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05 - Thuvia, Maid of Mars - Edgar Rice Burroughs · Classic Sci Fi Books - Daily

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Speaker 1: Chapter five. The fair race downward along a smooth, broad
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Speaker 1: floor led the strange tunnel. For such Carthoris was now
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Speaker 1: convinced was the nature of the shaft he at first
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Speaker 1: had thought but a cave. Before him, he could hear
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Speaker 1: the occasional low moans of the banth, and presently, from
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Speaker 1: behind came a similar uncanny note. Another banth had entered
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Speaker 1: a passageway on his trail. His position was anything but pleasant.
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Speaker 1: His eyes could not penetrate the darkness, even to the
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Speaker 1: distinguishing of his hand before his face, while the banths
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Speaker 1: he knew, could see quite well, though absence of light
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Speaker 1: were utter. No other sounds came to his ears than
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Speaker 1: the dismal, bloodthirsty moanings of the beast ahead and the
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Speaker 1: beast behind. The tunnel had led straight from where he
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Speaker 1: had entered it, beneath the side of the rock furthest
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Speaker 1: from the unscalable cliffs toward the mighty barrier that had
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Speaker 1: baffled him so long. Now it was running almost level,
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Speaker 1: and presently he noted a gradual ascent. The beast behind
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Speaker 1: him was gaining upon him, crowding him perilously close upon
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Speaker 1: the heels of the beast in front. Presently he should
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Speaker 1: have to do battle with one or both. More firmly
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Speaker 1: he gripped his weapon. Now he could hear the breathing
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Speaker 1: of the banth at his heels. Not for much longer
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Speaker 1: could he delay the encounter. Long since he had become
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Speaker 1: assured that the tunnel led beneath the cliffs to the
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Speaker 1: opposite side of the barrier, and he had hoped that
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Speaker 1: he might reach the moonlit open before being compelled to
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Speaker 1: grapple with either of the monsters. The sun had been
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Speaker 1: setting as he entered the tunnel, and the way had
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Speaker 1: been sufficiently long to assure him that darkness now reigned
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Speaker 1: upon the world without he glanced behind him, Blazing out
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Speaker 1: of the darkness, seemingly not ten paces behind, glared two
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Speaker 1: flaming points of fire. As the savage eyes met his,
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Speaker 1: the beast emitted a frightful roar, and then he charged
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Speaker 1: to face that savage mountain of onrushing ferocity, to stand
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Speaker 1: unshaken before the hideous fangs that he knew were barred
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Speaker 1: in slavering bloodthirstiness, though he could not see them, required
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Speaker 1: nerves of steel, But of such were the nerves of Carthoris,
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Speaker 1: of helium. He had the brute's eyes to guide his point,
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Speaker 1: and as true as the sword hand of his mighty sire,
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Speaker 1: he guided the keen point to one of those blazing orbs,
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Speaker 1: even as he leaped lightly to one side. With a
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Speaker 1: hideous scream of pain and rage, the wounded banth hurtled,
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Speaker 1: clawing past him. Then it turned to charge once more,
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Speaker 1: but this time Carthoris saw but a single gleaming point
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Speaker 1: of fiery hate directed upon him. Again, the needle point
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Speaker 1: met its flashing target again. The horrid cry of the
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Speaker 1: stricken beast reverberated through the rocky tunnel, shocking in its
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Speaker 1: torture laden shrillness, deafening in its terrific volume. But now
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Speaker 1: as it turned to charge again, the man had no
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Speaker 1: guide whereby to direct his point. He heard the scraping
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Speaker 1: of the padded feet upon the rocky floor. He knew
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Speaker 1: the thing was charging down upon him once again, but
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Speaker 1: he could see nothing. Yet if he could not see
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Speaker 1: his antagonist, neither could his antagonist now see him. Leaping
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Speaker 1: as he thought, to the exact center of the tunnel,
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Speaker 1: he held his sword point ready on a line with
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Speaker 1: the beast's chest. It was all that he could do,
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Speaker 1: hoping that chance might send the point into the savage
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Speaker 1: heart as he went down beneath the great box. So
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Speaker 1: quickly was the thing over that Carthoris could scarce believe
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Speaker 1: his senses as the mighty body rushed madly past him.
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Speaker 1: Either he had not placed himself in the center of
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Speaker 1: the tunnel, or else the blinded banth had aired in
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Speaker 1: its calculation. However, the huge body missed him by a foot,
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Speaker 1: and the creature continued on down the tunnel, as though
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Speaker 1: in pursuit of the prey that had eluded him. Carthoris
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Speaker 1: too followed the same direction. Nor was it long before
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Speaker 1: his heart was gladdened by the sight of the moonlit
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Speaker 1: exit from the long dark passage. Before him lay a
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Speaker 1: deep hollow entirely surrounded by gigantic cliffs. The surface of
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Speaker 1: the valley was dotted with enormous trees, a strange sight
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Speaker 1: so far away from a Martian waterway. The ground itself
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Speaker 1: was clothed in brilliant scarlet sward, picked out with innumerable
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Speaker 1: patches of gorgeous wild flowers. Beneath the glorious effulgence of
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Speaker 1: the two moons, the scene was one of indescribable loveliness,
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Speaker 1: tinged with the weirdness of strange enchantment. For only an instant, however,
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Speaker 1: did his gaze rest upon the natural beauties outspread before him.
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Speaker 1: Almost immediately they were riveted upon the figure of a
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Speaker 1: great banth standing across the carcass of a new killed thoat.
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Speaker 1: The huge beast, his tawny mane bristling around his hideous head,
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Speaker 1: kept his eyes fixed upon another banth that charged erratically
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Speaker 1: hither and thither, with shrill screams of pain and horrid
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Speaker 1: roars of hate and rage. Carthoris quickly guessed that the
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Speaker 1: second brute was the one he had blinded during the
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Speaker 1: fight in the tunnel. But it was the dead thoat
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Speaker 1: that centered his interest more than either of these savage carnivores.
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Speaker 1: The harness was still upon the body of the huge
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Speaker 1: Martian mount, and Carthoris could not doubt but that this
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Speaker 1: was the very animal upon which the Green warrior had
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Speaker 1: borne away Thuvia of Ptarth. But where were the rider
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Speaker 1: and his prisoner. The Prince of Helium shuddered as he
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Speaker 1: thought upon the probability of the fate that had overtaken them.
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Speaker 1: Human flesh is the food most craved by the fierce
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Speaker 1: Barsoomian lion, whose great carcass and giant fuse require enormous
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Speaker 1: quantities of meat to sustain them. Two human bodies would
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Speaker 1: have but whetted the creature's appetite, and that he had
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Speaker 1: killed and eaten the Green Man and the Red Girl
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Speaker 1: seemed only too likely to Carthoris. He had left the
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Speaker 1: carcass of the mighty thoat to be devoured after having
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Speaker 1: consumed the more toothsome portion of his banquet. Now the
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Speaker 1: sightless banth, in its savage, aimless charging and counter charging,
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Speaker 1: had passed beyond the kill of its fellow, and there
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Speaker 1: the light breeze that was blowing wafted the scent of
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Speaker 1: new blood to its nostrils. No longer were its movements erratic.
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Speaker 1: With outstretched tail and foaming jaws, it charged straight as
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Speaker 1: an arrow for the body of the thoat, and the
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Speaker 1: mighty creature of destruction that stood with forepaws upon the
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Speaker 1: slate gray side, waiting to defend its meat. When the
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Speaker 1: charging band was twenty paces from the dead thoat, the
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Speaker 1: killer gave vent to its hideous challenge, and with a
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Speaker 1: mighty spring, leaped forward to meet it. The battle that
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Speaker 1: ensued awed. Even the warlike Barsoomian, the mad rending, the
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Speaker 1: hideous and deafening roaring, the implacable savagery of the blood
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Speaker 1: stained beasts held him in the paralysis of fascination. And
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Speaker 1: when it was over, and the two creatures, their heads
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Speaker 1: and shoulders torn to ribbons, lay with their dead jaws
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Speaker 1: still buried in each other's bodies, Carthoris tore himself from
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Speaker 1: the spell only by an effort of the will. Hurrying
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Speaker 1: to the side of the dead Thoat, he searched for
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Speaker 1: traces of the girl he feared had shared the Thoat's fate,
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Speaker 1: But nowhere could he discover anything to confirm his fears.
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Speaker 1: With slightly lightened heart, he started out to explore the valley,
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Speaker 1: but scarce a dozen steps had he taken when the
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Speaker 1: glistening of a jeweled babble lying in the sward caught
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Speaker 1: his eye. As he picked it up, his first glance
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Speaker 1: showed him that it was a woman's hair ornament, and
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Speaker 1: emblazoned upon it was the insignia of the Royal House
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Speaker 1: of Ptarth. But sinister discovery, blood still wet splotched the
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Speaker 1: magnificent jewels of the setting Carthoris half choked as the
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Speaker 1: dire possibilities which the thing suggested presented themselves to his imagination.
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Speaker 1: Yet he could not would not leave it. It was
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Speaker 1: impossible that that irradiant creature could have met so hideous
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Speaker 1: an end. It was incredible that the glorious Thuvia should
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Speaker 1: ever cease to be upon his already jewel incrusted harness
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Speaker 1: to the strap that crossed his great chest, beneath which
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Speaker 1: beat his loyal heart, Carthoris, Prince of Helium, fastened the
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Speaker 1: gleaming thing that Thuvia of Ptarth had worn, and wearing
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Speaker 1: had made wholly to the Heliumite. Then he proceeded upon
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Speaker 1: his way into the heart of the unknown valley. For
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Speaker 1: the most part, the giant trees shut off his view
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Speaker 1: to any but the most limited distances. Occasionally he caught
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Speaker 1: glimpses of the towering hills that bounded the valley upon
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Speaker 1: every side, and though they stood out clear beneath the
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Speaker 1: light of the two moons, he knew that they were
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Speaker 1: far off, and that the extent of the valley was immense.
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Speaker 1: For half the night he continued his search, until presently
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Speaker 1: he was brought to a sudden halt by the distant
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Speaker 1: sound of squealing thoats. Guided by the noise of these
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Speaker 1: habitually angry beasts, he stole forward through the trees, until
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Speaker 1: at last he came upon a level, treeless plain, in
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Speaker 1: the center of which a mighty city reared, its burnished
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Speaker 1: domes and vividly colored towers. About the walled city, the
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Speaker 1: red man saw a huge encampment of the green warriors
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Speaker 1: of the dead Sea bottoms, and as he let his
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Speaker 1: eyes rove carefully over the city, he realized that here
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Speaker 1: was no deserted metropolis of a dead past. But what
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Speaker 1: city could it be? His studies had taught him that
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Speaker 1: in this little explored portion of Barsoom, the fierce tribe
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Speaker 1: of Torquaesian green men ruled supreme, and that as yet
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Speaker 1: no Red man had succeeded in piercing to the heart
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Speaker 1: of their domain to return and again to the world
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Speaker 1: of civilization. The men of Torcas had perfected huge guns
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Speaker 1: with which their uncanny marksmanship had permitted them to repulse
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Speaker 1: the few determined efforts that near by Red nations had
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Speaker 1: made to explore their country by means of battle fleets
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Speaker 1: of airships. That he was within the boundary of Torcas.
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Speaker 1: Carthoris was sure, but that there existed there such a
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Speaker 1: wondrous city. He had never dreamed, nor had the chronicles
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Speaker 1: of the past even hinted at such a possibility, For
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Speaker 1: the Torkasians were known to live, as did the other
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Speaker 1: green men of Mars, within the deserted cities that dotted
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Speaker 1: the dying planet. Nor ever had any green horde built
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Speaker 1: so much as a single edifice other than the low
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Speaker 1: walled incubators where their young are hatched by the sun's heat.
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Speaker 1: The encircling camp of Green warriors lay about five hundred
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Speaker 1: yards from the city's walls. Between it and the city
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Speaker 1: was no semblance of breastwork or other protection against rifle
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Speaker 1: or cannon fire. Yet distinctly now in the light of
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Speaker 1: the rising sun, Carthoris could see many figures moving along
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Speaker 1: the summit of the high wall and upon the rooftops beyond.
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Speaker 1: That they were beings like himself, he was sure, though
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Speaker 1: they were at too great a distance for him to
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Speaker 1: be positive that they were red men. Almost immediately after sunrise,
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Speaker 1: the Green warriors commenced firing upon the little figures upon
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Speaker 1: the wall. To Carthoris's surprise, the fire was not returned,
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Speaker 1: but presently the last of the city's inhabitants had sought
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Speaker 1: shelter from the weird marksmanship of the green men, and
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Speaker 1: no further sign of life was visible beyond the wall.
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Speaker 1: Then Carthoris, keeping within the shelter of the trees that
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Speaker 1: fringed the plain, began circling the rear of the besiegers line,
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Speaker 1: being against hope that somewhere he would obtain sight of
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Speaker 1: Thuvia of Ptarth, for even now he could not believe
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Speaker 1: that she was dead. That he was not discovered was
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Speaker 1: a miracle, for mounted warriors were constantly riding back and
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Speaker 1: forth from the camp into the forest. But the long
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Speaker 1: day wore on, and still he continued his seemingly fruitless quest,
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Speaker 1: until near sunset he came opposite a mighty gate in
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Speaker 1: the city's western wall. Here seemed to be the principal
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Speaker 1: force of the attacking horde. Here a great platform had
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Speaker 1: been erected, whereupon Carthoris could see squatting a huge green warrior,
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Speaker 1: surrounded by others of his kind. This, then, must be
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Speaker 1: the notorious Hortan Gur Jeddak of Torquas, the fierce old
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Speaker 1: ogre of the southwestern hemisphere, as only for a Jeddak
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Speaker 1: are platforms raised in temporary camps or upon the march
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Speaker 1: by the Green hordes of Barsoom. As the Heliumite watched,
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Speaker 1: he saw another Green warrior push his way toward the rostrum.
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Speaker 1: Beside him, he dragged a captive, and as the surrounding
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Speaker 1: warriors parted to let the two pass, Carthoris caught a
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Speaker 1: fleeting glimpse of the prisoner. His heart leaped, and rejoicing
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Speaker 1: Thuvia of Ptarth still lived. It was with difficulty that
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Speaker 1: Carthoris restrained the impulse to rush forward to the side
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Speaker 1: of the Parthian princess. But in the end his better
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Speaker 1: judgment prevailed, for in the face of such odds, he
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Speaker 1: knew that he should have been but throwing away uselessly
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Speaker 1: any future opportunity he might have to succor her. He
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Speaker 1: saw her dragged to the foot of the rostrum. He
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Speaker 1: saw hortan Gur address her. He could not hear the
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Speaker 1: creature's words nor Thuvia's reply, but it must have angered
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Speaker 1: the Green monster, for Carthoris saw him leap toward the prisoner,
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Speaker 1: striking a cruel blow across the face with his metal
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Speaker 1: banded arm. Then, the son of John Carter, Jeddak of
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Speaker 1: Jeddak's warlord of Barsoom, went mad. The old blood red
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Speaker 1: haze through which his sire had glared at countless foes,
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Speaker 1: floated before his eyes. His half earthly muscles, responding quickly
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Speaker 1: to his will, sent him in enormous leaps and bounds
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Speaker 1: toward the green monster that had struck the woman he loved.
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Speaker 1: The Torquasians were not looking in the direction of the forest.
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Speaker 1: All eyes had been upon the figure of the girl
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Speaker 1: and their Jeddak. And loud was the hideous laughter that
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Speaker 1: rang out in appreciation of the wit of the Green
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Speaker 1: Emperor's reply to his prisoner's appeal for liberty. Carthoris had
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Speaker 1: covered about half the distance between the forest and the
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Speaker 1: Green warriors when a new factor succeeded in still further
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Speaker 1: directing the attention of the latter from him. Upon a
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Speaker 1: high tower within the beleaguered city, a man appeared from
16:03
Speaker 1: his upturned mouth there issued a series of frightful shrieks,
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Speaker 1: uncanny shrieks that swept shrill and terrifying across the city's walls,
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Speaker 1: over the heads of the besiegers, and out across the
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Speaker 1: forest to the uttermost confines of the valley. Once, twice
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Speaker 1: thrice the fearsome sound smote upon the ears of the
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Speaker 1: listening green men, and then, far far off across the
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Speaker 1: broad woods came sharp and clear from the distance, an
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Speaker 1: answering shriek. It was but the first. From every point
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Speaker 1: rose similar savage cries, until the world seemed to tremble
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Speaker 1: to their reverberations. The Green warriors looked nervously this way,
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Speaker 1: and that they knew not fear as earthmen may know it.
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Speaker 1: But in the face of the unusual, their wonted self
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Speaker 1: assurance deserted them. And then the great gate in the
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Speaker 1: city wall, opposite the platform of hortan Gur, swung suddenly
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Speaker 1: wide from it issued as strange a sight as Carthoris
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Speaker 1: ever had witnessed, though at the moment he had time
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Speaker 1: to cast but a single fleeting glance at the tall
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Speaker 1: bowmen emerging through the portal behind their long oval shields,
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Speaker 1: to note their flowing auburn hair, and to realize that
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Speaker 1: the growling things at their side were fierce Barsoomian lions.
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Speaker 1: Then he was in the midst of the astonished Torquasians
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Speaker 1: with drawn long sword, he was among them, and to
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Speaker 1: Thuvia of Ptarth, whose startled eyes were the first to
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Speaker 1: fall upon him, it seemed that she was looking upon
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Speaker 1: John Carter himself. So strangely similar to the fighting of
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Speaker 1: the father was that of the son, and to the
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Speaker 1: famous fighting smile of the Virginian was the resemblance true,
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Speaker 1: and the sword arm Ah the subtle and the speed.
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Speaker 1: All about was turmoil and confusion. Green warriors were leaping
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Speaker 1: to the backs of their restive, squealing thoats. Calots were
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Speaker 1: growling out their savage gutturals, whining to be at the
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Speaker 1: throats of the oncoming foemen. Thar Ban and another by
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Speaker 1: the side of the rostrum had been the first to
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Speaker 1: note the coming of Carthoris, and it was with them
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Speaker 1: he battled for possession of the red girl, while the
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Speaker 1: others hastened to meet the host. Advancing from the beleaguered city,
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Speaker 1: Carthoris sought both to defend Thuvia of Ptarth and reached
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Speaker 1: the side of the hideous horton Gur that he might
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Speaker 1: avenge the blow the creature had struck the girl. He
18:44
Speaker 1: succeeded in reaching the rostrum over the dead bodies of
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Speaker 1: two warriors, who had turned to join thar Ban and
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Speaker 1: his companion in repulsing this adventurous red man. Just as
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Speaker 1: Horton Gurr was about to leap from it to the
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Speaker 1: back of his thoat, the attention of the Green warriors
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Speaker 1: turned principally upon the bowmen advancing upon them from the city,
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Speaker 1: and upon the savage banths that paced beside them, cruel
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Speaker 1: beasts of war, infinitely more terrible than their own savage calots.
19:14
Speaker 1: As Carthoris leaped to the rostrum, he drew Thubia up
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Speaker 1: beside him, and then he turned upon the departing Jeddak
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Speaker 1: with an angry challenge and a sword thrust. As the
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Speaker 1: Heliumite's point pricked his green hide, Horton Gurr turned upon
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Speaker 1: his adversary with a snarl, but at the same instant
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Speaker 1: two of his chieftains called to him to hasten, for
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Speaker 1: the charge of the fair skinned inhabitants of the city
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Speaker 1: was developing into a more serious matter than the Torcasians
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Speaker 1: had anticipated. Instead of remaining to battle with the red Man,
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Speaker 1: Horton gur promised him his attention. After he had disposed
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Speaker 1: of the presumptuous citizens of the walled city, and leaping
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Speaker 1: astride his thoat, galloped off to meet the rapidly advancing bowmen.
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Speaker 1: The The other warriors quickly followed their jeddak, leaving Thuvia
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Speaker 1: and Carthoris alone upon the platform. Between them and the
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Speaker 1: city raged a terrific battle. The fair skinned warriors, armed
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Speaker 1: only with their long bows and a kind of short
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Speaker 1: handled war acts, or almost helpless beneath the savage mounted
20:19
Speaker 1: green men at close quarters, but at a distance their
20:22
Speaker 1: sharp arrows did fully as much execution as the radium
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Speaker 1: projectiles of the green men. But if the warriors themselves
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Speaker 1: were outclassed, not so their savage companions, the fierce banths.
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Speaker 1: Scarce had the two lines come together when hundreds of
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Speaker 1: these appalling creatures had leaped among the Torcasians, dragging warriors
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Speaker 1: from their thoats, dragging down the huge thoats themselves, and
20:48
Speaker 1: bringing consternation to all before them. The numbers of the citizenry, too,
20:53
Speaker 1: was to their advantage, for it seemed that Scarce a warrior, fell,
20:57
Speaker 1: but his place was taken by a score more. In
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Speaker 1: such a constant stream did they pour from the city's
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Speaker 1: great gait, And so it came, what with the ferocity
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Speaker 1: of the baths and the numbers of the bowmen, that
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Speaker 1: at last the Torcasians fell back until presently the platform
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Speaker 1: upon which stood Carthoris and Thuvia lay directly in the
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Speaker 1: center of the fight. That neither was struck by a
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Speaker 1: bullet or an arrow seemed a miracle to both. But
21:25
Speaker 1: at last the tide had rolled completely past them, so
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Speaker 1: that they were alone between the fighters and the city,
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Speaker 1: except for a dying and the dead, and a score
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Speaker 1: or so of growling banths, less well trained than their fellows,
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Speaker 1: who prowled along the corpses seeking meat. To Carthoris, the
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Speaker 1: strangest part of the battle had been the terrific toll
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Speaker 1: taken by the bowmen with their relatively puny weapons. Nowhere
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Speaker 1: that he could see was there a single wounded gray man,
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Speaker 1: but the corpses of their dead lay thick upon the
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Speaker 1: field of battle. Death seemed to follow instantly the slightest
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Speaker 1: pinprick of a bowman's arrow, nor apparently did one ever
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Speaker 1: miss its goal. There could be but one explanation. The
22:12
Speaker 1: missiles were poisoned tipped. Presently, the sounds of conflict died
22:18
Speaker 1: in the distant forest. Quiet reigned, broken only by the
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Speaker 1: growling of the devouring banths. Carthoris turned towards Thuvia of Ptarth,
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Speaker 1: as yet neither had spoken. Where are we, Thuvia? He asked.
22:36
Speaker 1: The girl looked at him questioningly. His very presence had
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Speaker 1: seemed to proclaim a guilty knowledge of her abduction. How
22:44
Speaker 1: else might he have known the destination of the flier
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Speaker 1: that brought her? Who should know better than the Prince
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Speaker 1: of Helium, she asked? In return? Did he not come
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Speaker 1: hither of his own free will from Anthora? Came voluntarily
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Speaker 1: upon the trail of a green man who had stolen
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Speaker 1: you Thubia, he replied. But from the time I left
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Speaker 1: Helium until I woke above Anthor, I thought myself bound
23:08
Speaker 1: for Ptarth. It had been intimated that I had guilty
23:12
Speaker 1: knowledge of your abduction, he explained simply, And I was
23:16
Speaker 1: hastening to the Jeddak, your father, to convince him of
23:19
Speaker 1: the falsity of the charge, and to give my service
23:22
Speaker 1: to your recovery. Before I left Helium, some one tampered
23:27
Speaker 1: with my compass so that it bore me to Anthor
23:30
Speaker 1: instead of to Ptarth. That is all you believe me.
23:36
Speaker 1: But the warriors who stole me from the garden, she exclaimed.
23:40
Speaker 1: After we arrived at Anthor, they wore the metal of
23:42
Speaker 1: the Prince of Helium. When they took me. They were
23:45
Speaker 1: trapped into Sorian harness. There seemed but a single explanation.
23:50
Speaker 1: Whoever dared the outrage wished to put the onus upon
23:53
Speaker 1: another should he be detected in the act, But once
23:57
Speaker 1: safely away from Ptarth, he felt safe in having him
24:00
Speaker 1: as minions return to their own harnesses. You believe that
24:05
Speaker 1: I did this thing, Thuvia, he asked, ah Carthoris, she
24:10
Speaker 1: replied sadly, I do not wish to believe it, but
24:13
Speaker 1: when everything pointed to you, even then I would not
24:17
Speaker 1: believe it. I did not do it, Thuvia, he said.
24:22
Speaker 1: But let me be entirely honest with you. As much
24:26
Speaker 1: as I love your father, as much as I respect
24:29
Speaker 1: Coulon Tith, to whom you are betrothed, as well as
24:33
Speaker 1: I know the frightful consequences that must have followed such
24:36
Speaker 1: an act of mine, hurling into war as it would
24:39
Speaker 1: three of the greatest nations of Barsoom. Yet notwithstanding all this,
24:44
Speaker 1: I should not have hesitated to take you thus, Thuvia
24:47
Speaker 1: of Ptarth, had you even hinted that it would not
24:51
Speaker 1: have displeased you, But you did nothing of the kind.
24:55
Speaker 1: And so I am here not in my own service,
24:58
Speaker 1: but in yours, and in the service of the man
25:01
Speaker 1: to whom you are promised to save you for him,
25:05
Speaker 1: if it lies within the power of man to do so,
25:08
Speaker 1: he concluded, almost bitterly. Thuvia of Ptarth looked into his face.
25:14
Speaker 1: For several moments. Her breast was rising and falling, as
25:18
Speaker 1: though to some resistless emotion. She half took a step
25:22
Speaker 1: toward him, her lips parted as though to speak swiftly
25:26
Speaker 1: and impetuously, and then she conquered whatever had moved her.
25:32
Speaker 1: The future acts of the Prince of Helium, she said, coldly,
25:36
Speaker 1: must constitute the proof of his past honesty of purpose.
25:41
Speaker 1: Carthoris was hurt by the girl's tone as much as
25:45
Speaker 1: by the doubt as to his integrity which her words implied.
25:49
Speaker 1: He had half hoped that she might hint that his
25:51
Speaker 1: love would be acceptable. Certainly there was due him at
25:55
Speaker 1: least a little gratitude for his recent acts in her behalf.
25:59
Speaker 1: But he received was cold skepticism. The Prince of Helium
26:05
Speaker 1: shrugged his broad shoulders. The girl noted it, and the
26:09
Speaker 1: little smile that touched his lips, so that it became
26:12
Speaker 1: her turn to be hurt. Of course, she had not
26:16
Speaker 1: meant to hurt him. He might have known that after
26:19
Speaker 1: what he had said, she could not do anything to
26:22
Speaker 1: encourage him. But he need not have made his indifference
26:25
Speaker 1: quite so palpable. The men of Helium were noted for
26:30
Speaker 1: their gallantry, not for boorishness. Possibly it was the earth
26:34
Speaker 1: blood that flowed in his veins. How could she know
26:39
Speaker 1: that the shrug was but Carthoris's way of attempting, by
26:43
Speaker 1: physical effort, to cast a blighting sorrow from his heart,
26:48
Speaker 1: or that the smile upon his lips was the fighting
26:51
Speaker 1: smile of his father, with which the son gave outward
26:54
Speaker 1: evidence of the determination he had reached to submerge his
26:58
Speaker 1: own great love in his effort to save Thuvia of
27:01
Speaker 1: Ptarth for another. Because he believed that she loved this other,
27:07
Speaker 1: he reverted to his original question, Where are we? He asked,
27:12
Speaker 1: I do not know, nor, I replied the girl. Those
27:17
Speaker 1: who stole me from Ptarth spoke among themselves of Anthor,
27:21
Speaker 1: so that I thought it possible that the ancient city
27:24
Speaker 1: to which they took me was the famous ruin. But
27:28
Speaker 1: where we may be now? I have no idea. When
27:32
Speaker 1: the bowmen return, we shall doubtless learn all that there
27:35
Speaker 1: is to know, said Carthoris. Let us hope that they
27:38
Speaker 1: prove friendly. What race may they be? Only in the
27:42
Speaker 1: most ancient of our legends, and in the mural paintings
27:45
Speaker 1: of the deserted cities of the dead Sea bottoms are
27:48
Speaker 1: depicted such a race of auburn haired, fair skinned people.
27:53
Speaker 1: Can it be that we have stumbled upon a surviving
27:55
Speaker 1: city of the past, which all Barsoom believes buried beneath
27:59
Speaker 1: the ages. Thuvia was looking toward the forest into which
28:04
Speaker 1: the green men and the pursuing bowmen had disappeared. From
28:08
Speaker 1: a great distance came the hideous cries of banths, and
28:11
Speaker 1: an occasional shot. It is strange that they do not return,
28:16
Speaker 1: said the girl. One would expect to see the wounded
28:20
Speaker 1: limping or being carried back to the city, replied Carthoris,
28:24
Speaker 1: with a puzzled frown. But how about the wounded nearer
28:27
Speaker 1: the city? Had they carried them within? Both turned their
28:32
Speaker 1: eyes toward the field between them and the walled city
28:35
Speaker 1: where the fighting had been most furious there were the banths,
28:40
Speaker 1: still growling about their hideous feast. Carthoris looked at Thuvia
28:45
Speaker 1: in astonishment. Then he pointed toward the field. Where are they?
28:51
Speaker 1: He whispered, What has become of their dead and wounded?
28:58
Speaker 1: End of Chapter five.