A Princess of Mars

or do I remember any childhood. So far as I can recollect I have always been a man, a man of about thirty. I appear today as I did forty years

; but yet I have the same horror of it as you who have never died, and it is be

my death. I cannot explain the phenomena; I can only set down here in the words of an ordinary soldier of fortune a ch

purpose being pilloried by the public, the pulpit, and the press, and held up as a colossal liar when I am but telling the simple truths which some day science will substantiate. Possibly the suggestions wh

ederate) and a captain's commission in the cavalry arm of an army which no longer existed; the servant of a state which had vanished with the hopes of the South. Masterless,

e in the winter of 1865, after many hardships and privations, we located the most remarkable gold-bearing quartz vein that our wildest dreams had ever p

s must return to civilization, purchase the necessary machinery an

we determined that it would be best for him to make the trip. It was agreed that I was to hold

and bidding me good-bye he mounted his horse, and started down the mounta

way down the mountainside toward the valley, and all during the morning I would catch occasional glimpses of them as they topped a hog back or came out

lace I had last seen my friend and his two pack animals. I am not given to needless worrying, but the more I tried to convince myself tha

e, and were wont to ridicule the stories we had heard of the great numbers of these vicious marauders that were supposed

ew that his chances were small against a party of cunning trailing Apaches. Finally I could endure the suspense no longer, and, arming myself with my two C

ere the going permitted, until, close upon dusk, I discovered the point where other tracks joined tho

rvous old housewife, and when I should catch up with Powell would get a good laugh for my pains. However, I am not prone to sensitiveness, and the following of a sense of duty, wherever it may lead, has always been a kind of fetich with

at a fast walk, and in some places at a brisk trot until, about midnight, I reached the water hole where Powell had expected to

h I was now convinced they must be, continued after Powell with only a bri

ve for the fiendish pleasure of the torture, so I urged my horse onward at a most dangerous

r ahead of me. I knew that Powell would need me now if ever, and I instantly u

nto a small, open plateau near the summit of the pass. I had passed through a narrow, overhanging gorge just befo

so wholly riveted to this point of interest that they did not notice me, and I easily could have turned back into the dark recesses of the gorge and made my escape with perfect safety. The fact,

th death, I cannot recall a single one where any alternative step to that I took occurred to me until many hours later. My mind is evidently so constituted that I am sub

upon my view I had whipped out my revolvers and was charging down upon the entire army of warriors, shooting rapidly, and whooping at the top of my lungs. Singlehanded, I could not have purs

Powell, his body fairly bristling with the hostile arrows of the braves. That he was already dead I could not but be convinced, and y

ackward glance convinced me that to return by the way I had come would be more hazardous than to continue across the plateau, so, p

g but imprecations accurately by moonlight, that they were upset by the sudden and unexpected manner of my advent, and that I was a rather rapidly moving target sa

it happened that he entered a defile which led to the summit of the range and not to the pass which I had hoped would carry me to the valley and to safe

me when I heard the yells of the pursuing savages s

ed rock formation at the edge of the plateau, to the rig

rail below and to my left, and saw the party of pursuing s

he wrong trail and that the search for me would be renewed

ff. The trail was level and quite broad and led upward and in the general direction I wished to go. The cliff arose for s

e right brought me to the mouth of a large cave. The opening was about four f

f dawn which is a startling characteristic of Ariz

spark of life. I forced water from my canteen between his dead lips, bathed his face and rubbed his hands, wo

ed southern gentleman; a staunch and true friend; and it was with a feeling o

ter and thirty or forty feet in height; a smooth and well-worn floor, and many other evidences that the cave had, at some remote period, been i

the fatigue of my long and strenuous ride, and the reaction from the excitement of the fight and the pursuit. I felt

ut I knew that this would never do, as it would mean certain death at the hands of my red friends, who might be upon me at any moment. Wit