon the bench +where it had been and there it fastened the fetter about my +ankle, and I could do naught for the power of its eyes and the +fact that it wore my two swords and my dagger. And then the head +disappeared down the hole of the ulsio with the key, and when it +returned, it resumed its body and stood guard over me at the +doorway until the padwar came to fetch it hither."</p> + +<p>"It is enough!" said O-Tar, sternly. "Both shall receive the +jeddak's steel," and rising from his throne he drew his long +sword and descended the marble steps toward them, while two +brawny warriors seized Tara by either arm and two seized Ghek, +holding them facing the naked blade of the jeddak.</p> + +<p>"Hold, just O-Tar!" cried U-Dor. "There be yet another to be +judged. Let us confront him who calls himself Turan with these +his fellows before they die."</p> + +<p>"Good!" exclaimed O-Tar, pausing half way down the steps. "Fetch +Turan, the slave!"</p> + +<p>When Turan had been brought into the chamber he was placed a +little to Tara's left and a step nearer the throne. O-Tar eyed +him menacingly.</p> + +<p>"You are Turan," he asked, "friend and companion of these?"</p> + +<p>The panthan was about to reply when Tara of Helium spoke. "I know +not this fellow," she said. "Who dares say that he be a friend +and companion of the Princess Tara of Helium?"</p> + +<p>Turan and Ghek looked at her in surprise, but at Turan she did +not look, and to Ghek she passed a quick glance of warning, as to +say: "Hold thy peace."</p> + +<p>The panthan tried not to fathom her purpose for the head is +useless when the heart usurps its functions, and Turan knew only +that the woman he loved had denied him, and though he tried not +even to think it his foolish heart urged but a single +explanation—that she refused to recognize him lest she be +involved in his difficulties.</p> + +<p>O-Tar looked first at one and then at another of them; but none +of them spoke.</p> + +<p>"Were they not captured together?" he asked of U-Dor.</p> + +<p>"No," replied the dwar. "He who is called Turan was found seeking +entrance to the city and was enticed to the pits. The following +morning I discovered the other two upon the hill beyond The Gate +of Enemies."</p> + +<p>"But they are friends and companions," said a young padwar, "for +this Turan inquired of me concerning these two, calling them by +name and saying that they were his friends."</p> + +<p>"It is enough," stated O-Tar, "all three shall die," and he took +another step downward from the throne.</p> + +<p>"For what shall we die?" asked Ghek. "Your people prate of the +just laws of Manator, and yet you would slay three strangers +without telling them of what crime they are accused."</p> + +<p>"He is right," said a deep voice. It was the voice of U-Thor, the +great jed of Manatos. O-Tar looked at him and scowled; but there +came voices from other portions of the chamber seconding the +demand for justice.</p> + +<p>"Then know, though you shall die anyway," cried O-Tar, "that all +three are convicted of Corphalism and that as only a jeddak may +slay such as you in safety you are about to be honored with the +steel of O-Tar."</p> + +<p>"Fool!" cried Turan. "Know you not that in the veins of this +woman flows the blood of ten thousand jeddaks—that greater than +yours is her power in her own land? She is Tara, Princess of +Helium, great-granddaughter of Tardos Mors, daughter of John +Carter, Warlord of Barsoom. She cannot be a Corphal. Nor is this +creature Ghek, nor am I. And you would know more, I can prove my +right to be heard and to be believed if I may have word with the +Princess Haja of Gathol, whose son is my fellow prisoner in the +pits of O-Tar, his father."</p> + +<p>At this U-Thor rose to his feet and faced O-Tar. "What means +this?" he asked. "Speaks the man the truth? Is the son of Haja a +prisoner in thy pits, O-Tar?"</p> + +<p>"And what is it to the jed of Manatos who be the prisoners in the +pits of his jeddak?" demanded O-Tar, angrily.</p> + +<p>"It is this to the jed of Manatos," replied U-Thor in a voice so +low as to be scarce more than a whisper and yet that was heard +the whole length and breadth of the great throne room of O-Tar, +Jeddak of Manator. "You gave me a slave woman, Haja, who had been +a princess in Gathol, because you feared her influence among the +slaves from Gathol. I have made of her a free woman, and I have +married her and made her thus a princess of Manatos. Her son is +my son, O-Tar, and though thou be my jeddak, I say to you that +for any harm that befalls A-Kor you shall answer to U-Thor of +Manatos."</p> + +<p>O-Tar looked long at U-Thor, but he made no reply. Then he turned +again to Turan. "If one be a Corphal," he said, "then all of you +be Corphals, and we know well from the things that this creature +has done," he pointed at Ghek, "that he is a Corphal, for no +mortal has such powers as he. And as you are all Corphals you +must all die." He took another step downward, when Ghek spoke.</p> + +<p>"These two have no such powers as I," he said. "They are but +ordinary, brainless things such as yourself. I have done all the +things that your poor, ignorant warriors have told you; but this +only demonstrates that I am of a higher order than yourselves, as +is indeed the fact. I am a kaldane, not a Corphal. There is +nothing supernatural or mysterious about me, other than that to +the ignorant all things which they cannot understand are +mysterious. Easily might I have eluded your warriors and escaped +your pits; but I remained in the hope that I might help these two +foolish creatures who have not the brains to escape without help. +They befriended me and saved my life. I owe them this debt. Do +not slay them—they are harmless. Slay me if you will. I offer my +life if it will appease your ignorant wrath. I cannot return to +Bantoom and so I might as well die, for there is no pleasure in +intercourse with the feeble intellects that cumber the face of +the world outside the valley of Bantoom."</p> + +<p>"Hideous egotist," said O-Tar, "prepare to die and assume not to +dictate to O-Tar the jeddak. He has passed sentence and all three +of you shall feel the jeddak's naked steel. I have spoken!"</p> + +<p>He took another step downward and then a strange thing happened. +He paused, his eyes fixed upon the eyes of Ghek. His sword +slipped from nerveless fingers, and still he stood there swaying +forward and back. A jed rose to rush to his side; but Ghek +stopped him with a word.</p> + +<p>"Wait!" he cried. "The life of your jeddak is in my hands. You +believe me a Corphal and so you believe, too, that only the sword +of a jeddak may slay me, therefore your blades are useless +against me. Offer harm to any one of us, or seek to approach your +jeddak until I have spoken, and he shall sink lifeless to the +marble. Release the two prisoners and let them come to my side—I +would speak to them, privately. Quick! do as I say; I would as +lief as not slay O-Tar. I but let him live that I may gain +freedom for my friends—obstruct me and he dies."</p> + +<p>The guards fell back, releasing Tara and Turan, who came close to +Ghek's side.</p> + +<p>"Do as I tell you and do it quickly," whispered the kaldane. "I +cannot hold this fellow long, nor could I kill him thus. There +are many minds working against mine and presently mine will tire +and O-Tar will be himself again. You must make the best of your +opportunity while you may. Behind the arras that you see hanging +in the rear of the throne above you is a secret opening. From it +a corridor leads to the pits of the palace, where there are +storerooms containing food and drink. Few people go there. From +these pits lead others to all parts of the city. Follow one that +runs due west and it will bring you to The Gate of Enemies. The +rest will then lie with you. I can do no more; hurry before my +waning powers fail me—I am not as Luud, who was a king. He could +have held this creature forever. Make haste! Go!"</p> + + +<div style="height: 4em;"><br /><br /><br /><br /></div> + + +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XV" id="CHAPTER_XV" />CHAPTER XV</h2> + +<h2>THE OLD MAN OF THE PITS</h2> + +<p>"I shall not desert you, Ghek," said Tara of Helium, simply.</p> + +<p>"Go! Go!" whispered the kaldane. "You can do me no good. Go, or +all I have done is for naught."</p> + +<p>Tara shook her head. "I cannot," she said.</p> + +<p>"They will slay her," said Ghek to Turan, and the panthan, torn +between loyalty to this strange creature who had offered its life +for him, and love of the woman, hesitated but a moment, then he +swept Tara from her feet and lifting her in his arms leaped up +the steps that led to the throne of Manator. Behind the throne he +parted the arras and found the secret opening. Into this he bore +the girl and down a long, narrow corridor and winding runways +that led to lower levels until they came to the pits of the +palace of O-Tar. Here was a labyrinth of passages and chambers +presenting a thousand hiding-places.</p> + +<p>As Turan bore Tara up the steps toward the throne a score of +warriors rose as though to rush forward to intercept them. +"Stay!" cried Ghek, "or your jeddak dies," and they halted in +their tracks, waiting the will of this strange, uncanny creature.</p> + +<p>Presently Ghek took his eyes from the eyes of O-Tar and the +jeddak shook himself as one who would be rid of a bad dream and +straightened up, half dazed still.</p> + +<p>"Look," said Ghek, then, "I have given your jeddak his life, +nor have I harmed one of those whom I might easily have slain +when they were in my power. No harm have I or my friends done in +the city of Manator. Why then should you persecute us? Give us +our lives. Give us our liberty."</p> + +<p>O-Tar, now in command of his faculties, stooped and regained his +sword. In the room was silence as all waited to hear the jeddak's +answer.</p> + +<p>"Just are the laws of Manator," he said at last. "Perhaps, after +all, there is truth in the words of the stranger. Return him then +to the pits and pursue the others and capture them. Through the +mercy of O-Tar they shall be permitted to win their freedom upon +the Field of Jetan, in the coming games."</p> + +<p>Still ashen was the face of the jeddak as Ghek was led away and +his appearance was that of a man who had been snatched from the +brink of eternity into which he has gazed, not with the composure +of great courage, but with fear. There were those in the throne +room who knew that the execution of the three prisoners had but +been delayed and the responsibility placed upon the shoulders of +others, and one of those who knew was U-Thor, the great jed of +Manatos. His curling lip betokened his scorn of the jeddak who +had chosen humiliation rather than death. He knew that O-Tar had +lost more of prestige in those few moments than he could regain +in a lifetime, for the Martians are jealous of the courage of +their chiefs—there can be no evasions of stern duty, no +temporizing with honor. That there were others in the room who +shared U-Thor's belief was evidenced by the silence and the grim +scowls.</p> + +<p>O-Tar glanced quickly around. He must have sensed the hostility +and guessed its cause, for he went suddenly angry, and as one who +seeks by the vehemence of his words to establish the courage of +his heart he roared forth what could be considered as naught +other than a challenge.</p> + +<p>"The will of O-Tar, the jeddak, is the law of Manator," he cried, +"and the laws of Manator are just—they cannot err. U-Dor, +dispatch those who will search the palace, the pits, and the +city, and return the fugitives to their cells.</p> + +<p>"And now for you, U-Thor of Manatos! Think you with impunity to +threaten your jeddak—to question his right to punish traitors +and instigators of treason? What am I to think of your own +loyalty, who takes to wife a woman I have banished from my court +because of her intrigues against the authority of her jeddak and +her master? But O-Tar is just. Make your explanations and your +peace, then, before it is too late."</p> + +<p>"U-Thor has nothing to explain," replied the jed of Manatos; "nor +is he at war with his jeddak; but he has the right that every jed +and every warrior enjoys, of demanding justice at the hands of +the jeddak for whomsoever he believes to be persecuted. With +increasing rigor has the jeddak of Manator persecuted the slaves +from Gathol since he took to himself the unwilling Princess Haja. +If the slaves from Gathol have harbored thoughts of vengeance and +escape 'tis no more than might be expected from a proud and +courageous people. Ever have I counselled greater fairness in our +treatment of our slaves, many of whom, in their own lands, are +people of great distinction and power; but always has O-Tar, the +jeddak, flouted with arrogance my every suggestion. Though it has +been through none of my seeking that the question has arisen now +I am glad that it has, for the time was bound to come when the +jeds of Manator would demand from O-Tar the respect and +consideration that is their due from the man who holds his high +office at their pleasure. Know, then, O-Tar, that you must free +A-Kor, the dwar, forthwith or bring him to fair trial before the +assembled jeds of Manator. I have spoken."</p> + +<p>"You have spoken well and to the point, U-Thor," cried O-Tar, +"for you have revealed to your jeddak and your fellow jeds the +depth of the disloyalty that I have long suspected. A-Kor already +has been tried and sentenced by the supreme tribunal of +Manator—O-Tar, the jeddak; and you too shall receive justice +from the same unfailing source. In the meantime you are under +arrest. To the pits with him! To the pits with U-Thor the false +jed!" He clapped his hands to summon the surrounding warriors to +do his bidding. A score leaped forward to seize U-Thor. They were +warriors of the palace, mostly; but two score leaped to defend +U-Thor, and with ringing steel they fought at the foot of the +steps to the throne of Manator where stood O-Tar, the jeddak, +with drawn sword ready to take his part in the +melee.</p> + +<p>At the clash of steel, palace guards rushed to the scene from +other parts of the great building until those who would have +defended U-Thor were outnumbered two to one, and then the jed of +Manatos slowly withdrew with his forces, and fighting his way +through the corridors and chambers of the palace came at last to +the avenue. Here he was reinforced by the little army that had +marched with him into Manator. Slowly they retreated toward The +Gate of Enemies between the rows of silent people looking down +upon them from the balconies and there, within the city walls, +they made their stand.</p> + +<p>In a dimly-lighted chamber beneath the palace of O-Tar the +jeddak, Turan the panthan lowered Tara of Helium from his arms +and faced her. "I am sorry, Princess," he said, "that I was +forced to disobey your commands, or to abandon Ghek; but there +was no other way. Could he have saved you I would have stayed in +his place. Tell me that you forgive me."</p> + +<p>"How could I do less?" she replied graciously. "But it seemed +cowardly to abandon a friend."</p> + +<p>"Had we been three fighting men it had been different," he said. +"We could only have remained and died together, fighting; but you +know, Tara of Helium, that we may not jeopardize a woman's safety +even though we risk the loss of honor."</p> + +<p>"I know that, Turan," she said; "but no one may say that you have +risked honor, who knows the honor and bravery that are yours."</p> + +<p>He heard her with surprise for these were the first words that +she had spoken to him that did not savor of the attitude of a +princess to a panthan—though it was more in her tone than the +actual words that he apprehended the difference. How at variance +were they to her recent repudiation of him! He could not fathom +her, and so he blurted out the question that had been in his mind +since she had told O-Tar that she did not know him.</p> + +<p>"Tara of Helium," he said, "your words are balm to the wound you +gave me in the throne room of O-Tar. Tell me, Princess, why you +denied me."</p> + +<p>She turned her great, deep eyes up to his and in them was a +little of reproach.</p> + +<p>"You did not guess," she asked, "that it was my lips alone and +not my heart that denied you? O-Tar had ordered that I die, more +because I was a companion of Ghek than because of any evidence +against me, and so I knew that if I acknowledged you as one of +us, you would be slain, too."</p> + +<p>"It was to save me, then?" he cried, his face suddenly lighting.</p> + +<p>"It was to save my brave panthan," she said in a low voice.</p> + +<p>"Tara of Helium," said the warrior, dropping to one knee, "your +words are as food to my hungry heart," and he took her fingers in +his and pressed them to his lips.</p> + +<p>Gently she raised him to his feet. "You need not tell me, +kneeling," she said, softly.</p> + +<p>Her hand was still in his as he rose and they were very close, +and the man was still flushed with the contact of her body since +he had carried her from the throne room of O-Tar. He felt his +heart pounding in his breast and the hot blood surging through +his veins as he looked at her beautiful face, with its downcast +eyes and the half-parted lips that he would have given a kingdom +to possess, and then he swept her to him and as he crushed her +against his breast his lips smothered hers with kisses.</p> + +<p>But only for an instant. Like a tigress the girl turned upon +him, striking him, and thrusting him away. She stepped back, her +head high and her eyes flashing fire. "You would dare?" she +cried. "You would dare thus defile a princess of Helium?"</p> + +<p>His eyes met hers squarely and there was no shame and no remorse +in them.</p> + +<p>"Yes, I would dare," he said. "I would dare love Tara of Helium; +but I would not dare defile her or any woman with kisses that +were not prompted by love of her alone." He stepped closer to her +and laid his hands upon her shoulders. "Look into my eyes, +daughter of The Warlord," he said, "and tell me that you do not +wish the love of Turan, the panthan."</p> + +<p>"I do not wish your love," she cried, pulling away. "I hate you!" +and then turning away she bent her head into the hollow of her +arm, and wept.</p> + +<p>The man took a step toward her as though to comfort her when he +was arrested by the sound of a crackling laugh behind him. +Wheeling about, he discovered a strange figure of a man standing +in a doorway. It was one of those rarities occasionally to be +seen upon Barsoom—an old man with the signs of age upon him. +Bent and wrinkled, he had more the appearance of a mummy than a +man.</p> + +<p>"Love in the pits of O-Tar!" he cried, and again his thin +laughter jarred upon the silence of the subterranean vaults. "A +strange place to woo! A strange place to woo, indeed! When I was +a young man we roamed in the gardens beneath giant pimalias and +stole our kisses in the brief shadows of hurtling Thuria. We came +not to the gloomy pits to speak of love; but times have changed +and ways have changed, though I had never thought to live to see +the time when the way of a man with a maid, or a maid with a man +would change. Ah, but we kissed them then! And what if they +objected, eh? What if they objected? Why, we kissed them more. +Ey, ey, those were the days!" and he cackled again. "Ey, well do +I recall the first of them I ever kissed, and I've kissed an army +of them since; she was a fine girl, but she tried to slip a +dagger into me while I was kissing her. Ey, ey, those were the +days! But I kissed her. She's been dead over a thousand years +now, but she was never kissed again like that while she lived, +I'll swear, not since she's been dead, either. And then there was +that other—" but Turan, seeing a thousand or more years of +osculatory memoirs portending, interrupted.</p> + +<p>"Tell me, ancient one," he said, "not of thy loves but of +thyself. Who are you? What do you here in the pits of O-Tar?"</p> + +<p>"I might ask you the same, young man," replied the other. "Few +there are who visit the pits other than the dead, except my +pupils—ey! That is it—you are new pupils! Good! But never +before have they sent a woman to learn the great art from the +greatest artist. But times have changed. Now, in my day the women +did no work—they were just for kissing and loving. Ey, those +were the women. I mind the one we captured in the south—ey! she +was a devil, but how she could love. She had breasts of marble +and a heart of fire. Why, she—"</p> + +<p>"Yes, yes," interrupted Turan; "we are pupils, and we are anxious +to get to work. Lead on and we will follow."</p> + +<p>"Ey, yes! Ey, yes! Come! All is rush and hurry as though there +were not another countless myriad of ages ahead. Ey, yes! as many +as lie behind. Two thousand years have passed since I broke my +shell and always rush, rush, rush, yet I cannot see that aught +has been accomplished. Manator is the same today as it was +then—except the girls. We had the girls then. There was one that +I gained upon The Fields of Jetan. Ey, but you should have seen +—"</p> + +<p>"Lead on!" cried Turan. "After we are at work you shall tell us +of her."</p> + +<p>"Ey, yes," said the old fellow and shuffled off down a dimly +lighted passage. "Follow me!"</p> + +<p>"You are going with him?" asked Tara.</p> + +<p>"Why not?" replied Turan. "We know not where we are, or the way +from these pits; for I know not east from west; but he doubtless +knows and if we are shrewd we may learn from him that which we +would know. At least we cannot afford to arouse his suspicions"; +and so they followed him—followed along winding corridors and +through many chambers, until they came at last to a room in which +there were several marble slabs raised upon pedestals some three +feet above the floor and upon each slab lay a human corpse.</p> + +<p>"Here we are," exclaimed the old man. "These are fresh and we +shall have to get to work upon them soon. I am working now on one +for The Gate of Enemies. He slew many of our warriors. Truly is +he entitled to a place in The Gate. Come, you shall see him."</p> + +<p>He led them to an adjoining apartment. Upon the floor were many +fresh, human bones and upon a marble slab a mass of shapeless +flesh.</p> + +<p>"You will learn this later," announced the old man; "but it will +not harm you to watch me now, for there are not many thus +prepared, and it may be long before you will have the opportunity +to see another prepared for The Gate of Enemies. First, you see, +I remove all the bones, carefully that the skin may be damaged as +little as possible. The skull is the most difficult, but it can +be removed by a skilful artist. You see, I have made but a single +opening. This I now sew up, and that done, the body is hung so," +and he fastened a piece of rope to the hair of the corpse and +swung the horrid thing to a ring in the ceiling. Directly below +it was a circular manhole in the floor from which he removed the +cover revealing a well partially filled with a reddish liquid. +"Now we lower it into this, the formula for which you shall learn +in due time. We fasten it thus to the bottom of the cover, which +we now replace. In a year it will be ready; but it must be +examined often in the meantime and the liquid kept above the +level of its crown. It will be a very beautiful piece, this one, +when it is ready.</p> + +<p>"And you are fortunate again, for there is one to come out +today." He crossed to the opposite side of the room and raised +another cover, reached in and dragged a grotesque looking figure +from the hole. It was a human body, shrunk by the action of the +chemical in which it had been immersed, to a little figure scarce +a foot high.</p> + +<p>"Ey! is it not fine?" cried the little old man. "Tomorrow it will +take its place in The Gate of Enemies." He dried it off with +cloths and packed it away carefully in a basket. "Perhaps you +would like to see some of my life work," he suggested, and +without waiting for their assent led them to another apartment, a +large chamber in which were forty or fifty people. All were +sitting or standing quietly about the walls, with the exception +of one huge warrior who bestrode a great thoat in the very center +of the room, and all were motionless. Instantly there sprang to +the minds of Tara and Turan the rows of silent people upon the +balconies that lined the avenues of the city, and the noble array +of mounted warriors in The Hall of Chiefs, and the same +explanation came to both but neither dared voice the question +that was in his mind, for fear of revealing by his ignorance the +fact that they were strangers in Manator and therefore impostors +in the guise of pupils.</p> + +<p>"It is very wonderful," said Turan. "It must require great skill +and patience and time."</p> + +<p>"That it does," replied the old man, "though having done it so +long I am quicker than most; but mine are the most natural. Why, +I would defy the wife of that warrior to say that insofar as +appearances are concerned he does not live," and he pointed at +the man upon the thoat. "Many of them, of course, are brought +here wasted or badly wounded and these I have to repair. That is +where great skill is required, for everyone wants his dead to +look as they did at their best in life; but you shall learn—to +mount them and paint them and repair them and sometimes to make +an ugly one look beautiful. And it will be a great comfort to be +able to mount your own. Why, for fifteen hundred years no one has +mounted my own dead but myself.</p> + +<p>"I have many, my balconies are crowded with them; but I keep a +great room for my wives. I have them all, as far back as the +first one, and many is the evening I spend with them—quiet +evenings and very pleasant. And then the pleasure of preparing +them and making them even more beautiful than in life partially +recompenses one for their loss. I take my time with them, looking +for a new one while I am working on the old. When I am not sure +about a new one I bring her to the chamber where my wives are, +and compare her charms with theirs, and there is always a great +satisfaction at such times in knowing that they will not object. +I love harmony."</p> + +<p>"Did you prepare all the warriors in The Hall of Chiefs?" asked +Turan.</p> + +<p>"Yes, I prepare them and repair them," replied the old man. +"O-Tar will trust no other. Even now I have two in another room +who were damaged in some way and brought down to me. O-Tar does +not like to have them gone long, since it leaves two riderless +thoats in the Hall; but I shall have them ready presently. He +wants them all there in the event any momentous question arises +upon which the living jeds cannot agree, or do not agree with +O-Tar. Such questions he carries to the jeds in The Hall of +Chiefs. There he shuts himself up alone with the great chiefs who +have attained wisdom through death. It is an excellent plan and +there is never any friction or misunderstandings. O-Tar has said +that it is the finest deliberative body upon Barsoom—much more +intelligent than that composed of the living jeds. But come, we +must get to work; come into the next chamber and I will begin +your instruction."</p> + +<p>He led the way into the chamber in which lay the several corpses +upon their marble slabs, and going to a cabinet he donned a pair +of huge spectacles and commenced to select various tools from +little compartments. This done he turned again toward his two +pupils.</p> + +<p>"Now let me have a look at you," he said. "My eyes are not what +they once were, and I need these powerful lenses for my work, or +to see distinctly the features of those around me."</p> + +<p>He turned his eyes upon the two before him. Turan held his breath +for he knew that now the man must discover that they wore not the +harness or insignia of Manator. He had wondered before why the +old fellow had not noticed it, for he had not known that he was +half blind. The other examined their faces, his eyes lingering +long upon the beauty of Tara of Helium, and then they drifted to +the harness of the two. Turan thought that he noted an +appreciable start of surprise on the part of the taxidermist, but +if the old man noticed anything his next words did not reveal it.</p> + +<p>"Come with I-Gos," he said to Turan, "I have materials in the +next room that I would have you fetch hither. Remain here, woman, +we shall be gone but a moment."</p> + +<p>He led the way to one of the numerous doors opening into the +chamber and entered ahead of Turan. Just inside the door he +stopped, and pointing to a bundle of silks and furs upon the +opposite side of the room directed Turan to fetch them. The +latter had crossed the room and was stooping to raise the bundle +when he heard the click of a lock behind him. Wheeling instantly +he saw that he was alone in the room and that the single door was +closed. Running rapidly to it he strove to open it, only to find +that he was a prisoner.</p> + +<p>I-Gos, stepping out and locking the door behind him, turned +toward Tara.</p> + +<p>"Your leather betrayed you," he said, laughing his cackling +laugh. "You sought to deceive old I-Gos, but you found that +though his eyes are weak his brain is not. But it shall not go +ill with you. You are beautiful and I-Gos loves beautiful women. +I might not have you elsewhere in Manator, but here there is none +to deny old I-Gos. Few come to the pits of the dead—only those +who bang the dead and they hasten away as fast as they can. No +one will know that I-Gos has a beautiful woman locked with his +dead. I shall ask you no questions and then I will not have to +give you up, for I will not know to whom you belong, eh? And when +you die I shall mount you beautifully and place you in the +chamber with my other women. Will not that be fine, eh?" He had +approached until he stood close beside the horrified girl. +"Come!" he cried, seizing her by the wrist. "Come to I-Gos!"</p> + + +<div style="height: 4em;"><br /><br /><br /><br /></div> + + +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XVI" id="CHAPTER_XVI" />CHAPTER XVI</h2> + +<h2>ANOTHER CHANGE OF NAME</h2> + +<p>Turan dashed himself against the door of his prison in a vain +effort to break through the solid skeel to the side of Tara whom +he knew to be in grave danger, but the heavy panels held and he +succeeded only in bruising his shoulders and his arms. At last he +desisted and set about searching his prison for some other means +of escape. He found no other opening in the stone walls, but his +search revealed a heterogeneous collection of odds and ends of +arms and apparel, of harness and ornaments and insignia, and +sleeping silks and furs in great quantities. There were swords +and spears and several large, two-bladed battle-axes, the heads +of which bore a striking resemblance to the propellor of a small +flier. Seizing one of these he attacked the door once more with +great fury. He expected to hear something from I-Gos at this +ruthless destruction, but no sound came to him from beyond the +door, which was, he thought, too thick for the human voice to +penetrate; but he would have wagered much that I-Gos heard him. +Bits of the hard wood splintered at each impact of the heavy axe, +but it was slow work and heavy. Presently he was compelled to +rest, and so it went for what seemed hours—working almost to the +verge of exhaustion and then resting for a few minutes; but ever +the hole grew larger though he could see nothing of the interior +of the room beyond because of the hanging that I-Gos had drawn +across it after he had locked Turan within.</p> + +<p>At last, however, the panthan had hewn an opening through which +his body could pass, and seizing a long-sword that he had brought +close to the door for the purpose he crawled through into the +next room. Flinging aside the arras he stood ready, sword in +hand, to fight his way to the side of Tara of Helium—but she was +not there. In the center of the room lay I-Gos, dead upon the +floor; but Tara of Helium was nowhere to be seen.</p> + +<p>Turan was nonplussed. It must have been her hand that had struck +down the old man, yet she had made no effort to release Turan +from his prison. And then he thought of those last words of hers: +"I do not want your love! I hate you," and the truth dawned upon +him—she had seized upon this first opportunity to escape him. +With downcast heart Turan turned away. What should he do? There +could be but one answer. While he lived and she lived he must +still leave no stone unturned to effect her escape and safe +return to the land of her people. But how? How was he even to +find his way from this labyrinth? How was he to find her again? +He walked to the nearest doorway. It chanced to be that which led +into the room containing the mounted dead, awaiting +transportation to balcony or grim room or whatever place was to +receive them. His eyes travelled to the great, painted warrior on +the thoat and as they ran over the splendid trappings and the +serviceable arms a new light came into the pain-dulled eyes of +the panthan. With a quick step he crossed to the side of the dead +warrior and dragged him from his mount. With equal celerity he +stripped him of his harness and his arms, and tearing off his +own, donned the regalia of the dead man. Then he hastened back to +the room in which he had been trapped, for there he had seen that +which he needed to make his disguise complete. In a cabinet he +found them—pots of paint that the old taxidermist had used to +place the war-paint in its wide bands across the cold faces of +dead warriors.</p> + +<p>A few moments later Gahan of Gathol emerged from the room a +warrior of Manator in every detail of harness, equipment, and +ornamentation. He had removed from the leather of the dead man +the insignia of his house and rank so that he might pass, with +the least danger of arousing suspicion, as a common warrior.</p> + +<p>To search for Tara of Helium in the vast, dim labyrinth of the +pits of O-Tar seemed to the Gatholian a hopeless quest, +foredoomed to failure. It would be wiser to seek the streets of +Manator where he might hope to learn first if she had been +recaptured and, if not, then he could return to the pits and +pursue the hunt for her. To find egress from the maze he must +perforce travel a considerable distance through the winding +corridors and chambers, since he had no idea as to the location +or direction of any exit. In fact, he could not have retraced his +steps a hundred yards toward the point at which he and Tara had +entered the gloomy caverns, and so he set out in the hope that he +might find by accident either Tara of Helium or a way to the +street level above.</p> + +<p>For a time he passed room after room filled with the cunningly +preserved dead of Manator, many of which were piled in tiers +after the manner that firewood is corded, and as he moved through +corridor and chamber he noticed hieroglyphics painted upon the +walls above every opening and at each fork or crossing of +corridors, until by observation he reached the conclusion that +these indicated the designations of passageways, so that one who +understood them might travel quickly and surely through the pits; +but Turan did not understand them. Even could he have read the +language of Manator they might not materially have aided one +unfamiliar with the city; but he could not read them at all +since, though there is but one spoken language upon Barsoom, +there are as many different written languages as there are +nations. One thing, however, soon became apparent to him—the +hieroglyphic of a corridor remained the same until the corridor +ended.</p> + +<p>It was not long before Turan realized from the distance that he +had traveled that the pits were part of a vast system +undermining, possibly, the entire city. At least he was convinced +that he had passed beyond the precincts of the palace. The +corridors and chambers varied in appearance and architecture from +time to time. All were lighted, though usually quite dimly, with +radium bulbs. For a long time he saw no signs of life other than +an occasional ulsio, then quite suddenly he came face to face +with a warrior at one of the numerous crossings. The fellow +looked at him, nodded, and passed on. Turan breathed a sigh of +relief as he realized that his disguise was effective, but he was +caught in the middle of it by a hail from the warrior who had +stopped and turned toward him. The panthan was glad that a sword +hung at his side, and glad too that they were buried in the dim +recesses of the pits and that there would be but a single +antagonist, for time was precious.</p> + +<p>"Heard you any word of the other?" called the warrior to him.</p> + +<p>"No," replied Turan, who had not the faintest idea to whom or +what the fellow referred.</p> + +<p>"He cannot escape," continued the warrior. "The woman ran +directly into our arms, but she swore that she knew not where her +companion might be found."</p> + +<p>"They took her back to O-Tar?" asked Turan, for now he knew whom +the other meant, and he would know more.</p> + +<p>"They took her back to The Towers of Jetan," replied the warrior. +"Tomorrow the games commence and doubtless she will be played +for, though I doubt if any wants her, beautiful as she is. She +fears not even O-Tar. By Cluros! but she would make a hard slave +to subdue—a regular she-banth she is. Not for me," and he +continued on his way shaking his head.</p> + +<p>Turan hurried on searching for an avenue that led to the level of +the streets above when suddenly he came to the open doorway of a +small chamber in which sat a man who was chained to the wall. +Turan voiced a low exclamation of surprise and pleasure as he +recognized that the man was A-Kor, and that he had stumbled by +accident upon the very cell in which he had been imprisoned. +A-Kor looked at him questioningly. It was evident that he did not +recognize his fellow prisoner. Turan crossed to the table and +leaning close to the other whispered to him.</p> + +<p>"I am Turan the panthan," he said, "who was chained beside you."</p> + +<p>A-Kor looked at him closely. "Your own mother would never know +you!" he said; "but tell me, what has transpired since they took +you away?"</p> + +<p>Turan recounted his experiences in the throne room of O-Tar and +in the pits beneath, "and now," he continued, "I must find these +Towers of Jetan and see what may be done toward liberating the +Princess of Helium."</p> + +<p>A-Kor shook his head. "Long was I dwar of the Towers," he said, +"and I can say to you, stranger, that you might as well attempt +to reduce Manator, single handed, as to rescue a prisoner from +The Towers of Jetan."</p> + +<p>"But I must," replied Turan.</p> + +<p>"Are you better than a good swordsman?" asked A-Kor presently.</p> + +<p>"I am accounted so," replied Turan.</p> + +<p>"Then there is a way—sst!" he was suddenly silent and pointing +toward the base of the wall at the end of the room.</p> + +<p>Turan looked in the direction the other's forefinger indicated, +to see projecting from the mouth of an ulsio's burrow two large +chelae and a pair of protruding eyes.</p> + +<p>"Ghek!" he cried and immediately the hideous kaldane crawled out +upon the floor and approached the table. A-Kor drew back with a +half-stifled ejaculation of repulsion. "Do not fear," Turan +reassured him. "It is my friend—he whom I told you held O-Tar +while Tara and I escaped."</p> + +<p>Ghek climbed to the table top and squatted between the two +warriors. "You are safe in assuming," he said addressing A-Kor, +"that Turan the panthan has no master in all Manator where the +art of sword-play is concerned. I overheard your conversation—go +on."</p> + +<p>"You are his friend," continued A-Kor, "and so I may explain +safely in your presence the only plan I know whereby he may hope +to rescue the Princess of Helium. She is to be the stake of one +of the games and it is O-Tar's desire that she be won by slaves +and common warriors, since she repulsed him. Thus would he punish +her. Not a single man, but all who survive upon the winning side +are to possess her. With money, however, one may buy off the +others before the game. That you could do, and if your side won +and you survived she would become your slave."</p> + +<p>"But how may a stranger and a hunted fugitive accomplish this?" +asked Turan.</p> + +<p>"No one will recognize you. You will go tomorrow to the keeper of +the Towers and enlist in that game for which the girl is to be +the stake, telling the keeper that you are from Manataj, the +farthest city of Manator. If he questions you, you may say that +you saw her when she was brought into the city after her capture. +If you win her, you will find thoats stabled at my palace and you +will carry from me a token that will place all that is mine at +your disposal."</p> + +<p>"But how can I buy off the others in the game without money?" +asked Turan. "I have none—not even of my own country."</p> + +<p>A-Kor opened his pocket-pouch and drew forth a packet of +Manatorian money.</p> + +<p>"Here is sufficient to buy them off twice over," he said, handing +a portion of it to Turan.</p> + +<p>"But why do you do this for a stranger?" asked the panthan.</p> + +<p>"My mother was a captive princess here," replied A-Kor. "I but do +for the Princess of Helium what my mother would have me do."</p> + +<p>"Under the circumstances, then, Manatorian," replied Turan, "I +cannot but accept your generosity on behalf of Tara of Helium and +live in hope that some day I may do for you something in return."</p> + +<p>"Now you must be gone," advised A-Kor. "At any minute a guard may +come and discover you here. Go directly to the Avenue of Gates, +which circles the city just within the outer wall. There you will +find many places devoted to the lodging of strangers. You will +know them by the thoat's head carved above the doors. Say that +you are here from Manataj to witness the games. Take the name of +U-Kal—it will arouse no suspicion, nor will you if you can avoid +conversation. Early in the morning seek the keeper of The Towers +of Jetan. May the strength and fortune of all your ancestors be +with you!"</p> + +<p>Bidding good-bye to Ghek and A-Kor, the panthan, following +directions given him by A-Kor, set out to find his way to the +Avenue of Gates, nor had he any great difficulty. On the way he +met several warriors, but beyond a nod they gave him no heed. +With ease he found a lodging place where there were many +strangers from other cities of Manator. As he had had no sleep +since the previous night he threw himself among the silks and +furs of his couch to gain the rest which he must have, was he to +give the best possible account of himself in the service of Tara +of Helium the following day.</p> + +<p>It was already morning when he awoke, and rising he paid for his +lodgings, sought a place to eat, and a short time later was on +his way toward The Towers of Jetan, which he had no difficulty in +finding owing to the great crowds that were winding along the +avenues toward the games. The new keeper of The Towers who had +succeeded E-Med was too busy to scrutinize entries closely, for +in addition to the many volunteer players there were scores of +slaves and prisoners being forced into the games by their owners +or the government. The name of each must be recorded as well as +the position he was to play and the game or games in which he was +to be entered, and then there were the substitutes for each that +was entered in more than a single game—one for each additional +game that an individual was entered for, that no succeeding game +might be delayed by the death or disablement of a player.</p> + +<p>"Your name?" asked a clerk as Turan presented himself.</p> + +<p>"U-Kal," replied the panthan.</p> + +<p>"Your city?"</p> + +<p>"Manataj."</p> + +<p>The keeper, who was standing beside the clerk, looked at Turan. +"You have come a great way to play at jetan," he said. "It is +seldom that the men of Manataj attend other than the decennial +games. Tell me of O-Zar! Will he attend next year? Ah, but he was +a noble fighter. If you be half the swordsman, U-Kal, the fame of +Manataj will increase this day. But tell me, what of O-Zar?"</p> + +<p>"He is well," replied Turan, glibly, "and he sent greetings to +his friends in Manator."</p> + +<p>"Good!" exclaimed the keeper, "and now in what game would you +enter?"</p> + +<p>"I would play for the Heliumetic princess, Tara," replied Turan.</p> + +<p>"But man, she is to be the stake of a game for slaves and +criminals," cried the keeper. "You would not volunteer for such a +game!"</p> + +<p>"But I would," replied Turan. "I saw here when she was brought +into the city and even then I vowed to possess her."</p> + +<p>"But you will have to share her with the survivors even if your +color wins," objected the other.</p> + +<p>"They may be brought to reason," insisted Turan.</p> + +<p>"And you will chance incurring the wrath of O-Tar, who has no +love for this savage barbarian," explained the keeper.</p> + +<p>"And I win her O-Tar will be rid of her," said Turan.</p> + +<p>The keeper of The Towers of Jetan shook his head. "You are rash," +he said. "I would that I might dissuade the friend of my friend +O-Zar from such madness."</p> + +<p>"Would you favor the friend of O-Zar?" asked Turan.</p> + +<p>"Gladly!" exclaimed the other. "What may I do for him?"</p> + +<p>"Make me chief of the Black and give me for my pieces all slaves +from Gathol, for I understand that those be excellent warriors," +replied the panthan.</p> + +<p>"It is a strange request," said the keeper, "but for my friend +O-Zar I would do even more, though of course—" he +hesitated—"it is customary for one who would be chief to make +some slight payment."</p> + +<p>"Certainly," Turan hastened to assure him; "I had not forgotten +that. I was about to ask you what the customary amount is."</p> + +<p>"For the friend of my friend it shall be nominal," replied the +keeper, naming a figure that Gahan, accustomed to the high price +of wealthy Gathol, thought ridiculously low.</p> + +<p>"Tell me," he said, handing the money to the keeper, "when the +game for the Heliumite is to be played."</p> + +<p>"It is the second in order of the day's games; and now if you +will come with me you may select your pieces."</p> + +<p>Turan followed the keeper to a large court which lay between the +towers and the jetan field, where hundreds of warriors were +assembled. Already chiefs for the games of the day were selecting +their pieces and assigning them to positions, though for the +principal games these matters had been arranged for weeks before. +The keeper led Turan to a part of the courtyard where the +majority of the slaves were assembled.</p> + +<p>"Take your choice of those not assigned," said the keeper, "and +when you have your quota conduct them to the field. Your place +will be assigned you by an officer there, and there you will +remain with your pieces until the second game is called. I wish +you luck, U-Kal, though from what I have heard you will be more +lucky to lose than to win the slave from Helium."</p> + +<p>After the fellow had departed Turan approached the slaves. "I +seek the best swordsmen for the second game," he announced. "Men +from Gathol I wish, for I have heard that these be noble +fighters."</p> + +<p>A slave rose and approached him. "It is all the same in which +game we die," he said. "I would fight for you as a panthan in the +second game."</p> + +<p>Another came. "I am not from Gathol," he said. "I am from Helium, +and I would fight for the honor of a princess of Helium."</p> + +<p>"Good!" exclaimed Turan. "Art a swordsman of repute in Helium?"</p> + +<p>"I was a dwar under the great Warlord, and I have fought at his +side in a score of battles from The Golden Cliffs to The Carrion +Caves. My name is Val Dor. Who knows Helium, knows my prowess."</p> + +<p>The name was well known to Gahan, who had heard the man spoken of +on his last visit to Helium, and his mysterious disappearance +discussed as well as his renown as a fighter.</p> + +<p>"How could I know aught of Helium?" asked Turan; "but if you be +such a fighter as you say no position could suit you better than +that of Flier. What say you?"</p> + +<p>The man's eyes denoted sudden surprise. He looked keenly at +Turan, his eyes running quickly over the other's harness. Then he +stepped quite close so that his words might not be overheard.</p> + +<p>"Methinks you may know more of Helium than of Manator," he +whispered.</p> + +<p>"What mean you, fellow?" demanded Turan, seeking to cudgel his +brains for the source of this man's knowledge, guess, or +inspiration.</p> + +<p>"I mean," replied Val Dor, "that you are not of Manator and that +if you wish to hide the fact it is well that you speak not to a +Manatorian as you did just speak to me of—Fliers! There be no +Fliers in Manator and no piece in their game of Jetan bearing +that name. Instead they call him who stands next to the Chief or +Princess, Odwar. The piece has the same moves and power that the +Flier has in the game as played outside Manator. Remember this +then and remember, too, that if you have a secret it be safe in +the keeping of Val Dor of Helium."</p> + +<p>Turan made no reply but turned to the task of selecting the +remainder of his pieces. Val Dor, the Heliumite, and Floran, the +volunteer from Gathol, were of great assistance to him, since one +or the other of them knew most of the slaves from whom his +selection was to be made. The pieces all chosen, Turan led them +to the place beside the playing field where they were to wait +their turn, and here he passed the word around that they were to +fight for more than the stake he offered for the princess should +they win. This stake they accepted, so that Turan was sure of +possessing Tara if his side was victorious, but he knew that +these men would fight even more valorously for chivalry than for +money, nor was it difficult to enlist the interest even of the +Gatholians in the service of the princess. And now he held out +the possibility of a still further reward.</p> + +<p>"I cannot promise you," he explained, "but I may say I have heard +that this day which makes it possible that should we win this +game we may even win your freedom!"</p> + +<p>They leaped to their feet and crowded around him with many +questions.</p> + +<p>"It may not be spoken of aloud," he said; "but Floran and Val Dor +know and they assure me that you may all be trusted. Listen! What +I would tell you places my life in your hands, but you must know +that every man will realize that he is fighting today the +greatest battle of his life—for the honor and the freedom of +Barsoom's most wondrous princess and for his own freedom as +well—for the chance to return each to his own country and to the +woman who awaits him there.</p> + +<p>"First, then, is my secret. I am not of Manator. Like yourselves +I am a slave, though for the moment disguised as a Manatorian +from Manataj. My country and my identity must remain undisclosed +for reasons that have no bearing upon our game today. I, then, am +one of you. I fight for the same things that you will fight for.</p> + +<p>"And now for that which I have but just learned. U-Thor, the +great jed of Manatos, quarreled with O-Tar in the palace the day +before yesterday and their warriors set upon one another. U-Thor +was driven as far as The Gate of Enemies, where he now lies +encamped. At any moment the fight may be renewed; but it is +thought that U-Thor has sent to Manatos for reinforcements. Now, +men of Gathol, here is the thing that interests you. U-Thor has +recently taken to wife the Princess Haja of Gathol, who was slave +to O-Tar and whose son, A-Kor, was dwar of The Towers of Jetan. +Haja's heart is filled with loyalty for Gathol and compassion for +her sons who are here enslaved, and this latter sentiment she has +to some extent transmitted to U-Thor. Aid me, therefore, in +freeing the Princess Tara of Helium and I believe that I can aid +you and her and myself to escape the city. Bend close your ears, +slaves of O-Tar, that no cruel enemy may hear my words," and +Gahan of Gathol whispered in low tones the daring plan he had +conceived. "And now," he demanded, when he had finished, "let him +who does not dare speak now." None replied. "Is there none?"</p> + +<p>"And it would not betray you should I cast my sword at thy feet, +it had been done ere this," said one in low tones pregnant with +suppressed feeling.</p> + +<p>"And I!" "And I!" "And I!" chorused the others in vibrant +whispers.</p> + +<div style="height: 4em;"><br /><br /><br /><br /></div> + + +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XVII" id="CHAPTER_XVII" />CHAPTER XVII</h2> + +<h2>A PLAY TO THE DEATH</h2> + +<p>Clear and sweet a trumpet spoke across The Fields of Jetan. From +The High Tower its cool voice floated across the city of Manator +and above the babel of human discords rising from the crowded +mass that filled the seats of the stadium below. It called the +players for the first game, and simultaneously there fluttered to +the peaks of a thousand staffs on tower and battlement and the +great wall of the stadium the rich, gay pennons of the fighting +chiefs of Manator. Thus was marked the opening of The Jeddak's +Games, the most important of the year and second only to the +Grand Decennial Games.</p> + +<p>Gahan of Gathol watched every play with eagle eye. The match was +an unimportant one, being but to settle some petty dispute +between two chiefs, and was played with professional jetan +players for points only. No one was killed and there was but +little blood spilled. It lasted about an hour and was terminated +by the chief of the losing side deliberately permitting himself +to be out-pointed, that the game might be called a draw.</p> + +<p>Again the trumpet sounded, this time announcing the second and +last game of the afternoon. While this was not considered an +important match, those being reserved for the fourth and fifth +days of the games, it promised to afford sufficient excitement +since it was a game to the death. The vital difference between +the game played with living men and that in which inanimate +pieces are used, lies in the fact that while in the latter the +mere placing of a piece upon a square occupied by an opponent +piece terminates the move, in the former the two pieces thus +brought together engage in a duel for possession of the square. +Therefore there enters into the former game not only the strategy +of jetan but the personal prowess and bravery of each individual +piece, so that a knowledge not only of one's own men but of each +player upon the opposing side is of vast value to a chief.</p> + +<p>In this respect was Gahan handicapped, though the loyalty of his +players did much to offset his ignorance of them, since they +aided him in arranging the board to the best advantage and told +him honestly the faults and virtues of each. One fought best in a +losing game; another was too slow; another too impetuous; this +one had fire and a heart of steel, but lacked endurance. Of the +opponents, though, they knew little or nothing, and now as the +two sides took their places upon the black and orange squares of +the great jetan board Gahan obtained, for the first time, a close +view of those who opposed him. The Orange Chief had not yet +entered the field, but his men were all in place. Val Dor turned +to Gahan. "They are all criminals from the pits of Manator," he +said. "There is no slave among them. We shall not have to fight +against a single fellow-countryman and every life we take will be +the life of an enemy."</p> + +<p>"It is well," replied Gahan; "but where is their Chief, and where +the two Princesses?"</p> + +<p>"They are coming now, see?" and he pointed across the field to +where two women could be seen approaching under guard.</p> + +<p>As they came nearer Gahan saw that one was indeed Tara of Helium, +but the other he did not recognize, and then they were brought to +the center of the field midway between the two sides and there +waited until the Orange Chief arrived.</p> + +<p>Floran voiced an exclamation of surprise when he recognized him. +"By my first ancestor if it is not one of their great chiefs," he +said, "and we were told that slaves and criminals were to play +for the stake of this game."</p> + +<p>His words were interrupted by the keeper of The Towers whose duty +it was not only to announce the games and the stakes, but to act +as referee as well.</p> + +<p>"Of this, the second game of the first day of the Jeddak's Games +in the four hundred and thirty-third year of O-Tar, Jeddak of +Manator, the Princesses of each side shall be the sole stakes and +to the survivors of the winning side shall belong both the +Princesses, to do with as they shall see fit. The Orange Princess +is the slave woman Lan-O of Gathol; the Black Princess is the +slave woman Tara, a princess of Helium. The Black Chief is U-Kal +of Manataj, a volunteer player; the Orange Chief is the dwar +U-Dor of the 8th Utan of the jeddak of Manator, also a volunteer +player. The squares shall be contested to the death. Just are the +laws of Manator! I have spoken."</p> + +<p>The initial move was won by U-Dor, following which the two Chiefs +escorted their respective Princesses to the square each was to +occupy. It was the first time Gahan had been alone with Tara +since she had been brought upon the field. He saw her +scrutinizing him closely as he approached to lead her to her +place and wondered if she recognized him: but if she did she gave +no sign of it. He could not but remember her last words—"I hate +you!" and her desertion of him when he had been locked in the +room beneath the palace by I-Gos, the taxidermist, and so he did +not seek to enlighten her as to his identity. He meant to fight +for her—to die for her, if necessary—and if he did not die to +go on fighting to the end for her love. Gahan of Gathol was not +easily to be discouraged, but he was compelled to admit that his +chances of winning the love of Tara of Helium were remote. +Already had she repulsed him twice. Once as jed of Gathol and +again as Turan the panthan. Before his love, however, came her +safety and the former must be relegated to the background until +the latter had been achieved.</p> + +<p>Passing among the players already at their stations the two took +their places upon their respective squares. At Tara's left was +the Black Chief, Gahan of Gathol; directly in front of her the +Princess' Panthan, Floran of Gathol; and at her right the +Princess' Odwar, Val Dor of Helium. And each of these knew the +part that he was to play, win or lose, as did each of the other +Black players. As Tara took her place Val Dor bowed low. "My +sword is at your feet, Tara of Helium," he said.</p> + +<p>She turned and looked at him, an expression of surprise and +incredulity upon her face. "Val Dor, the dwar!" she exclaimed. +"Val Dor of Helium—one of my father's trusted captains! Can it +be possible that my eyes speak the truth?"</p> + +<p>"It is Val Dor, Princess," the warrior replied, "and here to die +for you if need be, as is every wearer of the Black upon this +field of jetan today. Know Princess," he whispered, "that upon +this side is no man of Manator, but each and every is an enemy of +Manator."</p> + +<p>She cast a quick, meaning glance toward Gahan. "But what of him?" +she whispered, and then she caught her breath quickly in +surprise. "Shade of the first jeddak!" she exclaimed. "I did but +just recognize him through his disguise."</p> + +<p>"And you trust him?" asked Val Dor. "I know him not; but he spoke +fairly, as an honorable warrior, and we have taken him at his +word."</p> + +<p>"You have made no mistake," replied Tara of Helium. "I would +trust him with my life—with my soul; and you, too, may trust +him."</p> + +<p>Happy indeed would have been Gahan of Gathol could he have heard +those words; but Fate, who is usually unkind to the lover in such +matters, ordained it otherwise, and then the game was on.</p> + +<p>U-Dor moved his Princess' Odwar three squares diagonally to the +right, which placed the piece upon the Black Chief's Odwar's +seventh. The move was indicative of the game that U-Dor intended +playing—a game of blood, rather than of science—and evidenced +his contempt for his opponents.</p> + +<p>Gahan followed with his Odwar's Panthan one square straight +forward, a more scientific move, which opened up an avenue for +himself through his line of Panthans, as well as announcing to +the players and spectators that he intended having a hand in the +fighting himself even before the exigencies of the game forced it +upon him. The move elicited a ripple of applause from those +sections of seats reserved for the common warriors and their +women, showing perhaps that U-Dor was none too popular with +these, and, too, it had its effect upon the morale of Gahan's +pieces. A Chief may, and often does, play almost an entire game +without leaving his own square, where, mounted upon a thoat, he +may overlook the entire field and direct each move, nor may he be +reproached for lack of courage should he elect thus to play the +game since, by the rules, were he to be slain or so badly wounded +as to be compelled to withdraw, a game that might otherwise have +been won by the science of his play and the prowess of his men +would be drawn. To invite personal combat, therefore, denotes +confidence in his own swordsmanship, and great courage, two +attributes that were calculated to fill the Black players with +hope and valor when evinced by their Chief thus early in the +game.</p> + +<p>U-Dor's next move placed Lan-O's Odwar upon Tara's Odwar's +fourth—within striking distance of the Black Princess.</p> + +<p>Another move and the game would be lost to Gahan unless the +Orange Odwar was overthrown, or Tara moved to a position of +safety; but to move his Princess now would be to admit his belief +in the superiority of the Orange. In the three squares allowed +him he could not place himself squarely upon the square occupied +by the Odwar of U-Dor's Princess. There was only one player upon +the Black side that might dispute the square with the enemy and +that was the Chief's Odwar, who stood upon Gahan's left. Gahan +turned upon his thoat and looked at the man. He was a splendid +looking fellow, resplendent in the gorgeous trappings of an +Odwar, the five brilliant feathers which denoted his position +rising defiantly erect from his thick, black hair. In common with +every player upon the field and every spectator in the crowded +stands he knew what was passing in his Chief's mind. He dared not +speak, the ethics of the game forbade it, but what his lips might +not voice his eyes expressed in martial fire, and eloquently: +"The honor of the Black and the safety of our Princess are secure +with me!"</p> + +<p>Gahan hesitated no longer. "Chief's Odwar to Princess' Odwar's +fourth!" he commanded. It was the courageous move of a leader who +had taken up the gauntlet thrown down by his opponent.</p> + +<p>The warrior sprang forward and leaped into the square occupied by +U-Dor's piece. It was the first disputed square of the game. The +eyes of the players were fastened upon the contestants, the +spectators leaned forward in their seats after the first applause +that had greeted the move, and silence fell upon the vast +assemblage. If the Black went down to defeat, U-Dor could move +his victorious piece on to the square occupied by Tara of Helium +and the game would be over—over in four moves and lost to Gahan +of Gathol. If the Orange lost U-Dor would have sacrificed one of +his most important pieces and more than lost what advantage the +first move might have given him.</p> + +<p>Physically the two men appeared perfectly matched and each was +fighting for his life, but from the first it was apparent that +the Black Odwar was the better swordsman, and Gahan knew that he +had another and perhaps a greater advantage over his antagonist. +The latter was fighting for his life only, without the spur of +chivalry or loyalty. The Black Odwar had these to strengthen his +arm, and besides these the knowledge of the thing that Gahan had +whispered into the ears of his players before the game, and so he +fought for what is more than life to the man of honor.</p> + +<p>It was a duel that held those who witnessed it in spellbound +silence. The weaving blades gleamed in the brilliant sunlight, +ringing to the parries of cut and thrust. The barbaric harness of +the duelists lent splendid color to the savage, martial scene. +The Orange Odwar, forced upon the defensive, was fighting madly +for his life. The Black, with cool and terrible efficiency, was +forcing him steadily, step by step, into a corner of the +square—a position from which there could be no escape. To +abandon the square was to lose it to his opponent and win for +himself ignoble and immediate death before the jeering populace. +Spurred on by the seeming hopelessness of his plight, the Orange +Odwar burst into a sudden fury of offense that forced the Black +back a half dozen steps, and then the sword of U-Dor's piece +leaped in and drew first blood, from the shoulder of his +merciless opponent. An ill-smothered cry of encouragement went up +from U-Dor's men; the Orange Odwar, encouraged by his single +success, sought to bear down the Black by the rapidity of his +attack. There was a moment in which the swords moved with a +rapidity that no man's eye might follow, and then the Black Odwar +made a lightning parry of a vicious thrust, leaned quickly +forward into the opening he had effected, and drove his sword +through the heart of the Orange Odwar—to the hilt he drove it +through the body of the Orange Odwar.</p> + +<p>A shout arose from the stands, for wherever may have been the +favor of the spectators, none there was who could say that it had +not been a pretty fight, or that the better man had not won. And +from the Black players came a sigh of relief as they relaxed from +the tension of the past moments.</p> + +<p>I shall not weary you with the details of the game—only the high +features of it are necessary to your understanding of the +outcome. The fourth move after the victory of the Black Odwar +found Gahan upon U-Dor's fourth; an Orange Panthan was on the +adjoining square diagonally to his right and the only opposing +piece that could engage him other than U-Dor himself.</p> + +<p>It had been apparent to both players and spectators for the past +two moves, that Gahan was moving straight across the field into +the enemy's country to seek personal combat with the Orange +Chief—that he was staking all upon his belief in the superiority +of his own swordsmanship, since if the two Chiefs engage, the +outcome decides the game. U-Dor could move out and engage Gahan, +or he could move his Princess' Panthan upon the square occupied +by Gahan in he hope that the former would defeat the Black Chief +and thus draw the game, which is the outcome if any other than a +Chief slays the opposing Chief, or he could move away and escape, +temporarily, the necessity for personal combat, or at least that +is evidently what he had in mind as was obvious to all who saw +him scanning the board about him; and his disappointment was +apparent when he finally discovered that Gahan had so placed +himself that there was no square to which U-Dor could move that +it was not within Gahan's power to reach at his own next move.</p> + +<p>U-Dor had placed his own Princess four squares east of Gahan when +her position had been threatened, and he had hoped to lure the +Black Chief after her and away from U-Dor; but in that he had +failed. He now discovered that he might play his own Odwar into +personal combat with Gahan; but he had already lost one Odwar and +could ill spare the other. His position was a delicate one, since +he did not wish to engage Gahan personally, while it appeared +that there was little likelihood of his being able to escape. +There was just one hope and that lay in his Princess' Panthan, +so, without more deliberation he ordered the piece onto the +square occupied by the Black Chief.</p> + +<p>The sympathies of the spectators were all with Gahan now. If he +lost, the game would be declared a draw, nor do they think better +of drawn games upon Barsoom than do Earth men. If he won, it +would doubtless mean a duel between the two Chiefs, a development +for which they all were hoping. The game already bade fair to be +a short one and it would be an angry crowd should it be decided a +draw with only two men slain. There were great, historic games on +record where of the forty pieces on the field when the game +opened only three survived—the two Princesses and the victorious +Chief.</p> + +<p>They blamed U-Dor, though in fact he was well within his rights +in directing his play as he saw fit, nor was a refusal on his +part to engage the Black Chief necessarily an imputation of +cowardice. He was a great chief who had conceived a notion to +possess the slave Tara. There was no honor that could accrue to +him from engaging in combat with slaves and criminals, or an +unknown warrior from Manataj, nor was the stake of sufficient +import to warrant the risk.</p> + +<p>But now the duel between Gahan and the Orange Panthan was on and +the decision of the next move was no longer in other hands than +theirs. It was the first time that these Manatorians had seen +Gahan of Gathol fight, but Tara of Helium knew that he was master +of his sword. Could he have seen the proud light in her eyes as +he crossed blades with the wearer of the Orange, he might easily +have wondered if they were the same eyes that had flashed fire +and hatred at him that time he had covered her lips with mad +kisses, in the pits of the palace of O-Tar. As she watched him +she could not but compare his swordplay with that of the greatest +swordsman of two worlds—her father, John Carter, of Virginia, a +Prince of Helium, Warlord of Barsoom—and she knew that the skill +of the Black Chief suffered little by the comparison.</p> + +<p>Short and to the point was the duel that decided possession of +the Orange Chief's fourth. The spectators had settled themselves +for an interesting engagement of at least average duration when +they were brought almost standing by a brilliant flash of rapid +swordplay that was over ere one could catch his breath. They saw +the Black Chief step quickly back, his point upon the ground, +while his opponent, his sword slipping from his fingers, clutched +his breast, sank to his knees and then lunged forward upon his +face.</p> + +<p>And then Gahan of Gathol turned his eyes directly upon U-Dor of +Manator, three squares away. Three squares is a Chief's +move—three squares in any direction or combination of +directions, only provided that he does not cross the same square +twice in a given move. The people saw and guessed Gahan's +intention. They rose and roared forth their approval as he moved +deliberately across the intervening squares toward the Orange +Chief.</p> + +<p>O-Tar, in the royal enclosure, sat frowning upon the scene. O-Tar +was angry. He was angry with U-Dor for having entered this game +for possession of a slave, for whom it had been his wish only +slaves and criminals should strive. He was angry with the warrior +from Manataj for having so far out-generaled and out-fought the +men from Manator. He was angry with the populace because of their +open hostility toward one who had basked in the sunshine of his +favor for long years. O-Tar the jeddak had not enjoyed the +afternoon. Those who surrounded him were equally glum—they, too, +scowled upon the field, the players, and the people. Among them +was a bent and wrinkled old man who gazed through weak and watery +eyes upon the field and the players.</p> + +<p>As Gahan entered his square, U-Dor leaped toward him with drawn +sword with such fury as might have overborne a less skilled and +powerful swordsman. For a minute the fighting was fast and +furious and by comparison reducing to insignificance all that had +gone before. Here indeed were two magnificent swordsmen, and here +was to be a battle that bade fair to make up for whatever the +people felt they had been defrauded of by the shortness of the +game. Nor had it continued long before many there were who would +have prophesied that they were witnessing a duel that was to +become historic in the annals of jetan at Manator. Every trick, +every subterfuge, known to the art of fence these men employed. +Time and again each scored a point and brought blood to his +opponent's copper hide until both were red with gore; but neither +seemed able to administer the coup de grace.</p> + +<p>From her position upon the opposite side of the field Tara of +Helium watched the long-drawn battle. Always it seemed to her +that the Black Chief fought upon the defensive, or when he +assumed to push his opponent, he neglected a thousand openings +that her practiced eye beheld. Never did he seem in real danger, +nor never did he appear to exert himself to quite the pitch +needful for victory. The duel already had been long contested and +the day was drawing to a close. Presently the sudden transition +from daylight to darkness which, owing to the tenuity of the air +upon Barsoom, occurs almost without the warning twilight of +Earth, would occur. Would the fight never end? Would the game be +called a draw after all? What ailed the Black Chief?</p> + +<p>Tara wished that she might answer at least the last of these +questions for she was sure that Turan the panthan, as she knew +him, while fighting brilliantly, was not giving of himself all +that he might. She could not believe that fear was restraining +his hand, but that there was something beside inability to push +U-Dor more fiercely she was confident. What it was, however, she +could not guess.</p> + +<p>Once she saw Gahan glance quickly up toward the sinking sun. In +thirty minutes it would be dark. And then she saw and all those +others saw a strange transition steal over the swordplay of the +Black Chief. It was as though he had been playing with the great +dwar, U-Dor, all these hours, and now he still played with him +but there was a difference. He played with him terribly as a +carnivore plays with its victim in the instant before the kill. +The Orange Chief was helpless now in the hands of a swordsman so +superior that there could be no comparison, and the people sat in +open-mouthed wonder and awe as Gahan of Gathol cut his foe to +ribbons and then struck him down with a blow that cleft him to +the chin.</p> + +<p>In twenty minutes the sun would set. But what of that?</p> + +<div style="height: 4em;"><br /><br /><br /><br /></div> + + +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XVIII" id="CHAPTER_XVIII" />CHAPTER XVIII</h2> + +<h2>A TASK FOR LOYALTY</h2> + +<p>Long and loud was the applause that rose above the Field of Jetan +at Manator, as The Keeper of the Towers summoned the two +Princesses and the victorious Chief to the center of the field +and presented to the latter the fruits of his prowess, and then, +as custom demanded, the victorious players, headed by Gahan and +the two Princesses, formed in procession behind The Keeper of the +Towers and were conducted to the place of victory before the +royal enclosure that they might receive the commendation of the +jeddak. Those who were mounted gave up their thoats to slaves as +all must be on foot for this ceremony. Directly beneath the royal +enclosure are the gates to one of the tunnels that, passing +beneath the seats, give ingress or egress to or from the Field. +Before this gate the party halted while O-Tar looked down upon +them from above. Val Dor and Floran, passing quietly ahead of the +others, went directly to the gates, where they were hidden from +those who occupied the enclosure with O-Tar. The Keeper of the +Towers may have noticed them, but so occupied was he with the +formality of presenting the victorious Chief to the jeddak that +he paid no attention to them.</p> + +<p>"I bring you, O-Tar, Jeddak of Manator, U-Kal of Manataj," he +cried in a loud voice that might be heard by as many as possible, +"victor over the Orange in the second of the Jeddak's Games of +the four hundred and thirty-third year of O-Tar, and the slave +woman Tara and the slave woman Lan-O that you may bestow these, +the stakes, upon U-Kal."</p> + +<p>As he spoke, a little, wrinkled, old man peered over the rail of +the enclosure down upon the three who stood directly behind The +Keeper, and strained his weak and watery eyes in an effort to +satisfy the curiosity of old age in a matter of no particular +import, for what were two slaves and a common warrior from +Manataj to any who sat with O-Tar the jeddak?</p> + +<p>"U-Kal of Manataj," said O-Tar, "you have deserved the stakes. +Seldom have we looked upon more noble swordplay. And you tire of +Manataj there be always here in the city of Manator a place for +you in The Jeddak's Guard."</p> + +<p>While the jeddak was speaking the little, old man, failing +clearly to discern the features of the Black Chief, reached into +his pocket-pouch and drew forth a pair of thick-lensed +spectacles, which he placed upon his nose. For a moment he +scrutinized Gahan closely, then he leaped to his feet and +addressing O-Tar pointed a shaking finger it Gahan. As he rose +Tara of Helium clutched the Black Chief's arm.</p> + +<p>"Turan!" she whispered. "It is I-Gos, whom I thought to have +slain in the pits of O-Tar. It is I-Gos and he recognizes you and +will—"</p> + +<p>But what I-Gos would do was already transpiring. In his falsetto +voice he fairly screamed: "It is the slave Turan who stole the +woman Tara from your throne room, O-Tar. He desecrated the dead +chief I-Mal and wears his harness now!"</p> + +<p>Instantly all was pandemonium. Warriors drew their swords and +leaped to their feet. Gahan's victorious players rushed forward +in a body, sweeping The Keeper of the Towers from his feet. Val +Dor and Floran threw open the gates beneath the royal enclosure, +opening the tunnel that led to the avenue in the city beyond the +Towers. Gahan, surrounded by his men, drew Tara and Lan-O into +the passageway, and at a rapid pace the party sought to reach the +opposite end of the tunnel before their escape could be cut off. +They were successful and when they emerged into the city the sun +had set and darkness had come, relieved only by an antiquated and +ineffective lighting system, which cast but a pale glow over the +shadowy streets.</p> + +<p>Now it was that Tara of Helium guessed why the Black Chief had +drawn out his duel with U-Dor and realized that he might have +slain his man at almost any moment he had elected. The whole plan +that Gahan had whispered to his players before the game was +thoroughly understood. They were to make their way to The Gate of +Enemies and there offer their services to U-Thor, the great Jed +of Manatos. The fact that most of them were Gatholians and that +Gahan could lead rescuers to the pit where A-Kor, the son of +U-Thor's wife, was confined, convinced the Jed of Gathol that +they would meet with no rebuff at the hands of U-Thor. But even +should he refuse them, still were they bound together to go on +toward freedom, if necessary cutting their way through the forces +of U-Thor at The Gate of Enemies—twenty men against a small +army; but of such stuff are the warriors of Barsoom.</p> + +<p>They had covered a considerable distance along the almost +deserted avenue before signs of pursuit developed and then there +came upon them suddenly from behind a dozen warriors mounted on +thoats—a detachment, evidently, from The Jeddak's Guard. +Instantly the avenue was a pandemonium of clashing blades, +cursing warriors, and squealing thoats. In the first onslaught +life blood was spilled upon both sides. Two of Gahan's men went +down, and upon the enemies' side three riderless thoats attested +at least a portion of their casualties.</p> + +<p>Gahan was engaged with a fellow who appeared to have been +selected to account for him only, since he rode straight for him +and sought to cut him down without giving the slightest heed to +several who slashed at him as he passed them. The Gatholian, +practiced in the art of combating a mounted warrior from the +ground, sought to reach the left side of the fellow's thoat a +little to the rider's rear, the only position in which he would +have any advantage over his antagonist, or rather the position +that would most greatly reduce the advantage of the mounted man, +and, similarly, the Manatorian strove to thwart his design. And +so the guardsman wheeled and turned his vicious, angry mount +while Gahan leaped in and out in an effort to reach the coveted +vantage point, but always seeking some other opening in his foe's +defense.</p> + +<p>And while they jockeyed for position a rider swept swiftly past +them. As he passed behind Gahan the latter heard a cry of alarm.</p> + +<p>"Turan, they have me!" came to his ears in the voice of Tara of +Helium.</p> + +<p>A quick glance across his shoulder showed him the galloping +thoatman in the act of dragging Tara to the withers of the beast, +and then, with the fury of a demon, Gahan of Gathol leaped for +his own man, dragged him from his mount and as he fell smote his +head from his shoulders with a single cut of his keen sword. +Scarce had the body touched the pavement when the Gatholian was +upon the back of the dead warrior's mount, and galloping swiftly +down the avenue after the diminishing figures of Tara and her +abductor, the sounds of the fight waning in the distance as he +pursued his quarry along the avenue that passes the palace of +O-Tar and leads to The Gate of Enemies.</p> + +<p>Gahan's mount, carrying but a single rider, gained upon that of +the Manatorian, so that as they neared the palace Gahan was +scarce a hundred yards behind, and now, to his consternation, he +saw the fellow turn into the great entrance-way. For a moment +only was he halted by the guards and then he disappeared within. +Gahan was almost upon him then, but evidently he had warned the +guards, for they leaped out to intercept the Gatholian. But no! +the fellow could not have known that he was pursued, since he had +not seen Gahan seize a mount, nor would he have thought that +pursuit would come so soon. If he had passed then, so could Gahan +pass, for did he not wear the trappings of a Manatorian? The +Gatholian thought quickly, and stopping his thoat called to the +guardsmen to let him pass, "In the name of O-Tar!" They hesitated +a moment.</p> + +<p>"Aside!" cried Gahan. "Must the jeddak's messenger parley for the +right to deliver his message?"</p> + +<p>"To whom would you deliver it?" asked the padwar of the guard.</p> + +<p>"Saw you not him who just entered?" cried Gahan, and without +waiting for a reply urged his thoat straight past them into the +palace, and while they were deliberating what was best to be +done, it was too late to do anything—which is not unusual.</p> + +<p>Along the marble corridors Gahan guided his thoat, and because he +had gone that way before, rather than because he knew which way +Tara had been taken, he followed the runways and passed through +the chambers that led to the throne room of O-Tar. On the second +level he met a slave.</p> + +<p>"Which way went he who carried the woman before him?" he asked.</p> + +<p>The slave pointed toward a nearby runway that led to the third +level and Gahan dashed rapidly on in pursuit. At the same moment +a thoatman, riding at a furious pace, approached the palace and +halted his mount at the gate.</p> + +<p>"Saw you aught of a warrior pursuing one who carried a woman +before him on his thoat?" he shouted to the guard.</p> + +<p>"He but just passed in," replied the padwar, "saying that he was +O-Tar's messenger."</p> + +<p>"He lied," cried the newcomer. "He was Turan, the slave, who +stole the woman from the throne room two days since. Arouse +the palace! He must be seized, and alive if possible. It is +O-Tar's command."</p> + +<p>Instantly warriors were dispatched to search for the Gatholian +and warn the inmates of the palace to do likewise. Owing to the +games there were comparatively few retainers in the great +building, but those whom they found were immediately enlisted in +the search, so that presently at least fifty warriors were +seeking through the countless chambers and corridors of the +palace of O-Tar.</p> + +<p>As Gahan's thoat bore him to the third Level the man glimpsed the +hind quarters of another thoat disappearing at the turn of a +corridor far ahead. Urging his own animal forward he raced +swiftly in pursuit and making the turn discovered only an empty +corridor ahead. Along this he hurried to discover near its +farther end a runway to the fourth level, which he followed +upward. Here he saw that he had gained upon his quarry who was +just turning through a doorway fifty yards ahead. As Gahan +reached the opening he saw that the warrior had dismounted and +was dragging Tara toward a small door on the opposite side of the +chamber. At the same instant the clank of harness to his rear +caused him to cast a glance behind where, along the corridor he +had just traversed, he saw three warriors approaching on foot at +a run. Leaping from his thoat Gahan sprang into the chamber where +Tara was struggling to free herself from the grasp of her captor, +slammed the door behind him, shot the great bolt into its seat, +and drawing his sword crossed the room at a run to engage the +Manatorian. The fellow, thus menaced, called aloud to Gahan to +halt, at the same time thrusting Tara at arm's length and +threatening her heart with the point of his short-sword.</p> + +<p>"Stay!" he cried, "or the woman dies, for such is the command of +O-Tar, rather than that she again fall into your hands."</p> + +<p>Gahan stopped. But a few feet separated him from Tara and her +captor, yet he was helpless to aid her. Slowly the warrior backed +toward the open doorway behind him, dragging Tara with him. The +girl struggled and fought, but the warrior was a powerful man and +having seized her by the harness from behind was able to hold her +in a position of helplessness.</p> + +<p>"Save me, Turan!" she cried. "Let them not drag me to a fate +worse than death. Better that I die now while my eyes behold a +brave friend than later, fighting alone among enemies in defense +of my honor."</p> + +<p>He took a step nearer. The warrior made a threatening gesture +with his sword close to the soft, smooth skin of the princess, +and Gahan halted.</p> + +<p>"I cannot, Tara of Helium," he cried. "Think not ill of me that I +am weak—that I cannot see you die. Too great is my love for you, +daughter of Helium."</p> + +<p>The Manatorian warrior, a derisive grin upon his lips, backed +steadily away. He had almost reached the doorway when Gahan saw +another warrior in the chamber toward which Tara was being +borne—a fellow who moved silently, almost stealthily, across the +marble floor as he approached Tara's captor from behind. In his +right hand he grasped a long-sword.</p> + +<p>"Two to one," thought Gahan, and a grim smile touched his lips, +for he had no doubt that once they had Tara safely in the +adjoining chamber the two would set upon him. If he could not +save her, he could at least die for her.</p> + +<p>And then, suddenly, Gahan's eyes fastened with amazement upon the +figure of the warrior behind the grinning fellow who held Tara +and was forcing her to the doorway. He saw the newcomer step +almost within arm's reach of the other. He saw him stop, an +expression of malevolent hatred upon his features. He saw the +great sword swing through the arc of a great circle, gathering +swift and terrific momentum from its own weight backed by the +brawn of the steel thews that guided it; he saw it pass through +the feathered skull of the Manatorian, splitting his sardonic +grin in twain, and open him to the middle of his breast bone.</p> + +<p>As the dead hand relaxed its grasp upon Tara's wrist the girl +leaped forward, without a backward glance, to Gahan's side. His +left arm encircled her, nor did she draw away, as with ready +sword the Gatholian awaited Fate's next decree. Before them +Tara's deliverer was wiping the blood from his sword upon the +hair of his victim. He was evidently a Manatorian, his trappings +those of the Jeddak's Guard, and so his act was inexplicable to +Gahan and to Tara. Presently he sheathed his sword and approached +them.</p> + +<p>"When a man chooses to hide his identity behind an assumed name," +he said, looking straight into Gahan's eyes, "whatever friend +pierces the deception were no friend if he divulged the other's +secret."</p> + +<p>He paused as though awaiting a reply.</p> + +<p>"Your integrity has perceived and your lips voiced an unalterable +truth," replied Gahan, whose mind was filled with wonder if the +implication could by any possibility be true—that this +Manatorian had guessed his identity.</p> + +<p>"We are thus agreed," continued the other, "and I may tell you +that though I am here known as A-Sor, my real name is Tasor." He +paused and watched Gahan's face intently for any sign of the +effect of this knowledge and was rewarded with a quick, though +guarded expression of recognition.</p> + +<p>Tasor! Friend of his youth. The son of that great Gatholian noble +who had given his life so gloriously, however futilely, in an +attempt to defend Gahan's sire from the daggers of the assassins. +Tasor an under-padwar in the guard of O-Tar, Jeddak of Manator! +It was inconceivable—and yet it was he; there could be no doubt +of it. "Tasor," Gahan repeated aloud. "But it is no Manatorian +name." The statement was half interrogatory, for Gahan's +curiosity was aroused. He would know how his friend and loyal +subject had become a Manatorian. Long years had passed since +Tasor had disappeared as mysteriously as the Princess Haja and +many other of Gahan's subjects. The Jed of Gathol had long +supposed him dead.</p> + +<p>"No," replied Tasor, "nor is it a Manatorian name. Come, while I +search for a hiding place for you in some forgotten chamber in +one of the untenanted portions of the palace, and as we go I will +tell you briefly how Tasor the Gatholian became A-Sor the +Manatorian.</p> + +<p>"It befell that as I rode with a dozen of my warriors along the +western border of Gathol searching for zitidars that had strayed +from my herds, we were set upon and surrounded by a great company +of Manatorians. They overpowered us, though not before half our +number was slain and the balance helpless from wounds. And so I +was brought a prisoner to Manataj, a distant city of Manator, and +there sold into slavery. A woman bought me—a princess of Manataj +whose wealth and position were unequaled in the city of her +birth. She loved me and when her husband discovered her +infatuation she beseeched me to slay him, and when I refused she +hired another to do it. Then she married me; but none would have +aught to do with her in Manataj, for they suspected her guilty +knowledge of her husband's murder. And so we set out from Manataj +for Manatos accompanied by a great caravan bearing all her +worldly goods and jewels and precious metals, and on the way she +caused the rumor to be spread that she and I had died. Then we +came to Manator instead, she taking a new name and I the name +A-Sor, that we might not be traced through our names. With her +great wealth she bought me a post in The Jeddak's Guard and none +knows that I am not a Manatorian, for she is dead. She was +beautiful, but she was a devil."</p> + +<p>"And you never sought to return to your native city?" asked +Gahan.</p> + +<p>"Never has the hope been absent from my heart, or my mind empty +of a plan," replied Tasor. "I dream of it by day and by night, +but always must I return to the same conclusion—that there can +be but a single means for escape. I must wait until Fortune +favors me with a place in a raiding party to Gathol. Then, once +within the boundaries of my own country, they shall see me no +more."</p> + +<p>"Perhaps your opportunity lies already within your grasp," said +Gahan, "has not your fealty to your own Jed been undermined by +years of association with the men of Manator." The statement was +half challenge.</p> + +<p>"And my Jed stood before me now," cried Tasor, "and my avowal +could be made without violating his confidence, I should cast my +sword at his feet and beg the high privilege of dying for him as +my sire died for his sire."</p> + +<p>There could be no doubt of his sincerity nor any that he was +cognizant of Gahan's identity. The Jed of Gathol smiled. "And if +your Jed were here there is little doubt but that he would +command you to devote your talents and your prowess to the rescue +of the Princess Tara of Helium," he said, meaningly. "And he +possessed the knowledge I have gained during my captivity he +would say to you, 'Go, Tasor, to the pit where A-kor, son of Haja +of Gathol, is confined and set him free and with him arouse the +slaves from Gathol and march to The Gate of Enemies and offer +your services to U-Thor of Manataj, who is wed to Haja of Gathol, +and ask of him in return that he attack the palace of O-Tar and +rescue Tara of Helium and when that thing is accomplished that he +free the slaves of Gathol and furnish them with the arms and the +means to return to their own country.' That, Tasor of Gathol, is +what Gahan your Jed would demand of you."</p> + +<p>"And that, Turan the slave, is what I shall bend my every effort +to accomplish after I have found a safe refuge for Tara of Helium +and her panthan," replied Tasor.</p> + +<p>Gahan's glance carried to Tasor an intimation of his Jed's +gratification and filled him with a chivalrous determination to +do the thing required of him, or die, for he considered that he +had received from the lips of his beloved ruler a commission that +placed upon his shoulders a responsibility that encompassed not +alone the life of Gahan and Tara but the welfare, perhaps the +whole future, of Gathol. And so he hastened them onward through +the musty corridors of the old palace where the dust of ages lay +undisturbed upon the marble tiles. Now and again he tried a door +until he found one that was unlocked. Opening it he ushered them +into a chamber, heavy with dust. Crumbling silks and furs adorned +the walls, with ancient weapons, and great paintings whose colors +were toned by age to wondrous softness.</p> + +<p>"This be as good as any place," he said. "No one comes here. +Never have I been here before, so I know no more of the other +chambers than you; but this one, at least, I can find again when +I bring you food and drink. O-Mai the Cruel occupied this portion +of the palace during his reign, five thousand years before O-Tar. +In one of these apartments he was found dead, his face contorted +in an expression of fear so horrible that it drove to madness +those who looked upon it; yet there was no mark of violence upon +him. Since then the quarters of O-Mai have been shunned for the +legends have it that the ghosts of Corphals pursue the spirit of +the wicked Jeddak nightly through these chambers, shrieking and +moaning as they go. But," he added, as though to reassure himself +as well as his companions, "such things may not be countenanced +by the culture of Gathol or Helium."</p> + +<p>Gahan laughed. "And if all who looked upon him were driven mad, +who then was there to perform the last rites or prepare the body +of the Jeddak for them?"</p> + +<p>"There was none," replied Tasor. "Where they found him they left +him and there to this very day his mouldering bones lie hid in +some forgotten chamber of this forbidden suite."</p> + +<p>Tasor left them then assuring them that he would seek the first +opportunity to speak with A-Kor, and upon the following day he +would bring them food and drink.<a href="#f4">*</a></p> + +<p class="foot"><a name="f4" />* Those who have read John Carter's description of the Green +Martians in A Princess of Mars will recall that these strange +people could exist for considerable periods of time without food +or water, and to a lesser degree is the same true of all +Martians.</p> + + +<p>After Tasor had gone Tara turned to Gahan and approaching laid a +hand upon his arm. "So swiftly have events transpired since I +recognized you beneath your disguise," she said, "that I have had +no opportunity to assure you of my gratitude and the high esteem +that your valor has won for you in my consideration. Let me now +acknowledge my indebtedness; and if promises be not vain from one +whose life and liberty are in grave jeopardy, accept my assurance +of the great reward that awaits you at the hand of my father in +Helium."</p> + +<p>"I desire no reward," he replied, "other than the happiness of +knowing that the woman I love is happy."</p> + +<p>For an instant the eyes of Tara of Helium blazed as she drew +herself haughtily to her full height, and then they softened and +her attitude relaxed as she shook her head sadly.</p> + +<p>"I have it not in my heart to reprimand you, Turan," she said, +"however great your fault, for you have been an honorable and a +loyal friend to Tara of Helium; but you must not say what my ears +must not hear."</p> + +<p>"You mean," he asked, "that the ears of a Princess must not +listen to words of love from a panthan?"</p> + +<p>"It is not that, Turan," she replied; "but rather that I may +not in honor listen to words of love from another than him to +whom I am betrothed—a fellow countryman, Djor Kantos."</p> + +<p>"You mean, Tara of Helium," he cried, "that were it not for that +you would—"</p> + +<p>"Stop!" she commanded. "You have no right to assume aught else +than my lips testify."</p> + +<p>"The eyes are ofttimes more eloquent than the lips, Tara," he +replied; "and in yours I have read that which is neither hatred +nor contempt for Turan the panthan, and my heart tells me that +your lips bore false witness when they cried in anger: 'I hate +you!'"</p> + +<p>"I do not hate you, Turan, nor yet may I love you," said the +girl, simply.</p> + +<p>"When I broke my way out from the chamber of I-Gos I was indeed +upon the verge of believing that you did hate me," he said, "for +only hatred, it seemed to me, could account for the fact that you +had gone without making an effort to liberate me; but presently +both my heart and my judgment told me that Tara of Helium could +not have deserted a companion in distress, and though I still am +in ignorance of the facts I know that it was beyond your power to +aid me."</p> + +<p>"It was indeed," said the girl. "Scarce had I-Gos fallen at the +bite of my dagger than I heard the approach of warriors. I ran +then to hide until they had passed, thinking to return and +liberate you; but in seeking to elude the party I had heard I ran +full into the arms of another. They questioned me as to your +whereabouts, and I told them that you had gone ahead and that I +was following you and thus I led them from you."</p> + +<p>"I knew," was Gahan's only comment, but his heart was glad with +elation, as a lover's must be who has heard from the lips of his +divinity an avowal of interest and loyalty, however little tinged +by a suggestion of warmer regard it may be. To be abused, even, +by the mistress of one's heart is better than to be ignored.</p> + +<p>As the two conversed in the ill-lit chamber, the dim bulbs of +which were encrusted with the accumulated dust of centuries, a +bent and withered figure traversed slowly the gloomy corridors +without, his weak and watery eyes peering through thick lenses at +the signs of passage written upon the dusty floor.</p> + + +<div style="height: 4em;"><br /><br /><br /><br /></div> + + +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XIX" id="CHAPTER_XIX" />CHAPTER XIX</h2> + +<h2>THE MENACE OF THE DEAD</h2> + +<p>The night was still young when there came one to the entrance of +the banquet hall where O-Tar of Manator dined with his chiefs, +and brushing past the guards entered the great room with the +insolence of a privileged character, as in truth he was. As he +approached the head of the long board O-Tar took notice of him.</p> + +<p>"Well, hoary one!" he cried. "What brings you out of your beloved +and stinking burrow again this day. We thought that the sight of +the multitude of living men at the games would drive you back to +your corpses as quickly as you could go."</p> + +<p>The cackling laugh of I-Gos acknowledged the royal sally. "Ey, +ey, O-Tar," squeaked the ancient one, "I-Gos goes out not upon +pleasure bound; but when one does ruthlessly desecrate the dead +of I-Gos, vengeance must be had!"</p> + +<p>"You refer to the act of the slave Turan?" demanded O-Tar.</p> + +<p>"Turan, yes, and the slave Tara, who slipped beneath my hide a +murderous blade. Another fraction of an inch, O-Tar, and I-Gos' +ancient and wrinkled covering were even now in some apprentice +tanner's hands, ey, ey!"</p> + +<p>"But they have again eluded us," cried O-Tar. "Even in the palace +of the great jeddak twice have they escaped the stupid knaves I +call The Jeddak's Guard." O-Tar had risen and was angrily +emphasizing his words with heavy blows upon the table, dealt with +a golden goblet.</p> + +<p>"Ey, O-Tar, they elude thy guard but not the wise old calot, +I-Gos."</p> + +<p>"What mean you? Speak!" commanded O-Tar.</p> + +<p>"I know where they are hid," said the ancient taxidermist. "In +the dust of unused corridors their feet have betrayed them."</p> + +<p>"You followed them? You have seen them?" demanded the jeddak.</p> + +<p>"I followed them and I heard them speaking beyond a closed door," +replied I-Gos; "but I did not see them."</p> + +<p>"Where is that door?" cried O-Tar. "We will send at once and +fetch them," he looked about the table as though to decide to +whom he would entrust this duty. A dozen warrior chiefs arose and +laid their hands upon their swords.</p> + +<p>"To the chambers of O-Mai the Cruel I traced them," squeaked +I-Gos. "There you will find them where the moaning Corphals +pursue the shrieking ghost of O-Mai; ey!" and he turned his eyes +from O-Tar toward the warriors who had arisen, only to discover +that, to a man, they were hurriedly resuming their seats.</p> + +<p>The cackling laughter of I-Gos broke derisively the hush that had +fallen on the room. The warriors looked sheepishly at the food +upon their plates of gold. O-Tar snapped his fingers impatiently.</p> + +<p>"Be there only cravens among the chiefs of Manator?" he cried. +"Repeatedly have these presumptuous slaves flouted the majesty of +your jeddak. Must I command one to go and fetch them?"</p> + +<p>Slowly a chief arose and two others followed his example, though +with ill-concealed reluctance. "All, then, are not cowards," +commented O-Tar. "The duty is distasteful. Therefore all three of +you shall go, taking as many warriors as you wish."</p> + +<p>"But do not ask for volunteers," interrupted I-Gos, "or you will +go alone."</p> + +<p>The three chiefs turned and left the banquet hall, walking slowly +like doomed men to their fate.</p> + +<p>Gahan and Tara remained in the chamber to which Tasor had led +them, the man brushing away the dust from a deep and comfortable +bench where they might rest in comparative comfort. He had found +the ancient sleeping silks and furs too far gone to be of any +service, crumbling to powder at a touch, thus removing any chance +of making a comfortable bed for the girl, and so the two sat +together, talking in low tones, of the adventures through which +they already had passed and speculating upon the future; planning +means of escape and hoping Tasor would not be long gone. They +spoke of many things—of Hastor, and Helium, and Ptarth, and +finally the conversation reminded Tara of Gathol.</p> + +<p>"You have served there?" she asked.</p> + +<p>"Yes," replied Turan.</p> + +<p>"I met Gahan the Jed of Gathol at my father's palace," she said, +"the very day before the storm snatched me from Helium—he was a +presumptuous fellow, magnificently trapped in platinum and +diamonds. Never in my life saw I so gorgeous a harness as his, +and you must well know, Turan, that the splendor of all Barsoom +passes through the court at Helium; but in my mind I could not +see so resplendent a creature drawing that jeweled sword in +mortal combat. I fear me that the Jed of Gathol, though a pretty +picture of a man, is little else."</p> + +<p>In the dim light Tara did not perceive the wry expression upon +the half-averted face of her companion.</p> + +<p>"You thought little then of the Jed of Gathol?" he asked.</p> + +<p>"Then or now," she replied, and with a little laugh; "how it +would pique his vanity to know, if he might, that a poor panthan +had won a higher place in the regard of Tara of Helium," and she +laid her fingers gently upon his knee.</p> + +<p>He seized the fingers in his and carried them to his lips. "O, +Tara of Helium," he cried. "Think you that I am a man of stone?" +One arm slipped about her shoulders and drew the yielding body +toward him.</p> + +<p>"May my first ancestor forgive me my weakness," she cried, as her +arms stole about his neck and she raised her panting lips to his. +For long they clung there in love's first kiss and then she +pushed him away, gently. "I love you, Turan," she half sobbed; "I +love you so! It is my only poor excuse for having done this wrong +to Djor Kantos, whom now I know I never loved, who knew not the +meaning of love. And if you love me as you say, Turan, your love +must protect me from greater dishonor, for I am but as clay in +your hands."</p> + +<p>Again he crushed her to him and then as suddenly released her, +and rising, strode rapidly to and fro across the chamber as +though he endeavored by violent exercise to master and subdue +some evil spirit that had laid hold upon him. Ringing through his +brain and heart and soul like some joyous paean were those words +that had so altered the world for Gahan of Gathol: "I love you, +Turan; I love you so!" And it had come so suddenly. He had +thought that she felt for him only gratitude for his loyalty and +then, in an instant, her barriers were all down, she was no +longer a princess; but instead a—his reflections were +interrupted by a sound from beyond the closed door. His sandals +of zitidar hide had given forth no sound upon the marble floor he +strode, and as his rapid pacing carried him past the entrance to +the chamber there came faintly from the distance of the long +corridor the sound of metal on metal—the unmistakable herald of +the approach of armed men.</p> + +<p>For a moment Gahan listened intently, close to the door, until +there could be no doubt but that a party of warriors was +approaching. From what Tasor had told him he guessed correctly +that they would be coming to this portion of the palace but for a +single purpose—to search for Tara and himself—and it behooved +him therefore to seek immediate means for eluding them. The +chamber in which they were had other doorways beside that at +which they had entered, and to one of these he must look for some +safer hiding place. Crossing to Tara he acquainted her with his +suspicion, leading her to one of the doors which they found +unsecured. Beyond it lay a dimly-lighted chamber at the threshold +of which they halted in consternation, drawing back quickly into +the chamber they had just quitted, for their first glance +revealed four warriors seated around a jetan board.</p> + +<p>That their entrance had not been noted was attributed by Gahan to +the absorption of the two players and their friends in the game. +Quietly closing the door the fugitives moved silently to the +next, which they found locked. There was now but another door +which they had not tried, and this they approached quickly as +they knew that the searching party must be close to the chamber. +To their chagrin they found this avenue of escape barred.</p> + +<p>Now indeed were they in a sorry plight, for should the searchers +have information leading them to this room they were lost. Again +leading Tara to the door behind which were the jetan players +Gahan drew his sword and waited, listening. The sound of the +party in the corridor came distinctly to their ears—they must be +quite close, and doubtless they were coming in force. Beyond the +door were but four warriors who might be readily surprised. There +could, then, be but one choice and acting upon it Gahan quietly +opened the door again, stepped through into the adjoining +chamber, Tara's hand in his, and closed the door behind them. The +four at the jetan board evidently failed to hear them. One player +had either just made or was contemplating a move, for his fingers +grasped a piece that still rested upon the board. The other three +were watching his move. For an instant Gahan looked at them, +playing jetan there in the dim light of this forgotten and +forbidden chamber, and then a slow smile of understanding lighted +his face.</p> + +<p>"Come!" he said to Tara. "We have nothing to fear from these. For +more than five thousand years they have sat thus, a monument to +the handiwork of some ancient taxidermist."</p> + +<p>As they approached more closely they saw that the lifelike +figures were coated with dust, but that otherwise the skin was in +as fine a state of preservation as the most recent of I-Gos' +groups, and then they heard the door of the chamber they had +quitted open and knew that the searchers were close upon them. +Across the room they saw the opening of what appeared to be a +corridor and which investigation proved to be a short passageway, +terminating in a chamber in the center of which was an ornate +sleeping dais. This room, like the others, was but poorly +lighted, time having dimmed the radiance of its bulbs and coated +them with dust. A glance showed that it was hung with heavy goods +and contained considerable massive furniture in addition to the +sleeping platform, a second glance at which revealed what +appeared to be the form of a man lying partially on the floor and +partially on the dais. No doorways were visible other than that +at which they had entered, though both knew that others might be +concealed by the hangings.</p> + +<p>Gahan, his curiosity aroused by the legends surrounding this +portion of the palace, crossed to the dais to examine the figure +that apparently had fallen from it, to find the dried and +shrivelled corpse of a man lying upon his back on the floor with +arms outstretched and fingers stiffly outspread. One of his feet +was doubled partially beneath him, while the other was still +entangled in the sleeping silks and furs upon the dais. After +five thousand years the expression of the withered face and the +eyeless sockets retained the aspect of horrid fear to such an +extent, that Gahan knew that he was looking upon the body of +O-Mai the Cruel.</p> + +<p>Suddenly Tara, who stood close beside him, clutched his arm and +pointed toward a far corner of the room. Gahan looked and looking +felt the hairs upon his neck rising. He threw his left arm about +the girl and with bared sword stood between her and the hangings +that they watched, and then slowly Gahan of Gathol backed away, +for in this grim and somber chamber, which no human foot had trod +for five thousand years and to which no breath of wind might +enter, the heavy hangings in the far corner had moved. Not gently +had they moved as a draught might have moved them had there been +a draught, but suddenly they had bulged out as though pushed +against from behind. To the opposite corner backed Gahan until +they stood with their backs against the hangings there, and then +hearing the approach of their pursuers across the chamber beyond +Gahan pushed Tara through the hangings and, following her, kept +open with his left hand, which he had disengaged from the girl's +grasp, a tiny opening through which he could view the apartment +and the doorway upon the opposite side through which the pursuers +would enter, if they came this far.</p> + +<p>Behind the hangings there was a space of about three feet in +width between them and the wall, making a passageway entirely +around the room, broken only by the single entrance opposite +them; this being a common arrangement especially in the sleeping +apartments of the rich and powerful upon Barsoom. The purposes of +this arrangement were several. The passageway afforded a station +for guards in the same room with their master without intruding +entirely upon his privacy; it concealed secret exits from the +chamber; it permitted the occupant of the room to hide +eavesdroppers and assassins for use against enemies that he might +lure to his chamber.</p> + +<p>The three chiefs with a dozen warriors had had no difficulty in +following the tracks of the fugitives through the dust of the +corridors and chambers they had traversed. To enter this portion +of the palace at all had required all the courage they possessed, +and now that they were within the very chambers of O-Mai their +nerves were pitched to the highest key—another turn and they +would snap; for the people of Manator are filled with weird +superstitions. As they entered the outer chamber they moved +slowly, with drawn swords, no one seeming anxious to take the +lead, and the twelve warriors hanging back in unconcealed and +shameless terror, while the three chiefs, spurred on by fear of +O-Tar and by pride, pressed together for mutual encouragement as +they slowly crossed the dimly-lighted room.</p> + +<p>Following the tracks of Gahan and Tara they found that though +each doorway had been approached only one threshold had been +crossed and this door they gingerly opened, revealing to their +astonished gaze the four warriors at the jetan table. For a +moment they were on the verge of flight, for though they knew +what they were, coming as they did upon them in this mysterious +and haunted suite, they were as startled as though they had +beheld the very ghosts of the departed. But they presently +regained their courage sufficiently to cross this chamber too and +enter the short passageway that led to the ancient sleeping +apartment of O-Mai the Cruel. They did not know that this awful +chamber lay just before them, or it were doubtful that they would +have proceeded farther; but they saw that those they sought had +come this way and so they followed, but within the gloomy +interior of the chamber they halted, the three chiefs urging +their followers, in low whispers, to close in behind them, and +there just within the entrance they stood until, their eyes +becoming accustomed to the dim light, one of them pointed +suddenly to the thing lying upon the floor with one foot tangled +in the coverings of the dais.</p> + +<p>"Look!" he gasped. "It is the corpse of O-Mai! Ancestor of +ancestors! we are in the forbidden chamber." Simultaneously there +came from behind the hangings beyond the grewsome dead a hollow +moan followed by a piercing scream, and the hangings shook and +bellied before their eyes.</p> + +<p>With one accord, chieftains and warriors, they turned and bolted +for the doorway; a narrow doorway, where they jammed, fighting +and screaming in an effort to escape. They threw away their +swords and clawed at one another to make a passage for escape; +those behind climbed upon the shoulders of those in front; and +some fell and were trampled upon; but at last they all got +through, and, the swiftest first, they bolted across the two +intervening chambers to the outer corridor beyond, nor did they +halt their mad retreat before they stumbled, weak and trembling, +into the banquet hall of O-Tar. At sight of them the warriors who +had remained with the jeddak leaped to their feet with drawn +swords, thinking that their fellows were pursued by many enemies; +but no one followed them into the room, and the three chieftains +came and stood before O-Tar with bowed heads and trembling knees.</p> + +<p>"Well?" demanded the jeddak. "What ails you? Speak!"</p> + +<p>"O-Tar," cried one of them when at last he could master his +voice. "When have we three failed you in battle or combat? Have +our swords been not always among the foremost in defense of your +safety and your honor?"</p> + +<p>"Have I denied this?" demanded O-Tar.</p> + +<p>"Listen, then, O Jeddak, and judge us with leniency. We followed +the two slaves to the apartments of O-Mai the Cruel. We entered +the accursed chambers and still we did not falter. We came at +last to that horrid chamber no human eye had scanned before in +fifty centuries and we looked upon the dead face of O-Mai lying +as he has lain for all this time. To the very death chamber of +O-Mai the Cruel we came and yet we were ready to go farther; when +suddenly there broke upon our horrified ears the moans and the +shrieking that mark these haunted chambers and the hangings moved +and rustled in the dead air. O-Tar, it was more than human nerves +could endure. We turned and fled. We threw away our swords and +fought with one another to escape. With sorrow, but without +shame, I tell it, for there be no man in all Manator that would +not have done the same. If these slaves be Corphals they are safe +among their fellow ghosts. If they be not Corphals, then already +are they dead in the chambers of O-Mai, and there may they rot +for all of me, for I would not return to that accursed spot for +the harness of a jeddak and the half of Barsoom for an empire. I +have spoken."</p> + +<p>O-Tar knitted his scowling brows. "Are all my chieftains cowards +and cravens?" he demanded presently in sneering tones.</p> + +<p>From among those who had not been of the searching party a +chieftain arose and turned a scowling face upon O-Tar.</p> + +<p>"The jeddak knows," he said, "that in the annals of Manator her +jeddaks have ever been accounted the bravest of her warriors. +Where my jeddak leads I will follow, nor may any jeddak call me a +coward or a craven unless I refuse to go where he dares to go. I +have spoken."</p> + +<p>After he had resumed his seat there was a painful silence, for +all knew that the speaker had challenged the courage of O-Tar the +Jeddak of Manator and all awaited the reply of their ruler. In +every mind was the same thought—O-Tar must lead them at once to +the chamber of O-Mai the Cruel, or accept forever the stigma of +cowardice, and there could be no coward upon the throne of +Manator. That they all knew and that O-Tar knew, as well.</p> + +<p>But O-Tar hesitated. He looked about upon the faces of those +around him at the banquet board; but he saw only the grim visages +of relentless warriors. There was no trace of leniency in the +face of any. And then his eyes wandered to a small entrance at +one side of the great chamber. An expression of relief expunged +the scowl of anxiety from his features.</p> + +<p>"Look!" he exclaimed. "See who has come!"</p> + + +<div style="height: 4em;"><br /><br /><br /><br /></div> + + +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XX" id="CHAPTER_XX" />CHAPTER XX</h2> + +<h2>THE CHARGE OF COWARDICE</h2> + +<p>Gahan, watching through the aperture between the hangings, saw +the frantic flight of their pursuers. A grim smile rested upon +his lips as he viewed the mad scramble for safety and saw them +throw away their swords and fight with one another to be first +from the chamber of fear, and when they were all gone he turned +back toward Tara, the smile still upon his lips; but the smile +died the instant that he turned, for he saw that Tara had +disappeared.</p> + +<p>"Tara!" he called in a loud voice, for he knew that there was no +danger that their pursuers would return; but there was no +response, unless it was a faint sound as of cackling laughter +from afar. Hurriedly he searched the passageway behind the +hangings finding several doors, one of which was ajar. Through +this he entered the adjoining chamber which was lighted more +brilliantly for the moment by the soft rays of hurtling Thuria +taking her mad way through the heavens. Here he found the dust +upon the floor disturbed, and the imprint of sandals. They had +come this way—Tara and whatever the creature was that had stolen +her.</p> + +<p>But what could it have been? Gahan, a man of culture and high +intelligence, held few if any superstitions. In common with +nearly all races of Barsoom he clung, more or less inherently, to +a certain exalted form of ancestor worship, though it was rather +the memory or legends of the virtues and heroic deeds of his +forebears that he deified rather than themselves. He never +expected any tangible evidence of their existence after death; he +did not believe that they had the power either for good or for +evil other than the effect that their example while living might +have had upon following generations; he did not believe therefore +in the materialization of dead spirits. If there was a life +hereafter he knew nothing of it, for he knew that science had +demonstrated the existence of some material cause for every +seemingly supernatural phenomenon of ancient religions and +superstitions. Yet he was at a loss to know what power might have +removed Tara so suddenly and mysteriously from his side in a +chamber that had not known the presence of man for five thousand +years.</p> + +<p>In the darkness he could not see whether there were the imprints +of other sandals than Tara's—only that the dust was +disturbed—and when it led him into gloomy corridors he lost the +trail altogether. A perfect labyrinth of passages and apartments +were now revealed to him as he hurried on through the deserted +quarters of O-Mai. Here was an ancient bath—doubtless that of +the jeddak himself, and again he passed through a room in which a +meal had been laid upon a table five thousand years before—the +untasted breakfast of O-Mai, perhaps. There passed before his +eyes in the brief moments that he traversed the chambers, a +wealth of ornaments and jewels and precious metals that surprised +even the Jed of Gathol whose harness was of diamonds and platinum +and whose riches were the envy of a world. But at last his search +of O-Mai's chambers ended in a small closet in the floor of which +was the opening to a spiral runway leading straight down into +Stygian darkness. The dust at the entrance of the closet had been +freshly disturbed, and as this was the only possible indication +that Gahan had of the direction taken by the abductor of Tara it +seemed as well to follow on as to search elsewhere. So, without +hesitation, he descended into the utter darkness below. Feeling +with a foot before taking a forward step his descent was +necessarily slow, but Gahan was a Barsoomian and so knew the +pitfalls that might await the unwary in such dark, forbidden +portions of a jeddak's palace.</p> + +<p>He had descended for what he judged might be three full levels +and was pausing, as he occasionally did, to listen, when he +distinctly heard a peculiar shuffling, scraping sound approaching +him from below. Whatever the thing was it was ascending the +runway at a steady pace and would soon be near him. Gahan laid +his hand upon the hilt of his sword and drew it slowly from its +scabbard that he might make no noise that would apprise the +creature of his presence. He wished that there might be even the +slightest lessening of the darkness. If he could see but the +outline of the thing that approached him he would feel that he +had a fairer chance in the meeting; but he could see nothing, and +then because he could see nothing the end of his scabbard struck +the stone side of the runway, giving off a sound that the +stillness and the narrow confines of the passage and the darkness +seemed to magnify to a terrific clatter.</p> + +<p>Instantly the shuffling sound of approach ceased. For a moment +Gahan stood in silent waiting, then casting aside discretion he +moved on again down the spiral. The thing, whatever it might be, +gave forth no sound now by which Gahan might locate it. At any +moment it might be upon him and so he kept his sword in +readiness. Down, ever downward the steep spiral led. The darkness +and the silence of the tomb surrounded him, yet somewhere ahead +was something. He was not alone in that horrid place—another +presence that he could not hear or see hovered before him—of +that he was positive. Perhaps it was the thing that had stolen +Tara. Perhaps Tara herself, still in the clutches of some +nameless horror, was just ahead of him. He quickened his pace—it +became almost a run at the thought of the danger that threatened +the woman he loved, and then he collided with a wooden door that +swung open to the impact. Before him was a lighted corridor. On +either side were chambers. He had advanced but a short distance +from the bottom of the spiral when he recognized that he was in +the pits below the palace. A moment later he heard behind him the +shuffling sound that had attracted his attention in the spiral +runway. Wheeling about he saw the author of the sound emerging +from a doorway he had just passed. It was Ghek the kaldane.</p> + +<p>"Ghek!" exclaimed Gahan. "It was you in the runway? Have you seen +Tara of Helium?"</p> + +<p>"It was I in the spiral," replied the kaldane; "but I have not +seen Tara of Helium. I have been searching for her. Where is +she?"</p> + +<p>"I do not know," replied the Gatholian; "but we must find her and +take her from this place."</p> + +<p>"We may find her," said Ghek; "but I doubt our ability to take +her away. It is not so easy to leave Manator as it is to enter +it. I may come and go at will, through the ancient burrows of the +ulsios; but you are too large for that and your lungs need more +air than may be found in some of the deeper runways."</p> + +<p>"But U-Thor!" exclaimed Gahan. "Have you heard aught of him or +his intentions?"</p> + +<p>"I have heard much," replied Ghek. "He camps at The Gate of +Enemies. That spot he holds and his warriors lie just beyond The +Gate; but he has not sufficient force to enter the city and take +the palace. An hour since and you might have made your way to +him; but now every avenue is strongly guarded since O-Tar learned +that A-Kor had escaped to U-Thor."</p> + +<p>"A-Kor has escaped and joined U-Thor!" exclaimed Gahan.</p> + +<p>"But little more than an hour since. I was with him when a +warrior came—a man whose name is Tasor—who brought a message +from you. It was decided that Tasor should accompany A-Kor in an +attempt to reach the camp of U-Thor, the great jed of Manatos, +and exact from him the assurances you required. Then U-Thor was +to return and take food to you and the Princess of Helium. I +accompanied them. We won through easily and found U-Thor more +than willing to respect your every wish, but when Tasor would +have returned to you the way was blocked by the warriors of +O-Tar. Then it was that I volunteered to come to you and report +and find food and drink and then go forth among the Gatholian +slaves of Manator and prepare them for their part in the plan +that U-Thor and Tasor conceived."</p> + +<p>"And what was this plan?"</p> + +<p>"U-Thor has sent for reinforcements. To Manatos he has sent and +to all the outlying districts that are his. It will take +a month to collect and bring them hither and in the meantime the +slaves within the city are to organize secretly, stealing and +hiding arms against the day that the reinforcements arrive. When +that day comes the forces of U-Thor will enter the Gate of +Enemies and as the warriors of O-Tar rush to repulse them the +slaves from Gathol will fall upon them from the rear with the +majority of their numbers, while the balance will assault the +palace. They hope thus to divert so many from The Gate that +U-Thor will have little difficulty in forcing an entrance to the +city."</p> + +<p>"Perhaps they will succeed," commented Gahan; "but the warriors +of O-Tar are many, and those who fight in defense of their homes +and their jeddak have always an advantage. Ah, Ghek, would that +we had the great warships of Gathol or of Helium to pour their +merciless fire into the streets of Manator while U-Thor marched +to the palace over the corpses of the slain." He paused, deep in +thought, and then turned his gaze again upon the kaldane. "Heard +you aught of the party that escaped with me from The Field of +Jetan—of Floran, Val Dor, and the others? What of them?"</p> + +<p>"Ten of these won through to U-Thor at The Gate of Enemies and +were well received by him. Eight fell in the fighting upon the +way. Val Dor and Floran live, I believe, for I am sure that I +heard U-Thor address two warriors by these names."</p> + +<p>"Good!" exclaimed Gahan. "Go then, through the burrows of the +ulsios, to The Gate of Enemies and carry to Floran the message +that I shall write in his own language. Come, while I write the +message."</p> + +<p>In a nearby room they found a bench and table and there Gahan sat +and wrote in the strange, stenographic characters of Martian +script a message to Floran of Gathol. "Why," he asked, when he +had finished it, "did you search for Tara through the spiral +runway where we nearly met?"</p> + +<p>"Tasor told me where you were to be found, and as I have explored +the greater part of the palace by means of the ulsio runways and +the darker and less frequented passages I knew precisely where +you were and how to reach you. This secret spiral ascends from +the pits to the roof of the loftiest of the palace towers. It has +secret openings at every level; but there is no living +Manatorian, I believe, who knows of its existence. At least never +have I met one within it and I have used it many times. Thrice +have I been in the chamber where O-Mai lies, though I knew +nothing of his identity or the story of his death until Tasor +told it to us in the camp of U-Thor."</p> + +<p>"You know the palace thoroughly then?" Gahan interrupted.</p> + +<p>"Better than O-Tar himself or any of his servants."</p> + +<p>"Good! And you would serve the Princess Tara, Ghek, you may serve +her best by accompanying Floran and following his instructions. I +will write them here at the close of my message to him, for the +walls have ears, Ghek, while none but a Gatholian may read what I +have written to Floran. He will transmit it to you. Can I trust +you?"</p> + +<p>"I may never return to Bantoom," replied Ghek. "Therefore I have +but two friends in all Barsoom. What better may I do than serve +them faithfully? You may trust me, Gatholian, who with a woman of +your kind has taught me that there be finer and nobler things +than perfect mentality uninfluenced by the unreasoning tuitions +of the heart. I go."</p> + +<hr /> + +<p>As O-Tar pointed to the little doorway all eyes turned in the +direction he indicated and surprise was writ large upon the faces +of the warriors when they recognized the two who had entered the +banquet hall. There was I-Gos, and he dragged behind him one who +was gagged and whose hands were fastened behind with a ribbon of +tough silk. It was the slave girl. I-Gos' cackling laughter rose +above the silence of the room.</p> + +<p>"Ey, ey!" he shrilled. "What the young warriors of O-Tar cannot +do, old I-Gos does alone."</p> + +<p>"Only a Corphal may capture a Corphal," growled one of the chiefs +who had fled from the chambers of O-Mai.</p> + +<p>I-Gos laughed. "Terror turned your heart to water," he replied; +"and shame your tongue to libel. This be no Corphal, but only a +woman of Helium; her companion a warrior who can match blades +with the best of you and cut your putrid hearts. Not so in the +days of I-Gos' youth. Ah, then were there men in Manator. Well do +I recall that day that I—"</p> + +<p>"Peace, doddering fool!" commanded O-Tar. "Where is the man?"</p> + +<p>"Where I found the woman—in the death chamber of O-Mai. Let your +wise and brave chieftains go thither and fetch him. I am an old +man, and could bring but one."</p> + +<p>"You have done well, I-Gos," O-Tar hastened to assure him, for +when he learned that Gahan might still be in the haunted chambers +he wished to appease the wrath of I-Gos, knowing well the +vitriolic tongue and temper of the ancient one. "You think she is +no Corphal, then, I-Gos?" he asked, wishing to carry the subject +from the man who was still at large.</p> + +<p>"No more than you," replied the ancient taxidermist.</p> + +<p>O-Tar looked long and searchingly at Tara of Helium. All the +beauty that was hers seemed suddenly to be carried to every fibre +of his consciousness. She was still garbed in the rich harness of +a Black Princess of Jetan, and as O-Tar the Jeddak gazed upon her +he realized that never before had his eyes rested upon a more +perfect figure—a more beautiful face.</p> + +<p>"She is no Corphal," he murmured to himself. "She is no Corphal +and she is a princess—a princess of Helium, and, by the golden +hair of the Holy Hekkador, she is beautiful. Take the gag from +her mouth and release her hands," he commanded aloud. "Make room +for the Princess Tara of Helium at the side of O-Tar of Manator. +She shall dine as becomes a princess."</p> + +<p>Slaves did as O-Tar bid and Tara of Helium stood with flashing +eyes behind the chair that was offered her. "Sit!" commanded +O-Tar.</p> + +<p>The girl sank into the chair. "I sit as a prisoner," she said; +"not as a guest at the board of my enemy, O-Tar of Manator."</p> + +<p>O-Tar motioned his followers from the room. "I would speak alone +with the Princess of Helium," he said. The company and the slaves +withdrew and once more the Jeddak of Manator turned toward the +girl. "O-Tar of Manator would be your friend," he said.</p> + +<p>Tara of Helium sat with arms folded upon her small, firm breasts, +her eyes flashing from behind narrowed lids, nor did she deign to +answer his overture. O-Tar leaned closer to her. He noted the +hostility of her bearing and he recalled his first encounter with +her. She was a she-banth, but she was beautiful. She was by far +the most desirable woman that O-Tar had ever looked upon and he +was determined to possess her. He told her so.</p> + +<p>"I could take you as my slave," he said to her; "but it pleases +me to make you my wife. You shall be Jeddara of Manator. You +shall have seven days in which to prepare for the great honor +that O-Tar is conferring upon you, and at this hour of the +seventh day you shall become an empress and the wife of O-Tar in +the throne room of the jeddaks of Manator." He struck a gong that +stood beside him upon the table and when a slave appeared he bade +him recall the company. Slowly the chiefs filed in and took their +places at the table. Their faces were grim and scowling, for +there was still unanswered the question of their jeddak's +courage. If O-Tar had hoped they would forget he had been +mistaken in his men.</p> + +<p>O-Tar arose. "In seven days," he announced, "there will be a +great feast in honor of the new Jeddara of Manator," and he waved +his hand toward Tara of Helium. "The ceremony will occur at the +beginning of the seventh zode<a href="#f5">*</a> in the throne room. In the +meantime the Princess of Helium will be cared for in the tower of +the women's quarters of the palace. Conduct her thither, E-Thas, +with a suitable guard of honor and see to it that slaves and +eunuchs be placed at her disposal, who shall attend upon all her +wants and guard her carefully from harm."</p> + +<p class="foot"><a name="f5" />* About 8:30 P. M. Earth Time.</p> + + +<p>Now E-Thas knew that the real meaning concealed in these fine +words was that he should conduct the prisoner under a strong +guard to the women's quarters and confine her there in the tower +for seven days, placing about her trustworthy guards who would +prevent her escape or frustrate any attempted rescue.</p> + +<p>As Tara was departing from the chamber with E-Thas and the guard, +O-Tar leaned close to her ear and whispered: "Consider well +during these seven days the high honor I have offered you, +and—its sole alternative." As though she had not heard him the +girl passed out of the banquet hall, her head high and her eyes +straight to the front.</p> + +<p>After Ghek had left him Gahan roamed the pits and the ancient +corridors of the deserted portions of the palace seeking some +clue to the whereabouts or the fate of Tara of Helium. He +utilized the spiral runway in passing from level to level until +he knew every foot of it from the pits to the summit of the high +tower, and into what apartments it opened at the various levels +as well as the ingenious and hidden mechanism that operated the +locks of the cleverly concealed doors leading to it. For food he +drew upon the stores he found in the pits and when he slept he +lay upon the royal couch of O-Mai in the forbidden chamber +sharing the dais with the dead foot of the ancient jeddak.</p> + +<p>In the palace about him seethed, all unknown to Gahan, a vast +unrest. Warriors and chieftains pursued the duties of their +vocations with dour faces, and little knots of them were +collecting here and there and with frowns of anger discussing +some subject that was uppermost in the minds of all. It was upon +the fourth day following Tara's incarceration in the tower that +E-Thas, the major-domo of the palace and one of O-Tar's +creatures, came to his master upon some trivial errand. O-Tar was +alone in one of the smaller chambers of his personal suite when +the major-domo was announced, and after the matter upon which +E-Thas had come was disposed of the jeddak signed him to remain.</p> + +<p>"From the position of an obscure warrior I have elevated you, +E-Thas, to the honors of a chief. Within the confines of the +palace your word is second only to mine. You are not loved for +this, E-Thas, and should another jeddak ascend the throne of +Manator what would become of you, whose enemies are among the +most powerful of Manator?"</p> + +<p>"Speak not of it, O-Tar," begged E-Thas. "These last few days I +have thought upon it much and I would forget it; but I have +sought to appease the wrath of my worst enemies. I have been +very kind and indulgent with them."</p> + +<p>"You, too, read the voiceless message in the air?" demanded the +jeddak.</p> + +<p>E-Thas was palpably uneasy and he did not reply.</p> + +<p>"Why did you not come to me with your apprehensions?" demanded +O-Tar. "Be this loyalty?"</p> + +<p>"I feared, O mighty jeddak!" replied E-Thas. "I feared that you +would not understand and that you would be angry."</p> + +<p>"What know you? Speak the whole truth!" commanded O-Tar.</p> + +<p>"There is much unrest among the chieftains and the warriors," +replied E-Thas. "Even those who were your friends fear the power +of those who speak against you."</p> + +<p>"What say they?" growled the jeddak.</p> + +<p>"They say that you are afraid to enter the apartments of O-Mai in +search of the slave Turan—oh, do not be angry with me, Jeddak; +it is but what they say that I repeat. I, your loyal E-Thas, +believe no such foul slander."</p> + +<p>"No, no; why should I fear?" demanded O-Tar. "We do not know that +he is there. Did not my chiefs go thither and see nothing of +him?"</p> + +<p>"But they say that you did not go," pursued E-Thas, "and that +they will have none of a coward upon the throne of Manator."</p> + +<p>"They said that treason?" O-Tar almost shouted.</p> + +<p>"They said that and more, great jeddak," answered the major-domo. +"They said that not only did you fear to enter the chambers of +O-Mai, but that you feared the slave Turan, and they blame you +for your treatment of A-Kor, whom they all believe to have been +murdered at your command. They were fond of A-Kor and there are +many now who say aloud that A-Kor would have made a wondrous +jeddak."</p> + +<p>"They dare?" screamed O-Tar. "They dare suggest the name of a +slave's bastard for the throne of O-Tar!"</p> + +<p>"He is your son, O-Tar," E-Thas reminded him, "nor is there a +more beloved man in Manator—I but speak to you of facts which +may not be ignored, and I dare do so because only when you +realize the truth may you seek a cure for the ills that draw +about your throne."</p> + +<p>O-Tar had slumped down upon his bench—suddenly he looked +shrunken and tired and old. "Cursed be the day," he cried, "that +saw those three strangers enter the city of Manator. Would that +U-Dor had been spared to me. He was strong—my enemies feared +him; but he is gone—dead at the hands of that hateful slave, +Turan; may the curse of Issus be upon him!"</p> + +<p>"My jeddak, what shall we do?" begged E-Thas. "Cursing the slave +will not solve your problems."</p> + +<p>"But the great feast and the marriage is but three days off," +plead O-Tar. "It shall be a great gala occasion. The warriors and +the chiefs all know that—it is the custom. Upon that day gifts +and honors shall be bestowed. Tell me, who are most bitter +against me? I will send you among them and let it be known that I +am planning rewards for their past services to the throne. We +will make jeds of chiefs and chiefs of warriors, and grant them +palaces and slaves. Eh, E-Thas?"</p> + +<p>The other shook his head. "It will not do, O-Tar. They will have +nothing of your gifts or honors. I have heard them say as much."</p> + +<p>"What do they want?" demanded O-Tar.</p> + +<p>"They want a jeddak as brave as the bravest," replied E-Thas, +though his knees shook as he said it.</p> + +<p>"They think I am a coward?" cried the jeddak.</p> + +<p>"They say you are afraid to go to the apartments of O-mai the +Cruel."</p> + +<p>For a long time O-Tar sat, his head sunk upon his breast, staring +blankly at the floor.</p> + +<p>"Tell them," he said at last in a hollow voice that sounded not +at all like the voice of a great jeddak; "tell them that I will +go to the chambers of O-Mai and search for Turan the slave."</p> + + +<div style="height: 4em;"><br /><br /><br /><br /></div> + + +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XXI" id="CHAPTER_XXI" />CHAPTER XXI</h2> + +<h2>A RISK FOR LOVE</h2> + +<p>"Ey, ey, he is a craven and he called me 'doddering fool'!" The +speaker was I-Gos and he addressed a knot of chieftains in one of +the chambers of the palace of O-Tar, Jeddak of Manator: "If A-Kor +was alive there were a jeddak for us!"</p> + +<p>"Who says that A-Kor is dead?" demanded one of the chiefs.</p> + +<p>"Where is he then?" asked I-Gos. "Have not others disappeared +whom O-Tar thought too well beloved for men so near the throne as +they?"</p> + +<p>The chief shook his head. "And I thought that, or knew it, +rather; I'd join U-Thor at The Gate of Enemies."</p> + +<p>"S-s-st," cautioned one; "here comes the licker of feet," and all +eyes were turned upon the approaching E-Thas.</p> + +<p>"Kaor, friends!" he exclaimed as he stopped among them, but his +friendly greeting elicited naught but a few surly nods. "Have you +heard the news?" he continued, unabashed by treatment to which he +was becoming accustomed.</p> + +<p>"What—has O-Tar seen an ulsio and fainted?" demanded I-Gos with +broad sarcasm.</p> + +<p>"Men have died for less than that, ancient one," E-Thas reminded +him.</p> + +<p>"I am safe," retorted I-Gos, "for I am not a brave and popular +son of the jeddak of Manator."</p> + +<p>This was indeed open treason, but E-Thas feigned not to hear it. +He ignored I-Gos and turned to the others. "O-Tar goes to the +chamber of O-Mai this night in search of Turan the slave," he +said. "He sorrows that his warriors have not the courage for so +mean a duty and that their jeddak is thus compelled to arrest a +common slave," with which taunt E-Thas passed on to spread the +word in other parts of the palace. As a matter of fact the latter +part of his message was purely original with himself, and he took +great delight in delivering it to the discomfiture of his +enemies. As he was leaving the little group of men I-Gos called +after him. "At what hour does O-Tar intend visiting the chambers +of O-Mai?" he asked.</p> + +<p>"Toward the end of the eighth zode<a href="#f6">*</a>," replied the major-domo, and +went his way.</p> + +<p class="foot"><a name="f6" />* About 1:00 A. M. Earth Time.</p> + + +<p>"We shall see," stated I-Gos.</p> + +<p>"What shall we see?" asked a warrior.</p> + +<p>"We shall see whether O-Tar visits the chamber of O-Mai."</p> + +<p>"How?"</p> + +<p>"I shall be there myself and if I see him I will know that he has +been there. If I don't see him I will know that he has not," +explained the old taxidermist.</p> + +<p>"Is there anything there to fill an honest man with fear?" asked +a chieftain. "What have you seen?"</p> + +<p>"It was not so much what I saw, though that was bad enough, as +what I heard," said I-Gos.</p> + +<p>"Tell us! What heard and saw you?"</p> + +<p>"I saw the dead O-Mai," said I-Gos. The others shuddered.</p> + +<p>"And you went not mad?" they asked.</p> + +<p>"Am I mad?" retorted I-Gos.</p> + +<p>"And you will go again?"</p> + +<p>"Yes."</p> + +<p>"Then indeed you are mad," cried one.</p> + +<p>"You saw the dead O-Mai; but what heard you that was worse?" +whispered another.</p> + +<p>"I saw the dead O-Mai lying upon the floor of his sleeping +chamber with one foot tangled in the sleeping silks and furs upon +his couch. I heard horrid moans and frightful screams."</p> + +<p>"And you are not afraid to go there again?" demanded several.</p> + +<p>"The dead cannot harm me," said I-Gos. "He has lain thus for five +thousand years. Nor can a sound harm me. I heard it once and +live—I can hear it again. It came from almost at my side where I +hid behind the hangings and watched the slave Turan before I +snatched the woman away from him."</p> + +<p>"I-Gos, you are a very brave man," said a chieftain.</p> + +<p>"O-Tar called me 'doddering fool' and I would face worse dangers +than lie in the forbidden chambers of O-Mai to know it if he does +not visit the chamber of O-Mai. Then indeed shall O-Tar fall!"</p> + +<p>The night came and the zodes dragged and the time approached when +O-Tar, Jeddak of Manator, was to visit the chamber of O-Mai in +search of the slave Turan. To us, who may doubt the existence of +malignant spirits, his fear may seem unbelievable, for he was a +strong man, an excellent swordsman, and a warrior of great +repute; but the fact remained that O-Tar of Manator was nervous +with apprehension as he strode the corridors of his palace toward +the deserted halls of O-Mai and when he stood at last with his +hand upon the door that opened from the dusty corridor to the +very apartments themselves he was almost paralyzed with terror. +He had come alone for two very excellent reasons, the first of +which was that thus none might note his terror-stricken state nor +his defection should he fail at the last moment, and the other +was that should he accomplish the thing alone or be able to make +his chiefs believe that he had, the credit would be far greater +than were he to be accompanied by warriors.</p> + +<p>But though he had started alone he had become aware that he was +being followed, and he knew that it was because his people had no +faith in either his courage or his veracity. He did not believe +that he would find the slave Turan. He did not very much want to +find him, for though O-Tar was an excellent swordsman and a brave +warrior in physical combat, he had seen how Turan had played with +U-Dor and he had no stomach for a passage at arms with one whom +he knew outclassed him.</p> + +<p>And so O-Tar stood with his hand upon the door—afraid to enter; +afraid not to. But at last his fear of his own warriors, watching +behind him, grew greater than the fear of the unknown behind the +ancient door and he pushed the heavy skeel aside and entered.</p> + +<p>Silence and gloom and the dust of centuries lay heavy upon the +chamber. From his warriors he knew the route that he must take to +the horrid chamber of O-Mai and so he forced his unwilling feet +across the room before him, across the room where the jetan +players sat at their eternal game, and came to the short corridor +that led into the room of O-Mai. His naked sword trembled in his +grasp. He paused after each forward step to listen and when he +was almost at the door of the ghost-haunted chamber, his heart +stood still within his breast and the cold sweat broke from the +clammy skin of his forehead, for from within there came to his +affrighted ears the sound of muffled breathing. Then it was that +O-Tar of Manator came near to fleeing from the nameless horror +that he could not see, but that he knew lay waiting for him in +that chamber just ahead. But again came the fear of the wrath and +contempt of his warriors and his chiefs. They would degrade him +and they would slay him into the bargain. There was no doubt of +what his fate would be should he flee the apartments of O-Mai in +terror. His only hope, therefore, lay in daring the unknown in +preference to the known.</p> + +<p>He moved forward. A few steps took him to the doorway. The +chamber before him was darker than the corridor, so that he could +just indistinctly make out the objects in the room. He saw a +sleeping dais near the center, with a darker blotch of something +lying on the marble floor beside it. He moved a step farther into +the doorway and the scabbard of his sword scraped against the +stone frame. To his horror he saw the sleeping silks and furs +upon the central dais move. He saw a figure slowly arising to a +sitting posture from the death bed of O-Mai the Cruel. His knees +shook, but he gathered all his moral forces, and gripping his +sword more tightly in his trembling fingers prepared to leap +across the chamber upon the horrid apparition. He hesitated just +a moment. He felt eyes upon him—ghoulish eyes that bored through +the darkness into his withering heart—eyes that he could not +see. He gathered himself for the rush—and then there broke from +the thing upon the couch an awful shriek, and O-Tar sank +senseless to the floor.</p> + +<p>Gahan rose from the couch of O-Mai, smiling, only to swing +quickly about with drawn sword as the shadow of a noise impinged +upon his keen ears from the shadows behind him. Between the +parted hangings he saw a bent and wrinkled figure. It was I-Gos.</p> + +<p>"Sheathe your sword, Turan," said the old man. "You have naught +to fear from I-Gos."</p> + +<p>"What do you here?" demanded Gahan.</p> + +<p>"I came to make sure that the great coward did not cheat us. Ey, +and he called me 'doddering fool;' but look at him now! Stricken +insensible by terror, but, ey, one might forgive him that who had +heard your uncanny scream. It all but blasted my own courage. And +it was you, then, who moaned and screamed when the chiefs came +the day that I stole Tara from you?"</p> + +<p>"It was you, then, old scoundrel?" demanded Gahan, moving +threateningly toward I-Gos.</p> + +<p>"Come, come!" expostulated the old man; "it was I, but then I was +your enemy. I would not do it now. Conditions have changed."</p> + +<p>"How have they changed? What has changed them?" asked Gahan.</p> + +<p>"Then I did not fully realize the cowardice of my jeddak, or the +bravery of you and the girl. I am an old man from another age and +I love courage. At first I resented the girl's attack upon me, +but later I came to see the bravery of it and it won my +admiration, as have all her acts. She feared not O-tar, she +feared not me, she feared not all the warriors of Manator. And +you! Blood of a million sires! how you fight! I am sorry that I +exposed you at The Fields of Jetan. I am sorry that I dragged the +girl Tara back to O-Tar. I would make amends. I would be your +friend. Here is my sword at your feet," and drawing his weapon +I-Gos cast it to the floor in front of Gahan.</p> + +<p>The Gatholian knew that scarce the most abandoned of knaves would +repudiate this solemn pledge, and so he stooped, and picking up +the old man's sword returned it to him, hilt first, in acceptance +of his friendship.</p> + +<p>"Where is the Princess Tara of Helium?" asked Gahan. "Is she +safe?"</p> + +<p>"She is confined in the tower of the women's quarters awaiting +the ceremony that is to make her Jeddara of Manator," replied +I-Gos.</p> + +<p>"This thing dared think that Tara of Helium would mate with him?" +growled Gahan. "I will make short work of him if he is not +already dead from fright," and he stepped toward the fallen O-Tar +to run his sword through the jeddak's heart.</p> + +<p>"No!" cried I-Gos. "Slay him not and pray that he be not dead if +you would save your princess."</p> + +<p>"How is that?" asked Gahan.</p> + +<p>"If word of O-Tar's death reached the quarters of the women the +Princess Tara would be lost. They know O-Tar's intention of +taking her to wife and making her Jeddara of Manator, so you may +rest assured that they all hate her with the hate of jealous +women. Only O-Tar's power protects her now from harm. Should +O-Tar die they would turn her over to the warriors and the male +slaves, for there would be none to avenge her."</p> + +<p>Gahan sheathed his sword. "Your point is well taken; but what +shall we do with him?"</p> + +<p>"Leave him where he lies," counseled I-Gos. "He is not dead. When +he revives he will return to his quarters with a fine tale of his +bravery and there will be none to impugn his boasts—none but +I-Gos. Come! he may revive at any moment and he must not find us +here."</p> + +<p>I-Gos crossed to the body of his jeddak, knelt beside it for an +instant, and then returned past the couch to Gahan. The two quit +the chamber of O-Mai and took their way toward the spiral runway. +Here I-Gos led Gahan to a higher level and out upon the roof of +that portion of the palace from where he pointed to a high tower +quite close by. "There," he said, "lies the Princess of Helium, +and quite safe she will be until the time of the ceremony."</p> + +<p>"Safe, possibly, from other hands, but not from her own," said +Gahan. "She will never become Jeddara of Manator—first will she +destroy herself."</p> + +<p>"She would do that?" asked I-Gos.</p> + +<p>"She will, unless you can get word to her that I still live and +that there is yet hope," replied Gahan.</p> + +<p>"I cannot get word to her," said I-Gos. "The quarters of his +women O-Tar guards with jealous hand. Here are his most trusted +slaves and warriors, yet even so, thick among them are countless +spies, so that no man knows which be which. No shadow falls +within those chambers that is not marked by a hundred eyes."</p> + +<p>Gahan stood gazing at the lighted windows of the high tower in +the upper chambers of which Tara of Helium was confined. "I will +find a way, I-Gos," he said.</p> + +<p>"There is no way," replied the old man.</p> + +<p>For some time they stood upon the roof beneath the brilliant +stars and hurtling moons of dying Mars, laying their plans +against the time that Tara of Helium should be brought from the +high tower to the throne room of O-Tar. It was then, and then +alone, argued I-Gos, that any hope of rescuing her might be +entertained. Just how far he might trust the other Gahan did not +know, and so he kept to himself the knowledge of the plan that he +had forwarded to Floran and Val Dor by Ghek, but he assured the +ancient taxidermist that if he were sincere in his oft-repeated +declaration that O-Tar should be denounced and superseded he +would have his opportunity on the night that the jeddak sought to +wed the Heliumetic princess.</p> + +<p>"Your time shall come then, I-Gos," Gahan assured the other, "and +if you have any party that thinks as you do, prepare them for the +eventuality that will succeed O-Tar's presumptuous attempt to wed +the daughter of The Warlord. Where shall I see you again, and +when? I go now to speak with Tara, Princess of Helium."</p> + +<p>"I like your boldness," said I-Gos; "but it will avail you +naught. You will not speak with Tara, Princess of Helium, though +doubtless the blood of many Manatorians will drench the floors of +the women's quarters before you are slain."</p> + +<p>Gahan smiled. "I shall not be slain. Where and when shall we +meet? But you may find me in O-Mai's chamber at night. That seems +the safest retreat in all Manator for an enemy of the jeddak in +whose palace it lies. I go!"</p> + +<p>"And may the spirits of your ancestors surround you," said I-Gos.</p> + +<p>After the old man had left him Gahan made his way across the roof +to the high tower, which appeared to have been constructed of +concrete and afterward elaborately carved, its entire surface +being covered with intricate designs cut deep into the stone-like +material of which it was composed. Though wrought ages since, it +was but little weather-worn owing to the aridity of the Martian +atmosphere, the infrequency of rains, and the rarity of dust +storms. To scale it, though, presented difficulties and danger +that might have deterred the bravest of men—that would, +doubtless, have deterred Gahan, had he not felt that the life of +the woman he loved depended upon his accomplishing the hazardous +feat.</p> + +<p>Removing his sandals and laying aside all of his harness and +weapons other than a single belt supporting a dagger, the +Gatholian essayed the dangerous ascent. Clinging to the carvings +with hands and feet he worked himself slowly aloft, avoiding the +windows and keeping upon the shadowy side of the tower, away from +the light of Thuria and Cluros. The tower rose some fifty feet +above the roof of the adjacent part of the palace, comprising +five levels or floors with windows looking in every direction. A +few of the windows were balconied, and these more than the others +he sought to avoid, although, it being now near the close of the +ninth zode, there was little likelihood that many were awake +within the tower.</p> + +<p>His progress was noiseless and he came at last, undetected, to +the windows of the upper level. These, like several of the others +he had passed at lower levels, were heavily barred, so that there +was no possibility of his gaining ingress to the apartment where +Tara was confined. Darkness hid the interior behind the first +window that he approached. The second opened upon a lighted +chamber where he could see a guard sleeping at his post outside a +door. Here also was the top of the runway leading to the next +level below. Passing still farther around the tower Gahan +approached another window, but now he clung to that side of the +tower which ended in a courtyard a hundred feet below and in a +short time the light of Thuria would reach him. He realized that +he must hasten and he prayed that behind the window he now +approached he would find Tara of Helium.</p> + +<p>Coming to the opening he looked in upon a small chamber dimly +lighted. In the center was a sleeping dais upon which a human +form lay beneath silks and furs. A bare arm, protruding from the +coverings, lay exposed against a black and yellow striped orluk +skin—an arm of wondrous beauty about which was clasped an armlet +that Gahan knew. No other creature was visible within the +chamber, all of which was exposed to Gahan's view. Pressing his +face to the bars the Gatholian whispered her dear name. The girl +stirred, but did not awaken. Again he called, but this time +louder. Tara sat up and looked about and at the same instant a +huge eunuch leaped to his feet from where he had been lying on +the floor close by that side of the dais farthest from Gahan. +Simultaneously the brilliant light of Thuria flashed full upon +the window where Gahan clung silhouetting him plainly to the two +within.</p> + +<p>Both sprang to their feet. The eunuch drew his sword and leaped +for the window where the helpless Gahan would have fallen an easy +victim to a single thrust of the murderous weapon the fellow +bore, had not Tara of Helium leaped upon her guard dragging him +back. At the same time she drew the slim dagger from its hiding +place in her harness and even as the eunuch sought to hurl her +aside its keen point found his heart. Without a sound he died and +lunged forward to the floor. Then Tara ran to the window.</p> + +<p>"Turan, my chief!" she cried. "What awful risk is this you take +to seek me here, where even your brave heart is powerless to aid +me."</p> + +<p>"Be not so sure of that, heart of my heart," he replied. "While I +bring but words to my love, they be the forerunner of deeds, I +hope, that will give her back to me forever. I feared that you +might destroy yourself, Tara of Helium, to escape the dishonor +that O-Tar would do you, and so I came to give you new hope and +to beg that you live for me through whatever may transpire, in +the knowledge that there is yet a way and that if all goes well +we shall be freed at last. Look for me in the throne room of +O-Tar the night that he would wed you. And now, how may we +dispose of this fellow?" He pointed to the dead eunuch upon the +floor.</p> + +<p>"We need not concern ourselves about that," she replied. "None +dares harm me for fear of the wrath of O-Tar—otherwise I should +have been dead so soon as ever I entered this portion of the +palace, for the women hate me. O-Tar alone may punish me, and +what cares O-Tar for the life of a eunuch? No, fear not upon this +score."</p> + +<p>Their hands were clasped between the bars and now Gahan drew her +nearer to him.</p> + +<p>"One kiss," he said, "before I go, my princess," and the proud +daughter of Dejah Thoris, Princess of Helium, and The Warlord of +Barsoom whispered: "My chieftain!" and pressed her lips to the +lips of Turan, the common panthan.</p> + + +<div style="height: 4em;"><br /><br /><br /><br /></div> + + +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XXII" id="CHAPTER_XXII" />CHAPTER XXII</h2> + +<h2>AT THE MOMENT OF MARRIAGE</h2> + +<p>The silence of the tomb lay heavy about him as O-Tar, Jeddak of +Manator, opened his eyes in the chamber of O-Mai. Recollection of +the frightful apparition that had confronted him swept to his +consciousness. He listened, but heard naught. Within the range of +his vision there was nothing apparent that might cause alarm. +Slowly he lifted his head and looked about. Upon the floor beside +the couch lay the thing that had at first attracted his attention +and his eyes closed in terror as he recognized it for what it +was; but it moved not, nor spoke. O-Tar opened his eyes again and +rose to his feet. He was trembling in every limb. There was +nothing on the dais from which he had seen the thing arise.</p> + +<p>O-Tar backed slowly from the room. At last he gained the outer +corridor. It was empty. He did not know that it had emptied +rapidly as the loud scream with which his own had mingled had +broken upon the startled ears of the warriors who had been sent +to spy upon him. He looked at the timepiece set in a massive +bracelet upon his left forearm. The ninth zode was nearly half +gone. O-Tar had lain for an hour unconscious. He had spent an +hour in the chamber of O-Mai and he was not dead! He had looked +upon the face of his predecessor and was still sane! He shook +himself and smiled. Rapidly he subdued his rebelliously shaking +nerves, so that by the time he reached the tenanted portion of +the palace he had gained control of himself. He walked with chin +high and something of a swagger. To the banquet hall he went, +knowing that his chiefs awaited him there and as he entered they +arose and upon the faces of many were incredulity and amaze, for +they had not thought to see O-Tar the jeddak again after what the +spies had told them of the horrid sounds issuing from the chamber +of O-Mai. Thankful was O-Tar that he had gone alone to that +chamber of fright, for now no one could deny the tale that he +should tell.</p> + +<p>E-Thas rushed forward to greet him, for E-Thas had seen black +looks directed toward him as the tals slipped by and his +benefactor failed to return.</p> + +<p>"O brave and glorious jeddak!" cried the major-domo. "We rejoice +at your safe return and beg of you the story of your adventure."</p> + +<p>"It was naught," exclaimed O-Tar. "I searched the chambers +carefully and waited in hiding for the return of the slave, +Turan, if he were temporarily away; but he came not. He is not +there and I doubt if he ever goes there. Few men would choose to +remain long in such a dismal place."</p> + +<p>"You were not attacked?" asked E-Thas. "You heard no screams, nor +moans?"</p> + +<p>"I heard hideous noises and saw phantom figures; but they fled +before me so that never could I lay hold of one, and I looked +upon the face of O-Mai and I am not mad. I even rested in the +chamber beside his corpse."</p> + +<p>In a far corner of the room a bent and wrinkled old man hid a +smile behind a golden goblet of strong brew.</p> + +<p>"Come! Let us drink!" cried O-Tar and reached for the dagger, the +pommel of which he was accustomed to use to strike the gong which +summoned slaves, but the dagger was not in its scabbard. O-Tar +was puzzled. He knew that it had been there just before he +entered the chamber of O-Mai, for he had carefully felt of all +his weapons to make sure that none was missing. He seized instead +a table utensil and struck the gong, and when the slaves came +bade them bring the strongest brew for O-Tar and his chiefs. +Before the dawn broke many were the expressions of admiration +bellowed from drunken lips—admiration for the courage of their +jeddak; but some there were who still looked glum.</p> + +<hr /> + +<p>Came at last the day that O-Tar would take the Princess Tara of +Helium to wife. For hours slaves prepared the unwilling bride. +Seven perfumed baths occupied three long and weary hours, then +her whole body was anointed with the oil of pimalia blossoms and +massaged by the deft fingers of a slave from distant Dusar. Her +harness, all new and wrought for the occasion was of the white +hide of the great white apes of Barsoom, hung heavily with +platinum and diamonds—fairly encrusted with them. The glossy +mass of her jet hair had been built into a coiffure of stately +and becoming grandeur, into which diamond-headed pins were stuck +until the whole scintillated as the stars in heaven upon a +moonless night.</p> + +<p>But it was a sullen and defiant bride that they led from the high +tower toward the throne room of O-Tar. The corridors were filled +with slaves and warriors, and the women of the palace and the +city who had been commanded to attend the ceremony. All the power +and pride, wealth and beauty of Manator were there.</p> + +<p>Slowly Tara, surrounded by a heavy guard of honor, moved along +the marble corridors filled with people. At the entrance to The +Hall of Chiefs E-Thas, the major-domo, received her. The Hall was +empty except for its ranks of dead chieftains upon their dead +mounts. Through this long chamber E-Thas escorted her to the +throne room which also was empty, the marriage ceremony in +Manator differing from that of other countries of Barsoom. Here +the bride would await the groom at the foot of the steps leading +to the throne. The guests followed her in and took their places, +leaving the central aisle from The Hall of Chiefs to the throne +clear, for up this O-Tar would approach his bride alone after a +short solitary communion with the dead behind closed doors in The +Hall of Chiefs. It was the custom.</p> + +<p>The guests had all filed through The Hall of Chiefs; the doors at +both ends had been closed. Presently those at the lower end of +the hall opened and O-Tar entered. His black harness was +ornamented with rubies and gold; his face was covered by a +grotesque mask of the precious metal in which two enormous rubies +were set for eyes, though below them were narrow slits through +which the wearer could see. His crown was a fillet supporting +carved feathers of the same metal as the mask. To the least +detail his regalia was that demanded of a royal bridegroom by the +customs of Manator, and now in accordance with that same custom +he came alone to The Hall of Chiefs to receive the blessings and +the council of the great ones of Manator who had preceded him.</p> + +<p>As the doors at the lower end of the Hall closed behind him O-Tar +the Jeddak stood alone with the great dead. By the dictates of +ages no mortal eye might look upon the scene enacted within that +sacred chamber. As the mighty of Manator respected the traditions +of Manator, let us, too, respect those traditions of a proud and +sensitive people. Of what concern to us the happenings in that +solemn chamber of the dead?</p> + +<p>Five minutes passed. The bride stood silently at the foot of the +throne. The guests spoke together in low whispers until the room +was filled with the hum of many voices. At length the doors +leading into The Hall of Chiefs swung open, and the resplendent +bridegroom stood framed for a moment in the massive opening. A +hush fell upon the wedding guests. With measured and impressive +step the groom approached the bride. Tara felt the muscles of her +heart contract with the apprehension that had been growing upon +her as the coils of Fate settled more closely about her and no +sign came from Turan. Where was he? What, indeed, could he +accomplish now to save her? Surrounded by the power of O-Tar with +never a friend among them, her position seemed at last without +vestige of hope.</p> + +<p>"I still live!" she whispered inwardly in a last brave attempt to +combat the terrible hopelessness that was overwhelming her, but +her fingers stole for reassurance to the slim blade that she had +managed to transfer, undetected, from her old harness to the new. +And now the groom was at her side and taking her hand was leading +her up the steps to the throne, before which they halted and +stood facing the gathering below. Came then, from the back of the +room a procession headed by the high dignitary whose office it +was to make these two man and wife, and directly behind him a +richly-clad youth bearing a silken pillow on which lay the golden +handcuffs connected by a short length of chain-of-gold with which +the ceremony would be concluded when the dignitary clasped a +handcuff about the wrist of each symbolizing their indissoluble +union in the holy bonds of wedlock.</p> + +<p>Would Turan's promised succor come too late? Tara listened to the +long, monotonous intonation of the wedding service. She heard the +virtues of O-Tar extolled and the beauties of the bride. The +moment was approaching and still no sign of Turan. But what could +he accomplish should he succeed in reaching the throne room, +other than to die with her? There could be no hope of rescue.</p> + +<p>The dignitary lifted the golden handcuffs from the pillow upon +which they reposed. He blessed them and reached for Tara's wrist. +The time had come! The thing could go no further, for alive or +dead, by all the laws of Barsoom she would be the wife of O-Tar +of Manator the instant the two were locked together. Even should +rescue come then or later she could never dissolve those bonds +and Turan would be lost to her as surely as though death +separated them.</p> + +<p>Her hand stole toward the hidden blade, but instantly the hand of +the groom shot out and seized her wrist. He had guessed her +intention. Through the slits in the grotesque mask she could see +his eyes upon her and she guessed the sardonic smile that the +mask hid. For a tense moment the two stood thus. The people below +them kept breathless silence for the play before the throne had +not passed un-noticed.</p> + +<p>Dramatic as was the moment it was suddenly rendered trebly so by +the noisy opening of the doors leading to The Hall of Chiefs. All +eyes turned in the direction of the interruption to see another +figure framed in the massive opening—a half-clad figure buckling +the half-adjusted harness hurriedly in place—the figure of +O-Tar, Jeddak of Manator.</p> + +<p>"Stop!" he screamed, springing forward along the aisle toward the +throne. "Seize the impostor!"</p> + +<p>All eyes shot to the figure of the groom before the throne. They +saw him raise his hand and snatch off the golden mask, and Tara +of Helium in wide-eyed incredulity looked up into the face of +Turan the panthan.</p> + +<p>"Turan the slave," they cried then. "Death to him! Death to him!"</p> + +<p>"Wait!" shouted Turan, drawing his sword, as a dozen warriors +leaped forward.</p> + +<p>"Wait!" screamed another voice, old and cracked, as I-Gos, the +ancient taxidermist, sprang from among the guests and reached the +throne steps ahead of the foremost warriors.</p> + +<p>At sight of the old man the warriors paused, for age is held in +great veneration among the peoples of Barsoom, as is true, +perhaps, of all peoples whose religion is based to any extent +upon ancestor worship. But O-Tar gave no heed to him, leaping +instead swiftly toward the throne. "Stop, coward!" cried I-Gos.</p> + +<p>The people looked at the little old man in amazement. "Men of +Manator," he cackled in his thin, shrill voice, "wouldst be ruled +by a coward and a liar?"</p> + +<p>"Down with him!" shouted O-Tar.</p> + +<p>"Not until I have spoken," retorted I-Gos. "It is my right. If I +fail my life is forfeit—that you all know and I know. I demand +therefore to be heard. It is my right!"</p> + +<p>"It is his right," echoed the voices of a score of warriors in +various parts of the chamber.</p> + +<p>"That O-Tar is a coward and a liar I can prove," continued I-Gos. +"He said that he faced bravely the horrors of the chamber of +O-Mai and saw nothing of the slave Turan. I was there, hiding +behind the hangings, and I saw all that transpired. Turan had +been hiding in the chamber and was even then lying upon the couch +of O-Mai when O-Tar, trembling with fear, entered the room. +Turan, disturbed, arose to a sitting position at the same time +voicing a piercing shriek. O-Tar screamed and swooned."</p> + +<p>"It is a lie!" cried O-Tar.</p> + +<p>"It is not a lie and I can prove it," retorted I-Gos. "Didst +notice the night that he returned from the chambers of O-Mai and +was boasting of his exploit, that when he would summon slaves to +bring wine he reached for his dagger to strike the gong with its +pommel as is always his custom? Didst note that, any of you? And +that he had no dagger? O-Tar, where is the dagger that you +carried into the chamber of O-Mai? You do not know; but I know. +While you lay in the swoon of terror I took it from your harness +and hid it among the sleeping silks upon the couch of O-Mai. +There it is even now, and if any doubt it let them go thither and +there they will find it and know the cowardice of their jeddak."</p> + +<p>"But what of this impostor?" demanded one. "Shall he stand with +impunity upon the throne of Manator whilst we squabble about our +ruler?"</p> + +<p>"It is through his bravery that you have learned the cowardice of +O-Tar," replied I-Gos, "and through him you will be given a +greater jeddak."</p> + +<p>"We will choose our own jeddak. Seize and slay the slave!" There +were cries of approval from all parts of the room. Gahan was +listening intently, as though for some hoped-for sound. He saw +the warriors approaching the dais, where he now stood with drawn +sword and with one arm about Tara of Helium. He wondered if his +plans had miscarried after all. If they had it would mean death +for him, and he knew that Tara would take her life if he fell. +Had he, then, served her so futilely after all his efforts?</p> + +<p>Several warriors were urging the necessity for sending at once to +the chamber of O-Mai to search for the dagger that would prove, +if found, the cowardice of O-Tar. At last three consented to go. +"You need not fear," I-Gos assured them. "There is naught there +to harm you. I have been there often of late and Turan the slave +has slept there for these many nights. The screams and moans that +frightened you and O-Tar were voiced by Turan to drive you away +from his hiding place." Shamefacedly the three left the apartment +to search for O-Tar's dagger.</p> + +<p>And now the others turned their attention once more to Gahan. +They approached the throne with bared swords, but they came +slowly for they had seen this slave upon the Field of Jetan and +they knew the prowess of his arm. They had reached the foot of +the steps when from far above there sounded a deep boom, and +another, and another, and Turan smiled and breathed a sigh of +relief. Perhaps, after all, it had not come too late. The +warriors stopped and listened as did the others in the chamber. +Now there broke upon their ears a loud rattle of musketry and it +all came from above as though men were fighting upon the roofs of +the palace.</p> + +<p>"What is it?" they demanded, one of the other.</p> + +<p>"A great storm has broken over Manator," said one.</p> + +<p>"Mind not the storm until you have slain the creature who dares +stand upon the throne of your jeddak," demanded O-Tar. "Seize +him!"</p> + +<p>Even as he ceased speaking the arras behind the throne parted and +a warrior stepped forth upon the dais. An exclamation of surprise +and dismay broke from the lips of the warriors of O-Tar. +"U-Thor!" they cried. "What treason is this?"</p> + +<p>"It is no treason," said U-Thor in his deep voice. "I bring you a +new jeddak for all of Manator. No lying poltroon, but a +courageous man whom you all love."</p> + +<p>He stepped aside then and another emerged from the corridor +hidden by the arras. It was A-Kor, and at sight of him there rose +exclamations of surprise, of pleasure, and of anger, as the +various factions recognized the coup d'etat that had been +arranged so cunningly. Behind A-Kor came other warriors until the +dais was crowded with them—all men of Manator from the city of +Manatos.</p> + +<p>O-Tar was exhorting his warriors to attack, when a bloody and +disheveled padwar burst into the chamber through a side entrance. +"The city has fallen!" he cried aloud. "The hordes of Manatos +pour through The Gate of Enemies. The slaves from Gathol have +arisen and destroyed the palace guards. Great ships are landing +warriors upon the palace roof and in the Fields of Jetan. The men +of Helium and Gathol are marching through Manator. They cry aloud +for the Princess of Helium and swear to leave Manator a blazing +funeral pyre consuming the bodies of all our people. The skies +are black with ships. They come in great processions from the +east and from the south."</p> + +<p>And then once more the doors from The Hall of Chiefs swung wide +and the men of Manator turned to see another figure standing upon +the threshold—a mighty figure of a man with white skin, and +black hair, and gray eyes that glittered now like points of steel +and behind him The Hall of Chiefs was filled with fighting men +wearing the harness of far countries. Tara of Helium saw him and +her heart leaped in exultation, for it was John Carter, Warlord +of Barsoom, come at the head of a victorious host to the rescue +of his daughter, and at his side was Djor Kantos to whom she had +been betrothed.</p> + +<p>The Warlord eyed the assemblage for a moment before he spoke. +"Lay down your arms, men of Manator," he said. "I see my daughter +and that she lives, and if no harm has befallen her no blood need +be shed. Your city is filled with the fighting men of U-Thor, and +those from Gathol and from Helium. The palace is in the hands of +the slaves from Gathol, beside a thousand of my own warriors who +fill the halls and chambers surrounding this room. The fate of +your jeddak lies in your own hands. I have no wish to interfere. +I come only for my daughter and to free the slaves from Gathol. I +have spoken!" and without waiting for a reply and as though the +room had been filled with his own people rather than a hostile +band he strode up the broad main aisle toward Tara of Helium.</p> + +<p>The chiefs of Manator were stunned. They looked to O-Tar; but he +could only gaze helplessly about him as the enemy entered from +The Hall of Chiefs and circled the throne room until they had +surrounded the entire company. And then a dwar of the army of +Helium entered.</p> + +<p>"We have captured three chiefs," he reported to The Warlord, "who +beg that they be permitted to enter the throne room and report to +their fellows some matter which they say will decide the fate of +Manator."</p> + +<p>"Fetch them," ordered The Warlord.</p> + +<p>They came, heavily guarded, to the foot of the steps leading to +the throne and there they stopped and the leader turned toward +the others of Manator and raising high his right hand displayed a +jeweled dagger. "We found it," he said, "even where I-Gos said +that we would find it," and he looked menacingly upon O-Tar.</p> + +<p>"A-Kor, jeddak of Manator!" cried a voice, and the cry was taken +up by a hundred hoarse-throated warriors.</p> + +<p>"There can be but one jeddak in Manator," said the chief who held +the dagger; his eyes still fixed upon the hapless O-Tar he +crossed to where the latter stood and holding the dagger upon an +outstretched palm proffered it to the discredited ruler. "There +can be but one jeddak in Manator," he repeated meaningly.</p> + +<p>O-Tar took the proffered blade and drawing himself to his full +height plunged it to the guard into his breast, in that single +act redeeming himself in the esteem of his people and winning an +eternal place in The Hall of Chiefs.</p> + +<p>As he fell all was silence in the great room, to be broken +presently by the voice of U-Thor. "O-Tar is dead!" he cried. "Let +A-Kor rule until the chiefs of all Manator may be summoned to +choose a new jeddak. What is your answer?"</p> + +<p>"Let A-Kor rule! A-Kor, Jeddak of Manator!" The cries filled the +room and there was no dissenting voice.</p> + +<p>A-Kor raised his sword for silence. "It is the will of A-Kor," he +said, "and that of the Great Jed of Manatos, and the commander of +the fleet from Gathol, and of the illustrious John Carter, +Warlord of Barsoom, that peace lie upon the city of Manator and +so I decree that the men of Manator go forth and welcome the +fighting men of these our allies as guests and friends and show +them the wonders of our ancient city and the hospitality of +Manator. I have spoken." And U-Thor and John Carter dismissed +their warriors and bade them accept the hospitality of Manator. +As the room emptied Djor Kantos reached the side of Tara of +Helium. The girl's happiness at rescue had been blighted by sight +of this man whom her virtuous heart told her she had wronged. She +dreaded the ordeal that lay before her and the dishonor that she +must admit before she could hope to be freed from the +understanding that had for long existed between them. And now +Djor Kantos approached and kneeling raised her fingers to his +lips.</p> + +<p>"Beautiful daughter of Helium," he said, "how may I tell you the +thing that I must tell you—of the dishonor that I have all +unwittingly done you? I can but throw myself upon your generosity +for forgiveness; but if you demand it I can receive the dagger as +honorably as did O-Tar."</p> + +<p>"What do you mean?" asked Tara of Helium. "What are you talking +about—why speak thus in riddles to one whose heart is already +breaking?"</p> + +<p>Her heart already breaking! The outlook was anything but +promising, and the young padwar wished that he had died before +ever he had had to speak the words he now must speak.</p> + +<p>"Tara of Helium," he continued, "we all thought you dead. For a +long year have you been gone from Helium. I mourned you truly and +then, less than a moon since, I wed with Olvia Marthis." He +stopped and looked at her with eyes that might have said: "Now, +strike me dead!"</p> + +<p>"Oh, foolish man!" cried Tara. "Nothing you could have done could +have pleased me more. Djor Kantos, I could kiss you!"</p> + +<p>"I do not think that Olvia Marthis would mind," he said, his face +now wreathed with smiles. As they spoke a body of men had entered +the throne room and approached the dais. They were tall men +trapped in plain harness, absolutely without ornamentation. Just +as their leader reached the dais Tara had turned to Gahan, +motioning him to join them.</p> + +<p>"Djor Kantos," she said, "I bring you Turan the panthan, whose +loyalty and bravery have won my love."</p> + +<p>John Carter and the leader of the new come warriors, who were +standing near, looked quickly at the little group. The former +smiled an inscrutable smile, the latter addressed the Princess of +Helium. "'Turan the panthan!'" he cried. "Know you not, fair +daughter of Helium, that this man you call panthan is Gahan, Jed +of Gathol?"</p> + +<p>For just a moment Tara of Helium looked her surprise; and then +she shrugged her beautiful shoulders as she turned her head to +cast her eyes over one of them at Gahan of Gathol.</p> + +<p>"Jed or panthan," she said; "what difference does it make what +one's slave has been?" and she laughed roguishly into the smiling +face of her lover.</p> + +<hr /> + +<p>His story finished, John Carter rose from the chair opposite me, +stretching his giant frame like some great forest-bred lion.</p> + +<p>"You must go?" I cried, for I hated to see him leave and it +seemed that he had been with me but a moment.</p> + +<p>"The sky is already red beyond those beautiful hills of yours," +he replied, "and it will soon be day."</p> + +<p>"Just one question before you go," I begged.</p> + +<p>"Well?" he assented, good-naturedly.</p> + +<p>"How was Gahan able to enter the throne room garbed in O-Tar's +trappings?" I asked.</p> + +<p>"It was simple—for Gahan of Gathol," replied The Warlord. "With +the assistance of I-Gos he crept into The Hall of Chiefs before +the ceremony, while the throne room and Hall of Chiefs were +vacated to receive the bride. He came from the pits through the +corridor that opened behind the arras at the rear of the throne, +and passing into The Hall of Chiefs took his place upon the back +of a riderless thoat, whose warrior was in I-Gos' repair room. +When O-Tar entered and came near him Gahan fell upon him and +struck him with the butt of a heavy spear. He thought that he had +killed him and was surprised when O-Tar appeared to denounce +him."</p> + +<p>"And Ghek? What became of Ghek?" I insisted.</p> + +<p>"After leading Val Dor and Floran to Tara's disabled flier which +they repaired, he accompanied them to Gathol from where a message +was sent to me in Helium. He then led a large party including +A-Kor and U-Thor from the roof, where our ships landed them, down +a spiral runway into the palace and guided them to the throne +room. We took him back to Helium with us, where he still lives, +with his single rykor which we found all but starved to death in +the pits of Manator. But come! No more questions now."</p> + +<p>I accompanied him to the east arcade where the red dawn was +glowing beyond the arches.</p> + +<p>"Good-bye!" he said.</p> + +<p>"I can scarce believe that it is really you," I exclaimed. +"Tomorrow I will be sure that I have dreamed all this."</p> + +<p>He laughed and drawing his sword scratched a rude cross upon the +concrete of one of the arches.</p> + +<p>"If you are in doubt tomorrow," he said, "come and see if you +dreamed this."</p> + +<p>A moment later he was gone.</p> + +<hr class="long" /> + +<div style="height: 4em;"><br /><br /><br /><br /></div> + + +<h3><a name="JETAN" id="JETAN_OR_MARTIAN_CHESS" />JETAN, OR MARTIAN CHESS</h3> + +<p>For those who care for such things, and would like to try the +game, I give the rules of Jetan as they were given me by John +Carter. By writing the names and moves of the various pieces on +bits of paper and pasting them on ordinary checkermen the game +may be played quite as well as with the ornate pieces used upon +Mars.</p> + +<p>THE BOARD: Square board consisting of one hundred alternate black +and orange squares.</p> + +<p>THE PIECES: In order, as they stand upon the board in the first +row, from left to right of each player.</p> + +<p>Warrior: 2 feathers; 2 spaces straight in any direction or +combination.</p> + +<p>Padwar: 2 feathers; 2 spaces diagonal in any direction or +combination.</p> + +<p>Dwar: 3 feathers; 3 spaces straight in any direction or +combination.</p> + +<p>Flier: 3 bladed propellor; 3 spaces diagonal in any direction or +combination; and may jump intervening pieces.</p> + +<p>Chief: Diadem with ten jewels; 3 spaces in any direction; +straight or diagonal or combination.</p> + +<p>Princess: Diadem with one jewel; same as Chief, except may jump +intervening pieces.</p> + +<p>Flier: See above.</p> + +<p>Dwar: See above.</p> + +<p>Padwar: See above.</p> + +<p>Warrior: See above.</p> + +<p>And in the second row from left to right:</p> + +<p>Thoat: Mounted warrior 2 feathers; 2 spaces, one straight and one +diagonal in any direction.</p> + +<p>Panthans: (8 of them): 1 feather; 1 space, forward, side, or +diagonal, but not backward.</p> + +<p>Thoat: See above.</p> + +<p>The game is played with twenty black pieces by one player and +twenty orange by his opponent, and is presumed to have originally +represented a battle between the Black race of the south and the +Yellow race of the north. On Mars the board is usually arranged +so that the Black pieces are played from the south and the Orange +from the north.</p> + +<p>The game is won when any piece is placed on same square with +opponent's Princess, or a Chief takes a Chief.</p> + +<p>The game is drawn when either Chief is taken by a piece other +than the opposing Chief, or when both sides are reduced to three +pieces, or less, of equal value and the game is not won in the +ensuing ten moves, five apiece.</p> + +<p>The Princess may not move onto a threatened square, nor may she +take an opposing piece. She is entitled to one ten-space move at +any time during the game. This move is called the escape.</p> + +<p>Two pieces may not occupy the same square except in the final +move of a game where the Princess is taken.</p> + +<p>When a player, moving properly and in order, places one of his +pieces upon a square occupied by an opponent piece, the opponent +piece is considered to have been killed and is removed from the +game.</p> + +<p>The moves explained. Straight moves mean due north, south, east, +or west; diagonal moves mean northeast, southeast, southwest, or +northwest. A Dwar might move straight north three spaces, or +north one space and east two spaces, or any similar combination +of straight moves, so long as he did not cross the same square +twice in a single move. This example explains combination moves.</p> + +<p>The first move may be decided in any way that is agreeable to +both players; after the first game the winner of the preceding +game moves first if he chooses, or may instruct his opponent to +make the first move.</p> + +<p>Gambling: The Martians gamble at Jetan in several ways. Of course +the outcome of the game indicates to whom the main stake belongs; +but they also put a price upon the head of each piece, according +to its value, and for each piece that a player loses he pays its +value to his opponent.</p> + +<hr class="full" /> + +<pre> + + + +End of Project Gutenberg's The Chessmen of Mars, by Edgar Rice Burroughs + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE CHESSMEN OF MARS *** + +This file should be named cmars13h.htm or cmars13h.zip +Corrected EDITIONS of our eBooks get a new NUMBER, cmars14h.htm +VERSIONS based on separate sources get new LETTER, cmars13ah.htm + +This etext was prepared by Judy Boss, Omaha, NE + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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