APrincessOfMars.txt

FOREWORD
TO THE READER OF THIS WORK IN submitting Captain Carter’s strange manuscript to you in book form, I believe that a few words relative to this remarkable personality will be of interest. My ?rst recollection of Captain Carter is of the few months he spent at my father’s home in Virginia, just prior to the opening of the civil war. I was then a child of but?veyears,yetIwellrememberthetall,dark,smoothfaced, athletic man whom I called Uncle Jack. He seemed always to be laughing; and he entered into the sports of the children with the same hearty good fel
FOREWORD
lowshiphedisplayedtowardthosepastimesinwhichthe menandwomenofhisownageindulged;orhewouldsit for an hour at a time entertaining my old grandmother with stories of his strange, wild life in all parts of the world. We all loved him, and our slaves fairly worshipped the ground he trod. He was a splendid specimen of manhood, standing a goodtwoinchesoversixfeet,broadofshoulderandnarrow of hip, with the carriage of the trained ?ghting man. Hisfeatureswereregularandclearcut,hishairblackand closely cropped, while his eyes were of a steel gray, re?ecting a strong and loyal character, ?lled with ?re and initiative. His manners were perfect, and his courtliness was that of a typical southern gentleman of the highest type. Hishorsemanship,especiallyafterhounds,wasamarvelanddelighteveninthatcountryofmagni?centhorsemen. Ihaveoftenheardmyfathercautionhimagainsthis wild recklessness, but he would only laugh, and say that the tumble that killed him would be from the back of a horse yet unfoaled. When the war broke out he left us, nor did I see him againforsome?fteenorsixteenyears. Whenhereturned
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FOREWORD
itwaswithoutwarning,andIwasmuchsurprisedtonote that he had not aged apparently a moment, nor had he changed in any other outward way. He was, when otherswerewithhim,thesamegenial,happyfellowwehad known of old, but when he thought himself alone I have seen him sit for hours gazing off into space, his face set in a look of wistful longing and hopeless misery; and at night he would sit thus looking up into the heavens, at what I did not know until I read his manuscript years afterward. He told us that he had been prospecting and mining in Arizona part of the time since the war; and that he hadbeenverysuccessfulwasevidencedbytheunlimited amount of money with which he was supplied. As to the details of his life during these years he was very reticent, in fact he would not talk of them at all. Heremainedwithusforaboutayearandthenwentto New York, where he purchased a little place on the Hudson, where I visited him once a year on the occasions of mytripstotheNewYorkmarket–myfatherandIowning and operating a string of general stores throughout Virginia at that time. Captain Carter had a small but beautiful cottage, situated on a bluff overlooking the river, and during one of my last visits, in the winter of 1885, I ob
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FOREWORD
servedhewasmuchoccupiedinwriting,Ipresumenow, upon this manuscript. He told me at this time that if anything should happen to him he wished me to take charge of his estate, and he gave me a key to a compartment in the safe which stood in his study, telling me I would ?nd his will there and some personal instructions which he had me pledge myself to carry out with absolute ?delity. After I had retired for the night I have seen him from mywindowstandinginthemoonlightonthebrinkofthe bluffoverlookingtheHudsonwithhisarmsstretchedout to the heavens as though in appeal. I thought at the time thathewaspraying,althoughIneverunderstoodthathe was in the strict sense of the term a religious man. SeveralmonthsafterIhadreturnedhomefrommylast visit, the ?rst of March, 1886, I think, I received a telegram from him asking me to come to him at once. I had always been his favorite among the younger generation of Carters and so I hastened to comply with his demand. I arrived at the little station, about a mile from his grounds, on the morning of March 4, 1886, and when I asked the livery man to drive me out to Captain Carter’s he replied that if I was a friend of the Captain’s he had
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FOREWORD
some very bad news for me; the Captain had been found dead shortly after daylight that very morning by the watchman attached to an adjoining property. For some reason this news did not surprise me, but I hurried out to his place as quickly as possible, so that I could take charge of the body and of his affairs. I found the watchman who had discovered him, together with the local police chief and several townspeople, assembled in his little study. The watchman related the few details connected with the ?nding of the body, whichhesaidhadbeenstillwarmwhenhecameuponit. It lay, he said, stretched full length in the snow with the arms outstretched above the head toward the edge of the bluff, and when he showed me the spot it ?ashed upon me that it was the identical one where I had seen him on thoseothernights,withhisarmsraisedinsupplicationto the skies. Therewerenomarksofviolenceonthebody,andwith the aid of a local physician the coroner’s jury quickly reached a decision of death from heart failure. Left alone inthestudy,Iopenedthesafeandwithdrewthecontents ofthedrawerinwhichhehadtoldmeIwould?ndmyinstructions. They were in part peculiar indeed, but I have
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FOREWORD
followed them to each last detail as faithfully as I was able. He directed that I remove his body to Virginia without embalming, and that he be laid in an open cof?n within a tomb which he previously had had constructed and which,asIlaterlearned,waswellventilated. Theinstructions impressed upon me that I must personally see that this was carried out just as he directed, even in secrecy if necessary. His property was left in such a way that I was to receive the entire income for twenty-?ve years, when the principal was to become mine. His further instructions related to this manuscript which I was to retain sealed and unread, just as I found it, for eleven years; nor was I to divulge its contents until twenty-one years after his death. A strange feature about the tomb, where his body still lies, is that the massive door is equipped with a single, huge gold-plated spring lock which can be opened only from the inside. Yours very sincerely, Edgar Rice Burroughs.
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CHAPTER I
ON THE ARIZONA HILLS Iam a very old man; how old I do not know. Possibly I am a hundred, possibly more; but I cannot tell becauseIhaveneveragedasothermen,nordoIremember any childhood. So far as I can recollect I have always been a man, a man of about thirty. I appear today as I did forty years and more ago, and yet I feel that I cannotgoonlivingforever;thatsomedayIshalldiethereal death from which there is no resurrection. I do not know why I should fear death, I who have died twice and am still alive; but yet I have the same horror of it as you who
CHAPTER I
have never died, and it is because of this terror of death, I believe, that I am so convinced of my mortality. And because of this conviction I have determined to write down the story of the interesting periods of my life and of my death. I cannot explain the phenomena; I can only set down here in the words of an ordinary soldier of fortune a chronicle of the strange events that befell me duringthetenyearsthatmydeadbodylayundiscovered in an Arizona cave. I have never told this story, nor shall mortal man see this manuscript until after I have passed over for eternity. I know that the average human mind will not believe what it cannot grasp, and so I do not purpose being pilloried by the public, the pulpit, and the press, and heldupasacolossalliarwhenIambuttellingthesimple truths which some day science will substantiate. Possibly the suggestions which I gained upon Mars, and the knowledge which I can set down in this chronicle, will aid in an earlier understanding of the mysteries of our sisterplanet;mysteriestoyou,butnolongermysteriesto me. My name is John Carter; I am better known as Captain Jack Carter of Virginia. At the close of the Civil War
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CHAPTER I
I found myself possessed of several hundred thousand dollars (Confederate) and a captain’s commission in the cavalry arm of an army which no longer existed; the servant of a state which had vanished with the hopes of the South. Masterless, penniless, and with my only means of livelihood, ?ghting, gone, I determined to work my way to the southwest and attempt to retrieve my fallen fortunes in a search for gold. I spent nearly a year prospecting in company with another Confederate of?cer, Captain James K. Powell of Richmond. We were extremely fortunate, for late in the winter of 1865, after many hardships and privations, we located the most remarkable gold-bearing quartz vein that our wildest dreams had ever pictured. Powell, who was a mining engineer by education, stated that we had uncovered over a million dollars worth of ore in a tri?e over three months. As our equipment was crude in the extreme we decided that one of us must return to civilization, purchase thenecessarymachineryandreturnwithasuf?cientforce of men properly to work the mine. As Powell was familiar with the country, as well as with the mechanical requirements of mining we deter
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CHAPTER I
mined that it would be best for him to make the trip. It wasagreedthatIwastoholddownourclaimagainstthe remote possibility of its being jumped by some wandering prospector. On March 3, 1866, Powell and I packed his provisions on two of our burros, and bidding me good-bye he mounted his horse, and started down the mountainside toward the valley, across which led the ?rst stage of his journey. The morning of Powell’s departure was, like nearly all Arizona mornings, clear and beautiful; I could see him and his little pack animals picking their way down the mountainsidetowardthevalley,andallduringthemorning I would catch occasional glimpses of them as they topped a hog back or came out upon a level plateau. My lastsightofPowellwasaboutthreeintheafternoonashe entered the shadows of the range on the opposite side of the valley. Some half hour later I happened to glance casually across the valley and was much surprised to note three little dots in about the same place I had last seen my friend and his two pack animals. I am not given to needlessworrying,butthemoreItriedtoconvincemyselfthat
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CHAPTER I
all was well with Powell, and that the dots I had seen on his trail were antelope or wild horses, the less I was able to assure myself. Since we had entered the territory we had not seen a hostile Indian, and we had, therefore, become careless in theextreme,andwerewonttoridiculethestorieswehad heard of the great numbers of these vicious marauders thatweresupposedtohauntthetrails,takingtheirtollin livesandtortureofeverywhitepartywhichfellintotheir merciless clutches. Powell, I knew, was well armed and, further, an experienced Indian ?ghter; but I too had lived and fought for years among the Sioux in the North, and I knew that hischancesweresmallagainstapartyofcunningtrailing Apaches. Finally I could endure the suspense no longer, and, arming myself with my two Colt revolvers and a carbine, I strapped two belts of cartridges about me and catchingmysaddlehorse,starteddownthetrailtakenby Powell in the morning. As soon as I reached comparatively level ground I urged my mount into a canter and continued this, where the going permitted, until, close upon dusk, I discovered thepointwhereothertracksjoinedthoseofPowell. They
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CHAPTER I
were the tracks of unshod ponies, three of them, and the ponies had been galloping. I followed rapidly until, darkness shutting down, I was forced to await the rising of the moon, and given an opportunity to speculate on the question of the wisdom of my chase. Possibly I had conjured up impossible dangers, like some nervous old housewife, and when I should catch up with Powell would get a good laugh for my pains. However, I am not prone to sensitiveness, and thefollowingofasenseofduty,whereveritmaylead,has always been a kind of fetich with me throughout my life; which may account for the honors bestowed upon me by threerepublicsandthe decorationsandfriendshipsofan old and powerful emperor and several lesser kings, in whose service my sword has been red many a time. Aboutnineo’clockthemoonwassuf?cientlybrightfor me to proceed on my way and I had no dif?culty in following the trail at a fast walk, and in some places at a brisk trot until, about midnight, I reached the water hole where Powell had expected to camp. I came upon the spot unexpectedly, ?nding it entirely deserted, with no signs of having been recently occupied as a camp. I was interested to note that the tracks of the pursuing
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CHAPTER I
horsemen, for such I was now convinced they must be, continued after Powell with only a brief stop at the hole for water; and always at the same rate of speed as his. I was positive now that the trailers were Apaches and that they wished to capture Powell alive for the ?endish pleasure of the torture, so I urged my horse onward at a most dangerous pace, hoping against hope that I would catch up with the red rascals before they attacked him. Furtherspeculationwassuddenlycutshortbythefaint report of two shots far ahead of me. I knew that Powell would need me now if ever, and I instantly urged my horse to his topmost speed up the narrow and dif?cult mountain trail. I had forged ahead for perhaps a mile or more without hearing further sounds, when the trail suddenly debouched onto a small, open plateau near the summit of the pass. I had passed through a narrow, overhanging gorge just before entering suddenly upon this table land, and the sight which met my eyes ?lled me with consternation and dismay. The little stretch of level land was white with Indian tepees,andtherewereprobablyhalfathousandredwarriors clustered around some object near the center of the
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CHAPTER I
camp. Their attention was so wholly riveted to this point of interest that they did not notice me, and I easily could have turned back into the dark recesses of the gorge and made my escape with perfect safety. The fact, however, that this thought did not occur to me until the following day removes any possible right to a claim to heroism to which the narration of this episode might possibly otherwise entitle me. I do not believe that I am made of the stuff which constitutes heroes, because, in all of the hundreds of instancesthatmyvoluntaryactshaveplacedmefacetoface withdeath,Icannotrecallasingleonewhereanyalternative step to that I took occurred to me until many hours later. My mind is evidently so constituted that I am subconsciouslyforcedintothepathofdutywithoutrecourse to tiresome mental processes. However that may be, I have never regretted that cowardice is not optional with me. In this instance I was, of course, positive that Powell was the center of attraction, but whether I thought or acted ?rst I do not know, but within an instant from the moment the scene broke upon my view I had whipped outmyrevolversandwaschargingdownupontheentire army of warriors, shooting rapidly, and whooping at the
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CHAPTER I
topofmylungs. Singlehanded,Icouldnothavepursued better tactics, for the red men, convinced by sudden surprise that not less than a regiment of regulars was upon them, turned and ?ed in every direction for their bows, arrows, and ri?es. The view which their hurried routing disclosed ?lled me with apprehension and with rage. Under the clear rays of the Arizona moon lay Powell, his body fairly bristling with the hostile arrows of the braves. That he was already dead I could not but be convinced, and yet I would have saved his body from mutilation at the hands oftheApachesasquicklyasIwouldhavesavedtheman himself from death. Riding close to him I reached down from the saddle, and grasping his cartridge belt drew him up across the withers of my mount. A backward glance convinced me thattoreturnbythewayIhadcomewouldbemorehazardous than to continue across the plateau, so, putting spurs to my poor beast, I made a dash for the opening to the pass which I could distinguish on the far side of the table land. The Indians had by this time discovered that I was alone and I was pursued with imprecations, arrows, and
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CHAPTER I
ri?e balls. The fact that it is dif?cult to aim anything but imprecationsaccuratelybymoonlight,thattheywereupset by the sudden and unexpected manner of my advent, and that I was a rather rapidly moving target saved me fromthevariousdeadlyprojectilesoftheenemyandpermittedmetoreachtheshadowsofthesurroundingpeaks before an orderly pursuit could be organized. MyhorsewastravelingpracticallyunguidedasIknew that I had probably less knowledge of the exact location of the trail to the pass than he, and thus it happened that he entered a de?le which led to the summit of the range and not to the pass which I had hoped would carry me to the valley and to safety. It is probable, however, that to this fact I owe my life and the remarkable experiences andadventureswhichbefellmeduringthefollowingten years. My ?rst knowledge that I was on the wrong trail came when I heard the yells of the pursuing savages suddenly grow fainter and fainter far off to my left. I knew then that they had passed to the left of the jagged rock formation at the edge of the plateau, to the right of which my horse had borne me and the body of Powell.
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CHAPTER I
Idrewreinonalittlelevelpromontoryoverlookingthe trail below and to my left, and saw the party of pursuing savages disappearing around the point of a neighboring peak. IknewtheIndianswouldsoondiscoverthattheywere on the wrong trail and that the search for me would be renewedintherightdirectionassoonastheylocatedmy tracks. I had gone but a short distance further when what seemedtobeanexcellenttrailopeneduparoundtheface ofahighcliff. Thetrailwaslevelandquitebroadandled upward and in the general direction I wished to go. The cliff arose for several hundred feet on my right, and on my left was an equal and nearly perpendicular drop to the bottom of a rocky ravine. I had followed this trail for perhaps a hundred yards when a sharp turn to the right brought me to the mouth ofalargecave. Theopeningwasaboutfourfeetinheight and three to four feet wide, and at this opening the trail ended. It was now morning, and, with the customary lack of dawnwhichisastartlingcharacteristicofArizona,ithad become daylight almost without warning.
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CHAPTER I
Dismounting, I laid Powell upon the ground, but the mostpainstakingexaminationfailedtorevealthefaintest sparkoflife. Iforcedwaterfrommycanteenbetweenhis deadlips,bathedhisfaceandrubbedhishands,working over him continuously for the better part of an hour in the face of the fact that I knew him to be dead. IwasveryfondofPowell;hewasthoroughlyamanin every respect; a polished southern gentleman; a staunch and true friend; and it was with a feeling of the deepest grief that I ?nally gave up my crude endeavors at resuscitation. LeavingPowell’sbodywhereitlayontheledgeIcrept intothecavetoreconnoiter. Ifoundalargechamber,possiblyahundredfeetindiameterandthirtyorfortyfeetin height;asmoothandwell-worn?oor,andmanyotherevidencesthatthecavehad,atsomeremoteperiod,beeninhabited. Thebackofthecavewassolostindenseshadow that I could not distinguish whether there were openings into other apartments or not. As I was continuing my examination I commenced to feel a pleasant drowsiness creeping over me which I attributedtothefatigueofmylongandstrenuousride,and the reaction from the excitement of the ?ght and the pur
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CHAPTER I
suit. I felt comparatively safe in my present location as I knew that one man could defend the trail to the cave against an army. IsoonbecamesodrowsythatIcouldscarcelyresistthe strong desire to throw myself on the ?oor of the cave for a few moments’ rest, but I knew that this would never do,asitwouldmeancertaindeathatthehandsofmyred friends, who might be upon me at any moment. With an effortIstartedtowardtheopeningofthecaveonlytoreel drunkenly against a side wall, and from there slip prone upon the ?oor.
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CHAPTER II
THE ESCAPE OF THE DEAD A sense of delicious dreaminess overcame me, my muscles relaxed, and I was on the point of giving way to my desire to sleep when the sound of approaching horses reached my ears. I attempted to spring to my feetbutwashorri?edtodiscoverthatmymusclesrefused to respond to my will. I was now thoroughly awake, but as unable to move a muscle as though turned to stone. It was then, for the ?rst time, that I noticed a slight vapor ?lling the cave. It was extremely tenuous and only noticeable against the opening which led to daylight. There
CHAPTER II
also came to my nostrils a faintly pungent odor, and I couldonlyassumethatIhadbeenovercomebysomepoisonous gas, but why I should retain my mental faculties and yet be unable to move I could not fathom. I lay facing the opening of the cave and where I could see the short stretch of trail which lay between the cave and the turn of the cliff around which the trail led. The noiseoftheapproachinghorseshadceased,andIjudged the Indians were creeping stealthily upon me along the little ledge which led to my living tomb. I remember that I hoped they would make short work of me as I did not particularly relish the thought of the innumerable things they might do to me if the spirit prompted them. Ihadnotlongtowaitbeforeastealthysoundapprised me of their nearness, and then a war-bonneted, paintstreaked face was thrust cautiously around the shoulder of the cliff, and savage eyes looked into mine. That he could see me in the dim light of the cave I was sure for the early morning sun was falling full upon me through the opening. The fellow, instead of approaching, merely stood and stared; his eyes bulging and his jaw dropped. And then anothersavagefaceappeared,andathirdandfourthand
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CHAPTER II
?fth, craning their necks over the shoulders of their fellows whom they could not pass upon the narrow ledge. Each face was the picture of awe and fear, but for what reasonIdidnotknow,nordidIlearnuntiltenyearslater. That there were still other braves behind those who regarded me was apparent from the fact that the leaders passed back whispered word to those behind them. Suddenly a low but distinct moaning sound issued fromtherecessesofthecavebehindme,and,asitreached the ears of the Indians, they turned and ?ed in terror, panic-stricken. Sofranticweretheireffortstoescapefrom the unseen thing behind me that one of the braves was hurled headlong from the cliff to the rocks below. Their wildcriesechoedinthecanyonforashorttime,andthen all was still once more. The sound which had frightened them was not repeated, but it had been suf?cient as it was to start me speculating on the possible horror which lurked in the shadows at my back. Fear is a relative term and so I can only measure my feelings at that time by what I had experienced in previous positions of danger and by those that I have passed through since; but I can say without shame that if the sensations I endured during the next few minutes were fear, then may God help the coward,
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CHAPTER II
for cowardice is of a surety its own punishment. To be held paralyzed, with one’s back toward some horrible and unknown danger from the very sound of which the ferocious Apache warriors turn in wild stampede,asa?ockofsheepwouldmadly?eefromapackof wolves, seems to me the last word in fearsome predicaments for a man who had ever been used to ?ghting for his life with all the energy of a powerful physique. SeveraltimesIthoughtIheardfaintsoundsbehindme as of somebody moving cautiously, but eventually even these ceased, and I was left to the contemplation of my position without interruption. I could but vaguely conjecture the cause of my paralysis, and my only hope lay in that it might pass off as suddenly as it had fallen upon me. Late in the afternoon my horse, which had been standing with dragging rein before the cave, started slowly downthetrail,evidentlyinsearchoffoodandwater,and Iwasleftalonewithmymysteriousunknowncompanion andthedeadbodyofmyfriend,whichlayjustwithinmy rangeofvisionupontheledgewhereIhadplaceditinthe early morning. From then until possibly midnight all was silence, the
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CHAPTER II
silence of the dead; then, suddenly, the awful moan of themorningbrokeuponmystartledears,andtherecame again from the black shadows the sound of a moving thing, and a faint rustling as of dead leaves. The shock to my already overstrained nervous system was terrible in the extreme, and with a superhuman effort I strove to break my awful bonds. It was an effort of the mind, of thewill,ofthenerves;notmuscular,forIcouldnotmove evensomuchasmylittle?nger,butnonethelessmighty for all that. And then something gave, there was a momentary feeling of nausea, a sharp click as of the snappingof asteelwire, andIstood withmy backagainstthe wall of the cave facing my unknown foe. And then the moonlight ?ooded the cave, and there before me lay my own body as it had been lying all these hours, with the eyes staring toward the open ledge and the hands resting limply upon the ground. I looked ?rst at my lifeless clay there upon the ?oor of the cave and thendownatmyselfinutterbewilderment;forthereIlay clothed, and yet here I stood but naked as at the minute of my birth. The transition had been so sudden and so unexpected that it left me for a moment forgetful of aught else than my strange metamorphosis. My ?rst thought was, is this
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CHAPTER II
then death! Have I indeed passed over forever into that other life! But I could not well believe this, as I could feel my heart pounding against my ribs from the exertion of my efforts to release myself from the anaesthesis which had held me. My breath was coming in quick, short gasps, cold sweat stood out from every pore of my body, and the ancient experiment of pinching revealed the fact that I was anything other than a wraith. Again was I suddenly recalled to my immediate surroundings by a repetition of the weird moan from the depths of the cave. Naked and unarmed as I was, I had no desire to face the unseen thing which menaced me. Myrevolverswerestrappedtomylifelessbodywhich, for some unfathomable reason, I could not bring myself to touch. My carbine was in its boot, strapped to my saddle,andasmyhorsehadwanderedoffIwasleftwithout means of defense. My only alternative seemed to lie in ?ightandmydecisionwascrystallizedbyarecurrenceof the rustling sound from the thing which now seemed, in thedarknessofthecaveandtomydistortedimagination, to be creeping stealthily upon me. Unable longer to resist the temptation to escape this horrible place I leaped quickly through the opening
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CHAPTER II
into the starlight of a clear Arizona night. The crisp, fresh mountain air outside the cave acted as an immediate tonic and I felt new life and new courage coursing through me. Pausing upon the brink of the ledge I upbraided myself for what now seemed to me wholly unwarranted apprehension. I reasoned with myself that I had lain helpless for many hours within the cave, yet nothinghadmolestedme,andmybetterjudgment,when permitted the direction of clear and logical reasoning, convinced me that the noises I had heard must have resultedfrompurelynaturalandharmlesscauses;probably theconformationofthecavewassuchthataslightbreeze had caused the sounds I heard. I decided to investigate, but ?rst I lifted my head to ?ll my lungs with the pure, invigorating night air of the mountains. As I did so I saw stretching far below me the beautiful vista of rocky gorge, and level, cactistudded ?at, wrought by the moonlight into a miracle of soft splendor and wondrous enchantment. Few western wonders are more inspiring than the beauties of an Arizona moonlit landscape; the silvered mountains in the distance, the strange lights and shadowsuponhogbackandarroyo,andthegrotesquedetails of the stiff, yet beautiful cacti form a picture at once en
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CHAPTER II
chanting and inspiring; as though one were catching for the?rsttimeaglimpseofsomedeadandforgottenworld, so different is it from the aspect of any other spot upon our earth. As I stood thus meditating, I turned my gaze from the landscape to the heavens where the myriad stars formed a gorgeous and ?tting canopy for the wonders of the earthlyscene. Myattentionwasquicklyrivetedbyalarge red star close to the distant horizon. As I gazed upon it I felt a spell of overpowering fascination–it was Mars, the god of war, and for me, the ?ghting man, it had always held the power of irresistible enchantment. As I gazed at it on that far-gone night it seemed to call across the unthinkablevoid,toluremetoit,todrawmeasthelodestone attracts a particle of iron. My longing was beyond the power of opposition; I closed my eyes, stretched out my arms toward the god of my vocation and felt myself drawn with the suddennessofthoughtthroughthetracklessimmensityofspace. There was an instant of extreme cold and utter darkness.
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CHAPTER III
MY ADVENT ON MARS Iopened my eyes upon a strange and weird landscape. I knew that I was on Mars; not once did I question either my sanity or my wakefulness. I was not asleep, no need for pinching here; my inner consciousness told me as plainly that I was upon Mars as your conscious mind tells you that you are upon Earth. You do not question the fact; neither did I. I found myself lying prone upon a bed of yellowish, mosslike vegetation which stretched around me in all directions for interminable miles. I seemed to be lying in
CHAPTER III
a deep, circular basin, along the outer verge of which I could distinguish the irregularities of low hills. It was midday, the sun was shining full upon me and theheatofitwasratherintenseuponmynakedbody,yet no greater than would have been true under similar conditions on an Arizona desert. Here and there were slight outcroppings of quartz-bearing rock which glistened in the sunlight; and a little to my left, perhaps a hundred yards, appeared a low, walled enclosure about four feet in height. No water, and no other vegetation than the moss was in evidence, and as I was somewhat thirsty I determined to do a little exploring. Springing to my feet I received my ?rst Martian surprise, for the effort, which on Earth would have brought me standing upright, carried me into the Martian air to the height of about three yards. I alighted softly upon the ground, however, without appreciable shock or jar. Now commenced a series of evolutions which even then seemed ludicrous in the extreme. I found that I must learn to walk all over again, as the muscular exertion which carried me easily and safely upon Earth played strange antics with me upon Mars. Instead of progressing in a sane and digni?ed man
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ner, my attempts to walk resulted in a variety of hops whichtookmeclearofthegroundacoupleoffeetateach step and landed me sprawling upon my face or back at the end of each second or third hop. My muscles, perfectly attuned and accustomed to the force of gravity on Earth, played the mischief with me in attempting for the ?rsttimetocopewiththelessergravitationandlowerair pressure on Mars. I was determined, however, to explore the low structure which was the only evidence of habitation in sight, andsoIhitupontheuniqueplanofrevertingto?rstprinciplesinlocomotion,creeping. Ididfairlywellatthisand in a few moments had reached the low, encircling wall of the enclosure. There appeared to be no doors or windows upon the side nearest me, but as the wall was but about four feet high I cautiously gained my feet and peered over the top uponthestrangestsightithadeverbeengivenmetosee. The roof of the enclosure was of solid glass about four or ?ve inches in thickness, and beneath this were several hundred large eggs, perfectly round and snowy white. Theeggswerenearlyuniforminsizebeingabouttwoand one-half feet in diameter.
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CHAPTER III
Fiveorsixhadalreadyhatchedandthegrotesquecaricatureswhichsatblinkinginthesunlightwereenoughto cause me to doubt my sanity. They seemed mostly head, withlittlescrawnybodies,longnecksandsixlegs,or,asI afterward learned, two legs and two arms, with an intermediary pair of limbs which could be used at will either as arms or legs. Their eyes were set at the extreme sides of their heads a tri?e above the center and protruded in such a manner that they could be directed either forward or back and also independently of each other, thus permitting this queer animal to look in any direction, or in two directions at once, without the necessity of turning the head. Theears,whichwereslightlyabovetheeyesandcloser together, were small, cup-shaped antennae, protruding not more than an inch on these young specimens. Their noses were but longitudinal slits in the center of their faces, midway between their mouths and ears. Therewasnohairontheirbodies,whichwereofavery lightyellowish-greencolor. Intheadults,asIwastolearn quite soon, this color deepens to an olive green and is darker in the male than in the female. Further, the heads of the adults are not so out of proportion to their bodies as in the case of the young.
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The iris of the eyes is blood red, as in Albinos, while the pupil is dark. The eyeball itself is very white, as are the teeth. These latter add a most ferocious appearance to an otherwise fearsome and terrible countenance, as the lower tusks curve upward to sharp points which endaboutwheretheeyesofearthlyhumanbeingsarelocated. The whiteness of the teeth is not that of ivory, but of the snowiest and most gleaming of china. Against the darkbackgroundoftheiroliveskinstheirtusksstandout inamoststrikingmanner,makingtheseweaponspresent a singularly formidable appearance. Most of these details I noted later, for I was given but littletimetospeculateonthewondersofmynewdiscovery. I had seen that the eggs were in the process of hatching, and as I stood watching the hideous little monsters break from their shells I failed to note the approach of a score of full-grown Martians from behind me. Coming,astheydid,overthesoftandsoundlessmoss, which covers practically the entire surface of Mars with theexceptionofthefrozenareasatthepolesandthescattered cultivated districts, they might have captured me easily, but their intentions were far more sinister. It was the rattling of the accouterments of the foremost warrior which warned me.
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On such a little thing my life hung that I often marvel that I escaped so easily. Had not the ri?e of the leader of the party swung from its fastenings beside his saddle in such a way as to strike against the butt of his great metal-shod spear I should have snuffed out without ever knowing that death was near me. But the little sound caused me to turn, and there upon me, not ten feet from my breast, was the point of that huge spear, a spear forty feet long, tipped with gleaming metal, and held low at thesideofamountedreplicaofthelittledevilsIhadbeen watching. But how puny and harmless they now looked beside this huge and terri?c incarnation of hate, of vengeance and of death. The man himself, for such I may call him, was fully ?fteen feet in height and, on Earth, would have weighed some four hundred pounds. He sat his mount as we sit a horse, grasping the animal’s barrel with his lower limbs, while the hands of his two right arms held his immense spear low at the side of his mount; his two left arms were outstretched laterally to help preserve his balance, the thing he rode having neither bridle or reins of any description for guidance. And his mount! How can earthly words describe it! It towered ten feet at the shoulder; had four legs on either
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side; a broad ?at tail, larger at the tip than at the root, and which it held straight out behind while running; a gaping mouth which split its head from its snout to its long, massive neck. Like its master, it was entirely devoid of hair, but was of a dark slate color and exceeding smooth and glossy. Its belly was white, and its legs shaded from the slate of its shoulders and hips to a vivid yellow at the feet. The feet themselves were heavily padded and nailless, which fact had also contributed to the noiselessness of their approach, and, in common with a multiplicity of legs, is a characteristic feature of the fauna of Mars. The highest type of man and one other animal, the only mammal existing on Mars, alone have well-formed nails, and there are absolutely no hoofed animals in existence there. Behind this ?rst charging demon trailed nineteen others, similar in all respects, but, as I learned later, bearingindividualcharacteristicspeculiartothemselves;precisely as no two of us are identical although we are all cast in a similar mold. This picture, or rather materialized nightmare, which I have described at length, made butoneterribleandswiftimpressiononmeasIturnedto meet it.
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Unarmed and naked as I was, the ?rst law of nature manifested itself in the only possible solution of my immediate problem, and that was to get out of the vicinity of the point of the charging spear. Consequently I gave a very earthly and at the same time superhuman leap to reach the top of the Martian incubator, for such I had determined it must be. My effort was crowned with a success which appalled me no less than it seemed to surprise the Martian warriors, for it carried me fully thirty feet into the air and landed me a hundred feet from my pursuers and on the opposite side of the enclosure. I alighted upon the soft moss easily and without mishap, and turning saw my enemies lined up along the further wall. Some were surveying me with expressions which I afterward discovered marked extreme astonishment, and the others were evidently satisfying themselves that I had not molested their young. They were conversing together in low tones, and gesticulatingandpointingtowardme. TheirdiscoverythatI had not harmed the little Martians, and that I was unarmed, must have caused them to look upon me with less ferocity; but, as I was to learn later, the thing which
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weighedmostinmyfavorwasmyexhibitionofhurdling. While the Martians are immense, their bones are very largeandtheyaremuscledonlyinproportiontothegravitationwhichtheymustovercome. Theresultisthatthey are in?nitely less agile and less powerful, in proportion totheirweight,thananEarthman,andIdoubtthatwere oneofthemsuddenlytobetransportedtoEarthhecould lift his own weight from the ground; in fact, I am convinced that he could not do so. My feat then was as marvelous upon Mars as it would havebeenuponEarth,andfromdesiringtoannihilateme theysuddenlylookeduponmeasawonderfuldiscovery to be captured and exhibited among their fellows. The respite my unexpected agility had given me permitted me to formulate plans for the immediate future and to note more closely the appearance of the warriors, forIcouldnotdisassociatethesepeopleinmymindfrom those other warriors who, only the day before, had been pursuing me. I noted that each was armed with several other weapons in addition to the huge spear which I have described. The weapon which caused me to decide against an attempt at escape by ?ight was what was evidently a
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ri?e of some description, and which I felt, for some reason, they were peculiarly ef?cient in handling. These ri?es were of a white metal stocked with wood, which I learned later was a very light and intensely hard growth much prized on Mars, and entirely unknown to us denizens of Earth. The metal of the barrel is an alloy composed principally of aluminum and steel which they have learned to temper to a hardness far exceeding that of the steel with which we are familiar. The weight of these ri?es is comparatively little, and with the small caliber, explosive, radium projectiles which they use, and the great length of the barrel, they are deadly intheextremeandatrangeswhichwouldbeunthinkable onEarth. Thetheoreticeffectiveradiusofthisri?eisthree hundred miles, but the best they can do in actual service whenequippedwiththeirwireless?ndersandsightersis but a tri?e over two hundred miles. This is quite far enough to imbue me with great respect for the Martian ?rearm, and some telepathic force must have warned me against an attempt to escape in broaddaylightfromunderthemuzzlesoftwentyofthese death-dealing machines. The Martians, after conversing for a short time, turned
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and rode away in the direction from which they had come,leavingoneoftheirnumberalonebytheenclosure. Whentheyhadcoveredperhapstwohundredyardsthey halted, and turning their mounts toward us sat watching the warrior by the enclosure. He was the one whose spear had so nearly trans?xed me, and was evidently the leader of the band, as I had noted that they seemed to have moved to their present position at his direction. When his force had come to a halt he dismounted, threw down his spear and small arms, and came around the end of the incubator toward me, entirely unarmed and as naked as I, except for the ornaments strapped upon his head, limbs, and breast. Whenhewaswithinabout?ftyfeetofmeheunclasped an enormous metal armlet, and holding it toward me in the open palm of his hand, addressed me in a clear, resonant voice, but in a language, it is needless to say, I could not understand. He then stopped as though waiting for my reply, pricking up his antennae-like ears and cocking his strange-looking eyes still further toward me. As the silence became painful I concluded to hazard a little conversation on my own part, as I had guessed that he was making overtures of peace. The throwing down
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of his weapons and the withdrawing of his troop before his advance toward me would have signi?ed a peaceful mission anywhere on Earth, so why not, then, on Mars! Placing my hand over my heart I bowed low to the MartianandexplainedtohimthatwhileIdidnotunderstand his language, his actions spoke for the peace and friendship that at the present moment were most dear to my heart. Of course I might have been a babbling brook for all the intelligence my speech carried to him, but he understoodtheactionwithwhichIimmediatelyfollowed my words. Stretching my hand toward him, I advanced and took the armlet from his open palm, clasping it about my arm above the elbow; smiled at him and stood waiting. His wide mouth spread into an answering smile, and locking one of his intermediary arms in mine we turned and walked back toward his mount. At the same time he motioned his followers to advance. They started toward us onawildrun,butwerecheckedbyasignalfromhim. Evidently he feared that were I to be really frightened again I might jump entirely out of the landscape. He exchanged a few words with his men, motioned to me that I would ride behind one of them, and then
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mounted his own animal. The fellow designated reached down two or three hands and lifted me up behind him on the glossy back of his mount, where I hung on as best I could by the belts and straps which held the Martian’s weapons and ornaments. The entire cavalcade then turned and galloped away toward the range of hills in the distance.
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A PRISONER WE had gone perhaps ten miles when the ground began to rise very rapidly. We were, as I was later to learn,nearingtheedgeofoneofMars’long-deadseas,in thebottomofwhichmyencounterwiththeMartianshad taken place. In a short time we gained the foot of the mountains, and after traversing a narrow gorge came to an open valley, at the far extremity of which was a low table land upon which I beheld an enormous city. Toward this we galloped, entering it by what appeared to be a ruined
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roadway leading out from the city, but only to the edge of the table land, where it ended abruptly in a ?ight of broad steps. Upon closer observation I saw as we passed them that the buildings were deserted, and while not greatly decayed had the appearance of not having been tenanted for years, possibly for ages. Toward the center of the city was a large plaza, and upon this and in the buildings immediately surrounding it were camped some nine or ten hundred creatures of the same breed as my captors, for such I now considered them despite the suave manner in which I had been trapped. With the exception of their ornaments all were naked. Thewomenvariedinappearancebutlittlefromthemen, except that their tusks were much larger in proportion to their height, in some instances curving nearly to their high-set ears. Their bodies were smaller and lighter in color, and their ?ngers and toes bore the rudiments of nails, which were entirely lacking among the males. The adult females ranged in height from ten to twelve feet. The children were light in color, even lighter than the women, and all looked precisely alike to me, except that some were taller than others; older, I presumed.
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Isawnosignsofextremeageamongthem,noristhere any appreciable difference in their appearance from the age of maturity, about forty, until, at about the age of one thousand years, they go voluntarily upon their last strangepilgrimagedowntheriverIss,whichleadsnoliving Martian knows whither and from whose bosom no Martian has ever returned, or would be allowed to live did he return after once embarking upon its cold, dark waters. Only about one Martian in a thousand dies of sickness or disease, and possibly about twenty take the voluntary pilgrimage. Theotherninehundredandseventy-ninedie violentdeathsinduels,inhunting,inaviationandinwar; but perhaps by far the greatest death loss comes during theageofchildhood,whenvastnumbersofthelittleMartians fall victims to the great white apes of Mars. The average life expectancy of a Martian after the age of maturity is about three hundred years, but would be nearer the one-thousand mark were it not for the various means leading to violent death. Owing to the waning resources of the planet it evidently became necessary to counteract the increasing longevity which their remarkable skill in therapeutics and surgery produced, and so humanlifehascometobeconsideredbutlightlyonMars,
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as is evidenced by their dangerous sports and the almost continual warfare between the various communities. There are other and natural causes tending toward a diminution of population, but nothing contributes so greatlytothisendasthefactthatnomaleorfemaleMartian is ever voluntarily without a weapon of destruction. As we neared the plaza and my presence was discovered we were immediately surrounded by hundreds of the creatures who seemed anxious to pluck me from my seat behind my guard. A word from the leader of the party stilled their clamor, and we proceeded at a trot across the plaza to the entrance of as magni?cent an edi?ce as mortal eye has rested upon. The building was low, but covered an enormous area. It was constructed of gleaming white marble inlaid with gold and brilliant stones which sparkled and scintillated in the sunlight. The main entrance was some hundred feet in width and projected from the building proper to form a huge canopy above the entrance hall. There was no stairway, but a gentle incline to the ?rst ?oor of the building opened into an enormous chamber encircled by galleries. On the ?oor of this chamber, which was dotted with
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highly carved wooden desks and chairs, were assembled about forty or ?fty male Martians around the steps of a rostrum. On the platform proper squatted an enormouswarriorheavilyloadedwithmetalornaments,gaycolored feathers and beautifully wrought leather trappings ingeniously set with precious stones. From his shoulders depended a short cape of white fur lined with brilliant scarlet silk. What struck me as most remarkable about this assemblage and the hall in which they were congregated was the fact that the creatures were entirely out of proportion to the desks, chairs, and other furnishings; these being of a size adapted to human beings such as I, whereas the great bulks of the Martians could scarcely have squeezed into the chairs, nor was there room beneath the desks for their long legs. Evidently, then, there were other denizens on Mars than the wild and grotesque creatures into whose hands I had fallen, but the evidences of extreme antiquity which showed all around me indicated that these buildings might have belonged to some longextinct and forgotten race in the dim antiquity of Mars. Our party had halted at the entrance to the building, and at a sign from the leader I had been lowered to the ground. Again locking his arm in mine, we had pro
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ceeded into the audience chamber. There were few formalities observed in approaching the Martian chieftain. My captor merely strode up to the rostrum, the others making way for him as he advanced. The chieftain rose tohisfeetandutteredthenameofmyescortwho,inturn, haltedandrepeatedthenameoftherulerfollowedbyhis title. At the time, this ceremony and the words they uttered meant nothing to me, but later I came to know that thiswasthecustomarygreetingbetweengreenMartians. Had the men been strangers, and therefore unable to exchangenames,theywouldhavesilentlyexchangedornaments, had their missions been peaceful–otherwise they wouldhaveexchangedshots,orhavefoughtouttheirintroduction with some other of their various weapons. My captor, whose name was Tars Tarkas, was virtually the vice-chieftain of the community, and a man of greatabilityasastatesmanandwarrior. Heevidentlyexplained brie?y the incidents connected with his expedition, including my capture, and when he had concluded the chieftain addressed me at some length. IrepliedinourgoodoldEnglishtonguemerelytoconvince him that neither of us could understand the other;
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but I noticed that when I smiled slightly on concluding, hedidlikewise. Thisfact,andthesimilaroccurrenceduring my ?rst talk with Tars Tarkas, convinced me that we had at least something in common; the ability to smile, therefore to laugh; denoting a sense of humor. But I was tolearnthattheMartiansmileismerelyperfunctory,and that the Martian laugh is a thing to cause strong men to blanch in horror. The ideas of humor among the green men of Mars are widely at variance with our conceptions of incitants to merriment. The death agonies of a fellow being are, to these strange creatures, provocative of the wildest hilarity, while their chief form of commonest amusement is to in?ict death on their prisoners of war in various ingenious and horrible ways. The assembled warriors and chieftains examined me closely, feeling my muscles and the texture of my skin. Theprincipalchieftainthenevidentlysigni?edadesireto see me perform, and, motioning me to follow, he started with Tars Tarkas for the open plaza. Now, I had made no attempt to walk, since my ?rst signal failure, except while tightly grasping Tars Tarkas’ arm, and so now I went skipping and ?itting
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about among the desks and chairs like some monstrous grasshopper. After bruising myself severely, much to the amusementoftheMartians,Iagainhadrecoursetocreeping, but this did not suit them and I was roughly jerked to my feet by a towering fellow who had laughed most heartily at my misfortunes. Ashebangedmedownuponmyfeethisfacewasbent close to mine and I did the only thing a gentleman might dounderthecircumstancesofbrutality,boorishness,and lack of consideration for a stranger’s rights; I swung my ?stsquarelytohisjawandhewentdownlikeafelledox. As he sunk to the ?oor I wheeled around with my back towardthenearestdesk,expectingtobeoverwhelmedby thevengeanceofhisfellows,butdeterminedtogivethem asgoodabattleastheunequaloddswouldpermitbefore I gave up my life. My fears were groundless, however, as the other Martians, at ?rst struck dumb with wonderment, ?nally broke into wild peals of laughter and applause. I did not recognize the applause as such, but later, when I had become acquainted with their customs, I learned that I had won what they seldom accord, a manifestation of approbation.
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The fellow whom I had struck lay where he had fallen, nor did any of his mates approach him. Tars Tarkas advanced toward me, holding out one of his arms, and we thusproceededtotheplazawithoutfurthermishap. Idid not,ofcourse,knowthereasonforwhichwehadcometo the open, but I was not long in being enlightened. They ?rstrepeatedtheword“sak”anumberoftimes,andthen TarsTarkasmadeseveraljumps,repeatingthesameword before each leap; then, turning to me, he said, “sak!” I saw what they were after, and gathering myself together I “sakked” with such marvelous success that I cleared a good hundred and ?fty feet; nor did I, this time, lose my equilibrium, but landed squarely upon my feet without falling. I then returned by easy jumps of twenty-?ve or thirty feet to the little group of warriors. My exhibition had been witnessed by several hundred lesser Martians, and they immediately broke into demands for a repetition, which the chieftain then ordered metomake;butIwasbothhungryandthirsty,anddetermined on the spot that my only method of salvation was to demand the consideration from these creatures which they evidently would not voluntarily accord. I therefore ignored the repeated commands to “sak,” and each time theyweremadeImotionedtomymouthandrubbedmy
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stomach. Tars Tarkas and the chief exchanged a few words, and the former, calling to a young female among the throng, gave her some instructions and motioned me to accompany her. I grasped her proffered arm and together we crossed the plaza toward a large building on the far side. My fair companion was about eight feet tall, having justarrivedatmaturity,butnotyettoherfullheight. She was of a light olive-green color, with a smooth, glossy hide. Her name, as I afterward learned, was Sola, and shebelongedtotheretinueofTarsTarkas. Sheconducted metoaspaciouschamberinoneofthebuildingsfronting on the plaza, and which, from the litter of silks and furs uponthe?oor,Itooktobethesleepingquartersofseveral of the natives. The room was well lighted by a number of large windows and was beautifully decorated with mural paintings and mosaics, but upon all there seemed to rest that inde?nable touch of the ?nger of antiquity which convinced me that the architects and builders of these wondrous creations had nothing in common with the crude half-brutes which now occupied them. Solamotionedmetobeseateduponapileofsilksnear
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thecenteroftheroom,and,turning,madeapeculiarhissing sound, as though signaling to someone in an adjoining room. In response to her call I obtained my ?rst sight of a new Martian wonder. It waddled in on its ten short legs, and squatted down before the girl like an obedient puppy. The thing was about the size of a Shetland pony, butitsheadboreaslightresemblancetothatofafrog,exceptthatthejawswereequippedwiththreerowsoflong, sharp tusks.
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I ELUDE MY WATCH DOG SOLA stared into the brute’s wicked-looking eyes, muttered a word or two of command, pointed to me, and left the chamber. I could not but wonder what this ferocious-looking monstrosity might do when left alone insuchcloseproximitytosucharelativelytendermorsel of meat; but my fears were groundless, as the beast, after surveying me intently for a moment, crossed the room to the only exit which led to the street, and lay down full length across the threshold. This was my ?rst experience with a Martian watch
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dog, but it was destined not to be my last, for this fellow guarded me carefully during the time I remained a captive among these green men; twice saving my life, and never voluntarily being away from me a moment. While Sola was away I took occasion to examine more minutely the room in which I found myself captive. The mural painting depicted scenes of rare and wonderful beauty;mountains,rivers,lake,ocean,meadow,treesand ?owers, winding roadways, sun-kissed gardens–scenes which might have portrayed earthly views but for the different colorings of the vegetation. The work had evidently been wrought by a master hand, so subtle the atmosphere, so perfect the technique; yet nowhere was there a representation of a living animal, either human or brute, by which I could guess at the likeness of these other and perhaps extinct denizens of Mars. While I was allowing my fancy to run riot in wild conjecture on the possible explanation of the strange anomalies which I had so far met with on Mars, Sola returned bearing both food and drink. These she placed on the ?oor beside me, and seating herself a short ways off regarded me intently. The food consisted of about a pound of some solid substance of the consistency of cheese and almost tasteless, while the liquid was apparently milk
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from some animal. It was not unpleasant to the taste, thoughslightlyacid,andIlearnedinashorttimetoprize it very highly. It came, as I later discovered, not from an animal, as there is only one mammal on Mars and that oneveryrareindeed,butfromalargeplantwhichgrows practicallywithoutwater,butseemstodistillitsplentiful supplyofmilkfromtheproductsofthesoil,themoisture of the air, and the rays of the sun. A single plant of this species will give eight or ten quarts of milk per day. After I had eaten I was greatly invigorated, but feeling the need of rest I stretched out upon the silks and was soon asleep. I must have slept several hours, as it was dark when I awoke, and I was very cold. I noticed that someone had thrown a fur over me, but it had become partially dislodged and in the darkness I could not see to replace it. Suddenly a hand reached out and pulled thefuroverme,shortlyafterwardsaddinganothertomy covering. I presumed that my watchful guardian was Sola, nor was I wrong. This girl alone, among all the green Martians with whom I came in contact, disclosed characteristics of sympathy, kindliness, and affection; her ministrations to my bodily wants were unfailing, and her solicitous care saved me from much suffering and many hard
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ships. As I was to learn, the Martian nights are extremely cold, and as there is practically no twilight or dawn, the changes in temperature are sudden and most uncomfortable,asarethetransitionsfrombrilliantdaylighttodarkness. The nights are either brilliantly illumined or very dark, for if neither of the two moons of Mars happen to be in the sky almost total darkness results, since the lack of atmosphere, or, rather, the very thin atmosphere, fails to diffuse the starlight to any great extent; on the other hand, if both of the moons are in the heavens at night the surface of the ground is brightly illuminated. Both of Mars’ moons are vastly nearer her than is our moon to Earth; the nearer moon being but about ?ve thousandmilesdistant,whilethefurtherisbutlittlemore than fourteen thousand miles away, against the nearly one-quarter million miles which separate us from our moon. The nearer moon of Mars makes a complete revolutionaroundtheplanetinalittleoversevenandone-half hours, so that she may be seen hurtling through the sky like some huge meteor two or three times each night, revealing all her phases during each transit of the heavens. The further moon revolves about Mars in something
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over thirty and one-quarter hours, and with her sister satellite makes a nocturnal Martian scene one of splendid and weird grandeur. And it is well that nature has so graciously and abundantly lighted the Martian night, for the green men of Mars, being a nomadic race without high intellectual development, have but crude means for arti?cial lighting; depending principally upon torches, a kindofcandle,andapeculiaroillampwhichgeneratesa gas and burns without a wick. This last device produces an intensely brilliant farreaching white light, but as the natural oil which it requires can only be obtained by mining in one of several widely separated and remote localities it is seldom used by these creatures whose only thought is for today, and whose hatred for manual labor has kept them in a semibarbaric state for countless ages. After Sola had replenished my coverings I again slept, nor did I awaken until daylight. The other occupants of the room, ?ve in number, were all females, and they werestillsleeping,piledhighwithamotleyarrayofsilks and furs. Across the threshold lay stretched the sleepless guardian brute, just as I had last seen him on the preceding day; apparently he had not moved a muscle; his eyes were fairly glued upon me, and I fell to wondering just
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what might befall me should I endeavor to escape. I have ever been prone to seek adventure and to investigate and experiment where wiser men would have left well enough alone. It therefore now occurred to me that the surest way of learning the exact attitude of this beast toward me would be to attempt to leave the room. I felt fairly secure in my belief that I could escape him should he pursue me once I was outside the building, for I had begun to take great pride in my ability as a jumper. Furthermore, I could see from the shortness of his legs that thebrutehimselfwasnojumperandprobablynorunner. Slowly and carefully, therefore, I gained my feet, only to see that my watcher did the same; cautiously I advanced toward him, ?nding that by moving with a shuf?ing gait I could retain my balance as well as make reasonably rapid progress. As I neared the brute he backed cautiously away from me, and when I had reached the open he moved to one side to let me pass. He then fell in behind me and followed about ten paces in my rear as I made my way along the deserted street. Evidentlyhismissionwastoprotectmeonly,Ithought, but when we reached the edge of the city he suddenly sprangbeforeme,utteringstrangesoundsandbaringhis
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ugly and ferocious tusks. Thinking to have some amusement at his expense, I rushed toward him, and when almost upon him sprang into the air, alighting far beyond him and away from the city. He wheeled instantly and charged me with the most appalling speed I had ever beheld. I had thought his short legs a bar to swiftness, but had he been coursing with greyhounds the latter would have appeared as though asleep on a door mat. As I was to learn, this is the ?eetest animal on Mars, and owing to itsintelligence,loyalty,andferocityisusedinhunting,in war, and as the protector of the Martian man. I quickly saw that I would have dif?culty in escaping the fangs of the beast on a straightaway course, and so I methischargebydoublinginmytracksandleapingover him as he was almost upon me. This maneuver gave me aconsiderableadvantage,andIwasabletoreachthecity quite a bit ahead of him, and as he came tearing after me I jumped for a window about thirty feet from the ground in the face of one of the buildings overlooking the valley. GraspingthesillIpulledmyselfuptoasittingposture without looking into the building, and gazed down at the baf?ed animal beneath me. My exultation was shortlived, however, for scarcely had I gained a secure seat upon the sill than a huge hand grasped me by the neck
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from behind and dragged me violently into the room. Here I was thrown upon my back, and beheld standing over me a colossal ape-like creature, white and hairless except for an enormous shock of bristly hair upon its head.
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A FIGHT THAT WON FRIENDS THE thing, which more nearly resembled our earthly menthanitdidtheMartiansIhadseen,heldmepinionedtothegroundwithonehugefoot,whileitjabbered and gesticulated at some answering creature behind me. This other, which was evidently its mate, soon came towardus,bearingamightystonecudgelwithwhichitevidently intended to brain me. The creatures were about ten or ?fteen feet tall, standing erect, and had, like the green Martians, an intermediary set of arms or legs, midway between their upper
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andlowerlimbs. Theireyeswereclosetogetherandnonprotruding; their ears were high set, but more laterally locatedthanthoseoftheMartians,whiletheirsnoutsand teeth were strikingly like those of our African gorilla. Altogethertheywerenotunlovelywhenviewedincomparison with the green Martians. Thecudgelwasswinginginthearcwhichendedupon my upturned face when a bolt of myriad-legged horror hurled itself through the doorway full upon the breast of my executioner. With a shriek of fear the ape which held me leaped through the open window, but its mate closed in a terri?c death struggle with my preserver, which was nothing less than my faithful watch-thing; I cannot bring myself to call so hideous a creature a dog. As quickly as possible I gained my feet and backing against the wall I witnessed such a battle as it is vouchsafed few beings to see. The strength, agility, and blind ferocity of these two creatures is approached by nothing knowntoearthlyman. Mybeasthadanadvantageinhis ?rsthold,havingsunkhismightyfangsfarintothebreast of his adversary; but the great arms and paws of the ape, backed by muscles far transcending those of the Martian men I had seen, had locked the throat of my guardian and slowly were choking out his life, and bending back
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his head and neck upon his body, where I momentarily expected the former to fall limp at the end of a broken neck. Inaccomplishingthistheapewastearingawaytheentire front of its breast, which was held in the vise-like grip of the powerful jaws. Back and forth upon the ?oor they rolled, neither one emitting a sound of fear or pain. Presently I saw the great eyes of my beast bulging completelyfromtheirsocketsandblood?owingfromitsnostrils. That he was weakening perceptibly was evident, but so also was the ape, whose struggles were growing momentarily less. Suddenly I came to myself and, with that strange instinctwhichseemsevertopromptmetomyduty,Iseized thecudgel,whichhadfallentothe?ooratthecommencement of the battle, and swinging it with all the power of myearthlyarmsIcrasheditfullupontheheadoftheape, crushing his skull as though it had been an eggshell. Scarcely had the blow descended when I was confronted with a new danger. The ape’s mate, recovered from its ?rst shock of terror, had returned to the scene of the encounter by way of the interior of the building. I glimpsedhimjustbeforehereachedthedoorwayandthe
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sight of him, now roaring as he perceived his lifeless fellow stretched upon the ?oor, and frothing at the mouth, intheextremityofhisrage,?lledme,Imustconfess,with dire forebodings. I am ever willing to stand and ?ght when the odds are not too overwhelmingly against me, but in this instance I perceivedneitherglorynorpro?tinpittingmyrelatively punystrengthagainsttheironmusclesandbrutalferocity ofthisenrageddenizenofanunknownworld;infact,the only outcome of such an encounter, so far as I might be concerned, seemed sudden death. I was standing near the window and I knew that once in the street I might gain the plaza and safety before the creature could overtake me; at least there was a chance for safety in ?ight, against almost certain death should I remain and ?ght however desperately. It is true I held the cudgel, but what could I do with it against his four great arms? Even should I break one of them with my ?rst blow, for I ?gured that he would attempt to ward off the cudgel, he could reach out and annihilate me with the others before I could recover for a second attack. In the instant that these thoughts passed through my
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mind I had turned to make for the window, but my eyes alighting on the form of my erstwhile guardian threw all thoughtsof?ighttothefourwinds. Helaygaspingupon the ?oor of the chamber, his great eyes fastened upon me inwhatseemedapitifulappealforprotection. Icouldnot withstandthatlook,norcouldI,onsecondthought,have deserted my rescuer without giving as good an account of myself in his behalf as he had in mine. Without more ado, therefore, I turned to meet the charge of the infuriated bull ape. He was now too close upon me for the cudgel to prove of any effective assistance, so I merely threw it as heavily as I could at his advancing bulk. It struck him just below the knees, eliciting a howl of pain and rage, and so throwing him off his balance that he lunged full upon me with arms wide stretched to ease his fall. Again, as on the preceding day, I had recourse to earthly tactics, and swinging my right ?st full upon the point of his chin I followed it with a smashing left to the pit of his stomach. The effect was marvelous, for, as I lightly sidestepped, after delivering the second blow, he reeled and fell upon the ?oor doubled up with pain and gasping for wind. Leaping over his prostrate body, I seized the cudgel and ?nished the monster before he
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could regain his feet. As I delivered the blow a low laugh rang out behind me, and, turning, I beheld Tars Tarkas, Sola, and three or fourwarriorsstandinginthedoorwayofthechamber. As my eyes met theirs I was, for the second time, the recipient of their zealously guarded applause. MyabsencehadbeennotedbySolaonherawakening, and she had quickly informed Tars Tarkas, who had set out immediately with a handful of warriors to search for me. As they had approached the limits of the city they hadwitnessedtheactionsofthebullapeasheboltedinto the building, frothing with rage. They had followed immediately behind him, thinking it barely possible that his actions might prove a clew to my whereabouts and had witnessed my short but decisive battle with him. This encounter, together with my set-to with the Martian warrior on the previous day and my feats of jumping placed me upon a high pinnacle in their regard. Evidently devoid of all the ?ner sentimentsoffriendship,love,oraffection,thesepeoplefairly worship physical prowess and bravery, and nothing is too good for the object of their adoration as long as he maintains his position by repeated examples of his skill,
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strength, and courage. Sola, who had accompanied the searching party of her ownvolition,wastheonlyoneoftheMartianswhoseface had not been twisted in laughter as I battled for my life. She, on the contrary, was sober with apparent solicitude and, as soon as I had ?nished the monster, rushed to me and carefully examined my body for possible wounds or injuries. Satisfying herself that I had come off unscathed she smiled quietly, and, taking my hand, started toward the door of the chamber. Tars Tarkas and the other warriors had entered and werestandingoverthenowrapidlyrevivingbrutewhich had saved my life, and whose life I, in turn, had rescued. They seemed to be deep in argument, and ?nally one of them addressed me, but remembering my ignorance of his language turned back to Tars Tarkas, who, with a wordandgesture,gavesomecommandtothefellowand turned to follow us from the room. Thereseemedsomethingmenacingintheirattitudetowardmybeast,andIhesitatedtoleaveuntilIhadlearned theoutcome. ItwaswellIdidso,forthewarriordrewan evillookingpistolfromitsholsterandwasonthepointof puttinganendtothecreaturewhenIsprangforwardand
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struck up his arm. The bullet striking the wooden casing of the window exploded, blowing a hole completely through the wood and masonry. I then knelt down beside the fearsome-looking thing, and raising it to its feet motioned for it to follow me. The looksofsurprisewhichmyactionselicitedfromtheMartians were ludicrous; they could not understand, except in a feeble and childish way, such attributes as gratitude and compassion. The warrior whose gun I had struck up looked enquiringly at Tars Tarkas, but the latter signed that I be left to my own devices, and so we returned to theplazawithmygreatbeastfollowingcloseatheel,and Sola grasping me tightly by the arm. I had at least two friends on Mars; a young woman who watched over me with motherly solicitude, and a dumb brute which, as I later came to know, held in its poor ugly carcass more love, more loyalty, more gratitudethancouldhavebeenfoundintheentire?vemillion greenMartianswhorovethedesertedcitiesanddeadsea bottoms of Mars.
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CHILD-RAISING ON MARS AFTER a breakfast, which was an exact replica of the meal of the preceding day and an index of practically every meal which followed while I was with the green men of Mars, Sola escorted me to the plaza, where I found the entire community engaged in watching or helping at the harnessing of huge mastodonian animals to great three-wheeled chariots. There were about two hundred and ?fty of these vehicles, each drawn by a single animal, any one of which, from their appearance, might easily have drawn the entire wagon train when fully loaded.
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The chariots themselves were large, commodious, and gorgeously decorated. In each was seated a female Martian loaded with ornaments of metal, with jewels and silks and furs, and upon the back of each of the beasts which drew the chariots was perched a young Martian driver. Like the animals upon which the warriors were mounted, the heavier draft animals wore neither bit nor bridle, but were guided entirely by telepathic means. This power is wonderfully developed in all Martians, and accounts largely for the simplicity of their language and the relatively few spoken words exchanged even in long conversations. It is the universal language of Mars, through the medium of which the higher and lower animals of this world of paradoxes are able to communicate toagreaterorlessextent,dependingupontheintellectual sphereofthespeciesandthedevelopmentoftheindividual. Asthecavalcadetookupthelineofmarchinsingle?le, Soladraggedmeintoanemptychariotandweproceeded with the procession toward the point by which I had entered the city the day before. At the head of the caravan rode some two hundred warriors, ?ve abreast, and a like number brought up the rear, while twenty-?ve or thirty outriders ?anked us on either side.
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Every one but myself–men, women, and children– wereheavilyarmed,andatthetailofeachchariottrotted aMartianhound,myownbeastfollowingcloselybehind ours; in fact, the faithful creature never left me voluntarily during the entire ten years I spent on Mars. Our way led out across the little valley before the city, through the hills,anddownintothedeadseabottomwhichIhadtraversed on my journey from the incubator to the plaza. Theincubator,asitproved,wastheterminalpointofour journey this day, and, as the entire cavalcade broke into a mad gallop as soon as we reached the level expanse of sea bottom, we were soon within sight of our goal. On reaching it the chariots were parked with military precision on the four sides of the enclosure, and half a score of warriors, headed by the enormous chieftain, and including Tars Tarkas and several other lesser chiefs, dismountedandadvancedtowardit. IcouldseeTarsTarkas explaining something to the principal chieftain, whose name, by the way, was, as nearly as I can translate it into English, Lorquas Ptomel, Jed; jed being his title. I was soon appraised of the subject of their conversation,as,callingtoSola,TarsTarkassignedforhertosend me to him. I had by this time mastered the intricacies of walking under Martian conditions, and quickly respond
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ing to his command I advanced to the side of the incubator where the warriors stood. As I reached their side a glance showed me that all but a very few eggs had hatched, the incubator being fairly alivewiththehideouslittledevils. Theyrangedinheight from three to four feet, and were moving restlessly about the enclosure as though searching for food. AsIcametoahaltbeforehim,TarsTarkaspointedover theincubatorandsaid,“Sak.” Isawthathewantedmeto repeatmyperformanceofyesterdayfortheedi?cationof Lorquas Ptomel, and, as I must confess that my prowess gave me no little satisfaction, I responded quickly, leaping entirely over the parked chariots on the far side of the incubator. As I returned, Lorquas Ptomel grunted something at me, and turning to his warriors gave a few words of command relative to the incubator. They paid nofurtherattentiontomeandIwasthuspermittedtoremain close and watch their operations, which consisted in breaking an opening in the wall of the incubator large enough to permit of the exit of the young Martians. On either side of this opening the women and the younger Martians, both male and female, formed two solid walls leading out through the chariots and quite
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away into the plain beyond. Between these walls the little Martians scampered, wild as deer; being permitted to run the full length of the aisle, where they were captured one at a time by the women and older children; the last in the line capturing the ?rst little one to reach the end ofthegauntlet,heroppositeinthelinecapturingthesecond, and so on until all the little fellows had left the enclosure and been appropriated by some youth or female. As the women caught the young they fell out of line and returnedtotheirrespectivechariots,whilethosewhofell into the hands of the young men were later turned over to some of the women. Isawthattheceremony,ifitcouldbedigni?edbysuch aname,wasover,andseekingoutSolaIfoundherinour chariot with a hideous little creature held tightly in her arms. The work of rearing young, green Martians consists solelyinteachingthemtotalk,andtousetheweaponsof warfare with which they are loaded down from the very ?rst year of their lives. Coming from eggs in which they have lain for ?ve years, the period of incubation, they step forth into the world perfectly developed except in size. Entirely unknown to their mothers, who, in turn, wouldhavedif?cultyinpointingoutthefatherswithany
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degree of accuracy, they are the common children of the community, and their education devolves upon the females who chance to capture them as they leave the incubator. Their foster mothers may not even have had an egg in the incubator, as was the case with Sola, who had not commenced to lay, until less than a year before she became the mother of another woman’s offspring. But this counts for little among the green Martians, as parental and ?lial love is as unknown to them as it is common among us. I believe this horrible system which has been carried on for ages is the direct cause of the loss of all the ?ner feelings and higher humanitarian instincts among these poor creatures. From birth they know no father or mother love, they know not the meaning of the word home; they are taught that they are only suffered to live until they can demonstrate by their physique and ferocity that they are ?t to live. Should they prove deformed or defective in any way they are promptly shot; nor do they see a tear shed for a single one of the many cruel hardships they pass through from earliest infancy. IdonotmeanthattheadultMartiansareunnecessarily or intentionally cruel to the young, but theirs is a hard and pitiless struggle for existence upon a dying planet,
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the natural resources of which have dwindled to a point wherethesupportofeachadditionallifemeansanadded tax upon the community into which it is thrown. By careful selection they rear only the hardiest specimens of each species, and with almost supernatural foresight they regulate the birth rate to merely offset the loss by death. Each adult Martian female brings forth about thirteen eggs each year, and those which meet the size, weight, and speci?c gravity tests are hidden in the recesses of some subterranean vault where the temperature is too low for incubation. Every year these eggs are carefully examined by a council of twenty chieftains, and all but about one hundred of the most perfect are destroyed out of each yearly supply. At the end of ?ve years about ?ve hundred almost perfect eggs have been chosen from the thousands brought forth. These are then placed in the almost air-tight incubators to be hatched by the sun’s rays after a period of another ?ve years. The hatching which wehadwitnessedtodaywasafairlyrepresentativeevent of its kind, all but about one per cent of the eggs hatching in two days. If the remaining eggs ever hatched we knewnothingofthefateofthelittleMartians. Theywere not wanted, as their offspring might inherit and transmit
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thetendencytoprolongedincubation,andthusupsetthe systemwhichhasmaintainedforagesandwhichpermits the adult Martians to ?gure the proper time for return to the incubators, almost to an hour. The incubators are built in remote fastnesses, where thereislittleornolikelihoodoftheirbeingdiscoveredby othertribes. Theresultofsuchacatastrophewouldmean no children in the community for another ?ve years. I waslatertowitnesstheresultsofthediscoveryofanalien incubator. The community of which the green Martians with whom my lot was cast formed a part was composed of some thirty thousand souls. They roamed an enormous tract of arid and semi-arid land between forty and eighty degreessouthlatitude,andboundedontheeastandwest by two large fertile tracts. Their headquarters lay in the southwest corner of this district, near the crossing of two of the so-called Martian canals. Astheincubatorhadbeenplacedfarnorthoftheirown territory in a supposedly uninhabited and unfrequented area, we had before us a tremendous journey, concerning which I, of course, knew nothing. After our return to the dead city I passed several days
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incomparativeidleness. Onthedayfollowingourreturn all the warriors had ridden forth early in the morning and had not returned until just before darkness fell. As I later learned, they had been to the subterranean vaults in which the eggs were kept and had transported them to the incubator, which they had then walled up for another ?ve years, and which, in all probability, would not be visited again during that period. The vaults which hid the eggs until they were ready for the incubator were located many miles south of the incubator, and would be visited yearly by the council of twenty chieftains. Why they did not arrange to build their vaults and incubators nearer home has always been amysterytome,and,likemanyotherMartianmysteries, unsolved and unsolvable by earthly reasoning and customs. Sola’sdutieswerenowdoubled,asshewascompelled to care for the young Martian as well as for me, but neither one of us required much attention, and as we were both about equally advanced in Martian education, Sola took it upon herself to train us together. Her prize consisted in a male about four feet tall, very strong and physically perfect; also, he learned quickly,
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and we had considerable amusement, at least I did, over the keen rivalry we displayed. The Martian language, as I have said, is extremely simple, and in a week I could make all my wants known and understand nearly everything that was said to me. Likewise, under Sola’s tutelage, I developed my telepathic powers so that I shortly could sense practically everything that went on around me. WhatsurprisedSolamostinmewasthatwhileIcould catch telepathic messages easily from others, and often whentheywerenotintendedforme,noonecouldreada jot from my mind under any circumstances. At ?rst this vexed me, but later I was very glad of it, as it gave me an undoubted advantage over the Martians.
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A FAIR CAPTIVE FROM THE SKY THE thirddayaftertheincubatorceremonywesetforth toward home, but scarcely had the head of the procession debouched into the open ground before the city than orders were given for an immediate and hasty return. Asthoughtrainedforyearsinthisparticularevolution,thegreenMartiansmeltedlikemistintothespacious doorwaysofthenearbybuildings,until,inlessthanthree minutes, the entire cavalcade of chariots, mastodons and mounted warriors was nowhere to be seen. Sola and I had entered a building upon the front of
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the city, in fact, the same one in which I had had my encounter with the apes, and, wishing to see what had caused the sudden retreat, I mounted to an upper ?oor and peered from the window out over the valley and the hills beyond; and there I saw the cause of their sudden scurrying to cover. A huge craft, long, low, and graypainted, swung slowly over the crest of the nearest hill. Following it came another, and another, and another, untiltwentyofthem,swinginglowabovetheground,sailed slowly and majestically toward us. Each carried a strange banner swung from stem to stern above the upper works, and upon the prow of each was painted some odd device that gleamed in the sunlight and showed plainly even at the distance at which we were from the vessels. I could see ?gures crowding the forward decks and upper works of the air craft. Whether they had discovered us or simply were looking at the deserted city I could not say, but in any event theyreceivedarudereception,forsuddenlyandwithout warning the green Martian warriors ?red a terri?c volley from the windows of the buildings facing the little valley across which the great ships were so peacefully advancing. Instantly the scene changed as by magic; the fore
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most vessel swung broadside toward us, and bringing her guns into play returned our ?re, at the same time movingparalleltoourfrontforashortdistanceandthen turning back with the evident intention of completing a great circle which would bring her up to position once more opposite our ?ring line; the other vessels followed inherwake,eachoneopeninguponusassheswunginto position. Our own ?re never diminished, and I doubt if twenty-?ve per cent of our shots went wild. It had never been given me to see such deadly accuracy of aim, and it seemed as though a little ?gure on one of the craft droppedattheexplosionofeachbullet,whilethebanners and upper works dissolved in spurts of ?ame as the irresistible projectiles of our warriors mowed through them. The ?re from the vessels was most ineffectual, owing, as I afterward learned, to the unexpected suddenness of the?rstvolley,whichcaughttheship’screwsentirelyunprepared and the sighting apparatus of the guns unprotected from the deadly aim of our warriors. It seems that each green warrior has certain objective pointsforhis?reunderrelativelyidenticalcircumstances ofwarfare. Forexample,aproportionofthem,alwaysthe bestmarksmen,directtheir?reentirelyuponthewireless ?nding and sighting apparatus of the big guns of an at
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tacking naval force; another detail attends to the smaller guns in the same way; others pick off the gunners; still otherstheof?cers;whilecertainotherquotasconcentrate theirattentionupontheothermembersofthecrew,upon the upper works, and upon the steering gear and propellers. Twenty minutes after the ?rst volley the great ?eet swung trailing off in the direction from which it had ?rst appeared. Several of the craft were limping perceptibly, andseemedbutbarelyunderthecontroloftheirdepleted crews. Their?rehadceasedentirelyandalltheirenergies seemed focused upon escape. Our warriors then rushed up to the roofs of the buildings which we occupied and followed the retreating armada with a continuous fusillade of deadly ?re. One by one, however, the ships managed to dip below the crests of the outlying hills until only one barely moving craft was in sight. This had received the brunt of our ?re and seemed to be entirely unmanned, as not a moving ?gure was visible upon her decks. Slowly she swung fromhercourse,circlingbacktowardusinanerraticand pitiful manner. Instantly the warriors ceased ?ring, for it was quite apparent that the vessel was entirely helpless, and, far from being in a position to in?ict harm upon us,
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she could not even control herself suf?ciently to escape. As she neared the city the warriors rushed out upon the plain to meet her, but it was evident that she still was too high for them to hope to reach her decks. From my vantage point in the window I could see the bodies of her crew strewn about, although I could not make out what manner of creatures they might be. Not a sign of life was manifest upon her as she drifted slowly with the light breeze in a southeasterly direction. She was drifting some ?fty feet above the ground, followed by all but some hundred of the warriors who had been ordered back to the roofs to cover the possibility of a return of the ?eet, or of reinforcements. It soon became evident that she would strike the face of the buildings about a mile south of our position, and as I watched the progress of the chase I saw a number of warriors gallop ahead, dismount and enter the building she seemed destined to touch. As the craft neared the building, and just before she struck, the Martian warriors swarmed upon her from the windows, and with their great spears eased the shock of the collision, and in a few moments they had thrown out grappling hooks and the big boat was being hauled to
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ground by their fellows below. After making her fast, they swarmed the sides and searched the vessel from stem to stern. I could see them examiningthedeadsailors,evidentlyforsignsoflife,and presently a party of them appeared from below dragging alittle?gureamongthem. Thecreaturewasconsiderably less than half as tall as the green Martian warriors, and from my balcony I could see that it walked erect upon two legs and surmised that it was some new and strange Martian monstrosity with which I had not as yet become acquainted. They removed their prisoner to the ground and then commencedasystematicri?ingofthevessel. Thisoperationrequiredseveralhours, duringwhichtimeanumber of the chariots were requisitioned to transport the loot, which consisted in arms, ammunition, silks, furs, jewels,strangelycarvedstonevessels,andaquantityofsolid foodsandliquids,includingmanycasksofwater,the?rst I had seen since my advent upon Mars. After the last load had been removed the warriors made lines fast to the craft and towed her far out into the valley in a southwesterly direction. A few of them then boarded her and were busily engaged in what ap
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peared, from my distant position, as the emptying of the contents of various carboys upon the dead bodies of the sailors and over the decks and works of the vessel. This operation concluded, they hastily clambered over her sides, sliding down the guy ropes to the ground. The last warrior to leave the deck turned and threw something back upon the vessel, waiting an instant to note the outcome of his act. As a faint spurt of ?ame rose from the point where the missile struck he swung over the side and was quickly upon the ground. Scarcely had he alighted than the guy ropes were simultaneously released, and the great warship, lightened by the removal of the loot, soared majestically into the air, her decks and upper works a mass of roaring ?ames. Slowly she drifted to the southeast, rising higher and higher as the ?ames ate away her wooden parts and diminished the weight upon her. Ascending to the roof of the building I watched her for hours, until ?nally she was lost in the dim vistas of the distance. The sight was awe-inspiring in the extreme as one contemplated this mighty ?oating funeral pyre, drifting unguided and unmanned through the lonely wastes of the Martian heavens; a derelict of death and destruction, typifying the life story of these strange and ferocious creatures into whose
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unfriendly hands fate had carried it. Much depressed, and, to me, unaccountably so, I slowly descended to the street. The scene I had witnessedseemedtomarkthedefeatandannihilationofthe forcesofakindredpeople,ratherthantheroutingbyour green warriors of a horde of similar, though unfriendly, creatures. I could not fathom the seeming hallucination, nor could I free myself from it; but somewhere in the innermost recesses of my soul I felt a strange yearning toward these unknown foemen, and a mighty hope surged through me that the ?eet would return and demand a reckoning from the green warriors who had so ruthlessly and wantonly attacked it. Close at my heel, in his now accustomed place, followed Woola, the hound, and as I emerged upon the street Sola rushed up to me as though I had been the objectofsomesearchonherpart. Thecavalcadewasreturningtotheplaza, thehomewardmarchhavingbeengiven upforthatday;nor,infact,wasitrecommencedformore than a week, owing to the fear of a return attack by the air craft. Lorquas Ptomel was too astute an old warrior to be caught upon the open plains with a caravan of chariots
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andchildren,andsoweremainedatthedesertedcityuntil the danger seemed passed. As Sola and I entered the plaza a sight met my eyes which ?lled my whole being with a great surge of mingled hope, fear, exultation, and depression, and yet most dominant was a subtle sense of relief and happiness; for just as we neared the throng of Martians I caught a glimpse of the prisoner from the battle craft who was being roughly dragged into a nearby building by a couple of green Martian females. Andthesightwhichmetmyeyeswasthatofaslender, girlish?gure,similarineverydetailtotheearthlywomen of my past life. She did not see me at ?rst, but just as she was disappearing through the portal of the building which was to be her prison she turned, and her eyes met mine. Herfacewasovalandbeautifulintheextreme,her every feature was ?nely chiseled and exquisite, her eyes largeandlustrousandherheadsurmountedbyamassof coal black, waving hair, caught loosely into a strange yet becoming coiffure. Her skin was of a light reddish copper color, against which the crimson glow of her cheeks and the ruby of her beautifully molded lips shone with a strangely enhancing effect.
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She was as destitute of clothes as the green Martians who accompanied her; indeed, save for her highly wrought ornaments she was entirely naked, nor could any apparel have enhanced the beauty of her perfect and symmetrical ?gure. As her gaze rested on me her eyes opened wide in astonishment,andshemadealittlesignwithherfreehand; a sign which I did not, of course, understand. Just a moment we gazed upon each other, and then the look of hope and renewed courage which had glori?ed her face as she discovered me, faded into one of utter dejection, mingled with loathing and contempt. I realized I had not answered her signal, and ignorant as I was of Martian customs,Iintuitivelyfeltthatshehadmadeanappealfor succor and protection which my unfortunate ignorance had prevented me from answering. And then she was dragged out of my sight into the depths of the deserted edi?ce.
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I LEARN THE LANGUAGE AS I came back to myself I glanced at Sola, who had witnessed this encounter and I was surprised to noteastrangeexpressionuponherusuallyexpressionless countenance. What her thoughts were I did not know, for as yet I had learned but little of the Martian tongue; enough only to suf?ce for my daily needs. As I reached the doorway of our building a strange surprise awaited me. A warrior approached bearing the arms, ornaments, and full accouterments of his kind.
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Thesehepresentedtomewithafewunintelligiblewords, and a bearing at once respectful and menacing. Later, Sola, with the aid of several of the other women, remodeledthetrappingsto?tmylesserproportions,and after they completed the work I went about garbed in all the panoply of war. From then on Sola instructed me in the mysteries of thevariousweapons,andwiththeMartianyoungIspent several hours each day practicing upon the plaza. I was not yet pro?cient with all the weapons, but my great familiarity with similar earthly weapons made me an unusually apt pupil, and I progressed in a very satisfactory manner. The training of myself and the young Martians was conducted solely by the women, who not only attend to the education of the young in the arts of individual defense and offense, but are also the artisans who produce every manufactured article wrought by the green Martians. Theymakethepowder,thecartridges,the?rearms; infacteverythingofvalueisproducedbythefemales. In time of actual warfare they form a part of the reserves, and when the necessity arises ?ght with even greater intelligence and ferocity than the men.
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The men are trained in the higher branches of the art of war; in strategy and the maneuvering of large bodies of troops. They make the laws as they are needed; a new law for each emergency. They are unfettered by precedent in the administration of justice. Customs have been handed down by ages of repetition, but the punishment forignoringacustomisamatterforindividualtreatment by a jury of the culprit’s peers, and I may say that justice seldom misses ?re, but seems rather to rule in inverse ratio to the ascendency of law. In one respect at least the Martians are a happy people; they have no lawyers. I did not see the prisoner again for several days subsequent to our ?rst encounter, and then only to catch a ?eetingglimpseofherasshewasbeingconductedtothe great audience chamber where I had had my ?rst meeting with Lorquas Ptomel. I could not but note the unnecessaryharshnessandbrutalitywithwhichherguards treated her; so different from the almost maternal kindliness which Sola manifested toward me, and the respectful attitude of the few green Martians who took the trouble to notice me at all. I had observed on the two occasions when I had seen her that the prisoner exchanged words with her guards, and this convinced me that they spoke, or at least could
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make themselves understood by a common language. With this added incentive I nearly drove Sola distracted by my importunities to hasten on my education and within a few more days I had mastered the Martian tongue suf?ciently well to enable me to carry on a passable conversation and to fully understand practically all that I heard. At this time our sleeping quarters were occupied by threeorfourfemalesandacoupleoftherecentlyhatched young, beside Sola and her youthful ward, myself, and Woola the hound. After they had retired for the night it wascustomaryfortheadultstocarryonadesultoryconversation for a short time before lapsing into sleep, and nowthatIcouldunderstandtheirlanguageIwasalways a keen listener, although I never proffered any remarks myself. On the night following the prisoner’s visit to the audience chamber the conversation ?nally fell upon this subject,andIwasallearsontheinstant. Ihadfearedtoquestion Sola relative to the beautiful captive, as I could not but recall the strange expression I had noted upon her faceaftermy?rstencounterwiththeprisoner. Thatitdenoted jealousy I could not say, and yet, judging all things by mundane standards as I still did, I felt it safer to af
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fect indifference in the matter until I learned more surely Sola’s attitude toward the object of my solicitude. Sarkoja,oneoftheolderwomenwhosharedourdomicile, had been present at the audience as one of the captive’s guards, and it was toward her the question turned. “When,” asked one of the women, “will we enjoy the deaththroesoftheredone? ordoesLorquasPtomel,Jed, intend holding her for ransom?” “TheyhavedecidedtocarryherwithusbacktoThark, and exhibit her last agonies at the great games before Tal Hajus,” replied Sarkoja. “What will be the manner of her going out?” inquired Sola. “She is very small and very beautiful; I had hoped that they would hold her for ransom.” Sarkoja and the other women grunted angrily at this evidence of weakness on the part of Sola. “It is sad, Sola, that you were not born a million years ago,” snapped Sarkoja, “when all the hollows of the land were?lledwithwater,andthepeopleswereassoftasthe stuff they sailed upon. In our day we have progressed to a point where such sentiments mark weakness and atavism. It will not be well for you to permit Tars Tarkas
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to learn that you hold such degenerate sentiments, as I doubt that he would care to entrust such as you with the grave responsibilities of maternity.” “I see nothing wrong with my expression of interest in this red woman,” retorted Sola. “She has never harmed us, nor would she should we have fallen into her hands. It is only the men of her kind who war upon us, and I have ever thought that their attitude toward us is but the re?ection of ours toward them. They live at peace with all their fellows, except when duty calls upon them to make war, while we are at peace with none; forever warring among our own kind as well as upon the red men, and even in our own communities the individuals ?ght amongst themselves. Oh, it is one continual, awful period of bloodshed from the time we break the shell until we gladly embrace the bosom of the river of mystery, the darkandancientIsswhichcarriesustoanunknown,but at least no more frightful and terrible existence! Fortunate indeed is he who meets his end in an early death. Say what you please to Tars Tarkas, he can mete out no worse fate to me than a continuation of the horrible existence we are forced to lead in this life.” This wild outbreak on the part of Sola so greatly surprised and shocked the other women, that, after a few
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words of general reprimand, they all lapsed into silence and were soon asleep. One thing the episode had accomplished was to assure me of Sola’s friendliness toward the poor girl, and also to convince me that I had been extremely fortunate in falling into her hands rather than those of some of the other females. I knew that she was fondofme,andnowthatIhaddiscoveredthatshehated crueltyandbarbarityIwascon?dentthatIcoulddepend upon her to aid me and the girl captive to escape, provided of course that such a thing was within the range of possibilities. I did not even know that there were any better conditions to escape to, but I was more than willing to take my chances among people fashioned after my own mold rather than to remain longer among the hideous and bloodthirsty green men of Mars. But where to go, and how,wasasmuchofapuzzletomeastheage-oldsearch forthespringofeternallifehasbeentoearthlymensince the beginning of time. I decided that at the ?rst opportunity I would take Sola into my con?dence and openly ask her to aid me, and with this resolution strong upon me I turned among my silks and furs and slept the dreamless and refreshing sleep of Mars.
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CHAMPION AND CHIEF EARLY the next morning I was astir. Considerable freedom was allowed me, as Sola had informed me that so long as I did not attempt to leave the city I was free to go and come as I pleased. She had warned me, however, againstventuringforthunarmed,asthiscity,likeallother deserted metropolises of an ancient Martian civilization, was peopled by the great white apes of my second day’s adventure. In advising me that I must not leave the boundaries of the city Sola had explained that Woola would prevent
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thisanywayshouldIattemptit,andshewarnedmemost urgently not to arouse his ?erce nature by ignoring his warnings should I venture too close to the forbidden territory. Hisnaturewassuch,shesaid,thathewouldbring me back into the city dead or alive should I persist in opposing him; “preferably dead,” she added. On this morning I had chosen a new street to explore when suddenly I found myself at the limits of the city. Before me were low hills pierced by narrow and inviting ravines. I longed to explore the country before me, and, like the pioneer stock from which I sprang, to view what the landscape beyond the encircling hills might disclose from the summits which shut out my view. It also occurred to me that this would prove an excellent opportunity to test the qualities of Woola. I was convincedthatthebrutelovedme;Ihadseenmoreevidences ofaffectioninhimthaninanyotherMartiananimal,man orbeast,andIwassurethatgratitudefortheactsthathad twice saved his life would more than outweigh his loyalty to the duty imposed upon him by cruel and loveless masters. As I approached the boundary line Woola ran anxiously before me, and thrust his body against my legs.
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His expression was pleading rather than ferocious, nor did he bare his great tusks or utter his fearful guttural warnings. Denied the friendship and companionship of my kind, I had developed considerable affection for Woola and Sola, for the normal earthly man must have some outlet for his natural affections, and so I decided upon an appeal to a like instinct in this great brute, sure that I would not be disappointed. Ihadneverpettednorfondledhim,butnowIsatupon the ground and putting my arms around his heavy neck I stroked and coaxed him, talking in my newly acquired MartiantongueasIwouldhavetomyhoundathome,as I would have talked to any other friend among the lower animals. His response to my manifestation of affection wasremarkabletoadegree; hestretchedhisgreatmouth to its full width, baring the entire expanse of his upper rowsoftusksandwrinklinghissnoutuntilhisgreateyes werealmosthiddenbythefoldsof?esh. Ifyouhaveever seen a collie smile you may have some idea of Woola’s facial distortion. He threw himself upon his back and fairly wallowed at my feet; jumped up and sprang upon me, rolling me uponthegroundbyhisgreatweight; thenwrigglingand squirming around me like a playful puppy presenting its
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back for the petting it craves. I could not resist the ludicrousnessofthespectacle,andholdingmysidesIrocked back and forth in the ?rst laughter which had passed my lips in many days; the ?rst, in fact, since the morning Powell had left camp when his horse, long unused, had precipitately and unexpectedly bucked him off headforemost into a pot of frijoles. My laughter frightened Woola, his antics ceased and he crawled pitifully toward me, poking his ugly head far into my lap; and then I remembered what laughter signi?ed on Mars–torture, suffering, death. Quieting myself, I rubbed the poor old fellow’s head and back, talked to him for a few minutes, and then in an authoritative tone commandedhimtofollowme,andarisingstartedforthe hills. Therewasnofurtherquestionofauthoritybetweenus; Woola was my devoted slave from that moment hence, and I his only and undisputed master. My walk to the hills occupied but a few minutes, and I found nothing of particular interest to reward me. Numerous brilliantly colored and strangely formed wild ?owers dotted the ravines and from the summit of the ?rst hill I saw still otherhillsstretchingofftowardthenorth,andrising,one range above another, until lost in mountains of quite re
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spectabledimensions;thoughIafterwardfoundthatonly a few peaks on all Mars exceed four thousand feet in height; the suggestion of magnitude was merely relative. Mymorning’swalkhadbeenlargewithimportanceto me for it had resulted in a perfect understanding with Woola, upon whom Tars Tarkas relied for my safe keeping. I now knew that while theoretically a prisoner I was virtually free, and I hastened to regain the city limits before the defection of Woola could be discovered by his erstwhile masters. The adventure decided me never again to leave the limits of my prescribed stamping grounds until I was ready to venture forth for good andall,asitwouldcertainlyresultinacurtailmentofmy liberties, aswellastheprobabledeathofWoola, werewe to be discovered. On regaining the plaza I had my third glimpse of the captivegirl. Shewasstandingwithherguardsbeforethe entrance to the audience chamber, and as I approached shegavemeonehaughtyglanceandturnedherbackfull upon me. The act was so womanly, so earthly womanly, that though it stung my pride it also warmed my heart with a feeling of companionship; it was good to know that someone else on Mars beside myself had human instinctsofacivilizedorder,eventhoughthemanifestation
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of them was so painful and mortifying. HadagreenMartianwomandesiredtoshowdislikeor contemptshewould,inalllikelihood,havedoneitwitha sword thrust or a movement of her trigger ?nger; but as their sentiments are mostly atrophied it would have required a serious injury to have aroused such passions in them. Sola,letmeadd,wasanexception;Ineversawher perform a cruel or uncouth act, or fail in uniform kindliness and good nature. She was indeed, as her fellow Martian had said of her, an atavism; a dear and precious reversion to a former type of loved and loving ancestor. Seeingthattheprisonerseemedthecenterofattraction I halted to view the proceedings. I had not long to wait forpresentlyLorquasPtomelandhisretinueofchieftains approached the building and, signing the guards to follow with the prisoner entered the audience chamber. RealizingthatIwasasomewhatfavoredcharacter,andalso convinced that the warriors did not know of my pro?ciency in their language, as I had plead with Sola to keep this a secret on the grounds that I did not wish to be forcedtotalkwiththemenuntilIhadperfectlymastered theMartiantongue,Ichancedanattempttoentertheaudience chamber and listen to the proceedings.
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The council squatted upon the steps of the rostrum, whilebelowthemstoodtheprisonerandhertwoguards. I saw that one of the women was Sarkoja, and thus understood how she had been present at the hearing of the preceding day, the results of which she had reported to the occupants of our dormitory last night. Her attitude towardthecaptivewasmostharshandbrutal. Whenshe held her, she sunk her rudimentary nails into the poor girl’s ?esh, or twisted her arm in a most painful manner. When it was necessary to move from one spot to another she either jerked her roughly, or pushed her headlongbeforeher. Sheseemedtobe ventinguponthispoor defenseless creature all the hatred, cruelty, ferocity, and spite of her nine hundred years, backed by unguessable ages of ?erce and brutal ancestors. The other woman was less cruel because she was entirelyindifferent;iftheprisonerhadbeenlefttoheralone, and fortunately she was at night, she would have received no harsh treatment, nor, by the same token would she have received any attention at all. As Lorquas Ptomel raised his eyes to address the prisoner they fell on me and he turned to Tars Tarkas with a word, and gesture of impatience. Tars Tarkas made some reply which I could not catch, but which caused Lorquas
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Ptomel to smile; after which they paid no further attention to me. “Whatisyourname?” askedLorquasPtomel,addressing the prisoner. “Dejah Thoris, daughter of Mors Kajak of Helium.” “And the nature of your expedition?” he continued. “Itwasapurelyscienti?cresearchpartysentoutbymy father’s father, the Jeddak of Helium, to rechart the air currents, and to take atmospheric density tests,” replied the fair prisoner, in a low, well-modulated voice. “We were unprepared for battle,” she continued, “as we were on a peaceful mission, as our banners and the colorsofourcraftdenoted. Theworkweweredoingwas as much in your interests as in ours, for you know full well that were it not for our labors and the fruits of our scienti?coperationstherewouldnotbeenoughairorwater on Mars to support a single human life. For ages we have maintained the air and water supply at practically the same point without an appreciable loss, and we have done this in the face of the brutal and ignorant interference of you green men. “Why, oh, why will you not learn to live in amity with yourfellows? Mustyouevergoondowntheagestoyour
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?nal extinction but little above the plane of the dumb brutes that serve you! A people without written language,withoutart,withouthomes,withoutlove;thevictims ofeons ofthe horrible communityidea. Owningeverything in common, even to your women and children, has resulted in your owning nothing in common. You hate each other as you hate all else except yourselves. Come back to the ways of our common ancestors, come back to the light of kindliness and fellowship. The way is open to you, you will ?nd the hands of the red men stretched out to aid you. Together we may do still more toregenerateourdyingplanet. Thegranddaughterofthe greatest and mightiest of the red jeddaks has asked you. Will you come?” Lorquas Ptomel and the warriors sat looking silently and intently at the young woman for several moments after she had ceased speaking. What was passing in their minds no man may know, but that they were moved I truly believe, and if one man high among them had been strong enough to rise above custom, that moment would have marked a new and mighty era for Mars. I saw Tars Tarkas rise to speak, and on his face was such an expression as I had never seen upon the countenance of a green Martian warrior. It bespoke an inward
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and mighty battle with self, with heredity, with age-old custom, and as he opened his mouth to speak, a look almost of benignity, of kindliness, momentarily lighted up his ?erce and terrible countenance. What words of moment were to have fallen from his lipswereneverspoken,asjustthenayoungwarrior,evidentlysensingthetrendofthoughtamongtheoldermen, leaped down from the steps of the rostrum, and striking the frail captive a powerful blow across the face, which felled her to the ?oor, placed his foot upon her prostrate form and turning toward the assembled council broke into peals of horrid, mirthless laughter. For an instant I thought Tars Tarkas would strike him dead, nor did the aspect of Lorquas Ptomel augur any too favorably for the brute, but the mood passed, their old selves reasserted their ascendency, and they smiled. Itwasportentoushoweverthattheydidnotlaughaloud, for the brute’s act constituted a side-splitting witticism according to the ethics which rule green Martian humor. That I have taken moments to write down a part of what occurred as that blow fell does not signify that I remained inactive for any such length of time. I think I must have sensed something of what was coming, for I
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realize now that I was crouched as for a spring as I saw theblowaimedatherbeautiful,upturned,pleadingface, anderethehanddescendedIwashalfwayacrossthehall. Scarcely had his hideous laugh rang out but once, when I was upon him. The brute was twelve feet in height and armed to the teeth, but I believe that I could haveaccountedforthewholeroomfulintheterri?cintensityofmyrage. Springingupward,Istruckhimfullinthe face as he turned at my warning cry and then as he drew his short-sword I drew mine and sprang up again upon his breast, hooking one leg over the butt of his pistol and grasping one of his huge tusks with my left hand while I delivered blow after blow upon his enormous chest. Hecouldnotusehisshort-swordtoadvantagebecause Iwastooclosetohim,norcouldhedrawhispistol,which he attempted to do in direct opposition to Martian custom which says that you may not ?ght a fellow warrior in private combat with any other than the weapon with which you are attacked. In fact he could do nothing but make a wild and futile attempt to dislodge me. With all his immense bulk he was little if any stronger than I, and it was but the matter of a moment or two before he sank, bleeding and lifeless, to the ?oor.
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Dejah Thoris had raised herself upon one elbow and was watching the battle with wide, staring eyes. When I had regained my feet I raised her in my arms and bore her to one of the benches at the side of the room. Again no Martian interfered with me, and tearing a piece of silk from my cape I endeavored to staunch the ?ow of blood from her nostrils. I was soon successful as her injuries amounted to little more than an ordinary nosebleed, and when she could speak she placed her hand upon my arm and looking up into my eyes, said: “Whydidyoudoit? Youwhorefusedmeevenfriendly recognition in the ?rst hour of my peril! And now you risk your life and kill one of your companions for my sake. I cannot understand. What strange manner of man are you, that you consort with the green men, though your form is that of my race, while your color is little darker than that of the white ape? Tell me, are you human, or are you more than human?” “It is a strange tale,” I replied, “too long to attempt to tell you now, and one which I so much doubt the credibility of myself that I fear to hope that others will believe it. Suf?ce it, for the present, that I am your friend, and, sofarasourcaptorswillpermit,yourprotectorandyour
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servant.” “Then you too are a prisoner? But why, then, those arms and the regalia of a Tharkian chieftain? What is your name? Where your country?” “Yes, Dejah Thoris, I too am a prisoner; my name is JohnCarter,andIclaimVirginia,oneoftheUnitedStates of America, Earth, as my home; but why I am permitted to wear arms I do not know, nor was I aware that my regalia was that of a chieftain.” We were interrupted at this juncture by the approach of one of the warriors, bearing arms, accoutrements and ornaments, and in a ?ash one of her questions was answered and a puzzle cleared up for me. I saw that the bodyofmydeadantagonisthadbeenstripped,andIread inthemenacingyetrespectfulattitudeofthewarriorwho had brought me these trophies of the kill the same demeanorasthatevincedbytheotherwhohadbroughtme my original equipment, and now for the ?rst time I realizedthatmyblow,ontheoccasionofmy?rstbattleinthe audiencechamberhadresultedinthedeathofmyadversary. Thereasonforthewholeattitudedisplayedtowardme was now apparent; I had won my spurs, so to speak, and
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in the crude justice, which always marks Martian dealings, and which, among other things, has caused me to call her the planet of paradoxes, I was accorded the honorsdueaconqueror;thetrappingsandthepositionofthe manIkilled. Intruth,IwasaMartianchieftain,andthisI learned later was the cause of my great freedom and my toleration in the audience chamber. As I had turned to receive the dead warrior’s chattels I had noticed that Tars Tarkas and several others had pushed forward toward us, and the eyes of the former rested upon me in a most quizzical manner. Finally he addressed me: “You speak the tongue of Barsoom quite readily for one who was deaf and dumb to us a few short days ago. Where did you learn it, John Carter?” “You, yourself, are responsible, Tars Tarkas,” I replied, “inthatyoufurnishedmewithaninstructressofremarkable ability; I have to thank Sola for my learning.” “Shehasdonewell,”heanswered,“butyoureducation inotherrespectsneedsconsiderablepolish. Doyouknow what your unprecedented temerity would have cost you had you failed to kill either of the two chieftains whose metal you now wear?”
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“I presume that that one whom I had failed to kill, would have killed me,” I answered, smiling. “No, you are wrong. Only in the last extremity of selfdefense would a Martian warrior kill a prisoner; we like to save them for other purposes,” and his face bespoke possibilities that were not pleasant to dwell upon. “But one thing can save you now,” he continued. “Should you, in recognition of your remarkable valor, ferocity, and prowess, be considered by Tal Hajus as worthy of his service you may be taken into the community and become a full-?edged Tharkian. Until we reach the headquarters of Tal Hajus it is the will of Lorquas Ptomel that you be accorded the respect your acts have earned you. You will be treated by us as a Tharkian chieftain, butyoumustnotforgetthateverychiefwhoranksyouis responsibleforyoursafedeliverytoourmightyandmost ferocious ruler. I am done.” “I hear you, Tars Tarkas,” I answered. “As you know I am not of Barsoom; your ways are not my ways, and I can only act in the future as I have in the past, in accordance with the dictates of my conscience and guided by the standards of mine own people. If you will leave me alone I will go in peace, but if not, let the individual Bar
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soomianswithwhomImustdealeitherrespectmyrights as a stranger among you, or take whatever consequences may befall. Of one thing let us be sure, whatever may be your ultimate intentions toward this unfortunate young woman, whoever would offer her injury or insult in the future must ?gure on making a full accounting to me. I understand that you belittle all sentiments of generosity andkindliness,butIdonot,andIcanconvinceyourmost doughty warrior that these characteristics are not incompatible with an ability to ?ght.” Ordinarily I am not given to long speeches, nor ever before had I descended to bombast, but I had guessed at the keynote which would strike an answering chord in the breasts of the green Martians, nor was I wrong, for myharangueevidentlydeeplyimpressedthem,andtheir attitude toward me thereafter was still further respectful. TarsTarkashimselfseemedpleasedwithmyreply,but his only comment was more or less enigmatical–“And I think I know Tal Hajus, Jeddak of Thark.” I now turned my attention to Dejah Thoris, and assisting her to her feet I turned with her toward the exit, ignoring her hovering guardian harpies as well as the inquiring glances of the chieftains. Was I not now a chief
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tain also! Well, then, I would assume the responsibilities of one. They did not molest us, and so Dejah Thoris, Princess of Helium, and John Carter, gentleman of Virginia, followed by the faithful Woola, passed through uttersilencefromtheaudiencechamberofLorquasPtomel, Jed among the Tharks of Barsoom.
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WITH DEJAH THORIS AS we reached the open the two female guards who had been detailed to watch over Dejah Thoris hurried up and made as though to assume custody of her once more. The poor child shrank against me and I felt hertwolittlehandsfoldtightlyovermyarm. Wavingthe womenaway,IinformedthemthatSolawouldattendthe captive hereafter, and I further warned Sarkoja that any moreofhercruelattentionsbestoweduponDejahThoris would result in Sarkoja’s sudden and painful demise. My threat was unfortunate and resulted in more harm
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than good to Dejah Thoris, for, as I learned later, men do not kill women upon Mars, nor women, men. So Sarkoja merely gave us an ugly look and departed to hatch up deviltries against us. I soon found Sola and explained to her that I wished her to guard Dejah Thoris as she had guarded me; that I wished her to ?nd other quarters where they would not be molested by Sarkoja, and I ?nally informed her that I myself would take up my quarters among the men. Sola glanced at the accouterments which were carried in my hand and slung across my shoulder. “You are a great chieftain now, John Carter,” she said, “and I must do your bidding, though indeed I am glad to do it under any circumstances. The man whose metal youcarrywasyoung,buthewasagreatwarrior,andhad byhispromotionsandkillswonhiswayclosetotherank of Tars Tarkas, who, as you know, is second to Lorquas Ptomelonly. Youareeleventh,therearebuttenchieftains in this community who rank you in prowess.” “And if I should kill Lorquas Ptomel?” I asked. “Youwouldbe?rst,JohnCarter;butyoumayonlywin that honor by the will of the entire council that Lorquas
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Ptomelmeetyouincombat,orshouldheattackyou,you may kill him in self-defense, and thus win ?rst place.” Ilaughed,andchangedthesubject. Ihadnoparticular desire to kill Lorquas Ptomel, and less to be a jed among the Tharks. I accompanied Sola and Dejah Thoris in a search for new quarters, which we found in a building nearer the audience chamber and of far more pretentious architecture than our former habitation. We also found in this building real sleeping apartments with ancient beds of highly wrought metal swinging from enormous gold chains depending from the marble ceilings. The decoration of the walls was most elaborate, and, unlike the frescoesintheotherbuildingsIhadexamined,portrayed many human ?gures in the compositions. These were of people like myself, and of a much lighter color than Dejah Thoris. They were clad in graceful, ?owing robes, highly ornamented with metal and jewels, and their luxurianthairwasofabeautifulgoldenandreddishbronze. The men were beardless and only a few wore arms. The scenes depicted for the most part, a fair-skinned, fairhaired people at play. DejahThorisclaspedherhandswithanexclamationof
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raptureasshegazeduponthesemagni?centworksofart, wroughtbyapeoplelongextinct;whileSola,ontheother hand, apparently did not see them. We decided to use this room, on the second ?oor and overlookingtheplaza,forDejahThorisandSola,andanother room adjoining and in the rear for the cooking and supplies. IthendispatchedSolatobringthebeddingand such food and utensils as she might need, telling her that I would guard Dejah Thoris until her return. As Sola departed Dejah Thoris turned to me with a faint smile. “And whereto, then, would your prisoner escape should you leave her, unless it was to follow you and crave your protection, and ask your pardon for the cruel thoughts she has harbored against you these past few days?” “You are right,” I answered, “there is no escape for either of us unless we go together.” “I heard your challenge to the creature you call Tars Tarkas, and I think I understand your position among these people, but what I cannot fathom is your statement that you are not of Barsoom.”
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“In the name of my ?rst ancestor, then,” she continued,“wheremayyoubefrom? Youarelikeuntomypeople, and yet so unlike. You speak my language, and yet I heard you tell Tars Tarkas that you had but learned it recently. All Barsoomians speak the same tongue from the ice-clad south to the ice-clad north, though their written languages differ. Only in the valley Dor, where the river Iss empties into the lost sea of Korus, is there supposed to be a different language spoken, and, except in the legends of our ancestors, there is no record of a Barsoomian returninguptheriverIss,fromtheshoresofKorusinthe valleyofDor. Donottellmethatyouhavethusreturned! They would kill you horribly anywhere upon the surface of Barsoom if that were true; tell me it is not!” Her eyes were ?lled with a strange, weird light; her voicewaspleading,andherlittlehands,reachedupupon my breast, were pressed against me as though to wring a denial from my very heart. “I do not know your customs, Dejah Thoris, but in my own Virginia a gentleman does not lie to save himself; I am not of Dor; I have never seen the mysterious Iss; the lost sea of Korus is still lost, so far as I am concerned. Do you believe me?”
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And then it struck me suddenly that I was very anxious that she should believe me. It was not that I feared theresultswhichwouldfollowageneralbeliefthatIhad returned from the Barsoomian heaven or hell, or whatever it was. Why was it, then! Why should I care what she thought? I looked down at her; her beautiful face upturned, and her wonderful eyes opening up the very depth of her soul; and as my eyes met hers I knew why, and–I shuddered. A similar wave of feeling seemed to stir her; she drew away from me with a sigh, and with her earnest, beautiful face turned up to mine, she whispered: “I believe you, John Carter; I do not know what a ‘gentleman’ is, nor have I ever heard before of Virginia; but on Barsoom no man lies; if he does not wish to speak the truth he is silent. WhereisthisVirginia,yourcountry,JohnCarter?” she asked, and it seemed that this fair name of my fair land had never sounded more beautiful than as it fell from those perfect lips on that far-gone day. “I am of another world,” I answered, “the great planet Earth, which revolves about our common sun and next within the orbit of your Barsoom, which we know as Mars. How I came here I cannot tell you, for I do not know; but here I am, and since my presence has permit
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ted me to serve Dejah Thoris I am glad that I am here.” Shegazedatmewithtroubledeyes,longandquestioningly. That it was dif?cult to believe my statement I well knew, nor could I hope that she would do so however much I craved her con?dence and respect. I would much rather not have told her anything of my antecedents, but nomancouldlookintothedepthofthoseeyesandrefuse her slightest behest. Finally she smiled, and, rising, said: “I shall have to believe even though I cannot understand. I can readily perceivethatyouarenotoftheBarsoomoftoday;youare like us, yet different–but why should I trouble my poor head with such a problem, when my heart tells me that I believe because I wish to believe!” Itwasgoodlogic,good,earthly,femininelogic,andifit satis?edherIcertainlycouldpickno?awsinit. Asamatteroffactitwasabouttheonlykindoflogicthatcouldbe brought to bear upon my problem. We fell into a general conversationthen,askingandansweringmanyquestions on each side. She was curious to learn of the customs of my people and displayed a remarkable knowledge of events on Earth. When I questioned her closely on this seeming familiarity with earthly things she laughed, and
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cried out: “Why,everyschoolboyonBarsoomknowsthegeography, and much concerning the fauna and ?ora, as well as thehistoryofyourplanetfullyaswellasofhisown. Can we not see everything which takes place upon Earth, as you call it; is it not hanging there in the heavens in plain sight?” This baf?ed me, I must confess, fully as much as my statements had confounded her; and I told her so. She thenexplainedingeneraltheinstrumentsherpeoplehad used and been perfecting for ages, which permit them to throw upon a screen a perfect image of what is transpiring upon any planet and upon many of the stars. These pictures are so perfect in detail that, when photographed and enlarged, objects no greater than a blade of grass maybedistinctlyrecognized. Iafterward,inHelium,saw many of these pictures, as well as the instruments which produced them. “If, then, you are so familiar with earthly things,” I asked, “why is it that you do not recognize me as identical with the inhabitants of that planet?” She smiled again as one might in bored indulgence of a questioning child.
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“Because, John Carter,” she replied, “nearly every planet and star having atmospheric conditions at all approaching those of Barsoom, shows forms of animal life almost identical with you and me; and, further, Earth men, almost without exception, cover their bodies with strange, unsightly pieces of cloth, and their heads with hideous contraptions the purpose of which we have been unable to conceive; while you, when found by the Tharkian warriors, were entirely undis?gured and unadorned. “The fact that you wore no ornaments is a strong proof of your un-Barsoomian origin, while the absence of grotesque coverings might cause a doubt as to your earthliness.” I then narrated the details of my departure from the Earth, explaining that my body there lay fully clothed in allthe,toher,strangegarmentsofmundanedwellers. At this point Sola returned with our meager belongings and her young Martian protege, who, of course, would have to share the quarters with them. Sola asked us if we had had a visitor during her absence, and seemed much surprised when we answered in the negative. It seemed that as she had mounted the
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approach to the upper ?oors where our quarters were located, she had met Sarkoja descending. We decided that she must have been eavesdropping, but as we could recall nothing of importance that had passed between us we dismissed the matter as of little consequence, merely promising ourselves to be warned to the utmost caution in the future. Dejah Thoris and I then fell to examining the architecture and decorations of the beautiful chambers of the building we were occupying. She told me that these people had presumably ?ourished over a hundred thousand yearsbefore. Theyweretheearlyprogenitorsofherrace, buthadmixedwiththeothergreatraceofearlyMartians, who were very dark, almost black, and also with the reddish yellow race which had ?ourished at the same time. These three great divisions of the higher Martians had beenforcedintoamightyallianceasthedryingupofthe Martian seas had compelled them to seek the comparatively few and always diminishing fertile areas, and to defend themselves, under new conditions of life, against the wild hordes of green men. Ages of close relationship and intermarrying had resulted in the race of red men, of which Dejah Thoris was
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a fair and beautiful daughter. During the ages of hardships and incessant warring between their own various races, as well as with the green men, and before they had ?tted themselves to the changed conditions, much of the high civilization and many of the arts of the fairhaired Martians had become lost; but the red race of todayhasreachedapointwhereitfeelsthatithasmadeup innewdiscoveriesandinamorepracticalcivilizationfor all that lies irretrievably buried with the ancient Barsoomians, beneath the countless intervening ages. These ancient Martians had been a highly cultivated and literary race, but during the vicissitudes of those tryingcenturiesofreadjustmenttonewconditions,notonly didtheiradvancementandproductionceaseentirely,but practically all their archives, records, and literature were lost. Dejah Thoris related many interesting facts and legends concerning this lost race of noble and kindly people. Shesaidthatthecityinwhichwewerecampingwas supposed to have been a center of commerce and culture known as Korad. It had been built upon a beautiful, natural harbor, landlocked by magni?cent hills. The little valley on the west front of the city, she explained, was all that remained of the harbor, while the pass through the
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hills to the old sea bottom had been the channel through which the shipping passed up to the city’s gates. The shores of the ancient seas were dotted with just such cities, and lesser ones, in diminishing numbers, were to be found converging toward the center of the oceans, as the people had found it necessary to follow therecedingwatersuntilnecessityhadforceduponthem their ultimate salvation, the so-called Martian canals. We had been so engrossed in exploration of the building and in our conversation that it was late in the afternoon before we realized it. We were brought back to a realization of our present conditions by a messenger bearing a summons from Lorquas Ptomel directing me to appear before him forthwith. Bidding Dejah Thoris and Sola farewell, and commanding Woola to remain on guard,Ihastenedtotheaudiencechamber,whereIfound LorquasPtomelandTarsTarkasseatedupontherostrum.
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A PRISONER WITH POWER AS I entered and saluted, Lorquas Ptomel signaled me toadvance,and,?xinghisgreat,hideouseyesupon me, addressed me thus: “You have been with us a few days, yet during that time you have by your prowess won a high position among us. Be that as it may, you are not one of us; you owe us no allegiance. “Your position is a peculiar one,” he continued; “you are a prisoner and yet you give commands which must
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be obeyed; you are an alien and yet you are a Tharkian chieftain; you are a midget and yet you can kill a mighty warrior with one blow of your ?st. And now you are reported to have been plotting to escape with another prisoner of another race; a prisoner who, from her own admission,halfbelievesyouarereturnedfromthevalleyof Dor. Either one of these accusations, if proved, would be suf?cient grounds for your execution, but we are a just people and you shall have a trial on our return to Thark, if Tal Hajus so commands. “But,”hecontinued,inhis?ercegutturaltones,“ifyou run off with the red girl it is I who shall have to account toTalHajus;itisIwhoshallhavetofaceTarsTarkas,and either demonstrate my right to command, or the metal from my dead carcass will go to a better man, for such is the custom of the Tharks. “I have no quarrel with Tars Tarkas; together we rule supreme the greatest of the lesser communities among thegreenmen;wedonotwishto?ghtbetweenourselves; and so if you were dead, John Carter, I should be glad. Under two conditions only, however, may you be killed by us without orders from Tal Hajus; in personal combat in self-defense, should you attack one of us, or were you apprehended in an attempt to escape.
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“As a matter of justice I must warn you that we only await one of these two excuses for ridding ourselves of so great a responsibility. The safe delivery of the red girl to Tal Hajus is of the greatest importance. Not in a thousand years have the Tharks made such a capture; she is thegranddaughterofthegreatestoftheredjeddaks,who is also our bitterest enemy. I have spoken. The red girl told us that we were without the softer sentiments of humanity, but we are a just and truthful race. You may go.” Turning, I left the audience chamber. So this was the beginning of Sarkoja’s persecution! I knew that none other could be responsible for this report which had reached the ears of Lorquas Ptomel so quickly, and now I recalled those portions of our conversation which had touched upon escape and upon my origin. Sarkoja was at this time Tars Tarkas’ oldest and most trusted female. As such she was a mighty power behind the throne, for no warrior had the con?dence of Lorquas Ptomel tosuch an extent asdid his ablest lieutenant, Tars Tarkas. However, instead of putting thoughts of possible escape from my mind, my audience with Lorquas Ptomel only served to center my every faculty on this subject.
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Now,morethanbefore,theabsolutenecessityforescape, in so far as Dejah Thoris was concerned, was impressed upon me, for I was convinced that some horrible fate awaited her at the headquarters of Tal Hajus. As described by Sola, this monster was the exaggeratedpersoni?cationofalltheagesofcruelty,ferocity,and brutality from which he had descended. Cold, cunning, calculating; he was, also, in marked contrast to most of his fellows, a slave to that brute passion which the waning demands for procreation upon their dying planet has almost stilled in the Martian breast. ThethoughtthatthedivineDejahThorismightfallinto the clutches of such an abysmal atavism started the cold sweat upon me. Far better that we save friendly bullets for ourselves at the last moment, as did those brave frontier women of my lost land, who took their own lives rather than fall into the hands of the Indian braves. AsIwanderedabouttheplazalostinmygloomyforebodings Tars Tarkas approached me on his way from the audience chamber. His demeanor toward me was unchanged, and he greeted me as though we had not just parted a few moments before. “Where are your quarters, John Carter?” he asked.
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“I have selected none,” I replied. “It seemed best that I quartered either by myself or among the other warriors, andIwasawaitinganopportunitytoaskyouradvice. As you know,” and I smiled, “I am not yet familiar with all the customs of the Tharks.” “Come with me,” he directed, and together we moved off across the plaza to a building which I was glad to see adjoined that occupied by Sola and her charges. “My quarters are on the ?rst ?oor of this building,” he said, “and the second ?oor also is fully occupied by warriors, but the third ?oor and the ?oors above are vacant; you may take your choice of these. “I understand,” he continued, “that you have given up your woman to the red prisoner. Well, as you have said, your ways are not our ways, but you can ?ght well enough to do about as you please, and so, if you wish to giveyourwomantoacaptive,itisyourownaffair;butas achieftainyoushouldhavethosetoserveyou,andinaccordance with our customs you may select any or all the females from the retinues of the chieftains whose metal you now wear.” I thanked him, but assured him that I could get along very nicely without assistance except in the matter of
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preparing food, and so he promised to send women to me for this purpose and also for the care of my arms and themanufactureofmyammunition,whichhesaidwould benecessary. Isuggestedthattheymightalsobringsome of the sleeping silks and furs which belonged to me as spoils of combat, for the nights were cold and I had none of my own. He promised to do so, and departed. Left alone, I ascendedthewindingcorridortotheupper?oorsinsearch of suitable quarters. The beauties of the other buildings were repeated in this, and, as usual, I was soon lost in a tour of investigation and discovery. I ?nally chose a front room on the third ?oor, because thisbroughtmenearertoDejahThoris,whoseapartment was on the second ?oor of the adjoining building, and it ?ashed upon me that I could rig up some means of communication whereby she might signal me in case she needed either my services or my protection. Adjoiningmysleepingapartmentwerebaths,dressing rooms, and other sleeping and living apartments, in all some ten rooms on this ?oor. The windows of the back rooms overlooked an enormous court, which formed the center of the square made by the buildings which faced
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the four contiguous streets, and which was now given over to the quartering of the various animals belonging to the warriors occupying the adjoining buildings. While the court was entirely overgrown with the yellow, moss-like vegetation which blankets practically the entire surface of Mars, yet numerous fountains, statuary, benches, and pergola-like contraptions bore witness to the beauty which the court must have presented in bygone times, when graced by the fair-haired, laughing people whom stern and unalterable cosmic laws had driven not only from their homes, but from all except the vague legends of their descendants. One could easily picture the gorgeous foliage of the luxuriant Martian vegetation which once ?lled this scene with life and color; the graceful ?gures of the beautiful women, the straight and handsome men; the happy frolicking children–all sunlight, happiness and peace. It was dif?culttorealizethattheyhadgone;downthroughages of darkness, cruelty, and ignorance, until their hereditary instinctsofcultureandhumanitarianismhadrisenascendant once more in the ?nal composite race which now is dominant upon Mars. My thoughts were cut short by the advent of several
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young females bearing loads of weapons, silks, furs, jewels, cooking utensils, and casks of food and drink, including considerable loot from the air craft. All this, it seemed,hadbeenthepropertyofthetwochieftainsIhad slain, and now, by the customs of the Tharks, it had become mine. At my direction they placed the stuff in one ofthebackrooms,andthendeparted,onlytoreturnwith asecondload,whichtheyadvisedmeconstitutedthebalance of my goods. On the second trip they were accompaniedbytenor?fteenotherwomenandyouths,who,it seemed, formed the retinues of the two chieftains. They were not their families, nor their wives, nor their servants;therelationshipwaspeculiar,andsounlikeanything known to us that it is most dif?cult to describe. AllpropertyamongthegreenMartiansisownedincommonbythecommunity,exceptthepersonalweapons,ornaments and sleeping silks and furs of the individuals. These alone can one claim undisputed right to, nor may he accumulate more of these than are required for his actualneeds. Thesurplusheholdsmerelyascustodian,and itispassedontotheyoungermembersofthecommunity as necessity demands. The women and children of a man’s retinue may be likened to a military unit for which he is responsible in
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variousways,asinmattersofinstruction,discipline,sustenance, and the exigencies of their continual roamings and their unending strife with other communities and with the red Martians. His women are in no sense wives. ThegreenMartiansuse nowordcorrespondinginmeaning with this earthly word. Their mating is a matter of community interest solely, and is directed without referencetonaturalselection. Thecouncilofchieftainsofeach community controlthe matteras surely asthe owner ofa Kentuckyracingstuddirectsthescienti?cbreedingofhis stock for the improvement of the whole. In theory it may sound well, as is often the case with theories,buttheresultsofagesofthisunnaturalpractice, coupled with the community interest in the offspring beingheldparamounttothatofthemother,isshowninthe cold,cruelcreatures,andtheirgloomy,loveless,mirthless existence. It is true that the green Martians are absolutely virtuous, both men and women, with the exception of such degenerates as Tal Hajus; but better far a ?ner balance of human characteristics even at the expense of a slight and occasional loss of chastity. Finding that I must assume responsibility for these
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creatures, whether I would or not, I made the best of it and directed them to ?nd quarters on the upper ?oors, leaving the third ?oor to me. One of the girls I charged with the duties of my simple cuisine, and directed the others to take up the various activities which had formerly constituted their vocations. Thereafter I saw little of them, nor did I care to.
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LOVE-MAKING ON MARS FOLLOWING the battle with the air ships, the community remained within the city for several days, abandoning the homeward march until they could feel reasonably assured that the ships would not return; for to becaughtontheopenplainswithacavalcadeofchariots and children was far from the desire of even so warlike a people as the green Martians. During our period of inactivity, Tars Tarkas had instructedmeinmanyofthecustomsandartsofwarfamiliartotheTharks,includinglessonsinridingandguiding
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thegreatbeastswhichborethewarriors. Thesecreatures, which are known as thoats, are as dangerous and vicious as their masters, but when once subdued are suf?ciently tractable for the purposes of the green Martians. Two of these animals had fallen to me from the warriorswhosemetalIwore,andinashorttimeIcouldhandlethemquiteaswellasthenativewarriors. Themethod was not at all complicated. If the thoats did not respond with suf?cient celerity to the telepathic instructions of their riders they were dealt a terri?c blow between the ears with the butt of a pistol, and if they showed ?ght this treatment was continued until the brutes either were subdued, or had unseated their riders. In the latter case it became a life and death struggle between the man and the beast. If the former were quick enoughwithhispistolhemightlivetorideagain,though uponsomeotherbeast;ifnot,histornandmangledbody wasgatheredupbyhiswomenandburnedinaccordance with Tharkian custom. My experience with Woola determined me to attempt theexperimentofkindnessinmytreatmentofmythoats. First I taught them that they could not unseat me, and even rapped them sharply between the ears to impress
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upon them my authority and mastery. Then, by degrees, I won their con?dence in much the same manner as I had adopted countless times with my many mundane mounts. Iwaseveragoodhandwithanimals,andbyinclination, as well as because it brought more lasting and satisfactoryresults,Iwasalwayskindandhumaneinmy dealingswiththelowerorders. Icouldtakeahumanlife, ifnecessary,withfarlesscompunctionthanthatofapoor, unreasoning, irresponsible brute. In the course of a few days my thoats were the wonder of the entire community. They would follow me like dogs, rubbing their great snouts against my body in awkward evidence of affection, and respond to my every command with an alacrity and docility which caused the Martian warriors to ascribe to me the possession of some earthly power unknown on Mars. “How have you bewitched them?” asked Tars Tarkas one afternoon, when he had seen me run my arm far between the great jaws of one of my thoats which had wedged a piece of stone between two of his teeth while feeding upon the moss-like vegetation within our court yard. “By kindness,” I replied. “You see, Tars Tarkas, the
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softer sentiments have their value, even to a warrior. In theheightofbattleaswellasuponthemarchIknowthat my thoats will obey my every command, and therefore my?ghtingef?ciencyisenhanced,andIamabetterwarrior for the reason that I am a kind master. Your other warriors would ?nd it to the advantage of themselves as wellasofthecommunitytoadoptmymethodsinthisrespect. Only a few days since you, yourself, told me that thesegreatbrutes,bytheuncertaintyoftheirtempers,often were the means of turning victory into defeat, since, at a crucial moment, they might elect to unseat and rend their riders.” “Show me how you accomplish these results,” was Tars Tarkas’ only rejoinder. And so I explained as carefully as I could the entire method of training I had adopted with my beasts, and later he had me repeat it before Lorquas Ptomel and the assembledwarriors. Thatmomentmarkedthebeginning of a new existence for the poor thoats, and before I left the community of Lorquas Ptomel I had the satisfaction ofobservingaregimentofastractableanddocilemounts as one might care to see. The effect on the precision and celerity of the military movements was so remarkable that Lorquas Ptomel presented me with a massive anklet
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of gold from his own leg, as a sign of his appreciation of my service to the horde. On the seventh day following the battle with the air craft we again took up the march toward Thark, all probabilityofanotherattackbeingdeemedremotebyLorquas Ptomel. During the days just preceding our departure I had seen but little of Dejah Thoris, as I had been kept very busy by Tars Tarkas with my lessons in the art of Martian warfare, as well as in the training of my thoats. The few times I had visited her quarters she had been absent, walking upon the streets with Sola, or investigating the buildings in the near vicinity of the plaza. I had warned them against venturing far from the plaza for fear of the great white apes, whose ferocity I was only too well acquaintedwith. However,sinceWoolaaccompaniedthem onalltheirexcursions,andasSolawaswellarmed,there was comparatively little cause for fear. On the evening before our departure I saw them approachingalongoneofthegreatavenueswhichleadinto the plaza from the east. I advanced to meet them, and telling Sola that I would take the responsibility for Dejah Thoris’ safekeeping, I directed her to return to her quar
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ters on some trivial errand. I liked and trusted Sola, but for some reason I desired to be alone with Dejah Thoris, who represented to me all that I had left behind upon Earth in agreeable and congenial companionship. There seemedbondsofmutualinterestbetweenusaspowerful as though we had been born under the same roof rather thanupondifferentplanets,hurtlingthroughspacesome forty-eight million miles apart. That she shared my sentiments in this respect I was positive, for on my approach the look of pitiful hopelessness left her sweet countenance to be replaced by a smile ofjoyfulwelcome,assheplacedherlittlerighthandupon my left shoulder in true red Martian salute. “Sarkoja told Sola that you had become a true Thark,” she said, “and that I would now see no more of you than of any of the other warriors.” “Sarkoja is a liar of the ?rst magnitude,” I replied, “notwithstanding the proud claim of the Tharks to absolute verity.” Dejah Thoris laughed. “Iknewthateventhoughyoubecameamemberofthe communityyouwouldnotceasetobemyfriend;‘Awar
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riormaychangehismetal,butnothisheart,’asthesaying is upon Barsoom.” “I think they have been trying to keep us apart,” she continued, “for whenever you have been off duty one of the older women of Tars Tarkas’ retinue has always arranged to trump up some excuse to get Sola and me out of sight. They have had me down in the pits below the buildings helping them mix their awful radium powder, and make their terrible projectiles. You know that these have to be manufactured by arti?cial light, as exposure to sunlight always results in an explosion. You have noticed that their bullets explode when they strike an object? Well, the opaque, outer coating is broken by the impact,exposingaglasscylinder,almostsolid,intheforwardendofwhichisaminuteparticleofradiumpowder. The moment the sunlight, even though diffused, strikes this powder it explodes with a violence which nothing can withstand. If you ever witness a night battle you willnotetheabsenceoftheseexplosions,whilethemorning following the battle will be ?lled at sunrise with the sharp detonations of exploding missiles ?red the preceding night. As a rule, however, non-exploding projectiles are used at night.” [I have used the word radium in describing this powder because in the light of recent dis
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coveries on Earth I believe it to be a mixture of which radium is the base. In Captain Carter’s manuscript it is mentioned always by the name used in the written language of Helium and is spelled in hieroglyphics which it would be dif?cult and useless to reproduce.] While I was much interested in Dejah Thoris’ explanation of this wonderful adjunct to Martian warfare, I was more concerned by the immediate problem of their treatment of her. That they were keeping her away from me wasnotamatterforsurprise,butthattheyshouldsubject her to dangerous and arduous labor ?lled me with rage. “Have they ever subjected you to cruelty and ignominy, Dejah Thoris?” I asked, feeling the hot blood of my ?ghting ancestors leap in my veins as I awaited her reply. “Only in little ways, John Carter,” she answered. “Nothingthatcanharmmeoutsidemypride. Theyknow that I am the daughter of ten thousand jeddaks, that I trace my ancestry straight back without a break to the builder of the ?rst great waterway, and they, who do not evenknowtheirownmothers,arejealousofme. Atheart theyhatetheirhorridfates,andsowreaktheirpoorspite onmewhostandforeverythingtheyhavenot,andforall
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they most crave and never can attain. Let us pity them, my chieftain, for even though we die at their hands we can afford them pity, since we are greater than they and they know it.” HadIknownthesigni?canceofthosewords“mychieftain,” as applied by a red Martian woman to a man, I should have had the surprise of my life, but I did not know at that time, nor for many months thereafter. Yes, I still had much to learn upon Barsoom. “I presume it is the better part of wisdom that we bow to our fate with as good grace as possible, Dejah Thoris; but I hope, nevertheless, that I may be present the next time that any Martian, green, red, pink, or violet, has the temerityto even somuch asfrown onyou, myprincess.” Dejah Thoris caught her breath at my last words, and gazed upon me with dilated eyes and quickening breath, andthen,withanoddlittlelaugh,whichbroughtroguish dimples to the corners of her mouth, she shook her head and cried: “What a child! A great warrior and yet a stumbling little child.” “What have I done now?” I asked, in sore perplexity.
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“Somedayyoushallknow,JohnCarter,ifwelive;butI may not tell you. And I, the daughter of Mors Kajak, son of Tardos Mors, have listened without anger,” she soliloquized in conclusion. Then she broke out again into one of her gay, happy, laughing moods; joking with me on my prowess as a Tharkwarriorascontrastedwithmysoftheartandnatural kindliness. “Ipresumethatshouldyouaccidentallywoundanenemy you would take him home and nurse him back to health,” she laughed. “That is precisely what we do on Earth,” I answered. “At least among civilized men.” This made her laugh again. She could not understand it, for, with all her tenderness and womanly sweetness, she was still a Martian, and to a Martian the only good enemyisadeadenemy;foreverydeadfoemanmeansso much more to divide between those who live. I was very curious to know what I had said or done to cause her so much perturbation a moment before and so I continued to importune her to enlighten me. “No,” she exclaimed, “it is enough that you have said it and that I have listened. And when you learn, John
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Carter, and if I be dead, as likely I shall be ere the further moon has circled Barsoom another twelve times, remember that I listened and that I–smiled.” ItwasallGreektome,butthemoreIbeggedhertoexplainthemorepositivebecameherdenialsofmyrequest, and, so, in very hopelessness, I desisted. Dayhadnowgivenawaytonightandaswewandered along the great avenue lighted by the two moons of Barsoom, and with Earth looking down upon us out of her luminous green eye, it seemed that we were alone in the universe, and I, at least, was content that it should be so. ThechilloftheMartiannightwasuponus,andremoving my silks I threw them across the shoulders of Dejah Thoris. As my arm rested for an instant upon her I felt a thrill pass through every ?ber of my being such as contact with no other mortal had even produced; and it seemedtomethatshehadleanedslightlytowardme,but of that I was not sure. Only I knew that as my arm rested there across her shoulders longer than the act of adjusting the silk required she did not draw away, nor did she speak. And so, in silence, we walked the surface of a dying world, but in the breast of one of us at least had been born that which is ever oldest, yet ever new.
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I loved Dejah Thoris. The touch of my arm upon her naked shoulder had spoken to me in words I would not mistake, and I knew that I had loved her since the ?rst moment that my eyes had met hers that ?rst time in the plaza of the dead city of Korad.
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A DUEL TO THE DEATH MY ?rst impulse was to tell her of my love, and then I thoughtofthehelplessnessofherpositionwherein I alone could lighten the burdens of her captivity, and protect her in my poor way against the thousands of hereditary enemies she must face upon our arrival at Thark. I could not chance causing her additional pain or sorrow by declaring a love which, in all probability she did not return. Should I be so indiscreet, her position would be even more unbearable than now, and the thought that she might feel that I was taking advantage
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of her helplessness, to in?uence her decision was the ?nal argument which sealed my lips. “Whyareyousoquiet,DejahThoris?” Iasked. “Possibly you would rather return to Sola and your quarters.” “No,”shemurmured,“Iamhappyhere. Idonotknow why it is that I should always be happy and contented when you, John Carter, a stranger, are with me; yet at such times it seems that I am safe and that, with you, I shall soon return to my father’s court and feel his strong arms about me and my mother’s tears and kisses on my cheek.” “Do people kiss, then, upon Barsoom?” I asked, when she had explained the word she used, in answer to my inquiry as to its meaning. “Parents, brothers, and sisters, yes; and,” she added in a low, thoughtful tone, “lovers.” “And you, Dejah Thoris, have parents and brothers and sisters?” “Yes.” “And a–lover?” She was silent, nor could I venture to repeat the question.
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“ThemanofBarsoom,”she?nallyventured,“doesnot askpersonalquestionsofwomen,excepthismother,and the woman he has fought for and won.” “But I have fought–” I started, and then I wished my tonguehadbeencutfrommymouth;forsheturnedeven asIcaughtmyselfandceased,anddrawingmysilksfrom her shoulder she held them out to me, and without a word, and with head held high, she moved with the carriageofthequeenshewastowardtheplazaandthedoorway of her quarters. I did not attempt to follow her, other than to see that she reached the building in safety, but, directing Woola to accompany her, I turned disconsolately and entered my own house. I sat for hours cross-legged, and crosstempered, upon my silks meditating upon the queer freaks chance plays upon us poor devils of mortals. So this was love! I had escaped it for all the years I had roamed the ?ve continents and their encircling seas; in spite of beautiful women and urging opportunity; in spite of a half-desire for love and a constant search for my ideal, it had remained for me to fall furiously and hopelessly in love with a creature from another world, of a species similar possibly, yet not identical with mine.
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A woman who was hatched from an egg, and whose span of life might cover a thousand years; whose people had strange customs and ideas; a woman whose hopes, whose pleasures, whose standards of virtue and of right and wrong might vary as greatly from mine as did those of the green Martians. Yes, I was a fool, but I was in love, and though I was suffering the greatest misery I had ever known I would not have had it otherwise for all the riches of Barsoom. Suchislove,andsuchareloverswhereverloveisknown. To me, Dejah Thoris was all that was perfect; all that was virtuous and beautiful and noble and good. I believedthatfromthebottomofmyheart,fromthedepthof mysoulonthatnightinKoradasIsatcross-leggedupon mysilkswhilethenearermoonofBarsoomracedthrough the western sky toward the horizon, and lighted up the gold and marble, and jeweled mosaics of my world-old chamber, and I believe it today as I sit at my desk in the little study overlooking the Hudson. Twenty years have intervened; for ten of them I lived and fought for Dejah Thoris and her people, and for ten I have lived upon her memory. The morning of our departure for Thark dawned clear
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and hot, as do all Martian mornings except for the six weeks when the snow melts at the poles. I sought out Dejah Thoris in the throng of departing chariots, but she turned her shoulder to me, and I could see the red blood mount to her cheek. With the foolish inconsistency of love I held my peace when I might have pled ignorance of the nature of my offense, or at least the gravityofit, andsohaveeffected,atworst,ahalfconciliation. [Illustration: IsoughtoutDejahThorisinthethrongof departing chariots.] MydutydictatedthatImustseethatshewascomfortable,andsoIglancedintoherchariotandrearrangedher silks and furs. In doing so I noted with horror that she was heavily chained by one ankle to the side of the vehicle. “What does this mean?” I cried, turning to Sola. “Sarkoja thought it best,” she answered, her face betokening her disapproval of the procedure. Examining the manacles I saw that they fastened with a massive spring lock. “Where is the key, Sola? Let me have it.”
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“Sarkoja wears it, John Carter,” she answered. I turned without further word and sought out Tars Tarkas, to whom I vehemently objected to the unnecessary humiliations and cruelties, as they seemed to my lover’s eyes, that were being heaped upon Dejah Thoris. “John Carter,” he answered, “if ever you and Dejah Thoris escape the Tharks it will be upon this journey. We know that you will not go without her. You have shown yourselfamighty?ghter,andwedonotwishtomanacle you, so we hold you both in the easiest way that will yet ensure security. I have spoken.” Isawthestrengthofhisreasoningata?ash,andknew that it was futile to appeal from his decision, but I asked that the key be taken from Sarkoja and that she be directed to leave the prisoner alone in future. “This much, Tars Tarkas, you may do for me in return for the friendship that, I must confess, I feel for you.” “Friendship?” hereplied. “Thereisnosuchthing,John Carter;buthaveyourwill. IshalldirectthatSarkojacease toannoythegirl,andImyselfwilltakethecustodyofthe key.” “Unless you wish me to assume the responsibility,” I said, smiling.
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He looked at me long and earnestly before he spoke. “Were you to give me your word that neither you nor DejahThoriswouldattempttoescapeuntilafterwehave safely reached the court of Tal Hajus you might have the key and throw the chains into the river Iss.” “It was better that you held the key, Tars Tarkas,” I replied Hesmiled,andsaidnomore,butthatnightaswewere making camp I saw him unfasten Dejah Thoris’ fetters himself. Withallhiscruelferocityandcoldnesstherewasanundercurrent of something in Tars Tarkas which he seemed everbattlingtosubdue. Coulditbeavestigeofsomehuman instinct come back from an ancient forbear to haunt him with the horror of his people’s ways! As I was approaching Dejah Thoris’ chariot I passed Sarkoja, and the black, venomous look she accorded me was the sweetest balm I had felt for many hours. Lord, how she hated me! It bristled from her so palpably that one might almost have cut it with a sword. A few moments later I saw her deep in conversation with a warrior named Zad; a big, hulking, powerful
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brute,butonewhohadnevermadeakillamonghisown chieftains, and so was still an o mad, or man with one name; he could win a second name only with the metal of some chieftain. It was this custom which entitled me to the names of either of the chieftains I had killed; in fact, some of the warriors addressed me as Dotar Sojat, a combination of the surnames of the two warrior chieftains whose metal I had taken, or, in other words, whom I had slain in fair ?ght. As Sarkoja talked with Zad he cast occasional glances in my direction, while she seemed to be urging him very strongly to some action. I paid little attention to it at the time, but the next day I had good reason to recall the circumstances,andatthesametimegainaslightinsightinto the depths of Sarkoja’s hatred and the lengths to which she was capable of going to wreak her horrid vengeance on me. Dejah Thoris would have none of me again on this evening, and though I spoke her name she neither replied,norconcededbysomuchasthe?utterofaneyelid that she realized my existence. In my extremity I did what most other lovers would have done; I sought word from her through an intimate. In this instance it was Sola whom I intercepted in another part of camp.
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“What is the matter with Dejah Thoris?” I blurted out at her. “Why will she not speak to me?” Sola seemed puzzled herself, as though such strange actionsonthepartoftwohumanswerequitebeyondher, as indeed they were, poor child. “She says you have angered her, and that is all she will say, except that she is the daughter of a jed and the granddaughter of a jeddak and she has been humiliated byacreaturewhocouldnotpolishtheteethofhergrandmother’s sorak.” I pondered over this report for some time, ?nally asking, “What might a sorak be, Sola?” “Alittleanimalaboutasbigasmyhand,whichthered Martian women keep to play with,” explained Sola. Not ?t to polish the teeth of her grandmother’s cat! I must rank pretty low in the consideration of Dejah Thoris,Ithought;butIcouldnothelplaughingatthestrange ?gure of speech, so homely and in this respect so earthly. Itmademehomesick,foritsoundedverymuchlike“not ?t to polish her shoes.” And then commenced a train of thought quite new to me. I began to wonder what my peopleathomeweredoing. Ihadnotseenthemforyears. There was a family of Carters in Virginia who claimed
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close relationship with me; I was supposed to be a great uncle, or something of the kind equally foolish. I could pass anywhere for twenty-?ve to thirty years of age, and to be a great uncle always seemed the height of incongruity, for my thoughts and feelings were those of a boy. There were two little kiddies in the Carter family whom I had loved and who had thought there was no one on Earth like Uncle Jack; I could see them just as plainly, as I stood there under the moonlit skies of Barsoom, and I longed for them as I had never longed for any mortals before. By nature a wanderer, I had never known the true meaning of the word home, but the great hall of the Carters had always stood for all that the word did meantome,andnowmyheartturnedtowarditfromthe cold and unfriendly peoples I had been thrown amongst. For did not even Dejah Thoris despise me! I was a low creature, so low in fact that I was not even ?t to polish the teeth of her grandmother’s cat; and then my saving senseofhumorcametomyrescue,andlaughingIturned into my silks and furs and slept upon the moon-haunted ground the sleep of a tired and healthy ?ghting man. We broke camp the next day at an early hour and marched with only a single halt until just before dark. Two incidents broke the tediousness of the march. About
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noon we espied far to our right what was evidently an incubator,andLorquasPtomeldirectedTarsTarkastoinvestigate it. The latter took a dozen warriors, including myself,andweracedacrossthevelvetycarpetingofmoss to the little enclosure. It was indeed an incubator, but the eggs were very small in comparison with those I had seen hatching in ours at the time of my arrival on Mars. Tars Tarkas dismounted and examined the enclosure minutely,?nallyannouncingthatitbelongedtothegreen men of Warhoon and that the cement was scarcely dry where it had been walled up. “They cannot be a day’s march ahead of us,” he exclaimed, the light of battle leaping to his ?erce face. The work at the incubator was short indeed. The warriors tore open the entrance and a couple of them, crawling in, soon demolished all the eggs with their shortswords. Thenremountingwedashedbacktojointhecavalcade. During the ride I took occasion to ask Tars Tarkas if these Warhoons whose eggs we had destroyed were a smaller people than his Tharks. “I noticed that their eggs were so much smaller than those I saw hatching in your incubator,” I added.
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He explained that the eggs had just been placed there; but, like all green Martian eggs, they would grow during the ?ve-year period of incubation until they obtained the size of those I had seen hatching on the day of my arrival on Barsoom. This was indeed an interesting piece of information, for it had always seemed remarkable to me that the green Martian women, large as they were, could bring forth such enormous eggs as I had seen the four-foot infants emerging from. As a matter of fact, the new-laid egg is but little larger than an ordinary goose egg,andasitdoesnotcommencetogrowuntilsubjected tothelightofthesunthechieftainshavelittledif?cultyin transporting several hundreds of them at one time from the storage vaults to the incubators. Shortly after the incident of the Warhoon eggs we halted to rest the animals, and it was during this halt thatthesecondoftheday’sinterestingepisodesoccurred. I was engaged in changing my riding cloths from one of my thoats to the other, for I divided the day’s work between them, when Zad approached me, and without a word struck my animal a terri?c blow with his longsword. I did not need a manual of green Martian etiquette to know what reply to make, for, in fact, I was so wild with
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angerthatIcouldscarcelyrefrainfromdrawingmypistol andshootinghimdownforthebrutehewas;buthestood waitingwithdrawnlong-sword,andmyonlychoicewas todrawmyownandmeethiminfair?ghtwithhischoice of weapons or a lesser one. Thislatteralternativeisalwayspermissible,thereforeI couldhaveusedmyshort-sword,mydagger,myhatchet, or my ?sts had I wished, and been entirely within my rights, but I could not use ?rearms or a spear while he held only his long-sword. IchosethesameweaponhehaddrawnbecauseIknew he prided himself upon his ability with it, and I wished, if I worsted him at all, to do it with his own weapon. The ?ght that followed was a long one and delayed the resumptionofthemarchforanhour. Theentirecommunity surrounded us, leaving a clear space about one hundred feet in diameter for our battle. Zad ?rst attempted to rush me down as a bull might a wolf, but I was much too quick for him, and each time I side-stepped his rushes he would go lunging past me, only to receive a nick from my sword upon his arm or back. He was soon streaming blood from a half dozen minor wounds, but I could not obtain an opening to de
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liver an effective thrust. Then he changed his tactics, and ?ghting warily and with extreme dexterity, he tried to do by science what he was unable to do by brute strength. I must admit that he was a magni?cent swordsman, and haditnotbeenformygreaterenduranceandtheremarkable agility the lesser gravitation of Mars lent me I might not have been able to put up the creditable ?ght I did against him. We circled for some time without doing much damage oneitherside;thelong,straight,needle-likeswords?ashing in the sunlight, and ringing out upon the stillness as they crashed together with each effective parry. Finally Zad, realizing that he was tiring more than I, evidently decided to close in and end the battle in a ?nal blaze of glory for himself; just as he rushed me a blinding ?ash of light struck full in my eyes, so that I could not see his approach and could only leap blindly to one side in an effort to escape the mighty blade that it seemed I could already feel in my vitals. I was only partially successful, as a sharp pain in my left shoulder attested, but in the sweepofmyglanceasIsoughttoagainlocatemyadversary, a sight met my astonished gaze which paid me well for the wound the temporary blindness had caused me. There, upon Dejah Thoris’ chariot stood three ?gures, for
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the purpose evidently of witnessing the encounter above the heads of the intervening Tharks. There were Dejah Thoris,Sola,andSarkoja,andasmy?eetingglanceswept overthemalittletableauwaspresentedwhichwillstand graven in my memory to the day of my death. As I looked, Dejah Thoris turned upon Sarkoja with the fury of a young tigress and struck something from her upraised hand; something which ?ashed in the sunlight as it spun to the ground. Then I knew what had blinded me at that crucial moment of the ?ght, and how Sarkoja had found a way to kill me without herself delivering the ?nal thrust. Another thing I saw, too, which almost lost my life for me then and there, for it took my mind for the fraction of an instant entirely from my antagonist; for, as Dejah Thoris struck the tiny mirror from her hand, Sarkoja, her face livid with hatred and baf?ed rage, whipped out her dagger and aimed a terri?c blow atDejahThoris;andthenSola,ourdearandfaithfulSola, sprang between them; the last I saw was the great knife descending upon her shielding breast. Myenemyhadrecoveredfromhisthrustandwasmaking it extremely interesting for me, so I reluctantly gave my attention to the work in hand, but my mind was not upon the battle.
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Werushedeachotherfuriouslytimeaftertime,‘tilsuddenly, feeling the sharp point of his sword at my breast in a thrust I could neither parry nor escape, I threw myself upon him with outstretched sword and with all the weightofmybody,determinedthatIwouldnotdiealone if I could prevent it. I felt the steel tear into my chest, all wentblackbeforeme, myheadwhirledindizziness,and I felt my knees giving beneath me.
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SOLA TELLS ME HER STORY WHEN consciousnessreturned,and,asIsoonlearned, I was down but a moment, I sprang quickly to my feet searching for my sword, and there I found it, buried to the hilt in the green breast of Zad, who lay stone dead upon the ochre moss of the ancient sea bottom. As I regained my full senses I found his weapon piercing my left breast, but only through the ?esh and muscles which cover my ribs, entering near the center of my chest and coming out below the shoulder. As I had lunged I had turnedsothathisswordmerelypassedbeneaththemuscles, in?icting a painful but not dangerous wound.
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Removing the blade from my body I also regained my own, and turning my back upon his ugly carcass, I moved, sick, sore, and disgusted, toward the chariots whichboremyretinueandmybelongings. Amurmurof Martian applause greeted me, but I cared not for it. Bleeding and weak I reached my women, who, accustomed to such happenings, dressed my wounds, applying the wonderful healing and remedial agents which make only the most instantaneous of death blows fatal. Give a Martian woman a chance and death must take a back seat. They soon had me patched up so that, except for weakness from loss of blood and a little soreness around the wound, I suffered no great distress from this thrust which, under earthly treatment, undoubtedly would have put me ?at on my back for days. As soon as they were through with me I hastened to the chariot of Dejah Thoris, where I found my poor Sola with her chest swathed in bandages, but apparently little theworseforherencounterwithSarkoja,whosedaggerit seemed had struck the edge of one of Sola’s metal breast ornaments and, thus de?ected, had in?icted but a slight ?esh wound. As I approached I found Dejah Thoris lying prone
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uponhersilksandfurs,herlitheformwrackedwithsobs. She did not notice my presence, nor did she hear me speaking with Sola, who was standing a short distance from the vehicle. “Issheinjured?” IaskedofSola,indicatingDejahThoris by an inclination of my head. “No,” she answered, “she thinks that you are dead.” “Andthathergrandmother’scatmaynowhavenoone to polish its teeth?” I queried, smiling. “I think you wrong her, John Carter,” said Sola. “I do not understand either her ways or yours, but I am sure the granddaughter of ten thousand jeddaks would never grieve like this over any who held but the highest claim upon her affections. They are a proud race, but they are just, as are all Barsoomians, and you must have hurt or wronged her grievously that she will not admit your existence living, though she mourns you dead. “Tears are a strange sight upon Barsoom,” she continued, “and so it is dif?cult for me to interpret them. I have seen but two people weep in all my life, other than Dejah Thoris; one wept from sorrow, the other from baf?ed rage. The ?rst was my mother, years ago before they
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killed her; the other was Sarkoja, when they dragged her from me today.” “Your mother!” I exclaimed, “but, Sola, you could not have known your mother, child.” “But I did. And my father also,” she added. “If you would like to hear the strange and un-Barsoomian story cometothechariottonight,JohnCarter,andIwilltellyou that of which I have never spoken in all my life before. And now the signal has been given to resume the march, you must go.” “I will come tonight, Sola,” I promised. “Be sure to tell Dejah Thoris I am alive and well. I shall not force myself upon her, and be sure that you do not let her know I saw her tears. If she would speak with me I but await her command.” Sola mounted the chariot, which was swinging into its place in line, and I hastened to my waiting thoat and galloped to my station beside Tars Tarkas at the rear of the column. We made a most imposing and awe-inspiring spectacle as we strung out across the yellow landscape; the two hundred and ?fty ornate and brightly colored chariots, preceded by an advance guard of some two hundred
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mounted warriors and chieftains riding ?ve abreast and one hundred yards apart, and followed by a like number inthesameformation,withascoreormoreof?ankerson either side; the ?fty extra mastodons, or heavy draught animals, known as zitidars, and the ?ve or six hundred extra thoats of the warriors running loose within the hollow square formed by the surrounding warriors. The gleaming metal and jewels of the gorgeous ornaments of the men and women, duplicated in the trappings of the zitidars and thoats, and interspersed with the ?ashing colors of magni?cent silks and furs and feathers, lent a barbaric splendor to the caravan which would have turned an East Indian potentate green with envy. The enormous broad tires of the chariots and the padded feet of the animals brought forth no sound from the moss-covered sea bottom; and so we moved in utter silence,likesomehugephantasmagoria,exceptwhenthe stillnesswasbrokenbythegutturalgrowlingofagoaded zitidar, or the squealing of ?ghting thoats. The green Martians converse but little, and then usually in monosyllables,lowandlikethefaintrumblingofdistantthunder. Wetraversedatracklesswasteofmosswhich,bending tothepressureofbroadtireorpaddedfoot,roseupagain
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behindus,leavingnosignthatwehadpassed. Wemight indeed have been the wraiths of the departed dead upon thedeadseaofthatdyingplanetforallthesoundorsign wemadeinpassing. Itwasthe?rstmarchofalargebody ofmenandanimalsIhadeverwitnessedwhichraisedno dustandleftnospoor; forthereisnodustuponMarsexcept in the cultivated districts during the winter months, andeventhentheabsenceofhighwindsrendersitalmost unnoticeable. We camped that night at the foot of the hills we had been approaching for two days and which marked the southern boundary of this particular sea. Our animals had been two days without drink, nor had they had water for nearly two months, not since shortly after leaving Thark; but, as Tars Tarkas explained to me, they require but little and can live almost inde?nitely upon the moss which covers Barsoom, and which, he told me, holds in its tiny stems suf?cient moisture to meet the limited demands of the animals. Afterpartakingofmyeveningmealofcheese-likefood and vegetable milk I sought out Sola, whom I found workingbythelightofatorchuponsomeofTarsTarkas’ trappings. She looked up at my approach, her face lighting with pleasure and with welcome.
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“I am glad you came,” she said; “Dejah Thoris sleeps and I am lonely. Mine own people do not care for me, John Carter; I am too unlike them. It is a sad fate, since I must live my life amongst them, and I often wish that I were a true green Martian woman, without love and without hope; but I have known love and so I am lost. “I promised to tell you my story, or rather the story of my parents. From what I have learned of you and the ways of your people I am sure that the tale will not seem strangetoyou,butamonggreenMartiansithasnoparallel within the memory of the oldest living Thark, nor do our legends hold many similar tales. “My mother was rather small, in fact too small to be allowed the responsibilities of maternity, as our chieftains breed principally for size. She was also less cold and cruel than most green Martian women, and caring little for their society, she often roamed the deserted avenues of Thark alone, or went and sat among the wild ?owers that deck the nearby hills, thinking thoughts and wishing wishes which I believe I alone among Tharkian women today may understand, for am I not the child of my mother? “And there among the hills she met a young war
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rior, whose duty it was to guard the feeding zitidars and thoats and see that they roamed not beyond the hills. They spoke at ?rst only of such things as interest a community of Tharks, but gradually, as they came to meet more often, and, as was now quite evident to both, no longer by chance, they talked about themselves, their likes, their ambitions and their hopes. She trusted him andtoldhimoftheawfulrepugnanceshefeltforthecruelties of their kind, for the hideous, loveless lives they must ever lead, and then she waited for the storm of denunciation to break from his cold, hard lips; but instead he took her in his arms and kissed her. “They kept their love a secret for six long years. She, my mother, was of the retinue of the great Tal Hajus, while her lover was a simple warrior, wearing only his own metal. Had their defection from the traditions of the Tharks been discovered both would have paid the penalty in the great arena before Tal Hajus and the assembled hordes. “The egg from which I came was hidden beneath a great glass vessel upon the highest and most inaccessible of the partially ruined towers of ancient Thark. Once eachyearmymothervisiteditforthe?velongyearsitlay thereintheprocessofincubation. Shedarednotcomeof
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tener, for in the mighty guilt of her conscience she feared that her every move was watched. During this period my father gained great distinction as a warrior and had taken the metal from several chieftains. His love for my mother had never diminished, and his own ambition in life was to reach a point where he might wrest the metal from Tal Hajus himself, and thus, as ruler of the Tharks, be free to claim her as his own, as well as, by the might of his power, protect the child which otherwise would be quickly dispatched should the truth become known. “It was a wild dream, that of wresting the metal from Tal Hajus in ?ve short years, but his advance was rapid, and he soon stood high in the councils of Thark. But one daythechancewaslostforever,insofarasitcouldcome in time to save his loved ones, for he was ordered away uponalongexpeditiontotheice-cladsouth,tomakewar upon the natives there and despoil them of their furs, for such is the manner of the green Barsoomian; he does not labor for what he can wrest in battle from others. “He was gone for four years, and when he returned all had been over for three; for about a year after his departure, and shortly before the time for the return of an expedition which had gone forth to fetch the fruits of a community incubator, the egg had hatched. Thereafter
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my mother continued to keep me in the old tower, visiting me nightly and lavishing upon me the love the community life would have robbed us both of. She hoped, upon the return of the expedition from the incubator, to mix me with the other young assigned to the quarters of Tal Hajus, and thus escape the fate which would surely follow discovery of her sin against the ancient traditions of the green men. “She taught me rapidly the language and customs of my kind, and one night she told me the story I have told toyouuptothispoint,impressinguponmethenecessity for absolute secrecy and the great caution I must exerciseaftershehadplacedmewiththeotheryoungTharks to permit no one to guess that I was further advanced in education than they, nor by any sign to divulge in the presenceofothersmyaffectionforher,ormyknowledge of my parentage; and then drawing me close to her she whispered in my ear the name of my father. “And then a light ?ashed out upon the darkness of the tower chamber, and there stood Sarkoja, her gleaming, baleful eyes ?xed in a frenzy of loathing and contempt upon my mother. The torrent of hatred and abuse she poured out upon her turned my young heart cold in terror. That she had heard the entire story was appar
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ent, and that she had suspected something wrong from my mother’s long nightly absences from her quarters accounted for her presence there on that fateful night. “One thing she had not heard, nor did she know, the whispered name of my father. This was apparent from her repeated demands upon my mother to disclose the name of her partner in sin, but no amount of abuse or threats could wring this from her, and to save me from needless torture she lied, for she told Sarkoja that she alone knew nor would she ever tell her child. “With?nalimprecations,SarkojahastenedawaytoTal Hajustoreportherdiscovery,andwhileshewasgonemy mother, wrapping me in the silks and furs of her night coverings, so that I was scarcely noticeable, descended to the streets and ran wildly away toward the outskirts of the city, in the direction which led to the far south, out toward the man whose protection she might not claim, but on whose face she wished to look once more before she died. “As we neared the city’s southern extremity a sound came to us from across the mossy ?at, from the direction of the only pass through the hills which led to the gates, the pass by which caravans from either north or south or
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east or west would enter the city. The sounds we heard were the squealing of thoats and the grumbling of zitidars,withtheoccasionalclankofarmswhichannounced the approach of a body of warriors. The thought uppermost in her mind was that it was my father returned from his expedition, but the cunning of the Thark held her from headlong and precipitate ?ight to greet him. “Retreatingintotheshadowsofadoorwaysheawaited the coming of the cavalcade which shortly entered the avenue, breaking its formation and thronging the thoroughfarefromwalltowall. Astheheadoftheprocession passed us the lesser moon swung clear of the overhangingroofsandlitupthescenewithallthebrilliancyofher wondrous light. My mother shrank further back into the friendlyshadows,andfromherhidingplacesawthatthe expedition was not that of my father, but the returning caravanbearingtheyoungTharks. Instantlyherplanwas formed, and as a great chariot swung close to our hiding placesheslippedstealthilyinuponthetrailingtailboard, crouching low in the shadow of the high side, straining me to her bosom in a frenzy of love. “She knew, what I did not, that never again after that night would she hold me to her breast, nor was it likely we would ever look upon each other’s face again. In
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the confusion of the plaza she mixed me with the other children, whose guardians during the journey were now free to relinquish their responsibility. We were herded together into a great room, fed by women who had not accompanied the expedition, and the next day we were parceled out among the retinues of the chieftains. “I never saw my mother after that night. She was imprisoned by Tal Hajus, and every effort, including the most horrible and shameful torture, was brought to bear upon her to wring from her lips the name of my father; butsheremainedsteadfastandloyal,dyingatlastamidst the laughter of Tal Hajus and his chieftains during some awful torture she was undergoing. “I learned afterwards that she told them that she had killed me to save me from a like fate at their hands, and that she had thrown my body to the white apes. Sarkoja alone disbelieved her, and I feel to this day that she suspects my true origin, but does not dare expose me, at the present,atallevents,becauseshealsoguesses,Iamsure, the identity of my father. “When he returned from his expedition and learned the story of my mother’s fate I was present as Tal Hajus told him; but never by the quiver of a muscle did
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he betray the slightest emotion; only he did not laugh as Tal Hajus gleefully described her death struggles. From that moment on he was the cruelest of the cruel, and I am awaiting the day when he shall win the goal of his ambition, and feel the carcass of Tal Hajus beneath his foot, for I am as sure that he but waits the opportunity to wreak a terrible vengeance, and that his great love is as strong in his breast as when it ?rst trans?gured him nearly forty years ago, as I am that we sit here upon the edge of a world-old ocean while sensible people sleep, John Carter.” “And your father, Sola, is he with us now?” I asked. “Yes,” she replied, “but he does not know me for what I am, nor does he know who betrayed my mother to Tal Hajus. Ialoneknowmyfather’sname,andonlyIandTal Hajus and Sarkoja know that it was she who carried the tale that brought death and torture upon her he loved.” We sat silent for a few moments, she wrapped in the gloomy thoughts of her terrible past, and I in pity for the poor creatures whom the heartless, senseless customs of their race had doomed to loveless lives of cruelty and of hate. Presently she spoke. “John Carter, if ever a real man walked the cold, dead
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bosom of Barsoom you are one. I know that I can trust you, and because the knowledge may someday help you or him or Dejah Thoris or myself, I am going to tell you thenameofmyfather,norplaceanyrestrictionsorconditionsuponyourtongue. Whenthetimecomes,speakthe truth if it seems best to you. I trust you because I know that you are not cursed with the terrible trait of absolute and unswerving truthfulness, that you could lie like one of your own Virginia gentlemen if a lie would save others from sorrow or suffering. My father’s name is Tars Tarkas.”
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WE PLAN ESCAPE THE remainder of our journey to Thark was uneventful. We were twenty days upon the road, crossing two sea bottoms and passing through or around a number of ruined cities, mostly smaller than Korad. Twice we crossed the famous Martian waterways, or canals, socalled by our earthly astronomers. When we approached these points a warrior would be sent far ahead with a powerful ?eld glass, and if no great body of red Martian troops was in sight we would advance as close as possiblewithoutchanceofbeingseenandthencampuntil dark, when we would slowly approach the cultivated
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tract,and,locatingoneofthenumerous,broadhighways whichcrosstheseareasatregularintervals,creepsilently andstealthilyacrosstothearidlandsupontheotherside. Itrequired?vehourstomakeoneofthesecrossingswithoutasinglehalt,andtheotherconsumedtheentirenight, so that we were just leaving the con?nes of the highwalled ?elds when the sun broke out upon us. Crossing in the darkness, as we did, I was unable to see but little, except as the nearer moon, in her wild and ceaselesshurtlingthroughtheBarsoomianheavens,litup little patches of the landscape from time to time, disclosingwalled?eldsandlow,ramblingbuildings,presenting much the appearance of earthly farms. There were many trees, methodically arranged, and some of them were of enormous height; there were animals in some of the enclosures, and they announced their presence by terri?ed squealings and snortings as they scented our queer, wild beasts and wilder human beings. Only once did I perceive a human being, and that was at the intersection of our crossroad with the wide, white turnpike which cuts each cultivated district longitudinallyatitsexactcenter. Thefellowmusthavebeensleepingbesidetheroad,for,asIcameabreastofhim,heraised upononeelbowandafterasingleglanceattheapproach
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ing caravan leaped shrieking to his feet and ?ed madly down the road, scaling a nearby wall with the agility of a scared cat. The Tharks paid him not the slightest attention; they were not out upon the warpath, and the only sign that I had that they had seen him was a quickening ofthepaceofthecaravanaswehastenedtowardthebordering desert which marked our entrance into the realm of Tal Hajus. Not once did I have speech with Dejah Thoris, as she sent no word to me that I would be welcome at her chariot, and my foolish pride kept me from making any advances. I verily believe that a man’s way with women is ininverseratiotohisprowessamongmen. Theweakling andthesapheadhaveoftengreatabilitytocharmthefair sex, while the ?ghting man who can face a thousand real dangers unafraid, sits hiding in the shadows like some frightened child. Just thirty days after my advent upon Barsoom we entered the ancient city of Thark, from whose longforgotten people this horde of green men have stolen even their name. The hordes of Thark number some thirty thousand souls, and are divided into twenty-?ve communities. Eachcommunityhasitsownjedandlesser chieftains, but all are under the rule of Tal Hajus, Jeddak
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of Thark. Five communities make their headquarters at the city of Thark, and the balance are scattered among other deserted cities of ancient Mars throughout the district claimed by Tal Hajus. We made our entry into the great central plaza early in the afternoon. There were no enthusiastic friendly greetings for the returned expedition. Those who chanced to be in sight spoke the names of warriors or women with whom they came in direct contact, in the formal greeting of their kind, but when it was discovered that they brought two captives a greater interest was aroused, and Dejah Thoris and I were the centers of inquiring groups. We were soon assigned to new quarters, and the balance of the day was devoted to settling ourselves to the changed conditions. My home now was upon an avenue leading into the plaza from the south, the main artery down which we had marched from the gates of the city. I wasatthefarendofthesquareandhadanentirebuilding to myself. The same grandeur of architecture which was so noticeable a characteristic of Korad was in evidence here, only, if that were possible, on a larger and richer scale. My quarters would have been suitable for housing the greatest of earthly emperors, but to these queer creatures nothing about a building appealed to them but
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its size and the enormity of its chambers; the larger the building, the more desirable; and so Tal Hajus occupied what must have been an enormous public building, the largest in the city, but entirely un?tted for residence purposes; the next largest was reserved for Lorquas Ptomel, the next for the jed of a lesser rank, and so on to the bottom of the list of ?ve jeds. The warriors occupied the buildings with the chieftains to whose retinues they belonged;or,iftheypreferred,soughtshelteramonganyof thethousandsofuntenantedbuildingsintheirownquarteroftown;eachcommunitybeingassignedacertainsection of the city. The selection of building had to be made in accordance with these divisions, except in so far as the jeds were concerned, they all occupying edi?ces which fronted upon the plaza. When I had ?nally put my house in order, or rather seen that it had been done, it was nearing sunset, and I hastened out with the intention of locating Sola and her charges, as I had determined upon having speech with Dejah Thoris and trying to impress on her the necessity of our at least patching up a truce until I could ?nd some way of aiding her to escape. I searched in vain until the upper rim of the great red sun was just disappearing behindthehorizonandthenIspiedtheuglyheadofWoola
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peeringfromasecond-storywindowontheoppositeside of the very street where I was quartered, but nearer the plaza. WithoutwaitingforafurtherinvitationIboltedupthe winding runway which led to the second ?oor, and entering a great chamber at the front of the building was greeted by the frenzied Woola, who threw his great carcassuponme,nearlyhurlingmetothe?oor;thepoorold fellow was so glad to see me that I thought he would devour me, his head split from ear to ear, showing his three rows of tusks in his hobgoblin smile. Quieting him with a word of command and a caress, I looked hurriedly through the approaching gloom for a signofDejahThoris,andthen,notseeingher,Icalledher name. Therewasanansweringmurmurfromthefarcorner of the apartment, and with a couple of quick strides I was standing beside her where she crouched among the furs and silks upon an ancient carved wooden seat. As I waitedsherosetoherfullheightandlookingmestraight in the eye said: “What would Dotar Sojat, Thark, of Dejah Thoris his captive?” “Dejah Thoris, I do not know how I have angered you.
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It was furtherest from my desire to hurt or offend you, whom I had hoped to protect and comfort. Have none of me if it is your will, but that you must aid me in effecting your escape, if such a thing be possible, is not my request,butmycommand. Whenyouaresafeoncemore atyourfather’scourtyoumaydowithmeasyouplease, butfromnowonuntilthatdayIamyourmaster,andyou must obey and aid me.” ShelookedatmelongandearnestlyandIthoughtthat she was softening toward me. “I understand your words, Dotar Sojat,” she replied, “but you I do not understand. You are a queer mixture of child and man, of brute and noble. I only wish that I might read your heart.” “Look down at your feet, Dejah Thoris; it lies there nowwhereithaslainsincethatothernightatKorad,and where it will ever lie beating alone for you until death stills it forever.” She took a little step toward me, her beautiful hands outstretched in a strange, groping gesture. “What do you mean, John Carter?” she whispered. “What are you saying to me?”
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“I am saying what I had promised myself that I would notsaytoyou,atleastuntilyouwerenolongeracaptive among the green men; what from your attitude toward me for the past twenty days I had thought never to say to you; I am saying, Dejah Thoris, that I am yours, body andsoul,toserveyou,to?ghtforyou,andtodieforyou. OnlyonethingIaskofyouinreturn,andthatisthatyou make no sign, either of condemnation or of approbation of my words until you are safe among your own people, andthatwhateversentimentsyouharbortowardmethey benotin?uencedorcoloredbygratitude;whateverImay do to serve you will be prompted solely from sel?sh motives, since it gives me more pleasure to serve you than not.” “I will respect your wishes, John Carter, because I understand the motives which prompt them, and I accept yourservicenomorewillinglythanIbowtoyourauthority;yourwordshallbemylaw. Ihavetwicewrongedyou in my thoughts and again I ask your forgiveness.” Further conversation of a personal nature was prevented by the entrance of Sola, who was much agitated and wholly unlike her usual calm and possessed self. “That horrible Sarkoja has been before Tal Hajus,” she
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cried,“andfromwhatIheardupontheplazathereislittle hope for either of you.” “What do they say?” inquired Dejah Thoris. “That you will be thrown to the wild calots [dogs] in the great arena as soon as the hordes have assembled for the yearly games.” “Sola,”Isaid,“youareaThark,butyouhateandloathe the customs of your people as much as we do. Will you not accompany us in one supreme effort to escape? I am sure that Dejah Thoris can offer you a home and protection among her people, and your fate can be no worse among them than it must ever be here.” “Yes,”criedDejahThoris,“comewithus,Sola,youwill be better off among the red men of Helium than you are here,andIcanpromiseyounotonlyahomewithus,but theloveandaffectionyournaturecravesandwhichmust always be denied you by the customs of your own race. Come with us, Sola; we might go without you, but your fate would be terrible if they thought you had connived to aid us. I know that even that fear would not tempt you to interfere in our escape, but we want you with us, we want you to come to a land of sunshine and happiness, amongst a people who know the meaning of love,
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ofsympathy,andofgratitude. Saythatyouwill,Sola;tell me that you will.” “ThegreatwaterwaywhichleadstoHeliumisbut?fty miles to the south,” murmured Sola, half to herself; “a swift thoat might make it in three hours; and then to Helium it is ?ve hundred miles, most of the way through thinlysettleddistricts. Theywouldknowandtheywould followus. Wemighthideamongthegreattreesforatime, but the chances are small indeed for escape. They would follow us to the very gates of Helium, and they would take toll of life at every step; you do not know them.” “Is there no other way we might reach Helium?” I asked. “Canyounotdrawmearoughmapofthecountry we must traverse, Dejah Thoris?” “Yes,” she replied, and taking a great diamond from her hair she drew upon the marble ?oor the ?rst map of Barsoomian territory I had ever seen. It was crisscrossed in every direction with long straight lines, sometimesrunningparallelandsometimesconvergingtoward some great circle. The lines, she said, were waterways; the circles, cities; and one far to the northwest of us she pointedoutasHelium. Therewereothercitiescloser,but she said she feared to enter many of them, as they were
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not all friendly toward Helium. [Illustration: She drew upon the marble ?oor the ?rst map of the Barsoomian territory I had ever seen.] Finally, after studying the map carefully in the moonlightwhichnow?oodedtheroom,Ipointedoutawaterway far to the north of us which also seemed to lead to Helium. “Does not this pierce your grandfather’s territory?” I asked. “Yes,” she answered, “but it is two hundred miles north of us; it is one of the waterways we crossed on the trip to Thark.” “They would never suspect that we would try for that distant waterway,” I answered, “and that is why I think that it is the best route for our escape.” Sola agreed with me, and it was decided that we should leave Thark this same night; just as quickly, in fact, as I could ?nd and saddle my thoats. Sola was to ride one and Dejah Thoris and I the other; each of us carrying suf?cient food and drink to last us for two days, since the animals could not be urged too rapidly for so long a distance.
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I directed Sola to proceed with Dejah Thoris along one of the less frequented avenues to the southern boundary of the city, where I would overtake them with the thoats as quickly as possible; then, leaving them to gather what food, silks, and furs we were to need, I slipped quietly to the rear of the ?rst ?oor, and entered the courtyard, where our animals were moving restlessly about, as was their habit, before settling down for the night. In the shadows of the buildings and out beneath the radiance of the Martian moons moved the great herd of thoatsandzitidars,thelattergruntingtheirlowgutturals and the former occasionally emitting the sharp squeal which denotes the almost habitual state of rage in which these creatures passed their existence. They were quieter now, owing to the absence of man, but as they scented metheybecamemorerestlessandtheirhideousnoiseincreased. It was risky business, this entering a paddock of thoats alone and at night; ?rst, because their increasing noisinessmightwarnthenearbywarriorsthatsomething wasamiss,andalsobecausefortheslightestcause,orfor no cause at all some great bull thoat might take it upon himself to lead a charge upon me. Having no desire to awaken their nasty tempers upon such a night as this, where so much depended upon se
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crecy and dispatch, I hugged the shadows of the buildings, ready at an instant’s warning to leap into the safety ofanearbydoororwindow. ThusImovedsilentlytothe great gates which opened upon the street at the back of thecourt,andasInearedtheexitIcalledsoftlytomytwo animals. How I thanked the kind providence which had given me the foresight to win the love and con?dence of thesewilddumbbrutes,forpresentlyfromthefarsideof the court I saw two huge bulks forcing their way toward me through the surging mountains of ?esh. They came quite close to me, rubbing their muzzles against my body and nosing for the bits of food it was always my practice to reward them with. Opening the gates I ordered the two great beasts to pass out, and then slippingquietlyafterthemIclosedtheportalsbehindme. Ididnotsaddleormounttheanimalsthere,butinstead walked quietly in the shadows of the buildings toward an unfrequented avenue which led toward the point I had arranged to meet Dejah Thoris and Sola. With the noiselessnessofdisembodiedspiritswemovedstealthily along the deserted streets, but not until we were within sight of the plain beyond the city did I commence to breathe freely. I was sure that Sola and Dejah Thoris would ?nd no dif?culty in reaching our rendezvous un
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detected, but with my great thoats I was not so sure for myself, as it was quite unusual for warriors to leave the city after dark; in fact there was no place for them to go within any but a long ride. Ireachedtheappointedmeetingplacesafely,butasDejah Thoris and Sola were not there I led my animals into theentrancehallofoneofthelargebuildings. Presuming that one of the other women of the same household may havecomeintospeaktoSola,andsodelayedtheirdeparture, I did not feel any undue apprehension until nearly an hour had passed without a sign of them, and by the time another half hour had crawled away I was becoming ?lled with grave anxiety. Then there broke upon the stillness of the night the sound of an approaching party, which,fromthenoise,Iknewcouldbenofugitivescreeping stealthily toward liberty. Soon the party was near me, and from the black shadows of my entranceway I perceived a score of mounted warriors, who, in passing, dropped a dozen words that fetched my heart clean into the top of my head. “He would likely have arranged to meet them just without the city, and so–” I heard no more, they had passed on; but it was enough. Our plan had been discovered, and the chances for escape from now on to the
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fearful end would be small indeed. My one hope now was to return undetected to the quarters of Dejah Thoris and learn what fate had overtaken her, but how to do it with these great monstrous thoats upon my hands, now that the city probably was aroused by the knowledge of my escape was a problem of no mean proportions. Suddenly an idea occurred to me, and acting on my knowledge of the construction of the buildings of these ancientMartiancitieswithahollowcourtwithinthecenter of each square, I groped my way blindly through the dark chambers, calling the great thoats after me. They had dif?culty in negotiating some of the doorways, but as the buildings fronting the city’s principal exposures were all designed upon a magni?cent scale, they were able to wriggle through without sticking fast; and thus we ?nally made the inner court where I found, as I had expected, the usual carpet of moss-like vegetation which would prove their food and drink until I could return themtotheirownenclosure. Thattheywouldbeasquiet andcontentedhereaselsewhereIwascon?dent,norwas there but the remotest possibility that they would be discovered, as the green men had no great desire to enter these outlying buildings, which were frequented by the only thing, I believe, which caused them the sensation of
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fear–the great white apes of Barsoom. Removing the saddle trappings, I hid them just within the rear doorway of the building through which we had entered the court, and, turning the beasts loose, quickly mademywayacrossthecourttotherearofthebuildings upon the further side, and thence to the avenue beyond. Waiting in the doorway of the building until I was assured that no one was approaching, I hurried across to the opposite side and through the ?rst doorway to the court beyond; thus, crossing through court after court with only the slight chance of detection which the necessary crossing of the avenues entailed, I made my way in safety to the courtyard in the rear of Dejah Thoris’ quarters. Here, of course, I found the beasts of the warriors whoquarteredintheadjacentbuildings,andthewarriors themselvesImightexpecttomeetwithinifIentered;but, fortunately for me, I had another and safer method of reaching the upper story where Dejah Thoris should be found, and, after ?rst determining as nearly as possible which of the buildings she occupied, for I had never observed them before from the court side, I took advantage ofmyrelativelygreatstrengthandagilityandsprangupward until I grasped the sill of a second-story window
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whichIthoughttobeintherearofherapartment. Drawing myself inside the room I moved stealthily toward the frontofthebuilding,andnotuntilIhadquitereachedthe doorway of her room was I made aware by voices that it was occupied. I did not rush headlong in, but listened without to assuremyselfthatitwasDejahThorisandthatitwassafeto venturewithin. ItwaswellindeedthatItookthisprecaution,fortheconversationIheardwasinthelowgutturals of men, and the words which ?nally came to me proved a most timely warning. The speaker was a chieftain and he was giving orders to four of his warriors. “Andwhenhereturnstothischamber,”hewassaying, “as he surely will when he ?nds she does not meet him at the city’s edge, you four are to spring upon him and disarm him. It will require the combined strength of all of you to do it if the reports they bring back from Korad are correct. When you have him fast bound bear him to the vaults beneath the jeddak’s quarters and chain him securely where he may be found when Tal Hajus wishes him. Allowhimtospeakwithnone,norpermitanyother to enter this apartment before he comes. There will be no danger of the girl returning, for by this time she is safe in thearmsofTalHajus,andmayallherancestorshavepity
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upon her, for Tal Hajus will have none; the great Sarkoja has done a noble night’s work. I go, and if you fail to capture him when he comes, I commend your carcasses to the cold bosom of Iss.”
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A COSTLY RECAPTURE AS thespeakerceasedheturnedtoleavetheapartment by the door where I was standing, but I needed to wait no longer; I had heard enough to ?ll my soul with dread, and stealing quietly away I returned to the courtyard by the way I had come. My plan of action was formedupontheinstant,andcrossingthesquareandthe bordering avenue upon the opposite side I soon stood within the courtyard of Tal Hajus. The brilliantly lighted apartments of the ?rst ?oor told me where ?rst to seek, and advancing to the windows I
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peered within. I soon discovered that my approach was not to be the easy thing I had hoped, for the rear rooms borderingthecourtwere?lledwithwarriorsandwomen. I then glanced up at the stories above, discovering that the third was apparently unlighted, and so decided to make my entrance to the building from that point. It was the work of but a moment for me to reach the windows above,andsoonIhaddrawnmyselfwithinthesheltering shadows of the unlighted third ?oor. Fortunately the room I had selected was untenanted, and creeping noiselessly to the corridor beyond I discovered a light in the apartments ahead of me. Reaching what appeared to be a doorway I discovered that it was but an opening upon an immense inner chamber which towered from the ?rst ?oor, two stories below me, to the dome-like roof of the building, high above my head. The ?oor of this great circular hall was thronged with chieftains, warriors and women, and at one end was a great raised platform upon which squatted the most hideous beast I had ever put my eyes upon. He had all the cold, hard,cruel,terriblefeaturesofthegreenwarriors,butaccentuated and debased by the animal passions to which he had given himself over for many years. There was not a mark of dignity or pride upon his bestial counte
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nance, while his enormous bulk spread itself out upon theplatformwherehesquattedlikesomehugedevil?sh, his six limbs accentuating the similarity in a horrible and startling manner. Butthesightthatfrozemewithapprehensionwasthat of Dejah Thoris and Sola standing there before him, and the ?endish leer of him as he let his great protruding eyes gloat upon the lines of her beautiful ?gure. She was speaking, but I could not hear what she said, nor could I make out the low grumbling of his reply. She stood there erect before him, her head high held, and even at the distance I was from them I could read the scorn and disgust upon her face as she let her haughty glance rest withoutsignoffearuponhim. Shewasindeedtheproud daughter of a thousand jeddaks, every inch of her dear, precious little body; so small, so frail beside the towering warriors around her, but in her majesty dwar?ng them into insigni?cance; she was the mightiest ?gure among them and I verily believe that they felt it. Presently Tal Hajus made a sign that the chamber be cleared, and that the prisoners be left alone before him. Slowlythechieftains,thewarriorsandthewomenmelted awayintotheshadowsofthesurroundingchambers,and DejahThorisandSolastoodalonebeforethejeddakofthe
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Tharks. One chieftain alone had hesitated before departing; I sawhimstandingintheshadowsofamightycolumn,his ?ngers nervously toying with the hilt of his great-sword andhiscrueleyesbentinimplacablehatreduponTalHajus. It was Tars Tarkas, and I could read his thoughts as they were an open book for the undisguised loathing uponhisface. Hewasthinkingofthatotherwomanwho, forty years ago, had stood before this beast, and could I havespokenawordintohisearatthatmomentthereign of Tal Hajus would have been over; but ?nally he also strode from the room, not knowing that he left his own daughter at the mercy of the creature he most loathed. TalHajusarose,andI,halffearing,halfanticipatinghis intentions, hurried to the winding runway which led to the ?oors below. No one was near to intercept me, and I reachedthemain?oorofthechamberunobserved,taking my station in the shadow of the same column that Tars Tarkas had but just deserted. As I reached the ?oor Tal Hajus was speaking. “Princess of Helium, I might wring a mighty ransom from your people would I but return you to them unharmed, but a thousand times rather would I watch that
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beautiful face writhe in the agony of torture; it shall be long drawn out, that I promise you; ten days of pleasure werealltooshorttoshowtheloveIharborforyourrace. The terrors of your death shall haunt the slumbers of the red men through all the ages to come; they will shudder in the shadows of the night as their fathers tell them of the awful vengeance of the green men; of the power and might and hate and cruelty of Tal Hajus. But before the tortureyoushallbemineforoneshorthour,andwordof that too shall go forth to Tardos Mors, Jeddak of Helium, yourgrandfather, that hemaygrovelupon thegroundin the agony of his sorrow. Tomorrow the torture will commence; tonight thou art Tal Hajus’; come!” He sprang down from the platform and grasped her roughly by the arm, but scarcely had he touched her than I leaped between them. My short-sword, sharp and gleaming was in my right hand; I could have plunged it into his putrid heart before he realized that I was upon him; but as I raised my arm to strike I thought of Tars Tarkas, and, with all my rage, with all my hatred, I could notrobhimofthatsweetmomentforwhichhehadlived and hoped all these long, weary years, and so, instead, I swung my good right ?st full upon the point of his jaw. Without a sound he slipped to the ?oor as one dead.
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In the same deathly silence I grasped Dejah Thoris by the hand, and motioning Sola to follow we sped noiselessly from the chamber and to the ?oor above. Unseen we reached a rear window and with the straps and leatherofmytrappingsIlowered,?rstSolaandthenDejah Thoris to the ground below. Dropping lightly after them I drew them rapidly around the court in the shadowsofthebuildings,andthuswereturnedoverthesame courseIhadsorecentlyfollowedfromthedistantboundary of the city. We?nallycameuponmythoatsinthecourtyardwhere I had left them, and placing the trappings upon them we hastened through the building to the avenue beyond. Mounting, Sola upon one beast, and Dejah Thoris behind me upon the other, we rode from the city of Thark through the hills to the south. Instead of circling back around the city to the northwestandtowardthenearestwaterwaywhichlaysoshort adistancefromus,weturnedtothenortheastandstruck out upon the mossy waste across which, for two hundreddangerousandwearymiles,layanothermainartery leading to Helium. No word was spoken until we had left the city far be
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hind, but I could hear the quiet sobbing of Dejah Thoris as she clung to me with her dear head resting against my shoulder. “If we make it, my chieftain, the debt of Helium will be a mighty one; greater than she can ever pay you; and should we not make it,” she continued, “the debt is no less,thoughHeliumwillneverknow,foryouhavesaved the last of our line from worse than death.” I did not answer, but instead reached to my side and pressed the little ?ngers of her I loved where they clung tomeforsupport,andthen,inunbrokensilence,wesped over the yellow, moonlit moss; each of us occupied with his own thoughts. For my part I could not be other than joyfulhad Itried, with DejahThoris’ warmbodypressed closetomine,andwithallourunpasseddangermyheart was singing as gaily as though we were already entering the gates of Helium. Our earlier plans had been so sadly upset that we now found ourselves without food or drink, and I alone was armed. We therefore urged our beasts to a speed that must tell on them sorely before we could hope to sight the ending of the ?rst stage of our journey. Werodeallnightandallthefollowingdaywithonlya
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few short rests. On the second night both we and our animalswerecompletelyfagged,andsowelaydownupon the moss and slept for some ?ve or six hours, taking up the journey once more before daylight. All the following day we rode, and when, late in the afternoon we had sighted no distant trees, the mark of the great waterways throughout all Barsoom, the terrible truth ?ashed upon us–we were lost. Evidently we had circled, but which way it was dif?cult to say, nor did it seem possible with the sun to guide us by day and the moons and stars by night. At any rate no waterway was in sight, and the entire party was almost ready to drop from hunger, thirst and fatigue. Far ahead of us and a tri?e to the right we could distinguish the outlines of low mountains. These we decided to attempttoreachinthehopethatfromsomeridgewemight discern the missing waterway. Night fell upon us before wereachedourgoal,and,almostfaintingfromweariness and weakness, we lay down and slept. I was awakened early in the morning by some huge body pressing close to mine, and opening my eyes with a start I beheld my blessed old Woola snuggling close to me; the faithful brute had followed us across that tracklesswastetoshareourfate,whateveritmightbe. Putting
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my arms about his neck I pressed my cheek close to his, nor am I ashamed that I did it, nor of the tears that came to my eyes as I thought of his love for me. Shortly after thisDejahThorisandSolaawakened,anditwasdecided that we push on at once in an effort to gain the hills. We had gone scarcely a mile when I noticed that my thoat was commencing to stumble and stagger in a most pitiful manner, although we had not attempted to force themoutofawalksinceaboutnoonoftheprecedingday. Suddenly he lurched wildly to one side and pitched violently to the ground. Dejah Thoris and I were thrown clear of him and fell upon the soft moss with scarcely a jar; but the poor beast was in a pitiable condition, not even being able to rise, although relieved of our weight. Sola told me that the coolness of the night, when it fell, together with the rest would doubtless revive him, and so I decided not to kill him, as was my ?rst intention, as I had thought it cruel to leave him alone there to die of hungerandthirst. Relievinghimofhistrappings,whichI ?ungdownbesidehim,weleftthepoorfellowtohisfate, and pushed on with the one thoat as best we could. Sola and I walked, making Dejah Thoris ride, much against her will. In this way we had progressed to within about a mile of the hills we were endeavoring to reach when
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Dejah Thoris, from her point of vantage upon the thoat, criedoutthatshesawagreatpartyofmountedmen?ling downfromapassinthehillsseveralmilesaway. Solaand I both looked in the direction she indicated, and there, plainly discernible, were several hundred mounted warriors. They seemed to be headed in a southwesterly direction, which would take them away from us. They doubtless were Thark warriors who had been sent out to capture us, and we breathed a great sigh of relief that they were traveling in the opposite direction. QuicklyliftingDejahThorisfromthethoat,Icommanded the animal to lie down and we three did the same, presentingassmallanobjectaspossibleforfearofattracting the attention of the warriors toward us. Wecouldseethemasthey?ledoutofthepass,justfor aninstant,beforetheywerelosttoviewbehindafriendly ridge; to us a most providential ridge; since, had they been in view for any great length of time, they scarcely couldhavefailedtodiscoverus. Aswhatprovedtobethe last warrior came into view from the pass, he halted and, to our consternation, threw his small but powerful ?eldglass to his eye and scanned the sea bottom in all directions. Evidently he was a chieftain, for in certain marching formations among the green men a chieftain brings
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up the extreme rear of the column. As his glass swung toward us our hearts stopped in our breasts, and I could feel the cold sweat start from every pore in my body. Presently it swung full upon us and–stopped. The tension on our nerves was near the breaking point, and I doubt if any of us breathed for the few moments he held us covered by his glass; and then he lowered it and we couldseehimshoutacommandtothewarriorswhohad passed from our sight behind the ridge. He did not wait for them to join him, however, instead he wheeled his thoat and came tearing madly in our direction. Therewasbutoneslightchanceandthatwemusttake quickly. RaisingmystrangeMartianri?etomyshoulderI sightedandtouchedthebuttonwhichcontrolledthetrigger;therewasasharpexplosionasthemissilereachedits goal, and the charging chieftain pitched backward from his ?ying mount. Springing to my feet I urged the thoat to rise, and directed Sola to take Dejah Thoris with her upon him and make a mighty effort to reach the hills before the green warriors were upon us. I knew that in the ravines and gullies they might ?nd a temporary hiding place, and even though they died there of hunger and thirst it
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would be better so than that they fell into the hands of the Tharks. Forcing my two revolvers upon them as a slight means of protection, and, as a last resort, as an escape for themselves from the horrid death which recapture would surely mean, I lifted Dejah Thoris in my arms and placed her upon the thoat behind Sola, who had already mounted at my command. “Good-bye, my princess,” I whispered, “we may meet in Helium yet. I have escaped from worse plights than this,” and I tried to smile as I lied. “What,” she cried, “are you not coming with us?” “How may I, Dejah Thoris? Someone must hold these fellowsoffforawhile,andIcanbetterescapethemalone than could the three of us together.” She sprang quickly from the thoat and, throwing her dear arms about my neck, turned to Sola, saying with quietdignity: “Fly,Sola! DejahThorisremainstodiewith the man she loves.” Those words are engraved upon my heart. Ah, gladly would I give up my life a thousand times could I only hear them once again; but I could not then give even a second to the rapture of her sweet embrace, and pressing my lips to hers for the ?rst time, I picked her up bodily
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and tossed her to her seat behind Sola again, commanding the latter in peremptory tones to hold her there by force, and then, slapping the thoat upon the ?ank, I saw them borne away; Dejah Thoris struggling to the last to free herself from Sola’s grasp. Turning, I beheld the green warriors mounting the ridge and looking for their chieftain. In a moment they saw him, and then me; but scarcely had they discovered me than I commenced ?ring, lying ?at upon my belly in themoss. Ihadanevenhundredroundsinthemagazine of my ri?e, and another hundred in the belt at my back, andIkeptupacontinuousstreamof?reuntilIsawallof thewarriorswhohadbeen?rsttoreturnfrombehindthe ridge either dead or scurrying to cover. My respite was short-lived however, for soon the entire party, numbering some thousand men, came charging into view, racing madly toward me. I ?red until my ri?ewasemptyandtheywerealmostuponme,andthen a glance showing me that Dejah Thoris and Sola had disappeared among the hills, I sprang up, throwing down my useless gun, and started away in the direction opposite to that taken by Sola and her charge. If ever Martians had an exhibition of jumping, it was
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grantedthoseastonishedwarriorsonthatdaylongyears ago, but while it led them away from Dejah Thoris it did not distract their attention from endeavoring to capture me. Theyracedwildlyaftermeuntil,?nally,myfootstruck a projecting piece of quartz, and down I went sprawling upon the moss. As I looked up they were upon me, and although I drew my long-sword in an attempt to sell my life as dearly as possible, it was soon over. I reeled beneath their blows which fell upon me in perfect torrents; my head swam; all was black, and I went down beneath them to oblivion.
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CHAINED IN WARHOON IT must have been several hours before I regained consciousnessandIwellrememberthefeelingofsurprise which swept over me as I realized that I was not dead. I was lying among a pile of sleeping silks and furs in the corner of a small room in which were several green warriors, and bending over me was an ancient and ugly female. AsIopenedmyeyessheturnedtooneofthewarriors, saying,
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“He will live, O Jed.” “‘Tiswell,”repliedtheonesoaddressed,risingandapproachingmycouch,“heshouldrenderraresportforthe great games.” And now as my eyes fell upon him, I saw that he was no Thark, for his ornaments and metal were not of that horde. He was a huge fellow, terribly scarred about the face and chest, and with one broken tusk and a missing ear. Strappedoneitherbreastwerehumanskullsanddepending from these a number of dried human hands. His reference to the great games of which I had heard somuchwhileamongtheTharksconvincedmethatIhad but jumped from purgatory into gehenna. Afterafewmorewordswiththefemale,duringwhich she assured him that I was now fully ?t to travel, the jed ordered that we mount and ride after the main column. I was strapped securely to as wild and unmanageable a thoat as I had ever seen, and, with a mounted warrior on either side to prevent the beast from bolting, we rode forth at a furious pace in pursuit of the column. My wounds gave me but little pain, so wonderfully and rapidly had the applications and injections of the female
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exercised their therapeutic powers, and so deftly had she bound and plastered the injuries. Just before dark we reached the main body of troops shortly after they had made camp for the night. I was immediately taken before the leader, who proved to be the jeddak of the hordes of Warhoon. Like the jed who had brought me, he was frightfully scarred, and also decorated with the breastplate of human skulls and dried dead hands which seemed to mark all the greater warriors among the Warhoons, as well as to indicate their awful ferocity, which greatly transcends even that of the Tharks. The jeddak, Bar Comas, who was comparatively young, was the object of the ?erce and jealous hatred of his old lieutenant, Dak Kova, the jed who had captured me, and I could not but note the almost studied efforts which the latter made to affront his superior. He entirely omitted the usual formal salutation as we entered the presence of the jeddak, and as he pushed me roughlybeforetherulerheexclaimedinaloudandmenacing voice. “I have brought a strange creature wearing the metal of a Thark whom it is my pleasure to have battle with a
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wild thoat at the great games.” “He will die as Bar Comas, your jeddak, sees ?t, if at all,” replied the young ruler, with emphasis and dignity. “Ifatall?” roaredDakKova. “Bythedeadhandsatmy throatbutheshalldie,BarComas. Nomaudlinweakness onyourpartshallsavehim. O,wouldthatWarhoonwere ruled by a real jeddak rather than by a water-hearted weakling from whom even old Dak Kova could tear the metal with his bare hands!” Bar Comas eyed the de?ant and insubordinate chieftainforaninstant,hisexpressiononeofhaughty,fearless contempt and hate, and then without drawing a weapon and without uttering a word he hurled himself at the throat of his defamer. I never before had seen two green Martian warriors battle with nature’s weapons and the exhibition of animal ferocity which ensued was as fearful a thing as the most disordered imagination could picture. They tore at eachothers’eyesandearswiththeirhandsandwiththeir gleaming tusks repeatedly slashed and gored until both were cut fairly to ribbons from head to foot. Bar Comas had much the better of the battle as he was stronger, quicker and more intelligent. It soon seemed
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that the encounter was done saving only the ?nal death thrust when Bar Comas slipped in breaking away from a clinch. It was the one little opening that Dak Kova needed, and hurling himself at the body of his adversary heburiedhissinglemightytuskinBarComas’groinand withalastpowerfuleffortrippedtheyoungjeddakwide open the full length of his body, the great tusk ?nally wedging in the bones of Bar Comas’ jaw. Victor and vanquished rolled limp and lifeless upon the moss, a huge mass of torn and bloody ?esh. Bar Comas was stone dead, and only the most herculean efforts on the part of Dak Kova’s females saved him from the fate he deserved. Three days later he walked without assistance to the body of Bar Comas which,bycustom,hadnotbeenmovedfromwhereitfell, and placing his foot upon the neck of his erstwhile ruler he assumed the title of Jeddak of Warhoon. The dead jeddak’s hands and head were removed to be added to the ornaments of his conqueror, and then his women cremated what remained, amid wild and terrible laughter. The injuries to Dak Kova had delayed the march so greatly that it was decided to give up the expedition,
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whichwasaraiduponasmallTharkcommunityinretaliation for the destruction of the incubator, until after the great games, and the entire body of warriors, ten thousand in number, turned back toward Warhoon. My introduction to these cruel and bloodthirsty people was but an index to the scenes I witnessed almost daily while with them. They are a smaller horde than the Tharks but much more ferocious. Not a day passed but thatsomemembersofthevariousWarhooncommunities metindeadlycombat. Ihaveseenashighaseightmortal duels within a single day. We reached the city of Warhoon after some three days march and I was immediately cast into a dungeon and heavilychainedtothe?oorandwalls. Foodwasbrought me at intervals but owing to the utter darkness of the place I do not know whether I lay there days, or weeks, or months. It was the most horrible experience of all my life and that my mind did not give way to the terrors of that inky blackness has been a wonder to me ever since. The place was ?lled with creeping, crawling things; cold, sinuous bodies passed over me when I lay down, and in the darkness I occasionally caught glimpses of gleaming, ?ery eyes, ?xed in horrible intentness upon me. No sound reached me from the world above and no word
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wouldmyjailervouchsafewhenmyfoodwasbroughtto me, although I at ?rst bombarded him with questions. Finally all the hatred and maniacal loathing for these awful creatures who had placed me in this horrible place was centered by my tottering reason upon this single emissary who represented to me the entire horde of Warhoons. I had noticed that he always advanced with his dim torch to where he could place the food within my reach and as he stooped to place it upon the ?oor his head was about on a level with my breast. So, with the cunning of a madman, I backed into the far corner of my cell when next I heard him approaching and gathering a little slack of the great chain which held me in my hand I waited his coming, crouching like some beast of prey. As he stooped to place my food upon the ground I swung the chain above my head and crashed the links with all my strength upon his skull. Without a sound he slipped to the ?oor, stone dead. Laughing and chattering like the idiot I was fast becoming I fell upon his prostrate form my ?ngers feeling for his dead throat. Presently they came in contact with a small chain at the end of which dangled a number of
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keys. Thetouchofmy?ngersonthesekeysbroughtback my reason with the suddenness of thought. No longer was I a jibbering idiot, but a sane, reasoning man with the means of escape within my very hands. As I was groping to remove the chain from about my victim’s neck I glanced up into the darkness to see six pairs of gleaming eyes ?xed, unwinking, upon me. Slowly they approached and slowly I shrank back from theawfulhorrorofthem. BackintomycornerIcrouched holding my hands palms out, before me, and stealthily on came the awful eyes until they reached the dead body at my feet. Then slowly they retreated but this time with a strange grating sound and ?nally they disappeared in some black and distant recess of my dungeon.
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BATTLING IN THE ARENA SLOWLY I regained my composure and ?nally essayed again to attempt to remove the keys from the dead body of my former jailer. But as I reached out into the darknesstolocateitIfoundtomyhorrorthatitwasgone. Thenthetruth?ashedonme;theownersofthosegleaming eyes had dragged my prize away from me to be devoured in their neighboring lair; as they had been waitingfordays,forweeks,formonths,throughallthisawful eternity of my imprisonment to drag my dead carcass to their feast.
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For two days no food was brought me, but then a new messengerappearedandmyincarcerationwentonasbefore,butnotagaindidIallowmyreasontobesubmerged by the horror of my position. Shortlyafterthisepisodeanotherprisonerwasbrought in and chained near me. By the dim torch light I saw that he was a red Martian and I could scarcely await the departure of his guards to address him. As their retreating footstepsdiedawayinthedistance,Icalledoutsoftlythe Martian word of greeting, kaor. “Who are you who speaks out of the darkness?” he answered “John Carter, a friend of the red men of Helium.” “I am of Helium,” he said, “but I do not recall your name.” And then I told him my story as I have written it here, omitting only any reference to my love for Dejah Thoris. He was much excited by the news of Helium’s princess and seemed quite positive that she and Sola could easily have reached a point of safety from where they left me. He said that he knew the place well because the de?le through which the Warhoon warriors had passed when
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they discovered us was the only one ever used by them when marching to the south. “Dejah Thoris and Sola entered the hills not ?ve miles fromagreatwaterwayandarenowprobablyquitesafe,” he assured me. My fellow prisoner was Kantos Kan, a padwar (lieutenant) in the navy of Helium. He had been a member oftheill-fatedexpeditionwhichhadfallenintothehands of the Tharks at the time of Dejah Thoris’ capture, and he brie?yrelatedtheeventswhichfollowedthedefeatofthe battleships. Badly injured and only partially manned they had limpedslowlytowardHelium,butwhilepassingnearthe city of Zodanga, the capital of Helium’s hereditary enemies among the red men of Barsoom, they had been attackedbyagreatbodyofwarvesselsandallbutthecraft to which Kantos Kan belonged were either destroyed or captured. His vessel was chased for days by three of the Zodanganwarshipsbut?nallyescapedduringthedarkness of a moonless night. Thirty days after the capture of Dejah Thoris, or about the time of our coming to Thark, his vessel had reached Helium with about ten survivors of the original crew
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of seven hundred of?cers and men. Immediately seven great ?eets, each of one hundred mighty war ships, had been dispatched to search for Dejah Thoris, and from these vessels two thousand smaller craft had been kept outcontinuouslyinfutilesearchforthemissingprincess. Two green Martian communities had been wiped off thefaceofBarsoombytheavenging?eets,butnotraceof Dejah Thoris had been found. They had been searching amongthenorthernhordes,andonlywithinthepastfew days had they extended their quest to the south. Kantos Kan had been detailed to one of the small oneman ?iers and had had the misfortune to be discovered by the Warhoons while exploring their city. The bravery and daring of the man won my greatest respect and admiration. Alone he had landed at the city’s boundary and on foot had penetrated to the buildings surrounding the plaza. For two days and nights he had explored theirquartersandtheirdungeonsinsearchofhisbeloved princessonlytofallintothehandsofapartyofWarhoons ashewasabouttoleave,afterassuringhimselfthatDejah Thoris was not a captive there. DuringtheperiodofourincarcerationKantosKanand I became well acquainted, and formed a warm personal
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friendship. A few days only elapsed, however, before we were dragged forth from our dungeon for the great games. We were conducted early one morning to an enormous amphitheater, which instead of having been built upon the surface of the ground was excavated below the surface. It had partially ?lled with debris so that how large it had originally been was dif?cult to say. In its present condition it held the entire twenty thousand Warhoons of the assembled hordes. Thearenawasimmensebutextremelyunevenandunkempt. AroundittheWarhoonshadpiledbuildingstone fromsomeoftheruinededi?cesoftheancientcitytoprevent the animals and the captives from escaping into the audience, and at each end had been constructed cages to hold them until their turns came to meet some horrible death upon the arena. Kantos Kan and I were con?ned together in one of the cages. Intheotherswerewildcalots,thoats,madzitidars, green warriors, and women of other hordes, and many strangeandferociouswildbeastsofBarsoomwhichIhad never before seen. The din of their roaring, growling and squealing was deafening and the formidable appearance ofanyoneofthemwasenoughtomakethestoutestheart feel grave forebodings.
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Kantos Kan explained to me that at the end of the day one of these prisoners would gain freedom and the others would lie dead about the arena. The winners in the various contests of the day would be pitted against each other until only two remained alive; the victor in the last encounterbeingsetfree,whetheranimalorman. Thefollowingmorningthecageswouldbe?lledwithanewconsignmentofvictims,andsoonthroughoutthetendaysof the games. Shortly after we had been caged the amphitheater began to ?ll and within an hour every available part of the seating space was occupied. Dak Kova, with his jeds and chieftains, sat at the center of one side of the arena upon a large raised platform. AtasignalfromDakKovathedoorsoftwocageswere thrown open and a dozen green Martian females were driventothecenterofthearena. Eachwasgivenadagger and then, at the far end, a pack of twelve calots, or wild dogs were loosed upon them. As the brutes, growling and foaming, rushed upon the almostdefenselesswomenI turnedmyheadthatImight not see the horrid sight. The yells and laughter of the green horde bore witness to the excellent quality of the
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sportandwhenIturnedbacktothearena,asKantosKan toldmeitwasover,Isawthreevictoriouscalots,snarling and growling over the bodies of their prey. The women had given a good account of themselves. Next a mad zitidar was loosed among the remaining dogs, and so it went throughout the long, hot, horrible day. During the day I was pitted against ?rst men and then beasts, but as I was armed with a long-sword and alwaysoutclassedmyadversaryinagilityandgenerallyin strength as well, it proved but child’s play to me. Time and time again I won the applause of the bloodthirsty multitude, and toward the end there were cries that I be takenfromthearenaandbemadeamemberofthehordes of Warhoon. Finally there were but three of us left, a great green warriorofsomefarnorthernhorde,KantosKan,andmyself. TheothertwoweretobattleandthenIto?ghttheconqueror for the liberty which was accorded the ?nal winner. Kantos Kan had fought several times during the day and like myself had always proven victorious, but occa
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sionally by the smallest of margins, especially when pitted against the green warriors. I had little hope that he could best his giant adversary who had mowed down all before him during the day. The fellow towered nearly sixteen feet in height, while Kantos Kan was some inches under six feet. As they advanced to meet one another I saw for the ?rst time a trick of Martian swordsmanship which centered Kantos Kan’s every hope of victory and lifeononecastofthedice,for,ashecametowithinabout twentyfeetofthehugefellowhethrewhisswordarmfar behind him over his shoulder and with a mighty sweep hurledhisweaponpointforemostatthegreenwarrior. It ?ew true as an arrow and piercing the poor devil’s heart laid him dead upon the arena. Kantos Kan and I were now pitted against each other but as we approached to the encounter I whispered to him to prolong the battle until nearly dark in the hope that we might ?nd some means of escape. The horde evidently guessed that we had no hearts to ?ght each other and so they howled in rage as neither of us placed a fatal thrust. Just as I saw the sudden coming of dark I whispered to Kantos Kan to thrust his sword between my left armandmybody. AshedidsoIstaggeredbackclasping theswordtightlywithmyarmandthusfelltotheground
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with his weapon apparently protruding from my chest. Kantos Kan perceived my coup and stepping quickly to my side he placed his foot upon my neck and withdrawinghisswordfrommybodygavemethe?naldeathblow through the neck which is supposed to sever the jugular vein, but in this instance the cold blade slipped harmlessly into the sand of the arena. In the darkness which had now fallen none could tell but that he had really ?nishedme. Iwhisperedtohimtogoandclaimhisfreedom andthenlookformeinthehillseastofthecity,andsohe left me. WhentheamphitheaterhadclearedIcreptstealthilyto the top and as the great excavation lay far from the plaza and in an untenanted portion of the great dead city I had little trouble in reaching the hills beyond.
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IN THE ATMOSPHERE FACTORY FOR two days I waited there for Kantos Kan, but as he did not come I started off on foot in a northwesterly direction toward a point where he had told me lay the nearest waterway. My only food consisted of vegetable milk from the plants which gave so bounteously of this priceless ?uid. Through two long weeks I wandered, stumbling through the nights guided only by the stars and hiding during the days behind some protruding rock or among
CHAPTER XX
the occasional hills I traversed. Several times I was attacked by wild beasts; strange, uncouth monstrosities that leaped upon me in the dark, so that I had ever to grasp my long-sword in my hand that I might be ready for them. Usually my strange, newly acquired telepathic power warned me in ample time, but once I was down withviciousfangsatmy jugularandahairyfacepressed close to mine before I knew that I was even threatened. WhatmannerofthingwasuponmeIdidnotknow,but thatitwaslargeandheavyandmany-leggedIcouldfeel. Myhandswereatitsthroatbeforethefangshadachance to bury themselves in my neck, and slowly I forced the hairyfacefrommeandclosedmy?ngers,vise-like,upon its windpipe. Without sound we lay there, the beast exerting every effort to reach me with those awful fangs, and I straining to maintain my grip and choke the life from it as I kept it from my throat. Slowly my arms gave to the unequal struggle, and inch by inch the burning eyes and gleaming tusks of my antagonist crept toward me, until, as the hairy face touched mine again, I realized that all was over. And then a living mass of destruction sprang fromthesurroundingdarknessfulluponthecreaturethat held me pinioned to the ground. The two rolled growl
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ing upon the moss, tearing and rending one another in a frightful manner, but it was soon over and my preserver stood with lowered head above the throat of the dead thing which would have killed me. Thenearermoon,hurtlingsuddenlyabovethehorizon and lighting up the Barsoomian scene, showed me that my preserver was Woola, but from whence he had come, or how found me, I was at a loss to know. That I was glad of his companionship it is needless to say, but my pleasure at seeing him was tempered by anxiety as to the reason of his leaving Dejah Thoris. Only her death I felt sure, could account for his absence from her, so faithful I knew him to be to my commands. By the light of the now brilliant moons I saw that he was but a shadow of his former self, and as he turned from my caress and commenced greedily to devour the dead carcass at my feet I realized that the poor fellow was more than half starved. I, myself, was in but little better plight but I could not bring myself to eat the uncooked ?esh and I had no means of making a ?re. When Woola had ?nished his meal I again took up my weary and seemingly endless wandering in quest of the elusive waterway.
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At daybreak of the ?fteenth day of my search I was overjoyed to see the high trees that denoted the object of my search. About noon I dragged myself wearily to the portals of a huge building which covered perhaps four square miles and towered two hundred feet in the air. It showed no aperture in the mighty walls other than the tiny door at which I sank exhausted, nor was there any sign of life about it. Icould?ndnobellorothermethodofmakingmypresence known to the inmates of the place, unless a small roundholeinthewallnearthedoorwasforthatpurpose. It was of about the bigness of a lead pencil and thinking that it might be in the nature of a speaking tube I put my mouth to it and was about to call into it when a voice issued from it asking me whom I might be, where from, and the nature of my errand. I explained that I had escaped from the Warhoons and was dying of starvation and exhaustion. “You wear the metal of a green warrior and are followed by a calot, yet you are of the ?gure of a red man. In color you are neither green nor red. In the name of the ninth ray, what manner of creature are you?” “I am a friend of the red men of Barsoom and I am
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starving. In the name of humanity open to us,” I replied. Presentlythedoorcommencedtorecedebeforemeuntil it had sunk into the wall ?fty feet, then it stopped and slid easily to the left, exposing a short, narrow corridor ofconcrete,atthefurtherendofwhichwasanotherdoor, similar in every respect to the one I had just passed. No onewasinsight,yetimmediatelywepassedthe?rstdoor it slid gently into place behind us and receded rapidly to its original position in the front wall of the building. As thedoorhadslippedasideIhadnoteditsgreatthickness, fullytwentyfeet,andasitreacheditsplaceoncemoreafterclosingbehindus,greatcylindersofsteelhaddropped from the ceiling behind it and ?tted their lower ends into apertures countersunk in the ?oor. A second and third door receded before me and slippedtoonesideasthe?rst,beforeIreachedalargeinner chamber where I found food and drink set out upon a great stone table. A voice directed me to satisfy my hunger and to feed my calot, and while I was thus engaged my invisible host put me through a severe and searching cross-examination. “Yourstatementsaremostremarkable,”saidthevoice, on concluding its questioning, “but you are evidently
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speaking the truth, and it is equally evident that you are notofBarsoom. Icantellthatbytheconformationofyour brainandthestrangelocationofyourinternalorgansand the shape and size of your heart.” “Can you see through me?” I exclaimed. “Yes, I can see all but your thoughts, and were you a Barsoomian I could read those.” Then a door opened at the far side of the chamber and a strange, dried up, little mummy of a man came toward me. He wore but a single article of clothing or adornment, a small collar of gold from which depended upon his chest a great ornament as large as a dinner plate set solid with huge diamonds, except for the exact center which was occupied by a strange stone, an inch in diameter, that scintillated nine different and distinct rays; the seven colors of our earthly prism and two beautiful rays which, to me, were new and nameless. I cannot describe them any more than you could describe red to a blind man. I only know that they were beautiful in the extreme. The old man sat and talked with me for hours, and the strangestpartofourintercoursewasthatIcouldreadhis everythoughtwhilehecouldnotfathomaniotafrommy
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mind unless I spoke. [Illustration: The old man sat and talked with me for hours.] I did not apprise him of my ability to sense his mental operations, and thus I learned a great deal which proved of immense value to me later and which I would never have known had he suspected my strange power, for the Martians have such perfect control of their mental machinery that they are able to direct their thoughts with absolute precision. The building in which I found myself contained the machinery which produces that arti?cial atmosphere which sustains life on Mars. The secret of the entire processhingesontheuseoftheninthray,oneofthebeautiful scintillationswhichIhadnotedemanatingfromthegreat stone in my host’s diadem. This ray is separated from the other rays of the sun by means of ?nely adjusted instruments placed upon the roofofthehugebuilding,three-quartersofwhichisused for reservoirs in which the ninth ray is stored. This product is then treated electrically, or rather certain proportions of re?ned electric vibrations are incorporated with it, and the result is then pumped to the ?ve principal air
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centers of the planet where, as it is released, contact with the ether of space transforms it into atmosphere. There is always suf?cient reserve of the ninth ray stored in the great building to maintain the present Martian atmosphere for a thousand years, and the only fear, as my new friend told me, was that some accident might befall the pumping apparatus. He led me to an inner chamber where I beheld a batteryoftwentyradiumpumpsanyoneofwhichwasequal to the task of furnishing all Mars with the atmosphere compound. For eight hundred years, he told me, he had watched these pumps which are used alternately a day each at a stretch, or a little over twenty-four and one-half Earth hours. He has one assistant who divides the watch with him. Half a Martian year, about three hundred and forty-four of our days, each of these men spend alone in this huge, isolated plant. Every red Martian is taught during earliest childhood theprinciplesofthemanufactureofatmosphere,butonly twoatonetimeeverholdthesecretofingresstothegreat building, which, built as it is with walls a hundred and ?fty feet thick, is absolutely unassailable, even the roof being guarded from assault by air craft by a glass cover
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ing ?ve feet thick. The only fear they entertain of attack is from the green Martians or some demented red man, as all Barsoomians realize that the very existence of every form of life ofMarsisdependentupontheuninterruptedworkingof this plant. OnecuriousfactIdiscoveredasIwatchedhisthoughts was that the outer doors are manipulated by telepathic means. Thelocksareso?nelyadjustedthatthedoorsare releasedbytheactionofacertaincombinationofthought waves. To experiment with my new-found toy I thought to surprise him into revealing this combination and so I asked him in a casual manner how he had managed to unlock the massive doors for me from the inner chambers of the building. As quick as a ?ash there leaped to hismindnineMartiansounds,butasquicklyfadedashe answered that this was a secret he must not divulge. From then on his manner toward me changed as though he feared that he had been surprised into divulging his great secret, and I read suspicion and fear in his looks and thoughts, though his words were still fair. Before I retired for the night he promised to give me a letter to a nearby agricultural of?cer who would help me
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on my way to Zodanga, which he said, was the nearest Martian city. “But be sure that you do not let them know you are bound for Helium as they are at war with that country. MyassistantandIareofnocountry,webelongtoallBarsoom and this talisman which we wear protects us in all lands,evenamongthegreenmen–thoughwedonottrust ourselves to their hands if we can avoid it,” he added. “And so good-night, my friend,” he continued, “may you have a long and restful sleep–yes, a long sleep.” AndthoughhesmiledpleasantlyIsawinhisthoughts the wish that he had never admitted me, and then a picture of him standing over me in the night, and the swift thrust of a long dagger and the half formed words, “I am sorry, but it is for the best good of Barsoom.” As he closed the door of my chamber behind him his thoughts were cut off from me as was the sight of him, which seemed strange to me in my little knowledge of thought transference. What was I to do? How could I escape through these mighty walls? Easily could I kill him now that I was warned, but once he was dead I could no more escape, andwiththestoppingofthemachineryofthegreatplant
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I should die with all the other inhabitants of the planet– all, even Dejah Thoris were she not already dead. For the others I did not give the snap of my ?nger, but the thoughtofDejahThorisdrovefrommymindalldesireto kill my mistaken host. CautiouslyIopenedthedoorofmyapartmentand,followed by Woola, sought the inner of the great doors. A wild scheme had come to me; I would attempt to force the great locks by the nine thought waves I had read in my host’s mind. Creepingstealthilythroughcorridoraftercorridorand down winding runways which turned hither and thither I ?nally reached the great hall in which I had broken my long fast that morning. Nowhere had I seen my host, nor did I know where he kept himself by night. Iwasonthepointofsteppingboldlyoutintotheroom when a slight noise behind me warned me back into the shadowsofarecessinthecorridor. DraggingWoolaafter me I crouched low in the darkness. Presentlytheoldmanpassedclosebyme,andasheentered the dimly lighted chamber which I had been about to pass through I saw that he held a long thin dagger in his hand and that he was sharpening it upon a stone. In
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his mind was the decision to inspect the radium pumps, which would take about thirty minutes, and then return to my bed chamber and ?nish me. As he passed through the great hall and disappeared down the runway which led to the pump-room, I stole stealthily from my hiding place and crossed to the great door, the inner of the three which stood between me and liberty. ConcentratingmyminduponthemassivelockIhurled the nine thought waves against it. In breathless expectancy I waited, when ?nally the great door moved softly toward me and slid quietly to one side. One after the other the remaining mighty portals opened at my command and Woola and I stepped forth into the darkness, free, but little better off than we had been before, other than that we had full stomachs. Hastening away from the shadows of the formidable pile I made for the ?rst crossroad, intending to strike the central turnpike as quickly as possible. This I reached about morning and entering the ?rst enclosure I came to I searched for some evidences of a habitation. There were low rambling buildings of concrete barred with heavy impassable doors, and no amount of ham
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mering and hallooing brought any response. Weary and exhausted from sleeplessness I threw myself upon the ground commanding Woola to stand guard. SometimelaterIwasawakenedbyhisfrightfulgrowlingsandopenedmyeyestoseethreeredMartiansstanding a short distance from us and covering me with their ri?es. “I am unarmed and no enemy,” I hastened to explain. “I have been a prisoner among the green men and am on my way to Zodanga. All I ask is food and rest for myself and my calot and the proper directions for reaching my destination.” They lowered their ri?es and advanced pleasantly towardmeplacingtheirrighthandsuponmyleftshoulder, afterthemanneroftheircustomofsalute,andaskingme many questions about myself and my wanderings. They thentookmetothehouseofoneofthemwhichwasonly a short distance away. The buildings I had been hammering at in the early morning were occupied only by stock and farm produce, the house proper standing among a grove of enormous trees, and, like all red-Martian homes, had been raised at night some forty or ?fty feet from the ground on a large
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round metal shaft which slid up or down within a sleeve sunk in the ground, and was operated by a tiny radium engine in the entrance hall of the building. Instead of bothering with bolts and bars for their dwellings, the red Martians simply run them up out of harm’s way during the night. They also have private means for lowering or raising them from the ground without if they wish to go away and leave them. These brothers, with their wives and children, occupiedthreesimilarhousesonthisfarm. Theydidnowork themselves, being government of?cers in charge. The labor was performed by convicts, prisoners of war, delinquent debtors and con?rmed bachelors who were too poor to pay the high celibate tax which all red-Martian governments impose. They were the personi?cation of cordiality and hospitality and I spent several days with them, resting and recuperating from my long and arduous experiences. When they had heard my story–I omitted all reference toDejahThorisandtheoldmanoftheatmosphereplant– they advised me to color my body to more nearly resemble their own race and then attempt to ?nd employment in Zodanga, either in the army or the navy.
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“The chances are small that your tale will be believed until after you have proven your trustworthiness and won friends among the higher nobles of the court. This you can most easily do through military service, as we areawarlikepeopleonBarsoom,”explainedoneofthem, “and save our richest favors for the ?ghting man.” When I was ready to depart they furnished me with a small domestic bull thoat, such as is used for saddle purposes by all red Martians. The animal is about the sizeofahorseandquitegentle,butincolorandshapean exact replica of his huge and ?erce cousin of the wilds. The brothers had supplied me with a reddish oil with whichIanointedmyentirebodyandoneofthemcutmy hair, which had grown quite long, in the prevailing fashion of the time, square at the back and banged in front, sothatIcouldhavepassedanywhereuponBarsoomasa full-?edged red Martian. My metal and ornaments were also renewed in the style of a Zodangan gentleman, attached to the house of Ptor, which was the family name of my benefactors. They ?lled a little sack at my side with Zodangan money. The medium of exchange upon Mars is not dissimilarfromourownexceptthatthecoinsareoval. Paper
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money is issued by individuals as they require it and redeemed twice yearly. If a man issues more than he can redeem,thegovernmentpayshiscreditorsinfullandthe debtorworksouttheamountuponthefarmsorinmines, which are all owned by the government. This suits everybody except the debtor as it has been a dif?cult thing to obtain suf?cient voluntary labor to work the great isolated farm lands of Mars, stretching as they do like narrow ribbons from pole to pole, through wild stretches peopled by wild animals and wilder men. When I mentioned my inability to repay them for their kindness to me they assured me that I would have ample opportunity if I lived long upon Barsoom, and biddingmefarewelltheywatchedmeuntilIwasoutofsight upon the broad white turnpike.
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AN AIR SCOUT FOR ZODANGA AS I proceeded on my journey toward Zodanga many strangeandinterestingsightsarrestedmyattention, and at the several farm houses where I stopped I learned a number of new and instructive things concerning the methods and manners of Barsoom. ThewaterwhichsuppliesthefarmsofMarsiscollected in immense underground reservoirs at either pole from the melting ice caps, and pumped through long conduits to the various populated centers. Along either side of these conduits, and extending their entire length, lie the
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cultivateddistricts. Thesearedividedintotractsofabout the same size, each tract being under the supervision of one or more government of?cers. Instead of ?ooding the surface of the ?elds, and thus wasting immense quantities of water by evaporation, the precious liquid is carried underground through a vast networkofsmallpipesdirectlytotherootsofthevegetation. The crops upon Mars are always uniform, for there are no droughts, no rains, no high winds, and no insects, or destroying birds. On this trip I tasted the ?rst meat I had eaten since leavingEarth–large,juicysteaksandchopsfromthewellfed domestic animals of the farms. Also I enjoyed lusciousfruitsandvegetables,butnotasinglearticleoffood which was exactly similar to anything on Earth. Every plant and ?ower and vegetable and animal has been so re?nedbyagesofcareful,scienti?ccultivationandbreeding that the like of them on Earth dwindled into pale, gray, characterless nothingness by comparison. At a second stop I met some highly cultivated people of the noble class and while in conversation we chanced to speak of Helium. One of the older men had been there on a diplomatic mission several years before and spoke
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withregretoftheconditionswhichseemeddestinedever to keep these two countries at war. “Helium,” he said, “rightly boasts the most beautiful women of Barsoom, and of all her treasures the wondrous daughter of Mors Kajak, Dejah Thoris, is the most exquisite ?ower. “Why,” he added, “the people really worship the ground she walks upon and since her loss on that illstarredexpeditionallHeliumhasbeendrapedinmourning. “Thatourrulershouldhaveattackedthedisabled?eet as it was returning to Helium was but another of his awful blunders which I fear will sooner or later compel Zodanga to elevate a wiser man to his place.” “Even now, though our victorious armies are surrounding Helium, the people of Zodanga are voicing theirdispleasure,forthewarisnotapopularone,sinceit isnotbasedonrightorjustice. Ourforcestookadvantage of the absence of the principal ?eet of Helium on their search for the princess, and so we have been able easily to reduce the city to a sorry plight. It is said she will fall within the next few passages of the further moon.”
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“And what, think you, may have been the fate of the princess, Dejah Thoris?” I asked as casually as possible. “She is dead,” he answered. “This much was learned from a green warrior recently captured by our forces in the south. She escaped from the hordes of Thark with a strange creature of another world, only to fall into the hands of the Warhoons. Their thoats were found wandering upon the sea bottom and evidences of a bloody con?ict were discovered nearby.” While this information was in no way reassuring, neither was it at all conclusive proof of the death of Dejah Thoris,andsoIdeterminedtomakeeveryeffortpossible to reach Helium as quickly as I could and carry to Tardos Mors such news of his granddaughter’s possible whereabouts as lay in my power. Ten days after leaving the three Ptor brothers I arrived at Zodanga. From the moment that I had come in contact with the red inhabitants of Mars I had noticed that Woola drew a great amount of unwelcome attention to me, since the huge brute belonged to a species which is never domesticated by the red men. Were one to stroll downBroadwaywithaNumidianlionathisheelstheeffect would be somewhat similar to that which I should
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have produced had I entered Zodanga with Woola. The very thought of parting with the faithful fellow causedmesogreatregretandgenuinesorrowthatIputit offuntiljustbeforewearrivedatthecity’sgates;butthen, ?nally, it became imperative that we separate. Had nothing further than my own safety or pleasure been at stake noargumentcouldhaveprevaileduponmetoturnaway the one creature upon Barsoom that had never failed in a demonstration of affection and loyalty; but as I would willingly have offered my life in the service of her in search of whom I was about to challenge the unknown dangersofthis,tome,mysteriouscity,Icouldnotpermit even Woola’s life to threaten the success of my venture, much less his momentary happiness, for I doubted not he soon would forget me. And so I bade the poor beast an affectionate farewell, promising him, however, that if I came through my adventure in safety that in some way I should ?nd the means to search him out. Heseemedtounderstandmefully,andwhenIpointed back in the direction of Thark he turned sorrowfully away, nor could I bear to watch him go; but resolutely set my face toward Zodanga and with a touch of heartsickness approached her frowning walls.
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The letter I bore from them gained me immediate entrancetothevast,walledcity. Itwasstillveryearlyinthe morning and the streets were practically deserted. The residences, raised high upon their metal columns, resembled huge rookeries, while the uprights themselves presentedtheappearanceofsteeltreetrunks. Theshopsasa rulewerenotraisedfromthegroundnorweretheirdoors bolted or barred, since thievery is practically unknown upon Barsoom. Assassination is the ever-present fear of allBarsoomians,andforthisreasonalonetheirhomesare raisedhighabovethegroundatnight,orintimesofdanger. The Ptor brothers had given me explicit directions for reachingthepointofthecitywhereIcould?ndlivingaccommodations and be near the of?ces of the government agents to whom they had given me letters. My way led to the central square or plaza, which is a characteristic of all Martian cities. The plaza of Zodanga covers a square mile and is bounded by the palaces of the jeddak, the jeds, and other members of the royalty and nobility of Zodanga, as well as by the principal public buildings, cafes, and shops. As I was crossing the great square lost in wonder and
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admiration of the magni?cent architecture and the gorgeous scarlet vegetation which carpeted the broad lawns I discovered a red Martian walking briskly toward me from one of the avenues. He paid not the slightest attention to me, but as he came abreast I recognized him, and turning I placed my hand upon his shoulder, calling out: “Kaor, Kantos Kan!” Like lightning he wheeled and before I could so much as lower my hand the point of his long-sword was at my breast. “Who are you?” he growled, and then as a backward leap carried me ?fty feet from his sword he dropped the point to the ground and exclaimed, laughing, “Idonotneedabetterreply,thereisbutonemanupon all Barsoom who can bounce about like a rubber ball. By the mother of the further moon, John Carter, how came you here, and have you become a Darseen that you can change your color at will?” “Yougavemeabadhalfminutemyfriend,”hecontinued,afterIhadbrie?youtlinedmyadventuressinceparting with him in the arena at Warhoon. “Were my name
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and city known to the Zodangans I would shortly be sittingonthebanksofthelostseaofKoruswithmyrevered anddepartedancestors. IamhereintheinterestofTardos Mors, Jeddak of Helium, to discover the whereabouts of Dejah Thoris, our princess. Sab Than, prince of Zodanga, has her hidden in the city and has fallen madly in love with her. His father, Than Kosis, Jeddak of Zodanga, has madehervoluntarymarriagetohissonthepriceofpeace between our countries, but Tardos Mors will not accede tothedemandsandhassentwordthatheandhispeople would rather look upon the dead face of their princess than see her wed to any than her own choice, and that personally he would prefer being engulfed in the ashes of a lost and burning Helium to joining the metal of his house with that of Than Kosis. His reply was the deadliest affront he could have put upon Than Kosis and the Zodangans, but his people love him the more for it and his strength in Helium is greater today than ever. “I have been here three days,” continued Kantos Kan, “but I have not yet found where Dejah Thoris is imprisoned. Today I join the Zodangan navy as an air scout andIhopeinthiswaytowinthecon?denceofSabThan, the prince, who is commander of this division of the navy, and thus learn the whereabouts of Dejah Thoris. I
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am glad that you are here, John Carter, for I know your loyalty to my princess and two of us working together should be able to accomplish much.” Theplazawasnowcommencingto?llwithpeoplegoing and coming upon the daily activities of their duties. The shops were opening and the cafes ?lling with early morning patrons. Kantos Kan led me to one of these gorgeous eating places where we were served entirely by mechanical apparatus. No hand touched the food from the time it entered the building in its raw state until it emerged hot and delicious upon the tables before the guests, in response to the touching of tiny buttons to indicate their desires. After our meal, Kantos Kan took me with him to the headquarters of the air-scout squadron and introducing metohissuperioraskedthatIbeenrolledasamemberof thecorps. Inaccordancewithcustomanexaminationwas necessary,butKantosKanhadtoldmetohavenofearon this score as he would attend to that part of the matter. Heaccomplishedthisbytakingmyorderforexamination totheexaminingof?cerandrepresentinghimselfasJohn Carter. “This ruse will be discovered later,” he cheerfully ex
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plained, “when they check up my weights, measurements, and other personal identi?cation data, but it will be several months before this is done and our mission should be accomplished or have failed long before that time.” The next few days were spent by Kantos Kan in teachingmetheintricaciesof?yingandofrepairingthedainty little contrivances which the Martians use for this purpose. The body of the one-man air craft is about sixteen feet long, two feet wide and three inches thick, tapering to apoint at eachend. Thedriver sits ontop of thisplane upon a seat constructed over the small, noiseless radium enginewhichpropelsit. Themediumofbuoyancyiscontained within the thin metal walls of the body and consists of the eighth Barsoomian ray, or ray of propulsion, as it may be termed in view of its properties. This ray, like the ninth ray, is unknown on Earth, but the Martians have discovered that it is an inherent property of all light no matter from what source it emanates. They have learned that it is the solar eighth ray which propels the light of the sun to the various planets, and that it is the individual eighth ray of each planet which “re?ects,” or propels the light thus obtained out into spaceoncemore. Thesolareighthraywouldbeabsorbed
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bythesurfaceofBarsoom,buttheBarsoomianeighthray, which tends to propel light from Mars into space, is constantly streaming out from the planet constituting a force ofrepulsionofgravitywhichwhencon?nedisabletolift enormous weights from the surface of the ground. It is this ray which has enabled them to so perfect aviation that battle ships far outweighing anything known uponEarth sailasgracefully andlightly throughthethin air of Barsoom as a toy balloon in the heavy atmosphere of Earth. During the early years of the discovery of this ray many strange accidents occurred before the Martians learnedtomeasureandcontrolthewonderfulpowerthey had found. In one instance, some nine hundred years before, the ?rst great battle ship to be built with eighth ray reservoirswasstoredwithtoogreataquantityoftherays andshehadsailedupfromHeliumwith?vehundredof?cers and men, never to return. Herpowerofrepulsionfortheplanetwassogreatthat it had carried her far into space, where she can be seen today,bytheaidofpowerfultelescopes,hurtlingthrough theheavenstenthousandmilesfromMars;atinysatellite that will thus encircle Barsoom to the end of time.
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The fourth day after my arrival at Zodanga I made my ?rst ?ight, and as a result of it I won a promotion which included quarters in the palace of Than Kosis. As I rose above the city I circled several times, as I had seen Kantos Kan do, and then throwing my engine into topspeedIracedatterri?cvelocitytowardthesouth,following one of the great waterways which enter Zodanga from that direction. I had traversed perhaps two hundred miles in a little lessthananhourwhenIdescriedfarbelowmeapartyof three green warriors racing madly toward a small ?gure on foot which seemed to be trying to reach the con?nes of one of the walled ?elds. Dropping my machine rapidly toward them, and circlingtotherearofthewarriors,Isoonsawthattheobject of their pursuit was a red Martian wearing the metal of the scout squadron to which I was attached. A short distanceawaylayhistiny?ier,surroundedbythetoolswith which he had evidently been occupied in repairing some damage when surprised by the green warriors. They were now almost upon him; their ?ying mounts charging down on the relatively puny ?gure at terri?c speed, while the warriors leaned low to the right, with
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theirgreatmetal-shodspears. Eachseemedstrivingtobe the?rsttoimpalethepoorZodanganandinanothermoment his fate would have been sealed had it not been for my timely arrival. Driving my ?eet air craft at high speed directly behind the warriors I soon overtook them and without diminishing my speed I rammed the prow of my little ?ier between the shoulders of the nearest. The impact suf?cient to have torn through inches of solid steel, hurled the fellow’sheadlessbodyintotheairovertheheadofhisthoat, whereitfellsprawlinguponthemoss. Themountsofthe other two warriors turned squealing in terror, and bolted in opposite directions. Reducing my speed I circled and came to the ground at the feet of the astonished Zodangan. He was warm in his thanks for my timely aid and promised that my day’s work would bring the reward it merited, for it was none other than a cousin of the jeddak of Zodanga whose life I had saved. Wewastednotimeintalkasweknewthatthewarriors would surely return as soon as they had gained control of their mounts. Hastening to his damaged machine we werebendingeveryeffortto?nishtheneededrepairsand
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had almost completed them when we saw the two green monsters returning at top speed from opposite sides of us. When they had approached within a hundred yards their thoats again became unmanageable and absolutely refusedtoadvancefurthertowardtheaircraftwhichhad frightened them. The warriors ?nally dismounted and hobbling their animals advanced toward us on foot with drawn longswords. I advanced to meet the larger, telling the Zodangan to do the best he could with the other. Finishing my man withalmostnoeffort,ashadnowfrommuchpracticebecome habitual with me, I hastened to return to my new acquaintance whom I found indeed in desperate straits. He was wounded and down with the huge foot of his antagonist upon his throat and the great long-sword raised to deal the ?nal thrust. With a bound I cleared the ?fty feet intervening between us, and with outstretched point drove my sword completely through the body of thegreenwarrior. Hisswordfell,harmless,totheground andhesanklimplyupontheprostrateformoftheZodangan. A cursory examination of the latter revealed no mortal
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injuries and after a brief rest he asserted that he felt ?t to attempt the return voyage. He would have to pilot his owncraft,however,asthesefrailvesselsarenotintended to convey but a single person. Quickly completing the repairs we rose together into the still, cloudless Martian sky, and at great speed and without further mishap returned to Zodanga. As we neared the city we discovered a mighty concourse of civilians and troops assembled upon the plain before the city. The sky was black with naval vessels and privateandpublicpleasurecraft,?yinglongstreamersof gay-colored silks, and banners and ?ags of odd and picturesque design. My companion signaled that I slow down, and runninghismachineclosebesideminesuggestedthatweapproach and watch the ceremony, which, he said, was for the purpose of conferring honors on individual of?cers and men for bravery and other distinguished service. He then unfurled a little ensign which denoted that his craft bore a member of the royal family of Zodanga, and together we made our way through the maze of low-lying air vessels until we hung directly over the jeddak of Zodangaandhisstaff. Allweremounteduponthesmalldo
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mesticbullthoatsoftheredMartians,andtheirtrappings and ornamentation bore such a quantity of gorgeously colored feathers that I could not but be struck with the startling resemblance the concourse bore to a band of the red Indians of my own Earth. OneofthestaffcalledtheattentionofThanKosistothe presenceofmycompanionabovethemandtherulermotioned for him to descend. As they waited for the troops to move into position facing the jeddak the two talked earnestly together, the jeddak and his staff occasionally glancing up at me. I could not hear their conversation and presently it ceased and all dismounted, as the last bodyoftroopshadwheeledintopositionbeforetheiremperor. Amemberofthestaffadvancedtowardthetroops, and calling the name of a soldier commanded him to advance. Theof?certhenrecitedthenatureoftheheroicact which had won the approval of the jeddak, and the latter advancedandplacedametalornamentupontheleftarm of the lucky man. Ten men had been so decorated when the aide called out, “John Carter, air scout!” Never in my life had I been so surprised, but the habit
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of military discipline is strong within me, and I dropped my little machine lightly to the ground and advanced on foot as I had seen the others do. As I halted before the of?cer, he addressed me in a voice audible to the entire assemblage of troops and spectators. “Inrecognition,JohnCarter,”hesaid,“ofyourremarkable courage and skill in defending the person of the cousin of the jeddak Than Kosis and, singlehanded, vanquishing three green warriors, it is the pleasure of our jeddak to confer on you the mark of his esteem.” Than Kosis then advanced toward me and placing an ornament upon me, said: “My cousin has narrated the details of your wonderful achievement, which seems little short of miraculous, and if you can so well defend a cousin of the jeddak how much better could you defend the person of the jeddak himself. You are therefore appointed a padwar of The Guards and will be quartered in my palace hereafter.” Ithankedhim,andathisdirectionjoinedthemembers of his staff. After the ceremony I returned my machine to its quarters on the roof of the barracks of the air-scout squadron, and with an orderly from the palace to guide me I reported to the of?cer in charge of the palace.
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I FIND DEJAH THE major-domo to whom I reported had been given instructions to station me near the person of the jeddak, who, in time of war, is always in great danger of assassination, as the rule that all is fair in war seems to constitute the entire ethics of Martian con?ict. He therefore escorted me immediately to the apartment in which Than Kosis then was. The ruler was engaged in conversation with his son, Sab Than, and several courtiers of his household, and did not perceive my entrance.
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Thewallsoftheapartmentwerecompletelyhungwith splendid tapestries which hid any windows or doors which may have pierced them. The room was lighted by imprisoned rays of sunshine held between the ceiling properandwhatappearedtobeaground-glassfalseceiling a few inches below. My guide drew aside one of the tapestries, disclosing a passage which encircled the room, between the hangings and the walls of the chamber. Within this passage I was to remain, he said, so long as Than Kosis was in the apartment. When he left I was to follow. My only duty was to guard the ruler and keep out of sight as much as possible. Iwouldberelievedafteraperiodoffourhours. The major-domo then left me. The tapestries were of a strange weaving which gave the appearance of heavy solidity from one side, but from myhidingplaceIcouldperceiveallthattookplacewithin the room as readily as though there had been no curtain intervening. Scarcely had I gained my post than the tapestry at the opposite end of the chamber separated and four soldiers of The Guard entered, surrounding a female ?gure. As they approached Than Kosis the soldiers fell to either
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sideandtherestandingbeforethejeddakandnottenfeet from me, her beautiful face radiant with smiles, was Dejah Thoris. Sab Than, Prince of Zodanga, advanced to meet her, and hand in hand they approached close to the jeddak. ThanKosislookedupinsurprise,and,rising,salutedher. “To what strange freak do I owe this visit from the PrincessofHelium,who,twodaysago,withrareconsideration for my pride, assured me that she would prefer Tal Hajus, the green Thark, to my son?” Dejah Thoris only smiled the more and with the roguishdimplesplayingatthecornersofhermouthshemade answer: “FromthebeginningoftimeuponBarsoomithasbeen the prerogative of woman to change her mind as she listed and to dissemble in matters concerning her heart. That you will forgive, Than Kosis, as has your son. Two days ago I was not sure of his love for me, but now I am, and I have come to beg of you to forget my rash words andtoaccepttheassuranceofthePrincessofHeliumthat when the time comes she will wed Sab Than, Prince of Zodanga.” “I am glad that you have so decided,” replied Than
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Kosis. “It is far from my desire to push war further against the people of Helium, and, your promise shall be recorded and a proclamation to my people issued forthwith.” “It were better, Than Kosis,” interrupted Dejah Thoris, “that the proclamation wait the ending of this war. It would look strange indeed to my people and to yours were the Princess of Helium to give herself to her country’s enemy in the midst of hostilities.” “Cannot the war be ended at once?” spoke Sab Than. “It requires but the word of Than Kosis to bring peace. Sayit,myfather,saythewordthatwillhastenmyhappiness, and end this unpopular strife.” “Weshallsee,” repliedThanKosis, “howthepeopleof Helium take to peace. I shall at least offer it to them.” Dejah Thoris, after a few words, turned and left the apartment, still followed by her guards. Thus was the edi?ce of my brief dream of happiness dashed, broken, to the ground of reality. The woman for whom I had offered my life, and from whose lips I had sorecentlyheardadeclarationofloveforme,hadlightly forgotten my very existence and smilingly given herself to the son of her people’s most hated enemy.
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Although I had heard it with my own ears I could not believe it. I must search out her apartments and force her to repeat the cruel truth to me alone before I would be convinced, and so I deserted my post and hastened through the passage behind the tapestries toward the door by which she had left the chamber. Slipping quietlythroughthisopeningIdiscoveredamazeofwinding corridors, branching and turning in every direction. Running rapidly down ?rst one and then another of them I soon became hopelessly lost and was standing panting against a side wall when I heard voices near me. Apparently they were coming from the opposite side of thepartitionagainstwhichIleanedandpresentlyImade out the tones of Dejah Thoris. I could not hear the words but I knew that I could not possibly be mistaken in the voice. Moving on a few steps I discovered another passageway at the end of which lay a door. Walking boldly forwardIpushedintotheroomonlyto?ndmyselfinasmall antechamber in which were the four guards who had accompaniedher. Oneoftheminstantlyaroseandaccosted me, asking the nature of my business. “I am from Than Kosis,” I replied, “and wish to speak
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privately with Dejah Thoris, Princess of Helium.” “And your order?” asked the fellow. I did not know what he meant, but replied that I was a member of The Guard, and without waiting for a reply from him I strode toward the opposite door of the antechamber, behind which I could hear Dejah Thoris conversing. But my entrance was not to be so easily accomplished. The guardsman stepped before me, saying, “No one comes from Than Kosis without carrying an orderorthepassword. Youmustgivemeoneortheother before you may pass.” “The only order I require, my friend, to enter where I will, hangs at my side,” I answered, tapping my longsword; “will you let me pass in peace or no?” Forreplyhewhippedouthisownsword,callingtothe others to join him, and thus the four stood, with drawn weapons, barring my further progress. “YouarenotherebytheorderofThanKosis,”criedthe one who had ?rst addressed me, “and not only shall you not enter the apartments of the Princess of Helium but you shall go back to Than Kosis under guard to explain
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thisunwarrantedtemerity. Throwdownyoursword;you cannot hope to overcome four of us,” he added with a grim smile. My reply was a quick thrust which left me but three antagonists and I can assure you that they were worthy of my metal. They had me backed against the wall in no time, ?ghting for my life. Slowly I worked my way to a corner of the room where I could force them to come at me only one at a time, and thus we fought upward of twenty minutes; the clanging of steel on steel producing a veritable bedlam in the little room. The noise had brought Dejah Thoris to the door of her apartment, and there she stood throughout the con?ict with Sola at her back peering over her shoulder. Her face was set and emotionless and I knew that she did not recognize me, nor did Sola. Finally a lucky cut brought down a second guardsman and then, with only two opposing me, I changed my tactics and rushed them down after the fashion of my ?ghtingthathadwonmemanyavictory. Thethirdfellwithin ten seconds after the second, and the last lay dead upon the bloody ?oor a few moments later. They were brave menandnoble?ghters,anditgrievedmethatIhadbeen
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forced to kill them, but I would have willingly depopulated all Barsoom could I have reached the side of my Dejah Thoris in no other way. Sheathing my bloody blade I advanced toward my Martian Princess, who still stood mutely gazing at me without sign of recognition. “Who are you, Zodangan?” she whispered. “Another enemy to harass me in my misery?” “I am a friend,” I answered, “a once cherished friend.” “NofriendofHelium’sprincesswearsthatmetal,”she replied, “and yet the voice! I have heard it before; it is not–it cannot be–no, for he is dead.” “It is, though, my Princess, none other than John Carter,” I said. “Do you not recognize, even through paint and strange metal, the heart of your chieftain?” AsIcameclosetohersheswayedtowardmewithoutstretched hands, but as I reached to take her in my arms shedrewbackwithashudderandalittlemoanofmisery. “Too late, too late,” she grieved. “O my chieftain that was, and whom I thought dead, had you but returned one little hour before–but now it is too late, too late.”
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“What do you mean, Dejah Thoris?” I cried. “That you would not have promised yourself to the Zodangan prince had you known that I lived?” “Think you, John Carter, that I would give my heart to you yesterday and today to another? I thought that it lay buried with your ashes in the pits of Warhoon, and so today I have promised my body to another to save my people from the curse of a victorious Zodangan army.” “But I am not dead, my princess. I have come to claim you, and all Zodanga cannot prevent it.” “Itistoolate,JohnCarter,mypromiseisgiven,andon Barsoom that is ?nal. The ceremonies which follow later are but meaningless formalities. They make the fact of marriagenomorecertainthandoesthefuneralcortegeof a jeddak again place the seal of death upon him. I am as goodasmarried,JohnCarter. Nolongermayyoucallme your princess. No longer are you my chieftain.” “I know but little of your customs here upon Barsoom, Dejah Thoris, but I do know that I love you, and if you meant the last words you spoke to me that day as the hordes of Warhoon were charging down upon us, no other man shall ever claim you as his bride. You meant them then, my princess, and you mean them still! Say
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that it is true.” “I meant them, John Carter,” she whispered. “I cannot repeat them now for I have given myself to another. Ah, if you had only known our ways, my friend,” she continued, half to herself, “the promise would have been yours long months ago, and you could have claimed me before all others. It might have meant the fall of Helium, but I would have given my empire for my Tharkian chief.” Then aloud she said: “Do you remember the night when you offended me? You called me your princess without having asked my hand of me, and then you boasted that you had fought for me. You did not know, and I should not have been offended; I see that now. But there was no one to tell you what I could not, that upon Barsoom there are two kinds of women in the cities of the red men. The one they ?ght for that they may ask them in marriage; the other kind they ?ght for also, but neverasktheirhands. Whenamanhaswonawomanhe may address her as his princess, or in any of the several terms which signify possession. You had fought for me, but had never asked me in marriage, and so when you called me your princess, you see,” she faltered, “I was hurt, but even then, John Carter, I did not repulse you, as I should have done, until you made it doubly worse by
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taunting me with having won me through combat.” “I do not need ask your forgiveness now, Dejah Thoris,” I cried. “You must know that my fault was of ignorance of your Barsoomian customs. What I failed to do,throughimplicitbeliefthatmypetitionwouldbepresumptuousandunwelcome,Idonow,DejahThoris;Iask youtobemywife,andbyalltheVirginian?ghtingblood that ?ows in my veins you shall be.” “No,JohnCarter,itisuseless,”shecried,hopelessly,“I may never be yours while Sab Than lives.” “You have sealed his death warrant, my princess–Sab Than dies.” “Nor that either,” she hastened to explain. “I may not wed the man who slays my husband, even in selfdefense. It is custom. We are ruled by custom upon Barsoom. It is useless, my friend. You must bear the sorrow with me. That at least we may share in common. That, andthememoryofthebriefdaysamongtheTharks. You mustgonow,noreverseemeagain. Good-bye,mychieftain that was.” Disheartened and dejected, I withdrew from the room, butIwasnotentirelydiscouraged,norwouldIadmitthat
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DejahThoriswaslosttomeuntiltheceremonyhadactually been performed. As I wandered along the corridors, I was as absolutely lost in the mazes of winding passageways as I had been before I discovered Dejah Thoris’ apartments. I knew that my only hope lay in escape from the city of Zodanga, for the matter of the four dead guardsmen would have to be explained, and as I could never reach myoriginalpostwithoutaguide,suspicionwouldsurely rest on me so soon as I was discovered wandering aimlessly through the palace. Presently I came upon a spiral runway leading to a lower ?oor, and this I followed downward for several stories until I reached the doorway of a large apartment in which were a number of guardsmen. The walls of this room were hung with transparent tapestries behind which I secreted myself without being apprehended. The conversation of the guardsmen was general, and awakened no interest in me until an of?cer entered the room and ordered four of the men to relieve the detail whowereguardingthePrincessofHelium. Now,Iknew, mytroubleswouldcommenceinearnestandindeedthey were upon me all too soon, for it seemed that the squad
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had scarcely left the guardroom before one of their numberburstinagainbreathlessly,cryingthattheyhadfound their four comrades butchered in the antechamber. In a moment the entire palace was alive with people. Guardsmen, of?cers, courtiers, servants, and slaves ran helter-skelter through the corridors and apartments carryingmessagesandorders,andsearchingforsignsofthe assassin. This was my opportunity and slim as it appeared I grasped it, for as a number of soldiers came hurrying past my hiding place I fell in behind them and followed throughthemazesofthepalaceuntil,inpassingthrough a great hall, I saw the blessed light of day coming in through a series of larger windows. Here I left my guides, and, slipping to the nearest window, sought for an avenue of escape. The windows opened upon a great balcony which overlooked one of the broad avenues of Zodanga. The ground was about thirty feet below, and at a like distance from the building wasawallfullytwentyfeethigh,constructedofpolished glass about a foot in thickness. To a red Martian escape by this path would have appeared impossible, but to me, with my earthly strength and agility, it seemed already
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accomplished. Myonlyfearwasinbeingdetectedbefore darkness fell, for I could not make the leap in broad daylight while the court below and the avenue beyond were crowded with Zodangans. Accordingly I searched for a hiding place and ?nally found one by accident, inside a huge hanging ornament which swung from the ceiling of the hall, and about ten feet from the ?oor. Into the capacious bowl-like vase I sprang with ease, and scarcely had I settled down within it than I heard a number of people enter the apartment. The group stopped beneath my hiding place and I could plainly overhear their every word. “It is the work of Heliumites,” said one of the men. “Yes,OJeddak,buthowhadtheyaccesstothepalace? I could believe that even with the diligent care of your guardsmen a single enemy might reach the inner chambers, but how a force of six or eight ?ghting men could have done so unobserved is beyond me. We shall soon know, however, for here comes the royal psychologist.” Another man now joined the group, and, after making his formal greetings to his ruler, said: “OmightyJeddak,itisastrangetaleIreadinthedead minds of your faithful guardsmen. They were felled not
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by a number of ?ghting men, but by a single opponent.” He paused to let the full weight of this announcement impress his hearers, and that his statement was scarcely credited was evidenced by the impatient exclamation of incredulity which escaped the lips of Than Kosis. “What manner of weird tale are you bringing me, Notan?” he cried. “It is the truth, my Jeddak,” replied the psychologist. “In fact the impressions were strongly marked on the brain of each of the four guardsmen. Their antagonist was a very tall man, wearing the metal of one of your own guardsmen, and his ?ghting ability was little short ofmarvelousforhefoughtfairagainsttheentirefourand vanquished them by his surpassing skill and superhuman strength and endurance. Though he wore the metal of Zodanga, my Jeddak, such a man was never seen before in this or any other country upon Barsoom. “The mind of the Princess of Helium whom I have examined and questioned was a blank to me, she has perfect control, and I could not read one iota of it. She said that she witnessed a portion of the encounter, and that when she looked there was but one man engaged with the guardsmen; a man whom she did not recognize as
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ever having seen.” “Where is my erstwhile savior?” spoke another of the party, and I recognized the voice of the cousin of Than Kosis, whom I had rescued from the green warriors. “By the metal of my ?rst ancestor,” he went on, “but the description ?ts him to perfection, especially as to his ?ghting ability.” “Where is this man?” cried Than Kosis. “Have him broughttomeatonce. Whatknowyouofhim,cousin? It seemed strange to me now that I think upon it that there should have been such a ?ghting man in Zodanga, of whose name, even, we were ignorant before today. And hisnametoo,JohnCarter,whoeverheardofsuchaname upon Barsoom!” Word was soon brought that I was nowhere to be found,eitherinthepalaceoratmyformerquartersinthe barracks of the air-scout squadron. Kantos Kan, they had foundandquestioned,butheknewnothingofmywhereabouts, and as to my past, he had told them he knew as little,sincehehadbutrecentlymetmeduringourcaptivity among the Warhoons. “Keep your eyes on this other one,” commanded Than Kosis. “He also is a stranger and likely as not they both
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hail from Helium, and where one is we shall sooner or later ?nd the other. Quadruple the air patrol, and let everymanwholeavesthecitybyairorgroundbesubjected to the closest scrutiny.” Another messenger now entered with word that I was still within the palace walls. “The likeness of every person who has entered or left the palace grounds today has been carefully examined,” concluded the fellow, “and not one approaches the likeness of this new padwar of the guards, other than that which was recorded of him at the time he entered.” “Thenwewillhavehimshortly,”commentedThanKosis contentedly, “and in the meanwhile we will repair to the apartments of the Princess of Helium and question her in regard to the affair. She may know more than she cared to divulge to you, Notan. Come.” They left the hall, and, as darkness had fallen without, I slipped lightly from my hiding place and hastened to the balcony. Few were in sight, and choosing a moment whennoneseemednearIsprangquicklytothetopofthe glasswallandfromtheretotheavenuebeyondthepalace grounds.
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LOST IN THE SKY WITHOUT effort at concealment I hastened to the vicinity of our quarters, where I felt sure I should ?nd Kantos Kan. As I neared the building I became more careful, as I judged, and rightly, that the place would be guarded. Several men in civilian metal loitered near the front entrance and in the rear were others. My only means of reaching, unseen, the upper story where our apartments were situated was through an adjoining building,andafterconsiderablemaneuveringImanaged to attain the roof of a shop several doors away.
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Leapingfromrooftoroof,IsoonreachedanopenwindowinthebuildingwhereIhopedto?ndtheHeliumite, and in another moment I stood in the room before him. Hewasaloneandshowednosurpriseatmycoming,saying he had expected me much earlier, as my tour of duty must have ended some time since. I saw that he knew nothing of the events of the day at the palace, and when I had enlightened him he was all excitement. The news that Dejah Thoris had promised her hand to Sab Than ?lled him with dismay. “Itcannotbe,”heexclaimed. “Itisimpossible! Whyno man in all Helium but would prefer death to the selling ofourlovedprincesstotherulinghouseofZodanga. She musthavelosthermindtohaveassentedtosuchanatrocious bargain. You, who do not know how we of Helium love the members of our ruling house, cannot appreciate the horror with which I contemplate such an unholy alliance.” “What can be done, John Carter?” he continued. “You are a resourceful man. Can you not think of some way to save Helium from this disgrace?” “If Ican comewithin sword’s reachof SabThan,” I answered, “I can solve the dif?culty in so far as Helium is
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concerned, but for personal reasons I would prefer that another struck the blow that frees Dejah Thoris.” Kantos Kan eyed me narrowly before he spoke. “You love her!” he said. “Does she know it?” “She knows it, Kantos Kan, and repulses me only because she is promised to Sab Than.” The splendid fellow sprang to his feet, and grasping mebytheshoulderraisedhisswordonhigh,exclaiming: “And had the choice been left to me I could not have chosen a more ?tting mate for the ?rst princess of Barsoom. Here is my hand upon your shoulder, John Carter, and my word that Sab Than shall go out at the point of my sword for the sake of my love for Helium, for Dejah Thoris, and for you. This very night I shall try to reach his quarters in the palace.” “How?” I asked. “You are strongly guarded and a quadruple force patrols the sky.” He bent his head in thought a moment, then raised it with an air of con?dence. “I only need to pass these guards and I can do it,” he said at last. “I know a secret entrance to the palace
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through the pinnacle of the highest tower. I fell upon it by chance one day as I was passing above the palace on patrol duty. In this work it is required that we investigate any unusual occurrence we may witness, and a face peering from the pinnacle of the high tower of the palace was, to me, most unusual. I therefore drew near and discovered that the possessor of the peering face was none otherthanSabThan. Hewasslightlyputoutatbeingdetected and commanded me to keep the matter to myself, explaining that the passage from the tower led directly to his apartments, and was known only to him. If I can reach the roof of the barracks and get my machine I can be in Sab Than’s quarters in ?ve minutes; but how am I to escape from this building, guarded as you say it is?” “How well are the machine sheds at the barracks guarded?” I asked. “There is usually but one man on duty there at night upon the roof.” “Go to the roof of this building, Kantos Kan, and wait me there.” Without stopping to explain my plans I retraced my way to the street and hastened to the barracks. I did not dare to enter the building, ?lled as it was with members
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of the air-scout squadron, who, in common with all Zodanga, were on the lookout for me. The building was an enormous one, rearing its lofty head fully a thousand feet into the air. But few buildingsinZodangawerehigherthanthesebarracks,though several topped it by a few hundred feet; the docks of the great battleships of the line standing some ?fteen hundred feet from the ground, while the freight and passenger stations of the merchant squadrons rose nearly as high. Itwasalongclimbupthefaceofthebuilding,andone fraught with much danger, but there was no other way, andsoIessayedthetask. ThefactthatBarsoomianarchitecture is extremely ornate made the feat much simpler than I had anticipated, since I found ornamental ledges and projections which fairly formed a perfect ladder for meallthewaytotheeavesofthebuilding. HereImetmy ?rst real obstacle. The eaves projected nearly twenty feet fromthewalltowhichIclung,andthoughIencircledthe great building I could ?nd no opening through them. The top ?oor was alight, and ?lled with soldiers engagedinthepastimesoftheirkind;Icouldnot,therefore, reach the roof through the building.
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There was one slight, desperate chance, and that I decided I must take–it was for Dejah Thoris, and no man has lived who would not risk a thousand deaths for such as she. Clinging to the wall with my feet and one hand, I unloosened one of the long leather straps of my trappings at the end of which dangled a great hook by which air sailors are hung to the sides and bottoms of their craft for various purposes of repair, and by means of which landing parties are lowered to the ground from the battleships. I swung this hook cautiously to the roof several times before it ?nally found lodgment; gently I pulled on it to strengthenitshold,butwhetheritwouldbeartheweight of my body I did not know. It might be barely caught upon the very outer verge of the roof, so that as my body swung out at the end of the strap it would slip off and launch me to the pavement a thousand feet below. An instant I hesitated, and then, releasing my grasp upon the supporting ornament, I swung out into space at the end of the strap. Far below me lay the brilliantly lightedstreets,thehardpavements,anddeath. Therewas alittlejerkatthetopofthesupportingeaves,andanasty
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slipping, grating sound which turned me cold with apprehension; then the hook caught and I was safe. Clambering quickly aloft I grasped the edge of the eaves and drew myself to the surface of the roof above. As I gained my feet I was confronted by the sentry on duty, into the muzzle of whose revolver I found myself looking. “Who are you and whence came you?” he cried. “Iamanairscout,friend,andverynearadeadone,for just by the merest chance I escaped falling to the avenue below,” I replied. “But how came you upon the roof, man? No one has landed or come up from the building for the past hour. Quick, explain yourself, or I call the guard.” “Look you here, sentry, and you shall see how I came and how close a shave I had to not coming at all,” I answered, turning toward the edge of the roof, where, twenty feet below, at the end of my strap, hung all my weapons. The fellow, acting on impulse of curiosity, stepped to my side and to his undoing, for as he leaned to peer over the eaves I grasped him by his throat and his pistol arm
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and threw him heavily to the roof. The weapon dropped from his grasp, and my ?ngers choked off his attempted cry for assistance. I gagged and bound him and then hunghimovertheedgeoftheroofasImyselfhadhunga few moments before. I knew it would be morning before he would be discovered, and I needed all the time that I could gain. Donning my trappings and weapons I hastened to the sheds, and soon had out both my machine and Kantos Kan’s. Making his fast behind mine I started my engine, andskimmingovertheedgeoftheroofIdovedowninto the streets of the city far below the plane usually occupied by the air patrol. In less than a minute I was settling safely upon the roof of our apartment beside the astonished Kantos Kan. Ilostnotimeinexplanation,butplungedimmediately intoadiscussionofourplansfortheimmediatefuture. It wasdecidedthatIwastotrytomakeHeliumwhileKantos Kan was to enter the palace and dispatch Sab Than. If successful he was then to follow me. He set my compassforme,acleverlittledevicewhichwillremainsteadfastly ?xed upon any given point on the surface of Barsoom, and bidding each other farewell we rose together and sped in the direction of the palace which lay in the
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route which I must take to reach Helium. As we neared the high tower a patrol shot down from above, throwing its piercing searchlight full upon my craft, and a voice roared out a command to halt, following with a shot as I paid no attention to his hail. Kantos Kan dropped quickly into the darkness, while I rose steadily and at terri?c speed raced through the Martian sky followed by a dozen of the air-scout craft which had joined the pursuit, and later by a swift cruiser carrying a hundred men and a battery of rapid-?re guns. By twisting and turning my little machine, now rising and now falling,Imanagedtoeludetheirsearch-lightsmostofthe time,butIwasalsolosinggroundbythesetactics,andso Idecidedtohazardeverythingonastraight-awaycourse and leave the result to fate and the speed of my machine. Kantos Kan had shown me a trick of gearing, which is knownonlytothenavyofHelium,thatgreatlyincreased the speed of our machines, so that I felt sure I could distance my pursuers if I could dodge their projectiles for a few moments. As I sped through the air the screeching of the bullets around me convinced me that only by a miracle could I escape, but the die was cast, and throwing on full speed
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I raced a straight course toward Helium. Gradually I left my pursuers further and further behind, and I was just congratulating myself on my lucky escape, when a welldirectedshotfromthecruiserexplodedattheprowofmy little craft. The concussion nearly capsized her, and with a sickening plunge she hurtled downward through the dark night. HowfarIfellbeforeIregainedcontroloftheplaneIdo not know, but I must have been very close to the ground whenIstartedtoriseagain,asIplainlyheardthesquealingofanimalsbelowme. RisingagainIscannedtheheavens for my pursuers, and ?nally making out their lights far behind me, saw that they were landing, evidently in search of me. Not until their lights were no longer discernible did I venture to ?ash my little lamp upon my compass, and then I found to my consternation that a fragment of the projectile had utterly destroyed my only guide, as well as my speedometer. It was true I could follow the stars in the general direction of Helium, but without knowing the exact location of the city or the speed at which I was traveling my chances for ?nding it were slim. Helium lies a thousand miles southwest of Zodanga,
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and with my compass intact I should have made the trip, barring accidents, in between four and ?ve hours. As it turned out, however, morning found me speeding over a vast expanse of dead sea bottom after nearly six hours of continuous ?ight at high speed. Presently a great city showed below me, but it was not Helium, as that alone of all Barsoomian metropolises consists in two immense circular walled cities about seventy-?ve miles apart and would have been easily distinguishable from the altitude at which I was ?ying. BelievingthatIhadcometoofartothenorthandwest, Iturnedbackinasoutheasterlydirection,passingduring the forenoon several other large cities, but none resembling the description which Kantos Kan had given me of Helium. Inadditiontothetwin-cityformationofHelium, another distinguishing feature is the two immense towers, one of vivid scarlet rising nearly a mile into the air from the center of one of the cities, while the other, of bright yellow and of the same height, marks her sister.
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TARS TARKAS FINDS A FRIEND ABOUT noon I passed low over a great dead city of ancient Mars, and as I skimmed out across the plain beyondIcamefulluponseveralthousandgreenwarriors engagedinaterri?cbattle. ScarcelyhadIseenthemthan a volley of shots was directed at me, and with the almostunfailingaccuracyoftheiraimmylittlecraftwasinstantly a ruined wreck, sinking erratically to the ground. I fell almost directly in the center of the ?erce combat, amongwarriorswhohadnotseenmyapproachsobusily were they engaged in life and death struggles. The men
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were ?ghting on foot with long-swords, while an occasional shot from a sharpshooter on the outskirts of the con?ict would bring down a warrior who might for an instant separate himself from the entangled mass. AsmymachinesankamongthemIrealizedthatitwas ?ghtordie,withgoodchancesofdyinginanyevent,and so I struck the ground with drawn long-sword ready to defend myself as I could. I fell beside a huge monster who was engaged with three antagonists, and as I glanced at his ?erce face, ?lled with the light of battle, I recognized Tars Tarkas the Thark. He did not see me, as I was a tri?e behind him, andjustthenthethreewarriorsopposinghim,andwhom I recognized as Warhoons, charged simultaneously. The mighty fellow made quick work of one of them, but in stepping back for another thrust he fell over a dead body behindhimandwasdownandatthemercyofhisfoesin an instant. Quick as lightning they were upon him, and Tars Tarkas would have been gathered to his fathers in shortorderhadInotsprungbeforehisprostrateformand engagedhisadversaries. Ihadaccountedforoneofthem whenthemightyTharkregainedhisfeetandquicklysettled the other.
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He gave me one look, and a slight smile touched his grim lip as, touching my shoulder, he said, “Iwouldscarcelyrecognizeyou,JohnCarter,butthere is no other mortal upon Barsoom who would have done what you have for me. I think I have learned that there is such a thing as friendship, my friend.” He said no more, nor was there opportunity, for the Warhoons were closing in about us, and together we fought, shoulder to shoulder, during all that long, hot afternoon,untilthetideofbattleturnedandtheremnantof the ?erce Warhoon horde fell back upon their thoats, and ?ed into the gathering darkness. Ten thousand men had been engaged in that titanic struggle, and upon the ?eld of battle lay three thousand dead. Neither side asked or gave quarter, nor did they attempt to take prisoners. On our return to the city after the battle we had gone directly to Tars Tarkas’ quarters, where I was left alone whilethechieftainattendedthecustomarycouncilwhich immediately follows an engagement. As I sat awaiting the return of the green warrior I heard something move in an adjoining apartment, and as I glanced up there rushed suddenly upon me a huge
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and hideous creature which bore me backward upon the pile of silks and furs upon which I had been reclining. It wasWoola–faithful,lovingWoola. Hehadfoundhisway back to Thark and, as Tars Tarkas later told me, had gone immediately to my former quarters where he had taken up his pathetic and seemingly hopeless watch for my return. “Tal Hajus knows that you are here, John Carter,” said Tars Tarkas, on his return from the jeddak’s quarters; “Sarkoja saw and recognized you as we were returning. TalHajushasorderedmetobringyoubeforehimtonight. I have ten thoats, John Carter; you may take your choice fromamongthem,andIwillaccompanyyoutothenearest waterway that leads to Helium. Tars Tarkas may be a cruelgreenwarrior,buthecanbeafriendaswell. Come, we must start.” “And when you return, Tars Tarkas?” I asked. “The wild calots, possibly, or worse,” he replied. “Unless I should chance to have the opportunity I have so long waited of battling with Tal Hajus.” “We will stay, Tars Tarkas, and see Tal Hajus tonight. Youshallnotsacri?ceyourself,anditmaybethattonight you can have the chance you wait.”
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He objected strenuously, saying that Tal Hajus often ?ew into wild ?ts of passion at the mere thought of the blow I had dealt him, and that if ever he laid his hands upon me I would be subjected to the most horrible tortures. While we were eating I repeated to Tars Tarkas the storywhichSolahadtoldmethatnightupontheseabottom during the march to Thark. He said but little, but the great muscles of his face workedinpassionandinagonyatrecollectionofthehorrors which had been heaped upon the only thing he had ever loved in all his cold, cruel, terrible existence. He no longer demurred when I suggested that we go before Tal Hajus, only saying that he would like to speak to Sarkoja ?rst. At his request I accompanied him to her quarters, and the look of venomous hatred she cast upon me was almost adequate recompense for any future misfortunes this accidental return to Thark might bring me. “Sarkoja,” said Tars Tarkas, “forty years ago you were instrumental in bringing about the torture and death of a woman named Gozava. I have just discovered that the warrior who loved that woman has learned of your part in the transaction. He may not kill you, Sarkoja, it is not
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ourcustom,butthereisnothingtopreventhimtyingone end of a strap about your neck and the other end to a wildthoat,merelytotestyour?tnesstosurviveandhelp perpetuate our race. Having heard that he would do this on the morrow, I thought it only right to warn you, for I am a just man. The river Iss is but a short pilgrimage, Sarkoja. Come, John Carter.” The next morning Sarkoja was gone, nor was she ever seen after. In silence we hastened to the jeddak’s palace, where we were immediately admitted to his presence; in fact, he could scarcely wait to see me and was standing erect uponhisplatformgloweringattheentranceasIcamein. “Strap him to that pillar,” he shrieked. “We shall see whoitisdaresstrikethemightyTalHajus. Heattheirons; with my own hands I shall burn the eyes from his head that he may not pollute my person with his vile gaze.” “Chieftains of Thark,” I cried, turning to the assembled council and ignoring Tal Hajus, “I have been a chief among you, and today I have fought for Thark shoulder to shoulder with her greatest warrior. You owe me, at least, a hearing. I have won that much today. You claim to be a just people–”
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“Silence,”roaredTalHajus. “Gagthecreatureandbind him as I command.” “Justice, Tal Hajus,” exclaimed Lorquas Ptomel. “Who are you to set aside the customs of ages among the Tharks.” “Yes,justice!” echoedadozenvoices,andso,whileTal Hajus fumed and frothed, I continued. “You are a brave people and you love bravery, but where was your mighty jeddak during the ?ghting today? I did not see him in the thick of battle; he was not there. He rends defenseless women and little children in his lair, but how recently has one of you seen him ?ght with men? Why, even I, a midget beside him, felled him with a single blow of my ?st. Is it of such that the Tharks fashion their jeddaks? There stands beside me now a great Thark, a mighty warrior and a noble man. Chieftains, how sounds, Tars Tarkas, Jeddak of Thark?” Aroarofdeep-tonedapplausegreetedthissuggestion. “It but remains for this council to command, and Tal Hajusmustprovehis?tnesstorule. Wereheabraveman he would invite Tars Tarkas to combat, for he does not love him, but Tal Hajus is afraid; Tal Hajus, your jeddak,
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is a coward. With my bare hands I could kill him, and he knows it.” After I ceased there was tense silence, as all eyes were riveted upon Tal Hajus. He did not speak or move, but theblotchygreenofhiscountenanceturnedlivid,andthe froth froze upon his lips. “Tal Hajus,” saidLorquas Ptomel in a cold, hard voice, “never in my long life have I seen a jeddak of the Tharks so humiliated. There could be but one answer to this arraignment. We wait it.” And still Tal Hajus stood as though petri?ed. “Chieftains,”continuedLorquasPtomel,“shallthejeddak,TalHajus,provehis?tnesstoruleoverTarsTarkas?” There were twenty chieftains about the rostrum, and twenty swords ?ashed high in assent. There was no alternative. That decree was ?nal, and so Tal Hajus drew his long-sword and advanced to meet Tars Tarkas. The combat was soon over, and, with his foot upon the neck of the dead monster, Tars Tarkas became jeddak among the Tharks.
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His ?rst act was to make me a full-?edged chieftain with the rank I had won by my combats the ?rst few weeks of my captivity among them. Seeingthefavorabledispositionofthewarriorstoward Tars Tarkas, as well as toward me, I grasped the opportunity to enlist them in my cause against Zodanga. I told Tars Tarkas the story of my adventures, and in a few words had explained to him the thought I had in mind. “JohnCarterhasmadeaproposal,”hesaid,addressing thecouncil, “whichmeetswithmysanction. Ishallputit to you brie?y. Dejah Thoris, the Princess of Helium, who was our prisoner, is now held by the jeddak of Zodanga, whosesonshemustwedtosavehercountryfromdevastation at the hands of the Zodangan forces. “John Carter suggests that we rescue her and return her to Helium. The loot of Zodanga would be magnificent, and I have often thought that had we an alliance with the people of Helium we could obtain suf?cient assuranceofsustenancetopermitustoincreasethesizeand frequencyofourhatchings,andthusbecomeunquestionablysupremeamongthegreenmenofallBarsoom. What say you?” It was a chance to ?ght, an opportunity to loot, and
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they rose to the bait as a speckled trout to a ?y. For Tharks they were wildly enthusiastic, and before another half hour had passed twenty mounted messengers were speeding across dead sea bottoms to call the hordes together for the expedition. In three days we were on the march toward Zodanga, one hundred thousand strong, as Tars Tarkas had been able to enlist the services of three smaller hordes on the promise of the great loot of Zodanga. AttheheadofthecolumnIrodebesidethegreatThark whileattheheelsofmymounttrottedmybelovedWoola. We traveled entirely by night, timing our marches so that we camped during the day at deserted cities where, even to the beasts, we were all kept indoors during the daylight hours. On the march Tars Tarkas, through his remarkableabilityandstatesmanship,enlisted?ftythousandmorewarriorsfromvarioushordes,sothat,tendays after we set out we halted at midnight outside the great walled city of Zodanga, one hundred and ?fty thousand strong. The ?ghting strength and ef?ciency of this horde of ferocious green monsters was equivalent to ten times their number of red men. Never in the history of Barsoom,
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Tars Tarkas told me, had such a force of green warriors marched to battle together. It was a monstrous task to keep even a semblance of harmony among them, and it wasamarveltomethathegotthemtothecitywithouta mighty battle among themselves. ButaswenearedZodangatheirpersonalquarrelswere submerged by their greater hatred for the red men, and especially for the Zodangans, who had for years waged a ruthless campaign of extermination against the green men, directing special attention toward despoiling their incubators. Now that we were before Zodanga the task of obtainingentrytothecitydevolveduponme,anddirectingTars Tarkas to hold his forces in two divisions out of earshot of the city, with each division opposite a large gateway, I took twenty dismounted warriors and approached one ofthesmallgatesthatpiercedthewallsatshortintervals. These gates have no regular guard, but are covered by sentries,whopatroltheavenuethatencirclesthecityjust within the walls as our metropolitan police patrol their beats. The walls of Zodanga are seventy-?ve feet in height and ?fty feet thick. They are built of enormous blocks of
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carborundum,andthetaskofenteringthecityseemed,to myescortofgreenwarriors,animpossibility. Thefellows who had been detailed to accompany me were of one of the smaller hordes, and therefore did not know me. Placing three of them with their faces to the wall and arms locked, I commanded two more to mount to their shoulders, and a sixth I ordered to climb upon the shoulders of the upper two. The head of the topmost warrior towered over forty feet from the ground. In this way, with ten warriors, I built a series of three steps from the ground to the shoulders of the topmost man. Then starting from a short distance behind them I ran swiftly up from one tier to the next, and with a ?nal boundfromthebroadshouldersofthehighestIclutched the top of the great wall and quietly drew myself to its broad expanse. After me I dragged six lengths of leather from an equal number of my warriors. These lengths we hadpreviouslyfastenedtogether,andpassingoneendto the topmost warrior I lowered the other end cautiously over the opposite side of the wall toward the avenue below. No one was in sight, so, lowering myself to the end ofmyleatherstrap,Idroppedtheremainingthirtyfeetto the pavement below.
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I had learned from Kantos Kan the secret of opening these gates, and in another moment my twenty great ?ghting men stood within the doomed city of Zodanga. I found to my delight that I had entered at the lower boundary of the enormous palace grounds. The building itselfshowedinthedistanceablazeofgloriouslight,and on the instant I determined to lead a detachment of warriorsdirectlywithinthepalaceitself,whilethebalanceof thegreathordewasattackingthebarracksofthesoldiery. Dispatching one of my men to Tars Tarkas for a detail of ?fty Tharks, with word of my intentions, I ordered ten warriorstocaptureandopenoneofthegreatgateswhile with the nine remaining I took the other. We were to do ourworkquietly,noshotsweretobe?redandnogeneral advancemadeuntilIhadreachedthepalacewithmy?fty Tharks. Ourplansworkedtoperfection. Thetwosentries we met were dispatched to their fathers upon the banks of the lost sea of Korus, and the guards at both gates followed them in silence.
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THE LOOTING OF ZODANGA AS the great gate where I stood swung open my ?fty Tharks,headedbyTarsTarkashimself,rodeinupon their mighty thoats. I led them to the palace walls, which I negotiated easily without assistance. Once inside, however, the gate gave me considerable trouble, but I ?nally was rewarded by seeing it swing upon its huge hinges, and soon my ?erce escort was riding across the gardens of the jeddak of Zodanga. As we approached the palace I could see through the greatwindowsofthe?rst?oorintothebrilliantlyillumi
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natedaudiencechamberofThanKosis. Theimmensehall was crowded with nobles and their women, as though some important function was in progress. There was not a guard in sight without the palace, due, I presume, to the fact that the city and palace walls were considered impregnable, and so I came close and peered within. At one end of the chamber, upon massive golden thronesencrustedwithdiamonds,satThanKosisandhis consort, surrounded by of?cers and dignitaries of state. Before them stretched a broad aisle lined on either side with soldiery, and as I looked there entered this aisle at thefarendofthehall,theheadofaprocessionwhichadvanced to the foot of the throne. First there marched four of?cers of the jeddak’s Guard bearing a huge salver on which reposed, upon a cushion of scarlet silk, a great golden chain with a collar and padlock at each end. Directly behind these of?cers came fourotherscarryingasimilarsalverwhichsupportedthe magni?cent ornaments of a prince and princess of the reigning house of Zodanga. At the foot of the throne these two parties separated and halted, facing each other at opposite sides of the aisle. Then came more dignitaries, and the of?cers of the
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palace and of the army, and ?nally two ?gures entirely muf?ed in scarlet silk, so that not a feature of either was discernible. These two stopped at the foot of the throne, facing Than Kosis. When the balance of the procession had entered and assumed their stations Than Kosis addressed the couple standing before him. I could not hear his words, but presently two of?cers advanced and removed the scarlet robe from one of the ?gures, and I saw that Kantos Kan had failed in his mission, for it was Sab Than, Prince of Zodanga, who stood revealed before me. ThanKosisnowtookasetoftheornamentsfromoneof thesalversandplacedoneofthecollarsofgoldabouthis son’s neck, springing the padlock fast. After a few more words addressed to Sab Than he turned to the other ?gure, from which the of?cers now removed the enshrouding silks, disclosing to my now comprehending view Dejah Thoris, Princess of Helium. The object of the ceremony was clear to me; in another moment Dejah Thoris would be joined forever to the Prince of Zodanga. It was an impressive and beautiful ceremony, I presume, but to me it seemed the most ?endish sight I had ever witnessed, and as the ornaments were adjusted upon her beautiful ?gure and her collar of gold swung open in the hands of Than Kosis
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I raised my long-sword above my head, and, with the heavy hilt, I shattered the glass of the great window and sprangintothemidstoftheastonishedassemblage. With a bound I was on the steps of the platform beside Than Kosis,andashestoodrivetedwithsurpriseIbroughtmy long-sworddownuponthegoldenchainthatwouldhave bound Dejah Thoris to another. In an instant all was confusion; a thousand drawn swords menaced me from every quarter, and Sab Than sprang upon me with a jeweled dagger he had drawn from his nuptial ornaments. I could have killed him as easily as I might a ?y, but the age-old custom of Barsoom stayed my hand, and grasping his wrist as the dagger ?ew toward my heart I held him as though in a vise and with my long-sword pointed to the far end of the hall. “Zodanga has fallen,” I cried. “Look!” All eyes turned in the direction I had indicated, and there, forging through the portals of the entranceway rode Tars Tarkas and his ?fty warriors on their great thoats. A cry of alarm and amazement broke from the assemblage, but no word of fear, and in a moment the soldiers andnoblesofZodangawerehurlingthemselvesuponthe
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advancing Tharks. Thrusting Sab Than headlong from the platform, I drew Dejah Thoris to my side. Behind the throne was a narrow doorway and in this Than Kosis now stood facing me, with drawn long-sword. In an instant we were engaged, and I found no mean antagonist. As we circled upon the broad platform I saw Sab Than rushingupthestepstoaidhisfather,but,asheraisedhis hand to strike, Dejah Thoris sprang before him and then my sword found the spot that made Sab Than jeddak of Zodanga. As his father rolled dead upon the ?oor the new jeddak tore himself free from Dejah Thoris’ grasp, and again we faced each other. He was soon joined by a quartet of of?cers, and, with my back against a golden throne, I fought once again for Dejah Thoris. I was hard pressed to defend myself and yet not strike down Sab Than and, with him, my last chance to win the woman I loved. My blade was swinging with the rapidity of lightning as I sought to parry the thrusts and cuts of my opponents. Two I had disarmed, and one was down, when several more rushed to the aid of their new ruler, and to avenge the death of the old. Astheyadvancedtherewerecriesof“Thewoman! The
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woman! Strikeherdown;itisherplot. Killher! Killher!” Calling to Dejah Thoris to get behind me I worked my waytowardthelittledoorwaybackofthethrone,butthe of?cers realized my intentions, and three of them sprang in behind me and blocked my chances for gaining a position where I could have defended Dejah Thoris against an army of swordsmen. The Tharks were having their hands full in the center of the room, and I began to realize that nothing short of a miracle could save Dejah Thoris and myself, when I saw Tars Tarkas surging through the crowd of pygmies that swarmed about him. With one swing of his mighty longsword he laid a dozen corpses at his feet, and so he hewedapathwaybeforehimuntilinanothermomenthe stood upon the platform beside me, dealing death and destruction right and left. The bravery of the Zodangans was awe-inspiring, not one attempted to escape, and when the ?ghting ceased it wasbecauseonlyTharksremainedaliveinthegreathall, other than Dejah Thoris and myself. Sab Than lay dead beside his father, and the corpses of the?owerofZodangannobilityandchivalrycoveredthe ?oor of the bloody shambles.
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My?rstthoughtwhenthebattlewasoverwasforKantosKan,andleavingDejahThorisinchargeofTarsTarkas Itookadozenwarriorsandhastenedtothedungeonsbeneath the palace. The jailers had all left to join the ?ghters in the throne room, so we searched the labyrinthine prison without opposition. IcalledKantosKan’snamealoudineachnewcorridor andcompartment,and?nallyIwasrewardedbyhearing a faint response. Guided by the sound, we soon found him helpless in a dark recess. Hewasoverjoyedatseeingme,andtoknowthemeaning of the ?ght, faint echoes of which had reached his prison cell. He told me that the air patrol had captured him before he reached the high tower of the palace, so that he had not even seen Sab Than. We discovered that it would be futile to attempt to cut away the bars and chains which held him prisoner, so, at hissuggestionIreturnedtosearchthebodiesonthe?oor above for keys to open the padlocks of his cell and of his chains. Fortunately among the ?rst I examined I found his jailer, and soon we had Kantos Kan with us in the throne room.
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The sounds of heavy ?ring, mingled with shouts and cries, came to us from the city’s streets, and Tars Tarkas hastenedawaytodirectthe?ghtingwithout. KantosKan accompaniedhimtoactasguide,thegreenwarriorscommencingathoroughsearchofthepalaceforotherZodangans and for loot, and Dejah Thoris and I were left alone. She had sunk into one of the golden thrones, and as I turned to her she greeted me with a wan smile. “Was there ever such a man!” she exclaimed. “I know that Barsoom has never before seen your like. Can it be that all Earth men are as you? Alone, a stranger, hunted, threatened, persecuted, you have done in a few short months what in all the past ages of Barsoom no man has everdone: joinedtogetherthewildhordesoftheseabottoms and brought them to ?ght as allies of a red Martian people.” “The answer is easy, Dejah Thoris,” I replied smiling. “ItwasnotIwhodidit,itwaslove,loveforDejahThoris, a power that would work greater miracles than this you have seen.” A pretty ?ush overspread her face and she answered, “You may say that now, John Carter, and I may listen, for I am free.”
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“And more still I have to say, ere it is again too late,” I returned. “I have done many strange things in my life, many things that wiser men would not have dared, but never in my wildest fancies have I dreamed of winning a Dejah Thoris for myself–for never had I dreamed that in all the universe dwelt such a woman as the Princess of Helium. That you are a princess does not abash me, but that you are you is enough to make me doubt my sanity as I ask you, my princess, to be mine.” “He does not need to be abashed who so well knew the answer to his plea before the plea were made,” she replied, rising and placing her dear hands upon my shoulders, and so I took her in my arms and kissed her. And thus in the midst of a city of wild con?ict, ?lled with the alarms of war; with death and destruction reaping their terrible harvest around her, did Dejah Thoris, Princess of Helium, true daughter of Mars, the God of War, promise herself in marriage to John Carter, Gentleman of Virginia.
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THROUGH CARNAGE TO JOY SOMETIME later Tars Tarkas and Kantos Kan returned toreportthatZodangahadbeencompletelyreduced. Her forces were entirely destroyed or captured, and no further resistance was to be expected from within. Severalbattleshipshadescaped,buttherewerethousandsof warandmerchantvesselsunderguardofTharkwarriors. Thelesserhordeshadcommencedlootingandquarreling among themselves, so it was decided that we collect whatwarriorswecould,manasmanyvesselsaspossible
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with Zodangan prisoners and make for Helium without further loss of time. Five hours later we sailed from the roofs of the dock buildings with a ?eet of two hundred and ?fty battleships, carrying nearly one hundred thousand green warriors, followed by a ?eet of transports with our thoats. Behindusweleftthestrickencityinthe?erceandbrutal clutches of some forty thousand green warriors of the lesser hordes. They were looting, murdering, and ?ghting amongst themselves. In a hundred places they had applied the torch, and columns of dense smoke were rising above the city as though to blot out from the eye of heaven the horrid sights beneath. In the middle of the afternoon we sighted the scarlet and yellow towers of Helium, and a short time later a great ?eet of Zodangan battleships rose from the camps of the besiegers without the city, and advanced to meet us. The banners of Helium had been strung from stem to stern of each of our mighty craft, but the Zodangans did not need this sign to realize that we were enemies, for our green Martian warriors had opened ?re upon them almostastheylefttheground. Withtheiruncannymarks
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manship they raked the on-coming ?eet with volley after volley. The twin cities of Helium, perceiving that we were friends, sent out hundreds of vessels to aid us, and then began the ?rst real air battle I had ever witnessed. The vessels carrying our green warriors were kept circling above the contending ?eets of Helium and Zodanga, since their batteries were useless in the hands of the Tharks who, having no navy, have no skill in naval gunnery. Their small-arm ?re, however, was most effective, and the ?nal outcome of the engagement was strongly in?uenced, if not wholly determined, by their presence. At?rstthetwoforcescircledatthesamealtitude,pouring broadside after broadside into each other. Presently a greatholewastorninthehullofoneoftheimmensebattlecraftfromtheZodangancamp;withalurchsheturned completely over, the little ?gures of her crew plunging, turning and twisting toward the ground a thousand feet below; then with sickening velocity she tore after them, almost completely burying herself in the soft loam of the ancient sea bottom. A wild cry of exultation arose from the Heliumite
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squadron, and with redoubled ferocity they fell upon the Zodangan ?eet. By a pretty maneuver two of the vessels of Helium gained a position above their adversaries, fromwhichtheypoureduponthemfromtheirkeelbomb batteries a perfect torrent of exploding bombs. Then, one by one, the battleships of Helium succeeded inrisingabovetheZodangans,andinashorttimeanumberofthebeleagueringbattleshipsweredriftinghopeless wrecks toward the high scarlet tower of greater Helium. Several others attempted to escape, but they were soon surrounded by thousands of tiny individual ?iers, and aboveeachhungamonsterbattleshipofHeliumreadyto drop boarding parties upon their decks. Within but little more than an hour from the moment the victorious Zodangan squadron had risen to meet us from the camp of the besiegers the battle was over, and the remaining vessels of the conquered Zodangans were headed toward the cities of Helium under prize crews. There was an extremely pathetic side to the surrender of these mighty ?iers, the result of an age-old custom which demanded that surrender should be signalized by the voluntary plunging to earth of the commander of the vanquished vessel. One after another the brave fellows,
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holding their colors high above their heads, leaped from thetoweringbowsoftheirmightycrafttoanawfuldeath. Not until the commander of the entire ?eet took the fearful plunge, thus indicating the surrender of the remaining vessels, did the ?ghting cease, and the useless sacri?ce of brave men come to an end. We now signaled the ?agship of Helium’s navy to approach,andwhenshewaswithinhailingdistanceIcalled out that we had the Princess Dejah Thoris on board, and that we wished to transfer her to the ?agship that she might be taken immediately to the city. As the full import of my announcement bore in upon themagreatcryarosefromthedecksofthe?agship,and amomentlaterthecolorsofthePrincessofHeliumbroke from a hundred points upon her upper works. When the other vessels of the squadron caught the meaning of the signals ?ashed them they took up the wild acclaim and unfurled her colors in the gleaming sunlight. The ?agship bore down upon us, and as she swung gracefullytoandtouchedoursideadozenof?cerssprang upon our decks. As their astonished gaze fell upon the hundreds of green warriors, who now came forth from the ?ghting shelters, they stopped aghast, but at sight of
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Kantos Kan, who advanced to meet them, they came forward, crowding about him. Dejah Thoris and I then advanced, and they had no eyesforotherthanher. Shereceivedthemgracefully,calling each by name, for they were men high in the esteem and service of her grandfather, and she knew them well. “Lay your hands upon the shoulder of John Carter,” she said to them, turning toward me, “the man to whom Helium owes her princess as well as her victory today.” They were very courteous to me and said many kind and complimentary things, but what seemed to impress themmostwasthatIhadwontheaidofthe?erceTharks in my campaign for the liberation of Dejah Thoris, and the relief of Helium. “You owe your thanks more to another man than to me,”Isaid,“andhereheis;meetoneofBarsoom’sgreatestsoldiersandstatesmen,TarsTarkas,JeddakofThark.” Withthesamepolishedcourtesythathadmarkedtheir manner toward me they extended their greetings to the great Thark, nor, to my surprise, was he much behind them in ease of bearing or in courtly speech. Though not a garrulous race, the Tharks are extremely formal, and
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their ways lend themselves amazingly to digni?ed and courtly manners. Dejah Thoris went aboard the ?agship, and was much putoutthatIwouldnotfollow,but,asIexplainedtoher, thebattlewasbutpartlywon;westillhadthelandforces of the besieging Zodangans to account for, and I would not leave Tars Tarkas until that had been accomplished. The commander of the naval forces of Helium promised to arrange to have the armies of Helium attack from the city in conjunction with our land attack, and so the vessels separated and Dejah Thoris was borne in triumph back to the court of her grandfather, Tardos Mors, Jeddak of Helium. In the distance lay our ?eet of transports, with the thoats of the green warriors, where they had remained during the battle. Without landing stages it was to be a dif?cult matter to unload these beasts upon the open plain,buttherewasnothingelseforit,andsoweputout for a point about ten miles from the city and began the task. It was necessary to lower the animals to the ground in slings and this work occupied the remainder of the day and half the night. Twice we were attacked by parties of
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Zodangan cavalry, but with little loss, however, and after darkness shut down they withdrew. As soon as the last thoat was unloaded Tars Tarkas gave the command to advance, and in three parties we creptupontheZodangancampfromthenorth,thesouth and the east. Aboutamilefromthemaincampweencounteredtheir outposts and, as had been prearranged, accepted this as the signal to charge. With wild, ferocious cries and amidst the nasty squealing of battle-enraged thoats we bore down upon the Zodangans. We did not catch them napping, but found a wellentrenched battle line confronting us. Time after time we were repulsed until, toward noon, I began to fear for the result of the battle. The Zodangans numbered nearly a million ?ghting men,gatheredfrompoletopole,whereverstretchedtheir ribbon-like waterways, while pitted against them were less than a hundred thousand green warriors. The forces from Helium had not arrived, nor could we receive any word from them. Just at noon we heard heavy ?ring all along the line betweentheZodangansandthecities,andweknewthen
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that our much-needed reinforcements had come. Again Tars Tarkas ordered the charge, and once more the mighty thoats bore their terrible riders against the ramparts of the enemy. At the same moment the battle line of Helium surged over the opposite breastworks of the Zodangans and in another moment they were being crushed as between two millstones. Nobly they fought, but in vain. The plain before the city became a veritable shambles erethelastZodangansurrendered,but?nallythecarnage ceased, the prisoners were marched back to Helium, and weenteredthegreatercity’sgates,ahugetriumphalprocession of conquering heroes. The broad avenues were lined with women and children, among which were the few men whose duties necessitatedthattheyremainwithinthecityduringthebattle. We were greeted with an endless round of applause and showered with ornaments of gold, platinum, silver, and precious jewels. The city had gone mad with joy. My?erceTharkscausedthewildestexcitementandenthusiasm. NeverbeforehadanarmedbodyofgreenwarriorsenteredthegatesofHelium,andthattheycamenow as friends and allies ?lled the red men with rejoicing.
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That my poor services to Dejah Thoris had become known to the Heliumites was evidenced by the loud cryingofmyname,andbytheloadsofornamentsthatwere fastened upon me and my huge thoat as we passed up the avenues to the palace, for even in the face of the ferocious appearance of Woola the populace pressed close about me. As we approached this magni?cent pile we were met by a party of of?cers who greeted us warmly and requestedthatTarsTarkasandhisjedswiththejeddaksand jedsofhiswildallies,togetherwithmyself,dismountand accompany them to receive from Tardos Mors an expression of his gratitude for our services. Atthetopofthegreatstepsleadinguptothemainportalsofthepalacestoodtheroyalparty,andaswereached the lower steps one of their number descended to meet us. He was an almost perfect specimen of manhood; tall, straight as an arrow, superbly muscled and with the carriage and bearing of a ruler of men. I did not need to be told that he was Tardos Mors, Jeddak of Helium. The ?rst member of our party he met was Tars Tarkas and his ?rst words sealed forever the new friendship be
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tween the races. “That Tardos Mors,” he said, earnestly, “may meet the greatest living warrior of Barsoom is a priceless honor, but that he may lay his hand on the shoulder of a friend and ally is a far greater boon.” “Jeddak of Helium,” returned Tars Tarkas, “it has remained for a man of another world to teach the green warriors of Barsoom the meaning of friendship; to him we owe the fact that the hordes of Thark can understand you; that they can appreciate and reciprocate the sentiments so graciously expressed.” Tardos Mors then greeted each of the green jeddaks and jeds, and to each spoke words of friendship and appreciation. As he approached me he laid both hands upon my shoulders. “Welcome, my son,” he said; “that you are granted, gladly,andwithoutonewordofopposition,themostpreciousjewelinallHelium,yes,onallBarsoom,issuf?cient earnest of my esteem.” We were then presented to Mors Kajak, Jed of lesser Helium, and father of Dejah Thoris. He had followed
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closebehindTardosMorsandseemedevenmoreaffected by the meeting than had his father. He tried a dozen times to express his gratitude to me, but his voice choked with emotion and he could not speak, and yet he had, as I was to later learn, a reputation for ferocity and fearlessness as a ?ghter that was remarkable even upon warlike Barsoom. In common with allHeliumheworshipedhisdaughter,norcouldhethink of what she had escaped without deep emotion.
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FROM JOY TO DEATH FOR ten days the hordes of Thark and their wild allies were feasted and entertained, and, then, loaded with costly presents and escorted by ten thousand soldiers of Helium commanded by Mors Kajak, they started on the return journey to their own lands. The jed of lesser Helium with a small party of nobles accompanied them all the way to Thark to cement more closely the new bonds of peace and friendship. Sola also accompanied Tars Tarkas, her father, who beforeallhischieftainshadacknowledgedherashisdaugh
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ter. Three weeks later, Mors Kajak and his of?cers, accompanied by Tars Tarkas and Sola, returned upon a battleship that had been dispatched to Thark to fetch them in timefortheceremonywhichmadeDejahThorisandJohn Carter one. For nine years I served in the councils and fought in the armies of Helium as a prince of the house of Tardos Mors. The people seemed never to tire of heaping honors upon me, and no day passed that did not bring some newproofoftheirloveformyprincess,theincomparable Dejah Thoris. In a golden incubator upon the roof of our palace lay a snow-white egg. For nearly ?ve years ten soldiers of the jeddak’s Guard had constantly stood over it, and not a day passed when I was in the city that Dejah Thoris and I did not stand hand in hand before our little shrine planning for the future, when the delicate shell should break. Vivid in my memory is the picture of the last night as we sat there talking in low tones of the strange romance which had woven our lives together and of this wonder which was coming to augment our happiness and ful?ll
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our hopes. In the distance we saw the bright-white light of an approachingairship,butweattachednospecialsigni?cance to so common a sight. Like a bolt of lightning it raced toward Helium until its very speed bespoke the unusual. Flashing the signals which proclaimed it a dispatch bearer for the jeddak, it circled impatiently awaiting the tardy patrol boat which must convoy it to the palace docks. Ten minutes after it touched at the palace a message called me to the council chamber, which I found ?lling with the members of that body. On the raised platform of the throne was Tardos Mors, pacing back and forth with tense-drawn face. When all were in their seats he turned toward us. “This morning,” he said, “word reached the several governments of Barsoom that the keeper of the atmosphere plant had made no wireless report for two days, nor had almost ceaseless calls upon him from a score of capitals elicited a sign of response. “Theambassadorsoftheothernationsaskedustotake the matter in hand and hasten the assistant keeper to the
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plant. All day a thousand cruisers have been searching for him until just now one of them returns bearing his deadbody,whichwasfoundinthepitsbeneathhishouse horribly mutilated by some assassin. “I do not need to tell you what this means to Barsoom. It would take months to penetrate those mighty walls, in fact the work has already commenced, and there would be little to fear were the engine of the pumping plant to run as it should and as they all have for hundreds of years; but the worst, we fear, has happened. The instrumentsshowarapidlydecreasingairpressureonallparts of Barsoom–the engine has stopped.” “My gentlemen,” he concluded, “we have at best three days to live.” There was absolute silence for several minutes, and thenayoungnoblearose,andwithhisdrawnswordheld high above his head addressed Tardos Mors. “The men of Helium have prided themselves that they have ever shown Barsoom how a nation of red men should live, now is our opportunity to show them how they should die. Let us go about our duties as though a thousand useful years still lay before us.” The chamber rang with applause and as there was
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nothing better to do than to allay the fears of the people by our example we went our ways with smiles upon our faces and sorrow gnawing at our hearts. When I returned to my palace I found that the rumor already had reached Dejah Thoris, so I told her all that I had heard. “Wehavebeenveryhappy,JohnCarter,”shesaid,“and Ithankwhateverfateovertakesusthatitpermitsustodie together.” Thenexttwodaysbroughtnonoticeablechangeinthe supply of air, but on the morning of the third day breathingbecamedif?cultatthehigheraltitudesoftherooftops. The avenues and plazas of Helium were ?lled with people. Allbusinesshadceased. Forthemostpartthepeople looked bravely into the face of their unalterable doom. Here and there, however, men and women gave way to quiet grief. TowardthemiddleofthedaymanyoftheweakercommencedtosuccumbandwithinanhourthepeopleofBarsoom were sinking by thousands into the unconsciousness which precedes death by asphyxiation. DejahThorisandIwiththeothermembersoftheroyal family had collected in a sunken garden within an in
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ner courtyard of the palace. We conversed in low tones, whenweconversedatall,astheaweofthegrimshadow of death crept over us. Even Woola seemed to feel the weight of the impending calamity, for he pressed close to Dejah Thoris and to me, whining pitifully. The little incubator had been brought from the roof of our palace at request of Dejah Thoris and she sat gazing longingly upon the unknown little life that now she would never know. Asitwasbecomingperceptiblydif?culttobreatheTardos Mors arose, saying, “Let us bid each other farewell. The days of the greatness of Barsoom are over. Tomorrow’s sun will look downuponadeadworldwhichthroughalleternitymust go swinging through the heavens peopled not even by memories. It is the end.” He stooped and kissed the women of his family, and laid his strong hand upon the shoulders of the men. As I turned sadly from him my eyes fell upon Dejah Thoris. Her head was drooping upon her breast, to all appearances she was lifeless. With a cry I sprang to her and raised her in my arms.
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Her eyes opened and looked into mine. “Kiss me, John Carter,” she murmured. “I love you! I love you! It is cruel that we must be torn apart who were just starting upon a life of love and happiness.” AsIpressedherdearlipstominetheoldfeelingofunconquerable power and authority rose in me. The ?ghting blood of Virginia sprang to life in my veins. “It shall not be, my princess,” I cried. “There is, there must be some way, and John Carter, who has fought his waythroughastrangeworldforloveofyou,will?ndit.” And with my words there crept above the threshold of myconsciousmindaseriesofninelongforgottensounds. Likea?ashoflightninginthedarknesstheirfullpurport dawned upon me–the key to the three great doors of the atmosphere plant! TurningsuddenlytowardTardosMorsasIstillclasped my dying love to my breast I cried. “A?ier, Jeddak! Quick! Orderyourswiftest ?ierto the palace top. I can save Barsoom yet.” He did not wait to question, but in an instant a guard was racing to the nearest dock and though the air was thin and almost gone at the rooftop they managed to
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launch the fastest one-man, air-scout machine that the skill of Barsoom had ever produced. Kissing Dejah Thoris a dozen times and commanding Woola, who would have followed me, to remain and guard her, I bounded with my old agility and strength to thehighrampartsofthepalace,andinanothermomentI was headed toward the goal of the hopes of all Barsoom. Ihadto?ylowtogetsuf?cientairtobreathe,butItook a straight course across an old sea bottom and so had to rise only a few feet above the ground. I traveled with awful velocity for my errand was a race against time with death. The face of Dejah Thoris hung always before me. As I turned for a last look as I left the palace garden I had seen her stagger and sink upon the ground beside the little incubator. That she had dropped into the last coma which would end in death, if the air supply remained unreplenished, I well knew, and so, throwing caution to the winds, I ?ung overboard everything but the engine and compass, even to my ornaments, and lying on my belly along the deck with one hand on the steering wheel and the other pushing the speed lever to its last notch I split the thin air of dying Mars with the speed of a meteor.
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An hour before dark the great walls of the atmosphere plant loomed suddenly before me, and with a sickening thudIplungedtothegroundbeforethesmalldoorwhich was withholding the spark of life from the inhabitants of an entire planet. Beside the door a great crew of men had been laboringtopiercethewall,buttheyhadscarcelyscratchedthe ?int-like surface, and now most of them lay in the last sleep from which not even air would awaken them. Conditions seemed much worse here than at Helium, and it was with dif?culty that I breathed at all. There were a few men still conscious, and to one of these I spoke. “If I can open these doors is there a man who can start the engines?” I asked. “I can,” he replied, “if you open quickly. I can last but afewmomentsmore. Butitisuseless,theyarebothdead and no one else upon Barsoom knew the secret of these awful locks. For three days men crazed with fear have surgedaboutthisportalinvainattemptstosolveitsmystery.” I had no time to talk, I was becoming very weak and it was with dif?culty that I controlled my mind at all.
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But, with a ?nal effort, as I sank weakly to my knees I hurled the nine thought waves at that awful thing before me. TheMartianhadcrawledtomysideandwithstaring eyes ?xed on the single panel before us we waited in the silence of death. Slowlythemightydoorrecededbeforeus. Iattempted to rise and follow it but I was too weak. “After it,” I cried to my companion, “and if you reach the pump room turn loose all the pumps. It is the only chance Barsoom has to exist tomorrow!” From where I lay I opened the second door, and then the third, and as I saw the hope of Barsoom crawling weakly on hands and knees through the last doorway I sank unconscious upon the ground.
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AT THE ARIZONA CAVE IT wasdark whenI openedmy eyesagain. Strange, stiff garments were upon my body; garments that cracked andpowderedawayfrommeasIrosetoasittingposture. I felt myself over from head to foot and from head to foot I was clothed, though when I fell unconscious at the little doorway I had been naked. Before me was a small patch of moonlit sky which showed through a ragged aperture. As my hands passed over my body they came in contact with pockets and in one of these a small parcel of
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matches wrapped in oiled paper. One of these matches I struck, and its dim ?ame lighted up what appeared to be a huge cave, toward the back of which I discovered a strange, still ?gure huddled over a tiny bench. As I approached it I saw that it was the dead and mummi?ed remains of a little old woman with long black hair, and thethingitleanedoverwasasmallcharcoalburnerupon which rested a round copper vessel containing a small quantity of greenish powder. Behind her, depending from the roof upon rawhide thongs, and stretching entirely across the cave, was a row of human skeletons. From the thong which held them stretched another to the dead hand of the little old woman; as I touched the cord the skeletons swung to the motion with a noise as of the rustling of dry leaves. It was a most grotesque and horrid tableau and I hastened out into the fresh air; glad to escape from so gruesome a place. The sight that met my eyes as I stepped out upon a small ledge which ran before the entrance of the cave ?lled me with consternation. A new heaven and a new landscape met my gaze. The silvered mountains in the distance, the almost stationary
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moon hanging in the sky, the cacti-studded valley below me were not of Mars. I could scarce believe my eyes, but the truth slowly forced itself upon me–I was looking upon Arizona from the same ledge from which ten years before I had gazed with longing upon Mars. BuryingmyheadinmyarmsIturned,broken,andsorrowful, down the trail from the cave. AbovemeshonetheredeyeofMarsholdingherawful secret, forty-eight million miles away. Did the Martian reach the pump room? Did the vitalizing air reach the people of that distant planet in time to savethem? WasmyDejahThorisalive,ordidherbeautifulbodyliecoldindeathbesidethetinygoldenincubator in the sunken garden of the inner courtyard of the palace of Tardos Mors, the jeddak of Helium? For ten years I have waited and prayed for an answer to my questions. For ten years I have waited and prayed to be taken back to the world of my lost love. I would rather lie dead beside her there than live on Earth all those millions of terrible miles from her. The old mine, which I found untouched, has made me fabulously wealthy; but what care I for wealth!
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As I sit here tonight in my little study overlooking the Hudson, just twenty years have elapsed since I ?rst opened my eyes upon Mars. I can see her shining in the sky through the little window by my desk, and tonight she seems calling to me again as she has not called before since that long dead night, and I think I can see, across that awful abyss of space, a beautiful black-haired woman standing in the garden of a palace, and at her side is a little boy who putshisarmaroundherasshepointsintotheskytoward theplanetEarth,whileattheirfeetisahugeandhideous creature with a heart of gold. I believe that they are waiting there for me, and something tells me that I shall soon know.
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