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08 - Thuvia, Maid of Mars (version 3) by Edgar Rice Burroughs · Thuvia, Maid of Mars (version 3)

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  Speaker 1: Chapter eight of Thuvia Made of Mars by Edgar Riceboroughs.
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  Speaker 1: This LibriVox recording is in the public domain. Thuvia Made
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  Speaker 1: of Mars, Chapter eight, The Hall of Doom. As Thuvia
• 0:19
  Speaker 1: of Ptarth saw Carthoris depart from the presence of Tario,
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  Speaker 1: leaving her alone with the man, a sudden qualm of
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  Speaker 1: terror seized her. There was an air of mystery pervading
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  Speaker 1: the stately chamber. Its furnishings and appointments bespoke wealth and culture,
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  Speaker 1: and carried the suggestion that the room was often the
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  Speaker 1: scene of royal functions, which filled it to its capacity.
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  Speaker 1: And yet nowhere about her in ante chamber or corridor
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  Speaker 1: was there sign of any other being than herself and
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  Speaker 1: the recumbent figure of Tario, the Jeddak, who watched her
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  Speaker 1: through half closed eyes from the gorgeous trappings of his
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  Speaker 1: regal couch. For a time after the departure of jav
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  Speaker 1: and Carthoris, the man eyed her intently. Then he spoke,
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  Speaker 1: Come nearer, he said, And as she approached, whose creature
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  Speaker 1: are you? Who has dared materialize his imaginings of a woman?
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  Speaker 1: It is contrary to the customs and the royal edicts
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  Speaker 1: of Lothar. Tell me, woman, from whose brain have you
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  Speaker 1: sprung javes? No, do not deny it. I know that
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  Speaker 1: it could be no other than that envious realist. He
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  Speaker 1: seeks to tempt me. He would see me fall beneath
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  Speaker 1: the spell of your charms, and then he, your master,
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  Speaker 1: would direct my destiny and my end. I see it all,
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  Speaker 1: I see it all. The blood of indignation and anger
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  Speaker 1: had been rising to Thuvia's face. Her chin was up
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  Speaker 1: a haughty curve upon her perfect lips. I know not,
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  Speaker 1: she cried, of what you are prating. I am Thuvia,
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  Speaker 1: Princess of Tar. I am no man's creature. Never before
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  Speaker 1: to day did I lay eyes upon him you called
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  Speaker 1: jav Nor, upon your ridiculous city, of which even the
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  Speaker 1: greatest nations of Barsoom have never dreamed. My charms are
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  Speaker 1: not for you, nor such as you. They are not
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  Speaker 1: for sale or barter, even though the price were a
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  Speaker 1: real throne. And as for using them to win your
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  Speaker 1: worse than futile power, she ended her sentence with a
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  Speaker 1: shrug of her shapely shoulders and a little scornful laugh.
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  Speaker 1: When she had finished, Tario was sitting upon the edge
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  Speaker 1: of his couch, his feet upon the floor. He was
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  Speaker 1: leaning forward, with eyes no longer half closed, but wide,
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  Speaker 1: with a startled expression in them. He did not seem
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  Speaker 1: to note the les majesty of her words and manner.
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  Speaker 1: There was evidently something more startling and compelling about her
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  Speaker 1: speech than that. Slowly he came to his feet by
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  Speaker 1: the fangs of como. He uttered, but you are real,
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  Speaker 1: a real woman, no dream, no vain and foolish figment
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  Speaker 1: of the mind. He took a step toward her, with
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  Speaker 1: hands outstretched. Come, he whispered, Come woman. For countless ages
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  Speaker 1: have I dreamed that some day you would come, And
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  Speaker 1: now that you are here, I can scarce believe the
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  Speaker 1: testimony of my eyes. Even now, knowing that you are real,
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  Speaker 1: I still half dread that you may be a lie.
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  Speaker 1: Duvia shrank back, she thought the man mad. Her hands
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  Speaker 1: stole to the jeweled hilt of her dagger. The man
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  Speaker 1: saw the move and stopped. A cunning expression entered his eyes.
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  Speaker 1: Then they became at once dreaming and penetrating as they
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  Speaker 1: fairly bored into the girl's brain. Thuvia suddenly felt a
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  Speaker 1: change coming over her. What the cause of it, she
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  Speaker 1: did not guess, But somehow the man before her began
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  Speaker 1: to assume a new relationship within her heart. No longer
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  Speaker 1: was he a strange and mysterious enemy, but an old
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  Speaker 1: and trusted friend. Her hands slipped from the dagger's hilt.
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  Speaker 1: Tario came closer. He spoke gentle, friendly words, and she
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  Speaker 1: answered him in a voice that seemed hers and yet another's.
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  Speaker 1: He was beside her now, His hand was up her shoulder,
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  Speaker 1: his eyes were down bent toward hers. She looked up
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  Speaker 1: into his face. His gaze seemed to bore straight through her,
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  Speaker 1: to some hidden spring of sentiment within her. Her lips
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  Speaker 1: parted in sudden awe and wonder at the strange revealment
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  Speaker 1: of her inner self that was being laid bare before
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  Speaker 1: her consciousness. She had known Tario forever. He was more
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  Speaker 1: than friend to her. She moved a little closer to him.
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  Speaker 1: In one swift flood of light, she knew the truth.
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  Speaker 1: She loved Tario Jeddak of Lothar. She had always loved him.
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  Speaker 1: The man, seeing the success of his strategy, could not
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  Speaker 1: restrain a faint smile of satisfaction, whether there was something
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  Speaker 1: in the expression of his face, or whether from Carthoris
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  Speaker 1: of Helium in a far chamber of the palace, came
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  Speaker 1: a more powerful suggestion. Who may say, but something there
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  Speaker 1: was that suddenly dispelled the strange hypnotic influence of the man,
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  Speaker 1: as though a mask had been torn from her eyes.
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  Speaker 1: Thuvius suddenly saw Tario as she had formerly seen him,
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  Speaker 1: and accustomed as she was to the strange manifestations of
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  Speaker 1: highly developed mentality which are common upon Barsoom, she quickly
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  Speaker 1: guessed enough of the truth to know that she was
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  Speaker 1: in grave danger. Quickly she took a step backward, tearing
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  Speaker 1: herself from his grasp. But the momentary contact had aroused
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  Speaker 1: with Intario all the long buried passions of his loveless existence.
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  Speaker 1: With a muffled cry, he sprang upon her, throwing his
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  Speaker 1: arms about her and attempting to drag her lips to
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  Speaker 1: his woman. He cried, lovely woman, Tario, would make you,
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  Speaker 1: Queen of Lothar. Listen to me, Listen to the love
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  Speaker 1: of the last of the Jeddaks of Barsoom. Thuvia struggled
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  Speaker 1: to free herself from his embrace. Stop creature, she cried, Stop,
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  Speaker 1: I do not love you. Stop or I shall scream
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  Speaker 1: for help. Tario laughed in her face. Scream for help,
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  Speaker 1: he mimicked, And who within the halls of Lothar is
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  Speaker 1: there who might come in answer to your call? Who
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  Speaker 1: would dare enter the presence of Tario unsummoned? There is one,
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  Speaker 1: she replied, who would come? And coming dare to cut
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  Speaker 1: you down upon your own throne if he thought that
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  Speaker 1: you had offered a front to Thuvia of Ptarth, who
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  Speaker 1: jav asked Tarrio. Not Jav nor any other soft skin Lotharian,
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  Speaker 1: she replied, But a real man, a real warrior, Carthoris
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  Speaker 1: of Helium. Again, the man laughed at her. You forget
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  Speaker 1: the bowmen, he reminded her, what could your red warrior
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  Speaker 1: accomplish against my fearless legions. Again he caught her roughly
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  Speaker 1: to him, dragging her towards his couch. If you will
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  Speaker 1: not be my queen, he said, you shall be my slave.
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  Speaker 1: Neither cried the girl. As she spoke the single word.
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  Speaker 1: There was a quick move of her right hand, Tario,
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  Speaker 1: releasing her, staggered back, both hands pressed to his side.
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  Speaker 1: At the same instant, the room filled with bowmen, and
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  Speaker 1: then the Jeddak of Lothar sank senseless to the marble floor.
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  Speaker 1: At the instant that he lost consciousness, the bowmen were
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  Speaker 1: about to release their arrows into Thuvia's heart. Involuntarily, she
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  Speaker 1: gave a single cry for help, though she knew that
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  Speaker 1: not even Carthoris of Helium could save her. Now, then
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  Speaker 1: she closed her eyes and waited for the end. No
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  Speaker 1: slender shafts pierced her tender side. She raised her liz
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  Speaker 1: to see what stayed the hand of her executioners. The
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  Speaker 1: room was empty save for herself and the still form
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  Speaker 1: of the Jeddak of Lothar lying at her feet, a
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  Speaker 1: little pool of crimson staining the white marble of the floor.
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  Speaker 1: Beside him, Tario was unconscious. Thuvia was amazed. Where were
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  Speaker 1: the bowmen? Why had they not loosed their shafts? What
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  Speaker 1: could it all mean? In an instant before, the room
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  Speaker 1: had been mysteriously filled with armed men, evidently called to
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  Speaker 1: protect their Jeddak. Yet now with the evidence of her
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  Speaker 1: deed playing before them, they had vanished as mysteriously as
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  Speaker 1: they had come, leaving her alone with the body of
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  Speaker 1: their ruler, into whose side she had slipped her long
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  Speaker 1: keen blade. The girl glanced apprehensively about first for signs
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  Speaker 1: of the return of the bowmen, and then for some
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  Speaker 1: means of escape. The wall behind the dais was pierced
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  Speaker 1: by two small doorways hidden by heavy hangings. Thuvia was
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  Speaker 1: running quickly towards one of these when she heard the
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  Speaker 1: clank of a warrior's medal at the end of the
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  Speaker 1: apartment behind her. Ah. If she had but an instant
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  Speaker 1: more of time, she could have reached that screening arras
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  Speaker 1: and perchance have found some avenue of escape behind it.
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  Speaker 1: But now it was too late. She had been discovered.
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  Speaker 1: With a feeling that was akin to apathy, she turned
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  Speaker 1: to meet her fate, and there before her, running swiftly
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  Speaker 1: across the broad chamber to her side, was Carthoris, his
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  Speaker 1: naked long sword gleaming in his hand. For days she
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  Speaker 1: had doubted the intentions of the Heliumite. She had thought
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  Speaker 1: him a party to her abduction. Since fate had thrown
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  Speaker 1: them together, she had scarce favored him with more than
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  Speaker 1: the most perfunctory replies to his remarks, unless at such
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  Speaker 1: times as the weird and uncanny happenings that Lothar had
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  Speaker 1: surprised her out of her reserve. She knew that Carthoris
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  Speaker 1: of Helium would fight for her, But whether to save
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  Speaker 1: her for himself or another, she was in doubt. He
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  Speaker 1: knew that she was promised to cool On Tith Jeddak
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  Speaker 1: of Chaole, but if he had been instrumental in her abduction,
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  Speaker 1: his motives could not be prompted by loyalty to his
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  Speaker 1: friend or regard for her honor. And yet, as she
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  Speaker 1: saw him coming across the marble floor of the audience
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  Speaker 1: chamber of Tario of Lothar, his fine eyes filled with
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  Speaker 1: apprehension for her safety, his splendid figure personifying all that
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  Speaker 1: is finest in the fighting men of marshal Mars, she
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  Speaker 1: could not believe that any faintest trace of perfidy lurked
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  Speaker 1: beneath so glorious an exterior. Never, she thought, in all
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  Speaker 1: her life, had the sight of any man been so
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  Speaker 1: welcome to her. It was with difficulty that she refrained
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  Speaker 1: from rushing forward to meet him. She knew that he
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  Speaker 1: loved her, but in time she recalled that she was
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  Speaker 1: promised to Kulan Tiff. Not even might she trust herself
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  Speaker 1: to show too great gratitude to the Heliumite, lest he misunderstand.
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  Speaker 1: Carthoris was by her side, now his quick glance had
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  Speaker 1: taken in the scene within the room, the still figure
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  Speaker 1: of the Jeddak sprawled upon the floor, the girl hastening
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  Speaker 1: toward a shrouded exit. Did he harm you, Thuvia, he asked.
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  Speaker 1: She held up her crimsoned blade that he might see it. No,
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  Speaker 1: she said, he did not harm me. A grim smile
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  Speaker 1: lighted carthoris face. Praised be our first ancestor, he murmured,
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  Speaker 1: and now let us see if we might not make
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  Speaker 1: good our escape from this accursed city before the Lotharians
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  Speaker 1: discover that their Jeddak is no more with the firm
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  Speaker 1: authority that sat so well upon him, in whose veins
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  Speaker 1: flowed the blood of John Carter of Virginia and dejah
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  Speaker 1: Thoris of Helium. He grasped her hand and took turning
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  Speaker 1: back across the hall, strode toward the great doorway through
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  Speaker 1: which jaff had brought them into the presence of the
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  Speaker 1: Jeddak earlier in the day. They had almost reached the
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  Speaker 1: threshold when a figure sprang into the apartment through another entrance.
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  Speaker 1: It was Jav He too took in the scene within.
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  Speaker 1: At a glance, Carthoris turned to face him, his sword
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  Speaker 1: ready in his hand, and his great body shielding the
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  Speaker 1: slender figure of the girl. Come Jav of Lothar, he cried,
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  Speaker 1: Let us face the issue at once, for only one
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  Speaker 1: of us may leave this chamber alive with Thuvia of Ptarth. Then,
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  Speaker 1: seeing that the man wore no sword, he exclaimed, bring
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  Speaker 1: on your bowman, then, or come with us as my
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  Speaker 1: prisoner until we have safely passed the outer portals of
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  Speaker 1: thy ghostly city. You have killed Tario, exclaimed Jav, ignoring
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  Speaker 1: the other's challenge. You have killed Tario. I see his
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  Speaker 1: blood up on the floor, real blood, real death. Tario was,
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  Speaker 1: after all as real as I. Yet he was an etherealist.
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  Speaker 1: He would not materialize his sustenance. Can it be that
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  Speaker 1: they are right? Well, we too are right? And all
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  Speaker 1: these ages we have been quarreling, each saying that the
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  Speaker 1: other was wrong. However he is dead. Now of that
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  Speaker 1: I am glad. Now shall Jav come into his own Now?
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  Speaker 1: Shall Jav be Jeddak of Lothar. As he finished, Tario
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  Speaker 1: opened his eyes and then quickly sat up. Traitor, assassin,
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  Speaker 1: he screamed, and then Kadar kadar, which is the Barsoomian
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  Speaker 1: for guard Jav went sickly white. He fell upon his belly,
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  Speaker 1: wriggling toward Tario. Oh, my Jeddak, my Jeddak, he whimpered,
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  Speaker 1: have had no hand in this, Jav, your faithful Jav.
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  Speaker 1: But just this instant entered the apartment to find you
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  Speaker 1: lying prone upon the floor, and these two strangers about
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  Speaker 1: me to leave. How it happened? I know not believe me,
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  Speaker 1: my most glorious Jeddak, see snave, cried Tario. I heard
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  Speaker 1: your words. However he is dead now of that I
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  Speaker 1: am glad. Now shall Jav come into his own Now?
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  Speaker 1: Shall Jav be Jeddak of Lothar at last? Traitor? I
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  Speaker 1: have found you out. Your own words have condemned you
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  Speaker 1: as surely as the acts of these red creatures have
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  Speaker 1: sealed their fates. Unless he paused, unless the woman, but
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  Speaker 1: he got no further Carthoris guessed what he would have said,
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  Speaker 1: and before the words could be uttered, he had sprung
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  Speaker 1: forward and struck the man across the mouth with his
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  Speaker 1: open palm. Tario frothed in rage and mortification. And should
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  Speaker 1: you again affront the princess of Ptarth, warned the Helamite,
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  Speaker 1: I shall forget that you wear no sword, nor forever
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  Speaker 1: may I control my itching sword hand. Tario shrank back
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  Speaker 1: toward the little doorways behind the dais. He was trying
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  Speaker 1: to speak, but so hideously were the muscles of his
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  Speaker 1: face working that he could utter no word for several minutes.
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  Speaker 1: At last he managed to articulate intelligibly. Die. He shrieked, die,
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  Speaker 1: and then he turned toward the exit. At his back,
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  Speaker 1: Jav leaped forward, screaming in terror. Have pity, Tario, have pity.
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  Speaker 1: Remember the long ages that I have served you faithfully,
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  Speaker 1: remember all that I have done for Lothar. Do not
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  Speaker 1: condemn me now to the death hideous save me, Save me.
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  Speaker 1: But Tario only laughed a mocking laugh and continued to
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  Speaker 1: back toward the hangings that hid the little doorway. Jav
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  Speaker 1: turned toward Carthoris. Stop him, he screamed, stop him. If
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  Speaker 1: you love life, let him not leave this room, and
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  Speaker 1: as he spoke, he leaped in pursuit of his Jeddak.
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  Speaker 1: Carthoris followed Jav's example, but the last of the Jeddaks
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  Speaker 1: of Barsoom was too quick for them. By the time
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  Speaker 1: they reached the arras behind which he had disappeared, they
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  Speaker 1: found a heavy stone door, blocking their further progress. Jav
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  Speaker 1: sank to the floor in a spasm of terror. Come man,
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  Speaker 1: cried Carthoris. We are not dead yet. Let us hasten
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  Speaker 1: to the avenues and make an attempt to leave the city.
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  Speaker 1: We are still alive, and while we live, we may
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  Speaker 1: yet endeavor to direct our own destinies. Of what a
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  Speaker 1: veil to sink spineless to the floor, Come be a man,
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  Speaker 1: Jav but shook his head. Did you not hear hear him?
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  Speaker 1: Call the guards? He moaned? Ah, If we could have
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  Speaker 1: but intercepted him, then there might have been hope. But
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  Speaker 1: alas he was too quick for us. Well well, exclaimed
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  Speaker 1: Carthoris impatiently. What if he did call the guards, There
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  Speaker 1: will be time enough to worry about that after they come.
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  Speaker 1: At present, I see no indication that they have any
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  Speaker 1: idea of over exerting themselves to obey their Jeddak's summons.
• 17:29
  Speaker 1: Jeff shook his head mournfully. You do not understand, he said,
• 17:35
  Speaker 1: The guards have already come and gone. They have done
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  Speaker 1: their work, and we are lost. Look to the various exits.
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  Speaker 1: Carthoris and Thuvia turned their eyes in the direction of
• 17:47
  Speaker 1: the several doorways, which pierced the walls of the Great chamber.
• 17:51
  Speaker 1: Each was tightly closed by huge stone doors. Well, asked Carthoris,
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  Speaker 1: we are to die that death, whispered jab faintly. Further
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  Speaker 1: than that, he would not say. He just sat upon
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  Speaker 1: the edge of the Jeddak's couch and waited. Carthoris moved
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  Speaker 1: to Thuvia's side, and, standing there with naked sword, he
• 18:16
  Speaker 1: let his brave eyes roam ceaselessly about the Great chamber,
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  Speaker 1: that no foe might spring upon them unseen. For what
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  Speaker 1: seemed hours, no sound broke the silence of their living tomb.
• 18:29
  Speaker 1: No sign gave their executioners of the time or manner
• 18:32
  Speaker 1: of their death. The suspense was terrible. Even Carthoris of
• 18:37
  Speaker 1: Helium began to feel the terrible strain upon his nerves.
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  Speaker 1: If he could but know how and whence the hand
• 18:44
  Speaker 1: of death was to strike, he could meet it unafraid.
• 18:48
  Speaker 1: But to suffer longer the hideous tension of this blighting
• 18:51
  Speaker 1: ignorance of the plans of their assassins was telling upon
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  Speaker 1: him grievously. Thuvia of Ptarth drew quite close to him.
• 18:59
  Speaker 1: She fell safer with the feel of his arm against hers,
• 19:03
  Speaker 1: and with the contact of her, the man took a
• 19:05
  Speaker 1: new grip upon himself. With his old time smile, he
• 19:09
  Speaker 1: turned toward her. It would seem that they are trying
• 19:13
  Speaker 1: to frighten us to death, he said, laughing, And shame
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  Speaker 1: be upon me that I should confess it. I think
• 19:20
  Speaker 1: they were close to accomplishing their designs upon me. She
• 19:24
  Speaker 1: was about to make some reply when a fearful shriek
• 19:27
  Speaker 1: broke from the lips of the Lotharian. The end is coming,
• 19:30
  Speaker 1: he cried, The end is coming. The floor, the floor, Oh,
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  Speaker 1: come all be merciful. Thuvi and Carthoris did not need
• 19:40
  Speaker 1: to look at the floor to be aware of the
• 19:41
  Speaker 1: strange movement that was taking place. Slowly, the marble flagging
• 19:47
  Speaker 1: was sinking in all directions toward the center. At first,
• 19:50
  Speaker 1: the movement, being gradual, was scarce noticeable, but presently the
• 19:55
  Speaker 1: angle of the floor became such that one might stand
• 19:58
  Speaker 1: easily only by bit one knee Considerably, jav was shrieking
• 20:03
  Speaker 1: still and clawing at the royal couch that had already
• 20:07
  Speaker 1: commenced to slide toward the center of the room, where
• 20:10
  Speaker 1: both Thuvia and Carthoris suddenly noticed a small orifice which
• 20:14
  Speaker 1: grew in diameter as the floor assumed more closely a
• 20:17
  Speaker 1: funnel like contour. Now it became more and more difficult
• 20:22
  Speaker 1: to cling to the dizzy inclination of the smooth and
• 20:25
  Speaker 1: polished marble Carthoris tried to support Thuvia, but himself commenced
• 20:30
  Speaker 1: to slide and slip toward the ever enlarging aperture. Better
• 20:35
  Speaker 1: to cling to the smooth stone, He kicked off his
• 20:37
  Speaker 1: sandals of zitidar hide, and with his bare feet braced
• 20:41
  Speaker 1: himself against the sickening tilt, at the same time throwing
• 20:45
  Speaker 1: his arm supportingly about the girl in her terror, her
• 20:49
  Speaker 1: own hands clasped about the man's neck, her cheek was
• 20:53
  Speaker 1: close to his death. Unseen and of unknown form seemed
• 20:58
  Speaker 1: close upon them, and cause, unseen and unknowable, infinitely more terrifying. Courage,
• 21:05
  Speaker 1: my princess, he whispered. She looked up into his face
• 21:09
  Speaker 1: to see smiling lips above hers, and brave eyes untouched
• 21:13
  Speaker 1: by terror, drinking deeply of her own. Then the floor
• 21:18
  Speaker 1: sagged and tilted more swiftly. There was a sudden slipping
• 21:22
  Speaker 1: rush as they were precipitated toward the aperture. Jav's screams
• 21:27
  Speaker 1: rose weird and horrible in their ears. And then the
• 21:30
  Speaker 1: three found themselves piled upon the royal couch of Tario,
• 21:34
  Speaker 1: which had stuck within the aperture at the base of
• 21:36
  Speaker 1: the marble funnel. For a moment they breathed more freely,
• 21:41
  Speaker 1: but presently they discovered that the aperture was continuing to enlarge.
• 21:45
  Speaker 1: The couch slipped downward. Jav shrieked again. There was a
• 21:50
  Speaker 1: sickening sensation as they felt all let go beneath them
• 21:53
  Speaker 1: as they fell through darkness to an unknown death. End
• 21:59
  Speaker 1: of Chapter three.