The Chessmen of Mars

then refuse, haughtily. But no appeal came from Djor Kantos. At first Tara of Helium was angry, then she was hurt, and always she was puzzled. She could not understand. Occasionally she th

iated. Never had she so thoroughly hated

leather!" s

slave girl. "Your father, The Wa

ppointed," snapp

not approve of your flying alo

her. "You are becoming unbearable, Uthia," she cried. "Soon there will be no alternative than

use I love you, my princess," she said softly. Tara of Hel

u and there is nothing that I would not do for you and nothing would I do to

m you, Tara of Helium," replied Uthia. "I am happy h

d you will not fly alone, t

rsistent little pest," she cried. "Of course I shall fly-

ron is the Warlord of Barsoom to the influences of all but two. In t

leather like the sweet slave y

nce of the little craft the girl drove toward the northwest. Why she should choose that direction she did not pause to consider. Perhaps because in that direction la

alous of the fair Olvia and it made her very angry to think that. She was angry with Djor Kantos and herself, but she was not angry at all with Olvia Marthis, whom she loved, and so of course she was not jealous really. The trouble was, that Tara of Helium had failed for once to have her own way. Djor Kantos had not come running like a willing slave when she had expected him, and, ah, here was the nub of the whole thing! Gahan, Jed of Gathol, a stranger, had been a witness to her humiliation. He had seen her unclaimed at the beginning of a great fun

aid John Carter. "It is not what the

me," replied Tara of Hel

s your guests," r

nd stood beside him and p

n," she cried, rumpling

d over your father's knee and s

she announced. "No one loves me," but she could not compose her featur

o many who love you," he sai

cried. "What

has asked permi

in in the air. "I would not wed with a walking

hat he wanted and that he wanted you very much. I suppose it will mean another war. Your mother's beauty kept Helium at war for many years, and-well, Tara of Helium, if I were a young man I should doubtless

member, John Carter, that you are not dealing with an Earth child, whose span of life

Barsoom sometimes marry as

y, at least, upon Barsoom. We do not fade and decay here as you tell me those of your planet do, though you, yourself, belie your own

s me, and I shall not marry Djor Kant

smiled. "When Gahan of Gathol returns

ne?" asked

Gathol in the morning

m then," remarked Tara of H

," returned

ment, for war was their habitual state. In the memory of man there had been no peace between these two savage green hordes-only a single temporary truce. Two new battleships had been launched at Hastor. A little band of holy therns was attempting to revive the ancient and discredited religion of Issus, who they claimed stil

yer has twenty black pieces, the other, twenty orange pieces. A brief description of the game may interest those Earth readers who care for chess, and will not be lost upon those w

line of squares nearest the players, the jetan pieces are Warrior, Padwar, Dwar, Flier, Chief, Princess, Flier, Dwar, Padwa

traight in any direction, or diagonally, two spaces; Padwars, lieutenants wearing two feathers, two diagonal in any direction, or combination; Dwars, captains wearing three feathers, three spaces straight in any direction, or combination; Fliers, represented by a propellor with three b

awn when a Chief is taken by any opposing piece other than the opposing Chief; or when both sides have been reduced to three pieces, or less, o

quarters and her sleeping silks and furs. "Until morning, my beloved," she called back to them as she passed from the apartme

th difficulty that she maneuvered the craft from the hangar without accident, but once away it raced swiftly out above the twin cities. The buffeting winds caught and tossed it, and the girl laughed aloud in sheer joy of the resultant thrills. She handled the little ship like a veteran, though few veterans would have faced the menace of such a storm in so light a craft. Swiftly she rose toward the clouds, racing with the scudding streamers of the storm-swept fragments, and a moment later she was swallowed by the dense masses billowing above. Here was a new world, a world of chaos unpeopled except for herself; but it was a cold, damp, lonely world and she found it depressing after the novelty of it had been dissipated, by an overpowering sense of the magnitude of the f

and hurled it remorselessly about, rolling it over and over and tossing it as it were a cork in a cataract. At last the girl succeeded in righting the flier, perilously close to the ground. Never before had she been so close to death, yet she was not terrified. Her coolness had saved her, that and the strength of the deck lashings that held her. Traveling with the storm she was safe, but where was it bearing her? She pictured the appre

was terrific, for the wind seemed to have increased rather than to have lessened. She sought gradually to check the swift flight of her craft, but though she finally succeeded in reversing her motor the wind but carried her on as it would. Then it was that Tara of Helium lost her temper. H

fell, and rolled and tumbled-the sport of the elements she had defied. Tara of Helium's first sensation was one of surprise-that she had failed to have her own way. Then she commenced to feel concern-not for her own safety but for the anxiety of her parents and the dangers that the inevitable searchers must face. She reproached herself for the thoughtless selfishness that had jeopardized the peace and safety of others. She realized her own grave danger, too; but she was still unterrified, as befitted the daughter of Dejah Thoris and John Cart

as carried swiftly on to other sights that forced in upon her consciousness a rapidly growing conviction that after all Tara of Helium was a very small and insignificant and helpless person. It was quite a shock to her self-pride while it lasted, and toward evening she was ready to believe that it was going to last forever. There had been no abatement in the ferocity of the tempest, nor was there indication of any. She could only guess at the distance she had been carried for she could not believe in the correctness of the high figures that had b

cold and hungry and altogether miserable, but her brave little spirit refused to admit that her plight was hopeless even though reason proclaimed the truth. H

absence of Tara of Helium had been noted, and in the excitement he had remained unannounced until John Carter had happened upon him in

de, John Carter," he said. "I but came to ask the indulgence of another day

replied The Warlord; "but you must forgive any seeming inattent

do you mean?" exclaimed the Ga

ill pardon me, Gahan, if I leave you abruptly-I am arranging to send ships in search of her;" but Gahan, Jed of Gathol, was already speeding in the direction of the palace gate. There h