BOOK 3. ESCAPE ON MARSChapter 1There were four of us aboard the flier I had stolen from the hangar atKamtol to effect our escape from The Valley of the First Born: Llana ofGathol; Pan Dan Chee of Horz; Jad-han, the brother of Janai of Amhor;and I, John Carter, Prince of Helium and Warlord of Barsoom.It was one of those startlingly gorgeous Martian nights that fairlytake one's breath away. In the thin air of the dying planet, every starstands out in scintillant magnificence against the velvet blackness ofthe firmament in splendor inconceivable to an inhabitant of Earth.As we rose above the great rift valley, both of Mars' moons werevisible, and Earth and Venus were in conjunction, affording us aspectacle of incomparable beauty. Cluros, the farther moon, moved instately dignity across the vault of heaven but fourteen thousand milesaway, while Thuria, but four thousand miles distant, hurtled throughthe night from horizon to horizon in less than four hours, casting everchanging shadows on the ground below us which produced the illusion ofconstant movement, as though the surface of Mars was covered bycountless myriads of creeping, crawling things. I wish that I mightconvey to you some conception of the weird and startling strangeness ofthe scene and of its beauty; but, unfortunately, my powers ofdescription are wholly inadequate.But perhaps some day you, too, will visit Mars.As we rose above the rim of the mighty escarpment which bounds thevalley, I set our course for Gathol and opened the throttle wide, for Ianticipated possible pursuit; but, knowing the possibilities for speedof this type of flier, I was confident that, with the start we had,nothing in Kamtol could overhaul us if we had no bad luck.Gathol is supposed by many to be the oldest inhabited city on Mars, andis one of the few that has retained its freedom; and that despite thefact that its ancient diamond mines are the richest known and, unlikepractically all the other diamond fields, are today apparently asinexhaustible as ever.In ancient times the city was built upon an island in Throxeus,mightiest of the five oceans of old Barsoom. As the ocean receded,Gathol crept down the sides of the mountain, the summit of which wasthe island on which she had been built, until today she covers theslopes from summit to base, while the bowels of the great hill arehoneycombed with the galleries of her mines.Entirely surrounding Gathol is a great salt marsh, which protects itfrom invasion by land, while the rugged and ofttimes verticaltopography of the mountain renders the landing of hostile airships aprecarious undertaking.Gahan, the father of Llana, is jed of Gathol, which is very much morethan just a single city, comprising, as it does, some one hundred fortythousand square miles, much of which is fine grazing land where runtheir great herds of thoats and zitidars. It was to return Llana to herfather and mother, Tara of Helium, that we had passed through so manyharrowing adventures since we had left Horz.And now Llana was almost home; and I should soon be on my way to Heliumand my incomparable Dejah Thoris, who must long since have given me upfor dead.Jad-han sat beside me at the controls, Llana slept, and Pan Dan Cheemoped.Moping seems to be the natural state of all lovers. I felt sorry forPan Dan Chee; and I could have relieved his depression by telling himthat Llana's first words after I had rescued her from the tower ofNastor's palace had been of him--inquiring as to his welfare--but Ididn't. I wished the man who won Llana of Gathol to win her by himself.If he gave up in despair while they both lived and she remainedunmated; then he did not deserve her; so I let poor Pan Dan Chee sufferfrom the latest rebuff that Llana had inflicted upon him.We approached Gathol shortly before dawn. Neither moon was in the sky,and it was comparatively dark. The city was dark, too; I saw not asingle light. That was strange, and might forebode ill; for Martiancities are not ordinarily darkened except in times of war when they maybe threatened by an enemy.Llana came out of the tiny cabin and crouched on the deck beside me."That looks ominous," she said."It does to me, too," I agreed; "and I'm going to stand off untildaylight. I want to see what's going on before I attempt to land.""Look over there," said Llana, pointing to the right of the black massof the mountain; "see all those lights.""The camp fires of the herdsmen, possibly," I suggested."There are too many of them," said Llana."They might also be the camp fires of warriors," said Jad-han."Here comes a flier," said Pan Dan Chee; "they have discovered us."From below, a flier was approaching us rapidly. "A patrol flierdoubtless," I said, but I opened the throttle and turned the flier'snose in the opposite direction. I didn't like the looks of things, andI wasn't going to let any ship approach until I could see its insigne.Then came a hail: "Who are you?""Who are you?" I demanded in return."Stop!" came the order, but I didn't stop; I was pulling away from himrapidly, as my ship was much the faster.He fired then, but the shot went wide. Jad-han was at the stern gun."Shall I let him have it?" he asked."No," I replied; "he may be Gatholian. Turn the searchlight on him, PanDan Chee; let's see if we can see his insigne."Pan Dan Chee had never been on a ship before, nor ever seen asearchlight. The little remnant of the almost extinct race of Orovars,of which he was one, that hides away in ancient Horz, has neither shipsnor searchlights; so Llana of Gathol came to his rescue, and presentlythe bow of the pursuing flier was brightly illuminated."I can't make out the insigne," said Llana, "but that is no ship ofGathol."Another shot went wide of us, and I told Jad-han that he might fire. Hedid and missed. The enemy fired again; and I felt the projectile strikeus, but it didn't explode. He had our range, so I started to zig zag,and his next two shots missed us. Jad-Han's also missed, and then wewere struck again."Take the controls," I said to Llana, and I went back to the gun. "Holdher just as she is, Llana," I called, as I took careful aim. I wasfiring an explosive shell detonated by impact. It struck her full inthe bow entered the hull, and exploded. It tore open the whole front ofthe ship, which burst into flame and commenced to go down by the bow.At first she went slowly; and then she took the last long, swift dive--a flaming meteor that crashed into the salt marsh and was extinguished."That's that," said Llana of Gathol."I don't think it's all of that as far as we are concerned," Iretorted; "we are losing altitude rapidly; one of his shots must haveripped open a buoyancy tank."I took the controls and tried to keep her up; as, with throttle wideopen, I sought to pass that ring of camp fires before we were finallyforced down.Chapter 2That was a good little ship--staunch and swift, as are all the shipsof The Black Pirates of Barsoom--and it carried us past the farthestcamp fires before it finally settled to the ground just at dawn. Wewere close to a small forest of sorapus trees, and I thought it best totake shelter there until we could reconnoiter a bit."What luck"' exclaimed Llana, disgustedly, "and just when I was so surethat we were practically safe and sound in Gathol.""What do we do now?" asked Pan Dan Chee."Our fate is in the hands of our ancestors," said Jad-han."But we won't leave it there," I assured them; "I feel that I am muchmore competent to direct my own fate than are my ancestors, who havebeen dead for many years. Furthermore, I am much more interested in itthan they.""I think perhaps you are on the right track there," said Llana,laughing, "although I wouldn't mind leaving my fate in the hands of myliving ancestors--and now, just what is one of them going to do aboutit?""First I am going to find something to eat," I replied, "and then I amgoing to try to find out who were warming themselves at those fireslast night; they might be friends, you know.""I doubt it," said Llana; "but if they are friends, then Gathol is inthe hands of enemies.""We should know very shortly; and now you three remain here while I goand see if anything edible grows in this forest. Keep a good lookout."I walked into the forest, looking for roots or herbs and that lifegiving plant, the mantalia, the milklike sap of which has saved me fromdeath by thirst or starvation on many an occasion. But that forestseemed to be peculiarly barren of all forms of edible things, and Ipassed all the way through it and out upon the other side withoutfinding anything that even a starving man would try to eat.Beyond the forest, I saw some low hills; and that gave me renewed hope,as in some little ravine, where moisture might be held longest, Ishould doubtless find something worth taking back to my companions.I had crossed about half the distance from the forest to the hills whenI heard the unmistakable clank of metal and creaking of leather behindme; and, turning, saw some twenty red men mounted on riding thoatsapproaching me at a gallop, the nailless, padded feet of their mountsmaking no sound on the soft vegetation which covered the ground.Facing them, I drew my sword; and they drew rein a few yards from me."Are you men of Gathol?" I asked."Yes," replied one of them."Then I am a friend," I said.The fellow laughed. "No Black Pirate of Barsoom is any friend of ours,"he shot back.For the moment I had forgotten the black pigment with which I hadcovered every inch of my face and body as a disguise to assist me ineffecting my escape from The Black Pirates of the Valley of the FirstBorn."I am not a Black Pirate," I said."Oh, no!" he cried; "then I suppose you are a white ape." At that theyall laughed. "Come on now, sheathe your sword and come along with us.We'll let Gan Hor decide what is to be done with you, and I can tellyou right now that Gan Hor doesn't like Black Pirates.""Don't be a fool," I said; "I tell you I am no Black Pirate--this isjust a disguise.""Well," said the fellow, who thought he was something of a wit, "isn'tit strange that you and I should meet?--I'm really a Black Piratedisguised as a red man." This simply convulsed his companions. When hecould stop laughing at his own joke, he said, "Come on now, no morefoolishness! Or do you want us to come and take you?""Come and take me!" I replied. In that, I made a mistake; but I was alittle sore at being laughed at by these stupid fools.They started circling me at a gallop; and as they did so, they uncoiledthe ropes they use to catch thoats. They were whirling them about theirheads now and shouting. Suddenly a dozen loops spun through the air atme simultaneously.It was a beautiful demonstration of roping, but I didn't reallyappreciate it at the moment. Those nooses settled around me from myneck to my heels, rendering me absolutely helpless as they yanked themtaut; then the dozen whose ropes had ensnared me rode away all in thesame direction, jerking me to the ground; nor did they stop there--they kept on going, dragging me along the ground.My body rolled over and over in the soft ocher vegetation, and mycaptors kept riding faster and faster until their mounts were at a fullrun. It was a most undignified situation for a fighting man; it is likeme that I thought first of the injury to my pride, rather than to theinjury to my body--or the fact that much more of this would leave mebut a bloody corpse at the ends of twelve rawhide ropes.They must have dragged me half a mile before they finally stopped, andonly the fact that the mosslike vegetation which carpets most of Marsis soft found me alive at the end of that experience.The leader rode back to me, followed by the others. He took one look atme, and his eyes were wide. "By my first ancestor!" he exclaimed; "heis no Black Pirate--the black has rubbed off!"I glanced at myself; sure enough, much of the pigment had been rubbedoff against the vegetation through which I had been dragged, and myskin was now a mixture of black and white streaks smeared with blood.The man dismounted; and, after disarming me, took the nooses from aboutme. "He isn't a Black Pirate and isn't even a red man," he said to hiscompanions; "he's white and he has gray eyes. By my first ancestor, Idon't believe he's a man at all. Can you stand up?"I came to my feet. I was a little bit groggy, but I could stand. "I canstand,"I said, "and if you want to find out whether or not I'm a man, give meback my sword and draw yours," and with that I slapped him in the faceso hard that he fell down. I was so mad that I didn't care whether hekilled me or not. He came to his feet cursing like a true pirate fromthe Spanish main."Give him his sword!" he shouted. "I was going to take him back to GanHor alive, but now I'll leave him here dead.""You'd better take him back alive, Kor-an," advised one of his fellows."We may have captured a spy; and if you kill him before Gan Hor canquestion him, it won't go so well for you.""No man can strike me and live," shouted Kor-an; "where is his sword?"One of them handed me my long sword, and I faced Kor-an. "To thedeath?" I asked."To the death!" replied Kor-an."I shall not kill you, Kor-an," I said; "and you cannot kill me, but Ishall teach you a lesson that you will not soon forget." I spoke in aloud tone of voice, that the others might hear.One of them laughed, and said, "You don't know who you're talking to,fellow. Kor-an is one of the finest swordsmen in Gathol. You will be deadin five minutes.""In one," said Kor-an, and came for me.I went to work on Kor-an then, after trying to estimate roughly howmany bleeding cuts and scratches I had on my body. He was a furious butclumsy fighter. In the first second I drew blood from his right breast;then I cut a long gash in his right thigh. Again and again I touchedhim, drawing blood from cuts or scratches. I could have killed him atany time, and he could touch me nowhere."It has been more than a minute, Kor-an," I said.He did not reply; he was breathing heavily, and I could tell from hiseyes that he was afraid. His companions sat in silence, watching everymove.Finally, after I had cut his body from forehead to toe, I stepped back,lowering my point. "Have you had enough, Kor-an?" I asked, "or do youwant me to kill you?""I chose to fight to the death," he said, courageously; "it is yourright to kill me--and I know that you can. I know that you could havekilled me any time from the moment we crossed swords.""I have no wish to kill a brave man," I said."Call the whole thing off," said one of the others; "you are up againstthe greatest swordsman anyone ever saw, Kor-an.""No," said Kor-an, "I should be disgraced, if I stopped before I killedhim or he killed me. Come!" He raised his point.I dropped my sword to the ground and faced him. "You now have yourchance to kill me," I told him."But that would be murder," he said; "I am no assassin.""Neither am I, Kor-an; and if I ran you through, even while you carriedyour sword, I should be as much a murderer as you, were you to kill menow; for even with a sword in your hand you are as much unarmed againstme as I am now against you.""The man is right," spoke up one of the Gatholians. "Sheathe yoursword, Kor-an; no one will hold it against you."Kor-an looked at the others, and they all urged him to quit. He rammedhis sword into its scabbard and mounted his thoat. "Get up behind me,"he said to me. I mounted and they were off at a gallop.Chapter 3After about half an hour they entered another grove of sorapus, andpresently came to a cluster of the rude huts used by thewarrior-herdsmen of Gathol. Here was the remainder of the troop towhich my captors belonged. These herdsmen are the warriors of Gathol,being divided into regular military units. This one was a utan of ahundred men commanded by a dwar, with two padwars, or lieutenants underhim. They remain on this duty for one month, which is equivalent toabout seventy days of Earth time; then they are relieved and return toGathol city.Gan Hor, the dwar, was sitting in front of one of the shelters playingjetan with a padwar when I was taken before him by Kor-an. He looked usboth up and down for a full minute. "In the name of Issus!" heexclaimed, "what have you two been doing--playing with a herd ofbanths or a tribe of white apes? And who is this? He is neither red norblack.""A prisoner," said Kor-an; then he explained quite honestly why we werein the condition we were.Gan Hor scowled. "I'll take this matter up with you later, Kor-an," hesaid; then he turned to me."I am the father of Tara of Helium," I said, "the princess of yourjed."Gan Hor leaped to his feet, and Kor-an staggered as though he had beenstruck; I thought he was going to fall."John Carter!" exclaimed Gan Hor. "The white skin, the gray eyes, theswordsmanship of which Kor-an has told me. I have never seen JohnCarter, but you could be no other;" then he wheeled upon Kor-an. "Andyou dragged the Prince of Helium, Warlord of Barsoom for half a mile atthe ends of your ropes!" He was almost screaming. "For that, you die!""No," I said. "Kor-an and I have settled that between us; he is to bepunished no further."These warrior-herdsmen of Gathol live much like our own desert nomads,moving from place to place as the requirements of pasturage and thepresence of water dictate. There is no surface water in Gathol otherthan the moisture in the salt marsh that encircles the city; but incertain places water may be found by sinking wells, and in these spotsthey make their camps, as here in the sorapus grove to which I had beenbrought.Gan Hor had water brought for me; and while I was washing away theblack pigment, the dirt, and the blood, I told him that Llana of Gatholand two companions were not far from the spot where Kor-an had capturedme; and he sent one of his padwars with a number of warriors and threeextra thoats to bring them in."And now," I said, "tell me what is happening to Gathol. The fact thatwe were attacked last night, coupled with the ring of camp firesencircling the city, suggests that Gathol is besieged by an enemy.""You are right," replied Gan Hor; "Gathol is surrounded by the troopsof Hin Abtol who styles himself Jeddak of Jeddaks of the North. He camehere some time ago in an ancient and obsolete flier, but as he came inpeace he was treated as an honored guest by Gahan. They say that heproved himself an egotistical braggart and an insufferable boor, andended by demanding that Gaban give him Llana as a wife--he already hadseven, he boasted."Of course, Gahan told him that Llana of Gathol would choose her ownmate; and when Llana refused his proposition, he threatened to comeback and take her by force. Then he went away, and the next day ourPrincess started out for Helium on a ship with twenty-five members ofher personal guard. She never reached Helium, nor has she been seen orheard of since, until you just told me that she is alive and hasreturned to Gathol."But we soon heard from Hin Abtol. He came back with a large fleet ofthe most ancient and obsolete fliers that I have ever seen; some of hisships must be over a hundred years old. Hin Abtol came back, and hedemanded the surrender of Gathol."His ships were crammed with warriors, thousands of whom leapedoverboard and descended upon the city with equilibrimotors. There wasfighting in the avenues and upon the roofs of buildings all of one day,but we eventually destroyed or made prisoners of all of them; so,finding that he could not take the city by storm, Hin Abtol laid siegeto it."He has sent all but a few of his ships away, and we believe that theyhave returned to the frozen north for reinforcements. We who were onherd duty at the beginning of the investment are unable to return tothe city, but we are continually harassing the warriors of Hin Abtolwho are encamped upon the plain.""So they are using equilibrimotors," I said; "it seems strange that anypeoples from the frozen north should have these. They were absolutelyunknown in Okar when I was there."The equilibrimotor is an ingenious device for individual flying. Itconsists of a broad belt, not unlike the life belt used aboardpassenger ships on Earth; the belt is filled with the eighth Barsoomianray, or ray of propulsion, to a sufficient degree to equalize the pullof gravity and thus to maintain a person in equilibrium between thatforce and the opposite force exerted by the eighth ray. Attached to theback of the belt is a small radium motor, the controls for which are onthe front of the belt; while rigidly attached to and projecting fromthe upper rim of the belt is a strong, light wing with small handlevers for quickly altering its position. I could understand that theymight prove very effective for landing troops in an enemy city bynight.I had listened to Gan Hor with feelings of the deepest concern, for Iknew that Gathol was not a powerful country and that a long andpersistent siege must assuredly reduce it unless outside help came.Gathol depends for its food supplies upon the plains which comprisepractically all of its territory. The far northwest corner of thecountry is cut by one of Barsoom's famous canals; and here the grains,and vegetables, and fruits which supply the city are raised; while uponher plains graze the herds that supply her with meat. And enemysurrounding the city would cut off all these supplies; and while Gahandoubtless had reserves stored in the city, they could not lastindefinitely.In discussing this with Gan Hor, I remarked that if I could get hold ofa flier I'd return to Helium and bring a fleet of her mighty war shipsand transports with guns and men enough to wipe Hin Abtol and hisPanars off the face of Barsoom."Well," said Gan Hor, "your flier is here; it came with Hin Abtol'sfleet. One of my men recognized it and your insigne upon it the momenthe saw it; and we have all been wondering how Hin Abtol acquired it;but then, he has ships from a score of different nations, and has notbothered to remove their insignia.""He found it in a courtyard in the deserted city of Horz," I explained;"and when he was attacked by green men, he made off in it with a coupleof his warriors, leaving the others to be killed."Just then the padwar who had gone to fetch Llana, Pan Dan Chee, andJad-han returned with his detachment--and three riderless thoats!"They were not there," he said; "though we searched everywhere, wecould not find them; but there was blood on the ground where they hadbeen."Chapter 4So Llana of Gathol was lost to me again! That she had been captured byHin Abtol's warriors, there seemed little doubt. I asked Gan Hor for athoat, that I might ride out and examine the spot at which the partyhad been taken; and he not only acceded to my request, but accompaniedme with a detachment of his warriors.There had evidently been a fight at the place that I had left them; thevegetation was trampled, and there was blood upon it; but so resilientis this mosslike carpeting of the dead sea bottoms of Mars, that,except for the blood, the last traces of the encounter were fastdisappearing; and there was no indication of the direction taken byLlana's captors."How far are their lines from here?" I asked Gan Hor."About nine haads," he replied--that is not quite three Earth miles."We might as well return to your camp," I said; "we haven't asufficiently strong force to accomplish anything now. I shall returnafter dark.""We can make a little raid on one of their encampments tonight,"suggested Gan Hor."I shall go alone," I told him; "I have a plan."But it won't be safe," he objected. "I have a hundred men with whom Iam constantly harassing them; we should be glad to ride with you.""I am going only for information, Gan Hor; I can get that betteralone."We returned to camp, and with the help of one of Gan Hor's warriors Iapplied to my face and body the red pigment that I always carry with mefor use when I find it necessary to disguise myself as a native bornred man--a copper colored ointment such as had first been given me bythe Ptor brothers of Zodanga many years ago.After dark I set out on thoatback, accompanied by Gan Hor and a coupleof his warriors; as I had accepted his offer of transportation to apoint much nearer the Panar lines. Fortunately the heavens weretemporarily moonless, and we came quite close to the enemy's firstfires before I dismounted and bid my new friends goodby."Good luck!" said Gan Hor; "and you'll need it."Kor-an was one of the warriors who had accompanied us. "I'd like to gowith you, Prince," he said; "thus I might atone for the thing I did.""If I could take anyone, I'd take you, Kor-an," I assured him. "Anyway,you have nothing to atone for; but if you want to do something for me,promise that you will fight always for Tara of Helium and Llana ofGathol.""On my sword, I swear it," he said; and then I left them and made myway cautiously toward the Panar camp.Once again, as upon so many other occasions, I used the tactics ofanother race of red warriors--the Apaches of our own Southwest--worming my way upon my belly closer and closer toward the lines of theenemy. I could see the forms of warriors clustered about their fires,and I could hear their voices and their rough laughter; and, as I drewnearer, the oaths and obscenities which seem to issue most naturallyfrom the mouths of fighting men; and when a gust of wind blew from thecamp toward me, I could even smell the sweat and the leather minglingwith the acrid fumes of the smoke of their fires.A sentry paced his post between me and the fires; when he came closestto me, I flattened myself upon the ground. I heard him yawn. When hewas almost on top of me, I rose up before him; and before he couldvoice a warning cry, I seized him by the throat. Three times I drove mydagger into his heart. I hate to kill like that; but now there was noother way, and it was not for myself that I killed him--it was forLlana of Gathol, for Tara of Helium, and for Dejah Thoris, my belovedprincess.Just as I lowered his body to the ground, a warrior at a nearby firearose and looked out toward us. "What was that?" he asked his fellows."The sentry," one of them replied; "there he is now." I was slowlypacing the post of the departed, hoping none would come to investigate."I could have sworn I saw two men scuffling there," said the firstspeaker."You are always seeing things," said a third.I walked the post until they had ceased to discuss the matter and hadturned their attention elsewhere; then I knelt beside the dead man andremoved his harness and weapons, which I immediately donned. Now I was,to outward appearances anyway, a soldier of Hin Abtol, a Panar fromsome glazed, hothouse city of the frozen North.Walking to the far end of my post, I left it and entered the camp atsome distance from the group which included the warrior whosesuspicions I had aroused. Although I passed close to another group ofwarriors, no one paid any attention to me. Other individuals werewandering around from fire to fire, and so my movements attracted nonotice.I must have walked fully a haad inside the lines away from my point ofentry before I felt that it would be safe to stop and mix with thewarriors. Finally I saw a lone warrior sitting beside a fire, andapproached him."Kaor!" I said, using the universal greeting of Barsoom."Kaor!" he replied. "Sit down. I am a stranger here and have no friendsin this dar." A dar is a unit of a thousand men, analogous to ourEarthly regiment. "I just came down today with a fresh contingent fromPankor. It is good to move about and see the world again, after havingbeen frozen in for fifty years.""You haven't been away from Pankor for fifty years!" I exclaimed,guessing that Pankor was the name of the Arctic city from which hehailed, and hoping that I was guessing right."No," he said; "and you! How long were you frozen in?""I have never been to Pankor," I said; "I am a panthan who has justjoined up with Hin Abtol's forces since they came south." I thoughtthis the safest position to take, since I should be sure to arousesuspicion were I to claim familiarity with Pankor, when I had neverbeen there."Well," said my companion, "you must be crazy.""Why?" I asked."Nobody but a crazy man would put himself in the power of Hin Abtol.Well, you've done it; and now you'll be taken to Pankor after this waris over, unless you're lucky enough to be killed; and you'll be frozenin there until Hin Abtol needs you for another campaign. What's yourname?""Dotor Sojat," I replied, falling back on that old time name the greenMartian horde of Thark had given me so many years before."Mine is Em-tar; I am from Kobol.""I thought you said you were from Pankor.""I'm a Kobolian by birth," he explained. "Where are you from?""We panthans have no country," I reminded him."But you must have been born somewhere," he insisted."Perhaps the less said about that the better," I said, attempting a slywink.He laughed. "Sorry I asked," he said.Sometimes, when a man has committed a political crime, a huge reward isoffered for information concerning his whereabouts; so, as well aschanging his name, he never divulges the name of his country. I letEm-tar think that I was a fugitive from justice."How do you think this campaign is going?" I asked."If Hin Abtol can starve them out, he may win," replied Em-tar; "butfrom what I have heard he could never take the city by storm. TheseGatholians are great fighters, which is more than can be said for thosewho fight under Hin Abtol--our hearts aren't in it; we have no feelingof loyalty for Hin Abtol; but these Gatholians now, they're fightingfor their homes and their jed; and they love 'em both. They say thatGahan's Princess is a daughter of The Warlord of Barsoom. Say, if hehears about this and brings a fleet and an army from Helium, we mightjust as well start digging our graves.""Are we taking many prisoners?" I asked."Not many. Three were taken this morning; one of them was the daughterof Gahan, the Jed of Gathol; the other two were men.""That's interesting," I said; "I wonder what Hin Abtol will do with thedaughter of Gahan.""That I wouldn't know," replied Em-tar, "but they say he's sent her offto Pankor already. You hear a lot of rumors in an army, though; andmost of them are wrong.""I suppose Hin Abtol has a big fleet of fliers," I said."He's got a lot of old junk, and not many men capable of flying what hehas got.""I'm a flier," I said."You'd better not let 'em know it, or they'll have you on board someold wreck," advised Em-tar."Where's their landing field here?""Down that way about a haad;" he pointed in the direction I had beengoing when I stopped to talk with him."Well, goodby, Em-tar," I said, rising."Where are you going?""To fly for Hin Abtol of Pankor," I said.Chapter 5I made my way through the camp to where a number of fliers were linedup; it was an extremely ragged, unmilitary line, suggestinginefficiency; and the ships were the most surprising aggregation ofobsolete relics I have ever seen; most of them were museum pieces.Some warriors were sitting around fires nearby; and, assuming that theywere attached to the flying service, I approached them."Where is the flying officer in command?" I asked."Over there," said one of the men, pointing at the largest ship on theline."Why--do you want to see him?""Yes.""Well, he's probably drunk.""He is drunk," said another."What's his name?" I asked."Odwar Phor San," replied my informant. Odwar is about the same asgeneral, or brigadier general. He commands ten thousand men in the armyand a fleet in the navy."Thanks," I said; "I'll go over and see him.""You wouldn't, if you knew him; he's as mean as an ulsio."I walked over to the big ship. It was battered and weatherbeaten, andmust have been at least fifty years old. A boarding ladder hung downamidships, and at its foot stood a warrior with drawn sword."What do you want?" he demanded"I have a message for Odwar Phor San," I said."Who is it from?""That is none of your business," I told him', "send word to the odwarthat Dotor Sojat wishes to see him on an important matter."The fellow saluted with mock elaborateness. "I didn't know we had ajedwar among us," he said. "Why didn't you tell me?"Now, jedwar is the highest rank in a Barsoomian army or navy, otherthan that of jed or jeddak or Warlord, a rank created especially for meby the jeddaks of five empires. That warrior would have been surprisedcould he have known that he had conferred upon me a title far inferiorto my own.I laughed at his little joke, and said, "One never knows whom one isentertaining.""If you really have a message for the old ulsio, I'll call the deckwatch; but, by Issus, you'd better have a message of importance.""I have," I assured him; and I spoke the truth, for it was oftremendous importance to me; so he hailed the deck watch and told himto tell the odwar that Dotor Sojat had come with an important messagefor him.I waited about five minutes, and then I was summoned aboard andconducted to one of the cabins. A gross, slovenly man sat before atable on which was a large tankard and several heavy, metal goblets. Helooked at me scowlingly out of bleary eyes."What does that son of a calot want now?" he demanded.I guessed that he referred to a superior officer, and probably to HinAbtol.Well, if he thought I bore a message from Hin Abtol, so much thebetter."I am to report to you as an experienced flier," I said."He sent you at this time of night to report to me as a flier?" healmost shouted at me."You have few experienced fliers," I said. "I am a panthan who hasflown every type of ship in the navy of Helium. I gathered that youwould be glad to get me before some other commander snapped me up. I ama navigator, and familiar with all modern instruments, but if you don'twant me I shall then be free to attach myself elsewhere."He was befuddled by strong drink, or I'd probably never have gottenaway with such a bluff. He pretended to be considering the matterseriously; and while he considered it, he poured himself another drink,which he swallowed in two or three gulps--what didn't run down hisfront. Then he filled another goblet and pushed it across the tabletoward me, slopping most of its contents on the table top."Have drink!" he said."Not now," I said; "I never drink when I am on duty.""You're not on duty.""I am always on duty; I may have to take a ship up at any moment."He pondered this for several minutes with the assistance of anotherdrink; then he filled another goblet and pushed it across the tabletoward me. "Have drink," he said.I now had two full goblets in front of me; it was evident that Phor Sanhad not noticed that I had failed to drink the first one."What ship shall I command?" I asked; I was promoting myself rapidly.Phor San paid no attention to my question, being engaged in what wasnow becoming a delicate and difficult operation--the pouring ofanother drink; most of it went on the table, from where it ran downinto his lap."What ship did you say I was to command?" I demanded.He looked bewildered for a moment; then he tried to draw himselftogether with military dignity. "You will command the Dusar, Dwar," hesaid; then he filled another goblet and pushed it toward me. "Havedrink, Dwar," he said. My promotion was confirmed.I walked over to a desk covered with an untidy litter of papers, andsearched until I found an official blank; on it I wrote:  To Dwar Dotor Sojat:  You will immediately take over command of ship Dusar.  By order of  Odwar CommandingAfter finding a cloth and wiping the liquor from the table in front ofhim, I laid the order down and handed him a pen."You forgot to sign this, Odwar," I said. He was commencing to weave,and I saw that I must hurry."Sign what?" he demanded, reaching for the tankard.I pushed it away from him, took his hand, and placed the pen point atthe right place on the order blank. "Sign here," I ordered."Sign here," he repeated, and laboriously scrawled his name; then hefell forward on the table, asleep. I had been just in time.I went on deck; both moons were now in the sky, Cluros just above thehorizon, Thuria a little higher; by the time Cluros approached zenith,Thuria would have completed her orbit around Barsoom and passed him, soswift her flight through the heavens.The deck watch approached me. "Where lies the Dusar?" I asked.He pointed down the line. "About the fifth or sixth ship, I think," hesaid.I went overside; and as I reached the ground, the sentry there asked,"Was the old ulsio as drunk as ever?""He was perfectly sober," I replied."Then some one had better send for the doctor," he said, "for he mustbe sick.".I walked along the line, and at the fifth ship I approached the sentryat the foot of its ladder. "Is this the Dusar?" I asked."Can't you read?" he demanded, impudently.I look up then at the insigne on the ship's bow; it was the Dusar. "Canyou read?" I asked, and held the order up in front of him.He snapped to attention and saluted. "I couldn't tell by your metal,"he said, sullenly. He was quite right; I was wearing the metal of acommon warrior.I looked the ship over. From the ground it hadn't a very promisingappearance--just a disreputable, obsolete old hulk. Then I climbed theladder and stepped to the deck of my new command; there was noboatswain's call to pipe the side; there was only one man on watch; andhe was curled up on the deck, fast asleep.I walked over and poked him with the toe of a sandal. "Wake up, there!"I ordered.He opened an eye and looked up at me; then he leaped to his feet. "Whoare you?" he demanded. "What are you doing here? What do you mean bykicking me in the ribs and waking me up?""One question at a time, my man," I said. "I shall answer your firstquestion, and that will answer the others also." I held the order outto him.As he took it, he said, "Don't call me my man, you-" But he stoppedthere; he had read the order. He saluted and handed the order back tome, but I noticed just the suggestion of a grin on his face."Why did you smile?" I asked."I was thinking that you probably got the softest job in Hin Abtol'snavy," he said."What do you mean?""You won't have anything to do; the Dusar is out of commission--shewon't fly."So! Perhaps Odwar Phor San was not as drunk as I had thought him.Chapter 6The deck of the Dusar was weatherbeaten and filthy; everything was indisorder, but what difference did that make if the ship wouldn't fly?"How many officers and men comprise her complement?" I asked.The fellow grinned and pointed to himself. "One," he said, "or, rather,two, now that you are here."I asked him his name, and he said that it was Fo-nar. In the UnitedStates he would have been known as an ordinary seaman, but the Martianwords for seaman and sailor are now as obsolete as the oceans withwhich they died, almost from the memory of man. All sailors andsoldiers are known as thans, which I have always translated aswarriors."Well, Fo-nar," I said; "let's have a look at our ship. What's wrongwith her?Why won't she fly?""It's the engine, sir," he said; "it won't start any more.""I'll have a look over the ship," I said, "and then we'll see if wecan't do something about the engine."I took Fo-nar with me and went below. Everything there was filthy andin disorder. "How long has she been out of commission?" I asked."About a month.""You certainly couldn't have made all this mess by yourself in amonth," I said."No, sir; she was always like this even when she was flying," he said."Who commanded her? Whoever he was, he should be cashiered forpermitting a ship to get in this condition.""He won't ever be cashiered, sir," said Fo-nar."Why?" I asked."Because he got drunk and fell overboard on our last flight," Fo-narexplained, with a grin.I inspected the guns, there were eight of them, four on a side besidesmaller bow and stern guns on deck; they all seemed to be in prettyfair condition, and there was plenty of ammunition. The bomb racks inthe bilge were full, and there was a bomb trap forward and another aft.There were quarters for twenty-five men and three officers, a goodgalley, and plenty of provisions. If I had not seen Odwar Phor San, Icould not have understood why all this material--guns, ammunition,provisions, and tackle--should have been left on a ship permanentlyout of commission. The ship appeared to me to be about ten years old--that is, after a careful inspection; superficially, it looked ahundred.I told Fo-nar to go back on deck and go to sleep, if he wished to; andthen I went into the dwar's cabin and lay down; I hadn't had much sleepthe night before, and I was tired. It was daylight when I awoke, and Ifound Fo-nar in the galley getting his breakfast. I told him to preparemine, and after we had both eaten I went to have a look at the engine.It hurt me to go through that ship and see the condition its drunkenskipper had permitted it to get into. I love these Barsoomian fliers,and I have been in the navy of Helium for so many years that ships haveacquired almost human personalities for me. I have designed them; Ihave superintended their construction; I have developed new ideas inequipment, engines, and armament; and several standard flying andnavigating instruments are of my invention. If there is anything Idon't know about a modern Martian flier; then nobody else knows it.I found tools and practically dismantled the engine, checking everypart. While I was doing this, I had Fo-nar start cleaning up the ship.I told him to start with my cabin and then tackle the galley next. Itwould have taken one man a month or more to put the Dusar in even faircondition, but at least we would make a start.I hadn't been working on the engine half an hour before I found whatwas wrong with it--just dirt! Every feed line was clogged; and thatmarvellous, concentrated, Martian fuel could not reach the motor.I was appalled by the evidence of such stupidity and inefficiency,though not entirely surprised; drunken commanders and Barsoomian fliersjust don't go together. In the navy of Helium, no officer drinks whileon board ship or on duty; and not one of them drinks to excess at anytime.If an officer were ever drunk on board his ship, the crew would see toit that he was never drunk again; they know that their lives are in thehands of their officers, and they don't purpose trusting them to adrunken man--they simply push the officer overboard. It is such a wellestablished custom, or used to be before drinking on the part ofofficers practically ceased, that no action was ever taken against thewarrior who took discipline into his own hands, even though the actwere witnessed by officers. I rather surmised that this time honoredcustom had had something to do with the deplorable accident that hadrobbed the Dusar of her former commander.The day was practically gone by the time I had cleaned every part ofthe engine thoroughly and reassembled it; then I started it; and thesweet, almost noiseless and vibrationless, hum of it was music to myears. I had a ship--a ship that would fly!One man can operate such a ship, but of course he can't fight it.Where, however, could I get men? I didn't want just any men; I wantedgood fighting men who would just as lief fight against Hin Abtol asnot.Pondering this problem I went to my cabin to clean up; it lookedspick-and-span.Fo-nar had done a good job; he had also laid out the harness and metalof a dwar--doubtless the property of the late commander. Bathed andproperly garbed, I felt like a new man as I stepped out onto the upperdeck. Fo-nar snapped to attention and saluted."Fo-nar," I said, "are you a Panar?""I should say not," he replied with some asperity. "I am from Jaharoriginally, but now I have no country--I am a panthan.""You were there during the reign of Tul Axtar?" I asked."Yes," he replied; "it was on his account that I became an exile--Itried to kill him, and I got caught; I just barely escaped with mylife. I cannot go back so long as he is alive.""You can go back, then," I said; "Tul Axtar is dead."Tow do you know, sir?""I know the man who killed him.""Just my luck!" exclaimed Fo-nar; "now that I might go back, I can't.""Why can't you?""For the same reason, sir, that where ever you are from you'll never goback, unless you are from Panar, which I doubt.""No, I am not from Panar," I said; "but what makes you think I won't goback to my own country?""Because no one upon whom Hin Abtol gets his hands ever escapes, otherthan through death."Chapter 7"Oh, come, Fo-nar," I said; "that is ridiculous. What is to preventeither one of us from deserting?""If we deserted here," he replied, "we would immediately be picked upby the Gatholians and killed; after this campaign is over, we will notmake a landing until we reach Panar; and from Panar there is no escape.Hin Abtol's ships never stop at a friendly city, where one might findan opportunity to escape; for there are no cities friendly to HinAbtol. He attacks every city that he believes he can take, sacks it,and flies away with all the loot he can gather and with as manyprisoners as his ships will carry--mostly men; they say he has amillion now, and that he plans eventually to conquer Helium and thenall of Barsoom. He took me prisoner when he sacked Raxar on his waydown from Panar to Gathol; I was serving there in the army of the jed.""You would like to return to Jahar?" I asked."Certainly," he replied. "My mate is there, if she still lives; I havebeen gone twenty years.""You feel no loyalty toward Hin Abtol?""Absolutely none," he replied; "why?""I think I can tell you. I have the same power that all Barsoomianshave of being able to read the mind of another when he happens to beoff guard; and a couple of times, Fo-nar, your subconscious mind hasdropped its guard and permitted me to read your thoughts; I havelearned several things about you. One is that you are constantlywondering about me--who I am and whether I am to be trusted. Foranother thing, I have learned that you despise the Panars. I alsodiscovered that you were no common warrior in Jahar, but a dwar in thejeddak's service--you were thinking about that when you first saw mein the metal and harness of a dwar."Fo-nar smiled. "You read well," he said; "I must be more careful. Youread much better than I do, or else you guard your thoughts morejealously than I; for I have not been able to obtain even the slightestinkling of what is passing in your mind.""No man has ever been able to read my mind," I said, and that is verystrange, too, and quite inexplicable. The Martians have developed mindreading to a point where it is a fine art, but none has ever been ableto read my mind. Perhaps that is because it is the mind of an Earthman, and may account for the fact that telepathy has not advanced faron our planet."You are fortunate," said Fo-nar; "but please go on and tell me whatyou started to.""Well," I said, "in the first place, I have repaired the engine--theDusar can now fly.""Good!" exclaimed Fo-nar. "I said you were no Panar; they are thestupidest people in the world. No Panar could ever have repaired it;all they can do is let things go to wrack and ruin. Go on.""Now we need a crew. Can we find from fifteen to twenty-five men whomwe can trust and who can fight--men who will follow me anywhere I leadthem to win their freedom from Hin Abtol?""I can find you all the men you need," replied Fo-nar."Get busy then," I said; "you are now First Padwar of the Dusar.""I am getting up in the world again," said Fo-nar, laughing. "I'llstart out immediately, but don't expect a miracle--it may take alittle time to find the right men.""Have them report to the ship after dark, and tell them to be sure thatno one sees them. What can we do about that sentry at the foot of theladder?""The one who was on duty when you came aboard is all right," saidFo-nar; "he'll come with us. He's on from the eighth to the ninthzodes, and I'll tell the men to come at that time.""Good luck, padwar!" I said, as he went overside.The remainder of the day dragged slowly. I spent some time in my cabinlooking through the ship's papers. Barsoomian ships keep a log just asEarth ships do, and I occupied several hours looking through the log ofthe Dusar. The ship had been captured four years before while on ascientific expedition to the Arctic, since then, under Panarcommanders, the log had been very poorly kept. Some times there were noentries for a week, and those that were made were unprofessional andsloppy; the more I learned about the Panars the less I liked them--andto think that the creature who ruled them aspired to conquer a world!About the end of the seventh zode Fo-nar returned. "I had much betterluck than I anticipated," he said; "every man I approached knew threeor four he could vouch for; so it didn't take long to get twenty-five.I think, too, that I have just the man for Second Padwar. He was apadwar in the army of Helium, and has served on many of her ships.""What is his name?" I asked. I have known many men from Helium.""He is Tan Hadron of Hastor," replied Fo-nar.Tan Hadron of Hastor! Why, he was one of my finest officers. What illluck could have brought him to the navy of Hin Abtol?"Tan Hadron of Hastor," I said aloud; "the name sounds a littlefamiliar; it is possible that I knew him." I did not wish anyone toknow that I was John Carter, Prince of Helium; for if it became known,and I was captured, Hin Abtol could have wrested an enormous ransomfrom Tardos Mors, Jeddak of Helium and grandfather of my mate, DejahThoris.Immediately after the eighth zode, warriors commenced to come aboardthe Dusar.I had instructed Fo-nar to immediately send them below to theirquarters, for I feared that too much life on the deck of the Dusarmight attract attention; I had also told him to send Tan Hadron to mycabin as soon as he came aboard.About half after the eighth zode someone scratched on my door; and whenI bade him enter, Tan Hadron stepped into the cabin. My red skin andPanar harness deceived him, and he did not recognize me."I am Tan Hadron of Hastor," he said; "Padwar Fo-nar instructed me toreport to you.""You are not a Panar?" I asked.He stiffened. "I am a Heliumite from the city of Hastor," he said,proudly."Where is Hastor?" I asked.He looked surprised at such ignorance. "It lies directly south ofGreater Helium sir; about five hundred haads. You will pardon me," headded, "but I understood from Padwar Fo-nar that you knew many men fromHelium, and so I imagined that you had visited the empire; in fact hegave me to understand that you had served in our navy.""That is neither here nor there," I said. "Fo-nar has recommended youfor the post of Second Padwar aboard the Dusar. You will have to serveme faithfully and follow where ever I lead; your reward will consist ofyour freedom from Hin Abtol."I could see that he was a little bit skeptical about the wholeproposition now that he had met me--a man who had never heard ofHastor couldn't amount to much; but he touched the hilt of his swordand said that he would follow me loyally."Is that all, sir?" he asked."Yes," I said; "for the time being. After the men are all aboard Ishall have them mustered below deck, and at that time I shall name theofficers; please be there."He saluted, and turned to go."Oh, by the way," I called to him, "how is Tavia?"At that he wheeled about as though he had been shot, and his eyes wentwide."What do you know of Tavia, sir?" he demanded. Tavia is his mate."I know that she is a very lovely girl, and that I can't understand whyyou are not back in Hastor with her; or are you stationed in Heliumnow?"He came a little closer, and looked at me intently. As a matter offact, the light was not very good in my cabin, or he would haverecognized me sooner.Finally his jaw dropped, and then he unbuckled his sword and threw itat my feet. "John Carter!" he exclaimed."Not so loud, Hadron," I cautioned; "no one here knows who I am; and noone must, but you.""You had a good time with me, didn't you, sir?" he laughed."It has been some time since I have had anything to laugh about," Isaid; "so I hope you will forgive me; now tell me about yourself andhow you got into this predicament.""Perhaps half the navy of Helium is looking for Llana of Gathol andyou," he said. "Rumors of the whereabouts of one or the other of youhave come from all parts of Barsoom. Like many another officer I wasscouting for you or Llana in a one man flier. I had bad luck, sir; andhere I am. One of Hin Abtol's ships shot me down, and then landed andcaptured me.""Llana of Gathol and I, with two companions, were also shot down by oneof Hin Abtol's ships," I told him. "While I was searching for food,they were captured, presumably by some of Hin Abtol's warriors, as welanded behind their lines. We must try to ascertain, if possible, whereLlana is; then we can plan intelligently. Possibly some of our recruitsmay have information; see what you can find out."He saluted and left my cabin. It was good to know that I had such a manas Tan Hadron of Hastor as one of my lieutenants.Chapter 8Shortly after Tan Hadron left my cabin, Fo-nar entered to report thatall but one of the recruits had reported and that he had the menputting the flier in shipshape condition. He seemed a little bitworried about something, and I asked him what it was."It's about this warrior who hasn't reported," he replied. "The man whopersuaded him to join up is worried, too. He said he hadn't known himlong, but since he came aboard the Dusar he's met a couple of men whoknow the fellow well; and they say he's an ulsio.""Well, there's nothing we can do about it now," I said. "If this mantalks and arouses suspicion, we may have to take off in a hurry. Haveyou assigned each man to his station?""Tan Hadron is doing that now," he replied. "I think we have found asplendid officer in that man.""I am sure of it," I agreed. "Be sure that four men are detailed to cutthe cables instantly, if it becomes necessary for us to make a quickgetaway."When on the ground, the larger Martian fliers are moored to fourdeadmen, one on either side at the bow and one on either side at thestern. Unless a ship is to return to the same anchorage, these deadmenare dug up and taken aboard before she takes off. In the event offorced departure, such as I anticipated might be necessary in our case,the cables attached to the deadmen are often cut.Fo-nar hadn't been gone from my cabin five minutes before he camehurrying in again. "I guess we're in for it, sir," he said; "Odwar PhorSan is coming aboard! That missing recruit is with him; he must havereported all he knew to Phor San.""When the odwar comes aboard, bring him down to my cabin; and thenorder the men to their stations; see that the four men you havedetailed for that duty stand by the mooring cables with axes; ask TanHadron to start the engine and stand by to take off; post a man outsidemy cabin door to pass the word to take off when I give the signal; I'llclap my hands twice."Fo-nar was gone only a couple of minutes before he returned. "He won'tcome below," he reported; "he's storming around up there like a madthoat, demanding to have the man brought on deck who gave orders torecruit a crew for the Dusar.""Is Tan Hadron at the controls ready to start the engine?" I asked."He is," replied Fo-nar."He will start them, then, as soon as I come on deck; at the same timepost your men at the mooring cables; tell them what the signal willbe."I waited a couple of minutes after Fo-nar had left; then I went ondeck. Phor San was stamping up and down, evidently in a terrible rage;he was also a little drunk.I walked up to him and saluted. "Did you send for me, sir?" I asked."Who are you?" he demanded."Dwar commanding the Dusar, sir," I replied."Who said so?" he yelled. "Who assigned you to this ship? Who assignedyou to any ship?""You did, sir.""I?" he screamed. "I never saw you before. You are under arrest. Arresthim!" He turned to a warrior at his elbow--my missing recruit, as Isuspected--and started to speak to him again."Wait a minute," I said; "look at this; here's a written order overyour own signature assigning me to the command of the Dusar." I heldthe order up where he could read it in the bright light of Mars' twomoons.He looked surprised and a little crestfallen for just a moment; then heblustered, "It's a forgery! Anyway, it didn't give you authority torecruit warriors for the ship." He was weakening."What good is a fighting ship without warriors?" I demanded."You don't need warriors on a ship that won't fly, you idiot," he cameback."You thought you were pretty cute, getting me to sign that order; but Iwas a little cuter--I knew the Dusar wouldn't fly.""Well, then, why all the fuss, sir?" I asked."Because you're plotting something; I don't know what, but I'm going tofind out--getting men aboard this ship secretly at night! I rescindthat order, and I place you under arrest."I had hoped to get him off the ship peaceably, for I wanted to makesure of Llana's whereabouts before taking off. One man had told me thathe had heard that she was on a ship bound for Pankor, but that was notdefinite. I also wished to know if Hin Abtol was with her."Very well, Phor San," I said; "now let me tell you something. I am incommand of this ship, and I intend to stay in command. I'll give youand this rat here three seconds to get over the side, for the Dusarwill take off in three seconds," and then I clapped my hands twice.Phor San laughed a sneering laugh. "I told you it wouldn't fly," hesaid; "now come along! If you won't come quietly, you'll be taken;" hepointed overside. I looked, and saw a strong detachment of warriorsmarching toward the Dusar; at the same time, the Dusar rose from theground.Phor San stood in front of me, gloating. "What are you going to donow?" he demanded."Take you for a little ride, Phor San," I replied, and pointedoverside.He took one look, and then ran to the rail. His warriors were lookingup at him in futile bewilderment. Phor San shouted to the padwarcommanding them, "Order the Okar to pursue and take this ship!" TheOkar was his flagship."Perhaps you'd like to come down to my cabin and have a little drink,"I suggested, the liquor of the former commander being still there. "Yougo with him," I ordered the recruit who had betrayed us; "you will findliquor in one of the cabinets;" then I went to the bridge. On the way,I sent a warrior to summon Fo-nar. I told Tan Hadron to circle abovethe line of ships; and when Fo-nar reported, I gave him his orders, andhe went below."We can't let them take to the air," I told Tan Hadron; "this is not afast ship, and if several of them overhauled us we wouldn't have achance."Following my orders, Tan Hadron flew low toward the first ship on theline; it was the Okar, and she was about to take off. I signalled downto Fo-nar, and an instant later there was a terrific explosion aboardthe Okar--our first bomb had made a clean hit! Slowly we moved downthe line, dropping our bombs; but before we had reached the middle ofit, ships at the lower end were taking off and projectiles werebursting around us from the ground batteries."It's time we got out of here," I said to Tan Hadron. He opened thethrottle wide then, and the Dusar rose rapidly in a zig zag course.Our own guns were answering the ground batteries, and evidently veryeffectively, for we were not hit once. I felt that we had come out ofthe affair so far very fortunately. We hadn't disabled as many ships asI had hoped that we I might, and there were already several in the airwhich would doubtless pursue us; I could see one ship on our tailalready, but she was out of range and apparently not gaining on usrapidly, if at all.I told Tan Hadron to set his course due North, and then I sent forFo-nar and told him to muster all hands on deck; I wanted a chance tolook over my crew and explain what our expedition involved. There wastime for this now, while no ships were within range of us, which mightnot be true in a short time.The men came piling up from below and from their stations on deck. Theywere, for the most part, a hardbitten lot, veterans, I should say, ofmany a campaign.As I looked them over I could see that they were sizing me up; theywere probably wondering more about me than I was about them, for I wasquite sure what they would do if they thought they could get the upperhand of me--I'd "fall" overboard, and they would take over the ship,then they'd quarrel among themselves as to what they would do with itand where they would fly it; in the end, half a dozen of the hardiestwould survive, make for the nearest city, sell the Dusar, and have awild orgy--if they didn't wreck her before.I asked each man his name and his past experience; there were, amongthe twenty-three, eleven panthans and twelve assassins; and they hadfought all over the world. Seven of the panthans were from Helium, orhad served in the Helium navy. I knew that these men were accustomed todiscipline. The assassins were from various cities, scattered all overBarsoom. I didn't need to ask them, to be quite sure that each hadincurred the wrath of his Guild and been forced to flee in order toescape assassination himself; they were a tough lot."We are flying to Pankor," I told them, "in search of the daughter ofthe jed of Gathol, who has been abducted by Hin Abtol. There may be agreat deal of fighting before we get her; if we succeed and live, wewill fly to Helium; there I shall turn the ship over to you, and youcan do what you please with it.""You're not flying me to Pankor," said one of the assassins; "I've beenthere for twenty-five years, and I'm not going back."This was insubordination verging on mutiny. In a well disciplined navy,it would have been a very simple thing to handle; but here, where therewas no higher authority than I, I had to take a very different coursefrom a commander with a powerful government behind him. I stepped up tothe man and slapped him as I had slapped Kor-an; and, like Kor-an, hewent down."You're flying wherever I fly you," I said; "I'll have noinsubordination on this ship."He leaped to his feet and whipped out his sword, and there was nothingfor me to do but draw also."The penalty for this, you understand, is death," I said, "-unless yousheathe your sword immediately.""I'll sheathe it in your belly, you calot!" he cried, making a terrificlunge at me, which I parried easily and then ran him through the rightshoulder. I knew that I would have to kill him, for the discipline ofthe ship and perhaps the fate of Llana of Gathol might hinge on thisquestion of my supremacy and my authority; but first I must give anexhibition of swordplay that would definitely assure the other membersof the crew that the lethal thrust was no accident, as they might havethought had I killed him at once.So I played with him as a cat plays with a mouse, until the othermembers of the crew, who had stood silent and scowling at first,commenced to ridicule him."I thought you were going to sheathe your sword in his belly," tauntedone."Why don't you kill him, Gan-ho?" demanded another. "I thought you weresuch a great swordsman.""I can tell you one thing," said a third: "you are not going to fly toPankor, or anywhere else. Goodby, Gan-ho! you are dead."Just to show the other men how easily I could do it, I disarmed Gan-ho,sending his blade rattling across the deck. He stood for a momentglaring at me like a mad beast; then he turned and ran across the deckand dove over the rail. I was glad that I did not have to kill him.I turned to the men gathered before me. "Is there any other who willnot fly to Pankor?" I asked, and waited for a reply.Several of them grinned sheepishly; and there was much scuffing ofsandals on the deck, but no one replied."I had you mustered here to tell where we were flying and why; alsothat Fo-nar is First Padwar, Tan Hadron is Second Padwar, and I am yourDwar--we are to be obeyed. Return to your stations."Chapter 9Shortly after the men dispersed, Phor San and his satellite appeared ondeck; they were both drunk. Phor San came toward me and stopped infront of me waving an erratic finger at me. He stunk of the liquor hehad been drinking."In the name of Hin Abtol, Jeddak of Jeddaks of the North," hedeclaimed, "I order you to turn over the command of this ship to me, orsuffer the full consequences of your crime of mutiny."I saw the men on deck eyeing the two banefully. "You'd better gobelow," I said; "you might fall overboard."Phor San turned to some of the crew members. "I am Odwar Phor San," heannounced, "commander of the fleet; put this man in irons and returnthe ship to the air field!""I think you have gone far enough, Phor San," I said; "if you continue,I shall have to assume that you are attempting to incite my crew tomutiny, and act accordingly. Go below!""You trying to give me orders on one of my ships?" he demanded. "I'llhave you understand that I am Phor San-""Commander of the fleet," I finished for him, "Here," I said to acouple of warriors standing near, "take these two below, and if theydon't behave themselves, tie them up."Fuming and blustering, Phor San was dragged below. His companion wentquietly; I guess he knew what was good for him.The one ship was still hanging onto our tail and not gainingperceptibly, but there were two just behind her which were overhaulingboth of us."That doesn't look so good," I said to Tan Hadron, who was standing atmy side."Let's show them something," he said."What, for instance?" I asked."Do you remember that maneuver of yours the last time Helium wasattacked by an enemy fleet, where you got the flag ship and two otherships that thought you were running from them?""All right," I said, "we'll try it." Then I sent for Fo-nar and gavehim full instructions. While we were talking, I heard a series ofpiercing screams, gradually diminishing in the distance; but my mindwas so occupied with this other matter, that I scarcely gave them athought. Presently I got an "all's ready" report from Fo-nar, and toldTan Hadron to go ahead with the maneuver.The Dusar was going full speed ahead against a strong head wind, andwhen he brought her about she sped toward the oncoming ships like aracing thoat. Two of them were in position to open up on us when wecame within range; however, they commenced firing too soon. We quiteproperly held our fire until it was effective. We were all firing ourbow guns--the only ones that could be brought to bear; and no one wasdoing much damage.As we drew closer to the leading ship, I saw considerable confusion onher deck; I imagine they thought we were going to ram them. Just thenour gunner succeeded in putting her bow gun out of commission, whichwas fortunate indeed for us; then Tan Hadron elevated the Dusar's nose,and we rose above the leading ship.As we passed over her, there was a terrific explosion on her deck andshe burst into flame. Tan Hadron turned to port so fast that the Dusarlay over on her side, and we on deck had to hang to anything we couldget hold of to keep from going overboard; by this maneuver, he crossedover the second ship; and the bombers in the bilge of the Dusar droppeda heavy bomb on her deck. With the detonation of the bomb, she turnedcompletely over, and then plummeted toward the ground, four thousandfeet below. The explosion must have burst all her buoyancy tanks.Only one ship now remained in our immediate vicinity; and as we madefor her, she turned tail and ran, followed by the cheers of our men. Wenow resumed our course toward the north, the enemy having abandoned thechase.The first ship was still burning, and I directed Tan Hadron to approachher to learn if any of the crew remained alive. As we came closer, Isaw that she was hanging bow down, the whole after part of the shipbeing in flames. The bow was not burning, and I saw a number of menclinging to holds upon the tilted deck.My bow gunner thought that I was going to finish them off, and trainedhis piece on them; but I stopped him just in time; then I hailed them."Can you get at your boarding harness?" I shouted."Yes," came back the answer."I'll pull in below you and take you off," I called, and in aboutfifteen minutes we had taken off the five survivors one of which was aPanar padwar.They were surprised that I hadn't either finished them off when I hadthem at such a disadvantage, or let them hang there and burn. Thepadwar was sure that we had some ulterior motive in taking them off theburning ship, and asked me how I intended to have them killed."I don't intend to kill you at all," I said, "unless I have to."My own men were quite as surprised as the prisoners; but I heard one ofthem say, "The Dwar's been in the Helium navy--they don't killprisoners of war in Helium." Well, they don't kill them in all Martiancountries, except that most do kill their prisoners if they find itdifficult or impossible to take them home into slavery withoutendangering their own ships."What are you going to do with us?" asked the padwar."I'll either land as soon as it is convenient, and set you free; orI'll let you enlist and come with us. You must understand, however,that I am at war with Hin Abtol."All five decided to cast their lot with us, and I turned them over toFo-nar to assign them to watches and prescribe their duties. My menwere gathered amidships discussing the engagement; they were as proudas peacocks."We destroyed two ships and put a third to flight without suffering acasualty," one was saying."That's the kind of a Dwar to fly under," said another. "I knew he wasall right when I saw him handle Gan-ho. I tell you there's a man tofight for."After overhearing this conversation and a lot more like it, I felt muchmore assured as to the possible success of the venture, for with adisloyal crew anything may happen except success.A little later, as I was crossing the deck, I saw one of the warriorswho had taken Phor San and his companion below; and I hailed him andasked him if the prisoners were all right."I am sorry to report, sir," he said, "that they both fell overboard.""How could they fall overboard when they were below?" I demanded."They fell through the after bomb trap, sir," he said, without crackinga smile.Chapter 10Naturally I was a little suspicious of the dependability of Gor-don,the Panar padwar we had taken off the disabled Panar ship. He was theonly Panar aboard the Dusar, and the only person aboard who mightconceivably owe any allegiance to Hin Abtol. I cautioned Fo-nar and TanHadron to keep an eye on the fellow, although I really couldn't imaginehow he could harm us.As we approached the North Polar region, it was necessary to issue thewarm fur clothing which the Dusar carried in her stores--the white furof Apts for the warriors, and the black and yellow striped fur oforluks for the three officers; and to issue additional sleeping furs toall.I was quite restless that night with a perfectly baseless premonitionof impending disaster, and about the 9th zode (1:12 A.M. E.T.) I aroseand went on deck. Fo-nar was at the wheel, for as yet I didn't know anyof the common warriors of the crew well enough to trust them with thisimportant duty.There was a group of men amidships, whispering among themselves. Asthey were not members of the watch, they had no business there at thattime of night; and I was walking toward them to order them below, whenI saw three men scuffling farther aft. This infraction of disciplinerequiring more immediate attention than the gathering on the deck, Iwalked quickly toward the three men, arriving just as two of them wereabout to hurl the third over the rail.I seized the two by their collars and dragged them back; they droppedtheir victim and turned on me; but when they recognized me, theyhesitated."The Panar was falling overboard," said one of the men, ratherimpudently.Sure enough, the third man was Gor-don, the Panar. He had had a mightyclose call. "Go below, to my cabin," I told him; "I will talk with youthere later.""He won't talk too much, if he knows what's good for him," one of themen who had tried to throw him overboard shouted after him as he walkedaway."What is the meaning of this?" I demanded of the two men, whom Irecognized as assassins."It means that we don't want any Panars aboard this ship," replied one."Go to your quarters," I ordered; "I'll attend to you later." It was myintention to immediately have them put in irons.They hesitated; one of them moved closer to me. There is only one wayto handle a situation like that--be first. I swung a right to thefellow's chin, and as he went down I whipped out my sword and facedthem."I'll run you both through if you lay a hand on a weapon," I told them,and they knew that I meant it. I made them stand against the rail then,with their backs toward me, and disarmed them. "Now go below," I said.As they walked away, I saw the men in the group amid. ships watchingus, and as I approached them they moved away and went below before Icould order them to do so. I went forward and told Fo-nar of what hadhappened, cautioning him to be constantly on the lookout for trouble."I am going below to talk to Panar," I said; "I have an idea that therewas more to this than just the wish to throw him overboard; then I'llhave a talk with some of the men. I'm going to rouse Tan Hadron firstand instruct him to have those two assassins put in irons at once. I'llbe back on deck shortly; the three of us will have to keep a closewatch from now on. Those men weren't on deck at this hour in the nightjust to get fresh air."I went below then and awakened Tan Hadron, telling him what hadoccurred on deck and ordering him to take a detail of men and put thetwo assassins in irons; after that, I went to my cabin. Gor-don arosefrom a bench and saluted as I entered."May I thank you, sir," he said, "for saving my life.""Was it because you are a Panar that they were going to throw youoverboard?" I asked."No, sir, it was not," he replied. "The men are planning to take overthe ship--they are afraid to go to Pankor--and they tried to get meto join with them, as none of them can navigate a ship and I can; theyintended killing you and the two padwars. I refused to join them, andtried to dissaude them; then they became afraid that I would reporttheir plans to you, as I intended doing; so they were going to throw meoverboard. You saved my life, sir, when you took me off that burningship; and I am glad to offer it in the defense of yours--and you'regoing to need all the defense you can get; the men are determined totake ever the ship, though they are divided on the question of killingyou.""They seemed very contented to serve under me immediately after ourengagement with your three ships," I said; "I wonder what could havechanged them.""Fear of Hin Abtol as the ship drew nearer to Pankor," replied Gor-don;"they are terrified at the thought that they might be frozen in thereagain for years.""Pankor must be a terrible place," I said."For them, it would be," he replied.I saw to it that he was armed, and then I told him to follow me ondeck. There would be at least four of us, and I hoped that some of thecrew might be loyal.Tan Hadron of Hastor and I could give a good account of ourselves; asto Fo-nar and Gor-don, I did not know."Come," I said to the Panar, and then I opened my cabin door andstepped into the arms of a dozen men, waiting there, who fell upon meand bore me to the deck before I could strike a blow in defense; theydisarmed both the Panar and me and bound our hands behind our backs. Itwas all done very expeditiously and quietly; the plan had beenadmirably worked out, and it won my approbation--anyone who can takeJohn Carter as easily as that deserves praise.They took us on deck, and I could not but notice that many of themstill treated me with deference. Those who immediately surrounded mewere all panthans. On deck, I saw that both Fo-nar and Tan Hadron wereprisoners.The men surrounded us, and discussed our fate. "Overboard with the fourof them!" cried an assassin, "Don't be a fool," said one of thepanthans; "we can't navigate the ship without at least one of them.""Keep one of them, then; and throw the others over the rail--over withthe dwar first!""No!" said another panthan; "he is a great fighting man, a goodcommander who led us to victory; I will fight before I will see himkilled.""And I!" shouted several others in unison."What do you want to do with them, then?" demanded still anotherassassin. "Do you want to take them along so that we'll all have ourheads lopped off at the first city we stop at where they can report usto the authorities?""Keep two to pilot the ship," said a man who had not spoken before;"and ground the other two, if you don't want to kill them."Several of the assassins were still for killing us; but the othersprevailed, and they had Tan Hadron bring the Dusar to ground. Here, asthey put us off the ship, Gor-don and I, they gave us back our weaponsover the protest of several of the assassins.As I stood there on the snow and ice of the Arctic and saw the Dusarrise in the air and head toward the south, I thought that it might havebeen kinder had they killed us.Chapter 11North of us rose a range of rocky hills, their wind swept granitesummits, flecked with patches of snow and ice, showed above their snowcovered slopes like the backbone of some dead monster. To the southstretched rough, snow covered terrain as far as the eye could reach--to the north, a frozen wilderness and death; to the south, a frozenwilderness and death. There seemed no alternative.But it was the south that called me. I could struggle on until deathclaimed me, but I would never give up while life remained."I suppose we might as well be moving," I said to Gordon, as I startedtoward the south."Where are you going?" he asked; "only death lies in that direction fora man on foot.""I know that," I replied; "death lies in any direction we may go."The Panar smiled. "Pankor lies just beyond those hills," he said. "Ihave hunted here many times on this side of them; we can be in Pankorin a couple of hours."I shrugged. "It doesn't make much difference to me," I said, "as Ishall probably be killed in Pankor;" and I started off again, but thistime toward the north."You can come into Pankor safely," said Gor-don, "but you will have tocome as my slave. It is not as I would have it, sir; but it is the onlyway in which you will be safe.""I understand," I said, "and I thank you.""We shall have to say that I took you prisoner; that the crew of myship mutinied and grounded us," he explained."It is a good story, and at least founded on fact," I said. "But, tellme: will I ever be able to escape from Pankor?""If I get another ship, you will," he promised. "I am allowed a slaveon board, and I'll take you along; the rest we shall have to leave tofate; though I can assure you that it is no easy thing to escape fromHin Abtol's navy.""You are being very generous," I said."I owe you my life, sir."Life is strange. How could I have guessed a few hours before that mylife would be in the hands of one of Hin Abtol's officers, and safe? Ifever a man was quickly rewarded for a good deed, it was I now for therescuing of those poor devils from the burning ship.Gor-don led the way with confidence over that trackless waste to anarrow gorge that split the hills. One unfamiliar with its locationcould have passed along the foot of the hills within a hundred yards ofits mouth without ever seeing it, for its ice--and snow-covered wallsblended with the surrounding snow to hide it most effectively.It was rough going in that gorge. Snow covered broken ice and rocks, sothat we were constantly stumbling and often falling. Transversefissures crossing the gorge formed a labyrinth of corridors in which aman might be quickly lost.Gor-don told me this was the only pass through the hills, and that ifan enemy ever got into it he would freeze to death before he found hisway out again.We had plodded on for about half an hour, when, at a turn, our way wasblocked by one of the most terrible creatures that inhabit Mars. It wasan apt, a huge, white furred creature with six limbs, four of whichshort and heavy, carry it swiftly over the snow and ice; while theother two, growing forward from its shoulders on either side of itslong, powerful neck, terminate in white, hairless hands, with which itseizes and holds its prey.Its head and mouth are more nearly similar in appearance to those of ahippopotamus than to any other earthly animal, except that from thesides of the upper jawbone two mighty horns curve slightly downwardtoward the front.Its two huge eyes inspire one's greatest curiosity. They extend in twovast oval patches from the center of the top of the cranium down eitherside of the head to below the roots of the horns, so that these weaponsreally protrude from the lower part of the eyes, which are composed ofseveral thousand ocelli each.This eye structure has always seemed remarkable to me in a beast whosehaunts were on a glaring field of ice and snow, and though I found uponminute examination of the eyes of several that Thuvan Dihn and Ikilled, that time that we passed through the carrion caves, that eachocellus is furnished with its own lid, and that the animal can, atwill, close as many of the facets of its huge eyes as it wishes, yet Iam sure that nature has thus equipped him because much of his life isspent in dark, subterranean recesses.The moment that the creature saw us, it charged; and Gordon and Iwhipped out our radium pistols simultaneously, and commenced firing. Wecould hear the bullets exploding in its carcass and see great chunks offlesh and bone being torn away, but still it came on. One of my bulletsfound a thousand faceted eye and exploded there, tearing the eye away.For just a moment the creature hesitated and wavered; then it came onagain. It was right on top of us now, and our bullets were tearing intoits vitals. How it could continue to live, I cannot understand; but itdid, and it reached out and seized Gor-don with its two horrible,white, hairless hands and dragged him toward its massive jaws.I was on its blind side; and realizing that our bullets would not bringdeath in time to save Gor-don, I drew my longsword; and, grasping thehilt in both hands, swung it from low behind my right shoulder andbrought the keen blade down onto the beast's long neck. Just as thejaws were about to close on Gor-don, the apt's head rolled upon the icyfloor of the gorge; but its mighty fingers still clung to the Panar,and I had to hack them off with my short sword before the man wasfreed."That was a close call," I said."Once again you have saved my life," said Gor-don; "how can I everrepay you?""By helping me find Llana of Gathol, if she is in Pankor," I told him."If she is in Pankor, I'll not only help you find her; but I'll helpyou get her away, if it is humanly possible to do so," he replied. "Iam an officer in Hin Abtol's navy," he continued, "but I feel noloyalty toward him. He is a tyrant, hated by all; how he has been ableto rule us for more than a hundred years, without being found by theassassin's dagger or poison, is a miracle."As we talked, we continued on through the gorge; and presently came outupon a snow covered plain upon which rose one of those amazing, glasscovered, hot-house cities of Barsoom's North Polar region."Pankor," said Gor-don; presently he turned and looked at me andcommenced to laugh."What is it?" I asked."Your metal," he said; "you are wearing the insigne of a dwar in HinAbtol's service; it might appear strange that you, a dwar, are theprisoner and slave of a padwar.""That might be difficult to explain," I said, as I removed the insigneand threw it aside.At the city gate, it was our good fortune to find one of Gor-don'sacquaintances in command of the guard. He heard Gor-don's story withinterest and permitted us to enter, paying no attention whatever to me.Pankor was much like Kadabra, the capital city of Okar, only muchsmaller.Though the country around it and up to its walls was clothed in snowand ice, none lay upon the great crystal dome which roofed the entirecity; and beneath the dome a pleasant, springlike atmosphere prevailed.Its avenues were covered with the sod of the mosslike ocher vegetationwhich clothes the dead sea bottoms of the red planet, and bordered bywell kept lawns of crimson Barsoomian grass.Along these avenues sped the noiseless traffic of light and airy groundfliers with which I had become familiar in Marentina and Kadabra longyears before.The broad tires of these unique fliers are but rubberlike gas bagsfilled with the eighth Barsoomian ray, or ray of propulsion--thatremarkable discovery of the Martians that has made possible the greatfleets of mighty airships that render the red man of the outer worldsupreme. It is this ray which propels the inherent and reflected lightof suns and planets off into space, and when confined gives to Martiancraft their airy buoyancy.Hailing a public flier, Gor-don and I were driven to his home, Isitting with the driver, as befitted a slave. Here he was warmlygreeted by his mother, father, and sister; and I was conducted to theslaves' quarters by a servant. It was not long, however, before Gor-donsent for me; and when the servant who had brought me had departed,Gor-don explained to me that he had told his parents and his sisterthat I had saved his life, and that they wished to express theirgratitude. They were most appreciative."You shall be my son's personal guard," said the father, "and we shallnot look upon you here in this home as a slave. He tells me that inyour own country you are a noble." Gor-don had either guessed at that,or made up the story for effect; as I certainly had told him nothing ofmy status at home. I wondered how much more he had told them; I did notwish too many people to know of my search for Llana. When next we werealone, I asked him; and he assured me that he had told them nothing."I trust them perfectly," he said, "but the affair is not mine to speakof." At least there was one decent Panar; I presume that I had come tojudge them all by Hin Abtol.Gor-don furnished me with harness and insignia which definitely markedme as a slave of his household and rendered it safe for me to go aboutthe city, which I was anxious to do on the chance that I might pick upsome word regarding Llana; for Gor-don had told me that in the marketplace, where slaves gathered to buy and sell for their owners, all thegossip of the city was discussed daily."If it has happened or is going to happen, the market place knows it,is an old saying here," he told me; and I found this to be true.As Gor-don's bodyguard, I was permitted to wear weapons, the insigniaon my harness so denoting. I was glad of this, as I feel lost withoutarms--much as an Earth man would feel walking down the street withouthis pants.The day after we arrived, I went alone to the market place.Chapter 12I got into conversations with a number of slaves, but I didn't learnanything of value to me; however, being there, put me in the way oflearning something that was of value to me. I was talking with anotherslave, when we saw an officer coming through the market place, touchingfirst one slave and then another, who immediately fell in behind him."If he touches you, don't ask any questions; but go along," said theslave with whom I was talking and whom I had told I was a newcomer toPankor.Well, the officer did tap me on the shoulder as he passed; and I fellin behind him with fifteen or twenty other slaves. He led us out of themarket place and along an avenue of poorer shops, to the city wall.Here, beside a small gate, was a shed in which was a stock of apt-fursuits. After we had each donned one of these, in accordance with theofficer's instructions, he unlocked the small gate and led us out ofthe city into the bitter cold of the Arctic, where such a sight met myeyes as I hope I may never see again. On row after row of racks whichextended as far as I could see hung frozen human corpses, thousandsupon thousands of them hanging by their feet, swinging in the bitingwind.Each corpse was encased in ice, a transparent shroud through whichtheir dead eyes stared pleadingly, reproachfully, accusingly, horribly.Some faces wore frozen grins, mocking Fate with bared teeth.The officer had us cut down twenty of the bodies, and the thought ofthe purpose for which they seemed obviously intended almost nauseatedme. As I looked upon those endless lines of corpses hanging heads down,I was reminded of winter scenes before the butcher shops of northerncities in my native country, where the bodies of ox and bear and deerhung, frozen, for the gourmet to inspect.It took the combined strength of two red men to lift and carry one ofthese ice encrusted bodies; and as the officer had tapped an odd numberof slaves, I was left without a partner to carry a corpse with me; so Iwaited for orders.The officer saw me standing idle, and called to me. "Hey, you!" hecried; "don't loaf around doing nothing; drag one of them over to thegate."I stooped and lifted one of the bodies to my shoulder, carrying italone to the gate. I could see that the officer was astounded, for whatI had done would have been an impossible feat of strength for aMartian. As a matter of fact, it was not at all remarkable that I wasable to do it; because my unusually great strength, combined with thelesser gravity of Mars, made it relatively easy for me.All the time I was carrying my grisly burden, I was thinking of theroast we had had at the meal I had eaten at Gordon's house--andwondering! Was it possible that civilized human beings could be sodepraved? It seemed incredible of such people as Gordon and his family.His sister was a really beautiful girl. Could she-? I shuddered at theimplication.We carried the corpses into a large building across the avenue from thelittle gate. Here were row upon row and tier upon tier of ersite toppedtables; and when, at the officer's direction, we laid the bodies uponsome of them, the place looked like a morgue.Presently a number of men entered the room; they carried heavy knives.These are the butchers, I thought. They attached hoses to hydrants, andeach one of them stood over a corpse and sprayed it with warm water, atthe same time chipping away the ice with his knife. It took some littletime.When the first corpse was entirely released from its icy winding sheetI wanted to look away, but I couldn't--I was fascinated by the horrorof it as I waited to see the butcher wield his knife; but he didn't.Instead, he kept on spraying the body with warm water, occasionallymassaging it. Finally, he took a hypodermic syringe from his pocketpouch and injected something into the arm of the cadaver; then the mosthorrifying thing of all occurred: the corpse rolled its head to and froand opened its eyes!"Stand by, slaves!" commanded the officer; "some of them may be alittle wild at first--be ready to seize them."The first corpse sat up and looked around, as others of them showedsigns of life. Soon they were all either sitting up or standing staringabout them in a confused sort of way. Now they were each given theharness of a slave; and when a detachment of warriors came to takecharge of them, we other slaves were dismissed. Now I recalled andunderstood that oft repeated reference of the warriors of Hin Abtol tobeing "frozen in." I had thought that they merely meant being confinedin an Arctic city surrounded by ice and snow.As I was leaving the building, the officer accosted me. "Who are you,slave?" he demanded."I am the slave and bodyguard of Padwar Gor-don," I replied."You are a very strong man," he said; "what country are you from?""Virginia," I replied."I never heard of it; where is it?""Just south of Maryland.""Well, never mind--let's see how strong you are; can you lift one endof that ersite table alone?""I don't know.""Try it," he ordered.I picked up the entire table and held it above my head. "Incredible!"exclaimed the officer. The warriors were standing looking at me in openmouthed astonishment."What is your name?" demanded the officer."Dotor Sojat.""Very good," he said; "you may go now."When I returned to Gor-don's home, he told me that he had becomeapprehensive because of my long absence. "Where have you been all thistime?" he asked. "I was worried.""Thawing out corpses," I told him, laughing. "Before I saw them startcoming to life, I thought you Panars ate them. Tell me; what is theidea?""It is a part of Hin Abtol's mad scheme to conquer all of Barsoom andmake himself Jeddak of Jeddaks and Warlord of Barsoom. He has heard ofthe famous John Carter, who holds these titles; and he is envious. Hehas been at the preserving of human beings by freezing for fully ahundred years. At first it was only a plan by which he might have greatnumbers of slaves available at any time without the expense of feedingthem while they were idle. After he heard of John Carter and theenormous wealth of Helium and several other empires, this grandiosescheme of conquest commenced taking form."He had to have a fleet; and as no one in Pankor knew how to buildairships, he had to acquire them by trickery and theft. A few crossedthe ice barrier from some of the northern cities; these were lured toland by signals of friendship and welcome; then their crews werecaptured and all but one or two of them frozen in. Those who were nothad promised to train Panars in the handling of the ships. It has beena very slow process of acquiring a navy; but he has supplemented it byvisiting several of the northern cities, pretending friendship, andthen stealing a ship or two, just as he pretended friendship for Gahanof Gathol and then stole his daughter."His present attack on Gathol is merely a practice campaign to give hisofficers and warriors experience and perhaps at the same time acquire afew more ships.""How many of those frozen men has he?" I asked."He has accumulated fully a million in the last hundred years," repliedGor-don; "a very formidable army, if he had the ships to transportthem."On this dying planet, the population of which has been steadilydecreasing for probably a million years, an army of a million warriorswould indeed be formidable; but led by Hin Abtol and officered byPanars, two million disloyal warriors would be no great menace to sucha power as Helium."I am afraid Hin Abtol's dream will never come true," I said."I hope not. Very few Panars are in sympathy with it. Life here iseasy, and we are content to be left alone and leave others alone. Bythe way, did you learn anything about the whereabouts of Llana ofGathol while you were away?""Not a thing; did you?""No," he replied; "But I haven't made any direct inquiries yet. I amwaiting until I can talk with some of my friends who are stationed inthe palace. I do know, however, that Hin Abtol has returned from Gatholand is in his palace."As we talked, a slave came to announce that an officer had come fromthe Jeddak and wished to speak to Gor-don."Bring him here," said my master; and a moment later a gorgeouslytrapped man entered the room, by which time I was standing behindGor-don's chair, as a well trained slave and bodyguard should do.The two men greeted each other by name and title; and then the visitorsaid, "You have a slave named Dotor Sojat?""Yes," replied Gor-don; "my personal bodyguard, here."The officer looked at me. "You are the slave who lifted the ersitetable alone today in the resuscitating house?" he inquired."Yes."He turned again to Gor-don. "The Jeddak will honor you by acceptingthis slave as a gift," he said.Gor-don bowed. "It is a great pleasure as well as an honor to presentthe slave, Dotor Sojat, to my jeddak," he said; and then, as theofficer looked away from him to glance again at me, Gor-don winked atme. He knew how anxious I had been to get into the palace of Hin Abtol.Like a dutiful slave, I left the home of Gor-don, the padwar, andfollowed the jeddak's officer to the palace of the jeddak.Chapter 13A high wall encloses the grounds where stands the palace of Hin Abtolin the city of Pankor at the top of the world, and guards pace thiswall night and day.At the gates are a full utan of a hundred men; and within, at the grandentrance to the palace itself, is another utan. No wonder that it hasbeen difficult to assassinate Hin Abtol, self-styled Jeddak of Jeddaksof the North.At one side of the palace, on an open scarlet sward, I saw somethingwhich made me start with astonishment--it was my own flier! It was theflier that Hin Abtol had stolen from me in the deserted city of Horz;and now, as I learned later, he had it on exhibition here as proof ofhis great courage and ability.He bragged that he had taken it single handed from The Warlord ofBarsoom after defeating him in a duel. The fact that there could be nodoubt but that it was my personal flier lent color to the story; myinsigne was there for everyone to read, plain upon the bow. They musthave towed it through one of the gates; and then flown it to itspresent resting place; as, of course, no airship could land insidePankor's great dome.I was left in the guardroom just inside the entrance to the palace,where some of the warriors of the guard were loafing; two of them wereplaying Jetan, the Martian chess game, while others played Yano. Theyhad all risen when the officer entered the room with me; and when heleft I sat down on a bench at one side, as the others seated themselvesand resumed their games.One of them looked over at me, and scowled. "Stand up, slave!" heordered."Don't you know better than to sit in the presence of Panar warriors?""If you can prove that you are a better man than I," I said, "I'llstand." I was in no mood to take anything like that meekly; as a matterof fact, I was pretty well fed up an being a slave.The warrior leaped to his feet. "Oh, insolent, too!" he said; "well,I'll teach you a lesson.""You'd better go slow there, Ul-to," warned one of his companions; "Ithink this fellow was sent for by the jeddak. If you muss him up, HinAbtol may not like it.""Well, he's got to be taught a lesson," snarled Ul-to; "if there's onething I can't stand, its an impudent slave," and he came toward me. Idid not rise, and he grabbed me by the harness and attempted to drag meto my feet; at the same time, he struck at me.I parried his blow, and seized hold of his harness; then I stood up andlifted him above my head. I held him there for a moment, and then Itossed him across the room. "That will teach you," I called to him, "tobe more respectful to your betters."Some of the other guardsmen were scowling at me angrily; but many werelaughing at Ul-to, who now scrambled to his feet, whipped out hislong-sword, and came for me. They had not yet disarmed me; and I drewmine; but before we could engage, a couple of Ul-to's companions seizedhim and held him. He was cursing and struggling to free himself and getat me, when the officer of the guard, evidently attracted by thedisturbance, entered the room.When he heard what had happened, he turned angrily on me. "You ought tobe flogged," he said, "for insulting and attacking a Panar warrior.""Perhaps you would like to try to flog me," I said.At that, he turned purple and almost jumped up and down, he was sofurious."Seize him!" he shouted to the warriors, "and give him a good beating."They all started toward me, and I drew my sword. I was standing with myback to a wall, and there would have been several dead Panars scatteredabout that room in a few minutes if the officer who had brought methere had not come in just then."What's the meaning of this?" he demanded.The guard officer explained, making me appear wholly in the wrong."He lies," I said to the officer; "I was attacked without provocation."He turned to the guard officer. "I don't know who started this," hesaid, "but it's a good thing for your neck that nothing happened tothis man;" then he disarmed me and told me to follow him.He led me out of the palace again and to the side of the building wheremy flier stood. I noticed that it was not moored, there being no dangerof winds beneath that great dome; and I wished that it were out in theopen so that I could fly it away if I were able to find Llana ofGathol; it would have been a Heaven sent opportunity for escape had itnot been for that enclosing dome.He took me out to the center of an expanse of well kept lawn, facing anumber of people who had gathered beside the building. There were bothmen and women, and more were coming from the palace. At last there wasa fanfare of trumpets; and the Jeddak came, accompanied by courtiersand women.In the meantime, a large man had come out on the lawn beside me; he wasa warrior wearing metal that denoted him a member of Hin Abtol'sbodyguard."The Jeddak has heard tales of your great strength," said the officerwho had brought me there, "and he wishes to see a demonstration of it.Rab-zov, here, is supposed to be the strongest man in Pankor-""I am the strongest man in Pankor, sir," interrupted Rab-zov; "I am thestrongest man on Barsoom.""He must be pretty strong," I said. "What is he going to do to me?""You are going to wrestle to amuse the Jeddak and his court. Rab-zovwill demonstrate how easily he can throw you to the ground and hold youthere. Are you ready, Rab-zov?"Rab-zov said he was ready, and the officer signed us to start. Rab-zovswaggered toward me, taking occasional quick glances at the audience tosee if all were looking at him. They were; looking at him and admiringhis great bulk."Come on, fellow!" said Rab-zov; "put up the best fight you can; I wantto make it interesting for the Jeddak,""I shall hope to make it interesting for you, Rab-zov," I said.He laughed loudly at that. "You won't feel so much like joking when I'mthrough with you," he said."Come on, wind bag!" I cried; "you talk too much."He was leaning forward, reaching for a hold, when I seized one of hiswrists, turned quickly and threw him over my shoulder. I purposely lethim fall hard, and he was still a little groggy when he came to hisfeet. I was waiting, very close; and I seized him by the harness andlifted him over my head; then I commenced to whirl with him. He wasabsolutely helpless; and when I thought he was befuddled enough, Icarried him over and threw him down heavily in front of Hin Abtol.Rab-zov was down--and out."Have you no strong men in Pankor?" I asked him, and then I saw Llanaof Gathol standing beside the Jeddak. Almost with the suddenness of arevelation a mad scheme came to me."Perhaps I had better send two men against you," said Hin Abtol, rathergood-naturedly; he had evidently enjoyed the spectacle."Why not a swordsman?" I asked. "I am quite good with a sword," and Iwanted a sword very much right then--I needed a sword to carry out myplan."Do you want to be killed, slave?" demanded Hin Abtol; "I have the bestswordsmen in the world in my guard.""Bring out your best, then," I said; "I may surprise him--and somebodyelse," and I looked straight at Llana of Gathol, and winked. Then, for thefirst time, she recognized me through my disguise."Who were you winking at?" demanded Hin Abtol, looking around."Something got in my eye," I said.Hin Abtol spoke to an officer standing near him. "Who is the bestswordsman in the guard?" he asked."There is none better than Ul-to," replied the officer."Fetch him!"So! I was to cross swords with my old friend, Ul-to. That would pleasehim--for a few moments.They brought Ul-to; and when he found that he was to fight me, hebeamed all over. "Now, slave," he said, "I will teach you that lessonthat I promised you.""Again?" I asked."It will be different this time," he said.We crossed swords."To the death!" I said."To the death, slave!" replied Ul-to.I fought on the defensive mostly at first, seeking to work my manaround in the position in which I wanted him; and when I had him there,I pressed him; and he fell back. I kept backing him toward theaudience, and to make him more amenable to my directions, I startedcarving him--just a little. I wanted him to acquire respect for mypoint and my ability. Soon he was covered with blood, and I was forcinghim to go wherever I wished him.I backed him into the crowd, which fell back; and then I caught Llana'seye, and motioned her with my head to step to one side; then I pressedclose to her. "At the kill," I whispered, "run for the flier and startthe engine."I backed Ul-to away from the crowd then, and I saw Llana following, asthough she was so much interested in the duel that she did not realizewhat she was doing."Now! Llana!" I whispered, and I saw her walking slowly backward towardthe flier.In order to attract the crowd's attention from Llana, I pressed Ul-toto one side with such an exhibition of swordplay as I knew would holdevery eye; then I turned him around and had him almost runningbackward, carrying me nearer my ship.Suddenly I heard Hin Abtol cry, "The girl! Get her! She's gone aboardthat flier!"As they started forward, I ran Ul-to through the heart and turned andran for my ship. At my heels came a dozen warriors with drawn swords.The one who started first, and who was faster than the others, overtookme just as I had to pause a moment at the side of the flier to makeassurance doubly sure that she was not moored in any way. I wheeled andparried a vicious cut; my blade moved once more with the swiftness oflight, and the warrior's head rolled from his shoulders."Let her go!" I cried to Llana, as I leaped to the deck.As the ship rose, I hastened to the controls, and took over."Where are we going, John Carter?" asked Llana."To Gathol," I replied.She looked up at the dome above us. "How-?" she started, but she sawthat I had turned the nose of the flier upward at an angle offorty-five degrees and opened the throttle--that was her answer.The little ship, as sweet and fast a flier as I have ever flown, wasstreaking through the warm air of Pankor at tremendous speed. We bothhuddled close to the deck of the little cockpit--and hoped.The flier shuddered to the terrific impact; broken glass showered inevery direction--and then we were out in the cold, clear air of theArctic.I levelled off then, and headed for Gathol at full speed; there wasdanger of our freezing to death if we didn't get into a warmer climatesoon, for we had no furs."What became of Pan Dan Chee and Jad-han?" I asked."I haven't seen them since we were all captured in Gathol," repliedLlana. "Poor Pan Dan Chee; he fought for me, and he was badly wounded;I am afraid that I shall never see him again," and there were tears inher voice.I greatly deplored the probable fate of Pan Dan Chee and Jad-han, butat least Llana of Gathol was at last safe. Or was this a masterpiece ofoverstatement?She was at least safe from Hin Abtol, but what lay in the future?Immediately she was in danger of freezing to death should any mishapdelay our flight before we reached a warmer latitude, and there wereinnumerable other hazards in the crossing of the wastelands of thisdying planet.But, being an incorrigible optimist, I still felt that Llana was safe;and so did she. Perhaps because no conceivable danger could have beengreater than that which had threatened her while she lay in the powerof Hin Abtol.Presently I noticed that she was laughing, and I asked her what amusedher."More than any other man on Barsoom, Hin Abtol feared you," she said,"and he had you in his power and did not know it. And he pitted againstyou, the greatest swordsman of two worlds, a clumsy oaf, when he mighthave loosed upon you a full utan and destroyed you. Though he woulddoubtless have lost half his utan. I only pray that some day he mayknow the opportunity he missed when he permitted John Carter, Warlordof Barsoom to escape him.""Yes," I said, "it is amusing. So is that hole we left in the roof ofhis hothouse city; but I am afraid that Hin Abtol's sense of humor willnot be equal to the task of appreciating it."We sped swiftly toward the south and warmer climes, happy in ourmiraculous escape from the tyrant of Panar; and, fortunately, unawareof what lay in our future.Llana of Gathol was safe--but for how long? When would we see Gatholagain, or Helium?