Show X the G A S JEDGAR ra 4 1 copyright by frank A murray co continued from last issue SYNOPSIS john carter who has been translated S twice to mar returns to earth and leaves giri the story of his file adventures with his neph ew then goes oe again to mars carter aide aada a ll Af artlan warrior righting fighting a hordo of plant men ile he discovers in the lh warrior tin an old friend tare tara barkma carter and escape their enem leit by entering a ollow hollow tree and making their way to a cliff cave above they explore e the cho c cave vc lurd nn through a L meart door enter a mysterious chamber unseen voices threaten thorn them y thy engage in desperate fighting with T aherns people who inhabit that section and meet on an imprisoned mald maid thuela f she tells of her captivity shoots a them a and ca carter t ter di Is in tile the rhems bherns nd garment ar ments cartor carter plans plana an escape from froin tho the mys my gerlous place thuvia thuela leads the way to i still other chambers ambera ch I 1 the aro are attacked by an aerial leot fleet of dlack black pirates rates and during ilia bat tie lie carter Tarl Tar tas kall thuela ali al I a li our male prisoner pr laoner Car thorla escape in an air ship I 1 carter discovers that Car thorla is t tits his son ion by tile hi At martian artlan wife dejah thorl a princess A fleet from carters y principality meets meeta his airship aaa curler la Is accused of by zat zak esy arras governor co vernor of durlam Lar barters absence carter la Is conden condemn ined eil but bui save i by powerful powe r ful friends friend ft carter lit Is escorted to hla his balace lie ila cams that dejah thoras Is held is i prisoner by tho the dlack black Ill pirates rates carter and his friends as assemble sible a huge f air fleet find fly to the rescue of dejah y thoras Thor ls A aerial battle takes place car A ter Is eluo alao attacked by an air aliet under f zat art aerna ne who in detailed defeated Pre I 1 saw tile ten tell battleship that had been ordered to hold the i shaft of amean they were 1 at full speed HW firing their matern val but i almost coll till bous ly there could be but one ciphina tion they were bellar pursued by mi lir ho hostile fleet well the situation could wf be tie no worse norte the expedition already A was vena dooni loomed eil 4 no titan man that had embarked upon it would return acres that dreary ter lc cap now flow I 1 wished that alint I 1 lalit face ant arras arms with my long sword for junt nit an instant before I 1 died it was he who had our failure fal lurf an afi I 1 watched the th oncoming ten tell I 1 saw their pursuers ince race swiftly into eight it wes another au sect fleet por for A a moment I 1 could not believe my eyes i hut but fl itally I 1 wits rai forced to admit that tile the mosi most fatal calamity had t the for thel he fleet leet I 1 saw sai v was IVAN none other than tile the fleet deet or tho the much pirates ahn should have been so info ly bottled up tip in what a series of misfortunes and f disasters what awful fate hovered over me that lint I 1 should hire apen so ii terribly thwarted at every angle of my luy search for my lost lore level could it if bo be possible that the curse of issus asif ant ul aion on me mei that there thera ras ivaa willian BiaH fen divinity lu in that hideous cm car cass I 1 would not believe it mid and throwing back my shoulders I 1 ran to tile the deed deck below belov tu join my men lit in repelling boarders from one of the thern craft that had grappled ul no broadside in the wild lust of bond to blind combat tuy my old hopefulness returned and no 01 thern after thorn went down benent li my blade I 1 bould almost feel that we via success ss lit in tho the end even from apparent failure sly my presence splice among tile the con so Y knitli In spirited them that hat they the fell upon ilia luckless luc LIess whites with such ferocity that with within irs a few moments moment 8 we ve hail turned the tables upon 11 V aud a 0 second later tit na we vve swarmed their own decks decka I 1 had the satisfaction aloi of hachig their commander take the ions I 1 iap aap ap from the bows of his vessel tu in I 1 aeu eu of surrender Jer and defeat then I 1 joined kantha han ile hail well watching what hall had viken place on the dock deck below and it seemed to have haio afren him film it new thought thou glit mutely hp he pissed nit nil order to one ona of file ok arn and presently the colori colon of tile the prince of helium broke front from every ciar point of tile the flagship A great cheer arose frow the men of our own ship a cheer chilt was tit n ul up by every emy other vessel of our nit as thoy they hi fit turn broko broke my colors from their upper works norka then kantos kan han sprang hla fits coup f A legible to every fallor of nil all tho engaged lit in that fierce li gle was as trung aloft upon the he flagship 1 y nien men of oc helium for tho the prince or of f helium against all hla big enemies it rend g presently my colors broke front from one of zat arras ships then from another t and another air some we could t gk fierce alerce battles waging between the zo ly cancan soldiery and the y crews crewe but eventually the colors coloia of tilt the of helium floated flo atel every 01 cry ship that had bad followed zat arras ami upon our trail rall only tits flagship alev them k mt ast aikaa had haul brought ships th s ss ibous IF wild us j il f rii atu ia g al I 1 t the held now and the light slit had set tied led to countless count lena lems individual duels ducts there could LB be little or no map maneuver euver ing of fleets in ili eliut crowded ore lie split thy sky zat arras arms was clote to illy an 0 own wn I 1 could see ilia thin features fen turca or tile roan mail from where I 1 stood ills his crew will was pouring after broadside liron dalde into us and we 0 o were returning their fire with equal ferocity closer and closer cloar came tile the two vessels until but a n few yards in ili ter Grapp grapplers lers and tile contiguous rails or each we were preparing for tile death struggle with our hated enemy there was hut but a yard arl bil between tween tile the two mighty ships ns As tile the first grappling irons irom vi viero ero hurled I 1 rushed to the deck to be with my illy men ns as they bourd board ed cd jut just ju t ns as tho the vessels essala came together with a might alight alliek I 1 forced my illy way through gl tile the lines all aarl wits was the lie first to spring to the deck of zat arms aims ship after me poured floured it yelling yell lix schoorl throng of 0 best le bigi ing men conal i them in III tho the fever of battle lust list which enthralled down went tho ho before that sin alii tide of mid ns As mv nien men denied cleared the lower decks I 1 sprang tu to the forward deck where stood zot zat arras you are my prisoner zat arras I 1 cried yield und and you half lenvi quarter ilia riot A moment I 1 could not tell whets cheth or cf lie ho contemplated acceding to fo my de dc viand maud or op facing me with till drawn sword biord for lift hint ailt he stood hs ik lintIng and anc then th rowlin down donn tits 4 lie ho tun of cil anti to ilia opposite ido of 0 the deck Il elore I 1 could oserthe hip tie ho liall sprung tu to file ho rail and burled 2 fa 77 TU I 1 1 1 1 I 1 you aro are my prisoner zat Arras arr tb I 1 I 1 cried headforemost into tho the stefo depth 4 below thus went zat at arras jed jad of a to ills his cul cud on oil and on went that strange battlo vile theries and blacks bad and not ed 3 us its wherever thern phil eaty met ship of the black pirates pirn tea wai waa tt ft cattle attle royal and in this I 1 thought 1 aw our salvation lie rever mc ini mca a d ages could bo be passed between its ia that not be intercepted by our oa 0 no 3 roles I 1 passed the word that h 11 ajl w vessels were to withdraw from tho the fight us as rapidly as possible ble taking a pos tilon to tho the west and south of tile the combatants I 1 also pent a nu air scout to texi fighting green men inen lit in the gar car dens dena below to re rc embark and to the tian transports sports to join us sly were further instructed ted that when engaged with an enemy to draw hint him wi BI ns as poll poa sible toward a sr aai p of ills his hereditary flomen and by careful maneuvering tc force tho the two to tills leaving himself free to withdraw this stratagem worked to perfection and just lefo befog tho the BUU allis went down I 1 had bad the file satisfaction of seeing oil all that wall left of my once mighty fl fleet ec t gath cred nearly twenty miles southwest jf e the still terrific battlo between tile the binckes and whites our plan now flow was to attempt to make a combined assault upon issos issus qt it dawn of the following lay day tars tara with his green warriors and ifor with tho the red men guided by bodar were to land within tho the bardene gardene of or if alio 0 surrounding plains while I 1 lautas man and I 1 wore to lead our smaller sn force from tho the son of amean through the pits pita beneath tue the temple which carthorn Car thorla know knew so well I 1 now lea learned for we the first time tile tho acm gr fi jo jen n parc AM ajo m the I 1 of f me 11 that they had bad come upon the abaft the navy of tile the black billack pirates were nero already issuing from its mouth rully r ully twenty weasels vessels lind had emerged and though they gave battle abely in nn an effort to stem the tide that rolled froni from tile black pit the odds odda against them were too great and they were ft era forced to flee alth with great caution wo we approached tile shaft under cover of darkness at a distance of several miles I 1 caused the fleet to bo be halted and from there Car thoris went nent ahead alone upon a ono one man flier to reconnoiter lit in perhaps half liala nit an hour lie returned to report tint that there was no sign of a patrol or of tile enemy in any forni anti and so ve fe moved swiftly slid and forward once moro more toward mean ni co n at tile alio mouth of the shaft leading to amean wo we stopped again for a moment for all the vessels to reach their previously appointed stations then with the flagship I 1 dropped quickly into the black depths while one by one the ollier vessels followed mo ine in quick succession wo had bad decided to stake nit nil on the iannce that thai we would be able to reach tile tho temple of lasus by 1 alio sub terra nonn way nav and so we left tie no guard of vessels at the ho shafts month nor would it have profited us auy to have hau done don so PO for we did not have bale sufficient forge all told to hive hire the vast mt navy of the black 11 tl nitea had bai they returned to ti engage us its CHAPTER XV between flood and flames flame att M the safety lafot of our entrance j upon we depended i darrely the very lory boldness of it belie that it would io 10 some sollie VIVO time before tile the blaed pirates on oil guard there would realize that lint it was oil an enemy and not their wn mn returning fleet elect that wits ua en anterina erinc terina rho vault of tile the burled sea anti and such proved to he the case lit in fact of my fleet of HOO rested safe ly upon the bosom of before a shot was si lied fired the battle was waa short and hot but there could have hac been but ono one out ome for tile tho black mates in III tilt the areles of fancied had bad left eft but a handful of ancient nud 01 ol vote octo bulks to guard their mighty might liar or lor it wasi was pt nt carthon ls lint 0 ve o landed our piN pilRo oneri ners under guard kii iid pun a i couple of OIL inri 1 irrer or alai d and lien tried the ships of the he black PI ahei atei to the shrift shaft where we muna Koil ca 0 nde n number of thein securely n i the Int elor of tile the grent well then wo he turned on oil tile lie a av ie 10 balance of them rind lit let 1 I by bv themselves further furl lit r to aloo tio tao an to dinean its as they the nive nine an in contact with tho the vessels at al enily lodged there yc we now felt vint that it would lk lie some I 1 line tile tit nt least before the he returning uncle q could reach the surface it if and that we would have ham ample opportunity to make for tilt aub terra nen it passages which led to As s Car alone know knew tile the hidden any i of the tunnels we could not dl di vado lilo the party and attack the temple it at several points nt at once as ai would have haic been most desirable and so BD it was ag decided that lie he lead ua its all tip as quickly na its lie ho could to n point ns all near tile temples center ns As possible As wo we were about to leio leave the pool oil and d anter the corridors nn nit officer called to the batera upon which tho the submarine floated at first chef the seemed to be merely agitated as from the of some great body beneath the he surface and I 1 tit nt once eon con lectured that another submarine was rising to the he surface lit in pursuit of v presently it apparent that the he level of the waters was wag rising not with extreme rapidity but very surely md and met hint soon they would overflow the ades of the pool and Rub submerse merge the floor of the chamber for a moment I 1 lid did not fully grasp alp 00 0 o terrice tor rite import of the slowly rising waters it was who real zed rzel the tuu full meaning of the thingly thing ita lt and the reason ranson for it It lastel he be cried if wo we delay wp wil till nil are lost tile the pumps of have lieen been stopped they would drown us its like rats in a trap wo we must renell reach the ire upper tipper levels of the pits in advance of the hood flood or wo we shall never bearb rea 11 thin COMO come load lend tue the way I 1 cried wo we shall follow at my command the youth leaped into one of the corridors anti lit in columns of twos and in good order the soldiers followed folo ived him film each company i the corridor only nt at the command of its dwar or captain capt I 1 was nos lie ho last to leave the he chamber of the submarine slid as I 1 followed tho rear lear of the column toward the cor I 1 moved through water to my knera knees the corridor too was flooded to the same depth for its ita floor was nag on oil a level with the floor of the he chamber from which it led nor was there tiny any por cop tible rise for ninny mane yards the march of th troops through the corridor was as talili as was constent with the biumi er of men that moved through so narrow a passage but it was not ample tu to permit us to gala gain appreciably on tile the pursuing tide long ere the last of the column could hope to reach the upper pits pita which lay above the ho danger point I 1 was con eon vinced that the waters would surge after us lit III overwhelming volume and that fully fally halt half tho the expedition would la be snuffed out A As I 1 cast about for some means of saving as ninny many is possible of the doomed men I 1 siw a diverging corri dor which seemed to rise tit at a steep angle nt at my right my my va voice to its utmost I 1 1 to 0 alio llio nunra ahead of effic me call back tho lost last twenty ove I 1 shouted hero seems a way ot of escape turn back and follow me A help john carieri carter wo we are uffe cat ingV sly my orders were obeyed by neared thirty itam so 80 that some men coon canio came about mid and title into the tooth teeth of the flood to reach the corri dor up which I 1 directed them As the farst dwar passed lit in with his bis utan I 1 cautioned him bin to listen closely closel for my mi comm and under tinder tie no tellices to re venture liture into the open or lome tile alie pits fur to tile lie temple proper I 1 should hav ahmo hmo 0 c come 0 me up will falln 01 oi you ion know that I 1 died before I 1 could reali voil on 1 the officer saluted and loft left me lue the inon inen filed P me nud and entered tile corridor which I 1 hoped would load lead to tho the water miter rose lose breast |