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11 - The God's of Mars - Edgar Rice Burroughs · Science Fiction Books - Daily

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  Speaker 1: Chapter eleven. When hell broke loose. Early the next morning,
• 0:05
  Speaker 1: Exodar and I commenced work upon our plans for escape. First,
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  Speaker 1: I had him sketch upon the stone floor of our
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  Speaker 1: cell as accurate a map of the south polar regions
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  Speaker 1: as was possible with the crude instruments at our disposal,
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  Speaker 1: a buckle from my harness, and the sharp edge of
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  Speaker 1: the wondrous chem I had taken from sator Throg. From
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  Speaker 1: this I computed the general direction of Helium and the
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  Speaker 1: distance at which it lie from the opening which led
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  Speaker 1: to Omin. Then I had him draw a map of Omean,
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  Speaker 1: indicating plainly the position of Shador and of the opening
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  Speaker 1: in the dome which led to the outer world. These
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  Speaker 1: I studied until they were indeligibly imprinted in my memory.
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  Speaker 1: From Exodar I learned the duties and customs of the
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  Speaker 1: guards who patrolled Shador. It seemed that during the hour
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  Speaker 1: set aside for sleep, only one man was on duty
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  Speaker 1: at a time. He paced a beat that passed around
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  Speaker 1: the prison at a distance of about a hundred feet
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  Speaker 1: from the building. The pace of the sentries, Exodar said,
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  Speaker 1: was very slow, requiring nearly ten minutes to make a
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  Speaker 1: single round. This meant that for practically five minutes at
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  Speaker 1: a time, each side of the prison was unguarded as
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  Speaker 1: the sentry pursued his snail like pace upon the opposite side.
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  Speaker 1: This information, you asked, said Exodar, will be all very
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  Speaker 1: valuable after we get out. But nothing that you have
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  Speaker 1: asked has any bearing on the first and most important consideration.
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  Speaker 1: We will get out, all right, I replied, laughing, Leave
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  Speaker 1: that to me. When shall we make the attempt? He
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  Speaker 1: asked the first night, that finds a small craft moored
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  Speaker 1: near the shore of Shador, I replied, but how will
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  Speaker 1: you know that any craft is moored near Shador? The
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  Speaker 1: windows are far beyond our reach. Not so, friend, Exodar
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  Speaker 1: look with a bound. I sprang to the bars of
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  Speaker 1: the window opposite us, and took a quick survey of
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  Speaker 1: the scene without Several small craft and two large battleships
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  Speaker 1: lay within a hundred yards of Shador to night, I thought,
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  Speaker 1: and was just about to voice my decision to Exodar,
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  Speaker 1: when without warning, the door of our prison opened and
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  Speaker 1: a guard stepped in. If the fellow saw me there,
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  Speaker 1: our chances of escape might quickly go glimmering. For I
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  Speaker 1: knew that they would put me in irons if they
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  Speaker 1: had the slightest conception of the wonderful agility which my
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  Speaker 1: earthly muscles gave me. Upon Mars, the man had entered
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  Speaker 1: and was standing facing the center of the room, so
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  Speaker 1: that his back was toward me. Five feet above me
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  Speaker 1: was the top of a partition wall separating our cell
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  Speaker 1: from the necks. There was my only chance to escape detection.
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  Speaker 1: If the fellow turned, I was lost. Nor could I
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  Speaker 1: have dropped to the floor undetected, since he was so
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  Speaker 1: nearly below me that I would have struck him had
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  Speaker 1: I done so. Where's the white man? Cried the Guard
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  Speaker 1: of exodar Issus, commands his presence. He started to turn
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  Speaker 1: to see if I were in another part of the cell.
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  Speaker 1: I scrambled up the iron grating of the window until
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  Speaker 1: I could catch a good footing on the sill with
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  Speaker 1: one foot. Then I let go my hold and sprang
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  Speaker 1: for the partition to what was that? I heard the
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  Speaker 1: deep voice of the black bellow as my metal grated
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  Speaker 1: against the stone wall as I slipped over. Then I
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  Speaker 1: dropped lightly to the floor of the cell beyond. Where
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  Speaker 1: is the white slave? Again, cried the guard I know, not,
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  Speaker 1: replied Exodar. He was here even as you entered. I
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  Speaker 1: am not his keeper. Go find him. The black grumbled
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  Speaker 1: something that I could not understand, and then I heard
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  Speaker 1: him unlocking the door into one of the other cells
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  Speaker 1: on the further side. Listening intently, I caught the sound
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  Speaker 1: as the door closed behind him. Then I sprang once
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  Speaker 1: more to the top of the partition and dropped into
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  Speaker 1: my own cell beside the astonished Exodar. Do you see
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  Speaker 1: now how we will escape? I asked him in a whisper.
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  Speaker 1: I see how you may, he replied, But I am
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  Speaker 1: no wiser than before as to how I am to
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  Speaker 1: pass these walls. Certain it is that I cannot bounce
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  Speaker 1: over them as you do. We heard the guard moving
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  Speaker 1: about from cell to cell, and finally his rounds completed,
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  Speaker 1: he had again entered ours. When his eyes fell upon me.
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  Speaker 1: They fairly bulged from his head by the shell of
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  Speaker 1: my first ancestor. He roared, where have you been? I
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  Speaker 1: have been in prison since you put me here yesterday?
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  Speaker 1: I answered, I was in this room when you entered.
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  Speaker 1: You had better look to your eyesight. He glared at
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  Speaker 1: me in mingled rage and relief. Come he said, Issus
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  Speaker 1: commands your presence. He conducted me outside the prison, leaving
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  Speaker 1: Exoter behind. There we found several other guards, and with
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  Speaker 1: them the red Martian youth, who occupied another cell. Upon Shador,
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  Speaker 1: the journey I had taken to the temple of Issus
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  Speaker 1: on the preceding day was repeated. The guards kept the
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  Speaker 1: red boy and myself separated, so that we had no
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  Speaker 1: opportunity to continue the conversation that had been interrupted the
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  Speaker 1: previous night. The youth's face had haunted me. Where had
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  Speaker 1: I seen him before? There was something strangely familiar in
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  Speaker 1: every line of him, In his carriage, his manner of speaking,
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  Speaker 1: his gestures. I could have sworn that I knew him,
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  Speaker 1: and yet I knew too that I had never seen
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  Speaker 1: him before. When we reached the gardens of Issus, we
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  Speaker 1: were led away from the temple instead of toward it.
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  Speaker 1: The way wound through enchanted parks to a mighty wall
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  Speaker 1: that towered a hundred feet in air. Massive gates gave
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  Speaker 1: egress upon a small plain surrounded by the same gorgeous
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  Speaker 1: forest that I had seen at the foot of the
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  Speaker 1: Golden Cliffs. Crowds of blacks were strolling in the same
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  Speaker 1: direction that our guards were leading us, and with them
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  Speaker 1: mingled my old friends, the plant men and great white apes.
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  Speaker 1: The brutal beasts moved among the crowd as pet dogs might.
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  Speaker 1: If they were in the way. The blacks pushed them
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  Speaker 1: roughly to one side or whacked them with the flat
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  Speaker 1: of a sword, and the animals slunk away as in
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  Speaker 1: great fear. Presently we came upon our destination, a great
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  Speaker 1: amphitheater situated at the further edge of the plain and
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  Speaker 1: about a half a mile beyond the garden walls. Through
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  Speaker 1: a massive arched gateway, the blacks poured in to take
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  Speaker 1: their seats, while our guards led us to a smaller
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  Speaker 1: entrance near one end of the structure. Through this we
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  Speaker 1: passed into an enclosure beneath the seats, where we found
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  Speaker 1: a number of other prisoners herded together under guard. Some
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  Speaker 1: of them were in irons, but for the most part
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  Speaker 1: they seemed sufficiently awed by the presence of their guards
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  Speaker 1: to preclude any possibility of attempt to escape. During the
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  Speaker 1: trip from Shador, I had had no opportunity to talk
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  Speaker 1: with my fellow prisoner, But now that we were safely
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  Speaker 1: within the barred paddock, our guards abated their watchfulness, with
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  Speaker 1: the result that I found myself able to approach the
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  Speaker 1: red Martian youth for whom I had felt such a
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  Speaker 1: strange attraction. What is the object of this assembly, i
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  Speaker 1: asked him. Are we to fight for the edification of
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  Speaker 1: the first born? Or is it something worse than that?
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  Speaker 1: It is a part of the monthly rites of Issus,
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  Speaker 1: he replied, in which black men washed the sins from
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  Speaker 1: their souls in the blood of men from the outer world.
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  Speaker 1: If perchance the black is killed, it is evidence of
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  Speaker 1: his disloyalty to Issus, the unpardonable. If he lives through
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  Speaker 1: the contest, he is held acquitted of the charge that
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  Speaker 1: forced the sentence of the rights as it is called
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  Speaker 1: upon him. The forms of combat vary. A number of
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  Speaker 1: us may be pitted together against the equal number, or
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  Speaker 1: twice the number of blacks, or Singly, we may be
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  Speaker 1: sent forth to face wild beasts or some famous black warrior.
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  Speaker 1: And if we are victorious, I asked, what then? Freedom?
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  Speaker 1: He laughed, freedom forsooth? The only freedom for us death.
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  Speaker 1: None who enters the domains of the first born ever leave.
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  Speaker 1: If we prove able fighters, we are permitted to fight often.
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  Speaker 1: If we are not mighty fighters, he shrugged his shoulders.
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  Speaker 1: Sooner or later we die in the arena, and you
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  Speaker 1: have fought often, I asked, very often, he replied. It
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  Speaker 1: is my only pleasure. Some hundred black devils have I
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  Speaker 1: accounted for during my nearly a year of the rites
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  Speaker 1: of Issus. My mother would be very proud, could she
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  Speaker 1: only know how well I have maintained the traditions of
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  Speaker 1: my fire prowess. Your father must have been a mighty warrior,
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  Speaker 1: I said, I have known most of the warriors of
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  Speaker 1: Barsoom in my time. Doubtless I knew him. Who was he?
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  Speaker 1: My father was? Come Kaelot's cried the rough voice of
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  Speaker 1: a guard to the slaughter with you, and roughly we
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  Speaker 1: were hustled to the steep incline that led to the
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  Speaker 1: chambers far below, which led us out upon the arena.
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  Speaker 1: The Amphitheater, like all I had ever seen upon Barsoom,
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  Speaker 1: was built in a large excavation. Only the highest seats,
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  Speaker 1: which formed the low walls surrounding the pit, were above
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  Speaker 1: the level of the ground. The arena itself was far
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  Speaker 1: below the surface. Just beneath the lowest tier of seats
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  Speaker 1: was a series of barred gates on a level with
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  Speaker 1: the surface of the arena. Into these we were hearded,
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  Speaker 1: But unfortunately, my youthful friend was not of those who
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  Speaker 1: occupied a cage with me. Directly opposite my cage was
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  Speaker 1: the throne of Issus. Here the horrid creature squatted, surrounded
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  Speaker 1: by a hundred slave maidens, sparkling in jeweled. Brilliant clothes
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  Speaker 1: of many hues and strange patterns form the soft cushion
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  Speaker 1: covering of the dace upon which they reclined about her.
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  Speaker 1: On four sides of the throne, and several feet below
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  Speaker 1: it stood three solid ranks of heavily armed soldiery elbow
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  Speaker 1: to elbow. In front of these were the high dignitaries
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  Speaker 1: of this mock heaven, gleaming blacks, bedecked with precious stones
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  Speaker 1: upon their foreheads, the insignia of their ranks, set in
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  Speaker 1: circles of gold. On both sides of the throne, stretched
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  Speaker 1: a solid mass of humanity from top to bottom of
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  Speaker 1: the amphitheater. There were as many women as men, and
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  Speaker 1: each was clothed in the wondrously wrought harness of his
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  Speaker 1: station and his house. With each black was from one
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  Speaker 1: to three slaves drawn from the domains of the thorns
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  Speaker 1: and from the outer world. The blacks are all noble.
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  Speaker 1: There is no peasantry among the first born. Even the
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  Speaker 1: lowest soldier is a god and has his slaves to
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  Speaker 1: wait upon him. The first born do not work. The
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  Speaker 1: men fight, that is a sack, sacred privilege and duty
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  Speaker 1: to fight and die for Issus. The women do nothing,
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  Speaker 1: absolutely nothing. Slaves wash them, slaves dress them, slaves feed them.
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  Speaker 1: There are some even who have slaves that talk for them.
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  Speaker 1: And I saw one who sat during the rites with
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  Speaker 1: closed eyes, while a slave narrated to her the events
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  Speaker 1: that were transpiring within the arena. The first event of
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  Speaker 1: the day was the tribute to Issus. It marked the
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  Speaker 1: end of those poor unfortunates who had looked upon the
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  Speaker 1: divine glory of the goddess a full year before. There
• 10:32
  Speaker 1: were ten of them, splendid beauties from the proud courts
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  Speaker 1: of mighty Jeddaks and from the temples of the holy theurns.
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  Speaker 1: For a year they had served in the retinue of Issus.
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  Speaker 1: To day they were to pay the price of this
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  Speaker 1: divine preferment with their lives. Tomorrow they would graze the
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  Speaker 1: tables of the court functionaries. A huge black entered the
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  Speaker 1: arena with the young women. Carefully, he inspected them, felt
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  Speaker 1: of their limbs, and poked them in the ribs. Presently,
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  Speaker 1: he select one of their number, whom he led before
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  Speaker 1: the throne of Issius. He addressed some words to the
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  Speaker 1: goddess which I could not hear. Issius nodded her head.
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  Speaker 1: The black raised his hands above his head in token
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  Speaker 1: of salute, grasped the girl by the wrist, and dragged
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  Speaker 1: her from the arena through a small doorway below the throne.
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  Speaker 1: Issius will dine well to night, said a prisoner beside me.
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  Speaker 1: What do you mean, I asked, that was her dinner?
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  Speaker 1: That old Thabis is taking to the kitchens? Did his
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  Speaker 1: not note how carefully he selected the plumpest and tenderest
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  Speaker 1: of the lot. I growled out, my curses on the
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  Speaker 1: monster sitting opposite us on the gorgeous throne. Fume not admonished,
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  Speaker 1: my companion. You will see far worse than that if
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  Speaker 1: you live even a month among the first born. I
• 11:44
  Speaker 1: turned again, in time to see the gate of a
• 11:46
  Speaker 1: nearby cage thrown open, and three monstrous white apes spring
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  Speaker 1: into the arena. The girl shrank in a frightened group
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  Speaker 1: in the center of the enclosure. One was on her
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  Speaker 1: knees with imploring hands outstretched toward Issus, but the hideous
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  Speaker 1: deity only leaned further forward, in keener anticipation of the
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  Speaker 1: entertainment to come. At length, the apes spied the huddled
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  Speaker 1: knot of terror stricken maidens, and with demonocal shrieks of
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  Speaker 1: bestial frenzy, charged upon them. A wave of mad fury
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  Speaker 1: surged over me. The cruel cowardliness of the power drunk creature,
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  Speaker 1: whose malignant mind conceived such frightful forms of torture, stirred
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  Speaker 1: to their uttermost depths my resentment and my manhood. The
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  Speaker 1: blood red haze that presaged death to my foes swam
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  Speaker 1: before my eyes. The guard lolled before the unbarred gait
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  Speaker 1: of the cage, which confined me. What need of bars indeed,
• 12:39
  Speaker 1: to keep those poor victims from rushing into the arena
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  Speaker 1: which the edict of the gods had appointed as their
• 12:45
  Speaker 1: death place. A single blow sent the black unconscious to
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  Speaker 1: the ground. Snatching up his long sword, I sprang into
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  Speaker 1: the arena. The apes were almost upon the maidens, but
• 12:55
  Speaker 1: a couple of mighty bounds where all my earthly muscles
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  Speaker 1: required to carry me to the center the sands strewn floor.
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  Speaker 1: For an instant silence reigned in the great amphitheater. Then
• 13:05
  Speaker 1: a wild shout arose from the cages of the doomed.
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  Speaker 1: My long sword circled, whirling through the air, and a
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  Speaker 1: great ape sprawled headless at the feet of the feigning girls.
• 13:15
  Speaker 1: The other apes turned now upon me, and as I
• 13:17
  Speaker 1: stood facing them, a sullen roar from the audience answered
• 13:20
  Speaker 1: the wild cheers from the cages. From the tail of
• 13:23
  Speaker 1: my eye, I saw a score of guards rushing across
• 13:26
  Speaker 1: the glistening sand toward me. Then a figure broke from
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  Speaker 1: one of the cages behind them. It was the youth
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  Speaker 1: whose personalities so fascinated me. He paused a moment before
• 13:36
  Speaker 1: the cages with upraised sword, Come men of the outer world,
• 13:39
  Speaker 1: he shouted, let us make our deaths worth while. And
• 13:42
  Speaker 1: at the back of this unknown warrior, turn this day's
• 13:45
  Speaker 1: tribute to Issus into an orgy of revenge that will
• 13:48
  Speaker 1: echo through the ages and cause black skins to blanch
• 13:52
  Speaker 1: at each repetition of the rites of Issus. Come the
• 13:55
  Speaker 1: racks without your cages are filled with blades Without waiting
• 13:59
  Speaker 1: to note the outcome of his plea, he turned and
• 14:02
  Speaker 1: bounded toward me from every cage that harbored red men.
• 14:06
  Speaker 1: A thunderous shout went up in answer to his exhortation.
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  Speaker 1: The inner guards went down beneath howling mobs, and the
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  Speaker 1: cages vomited forth, their inmates, hot with the lust to kill.
• 14:17
  Speaker 1: The racks that stood without were stripped of the swords
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  Speaker 1: with which the prisoners were to have been armed to
• 14:22
  Speaker 1: enter their allotted combats, and a swarm of determined warriors
• 14:25
  Speaker 1: sped to our support. The great apes, towering in all
• 14:29
  Speaker 1: their fifteen feet of height, had gone down before my sword,
• 14:32
  Speaker 1: while the charging guards were still some distance away. Close
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  Speaker 1: behind them pursued the youth. At my back were the
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  Speaker 1: young girls, And as it was in their service that
• 14:41
  Speaker 1: I fought, I remained standing there to meet my inevitable death,
• 14:45
  Speaker 1: but with the determination to give such an account of
• 14:47
  Speaker 1: myself as would long be remembered in the land of
• 14:50
  Speaker 1: the first born. I noted the marvelous speed of the
• 14:53
  Speaker 1: young red man as he raced after the guards. Never
• 14:56
  Speaker 1: had I seen such speed in any martian. His leaps
• 14:59
  Speaker 1: and bounds were little short of those which my earthly
• 15:02
  Speaker 1: muscles had produced to create such awe and respect on
• 15:05
  Speaker 1: the part of the green Martians into whose hands I
• 15:08
  Speaker 1: had fallen on that long gone day that had seen
• 15:10
  Speaker 1: my first advent upon Mars. The guards had not reached
• 15:14
  Speaker 1: me when he fell upon them from the rear, and
• 15:16
  Speaker 1: as they turned, thinking from the fierceness of his onslaught
• 15:20
  Speaker 1: that a dozen were attacking them. I rushed them from
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  Speaker 1: my side. In the rapid fighting that followed, I had
• 15:26
  Speaker 1: little chance to note aught else than the movements of
• 15:29
  Speaker 1: my immediate adversaries. But now and again I caught a
• 15:32
  Speaker 1: fleeting glimpse of a purring sword and a lightly springing
• 15:36
  Speaker 1: figure of sinewy steel that filled my heart with a
• 15:39
  Speaker 1: strange yearning and a mighty but unaccountable pride. On the
• 15:43
  Speaker 1: handsome face of the boy, a grim smile played, and
• 15:46
  Speaker 1: ever and anon he threw a taunting challenge to the
• 15:50
  Speaker 1: foes that faced him. In this and other ways, his
• 15:53
  Speaker 1: manner fighting was similar to that which had always marked
• 15:56
  Speaker 1: me on the field of combat. Perhaps it was this
• 15:59
  Speaker 1: vague lifness which made me love the boy, while the
• 16:02
  Speaker 1: awful havoc that his sword played amongst the blacks filled
• 16:05
  Speaker 1: my soul, with a tremendous respect for him. For my part,
• 16:09
  Speaker 1: I was fighting as I had fought a thousand times before,
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  Speaker 1: now side stepping a wicked thrust, now stepping quickly in
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  Speaker 1: to let my sword's point drink deep in a foeman's heart,
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  Speaker 1: before it buried itself in the throat of his companion.
• 16:22
  Speaker 1: We were having a merry time of it. We two
• 16:25
  Speaker 1: when a great body of Isshus's own guards were ordered
• 16:27
  Speaker 1: into the arena. On they came with fierce cries, while
• 16:32
  Speaker 1: from every side the armed prisoners swarmed upon them. For
• 16:35
  Speaker 1: half an hour, it was as though all hell had
• 16:37
  Speaker 1: broken loose in the walled confines of the arena. We
• 16:41
  Speaker 1: fought in inextricable mass, howling, cursing, blood streaked demons, and
• 16:46
  Speaker 1: ever the sword of the young red Man flashed beside me.
• 16:49
  Speaker 1: Slowly and by repeated commands, I had succeeded in drawing
• 16:53
  Speaker 1: the prisoners into a rough formation about us, so that
• 16:56
  Speaker 1: at last we fought formed into a rude circle, in
• 16:59
  Speaker 1: the center of which were the doomed maids. Many had
• 17:03
  Speaker 1: gone down on both sides, but by far the greater
• 17:06
  Speaker 1: havoc had been wrought in the ranks of the guards
• 17:08
  Speaker 1: of Issus. I could see messengers running swiftly through the audience,
• 17:12
  Speaker 1: and as they passed the nobles, they unsheathed their swords
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  Speaker 1: and sprang into the arena. They were going to annihil
• 17:18
  Speaker 1: at us by force of numbers. That was quite evidently
• 17:21
  Speaker 1: their plan. I caught a glimpse of Issus leaning far
• 17:24
  Speaker 1: forward upon her throne, her hideous countenance distorted in a
• 17:28
  Speaker 1: horrid grimace of hate and rage, in which I thought
• 17:31
  Speaker 1: I could distinguish an expression of fear. It was that
• 17:34
  Speaker 1: face that inspired me to the thing that followed. Quickly.
• 17:38
  Speaker 1: I ordered fifty of the prisoners to drop back behind
• 17:41
  Speaker 1: us and form a new circle about the maidens. Remain
• 17:44
  Speaker 1: and protect them until I return, I commanded. Then, turning
• 17:47
  Speaker 1: to those who formed the outer line, I cried, down
• 17:50
  Speaker 1: with Issus, follow me to the throne. We will reap
• 17:53
  Speaker 1: vengeance where vengeance is deserved. The youth at my side
• 17:57
  Speaker 1: was the first to take up the cry of down
• 17:59
  Speaker 1: with vicious and then at my back, and from all
• 18:02
  Speaker 1: sides rose a hoarse shout to the throne. To the throne,
• 18:07
  Speaker 1: as one man, we moved an irresistible fighting mass over
• 18:10
  Speaker 1: the bodies of dead and dying foes towards the gorgeous
• 18:13
  Speaker 1: throne of the martian deity. Hordes of the daughtiest fighting
• 18:17
  Speaker 1: men of Firstborn poured from the audience to check our progress.
• 18:21
  Speaker 1: We mowed them down before us, as they had been
• 18:23
  Speaker 1: paper men to the seat. Some of you, I cried,
• 18:26
  Speaker 1: as we approached the arena's barrier wall. Ten of us
• 18:29
  Speaker 1: can take the throne, For I had seen that Issus's
• 18:32
  Speaker 1: guards had, for the most part, entered the fray within
• 18:35
  Speaker 1: the arena. On both sides of me. The prisoners broke
• 18:38
  Speaker 1: to the left and right for the seats, vaulting the
• 18:41
  Speaker 1: low wall with dripping swords, lusting for the crowded victims
• 18:44
  Speaker 1: who awaited them. In another moment, the entire amphitheater was
• 18:48
  Speaker 1: filled with the shrieks of the dying and the wounded,
• 18:51
  Speaker 1: mingled with the clash of arms and triumphant shouts of
• 18:54
  Speaker 1: the victors. Side by side, the young red Man and I,
• 18:58
  Speaker 1: with perhaps a dozen others, fought our way to the
• 19:00
  Speaker 1: foot of the throne. The remaining guards, reinforced by the
• 19:03
  Speaker 1: high dignitaries and nobles of the first Born, closed in
• 19:06
  Speaker 1: between us and Issus, who sat leaning far forward upon
• 19:10
  Speaker 1: her carved Sauropus bench, now screaming high pitched commands to her,
• 19:14
  Speaker 1: following now hurling blighting curses upon those who sought to
• 19:18
  Speaker 1: desecrate her godhood. The frightened slaves about her trembled in
• 19:22
  Speaker 1: wide eyed expectancy, knowing not whether to pray for our
• 19:26
  Speaker 1: victory or our defeat. Several among them proud daughters, no
• 19:30
  Speaker 1: doubt of some of the Barsoomium's noblest warriors, snatched swords
• 19:34
  Speaker 1: from the hands of the fallen and fell upon the
• 19:36
  Speaker 1: guards of Issus, But they were soon cut down, glorious
• 19:39
  Speaker 1: martyrs to a hopeless cause. The men with us fought well,
• 19:43
  Speaker 1: But never since Tars Tarkas and I fought out that
• 19:45
  Speaker 1: long hot afternoon shoulders shoulder against the hordes of Warhoon
• 19:50
  Speaker 1: in the dead sea bottom before Thark had I seen
• 19:52
  Speaker 1: two men fight to such good purpose and with such
• 19:55
  Speaker 1: unconquerable ferocity as the young red men and I fought
• 19:59
  Speaker 1: that day before the throne of Issus, Goddess of death
• 20:02
  Speaker 1: and of life eternal, man by man. Those who stood
• 20:06
  Speaker 1: between us and the carven Sorpus would bench went down
• 20:09
  Speaker 1: before our blades. Others swarmed in to fill the breach,
• 20:13
  Speaker 1: but inch by inch, foot by foot, we won nearer
• 20:15
  Speaker 1: and nearer to our goal. Presently a cry went up
• 20:19
  Speaker 1: from a section of the stands near by, rye slaves, Rise, slaves.
• 20:24
  Speaker 1: It rose and fell until it swelled to a mighty
• 20:26
  Speaker 1: volume of sound that swept in great billows around the
• 20:29
  Speaker 1: entire amphitheater. For an instant, as though by common assent,
• 20:34
  Speaker 1: we ceased our fighting to look for the meaning of
• 20:36
  Speaker 1: this new note, Nor did it take but a moment
• 20:38
  Speaker 1: to translate its significance. In all parts of the structure,
• 20:42
  Speaker 1: the female slaves were falling upon their masters with whatever
• 20:45
  Speaker 1: weapon came first to hand. A dagger snatched from the
• 20:48
  Speaker 1: harness of her mistress was waved aloft by some fair slave,
• 20:52
  Speaker 1: its shimmering blade crimson with the life blood of its owner.
• 20:56
  Speaker 1: Swords plucked from the bodies of the dead about them,
• 20:59
  Speaker 1: heavy ornaments which could be turned into bludgeons. Such were
• 21:02
  Speaker 1: the implements with which these fair women reeked the long
• 21:05
  Speaker 1: pent vengeance, which at best could but partially recompense them
• 21:09
  Speaker 1: for the unspeakable cruelties and indignities which their black masters
• 21:13
  Speaker 1: had heaped upon them. And those who could find no
• 21:16
  Speaker 1: other weapons used their strong fingers and their gleaming teeth.
• 21:20
  Speaker 1: It was at once a sight to make one shudder
• 21:23
  Speaker 1: and to cheer. But in a brief second we were
• 21:25
  Speaker 1: engaged once more in our own battle, with only the
• 21:28
  Speaker 1: unquenchable battle cry of the women to remind us that
• 21:31
  Speaker 1: they still fought ries. Slaves rise slaves. Only a single
• 21:36
  Speaker 1: thin rank of men now stood between us and issus.
• 21:39
  Speaker 1: Her face was blue with terror. Foam flecked her lips.
• 21:43
  Speaker 1: She seemed too paralyzed with fear to move. Only the
• 21:46
  Speaker 1: youth and I fought now. The others all had fallen,
• 21:50
  Speaker 1: and I was like to have gone down too from
• 21:52
  Speaker 1: a nasty long sword cut, had not a hand reached
• 21:54
  Speaker 1: out from behind my adversary and clutched his elbow as
• 21:58
  Speaker 1: the blade was falling upon me. The youth sprang to
• 22:01
  Speaker 1: my side and ran his sword through the fellow before
• 22:03
  Speaker 1: he could recover to deliver another blow. I should have
• 22:07
  Speaker 1: died even then, but for that, as my sword was
• 22:10
  Speaker 1: tight wedged in the breastbone of a detour of the
• 22:12
  Speaker 1: first born. As the fellow went down, I snatched his
• 22:15
  Speaker 1: sword from him, and over his prostrate body, looked into
• 22:18
  Speaker 1: the eyes of the one whose quick hand had saved
• 22:21
  Speaker 1: me from the first cut of his sword. It was Fador,
• 22:24
  Speaker 1: daughter of Matai Shang, Fly, my prince, She cried, it
• 22:28
  Speaker 1: is useless to fight them longer. All within the arena
• 22:31
  Speaker 1: are dead, All who charge the throne are dead. But
• 22:34
  Speaker 1: you and this youth, only among the seats are there
• 22:37
  Speaker 1: left any of your fighting men, And they and the
• 22:39
  Speaker 1: slave women are fast being cut down. Listen, you can
• 22:43
  Speaker 1: scarce hear the battle cry of the women now, for
• 22:45
  Speaker 1: nearly all are dead. For each one of you there
• 22:48
  Speaker 1: are ten thousand blacks within the domains of the First Born.
• 22:51
  Speaker 1: Break for the open and the sea of Chorus. With
• 22:54
  Speaker 1: your mighty sword arm you may yet win. To the
• 22:56
  Speaker 1: golden cliffs and the temple gardens of the Holy Thorn. There.
• 23:00
  Speaker 1: Tell your story to Matai Shang, my father. He will
• 23:04
  Speaker 1: keep you, and together you may find a way to
• 23:06
  Speaker 1: rescue me fly while there is yet a bare chance
• 23:09
  Speaker 1: for flight. But that was not my mission, nor could
• 23:12
  Speaker 1: I see much to be preferred in the cruel hospitality
• 23:15
  Speaker 1: of the Holy Therns to that of the first Born.
• 23:18
  Speaker 1: Down with Issus, I shouted, and together the boy and
• 23:21
  Speaker 1: I took up the fight. Once more, two blacks went
• 23:24
  Speaker 1: down with our swords and their vitals, and we stood
• 23:26
  Speaker 1: face to face with Issus. As my sword went up
• 23:29
  Speaker 1: to end her horrid career, her paralysis left her, and
• 23:33
  Speaker 1: with an ear piercing shriek, she turned to flee. Directly
• 23:36
  Speaker 1: behind her, a black gulf suddenly yawned in the flooring
• 23:39
  Speaker 1: of the dace. She sprang for the opening with the youth,
• 23:42
  Speaker 1: and I close at her heels. Her scattered guard rallied
• 23:45
  Speaker 1: at her cry and rushed for us. A blow fell
• 23:48
  Speaker 1: upon the head of the youth. He staggered and would
• 23:50
  Speaker 1: have fallen, but I caught him in my left arm
• 23:53
  Speaker 1: and turned to face an infuriated mob of religious fanatics,
• 23:57
  Speaker 1: crazed by the affront I had put upon their goddess,
• 24:00
  Speaker 1: just as Issus disappeared into the black depths beneath me.
• 24:04
  Speaker 1: End of Chapter eleven.