hat single tell-tale glance the battleship would have been directly above us in another moment, and the boarding party which was doubtless even
w for the right manoeuvre. Simultaneously I reversed the
ing party as the battleship raced over us. Then I rose at
at the whirring propellers of the giant above us. If I could but touch th
izon, disclosing a hundred grim, black faces p
hroats. Orders were shouted, but it was too late to sav
n the hole it had made in the battleship's stern. Only a second I hung there befo
ight. We were simply submerged by numbers. Then as swords men
e said, "but do
erly bound. At least he thought that the binding was secure. It would have been had I been a Martian, but I had to sm
n the meantime they had brought our craft alongside the disable
n. Her decks were crowded with them as they pressed forward as f
ts. It was evident that these self-thought supermen were far i
f much comment. When Xodar told his fellow nobles of my fighting abi
ed by a member of my party convinced them that I was an enemy of theirthrough the wondrous magnificence of their resplendent trappings. Many harnesses were so enc
e. The whole scene was enchanting. The handsome men; the barbaric splendour of the accoutrements; the polished skeel wood of the deck; the gloriously grained sorapue were thrown into a small compartment which contained a single
ellers, and from the port-hole we could see that
d with his own thoughts. For my part I was wonderin
the hands of either red men or green, and as fugitives from the Valley
ould not fail to impress upon the intelligent red men of Barsoom the wick
racter assured me. Dejah Thoris would believe me. Not a doubt as to that entered my head. Then there were a thousand of my red and
pirates it might be to fall into the hands of unfriendly
n that score, for the likelihood of my eve
rtment we had seated ourselves upon a low bench beneath the porthole. The bench was the only furniture of the room. It was of sorapus wood. The floor
was just level with them as I sat. Suddenly I looked toward Phaidor. She was regarding me
delicate flush tingeing her cheek. Evidently she was embarrassed at hav
the lower orders interes
with a nervous but r
pecially when they have
poking fun at me, and I admired a brave heart that could loo
here we are go
f the eternal hereafter
ate than that," she said
do you
ates during the ages they have raided our domains has ever returned to narrate her experiences among them. That the
etribution?" I coul
do you
pilgrimage down the River of Mystery? Was not Thuvia for fifteen years a plaything and
ure to be a slave among us. Did we not occasionally save a few of the lower orders that stupidly fl
those of the outside world?" I argued. "That is the wickedest of
race of therns. How else could we live did the outer world not furnish our
t you eat human fles
pitying commiserat
esh of the lower ord
yes," I replied, "but
so may gods eat of the flesh of man. T
and I imagine
the black pirates and come again to the court of Matai Shang I think that we shall find an argument to convinc
d not understand her meaning; nor did I for a long time. Dejah Thoris was wont to
n would be to set an armed guard at the mouth of the River Iss to escort the poor deluded voyagers back to the outer world. Al
t me really
r guess that you entertained such frightful thoughts, should we chance to regain the temples of the therns, they would
They only worshipped a beautiful hope for a life of love and peace and happiness in the hereafter. The therns worshipped t
oor of our prison o
n he smiled his expression was kind
ome on deck. You will witness something very interesting, and as you never shall return to the outer world it will do no harm to permit you to see it. You
the therns," he added, "for she shall see the Templ
s head w
cried. "Issus would wipe out your entire bree
odar, with an ugly smile, "nor do I envy y
s passing over a great field of snow and ice. As far as th
poles of Mars is there ice or snow upon the planet. No sign of life appeared below us. Evidently we
as I stood looking ou
rse?" I a
ou will see the Otz Valley directly. We
, is not there where lie the domains of
of feet below the level of the surrounding country, like a great round bowl. A hundred miles from its northern boundary rise the Otz Mountains which circle the inner Valley of Do
ed from the Valley Dor. My only wonder was that even the one had been successful. To
ld the journey be mad
one times; but none has ever escaped the First Bor
housands of feet high at the base of which stretched a level valley, broken here and there by low rolling h
north across the valley as far as the eye could reach. "That is the bed of the River Iss," said Xodar.
be a village, and pointing it out
sidered neutral ground. Some turn off from their voluntary pilgrimage down the Iss, and, scaling the awful walls of
this outer valley, and as a matter of fact they fear the patrolling
ce they have nothing that we desire, nor are they numerically stron
ve increased in numbers but little in many years
ly I discerned over our starboard bow what appeared to be a black mountain risin
and Phaidor and I stood alone beside the rail. The girl
een telling me tr
alse. If it is not false-" she hesitated. "Oh it cannot be true, it cannot be true. For if it were true then for countless ages have my people gone to tortur
or, so may it be that the therns themselves have been lured by the First Born to an equally h
believe it
we were rapidly approaching the black mountains, which in some
barely moved. Then we topped the crest of the mountain and below us I saw yawning
thousand feet. The walls were smooth and app
to the black chasm. Lower and lower she sank until as darkness enveloped us her lights were thrown on and in the dim halo o
us rose and fell the billows of a buried sea. A phosphorescent radiance illuminated the scene. Thousands of ships dotted the
ed during our descent of the shaft and in their place had been run out the smaller but more powerful water propellers. As these c
ad either heard or dreamed that such a wo
ew lighters and barges, but none of the great merchantmen su
n," said a voice behind us, and turning we saw Xo
ep it from filling above a certain level we have four great pumping stations that force the oversupply ba
le that caused great columns of water to spurt from the solid rock of their reservoir sides
ce of this enormous volume of water. As ages passed they had simply co
y between the ground and their tops with small, heavily barred windows. They bore the earmarks of prisons, which we
sighted a much larger one directly ahead. This proved to be our desti
icers and men we left the battleship and approached a larg
she selects slaves from among them to replenish the ranks of her handmaidens. None serves Issus above a single ye
ain doubts and fears. She clung very closely to me, no longer the proud daughter of the Master o
vel of the floor like the swimming pool of a natatorium. Near one side of the pool floated an odd-looking black o
ng, Xodar cried out a few words in a strange tongue. Immediately a hatch cover was raised fr
ressed th
to him that Dator Xodar, with officers and men, escorting two prisoners
even as thou sayest," and raising both hands, palms backward, above his head after the manner of sa
ings of his rank appeared on deck and welcomed Xodar to the
low the water line. No sooner were all below than a number of commands were given, in accordance with which
in such a tiny pool o
ularly that while the building is rooflesse?" she as
the craft I judge we are
tion only that even this daughter of the therns, born as she had been within sight of Mars' o
. Now we could hear the water rushing past the port-holes, and in the dim light tha
graspe
ing within the power of the Holy Therns to give will be yours. Phaidor-" she s
presume my motive was misunderstood, for with a swift glance about the apartment to assure her