The Warlord of Mars ..........................................................................................................................................1

Edgar Rice Burroughs ..............................................................................................................................1

In the shadows of the forest that flanks the crimson plain by the side of the Lost Sea of Korus in the Valley

Dor, beneath the hurtling moons of Mars, speeding their meteoric way close above the bosom of the dying

planet, I crept stealthily along the trail of a shadowy form that hugged the darker places with a persistency

For six long Martian months I had haunted the vicinity of the hateful Temple of the Sun, within whose

slowrevolving shaft, far beneath the surface of Mars, my princess lay entombed but whether alive or dead

I knew not. Had Phaidor's slim blade found that beloved heart? Time only would reveal the truth.

Six hundred and eightyseven Martian days must come and go before the cell's door would again come

Half of them had passed, or would on the morrow, yet vivid in my memory, obliterating every event that had

come before or after, there remained the last scene before the gust of smoke blinded my eyes and the narrow

slit that had given me sight of the interior of her cell closed between me and the Princess of Helium for a long

As if it were yesterday, I still saw the beautiful face of Phaidor, daughter of Matai Shang, distorted with

jealous rage and hatred as she sprang forward with raised dagger upon the woman I loved.

The smoke from the burning temple had come then to blot out the tragedy, but in my ears rang the single

shriek as the knife fell. Then silence, and when the smoke had cleared, the revolving temple had shut off all

sight or sound from the chamber in which the three beautiful women were imprisoned.

Much there had been to occupy my attention since that terrible moment; but never for an instant had the

memory of the thing faded, and all the time that I could spare from the numerous duties that had devolved

upon me in the reconstruction of the government of the First Born since our victorious fleet and land forces

had overwhelmed them, had been spent close to the grim shaft that held the mother of my boy, Carthoris of

The race of blacks that for ages had worshiped Issus, the false deity of Mars, had been left in a state of chaos

by my revealment of her as naught more than a wicked old woman. In their rage they had torn her to pieces.

From the high pinnacle of their egotism the First Born had been plunged to the depths of humiliation. Their

deity was gone, and with her the whole false fabric of their religion. Their vaunted navy had fallen in defeat

Fierce green warriors from the ocher sea bottoms of outer Mars had ridden their wild thoats across the sacred

gardens of the Temple of Issus, and Tars Tarkas, Jeddak of Thark, fiercest of them all, had sat upon the

throne of Issus and ruled the First Born while the allies were deciding the conquered nation's fate.

Almost unanimous was the request that I ascend the ancient throne of the black men, even the First Born

themselves concurring in it; but I would have none of it. My heart could never be with the race that had

At my suggestion Xodar became Jeddak of the First Born. He had been a dator, or prince, until Issus had

degraded him, so that his fitness for the high office bestowed was unquestioned.

The peace of the Valley Dor thus assured, the green warriors dispersed to their desolate sea bottoms, while

we of Helium returned to our own country. Here again was a throne offered me, since no word had been

received from the missing Jeddak of Helium, Tardos Mors, grandfather of Dejah Thoris, or his son, Mors

Over a year had elapsed since they had set out to explore the northern hemisphere in search of Carthoris, and

at last their disheartened people had accepted as truth the vague rumors of their death that had filtered in from

Once again I refused a throne, for I would not believe that the mighty Tardos Mors, or his no less redoubtable

"Let one of their own blood rule you until they return," I said to the assembled nobles of Helium, as I

addressed them from the Pedestal of Truth beside the Throne of Righteousness in the Temple of Reward,

from the very spot where I had stood a year before when Zat Arras pronounced the sentence of death upon

As I spoke I stepped forward and laid my hand upon the shoulder of Carthoris where he stood in the front

As one, the nobles and the people lifted their voices in a long cheer of approbation. Ten thousand swords

sprang on high from as many scabbards, and the glorious fighting men of ancient Helium hailed Carthoris

His tenure of office was to be for life or until his great grandfather, or grandfather, should return. Having

thus satisfactorily arranged this important duty for Helium, I started the following day for the Valley Dor that

I might remain close to the Temple of the Sun until the fateful day that should see the opening of the prison

Hor Vastus and Kantos Kan, with my other noble lieutenants, I left with Carthoris at Helium, that he might

have the benefit of their wisdom, bravery, and loyalty in the performance of the arduous duties which had

At my heels tonight the faithful beast moved softly in my tracks. As large as a Shetland pony, with hideous

head and frightful fangs, he was indeed an awesome spectacle, as he crept after me on his ten short, muscular

The figure ahead was that of the black dator of the First Born, Thurid, whose undying enmity I had earned

that time I laid him low with my bare hands in the courtyard of the Temple of Issus, and bound him with his

own harness before the noble men and women who had but a moment before been extolling his prowess.

Like many of his fellows, he had apparently accepted the new order of things with good grace, and had sworn

fealty to Xodar, his new ruler; but I knew that he hated me, and I was sure that in his heart he envied and

hated Xodar, so I had kept a watch upon his comings and goings, to the end that of late I had become

Several times I had observed him leaving the walled city of the First Born after dark, taking his way out into

Tonight he moved quickly along the edge of the forest until well beyond sight or sound of the city, then he

The rays of the nearer moon, swinging low across the valley, touched his jewelincrusted harness with a

thousand changing lights and glanced from the glossy ebony of his smooth hide. Twice he turned his head

back toward the forest, after the manner of one who is upon an evil errand, though he must have felt quite

I did not dare follow him there beneath the moonlight, since it best suited my plans not to interrupt hisI

wished him to reach his destination unsuspecting, that I might learn just where that destination lay and the

So it was that I remained hidden until after Thurid had disappeared over the edge of the steep bank beside the

sea a quarter of a mile away. Then, with Woola following, I hastened across the open after the black dator.

The quiet of the tomb lay upon the mysterious valley of death, crouching deep in its warm nest within the

sunken area at the south pole of the dying planet. In the far distance the Golden Cliffs raised their mighty

barrier faces far into the starlit heavens, the precious metals and scintillating jewels that composed them

At my back was the forest, pruned and trimmed like the sward to parklike symmetry by the browsing of the

Before me lay the Lost Sea of Korus, while farther on I caught the shimmering ribbon of Iss, the River of

Mystery, where it wound out from beneath the Golden Cliffs to empty into Korus, to which for countless ages

had been borne the deluded and unhappy Martians of the outer world upon the voluntary pilgrimage to this

The plant men, with their bloodsucking hands, and the monstrous white apes that make Dor hideous by day,

There was no longer a Holy Thern upon the balcony in the Golden Cliffs above the Iss to summon them with

weird cry to the victims floating down to their maws upon the cold, broad bosom of ancient Iss.

The navies of Helium and the First Born had cleared the fortresses and the temples of the therns when they

had refused to surrender and accept the new order of things that had swept their false religion from

In a few isolated countries they still retained their ageold power; but Matai Shang, their hekkador, Father of

Therns, had been driven from his temple. Strenuous had been our endeavors to capture him; but with a few of

As I came cautiously to the edge of the low cliff overlooking the Lost Sea of Korus I saw Thurid pushing out

upon the bosom of the shimmering water in a small skiffone of those strangely wrought craft of

unthinkable age which the Holy Therns, with their organization of priests and lesser therns, were wont to

distribute along the banks of the Iss, that the long journey of their victims might be facilitated.

Drawn up on the beach below me were a score of similar boats, each with its long pole, at one end of which

was a pike, at the other a paddle. Thurid was hugging the shore, and as he passed out of sight round a

nearby promontory I shoved one of the boats into the water and, calling Woola into it, pushed out from

The pursuit of Thurid carried me along the edge of the sea toward the mouth of the Iss. The farther moon lay

close to the horizon, casting a dense shadow beneath the cliffs that fringed the water. Thuria, the nearer

moon, had set, nor would it rise again for near four hours, so that I was ensured concealing darkness for that

On and on went the black warrior. Now he was opposite the mouth of the Iss. Without an instant's hesitation

After him came Woola and I, closer now, for the man was too intent upon forcing his craft up the river to

have any eyes for what might be transpiring behind him. He hugged the shore where the current was less

Presently he came to the dark cavernous portal in the face of the Golden Cliffs, through which the river

It seemed hopeless to attempt to follow him here where I could not see my hand before my face, and I was

almost on the point of giving up the pursuit and drifting back to the mouth of the river, there to await his

My quarry was plainly visible again, and in the increasing light from the phosphorescent rock that lay

embedded in great patches in the roughly arched roof of the cavern I had no difficulty in following him.

It was my first trip upon the bosom of Iss, and the things I saw there will live forever in my memory.

Terrible as they were, they could not have commenced to approximate the horrible conditions which must

have obtained before Tars Tarkas, the great green warrior, Xodar, the black dator, and I brought the light of

truth to the outer world and stopped the mad rush of millions upon the voluntary pilgrimage to what they

Even now the low islands which dotted the broad stream were choked with the skeletons and half devoured

carcasses of those who, through fear or a sudden awakening to the truth, had halted almost at the completion

In the awful stench of these frightful charnel isles haggard maniacs screamed and gibbered and fought among

the torn remnants of their grisly feasts; while on those which contained but clean picked bones they battled

with one another, the weaker furnishing sustenance for the stronger; or with clawlike hands clutched at the

Thurid paid not the slightest attention to the screaming things that either menaced or pleaded with him as the

mood directed themevidently he was familiar with the horrid sights that surrounded him. He continued up

the river for perhaps a mile; and then, crossing over to the left bank, drew his craft up on a low ledge that lay

I dared not follow across the stream, for he most surely would have seen me. Instead I stopped close to the

opposite wall beneath an overhanging mass of rock that cast a dense shadow beneath it. Here I could watch

The black was standing upon the ledge beside his boat, looking up the river, as though he were awaiting one

As I lay there beneath the dark rocks I noticed that a strong current seemed to flow directly toward the center

of the river, so that it was difficult to hold my craft in its position. I edged farther into the shadow that I might

find a hold upon the bank; but, though I proceeded several yards, I touched nothing; and then, finding that I

would soon reach a point from where I could no longer see the black man, I was compelled to remain where I

was, holding my position as best I could by paddling strongly against the current which flowed from beneath

I could not imagine what might cause this strong lateral flow, for the main channel of the river was plainly

visible to me from where I sat, and I could see the rippling junction of it and the mysterious current which

While I was still speculating upon the phenomenon, my attention was suddenly riveted upon Thurid, who had

raised both palms forward above his head in the universal salute of Martians, and a moment later his "Kaor!"

I turned my eyes up the river in the direction that his were bent, and presently there came within my limited

range of vision a long boat, in which were six men. Five were at the paddles, while the sixth sat in the seat of

The white skins, the flowing yellow wigs which covered their bald pates, and the gorgeous diadems set in

As they drew up beside the ledge upon which Thurid awaited them, he in the bow of the boat arose to step

ashore, and then I saw that it was none other than Matai Shang, Father of Therns.

The evident cordiality with which the two men exchanged greetings filled me with wonder, for the black and

white men of Barsoom were hereditary enemiesnor ever before had I known of two meeting other than in

Evidently the reverses that had recently overtaken both peoples had resulted in an alliance between these two

individualsat least against the common enemyand now I saw why Thurid had come so often out into the

Valley Dor by night, and that the nature of his conspiring might be such as to strike very close to me or to my

I wished that I might have found a point closer to the two men from which to have heard their conversation;

but it was out of the question now to attempt to cross the river, and so I lay quietly watching them, who

would have given so much to have known how close I lay to them, and how easily they might have overcome

Several times Thurid pointed across the river in my direction, but that his gestures had any reference to me I

did not for a moment believe. Presently he and Matai Shang entered the latter's boat, which turned out into

As they advanced I moved my boat farther and farther in beneath the overhanging wall, but at last it became

evident that their craft was holding the same course. The five paddlers sent the larger boat ahead at a speed

Every instant I expected to feel my prow crash against solid rock. The light from the river was no longer

visible, but ahead I saw the faint tinge of a distant radiance, and still the water before me was open.

At last the truth dawned upon meI was following a subterranean river which emptied into the Iss at the

The rowers were now quite close to me. The noise of their own paddles drowned the sound of mine, but in

There was no time to be lost. Whatever action I was to take must be taken at once. Swinging the prow of my

boat toward the right, I sought the river's rocky side, and there I lay while Matai Shang and Thurid

As they came nearer I heard the voices of Thurid and the Father of Therns raised in argument.

"I tell you, Thern," the black dator was saying, "that I wish only vengeance upon John Carter, Prince of

Helium. I am leading you into no trap. What could I gain by betraying you to those who have ruined my

"Let us stop here a moment that I may hear your plans," replied the hekkador, "and then we may proceed with

To the rowers he issued the command that brought their boat in toward the bank not a dozen paces beyond

Had they pulled in below me they must surely have seen me against the faint glow of light ahead, but from

where they finally came to rest I was as secure from detection as though miles separated us.

The few words I had already overheard whetted my curiosity, and I was anxious to learn what manner of

vengeance Thurid was planning against me. Nor had I long to wait. I listened intently.

"There are no obligations, Father of Therns," continued the First Born. "Thurid, Dator of Issus, has no price.

When the thing has been accomplished I shall be glad if you will see to it that I am well received, as is

befitting my ancient lineage and noble rank, at some court that is yet loyal to thy ancient faith, for I cannot

return to the Valley Dor or elsewhere within the power of the Prince of Helium; but even that I do not

"It shall be as you wish, Dator," replied Matai Shang; "nor is that allpower and riches shall be yours if you

restore my daughter, Phaidor, to me, and place within my power Dejah Thoris, Princess of Helium.

"Ah," he continued with a malicious snarl, "but the Earth man shall suffer for the indignities he has put upon

the holy of holies, nor shall any vileness be too vile to inflict upon his princess. Would that it were in my

power to force him to witness the humiliation and degradation of the red woman."

"You shall have your way with her before another day has passed, Matai Shang," said Thurid, "if you but say

"I have heard of the Temple of the Sun, Dator," replied Matai Shang, "but never have I heard that its

prisoners could be released before the allotted year of their incarceration had elapsed. How, then, may you

"Access may be had to any cell of the temple at any time," replied Thurid. "Only Issus knew this; nor was it

ever Issus' way to divulge more of her secrets than were necessary. By chance, after her death, I came upon

an ancient plan of the temple, and there I found, plainly writ, the most minute directions for reaching the cells

"And more I learnedthat many men had gone thither for Issus in the past, always on errands of death and

torture to the prisoners; but those who thus learned the secret way were wont to die mysteriously immediately

"Let us proceed, then," said Matai Shang at last. "I must trust you, yet at the same time you must trust me, for

"I do not fear," replied Thurid, "nor need you. Our hatred of the common enemy is sufficient bond to insure

our loyalty to each other, and after we have defiled the Princess of Helium there will be still greater reason

for the maintenance of our allegiance unless I greatly mistake the temper of her lord."

It was with difficulty that I restrained myself from rushing upon them and slaying the two vile plotters; but

quickly I saw the mad rashness of such an act, which would cut down the only man who could lead the way

to Dejah Thoris' prison before the long Martian year had swung its interminable circle.

If he should lead Matai Shang to that hollowed spot, then, too, should he lead John Carter, Prince of Helium.

As we advanced up the river which winds beneath the Golden Cliffs out of the bowels of the Mountains of

Otz to mingle its dark waters with the grim and mysterious Iss the faint glow which had appeared before us

The river widened until it presented the aspect of a large lake whose vaulted dome, lighted by glowing

phosphorescent rock, was splashed with the vivid rays of the diamond, the sapphire, the ruby, and the

countless, nameless jewels of Barsoom which lay incrusted in the virgin gold which forms the major portion

Beyond the lighted chamber of the lake was darknesswhat lay behind the darkness I could not even guess.

To have followed the thern boat across the gleaming water would have been to invite instant detection, and

so, though I was loath to permit Thurid to pass even for an instant beyond my sight, I was forced to wait in

the shadows until the other boat had passed from my sight at the far extremity of the lake.

When, after what seemed an eternity, I reached the shadows at the upper end of the lake I found that the river

issued from a low aperture, to pass beneath which it was necessary that I compel Woola to lie flat in the boat,

Immediately the roof rose again upon the other side, but no longer was the way brilliantly lighted. Instead

only a feeble glow emanated from small and scattered patches of phosphorescent rock in wall and roof.

Directly before me the river ran into this smaller chamber through three separate arched openings.

Thurid and the therns were nowhere to be seeninto which of the dark holes had they disappeared? There

was no means by which I might know, and so I chose the center opening as being as likely to lead me in the

Here the way was through utter darkness. The stream was narrow so narrow that in the blackness I was

constantly bumping first one rock wall and then another as the river wound hither and thither along its flinty

Far ahead I presently heard a deep and sullen roar which increased in volume as I advanced, and then broke

upon my ears with all the intensity of its mad fury as I swung round a sharp curve into a dimly lighted stretch

Directly before me the river thundered down from above in a mighty waterfall that filled the narrow gorge

from side to side, rising far above me several hundred feetas magnificent a spectacle as I ever had seen.

But the roarthe awful, deafening roar of those tumbling waters penned in the rocky, subterranean vault!

Had the fall not entirely blocked my further passage and shown me that I had followed the wrong course I

Thurid and the therns could not have come this way. By stumbling upon the wrong course I had lost the trail,

and they had gained so much ahead of me that now I might not be able to find them before it was too late, if,

It had taken several hours to force my way up to the falls against the strong current, and other hours would be

With a sigh I turned the prow of my craft down stream, and with mighty strokes hastened with reckless speed

through the dark and tortuous channel until once again I came to the chamber into which flowed the three

Two unexplored channels still remained from which to choose; nor was there any means by which I could

Never in my life, that I can recall, have I suffered such an agony of indecision. So much depended upon a

The hours that I had already lost might seal the fate of the incomparable Dejah Thoris were she not already

deadto sacrifice other hours, and maybe days in a fruitless exploration of another blind lead would

Several times I essayed the righthand entrance only to turn back as though warned by some strange intuitive

sense that this was not the way. At last, convinced by the oftrecurring phenomenon, I cast my all upon the

lefthand archway; yet it was with a lingering doubt that I turned a parting look at the sullen waters which

And as I looked there came bobbing out upon the current from the Stygian darkness of the interior the shell of

I could scarce restrain a shout of elation as this silent, insensate messenger floated past me, on toward the Iss

and Korus, for it told me that journeying Martians were above me on that very stream.

They had eaten of this marvelous fruit which nature concentrates within the hard shell of the sorapus nut, and

having eaten had cast the husk overboard. It could have come from no others than the party I sought.

Quickly I abandoned all thought of the lefthand passage, and a moment later had turned into the right. The

I made good time, but was convinced that I was nearly a day behind those I was tracking. Neither Woola nor

I had eaten since the previous day, but in so far as he was concerned it mattered but little, since practically all

the animals of the dead sea bottoms of Mars are able to go for incredible periods without nourishment.

Nor did I suffer. The water of the river was sweet and cold, for it was unpolluted by decaying bodieslike

the Issand as for food, why the mere thought that I was nearing my beloved princess raised me above

As I proceeded, the river became narrower and the current swift and turbulentso swift in fact that it was

with difficulty that I forced my craft upward at all. I could not have been making to exceed a hundred yards

an hour when, at a bend, I was confronted by a series of rapids through which the river foamed and boiled at

My heart sank within me. The sorapus nutshell had proved a false prophet, and, after all, my intuition had

Had I been a woman I should have wept. At my right was a great, slowmoving eddy that circled far beneath

the cliff's overhanging side, and to rest my tired muscles before turning back I let my boat drift into its

I was almost prostrated by disappointment. It would mean another halfday's loss of time to retrace my way

and take the only passage that yet remained unexplored. What hellish fate had led me to select from three

As the lazy current of the eddy carried me slowly about the periphery of the watery circle my boat twice

touched the rocky side of the river in the dark recess beneath the cliff. A third time it struck, gently as it had

before, but the contact resulted in a different soundthe sound of wood scraping upon wood.

In an instant I was on the alert, for there could be no wood within that buried river that had not been man

brought. Almost coincidentally with my first apprehension of the noise, my hand shot out across the boat's

side, and a second later I felt my fingers gripping the gunwale of another craft.

As though turned to stone I sat in tense and rigid silence, straining my eyes into the utter darkness before me

It was entirely possible that there might be men on board it who were still ignorant of my presence, for the

boat was scraping gently against the rocks upon one side, so that the gentle touch of my boat upon the other

Peer as I would I could not penetrate the darkness, and then I listened intently for the sound of breathing near

me; but except for the noise of the rapids, the soft scraping of the boats, and the lapping of the water at their

A rope lay coiled in the bottom of my own craft. Very softly I gathered it up, and making one end fast to the

bronze ring in the prow I stepped gingerly into the boat beside me. In one hand I grasped the rope, in the

For a full minute, perhaps, I stood motionless after entering the strange craft. It had rocked a trifle beneath

my weight, but it had been the scraping of its side against the side of my own boat that had seemed most

But there was no answering sound, and a moment later I had felt from stem to stern and found the boat

Groping with my hands along the face of the rocks to which the craft was moored, I discovered a narrow

ledge which I knew must be the avenue taken by those who had come before me. That they could be none

other than Thurid and his party I was convinced by the size and build of the boat I had found.

Calling to Woola to follow me I stepped out upon the ledge. The great, savage brute, agile as a cat, crept after

As he passed through the boat that had been occupied by Thurid and the therns he emitted a single low growl,

and when he came beside me upon the ledge and my hand rested upon his neck I felt his short mane bristling

with anger. I think he sensed telepathically the recent presence of an enemy, for I had made no effort to

This omission I now made haste to correct, and, after the manner of green Martians with their beasts, I let him

know partially by the weird and uncanny telepathy of Barsoom and partly by word of mouth that we were

upon the trail of those who had recently occupied the boat through which we had just passed.

A soft purr, like that of a great cat, indicated that Woola understood, and then, with a word to him to follow, I

turned to the right along the ledge, but scarcely had I done so than I felt his mighty fangs tugging at my

As I turned to discover the cause of his act he continued to pull me steadily in the opposite direction, nor

would he desist until I had turned about and indicated that I would follow him voluntarily.

Never had I known him to be in error in a matter of tracking, so it was with a feeling of entire security that I

moved cautiously in the huge beast's wake. Through Cimmerian darkness he moved along the narrow ledge

As we advanced, the way led from beneath the overhanging cliffs out into a dim light, and then it was that I

saw that the trail had been cut from the living rock, and that it ran up along the river's side beyond the rapids.

For hours we followed the dark and gloomy river farther and farther into the bowels of Mars. From the

direction and distance I knew that we must be well beneath the Valley Dor, and possibly beneath the Sea of

Even as my mind framed the thought, Woola halted suddenly before a narrow, arched doorway in the cliff by

the trail's side. Quickly he crouched back away from the entrance, at the same time turning his eyes toward

Words could not have more plainly told me that danger of some sort lay near by, and so I pressed quietly

Before me was a fairsized chamber that, from its appointments, I knew must have at one time been a

guardroom. There were racks for weapons, and slightly raised platforms for the sleeping silks and furs of the

warriors, but now its only occupants were two of the therns who had been of the party with Thurid and Matai

The men were in earnest conversation, and from their tones it was apparent that they were entirely unaware

"I tell you," one of them was saying, "I do not trust the black one. There was no necessity for leaving us here

to guard the way. Against what, pray, should we guard this longforgotten, abysmal path? It was but a ruse to

"He will have Matai Shang leave others elsewhere on some pretext or other, and then at last he will fall upon

"I believe you, Lakor," replied the other, "there can never be aught else than deadly hatred between thern and

First Born. And what think you of the ridiculous matter of the light? `Let the light shine with the intensity of

three radium units for fifty tals, and for one xat let it shine with the intensity of one radium unit, and then for

twentyfive tals with nine units.' Those were his very words, and to think that wise old Matai Shang should

"Indeed, it is silly," replied Lakor. "It will open nothing other than the way to a quick death for us all. He had

to make some answer when Matai Shang asked him flatly what he should do when he came to the Temple of

the Sun, and so he made his answer quickly from his imaginationI would wager a hekkador's diadem that

"Let us not remain here longer, Lakor," spoke the other thern. "Perchance if we hasten after them we may

come in time to rescue Matai Shang, and wreak our own vengeance upon the black dator. What say you?"

"Never in a long life," answered Lakor, "have I disobeyed a single command of the Father of Therns. I shall

"You are my superior," he said; "I cannot do other than you sanction, though I still believe that we are foolish

I, too, thought that they were foolish to remain, for I saw from Woola's actions that the trail led through the

room where the two therns held guard. I had no reason to harbor any considerable love for this race of

selfdeified demons, yet I would have passed them by were it possible without molesting them.

It was worth trying anyway, for a fight might delay us considerably, or even put an end entirely to my

searchbetter men than I have gone down before fighters of meaner ability than that possessed by the fierce

Signaling Woola to heel I stepped suddenly into the room before the two men. At sight of me their

longswords flashed from the harness at their sides, but I raised my hand in a gesture of restraint.

"I seek Thurid, the black dator," I said. "My quarrel is with him, not with you. Let me pass then in peace, for

if I mistake not he is as much your enemy as mine, and you can have no cause to protect him."

"I know not whom you may be, with the white skin of a thern and the black hair of a red man; but were it

only Thurid whose safety were at stake you might pass, and welcome, in so far as we be concerned.

"Tell us who you be, and what mission calls you to this unknown world beneath the Valley Dor, then maybe

we can see our way to let you pass upon the errand which we should like to undertake would our orders

I was surprised that neither of them had recognized me, for I thought that I was quite sufficiently well known

either by personal experience or reputation to every thern upon Barsoom as to make my identity immediately

apparent in any part of the planet. In fact, I was the only white man upon Mars whose hair was black and

To reveal my identity might be to precipitate an attack, for every thern upon Barsoom knew that to me they

owed the fall of their ageold spiritual supremacy. On the other hand my reputation as a fighting man might

be sufficient to pass me by these two were their livers not of the right complexion to welcome a battle to the

To be quite candid I did not attempt to delude myself with any such sophistry, since I knew well that upon

warlike Mars there are few cowards, and that every man, whether prince, priest, or peasant, glories in deadly

"I believe that you will see the wisdom of permitting me to pass unmolested," I said, "for it would avail you

nothing to die uselessly in the rocky bowels of Barsoom merely to protect a hereditary enemy, such as

"That you shall die should you elect to oppose me is evidenced by the moldering corpses of all the many

great Barsoomian warriors who have gone down beneath this bladeI am John Carter, Prince of Helium."

For a moment that name seemed to paralyze the two men; but only for a moment, and then the younger of

He had been standing a little behind his companion, Lakor, during our parley, and now, ere he could engage

"Hold!" commanded Lakor. "There will be plenty of time to fight if we find it wise to fight at all. There be

good reasons why every thern upon Barsoom should yearn to spill the blood of the blasphemer, the

sacrilegist; but let us mix wisdom with our righteous hate. The Prince of Helium is bound upon an errand

"Let him go then and slay the black. When he returns we shall still be here to bar his way to the outer world,

and thus we shall have rid ourselves of two enemies, nor have incurred the displeasure of the Father of

As he spoke I could not but note the crafty glint in his evil eyes, and while I saw the apparent logic of his

reasoning I felt, subconsciously perhaps, that his words did but veil some sinister intent. The other thern

turned toward him in evident surprise, but when Lakor had whispered a few brief words into his ear he, too,

"Proceed, John Carter," said Lakor; "but know that if Thurid does not lay you low there will be those

awaiting your return who will see that you never pass again into the sunlight of the upper world. Go!"

During our conversation Woola had been growling and bristling close to my side. Occasionally he would

look up into my face with a low, pleading whine, as though begging for the word that would send him

headlong at the bare throats before him. He, too, sensed the villainy behind the smooth words.

Beyond the therns several doorways opened off the guardroom, and toward the one upon the extreme right

But when I would have called Woola to follow me there the beast whined and held back, and at last ran

quickly to the first opening at the left, where he stood emitting his coughing bark, as though urging me to

"The brute is seldom wrong," I said, "and while I do not doubt your superior knowledge, Thern, I think that I

shall do well to listen to the voice of instinct that is backed by love and loyalty."

As I spoke I smiled grimly that he might know without words that I distrusted him.

"As you will," the fellow replied with a shrug. "In the end it shall be all the same."

I turned and followed Woola into the lefthand passage, and though my back was toward my enemies, my

ears were on the alert; yet I heard no sound of pursuit. The passageway was dimly lighted by occasional

These same lamps may have been doing continuous duty in these subterranean chambers for ages, since they

require no attention and are so compounded that they give off but the minutest of their substance in the

We had proceeded for but a short distance when we commenced to pass the mouths of diverging corridors,

but not once did Woola hesitate. It was at the opening to one of these corridors upon my right that I presently

heard a sound that spoke more plainly to John Carter, fighting man, than could the words of my mother

tongueit was the clank of metalthe metal of a warrior's harnessand it came from a little distance up

Woola heard it, too, and like a flash he had wheeled and stood facing the threatened danger, his mane all

abristle and all his rows of glistening fangs bared by snarling, backdrawn lips. With a gesture I silenced him,

Here we waited; nor did we have long to wait, for presently we saw the shadows of two men fall upon the

floor of the main corridor athwart the doorway of our hiding place. Very cautiously they were moving

Presently they came opposite our station; nor was I surprised to see that the two were Lakor and his

They walked very softly, and in the right hand of each gleamed a keen longsword. They halted quite close

"Either that or the beast has led the man upon a wrong trail," replied the other, "for the way which we took is

by far the shorter to this pointfor him who knows it. John Carter would have found it a short road to death

"Yes," said Lakor, "no amount of fighting ability would have saved him from the pivoted flagstone. He surely

would have stepped upon it, and by now, if the pit beneath it has a bottom, which Thurid denies, he should

have been rapidly approaching it. Curses on that calot of his that warned him toward the safer avenue!"

"There be other dangers ahead of him, though," spoke Lakor's fellow, "which he may not so easily

escapeshould he succeed in escaping our two good swords. Consider, for example, what chance he will

I would have given much to have heard the balance of that conversation that I might have been warned of the

perils that lay ahead, but fate intervened, and just at the very instant of all other instants that I would not have

There was nothing for it now other than to fight; nor did I have any advantage as I sprang, sword in hand, into

the corridor before the two therns, for my untimely sneeze had warned them of my presence and they were

There were no words, for they would have been a waste of breath. The very presence of the two proclaimed

their treachery. That they were following to fall upon me unawares was all too plain, and they, of course,

In an instant I was engaged with both, and though I loathe the very name of thern, I must in all fairness admit

that they are mighty swordsmen; and these two were no exception, unless it were that they were even more

While it lasted it was indeed as joyous a conflict as I ever had experienced. Twice at least I saved my breast

from the mortal thrust of piercing steel only by the wondrous agility with which my earthly muscles endow

Yet even so I came near to tasting death that day in the gloomy corridor beneath Mars's southern pole, for

Lakor played a trick upon me that in all my experience of fighting upon two planets I never before had

The other thern was engaging me at the time, and I was forcing him backtouching him here and there with

my point until he was bleeding from a dozen wounds, yet not being able to penetrate his marvelous guard to

reach a vulnerable spot for the brief instant that would have been sufficient to send him to his ancestors.

It was then that Lakor quickly unslung a belt from his harness, and as I stepped back to parry a wicked thrust

he lashed one end of it about my left ankle so that it wound there for an instant, while he jerked suddenly

Then, like leaping panthers, they were upon me; but they had reckoned without Woola, and before ever a

blade touched me, a roaring embodiment of a thousand demons hurtled above my prostrate form and my

Imagine, if you can, a huge grizzly with ten legs armed with mighty talons and an enormous froglike mouth

splitting his head from ear to ear, exposing three rows of long, white tusks. Then endow this creature of your

imagination with the agility and ferocity of a halfstarved Bengal tiger and the strength of a span of bulls,

Before I could call him off he had crushed Lakor into a jelly with a single blow of one mighty paw, and had

literally torn the other thern to ribbons; yet when I spoke to him sharply he cowed sheepishly as though he

Never had I had the heart to punish Woola during the long years that had passed since that first day upon

Mars when the green jed of the Tharks had placed him on guard over me, and I had won his love and loyalty

from the cruel and loveless masters of his former life, yet I believe he would have submitted to any cruelty

The diadem in the center of the circlet of gold upon the brow of Lakor proclaimed him a Holy Thern, while

his companion, not thus adorned, was a lesser thern, though from his harness I gleaned that he had reached

As I stood for a moment looking at the gruesome havoc Woola had wrought, there recurred to me the

memory of that other occasion upon which I had masqueraded in the wig, diadem, and harness of Sator

Throg, the Holy Thern whom Thuvia of Ptarth had slain, and now it occurred to me that it might prove of

A moment later I had torn his yellow wig from his bald pate and transferred it and the circlet, as well as all

Woola did not approve of the metamorphosis. He sniffed at me and growled ominously, but when I spoke to

him and patted his huge head he at length became reconciled to the change, and at my command trotted off

along the corridor in the direction we had been going when our progress had been interrupted by the therns.

We moved cautiously now, warned by the fragment of conversation I had overheard. I kept abreast of Woola

that we might have the benefit of all our eyes for what might appear suddenly ahead to menace us, and well it

At the bottom of a flight of narrow steps the corridor turned sharply back upon itself, immediately making

another turn in the original direction, so that at that point it formed a perfect letter S, the top leg of which

debouched suddenly into a large chamber, illy lighted, and the floor of which was completely covered by

To have attempted to cross that floor would have been to court instant death, and for a moment I was almost

completely discouraged. Then it occurred to me that Thurid and Matai Shang with their party must have

Had it not been for the fortunate accident by which I overheard even so small a portion of the therns'

conversation we should have blundered at least a step or two into that wriggling mass of destruction, and a

These were the only reptiles I had ever seen upon Barsoom, but I knew from their similarity to the fossilized

remains of supposedly extinct species I had seen in the museums of Helium that they comprised many of the

A more hideous aggregation of monsters had never before assailed my vision. It would be futile to attempt to

describe them to Earth men, since substance is the only thing which they possess in common with any

creature of the past or present with which you are familiareven their venom is of an unearthly virulence

that, by comparison, would make the cobra de capello seem quite as harmless as an angleworm.

As they spied me there was a concerted rush by those nearest the entrance where we stood, but a line of

radium bulbs inset along the threshold of their chamber brought them to a sudden halt evidently they dared

I had been quite sure that they would not venture beyond the room in which I had discovered them, though I

had not guessed at what deterred them. The simple fact that we had found no reptiles in the corridor through

which we had just come was sufficient assurance that they did not venture there.

I drew Woola out of harm's way, and then began a careful survey of as much of the Chamber of Reptiles as I

could see from where I stood. As my eyes became accustomed to the dim light of its interior I gradually made

out a low gallery at the far end of the apartment from which opened several exits.

Coming as close to the threshold as I dared, I followed this gallery with my eyes, discovering that it circled

the room as far as I could see. Then I glanced above me along the upper edge of the entrance to which we had

come, and there, to my delight, I saw an end of the gallery not a foot above my head. In an instant I had

Here there were no reptilesthe way was clear to the opposite side of the hideous chamberand a moment

Not ten minutes later we came into a vast circular apartment of white marble, the walls of which were inlaid

From the high dome of this mighty apartment a huge circular column extended to the floor, and as I watched I

Somewhere above me lay Dejah Thoris, and with her were Phaidor, daughter of Matai Shang, and Thuvia of

Ptarth. But how to reach them, now that I had found the only vulnerable spot in their mighty prison, was still

Slowly I circled the great shaft, looking for a means of ingress. Part way around I found a tiny radium flash

torch, and as I examined it in mild curiosity as to its presence there in this almost inaccessible and unknown

spot, I came suddenly upon the insignia of the house of Thurid jewelinset in its metal case.

I am upon the right trail, I thought, as I slipped the bauble into the pocketpouch which hung from my

harness. Then I continued my search for the entrance, which I knew must be somewhere about; nor had I long

to search, for almost immediately thereafter I came upon a small door so cunningly inlaid in the shaft's base

There was the door that would lead me within the prison, but where was the means to open it? No button or

lock were visible. Again and again I went carefully over every square inch of its surface, but the most that I

could find was a tiny pinhole a little above and to the right of the door's centera pinhole that seemed only

Into this minute aperture I attempted to peer, but whether it was but a fraction of an inch deep or passed

completely through the door I could not tellat least no light showed beyond it. I put my ear to it next and

During these experiments Woola had been standing at my side gazing intently at the door, and as my glance

fell upon him it occurred to me to test the correctness of my hypothesis, that this portal had been the means of

ingress to the temple used by Thurid, the black dator, and Matai Shang, Father of Therns.

Turning away abruptly, I called to him to follow me. For a moment he hesitated, and then leaped after me,

whining and tugging at my harness to draw me back. I walked on, however, some distance from the door

before I let him have his way, that I might see precisely what he would do. Then I permitted him to lead me

Straight back to that baffling portal he dragged me, again taking up his position facing the blank stone, gazing

straight at its shining surface. For an hour I worked to solve the mystery of the combination that would open

Carefully I recalled every circumstance of my pursuit of Thurid, and my conclusion was identical with my

original beliefthat Thurid had come this way without other assistance than his own knowledge and passed

through the door that barred my progress, unaided from within. But how had he accomplished it?

I recalled the incident of the Chamber of Mystery in the Golden Cliffs that time I had freed Thuvia of Ptarth

from the dungeon of the therns, and she had taken a slender, needlelike key from the keyring of her dead

jailer to open the door leading back into the Chamber of Mystery where Tars Tarkas fought for his life with

the great banths. Such a tiny keyhole as now defied me had opened the way to the intricate lock in that other

Hastily I dumped the contents of my pocketpouch upon the ground before me. Could I but find a slender bit

of steel I might yet fashion a key that would give me ingress to the temple prison.

As I examined the heterogeneous collection of odds and ends that is always to be found in the pocketpouch

of a Martian warrior my hand fell upon the emblazoned radium flash torch of the black dator.

As I was about to lay the thing aside as of no value in my present predicament my eyes chanced upon a few

strange characters roughly and freshly scratched upon the soft gold of the case.

Casual curiosity prompted me to decipher them, but what I read carried no immediate meaning to my mind.

For only an instant my curiosity was piqued, and then I replaced the torch in my pocketpouch, but my

fingers had not unclasped from it when there rushed to my memory the recollection of the conversation

between Lakor and his companion when the lesser thern had quoted the words of Thurid and scoffed at them:

"And what think you of the ridiculous matter of the light? Let the light shine with the intensity of three

radium units for fifty tals"ah, there was the first line of characters upon the torch's metal case 350 T;

"and for one xat let it shine with the intensity of one radium unit"there was the second line; "and then for

I thought I knew, and, seizing a powerful magnifying glass from the litter of my pocketpouch, I applied

myself to a careful examination of the marble immediately about the pinhole in the door. I could have cried

aloud in exultation when my scrutiny disclosed the almost invisible incrustation of particles of carbonized

It was evident that for countless ages radium torches had been applied to this pinhole, and for what purpose

there could be but a single answerthe mechanism of the lock was actuated by light rays; and I, John Carter,

Prince of Helium, held the combination in my handscratched by the hand of my enemy upon his own torch

In a cylindrical bracelet of gold about my wrist was my Barsoomian chronometera delicate instrument that

records the tals and xats and zodes of Martian time, presenting them to view beneath a strong crystal much

Timing my operations carefully, I held the torch to the small aperture in the door, regulating the intensity of

For fifty tals I let three units of light shine full in the pinhole, then one unit for one xat, and for twentyfive

tals nine units. Those last twentyfive tals were the longest twentyfive seconds of my life. Would the lock

I shut off the light with a snap. For seven tals I waited there had been no appreciable effect upon the lock's

Hold! Had the nervous strain resulted in a hallucination, or did the door really move? Slowly the solid stone

Back and back it slid for ten feet until it had disclosed at its right a narrow doorway leading into a dark and

narrow corridor that paralleled the outer wall. Scarcely was the entrance uncovered than Woola and I had

Down the corridor at some distance I saw the faint reflection of a light, and toward this we made our way. At

the point where the light shone was a sharp turn, and a little distance beyond this a brilliantly lighted

Here we discovered a spiral stairway leading up from the center of the circular room.

Immediately I knew that we had reached the center of the base of the Temple of the Sunthe spiral runway

led upward past the inner walls of the prison cells. Somewhere above me was Dejah Thoris, unless Thurid

We had scarcely started up the runway when Woola suddenly displayed the wildest excitement. He leaped

back and forth, snapping at my legs and harness, until I thought that he was mad, and finally when I pushed

him from me and started once more to ascend he grasped my sword arm between his jaws and dragged me

No amount of scolding or cuffing would suffice to make him release me, and I was entirely at the mercy of

his brute strength unless I cared to use my dagger upon him with my left hand; but, mad or no, I had not the

Down into the chamber he dragged me, and across it to the side opposite that at which we had entered. Here

was another doorway leading into a corridor which ran directly down a steep incline. Without a moment's

Presently he stopped and released me, standing between me and the way we had come, looking up into my

face as though to ask if I would now follow him voluntarily or if he must still resort to force.

Looking ruefully at the marks of his great teeth upon my bare arm I decided to do as he seemed to wish me to

do. After all, his strange instinct might be more dependable than my faulty human judgment.

And well it was that I had been forced to follow him. But a short distance from the circular chamber we came

suddenly into a brilliantly lighted labyrinth of crystal glass partitioned passages.

At first I thought it was one vast, unbroken chamber, so clear and transparent were the walls of the winding

corridors, but after I had nearly brained myself a couple of times by attempting to pass through solid vitreous

We had proceeded but a few yards along the corridor that had given us entrance to this strange maze when

Woola gave mouth to a most frightful roar, at the same time dashing against the clear partition at our left.

The resounding echoes of that fearsome cry were still reverberating through the subterranean chambers when

Far in the distance, dimly through the many thicknesses of intervening crystal, as in a haze that made them

seem unreal and ghostly, I discerned the figures of eight peoplethree females and five men.

At the same instant, evidently startled by Woola's fierce cry, they halted and looked about. Then, of a sudden,

one of them, a woman, held her arms out toward me, and even at that great distance I could see that her lips

movedit was Dejah Thoris, my ever beautiful and ever youthful Princess of Helium.

With her were Thuvia of Ptarth, Phaidor, daughter of Matai Shang, and Thurid, and the Father of Therns, and

Thurid shook his fist at me, and then two of the therns grasped Dejah Thoris and Thuvia roughly by their

arms and hurried them on. A moment later they had disappeared into a stone corridor beyond the labyrinth of

They say that love is blind; but so great a love as that of Dejah Thoris that knew me even beneath the thern

disguise I wore and across the misty vista of that crystal maze must indeed be far from blind.

I have no stomach to narrate the monotonous events of the tedious days that Woola and I spent ferreting our

way across the labyrinth of glass, through the dark and devious ways beyond that led beneath the Valley Dor

and Golden Cliffs to emerge at last upon the flank of the Otz Mountains just above the Valley of Lost

Souls that pitiful purgatory peopled by the poor unfortunates who dare not continue their abandoned

pilgrimage to Dor, or return to the various lands of the outer world from whence they came.

Here the trail of Dejah Thoris' abductors led along the mountains' base, across steep and rugged ravines, by

the side of appalling precipices, and sometimes out into the valley, where we found fighting aplenty with the

members of the various tribes that make up the population of this vale of hopelessness.

But through it all we came at last to where the way led up a narrow gorge that grew steeper and more

impracticable at every step until before us loomed a mighty fortress buried beneath the side of an

Here was the secret hiding place of Matai Shang, Father of Therns. Here, surrounded by a handful of the

faithful, the hekkador of the ancient faith, who had once been served by millions of vassals and dependents,

dispensed the spiritual words among the half dozen nations of Barsoom that still clung tenaciously to their

Darkness was just falling as we came in sight of the seemingly impregnable walls of this mountain

stronghold, and lest we be seen I drew back with Woola behind a jutting granite promontory, into a clump of

Here we lay until the quick transition from daylight to darkness had passed. Then I crept out to approach the

Either through carelessness or overconfidence in the supposed inaccessibility of their hiding place, the

triplebarred gate stood ajar. Beyond were a handful of guards, laughing and talking over one of their

I saw that none of the guardsmen had been of the party that accompanied Thurid and Matai Shang; and so,

relying entirely upon my disguise, I walked boldly through the gateway and up to the thern guard.

The men stopped their game and looked up at me, but there was no sign of suspicion. Similarly they looked at

"Kaor!" I said in true Martian greeting, and the warriors arose and saluted me. "I have but just found my way

hither from the Golden Cliffs," I continued, "and seek audience with the hekkador, Matai Shang, Father of

"Follow me," said one of the guard, and, turning, led me across the outer courtyard toward a second

Why the apparent ease with which I seemingly deceived them did not rouse my suspicions I know not, unless

it was that my mind was still so full of that fleeting glimpse of my beloved princess that there was room in it

for naught else. Be that as it may, the fact is that I marched buoyantly behind my guide straight into the jaws

Afterward I learned that thern spies had been aware of my coming for hours before I reached the hidden

The gate had been purposely left ajar to tempt me on. The guards had been schooled well in their part of the

conspiracy; and I, more like a schoolboy than a seasoned warrior, ran headlong into the trap.

At the far side of the outer court a narrow door let into the angle made by one of the buttresses with the wall.

Here my guide produced a key and opened the way within; then, stepping back, he motioned me to enter.

"Matai Shang is in the temple court beyond," he said; and as Woola and I passed through, the fellow closed

The nasty laugh that came to my ears through the heavy planking of the door after the lock clicked was my

I found myself in a small, circular chamber within the buttress. Before me a door opened, presumably, upon

the inner court beyond. For a moment I hesitated, all my suspicions now suddenly, though tardily, aroused;

then, with a shrug of my shoulders, I opened the door and stepped out into the glare of torches that lighted the

Directly opposite me a massive tower rose to a height of three hundred feet. It was of the strangely beautiful

modern Barsoomian style of architecture, its entire surface hand carved in bold relief with intricate and

fanciful designs. Thirty feet above the courtyard and overlooking it was a broad balcony, and there, indeed,

was Matai Shang, and with him were Thurid and Phaidor, Thuvia, and Dejah Thoristhe last two heavily

An ugly smile distorted the cruel lips of Matai Shang. Thurid hurled a taunt at me and placed a familiar hand

upon the shoulder of my princess. Like a tigress she turned upon him, striking the beast a heavy blow with

He would have struck back had not Matai Shang interfered, and then I saw that the two men were not

overfriendly; for the manner of the thern was arrogant and domineering as he made it plain to the First Born

that the Princess of Helium was the personal property of the Father of Therns. And Thurid's bearing toward

When the altercation in the balcony had subsided Matai Shang turned again to me.

"Earth man," he cried, "you have earned a more ignoble death than now lies within our weakened power to

inflict upon you; but that the death you die tonight may be doubly bitter, know you that when you have

passed, your widow becomes the wife of Matai Shang, Hekkador of the Holy Therns, for a Martian year.

"At the end of that time, as you know, she shall be discarded, as is the law among us, but not, as is usual, to

lead a quiet and honored life as high priestess of some hallowed shrine. Instead, Dejah Thoris, Princess of

Helium, shall become the plaything of my lieutenantsperhaps of thy most hated enemy, Thurid, the black

As he ceased speaking he awaited in silence evidently for some outbreak of rage upon my partsomething

that would have added to the spice of his revenge. But I did not give him the satisfaction that he craved.

Instead, I did the one thing of all others that might rouse his anger and increase his hatred of me; for I knew

that if I died Dejah Thoris, too, would find a way to die before they could heap further tortures or indignities

Of all the holy of holies which the thern venerates and worships none is more revered than the yellow wig

which covers his bald pate, and next thereto comes the circlet of gold and the great diadem, whose scintillant

And, knowing this, I removed the wig and circlet from my head, tossing them carelessly upon the flagging of

the court. Then I wiped my feet upon the yellow tresses; and as a groan of rage arose from the balcony I spat

Matai Shang went livid with anger, but upon the lips of Thurid I could see a grim smile of amusement, for to

him these things were not holy; so, lest he should derive too much amusement from my act, I cried: "And

thus did I with the holies of Issus, Goddess of Life Eternal, ere I threw Issus herself to the mob that once had

That put an end to Thurid's grinning, for he had been high in the favor of Issus.

"Let us have an end to this blaspheming!" he cried, turning to the Father of Therns.

Matai Shang rose and, leaning over the edge of the balcony, gave voice to the weird call that I had heard from

the lips of the priests upon the tiny balcony upon the face of the Golden Cliffs overlooking the Valley Dor,

when, in times past, they called the fearsome white apes and the hideous plant men to the feast of victims

floating down the broad bosom of the mysterious Iss toward the silianinfested waters of the Lost Sea of

Korus. "Let loose the death!" he cried, and immediately a dozen doors in the base of the tower swung open,

This was not the first time that I had faced the ferocious Barsoomian lion, but never had I been pitted,

singlehanded, against a full dozen of them. Even with the assistance of the fierce Woola, there could be but

For a moment the beasts hesitated beneath the brilliant glare of the torches; but presently their eyes,

becoming accustomed to the light, fell upon Woola and me, and with bristling manes and deepthroated roars

In the brief interval of life that was left me I shot a last, parting glance toward my Dejah Thoris. Her beautiful

face was set in an expression of horror; and as my eyes met hers she extended both arms toward me as,

struggling with the guards who now held her, she endeavored to cast herself from the balcony into the pit

beneath, that she might share my death with me. Then, as the banths were about to close upon me, she turned

Suddenly my attention was drawn toward Thuvia of Ptarth. The beautiful girl was leaning far over the edge of

In another instant the banths would be upon me, but I could not force my gaze from the features of the red

girl, for I knew that her expression meant anything but the enjoyment of the grim tragedy that would so soon

be enacted below her; there was some deeper, hidden meaning which I sought to solve.

For an instant I thought of relying on my earthly muscles and agility to escape the banths and reach the

balcony, which I could easily have done, but I could not bring myself to desert the faithful Woola and leave

him to die alone beneath the cruel fangs of the hungry banths; that is not the way upon Barsoom, nor was it

Then the secret of Thuvia's excitement became apparent as from her lips there issued the purring sound I had

heard once before; that time that, within the Golden Cliffs, she called the fierce banths about her and led them

At the first note of that soothing sound the banths halted in their tracks, and every fierce head went high as

the beasts sought the origin of the familiar call. Presently they discovered the red girl in the balcony above

Guards sprang to drag Thuvia away, but ere they had succeeded she had hurled a volley of commands at the

"You need not fear them now, John Carter!" cried Thuvia, before they could silence her. "Those banths will

It was all I cared to know. There was naught to keep me from that balcony now, and with a long, running leap

In an instant all was wild confusion. Matai Shang shrank back. Thurid sprang forward with drawn sword to

Again Dejah Thoris wielded her heavy irons and fought him back. Then Matai Shang grasped her about the

For an instant Thurid hesitated, and then, as though fearing that the Father of Therns would escape him with

Phaidor alone retained her presence of mind. Two of the guards she ordered to bear away Thuvia of Ptarth;

the others she commanded to remain and prevent me from following. Then she turned toward me.

"John Carter," she cried, "for the last time I offer you the love of Phaidor, daughter of the Holy Hekkador.

Accept and your princess shall be returned to the court of her grandfather, and you shall live in peace and

happiness. Refuse and the fate that my father has threatened shall fall upon Dejah Thoris.

"You cannot save her now, for by this time they have reached a place where even you may not follow. Refuse

and naught can save you; for, though the way to the last stronghold of the Holy Therns was made easy for

"You knew my answer, Phaidor," I replied, "before ever you spoke. Make way," I cried to the guards, "for

With that I leaped over the low baluster that surrounded the balcony, and with drawn longsword faced my

There were three of them; but Phaidor must have guessed what the outcome of the battle would be, for she

turned and fled from the balcony the moment she saw that I would have none of her proposition.

The three guardsmen did not wait for my attack. Instead, they rushed methe three of them simultaneously;

and it was that which gave me an advantage, for they fouled one another in the narrow precincts of the

balcony, so that the foremost of them stumbled full upon my blade at the first onslaught.

The red stain upon my point roused to its full the old bloodlust of the fighting man that has ever been so

strong within my breast, so that my blade flew through the air with a swiftness and deadly accuracy that

When at last the sharp steel found the heart of one of them the other turned to flee, and, guessing that his

steps would lead him along the way taken by those I sought, I let him keep ever far enough ahead to think

Through several inner chambers he raced until he came to a spiral runway. Up this he dashed, I in close

pursuit. At the upper end we came out into a small chamber, the walls of which were plank except for a single

Here the fellow tore frantically at what appeared to be but a piece of the blank wall opposite the single

window. In an instant I guessed that it was a secret exit from the room, and so I paused that he might have an

opportunity to negotiate it, for I cared nothing to take the life of this poor servitorall I craved was a clear

But, try as he would, the panel would yield neither to cunning nor force, so that eventually he gave it up and

"Go thy way, Thern," I said to him, pointing toward the entrance to the runway up which we had but just

For answer he sprang upon me with his sword, and so suddenly, at that, that I was like to have gone down

before his first rush. So there was nothing for it but to give him what he sought, and that as quickly as might

be, that I might not be delayed too long in this chamber while Matai Shang and Thurid made way with Dejah

The fellow was a clever swordsmanresourceful and extremely tricky. In fact, he seemed never to have

heard that there existed such a thing as a code of honor, for he repeatedly outraged a dozen Barsoomian

He even went so far as to snatch his holy wig from his head and throw it in my face, so as to blind me for a

When he thrust, however, I was not there, for I had fought with therns before; and while none had ever

resorted to precisely that same expedient, I knew them to be the least honorable and most treacherous fighters

upon Mars, and so was ever on the alert for some new and devilish subterfuge when I was engaged with one

But at length he overdid the thing; for, drawing his shortsword, he hurled it, javelinwise, at my body, at the

same instant rushing upon me with his longsword. A single sweeping circle of my own blade caught the

flying weapon and hurled it clattering against the far wall, and then, as I sidestepped my antagonist's

Clear to the hilt my weapon passed through his body, and with a frightful shriek he sank to the floor, dead.

Halting only for the brief instant that was required to wrench my sword from the carcass of my late

antagonist, I sprang across the chamber to the blank wall beyond, through which the thern had attempted to

In despair I tried to force the thing, but the cold, unyielding stone might well have laughed at my futile, puny

endeavors. In fact, I could have sworn that I caught the faint suggestion of taunting laughter from beyond the

In disgust I desisted from my useless efforts and stepped to the chamber's single window.

The slopes of Otz and the distant Valley of Lost Souls held nothing to compel my interest then; but, towering

Somewhere within that massive pile was Dejah Thoris. Above me I could see windows. There, possibly, lay

the only way by which I could reach her. The risk was great, but not too great when the fate of a world's most

I glanced below. A hundred feet beneath lay jagged granite boulders at the brink of a frightful chasm upon

which the tower abutted; and if not upon the boulders, then at the chasm's bottom, lay death, should a foot

slip but once, or clutching fingers loose their hold for the fraction of an instant.

But there was no other way and with a shrug, which I must admit was half shudder, I stepped to the window's

To my dismay I found that, unlike the ornamentation upon most Heliumetic structures, the edges of the

carvings were quite generally rounded, so that at best my every hold was most precarious.

Fifty feet above me commenced a series of projecting cylindrical stones some six inches in diameter. These

apparently circled the tower at sixfoot intervals, in bands six feet apart; and as each stone cylinder protruded

some four or five inches beyond the surface of the other ornamentation, they presented a comparatively easy

Laboriously I climbed toward them by way of some windows which lay below them, for I hoped that I might

find ingress to the tower through one of these, and thence an easier avenue along which to prosecute my

At times so slight was my hold upon the rounded surfaces of the carving's edges that a sneeze, a cough, or

even a slight gust of wind would have dislodged me and sent me hurtling to the depths below.

But finally I reached a point where my fingers could just clutch the sill of the lowest window, and I was on

the point of breathing a sigh of relief when the sound of voices came to me from above through the open

"He can never solve the secret of that lock." The voice was Matai Shang's. "Let us proceed to the hangar

above that we may be far to the south before he finds another wayshould that be possible."

"All things seem possible to that vile calot," replied another voice, which I recognized as Thurid's.

"Then let us haste," said Matai Shang. "But to be doubly sure, I will leave two who shall patrol this runway.

My upstretched fingers never reached the window's sill. At the first sound of the voices I drew back my hand

and clung there to my perilous perch, flattened against the perpendicular wall, scarce daring to breathe.

What a horrible position, indeed, in which to be discovered by Thurid! He had but to lean from the window to

Presently the sound of the voices became fainter, and once again I took up my hazardous ascent, now more

Matai Shang's reference to the hangar and the fliers indicated that my destination lay nothing short of the roof

The most difficult and dangerous part of the journey was accomplished at last, and it was with relief that I felt

It is true that these projections were too far apart to make the balance of the ascent anything of a sinecure, but

I at least had always within my reach a point of safety to which I might cling in case of accident.

Some ten feet below the roof, the wall inclined slightly inward possibly a foot in the last ten feet, and here the

climbing was indeed immeasurably easier, so that my fingers soon clutched the eaves.

As I drew my eyes above the level of the tower's top I saw a flier all but ready to rise.

Upon her deck were Matai Shang, Phaidor, Dejah Thoris, Thuvia of Ptarth, and a few thern warriors, while

He was not ten paces from me, facing in the opposite direction; and what cruel freak of fate should have

caused him to turn about just as my eyes topped the roof's edge I may not even guess.

But turn he did; and when his eyes met mine his wicked face lighted with a malignant smile as he leaped

Dejah Thoris must have seen me at the same instant, for she screamed a useless warning just as Thurid's foot,

If there be a fate that is sometimes cruel to me, there surely is a kind and merciful Providence which watches

As I toppled from the tower into the horrid abyss below I counted myself already dead; and Thurid must have

done likewise, for he evidently did not even trouble himself to look after me, but must have turned and

Ten feet only I fell, and then a loop of my tough, leathern harness caught upon one of the cylindrical stone

projections in the tower's surfaceand held. Even when I had ceased to fall I could not believe the miracle

that had preserved me from instant death, and for a moment I hung there, cold sweat exuding from every pore

But when at last I had worked myself back to a firm position I hesitated to ascend, since I could not know that

Presently, however, there came to my ears the whirring of the propellers of a flier, and as each moment the

sound grew fainter I realized that the party had proceeded toward the south without assuring themselves as to

Cautiously I retraced my way to the roof, and I must admit that it was with no pleasant sensation that I raised

my eyes once more above its edge; but, to my relief, there was no one in sight, and a moment later I stood

To reach the hangar and drag forth the only other flier which it contained was the work of but an instant; and

just as the two thern warriors whom Matai Shang had left to prevent this very contingency emerged upon the

Then I dived rapidly to the inner court where I had last seen Woola, and to my immense relief found the

The twelve great banths lay in the doorways of their lairs, eyeing him and growling ominously, but they had

not disobeyed Thuvia's injunction; and I thanked the fate that had made her their keeper within the Golden

Cliffs, and endowed her with the kind and sympathetic nature that had won the loyalty and affection of these

Woola leaped in frantic joy when he discovered me; and as the flier touched the pavement of the court for a

brief instant he bounded to the deck beside me, and in the bearlike manifestation of his exuberant happiness

Amid the angry shouting of thern guardsmen we rose high above the last fortress of the Holy Therns, and

then raced straight toward the northeast and Kaol, the destination which I had heard from the lips of Matai

Far ahead, a tiny speck in the distance, I made out another flier late in the afternoon. It could be none other

I had gained considerably on the craft by night; and then, knowing that they must have sighted me and would

show no lights after dark, I set my destination compass upon herthat wonderful little Martian mechanism

which, once attuned to the object of destination, points away toward it, irrespective of every change in its

All that night we raced through the Barsoomian void, passing over low hills and dead sea bottoms; above

longdeserted cities and populous centers of red Martian habitation upon the ribbonlike lines of cultivated

land which border the globeencircling waterways, which Earth men call the canals of Mars.

Dawn showed that I had gained appreciably upon the flier ahead of me. It was a larger craft than mine, and

not so swift; but even so, it had covered an immense distance since the flight began.

The change in vegetation below showed me that we were rapidly nearing the equator. I was now near enough

to my quarry to have used my bow gun; but, though I could see that Dejah Thoris was not on deck, I feared to

Thurid was deterred by no such scruples; and though it must have been difficult for him to believe that it was

really I who followed them, he could not very well doubt the witness of his own eyes; and so he trained their

stern gun upon me with his own hands, and an instant later an explosive radium projectile whizzed perilously

The black's next shot was more accurate, striking my flier full upon the prow and exploding with the instant

So quickly did my bow drop after the shot that I scarce had time to lash Woola to the deck and buckle my

own harness to a gunwale ring before the craft was hanging stern up and making her last long drop to ground.

Her stern buoyancy tanks prevented her dropping with great rapidity; but Thurid was firing rapidly now in an

attempt to burst these also, that I might be dashed to death in the swift fall that would instantly follow a

Shot after shot tore past or into us, but by a miracle neither Woola nor I was hit, nor were the after tanks

punctured. This good fortune could not last indefinitely, and, assured that Thurid would not again leave me

alive, I awaited the bursting of the next shell that hit; and then, throwing my hands above my head, I let go

The ruse worked, and Thurid fired no more at us. Presently I heard the diminishing sound of whirring

Slowly the stricken flier sank to the ground, and when I had freed myself and Woola from the entangling

wreckage I found that we were upon the verge of a natural forestso rare a thing upon the bosom of dying

Mars that, outside of the forest in the Valley Dor beside the Lost Sea of Korus, I never before had seen its

From books and travelers I had learned something of the littleknown land of Kaol, which lies along the

It comprises a sunken area of extreme tropical heat, and is inhabited by a nation of red men varying but little

I knew that they were among those of the outer world who still clung tenaciously to the discredited religion of

the Holy Therns, and that Matai Shang would find a ready welcome and safe refuge among them; while John

The isolation of the Kaolians is rendered almost complete by the fact that no waterway connects their land

with that of any other nation, nor have they any need of a waterway since the low, swampy land which

comprises the entire area of their domain selfwaters their abundant tropical crops.

For great distances in all directions rugged hills and arid stretches of dead sea bottom discourage intercourse

with them, and since there is practically no such thing as foreign commerce upon warlike Barsoom, where

each nation is sufficient to itself, really little has been known relative to the court of the Jeddak of Kaol and

Occasional hunting parties have traveled to this outoftheway corner of the globe, but the hostility of the

natives has usually brought disaster upon them, so that even the sport of hunting the strange and savage

creatures which haunt the jungle fastnesses of Kaol has of later years proved insufficient lure even to the

It was upon the verge of the land of the Kaols that I now knew myself to be, but in what direction to search

for Dejah Thoris, or how far into the heart of the great forest I might have to penetrate I had not the faintest

Scarcely had I disentangled him than he raised his head high in air and commenced circling about at the edge

of the forest. Presently he halted, and, turning to see if I were following, set off straight into the maze of trees

in the direction we had been going before Thurid's shot had put an end to our flier.

As best I could, I stumbled after him down a steep declivity beginning at the forest's edge.

Immense trees reared their mighty heads far above us, their broad fronds completely shutting off the slightest

glimpse of the sky. It was easy to see why the Kaolians needed no navy; their cities, hidden in the midst of

this towering forest, must be entirely invisible from above, nor could a landing be made by any but the

How Thurid and Matai Shang were to land I could not imagine, though later I was to learn that to the level of

the forest top there rises in each city of Kaol a slender watchtower which guards the Kaolians by day and by

night against the secret approach of a hostile fleet. To one of these the hekkador of the Holy Therns had no

difficulty in approaching, and by its means the party was safely lowered to the ground.

As Woola and I approached the bottom of the declivity the ground became soft and mushy, so that it was with

Slender purple grasses topped with red and yellow fernlike fronds grew rankly all about us to the height of

Myriad creepers hung festooned in graceful loops from tree to tree, and among them were several varieties of

the Martian "manflower," whose blooms have eyes and hands with which to see and seize the insects which

The repulsive calot tree was, too, much in evidence. It is a carnivorous plant of about the bigness of a large

sagebrush such as dots our western plains. Each branch ends in a set of strong jaws, which have been known

Both Woola and I had several narrow escapes from these greedy, arboreous monsters.

Occasional areas of firm sod gave us intervals of rest from the arduous labor of traversing this gorgeous,

twilight swamp, and it was upon one of these that I finally decided to make camp for the night which my

Many varieties of fruit grew in abundance about us; and as Martian calots are omnivorous, Woola had no

difficulty in making a square meal after I had brought down the viands for him. Then, having eaten, too, I lay

down with my back to that of my faithful hound, and dropped into a deep and dreamless sleep.

The forest was shrouded in impenetrable darkness when a low growl from Woola awakened me. All about us

I could hear the stealthy movement of great, padded feet, and now and then the wicked gleam of green eyes

Suddenly a deeptoned, horrid roar burst from some savage throat almost at my side. What a fool I had been

not to have found safer lodgings for myself and Woola among the branches of one of the countless trees that

By daylight it would have been comparatively easy to have hoisted Woola aloft in one manner or another, but

now it was too late. There was nothing for it but to stand our ground and take our medicine, though, from the

hideous racket which now assailed our ears, and for which that first roar had seemed to be the signal, I judged

that we must be in the midst of hundreds, perhaps thousands, of the fierce, maneating denizens of the

All the balance of the night they kept up their infernal din, but why they did not attack us I could not guess,

nor am I sure to this day, unless it is that none of them ever venture upon the patches of scarlet sward which

When morning broke they were still there, walking about as in a circle, but always just beyond the edge of

the sward. A more terrifying aggregation of fierce and bloodthirsty monsters it would be difficult to

Singly and in pairs they commenced wandering off into the jungle shortly after sunrise, and when the last of

Occasionally we caught glimpses of horrid beasts all during the day; but, fortunately, we were never far from

a sward island, and when they saw us their pursuit always ended at the verge of the solid sod.

Toward noon we stumbled upon a wellconstructed road running in the general direction we had been

pursuing. Everything about this highway marked it as the work of skilled engineers, and I was confident,

from the indications of antiquity which it bore, as well as from the very evident signs of its being still in

Just as we entered it from one side a huge monster emerged from the jungle upon the other, and at sight of us

Imagine, if you can, a baldfaced hornet of your earthly experience grown to the size of a prize Hereford

bull, and you will have some faint conception of the ferocious appearance and awesome formidability of the

Frightful jaws in front and mighty, poisoned sting behind made my relatively puny longsword seem a pitiful

weapon of defense indeed. Nor could I hope to escape the lightninglike movements or hide from those

myriad facet eyes which covered threefourths of the hideous head, permitting the creature to see in all

Even my powerful and ferocious Woola was as helpless as a kitten before that frightful thing. But to flee

were useless, even had it ever been to my liking to turn my back upon a danger; so I stood my ground, Woola

The creature was upon us now, and at the instant there seemed to me a single slight chance for victory. If I

could but remove the terrible menace of certain death hidden in the poison sacs that fed the sting the struggle

At the thought I called to Woola to leap upon the creature's head and hang there, and as his mighty jaws

closed upon that fiendish face, and glistening fangs buried themselves in the bone and cartilage and lower

part of one of the huge eyes, I dived beneath the great body as the creature rose, dragging Woola from the

ground, that it might bring its sting beneath and pierce the body of the thing hanging to its head.

To put myself in the path of that poisonladen lance was to court instant death, but it was the only way; and

as the thing shot lightninglike toward me I swung my longsword in a terrific cut that severed the deadly

Then, like a batteringram, one of the powerful hind legs caught me full in the chest and hurled me, half

stunned and wholly winded, clear across the broad highway and into the underbrush of the jungle that fringes

Fortunately, I passed between the boles of trees; had I struck one of them I should have been badly injured, if

Dazed though I was, I stumbled to my feet and staggered back to Woola's assistance, to find his savage

antagonist circling ten feet above the ground, beating madly at the clinging calot with all six powerful legs.

Even during my sudden flight through the air I had not once released my grip upon my longsword, and now

I ran beneath the two battling monsters, jabbing the winged terror repeatedly with its sharp point.

The thing might easily have risen out of my reach, but evidently it knew as little concerning retreat in the face

of danger as either Woola or I, for it dropped quickly toward me, and before I could escape had grasped my

Time and again the now useless stub of its giant sting struck futilely against my body, but the blows alone

were almost as effective as the kick of a horse; so that when I say futilely, I refer only to the natural function

of the disabled member eventually the thing would have hammered me to a pulp. Nor was it far from

accomplishing this when an interruption occurred that put an end forever to its hostilities.

From where I hung a few feet above the road I could see along the highway a few hundred yards to where it

turned toward the east, and just as I had about given up all hope of escaping the perilous position in which I

He was mounted on a splendid thoat, one of the smaller species used by red men, and in his hand was a

His mount was walking sedately when I first perceived them, but the instant that the red man's eyes fell upon

us a word to the thoat brought the animal at full charge down upon us. The long lance of the warrior dipped

toward us, and as thoat and rider hurtled beneath, the point passed through the body of our antagonist.

With a convulsive shudder the thing stiffened, the jaws relaxed, dropping me to the ground, and then,

careening once in mid air, the creature plunged headforemost to the road, full upon Woola, who still clung

By the time I had regained my feet the red man had turned and ridden back to us. Woola, finding his enemy

inert and lifeless, released his hold at my command and wriggled from beneath the body that had covered

I started to thank the stranger for his timely assistance, but he cut me off peremptorily.

"Who are you," he asked, "who dare enter the land of Kaol and hunt in the royal forest of the jeddak?"

Then, as he noted my white skin through the coating of grime and blood that covered me, his eyes went wide

I might have deceived the fellow for a time, as I had deceived others, but I had cast away the yellow wig and

the holy diadem in the presence of Matai Shang, and I knew that it would not be long ere my new

"I am not a thern," I replied, and then, flinging caution to the winds, I said: "I am John Carter, Prince of

If his eyes had gone wide when he thought that I was a Holy Thern, they fairly popped now that he knew that

I was John Carter. I grasped my longsword more firmly as I spoke the words which I was sure would

precipitate an attack, but to my surprise they precipitated nothing of the kind.

"John Carter, Prince of Helium," he repeated slowly, as though he could not quite grasp the truth of the

And then he dismounted and placed his hand upon my shoulder after the manner of most friendly greeting

"It is my duty, and it should be my pleasure, to kill you, John Carter," he said, "but always in my heart of

hearts have I admired your prowess and believed in your sincerity the while I have questioned and

"It would mean my instant death were my heresy to be suspected in the court of Kulan Tith, but if I may

serve you, Prince, you have but to command Torkar Bar, Dwar of the Kaolian Road."

Truth and honesty were writ large upon the warrior's noble countenance, so that I could not but have trusted

him, enemy though he should have been. His title of Captain of the Kaolian Road explained his timely

presence in the heart of the savage forest, for every highway upon Barsoom is patrolled by doughty warriors

of the noble class, nor is there any service more honorable than this lonely and dangerous duty in the less

"Torkar Bar has already placed a great debt of gratitude upon my shoulders," I replied, pointing to the carcass

"It was fortunate that I came when I did," he said. "Only this poisoned spear pricking the very heart of a sith

can kill it quickly enough to save its prey. In this section of Kaol we are all armed with a long sith spear,

whose point is smeared with the poison of the creature it is intended to kill; no other virus acts so quickly

"Look," he continued, drawing his dagger and making an incision in the carcass a foot above the root of the

sting, from which he presently drew forth two sacs, each of which held fully a gallon of the deadly liquid.

"Thus we maintain our supply, though were it not for certain commercial uses to which the virus is put, it

would scarcely be necessary to add to our present store, since the sith is almost extinct.

"Only occasionally do we now run upon one. Of old, however, Kaol was overrun with the frightful monsters

that often came in herds of twenty or thirty, darting down from above into our cities and carrying away

As he spoke I had been wondering just how much I might safely tell this man of the mission which brought

me to his land, but his next words anticipated the broaching of the subject on my part, and rendered me

"And now as to yourself, John Carter," he said, "I shall not ask your business here, nor do I wish to hear it. I

have eyes and ears and ordinary intelligence, and yesterday morning I saw the party that came to the city of

Kaol from the north in a small flier. But one thing I ask of you, and that is: the word of John Carter that he

"My way leads along the Kaolian road, away from the city of Kaol," he continued. "I have seen no

oneJohn Carter least of all. Nor have you seen Torkar Bar, nor ever heard of him. You understand?"

"This road leads directly into the city of Kaol," he said. "I wish you fortune," and vaulting to the back of his

It was after dark when Woola and I spied through the mighty forest the great wall which surrounds the city of

We had traversed the entire way without mishap or adventure, and though the few we had met had eyed the

great calot wonderingly, none had pierced the red pigment with which I had smoothly smeared every square

But to traverse the surrounding country, and to enter the guarded city of Kulan Tith, Jeddak of Kaol, were

two very different things. No man enters a Martian city without giving a very detailed and satisfactory

account of himself, nor did I delude myself with the belief that I could for a moment impose upon the acumen

of the officers of the guard to whom I should be taken the moment I applied at any one of the gates.

My only hope seemed to lie in entering the city surreptitiously under cover of the darkness, and once in, trust

to my own wits to hide myself in some crowded quarter where detection would be less liable to occur.

With this idea in view I circled the great wall, keeping within the fringe of the forest, which is cut away for a

short distance from the wall all about the city, that no enemy may utilize the trees as a means of ingress.

Several times I attempted to scale the barrier at different points, but not even my earthly muscles could

overcome that cleverly constructed rampart. To a height of thirty feet the face of the wall slanted outward,

and then for almost an equal distance it was perpendicular, above which it slanted in again for some fifteen

And smooth! Polished glass could not be more so. Finally I had to admit that at last I had discovered a

Discouraged, I withdrew into the forest beside a broad highway which entered the city from the east, and with

As I opened my eyes Woola, too, moved and, coming up to his haunches, stared through the intervening

At first I could see nothing, but presently I caught a glimpse of a bit of smooth and glossy green moving

Motioning Woola to remain quietly where he was, I crept forward to investigate, and from behind the bole of

a great tree I saw a long line of the hideous green warriors of the dead sea bottoms hiding in the dense jungle

As far as I could see, the silent line of destruction and death stretched away from the city of Kaol. There

could be but one explanation. The green men were expecting an exodus of a body of red troops from the

I owed no fealty to the Jeddak of Kaol, but he was of the same race of noble red men as my own princess, and

I would not stand supinely by and see his warriors butchered by the cruel and heartless demons of the waste

Cautiously I retraced my steps to where I had left Woola, and warning him to silence, signaled him to follow

me. Making a considerable detour to avoid the chance of falling into the hands of the green men, I came at

A hundred yards to my right was the gate from which the troops were evidently expected to issue, but to

reach it I must pass the flank of the green warriors within easy sight of them, and, fearing that my plan to

warn the Kaolians might thus be thwarted, I decided upon hastening toward the left, where another gate a

I knew that the word I brought would prove a splendid passport to Kaol, and I must admit that my caution

was due more to my ardent desire to make my way into the city than to avoid a brush with the green men. As

much as I enjoy a fight, I cannot always indulge myself, and just now I had more weighty matters to occupy

Could I but win beyond the city's wall, there might be opportunity in the confusion and excitement which

were sure to follow my announcement of an invading force of green warriors to find my way within the

palace of the jeddak, where I was sure Matai Shang and his party would be quartered.

But scarcely had I taken a hundred steps in the direction of the farther gate when the sound of marching

troops, the clank of metal, and the squealing of thoats just within the city apprised me of the fact that the

There was no time to be lost. In another moment the gate would be opened and the head of the column pass

Turning back toward the fateful gate, I ran rapidly along the edge of the clearing, taking the ground in the

mighty leaps that had first made me famous upon Barsoom. Thirty, fifty, a hundred feet at a bound are

As I passed the flank of the waiting green men they saw my eyes turned upon them, and in an instant,

knowing that all secrecy was at an end, those nearest me sprang to their feet in an effort to cut me off before I

At the same instant the mighty portal swung wide and the head of the Kaolian column emerged. A dozen

green warriors had succeeded in reaching a point between me and the gate, but they had but little idea who it

I did not slacken my speed an iota as I dashed among them, and as they fell before my blade I could not but

recall the happy memory of those other battles when Tars Tarkas, Jeddak of Thark, mightiest of Martian

green men, had stood shoulder to shoulder with me through long, hot Martian days, as together we hewed

down our enemies until the pile of corpses about us rose higher than a tall man's head.

When several pressed me too closely, there before the carved gateway of Kaol, I leaped above their heads,

and fashioning my tactics after those of the hideous plant men of Dor, struck down upon my enemies' heads

From the city the red warriors were rushing toward us, and from the jungle the savage horde of green men

were coming to meet them. In a moment I was in the very center of as fierce and bloody a battle as I had ever

These Kaolians are most noble fighters, nor are the green men of the equator one whit less warlike than their

cold, cruel cousins of the temperate zone. There were many times when either side might have withdrawn

without dishonor and thus ended hostilities, but from the mad abandon with which each invariably renewed

hostilities I soon came to believe that what need not have been more than a trifling skirmish would end only

With the joy of battle once roused within me, I took keen delight in the fray, and that my fighting was noted

If I sometimes seem to take too great pride in my fighting ability, it must be remembered that fighting is my

vocation. If your vocation be shoeing horses, or painting pictures, and you can do one or the other better than

your fellows, then you are a fool if you are not proud of your ability. And so I am very proud that upon two

And I outdid myself that day to impress the fact upon the natives of Kaol, for I wished to win a way into their

All day we fought, until the road was red with blood and clogged with corpses. Back and forth along the

slippery highway the tide of battle surged, but never once was the gateway to Kaol really in danger.

There were breathing spells when I had a chance to converse with the red men beside whom I fought, and

once the jeddak, Kulan Tith himself, laid his hand upon my shoulder and asked my name.

"I am Dotar Sojat," I replied, recalling a name given me by the Tharks many years before, from the surnames

of the first two of their warriors I had killed, which is the custom among them.

"You are a mighty warrior, Dotar Sojat," he replied, "and when this day is done I shall speak with you again

And then the fight surged upon us once more and we were separated, but my heart's desire was attained, and

it was with renewed vigor and a joyous soul that I laid about me with my longsword until the last of the

Not until the battle was over did I learn why the red troops had sallied forth that day. It seemed that Kulan

Tith was expecting a visit from a mighty jeddak of the northa powerful and the only ally of the Kaolians,

But now the march of the welcoming host was delayed until the following morning, when the troops again set

out from Kaol. I had not been bidden to the presence of Kulan Tith after the battle, but he had sent an officer

to find me and escort me to comfortable quarters in that part of the palace set aside for the officers of the

There, with Woola, I had spent a comfortable night, and rose much refreshed after the arduous labors of the

past few days. Woola had fought with me through the battle of the previous day, true to the instincts and

training of a Martian war dog, great numbers of which are often to be found with the savage green hordes of

Neither of us had come through the conflict unscathed, but the marvelous, healing salves of Barsoom had

I breakfasted with a number of the Kaolian officers, whom I found as courteous and delightful hosts as even

the nobles of Helium, who are renowned for their ease of manners and excellence of breeding. The meal was

scarcely concluded when a messenger arrived from Kulan Tith summoning me before him.

As I entered the royal presence the jeddak rose, and stepping from the dais which supported his magnificent

throne, came forward to meet mea mark of distinction that is seldom accorded to other than a visiting ruler.

"Kaor, Dotar Sojat!" he greeted me. "I have summoned you to receive the grateful thanks of the people of

Kaol, for had it not been for your heroic bravery in daring fate to warn us of the ambuscade we must surely

have fallen into the welllaid trap. Tell me more of yourselffrom what country you come, and what errand

"I am from Hastor," I said, for in truth I had a small palace in that southern city which lies within the

"My presence in the land of Kaol is partly due to accident, my flier being wrecked upon the southern fringe

of your great forest. It was while seeking entrance to the city of Kaol that I discovered the green horde lying

If Kulan Tith wondered what business brought me in a flier to the very edge of his domain he was good

enough not to press me further for an explanation, which I should indeed have had difficulty in rendering.

During my audience with the jeddak another party entered the chamber from behind me, so that I did not see

their faces until Kulan Tith stepped past me to greet them, commanding me to follow and be presented.

As I turned toward them it was with difficulty that I controlled my features, for there, listening to Kulan

Tith's eulogistic words concerning me, stood my archenemies, Matai Shang and Thurid.

"Holy Hekkador of the Holy Therns," the jeddak was saying, "shower thy blessings upon Dotar Sojat, the

valorous stranger from distant Hastor, whose wondrous heroism and marvelous ferocity saved the day for

Matai Shang stepped forward and laid his hand upon my shoulder. No slightest indication that he recognized

He spoke kindly to me and then presented me to Thurid. The black, too, was evidently entirely deceived.

Then Kulan Tith regaled them, much to my amusement, with details of my achievements upon the field of

The thing that seemed to have impressed him most was my remarkable agility, and time and again he

described the wondrous way in which I had leaped completely over an antagonist, cleaving his skull wide

I thought that I saw Thurid's eyes widen a bit during the narrative, and several times I surprised him gazing

intently into my face through narrowed lids. Was he commencing to suspect? And then Kulan Tith told of the

savage calot that fought beside me, and after that I saw suspicion in the eyes of Matai Shang or did I but

At the close of the audience Kulan Tith announced that he would have me accompany him upon the way to

meet his royal guest, and as I departed with an officer who was to procure proper trappings and a suitable

mount for me, both Matai Shang and Thurid seemed most sincere in professing their pleasure at having had

an opportunity to know me. It was with a sigh of relief that I quitted the chamber, convinced that nothing

more than a guilty conscience had prompted my belief that either of my enemies suspected my true identity.

A halfhour later I rode out of the city gate with the column that accompanied Kulan Tith upon the way to

meet his friend and ally. Though my eyes and ears had been wide open during my audience with the jeddak

and my various passages through the palace, I had seen or heard nothing of Dejah Thoris or Thuvia of Ptarth.

That they must be somewhere within the great rambling edifice I was positive, and I should have given much

to have found a way to remain behind during Kulan Tith's absence, that I might search for them.

Toward noon we came in touch with the head of the column we had set out to meet.

It was a gorgeous train that accompanied the visiting jeddak, and for miles it stretched along the wide, white

road to Kaol. Mounted troops, their trappings of jewel and metalincrusted leather glistening in the sunlight,

formed the vanguard of the body, and then came a thousand gorgeous chariots drawn by huge zitidars.

These low, commodious wagons moved two abreast, and on either side of them marched solid ranks of

mounted warriors, for in the chariots were the women and children of the royal court. Upon the back of each

monster zitidar rode a Martian youth, and the whole scene carried me back to my first days upon Barsoom,

now twentytwo years in the past, when I had first beheld the gorgeous spectacle of a caravan of the green

Never before today had I seen zitidars in the service of red men. These brutes are huge mastodonian animals

that tower to an immense height even beside the giant green men and their giant thoats; but when compared

to the relatively small red man and his breed of thoats they assume Brobdingnagian proportions that are truly

The beasts were hung with jeweled trappings and saddlepads of gay silk, embroidered in fanciful designs

with strings of diamonds, pearls, rubies, emeralds, and the countless unnamed jewels of Mars, while from

each chariot rose a dozen standards from which streamers, flags, and pennons fluttered in the breeze.

Just in front of the chariots the visiting jeddak rode alone upon a pure white thoatanother unusual sight

upon Barsoomand after them came interminable ranks of mounted spearmen, riflemen, and swordsmen. It

Except for the clanking of accouterments and the occasional squeal of an angry thoat or the low guttural of a

zitidar, the passage of the cavalcade was almost noiseless, for neither thoat nor zitidar is a hoofed animal, and

the broad tires of the chariots are of an elastic composition, which gives forth no sound.

Now and then the gay laughter of a woman or the chatter of children could be heard, for the red Martians are

a social, pleasureloving peoplein direct antithesis to the cold and morbid race of green men.

The forms and ceremonials connected with the meeting of the two jeddaks consumed an hour, and then we

turned and retraced our way toward the city of Kaol, which the head of the column reached just before dark,

though it must have been nearly morning before the rear guard passed through the gateway.

Fortunately, I was well up toward the head of the column, and after the great banquet, which I attended with

the officers of the royal guard, I was free to seek repose. There was so much activity and bustle about the

palace all during the night with the constant arrival of the noble officers of the visiting jeddak's retinue that I

dared not attempt to prosecute a search for Dejah Thoris, and so, as soon as it was seemly for me to do so, I

As I passed along the corridors between the banquet hall and the apartments that had been allotted me, I had a

sudden feeling that I was under surveillance, and, turning quickly in my tracks, caught a glimpse of a figure

Though I ran quickly back to the spot where the shadower had disappeared I could find no trace of him, yet in

the brief glimpse that I had caught I could have sworn that I had seen a white face surmounted by a mass of

The incident gave me considerable food for speculation, since if I were right in the conclusion induced by the

cursory glimpse I had had of the spy, then Matai Shang and Thurid must suspect my identity, and if that were

true not even the service I had rendered Kulan Tith could save me from his religious fanaticism.

But never did vague conjecture or fruitless fears for the future lie with sufficient weight upon my mind to

keep me from my rest, and so tonight I threw myself upon my sleeping silks and furs and passed at once into

Calots are not permitted within the walls of the palace proper, and so I had had to relegate poor Woola to

quarters in the stables where the royal thoats are kept. He had comfortable, even luxurious apartments, but I

would have given much to have had him with me; and if he had been, the thing which happened that night

I could not have slept over a quarter of an hour when I was suddenly awakened by the passing of some cold

and clammy thing across my forehead. Instantly I sprang to my feet, clutching in the direction I thought the

presence lay. For an instant my hand touched against human flesh, and then, as I lunged headforemost

through the darkness to seize my nocturnal visitor, my foot became entangled in my sleeping silks and I fell

By the time I had resumed my feet and found the button which controlled the light my caller had disappeared.

Careful search of the room revealed nothing to explain either the identity or business of the person who had

That the purpose might be theft I could not believe, since thieves are practically unknown upon Barsoom.

Assassination, however, is rampant, but even this could not have been the motive of my stealthy friend, for he

I had about given up fruitless conjecture and was on the point of returning to sleep when a dozen Kaolian

guardsmen entered my apartment. The officer in charge was one of my genial hosts of the morning, but now

Surrounded by guardsmen I marched back along the corridors of the palace of Kulan Tith, Jeddak of Kaol, to

As I entered the brilliantly lighted apartment, filled with the nobles of Kaol and the officers of the visiting

jeddak, all eyes were turned upon me. Upon the great dais at the end of the chamber stood three thrones, upon

Up the broad center aisle we marched beneath deadly silence, and at the foot of the thrones we halted.

"Prefer thy charge," said Kulan Tith, turning to one who stood among the nobles at his right; and then Thurid,

"Most noble Jeddak," he said, addressing Kulan Tith, "from the first I suspected this stranger within thy

palace. Your description of his fiendish prowess tallied with that of the archenemy of truth upon Barsoom.

"But that there might be no mistake I despatched a priest of your own holy cult to make the test that should

pierce his disguise and reveal the truth. Behold the result!" and Thurid pointed a rigid finger at my forehead.

All eyes followed the direction of that accusing digitI alone seemed at a loss to guess what fatal sign rested

The officer beside me guessed my perplexity; and as the brows of Kulan Tith darkened in a menacing scowl

as his eyes rested upon me, the noble drew a small mirror from his pocketpouch and held it before my face.

From my forehead the hand of the sneaking thern had reached out through the concealing darkness of my

bedchamber and wiped away a patch of the disguising red pigment as broad as my palm. Beneath showed

For a moment Thurid ceased speaking, to enhance, I suspect, the dramatic effect of his disclosure. Then he

"Here, O Kulan Tith," he cried, "is he who has desecrated the temples of the Gods of Mars, who has violated

the persons of the Holy Therns themselves and turned a world against its ageold religion. Before you, in

your power, Jeddak of Kaol, Defender of the Holies, stands John Carter, Prince of Helium!"

Kulan Tith looked toward Matai Shang as though for corroboration of these charges. The Holy Thern nodded

"It is indeed the archblasphemer," he said. "Even now he has followed me to the very heart of thy palace,

"He lies!" I cried. "Kulan Tith, listen that you may know the truth. Listen while I tell you why John Carter

has followed Matai Shang to the heart of thy palace. Listen to me as well as to them, and then judge if my

acts be not more in accord with true Barsoomian chivalry and honor than those of these revengeful devotees

"Silence!" roared the jeddak, leaping to his feet and laying his hand upon the hilt of his sword. "Silence,

blasphemer! Kulan Tith need not permit the air of his audience chamber to be defiled by the heresies that

"You stand already selfcondemned. It but remains to determine the manner of your death. Even the service

that you rendered the arms of Kaol shall avail you naught; it was but a base subterfuge whereby you might

win your way into my favor and reach the side of this holy man whose life you craved. To the pits with him!"

Here was a pretty pass, indeed! What chance had I against a whole nation? What hope for me of mercy at the

hands of the fanatical Kulan Tith with such advisers as Matai Shang and Thurid. The black grinned

The guards closed toward me. A red haze blurred my vision. The fighting blood of my Virginian sires

coursed hot through my veins. The lust of battle in all its mad fury was upon me.

With a leap I was beside Thurid, and ere the devilish smirk had faded from his handsome face I had caught

him full upon the mouth with my clenched fist; and as the good, old American blow landed, the black dator

shot back a dozen feet, to crumple in a heap at the foot of Kulan Tith's throne, spitting blood and teeth from

In an instant the guardsmen were upon me, but before a blow had been struck a mighty voice rose above the

din of shouting warriors, and a giant figure leaped from the dais beside Kulan Tith and, with drawn

"Hold!" he cried. "If you value my friendship, Kulan Tith, and the ageold peace that has existed between

our peoples, call off your swordsmen; for wherever or against whomsoever fights John Carter, Prince of

Helium, there beside him and to the death fights Thuvan Dihn, Jeddak of Ptarth."

The shouting ceased and the menacing points were lowered as a thousand eyes turned first toward Thuvan

Dihn in surprise and then toward Kulan Tith in question. At first the Jeddak of Kaol went white in rage, but

before he spoke he had mastered himself, so that his tone was calm and even as befitted intercourse between

"Thuvan Dihn," he said slowly, "must have great provocation thus to desecrate the ancient customs which

inspire the deportment of a guest within the palace of his host. Lest I, too, should forget myself as has my

royal friend, I should prefer to remain silent until the Jeddak of Ptarth has won from me applause for his

I could see that the Jeddak of Ptarth was of half a mind to throw his metal in Kulan Tith's face, but he

"None knows better than Thuvan Dihn," he said, "the laws which govern the acts of men in the domains of

their neighbors; but Thuvan Dihn owes allegiance to a higher law than thesethe law of gratitude. Nor to

any man upon Barsoom does he owe a greater debt of gratitude than to John Carter, Prince of Helium.

"Years ago, Kulan Tith," he continued, "upon the occasion of your last visit to me, you were greatly taken

with the charms and graces of my only daughter, Thuvia. You saw how I adored her, and later you learned

that, inspired by some unfathomable whim, she had taken the last, long, voluntary pilgrimage upon the cold

"Some months ago I first heard of the expedition which John Carter had led against Issus and the Holy

Therns. Faint rumors of the atrocities reported to have been committed by the therns upon those who for

"I heard that thousands of prisoners had been released, few of whom dared to return to their own countries

owing to the mandate of terrible death which rests against all who return from the Valley Dor.

"For a time I could not believe the heresies which I heard, and I prayed that my daughter Thuvia might have

died before she ever committed the sacrilege of returning to the outer world. But then my father's love

asserted itself, and I vowed that I would prefer eternal damnation to further separation from her if she could

"So I sent emissaries to Helium, and to the court of Xodar, Jeddak of the First Born, and to him who now

rules those of the thern nation that have renounced their religion; and from each and all I heard the same story

of unspeakable cruelties and atrocities perpetrated upon the poor defenseless victims of their religion by the

"Many there were who had seen or known my daughter, and from therns who had been close to Matai Shang

I learned of the indignities that he personally heaped upon her; and I was glad when I came here to find that

Matai Shang was also your guest, for I should have sought him out had it taken a lifetime.

"More, too, I heard, and that of the chivalrous kindness that John Carter had accorded my daughter. They told

me how he fought for her and rescued her, and how he spurned escape from the savage Warhoons of the

south, sending her to safety upon his own thoat and remaining upon foot to meet the green warriors.

"Can you wonder, Kulan Tith, that I am willing to jeopardize my life, the peace of my nation, or even your

friendship, which I prize more than aught else, to champion the Prince of Helium?"

For a moment Kulan Tith was silent. I could see by the expression of his face that he was sore perplexed.

"Thuvan Dihn," he said, and his tone was friendly though sad, "who am I to judge my fellowman? In my

eyes the Father of Therns is still holy, and the religion which he teaches the only true religion, but were I

faced by the same problem that has vexed you I doubt not that I should feel and act precisely as you have.

"In so far as the Prince of Helium is concerned I may act, but between you and Matai Shang my only office

can be one of conciliation. The Prince of Helium shall be escorted in safety to the boundary of my domain ere

the sun has set again, where he shall be free to go whither he will; but upon pain of death must he never again

"If there be a quarrel between you and the Father of Therns, I need not ask that the settlement of it be

deferred until both have passed beyond the limits of my power. Are you satisfied, Thuvan Dihn?"

The Jeddak of Ptarth nodded his assent, but the ugly scowl that he bent upon Matai Shang harbored ill for

"The Prince of Helium is far from satisfied," I cried, breaking rudely in upon the beginnings of peace, for I

"I have escaped death in a dozen forms to follow Matai Shang and overtake him, and I do not intend to be

led, like a decrepit thoat to the slaughter, from the goal that I have won by the prowess of my sword arm and

"Nor will Thuvan Dihn, Jeddak of Ptarth, be satisfied when he has heard me through. Do you know why I

have followed Matai Shang and Thurid, the black dator, from the forests of the Valley Dor across half a

"Think you that John Carter, Prince of Helium, would stoop to assassination? Can Kulan Tith be such a fool

"I do not follow Matai Shang to kill him, though the God of mine own planet knows that my hands itch to be

at his throat. I follow him, Thuvan Dihn, because with him are two prisoners my wife, Dejah Thoris,

"Now think you that I shall permit myself to be led beyond the walls of Kaol unless the mother of my son

Thuvan Dihn turned upon Kulan Tith. Rage flamed in his keen eyes; but by the masterfulness of his

"Knew you this thing, Kulan Tith?" he asked. "Knew you that my daughter lay a prisoner in your palace?"

"He could not know it," interrupted Matai Shang, white with what I am sure was more fear than rage. "He

I would have had his life for that upon the spot, but even as I sprang toward him Thuvan Dihn laid a heavy

"Wait," he said to me, and then to Kulan Tith. "It is not a lie. This much have I learned of the Prince of

"Three women came with the Father of Therns," replied Kulan Tith. "Phaidor, his daughter, and two who

were reported to be her slaves. If these be Thuvia of Ptarth and Dejah Thoris of Helium I did not know itI

have seen neither. But if they be, then shall they be returned to you on the morrow."

As he spoke he looked straight at Matai Shang, not as a devotee should look at a high priest, but as a ruler of

It must have been plain to the Father of Therns, as it was to me, that the recent disclosures of his true

character had done much already to weaken the faith of Kulan Tith, and that it would require but little more

to turn the powerful jeddak into an avowed enemy; but so strong are the seeds of superstition that even the

great Kaolian still hesitated to cut the final strand that bound him to his ancient religion.

Matai Shang was wise enough to seem to accept the mandate of his follower, and promised to bring the two

"It is almost morning now," he said, "and I should dislike to break in upon the slumber of my daughter, or I

would have them fetched at once that you might see that the Prince of Helium is mistaken," and he

emphasized the last word in an effort to affront me so subtilely that I could not take open offense.

I was about to object to any delay, and demand that the Princess of Helium be brought to me forthwith, when

"I should like to see my daughter at once," he said, "but if Kulan Tith will give me his assurance that none

will be permitted to leave the palace this night, and that no harm shall befall either Dejah Thoris or Thuvia of

Ptarth between now and the moment they are brought into our presence in this chamber at daylight I shall not

"None shall leave the palace tonight," replied the Jeddak of Kaol, "and Matai Shang will give us assurance

The thern assented with a nod. A few moments later Kulan Tith indicated that the audience was at an end,

and at Thuvan Dihn's invitation I accompanied the Jeddak of Ptarth to his own apartments, where we sat until

daylight, while he listened to the account of my experiences upon his planet and to all that had befallen his

I found the father of Thuvia a man after my own heart, and that night saw the beginning of a friendship which

has grown until it is second only to that which obtains between Tars Tarkas, the green Jeddak of Thark, and

The first burst of Mars's sudden dawn brought messengers from Kulan Tith, summoning us to the audience

chamber where Thuvan Dihn was to receive his daughter after years of separation, and I was to be reunited

with the glorious daughter of Helium after an almost unbroken separation of twelve years.

My heart pounded within my bosom until I looked about me in embarrassment, so sure was I that all within

the room must hear. My arms ached to enfold once more the divine form of her whose eternal youth and

At last the messenger despatched to fetch Matai Shang returned. I craned my neck to catch the first glimpse

Halting before the throne he addressed his jeddak in a voice that was plainly audible to all within the

"O Kulan Tith, Mightiest of Jeddaks," he cried, after the fashion of the court, "your messenger returns alone,

for when he reached the apartments of the Father of Therns he found them empty, as were those occupied by

A low groan burst from the lips of Thuvan Dihn who stood next me, not having ascended the throne which

awaited him beside his host. For a moment the silence of death reigned in the great audience chamber of

Rising from his throne he stepped down from the dais to the side of Thuvan Dihn. Tears dimmed his eyes as

"O Thuvan Dihn," he cried, "that this should have happened in the palace of thy best friend! With my own

hands would I have wrung the neck of Matai Shang had I guessed what was in his foul heart. Last night my

lifelong faith was weakenedthis morning it has been shattered; but too late, too late.

"To wrest your daughter and the wife of this royal warrior from the clutches of these archfiends you have but

to command the resources of a mighty nation, for all Kaol is at your disposal. What may be done? Say the

"First," I suggested, "let us find those of your people who be responsible for the escape of Matai Shang and

his followers. Without assistance on the part of the palace guard this thing could not have come to pass. Seek

the guilty, and from them force an explanation of the manner of their going and the direction they have

Before Kulan Tith could issue the commands that would initiate the investigation a handsome young officer

"O Kulan Tith, Mightiest of Jeddaks," he said, "I alone be responsible for this grievous error. Last night it

was I who commanded the palace guard. I was on duty in other parts of the palace during the audience of the

early morning, and knew nothing of what transpired then, so that when the Father of Therns summoned me

and explained that it was your wish that his party be hastened from the city because of the presence here of a

deadly enemy who sought the Holy Hekkador's life I did only what a lifetime of training has taught me was

the proper thing to do I obeyed him whom I believed to be the ruler of us all, mightier even than thou,

"Let the consequences and the punishment fall on me alone, for I alone am guilty. Those others of the palace

Kulan Tith looked first at me and then at Thuvan Dihn, as though to ask our judgment upon the man, but the

error was so evidently excusable that neither of us had any mind to see the young officer suffer for a mistake

"They left as they came," replied the officer, "upon their own flier. For some time after they had departed I

"Where north could Matai Shang find an asylum?" asked Thuvan Dihn of Kulan Tith.

For some moments the Jeddak of Kaol stood with bowed head, apparently deep in thought. Then a sudden

"I have it!" he cried. "Only yesterday Matai Shang let drop a hint of his destination, telling me of a race of

people unlike ourselves who dwell far to the north. They, he said, had always been known to the Holy Therns

and were devout and faithful followers of the ancient cult. Among them would he find a perpetual haven of

refuge, where no `lying heretics' might seek him out. It is there that Matai Shang has gone."

"Wait!" I exclaimed, "beyond the southern fringe of this great forest lies the wreck of the thern flier which

brought me that far upon my way. If you will loan me men to fetch it, and artificers to assist me, I can repair

I had been more than half suspicious of the seeming sincerity of the Kaolian jeddak's sudden apostasy, but the

alacrity with which he embraced my suggestion, and the despatch with which a force of officers and men

Two days later the flier rested upon the top of the watchtower, ready to depart. Thuvan Dihn and Kulan Tith

had offered me the entire resources of two nationsmillions of fighting men were at my disposal; but my

As I stepped aboard her, Thuvan Dihn took his place beside me. I cast a look of questioning surprise upon

him. He turned to the highest of his own officers who had accompanied him to Kaol.

"To you I entrust the return of my retinue to Ptarth," he said. "There my son rules ably in my absence. The

Prince of Helium shall not go alone into the land of his enemies. I have spoken. Farewell!"

Straight toward the north, day and night, our destination compass led us after the fleeing flier upon which it

Early in the second night we noticed the air becoming perceptibly colder, and from the distance we had come

from the equator were assured that we were rapidly approaching the north arctic region.

My knowledge of the efforts that had been made by countless expeditions to explore that unknown land bade

me to caution, for never had flier returned who had passed to any considerable distance beyond the mighty

What became of them none knewonly that they passed forever out of the sight of man into that grim and

The distance from the barrier to the pole was no more than a swift flier should cover in a few hours, and so it

was assumed that some frightful catastrophe awaited those who reached the "forbidden land," as it had come

Thus it was that I went more slowly as we approached the barrier, for it was my intention to move cautiously

by day over the icepack that I might discover, before I had run into a trap, if there really lay an inhabited

country at the north pole, for there only could I imagine a spot where Matai Shang might feel secure from

We were flying at a snail's pace but a few feet above the groundliterally feeling our way along through the

darkness, for both moons had set, and the night was black with the clouds that are to be found only at Mars's

Suddenly a towering wall of white rose directly in our path, and though I threw the helm hard over, and

reversed our engine, I was too late to avoid collision. With a sickening crash we struck the high looming

The flier reeled half over; the engine stopped; as one, the patched buoyancy tanks burst, and we plunged,

Fortunately none of us was injured, and when we had disentangled ourselves from the wreckage, and the

lesser moon had burst again from below the horizon, we found that we were at the foot of a mighty

icebarrier, from which outcropped great patches of the granite hills which hold it from encroaching farther

What fate! With the journey all but completed to be thus wrecked upon the wrong side of that precipitous and

The balance of the night we spent shivering in our inadequate sleeping silks and furs upon the snow that lies

With daylight my battered spirits regained something of their accustomed hopefulness, though I must admit

"What shall we do?" asked Thuvan Dihn. "How may we pass that which is impassable?"

"First we must disprove its impassability," I replied. "Nor shall I admit that it is impassable before I have

followed its entire circle and stand again upon this spot, defeated. The sooner we start, the better, for I see no

other way, and it will take us more than a month to travel the weary, frigid miles that lie before us."

For five days of cold and suffering and privation we traversed the rough and frozen way which lies at the foot

of the icebarrier. Fierce, furbearing creatures attacked us by daylight and by dark. Never for a moment

It is a huge, whitefurred creature with six limbs, four of which, short and heavy, carry it swiftly over the

snow and ice; while the other two, growing forward from its shoulders on either side of its long, powerful

neck, terminate in white, hairless hands, with which it seizes and holds its prey.

Its head and mouth are more similar in appearance to those of a hippopotamus than to any other earthly

animal, except that from" the sides of the lower jawbone two mighty horns curve slightly downward toward

Its two huge eyes inspired my greatest curiosity. They extend in two vast, oval patches from the center of the

top of the cranium down either side of the head to below the roots of the horns, so that these weapons really

grow out from the lower part of the eyes, which are composed of several thousand ocelli each.

This eye structure seemed remarkable in a beast whose haunts were upon a glaring field of ice and snow, and

though I found upon minute examination of several that we killed that each ocellus is furnished with its own

lid, and that the animal can at will close as many of the facets of his huge eyes as he chooses, yet I was

positive that nature had thus equipped him because much of his life was to be spent in dark, subterranean

Shortly after this we came upon the hugest apt that we had seen. The creature stood fully eight feet at the

shoulder, and was so sleek and clean and glossy that I could have sworn that he had but recently been

He stood headon eyeing us as we approached him, for we had found it a waste of time to attempt to escape

the perpetual bestial rage which seems to possess these demon creatures, who rove the dismal north attacking

Even when their bellies are full and they can eat no more, they kill purely for the pleasure which they derive

from taking life, and so when this particular apt failed to charge us, and instead wheeled and trotted away as

we neared him, I should have been greatly surprised had I not chanced to glimpse the sheen of a golden collar

Thuvan Dihn saw it, too, and it carried the same message of hope to us both. Only man could have placed

that collar there, and as no race of Martians of which we knew aught ever had attempted to domesticate the

ferocious apt, he must belong to a people of the north of whose very existence we were ignorantpossibly to

the fabled yellow men of Barsoom; that once powerful race which was supposed to be extinct, though

Simultaneously we started upon the trail of the great beast. Woola was quickly made to understand our

desires, so that it was unnecessary to attempt to keep in sight of the animal whose swift flight over the rough

For the better part of two hours the trail paralleled the barrier, and then suddenly turned toward it through the

Enormous granite boulders blocked the way on every hand; deep rifts in the ice threatened to engulf us at the

least misstep; and from the north a slight breeze wafted to our nostrils an unspeakable stench that almost

For another two hours we were occupied in traversing a few hundred yards to the foot of the barrier.

Then, turning about the corner of a walllike outcropping of granite, we came upon a smooth area of two or

three acres before the base of the towering pile of ice and rock that had baffled us for days, and before us

From this repelling portal the horrid stench was emanating, and as Thuvan Dihn espied the place he halted

"By all my ancestors!" he ejaculated. "That I should have lived to witness the reality of the fabled Carrion

"The ancient chronicles of the first historians of Barsoomso ancient that we have for ages considered them

mythologyrecord the passing of the yellow men from the ravages of the green hordes that overran

Barsoom as the drying up of the great oceans drove the dominant races from their strongholds.

"They tell of the wanderings of the remnants of this once powerful race, harassed at every step, until at last

they found a way through the icebarrier of the north to a fertile valley at the pole.

"At the opening to the subterranean passage that led to their haven of refuge a mighty battle was fought in

which the yellow men were victorious, and within the caves that gave ingress to their new home they piled

the bodies of the dead, both yellow and green, that the stench might warn away their enemies from further

"And ever since that longgone day have the dead of this fabled land been carried to the Carrion Caves, that

in death and decay they might serve their country and warn away invading enemies. Here, too, is brought, so

the fable runs, all the waste stuff of the nationeverything that is subject to rot, and that can add to the foul

"And death lurks at every step among rotting dead, for here the fierce apts lair, adding to the putrid

accumulation with the fragments of their own prey which they cannot devour. It is a horrid avenue to our

"You are sure, then, that we have found the way to the land of the yellow men?" I cried.

"As sure as may be," he replied; "having only ancient legend to support my belief. But see how closely, so

far, each detail tallies with the worldold story of the hegira of the yellow race. Yes, I am sure that we have

"If it be true, and let us pray that such may be the case," I said, "then here may we solve the mystery of the

disappearance of Tardos Mors, Jeddak of Helium, and Mors Kajak, his son, for no other spot upon Barsoom

has remained unexplored by the many expeditions and the countless spies that have been searching for them

for nearly two years. The last word that came from them was that they sought Carthoris, my own brave son,

As we talked we had been approaching the entrance to the cave, and as we crossed the threshold I ceased to

wonder that the ancient green enemies of the yellow men had been halted by the horrors of that awful way.

The bones of dead men lay man high upon the broad floor of the first cave, and over all was a putrid mush of

decaying flesh, through which the apts had beaten a hideous trail toward the entrance to the second cave

The roof of this first apartment was low, like all that we traversed subsequently, so that the foul odors were

confined and condensed to such an extent that they seemed to possess tangible substance. One was almost

tempted to draw his shortsword and hew his way through in search of pure air beyond.

"Not for long, I imagine," I replied; "so let us make haste. I will go first, and you bring up the rear, with

Woola between. Come," and with the words I dashed forward, across the fetid mass of putrefaction.

It was not until we had passed through seven caves of different sizes and varying but little in the power and

quality of their stenches that we met with any physical opposition. Then, within the eighth cave, we came

A full score of the mighty beasts were disposed about the chamber. Some were sleeping, while others tore at

the freshkilled carcasses of newbrought prey, or fought among themselves in their lovemaking.

Here in the dim light of their subterranean home the value of their great eyes was apparent, for these inner

caves are shrouded in perpetual gloom that is but little less than utter darkness.

To attempt to pass through the midst of that fierce herd seemed, even to me, the height of folly, and so I

proposed to Thuvan Dihn that he return to the outer world with Woola, that the two might find their way to

civilization and come again with a sufficient force to overcome not only the apts, but any further obstacles

"In the meantime," I continued, "I may discover some means of winning my way alone to the land of the

yellow men, but if I am unsuccessful one life only will have been sacrificed. Should we all go on and perish,

there will be none to guide a succoring party to Dejah Thoris and your daughter."

"I shall not return and leave you here alone, John Carter," replied Thuvan Dihn. "Whether you go on to

I knew from his tone that it were useless to attempt to argue the question, and so I compromised by sending

Woola back with a hastily penned note enclosed in a small metal case and fastened about his neck. I

commanded the faithful creature to seek Carthoris at Helium, and though half a world and countless dangers

Equipped as he was by nature with marvelous speed and endurance, and with frightful ferocity that made him

a match for any single enemy of the way, his keen intelligence and wondrous instinct should easily furnish all

It was with evident reluctance that the great beast turned to leave me in compliance with my command, and

ere he had gone I could not resist the inclination to throw my arms about his great neck in a parting hug. He

rubbed his cheek against mine in a final caress, and a moment later was speeding through the Carrion Caves

In my note to Carthoris I had given explicit directions for locating the Carrion Caves, impressing upon him

the necessity for making entrance to the country beyond through this avenue, and not to attempt under any

circumstances to cross the icebarrier with a fleet. I told him that what lay beyond the eighth cave I could not

even guess; but I was sure that somewhere upon the other side of the icebarrier his mother lay in the power

of Matai Shang, and that possibly his grandfather and greatgrandfather as well, if they lived.

Further, I advised him to call upon Kulan Tith and the son of Thuvan Dihn for warriors and ships that the

"And," I concluded, "if there be time bring Tars Tarkas with you, for if I live until you reach me I can think

of few greater pleasures than to fight once more, shoulder to shoulder, with my old friend."

When Woola had left us Thuvan Dihn and I, hiding in the seventh cave, discussed and discarded many plans

for crossing the eighth chamber. From where we stood we saw that the fighting among the apts was growing

Presently it became apparent that in a short time all the ferocious monsters might be peacefully slumbering,

and thus a hazardous opportunity be presented to us to cross through their lair.

One by one the remaining brutes stretched themselves upon the bubbling decomposition that covered the

mass of bones upon the floor of their den, until but a single apt remained awake. This huge fellow roamed

restlessly about, nosing among his companion and the abhorrent litter of the cave.

Occasionally he would stop to peer intently toward first one of the exits from the chamber and then the other.

We were at last forced to the belief that he would not sleep while the other occupants of the lair slept, and so

cast about in our minds for some scheme whereby we might trick him. Finally I suggested a plan to Thuvan

Dihn, and as it seemed as good as any that we had discussed we decided to put it to the test.

To this end Thuvan Dihn placed himself close against the cave's wall, beside the entrance to the eighth

chamber, while I deliberately showed myself to the guardian apt as he looked toward our retreat. Then I

sprang to the opposite side of the entrance, flattening my body close to the wall.

Without a sound the great beast moved rapidly toward the seventh cave to see what manner of intruder had

As he poked his head through the narrow aperture that connects the two caves a heavy longsword was

awaiting him upon either hand, and before he had an opportunity to emit even a single growl his severed head

Quickly we glanced into the eighth chambernot an apt had moved. Crawling over the carcass of the huge

beast that blocked the doorway Thuvan Dihn and I cautiously entered the forbidding and dangerous den.

Like snails we wound our silent and careful way among the huge, recumbent forms. The only sound above

our breathing was the sucking noise of our feet as we lifted them from the ooze of decaying flesh through

Halfway across the chamber and one of the mighty beasts directly before me moved restlessly at the very

Breathlessly I waited, balancing upon one foot, for I did not dare move a muscle. In my right hand was my

keen shortsword, the point hovering an inch above the thick fur beneath which beat the savage heart.

Finally the apt relaxed, sighing, as with the passing of a bad dream, and resumed the regular respiration of

deep slumber. I planted my raised foot beyond the fierce head and an instant later had stepped over the beast.

Thuvan Dihn followed directly after me, and another moment found us at the further door, undetected.

The Carrion Caves consist of a series of twentyseven connecting chambers, and present the appearance of

having been eroded by running water in some fargone age when a mighty river found its way to the south

through this single breach in the barrier of rock and ice that hems the country of the pole.

Thuvan Dihn and I traversed the remaining nineteen caverns without adventure or mishap.

We were afterward to learn that but once a month is it possible to find all the apts of the Carrion Caves in a

At other times they roam singly or in pairs in and out of the caves, so that it would have been practically

impossible for two men to have passed through the entire twentyseven chambers without encountering an

apt in nearly every one of them. Once a month they sleep for a full day, and it was our good fortune to

Beyond the last cave we emerged into a desolate country of snow and ice, but found a wellmarked trail

leading north. The way was boulderstrewn, as had been that south of the barrier, so that we could see but a

After a couple of hours we passed round a huge boulder to come to a steep declivity leading down into a

Directly before us we saw a half dozen menfierce, blackbearded fellows, with skins the color of a ripe

"The yellow men of Barsoom!" ejaculated Thuvan Dihn, as though even now that he saw them he found it

scarce possible to believe that the very race we expected to find hidden in this remote and inaccessible land

We withdrew behind an adjacent boulder to watch the actions of the little party, which stood huddled at the

One of them was peering round the edge of the granite mass as though watching one who approached from

Presently the object of his scrutiny came within the range of my vision and I saw that it was another yellow

man. All were clothed in magnificent fursthe six in the black and yellow striped hide of the orluk, while he

The yellow men were armed with two swords, and a short javelin was slung across the back of each, while

from their left arms hung cuplike shields no larger than a dinner plate, the concave sides of which turned

They seemed puny and futile implements of safety against an even ordinary swordsman, but I was later to see

the purpose of them and with what wondrous dexterity the yellow men manipulate them.

One of the swords which each of the warriors carried caught my immediate attention. I call it a sword, but

The other sword was of about the same length as the hooked instrument, and somewhere between that of my

longsword and my shortsword. It was straight and twoedged. In addition to the weapons I have

As the whitefurred one approached, the six grasped their swords more firmlythe hooked instrument in the

left hand, the straight sword in the right, while above the left wrist the small shield was held rigid upon a

As the lone warrior came opposite them the six rushed out upon him with fiendish yells that resembled

Instantly the attacked drew both his swords, and as the six fell upon him I witnessed as pretty fighting as one

With their sharp hooks the combatants attempted to take hold of an adversary, but like lightning the

cupshaped shield would spring before the darting weapon and into its hollow the hook would plunge.

Once the lone warrior caught an antagonist in the side with his hook, and drawing him close ran his sword

But the odds were too unequal, and, though he who fought alone was by far the best and bravest of them all, I

saw that it was but a question of time before the remaining five would find an opening through his marvelous

Now my sympathies have ever been with the weaker side of an argument, and though I knew nothing of the

cause of the trouble I could not stand idly by and see a brave man butchered by superior numbers.

As a matter of fact I presume I gave little attention to seeking an excuse, for I love a good fight too well to

So it was that before Thuvan Dihn knew what I was about he saw me standing by the side of the whiteclad

Thuvan Dihn was not long in joining me; and, though we found the hooked weapon a strange and savage

thing with which to deal, the three of us soon despatched the five blackbearded warriors who opposed us.

When the battle was over our new acquaintance turned to me, and removing the shield from his wrist, held it

out. I did not know the significance of his act, but judged that it was but a form of expressing his gratitude to

I afterward learned that it symbolized the offering of a man's life in return for some great favor done him; and

"Then accept from Talu, Prince of Marentina," said the yellow man, "this token of my gratitude," and

reaching beneath one of his wide sleeves he withdrew a bracelet and placed it upon my arm. He then went

Next he asked our names, and from what land we hailed. He seemed quite familiar with the geography of the

"But little more than that they were captured by my uncle, Salensus Oll, Jeddak of Jeddaks, Ruler of Okar,

land of the yellow men of Barsoom. As to their fate I know nothing, for I am at war with my uncle, who

"These from whom you have just saved me are warriors he has sent out to find and slay me, for they know

that often I come alone to hunt and kill the sacred apt which Salensus Oll so much reveres. It is partly

because I hate his religion that Salensus Oll hates me; but mostly does he fear my growing power and the

great faction which has arisen throughout Okar that would be glad to see me ruler of Okar and Jeddak of

"He is a cruel and tyrannous master whom all hate, and were it not for the great fear they have of him I could

raise an army overnight that would wipe out the few that might remain loyal to him. My own people are

faithful to me, and the little valley of Marentina has paid no tribute to the court of Salensus Oll for a year.

"Nor can he force us, for a dozen men may hold the narrow way to Marentina against a million. But now, as

to thine own affairs. How may I aid you? My palace is at your disposal, if you wish to honor me by coming

"When our work is done we shall be glad to accept your invitation," I replied. "But now you can assist us

most by directing us to the court of Salensus Oll, and suggesting some means by which we may gain

admission to the city and the palace, or whatever other place we find our friends to be confined."

Talu gazed ruefully at our smooth faces and at Thuvan Dihn's red skin and my white one.

"First you must come to Marentina," he said, "for a great change must be wrought in your appearance before

you can hope to enter any city in Okar. You must have yellow faces and black beards, and your apparel and

trappings must be those least likely to arouse suspicion. In my palace is one who can make you appear as

His counsel seemed wise; and as there was apparently no other way to insure a successful entry to Kadabra,

the capital city of Okar, we set out with Talu, Prince of Marentina, for his little, rockbound country.

The way was over some of the worst traveling I have ever seen, and I do not wonder that in this land where

there are neither thoats nor fliers that Marentina is in little fear of invasion; but at last we reached our

destination, the first view of which I had from a slight elevation a halfmile from the city.

Nestled in a deep valley lay a city of Martian concrete, whose every street and plaza and open space was

roofed with glass. All about lay snow and ice, but there was none upon the rounded, domelike, crystal

Then I saw how these people combatted the rigors of the arctic, and lived in luxury and comfort in the midst

of a land of perpetual ice. Their cities were veritable hothouses, and when I had come within this one my

respect and admiration for the scientific and engineering skill of this buried nation was unbounded.

The moment we entered the city Talu threw off his outer garments of fur, as did we, and I saw that his

apparel differed but little from that of the red races of Barsoom. Except for his leathern harness, covered thick

with jewels and metal, he was naked, nor could one have comfortably worn apparel in that warm and humid

For three days we remained the guests of Prince Talu, and during that time he showered upon us every

attention and courtesy within his power. He showed us all that was of interest in his great city.

The Marentina atmosphere plant will maintain life indefinitely in the cities of the north pole after all life upon

the balance of dying Mars is extinct through the failure of the air supply, should the great central plant again

cease functioning as it did upon that memorable occasion that gave me the opportunity of restoring life and

He showed us the heating system that stores the sun's rays in great reservoirs beneath the city, and how little

is necessary to maintain the perpetual summer heat of the glorious garden spot within this arctic paradise.

Broad avenues of sod sewn with the seed of the ocher vegetation of the dead sea bottoms carried the noiseless

traffic of light and airy ground fliers that are the only form of artificial transportation used north of the

The broad tires of these unique fliers are but rubberlike gas bags filled with the eighth Barsoomian ray, or

ray of propulsion that remarkable discovery of the Martians that has made possible the great fleets of

mighty airships that render the red man of the outer world supreme. It is this ray which propels the inherent or

reflected light of the planet off into space, and when confined gives to the Martian craft their airy buoyancy.

The ground fliers of Marentina contain just sufficient buoyancy in their automobilelike wheels to give the

cars traction for steering purposes; and though the hind wheels are geared to the engine, and aid in driving the

I know of no more delightful sensation than that of riding in one of these luxuriously appointed cars which

skim, light and airy as feathers, along the soft, mossy avenues of Marentina. They move with absolute

noiselessness between borders of crimson sward and beneath arching trees gorgeous with the wondrous

blooms that mark so many of the highly cultivated varieties of Barsoomian vegetation.

By the end of the third day the court barberI can think of no other earthly appellation by which to describe

himhad wrought so remarkable a transformation in both Thuvan Dihn and myself that our own wives

would never have known us. Our skins were of the same lemon color as his own, and great, black beards and

mustaches had been deftly affixed to our smooth faces. The trappings of warriors of Okar aided in the

deception; and for wear beyond the hothouse cities we each had suits of the black and yellowstriped orluk.

Talu gave us careful directions for the journey to Kadabra, the capital city of the Okar nation, which is the

racial name of the yellow men. This good friend even accompanied us part way, and then, promising to aid us

On parting he slipped upon my finger a curiously wrought ring set with a deadblack, lusterless stone, which

appeared more like a bit of bituminous coal than the priceless Barsoomian gem which in reality it is.

"There had been but three others cut from the mother stone," he said, "which is in my possession. These three

are worn by nobles high in my confidence, all of whom have been sent on secret missions to the court of

"Should you come within fifty feet of any of these three you will feel a rapid, pricking sensation in the finger

upon which you wear this ring. He who wears one of its mates will experience the same feeling; it is caused

by an electrical action that takes place the moment two of these gems cut from the same mother stone come

within the radius of each other's power. By it you will know that a friend is at hand upon whom you may

"Should another wearer of one of these gems call upon you for aid do not deny him, and should death

threaten you swallow the ring rather than let it fall into the hands of enemies. Guard it with your life, John

With this parting admonition our good friend turned back toward Marentina, and we set our faces in the

direction of the city of Kadabra and the court of Salensus Oll, Jeddak of Jeddaks.

That very evening we came within sight of the walled and glassroofed city of Kadabra. It lies in a low

depression near the pole, surrounded by rocky, snowclad hills. From the pass through which we entered the

valley we had a splendid view of this great city of the north. Its crystal domes sparkled in the brilliant

sunlight gleaming above the frostcovered outer wall that circles the entire one hundred miles of its

At regular intervals great gates give entrance to the city; but even at the distance from which we looked upon

the massive pile we could see that all were closed, and, in accordance with Talu's suggestion, we deferred

As he had said, we found numerous caves in the hillsides about us, and into one of these we crept for the

night. Our warm orluk skins kept us perfectly comfortable, and it was only after a most refreshing sleep that

Already the city was astir, and from several of the gates we saw parties of yellow men emerging. Following

closely each detail of the instructions given us by our good friend of Marentina, we remained concealed for

several hours until one party of some half dozen warriors had passed along the trail below our hiding place

and entered the hills by way of the pass along which we had come the previous evening.

After giving them time to get well out of sight of our cave, Thuvan Dihn and I crept out and followed them,

When we had come almost to them I called aloud to their leader, when the whole party halted and turned

toward us. The crucial test had come. Could we but deceive these men the rest would be comparatively easy.

"We be from Illall," I continued, giving the name of the most remote city of Okar, which has little or no

intercourse with Kadabra. "Only yesterday we arrived, and this morning the captain of the gate told us that

you were setting out to hunt orluks, which is a sport we do not find in our own neighborhood. We have

The officer was entirely deceived, and graciously permitted us to go with them for the day. The chance guess

that they were bound upon an orluk hunt proved correct, and Talu had said that the chances were ten to one

that such would be the mission of any party leaving Kadabra by the pass through which we entered the

valley, since that way leads directly to the vast plains frequented by this elephantine beast of prey.

In so far as the hunt was concerned, the day was a failure, for we did not see a single orluk; but this proved

more than fortunate for us, since the yellow men were so chagrined by their misfortune that they would not

enter the city by the same gate by which they had left it in the morning, as it seemed that they had made great

We, therefore, approached Kadabra at a point several miles from that at which the party had quitted it in the

morning, and so were relieved of the danger of embarrassing questions and explanations on the part of the

gate captain, whom we had said had directed us to this particular hunting party.

We had come quite close to the city when my attention was attracted toward a tall, black shaft that reared its

head several hundred feet into the air from what appeared to be a tangled mass of junk or wreckage, now

I did not dare venture an inquiry for fear of arousing suspicion by evident ignorance of something which as a

yellow man I should have known; but before we reached the city gate I was to learn the purpose of that grim

We had come almost to the gate when one of the party called to his fellows, at the same time pointing toward

the distant southern horizon. Following the direction he indicated, my eyes descried the hull of a large flier

"Still other fools who would solve the mysteries of the forbidden north," said the officer, half to himself.

"Let us hope not," answered one of the warriors, "for then what should we do for slaves and sport?"

"True; but what stupid beasts they are to continue to come to a region from whence none of them ever has

I looked toward the city and saw several hundred warriors issuing from the nearest gate. They moved

leisurely, as though there were no need for hastenor was there, as I was presently to learn.

Then I turned my eyes once more toward the flier. She was moving rapidly toward the city, and when she had

Straight for that grim shaft she bore. At the last minute I saw the great blades move to reverse her, yet on she

Intense excitement prevailed upon her deck, where men were running hither and thither, manning the guns

and preparing to launch the small, oneman fliers, a fleet of which is part of the equipment of every Martian

war vessel. Closer and closer to the black shaft the ship sped. In another instant she must strike, and then I

saw the familiar signal flown that sends the lesser boats in a great flock from the deck of the mother ship.

Instantly a hundred tiny fliers rose from her deck, like a swarm of huge dragon flies; but scarcely were they

clear of the battleship than the nose of each turned toward the shaft, and they, too, rushed on at frightful speed

A moment later the collision came. Men were hurled in every direction from the ship's deck, while she, bent

With her fell a shower of her own tiny fliers, for each of them had come in violent collision with the solid

I noticed that the wrecked fliers scraped down the shaft's side, and that their fall was not as rapid as might

have been expected; and then suddenly the secret of the shaft burst upon me, and with it an explanation of the

cause that prevented a flier that passed too far across the icebarrier ever returning.

The shaft was a mighty magnet, and when once a vessel came within the radius of its powerful attraction for

the aluminum steel that enters so largely into the construction of all Barsoomian craft, no power on earth

I afterward learned that the shaft rests directly over the magnetic pole of Mars, but whether this adds in any

way to its incalculable power of attraction I do not know. I am a fighting man, not a scientist.

Here, at last, was an explanation of the long absence of Tardos Mors and Mors Kajak. These valiant and

intrepid warriors had dared the mysteries and dangers of the frozen north to search for Carthoris, whose long

absence had bowed in grief the head of his beautiful mother, Dejah Thoris, Princess of Helium.

The moment that the last of the fliers came to rest at the base of the shaft the blackbearded, yellow warriors

swarmed over the mass of wreckage upon which they lay, making prisoners of those who were uninjured and

occasionally despatching with a swordthrust one of the wounded who seemed prone to resent their taunts

A few of the uninjured red men battled bravely against their cruel foes, but for the most part they seemed too

overwhelmed by the horror of the catastrophe that had befallen them to do more than submit supinely to the

When the last of the prisoners had been confined, the party returned to the city, at the gate of which we met a

pack of fierce, goldcollared apts, each of which marched between two warriors, who held them with strong

Just beyond the gate the attendants loosened the whole terrible herd, and as they bounded off toward the

grim, black shaft I did not need to ask to know their mission. Had there not been those within the cruel city of

Kadabra who needed succor far worse than the poor unfortunate dead and dying out there in the cold upon the

bent and broken carcasses of a thousand fliers I could not have restrained my desire to hasten back and do

battle with those horrid creatures that had been despatched to rend and devour them.

As it was I could but follow the yellow warriors, with bowed head, and give thanks for the chance that had

Once within the gates, we had no difficulty in eluding our friends of the morning, and presently found

The public houses of Barsoom, I have found, vary but little. There is no privacy for other than married

Men without their wives are escorted to a large chamber, the floor of which is usually of white marble or

heavy glass, kept scrupulously clean. Here are many small, raised platforms for the guest's sleeping silks and

furs, and if he have none of his own clean, fresh ones are furnished at a nominal charge.

Once a man's belongings have been deposited upon one of these platforms he is a guest of the house, and that

platform his own until he leaves. No one will disturb or molest his belongings, as there are no thieves upon

As assassination is the one thing to be feared, the proprietors of the hostelries furnish armed guards, who pace

back and forth through the sleepingrooms day and night. The number of guards and gorgeousness of their

No meals are served in these houses, but generally a public eating place adjoins them. Baths are connected

with the sleeping chambers, and each guest is required to bathe daily or depart from the hotel.

Usually on a second or third floor there is a large sleeping room for single women guests, but its

appointments do not vary materially from the chamber occupied by men. The guards who watch the women

remain in the corridor outside the sleeping chamber, while female slaves pace back and forth among the

sleepers within, ready to notify the warriors should their presence be required.

I was surprised to note that all the guards with the hotel at which we stopped were red men, and on inquiring

of one of them I learned that they were slaves purchased by the proprietors of the hotels from the

government. The man whose post was past my sleeping platform had been commander of the navy of a great

Martian nation; but fate had carried his flagship across the icebarrier within the radius of power of the

magnetic shaft, and now for many tedious years he had been a slave of the yellow men.

He told me that princes, jeds, and even jeddaks of the outer world, were among the menials who served the

yellow race; but when I asked him if he had heard of the fate of Mors Kajak or Tardos Mors he shook his

head, saying that he never had heard of their being prisoners here, though he was very familiar with the

Neither had he heard any rumor of the coming of the Father of Therns and the black dator of the First Born,

but he hastened to explain that he knew little of what took place within the palace. I could see that he

wondered not a little that a yellow man should be so inquisitive about certain red prisoners from beyond the

ice barrier, and that I should be so ignorant of customs and conditions among my own race.

In fact, I had forgotten my disguise upon discovering a red man pacing before my sleeping platform; but his

growing expression of surprise warned me in time, for I had no mind to reveal my identity to any unless some

good could come of it, and I did not see how this poor fellow could serve me yet, though I had it in my mind

that later I might be the means of serving him and all the other thousands of prisoners who do the bidding of

Thuvan Dihn and I discussed our plans as we sat together among our sleeping silks and furs that night in the

midst of the hundreds of yellow men who occupied the apartment with us. We spoke in low whispers, but, as

that is only what courtesy demands in a public sleeping place, we roused no suspicion.

At last, determining that all must be but idle speculation until after we had had a chance to explore the city

and attempt to put into execution the plan Talu had suggested, we bade each other good night and turned to

After breakfasting the following morning we set out to see Kadabra, and as, through the generosity of the

prince of Marentina, we were well supplied with the funds current in Okar we purchased a handsome ground

flier. Having learned to drive them while in Marentina, we spent a delightful and profitable day exploring the

city, and late in the afternoon at the hour Talu told us we would find government officials in their offices, we

stopped before a magnificent building on the plaza opposite the royal grounds and the palace.

Here we walked boldly in past the armed guard at the door, to be met by a red slave within who asked our

"Tell Sorav, your master, that two warriors from Illall wish to take service in the palace guard," I said.

Sorav, Talu had told us, was the commander of the forces of the palace, and as men from the further cities of

Okarand especially Illallwere less likely to be tainted with the germ of intrigue which had for years

infected the household of Salensus Oll, he was sure that we would be welcomed and few questions asked us.

He had primed us with such general information as he thought would be necessary for us to pass muster

before Sorav, after which we would have to undergo a further examination before Salensus Oll that he might

The little experience we had had with the strange hooked sword of the yellow man and his cuplike shield

made it seem rather unlikely that either of us could pass this final test, but there was the chance that we might

be quartered in the palace of Salensus Oll for several days after being accepted by Sorav before the Jeddak of

After a wait of several minutes in an antechamber we were summoned into the private office of Sorav,

where we were courteously greeted by this ferociousappearing, blackbearded officer. He asked us our

names and stations in our own city, and having received replies that were evidently satisfactory to him, he put

The interview could not have lasted over ten minutes when Sorav summoned an aid whom he instructed to

record us properly, and then escort us to the quarters in the palace which are set aside for aspirants to

The aid took us to his own office first, where he measured and weighed and photographed us simultaneously

with a machine ingeniously devised for that purpose, five copies being instantly reproduced in five different

offices of the government, two of which are located in other cities miles distant. Then he led us through the

palace grounds to the main guardroom of the palace, there turning us over to the officer in charge.

This individual again questioned us briefly, and finally despatched a soldier to guide us to our quarters. These

we found located upon the second floor of the palace in a semidetached tower at the rear of the edifice.

When we asked our guide why we were quartered so far from the guardroom he replied that the custom of the

older members of the guard of picking quarrels with aspirants to try their metal had resulted in so many

deaths that it was found difficult to maintain the guard at its full strength while this custom prevailed.

Salensus Oll had, therefore, set apart these quarters for aspirants, and here they were securely locked against

This unwelcome information put a sudden check to all our well laid plans, for it meant that we should

virtually be prisoners in the palace of Salensus Oll until the time that he should see fit to give us the final

As it was this interval upon which we had banked to accomplish so much in our search for Dejah Thoris and

Thuvia of Ptarth, our chagrin was unbounded when we heard the great lock click behind our guide as he had

With a wry face I turned to Thuvan Dihn. My companion but shook his head disconsolately and walked to

Scarcely had he gazed beyond them than he called to me in a tone of suppressed excitement and surprise. In

As my eyes followed the direction indicated I saw two women pacing back and forth in an enclosed garden.

At the same moment I recognized themthey were Dejah Thoris and Thuvia of Ptarth!

There were they whom I had trailed from one pole to another, the length of a world. Only ten feet of space

With a cry I attracted their attention, and as Dejah Thoris looked up full into my eyes I made the sign of love

To my astonishment and horror her head went high, and as a look of utter contempt touched her finely

chiseled features she turned her back full upon me. My body is covered with the scars of a thousand conflicts,

but never in all my long life have I suffered such anguish from a wound, for this time the steel of a woman's

With a groan I turned away and buried my face in my arms. I heard Thuvan Dihn call aloud to Thuvia, but an

instant later his exclamation of surprise betokened that he, too, had been repulsed by his own daughter.

"They will not even listen," he cried to me. "They have put their hands over their ears and walked to the

farther end of the garden. Ever heard you of such mad work, John Carter? The two must be bewitched."

Presently I mustered the courage to return to the window, for even though she spurned me I loved her, and

could not keep my eyes from feasting upon her divine face and figure, but when she saw me looking she

I was at my wit's end to account for her strange actions, and that Thuvia, too, had turned against her father

seemed incredible. Could it be that my incomparable princess still clung to the hideous faith from which I

had rescued her world? Could it be that she looked upon me with loathing and contempt because I had

returned from the Valley Dor, or because I had desecrated the temples and persons of the Holy Therns?

To naught else could I ascribe her strange deportment, yet it seemed far from possible that such could be the

case, for the love of Dejah Thoris for John Carter had been a great and wondrous love far above racial

As I gazed ruefully at the back of her haughty, royal head a gate at the opposite end of the garden opened and

a man entered. As he did so he turned and slipped something into the hand of the yellow guardsman beyond

the gate, nor was the distance too great that I might not see that money had passed between them.

Instantly I knew that this newcomer had bribed his way within the garden. Then he turned in the direction of

the two women, and I saw that he was none other than Thurid, the black dator of the First Born.

He approached quite close to them before he spoke, and as they turned at the sound of his voice I saw Dejah

There was a nasty leer upon his face as he stepped close to her and spoke again. I could not hear his words,

"The granddaughter of Tardos Mors can always die," she said, "but she could never live at the price you

Then I saw the black scoundrel go upon his knees beside her, fairly groveling in the dirt, pleading with her.

Only part of what he said came to me, for though he was evidently laboring under the stress of passion and

excitement, it was equally apparent that he did not dare raise his voice for fear of detection.

"I would save you from Matai Shang," I heard him say. "You know the fate that awaits you at his hands.

"I would choose neither," replied Dejah Thoris, "even were I free to choose, as you know well I am not."

"I know better than that; but even were he dead, and I must needs choose another mate, it should be a plant

man or a great white ape in preference to either Matai Shang or you, black calot," she answered with a sneer

Of a sudden the vicious beast lost all control of himself, as with a vile oath he leaped at the slender woman,

gripping her tender throat in his brute clutch. Thuvia screamed and sprang to aid her fellowprisoner, and at

the same instant I, too, went mad, and tearing at the bars that spanned my window I ripped them from their

Hurling myself through the aperture I reached the garden, but a hundred feet from where the black was

choking the life from my Dejah Thoris, and with a single great bound I was upon him. I spoke no word as I

tore his defiling fingers from that beautiful throat, nor did I utter a sound as I hurled him twenty feet from me.

"Yellow man," he shrieked, "you knew not upon whom you had laid your vile hands, but ere I am done with

Then he was upon me, reaching for my throat, and precisely as I had done that day in the courtyard of the

Temple of Issus I did here in the garden of the palace of Salensus Oll. I ducked beneath his outstretched arms,

Just as he had done upon that other occasion he did now. Like a top he spun round, his knees gave beneath

It was the deep voice of authority that marks the ruler of men, and when I turned to face the resplendent

figure of a giant yellow man I did not need to ask to know that it was Salensus Oll. At his right stood Matai

"Who are you," he cried, "and what means this intrusion within the precincts of the women's garden? I do not

But for his last words I should have forgotten my disguise entirely and told him outright that I was John

Carter, Prince of Helium; but his question recalled me to myself. I pointed to the dislodged bars of the

"I am an aspirant to membership in the palace guard," I said, "and from yonder window in the tower where I

was confined awaiting the final test for fitness I saw this brute attack the this woman. I could not stand idly

by, O Jeddak, and see this thing done within the very palace grounds, and yet feel that I was fit to serve and

I had evidently made an impression upon the ruler of Okar by my fair words, and when he had turned to

Dejah Thoris and Thuvia of Ptarth, and both had corroborated my statements it began to look pretty dark for

I saw the ugly gleam in Matai Shang's evil eyes as Dejah Thoris narrated all that had passed between Thurid

and herself, and when she came to that part which dealt with my interference with the dator of the First Born

her gratitude was quite apparent, though I could see by her eyes that something puzzled her strangely.

I did not wonder at her attitude toward me while others were present; but that she should have denied me

As the examination proceeded I cast a glance at Thurid and startled him looking wideeyed and wonderingly

"What have you to say in explanation of these charges?" he asked in a deep and terrible voice. "Dare you

aspire to one whom the Father of Therns has chosenone who might even be a fit mate for the Jeddak of

And then the blackbearded tyrant turned and cast a sudden greedy look upon Dejah Thoris, as though with

the words a new thought and a new desire had sprung up within his mind and breast.

Thurid had been about to reply and, with a malicious grin upon his face, was pointing an accusing finger at

A cunning look crept into his eyes, and I knew from the expression of his face that his next words were not

"O Mightiest of Jeddaks," he said, "the man and the women do not speak the truth. The fellow had come into

the garden to assist them to escape. I was beyond and overheard their conversation, and when I entered, the

"What know you of this man? He is a stranger to you, and I dare say that you will find him an enemy and a

spy. Let him be put on trial, Salensus Oll, rather than your friend and guest, Thurid, Dator of the First Born."

Salensus Oll looked puzzled. He turned again and looked upon Dejah Thoris, and then Thurid stepped quite

"See that this man be securely confined until we have time to go deeper into this affair," he commanded, "and

Then he turned and left the garden, taking Dejah Thoris with himhis hand upon her shoulder. Thurid and

Matai Shang went also, and as they reached the gateway the black turned and laughed again aloud in my face.

What could be the meaning of his sudden change toward me? Could he suspect my true identity? It must be

that, and the thing that had betrayed me was the trick and blow that had laid him low for the second time.

As the guards dragged me away my heart was very sad and bitter indeed, for now to the two relentless

enemies that had hounded her for so long another and a more powerful one had been added, for I would have

been but a fool had I not recognized the sudden love for Dejah Thoris that had just been born in the terrible

I did not languish long within the prison of Salensus Oll. During the short time that I lay there, fettered with

chains of gold, I often wondered as to the fate of Thuvan Dihn, Jeddak of Ptarth.

My brave companion had followed me into the garden as I attacked Thurid, and when Salensus Oll had left

with Dejah Thoris and the others, leaving Thuvia of Ptarth behind, he, too, had remained in the garden with

his daughter, apparently unnoticed, for he was appareled similarly to the guards.

The last I had seen of him he stood waiting for the warriors who escorted me to close the gate behind them,

that he might be alone with Thuvia. Could it be possible that they had escaped? I doubted it, and yet with all

The third day of my incarceration brought a dozen warriors to escort me to the audience chamber, where

Salensus Oll himself was to try me. A great number of nobles crowded the room, and among them I saw

Dejah Thoris, as radiantly beautiful as ever, sat upon a small throne beside Salensus Oll. The expression of

Her position beside the Jeddak of Jeddaks boded ill for her and me, and on the instant that I saw her there,

there sprang to my mind the firm intention never to leave that chamber alive if I must leave her in the

I had killed better men than Salensus Oll, and killed them with my bare hands, and now I swore to myself

that I should kill him if I found that the only way to save the Princess of Helium. That it would mean almost

instant death for me I cared not, except that it would remove me from further efforts in behalf of Dejah

Thoris, and for this reason alone I would have chosen another way, for even though I should kill Salensus Oll

that act would not restore my beloved wife to her own people. I determined to wait the final outcome of the

trial, that I might learn all that I could of the Okarian ruler's intentions, and then act accordingly.

"Dator Thurid," he said, "you have made a strange request of me; but, in accordance with your wishes and

your promise that it will result only to my interests, I have decided to accede.

"You tell me that a certain announcement will be the means of convicting this prisoner and, at the same time,

"Then shall I make the announcement here before all my nobles," continued Salensus Oll. "For a year no

queen has sat upon the throne beside me, and now it suits me to take to wife one who is reputed the most

"Nobles of Okar, unsheathe your swords and do homage to Dejah Thoris, Princess of Helium and future

Queen of Okar, for at the end of the allotted ten days she shall become the wife of Salensus Oll."

As the nobles drew their blades and lifted them on high, in accordance with the ancient custom of Okar when

a jeddak announces his intention to wed, Dejah Thoris sprang to her feet and, raising her hand aloft, cried in a

"I may not be the wife of Salensus Oll," she pleaded, "for already I be a wife and mother. John Carter, Prince

of Helium, still lives. I know it to be true, for I overheard Matai Shang tell his daughter Phaidor that he had

seen him in Kaor, at the court of Kulan Tith, Jeddak. A jeddak does not wed a married woman, nor will

"Is this the surprise you held in store for me?" he cried. "You assured me that no obstacle which might not be

easily overcome stood between me and this woman, and now I find that the one insuperable obstacle

"And should I deliver John Carter into your hands, Salensus Oll, would you not feel that I had more than

"Talk not like a fool," cried the enraged jeddak. "I am no child to be thus played with."

"I am talking only as a man who knows," replied Thurid. "Knows that he can do all that he claims."

"Then turn John Carter over to me within ten days or yourself suffer the end that I should mete out to him

"You need not wait ten days, Salensus Oll," replied Thurid; and then, turning suddenly upon me as he

extended a pointing finger, he cried: "There stands John Carter, Prince of Helium!"

"Fool!" shrieked Salensus Oll. "Fool! John Carter is a white man. This fellow be as yellow as myself. John

Carter's face is smoothMatai Shang has described him to me. This prisoner has a beard and mustache as

large and black as any in Okar. Quick, guardsmen, to the pits with the black maniac who wishes to throw his

"Hold!" cried Thurid, and springing forward before I could guess his intention, he had grasped my beard and

ripped the whole false fabric from my face and head, revealing my smooth, tanned skin beneath and my

Instantly pandemonium reigned in the audience chamber of Salensus Oll. Warriors pressed forward with

drawn blades, thinking that I might be contemplating the assassination of the Jeddak of Jeddaks; while others,

out of curiosity to see one whose name was familiar from pole to pole, crowded behind their fellows.

As my identity was revealed I saw Dejah Thoris spring to her feet amazement writ large upon her

faceand then through that jam of armed men she forced her way before any could prevent. A moment only

and she was before me with outstretched arms and eyes filled with the light of her great love.

"John Carter! John Carter!" she cried as I folded her to my breast, and then of a sudden I knew why she had

What a fool I had been! Expecting that she would penetrate the marvelous disguise that had been wrought for

me by the barber of Marentina! She had not known me, that was all; and when she saw the sign of love from

a stranger she was offended and righteously indignant. Indeed, but I had been a fool.

"And it was you," she cried, "who spoke to me from the tower! How could I dream that my beloved Virginian

She had been wont to call me her Virginian as a term of endearment, for she knew that I loved the sound of

that beautiful name, made a thousand times more beautiful and hallowed by her dear lips, and as I heard it

again after all those long years my eyes became dimmed with tears and my voice choked with emotion.

But an instant did I crush that dear form to me ere Salensus Oll, trembling with rage and jealousy, shouldered

"Seize the man," he cried to his warriors, and a hundred ruthless hands tore us apart.

Well it was for the nobles of the court of Okar that John Carter had been disarmed. As it was, a dozen of them

felt the weight of my clenched fists, and I had fought my way half up the steps before the throne to which

Then I went down, fighting, beneath a halfhundred warriors; but before they had battered me into

unconsciousness I heard that from the lips of Dejah Thoris that made all my suffering well worth while.

Standing there beside the great tyrant, who clutched her by the arm, she pointed to where I fought alone

"Think you, Salensus Oll, that the wife of such as he is," she cried, "would ever dishonor his memory, were

he a thousand times dead, by mating with a lesser mortal? Lives there upon any world such another as John

Carter, Prince of Helium? Lives there another man who could fight his way back and forth across a warlike

"I, Dejah Thoris, Princess of Helium, am his. He fought for me and won me. If you be a brave man you will

honor the bravery that is his, and you will not kill him. Make him a slave if you will, Salensus Oll; but spare

"Neither slave nor queen dictates to Salensus Oll," replied the Jeddak of Jeddaks. "John Carter shall die a

natural death in the Pit of Plenty, and the day he dies Dejah Thoris shall become my queen."

I did not hear her reply, for it was then that a blow upon my head brought unconsciousness, and when I

recovered my senses only a handful of guardsmen remained in the audience chamber with me. As I opened

Then they led me through long corridors to a court far toward the center of the palace.

In the center of the court was a deep pit, near the edge of which stood half a dozen other guardsmen, awaiting

me. One of them carried a long rope in his hands, which he commenced to make ready as we approached.

We had come to within fifty feet of these men when I felt a sudden strange and rapid pricking sensation in

For a moment I was nonplused by the odd feeling, and then there came to me recollection of that which in the

stress of my adventure I had entirely forgottenthe gift ring of Prince Talu of Marentina.

Instantly I looked toward the group we were nearing, at the same time raising my left hand to my forehead,

that the ring might be visible to one who sought it. Simultaneously one of the waiting warriors raised his left

hand, ostensibly to brush back his hair, and upon one of his fingers I saw the duplicate of my own ring.

A quick look of intelligence passed between us, after which I kept my eyes turned away from the warrior and

did not look at him again, for fear that I might arouse the suspicion of the Okarians. When we reached the

edge of the pit I saw that it was very deep, and presently I realized I was soon to judge just how far it

extended below the surface of the court, for he who held the rope passed it about my body in such a way that

it could be released from above at any time; and then, as all the warriors grasped it, he pushed me forward,

After the first jerk as I reached the end of the rope that had been paid out to let me fall below the pit's edge

they lowered me quickly but smoothly. The moment before the plunge, while two or three of the men had

been assisting in adjusting the rope about me, one of them had brought his mouth close to my cheek, and in

the brief interval before I was cast into the forbidding hole he breathed a single word into my ear:

The pit, which my imagination had pictured as bottomless, proved to be not more than a hundred feet in

depth; but as its walls were smoothly polished it might as well have been a thousand feet, for I could never

For a day I was left in darkness; and then, quite suddenly, a brilliant light illumined my strange cell. I was

reasonably hungry and thirsty by this time, not having tasted food or drink since the day prior to my

To my amazement I found the sides of the pit, that I had thought smooth, lined with shelves, upon which

With an exclamation of delight I sprang forward to partake of some of the welcome food, but ere ever I

reached it the light was extinguished, and, though I groped my way about the chamber, my hands came in

contact with nothing beside the smooth, hard wall that I had felt on my first examination of my prison.

Immediately the pangs of hunger and thirst began to assail me. Where before I had had but a mild craving for

food and drink, I now actually suffered for want of it, and all because of the tantalizing sight that I had had of

Once more darkness and silence enveloped me, a silence that was broken only by a single mocking laugh.

For another day nothing occurred to break the monotony of my imprisonment or relieve the suffering

superinduced by hunger and thirst. Slowly the pangs became less keen, as suffering deaded the activity of

certain nerves; and then the light flashed on once again, and before me stood an array of new and tempting

dishes, with great bottles of clear water and flagons of refreshing wine, upon the outside of which the cold

Again, with the hunger madness of a wild beast, I sprang forward to seize those tempting dishes; but, as

Ah, what a cruel mind must have devised this exquisite, hellish torture! Day after day was the thing repeated,

until I was on the verge of madness; and then, as I had done in the pits of the Warhoons, I took a new, firm

By sheer willpower I regained control over my tottering mentality, and so successful was I that the next

time that the light came I sat quite still and looked indifferently at the fresh and tempting food almost within

my reach. Glad I was that I had done so, for it gave me an opportunity to solve the seeming mystery of those

As I made no move to reach the food, the torturers left the light turned on in the hope that at last I could

refrain no longer from giving them the delicious thrill of enjoyment that my former futile efforts to obtain it

And as I sat scrutinizing the laden shelves I presently saw how the thing was accomplished, and so simple

was it that I wondered I had not guessed it before. The wall of my prison was of clearest glassbehind the

After nearly an hour the light went out, but this time there was no mocking laughterat least not upon the

part of my tormentors; but I, to be at quits with them, gave a low laugh that none might mistake for the cackle

Nine days passed, and I was weak from hunger and thirst, but no longer sufferingI was past that. Then,

Indifferently I groped for it, thinking it but some new invention of my jailers to add to my sufferings.

At last I found ita tiny package wrapped in paper, at the end of a strong and slender cord. As I opened it a

few lozenges fell to the floor. As I gathered them up, feeling of them and smelling of them, I discovered that

they were tablets of concentrated food such as are quite common in all parts of Barsoom.

Well, what of it? Why not end my misery now rather than drag out a few more wretched days in this dark pit?

"Goodbye, my Dejah Thoris!" I breathed. "I have lived for you and fought for you, and now my next dearest

wish is to be realized, for I shall die for you," and, taking the morsel in my mouth, I devoured it.

One by one I ate them all, nor ever did anything taste better than those tiny bits of nourishment, within which

As I sat quietly upon the floor of my prison, waiting for the end, my fingers by accident came in contact with

the bit of paper in which the things had been wrapped; and as I idly played with it, my mind roaming far back

into the past, that I might live again for a few brief moments before I died some of the many happy moments

of a long and happy life, I became aware of strange protuberances upon the smooth surface of the

For a time they carried no special significance to my mindI merely was mildly wondrous that they were

there; but at last they seemed to take form, and then I realized that there was but a single line of them, like

Now, more interestedly, my fingers traced and retraced them. There were four separate and distinct

combinations of raised lines. Could it be that these were four words, and that they were intended to carry a

The more I thought of it the more excited I became, until my fingers raced madly back and forth over those

But I could make nothing of them, and at last I decided that my very haste was preventing me from solving

the mystery. Then I took it more slowly. Again and again my forefinger traced the first of those four

Martian writing is rather difficult to explain to an Earth man it is something of a cross between shorthand

and picturewriting, and is an entirely different language from the spoken language of Mars.

It is spoken today by every race and nation, just as it was at the beginning of human life upon Barsoom. It has

grown with the growth of the planet's learning and scientific achievements, but so ingenious a thing it is that

new words to express new thoughts or describe new conditions or discoveries form themselvesno other

word could explain the thing that a new word is required for other than the word that naturally falls to it, and

so, no matter how far removed two nations or races, their spoken languages are identical.

Not so their written languages, however. No two nations have the same written language, and often cities of

the same nation have a written language that differs greatly from that of the nation to which they belong.

Thus it was that the signs upon the paper, if in reality they were words, baffled me for some time; but at last I

That was the word the yellow guardsman had whispered in my ear as I stood upon the verge of the Pit of

With renewed hope I bent my every energy to the deciphering of the balance of the message, and at last

Presently I recalled the cord that had been attached to the parcel when it fell at my side, and after a little

groping my hand came in contact with it again. It depended from above, and when I pulled upon it I

Upon examination I found that the cord, though small, was amply able to sustain the weight of several men.

Then I made another discovery there was a second message knotted in the rope at about the height of my

That was all there was to this message. It was evidently hastily formedan afterthought.

I did not pause longer than to learn the contents of the second message, and, though I was none too sure of

the meaning of the final admonition, "Beyond the knots lies danger," yet I was sure that here before me lay an

avenue of escape, and that the sooner I took advantage of it the more likely was I to win to liberty.

I was to find, however, ere I was well out of that damnable hole that I might have been very much worse off

It had taken me about that length of time to ascend some fifty feet above the bottom when a noise above

attracted my attention. To my chagrin I saw that the covering of the pit was being removed far above me, and

Could it be that I was laboriously working my way into some new trap? Were the messages spurious, after

all? And then, just as my hope and courage had ebbed to their lowest, I saw two things.

One was the body of a huge, struggling, snarling apt being lowered over the side of the pit toward me, and the

other was an aperture in the side of the shaftan aperture larger than a man's body, into which my rope led.

Just as I scrambled into the dark hole before me the apt passed me, reaching out with his mighty hands to

Plainly now I saw the end for which Salensus Oll had destined me. After first torturing me with starvation he

had caused this fierce beast to be lowered into my prison to finish the work that the jeddak's hellish

And then another truth flashed upon meI had lived nine days of the allotted ten which must intervene

before Salensus Oll could make Dejah Thoris his queen. The purpose of the apt was to insure my death

I almost laughed aloud as I thought how Salensus Oll's measure of safety was to aid in defeating the very end

he sought, for when they discovered that the apt was alone in the Pit of Plenty they could not know but that

he had completely devoured me, and so no suspicion of my escape would cause a search to be made for me.

Coiling the rope that had carried me thus far upon my strange journey, I sought for the other end, but found

that as I followed it forward it extended always before me. So this was the meaning of the words: "Follow the

The tunnel through which I crawled was low and dark. I had followed it for several hundred yards when I felt

Now I went with the utmost caution, and a moment later a sharp turn in the tunnel brought me to an opening

The trend of the tunnel I had been traversing had been slightly upward, and from this I judged that the

chamber into which I now found myself looking must be either on the first floor of the palace or directly

Upon the opposite wall were many strange instruments and devices, and in the center of the room stood a

He who faced me was a yellow mana little, wizenedup, pastyfaced old fellow with great eyes that

His companion was a black man, and I did not need to see his face to know that it was Thurid, for there was

"Solan," he was saying, "there is no risk and the reward is great. You know that you hate Salensus Oll and

that nothing would please you more than to thwart him in some cherished plan. There be nothing that he more

cherishes today than the idea of wedding the beautiful Princess of Helium; but I, too, want her, and with your

"You need not more than step from this room for an instant when I give you the signal. I will do the rest, and

then, when I am gone, you may come and throw the great switch back into its place, and all will be as before.

I need but an hour's start to be safe beyond the devilish power that you control in this hidden chamber

beneath the palace of your master. See how easy," and with the words the black dator rose from his seat and,

crossing the room, laid his hand upon a large, burnished lever that protruded from the opposite wall.

"No! No!" cried the little old man, springing after him, with a wild shriek. "Not that one! Not that one! That

controls the sunray tanks, and should you pull it too far down, all Kadabra would be consumed by heat before

I could replace it. Come away! Come away! You know not with what mighty powers you play. This is the

lever that you seek. Note well the symbol inlaid in white upon its ebon surface."

"Ah, a magnet," he said. "I will remember. It is settled then I take it," he continued.

The old man hesitated. A look of combined greed and apprehension overspread his none too beautiful

"Double the figure," he said. "Even that were all too small an amount for the service you ask. Why, I risk my

life by even entertaining you here within the forbidden precincts of my station. Should Salensus Oll learn of

"He dare not do that, and you know it full well, Solan," contradicted the black. "Too great a power of life and

death you hold over the people of Kadabra for Salensus Oll ever to risk threatening you with death. Before

ever his minions could lay their hands upon you, you might seize this very lever from which you have just

"But if you were to die, anyway, you would find the nerve to do it," replied Thurid.

"Yes," muttered Solan, "I have often thought upon that very thing. Well, First Born, is your red princess

worth the price I ask for my services, or will you go without her and see her in the arms of Salensus Oll

"Take your price, yellow man," replied Thurid, with an oath. "Half now and the balance when you have

Solan opened the pouch and with trembling fingers counted its contents. His weird eyes assumed a greedy

expression, and his unkempt beard and mustache twitched with the muscles of his mouth and chin. It was

quite evident from his very mannerism that Thurid had keenly guessed the man's weaknesseven the

clawlike, clutching movement of the fingers betokened the avariciousness of the miser.

Having satisfied himself that the amount was correct, Solan replaced the money in the pouch and rose from

"Now," he said, "are you quite sure that you know the way to your destination? You must travel quickly to

cover the ground to the cave and from thence beyond the Great Power, all within a brief hour, for no more

"Let me repeat it to you," said Thurid, "that you may see if I be letterperfect."

"Through yonder door," he commenced, pointing to a door at the far end of the apartment, "I follow a

corridor, passing three diverging corridors upon my right; then into the fourth righthand corridor straight to

where three corridors meet; here again I follow to the right, hugging the left wall closely to avoid the pit.

"At the end of this corridor I shall come to a spiral runway, which I must follow down instead of up; after that

"Quite right, Dator," answered Solan; "and now begone. Already have you tempted fate too long within this

"Tonight, or tomorrow, then, you may expect the signal," said Thurid, rising to go.

"Tonight, or tomorrow," repeated Solan, and as the door closed behind his guest the old man continued to

mutter as he turned back to the table, where he again dumped the contents of the moneypouch, running his

fingers through the heap of shining metal; piling the coins into little towers; counting, recounting, and

Presently his fingers ceased their play; his eyes popped wider than ever as they fastened upon the door

through which Thurid had disappeared. The croon changed to a querulous muttering, and finally to an ugly

Then the old man rose from the table, shaking his fist at the closed door. Now he raised his voice, and his

"Fool!" he muttered. "Think you that for your happiness Solan will give up his life? If you escaped, Salensus

Oll would know that only through my connivance could you have succeeded. Then would he send for me.

What would you have me do? Reduce the city and myself to ashes? No, fool, there is a better waya better

"Poor fool! You may throw the great switch that will give you the freedom of the air of Okar, and then, in

fatuous security, go on with thy red princess to the freedom ofdeath. When you have passed beyond this

chamber in your flight, what can prevent Solan replacing the switch as it was before your vile hand touched

it? Nothing; and then the Guardian of the North will claim you and your woman, and Salensus Oll, when he

sees your dead bodies, will never dream that the hand of Solan had aught to do with the thing."

Then his voice dropped once more into mutterings that I could not translate, but I had heard enough to cause

me to guess a great deal more, and I thanked the kind Providence that had led me to this chamber at a time so

But how to pass the old man now! The cord, almost invisible upon the floor, stretched straight across the

There was no other way of which I knew, nor could I afford to ignore the advice to "follow the rope." I must

cross this room, but however I should accomplish it undetected with that old man in the very center of it

Of course I might have sprung in upon him and with my bare hands silenced him forever, but I had heard

enough to convince me that with him alive the knowledge that I had gained might serve me at some future

moment, while should I kill him and another be stationed in his place Thurid would not come hither with

As I stood in the dark shadow of the tunnel's end racking my brain for a feasible plan the while I watched,

catlike, the old man's every move, he took up the moneypouch and crossed to one end of the apartment,

Instantly I guessed that here was the hiding place in which he hoarded his wealth, and while he bent there, his

back toward me, I entered the chamber upon tiptoe, and with the utmost stealth essayed to reach the opposite

side before he should complete his task and turn again toward the room's center.

Scarcely thirty steps, all told, must I take, and yet it seemed to my overwrought imagination that that farther

wall was miles away; but at last I reached it, nor once had I taken my eyes from the back of the old miser's

He did not turn until my hand was upon the button that controlled the door through which my way led, and

For an instant I paused, my ear close to the panel, to learn if he had suspected aught, but as no sound of

pursuit came from within I wheeled and made my way along the new corridor, following the rope, which I

But a short distance farther on I came to the rope's end at a point where five corridors met. What was I to do?

A careful examination of the end of the rope revealed the fact that it had been cleanly cut with some sharp

instrument. This fact and the words that had cautioned me that danger lay beyond the KNOTS convinced me

that the rope had been severed since my friend had placed it as my guide, for I had but passed a single knot,

Now, indeed, was I in a pretty fix, for neither did I know which avenue to follow nor when danger lay

directly in my path; but there was nothing else to be done than follow one of the corridors, for I could gain

So I chose the central opening, and passed on into its gloomy depths with a prayer upon my lips.

The floor of the tunnel rose rapidly as I advanced, and a moment later the way came to an abrupt end before a

I could hear nothing beyond, and, with my accustomed rashness, pushed the portal wide to step into a room

The first to see me opened his eyes wide in astonishment, and at the same instant I felt the tingling sensation

Then others saw me, and there was a concerted rush to lay hands upon me, for these were all members of the

The first to reach me was the wearer of the mate to my strange ring, and as he came close he whispered:

"Surrender to me!" then in a loud voice shouted: "You are my prisoner, white man," and menaced me with

And so John Carter, Prince of Helium, meekly surrendered to a single antagonist. The others now swarmed

about us, asking many questions, but I would not talk to them, and finally my captor announced that he would

An officer ordered several other warriors to accompany him, and a moment later we were retracing the way I

had just come. My friend walked close beside me, asking many silly questions about the country from which

I had come, until finally his fellows paid no further attention to him or his gabbling.

Gradually, as he spoke, he lowered his voice, so that presently he was able to converse with me in a low tone

without attracting attention. His ruse was a clever one, and showed that Talu had not misjudged the man's

When he had fully assured himself that the other guardsmen were not listening, he asked me why I had not

followed the rope, and when I told him that it had ended at the five corridors he said that it must have been

cut by someone in need of a piece of rope, for he was sure that "the stupid Kadabrans would never have

Before we had reached the spot from which the five corridors diverge my Marentinian friend had managed to

drop to the rear of the little column with me, and when we came in sight of the branching ways he whispered:

"Run up the first upon the right. It leads to the watchtower upon the south wall. I will direct the pursuit up the

next corridor," and with that he gave me a great shove into the dark mouth of the tunnel, at the same time

crying out in simulated pain and alarm as he threw himself upon the floor as though I had felled him with a

From behind the voices of the excited guardsmen came reverberating along the corridor, suddenly growing

As I ran for my life through the dark galleries beneath the palace of Salensus Oll I must indeed have

presented a remarkable appearance had there been any to note it, for though death loomed large about me, my

face was split by a broad grin as I thought of the resourcefulness of the nameless hero of Marentina to whom

Of such stuff are the men of my beloved Helium, and when I meet another of their kind, of whatever race or

color, my heart goes out to him as it did now to my new friend who had risked his life for me simply because

The corridor along which I ran led almost straight for a considerable distance, terminating at the foot of a

spiral runway, up which I proceeded to emerge presently into a circular chamber upon the first floor of a

In this apartment a dozen red slaves were employed polishing or repairing the weapons of the yellow men.

The walls of the room were lined with racks in which were hundreds of straight and hooked swords, javelins,

and daggers. It was evidently an armory. There were but three warriors guarding the workers.

My eyes took in the entire scene at a glance. Here were weapons in plenty! Here were sinewy red warriors to

And here now was John Carter, Prince of Helium, in need both of weapons and warriors!

Close to the entrance where I stood was a rack of straight swords, and as my hand closed upon the hilt of one

of them my eyes fell upon the faces of two of the prisoners who worked side by side.

One of the guards started toward me. "Who are you?" he demanded. "What do you here?"

"I come for Tardos Mors, Jeddak of Helium, and his son, Mors Kajak," I cried, pointing to the two red

prisoners, who had now sprung to their feet, wideeyed in astonished recognition.

"Rise, red men! Before we die let us leave a memorial in the palace of Okar's tyrant that will stand forever in

the annals of Kadabra to the honor and glory of Helium," for I had seen that all the prisoners there were men

Then the first guardsman was upon me and the fight was on, but scarce did we engage ere, to my horror, I

The guardsmen paid not the slightest attention to their wards, for the red men could not move over two feet

from the great rings to which they were padlocked, though each had seized a weapon upon which he had been

engaged when I entered the room, and stood ready to join me could they have but done so.

The yellow men devoted all their attention to me, nor were they long in discovering that the three of them

were none too many to defend the armory against John Carter. Would that I had had my own good

longsword in my hand that day; but, as it was, I rendered a satisfactory account of myself with the

At first I had a time of it dodging their villainous hookswords, but after a minute or two I had succeeded in

wresting a second straight sword from one of the racks along the wall, and thereafter, using it to parry the

The three of them were on me at once, and but for a lucky circumstance my end might have come quickly.

The foremost guardsman made a vicious lunge for my side with his hook after the three of them had backed

me against the wall, but as I sidestepped and raised my arm his weapon but grazed my side, passing into a

Before he could release it I had run him through, and then, falling back upon the tactics that have saved me a

hundred times in tight pinches, I rushed the two remaining warriors, forcing them back with a perfect torrent

of cuts and thrusts, weaving my sword in and out about their guards until I had the fear of death upon them.

They were as putty in my hands now, and I backed them about the armory as I would until I had them where I

wanted themwithin reach of the swords of the shackled slaves. In an instant both lay dead upon the floor.

But their cries had not been entirely fruitless, for now I heard answering shouts and the footfalls of many men

Already the guard was in sight, charging across the open court that was visible through the doorway.

A dozen seconds would bring them into the tower. A single leap carried me to the heavy portal. With a

I could hear the yellow warriors leaping along the flagging just beyond the door. I raised the bar and shot it to

the right just as the foremost of the guardsmen threw himself against the opposite side of the massive panels.

Now I turned my attention to the prisoners. To Tardos Mors I went first, asking where the keys might be

"The officer of the guard has them," replied the Jeddak of Helium, "and he is among those without who seek

Most of the prisoners were already hacking at their bonds with the swords in their hands. The yellow men

I turned my attention to the chains that held Tardos Mors. Again and again I cut deep into the metal with my

sharp blade, but ever faster and faster fell the torrent of blows upon the portal.

At last a link parted beneath my efforts, and a moment later Tardos Mors was free, though a few inches of

A splinter of wood falling inward from the door announced the headway that our enemies were making

The mighty panels trembled and bent beneath the furious onslaught of the enraged yellow men.

What with the battering upon the door and the hacking of the red men at their chains the din within the

armory was appalling. No sooner was Tardos Mors free than he turned his attention to another of the

We must work fast if we would have all those fetters cut before the door gave way. Now a panel crashed

inward upon the floor, and Mors Kajak sprang to the opening to defend the way until we should have time to

With javelins snatched from the wall he wrought havoc among the foremost of the Okarians while we battled

At length all but one of the prisoners were freed, and then the door fell with a mighty crash before a hastily

"To the upper chambers!" shouted the red man who was still fettered to the floor. "To the upper chambers!

There you may defend the tower against all Kadabra. Do not delay because of me, who could pray for no

But I would have sacrificed the life of every man of us rather than desert a single red man, much less the

"Cut his chains," I cried to two of the red men, "while the balance of us hold off the foe."

There were ten of us now to do battle with the Okarian guard, and I warrant that that ancient watchtower

never looked down upon a more hotly contested battle than took place that day within its own grim walls.

The first inrushing wave of yellow warriors recoiled from the slashing blades of ten of Helium's veteran

fighting men. A dozen Okarian corpses blocked the doorway, but over the gruesome barrier a score more of

Upon the bloody mound we met them, hand to hand, stabbing where the quarters were too close to cut,

thrusting when we could push a foeman to arm's length; and mingled with the wild cry of the Okarian there

rose and fell the glorious words: "For Helium! For Helium!" that for countless ages have spurred on the

bravest of the brave to those deeds of valor that have sent the fame of Helium's heroes broadcast throughout

Now were the fetters struck from the last of the red men, and thirteen strong we met each new charge of the

soldiers of Salensus Oll. Scarce one of us but bled from a score of wounds, yet none had fallen.

From without we saw hundreds of guardsmen pouring into the courtyard, and along the lower corridor from

which I had found my way to the armory we could hear the clank of metal and the shouting of men.

In a moment we should be attacked from two sides, and with all our prowess we could not hope to withstand

"To the upper chambers!" cried Tardos Mors, and a moment later we fell back toward the runway that led to

Here another bloody battle was waged with the force of yellow men who charged into the armory as we fell

back from the doorway. Here we lost our first man, a noble fellow whom we could ill spare; but at length all

had backed into the runway except myself, who remained to hold back the Okarians until the others were safe

In the mouth of the narrow spiral but a single warrior could attack me at a time, so that I had little difficulty

in holding them all back for the brief moment that was necessary. Then, backing slowly before them, I

All the long way to the tower's top the guardsmen pressed me closely. When one went down before my sword

another scrambled over the dead man to take his place; and thus, taking an awful toll with each few feet

Here my companions clustered ready to take my place, and for a moment's respite I stepped to one side while

From the lofty perch a view could be had for miles in every direction. Toward the south stretched the rugged,

iceclad waste to the edge of the mighty barrier. Toward the east and west, and dimly toward the north I

descried other Okarian cities, while in the immediate foreground, just beyond the walls of Kadabra, the grim

Then I cast my eyes down into the streets of Kadabra, from which a sudden tumult had arisen, and there I saw

a battle raging, and beyond the city's walls I saw armed men marching in great columns toward a nearby

Eagerly I pressed forward against the glass wall of the observatory, scarce daring to credit the testimony of

my own eyes. But at last I could doubt no longer, and with a shout of joy that rose strangely in the midst of

the cursing and groaning of the battling men at the entrance to the chamber, I called to Tardos Mors.

As he joined me I pointed down into the streets of Kadabra and to the advancing columns beyond, above

An instant later every red man in the lofty chamber had seen the inspiring sight, and such a shout of

thanksgiving arose as I warrant never before echoed through that ageold pile of stone.

But still we must fight on, for though our troops had entered Kadabra, the city was yet far from capitulation,

nor had the palace been even assaulted. Turn and turn about we held the top of the runway while the others

feasted their eyes upon the sight of our valiant countrymen battling far beneath us.

Now they have rushed the palace gate! Great batteringrams are dashed against its formidable surface. Now

Once again they charge, but a sortie by a large force of Okarians from an intersecting avenue crumples the

head of the column, and the men of Helium go down, fighting, beneath an overwhelming force.

The palace gate flies open and a force of the jeddak's own guard, picked men from the flower of the Okarian

army, sallies forth to shatter the broken regiments. For a moment it looks as though nothing could avert

defeat, and then I see a noble figure upon a mighty thoatnot the tiny thoat of the red man, but one of his

The warrior hews his way to the front, and behind him rally the disorganized soldiers of Helium. As he raises

his head aloft to fling a challenge at the men upon the palace walls I see his face, and my heart swells in pride

and happiness as the red warriors leap to the side of their leader and win back the ground that they had but

just lostthe face of him upon the mighty thoat is the face of my sonCarthoris of Helium.

At his side fights a huge Martian warhound, nor did I need a second look to know that it was Woolamy

faithful Woola who had thus well performed his arduous task and brought the succoring legions in the nick of

Who yet might say that they were not too late to save, but surely they could avenge! And such retribution as

that unconquered army would deal out to the hateful Okarians! I sighed to think that I might not be alive to

Again I turned to the windows. The red men had not yet forced the outer palace wall, but they were fighting

nobly against the best that Okar affordedvaliant warriors who contested every inch of the way.

Now my attention was caught by a new element without the city wall a great body of mounted warriors

looming large above the red men. They were the huge green allies of Heliumthe savage hordes from the

In grim and terrible silence they sped on toward the gate, the padded hoofs of their frightful mounts giving

forth no sound. Into the doomed city they charged, and as they wheeled across the wide plaza before the

palace of the Jeddak of Jeddaks I saw, riding at their head, the mighty figure of their mighty leaderTars

My wish, then, was to be gratified, for I was to see my old friend battling once again, and though not shoulder

to shoulder with him, I, too, would be fighting in the same cause here in the high tower of Okar.

Nor did it seem that our foes would ever cease their stubborn attacks, for still they came, though the way to

our chamber was often clogged with the bodies of their dead. At times they would pause long enough to drag

back the impeding corpses, and then fresh warriors would forge upward to taste the cup of death.

I had been taking my turn with the others in defending the approach to our lofty retreat when Mors Kajak,

who had been watching the battle in the street below, called aloud in sudden excitement. There was a note of

apprehension in his voice that brought me to his side the instant that I could turn my place over to another,

and as I reached him he pointed far out across the waste of snow and ice toward the southern horizon.

"Alas!" he cried, "that I should be forced to witness cruel fate betray them without power to warn or aid; but

As I looked in the direction he indicated I saw the cause of his perturbation. A mighty fleet of fliers was

approaching majestically toward Kadabra from the direction of the icebarrier. On and on they came with

"The grim shaft that they call the Guardian of the North is beckoning to them," said Mors Kajak sadly, "just

as it beckoned to Tardos Mors and his great fleet; see where they lie, crumpled and broken, a grim and

I, too, saw; but something else I saw that Mors Kajak did not; in my mind's eye I saw a buried chamber

In the center of the chamber was a long table, and before it sat a little, popeyed old man counting his

money; but, plainest of all, I saw upon the wall a great switch with a small magnet inlaid within the surface of

Then I glanced out at the fastapproaching fleet. In five minutes that mighty armada of the skies would be

bent and worthless scrap, lying at the base of the shaft beyond the city's wall, and yellow hordes would be

loosed from another gate to rush out upon the few survivors stumbling blindly down through the mass of

wreckage; then the apts would come. I shuddered at the thought, for I could vividly picture the whole horrible

Quick have I always been to decide and act. The impulse that moves me and the doing of the thing seem

simultaneous; for if my ind goes through the tedious formality of reasoning, it must be a subconscious act of

which I am not objectively aware. Psychologists tell me that, as the subconscious does not reason, too close a

scrutiny of my mental activities might prove anything but flattering; but be that as it may, I have often won

success while the thinker would have been still at the endless task of comparing various judgments.

And now celerity of action was the prime essential to the success of the thing that I had decided upon.

Grasping my sword more firmly in my hand, I called to the red man at the opening to the runway to stand

"Way for the Prince of Helium!" I shouted; and before the astonished yellow man whose misfortune it was to

be at the fighting end of the line at that particular moment could gather his wits together my sword had

"Way for the Prince of Helium!" I shouted as I cut a path through the astonished guardsmen of Salensus Oll.

Hewing to right and left, I beat my way down that warriorchoked spiral until, near the bottom, those below,

The armory at the first floor was vacant when I entered it, the last of the Okarians having fled into the

Here I ran as rapidly as my legs would carry me toward the five corners, and there plunged into the

Without the formality of a knock, I burst into the room. There sat the old man at his table; but as he saw me

With scarce more than a glance toward him I leaped for the great switch; but, quick as I was, that wiry old

How he did it I shall never know, nor does it seem credible that any Martianborn creature could

Like a tiger he turned upon me, and I was quick to see why Solan had been chosen for this important duty.

Never in all my life have I seen such wondrous swordsmanship and such uncanny agility as that ancient bag

of bones displayed. He was in forty places at the same time, and before I had half a chance to awaken to my

It is strange how new and unexpected conditions bring out unguessed ability to meet them.

That day in the buried chamber beneath the palace of Salensus Oll I learned what swordsmanship meant, and

to what heights of sword mastery I could achieve when pitted against such a wizard of the blade as Solan.

For a time he liked to have bested me; but presently the latent possibilities that must have been lying dormant

within me for a lifetime came to the fore, and I fought as I had never dreamed a human being could fight.

That that duelroyal should have taken place in the dark recesses of a cellar, without a single appreciative eye

to witness it has always seemed to me almost a world calamityat least from the viewpoint Barsoomian,

where bloody strife is the first and greatest consideration of individuals, nations, and races.

I was fighting to reach the switch, Solan to prevent me; and, though we stood not three feet from it, I could

not win an inch toward it, for he forced me back an inch for the first five minutes of our battle.

I knew that if I were to throw it in time to save the oncoming fleet it must be done in the next few seconds,

and so I tried my old rushing tactics; but I might as well have rushed a brick wall for all that Solan gave way.

In fact, I came near to impaling myself upon his point for my pains; but right was on my side, and I think that

that must give a man greater confidence than though he knew himself to be battling in a wicked cause.

At least, I did not want in confidence; and when I next rushed Solan it was to one side with implicit

confidence that he must turn to meet my new line of attack, and turn he did, so that now we fought with our

sides towards the coveted goalthe great switch stood within my reach upon my right hand.

To uncover my breast for an instant would have been to court sudden death, but I saw no other way than to

chance it, if by so doing I might rescue that oncoming, succoring fleet; and so, in the face of a wicked

swordthrust, I reached out my point and caught the great switch a sudden blow that released it from its

So surprised and horrified was Solan that he forgot to finish his thrust; instead, he wheeled toward the switch

with a loud shriek a shriek which was his last, for before his hand could touch the lever it sought, my

But solan's last loud cry had not been without effect, for a moment later a dozen guardsmen burst into the

chamber, though not before I had so bent and demolished the great switch that it could not be again used to

The result of the sudden coming of the guardsmen had been to compel me to seek seclusion in the first

passageway that I could find, and that to my disappointment proved to be not the one with which I was

They must have either heard or guessed which way I went, for I had proceeded but a short distance when I

heard the sound of pursuit. I had no mind to stop and fight these men here when there was fighting aplenty

elsewhere in the city of Kadabrafighting that could be of much more avail to me and mine than useless

But the fellows were pressing me; and as I did not know the way at all, I soon saw that they would overtake

me unless I found a place to conceal myself until they had passed, which would then give me an opportunity

to return the way I had come and regain the tower, or possibly find a way to reach the city streets.

The passageway had risen rapidly since leaving the apartment of the switch, and now ran level and well

lighted straight into the distance as far as I could see. The moment that my pursuers reached this straight

stretch I would be in plain sight of them, with no chance to escape from the corridor undetected.

Presently I saw a series of doors opening from either side of the corridor, and as they all looked alike to me I

tried the first one that I reached. It opened into a small chamber, luxuriously furnished, and was evidently an

On the far side was a heavily curtained doorway beyond which I heard the hum of voices. Instantly I crossed

the small chamber, and, parting the curtains, looked within the larger apartment.

Before me were a party of perhaps fifty gorgeously clad nobles of the court, standing before a throne upon

"The allotted hour has come," he was saying as I entered the apartment; "and though the enemies of Okar be

within her gates, naught may stay the will of Salensus Oll. The great ceremony must be omitted that no single

man may be kept from his place in the defenses other than the fifty that custom demands shall witness the

"In a moment the thing shall have been done and we may return to the battle, while she who is now the

Princess of Helium looks down from the queen's tower upon the annihilation of her former countrymen and

The addressed hastened to a small door at the far end of the chamber and, swinging it wide, cried: "Way for

Immediately two guardsmen appeared dragging the unwilling bride toward the altar. Her hands were still

Her disheveled hair and panting bosom betokened that, chained though she was, still had she fought against

At sight of her Salensus Oll rose and drew his sword, and the sword of each of the fifty nobles was raised on

high to form an arch, beneath which the poor, beautiful creature was dragged toward her doom.

A grim smile forced itself to my lips as I thought of the rude awakening that lay in store for the ruler of Okar,

As I watched the procession that moved slowly toward the throne a procession which consisted of but a

handful of priests, who followed Dejah Thoris and the two guardsmenI caught a fleeting glimpse of a

black face peering from behind the draperies that covered the wall back of the dais upon which stood

Now the guardsmen were forcing the Princess of Helium up the few steps to the side of the tyrant of Okar,

and I had no eyes and no thoughts for aught else. A priest opened a book and, raising his hand, commenced to

I had intended waiting until some circumstance should give me a reasonable hope of success; for, even

though the entire ceremony should be completed, there could be no valid marriage while I lived. What I was

most concerned in, of course, was the rescuing of Dejah ThorisI wished to take her from the palace of

Salensus Oll, if such a thing were possible; but whether it were accomplished before or after the mock

When, however, I saw the vile hand of Salensus Oll reach out for the hand of my beloved princess I could

restrain myself no longer, and before the nobles of Okar knew that aught had happened I had leaped through

With the flat of my sword I struck down his polluting hand; and grasping Dejah Thoris round the waist, I

swung her behind me as, with my back against the draperies of the dais, I faced the tyrant of the north and his

The Jeddak of Jeddaks was a great mountain of a mana coarse, brutal beast of a manand as he towered

above me there, his fierce black whiskers and mustache bristling in rage, I can well imagine that a less

With a snarl he sprang toward me with naked sword, but whether Salensus Oll was a good swordsman or a

poor I never learned; for with Dejah Thoris at my back I was no longer humanI was a superman, and no

With a single, low: "For the Princess of Helium!" I ran my blade straight through the rotten heart of Okar's

rotten ruler, and before the white, drawn faces of his nobles Salensus Oll rolled, grinning in horrible death, to

For a moment tense silence reigned in the nuptialroom. Then the fifty nobles rushed upon me. Furiously we

fought, but the advantage was mine, for I stood upon a raised platform above them, and I fought for the most

glorious woman of a glorious race, and I fought for a great love and for the mother of my boy.

And from behind my shoulder, in the silvery cadence of that dear voice, rose the brave battle anthem of

That alone was enough to inspire me to victory over even greater odds, and I verily believe that I should have

bested the entire roomful of yellow warriors that day in the nuptial chamber of the palace at Kadabra had not

Fast and furious was the fighting as the nobles of Salensus Oll sprang, time and again, up the steps before the

throne only to fall back before a sword hand that seemed to have gained a new wizardry from its experience

Two were pressing me so closely that I could not turn when I heard a movement behind me, and noted that

the sound of the battle anthem had ceased. Was Dejah Thoris preparing to take her place beside me?

Heroic daughter of a heroic world! It would not be unlike her to have seized a sword and fought at my side,

for, though the women of Mars are not trained in the arts of war, the spirit is theirs, and they have been

But she did not come, and glad I was, for it would have doubled my burden in protecting her before I should

have been able to force her back again out of harm's way. She must be contemplating some cunning strategy,

I thought, and so I fought on secure in the belief that my divine princess stood close behind me.

For half an hour at least I must have fought there against the nobles of Okar ere ever a one placed a foot upon

the dais where I stood, and then of a sudden all that remained of them formed below me for a last, mad,

desperate charge; but even as they advanced the door at the far end of the chamber swung wide and a

"The Jeddak of Jeddaks!" he cried. "Where is the Jeddak of Jeddaks? The city has fallen before the hordes

from beyond the barrier, and but now the great gate of the palace itself has been forced and the warriors of

"Where is Salensus Oll? He alone may revive the flagging courage of our warriors. He alone may save the

The nobles stepped back from about the dead body of their ruler, and one of them pointed to the grinning

"Then fly, nobles of Okar!" he cried, "for naught can save you. Hark! They come!"

As he spoke we heard the deep roar of angry men from the corridor without, and the clank of metal and the

Without another glance toward me, who had stood a spectator of the tragic scene, the nobles wheeled and fled

Almost immediately a force of yellow warriors appeared in the doorway through which the messenger had

come. They were backing toward the apartment, stubbornly resisting the advance of a handful of red men

Above the heads of the contestants I could see from my elevated station upon the dais the face of my old

friend Kantos Kan. He was leading the little party that had won its way into the very heart of the palace of

In an instant I saw that by attacking the Okarians from the rear I could so quickly disorganize them that their

further resistance would be shortlived, and with this idea in mind I sprang from the dais, casting a word of

explanation to Dejah Thoris over my shoulder, though I did not turn to look at her.

With myself ever between her enemies and herself, and with Kantos Kan and his warriors winning to the

apartment, there could be no danger to Dejah Thoris standing there alone beside the throne.

I wanted the men of Helium to see me and to know that their beloved princess was here, too, for I knew that

this knowledge would inspire them to even greater deeds of valor than they had performed in the past, though

great indeed must have been those which won for them a way into the almost impregnable palace of the

As I crossed the chamber to attack the Kadabrans from the rear a small doorway at my left opened, and, to

my surprise, revealed the figures of Matai Shang, Father of Therns and Phaidor, his daughter, peering into the

A quick glance about they took. Their eyes rested for a moment, wide in horror, upon the dead body of

Salensus Oll, upon the blood that crimsoned the floor, upon the corpses of the nobles who had fallen thick

They did not essay to enter the apartment, but scanned its every corner from where they stood, and then,

when their eyes had sought its entire area, a look of fierce rage overspread the features of Matai Shang, and a

Then they were gone, but not before a taunting laugh was thrown directly in my face by the woman.

I did not understand then the meaning of Matai Shang's rage or Phaidor's pleasure, but I knew that neither

A moment later I was upon the backs of the yellow men, and as the red men of Helium saw me above the

shoulders of their antagonists a great shout rang through the corridor, and for a moment drowned the noise of

"For the Prince of Helium!" they cried. "For the Prince of Helium!" and, like hungry lions upon their prey,

The yellow men, cornered between two enemies, fought with the desperation that utter hopelessness often

induces. Fought as I should have fought had I been in their stead, with the determination to take as many of

It was a glorious battle, but the end seemed inevitable, when presently from down the corridor behind the red

Now were the tables turned, and it was the men of Helium who seemed doomed to be ground between two

millstones. All were compelled to turn to meet this new assault by a greatly superior force, so that to me was

They kept me busy, too; so busy that I began to wonder if indeed I should ever be done with them. Slowly

they pressed me back into the room, and when they had all passed in after me, one of them closed and bolted

It was a clever move, for it put me at the mercy of a dozen men within a chamber from which assistance was

locked out, and it gave the red men in the corridor beyond no avenue of escape should their new antagonists

But I have faced heavier odds myself than were pitted against me that day, and I knew that Kantos Kan had

battled his way from a hundred more dangerous traps than that in which he now was. So it was with no

Constantly my thoughts reverted to Dejah Thoris, and I longed for the moment when, the fighting done, I

could fold her in my arms, and hear once more the words of love which had been denied me for so many

During the fighting in the chamber I had not even a single chance to so much as steal a glance at her where

she stood behind me beside the throne of the dead ruler. I wondered why she no longer urged me on with the

strains of the martial hymn of Helium; but I did not need more than the knowledge that I was battling for her

It would be wearisome to narrate the details of that bloody struggle; of how we fought from the doorway, the

full length of the room to the very foot of the throne before the last of my antagonists fell with my blade

And then, with a glad cry, I turned with outstretched arms to seize my princess, and as my lips smothered

hers to reap the reward that would be thrice ample payment for the bloody encounters through which I had

The glad cry died, frozen upon my lips; my arms dropped limp and lifeless to my sides; as one who reels

beneath the burden of a mortal wound I staggered up the steps before the throne.

With the realization that Dejah Thoris was no longer within the throneroom came the belated recollection of

the dark face that I had glimpsed peering from behind the draperies that backed the throne of Salensus Oll at

the moment that I had first come so unexpectedly upon the strange scene being enacted within the chamber.

Why had the sight of that evil countenance not warned me to greater caution? Why had I permitted the rapid

development of new situations to efface the recollection of that menacing danger? But, alas, vain regret

Once again had Dejah Thoris fallen into the clutches of that archfiend, Thurid, the black dator of the First

Born. Again was all my arduous labor gone for naught. Now I realized the cause of the rage that had been

writ so large upon the features of Matai Shang and the cruel pleasure that I had seen upon the face of Phaidor.

They had known or guessed the truth, and the hekkador of the Holy Therns, who had evidently come to the

chamber in the hope of thwarting Salensus Oll in his contemplated perfidy against the high priest who

coveted Dejah Thoris for himself, realized that Thurid had stolen the prize from beneath his very nose.

Phaidor's pleasure had been due to her realization of what this last cruel blow would mean to me, as well as to

My first thought was to look beyond the draperies at the back of the throne, for there it was that I had seen

Thurid. With a single jerk I tore the priceless stuff from its fastenings, and there before me was revealed a

No question entered my mind but that here lay the opening of the avenue of escape which Thurid had

followed, and had there been it would have been dissipated by the sight of a tiny, jeweled ornament which lay

As I snatched up the bauble I saw that it bore the device of the Princess of Helium, and then pressing it to my

lips I dashed madly along the winding way that led gently downward toward the lower galleries of the palace.

I had followed but a short distance when I came upon the room in which Solan formerly had held sway. His

dead body still lay where I had left it, nor was there any sign that another had passed through the room since I

had been there; but I knew that two had done soThurid, the black dator, and Dejah Thoris.

For a moment I paused uncertain as to which of the several exits from the apartment would lead me upon the

right path. I tried to recollect the directions which I had heard Thurid repeat to Solan, and at last, slowly, as

though through a heavy fog, the memory of the words of the First Born came to me:

"Follow a corridor, passing three diverging corridors upon the right; then into the fourth righthand corridor

to where three corridors meet; here again follow to the right, hugging the left wall closely to avoid the pit. At

the end of this corridor I shall come to a spiral runway which I must follow down instead of up; after that the

It did not take me long to start upon that unknown way, nor did I go with caution, although I knew that there

Part of the way was black as sin, but for the most it was fairly well lighted. The stretch where I must hug the

left wall to avoid the pits was darkest of them all, and I was nearly over the edge of the abyss before I knew

that I was near the danger spot. A narrow ledge, scarce a foot wide, was all that had been left to carry the

initiated past that frightful cavity into which the unknowing must surely have toppled at the first step. But at

last I had won safely beyond it, and then a feeble light made the balance of the way plain, until, at the end of

the last corridor, I came suddenly out into the glare of day upon a field of snow and ice.

Clad for the warm atmosphere of the hothouse city of Kadabra, the sudden change to arctic frigidity was

anything but pleasant; but the worst of it was that I knew I could not endure the bitter cold, almost naked as I

was, and that I would perish before ever I could overtake Thurid and Dejah Thoris.

To be thus blocked by nature, who had had all the arts and wiles of cunning man pitted against him, seemed a

cruel fate, and as I staggered back into the warmth of the tunnel's end I was as near hopelessness as I ever

I had by no means given up my intention of continuing the pursuit, for if needs be I would go ahead though I

perished ere ever I reached my goal, but if there were a safer way it were well worth the delay to attempt to

discover it, that I might come again to the side of Dejah Thoris in fit condition to do battle for her.

Scarce had I returned to the tunnel than I stumbled over a portion of a fur garment that seemed fastened to the

floor of the corridor close to the wall. In the darkness I could not see what held it, but by groping with my

Pushing the portal aside, I found myself upon the threshold of a small chamber, the walls of which were lined

with hooks from which depended suits of the complete outdoor apparel of the yellow men.

Situated as it was at the mouth of a tunnel leading from the palace, it was quite evident that this was the

dressingroom used by the nobles leaving and entering the hothouse city, and that Thurid, having knowledge

of it, had stopped here to outfit himself and Dejah Thoris before venturing into the bitter cold of the arctic

In his haste he had dropped several garments upon the floor, and the telltale fur that had fallen partly within

the corridor had proved the means of guiding me to the very spot he would least have wished me to have

It required but the matter of a few seconds to don the necessary orlukskin clothing, with the heavy,

furlined boots that are so essential a part of the garmenture of one who would successfully contend with the

Once more I stepped beyond the tunnel's mouth to find the fresh tracks of Thurid and Dejah Thoris in the

newfallen snow. Now, at last, was my task an easy one, for though the going was rough in the extreme, I

was no longer vexed by doubts as to the direction I should follow, or harassed by darkness or hidden dangers.

Through a snowcovered canyon the way led up toward the summit of low hills. Beyond these it dipped

again into another canon, only to rise a quartermile farther on toward a pass which skirted the flank of a

I could see by the signs of those who had gone before that when Dejah Thoris had walked she had been

continually holding back, and that the black man had been compelled to drag her. For other stretches only his

footprints were visible, deep and close together in the heavy snow, and I knew from these signs that then he

had been forced to carry her, and I could well imagine that she had fought him fiercely every step of the way.

As I came round the jutting promontory of the hill's shoulder I saw that which quickened my pulses and set

my heart to beating high, for within a tiny basin between the crest of this hill and the next stood four people

before the mouth of a great cave, and beside them upon the gleaming snow rested a flier which had evidently

The four were Dejah Thoris, Phaidor, Thurid, and Matai Shang. The two men were engaged in a heated

argumentthe Father of Therns threatening, while the black scoffed at him as he went about the work at

As I crept toward them cautiously that I might come as near as possible before being discovered, I saw that

finally the men appeared to have reached some sort of a compromise, for with Phaidor's assistance they both

Here they made her fast, and then both again descended to the ground to complete the preparations for

I had come to within a quarter of a mile of them when Matai Shang espied me. I saw him seize Thurid by the

shoulder, wheeling him around in my direction as he pointed to where I was now plainly visible, for the

moment that I knew I had been perceived I cast aside every attempt at stealth and broke into a mad race for

The two redoubled their efforts at the propeller at which they were working, and which very evidently was

They had the thing completed before I had covered half the distance that lay between me and them, and then

Thurid was the first to reach it, and with the agility of a monkey clambered swiftly to the boat's deck, where a

touch of the button controlling the buoyancy tanks sent the craft slowly upward, though not with the speed

Back by the city of Kadabra lay a great fleet of mighty fliers the ships of Helium and Ptarth that I had

saved from destruction earlier in the day; but before ever I could reach them Thurid could easily make good

As I ran I saw Matai Shang clambering up the swaying, swinging ladder toward the deck, while above him

leaned the evil face of the First Born. A trailing rope from the vessel's stern put new hope in me, for if I could

but reach it before it whipped too high above my head there was yet a chance to gain the deck by its slender

That there was something radically wrong with the flier was evident from its lack of buoyancy, and the

further fact that though Thurid had turned twice to the starting lever the boat still hung motionless in the air,

Now Matai Shang was close to the gunwale. A long, clawlike hand was reaching up to grasp the metal rail.

Suddenly a raised dagger gleamed in the upflung hand of the black. Down it drove toward the white face of

the Father of Therns. With a loud shriek of fear the Holy Hekkador grasped frantically at that menacing arm.

I was almost to the trailing rope by now. The craft was still rising slowly, the while it drifted from me. Then I

stumbled on the icy way, striking my head upon a rock as I fell sprawling but an arm's length from the rope,

It could not have been more than a few seconds that I lay senseless there upon the northern ice, while all that

was dearest to me drifted farther from my reach in the clutches of that black fiend, for when I opened my

eyes Thurid and Matai Shang yet battled at the ladder's top, and the flier drifted but a hundred yards farther to

the southbut the end of the trailing rope was now a good thirty feet above the ground.

Goaded to madness by the cruel misfortune that had tripped me when success was almost within my grasp, I

tore frantically across the intervening space, and just beneath the rope's dangling end I put my earthly

With a mighty, catlike bound I sprang upward toward that slender strandthe only avenue which yet

A foot above its lowest end my fingers closed. Tightly as I clung I felt the rope slipping, slipping through my

grasp. I tried to raise my free hand to take a second hold above my first, but the change of position that

Slowly I felt the tantalizing thing escaping me. In a moment all that I had gained would be lostthen my

With a prayer of gratitude upon my lips I scrambled upward toward the boat's deck. I could not see Thurid

and Matai Shang now, but I heard the sounds of conflict and thus knew that they still foughtthe thern for

his life and the black for the increased buoyancy that relief from the weight of even a single body would give

Should Matai Shang die before I reached the deck my chances of ever reaching it would be slender indeed,

for the black dator need but cut the rope above me to be freed from me forever, for the vessel had drifted

across the brink of a chasm into whose yawning depths my body would drop to be crushed to a shapeless

At last my hand closed upon the ship's rail and that very instant a horrid shriek rang out below me that sent

my blood cold and turned my horrified eyes downward to a shrieking, hurtling, twisting thing that shot

It was Matai Shang, Holy Hekkador, Father of Therns, gone to his last accounting.

Then my head came above the deck and I saw Thurid, dagger in hand, leaping toward me. He was opposite

the forward end of the cabin, while I was attempting to clamber aboard near the vessel's stern. But a few

paces lay between us. No power on earth could raise me to that deck before the infuriated black would be

My end had come. I knew it; but had there been a doubt in my mind the nasty leer of triumph upon that

wicked face would have convinced me. Beyond Thurid I could see my Dejah Thoris, wideeyed and

horrified, struggling at her bonds. That she should be forced to witness my awful death made my bitter fate

I ceased my efforts to climb across the gunwale. Instead I took a firm grasp upon the rail with my left hand

As Thurid came opposite the cabin's doorway a new element projected itself into the grim tragedy of the air

With flushed face and disheveled hair, and eyes that betrayed the recent presence of mortal tearsabove

which this proud goddess had always held herselfshe leaped to the deck directly before me.

In her hand was a long, slim dagger. I cast a last look upon my beloved princess, smiling, as men should who

Never have I seen that beautiful face more beautiful than it was at that moment. It seemed incredible that one

so lovely could yet harbor within her fair bosom a heart so cruel and relentless, and today there was a new

expression in her wondrous eyes that I never before had seen therean unfamiliar softness, and a look of

Thurid was beside her nowpushing past to reach me first, and then what happened happened so quickly

Phaidor's slim hand shot out to close upon the black's dagger wrist. Her right hand went high with its

"That for Matai Shang!" she cried, and she buried her blade deep in the dator's breast. "That for the wrong

you would have done Dejah Thoris!" and again the sharp steel sank into the bloody flesh.

"And that, and that, and that!" she shrieked, "for John Carter, Prince of Helium," and with each word her

sharp point pierced the vile heart of the great villain. Then, with a vindictive shove she cast the carcass of the

I had been so paralyzed by surprise that I had made no move to reach the deck during the aweinspiring

scene which I had just witnessed, and now I was to be still further amazed by her next act, for Phaidor

extended her hand to me and assisted me to the deck, where I stood gazing at her in unconcealed and

A wan smile touched her lipsit was not the cruel and haughty smile of the goddess with which I was

familiar. "You wonder, John Carter," she said, "what strange thing has wrought this change in me? I will tell

you. It is lovelove of you," and when I darkened my brows in disapproval of her words she raised an

"Wait," she said. "It is a different love from mineit is the love of your princess, Dejah Thoris, for you that

has taught me what true love may bewhat it should be, and how far from real love was my selfish and

"Now I am different. Now could I love as Dejah Thoris loves, and so my only happiness can be to know that

"But I am unhappy because of the wickedness that I have wrought. I have many sins to expiate, and though I

"But there is another way, and if Phaidor, daughter of the Holy Hekkador of the Holy Therns, has sinned she

has this day already made partial reparation, and lest you doubt the sincerity of her protestations and her

avowal of a new love that embraces Dejah Thoris also, she will prove her sincerity in the only way that lies

With her last word she turned and leaped from the vessel's deck into the abyss below.

With a cry of horror I sprang forward in a vain attempt to save the life that for two years I would so gladly

With teardimmed eyes I turned away that I might not see the awful sight beneath.

A moment later I had struck the bonds from Dejah Thoris, and as her dear arms went about my neck and her

perfect lips pressed to mine I forgot the horrors that I had witnessed and the suffering that I had endured in

The flier upon whose deck Dejah Thoris and I found ourselves after twelve long years of separation proved

entirely useless. Her buoyancy tanks leaked badly. Her engine would not start. We were helpless there in mid

The craft had drifted across the chasm which held the corpses of Matai Shang, Thurid, and Phaidor, and now

hung above a low hill. Opening the buoyancy escape valves I permitted her to come slowly to the ground, and

as she touched, Dejah Thoris and I stepped from her deck and, hand in hand, turned back across the frozen

Through the tunnel that had led me in pursuit of them we passed, walking slowly, for we had much to say to

She told me of that last terrible moment months before when the door of her prison cell within the Temple of

the Sun was slowly closing between us. Of how Phaidor had sprung upon her with uplifted dagger, and of

It had been that cry that had rung in my ears all the long, weary months that I had been left in cruel doubt as

to my princess' fate; for I had not known that Thuvia had wrested the blade from the daughter of Matai Shang

She told me, too, of the awful eternity of her imprisonment. Of the cruel hatred of Phaidor, and the tender

love of Thuvia, and of how even when despair was the darkest those two red girls had clung to the same hope

Presently we came to the chamber of Solan. I had been proceeding without thought of caution, for I was sure

And so it was that I bolted into the chamber full into the midst of a dozen nobles of the court of Salensus Oll.

They were passing through on their way to the outside world along the corridors we had just traversed.

At sight of us they halted in their tracks, and then an ugly smile overspread the features of their leader.

"The author of all our misfortunes!" he cried, pointing at me. "We shall have the satisfaction of a partial

vengeance at least when we leave behind us here the dead and mutilated corpses of the Prince and Princess of

"When they find them," he went on, jerking his thumb upward toward the palace above, "they will realize that

the vengeance of the yellow man costs his enemies dear. Prepare to die, John Carter, but that your end may be

the more bitter, know that I may change my intention as to meting a merciful death to your princess

I stood close to the instrumentcovered wallDejah Thoris at my side. She looked up at me wonderingly as

the warriors advanced upon us with drawn swords, for mine still hung within its scabbard at my side, and

The yellow nobles, too, looked in surprise, and then as I made no move to draw they hesitated, fearing a ruse;

but their leader urged them on. When they had come almost within sword's reach of me I raised my hand and

laid it upon the polished surface of a great lever, and then, still smiling grimly, I looked my enemies full in

As one they came to a sudden stop, casting affrighted glances at me and at one another.

"Right you are," I replied. "John Carter does not dream. He knowsknows that should one of you take

another step toward Dejah Thoris, Princess of Helium, I pull this lever wide, and she and I shall die together;

The nobles shrank back, whispering together for a few moments. At last their leader turned to me.

"Prisoners do not go their own way," I answered, "and you are prisonersprisoners of the Prince of

Before they could make answer a door upon the opposite side of the apartment opened and a score of yellow

men poured into the apartment. For an instant the nobles looked relieved, and then as their eyes fell upon the

leader of the new party their faces fell, for he was Talu, rebel Prince of Marentina, and they knew that they

"Well done, John Carter," he cried. "You turn their own mighty power against them. Fortunate for Okar is it

that you were here to prevent their escape, for these be the greatest villains north of the icebarrier, and this

one"pointing to the leader of the party"would have made himself Jeddak of Jeddaks in the place of the

dead Salensus Oll. Then indeed would we have had a more villainous ruler than the hated tyrant who fell

The Okarian nobles now submitted to arrest, since nothing but death faced them should they resist, and,

escorted by the warriors of Talu, we made our way to the great audience chamber that had been Salensus

Red men from Helium and Ptarth, yellow men of the north, rubbing elbows with the blacks of the First Born

who had come under my friend Xodar to help in the search for me and my princess. There were savage, green

warriors from the dead sea bottoms of the south, and a handful of whiteskinned therns who had renounced

There was Tardos Mors and Mors Kajak, and tall and mighty in his gorgeous warrior trappings, Carthoris, my

son. These three fell upon Dejah Thoris as we entered the apartment, and though the lives and training of

royal Martians tend not toward vulgar demonstration, I thought that they would suffocate her with their

And there were Tars Tarkas, Jeddak of Thark, and Kantos Kan, my oldtime friends, and leaping and tearing

at my harness in the exuberance of his great love was dear old Woola frantic mad with happiness.

Long and loud was the cheering that burst forth at sight of us; deafening was the din of ringing metal as the

veteran warriors of every Martian clime clashed their blades together on high in token of success and victory,

but as I passed among the throng of saluting nobles and warriors, jeds and jeddaks, my heart still was heavy,

for there were two faces missing that I would have given much to have seen thereThuvan Dihn and Thuvia

I made inquiries concerning them among men of every nation, and at last from one of the yellow prisoners of

war I learned that they had been apprehended by an officer of the palace as they sought to reach the Pit of

I did not need to ask to know what had sent them thither the courageous jeddak and his loyal daughter. My

informer said that they lay now in one of the many buried dungeons of the palace where they had been placed

A moment later searching parties were scouring the ancient pile in search of them, and my cup of happiness

was full when I saw them being escorted into the room by a cheering guard of honor.

Thuvia's first act was to rush to the side of Dejah Thoris, and I needed no better proof of the love these two

Looking down upon that crowded chamber stood the silent and empty throne of Okar.

Of all the strange scenes it must have witnessed since that longdead age that had first seen a Jeddak of

Jeddaks take his seat upon it, none might compare with that upon which it now looked down, and as I

pondered the past and future of that longburied race of blackbearded yellow men I thought that I saw a

brighter and more useful existence for them among the great family of friendly nations that now stretched

Twentytwo years before I had been cast, naked and a stranger, into this strange and savage world. The hand

of every race and nation was raised in continual strife and warring against the men of every other land and

color. Today, by the might of my sword and the loyalty of the friends my sword had made for me, black man

and white, red man and green rubbed shoulders in peace and goodfellowship. All the nations of Barsoom

were not yet as one, but a great stride forward toward that goal had been taken, and now if I could but cement

the fierce yellow race into this solidarity of nations I should feel that I had rounded out a great lifework, and

repaid to Mars at least a portion of the immense debt of gratitude I owed her for having given me my Dejah

And as I thought, I saw but one way, and a single man who could insure the success of my hopes. As is ever

the way with me, I acted then as I always actwithout deliberation and without consultation.

Those who do not like my plans and my ways of promoting them have always their swords at their sides

wherewith to back up their disapproval; but now there seemed to be no dissenting voice, as, grasping Talu by

"Warriors of Barsoom," I cried, "Kadabra has fallen, and with her the hateful tyrant of the north; but the

integrity of Okar must be preserved. The red men are ruled by red jeddaks, the green warriors of the ancient

seas acknowledge none but a green ruler, the First Born of the south pole take their law from black Xodar;

nor would it be to the interests of either yellow or red man were a red jeddak to sit upon the throne of Okar.

"There be but one warrior best fitted for the ancient and mighty title of Jeddak of Jeddaks of the North. Men

of Okar, raise your swords to your new rulerTalu, the rebel prince of Marentina!"

And then a great cry of rejoicing rose among the free men of Marentina and the Kadabran prisoners, for all

had thought that the red men would retain that which they had taken by force of arms, for such had been the

The victorious warriors who had followed Carthoris joined in the mad demonstration, and amidst the wild

confusion and the tumult and the cheering, Dejah Thoris and I passed out into the gorgeous garden of the

At our heels walked Woola, and upon a carved seat of wondrous beauty beneath a bower of purple blooms

The handsome head of the handsome youth was bent low above the beautiful face of his companion. I looked

We remained at Kadabra, the guests of Talu, until after his formal induction into office, and then, upon the

great fleet which I had been so fortunate to preserve from destruction, we sailed south across the icebarrier;

but not before we had witnessed the total demolition of the grim Guardian of the North under orders of the

"Henceforth," he said, as the work was completed, "the fleets of the red men and the black are free to come

"The Carrion Caves shall be cleansed, that the green men may find an easy way to the land of the yellow, and

the hunting of the sacred apt shall be the sport of my nobles until no single specimen of that hideous creature

We bade our yellow friends farewell with real regret, as we set sail for Ptarth. There we remained, the guest

of Thuvan Dihn, for a month; and I could see that Carthoris would have remained forever had he not been a

Above the mighty forests of Kaol we hovered until word from Kulan Tith brought us to his single

landingtower, where all day and half a night the vessels disembarked their crews. At the city of Kaol we

visited, cementing the new ties that had been formed between Kaol and Helium, and then one

longtoberemembered day we sighted the tall, thin towers of the twin cities of Helium.

The people had long been preparing for our coming. The sky was gorgeous with gaily trimmed fliers. Every

Gold and jewels were scattered over roof and street and plaza, so that the two cities seemed ablaze with the

fires of the hearts of the magnificent stones and burnished metal that reflected the brilliant sunlight, changing

At last, after twelve years, the royal family of Helium was reunited in their own mighty city, surrounded by

joymad millions before the palace gates. Women and children and mighty warriors wept in gratitude for the

fate that had restored their beloved Tardos Mors and the divine princess whom the whole nation idolized. Nor

did any of us who had been upon that expedition of indescribable danger and glory lack for plaudits.

That night a messenger came to me as I sat with Dejah Thoris and Carthoris upon the roof of my city palace,

where we had long since caused a lovely garden to be made that we three might find seclusion and quiet

happiness among ourselves, far from the pomp and ceremony of court, to summon us to the Temple of

I racked my brain to try and determine what important case there might be pending which could call the royal

family from their palaces on the eve of their return to Helium after years of absence; but when the jeddak

As our flier touched the landing stage at the temple's top we saw countless other craft arriving and departing.

In the streets below a great multitude surged toward the great gates of the temple.

Slowly there came to me the recollection of the deferred doom that awaited me since that time I had been

tried here in the Temple by Zat Arras for the sin of returning from the Valley Dor and the Lost Sea of Korus.

Could it be possible that the strict sense of justice which dominates the men of Mars had caused them to

overlook the great good that had come out of my heresy? Could they ignore the fact that to me, and me alone,

was due the rescue of Carthoris, of Dejah Thoris, of Mors Kajak, of Tardos Mors?

I could not believe it, and yet for what other purpose could I have been summoned to the Temple of Reward

My first surprise as I entered the temple and approached the Throne of Righteousness was to note the men

who sat there as judges. There was Kulan Tith, Jeddak of Kaol, whom we had but just left within his own

palace a few days since; there was Thuvan Dihn, Jeddak of Ptarthhow came he to Helium as soon as we?

There was Tars Tarkas, Jeddak of Thark, and Xodar, Jeddak of the First Born; there was Talu, Jeddak of

Jeddaks of the North, whom I could have sworn was still in his icebound hothouse city beyond the northern

barrier, and among them sat Tardos Mors and Mors Kajak, with enough lesser jeds and jeddaks to make up

A right royal tribunal indeed, and such a one, I warrant, as never before sat together during all the history of

As I entered, silence fell upon the great concourse of people that packed the auditorium. Then Tardos Mors

"John Carter," he said in his deep, martial voice, "take your place upon the Pedestal of Truth, for you are to

With level eye and highheld head I did as he bade, and as I glanced about that circle of faces that a moment

before I could have sworn contained the best friends I had upon Barsoom, I saw no single friendly

A clerk rose and from a great book read a long list of the more notable deeds that I had thought to my credit,

covering a long period of twentytwo years since first I had stepped the ocher sea bottom beside the

incubator of the Tharks. With the others he read of all that I had done within the circle of the Otz Mountains

It is the way upon Barsoom to recite a man's virtues with his sins when he is come to trial, and so I was not

surprised that all that was to my credit should be read there to my judgeswho knew it all by hearteven

"Most righteous judges," he exclaimed, "you have heard recited all that is known of John Carter, Prince of

Then Tars Tarkas came slowly to his feet, unfolding all his mighty, towering height until he loomed, a

greenbronze statue, far above us all. He turned a baleful eye upon mehe, Tars Tarkas, with whom I had

I could have wept had I not been so mad with rage that I almost whipped my sword out and had at them all

"Judges," he said, "there can be but one verdict. No longer may John Carter be Prince of Helium"he

As the thirtyone judges sprang to their feet with drawn and upraised swords in unanimous concurrence in

the verdict, the storm broke throughout the length and breadth and height of that mighty building until I

Now, at last, I saw the grim humor of the method they had adopted to do me this great honor, but that there

was any hoax in the reality of the title they had conferred upon me was readily disproved by the sincerity of

the congratulations that were heaped upon me by the judges first and then the nobles.

Presently fifty of the mightiest nobles of the greatest courts of Mars marched down the broad Aisle of Hope

bearing a splendid car upon their shoulders, and as the people saw who sat within, the cheers that had rung

out for me paled into insignificance beside those which thundered through the vast edifice now, for she whom

Straight to the Throne of Righteousness they bore her, and there Tardos Mors assisted her from the car,