of the storeroom I do not know,
et sufficiently collected my wits to quite realize where I was, when a fusillade of shots
of the storeroom from which we had entered. About me lay the bodies of my companions, with the exception of T
ir wicked rifles, their faces distorted in
rose to th
s of fierce anger. "Is Sator Throg
lows, while the others edged toward the doorway as though to at
ion here," whispered
here, fello
hem at the command of the Father of Therns. One was white with black hair, the other a
s left for Sator Throg and his poor slaves to accomplish what the lesser therns of the guard were unable to do-we have killed one and captured the other; for this
very sheepish a
the plant men and then return to their qu
Thuvia bids
ate Sator Throg started as his closer scrutiny fell upon the upturned face, and then
have sworn; but that it was only a suspicion which
l once more upon the bald and shiny dome of the dead man in his arms. The last fleeting glimpse that I obtained
of the therns had snatched from our companions whatever slender ch
rocession had disappeared the girl ur
ioning attitude of the thern
ared not chance accusing you in error, there be those above with power suffic
p, but still weak from loss of blood. My wounds were painful. No medicinal aid seemed possible. How I longed for the almost mi
e over me in the face of danger. Then the long flowing, yellow locks
acted in time, might we not even yet escape before t
uvia?" I asked. "How long will it
t for an audience, but since he is very high among the lesser therns, in fact as
story, another hour will see the galleries and cham
hour. What is the best way, Thuvia, the
From there our way will lie within the temples of the therns and across them to the outer court. Then the ram
ns been ever adding to the defences of their stronghold. A continuous line of
lion fighting-men are ever ready. The courts and garde
stone's throw w
ia, why dwell upon the difficul
after dark?" asked Tars Tarkas. "The
he ramparts are well guarded; possibly better than by day. There
the hour?
r we reached the storeroom. There you slept for fourteen hours. It must now be near
orridors until at a sudden turn we came upon
mosphere of Mars that it absorbs very little heat from the sun. During the daylight hours it is always extremely hot; at night it is intensely cold. Nor does the thin atmosphere refract the sun's rays or diffuse its light as upon Earth. There is no twilight on Mars. When the great orb of day disappears
men. The adults stood aloft upon their toes and their mighty tails, their talons pruning every available leaf and twig. It was then that I understood the caref
Presently there emerged from the mountain a canoe laden with lost souls from the outer world. There were
d ours. He raised his head and leaning far out over the low rail that rimmed his dizzy perc
rs, then they poured from the grove toward the river's
brief and futile effort of defence. Then silence as the huge, repulsive shapes covered the bodi
away in
t white apes get the flesh when the plant men hav
the great white monsters running across the valley toward the river bank.
winds back and forth up through the cliffs toward the surf
locked our progress, but in each instance Thuvia spoke a low
master these fierce brutes I can see no difficulties in
d, and the
me to be thrown into one of the great pits in the inner gardens. It was filled with banths. In my own country I had
sight that they kept me to train and handle the terrible creatures. I know them all by name. There are many of them wandering through these lowe
e therns fear them. It is because of the banths that they s
e, suggested by what
nths and set them loose befo
a lau
attention from us,
alf purr. She continued this as we wound our tedious way
aw a pair of great, green eyes shining in the dark shadows at our rear.
ery side as we hastened on and one by one the feroc
paced the corridors with us, but I could not help but note the lathering j
ce; the almost noiseless passage of naked human feet and padded paws; the golden walls splashed with precious stones; the dim light cast by the tiny radium bulbs set at considerable distances along the roof; the huge, m
ot soon f
an the corridors. Thuvia halted us. Quietly she stole toward the
derworld; a heterogeneous collection of hybrids-the offspring of the prisoner
kins. They more resemble corpses than living beings. Many are deforme
uggested instantly to me the grotesque illustrations that I had seen in copies of Dante's INFERNO, and what more
chamber, the great banths sniffing hungrily at the tempting prey
arly peopled, and twice again we were compelled to cross dire
e see no therns?"
erns fear the awful denizens of this cruel and hopeless world that they have fostered and allowed to grow beneath their feet. The pris
and storerooms. All is life then. You did not see it because I led you not in the beaten tracks, but through roundabout passages seldom used. Yet it is possible t
ut detection and presently Thuvia halted
here on for four miles to the outer ramparts our way will be beset by countless dangers. Guards patrol th
tery and superstition that not a soul upon Barsoom would have dared to approach it even had they known its exa
doorway now and Thu
oom, O Prince," she said, "from whom
ainst my cheek. The great banths sniffed the unfamiliar odours, and then with a rush they broke
rning that, taken up from point to point, ran off to the east and to the west,
eaped from its scabbard; Thuvi