Latest / Classic Sci Fi Books - Daily / 22 - The God's of Mars - Edgar Rice Burroughs

Transcript

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

• 0:00
  Speaker 1: Chapter twenty two, Victory and Defeat John Carter, John Carter,
• 0:06
  Speaker 1: she sobbed with her dear head upon my shoulder. Even
• 0:10
  Speaker 1: now I can scarce believe the witness of my own eyes.
• 0:13
  Speaker 1: When the girl Thuvia told me that you had returned
• 0:16
  Speaker 1: to Barsoom, I listened, but I could not understand, for
• 0:20
  Speaker 1: it seemed that such happiness would be impossible for one
• 0:24
  Speaker 1: who had suffered so in silent loneliness for all these
• 0:27
  Speaker 1: long years. At last, when I realized that it was truth,
• 0:31
  Speaker 1: and then came to know the awful place in which
• 0:34
  Speaker 1: I was held prisoner, I learned to doubt that even
• 0:37
  Speaker 1: you could reach me here. As the days passed, and
• 0:41
  Speaker 1: moon after moon went by without bringing even the faintest
• 0:44
  Speaker 1: rumor of you, I resigned myself to my fate. And
• 0:48
  Speaker 1: now that you have come, scarce can I believe it.
• 0:50
  Speaker 1: For an hour I have heard the sounds of conflict
• 0:53
  Speaker 1: within the palace. I knew not what they meant, but
• 0:56
  Speaker 1: I have hoped, against hope that it might be the
• 0:58
  Speaker 1: men of Helium, headed by my prince. And tell me
• 1:02
  Speaker 1: what of Carthoris, our son? He was with me less
• 1:05
  Speaker 1: than an hour since dejah Thoris, I replied. It must
• 1:09
  Speaker 1: have been he whose men you have heard battling within
• 1:11
  Speaker 1: the precincts of the temple. Where's issus? I asked? Suddenly,
• 1:15
  Speaker 1: dejah Thoris shrugged her shoulders. She sent me under guard
• 1:18
  Speaker 1: to this room just before the fighting began within the
• 1:21
  Speaker 1: temple halls. She said that she would send for me later.
• 1:25
  Speaker 1: She seemed very angry and somewhat fearful. Never have I
• 1:29
  Speaker 1: seen her act in so uncertain and almost terrified a manner.
• 1:32
  Speaker 1: Now I know that it must have been because she
• 1:34
  Speaker 1: had learned that John Carter, Prince of Helium, was approaching
• 1:38
  Speaker 1: to demand an accounting of her for the imprisonment of
• 1:41
  Speaker 1: his princess. The sounds of conflict, the clash of arms,
• 1:45
  Speaker 1: the shouting, and the hurrying of many feet came to
• 1:48
  Speaker 1: us from various parts of the temple. I knew that
• 1:50
  Speaker 1: I was needed there, But I dare not leave dejah Thoris,
• 1:54
  Speaker 1: nor dared I take her with me into the turmoil
• 1:56
  Speaker 1: danger of battle. At last, I bethought me of the
• 2:00
  Speaker 1: pits from which I had just emerged, Why not secrete
• 2:03
  Speaker 1: her there until I could return and fetch her away
• 2:06
  Speaker 1: in safety and forever from this awful place. I explained
• 2:09
  Speaker 1: my plan to her. For a moment, she clung more
• 2:12
  Speaker 1: closely to me. I cannot bear to be parted from
• 2:15
  Speaker 1: you now, even for a moment, John Carter, she said,
• 2:19
  Speaker 1: I shudder at the thought of being alone again, where
• 2:21
  Speaker 1: that terrible creature might discover me. You do not know her,
• 2:25
  Speaker 1: None can imagine her ferocious cruelty. Who has not witnessed
• 2:28
  Speaker 1: her daily axe for over half a year. It has
• 2:31
  Speaker 1: taken me nearly all this time to realize even the
• 2:34
  Speaker 1: things that I had seen with my own eyes. I
• 2:37
  Speaker 1: shall not leave you, then, my princess, I replied. She
• 2:40
  Speaker 1: was silent for a moment. Then she drew my face
• 2:43
  Speaker 1: to hers and kissed me. Go John Carter, she said,
• 2:46
  Speaker 1: our son is there, and the soldiers of Helium fighting
• 2:50
  Speaker 1: for the Princess of Helium. Where they are, you should be.
• 2:53
  Speaker 1: I must not think of myself now, but of them
• 2:56
  Speaker 1: and of my husband's duty. I may not stand in
• 2:59
  Speaker 1: the way of that. Hide me in the pits and go.
• 3:02
  Speaker 1: I led her to the door through which I had
• 3:04
  Speaker 1: entered the chamber from below. There I pressed her dear
• 3:07
  Speaker 1: form to me, and then, though it tore my heart
• 3:10
  Speaker 1: to do it, and filled me only with the blackest
• 3:12
  Speaker 1: shadows of terrible foreboding. I guided her across the threshold,
• 3:17
  Speaker 1: kissed her once again, and closed the door upon her.
• 3:20
  Speaker 1: Without hesitating longer, I heard from the chamber in the
• 3:23
  Speaker 1: direction of the greatest tumult scarce. Half a dozen chambers
• 3:27
  Speaker 1: had I traversed before I came upon the theater of
• 3:29
  Speaker 1: a fierce struggle. The Blacks were massed at the entrance
• 3:32
  Speaker 1: to a great chamber, where they were attempting to block
• 3:35
  Speaker 1: the further progress of a body of red men toward
• 3:37
  Speaker 1: the inner sacred precincts of the temple coming from within.
• 3:41
  Speaker 1: As I did, I found myself behind the Blacks, and
• 3:45
  Speaker 1: without waiting to even calculate their numbers or the foolhardiness
• 3:48
  Speaker 1: of my venture, I charged swiftly across the chamber and
• 3:51
  Speaker 1: fell upon them from the rear with my keen long sword.
• 3:55
  Speaker 1: As I struck the first blow, I cried aloud for helium,
• 3:58
  Speaker 1: and then I rained cut after cut upon the surprised warriors,
• 4:01
  Speaker 1: while the reds without took heart at the sound of
• 4:04
  Speaker 1: my voice, and with shouts of John Carter. John Carter
• 4:07
  Speaker 1: redoubled their efforts so effectually that before the Blacks could
• 4:11
  Speaker 1: recover from their temporary demoralization, their ranks were broken, and
• 4:15
  Speaker 1: the Red men had burst into the chamber. The fight
• 4:18
  Speaker 1: within that room, had it had but a competent chronicler,
• 4:21
  Speaker 1: would go down in the annals of Barsoom as a
• 4:24
  Speaker 1: historic memorial to the grim ferocity of her warlike people.
• 4:28
  Speaker 1: Five hundred men fought there that day, the black men
• 4:31
  Speaker 1: against the Red. No man asked quarter or gave it,
• 4:35
  Speaker 1: as though by common assent. They fought as though to
• 4:38
  Speaker 1: determine once and for all their right to live in
• 4:41
  Speaker 1: accordance with the law of the survival of the fittest.
• 4:44
  Speaker 1: I think we all knew that upon the outcome of
• 4:46
  Speaker 1: this battle would hinge forever the relative positions of these
• 4:50
  Speaker 1: two races upon Barsoom. It was a battle between the
• 4:53
  Speaker 1: old and the new. But not for once did I
• 4:56
  Speaker 1: question the outcome of it. With Carthoris at my side,
• 4:59
  Speaker 1: I fought for the Red men of Barsoom and for
• 5:01
  Speaker 1: their total emancipation from the throttling bondage of a hideous superstition.
• 5:06
  Speaker 1: Back and forth across the room we surged until the
• 5:09
  Speaker 1: floor was ankle deep in blood, and dead men lay
• 5:12
  Speaker 1: so thickly there that half the time we stood upon
• 5:14
  Speaker 1: their bodies as we fought. As we swung toward the
• 5:17
  Speaker 1: great windows which overlooked the gardens of Issus, a sight
• 5:20
  Speaker 1: met my gaze which sent a wave of exultation over me. Look,
• 5:24
  Speaker 1: I cried, men of the firstborn, look. For an instant
• 5:28
  Speaker 1: the fighting ceased, and with one accord, every eye turned
• 5:31
  Speaker 1: in the direction I had indicated. And the sight they
• 5:34
  Speaker 1: saw was one no man of the firstborn had ever
• 5:36
  Speaker 1: imagined could be. Across the gardens, from side to side
• 5:40
  Speaker 1: stood a wavering line of black warriors, while beyond them,
• 5:43
  Speaker 1: and forcing them ever back, was a green horde of
• 5:45
  Speaker 1: green warriors astride their mighty thoats. And as we watched,
• 5:49
  Speaker 1: one fiercer and more grimly terrible than his fellows, rode
• 5:53
  Speaker 1: forward from the rear, And as he came he shouted
• 5:56
  Speaker 1: some fierce command to his terrible legion. It was Tars
• 6:00
  Speaker 1: Tarkas Jeddak of Thark, And as he couched his great
• 6:03
  Speaker 1: forty foot metal shod lance, we saw his warriors do likewise.
• 6:07
  Speaker 1: Then it was that we interpreted his command. Twenty yards
• 6:10
  Speaker 1: now separated the green men from the black line. Another
• 6:14
  Speaker 1: word from the great Thark, and with a wild and
• 6:16
  Speaker 1: terrifying battle cry. The Green warriors charged. For a moment,
• 6:20
  Speaker 1: the black line held, but only for a moment. Then
• 6:22
  Speaker 1: the fearsome beasts that bore equally terrible riders passed completely
• 6:26
  Speaker 1: through it. After them came U Tan upon Eu ten
• 6:30
  Speaker 1: of red men. The Green Horde broke to surround the temple.
• 6:33
  Speaker 1: The Red men charged for the interior, and then we
• 6:36
  Speaker 1: turned to continue our interrupted battle. But our foes had vanished.
• 6:40
  Speaker 1: My first thought was of dejah Thoris calling to Carthoris
• 6:44
  Speaker 1: that I had found his mother. I started on a
• 6:46
  Speaker 1: run toward the chamber where I had left her, with
• 6:48
  Speaker 1: my boy close beside me. After us came those of
• 6:52
  Speaker 1: our little force who had survived the bloody conflict. The
• 6:55
  Speaker 1: moment I entered the room, I saw that some one
• 6:57
  Speaker 1: had been there since I had left a silk upon
• 7:00
  Speaker 1: the floor it had not been there before. There were
• 7:03
  Speaker 1: also a dagger in several metal ornaments strewn about, as
• 7:06
  Speaker 1: though torn from their wearer in a struggle. But worst
• 7:09
  Speaker 1: of all, the door leading to the pits where I
• 7:11
  Speaker 1: had hidden my princess was ajar with a bound. I
• 7:15
  Speaker 1: was before it and thrusting it open, rushed within. Dejah
• 7:18
  Speaker 1: Thoris had vanished. I called her name aloud again and again,
• 7:22
  Speaker 1: but there was no response. I think in that instance
• 7:25
  Speaker 1: I hovered upon the verge of insanity. I do not
• 7:28
  Speaker 1: recall what I said or did, but I know that
• 7:30
  Speaker 1: for an instant I was seized with the rage of
• 7:32
  Speaker 1: a maniac Ishus. I cried, Ishus, where is Ishus? Search
• 7:38
  Speaker 1: the temple for her? But let no man harm her?
• 7:40
  Speaker 1: But John Carter Carthoris, where are the apartments of Issus?
• 7:45
  Speaker 1: This way, cried the boy, And without waiting to know
• 7:48
  Speaker 1: that I had heard him, he dashed off at breakneck speed,
• 7:51
  Speaker 1: further into the bows of the temple. As fast as
• 7:54
  Speaker 1: he went, however, I was still beside him, urging him
• 7:57
  Speaker 1: on to greater speed. At last we came to a
• 8:00
  Speaker 1: great carved door, and through this Carthoris dashed a foot
• 8:04
  Speaker 1: ahead of me. Within we came upon such a scene
• 8:07
  Speaker 1: as I had witnessed within the temple once before, the
• 8:10
  Speaker 1: throne of Issus, with the reclining slaves, and about it
• 8:13
  Speaker 1: the ranks of soldiery. We did not even give the
• 8:16
  Speaker 1: men a chance to draw, so quickly were we upon them.
• 8:19
  Speaker 1: With a single cut, I struck down two in the
• 8:21
  Speaker 1: front rank, and then by the mere weight and momentum
• 8:24
  Speaker 1: my body. I rushed completely through the two remaining ranks
• 8:27
  Speaker 1: and sprang upon the dais beside the carved Saurpus throne.
• 8:31
  Speaker 1: The repulsive creatures, squatting there in terror, attempted to escape
• 8:35
  Speaker 1: me and leap into a trap behind her, But this
• 8:38
  Speaker 1: time I was not to be outwitted by any such
• 8:40
  Speaker 1: pretty subtribuge. Before she had half arisen, I had grasped
• 8:44
  Speaker 1: her by the arm, And then as I saw the
• 8:47
  Speaker 1: guards starting to make a concerted rush upon me from
• 8:49
  Speaker 1: all sides, I whipped out my dagger, and, holding it
• 8:53
  Speaker 1: close to that vile breast, ordered them to halt back.
• 8:56
  Speaker 1: I cried to them back, the first black foot that
• 9:00
  Speaker 1: is planted upon this platform sends my dagger into Isshus's heart.
• 9:04
  Speaker 1: For an instant they hesitated. Then an officer ordered them back,
• 9:08
  Speaker 1: while from the outer corridor there swept into the throne
• 9:11
  Speaker 1: room at the heels of my little party of survivors,
• 9:13
  Speaker 1: a full thousand red men under Kantos, kan hor Vastus
• 9:17
  Speaker 1: and Exodar. Where's dejah Thoris? I cried to the thing
• 9:21
  Speaker 1: within my hands. For a moment, her eyes roved wildly
• 9:25
  Speaker 1: about the scene, beneath her. I think that it took
• 9:28
  Speaker 1: a moment for the true condition to make any impression
• 9:30
  Speaker 1: upon her. She could not at first realize that the
• 9:33
  Speaker 1: temple had fallen before the assault of men of the
• 9:35
  Speaker 1: outer world. When she did, there must have come to
• 9:39
  Speaker 1: a terrible realization of what it meant to her, the
• 9:41
  Speaker 1: loss of power, humiliation, the exposure of the fraud and
• 9:45
  Speaker 1: imposture which she had for so long played upon her
• 9:48
  Speaker 1: own people. There was just one thing needed to complete
• 9:51
  Speaker 1: the reality of the picture she was seeing, and that
• 9:54
  Speaker 1: was added by the highest noble of her realm, the
• 9:57
  Speaker 1: high priest of her religion, the prime minister of her government, Issus,
• 10:02
  Speaker 1: Goddess of death and of life eternal. He cried, arise
• 10:06
  Speaker 1: in the might of thy righteous wrath, and with one
• 10:08
  Speaker 1: single wave of thy omnipotent hands, strike dead thy blasphemers.
• 10:12
  Speaker 1: Let not one escape, Issus. Thy people depend upon thee
• 10:16
  Speaker 1: daughter of the lesser Moon. Thou only art all powerful,
• 10:20
  Speaker 1: Thou only canst save thy people. I am done, We
• 10:23
  Speaker 1: await thy will strike. And then it was that she
• 10:27
  Speaker 1: went mad, a screaming, gibbering maniac, writhed in my grasp.
• 10:31
  Speaker 1: It bit and clawed and scratched an impotent fury, and
• 10:35
  Speaker 1: then it laughed, a weird, terrible laughter that froze the blood.
• 10:38
  Speaker 1: The slave girls upon the day shrieked and cowered away,
• 10:42
  Speaker 1: and the thing jumped at them and gnashed its teeth,
• 10:44
  Speaker 1: and then spat upon them from frothing lips. God, but
• 10:48
  Speaker 1: it was a horrid sight. Finally I shook the thing,
• 10:51
  Speaker 1: hoping to recall it for a moment to reality. Where
• 10:54
  Speaker 1: is dejah Thoris? I cried again. The awful creature in
• 10:57
  Speaker 1: my grasp, mumbled inarticulately for a moment. Then a sudden
• 11:01
  Speaker 1: gleam of cunning shot into those hideous, close set eyes,
• 11:05
  Speaker 1: dejah Thoris, dejah Thoris. Then that shrill, unearthly laugh pierced
• 11:10
  Speaker 1: our ears once more. Yes, dejah Thoris, I know. And
• 11:14
  Speaker 1: Thuvia and Phidor, daughter of Mataishang, they each love Joan
• 11:19
  Speaker 1: carter Ha, but it is druel. Together for a year
• 11:22
  Speaker 1: they will meditate within the temple of the Sun. But
• 11:25
  Speaker 1: ere the year is quite gone. There will be no
• 11:27
  Speaker 1: more food for them. Ho ho, what divine entertainment? And
• 11:31
  Speaker 1: she licked the froth from her cruel lips. There will
• 11:34
  Speaker 1: be no more food except each other. Ha ha. The
• 11:38
  Speaker 1: horror of the suggestion nearly paralyzed me to this awful fate.
• 11:42
  Speaker 1: The creature within my power had condemned my princess. I
• 11:45
  Speaker 1: trembled in the ferocity of my rage. As a terrier
• 11:48
  Speaker 1: shakes a rat. I shook Issus, goddess of life, eternal counterman,
• 11:53
  Speaker 1: your orders, I cried, recall the condemned, haste or you die.
• 11:57
  Speaker 1: It is too late, ha ha. And then she commenced,
• 12:00
  Speaker 1: her gibbering and shrieking again, almost of its own volition.
• 12:04
  Speaker 1: My dagger flew up above that putrid heart. But something
• 12:08
  Speaker 1: stayed my hand, and I am now glad that it did.
• 12:11
  Speaker 1: It were a terrible thing to have struck down a
• 12:13
  Speaker 1: woman with one's own hand. But a fitter fate occurred
• 12:16
  Speaker 1: to me for this false deity first born, I cried,
• 12:20
  Speaker 1: turning to those who stood within the chamber. You have
• 12:23
  Speaker 1: seen to day the impotency of Issus. The gods are impotent.
• 12:27
  Speaker 1: Issus is no god. She is a cruel and wicked
• 12:30
  Speaker 1: old woman who is deceived and played upon you for ages.
• 12:34
  Speaker 1: Take her. John Carter, Prince of Helium, would not contaminate
• 12:38
  Speaker 1: his hands with her blood and with that I pushed
• 12:40
  Speaker 1: the raving beast, whom a short half hour before a
• 12:44
  Speaker 1: whole world had worshiped as divine from the platform of
• 12:47
  Speaker 1: her throne, into the waiting clutches of her betrayed and
• 12:49
  Speaker 1: vengeful people. Spying Exodar among the officers of the red men,
• 12:54
  Speaker 1: I called him to lead me quickly to the Temple
• 12:56
  Speaker 1: of the Sun, And, without waiting to learn what fate
• 12:59
  Speaker 1: the firstborn would reek upon their goddess, I rushed from
• 13:02
  Speaker 1: the chamber with Exodar, Carthoris, hor Vastus, kantos Kan, and
• 13:06
  Speaker 1: a score of other red nobles. The Black led us
• 13:10
  Speaker 1: rapidly through the inner chambers of the temple, until we
• 13:13
  Speaker 1: stood within the central court, a great circular space paved
• 13:17
  Speaker 1: with a transparent marble of exquisite whiteness. Before us rose
• 13:21
  Speaker 1: a golden temple wrought in the most wondrous and fanciful designs,
• 13:25
  Speaker 1: inlaid with diamond, ruby, sapphire, turquoise, admiral, and the thousand
• 13:30
  Speaker 1: nameless gems of Mars, which far transcend in loveliness and
• 13:34
  Speaker 1: purity of ray the most priceless stones of Earth. This way,
• 13:38
  Speaker 1: cried Exodar, leading us toward the entrance to a tunnel
• 13:40
  Speaker 1: which opened in the courtyard beside the temple. Just as
• 13:44
  Speaker 1: we were on the point of descending, we heard a
• 13:46
  Speaker 1: deep toned roar burst from the Temple of Issus, which
• 13:49
  Speaker 1: we had but just quitted. And then a red man,
• 13:51
  Speaker 1: Dajor Cantos Padwar of the fifth Utan, broke from a
• 13:55
  Speaker 1: nearby gate, crying to us to return. The blacks have
• 13:58
  Speaker 1: fired the temple, he cried, in a thousand places, it
• 14:01
  Speaker 1: is burning. Now, haste to the outer gardens, or you
• 14:04
  Speaker 1: were lost. As he spoke, we saw smoke pouring from
• 14:08
  Speaker 1: a dozen windows looking out upon the courtyard of the
• 14:10
  Speaker 1: Temple of the Sun, and far above the highest minaret
• 14:14
  Speaker 1: of Issus hung an ever growing pall of smoke. Go back,
• 14:18
  Speaker 1: Go back, I cried to those who had accompanied me
• 14:20
  Speaker 1: the way, Exodar, point the way and lead me. I
• 14:23
  Speaker 1: shall reach my princess. Yet follow me, John Carter replied Exodar,
• 14:28
  Speaker 1: and without waiting for my reply, he dashed down into
• 14:31
  Speaker 1: the tunnel at our feet. At his heels, I ran
• 14:33
  Speaker 1: down through a half dozen tiers of galleries, until at
• 14:36
  Speaker 1: last he led me along a level floor, at the
• 14:39
  Speaker 1: end of which I discerned a lighted chamber mass of
• 14:42
  Speaker 1: bars blocked our further progress. But beyond I saw her,
• 14:46
  Speaker 1: my incomparable princess, and with her were Thuvia and Phaidor.
• 14:50
  Speaker 1: When she saw me, she rushed toward the bars that
• 14:52
  Speaker 1: separated us. Already the chamber had turned upon its slow way,
• 14:57
  Speaker 1: so far that but a portion of the opening in
• 14:59
  Speaker 1: the temple wall was opposite the barred end of the corridor.
• 15:02
  Speaker 1: Slowly the interval was closing. In a short time there
• 15:05
  Speaker 1: would be but a tiny crack, and then even that
• 15:08
  Speaker 1: would be closed. And for a long barsomium year, the
• 15:11
  Speaker 1: chamber would slowly revolve, until once more, for a brief day,
• 15:15
  Speaker 1: the aperture in its wall would pass the corridor's end.
• 15:18
  Speaker 1: But in the meantime, what horrible things would go on
• 15:20
  Speaker 1: within that chamber? Exodar, I cried, Can no power stop
• 15:24
  Speaker 1: this awful revolving thing? Is there none who holds the
• 15:27
  Speaker 1: secret of these terrible bars? None, I fear whom we
• 15:31
  Speaker 1: could fetch in time, Though I shall go and make
• 15:34
  Speaker 1: the attempt. Wait for me here. After he had left,
• 15:37
  Speaker 1: I stood and talked with dejah Thoris as she stretched
• 15:40
  Speaker 1: her dear hand through those cruel bars, that I might
• 15:43
  Speaker 1: hold it until the last moment, Thuvia and Phaeodor came
• 15:46
  Speaker 1: close also, But when Thuvia saw that we would be alone,
• 15:50
  Speaker 1: she withdrew to the further side of the chamber. Not
• 15:52
  Speaker 1: so the daughter of Matai Shang Chuang carter. She said,
• 15:56
  Speaker 1: this be the last time that you shall see any
• 15:59
  Speaker 1: of us. Tell me that you love me, that I
• 16:01
  Speaker 1: may die happy. I love only the Princess of Helium,
• 16:05
  Speaker 1: I replied quietly. I am sorry, Phaeodor, but it is
• 16:09
  Speaker 1: as I have told you from the beginning. She bit
• 16:12
  Speaker 1: her lip and turned away, but not before I saw
• 16:14
  Speaker 1: the black and ugly scowl she turned upon dejah Thoris.
• 16:18
  Speaker 1: Thereafter she stood a little way apart, but not so
• 16:21
  Speaker 1: far as I should have desired, for I had many
• 16:23
  Speaker 1: little confidences to impart to my long lost love. For
• 16:27
  Speaker 1: a few minutes we stood thus, talking in low tones. Ever,
• 16:31
  Speaker 1: smaller and smaller grew the opening. In a short time.
• 16:34
  Speaker 1: Now it would be too small even to permit the
• 16:36
  Speaker 1: slender form of my princess to pass. Oh, why did
• 16:40
  Speaker 1: not exit our haste? Above we could hear the faint
• 16:43
  Speaker 1: echoes of a great tumult. It was the multitude of
• 16:45
  Speaker 1: black and red and green men fighting their way through
• 16:48
  Speaker 1: the fire from the burning temple of Issus. A draft
• 16:51
  Speaker 1: from above brought the fumes of smoke to our nostrils.
• 16:54
  Speaker 1: As we stood waiting for Exodar, the smoke became thicker
• 16:57
  Speaker 1: and thicker. Presently we heard shouting at the far of
• 17:00
  Speaker 1: the corridor, and hurrying feet. Come back, John Carter, come back,
• 17:03
  Speaker 1: cried a voice. Even the pits are burning. In a moment,
• 17:07
  Speaker 1: a dozen men broke through the now blinding smoke to
• 17:09
  Speaker 1: my side. There was Carthoris, and kantos Kan, and hor Vastus,
• 17:14
  Speaker 1: and Exodar, with a few more who had followed me
• 17:16
  Speaker 1: to the temple court. There is no hope, John Carter, cried, Exodar,
• 17:20
  Speaker 1: the keeper of the keys is dead, and his keys
• 17:22
  Speaker 1: are not upon his carcasse. Our only hope is to
• 17:25
  Speaker 1: quench this conflagration, and trust to fate that a year
• 17:28
  Speaker 1: will find your princess alive and well. I have brought
• 17:31
  Speaker 1: sufficient food to last them. When this crack closes, no
• 17:35
  Speaker 1: smoke can reach them, And if we hasten to extinguish
• 17:37
  Speaker 1: the flames, I believe they will be safe. Go then yourself,
• 17:41
  Speaker 1: and take these others with you, I replied, I shall
• 17:43
  Speaker 1: remain here beside my princess, until a merciful death releases
• 17:47
  Speaker 1: me from my anguish. I care not to live. As
• 17:50
  Speaker 1: I spoke, Exodar had been tossing a great number of
• 17:53
  Speaker 1: tiny cans within the prison cell. The remaining crack was
• 17:56
  Speaker 1: not over an inch in width. A moment later, dejah
• 17:59
  Speaker 1: Thoris stood as close to it as she could, whispering
• 18:02
  Speaker 1: words of hope and courage to me and urging me
• 18:04
  Speaker 1: to save myself. Suddenly, beyond her, I saw the beautiful
• 18:08
  Speaker 1: face of Pheador contorted into an expression of maligned hatred.
• 18:12
  Speaker 1: As my eyes met hers, she spoke, think not, John Carter,
• 18:15
  Speaker 1: that you may so lightly cast aside the love of Feador,
• 18:19
  Speaker 1: daughter of Matashang, nor ever hope to hold thy dejah
• 18:22
  Speaker 1: Thoris in thy arms. Again, wait you the long long year.
• 18:26
  Speaker 1: But know that when the waiting is over, it shall
• 18:28
  Speaker 1: be Faeador's arms which shall welcome you, not those of
• 18:32
  Speaker 1: the Princess of Helium. Behold she dies, and as she
• 18:36
  Speaker 1: finished speaking, I saw her raise a dagger on high,
• 18:39
  Speaker 1: and then I saw another figure. It was Thuvia's. As
• 18:42
  Speaker 1: the dagger fell toward the unprotected breast of my love,
• 18:45
  Speaker 1: Thuvia was almost between them. A blinding gust of smoke
• 18:48
  Speaker 1: blotted out the tragedy within that fearsome cell. A shriek
• 18:52
  Speaker 1: rang out, a single shriek. As the dagger fell, the
• 18:55
  Speaker 1: smoke cleared away, but we stood gazing upon a blank wall.
• 18:59
  Speaker 1: The last crevice had closed, and for a long year
• 19:02
  Speaker 1: that hideous chamber would retain its secret from the eyes
• 19:05
  Speaker 1: of men. They urged me to leave. In a moment,
• 19:09
  Speaker 1: it will be too late, cried Exedar. There is in
• 19:11
  Speaker 1: fact but a bare chance that we can come through
• 19:14
  Speaker 1: to the outer gate alive. Even now I have ordered
• 19:17
  Speaker 1: the pumps started, and in five minutes the pits will
• 19:19
  Speaker 1: be flooded. If we would not drown like rats in
• 19:22
  Speaker 1: a trap, we must hasten above and make a dash
• 19:25
  Speaker 1: for safety through the burning temple. Go. I urge them,
• 19:29
  Speaker 1: let me die here beside my princess. There is no
• 19:32
  Speaker 1: hope or happiness elsewhere for me. When they carry her
• 19:35
  Speaker 1: dear body from that terrible place a year hence, let
• 19:38
  Speaker 1: them find the body of her Lord awaiting her. Of
• 19:41
  Speaker 1: what happened after that, I have only a confused recollection.
• 19:45
  Speaker 1: It seems as though I struggled with many men, and
• 19:47
  Speaker 1: then that I was picked up bodily from the ground
• 19:50
  Speaker 1: and borne away. I do not know. I have never asked,
• 19:54
  Speaker 1: nor has any other who was there that day, intruded
• 19:56
  Speaker 1: on my sorrow, or recalled to my mind the occurrences
• 19:59
  Speaker 1: which the know could but at best, reopen the terrible
• 20:02
  Speaker 1: wound within my heart. Ah. If I could but know
• 20:06
  Speaker 1: one thing, what a burden of suspense would be lifted
• 20:08
  Speaker 1: from my shoulders. But whether the assassin's dagger reached one
• 20:12
  Speaker 1: fair bosom or another, only time will divulge. End of
• 20:17
  Speaker 1: Chapter twenty two and end of Gods of Mars, written
• 20:21
  Speaker 1: by Edgar Rice Burroughs