The Gods of Mars

room, Tars Tarkas and I stood in tense and expectant silence. But no further

ce of the horrible or terrifying. It is not an hysterical laugh, but rather the genuine expre

trollable mirth when witnessing the death agonies of women and little chil

own lips, for here in truth was greater ne

t all?" I asked. "Wher

at me in

Do you tell me, John Carter, t

should not even guess that, for the sights I have seen this day are as unlike the things of

as, I know not

arsoom was dying, that had not already died, of asphyxiation? Your body even was never found, though the men of a whole world sought after it for years

that you had taken the long, last pilgrimage down the mysterious River Iss, to await in the

could guess, for your

e was very low when I left her in the royal gardens of Tardos Mors that long-gone night; so very low that I scarce

es, John

d me where we are

woman who taught me the thing that green Martians are reared to hate, the woman who taught me to love.

awaited me by the

ourself, John Carter, to teach this cruel Thark what friendshi

ght bring you once more to her side, for she has always tried to believe that you had but temporarily returned to your own planet, I at last gave way to my

ptying into the Lost Sea of Kor

since time immemorial has longed to pilgrimage at the end of a life of ha

ered. Such a fearful disillusionment, such a blasting of life-long hopes and aspirations, such an upr

and upon hi

d, nor did there se

voluntary pilgrimage down this cruel river since the beginning of time, only to f

ed a fearful blasphemy of horrid brutes that inhabited a valley of wondrous loveliness, brutes that pounced upon each Barsoomian as he terminated his pilgrimage and devoured him upon the banks of the Los

t he saw; but what does it profit us, John Carter, since even should we escape, we also would be treated as

and the deep sea, Tars Tarkas," I replied,

numbers of their own dead to count than they will get in return. White ape or plant man, green Barsoomian or red man, whosoever it shall be that takes the last t

one of those rare laughs of real enjoyment which was one of the attributes

f you have not been here all these years where indeed h

e day that would carry me once more to this grim old planet of yours, for which, with all its cruel and

my doubt relieved I find myself, through a cruel whim of fate, hurled into the one tiny spot of all Barsoom from which there is apparently no escape, and if there were, at a price which would p

ing in the moonlight upon the banks of a broad river that taps the eastern shor

Tars Tarkas, "though

perhaps, two hundred feet in length and half as broad, with what appeared to be a do

ghout its great dimensions. Here and there polished surfaces of ruby, emerald, and diamond patched the golden walls and ceiling. The floor was of another material, very hard, and

d mocking laugh rang out once more, so close to me this time that I invol

: "There is no hope, there is no hope; the dead return not, the dead ret

I must admit that cold shivers played along my spine and the short hairs at the base of my head stiffened and rose up, a

ed ere I reached the further wall, and then from the other

uldst cheat the mysterious Issus, Goddess of Death, of her just dues? Did not her mighty mes

her own? Thinkest thou to escape from whence in a

purpose to thread the mazes of the Golden Cliffs of the Mountains of Otz, past the ramparts of the impregnable fortresses of the Holy Therns, and upon your way Death in its most frightful form will overt

ools, the way

gh broke out from anot

remarked, turnin

e flesh I may feel my blade bite and know that I am selling my carcass dearly before I go down to that eternal

and, can empty air fight us. I, who have faced and conquered in my time thousands of sinewy w

n and unseeable creatures who wield invis

ours, and the fact that they remain invisible to us is the best proof to my mind that they are mortal; nor overly courageous mortals at that. Th

ing of this nerve-racking fiasco. It had occurred to me, too, that the whole business was but a plan to frighten us back

t, stealthy sound behind me caused me to turn suddenly to b

g the dead seas of ancient Mars. Like nearly all Martian animals it is

lot, or Martian hound, with several rows of long needle-like fangs; its mouth reaches to a point far back of

when it saw that it was discovered it emitted the terrifying roar which often fr

had held no paralysing terrors for me, and it met cold steel ins

f this great Barsoomian lion, and turning toward Tars T

e instinct of my guardian subconscious mind, beheld another of the sav

deous creature after another was launched upon us,

and slash with his great blade, while I, for my part, may say that the di

r howls of rage and pain as they felt the sharp steel at their vitals, and the ve

one really materialize from thin air, nor did I for an instant sufficiently lose my excellent reasoning faculties to be o

r than silk capes and robes of silk and fur for protection from the cold after dark, was a small mirror, about

my eyes happened to fall upon this mirror and in its shin

s Tarkas! Move

raven image while my eyes watched the

on of the floor directly in front of it was turning. It was as though you placed a visiting-card upon end on a silver

the section of the floor. Both were so nicely fitted into the adjacent portions of

of the revolving floor that had been on the opposite side before the wall commenced to move; when t

ed, in which were several men and women chained to the wall, and in front of them, evidently directing and operating the movement of the secret doorway, a

ith them were a number of fierce beasts, such as had

ew foe it was with a hea

doorways in the wall that the brutes are loosed upon us." I was very close to him and spoke

her attacks were made upon us, so it was quite clear to me that the partiti

ite close to Tars Tarkas I unfolded my scheme in a low wh

d done, and in accordance with my plan commenced backing towar

ng him to remain absolutely motionless until I gave the prearranged signal I quickly turned my back t

k and in another second I was closely watching the section of

ted than I gave the signal to Tars Tarkas, simultaneously springing for the receding half of the pivotin

ace to face with the fellow whose cruel face I had seen before. He was about my own h

rd, a dagger, and one of the destructive r

ve been met with a similar or lesser weapon, seemed to have no effect upon the moral sense of my enemy, for he whipped out his revolver er

evenly armed we set to in earnest for one

ly in practice, while I had not gripped the hilt

fighting stride, so that in a few minutes the man

my guard impregnable, while blood flowed fro

are no Barsoomian from the outer world is evi

ement was alm

e Temple of Issus?" I h

is face going white under the b

hat for all he KNEW I might be from the Temple of Issus and in it were men like unto myself, and either this man feared the inmates of the temple

any considerable abstract reasoning; it was to get my sword between his ribs, and

other than the clashing of our contending blades, the soft shuffling of our naked feet and the few whi

inert mass to the floor a cry of warnin

at the first note of her shrill cry I found myself faci

n me with raised sword ere I saw him. Tars Tarkas was nowhere in sight

hours; I had passed through such experiences and adventures as must sap the vitali

here was naught else for it than to engage my man, and that as quickly and ferociously as lay in me, for my only sal

nd parried and parried and sidestepped until I was almost com

and I must admit that he led me a pretty chase and in the end cam

blur before my eyes and I staggered and blundered about more asleep than awake, and

, and then he rushed me suddenly so that I was forced back upon it, and as m

sed my temper, so that I was equal for the moment to tearing my enemy to pieces with my bare hands, and I verily believe that I sho

implement of his vocation, and thus I did not need to look or reason to know that the dead m

ming blade directed straight at my heart, and as he came there rang from his lips th

of his hateful laugh, and a bullet from the revo

ged upon me. The hilt of his sword must have struck my he