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Thuvia, Maid of Mars - Edgar Rice Burroughs · Mystery & Suspense Library

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  Speaker 1: Thuvia made of Mars by Edgar Rice Burroughs, Chapter one,
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  Speaker 1: Carthoris and Thuvia. Upon a massive bench of polished air
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  Speaker 1: sit beneath the gorgeous blooms of a giant panalia, A
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  Speaker 1: woman sat, her shapely sandaled foot tapped impatiently upon the
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  Speaker 1: jewel strewn walk that wound beneath the stately serapus trees
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  Speaker 1: across the scarlet sward of the royal gardens of Thuvon
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  Speaker 1: din Jeddak Ptarth. As a dark haired, red skinned warrior
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  Speaker 1: bent low toward her, whispering heated words close to her ear.
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  Speaker 1: Ah Thuvia of Ptarth, he cried, you are cold even
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  Speaker 1: before the fiery blasts of my consuming love. No harder
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  Speaker 1: than your heart, nor colder is the hard, cold air
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  Speaker 1: sight of this thrice happy bench, which supports your divine
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  Speaker 1: and fateless form. Tell me, o Thuvia of Ptarth, that
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  Speaker 1: I may still hope that though you do not love
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  Speaker 1: me now, yet some day, some day, my princess I.
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  Speaker 1: The girl sprang to her feet with an exclamation of
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  Speaker 1: surprise and displeasure. Her queenly head was poised haughtily upon
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  Speaker 1: her smooth red shoulders. Her dark eyes looked angrily into
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  Speaker 1: those of the man. You forget yourself and the customs
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  Speaker 1: of barsoom Astoc, she said, I have given you no
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  Speaker 1: right thus to address the daughter of thuvon Din, nor
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  Speaker 1: have you won such a right. The man reached suddenly
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  Speaker 1: forth and grasped her by the arm. You shall be
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  Speaker 1: my princess, he cried, by the breast of isis thou shalt,
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  Speaker 1: Nor shall any other come between Astok, Prince of Dusar
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  Speaker 1: and his heart's desire. Tell me that there is another,
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  Speaker 1: and I shall cut out his foul heart and fling
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  Speaker 1: it to the wild calets of the dead sea bottoms.
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  Speaker 1: At touch of the man's hand upon her flesh, the
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  Speaker 1: girl went pallid beneath her coppery's skin. For the persons
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  Speaker 1: of the royal women of the courts of Mars are
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  Speaker 1: held but little less than sacred. The act of Astok,
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  Speaker 1: Prince of Dusar was profanation. There was no terror in
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  Speaker 1: the eyes of Thuvia of Ptarth, only horror for the
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  Speaker 1: thing the man had done, and for its possible consequences.
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  Speaker 1: Release me. Her voice was level, frigid. The man muttered
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  Speaker 1: incoherently and drew her roughly toward him. Release me, she repeated, sharply,
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  Speaker 1: or I call the guard, and the Prince of Dusar
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  Speaker 1: knows what that will mean. Quickly, he threw his right
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  Speaker 1: arm about her shoulders and strove to draw her face
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  Speaker 1: to his lips. With a little cry, she struck him
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  Speaker 1: full in the mouth with the massive bracelets that circled
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  Speaker 1: her arm. Callet, she exclaimed, And then the guard, the
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  Speaker 1: guard hasten in protection of the Princess of Ptarth. In
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  Speaker 1: answer to her call, a dozen guardsmen came racing across
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  Speaker 1: the scarlet sward, their gleaming long swords naked in the sun,
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  Speaker 1: the metal of their accouterments clanking against that of their
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  Speaker 1: leathern harness, and in their throats hoarse shouts of rage
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  Speaker 1: at the sight which met their eyes. But before they
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  Speaker 1: had passed half across the royal garden, to where Astok
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  Speaker 1: of Dusar still held the struggling girl in his grasp,
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  Speaker 1: another figure sprang from a cluster of dense foliage that
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  Speaker 1: half hid a golden fountain close at hand. A tall,
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  Speaker 1: straight youth, he was with black hair and keen gray eyes,
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  Speaker 1: broad of shoulder and narrow of hip, a clean limbed
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  Speaker 1: fighting man. His skin was but faintly tinged with the
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  Speaker 1: copper color that marks the red men of Mars from
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  Speaker 1: the other races of the dying planet. He was like them,
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  Speaker 1: and yet there was a subtle difference, greater even than
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  Speaker 1: that which lay in his lighter skin and his gray eyes.
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  Speaker 1: There was a difference too in his movements. He came
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  Speaker 1: on in great leaps that carried him so swiftly over
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  Speaker 1: the ground that the speed of the guardsman was as
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  Speaker 1: nothing by comparison. Astoc still clutched Thuvia's wrist as the
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  Speaker 1: young warrior confronted him. The newcomer wasted no time, and
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  Speaker 1: he spoke but a single word, callot. He snapped, and
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  Speaker 1: then his clenched fist landed beneath the other's chin, lifting
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  Speaker 1: him high into the air and depositing him in a
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  Speaker 1: crumpled heap within the center of the pimalia bush beside
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  Speaker 1: the air sight bench. Her champion turned toward the girl,
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  Speaker 1: Kowor Thuvia of Ptarth. He cried, it seems that fate
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  Speaker 1: timed my visit well. Kowor Cathoris of Helium. The princess
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  Speaker 1: returned the young man's greeting, and what less could one
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  Speaker 1: expect of the son of such a sire. He bowed
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  Speaker 1: his acknowledgment of the compliment to his father, John Carter,
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  Speaker 1: war Lord of Mars, and then the guardsmen, panting from
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  Speaker 1: their charge, came up, just as the Prince of Dusar,
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  Speaker 1: bleeding at the mouth and with sword drawn, crawled from
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  Speaker 1: the entanglement of the Pamalia. Astoc would have leaped to
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  Speaker 1: mortal combat with the son of dejah Thoris, but the
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  Speaker 1: guardsmen pressed about him, preventing, though it was clearly evident
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  Speaker 1: that Naught would have better pleased Cathoris of Helium. But
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  Speaker 1: say the word, Thuvia of Ptarth, he begged, and Naught
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  Speaker 1: will give me greater pleasure than metting to this fellow
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  Speaker 1: the punishment he has earned. It cannot be Cathoris, she replied,
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  Speaker 1: even though he has forfeited all claim upon my consideration.
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  Speaker 1: Yet is he the guest of the Jeddak, my father,
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  Speaker 1: And to him alone may he account for the unpardonable
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  Speaker 1: act he has committed. As you say, Thuvia, replied the Heliumite.
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  Speaker 1: But afterward he shall account to Carthoris, Prince of Helium,
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  Speaker 1: for this affront to the daughter of my father's friend.
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  Speaker 1: As he spoke, though there burned in his eyes a
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  Speaker 1: fire that proclaimed a nearer, dearer cause for his championship
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  Speaker 1: of this glorious daughter of Barsoom. The maid's cheek darkened
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  Speaker 1: beneath the satin of her transparent skin, and the eyes
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  Speaker 1: of Astok, Prince of Dusar, darkened too, as he read
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  Speaker 1: that which passed unspoken between the two in the royal
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  Speaker 1: gardens of the Jeddak, And thou to me, he snapped
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  Speaker 1: at Cathoris, answering the young man's challenge. The guard still
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  Speaker 1: surrounded Astok. It was a difficult position for the young
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  Speaker 1: officer who commanded it. His prisoner was the son of
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  Speaker 1: a mighty Jeddak. He was the guest of Thu bon
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  Speaker 1: Din until but now an honored guest upon whom every
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  Speaker 1: royal dignity had been showered to arrest him, forcibly could
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  Speaker 1: mean nought else than war. And yet he had done
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  Speaker 1: that which, in the eyes of the Ptarth warrior, merited death.
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  Speaker 1: The young man hesitated. He looked toward his princess. She too,
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  Speaker 1: guessed all that hung upon the action of the coming moment.
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  Speaker 1: For many years Dusar and Ptarth had been at peace
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  Speaker 1: with each other. Their great merchant ships plied back and
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  Speaker 1: forth between the larger cities of the two nations. Even now,
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  Speaker 1: far above the gold shot scarlet dome of the Jeddak's Palace,
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  Speaker 1: she could see the huge bulk of a giant freighter
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  Speaker 1: taking its majestic way through the thin Barsoomian air toward
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  Speaker 1: the West and Dusar. By a word, she might plunge
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  Speaker 1: these two mighty nations into a bloody conflict that would
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  Speaker 1: drain them of their bravest blood and their incalculable riches,
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  Speaker 1: leaving them all helpless against the inroads of their envious
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  Speaker 1: and less powerful neighbors, and at last a prey to
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  Speaker 1: the savage, green hordes of the dead Sea bottoms. No
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  Speaker 1: sense of fear influenced her decision, for fear is seldom
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  Speaker 1: known to the children of Mars. It was rather a
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  Speaker 1: sense of a responsibility that she, the daughter of their Jeddak,
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  Speaker 1: felt for the welfare of her father's people. I called you, Padoar,
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  Speaker 1: she said to the Lieutenant of the Guard, to protect
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  Speaker 1: the person of your princess and to keep the peace
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  Speaker 1: that must not be violated Within the royal gardens of
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  Speaker 1: the Jeddak. That is all, you will escort me to
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  Speaker 1: the palace, and the Prince of Helium will accompany me.
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  Speaker 1: Without another glance in the direction of Astok, she turned, and,
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  Speaker 1: taking Carthoris's proferred hand, moved slowly toward the massive marble
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  Speaker 1: pile that housed the ruler of Ptarth and his glittering court.
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  Speaker 1: On either side marched file of guardsmen. Thus, Thuvia of
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  Speaker 1: Ptarth found away out of a dilemma, escaping the necessity
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  Speaker 1: of placing her father's royal guest under forcible restraint, and
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  Speaker 1: at the same time separating the two princes, who otherwise
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  Speaker 1: would have been at each other's throat the moment she
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  Speaker 1: and the guard had departed beside the pomalia stood Astok,
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  Speaker 1: his dark eyes narrowed to mere slits of hate beneath
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  Speaker 1: his lowering brows, as he watched the retreating forms of
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  Speaker 1: the woman who had aroused the fiercest passions of his
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  Speaker 1: nature and the man whom he now believed to be
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  Speaker 1: the one who stood between his love and its consummation.
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  Speaker 1: As they disappeared within the structure, Astok shrugged his shoulders
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  Speaker 1: and with a murmured Oath crossed the gardens towards another
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  Speaker 1: wing of the building, where he and his retinue were housed.
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  Speaker 1: That night he took formal leave of Thuvan Din, and
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  Speaker 1: though no mention was made of the happening within the garden,
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  Speaker 1: it was plain to see through the cold mask of
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  Speaker 1: the Jeddak's courtesy that only the customs of royal hospitality
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  Speaker 1: restrained him from voicing the contempt he felt for the
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  Speaker 1: Prince of Dusar Carthoris was not present at the leave taking,
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  Speaker 1: nor was Thuvia. The ceremony was as stiff and formal
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  Speaker 1: as court etiquette could make it. And when the last
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  Speaker 1: of the Dusarians clambered over the rail of the battleship
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  Speaker 1: that had brought them upon this fateful visit to the
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  Speaker 1: court of Ptarth, and the mighty engine of destruction had
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  Speaker 1: risen slowly from the ways of the landing stage, a
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  Speaker 1: note of relief was apparent in the voice of thuvon
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  Speaker 1: Din as he turned to one of his officers with
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  Speaker 1: a word of comment upon a subject foreign to that
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  Speaker 1: which had been uppermost in the minds of all for hours.
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  Speaker 1: But after all, was it so foreign inform Prince Sauvon.
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  Speaker 1: He directed that it is our wish that the fleet
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  Speaker 1: which departed for Cowl this morning be recalled to cruise
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  Speaker 1: to the west of Ptarth. As the worship bearing Astok
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  Speaker 1: back to the court of his father turned toward the west,
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  Speaker 1: Thuvia of Ptarth, sitting upon the same bench where the
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  Speaker 1: Prince of Dusar had affronted her, watched the twinkling lights
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  Speaker 1: of the craft growing smaller in the distance. Beside her,
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  Speaker 1: in the brilliant light of the nearer moon, sat Carthoris.
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  Speaker 1: His eyes were not upon the dim bulk of the battleship,
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  Speaker 1: but on the profile of the girl's upturned face. Thuvia,
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  Speaker 1: he whispered. The girl turned her eyes toward his. His
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  Speaker 1: hand stole out to find hers, but she drew her
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  Speaker 1: own gently away. Thuvia of Ptarth, I love you, cried
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  Speaker 1: the young warrior. Tell me that it does not offend.
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  Speaker 1: She shook her head sadly. The love of Carthoris of Helium,
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  Speaker 1: she said, simply, could be not but an honor to
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  Speaker 1: any woman. But you must not speak, my friend, of
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  Speaker 1: bestowing upon me that which I may not reciprocate. The
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  Speaker 1: young man got slowly to his feet. His eyes were
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  Speaker 1: wide in astonishment. It had never occurred to the Prince
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  Speaker 1: of Helium that Thuvia of Ptarth might love another. But
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  Speaker 1: at Cadabra, he exclaimed, and later here at your father's court,
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  Speaker 1: What did you do, Thuvia of Ptarth, that might have
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  Speaker 1: warned me that you could not return my love? And
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  Speaker 1: what did I do, Carthoris of Helium, She returned, that
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  Speaker 1: might lead you to believe that I did return it.
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  Speaker 1: He paused in thought, and then shook his head. Nothing, Thuvia,
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  Speaker 1: that is true. Yet I could have sworn you loved me.
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  Speaker 1: Indeed you well knew how near a worship has been
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  Speaker 1: my love for you. And how might I know it? Carthoris?
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  Speaker 1: She asked innocently, did you ever tell me as much?
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  Speaker 1: Ever before? Have words of love for me fallen from
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  Speaker 1: your lips? But you must have known it, he exclaimed.
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  Speaker 1: I am, like my father, witless in matters of the heart,
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  Speaker 1: and of a poor way with women. Yet the jewels
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  Speaker 1: that strewn these royal garden paths, the trees, the flowers,
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  Speaker 1: the sward, all must have read the love that has
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  Speaker 1: filled my heart since first my eyes were made new
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  Speaker 1: by imaging your perfect face and form, So how could
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  Speaker 1: you alone have been blind to it? Do the maids
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  Speaker 1: of Helium pay court to their men? Asked Theuvia, you
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  Speaker 1: are playing with me, exclaimed Carthoris, say that you are
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  Speaker 1: but playing, and that, after all you love me Theuvia,
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  Speaker 1: I cannot tell you that, Carthoris, for I am promised
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  Speaker 1: to another. Her tone was level, but was there not
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  Speaker 1: within it the hint of an infinite depth of sadness?
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  Speaker 1: Who may say, promised to another? Carthoris scarcely breathed the words.
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  Speaker 1: His face went almost white, and then his head came
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  Speaker 1: up as befitted him, in whose veins flowed the blood
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  Speaker 1: of the overlord of a world. Carthoris of Helium wishes
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  Speaker 1: you every happiness with the man of your choice, he
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  Speaker 1: said with and then he hesitated, waiting for her to
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  Speaker 1: fill in the name. Kulan tith Jeddak of Caoul. She replied,
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  Speaker 1: my father's friend and Ptarth's most puissant. Ally, the young
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  Speaker 1: man looked at her intently for a moment before he
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  Speaker 1: spoke again, you love him, Thuvia of Ptarth, He asked,
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  Speaker 1: I am promised to him? She replied simply. He did
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  Speaker 1: not press her. He is of Barsoom's noblest blood and
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  Speaker 1: mightiest fighters, mused, Carthoris, my father's friend and mine would
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  Speaker 1: that it might have been another. He muttered, almost savagely.
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  Speaker 1: What the girl think thought was hidden by the mask
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  Speaker 1: of her expression, which was tinged only by a little
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  Speaker 1: shadow of sadness, that might have been for Carthoris or self,
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  Speaker 1: or for them both. Carthoris of Helium did not ask,
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  Speaker 1: though he noted it, for his loyalty to Culan Tiff
• 15:17
  Speaker 1: was the loyalty of the blood of John Carter of Virginia,
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  Speaker 1: for a friend greater than which could be no loyalty.
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  Speaker 1: He raised a jewel incrusted bit of the girl's magnificent
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  Speaker 1: trappings to his lips. To the honor and happiness of
• 15:32
  Speaker 1: Culan Tith and the priceless jewel that has bestowed upon him,
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  Speaker 1: he said, and though his voice was husky, there was
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  Speaker 1: the true ring of sincerity in it. I told you
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  Speaker 1: that I loved you Thuvia, before I knew that you
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  Speaker 1: were promised to another. I may not tell you it again,
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  Speaker 1: but I am glad that you know it, for there
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  Speaker 1: is no dishonor in it, either to you or to
• 15:54
  Speaker 1: Culan Tith, or to myself. My love is such that
• 15:58
  Speaker 1: it may embrace as well Kulan Tith, if you love him.
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  Speaker 1: There was almost a question in the statement I am
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  Speaker 1: promised to him, she replied. Carthoris backed slowly away. He
• 16:15
  Speaker 1: laid one hand upon his heart, the other upon the
• 16:18
  Speaker 1: pommel of his long sword. These are yours always, he said.
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  Speaker 1: A moment later he had entered the palace and was
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  Speaker 1: gone from the girl's sight. Had he returned at once,
• 16:31
  Speaker 1: he would have found her prone upon the ersite bench,
• 16:34
  Speaker 1: her face buried in her arms. Was she weeping? There
• 16:40
  Speaker 1: was none to see. Carthoris of Helium had come all
• 16:46
  Speaker 1: unannounced to the court of his father's friend that day.
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  Speaker 1: He had come alone in a small flier, sure of
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  Speaker 1: the same welcome that always awaited him at Ptarth. As
• 16:56
  Speaker 1: there had been no formality in his coming, there is
• 16:59
  Speaker 1: no need of forey in his going to thuvon Din.
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  Speaker 1: He explained that he had been but testing an invention
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  Speaker 1: of his own with which his flier was equipped, a
• 17:10
  Speaker 1: clever improvement of the ordinary Martian air compass, which, when
• 17:14
  Speaker 1: set for a certain destination, will remain constantly fixed thereon,
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  Speaker 1: making it only necessary to keep a vessel's prow always
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  Speaker 1: in the direction of the compass needle to reach any
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  Speaker 1: given point upon Barsoom by the shortest route. Carthoris's improvement
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  Speaker 1: upon this consisted of an auxiliary device which steered the
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  Speaker 1: craft mechanically in the direction of the compass, and upon
• 17:38
  Speaker 1: arrival directly over the point for which the compass was set,
• 17:41
  Speaker 1: brought the craft to a standstill and lowered it automatically
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  Speaker 1: to the ground. You readily discern the advantage of this invention,
• 17:51
  Speaker 1: he was saying to thuvon Din, who had accompanied him
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  Speaker 1: to the landing stage upon the palace roof, to inspect
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  Speaker 1: the compass and bid his young friend farewell. A dozen
• 18:01
  Speaker 1: officers of the court, with several body servants or grouped
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  Speaker 1: behind the jeddak and his guest eager listeners to the conversation,
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  Speaker 1: So eager on the part of one of the servants
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  Speaker 1: that he was twice rebuked by a noble for his
• 18:14
  Speaker 1: forwardness in pushing himself ahead of his betters to view
• 18:17
  Speaker 1: the intricate mechanism of the wonderful controlling destination compass as
• 18:22
  Speaker 1: the thing was called. For example, continued Carthoris, I have
• 18:27
  Speaker 1: an all night trip before me. As to night I
• 18:30
  Speaker 1: set the pointer here upon the right hand dial, which
• 18:33
  Speaker 1: represents the eastern hemisphere of Barsoom, so that the point
• 18:36
  Speaker 1: rests upon the exact latitude and longitude of Helium. Then
• 18:40
  Speaker 1: I start the engine, roll up in my sleeping silks
• 18:43
  Speaker 1: and furs, and with lights burning, race through the air
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  Speaker 1: toward Helium, confident that at the appointed hour I shall
• 18:50
  Speaker 1: drop gently toward the landing stage upon my own palace,
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  Speaker 1: whether I am still asleep or no, provided suggested thuvon Din,
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  Speaker 1: you do not chance to collide with some other night
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  Speaker 1: wanderer in the meanwhile, Carthoris smiled, No danger of that,
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  Speaker 1: he replied, see here, and he indicated a device at
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  Speaker 1: the right of the destination compass. This is my obstruction evader,
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  Speaker 1: as I call it. This visible device is the switch
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  Speaker 1: which throws the mechanism on or off. The instrument itself
• 19:24
  Speaker 1: is below deck, geared both to the steering apparatus and
• 19:27
  Speaker 1: the control levers. It is quite simple, being nothing more
• 19:32
  Speaker 1: than a radium generator, diffusing radioactivity in all directions to
• 19:36
  Speaker 1: a distance of a hundred yards or so from the flier.
• 19:39
  Speaker 1: Should this enveloping force be interrupted in any direction, a
• 19:42
  Speaker 1: delicate instrument immediately apprehends the irregularity at the same time
• 19:47
  Speaker 1: imparting an impulse to a magnetic device, which in turn
• 19:50
  Speaker 1: actuates a steering mechanism, diverting the bow of the flier
• 19:54
  Speaker 1: away from the obstacle until the craft's radioactivity sphere is
• 19:57
  Speaker 1: no longer in contact with the obstruction. Then she falls
• 20:01
  Speaker 1: once more to her normal course. Should the disturbance approach
• 20:05
  Speaker 1: from the rear, as in the case of a faster
• 20:07
  Speaker 1: moving craft overhauling me, the mechanism actuates the speed control
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  Speaker 1: as well as the steering gear, and the flier shoots
• 20:14
  Speaker 1: ahead and either up or down as the oncoming vessel
• 20:17
  Speaker 1: is upon a lower or higher plane than myself. In
• 20:21
  Speaker 1: aggravated cases, that is, when the obstructions are many or
• 20:25
  Speaker 1: of such a nature as to deflect the bow more
• 20:27
  Speaker 1: than forty five degrees in any direction, or when the
• 20:30
  Speaker 1: craft has reached its destination and drop to within a
• 20:33
  Speaker 1: hundred yards of the ground, the mechanism brings her to
• 20:36
  Speaker 1: a full stop, at the same time sounding a loud
• 20:39
  Speaker 1: alarm which will instantly awaken the pilot. You see, I
• 20:42
  Speaker 1: have anticipated almost every contingency. Fu bon Din smiled his
• 20:48
  Speaker 1: appreciation of the marvelous device the forward servant pushed almost
• 20:52
  Speaker 1: to the flier's side. His eyes were narrowed to slits,
• 20:57
  Speaker 1: all but one, he said. The nobles looked at him
• 21:01
  Speaker 1: in astonishment, and one of them grasped the fellow none
• 21:05
  Speaker 1: too gently by the shoulder to push him back to
• 21:07
  Speaker 1: his proper place. Carthoris raised his hand. Wait, he urged,
• 21:12
  Speaker 1: let us hear what the man has to say. No
• 21:15
  Speaker 1: creation of mortal mind is perfect. Perchance he has detected
• 21:19
  Speaker 1: a weakness that it will be well to know at once. Come,
• 21:22
  Speaker 1: my good fellow, and what may be the one contingency
• 21:25
  Speaker 1: I have overlooked? As he spoke, Carthoris observed the servant closely.
• 21:31
  Speaker 1: For the first time. He saw a man of giant
• 21:34
  Speaker 1: stature and handsome, as are all those of the race
• 21:37
  Speaker 1: of Martian red men. But the fellow's lips were thin
• 21:41
  Speaker 1: and cruel, and across one cheek was the faint white
• 21:44
  Speaker 1: line of a sword cut from the right temple to
• 21:47
  Speaker 1: the corner of the mouth. Come, urged the Prince of
• 21:51
  Speaker 1: Helium speak. The man hesitated. It was evident that he
• 21:56
  Speaker 1: regretted the temerity that had made him the center of
• 21:59
  Speaker 1: interested observation. But at the last, seeing no alternative, he spoke.
• 22:05
  Speaker 1: It may be tampered with, he said, by an enemy.
• 22:11
  Speaker 1: Carthoris drew a small key from his leathern pocket pouch.
• 22:15
  Speaker 1: Look at this, he said, handing it to the man.
• 22:18
  Speaker 1: If you know aught of locks, you will know that
• 22:21
  Speaker 1: the mechanism which this unlooses is beyond the cunning of
• 22:25
  Speaker 1: a picker of locks. It guards the vitals of the
• 22:28
  Speaker 1: instrument from crafty tampering. Without it, an enemy must half
• 22:33
  Speaker 1: wreck the device to reach its heart, leaving his handiwork
• 22:36
  Speaker 1: apparent to the most casual observer. The servant took the key,
• 22:42
  Speaker 1: glanced at it shrewdly, and then as he made to
• 22:45
  Speaker 1: return it to Carthoris dropped it upon the marble flagging.
• 22:49
  Speaker 1: Turning to look for it, he planted the sole of
• 22:51
  Speaker 1: his sandal full upon the glittering object. For an instant
• 22:55
  Speaker 1: he bore all his weight upon the foot that covered
• 22:58
  Speaker 1: the key. Then he stepped back, and, with an exclamation
• 23:01
  Speaker 1: as of pleasure that he had found it, stooped, recovered
• 23:05
  Speaker 1: it and returned it to the heliumite. Then he dropped
• 23:09
  Speaker 1: back to his station behind the nobles, and was forgotten.
• 23:14
  Speaker 1: A moment later, Carthoris made his adieu to thuvon Din
• 23:18
  Speaker 1: and his nobles, and with lights twinkling, had risen to
• 23:21
  Speaker 1: the star shot void of the Martian night. End of
• 23:27
  Speaker 1: chapter one, Chapter two Slavery. As the ruler of Ptarth,
• 23:35
  Speaker 1: followed by his courtiers, descended from the landing stage above
• 23:38
  Speaker 1: the palace, the servants dropped into their places in the
• 23:42
  Speaker 1: rear of their royal or noble masters, and behind the others.
• 23:46
  Speaker 1: One lingered to the last, then, quickly stooping, he snatched
• 23:51
  Speaker 1: the sandal from his right foot, slipping it into his
• 23:54
  Speaker 1: pocket pouch. When the party had come to the lower
• 23:58
  Speaker 1: levels and the Jeddak had them by a sign, none
• 24:02
  Speaker 1: noticed that the forward fellow, who had drawn so much
• 24:04
  Speaker 1: attention to himself before the Prince of Helium departed, was
• 24:08
  Speaker 1: no longer among the other servants to whose retinue he
• 24:13
  Speaker 1: had been attached. None had thought to inquire, For the
• 24:16
  Speaker 1: followers of a Martian noble are many, coming and going
• 24:19
  Speaker 1: at the whim of their master, so that a new
• 24:22
  Speaker 1: faces scarcely ever questioned, as the fact that the man
• 24:26
  Speaker 1: has passed within the palace walls is considered proof positive
• 24:29
  Speaker 1: that his loyalty to the Jeddak is beyond question. So
• 24:33
  Speaker 1: rigid is the examination of each who seeks service with
• 24:36
  Speaker 1: the nobles of the court, a good rule that and
• 24:41
  Speaker 1: only relaxed by courtesy in favor of the retinue of
• 24:45
  Speaker 1: visiting royalty from a friendly foreign power. It was late
• 24:51
  Speaker 1: in the morning of the next day that a giant
• 24:53
  Speaker 1: serving man, in the harness of the house of a
• 24:55
  Speaker 1: great ptarth noble, passed out into the city from the
• 24:58
  Speaker 1: palace gates. Along one broad avenue and then another. He
• 25:03
  Speaker 1: strode briskly until he had passed beyond the district of
• 25:07
  Speaker 1: nobles and had come to the place of shops. Here
• 25:11
  Speaker 1: he sought a pretentious building that rose spirelike toward the heavens,
• 25:16
  Speaker 1: its outer walls elaborately wrought with delicate carvings and intricate mosaics.
• 25:23
  Speaker 1: It was the Palace of Peace, in which were housed
• 25:26
  Speaker 1: the representatives of the foreign powers, or rather in which
• 25:30
  Speaker 1: were located their embassies. For the ministers themselves dwelt in
• 25:34
  Speaker 1: gorgeous palaces within the district occupied by the nobles. Here
• 25:39
  Speaker 1: the man sought the embassy of Dusar. A clerk arose
• 25:43
  Speaker 1: questioningly as he entered, and that his request to have
• 25:47
  Speaker 1: a word with the minister asked his credentials. The visitor
• 25:51
  Speaker 1: slipped a plain metal armlet from above his elbow, and,
• 25:54
  Speaker 1: pointing to an inscription upon its inner surface, whispered a
• 25:57
  Speaker 1: word or two to the clerk. The latter's eyes went wide,
• 26:03
  Speaker 1: and his attitude turned at once to one of deference.
• 26:06
  Speaker 1: He bowed the stranger to a seat and hastened to
• 26:09
  Speaker 1: an inner room with the armlet in his hand. A
• 26:12
  Speaker 1: moment later he reappeared and conducted the collar into the
• 26:15
  Speaker 1: presence of the minister. For a long time the two
• 26:19
  Speaker 1: were closeted together, and when at last the giant serving
• 26:23
  Speaker 1: man emerged from the inner office, his expression was cast
• 26:27
  Speaker 1: in a smile of sinister satisfaction. From the Palace of Peace,
• 26:31
  Speaker 1: he hurried directly to the palace of the Dusarian Minister.
• 26:36
  Speaker 1: That night, two swift fliers left the same palace top
• 26:41
  Speaker 1: One sped its rapid course toward Helium. The other, Thuvia
• 26:48
  Speaker 1: of Ptarth, strolled in the gardens of her father's palace,
• 26:51
  Speaker 1: as was her nightly custom before retiring. Her silks and
• 26:55
  Speaker 1: furs were drawn about her. For the air of Mars
• 26:58
  Speaker 1: is chill. After the sun has taken his quick plunge
• 27:00
  Speaker 1: beneath the planet's western verge. The girl's thoughts wandered from
• 27:05
  Speaker 1: her impending nuptiwels that would make her Empress of Cowl
• 27:10
  Speaker 1: to the person of the trim young Heliumite who had
• 27:13
  Speaker 1: laid his heart at her feet the preceding day. Whether
• 27:17
  Speaker 1: it was pity or regret that saddened her expression as
• 27:19
  Speaker 1: she gazed toward the southern heavens, where she had watched
• 27:23
  Speaker 1: the lights of his flier disappear the previous night, It
• 27:26
  Speaker 1: would be difficult to say, so, too, is it impossible
• 27:31
  Speaker 1: to conjecture just what her emotions may have been as
• 27:35
  Speaker 1: she discerned the lights of a flier speeding rapidly out
• 27:38
  Speaker 1: of the distance from that very direction, as though impelled
• 27:41
  Speaker 1: toward her garden by the very intensity of the princess's thoughts.
• 27:48
  Speaker 1: She saw its circle lower above the palace until she
• 27:50
  Speaker 1: was positive that it but hovered in preparation for a landing. Presently,
• 27:56
  Speaker 1: the powerful rays of its searchlight shot downward from the bow.
• 28:00
  Speaker 1: They fell upon the landing stage for a brief instant,
• 28:03
  Speaker 1: revealing the figures of the Parthian guards picking into brilliant
• 28:07
  Speaker 1: points of fire. The gems upon their gorgeous harnesses. Then
• 28:12
  Speaker 1: the blazing eyes swept onward across the burnished domes and
• 28:15
  Speaker 1: graceful minarets, down into court and park and garden, to
• 28:20
  Speaker 1: pause at last upon the air sight bench, and the
• 28:23
  Speaker 1: girl standing there beside it, her face upturned full toward
• 28:27
  Speaker 1: the flier. For but an instant, the searchlight halted upon
• 28:32
  Speaker 1: Thuvia of Ptarth. Then it was extinguished, as suddenly as
• 28:35
  Speaker 1: it had come to life. The flier passed on above her,
• 28:39
  Speaker 1: to disappear beyond a grove of lofty skeel trees that
• 28:42
  Speaker 1: grew within the palace grounds. The girl stood for some
• 28:46
  Speaker 1: time as it had left her, except that her head
• 28:50
  Speaker 1: was bent and her eyes downcast in thought. Who but
• 28:54
  Speaker 1: Carthoris could it have been? She tried to feel anger
• 28:58
  Speaker 1: that he should have returned thus spying upon her, But
• 29:02
  Speaker 1: she found it difficult to be angry with the young
• 29:04
  Speaker 1: Prince of Helium. What mad Caprice could have indulged him
• 29:08
  Speaker 1: to so transgress the etiquette of nations? For lesser things
• 29:13
  Speaker 1: great powers had gone to war. The princess in her
• 29:17
  Speaker 1: was shocked and angered. But what of the girl and
• 29:22
  Speaker 1: the guard? What of them? Evidently they too had been
• 29:26
  Speaker 1: so much surprised by the unprecedented action of the stranger.
• 29:30
  Speaker 1: That they had not even challenged, but that they had
• 29:33
  Speaker 1: no thought to let the thing go unnoticed was quickly
• 29:35
  Speaker 1: evidenced by the scurring of motors upon the landing stage
• 29:38
  Speaker 1: and the quick shooting airward of a long lined patrol boat.
• 29:43
  Speaker 1: Thuvio watched it dart swiftly eastward, So too did other
• 29:47
  Speaker 1: eyes watch. Within the dense shadows of the skeel grove
• 29:54
  Speaker 1: in a wide avenue beneath overspreading foliage, a flier hung
• 29:58
  Speaker 1: a dozen feet above the gir from its deck. Keen
• 30:02
  Speaker 1: eyes watched the far fanning searchlight of the patrol boat.
• 30:07
  Speaker 1: No light shone from the enshadowed craft upon its deck
• 30:11
  Speaker 1: was the silence of the tomb. Its crew of a
• 30:14
  Speaker 1: half dozen red warriors watched the lights of the patrol
• 30:16
  Speaker 1: boat diminishing in the distance. The intellects of our ancestors
• 30:21
  Speaker 1: are with us tonight, said one in a low tone.
• 30:26
  Speaker 1: No plan ever carried better, returned another. They did precisely
• 30:30
  Speaker 1: as the Prince foretold. He who had first spoken turned
• 30:35
  Speaker 1: toward the man who squatted before the control board. Now
• 30:39
  Speaker 1: he whispered. There was no other order given. Every man
• 30:44
  Speaker 1: upon the craft had evidently been well schooled in each
• 30:47
  Speaker 1: detail of that night's work. Silently, the dark hull crept
• 30:52
  Speaker 1: beneath the cathedral arches of the dark and silent grove.
• 30:58
  Speaker 1: Thuvia of Ptarth gave toward the east, saw the blacker
• 31:02
  Speaker 1: blot against the darkness of the trees. As the craft
• 31:05
  Speaker 1: topped the buttress garden wall, she saw the dim bulk
• 31:09
  Speaker 1: inclined gently downward toward the scarlet sward of the garden.
• 31:14
  Speaker 1: She knew that men came not thus with honorable intent,
• 31:18
  Speaker 1: Yet she did not cry aloud to alarm the nearby guardsmen,
• 31:22
  Speaker 1: nor did she flee to the safety of the palace.
• 31:25
  Speaker 1: Why I can see her shrug her shapely shoulders in
• 31:29
  Speaker 1: reply as she voices the age old universal answer of
• 31:33
  Speaker 1: the woman. Because scarce had the flier touched the ground.
• 31:39
  Speaker 1: When four men leaped from its deck, they ran forward
• 31:42
  Speaker 1: toward the girl. Still she made no sign of alarm,
• 31:47
  Speaker 1: standing as though hypnotized, or could it have been, as
• 31:51
  Speaker 1: one who awaited a welcome visitor. Not until they were
• 31:55
  Speaker 1: quite close to her did she move. Then the nearer
• 31:59
  Speaker 1: moon rising above the surrounding foliage, touched their faces, lighting
• 32:04
  Speaker 1: all with the brilliancy of her silver rays. Thuvia of
• 32:08
  Speaker 1: Ptarth saw only strangers, warriors in the harness of Dusar.
• 32:13
  Speaker 1: Now she took fright, but too late. Before she could voice,
• 32:18
  Speaker 1: but a single cry, rough hands seized her. A heavy
• 32:22
  Speaker 1: silken scarf was wound about her head. She was lifted
• 32:25
  Speaker 1: in strong arms and borne to the deck of the flier.
• 32:29
  Speaker 1: There was the sudden whirl of propellers, a rushing of
• 32:32
  Speaker 1: air against her body, and from far beneath, the shouting
• 32:35
  Speaker 1: and challenge from the guard. Racing toward the south, another
• 32:39
  Speaker 1: flier sped toward Helium. In its cabin, a tall red
• 32:43
  Speaker 1: man bent over the soft soul of an upturned sandal.
• 32:47
  Speaker 1: With delicate instruments, he measured the faint imprint of a
• 32:51
  Speaker 1: small object, which appeared there upon a pad. Beside him
• 32:55
  Speaker 1: was the outline of a key, and here he noted
• 32:58
  Speaker 1: the results of his measurements. A smile played upon his
• 33:02
  Speaker 1: lips as he completed his task and turned to one
• 33:05
  Speaker 1: who waited at the opposite side of the table. The
• 33:08
  Speaker 1: man is a genius, he remarked. Only a genius could
• 33:12
  Speaker 1: have evolved such a lock as this is designed to spring. Here,
• 33:16
  Speaker 1: take the sketch larac, and give all thine own genius
• 33:19
  Speaker 1: full and unfettered freedom in reproducing it in metal. The
• 33:24
  Speaker 1: warrior artificer bowed, man builds not. He said that man
• 33:30
  Speaker 1: may not destroy. Then he left the cabin with a sketch.
• 33:36
  Speaker 1: As dawn broke upon the lofty towers which mark the
• 33:39
  Speaker 1: twin cities of Helium, the scarlet tower of one and
• 33:42
  Speaker 1: the yellow tower of its sister, a flier floated lazily
• 33:46
  Speaker 1: out of the north. Upon its bow was emblazoned insignia
• 33:51
  Speaker 1: of a lesser noble of a far city of the
• 33:53
  Speaker 1: Empire of Helium. Its leisurely approach and the evident confidence
• 33:58
  Speaker 1: with which it moved across the city aroused no suspicion
• 34:01
  Speaker 1: in the minds of the sleepy guard there. Round of
• 34:04
  Speaker 1: duty nearly done, they had little thought beyond the coming
• 34:07
  Speaker 1: of those who were to relieve them. Peace reigned throughout Helium, stagnant,
• 34:14
  Speaker 1: emasculating peace. Helium had no enemies. There was naught to fear.
• 34:21
  Speaker 1: Without haste, the nearest air patrol swung sluggishly about and
• 34:25
  Speaker 1: approached the stranger at easy speaking distance. The officer upon
• 34:29
  Speaker 1: her deck hailed the incoming craft. The cheery cow o're
• 34:35
  Speaker 1: and the plausible explanation that the owner had come from
• 34:37
  Speaker 1: distant parts for a few days of pleasure in gay
• 34:40
  Speaker 1: Helium sufficed the air patrol boat sheered off, passing again
• 34:45
  Speaker 1: upon its way. The stranger continued toward a public landing stage,
• 34:50
  Speaker 1: where she dropped into the ways and came to rest.
• 34:55
  Speaker 1: At about the same time a warrior entered her cabin.
• 34:59
  Speaker 1: It is done, vas Kor, he said, handing a small
• 35:03
  Speaker 1: metal key to the tall noble, who had just risen
• 35:05
  Speaker 1: from his sleeping silks and furs. Good, exclaimed the latter.
• 35:11
  Speaker 1: You must have worked upon it all during the night, Larok.
• 35:15
  Speaker 1: The warrior nodded. Now, fetch me the heliumetic metal you
• 35:19
  Speaker 1: wrought some days since, commanded Vaskor. This done, The warrior
• 35:25
  Speaker 1: assisted his master to replace the handsome jeweled metal of
• 35:28
  Speaker 1: his harness with the plainer ornaments of an ordinary fighting
• 35:32
  Speaker 1: man of Helium, and with this insignia of the same
• 35:35
  Speaker 1: house that appeared upon the bow of the flier. Vas
• 35:39
  Speaker 1: Kor breakfasted on board. Then he emerged upon the aerial dock,
• 35:43
  Speaker 1: entered an elevator, and was borne quickly to the street below,
• 35:46
  Speaker 1: where he was soon engulfed by the early morning throng
• 35:49
  Speaker 1: of workers hastening to their daily duties. Among them, his
• 35:54
  Speaker 1: warrior trappings were no more remarkable than as a pair
• 35:56
  Speaker 1: of trousers upon Broadway. All marks and men are warriors,
• 36:01
  Speaker 1: save those physically unable to bear arms. The tradesmen and
• 36:05
  Speaker 1: his clerk clank with their martial trappings as they pursue
• 36:08
  Speaker 1: their vocations. The schoolboy, coming into the world as he does,
• 36:13
  Speaker 1: almost adult from the snowy shell that has encompassed his
• 36:17
  Speaker 1: development for five long years, knows so little of life
• 36:20
  Speaker 1: without a sword at his hip that he would feel
• 36:23
  Speaker 1: the same discomfiture at going abroad unarmed that an earth
• 36:27
  Speaker 1: boy would experience in walking the streets. Nickerbockerless vast Korp's
• 36:33
  Speaker 1: destination lay in Greater Helium, which lies some seventy five
• 36:37
  Speaker 1: miles across the level plain from Lesser Helium. He had
• 36:41
  Speaker 1: landed at the latter city because the air patrol is
• 36:44
  Speaker 1: less suspicious and alert than that above the larger metropolis,
• 36:48
  Speaker 1: where lies the Palace of the Jeddak. As he moved
• 36:52
  Speaker 1: with the throng in the park like canyon of the thoroughfare,
• 36:55
  Speaker 1: the life of an awakening martian city was in evidence
• 36:58
  Speaker 1: about him. Houses raised high upon their slender metal columns
• 37:03
  Speaker 1: for the night, were dropping gently toward the ground. Among
• 37:06
  Speaker 1: the flowers. Upon the scarlet sward which lies about the buildings.
• 37:10
  Speaker 1: Children were already playing, and comely women laughing and chatting
• 37:14
  Speaker 1: with their neighbors as they called gorgeous blossoms for the
• 37:17
  Speaker 1: vases within doors. The pleasant cawor of the Borsoomian greeting
• 37:22
  Speaker 1: fell continually upon the ears of the stranger, as friends
• 37:26
  Speaker 1: and neighbors took up the duties of a new day.
• 37:30
  Speaker 1: The district in which he had landed was residential, a
• 37:33
  Speaker 1: district of merchants of the more prosperous sort. Everywhere were
• 37:37
  Speaker 1: evidences of luxury and wealth. Slaves appeared upon every housetop
• 37:43
  Speaker 1: with gorgeous silks and costly furs, laying them in the
• 37:46
  Speaker 1: sun for erring. Jewel encrusted women lulled even thus early
• 37:51
  Speaker 1: upon the carved balconies before their sleeping apartments. Later in
• 37:55
  Speaker 1: the day they would repair to their roofs. When the
• 37:58
  Speaker 1: slaves had arranged and pitched silken canopies to shade them
• 38:02
  Speaker 1: from the sun, strains of inspiring music broke pleasantly from
• 38:08
  Speaker 1: open windows. For the Martians have solved the problem of
• 38:12
  Speaker 1: attuning the nerves pleasantly to the sudden transition from sleep
• 38:15
  Speaker 1: to waking that proves so difficult a thing for most
• 38:18
  Speaker 1: earth folk. Above him race the long light passenger flyers,
• 38:25
  Speaker 1: plying each in its proper plane between the numerous landing
• 38:29
  Speaker 1: stages for internal passenger traffic, landing stages that tower high
• 38:34
  Speaker 1: into the heavens are for their great international passenger liners.
• 38:38
  Speaker 1: Freighters have other landing stages at various lower levels, to
• 38:42
  Speaker 1: within a couple hundred feet of the ground. Nor dare
• 38:46
  Speaker 1: any flyer rise or drop from one plane to another,
• 38:49
  Speaker 1: except in certain restricted districts where horizontal traffic is forbidden.
• 38:54
  Speaker 1: Along the close cropped sward which paves the avenue ground
• 38:58
  Speaker 1: fliers were moving in continuous lines in opposite directions. For
• 39:02
  Speaker 1: the greater part they skimmed along the surface of the sward,
• 39:05
  Speaker 1: soaring gracefully into the air at times to pass over
• 39:08
  Speaker 1: a slower going driver ahead, or at intersections where the
• 39:12
  Speaker 1: north and south traffic has the right of way and
• 39:14
  Speaker 1: the east and west must rise above it. From private
• 39:18
  Speaker 1: hangars upon many a roof top fliers were darting into
• 39:21
  Speaker 1: the line of traffic. Gay farewells and parting admonitions mingled
• 39:26
  Speaker 1: with the whirring of motors and the subdued noises of
• 39:29
  Speaker 1: the city. Yet with all the swift movement and the
• 39:33
  Speaker 1: countless thousands rushing hither and thither, the predominant suggestion was
• 39:37
  Speaker 1: that of luxurious ease and soft noiselessness. Martians dislike harsh,
• 39:44
  Speaker 1: discordant clamor. The only loud noises they can abide are
• 39:48
  Speaker 1: the martial sounds of war, the clash of arms, the
• 39:52
  Speaker 1: collision of two mighty dreadnoughts of the air. To them,
• 39:56
  Speaker 1: there is no sweeter music than this. At the intersection
• 40:01
  Speaker 1: of two broad avenues, vast corps descended from the street
• 40:04
  Speaker 1: level to one of the great pneumatic stations of the city.
• 40:08
  Speaker 1: Here he paid, before little Wicket the fare to his
• 40:10
  Speaker 1: destination with a couple of the dull oval coins of helium.
• 40:15
  Speaker 1: Beyond the gate keeper, he came to a slowly moving
• 40:19
  Speaker 1: line of what to earthly eyes would have appeared to
• 40:21
  Speaker 1: be conical nosed eight foot projectiles for some giant gun.
• 40:27
  Speaker 1: In slow procession, the things moved in single file along
• 40:30
  Speaker 1: a grooved track a half dozen attendants assisted passengers to
• 40:35
  Speaker 1: enter or directed those carriers to their proper destination. The
• 40:40
  Speaker 1: vast Corps approached one that was empty. Upon its nose
• 40:44
  Speaker 1: was a dial and a pointer. He set the pointer
• 40:47
  Speaker 1: for a certain station and Greater Helium, raised the arched
• 40:50
  Speaker 1: lid of the thing, stepped in and laid down upon
• 40:53
  Speaker 1: the upholstered bottom. An attendant closed the lid, which locked
• 40:59
  Speaker 1: with a little click, and the carrier continued its slow way. Presently,
• 41:04
  Speaker 1: it switched itself automatically to another track to enter a
• 41:08
  Speaker 1: moment later one of the series of dark mouthed tubes.
• 41:14
  Speaker 1: The instant that its entire length was within the black aperture,
• 41:17
  Speaker 1: it sprang forward with the speed of a rifle ball.
• 41:21
  Speaker 1: There was an instant of whizzing, a soft though sudden stop,
• 41:25
  Speaker 1: and slowly the carrier emerged upon another platform. Another attendant
• 41:30
  Speaker 1: raised the lid, and vast Kor stepped out. At the
• 41:32
  Speaker 1: station beneath the center of Greater Helium, seventy five miles
• 41:36
  Speaker 1: from the point at which he had embarked. Here he
• 41:40
  Speaker 1: sought the street level, stepping immediately into a waiting ground flier.
• 41:45
  Speaker 1: He spoke no word to the slaves sitting in the
• 41:47
  Speaker 1: driver's seat. It was evident that he had been expected,
• 41:51
  Speaker 1: and that the fellow had received his instructions before his coming.
• 41:56
  Speaker 1: Scarcely had vast Kor taken his seat when the flier
• 41:59
  Speaker 1: went quickly into the fast moving procession, turning presently from
• 42:02
  Speaker 1: the broad and crowded avenues into a less congested street.
• 42:07
  Speaker 1: Presently it left the thronged district behind to enter a
• 42:10
  Speaker 1: section of small shops, where it stopped before the entrance
• 42:14
  Speaker 1: to one which bore the sign of a dealer in
• 42:16
  Speaker 1: foreign silks. Vaskorps entered the low ceiling room. A man
• 42:21
  Speaker 1: at the far end motioned him toward an inner apartment,
• 42:24
  Speaker 1: giving no further sign of recognition until he had passed
• 42:28
  Speaker 1: in after the caller and closed the door. Then he
• 42:31
  Speaker 1: faced his visitor, saluting deferentially. Most noble, he commenced, but
• 42:38
  Speaker 1: vast Kor silenced him with a gesture no formalities. He said,
• 42:43
  Speaker 1: we must forget that I am aught other than your slave.
• 42:47
  Speaker 1: If all has been as carefully carried out as it
• 42:49
  Speaker 1: has been planned, we have no time to waste. Instead,
• 42:53
  Speaker 1: we should be upon our way to the slave market.
• 42:56
  Speaker 1: Are you ready? The merchant nodded and turning to a
• 43:01
  Speaker 1: great chest, produced the unemblazoned trappings of a slave. These
• 43:06
  Speaker 1: vast corps immediately dawned. Then the two passed from the
• 43:09
  Speaker 1: shop through a rear door, traversed a winding alley to
• 43:13
  Speaker 1: an avenue beyond where they entered a flier which awaited them.
• 43:17
  Speaker 1: Five minutes later, the merchant was leading his slave to
• 43:20
  Speaker 1: the public market, where a great concourse of people filled
• 43:24
  Speaker 1: the great open space, in the center of which stood
• 43:26
  Speaker 1: the slave block. The crowds were enormous to day, for Carthoris,
• 43:33
  Speaker 1: Prince of Helium, was to be the principal bidder. One
• 43:37
  Speaker 1: by one, the masters mounted the rostrum beside the slave block,
• 43:41
  Speaker 1: upon which stood their chattels. Briefly and clearly, each recounted
• 43:45
  Speaker 1: the virtues of his particular offering. When all were done,
• 43:50
  Speaker 1: the Majordomo of the Prince of Helium recalled to the
• 43:53
  Speaker 1: block such as had favorably impressed him, for such he
• 43:58
  Speaker 1: had made a fair offer. There was little haggling as
• 44:02
  Speaker 1: to price, and none at all when vas Kor was
• 44:04
  Speaker 1: placed upon the block. His merchant master accepted the first
• 44:08
  Speaker 1: offer that was made for him, and thus a Dusarian
• 44:11
  Speaker 1: noble entered the house of Carthoris, end of Chapter two,
• 44:23
  Speaker 1: Chapter three Treachery. The day following the coming of vas
• 44:30
  Speaker 1: Kor to the palace of the Prince of Helium, great
• 44:33
  Speaker 1: excitement reigned throughout the Twin Cities, reaching its climax in
• 44:37
  Speaker 1: the palace of Carthoris. Word had come of the abduction
• 44:41
  Speaker 1: of Thuvia of Ptarth from her father's court, and with
• 44:45
  Speaker 1: it the veiled hint that the Prince of Helium might
• 44:48
  Speaker 1: be suspected of considerable knowledge of the act and the
• 44:51
  Speaker 1: whereabouts of the princess. In the council chamber of John Carter,
• 44:56
  Speaker 1: Warlord of Mars, was Tardos Moor's Jeddak of Helium, More's Kajak,
• 45:03
  Speaker 1: his son jed of Lesser Helium, Carthoris, and a score
• 45:08
  Speaker 1: of the great nobles of the Empire. There must be
• 45:12
  Speaker 1: no war between Ptarth and Helium. My son said John Carter,
• 45:16
  Speaker 1: that you are innocent of the charge that has been
• 45:18
  Speaker 1: placed against you by insinuation. We well know, but thuvon
• 45:23
  Speaker 1: Din must know it well too. There is but one
• 45:27
  Speaker 1: who may convince him, and that one be you. You
• 45:31
  Speaker 1: must hasten at once to the court of Ptarth, and
• 45:34
  Speaker 1: by your presence there as well as by your words
• 45:37
  Speaker 1: assure him that his suspicions are groundless. Bear with you
• 45:42
  Speaker 1: the authority of the war Lord of Barsoom and of
• 45:45
  Speaker 1: the Jeddak of Helium, to offer every resource of the
• 45:48
  Speaker 1: allied powers to assist thuvon Din to recover his daughter
• 45:53
  Speaker 1: and punish her abductors, whomsoever they may be. Go. I
• 45:59
  Speaker 1: know that I do not need to urge upon you
• 46:01
  Speaker 1: the necessity for haste. Carthoris left the council chamber and
• 46:06
  Speaker 1: hastened to his palace. Here slaves were busy in a
• 46:11
  Speaker 1: moment setting things to rights for the departure of their master.
• 46:15
  Speaker 1: Several worked about the swift flier that would bear the
• 46:18
  Speaker 1: Prince of Helium rapidly toward Ptarth. At last all was done,
• 46:25
  Speaker 1: but two armed slaves remained on guard. The setting sun
• 46:29
  Speaker 1: hung low above the horizon. In a moment darkness would
• 46:34
  Speaker 1: envelop all. One of the guardsmen, a giant of a
• 46:38
  Speaker 1: fellow across whose right cheek there ran a thin scar
• 46:42
  Speaker 1: from temple to mouth, approached his companion. His gaze was
• 46:46
  Speaker 1: directed beyond and above his comrade. When he had come
• 46:51
  Speaker 1: quite close, he spoke, what strange craft is that he asked.
• 46:57
  Speaker 1: The other turned about quickly to gaze heavenward. Scarce was
• 47:01
  Speaker 1: his back turned toward the giant than the short sword
• 47:04
  Speaker 1: of the latter was plunged beneath his left shoulder, blade
• 47:07
  Speaker 1: straight through his heart. Voiceless, the soldier sank in his tracks,
• 47:13
  Speaker 1: stone dead. Quickly, the murderer dragged the corpse into the
• 47:17
  Speaker 1: black shadows within the hangar. Then he returned to the flier.
• 47:22
  Speaker 1: Drawing a cunningly wrought key from his pocket pouch, he
• 47:26
  Speaker 1: removed the cover of the right hand dial of the
• 47:28
  Speaker 1: controlling destination compass. For a moment, he studied the construction
• 47:33
  Speaker 1: of the mechanism beneath. Then he returned the dial to
• 47:36
  Speaker 1: its place, set the pointer, and removed it again. To
• 47:40
  Speaker 1: note the resultant change in the position of the parts
• 47:43
  Speaker 1: affected by the act. A smile crossed his lips. With
• 47:48
  Speaker 1: a pair of cutters. He snipped off the projection which
• 47:51
  Speaker 1: extended through the dial from the external pointer. Now the
• 47:55
  Speaker 1: latter might be moved to any point upon the dial
• 47:58
  Speaker 1: without effecting the mechanism below. In other words, the eastern
• 48:03
  Speaker 1: hemisphere dial was useless. Now he turned his attention to
• 48:08
  Speaker 1: the western dial. This he set upon a certain point. Afterward,
• 48:13
  Speaker 1: he removed the cover of this dial also, and with
• 48:16
  Speaker 1: keen tool, cut the steel finger from the under side
• 48:19
  Speaker 1: of the pointer. As quickly as possible. He replaced a
• 48:23
  Speaker 1: second dial cover, and resumed his place on guard. To
• 48:27
  Speaker 1: all intents and purposes, the compass was as efficient as before,
• 48:31
  Speaker 1: but as a matter of fact, the moving of the
• 48:34
  Speaker 1: pointers upon the dials resulted now in no corresponding shift
• 48:39
  Speaker 1: of the mechanism beneath, and the device was set immovably
• 48:44
  Speaker 1: upon a destination of the slave's own choosing. Presently came Carthoris,
• 48:49
  Speaker 1: accompanied by but a handful of his gentlemen. He cast
• 48:53
  Speaker 1: but a casual glance upon the single slave who stood guard.
• 48:58
  Speaker 1: The fellow's thin, cruel lip and the sword cut that
• 49:01
  Speaker 1: ran from temple to mouth aroused the suggestion of an
• 49:05
  Speaker 1: unpleasant memory within him. He wondered where saran Tal had
• 49:09
  Speaker 1: found the man. Then the matter faded from his thoughts,
• 49:13
  Speaker 1: and in another moment the Prince of Helium was laughing
• 49:16
  Speaker 1: and chatting with his companions, though below the surface his
• 49:20
  Speaker 1: heart was cold with dread. For what contingencies confronted Thuvia
• 49:24
  Speaker 1: of Ptarth. He could not even guess first to his
• 49:29
  Speaker 1: mind naturally had sprung the thought that Astok of Dusar
• 49:34
  Speaker 1: had stolen the fair Parthian. But almost simultaneously with the
• 49:38
  Speaker 1: report of the abduction had come news of the great
• 49:41
  Speaker 1: feats at Dusar in honor of the return of the
• 49:44
  Speaker 1: Jeddak's son to the court of his father. It could
• 49:48
  Speaker 1: not have been, he thought Carthoris, for on the very
• 49:51
  Speaker 1: night that Thuvia was taken, Astok had been in Dusar.
• 49:55
  Speaker 1: And yet he entered the flier, exchanged being casual remarks
• 50:01
  Speaker 1: with his companions as he unlocked the mechanism of the
• 50:03
  Speaker 1: compass and set the pointer upon the capital city of Ptarth.
• 50:08
  Speaker 1: With a word of farewell, he touched the button which
• 50:11
  Speaker 1: controlled the repulsive rays, and as the flier rose lightly
• 50:15
  Speaker 1: into the air, the engine purred in answer to the
• 50:18
  Speaker 1: touch of his finger upon a second button, the propeller's word.
• 50:22
  Speaker 1: As his hand drew back, the speed lever and Carthoris,
• 50:26
  Speaker 1: Prince of Helium, was off into the gorgeous Martian night,
• 50:30
  Speaker 1: beneath the hurtling moons and the million stars. Scarce had
• 50:35
  Speaker 1: the flier found its speed ere the man, wrapping his
• 50:39
  Speaker 1: sleeping silks and furs about him, stretched at full length
• 50:42
  Speaker 1: upon the narrow deck to sleep. But sleep did not
• 50:47
  Speaker 1: come at once at his bidding. Instead, his thoughts ran
• 50:52
  Speaker 1: riot in his brain, driving sleep away. He recalled the
• 50:56
  Speaker 1: words of Thuvia of Ptarth, words that had half a
• 50:59
  Speaker 1: sh s sured him that she loved him. For when
• 51:02
  Speaker 1: he had asked her if she loved Kulan Tith, she
• 51:05
  Speaker 1: had answered only that she was promised to him. Now
• 51:10
  Speaker 1: he saw that her reply was opened to more than
• 51:12
  Speaker 1: a single construction. It might, of course mean that she
• 51:17
  Speaker 1: did not love Kulan Tith, and so by inference be
• 51:21
  Speaker 1: taken to mean that she loved another. But what assurance
• 51:25
  Speaker 1: was there that the other was Carthoris of Helium. The
• 51:30
  Speaker 1: more he thought upon it, the more positive he became.
• 51:33
  Speaker 1: That not only was there no assurance in her words
• 51:36
  Speaker 1: that she loved him, but none either in any act
• 51:39
  Speaker 1: of hers No, the fact was she did not love him,
• 51:45
  Speaker 1: She loved another. She had not been abducted. She had
• 51:49
  Speaker 1: fled willingly with her lover. With such pleasant thoughts, filling
• 51:55
  Speaker 1: him alternately with despair and rage, Carthoris at last dropped
• 52:00
  Speaker 1: into the sleep of utter mental exhaustion. The breaking of
• 52:05
  Speaker 1: the sudden dawn found him still asleep. His flier was
• 52:10
  Speaker 1: rushing swiftly above a barren ochre plain, the whorled old
• 52:14
  Speaker 1: bottom of a long dead Martian sea. In the distance
• 52:19
  Speaker 1: rose low hills. Toward these the craft was headed. As
• 52:24
  Speaker 1: it approached them, a great promontory might have been seen
• 52:28
  Speaker 1: from its deck, stretching out into what had once been
• 52:31
  Speaker 1: a mighty ocean, and circling back once more to enclose
• 52:35
  Speaker 1: the forgotten harbor of a forgotten city, which still stretched
• 52:39
  Speaker 1: back from its deserted quays, an imposing pile of wondrous
• 52:44
  Speaker 1: architecture of a long dead past. The countless dismal windows,
• 52:51
  Speaker 1: vacant and forlorn, stared sightless from their marble walls, the
• 52:57
  Speaker 1: whole sad city taking on the semblance of scattered mounds
• 53:02
  Speaker 1: of dead men's sun bleached skulls, the casements having the
• 53:06
  Speaker 1: appearance of eyeless sockets, the portals grinning jaws. Closer came
• 53:14
  Speaker 1: the flier, but now its speed was diminishing. Yet this
• 53:18
  Speaker 1: was not ptarth. Above the central plaza, it stopped, slowly,
• 53:25
  Speaker 1: settling marsward within a hundred yards of the ground. It
• 53:29
  Speaker 1: came to rest, floating gently in the light air, and
• 53:33
  Speaker 1: at the same instant, an alarm sounded at the sleeper's ear.
• 53:38
  Speaker 1: Carthoris sprang to his feet. Below him, he looked to
• 53:43
  Speaker 1: see the teeming metropolis of Ptarth beside him. Already there
• 53:47
  Speaker 1: should have been an air patrol. He gazed about in
• 53:51
  Speaker 1: bewildered astonishment. There was indeed a great city, but it
• 53:56
  Speaker 1: was not Ptarth. No multitude surged through its broad avenues.
• 54:02
  Speaker 1: No signs of life broke the dead monotony of its
• 54:05
  Speaker 1: deserted rooftops. No gorgeous silks, no priceless furs lent life
• 54:11
  Speaker 1: and color to the cold marble and the gleaming air sight.
• 54:16
  Speaker 1: No patrol boat lay ready with its familiar challenge. Silent
• 54:21
  Speaker 1: and empty, lay the great city, empty and silent the
• 54:25
  Speaker 1: surrounding air. What had happened? Carthoris examined the dial of
• 54:32
  Speaker 1: his compass. The pointer was set upon Ptarth. Could the
• 54:37
  Speaker 1: creature of his genius have thus betrayed him? He would
• 54:41
  Speaker 1: not believe it. Quickly he unlocked the cover, turning it
• 54:46
  Speaker 1: back upon its hinge. A single glance showed him the truth,
• 54:51
  Speaker 1: or at least a part of it. The steel projection
• 54:54
  Speaker 1: that communicated the movement of the pointer upon the dial
• 54:57
  Speaker 1: to the heart of the mechanism beneath had been set.
• 55:01
  Speaker 1: Who could have done the thing and why? Carthoris could
• 55:07
  Speaker 1: not hazard even a faint guess. But the thing now
• 55:11
  Speaker 1: was to learn in what portion of the world he was,
• 55:14
  Speaker 1: and then take up his interrupted journey once more. If
• 55:18
  Speaker 1: it had been the purpose of some enemy to delay him,
• 55:21
  Speaker 1: he had succeeded well, thought Carthoris, as he unlocked the
• 55:25
  Speaker 1: cover of the second dial, the first having shown that
• 55:27
  Speaker 1: its pointer had not been set at all. Beneath the
• 55:32
  Speaker 1: second dial he found the steel pin severed as in
• 55:35
  Speaker 1: the other, but the controlling mechanism had first been set
• 55:39
  Speaker 1: for a point upon the western hemisphere. He had just
• 55:44
  Speaker 1: time to judge his location roughly at some place southwest
• 55:48
  Speaker 1: of Helium and at a considerable distance from the Twin Cities,
• 55:52
  Speaker 1: when he was startled by a woman's scream beneath him.
• 55:57
  Speaker 1: Leaning over the side of the flier, he saw what
• 56:00
  Speaker 1: appeared to be a red woman being dragged across the
• 56:03
  Speaker 1: plaza by a huge green warrior, one of those fierce,
• 56:07
  Speaker 1: cruel denizens of the dead sea bottoms and deserted cities
• 56:11
  Speaker 1: of dying Mars. Carthoris waited to see no more reaching
• 56:17
  Speaker 1: for the control board, he sent his craft racing plummet
• 56:20
  Speaker 1: like toward the ground. The green man was hurrying his
• 56:24
  Speaker 1: captive toward a huge thoat that browsed upon the ochre
• 56:27
  Speaker 1: vegetation of the once scarlet, gorgeous plaza. At the same instant,
• 56:33
  Speaker 1: a dozen red warriors leaped from the entrance of a
• 56:36
  Speaker 1: nearby air site palace, pursuing the abductor with naked swords
• 56:40
  Speaker 1: and shouts of rageful warning. Once the woman turned her
• 56:45
  Speaker 1: face upward toward the falling flier, and in the single
• 56:49
  Speaker 1: swift glance, Carthoris saw that it was Thuvia of Ptarth
• 56:56
  Speaker 1: end of chapter three, Chapter four, a green Man's captive.
• 57:08
  Speaker 1: When the light of day broke upon the little craft
• 57:11
  Speaker 1: to whose deck the Princess of Ptarth had been snatched
• 57:14
  Speaker 1: from her father's garden, Thuvius saw that the night had
• 57:18
  Speaker 1: wrought a change in her abductors. No longer did their
• 57:22
  Speaker 1: trappings gleam with the metal of Dusar, but instead there
• 57:26
  Speaker 1: was emblazoned there the insignia of the Prince of Helium.
• 57:31
  Speaker 1: The girl felt renewed hope, for she could not believe
• 57:35
  Speaker 1: that in the heart of Carthoris could lie intent to
• 57:38
  Speaker 1: harm her. She spoke to the warrior squatting before the
• 57:42
  Speaker 1: control board. Last night, you wore the trappings of a Dusarian,
• 57:48
  Speaker 1: she said, Now you are metal as that of Helium.
• 57:52
  Speaker 1: What means it? The man looked at her with a grin.
• 57:57
  Speaker 1: The Prince of Helium is no fool, he said. Just
• 58:02
  Speaker 1: then an officer emerged from the tiny cabin. He reprimanded
• 58:06
  Speaker 1: the warrior for conversing with the prisoner, nor would he
• 58:09
  Speaker 1: himself reply to any of her inquiries. No harm was
• 58:14
  Speaker 1: offered her during the journey, and so they came at
• 58:17
  Speaker 1: last to their destination, with the girl no wiser as
• 58:21
  Speaker 1: to her abductors or their purpose than at first. Here
• 58:26
  Speaker 1: the flier settled slowly into the plaza of one of
• 58:29
  Speaker 1: those mute monuments of Marses, dead and forgotten, past the
• 58:34
  Speaker 1: deserted cities that fringe the sad oak her sea bottoms,
• 58:38
  Speaker 1: where once rolled the mighty floods, upon whose bosoms moved
• 58:42
  Speaker 1: the maritime commerce of the peoples that are gone forever.
• 58:49
  Speaker 1: Thuvia of Ptarth was no stranger to such places. During
• 58:53
  Speaker 1: her wanderings in search of the river Iss that time
• 58:57
  Speaker 1: she had set out upon what for countless ages had
• 59:01
  Speaker 1: been the last long pilgrimage of Martians toward the valley
• 59:05
  Speaker 1: door where lies the lost Sea of Korus. She had
• 59:10
  Speaker 1: encountered several of these sad remainders of the greatness and
• 59:14
  Speaker 1: the glory of ancient Barsoom. And again, during her flight
• 59:19
  Speaker 1: from the temples of the Holy Ferns with Tars Tarkas
• 59:22
  Speaker 1: Jeddak of Thark, she had seen them, with their weird
• 59:26
  Speaker 1: and ghostly inmates, the great white apes of Barsoom. She
• 59:32
  Speaker 1: knew too that many of them were now used by
• 59:35
  Speaker 1: the nomadic tribes of green Men, but that among them
• 59:39
  Speaker 1: all was no city that the red men did not shun,
• 59:43
  Speaker 1: for without exception, they stood amidst vast, waterless tracts, unsuited
• 59:49
  Speaker 1: for the continued sustenance of the dominant race of Martians.
• 59:54
  Speaker 1: Why then, should they bring her to such a place
• 59:58
  Speaker 1: there was but a single an sir. Such was the
• 1:00:01
  Speaker 1: nature of their work, that they must needs seek the
• 1:00:05
  Speaker 1: seclusion that a dead city afforded. The girl trembled at
• 1:00:09
  Speaker 1: thought her plight. For two days, her captors kept her
• 1:00:14
  Speaker 1: within a huge palace that, even in decay, reflected the
• 1:00:18
  Speaker 1: splendor of the age which its youth had known. Just
• 1:00:23
  Speaker 1: before dawn on the third day, she had been roused
• 1:00:26
  Speaker 1: by the voices of two of her abductors. He should
• 1:00:30
  Speaker 1: be here by dawn, one was saying, have her in
• 1:00:34
  Speaker 1: readiness upon the plaza, else he will never land. The
• 1:00:38
  Speaker 1: moment he finds that he is in a strange country,
• 1:00:41
  Speaker 1: he will turn about. Methinks the Prince's plan is weak
• 1:00:45
  Speaker 1: in this one spot. There was no other way, replied
• 1:00:49
  Speaker 1: the other. It is wondrous work to get them both
• 1:00:53
  Speaker 1: here at all, and even if we do not succeed
• 1:00:56
  Speaker 1: in luring him to the ground, we shall have accomplished much.
• 1:01:00
  Speaker 1: Just then the speaker caught the eyes of Thuvia upon him,
• 1:01:04
  Speaker 1: revealed by the quick moving patch of light cast by
• 1:01:07
  Speaker 1: Thuria in her mad race through the heavens. With a
• 1:01:11
  Speaker 1: quick sign to the other, he ceased speaking and advancing
• 1:01:16
  Speaker 1: toward the girl, motioned her to eyes. Then he led
• 1:01:20
  Speaker 1: her out into the night, toward the center of a
• 1:01:22
  Speaker 1: great plaza. Stand here, he commanded, until we come for you,
• 1:01:28
  Speaker 1: we shall be watching, and should you attempt to escape,
• 1:01:31
  Speaker 1: it will go ill for you much worse than death.
• 1:01:35
  Speaker 1: Such are the Prince's orders. Then he turned and retraced
• 1:01:40
  Speaker 1: his steps toward the palace, leaving her alone in the
• 1:01:43
  Speaker 1: midst of the unseen terrors of the haunted city. For
• 1:01:47
  Speaker 1: in truth, these places are haunted in the belief of
• 1:01:50
  Speaker 1: many Martians who still cling to an ancient superstition which
• 1:01:54
  Speaker 1: teaches that the spirits of holy Thurns, who die before
• 1:01:57
  Speaker 1: their allotted one thousand years, passed on occasions into the
• 1:02:02
  Speaker 1: bodies of the great white apes to Thuvia. However, the
• 1:02:07
  Speaker 1: real danger of attack by one of these ferocious, manlike
• 1:02:11
  Speaker 1: beasts was quite sufficient. She no longer believed in the
• 1:02:15
  Speaker 1: weird soul transmigration that the thorns had taught her before
• 1:02:19
  Speaker 1: she was rescued from their clutches by John Carter. But
• 1:02:23
  Speaker 1: she well knew the horrid fate that awaited her should
• 1:02:26
  Speaker 1: one of the terrible beasts chance to spy her during
• 1:02:29
  Speaker 1: its nocturnal prowlings. What was that, Surely she could not
• 1:02:35
  Speaker 1: be mistaken. Something had moved stealthily in the shadow of
• 1:02:40
  Speaker 1: one of the great monoliths that lie in the avenue
• 1:02:42
  Speaker 1: where it entered the plaza opposite her. Far ban Jed
• 1:02:50
  Speaker 1: among the hordes of torquas, rode swiftly across the ochre
• 1:02:54
  Speaker 1: vegetation of the dead sea bottom toward the ruins of
• 1:02:57
  Speaker 1: ancient Anthor. He had ridden far that night and fast,
• 1:03:03
  Speaker 1: for he had but come from the despoiling of the
• 1:03:06
  Speaker 1: incubator of a neighboring green horde, with which the hordes
• 1:03:09
  Speaker 1: of Torquass were perpetually warring. His giant thoat was far
• 1:03:14
  Speaker 1: from jaded. Yet it would be well thought thar Ban
• 1:03:18
  Speaker 1: to permit him to graze upon the ochre moss, which
• 1:03:22
  Speaker 1: grows to greater height within the protected court yards of
• 1:03:24
  Speaker 1: deserted cities, where the soil is richer than on the
• 1:03:28
  Speaker 1: sea bottoms, and the plants partly shaded from the sun
• 1:03:31
  Speaker 1: during the cloudless Martian day. Within the tiny stems of
• 1:03:36
  Speaker 1: this dry seeming plant is sufficient moisture for the needs
• 1:03:40
  Speaker 1: of the huge bodies of the mighty thoats, which can
• 1:03:44
  Speaker 1: exist for months without water, and for days without even
• 1:03:48
  Speaker 1: the slight moisture which the ochure moss contains. As thar
• 1:03:53
  Speaker 1: Ban rode noiselessly up the broad avenue which leads from
• 1:03:56
  Speaker 1: the quays of Anthor to the great central plaza, he
• 1:04:00
  Speaker 1: and his mount might have been mistaken for specters from
• 1:04:03
  Speaker 1: a world of dreams so grotesque the man and beast,
• 1:04:08
  Speaker 1: so soundless the great thoat's padded nailss feet upon the
• 1:04:13
  Speaker 1: moss grown flagging of the ancient pavement. The man was
• 1:04:19
  Speaker 1: a splendid specimen of his race, fully fifteen feet towered,
• 1:04:24
  Speaker 1: his great height from soul to pate. The moonlight glistened
• 1:04:28
  Speaker 1: against his glossy green hide, sparkling the jewels of his
• 1:04:32
  Speaker 1: heavy harness and the ornaments that waited his four muscular arms,
• 1:04:37
  Speaker 1: while the upcurving tusks that protruded from his lower jaw
• 1:04:41
  Speaker 1: gleamed white and terrible. At the side of his thoat
• 1:04:46
  Speaker 1: were slung his long radium rifle and his great forty
• 1:04:50
  Speaker 1: foot metal shod spear, while from his own harness defended
• 1:04:55
  Speaker 1: his long sword and his short sword, as well as
• 1:04:58
  Speaker 1: as lesser weapons. His protruding eyes and antennae like ears
• 1:05:03
  Speaker 1: were turning constantly hither and thither, for thar Ban was
• 1:05:08
  Speaker 1: yet in the country of the enemy. And two there
• 1:05:11
  Speaker 1: was always the menace of the great white apes, which
• 1:05:15
  Speaker 1: John Connor was wont to say, are the only creatures
• 1:05:19
  Speaker 1: that can arouse in the breasts of these fierce denizens
• 1:05:22
  Speaker 1: of the dead sea bottoms. Even the remotest semblance of fear.
• 1:05:27
  Speaker 1: As the writer neared the plaza, he reined in. Suddenly,
• 1:05:31
  Speaker 1: his slender, tubular ears pointed rigidly forward. An unwonted sound
• 1:05:37
  Speaker 1: had reached them. Voices, And where there were voices outside
• 1:05:42
  Speaker 1: of Torcas, there too were enemies. All the world of
• 1:05:47
  Speaker 1: wide Barsoom contained naught but enemies for the fierce Torquasians.
• 1:05:53
  Speaker 1: Far Ban dismounted, keeping in the shadows of the great
• 1:05:57
  Speaker 1: monoliths that line the avenue of Quays of Sleeping Anthor,
• 1:06:02
  Speaker 1: he approached the plaza directly behind him as a hound.
• 1:06:07
  Speaker 1: At heel came the slate gray thoat, his white belly
• 1:06:11
  Speaker 1: shadowed by his barrel, his vivid yellow feet merging into
• 1:06:15
  Speaker 1: the yellow of the moss beneath them. In the center
• 1:06:19
  Speaker 1: of the plaza, far Ban saw the figure of a
• 1:06:22
  Speaker 1: red woman. A red warrior was conversing with her. Now,
• 1:06:27
  Speaker 1: the man turned and retraced his steps toward the palace
• 1:06:30
  Speaker 1: at the opposite side of the plaza. Far Ban watched
• 1:06:35
  Speaker 1: until he had disappeared within the yawning portal. Here was
• 1:06:39
  Speaker 1: a captive worth having. Seldom did a female of their
• 1:06:43
  Speaker 1: hereditary enemies fall to the lot of a green man.
• 1:06:47
  Speaker 1: Far Ban licked his thin lips. Thuvia of Ptarth watched
• 1:06:54
  Speaker 1: the shadow behind the monolith at the opening of the
• 1:06:57
  Speaker 1: avenue opposite her. She hoped that it might be but
• 1:07:01
  Speaker 1: the figment of an overwrought imagination. But no. Now, clearly
• 1:07:07
  Speaker 1: and distinctly she saw it move. It came from behind
• 1:07:12
  Speaker 1: the screening shelter of the air sight shaft. The sudden
• 1:07:16
  Speaker 1: light of the rising sun fell upon it. The girl trembled.
• 1:07:21
  Speaker 1: The thing was a huge green warrior. Swiftly it sprang
• 1:07:26
  Speaker 1: toward her. She screamed and tried to flee, but she
• 1:07:30
  Speaker 1: had scarce turned toward the palace when a giant hand
• 1:07:33
  Speaker 1: fell upon her arm. She was whirled about and half dragged,
• 1:07:38
  Speaker 1: half carried toward a huge thoat that was slowly grazing
• 1:07:41
  Speaker 1: out of the avenue's mouth on the ochra moss of
• 1:07:44
  Speaker 1: the plaza. At the same instant, she turned her face
• 1:07:49
  Speaker 1: upward toward the whirring sound of something above her, and
• 1:07:52
  Speaker 1: there she saw a swift flier dropping toward her, the
• 1:07:56
  Speaker 1: head and shoulders of a man leaning far over the side,
• 1:08:00
  Speaker 1: But the man's features were deeply shadowed, so that she
• 1:08:03
  Speaker 1: did not recognize them. Now from behind her came the
• 1:08:08
  Speaker 1: shouts of her red abductors. They were racing madly after him,
• 1:08:11
  Speaker 1: who dared to steal what they had already stolen. As
• 1:08:16
  Speaker 1: thar Band reached the side of his mount, he snatched
• 1:08:19
  Speaker 1: his long radium rifle from its boot, and, wheeling, poured
• 1:08:23
  Speaker 1: three shots into the oncoming Red men. Such is the
• 1:08:27
  Speaker 1: uncanny marksmanship of these Martian savages that three Red warriors
• 1:08:32
  Speaker 1: dropped in their tracks as three projectiles exploded in their vitals.
• 1:08:38
  Speaker 1: The others halted, nor did they dare return the fire
• 1:08:41
  Speaker 1: for fear of wounding the girl. Then thar Band vaulted
• 1:08:46
  Speaker 1: to the back of his thoat, Thuvia of Ptarth still
• 1:08:49
  Speaker 1: in his arms, and with a savage cry of triumph,
• 1:08:53
  Speaker 1: disappeared down the black canyon of the Avenue of Quays,
• 1:08:56
  Speaker 1: between the sullen palaces of Forgotten Anthor Carthoris's flier had
• 1:09:03
  Speaker 1: not touched the ground before he had sprung from its
• 1:09:06
  Speaker 1: deck to race after the swift thoat, whose eight long
• 1:09:09
  Speaker 1: legs were sending it down the avenue at the rate
• 1:09:12
  Speaker 1: of an express train. But the men of Dusar, who
• 1:09:15
  Speaker 1: still remained alive, had no mind to permit so valuable
• 1:09:19
  Speaker 1: a capture to escape them, they had lost the girl.
• 1:09:24
  Speaker 1: That would be a difficult thing to explain to Astok,
• 1:09:27
  Speaker 1: but some leniency might be expected. Could they carry the
• 1:09:31
  Speaker 1: Prince of Helium to their master instead. So the three
• 1:09:35
  Speaker 1: who remained set upon Carthoris with their long swords, crying
• 1:09:39
  Speaker 1: to him to surrender. But they might as successfully have
• 1:09:42
  Speaker 1: cried aloud to Thuria to cease her mad hurdling through
• 1:09:46
  Speaker 1: the Barsoomian sky. For Carthoris of Helium was a true
• 1:09:50
  Speaker 1: son of the warlord of Mars and his incomparable dejah Thoris.
• 1:09:56
  Speaker 1: Carthoris's long sword had been already in his hand as
• 1:09:59
  Speaker 1: he leaped from the deck of the flier, so the
• 1:10:01
  Speaker 1: instant that he realized the menace of the three red warriors,
• 1:10:04
  Speaker 1: he wheeled to face them, meeting their onslaught as only
• 1:10:08
  Speaker 1: John Carter himself might have done, so swift his sword,
• 1:10:14
  Speaker 1: so mighty and agile his half earthly muscles, that one
• 1:10:18
  Speaker 1: of his opponents was down, crimsoning the ochre moss with
• 1:10:21
  Speaker 1: his life blood when he had scarce made a single
• 1:10:24
  Speaker 1: pass at Carthoris. Now the two Romanian Dusarians rushed simultaneously
• 1:10:31
  Speaker 1: upon the Heliumite. Three long swords clashed and sparkled in
• 1:10:35
  Speaker 1: the moonlight, until the great white apes roused from their
• 1:10:38
  Speaker 1: slumber crept through the lowering windows of the dead city
• 1:10:42
  Speaker 1: to view the bloody scene beneath them. Thrice was Carthoris
• 1:10:47
  Speaker 1: touched so that the red blood ran down his face,
• 1:10:51
  Speaker 1: blinding him and dyeing his broad chest. With his free hand,
• 1:10:56
  Speaker 1: he wiped the gore from his eyes, and, with the
• 1:10:58
  Speaker 1: fighting smile of his father, touching his lips, leaped upon
• 1:11:01
  Speaker 1: his antagonists with renewed fury. A single cut of his
• 1:11:06
  Speaker 1: heavy sword severed the head of one of them, and
• 1:11:09
  Speaker 1: then the other. Backing away clear of that point of death,
• 1:11:13
  Speaker 1: turned and fled toward the palace at his back, Carthoris
• 1:11:17
  Speaker 1: made no step to pursue. He had other concern than
• 1:11:21
  Speaker 1: the metting of well deserved punishment to strange men who
• 1:11:24
  Speaker 1: masqueraded in the mettle of his own house, for he
• 1:11:27
  Speaker 1: had seen that these men were tricked out in the
• 1:11:30
  Speaker 1: insignia that marked his personal followers. Turning quickly toward his flier,
• 1:11:36
  Speaker 1: he was soon rising from the plaza in pursuit of
• 1:11:39
  Speaker 1: thar Ban, the red warrior, whom he had put to flight.
• 1:11:44
  Speaker 1: Turned in the entrance to the palace, and, seeing Carthoris's intent,
• 1:11:49
  Speaker 1: snatched a rifle from those he and his fellows had
• 1:11:52
  Speaker 1: left leaning against the wall as they had rushed out
• 1:11:55
  Speaker 1: with drawn swords to prevent the theft of their prisoner.
• 1:12:00
  Speaker 1: A few red men are good shots, for the sword
• 1:12:02
  Speaker 1: is their chosen weapon. So now as the Dusarian drew
• 1:12:06
  Speaker 1: bead upon the rising flier and touched the button upon
• 1:12:09
  Speaker 1: his rifle's stock, it was more to chance than proficiency
• 1:12:13
  Speaker 1: that he owed the partial success of his aim. The
• 1:12:17
  Speaker 1: projectile grazed the flier's side, the opaque coating breaking sufficiently
• 1:12:22
  Speaker 1: to permit daylight to strike in upon the powdered phile.
• 1:12:25
  Speaker 1: Within the bullet's nose, there was a sharp explosion. Carthoris
• 1:12:30
  Speaker 1: felt his craft reel drunkenly beneath him, and the engine stopped.
• 1:12:36
  Speaker 1: The momentum the air boat had gained carried her on
• 1:12:38
  Speaker 1: over the city toward the sea bottom beyond the red
• 1:12:43
  Speaker 1: warrior in the plaza. Fired several more shots, none of
• 1:12:46
  Speaker 1: which scored. Then a lofty minaret shut the drifting quarry
• 1:12:51
  Speaker 1: from his view. In the distance before him, Carthoris could
• 1:12:55
  Speaker 1: see the Green warrior bearing Thuvia of ptarth away upon
• 1:12:58
  Speaker 1: his mighty thoat. The direction of his flight was toward
• 1:13:02
  Speaker 1: the northwest of Anthor, where lay a mountainous country little
• 1:13:06
  Speaker 1: known to red men. The Heliumite now gave his attention
• 1:13:10
  Speaker 1: to his injured craft. A close examination revealed the fact
• 1:13:15
  Speaker 1: that one of the buoyancy tanks had been punctured, but
• 1:13:17
  Speaker 1: the engine itself was uninjured. A splinter from the projectile
• 1:13:22
  Speaker 1: had damaged one of the control levers, beyond the possibility
• 1:13:25
  Speaker 1: of repair outside a machine shop. But after considerable tinkering,
• 1:13:30
  Speaker 1: Carthoris was able to propel his wounded flier at low speed,
• 1:13:34
  Speaker 1: a rate which could not approach the rapid gait of
• 1:13:36
  Speaker 1: the thoat, whose eight long, powerful legs carried it over
• 1:13:40
  Speaker 1: the oocre of vegetation of the dead sea bottom at
• 1:13:43
  Speaker 1: terrific speed. The Prince of Helium chafed and fretted at
• 1:13:48
  Speaker 1: the slowness of his pursuit. Yet was he thankful that
• 1:13:52
  Speaker 1: the damage was no worse, for now he could at
• 1:13:54
  Speaker 1: least move more rapidly than on foot. But even this
• 1:13:58
  Speaker 1: meager satisfaction was soon to be denied him, for presently
• 1:14:02
  Speaker 1: the flier commenced to sag toward the port and by
• 1:14:06
  Speaker 1: the bow. The damage to the buoyancy tank had evidently
• 1:14:10
  Speaker 1: been more grievous than he had at first believed. All
• 1:14:15
  Speaker 1: the balance of that long day, Carthoris crawled erratically through
• 1:14:18
  Speaker 1: the still air, the bow of his flier sinking lower
• 1:14:22
  Speaker 1: and lower, and the list to port becoming more and
• 1:14:26
  Speaker 1: more alarming, until at last, near dark, he was floating
• 1:14:30
  Speaker 1: almost bow down, his harness buckled to a heavy deck
• 1:14:34
  Speaker 1: ring to keep him from being precipitated to the ground below.
• 1:14:39
  Speaker 1: His forward movement was now confined to a slow drifting
• 1:14:42
  Speaker 1: with the gentle breeze that blew out of the southeast,
• 1:14:46
  Speaker 1: and when this died down with the setting of the sun,
• 1:14:49
  Speaker 1: he let the flier sink gently to the mossy carpet beneath.
• 1:14:54
  Speaker 1: Far before him loomed the mountains toward which the green
• 1:14:57
  Speaker 1: Man had been fleeing when last he had seen him,
• 1:15:01
  Speaker 1: And with dogged resolution, the son of John Carter, endowed
• 1:15:05
  Speaker 1: with the indomitable will of his mighty sire, took up
• 1:15:08
  Speaker 1: the pursuit on foot. All that night he forged ahead,
• 1:15:14
  Speaker 1: until with the dawning of a new day, he entered
• 1:15:17
  Speaker 1: the low foothills that guard the approach to the fastness
• 1:15:20
  Speaker 1: of the mountains of torquass, rugged granitic walls towered before him.
• 1:15:27
  Speaker 1: Nowhere could he discern an opening through the formidable barrier.
• 1:15:31
  Speaker 1: Yet somewhere into this inhospitable world of stone, the green
• 1:15:35
  Speaker 1: warrior had borne the woman of the red man's heart's desire.
• 1:15:41
  Speaker 1: Across the yielding moss of the sea bottom. There had
• 1:15:43
  Speaker 1: been no spoor to follow for the soft pads of
• 1:15:47
  Speaker 1: the thoat, but pressed down in his swift passage the
• 1:15:50
  Speaker 1: resilient vegetation, which sprang back up again beneath his fleeting feet,
• 1:15:55
  Speaker 1: leaving no sign. But here in the hills, where a
• 1:15:59
  Speaker 1: loose rock occasionally strewed the way, where black loam and
• 1:16:04
  Speaker 1: wild flowers partially replaced the somber monotony of the waste
• 1:16:08
  Speaker 1: places of the lowlands, Carthoris hoped to find some sign
• 1:16:13
  Speaker 1: that would lead him in the right direction. Yet, search
• 1:16:16
  Speaker 1: as he would, the baffling mystery of the trail seemed
• 1:16:20
  Speaker 1: likely to remain forever unsolved. It was drawing toward the
• 1:16:24
  Speaker 1: day's close once more when the keen eyes of the
• 1:16:27
  Speaker 1: heliumite discerned the tawny yellow of a sleek hide moving
• 1:16:32
  Speaker 1: among the boulders several hundred yards to his left. Crouching
• 1:16:36
  Speaker 1: quickly behind a large rock, Carthoris watched the thing before him.
• 1:16:41
  Speaker 1: It was a huge banth, one of those savage Barsoomian
• 1:16:45
  Speaker 1: lions that roamed the desolate hills of the dying planet.
• 1:16:50
  Speaker 1: The creature's nose was close to the ground. It was
• 1:16:53
  Speaker 1: evident that he was following the spoor of meat by scent.
• 1:16:58
  Speaker 1: As Carthoris watched him, a great hope leaped into the
• 1:17:01
  Speaker 1: man's heart. Here possibly might lie the solution to the
• 1:17:06
  Speaker 1: mystery he had been endeavoring to solve. This hungry carnivore,
• 1:17:11
  Speaker 1: keen always for the flesh of man, might even now
• 1:17:14
  Speaker 1: be trailing the two whom Carthoris sought. Cautiously, the youth
• 1:17:19
  Speaker 1: crept out upon the trail of the man eater along
• 1:17:23
  Speaker 1: the foot of the perpendicular cliff. The creature moved, sniffing
• 1:17:26
  Speaker 1: at the invisible spoor, and now and then emitting the
• 1:17:30
  Speaker 1: low moan of the hunting banth. Carthoris had followed the
• 1:17:34
  Speaker 1: creature for but a few minutes when it disappeared, as
• 1:17:37
  Speaker 1: suddenly and mysteriously, as though dissolved in the thin air.
• 1:17:42
  Speaker 1: The man leaped to his feet, not again was he
• 1:17:45
  Speaker 1: to be cheated as the man had cheated him. He
• 1:17:48
  Speaker 1: sprang forward at a reckless pace to the spot at
• 1:17:51
  Speaker 1: which he had last seen the great skulking brute. Before
• 1:17:56
  Speaker 1: him loomed the sheer cliff, its face unbroken by any
• 1:17:59
  Speaker 1: apple into which the huge banth might have warmed its
• 1:18:02
  Speaker 1: great carcass. Beside him was a small flat boulder, not
• 1:18:07
  Speaker 1: larger than the deck of a ten man flier, nor
• 1:18:10
  Speaker 1: standing to a greater height than twice his own stature.
• 1:18:15
  Speaker 1: Perhaps the banth was in hiding behind this, the brute
• 1:18:19
  Speaker 1: might have discovered the man upon his trail, and even
• 1:18:21
  Speaker 1: now be lying in wait for his easy prey. Cautiously
• 1:18:26
  Speaker 1: with drawn long sword, Carthoris crept around the corner of
• 1:18:31
  Speaker 1: the rock. There was no banth there, but something which
• 1:18:35
  Speaker 1: surprised him infinitely more than with the presence of twenty
• 1:18:38
  Speaker 1: banths before him, yawned the mouth of a dark cave
• 1:18:43
  Speaker 1: leading downward into the ground. Through this the banth must
• 1:18:48
  Speaker 1: have disappeared. Was it his lair? Within its dark and
• 1:18:54
  Speaker 1: forbidding interior, might there not lurk not one but many
• 1:18:58
  Speaker 1: of the fearsome creatures. Carthoris did not know, nor with
• 1:19:04
  Speaker 1: the thought that had been spurring him onward upon the
• 1:19:06
  Speaker 1: trail of the creature uppermost in his mind did he
• 1:19:09
  Speaker 1: much care for into this gloomy cavern, he was sure
• 1:19:13
  Speaker 1: the band had trailed the green Man and his captive,
• 1:19:16
  Speaker 1: and into which he too would follow, content to give
• 1:19:20
  Speaker 1: his life in the service of the woman he loved.
• 1:19:24
  Speaker 1: Not an instant did he hesitate, Nor yet did he
• 1:19:28
  Speaker 1: advance rashly, but with ready sword and cautious steps, for
• 1:19:33
  Speaker 1: the way was dark. He stole on. As he advanced,
• 1:19:39
  Speaker 1: the obscurity became impenetrable darkness. End of chapter four. Chapter five,
• 1:19:53
  Speaker 1: the fair race downward along a smooth, broad floor led
• 1:19:59
  Speaker 1: the strain tunnel. For such Carthoris was now convinced was
• 1:20:03
  Speaker 1: the nature of the shaft he at first had thought
• 1:20:06
  Speaker 1: but a cave. Before him. He could hear the occasional
• 1:20:10
  Speaker 1: low moans of the banth, and presently, from behind came
• 1:20:14
  Speaker 1: a similar uncanny note. Another banth had entered a passageway
• 1:20:19
  Speaker 1: on his trail. His position was anything but pleasant. His
• 1:20:25
  Speaker 1: eyes could not penetrate the darkness, even to the distinguishing
• 1:20:28
  Speaker 1: of his hand before his face, while the banths he knew,
• 1:20:32
  Speaker 1: could see quite well, though absence of light were utter.
• 1:20:38
  Speaker 1: No other sounds came to his ears than the dismal,
• 1:20:41
  Speaker 1: bloodthirsty moanings of the beast ahead and the beast behind.
• 1:20:46
  Speaker 1: The tunnel had led straight from where he had entered it,
• 1:20:49
  Speaker 1: beneath the side of the rock furthest from the unscalable
• 1:20:52
  Speaker 1: cliffs toward the mighty barrier that had baffled him so long.
• 1:20:57
  Speaker 1: Now it was running almost level, and presently he noted
• 1:21:01
  Speaker 1: a gradual ascent. The beast behind him was gaining upon him,
• 1:21:06
  Speaker 1: crowding him perilously close upon the heels of the beast
• 1:21:09
  Speaker 1: in front. Presently he should have to do battle with
• 1:21:13
  Speaker 1: one or both. More firmly he gripped his weapon. Now
• 1:21:18
  Speaker 1: he could hear the breathing of the banth at his heels.
• 1:21:22
  Speaker 1: Not for much longer could he delay the encounter. Long
• 1:21:26
  Speaker 1: since he had become assured that the tunnel led beneath
• 1:21:29
  Speaker 1: the cliffs to the opposite side of the barrier, and
• 1:21:32
  Speaker 1: he had hoped that he might reach the moonlit open
• 1:21:35
  Speaker 1: before being compelled to grapple with either of the monsters.
• 1:21:40
  Speaker 1: The sun had been setting as he entered the tunnel,
• 1:21:43
  Speaker 1: and the way had been sufficiently long to assure him
• 1:21:46
  Speaker 1: that darkness now reigned upon the world without He glanced
• 1:21:50
  Speaker 1: behind him. Blazing out of the darkness, seemingly not ten
• 1:21:55
  Speaker 1: paces behind, glared two flaming points of fire. As the
• 1:22:00
  Speaker 1: savage eyes met his, the beast emitted a frightful roar,
• 1:22:04
  Speaker 1: and then he charged to face that savage mountain of
• 1:22:09
  Speaker 1: onrushing ferocity. To stand unshaken before the hideous fangs that
• 1:22:14
  Speaker 1: he knew were barred in slabbering bloodthirstiness, though he could
• 1:22:18
  Speaker 1: not see them, required nerves of steel, But of such
• 1:22:24
  Speaker 1: were the nerves of Carthoris of Helium. He had the
• 1:22:28
  Speaker 1: brute's eyes to guide his point, and as true as
• 1:22:32
  Speaker 1: the sword hand of his mighty sire, he guided the
• 1:22:35
  Speaker 1: keen point to one of those blazing orbs, even as
• 1:22:38
  Speaker 1: he leaped lightly to one side. With a hideous scream
• 1:22:41
  Speaker 1: of pain and rage. The wounded banth hurtled, clawing past him.
• 1:22:47
  Speaker 1: Then it turned to charge once more, but this time
• 1:22:50
  Speaker 1: Carthoris saw but a single gleaming point of fiery hate
• 1:22:54
  Speaker 1: directed upon him. Again, the needle point met its flashing target,
• 1:23:00
  Speaker 1: the horrid cry of the stricken beast reverberated through the
• 1:23:03
  Speaker 1: rocky tunnel shocking in its torture laden shrillness, deafening in
• 1:23:08
  Speaker 1: its terrific volume. But now as it turned to charge again,
• 1:23:15
  Speaker 1: the man had no guide whereby to direct his point.
• 1:23:19
  Speaker 1: He heard the scraping of the padded feet upon the
• 1:23:21
  Speaker 1: rocky floor. He knew the thing was charging down upon
• 1:23:25
  Speaker 1: him once again, but he could see nothing. Yet if
• 1:23:29
  Speaker 1: he could not see his antagonist, neither could his antagonist
• 1:23:33
  Speaker 1: now see him. Leaping as he thought, to the exact
• 1:23:38
  Speaker 1: center of the tunnel, he held his sword point ready
• 1:23:41
  Speaker 1: on a line with the beast's chest. It was all
• 1:23:45
  Speaker 1: that he could do, hoping that chance might send the
• 1:23:48
  Speaker 1: point into the savage heart as he went down beneath
• 1:23:50
  Speaker 1: the great body. So quickly was the thing over that
• 1:23:55
  Speaker 1: Carthoris could scarce believe his senses as the mighty body
• 1:23:59
  Speaker 1: rushed madly pasts. Either he had not placed himself in
• 1:24:02
  Speaker 1: the center of the tunnel, or else the blinded banth
• 1:24:06
  Speaker 1: had aired in its calculation. However, the huge body missed
• 1:24:11
  Speaker 1: him by a foot, and the creature continued on down
• 1:24:14
  Speaker 1: the tunnel, as though in pursuit of the prey that
• 1:24:16
  Speaker 1: had eluded him. Carthoris too followed the same direction, Nor
• 1:24:22
  Speaker 1: was it long before his heart was gladdened by the
• 1:24:24
  Speaker 1: sight of the moonlit exit from the long dark passage.
• 1:24:30
  Speaker 1: Before him lay a deep hollow entirely surrounded by gigantic cliffs.
• 1:24:35
  Speaker 1: The surface of the valley was dotted with enormous trees,
• 1:24:39
  Speaker 1: a strange sight so far away from a Martian waterway.
• 1:24:43
  Speaker 1: The ground itself was clothed in brilliant scarlet sward, picked
• 1:24:47
  Speaker 1: out with innumerable patches of gorgeous wild flowers. Beneath the
• 1:24:53
  Speaker 1: glorious effulgence of the two moons, the scene was one
• 1:24:57
  Speaker 1: of indescribable loveliness, tinged with the weirdness of strange enchantment.
• 1:25:03
  Speaker 1: For only an instant, however, did his gaze rest upon
• 1:25:06
  Speaker 1: the natural beauties outspread before him. Almost immediately they were
• 1:25:10
  Speaker 1: riveted upon the figure of a great banth standing across
• 1:25:14
  Speaker 1: the carcass of a new killed thoat. The huge beast,
• 1:25:18
  Speaker 1: his tawny mane bristling around his hideous head, kept his
• 1:25:22
  Speaker 1: eyes fixed upon another banth that charged erratically hither and
• 1:25:26
  Speaker 1: thither with shrill screams of pain and horrid roars of
• 1:25:31
  Speaker 1: hate and rage. Carthoris quickly guessed that the second brute
• 1:25:37
  Speaker 1: was the one he had blinded during the fight in
• 1:25:39
  Speaker 1: the tunnel. But it was the dead thoat that centered
• 1:25:42
  Speaker 1: his interest more than either of these savage carnivores. The
• 1:25:46
  Speaker 1: harness was still upon the body of the huge Martian mount,
• 1:25:50
  Speaker 1: and Carthoris could not doubt but that this was the
• 1:25:53
  Speaker 1: very animal upon which the Green warrior had borne away
• 1:25:56
  Speaker 1: Thuvia of Ptarth. But where were the rider and his prisoner.
• 1:26:02
  Speaker 1: The Prince of Helium shuddered as he thought upon the
• 1:26:05
  Speaker 1: probability of the fate that had overtaken them. Human flesh
• 1:26:10
  Speaker 1: is the food most craved by the fierce Barsoomian lion,
• 1:26:14
  Speaker 1: whose great carcass and giant fuse require enormous quantities of
• 1:26:19
  Speaker 1: meat to sustain them. Two human bodies would have but
• 1:26:24
  Speaker 1: whetted the creature's appetite, And that he had killed and
• 1:26:27
  Speaker 1: eaten the Green man and the red girl seemed only
• 1:26:29
  Speaker 1: too likely to Carthoris he had left the carcass of
• 1:26:33
  Speaker 1: the mighty thoat to be devoured after having consumed the
• 1:26:36
  Speaker 1: more toothsome portion of his banquet. Now the sightless banth
• 1:26:41
  Speaker 1: in its savage, aimless charging and counter charging, had passed
• 1:26:46
  Speaker 1: beyond the kill of its fellow and there the light
• 1:26:49
  Speaker 1: breeze that was blowing wafted the scent of new blood
• 1:26:52
  Speaker 1: to its nostrils. No longer were its movements erratic. With
• 1:26:58
  Speaker 1: outstretched tail and foaming jaws, it charged straight as an
• 1:27:03
  Speaker 1: arrow for the body of the thoat, and the mighty
• 1:27:06
  Speaker 1: creature of destruction that stood with forepaws upon the slate
• 1:27:09
  Speaker 1: gray side, waiting to defend its meat. When the charging
• 1:27:15
  Speaker 1: band was twenty paces from the dead thoat, the killer
• 1:27:19
  Speaker 1: gave vent to its hideous challenge, and with a mighty spring,
• 1:27:23
  Speaker 1: leaped forward to meet it. The battle that ensued awed
• 1:27:28
  Speaker 1: even the warlike Barsoomian, the mad rending, the hideous and
• 1:27:33
  Speaker 1: deafening roaring, the implacable savagery of the blood stained beasts
• 1:27:39
  Speaker 1: held him in the paralysis of fascination. And when it
• 1:27:42
  Speaker 1: was over, and the two creatures, their heads and shoulders
• 1:27:46
  Speaker 1: torn to ribbons, lay with their dead jaws still buried
• 1:27:50
  Speaker 1: in each other's bodies, Carthoris tore himself from the spell
• 1:27:54
  Speaker 1: only by an effort of the will. Hurrying to the
• 1:27:58
  Speaker 1: side of the dead thoat, he searched for traces of
• 1:28:01
  Speaker 1: the girl he feared had shared the Thoat's fate, but
• 1:28:05
  Speaker 1: nowhere could he discover anything to confirm his fears. With
• 1:28:10
  Speaker 1: slightly lightened heart, he started out to explore the valley,
• 1:28:14
  Speaker 1: But scarce a dozen steps had he taken when the
• 1:28:16
  Speaker 1: glistening of a jeweled babble lying in the sward caught
• 1:28:20
  Speaker 1: his eye. As he picked it up, his first glance
• 1:28:24
  Speaker 1: showed him that it was a woman's hair ornament, and
• 1:28:26
  Speaker 1: emblazoned upon it was the insignia of the Royal House
• 1:28:30
  Speaker 1: of Ptarth. But sinister discovery, blood still wet splotched the
• 1:28:37
  Speaker 1: magnificent jewels of the setting. Carthoris half choked as the
• 1:28:43
  Speaker 1: dire possibilities which the thing suggested presented themselves to his imagination.
• 1:28:48
  Speaker 1: Yet he could not would not believe it. It was
• 1:28:53
  Speaker 1: impossible that that irradiant creature could have met so hideous
• 1:28:57
  Speaker 1: an end. It was incredible that the gloryorous Thuvia should
• 1:29:01
  Speaker 1: ever cease to be upon his already jewel incrusted harness
• 1:29:07
  Speaker 1: to the strap that crossed his great chest, beneath which
• 1:29:11
  Speaker 1: beat his loyal heart, Carthoris, Prince of Helium, fastened the
• 1:29:16
  Speaker 1: gleaming thing that Thuvia of Ptarth had worn, and wearing
• 1:29:20
  Speaker 1: had made wholly to the heliumite. Then he proceeded upon
• 1:29:25
  Speaker 1: his way into the heart of the unknown valley. For
• 1:29:31
  Speaker 1: the most part, the giant trees shut off his view
• 1:29:34
  Speaker 1: to any but the most limited distances. Occasionally he caught
• 1:29:39
  Speaker 1: glimpses of the towering hills that bounded the valley upon
• 1:29:42
  Speaker 1: every side, and though they stood out clear beneath the
• 1:29:45
  Speaker 1: light of the two moons, he knew that they were
• 1:29:48
  Speaker 1: far off, and that the extent of the valley was immense.
• 1:29:52
  Speaker 1: For half the night he continued his search, until presently
• 1:29:56
  Speaker 1: he was brought to a sudden halt by the distant
• 1:29:58
  Speaker 1: sound of squealing thoats. Guided by the noise of these
• 1:30:03
  Speaker 1: habitually angry beasts, he stole forward through the trees until
• 1:30:07
  Speaker 1: at last he came upon a level, treeless plain, in
• 1:30:11
  Speaker 1: the center of which a mighty city reared, its burnished
• 1:30:14
  Speaker 1: domes and vividly colored towers. About the walled city, the
• 1:30:20
  Speaker 1: red man saw a huge encampment of the green warriors
• 1:30:23
  Speaker 1: of the Dead Sea bottoms, and as he let his
• 1:30:26
  Speaker 1: eyes rove carefully over the city, he realized that here
• 1:30:30
  Speaker 1: was no deserted metropolis of a dead past. But what
• 1:30:34
  Speaker 1: city could it be? His studies had taught him that
• 1:30:38
  Speaker 1: in this little explored portion of Barsoom, the fierce tribe
• 1:30:42
  Speaker 1: of Torquaesian green men ruled supreme, and that as yet
• 1:30:47
  Speaker 1: no Red man had succeeded in piercing to the heart
• 1:30:49
  Speaker 1: of their domain to return again to the world of civilization.
• 1:30:55
  Speaker 1: The men of Torcas had perfected huge guns with which
• 1:30:59
  Speaker 1: their uncanny marksmanship had permitted them to repulse the few
• 1:31:04
  Speaker 1: determined efforts that near by Red nations had made to
• 1:31:08
  Speaker 1: explore their country by means of battle fleets of airships.
• 1:31:13
  Speaker 1: That he was within the boundary of Torcas, Carthoris was sure,
• 1:31:18
  Speaker 1: but that there existed there such a wondrous city. He
• 1:31:21
  Speaker 1: had never dreamed, nor had the chronicles of the past
• 1:31:25
  Speaker 1: even hinted at such a possibility. For the Torcasians were
• 1:31:29
  Speaker 1: known to live, as did the other green men of Mars,
• 1:31:33
  Speaker 1: within the deserted cities that dotted the dying planet. Nor
• 1:31:37
  Speaker 1: ever had any green horde built so much as a
• 1:31:40
  Speaker 1: single edifice other than the low walled incubators where their
• 1:31:44
  Speaker 1: young are hatched by the sun's heat. The encircling camp
• 1:31:49
  Speaker 1: of green warriors lay about five hundred yards from the
• 1:31:52
  Speaker 1: city's walls. Between it and the city was no semblance
• 1:31:56
  Speaker 1: of breastwork or other protection against rifle or cannon fire.
• 1:32:00
  Speaker 1: Yet distinctly now, in the light of the rising sun,
• 1:32:03
  Speaker 1: Carthoris could see many figures moving along the summit of
• 1:32:06
  Speaker 1: the high wall and upon the roof tops beyond that
• 1:32:11
  Speaker 1: they were beings like himself, he was sure, though they
• 1:32:14
  Speaker 1: were at too great a distance for him to be
• 1:32:16
  Speaker 1: positive that they were red men. Almost immediately after sunrise,
• 1:32:21
  Speaker 1: the Green warriors commenced firing upon the little figures upon
• 1:32:25
  Speaker 1: the wall. To Carthoris's surprise, the fire was not returned,
• 1:32:31
  Speaker 1: but presently the last of the city's inhabitants had sought
• 1:32:34
  Speaker 1: shelter from the weird marksmanship of the green men, and
• 1:32:37
  Speaker 1: no further sign of life was visible beyond the wall.
• 1:32:42
  Speaker 1: Then Carthoris, keeping within the shelter of the trees that
• 1:32:46
  Speaker 1: fringed the plain, began circling the rear of the besiegers line,
• 1:32:51
  Speaker 1: hoping against hope that somewhere he would obtain sight of
• 1:32:54
  Speaker 1: Thuvia of Ptarth, for even now he could not believe
• 1:32:58
  Speaker 1: that she was dead. That he was not discovered was
• 1:33:02
  Speaker 1: a miracle, for mounted warriors were constantly riding back and
• 1:33:06
  Speaker 1: forth from the camp into the forest. But the long
• 1:33:09
  Speaker 1: day wore on, and still he continued his seemingly fruitless
• 1:33:13
  Speaker 1: quest until near sunset he came opposite a mighty gate
• 1:33:18
  Speaker 1: in the city's western wall. Here seemed to be the
• 1:33:22
  Speaker 1: principal force of the attacking horde. Here a great platform
• 1:33:26
  Speaker 1: had been erected, whereupon Carthoris could see squatting a huge
• 1:33:30
  Speaker 1: green warrior, surrounded by others of his kind. This then,
• 1:33:36
  Speaker 1: must be the notorious hortan Gur Jeddak of Torquas, the
• 1:33:41
  Speaker 1: fierce old Ogre of the southwestern hemisphere. As only for
• 1:33:45
  Speaker 1: a Jeddak are platforms raised in temporary camps or upon
• 1:33:49
  Speaker 1: the march by the green hordes of Barsoom. As the
• 1:33:53
  Speaker 1: Heliumite watched, he saw another green warrior push his way
• 1:33:57
  Speaker 1: toward the rostrum. Beside him, he dragged a captive, and
• 1:34:01
  Speaker 1: as the surrounding warriors parted to let the two pass,
• 1:34:05
  Speaker 1: Carthoris caught a fleeting glimpse of the prisoner. His heart
• 1:34:09
  Speaker 1: leaped in rejoicing. Thuvia of Ptarth still lived. It was
• 1:34:16
  Speaker 1: with difficulty that Carthoris restrained the impulse to rush forward
• 1:34:20
  Speaker 1: to the side of the Parthian princess. But in the
• 1:34:23
  Speaker 1: end his better judgment prevailed, for in the face of
• 1:34:26
  Speaker 1: such odds, he knew that he should have been but
• 1:34:29
  Speaker 1: throwing away uselessly any future opportunity he might have to
• 1:34:33
  Speaker 1: succor her. He saw her dragged to the foot of
• 1:34:37
  Speaker 1: the rostrum. He saw hortan Gur address her. He could
• 1:34:42
  Speaker 1: not hear the creature's words, nor Thuvia's reply, but it
• 1:34:46
  Speaker 1: must have angered the green monster, for Carthoris saw him
• 1:34:49
  Speaker 1: leap toward the prisoner, striking her a cruel blow across
• 1:34:52
  Speaker 1: the face with his metal banded arm. Then, the son
• 1:34:56
  Speaker 1: of John Carter, Jeddak of Jeddak's war lord of Barsoom
• 1:35:00
  Speaker 1: whom went mad, the old blood red haze through which
• 1:35:05
  Speaker 1: his sire had glared at countless foes, floated before his eyes.
• 1:35:11
  Speaker 1: His half earthly muscles, responding quickly to his will, sent
• 1:35:15
  Speaker 1: him in enormous leaps and bounds toward the green monster
• 1:35:18
  Speaker 1: that had struck the woman he loved. The Torquasians were
• 1:35:22
  Speaker 1: not looking in the direction of the forest. All eyes
• 1:35:26
  Speaker 1: had been upon the figure of the girl and their Jeddak,
• 1:35:29
  Speaker 1: And loud was the hideous laughter that rang out in
• 1:35:32
  Speaker 1: appreciation of the wit of the Green Emperor's reply to
• 1:35:35
  Speaker 1: his prisoner's appeal for liberty. Carthoris had covered about half
• 1:35:40
  Speaker 1: the distance between the forest and the Green Warriors when
• 1:35:44
  Speaker 1: a new factor succeeded in still further directing the attention
• 1:35:47
  Speaker 1: of the latter from him. Upon a high tower within
• 1:35:51
  Speaker 1: the beleaguered city, a man appeared from his upturned mouth
• 1:35:56
  Speaker 1: there issued a series of frightful shrieks, un canny shrieks
• 1:36:01
  Speaker 1: that swept shrill and terrifying across the city's walls, over
• 1:36:06
  Speaker 1: the heads of the besiegers, and out across the forest
• 1:36:10
  Speaker 1: to the uttermost confines of the valley. Once, twice thrice
• 1:36:17
  Speaker 1: the fearsome sound smote upon the ears of the listening
• 1:36:20
  Speaker 1: Green men, and then, far far off across the broad woods,
• 1:36:25
  Speaker 1: came sharp and clear from the distance, an answering shriek.
• 1:36:30
  Speaker 1: It was, but the first. From every point rose similar
• 1:36:35
  Speaker 1: savage cries, until the world seemed to tremble to their reverberations.
• 1:36:41
  Speaker 1: The Green warriors looked nervously this way, and that they
• 1:36:45
  Speaker 1: knew not fear as earthmen may know it. But in
• 1:36:49
  Speaker 1: the face of the unusual, their wonted self assurance deserted them,
• 1:36:54
  Speaker 1: and then the great gate in the city wall, opposite
• 1:36:57
  Speaker 1: the platform of hortan Gur, swung so wide from it
• 1:37:02
  Speaker 1: issued as strange a sight as Carthoris ever had witnessed,
• 1:37:06
  Speaker 1: though at the moment he had time to cast but
• 1:37:09
  Speaker 1: a single fleeting glance at the tall bowmen emerging through
• 1:37:12
  Speaker 1: the portal behind their long oval shields, to note their
• 1:37:16
  Speaker 1: flowing auburn hair, and to realize that the growling things
• 1:37:20
  Speaker 1: at their side were fierce Barsoomian lions. Then he was
• 1:37:25
  Speaker 1: in the midst of the astonished Torquasians with drawn long sword.
• 1:37:29
  Speaker 1: He was among them, And to Thuvia of Ptarth, whose
• 1:37:32
  Speaker 1: startled eyes were the first to fall upon him, it
• 1:37:35
  Speaker 1: seemed that she was looking upon John Carter himself. So
• 1:37:39
  Speaker 1: strangely similar to the fighting of the Father was that
• 1:37:42
  Speaker 1: of the son, and to the famous fighting smile of
• 1:37:45
  Speaker 1: the Virginian was the resemblance true and the sword arm ah.
• 1:37:51
  Speaker 1: The subtleness of it, and the speed all about was
• 1:37:55
  Speaker 1: turmoil and confusion. Green warriors were leaping to the backs
• 1:37:59
  Speaker 1: of their restive, squealing thoats. Calots were growling out their
• 1:38:04
  Speaker 1: savage gutturals, whining to be at the throats of the
• 1:38:07
  Speaker 1: oncoming foemen. Thar Ban and another by the side of
• 1:38:11
  Speaker 1: the rostrum had been the first to note the coming
• 1:38:14
  Speaker 1: of Carthoris, and it was with them he battled for
• 1:38:17
  Speaker 1: possession of the red girl, while the others hastened to
• 1:38:20
  Speaker 1: meet the host advancing from the beleaguered city. Carthoris sought
• 1:38:25
  Speaker 1: both to defend Thuvia of Ptarth and reached the side
• 1:38:28
  Speaker 1: of the hideous Horton gur that he might avenge the
• 1:38:31
  Speaker 1: blow the creature had struck the girl. He succeeded in
• 1:38:36
  Speaker 1: reaching the rostrum over the dead bodies of two warriors
• 1:38:39
  Speaker 1: who had turned to join thar Ban and his companion
• 1:38:42
  Speaker 1: in repulsing this adventurous red man. Just as horton Gurr
• 1:38:46
  Speaker 1: was about to leap from it to the back of
• 1:38:48
  Speaker 1: his thoat. The attention of the Green warriors turned principally
• 1:38:53
  Speaker 1: upon the bowmen advancing upon them from the city, and
• 1:38:56
  Speaker 1: upon the savage banths that paced beside them, rule beasts
• 1:39:00
  Speaker 1: of war infinitely more terrible than their own savage calots.
• 1:39:06
  Speaker 1: As Carthoris leaped to the rostrum, he drew Thuvia up
• 1:39:09
  Speaker 1: beside him, and then he turned upon the departing Jeddak
• 1:39:12
  Speaker 1: with an angry challenge and a sword thrust. As the
• 1:39:16
  Speaker 1: Heliumite's point pricked his green hide, horton Gur turned upon
• 1:39:21
  Speaker 1: his adversary with a snarl, but at the same instant
• 1:39:25
  Speaker 1: two of his chieftains called to him to hasten, for
• 1:39:28
  Speaker 1: the charge of the fair skinned inhabitants of the city
• 1:39:31
  Speaker 1: was developing into a more serious matter than the Torcasians
• 1:39:34
  Speaker 1: had anticipated. Instead of remaining to battle with the red man,
• 1:39:39
  Speaker 1: horton Gur promised him his attention. After he had disposed
• 1:39:42
  Speaker 1: of the presumptuous citizens of the walled city, and leaping
• 1:39:46
  Speaker 1: astride his thoat, galloped off to meet the rapidly advancing bowmen.
• 1:39:51
  Speaker 1: The other warriors quickly followed their Jeddak, leaving Thuvia and
• 1:39:55
  Speaker 1: Carthoris alone upon the platform. Between them and the city
• 1:40:00
  Speaker 1: aged a terrific battle. The fair skinned warriors, armed only
• 1:40:04
  Speaker 1: with their long bows and a kind of short handled
• 1:40:07
  Speaker 1: war acts, were almost helpless beneath the savage mounted green
• 1:40:11
  Speaker 1: men at close quarters, but at a distance their sharp
• 1:40:14
  Speaker 1: arrows did fully as much execution as the radium projectiles
• 1:40:18
  Speaker 1: of the green men. But if the warriors themselves were outclassed,
• 1:40:23
  Speaker 1: not so their savage companions, the fierce banths. Scarce had
• 1:40:28
  Speaker 1: the two lines come together when hundreds of these appalling
• 1:40:31
  Speaker 1: creatures had leaped among the Torcasians, dragging warriors from their thoats,
• 1:40:36
  Speaker 1: dragging down the huge thoats themselves, and bringing consternation to
• 1:40:41
  Speaker 1: all before them. The numbers of the citizenry, too, was
• 1:40:45
  Speaker 1: to their advantage, for it seemed that scarce a warrior fell,
• 1:40:49
  Speaker 1: but his place was taken by a score more. In
• 1:40:52
  Speaker 1: such a constant stream did they pour from the city's
• 1:40:54
  Speaker 1: great gait. And so it came, what with the ferocity
• 1:40:59
  Speaker 1: of the banths and the numbers of the bowmen, that
• 1:41:02
  Speaker 1: at last the Torcasians fell back, until presently the platform
• 1:41:06
  Speaker 1: upon which stood Carthoris and Thuvia lay directly in the
• 1:41:10
  Speaker 1: center of the fight. That neither was struck by a
• 1:41:14
  Speaker 1: bullet or an arrow seemed a miracle to both. But
• 1:41:17
  Speaker 1: at last the tide had rolled completely past them, so
• 1:41:21
  Speaker 1: that they were alone between the fighters and the city,
• 1:41:23
  Speaker 1: except for the dying and the dead, and a score
• 1:41:26
  Speaker 1: or so of growling banths less well trained than their fellows,
• 1:41:31
  Speaker 1: who prowled along the corpses seeking meat to Carthoris. The
• 1:41:36
  Speaker 1: strangest part of the battle had been the terrific toll
• 1:41:39
  Speaker 1: taken by the bowmen with their relatively puny weapons. Nowhere
• 1:41:44
  Speaker 1: that he could see was there a single wounded gray man,
• 1:41:48
  Speaker 1: But the corpses of their dead lay thick upon the
• 1:41:51
  Speaker 1: field of battle. Death seemed to follow instantly the slightest
• 1:41:56
  Speaker 1: pinprick of a bowman's arrow, nor apparently did one ever
• 1:41:59
  Speaker 1: miss it. There could be but one explanation. The missiles
• 1:42:04
  Speaker 1: were poisoned tipped Presently, the sounds of conflict died in
• 1:42:09
  Speaker 1: the distant forest. Quiet reigned, broken only by the growling
• 1:42:14
  Speaker 1: of the devouring banths. Carthoris turned towards Thuvia of ptarth
• 1:42:20
  Speaker 1: As yet neither had spoken. Where are we? Thuvia? He asked.
• 1:42:28
  Speaker 1: The girl looked at him questioningly. His very presence had
• 1:42:31
  Speaker 1: seemed to proclaim a guilty knowledge of her abduction. How
• 1:42:35
  Speaker 1: else might he have known the destination of the flier
• 1:42:37
  Speaker 1: that brought her? Who should know better than the Prince
• 1:42:41
  Speaker 1: of Helium? She asked? In return, did he not come
• 1:42:45
  Speaker 1: hither of his own free will? From Anthor? I came
• 1:42:50
  Speaker 1: voluntarily upon the trail of the green man who had
• 1:42:52
  Speaker 1: stolen you Thuvia, he replied. But from the time I
• 1:42:56
  Speaker 1: left Helium until I woke above Anthor, I thought myself
• 1:42:59
  Speaker 1: bound for Ptarth. It had been intimated that I had
• 1:43:03
  Speaker 1: guilty knowledge of your abduction, he explained simply, And I
• 1:43:07
  Speaker 1: was hastening to the Jeddak, your father, to convince him
• 1:43:11
  Speaker 1: of the falsity of the charge, and to give my
• 1:43:13
  Speaker 1: service to your recovery. Before I left Helium, some one
• 1:43:18
  Speaker 1: tampered with my compass so that it bore me to
• 1:43:21
  Speaker 1: Anthor instead of to Ptarth. That is all you believe me.
• 1:43:27
  Speaker 1: But the warriors who stole me from the garden, she exclaimed.
• 1:43:31
  Speaker 1: After we arrived at Anthor, they wore the metal of
• 1:43:34
  Speaker 1: the Prince of Helium when they took me. They were
• 1:43:37
  Speaker 1: trapped into Sarian harness. There seemed but a single explanation.
• 1:43:41
  Speaker 1: Whoever dared the outrage wished to put the onus upon
• 1:43:45
  Speaker 1: another should he be detected in the act. But once
• 1:43:48
  Speaker 1: safely away from Ptarth, he felt safe in having his
• 1:43:51
  Speaker 1: minions returned to their own harnesses. You believe that I
• 1:43:56
  Speaker 1: did this thing, Thuvia, he asked, ah Carthoris, she replied, sadly,
• 1:44:03
  Speaker 1: I do not wish to believe it, But when everything
• 1:44:05
  Speaker 1: pointed to you, even then I would not believe it.
• 1:44:11
  Speaker 1: I did not do it, Thuvia, he said, But let
• 1:44:14
  Speaker 1: me be entirely honest with you. As much as I
• 1:44:17
  Speaker 1: love your father, as much as I respect Coulon Tith,
• 1:44:22
  Speaker 1: to whom you are betrothed, as well as I know
• 1:44:25
  Speaker 1: the frightful consequences that must have followed such an act
• 1:44:27
  Speaker 1: of mine, hurling into war as it would three of
• 1:44:31
  Speaker 1: the greatest nations of Barsoom. Yet notwithstanding all this, I
• 1:44:36
  Speaker 1: should not have hesitated to take you thus, Thuvia of Ptarth.
• 1:44:40
  Speaker 1: Had you even hinted that, it would not have displeased you,
• 1:44:45
  Speaker 1: But you did nothing of the kind. And so I
• 1:44:47
  Speaker 1: am here not in my own service, but in yours,
• 1:44:51
  Speaker 1: and in the service of the man to whom you
• 1:44:53
  Speaker 1: are promised to save you for him, if it lies
• 1:44:57
  Speaker 1: within the power of man to do so, he can included.
• 1:45:00
  Speaker 1: Almost bitterly, Thuvia of Ptarth looked into his face. For
• 1:45:05
  Speaker 1: several moments. Her breast was rising and falling, as though
• 1:45:10
  Speaker 1: to some resistless emotion. She half took a step toward him,
• 1:45:15
  Speaker 1: Her lips parted as though to speak swiftly, and impetuously,
• 1:45:19
  Speaker 1: and then she conquered whatever had moved her. The future
• 1:45:24
  Speaker 1: acts of the Prince of Helium, she said, coldly, must
• 1:45:28
  Speaker 1: constitute the proof of his past honesty of purpose. Carthoris
• 1:45:33
  Speaker 1: was hurt by the girl's tone as much as by
• 1:45:36
  Speaker 1: the doubt as to his integrity which her words implied.
• 1:45:40
  Speaker 1: He had half hoped that she might hint that his
• 1:45:43
  Speaker 1: love would be acceptable. Certainly there was due him at
• 1:45:47
  Speaker 1: least a little gratitude for his recent acts in her behalf.
• 1:45:51
  Speaker 1: But the best he received was cold skepticism. The Prince
• 1:45:55
  Speaker 1: of Helium shrugged his broad shoulders. The girl noted it,
• 1:46:00
  Speaker 1: and the little smile that touched his lips, so that
• 1:46:03
  Speaker 1: it became her turn to be hurt. Of course, she
• 1:46:07
  Speaker 1: had not meant to hurt him. He might have known
• 1:46:10
  Speaker 1: that after what he had said, she could not do
• 1:46:12
  Speaker 1: anything to encourage him. But he need not have made
• 1:46:16
  Speaker 1: his indifference quite so palpable. The men of Helium were
• 1:46:21
  Speaker 1: noted for their gallantry, not for boorishness. Possibly it was
• 1:46:25
  Speaker 1: the earth blood that flowed in his veins. How could
• 1:46:30
  Speaker 1: she know that the shrug was but Carthoris's way of attempting,
• 1:46:34
  Speaker 1: by physical effort to cast a blighting sorrow from his heart,
• 1:46:39
  Speaker 1: or that the smile upon his lips was the fighting
• 1:46:42
  Speaker 1: smile of his father, with which the son gave outward
• 1:46:46
  Speaker 1: evidence of the determination he had reached to submerge his
• 1:46:49
  Speaker 1: own great love in his efforts to save Thuvia of
• 1:46:52
  Speaker 1: Ptarth for another. Because he believed that she loved this other.
• 1:46:58
  Speaker 1: He reverted to his original question, Where are we? He asked,
• 1:47:03
  Speaker 1: I do not know, nor, I replied the girl. Those
• 1:47:09
  Speaker 1: who stole me from Ptarth spoke among themselves of Anthor,
• 1:47:13
  Speaker 1: so that I thought it possible that the ancient city
• 1:47:16
  Speaker 1: to which they took me was the famous Ruin. But
• 1:47:19
  Speaker 1: where we may be now? I have no idea. When
• 1:47:24
  Speaker 1: the bowmen return, we shall doubtless learn all that there
• 1:47:26
  Speaker 1: is to know, said Carthoris. Let us hope that they
• 1:47:30
  Speaker 1: prove friendly. What race may they be? Only in the
• 1:47:34
  Speaker 1: most ancient of our legends, and in the mural paintings
• 1:47:37
  Speaker 1: of the deserted cities of the Dead Sea bottoms are
• 1:47:40
  Speaker 1: depicted such a race of auburn haired, fair skinned people.
• 1:47:44
  Speaker 1: Can it be that we have stumbled upon a surviving
• 1:47:47
  Speaker 1: city of the past, which all Barsoom believes buried beneath
• 1:47:50
  Speaker 1: the ages. Thuvia was looking toward the forest into which
• 1:47:55
  Speaker 1: the green men and the pursuing bowmen had disappeared. From
• 1:47:59
  Speaker 1: a great distance came the hideous cries of Banths and
• 1:48:03
  Speaker 1: an occasional shot. It is strange that they do not return,
• 1:48:08
  Speaker 1: said the girl. One would expect to see the wounded
• 1:48:12
  Speaker 1: limping or being carried back to the city, replied Carthoris,
• 1:48:16
  Speaker 1: with a puzzled frown. But how about the wounded nearer
• 1:48:19
  Speaker 1: the city? Had they carried them within? Both turned their
• 1:48:23
  Speaker 1: eyes toward the field between them and the walled city,
• 1:48:27
  Speaker 1: where the fighting had been most furious. There were the Banths,
• 1:48:32
  Speaker 1: still growling about their hideous feast. Carthoris looked at Thuvia
• 1:48:37
  Speaker 1: in astonishment. Then he pointed toward the field. Where are they?
• 1:48:43
  Speaker 1: He whispered, what has become of their dead and wounded?
• 1:48:49
  Speaker 1: End of Chapter five, Chapter six, the Jeddak of Lothar.
• 1:49:01
  Speaker 1: The girl looked her incredulity. They lay in piles. She murmured,
• 1:49:08
  Speaker 1: there were thousands of them but a minute ago, And
• 1:49:12
  Speaker 1: now continued Carthoris, there remained but the Banths and the
• 1:49:17
  Speaker 1: carcasses of the green men. They must have sent forth
• 1:49:21
  Speaker 1: and carried the dead bowmen away while we were talking,
• 1:49:24
  Speaker 1: said the girl. It is impossible, replied Carthoris. Thousands of
• 1:49:30
  Speaker 1: dead lay there upon the field but a moment, since
• 1:49:33
  Speaker 1: it would have required many hours to have removed them.
• 1:49:36
  Speaker 1: The thing is uncanny. I had hoped, said Thuvia, that
• 1:49:43
  Speaker 1: we might find an asylum with these fair skinned people.
• 1:49:47
  Speaker 1: Notwithstanding their valor upon the field of battle, they did
• 1:49:51
  Speaker 1: not strike me as a ferocious or warlike people. I
• 1:49:55
  Speaker 1: had been about to suggest that we seek entrance to
• 1:49:57
  Speaker 1: the city, But now I scarce know if I care
• 1:50:00
  Speaker 1: to venture among people whose dead vanish into thin air.
• 1:50:06
  Speaker 1: Let us chance, it, replied Carthoris. We can be no
• 1:50:10
  Speaker 1: worse off within their walls than without. Here we may
• 1:50:14
  Speaker 1: fall prey to the Banths or the no less fierce Torquasians. There,
• 1:50:19
  Speaker 1: at least we shall find beings molded after our own images.
• 1:50:25
  Speaker 1: All that causes me to hesitate, he added, is the
• 1:50:29
  Speaker 1: danger of taking you past so many baths. A single
• 1:50:33
  Speaker 1: sword would scarce prevail, or even a couple of them
• 1:50:36
  Speaker 1: to charge simultaneously. Do not fear on that score, replied
• 1:50:41
  Speaker 1: the girl, smiling. The Banths will not harm us. As
• 1:50:46
  Speaker 1: she spoke, she descended from the platform, and, with Carthoris
• 1:50:49
  Speaker 1: at her side, stepped fearlessly out upon the bloody field
• 1:50:53
  Speaker 1: in the direction of the walled city of Mystery. They
• 1:50:57
  Speaker 1: had advanced but a short distance when a banth, looking
• 1:51:00
  Speaker 1: up from its gory feast, descried them with an angry roar.
• 1:51:05
  Speaker 1: The beast walked quickly in their direction, and at the
• 1:51:07
  Speaker 1: sound of its voice, a score of others followed its example.
• 1:51:13
  Speaker 1: Carthoris drew his long sword. The girl stole a quick
• 1:51:17
  Speaker 1: glance at his face. She saw the smile upon his lips,
• 1:51:21
  Speaker 1: and it was as wine to sick nerves. For even
• 1:51:25
  Speaker 1: upon warlike barsoom, where all men are brave, woman reacts
• 1:51:30
  Speaker 1: quickly to quiet indifference, to anger, to dare deviltry, that is,
• 1:51:34
  Speaker 1: without bombast. You may return your sword, She said, I
• 1:51:40
  Speaker 1: told you that the banths would not harm us. Look,
• 1:51:43
  Speaker 1: and as she spoke, she stepped quickly toward the nearest animal.
• 1:51:48
  Speaker 1: Carthoris would have leaped after her to protect her, but
• 1:51:51
  Speaker 1: with a gesture she motioned him back. He heard her
• 1:51:55
  Speaker 1: calling to the banths in a low, sing song voice
• 1:51:58
  Speaker 1: that was half purr. Instantly the great heads went up,
• 1:52:02
  Speaker 1: and all the wicked eyes were riveted upon the figure
• 1:52:05
  Speaker 1: of the girl. Then stealthily they commenced, moving toward her.
• 1:52:11
  Speaker 1: She had stopped now and was standing waiting them, one
• 1:52:16
  Speaker 1: closer to her than the others. Hesitated, she spoke to
• 1:52:20
  Speaker 1: him imperiously, as a master might speak to a refractory hound.
• 1:52:26
  Speaker 1: The great carnivore let its head droop, and, with tail
• 1:52:29
  Speaker 1: between its legs, came slinking to the girl's feet, and
• 1:52:33
  Speaker 1: after it came the others, until she was entirely surrounded
• 1:52:37
  Speaker 1: by the savage man eaters. Turning, she led them to
• 1:52:42
  Speaker 1: where Carthoris stood. They growled a little as they neared
• 1:52:46
  Speaker 1: the man, but a few sharp words of command put
• 1:52:49
  Speaker 1: them in their places. How do you do it? Exclaimed Carthoris.
• 1:52:56
  Speaker 1: Your father once asked me that same question in the
• 1:52:59
  Speaker 1: galleries of the Golden Cliffs, within the AT's mountains, beneath
• 1:53:03
  Speaker 1: the temples of the Ferns. I could not answer him,
• 1:53:07
  Speaker 1: nor can I answer you. I do not know whence
• 1:53:11
  Speaker 1: comes my power over them. But ever since the day
• 1:53:15
  Speaker 1: that Satore throg threw me among them in the banth
• 1:53:18
  Speaker 1: pit of the holy Ferns, and the great creatures fawned
• 1:53:22
  Speaker 1: upon me instead of devouring me, I ever have had
• 1:53:26
  Speaker 1: the same strange power over them. They come at my
• 1:53:29
  Speaker 1: call and do my bidding, even as the faithful Woolah
• 1:53:33
  Speaker 1: does the bidding of your mighty sire. With a word,
• 1:53:37
  Speaker 1: the girl dispersed the fierce pack roaring. They returned for
• 1:53:41
  Speaker 1: their interrupted feast, while Carthoris and Thuvia passed among them
• 1:53:46
  Speaker 1: toward the walled city. As they advanced, the man looked
• 1:53:50
  Speaker 1: with wonder upon the dead bodies of those of the
• 1:53:53
  Speaker 1: green Men that had not been devoured or mauled by
• 1:53:55
  Speaker 1: the banths. He called the girl's attention to them. No
• 1:54:00
  Speaker 1: arrows protruded from the great carcasses. Nowhere upon any of
• 1:54:05
  Speaker 1: them was the sign of mortal wound, nor even slightest
• 1:54:09
  Speaker 1: scratch or abrasion. Before the Bowman's dead had disappeared, the
• 1:54:14
  Speaker 1: corpses of the Torquasians had bristled with the deadly arrows
• 1:54:17
  Speaker 1: of their foes. Where had the slender messengers of death departed?
• 1:54:23
  Speaker 1: What unseen hand had plucked them from the bodies of
• 1:54:26
  Speaker 1: the slain. Despite himself, Carthoris could scarce repress a shudder
• 1:54:33
  Speaker 1: of apprehension as he glanced toward the silent city before them.
• 1:54:37
  Speaker 1: No longer was sign of life visible upon wall or rooftop.
• 1:54:42
  Speaker 1: All was quiet, brooding, ominous quiet. Yet he was sure
• 1:54:48
  Speaker 1: that eyes watched them from somewhere behind that blank wall.
• 1:54:54
  Speaker 1: He glanced at Thuvia. She was advancing with wide eyes
• 1:54:58
  Speaker 1: fixed upon the city gate. He looked in the direction
• 1:55:01
  Speaker 1: of her gaze, but saw nothing. His gaze upon her
• 1:55:06
  Speaker 1: seemed to arouse her as from a lethargy. She glanced
• 1:55:09
  Speaker 1: up at him, a quick, brave smile, touching her lips,
• 1:55:13
  Speaker 1: and then, as though the act was involuntary, she came
• 1:55:17
  Speaker 1: close to his side and placed one of her hands
• 1:55:19
  Speaker 1: in his. He guessed that something within her that was
• 1:55:23
  Speaker 1: beyond her conscious control, was appealing to him for protection.
• 1:55:28
  Speaker 1: He threw an arm about her, and thus they crossed
• 1:55:31
  Speaker 1: the field. She did not draw away from him. It
• 1:55:35
  Speaker 1: is doubtful that she realized that his arm was there.
• 1:55:38
  Speaker 1: So engrossed was she in the mystery of the strange
• 1:55:41
  Speaker 1: city before them. They stopped before the gate. It was
• 1:55:46
  Speaker 1: a mighty thing. From its construction, Carthoris could but dimly
• 1:55:50
  Speaker 1: speculate upon its unthinkable antiquity. It was circular closing a
• 1:55:56
  Speaker 1: circular aperture, and the Heliumite knew from his study of
• 1:55:59
  Speaker 1: Anis Barsoomian architecture, that it rolled to one side like
• 1:56:04
  Speaker 1: a huge wheel, into an aperture in the wall. Even
• 1:56:08
  Speaker 1: such old world cities as ancient Anthor were as yet
• 1:56:13
  Speaker 1: undreamed of when the races lived that built such gates
• 1:56:16
  Speaker 1: as these. As he stood speculating upon the identity of
• 1:56:21
  Speaker 1: this forgotten city, a voice spoke to them from above.
• 1:56:25
  Speaker 1: Both looked up. There, leaning over the edge of the
• 1:56:29
  Speaker 1: high wall was a man. His hair was auburn, his
• 1:56:34
  Speaker 1: skin fair, fairer even than that of John Carter the Virginian.
• 1:56:40
  Speaker 1: His forehead was high, his eyes large and intelligent. The
• 1:56:45
  Speaker 1: language that he used was intelligible to the two below,
• 1:56:49
  Speaker 1: yet there was a marked difference between it and their
• 1:56:51
  Speaker 1: Barsoomian tongue. Who are you, he asked, and what do
• 1:56:57
  Speaker 1: you here before the gate of Lothar. We are friends,
• 1:57:01
  Speaker 1: replied Carthoris. This is the Princess Thuvia of Ptarth, who
• 1:57:06
  Speaker 1: was captured by the Torquesian Hoarde. I am Carthoris of Helium,
• 1:57:11
  Speaker 1: Prince of the House of Tardos Mors Jeddak of Helium,
• 1:57:15
  Speaker 1: and son of John Carter, Warlord of Mars, and of
• 1:57:19
  Speaker 1: his wife dejah Thoris Ptarth repeated the man Helium. He
• 1:57:26
  Speaker 1: shook his head. I never heard of these strange places,
• 1:57:31
  Speaker 1: nor did I know that there dwelt upon Barsoom, a
• 1:57:34
  Speaker 1: race of thy strange color. Where may these cities lie?
• 1:57:39
  Speaker 1: Of which you speak? From our loftiest tower, we have
• 1:57:42
  Speaker 1: never seen another city than Lothar. Carthoris pointed toward the northeast.
• 1:57:49
  Speaker 1: In that direction lie Helium and Ptarth. He said, Helium
• 1:57:53
  Speaker 1: is over eight hundred thousand hods from Lothar, while Ptarth
• 1:57:57
  Speaker 1: lies nine thousand, five hundred hids its northeast of Helium.
• 1:58:02
  Speaker 1: Footnote on Barsoom. The AD is the basis of linear measurement.
• 1:58:08
  Speaker 1: It is the equivalent of an earthly foot measuring about
• 1:58:11
  Speaker 1: eleven point sixty nine four earth inches. As has been
• 1:58:16
  Speaker 1: my custom in the past, I have generally translated Barsoomian
• 1:58:19
  Speaker 1: symbols of time, distance, et cetera into their earthly equivalent,
• 1:58:24
  Speaker 1: as being more easily understood by earth readers. For those
• 1:58:28
  Speaker 1: of a more studious turn of mind, it may be
• 1:58:31
  Speaker 1: interesting to know the Martian table of linear measurement, and
• 1:58:35
  Speaker 1: so I give it here. Ten sofads equals one AD
• 1:58:41
  Speaker 1: two hundred ads equals one had. One hundred hads equals
• 1:58:47
  Speaker 1: one care ad. Three hundred and sixty care ads equals
• 1:58:51
  Speaker 1: one circumference of Mars at equator. A had or Barsoomian
• 1:58:56
  Speaker 1: mile contains about two thousand, three hundred thirty nine earth feet.
• 1:59:01
  Speaker 1: A charade is one degree. A sopod is about one
• 1:59:06
  Speaker 1: point one seven earth inches. End of footnote. Still, the
• 1:59:12
  Speaker 1: man shook his head. I know nothing beyond the Lotharian hills,
• 1:59:17
  Speaker 1: he said, naught may live there beside the hideous green
• 1:59:20
  Speaker 1: hordes of Torcas. They have conquered all Barsoom except this
• 1:59:25
  Speaker 1: single valley and the city of Lothar. Here we have
• 1:59:29
  Speaker 1: defied them for countless ages, though periodically they renew their
• 1:59:33
  Speaker 1: attempts to destroy us. From whence you come, I cannot guess,
• 1:59:37
  Speaker 1: unless you be descended from the slaves the Torcasians captured
• 1:59:40
  Speaker 1: in early times when they reduced the outer world to
• 1:59:43
  Speaker 1: their vassalage. But we had heard that they destroyed all
• 1:59:48
  Speaker 1: of their races, but their own. Carthoris tried to explain
• 1:59:52
  Speaker 1: that the Torcasians ruled but a relatively tiny part of
• 1:59:56
  Speaker 1: the surface of Barsoom, and even this only because their
• 1:59:59
  Speaker 1: domain held nothing to attract the Red race, but the
• 2:00:03
  Speaker 1: Lotharian could not seem to conceive of anything beyond the
• 2:00:06
  Speaker 1: Valley of Lothar other than a trackless waste peopled by
• 2:00:10
  Speaker 1: the ferocious green hordes of Torquas. After considerable parleying, he
• 2:00:16
  Speaker 1: consented to admit them into the city, and a moment
• 2:00:19
  Speaker 1: later the wheel like gate rolled back within its Niche
• 2:00:23
  Speaker 1: and Thuvia and Carthoris entered the city of Lothar. All
• 2:00:28
  Speaker 1: about them were evidences of fabulous wealth. The facades of
• 2:00:33
  Speaker 1: the buildings fronting upon the avenue within the wall were
• 2:00:36
  Speaker 1: richly carven, and about the windows and doors were oftentimes
• 2:00:40
  Speaker 1: set foot wide borders of precious stones, intricate mosaics, or
• 2:00:46
  Speaker 1: tablets of beaten gold bearing bass reliefs depicting what may
• 2:00:50
  Speaker 1: have been bits of the history of this forgotten people.
• 2:00:54
  Speaker 1: He with whom they had converged across the wall, was
• 2:00:57
  Speaker 1: in the avenue to receive them. About him were a
• 2:01:01
  Speaker 1: hundred or more men of the same race. All were
• 2:01:04
  Speaker 1: clothed in flowing robes, and all were beardless. Their attitude
• 2:01:10
  Speaker 1: was more of fearful suspicion than antagonism. They followed the
• 2:01:14
  Speaker 1: newcomers with their eyes, but spoke no word to them.
• 2:01:18
  Speaker 1: Carthoris could not but notice the fact that, though the
• 2:01:22
  Speaker 1: city had been but a short time before surrounded by
• 2:01:25
  Speaker 1: a horde of bloodthirsty demons, yet none of the citizens
• 2:01:29
  Speaker 1: appeared to be armed, nor was there sign of soldiery about.
• 2:01:34
  Speaker 1: He wondered if all the fighting men had sallied forth
• 2:01:37
  Speaker 1: in one supreme effort to rout the foe, leaving the
• 2:01:40
  Speaker 1: city all unguarded. He asked their host. The man smiled,
• 2:01:47
  Speaker 1: No creature other than a score or so of our
• 2:01:50
  Speaker 1: sacred banths has left Lothar to day, he replied. But
• 2:01:55
  Speaker 1: the soldiers, the bowmen, exclaimed Carthoris, we saw thousands of
• 2:02:00
  Speaker 1: emerged from this very gait, overwhelming the hordes of Torcass
• 2:02:03
  Speaker 1: and putting them to rout with their deadly arrows and
• 2:02:06
  Speaker 1: their fierce banths. Still, the man smiled his knowing smile look.
• 2:02:13
  Speaker 1: He cried, and pointed down a broad avenue before him.
• 2:02:17
  Speaker 1: Carthoris and Thuvia followed the direction indicated, and there, marching
• 2:02:22
  Speaker 1: bravely in the sunlight, they saw advancing toward them a
• 2:02:25
  Speaker 1: great army of bowmen. Ah, exclaimed Theuvia, They have returned
• 2:02:30
  Speaker 1: through another gate or perchance these be the troops that
• 2:02:34
  Speaker 1: remained to defend the city. Again, the Fellows smiled his
• 2:02:38
  Speaker 1: uncanny smile. There are new soldiers in Lothar, he said. Look.
• 2:02:45
  Speaker 1: Both Carthoris and Thuvia had turned toward him while he spoke,
• 2:02:50
  Speaker 1: and now as they turned back again toward the advancing regiments,
• 2:02:54
  Speaker 1: their eyes went wide in astonishment. For the broad avenue
• 2:02:57
  Speaker 1: before them was as deserted as the two womb and
• 2:03:02
  Speaker 1: those who marched out upon the hordes today, whispered Carthoris,
• 2:03:07
  Speaker 1: they too were unreal. The man nodded, but their arrows slew.
• 2:03:13
  Speaker 1: The Green warriors insisted Thuvia let us go before Tario,
• 2:03:19
  Speaker 1: replied the Lotharian. He will tell you that which he
• 2:03:23
  Speaker 1: deems it best. You know, I might tell you too much.
• 2:03:28
  Speaker 1: Who is Tario, asked Carthoris. Jeddak of Lothar, replied the guide,
• 2:03:35
  Speaker 1: leading them up the broad avenue, down which they had
• 2:03:38
  Speaker 1: but a moment since seen the phantom army. Marching for
• 2:03:44
  Speaker 1: half an hour, they walked along lovely avenues, between the
• 2:03:46
  Speaker 1: most gorgeous buildings that the two had ever seen. Few
• 2:03:51
  Speaker 1: people were in evidence. Carthoris could not but note the
• 2:03:55
  Speaker 1: deserted appearance of the mighty city. At last they came
• 2:04:00
  Speaker 1: to the royal Palace. Carthoris saw it from a distance, and,
• 2:04:05
  Speaker 1: guessing the nature of the magnificent pile, wondered that even
• 2:04:08
  Speaker 1: here there should be so little sign of activity and life.
• 2:04:12
  Speaker 1: Not even a single guard was visible before the great entrance,
• 2:04:16
  Speaker 1: nor into the gardens beyond, into which he could see,
• 2:04:20
  Speaker 1: was there sign of the myriad of life that pulses
• 2:04:23
  Speaker 1: within the precincts of the royal estates of the Red Jeddaks.
• 2:04:28
  Speaker 1: Here said, their guide is the Palace of Tario. As
• 2:04:33
  Speaker 1: he spoke, Carthoris again let his gaze rest upon the
• 2:04:36
  Speaker 1: wondrous palace. With a startled exclamation. He rubbed his eyes
• 2:04:40
  Speaker 1: and looked again. No, he could not be mistaken. Before
• 2:04:46
  Speaker 1: the massive gate stood a score of centuries within. The
• 2:04:50
  Speaker 1: avenue leading to the main building was lined on either
• 2:04:53
  Speaker 1: side by ranks of bowmen. The gardens were dotted with
• 2:04:57
  Speaker 1: officers and soldiers, moving quickly to and fro, as though
• 2:05:01
  Speaker 1: bent upon the duties of the minute. What manner of
• 2:05:04
  Speaker 1: people were these who could conjure an army out of
• 2:05:07
  Speaker 1: thin air? He glanced at Thuvia, She too, evidently had
• 2:05:13
  Speaker 1: witnessed the transformation with a little shudder. She pressed more
• 2:05:18
  Speaker 1: closely toward him. What do you make of it? She whispered,
• 2:05:23
  Speaker 1: It is most uncanny. I cannot account for it, replied Carthoris,
• 2:05:30
  Speaker 1: unless we have gone mad. Carthoris turned quickly toward the Lotharian.
• 2:05:36
  Speaker 1: The fellow was smiling broadly. I thought that you just
• 2:05:41
  Speaker 1: said there were no soldiers in Lothar, said the Heliumite,
• 2:05:44
  Speaker 1: with a gesture toward the guardsman. What are these, ask Tario,
• 2:05:50
  Speaker 1: replied the other. We shall soon be before him. Nor
• 2:05:55
  Speaker 1: was it long before they entered a lofty chamber, at
• 2:05:57
  Speaker 1: one end of which a man reclined upon on a
• 2:06:00
  Speaker 1: rich couch that stood upon a high dais. As the
• 2:06:04
  Speaker 1: trio approached, the man turned dreamy eyes sleepily upon them.
• 2:06:10
  Speaker 1: Twenty feet from the dais, Their conductor halted and whispering
• 2:06:15
  Speaker 1: to Thuvia, and Carthoris, to follow his example, threw himself
• 2:06:19
  Speaker 1: headlong to the floor. Then rising to hands and knees,
• 2:06:24
  Speaker 1: he commenced crawling toward the foot of the throne, swinging
• 2:06:27
  Speaker 1: his head to and fro, and wiggling his body as
• 2:06:30
  Speaker 1: you have seen a hound do when approaching its master.
• 2:06:34
  Speaker 1: Thuvia glanced quickly toward Carthoris. He was standing erect with
• 2:06:39
  Speaker 1: high held head and arms folded across his broad chest.
• 2:06:44
  Speaker 1: A haughty smile curved his lips. The man upon the
• 2:06:49
  Speaker 1: dais was eyeing him intently, and Carthoris of Helium was
• 2:06:53
  Speaker 1: looking straight in the other's face. Who be these Jav
• 2:06:59
  Speaker 1: asked the man of him who crawled upon his belly
• 2:07:02
  Speaker 1: along the floor. Oh, Tario, most glorious, Jeddak, replied Jav.
• 2:07:09
  Speaker 1: These be strangers who came with the hordes of Torquas
• 2:07:12
  Speaker 1: to our gates, saying that they were prisoners of the
• 2:07:15
  Speaker 1: Green Man. They tell strange tales of cities far beyond
• 2:07:21
  Speaker 1: Lothar Arise, Jav, commanded Tario, and ask these two why
• 2:07:28
  Speaker 1: they show not to Tario the respect that is his due.
• 2:07:34
  Speaker 1: Jav arose and faced the strangers. At sight of their
• 2:07:38
  Speaker 1: erect positions, his face went livid. He leaped toward them, creatures.
• 2:07:45
  Speaker 1: He screamed, down down upon your bellies before the last
• 2:07:49
  Speaker 1: of the Jeddaks of Barsoom end of chapter six, Chapter seven,
• 2:08:00
  Speaker 1: the phantom bowmen. As Jav leaped toward him, Carthoris laid
• 2:08:07
  Speaker 1: his hand upon the hilt of his long sword, the
• 2:08:10
  Speaker 1: Lotharian halted. The great apartment was empty save for the
• 2:08:16
  Speaker 1: four at the dais. Yet as jav stepped back from
• 2:08:19
  Speaker 1: the menace of the Heliumite's threatening attitude, the latter found
• 2:08:23
  Speaker 1: himself surrounded by a score of bowmen from whence had
• 2:08:28
  Speaker 1: they sprung. Both Carthoris and Thuvia looked their astonishment. Now
• 2:08:36
  Speaker 1: the former's sword leaped from its scabbard, and at the
• 2:08:39
  Speaker 1: same instant the bowmen drew back their slim shafts. Tario
• 2:08:45
  Speaker 1: had half raised himself upon one elbow. For the first
• 2:08:49
  Speaker 1: time he saw the full figure of Thuvia, who had
• 2:08:53
  Speaker 1: been concealed behind the person of Carthoris. Enough cried the Jeddak,
• 2:08:59
  Speaker 1: raising a protesting hand, But at that very instant, the
• 2:09:03
  Speaker 1: sword of the Heliumite cut viciously at its nearest antagonist.
• 2:09:08
  Speaker 1: As the keen edge reached its goal, Carthoris let the
• 2:09:11
  Speaker 1: point fall to the floor as with wide eyes. He
• 2:09:14
  Speaker 1: stepped backward in consternation, throwing the back of his left
• 2:09:18
  Speaker 1: hand across his brow. His steel had cut but empty air,
• 2:09:24
  Speaker 1: his antagonist had vanished. There were no bowmen in the room.
• 2:09:31
  Speaker 1: It is evident that these are strangers said Tario to
• 2:09:34
  Speaker 1: jav let us, first determine that they knowingly affronted us,
• 2:09:39
  Speaker 1: before we take measures for punishment. Then he turned to Carthoris,
• 2:09:46
  Speaker 1: But ever his gaze wandered to the perfect lines of
• 2:09:50
  Speaker 1: Thuvia's glorious figure, which the harness of a Barsomian princess
• 2:09:55
  Speaker 1: accentuated rather than concealed. Who are he asked, who knows
• 2:10:02
  Speaker 1: not the etiquette of the court of the last of Jeddaks.
• 2:10:08
  Speaker 1: I am Carthoris, Prince of Helium, replied the Heliumite, And
• 2:10:13
  Speaker 1: this is Thuvia, Princess of Ptarth. In the courts of
• 2:10:17
  Speaker 1: our fathers, men do not prostrate themselves before royalty. Not
• 2:10:23
  Speaker 1: since the first born tore their immortal goddess limb from
• 2:10:26
  Speaker 1: limb have men crawled upon their bellies to any throne
• 2:10:30
  Speaker 1: upon Barsoom. Now think you, the daughter of one mighty
• 2:10:35
  Speaker 1: Jeddak and the son of another, would so humiliate themselves.
• 2:10:42
  Speaker 1: Tario looked at Carthoris for a long time. At last
• 2:10:46
  Speaker 1: he spoke, there is no other Jeddak upon Barsoom. Venario,
• 2:10:53
  Speaker 1: he said, there is no other race than that of Lothar,
• 2:10:58
  Speaker 1: unless the hordes of Torkai may be dignified by such
• 2:11:02
  Speaker 1: an appellation. Lotharians are white, your skins are red. There
• 2:11:09
  Speaker 1: are no women left upon Barsoom. Your companion is a woman.
• 2:11:16
  Speaker 1: He half rose from the couch, leaning far forward and
• 2:11:20
  Speaker 1: pointing an accusing finger at Carthoris. You are a lie,
• 2:11:25
  Speaker 1: he shrieked. You are both lies, and you dare to
• 2:11:30
  Speaker 1: come before Tario, last and mightiest of the Jeddaks of Barsoom,
• 2:11:35
  Speaker 1: and assert your reality. Someone shall pay well for this, Jav,
• 2:11:41
  Speaker 1: And unless I mistake, it is yourself who has dared
• 2:11:45
  Speaker 1: thus flippantly to trifle with the good nature of your Jeddak.
• 2:11:51
  Speaker 1: Remove the man, leave the woman. We shall see if
• 2:11:56
  Speaker 1: both be lies, and later you shall suffer for your temerity.
• 2:12:04
  Speaker 1: There be few of us left, but comal must be fed. Go.
• 2:12:13
  Speaker 1: Carthoris could see that Jav trembled as he prostrated himself
• 2:12:17
  Speaker 1: once more before his ruler, and then rising turned toward
• 2:12:22
  Speaker 1: the Prince of Helium. Come, he said, and leave the
• 2:12:28
  Speaker 1: Princess of Ptarth here alone, cried Carthoris. Jav brushed closely
• 2:12:34
  Speaker 1: past him, whispering, follow me. He cannot harm her except
• 2:12:40
  Speaker 1: to kill, and that he can do whether you remain
• 2:12:43
  Speaker 1: or not. We had best go now, trust me. Carthoris
• 2:12:50
  Speaker 1: did not understand, but something in the urgency of the
• 2:12:53
  Speaker 1: other's tone assured him, and so he turned away, but
• 2:12:57
  Speaker 1: not without a glance toward Thuvia, in which he attempted
• 2:13:00
  Speaker 1: to make her understand that it was in her own
• 2:13:03
  Speaker 1: interest that he left her. For answer. She turned her
• 2:13:07
  Speaker 1: back full upon him, but not without first throwing him
• 2:13:11
  Speaker 1: such a look of contempt that brought the scarlet to
• 2:13:14
  Speaker 1: his cheek. Then he hesitated, but Jav seized him by
• 2:13:19
  Speaker 1: the rest. Come, he whispered, or he will have the
• 2:13:23
  Speaker 1: bowman upon you, and this time there will be no escape.
• 2:13:28
  Speaker 1: Did you not see how futile is your steel against
• 2:13:31
  Speaker 1: thin air? Carthoris turned unwillingly to follow. As the two
• 2:13:37
  Speaker 1: left the room, he turned to his companion. If I
• 2:13:41
  Speaker 1: may not kill thin Air, he asked, how then shall
• 2:13:45
  Speaker 1: I fear that thin air may kill me? You saw
• 2:13:50
  Speaker 1: the Torquasians fall before the bowman, asked Jav. Carthoris nodded,
• 2:13:57
  Speaker 1: so would you fall before them? And with out one
• 2:14:00
  Speaker 1: single chance for self defense or revenge. As they talked,
• 2:14:07
  Speaker 1: Jav led Carthoris to a small room in one of
• 2:14:10
  Speaker 1: the numerous towers of the palace. Here were couches, and
• 2:14:14
  Speaker 1: Jav bid the helium might be seated for several minutes.
• 2:14:19
  Speaker 1: The Lotharian eyed his prisoner for such. Carthoris now realized
• 2:14:23
  Speaker 1: himself to be I am half convinced that you are real,
• 2:14:29
  Speaker 1: he said. At last, Carthoris laughed, Of course I am real,
• 2:14:35
  Speaker 1: he said, what caused you to doubt it? Can you
• 2:14:38
  Speaker 1: not see me? Feel me? So? May I see and
• 2:14:43
  Speaker 1: feel the bowmen, replied Jav. And yet we all know
• 2:14:47
  Speaker 1: that they at least are not real. Carthoris showed by
• 2:14:51
  Speaker 1: the expression of his face his puzzlement at each new
• 2:14:55
  Speaker 1: reference to the mysterious bowmen, the vanishing soldiery of Lothar.
• 2:15:02
  Speaker 1: What then, may they be, he asked? You really do
• 2:15:07
  Speaker 1: not know, asked Jav. Carthoris shook his head negatively. I
• 2:15:15
  Speaker 1: can almost believe that you have told us the truth,
• 2:15:19
  Speaker 1: and that you are really from another part of Barsoom,
• 2:15:22
  Speaker 1: or from another world. But tell me, in your own country,
• 2:15:27
  Speaker 1: have you no bowmen to strike terror to the hearts
• 2:15:29
  Speaker 1: of the green hordesmen as they slay in company with
• 2:15:32
  Speaker 1: the fierce banths of war? We have soldiers, replied Carthoris.
• 2:15:39
  Speaker 1: We of the Red race are all soldiers. But we
• 2:15:43
  Speaker 1: have no bowmen to defend us such as yours. We
• 2:15:47
  Speaker 1: defend ourselves. You go out and get killed by your enemies,
• 2:15:52
  Speaker 1: cried Jav incredulously certainly, replied Carthoris, how do the Lotharians
• 2:16:01
  Speaker 1: you have seen, replied the other. We send out our
• 2:16:05
  Speaker 1: deathless archers, deathless because they are lifeless, existing only in
• 2:16:10
  Speaker 1: the imaginations of our enemies. It is really our giant
• 2:16:15
  Speaker 1: minds that defend us, sending out legions of imaginary warriors
• 2:16:19
  Speaker 1: to materialize before the mind's eye of the foe. They
• 2:16:24
  Speaker 1: see them, They see their bows drawn back, They see
• 2:16:28
  Speaker 1: their slender arrows speed with unerring precision toward their hearts,
• 2:16:34
  Speaker 1: and they die, killed by the power of suggestion. But
• 2:16:40
  Speaker 1: the archers that are slain, exclaimed Carthoris. You call them deathless,
• 2:16:45
  Speaker 1: and yet I saw their dead bodies piled high upon
• 2:16:48
  Speaker 1: the battlefield. How may that be? It is but to
• 2:16:53
  Speaker 1: lend reality to the scene, replied Jav. We picture many
• 2:16:58
  Speaker 1: of our own defenders killed, that the Torquasians may not
• 2:17:02
  Speaker 1: guess that there are really no flesh and blood creatures
• 2:17:05
  Speaker 1: opposing them once that truth became implanted in their minds.
• 2:17:11
  Speaker 1: It is the theory of many of us. No longer
• 2:17:14
  Speaker 1: would they fall prey to the suggestion of the deadly arrows,
• 2:17:19
  Speaker 1: for greater would be the suggestion of the truth, and
• 2:17:22
  Speaker 1: the more powerful suggestion would prevail. It is law and
• 2:17:29
  Speaker 1: the banths, questioned Carthoris, They too were but creatures of suggestion.
• 2:17:37
  Speaker 1: Some of them were real, replied jav Those that accompanied
• 2:17:41
  Speaker 1: the archers in pursuit of the Torquasians were unreal. Like
• 2:17:46
  Speaker 1: the archers, they never returned, but, having served their purpose,
• 2:17:51
  Speaker 1: vanished with the bowmen when the rout of the enemy
• 2:17:54
  Speaker 1: was assured. Those that remain about the field were real.
• 2:18:00
  Speaker 1: Those we loosed as scavengers to devour the bodies of
• 2:18:04
  Speaker 1: the dead of Torcas. This thing is demanded by the
• 2:18:08
  Speaker 1: realists among us. I am a realist. Tario is an etherealist.
• 2:18:16
  Speaker 1: The etherealists maintain that there is no such thing as matter,
• 2:18:21
  Speaker 1: that all is mind. They say that none of us
• 2:18:25
  Speaker 1: exists except in the imagination of his fellows, other than
• 2:18:30
  Speaker 1: as an intangible, invisible mentality. According to Tario, it is
• 2:18:37
  Speaker 1: but necessary that we all unite in imagining that there
• 2:18:40
  Speaker 1: are no dead Torquasians beneath our walls, and there will
• 2:18:45
  Speaker 1: be none nor any need of scavenging banths. You then
• 2:18:52
  Speaker 1: do not hold Tario's beliefs, asked Carthoris, in part only,
• 2:18:58
  Speaker 1: replied the Lotharian. I believe. In fact, I know that
• 2:19:04
  Speaker 1: there are some truly ethereal creatures. Taria is one. I
• 2:19:09
  Speaker 1: am convinced he has no existence except in the imaginations
• 2:19:14
  Speaker 1: of his people. Of course, it is the contention of
• 2:19:19
  Speaker 1: all us realists that all etherialists are but figments of
• 2:19:23
  Speaker 1: the imagination. They contend that no food is necessary, nor
• 2:19:28
  Speaker 1: do they eat. But any one of the most rudimentary
• 2:19:32
  Speaker 1: intelligence must realize that food is a necessity to creatures
• 2:19:37
  Speaker 1: having actual existence. Yes, agreed Carthoris, not having eaten to day,
• 2:19:44
  Speaker 1: I can readily agree with you. Ah, pardon me, exclaimed
• 2:19:49
  Speaker 1: the jab pray be seated and satisfy your hunger. And
• 2:19:55
  Speaker 1: with a wave of his hand he indicated a bountifully
• 2:19:58
  Speaker 1: laden table that had not been there an instant before
• 2:20:01
  Speaker 1: he spoke of that. Carthoris was positive, for he had
• 2:20:06
  Speaker 1: searched the room diligently with his eyes several times. It
• 2:20:11
  Speaker 1: is well, continued Jav, that you did not fall into
• 2:20:14
  Speaker 1: the hands of an etherealist, then, indeed, would you have
• 2:20:18
  Speaker 1: gone hungry, But exclaimed Carthoris, this is not real food.
• 2:20:25
  Speaker 1: It was not here an instant since and real food
• 2:20:28
  Speaker 1: does not materialize out of thin air. Jav looked hurt.
• 2:20:35
  Speaker 1: There is no real food or water in Lothar, he said,
• 2:20:39
  Speaker 1: nor has there been for countless ages upon such as
• 2:20:44
  Speaker 1: you now see before you. Have we existed since the
• 2:20:47
  Speaker 1: dawn of history? Upon such? Then may you exist? But
• 2:20:54
  Speaker 1: I thought you were a realist, exclaimed Carthoris. Indeed, cried Jav,
• 2:21:02
  Speaker 1: what more realistic than this bounteous feast. It is just
• 2:21:06
  Speaker 1: here that we differ most from the etherealists. They claim
• 2:21:11
  Speaker 1: that it is unnecessary to imagine food, But we have
• 2:21:15
  Speaker 1: found that for the maintenance of life we must thrice
• 2:21:19
  Speaker 1: daily sit down to hearty meals. The food that one
• 2:21:23
  Speaker 1: eats is supposed to undergo certain chemical changes during the
• 2:21:28
  Speaker 1: process of digestion and assimilation, the result of course being
• 2:21:33
  Speaker 1: their rebuilding of wasted tissue. Now we all know that
• 2:21:37
  Speaker 1: mind is all, though we may differ in the interpretation
• 2:21:41
  Speaker 1: of its various manifestations. Tario maintains that there is no
• 2:21:46
  Speaker 1: such thing as substance, all being created from the substanceless
• 2:21:51
  Speaker 1: matter of the brain. We realists, however, know better. We
• 2:21:58
  Speaker 1: know that mind has the power to maintain substance, even
• 2:22:01
  Speaker 1: though it may not be able to create substance. The
• 2:22:05
  Speaker 1: latter is still an open question, and so we know
• 2:22:09
  Speaker 1: that in order to maintain our physical bodies, we must
• 2:22:13
  Speaker 1: cause all our organs properly to function. This we accomplish
• 2:22:19
  Speaker 1: by materializing food thoughts, and by partaking of the food
• 2:22:23
  Speaker 1: thus created. We chew, we swallow, we digest. All our
• 2:22:31
  Speaker 1: organs function precisely as if we had partaken of material food.
• 2:22:36
  Speaker 1: And what is the result? What must be the result?
• 2:22:40
  Speaker 1: The chemical changes take place through the both direct and
• 2:22:44
  Speaker 1: indirect suggestion, and we live and thrive. Carthoris eyed the
• 2:22:51
  Speaker 1: food before him. It seemed real enough. He lifted a
• 2:22:56
  Speaker 1: morsel to his lips. There was substance, indeed, and flavor
• 2:23:01
  Speaker 1: as well. Yes, even his palate was deceived. Jav watched him,
• 2:23:08
  Speaker 1: smiling as he ate. Is it not entirely satisfying? He asked,
• 2:23:16
  Speaker 1: I must admit that it is, replied Carthoris. But tell
• 2:23:21
  Speaker 1: me how does Tario live and the other etherealists who
• 2:23:25
  Speaker 1: maintain that food is unnecessary? Jav scratched his head. That
• 2:23:33
  Speaker 1: is a question we often discuss, he replied, it is
• 2:23:38
  Speaker 1: the strongest evidence we have of the non existence of
• 2:23:41
  Speaker 1: the etherealists. But who may know other than Comal? Who
• 2:23:47
  Speaker 1: is Comal? Asked Carthoris, I heard your Jeddak speak of him.
• 2:23:53
  Speaker 1: Jav bent low toward the ear of the heliumite, looking
• 2:23:56
  Speaker 1: fearfully about, before he spoke. Comal is the essence, he whispered.
• 2:24:03
  Speaker 1: Even the etherealists admit that mind itself must have substance
• 2:24:07
  Speaker 1: in order to transmit to imaginings the appearance of substance.
• 2:24:13
  Speaker 1: For if there really was no such thing as substance,
• 2:24:16
  Speaker 1: it could not be suggested. What never has been cannot
• 2:24:20
  Speaker 1: be imagined. Do you follow me? I am groping, replied
• 2:24:26
  Speaker 1: Carthoris dryly. So the essence must be substance, continued Jav.
• 2:24:32
  Speaker 1: Comal is the essence of the all, as it were.
• 2:24:36
  Speaker 1: He is maintained by substance. He eats. He eats the
• 2:24:41
  Speaker 1: real to be explicit, He eats the realists. That is
• 2:24:47
  Speaker 1: Tario's work. He says that inasmuch as we maintain that
• 2:24:52
  Speaker 1: we alone are real, we should to be consistent admit
• 2:24:57
  Speaker 1: that we alone are proper food for Comal. Sometimes, as
• 2:25:02
  Speaker 1: to day, we find other food for him. He is
• 2:25:06
  Speaker 1: very fond of Torquasians and comal is. A man asked Carthoris,
• 2:25:13
  Speaker 1: he is all I told you, replied Jav, I know
• 2:25:17
  Speaker 1: not how to explain him in words that you will understand.
• 2:25:21
  Speaker 1: He is the beginning and the end. All life emanates
• 2:25:25
  Speaker 1: from Comal, since the substance which feeds the brain with
• 2:25:29
  Speaker 1: imaginings radiates from the body of Comal. Should Comal cease
• 2:25:35
  Speaker 1: to eat, all life upon barsoom would cease to be.
• 2:25:39
  Speaker 1: He cannot die, but he might cease to eat, and
• 2:25:43
  Speaker 1: thus to radiate, and he feeds upon the man and
• 2:25:49
  Speaker 1: women of your belief, cried Carthoris. Women exclaimed Jav. There
• 2:25:55
  Speaker 1: are no women in Lothar. The last of the Lotharian
• 2:26:00
  Speaker 1: females perished ages since upon that cruel and terrible journey
• 2:26:05
  Speaker 1: across the muddy plains that fringed the half dried seas,
• 2:26:10
  Speaker 1: when the green Hordes scourged us across the world to
• 2:26:14
  Speaker 1: this our last hiding place, our impregnable fortress of Lothar.
• 2:26:20
  Speaker 1: Scarce twenty thousand men of all the countless millions of
• 2:26:24
  Speaker 1: our race lived to reach Lothar. Among us were no
• 2:26:29
  Speaker 1: women and no children. All these had perished by the way.
• 2:26:36
  Speaker 1: As time went on, we too were dying, and the
• 2:26:40
  Speaker 1: race fast approaching extinction when the great truth was revealed
• 2:26:45
  Speaker 1: to us, that mind is all. Many more died before
• 2:26:51
  Speaker 1: we perfected our powers, but at least we were able
• 2:26:54
  Speaker 1: to defy death when we fully understood that death was
• 2:26:58
  Speaker 1: merely a state of mind. Then came the creation of
• 2:27:03
  Speaker 1: mind people, or rather the materialization of imaginings. We first
• 2:27:09
  Speaker 1: put these to practical use when the Torquasians discovered our retreat,
• 2:27:15
  Speaker 1: And fortunate for us, it was that they required ages
• 2:27:19
  Speaker 1: of search upon their part before they found the single,
• 2:27:22
  Speaker 1: tiny entrance to the valley of Lothar. That day we
• 2:27:27
  Speaker 1: threw our first bowmen against them. The intention was purely
• 2:27:31
  Speaker 1: to frighten them away by the vast numbers of bowmen
• 2:27:34
  Speaker 1: which we could muster upon our walls. All Lothar bristled
• 2:27:39
  Speaker 1: with the bows and arrows of our ethereal host. But
• 2:27:44
  Speaker 1: the Torquasians did not frighten. They are lower than the beasts.
• 2:27:50
  Speaker 1: They know no fear. They rushed upon our walls, and,
• 2:27:55
  Speaker 1: standing upon the shoulders of others, they built human approaches
• 2:27:59
  Speaker 1: to the wal top, and were on the very point
• 2:28:02
  Speaker 1: of surging in upon us and overwhelming us. Not an
• 2:28:07
  Speaker 1: arrow had been discharged by our bowmen. We did but
• 2:28:11
  Speaker 1: cause them to run to and fro along the wall top,
• 2:28:14
  Speaker 1: screaming taunts and threats at the enemy. Presently I thought
• 2:28:19
  Speaker 1: to attempt the thing, the great thing. I centered all
• 2:28:25
  Speaker 1: my mighty intellect upon the bowmen of my creation. Each
• 2:28:29
  Speaker 1: of us produces and directs as many bowmen as his
• 2:28:32
  Speaker 1: mentality and imagination is capable of. I caused them to
• 2:28:37
  Speaker 1: fit arrows to their bows for the first time. I
• 2:28:41
  Speaker 1: made them take aim at the hearts of the green men.
• 2:28:44
  Speaker 1: I made the green men see all this, and then
• 2:28:48
  Speaker 1: I made them see the arrows fly, and I made
• 2:28:52
  Speaker 1: them think that the points pierced their hearts. It was
• 2:28:56
  Speaker 1: all that was necessary. By underance, they toppled from our walls.
• 2:29:02
  Speaker 1: And when my fellows saw what I had done, they
• 2:29:05
  Speaker 1: were quick to follow my example, so that presently the
• 2:29:09
  Speaker 1: hordes of Torquas had retreated beyond the range of our arrows.
• 2:29:14
  Speaker 1: We might have killed them at any distance. But one
• 2:29:17
  Speaker 1: rule of war we have maintained from the first, the
• 2:29:21
  Speaker 1: rule of realism. We do nothing, or rather, we cause
• 2:29:27
  Speaker 1: our bowmen to do nothing within sight of the enemy,
• 2:29:30
  Speaker 1: that is, beyond the understanding of the foe. Otherwise they
• 2:29:34
  Speaker 1: might guess the truth, and that would be the end
• 2:29:37
  Speaker 1: of us. But after the Torquasians had retreated beyond bowshot,
• 2:29:43
  Speaker 1: they turned upon us with their terrible rifles, and by
• 2:29:46
  Speaker 1: constant popping at us, made life miserable within our walls.
• 2:29:52
  Speaker 1: So then I bethought the scheme to hurl our bowmen
• 2:29:55
  Speaker 1: through the gates upon them. And you have seen this
• 2:29:58
  Speaker 1: day how well it works. For ages. They have come
• 2:30:02
  Speaker 1: down upon us at intervals, but always with the same results.
• 2:30:09
  Speaker 1: And all this is due to your intellect, Jav asked Carthoris.
• 2:30:14
  Speaker 1: I should think that you would be high in the
• 2:30:17
  Speaker 1: councils of your people. I am, replied Jav proudly. I
• 2:30:24
  Speaker 1: am next to Tario. But why then your cringing manner
• 2:30:29
  Speaker 1: of approaching the throne? Tario demands it. He is jealous
• 2:30:35
  Speaker 1: of me. He only awaits the slightest excuse to feed
• 2:30:39
  Speaker 1: me to comal. He fears that I may some day
• 2:30:42
  Speaker 1: usurp his power. Carthoris suddenly sprang from the table. Jav.
• 2:30:50
  Speaker 1: He exclaimed, I am a beast. Here I have been
• 2:30:54
  Speaker 1: eating my fill while the princess of Ptarth may perchance
• 2:30:58
  Speaker 1: be still without food. Let us return and find some
• 2:31:02
  Speaker 1: means of furnishing her with nourishment. The Lotharian shook his head.
• 2:31:08
  Speaker 1: Tario would not permit it, he said, he will doubtless
• 2:31:13
  Speaker 1: make an etherealist of her. But I must go to her,
• 2:31:18
  Speaker 1: insisted Carthoris. You say that there are no women in Lothar,
• 2:31:22
  Speaker 1: then she must be among men, and if this be so,
• 2:31:26
  Speaker 1: I intend to be near where I may defend her.
• 2:31:29
  Speaker 1: If the need arises. Tario will have his way, insisted Jav.
• 2:31:35
  Speaker 1: He sent you away, and you may not return until
• 2:31:38
  Speaker 1: he sends for you. Then I shall go without waiting
• 2:31:42
  Speaker 1: to be sent for. Do not forget the bowmen, cautioned Jav.
• 2:31:49
  Speaker 1: I do not forget them, replied Carthoris. But he did
• 2:31:54
  Speaker 1: not tell Jav that he remembered something else that the
• 2:31:57
  Speaker 1: Lotharian had let drop, something that was but a conjecture, possibly,
• 2:32:02
  Speaker 1: and yet one well worth pinning of forlorn hope to
• 2:32:06
  Speaker 1: should necessity arise. Carthoris started to leave the room. Jav
• 2:32:13
  Speaker 1: stepped before him, barring his way. I have learned to
• 2:32:17
  Speaker 1: like you, red man, he said, But do not forget
• 2:32:21
  Speaker 1: that Tario is still my Jeddak, and that Tario has
• 2:32:25
  Speaker 1: commanded that you remain here. Carthoris was about to reply,
• 2:32:31
  Speaker 1: when there came faintly to the ears of both a
• 2:32:34
  Speaker 1: woman's cry for help. With a sweep of his arm,
• 2:32:39
  Speaker 1: the Prince of Helium brushed the Lotharian aside, and withdrawn sword,
• 2:32:44
  Speaker 1: sprang into the corridor without end of Chapter seven, Chapter eight,
• 2:32:57
  Speaker 1: the Hall of Doom. As Thuvia of Ptarth saw Carthoris
• 2:33:03
  Speaker 1: depart from the presence of Tario, leaving her alone with
• 2:33:06
  Speaker 1: the man, a sudden qualm of terror seized her. There
• 2:33:11
  Speaker 1: was an air of mystery pervading the stately chamber. Its
• 2:33:15
  Speaker 1: furnishings and appointments bespoke wealth and culture, and carried the
• 2:33:19
  Speaker 1: suggestion that the room was often the scene of royal functions,
• 2:33:23
  Speaker 1: which filled it to its capacity. And yet nowhere about her,
• 2:33:29
  Speaker 1: in antechamber or corridor was there sign of any other
• 2:33:33
  Speaker 1: being than herself and the recumbent figure of Tario, the Jeddak,
• 2:33:38
  Speaker 1: who watched her through half closed eyes from the gorgeous
• 2:33:42
  Speaker 1: trappings of his regal couch. For a time after the
• 2:33:47
  Speaker 1: departure of jab and Carthoris, the man eyed her intently.
• 2:33:52
  Speaker 1: Then he spoke, Come nearer, he said, And as she approached,
• 2:34:00
  Speaker 1: Whose creature are you who has dared materialize his imaginings
• 2:34:05
  Speaker 1: of a woman. It is contrary to the customs and
• 2:34:09
  Speaker 1: the royal edicts of Lothar. Tell me, woman, from whose
• 2:34:15
  Speaker 1: brain have you sprung javes? No, do not deny it.
• 2:34:21
  Speaker 1: I know that it could be no other than that
• 2:34:24
  Speaker 1: envious realist. He seeks to tempt me. He would see
• 2:34:29
  Speaker 1: me fall beneath the spell of your charms, and then he,
• 2:34:33
  Speaker 1: your master, would direct my destiny and my end. I
• 2:34:40
  Speaker 1: see it all, I see it all. The blood of
• 2:34:45
  Speaker 1: indignation and anger had been rising to Thuvia's face. Her
• 2:34:49
  Speaker 1: chin was up a haughty curve upon her perfect lips.
• 2:34:55
  Speaker 1: I know not, she cried, of what you are pratting.
• 2:34:59
  Speaker 1: I am Thuvia, Princess of Ptarth. I am no man's creature.
• 2:35:05
  Speaker 1: Never before to day did I lay eyes upon him,
• 2:35:08
  Speaker 1: you call jav Nor, upon your ridiculous city, of which
• 2:35:13
  Speaker 1: even the greatest nations of Barsoom have never dreamed. My
• 2:35:18
  Speaker 1: charms are not for you, nor such as you. They
• 2:35:22
  Speaker 1: are not for sale or barter, even though the price
• 2:35:26
  Speaker 1: were a real throne. And as for using them, to
• 2:35:30
  Speaker 1: win your worse than futile power. She ended her sentence
• 2:35:34
  Speaker 1: with a shrug of her shapely shoulders and a little
• 2:35:37
  Speaker 1: scornful laugh. When she had finished, Tariyo was sitting upon
• 2:35:42
  Speaker 1: the edge of his couch, his feet upon the floor.
• 2:35:46
  Speaker 1: He was leaning forward, with eyes no longer half closed,
• 2:35:49
  Speaker 1: but wide, with a startled expression in them. He did
• 2:35:53
  Speaker 1: not seem to note the lay's majest of her words
• 2:35:56
  Speaker 1: and manner. There was evidently some being more startling and
• 2:36:01
  Speaker 1: compelling about her speech than that. Slowly he came to
• 2:36:06
  Speaker 1: his feet by the fangs of comal. He muttered, but
• 2:36:12
  Speaker 1: you are a real a real woman, no dream, no
• 2:36:17
  Speaker 1: vain and foolish figment of the mind. He took a
• 2:36:21
  Speaker 1: step toward her with his hands outstretched. Come, he whispered,
• 2:36:27
  Speaker 1: Come woman. For countless ages have I dreamed that some
• 2:36:32
  Speaker 1: day you would come, And now that you are here,
• 2:36:36
  Speaker 1: I can scarce believe the testimony of my eyes. Even now,
• 2:36:41
  Speaker 1: knowing that you are real, I still half dread that
• 2:36:45
  Speaker 1: you may be a lie. Thuvia shrank back, she thought
• 2:36:50
  Speaker 1: the man mad. Her hand stole to the jeweled hilt
• 2:36:54
  Speaker 1: of her dagger. The man saw the move and stopped
• 2:37:00
  Speaker 1: a cunning expression entered his eyes. Then they became at
• 2:37:04
  Speaker 1: once dreamy and penetrating, as they fairly bored into the
• 2:37:07
  Speaker 1: girl's brain. Thuvia suddenly felt a change coming over her.
• 2:37:14
  Speaker 1: What the cause of it, she did not guess, But
• 2:37:17
  Speaker 1: somehow the man before her began to assume a new
• 2:37:20
  Speaker 1: relationship within her heart. No longer was he a strange
• 2:37:25
  Speaker 1: and mysterious enemy, but an old and trusted friend. Her
• 2:37:30
  Speaker 1: hand slipped from the dagger's hilt. Tario came closer. He
• 2:37:35
  Speaker 1: spoke gentle, friendly words, and she answered him in a
• 2:37:39
  Speaker 1: voice that seemed hers and yet another's. He was beside
• 2:37:44
  Speaker 1: her now, his hand was up her shoulder. His eyes
• 2:37:49
  Speaker 1: were down bent towards hers. She looked up into his face.
• 2:37:54
  Speaker 1: His gaze seemed to bore straight through her, to some
• 2:37:58
  Speaker 1: hidden spring of sentiment within her. Her lips started in
• 2:38:02
  Speaker 1: sudden awe and wonder at the strange revealment of her
• 2:38:06
  Speaker 1: inner self that was being laid bare before her consciousness.
• 2:38:11
  Speaker 1: She had known Tario forever. He was more than friend
• 2:38:15
  Speaker 1: to her. She moved a little closer to him. In
• 2:38:21
  Speaker 1: one swift flood of light, she knew the truth. She
• 2:38:24
  Speaker 1: loved Tario Jeddak of Lothar. She had always loved him.
• 2:38:30
  Speaker 1: The man, seeing the success of his strategy, could not
• 2:38:34
  Speaker 1: restrain a faint smile of satisfaction, whether there was something
• 2:38:40
  Speaker 1: in the expression of his face, or whether from Carthoris
• 2:38:44
  Speaker 1: of Helium and a far chamber of the palace came
• 2:38:46
  Speaker 1: a more powerful suggestion. Who may say, But something there
• 2:38:52
  Speaker 1: was that dispelled the strange hypnotic influence of the man,
• 2:38:57
  Speaker 1: as though a mask had been torn from her eyes.
• 2:39:00
  Speaker 1: Thuvia suddenly saw Tario as she had formerly seen him, and,
• 2:39:05
  Speaker 1: accustomed as she was to the strange manifestations of highly
• 2:39:09
  Speaker 1: developed mentality which are common upon barsoom, she quickly guessed
• 2:39:13
  Speaker 1: enough of the truth to know that she was in
• 2:39:16
  Speaker 1: grave danger. Quickly she took a step back, tearing herself
• 2:39:21
  Speaker 1: from his grasp. But the momentary contact had aroused within
• 2:39:25
  Speaker 1: Tario all the long buried passions of his loveless existence.
• 2:39:31
  Speaker 1: With a muffled cry, he sprang upon her, throwing his
• 2:39:34
  Speaker 1: arms about her and attempting to drag her lips to
• 2:39:37
  Speaker 1: his woman. He cried, lovely woman, Tario would make you,
• 2:39:43
  Speaker 1: Queen of Lothar. Listen to me, Listen to the love
• 2:39:47
  Speaker 1: of the last Jeddak of Barsoom. Thuvia struggled to free
• 2:39:51
  Speaker 1: herself from his embrace. Stop creature, she cried, Stop, I
• 2:39:57
  Speaker 1: do not love you. Stop or I shall scream for help.
• 2:40:01
  Speaker 1: Tario laughed in her face. Scream for help, he mimicked.
• 2:40:07
  Speaker 1: And who within the walls of Lothar is there who
• 2:40:10
  Speaker 1: might come in answer to your call? Who would dare
• 2:40:14
  Speaker 1: enter the presence of Tario unsummoned, There is one, she replied,
• 2:40:20
  Speaker 1: who would come? And coming dare to cut you down
• 2:40:25
  Speaker 1: upon your own throne if he thought that you had
• 2:40:28
  Speaker 1: offered a front to Thuvia of Ptarth, Who jav, asked Tario.
• 2:40:35
  Speaker 1: Not Jav nor any other soft skinned Lotharian, she replied,
• 2:40:40
  Speaker 1: But a real man, a real warrior, Carthoris of Helium. Again,
• 2:40:47
  Speaker 1: the man laughed at her. You forget the bowmen, he
• 2:40:51
  Speaker 1: reminded her, what could your red warrior accomplish against my
• 2:40:56
  Speaker 1: fearless legions. Again he caught her roughly to him, dragging
• 2:41:02
  Speaker 1: her toward his couch. If you will not be my queen,
• 2:41:06
  Speaker 1: he said, you shall be my slave. Neither cried the girl.
• 2:41:14
  Speaker 1: As she spoke the single word. There was a quick
• 2:41:17
  Speaker 1: movement of her right hand. Tario, releasing her staggered back,
• 2:41:22
  Speaker 1: both hands pressed to his side. At the same instant,
• 2:41:26
  Speaker 1: the room was filled with bowmen, and then the Jeddak
• 2:41:29
  Speaker 1: of Lothar sank senseless to the marble floor. At the
• 2:41:33
  Speaker 1: instant that he lost consciousness, the bowmen were about to
• 2:41:36
  Speaker 1: release their arrows into Thuvia's heart. Involuntarily, she gave a
• 2:41:41
  Speaker 1: single cry for help, though she knew that not even
• 2:41:44
  Speaker 1: Carthoris of Helium could save her. Now. Then she closed
• 2:41:48
  Speaker 1: her eyes and waited for the end. No slender shafts
• 2:41:54
  Speaker 1: pierced her tender side. She raised her lids to see
• 2:41:58
  Speaker 1: what stayed the hands of her execution. The room was
• 2:42:03
  Speaker 1: empty save for herself and the still form of the
• 2:42:06
  Speaker 1: Jeddak of Lothar lying at her feet, a little pool
• 2:42:10
  Speaker 1: of crimson staining the white marble of the floor. Beside him,
• 2:42:14
  Speaker 1: Tario was unconscious. Thuvia was amazed. Where were the bowmen?
• 2:42:21
  Speaker 1: Why had they not loosed their shafts? What could it
• 2:42:25
  Speaker 1: all mean? An instant before, the room had been mysteriously
• 2:42:29
  Speaker 1: filled with armed men, evidently called to protect their Jeddak.
• 2:42:34
  Speaker 1: Yet now with the evidence of her deed playing before them,
• 2:42:38
  Speaker 1: they had vanished as mysteriously as they had come, leaving
• 2:42:42
  Speaker 1: her alone with the body of their ruler, into whose
• 2:42:45
  Speaker 1: sides she had slipped her long keen blade. The girl
• 2:42:49
  Speaker 1: glanced apprehensively about first were signs of the return of
• 2:42:53
  Speaker 1: the bowmen, and then for some means of escape. The
• 2:42:57
  Speaker 1: wall behind the dais was pierced by two two small
• 2:43:00
  Speaker 1: doorways hidden by heavy hangings. Thuvia was quickly running toward
• 2:43:06
  Speaker 1: one of these when she heard the clank of a
• 2:43:08
  Speaker 1: warrior's medal at the end of the apartment behind her. Ah.
• 2:43:12
  Speaker 1: If she had but an instant more of time, she
• 2:43:15
  Speaker 1: could have reached that screening arrass and perchance have found
• 2:43:20
  Speaker 1: some avenue of escape behind it. But now it was
• 2:43:23
  Speaker 1: too late. She had been discovered. With a feeling that
• 2:43:27
  Speaker 1: was akin to apathy, she turned to meet her fate,
• 2:43:31
  Speaker 1: and there before her, running swiftly across the broad chamber
• 2:43:35
  Speaker 1: to her side, was Carthoris, his naked long sword gleaming
• 2:43:40
  Speaker 1: in his hand. For days she had doubted the intentions
• 2:43:44
  Speaker 1: of the Heliumite. She had thought him a party to
• 2:43:47
  Speaker 1: her abduction. Since fate had thrown them together, she had
• 2:43:51
  Speaker 1: scarce favored him with more than the most perfunctory replies
• 2:43:55
  Speaker 1: to his remarks, unless at such times as the weird
• 2:43:58
  Speaker 1: and uncanny happenings at low Othar had surprised her out
• 2:44:01
  Speaker 1: of her reserve. She knew that Carthoris of Helium would
• 2:44:06
  Speaker 1: fight for her, but whether to save her for himself
• 2:44:09
  Speaker 1: or another, she was in doubt. He knew that she
• 2:44:14
  Speaker 1: was promised to Coulan tith Jeddak of Cowl, but if
• 2:44:18
  Speaker 1: he had been instrumental in her abduction, his motives could
• 2:44:21
  Speaker 1: not be prompted by loyalty to his friend or regard
• 2:44:25
  Speaker 1: for her honor. And yet, as she saw him coming
• 2:44:29
  Speaker 1: across the marble floor of the audience chamber of Tario
• 2:44:32
  Speaker 1: of Lothar, his fine eyes filled with apprehension for her safety,
• 2:44:38
  Speaker 1: his splendid figure personifying all that is finest in the
• 2:44:42
  Speaker 1: fighting men of Marshal Mars, she could not believe that
• 2:44:46
  Speaker 1: any faint trace of perfidy lurked beneath so glorious an exterior. Never,
• 2:44:53
  Speaker 1: she thought, in all her life, had the sight of
• 2:44:56
  Speaker 1: any man been so welcome to her. It was with
• 2:45:00
  Speaker 1: difficulty that she refrained from rushing forward to meet him.
• 2:45:04
  Speaker 1: She knew that he loved her, But in time she
• 2:45:08
  Speaker 1: recalled that she was promised to cool on Tith. Not
• 2:45:12
  Speaker 1: even might she trust herself to show too great gratitude
• 2:45:15
  Speaker 1: to the Heliumite lest he misunderstand. Carthoris was by her side.
• 2:45:21
  Speaker 1: Now his quick glance had taken in the scene within
• 2:45:24
  Speaker 1: the room, the still figure of the Jeddak sprawled upon
• 2:45:28
  Speaker 1: the floor, the girl hastening toward a shrouded exit. Did
• 2:45:32
  Speaker 1: he harm Ethubia, he asked. She held up her crimsoned
• 2:45:37
  Speaker 1: blade that he might see it. No, she said, he
• 2:45:41
  Speaker 1: did not harm me. A grim smile lighted Carthoris's face.
• 2:45:47
  Speaker 1: Praise be our first ancestor, he murmured. And now let
• 2:45:52
  Speaker 1: us see if we may not make good our escape
• 2:45:54
  Speaker 1: from this accursed city before the Lotharians discover that their
• 2:45:58
  Speaker 1: Jeddak is no more with the firm authority that sat
• 2:46:03
  Speaker 1: so well upon him, in whose veins flowed the blood
• 2:46:06
  Speaker 1: of John Carter of Virginia and dejah Thoris of Helium.
• 2:46:10
  Speaker 1: He grasped her hand, and, turning back across the hall,
• 2:46:14
  Speaker 1: strode toward the great doorway through which jab had brought
• 2:46:17
  Speaker 1: them into the presence of the Jeddak earlier in the day.
• 2:46:22
  Speaker 1: They had almost reached the threshold, when a figure sprang
• 2:46:25
  Speaker 1: into the apartment through another entrance. It was Jab, He
• 2:46:29
  Speaker 1: too took in the scene. Within a glance. Carthoris turned
• 2:46:34
  Speaker 1: to face him, his sword ready in his hand and
• 2:46:37
  Speaker 1: his great body shielding the slender figure of the girl.
• 2:46:41
  Speaker 1: Come Jab of Lothar, he cried, Let us face the
• 2:46:45
  Speaker 1: issue at once, for only one of us may leave
• 2:46:48
  Speaker 1: this chamber alive with Thuvia of Ptarth. Then, seeing that
• 2:46:53
  Speaker 1: the man wore no sword, he exclaimed, bring on your bowmen, then,
• 2:46:58
  Speaker 1: or come with us as my prisoner until we have
• 2:47:00
  Speaker 1: safely passed the outer portals of thy ghostly city. You
• 2:47:05
  Speaker 1: have killed Tario, exclaimed the Jav, ignoring the other's challenge.
• 2:47:10
  Speaker 1: You have killed Tario. I see his blood upon the floor,
• 2:47:14
  Speaker 1: real blood, real death. Tario was after all as real
• 2:47:22
  Speaker 1: as I. Yet he was an etherealist. He would not
• 2:47:26
  Speaker 1: materialize his sustenance. Can it be that they are right? Well?
• 2:47:34
  Speaker 1: We too are right? And all these ages we have
• 2:47:37
  Speaker 1: been quarreling, each saying that the other was wrong. However
• 2:47:43
  Speaker 1: he is dead. Now of that I am glad. Now
• 2:47:47
  Speaker 1: shall Jav come into his own Now? Shall Jav be
• 2:47:51
  Speaker 1: Jeddak of Lothar, as he finished, Tario opened his eyes
• 2:47:57
  Speaker 1: and then quickly sat up. Trader assassin, he screamed, and
• 2:48:04
  Speaker 1: then kudar kudar, which is the Barsoomian for guard. Jav
• 2:48:10
  Speaker 1: went sickly white. He fell upon his belly, wriggling toward Tario. Oh,
• 2:48:16
  Speaker 1: my Jeddak, my Jeddak, he whimpered. Jeev had no hand
• 2:48:21
  Speaker 1: in this, Jev, your faithful Jev. But just this instant
• 2:48:26
  Speaker 1: entered the apartment to find you lying prone upon the floor,
• 2:48:30
  Speaker 1: and these two strangers about to leave. How it happened,
• 2:48:34
  Speaker 1: I know not believe me, most glorious Jeddak cea s nave,
• 2:48:40
  Speaker 1: cried Tario.
• 2:48:42
  Speaker 2: I heard your words. However he is dead. Now of
• 2:48:46
  Speaker 2: that I am glad. Now shall Jav come into his
• 2:48:50
  Speaker 2: own Now? Shall Jav be Jeddak of Lothar.
• 2:48:55
  Speaker 1: At last? Trader, I have found you out. Your own
• 2:49:00
  Speaker 1: words have condemned you as surely as the acts of
• 2:49:03
  Speaker 1: these red creatures have sealed their fates. Unless he paused,
• 2:49:09
  Speaker 1: unless the woman, but he got no further Carthoris guessed
• 2:49:14
  Speaker 1: what he would have said, and before the words could
• 2:49:17
  Speaker 1: be uttered, he had sprung forward and struck the man
• 2:49:20
  Speaker 1: across the mouth with his open palm, Tario frothed in
• 2:49:24
  Speaker 1: rage and mortification. And should you again affront the Princess
• 2:49:29
  Speaker 1: of Ptarth, warned the heliumite, I shall forget that you
• 2:49:33
  Speaker 1: wear no sword, not forever may I control my itching
• 2:49:38
  Speaker 1: sword hand. Tario shrank back toward the little doorways behind
• 2:49:43
  Speaker 1: the dais. He was trying to speak, but so hideously
• 2:49:48
  Speaker 1: were the muscles of his face working that he could
• 2:49:50
  Speaker 1: utter no word for several minutes. At last he managed
• 2:49:54
  Speaker 1: to articulate intelligibly. Die, he shrieked, die, and then he
• 2:50:01
  Speaker 1: turned toward the exit. At his back, Jav leaped forward,
• 2:50:05
  Speaker 1: screaming in terror. Have pity, Tario, have pity. Remember the
• 2:50:11
  Speaker 1: long ages that I have served you faithfully, remember all
• 2:50:15
  Speaker 1: that I have done for Lothar. Do not condemn me
• 2:50:19
  Speaker 1: now to the death, hideous, save me, Save me. But
• 2:50:24
  Speaker 1: Tario only laughed a mocking laugh, and continued to back
• 2:50:28
  Speaker 1: toward the hangings that hid the little doorway. Jav turned
• 2:50:33
  Speaker 1: toward Carthoris. Stop him, he screamed, stop him. If you
• 2:50:38
  Speaker 1: love life, let him not leave this room, And as
• 2:50:42
  Speaker 1: he spoke, he leaped in pursuit of his Jeddak. Carthoris
• 2:50:47
  Speaker 1: followed Jav's example, but the last of the Jeddaks of
• 2:50:51
  Speaker 1: Barsoom was too quick for them. By the time they
• 2:50:55
  Speaker 1: reached the arras behind which he had disappeared, they found
• 2:50:58
  Speaker 1: a heavy stone door blocked their further progress. Jav sank
• 2:51:03
  Speaker 1: to the floor in a spasm of terror. Come man,
• 2:51:07
  Speaker 1: cried Carthoris. We are not dead yet. Let us hasten
• 2:51:11
  Speaker 1: to the avenues and make an attempt to leave the city.
• 2:51:14
  Speaker 1: We are still alive, and while we live, we may
• 2:51:17
  Speaker 1: yet endeavor to direct our own destinies of what avail.
• 2:51:21
  Speaker 1: To sink spineless to the floor, Come be a man,
• 2:51:26
  Speaker 1: Jav but shook his head. Did you not hear him
• 2:51:29
  Speaker 1: call the guards? He moaned. Oh, if we could have
• 2:51:33
  Speaker 1: but intercepted him, then there might have been hope. But
• 2:51:37
  Speaker 1: alas he was too quick for us. Well well, exclaimed
• 2:51:43
  Speaker 1: Carthoris impatiently. What if he did call the guards, There
• 2:51:47
  Speaker 1: will be time enough to worry about that after they come.
• 2:51:50
  Speaker 1: At present, I see no indication that they have any
• 2:51:53
  Speaker 1: idea of over exerting themselves to obey their jeddak's summons.
• 2:51:59
  Speaker 1: Jav shook his head mournfully. You do not understand, he said,
• 2:52:04
  Speaker 1: The guards have already come and gone. They have done
• 2:52:09
  Speaker 1: their work, and we are lost. Look to the various exits.
• 2:52:14
  Speaker 1: Carthoris and Theuvia turned their eyes in the direction of
• 2:52:17
  Speaker 1: the several doorways which pierced the walls of the great chamber.
• 2:52:22
  Speaker 1: Each was tightly closed by huge stone doors. Well, asked Carthoris,
• 2:52:30
  Speaker 1: we are to die the death, whispered jab faintly. Further
• 2:52:35
  Speaker 1: than that, he would not say. He just sat upon
• 2:52:39
  Speaker 1: the edge of the Jeddak's couch and waited. Carthoris moved
• 2:52:44
  Speaker 1: to Thuvia's side, and, standing there with naked sword, he
• 2:52:49
  Speaker 1: let his brave eyes roam ceaselessly about the great chamber,
• 2:52:52
  Speaker 1: that no foe might spring upon them unseen. For what
• 2:52:58
  Speaker 1: seemed hours, no sound, the silence of their living tomb,
• 2:53:03
  Speaker 1: no sign gave their executioners of the time or manner
• 2:53:06
  Speaker 1: of their death. The suspense was terrible. Even Carthoris of
• 2:53:11
  Speaker 1: Helium began to feel the terrible strain upon his nerves.
• 2:53:15
  Speaker 1: If he could but know how and whence the hand
• 2:53:18
  Speaker 1: of death was to strike, he could meet it unafraid.
• 2:53:22
  Speaker 1: But to suffer longer the hideous tension of this blighting,
• 2:53:25
  Speaker 1: ignorance of the plans of their assassins was telling upon
• 2:53:29
  Speaker 1: him grievously. Thuvia of Ptarth drew quite close to him.
• 2:53:36
  Speaker 1: She felt safer with the feel of his arm against hers,
• 2:53:39
  Speaker 1: and with the contact of her. The man took a
• 2:53:41
  Speaker 1: new grip upon himself with his old time smile, he
• 2:53:45
  Speaker 1: turned toward her. It would seem that they are trying
• 2:53:49
  Speaker 1: to frighten us to death, he said, laughing, And shame
• 2:53:52
  Speaker 1: be upon me that I should confess it. I think
• 2:53:55
  Speaker 1: they were close to accomplishing their designs upon me. She
• 2:53:59
  Speaker 1: was about to make some reply when a fearful shriek
• 2:54:02
  Speaker 1: broke from the lips of the Lotharian. The end is coming,
• 2:54:06
  Speaker 1: he cried, The end is coming. The floor, the floor,
• 2:54:10
  Speaker 1: Oh Komal, be merciful. Thuvia and Carthoris did not need
• 2:54:15
  Speaker 1: to look at the floor to be aware of the
• 2:54:17
  Speaker 1: strange movement that was taking place. Slowly, the marble flagging
• 2:54:22
  Speaker 1: was sinking in all directions toward the center. At first,
• 2:54:26
  Speaker 1: the movement, being gradual, was scarce noticeable, but presently the
• 2:54:30
  Speaker 1: angle of the floor became such that one might stand
• 2:54:33
  Speaker 1: easily only by bending one knee considerably. Jav was shrieking
• 2:54:39
  Speaker 1: still and clawing at the royal couch that had already
• 2:54:42
  Speaker 1: commenced to slide toward the center of the room, where
• 2:54:45
  Speaker 1: both Thuvia and Carthoris suddenly noted a small orifice which
• 2:54:50
  Speaker 1: grew in diameter as the floor assumed more closely, a
• 2:54:54
  Speaker 1: funnel like contour. Now it became more and more difficult
• 2:54:59
  Speaker 1: to cling to the the inclination of the smooth and
• 2:55:01
  Speaker 1: polished marble. Carthoris tried to support Thuvia, but himself commenced
• 2:55:08
  Speaker 1: to slide and slip toward the ever enlarging aperture. Better
• 2:55:12
  Speaker 1: to cling to the smooth stone, he kicked off his
• 2:55:15
  Speaker 1: sandals of zitidar hide and with his bare feet braced
• 2:55:19
  Speaker 1: himself against the sickening tilt, at the same time throwing
• 2:55:23
  Speaker 1: his arms supportingly around the girl in her terror, Her
• 2:55:27
  Speaker 1: own hands clasped about the man's neck, her cheek was
• 2:55:31
  Speaker 1: close to his death. Unseen and of unknown form settled
• 2:55:38
  Speaker 1: close upon them. And because unseen and unknowable, infinitely more terrifying. Courage,
• 2:55:47
  Speaker 1: my princess, he whispered. She looked up into his face
• 2:55:52
  Speaker 1: to see smiling lips above hers, and brave eyes untouched
• 2:55:57
  Speaker 1: by terror, drinking deeply of her. Then the floor sagged
• 2:56:03
  Speaker 1: and tilted more swiftly. There was a sudden slipping rush
• 2:56:07
  Speaker 1: as they were precipitated toward the aperture. Jav's screams rose
• 2:56:12
  Speaker 1: weird and horrible in their ears, and then the three
• 2:56:15
  Speaker 1: found themselves piled upon the royal couch of Tario, which
• 2:56:19
  Speaker 1: had stuck within the aperture at the base of the
• 2:56:21
  Speaker 1: marble funnel. For a moment they breathed more freely, but
• 2:56:26
  Speaker 1: presently they discovered that the aperture was continuing to enlarge.
• 2:56:30
  Speaker 1: The couch slipped downward. Jav shrieked again. There was a
• 2:56:35
  Speaker 1: sickening sensation as they felt all let go beneath them
• 2:56:39
  Speaker 1: as they fell through darkness to an unknown death. End
• 2:56:46
  Speaker 1: of chapter eight, Chapter nine, the battle in the plane.
• 2:56:57
  Speaker 1: The distance from the bottom of the funnel to the
• 2:56:59
  Speaker 1: floor of the chamber beneath it could not have been
• 2:57:02
  Speaker 1: great for all three of the victims of Tario's wrath
• 2:57:05
  Speaker 1: alighted unscathed. Carthoris, still clasping Thuvia tightly to his breast,
• 2:57:13
  Speaker 1: came to the ground catlike upon his feet, breaking the shock.
• 2:57:17
  Speaker 1: For the girl Scarce had his feet touched the rough
• 2:57:21
  Speaker 1: stone flagging of this new chamber than his sword flashed out,
• 2:57:25
  Speaker 1: ready for instant use, but though the room was lighted,
• 2:57:30
  Speaker 1: there was no sign of enemy about. Carthoris turned toward Jav.
• 2:57:35
  Speaker 1: The man was pasty white with fear. What is to
• 2:57:39
  Speaker 1: be our fate, asked the Heliumite. Tell me, man, shake
• 2:57:44
  Speaker 1: off your terror long enough to tell me, so I
• 2:57:46
  Speaker 1: may be prepared to sell my life and that of
• 2:57:49
  Speaker 1: the Princess of Ptarth as dearly as possible. Comal whispered Jav.
• 2:57:56
  Speaker 1: We are to be devoured by Comal, your deity, asked Carthoris.
• 2:58:03
  Speaker 1: The Lotharian nodded his head. Then he pointed toward a
• 2:58:07
  Speaker 1: low doorway at one end of the chamber. From thence
• 2:58:11
  Speaker 1: will he come upon us. Lay aside your puny sword, fool.
• 2:58:15
  Speaker 1: It will but enrage him the more and make our
• 2:58:18
  Speaker 1: sufferings the worse. Carthoris smiled, gripping his longsword the more firmly. Presently,
• 2:58:27
  Speaker 1: Jav gave a horrified moan at the same time, pointing
• 2:58:31
  Speaker 1: toward the door he has come, he whimpered. Carthoris and
• 2:58:37
  Speaker 1: Thuvia looked in the direction the Lotharian had indicated, expecting
• 2:58:40
  Speaker 1: to see some strange and fearful creature in human form.
• 2:58:44
  Speaker 1: But to their astonishment they saw the broad head and
• 2:58:48
  Speaker 1: great maned shoulders of a huge banth, the largest that
• 2:58:52
  Speaker 1: either had ever seen. Slowly and with dignity, the mighty
• 2:58:58
  Speaker 1: beast advanced into the room. Jav had fallen to the
• 2:59:02
  Speaker 1: floor and was wriggling his body in the same servile
• 2:59:05
  Speaker 1: manner that he had adopted toward Tario. He spoke to
• 2:59:09
  Speaker 1: the fierce beasts as he would have spoken to a
• 2:59:11
  Speaker 1: human being, pleading with it for mercy. Carthoris stepped between
• 2:59:16
  Speaker 1: Thuvia and the banth, his sword ready to contest the
• 2:59:20
  Speaker 1: beast's victory over them. Thuvia turned toward Jav. Is this comal,
• 2:59:26
  Speaker 1: your God? She asked. Jav nodded affirmatively. The girl smiled,
• 2:59:33
  Speaker 1: and then, brushing past Carthoris, she stepped swiftly toward the
• 2:59:38
  Speaker 1: growling carnivore. In low, firm tones, she spoke to it
• 2:59:44
  Speaker 1: as she had spoken to the banths of the Golden
• 2:59:46
  Speaker 1: Cliffs and the scavengers before the walls of Lothar. The
• 2:59:51
  Speaker 1: beast ceased its growling with lowered head and catlike purr,
• 2:59:56
  Speaker 1: it came slinking to the girl's feet. Thuvia turned toward Carthoris.
• 3:00:02
  Speaker 1: It is but a banth, she said, We have nothing
• 3:00:05
  Speaker 1: to fear from it. Carthoris smiled. I did not fear it,
• 3:00:10
  Speaker 1: he replied, for I too believed it to be only
• 3:00:14
  Speaker 1: a banth, and I have my long sword. Jav sat
• 3:00:18
  Speaker 1: up and gazed at the spectacle before him, the slender
• 3:00:22
  Speaker 1: girl weaving her fingers in the tawny mane of the
• 3:00:25
  Speaker 1: huge creature that he had thought divine, while Komal rubbed
• 3:00:30
  Speaker 1: his hideous snout against her side. So this is your God,
• 3:00:35
  Speaker 1: laughed Thuvia. Jav looked bewildered. He scarce knew whether he
• 3:00:40
  Speaker 1: dared chance offending Komal or not, For so strong is
• 3:00:45
  Speaker 1: the power of superstition that, even though we know that
• 3:00:48
  Speaker 1: we have been reverencing a sham, yet still we hesitate
• 3:00:51
  Speaker 1: to admit the validity of our new found convictions. Yes,
• 3:00:57
  Speaker 1: he said, this is Komal for ages. The enemies of
• 3:01:01
  Speaker 1: Tario have been hurled into his pit to fill his maw,
• 3:01:05
  Speaker 1: for Komal must be fed. Is there any way out
• 3:01:09
  Speaker 1: of this chamber to the avenues of the city, asked Carthoris.
• 3:01:13
  Speaker 1: Jav shrugged. I do not know, he replied. Never have
• 3:01:18
  Speaker 1: I been here before, nor ever have I cared to
• 3:01:21
  Speaker 1: do so, come, suggested Thuvia. Let us explore. There must
• 3:01:27
  Speaker 1: be a way out. Together, the three approached the doorway
• 3:01:32
  Speaker 1: through which Komal had entered the apartment that was to
• 3:01:34
  Speaker 1: have witnessed their deaths. Beyond was a low roofed lair
• 3:01:39
  Speaker 1: with a small door at the far end. This, to
• 3:01:43
  Speaker 1: their delight, opened to the lifting of an ordinary latch,
• 3:01:47
  Speaker 1: letting them into a circular arena surrounded by tiers of seats.
• 3:01:52
  Speaker 1: Here is where Komal has fed in public, explained the jav.
• 3:01:56
  Speaker 1: Had Tario dared, it would have been here that our
• 3:01:59
  Speaker 1: fates had been seen, But he feared too much thy
• 3:02:02
  Speaker 1: keen blade red man, and so he hurled us all
• 3:02:05
  Speaker 1: downward to the pit. I did not know how closely
• 3:02:09
  Speaker 1: connected were the two chambers. Now we may easily reach
• 3:02:12
  Speaker 1: the avenues and the city gates. Only the bowmen may
• 3:02:16
  Speaker 1: dispute the right of way, and knowing their secret, I
• 3:02:20
  Speaker 1: doubt that they will have power to harm us. Another
• 3:02:24
  Speaker 1: door led to a flight of stairs that rose from
• 3:02:27
  Speaker 1: the arena level upward through the seats to an exit
• 3:02:30
  Speaker 1: at the back of the hall. Beyond this was a straight,
• 3:02:34
  Speaker 1: broad corridor running directly through the palace to the gardens
• 3:02:38
  Speaker 1: at the side. No one appeared to question them as
• 3:02:42
  Speaker 1: they advanced, mighty comale, pacing by the girl's side. Where
• 3:02:47
  Speaker 1: are the people of the palace, the Jeddak's retinue asked Carthoris.
• 3:02:52
  Speaker 1: Even in the city streets as we came through, I
• 3:02:54
  Speaker 1: scarce saw a sign of a human being. Yet all
• 3:02:57
  Speaker 1: about are the evidences of a mighty population, jav sighed.
• 3:03:03
  Speaker 1: Poor Lothar, he said, it is indeed a city of ghosts.
• 3:03:09
  Speaker 1: There are scarce a thousand of us left, who once
• 3:03:13
  Speaker 1: were numbered in the millions. Our great city is peopled
• 3:03:17
  Speaker 1: by the creatures of our own imaginings for our own needs.
• 3:03:21
  Speaker 1: We do not take the trouble to materialize these peoples
• 3:03:24
  Speaker 1: of our brain. Yet they are apparent to us even now.
• 3:03:29
  Speaker 1: I see great throngs lining the avenues, hastening to and
• 3:03:34
  Speaker 1: fro in the round of their duties. I see women
• 3:03:38
  Speaker 1: and children laughing on the balconies. These we are forbidden
• 3:03:42
  Speaker 1: to materialize, But yet I see them. They are here.
• 3:03:47
  Speaker 1: But why not, he mused, No longer need I fear Tario.
• 3:03:52
  Speaker 1: He has done his worst than failed. Why not indeed,
• 3:03:58
  Speaker 1: stay friends, he continued, Would you see Lothar in all
• 3:04:02
  Speaker 1: her glory. Carthoris and Thuvia, not of their ascent, more
• 3:04:07
  Speaker 1: out of courtesy than because they fully grasped the import
• 3:04:10
  Speaker 1: of his mutterings. Jav gazed at them penetratingly for an instant, then,
• 3:04:16
  Speaker 1: with a wave of his hand, cried, Look. The sight
• 3:04:21
  Speaker 1: that met them was awe inspiring. Where before there had
• 3:04:25
  Speaker 1: been nought but deserted pavements and scarlet swards, yawning windows
• 3:04:31
  Speaker 1: and tenantless doors, now swarmed a countless multitude of happy,
• 3:04:36
  Speaker 1: laughing people. It is the past, said Jab in a
• 3:04:40
  Speaker 1: low voice. They do not see us, but they live
• 3:04:44
  Speaker 1: the old, dead past of ancient Lothar, the dead and
• 3:04:49
  Speaker 1: crumbled Lothar, of antiquity, which stood upon the shore of Throxus,
• 3:04:55
  Speaker 1: mightiest of the five oceans. See those fine standing men
• 3:05:00
  Speaker 1: swinging along the broad avenue. See the young girls and
• 3:05:05
  Speaker 1: the women smile upon them. See the men greet them
• 3:05:09
  Speaker 1: with love and respect. Those be seafarers coming up from
• 3:05:14
  Speaker 1: their ships which lie at the quays at the city's edge.
• 3:05:19
  Speaker 1: Brave men, they oh, but the glory of Lothar has faded.
• 3:05:24
  Speaker 1: See their weapons, they alone bore arms, for they crossed
• 3:05:29
  Speaker 1: the five seas to strange places where dangers were. With
• 3:05:33
  Speaker 1: their passing passed the martial spirit of the Lotharians, leaving
• 3:05:39
  Speaker 1: as the ages rolled by a race of spineless cowards.
• 3:05:45
  Speaker 1: We hated war, and so we trained not our youth
• 3:05:48
  Speaker 1: in warlike ways. Thus followed our undoing. For when the
• 3:05:53
  Speaker 1: seas dried and the green hordes encroached upon us, we
• 3:05:58
  Speaker 1: could do nought but flee. But we remembered the seafaring
• 3:06:02
  Speaker 1: bowmen of the days of our glory. It is the
• 3:06:05
  Speaker 1: memory of these which we hurl upon our enemies. As
• 3:06:10
  Speaker 1: Jav ceased speaking, the picture faded, and once more the
• 3:06:15
  Speaker 1: three took up their way toward the distant city gates
• 3:06:18
  Speaker 1: along deserted avenues. Twice they sighted Lotharians of flesh and blood.
• 3:06:25
  Speaker 1: At sight of them and the huge banth, which they
• 3:06:28
  Speaker 1: must have recognized as comal, the citizens turned and fled.
• 3:06:34
  Speaker 3: They will carry word of our flight to Tario, cried Jav,
• 3:06:38
  Speaker 3: and soon he will send his bowmen after us. Let
• 3:06:41
  Speaker 3: us hope that our theory is correct, and that their
• 3:06:44
  Speaker 3: shafts are powerless against minds cognizant of their unreality. Otherwise
• 3:06:49
  Speaker 3: we are doomed, explain red Man to the woman. The
• 3:06:54
  Speaker 3: truths that I have explained to you, that she may
• 3:06:57
  Speaker 3: meet the arrows with a stronger counter suggestion of immunity.
• 3:07:01
  Speaker 3: Carthoris did as Jav bid him, but they came to
• 3:07:04
  Speaker 3: the great gates without sign of pursuit developing Here, Jav
• 3:07:09
  Speaker 3: said in motion the mechanism that rolled the huge wheel
• 3:07:13
  Speaker 3: like gait aside, and a moment later the three, accompanied
• 3:07:17
  Speaker 3: by the Banth, stepped out into the plain before Lothar
• 3:07:22
  Speaker 3: Scarce had they covered a hundred yards when the sound
• 3:07:24
  Speaker 3: of many men shouting rose behind them. As they turned,
• 3:07:29
  Speaker 3: they saw a company of bowmen debuching upon the plain
• 3:07:32
  Speaker 3: from the gate through which they had but just passed.
• 3:07:36
  Speaker 3: Upon the wall above the gate, there were a number
• 3:07:39
  Speaker 3: of Lotharians, among whom Jav recognized. Tario the Jeddak stood
• 3:07:45
  Speaker 3: glaring at them, evidently concentrating all the forces of his
• 3:07:49
  Speaker 3: trained mind upon them. That he was making a supreme
• 3:07:53
  Speaker 3: effort to render his imaginary creatures deadly was apparent. Jav
• 3:07:58
  Speaker 3: turned white and commenced to tremble. At the crucial moment
• 3:08:03
  Speaker 3: he appeared to lose the courage of his conviction. The
• 3:08:06
  Speaker 3: great Banth turned back toward the advancing bowmen and growled.
• 3:08:12
  Speaker 3: Carthoris placed himself between Thuvia and the enemy, and facing them,
• 3:08:17
  Speaker 3: awaited the outcome of the charge. Suddenly, an inspiration came
• 3:08:22
  Speaker 3: to Carthoris. Hurl your own bowmen against Tario's, he cried
• 3:08:26
  Speaker 3: to Jav. Let us see a materialized battle between two mentalities.
• 3:08:32
  Speaker 3: The suggestion seemed to hearten the Lotharian, and in another
• 3:08:36
  Speaker 3: moment the three stood behind solid ranks of huge bowmen
• 3:08:40
  Speaker 3: who hurled taunts and menaces at the advancing company emerging
• 3:08:44
  Speaker 3: from the walled city. Jav was a new man. The
• 3:08:48
  Speaker 3: moment his battalions stood between him and Tario, one could
• 3:08:52
  Speaker 3: almost have sworn the man believed these creatures of his
• 3:08:55
  Speaker 3: strange hypnotic power to be real flesh and blood. With
• 3:09:00
  Speaker 3: hoarse battle cries, they charged the bowmen of Tario. Barbed
• 3:09:05
  Speaker 3: shafts flew, thick and fast men fell, and the ground
• 3:09:10
  Speaker 3: was red with gore. Carthoris and Thuvia had difficulty in
• 3:09:15
  Speaker 3: reconciling the reality of it all with their knowledge of
• 3:09:18
  Speaker 3: the truth. They saw Utan after Utan march from the
• 3:09:22
  Speaker 3: gate in perfect step to reinforce the outnumbered company which
• 3:09:26
  Speaker 3: Tario had first sent forth to arrest them. They saw
• 3:09:30
  Speaker 3: Jav's forces grow correspondingly, until all about them rolled a
• 3:09:34
  Speaker 3: sea of fighting, cursing warriors, and the dead lay in
• 3:09:38
  Speaker 3: heaps about the field. Jav and Tario seemed to have
• 3:09:42
  Speaker 3: forgotten all else, beside the struggling bowmen that surged to
• 3:09:46
  Speaker 3: and fro filling the broad field between the forest and
• 3:09:49
  Speaker 3: the city. The wood loomed close behind Thuvia and Carthoris.
• 3:09:54
  Speaker 3: The latter cast a glance toward Jav. Come, he whispered
• 3:09:58
  Speaker 3: to the girl. Let them fight out their empty battle.
• 3:10:01
  Speaker 3: Neither evidently has power to harm the other. They are
• 3:10:04
  Speaker 3: like two controversialists hurling words at one another. While they
• 3:10:08
  Speaker 3: are engaged, we may as well be devoting our energies
• 3:10:11
  Speaker 3: to an attempt to find the passage through the cliffs
• 3:10:13
  Speaker 3: to the plain beyond. As he spoke, Jav, turning from
• 3:10:18
  Speaker 3: the battle for an instant, caught his words. He saw
• 3:10:22
  Speaker 3: the girl move to accompany the heliumite. A cunning look
• 3:10:26
  Speaker 3: leaped to the Lotharian's eyes. The thing that lay beyond
• 3:10:30
  Speaker 3: that look had been deep in his heart since first
• 3:10:33
  Speaker 3: he had lain eyes upon Thuvia of Ptarth. He had
• 3:10:37
  Speaker 3: not recognized it, however, until now that she seemed about
• 3:10:41
  Speaker 3: to pass out of his existence. He centered his mind
• 3:10:44
  Speaker 3: upon the Heliumite and the girl. For an instant Carthoris
• 3:10:48
  Speaker 3: saw Thuvia of Ptarth step forward with outstretched hand. He
• 3:10:53
  Speaker 3: was surprised at this sudden softening toward him, and it
• 3:10:56
  Speaker 3: was with a full heart that he let his fingers
• 3:10:58
  Speaker 3: close upon hers, as together they turned away from forgotten
• 3:11:02
  Speaker 3: Lothar into the woods and bent their steps toward the
• 3:11:05
  Speaker 3: distant mountains. As the Lotharian had turned toward them. Thuvia
• 3:11:11
  Speaker 3: had been surprised to hear Carthoris suddenly voice a new plan.
• 3:11:15
  Speaker 3: Remain here with Jav. She had heard him say, while
• 3:11:19
  Speaker 3: I go to search for the passage through the cliffs.
• 3:11:22
  Speaker 3: She had dropped back in surprise and disappointment, for she
• 3:11:25
  Speaker 3: knew that there was no reason why she should not
• 3:11:27
  Speaker 3: have accompanied him. Certainly she should have been safer with
• 3:11:31
  Speaker 3: him than left here alone with the Lotharian. And Jav
• 3:11:35
  Speaker 3: watched the two and smiled his cunning smile. When Carthoris
• 3:11:41
  Speaker 3: had disappeared within the wood, Thuvia seated herself apathetically upon
• 3:11:46
  Speaker 3: the scarlet sward to watch the seemingly interminable struggles of
• 3:11:49
  Speaker 3: the bowmen. The long afternoon dragged its weary way toward darkness,
• 3:11:55
  Speaker 3: and still the imaginary legions charged and retreated. The sun
• 3:12:00
  Speaker 3: was about to set when Tario commenced to withdraw his
• 3:12:03
  Speaker 3: troops slowly toward the city. His plan for cessation of
• 3:12:07
  Speaker 3: hostilities through the night evidently met with Jav's entire approval,
• 3:12:12
  Speaker 3: for he caused his forces to form themselves in orderly
• 3:12:15
  Speaker 3: utons and marched just within the edge of the wood,
• 3:12:18
  Speaker 3: where they were soon busily engaged in preparing their evening
• 3:12:21
  Speaker 3: meal and spreading down their sleeping silks and furs for
• 3:12:24
  Speaker 3: the night. Thuvia could scarce repress a smile as she
• 3:12:28
  Speaker 3: noted the scrupulous care with which Jav's imaginary men attended
• 3:12:32
  Speaker 3: to each tiny detail of deportment, as truly as if
• 3:12:35
  Speaker 3: they had been flesh and blood. Centuries were posted between
• 3:12:39
  Speaker 3: the camp and the city, officers clanked hither and thither,
• 3:12:42
  Speaker 3: issuing commands and seeing to it that they were properly
• 3:12:45
  Speaker 3: carried out. Thuvia turned toward Jav. Why is it, she asked,
• 3:12:52
  Speaker 3: that you observe such careful nicety in the regulation of
• 3:12:54
  Speaker 3: your creatures, when Tario knows quite as well as you
• 3:12:58
  Speaker 3: that they are but figments of your brain. Why not
• 3:13:01
  Speaker 3: prevent them simply to dissolve into thin air until you
• 3:13:03
  Speaker 3: again require their futile service. You do not understand them,
• 3:13:08
  Speaker 3: replied jav. While they exist, they are real. I do
• 3:13:13
  Speaker 3: but call them into being now and in a way
• 3:13:16
  Speaker 3: direct their general actions. But thereafter, until I dissolve them,
• 3:13:21
  Speaker 3: they are as actual as you were. I Their officers
• 3:13:25
  Speaker 3: command them under my guidance. I am the general, that
• 3:13:29
  Speaker 3: is all. And the psychological effect upon the enemy is
• 3:13:33
  Speaker 3: far greater than were I to treat them merely as
• 3:13:35
  Speaker 3: substanceless vagaries. Then, too, continued the Farian, there is always
• 3:13:42
  Speaker 3: the hope, which with us is little short of belief,
• 3:13:45
  Speaker 3: that some day these materializations will merge into the real,
• 3:13:49
  Speaker 3: that they will remain some of them after we have
• 3:13:53
  Speaker 3: dissolved their fellows, and that thus we shall have discovered
• 3:13:57
  Speaker 3: a means for perpetuating our dying ray. Some there are
• 3:14:02
  Speaker 3: who claim already to have accomplished the thing. It is
• 3:14:06
  Speaker 3: generally supposed that the etherealists have quite a few among
• 3:14:09
  Speaker 3: their number who are permanent materializations. It is even said
• 3:14:13
  Speaker 3: that such as Tario, But that cannot be, for he
• 3:14:17
  Speaker 3: existed before we have discovered the full possibilities of suggestion.
• 3:14:21
  Speaker 3: There are others among us who insist that none of
• 3:14:24
  Speaker 3: us is real, though we could not have existed all
• 3:14:27
  Speaker 3: these ages without material food and water, had we ourselves
• 3:14:31
  Speaker 3: been material. Although I am a realist, I rather incline
• 3:14:36
  Speaker 3: towards this belief myself. It seems well and sensibly based
• 3:14:41
  Speaker 3: upon the belief that our ancient forebears developed before their
• 3:14:44
  Speaker 3: extinction such wondrous mentalities, that some of the stronger minds
• 3:14:49
  Speaker 3: among them lived after the death of their bodies. That
• 3:14:53
  Speaker 3: we are but the deathless minds of individuals long dead,
• 3:14:59
  Speaker 3: it would appear poss And yet in so far as
• 3:15:02
  Speaker 3: I am concerned, I have all the attributes of corporeal existence.
• 3:15:07
  Speaker 3: I sleep, I eat.
• 3:15:11
  Speaker 1: He paused, casting a meaning look upon the girl I love.
• 3:15:17
  Speaker 1: Thuvia could not mistake the palpable meaning of his words
• 3:15:20
  Speaker 1: and expression. She turned away with a little shrug of
• 3:15:23
  Speaker 1: disgust that was not lost upon the Lotharian. He came
• 3:15:28
  Speaker 1: close to her and seized her arm. Why not, jev,
• 3:15:32
  Speaker 1: he cried, cood, more honorable than the second of the
• 3:15:34
  Speaker 1: world's most ancient race. Your heliumite, he is gone. He
• 3:15:39
  Speaker 1: has deserted you to your fate to save himself. Come be,
• 3:15:43
  Speaker 1: jevs Thuvia of Ptarth rose to her full height, her
• 3:15:48
  Speaker 1: lifted shoulders turned toward the man. Her haughty chin upraised
• 3:15:52
  Speaker 1: a scornful twist to her lips. You lie, she said quietly.
• 3:15:58
  Speaker 1: The Heliumite knows less of disloyalty that he knows of fear,
• 3:16:02
  Speaker 1: and of fear he is as ignorant as the unhatched young.
• 3:16:06
  Speaker 1: Then where is he? Taunted the Lotharian. I tell you
• 3:16:10
  Speaker 1: he has fled the valley. He has left you to
• 3:16:13
  Speaker 1: your fate. But Jev will see that it is a
• 3:16:16
  Speaker 1: pleasant one. Tomorrow we shall return into Lothar the head
• 3:16:20
  Speaker 1: of my victorious army, and I shall be Jeddak, and
• 3:16:24
  Speaker 1: you shall be my consort. Come, and he attempted to
• 3:16:28
  Speaker 1: crush her to his breast. The girl struggled to free herself,
• 3:16:33
  Speaker 1: striking at the man with her metal armlets. Yet still
• 3:16:36
  Speaker 1: he drew her toward him, until both were suddenly startled
• 3:16:40
  Speaker 1: by a hideous growl that rumbled from the dark woods
• 3:16:43
  Speaker 1: close behind them. End of chapter nine, Chapter ten. Car Komak,
• 3:16:54
  Speaker 1: the bowman as Carthoris, moved through the forest toward the
• 3:16:59
  Speaker 1: distant cliffs with Thuvia's hand still pressed tight in his,
• 3:17:04
  Speaker 1: He wondered a little at the girl's continued silence, Yet
• 3:17:08
  Speaker 1: the contact of her cool palm against his was so
• 3:17:11
  Speaker 1: pleasant that he feared to break the spell of her
• 3:17:14
  Speaker 1: new found reliance in him by speaking onward. Through the
• 3:17:19
  Speaker 1: dim wood they passed until the shadows of the quick
• 3:17:22
  Speaker 1: coming Martian night commenced to close down upon them. Then
• 3:17:27
  Speaker 1: it was that Carthoris turned to speak to the girl
• 3:17:30
  Speaker 1: at his side. They must plan together for the future.
• 3:17:35
  Speaker 1: It was his idea to pass through the cliffs at
• 3:17:37
  Speaker 1: once if they could locate the passage, and he was
• 3:17:40
  Speaker 1: quite positive that they were now close to it, but
• 3:17:43
  Speaker 1: he wanted her assent to the proposition. As his eyes
• 3:17:48
  Speaker 1: rested upon her, he was struck by her strangely ethereal appearance.
• 3:17:53
  Speaker 1: She seemed suddenly to have dissolved into the tenuous substance
• 3:17:57
  Speaker 1: of a dream, and as he continued to gaze upon her,
• 3:18:01
  Speaker 1: she faded slowly from his sight. For an instant he
• 3:18:05
  Speaker 1: was dumbfounded, and then the whole truth flashed suddenly upon him.
• 3:18:10
  Speaker 1: Jav had caused him to believe that Thuvia was accompanying
• 3:18:14
  Speaker 1: him through the wood, while as a matter of fact,
• 3:18:17
  Speaker 1: he had detained the girl for himself. Carthoris was horrified.
• 3:18:23
  Speaker 1: He cursed himself for his stupidity, And yet he knew
• 3:18:27
  Speaker 1: that the fiendish power which the Lotharian had invoked to
• 3:18:30
  Speaker 1: confuse him might have deceived any scarce. Had he realized
• 3:18:36
  Speaker 1: the truth, than he had started to retrace his steps
• 3:18:39
  Speaker 1: toward Lothar. But now he moved at a trot, the
• 3:18:43
  Speaker 1: earthly fuse that he had inherited from his father carrying
• 3:18:47
  Speaker 1: him swiftly over the soft carpet of fallen leaves and
• 3:18:50
  Speaker 1: rank grass. Thuria's brilliant light flooded the plain before the
• 3:18:56
  Speaker 1: walled city of Lothar. As Carthoris broke from the wood
• 3:19:00
  Speaker 1: opposite the great gate that had given the fugitives egress
• 3:19:03
  Speaker 1: from the city earlier in the day. At first he
• 3:19:07
  Speaker 1: saw no indication that there was another than himself anywhere about.
• 3:19:12
  Speaker 1: The plain was deserted. No myriad bowman camped now beneath
• 3:19:17
  Speaker 1: the overhanging verdure of the giant trees, No gory heaps
• 3:19:22
  Speaker 1: of torture dead defaced the beauty of the scarlet sward.
• 3:19:26
  Speaker 1: All was silence, All was peace. The Heliumite scarce pausing
• 3:19:34
  Speaker 1: at the forest's verge, pushed on across the plain toward
• 3:19:37
  Speaker 1: the city, when presently he descried a huddled form in
• 3:19:41
  Speaker 1: the grass at his feet. It was the body of
• 3:19:45
  Speaker 1: a man, lying prone. Carthoris turned the figure over upon
• 3:19:50
  Speaker 1: its back. It was Jav, but torn and mangled, almost
• 3:19:56
  Speaker 1: beyond recognition. The prince bent low to note if any
• 3:20:00
  Speaker 1: spark of life remained, and as he did so, the
• 3:20:03
  Speaker 1: lids raised and dull, suffering eyes looked up into his.
• 3:20:09
  Speaker 1: The Princess of Ptarth, cried, Carthoris, where is she? Answer me?
• 3:20:14
  Speaker 1: Man or I complete the work that another has so
• 3:20:17
  Speaker 1: well begun? Comal muttered Jav. He sprang upon me, and
• 3:20:25
  Speaker 1: would have devoured me but for the girl. Then they
• 3:20:29
  Speaker 1: went away together into the wood, the girl and the
• 3:20:32
  Speaker 1: great banth Her fingers twined in his tawny mane. Which
• 3:20:39
  Speaker 1: way went, they asked Carthoris, there, replied Jav, faintly, toward
• 3:20:47
  Speaker 1: the passage through the cliffs. The Prince of Helium waited
• 3:20:51
  Speaker 1: to hear no more, but, springing to his feet, raced
• 3:20:55
  Speaker 1: back again into the forest. It was dawn when he
• 3:20:59
  Speaker 1: reached the mouth of the dark tunnel that would lead
• 3:21:02
  Speaker 1: him to the other world beyond this valley of ghostly
• 3:21:05
  Speaker 1: memories and strange hypnotic influences and menaces. Within the long
• 3:21:12
  Speaker 1: dark passages, he met with no accident or obstacle, coming
• 3:21:16
  Speaker 1: at last into the light of day beyond the mountains,
• 3:21:20
  Speaker 1: and no great distance from the southern verge of the
• 3:21:23
  Speaker 1: domains of the Torcasians. Not more than one hundred and
• 3:21:27
  Speaker 1: fifty hid at most from the boundary of Torcas to
• 3:21:31
  Speaker 1: the city of Anthor is a distance of some two
• 3:21:34
  Speaker 1: hundred hides, so that the Heliumite had before him a
• 3:21:37
  Speaker 1: journey of more than one hundred and fifty earth miles
• 3:21:40
  Speaker 1: between him and Anthor. He could at best but hazard
• 3:21:45
  Speaker 1: a chance guess that toward Anthor, Thuvia would take her flight.
• 3:21:50
  Speaker 1: There lay the nearest water, and there might be expected
• 3:21:54
  Speaker 1: some day a rescuing party from her father's empire. For
• 3:21:57
  Speaker 1: Carthoris knew fuvon Din to know that he would leave
• 3:22:02
  Speaker 1: no stone unturned until he had tracked down the truth
• 3:22:06
  Speaker 1: as to his daughter's abduction and learned all that there
• 3:22:09
  Speaker 1: might be to learn of her whereabouts. He realized, of course,
• 3:22:14
  Speaker 1: that the trick which had laid suspicion upon him would
• 3:22:18
  Speaker 1: greatly delay the discovery of the truth. But little did
• 3:22:21
  Speaker 1: he guess to what vast proportions had the results of
• 3:22:25
  Speaker 1: the villainy of Astok of Dusar already grown. Even as
• 3:22:30
  Speaker 1: he emerged from the mouth of the passage to look
• 3:22:32
  Speaker 1: across the foothills in the direction of Anthor, a Ptarth
• 3:22:36
  Speaker 1: battle fleet was winging its majestic way slowly toward the
• 3:22:40
  Speaker 1: twin cities of Helium, while from far distant Cowol raced
• 3:22:45
  Speaker 1: another mighty armada to join forces with its ally. He
• 3:22:49
  Speaker 1: did not know that, in the face of the circumstantial
• 3:22:52
  Speaker 1: evidence against him, even his own people had commenced to
• 3:22:56
  Speaker 1: entertain suspicions that he might have stolen the princess of Ptarth.
• 3:23:01
  Speaker 1: He did not know of the lengths to which the
• 3:23:03
  Speaker 1: Dusarians had gone to disrupt the friendship and alliance which
• 3:23:07
  Speaker 1: existed between the three great powers of the Eastern Hemisphere, Helium, Ptarth,
• 3:23:13
  Speaker 1: and Cowl. How Dusarian emissaries had found employment in important
• 3:23:19
  Speaker 1: posts in the foreign offices of the three great nations,
• 3:23:23
  Speaker 1: and how through these men messages from one Jeddak to
• 3:23:27
  Speaker 1: another were altered and garbled, until the patience and pride
• 3:23:32
  Speaker 1: of the three rulers and former friends could no longer
• 3:23:35
  Speaker 1: endure the humiliations and insults contained in these falsified papers.
• 3:23:41
  Speaker 1: Not any of this he knew, nor did he know
• 3:23:45
  Speaker 1: how even to the last John Carter, a warlord of Mars,
• 3:23:49
  Speaker 1: had refused to permit the Jeddak of Helium to declare
• 3:23:53
  Speaker 1: war against either Ptarth or Cowl, because of his implicit
• 3:23:58
  Speaker 1: belief in his son and that of eventually all would
• 3:24:01
  Speaker 1: be satisfactorily explained. And now two great fleets were moving
• 3:24:06
  Speaker 1: upon Helium, while the Dusarian spies at the court of
• 3:24:10
  Speaker 1: Tardos Moors saw to that the Twin Cities remained in
• 3:24:14
  Speaker 1: ignorance of their danger. War had been declared by thuvan Din,
• 3:24:19
  Speaker 1: but the messenger who had been dispatched with the proclamation
• 3:24:23
  Speaker 1: had been a Dusarian, who had seen to it that
• 3:24:26
  Speaker 1: no word of warning reached the Twin Cities of the
• 3:24:28
  Speaker 1: approach of a hostile fleet. For several days, diplomatic relations
• 3:24:35
  Speaker 1: had been severed between Helium and her two most powerful neighbors,
• 3:24:39
  Speaker 1: and with the departure of the ministers had come a
• 3:24:41
  Speaker 1: total cessation of wireless communication between the disputants. As is
• 3:24:46
  Speaker 1: usual upon Barsoom, but of all of this Carthoris was ignorant.
• 3:24:53
  Speaker 1: All that interested him at present was the finding of
• 3:24:56
  Speaker 1: Thuvia of ptarth Her trail beside them, that of the
• 3:25:00
  Speaker 1: huge banth had been well marked to the tunnel and
• 3:25:04
  Speaker 1: was once more visible leading southward into the foothills. As
• 3:25:08
  Speaker 1: he followed rapidly downward toward the dead sea bottom, where
• 3:25:12
  Speaker 1: he knew he must lose the spoor in the resilient
• 3:25:15
  Speaker 1: ochre vegetation, he was suddenly surprised to see a naked
• 3:25:19
  Speaker 1: man approaching him from northeast. As the fellow drew closer,
• 3:25:24
  Speaker 1: Carthoris halted to await his coming. He knew that the
• 3:25:28
  Speaker 1: man was unarmed, and that he was apparently a Lotharian,
• 3:25:32
  Speaker 1: for his skin was white and his hair auburn. He
• 3:25:36
  Speaker 1: approached the heliumite without sign of fear, and when quite close,
• 3:25:41
  Speaker 1: called out the cheery Barsoomian kowor of greeting. Who are you,
• 3:25:46
  Speaker 1: asked Carthoris, I am car komak Odwar of the bowmen,
• 3:25:52
  Speaker 1: replied the other. A strange thing has happened to me.
• 3:25:56
  Speaker 1: For ages Tario has been bringing me into existence. He
• 3:26:00
  Speaker 1: has needed the service of the army of his mind,
• 3:26:03
  Speaker 1: of all the bowmen, it has been car Komak who
• 3:26:06
  Speaker 1: has been the oftenest materialized. For a long time, Tario
• 3:26:11
  Speaker 1: has been concentrating his mind upon my permanent materialization. It
• 3:26:16
  Speaker 1: has been an obsession with him that some day this
• 3:26:19
  Speaker 1: thing could be accomplished and the future of Lothar assured.
• 3:26:24
  Speaker 1: He asserted that matter was non existent except in the
• 3:26:27
  Speaker 1: imagination of man, that all was mental, and so he
• 3:26:32
  Speaker 1: believed that by persisting in his suggestion, he could eventually
• 3:26:36
  Speaker 1: make of me a permanent suggestion in the minds of
• 3:26:39
  Speaker 1: all creatures. Yesterday he succeeded. But at such a time
• 3:26:46
  Speaker 1: it must have come all unknown to him, as it
• 3:26:49
  Speaker 1: came to me without my knowledge, As with my horde
• 3:26:52
  Speaker 1: of yelling bowmen. I pursued the fleeing Torquasians back to
• 3:26:56
  Speaker 1: their ochre planes. As darkness settled and the time came
• 3:27:00
  Speaker 1: for us to fade once more into thin air, I
• 3:27:03
  Speaker 1: suddenly found myself alone upon the edge of the great
• 3:27:06
  Speaker 1: plain which lies yonder at the foot of the low hills.
• 3:27:10
  Speaker 1: My men were gone back to the nothingness from which
• 3:27:13
  Speaker 1: they had sprung, but I remained naked and unarmed. At
• 3:27:19
  Speaker 1: first I could not understand, but at last came a
• 3:27:22
  Speaker 1: realization of what had occurred. Tario's long suggestion had at
• 3:27:27
  Speaker 1: last prevailed, and kar Komak had become a reality in
• 3:27:31
  Speaker 1: the world of men. But my harness and my weapons
• 3:27:35
  Speaker 1: had faded away from my fellows, leaving me naked and
• 3:27:38
  Speaker 1: unarmed in a hostile country far from Lothar. You wish
• 3:27:43
  Speaker 1: to return to Lothar, asked Carthoris. No, replied kar Komak quickly.
• 3:27:50
  Speaker 1: I have no love for Tario, being a creature of
• 3:27:53
  Speaker 1: his mind. I know him too well. He is cruel
• 3:27:57
  Speaker 1: and tyrannical, a master I have no desire to serve.
• 3:28:02
  Speaker 1: Now that he has succeeded in accomplishing my permanent materialization,
• 3:28:06
  Speaker 1: he will be unbearable, and he will go on until
• 3:28:10
  Speaker 1: he has filled Lothar with his creatures. I wonder if
• 3:28:14
  Speaker 1: he has succeeded as well with the Maid of Lothar.
• 3:28:17
  Speaker 1: I thought there were no women there, said Carthoris. In
• 3:28:22
  Speaker 1: a hidden apartment in the palace of Tario, replied kar Komak.
• 3:28:26
  Speaker 1: The Jeddak has maintained the suggestion of a beautiful girl,
• 3:28:30
  Speaker 1: hoping that some day she would become permanent. I have
• 3:28:34
  Speaker 1: seen her there. She is wonderful, but for her sake,
• 3:28:40
  Speaker 1: I hope that Tario succeeds not so well with her
• 3:28:44
  Speaker 1: as he has with me. Now, red Man, I have
• 3:28:47
  Speaker 1: told you of myself, what of you? Carthoris liked the
• 3:28:52
  Speaker 1: face and manner of the bowman. There had been no
• 3:28:56
  Speaker 1: sign of doubt or fear in his expression as he
• 3:28:58
  Speaker 1: had approached the heavily armed Heliumite, and he had spoken
• 3:29:02
  Speaker 1: directly and to the point. So the Prince of Helium
• 3:29:05
  Speaker 1: told the bowmen of Lothar who he was and what
• 3:29:08
  Speaker 1: adventure had brought him to this far country. Good, exclaimed
• 3:29:13
  Speaker 1: the other. When he had done, kar Komak will accompany you.
• 3:29:17
  Speaker 1: Together we shall find the Princess of Ptarth, and with
• 3:29:20
  Speaker 1: you kar Komak will return to the world of men,
• 3:29:24
  Speaker 1: such a world as he knew in the long gone past,
• 3:29:27
  Speaker 1: when the ships of Mighty Lothar plowed angry Throxus, and
• 3:29:32
  Speaker 1: the roaring surf beat against the barrier of these parched
• 3:29:36
  Speaker 1: and dreary hills. What mean, you, asked, Carthoris, Had you
• 3:29:43
  Speaker 1: really a former actual existence? Most assuredly replied kar Komak.
• 3:29:50
  Speaker 1: In my day I commanded the fleets of Lothar, mightiest
• 3:29:54
  Speaker 1: of all the fleets that sailed the five Salt seas.
• 3:29:58
  Speaker 1: Wherever men lived on Barsoom there was the name of
• 3:30:02
  Speaker 1: car Coomac known and respected. Peaceful were the land races
• 3:30:07
  Speaker 1: in those distant days. Only the seafarers were warriors. But
• 3:30:12
  Speaker 1: now has the glory of the past faded? Nor did
• 3:30:16
  Speaker 1: I think until I met you that there remained upon
• 3:30:19
  Speaker 1: Barsoom a single person of your own mold, who lived
• 3:30:23
  Speaker 1: and loved and fought as did the ancient seafarers of
• 3:30:27
  Speaker 1: my time. Ah, but it will seem good to see
• 3:30:32
  Speaker 1: men once again real men. Never had I much respect
• 3:30:36
  Speaker 1: for the landsmen of my day. They remained in their
• 3:30:40
  Speaker 1: walled cities, wasting their time and play, depending for their
• 3:30:44
  Speaker 1: protection entirely upon the sea race. And the poor creatures
• 3:30:49
  Speaker 1: who remain. The Tarios and Javs of Lothar are even
• 3:30:54
  Speaker 1: worse than their ancient forebears. Carthoris was a trifle skeptical
• 3:31:00
  Speaker 1: as to the wisdom of permitting the stranger to attach
• 3:31:02
  Speaker 1: himself to him. There was always the chance that he
• 3:31:06
  Speaker 1: was but the essence of some hypnotic treachery which Tario
• 3:31:10
  Speaker 1: or Jav was attempting to exert upon the Heliumite. And
• 3:31:14
  Speaker 1: yet so sincere had been the manner and the words
• 3:31:18
  Speaker 1: of the bowmen, so much the fighting man did he seem,
• 3:31:22
  Speaker 1: but Carthoris could not find it in his heart to
• 3:31:25
  Speaker 1: doubt him. The outcome of the matter was that he
• 3:31:28
  Speaker 1: gave the naked odwar leave to accompany him, and together
• 3:31:32
  Speaker 1: they set out upon the spoor of Thuvia and comal
• 3:31:37
  Speaker 1: down to the Ochre Sea bottom. The trail led there
• 3:31:40
  Speaker 1: it disappeared, as Carthoris had known that it would, But
• 3:31:44
  Speaker 1: where it entered the plane, its direction had been toward Anthor,
• 3:31:48
  Speaker 1: and so toward Anthor the two turned their faces. It
• 3:31:53
  Speaker 1: was a long and tedious journey, fraught with many dangers.
• 3:31:57
  Speaker 1: The bowman could not travel at the pace set by Carthoris,
• 3:32:01
  Speaker 1: whose muscles carried him with great rapidity over the face
• 3:32:04
  Speaker 1: of the small planet, the force of gravity of which
• 3:32:07
  Speaker 1: exerts so much less retarding power than that of the Earth.
• 3:32:11
  Speaker 1: Fifty miles a day is a fair average for a Barsoomian,
• 3:32:16
  Speaker 1: but the son of John Carter might easily have covered
• 3:32:18
  Speaker 1: a hundred or more miles had he cared to desert
• 3:32:21
  Speaker 1: his new found comrade. All the way, they were in
• 3:32:26
  Speaker 1: constant danger of discovery by roving bands of Torquasians, and
• 3:32:30
  Speaker 1: especially was this true before they reached the boundary of Torcas.
• 3:32:35
  Speaker 1: Good fortune was with them, however, and although they sighted
• 3:32:39
  Speaker 1: two detachments of the Savage Green Men, they were not
• 3:32:42
  Speaker 1: themselves seen. And so they came upon the morning of
• 3:32:47
  Speaker 1: the third day, within sight of the glistening domes of
• 3:32:50
  Speaker 1: distant Anthor. Throughout the journey, Carthoris had ever strained his
• 3:32:55
  Speaker 1: eyes ahead in search of Thuvia and the Great Banth,
• 3:32:59
  Speaker 1: but not to now had he seen aught to give
• 3:33:02
  Speaker 1: him hope. This morning, far ahead, half way between themselves
• 3:33:08
  Speaker 1: and Anthor, the men saw two tiny figures moving toward
• 3:33:12
  Speaker 1: the city. For a moment they watched them intently. Then Carthoris, convinced,
• 3:33:20
  Speaker 1: leaped forward at a rapid run, kar Komak, following as
• 3:33:24
  Speaker 1: swiftly as he could. The Heliumite shouted to attract the
• 3:33:28
  Speaker 1: girl's attention, and presently he was rewarded by seeing her
• 3:33:32
  Speaker 1: turn and stand looking toward him. At her side, the
• 3:33:35
  Speaker 1: Great Banth stood with up pricked ears, watching the approaching man.
• 3:33:41
  Speaker 1: Not yet could Thuvia of Ptarth have recognized Carthoris, though
• 3:33:46
  Speaker 1: that it was he, She must have been convinced for
• 3:33:49
  Speaker 1: she waited there for him without sign of fear. Presently
• 3:33:53
  Speaker 1: he saw her point toward the northeast beyond him. Without
• 3:33:58
  Speaker 1: slackening his pace, he turned his eyes in the directions
• 3:34:01
  Speaker 1: she indicated, racing silently over the thick vegetation. Not half
• 3:34:06
  Speaker 1: a mile behind came a score of fierce green warriors,
• 3:34:10
  Speaker 1: charging him upon their mighty thoats. To their right was
• 3:34:14
  Speaker 1: car Komak, naked and unarmed, yet running valiantly towards Carthoris
• 3:34:19
  Speaker 1: and shouting warning, as though he too had but just
• 3:34:22
  Speaker 1: discovered the silent menacing company that moved so swiftly forward
• 3:34:27
  Speaker 1: with couched spears and ready long swords. Carthoris shouted to
• 3:34:32
  Speaker 1: the Lotharian, warning him back, for he knew that he
• 3:34:36
  Speaker 1: could but uselessly sacrifice his life by placing himself, all unarmed,
• 3:34:41
  Speaker 1: in the path of the cruel and relentless savages. But
• 3:34:45
  Speaker 1: Carkomak never hesitated. With shouts of encouragement to his new friend,
• 3:34:51
  Speaker 1: he hurried onward toward the Prince of Helium. The red
• 3:34:54
  Speaker 1: Man's heart leaped in response to this exhibition of courage
• 3:34:57
  Speaker 1: and self sacrifice. He regretted now that he had not
• 3:35:01
  Speaker 1: thought to give kar Komac one of his swords, but
• 3:35:05
  Speaker 1: it was too late to attempt it, for should he
• 3:35:07
  Speaker 1: wait for the Lotharian to overtake him or return to
• 3:35:10
  Speaker 1: meet him, the Torcasians would reach Thuvia of Ptarth before
• 3:35:14
  Speaker 1: he could do so. Even as it was, it would
• 3:35:18
  Speaker 1: be nip and tuck as to who came first to
• 3:35:21
  Speaker 1: her side. Again, he turned his face in her direction,
• 3:35:25
  Speaker 1: and now from Anthor Way, he saw a new force
• 3:35:29
  Speaker 1: hastening toward them, two medium sized war craft, and even
• 3:35:34
  Speaker 1: at the distance they still were from him, he discerned
• 3:35:37
  Speaker 1: the device of Dusar upon their boughs. Now, indeed seemed
• 3:35:43
  Speaker 1: little hope for Thuvia of Ptarth, with savage warriors of
• 3:35:47
  Speaker 1: the Hordes of Torcass charging toward her from one direction,
• 3:35:51
  Speaker 1: and no less implacable enemies in the form of the
• 3:35:54
  Speaker 1: creatures of Astok Prince of Dusar, bearing down upon her
• 3:35:58
  Speaker 1: from another, while only a banth a red warrior, and
• 3:36:03
  Speaker 1: an unarmed bowman were near to defend her. Her plight
• 3:36:07
  Speaker 1: was quite hopeless, and her cause already lost. Ere Ever,
• 3:36:10
  Speaker 1: it was contested. As Thuvia saw Carthoris approaching, she felt
• 3:36:17
  Speaker 1: again that unaccountable sensation of entire relief from responsibility and
• 3:36:22
  Speaker 1: fear that she had experienced upon a former occasion, Nor
• 3:36:27
  Speaker 1: could she account for it. While her mind still tried
• 3:36:30
  Speaker 1: to convince her heart that the Prince of Helium had
• 3:36:33
  Speaker 1: been instrumental in her abduction from her father's court, she
• 3:36:37
  Speaker 1: only knew that she was glad when he was by
• 3:36:39
  Speaker 1: her side, and that with him there all things seemed possible,
• 3:36:45
  Speaker 1: even such impossible things as escape from her present predicament.
• 3:36:51
  Speaker 1: Now he had stopped panting before her, a brave smile
• 3:36:56
  Speaker 1: of encouragement lit his face. Courage, my princess, he whispered
• 3:37:03
  Speaker 1: to the girl's memory flashed the occasion upon which he
• 3:37:06
  Speaker 1: had used those same words in the throne room of
• 3:37:09
  Speaker 1: Tario of Lothar, as they had commenced to slip down
• 3:37:13
  Speaker 1: the sinking marble floor toward an unknown fate. Then she
• 3:37:18
  Speaker 1: had not chiden him for the use of that familiar salutation,
• 3:37:23
  Speaker 1: nor did she chide him now, though she was promised
• 3:37:26
  Speaker 1: to another. She wondered at herself, flushing at her own turpitude,
• 3:37:33
  Speaker 1: for upon barsoom. It is a shameful thing for a
• 3:37:36
  Speaker 1: woman to listen to those two words from another than
• 3:37:39
  Speaker 1: her husband or her betrothed Carthoris saw her flush of mortification,
• 3:37:45
  Speaker 1: and in an instant regretted his words. There was but
• 3:37:49
  Speaker 1: a moment before the Green warriors would be upon them.
• 3:37:53
  Speaker 1: Forgive me, said the man in a low voice. Let
• 3:37:56
  Speaker 1: my great love be my excuse that and the belief
• 3:38:01
  Speaker 1: that I have but a moment more of life. And
• 3:38:04
  Speaker 1: with the words he turned to meet the foremost of
• 3:38:07
  Speaker 1: the Green warriors. The fellow was charging with couched spear,
• 3:38:12
  Speaker 1: but Carthoris leaped to one side, and as the great
• 3:38:15
  Speaker 1: foat and its rider hurtled harmlessly past him, he swung
• 3:38:19
  Speaker 1: his long sword in a mighty cut that cloved the
• 3:38:22
  Speaker 1: Green carcass in twain. At the same moment, kar Komac
• 3:38:27
  Speaker 1: leaped with bare hands, clawing at the leg of another
• 3:38:30
  Speaker 1: of the huge riders. The balance of the horde raced
• 3:38:33
  Speaker 1: into close quarters, dismounting the better to wield their favorite
• 3:38:37
  Speaker 1: long swords. The Dusarian fliers touched the soft carpet of
• 3:38:41
  Speaker 1: the ochre clad sea bottom, disgorging fifty fighting men from
• 3:38:45
  Speaker 1: their bowels, and into the swirling sea of cutting, slashing
• 3:38:50
  Speaker 1: swords sprang Combal the great banth end of chapter ten,
• 3:39:04
  Speaker 1: Chapter eleven, Green men and white apes. A Torquasian sword
• 3:39:12
  Speaker 1: smote a glancing blow across the forehead of Carthoris. He
• 3:39:16
  Speaker 1: had a fleeting vision of soft arms about his neck
• 3:39:19
  Speaker 1: and warm lips close to his before he lost consciousness.
• 3:39:24
  Speaker 1: How long he lay there senseless, he could not guess.
• 3:39:27
  Speaker 1: But when he opened his eyes again, he was alone,
• 3:39:30
  Speaker 1: except for the bodies of the dead green men and Dusarians,
• 3:39:34
  Speaker 1: and the carcass of a great banth that lay half
• 3:39:37
  Speaker 1: across his own. Thuvia was gone, nor was the body
• 3:39:42
  Speaker 1: of Carkomac. Among the dead. Weak from loss of blood,
• 3:39:47
  Speaker 1: Carthoris made his way slowly toward Anthor, reaching its outskirts
• 3:39:51
  Speaker 1: at dark. He wanted water more than any other thing,
• 3:39:55
  Speaker 1: and so he kept on up a broad avenue toward
• 3:39:58
  Speaker 1: the great central plaza, where he knew the precious fluid
• 3:40:02
  Speaker 1: was to be found in a half ruined building opposite
• 3:40:05
  Speaker 1: the great palace of the ancient Jeddak, who once had
• 3:40:08
  Speaker 1: ruled this mighty city. Disheartened and discouraged by the strange
• 3:40:14
  Speaker 1: sequence of events that seemed fore ordained to thwart his
• 3:40:18
  Speaker 1: every attempt to serve the Princess of Ptarth, he paid
• 3:40:21
  Speaker 1: little or no attention to his surroundings, moving through the
• 3:40:25
  Speaker 1: deserted city as though no great white apes lurked in
• 3:40:28
  Speaker 1: the black shadows of the mystery haunted piles that flanked
• 3:40:32
  Speaker 1: the broad avenues of the great plaza. But if Carthoris
• 3:40:37
  Speaker 1: was careless of his surroundings, not so other eyes that
• 3:40:41
  Speaker 1: watched his entrance into the plaza and followed his slow
• 3:40:45
  Speaker 1: footsteps towards the marble pile that housed the tiny, half
• 3:40:49
  Speaker 1: choked spring, whose water one might gain only by scratching
• 3:40:53
  Speaker 1: a deep hole in the red sand that covered it.
• 3:40:58
  Speaker 1: And as the heliumite entered the small building, a dozen
• 3:41:01
  Speaker 1: mighty grotesque figures emerged from the doorway of the palace
• 3:41:05
  Speaker 1: to speed noiselessly across the plaza toward him. For half
• 3:41:09
  Speaker 1: an hour, Carthoris remained in the building, digging for water
• 3:41:13
  Speaker 1: and gaining the few much needed drops which were the
• 3:41:16
  Speaker 1: fruits of his labor. Then he rose and slowly left
• 3:41:20
  Speaker 1: the structure. Scarce had he stepped beyond the threshold than
• 3:41:25
  Speaker 1: twelve Torquesian warriors leaped upon him. No time then to
• 3:41:30
  Speaker 1: draw long sword, but swift from his harness, flew his long,
• 3:41:33
  Speaker 1: slim dagger, and as he went down beneath them, more
• 3:41:37
  Speaker 1: than a single green heart ceased beating at the bite
• 3:41:40
  Speaker 1: of that keen point. Then they overpowered him and took
• 3:41:44
  Speaker 1: his weapons away, But only nine of the twelve warriors
• 3:41:47
  Speaker 1: who had crossed the plaza returned with their prize. They
• 3:41:52
  Speaker 1: dragged their prisoner roughly to the palace pits, where, in
• 3:41:56
  Speaker 1: utter darkness they chained him with rusty links to the
• 3:41:59
  Speaker 1: solid mass masonry of the wall. Tomorrow thar Ban will
• 3:42:04
  Speaker 1: speak with you, they said. Now he sleeps, but great
• 3:42:09
  Speaker 1: will be his pleasure when he learns who has wandered
• 3:42:12
  Speaker 1: amongst us. And great will be the pleasure of hortan
• 3:42:16
  Speaker 1: Gur when thar Ban drags him the mad fool who
• 3:42:20
  Speaker 1: dared prick the great Jeddak with his sword. Then they
• 3:42:24
  Speaker 1: left him to the silence and the darkness for what
• 3:42:29
  Speaker 1: seemed hours. Carthoris squatted upon the stone floor of his prison,
• 3:42:34
  Speaker 1: his back against the wall in which was sunk the
• 3:42:37
  Speaker 1: heavy eye bolt that secured the chain which held him. Then,
• 3:42:43
  Speaker 1: from out of the mysterious blackness before him, there came
• 3:42:46
  Speaker 1: to his ears the sound of naked feet moving stealthily
• 3:42:49
  Speaker 1: upon the stone, approaching nearer and nearer to where he lay.
• 3:42:54
  Speaker 1: Unarmed and defenseless. Minutes passed, minutes that seemed hour, during
• 3:43:01
  Speaker 1: which time periods of sepulchral silence would be followed by
• 3:43:04
  Speaker 1: a repetition of the uncanny scraping of naked feet slinking
• 3:43:08
  Speaker 1: warily upon him. At last he heard a sudden rush
• 3:43:12
  Speaker 1: of unshod souls across the empty blackness, and at a
• 3:43:16
  Speaker 1: little distance a scuffling sound, heavy breathing, and once what
• 3:43:21
  Speaker 1: he thought the muttered imprecation of a man battling against
• 3:43:24
  Speaker 1: great odds. Then the clanging of a chain, and a
• 3:43:28
  Speaker 1: noise as of the snapping back against the stone of
• 3:43:31
  Speaker 1: a broken link. Again came silence, but for a moment
• 3:43:37
  Speaker 1: only Now he heard once more the soft feet approaching him.
• 3:43:42
  Speaker 1: He thought that he discerned wicked eyes gleaming fearfully at
• 3:43:45
  Speaker 1: him through the darkness. He knew that he could hear
• 3:43:48
  Speaker 1: the heavy breathing of powerful lungs. Then came the rush
• 3:43:53
  Speaker 1: of many feet toward him, and the things were upon him,
• 3:43:57
  Speaker 1: hands terminating in manlike fingers clutched at his throat, and
• 3:44:01
  Speaker 1: arms and legs, hairy bodies strained and struggled against his
• 3:44:05
  Speaker 1: own smooth hide as he battled in grim silence against
• 3:44:09
  Speaker 1: these horrid foemen in the darkness of the pits of
• 3:44:12
  Speaker 1: ancient Anthor feud. Like some giant god was Carthoris of Helium.
• 3:44:18
  Speaker 1: Yet in the clutches of these unseen creatures of the
• 3:44:21
  Speaker 1: pits Stygian night, he was helpless as a frail woman.
• 3:44:26
  Speaker 1: Yet he battled on, striking futile blows against great, hispid
• 3:44:31
  Speaker 1: breasts he could not see, feeling thick squat throats beneath
• 3:44:36
  Speaker 1: his fingers, the drool of saliva upon his cheek, and
• 3:44:39
  Speaker 1: hot foul breath in his nostrils. Fangs too, mighty fangs
• 3:44:45
  Speaker 1: he knew were close, and why they did not sink
• 3:44:48
  Speaker 1: into his flesh he could not guess. At last, he
• 3:44:53
  Speaker 1: became aware of the mighty surging of a number of
• 3:44:56
  Speaker 1: his antagonists back and forth upon the great chain that
• 3:44:59
  Speaker 1: held him, and presently came the same sound that he
• 3:45:03
  Speaker 1: had heard at a little distance from him a short
• 3:45:05
  Speaker 1: time before. He had been attacked. His chain had parted,
• 3:45:09
  Speaker 1: and the broken end snapped back against the stone wall.
• 3:45:13
  Speaker 1: Now he was seized upon either side and dragged at
• 3:45:16
  Speaker 1: a rapid pace through the dark corridors toward what fate
• 3:45:20
  Speaker 1: He could not even guess. At first, he had thought
• 3:45:24
  Speaker 1: his foes might be of the tribe of Torcass, but
• 3:45:28
  Speaker 1: their hairy bodies belied to that belief. Now he was
• 3:45:32
  Speaker 1: at last quite sure of their identity, though why they
• 3:45:35
  Speaker 1: had not killed him and devoured him at once he
• 3:45:38
  Speaker 1: could not imagine. After half an hour or more of
• 3:45:42
  Speaker 1: rapid racing through the underground passages that are a distinguishing
• 3:45:45
  Speaker 1: feature of all Barsoomian cities, modern as well as ancient,
• 3:45:50
  Speaker 1: his captors suddenly emerged into the moonlight of a courtyard
• 3:45:53
  Speaker 1: far from the central plaza. Immediately, Carthoris saw that he
• 3:45:58
  Speaker 1: was in the power of a true of the great
• 3:46:00
  Speaker 1: white apes of Barsoom. All that had caused him doubt
• 3:46:04
  Speaker 1: before as to the identity of his attackers was the
• 3:46:07
  Speaker 1: hairiness of their breasts, for the white apes are entirely hairless,
• 3:46:11
  Speaker 1: except for a great shock bristling from their heads. Now
• 3:46:16
  Speaker 1: he saw the cause of that which had deceived him.
• 3:46:19
  Speaker 1: Across the chests of each of them were strips of
• 3:46:21
  Speaker 1: hairy hide, usually of banth in imitation of the harness
• 3:46:25
  Speaker 1: of the green warriors who so often camped at their
• 3:46:28
  Speaker 1: deserted city. Carthoris had read of the existence of tribes
• 3:46:33
  Speaker 1: of apes that seemed to be progressing slowly toward higher's
• 3:46:36
  Speaker 1: standards of intelligence. Into the hands of such, he realized
• 3:46:41
  Speaker 1: he had fallen, But what were their intentions toward him?
• 3:46:46
  Speaker 1: As he glanced about the courtyard, he saw fully fifty
• 3:46:49
  Speaker 1: of the hideous beasts squatting on their haunches, and at
• 3:46:53
  Speaker 1: a little distance from him another human being closely guarded.
• 3:46:58
  Speaker 1: As his eyes met those of his fellow captive, a
• 3:47:01
  Speaker 1: smile at the other's face, and kaor red man burst
• 3:47:05
  Speaker 1: from his lips. It was kar Komak, the bowman. Kowor
• 3:47:10
  Speaker 1: cried Carthoris in response, how came you here? And what
• 3:47:14
  Speaker 1: befell the princess? Red men like yourself descended in mighty
• 3:47:18
  Speaker 1: ships that sailed the air, even as the great ships
• 3:47:22
  Speaker 1: of my distant day sailed the five seas, replied kar Komak.
• 3:47:27
  Speaker 1: They fought with the green men of Torcass. They slew Komal,
• 3:47:31
  Speaker 1: God of Lothar. I thought they were your friends, and
• 3:47:34
  Speaker 1: I was glad when finally those of them who had
• 3:47:37
  Speaker 1: survived the battle carried the red girl to one of
• 3:47:40
  Speaker 1: the ships and sailed away with her into the safety
• 3:47:43
  Speaker 1: of the high air. Then the green men seized me
• 3:47:47
  Speaker 1: and carried me to a great empty city, where they
• 3:47:50
  Speaker 1: chained me to a wall and a black pit. Afterward
• 3:47:54
  Speaker 1: came these and dragged me hither. And what of you?
• 3:47:57
  Speaker 1: Red man Trus related all that had befallen him, And
• 3:48:02
  Speaker 1: as the two men talked, the great apes squatted about them,
• 3:48:05
  Speaker 1: watching them intently. What are we to do now, asked
• 3:48:10
  Speaker 1: the bowman. Our case looks rather hopeless, replied Carthoris ruefully.
• 3:48:16
  Speaker 1: These creatures are born man eaters. Why they have not
• 3:48:20
  Speaker 1: already devoured us? I cannot imagine. There, he whispered, see
• 3:48:25
  Speaker 1: the end is coming. Car Komak looked in the direction
• 3:48:29
  Speaker 1: Carthoris indicated to see a huge ape advancing with a
• 3:48:33
  Speaker 1: mighty bludgeon. It is thus they like best to kill
• 3:48:37
  Speaker 1: their prey, said Carthoris. Must we die without a struggle,
• 3:48:42
  Speaker 1: asked kar Komak, Not, i, replied Carthoris, though I know
• 3:48:48
  Speaker 1: how futile. Our best defense must be against these mighty brutes.
• 3:48:52
  Speaker 1: Oh for a long sword or a good beau, added Karkomak,
• 3:48:57
  Speaker 1: and a uton of bowmen at the words. Carthoris half
• 3:49:01
  Speaker 1: sprang to his feet, only to be dragged roughly down
• 3:49:05
  Speaker 1: by his guard, Carkomak, He cried, why cannot you do
• 3:49:10
  Speaker 1: what Tario and Jav did. They had no bowmen other
• 3:49:13
  Speaker 1: than those of their own creation. You must know the
• 3:49:16
  Speaker 1: secret of their power. Call forth your own utan. Krkomak,
• 3:49:21
  Speaker 1: the Lotharian looked at Carthoris in wide eyed astonishment as
• 3:49:25
  Speaker 1: the full purport of the suggestion bore in upon his understanding.
• 3:49:30
  Speaker 1: Why not, he murmured. The savage ape bearing the mighty
• 3:49:35
  Speaker 1: bludgeon was slinking toward Carthoris. The Heliumite's fingers were working
• 3:49:40
  Speaker 1: as he kept his eyes upon his executioner. Krkomak bent
• 3:49:44
  Speaker 1: his gaze penetratingly upon the apes. The effort of his
• 3:49:48
  Speaker 1: mind was evidenced by the sweat upon his contracted brows.
• 3:49:53
  Speaker 1: The creature that was to slay the red Man was
• 3:49:55
  Speaker 1: almost within arm's reach of his prey when Carthoris heard
• 3:49:59
  Speaker 1: a hoarse shout from the opposite side of the courtyard.
• 3:50:02
  Speaker 1: In common with the squatting apes and the demon with
• 3:50:05
  Speaker 1: the club, he turned in the direction of the sound
• 3:50:08
  Speaker 1: to see a company of sturdy bowmen rushing from the
• 3:50:11
  Speaker 1: doorway of a nearby building with screams of rage. The
• 3:50:15
  Speaker 1: Apes leaped to their feet to meet the charge. A
• 3:50:18
  Speaker 1: volley of arrows met them half way, sending a dozen
• 3:50:21
  Speaker 1: rolling lifeless to the ground. Then the Apes closed with
• 3:50:25
  Speaker 1: their adversaries. All their attention was occupied by the attackers.
• 3:50:29
  Speaker 1: Even the guard had deserted the prisoners to join the battle. Come,
• 3:50:33
  Speaker 1: whispered Karkomac. Now may we escape while their attention is
• 3:50:37
  Speaker 1: diverted from us by my bowmen, and leave those brave
• 3:50:41
  Speaker 1: fellows leaderless, cried Carthoris, whose loyal nature revolted at the
• 3:50:46
  Speaker 1: merest suggestion of such a thing. Kar Komak laughed, You forget,
• 3:50:52
  Speaker 1: He said, that they are but thin air figments of
• 3:50:56
  Speaker 1: my brain. They will vanish unscathed when we have no
• 3:51:00
  Speaker 1: further need for them. Praised be your first ancestor, red man,
• 3:51:04
  Speaker 1: that you thought of this chance in time. It would
• 3:51:07
  Speaker 1: never have occurred to me to imagine that I might
• 3:51:09
  Speaker 1: wield the same power that brought me into existence. You
• 3:51:14
  Speaker 1: are right, said Carthoris. Still I hate to leave them,
• 3:51:19
  Speaker 1: though there is naught else to do. And so the
• 3:51:22
  Speaker 1: two turned from the courtyard, and, making their way into
• 3:51:25
  Speaker 1: one of the broad avenues, crept stealthily in the shadows
• 3:51:28
  Speaker 1: of the building toward the great central plaza. Upon which
• 3:51:32
  Speaker 1: were the buildings occupied by the Green warriors when they
• 3:51:35
  Speaker 1: visited the deserted city. When they had come to the
• 3:51:39
  Speaker 1: plaza's edge, Carthoris halted. Wait here, he whispered, I go
• 3:51:45
  Speaker 1: to fetch thoats, since on foot we may never hope
• 3:51:48
  Speaker 1: to escape the clutches of these green fiends. To reach
• 3:51:52
  Speaker 1: the courtyard where the thoats were kept, it was necessary
• 3:51:55
  Speaker 1: for Carthoris to pass through one of the buildings which
• 3:51:57
  Speaker 1: surrounded the square. Which were occupied and which were not
• 3:52:02
  Speaker 1: he could not even guess, so he was compelled to
• 3:52:04
  Speaker 1: take considerable chances to gain the enclosure in which he
• 3:52:07
  Speaker 1: could hear the restless beasts squealing and quarreling among themselves.
• 3:52:13
  Speaker 1: Chance carried him through a dark doorway into a large
• 3:52:16
  Speaker 1: chamber in which lay a score or more Green warriors,
• 3:52:20
  Speaker 1: wrapped in their sleeping silks and furs. Scarce had Carthoris
• 3:52:25
  Speaker 1: passed through the short hallway that connected the door of
• 3:52:27
  Speaker 1: the building and the great room beyond it, than he
• 3:52:30
  Speaker 1: became aware of the presence of something or some one
• 3:52:33
  Speaker 1: in the hallway through which he had but just passed.
• 3:52:38
  Speaker 1: He heard a man yawn, and then behind him he
• 3:52:41
  Speaker 1: saw the figure of a sentry, arise from where the
• 3:52:43
  Speaker 1: fellow had been dozing, and stretching himself resume his wakeful watchfulness.
• 3:52:50
  Speaker 1: Carthoris realized that he must have passed within a foot
• 3:52:53
  Speaker 1: of the warrior. Doubtless, rousing him from his slumber to
• 3:52:57
  Speaker 1: retreat now would be impossible. Yet to cross through that
• 3:53:01
  Speaker 1: room of sleeping warriors seemed almost equally beyond the pale
• 3:53:04
  Speaker 1: of possibility. Carthoris shrugged his broad shoulders and chose the
• 3:53:10
  Speaker 1: lesser evil. Warily, he entered the room. At his right,
• 3:53:14
  Speaker 1: against the wall leaned several swords and rifles and spears,
• 3:53:19
  Speaker 1: extra weapons which the warriors had stacked here, ready to
• 3:53:22
  Speaker 1: their hands should there be a night alarm calling them
• 3:53:25
  Speaker 1: suddenly from slumber. Beside each sleeper lay his weapon. These
• 3:53:30
  Speaker 1: were never far from their owners from childhood to death.
• 3:53:35
  Speaker 1: The sight of the swords made the young man's palm itch.
• 3:53:39
  Speaker 1: He stepped quickly to them, selecting two short swords, one
• 3:53:43
  Speaker 1: for car Coomac, the other for himself, also some trappings
• 3:53:47
  Speaker 1: for his naked comrade. Then he started directly across the
• 3:53:52
  Speaker 1: center of the apartment among the sleeping Torquasians. Not a
• 3:53:56
  Speaker 1: man of them moved until Carthoris had completed more than
• 3:53:59
  Speaker 1: half half of the short, though dangerous journey. Then a
• 3:54:04
  Speaker 1: fellow directly in his path turned restlessly upon his sleeping
• 3:54:08
  Speaker 1: silks and furs. The Heliumite paused above him, one of
• 3:54:13
  Speaker 1: the short swords in readiness should the warrior awaken for
• 3:54:17
  Speaker 1: what seemed an eternity to the young prince. The green
• 3:54:20
  Speaker 1: Man continued to move uneasily upon his couch, Then, as
• 3:54:24
  Speaker 1: though actuated by springs, he leaped to his feet and
• 3:54:28
  Speaker 1: faced the red man. Instantly, Carthoris struck, but not before
• 3:54:33
  Speaker 1: a savage grunt escaped the other's lips. In an instant
• 3:54:36
  Speaker 1: the room was in turmoil. Warriors leaped to their feet,
• 3:54:40
  Speaker 1: grasping their weapons as they rose and shouting to one
• 3:54:42
  Speaker 1: another for an explanation of the disturbance. To Carthoris, All
• 3:54:47
  Speaker 1: within the room was plainly visible in the dim light
• 3:54:50
  Speaker 1: reflected from without, for the further moon stood directly at zenith.
• 3:54:55
  Speaker 1: But to the eyes of the newly awakened green Men,
• 3:54:58
  Speaker 1: objects as yet had not taken on familiar forms. They
• 3:55:03
  Speaker 1: but saw vaguely the figures of warriors moving about their apartment.
• 3:55:08
  Speaker 1: Now one stumbled against the corpse of him whom Carthoris
• 3:55:11
  Speaker 1: had slain. The fellow stooped and his hand came in
• 3:55:15
  Speaker 1: contact with the cleft skull. He saw about him the
• 3:55:18
  Speaker 1: giant figures of other green Men, and so he jumped
• 3:55:21
  Speaker 1: to the only conclusion that was open to him, the Thirds.
• 3:55:25
  Speaker 1: He cried, The Thirds are upon us. Rise, warriors of Torcass,
• 3:55:30
  Speaker 1: and drive home your swords within the hearts of Torcasa's
• 3:55:33
  Speaker 1: ancient enemies. Instantly, the green Men began to fall upon
• 3:55:38
  Speaker 1: one another with naked swords. Their savage lust of battle
• 3:55:42
  Speaker 1: was aroused, to fight, to kill, to die, with cold
• 3:55:46
  Speaker 1: steel buried in their vitals. Ah that to them was nirvana.
• 3:55:53
  Speaker 1: Carthoris was quick to guess their error and take advantage
• 3:55:55
  Speaker 1: of it. He knew that in the pleasure of killing,
• 3:55:58
  Speaker 1: they might fight on long after they had discovered their mistake,
• 3:56:02
  Speaker 1: unless their attention was distracted by sight of the real
• 3:56:04
  Speaker 1: cause of the altercation. And so he lost no time
• 3:56:08
  Speaker 1: in continuing across the room to the doorway upon the
• 3:56:10
  Speaker 1: opposite side, which opened into the inner court, where the
• 3:56:14
  Speaker 1: savage Thoats were squealing and fighting among themselves. Once here,
• 3:56:20
  Speaker 1: he had no easy task before him to catch and
• 3:56:24
  Speaker 1: mount one of these habitually rageful and intractable beasts was
• 3:56:28
  Speaker 1: no child's play under the best of conditions. But now,
• 3:56:32
  Speaker 1: when silence and time were such important considerations, it might
• 3:56:36
  Speaker 1: well have seemed quite hopeless to a less resourceful and
• 3:56:39
  Speaker 1: optimistic man than the son of the great Warlord. From
• 3:56:44
  Speaker 1: his father he had learned much concerning the traits of
• 3:56:46
  Speaker 1: these mighty beasts, and from Tars Tarkas also when he
• 3:56:50
  Speaker 1: had visited that great green Jeddak among his horde at Thark.
• 3:56:55
  Speaker 1: So now he centered upon the work in hand all
• 3:56:58
  Speaker 1: that he had ever learned about them from others and
• 3:57:00
  Speaker 1: from his own experience, for he too had ridden and
• 3:57:04
  Speaker 1: handled them many times. The temper of the thoats of
• 3:57:08
  Speaker 1: Torcas appeared even shorter than their vicious cousins among the
• 3:57:12
  Speaker 1: Tharks and warhoons, and for a time it seemed unlikely
• 3:57:16
  Speaker 1: that he should escape a savage charge on the part
• 3:57:18
  Speaker 1: of a couple of old bulls that circled squealing about him.
• 3:57:23
  Speaker 1: But at last he managed to get close enough to
• 3:57:26
  Speaker 1: one of them to touch the beast with the feel
• 3:57:29
  Speaker 1: of his hand upon the sleek hide. The creature quieted, and,
• 3:57:33
  Speaker 1: in answer to the telepathic command of the red man
• 3:57:36
  Speaker 1: sank to its knees. In a moment, Carthoris was upon
• 3:57:40
  Speaker 1: its back, guiding it toward the great gate that leads
• 3:57:43
  Speaker 1: from the courtyard through a large building at one end
• 3:57:46
  Speaker 1: into an avenue beyond the other, bull, still squealing and enraged,
• 3:57:53
  Speaker 1: followed after his fellow. There was no bridle upon either,
• 3:57:57
  Speaker 1: for these strange creatures are controlled entirely by suggestion. When
• 3:58:01
  Speaker 1: they are controlled at all, even in the hands of
• 3:58:05
  Speaker 1: the giant green men, bridle reins would be hopelessly futile
• 3:58:09
  Speaker 1: against the mad savagery and mastodonic strength of the thoat,
• 3:58:13
  Speaker 1: and so they are guided by that strange telepathic power
• 3:58:16
  Speaker 1: with which the men of Mars have learned to communicate
• 3:58:19
  Speaker 1: in a crude way with the lower orders of their planets.
• 3:58:24
  Speaker 1: With difficulty, Carthoris urged the two beasts to the gate, where,
• 3:58:28
  Speaker 1: leaning down, he raised the latch. Then the thoat he
• 3:58:32
  Speaker 1: was riding placed his great shoulder to the skeel wood planking,
• 3:58:37
  Speaker 1: pushed through, and a moment later the man and the
• 3:58:40
  Speaker 1: two beasts were swinging silently down the avenue to the
• 3:58:43
  Speaker 1: edge of the plaza, where car Comac hid. Here, Carthoris
• 3:58:48
  Speaker 1: found considerable difficulty in subduing the second thoat, and as
• 3:58:53
  Speaker 1: car Comak had never before ridden one of the beasts,
• 3:58:56
  Speaker 1: it seemed a most hopeless job. But at last the
• 3:59:00
  Speaker 1: bowmen managed to scramble to the sleek back, and again
• 3:59:03
  Speaker 1: the two beasts fled softly down the moss grown avenues
• 3:59:06
  Speaker 1: toward the open sea bottom beyond the city. All that night,
• 3:59:11
  Speaker 1: In the following day and the second night they rode
• 3:59:15
  Speaker 1: toward the northeast. No indication of pursuit developed, and at
• 3:59:20
  Speaker 1: dawn of the second day, Carthoris saw in the distance
• 3:59:23
  Speaker 1: the waving ribbon of great trees that marked one of
• 3:59:26
  Speaker 1: the long Barsoumian waterways. Immediately they abandoned their thoats and
• 3:59:31
  Speaker 1: approached the cultivated district on foot. Carthoris also discarded the
• 3:59:36
  Speaker 1: metal from his harness, or such of it as might
• 3:59:39
  Speaker 1: serve to identify him as a Heliumite or of royal blood,
• 3:59:43
  Speaker 1: for he did not know to which nation belonged this waterway,
• 3:59:47
  Speaker 1: and upon Mars, it is always well to assume every
• 3:59:50
  Speaker 1: man and nation your enemy until you have learned the contrary.
• 3:59:55
  Speaker 1: It was mid forenoon when the two at last entered
• 3:59:59
  Speaker 1: one of the roads that cut through the cultivated districts
• 4:00:02
  Speaker 1: at regular intervals, joining the arid wastes on either side,
• 4:00:06
  Speaker 1: with the great white central highway that follows through the
• 4:00:10
  Speaker 1: center from end to end of the far reaching threadlike
• 4:00:14
  Speaker 1: farm lands. The high wall surrounding the fields served as
• 4:00:19
  Speaker 1: a protection against surprise by raiding green hordes, as well
• 4:00:23
  Speaker 1: as keeping the savage banths and other carnivora from the
• 4:00:26
  Speaker 1: domestic animals and the human beings upon the farms. Carthoris
• 4:00:32
  Speaker 1: stopped before the first gate he came to, pounding for admission.
• 4:00:36
  Speaker 1: The young man who answered his summons greeted the two hospitably,
• 4:00:40
  Speaker 1: though he looked with considerable wonder upon the white skin
• 4:00:43
  Speaker 1: and auburn hair of the bowmen. After he had listened
• 4:00:47
  Speaker 1: for a moment to a partial narration of their escape
• 4:00:50
  Speaker 1: from the Torcasians, he invited them within, took them to
• 4:00:54
  Speaker 1: his house, and bade the servants there prepare food for them.
• 4:00:59
  Speaker 1: As they waited in the low, sealed, pleasant living room
• 4:01:02
  Speaker 1: of the farmhouse until the meal should be ready. Carthoris
• 4:01:05
  Speaker 1: drew his host into conversation that he might learn his
• 4:01:08
  Speaker 1: nationality and thus the nation under whose dominion lay the waterway.
• 4:01:13
  Speaker 1: Where circumstance had placed him I am hal Vas, said
• 4:01:18
  Speaker 1: the young man, son of vas Kor of Dusar, a
• 4:01:21
  Speaker 1: noble in the retinue of Astok, Prince of Dusar. At present,
• 4:01:25
  Speaker 1: I am Duar of the road for this district. Carthoris
• 4:01:30
  Speaker 1: was very glad that he had not disclosed his identity,
• 4:01:33
  Speaker 1: for though he had no idea of anything that had
• 4:01:35
  Speaker 1: transpired since he left Helium, or that Astok was at
• 4:01:39
  Speaker 1: the bottom of all his misfortunes, he well knew that
• 4:01:43
  Speaker 1: the Dusarian had no love for him, and that he
• 4:01:45
  Speaker 1: could hope for no assistance within the dominions of Dusar.
• 4:01:50
  Speaker 1: And who are you, asked, hal Vas? By your appearance,
• 4:01:55
  Speaker 1: I take you for a fighting man, but I see
• 4:01:57
  Speaker 1: no insignia upon your harness. Can it be that you
• 4:02:00
  Speaker 1: are a panthon? Now? These wandering soldiers of fortune are
• 4:02:05
  Speaker 1: common upon Barsoom, where most men love to fight. They
• 4:02:09
  Speaker 1: sell their services wherever war exists, and in the occasional
• 4:02:13
  Speaker 1: brief intervals when there is no organized warfare between the
• 4:02:17
  Speaker 1: Red nations, they join one of the numerous expeditions that
• 4:02:20
  Speaker 1: are constantly being dispatched against the green Men in protection
• 4:02:23
  Speaker 1: of the waterways that traverse the wilder portions of the globe.
• 4:02:28
  Speaker 1: When their service is over, they discard the metal of
• 4:02:31
  Speaker 1: the nation they have been serving, until they shall have
• 4:02:33
  Speaker 1: found the new master. In the intervals, they wear no insignia,
• 4:02:38
  Speaker 1: their war torn harness and grim weapons being sufficient to
• 4:02:41
  Speaker 1: attest their calling. The suggestion was a happy one, and
• 4:02:46
  Speaker 1: Carthoris embraced the chance it afforded to account satisfactorily for himself.
• 4:02:52
  Speaker 1: There was, however, a single drawback. In times of war.
• 4:02:56
  Speaker 1: Such panthons as happened to be within the domain of
• 4:02:59
  Speaker 1: a belligerent name nation were compelled to don the insignia
• 4:03:03
  Speaker 1: of that nation and fight with her warriors. As far
• 4:03:08
  Speaker 1: as Carthoris knew, Dusar was not at war with any
• 4:03:11
  Speaker 1: other nation, But there was never any telling when one
• 4:03:14
  Speaker 1: red nation would be flying at the throat of a neighbor,
• 4:03:17
  Speaker 1: even though the great and powerful alliance, at the head
• 4:03:20
  Speaker 1: of which was his father, John Carter, had managed to
• 4:03:23
  Speaker 1: maintain a long peace upon the greater portion of Barsoom.
• 4:03:28
  Speaker 1: A pleasant smile lighted hal Vas's face as Carthoris admitted
• 4:03:32
  Speaker 1: his vocation. It is well exclaimed the young man, that
• 4:03:37
  Speaker 1: you chanced to come hither, for here you will find
• 4:03:40
  Speaker 1: the means of obtaining service in short order, my father
• 4:03:44
  Speaker 1: vast corps as even now with me having come hither
• 4:03:48
  Speaker 1: to recruit a force for the new war against Helium.
• 4:03:54
  Speaker 1: End of chapter eleven. Chapter twelve, to save Dusar, Thuvia
• 4:04:08
  Speaker 1: of Ptarth, battling for more than life against the lust
• 4:04:11
  Speaker 1: of Jav, cast a quick glance over her shoulder toward
• 4:04:15
  Speaker 1: the forest from which had rumbled the fierce growl. Jav
• 4:04:19
  Speaker 1: looked too. What they saw filled each with apprehension. It
• 4:04:24
  Speaker 1: was Komal, the banth god, rushing wide jawed upon them.
• 4:04:29
  Speaker 1: Which had he chosen for his prey? Or was it
• 4:04:33
  Speaker 1: to be both? They had not long to wait, for.
• 4:04:36
  Speaker 1: Though the Lotharian attempted to hold the girl between himself
• 4:04:39
  Speaker 1: and the terrible fangs, the great beast found him at last. Then, shrieking,
• 4:04:46
  Speaker 1: he attempted to fly toward Lothar, after pushing Thuvia bodily
• 4:04:50
  Speaker 1: into the face of the man eater, but his fight
• 4:04:53
  Speaker 1: was of short duration. In a moment, Komal was upon him,
• 4:04:58
  Speaker 1: rending his throat and chest with maniacal fury. The girl
• 4:05:02
  Speaker 1: reached their side a moment later, but it was with
• 4:05:05
  Speaker 1: difficulty that she tore the mad beast from its prey,
• 4:05:09
  Speaker 1: still growling and casting hungry glances back upon jav the
• 4:05:13
  Speaker 1: banth at last permitted itself to be led away into
• 4:05:16
  Speaker 1: the wood. With her giant protector by her side, Thuvius
• 4:05:21
  Speaker 1: set forth to find the passage through the cliffs that
• 4:05:24
  Speaker 1: she might attempt the seemingly impossible feat of reaching far
• 4:05:27
  Speaker 1: distant Ptarth across the more than seventeen thousand haads of
• 4:05:31
  Speaker 1: savage Barsoom. She could not believe that Carthoris had deliberately
• 4:05:37
  Speaker 1: deserted her, and so she kept a constant watch for him.
• 4:05:41
  Speaker 1: But as she bore too far to the north in
• 4:05:43
  Speaker 1: her search for the tunnel, she passed the Helium mite.
• 4:05:46
  Speaker 1: As he was returning to Lothar in search of her,
• 4:05:50
  Speaker 1: Thuvia of Ptarth was having difficulty in determining the exact
• 4:05:54
  Speaker 1: status of the Prince of Helium in her heart. She
• 4:05:57
  Speaker 1: could not admit even to herself that she she loved him,
• 4:06:01
  Speaker 1: and yet she had permitted him to apply to her
• 4:06:04
  Speaker 1: that term of endearment and possession to which a Barsoomian
• 4:06:08
  Speaker 1: maid should turn deaf ears when voiced by other lips
• 4:06:11
  Speaker 1: than those of her husband or fiancee. My Princess Kulan Tiff,
• 4:06:19
  Speaker 1: Jeddak of Cool, to whom she was affianced, commanded her
• 4:06:23
  Speaker 1: respect and admiration. Had it been that she had surrendered
• 4:06:27
  Speaker 1: to her father's wishes because of pique, that the handsome
• 4:06:30
  Speaker 1: Heliumite had not taken advantage of his visits to her
• 4:06:33
  Speaker 1: father's court to push the suit for her hand, that
• 4:06:36
  Speaker 1: she had been quite sure he had contemplated since that
• 4:06:39
  Speaker 1: distant day the two had sat together upon the carved
• 4:06:43
  Speaker 1: seat within the gorgeous garden of the Jeddaks that graced
• 4:06:47
  Speaker 1: the inner courtyard of the Palace of salensus Oll at Cadabra.
• 4:06:52
  Speaker 1: Did she love Kulan Tiff bravely? She tried to believe
• 4:06:57
  Speaker 1: that she did, But all the while her eyes eyes
• 4:07:00
  Speaker 1: wandered through the coming darkness for the figure of a
• 4:07:03
  Speaker 1: clean limbed fighting man, black haired and gray eyed. Black
• 4:07:09
  Speaker 1: was the hair of Kulan Tith, but his eyes were brown.
• 4:07:14
  Speaker 1: It was almost dark when she found the entrance to
• 4:07:16
  Speaker 1: the tunnel Safely, she passed through to the hills beyond,
• 4:07:20
  Speaker 1: and here, under the bright light of Mars's two moons,
• 4:07:24
  Speaker 1: she halted to play in her future action. Should she
• 4:07:28
  Speaker 1: wait here in the hope that Carthoris would return in
• 4:07:30
  Speaker 1: search of her, or should she continue her way northeast
• 4:07:34
  Speaker 1: toward Ptarth. Where first would Carthoris have gone after leaving
• 4:07:39
  Speaker 1: the valley of Lothar. Her parched throat and dry tongue
• 4:07:43
  Speaker 1: gave her the answer toward Anthor and water well, She
• 4:07:49
  Speaker 1: too would go first to Anthor, where she might find
• 4:07:53
  Speaker 1: more than the water she needed. With Comal by her side,
• 4:07:58
  Speaker 1: she felt little fear, for he would protect her from
• 4:08:00
  Speaker 1: all other savage beasts. Even the great white apes would
• 4:08:04
  Speaker 1: flee the mighty banth in terror. Men only need she fear.
• 4:08:09
  Speaker 1: But she must take this and many other chances before
• 4:08:12
  Speaker 1: she could hope to reach her father's court again. When
• 4:08:16
  Speaker 1: at last Carthoris found her only to be struck down
• 4:08:19
  Speaker 1: by the long sword of a green man, Thuvia prayed
• 4:08:23
  Speaker 1: that the same fate might overtake her. The sight of
• 4:08:27
  Speaker 1: the Red warriors leaping from their fliers had, for a
• 4:08:30
  Speaker 1: moment filled her with renewed hope, hope that Carthoris of
• 4:08:34
  Speaker 1: Helium might be only stunned, and that they would rescue him.
• 4:08:39
  Speaker 1: But when she saw the Dusarian metal upon their harness,
• 4:08:42
  Speaker 1: and that they sought only to escape with her alone
• 4:08:44
  Speaker 1: from the charging Torquasians. She gave up Comal too was dead,
• 4:08:51
  Speaker 1: dead across the body of the Heliumite. She was indeed alone.
• 4:08:57
  Speaker 1: Now there was none to protect her. The Dusarian warriors
• 4:09:04
  Speaker 1: dragged her to the deck of the nearest flier. All
• 4:09:07
  Speaker 1: about them the Green warriors surged in an attempt to
• 4:09:10
  Speaker 1: arrest her from the red. At last, those who had
• 4:09:14
  Speaker 1: not died in the conflict gained the decks of the
• 4:09:16
  Speaker 1: two craft. The engines throbbed and purred the propeller's word.
• 4:09:22
  Speaker 1: Quickly the swift boats shot heavenward. Thuvia of Ptarth glanced
• 4:09:28
  Speaker 1: about her. A man stood near, smiling down into her face.
• 4:09:33
  Speaker 1: With a gasp of recognition. She looked full into his eyes,
• 4:09:37
  Speaker 1: and then, with a little moan of terror and understanding,
• 4:09:40
  Speaker 1: she buried her face in her hands and sank to
• 4:09:43
  Speaker 1: the polished skeel wood deck. It was Astok, Prince of Dusar,
• 4:09:49
  Speaker 1: who bent above her. Swift were the fliers of Astok
• 4:09:53
  Speaker 1: of Dusar, and great the need for reaching his father's
• 4:09:57
  Speaker 1: court as quickly as possible. For the fleets of war
• 4:10:00
  Speaker 1: of Helium and Ptarth and Cowol were scattered far and
• 4:10:04
  Speaker 1: wide above Barsoom. Nor would it go well with Astok
• 4:10:09
  Speaker 1: or Dusar should any of them discover Thuvia of Ptarth
• 4:10:12
  Speaker 1: a prisoner upon his own vessel. Anthor lies in fifty
• 4:10:18
  Speaker 1: south latitude and forty east of Whores, the deserted seat
• 4:10:23
  Speaker 1: of ancient Barsoomian culture and learning, while Dusar lies fifteen
• 4:10:28
  Speaker 1: degrees north of the equator and twenty degrees east of Whores.
• 4:10:33
  Speaker 1: Great though the distance is, the fliers covered it without
• 4:10:37
  Speaker 1: a stop. Long before they had reached their destination, Thuvia
• 4:10:41
  Speaker 1: of Ptarth had learned several things that cleared up the
• 4:10:44
  Speaker 1: doubts that had assailed her mind for many days. Scarce
• 4:10:48
  Speaker 1: had they risen above Anthor than she recognized one of
• 4:10:52
  Speaker 1: the crew as a member of the crew of that
• 4:10:54
  Speaker 1: other flier that had borne her from her father's gardens
• 4:10:57
  Speaker 1: to Anthor of Astok. Upon the craft settled the whole question.
• 4:11:03
  Speaker 1: She had been stolen by emissaries of the Dustarian Prince
• 4:11:07
  Speaker 1: Carthoris of Helium had had nothing to do with it,
• 4:11:12
  Speaker 1: nor did Astok deny the charge. When she accused him,
• 4:11:15
  Speaker 1: he only smiled and pleaded his love for her. I
• 4:11:20
  Speaker 1: would sooner mate with a white ape, she cried. When
• 4:11:23
  Speaker 1: he would have urged his suit, Astok glowered sullenly upon her.
• 4:11:29
  Speaker 1: You shall mate with me Thuvia of Ptarth, he growled,
• 4:11:33
  Speaker 1: Or by your first ancestor, you shall have your preference
• 4:11:36
  Speaker 1: and mate with a white ape. The girl made no reply,
• 4:11:41
  Speaker 1: nor could he draw her into conversation. During the balance
• 4:11:44
  Speaker 1: of the journey. As a matter of fact, Astok was
• 4:11:48
  Speaker 1: a trifle awed by the proportions of the conflict which
• 4:11:51
  Speaker 1: his abduction of the Parthian princess had induced, nor was
• 4:11:55
  Speaker 1: he over comfortable with the weight of responsibility which the
• 4:11:58
  Speaker 1: possession of such a prisoner entailed. His one thought was
• 4:12:03
  Speaker 1: to get her to Dusar, and there let his father
• 4:12:07
  Speaker 1: assume the responsibility. In the meantime, he would be as
• 4:12:11
  Speaker 1: careful as possible to do nothing to affront her, lest
• 4:12:14
  Speaker 1: they all might be captured and have to account for
• 4:12:17
  Speaker 1: his treatment of the girl to one of the great
• 4:12:19
  Speaker 1: Jeddaks whose interests centered on her. And so at last
• 4:12:23
  Speaker 1: they came to Dusar, where Astok hid his prisoner in
• 4:12:27
  Speaker 1: a secret room high in the east tower of his
• 4:12:30
  Speaker 1: own palace. He had sworn his men to silence in
• 4:12:33
  Speaker 1: the matter of the true identity of the girl. For
• 4:12:36
  Speaker 1: until he had seen his father, Nudas Jeddak of Dusar,
• 4:12:40
  Speaker 1: he dared not let any one know whom he had
• 4:12:43
  Speaker 1: brought with him from the South. But when he appeared
• 4:12:47
  Speaker 1: in the great audience chamber before the cruel lipped man
• 4:12:50
  Speaker 1: who was his sire, he found his courage oozing, and
• 4:12:54
  Speaker 1: he dared not speak of the princess hid within his palace.
• 4:12:59
  Speaker 1: It occurred to him to test his father's sentiments upon
• 4:13:01
  Speaker 1: the subject, and so he told a tale of capturing
• 4:13:05
  Speaker 1: one who claimed to know the whereabouts of Thuvia of Ptarth.
• 4:13:10
  Speaker 1: And if you command it, sire, he said, I will
• 4:13:13
  Speaker 1: go and capture her, fetching her here to Dusar. Nudus
• 4:13:18
  Speaker 1: frowned and shook his head. You have done enough already
• 4:13:23
  Speaker 1: to set Ptarth in cowl and Helium all three upon
• 4:13:26
  Speaker 1: us at once, should they learn your part in the
• 4:13:29
  Speaker 1: theft of the Ptarth princess. That you succeeded in shifting
• 4:13:33
  Speaker 1: the guilt upon the Prince of Helium was fortunate and
• 4:13:37
  Speaker 1: a masterly move of strategy. But were the girl to
• 4:13:41
  Speaker 1: know the truth and ever return to her father's court,
• 4:13:45
  Speaker 1: all Dusar would have to pay the penalty, and to
• 4:13:48
  Speaker 1: have her here a prisoner amongst us would be an
• 4:13:51
  Speaker 1: admission of guilt for the consequences of which naught could
• 4:13:55
  Speaker 1: save us. It would cost me my throne, asked Oc,
• 4:14:00
  Speaker 1: that I have no mind to lose. If we had
• 4:14:05
  Speaker 1: her here. The elder man suddenly commenced to muse, repeating
• 4:14:11
  Speaker 1: the phrase again and again. If we had her here, Astoc,
• 4:14:16
  Speaker 1: he exclaimed fiercely. Ah, if but we had her here
• 4:14:20
  Speaker 1: and none knew that she was here, can you not guess, man,
• 4:14:25
  Speaker 1: the guilt of Dusar might be forever buried with her bones,
• 4:14:31
  Speaker 1: he concluded in a low, savage whisper. Astoc, Prince of Dusar,
• 4:14:37
  Speaker 1: shuddered weak. He was yes, and wicked too, but the
• 4:14:42
  Speaker 1: suggestion that his father's words implied turned him cold with horror.
• 4:14:49
  Speaker 1: Cruel to their enemies are the men of Mars. But
• 4:14:52
  Speaker 1: the word enemies is commonly interpreted to mean men only.
• 4:14:57
  Speaker 1: Assassination runs riot in the great Barsoomi in cities. Yet
• 4:15:01
  Speaker 1: to murder a woman is a crime so unthinkable that
• 4:15:04
  Speaker 1: even the most hardened of the paid assassins would shrink
• 4:15:07
  Speaker 1: from you in horror. Should you suggest such a thing.
• 4:15:10
  Speaker 1: To him. Nudus was apparently oblivious to his son's all
• 4:15:15
  Speaker 1: too patent terror at his suggestion. Presently, he continued, you
• 4:15:21
  Speaker 1: say that you know where the girl lies hid, since
• 4:15:24
  Speaker 1: she was stolen from your people at anthor should she
• 4:15:28
  Speaker 1: be found by any one of the three powers, her
• 4:15:31
  Speaker 1: unsupported story would be sufficient to turn them all against us.
• 4:15:37
  Speaker 1: There is but one way, Astoc cried the older man.
• 4:15:41
  Speaker 1: You must return at once to her hiding place and
• 4:15:44
  Speaker 1: fetch her hither in all secrecy. And look you here,
• 4:15:49
  Speaker 1: return not to Dusar without her upon pain of death,
• 4:15:55
  Speaker 1: asked Oc, Prince of Dusar. Well knew his royal father's temper.
• 4:16:00
  Speaker 1: He knew that in the tyrant's heart there pulsed no
• 4:16:03
  Speaker 1: single throb of love for any creature. Astok's mother had
• 4:16:09
  Speaker 1: been a slave woman. Nudus had never loved her, He
• 4:16:13
  Speaker 1: had never loved another. In youth, he had tried to
• 4:16:17
  Speaker 1: find a bride at the courts of several of his
• 4:16:19
  Speaker 1: powerful neighbors, but their women would have none of him.
• 4:16:23
  Speaker 1: After a dozen daughters of his own nobility had sought
• 4:16:26
  Speaker 1: self destruction rather than wed him, he had given up.
• 4:16:30
  Speaker 1: And then it had been that he had legally wed
• 4:16:32
  Speaker 1: one of his slaves, that he might have a son
• 4:16:35
  Speaker 1: to stand among the Jeds. When Nudus died and a
• 4:16:38
  Speaker 1: new Jeddak was chosen, Slowly Astok withdrew from the presence
• 4:16:43
  Speaker 1: of his father. With white face and shaking limbs. He
• 4:16:47
  Speaker 1: made his way to his own palace. As he crossed
• 4:16:50
  Speaker 1: the courtyard, his glance chanced to wander to the great
• 4:16:54
  Speaker 1: East Tower, looming high against the azure of the sky.
• 4:16:58
  Speaker 1: At sight of it, bas of sweat broke out upon
• 4:17:01
  Speaker 1: his brow. Isis no other hand than his could be
• 4:17:07
  Speaker 1: trusted to do the horrid thing with his own fingers.
• 4:17:11
  Speaker 1: He must crush the life from that perfect throat, or
• 4:17:14
  Speaker 1: plunge the silent blade into the red red heart her heart,
• 4:17:20
  Speaker 1: the heart that he had hoped would brim with love
• 4:17:23
  Speaker 1: for him. But had it done so, he recalled the
• 4:17:27
  Speaker 1: haughty contempt with which his protestations of love had been received.
• 4:17:33
  Speaker 1: He went cold, and then hot to the memory of it.
• 4:17:37
  Speaker 1: His compunctions cooled as the self satisfaction of a near
• 4:17:40
  Speaker 1: revenge crowded out the finer instincts that had for a
• 4:17:44
  Speaker 1: moment asserted themselves. The good that he had inherited from
• 4:17:49
  Speaker 1: the slave woman was once again submerged in the bad
• 4:17:52
  Speaker 1: blood that had come down to him from his royal sire.
• 4:17:56
  Speaker 1: As in the end, it always was a cold smile
• 4:18:02
  Speaker 1: supplanted the terror that had dilated his eyes. He turned
• 4:18:06
  Speaker 1: his steps toward the tower. He would see her before
• 4:18:09
  Speaker 1: he set out upon the journey that was to blind
• 4:18:12
  Speaker 1: his father to the fact that the girl was already
• 4:18:15
  Speaker 1: in Dusar. Quietly he passed in through the secret way,
• 4:18:20
  Speaker 1: ascending a spiral runway to the apartment in which the
• 4:18:23
  Speaker 1: Princess of Ptarth was immured. As he entered the room,
• 4:18:27
  Speaker 1: he saw the girl leaning upon the sill of the
• 4:18:30
  Speaker 1: east casement, gazing out across the roofs of Dusar toward
• 4:18:34
  Speaker 1: distant Ptarth. He hated Ptarth. The thought of it filled
• 4:18:39
  Speaker 1: him with rage. Why not finish her now and have
• 4:18:42
  Speaker 1: done with it? At the sound of his steps, she
• 4:18:46
  Speaker 1: turned quickly toward him. Ah, how beautiful she was. His
• 4:18:51
  Speaker 1: sudden determination faded beneath the glorious light of her wondrous beauty.
• 4:18:56
  Speaker 1: He would wait until he had returned from his little
• 4:18:58
  Speaker 1: journey of deception. Maybe there might be some other way, then,
• 4:19:03
  Speaker 1: some other hand, to strike the blow with that face,
• 4:19:08
  Speaker 1: with those eyes before him. He could never do it.
• 4:19:12
  Speaker 1: Of that, he was positive he had always gloried in
• 4:19:16
  Speaker 1: the cruelty of his nature. But isis he was not
• 4:19:19
  Speaker 1: that cruel No another must be found, one whom he
• 4:19:24
  Speaker 1: could trust. He was still looking at her as she
• 4:19:28
  Speaker 1: stood there before him, meeting his gaze steadily and unafraid.
• 4:19:33
  Speaker 1: He felt the hot passion of his love mounting higher
• 4:19:36
  Speaker 1: and higher. Why not sue once more? If she would relent,
• 4:19:42
  Speaker 1: all might yet be well. Even if his father could
• 4:19:45
  Speaker 1: not be persuaded, They could fly to Ptarth, laying all
• 4:19:49
  Speaker 1: the blame of the nagvery and intrigue that had thrown
• 4:19:51
  Speaker 1: four great nations into war upon the shoulders of Nudus.
• 4:19:56
  Speaker 1: And who was there that would doubt the justice of
• 4:19:58
  Speaker 1: the charge Thuvia? He said, I come once again for
• 4:20:05
  Speaker 1: the last time, to lay my heart at your feet.
• 4:20:09
  Speaker 1: Ptarth and Cowul and Dusar are battling with helium because
• 4:20:14
  Speaker 1: of you wed me, Thuvia, and all may yet be
• 4:20:18
  Speaker 1: as it should be. The girl shook her head. Wait,
• 4:20:24
  Speaker 1: he commanded, before she could speak, know the truth before
• 4:20:28
  Speaker 1: you speak words that may seal not only your own fate,
• 4:20:32
  Speaker 1: but that of thousands of warriors. Who battle because of you,
• 4:20:37
  Speaker 1: refuse to wed me willingly, and Dusar would be laid waste.
• 4:20:42
  Speaker 1: Should ever the truth be known to Ptarth and Cowl
• 4:20:46
  Speaker 1: and Helium, they would raise our cities, leaving not one
• 4:20:51
  Speaker 1: stone upon another. They would scatter our peoples across the
• 4:20:55
  Speaker 1: face of Barsoom, from the frozen north to the frozen
• 4:20:58
  Speaker 1: southhunting them down and slaying them, until this great nation
• 4:21:04
  Speaker 1: remained only as a hated memory in the minds of men.
• 4:21:08
  Speaker 1: But while they are exterminating the Dusarians, countless thousands of
• 4:21:13
  Speaker 1: their own warriors must perish, and all because of the
• 4:21:17
  Speaker 1: stubbornness of a single woman who would not wed the
• 4:21:20
  Speaker 1: prince who loves her. Refuse thuvia of Ptarth, and there
• 4:21:26
  Speaker 1: remains but a single alternative. No man must ever know
• 4:21:31
  Speaker 1: your fate. Only a handful of loyal servitors beside my
• 4:21:36
  Speaker 1: royal father and myself know that you were stolen from
• 4:21:39
  Speaker 1: the gardens of thuvan Din by Astok, Prince of Dusar,
• 4:21:44
  Speaker 1: or that to day you be imprisoned in my palace.
• 4:21:48
  Speaker 1: Refuse thuvia of Ptarth, and you must die to save Dusar.
• 4:21:54
  Speaker 1: There is no other way. Nudics the Jeddak has so decreed.
• 4:22:00
  Speaker 1: I have spoken for a long moment. The girl at
• 4:22:06
  Speaker 1: her level, gaze rest full upon the face of Astok
• 4:22:09
  Speaker 1: of Dussar. Then she spoke, and though the words were few,
• 4:22:14
  Speaker 1: the unimpassioned tone carried unfathomable depths of cold contempt. Better
• 4:22:21
  Speaker 1: all that you have threatened, she said, then you. Then
• 4:22:27
  Speaker 1: she turned her back upon him and went to stand
• 4:22:30
  Speaker 1: once more before the east window, gazing with sad eyes
• 4:22:34
  Speaker 1: toward distant Ptarth. Astok wheeled and left the room, returning
• 4:22:40
  Speaker 1: after a short interval of time with food and drink. Here,
• 4:22:45
  Speaker 1: he said, is sustenance until I return again. The next
• 4:22:50
  Speaker 1: to enter this apartment will be your executioner. Commend yourself
• 4:22:54
  Speaker 1: to your ancestors, Thuvia of Ptarth, for within a few
• 4:22:58
  Speaker 1: days you shall be with them. Then he was gone.
• 4:23:04
  Speaker 1: Half an hour later, he was interviewing an officer high
• 4:23:07
  Speaker 1: in the navy of Dusar. Whither went vast Corp, He asked,
• 4:23:12
  Speaker 1: He is not at his palace south to the great
• 4:23:16
  Speaker 1: waterway that skirts Torcas, replied the other, his son hal
• 4:23:21
  Speaker 1: Vas is dwar of the road there, and thither has
• 4:23:24
  Speaker 1: Vaskor gone to enlist recruits among the workers on the farms, good,
• 4:23:31
  Speaker 1: said Astok, and a half hour more found him rising
• 4:23:35
  Speaker 1: above Dusar in his swiftest flier. End of Chapter twelve,
• 4:23:48
  Speaker 1: Chapter thirteen. Turgen the Panthon, the face of Carthoris of
• 4:23:55
  Speaker 1: Helium gave no token of the emotions that convulsed him inwardly,
• 4:23:59
  Speaker 1: as he heard from the lips of hal Vas that
• 4:24:01
  Speaker 1: Helium was at war with Dusar and that fate had
• 4:24:05
  Speaker 1: thrown him into the service of the enemy. That he
• 4:24:08
  Speaker 1: might utilize this opportunity to the good of Helium scarce
• 4:24:11
  Speaker 1: sufficed to outweigh the chagrin he felt that he was
• 4:24:15
  Speaker 1: not fighting in the open at the head of his
• 4:24:17
  Speaker 1: own loyal troops. To escape the Dusarians might prove an
• 4:24:22
  Speaker 1: easy matter, and then again it might not, should they
• 4:24:26
  Speaker 1: suspect his loyalty, and the loyalty of an impressed Panthon
• 4:24:30
  Speaker 1: was always open to suspicion. He might not find an
• 4:24:34
  Speaker 1: opportunity to elude their vigilance until after the termination of
• 4:24:38
  Speaker 1: the war, which might occur within days, or again only
• 4:24:42
  Speaker 1: after long and weary years of bloodshed. He recalled that
• 4:24:47
  Speaker 1: history recorded wars in which actual military operations had been
• 4:24:51
  Speaker 1: carried on without cessation for five or six hundred years,
• 4:24:56
  Speaker 1: and even now there were nations upon Barsoom with which
• 4:24:59
  Speaker 1: hel had made no peace within the history of man.
• 4:25:04
  Speaker 1: The outlook was not cheering. He could not guess that
• 4:25:08
  Speaker 1: within a few hours he would be blessing the fate
• 4:25:10
  Speaker 1: that had thrown him into the service of dusar Ah exclaimed,
• 4:25:15
  Speaker 1: hal vas here is my father, now cow Or vas Kor,
• 4:25:21
  Speaker 1: here is one you will be glad to meet. A
• 4:25:23
  Speaker 1: dody Panthon He hesitated. Turgeon interjected Carthoris, seizing upon the
• 4:25:31
  Speaker 1: first appellation that occurred to him as he spoke, His
• 4:25:35
  Speaker 1: eyes crossed quickly to the tall warrior who was entering
• 4:25:38
  Speaker 1: the room. Where before had he seen that giant figure,
• 4:25:43
  Speaker 1: that taciturn countenance and the livid sword cut from temple
• 4:25:48
  Speaker 1: to mouth? Vas Kor, repeated Carthoris mentally, vast Kor, where
• 4:25:56
  Speaker 1: had he seen the man before? And then the noble spoke,
• 4:26:00
  Speaker 1: and like a flash at all came back to Carthoris,
• 4:26:04
  Speaker 1: the forward servant upon the landing stage at Ptarth that
• 4:26:08
  Speaker 1: time that he had been explaining the intricacies of his
• 4:26:10
  Speaker 1: new compass to thuvon Din, the lone slave that had
• 4:26:14
  Speaker 1: guarded his own hangar. That night he left upon his
• 4:26:17
  Speaker 1: ill fated journey for Ptarth, the journey that had brought
• 4:26:21
  Speaker 1: him so mysteriously to far Anthor vas Kor. He repeated aloud,
• 4:26:27
  Speaker 1: blessed be your ancestors for this meeting. Nor did the
• 4:26:31
  Speaker 1: Dusarian guess the wealth of meaning that lay beneath that
• 4:26:35
  Speaker 1: hackneyed phrase with which a Barsoomian acknowledges an introduction, And
• 4:26:40
  Speaker 1: blessed be yours, Turgeon repeated, Vaskor. Now came the introduction
• 4:26:46
  Speaker 1: of kar Komac to vas Kor, And as Carthoris went
• 4:26:50
  Speaker 1: through the little ceremony, there came to him the only
• 4:26:52
  Speaker 1: explanation he might make to account for the white skin
• 4:26:55
  Speaker 1: and auburn hair of the bowman, For he feared that
• 4:26:58
  Speaker 1: the truth might not be believed, and thus suspicion be
• 4:27:02
  Speaker 1: cast upon them both from the beginning. Car Komak, he explained, is,
• 4:27:08
  Speaker 1: as you can see a thurn, he has wandered far
• 4:27:11
  Speaker 1: from his ice bound southern temples in search of adventure.
• 4:27:15
  Speaker 1: I came upon him in the pits of Anthor. But
• 4:27:17
  Speaker 1: though I have known him so short a time, I
• 4:27:20
  Speaker 1: can vouch for his bravery and loyalty. Since the destruction
• 4:27:25
  Speaker 1: of the fabric of their false religion by John Carter,
• 4:27:28
  Speaker 1: the majority of the Thurns had gladly accepted the new
• 4:27:31
  Speaker 1: order of things, so that it was now no longer
• 4:27:34
  Speaker 1: uncommon to see them mingling with the multitudes of red
• 4:27:37
  Speaker 1: men in any of the great cities of the outer world.
• 4:27:40
  Speaker 1: So vas Kor neither felt nor expressed any great astonishment
• 4:27:46
  Speaker 1: all during the interview. Carthoris watched catlike for some indication
• 4:27:51
  Speaker 1: that Vascor recognized in the battered panthon the erstwhile gorgeous
• 4:27:55
  Speaker 1: Prince of Helium. But the sleepless nights, the long days
• 4:28:00
  Speaker 1: of marching and fighting, the wounds and the dried blood
• 4:28:04
  Speaker 1: had evidently sufficed to obliterate the last remnant of his
• 4:28:07
  Speaker 1: likeness to his former self. And then vas Kor had
• 4:28:11
  Speaker 1: seen him but twice in all his life. Little wonder
• 4:28:15
  Speaker 1: that he did not know him. During the evening, vas
• 4:28:18
  Speaker 1: Kor announced that on the morrow they should depart north
• 4:28:21
  Speaker 1: toward Dusar, picking up recruits at various stations along the way.
• 4:28:27
  Speaker 1: In a great field behind the house, a flier lay
• 4:28:30
  Speaker 1: a fair sized cruiser transport that would accommodate many men,
• 4:28:35
  Speaker 1: yet swift and well armed. Also here Carthoris slept, and
• 4:28:40
  Speaker 1: kar Komak too, with the other recruits, under guard of
• 4:28:43
  Speaker 1: the regular Dusarian warriors that manned the craft. Toward midnight,
• 4:28:49
  Speaker 1: vas Kor returned to the vessel from his son's house,
• 4:28:52
  Speaker 1: repairing at once to his cabin. Carthoris, with one of
• 4:28:56
  Speaker 1: the Dusarians, was on watch. It was with diffauliculty that
• 4:29:00
  Speaker 1: the Helium might repressed a cold smile as the noble
• 4:29:03
  Speaker 1: passed within a foot of him, within a foot of
• 4:29:06
  Speaker 1: the long, slim heliumitic blade that swung in his harness.
• 4:29:12
  Speaker 1: How easy it would have been, how easy to avenge
• 4:29:15
  Speaker 1: the cowardly trick that had been played upon him, to
• 4:29:18
  Speaker 1: avenge Helium and Ptarth and Thuvia. But his hand moved
• 4:29:23
  Speaker 1: not toward the dagger's hilt. For first, vast Kor must
• 4:29:26
  Speaker 1: serve a better purpose. He might know where Thuvia of
• 4:29:30
  Speaker 1: Ptarth lay hidden now if it had truly been Dusarians
• 4:29:33
  Speaker 1: that had spirited her away during the fight before Anthor.
• 4:29:37
  Speaker 1: And then too, there was the instigator of the entire
• 4:29:40
  Speaker 1: foul plot. He must pay the penalty. And who better
• 4:29:45
  Speaker 1: than vas Kor could lead the Prince of Helium to
• 4:29:47
  Speaker 1: Astok of Dusar. Faintly out of the night, there came
• 4:29:52
  Speaker 1: to Carthoris's ear the purring of a distant motor. He
• 4:29:56
  Speaker 1: scanned the heavens. Yes, there it was, far in the north,
• 4:30:02
  Speaker 1: dimly outlined against the dark void of space that stretched
• 4:30:05
  Speaker 1: illimitably beyond it, the faint suggestion of a flier passing
• 4:30:10
  Speaker 1: unlighted through the Barsoomian night. Carthoris, knowing not whether the
• 4:30:17
  Speaker 1: craft might be friend or foe of Dusar, gave no
• 4:30:20
  Speaker 1: sign that he had seen, but turned his eyes in
• 4:30:23
  Speaker 1: another direction, leaving the matter to the Dusarian who stood
• 4:30:27
  Speaker 1: watch with him. Presently, the fellow discovered the oncoming craft
• 4:30:32
  Speaker 1: and sounded the low alarm, which brought the balance of
• 4:30:34
  Speaker 1: the watch and an officer from their sleeping silks and
• 4:30:37
  Speaker 1: furs upon the deck near by. The cruiser transport lay
• 4:30:42
  Speaker 1: without lights, and resting as she was upon the ground,
• 4:30:46
  Speaker 1: must have been entirely invisible to the oncoming flier, which
• 4:30:50
  Speaker 1: all presently recognized as a small craft. It soon became
• 4:30:55
  Speaker 1: evident that the stranger intended making a landing, for she
• 4:30:59
  Speaker 1: was now spiraling slowly above them, dropping lower and lower
• 4:31:03
  Speaker 1: in each graceful curve. It is the Thuria, whispered one
• 4:31:07
  Speaker 1: of the Dusarian warriors. I would know her in the
• 4:31:10
  Speaker 1: blackness of the pits among ten thousand other craft. Right
• 4:31:15
  Speaker 1: you are, exclaimed Vaskor, who had come on deck. And
• 4:31:19
  Speaker 1: then he hailed Kowor Furia. Kowor came presently from above.
• 4:31:26
  Speaker 1: After a brief silence, Then what ship cruiser transport Kalxus,
• 4:31:33
  Speaker 1: vast core of Dusar good came from above? Is there
• 4:31:38
  Speaker 1: safe landing alongside? Yes, close in to starboard. Wait, we
• 4:31:44
  Speaker 1: will show our lights. And a moment later, the smaller
• 4:31:47
  Speaker 1: craft settled close beside the Kalxus, and the lights of
• 4:31:51
  Speaker 1: the latter were immediately extinguished. Once more, several figures could
• 4:31:55
  Speaker 1: be seen slipping over the side of the Thuria and
• 4:31:58
  Speaker 1: advancing toward the Kalxus. Ever suspicious, the Dusarians stood ready
• 4:32:03
  Speaker 1: to receive the visitors as friends or foes, as closer
• 4:32:06
  Speaker 1: inspection might prove them. Carthoris stood quite near the rail,
• 4:32:11
  Speaker 1: ready to take sides with the newcomers, should chance have
• 4:32:15
  Speaker 1: it that they were Heliumites playing a bold stroke of
• 4:32:17
  Speaker 1: strategy upon the lone Dusarian ship. He had led like
• 4:32:22
  Speaker 1: parties himself and knew that such a contingency was quite possible.
• 4:32:27
  Speaker 1: But the face of the first man to cross the
• 4:32:29
  Speaker 1: rail undeceived him with a shock that was not at
• 4:32:32
  Speaker 1: all unpleasurable. It was the face of Astok, Prince of Dusar.
• 4:32:38
  Speaker 1: Scarce Noticing the others upon the deck of the Chalcus,
• 4:32:41
  Speaker 1: Astok strode forward to accept Vaskor's greeting. Then he summoned
• 4:32:45
  Speaker 1: the noble below. The warriors and officers returned to their
• 4:32:49
  Speaker 1: sleeping silks and furs, and once more the deck was
• 4:32:52
  Speaker 1: deserted except for the Dusarian warrior and Turgen, the Panthon,
• 4:32:57
  Speaker 1: who stood guard. The latter walked quietly to and fro.
• 4:33:02
  Speaker 1: The former leaned across the rail, wishing for the hour
• 4:33:05
  Speaker 1: that would bring him relief. He did not see his
• 4:33:08
  Speaker 1: companion approach the lights of the cabin of Vaskor. He
• 4:33:12
  Speaker 1: did not see him stoop with ear close pressed to
• 4:33:15
  Speaker 1: a tiny ventilator. May the white apes take us all,
• 4:33:20
  Speaker 1: cried Astok ruefully, if we are not in as ugly
• 4:33:23
  Speaker 1: a snarl as you have ever seen, Nudis thinks that
• 4:33:26
  Speaker 1: we have her in hiding far away from Dusar. He
• 4:33:29
  Speaker 1: has bidden me bring her here, he paused. No man
• 4:33:34
  Speaker 1: should have heard from his lips the thing he was
• 4:33:37
  Speaker 1: trying to tell. It should have been forever the secret
• 4:33:40
  Speaker 1: of Nudus and Astok, for upon it rested the safety
• 4:33:44
  Speaker 1: of a throne. With that knowledge, any man could rest
• 4:33:48
  Speaker 1: from the Jadak of Dusar whatever he listed. But Astok
• 4:33:53
  Speaker 1: was afraid, and he wanted from this older man the
• 4:33:55
  Speaker 1: suggestion of an alternative. He went on. I am to
• 4:34:00
  Speaker 1: kill her, he whispered, looking fearfully around Nudas merely wishes
• 4:34:05
  Speaker 1: to see the body, that he may know his commands
• 4:34:07
  Speaker 1: have been executed. I am now supposed to be gone
• 4:34:10
  Speaker 1: to the spot where we have her hidden, that I
• 4:34:12
  Speaker 1: may fetch her in secrecy to Dusar. None is to
• 4:34:16
  Speaker 1: know that she has ever been in the keeping of
• 4:34:17
  Speaker 1: a Dusarian. I do not need to tell you what
• 4:34:21
  Speaker 1: will befall Dusar, should Ptarth and Helium and Coowol ever
• 4:34:25
  Speaker 1: learn the truth. The jaws of the listener at the
• 4:34:29
  Speaker 1: ventilator clicked together with a vicious snap. Before he had
• 4:34:33
  Speaker 1: but guessed at the identity of the subject of this conversation.
• 4:34:37
  Speaker 1: Now he knew, and they were to kill her. His
• 4:34:42
  Speaker 1: muscular fingers clenched until the nails bit into the palms.
• 4:34:47
  Speaker 1: And you wish me to go with you while you
• 4:34:49
  Speaker 1: fetch her to Dusar. Vaskor was saying, where is she?
• 4:34:56
  Speaker 1: Astok bent close and whispered into the other's ear. The
• 4:35:00
  Speaker 1: suggestion of a smile crossed the cruel features of Vaskor.
• 4:35:05
  Speaker 1: He realized the power that lay within his grasp. He
• 4:35:09
  Speaker 1: should be a Jed at last. And how may I
• 4:35:13
  Speaker 1: help you, my prince, asked the older man, suavely. I
• 4:35:19
  Speaker 1: cannot kill her, said Astok, isis I cannot do it.
• 4:35:23
  Speaker 1: When she turns those eyes upon me, my heart becomes water.
• 4:35:28
  Speaker 1: Vaskor's eyes narrowed, And you wish he paused, the interrogation
• 4:35:37
  Speaker 1: unfinished yet complete. Astok nodded. You do not love her,
• 4:35:44
  Speaker 1: he said, But I love my life. Though I am
• 4:35:48
  Speaker 1: only a lesser noble, he concluded, meaningfully, you shall be
• 4:35:53
  Speaker 1: a greater noble. A noble of the first rank, exclaimed Astok.
• 4:35:58
  Speaker 1: I would be a Jed, said vas Kor. Bluntly. Astok hesitated,
• 4:36:06
  Speaker 1: A Jed must die before there can be another Jed.
• 4:36:09
  Speaker 1: He pleaded, Jeds have died before, snapped Vaskor. It would
• 4:36:14
  Speaker 1: doubtless be not difficult for you to find a jed
• 4:36:18
  Speaker 1: you do not love, Astok. There are many who do
• 4:36:22
  Speaker 1: not love you. Already, Vaskor was commencing to presume upon
• 4:36:27
  Speaker 1: his power over the young prince. Astok was quick to
• 4:36:31
  Speaker 1: note and appreciate the subtle change in his lieutenant. A
• 4:36:35
  Speaker 1: cunning scheme entered his weak and wicked brain. As you say,
• 4:36:40
  Speaker 1: vas Kor, he exclaimed, you shall be a jed when
• 4:36:44
  Speaker 1: the thing is done, and then to himself. Nor will
• 4:36:48
  Speaker 1: it then be difficult for me to find a jed
• 4:36:51
  Speaker 1: I do not love? When shall we return to Dusar,
• 4:36:56
  Speaker 1: asked the noble at once replied Astor. Let us get
• 4:37:01
  Speaker 1: under way. Now there is nought to keep you here.
• 4:37:04
  Speaker 1: I had intended sailing on the morrow, picking up such
• 4:37:08
  Speaker 1: recruits as the various dwars of the roads might have
• 4:37:11
  Speaker 1: collected for me as we returned to Dusar. Let the
• 4:37:17
  Speaker 1: recruits wait, said Astok.
• 4:37:19
  Speaker 3: Or.
• 4:37:19
  Speaker 1: Better still, come you to Dussar upon the Thuria, leaving
• 4:37:23
  Speaker 1: the Kalxist to follow and pick up the recruits. Yes,
• 4:37:28
  Speaker 1: acquiesced Vaskor, that is the better plan. Come I am ready,
• 4:37:35
  Speaker 1: and he rose to accompany Astok to the latter's flyer.
• 4:37:39
  Speaker 1: The listener at the ventilator came to his feet slowly
• 4:37:42
  Speaker 1: like an old man. His face was drawn and pinched,
• 4:37:46
  Speaker 1: and very white beneath the light copper of his skin.
• 4:37:50
  Speaker 1: She was to die, and he helpless to avert the tragedy.
• 4:37:55
  Speaker 1: He did not even know where she was imprisoned. The
• 4:37:59
  Speaker 1: two men were as sending from the cabin to the
• 4:38:01
  Speaker 1: deck Turgen. The Panthon crept close to the companionway, his
• 4:38:06
  Speaker 1: sinuous fingers closing tightly upon the hilt of his dagger.
• 4:38:10
  Speaker 1: Could he dispatch them both before he was overpowered? He smiled,
• 4:38:15
  Speaker 1: He could slay an entire uton of her enemies in
• 4:38:18
  Speaker 1: his present state of mind. They were almost abreast of him.
• 4:38:22
  Speaker 1: Now Astok was speaking, Bring a couple of your men along,
• 4:38:26
  Speaker 1: vas Kor, he said, we are short handed upon the Thuria.
• 4:38:30
  Speaker 1: So quickly did we depart. The Panthon's fingers dropped from
• 4:38:34
  Speaker 1: the dagger's hilt. His quick mind had grasped here a
• 4:38:38
  Speaker 1: chance for succoring Thuvia of Ptarth. He might be chosen
• 4:38:42
  Speaker 1: as one to accompany the assassins, and once he had
• 4:38:45
  Speaker 1: learned where the captive lay, he could dispatch Astok and
• 4:38:48
  Speaker 1: Vaskor as well as now to kill them before he
• 4:38:52
  Speaker 1: knew where Thuvia was hid was simply to leave her
• 4:38:55
  Speaker 1: to death at the hands of others, for sooner or
• 4:38:59
  Speaker 1: later Newton would learn her whereabouts, and Nudus Jeddak of
• 4:39:03
  Speaker 1: Dusar could not afford to let her live. Turgeon put
• 4:39:08
  Speaker 1: himself in the path of vas Kor, that he might
• 4:39:11
  Speaker 1: not be overlooked. The noble aroused the men sleeping upon
• 4:39:15
  Speaker 1: the deck, but always before him the strange Panthon, whom
• 4:39:19
  Speaker 1: he had recruited that same day, found means for keeping
• 4:39:22
  Speaker 1: himself to the fore. Vaskor turned to his lieutenant, giving
• 4:39:27
  Speaker 1: instruction for the bringing of the Chalcus to Dusar and
• 4:39:30
  Speaker 1: the gathering up of the recruits. Then he signed to
• 4:39:33
  Speaker 1: two warriors who stood close behind the padwar You two
• 4:39:38
  Speaker 1: accompany us to the Thuria, he said, and put yourselves
• 4:39:42
  Speaker 1: at the disposal of her Duar. It was dark upon
• 4:39:46
  Speaker 1: the deck of the Chalxus, so Vaskor had not a
• 4:39:49
  Speaker 1: good look at the faces of the two he chose,
• 4:39:51
  Speaker 1: but that was of no moment, for they were but
• 4:39:54
  Speaker 1: common warriors. To assist with the ordinary duties upon a flier,
• 4:39:58
  Speaker 1: and to fight if need be. One of the two
• 4:40:01
  Speaker 1: was kar Komak, the bowman, the other was not. Carthoris
• 4:40:07
  Speaker 1: the Heliumite was mad with disappointment. He snatched his dagger
• 4:40:11
  Speaker 1: from his harness, but already Astok had left the deck
• 4:40:15
  Speaker 1: of the Chalcus, and he knew that before he could
• 4:40:17
  Speaker 1: overtake him, should he despatch Vascor, he would be killed
• 4:40:21
  Speaker 1: by the Dusarian warriors, who now were thick upon the deck.
• 4:40:25
  Speaker 1: With either one of the two alive, Thuvia was in
• 4:40:28
  Speaker 1: as great danger as though both lived, it must be both.
• 4:40:34
  Speaker 1: As Vaskor descended to the ground, Carthoris boldly followed him,
• 4:40:38
  Speaker 1: nor did any attempt to halt him, thinking doubtless that
• 4:40:42
  Speaker 1: he was one of the party. After him came Karkomak
• 4:40:46
  Speaker 1: and the Dusarian warrior who had been detailed to duty
• 4:40:48
  Speaker 1: upon the Thuria. Carthoris walked close to the left side
• 4:40:52
  Speaker 1: of the latter. Now they came to the dense shadow
• 4:40:55
  Speaker 1: under the side of the Thuria. It was very dark.
• 4:40:59
  Speaker 1: There they had to grope for the ladder. Kar Komak
• 4:41:03
  Speaker 1: preceded the Dusarian. The latter reached upward for the swinging rounds,
• 4:41:08
  Speaker 1: and as he did so, steel fingers closed upon his windpipe,
• 4:41:12
  Speaker 1: and a steel blade pierced the very center of his heart.
• 4:41:16
  Speaker 1: Turgen the Panthon was the last to clamber over the
• 4:41:19
  Speaker 1: rail of the Thuria, drawing the rope ladder in after him.
• 4:41:24
  Speaker 1: A moment later, the flier was rising rapidly, headed for
• 4:41:27
  Speaker 1: the north. At the rail, kar Komak turned to speak
• 4:41:32
  Speaker 1: to the warrior who had been detailed to accompany him.
• 4:41:35
  Speaker 1: His eyes went wide as they rested upon the face
• 4:41:37
  Speaker 1: of the young man whom he had met beside the
• 4:41:39
  Speaker 1: granite cliffs that guarred mysterious Lothar. How had he come
• 4:41:44
  Speaker 1: in place of the Dusarian? A quick sign and kar
• 4:41:48
  Speaker 1: Komak turned once more to find the Thuria's dwar that
• 4:41:51
  Speaker 1: he might report himself for duty. Behind him followed the Panthon.
• 4:41:56
  Speaker 1: Carthoris blessed the chance that had caused vask Cord to
• 4:41:59
  Speaker 1: chew the bowmen of all others, for had it been
• 4:42:02
  Speaker 1: another Dusarian, there would have been questions to answer as
• 4:42:06
  Speaker 1: to the whereabouts of the warrior who lay so quietly
• 4:42:08
  Speaker 1: in the field beyond the residence of hal Vas, Duar
• 4:42:12
  Speaker 1: of the Southern Road, and Carthoris had no answer to
• 4:42:15
  Speaker 1: that question other than his sword point, which alone was
• 4:42:19
  Speaker 1: scarce adequate to convince the entire crew of the Thuria.
• 4:42:24
  Speaker 1: The journey to Dusar seemed interminable to the impatient Carthoris,
• 4:42:28
  Speaker 1: though as a matter of fact it was quickly accomplished.
• 4:42:32
  Speaker 1: Some time before they reached their destination, they met and
• 4:42:35
  Speaker 1: spoke with another Dusarian war flier. From it, they learned
• 4:42:39
  Speaker 1: that a great battle was soon to be fought southeast
• 4:42:42
  Speaker 1: of Dusar. The combined navies of Dusar, Ptarth, and Coool
• 4:42:47
  Speaker 1: had been intercepted in their advance toward Helium by the
• 4:42:50
  Speaker 1: mighty Heliumitic navy, the most formidable upon Barsoom, not alone
• 4:42:55
  Speaker 1: in numbers and armament, but in the training and courage
• 4:42:58
  Speaker 1: of its officers and warriors, and the Ziadaric proportions of
• 4:43:02
  Speaker 1: many of its monster battleships. Not for many a day
• 4:43:07
  Speaker 1: had there been the promise of such a battle. Four
• 4:43:10
  Speaker 1: Jeddaks were in direct command of their own fleets, Kulan
• 4:43:14
  Speaker 1: Tith of Cowol, Thuvon Din of Ptarth, and Nudas of
• 4:43:17
  Speaker 1: Dusar upon one side, while upon the other was Tardos
• 4:43:21
  Speaker 1: Moor's Jeddak of Helium. With the latter was John Carter,
• 4:43:26
  Speaker 1: Warlord of Mars. From the far north, another force was
• 4:43:31
  Speaker 1: moving south across the Barrier cliffs, the new navy of
• 4:43:35
  Speaker 1: Talu Jeddak of Okar, coming in response to the call
• 4:43:38
  Speaker 1: from the Warlord. Upon the decks of the sullen ships
• 4:43:42
  Speaker 1: of war, black bearded yellow men looked over eagerly toward
• 4:43:46
  Speaker 1: the south. Gorgeous were they in their splendid cloaks of
• 4:43:50
  Speaker 1: oorloc and apt fierce, formidable fighters. From the hothouse cities
• 4:43:55
  Speaker 1: of the frozen North, and from the distant south, from
• 4:43:59
  Speaker 1: the Sea Vomen and the Cliffs of Gold, from the
• 4:44:02
  Speaker 1: temples of the Ferns and the garden of Isis. Other
• 4:44:05
  Speaker 1: thousands sailed into the north at the call of the
• 4:44:08
  Speaker 1: great Man that they had all learned to respect and
• 4:44:11
  Speaker 1: respecting love. Pacing the flagship of this mighty fleet, second
• 4:44:17
  Speaker 1: only to the navy of Helium, was the Ebon Zodar
• 4:44:21
  Speaker 1: Jeddak of the first Born, his heart beating strong in
• 4:44:25
  Speaker 1: anticipation of the coming moment when he should hurl his
• 4:44:28
  Speaker 1: savage crews and the weight of his mighty ships upon
• 4:44:31
  Speaker 1: the enemies of the war Lord. But would these allies
• 4:44:35
  Speaker 1: reach the theater of war in time to be of
• 4:44:37
  Speaker 1: avail to Helium, or would Helium need them. Carthoris, with
• 4:44:43
  Speaker 1: the other members of the crew of the Thuria, heard
• 4:44:46
  Speaker 1: the gossip and the rumors. None knew of the two fleets,
• 4:44:50
  Speaker 1: the one from the south and the other from the north,
• 4:44:53
  Speaker 1: that were coming to support the ships of Helium, and
• 4:44:56
  Speaker 1: all of Dusar were convinced that nothing now could save
• 4:44:59
  Speaker 1: the ancient power of Helium from being wiped forever from
• 4:45:02
  Speaker 1: the upper air of Barsoom. Carthoris, too loyal son of Helium,
• 4:45:08
  Speaker 1: that he was, felt that even his beloved navy might
• 4:45:11
  Speaker 1: not be able to cope successfully with the combined forces
• 4:45:14
  Speaker 1: of three great powers. Now, the Thuria touched the landing
• 4:45:20
  Speaker 1: stage above the palace of Astok. Hurriedly, the Prince and
• 4:45:24
  Speaker 1: Vaskor disembarked and entered the drop that would carry them
• 4:45:27
  Speaker 1: to the lower levels of the palace. Close beside it
• 4:45:31
  Speaker 1: was another drop that was utilized by common warriors. Carthoris
• 4:45:36
  Speaker 1: touched Karkomac upon the arm. Come, he whispered, you are
• 4:45:40
  Speaker 1: my only friend among a nation of enemies. Will you
• 4:45:43
  Speaker 1: stand by me to the death? Replied Karkomac. The two
• 4:45:49
  Speaker 1: approached the drop, a slave operated it. Where are your passes,
• 4:45:55
  Speaker 1: he asked. Carthoris fumbled in his pocket palach as though
• 4:45:59
  Speaker 1: in search of them. At the same time entering the cage.
• 4:46:03
  Speaker 1: Krkomak followed him, closing the door. The slave did not
• 4:46:07
  Speaker 1: start the cage downward. Every second counted. They must reach
• 4:46:12
  Speaker 1: the lower level as soon as possible, after Astok and
• 4:46:15
  Speaker 1: vas kor if they would know whither the two went.
• 4:46:18
  Speaker 1: Carthoris turned suddenly upon the slave, hurling him to the
• 4:46:21
  Speaker 1: opposite side of the cage, Bind and gag him. Karkomak,
• 4:46:25
  Speaker 1: he cried. Then he grasped the control over and as
• 4:46:28
  Speaker 1: the cage shot downward at sickening speed, the bowman grappled
• 4:46:32
  Speaker 1: with the slave. Carthoris could not leave the control to
• 4:46:35
  Speaker 1: assist his companion, for should they touch the lowest level
• 4:46:38
  Speaker 1: at the speed at which they were going, all would
• 4:46:41
  Speaker 1: be dashed to instant death. Below him, he could see
• 4:46:45
  Speaker 1: the top of Astok's cage in the parallel shaft, and
• 4:46:48
  Speaker 1: he reduced the speed of his to that of the other.
• 4:46:51
  Speaker 1: The slave commenced to scream. Silence him, cried Carthoris. A
• 4:46:57
  Speaker 1: moment later, a limp form crumpled to the floor of
• 4:46:59
  Speaker 1: the cave. He is silenced, said Karkomac Carthoris brought the
• 4:47:05
  Speaker 1: cage to a sudden stop at one of the higher
• 4:47:08
  Speaker 1: levels of the palace. Opening the door, he grasped the
• 4:47:11
  Speaker 1: still form of the slave and pushed it out upon
• 4:47:14
  Speaker 1: the floor. Then he banged the gate and resumed the
• 4:47:17
  Speaker 1: downward drop. Once more he sighted the top of the
• 4:47:20
  Speaker 1: cage that held Astok in Vaskor, and instant later it
• 4:47:24
  Speaker 1: had stopped, And as he brought his car to a halt,
• 4:47:27
  Speaker 1: he saw the two men disappear through one of the
• 4:47:29
  Speaker 1: exits of the corridor beyond end of Chapter thirteen, Chapter fourteen,
• 4:47:43
  Speaker 1: Kulan Tith's sacrifice. The morning of the second day of
• 4:47:49
  Speaker 1: her incarceration in the east tower of the palace of Astok,
• 4:47:53
  Speaker 1: Prince of Dusar, found Thuvia of Ptarth waiting in dull
• 4:47:57
  Speaker 1: apathy the coming of the assassin. She had exhausted every
• 4:48:02
  Speaker 1: possibility of escape, going over and over again the door
• 4:48:06
  Speaker 1: and the windows, the floor and the walls, the solid
• 4:48:12
  Speaker 1: air sight slabs. She could not even scratch. The tough
• 4:48:16
  Speaker 1: Barsoomian glass of the windows would have shattered to nothing
• 4:48:19
  Speaker 1: less than a heavy sledge in the hands of a
• 4:48:21
  Speaker 1: strong man. The door and the lock were impregnable. There
• 4:48:27
  Speaker 1: was no escape, and they had stripped her of her weapons,
• 4:48:31
  Speaker 1: so that she could not even anticipate the hour of
• 4:48:34
  Speaker 1: her doom, thus robbing them of the satisfaction of witnessing
• 4:48:37
  Speaker 1: her last moments. When would they come? Would Astok do
• 4:48:43
  Speaker 1: the deed with his own hands? She doubted that he
• 4:48:47
  Speaker 1: had the courage for it. At heart, he was a coward.
• 4:48:51
  Speaker 1: She had known it since first she had heard him brag.
• 4:48:54
  Speaker 1: As a visitor at the court of her father. He
• 4:48:57
  Speaker 1: had sought to impress her with his valor. She could
• 4:49:00
  Speaker 1: not help but compare him with another? And with whom
• 4:49:04
  Speaker 1: would an affianced bride compare an unsuccessful suitor with her betrothed?
• 4:49:10
  Speaker 1: And did Thuvia of Ptarth now measure Astok of Dussar
• 4:49:14
  Speaker 1: by the standards of Coulan Tith Jeddak of Cowl. She
• 4:49:19
  Speaker 1: was about to die. Her thoughts were her own to
• 4:49:22
  Speaker 1: do with as she pleased, Yet furthest from them was
• 4:49:25
  Speaker 1: Coulan Tith. Instead, the figure of the tall and comely
• 4:49:30
  Speaker 1: Heliumite filled her mind, crowding therefrom all other images. She
• 4:49:36
  Speaker 1: dreamed of his noble face, the quiet dignity of his bearing,
• 4:49:41
  Speaker 1: the smile that lit his eyes as he conversed with
• 4:49:44
  Speaker 1: his friends, and the smile that touched his lips as
• 4:49:47
  Speaker 1: he fought with his enemies, the fighting smile of his
• 4:49:50
  Speaker 1: Virginian sire, and Thuvia of Ptarth, true daughter of Barsoom,
• 4:49:56
  Speaker 1: found her breath quickening and heart leaping to the memory
• 4:50:00
  Speaker 1: of this other smile, the smile that she would never
• 4:50:03
  Speaker 1: see again. With a little half sob the girl sank
• 4:50:07
  Speaker 1: to the pile of silks and furs that were tumbled
• 4:50:10
  Speaker 1: in confusion beneath the east windows, burying her face in
• 4:50:14
  Speaker 1: her arms. In the corridor outside her prison room, two
• 4:50:19
  Speaker 1: men had paused in heated argument. I tell you again,
• 4:50:23
  Speaker 1: asked doc. One was saying that I shall not do
• 4:50:27
  Speaker 1: this thing unless you be present in the room. There
• 4:50:31
  Speaker 1: was little of the respect due royalty in the tone
• 4:50:33
  Speaker 1: of the speaker's voice, the other, noting it flushed. Do
• 4:50:39
  Speaker 1: not impose too far upon my friendship for you, vas Kor,
• 4:50:44
  Speaker 1: he snapped, there is a limit to my patience. There
• 4:50:49
  Speaker 1: is no question of royal prerogative here, returned Vaskor. You
• 4:50:54
  Speaker 1: ask me to become an assassin in your stead and
• 4:50:58
  Speaker 1: against your jeddaks strict injunctions. You are in no position, Astoc,
• 4:51:04
  Speaker 1: to dictate to me, but rather, should you be glad
• 4:51:09
  Speaker 1: to accede to my reasonable request that you be present,
• 4:51:13
  Speaker 1: thus sharing the guilt with me? Why should I bear
• 4:51:18
  Speaker 1: it all? The younger man scowled, but he advanced toward
• 4:51:22
  Speaker 1: the locked door, and as it swung in upon its hinges,
• 4:51:26
  Speaker 1: he entered the room beyond the side of Vaskor across
• 4:51:31
  Speaker 1: the chamber. The girl, hearing them enter, rose to her
• 4:51:34
  Speaker 1: feet and faced them. Under the soft copper of her skin.
• 4:51:38
  Speaker 1: She blanched just a trifle, but her eyes were brave
• 4:51:42
  Speaker 1: and level, and the haughty tilt of her firm little
• 4:51:45
  Speaker 1: chin was eloquent of loathing and contempt. You still preferred death,
• 4:51:52
  Speaker 1: asked Astok to you, Yes, replied the girl coldly. The
• 4:51:59
  Speaker 1: Prince of Dusau turned to Vaskor and nodded. The noble
• 4:52:03
  Speaker 1: drew his short sword and crossed the room toward Thuvia Neil.
• 4:52:08
  Speaker 1: He commanded, I prefer to die standing, She replied, as
• 4:52:16
  Speaker 1: you will, said Vaskor, feeling the point of his blade
• 4:52:20
  Speaker 1: with his left thumb. In the name of Nudus Jeddak
• 4:52:24
  Speaker 1: of Dusar. He cried and ran quickly toward her. In
• 4:52:29
  Speaker 1: the name of Carthoris, Prince of Helium, came in low
• 4:52:33
  Speaker 1: tones from the doorway. Vaskor turned to see the Panthon
• 4:52:37
  Speaker 1: he had recruited at his son's house, leaping across the
• 4:52:40
  Speaker 1: floor toward him. The fellow brushed past Astok with an
• 4:52:45
  Speaker 1: after him, you calot. Vaskor wheeled to meet the charging man.
• 4:52:52
  Speaker 1: What means this treason? He cried, Astok, with barred sword,
• 4:52:58
  Speaker 1: leaped to Vaskor's assistance. The Panthon's sword clashed against that
• 4:53:02
  Speaker 1: of the noble, and in the first encounter, Vaskor knew
• 4:53:06
  Speaker 1: that he faced a master swordsman before he half realized
• 4:53:10
  Speaker 1: the stranger's purpose. He found the man between himself and
• 4:53:13
  Speaker 1: Thuvia of Ptarth at Bay, facing the two swords of
• 4:53:17
  Speaker 1: the Dusarians. But he fought not like a man at Bay. Ever,
• 4:53:22
  Speaker 1: was he the aggressor, and though always he kept his
• 4:53:25
  Speaker 1: flashing blade between the girl and her enemies, yet he
• 4:53:28
  Speaker 1: managed to force them hither and thither about the room,
• 4:53:31
  Speaker 1: calling to the girl to follow close behind, until it
• 4:53:35
  Speaker 1: was too late. Neither Astok nor vas Kor dreamed of
• 4:53:39
  Speaker 1: that which lay in the Panthon's mind. But at last,
• 4:53:42
  Speaker 1: as the fellow stood with his back toward the door,
• 4:53:45
  Speaker 1: both understood they were penned in their own prison, and
• 4:53:50
  Speaker 1: now the intruder could slay them at his will. For
• 4:53:52
  Speaker 1: Thuvia of Ptarth was bolting the door at the man's direction,
• 4:53:56
  Speaker 1: first taking the key from the opposite side, where Astok
• 4:53:58
  Speaker 1: had left it when he had entered. Astok, as was
• 4:54:02
  Speaker 1: his way, finding that the enemy did not fall immediately
• 4:54:05
  Speaker 1: before their swords, was leaving the brunt of the fighting
• 4:54:08
  Speaker 1: to vas Kor. And now as his eyes appraised the
• 4:54:12
  Speaker 1: panthan carefully, they presently went wider and wider. For slowly
• 4:54:17
  Speaker 1: he had come to recognize the features of the Prince
• 4:54:19
  Speaker 1: of Helium. The Heliumite was pressing close to vas Kor.
• 4:54:24
  Speaker 1: The noble was bleeding from a dozen wounds. Astok saw
• 4:54:29
  Speaker 1: that he could not for long withstand the cunning craft
• 4:54:31
  Speaker 1: of that terrible sword hand courage Vaskor. He whispered in
• 4:54:37
  Speaker 1: the other's ear, I have a plan. Hold him, but
• 4:54:40
  Speaker 1: a moment longer, and all will be well. But the
• 4:54:43
  Speaker 1: balance of the sentence with Astok, Prince of Dusar, he
• 4:54:47
  Speaker 1: did not voice aloud. Vaskor, dreaming no treachery, nodded his head,
• 4:54:54
  Speaker 1: and for a moment succeeded in holding Carthoris at bay.
• 4:54:57
  Speaker 1: Then the Heliumite and the girls saw the duc the
• 4:55:00
  Speaker 1: Sarian prince run swiftly to the opposite side of the chamber,
• 4:55:03
  Speaker 1: touched something in the wall that sent a great panel
• 4:55:05
  Speaker 1: swinging inward and disappear into the black vault beyond. It
• 4:55:10
  Speaker 1: was done so quickly that, by no possibility could they
• 4:55:13
  Speaker 1: have intercepted him. Carthoris, fearful lest vas Korps might similarly
• 4:55:18
  Speaker 1: elude him, or Astok return immediately with reinforcements, sprang viciously
• 4:55:23
  Speaker 1: in upon his antagonist, and a moment later, the headless
• 4:55:26
  Speaker 1: body of the Dusarian noble rolled upon the airside floor.
• 4:55:31
  Speaker 1: Come cried Carthoris, there is no time to be lost.
• 4:55:34
  Speaker 1: Astok will be back in a moment with enough warriors
• 4:55:37
  Speaker 1: to overpower me. But Astok had no such plan in mind,
• 4:55:42
  Speaker 1: for such a move would have meant the spreading of
• 4:55:44
  Speaker 1: the fact among the palace gossips that the Parthian princess
• 4:55:48
  Speaker 1: was a prisoner in the East tower. Quickly would the
• 4:55:51
  Speaker 1: word have come to his father and no amount of
• 4:55:54
  Speaker 1: falsifying could have explained away the facts that the Jeddak's
• 4:55:57
  Speaker 1: investigation would have brought to light. Instead, Astok was racing
• 4:56:02
  Speaker 1: madly through a long corridor to reach the door of
• 4:56:05
  Speaker 1: the tower room. Before Carthoris and Thuvia left the apartment.
• 4:56:09
  Speaker 1: He had seen the girl remove the key and place
• 4:56:12
  Speaker 1: it in her pocket pouch, and he knew that a
• 4:56:14
  Speaker 1: dagger point driven into the keyhole from the opposite side
• 4:56:17
  Speaker 1: would imprison them in the secret chamber till eight dead
• 4:56:21
  Speaker 1: worlds circled a cold, dead sun. As fast as he
• 4:56:26
  Speaker 1: could run, Astok entered the main corridor that led to
• 4:56:29
  Speaker 1: the tower chamber. Would he reach the door in time?
• 4:56:33
  Speaker 1: What if the heliumite should have already emerged and he
• 4:56:35
  Speaker 1: should run upon him in the passageway. Astok felt a
• 4:56:39
  Speaker 1: cold chill run up his spine. He had no stomach
• 4:56:43
  Speaker 1: to face that uncanny blade. He was almost at the
• 4:56:47
  Speaker 1: door around the next turn of the corridor had stood. No,
• 4:56:51
  Speaker 1: they had not left the apartment. Evidently vas Kor was
• 4:56:55
  Speaker 1: still holding the heliumite. Astok could scarce repress a grin
• 4:56:59
  Speaker 1: at the clever manner in which he had outwitted the
• 4:57:01
  Speaker 1: noble and disposed of him at the same time, and
• 4:57:05
  Speaker 1: then he rounded the turn and came face to face
• 4:57:07
  Speaker 1: with an auburn haired, white giant. The fellow did not
• 4:57:12
  Speaker 1: wait to ask the reason for his coming. Instead, he
• 4:57:15
  Speaker 1: leaped upon him with a long sword, so that Astok
• 4:57:17
  Speaker 1: had to parry a dozen vicious cuts before he could
• 4:57:20
  Speaker 1: disengage himself and flee back down the runway. A moment later,
• 4:57:24
  Speaker 1: Carthoris and Thuvia entered the corridor from the secret chamber well.
• 4:57:28
  Speaker 1: Krkomac asked the heliumite. It is fortunate that you left
• 4:57:33
  Speaker 1: me here, red man, said the bowman. I but just
• 4:57:36
  Speaker 1: now intercepted one who seemed over anxious to reach this door.
• 4:57:41
  Speaker 1: It was he whom they call Astok, Prince of Dusar.
• 4:57:45
  Speaker 1: Carthoris smiled, Where is he now, he asked, He escaped
• 4:57:51
  Speaker 1: my blade and ran down this corridor, replied Karkomac. We
• 4:57:56
  Speaker 1: must not lose time, Then exclaimed Carthoris, he will have
• 4:58:00
  Speaker 1: of the guard upon us. Yet. Together the three hastened
• 4:58:04
  Speaker 1: along the winding passages through which Carthoris and Carcomac had
• 4:58:07
  Speaker 1: tracked the Dusarians by the marks of the latter's sandals
• 4:58:11
  Speaker 1: in the thin dust that overspread the floors of these
• 4:58:14
  Speaker 1: seldom used passageways. They had come to the chamber at
• 4:58:19
  Speaker 1: the entrances to the lifts before they met with opposition.
• 4:58:23
  Speaker 1: Here they found a handful of guardsmen and an officer, who,
• 4:58:27
  Speaker 1: seeing that they were strangers, questioned their presence in the
• 4:58:30
  Speaker 1: palace of Astok. Once more, Carthoris and Carkomak had recourse
• 4:58:35
  Speaker 1: to their blades, and before they had won their way
• 4:58:38
  Speaker 1: to one of the lifts, the noise of the conflict
• 4:58:41
  Speaker 1: must have aroused the entire palace, for they heard men shouting,
• 4:58:46
  Speaker 1: and as they passed the many levels on their quick
• 4:58:48
  Speaker 1: passage to the landing stage, they saw armed men running
• 4:58:52
  Speaker 1: hither and thither in search of the cause of the commotion.
• 4:58:56
  Speaker 1: Beside the stage lay the Thuria with three warriors on guard. Again,
• 4:59:02
  Speaker 1: the Heliumite and the Lotharian fought shoulder to shoulder, but
• 4:59:05
  Speaker 1: the battle was soon over, for the Prince of Helium
• 4:59:08
  Speaker 1: alone would have been a match for any three that
• 4:59:10
  Speaker 1: Dusar could produce scarce. Had the Thuria risen from the
• 4:59:15
  Speaker 1: ways ere, a hundred or more fighting men leaped to
• 4:59:18
  Speaker 1: view upon the landing stage. At their head was Astok
• 4:59:21
  Speaker 1: of Dusar, and as he saw the two he had
• 4:59:24
  Speaker 1: thought so safely in his power slipping from his grasp.
• 4:59:27
  Speaker 1: He danced with rage and chagrin, shaking his fists and
• 4:59:31
  Speaker 1: hurling abuse and viol insults at them. With her bow
• 4:59:36
  Speaker 1: inclined upward at a dizzy angle, the Thuria shot meteor
• 4:59:40
  Speaker 1: like into the sky from a dozen points. Swift patrol
• 4:59:43
  Speaker 1: boats darted after her, for the scene upon the landing
• 4:59:46
  Speaker 1: stage above the palace of the Prince of Dusar had
• 4:59:49
  Speaker 1: not gone unnoticed. A dozen times shots grazed the Thuria's side,
• 4:59:55
  Speaker 1: and as Carthoris could not leave the control levers, Thuvia
• 4:59:59
  Speaker 1: of Ptarth turned the muzzles of the craft's rapid fire
• 5:00:02
  Speaker 1: guns upon the enemy as she clung to the steep
• 5:00:05
  Speaker 1: and slippery surface of the deck. It was a noble race,
• 5:00:10
  Speaker 1: and a noble fight, one against a score. Now, for
• 5:00:14
  Speaker 1: other Dusarian craft had joined in the pursuit. But Astok,
• 5:00:18
  Speaker 1: Prince of Dusar, had built well when he built the Thuria.
• 5:00:23
  Speaker 1: None in the navy of his sire possessed a swifter flier,
• 5:00:27
  Speaker 1: no other craft so well armored or so well armed.
• 5:00:32
  Speaker 1: One by one, the pursuers were distanced, and as the
• 5:00:36
  Speaker 1: last of them fell out of range. Behind Carthoris dropped
• 5:00:39
  Speaker 1: the Thuria's nose to a horizontal plane, as with lever
• 5:00:43
  Speaker 1: drawn to the last notch, she tore through the thin
• 5:00:46
  Speaker 1: air of dying Mars toward the east and Ptarth. Thirteen
• 5:00:52
  Speaker 1: and a half thousand hods away lay Ptarth, a stiff
• 5:00:56
  Speaker 1: thirty hour journey for the swiftest of fliers, and between
• 5:01:00
  Speaker 1: Dusar and Ptarth might lay half the navy of Dusar,
• 5:01:04
  Speaker 1: For in this direction was the reported seat of the
• 5:01:06
  Speaker 1: great naval battle that even now might be in progress.
• 5:01:11
  Speaker 1: Could Carthoris have known precisely where the great fleets of
• 5:01:15
  Speaker 1: the contending nations lay, he would have hastened to them
• 5:01:18
  Speaker 1: without delay, for in the return of Thuvia to her
• 5:01:21
  Speaker 1: sire lay the greatest hope of peace. Half the distance
• 5:01:26
  Speaker 1: they covered without sighting a single warship. And then kar
• 5:01:30
  Speaker 1: Komac called Carthoris's attention to a distant craft that rested
• 5:01:34
  Speaker 1: upon the ochre vegetation of the great dead sea bottom,
• 5:01:37
  Speaker 1: above which the Thuria was speeding. About the vessel, many
• 5:01:42
  Speaker 1: figures could be seen swarming with the aid of powerful glasses.
• 5:01:46
  Speaker 1: The Heliumites saw that they were Green warriors, and that
• 5:01:49
  Speaker 1: they were repeatedly charging down upon the crew of the
• 5:01:52
  Speaker 1: stranded airship. The nationality of the latter he could not
• 5:01:56
  Speaker 1: make out. At so great a distance. It was not
• 5:02:00
  Speaker 1: necessary to change the course of the Thuria to permit
• 5:02:03
  Speaker 1: of passing directly above the scene of battle, But Carthoris
• 5:02:07
  Speaker 1: dropped his craft a few hundred feet that he might
• 5:02:10
  Speaker 1: have a better and closer view. If the ship was
• 5:02:13
  Speaker 1: of a friendly power, he could do no less than
• 5:02:16
  Speaker 1: stop and direct his guns upon her enemies. Though with
• 5:02:20
  Speaker 1: the precious freight he carried, he scarcely felt justified in landing,
• 5:02:24
  Speaker 1: for he could offer but two swords in reinforcement, scarce
• 5:02:28
  Speaker 1: enough to warrant jeopardizing the safety of the Princess of Ptarth.
• 5:02:33
  Speaker 1: As they came close above the stricken ship, they could
• 5:02:36
  Speaker 1: see that it would be but a question of minutes
• 5:02:38
  Speaker 1: before the Green hoard would swarm across the armored bulwarks
• 5:02:42
  Speaker 1: to glut the ferocity of their blood lust upon the defenders.
• 5:02:46
  Speaker 1: It would be futile to descend, said Carthoris to Thuvia.
• 5:02:51
  Speaker 1: The craft may even be of Dusar. She shows no insignia.
• 5:02:55
  Speaker 1: All that we may do is fire upon the hordesmen,
• 5:02:59
  Speaker 1: and as he spoke, he stepped to one of the
• 5:03:01
  Speaker 1: guns and deflected its muzzle toward the Green warriors at
• 5:03:04
  Speaker 1: the ship's side. At the first shot from the Thuria,
• 5:03:09
  Speaker 1: those upon the vessel below evidently discovered her for the
• 5:03:11
  Speaker 1: first time. Immediately a device fluttered from the bow of
• 5:03:15
  Speaker 1: the warship on the ground. Thuvia of Ptarth caught her breath,
• 5:03:19
  Speaker 1: quickly glancing at Carthoris. The device was that of Culan
• 5:03:24
  Speaker 1: Tith Jeddak of Cowl, the man to whom the Princess
• 5:03:28
  Speaker 1: of Ptarth was betrothed. How easy for the Heliumite to
• 5:03:33
  Speaker 1: pass on, leaving his rival to the fate that could
• 5:03:36
  Speaker 1: not for long be averted. No man could accuse him
• 5:03:40
  Speaker 1: of cowardice or treachery, for Culan Tith was in arms
• 5:03:44
  Speaker 1: against Helium, and further upon the Thuria were not enough
• 5:03:48
  Speaker 1: sowres to delay even temporarily the outcome that already was
• 5:03:52
  Speaker 1: a foregone conclusion in the minds of the watchers. What
• 5:03:57
  Speaker 1: would Carthoris, Prince of Helium, do, scarce had the device
• 5:04:02
  Speaker 1: broken to the faint breeze ere the bow of the
• 5:04:05
  Speaker 1: Thuria dropped at a sharp angle toward the ground. Can
• 5:04:09
  Speaker 1: you navigate her, asked Carthoris of Thuvia. The girl nodded,
• 5:04:15
  Speaker 1: I am going to try to take the survivors aboard.
• 5:04:17
  Speaker 1: He continued. It will need both kar Komak and myself
• 5:04:20
  Speaker 1: to man the guns while the Cowlians take to the
• 5:04:23
  Speaker 1: boarding tackle. Keep her bow depressed against the rifle fire.
• 5:04:27
  Speaker 1: She can bear it better in her forward armor, and
• 5:04:30
  Speaker 1: at the same time the propellers will be protected. He
• 5:04:33
  Speaker 1: hurried to the cabin as Thuvia took the control. A
• 5:04:37
  Speaker 1: moment later, the boarding tackle dropped from the keel of
• 5:04:39
  Speaker 1: the Thuria, and from a dozen points along either side,
• 5:04:43
  Speaker 1: stout knotted leathern lines trailed downward. At the same time,
• 5:04:48
  Speaker 1: a signal broke from her bow. Prepare to board us.
• 5:04:54
  Speaker 1: A shout arose from the deck of the Cowlian warship. Carthoris,
• 5:04:58
  Speaker 1: who by this time had returned from the cabin, smiled sadly.
• 5:05:03
  Speaker 1: He was about to snatch from the jaws of death
• 5:05:06
  Speaker 1: the man who stood between himself and the woman he loved.
• 5:05:11
  Speaker 1: Take the port bow gun, kar Komac, he called to
• 5:05:14
  Speaker 1: the bowman, and himself stepped to the gun upon the
• 5:05:17
  Speaker 1: starboard bow. It was a forlorn hope at best. At
• 5:05:23
  Speaker 1: any moment, the repulsive right tank might be pierced. The
• 5:05:26
  Speaker 1: men upon the Colian ship were battling with renewed hope.
• 5:05:30
  Speaker 1: In the bow stood Kulan Tith, a brave figure fighting
• 5:05:33
  Speaker 1: beside his brave warriors, beating back the ferocious Green Men.
• 5:05:39
  Speaker 1: The Thuria came low above the other craft that Coolians
• 5:05:43
  Speaker 1: were forming under their officers in readiness to board, and
• 5:05:46
  Speaker 1: then a sudden, fierce fusillade from the rifles of the
• 5:05:49
  Speaker 1: Green warriors vomited their hail of death and destruction into
• 5:05:52
  Speaker 1: the side of the brave flier. Like a wounded bird,
• 5:05:57
  Speaker 1: she dived suddenly marsward. Kreni. Drunkenly, Thuvia turned the bow
• 5:06:02
  Speaker 1: upward in an effort to avert the imminent tragedy, but
• 5:06:06
  Speaker 1: she succeeded only in lessening the shock of the flier's
• 5:06:08
  Speaker 1: impact as she struck the ground beside the Coolean ship.
• 5:06:14
  Speaker 1: When the green Men saw only two warriors and a
• 5:06:17
  Speaker 1: woman upon the deck of the Thuria, a savage shout
• 5:06:20
  Speaker 1: of triumph arose from their ranks, while an answering groan
• 5:06:24
  Speaker 1: broke from the lips of the Cowolians. The former now
• 5:06:28
  Speaker 1: turned their attention upon the new arrival, for they saw
• 5:06:31
  Speaker 1: her defenders could soon be overcome, and that from her
• 5:06:35
  Speaker 1: deck they could command the deck of the better manned ship.
• 5:06:39
  Speaker 1: As they charged, a shout of warning came from kulan
• 5:06:42
  Speaker 1: Tith upon the bridge of his own ship, and with
• 5:06:45
  Speaker 1: it an appreciation of the valor of the act that
• 5:06:48
  Speaker 1: had put the smaller vessel in these sore straits. Who
• 5:06:52
  Speaker 1: is it, he cried, that offers his life and the
• 5:06:55
  Speaker 1: service of Kulan Tith, never was wrought a nobler deed
• 5:06:59
  Speaker 1: of self sacrifice upon barsoom the green horde was scrambling
• 5:07:05
  Speaker 1: over the thurious side as there broke from the bow
• 5:07:08
  Speaker 1: the device of Carthoris, Prince of Helium, in reply to
• 5:07:12
  Speaker 1: the query of the Jeddak of Cowole. None upon the
• 5:07:16
  Speaker 1: smaller flier had opportunity to note the effect of this
• 5:07:19
  Speaker 1: announcement upon the Cowoleans, for their attention was claimed slowly
• 5:07:23
  Speaker 1: now by that which was transpiring upon their own deck.
• 5:07:28
  Speaker 1: Karkomak stood behind the gun he had been operating, staring
• 5:07:32
  Speaker 1: with wide eyes at the onrushing hideous green warriors. Carthoris,
• 5:07:37
  Speaker 1: seeing him, thus, felt a pang of regret that, after all,
• 5:07:42
  Speaker 1: this man that he had thought so valorous, should prove
• 5:07:46
  Speaker 1: in the hour of need, as spineless as jab or
• 5:07:50
  Speaker 1: Tario Carkomak the man, he shouted, grip yourself, remember the
• 5:07:56
  Speaker 1: days of the glory of the seafarers of Lothar. Fight, man,
• 5:08:01
  Speaker 1: fight as man never fought before. All that remains to
• 5:08:05
  Speaker 1: us is to die fighting. Kar Komak turned toward the heliumite,
• 5:08:10
  Speaker 1: a grim smile upon his lips. Why should we fight,
• 5:08:15
  Speaker 1: he asked, against such fearful odds. There is another way,
• 5:08:20
  Speaker 1: a better way. Look. He pointed toward the companionway that
• 5:08:25
  Speaker 1: led below deck. The Green Men, a handful of them,
• 5:08:30
  Speaker 1: had already reached the Thuria's deck. As Carthoris glanced in
• 5:08:33
  Speaker 1: the direction the Lotharian had indicated. The sight that met
• 5:08:37
  Speaker 1: his eyes set his heart to thumping and joy and relief.
• 5:08:41
  Speaker 1: Thuvia of Ptarth might yet be saved. For from below
• 5:08:46
  Speaker 1: there poured a stream of giant bowmen, grim and terrible.
• 5:08:50
  Speaker 1: Not the bowmen of Tario or Jav, but the bowmen
• 5:08:54
  Speaker 1: of an odd war of bowmen, savage fighting men, eager
• 5:08:58
  Speaker 1: for the fray. The Green warriors paused in momentary surprise
• 5:09:02
  Speaker 1: and consternation, but only for a moment. Then, with horrid
• 5:09:07
  Speaker 1: war cries, they leaped forward to meet these strange new foemen.
• 5:09:12
  Speaker 1: A volley of arrows stopped them in their tracks. In
• 5:09:15
  Speaker 1: a moment, the only Green warriors upon the deck of
• 5:09:17
  Speaker 1: the Thuria were dead warriors, and the bowmen of kar
• 5:09:20
  Speaker 1: Komak were leaping over the vessel's side to charge the
• 5:09:23
  Speaker 1: hordesmen upon the ground. Utan after Utan tumbled from the
• 5:09:28
  Speaker 1: bows of the Thuria to launch themselves upon the unfortunate
• 5:09:31
  Speaker 1: Green men. Kulan Tith and his Cowolians stood wide eyed
• 5:09:35
  Speaker 1: and speechless with amazement as they saw thousands of these strange,
• 5:09:40
  Speaker 1: fierce warriors emerge from the companionway of the small craft
• 5:09:44
  Speaker 1: that could not comfortably have accommodated more than fifty At last,
• 5:09:49
  Speaker 1: the green Men could withstand the onslaught of overwhelming numbers
• 5:09:52
  Speaker 1: no longer slowly at first, they fell back across the
• 5:09:57
  Speaker 1: Ochre plain. The bowmen pursued them. Carkomac, standing upon the
• 5:10:02
  Speaker 1: deck of the Thuria, trembled with excitement. At the top
• 5:10:06
  Speaker 1: of his lungs, he voiced the savage war cry of
• 5:10:09
  Speaker 1: his forgotten day. He roared encouragement and commands at his
• 5:10:13
  Speaker 1: battling Utans, and then as they charged further and further
• 5:10:17
  Speaker 1: from the Thuria, he could no longer withstand the lure
• 5:10:20
  Speaker 1: of battle. Leaping over the ship's side to the ground,
• 5:10:23
  Speaker 1: he joined the last of his bowmen as they raced
• 5:10:26
  Speaker 1: over the dead sea bottom in pursuit of the fleeing
• 5:10:28
  Speaker 1: Green Horde. Beyond a low promontory of what once had
• 5:10:33
  Speaker 1: been an island, the green Men were disappearing toward the west.
• 5:10:37
  Speaker 1: Close upon their heels raced the fleet bowmen of a
• 5:10:39
  Speaker 1: bygone day, and forging steadily ahead. Among them, Carthoris and
• 5:10:44
  Speaker 1: Thuvia could see the mighty figure of car Coomac, brandishing
• 5:10:48
  Speaker 1: aloft the Torquasian's short sword with which he was armed,
• 5:10:51
  Speaker 1: as he urged his creatures after the retreating enemy. As
• 5:10:56
  Speaker 1: the last of them disappeared behind the promontory, carned toward
• 5:11:00
  Speaker 1: Thuvia of Ptarth. They have taught me a lesson, these
• 5:11:05
  Speaker 1: vanishing bowmen of Lothar, he said, When they have served
• 5:11:09
  Speaker 1: their purpose, they remain not to embarrass their masters by
• 5:11:12
  Speaker 1: their presence. Kulan Tith and his warriors are here to
• 5:11:16
  Speaker 1: protect you. My acts have constituted the proof of my
• 5:11:19
  Speaker 1: honesty of purpose. Goodbye, and he knelt at her feet,
• 5:11:24
  Speaker 1: raising a bit of her harness to his lips. The
• 5:11:28
  Speaker 1: girl reached out a hand and laid it upon the
• 5:11:30
  Speaker 1: thick black hair of the head bent before her. Softly,
• 5:11:35
  Speaker 1: she said, where are you going, Carthoris with kar Komak
• 5:11:41
  Speaker 1: the bowman. He replied, there I'll be fighting and forgetfulness.
• 5:11:47
  Speaker 1: The girl put her hands before her eyes, as though
• 5:11:50
  Speaker 1: to shut out some mighty temptation from her sight. May
• 5:11:55
  Speaker 1: my ancestors have mercy upon me, she cried, if I
• 5:11:59
  Speaker 1: say the thing I have no right to say. But
• 5:12:01
  Speaker 1: I cannot see you cast your life away. Carthoris, Prince
• 5:12:04
  Speaker 1: of Helium, stay, my chieftain, stay, I love you. A
• 5:12:11
  Speaker 1: cough behind them brought both about, and there they saw,
• 5:12:15
  Speaker 1: standing not two paces from them, Coulan Tith Jeddak of
• 5:12:20
  Speaker 1: cow Ole. For a long moment none spoke. Then kulan
• 5:12:25
  Speaker 1: Tith cleared his throat. He I could not help hearing
• 5:12:30
  Speaker 1: all that passed, He said, I am no fool to
• 5:12:35
  Speaker 1: be blind to the love that lies between you, Nor
• 5:12:38
  Speaker 1: am I blind to the lofty honor that has caused you, Carthoris,
• 5:12:43
  Speaker 1: to risk your life in hers to save mine, though
• 5:12:46
  Speaker 1: you thought that that very act would rob you of
• 5:12:49
  Speaker 1: the chance to keep her for your own. Nor can
• 5:12:53
  Speaker 1: I fail to appreciate the virtue that has kept your
• 5:12:55
  Speaker 1: lips sealed against words of love for this Heliumite Thuvia.
• 5:13:00
  Speaker 1: For I know that I have but just heard the
• 5:13:02
  Speaker 1: first declaration of your passion for him. I do not
• 5:13:06
  Speaker 1: condemn you. Rather, should I have condemned you had you
• 5:13:10
  Speaker 1: entered a loveless marriage with me. Take back your liberty,
• 5:13:14
  Speaker 1: Thuvia of Ptarth, he cried, and bestow it where your
• 5:13:18
  Speaker 1: heart already lies enchained. And when the golden collars are
• 5:13:22
  Speaker 1: clasped about your necks, you will see that Coulan Tiths
• 5:13:26
  Speaker 1: is the first sword to be raised in declaration of
• 5:13:29
  Speaker 1: eternal friendship for the new Princess of Helium and her
• 5:13:33
  Speaker 1: royal mate. End of Chapter fourteen.