The Gods of Mars

surroundings nor locate the sounds which had aroused me. And then from beyond the blank wall beside which I lay I heard

such a warm reception. The prisoners and the savage brutes rested in their chains by the op

me and intelligent face of the young red Martian woman wh

f Earth men, except that this higher race of Martians is of a light reddish copper colour. As she was entirely unadorned I coul

ing faculties into a realization of their probable import, and then of a sudden I grasped the fact that

of the cliffs themselves. Then I sought feverishly for the secret of the revolving panel, but my search was fruit

will avail to some purpose-shatter it not against senseless metal which

secret of it t

s to my fetters are upon the first dead of thy foemen. But why would you return to face again t

I hastily sought and found the keys upon the carcass

an maid quickly selected that which sprung the great lock a

an almost invisible hole in the wall. Instantly the door swung upon its pivot, and the contiguous sect

aiting for an opening. Their blood-streaked heads and shoulders testified to the cause of their wariness as well as to the swordsmanship o

for the supporting wall I doubt that he even could have stood erect. But with the tenacity and indomitable courage of his kind he still faced his c

but whether the smile signified relief or merely amusement at t

rd I felt a gentle hand upon my shoulder and turning found, to my

," and pushing me advanced, all defencel

ng the great beasts wheeled upon her, and I looked to see her torn to pieces before I could reach

h the six mighty monsters trailing at heel. One by one she sent them through the secret panel into the room beyond, and when the last had

er of us spoke. Th

ard the report of a revolver shot. I knew that there lived no man upon all Barsoom who could face you with naked steel a

which I had just entered the apartment-the one at the opposite end of t

ate its secret lock. We felt that once beyond it we might look wi

s to believe that surely there must be an avenue of escape fro

, from the baffling golden panel at one end of the

ls turned silently toward us, and the young woman w

that you have the temerity to attempt to escape

upon the River Iss. My friend here is Jeddak of all the Tharks, and though he has not yet expressed a desire to r

f Tardos Mors, Jeddak of Helium. Perchance some faint rumour of

sm

e heard of you, many years ago. The therns have ofttimes wondered whither you had flown,

over the ferocious beasts of the place that denotes familiarity and aut

and now that they have tired of me and become fearful of the power which my kno

shud

eath?"

of a plant man-flesh from which the defiling blood of life has been drawn. And to this cruel end I have b

who felt the weight of Jo

hateful race. The Holy Therns abide upon the outer slopes of these grim hills,

erns, and through them pass upon their many duties the lesser therns, and hordes of

ss chambers men, women, and beasts who, born within its dim and gr

the race of therns; to furnish at on

e Temple of Issus and falls into the remorseless clutches of the therns; or, as was my misfortune, is coveted by the Holy Thern who chances to be upo

ut if one escapes the terrible denizens of the valley for even a few hours the therns may claim such a one as their own. And again the Holy Thern on watch, shoul

ges from the subterranean passage through which the Iss flows for a thousand miles before it enters the Valley Dor as to reach the very walls of the Temple of Issus; but what fate aw

is the ultimate haven of peace, refuge, and happiness to which they pass after this life and wherein an eternity of eterni

eaven," I said. "Let us hope that there it will be mete

?" the gir

and yet have I always heard them spoken of with the utmost awe and rever

ose who do not live their allotted span of life, one thousand years, when by the authority

mage of a plant man, and it is for this reason that the plant men are held sacred by th

a plant man

, but should the ape die short of the exact hour that terminates the thousand years the soul is for ever lost and passes for all eternity into the carcass of the slim

to the silians to-day, then

rrible when it comes," said the maiden

," I reminded her, "and what ha

en to try," she a

ried, "and you shall go

disgrace to my family and my nation? A Prince of the House of

eted upon me and I knew that he awaited my answer as one might

to the inevitable decree of age-old superstition we must all remain and meet

ed life of love and peace in the blessed Valley of Dor is a rank and wicked deception. We know that the valley is not sacred; we know th

n duty from which we should not shrink even though we know that we sho

iven credence is, I grant you, remote, so wedded are mortals to their stupid infatuation for impossibl

h of our statements may be accepted, and at least a compromise effected which will resul

ilent in thought for some moments. The form

usand times if I could but save a single soul from the awful life that I have led in this cruel place.

uiring glance t

een warrior; "to the snows to the north or to the snows to the s

ot be further from escape than we now are in the heart of this

ter yourself that you can find no worse place

m the apartment in which I had found her, and we stepped t

forces with us, though it was evident that it was with some considerable misgivings that they thus tempted fate b

d I stripped the bodies of the two therns of their weapons, which included swords, dagg

d go among our followers, giving the firearms

reat chambers hewn from the solid metal of the cliff, following winding corridors, ascending steep in

m there she was to lead us to the summit of the cliffs, from where it would require both wondrous wit and mig

. His secret temples are hidden in the heart of every community. Wherever we go should we escape we shall find

uvia had just whispered to me that we were approaching our first destinati

his brow in the exact centre of which was set an immense stone, the exact counterpart of that which

old men in whose charge was placed the operation of the great engines which pump the artificial atmosphere to all parts of Mars from the huge atm

inch in diameter I should say. It scintillated nine different and distinct rays; the seven primary colours of

his eyes narrowed

ed. "What mean

er and fired point-blank at him. With

After all these years

nation on her lips, her eyes suddenly widened as they rested

but through this vile thing upon the floor we may yet win to the outer world. N

res unlike mine; but his hair was a mass of flowing yellow locks, lik

. "Do you wish me with my black, short hair to pos

kneeling beside it removed the circlet of gold from the forehead, and then

yellow wig over my black hair, crowned me with

ere you will in the realms of the therns, for Sator Throg was

dding I noted that not a hair grew upon h

owth of golden hair, but for many ages the present race has been entirely bald. The wig, however, has come to be a part of their appar

ood garbed in the habi

f the dead thern upon their shoulders with us as we continued our jo

ult were the means of giving us immediate entrance to the chamber, a

r, so I threw myself upon the floor, bidding Tars Tarkas to do likewi

tant I wa