Latest / Daily Classic Sci Fi Books / 14 - The God's of Mars - Edgar Rice Burroughs

Transcript

14 - The God's of Mars - Edgar Rice Burroughs · Daily Classic Sci Fi Books

• 0:00
  Speaker 1: Chapter fourteen. The eyes in the dark, my son, I
• 0:04
  Speaker 1: could not believe my ears. Slowly I rose and faced
• 0:07
  Speaker 1: the handsome youth. Now that I looked at him closely,
• 0:10
  Speaker 1: I commenced to see why his face and personality had
• 0:13
  Speaker 1: attracted me so strongly. There was much of his mother's
• 0:16
  Speaker 1: incomparable beauty in his clear cut features, but it was
• 0:20
  Speaker 1: strongly masculine beauty, and his gray eyes, in the expression
• 0:24
  Speaker 1: of them, were mine. The boy stood facing me, half
• 0:27
  Speaker 1: hope and half uncertainty in his look. Tell me of
• 0:30
  Speaker 1: your mother, I said, tell me all you can, of
• 0:32
  Speaker 1: the years that I have been robbed by a relentless
• 0:34
  Speaker 1: fate of her dear companionship. With a cry of pleasure,
• 0:38
  Speaker 1: he sprang toward me and threw his arms about my neck.
• 0:41
  Speaker 1: And for a brief moment, as I held my boy
• 0:43
  Speaker 1: close to me, the tears welled to my eyes, and
• 0:46
  Speaker 1: I was like to have choked after the manner of
• 0:48
  Speaker 1: some mad'lin fool. But I do not regret it, nor
• 0:51
  Speaker 1: am I ashamed. A long life has taught me that
• 0:54
  Speaker 1: a man may seem weak where women and children are concerned,
• 0:57
  Speaker 1: and yet be anything but a weakling in the sterner
• 1:00
  Speaker 1: avenues of life, your stature, your manner, the terrible ferocity
• 1:05
  Speaker 1: of your swordmanship, said the boy, are as my mother
• 1:08
  Speaker 1: has described them to me a thousand times. But even
• 1:11
  Speaker 1: with such evidence, I could scarce credit the truth of
• 1:14
  Speaker 1: what seems so improbable to me, however much I desired
• 1:17
  Speaker 1: it to be true. Do you know what thing it
• 1:19
  Speaker 1: was that convinced me more than all the others? What,
• 1:22
  Speaker 1: my boy, I asked your first words to me? They
• 1:26
  Speaker 1: were of my mother. None else but the man who
• 1:28
  Speaker 1: loved her, as she has told me my father did,
• 1:31
  Speaker 1: would have thought first of her for long years. My son,
• 1:35
  Speaker 1: I can scarce recall a moment that the radiant vision
• 1:38
  Speaker 1: of your mother's face has not been ever before me.
• 1:41
  Speaker 1: Tell me of her. Those who have known her longest
• 1:44
  Speaker 1: say that she has not changed, unless it be to
• 1:46
  Speaker 1: grow more beautiful. Were that possible? Only when she thinks
• 1:50
  Speaker 1: I am not about to see her, her face grows
• 1:53
  Speaker 1: very sad and oh so wistful. She thinks ever of you,
• 1:57
  Speaker 1: my father, and all Helium mourns with her and for her.
• 2:01
  Speaker 1: Her grandfather's people love her. They loved you also, and
• 2:04
  Speaker 1: fairly worship your memory as the savior of Barsoom. Each
• 2:08
  Speaker 1: year that brings its anniversary of the day that saw
• 2:10
  Speaker 1: you racing across a near dead world to unlock the
• 2:14
  Speaker 1: secret of that awful portal behind which lay the mighty
• 2:16
  Speaker 1: power of life. For countless millions, a great festivals held
• 2:21
  Speaker 1: in your honor. But there are tears mingled with thanksgiving,
• 2:24
  Speaker 1: tears of real regret that the author of the happiness
• 2:27
  Speaker 1: is not with them to share the joy of living.
• 2:30
  Speaker 1: He died to give them upon all barsoom. There is
• 2:33
  Speaker 1: no greater name than John Carter. And by what name
• 2:36
  Speaker 1: has your mother called you? My boy? I asked the
• 2:39
  Speaker 1: people of Helium, asked that I be named with my
• 2:41
  Speaker 1: father's name, But my mother said no, that you and
• 2:44
  Speaker 1: she had chosen a name for me together, and that
• 2:47
  Speaker 1: your wish must be honored before all others. So the
• 2:50
  Speaker 1: name that she called me is the one that you desired,
• 2:52
  Speaker 1: a combination of hers and yours. Carthoris Exodar had been
• 2:57
  Speaker 1: at the wheel as I talked with my son, and
• 2:59
  Speaker 1: now he called, she is dropping badly by the head,
• 3:02
  Speaker 1: John Carter, He said, So long as we were rising
• 3:05
  Speaker 1: at a stiff angle, it was not noticeable. But now
• 3:08
  Speaker 1: that I am trying to keep a horizontal course, it
• 3:10
  Speaker 1: is different. The wound in her bow has opened one
• 3:13
  Speaker 1: of her forward ray tanks. It was true, and after
• 3:16
  Speaker 1: I had examined the damage, I found it a much
• 3:19
  Speaker 1: graver matter than I had anticipated. Not only was the
• 3:22
  Speaker 1: forced angle at which we were compelled to maintain the
• 3:25
  Speaker 1: bow in order to keep a horizontal course greatly impeding
• 3:28
  Speaker 1: our speed, but at the rate that we were losing
• 3:31
  Speaker 1: our repulsive rays from the forward tanks, it was but
• 3:34
  Speaker 1: a question of an hour or more when we would
• 3:36
  Speaker 1: be floating, stern up and helpless. We had slightly reduced
• 3:40
  Speaker 1: our speed with the dawning of a sense of security.
• 3:43
  Speaker 1: But now I took the helm once more and pulled
• 3:45
  Speaker 1: the noble little engine wide open, so that again we
• 3:48
  Speaker 1: raced north at terrific velocity. In the meantime, Cathors and Exodar,
• 3:53
  Speaker 1: with tools in hand, were puttering with the great rent
• 3:56
  Speaker 1: in the bow in a hopeless endeavor to stem the
• 3:59
  Speaker 1: tide of escaping rays. It was still dark when we
• 4:01
  Speaker 1: passed the northern boundary of the ice cap, and the
• 4:04
  Speaker 1: area of clouds below us lay a typical Martian landscape,
• 4:08
  Speaker 1: rolling oak her sea, bottom of long dead seas, low
• 4:11
  Speaker 1: surrounding hills with here and there, the grim and silent
• 4:14
  Speaker 1: cities of the dead, past, great piles of mighty architecture,
• 4:18
  Speaker 1: tenanted only by age old memories of a once powerful race,
• 4:21
  Speaker 1: and by the great white apes of Barsoom. It was
• 4:24
  Speaker 1: becoming more and more difficult to maintain our little vessel
• 4:27
  Speaker 1: in a horizontal position. Lower and lower sagged the bow
• 4:30
  Speaker 1: until it became necessary to stop the engine to prevent
• 4:34
  Speaker 1: our flight, terminating in a swift dive to the ground.
• 4:37
  Speaker 1: As the sun rose and the light of a new
• 4:39
  Speaker 1: day swept away the darkness of night, our craft gave
• 4:42
  Speaker 1: a final spasmodic plunge, turned half upon her side, and then,
• 4:46
  Speaker 1: with deck tilting at a sickening angle, swung in a
• 4:49
  Speaker 1: slow circle, her bow dropping further below her stern each
• 4:53
  Speaker 1: moment to hand rail and stanchion we clung, and finally,
• 4:57
  Speaker 1: as we saw the end approaching, snapped the buckles of
• 4:59
  Speaker 1: our harness to the rings at her sides. In another moment,
• 5:03
  Speaker 1: the deck reared at an angle of ninety degrees, and
• 5:05
  Speaker 1: we hung in our leather with feet dangling a thousand
• 5:08
  Speaker 1: yards above the ground. I was swinging quite close to
• 5:11
  Speaker 1: the controlling devices, so I reached out to the lever
• 5:14
  Speaker 1: that directed the rays of repulsion. The boat responded to
• 5:18
  Speaker 1: the touch, and very gently we began to sink toward
• 5:21
  Speaker 1: the ground. It was fully half an hour before we touched.
• 5:24
  Speaker 1: Directly north of us rose a rather lofty range of hills,
• 5:28
  Speaker 1: towards which we decided to make our way, since they
• 5:31
  Speaker 1: afforded greater opportunity for concealment from the pursuers we were
• 5:35
  Speaker 1: confident might stumble in this direction. An hour later found
• 5:39
  Speaker 1: us in the time rounded gullies of the hills, amid
• 5:41
  Speaker 1: the beautiful flowering plants that abound in the arid waste
• 5:44
  Speaker 1: places of Barsoom. There we found numbers of huge milk
• 5:48
  Speaker 1: giving shrubs, that strange plant which serves in great part
• 5:51
  Speaker 1: as food and drink for the wild hordes of green men.
• 5:54
  Speaker 1: It was indeed a boon to us, for we all
• 5:57
  Speaker 1: were nearly famished. Beneath a cluster of these, which afforded
• 6:01
  Speaker 1: perfect concealment from wandering air scouts. We lay down to sleep,
• 6:05
  Speaker 1: for me the first time in many hours. This was
• 6:08
  Speaker 1: the beginning of my fifth day upon Barsoom, since I
• 6:10
  Speaker 1: had found myself suddenly translated from my cottage on the
• 6:14
  Speaker 1: Hudson to door, the valley beautiful, the valley hideous. In
• 6:18
  Speaker 1: all this time I had slept but twice, though once
• 6:21
  Speaker 1: the clock round within the storehouse of the Thurns. It
• 6:24
  Speaker 1: was mid afternoon when I was awakened by some one
• 6:26
  Speaker 1: seizing my hand and covering it with kisses. With a start,
• 6:30
  Speaker 1: I opened my eyes to look into the beautiful face
• 6:32
  Speaker 1: of Thuvia, My prince, My prince, she cried, and in
• 6:36
  Speaker 1: ecstasy of happiness, tis you whom I had mourned as dead.
• 6:40
  Speaker 1: My ancestors have been good to me. I have not
• 6:42
  Speaker 1: lived in vain. The girl's voice awoke Exeter on Carthoris.
• 6:46
  Speaker 1: The boy gazed upon the woman in surprise, But she
• 6:49
  Speaker 1: did not seem to realize the presence of another than I.
• 6:52
  Speaker 1: She would have thrown her arms about my neck and
• 6:54
  Speaker 1: smothered me with caresses, had I not gently but firmly
• 6:57
  Speaker 1: disengaged myself. Come, Come, Thuvia, I said, soothingly. You are
• 7:02
  Speaker 1: overwrought by the danger and hardships you have passed through.
• 7:05
  Speaker 1: You forget yourself, as you forget that I am the
• 7:07
  Speaker 1: husband of the Princess of Helium. I forget nothing, my prince,
• 7:11
  Speaker 1: She replied, you have spoken no word of love to me,
• 7:15
  Speaker 1: nor do I expect that you ever shall. But nothing
• 7:17
  Speaker 1: can prevent me loving you. I would not take the
• 7:20
  Speaker 1: place of dejah Thoris. My greatest ambition is to serve you,
• 7:23
  Speaker 1: my prince, for ever is your slave. No greater boon
• 7:27
  Speaker 1: could I ask, No greater honor could I crave, no
• 7:29
  Speaker 1: greater happiness could I hope? As I have before said,
• 7:33
  Speaker 1: I am no lady's man, and I must admit that
• 7:35
  Speaker 1: I seldom have felt so uncomfortable and embarrassed as I
• 7:38
  Speaker 1: did that moment. While I was quite familiar with the
• 7:41
  Speaker 1: Martian custom, which allows female slaves to Martian men, whose
• 7:45
  Speaker 1: high and chivalrous honor is always ample protection for every
• 7:48
  Speaker 1: woman in his household, yet I had never myself chosen
• 7:52
  Speaker 1: other than men as my body servants. And I ever
• 7:55
  Speaker 1: returned to Helium Thuvia, I said, you shall go with me,
• 7:59
  Speaker 1: but as an honored equal, and not as a slave.
• 8:01
  Speaker 1: There you shall find plenty of handsome young nobles who
• 8:04
  Speaker 1: would face Issus herself to win a smile from you,
• 8:07
  Speaker 1: and we shall have you married in short order to
• 8:09
  Speaker 1: one of the best of them. Forget your foolish gratitude,
• 8:13
  Speaker 1: begot an infatuation which your innocence has mistaken for love.
• 8:17
  Speaker 1: I like your friendship better, Thuvia. You are my master.
• 8:21
  Speaker 1: It shall be as you say, she replied simply, but
• 8:24
  Speaker 1: there was a note of sadness in her voice. How
• 8:26
  Speaker 1: came you here, Thuvia, I asked, And where is tars Tarkas?
• 8:30
  Speaker 1: The great thark I fear is dead? She replied sadly.
• 8:35
  Speaker 1: He was a mighty fighter, but a multitude of green
• 8:37
  Speaker 1: warriors of another horde than his overwhelmed him. The last
• 8:42
  Speaker 1: that I saw of him, they were bearing him wounded
• 8:44
  Speaker 1: and bleeding, to the deserted city from which they had
• 8:47
  Speaker 1: sallied to attack us. You are not sure that he
• 8:50
  Speaker 1: is dead, then I asked, And where is the city
• 8:53
  Speaker 1: of which you speak? It is just beyond this range
• 8:56
  Speaker 1: of hills. The vessel on which you so nobly resigned
• 8:59
  Speaker 1: a place that we might find escape defied our small
• 9:02
  Speaker 1: skill in navigation, with the result that we drifted aimlessly
• 9:05
  Speaker 1: about for two days. Then we decided to abandon the
• 9:08
  Speaker 1: craft and attempt to make our way on foot to
• 9:11
  Speaker 1: the nearest waterway. Yesterday we crossed these hills and came
• 9:14
  Speaker 1: upon the dead city beyond we had passed within its
• 9:17
  Speaker 1: streets and were walking towards the central portion, when at
• 9:20
  Speaker 1: an intersecting avenue we saw a body of green warriors approaching.
• 9:24
  Speaker 1: Tars Tarkas was in advance, and they saw him, but me.
• 9:28
  Speaker 1: They did not see. The thark sprang back to my
• 9:30
  Speaker 1: side and forced me into an adjacent doorway, where he
• 9:33
  Speaker 1: told me to remain in hiding until I could escape,
• 9:36
  Speaker 1: making my way to helium if possible. There will be
• 9:39
  Speaker 1: no escape for me now, he said, for these be
• 9:41
  Speaker 1: the Warhoon of the south. When they have seen my metal,
• 9:44
  Speaker 1: it will be to the death. Then he stepped out
• 9:47
  Speaker 1: to meet them, Ah, my prince. Such fighting for an hour,
• 9:51
  Speaker 1: they had swarmed about him until the Warhoon dead formed
• 9:54
  Speaker 1: a hill where he had stood. But at last they
• 9:57
  Speaker 1: overwhelmed him, those behind, pushing the foremost upon him until
• 10:01
  Speaker 1: there remained no space to swing his great sword. Then
• 10:04
  Speaker 1: he stumbled and went down, and they rolled over him
• 10:06
  Speaker 1: like a huge wave. When they carried him away toward
• 10:09
  Speaker 1: the heart of the city, he was dead, I think,
• 10:11
  Speaker 1: for I did not see him move. Before we go farther,
• 10:14
  Speaker 1: we must be sure, I said, I cannot leave tars
• 10:17
  Speaker 1: Tarkas alive among the warhoons to night. I shall enter
• 10:20
  Speaker 1: the city and make sure, and I shall go with you,
• 10:23
  Speaker 1: spoke Carthoris, and I said Exodar. Neither one of you
• 10:27
  Speaker 1: shall go. I replied. It is work that requires stealth
• 10:30
  Speaker 1: and strategy, not force. One man alone may succeed where
• 10:34
  Speaker 1: more would invite disaster. I shall go alone. If I
• 10:38
  Speaker 1: need your help, I will return for you. They did
• 10:40
  Speaker 1: not like it, but both were good soldiers, and it
• 10:43
  Speaker 1: had been agreed that I should command. The sun already
• 10:46
  Speaker 1: was low, so that I did not have long to
• 10:48
  Speaker 1: wait before the sudden darkness of Barsoom engulfed us. With
• 10:52
  Speaker 1: a parting word of instructions to Carthoris and Exodar in
• 10:55
  Speaker 1: case I should not return, I bade them all farewell,
• 10:58
  Speaker 1: and set forth at a rapid dog trot towards the city.
• 11:01
  Speaker 1: As I emerged from the hills, the nearer moon was
• 11:04
  Speaker 1: winging its wild flight through the heavens, its bright beams
• 11:07
  Speaker 1: turning to burnished silver, the barbaric splendor of the ancient metropolis.
• 11:11
  Speaker 1: The city had been built upon the gently rolling foothills that,
• 11:14
  Speaker 1: in the dim and distant past had sloped down to
• 11:16
  Speaker 1: meet the sea. It was due to this fact that
• 11:19
  Speaker 1: I had no difficulty in entering the streets unobserved. The
• 11:22
  Speaker 1: green hordes that used these deserted cities seldom occupy more
• 11:26
  Speaker 1: than a few squares about the central plaza, and as
• 11:29
  Speaker 1: they come and go always across the dead sea bottoms
• 11:32
  Speaker 1: that the city's face, it is usually a matter of
• 11:35
  Speaker 1: comparative ease to enter from the hillside. Once within the streets,
• 11:39
  Speaker 1: I kept close in the dense shadows of the walls.
• 11:41
  Speaker 1: At intersections, I halted a moment to make sure that
• 11:44
  Speaker 1: none was in sight before I sprang quickly to the
• 11:46
  Speaker 1: shadows of the opposite side. Thus I made the journey
• 11:50
  Speaker 1: to the vicinity of the plaza without detection. As I
• 11:53
  Speaker 1: approached the purlus of the inhabited portion of the city,
• 11:56
  Speaker 1: I was made aware of the proximity of the warriors
• 11:59
  Speaker 1: quarters by the squealing and grunting of the thorts and
• 12:02
  Speaker 1: the zitidars corralled within the hollow courtyard formed by the
• 12:05
  Speaker 1: buildings surrounding each square. These old, familiar sounds that are
• 12:09
  Speaker 1: so distinctive of Green Martian life, sent a thrill of
• 12:12
  Speaker 1: pleasure surging through me. It was as one might feel
• 12:15
  Speaker 1: on coming home after a long absence. It was amid
• 12:18
  Speaker 1: such sounds that I had first quartered the incomparable dejah
• 12:21
  Speaker 1: Thoris in the age old marble halls of the dead
• 12:24
  Speaker 1: city of Korad. As I stood in the shadows at
• 12:26
  Speaker 1: the far corner of the first square, which housed members
• 12:29
  Speaker 1: of the Horde, I saw warriors emerging from several of
• 12:32
  Speaker 1: the buildings. They all went in the same direction toward
• 12:35
  Speaker 1: a great building which stood in the center of the plaza.
• 12:38
  Speaker 1: My knowledge of Green Martian customs convinced me that this
• 12:41
  Speaker 1: was either the quarters of the principal chieftain or contain
• 12:44
  Speaker 1: the audience chamber wherein the Jeddak met his jeds in
• 12:47
  Speaker 1: lesser chieftains. In either event, it was evident that something
• 12:50
  Speaker 1: was afoot which might have a bearing on the recent
• 12:53
  Speaker 1: capture of Tars Tarkas. To reach this building, which I
• 12:57
  Speaker 1: now felt and imperative that I do, I must needs
• 13:00
  Speaker 1: traversed the entire length of one square and cross a
• 13:02
  Speaker 1: broad avenue and a portion of the plaza. From the
• 13:05
  Speaker 1: noises of the animals which came from every courtyard about me,
• 13:09
  Speaker 1: I knew that there were many people in the surrounding buildings,
• 13:12
  Speaker 1: probably several communities of the great Horde of the Warhoons
• 13:15
  Speaker 1: of the South. To pass undetected among all these people
• 13:18
  Speaker 1: was in itself a difficult task, But if I was
• 13:21
  Speaker 1: to find and rescue the Great Thark, I must expect
• 13:24
  Speaker 1: even more formidable obstacles before success could be mine. I
• 13:28
  Speaker 1: had entered the city from the south and now stood
• 13:31
  Speaker 1: on the corner of the avenue through which I had passed,
• 13:33
  Speaker 1: and the first intersecting avenue south of the plaza. The
• 13:36
  Speaker 1: buildings upon the south side of this square did not
• 13:39
  Speaker 1: appear to be inhabited, as I could see no lights,
• 13:42
  Speaker 1: and so I decided to gain the inner courtyard through
• 13:44
  Speaker 1: one of them. Nothing occurred to interrupt my progress to
• 13:47
  Speaker 1: the deserted pile I chose, and I came into the
• 13:50
  Speaker 1: inner court, close to the rear walls of the east buildings,
• 13:52
  Speaker 1: without detection. Within the court, a great herd of thwarts
• 13:56
  Speaker 1: and zitidars moved restlessly about cropping the mosslike oakreve vegetation,
• 14:00
  Speaker 1: which overgrows practically the entire uncultivated area of Mars. What
• 14:05
  Speaker 1: breeze there was came from the northwest, so there was
• 14:08
  Speaker 1: little danger that the beasts would scent me had they
• 14:11
  Speaker 1: their squealing and grunting would have grown to such a
• 14:13
  Speaker 1: volume as to track the attention of the warriors. Within
• 14:15
  Speaker 1: the buildings close to the east wall, beneath the overhanging
• 14:19
  Speaker 1: balconies of the second floors, I crept in dense shadows
• 14:22
  Speaker 1: the full length of the courtyard until I came to
• 14:25
  Speaker 1: the buildings on the north end. These were lighted for
• 14:28
  Speaker 1: about three floors up, but above the third floor all
• 14:31
  Speaker 1: was dark. To pass through the lighted rooms was, of
• 14:34
  Speaker 1: course out of the question, since they swarmed with green
• 14:37
  Speaker 1: Martian men and women. My only path lay through the
• 14:41
  Speaker 1: upper floors, and to gain these it was necessary to
• 14:43
  Speaker 1: scale the face of the wall. The reaching of the
• 14:46
  Speaker 1: balcony of the second floor was a matter of easy accomplishment.
• 14:49
  Speaker 1: An agile leap gave my hands a grasp upon the
• 14:51
  Speaker 1: stone hand rail above. In another instant, I had drawn
• 14:55
  Speaker 1: myself upon the balcony. Here, through the open windows, I
• 14:58
  Speaker 1: saw the green folks squatting upon their seat, leaping silks
• 15:00
  Speaker 1: and furs, grunting an occasional monosyllable, which, in connection with
• 15:04
  Speaker 1: their wondrous telepathic powers, is ample for their conversational requirements.
• 15:09
  Speaker 1: As I drew closer to listen to their words. A
• 15:12
  Speaker 1: warrior entered the room from the hall beyond, Come Tangama.
• 15:16
  Speaker 1: He cried, we are to take the thark before cab Kadja.
• 15:19
  Speaker 1: Bring another with you. The warrior, dressed a rose and
• 15:23
  Speaker 1: beckoning a fellow squatting near, the three turned and left
• 15:25
  Speaker 1: the apartment. If I could but follow them, the chance
• 15:28
  Speaker 1: might come to free tars Tarkas at once. At least
• 15:31
  Speaker 1: I would learn the location of his prison. At my
• 15:34
  Speaker 1: right was a door leading from the balcony into the building.
• 15:37
  Speaker 1: It was at the end of an unlighted hall, and
• 15:39
  Speaker 1: on the impulse of the moment I stepped within. The
• 15:42
  Speaker 1: hall was broad and led straight through to the front
• 15:44
  Speaker 1: of the building. On either side were the doorways of
• 15:47
  Speaker 1: the various apartments which lined it. I had no more
• 15:50
  Speaker 1: than entered the corridor than I saw the three warriors
• 15:53
  Speaker 1: at the other end, those whom I had just seen
• 15:55
  Speaker 1: leaving the apartment. Then he turned to the right took
• 15:58
  Speaker 1: them from my sight again. Quickly I hastened along the
• 16:01
  Speaker 1: hallway in pursuit. My gait was reckless, but I felt
• 16:05
  Speaker 1: that fate had been kind indeed, to throw such an
• 16:07
  Speaker 1: opportunity within my grasp, and I could not afford to
• 16:10
  Speaker 1: allow it to elude me. Now, at the far end
• 16:13
  Speaker 1: of the corridor, I found a spiral stairway leading to
• 16:15
  Speaker 1: the floors above and below. The three had evidently left
• 16:19
  Speaker 1: the floor by this avenue, that they had gone down
• 16:21
  Speaker 1: and not up. I was sure from my knowledge of
• 16:23
  Speaker 1: these ancient buildings and the methods of the Warhoons. I
• 16:27
  Speaker 1: myself had once been a prisoner of the cruel hordes
• 16:30
  Speaker 1: of Northern Warhoon, and the memory of the underground dungeon
• 16:33
  Speaker 1: in which I lay still as vivid in my memory.
• 16:35
  Speaker 1: And so I felt certain that tars Tarkas lay in
• 16:38
  Speaker 1: the dark pits beneath some near by building, and that
• 16:40
  Speaker 1: in that direction I should find the trail of the
• 16:42
  Speaker 1: three warriors leading to his cell. Nor was I wrong.
• 16:46
  Speaker 1: At the bottom of the runway, or rather at the
• 16:48
  Speaker 1: landing on the floor below, I saw that the shaft
• 16:51
  Speaker 1: ascended into the pits beneath, and as I glanced down,
• 16:54
  Speaker 1: the flickering light of a torch revealed the presence of
• 16:57
  Speaker 1: the three I was trailing down. They went towards the
• 17:00
  Speaker 1: pits beneath the structure, and at a safe distance behind
• 17:03
  Speaker 1: I followed the flicker of their torch. The way led
• 17:06
  Speaker 1: through a maze of tortuous corridors, unlighted save for the
• 17:09
  Speaker 1: wavering light they carried. We had gone perhaps a hundred
• 17:12
  Speaker 1: yards when the party turned abruptly through a doorway at
• 17:15
  Speaker 1: their right. I hastened on as rapidly as I dared
• 17:18
  Speaker 1: through the darkness until I reached the point at which
• 17:20
  Speaker 1: they had left the corridor. There, through an open door,
• 17:23
  Speaker 1: I saw them removing the chains that secured the great
• 17:25
  Speaker 1: thark Tars Tarkas to the wall, hustling him roughly between them.
• 17:30
  Speaker 1: They came immediately from the chamber, so quickly, in fact,
• 17:33
  Speaker 1: that I was near to being apprehended. But I managed
• 17:36
  Speaker 1: to run along the corridor in the direction I had
• 17:38
  Speaker 1: been going in my pursuit of them, far enough to
• 17:41
  Speaker 1: be without the radius of their meager light. As they
• 17:43
  Speaker 1: emerged from the cell, I had naturally assumed that they
• 17:46
  Speaker 1: would return with Tars Tarkas the same way that they
• 17:49
  Speaker 1: had come, which would have carried them away from me.
• 17:52
  Speaker 1: But to my chagrin, they wheeled directly in my direction
• 17:55
  Speaker 1: as they left the room. There was nothing for me
• 17:58
  Speaker 1: but to hasten on in advance and out of the
• 18:00
  Speaker 1: light of their torch. I dared not attempt to halt
• 18:03
  Speaker 1: in the darkness of any of the many intersecting corridors,
• 18:06
  Speaker 1: for I knew nothing of the direction they might take.
• 18:09
  Speaker 1: Chance was as likely as not to carry me into
• 18:11
  Speaker 1: the very corridor they might choose to enter. The sensation
• 18:15
  Speaker 1: of moving rapidly through these dark passages was far from reassuring.
• 18:19
  Speaker 1: I knew not at what moment I might plunge headlong
• 18:22
  Speaker 1: into some terrible pit, or meet with some of the
• 18:24
  Speaker 1: ghoulish creatures that inhabit these lower worlds beneath the dead
• 18:27
  Speaker 1: cities of Dying Mars. There filtered to me a faint
• 18:30
  Speaker 1: radiance from the torch of the men behind, just enough
• 18:33
  Speaker 1: to permit me to trace the direction of the winding
• 18:36
  Speaker 1: passageways directly before me, and so keep me from dashing
• 18:39
  Speaker 1: myself against the walls at the turns. Presently I came
• 18:43
  Speaker 1: to a place where five corridors diverged from a common point.
• 18:46
  Speaker 1: I had hastened along one of them for some little distance,
• 18:49
  Speaker 1: when suddenly the faint light of the torch disappeared from
• 18:52
  Speaker 1: behind me. I paused to listen for sounds of the
• 18:55
  Speaker 1: party behind me, but the silence was as utter as
• 18:58
  Speaker 1: the silence of the tomb. Quickly I realized that the
• 19:01
  Speaker 1: warriors had taken one of the other corridors with their prisoner,
• 19:04
  Speaker 1: and so I hastened back, with a feeling of considerable relief,
• 19:07
  Speaker 1: to take up a much safer and more desirable position
• 19:10
  Speaker 1: behind them. It was much slower work returning, however, than
• 19:13
  Speaker 1: it had been coming, for now the darkness was as
• 19:16
  Speaker 1: utter as the silence. It was necessary to feel every
• 19:19
  Speaker 1: foot of the way back with my hand against the
• 19:21
  Speaker 1: side wall, that I might not pass the spot where
• 19:24
  Speaker 1: the five roads radiated. After what seemed an eternity to me,
• 19:28
  Speaker 1: I reached the place and recognized it by groping across
• 19:31
  Speaker 1: the entrances to the several corridors, until I had counted
• 19:34
  Speaker 1: five of them in. Not one, however, showed the faintest
• 19:37
  Speaker 1: sign of light. I listened intently, but the naked feet
• 19:41
  Speaker 1: of the green men sent back no guiding echoes, though
• 19:44
  Speaker 1: presently I thought I detected the clank of side arms
• 19:46
  Speaker 1: in the far distance of the middle corridor. Up this
• 19:49
  Speaker 1: then I hastened, searching for the light and stopping to
• 19:52
  Speaker 1: listen occasionally for a repetition of the sound. But soon
• 19:55
  Speaker 1: I was forced to admit that I must have been
• 19:58
  Speaker 1: following a blind lead, as only darkness and silence rewarded
• 20:02
  Speaker 1: my efforts. Again, I retraced my steps toward the parting
• 20:05
  Speaker 1: of the ways, when to my surprise I came upon
• 20:08
  Speaker 1: the entrance to three diverging corridors, any one of which
• 20:11
  Speaker 1: I might have traversed in my hasty dash after the
• 20:14
  Speaker 1: false clue I had been following. Here was a pretty fix. Indeed,
• 20:18
  Speaker 1: once back at the point where the five passageways met,
• 20:21
  Speaker 1: I might wait with some assurance for the return of
• 20:23
  Speaker 1: the warriors with Tars Tarkas. My knowledge of their customs
• 20:27
  Speaker 1: lent color to the belief that he was but being
• 20:29
  Speaker 1: escorted to the audience chamber to have sentence passed upon him.
• 20:33
  Speaker 1: I had not the slightest doubt but that they would
• 20:36
  Speaker 1: preserve so doughty a warrior as the great Thark, for
• 20:39
  Speaker 1: the rare sport he would furnish at the great Games.
• 20:42
  Speaker 1: But unless I could find my way back to that point,
• 20:44
  Speaker 1: the chances were most excellent that I would wander for
• 20:47
  Speaker 1: days through the awful blackness, until overcome by thirst and hunger,
• 20:51
  Speaker 1: I lay down to die. Or what was that a
• 20:54
  Speaker 1: faint shuffling sounded behind me, and as I cast a
• 20:57
  Speaker 1: hasty glance over my shoulder, my blood froze in my
• 21:00
  Speaker 1: veins for the thing I saw there. It was not
• 21:03
  Speaker 1: so much fear of the present danger as it was
• 21:05
  Speaker 1: the horrifying memories it recalled of that time I near
• 21:08
  Speaker 1: went mad over the corpse of the man I had
• 21:11
  Speaker 1: killed in the dungeons of the Warhoons, when blazing eyes
• 21:14
  Speaker 1: came out of the dark recesses and dragged the thing
• 21:16
  Speaker 1: that had been a man from my clutches, and I
• 21:18
  Speaker 1: heard it scraping over the stone of my prison as
• 21:21
  Speaker 1: they bored away to their terrible feast. And now in
• 21:24
  Speaker 1: these black pits of the other Warhoons, I looked into
• 21:27
  Speaker 1: those same fiery eyes blazing at me through the terrible darkness,
• 21:31
  Speaker 1: revealing no sign of the beast behind them. I think
• 21:34
  Speaker 1: that the most fearsome attribute of these awesome creatures is
• 21:37
  Speaker 1: their silence, and the fact that one never sees them
• 21:40
  Speaker 1: nothing but those baleful eyes glaring unblinkingly out of the
• 21:43
  Speaker 1: dark void behind. Grasping my long sword tightly in my hand,
• 21:48
  Speaker 1: I backed slowly along the corridor away from the thing
• 21:51
  Speaker 1: that watched me, But ever As I retreated, the eyes advanced.
• 21:54
  Speaker 1: Nor was there any sound, not even the sound of breathing,
• 21:57
  Speaker 1: except the occasional shuffling sound, as of the dragging of
• 22:01
  Speaker 1: a dead limb that had first attracted my attention. On
• 22:04
  Speaker 1: and on I went, but I could not escape my
• 22:06
  Speaker 1: sinister pursuer. Suddenly I heard the shuffling noise at my right,
• 22:11
  Speaker 1: and looking saw another pair of eyes, evidently approaching from
• 22:14
  Speaker 1: an intersecting corridor. As I started to renew my slow retreat,
• 22:18
  Speaker 1: I heard the noise repeated behind me, and then before
• 22:21
  Speaker 1: I could turn, I heard it again at my left.
• 22:24
  Speaker 1: The things were all about me. They had me surrounded
• 22:26
  Speaker 1: at the intersection of two corridors. Retreat was cut off
• 22:29
  Speaker 1: in all directions unless I chose to charge one of
• 22:32
  Speaker 1: the beasts. Even then, I had no doubt but that
• 22:34
  Speaker 1: the others would hurl themselves upon my back. I could
• 22:37
  Speaker 1: not even guess the size or nature of the weird creatures.
• 22:40
  Speaker 1: That they were of goodly proportions, I guess from the
• 22:43
  Speaker 1: fact that the eyes were on a level with my own.
• 22:46
  Speaker 1: Why is it that darkness so magnifies our dangers? By
• 22:49
  Speaker 1: day I would have charged the great banth itself had
• 22:52
  Speaker 1: I thought it necessary, but hemmed in by darkness of
• 22:54
  Speaker 1: these silent pits, I hesitated before a pair of eyes.
• 22:58
  Speaker 1: Soon I saw that the matter shortly I would be
• 23:00
  Speaker 1: taken entirely from my hands, for the eyes at my
• 23:03
  Speaker 1: right were moving slowly nearer me, as were those at
• 23:06
  Speaker 1: my left, and those behind and before me. Gradually they
• 23:09
  Speaker 1: were closing in upon me, but still that awful, stealthy silence.
• 23:14
  Speaker 1: For what seemed hours, the eyes approached gradually closer and closer,
• 23:17
  Speaker 1: until I felt that I should go mad for the
• 23:19
  Speaker 1: horror of it. I had been constantly turning this way
• 23:22
  Speaker 1: and that to prevent any sudden rush from behind, until
• 23:25
  Speaker 1: I was fairly worn out. At length, I could endure
• 23:28
  Speaker 1: it no longer, and taking a fresh grasp upon my
• 23:31
  Speaker 1: long sword, I turned suddenly and charged down upon one
• 23:34
  Speaker 1: of my tormentors. As I was almost upon it, the
• 23:37
  Speaker 1: thing retreated before me, but a sound from behind caused
• 23:40
  Speaker 1: me to wheel in time to see three pairs of
• 23:41
  Speaker 1: eyes rushing at me from the rear. With a cry
• 23:44
  Speaker 1: of rage, I turned to meet the cowardly beasts, but
• 23:47
  Speaker 1: as I advanced, they retreated, as had their fellow. Another
• 23:50
  Speaker 1: glance over my shoulder discovered the first eye sneaking on me.
• 23:53
  Speaker 1: Again and again, I charged, only to see the eyes
• 23:56
  Speaker 1: retreat before me and hear the muffled rush of the
• 23:58
  Speaker 1: three at my back. Thus we continued, the eyes always
• 24:02
  Speaker 1: a little closer in the end than they had been before,
• 24:05
  Speaker 1: until I thought that I should go mad with the
• 24:07
  Speaker 1: terrible strain of the ordeal. That they were waiting to
• 24:10
  Speaker 1: spring upon my back seemed evident, and that it would
• 24:13
  Speaker 1: not be long before they succeeded was equally apparent, for
• 24:16
  Speaker 1: I could not endure the wear of this repeated charge
• 24:19
  Speaker 1: and counter charge indefinitely. In fact, I could feel myself
• 24:22
  Speaker 1: weakening from the mental and physical strain I had been undergoing.
• 24:26
  Speaker 1: At that moment, I caught another glimpse from the corner
• 24:29
  Speaker 1: of my eye of the single pair of eyes at
• 24:31
  Speaker 1: my back, making a sudden rush upon me. I turned
• 24:34
  Speaker 1: to meet the charge. There was a quick rush of
• 24:36
  Speaker 1: the three from the other direction, but I determined to
• 24:39
  Speaker 1: pursue the single pair until I should at least settle
• 24:42
  Speaker 1: my account with one of the beasts, and thus be
• 24:44
  Speaker 1: relieved of the strain of meeting attacks from both directions.
• 24:47
  Speaker 1: There was no sound in the corridor, only that of
• 24:50
  Speaker 1: my own breathing. Yet I knew that those three uncanny
• 24:53
  Speaker 1: creatures were almost upon me. The eyes in front were
• 24:56
  Speaker 1: not retreating so rapidly. Now I was almost within sword
• 24:59
  Speaker 1: reach of the I raised my sword arm to deal
• 25:01
  Speaker 1: the blow that should free me. And then I felt
• 25:04
  Speaker 1: a heavy body upon my back. A cold, moist, slimy
• 25:07
  Speaker 1: something fastened itself upon my throat. I stumbled and went down.
• 25:13
  Speaker 1: End of Chapter fourteen