OCR Text |
Show I Iltek of MJ B IfHV ' flUpe Mutfti'attonx by VJpKC!L mWlNMYEUS H i'XvVH CoDriofih. A.C.McClurq and Company H (To be Continued.) H (tented to me with a few unlntelllKlblc B words and n lienrlnK nt once respect- m ful ntid menacing. H Later Soln, with the old of BovcrnI B of the other women, remodeled the H trappings to fit my lesser proportions, H and nftcr they completed the work I H went nbout curbed In nil tho panoply M The training of myself nnd the H young Mnrtlnns wnn conducted solely H by the women, who not only attend H to the education of tho young In the H arts of Individual defense nnd offense, H but nrc also tho artlsatiB who produce H every manufactured article wrought H by the green Mnrtlnns. In tlmo of H actual wnrfare they form a part of H the reserves, and when the necessity H arises fight with even greater Intel- H llgence nnd ferocity than the men. H The men nre trained In the higher H branches of the art of war; In strut- H egy and the maneuvering of large H bodies of troops. They make the laws H sb they aro necdod; n new Inw for H each emergency. Customs hnve been H handed down by ages of repetition, H but the punishment for Ignoring a cub- H torn It a matter for Individual treat- H ment by a jury of the culprlt'a peers, H and I may say that justice seldom H misses (Ire, but seems rather to rule H In Inverse ratio to tho ascendency ol H law. Tn one respect at least the Mar- H tlana nre a happy people; they have H no Inwycrs. H I did not sco the prisoner again fox H several dayn subsequent to our first en- H counter, nnd then only to cntch a fleet- H Ing glimpse of her as she was being H conducted to the great audience chain- H ber where I hnd had my first meeting H with Lorquas Ptomel. H I hnd obscn-cd on the two occasions Hr when I hnd seen her that tho prisoner B exchanged words with her guards, nnd H this convinced mo thnt they spoko, or at lenst could muko themselves tin- derstood by n common lnngungc. With H this added Incentive I nenrly drove H Soln dlstrncted by my Importunities H to hnstcn on my education, nnd with- Hr lu.rv fciW'tnoro flnjm 1 biuVtnntitercA tlir T Mnrtlnn tongue sulllclently well to on- B nblo me to carry on n piiHsnlile enn- ' vcrsntlon nnd to fully understand H prnctlcnlly nil thnt I henrd. H' At this time our sleeping iiuurtiT H were occupied by three or four female? H nnd n couple of tho recently hutched young, heHldo Soln nnd her youtlifti' B ward, myself, nnd Wooln tho hound. H' After they hnd retired for the night H it was customnry for the ndtiltH to H enrry on n desultory conversation fot H n short tlmo heforo lnpslng Into sleep, H and now thnt I could understand their HT language I was always n keen listener, V although I never proffered any re- H.' marks myself H On tho night following tho prisoner'! H visit to the audience chamber the con H vcrsntlon flnnlly fell upon this subject H and I wan nil enrs on the Instant. H Snrkojn, ono of the older women HT who l shared our domicile, hnd been H present nt the audience as one ol H the captive's guards, nnd It was to- H ward her tho Questioners turned. H "When," asked one of the women, H "will we enjoy tho denth throes of the H red one. or docs Lorquas I'tntncl, Jed, H Intend holding her for ransom?" H "They hnvo decided to carry net with us hack to Tliarlc, and exhibit H her Inst agonies nt the great garnet fl beforo Tnl Ilajus," replied Snrlcojn. H "What will be tho manner of hei H going out?" Inquired Sola. "She It H very small nnd very beautiful; I hnd H hoped thnt they would hold her fot H One thing tills episode accomplished H was to assure me of Sola's frlendll- H ness toward tho poor girl, nnd also to H convince me thnt I had been extreme- H ly fortunnte In falling Into her hnndi H rather thnn those of some of the othci H femnles. I knew thnt she wns fond of H me, and now that her remarks showed H that she hated cruelty nnd bnrlmrlty H I wn confident thnt I could depend Hj upon her to r-Id me nnd the girl cap- Hj tlve to escape, provided of course that H uch a thing was within the range of H possibilities. b Early the next morning I wns astir. H Considerable freedom was allowed me, H as Sola bad Informed me that so long H as I did not attempt to leuvo the city H I was free to go nnd come as I pleased. HB She had warned me, however, ngulnst B venturing forth unarmed, as thin city, BH. like all other deserted metropolises of HB""""'''''-" ",an ancient .Martian clvlllzntlon, wnB H peopled by the great white apes of my H second day's adventure. H On this morning I had chosen a new H street to explore when suddenly I H found myself at the limits of the city. H I longed to explore the country before H me, and, like the pioneer stock from B which I sprang, to view what the laud- H (Hcnpo beyond tho encircling hills might H 'disclose from the summits which shut H my J l As I approached tho houndnry line ih.&i Mirnrnwm-m tcmammm H IMfllitfiTfn " Wooln rnn anxiously beforo me, nnd thrust his body against my legs. His 'expression wns pleading rather thnn ferocious, nor did he bare his great tusks or utter his fearful gutturo warnings. Denied the friendship and companionship of my kind, I hnd developed de-veloped considerable affection for Woola and Sola, for the normal earthly earth-ly man must have some outlet for his nntural affections, nnd so I decided upon an appeal to n like Instinct In this great brute, sure that I would not be disappointed. I had never petted nor fondled him, but now I sat upon the ground nnd putting my nrms around his heavy neck I stroked nnd coaxed him, talking talk-ing In my newly acquired Martian tongue ns I would have to my hound nt home, ns I would have talked to any other friend among the lower an- Imnls. Ills responso to my mnnlfcs-' mnnlfcs-' tntlon of affection was remarkable to a degree; ho stretched his grcnt mouth 1 to Itu full width, baring the entire 1 cxpnnse of his upper rows of tuska ' and wrinkling his folds of flesh. If 1 you have ever seen a collie smllo you may hav.o some Idea of Woola's facial uiBiuruoii. There wob no further question of authority between us; Wooln wob my devoted slavo from that moment hence, and I, his only and undisputed master. My wnlk to the hills occupied occu-pied but a few minutes, and I found nothing of particular Interest to re-Jwnrd re-Jwnrd me. Hut tho wnlk had been large with Importance to me, for It hnd resulted In a perfect understanding understand-ing with Wooln, upon whom Tars Tarkas relied for my safe keeping. I Jnow know thnt while theoretically n 'prisoner I wna virtually free, nnd I hii8tened to regain tho city limits beforo be-foro tho defection of Wooln could be "discovered by his erstwhile mnsters. 1 On regnlnlng tho plnzn I had my third glimpse of the captive girl. She wns stnnding with her guards before tho entrnnco to the nudlence chamber, 'and ns I approached she gave me ono haughty glance nnd turned her back full upon me, Tho net wns bo worn-'nnly, worn-'nnly, so enrthly womanly, thnt though It stung my pride It nlso warmed my 'henrt with a feeling of compnnlonshlp; 'It was good to know thnt some one ,elso on iunrs nesme myseir nan milium mi-lium Instincts of n civilized order, even though tho manifestation of them wns so painful nnd mortifying. , Seeing that the prisoner seemed the center of attraction I halted to view the proceedings. The council squatted upon the steps of the rostrum, while below them stood the prisoner nnd her two guards. I saw that one of the (Women wns Sarkoja, nnd thus under-'stood under-'stood how she hnd been present nt the hearing of tho preceding dny, the re-Jsults re-Jsults of which she had reported to the occupnnts of our dormitory Inst 'night. Her attitude toward the captive cap-tive was most hnrsh and brutal. Sho ,secmed to be venting upon this poor 'defenseless crenturo nil the hatred, .cruelty, ferocity, nnd spite of her nine hundred years, backed by unguessable agen of fierce and brutal nncestors. As Lorquas IMomel raised his eyes to nddress tho prisoner they fell on me nnd he turned to Tars Tarkas with !a word, nnd gesture of Impatience. 'Tnrs Tarkas mndo some reply which 1 could not catch, but which caused Lorquas Ptomol to smile; nfter which ,they pnld no further attention to me. "What Is your name?" nsked Lor- quim IMomel. nddresslng the prisoner. "Dejah Thnrls, daughter of Mors Knjak of Helium." "And the nnturo of your expedition?" expedi-tion?" he continued. "It wns n purely scientific research party sent out by my father's father, tho Jcddak of Helium, to rechnrt the lair currents, and to take ntmospherle density tests," replied tho fair prls-I prls-I 'oner, In n low, well-modulated voice. ', "We were unprepared for bnttle," she continued, "ns we were ou a pence-if pence-if ul mission, ntt our banners and the colors of our craft denoted. The work ve were doing wns ns much In your Interests as In ours, for you know full well that were It not for our labors and the fruits of our scientific operations oper-ations there would not be enough air tor water on Mars to support u single 'human life. I'or ages we have maintained main-tained the air and water supply at practically the same point without an ,appreclable loss, and we have done 1 this In the face of the brutal and Ignorant Interference of you green men. "Why, oh, why will you not lenru to live In nuilty with your fellows? Must you eer go on down the ages to (your final extinction but little nbove 'the plane of the dumb brutes thnt (serve you I Come hnck to the wnye (of our coiuioon ancestors, come bncK to tho light of kindliness and fellow shlp. The wa I open to you, yon will find the IimikU of the red mei. stretched out in aid you. The grand ''uughter of the gieatwt and mightiest of the red Jcddnks has asked yon, Will you come?" Lorquns I'tomel nnd the warriors sat looking silently nnd Intently nt the young womnn for several moments nfter she had censed speaking. That they were moved I truly believe, and If one man high among them had been strong enough to rise above custom, that moment would hnvo marked n new and mighty crn for Mars. I saw Tars Tnrkns rise to speak, nnd on his face was such nn expression expres-sion as I had never seen upon the countennnce of n green Martian warrior. war-rior. It bespoko an Inward and mighty battle with self, with heredity, with age-old custom, nnd ns he opened his mouth to speak, a look almost of benignity, of kindliness, momentarily lighted up his fierce and terrible countenance. coun-tenance. What words of moment were to have fallen from his lips were never spoken, as Just then a young warrior, evidently evident-ly sensing the trend of thought among the older men, leaped down from the steps of the rostrum, and striking the frail captive n powerful blow across the face, which felled her to the floor, placed his foot upon her prostrate form, ond turning toward the assembled assem-bled council, broke Into peals of horrid, hor-rid, mirthless laughter. That I have taken moments to write down a part of what occurred as that blow fell does not signify thnt I remained re-mained Inactive for any such length of time. Scarcely had his hideous laugh rang out but once, when I wob upon him. The brute was twelve feet In height nnd nrmed to the teeth, but I believe that I could have accounted for tho whole roomful In the terrific intensity of my rage. Springing upward, up-ward, I struck him full In the face as he turned at my warning cry, and then ns he drew his short sword I drew mine nnd sprang up again upon his breast, hooking ono leg over the butt of his pistol and grasping one of his huge tusks with my left hand while I delivered blow after blow upon hli TOa ilnrMiPnBiiBirTi il iSxHr "I Delivered Blow After Blow Upon His Enormous Chest." enormous chest. With nil his immense hulk he wns little If any stronger than I, nnd It wns hut the matter of a moment mo-ment or two before he Mink, bleeding nnd llfelehs, to the lloor. Dejah Thorls had raised herself up-1 ou one elbow nnd wns watching the I battle with wide, staring eyes. When I I hnd regained my feet I raised her j In my nrms and bore her to one of the benches at the side of the room. ! Again no Martian Interfered with me, nnd when she could speak she . placed her hmd upon my arm, and I looking Into my oo, snld: 1 I "Why did you It? You, who re-, j fused me even friendly recognition In ' the first hour of my peril! And now you risk jour life and kill one of your , companions for my sake. I cannot understand. un-derstand. What strange manner of man are .you, that you consort with the green men, though your form Is that of my race, while your color Is little darker than thnt of the white ape? Tell me, arc you human, or nre you more than human?" "It Is a Htrango tale," I replied, "too long to attempt to tell you now. Suffice Suf-fice It, for the present, that I urn your friend, and, so far as our captors will permit, your protector nnd your servant.'' ser-vant.'' "Then you, too, nre n prisoner? What Is your nnuie7 Why your regalia re-galia as n chieftain?" "Yes, Dejnh Thorls, I too am a prlB-ouer; prlB-ouer; my name Is John Carter, and 1 claim Virginia, one of tho United States of American Earth, ns my home; but why I am permitted to wear arms I do not know, nor was I aware that my regalia was that of a chieftain." We were Interrupted nt this Juncture by tho approach of one of tho warriors, war-riors, bearing urms, accoutcrments nnd ornaments, and In a flash one of her questions was answered and a puzzle cleared up for me. I saw that the body of my dead antagonist had been stripped, nnd I read In tho menacing yet respectful nttltude of the warrior who had brought me these trophies of the kill the same demeanor ns thnt evilnced by tho other who hnd brought 'iut my original equipment, nnd now tor the first time I realized that my blow, on the occasion of my first battle bat-tle In the nudlenre chamber hnd re Nulted In the death of my adversary. I ! Ml Ill 1 I ! MM ' I was accorded tne honors due a conqueror; the trappings nnd the position po-sition of the mnn I killed. In truth, I wns a Martlau chieftain, and this I learned Inter wns the cause of my great freedom and my toleration In the audience chamber. As I hnd turned to receive the dead warrior's chattels I had noticed that Tars Tarkas nnd several others had pushed forward toward us. The chief addressed me: "Do you know what your unprecedented un-precedented temerity would have cost you had you failed to kill either of the two chieftains whose metal you now wear?" he asked. "I presume that thnt ono whom I had failed to kill, would have killed me," I answered, smiling. "No, you are wrong. Only In the Inst extremity of self-defense would a Martian warrior kill a prisoner; we llkn to save them for other nur noses." and his face bc&poke possibilities that were not pleasant to dwell upon. "But ono thing can save you now," he continued. "Should you, In recognition recogni-tion of your remarkable valor, ferocity and prowess, bo considered by Tnl Hn-Jus Hn-Jus as worthy of his service you may be taken Into the community and be- I come a full-fledged Thnrklan. Until wo 1 reach the headquarters of Tal Ilajus you will be treated by ur as a Tharklan chieftain, but you must not forget that every chief who ranks you Is responsible respon-sible for your safe delivery to our mighty and most ferocious ruler. I am done." "I henr you, Tars Tarkas," I an-Bwered. an-Bwered. "If you will leave me alone I will go In pence, but If not, let tho Individual In-dividual Bnrsoomlnns with whom 1 must deal either respect my rights as a stranger among you, or take whatever consequences may befall. Of one thing let ub be sure, whatever may be your ultlroato Intentions toward this unfortunate young woman, whoever would offer ber Injury or Insult In the future must figure on a full accounting to me." I hnd guessed at the keynote which would strike nn answering cnoru in tne breasts of the green Martlnns, nor wob I wrong, for my hnrnngue evidently deeply Impressed them, nnd their attitude at-titude toward mo thereafter was still further respectful. I now turned my attention to Dejah Thorls, and assisting her to her feet I turned with her toward the exit. Ignoring Ig-noring her hovering guardian harpies as well as the Inquiring glnnccs of the chieftains. Was I not now a chieftain nlso I Well, then, I would nssume the responsibilities of one. They did not molest us, nnd so Dejnh Thorls, princess prin-cess of nellum, nnd John Carter, gen-tlemnn gen-tlemnn of Vlrglnln, followed by the faithful Wooln, passed through utter silence from the nudlence chamber of Lorquas Ptomel, Jed nmong the Thnrks of Barsoom. I CHAPTER VI. With Dejah Thorls. As wo reached the open the two female fe-male gunrds who hnd been detailed to watch over Dejah Thorls hurried up and mnde as though to nssume custody of her once more. The poor child shrank ngalnst me nnd I felt her two little hands fold tightly over my arm Waving tho women away, I. Informed (Continued on Page seven.) f - i A Princess of Mars By Edgar Rice Burroughs , (Continued from Page Six.) .''siem tlmt Sola woutfl micnd Tho enp-tlvo enp-tlvo herenftcr. Snvkojn merely irnvo us nn ugly look and departed to hutch up deviltries ncnlnst us. I soon found Soln nnd explnlned to licr tlmt I wished her to Runrd Dcjali Thorls ns she hnd guarded me; thnt I wished her to nnd other quarters where they would not he molested hy Snrkojn, nnd I llnnlly Informed her thnt I myKcir would tnko up my qunr-tcrs qunr-tcrs ninoiiR the men. "You nre n profit ehleftnln now, John Carter." she said, "nnd 1 must do your bidding, though Indeed I nm glad to do It under any circumstance. The man whose nietnl you carry was young, hut ho was a great warrior, and had hy his promotions and kills won his way close to the rank of Tars Tarkas, who, as you know, Is second to Lorquns Ptomel only. You nre eleventh, there nre but ten chieftains In this community who rank you In prowess." "And If I should kill Lorquns Ptomel?" Pto-mel?" I asked. "You would be first, John Carter; but you may only win thnt honor by tho will of tho entire council thnt Lor-quns Lor-quns Ptomel meet you In comhnt, or should he nttack you, you may kill him In self-defense, nnd thus win first place." I lnughed, nnd chnnged the subject. I hnd no particular desire to kill Lor-quns Lor-quns Ptomel, and less to be a Jed among the Tliarks. I nccompnnled Sola nnd Dejah Thor-la Thor-la In a search for new quartern, which we found In n building near the audience audi-ence chamber nnd of far more pretentious preten-tious architecture than our former habitation. We nlso found In this building real sleeping apartments with ancient beds of highly wrought metal swinging from enormous gold chains depending from the marble ceilings. The decoration of the walls was most elnborate and, unlike the frescoes In the other buildings I had examined, portrayed many human figures In the compositions. These were of people like myself, nnd of a much lighter col-' col-' or than Dejah Thorls. They were clad r In graceful, flowing robes, highly orna mented with metal and Jewels, and ., ' their luxuriant hair was of a beautiful 1 V golden nnd reddish bronze. The men f were beardless nnd only a few wore arms. The scenes depicted for the , '" most pnrt a falr-sklnned, fiilr-hnlred ' ' . people nt play. Dejah Thorls clasped her hands with an exclamation of rapture as she gazed upon these magnificent works of ait, wrought hy a people long extinct ; while Soln, on the other hnnd, apparently appar-ently did not see them. We decided to use this room, on the second floor nnd overlooking the plnzn, for Dejnh Thorls nnd Sola, and another an-other room adjoining und In the rear for cooking and supplies. I then dispatched dis-patched Sola to bring the bedding and such food and utensils as she might need, telling her thnt 1 would guard Dejah Thorls until her return. As Sola departed Dejah Thorls turned to me with n fnlnt smile. "And to where, then, would your prisoner pris-oner cscnpe should you leave her, unless un-less It was to follow you nnd crave your protection, und ask your pardon for the cruel thoughts she has hnr-bored hnr-bored against you these past few days?" "You nre right," I answered, "there Is no escnpo for either of us unless wo go together." "I heard your challenge to the creature crea-ture you call Tars Tarkas, and I think I understand your position among these people, but what I cannot fathom Is your statement that you ure not of Bnrsoom. "In the name of my first ancestor, then," sho continued1, "where may you be from? You are like unto my people, peo-ple, and yet so unlike. You speak my language, and yet I heard you tell Tnrs Tarkas that you had but learned it recently. All Darsoomlnns speak the same tongue from tho Ice-clad south to tho Ice-clad north, though their written Inngunges differ. Only In tho vnlley Dor, where tho river Iss empties Into tho lost sen of Korus, Is thero supposed to bo a different Innguago spoken, nnd, except In tho legends of our nncestors, there Is no record of a Rnrsoomlnn returning re-turning up the river Iss, from the shores of Korus In tho valley of Dor. Do not tell me that you havo thus returned re-turned 1 They would kill you horribly anywhere upon tho surface of Bnrsoom If that were true; tell me It Is notl" Her little hnnds, reached up upon flB my breast, woro pressed against me ns though to wring a denial from my very heart. "I do not know your customs, Dejah Thorls, but In my own Virginia a gentleman gen-tleman does not lie to save himself; I nm not of Dor; I have never seen the mysterious Iss; the lost sea of Korus Is still lost, so far n& I am concerned. con-cerned. Do you believe mo?" I And then It struck mo that I was very anxious that sho should believe me. I looked down at her; hor beautiful beauti-ful face upturned, and her wonderful eyes opening up tho very depth of her bouI ; and ns my eyes mot hers 1 knew why, and I shuddered. A similar wave of feeling scorned to sllr her; slit- drew away from mo with n sigh, nuil with her earnest. "I Looked Down at Her, Her Beautlfu Face Upturned, and Her Wonderful Eyes Opening Up the Very Depth of Her Soul." beautiful face turned up to mine, she whispered: "1 believe you, John Car-ter;- I do not know what a 'gentle-ninn' 'gentle-ninn' Is, nor have I ever heard before of Virginia; but on Bnrsoom no innn lies; If he does not wish to speak the truth he Is silent. Where is this Virginia, Vir-ginia, your country, John Carter?" she asked, and It seemed thnt this fair name of my fair land had never sounded wore benutlful than as It fell from those perfect lips on thnt far gone day. "I am of another world," I nnswered, "the great planet Earth, which revolves re-volves about our common sun and next within the orbit of your Bar-soom, Bar-soom, which we know ns Mars. Cow I cooie here I cannot tell you, for 1 do not know; but here I nm, and since ray presence has permitted me to serve Dejnh Thorls I am glad that I am here." She gazed nt mo with troubled eyes, long nnd questlonlngly. I would much rather not havo told her anything of my antecedents, but no mnn could look Into the depth of those eyes and refuse her slightest behest. Finally slie smiled, and, rising, snld : "I shall have to believe even though I cannot understand. But why should I trouble my poor head with such a problem, when my henrt tells me thnt I believe because I wish to believe?" It was good logic, good, earthly, feminine logic, nnd If It satisfied her I certainly could pick no flaws In It. We fell Into a general conversation then, asking nnd nnswerlng ninny questions on ench side. She was curl ous to learn of the customs of my people and displayed a remarkable knowledge of events on earth. When I questioned her closely on this seeming seem-ing familiarity with earthly things she laughed, and cried out : "Why, every schoolboy on Barsoom knows the geography, and much concerning con-cerning the fauna and flora, as well as the history of your planet fully ufc well as of his own. Can we not seel everything which takes plnco upon' Earth, as you call It; Is It not hnng-l Ing there In the heavens In plnhu sight?" I This bnflled me, I must confess, fully ns much ns my statements had confounded her; nnd I told her so. She then explained In general the ln-; struments her peoplo had used and' been perfecting for ages, which permit per-mit them to throw upon a screen nj perfect Image of what Is transpiring! upon nny planet and upon many oi the stars. J "If, then, you are so familiar wlt earthly things," I asked, "why Is 11 that you do not recognize me as Iden-i tlcal with the Inhabitants of thnt planet?" plan-et?" She smiled ngaln as one might Ira bored Indulgence of a questioning I child. 1 I "Because, John Carter," she replledj "nearly every plnnet nnd star ha nwj I atmospheric conditions nt all npl i pronchlng those of Barsoom, shows! forms of nnlmrl life ulmost Identical, with you and me; and, further Knrthl men, almost without exception, cover their bodies with strange, unsightly pieces of cloth, nnd their bends !"; hideous contraptions the purpose of. which we have been unable to con ( colve; whllo jou, when found by the Thnrklan warriors, wero entirely uu disfigured nnd unadorned." I then nnrratod the details of my' departure from the Earth, explain-' lug thnt my body there lay fuliy. rlothed In nil the, to her, strange gar-j ments of muniVino dwellers. At this! point Sola returned with our meager- belongings and her young Mnrtiuil protege; who, of course, would havel I to share the quarters with them. , Sola nsked us If we had hud a vis Itnr during her absence, and seemed much surprised when wo nnsweredj In the negative. It seemed that iifj Mie hnd mounted the approach to tljl ' upper floors where our quarters .mJ located, &he had met Snrkojn il x CM Ing. We ,I..'"V nit ilu nm t jM been eavesdropping, but as we 'H ' recall noihlin' l Imp'-ruince 1H paused between in vr -u. - 'H I matter as of Utile coiimi,mi i u JU I Dejah Tl.orl nnd I turn fHldH I umlnlng the niehiti ' 1 jH i -...- I..I..-M I.I I-. II -. I ! I "Dejah Thorl6 and I Then Fell to Ex-amlnlnn Ex-amlnlnn the Architecture and Decorations Deco-rations of the Beautiful Chambers of the Building We Were Occupying," Occu-pying," tlons of the beautiful chambers of the building we were occupying. She told me that these people had presumably flourished over n hundred thousand years before. They wero the early progenitors of her race, but hnd mixed with the other great races of early Mnrtlans, who were very dark, almost black, and also with the reddish yellow yel-low race which had flourished at the same time. These three great divisions of the higher Martians had been forced Into In-to a mighty nlllnnce as the drying up of the Mnrtlnn seas had compelled them to seek the comparatively few and always diminishing fertile arens, and to defend themselves, under new conditions of life, against tho wild hordes of green men. The ancient Martians bad been a highly cultivated and literary race, but during tho vicissitudes of thoso trying centuries of readjustment to new conditions, not only did their advancement ad-vancement nnd production ccaso entirely, en-tirely, but practically all their archives, records, and literature wero lost. Wo had been so engrossed in exploration explor-ation of the building nnd In our conversation con-versation thnt It was Inte In the nfter-noon nfter-noon before we realized it. Wo wero brought back to a realization of our present conditions by a messenger bearing a summons from Lorquns Ptomel directing mo to appear before him forthwith. Bidding Dejnh Thorls Thor-ls and Sola farewell, and commanding command-ing Wooln to remain on guard, I hastened hast-ened to the audience chnmbcr, where I found Lorquns Ptomel nnd Tars Tarkas Tar-kas seated upon the rostrum. As I entered nnd saluted, Lorquns Plomel signaled me to advance, nnd, fixing his great, hideous eyes upon me, addressed me thus: "You have been with us n few days, yet during that time you have by your prowess won a high position umong us. Be that as It nuiy, youarej and now I recalled those portions of our conversation which hod touched upon escnpo and upon my origin. Snrkoja was at this time Tars Tarkas' Tar-kas' oldest and most trusted female. I As such she was n mighty power behind be-hind the throne, for tin warrior bad the confidence of Lorquns I'tomrl to such nn extent as did his ablest lieutenant, lieu-tenant, Tars Tnrkas. However, Instead of putting thoughts of possible escnpo from my mind, my I audience with Lorquns Ptomel only served to center my every faculty on . this subject. Now, moro than before, ! tho absolute necessity for escape, In ' , so for us Dejr.h Thorls wns concerned, I wns Impressed upon mo, for I was convinced thnt some horrlblu fato awaited her nt tho headquarters of Tnl Ilajus. As described by Sola, this monster wns the exaggerated personification i of nil the ages of cruelty, ferocity, and brutality from which he had descended. de-scended. Cold, cunning, calculating; j ho wns, nlso, In ninrked contrast to most of his fellows, a slave to that I brute passion which the waning do- i mauds for procreation upon their dy- j Ing planet had almost stilled In tho J Martian breast. , j As I wandered about tho plnzn lost I j In my gloomy forebodings Tars Tar-' kas approached me on his wny from ' the audience chamber. "Where nre your quarters, John Cor-1 ter?" he asked. I "1 have selected none," I replied, i "It seemed best tlmt 1 quartered either I by myself or nnioug the other war-1 I rlors, and I wns uwnltlng nn oppor- I tunlty to usk your ndvtce." "Come with me," he directed, nnd together to-gether we moved off across the plaza to a building which I wns glad to see adjoined thnt occupied by Sola and her charges. "My quarters are on tho first floor of this building,' he said, "and tho second floor also Is fully occupied by w'nrrlorw, but the third floor and tho floors above are vacant ; you may take your choice of these. "I understand," he continued, "that you have given up your woman to the red prisoner. Well, If you wish to give your woman to n cnptlve, It Is your own affair; but as n chieftain you should havo those to serve you, and In accordance with our customs you may select any or nil the females from the retinues of the chieftains whose metal you now wear." I thanked him, but assured him that I could get along very nicely without assistance except In tho mntter of preparing pre-paring food, nnd so ho promised to send women to me for this purposo nnd nlso for tho core of my arms and the manufneturo of my ammunition, which he snld would be necessary. I llnnlly chose a front room on tho third floor, because this brought mo nearer to Dejnh Thorls, whce upnrt-ment upnrt-ment wns on tho second floi.r of the adjoining building, and It flashed upon up-on me that I could rig up some means of communication whereby she might I signal mo In enso sho needed cither , my services or my protection. i My thoughts were cut short by tha advent of several young females bearing bear-ing loads of weapons, silks, furs, Jow-els, Jow-els, cooking utensils, and casks of food nnd drink, Including considerable loot from the nlr craft. All this, It seemed, ' hnd been the property of the two chieftains I had slain, and now, by the customs of the Tliarks, It had he-come he-come mine. At my direction they placed the sttnTlnoiit of theback P of affection, and respond to my every command with nn alacrity and doclll-h, doclll-h, ty which caused the Martian warriors f I to ascribe to me the possession of tj some enrthly power unknown on Mors. I On the seventh day following the I I bnttlo with the nlr craft we ngaln I took up the march toward Thark, all f probability of another nttack being f deemed remote by Lorquns Ptomel. During the dnys Just preceding oui f depnrture I had seen but little of De-j De-j Jab Thorls, as I had been kept very ' busy hy Tars Tarkas with my lessons L In tho nrt of Martian warfare, as well P as In tho training of my thoats. The i few times I had visited her quarters L she had been absent, walking upon , tho streets with Soln, or Investigating fj tho buildings In the near vicinity of W the plaza. L On the evening before our departure H I saw them approaching ulong one of I tho great avenues which lead Into the fc plnzn from the east. I advanced to I meet them, and telling Sola that 1 I would take the responsibility for De Jab Thorls' safe keeping, I directed m her to return to her quarters on some 1 trlvlnl errand. I liked and trusted I Sola, but for home reason I desired 1 to be alone with Dejah Thorls. who M, iTprcKcntcd to me all that I had left K behind upon Kttrtli In agreeable and W congenial companionship. M That sla shared nij sentiments In B this rcpect I was ponltlvo, for on my If (To Be Continued) |