The evening world. Newspaper, January 3, 1916, Page 17

. eageneegoeseasoooooe: ys! Wiggesccsccocccccosceepgcapocesooors sees: Under the Moons of Mars FOTOS very old man; how old I do At the Civil War's close I Attacked by hostile Indians, I took refuge in a mountain cave, from which emanated a poisonous gas, Overcome by this, I seemed to undergo a physical metamorphosis, Teaged so that I could view, like @ seco! lying on the cave's floor. In this state, through a@ series of phenomena that néed not be recounted here, I found myself transported to the planet Mars. ‘There I was hurled upon a series of @ix-limbed and hideous ( fount in me a fascinating captive. Iwas guarded by a Martian woman, Sola, and a Martian “watch dog.” @ kindly, though terrific-looking, ten-legwed animal, in one of my endeavors te escape I was attacked by a pair of fi A Wonder Romance by the Creator of ‘‘ TARZAN” By Edgar Rice PoTitriititiiitii hh (Copyright, The Frank A, Munsey Co.) CHAPTER I. The Martians. AM John Carter—once Captain in the Confederate Army, and now a reen Martians,” I called them), who, surrounded by thé.armies and beasts of burden—like those of the prehistoric earth— Burroughs g not know, went West, prospecting. eome inherent part of me being re- nd person, my seemingly lifeless body adventures among @ people, gigantic, fiendish white apes of Mars, One of these monsters seized me and dashed me to the ground, The thing, which more nearly re- Bembled our earthly men than it did the, Martians I had seen, held me pin foned to the earth with one huge foot, while It jabbored and gesticulated at the creature behind me. This other, which was evidently its mats, soon came toward us, bearing a mighty stone cudgel with which it evidently intended to brain me. © creatures were about fifteen Toot tall, standing erect, and had, like the “green Martians,” an intermedi- ary set of arms or legs, midway be- tween their upper and lower limbs, ‘Their eyes were closer together and non-protruding; their ears were high set but more laterally located than those of the Martians, while their snouts and teeth were strikingly like those of our African gorilla. Altogether they were not unlovely when viewed by comparison with the green Martians. The cudgel was swinging in the are which ended upon my upturned face when a bolt of myriad-legged horror hurled itself through the door- way full upon my executioner. With a shriek of fear the ape which held me leaped through the open window, but its mate closed in a ter- rifio. death struggle with my pre- server, which was nothing lees than my faithful watch-thing~-I cannot bring myself to call so hideous a creature dog. ‘As quickly as possible I gained my feet, and backing against the wall I wit ed euch a battle as it is vouch- safed few beings to see. The strength, agility and blind ferocity of these two creatures 18 approached by nothing kuwown to earthly man. y beast had an advantage in his first hold, having sunk his mighty fangs far into the breast of his vergary;, but the great arms and paws of the ape, backed by muscles far transcending those of the Martian men I had seen, had lucked the throat of my guardian and slowly w choking out his life, and bending back Dia head and neck upon his body, where I momentarily expected to sce the former fall limp at the end of a broken neck. In accomplishing this the ape was tearing away the entire front of its breast, which was held in tho vise- like arp of the powerful jaws, Back and forth upon the floor they rolled, nelther one emitting a sound of fear or pain. Presently I saw the mreat ayes of my beast bulging completely from heir sockets and blood flowing from it# Nostrils. ‘That he was weakening perceptibly was evident, but po alse was the Ape, whose struggies were gtowing momentarily loss. Suddenly I came to myself and, with that strange Instinct which seems ever to prompt me to my duty, J seized tho cudgel, which had fallen io the floor at the commencement of the battle, and swinging it with all the power of my earthly arma I crashed it full upon the head of the ape, crushing his skull as though it had been an eggshell. Soarcely had the blow descended when I was confronted with a new danger. The brute’s mate, recovered from its first shock of terror, had returned to the scene of the encounter by way of the interior of the building I glimpsed him just before he reached the doorway, and the sight of him, now roaring ax he perceived hia lifeless fellow stretched upon the floor, and frothing at the mouth in the extremity of his rage, filled me with dire forebodings. I am willing to stand and fignt when the odds are not too over- whelmingly against me, but in this instance I perceived neither glory nor profit. in pitting my puny strength against the iron muscles and feroeitv of this enraged denizen of an unknown world; in fact, the oply outcome of such an encounter, 80 as { might be concerned, seemed sudden death, I was standing near the window and gw that once in the street I might gain the plaza and safety before the e re could overtake mo; at least thére was a chance for safety in flight agaipst almost certain death should I re in and fight, It is true I held the cudgel, but what could I do with it against his four great arms? Even should [ break one of them with my first blow, for I figured th he Would attempt to ward off the cudgel, he could reach out and an- nihilate me with the others before I could recover for a second attack. In, the instant that these thoughts passed through my mind J had turnet to make for the window, but my e alighting on the form of my erstwh guardian threw all thoughts of Might to the four winds. He lay gasping upon the floor of the chamber, his great eyes fastened upon me in what seemed a pitiful appeal for protection, T could not withstand that look, nor could I, on second thought, have de- serted my rescuer without giving good an account of myself tn his b half as he had in mine, Without more ado, therefore, I turnéd to meet the charge of the in- furfated ape. He was now too close upon me for the cudgel to prove of any effective assistance, so I merely threw it as heavily as I could at his adyancing bulk, It struck him just below the knees, eliciting a howl of in. e and so throwing him off balance that he junged full upon me with arms wide stretched to enso hig. fall, Again, as on the preceding day, T had recourse to earthly tactics, and rt my right fist full upon the point of his chin I followed it with smashing left to the pit of his etomach.: The offect was for as I lightly sidestepped, after de- livering the second blow, he reeled and fell upon the floor, doubled up with pain and gasping for wind, Leaping over his prostrate body, I seized the cudgel and finished the monster before he could regain his feet. As I delivered the blow, a low laugh rang out behind me, and, turning, I beheld Tars Tarkas (one of my new masters), Sola and three or four war- riors standing in the doorway of the chamber. As my eyes met theirs I was for the second time the recipient of their zealously guarded applavre. My absence had been noted by Sola on her awakening, and she had quickly informed Tars Tarkas, who had set out immediately with a hand- ful of warriors to search for me. As they had approached the limits of the city they had witnessed the actions of the ape as he bolted into the building, frothing with rage. They had followed immediately be hind him, thinking it barely possible | that his actions might prove a clue to my whereabouts, and had wit-| nessed my short but decisive battle with him, This encounter, together with my set-to with the Martian warrior on the previous day and my feats of jumping, placed me upon a high pin- | nacle in'their regard. Evidently de- | d of the finer sentiments of frie . love or affection, these peop! worship physical prowess and bravery, and nothing is too good for the object of their adoration so long | as he maintains his peition by re- | peated exu “ipies of his skill, strength | and courage | Sola,\who had accompanied the searching party of her own volition, was the only one of 6 Martians whose face had not been twisted in laughter as 1 battled for my life. She, on the contrary, Was sober with apparent solicitude and as soon as [ had finished the monster rushed to | me and carefully examined my body for possible wounds or inturios, Satisfying herself that « had come | off unscathed, she smiled and, taking my hand, sta ward the door of the chamber, ‘ars Tarkas and the other warriors had entered and were standing over the now rapidly feviving }ou which had saved my life, and whose lite 1, in turn, bad rescued, ‘They semed to be deep in argument and finally one of them addressed me, uietly, Wd tO- but remembering my ignorance of his language, turned back to Tara rkas, who, with a word and ges- ture, gave some command to the fel- low and turned to follow us from the room, There seemed something menacing iu their attitude toward my beast, an I hesitated to leave until! I ha leqfned the outcome. It was weil I did so, for the warrior drew an evil: looking pistol from ite holster and was on the point of putting an end to the creature when I sprang forward and struck up his arm, The bullet, penetrating the wooden casing of the window, exploded, blow- ing a hole completely through the wood and masonry. T then knelt down beside the fear- some looking thing and raising it to its feet motioned for it to follow me. The looks of surprise which my ac- lions elicited from the Martians were lerous; they could not understanc cept in a feeble and childish way, such attributes as gratitude and com- uwion. ‘The warrior whose gun I 1 struck up looked inquiringly at Tars Tarkas, but the latter signed that I be left to my own devices, and %) we roturned to the phza with my great beast following close at heel, and Sola grasping me tightly by the arm. I had at least two friends on a young woman who watched o with moth solicitude and a dumb brute which, later came to know, held in its poor ugly carcass more love, more loyalty, more gratitude than could have been found in the entive five million green Martians who hottoms of Mars, CHAPTER II. 4 FPTER a breakfast, which Was an exact replica of the meal of the preceding day every meal which followed while I was with the green men of Mars, Sola escorted me to the munity engaged in watching or help- ing at the harnessing of huge masto- donian animals to great (hree-wheeled There were about 250 of these vehi- cles, each drawn by a single animal, any one of which, from their appear- entire wagon train when fully loaded, The chariots themselves were of large dimensions, commodious and In each was seated a female Mar- tian loaded with ornaments of metal, with jewels and silks and furs, and which drew the chariots was perched a young Martian driver, Like the an- imals upon which the warriors were mals wore neither bit nor bridle, but were guided entirely by telepathic means, im all Martians, and accounts largely for the simplicity of their language and the relatively few spoken words reve the deserted cities and dead sea The Children of Mars. and an index of practically piaza, where I found the entire com- chariots, ance, might easily have drawn the very gorgeously decorated. upon the back of each of the beasts mounted, the heavier draught anl- This power is wonderfully developed peceseary even in longs conversations, @ side of Tt {is the universal language of Mars, through the medium of whiten the higher and lower animals of this world of paradoxes are able to com- municate to a greater or less extent, depending upon the _Inteliectuai sphere of the species and.the devel- opment of the Individual, Ax the cavalcade took up the line of march in single file, Sola dragged mo Into an empty chariot and we pro- with the procession toward the oy which LT had entered the city the day before. At the head of the caravan rode some two hundred warriors, five abreast, and a like number brought up the rear, while twenty-five or thirty outriders flanked us on either side, Every one but myself—men, women and children—was heavily armed, and the tail of each charlot trotted « Martian hound, my own beast follow- ing closely behind ours; in fact, tre faithful creature never left me volun- turily during the entire time I spent on Mar Our way led out across the little valley before the city, through the d down into the dead sea bot- traversed on my from the incubator to the which T had journey Aa pls ‘The incubator, as it proved, was the terminal point of our journey this day, and as th entire cavalcade broke into a mad gallop as soon as we reached the level expanse of sea bot- tom, We were soon within sight of our goul. On reaching It parked with four side: score of warr' the charlots military prec the inelosure ors, headed by the eno were mous chieftain and including Tari Tarkas and several other lesser chiefs, dismounted and advanced toward it 1 could see Tars Tarkas explaining something to the principal chieftain, whose nar by the way, was, nearly as I can translate it ‘into Bng- lish, Lorquas Ptomel, Jed—Jed being his title I was soon apprised of the subject of their conversation, as, calling to Sola, Tars Tarkas signed for her to send me to him, I had by this time mastered the intricacies "Sf walk- ing under Martian conditions, and quickly responding to his command, I advanced to the side of the Inon- bator where the party of warriors stood. As I reached their side a glance showed me (hat all but a very few egss had hatched, the incubator being fairly alive with the hideous Uttle devils, They ranged in height from three to four feet, and were moving rest- lessly about the inclosure as though searching for food. As I came to a halt before him, Tars Tarkas pointed over the Incu- bator and sald "Sak." T responded quickly, leaping entirely over the parked chariota on the far the Incubator, The atmos- phere of Mars, so much lighter than ours, made this easy. As I returned, quas Ptomel grunted somethini at me, and turning to his warriors, give a few words of command rela- tivo to the incubator. They pala no further attention to me, and T was thus permitted to re- main close and wateh thelr opera- tions, which consisted in breaking an opening in the wall of the incu- bator large enough to permit of the exit of the young Martians, On either side of this opening the wom and the younger Martians, both pmale and female. formed two / The Evening World Daily Magazine, Fa non, of Rest GET OuT oF HERE OR LL TELL ARS JOHN You ARE Buse nd iN THE - UMB - WAITER. { om solid walls leading out through the chariots and quite away into the in beyond, Between these walls ittle Martians scampered, wild as being permitted to run the full length of the aisle, where they were captured one at a time by the women and older children, T saw that the ceremony, ff it could be dignified by such o name, was over, and seeking out Sola, T found her in our chariot with a hideous lit- tle creature held tightly in her arms. The work of rearing young green Martians consists solely in te: them to talk, and to use the w warfare with which they are yn fvom the very first year of their lives, Coming from eggs in which they have lain for five years, the period of incubation, they step forth Into the world perfectly developed except in size, Entirely unknown to their own mothers, they are the common children of the community and their education devolves upon the females who chance to capture them as they leave the incubator. foster-mother may not even have had an egg in the incubator, a a the case with Sola. But this counts for little among the green Martians, as parental and filial love is as unknown to them as it is com~- mon among us. T believe this horrible system, which has been carried on for ages, is the direct cause of the loss of all the finer feelings and higher humant- tarian instincts among these poor creatures. From birth they know no father or mother love; know the meaning of the word home; they are taught that they are only uifered to live until they can demon. strate by their physique and ferocity that they are fit to lve. Should they prove deformed or de- fective in any way they are promptly shot; nor do they see a tear shed for a single one of the many cruel hard- ships they pass through from earliest infancy. I do not mean that the adult Mar- tilans are unnecessarily or intention- ally cruel to the young, but theirs is @ hard and pitiless struggle for existe ence upon a dying planet, the nat- ural resources of which have dwin- died to a point where the support of @ach additional life means un added tax upon the community into which it is thrown, By careful solection they rear only the hardies, specimens of each spe- cles, and with almost supernatural foresight they regulate the birth rate to merely offset the loss by death. Each adult Martian female brings forth about thirteen eggs each year, and those which meet the size, welght and specific gravity tests are ARE Mond hidden in the recesses of some sub- terranean vault where the tempera- ‘e is too low for incubation, kvery car these eggs are carefully exaum- ined by @ council of twenty cnief- tains, and all but about one hundred of the most perfect are destroyed out of each yearly supply. At the end of five years about five hundred almost perfect eggs have been chosen from the thousands brought forth. These are then a in the almost airtight incubators to be hatched by the sun's rays after “« period of another five yeara, The hatching which we had witnessed to- day was a fairly representative event of its kind, all but about one per cent. of the eggs hatohing in two days. if the remaining eggs ever hatched we knew noth! of the fate of the little Martians, They were not want- ed, as their offspring might inherit and transmit the tendency to pro- longed incubation, and thus upset the system which has maintained for ees and which permits the adult Martians to figure the proper time for return to the Incubators almost to an hour, The incubators are built in remote fastnesses, where there is little or no likelihood of their being discovéred by other tribes, The result of such a catastrophe would mean no childron in the community for another five years. I was later to witness the outcome of the discovery of an alien incubator, The community of which the green Martians with whom my lot was cast formed a part was componed of some thirty thousand souls, ‘They roamed an enormous tract of arid and semi-arid land between 40 and 80 degrees south latitude, and bounded on the east and west by two large fertile tracts. ‘Thelr headquar- ters lay in the southwest corner of this district near the crossing of two of the alled Martian canals, As the incubator had been placed far north of thelr own territory in a supposedly uninhabited and unfre- quented area, we had before us a tre- mendous journey, coneerning which {, of course, knew nothing. After our return to the dead city I passed several days in comparative idleness, On the day following our return all the warriors had ridden forth early in the morning and had not returned until just before dark: ness fell, As I lator learned, they had been to the subterranean vaults In which the eggs were kept, and had transported them to the incubator, which they had then walled up for another five years, and which, In all probability vould not be visited again during that period. ‘The vaults which hid the eg@s until YOU ONE OF THE MANY THOUSAND PEOPLE WHO ARE READING THE EVENING WORLD’S Complete Novel Each Week? If not, you are rebbing yourself of the richest fiction treat ever offered to the readers The Evening World, a newspaper, every week, prints a novel by some famous author, These novels are issued complete in six large daily instalments. They are selected with a view to suiting the tastes of all readers. And the tremendous ef the plan hae long been demonstrated. eucesss In The Evening World's “COMPLETE NOVEL EACH WEEK” eertes le the foremost work of Chambers, Mai rte weed, Morgan tor, Lowle Joseph Vanes, Edgar such “best-seller” authors % Reberte Rinehart, Rupert Hughes, James Oliver Cur- jobertson, Margaret Widdemer, George Rand Robert W. Rice Burroughs and many others By Maurice Ketten ay, January MOTHER , THe KEY HOLE 1S SHOFSING | they were ready for the incubator were located many miles south of the former, and would be visited yearly by the council of twenty chieftains, Why they did not arrange to build ther vaulls and incubators nearer home has always been a mystery to me, and, ke many other Martian mysteries, unsolved and un@olvable by the light of earthly reasoning and customa, Sola's duties were now doubled, as he wan compelled to care for the young Martian as well as for me, but neither one of us required much at- tention, and as we were both about equally advanced in Martian educa- tion Sola took it upon herself to train us together, Her prize consisted in a male about four feet tall, very strong and per- fect physically; also, he lear quickly, and we had considerable amusement, at leas I did, over the keen rivalry we displayed. The Martian language, as I have said, is tremely mple, and in a week I could make all my wants known and understand nearly every- thi that was said to me. Likewise, under Sola’s tutelage, I developed my low and gray it telepathic powers eo that I & could senee practically everything What surprised Sola most In me was that, while I could catch tele- pathic messages easily from others, tended for me, no one could read & jot from my mind under any cir- cumstances, At first this vexed me, gaye me an undow advantage over the Martians, CHAPTER Ill. yam HE third day after the incu- bator ceremony we set forth toward home, but scarce had debouched into the open ground before the city than orders were given for an immediate and hasty As though trained for years in this particular evolution, the green Mar- tans melted like mist into the spa- ings, until, in less than three minutes, entire cavalcade of chariots, mas: todons and mounted warriors was no- Sola and | had entered @ building upon the front of the city, in fact, the same one in which I had had my en- to sce what had caused the sudden re- treat, I mounted to an upper floor and peered from the window out over the 1 saw it, the cause of their sudden scurrying to cover. | A huge craft, lon | of the nearest hill, Following it cam another, and another, and another, w tll twenty of them, swinging low above tleally toward us. | Fach carried a strange banner swung from stem to stern above the each was painted some odd device jthat gleamed in the sunlight and | showed plainly even at the distance at jcould see figures crowding the for- ward decks and upper works of the | aircraft simply were looking at the deserted city T could not say, but in any event they received a rude reception, for that went on around me, and often when they were not in- but later I was very glad of it, as it Prizes and Prisoners. the head of the procession return, cious doorways of the nearby bulld- where to be seen. counter with the apes, and, wishing valley and the hills beyond, and there | painted, awung slowly over the c | the ground, sailed slowly and majes- upper works, and upon the prow of Which we Were from the vessels. I | Whether they had discovered us or @uddevly and withov’ yerning the | 3, 1916 Martian warrtora fired Folley from the windows of the builds Ed facing the little valley across ich the great hips were so peace- fully ad hes vancing. et a ee > gl magto foremost vemel swung to strange and ferocious and Whose unfriendly han carried it. ones more opposite our fi line. The other vessels followed her wake, each one opening upon us as @he swung into position. Our own fire never diminished, and I doubt if 25 per cent. of our shots went wild. It had never been given me to see such deadly accuracy of aim, and it g@eomed as though @ Itttle figure on one of the craft dropped at the Ptoston of each bullet, while the ban- ners and upper works dissolved in spurts of fame as the projectiles of our warriors mowed through them. ‘The fire from the vessels wae most ineffectual, owing, as I afterward learned, to the unexpected suddenness tomed of the first volley, which eth ehip’s crew entirely unprepared, and the sighting apparatus of the guns unprotected from the deadly aim of our warrtors. It seema that each green warrior has certain objective points for his fire under relatively Identical cir- cumstances of warfare, For example, & proportion of them, always the best markemen, direct their fire entirely upon the wireless finding and sight~ ing apparatus of the big guns of an attacking naval force; another detatl attends to the smaller guns in the same way; others pick off the gun- ners; still others the officers; while certain other quotas concentrate their attention upon the other mem- bers of the crew, upon the upper works, and unon the steering gear and propellers. Twenty minutes after the first vol- ley the great fleet swung, trailing oft in the direction from which they had first peared, Several of the craft were hen ing perceptibly, and seemed t barely tnder the control of their depleted crows. ‘Rhelr fire had ceased entirely and all thetr energies seemed focused upon escape. Our warriors then rushed up to the roofs of the build- ings which we occupied and followed the retreating armada with @ contin« uous fusillade of deadly fire. by one, however, the ships to ap. below Od kotor hf he outlying hills until only barely moving craft was in sight. ‘This had received tho brunt of our fire, and seemed to be entirely un+ manned, as not a moving figure was visible upon her decks, Slowly she swung from her course, circling back toward us in an erratic itful manner, anaiaatly the warriors ceased firing, for it was quite apparent that the vessel was entirely helpless, and, far from being in @ position to inflict harm upon us, she could not even control herself sufficiently to escape. ‘As she neared the city the warriors rushed out upon the plain to meet her, but it was evident that she still was too high for them to hope to reach her decks. From my vantage point in the win- dow I could see the bodies of her crew strewn about, although I could not make out what manner of crea- tures they might be, Not a sign of life was manifest upon her as® she drifted slowly with the light breeze above the ground in a southerly direction, She was drifting some fifty feet, followed by all but some hundred of the warriors who had been ordered back to the roofs to cover the possi- bility of a return of the fleet, or of reinforcements. It soon became evident that she would strike the face of the buildings about a mile south of our position, and as I watched the progress of the chase I saw a number of warriors gallop ahead, dismount and enter the build- ing she seemed destined to touch, ‘As the craft neared the building, and just before she struck, the Mar- tian warriors swarmed upon her from the windows, and with their great spears eased the shock of the collision and ina few. moments they had thrown out grappling hooks and the hig bont was being hauled to ground by their fellows below. After making her fast, they swarmed the sides and searched the Vessel from stem t rn. T could see them examining the dead sailors, evidently for signa of life, and presently a party of them ap- peared from below dragging a little figure among them. ‘The creature was considerably less than half as tall as the green Martian warriors, and my balcony I could nee that it walked erect upon two legs, and surmised that It was some new and strange Martian mon- strosity with which I bad not as yet become acquainted, They removed their prisoner to the ground and then commenced a syste- matic rifling of the vessel This operation required several hours, during which time,a number of chariots were requisitioned to trans- port the loot, which consisted in arms, ammunition, silks, furs, jewel: strangely carved stone vessels, and a quantity of solid foods and liquids, including many casks of water, the first I had seen since my advent upon Mars, After the last load had been re- moved the warriors made lines fast to the craft and towed her far out into the valley. A few of them then boarded her and were busily engaged in what ap- peared, from my distant position, as the emptying of the contents of various carboys upon the dead bodies of the sailors and over the decks and works of the vessel, This operation hastily clambered sliding down the guy rope to th ground, The last warrtor to leave the deck turned and threw something back upon the vessel, waiting an in- stant to note the outcome of his act As « faint spurt of flame rose from the point where the missile struck he swung over the side and was quickly upon the ground. Scarcely had he alighted than the guy ropes wer simultaneously released, and the great warship, lightened by the re- moval of the loot, soared majestically into the air, her decks and upper works a mass of roaring flames. Slowly she drifted to the south- east, rising higher and higher as the flames ate awav her wooden parts and diminished the welght upon her, Ascending to the roof o! ding concluded, over her side: they R_CONAN DOY ap pe Oe I watched her for hours, she was lost in the dim ae distance. The mighty iting funeral Ing unguided and unmanned through lonely wastes of Martian ‘ena; a dorelict of death and de- struction, typifying the life of these fate Much depressed, and to accountably so, I slowly ‘aeacended aed the wast th e acene ad witnessed seemed to mark the defeat and annihilation Of the forces of * kindred ‘ather than the routin, our warriors of a horde ot stintlar, though unfriendly, creatures. fO — I could not fathom the seeming © hallucination, nor no more could I free myself from it; but somewhere innermost recesses of my soul : trange yearning toward these un- nown would return & reckoning from the green warriors ~” ruthlessly and wantonly § Close at my heel, in place, followed ‘cola, the bound, and as I emerged upon the street Sola rushed up to me as thot I had been the object of some are on her part. The cavalcade was returning to the laza, the homeward march having n given up for that day; nor, in fact, was it recommenced for more week, owing to the retura attack ‘by the alrcrare, %* * Lorquas Ptomel was ‘oo astute an old warrior to be caught upon the open plains with @ caravan of char- lots and children, and so we re- mained at the desert etty until the entered ths yes which fil whole being with @ great surge mingled hope, fear, exultation and as Pression, and yet most dominant was & subtle sense of relief and happiness, for just as we neared the throng of Martians I caught a glimpse of the prisoner from the battle craft ag she my Was being roughly 4: into a nearby building by @ cou; ‘ereel Martian females, ° 4 And the si which my eyes was that of a slender, figure, aimilar in every detail t the earthly, women of my past life, She did not Pitted ir ett but just as she was ppearing rou! the the bulldin, whlch’ was ote af aeinoms she turned and her eyes met LS Her face was oval and beautiful in the extreme, her every feature was * finely chiseled and exquisite, her eyes large and lustrous, and her head sur- mounted by @ mass of coal black, waving hair, caught loosely into a strange yet ming colffure. Her skin was of a light reddish color, againat which the crimson glo? of the cheeks and the ruby of her beautifully moulded lips shone with a strangely enhancing effect. As her rested on me, her eyes opened wide in astonishment and she made a little sign to me with her hand; @ sign which I did not, of course, understand. Just a moment we gazed upon each other, and then the look of and renewed courage which had glorified? per face a4, he Rg 1h me, faded into one of utter dejection, mingled with loathing and contempt. T had not answered her signal. Ignorant as T was of Martian cua- toma, I intuitively felt that she had made an appeal for succor and pro- tection which my terrible ignorance had prevented me from answering. And then she was dragged out of my sight into the depths of the de- serted edifice. CHAPTER IV. A Glimpse of Kindness. iS IT came back to myself T flanced at Sola, who hed witnessed this and I wae surprised to note the strange expression upon her usually expressioniees counte- nance. What her thoughts were I did not know, for aa yet I had learned but little of the Magtian tongue; only sufficient for my daily needs. At the doorway of our building a strange surprise awaited me. A war- rior approached bearing the erms, ornaments and full accoutrements of his kind. These he presented to mo with a few unintelligible words, and a bearing at once respectful and men- acing. later, Sola, with the aid of several ot the other women, remodelled the trappings to fit my lesser proportions, and after they completed the work I went about garbed in all the panoply of war. From then on Sola instructed me in the mysteries of the various weap- ons, and with the Martian young I spent several hours each day practis- ing upon the plasa. I was not yet proficiont with all the weapons, but my great familiarity with similar earthly weapons made me an un~ usually apt pupil, and I progressed in a very satisfactory manner, After they had retired for the night it was customary for the adults to carry on a desultory conversation for @ short time before lapsing into sleep, and now that I could understand their language I was always a keen listener, though I never proffered any remar' myself, On the night following the pri J visit to the audience chamber conversation finally fell upon this sub- ject, and I was all ears on the instant, 1 had feared to question Sola relative to the beautiful captive, as I could not but recall the strange expression I had noted upon her face after my firet encounter with the prisoner. } That it denoted jealousy I could not ~ say, and yet, judging all ne oy mundane standards, as I still did, felt tt safer to affect Indifference in the matter until I learned more surely molay eptitude toward the object of my solicitude, Sarkoja, one of the older women who'” deen shared our council, had present the audience as one of the captive's suards, and it was toward her the questioners turned. t 4 hen,” asked one of the at “will we enjoy the death throes of at red one, or Lorquas Jed, > Intend holding her for ransom?” “They have with us back to Thark and led to carry heme: That apna sos before sit 2 Daan